JP2008061761A - Absorbent articles - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an absorbent article that is compact in packaging, partially deformed and raised toward the wearer's skin during use, and that provides good fit.
An absorbent article according to the present invention includes a top sheet 2, a back sheet, and an absorbent body 2 disposed therebetween, and the absorbent body 4 is disposed at a central portion in the width direction in a part of the longitudinal direction. , Having a thick part 4M thicker than the surroundings, and being bent in the longitudinal direction along two folding lines L1 and L2 spaced apart from each other across the thick part 4M in the width direction. It is packaged with.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an absorbent article such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner (cage sheet), and an incontinence pad.

Conventionally, as an absorbent article such as a sanitary napkin, an article having a raised portion at the center in the width direction on the skin contact surface side to improve the fit of a wearer with respect to a liquid excretion part or a tear is known. .
For example, Patent Document 1 includes a lifting member extending in the longitudinal direction between a top sheet and a back sheet, and the lifting member has a plurality of pleats along the longitudinal direction, and the pleats A disposable absorbent article having a height in the same direction for deforming a part of the top sheet with respect to the sheet in the thickness direction (Z direction) of the article is described.

Japanese National Patent Publication No. 9-506806

However, absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins are usually packaged (individually packaged) individually with packaging materials in a state of being folded in the longitudinal direction, and the absorbent articles are taken out from the packaging. In some cases, the raised portion does not rise sufficiently and the expected effect cannot be obtained.
On the other hand, if the height of the raised portion is sufficiently high in advance, the individually packaged state will not be compact, the raised portion will be crushed in the manufacturing process, and it will be stored in the individual packaging until the packaging process or use. There was an inconvenience such as crushing of the raised portion during the operation.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent article that has a compact packaging state and is partially deformed and raised toward the wearer's skin during use, and can have good fit. There is.

  The present invention includes a top sheet, a back sheet, and an absorber disposed between the two, and the absorber has a thick portion thicker than the periphery at the center in the width direction in a part of the longitudinal direction. By providing an absorbent article that is wrapped in a longitudinal direction along two folding lines spaced apart from each other across the thick portion in the width direction, the above object is achieved. Is achieved.

  The absorbent article of the present invention has a compact packaging state, and when used, a part of the absorbent article is deformed and raised toward the wearer's skin, and good fit is obtained.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sanitary napkin 1 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a napkin 1) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a liquid-permeable surface sheet 2 and a liquid-impermeable (non-permeable). And a liquid-retaining absorbent 4 interposed between the two sheets 2 and 3. The napkin 1 has an excretion part facing part A that faces the excretion part of the wearer when worn, and a front part B and a rear part C that extend before and after the excretion part facing part A. When the napkin 1 is worn, the front part B is arranged on the front (belly) side of the wearer and the rear part C is arranged on the back (back) side of the wearer.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the top sheet 2 covers the entire region of the absorbent body 4 on the skin contact surface side. The back sheet 3 covers the entire region of the absorbent body 4 on the non-skin contact surface side. Each of the topsheet 2 and the backsheet 3 has a portion extending outward from the peripheral portion of the absorbent body 4, and these extended portions are joined to each other in the vicinity of the peripheral portion of the napkin 1. An adhesive portion (not shown) for fixing the napkin 1 to the underwear such as shorts is formed on the underwear facing surface of the back sheet 3.

As shown in FIG. 1, the absorbent body 4 in the napkin 1 of the present embodiment has a shape that is long in the same direction as the front-rear direction at the time of wearing. It has a thick portion 4M that is thicker than other portions of the absorber located around it.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the absorbent body 4 in the present embodiment is disposed only in the main absorbent body 41 arranged so as to cover the entire area of the absorbent body 4 and the central portion in the width direction near the excretory part facing part A. The central absorber 42 is arranged.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main absorbent body 41 is composed of a lower absorbent body 411 and an upper absorbent body 412 disposed on the skin contact surface side of the lower absorbent body 411. The lower absorbent body 411 and the upper absorbent body 412 have an outer shape substantially equal to the planar view shape of the absorbent body 4. On the other hand, the central absorbent body 42 is smaller than the main absorbent body 41, and is disposed between the lower absorbent body 411 and the upper absorbent body 412 constituting the main absorbent body 41.

  The lower absorbent body 411, the upper absorbent body 412, and the central absorbent body 42 are each made of an absorbent sheet. Although not shown, the central absorbent body 2 is used by folding one absorbent sheet into two layers. Specifically, in the absorbent sheet having a rectangular or square shape in a plan view, both side portions in a direction that coincides with the longitudinal direction of the napkin are folded back to the back sheet 3 side, and the edges of the folded portions of the absorbent sheet are joined together. Overlaid at the center in the width direction.

