IE870235L

IE870235L - Diaper with fastening means having buckles and grips

Info

Publication number: IE870235L
Application number: IE870235A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Beghin Say Sa
Priority date: 1986-02-21
Filing date: 1987-01-29
Publication date: 1987-08-21
Also published as: IE59781B1; NO870687D0; AU6861787A; FI870583A0; JPS62206001A; EP0235014A2; DK88987D0; GR3002677T3; NO162792C; PT84333A; PT84333B; MC1789A1; FI87313B; DK175547B1; NO870687L; EP0235014B1; DE3771742D1; FI870583A; BR8700752A; NO162792B

Abstract

The disposable complete diaper, comprising an absorbent pad of elongated form consisting of a body absorbing liquids, included between an outer support sheet and a liquid-permeable sheet intended to come into contact with the skin, the fastening means for holding the pad around the waist of the user being of the touch-and-close type, a first element (8) of which, having loops or hooks, is attached to the support sheet close to one longitudinal end (22) of the pad, is characterised in that the second element (52, 62), having loops or hooks and complementing the first (8), is mounted on the free-end section of a tab (51, 61) whose other end is attached to the support sheet. <IMAGE>

Description

59781 a The invention relates to a disposable napkin comprising fastening means of the loop and hook type also known by the tradename VELCRO.

Disposable napkins for babies or incontinent adults are generally formed by an absorbent mass formed by a cushion of cellulose fibres, obtained for instance by dry dsfibracion of paper pulp; the absorbent material is placed between a support sheet which is generally impermeable and a sheet which can be permeated by fluids ax?d is designed to come into contact with the user's skin. In cases where the support sheet is itself permeable, leak-tightness is obtained by incorporating a sheet which is impermeable to fluids between the absorbent mass and the support sheet.

The napkin is generally retained around the waist of the baby or adult by lateral adhesive fasteners formed by a strip or tongue of rectangular shape, an end section of which is rigidly secured to the support sheet on the upper rear portion of the napkin, the free end section being coated with a pressure-sensitive adhesive substance protected by silicon paper.

When the napkin is positioned and fastened around the waist, the adhesive-coated portion is separated from its protective paper and the rear portion is secured to the front portion on each side by applying the adhesive-coated surface of the fasteners to the support sheet in the stomach area.

Although this fastening method us simple, economic and relatively reliable, it entails some drawbacks: If the adhesive-coated surface is soiled by foreign matter it loses all or part of its adhesive power with the result that the fastening is less resistant to the stresses to which it is subject while the napkin is being worn. In order to avoid this, mothers, for instance, must ensure that they keep the adhesive-coated surface very clean once the protective paper has been removed. They must ensure that they do not place their fingers on this surface and make sure that talcuma or greasy substances are not deposited thereon. This is not easy when trying to handle a baby at the same time.

Current adhesives make it possible to unfasten the fastening only a limited number of times in order to move the fastener so that the napkin can, for instance, be adjusted or its condition 'examined; The adhesive substance may deteriorate in some storage conditions.

A disposable napkin whose means for fastening around the user's waist are formed by adhesive fasteners is known from EP-A-80S47. These fasteners can be applied on an area of the front surface of the impermeable sheet which has been strengthened so as to allow their repeated fastening and unfastening. This solution does not, however, solve the problem of loss of adhesive power in the case of soiling.

Other fastening methods not using an adhesive substance have been proposed. The French Patent Application 8401333 and its patent of addition 8413844 - corresponding to WO 85/03205 - advocate the use of fastening means of the type known by the tradename VELCRO formed by two complementary members, i.e. a member covered watts a plurality of loops within which the ends ©f fibres provided with rough portions in the form of hooks or catches with xvhich the second member is covered are gripped.

According to this patent, the opposite edges of a same side of the napkin cushion are provided with a block of loops or books and their connection is ensured by a half-belt of fabric with loops or hooks complementary with the preceding blocks. This solution eliminates the drawbacks mentioned in respect of adhesive fasteners. The fasteners may be fastened and unfastened at will without any risk of deterioration of their adhesive properties; moreover, there is no risk of deterioration due to foreign matter. This method of fastening has the drawback, however, that it is more costly which has limited its development.

