PACKED BREAST MILK ABSORBENT PAD AND METHOD FOR PACKING

Abstract

A packed breast milk absorbent pad according to the present invention includes a breast milk absorbent pad and an individual packing envelope adapted to pack the breast milk absorbent pad therein. The breast milk absorbent pad is laid upon an envelope sheet so as to extend astride a first fold and thereby to lie both first and second regions of the packing sheet and is temporarily bonded to the inner surface of the first region by means of a temporary fastening zone.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a packaged breast milk absorbent pad.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the breast milk absorbent pad with a skin-noncontactable surface thereof lying in the figure's plane;

FIG. 4 is a developed plan view of an envelope for individually packing the pad;

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing another embodiment of the packaged pad;

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view showing still another embodiment of the packaged pad; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, showing further another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described hereunder on the basis of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a packaged breast milk absorbent pad, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the breast milk absorbent pad with a skin-noncontactable surface lying in the figure's plane.

Referring to FIG. 1, a packaged breast milk absorbent pad 1 comprises a breast milk absorbent pad 2 and an individual packing envelope 3.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the breast milk absorbent pad 2 comprises a body fluid absorbent layer 4 and a body fluid leak-barrier sheet 5 (i.e., outer sheet). The absorbent layer 4 comprises, in turn, a body fluid absorbent structure 6 and a body fluid pervious inner sheet 7 covering an inner surface of the body fluid absorbent structure 6. The absorbent structure 6 comprises, in turn, a body fluid absorbent core 8.

The core 8 comprises fluff pulp fibers as a base material and super-absorbent polymer particles or the like mixed with the fluff pulp fibers so as to form a panel having a basis weight preferably in a range of 200 to 300 g/m². While not illustrated, it is particularly preferred to cover the core 8 with a body fluid spreadable shape retaining sheet in order to prevent the polymer particles from falling off.

The inner sheet 7 is laid so as to face and come in contact with the wearer's skin and made of a thermoplastic synthetic fibrous nonwoven fabric, preferably such as a spun bond or air-through nonwoven fabric having a basis weight preferably in a range of 10 to 35 g/m². The inner sheet 7 is intermittently coated with a hot melt adhesive (not shown) by which the inner sheet 7 is kept to cover the absorbent structure 6.

The skin-noncontactable surface of the absorbent structure 6 is covered with the body fluid leak-barrier sheet (i.e., the outer sheet) 5 which is preferably made of a plastic film having a thickness in a range of 30 to 100 μm or a thermoplastic synthetic fibrous nonwoven fabric, particularly a spun bond/melt blown/spun bond (SMS) laminated nonwoven fabric having a basis weight of 10 to 35 g/m², or a composite sheet consisting of these plastic film and nonwoven fabric.

The breast milk absorbent pad 2 is folded into two in such a manner that upper and lower ends 10a, 10b (See FIG. 3) are placed upon each other and the inner sheet 7 lies inside so as to define first and second sections 2A, 2B. The outer sheet 5 in the first section 2A is provided aside toward the upper end 10a of the pad 2 with a temporary fastening zone 11 formed by a pressure-sensitive adhesive (hot melt adhesive) in order that the pad may be reliably held against any undesirable displacement with respect to a brassiere. The temporary fastening zone 11 is covered with a releasable sheet 12 which is, in turn, permanently fixed to the inner surface of the individual packing envelope 3 by a permanent fastening zone 13 formed by a hot melt adhesive. In this way, the temporary fastening zone 11 is separable from the releasable sheet 12. A finger grip zone 14 is defined between the upper end 10a and the temporary fastening zone 11. This finger grip zone 14 is appropriately dimensioned so that the upper end 10a of the breast milk absorbent pad 2 can be held by the wearer's fingers without touching the temporary fastening zone 11 when the wearer's unpacks the breast milk absorbent pad 2 from the envelope.

