Patent Application
20080172020
The present invention relates to an article, such as a comfortable garment or a pad to be worn on the lower torso of a wearer for which a three dimensional cup- or bowl-like shape is maintained during use or wear. In one particular aspect, the invention relates to disposable and even more particular to disposable absorbent articles, which can be produced on automated high speed production lines, such as throw-away underwear, baby diapers or adult incontinence products, but also to durable apparel such as girdles, panties, tights and so on.
Articles intended to be worn on the lower torso of humans are well known such as in the area of apparel, such as trousers or pants, or in the area of hygienic articles such as menstrual pants or so called training pants, but also in the area of diapers or incontinence articles, and further for disposable pads such as used in the feminine care area.
They have in common, that a part or a region of the article is positioned in the crotch region between the legs of the wearer, whilst at least one other region of the article extends forward or rearwards. As this body region is particularly sensitive but also exhibits a complex shape with wide variations for the individual user, many attempts have been taken to address the fit for articles to be worn in this region, in particular for articles, which are intended to satisfy certain functional criteria, such as absorbency and/or containment of body fluids.
Such articles are typically produced by using web materials, such as textiles as woven cloth, non-wovens, and/or film materials, or combinations or composites thereof. In particular, disposable articles are often produced on high speed production lines for combining such flat webs to form the article. Conventional production lines are much more easily to construct and to operate, if the articles are also flat or can be folded into a flat structure. This is of course often conflicting with the fit requirements of such articles.
Henceforth, there have been many attempts to create designs, which are comfortably and functionally shaped, but yet easy to produce.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,615,691, a shielding device for the perineal area is described in the form of an elongated pad providing a non-contact zone between the perineal area of the wearer and clothing.
Sanitary napkins or pads which are to be used in connection with menstrual and/or underwear pants are well known to comprise so called wings, which are typically designed so as to be folded downwardly around the longitudinal perimeter of the leg cut out of the pants. Alternative designs comprise curved hinge lines, e.g. as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,759 or EP-A-1332742. In US-A-2005/0107762, chafing barriers are described, which extend from the crotch regions towards the inner thigh region, and which may be applied to conventionally designed pads or hygienic pants.
Further approaches aim at improving the fit of pants or pant-like structures. Well known are essentially two-dimensional articles with elastic members. Simple approaches just use elastic belt like structures in the waist region, other add leg elastics, and even further approaches implement elastic panels in various regions, in particular by using elastic side panels in the hip regions. Other approaches use—relatively expensive—circular limiting technology, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,590,548.
US-A-2005/0120466 describes an attempt to improve the fit of boxer short type pants by gathering web material around the leg cut out by attaching an elastic strip in the crotch region. A further attempt to arrive at more body-conforming fit is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,851, showing an essentially two-dimensional (2D) disposable garment in pant form, wherein the fit is improved by folding and tucking in of the crotch region.
Yet another type of article for which fit is of particular importance is a diaper, be this for babies or for adults. Typically, such products comprise an absorbent centre piece positioned in the crotch region of the wearer and extending towards the front and/or back, combined with sealing means and closure means for affixing the article around the waist of the wearer. In JP08252281A2 a disposable nappy with portions that seal around the circumference of thighs to prevent leakage is described. Another approach to a diaper design is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 0,692,6702 in the form of a diaper having side flaps extending along the legs of the baby, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,147 and in WO-A-04/043317 diapers are disclosed comprising a secondary topsheet or topsheet-like cuffs to separate faeces from skin.
Further, there are known many approaches combining elements as described so far, such as disposable diapers for the use as training pants, which are designed in a closed pant form, but which may be openable, and optionally also recloseable, so as to allow inspection by the caretaker, or use of the toilet, e.g. of a toilet training toddler. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,497 a disposable absorbent article having a garment like appearance is disclosed and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,955 a simple garment as a combination of a skirt and a pant is shown.
However, none of the discussed approaches provide a fully satisfactory approach towards improved fit in the crotch region and around the upper thigh regions, or at least the upper inner thigh region, be it adapted for female, male, or child anatomy and uses, in particular not for articles, which are intended to be produced at low cost at high efficiency automated production lines.
Moreover, none of the articles designed for keeping solid waste materials away from the skin of the wearer by provision of a void space between a secondary body side liner and an absorbent core provides functional means to keep this void space under normal in use conditions mostly open. Henceforth, it is an object of the present invention to provide an article which satisfies the functional or aesthetic requirements, such as fit, containment, discreteness, appearance, and yet can be readily produced at low cost.
