阅读说明：本技术 与吸收制品一起使用的扣紧系统 (Fastening system for use with absorbent articles ) 是由 J.D.兰德格雷博 J.穆勒 D.L.高德 M.罗萨 T.汤布尔特 于 2014-02-14 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一次性吸收制品的扣件,该扣件具有可附接到制品的固定部分、接合到并接续于固定部分的连接性部分、和设置在固定部分和连接性部分之间的折叠线。该扣件可不含释放带。该扣件还可包括设置在附接到制品的扣件的固定部分的表面上的粘合剂,该粘合剂偏离固定部分的边缘中的每个边缘,该边缘包括由折叠线形成的边缘,偏移的尺寸由本文限定。可在转换加工生产线上的吸收制品的组装期间施加粘合剂。(A fastener for a disposable absorbent article has a fixed portion attachable to the article, a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixed portion, and a fold line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion. The fastener may be free of a release tape. The fastener may further comprise an adhesive disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article, the adhesive being offset from each of the edges of the fixed portion, the edges comprising edges formed by fold lines, the offset being of a size defined herein. The adhesive may be applied during assembly of the absorbent article on a converting line.)

1. A disposable absorbent article comprising a body portion and a fastener, the body portion comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet joined to the topsheet, and a core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, the core being substantially cellulose free; the fastener is characterized in that it comprises:

(a) a fixed portion attached to a body portion of the article, an adhesive disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article;

(b) a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixation portion, the connective portion comprising:

(i) a distal edge;

(ii) a fastening member having a fastening surface and a bonding surface opposite the fastening surface, wherein the fastening surface is releasably fastenable to the article;

(iii) a backing member attached to the bonding surface of the fastening member; and

(c) a fold line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion;

wherein the adhesive is disposed on the fixed portion of the fastener such that it is offset from each of an inside edge and an outside edge (CD) of the fixed portion that overlaps the body portion,

wherein the adhesive covers from 20% to 95% of the surface of the fixed portion of the fastener that will overlap with the body portion of the article once attached to the article.

2. The article of claim 1, wherein the distance between the fold line and a line formed where the outside edge of the body portion overlaps the fastener is 3mm or less.

3. The article of any of the preceding claims wherein the fastener is free of a release tape.

4. The article of any of the preceding claims wherein the adhesive is applied to the body portion before the fixed portion of the fastener is attached to the article.

5. The article of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adhesive is applied to the fixed portion of the fastener prior to attachment to the body portion.

6. The article of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the adhesive is a pressure sensitive adhesive.

7. A disposable absorbent article comprising a body portion and a fastener, the body portion comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet joined to the topsheet, and a core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, the core being substantially cellulose free; the fastener is characterized in that it comprises:

(a) a fixed portion attached to a body portion of the article, an adhesive disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article;

(b) a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixation portion, the connective portion comprising:

(i) a distal edge;

(ii) a fastening member having a fastening surface and a bonding surface opposite the fastening surface, wherein the fastening surface is releasably fastenable to the article;

(iii) a backing member attached to the bonding surface of the fastening member; and

(c) a fold line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion; wherein the adhesive is disposed on the fixed portion of the fastener such that it is offset from each of an inboard edge and an outboard edge (CD) of the fixed portion that overlaps the body portion, wherein the adhesive covers 20% to 95% of the surface of the fixed portion of the fastener that will overlap the body portion of the article once attached to the article after the fastener and the article are mechanically bonded to each other.

8. The article of claim 1 or 7, wherein the adhesive is applied in a rectangular shaped patch.

9. The article of claim 1 or 7 wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and the portion of the adhesive patch adjacent to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially parallel to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is offset from the leading edge (MD) of the fastener by 0.1mm to 8 mm.

10. The article of claim 1 or 7, wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and a portion of the adhesive patch adjacent a trailing edge (MD) of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially parallel to the trailing edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is offset from the trailing edge (MD) of the fastener by 0.1mm to 8 mm.

11. The article of claim 1 or 7, wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and the portion of the adhesive patch adjacent to the fold line of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially perpendicular to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is offset from the fold line of the fastener by 0.1mm to 4 mm.

