Abstract:
The present invention aims to provide an improved wearing article allowing the dimension of the leg-openings to be adequately large without causing leakage of urine. A chassis is formed in a crotch region with an opening extending through inner and outer sheets in the thickness direction. The opening extends across the crotch region in a longitudinal direction partially into front and rear waist regions and also extends through parts of respective waist region elastic sheets in the thickness direction. An absorbent panel functioning as a liquid-absorbent structure is attached to the skin-facing surface of the chassis to cover the opening. The liquid-absorbent panel is joined along both side edges thereof to the inner sheet and the waist region elastic sheets by bonding or sealing technique and along front and rear ends thereof to the waist region elastic sheets by bonding or sealing technique.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a national phase of PCT/JP2008/072821, filed Dec. 16, 2008, and claims priority from, Japanese Application Number 2008-052510, filed Mar. 3, 2008. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to wearing articles and methods for making the same and more particularly to absorbent wearing articles such as disposable diapers, toilet-training pants and incontinent briefs and methods for making the same. 
     RELATED ART 
     It is known, for example, from JP 2001-478 A (PATENT DOCUMENT 1) to attach elastic members to front and rear waist regions in a disposable diaper. According to the disclosure of this PATENT DOCUMENT, the diaper basically comprises a chassis having a front waist region, a rear waist region, a crotch region, a skin-facing side and a garment-facing side, and an absorbent structure attached to the inner surface of the chassis facing the wearer&#39;s body. The chassis is provided in the front and rear waist regions thereof with waist region elastic members extending in a transverse direction attached under tension thereto, respectively, so that the absorbent structure overlaps these waist region elastic members. 
     According to the disclosure of PATENT DOCUMENT 1, a method for making such diaper comprises steps of: attaching absorbent structures arranged at regular intervals to a web of nonwoven fabric sheet defining chassis; cutting out the web of nonwoven fabric sheet defining chassis between each pair of the adjacent absorbent structures and folding the web of chassis defining sheet along an imaginary longitudinal center line in two; and cutting off the web of nonwoven fabric sheet defining chassis between each pair of the adjacent absorbent structures, more specifically, along an imaginary transverse center line of the cut out portion of the web of nonwoven fabric sheet defining chassis to form opposite side edges which are then bonded to each other to form a waist-opening and a pair of leg-openings for each diaper.
     PATENT DOCUMENT 1: JP 2001-478 A   

     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     Problem to be Solved by the Invention 
     In the disposable diaper as has been described above, the leg-openings may be dimensioned larger to make it easy to guide the wearer&#39;s legs therethrough and to put the diaper on the wearer&#39;s body. To dimension larger the leg-openings, it is necessary to dimension larger in the longitudinal direction of the cut-out area of the web of sheet defining chassis. To enlarge the dimension of the cut-out area, it may be contemplated to enlarge the interval between each pair of the adjacent absorbent structures. However, such measure will increase the quantity of the nonwoven fabric sheet per diaper and may correspondingly increase a manufacturing cost. In addition, the enlarged interval between each pair of the adjacent absorbent structures will correspondingly enlarge the waist-opening and, to ensure that the waist-opening properly fits to the wearer&#39;s waist under contraction of the associated elastic members, the number of gathers created due to contraction of the elastic members will be unacceptably increased. Increased gathers will unacceptably increase gaps between the diaper and the wearer&#39;s body and will cause leakage of bodily fluids such as urine and leave compression traces on the wearer&#39;s skin. 
     To obtain the leg-openings of sufficiently large dimension without unacceptably enlarging the dimension of the waist-opening, the width dimension of the crotch region between a pair of leg-openings will be inevitably reduced and correspondingly the width dimension of the absorbent structure will be reduced. The excessively reduced width dimension of the absorbent structure will necessarily reduce the absorption capacity for urine and will cause leakage of urine. 
     In view of the problem as has been described above, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved wearing article allowing the dimension of the leg-openings to be adequately large without causing leakage of urine. 
