JP2006180925A - Absorbent article and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an excellently fitted absorbent article with multi-layered three-dimensional gathers capable of securely preventing leakage of liquid. <P>SOLUTION: The absorbent article has three-dimensional gathers 12 with a plurality of pleated parts 14 and 15 overhanging from base wall parts 13 and 13 to one side. Both pleated parts 14 and 15 overhang outward. It is preferable that the width of the pleated part 15 on the lower or outer side is wider than that of the pleated part 14 on the upper or inner side. It is also preferable that at least one elastic member is disposed inside each pleated part 14 or 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an absorbent article provided with a three-dimensional gather used for absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, disposable diapers, and incontinence pads, and a method for producing the same.

  Patent Document 1 below proposes a technique related to a disposable diaper in which a T-shaped three-dimensional gather having projecting portions projecting on both sides from a base wall portion is provided outside the side edge of the absorbent body. This disposable diaper is intended to prevent leakage of excrement by bringing the upper surface of a T-shaped solid gather into contact with the thigh of the wearer.

  By the way, since the area of the skin contact surface of the surface sheet is narrowed by the inner overhanging portion when the overhanging portion of the three-dimensional gather is overhanging on both sides in this way, the skin of the topsheet is provided with fit and liquid leakage. There has been a demand for means capable of sufficiently securing the contact surface.

  On the other hand, although the following patent documents 2-6 have proposed the absorbent article which combined several solid gathers and aimed at leakage prevention, a gather part is hard to follow a motion of a body and fit property is impaired. It was.

JP-A-1-68503 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-140009 JP-A-3-2188752 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-174845 JP-A-11-104174 JP 2002-45396 A

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent article having a three-dimensional gather that has a high fit and can reliably prevent liquid leakage while sufficiently securing the skin contact surface of the topsheet, and a method for manufacturing the same. And

  This invention achieves the said objective by providing the absorbent article provided with the base wall part and the solid gathers which have the some collar part projected on one side from this base wall part.

  Further, the present invention is a method for manufacturing an absorbent article comprising a base wall part and a three-dimensional gather having a plurality of eaves parts projecting from the base wall part to one side, wherein the sheet A first elastic member is arranged in an extended state along the longitudinal direction of the sheet at an intermediate portion in the width direction on one side, and one surface of the sheet is connected to the first elastic member with the first elastic member as a boundary. The first elastic member is squeezed so as to cover the first elastic member, and the second elastic member is extended along the longitudinal direction of the sheet on the exposed surface of the squeezed one surface part, and the one surface part Is further folded so as to cover the second elastic member to form a second collar part, and the first collar part is folded together with the second collar part to one side of the base wall part to form a three-dimensional gather. By providing a method for manufacturing an absorbent article comprising a step of forming a member It is obtained by achieving the above object.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, an absorptive article provided with the solid gathers which can prevent a liquid leak reliably, ensuring sufficient fitting property and ensuring the skin contact surface of a surface sheet sufficiently, and its manufacturing method are provided.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
FIG.1 and FIG.2 shows typically one Embodiment which applied the absorbent article of this invention to the sanitary napkin. In these drawings, reference numeral 11 denotes a sanitary napkin.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sanitary napkin 11 of the present embodiment has a heel part (first heel part) 14 and a heel part (second heel part) 15 from the upper end of the base wall part 13. A three-dimensional gather 12 is provided that projects to one side (outside). The three-dimensional gathers 12 are arranged on both sides of the absorbent layer 17 covered with a liquid-permeable surface sheet 16.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an elastic member (first elastic member) 40 and an elastic member (fourth elastic member) 41 are arranged in the collar portion 14 at a predetermined interval. Further, an elastic member (second elastic member) 50 and an elastic member (fourth elastic member) 51 are arranged in the flange portion 15 at a predetermined interval. In addition, an elastic member (third elastic member) 60 is disposed at the base portion of each flange portion located at the upper end portion of the base wall portion 13.

  The width W14 of the collar portion 14 is preferably 5 to 20 mm in consideration of the fitting property of the three-dimensional gather 12, the securing of the skin contact surface of the topsheet, and the liquid leakage prevention property. Similarly, the width W15 of the collar portion 15 is preferably 10 to 30 mm. In order to further enhance the leakage prevention effect by the double ridge structure, it is preferable that the width of the lower or outer ridge is wider than the width of the upper or inner ridge, and in this embodiment, the width of the ridge 15 W15 is provided W14 wider than the width of the flange 14.

