JP2007268015A - Individually packaged body of absorbent article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an individually packaged body of an absorbent article, capable of being easily opened with low separation sound and retaining the packaged state stably till the package is opened. <P>SOLUTION: In the individually packaged body 1 of the absorbent article, the absorbent article is folded in the longitudinal direction together with package materials, and the folded and layered package materials 3 are jointed to each other in a pair of edges 31 and 31 of the individually packaged body. The package materials 3 in the pair of edges 31 and 31 are jointed to each other in a plurality of joint parts 5 and 5. Each joint part 5 has sides 7 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the package material and sides 8 and 9. The sides 8 and 9 are inclined to the longitudinal direction of the package material in such a way as to be brought close to the end of the edge 31 from the center in the cross direction of the package material toward the rear in the direction of opening of the individually packaged body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an individual package of absorbent articles obtained by individually packaging absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins and panty liners (corimono sheets) with a packaging material.

Conventionally, absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, panty liners (origami sheets), and incontinence pads have been folded into three or four from the viewpoint of hygiene and portability, and are individually packaged with various sheets. It is commercially available in individual packaged state. When a user uses this absorbent article, the absorbent article is taken out from the package, and the non-skin contact surface is fixed to shorts or the like with an adhesive or the like. In the individual packaging of absorbent articles, generally, a pair of opposite edges of a rectangular packaging material are bonded in a longitudinal direction with a plurality of joints, and the packaging state is mainly formed by the joints. Is maintained.

  In addition, Patent Document 1 discloses that the overlapping portions of both ends to be packaged are weakly bonded for the purpose of preventing liquid from leaking from the dirty napkin and facilitating putting the dirty napkin into the packaging material. There has been proposed a packaging structure in which bonding is performed. Moreover, in patent document 2, in order to prevent the cutting | disconnection by the pressure bonding at the time of packaging, the junction part of both ends is formed so that it may continue from the vertical direction one end to the other end orthogonal to a packaging line flow direction. A packaging structure has been proposed.

JP-T 8-504638 JP 2004-298286 A

However, in the individual packaging of the absorbent articles of Patent Documents 1 and 2, a relatively large bonding strength between the packaging materials at the edge portion has a large resistance when opening the individual packaging, and the user Depending on the situation, it may be difficult to open, and the greater the bonding strength, the greater the peeling noise at opening, which may cause discomfort and make it uncomfortable.
On the other hand, if the bonding strength between the packaging materials at the edge is lowered in order to facilitate the peeling of the edge, the individual package may be opened before opening for use of the absorbent article. .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an individual package of an absorbent article that can be easily opened, has low peeling sound, and can maintain a stable packaging state until opening.

  The present invention relates to an individual packaging of an absorbent article in which the absorbent article is folded together with the packaging material in the longitudinal direction, and the folded packaging materials are joined to each other at a pair of edges of the individual packaging. The packaging materials at each of the pair of edges are joined at a plurality of joints, and each joint has a side parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material and an individual package. An individual package of an absorbent article having a side inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material so as to approach the end of the edge from the widthwise center side of the packaging material toward the rear in the opening direction of the packaging material This achieves the object.

  The individual package of the absorbent article of the present invention is easy to open, has low peeling sound, and stably maintains the packaging state until opening.

The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
A sanitary napkin individual package 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sanitary napkin 2 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a napkin 2) and a packaging material 3 for packaging the sanitary napkin 2 as shown in FIG.
The napkin 2 has the same configuration as a conventional general sanitary napkin, and is interposed between a liquid-permeable top sheet 21, a liquid-impermeable or water-repellent back sheet (not shown), and a top sheet and a back sheet. And an absorbent body (not shown). The non-skin contact surface (surface on the back sheet side) of the napkin 2 is provided with an adhesive layer (not shown) that is a fixing part for mounting on the undergarment, and the napkin 2 is interposed via the adhesive layer. It is adhered to the inner surface of the packaging material 3 in a peelable manner.

