REFASTENABLE FASTENING SYSTEM FOR WEARING ARTICLE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wearing article which can be worn so as to suit to a body type (e.g. a size, a shape or the like) of a wearer and can be repeatedly worn and removed, and specifically relates to a wearing article including: a wear applied to a human upper body such as a jacket and a postural-corrective wear; a wear applied to a human lower body such as trousers, a skirt, a disposable diaper, disposable pants and a diaper cover; groves; cap; an affected part protector; and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

A wearing article such as a disposable diaper, a diaper cover, a postural-corrective wear and an affected part protector is usually applied to a wearer so as to suit to a body type (e.g. a size, a shape or the like) of the wearer, and is possibly worn and removed repeatedly. For example, in the case where a disposable diaper for nursing care is used in such a manner that an auxiliary pad (an incontinence pad) is deposited inside thereof, the disposable diaper is possibly worn for a certain period of time (e.g. half a day to 3 days) by replacing the auxiliary pad to a new one.

Conventionally, it is known a disposable diaper provided with a hook-and-loop fastener, in which a hook member and a loop member of the hook-and-loop fastener can be repeatedly joined and disjoined to each other. In such a disposable diaper, in order that the disposable diaper is repeatedly worn and removed, the hook-and-loop fastener is utilized. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a disposable diaper in which a fastening tape having a male component (a hook member) is folded back onto a top sheet so that the male component faces the top sheet and the folded fastening tape is locally pressed at a part where the male component is located, whereby the male component is temporarily joined to the top sheet (a loop member). Patent Literature 2 also discloses a fastening tape for a disposable diaper comprising a base sheet which is folded back at one end part, and a male component (a hook member) provided at the folded one end part, wherein the base sheet includes a nonwoven fabric (a loop member) which is capable of engaging with the male component. In such a disposable diaper provided with a hook-and-loop fastener, usually, a loop member is provided on an outer surface of a front part of the disposable diaper or the outer surface of the front part is composed of a nonwoven fabric which functions as a loop member, fastening tapes provided with a hook member are attached to lateral ends of a back part of the disposable diaper, and the disposable diaper can be worn by positioning the hook member on the loop member having a wider area so as to fit a wearer's body.

CITATION LIST
Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-87308

PTL 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-45214

SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Technical Problem

However, in the conventional disposable diaper provided with a hook-and-loop fastener, even when a caregiver applies the disposable diaper to a wearer by positioning the hook member accurately so as to fit a wearer's body, it is needed to determine a suitable position of the hook member again in re-wearing the disposable diaper after the hook member is disjoined once.

The present invention has been achieved in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wearing article which can be easily worn in a suitable wearing state so as to fit a wearer's body even when the wearing article is worn again if a suitable wearing state is once determined.

Solution to Problem

A wearing article of the present invention which solves the above problems comprises a main unit having a fastening part, and a positioning sheet member having one surface and the other surface, wherein the one surface of the positioning sheet member is detachably joined to the fastening part, and the other surface of the positioning sheet is provided with a fixing means which is capable of being fixed to the main unit when the wearing article is worn. In the present invention, when the wearing article is worn for the first time, the positioning sheet member is positioned suitably so as to fit a wearer's body to be fixed to the main unit. After that, when the positioning sheet member is disjoined to the fastening part for removing the wearing article once, the positioning sheet member remains to be fixed to the main unit. Therefore, the fastening part can be rejoined to the positioning sheet member when the wearing article is worn again, thereby easily reproducing the original suitable wearing state.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that the one surface of the positioning sheet member is provided with a loop member and the fastening part is provided with a hook member, or the one surface of the positioning sheet member is provided with a hook member and the fastening part is provided with a loop member. Thereby, the one surface of the positioning sheet member and the fastening part is joined to each other with the hook member and the loop member of a hook-and-loop fastener, and therefore, joining force comes to be easily maintained even when joining and disjoining of the fastening part and the positioning sheet member are repeated many times.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that the fixing means is an adhesive layer. When the fixing means which is capable of being fixed to the main unit is an adhesive layer, the positioning sheet member can be easily fixed to the main unit.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that the main unit has a pinching part provided so as to connect to the fastening part. When the pinching part is provided so as to connect to the fastening part, the fastening part is easily joined and disjoined to the positioning sheet member while the pinching part being pinched.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that a plurality of the fastening part is provided, and/or a plurality of the positioning sheet member is provided. Thereby, the wearing article can be worn by joining the fastening part and the positioning sheet member at multiple sites surely, to fit a wearer's body with high fittability. The numbers of the fastening part and the positioning sheet member may be same or different from each other. For example, the plurality of positioning sheet member may be joined to one fastening part; or, the plurality of fastening part may be joined to one positioning sheet member.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that an area of the positioning sheet member is larger than that of the fastening part. Thereby, it is easily prevented that the fastening part is placed off the positioning sheet member to be only partly joined to the positioning sheet member when the fastening part is joined to the positioning sheet member for wearing again after the wearing article is removed once. This is because the fastening part having a smaller area is easily placed onto the positioning sheet member having a larger area.