This is achieved by the present invention, which is an article comprising or being adapted to comprise during use a cup-like shaped structure, which is adapted for being concavely positioned in the crotch of a wearer during use. The article comprises a front and/or a rear region, and a crotch region. The crotch region comprises a centre crotch region, and two side crotch regions positioned laterally outwardly of the centre crotch region. The cup like structure is formed and maintained during use by connecting the side crotch regions along connecting lines to respectively adjacent front or rear regions, and/or—in the case, that the side crotch regions are essentially non-unitary with the centre crotch region—to the centre crotch region, whereby at least one of the connecting lines or optional fold-lines is curve-linearly shaped. The cup-like shape of the article may be formed by upwardly bending the laterally outward or inward perimeter of the side crotch regions. The side crotch regions may form a hoop, and a waist hoop may be connected to or formed by the front and rear regions.
The article may further comprise side panel materials connected to the front and rear regions and to the side crotch regions, whereby the side panel materials may be non-unitary materials.
The article according to the present invention may be a disposable absorbent article, a disposable non-absorbent article, a baby diaper, a feminine hygiene product, an adult incontinence product, a piece of single or limited use underwear, a piece of operation theatre garment, or a tight fitting elasticized garment. The article may comprise web materials, such as non-wovens, films, or composites thereof. In the various regions, the article may comprise at least partially elasticized materials. The materials or the regions of the article preferably exhibit a cantilever stiffness of less than 20, preferably less than 10, or more than 1.5, preferably 2, when tested according to ASTM-D-1388, optionally exhibiting directionally non-uniform stiffness.
The connecting of the regions may be achieved by connecting lines, which may be continuous or intermittent, curve-linear or straight, single or multiple lines, intercepting lines, or defined as the perimeter of a connecting region. The connecting may be permanent, preferably is a non-sewn connection, optionally with tear open aids, or refastenable system of the hook-loop type, or a refastenable or permanent adhesive system.
The article may further comprise any or all of an absorbent core, a barrier leg cuff, a secondary topsheet, or lotion application to body facing surfaces.
The same numerals in various figures refer to corresponding elements.
An article in the sense of the present invention is an article such as a comfortable garment or a pad to be worn on the lower torso of a wearer for which a three dimensional (3D) cup- or bowl-like shape is maintained during use or wear. In particular aspects, the invention relates to disposable and even more particular to disposable absorbent articles, which can be produced on automated high speed production lines, such as throw-away underwear, baby diapers, or feminine hygiene or adult incontinence products, but also to durable apparel such as girdles, panties, tights, and so on.
Directions and orientations for such articles are herein defined in the context of a wearer when the article is worn, typically in an upright standing position. In this context the terms lower, upper, outer, inner, front, rear, left, right, or lateral are used in the anatomical definition.
Thus, within the context of the present invention, the garment has a lateral direction (y direction, cross-direction (CD), or width) defined as the direction parallel to the lateral centreline and being aligned with a “left-to-right” direction of the wearer when being used; the longitudinal direction (x direction, machine direction (MD) or length) being defined as the direction parallel to the longitudinal centreline and being aligned with the height direction of a wearer in a standing position during use; and the thickness or z-direction essentially perpendicular to the other.
When an article or a piece of material extends during use from the back of a wearer through the crotch region to the front waist region, the MD-line may be U-shaped. The CD-line may be left to right, and the thickness orientation will generally be perpendicular to these, such that it would point “forward/rearward” in the back and the front regions of the “U”, and “upwards” in the centre region of the U or the crotch region of the wearer.
Within the present context, an article comprises several regions, especially a crotch region, which is intended to be positioned in the crotch region between the legs of a wearer during use, and a front and/or rear region, extending forwardly respectively rearwardly and upwardly during use. Any region may comprise sub-regions, such as the side crotch regions laterally adjacently positioned to a centre crotch region.
A region on an article refers to the whole of the article in this region when being in an in-use configuration, and thus may comprise various materials, often in a layered arrangement. However, during the manufacturing or even after manufacturing, materials of two different in-use regions may lay on each other, for example when an article having a three-dimensional shape during use is folded, optionally flat, in the packaging.
Within the present context, a line extends between at least two non-identical points. A line may be a continuous line, or it may comprise a multitude of line segments or dots arranged along a geometrical path. A physical line in the present context (e.g. a glue bonding line as connection line) will have a certain width, and may even be seen as an area or region. Such a region is circumscribed by its perimeter line, which may have a characteristic form, such as being straight or curve-linear, and the region can then be described as straight perimeter region or a curve-linear perimeter region.
