GB2306331A

GB2306331A - Absorbent batt for use in sanitary items

Info

Publication number: GB2306331A
Application number: GB9521912A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Delwyn Thomas Holland
Original assignee: BREGER GIBSON Ltd
Current assignee: BREGER GIBSON Ltd
Priority date: 1995-10-26
Filing date: 1995-10-26
Publication date: 1997-05-07
Also published as: GB9521912D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to an absorbent batt for use in a disposable sanitary item adapted to be worn upon the person and to collect bodily fluids escaping from that person, which batt comprises: a. an initial axially elongated generally rectangular body (see Fig 1) of an absorbent material (2), said initial body having a top and bottom face and longitudinally extending lateral edges and a containing water pervious wrapping (1) around said body; b. said initial body and wrapping being folded longitudinally whereby said lateral edges are brought inwardly towards the axial centre line of the body to form a folded batt (see Fig 2) having a double thickness to at least the lateral portions thereof and having a longitudinal aperture (13) extending along the interface between the opposed inwardly folded edges of the initial body. The invention also relates to a sanitary article, notably a disposable diaper, which incorporates an absorbent batt of the invention and a method for making such a sanitary article. A superabsorber (3) may be incorporated between the absorbent material and the wrapper.

Description

TITLE: DIAPER The present invention relates to a diaper, notably to a diaper having an absorbent batt formed by folding the longitudinal edges of a rectangular initial form of the batt inwardly to form a double thickness but half width batt.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION: Disposable diapers are conventionally made as a composite construction having an outer water impervious sheet, normally of polyethylene; an inner next the skin layer formed from one or more non-woven water pervious sheets, for example of micro-apertured polypropylene sheet. The inner and outer sheets are typically of an H plan shape and bonded together along their peripheries with the uprights of the H forming the waist band portions of the diaper, which are to be secured around the waist of the wearer; and the cross bar of the H forming the narrower portion of the diaper which passes between the legs of the wearer and forms the crotch portion of the diaper.

Sandwiched between the inner and outer layers is an absorbent batt which absorbs the urine or other bodily fluid which escapes from the wearer of the diaper and passes through the inner sheet(s). The batt is usually formed from a cellulosic or other material compressed fibre felt or pad, which has been formed into a fluffy mass by mechanically defribrating the compressed sheet as it is fed to the diaper fabrication process. The fluffy mass is wrapped in a tissue or other wrap to support and carry the fragile fluff as it is fed to the fast moving outer sheet during the laying up of the composite construction of the diaper.The absorbent batt is cut to an hour glass type of shape so that it will fit the anatomy of the body of the wearer, the narrow portion being in the crotch portion of the diaper and the wider ends being in the waist band portions of the diaper.

The various layers of the composite diaper construction are held together by adhesive applied as longitudinal lines or sprays extending over the areas to be adhered to one another. Such adhesion forms a pocket within which the absorbent batt is located. The batt can be secured within this pocket by adhesive in the crotch and/or waistband areas. Typically, the construction also incorporates one or more longitudinal lines of elastication which cause the lateral edges and other parts of the diaper construction to form upstanding cuffs in the crotch area of the diaper so as to reduce the escape of fluids and solids from the diaper during use.

In order to reduce the volume of the diaper for transport, storage and sale, it is customary to compress or calendar the absorbent batt before it is fed to the diaper construction line and/or as the various components of the diaper are brought and secured together as a moving web of material. Whilst this calendaring may reduce the bulk of the diaper and may increase the cohesion of the absorbent batt and the ability of the batt to transport fluid within the core of the batt, it affects the feel of the diaper and excessive calendaring can result in an unacceptably hard diaper.

It has been customary to incorporate up to 35 by weight of the fluff of a super absorber, for example a granular polyacrylate polymer, to increase the amount of fluid which the batt will absorb without increasing its bulk.

However, excessive calendaring of the batt containing the granules may affect their absorbent properties adversely.

Furthermore, when particles of super absorber are initially wetted, a surface of gel is formed on the particles which prevents the particle from absorbing further fluid at its outer surface until the fluid in the gel layer has penetrated further into the core of the particles. This gel blinding of the super absorber particles reduces the ability of the absorbent core to absorb further fluid and to transport fluid away from the initial point of application of the fluid into the underlying fluff of the batt and towards the extremities of the batt. This limits the ability of the absorbent batt to accept further fluid.

