Claims
- 1. A form fitting diaper for a human body, which comprises:
- (a) a backsheet having
- (i) a front section having spaced apart lateral edges,
- (ii) a back section having spaced apart lateral edges, and
- (iii) a crotch section interconnecting the front and back sections;
- (b) a nonwoven inner layer having its outer periphery bonded to the backsheet;
- (c) an absorbent layer positioned between the backsheet and the nonwoven inner layer;
- (d) a first side panel interconnecting one lateral edge of the front of the backsheet section to one lateral edge of the back section of the backsheet; and
- (e) a second side panel interconnecting the other lateral edge of the front section of the backsheet with the other lateral edge of the back section of the backsheet, the side panels and the front and back sections of the backsheet defining a circumferentially continuous waist adapted to fit around the body, each side panel being composed of a composite comprising
- (i) a first layer of a stretchable, elastic nonwoven composed of nonelastic fibers;
- (ii) a second layer of a stretchable elastic nonwoven composed of nonelastic fibers, and
- (iii) an elastomeric layer positioned between the first and second layers and having one surface bonded to the first layer and a second surface bonded to the second layer; whereby the composite is stretchable without requiring ruffles in any of the layers.
- 2. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the first and second layers of the elastic nonwovens exhibit elasticity in the circumferential direction of the waist and are substantially nonelastic in a direction perpendicular thereto.
- 3. The form fitting diaper of claim 2 wherein the nonelastic fibers of the first and second layers of the side panel nonwovens are spunbond or meltblown fibers having a fiber diameter of between 0.5 and 50 microns.
- 4. The form fitting diaper of claim 3 wherein the nonwovens are meltblown fibers having an average fiber diameter of between 0.5 and 15 microns.
- 5. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the layers of each side panel are bonded together by a layer of hot melt adhesives so that the composite behaves as a single fabric.
- 6. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the elastomeric layer is a film made of a thermoplastic elastomer.
- 7. The form fitting diaper of claim 6, wherein the elastomeric film is a thermoplastic elastomer selected from the styrene triblock copolymers.
- 8. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the first and second layers comprise thermoplastic fibers.
- 9. The form fitting diaper of claim 8 wherein the nonwoven layers comprise polyolefin fibers.
- 10. The form fitting diaper of claim 9 wherein the polyolefins are selected from the group consisting of homo and copolymers of propylene and ethylene.
- 11. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the first and second nonwoven layers of the side panels are made of fibers of different compositions, respectively.
- 12. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the first and second nonwoven layers are of the same composition.
- 13. The form fitting diaper of claim 1 wherein the composite exhibits substantially unidirectional elasticity of at least 100% with at least 90% recovery.
RELATED APPLICATION
This is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/492,745, filed Jun. 21, 1995, now abandoned.
US Referenced Citations (10)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
492745 |
Jun 1995 |
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