AN ABSORBENT DISPOSABLE ARTICLE WHICH IS DIVIDED INTO PORTIONS EXTENDING IN THE LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION OF THE ARTICLE

Abstract: The present invention relates to an absorbent disposable article, such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or a sanitary napkin. According to the invention, the absorbent pad (3) of the article is divided in the crotch region of the article into mutually separate parts (3B-3E) which extend in the longitudinal direction of the article and which are mutually separated, in the crotch region, by means of intermediate, mutually attached parts of the two article casing layers (1, 2). Transverse elastication (6, 7) is provided within the region of the mutually separate parts of the absorbent pad such as to bring the edges of adjacent separate parts into mutual abutment while gathering together intermediate parts of the mutually joined casing layers. This construction produces a three-dimensional article which can be manufactured in a flat state.

Description: An Absorbent Disposable Article which is divided into portions extending in the longitudinal direction of the article The present invention relates to disposable absorbent articles, such as diapers, incontinence guards or 5 sanitary napkins, which comprise an outer liquid- impermeable casing layer which is intended to face away from the wearer's body in use, an inner liquid- permeable casing layer which is intended to face to¬ wards wearer's body in use, and an absorbent pad en- 10 closed between the two casing layers. Such articles are mass produced, normally by being manufactured in a flat state, i.e. substantially flat absorbent bodies or pads are placed on a moving web of 15 material and a further web of material is placed on the first mentioned web and fastened thereto in regions which lie outside the absorbent pads, whereafter a finished article is cut from the web. Although such articles can be manufactured readily at requisite 20 production rates, the shape of the finished article does not conform well to the shape of the user's body, since the manufactured article is essentially flat. Consequently, when putting on an article that has been manufactured in this way, it is necessary to deform the 25 article in order to cause it to conform to the shape of the wearer's body. This incurs the serious risk of forming folds or pleats in the article or of forming gaps between the article and the wearer's body when putting on the article. These folds and gaps greatly 30 increase the risk of leakage. Λ In order to improve the shape conformity of such articles and also to reduce the risk of lateral leak¬ age, such articles will often be provided with leg and 35 waist elastication, and it is also known to utilize patterns of pre-stretched elastic threads or bands in a manner to impart a basin-like configuration to the article or to parts thereof. The object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent disposable article, such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or a sanitary napkin, which will fulfill the high requirements placed on shape conformity and which is suitable for manufacture in a flat state and therewith at low production costs. This object is achieved in accordance with the inven¬ tion in that an absorbent disposable article of the kind mentioned in the introduction is characterized in that the absorbent pad is divided into mutually sepa¬ rate parts which extend in the longitudinal direction of the article, at least within the crotch part there¬ of, i.e. that region of the article which, in use, is intended to be placed in the vicinity of the user's crotch; in that said pad parts are mutually separated transversely in said crotch region by intermediate, mutually attached parts of the two casing layers; and in that transverse elastication is provided within the region of the separate parts of said absorbent pad such as to cause the edges of mutually adjacent, separate parts to move into abutment with one another while gathering together intermediate parts of the mutually fastened casing layers. Because those regions of the mutually joined casing layer parts which separate the individual parts of the absorbent body are gathered together by the transverse elastication of the article in the last stage of the manufacturing process, i.e. the cutting stage, the overall cross dimensions of the article in this region will decrease. This means that the cross dimensions of those regions of the article which lie outside the extension of the longitudinally extending separate parts are also forced to decrease, which can only be realized by the article assuming a curved form in said regions. The invention thus results in a three-dimen¬ sional article. According to one advantageous embodiment of the inven- tion, the cross dimensions of the regions of mutually joined casing layers between adjacent separate parts of the absorbent pad in the extended state of said regions are greatest in the centre of the crotch part of the article, so as to be successively smaller in the lon- gitudinal direction of said article, on both sides of the centre part of the crotch part, at least in the end parts of said regions. As a result, when said regions are gathered together in the aforesaid manner, the separate parts will also lift from the manufacturing plane of the article, in the regions of successively decreasing transverse dimensions of intermediate casing layers, since otherwise the mutually diverging or converging edges of adjacent separate parts could otherwise not come into abutment with one another. The desired three-dimensional configuration of the crotch part of the article can