Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2001-04-13
2003-02-25
Ruhl, Dennis (Department: 3761)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S256000, C156S270000, C156S289000, C156S291000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06524422
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method of providing an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner or an incontinence protector for women, with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article, said article including an absorbent body or pad which is sandwiched between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet and which is provided with a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty or a pair of underpants and fastened to the outside thereof or to each other when the article is worm, and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body. The invention also relates to an absorbent article provided with protective layers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Sanitary napkins that include outwardly projecting, flexible wings or flaps, which most often consist in laterally extended portions of the outer sheet of the napkin and which are intended to be folded around the edges of a pair of panties and fastened to the outside of the panties after having fastened the napkin to the inside of the panties, have become very popular with the users of sanitary napkins. In order to enable such napkins to be fastened to panties, the napkins are provided with adhesive regions on the outer sheet that lies proximal to the panties, both on the flaps and on that part of the napkin which is fastened to the inside of the panties. In order to protect these adhesive regions from contaminants such as dust and similar substances, and to prevent the adhesive drying out and also to facilitate handling of the napkins, the adhesive regions are covered with protective layers that are removed when fitting the napkin into a pair of panties. These protective layers normally comprise so-called release paper, which consists of silicone-coated paper and which can be removed easily from the adhesive regions without impairing the adhesiveness of the adhesive.
So-called string panties, i.e. panties with which the rear part of the crotch portion of the napkin is very narrow, have become very popular in recent times, and sanitary napkins designed to fit into string panties have been produced. Because conventional sanitary napkins that include wings or flaps have been widely appreciated by the users of such napkins, it is desirable to include such flaps also on sanitary napkins that are intended for use with string panties.
In the manufacture of conventional flap-equipped sanitary napkins, the adhesive layers and protective layers are applied by cutting the respective flap-protecting layers and the layers for protecting that part of the napkin which includes the absorbent body from separate reels of protective layer material and then mounting these layers on the napkin. Prior to cutting these separate protective layers from the different reels of material, adhesive is applied to said layers in those patterns intended for the adhesive regions of the napkin.
This application process cannot be applied to flap-equipped sanitary napkins for string panties, because the flaps of such napkins must, of necessity, be relatively narrow and will be inclined to the longitudinal symmetry axis of the napkin. A rectangular strip of protective layer material that has a width corresponding to the width of the adhesive pattern on the flap will then extend outwardly of the inclined flap on opposite sides thereof.
The object of the present invention is to enable protective layers to be applied to flap-equipped sanitary napkins that are designed to be worn in string panties, in a simple and uncomplicated fashion with the aid of conventional equipment and in a manner such that the production rate of a production line for the production of such napkins will not be impaired by the application of said protective layers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object of the invention is achieved with a method of providing an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner or an incontinence protector for women, with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article, said article including an absorbent body or pad which is sandwiched between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet or backing sheet and which includes a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty and fastened to the outside of the panty when the article is worn and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body, said article being characterised in that a rectangular protective layer that has a width corresponding to the greatest width of the article and a length that corresponds to the length of the article is provided with two cuts which when the protective layer is applied to an article extend linearly between the points at which the flaps adjoin the longitudinal edges of said article; in that the cut protective layer is placed on the article so that the two cuts extend linearly between the points of connection of the flaps to the longitudinal edge of the article; and in that a contour corresponding to the outer contour of the article is cut from the rectangular protective layer. This method results in the application of a continuous and stable protective layer on each article, said layer being divided into separate respective layers for the flaps and for that part of the article which includes the absorbent body whilst cutting out the finished article at the same time. Thus, only one single protective layer is applied to the article when practicing the present invention.
The invention relates in particular to a method of providing absorbent articles in the form of sanitary napkins, panty liners or incontinence protectors for women continuously with protective layers that cover the adhesive regions of the article in the continuous manufacture of such absorbent articles, wherein each article includes an absorbent body that is enclosed between a liquid-permeable outer sheet and a liquid-impermeable outer sheet, and further includes a flexible flap that projects out from each longitudinal edge of the article along a part of each said longitudinal edge, wherein the flaps are intended to be folded around the edge of a panty or a pair of pants when used, and fastened to the outside of said panty or pants, and have adhesive regions on the outside of the liquid-impermeable outer sheet on at least one of the flaps and on that part of said outer sheet that extends over the absorbent body. The article is characterised in that a web of protective layer material that has a width which corresponds at least to the greatest width of the article seen at right angles to the machine direction is provided with a sequence of pairs of cuts which are so spaced apart that when the web of protective layer material is mounted on a web of article blanks the two cuts in each pair of mutually sequential pairs of cuts will lie linearly between the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of each article; and is further characterised in that the thus cut web of protective layer material is placed on a web of article blanks so that the two cuts in each pair of mutually sequential pairs of cuts will extend linearly between the points at which the flaps connect with the longitudinal edges of each article; and in that individual articles provided with protective layers are cut from the composite web of article blanks and the web of protective layer material. Because complete separation of the protective layers on the flaps from the protective layer on the part of the article that includes the absorbent body is not effected until final sep
Drevik Solgun
Helmfridsson Bror-Inge
Persson Hakan
Solar Frantisek
Anderson C. Lynne
Ruhl Dennis
SCA Hygiene Products AB
Young & Thompson
LandOfFree
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