US2681062A - Baby diaper and method of making it - Google Patents

Description

June 15, 1954 5, c o s 2,681,062

BABY DIAPER AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Original Filed Oct. 3, 1951 Patentecl June 15, 1954 UNITED STAT ?TENT OFFICE 1953, Serial No. 368,356

3 Claims. (01. 128-284) The present invention relates to babies diapers and a method of making them.

Heretofore, diapers for babies have usually been made of a single thickness of cloth which is folded by hand before it is used. Such a diaper is now usually folded four-fold into a rectangular shape instead of a triangular shape former 1y more frequently employed. As is well known, it is now customary in many households to send the diapers out to be laundered and many laundries specialize in diaper service or provide it. Heretofore such laundries have washed, dried and then folded the diapers and delivered them in this condition to the customers. The folding operation is a slow one which is done by hand and, where thousands of diapers are handled, a large amount of labor is required.

My present invention provides a diaper which is prefabricated in folded condition and therefore does not require folding at the laundry or before being applied.

It is desirable that the diapers be folded to form a relatively thick panel in the middle with thinner edge portions; that the parts be permanently secured in position by stitching but that the stitching along the folds be such that it will not wear rapidly, nor catch and retain dirt during laundering, nor chafe the child when in use, and these features are also provided.

In accordance with my novel method of making my diaper, a long web of cloth is folded and stitched in such a way that a tube having a longitudinal panel composed of several thicknesses of cloth is formed, after which the tube is turned inside out to bring the thickened panel on the inside of the tube so that the stitching is concealed. Thereafter the tube is cut transversely into separate diapers and the cut edges are overedged to retain the panel in its proper position and to prevent fraying of the cut edges. This procedure does away with the folding of individual diapers, and they are not handled individually except during the overedging operation.

The novel construction of the diaper embodying my invention and the novel method of making it lend themselves to quantity production at extremely low cost while producing a thoroughly satisfactory diaper both to the user and to the laundry.

The novel diaper embodying my invention and the method of making it will be readily understood from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a portion of a web of cloth which Divided and this application July 16,

2 has been folded lengthwise and stitched with the first line of stitching.

Fig. 2 shows a part of the web of folded and stitched cloth folded again and the second line of stitching put in the thickened panel, being then on the outside of the tube.

Fig. 3 shows a portion of the tube of stitched and folded cloth after it has been turned inside out to bring the thickened panel on the inside of the tube and to conceal the stitching.

Fig. 4 is a top view showing the tube preparatory to cutting into individual diapers.

Fig. 5 shows the finished diaper after being overedged.

In practice I make my improved diaper of two superposed thicknesses of suitable cloth which together constitute a layer but it is obvious that a layer may be composed of one, two or even more single thicknesses of cloth. In the drawings each of the two thicknesses composing a layer is indicated by a single heavy line.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 3, the novel diaper embodying my invention, except for overedging, comprises a middle panel A composed of four layers of cloth, I I, I2, I3 and IE, each layer being composed of two thicknesses as indicated by black lines in the drawing, and two side portions B and C, the side portion B being composed of portions of the layers [3 and I4 forming a folded edge 30 while the side portion C is composed of portions of the layers I l and I4 forming a folded edge 3i. When completed the diaper may be considered as a flattened tube, one side of which is formed by the layer I4, while the other side is formed by the layer II and that part of the layer 3 which forms the panel 13. Between these two sides lie the layers I2 and part of I3 which form the other thicknesses of middle panel A. The layers of the middle panel A are thus seen to be continuations of the side portion layers. The several layers are held in position by two rows of stitching I5 and [6 as will be explained here after. The ends of the diaper are finished with lines of overedging as indicated in Fig. 5 at I! and Hi.

In manufacturing the improved diaper embodying my invention, I first fold a web of cloth lengthwise in the middle, the fold line being indicated at I 9 and the two side edges 26 and 2% being superposed as shown in Fig. 1. The two layers I2 and I3 are then stitched together by a line I5 of through-and-through stitching. This line of stitching I5 is placed at a distance from the side edges 20 and 2| which is substantially equal to the width of the middle panel A which is to be produced. Next, the cloth is folded lengthwise upon itself along the line of stitching !5 and the edges 20 and 2i of the middle panel secured to either the upper or lower thickness of the upper layer 12 by a row of blind stitching I6. This stitching can be done by a blind stitching machine which picks up only the layer 12. Thereafter the tube thus formed, which is then in the condition shown in Fig. 2 with the panel on the outside, is turned inside out and the middle panel A brought to a middle position forming two side panels B and G each of about equal width and thus brought into the condition as shown in Fig. 3 with the panel composed of the two layers l2 and part of IS on the inside. The edges 20 and 2! of the layers i2 and I3 are now inside the tube, as Well as the line 15 of through-and-through stitching. The tube is then cut into individual diapers, the lines of out being designated 22, 23 and 24 in Fig. 4. Afterward the out edges are overedged as indicated at I! and E8 in Fig. 5. These lines of overedging prevent fraying and hold the panel A permanently in its proper position with respect to the two side portions B and C.

When completed the diaper has a central four-fold panel, only folded edges being exposed, and with the stitching enclosed. The diaper therefore requires no folding after laundering but always retains its folds and the four-fold panel in proper position; it has no exposed or raw edges; it has no exposed seams to wear, chafe or catch and retain dirt; and when made by my novel process can be produced rapidly in mass and with a minimum of hand labor.

This application is a division of application Serial No. 249,468.

I claim:

1. The method of making a diaper which comprises folding a piece of cloth lengthwise down the middle, stitching the superposed layers together by a seam running lengthwise at a distance from the free edges of the superposed layers, folding the two superposed layers along a line parallel to and adjacent the line of stitching but further from the free edges, stitching the free edges of the folded-over portion to at least one of the layers of the two said superposed layers, and then turning the tube thus formed insideput andthereby forming a middle panel composed of at least four superposed layers.

2, In the method as set forth in claim 1, the steps of cutting the tube into separate lengths and overedging the ends of the separate lengths.

3. The method of making a diaper which comprises folding a piece of cloth lengthwise down the middle, stitching the superposed layers to; gether by a seam running lengthwise at a distance from the free edges of the superposed layers, folding the two superposed layers along a line parallel to, and adjacent the line of stitch/- ing but further from the free edges, to the upper layer of the two superposed layers, then turning the tube thus formed inside out and thereby forming a middle panel composed of at least three superposed layers, cutting the tube into separate lengths and overedging the ends of the separate lengths.

No references cited.

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