In the wearing article of the present invention, it is preferred that a marking indicating a position which the fastening part is detachably joined to is provided on the one surface of the positioning sheet member. Thereby, when the fastening part is joined to the positioning sheet member for wearing again after the wearing article is removed once, a wearer can have the fastening part place onto the positioning sheet member while using the marking as a target. Accordingly, it can be prevented that the fastening part is placed off the positioning sheet member to be only partly joined to the positioning sheet member.

The wearing article of the present invention can be applied to a disposable diaper, and further, can be also applied to a diaper cover, a postural-corrective wear and an affected part protector.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the wearing article of the present invention, when the positioning sheet member is once positioned suitably so as to fit a wearer's body, even in wearing the wearing article again after removing, the wearing article can be easily worn in the suitable wearing state so as to fit a wearer's body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a wearing article of the present invention in the state before the wearing article is worn.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the wearing article of the present invention in the state where the wearing article is worn.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the wearing article of the present invention in the state where the wearing article is took off after being worn.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of one embodiment of a disposable diaper, which is an example of a wearing article of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view taken from line V-V of the disposable diaper shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of one embodiment of a postural-corrective wear, which is an example of a wearing article of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A wearing article of the present invention is applied to a human body and preferably used for such an application that the article is applied so as to suit to a body type (e.g. a size, a shape or the like) of a wearer and is repeatedly worn and removed. Examples of the wearing article include: a wear applied to a human upper body such as a jacket and a postural-corrective wear; a wear applied to a human lower body such as trousers, a skirt and a diaper cover; groves; cap; and the like. The wearing article can be also applied to a disposable article such as a disposable diaper, disposable pants and an affected part protector.

The wearing article of the present invention comprises a main unit and a positioning sheet member, and can be worn by applying the main unit of the wearing article to a part of a wearer's body so as to overlap one part of the wearing article with another part of the wearing article and joining the one part of the wearing article to the another part of the wearing article with the positioning sheet member.

The wearing article of the present invention is hereinafter explained referring to FIGS. 1 to 3. However, the wearing article of the present invention is not restricted to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a wearing article in the state before the wearing article is worn. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the wearing article in the state where the wearing article is worn. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the wearing article in the state where the wearing article is took off after being worn once.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wearing article 10 of the present invention comprises a main unit 1, which includes a part 1a and a part 1b, having a fastening part 2 provided at the part 1a, and a positioning sheet member 3 having one surface and the other surface, wherein the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is detachably joined to the fastening part 2, and the other surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with a fixing means 4 which is capable of being fixed to the part 1b of the main unit 1 when the wearing article 10 is worn.

The main unit 1 may be composed of one member or may be composed of a plurality of members. For example, a plurality of members may connect to each other to form the main unit 1.

The main unit 1 has the fastening part 2, and the positioning sheet member 3 is detachably joined to the fastening part 2. In the present invention, the fastening part 2 means a region of the main unit 1 where the positioning sheet member 3 is detachably joined to.

