JP2824138B2 - Disposable absorbent articles - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a disposable absorbent article, and more particularly to a disposable absorbent article used as a diaper for infants, adults or incontinent persons.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, various disposable diapers have been proposed.
Among these, the main disposable diapers include, for example, a liquid-permeable top sheet and a liquid-impermeable back sheet, as shown in JP-B-52-40267, and an absorbent sheet located between these two sheets. A body and a pair of left and right side flaps, and fastening devices arranged on both side edges on the back side of the side flaps are fixed in the abdominal region,
A so-called flat type is known.

Recently, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-77304, both side edges of a pair of left and right side flaps of an abdominal region and a dorsal region are joined and fixed to each other to form a pair of left and right leg openings and a waist opening. A so-called pants-type disposable diaper in which each part is formed has been proposed. The pants-type disposable diaper is configured such that a leg opening and a waist opening are fitted to a body that is formed to be stretchable. Such pants-type disposable diapers are usually wearable in three dimensions by the wearer himself, for toilet training to promote the infant's "diaper detachment", or for incontinent or non-walkable persons. Useful for adults.

Further, such a pants-type disposable diaper, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-207605, also has a good-looking sewing-tailoring appearance, and may be manufactured for the purpose of disposable clothing. is there.

Some proposals have also been made on a method of manufacturing a pants-type disposable diaper. They are basically
The so-called cross-flow method in which the longitudinal direction of the absorber is perpendicular to the flow direction, as shown in JP-A-57-77304 and JP-A-1-292102, and JP-A-2-4364 and JP-T-61-502264. It can be divided into vertical running methods as seen. Among the steps of these manufacturing methods, a new step which is not required for the conventional flat type disposable diaper includes a step of folding an individual product from an expanded state to two and sealing the side part. A pants-type disposable diaper in which a side seal is not required and a method of manufacturing the same are disclosed in JP-T-61-502264.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the disposable diaper described in JP-T-61-502264, since both ends of the pair of elastic belts are respectively joined to side flaps formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the back sheet, the disposable diaper is in a worn state. Is the waist of the wearer, the edges of both ends in the longitudinal direction of the body (width of the body)
And a pair of elastic belts, and the diaper main body is supported.

In this case, the waist is surrounded by a relatively long range by both ends of the non-stretchable back sheet, and the range surrounded by the stretchable elastic belt is correspondingly shorter. In other words, there is a problem that the diaper cannot be securely held by the wearer because the distance over which the elastic belt acts is substantially short.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a disposable absorbent article that can securely hold a diaper main body to a wearer by an elastic belt.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present invention is fixed to a diaper body having a liquid-permeable top sheet, a liquid-impermeable back sheet, and an absorber located between these sheets, and holds the diaper body to a wearer when worn. In the disposable absorbent article provided with a pair of elastic belts, the pair of elastic belts are located on the outer surface of the back sheet, and only the joint fixing portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction are jointly fixed to the back sheet. The elastic belt located at the center of the disposable absorbent article in the longitudinal direction is located in a region corresponding to the absorber,
When the absorbent article is used, the above object is achieved by providing a disposable absorbent article characterized in that it can be formed into a pants-type shape by pulling out the diaper body from between the pair of elastic belts. It has been achieved.

[Action]

When the disposable absorbent article of the present invention is worn, the elastic portion of the elastic belt is picked up from the diaper body to form a so-called pants shape, and the waist of the wearer is surrounded by both ends in the diaper body longitudinal direction and a pair of elastic belts. It flexes and holds the diaper body on the wearer. In this state, since the pair of elastic belts are positioned so as to overlap a part of the both ends, an elastic force is also applied to the overlapping both ends.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, a disposable diaper will be described as an example of a disposable absorbent article.

As shown in FIG. 1, the disposable diaper 1 has a liquid-permeable top sheet 2 forming a side in contact with the wearer's skin, a liquid-impermeable back sheet 3, and both of these sheets 2. A diaper main body 1A on which an absorbent body 4 for absorbing and excreting is fixed while being sandwiched between the three, and a pair of elastic belts 10, 10 for holding the diaper main body 1A on the waist when worn. It is configured.

The diaper main body 1A has a pair of extending in the longitudinal direction of the absorber 4 and extending outward from each of the first edge located on the back side of the wearer and the second edge located on the abdominal side when worn. Waist flaps 7, 7 and a pair of left and right side flaps 5, 5 extending outward in the width direction from both side edges of the diaper main body 1A are formed. Elastic members 6, 6 forming gathers are respectively disposed on the leg portions 5B, 5B of the pair of left and right side flaps 5, 5, and a concave cut 13 is formed on an edge of the leg portion 5B. .