  In the absorbent body 4 in the present embodiment, the lower absorbent body 411 has a two-layer structure in which the central absorbent body 42 is not interposed between the lower absorbent body 411 and the upper absorbent body 412. A portion where the central absorber 42 is interposed between the upper absorber 412 and the upper absorber 412 has a four-layer structure. And the site | part which the center absorber 42 interposes between the lower absorber 411 and the upper absorber 412 becomes the thick part 4M. In the following, among the portions other than the thick portion 4M of the absorber, the portions located on the left and right sides of the thick portion 4M in the longitudinal direction of the absorber (portions located on the left and right sides of the thick portion of the absorber) Both side parts 4S and 4S are called.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the napkin 1 of the present embodiment is bent in the longitudinal direction along two folding lines L1 and L2 that are spaced apart from each other across the thick portion 4M in the width direction. Packaged in a state.

The napkin 1 in the packaged state will be further described. The napkin 1 is bent in the longitudinal direction along three folding lines L1 to L3, which are folding lines crossing the napkin 1 in the width direction.
The folding direction of the napkin 1 by the folding lines L1 to L3 is the direction in which the back sheet 3 side is a mountain and the top sheet 2 side is a valley, and the order of folding at the folding lines L1 to L3 Is in the order of L3, L2, and L1, as shown in FIG. When folding along the folding lines L2 and L1, as shown in FIG. 3A, the packaging material 5 is arranged on the non-skin contact surface side of the napkin 1, and the napkin 1 and the packaging material 5 are integrated. It is bent. As shown in FIG.3 (b), the part extended from the both-sides edge of the folded napkin 1 in the packaging material 5 is sealed by heat seal, and also the edge part of the longitudinal direction of a packaging material is the tab tape 6. It is fixed to the opposite surface.
The material of the packaging material used for packaging, the packaging method, and the like can be the same as those of the conventional individually packaged absorbent article.

  As described above, the napkin 1 of the present embodiment is packaged in a state where the napkin 1 is folded in the longitudinal direction along the two folding lines L1 and L2 that cross the thick portion 4M of the absorbent body 4 in the width direction. Since the bending direction in the folding lines L1 and L2 is a direction in which the non-skin contact surface side of the napkin 1 is a mountain, and the thick part 4M of the absorbent body 4 has higher rigidity than both side parts 4S. In the central portion of the napkin 1 in the width direction, a portion that is bent by the folding lines L1 and L2 is provided with a firm and strong folding line. Therefore, when the napkin 1 is used, when the napkin 1 is spread in a flat shape on the skin-facing surface of the underwear or the like, the portions L1 ′ and L2 ′ with the creases are shown in FIG. Thus, it is easy to maintain the bent state in a substantially V-shaped cross section or a reverse shape.

In addition, the two folding lines L1 and L2 are separated from each other, and the thick part 4M of the absorber 4 is provided in the excretory part. Due to the stress received from the bent portion, the bent portion is more likely to bend between the bent lines in the front-rear direction, and the raised portions 13 can be formed by the bent lines L1 and L2. When the part 11 located in front of the folding line L1 of the napkin 1 and the part 12 located in the rear of the folding line L2 are pressed against the underwear 7 such as shorts, this action works and the two folding lines of the napkin 1 As shown in FIG. 4, the portion 13 located between L <b> 1 and L <b> 2 is convexly curved toward the wearer's skin side and is raised toward the wearer's skin side.
The raised portion 13 is arcuate in cross section along the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the napkin 1, whereas the cross section along the width direction (Y direction) of the napkin 1 is compared in the thick portion 4M. Flat. Like the napkin of this embodiment, if the cross section of the raised portion 13 in the width direction of the napkin is flat compared to the cross section in the longitudinal direction, the body excretion site has a width corresponding to the width of the thick portion 4M when worn. It becomes possible to fit to a body, and it becomes possible to improve adhesiveness with a body more. As a result, the excreted liquid can be quickly absorbed and the effect of preventing leakage can be enhanced.