The napkin 2 and the packaging material 3 are integrally bent at two locations in the longitudinal direction of the napkin 2, specifically, at positions 32 and 33 in FIG. That is, the napkin 2 is included in the packaging material 3 in a state where the napkin 2 is folded into three.
In addition, a pair of opposing edge portions of the packaging material 3 that extend outward from both side edges of the folded napkin 2 are also folded in a trifold state in the longitudinal direction of the edge parts. Then, each of the pair of edges of the folded packaging material 3 is subjected to a joining process, specifically, a heat sealing process, so that the packaging materials are joined at a pair of edges on both sides in the longitudinal direction. ing.
And the pair of edge parts 31 and 31 of the individual packaging 1 which are opposed to each other are formed by the pair of edge parts of the packaging material 3 in a state of being folded and joined in this way. The individual package 1 according to the present embodiment has a substantially rectangular or substantially square shape in plan view, and a pair of opposing edge portions 31 and 31 are substantially parallel to each other.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (a), the packaging materials at each of the pair of edges 31, 31 of the individual package 1 are joined at a plurality of joints 5, 5,. Thereby, the joining area | region 6 which consists of an assembly | attachment of the several spaced apart junction part 5 is formed in each of a pair of edge parts 31 and 31 of the individual body 1. The pair of joining regions 6 and 6 are formed on a pair of opposing edge portions 31 and 31 of the individual package 1, and in each of them, the packaging materials 3 laminated in two or three layers are fused together. is doing. The individual package 1 is sealed with the tab tape 4.

The individual package 1 can be easily opened by picking and pulling the tab tape 4 provided at the opening start end 34 of the packaging material 3. At the time of opening, the force for peeling the bonding between the packaging materials 3 acts in the direction indicated by the arrow Q in FIG. The unsealing start end 34 of the packaging material 3 is an individual piece of both ends of the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3 (in the present embodiment, the same direction as the direction in which the pair of edge portions 31, 31 of the individual package 1 extends). It is an end portion located on the outer surface of the body 1.

When opening the individual package 1 of the present embodiment, first, the tab tape 4 is pulled in the direction of arrow P in the drawing. Due to this pulling, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), the space between the uppermost packaging material at each of the pair of edges 31, 31 of the individual package 1 and the packaging material located thereunder is in the direction of the arrow P. The range from the position of the opening start end 34 to the one end portion 32 of the individual package 1 orthogonal to the pair of edge portions 31 and 31 is peeled off.
The opening direction P is a direction in which the tab tape 4 (opening start end 34 when there is no tab tape) is pulled when the packaging material 3 is peeled to open the individual package 1, and in this embodiment, a pair of edges It is a direction parallel to the direction in which each of the portions 31 and 31 extends, and is a direction from one end 33 to the other end 32 that is substantially orthogonal to each edge 31 of the individual package 1. When the pair of edge portions 31 and 31 are not parallel to each other, the one end in a direction parallel to a straight line connecting the midpoint of one end 33 of the individual package and the midpoint of the other end 32. The direction from the portion 33 toward the other end portion 32 is the opening direction P.

  When the tab tape 4 is pulled in the opening direction P and the peeling of the packaging material 3 is started, the uppermost packaging material 3 and its upper layer 31 and 31 are respectively attached to the pair of edge portions 31 and 31 of the individual package 1 as shown in FIG. A boundary line 36 is formed between the part that has already peeled off from the lower packaging material and the part that has not yet peeled off. The boundary line 36 has a substantially linear shape inclined with respect to the opening direction P. Then, as the individual package is opened, at the pair of edges 31, 31 of the individual package 1, the peeling of the packaging material 3 proceeds in the Q direction in the drawing, which is generally orthogonal to the boundary line 36. This peeling direction (the direction in which the packaging material peels along with the opening of the individual package) is also referred to as the peeling direction Q.