Furthermore, in forming the waisted portion of the batt at the crotch portion of the diaper, part of the batt and any super absorber it may contain are cut away and detached from the diaper. In order to reduce costs, these cut away portions of the batt are recovered for re-use.

However, where the batt contains high proportions of super absorber, the super absorber particles may be damaged during such re-processing and their absorbent properties destroyed or deleteriously affected.

As a result, the incorporation of super absorber granules in an absorbent batt has to balance many opposing factors and the major absorbent capacity of a diaper is achieved by the fluff component of the batt in conventional designs of diaper.

In order to avoid the need to remove batt material in forming a waisted crotch portion of the batt, it has been proposed to form the batt as a substantially rectangular component having the desired width of the intended crotch portion of the batt and having no wider waist band portions. Such a batt is laid as a continuous tissue wrapped strip onto the outer polyethylene sheet and requires no cutting or trimming to form the crotch portion of the batt. However, such a batt does not overcome the problems associated with the use of super absorbers or the harshness caused by calendaring of the batt.

We have now devised a form of batt which reduces the above problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: Accordingly, the present invention provides an absorbent batt for use in a disposable sanitary item adapted to be worn upon the person and to collect bodily fluids escaping from that person, which batt comprises: a. an initial axially elongated generally rectangular body of an absorbent material, said initial body having a top and bottom face and longitudinally extending lateral edges and a containing water pervious wrapping around said body; b. said initial body and wrapping being folded longitudinally whereby said lateral edges are brought inwardly towards the axial centre line of the body to form a folded batt having a double thickness to at least the lateral portions thereof and having a longitudinal aperture extending along the interface between the opposed inwardly folded edges of the initial body.

The invention also provides a diaper or other disposable sanitary article to be worn upon the body of a person, comprising a water pervious top layer and a water impervious bottom layer and having an absorbent batt located intermediate said top and bottom layers, characterised in that the absorbent batt is an absorbent batt of the invention and, in that said water impervious layer does not overlie the absorbent batt within the folds of the said batt.

For convenience, the term initial body will be used to denote the unfolded body and the term folded batt will be used herein to denote the batt which is formed by folding the edges of the initial body inwardly.

It has been proposed in US Re-issue Patent No 26,151 to fold a diaper about two longitudinal lines to form a narrow diaper which can be splayed by unfolding the diaper at the waistband portion to provide a diaper with a double thickness of batt in the crotch region, but a wider single thickness diaper at the waist band regions of the diaper.

However, the bottom water impervious layer and the top water pervious layer are both folded with the intermediate absorbent batt so that they are interleaved with the folds of the batt in the crotch region of the diaper. We have found that the presence of these additional layers within the folded batt provide a restriction to the free flow of fluid through the thickness of the folded batt. In the batt of the invention, the initial body is folded before it is applied to the bottom water impervious layer or is folded in place upon the water impervious layer in such a manner that the water impervious layer is not incorporated into the folded batt structure. As a result, the water impervious layer does not overlie the absorbent material within the folds of the batt and the flow of fluid through the layers of the batt is not restricted by the impervious layer as with the design of the US Re-Issue Patent.

Preferably, the water pervious wrapping is secured by adhesive or other means to the top face of the initial body. Upon folding of the initial body, this wrapping lies within the folded batt and provides additional internal structural integrity to the folded batt as compared to a batt where the wrap is only external. As a result, it is possible to utilise a higher proportion of short fibre length fluff in the batt than has hitherto been considered acceptable without reducing the integrity of the batt to an unacceptable level. This results in greater flexibility in the choice of materials to be used in the construction of the batt and a reduction in cost.

Furthermore, by folding the initial body, internal exposed surfaces are formed within the folded batt which can be accessed by fluid flowing through the longitudinal aperture between the opposed folded in edges. As a result, the exposed surface area of the batt which is effectively available for absorption of fluid is several times greater than that which would be available with a conventional non-folded batt. As a result, fluid uptake by the batt of the invention is enhanced as compared to a conventional batt.