Moreover, in the napkin 1 of this embodiment, since the both side parts of the thick part 4M are the side parts 4S and 4S which are thinner than the thick part 4M and are flexible, the napkin 1 was bent. Valleys that are continuous with the valleys generated in the portion are not easily formed on both sides of the napkin. Therefore, the liquid does not flow through the valley and leaks to the side of the napkin, and both sides of the napkin can prevent the wearer from feeling uncomfortable.
Furthermore, in the napkin 1 of the present embodiment, the above-described raised portion 13 is generated when a part of the napkin 1 is deformed, and a thick portion having a height equal to or higher than the raised portion 13 is formed on the napkin itself. Since it is not necessary to keep it, the packaging state is compact.

From the viewpoint of forming the raised portion 13 described above in relation to the folding line in the packaged state, the napkin 1 of the present embodiment preferably has the following configuration.
The thickened portion 4M of the absorbent body 4 is formed by stacking the same material or different sheet materials on the sheet material used for the both side portions 4S of the central absorbent body 42. These are integrated by an adhesive means. Thus, the central absorbent body 42 has a structure in which it is integrated as a single unit, so that the thick part 4M provided at a position close to the excretory part is subjected to bending along the body and stress received from the body when worn. It becomes possible to make it interlock | cooperate with the thick part 4M, and it becomes extruded by the folding lines L1 and L2 in the front-back direction, and it becomes possible to form the protruding part 13. FIG. The central absorbent body 42 is preferably provided with an elastic property in which the bulges between the folding lines are not easily buckled, and means using a pressure-sensitive adhesive such as hot melt is preferable for joining the multilayers. When using a material or thermal bonding, it is preferable to mix a fiber material exhibiting elastic behavior.
Both side portions 4S and 4S of the absorber are formed by laminating a single layer or two or more layers of sheet materials. In the case of the multilayer structure, even if the layers are joined by hot embossing or a hot melt adhesive. Although not necessarily joined, it is preferably not joined from the viewpoint of alleviating the influence of stress due to the formation of the bulge, and is preferably joined from the viewpoint of being hard to form the valley.

  From the same point of view, the thick portion 4M of the absorber 4 is made of the sheet material used for the side portions 4S by the upper absorber 412 or the lower absorber 411, or the upper absorber 412 and the lower absorber 411. It is also used in 4M, and is formed by sandwiching a central absorbent body 42 made of the same material or different material from both side portions 4S, and the overlapped layers are bonded by means such as embossing and hot melt. It is integrated.

Moreover, it is difficult to form the continuous trough part in the both sides 4S that the thick part 4M and both sides 4S and 4S of the absorber 4 contain 50 weight% or more of bulky fibers, especially 50-60 weight%. And it is preferable from a viewpoint which does not produce discomfort in the thick part 4M.
The bulky fiber is a fiber having a twisted structure, a crimped structure, a bent and / or a three-dimensional structure of a branched structure, or a very large cross-sectional area (for example, a fiber roughness of 0.3 mg / or more).
As the bulky fibers, natural fibers, regenerated cellulose fibers, fibers obtained by hydrophilizing synthetic fibers such as PET, PE, PP are preferable, and these can be used in combination of two or more. It is preferable to use wood pulp or the like from the viewpoint of absorbability and cost.
In addition, as a fiber used together with a bulky fiber, any fiber having a hydrophilic surface can be used without particular limitation. However, from the viewpoint of enhancing the same elastic effect as a bulky fiber, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyester, etc. It is also preferable to contain 5 to 20% of a single or composite fiber made of the above synthetic resin.

  Further, from the viewpoint of the good formability of the raised portion 13 formed by bending the product when it is mounted and being pushed out from the front and back, and the fact that it does not give a sense of incongruity when mounted, the absorber 4 has a width of the thick portion 4M of 10 It is preferable that the width of each of the side portions 4S, 4S is 10 to 40 mm, particularly 15 to 30 mm in the napkin width direction. These widths are measured at the position of the folding line across the thick part 4M.

  Further, from the viewpoint of good formability of the raised portion 13 and fitability to the excretion site at the time of wearing, the length L5 of the thick portion 4M is the total length L4 of the absorbent body 4 in the longitudinal direction of the deployed napkin. It is preferably 25 to 60%, particularly preferably 30 to 50%. From the end portions 42f and 42r of the thick portion 4M to the one closer to the end portions 42f and 42r of the two folding lines L1 and L2. The distances L6 and L7 are each preferably 5 to 20%, particularly 10 to 15% of the total length L5 of the thick part 4M, and the distance L8 between the two folding lines L1 and L2 is the absorber 4 The total length L4 is preferably 20 to 45%, particularly preferably 25 to 35%.