The top sheet 2 is preferably a liquid-permeable sheet that allows excrement to pass through the absorber 4 and has a feeling similar to underwear. Examples of such a liquid-permeable sheet include a woven cloth, a nonwoven cloth, and a porous film. Etc. In addition, a hydrophobic compound such as a silicone oil agent or paraffin wax or a hydrophilic compound such as an alkyl phosphate ester is applied to the periphery of the top sheet 2 in advance, and the periphery is washed with warm water to be water-repellent. It is preferable to perform a process to prevent leakage due to bleeding of urine or the like in the peripheral portion.

The back sheet 3 is made of a liquid-impermeable sheet having moisture permeability and stretched by adding a filler to a thermoplastic resin, or a sheet having a feeling similar to underwear, such as a composite material of a film and a nonwoven fabric or a film of a woven fabric. A composite material or the like is used.

As the absorbent, it is preferable to use a fibrillated pulp as a main material and a polymer water-absorbing polymer in combination. In addition, a heat-treated mixture of a thermoplastic resin, cellulose fiber, and a polymer water-absorbing polymer is used. The location of the high-molecular-weight water-absorbing polymer may be any of the upper layer, the middle layer, and the lower layer, and may be a mixture with pulp. The high-molecular water-absorbing polymer has a holding performance of absorbing and holding a liquid of 20 times or more its own weight, and is preferably in the form of particles having a gelling property. For example, there are a starch-acrylic acid (salt) graft copolymer, a saponified starch-acrylonitrile copolymer, a crosslinked product of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose, an acrylic acid (salt) polymer, and the like. The shape of the absorber 4 is preferably a substantially hourglass shape according to the body shape of the wearer, but may be rectangular.

Each elastic belt 10 is on the outer surface of the back sheet 3 and only the fixing portions 10A and 10C at both ends in the longitudinal direction are joined and fixed to the back sheet 3 by a known means such as ultrasonic welding, heat welding, or an adhesive. And its longitudinal center part 10B
Are configured to elastically expand and contract in the longitudinal direction at least in part.

The elastic belt 10 extends on the back sheet 3 side of the main body 1A along a longitudinal center line (indicated by an alternate long and short dash line) 20 with a width approximately half that of the main body. 10 cover the main body 1A adjacent to each other.

Since the width of the elastic belt 10 is about half as wide as the main body 1A, the main body 1A can be securely held at the waist when worn.

The width of the belt 10 is specifically 30 to 150 mm, and preferably 50 to 90 mm, but basically, the maximum width thereof is 1/2 of the width of the disposable diaper 1. However, it is also possible to form the elastic belts near each other in the vicinity of the longitudinal center line. In this case, the elastic belt is not limited to 1/2.

The elastic belt 10 creates a feeling close to underwear,
A non-woven fabric type having elasticity and air permeability is used, and it is preferable to have a greater elasticity in the longitudinal direction than in the width direction. For this reason, the elastic belt 10 has a non-woven sheet 9 having air permeability laminated in two layers, between which the thread-like elastic member 8 is intermittently fixed in an extended state. The elastic member 8 is intermittently bonded and fixed to the sheet 9 by using an adhesive such as hot melt, ultrasonic welding, or heat welding, which is known in the art. When an adhesive such as hot melt is used, the elastic member is applied after being applied in a stripe shape in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the elastic member 8 extends in order to form a gather ring neatly. The extended elastic member 8 is not arranged on the joint fixing portions 10A and 10C, that is, it is inelastic. Further, the joint fixing portions 10A and 10C are arranged at least in a part of the back sheet 3 in a region corresponding to the region of the absorber 4. As a result, the rigidity of the joint fixing portions 10A and 10C is improved, and the attachment is easy. In addition, by arranging the elastic member 8 along the longitudinal center line 20, the elasticity of the elastic belt 10 can be set low. That is, the elastic belt 10 of this embodiment extends the stretchable range over the entire circumference of the waist opening 11, so that the elastic belt 10 can reliably hold the waist even at a relatively low stretch ratio.