As shown in FIG. 2A, each joint portion 5 in the present embodiment is formed in a triangular shape surrounded by a plurality of sides, specifically, three sides 7, 8, 9. The side 7 is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3. The other two sides 8 and 9 are each in the longitudinal direction of the packaging material so as to approach the edge 31a of the edge from the widthwise center side of the packaging material 3 as it goes rearward in the opening direction P of the individual package. It is inclined with respect to it. In other words, the both ends 81 and 82 of the side 8 are closer to the end 31a of the edge 31 of the individual body at the end 82 on the one end 32 side of the individual body than the end 81 on the opening start end 34 side. In position. The same applies to the inclination of the side 9.

  By having the side 7 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3, it is possible to prevent the possibility that the individual package is opened before opening for use of the absorbent article. On the other hand, by having the sides 8 and 9 inclined in a specific direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3, the peeling sound is small and easy opening is possible.

  In addition, in this embodiment, although it has two sides inclined in the specific direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3, the junction part 5 in the present invention has at least one of the inclined sides. It only has to have. In this embodiment, although the effect mentioned above is show | played by having the edge 8 inclined in the specific direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3, it is further opened by having the similarly inclined edge | side 9. It becomes easy.

  In addition, the individual joints 5 at one edge 31 of the individual package 1 and the individual joints 5 at the other edge 31 are center lines in the width direction of the packaging material (extending in the longitudinal direction of the packaging material, It has a line-symmetric shape with respect to the line that divides the width of the packaging material into two equal parts, the line XX in FIGS. Thus, by making the shape of the joint portion 5 at the pair of edge portions symmetrical, the left and right sides can be opened with a good balance.

In addition, each of the joint portions 5 in the present embodiment has a width W (see FIG. 2A) in a direction orthogonal to the side 8, which is parallel to the side 8 from the center in the width direction of the packaging material. As it goes to the end 31a side, the shape gradually increases and then gradually decreases. That is, each joint 5 has a portion 5F where the width W gradually increases, and a portion 5R which is located closer to the end 31a of the edge 31 than the portion 5F and where the width W gradually decreases. .

  In the present embodiment, the sides 8 and 9 are each substantially parallel to the peeling direction Q when the individual package is opened. Therefore, when the packaging material is peeled, when the space between the uppermost packaging material and the lower packaging material is peeled in the peeling direction Q, the distance between the side 8 and the side 9 is small. The peeling resistance force generated at the end portion (end portion on the center side in the width direction of the packaging material) 5A is very small. Therefore, the peeling of the joint portion starts smoothly. As the peeling progresses, the distance between the side 8 and the side 9 increases, and the peeling resistance gradually increases accordingly, but since the peeling has already started, the peeling proceeds relatively smoothly. . And the distance of the edge | side 8 and the edge | side 9 narrows toward the end of peeling of peeling of the packaging materials in the junction part 5, and the last crosses. As described above, it is preferable that the peel resistance gradually decreases at the final peeling stage of the joint portion 5 in terms of the unsealing property and the reduction of the opening sound.

Further, the joining portion 5 has a corner portion having an acute angle at the end portion 5A on the center side in the width direction of the packaging material and the end portion 5B on the end portion 31a side of the edge in the direction Q parallel to the side 8. It is more preferable from the viewpoint of easy opening and reduction of opening sound. In the present embodiment, the width in the direction orthogonal to the side 9 also gradually increases and then gradually decreases in parallel with the side 9 from the central side in the width direction of the packaging material toward the end of the edge. Yes. It is more preferable that the acute angle corner is 5 to 60 degrees.

  The arrangement of the joint portions 5 in the joint region 6 is such that the joint portions 5 are arranged in 3 to 6 rows in the width direction of the joint region 6, and at least one cross section in the direction orthogonal to the peeling direction Q at the edge portion 31. There are two joints. Moreover, the junction part 5 is located in a line along the direction of one side 8 of the two sides 8 and 9 which are inclined among the sides forming each junction part 5.

