Claims
- 1. An absorbent web having a dry feel when wet comprising:
a) an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions; and b) hydrophobic matter deposited preferentially on the elevated regions of the upper surface of said basesheet.
- 2. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said basesheet is a wet-laid tissue sheet.
- 3. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said basesheet is an airlaid structure.
- 4. The absorbent web of claim 1 further characterized by a Wet Springback Ratio of about 0.7 or greater.
- 5. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobic matter is discontiguous.
- 6. The absorbent web of claim 1 further characterized by a Rewet value of about 0.65 g or less and a Normalized Rewet value of about 0.6 or less.
- 7. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said basesheet has an Overall Surface Depth of about 0.2 mm or greater, an In-Plane Permeability of at least 0.5×10−10 m2, and a Wet Compressed Bulk of about 5 cc/g or greater.
- 8. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said hydrophobic matter comprises synthetic fibers fixedly attached to the upper surface of said basesheet such that about 50% or less of the surface area of the basesheet is covered with the synthetic fibers.
- 9. The absorbent web of claim 1 further comprising hydrophobic matter on a portion of the lower surface of said basesheet.
- 10. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said web has an Overall Surface Depth of about 0.2 mm or less while dry and an Overall Surface Depth of about 0.3 mm or greater when wetted to a moisture content of 100%.
- 11. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said basesheet has a wet:dry tensile ratio of at least 0.1.
- 12. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein said elevated regions comprise from 5 to 300 protrusions per square inch having a characteristic height of at least 0.2 mm relative to said depressed regions.
- 13. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein at least 30% of the upper surface of said basesheet remains substantially free of hydrophobic matter and said web has a Rewet value of 0.6 g or less.
- 14. The absorbent web of claim 1 wherein essentially all of said hydrophobic matter resides above the 50% material line of a characteristic cross-section of said web.
- 15. The absorbent web of claim 1 further comprising superabsorbent particles attached to said basesheet.
- 16. An absorbent dual-zoned web providing a dry feel in use, said web having an upper surface comprising a plurality of hydrophobically treated regions surrounded by inherently hydrophilic cellulosic regions, wherein upon wetting said web expands such that the hydrophobically treated regions are preferentially elevated relative to said hydrophilic regions.
- 17. A calendered hand towel comprising the web of claim 16.
- 18. An absorbent web having a Rewet value of about 1 g or less, comprising:
a) an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions with an Overall Surface Depth of 0.2 mm or greater in the uncalendered and uncreped state, said basesheet further having a Wet Compressed Bulk of at least 6 cc/g; and b) hydrophobic matter deposited preferentially on the elevated regions of the upper surface of said basesheet.
- 19. The absorbent web of claim 18 wherein said basesheet is an airlaid structure.
- 20. An absorbent article comprising the absorbent web of claim 18.
- 21. An absorbent web having a dry feel when wet, comprising:
a) an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions with an Overall Surface Depth of about 0.2 mm or greater; b) a substantially contiguous network of hydrophobic fibers having a plurality of macroscopic openings attached to the upper surface of said basesheet such that a portion of the depressed regions of the basesheet are aligned with openings in the overlaying network of hydrophobic fibers to allow body exudates to pass through the macroscopic openings into the basesheet.
- 22. The absorbent web of claim 21 wherein said network of hydrophobic fibers comprises a plurality of macroscopic openings having a characteristic width of about 0.2 mm or greater.
- 23. The absorbent web of claim 21 wherein said basesheet is further characterized by a wet:dry tensile strength ratio of at least about 0.1 or greater and a Wet Springback Ratio of about 0.55 or greater.
- 24. The absorbent web of claim 21 further characterized by a Rewet value of about 0.65 g or less and a Normalized Rewet value of about 0.6 or less, said basesheet further comprising about 20% or greater by weight high yield pulp fibers.
- 25. The absorbent web of claim 21, wherein the superficial basis weight of said hydrophobic matter is from about 1 to about 10 gsm and said basesheet has a basis weight of from about 10 to about 70 gsm.
- 26. The absorbent web of claim 21 wherein said basesheet is an airlaid structure.
- 27. The absorbent web of claim 21 wherein said basesheet is a wet-laid web.
- 28. The absorbent web of claim 1 or 21, wherein said basesheet further comprises apertures and said lower surface of the basesheet further comprises wet-resilient protrusions adjacent said apertures.