The boundary between the bonded portions 10A and 10C and the non-bonded portion 10B is substantially straight, and the boundary and the longitudinal center line 20 of the diaper 1 are formed.
Is at least 20 to 60 °, particularly preferably 40 to 50 °. Further, a reinforcing member (not shown) may be arranged at the portions 10A and 10C where the elastic belt 10 is to be joined and fixed to the back sheet 3.

The sheet 9 is made of a woven fabric, a nonwoven fabric, a porous film, a permeable film, a composite material having a feeling similar to underwear, and the like, and secures air permeability. The elastic member 8 is a plurality of thread-like members in the present embodiment, for example,
Rubber is used.

In the diaper 1 having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, the elastic belt 10 and the elastic member 6 are contracted in a free state in which the diaper 1 is not folded and has a boat shape. Each elastic belt 10
Will be adjacent to the longitudinal centerline 20 of the disposable diaper 1. In this state, the liquid-permeable top sheet 2 is on the lower surface.

At the time of wearing, as shown in FIG. 3, the shape is changed to a pants-type disposable diaper 1 by a simple operation. That is,
The elastic belt 10 on the back sheet 3 side shown in FIG.
3 by pulling up the waist edges 10 'on both sides of the longitudinal center line of the crotch portion 10B and pulling out the main body member from between the waist edges 10' to form a pants-type shape as shown in FIG. Can be. By this operation, one waist opening 11 and a pair of leg openings 12 are formed. Waist edge 10 'of elastic belt 10 is waist opening
11 and the leg edge 10 "of the elastic belt 10 and the side flap 5 form the leg opening portion 12. The disposable diaper in the state shown in Fig. 3 is worn by the wearer himself in a three-dimensional state. Is what you can do.

One waist opening portion 11 can be elastically expanded and contracted by the action of the elastic belt 10, and elasticity is achieved over the entire circumference of the waist opening portion 11 as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the diaper main body 1A can be securely held at the waist.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the waist flap portion 7
There is no need to arrange a waist elastic member, and the pair of leg openings 12 can be elastically expanded and contracted by the elastic member 6 stretched on the main body member and the edge portion 10 ″ of the elastic belt 10.
It is preferable that continuous gathers are formed along the leg openings 12 in the stretched state by the elastic member 6 and the elastic belt 10 without interruption.

Next, a method for manufacturing a disposable diaper according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4a to 4f.

The manufacturing method according to the present embodiment is based on a so-called vertical flow method. First, as shown in FIG. 4a, a main body portion 1A in which an absorber 4 is interposed between a top sheet 2 and a back sheet 3 is usually used. It is manufactured by the method described above.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 4b, a nonwoven fabric sheet 9 having a width approximately three times the width of the main body 1A is provided on the outer surface of the backsheet 3.
Are joined in a point, line or plane shape.

Joining is performed by center line 20 of diaper body 1A and center line 21 of sheet 9
Are substantially overlapped, and an adhesive such as hot melt, ultrasonic welding, heat welding, or the like is used as a means. Although not shown, the diaper main body 1A has a continuous state in the longitudinal direction, that is, the top sheet 2 and the back sheet 3 and the absorber 4 intermittently arranged therebetween in the longitudinal direction. In this embodiment, the absorber 4 is rectangular, and at this stage, the elastic member is not arranged in the crotch region of the side flap 5.

Next, the elastic belt 10 is formed. First, as shown in FIG. 4c, a thread-like elastic member 8 is intermittently fixed to one side of the center line 21 of each of the flap portions 9 'formed on the left and right of the sheet member 9 in an extended state. The elongation rates of these elastic members 8 are in the range of 110% to 500%, and the elongation rates of the respective elastic members may vary, but they are stretched symmetrically. The elastic member 8 is stretched at a portion centered on the crotch region, and is not stretched at the longitudinal end. Then, the outer half of the flap portion 9 'is folded back on the outer surface of the back sheet, and the elastic member 8 is wrapped around the sheet 9 to form the elastic belt 10,
The state is as shown in Fig. 4d. In this state, use a rotary die cutter or high-pressure water to open the leg openings.
In order to form 12, a slit 22 is formed at a portion centered on the crotch region.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4e, the elastic belt 10 is folded back on the outer surface of the back sheet 3 as well, and both ends 10A and 10C in the longitudinal direction are joined and fixed obliquely in a triangular shape to obtain the disposable diaper 1. . The folding of the elastic belt 10 is performed so that the waist edge 10 'thereof is in contact with the center line 20 of the diaper main body 1A. The elastic portion 23 separated from the elastic belt 10 by the slit 22 to form the leg opening portion 12 is not folded back and is left as it is to form a leg gather. On the other hand, by forming the curved slit 22, the shape of the elastic belt 10 can be adapted to the body shape of the wearer.
In addition, the leg gather 23 can be formed into a three-dimensional gather having an inwardly facing pocket by being folded over the outer surface of the top sheet 2. According to the disposable diaper 1 of the present embodiment, while the elastic belt 10 is formed, the formation of the elastic member around the leg can be rationally performed.

