DISPOSABLE ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH ANTI-SCRAPER BARRIERS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Disposable absorbent articles have become indispensable in the daily life of any family. For this reason, an infinity of technical proposals tending to improve said articles has been developed. However, despite considerable efforts in research and development, some problems continue to arise in this type of article. Among these problems, it is important to mention the lateral runoff, mainly liquids and semi-liquids, which are presented in this type of articles. An infinity of proposals tending to correct the lateral draining have arisen, but in spite of the fact that numerous inventions have largely eliminated this problem, they have not been able to solve it completely. With the present invention, this problem is solved by means of a product design that allows to increase the quality of the disposable absorbent articles, by incorporating to them a type of anti-drip barriers, which control both the leaks that could occur from the exudates that do not They quickly penetrate the article and remain floating on the upper layer of the article, as of the liquids that, once they penetrated the matrix absorb-
If you can reach the lateral limits of the same and move to the edges of the absorbent article to find no obstacle for it. Among the systems developed to stop liquid or semi-liquid exudates that are not quickly absorbed and remain floating on the upper layer, are those described in Mexican patents numbers 161,292; 161,320 and 185,778. The barriers disclosed in these patents are external lateral barriers and they are placed on the upper layer of the diaper and have a fixed edge to the upper layer thereof and an elastic element placed on the other edge to separate it from the upper layer. These barriers have been shown to be effective in significantly retarding the passage of the liquid or semi-liquid exudates that remain floating on the upper layer of the diaper, towards the longitudinal edges of the absorbent article. However, the exudates that have already passed into the absorbent core and tend to exit the longitudinal edges of the absorbent core find no barrier and flow easily to the longitudinal edges of the diaper. To solve the problem of runoff of exudates that have already penetrated the absorbent matrix and tend to exit the longitudinal edges thereof, US Pat. No. 3,629,039, assigned to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, proposes a method consisting of in folding up the lateral ends of the impermeable lower layer and forming a kind of canoe covering the lateral parts of the matrix; however, this method is limited to a straight absorbent matrix, which is almost no longer used at present. Mexican patent number 174,128, for its part, discloses another type of barriers, which are integral to the lateral fins of the absorbent article. In this type of barriers, the inner layer ends in one of the edges of the barrier (near shore) and the distant edge of the barrier has an elastic element to create a channel that prevents the passage of liquids that can float over the inner layer of the diaper, so that a type of external barriers are formed that will be in contact with the skin of the user, retarding the passage of liquid or semi-liquid exudates through them. In addition, these barriers have seal means that join the next edge of the barrier to the rest absorbent article, creating a kind of seal that retards the passage of liquids. However, as mentioned in the body of the patent, liquids may leak and infiltrate beyond the joint or seal along the proximal edge, reaching the longitudinal edges of the absorbent article. On the other hand, the Mexican patent applications Nos. 9806912 and 9906308, describe a type of internal barriers for a disposable absorbent article, which prevent the passage of any type of exudate through the longitudinal edges of the matrix, for which they place two strips of a material
^^ á ^ * ^ g ^^^ Aa ^^ j ^^^^^ fc ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^ waterproof, below the top layer of the article, covering the longitudinal edges of the matrix, at least in the crotch region. The present invention provides an integral solution to the two types of runoff described; that of the exudates that remain floating on the upper layer of the article, as well as that of the exudates that once they penetrate the absorbent matrix, tend to leave the longitudinal edges of the same and reach the longitudinal edges of the article, placing a type of external lateral barriers with a fixed edge and a distant or raised edge; these barriers are formed by the upper layer of the article, and have inside them a film of a waterproof material that extends out from the fixed edges of the barriers, creating a real barrier that will stop the passage of any type of exudate, whether it remains floating on the upper layer or if it moves beyond the longitudinal edges of the absorbent matrix. Objectives of the Invention One objective of the invention is to provide a better solution to the problem of side runoff in disposable absorbent articles. Another object of the invention is to create a kind of barrier that solves both runoff exudates are floating on the upper layer of the disposable absorbent article, such as exudates that have penetrated