Preferably, the initial body is provided with a layer of super absorber granules or other particles extending over at least part of the interface between the top face of the initial body and the lower face of the water pervious wrapping. Surprisingly, we have found that when a folded batt formed from an initial body having the super absorber located at this position is wetted, the super absorber swells and causes the longitudinal aperture at the interface between the opposed lateral edges to open up, thus aiding flow of urine or other fluid into the core of the batt and exposing a greater area of the fluff and super absorber to contact with the fluid.The folded batt can thus accommodate greater surges of fluid flow onto the batt than conventional single thickness designs of batt where a layer of the super absorber particles on the upper face of the batt fails to transport urine away from the source once the super absorber has been wetted and provides a barrier to flow of urine into the underlying fluff of the batt.

The invention can be applied to batts for use in a wide range of sanitary articles to be worn upon the person, for example sanitary pads, incontinence pads for the aged or infirm, liners for underwear. However, the invention is of especial application in providing the absorbent batt for a disposable diaper to be worn by a baby. For convenience, the invention will be described hereinafter in terms of the use of the batt in a disposable diaper.

The diaper can be constructed in the same manner as a conventional diaper, except that the folded batt of the invention does not require cutting or otherwise forming with a waisted portion, thus avoiding the need to provide, operate and maintain cutting or other shaping equipment and the need to recover and re-use the discard material from the shaping of the batt.

The batt is made from any suitable absorbent material, for example a sheet of compacted felt of cellulosic fibres or padded fibre or wadding which is preferably bulked up by mechanical defibration as it is fed to the diaper construction line. However, as indicated above, the water pervious wrapping around the initial body provides additional internal reinforcement to the folded batt and it is therefore possible to use a higher proportion, for example up to 50t by weight, of fibres with a length below 2.4 mms, in the compacted felt used to provide the fluff.

Such felts are more economic than the felts containing a high proportion of long fibres which have hitherto been considered necessary to provide the mechanical cohesion and integrity to the batt.

The wrap around the initial body can be selected from a wide range of the wet strength water pervious materials used in the fabrication of diapers. Preferably, the wrapping is a conventional wet strength diaper tissue The wrap extends laterally around the batt and extends for substantially the full length of the batt. Preferably, the wrap is overlapped on the top face of the initial body so as to provide a total longitudinal enclosure to the body. Preferably, the top face of the initial body is secured to the underside of the wrap using a hot melt, cold melt, water based or other adhesive, typically a water based polyacrylate adhesive. The adhesive can be applied as a continuous or intermittent coating or spray, as lines of adhesive or as diamond or other pattern of adhesive.

As indicated above, it is preferred to incorporate a super absorber in the batt. Not only does this enhance the absorptive properties of the batt, but by selecting the super absorber from those which swell appreciably upon wetting, the wetting of the super absorber can be used to raised the folded in edges of the batt. This causes the longitudinal aperture along the interface between the opposed edges to splay and thus create an enlarged fluid flow path to the interior of the batt. Preferably, the super absorber is an alkali metal salt of a partially or wholly cross-linked acrylic acid or other acrylic polymer as used in the fabrication of diapers. The optimum form and particle size of the super absorber required to optimise the gape of the aperture during use can readily be determined by simple tests.However, it is preferred to use particulate super absorbers with a particle size of 80% greater than 300 micrometres.

Preferably, the super absorber is applied as a layer at the interface between the wrapping material and the underlying fluff in the initial body prior to folding of the body to form the folded batt of the invention.

However, super absorber can be incorporated elsewhere in the diaper, for example as a layer within the fluff body prior to wrapping or as a layer applied to the outer face of the folded batt. Furthermore, the super absorber may be incorporated at various application rates across the surface of the body so as to provide local high concentrations of super absorber to provide gender specific performance to the batt. However, it is preferred to incorporate the super absorber as a substantially uniform layer upon the top face of the initial body prior to wrapping of the body. Preferably, the adhesive to secure the wrapping to the body is applied before or after the layer of super absorber so as to secure the particles of the super absorber in place prior to the wrapping of the initial body.