An end 13a of the permanent fastening zone 13 on the side of the upper end 10a of the pad 2 preferably extends beyond an end 11a of the permanent fastening zone 11 toward the upper end 10a of the pad 2. This is for the reason as follows: Intending to unpack the pad 2 out from the envelope 3 by gripping the upper end 10a with the fingers of the wearer's one hand, the wearer may often hold a first region 19 of the envelope 3 with the fingers of the other hand. In this case, a peel force is exerted directly upon the end 11a of the temporary fastening zone 11 in the course of unpacking the pad 2 from the envelope 3 since the end 13a of the permanent fastening zone 13 extends beyond the end 11a of the temporary fastening zone 11 toward the upper end 10a of the pad 2. In other words, assumed that the end 11a of the temporary fastening zone 11a extends beyond the end 13a of the permanent fastening zone 13 toward the upper end 10a of the pad 2, the peel force will be exerted upon the end 13a of the permanent fastening zone 13 lying adjacent to the upper end 10a of the pad 2 and make it difficult to peel the temporary fastening zone 11 off from the releasable sheet 12.

FIG. 4 is a developed plan view of the individual packing envelope 3. As will be apparent from FIG. 4, the individual packing envelope 3 is made of a flexible and heat-sealable packing sheet 3A which is substantially rectangular as viewed in a direction X. The individual packing envelope 3 is contoured by first and second side edges 15a, 15b, first and second ends 16a, 16b, and divided into imaginary first, second and third regions 19, 20, 21 divided by imaginary first and second folds 17, 18 spaced apart one from another in the direction X. The third region 21 has a dimension in the direction X smaller than the first and second regions 19, 20 have.

The packing sheet 3A preferably comprises a plastic film having a thickness in a range of 30 to 100 μm, or preferably comprises a thermoplastic synthetic fibrous nonwoven fabric having a basis weight in a range of 10 to 35 g/m², particularly such as a spun bond/melt blown/spun bond (SMS) laminated nonwoven fabric, or a laminate consisting of these plastic film and nonwoven fabric.

Using the individual packing envelope 3 formed from the packing sheet 3A in the manner as has been described above, the breast milk absorbent pad 2 is packed therein in a manner as will be described below.

Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, the breast milk absorbent pad 2 is placed upon the packing sheet 3A so that a fold 22 (See FIG. 3) along which the breast milk absorbent pad 2 is to be folded into two may lie just on the first fold 17 of the packing sheet 3A, the first and second sections 2A, 2B of the breast milk absorbent pad 2 may lie respectively on the first and second regions 19, 20 of the packing sheet 3A and the temporary fastening zone 11 may be fixed to the permanent fastening zone 13 previously formed on the packing sheet 3A by intermediary of the releasable sheet 12. From such a state, the third region 21 of the packing sheet 3A is folded back with a distal end of this third region 21 placed on the second section 2B of the breast milk absorbent pad 2, then the assembly is folded into two so that the first region 19 of the packing sheet 3A may be folded back toward the second region 20 and simultaneously the first section 2A of the pad 2 may be folded back just above the second section 2B of the pad 2.

The packing sheet 3A having been folded in this manner is then subjected to a heat-sealing treatment along the first and second side edges 15a, 15b to form seal lines 26a, 26b and the first end 16a of the packing envelope 3A is temporarily bonded to the opposed outer surface of the third region 21 of the packing sheet 3A by a pressure-sensitive adhesive zone 23 formed by hot melt adhesive so as to define a pad unpacking outlet 24.

In the embodiment according to which the first end 16a defining the unpacking outlet 24 is sealed by the pressure-sensitive adhesive zone 23, it is unlikely that dust might enter into the envelope.

Alternatively, the first end 16a may be free instead of bonding to the outer surface of the third region 21.

In this case, the step of bonding the first end 16a to the third region 21 may be saved.

The individual packing envelope 3 is formed from the packing sheet 3A in the manner as has been described above and then the pad 2 is packed therein in the twofold state. In the state of the pad 2 packed in this manner, first and second access sites 25A, 25B are defined within the envelope 3 so that respective portions of the pad 2 in vicinities of the upper and lower ends 10a, 10b thereof may occupy these access sites 25A, 25B.

The pad 2 packed in the envelope 3 in this manner may be unpacked from the bag 3, for example, by handling as will be described below (See FIG. 2). Specifically, the wearer may hold the first end 16a of the first region 19 and pull this first end 16a upward as viewed in FIG. 2 to peel the adhesive zone 23 off in the embodiment according to which the first region 19 and the third region 21 are bonded together along the ends thereof (handling of such peeling off is not required in the embodiment according to which the adhesive zone 23 is not provided) until an opening defined between the first and third regions 19, 21 are sufficiently broadened. Then the upper end 10a of the pad 2 may be held and pulled rightward as viewed in FIG. 2 to unpack the pad 2 from the envelope 3 through the pad unpacking outlet 24 (the first case).