  In numerical terms, the length L5 is preferably 60 to 100 mm, particularly 70 to 90 mm, and the distances L6 and L7 are preferably 5 to 20 mm, particularly 7 to 15 mm, respectively, and the distance L8 Is preferably 45 to 85 mm, particularly 65 to 80 mm.

  The napkin 1 of the present embodiment has a maximum thickness of 5 mm or less in a state where the napkin 1 is taken out from the package and developed. The maximum thickness is the thickness of the portion where the thick portion 4M of the absorber exists inside. By limiting the maximum thickness to 5 mm or less, the packaging state becomes thinner and more compact. The maximum thickness of the napkin (absorbent article) is preferably 1.5 to 5 mm, particularly preferably 2.0 to 3.5 mm.

  An adhesive portion (not shown) is provided on the surface of the napkin 1 of the present embodiment on the back sheet 3 side. This adhesive portion is in contact with the skin-facing surface of an underwear such as shorts, and prevents positional displacement between the napkin 1 and the underwear. The adhesive part in the napkin 1 of this embodiment is formed by intermittently forming a number of band-like adhesive parts extending in the width direction of the absorbent body 4. As a result, on the product back sheet side, the front and rear of the crest provided on the thick portion 4M or the crest are partially bonded and fixed without being bonded to the entire shorts. The portion 13 located between L1 and L2 can be raised.

  The material which comprises each part of the napkin 1 of this embodiment is demonstrated. As the top sheet 2 and the back sheet 3, those usually used for this type of article can be used without particular limitation. For example, as the surface sheet 2, a hydrophilic and liquid-permeable nonwoven fabric or an apertured film can be used. As the back sheet 3, a liquid-impermeable material or a water-repellent material can be used. As the liquid-impermeable material, a resin film, a laminate material of a resin film and a nonwoven fabric, or the like can be used. As the water-repellent material, a multi-layer composite composed of spunbond, meltblown, spunbond, etc. Nonwoven fabrics, spunbonded nonwoven fabrics, heat bonded nonwoven fabrics, air-through nonwoven fabrics and the like can be used.

  As the absorbent sheet constituting the absorbent body 4, an absorbent sheet carrying an absorbent polymer or pulp between two nonwoven fabrics or paper, an absorbent sheet described in JP-A-8-246395, or the like may be used. it can.

The absorbent article of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the configuration of the absorber, instead of interposing the central absorber 42 inside the main absorber 41, the central absorber 42 is laminated on the surface sheet 2 side of the main absorber 41 as shown in FIG. You can also In addition, the central absorbent body 42 can be laminated on the back sheet 3 side of the main absorbent body 41. Moreover, instead of making the thicknesses of the thick part 4M and the side parts 4S different due to the difference in the number of layers of the absorbent sheet constituting each, the thickness 4M and the side part 4S are made different depending on the difference in the basis weight of the absorbent body arranged on each. You can also. The difference in the number of layers when different depending on the number of layers of the absorbent sheet may be 1 or 3 or more.

  In addition to the sanitary napkin, the absorbent article of the present invention may be a panty liner (orimono sheet), an incontinence pad, or the like.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a state in which a sanitary napkin according to an embodiment of the present invention is viewed from the surface sheet side in an unfolded state. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the sanitary napkin is folded and packaged together with the packaging material. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the sanitary napkin of FIG. 1 is taken out of the package and fixed on the skin facing surface of the shorts. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a sanitary napkin as another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Sanitary napkin (absorbent article)
2 Top sheet 3 Back sheet 4 Absorber 4M Thick part 4S, 4S Both sides (part located on the left and right sides of the thick part)
5 Wrapping material 6 Tab tape L1, L2 Folding line across thick part

Claims (4)

A top sheet, a back sheet, and a substantially vertically long absorber disposed between the top sheet, the back sheet, and the absorber are provided with a thick portion thicker than the periphery at a central portion in the width direction in a part of the longitudinal direction. Have
An absorbent article having two folding lines spaced apart from each other across the thick portion in the width direction and wrapped in a longitudinal direction along the folding lines.   The absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the thick portion and the portions located on the left and right sides of the thick portion of the absorbent body include bulky fibers in which fibers are bonded.   2. The absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent body has a width of 10 to 40 mm, and each of the portions located on the left and right sides of the thick portion has a width of 10 to 40 mm.   In the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article in the unfolded state, the length of the thick portion is 25 to 60% of the total length of the absorbent body, and from among the two folding lines from each end of the thick portion. The distance to the end closer to each end is 5 to 20% of the total length of the thick part, and the distance between the two folding lines is 20 to 45% of the total length of the absorber. The absorbent article according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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