  The sheet constituting the three-dimensional gather 12 is preferably one having a good touch because the three-dimensional gather 12 directly contacts the skin. Moreover, it is preferable that it is hydrophobic from a viewpoint of preventing that the liquid of low surface tension permeate | transmits. As a sheet satisfying these requirements, it is preferable to use an air-through nonwoven fabric, a spunbond nonwoven fabric, or a spunbond / melt blown composite nonwoven fabric made of hydrophobic fibers or hydrophobized.

  When the three-dimensional gather 12 is composed of a nonwoven fabric, the nonwoven fabric preferably has a bulk softness measured in the length direction of the three-dimensional gather 12 of 0.03 to 0.3 N, particularly 0.05 to 0.2 N. The bulk softness measured in the width direction (height direction) of the three-dimensional gather 12 is preferably 0.05 to 0.5N, particularly preferably 0.07 to 0.3N. Furthermore, it is preferable that the bulk softness value in the width direction is equal to or greater than the bulk softness value in the length direction. By setting the bulk softness values in the length direction and the width direction of the nonwoven fabric to be in the above range, and making the magnitude relationship between the two bulk softness values as described above, the elastic members arranged in the flange portions 14 and 15 are It becomes easy to shrink in the length direction. Moreover, the sealing effect by the collar parts 14 and 15 and the standing property of a three-dimensional gather are stably maintained irrespective of a wearer's operation | movement. In order to make the bulk softness value in the width direction higher than the bulk softness value in the length direction, for example, a method of applying wave-like embossing or the like in the width direction of the nonwoven fabric is preferable.

  The bulk softness is measured by the following method. That is, using Tensilon (manufactured by Toyo Baldwin, model: RTM-25), a non-woven fabric sample is cut into 120 mm × 10 mm to form a cylinder with a height of 10 mm, and its upper and lower ends are fastened with staples. make. The maximum load when the cylindrical sample is compressed in the height direction at a compression speed of 10 mm / min is measured, and the value is defined as a bulk softness value. The bulk softness value in the length direction refers to the value when the length direction of the nonwoven fabric is the compression direction, and the bulk softness value in the width direction is the value when the width direction of the nonwoven fabric is the compression direction. Say.

As the constituent material of each elastic member, various materials conventionally used for sanitary napkins can be used without particular limitation, but foams of polyolefins and polyurethanes and natural rubber are particularly preferably used.
Each elastic member may be in the form of a band, a film or the like in addition to a thread. The arrangement, elongation rate, and / or number of each elastic member can be appropriately changed according to the form of the elastic member and the use of the sanitary napkin.
Each of the elastic members is fixed to the sheet in an extended state. As shown in FIG. 1, wrinkles appear in the three-dimensional gather due to elastic contraction of each elastic member. The means for fixing the elastic member is not particularly limited as long as it is usually used for sanitary napkins, but hot melt adhesives and heat seals are preferably used.

  The three-dimensional gather 12 is fixed together with the topsheet 16 to a liquid-impermeable backsheet 18 in which the end of the base wall portion 13 is arranged on the backside of the absorbent layer 17 together with the topsheet 16 and the sidesheet 19 is bonded. ing. The front and rear end portions of the flange portions 14 and 15 are fixed at the outer edge portion of the absorbent article 1 as shown in FIG.

  For the topsheet 16, the absorbent layer 17, the backsheet 18, and the sidesheet 19 constituting the sanitary napkin 11, known members that are conventionally used for sanitary napkins are employed.

  Since the napkin 11 includes the three-dimensional gather 12 having such a double collar part, the fitting property is high, and it is possible to reliably prevent liquid leakage while sufficiently securing the skin contact surface of the topsheet. it can.

  Next, a preferred embodiment of the method for producing an absorbent article of the present invention will be described based on the method for producing the napkin 11 with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which the absorbent article manufacturing apparatus (hereinafter also simply referred to as an apparatus) of the present invention is applied to a sanitary napkin manufacturing apparatus. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. Indicates a sheet conveyance path.