An article according to the present invention has at least in its in-use configuration a cup- or bowl-like three-dimensional configuration, whereby at least parts of the article positioned in the crotch region during use define an “upwardly open” or concave structure.
This is further explained in
Similarly, such articles can be described by a space, which is “inside” of the article, and the complementary space, which is outside of the article. The “inside space” is thus enclosed by the inner surfaces and—if these do not form a closed space—by one or more hypothetical cover(s) closing the space. For articles of more complex shape, inside refers to the smallest space enclosed by the inner surface of the article and the smallest cover area required to close the space. Hence, for a pair of trousers, the inside space is formed by the inner surface of the article and the areas of the waist opening and the two leg openings. For a simple cup-shaped or concave article, the inner space will correspond to the volume of the bowl, whereby the surfaces will be complemented (if required) by the smallest cover areas.
The present invention relates to articles or garments to be worn or applied in the lower torso region of the wearer, which extend at least partially into the crotch region of the wearer.
A particular application relates to pants and trousers, which typically encircle the waist or hips of the wearer as well as the legs at least in the upper thigh region of the wearer. Trousers or pants may comprise integral or separate means for being held on the wearer, such as belts, suspenders or braces, each of which may comprise or be made of elastic materials. Such pants may be used as underwear, girdles etc, but may also be worn on the outside, such as sportswear, swimwear, etc. Pants may be designed to be re-useable or disposable; the latter may be applicable to underwear or applications in the operation theatre, therein combined with sterile properties. Such pants may comprise absorbent elements or materials. Pants may have stockings connected thereto, such as in the form of a pantyhose or tights, which are close fitting coverings of the body from the waist to the feet, most frequently worn by women.
A further application for articles being worn in the crotch region are pads, shields, or dressings, which are often designed to be absorbent and disposable. In contrast to pants, these do typically not encircle the waist of the wearer, but are hold in place on the body by support means, such as garments like underwear, sportswear, or menstrual pants. In addition or alternatively, adhesive means may be used to attach the pads to such garments or directly to the skin of the wearer.
Yet a further application area for articles being worn in the crotch region are diapers. Diapers typically comprise absorbent elements at least in the crotch region and are designed to be disposable, i.e. they are intended to be discarded after being loaded with bodily exudates like urine or faeces.
In addition, the present invention may be related to combinations of features as described hereinabove, such as pant-shaped diapers, which are permanently closed to form a pair of pants, and which may comprise a “tear open” feature, allowing the care talker to more easily remove the diaper from a baby. Or the diaper may be pre-closed by the manufacturer to form an openable pant-like structure, such as by recloseable features, or also by macro fastening devices comprising buttons and button holes, or by slot-and-tab fastening means.
Similarly, there may be pad and pant systems wherein either or both of the elements are particularly adjusted to interact with the other, such as when a pad is particularly formed to fit into a particularly adapted pair of pants. Typically, though not necessarily, the pads are absorbent and disposable whilst the pants may be re-useable and washable.
Such articles may also be swimwear with features to capture bodily exudates, which may be re-useable if not soiled by the wearer, but which may be disposed of, if soiled. It may also combine diapers or other pant like structures with skirt like structures.
As the articles of the present invention may be produced on high speed production lines, they are of particular relevance for disposable absorbent articles of any of the types described hereinabove, allowing low cost production so as to minimize cost for the user. The term “disposable” is used herein to describe absorbent articles or elements which are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused as an absorbent article or element (i.e. they are intended to be discarded after a single use and, preferably, to be recycled, composted or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally compatible manner).
Disposable absorbent articles as well as various elements comprised therein are well known to the person skilled in the art in multitudes of executions and henceforth a number of generally known details are omitted herein. They are typically worn to receive bodily exudates, such as urine, faeces, menses, sweat, etc. and thus may comprise liquid absorbing materials, such as—without any limitation—cellulosic fluff and/or superabsorbent materials. Absorbent articles typically comprise further elements to retain the bodily exudates within the article, respectively within the space between the article and the body of the wearer whilst avoiding soiling such as of other garments. Typically, such articles comprise sealing elements, such as elastic elements to create a gasketing effect at the perimeter of the article, e.g. legs and waist. The articles typically comprise liquid impervious materials to contain body fluids. Many of the materials used in such articles are web materials, i.e. flat materials supplied in an essentially endless form such as on rolls or spools, such as films, non-wovens, woven materials, tissues and the like. In addition, the articles typically comprise other materials, such as particulate materials, such as so called superabsorbent materials, or fluids, such as adhesives or skin care fluids.