Each joint portion 5 has the same size and the same shape, and the length of the side 7, the side 8, and the side 9 forming the joint portion 5 is preferably 0.5 to 10 mm, and the area of the joint portion 5 is 0.25. 10 mm ² is preferable. Furthermore, the pitch of the adjacent joints is 5 to 10 mm in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material (the same as the direction in which the width direction center line XX extends), and 3 to 3 in the direction orthogonal to the direction. It is preferably 5 mm. The width of the edge portion 31 is preferably 5 to 10 mm, and it is preferable that 4 to 6 joint portions are provided in the width direction of the edge portion 31. It is preferable that 30 to 40% of the area of the edge portion 31 is joined by the joining portion.

  As shown in FIG. 2, in the joining portion 5 formed with a triangle having the smallest number of sides, the sides 8 that guide opening at the plurality of joining portions are arranged in a substantially straight line with respect to the peeling direction Q. Therefore, the direction of the side 8 does not change during the guidance, and opening is further facilitated.

  In the junction part 5 in this invention, it is so that it may approach the end 31a of the said edge part 31 from the width direction center side C of a packaging material toward the back of the opening direction P of an individual package with respect to the longitudinal direction D3 of a packaging material. The inclined sides 8 and 9 (especially the side 8 in this embodiment) each preferably have an acute angle α (see FIG. 2A) of 5 to 60 ° with respect to the longitudinal direction D3 of the packaging material.

As a forming material of each part of the napkin individual package 1, those conventionally used for individual packages of absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins can be used without particular limitation. For example, as the packaging material 3, a film made of a resin such as polyethylene, a laminate material such as a resin film and a nonwoven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, or the like can be used. On the inner surface of the packaging material 3, a release treatment is performed or a release sheet is fixed so that the adhesive layer of the napkin 2 can be peeled off. As the top sheet of the napkin 2, a hydrophilic and liquid-permeable nonwoven fabric, an apertured film, or the like can be used, and as the back sheet, a resin film, a laminate material of the resin film and the nonwoven fabric, or the like is used. As the absorbent body, an aggregate of fibers such as pulp fibers, or a substance in which a superabsorbent polymer is held thereon, coated with a water-permeable sheet such as tissue paper can be used.

In the individual package 1 of the present embodiment, each joint portion 5 also has a side 7 that is parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material 3. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the individual package from being opened before opening by the parallel sides 7.

  In the individual package 1 of the present embodiment, the joint portion 5 has a side 8 having substantially the same direction as the direction of the peeling force, and the side 8 serves as a guide for opening, so that the joint portion 5 The individual package 1 can be smoothly opened with a light force without applying a large resistance during peeling. In addition, the generation of peeling sound at the time of opening is suppressed, and the peeling sound is reduced, so that the possibility of uncomfortable feeling of the peeling sound can be reduced. Moreover, it is possible to further prevent the individual package from being unsealed before opening by arranging a plurality of joining portions 5 in the width direction. Furthermore, since the joint portions 5 are arranged along the side 8, the guidance at the time of opening becomes smooth.

The above-described individual package 1 of the napkin 2 can be efficiently and continuously produced by using, for example, the following manufacturing apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view schematically showing a main part in an embodiment of the absorbent article manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.
The manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment is a manufacturing apparatus of the individual package 1 of the napkin 2, and as shown in FIG. 5, the napkin which arrange | positions the napkin 2 intermittently on the elongate packaging material 3 conveyed continuously. Folding part B for folding the packaging material 3 in a state in which the arrangement part A and the napkin 2 are placed so as to form two folding parts 32 and 33 along the flow direction, the length of the folded state A joining region forming portion C for forming a wide joining region portion 60 by heat-pressing a portion of the scale-shaped packaging material 3 where the napkin 2 does not exist inside between the pair of rolls 51 and 55 in the sealing device 5, and joining The long object after forming the part is cut along the width direction at a substantially central part of the joining region part 60, and a cutting part D is formed as each individual package 1.