12. The article of claim 1 or 7 wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and the portion of the adhesive patch adjacent to the inside edge of the fixed portion of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially perpendicular to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is offset from the inside edge of the fixed portion of the fastener by 0.1mm to 4 mm.

13. The article according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and the portion of the adhesive patch adjacent to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially parallel to the leading edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is not offset from the leading edge (MD) of the fastener, and wherein the adhesive is applied in a patch and the portion of the adhesive patch adjacent to the trailing edge (MD) of the fastener has a substantially straight edge that is substantially parallel to the trailing edge (MD) of the fastener, wherein the substantially straight edge of the adhesive patch is not offset from the trailing edge (MD) of the fastener.

14. The article of claim 1 or 7 wherein the adhesive is applied to the fixed portion of the fastener during assembly of the absorbent article on a converting line.

15. The article of claim 1 or 7 wherein the adhesive is applied to the fixed portion of the fastener prior to assembly of the absorbent article on a converting line.

16. The article of claim 1 or 7, wherein the article is selected from the group consisting of: diapers, training pants, adult incontinence undergarments, and feminine hygiene articles.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to fastening systems for use with wearable absorbent articles, and more particularly, the present disclosure relates to fastening systems having certain fastening strips that improve the fit of such articles about the wearer and/or reduce the cost of manufacturing such articles, where such systems may be refastenable.

Background

The use of fastening systems for securing the corners of disposable absorbent articles, such as diapers, is known. Such systems are used to provide a securement means for holding such articles on the wearer during use. When such systems are refastenable, adjustments can be made during use to reposition the articles to allow the caregiver to check for soiling, and can also be used to provide a fixture for keeping such articles and their soiled contents packaged after use until disposal.

A typical fastening system for use with an absorbent article may have a fastening strip and a landing member (also referred to as a landing zone). The fastening belt may be disposed directly or indirectly on the longitudinal edge of the main body portion in the front or back of the waist region of the absorbent article. In use, the fastening tape may be secured to a landing member disposed on the corresponding opposing body portion of the front or back portion of the absorbent article. Refastenable systems may have, for example, hooks on the fastening strips that releasably engage loops provided on the landing member, or vice versa. To improve fit, the end of the fastening strip that is not engaged with the loops in the landing member region may be attached to one end of the elastic/stretch member (ear), and the other end of the elastic/stretch member may be secured to the longitudinal edge of the main body portion of the absorbent article.

Manufacturers of absorbent articles, such as diapers, typically employ a mechanical assembly line in which various absorbent article components are fed into a linear process, whereby each step is dependent on the previous step. Such an assembly line is often referred to as a "converter". As the partial absorbent articles travel toward the end of the converter, they become more complete until the necessary components at the end of the assembly line are all provided and arranged as needed to produce a fully assembled absorbent article. The process is typically automated and may be controlled by various computer programs, and/or by human operators as desired. In order for the manufacture of absorbent articles to be economically viable, such converting lines must be capable of operating at high speeds with good repeatability and consistency between successive articles. Two factors that affect economic viability are the nature of the absorbent article components and how they will be attached to other components to form a fully assembled absorbent article, and the material cost of each absorbent article component.

The inventors have observed that conventional fastening strips provided into an assembly line have been coated with adhesive prior to being provided to the assembly line, which would typically cause the adhesive to cover all portions of the strip overlapping the ear (to which the strip would be connected), and there is some cost associated with this arrangement. If the adhesive is applied continuously in-line, the properties of the adhesive may change during the assembly line stop, as well as if there is a large physical gap between the point of application of the adhesive and the point of use. In addition, the adhesive may also tend to foul the knives used to separate the individual ribbons from the incoming ribbon web. Additionally, one cost factor is that release tapes are often required to be used in conjunction with such arrangements because the adhesive is exposed. If the pressure sensitive adhesive is to be applied in-line, additional expensive and space-consuming equipment may be required to deliver it to the product, in addition to the construction adhesive equipment typically present on the converter of the disposable article.