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to the absorbent matrix and tend to come out through its side parts. A further objective of the invention is that the anti-drip barriers are comfortable and do not cause damage or inconvenience to the user. Another objective of the invention is that the proposed solution is feasible to be implemented in the current production lines and easy to apply. Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a diaper with all its components. Figure 2 is a section along the line A-A 'of Figure 1. Figures 3 and 4 show alternative placement of the anti-drip barriers of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention The term "disposable absorbent article", as used herein, refers to articles that absorb and contain exudates from the body and that are discarded after use. The present disclosure will be made based on a disposable baby diaper, it being understood that it can also be applied to other types of disposable absorbent articles, such as disposable diapers for incontinent adults, trainers and feminine sanitary napkins. Referring to Figure No. 1, a
• k & & i ^ '* & ^ ^ £ ^^^^^^^^^^ 3JJ disposable diaper formed by a liquid permeable waterproof upper layer (40), a lower layer (42) liquids, an absorbent matrix (44) sandwiched between two upper and lower layers, a pair of tape tabs (56) attached to the upper and lower part of rear diaper waist layers and together with or bands ( 58) that are in the front part and on the outer layer, form the diaper fastening system; crotch elastics (60) and, preferably, one or more elastic waist members (62). All diaper components are joined using conventional techniques well known to those skilled in the art. For example, the components can be joined by means of thermal or ultrasonic joints; however, the most common method for joining them involves the use of pressure sensitive hot adhesives. As mentioned, in a diaper with the described characteristics, there may be risk of runoff from the lateral edges thereof, either from the exudates that are not absorbed quickly and remain floating on the upper layer, or from the liquid or semi-exudates. -liquids that pass through the upper layer, penetrate the absorbent matrix and reach the edges of it, passing it and reaching the longitudinal edges of the diaper. The disposable absorbent article of the present invention has two anti-drip barriers (70), which are formed by means of the upper permeable layer (40) and by an impermeable film (72) which is placed therein and which It extends outwards from the fixed edge of the barriers, thus avoiding both the drainage of the exudates remaining on the upper layer of the article, and the draining of the exudates that leave the longitudinal edges of the absorbent matrix. Figure 2 is a section along the line A-A 'of Figure 1, in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown. As can be seen in this figure, the fixed edge of the anti-drip barriers is placed in the lateral fins of the article, between the longitudinal edges of the absorbent matrix (66) and the leg elastics (60), at least in the crotch region. The barriers are formed by bending the upper permeable layer (40) in such a way that the barriers have two edges, a fixed edge and a edge that is moved away or lifted away from the absorbent matrix. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the fixed edge of the barrier is placed on the lateral fin of the article, between the longitudinal edges of the absorbent matrix (66) and the leg elastics. On the bank away from the barrier, an elastic (74) is placed in order to separate this edge from the top layer of the article. Within each of the barriers a film of impermeable material (72) is placed, which ends out from the fixed edge of the same.
The impermeable film (72) that is placed inside each of the barriers can be a polyethylene, polyester, polypropylene film or any other film with waterproof characteristics. Preferably, these films must be breathable, that is to say allow the passage of gases and vapors. Another embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 3. In this, the fixed edge of the barrier is placed on the longitudinal edges of the absorbent matrix (66); the impermeable film (72) then extends to cover at least the entire thickness of the absorbent matrix (66), in order to avoid any kind of run-off. Finally, in Figure 4 is shown one more mode of the barriers of the present invention, in which the fixed edges of each of the barriers are placed outside the leg elastics (60) and the impermeable film (72) it extends out from these fixed edges. While the invention has been described in terms of presently preferred embodiments, it is clear that those skilled in the art will be able to devise changes or modifications, it being intended that such changes or modifications fall within the scope and spirit of the invention, as it is defined in the appended claims.
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