be readily achieved in this way, by suitable configuration of the edges of mutually adjacent separate parts of the absorbent pad and by dividing the absorbent pad in said crotch part into an appropriate number of parts. When the absorbent pad consists essentially of cellulose fluff, as is normally the case, this division of the absorbent pad into several mutually separate parts within the crotch region of the article, each said part being enclosed between casing layers, results in improved mechanical strength against mechanical loads within the crotch part of the absorbent pad, as compared with an absorbent pad which is formed inte- grally in this region and has the same volume through¬ out. In the case of a pad produced in this way, there is less risk of the bonds between the fibres in the luff breaking or rupturing in a manner such as to cause interruptions in all longitudinally extending capillary channels in the fluff and therewith prevent the dispersion of liquid in said longitudinal direc¬ tion. Because of the small volume of each of the mutu¬ ally separate parts of the absorbent pad, said parts being effectively held together by the casing layers, the risk of external loads causing the formation of or agglomerations in the absorbent pad is also reduced, i.e. the risk of individual fibres being moved in rela¬ tion to adjacent fibres within the absorbent pad as a result of load, and therewith permanently hooking together. A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accom¬ panying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic top view of an inventive diaper before the elastication has contracted; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the diaper shown in Figure 1 subsequent to contraction of the elastication; Figure 3 is a schematic top view of an inventive sani¬ tary napkin before the elastication has contracted; and Figure 4 is a perspective view of the sanitary napkin shown in Figure 3 subsequent to contraction of the elastication. The diaper illustrated in Figure 1 includes an absor¬ bent pad 3 which is enclosed between an outer liquid- impermeable casing layer 2 and an inner liquid- permeable casing layer 1, which in the top view of Figure 1 faces towards the viewer and which is intended to lie closest to the child's body in use. The casing layers 1, 2 are joined together at parts which lie outside the pad 3. The absorbent pad 3 is divided into several, mutually separate and longitudinally extending parts 3B-3E within the crotch part of the diaper, i.e. that part of the diaper which is intended to be placed in the region of the crotch of the wearer in use, and at the begin¬ ning of its front part 3A. The mutually separate parts 3B-3E are separated from one another in the transverse direction by mutually connected intermediate parts 4A- 4C of the casing layers 1, 2. The diaper also includes longitudinally extending elastic threads or bands 5, which extend beyond the absorbent pad on both sides of its rear part 3F and crotch parts 3B, 3E, and also externally of the central part of the front pad part 3A. Transverse elastic threads or bands 6, 7 extend between the longitudinally extending elastic threads or bands 5 within the region of the mutually separate parts 3B-3E of the pad 3. The threads 6 which in the Figure 1 embodiment extend over the parts 3B-3E, alternate with the threads 7 in the longitudinal direction of the diaper, the transverse threads 7 extending beneath the mutually separate parts 3B-3E in the case of the Figure 1 embodiment. The diaper is shown in Figure 1 in its outwardly stretched or extended state, i.e. the state in which such a diaper is found during manufacture before the elastic threads 5-7 are allowed to contract. Figure 2 illustrates the diaper of Figure l subsequent to contraction of the elastic threads 5-7, i.e. subse¬ quent to having cut a finished article from the web. As will be seen from Figure 2, this contraction of the elastic threads results in a significant change in the shape of the diaper, i.e. from its flat state shown in Figure 1. The threads 6, 7 strive to move the edges of adjacent separate parts 3B-3E of the pad 3 into abut¬ ment with one another or into abutment with an inter¬ mediate, pleated part of the intermediate, mutually joined casing layer parts 4A-4C. As will be seen from Figure 1, mutually adjacent edges of the separate parts 3B-3E of the pad 3 diverge from and converge towards each other, at least at the ends of the longitudinally extending separate parts 3B-3E. In order for these edges to come into abutment with one another, it is necessary for said parts to lift from the manufacturing plane of the diaper. Consequently, the crotch part can be given a desired three-dimensional shape, by appro¬ priate configuration of the mutually separate parts and by using a suitable number of separate parts. It will also be seen that contraction of the elastic threads 6, 7 and pleating or gathering of the casing layer parts 4A-4C will result in a reduction in the total cross-section dimensions of the diaper within the region of said mutually separate parts 3B-3E. This reduction in the transverse dimensions of the diaper also means that the transverse dimensions of the diaper in the region of the parts 3A, 3F adjacent said mutuaj-ly separate parts 3B-3E must also decrease. This is effected through curving of said parts, as illustra¬ ted in Figure 2. This curving of said diaper parts is accentuated by the longitudinally extending elastic threads 5, which pull the side edges of the front and rear parts of the diaper towards one another. In this connection, it is pointed out that the longitudi- nally extending elastic threads 5 will also