The patents ©r patent applications GB 1428572, US 3081772, US 4 314I4613 US 4402690, US 3359980 and WO 83/03754 also disclose baby clothing and napkins made of fabric - and not therefore designed to be disposable - for which fastening means of the VELCRO type are provided.

Blocks are sewn on the front surface of the garment and lateral fasteners of complementary material are sewn at one end to each zi the lateral panels or are secured to the inner surface of the rear portion., These solutions cannot be readily transposed to disposable articles largely because of the method of manufacture of these latter whose cost must be as low as possible. 1 0 The invention relates to a disposable napkin, comprising an absorbent cushion of elongate shape formed by a fluid absorbing mass contained between an external support sheet and a sheet which can be permeated by fluids designed to come into contact with the skin, she fastening means for holding the cushion around the user's waist being of the 1 5 type having two members with loops and hooks engaging with one-another, a first Hooped member being rigid with the support sheet close to one longitudinal end of the cushion and a second hooked member being joined to the opposite end of the support sheet. With respect to a napkin of the prior art disclosed, for instance, in WO 85/03205, the napkin is characterized in that the second member is fastened by gluing or fusion to the free end section of a piece of flexible and resistant material forming a tongue whose other end is permanently secured, in particular by gluing, to the support sheet.

The first looped member is preferably a block of fabric with raised 2 5 mesh.

The advantage of an arrangement of this type is that it allows a simple and effective assembly of the second member with means already known for the formation of adhesive fasteners. In particular, the member may be fastened by simple gluing, for instance using a thermosetting glue.

A further advantage lies in the major saving of material which is made possible. The dimensions of the hooked member of the fastener may be limited to those strictly necessary to ensure the fastening function.

The choice of a tongue of flexible material which is not very deformable ensures a uniform distribution of the shearing forces on the connection between the member and the tongue thereby limiting the risks of detachment of the member. This result could not be achieved if 'this small-size member were to be secured directly on the outer support sheet, generally of polyethylene, which Is flexible but not very resistant* since the shearing forces would then cause a deformation of the support leading to the gradual separation of the connection.

Moreover, the solution of the invention makes it possible to choose a connection are® between the fastener and outer sheet which iis ®s wide as is needed'to prevent the flow of the sheet material, without having to Increase the size of the member.

The invention and further advantages thereof are set out in further detail in the following description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which.: Fig. 3 shows a disposable napkin of the Invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of one of the fasteners; Fig. 3 is a sectional view along the line US-MS of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a partial view of a device for mounting the fasteners on the napkins.

Fig. 1 shows a disposable napkin designated by 1; it is viewed from the side intended to come into contact with the user's skin. It comprises a substantially rectangular cushion 2 formed by an absorbent cellulose fibre material, obtained far instance by dry defitaeitioa of paper pulp, enclosed between an outer support sheet 3 and a sheet 4 which can be permeated by , fluids designed to cosne to contact with the skin. The support sheet is generally made from polyethylene and the sheet 4 from a non-woven material obtained by direct spinning but other materials can also be used. The support sheet is in most cases impermeable but may also have a certain degree of permeability and be associated with a supplementary impermeable sheet disposed between the support sheet and the absorbent material. The two sheets are joined together to form a closed pocket. The cushion may comprise rounded cut-out portions corresponding to the contours of the user's thighs and may be provided in this area, on either side of the absorbent mass, with elastic members or other means so that it can be fitted closely to the user's anatomy thereby preventing any seepage.

The cushion comprises lateral fasteners 5 and S in the vicinity of the edge 21. These fasteners comprise a tongue 51, 61 of rectangular shape joined to the cushion via an end section and made from a flexible material which is not deformable. This material may be polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, paper, a non-woven or possibly a layered structure formed from two or a plurality of layers of the above materials. It may be, for instance, a non-woven produced by direct spinning of polyester associated- with a polyester film.

In accordance with the invention, the fastener also comprises a fastening member 52, 62 of the type known by the tradename VELCRO disposed on the surface of the tongue located on the side of the sheet 4 in the vicinity of its free edge. This member is preferably connected by gluing but may also be fused. fa the vicinity of the edge 22 opposite the edge 21, the cushion comprises at least one fastening member 8 of the type known by the tradename VELCRO which Is complementary with the members mounted on the fasteners. This member is connected by gluing or fusion to the support: sheet. The members 52, S2 of the fasteners are preferably of the hooked type and the member 8 is of the looped type, for instance a fabric with raised mesh.

