JP2003523778A - Absorber that instantly stores liquid in a specified pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

  (57) [Summary] The present invention provides an absorbent body such as a diaper, training pants, an adult incontinence article, a bed mat, etc., which can rapidly transport urine from its capture area. In particular, the absorber stores a proportion of the capture liquid that is held relatively steady between 20% and 100% of the absorber load outside its capture area. The present invention further provides a urine treatment process in the same absorbent body comprising the step of carrying away a relatively steady proportion of the captured liquid from the absorbent capture area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants, adult incontinence articles, bed mats and the like. In particular, the invention relates to absorbers that store urine by either capillary or osmotic means.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Absorbers such as diapers, training pants, adult incontinence articles, bed mats and the like are well known in the art, and are particularly useful for infants, toddlers,
It is often used for incontinence and bedridden people.

It has been recognized in the prior art that storing captured urine near their respective biological outlets may have inherent drawbacks. The human urethral meatus is located approximately between the human legs. Therefore, storing a relatively large amount of urine near the urethral meatus increases the bulk of the wearer's legs. The increased bulk is of course uncomfortable as it limits the wearer's mobility. Therefore, it is desirable to store the captured urine away from the capture point.

Distributing the liquid away from the capture point has other advantages. When storing urine that has been captured away from the capture point, the thickness of the storage area may be reduced as a whole because a relatively large area is available. Therefore, the biological urine treatment product including the storage member is relatively bulky and invisible.

PCT patent publication WO 98/22067 (Matthews et al.) Provides care products. In this product, the ratio of the amount of liquid stored in the central region to the amount of liquid stored in at least one end region of both ends is 5: 1 after 30 minutes of urination.
Is less than. However, this prior art does not provide an absorber that transports relatively large amounts of urine from the capture zone. Moreover, the technique does not provide a method for transporting liquid from its capture zone sufficiently quickly.

PCT patent publication WO 98/43578 (LaVon et al.) Provides an absorbent body with an absorbent core having a crotch region and at least one waist region. In the same body, the crotch region has a lower final liquid storage capacity than the waist region. The absorber also has improved liquid handling capacity. For example, for the fourth torrent, it has a capture rate of at least 0.6 milliliters per second.

[0007]   Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the problems of conventional absorbers.

It is another object of the invention to provide an absorber that transports urine away from the trapping area immediately after the urine is trapped.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent body that stores some substantial amount of urine outside the capture area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention further provides an absorber having a trapping region and a waist region separate from the trapping region. This absorber is characterized by a fill pattern difference of less than 30% according to the instant storage pattern test as defined herein.

The present invention further provides a urine treatment process in an absorber. Here, the absorber includes a trapping region and a waist region separated from the trapping region. The urine treatment process comprises the steps of: trapping a liquid in the trapping zone of the absorber, the amount of liquid being a proportion A of the total designed volume of the absorber, -Transporting the proportion B of the capture liquid to at least one of the waist regions, the proportion B being at least 20%.

The process of the invention is such that for any value of the proportion A between 20% and 100%, the proportion B is for the value of the proportion B for the proportion A of 20%,
It is characterized by having a difference of less than 30%.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The invention is described below on the basis of various embodiments and various features. Other embodiments of the present invention may be the features of one embodiment disclosed in this specification, the features of another embodiment, and / or another embodiment disclosed in this specification. It may be obtained by combining with the characteristics of. These combined embodiments, although not explicitly stated, are also disclosed herein and, therefore, form part of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain combinations of features can result in non-functional articles that do not form part of this invention.

It is an aspect of the invention to provide an article for managing urine. It is another aspect of the invention to provide a process for storing urine in an article for managing urine in an instant fill pattern.

The absorbent body of the present invention is capable of rapidly distributing trapped urine from its trapping region to at least one of its waist regions. For the purposes of the present invention, this capacity is quantified by the instant preservation pattern test defined below. According to this test, the absorbers according to the invention show that the filling pattern difference is less than 30%, preferably less than 20%, more preferably less than 10%, most preferably less than 5%. Have a pattern difference.

Preferably, the absorbent body of the present invention further preferably rapidly captures urine in the in-use form. For the purposes of the present invention, this capacity is quantified by the acquisition curved surface test disclosed below. The absorber according to the invention has a liquid capture rate of at least 2 ml / s in the fourth torrent, preferably at least 2.5 ml of liquid / s in the fourth torrent, more preferably at least 3 ml / s of liquid in the fourth torrent. It has a capture rate, most preferably a liquid capture rate of at least 4 milliliters per second in the fourth torrent.