be curved by contraction of the elastic threads 6, 7, therewith forming a curved thigh or leg elastic which conforms well to the shape of the wearer's body. The diaper illustrated in Figure 2 has thus taken a three-dimensional shape which, in principle, conforms with the shape of a diaper when worn. Consequently, the diaper is not subjected to any further appreciable deformation when it is put-on. As a result of dividing the absorbent pad into several mutually separate parts within the crotch region of said pad and because of the anatomically true shape of the diaper, there is ob¬ tained a diaper which has good shape stability in both a wet and a dry state. The regions 4A-4C also form narrow, longitudinally extending channels which promote the spreading of liquid discharges, by transporting liquid to deeper parts of the absorbent pad. These channels also counteract lateral dispersion of liquid on the surface of the liquid-permeable casing layer 1. It will be understood that the diaper illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 can be modified in several ways. For instance, modifications can be made with regard to the number and the shape of the mutually separate parts of the absorbent pad, and the number of longitudinally and transversely extending elastic threads or bands. In one variant, the elastic threads 7 can extend above the parts 3B-3E of the absorbent pad, in the same manner as the threads 6. It may also be beneficial to provide the diaper with appropriately configured waist elastic. Although the use of elastic threads is preferred, it will be understood that threads which shrink when treated in a subsequent stage is also conceivable. It is also conceivable to use elastic shrink film or the like. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate a sanitary napkin configured in accordance with the present invention. The illustra- ted napkin includes an absorbent pad 13 which is en¬ closed between an inner, liquid-permeable casing layer 11 and an outer, liquid-impermeable casing layer 12, said pad being divided into three mutually separate parts 13B-13D within the crotch region of the napkin. The napkin also includes longitudinally extending and transversely extending elastic threads 15 and 16 res¬ pectively, which are disposed in the same manner as the threads 5 and 6 in the diaper shown in Figures 1 and 2. The threads 15 differ functionally from the threads 5, in that the threads 15 do not form leg elastication but have simply a napkin shaping function. An incontinence guard for women suffering mild incontinence can be advantageously formed in the same manner as the illustrated sanitary napkin. The front and rear parts of the illustrated article embodiment are formed in one single piece. It will be understood, however, that these parts, and then preferably the rear part, can be formed with a con- tinuous, perforated absorbent pad provided that none of the perforations lies opposite one of the mutually separate parts in the crotch region of the article. In summary, the invention provides an anatomically well-shaped absorbent disposable article of the kind defined in the introduction whose three-dimensional shape can be obtained despite producing the diaper in accordance with conventional, flat-manufacturing tech¬ niques.

Claims: Claims 1. An absorbent, disposable article, such as a diaper, an incontinence guard or a sanitary napkin, which includes an outer liquid-impermeable casing layer (2, 12) which is intended to lie distal from the wearer in use, an inner, liquid-permeable casing layer (1, 11) which is intended to face towards the wearer's body in use, and an absorbent pad (3, 13) enclosed between said two casing layers, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that at least the crotch part of the absorbent pad (3, 13), i.e. the region of the pad that is placed in the crotch region of the wearer in use, is divided into mutually separate parts (3B-3E, 13B-13D) which extend in the longitudinal direction of the article and which are mutually separated transversely in said crotch part by intermediate, mutually attached part (4A-4C, 14A-14B) of the two casing layers (1, 2; 11, 12); and in that transverse elastication (6, 7; 16) is provided within the region of said sepa¬ rate parts of the absorbent pad, such as to bring the edges of adjacent separate parts into abutment with one another while gathering together intermediate parts of the mutually joined casing layers. 2. An article according to Claim 1, c h a r a c ¬ t e r i z e d in that the quantity of gathered, mutu¬ ally joined casing layer material (4A-4C, 14A-14B) between the longitudinally extending separate parts (3B-3E, 13B-13D) of the absorbent pad is greatest at the centre of the crotch part, so as to decrease suc¬ cessively on both sides of the centre of said crotch part. 3. An article according to Claim 1 or 2, c h a r ¬ a c t e r i z e d in that the longitudinally extending elastic threads or bands (5, 15) are disposed between the casing layers (l, 2; 11, 12) externally of the outermost (3B-3E, 13B-13D) of the mutually separate parts of said pad. 4. An article according to Claim 1, 2 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the front and rear parts of the absorbent pad (3, 13), at least in the longitudinal outermost parts, are configured as a single continuous part (3A, 3F; 13A, 13E) ; and in that the ends of the mutually separate parts (3B-3E, 13B-13D) of the absorbent pad terminate in said continuous parts.

Inventors: HANSSON ROY, WIDLUND LEIF URBAN ROLAND, HANSSON, ROY, WIDLUND, LEIF, URBAN, ROLAND
Applicants: MOELNLYCKE AB
Application year: 1990
Main classification: A61F13
IPC codes: A61F5, A61F13