  The apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 3 shows a part of the manufacturing apparatus for the sanitary napkin 11 and is a manufacturing apparatus for members that form the three-dimensional gather 12.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the apparatus 1 includes a supply unit 2 for a belt-like sheet 10, a conveyance unit 3 for conveying the sheet 10 along a longitudinal direction along a conveyance path R, and an upper surface (one side) of the sheet 10. The first elastic member supply means 4A for supplying the elastic member 40 to the intermediate portion in the width direction of the sheet 10 and a Z-shaped cross-sectional shape so as to cover the elastic member 40 on one surface 10A of the sheet 10 with the elastic member 40 as a boundary. 1st processing means 1A which narrows down and forms the collar part 14, 2nd elastic member supply means 5A which supplies the elastic member 50 to the upper surface (exposed surface) of said one surface part narrowed down, and said one surface part Is further bent to cover the elastic member 50 to form the flange portion 15, and a third processing means 1 C is formed to bend the flange portion 14 together with the flange portion 15 to one side of the base wall portion 13. is doing.

  Further, before forming the flange portion 14 and the flange portion 15, the apparatus 1 is spaced apart from the elastic member 40 and the elastic member 50 so as to be arranged in the flange portion 14 and the flange portion 15, and the length of the sheet 10. 4th elastic member supply means 4B and 5B which supply the elastic members 41 and 51 along the direction are comprised.

  In addition, the apparatus 1 includes a third elastic member supply unit 6 that supplies the elastic member 60 along the longitudinal direction of the sheet 10 at a predetermined interval from the elastic member 40 on the upper surface of the sheet 10, and each of the elastic members. An adhesive coating means 7 for applying an adhesive to 40, 41, 50, 51 and 60, and a pressurizing means 8 for pressurizing the sheet processed by each processing means are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 5A, the first processing means 1A has a trapezoidal shape in plan view, and has an intermediate portion in the width direction of the sheet 10 as a protruding base portion from upstream to downstream of the conveyance path R. The plate-shaped guide 11A is projected so that the protruding width gradually widens. The guide 11 </ b> A narrows one surface portion 10 </ b> A of the sheet 10 so as to cover the elastic members 40 and 41 with the elastic member 40 disposed on one side of the sheet 10 as a boundary, thereby forming the flange portion 14.

  As shown in FIGS. 4B and 5B, the second processing means 1B has a triangular shape in plan view so that the protrusion width gradually increases from the upstream side to the downstream side of the conveyance path R of the sheet 10. A protruding plate-like guide 11B is provided. The guide 11B further bends one surface portion 10A so as to cover the elastic members 50, 51 to form the flange portion 15, and also covers the elastic member 60 so that the side edge portion of the one surface portion 10A is the other surface portion. The base wall part 13 is formed according to the side edge part of 10B.

  As shown in FIGS. 4C and 5C, the third processing unit 1C has a triangular shape in plan view so that the protruding width gradually increases from the upstream side to the downstream side of the conveyance path R of the sheet 10. A protruding plate-like guide 11C is provided. The guide 11 </ b> C bends the flange portion 14 together with the flange portion 15 to one side of the base wall portion 13.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the supply means 2 includes a support shaft that rotatably supports the roll-like object 100 of the belt-like sheet 10, and continuously feeds the sheet 10 and supplies it to the first processing means 1A. To do.

  The conveyance unit 3 includes a roller group (not shown) that conveys the sheet 10 fed from the supply unit 2 through a conveyance path R passing through the processing units 1A to 1C.

  The first elastic member supply means 4A and the fourth elastic member supply means 4B shown in FIG. 3 continuously draw out the elastic members 40 and 41 from their rolls, respectively, as shown in FIG. 4 (a). The sheet 10 is supplied to an intermediate portion in the width direction on the upper surface (one surface) of the sheet 10.

  The second elastic member supply means 5A and the fourth elastic member supply means 5B shown in FIG. 3 continuously feed out the elastic members 50 and 51 from their rolls, respectively, as shown in FIG. 4 (b). Then, it is supplied to the upper surface (exposed surface) of one surface portion 10A of the narrowed sheet 10.

  The third elastic member supply means 6 shown in FIG. 3 continuously draws out the elastic member 60 from the roll, and the elastic member 40 and the other surface portion 10B of the sheet 10 as shown in FIG. The sheet is supplied at a predetermined interval and along the longitudinal direction of the sheet 10.

  In the apparatus 1, the rolls of the elastic members are supported on the same rotation shaft. These rolls may be supported by another rotating shaft.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the adhesive application means 7 applies the adhesive to the elastic members 40, 41 before the first processing means 1A, and the elastic member 50, between the second processing means 1B. 51 and 60 are arranged to apply an adhesive. The coating means 7 is provided so as to intermittently apply an adhesive to these elastic members. As the coating means 7, those conventionally used for joining elastic members in absorbent articles are used.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the pressurizing means 8 is disposed on the downstream side of the processing means 1A to 1C. The pressurizing means 8 is provided with a pair of nip rolls 81 and 82. By inserting a member for forming a three-dimensional gather after forming the base wall portion 13 and the flange portions 14 and 15 between these two rolls, The base wall portion 13 and the flange portions 14 and 15 are bent and the adhesive state between each elastic member and the sheet is made stronger.