For example, in the wearing article 10 shown in FIG. 1, a hook-and-loop fastener is employed as a member for having the positioning sheet member 3 detachably join to the fastening part 2. Thus, in FIG. 1, the fastening part 2 is provided with a hook member 6, the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with a loop member 5, and the hook member 6 is engaged with the loop member 5 before the wearing article 10 is worn.

In the present invention, the positioning sheet member 3 is sheet-shaped and includes a member which is capable of being detachably joined to the fastening part 2 and the fixing means 4 which is capable of being fixed to the part 1b of the main unit 1. For example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the loop member 5 corresponds to the member which is capable of being detachably joined to the fastening part 2. As the fixing means 4 which is capable of being fixed to the part 1b of the main unit 1, an adhesive layer may be employed, for example. In the present invention, members including the loop member 5 and the adhesive layer are referred to as the positioning sheet member 3.

For example, when either the member which is capable of being detachably joined to the fastening part 2 or the fixing means 4 is functions as the loop member, a nonwoven fabric may be used as the loop member. Further, for example, a nonwoven fabric may be used for the part 1b of the main unit 1, when the fastening part 2 functions as the loop member. Furthermore, the fastening part 2 may be provided with the hook member, for example, and in such a case, a nonwoven fabric provided with an adhesive layer or the like of the fixing means 4 can be used as the positioning sheet member 3. In this case, the positioning sheet member 3 is fixed to the part 1b of the main unit 1 with the surface provided with the fixing means 4, and the opposite surface of the positioning sheet member 3 functions as the loop member and is engaged with the hook member of the fastening part 2. Furthermore, both of the fastening part 2 and the part 1b of the main unit 1 may be provided with hook members. In this case, a nonwoven fabric itself is utilized as the positioning sheet member 3.

The wearing article 10 of the present invention can be worn by joining two parts, that is the part 1a and the part 1b, of the main unit 1 to each other, and then, the wearing article 10 can be removed from a wearer by disjoining the part 1a and the part 1b, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. Operations of the positioning sheet member 3 in each state is explained as follows. In the wearing article 10 in the state before the part 1a and the part 1b of the main unit 1 are joined, that is in an unworn state, the positioning sheet member 3 is joined to the fastening part 2, that is the part 1a of the main unit 1, whereas the positioning sheet member 3 is not joined to the part 1b of the main unit 1. For joining the part 1a and the part 1b of the main unit 1, the positioning sheet member 3 is moved onto the part 1b while the positioning sheet member 3 is kept joined to the fastening part 2, and then, the positioning sheet member 3 is fixed to the part 1b with the fixing means 4. During the wearing article 10 being worn, the positioning sheet member 3 is in the state of being positioned to the part 1b as shown in FIG. 2. After that, the wearing article 10 can be removed by disjoining the fastening part 2 from the positioning sheet member 3, and as a result, the positioning sheet member 3 remains to be fixed to the part 1b as shown in FIG. 3. When the positioning sheet member 3 remains to be fixed to the part 1b in this manner, a wearer is able to have the fastening part 2 rejoin to the positioning sheet member 3 while targeting the positioning sheet member 3 in wearing the wearing article 10 again, thereby easily reproducing the original suitable wearing state.

In the present invention, the fastening part 2 is provided at one of the part 1a and the part 1b, which are overlapped and joined to each other when the wearing article 10 is worn, of the main unit 1. Especially, among the part 1a and the part 1b which are overlapped each other in wearing the wearing article 10, the fastening part 2 is preferably provided at further (outer) positioned one from a wearer, because it becomes easy for the wearer to determine a position of fixing the positioning sheet member 3 while tightening the wearing article 10 so as to fit the wearer's body. Therefore, the fastening part 2 is preferably disposed on an inner surface, that is the surface of a wearer's side, of the main unit 1.