The folded batt of the invention can readily be made using conventional technology. Thus, it is preferred to form the initial body by defribrating a cellulose fibre felt using conventional equipment, to feed the resultant web of fluff onto a wider web of the tissue wrap which acts to support and carry the fluff at this stage. The adhesive to secure the wrap to the top face of the fluff can then be applied using a conventional spray or line applicator and the required amount of super absorber particles applied onto the adhesive coated face of the fluff. Alternatively, the super absorber particles can be applied first and the.adhesive applied subsequently.

The tissue wrap is then folded laterally using conventional equipment for form a total wrap around the fluff. Preferably the wrap overlaps by about 10 to 20W of the width of the initial body at the centre line of the initial body to prevent accidental exposure of the fluff during subsequent processing of the initial body. It is preferred to subject the wrapped initial body to a compaction step to consolidate the fluff and ensure intimate contact between the wrap, the fluff and the adhesive. Thus, it is preferred to pass the wrapped initial body through the nip of one or more pairs of calendaring rollers, which may carry embossing ribs or the like to form indentations on the top surface of the initial body. However, it will be appreciated that such an embossed and consolidated upper surface of the initial body will form an internal face within the folded batt.

As a result, the hardening of this surface caused by the calendaring process will not be detected by a wearer of the resultant diaper. The calendaring and embossing of the initial body can thus be carried out, subject to the need to minimise damage to the super absorber granules present, to optimise the cohesion of the fluff and to provide the optimal channels in the embossed face to ensure flow of urine across that face without causing discomfort to the wearer of the diaper. The calendaring of the upper face of the initial body also serves to reduce migration of particles of the super absorber during subsequent handling of the initial body or the folded batt formed therefrom.

The calendared initial body is then folded using conventional mechanical equipment to form the folded batt of the invention. The longitudinal lateral edges of the initial body are folded inwardly to form a folded batt of reduced width and increased thickness. It will usually be preferred to fold the edges inwardly until they meet along the centre line of the initial body to provide a substantially closed slit aperture at their interface.

However, it may be preferred to fold the edges inward so that the aperture has appreciable lateral dimension over part or all of its length, for example to provide a reception trough within the crotch area of the resultant batt to receive faeces where the batt is used on a person suffering from diarrhoea. However, it is preferred that the aperture at the interface have a substantially uniform width along its length of from 1 to 10 mms.

If desired, the folded batt can be passed through the nip of one more pairs of rollers to consolidate the structure of the batt. The folded batt can then be used in the manufacture of a disposable diaper in the conventional manner, except that no trimming or shaping of the diaper to form a narrower crotch section is required. Thus, the folded batt may be rolled for storage and transport to a remote diaper fabrication site or can be fed directly as it is formed as a continuous web or as a series of individual batts into a conventional diaper fabrication line. The invention can thus be applied to existing diaper fabrication lines with little or no modification of the fabrication equipment merely by supplying the preformed folded batt in place of the fluff/wrap feeds used conventionally.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING: A particularly preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of illustration only with respect to the accompanying drawings in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic transverse cross section through the initial body; Figure 2 is a diagrammatic transverse cross section through a folded batt produced from the initial body of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic transverse cross section through the batt of Figure 2 after it has been wetted; and Figures 4 and 5 are a diagrammatic plan view and a diagrammatic transverse section along the line A-A' through a diaper incorporating a folded batt of Figure 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT: The initial body comprises a sheet of a conventional wet strength water pervious tissue 1. A fluff layer 2, formed by defibrating a conventional cellulosic fibre felt sheet, is applied to the tissue web 1 so as to form a narrow body of the fluff on the tissue. Water based acrylic adhesive is applied as a spray to the top face of the fluff layer 2 and particles of the sodium salt of a cross-linked acrylic acid polymer or co-polymer are applied as a substantially uniform layer 3 onto the adhesive. This layer can extend laterally for the full width of the fluff layer, or can as shown extend for only part of the width.

The lateral portions of the sheet of tissue are then folded over the top face of the fluff layer to form an enclosing wrap around the fluff 2, adhesive and super absorber 3 as shown in Figure 1. The edges of the tissue wrap overlap along the centre line of the fluff layer.