The concave cup-like shape of an article according to the present invention is achieved and maintained during use by connecting the side crotch regions, such as by bonding, to adjacent regions. In a first embodiment, side crotch regions are connected to the respectively adjacent front or rear regions of the article.
A first exemplary article for this embodiment is described in
Preferably, the foreshortening and the relative arrangement of the cut-line to the bond line will create at most a perpendicularly upstanding side crotch region relative to the centre crotch region. The skilled person will readily realise, that the connecting between the front and rear region and the side crotch regions may also be achieved by straight, instead of curved, cut and bond lines. Thus, the semi-crescent shaped cut-out would look like a triangle or rectangle. Similarly, the cut lines may be replaced with appropriately arranged fold-lines, whereby the material corresponding to the cut-out would be folded away to allow the foreshortening.
It will also be appreciated, that a cup-like shape will already be created if the bonding of the side regions to one of the front or rear regions only, e.g. when the article does not comprise the respectively other regions.
A second embodiment for creating and maintaining the cup-like shape comprises side crotch regions, which are essentially non-unitary with the centre crotch region, such as is achieved by adding a leg hoop to encircle the thigh of the wearer. For this embodiment, at least one of the connecting lines or optional fold-lines is curve-linearly shaped.
A first exemplary article according to this embodiment is depicted in
Upon use, the lateral outer perimeter 1019 of the side crotch regions 1016 are folded upwardly and opened to form leg openings, thereby—because of the curve-linear shape of the connection line—forming the centre crotch region into the cup-like shape. Optionally, and often preferably, the lateral outer perimeter 1019 may also be curve-linearly shaped.
Due to the fixation around the legs of the wearer, this embodiment stays appropriately positioned on the body without any further support means; although it may be used in connection with other support means, such as pants, or body adhesives.
In contrast to the simple, conventional design as described in the context of
An alternative article design according to this second embodiment is depicted in
Whilst these examples showed on each side a curve-linear connecting line 1030 between the centre crotch and the side crotch regions, instead of this one line several lines may be used, such as essentially parallel lines, or an interrupted line pattern (such as a dashed-dotted-line) may be used.
The connecting may also be achieved by a connecting area. In any of these alternatives, the circumscribing perimeter of the connecting region can be described by a curve-linear line. In
The above described two embodiments are not exclusive, but may complement each other. Thus, an article may have the side crotch regions connected to the front/rear regions, and it may have a curve-linear connecting or fold line between the side and centre crotch regions.
An exemplary execution for such an article is described together with
The side panels 1620 may also be designed as unitary or pre-connected lateral extensions of the waist front region 1610, as depicted in
Such a hoop or leg seal cuff design provides particular benefits for articles, which require “acquisition space” (diapers), tight but gentle sealing in the leg region (Feminine hygiene and especially menstrual pants), or gentle distribution of forces (girdles), or provide a sustained dynamic fit for the wearer. In addition to the gentle distribution of sealing forces, it is believed, that a particular benefit may come from the connecting of the leg seal elements to the centre crotch region. Apart from creating the cup-like shape, and thusly creating the particular benefit of a void or a non-contact zone between the article and the skin of the wearer, the force distribution along the leg seal cuff or hoop is not along the outer (or in the in-use positioning along the upper or lower) perimeter of the sealing element, but more towards the centre region thereof, thusly allowing functional separation of the sealing and the support functionality.
There are various specific embodiments of this design principle, such as having certain regions of the article elasticized, e.g., the leg seal cuff may be elastically extensible in front to back direction only. Also, the side panels may be elasticized, optionally with a varying degree and/or directionality of elastication in different regions. The side panels may be openable, such as by being slit in combination with a re-usable closure system, such as mechanical fastener. The side panels may also be composed of two connected sub-panels, e.g., made of a first material in the upper part (i.e. reaching into the waist region), and a second one made of a second material in the lower part.
A further exemplary execution is depicted in
In the present context, a hoop refers to a closed structure such as a circular band of material. Typically, though not necessarily, it comprises flexible and often web materials, such that the form is not necessarily always circular, but it may be of elliptical, oval or irregular shape, e.g. by following the shape of a leg or a waist when encircling these. A typical embodiment of a hoop is a belt encircling the waist. Such a hoop, as depicted in
Essentially a hoop consists of an outwardly (1028) and an inwardly (i.e. towards the body—1026) facing surface, positioned at a distance corresponding to the hoop thickness 1024 (or web material thickness), and upper and lower opening. For hoops with relatively small width, the upper and lower openings are not necessarily distinguished, such that a belt like hoop may be considered to form the waist opening or the leg opening.