In the present invention, it is preferred that the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with the loop member 5 and the fastening part 2 is provided with the hook member 6. Alternatively, though it is not shown in the drawings, it is also preferred that the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with the hook member and the fastening part 2 is provided with the loop member. Thereby, the positioning sheet member 3 and the fastening part 2 can be engaged with each other with the hook member and the loop member. Thus, as the member for having the positioning sheet member 3 detachably join to the fastening part 2, the hook-and-loop fastener is preferably used, as described above. When the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 are joined to each other with the hook-and-loop fastener, joining force is easily maintained even when joining and disjoining of the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 are repeated many times.

Nevertheless, the member for having the positioning sheet member 3 detachably join to the fastening part 2 is not limited to the hook-and-loop fastener, and detachably joining means such as an adhesive of low-tackiness, which is used for, for example, a temporal adhesive tape, a tape which is both attachable and detachable, and the like, can be employed without any limitation. When such an adhesive is employed, a layer of the adhesive, that is an adhesive layer, is formed on at least one of the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3. In this case, in order that the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 are formed to be detachable to each other, the other of the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3, which is not provided with the adhesive layer, is preferably provided with a plastic film or composed of a plastic film.

As the hook member 6 and the loop member 5, a well-known hook member (a male member) in which a lot of hooks are disposed on a platform and a well-known loop member (a female member) in which a lot of loops are disposed on a platform may be used, respectively. A material used for the platform of the hook member and the loop member is not particularly limited and may be selected appropriately in view of a type, a subject and the like of the wearing article. For example, in the case where the wearing article is a disposable diaper, a variety of nonwoven fabrics, synthetic resins such as polyolefin, or the like may be used as the material of the platform, and among them, a nonwoven fabric or a synthetic resin film having a lot of pores is preferably used, in view of lowering humidity during the wearing article is worn. The fastening part 2 provided with the hook member 6 or the loop member provided is prepared by, for example, attaching the hook member or the loop member to a part or an entirety of the fastening part 2 of the main unit 1 by a hot-melt adhesive or heat-sealing.

The main unit 1 preferably has a pinching part provided so as to connect to the fastening part 2. Thus, it is preferred that the fastening part 2 is provided such that at least a part of the edge of the fastening part 2 is placed inward from the edge of the main unit 1, thereby forming the pinching part between the edge of the main unit 1 and the fastening part 2. When the pinching part is provided so as to connect to the fastening part 2, operations of joining and disjoining of the fastening part 2 to the positioning sheet member 3 is easily carried out while pinching the pinching part. For example, a part indicated by the reference number “7” in FIG. 4, which is explained below in detail, is the pinching part. Materials of the fastening part 2 and the pinching part are not particularly limited and may be selected appropriately in view of a type, a subject and the like of the wearing article. For example, in the case where the wearing article is a disposable diaper, a variety of nonwoven fabrics, synthetic resins such as polyolefin, or the like may be used as the materials of the fastening part 2 and the pinching part, and among them, a nonwoven fabric or a synthetic resin film having a lot of pores is preferably used, in view of lowering humidity during the wearing article is worn.

The positioning sheet member 3 is provided with the member detachably joining to the fastening part 2, which corresponds to the loop member 5 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, on one surface thereof and the fixing means 4 for having the positioning sheet member 3 fix to the part 1b of the main unit 1 on the other surface thereof. As the fixing means 4 for having the positioning sheet member 3 fix to the main unit 1, an adhesive layer is employed in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1. When the fixing means 4 is the adhesive layer like this, the positioning sheet member 3 can be easily and surely fixed to the main unit 1, that is preferable. The fixing means 4 is not particularly limited as long as it can be fixed by a simple operation such as pressing. The fixing means 4 does not need to be detachable; however, the hook member or the loop member provided on the main unit 1 may be used as the fixing means 4, for example. The fixing means 4 is not limited to the above-described adhesive layer, the hook member and the loop member, and other known fixing means can be employed. In the case where the fixing means 4 is the adhesive layer, it is preferable that a release sheet or the like, which is not shown in FIG. 1, may be provided so as to cover the fixing means (the adhesive layer) 4 to protect the adhesive layer 4 prior to use.