     Measure to Solve the Problem 
     The object set forth above is achieved, according to the present invention on a first aspect thereof, by an improvement in the wearing article comprising a chassis having a longitudinal direction, a transverse direction, a skin-facing inner surface, a garment-facing outer surface, a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between the front and rear waist regions, these regions being contiguous one with another, a liquid-absorbent structure lying at least in the crotch region, and waist region elastics attached under tension in the transverse direction to the front and rear waist regions, respectively, wherein the chassis is contoured by front and rear ends opposed to each other in the longitudinal direction and extending in the transverse direction and side edges opposed to each other in the transverse direction and extending in the longitudinal direction so that the front and rear ends of the front and rear ends cooperate with each other to form a waist-opening and the side edges cooperate with each other to form a pair of leg-openings in the crotch region. 
     The improvement according to the present invention on the first aspect thereof is characterized in that the chassis includes an opening formed to extend from at least any one of the front and rear waist regions across the crotch region and the liquid-absorbent structure is attached to the chassis to cover the opening; and the waist region elastics are attached to the front and rear waist regions outboard of the opening as viewed in the transverse direction and the opening takes its desired shape under contraction of the waist region elastics in the transverse direction. 
     According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention on the first aspect thereof, the side edges of the chassis comprise front and rear waist regions&#39; side edges lying in the front and rear waist regions and crotch region&#39;s side edges lying in the crotch region; and leg elastics are attached under tension to the chassis along the crotch region&#39;s side edges and at least parts of the respective leg elastics lie outboard of the opening as viewed in the transverse direction. 
     According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention on the first aspect thereof, the waist region elastics are formed of stretchable and contractible waist region elastic sheets attached to the skin-facing inner surface of the chassis. 
     The object set forth above is achieved, according to the present invention on a second aspect thereof, by an improvement in the method for making the above-described wearing article, comprising steps of: attaching the waist region elastics under tension in a conveying direction to a web of sheet defining the chassis being conveyed by a conveying structure; forming the web of sheet defining the chassis and the waist region elastics attached thereto with the openings; attaching the liquid-absorbent structures to the web of sheet defining the chassis to cover the openings; and cutting off the web of sheet defining the chassis outside and along the side edges of the liquid-absorbent structure extending orthogonally to the conveying direction. 
     According to one preferred embodiment of the present invention on the second aspect thereof, the method further includes a step of cutting off a web of liquid-absorbent sheet to form the liquid-absorbent structure and a step of rotating the liquid-absorbent structure by an angle of about 90° relative to the conveying direction. 
     According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention on the second aspect thereof, the opening is formed by making a cut in or cutting off the web of sheet defining the chassis. 
     Effect of the Invention 
     The chassis includes an opening formed to extend from at least any one of the front and rear waist regions across the crotch region and the liquid-absorbent structure is attached to the chassis to cover the opening. The opening takes its desired shape under contraction of the waist region elastics and therefore the transverse dimension of the opening in the waist regions as well as in the crotch region can be generally increased. Specifically, even if the cut-out in the crotch region to form the leg-openings is relatively deep, it will be unnecessary to reduce the width dimension of the liquid-absorbent structure and leakage of bodily fluids such as urine will be reliably restricted. The leg-openings can be safely enlarged and thereby the wearing article can be smoothly put on the wearer&#39;s body. 
     The waist region elastics are provided outboard of the opening as viewed in the transverse direction so that no contractile force of the waist region elastics is exerted on the liquid-absorbent structure even when the opening is covered with the liquid-absorbent structure. As a consequence, contraction of the waist region elastics would not cause the liquid-absorbent structure to get wrinkled. 
     The leg elastics are attached under tension to the chassis along the crotch region&#39;s side edges and outboard of the opening as viewed in the transverse direction. With such arrangement, the opening can be sufficiently broadened and the liquid-absorbent structure would not get wrinkled due to the leg elastics. 
     The waist region elastics formed of stretchable and contractible waist region elastic sheets allow the elasticity of these elastics to be exerted on the opening and irregularities along the periphery of the opening to be alleviated. 
     The method for making the above-described wearing article, comprising steps of: attaching the waist region elastics under tension in the conveying direction to the web of sheet defining the being conveyed by the conveying structure; forming the web of sheet defining the chassis and the waist region elastics attached thereto with the opening; attaching the liquid-absorbent structure to the chassis to cover the opening; and cutting off the web of sheet defining the chassis outside and along the side edges of the liquid-absorbent structure extending orthogonally to the conveying direction. In this way, the wearing articles each formed with the opening can be made in a series of steps. 