The disposable diaper 1 thus manufactured is turned into a product in a folded state as shown in FIG. 4f.

In addition, according to the manufacturing method of the vertical flow method described above, for example, an elastically contractible barrier cuff (described in JP-A-62-250201) or a second flap (described in JP-A-62-223303)
It is easy to form a gather having a three-dimensional shape.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the elastic belt is not limited to one in which the elastic member 8 is intermittently arranged on the nonwoven fabric sheet 9.
It may be formed by sandwiching a stretchable film 8A on a breathable sheet 9. In this case, the edges 10 ', 1
If the 0 ″ portion is formed by folding, the elasticity of this portion can be enhanced, and the fit to the waist when worn can be improved.

The thread-like elastic body 8 arranged on the nonwoven fabric sheet 9 is
From the underlined part 10 'side to the upper edge part 10 "side, the one with a gradually increasing elongation according to the change of the waist shape is arranged to give a uniform tightening force, but the crotch is changed. There may be.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the same effect can be obtained even if the elastic belt 10 is configured to extend in two steps to the waist side and the foot side when worn.

In this case, the waist-side elastic belts (upper in FIG. 6) 10E, 10E are arranged so as to be adjacent to each other at the center of the main body, and the leg-side elastic belts 10F, 10F (in FIG. The lower part) is within a region of the absorber (shown by a broken line in the figure), and is preferably arranged at a predetermined interval from each other. That is, elasticity acts on the entire circumference of the waist opening 11, and elasticity acts mainly on the vicinity of the leg opening 12 on the foot side. According to the modification shown in FIG. 6, the elastic member can seal around the leg in cooperation with the elastic member around the leg. It should be noted that different elastic forces may be applied to the elastic belt 10E on the waist side and the elastic belt 10F on the leg side, and the number of elastic belts is not limited to two vertically and may be any number.

Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the same effect can be obtained even if the width of the elastic belts 10, 10 is formed to be smaller than half the width of the diaper main body 1A, and a predetermined interval is left between them. In this modification, the elastic belt 10 is joined to the waist flaps 7, 7, but the elastic portion of the elastic belt 10 is located substantially within the region of the absorber 4.

Further, the elastic belt of the disposable diaper 1 can be connected to the connecting portion 10A to the connecting portion 10C so that the wearer can easily peel it off.
Preferably, a tear guide is arranged between the two. The tear guide means is, specifically, a cut guide line, a seal part, or a part capable of easily tearing a part of the elastic belt 10, and is torn or torn during wearing. It has a strength that does not occur.

〔The invention's effect〕

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the disposable absorbent article of this invention, a diaper main body can be reliably hold | maintained by a wearer by an elastic belt.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the present invention and is a plan view of a disposable diaper in a state of being stretched in a longitudinal direction, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the disposable diaper shown in FIG. 1 in a free state, and FIG.
FIG. 4a to FIG. 4f are views showing a manufacturing process of the disposable diaper shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a view showing FIG. 6 is a sectional view of an elastic belt showing a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a disposable diaper showing another modification, and FIG. 7 is a plan view of a disposable diaper showing still another modification. . 1; disposable diaper (disposable absorbent article) 1 '; diaper body 2; top sheet, 3; back sheet 4; absorber, 10; elastic belt

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI A41B 13/02 K S

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A diaper body having a liquid-permeable top sheet, a liquid-impermeable back sheet, and an absorbent body located between the two sheets. In the disposable absorbent article provided with a pair of elastic belts to hold, the pair of elastic belts are located on the outer surface of the backsheet, and only the joint fixing portions at both ends in the longitudinal direction are joined to the backsheet. The elastic belt, which is fixed and located at the central part of the disposable absorbent article, is located in a region corresponding to the absorbent body, and when the absorbent article is used, the pair of elastic members A disposable absorbent article characterized in that the diaper body can be formed into a pants-type shape by pulling out the diaper main body from between the belts.