When the wearer wears the entire absorbent body of the present invention, when the absorbent body of the present invention is used,
It is intended to allow the wearer to retain its mobility. In some embodiments of the invention, the absorbent body of the invention comprises attachment means integral with the absorbent body.
As used herein, the term "integral" means that the attachment means is connected to the absorbent body, and that the attachment means is not intended to be separated from the absorbent body when using the absorbent body. , Is shown. The attachment means is intended to hold the absorbent body of the invention in use around the waist of the wearer. Suitable attachment means such as adhesive tapes, mechanical fasteners, clothing articles are well known in the art. The absorber of the present invention may be attached to the wearer's waist by attaching means that is not integral with the absorber, such as pants.

Furthermore, it is desirable for the absorbent body of the present invention that it be sufficiently flexible so that it will immediately conform to the wearer's body during use.

For the purposes of the present invention, a Cartesian coordinate system is defined as follows. The z-direction is defined as normal to the capture area surface at the intended load point. The x-direction is defined as the long axis length of the absorber. In the case of a diaper, the x-direction is from the front region of the absorbent body (in use, contacting the wearer's waist front region) to the absorbent body's rear region (in use, contacting the wearer's waist rear region). Run). Therefore, the y-direction corresponds to the abscissa length of the absorber running from right to left of the wearer in use. In this context, it should be understood that this Cartesian coordinate system becomes a true Cartesian coordinate system only when the absorber is in the flat stretched configuration. Under typical conditions of use, the absorber morphology is such that the x-, y-, z-directions, as defined above, form only a set of locally orthogonal coordinate axes.

As used herein, the term “instantaneous filling pattern” refers to the load distribution between the trapping region and the waist region of the absorber, where the distribution is the total volume of the absorber. There is already a small load compared to, and on a shorter time scale compared to the average interval between subsequent torrents.

The absorber of the present invention has a total design capacity. The term "total designed volume" as used herein refers to the maximum volume of urine that the absorbent body is designed to absorb. Typically, the total designed volume is equal to the total volume of all storage members under typical conditions of use. If the storage member is not specified, this total design capacity may be determined by the volume infiltration test defined below. This total design capacity is further
It is related to the amount of urine excreted by the user of the absorber. Some of the absorbent bodies according to the invention are designed with exchangeable storage elements. In this case, the total design capacity is associated with the capacity of a single storage member or a single set of storage members.

The urine management article of the present invention comprises at least one capture area. The term "capture area" as used herein refers to the area of the absorbent body that includes the intended load point of the absorbent body. As used herein, the term "load point" is the point or region of the absorbent body which, in use, is intended to be positioned immediately adjacent to the wearer's urethral meatus. Typically, the capture region is dimensioned to take into account variations in the relative positioning of the respective biological outlets with respect to the absorbent body. The capture area also comprises means for intermediate storage of the captured liquid. In general, the trapping region extends at least one-third (typically one-third) of the major axis length of the absorbent body, extends over the entire lateral axis length of the absorbent body, and has a thickness of the absorbent body. Extend all over. Furthermore, the trapping area is positioned inside the absorber such that the intended load point is centered with respect to the trapping area.

The urine management article of the present invention comprises at least one waist region. As used herein, the term "waist region" refers to the absorbent body, in front of the previously mentioned trapping region,
And / or refers to the posterior region. Therefore, the waist region occupies up to two-thirds of the major axis length (x-direction) of the absorber. Similar to the trapping region, the waist region extends the entire lateral length of the absorbent body and extends through the entire thickness of the absorbent body. Typically, the waist region is intended to be positioned, in use, proximate the wearer's front waist region or rear waist region, respectively.

It is to be understood that in this context, the above areas are defined purely geometrically. In particular, the positioning of these regions does not have to be reflected in the structure of the absorber, such as that brought about by material changes.

At least one liquid storage member may be located in at least one of these waist regions. The purpose of this liquid storage member is to ultimately retain the liquid until the end of the intended period of use. In one embodiment of the invention, the storage member retains urine by means selected from the group consisting of capillary pressure and osmotic pressure. For example, the storage member may include a pad of cellulosic fibers and, optionally, a particulate superabsorbent polymer material within the pad. Other suitable storage members include, but are not limited to, HIPE foam, superabsorbent fibers, and the like. Other suitable storage materials are well known in the art.