In the embodiment illustrated, the member 8 is rectangular and extends over a substantia! portion of the width of the cushion so as to provide an adequate margin of adjustment during positioning of the napkin. Other embodiments are, however, possible, for instance two or a plurality of block-shaped members may be appropriately disposed on this front surface to allow an optimum adjustment of the fasteners 5 and 5.

The fastener 5 is shown in further detail in Figs. 2 and 3. The tongue 51 is joined to the support sheet along an end section by means of a continuous or discontinuous layer of an adhesive substance which is preferably thermosetting glue. The hooked member 52 Is fastened to the tongue by means of a continuous or discontinuous layer of an adhesive substance 55 which may be the same ©s the above substance. The member 52 is fastened slightly to the rear of the free edge of the tongue 51 to provide a handling strip 54. This strip may be obtained by folding the end of the tongue over itself thereby forming an edge making the fastener easier to grasp.

The fastener 6 is formed in the same way as the fastener 5. It comprises a tongue 61, a hooked member 62 fastened to the tongue by a layer of adhesive 65 and a handling strip 64.

En a variant which Is not shown, the end of the fastener is not applied to the outer surface of the support sheet, but disposed between the support sheet and the permeable sheet so that the connection of the fastener to the cushion has a greater resistance to tearing.

Fig. 4 shows an example of a device allowing the production of the fasteners of the invention and their connection to the cushion.

A strip I'D is unwound from a spool mounted on a winding machine and its width is equal to the length of the fastener tongues. A gun 12 comprising two nozzles of specific width deposits the thermosetting glue ilia 8 two parallel bands. The glue may obviously be deposited in one band. The strip 14 of material forming the hooked member is then unwound from a spool mounted on s second winding machine and deposited on the adhesive-coated portion of the strip 10 provided for this purpose, pressure being 5 applied by passage between the rollers IS.

The double strip then reaches a cutting and transfer station which comprises in a known manner a knife 18 cooperating with a partially perforated drum IS whose inner volume is kept under vacuum. This drum entrains a fastener cut by the knife 18 at regular intervals and deposits It on 1 0 the polyethylene film 20 forming the support sheet of the napkins, where it is secured by means of the layer of adhesive. in the variant in which the fastener is joined between the two sheets of the envelope, the film 20 on which the fastener Is deposited may be the film of permeable materia! or the film for the support and the 1 5 coating of adhesive material may be formed directly on one of the two films. / 9

Claims

CLAIMS L A disposable napkin, comprising an absorbent cushion of elongate shape formed by a fluid absorbing mass contained between ®n externa! support sheet and a sheet which can be permeated by fluids 5 designed to corns into contact with the skin, the fastening means for holding the cushion around the user's waist being of the type having two members with loops and hooks engaging with one another, a first looped member being rigid with the support sheet close to one longitudinal end of the cushion and a second hooked member being joined to the opposite end of the

1.0 support sheet, characterized in that the second member is fastened by gluing or fusion to the free end section of a tongue whose other end is permanently fastened, in particular by gluing, to the support sheet.

2. A napkin as claimed In claim 1, characterized in that the second member is disposed to the rear of the edge of the free end 15 of the tongue so as to provide a handling strip.

3. A napkin as claimed in one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tongue - of the fastener is of paper.

4. A napkin as claimed in one of claims I and 2, characterized in that the tongue is of a material such as polyethylene, polyester or 2 0 polypropylene.

5. A napkin as claimed in one of claims ! and 2, characterized in that the tongue is of non-woven material.

6. A napkin as claimed in one of claims I and 2, characterized in that the tongue is a layered composite comprising one or a plurality 25 of materials as claimed in claims 4 antil 5.

7.} 7. A napkin as claimed In one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the tongue is fastened to the cushion between the permeable sheet and the support sheet. f. 0

8. A disposable napkin as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with particular reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. F. R. KELLY & CO. , AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS.