Absorbent garment with seamless leak guards

Details Absorbent garment with seamless leak guards Absorbent garment with seamless leak guards

1999-04-13

2003-01-07

Lewis, Aaron J. (Department: 3761)

Surgery

Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material

Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...

C604S385290, C604S396000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06503237

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to an absorbent garment, such as a training pant, swimsuit, diaper, incontinence garment or similar absorbent vehicle, which has a leak guard between the absorbent midsection and the edges of the garment. The leak guard is provided without separately attached side flaps, by extending the outer cover beyond the absorbent midsection and to the edges which contact the legs, and by incorporating elastic into the garment edges adjacent to the legs.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Disposable absorbent garments having a pant-like configuration are used for child training pants, adult incontinence garments, diapers, swimsuits and the like. Referring to
FIG. 1
, a prior art pant-like absorbent garment
2
includes a waste containment section
4
and two side portions
6
and
8
defining a waist opening
10
and a pair of leg openings
12
and
14
. The side panel
6
includes stretchable panels
18
and
20
joined together at seam
30
. The side panel
8
includes stretchable panels
24
and
26
joined together at seam
33
. Seams
30
and
33
extend longitudinally from the waist opening
10
to the leg openings
12
and
14
of the garment
2
.
The waste containment section
4
includes multiple layers (not shown) including, for instance, a liquid-permeable inner layer, an absorbent core layer, and a liquid-impermeable outer cover layer
16
which faces away from the wearer. The waste containment section
4
also includes elasticized waist portions
22
on the front and back of the garment. The leg opening portions
12
and
14
also include elastic portions
46
which extend substantially around the portion of the leg openings defined by the waste containment section
4
.
The disposable garment also includes leak guards in both leg openings, which help prevent lateral leakage of waste material through the leg openings. The leak guards have commonly been provided by elasticized flap portions
50
which are connected to the interior of the garment along the lower part of each leg opening. During use, the elasticized flap portions
50
fit snugly against the wearer and effectively block most spillage of waste material from the leg openings.
In the past, the flap portions
50
used for the leak guard have required a separate manufacturing step to attach the flap material to the garment. Generally, the flaps
50
have been joined via seams
52
. During active use, some separation at the seams
52
can occur, resulting in failure of the flaps
50
to serve as effective leak guards. Providing a seam which is both leakproof and durable has been challenging, and has added to manufacturing costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a disposable pant-like absorbent garment similar to the one described above, and having leak guards, except that the side flaps and seams required to join them have been eliminated. Instead of using flaps, seamless leak guards are provided by extending the liquid-impermeable outer cover layer substantially beyond the absorbent layer on both sides, and to a higher location on the garment and on the wearer. The outer cover extensions on both sides are reinforced at their edges by elastic bands which pull the outer cover extensions upward and away from the absorbent layer, and against the wearer's body.
The lateral extensions of the outer cover material, combined with the upward pulling of the elastic bands, provide the garment with seamless leak guards not requiring separately attached flaps. The need and expense of attaching side flaps are thus eliminated. The problem of leakage at the seams joining the flaps to the garment, is also eliminated.
With the foregoing in mind, it is a feature and advantage of the invention to provide a disposable pant-like absorbent garment with effective leak guards at the leg openings, without attaching flaps.
It is also a feature and advantage of the invention to provide a disposable absorbent garment with improved leak guards, by eliminating flap seams.


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patent: 4500316 (1985-02-01), Damico
patent: 4636207 (1987-01-01), Buell
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patent: 4725473 (1988-02-01), Van Gompel et al.
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patent: 5454803 (1995-10-01), Sageser et al.
patent: 5601545 (1997-02-01), Glaug et al.
patent: 5601547 (1997-02-01), Kato et al.
patent: H1674 (1997-08-01), Ames et al.
patent: 5735838 (1998-04-01), Ronnberg et al.
patent: 5853405 (1998-12-01), Suprise
patent: 6004306 (1999-12-01), Robles et al.
patent: 97/12571 (1997-04-01), None
patent: 98/14156 (1998-04-01), None
patent: 98/29080 (1998-07-01), None

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