[0026] On demand, the absorbent body according to the invention is intended for transporting urine from the capture zone to the waist zone and, optionally, to a storage element located in the waist zone, a liquid treatment component. May be provided.

The urine treatment process according to the present invention comprises the step of capturing urine in the trapping region of the absorbent body of the present invention. This step is typically triggered by the wearer by discarding urine in the trapped area of the absorbent body. Preferably, during this step, the rate of trapping of the absorbent is high enough to minimize the liquid outflow from the absorbent and the potential for subsequent leakage and to minimize skin contact with urine. It is a degree. During this trapping step, a certain volume of urine, which is the proportion A of the total designed volume of the absorber, is trapped in the absorber.

The urine treatment process according to the present invention includes the step of transporting urine from the capture region to at least one of the waist regions. The urine may be further transported into at least one storage member located in at least one of the waist regions.
During the transport step, a proportion B of capture liquid is transported from the capture region to at least one of the waist regions. The proportion B is at least 20%, preferably at least 50%
, More preferably at least 75%, most preferably 95%.

Throughout the process of the present invention, the proportion B is relatively unchanged over a wide range of loading on the absorber. Therefore, even a small amount of urine load is not dispersed from the trapping region of the absorber and does not contribute to the bulk of the trapping region. Ratio A is 20% and 100%
The ratio B is a ratio B to the ratio A of 20% even if any value between
Of less than 30%, preferably less than 20%, more preferably less than 10%, most preferably less than 5%. That is, the instantaneous loading pattern that preserves the proportion B of captured liquid from the capture zone remains constant up to the full load of the absorber. Preferably, the value of the proportion B is again unchanged for values of the proportion A of less than 20%, in particular for values of the proportion A of up to 5%.

If desired, the step of transporting the liquid from the capture zone may be performed substantially immediately after the step of capturing the liquid on the absorber. Therefore, in this case, the capture area is
It is only bulkier for a shorter period of time and, in addition, allows for faster preparation for the capture of newly added liquid torrents.

If desired, the step of transporting liquid from the capture zone may be carried out by the liquid treatment component of the present invention.

It is yet another aspect of the invention to provide an incontinence urine treatment process for all ages. This process involves attaching the absorbent body to the wearer's waist. During this step, the attachment of the absorber is performed by suitable attachment means. This attachment means may be integral or non-integral with the absorber. This step may be performed by the wearer himself or this step may be performed by the caregiver. The purpose of this step is
The urethral meatus is aligned with the trapping area of the absorber. The incontinence urine treatment process further comprises steps of the urine treatment process with the absorbent body of the invention.

In the following, suitable embodiments of the liquid treatment member will be described. This liquid treatment member has 1
Constructed from open cell foam material, completely covered with a sheet of membrane. A suitable membrane material is SEFAR 0 from SEFAR of Rueschlikon, Switzerland.
Commercially available under the label 3-20 / 14. A suitable foam material is commercially available from Reticel, Brussels, Belgium, under the designation Bulpren S10 Black. The preferred technique for completely coating the foam material with the membrane material is to wrap the foam material around the foam material and then heat seal the entire open end of the membrane material. It will be immediately apparent to the skilled practitioner that other suitable materials may be selected as well. Depending on the particular application for which the liquid treatment component is intended, it may be necessary to select similar materials with slightly different properties. After assembly, the liquid treatment member is activated by immersion in water or synthetic urine, which is continued until the liquid treatment member is completely filled with liquid and the membrane is completely wet with liquid. After activation, a part of the liquid inside the liquid treatment member may be squeezed by applying external pressure to the liquid treatment member. In order for the activation of the liquid treatment member to be successful, the liquid treatment member must not draw air through the membrane.

The particular size of the liquid treatment member of the present invention can be varied according to the particular requirements of the intended application. For example, if the liquid treatment member is intended for use in an absorbent article, the liquid treatment member may have its intended liquid capture area fitted between the wearer's legs. Further, its intended liquid discharge zone may be defined to be compatible with the morphology of the storage member associated therewith. Accordingly, the outer size of the liquid treatment member, eg, its length, width, or thickness, may also be adapted to the particular requirements of the intended application. However, in this sense,
It should be understood that the design of the outer shape of the liquid treatment member affects the performance of the member. For example, the cross section of the liquid treatment member directly affects the flow velocity at that portion.