     The method further includes a step of cutting off web of liquid-absorbent sheet to form the liquid-absorbent structure and a step of rotating the liquid-absorbent structure by an angle of about 90° relative to the conveying direction. In this way, the liquid-absorbent structures also can be attached to the chassis in a series of steps. 
     When the opening is formed by making a cut in the web of sheet defining the chassis, formation of the opening is efficiently simplified. When the opening is formed by cut-out of the web, the width dimension of the opening can be larger than in the case of cut in the web. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a diaper. 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a plan view showing the diaper of  FIG. 1  as has been flatly developed. 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram illustrating a process for making the diaper. 
         FIG. 6  is an explanatory diagram of the process for making the diaper. 
         FIG. 7  is an explanatory diagram of the process for making the diaper. 
     
    
    
     IDENTIFICATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN THE DRAWINGS 
     
         
           1  diaper 
           2  chassis 
           3  liquid-absorbent structure 
           4  front waist region 
           5  rear waist region 
           6  crotch region 
           14  waist region elastic sheet (waist region elastics 
           15  opening 
           16  liquid-absorbent panel (liquid-absorbent structure) 
           29  leg elastics&#39; front halves 
           30  leg elastics&#39; rear halves 
           31  web of sheet defining chassis 
           42  web of liquid-absorbent sheet 
       
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Details of the embodiments according to the present invention will be more fully understood from the description of a disposable diaper as a typical embodiment of the present invention, given hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing a diaper  1  put on the wearer&#39;s body as partially cutaway for convenience of illustration. As will be apparent from  FIG. 1 , the diaper  1  basically comprises a chassis  2  and a liquid-absorbent structure  3 . The chassis  2  is pants-shaped and comprises a front waist region  4 , a rear waist region  5  and a crotch region  6  extending between the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5 . A direction extending from the front waist region  4  across the crotch region  6  to the rear waist region  5  is designated herein as a longitudinal direction Y and a direction extending orthogonally to this longitudinal direction Y is designated herein as a transverse direction X. 
     Respective side edges  7 ,  7  of the front waist region  4  are put flat and bonded together with respective side edges  8 ,  8  of the rear waist region  5  at a plurality of joints  9  arranged intermittently along the respective side edges  7 ,  8  to form seams. Thereupon, a region surrounded by the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  is formed with a waist-opening  10  and regions surrounded by the seams  9  and the crotch region  6  are formed with a pair of leg-openings  11 , respectively. 
     The chassis  2  includes an inner sheet  12  defining a skin-facing inner surface, an outer sheet  13  defining a garment-facing outer surface and waist region elastic sheets  14  lying on the skin-facing side of the inner sheet  12 . Stock material which may be used for the inner and outer sheets  12 ,  13  includes, for example, an air-permeable nonwoven fabric. As the stock material for the waist region elastic sheets  14 , a liquid-pervious elastic nonwoven fabric respectively extending between each pair of the side edges  7 ,  7  and between each pair of the side edges  8 ,  8  may be used. The waist region elastic sheets  14  made of such liquid-pervious elastic nonwoven fabric are bonded under tension in the transverse direction X to the inner sheet  12  in the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5 , respectively, by heat or ultrasonic sealing or adhesive bonding. 
     The chassis  2  is formed in the crotch region  6  thereof with an opening  15  extending through the inner and outer sheets  12 ,  13  in the thickness direction thereof. The opening  15  extends across the crotch region  6  in the longitudinal direction Y partially into the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  and extends through parts of the respective waist region elastic sheets  14  also in the thickness direction. The chassis  2  includes a liquid-absorbent panel  16  as the liquid-absorbent structure  3  attached to its skin-facing inner surface to cover the opening  15 . The liquid-absorbent panel  16  is contoured by side edges  17 ,  18  opposed to each other in the transverse direction X and extending in the longitudinal direction Y and front and rear ends  19 ,  20  opposed to each other in the longitudinal direction and extending in the transverse direction X. The liquid-absorbent panel  16  has the side edges  17 ,  18  bonded to the inner sheet  12  and the waist region elastic sheets  14  by adhesive bonding or heat or ultrasonic sealing and the front and rear ends  19 ,  20  bonded to the waist region elastic sheets  14  by adhesive bonding or heat or ultrasonic sealing. The liquid-absorbent panel  16  is provided along the side edges  17 ,  18  thereof with leak-barrier cuffs  21 ,  21 , respectively. 