A hoop being useful in the present invention may be made of flexible web material so as to conform to a specific (human) body part. It may be extensible or elastic, such as by being shirred in combination with an elastic member, or it may be knitted, e.g. by tubular knitting.
A hoop may be a composite of several materials, be this in a way of e.g. homogeneously mixing material like fibres in a web material, or by creating a layered structure by assembling two or more materials in the z-direction of the hoop, or by placing different materials longitudinally adjacent to each other in the y- or width direction of the hoop, or by connecting one or more pieces circumferentially along the x-direction of the hoop.
A hoop may have a constant width 1025 or the width may vary. It may have a cylindrical shape, or it may be irregularly shaped, as depicted in
A hoop may be permanently or temporarily closed, such as by connecting two ends of a belt by any of the connection elements described hereinafter. In particular embodiments a hoop may be partly openable, such as depicted in
Typically, though not necessarily, a hoop may be formed by essentially flat materials like a band, ribbon, string, or a panel, or a piece or length of material. A hoop may be a unitary piece of material, such as shown in
In the context of the present invention, the term unitary refers to a piece of material essentially forming one or more regions, the material piece or article along the extension of a MD/CD-plane. Thus, for example, if a diaper comprises a unitary backsheet covering the entire article, other materials, which are directly or indirectly connected thereto,—such as topsheets, the absorbent core, etc.—may form the total article. In contrast, if the outer surface of the article is comprised of non-elastic film combined with elasticised side panels connected thereto, this will not be a unitary design. As already shown in
When a hoop material or a leg seal material is executed as elastic or elasticized material, it may be preferred to execute the adjacent parts in the centre crotch region also at least partly elastic or extensible. Application of hoop material in elongated or pre-tensioned state, and subsequent relaxation of the product after combining until use is one of several options to benefit from the elastic features of the hoop material.
The cup-like shape of the article according to the present invention is created and maintained by connecting the side crotch regions to other regions of the article, such as are rear or front regions, leg cuff regions and hoop structures or other regions or sub-regions. Connecting refers to any way of at least temporarily holding the regions together, and hence terms like joining, combining etc. may be used interchangingly.
A typical connection is a bond line, such as an adhesive line, or melt-fusion bonding. The line may be continuous or intermittent (e.g. bonding dots positioned along a line). Such a bond line may be a straight line, as indicated in
Any connecting may be essentially permanent, i.e. it can only be destructively opened. This opening may be assisted by specifically designed tear lines, e.g. to allow more controlled opening when removing a soiled pant type diaper.
The connecting may also be openable and reclosable, such as when refastenable adhesive tapes are used, or “hook/loop” type closures (e.g. “Velcro®”). Also closure systems employing a button and hole system may be employed or macro-fasteners, such as of the slot and tab type. Also conventional belt buckle systems represent a recloseable connection system (see
A particularly beneficial execution of the connecting relates to connecting elastic, elasticized or extensible materials, e.g. when an elastic leg hoop is connected to an extensible centre crotch region. It may then be preferred to design also the connection as an extensible so, so as to not hinder the stretching of certain parts. This can be achieved by using appropriate materials for e.g. for core making and core wrapping, as are known to persons skilled in the art.
The articles may comprise various other functional or aesthetic elements, which do not require a fully detailed description, because they are well known to a person skilled in the art.
If the article is a disposable absorbent article, an absorbent core may be positioned in the centre crotch region, extending more or less into the front and/or rear regions. Optionally, further absorbency may be designed into side crotch regions, or into the leg seal cuffs. The amount of absorbency as well as other absorbency properties such as acquisition, distribution and retention properties may be adjusted to the particular use. For example, for panty liners only very low absorbent capacity may be required, or leg seal cuffs may be furnished with a small amount of absorbent capacity, e.g. to maintain dry skin. In contrast, such as in particular for adult incontinence applications, the absorbent capacity may be significantly higher and also be distributed over several or all regions of the article. The absorbent cores may be of any conventional type, a preferred embodiment comprises superabsorbent material. For ease of processing, it may be preferable to use prefabricated (“roll stock”) cores, which may just be cut to the appropriate size and fitted into the article or other elements making up the article cup shaped structure. In addition to liquid retention materials, the core may comprise other liquid handling elements, such as liquid acquisition members, such as open structure webs, or liquid distribution members, such as wicking materials.