Alternatively, without further broadening the opening defined between the first and third regions 19, 21, the wearer's fingers may be inserted into the envelope 3 through the unpacking outlet 24, the upper end 10a of the pad 2 may be held with the wearer's fingers and pulled rightward as viewed in FIG. 2 to unpack the pad 2 through the pad unpacking outlet 24 (the second case). In this case, a relatively high shearing force is exerted on the first region 19 instead of the peel force as in the first case. In view of this, it is preferred to use materials having a relative high tensile strength as the packing sheet 3A.

In an embodiment schematically illustrated by FIG. 5 is distinguished from the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 in that the third region 21 underlies the pad 2. In this case, it is possible to bond the third region 21 to the second region 20 by hot melt adhesive 27.

FIG. 6 is a schematic sectional view of the packed breast milk absorbent pad. Referring to FIG. 6A, the pad 2 is provided in the first and second sections 2A, 2B with the temporary fastening zones 11 while referring to FIG. 6B, the temporary fastening zone 11 continuously extends in the longitudinal direction.

The temporary fastening zone 11 may extend over the substantially entire outer surface of the pad 2 except the first end 16a of the packing sheet 3A so far as at least a part thereof is present in a vicinity of the upper end 10a of the pad 2. While not illustrated, a plurality of the temporary fastening zones 11 may be arranged along at least one of the upper and lower ends 10a, 10b of the pad 2 in the transverse direction of in the longitudinal direction so far as at least a part thereof is present in the vicinity of the upper end 10a of the pad 2.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 2, illustrating another embodiment. The packing sheet 3A is coated on its inner surface with a release agent such as silicone to form a peel ply 30 and the temporary fastening zone 11 is fixed directly to this peel ply 30. In this case, the releasable sheet 12 is not necessary for actual use of the pad.

For bonding and attachment of the respective components, adhesives such as hot melt adhesive and pressure-sensitive adhesive, and heat-sealing techniques may selectively utilized.

A peel strength of the releasable sheet 12 with respect to the temporary fastening zone 11 is preferably in a range of 0.1 to 0.5 N allowing the pad 2 to be peeled off from the envelope 3 without damaging the sealed line along the first and second side edges 15a, 15b of the packing sheet 3A.

A peel strength of the seal lines 26a, 26b along the first and second side edges 15a, 15b of the packing sheet 3A is preferably in a range of 1.0 to 2.2 N. If the peel strength is 1.0 N or less, there is a possibility that the seal lines 26a, 26b might be broken at the same time as seal of the pad unpacking outlet 24 is broken in order to unpack the pad 2. If the peel strength is 2.2 N or higher, there is an anxiety that the packing sheet 3A might be damaged.

The peel strength is measured using Universal Material Tester available from INSTRON JAPAN by a method as will be described below.

<Peel Strength of the Releasable Sheet with Respect to the Temporary Fastening Zone>

After the product has been left for 30 min at a temperature of 20° C. and a humidity of 60% for stabilization, the seal line 26 is removed from the product, the first region 19 is cut away. The upper end 10a of the pad 2 and the first end 16a of the packing sheet 3A fastened to the pad 2 or the end of the releasable sheet 12 aside toward the pad unpacking outlet 24 are held by chucks (a distance between chucks: 20 mm and a tensile rate: 500 mm/min) to measure the maximum load. Five measurements according to this method are repeated and an average value is obtained as the peel strength of the releasable sheet 12 with respect to the temporary fastening zone 11.

<Peel Strength of the Seal Line>

After the product has been left for 30 min at a temperature of 20° C. and a humidity of 60% for stabilization, a test piece defined by a dimension of 25 mm measured from the seal line 26 at the pad unpacking outlet 24 in a direction in which the seal line 26 is to be peeled off and a dimension of 75 mm measured from the seal line 26 toward a center of the product is cut away from the product. Of the test piece having cutaway from the product in this manner, the first and second ends 16a, 16b of the packing sheet 3A are held by chucks (a distance between chucks: 30 mm and a tensile rate: 300 mm/min) to measure the maximum load. Five measurements according to this method are repeated and an average value is obtained as the peel strength of the seal line 26.