       FIG. 2  is a sectional view taken along the line II-II in  FIG. 1 . As will be apparent from  FIG. 2 , the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is bonded to the skin-facing inner surface of the waist region elastic sheets  14  so as to cover the opening  15  of the chassis  2 . The liquid-absorbent panel  16  comprises a liquid-absorbent core  22 , a liquid-absorbent/dispersant sheet  23  such as a tissue paper with which the liquid-absorbent core  22  is wrapped and a surfacing sheet adapted to cover the liquid-absorbent/dispersant sheet  23 . While the present embodiment uses such liquid-absorbent panel  16  as the liquid-absorbent structure  3 , it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to this but the commonly used liquid-absorbent panel  16  may be used. 
       FIG. 3  is a plan view of the diaper  1  having the front and rear waist regions peeled off from each other at the joints  9  and developed in the longitudinal direction Y as well as in the transverse direction X so that the front waist region  4 , the rear waist region  5  and the crotch region  6  may lie in the same plane. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 3  is partially cutaway for convenience of illustration. The diaper  1  has the longitudinal center line P-P bisecting a dimension of the diaper  1  in the transverse direction X and the transverse center line Q-Q bisecting a dimension of the diaper  1  in the longitudinal direction Y wherein the diaper  1  is laterally symmetric about the longitudinal center line P-P.  FIG. 4  is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in  FIG. 3 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the chassis  2  includes leg side edges  25  defined between the waist regions&#39; side edges  7 ,  8  to extend across the crotch region  6  in the longitudinal direction Y. The chassis  2  is trimmed along the leg side edges  25  to be convex toward the longitudinal center line P-P. In other words, the chassis  2  is shaped to have its length dimension in the transverse direction X smaller in the vicinity of the transverse center line Q-Q than the length dimension in the remaining region. Consequently, the chassis  2  as a whole has concave shape curved inwardly. 
     The chassis  2  is provided on its skin-facing inner surface with the liquid-absorbent panel  16  bonded thereto. This liquid-absorbent panel  16  is shaped in a rectangle and bonded to the inner sheet  12  to cover the opening  16 . The opening  15  partially extends into the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5 , in other words, the respective waist region elastic sheets  14  also are formed with associated partial sections of the opening  15  and necessarily the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is bonded to the respective waist region elastic sheets  14  in the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5 . 
     The liquid-absorbent panel  16  is provided with leak-barrier cuffs  21  formed of a pair of sheets extending in the longitudinal direction Y symmetrically about the longitudinal center line P-P. These sheets may be formed of, for example, a nonwoven fabric or plastic film which is preferably of liquid-impervious nature. 
     The leak-barrier cuffs  21  are provided on the skin-facing inner surface of the liquid-absorbent panel  16  and include fixed edges permanently bonded to the liquid-absorbent panel  16  along outer side edges  26  overlapping the side edges  17 ,  18  of the liquid-absorbent panel  16 , respectively, and free edges adapted to be spaced upward from the liquid-absorbent panel  16  along inner side edges  27  opposed to the outer side edges  26 . Cuff elastics  28  extending in the longitudinal direction Y are attached along the respective inner side edges  27  under tension to the respective leak-barrier cuffs  21  so that the free edges may be spaced upward from the liquid-absorbent panel  16  under contractile force of the cuff elastics  28 . 
     Outboard of the respective side edges  17 ,  18  of the liquid-absorbent panel  1  as viewed in the transverse direction X, leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  formed by, for example, rubber thread or rubber ribbon are attached to the chassis  2 . The leg elastics&#39; front halves  29  extend into the front waist region  4  and the leg elastics&#39; rear halves  30  extend into the rear waist region  5 . The leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  respectively curve along the leg side edges  25  and are attached under tension to the chassis  2 . The leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are interrupted by the opening  15  and therefore not continuous in the transverse direction X. 