- 29. An absorbent web having a dry feel when wet, comrpnsing:
a) an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions, said basesheet further having a wet:dry tensile ratio of at least 0.1, and b) a contiguous network of hydrophobic matter deposited preferentially on the elevated regions of the upper surface of said basesheet.
- 30. An absorbent article with a body-side liner comprising the web of either claim 21 or claim 29.
- 31. An absorbent article comprising a liquid impermeable backsheet, a cellulosic absorbent core in superposed relation with said backsheet, and a liquid permeable absorbent web, said absorbent web comprising an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers, said basesheet having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions, further comprising an apertured contiguous web of hydrophobic nonwoven material attached to the upper surface of the basesheet such that a portion of said apertures overlay the depressed regions of the basesheet, wherein the basesheet is superposed on the absorbent core with the lower surface of the basesheet facing the absorbent core.
- 32. An absorbent article comprising a liquid impermeable backsheet, a cellulosic absorbent core in superposed relation with said backsheet, and a liquid permeable absorbent web, said absorbent web comprising an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having a wet:dry tensile ratio of at least 0. 1, said basesheet having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions and hydrophobic matter deposited preferentially on the elevated regions, wherein the basesheet is superposed on the absorbent core with the lower surface of the basesheet facing the absorbent core.
- 33. An intake material for an absorbent article comprising an apertured nonwoven upper layer and a three-dimensional through-dried lower cellulosic basesheet layer having a pattern of elevated and depressed regions, wherein the apertures of the upper layer are substantially registered with depressed regions in the lower cellulosic layer.
- 34. The intake material of claim 33, wherein the nonwoven upper layer is a hydroentangled web of synthetic fibers.
- 35. An absorbent article comprising the intake material of claim 33 and a densified absorbent material adjacent to the basesheet and remote from the nonwoven upper layer, wherein said densified absorbent material has a density greater than the density of the basesheet.
- 36. A method for producing an absorbent web having a dry feel when wet comprising the steps of
a) preparing an inherently hydrophilic basesheet comprising papermaking fibers and having an upper surface and a lower surface, said upper surface having elevated and depressed regions; and b) depositing hydrophobic matter preferentially on the elevated regions of the upper surface of said basesheet.
- 37. The method of claim 36, wherein said step of preparing the basesheet comprises the steps of depositing an aqueous slurry of papermaking fibers on a foraminous web to produce an embryonic web; molding said web on a three-dimensional substrate; and drying said web.
- 38. A method for producing an absorbent article comprising the steps of:
a) preparing a wet resilient cellulosic basesheet having elevated and depressed regions with an Overall Surface Depth of at least 0.2 mm and having an upper surface and a lower surface; b) integrally attaching a contiguous, fibrous nonwoven web having a plurality of openings onto the upper surface of the cellulosic basesheet such a portion of the openings are superposed over the depressed regions of the cellulosic basesheet; c) attaching the lower surface of the basesheet to an absorbent core and an 10 impervious web, such that the absorbent core is sandwiched between the impervious web and the basesheet.
- 39. A method for producing an intake material for an absorbent article, comprising the steps of
a) forming an embryonic paper web from an aqueous slurry of papermaking fibers; b) through-drying the embryonic paper web on a three-dimensional through- drying fabric having a pattern of elevated and depressed regions; c) completing the drying of the web; d) aperturing a nonwoven web by means of hydroentangling, wherein the nonwoven web overlays a carrier fabric having substantially the same pattern of elevated and depressed regions as the through-drying fabric of step (b); e) joining the apertured nonwoven web with the through-dried paper web such that the apertures of the nonwoven web are substantially aligned with the depressed regions of the through-dried paper web.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/353,278 entitled “DUAL-ZONED ABSORBENT WEBS” filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Jul. 14, 1999, which application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 08/997,287 entitled “DUAL-ZONED ABSORBENT WEBS” filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Dec. 23, 1997, which application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/821,483 entitled “DUAL-ZONED ABSORBENT WEBS” filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Mar. 21, 1997. The entirety of application Ser. No. 09/353,278 is hereby incorporated by reference.
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08997287 |
Dec 1997 |
US |
Child |
09353278 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09353278 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Child |
10042875 |
Jan 2002 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08821483 |
Mar 1997 |
US |
Child |
08997287 |
Dec 1997 |
US |