Any of the regions of the article may be elasticized or at least expandable. This refers to the fact that the materials in these regions may extend upon pulling, or retract upon loosening of the pull forces. Preferably, such materials will retain their original shape after the tensioning forces are released. However, also a certain degree of permanent extension may be tolerable or even desired to improve fit.
In particular, the hoop structures may be elasticised, by elasticising any or all of the elements thereof. For example, a waist encircling hoop structure formed by side panels and front and rear regions of the centre piece may be elastically extendible to adjust to varying waist sized by elasticising either the side panels, the front region, or the rear region, or all, optionally to a varying degree of elastification, respectively differing contractive forces at a given extension.
The elastification may also vary across the width of a hoop, such as when in the just described waist hoop the region close to the upper waist perimeter has higher elastic contraction forces than the lower regions, e.g. the ones encircling the hips.
Whilst the present invention provides very good sealing and containment functionality, additional sealing elements may be included, such as so called “barrier leg cuffs” or other leg or waist encircling cuffs. Also so called secondary topsheets may be very advantageously used in the present invention, as explained in more detail herein below.
The article may further comprise aesthetical elements, such as to improve visual appearance such as by colouring or printing, or olfactory elements such as perfume or odour absorbents.
It may also comprise cosmetic or medicinal components, such as skin care compositions applied to skin contacting regions. This may be particularly beneficial for leg seal cuffs or for the above described secondary topsheet. The article may also comprise micro climate regulating components, such as convective air flow enhancements, or temperature regulating materials, as known in the art.
Generally, the article may be produced from a wide variety of materials, preferably at least one being a web material.
Generally, the term “web” relates to any material, which is essentially endless or continuous in one direction (generally denoted as “x-direction” or “machine direction”). Webs are often, but not necessarily, stored, supplied, or used in roll form and thusly also sometimes denoted “roll goods”. Whilst these are then not “endless” in the strict sense of the word, their extension in this x-direction is significantly larger than in any other direction. By combining consecutive rolls or other batches, (“splicing”) such webs can be considered “endless” for all practical purposes. Webs may be transported in a “batch” form, such as when a roll thereof is shipped, or they may follow a “web path”, such as when the webs are unwound from a roll. Within the context of the present invention, also the cut pieces of a web material are considered to be a web material.
Thus, the web materials may be textile webs, such a (flat) knitted materials or woven materials. Often, the web materials are selected from the class of non-woven, or film materials, or composites thereof. Any of the materials may be “breathable”, i.e. allowing air but not liquids to penetrate through. The centre piece may include absorbent material or it may be combined with an absorbent core. The leg seal cuffs may have a certain liquid or moisture absorbent capacity, which may be designed to capture liquid leaking from the centre piece absorbent structure, or which may be designed to absorb sweat.
The materials useful for the present invention must primarily satisfy the in-use requirements, in particular also a certain strength, stiffness or softness, bendability, smoothness, if required absorbency, etc . . . . If these properties would be outside such normal use ranges, they might also negatively affect the functionality of the present invention. Thus, a certain stiffness should not be exceeded to allow shaping of the cup-like shape, whilst a certain minimum stiffness will enhance the maintenance of this shape. Stiffness may be described by various parameter, a suitable method has been found to be ASTM D 1388, referring to the cantilever stiffness test. The test is accomplished by placing a one-inch wide (2.54 cm) strip of the web on a horizontal surface, one end of which abuts against the top end of a 41.5° inclined plane. The test sample is placed with its narrow edge at the juncture of the horizontal and the inclined surface. It is then moved forward over the edge between the two surfaces until the free end bends over and contacts the inclined surface. One half of the length of the fabric between the point of departure from the horizontal surface and the point of contact with the inclined surface is the cantilever stiffness length. Preferably, materials for being used in the present invention, the cantilever stiffness values are at least 1.5, preferably more than 2, but not more than 20, more preferably not more than 10. Stiffness values of a material, and in particular of composite materials, may differ in various directions, e.g. be higher in cross-direction of the material, and lower in the machine direction.
In addition the materials may need to satisfy certain processing requirements, yet again strength, stiffness, but also allow connecting, such as by being adhesively or thermally or ultrasonically bondable.