     The diaper  1  as has been described above is obtained by successively following steps of the process as schematically illustrated by  FIG. 5 . In a first step, a web of the outer sheet  13  is conveyed by a first roller  32  in a conveying direction indicated by the arrow A. The leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are fed onto the web of outer sheet  13  and continuously attached thereto under tension. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a fashion in which the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are attached to the web of the outer sheet  13 . As will be apparent from  FIG. 6 , the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  comprise distance increasing segments  33  along which the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are being spaced from each other and distance reducing segments  34  along which the elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 , are coming close to each other wherein these segments  33 ,  34  alternate in contiguous fashion. More specifically, the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  curve from respective points on the distance increasing segments  33  which are closest to upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  of the web of the outer sheet  13  toward the center line R-R bisecting a distance between the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36 , then trace linear curves generally in parallel to the center line R-R and, along the adjacent distance reducing segment  34 , the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  curve again toward the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36 . Assumed that respective segments extending in the conveying direction from the points which are closest to the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36 , respectively, to the adjacent points which are closest to the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  are designated as one cycle t, one individual diaper  1  can be obtained per one cycle t. 
     In a second step, as will be apparent from  FIG. 5 , a web of the inner sheet  12  is fed in the direction of the arrow A by a second roller  37 . The web of the inner sheet  12  fed in this manner is bonded or sealed to the web of the outer sheet  13  via the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  to form a web of the chassis defining sheet  31 . 
     In a third step, the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are attached to the web of sheet defining the chassis  31 . Specifically, a pair of the webs of the waist region elastic sheets  14  are fed by a third roller  38  in the direction of the arrow A toward the web of the inner sheet  12  constituting the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  and attached to the surface of the web of the inner sheet  12  facing away from the web of the outer sheet  13 . The webs of the waist region elastic sheets  14  are attached under tension in the conveying direction to the web of the inner sheet  12  to be deviated away from the center line R-R toward the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36 , respectively. In other words, none of the webs of the waist region elastic sheets  14  is present in the vicinity of the center line R-R. 
     In a fourth step, the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  is formed with the openings  15  by a cutter  39  provided ahead of the third roller  38  as viewed in the conveying direction. The cutter  39  cuts the web of the chassis defining sheet  31  through the thickness direction thereof at regular intervals.  FIG. 7  schematically illustrates the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  before and after the operation of cutting. It should be appreciated that, in  FIG. 7 , the inner sheet  12  and the waist region elastic sheets  14  are not illustrated in order to clarify a positional relation between the opening  15  and the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30 . 
     In  FIG. 7  ( a ), the line along which the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  will be cut by the cutter  39  is indicated by the broken line  15   a . As will be apparent from  FIG. 7  ( a ), the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  is cut together with the continuous leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  in the distance reducing segment  34 . After the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  has been cut together with the continuous leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  as indicated by the broken line  15   a , the cut area is opened right and left as illustrated by  FIG. 7  ( b ) under contractile force of the continuous leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  and thereby the opening  15  is formed. 
     In a fifth step, the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is joined to the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  to cover the opening  15 . The liquid-absorbent panels  16  are fed in the direction of the arrow A by a fourth roller  40  in the form of liquid-absorbent web  42  which is continuous in a longitudinal direction of the individual liquid-absorbent panels  16 . The liquid-absorbent web  42  is cut by a cutter  41  operatively associated with the fourth roller  40  and the front and rear ends  19 ,  20  are defined. In this manner, the individual liquid-absorbent panels  16  are obtained. It should be noted here that, if the individual liquid-absorbent panels  16  are fed to the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  without appropriate redirection after cutting, the individual liquid-absorbent panels  16  will be out of phase by an angle of about 90° relative to the openings  15  extending orthogonally to the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  and, in consequence, the liquid-absorbent panels  16  will be unable to cover the openings  15  completely. To overcome this problem, the fourth roller  40  is provided with the function to rotate the liquid-absorbent panels  16  by an angle of about 90° so that the liquid-absorbent panels  16  may be fed in phase with the opening  15 . 
     The liquid-absorbent panel  16  fed onto the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  in this manner has its surface opposed to its surface provided with the leak-barrier cuffs  21  joined to the web of the inner sheet  12  constituting the web of the chassis defining sheet  31 . In this step, the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is bonded to the web of the inner sheet  12  by adhesive (not shown). 