The manufacture of this initial body can be carried out using conventional equipment and materials, for example by feeding the tissue wrap 1 as a moving web onto which the fluff layer 2 is deposited and the super absorber 3 and adhesive applied to the exposed upper face of the fluff 2 before the edges of the tissue web 1 are folded inwardly to form the initial body. As stated above, the fluff can be one with a high proportion, typically 35 to 50% by weight, of fibres with a length of less than 2.4 mms which has not hitherto been considered feasible.

The wrapped fluff layer 1,2 forms the initial body from which the batt of the invention is made. This initial body is preferably passed through the nip of a pair of calendaring rollers to reduces the thickness of the body by about 50 . This causes compaction of the fluff layer 2 and intimate contact between the fluff 2, the tissue wrap 1 and the adhesive 3. The rollers can have ribs which form wicking grooves in the upper face of the initial body.

The lateral edges 4 of this initial body are folded inwardly to form the folded batt shown in Figure 2. As will be seen, what were the upper exposed faces of the initial body have now become internal faces within the folded batt. As a result, any hard surfaces to these faces caused by the calendaring of the initial body are located within the batt and will not be experienced by a wearer of a diaper containing the folded batt. As shown in Figure 2, the layer of super absorber 3 extends for the internal width of the bottom face of the recess 10 formed within the folded batt. As a result, the upper face 11 of this recess does not have super absorber on it and can therefore still absorb fluid directly, even where the super absorber particles 3 on the lower face 12 are gel blinded during initial wetting of the diaper. However, due to the larger effective area of the batt exposed to the fluid passing through the 13, such gel blinding is reduced as compared to a single thickness batt. If desired, the layer of super absorber particles 3 can extend for the full width of the initial body shown in Figure 1, so that both the top and bottom faces 11 and 12 of the recess 10 carry super absorber particles.

The aperture 13 formed at the interface between the opposing edges of the folded in top portions 4 of the folded body typically has a lateral dimension of from 1 to 5 mms and provides a direct access to the interior of the batt for fluid applied to the upper face of the folded batt. This is in addition to the path via the absorbent top portions 4 of the folded batt. Since there is no water impervious bottom sheet located between the folds of the folded batt, the flow of fluid from the top folds 4 to the lower portion 15 of the folded batt is not restricted.

As shown in Figure 3, when fluid is applied to the folded batt, part will be absorbed directly through the upper face 14 of the batt. However, some will pass through aperture 13 into the recess 10 where it wets the super absorber 3. This causes the super absorber to swell and cause aperture 13 to gape as shown in Figure 3. This increases the rate of fluid transfer from on top of the batt to within the batt, enhancing the rate of absorption of fluid by the batt. Furthermore, since the wet super absorber layer 3 and the basal portion 15 of the batt are isolated from the wearer by the folded over portion 4 of the batt, the tendency to re-wet the skin of a user will be reduced, enhancing the bodily comfort of the wearer and reducing nappy rash due to excessive skin wetness.In addition, it will be seen that on a width for width basis, the sum of the areas of the internal faces 11 and 12 of the batt is about twice the area which a single thickness batt would present, enhancing the rate at which the batt of the invention can absorb surges of urine or other fluid applied to it.

The folded batt can be used directly in the manufacture of a diaper, either by being fed as a continuous web of batt to the diaper production line. Alternatively, individual batt lengths can be cut from the continuous web and fed singly to desired locations on a travelling web of the polyethylene outer sheet in the fabrication of diapers. In a yet further alternative, the folded batt may be rolled and shipped to a remote location where another manufacturer can use the folded batt in the manufacture of diapers on his equipment.

Accordingly, from another aspect the invention provides a process for the manufacture of a diaper or other sanitary article to be worn by a person, which method comprises at a second location incorporating into the construction of the sanitary article so as to form the finished sanitary article a folded batt of the invention which has been pre-formed at a first, remote location.

A typical disposable diaper incorporating a folded batt of the invention is shown in Figures 4 and 5 and comprises a water impervious bottom sheet 20 and a top non-woven top sheet 21 having a folded batt 30 as shown in Figure 2 located between them. The top sheet 21 has an axially extending aperture 22 formed in it and the longitudinal lips 23 of aperture 22 are caused to be upstanding by a length of tensioned elastic thread 24 secured within a sleeve formed by folding the lips 23 inwardly upon themselves. The lips 23 thus form two upstanding longitudinal barrier cuffs of non-woven material located inboard of the lateral edges of the folded batt 30 which engage the skin of a wearer in the crotch region to minimise lateral flow of solids over the top face of the diaper during use.