In order to apply this liquid treatment element to the absorbent body according to the invention, it is combined with a storage element. The term "liquid storage member" refers to an article capable of capturing and storing liquid. The capacity of the liquid storage member may be changed according to the amount of liquid stored by, for example, expansion. Generally, the storage member absorbs liquid by capillary suction and / or osmotic pressure. Other storage members may also use vacuum as a means for storing the liquid. The liquid storage member is further capable of holding a portion of the stored liquid under pressure. Suitable storage members are well known in the art and may comprise, for example, superabsorbent polymeric materials such as polyacrylates. The storage member may further comprise a fibrous structure having particulate superabsorbent dispersed therein, such as a pad of cellulosic fibers. In order to capture the liquid discharged from the liquid treatment member, the storage member may be placed in direct liquid communication with the liquid discharge design area of the liquid treatment member. Suitable storage members are, for example, the superabsorbent polymers sold under the designation ASAP 400 by CHEMDAL, England.

Other suitable superabsorbent polymers are often referred to as “hydrogel-forming polymers” or “absorbent gelling materials”, which polymers are described in US Pat. No. 5,562,646 (Gol
Dman et al.) and US Pat. No. 5,599,335 issued Feb. 4, 1997.
No. (Goldman et al.).

Other liquid treatment components suitable for the purposes of the present invention are, for example, Ehrnspe.
PCT patent application PCT / US98 entitled "Liquid transport member for high velocity transport between two port regions", registered on June 29, 1998 under the name of rger et al.
/ 13497 and the following PCT patent application, which is hereby incorporated by reference. That is, "2 registered with a name such as Ehrnsperger
High-velocity liquid transport member with individual different permeable regions "(P & G case CM
1840 MQ), registered under the name of Ehrnsperger, etc., “Liquid transport member for high flow velocity transport between two port regions” (P & G case)
CM1841MQ), registered as Ehrnsperger, etc., "Liquid transport member for high velocity transport against gravity" (P & G cas)
e CM1842MQ), an application named “Liquid transport member having a bulky region with high permeability and a high bubble point pressure port region” (P & G case CM1843MQ) registered under the name of Ehrnsperger, etc. . All of these documents are incorporated herein by reference.

In one embodiment of the invention, the liquid treatment member of the invention is geometrically saturated or substantially geometrically saturated with free liquid. The term "free liquid" as used herein refers to a liquid that is not bound to a particular surface or other entity. The free liquid can be distinguished from the bound liquid by measuring the proton spin relaxation time T ₂ of the liquid molecule by NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectrophotometry known in the art.

As used herein, the term “geometrically saturated” refers to a porous material in which the void space into which a liquid can penetrate is filled with liquid. Refers to the material area. The void spaces referred to in this definition are those that exist in the current dimensional form of the porous material. In other words, even if all the emptiness of the device is filled with liquid in the current geometry and is geometrically saturated, by changing its geometry, for example, only if it expands. ,
Further, it becomes possible to receive more liquid. The device for liquid treatment is part of the device and can be said to be geometrically saturated if all porous materials intended for liquid treatment are geometrically saturated.

As used herein, the term “porous material” refers to a material having at least two phases, ie, a solid phase material and a gas or void phase, but if desired, the void space may be part of the void space. Refers to a material that may additionally or additionally be completely or completely filled with a third liquid phase. The porosity of a material is defined as the ratio between the empty volume in the same material and the total volume measured when the material is not filled with liquid. Non-limiting examples of porous materials are foams such as polyurethane, HIPE (see, for example, PCT patent application WO94 / 13704), superabsorbent foams; fibrous aggregates such as spinning, twisting, and the like. Hair, raised cellulose webs, fiber beds, etc .;
Porous particles include, for example, clay, zeolite and the like; geometric structural materials include, for example, tubes, balloons and passage structures. Porous materials can absorb liquids even if they are not hydrophilic. Therefore, the porosity of the material is not related to its affinity for the absorbed liquid.

As used herein, the term “substantially geometrically saturated” means that at least 90% of the macroscopic empty volume of the member is geometrically saturated, preferably a device. At least 95% of the macroscopic empty volume of the device is geometrically saturated, more preferably 97% of the macroscopic empty capacity of the device is geometrically saturated, most preferably the macroscopic empty space of the device. Refers to a member where 99% of its capacity is geometrically saturated.