Previous attempts have been made to achieve good fit and/or reduce manufacturing costs; however, there is a need for improvement in these problems. For example, USPN 5,019,065(Scripps) discloses a fastening tape that incorporates a mechanical mechanism such as a hook-and-loop with exposed adhesive that secures a tape tab to the body portion of an absorbent article to provide side closure and also secures the absorbent article in its disposal configuration. The exposed adhesive is preferably a pressure sensitive adhesive, and the releasability can be achieved using a release tape. A similar fastening system is disclosed in USPN 5,053,028(Zoia et al), which disclosure requires the use of a pressure sensitive adhesive as the exposed adhesive and a release tape. In addition, WO 2012/129428A1(Bogaerts et al) discloses a fastening tape with patterned adhesive, wherein certain areas of the tape surface have adhesive associated with the release tape and other areas have no adhesive associated with the release tape.

Generally, the use of pressure sensitive adhesives may limit the stock of tape tabs to be prefabricated and supplied to the converter on the roll, or it may necessitate the installation of expensive and complex adhesive dispensing equipment to reinforce typical construction adhesives present on absorbent article converters. Generally, the presence of a release tape increases the complexity and cost of the manufacturing process as compared to fastening systems that omit the release tape. Accordingly, there is a need for a fastening system that provides improved fit to the wearer of an absorbent article and/or reduces the cost of manufacturing such articles.

Disclosure of Invention

A fastener for a disposable absorbent article having a fixed portion attachable to the article, a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixed portion, and a fold line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion. The fastener may be free of a release tape. The fastener may further comprise an adhesive disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article, the adhesive being offset from each of the edges of the fixed portion, the edges comprising edges formed by fold lines, the offset dimension being defined herein. The adhesive may be applied during assembly of the absorbent article on a converting line. These fasteners provide improved fit to the wearer of the absorbent article and/or reduce the cost of manufacturing such articles.

In one embodiment, a disposable absorbent article is disclosed that includes a body portion and a fastener, the body portion including a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet joined to the topsheet, and a core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, the core being substantially cellulose free; a fastener, the fastener comprising: an adhesive attached to the fixed portion of the article disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article; a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixation portion, the connective portion comprising: a distal edge; a fastening member having a fastening surface and a bonding surface opposite the fastening surface, wherein the fastening surface is releasably fastenable to the article; a backing member attached to the bonding surface of the fastening member; and a folding line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion; wherein the adhesive is disposed on the fixed portion of the fastener such that it is offset from each of the inboard and outboard edges (CD) of the fixed portion, each of the inboard and outboard edges of the fixed portion overlapping the main body portion.

The invention also comprises the following:

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a diaper.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the diaper shown in FIG. 1, taken along section line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

Fig. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of an absorbent core layer.

Fig. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of an absorbent core layer.

Fig. 5A is a partial cross-sectional view of an absorbent core comprising a combination of a first absorbent core layer and a second absorbent core layer as described herein.

Fig. 5B is a partial cross-sectional view of an absorbent core comprising a combination of a first absorbent core layer and a second absorbent core layer as described herein.

FIG. 6A is a cross-sectional view of the upper right corner of the diaper of FIG. 1 showing one embodiment of the fastener in an "open" position.

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view of the fastener of FIG. 6A in a "closed" position.

Fig. 6C is a top plan view of the fastener of fig. 6A.

FIG. 6D is a top plan view of another embodiment of the fastener of FIG. 6A.

Fig. 7 is a front view of a sample placed in an apparatus for tensile strength testing according to the test methods described herein.

a disposable absorbent article comprising a body portion and a fastener, the body portion comprising a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet joined to the topsheet, and a core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, the core being substantially cellulose free; the fastener is characterized in that it comprises:

(a) an adhesive attached to a fixed portion of the article disposed on a surface of the fixed portion of the fastener attached to the article;

(b) a connective portion joined to and contiguous with the fixation portion, the connective portion comprising:

(i) a distal edge;

(ii) a fastening member having a fastening surface and a bonding surface opposite the fastening surface, wherein the fastening surface is releasably fastenable to the article;

(iii) a backing member attached to the bonding surface of the fastening member; and

(c) a fold line disposed between the fixed portion and the connective portion;

wherein the adhesive is disposed on the fixed portion of the fastener such that it is offset from each of a medial edge and a lateral edge (CD) of the fixed portion, each of the medial edge and the lateral edge of the fixed portion overlapping the body portion.