An area of the positioning sheet member 3 is preferably larger than that of the fastening part 2. Thereby, the fastening part 2 having a smaller area comes to be placed onto the positioning sheet member 3 having a larger area when the fastening part 2 is joined to the positioning sheet member 3 which is fixed to the part 1b of the main unit 1 for wearing again after the wearing article 10 is removed once. Thus, it is easily prevented that the fastening part 2 is placed off the positioning sheet member 3 to be only partly joined to the positioning sheet member 3 when the fastening part 2 is placed onto the positioning sheet member 3.

It is preferred that a marking indicating a position which the fastening part 2 is detachably joined to is provided on the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3, that is the surface detachably joining to the fastening part 2. Thereby, when the fastening part 2 is joined to the positioning sheet member 3 for wearing again after the wearing article 10 is removed once, a wearer can have the fastening part 2 place onto the positioning sheet member 3 while using the marking as a target. Accordingly, it can be prevented that the fastening part 2 is placed off the positioning sheet member 3 to be only partly joined to the positioning sheet member 3. A manner of providing the marking which indicates a position which the fastening part is detachably joined to is not limited; and the marking may be provided by printing or sewing a thread into the positioning sheet member 3.

It is preferred that a plurality of the fastening part is provided, and/or a plurality of the positioning sheet member is provided. Thereby, the wearing article 10 can be worn by joining the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 at multiple sites surely, to fit a wearer's body with high fittability. The numbers of the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 may be same or different from each other. For example, the plurality of positioning sheet member 3 may be joined to one fastening part 2; or, the plurality of fastening part 2 may be joined to one positioning sheet member 3.

The wearing article of the present invention is suitably used for such an application that the article is applied so as to suit a body type (e.g. a size, a shape or the like) of a wearer and is repeatedly worn and removed. Specifically, the wearing article of the present invention is used as a disposable diaper, a diaper cover, a postural-corrective wear, or an affected part protector.

An example of a disposable diaper, a preferred embodiment of the wearing article of the present invention, is hereinafter explained, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 shows a schematic view of one embodiment of a disposable diaper, which is an example of the wearing article of the present invention. FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view taken from line V-V of the disposable diaper shown in FIG. 4.

In FIGS. 4 and 5, a disposable diaper 20 comprises a diaper main body 13 composed of a laminate of a liquid-permeable top sheet 11 and a liquid-impermeable back sheet 12, and a fastening base sheet 14 which is used when the diaper main body 13 is applied to a wearer. Here, the diaper main body 13 corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1, and the fastening base sheet 14 corresponds to the part 1a of the main unit 1. The diaper main body 13 has a front part, a back part, and a crotch part positioned between the front part and the back part; and an absorbent core, which is not shown in the drawings, is interposed between the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12, for example. The fastening base sheet 14 are disposed between the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12 so as to extend from both lateral ends of the back part of the diaper main body 13. Concerning names of the front part, the back part and the crotch part, a part applied to an abdomen side of a wearer is called the front part, a part applied to a buttocks side of the wearer is called the back part, and a part positioned between the front part and the back part and applied to a crotch of the wearer is called the crotch part, in the state of wearing the disposable diaper.

In the disposable diaper 20, the fastening base sheet 14 connects to the diaper main body 13 to form the main unit. For wearing the disposable diaper 20, the fastening base sheet 14, a part of which corresponds to the part 1a of the main unit 1, is joined to a center region of the front part of the diaper main body 13, which corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1. For realizing this joining, the fastening base sheet 14 includes the fastening part 2, the positioning sheet member 3, which are described above, and further an adhesive layer of the fixing means 4; and moreover, a release sheet 8 is provided to protect the adhesive layer.

In FIG. 4, the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 in the state before the disposable diaper 20 is worn are shown on the right side in the drawing, whereas the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 in the state where the disposable diaper 20 is worn are shown on the left side in the drawing.