     In a sixth step, the leg side edges  25  are formed between each pair of the adjacent liquid-absorbent panels  16  arranged at regular intervals. Specifically, a circular opening extending through the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  in the thickness direction is formed between each pair of the adjacent liquid-absorbent panels  16  to define the leg side edges  25 . 
     In a seventh step, the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  formed with the leg side edges  25  is folded into the shape of the diaper. More specifically, the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  is folded along the center line bisecting a dimension between the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  and the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  folded in this state is cut off in regular cycles at positions indicated by the imaginary cutting lines  43  in  FIG. 5 . The imaginary cutting line  43  corresponds to the position of the cycle t in  FIG. 6 , i.e., corresponds to the middle of the circular leg side edge  25  as viewed in the conveying direction. By cutting off the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  and joining the cut off edges to each other, the assembly is shaped in the diaper of  FIG. 1 . The cut off edges as have been described above define the side edges  17 ,  18  of the chassis  2  and the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  placed one upon another define the waist-opening  10 . The center line R-R corresponds to the center line Q-Q after the web of the chassis defining sheet  31  has been cut off and therefore these two center lines are substantially identical to each other. 
     The diaper  1  is formed by the method comprising a series of steps as has been described above and such method allows the diapers to be made at a high speed and a row cost. 
     In the diaper  1  as has been described above, with the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  as well as the waist region elastic sheets  14  being kept in stretched state, the opening  15  is formed so that the opening  15  may be pulled outward in the transverse direction X under contractile force of the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  and the waist region elastic sheets  14 . As a result, the opening space of the opening  15  enlarged in the transverse direction X. The liquid-absorbent panel  1  is attached to the chassis to cover the opening  15  having its opening space enlarged in this manner. After the liquid-absorbent panel  16  has been attached, the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  and the waist region elastic sheets  14  are left contract. In the crotch region  6 , the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are interrupted by the opening  15  and therefore the contractile force thereof is not exerted on the liquid-absorbent panel  16 . The waist region elastic sheets  14  also are partially interrupted by the opening  15  in the crotch region  6  and the contractile force exerted on the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is correspondingly reduced. In this way, the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is not contracted in the transverse direction X and the opening space of the opening  15  can be maintained. 
     In the crotch region, the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are attached under tension in the transverse direction X and then cut off. Consequently, in the areas of the crotch region  6  in which the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  have been attached, the contractile force effectively pulls the opening  15  in the transverse direction X. 
     In such diaper  1 , a width dimension of the crotch region  6  after the opening  15  has been formed is larger than that before the opening  15  is in the form of the cut-in or before pulled in the transverse direction X. Correspondingly, the leg side edges  25  can be formed deeper toward the longitudinal center line P-P to broaden the opening  11 . Specifically, the dimension of the crotch region  6  in the transverse direction X is larger than the waist-opening  10 , i.e., the diaper  1  has a shape spreading out in a fan-like form. By dimensioning the leg-opening in this manner, it is possible to prevent the wearer&#39;s legs from being caught by the diaper  1  and thereby the diaper  1  can be smoothly put on the wearer&#39;s body. 
     It is possible to enlarge the size of the leg-opening  11  merely by forming the opening  15  and therefore it is unnecessary to lengthen the cycle t in the conveying direction in accordance with the leg-opening. In this way, the cost can be correspondingly reduced. Furthermore, the waist-opening  10  would not become uneconomically larger since it is unnecessary to lengthen the cycle t and, in consequence, it is possible to prevent the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  from getting wrinkles due to the economically enlarged waist-opening  10 . By preventing the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  from getting wrinkles, it is possible to minimize the gap possibly left between the diaper and the wearer&#39;s body and thereby to keep the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  in close contact with the wearer&#39;s body. Thereby leakage of bodily fluids such as urine beyond the waist opening  10  can be prevented. Furthermore, it is also possible to prevent compression marks due to the wrinkles from being left on the wearer&#39; skin by preventing the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  from getting wrinkles. 