In one embodiment of the invention, the absorbent body is a disposable absorbent article, such as a diaper, training pants, sanitary napkin, adult incontinence article, or the like. Such an absorbent article may further include a liquid-permeable topsheet and a liquid-impermeable backsheet that is at least partially joined to the topsheet at the peripheral portion. The absorbent article may further comprise an absorbent core that acts as a urine storage member. Topsheets, backsheets, and absorbent cores suitable for the present invention are well known in the art. In addition, there are many other properties known in the art that may be used in combination with the absorbent articles of the present invention. For example, a closure mechanism that attaches absorbent articles around the waist of the wearer.

Methods Unless otherwise stated, all methods are carried out under ambient conditions, ie at 32 +/− 2 ° C. and 30-50% relative humidity.

Unless otherwise stated, the synthetic urine used in this test method is generally Jayco Sy.
Known under the name nUrine, it is commercially available from Pharmaceuticals Company, Camp Hill, PA. The formulation of this synthetic urine was: 2.0 g / l KCl, 2.0 g / l Na ₂ SO ₄ , 0.85
the _{g / l (NH 4) H} 2 PO 4, (NH 4) of _{0.15g / l H 2 PO 4,} 0.
19 g / l CaCl ₂ and 0.23 g / l MgCl ₂ . This chemical is all reagent grade. The pH of synthetic urine is in the range of 6.0 to 6.4.

[0045]   Volume infiltration test   This test is intended to measure the total volume of the absorber.

[0046]   As the first step in the test, the test specimen is completely immersed in synthetic urine for 10 minutes.

The test specimen is then placed so that its trapping area faces the semi-molten glass portion of a glass frit of sufficient size. The glass frit is in direct fluid communication with a liquid reservoir filled with synthetic urine. Therefore, this glass frit is about 1 m
Supply m head. After 30 minutes, the test specimen is removed from the glass frit.

Finally, the total volume of the test specimen is determined by weighing the liquid capture volume of the test specimen.

Instant Storage Pattern Test Method This test method is intended to measure the percentage of liquid stored outside the capture area of the articles of the invention. Therefore, the distribution of the stored liquid is measured shortly after the liquid is trapped at the load point inside the trapping area. This method is suitable for the absorber according to the present invention.

For the purposes of this test method, a sample of the absorbent body to be tested is loaded with one or more torrents of synthetic urine at the intended loading point of the absorbent body. On the other hand, the absorbent body is configured so as to mimic the shape in use as much as possible. For example, the absorbent body may be loaded while attached to a mannequin that models the average user's body shape, or while the absorbent body is held upright in a curvilinear shape. May be loaded. For the purposes of this test, one torrent is defined as having 20% capacity of the total designed capacity of the absorber being tested. Multiple torrents are applied at the load point of the absorber at intervals of 5 minutes for about 5 minutes.
It is dispensed at a rate of ml / sec or at the maximum rate as long as it does not drain the liquid, whichever is lower. This 5 minute interval begins when the lead torrent is completely absorbed by the absorber.

For the purposes of this test method, the loading and storage area loading of the absorber being tested, or the liquid uptake, must be measured separately. There are various test methods that may be suitable for seeking liquid capture in an area. The methods considered to be suitable range from very simple methods such as separating the absorber into different regions and measuring the respective weight gains, to relatively complex methods such as X-ray analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance. In X-ray analysis, the amount of energy absorbed when an absorber is exposed to X-rays is determined by the effect of being proportional to the amount of liquid contained in the absorber per unit area. Determine the water content of the area. For example, such a method is described in David F.
Ring, Oscar Lijap and Joseph Pascente
By Nonwoven World, 1995 Summer Issue, pp. 65-70, entitled "Liquid Distribution-Comparison of X-Ray Image Data". A suitable X-ray machine is, for example, L-Lowner, Downers Grove, IL, USA.
IXI Inc. From SA-100-2 series, model HLA-40-44
It is commercially available under the designation of 0M02. This device uses Bio-scan software commercially available from Optimas. For example, the X-ray device is 2
It may operate with an exposure time of seconds, a tube voltage of 50 kV, and a current of 12 mA. However, it should be noted that different values for exposure time, tube voltage and current must be chosen, depending on the characteristics of the test specimen to be tested. Furthermore, it is well known in the art to quantify the water content of specific areas of the absorber by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. In either method, special care is required to accurately determine the ratio of the amount of liquid stored in each region (not only the bound liquid but also the free liquid). Furthermore, it is also important to measure the liquid supplement only by comparing the loaded absorber with the unloaded absorber.

