Stock material or miscellaneous articles – Structurally defined web or sheet – Including variation in thickness
Patent
1995-03-27
2000-07-25
Raimund, Christopher
Stock material or miscellaneous articles
Structurally defined web or sheet
Including variation in thickness
428188, 428192, 428206, 156169, 156176, 156269, 156271, 156292, 156510, B32B 300
Patent
active
060934743
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to multilayer absorbent products and articles of the type incorporating two or more sheets of backing or containing materials between which absorbent materials in fibre, granule or powder form are sandwiched.
More particularly the present invention relates to a process and an apparatus for manufacturing an intermediate absorbent product, to be used in manufacturing finished or final absorbent articles, such intermediate product being formed by adjacent "absorbent cores" connected to each other by the sheets and being individually separable by slitting. The absorbent materials can be either conventional and well known materials, or the newer high-absorbency materials, such as the so called Super Absorbent Polymers (SAP).
The invention further relates to finished absorbent articles that are not to be re-used, i.e. to be disposed of after use, that incorporate products in accordance with the invention as a main absorbent core or pad, and that are obtained through conventional processes, e.g. by adding to such intermediate product cores one or more additional absorbent layers and/or containing sheets. Examples of such articles made up by two or more layers with a multiple structure are for example, feminine hygiene absorbents, infant diapers, incontinent briefs, absorbent sheets for foodstuff packaged in trays such as poultry, and more in general absorbent cloths for both household and industrial use.
For a better understanding of the invention, as used herein, the term "absorbent article" refers to a finished absorbent item that is ready to be used such as, for example, a flat sanitary towel, a diaper or a suitably dimensioned and shaped sheet adapted to be inserted in trays containing foodstuff.
On the other hand, as used herein, the term "absorbent product"--which is more directly related to the present invention--refers to a continuous absorbent web or ribbon of composite material, from which the finished absorbent articles are produced by adding further layers and/or sheets and by transversally and/or longitudinally cutting. The portion of the product used in an individual article is also referred to as absorbent core.
BACKGROUND ART
For manufacturing absorbent articles there are known the so-called "on line" processes, in which a continuous web is manufactured from which the article is cut out with as a segment of the desired length. These processes are typically employed for disposable articles such as baby diapers and feminine hygiene products. This kind of products incorporates cellulose fibres and superabsorbent polymers (SAP) either in fibre or powder form, that are blended up or arranged to form one of more layers, with the absorbent materials being sandwiched between sheets of tissue paper or the like, peripherally folded and bonded, or glued on such sheets and forming one or more layers. More particularly, in feminine hygiene products, SAP powders are bonded onto cellulose-based substrates (i.e. air-laid paper) and afterwards enveloped or wrapped by the substrates.
This process has the disadvantage of a limited width of the absorbent product, generally narrower than 600 mm, and of a poor flexibility since only a limited number of article configurations can be obtained. The number of layers in the absorbent article is limited, typically only one layer is provided when using SAP powders, and moreover such powders have to be encapsulated, which causes further technical restrictions.
Moreover, this known process is quite difficult to be modified to cope with future production requirements since even small modifications of the article involve substantial process changes with the associated high levels of investment and cost. Further, in many cases line modifications are unfeasible due either to existing space restraints or to the complexity of the employed process, or in case to a relative complexity of the desired product.
According to another known process, the absorbent article is manufactured through a separate (off line) process which delivers lar
REFERENCES:
patent: 3399671 (1968-09-01), Palatine
patent: 4027672 (1977-06-01), Karami
patent: 4699808 (1987-10-01), Menard
Korma S.p.A.
Raimund Christopher
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