The state before the disposable diaper 20 is worn, that is shown on the right side in FIG. 4, is explained. The fastening base sheet 14 on the right side in FIG. 4 of the back part is folded, and two fastening parts 2 are formed at the folded part of the fastening base sheet 14. On the back of the fastening part 2, that is the folded inner side of the fastening part 2, a hook member 6 is provided, except the tip of the folded part. The tip where the hook member 6 is not provided defines the pinching part 7, whereby the pinching part 7 is provided so as to connect the fastening part 2. The hook member 6 is engaged with a loop member 5 provided on one surface of the positioning sheet member 3, and the adhesive layer (the fixing member) 4 is provided on the other surface of the positioning sheet member 3. The adhesive layer 4 is protected by the release sheet 8 which is attached to the adhesive layer 4 with an adhesive or the like. In this manner, the disposable diaper 20 prior to use is preferably in the state that the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3 are interposed between the folded and unfolded parts of the fastening base sheet 14.

For wearing the disposable diaper 20 in the above state of being prior to use, the adhesive layer 4 is released from the release sheet 8, the positioning sheet member 3 is moved onto the center region of the front part of the diaper main body 13, which corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1, to position the positioning sheet member 3 so as to fit a wearer's body, and then, the adhesive layer 4 is pressed onto the back sheet 12. Thereby, the positioning sheet member 3 is fixed to the center region of the back part, and the disposable diaper 20 comes to be in the state of being worn shown on the left side in FIG. 4 of the back part. Thus, in the state where the disposable diaper 20 is worn, the adhesive layer 4 of the positioning sheet member 3 is fixed onto the back sheet 12 at the part 1b of the diaper main body 13 and the loop member 5 of the positioning sheet member 3 is engaged with the hook member 6 of the fastening part 2, whereby the fastening base sheet 14, which corresponds to the part 1a of the main unit 1, is joined to the diaper main body 13, which corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1, so that the disposable diaper 20 fit a wearer's body suitably.

For removing the thus applied disposable diaper 20, the hook member 6 of the fastening part 2 is disjoined to the loop member 5 of the positioning sheet member 3. After that, for wearing the disposable diaper 20 again, the hook member 6 of the fastening part 2 is placed onto the loop member 5 of the positioning sheet member 3 fixed on the diaper main body 13, and the hook member 6 is re-engaged with the loop member 5. According to these operations, the disposable diaper 20 can be worn again easily so as to fit the wearer's body suitably.

In the conventional disposable diapers as described in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, a loop member needs to be disposed at the front part of the disposable diaper in an extremely wide area relative to the area of the hook member in order to ensure a positioning area of the hook member for enhancing fittability for any wearers. However, in the disposable diaper 20 provided with the positioning sheet member 3 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the positioning sheet member 3 is substituted for the loop member provided in the conventional disposable diaper, and the positioning sheet member 3 does not need to have an extremely wide area, and therefore, material cost tends to be lowered.

The top sheet 11 is a sheet which is located on a wearer's skin side, that is an inner side, when the disposable diaper 20 is worn, and is composed of a liquid-permeable sheeted material. Examples of the top sheet 11 include, for example, a nonwoven fabric formed from hydrophilic fibers such as cellulose and rayon; and a nonwoven fabric which is formed from hydrophobic fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyamide and nylon, and in which the hydrophobic fibers are hydrophilized with a surfactant on the surface thereof. As the top sheet 11, a woven fabric, a knitted fabric, a plastic film having pores may be also used.

The back sheet 12 is a sheet which is located on an opposite side of a wearer's skin, that is an outer side, when disposable diaper 20 is worn, and is composed of a liquid-impermeable sheeted material. Examples of the back sheet 12 include, for example, a nonwoven fabric formed from hydrophobic fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyamide and nylon; and a plastic film. As the back sheet 12, a laminate of a nonwoven fabric and a plastic film may be also used. Here, in the present invention, the term “liquid-impermeable” includes the meaning of “water-repellent”.