The design total volume of the test specimen may be determined, for example, by the volume infiltration test as defined herein. The torrent size for this test is determined by dividing the total design volume of the test specimen by 5.

As a second step, the first torrent of synthetic urine is applied to the intended load point in the first sample of the absorber. The load on the trap and storage areas of the absorber is measured 5 minutes after the torrent is completely absorbed. The load amounts will be referred to as A ₁ and S ₁ , respectively. Then, a second specimen of the absorber to be tested is loaded with 5 continuous torrents, with a waiting time of 5 minutes between the two continuous torrents. The load on the trap and storage areas of the absorber is measured 5 minutes after the fifth torrent is completely absorbed. To say this load and _A 5, _{S 5,} respectively.

The packing fraction R _i of an absorber sample, loaded by i torrents, is the ratio of the loading of the storage area to the loading of the trapping area and is thus given by: R _i = The S _i / A _i fill pattern difference D represents the relative change in fill ratio from 20% load to 100% load. Therefore, D is given by: D = | R ₅ −R ₁ | / R ₁ This packing pattern difference is measured for 5 pairs of sample absorbers and then to reduce the statistical variability of the results. And the results must be averaged.

Curved Capture Method The curved capture method aims to mimic the introduction of urine into a urine management device. A similar test method is described in PCT patent application IB99 / 00741 (P & G ca
Se CM2060FQ), which is hereby incorporated by reference.

The following describes the key principles of this test. 1. The device is held in a curved shape. This is to more realistically mimic the position of the device in a standing or sitting wearer. 2. Practical, curvilinear morphology requires that a given liquid be distributed against gravity. 3. The overall morphology provides important data regarding liquid entrapment, distribution and storage within various materials, which provides a better understanding of the material properties and their binding capabilities. 4. The device includes a pressurized air cushion, which allows better analysis of products of varying thickness across various parts or exhibiting noticeable thickness changes through the loading process.

The following is used for a baby diaper-type urine treatment device, in particular a device intended for infants having a weight range of about 9 to 18 kg. Nevertheless, it will be readily possible for the skilled person to employ it for other purposes, such as another size or adult incontinence application. The test specimen is held in a Plexiglas curve device utilizing a flexible, soft air bag. Air bag is 0
． Used to mimic various infant pressures ranging from 69 kPa to 6.9 kPa (0.1 to 1 psi). The test specimen is loaded with a continuous torrent of liquid with a suitable waiting time in between. The most important result of this test is the time required for each torrent of liquid to penetrate into the test specimen. After loading the test specimen by this test, the test specimen may be used for further analysis. For example,
Reloading is preferably done in PCT patent application IB99 / 00741 (P & G
case CM2060FQ) collagen reinfiltration method (P
CACORM) or for measuring thickness, for example by quantifying the load on each segment of the test specimen, or for measuring liquid distribution. Good.

For test specimens of the above size, in the standard protocol the test specimens are loaded at 75 ml +/− 2 ml four times at 15 ml / sec delivered at 1 hour intervals. This description pertains to automated processes, including automated data capture. Of course, it is also possible to use analog devices, eg manual recording of data, as long as the described principles are followed.

The test apparatus is a PCT patent application IB99 / 00741 (P & G case
CM2060FQ). The application is incorporated herein by reference. The entire device or, preferably, a plurality of such devices for easy duplication are installed inside the air conditioner room. The room temperature and humidity are within the following limits.

Temperature: 32 ° C. ± 2 ° C. (90 ° F. ± 3 ° F.) Relative Humidity: 50% ± 10% When a deviation from this protocol is considered necessary, it is clearly stated in the protocol. Must.

The curved surface capture test equipment comprises four key components. (Since the size of the device is adapted for baby diapers, it should be modified accordingly for absorbents intended for other uses.) A) A holding unit consisting essentially of perspex / plexiglas . It has been found that a suitable 5 mm thick plate provides sufficient strength to operate without undue deformation.

The most important part of the holding unit is the bath part, which has a rectangular top opening with a width of 130 mm and a width of 260 mm which extends outside the drawing plane. This rectangular tank has a length of about 200 mm and ends in a semi-circular cylinder with a radius of 130 mm. The holding unit has one or more means for holding the load unit in place. Here, they are indicated by hinge lids and corresponding means such as screws. The holding unit further comprises stable support means.