Whilst the present invention allows the application of relatively low speed connecting processes, such as sewing, a particular benefit is that it also allows the manufacturing of the complexly shaped articles with simple, cheap and fast processes, such as thermal or adhesive bonding. In this respect, the present invention not only allows to use mass production materials such as non-woven materials, but also allows production on robust high speed manufacturing equipment, such as schematically depicted in
This method comprises the use of web materials, which are essentially flat by having a length dimension (x-direction) and a width dimension (y-direction) exceeding the thickness dimension (z-direction), thus having a first and a second surface along the x-y-direction. The web materials may form a sequence of web material pieces. The method is an essentially continuous manufacturing process, comprising at least one web treatment step acting on the inner and outer surfaces simultaneously by a web treatment unit comprising a web treatment head and a counteracting web treatment tool. The manufacturing equipment comprises a web path splitter means for parallel treatment of at least two web pieces in at least two web treatment sections, each of these sections comprising a treatment head of the web treatment unit and at least a first and a second web support means for temporarily holding and moving the web material pieces. Thereby, the second web support means is positioned z-directionally offset relative to the first web support means, thus forming a gap between the first and second web support means, wherein the gap distance between the first and the second web support means can be varied.
In the shown embodiment, the web path splitting means is a rotating wheel 300, comprising six essentially identical web treatment sections (301, 302, . . . 306). It rotates at a speed, such that the tangential speed 308 at the outer surface of the turret corresponds to the overall web path speed 208.
The treatment sections comprise at least a first (330) and a second (350) web treatment means, and a web treatment head 400. A further web support means 340 may be employed, and—as shown in FIG. 6B—an even further web support means 360 may be used.
(a) feeding one or more pieces of web material 100 via the web path splitter means 300 to the web treatment sections 301, 302, . . . 306;
(b) temporarily attaching a first region of a piece of a web material 1012 to the first web support means 330 and a second region 1018 of the same or a different piece of a web material to the second web support means 350, such that the first and the second regions are positioned in the gap between the first and the second web support means;
(c) increasing the z-directional distance of the first (330) and second (350) web support means whilst the first and second regions of the web material(s) remain at least partly affixed to the respective web support means, so as to increase the gap distance between the web support means and the regions of the web material piece(s) affixed thereto,
(d) positioning the web treatment head 400 in the gap to contact the surfaces of the web material regions oriented towards the web treatment head;
(e) positioning the web treatment head 400 and the web treatment tool 450 relative to each other and to the web material so as to allow them to interact each with one of the opposite surfaces of the web material(s);
(f) treating the first and the second web regions jointly by cooperatively operating the web treatment head 400 and the web treatment tool 450 of the treatment unit, thereby forming the structure of the article;
(g) removing the web treatment head from the gap and/or the article from the head;
(h) optionally further treating the article;
(i) removing the article from the web handling equipment.
The web materials may be made of films, textile, woven, or non-woven webs, or composites thereof. The first and second regions may belong to different webs; which may be of the same or different material type, orientation, or which may have undergone different pre-treatments. The webs material(s) may be pre-shaped webs, optionally forming a closed structure like a belt or a hoop. The method may further include the use of other materials, optionally preassembled pieces, bulk material, or fluids, and several process steps may be executed on one piece of web material. A preferred treatment step is the connecting of two regions, but further treatment steps may be included, such as cutting, pressing, or mechanically activating of webs.
The present invention applies to a variety of articles. Without intending any limitation to the application, the particular executions and resulting advantages as provided for particular disposable absorbent articles are now explained in more detail.
Feminine care pads are typically used by being inserted into the pants or panty of a wearer, covering the perineal region. They might be designed as menstrual pad, as incontinence pad, or as panty liner. The design differences will then vary with regard to size and absorbency of the pad. Thus, panty liners will typically have a small absorbent capacity, but it is important that they have little or no occlusive effect, which can be further enhanced by using air permeable (“breathable”) materials. The present invention further allows for a non-contact zone between the pad and the body of the wearer.
The first execution still relies on a further support means, and primarily relies on the anatomically formed cup shape. Whilst also the second execution requires a further support means, the seal cuff provides a significantly improved leakage protection. First, it provides a sealing band on the inner thigh region. Second, this seal cuff extends upwardly from the pad such that leakage is further prevented. Such as design is depicted and described hereinabove in connection with
For articles intended for higher loading, it may be highly desirable to have leakage protection at the side portions of the pad, to prevent soiling or staining of the outer garment, if it is loaded beyond the absorbency capacity or acquisition capability (gush handling) of the pad. Conventional pad designs typically attempt to address this by providing the article with side crotch regions (“wings”), which are folded downwardly around the leg cuff of the pants. This, however, requires a 180° fold, which is typically achieved by attaching the wings e.g. by adhesive patches to the outer side of the panty, i.e. on the opposite side of the pad (see
Pant type articles may be used as single use non-absorbent garments, e.g. when being worn in operation theatres. Such non-absorbent articles may also be useful for multiple use, optionally including washability, e.g. when being used as a menstrual pant or as a support pant for incontinence pads in combination with an absorbent pad. The pant structure of the articles may be permanently closed, or openable, e.g. at the waist to ease donning of the article.