In the case where the part 1b of the main unit 1 is provided with the loop member and the hook member is employed as the fixing means 4, the part 1b may be formed from the back sheet 12 made of a nonwoven fabric which functions as the loop member. In this case, it is preferable that the nonwoven fabric used as the back sheet 12 is easily engaged with the corresponding hook member, and the nonwoven fabric preferably has a mass per unit area of 5 g/m²or more and 50 g/m²or less, and more preferably 10 g/m²or more and 30 g/m²or less, for example.

The absorbent core, which is interposed between the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12, is not particularly restricted as long as it absorbs excrement such as urine and the like. As the absorbent core, a clump of an absorbent material, which is formed into a predefined shape, may be used, or an absorbent material wrapped with a covering sheet such as a paper sheet (for example, tissue paper), a liquid-permeable nonwoven fabric sheet and the like may be used, for example. Examples of the absorbent material contained in the absorbent core include, for example, a hydrophilic fiber such as a crushed pulp fiber and a cellulose fiber; and an absorbent polymer such as polyacrylic absorbent polymers, cellulosic absorbent polymers, and stark-acrylonitrile absorbent polymers. The absorbent material preferably contains at least an absorbent polymer. Further, the absorbent material may be obtained by mixing an absorbent polymer with a hydrophilic fiber assembly, or dispersing an absorbent polymer on a hydrophilic fiber assembly. A shape of the absorbent core is not limited; and examples of the shape of the absorbent core include a rectangular shape, an hourglass shape, a center nipped-in gourd shape, a battledore shape and the like.

It is preferred that the absorbent core is partly or wholly joined to the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12 by, for example, an adhesive (specifically, a hot-melt adhesive).

As the fastening base sheet 14, a nonwoven fabric formed from hydrophilic fibers such as cellulose and rayon, or a nonwoven fabric formed from hydrophobic fibers such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, polyamide and nylon is preferably used, in view of ensuring brethability to some extent of capable of lowering moisture during wearing.

The fastening base sheet 14 disposed between the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12 is attached by, for example, heat-sealing or an adhesive (specifically, a hot-melt adhesive). In FIGS. 4 and 5, the fastening base sheet 14 is attached to the top sheet 11 and the back sheet 12 in the state of being interposed therebetween; however, the fastening base sheet 14 may be attached to only either the top sheet 11 or the back sheet 12.

Though it is not shown in FIG. 4, the disposable diaper 20 may be provided with an elastic member extending around a leg or a waist of a wearer. Elastic materials such as a polyurethane film, a polyurethane thread, a polyurethane foam material, a rubber thread and the like, which are generally used for disposable diapers, can be used. The elastic member is preferably disposed in a stretched state and may be fixed by a hot-melt adhesive, a water-soluble adhesive such as a starch glue and carboxymethyl-cellulose, a high-fluidity adhesive, heating, ultrasonic or sewing.

Further, though it is not shown in FIG. 4, the disposable diaper 20 may be provided with flaps, which are disposed in common disposable diapers, in order to prevent leakage of urine and the like surely. For example, flaps each of which has a fixing part fixed to the top sheet or the like and a rising part extending upward from the fixing part may be provided at opposite sides of the absorbent core in a width direction so as to extend in a longitudinal direction. Further, an elastic member extending in the longitudinal direction may be disposed at the rising part of the flap.

An example of a postural-corrective wear, a preferred embodiment of the wearing article of the present invention, is hereinafter explained, referring to FIG. 6. FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of one embodiment of a postural-corrective wear, which is an example of a wearing article of the present invention. Specifically, FIG. 6 shows a schematic view of an inner side (a wearer's side) of the postural-corrective wear in a spread state.