B) The load unit comprising the liquid application means has a length of about 180 mm and a cross section of about 1
It has a rectangular cross section of 00 mm x 128 mm, and is designed to fit the tank portion of the holding unit by having a rectangle ending in a semi-circular cylinder with a radius of 100 mm. The load unit further comprises a flange. The flange is larger than the tank opening, allowing the unit to hang in the tank,
Furthermore, by removing the lid, the same load unit is prevented from being pushed out of the tank. The margin of vertical movement of the load unit is about 4 cm. The entire loading unit can be formed of the same material as the holding unit and weigh about 1 kg including the liquid application means.

C) The liquid application means comprises a plexiglass tube having an inner diameter of 47 mm and a height of about 100 mm. It is tightly fitted in a circular opening through the load unit, with a diameter of approximately 50 mm, which is located around the lowest point of the semi-circular cylindrical part of the load unit. The opening of the tube is an open mesh (eg about 2 m separated by a 1 mm line).
m wire mesh), so that it is arranged at the same level as the load unit openings. A flexible tube having a diameter of 6 mm, such as Cole Palmer Instrument Co., Illinois, USA. To NORPR
What is marketed as EN A60G (6404-17) is connected to the test solution measuring pump. The pump is, for example, a digital pump, catalog number G.
-07523-20, a simple load pump head G-07518-02 with a pump control unit capable of starting and stopping the pump by an electric signal, both of which are Cole Palmer Instrument Co., Illinois, USA. Marketed by. Two electrodes are placed at two mating points just inside the mesh at the bottom of the Plexiglas tube. This is because once the tube becomes empty, it is possible to detect the interruption of the current passing through the electrolytic solution. These electrodes are connected to the time signal measuring unit via cables.

D) The pressure generating means comprises a flat, flexible air cushion, which is, for example, commonly used for medical purposes (blood pressure measurement) and has a size of 130 m under non-inflation.
m × 600 mm, inflatable by a hand pump, has a valve with a pressure recorder and can be connected to an electric transducer to provide a pressure-corresponding, electrically recordable signal.

The device is designed to operate at a maximum pressure of 6.89 kPa (1 psi) and is set to a maximum of 2.07 kPa (0.3 psi) in standard operation.

E) If desired, the device may comprise an automatic control unit, such as a pump control unit, a timer or a suitable computer control unit connected to the pressure recorder. Such a unit also allows parallel operation of several measuring units. Suitable software is, for example, Natural, Munich, Germany.
LabView® by nal Instruments. Complete test equipment, D-64293, Ratingen / Germany, Germany
It may be distributed from Darmstadt's High Tech Company.

Step 1) for capture device setup: Pump calibration. Before starting the experiment, the pump must be calibrated to ensure a flow rate of 75 ml for 5 seconds. Replace tube if necessary. 2) Preparation of test solution and thermal equilibrium. 3) Put the cushion in the tank without folding or wrinkling. 4) On a balance, round up the total weight of the tested device to 0.01 g. Mark the load points on the test specimen with a pen. Place and secure the test specimen in the load unit so that the liquid receiving surface faces the load unit (and thus the backsheet faces the cushion) and the opening is coaxial with the load point of the device. (Eg, with a suitable adhesive tape). The device is then positioned on the curvilinear load unit. At this time, the marked load point is positioned below the center of the tube without cutting the elastic portion of the leg, or any other elastic portion, if any. The device is attached to the load unit by suitable attachment means, eg tape. In general, the device configuration should be as close as possible to the typical in-use configuration. The device is then positioned with the load unit in the test device and the electrode wires are connected. 5) Close the lid and secure with screws. 6) Next, apply the cushion to the desired pressure, that is, 2.07 kPa (0.3 ps).
Inflate to i), thereby pressing the load unit against the lid and applying pressure to the test specimen. 7) Align the end of the flexible tube to the center of the opening and inside the tube about 5c.
Position so that it penetrates m (2 inches). 8) Start the liquid pump for a preset time (ie 5 seconds) and at the same time start the capture time timer. 9) As soon as the plexiglass tube is emptied, the electrode provides a signal to stop the capture time timer, and upon receipt of that signal, the waiting time is 5 seconds on the timer.
Start for a minute. 10) Repeat the duty cycle (steps 7, 8 and 9) a total of 4 times.

Results At the end of the above cycle, for each “torrent”, the load amount per torrent (ie,
It is possible to calculate the respective capture rate by dividing (75 ml) by the time in seconds required for each torrent. (If the capture rate approaches the liquid transport rate (ie 15 ml / sec), test conditions are changed and recorded for each).