  Using the apparatus 1, first, the belt-like sheet 10 is fed out by the sheet supply means 2 shown in FIG. 3 and supplied to the first processing means 1A. As shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 5 (a), The sheet 10 is conveyed in a state along the guides 11A and 31. The first elastic member supply means 4A and the fourth elastic member supply means 4B are joined by the first elastic member supply means 4A and the fourth elastic member supply means 4B to the upper surface of the intermediate portion in the width direction of the sheet 10 along the longitudinal direction of the sheet 10, 41 is supplied in an expanded state. The adhesive is intermittently applied to the elastic members 40 and 41 by the application means 7 before the first processing means 1A. The stretched state of the elastic members 40 and 41 and the application form of the adhesive are set according to the elastic modulus of the elastic member and the length of the absorbent article.

  As the sheet 10, the elastic members 40 and 41, and the adhesive, those conventionally used for this type of sanitary napkin can be used without particular limitation.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 5A, the one surface portion 10 </ b> A of the sheet 10 is bounded by the elastic member 40 fixed to the sheet 10 by the guide 11 </ b> A of the first processing means 1 </ b> A. The flange 14 is formed by narrowing down.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the elastic members 40 and 41 are bonded in the flange portion 14 through the nip rolls 81 and 82 of the pressurizing means 8, and then the sheet 10 is subjected to the second processing together with the elastic members 40 and 41. Transport to means 1B.

  Next, the second elastic member supply means 5A and the fourth elastic member supply means 5B shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIGS. 4 (b) and 5 (b), are narrowed down by the guide 11A. The elastic members 50 and 51 are supplied in an extended state along the longitudinal direction of the sheet 10 to the upper surface of the surface portion 10A, and the elastic member 40 and the elastic member 40 are predetermined on the other surface portion 10B of the sheet 10 by the third elastic member supply means 6. The elastic member 60 is supplied at intervals and along the longitudinal direction of the sheet.

  Next, with the guide 11B of the second processing means 1B shown in FIG. 3, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 5B, the one surface portion 10A is further bent so as to cover the elastic members 50 and 51. The flange 15 is formed.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the elastic members 50 and 51 are bonded in the flange portion 15 through the nip rolls 81 and 82 of the pressurizing means 8, and between the one surface portion 10 </ b> A and the other surface portion 10 </ b> B. The elastic member 60 is adhered and conveyed to the third processing means 1C. The stretched state of the elastic members 50, 51, and 60 and the adhesive application form are set according to the elastic modulus of the elastic member and the length of the absorbent article.

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 4 (c) and 4 (c), the guide 11C of the third processing means 1C shown in FIG. At the same time, it is bent to one side of the base wall 13.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the retention of the bent shape of the flange portion 14 and the flange portion 15 is enhanced through the gap between the nip rolls 81 and 82 of the pressurizing means 8.

  In the three-dimensional gather forming member manufactured as described above, the end portion of the base wall portion 13 is precut and supplied to the sanitary napkin manufacturing line. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the end of the base wall portion 13 is arranged on the back side of the absorbent layer 17 together with the top sheet 16, and the liquid-impermeable back sheet 18 bonded with the side sheet 19 is attached to the top sheet. 16 and fixed together. The manufacturing process of these napkins is the same as the conventional process.

  As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the member for forming a three-dimensional gather having a double collar can be manufactured continuously and stably.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the present invention, the base wall portion 13 is bent like the napkin 11 ′ shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 by further bending the base wall portion of the three-dimensional gather forming member obtained as in the above embodiment. The double solid gather 12 'can be formed in such a manner that the flanges 14 and 15 are bent inward or outward from the upper end thereof.

  Further, the elastic member 60 located at the base of the flange portions 14 and 15 may be disposed on one surface portion narrowed down by the first processing means. The elastic members 41 and 51 arranged on the flange portions 14 and 15 may be arranged in parallel and at equal intervals by increasing the number of the elastic members 41 and 51, or may be omitted.