In FIG. 6, the postural-corrective wear 30 comprises a wear main unit 29 having a back side part 21, front side parts 22 including a left front side part 22a and a right front side 22b, and shoulder parts 23 connecting the back side part 21 and the front side part 22. In the postural-corrective wear 30, a part of the wear main unit 29 corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1. The postural-corrective wear 30 can be worn by putting wearer's arms through two openings 24 surrounded by the back side part 21, the front side part 22 and the shoulder part 23, and overlapping the right and left front side parts 22a, 22b each other to join them. The postural-corrective wear 30 further comprises a left stretch band 25a extending from the left front part 22a through the shoulder part 23 to a lower end of the back part 21, and a right stretch band 25b extending from the right front part 22b through the shoulder part 23 to the lower end of the back part 21, wherein the left stretch band 25a and the right stretch band 25b cross each other in the back side part 21. Since the postural-corrective wear 30 is provided with the right and left stretch band 25a, 25b in this manner, the postural-corrective wear 30 functions to correct a wearer's posture so as to straighten up the wearer's back.

The postural-corrective wear 30 further comprises a fastening base sheet 26 provided so as to connect to a lateral end of the left front side part 22a, and a part of the fastening base sheet 26 corresponds to the part 1a of the main unit 1. For wearing the postural-corrective wear 30 shown in FIG. 6, the fastening base sheet 26 is joined to a lower part of the right front side part 22b. Alternatively, though it is not shown in FIG. 6, the fastening base sheet 26 may be provided so as to connect to a lateral end of the right front side part 22b, and the fastening base sheet 26 may be joined to a lower part of the left front side part 22a for wearing. For realizing this joining, the fastening base sheet 26 of the postural-corrective wear 30 includes the fastening part 2 and the positioning sheet member 3. The fastening part 2 is provided with a hook member, and one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with a loop member so as to face the hook member of the fastening part 2. Further, in this embodiment, a hook-and-loop fastener is employed as the fixing means. Therefore, the loop member 27 is provided at the lower part of the right front part 22b, which corresponds to the part 1b of the main unit 1, and the hook member 28 is provided on the other surface of the positioning sheet member 3 as the fixing means. Thus, one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with the loop member detachably joined to the fastening part 2, and the other surface of the positioning sheet member 3 is provided with the hook member 28 which is capable of engaging with the loop member 27. In this embodiment, engaging force between the loop member 27 and the hook member 28 is preferably stronger than that between the hook member of the fastening part 2 and the loop member on the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3.

For wearing the postural-corrective wear 30 like this, the fastening base sheet 26 is moved onto the lower part of the right front side part 22b to position the fastening base sheet 26 so as to fit a wearer's body, and then, the hook member 28 of the fastening base sheet 26 is engaged with the loop member 27 of the lower part of the right front side part 22b. For removing the postural-corrective wear 30, the hook member of the fastening part 2 is disjoined to the loop member on the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3. After that, for wearing the postural-corrective wear 30 again, the hook member of the fastening part 2 is engaged with the loop member on the one surface of the positioning sheet member 3 again.

As materials used for the front side part 22, the shoulder part 23 and the like which constitute the postural-corrective wear 30, a mesh fabric which a thin, soft and stretch fabric is preferably used, for example. Meanwhile, as materials used for the back side part 21 and the stretch band 25, a highly stretchable woven fabric is preferably used, for example, and specifically, a woven fabric woven from a blended yarn of a nylon yarn and a synthetic rubber yarn can be used. The stretch band 25 may be, for example, directly sewn to the front side part 22, the shoulder part 23 and the back side part 21 in a stretched state to be fixed.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1: a main unit

2: a fastening part

3: a positioning sheet member

4: a fixing means (an adhesive layer)

5, 27: a loop member

6, 28: a hook member

7: a pinching part

8: a release sheet

10: a wearing article

11: a top sheet

12: a back sheet

13: a diaper main body

14, 26: a fastening base sheet

20: a disposable diaper (a wearing article)

21: a back side part

22: a front side part

23: a shoulder part

24: an opening

25: a stretch band

29: a wear main unit

30: a postural-corrective wear (a wearing article)

REFASTENABLE FASTENING SYSTEM FOR WEARING ARTICLE

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CPC

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