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (31) Priority claim number US9813521 (32) Priority date June 29, 1998 (June 29, 1998) (33) Priority claiming countries United States (US) (31) Priority claim number US9813523 (32) Priority date June 29, 1998 (June 29, 1998) (33) Priority claiming countries United States (US) (81) Designated countries EP (AT, BE, CH, CY, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, IE, I T, LU, MC, NL, PT, SE), OA (BF, BJ , CF, CG, CI, CM, GA, GN, GW, ML, MR, NE, SN, TD, TG), AP (GH, GM, K E, LS, MW, SD, SL, SZ, UG, ZW), E A (AM, AZ, BY, KG, KZ, MD, RU, TJ , TM), AE, AL, AM, AT, AU, AZ, BA , BB, BG, BR, BY, CA, CH, CN, CU, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, GB, GD, G E, GH, GM, HR, HU, ID, IL, IN, IS , JP, KE, KG, KP, KR, KZ, LC, LK, LR, LS, LT, LU, LV, MD, MG, MK, M N, MW, MX, NO, NZ, PL, PT, RO, RU , SD, SE, SG, SI, SK, SL, TJ, TM, TR, TT, UA, UG, US, UZ, VN, YU, Z A, ZW (72) Inventor Aernsperger, Bruno, Johannes             Federal Republic of Germany, day-65,936 francs             Kurfart am Main, Westerbach             Strasse 89 (72) Inventor Schmid, Matthias             Federal Republic of Germany Day 65510 Idsi             Uttain, Altkoenig Bake 3 F-term (reference) 3B029 BA01                 4C098 AA09 CC02 CC07 CC15 DD02                       DD05 DD22 DD27

Claims (18)

[Claims] 1. An absorber having a trapping region and a waist region separate from the trapping region, wherein the absorber has a filling pattern of less than 30% according to an instant storage pattern test as defined herein. An absorber characterized by having a difference. 2. The absorbent body complies with a curved surface capture test as defined herein,
The absorbent body of claim 1 having a fourth torrent capture rate of at least 2 ml / s. 3. The absorbent body according to claim 1, wherein the trapped liquid is stored in at least one of the waist regions by means selected from the group consisting of capillary force and osmotic force. 4. The absorbent body according to claim 1, further comprising a liquid transport member, wherein the liquid transport member transports the liquid from the trapping region to the waist region. 5. An absorbent article according to claim 4, wherein the liquid transport member is substantially geometrically saturated prior to the intended use of the absorbent article. 6. The absorbent body according to claim 1, further comprising mounting means integrated with said absorbent body, said absorbent body being mounted to the lower part of the wearer's torso during use by this mounting means. 7. The absorbent body according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent body is a disposable absorbent body. 8. The absorbent body according to claim 7, wherein the absorbent body is a disposable diaper. 9. The absorbent body comprises a trapping region and at least one waist region separate from the trapping region, wherein liquid is trapped in the absorber in the trapping region, Is a percentage A of the total design volume of the absorber, and transporting the percentage B of the captured liquid to at least one of the waist regions, the percentage B being at least 20%, In the urine treatment process in the absorber, for any value of the proportion A between 20% and 100%, the proportion B has a difference of less than 30% from the value of the proportion B for the proportion A of 20%. A urine treatment process characterized in that 10. By means selected from the group consisting of capillary pressure and osmotic pressure,
The urine disposal process of claim 9, further comprising storing urine in at least one of the waist regions. 11. The urine treatment process of claim 9, wherein the transporting step is performed substantially immediately after the capturing step. 12. The urine treatment process according to claim 9, wherein the absorber further comprises a liquid transport member, and the transport step is performed by the liquid transport member. 13. The urine treatment process of claim 12, wherein the liquid distribution member is substantially geometrically saturated with liquid prior to the first entrapment of urine in the liquid distribution member. 14. The urine treatment process according to claim 9, wherein the percentage B is at least 50%. 15. The proportion B is at least 50% with respect to the proportion A of 5%.
The urine treatment process in the absorber according to claim 9. 16. The urine treatment process in the absorber according to claim 9, wherein the absorber is worn by a wearer. 17. The urine treatment process in an absorbent body according to claim 16, wherein the absorbent body is a disposable absorbent body. 18. The urine treatment process in an absorbent body according to claim 17, wherein the absorbent body is a disposable diaper.