Surgery – Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material – Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
Patent
1989-06-21
1991-04-02
Pellegrino, Stephen C.
Surgery
Means and methods for collecting body fluids or waste material
Absorbent pad for external or internal application and...
604365, 604378, 604382, A61F 1316
Patent
active
050044656
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a disposable absorbent article such as a diaper, a sanitary napkin, an incontinence protection garment, a wound dressing or the like comprising a liquid impermeable surface layer and a liquid permeable surface layer encasing an absorbent core therebetween.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Up to now, the liquid permeable surface layer of such articles has generally been composed of a fiber fabric web. Preferably, a web of this type should have no liquid absorbency but should only be capable of permitting the flow of fluid into the absorbent core accommodated inside it. Furthermore, the liquid permeable surface layer constituting the web facing the wearer's skin during use of the article should preferably be made soft, smooth and airy although with a sufficient degree of tensile strength.
The important demand on such a body-contacting diaper surface layer to be soft, airy and non-irritating to the wearer's skin has been recognized since long, for example through the European patent application No. 0 059 498 teaching an absorbent article with a liquid permeable surface layer consisting of a laminate composed of two different webs of which one is made from unbonded thermoplastic fibers and the other from a fiber fabric or net for example, constituting a web serving to support the first-mentioned layer. The thermoplastic fibers in the first-mentioned layer are melt bonded to the other layer or supporting web, preferably in a bonding pattern formed of crossing lines creating a diamond pattern. The purpose of such a laminate is to accomplish a soft body contacting surface layer without skin irritating effects, promoting simultaneously a rapid through-flow of body fluids into the absorbent core of the article.
The tensile strength of an unbonded fibrous layer is however known to be extremely poor even when bonded to a supporting web as is the case with the aforementioned prior art laminate. The risk of tearing or shedding fibers associated with this type of material is obvious unless, as a precaution, the bonding pattern for the supporting web is given a sufficiently close structure. The closer the bonding pattern, the stiffer, more awkward and less liquid impermeable the laminated surface layer thereby making it unsuitable for its purpose.
The handling and transport problems associated with unbonded fiber web are additional disadvantages in the manufacture of absorbent articles such as diapers.
The most common absorbent material used for absorbent products of the diaper type is so-called cellulose fluff pulp consisting of numerous short fibers which for obvious reasons are difficult to keep together into a coherent absorbent core. This factor is most crucial during mechanical treatment of the fibers. When using a disposable diaper with an absorbent core made of cellulose fluff pulp, the absorbent core is for example liable to burst causing the fibers included therein to lump and leaving in this manner large portions of the diaper completely void of absorbent material. This unfortunate effect of the low cohesiveness in cellulose fluff pulp fibers is generally most noticeable in the diaper crotch portion, that is the region of the diaper intended during use to be applied between the wearer's legs, which is the area exposed to maximum mechanical stress occurring in response to the movements of the wearer. This is also the area receiving the major part of urine discharged during use of the diaper. The fact that the absorbent material tends to burst most often in this specific area thus constitutes a serious drawback.
In order to stabilize and strengthen such absorbent cores for increasing their cohesivity during use there is previously known the technique of gluing the two surface layers encasing the absorbent core directly onto the absorbent material. Gluing in this manner can be performed for example by spraying or extruding a thin latticed layer of hot melt adhesive over the absorbent core or the surface layers prior to uniting them.
By gluing the liquid perme
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patent: 3498296 (1970-03-01), Gallagher
patent: 3949130 (1976-04-01), Sabee et al.
patent: 4055180 (1977-10-01), Karami
patent: 4573986 (1986-03-01), Minetola et al.
patent: 4775375 (1988-10-01), Aledo
patent: 4795451 (1989-01-01), Buckley
patent: 4897084 (1990-01-01), Ternstrorom et al.
Eriksson Mats
Ternstrom Ingela
Jackson Gary
Molnlycke AB
Pellegrino Stephen C.
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