Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-22
2003-11-11
Lo, Weilun (Department: 3761)
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
C604S386000, C604S387000, C604S396000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06645190
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to absorbent articles which are adapted to contain body exudates. More particularly, the invention pertains to pant-like disposable absorbent articles having non-irritating refastenable mechanical seams, and methods of making such disposable absorbent articles.
Current disposable absorbent training pants for children going through the potty training stage have proved to be a particularly desirable and useful product. Such training pants generally include an absorbent chassis including a liquid impervious outer cover, a liquid pervious bodyside liner and an absorbent structure. The training pants further include elastic side panels that are permanently bonded to opposite side edges of the absorbent chassis. The chassis and side panels thereby form a unitary waist opening and two leg openings. The fit of the pants may be further enhanced by gathering means along the waist and leg openings.
The components of traditional training pants are permanently seamed together to provide a pant product. These products are particularly appealing to caregivers and are useful in the toilet training process because the pant has a very garment-like look. Children identify diaper products with babies, and most children do not like being identified with or as babies. Consequently, these children do not want to wear baby diapers, and instead prefer to wear training pants that look like adult underwear. Thus, the switch from a traditional diaper to a more garment-like or underwear-like training pant can be an important step in the toilet training process.
One drawback with current training pants, however, is that the manner of applying them is limited to being pulled on like a pant. Applying the product like a pant is advantageous in many instances, and is particularly suited for active, walking children. Even for the same child, however, there may be times when it would be useful to apply the product like a diaper. For instance, it might be more convenient to apply the product like a diaper when there is a desire not to remove the child's shoes. Because it is difficult to know when a particular mode of applying the garment will be needed, it is beneficial to have a garment that is adaptable to being used either as a diaper or as a pant. This is preferable to keeping both types of garments available. A product that can be applied either like a diaper or a pant permits the interior of the product to be easily checked without having to pull the product downward.
Thus, it would be desirable to have a disposable absorbent article that provides the garment-like look of a traditional training pant, includes fastening components to allow application like either a diaper or a pant, and of course minimizes the likelihood of the fastening components coming into contact with the skin of the wearer.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In response to the above-referenced unfulfilled need in the art, a new pant-like disposable absorbent article and a method of making such a disposable absorbent article have been discovered. The absorbent article includes a fastening system that can be repeatedly fastened, unfastened and refastened. The fastening system includes at least one fastening component disposed in one waist region and a pair of side attachment panels disposed in the other waist region that are adapted to releasably engage the at least one fastening component. The use of the side attachment panels to engage the fastening component reduces the chance for skin irritation because potentially irritating fastener components, such as hook fasteners, are disposed on the exterior surface of one waist region and covered by the side attachment panels.
The fastening components and the attachment panels form refastenable seams for securing the first and second waist regions together. The refastenable seams allow the product to be either pulled on like a pant or applied like a diaper. If the training pant becomes soiled during use, the attachment panels can be disengaged from the fastening components to easily remove the training pant from the waist of the wearer with reduced risk of undesirably soiling the clothes or legs of the wearer. Further, the attachment panels can also be easily disengaged to inspect the training pant for possible soiling. Thus, the training pant is configured to be pulled on or off over the hips of the wearer such as conventional training pants and can be readily applied or removed by disengaging the fastening system similar to conventional diapers. Moreover, the attachment panels can be repositioned if necessary after the training pant has been pulled on over the legs and hips of the wearer.
Hence, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to an absorbent article defining a longitudinal axis, an overall length dimension measured parallel to the longitudinal axis, a transverse axis, first and second longitudinally spaced waist regions, a crotch region which extends between and interconnects the first and second waist regions, an inner surface and an opposite outer surface. The absorbent article is adapted to provide a pant configuration having a waist opening and a pair of leg openings. The absorbent article includes an absorbent chassis comprising an absorbent assembly, and attachment panels extending transversely outward from the absorbent assembly in the first waist region. The attachment panels have a length dimension that is about 20 percent or greater of the overall length dimension, and each attachment panel includes a nonwoven substrate that extends from the waist opening to one of the leg openings and defines an inner attachment surface. At least one fastening component is disposed in the second waist region on the outer surface, and the at least one fastening component includes a mechanical fastening element that is adapted to refastenably engage the inner attachment surfaces. The refastenable engagement of the mechanical fastening element and the inner attachment surfaces maintains the absorbent article in the pant configuration.
In particular embodiments, each side attachment panel is elastomeric in a direction parallel to the transverse axis from the waist end edge to the leg end edge to provide automatic fit of the product around the wearer. The attachment panels are desirably formed of elastomeric nonwoven materials, comprising for example a nonwoven substrate and an elastomeric material. Suitable elastomeric materials may take a wide variety of forms, such as a plurality of elastomeric strands, an elastomeric film, a web of elastomeric filaments, or the like. In particular embodiments, the attachment panels consist essentially of the elastomeric nonwoven materials such that no separate fastening materials or fastening elements, loop material for example, are formed from or attached to the attachment panels. Most desirably, the attachment panels consist of an elastomeric nonwoven without any additional materials or elements. The elastomeric nonwoven suitably comprises a composite material including an elastomeric layer and an inner nonwoven layer that forms an inner attachment surface. The elastomeric layer can gather or shirr the inner nonwoven layer so that it has a corrugated and/or creped structure that is readily engageable by the fastening components. The elastomeric layer can be sandwiched between inner and outer nonwoven layers.
The refastenable seams are formed when the side attachment panels are engaged with the fastening components. The refastenable seams are desirably relatively thin, narrow and flexible to afford the look and feel of a cloth garment. Thus, in particular embodiments, the refastenable seams have a length-to-width ratio of about 2 or greater, such as about 2 to about 25, particularly about 5 or greater, such as about 5 to about 8. The refastenable seams define a length dimension and a width dimension that is perpendicular to the length dimension. For a child of about 9 to about 15 kilograms (20-34 lbs.), for example, the length dimension is desirably from about 5 to about 13 centimeters, such
Dimitrijevs Lisa Ann
Olson Christopher Peter
Gage Thomas M.
Kimberly--Clark Worldwide, Inc.
Kubicki H. Michael
Lo Weilun
Stephens Jacqueline F
LandOfFree
Absorbent article with non-irritating refastenable seams does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Absorbent article with non-irritating refastenable seams, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Absorbent article with non-irritating refastenable seams will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3142207