The present invention can provide the packed breast milk absorbent pad adapted to be easily unpacked from the packing envelope and to be used also as the envelope to contain the used pad for disposal.

The entire discloses of Japanese Patent application No. 2006-160350 filed on Jun. 8, 2006 including specification, drawings and abstract are herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Claims

1. A packed breast milk absorbent pad comprising: a breast milk absorbent pad having upper and lower ends, a skin-contactable surface as well as a skin-noncontactable surface;an individual packing envelope packing said breast milk absorbent pad therein;said individual packing envelope being formed of a packing sheet having a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, first and second side edges extending in said longitudinal direction, and first and second ends extending in said transverse direction;said packing sheet being divided by imaginary first and second folds extending in said transverse direction from said first end to said second end and spaced apart from each other in said longitudinal direction into imaginary first, second and third region;said breast milk absorbent pad having upper and lower ends, first and second sections defined by folding said pad into two with said skin-contactable surface inside, and a temporary fastening zone formed by adhesive on said skin-noncontactable surface of said first section aside toward said upper end in order to fasten said breast milk absorbent pad to an associated brassiere;said first region of said packing sheet being folded back toward said skin-noncontactable surface in said first section of said breast milk absorbent pad, then temporarily fastened, in this folded state, to a peel ply provided on an inner surface of said first section of said packing sheet by said temporary fastening zone, and said third region of said packing sheet being folded back toward said second region; andsaid first, second and third region being sealed together along said first and second side edges of said packing sheet to form seal lines.

2. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein said third region of said packing sheet is folded back toward said second region of said sheet so that a distal end of said third region extends between said first section and said second section of said breast milk absorbent pad.

3. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein said peel ply is formed by a releasble sheet permanently fastened to the inner surface of said first region of said packing sheet by a permanent fastening zone formed by adhesive.

4. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein said peel ply is formed by coating of adhesive.

5. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein an end of said permanent fastening zone for said releasable sheet aside toward said upper end of said breast milk absorbent pad extends outward beyond an end of said temporary fastening zone aside toward said upper end of said breast milk absorbent pad.

6. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein a peel strength of said releasable sheet with respect to said temporary fastening zone is in a range of 0.1 to 0.5 N and a peel strength of the seal along said first and second side edges of said packing sheet is in a range of 1.0 to 2.2 N.

7. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein said first end of said packing sheet defining said unpacking outlet for said breast milk absorbent pad is temporarily bonded to an outer surface of said third region of said sheet.

8. The packed breast milk absorbent pad as defined by claim 1, wherein said first end of said packing sheet defining said unpacking outlet for said breast milk absorbent pad is free rather than being temporarily bonded to the outer surface of said third region of said sheet.

9. A method for packing a breast milk absorbent pad comprising a breast milk absorbent pad having upper and lower ends, a skin-contactable surface as well as a skin-noncontactable surface into an individual packing envelope formed of a packing sheet, said method comprising the steps of: providing, as stock material for said individual packing envelope, a heat-sealable packing sheet having a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, first and second side edges extending in said longitudinal direction, and first and second ends extending in said transverse direction;defining imaginary first, second and third regions on said packing sheet by imaginary first and second folds extending in the transverse direction from said first end to said second end and spaced apart from each other in said longitudinal direction;laying said breast milk absorbent pad having upper and lower ends upon said packing sheet so as to extend astride said first fold in said longitudinal direction and thereby to lie on both said first and second regions of said packing sheet, then folding said third region of said packing sheet along said second fold toward said second region, and thereafter folding said first region of said packing sheet together with said breast milk absorbent pad along said first fold toward said second region so as to fold said breast milk absorbent pad into first and second sections whereupon said first region of said packing sheet is temporarily fixed to said skin-noncontactable surface of said breast milk absorbent pad in said first section thereof aside toward said upper end by intermediary of a temporary fastening zone formed by a pressure-sensitive adhesive on said skin-noncontactable surface for temporarily fixing said breast milk absorbent pad to an associated brassiere, and by intermediary of a peel ply formed on said first region of said packing sheet on a surface thereof opposed to said temporary fastening zone; andsealing said first and second regions of said packing sheet together along said first and second side edges thereof so as to form seal lines.

10. The method as defined by claim 9, wherein said seal is provided in the form of heat seal.