The napkin arrangement portion A is configured to sequentially arrange a large number of napkins 2 on one side of the packaging material 3 at intervals in the flow direction of the packaging material 3 by a known intermittent napkin arrangement device (not shown). Yes.

  In the folding part B, a known folding means (not shown) such as a pair of folding guides arranged on both sides of the packaging material 3 is arranged. In FIG. 5, the napkin 2 and the packaging are placed at the position of the alternate long and short dash line 33a. The material 3 is integrally bent, and a portion S1 located on the edge 35 side of the two-dot chain line 33a is overlapped on the central region M sandwiched between the one-dot chain line 33a and the one-dot chain line 32a. Next, a portion S2 located on the edge 34 side from the one-dot chain line 32a in FIG. 5 is overlaid on the portion S2 bent in the central region M.

  The joining region forming unit C includes a first roll 51 in which a pressurizing unit 52 is intermittently formed in the circumferential direction of the peripheral surface, and a second roll 55 disposed to face the first roll 51. 5 is arranged.

As shown in FIG. 5, the pressurizing unit 52 of the first roll 51 is intermittently formed in the circumferential direction on the peripheral surface of the first roll 55.
As shown in FIG. 5, a pressurizing portion 56 is intermittently formed on the peripheral surface of the second roll 55 in the circumferential direction. A bonding pattern for forming the above-described bonding portions 5, 5... Is formed on the surface of the pressure portion 56 of the second roll 55. In other words, a large number of convex portions corresponding to the individual joining portions 5 are formed on the surface of the pressurizing portion 56. The height of each convex portion from the roll base surface 57 is uniform so that the joint strength of the individual joint portions 5 formed by each convex portion is substantially the same.

  The first and second rolls 51 and 55 in the joining device 5 rotate synchronously so that the pressurizing part 52 of the first roll and the pressurizing part 56 of the second roll 55 are in intermittent contact or proximity. It is made to do. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, in the long packaging material 3 ′ in which the napkin 2 is intermittently included, a portion where the napkin 2 does not exist is intermittently provided between the pressure parts 52 and 56. Then, the wide bonding region 60 is sequentially formed. The term “wide” in the case of the wide joint region 60 means that the joint region 6 is wider than the joint region 6 in each individual package after cutting.

  In the cutting part D, a known cutting device (not shown) is arranged. As a known cutting means, a roller cutter, a laser cutter, a water jet cutter or the like can be used. As a roller cutter, it comprises a cutter roll provided with cutting blades at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction and a receiving roll arranged to face the cutter roll, and by inserting an object to be cut between the two rolls, A roller cutter or the like that can intermittently cut the workpiece can be preferably used.

  In order to continuously produce the individual package 1 using the manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the napkin 2 is placed on the long packaging material 3 that is continuously conveyed in the napkin arrangement portion A. After disposing intermittently, the packaging material 3 on which the napkin 2 is placed is folded in the width direction in the folding portion B so that two folding portions 32 and 33 along the flow direction are formed together with the napkin 2. . And the long packaging material 3 'in the folded state is inserted between the first and second rolls 51 and 55 of the joining device 5 arranged in the joining region forming part C, and in the packaging material 3', A region where the napkin 2 is not present is hot-pressed between the pressure unit 52 of the first roll and the pressure unit 56 of the second roll to form the bonding region 60. Then, the long object after forming the joining region part 60 is cut in the cutting part D across the width direction of the long object at the center of the joining region part 60 in the width direction, and a pair of edges. Individual individual packages 1 each having a joining region 6 are obtained. Note that the tab tape 4 is opened at an appropriate stage after folding in the folding B, for example, after the formation of the joining region portion 60 and before cutting at the cutting portion D or after cutting at the cutting portion D. Provided.