  In the embodiment, each elastic member is disposed on the sheet before the first processing step and the second processing step. However, all the elastic members may be disposed on the sheet in advance before the first processing step.

  In the present invention, as in the above-described embodiment, it is preferable to intermittently apply an adhesive to the elastic member and fix it to the sheet, but it is also possible to continuously apply the adhesive to the elastic member. . Also, an adhesive can be applied to the sheet side.

  The present invention is suitable for manufacturing a napkin having a three-dimensional gather with two collars as in the above embodiment, but the first processing means is added between the first and second processing means. By doing so, it is also possible to manufacture a napkin including a three-dimensional gather having three or more ridges that bend from the base wall portion to one side.

The manufacturing method and apparatus for absorbent articles of the present invention can be applied to other absorbent articles such as disposable diapers and incontinence pads in addition to sanitary napkins.
In addition, the absorbent article of the present invention may be provided with a three-dimensional gather having a plurality of ridges projecting from the base wall portion to one side as in the above embodiment, and in addition to sanitary napkins, disposable diapers and incontinence pads Absorbent articles such as are also included.

It is a perspective view showing typically one embodiment which applied the absorptive article of the present invention to a sanitary napkin. It is a figure which shows typically the XX arrow sectional drawing of FIG. It is a figure which shows typically one Embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus of the absorbent article of this invention. FIG. 4 is a partial plan view schematically showing a processing step in the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, wherein (a) shows a processing step by the first processing means, and (b) shows a processing step by the second processing means. (C) is a figure which shows the process process by the 3rd process means. FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a processing step in the apparatus shown in FIG. 3, (a) shows a processing step by the first processing means, (b) shows a processing step by the second processing means, (C) is a figure which shows the process process by a 3rd process means. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows typically other embodiment of the absorbent article of this invention. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows typically other embodiment of the absorbent article of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Absorbent article manufacturing apparatus 1A 1st processing means 1B 2nd processing means 1C 3rd processing means 2 Sheet supply means 3 Sheet conveyance means 4A 1st elastic member supply means 4B 4th elastic member 5A Second elastic member supply means 5B Fourth elastic member supply means 6 Third elastic member supply means 10 Sheet 10A One surface portion 10B The other surface portion 11, 11 ′ Sanitary napkin (absorbent) Goods)
12, 12 'Three-dimensional gather 13 Base wall part 14 1st collar part 15 2nd collar part 40, 41, 50, 51, 60 Elastic member

Claims (8)

  An absorptive article provided with a three-dimensional gather which has a base wall part and a plurality of ridges projected on one side from the base wall part.   The absorptive article according to claim 1 in which all said ridges have projected outside.   The absorbent article according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of the lower or outer ridge is wider than the width of the upper or inner ridge.   The absorbent article in any one of Claims 1-3 in which the 1 or more elastic member is distribute | arranged in each said collar part. A method for producing an absorbent article comprising a base wall and a three-dimensional gather having a plurality of flanges projecting from the base wall to one side,
While transporting the belt-like sheet, the first elastic member is arranged in an extended state along the longitudinal direction of the sheet at the intermediate portion in the width direction on one side of the sheet, and one side of the sheet is separated from the first elastic member The first elastic member is squeezed so as to cover the first elastic member to form a first flange portion, and the second elastic member is extended along the longitudinal direction of the sheet on the upper surface of the squeezed one surface portion. Arranged in a state, the one surface portion is further bent so as to cover the second elastic member to form a second collar portion, and both the first collar portion and the second collar portion are the base wall. The manufacturing method of the absorbent article which comprises the process of forming the member for three-dimensional gather formation by bend | folding to the one side of a part.   A predetermined distance from the first elastic member is provided on the other surface portion of the sheet, or a predetermined interval is provided from the second elastic member on the exposed surface of the one surface portion, and along the longitudinal direction of the sheet. The method for manufacturing an absorbent article according to claim 5, wherein a third elastic member is provided, and the first and second flange portions are bent together with the third elastic member as a reference.   Before forming the first collar or the second collar, the first elastic member or the second elasticity so as to be arranged in the first collar or the second collar. The manufacturing method of the absorbent article of Claim 5 or 6 which distribute | arranges a 4th elastic member to this sheet | seat in the expansion | extension state along the longitudinal direction of the said sheet | seat at predetermined intervals. The manufacturing method of the absorbent article in any one of Claims 5-7 which apply | coat an adhesive agent to each said elastic member intermittently, and fix to the said sheet | seat.

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