The aperture 22 is closed by a second sheet 25 of nonwoven material which underlies the aperture and is secured to the upper non-woven sheet as described below.

Sandwiched between the top and bottom sheets 20 and 21 is the folded batt 30 of Figure 2. The lateral peripheries of the top and bottom sheets are secured together by longitudinal adhesive stripes applied along each edge of the bottom sheet 20 before the folded batt 30 and the top sheets 21 and 25 are applied thereto. It is preferred to apply three or more tensioned elastic threads 40 longitudinally to each side of the batt 30 and spaced about 15 to 25 mms from the laterally outward edges of the batt. These threads gather the top and bottom sheets in a shirred type effect to form leg cuffs at the edges of the diaper to bear against the skin of a wearer and further minimise lateral escape of fluids and solids from the diaper during use.If desired two or more longitudinal lines of adhesive 50 can be applied intermediate the lateral edges of the folded batt and the elastic threads 40 so as to define the longitudinal edges of the envelope between the top and bottom sheets 20 and 21 within which the batt 30 is located.

The folded batt 30 can be secured within the envelope by securing it to either of both of the top and bottom sheets 20 and 21, for example by means of adhesive transverse bands at each end of the diaper construction, shown as zones 60. Alternatively, the folded batt can be secured in position by longitudinal lines or stripes of adhesive extending for the full length of the diaper.

As is customary, the diaper is formed with a waisted portion 70 in which the top and bottom sheets have been cut away to form an anatomically shaped diaper where the waisted portion 70 fits between the legs of the wearer to contact the crotch area of the body of the wearer. The longitudinal extremities of the diaper are formed as full width portions 80 which form the waist band of the diaper.

Self adhesive tabs are carried by these end portions of the diaper which can be secured to the opposed lateral ends of the other waist band end of the diaper to secure the diaper in position on the body of a wearer.

Claims

Claims:

1. An absorbent batt for use in a disposable sanitary item adapted to be worn upon the person and to collect bodily fluids escaping from that person, which batt comprises: a. an initial axially elongated generally rectangular body of an absorbent material, said initial body having a top and bottom face and longitudinally extending lateral edges and a containing water pervious wrapping around said body; b. said initial body and wrapping being folded longitudinally whereby said lateral edges are brought inwardly towards the axial centre line of the body to form a folded batt having a double thickness to at least the lateral portions thereof and having a longitudinal aperture extending along the interface between the opposed inwardly folded edges of the initial body.

2. A diaper or other disposable sanitary article to be worn upon the body of a person, comprising a water pervious top layer and a water impervious bottom layer and having an absorbent batt located intermediate said top and bottom layers, characterised in that the absorbent batt is an absorbent batt as claimed in claim 1 and in that said water impervious layer does not overlie the absorbent batt within the folds of the said batt.

3. A process for the manufacture of a diaper or other sanitary article to be worn by a person, which method comprises incorporating into the construction of the sanitary article a folded batt as claimed in claim 1.

4. A process as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the folded batt has been made at a first location and the folded batt is incorpoarated into the construction of the sanitary article so as to form the finished sanitary article at a second location remote from the first location.

5. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the absorbent material is a fibrouslwhich has up to 50% by weight thereof as fibres with a fibre length of less than 2.4 mms.

6. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the water pervious wrapping is secured to the top face only of the initial body by adhesive.

7. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the top face of the initial body has been subjected to a calendaring process.

8. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the initial body carries particles of a super absorber at the interface between the top of the body and the under surface of the wrapping.

9. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in claim 8, characterised in that the particles of super absorber extend laterally for about half the width of the initial body.

10. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the longitudinal aperture has a width of from 1 to 10 mums.

11. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, substantially as hereinbefore described.

12. A folded batt, sanitary article or process as claimed in any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, substantially as hereinbefore described with respect to and as shown in any one of the accompanying drawings.