Conventional baby or adult incontinence diapers typically comprise a portion to fit in the crotch region of the wearer (similar to pads) extending fore- and rearwardly upwards towards the waist and the back of the wearer, which further comprise closeable means to attach the diaper around the waist or hips of the wearer.
In contrast to such conventional diapers, the present invention allows distinct advantages, in particular with regard to leakage sealing, comfort and continued dynamic fit.
As can be seen in
The present invention, however, allows to place a leg encircling hoop which will—in addition to forming the cup-like shape—very advantageously improve the fit. As can be seen in
As described with
For example, the leg seal cuff pieces may be elasticised, and the larger side panel pieces may be made of cheaper not-elastic webs. Alternatively, the side panel pieces may be elasticised, and optionally have a varying degree of elastication, e.g. in the waist region as compared to the leg region or to the hip region.
A further design of a pant type article according to the present invention is shown if
A particularly useful application of the present invention relates to designs, such as for diapers, comprising a so called secondary topsheet.
Secondary topsheets are known in conventional diapers, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,147, or WO-A-04/04331, and refers to a design, where in addition to a first topsheet covering the absorbent core, an additional web material is applied overlaying the first topsheet (i.e. being oriented towards the wearer). During use, this secondary topsheet is positioned close to or even in contact with the skin of the wearer, in particular in the rear buttocks regions. Optionally, and often preferably, the secondary topsheet may be at least partially elasticized. It further comprises an opening, which is positioned in registry with the anal opening of the wearer, such that faeces may penetrate through this opening into a void space between the first and the secondary topsheet. Because of the barrier properties of the secondary topsheet for faeces, the skin of the wearer is there protected from the often aggressive faecal material. As these barrier properties may also hinder urine to pass through the secondary topsheet, a further opening may be provided in the urine loading region, or the urine loading region of the secondary topsheet may be specifically treated so as to allow urine to readily penetrate through. This may be achieved by a hydrophilization treatment, which may be executed as being permanent, i.e. not being washed away by urine penetrating through. Alternatively, the secondary top sheet may end at the point of urine exit such that the primary top sheet forms the layer next to the skin in this particular area.
In contrast, the present invention provides a particularly well functioning secondary topsheet design. As depicted in
In a first execution of such a product, see
The production of such a product follows essentially the principles as laid out hereinabove by attaching a leg element (i.e. the leg seal cuff 1630 or leg hoop 1660) to the outer surface of the article (i.e. oriented away from the wearer when in an in-use configuration). The secondary topsheet is connected to the front and rear region, such as by gluing or thermal bonding and it may be connected to the upper perimeter of the leg elements, e.g. after these have been unfolded into the in-use configuration. In this design, it might be preferable to not permanently bond the secondary topsheet to the leg seal cuff or leg hoop, but to design its width such that it extends sideward into the leg elements, and thus may be held by the friction force generated by the contraction of the leg elements. Alternatively, the secondary TS may be permanently bonded at least partially along its side lines to the inner surfaces of the leg hoops or leg cuffs, which may be temporarily backfolded prior to addition of the secondary topsheet further upstream in the process, such that the upper edge of the inner part of the leg hoop or leg cuff is essentially in a similar position as during use.
A second execution of a pant product comprising a secondary topsheet (see
Thus, the basic structure (prior to application of the leg elements and the 2nd topsheet) corresponds essentially to the one as shown in
The secondary topsheet 1710 is positioned between the outer and inner part of leg hoop 1660, and connected via the hoop connecting line or region 1035 to the inner layer thereof (as shown in an exploded partial view of these features—
In this execution, because of the lack of a curved connection/fold line between the leg hoop and the centre crotch region, the side portions of the centre crotch region preferably are more supple to allow better adaptation to the body contours.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2005/000845 | Mar 2005 | IB | international |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2006/002166 | 3/9/2006 | WO | 00 | 9/12/2007 |