  According to this embodiment, the individual package 1 of the napkin 2 of the above-described embodiment can be efficiently and continuously produced in this manner.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate. For example, the shape of the joint 5 may be a polygon.

  3 and 4 show another embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, each joint portion 5 is formed in a polygon surrounded by a plurality of sides 7, 8, 9. The side 7 is a side parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material, and the sides 8 and 9 extend from the center side in the width direction of the packaging material toward the rear in the opening direction of the individual package. It is a side inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material so as to approach. The joint 5 is formed by these sides 7, 8, 9.

In the joint portion 5 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sides 8 and 9 are substantially parallel to the peeling direction Q, and the sides 8 and 9 serve as a guide at the time of opening. Can be opened smoothly with light force. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the sides 8 and the sides 9 of the plurality of joints 5, 5. Are arranged in a substantially straight line, and the individual package 1 can be opened more smoothly.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 4, unlike the embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the arrangement of the joint portions 5 in the joint region 6 is arranged in a line in the width direction. For this reason, the number of joints in the peeling direction is reduced, and the start and end of peeling of the joints is only once, which leads to further reduction in opening sound.

  The sanitary napkin may have a pair of wing parts. The wing portion is a portion that is bent to the outside of the shorts and is fixed to the outer surface or a portion that is bent to the outer surface side of the shorts and is fastened to each other on the outer surface side. When having a wing portion in this way, before folding the napkin with the packaging material in the longitudinal direction, the wing portion is folded so as to overlap the central portion in the width direction of the napkin, and further, an adhesive layer is provided on the wing portion It is preferable to coat it with release paper. A mechanical fastener, an anti-slip agent, or the like may be used without using an adhesive layer for fixing to the underwear of the napkin 2.

  In addition to sanitary napkins, the absorbent article in the present invention may be other absorbent articles such as a panty liner (cage sheet), an incontinence pad, and the like.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an individual package of a sanitary napkin as one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a joint portion in the individual package of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (a) is an enlarged plan view showing the shape and arrangement of the joint portion on one edge, and FIG. ) Is a plan view showing a surface side having an opening start end of the individual package of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2C is a diagram showing a state immediately after the opening of the individual package of FIG. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2A, and FIG. 3B is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2A, and FIG. 3B is a diagram corresponding to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing the main part of the device for manufacturing an individual package of sanitary napkins as one embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Individual packaging of sanitary napkins (single packaging of absorbent articles)
2 Sanitary napkins (absorbent articles)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Packaging material 4 Tab tape 5 Joining part 6 Joining area 7 Sides 8 and 9 parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material Side 31 inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material A pair of opposite edges 32 of the individual package One end (folded end) of individual package
33 The other end of the body (folded end)
34 Opening start end P Opening direction

Claims (4)

The absorbent article is folded in the longitudinal direction together with the packaging material, and the packaging material that is folded and superposed is joined to each other at a pair of edges of the individual packaging, ,
The packaging materials at each of the pair of edge portions are joined at a plurality of joint portions, and each joint portion has a side parallel to the longitudinal direction of the packaging material and a rear side in the opening direction of the individual package. The package of the absorbent article which has the edge | side inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of this packaging material so that it may approach the edge of the said edge part from the width direction center side of a packaging material as it goes to.   The absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the joint part at one edge part and the joint part at the other edge part have an axisymmetric shape with respect to the center line in the width direction of the packaging material. Individual body.   Each of the joint portions gradually decreases after the width in the direction orthogonal to the inclined side gradually increases from the width direction center side of the packaging material toward the end side of the edge portion in parallel with the side. The individual package of the absorbent article according to claim 1 or 2, which has a shape. Each of the joint portions has an acute angle corner portion at each of the end portion on the center side in the width direction of the packaging material and the end portion on the end side of the edge portion in a direction parallel to the inclined side. The individual package of the absorbent article according to claim 3.

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