     In the course of forming the opening  15 , the inner and outer sheets  12 ,  13  are cut together with the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  so that contractile force of these elastics  29 ,  30  do not act on the liquid-absorbent panel  16 . Consequentially, it is possible to prevent the liquid-absorbent panel  16  from getting wrinkles due to contractile force of these elastics  29 ,  30 . Without wrinkles, the liquid-absorbent panel  16  can be kept in close contact with the wearer&#39;s crotch and thereby bodily fluids such as urine can be directly absorbed by the liquid-absorbent panel  16  to assure that bodily fluids such as urine can be further reliably prevented. 
     The opening  15  occupies the respective portions of the waist region elastic sheets  14  adjacent the crotch region  6  so that the opening  15  may be pulled in the transverse direction X also in the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  to broaden the dimension of the diaper in the transverse direction in the vicinity of the crotch region  6  and simultaneously to prevent the liquid-absorbent panel  16  from getting wrinkles. In the vicinity of the waist-opening  10 , the waist region elastic sheets  14  are not occupied by the opening  15  and effectively act on the waist regions  4 ,  5 . As a result, the diaper takes the shape broadened toward the crotch region  6  so that the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  6  may be kept in close contact with the wearer&#39;s skin and leakage of bodily fluids such as urine beyond the waist-opening  10  may be reliably prevented. 
     The liquid-absorbent panel  16  is attached to the chassis  2  to cover the opening  15  so that the garment-facing side of the liquid-absorbent panel  16  can be visually recognized through the outer sheet  13  of the chassis  2 . When the garment-facing outer surface of the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is provided with graphics or logos, these graphics or logos will be directly visible through the opening  15 . 
     In the present embodiment, a leak-barrier film may be sandwiched between the liquid-absorbent panel  16  and the inner sheet  12  to improve a leak-barrier property. It is also possible to attach the leak-barrier film to the outer sheet  13  after the liquid-absorbent panel  16  has been attached to the chassis  2 . 
     While the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is attached to the side of the inner sheet  12 , i.e., to the skin-facing inner surface in the present embodiment, it is possible to attach the liquid-absorbent panel  16  to the side of the outer sheet  13 , i.e., to the garment-facing outer surface. When the liquid-absorbent panel  16  is attached to the garment-facing outer surface, irregularities facing the wearer&#39;s skin may be reduced and thereby irritation to the wearer&#39;s skin may be alleviated. In addition, the liquid-absorbent panel  16  provided with graphics or logos, if it is applied, such graphics or logos will be directly visible n a wider range. 
     In the step of forming the opening  15 , the web of sheet defining the chassis  31  may be formed with a slit vertically extending between the upper and lower ends  35 ,  36  or cut off a portion of the web of chassis defining sheet  13  having a certain width in the conveying direction to an oval opening. While the opening  15  extends across the crotch region  6  into respective parts of the front and rear waist regions  4 ,  5  in the illustrated embodiment, the opening  15  may extend at least across the crotch region  6 . It is also possible to form a plurality of the openings  15 , for example, an opening extending across the front waist region into a part of the crotch region  6  and an opening extending across the rear waist region  5  into a part of the crotch region  6 . When these two openings are formed, one of them is aligned with the wearer&#39;s anus and the other is aligned with the wearer&#39;s external genital organ so that these two openings may serve as a let-through passage for feces and as a let-through passage for urine, respectively. 
     While the rubber thread or rubber ribbon is used for the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  in the illustrated embodiment, it is possible to use elastic sheets for the same purpose. The elastic members used in the present embodiment are more advantageous than the elastic sheets in view of manufacturing cost. Use of the elastic sheets is advantageous in that contractile force can be evenly exerted on the opening  15  over a wide range and thereby irregularities of the periphery of the opening  15  can be alleviated. 
     While the leg elastics&#39; front and rear halves  29 ,  30  are attached so that the distance increasing segment  33  and the distance reducing segment  34  are contiguously alternate, the present invention is not limited to such arrangement so far as the continuous elastics may be interrupted in the crotch region  6 . In other words, it is essential that the opening  15  may be pulled in the transverse direction X under contractile force of the elastics. 
     While the waist region elastic sheets  14  are used as the waist region elastics in the present embodiment, it is possible to use rubber thread or rubber ribbon also may be used.