阅读说明：本技术 具有处理带的裤型吸收性物品 (Pant-type absorbent article having a disposal tape ) 是由 B·范希伊 L·格兰 M·约翰松 于 2017-11-27 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明涉及裤型吸收性物品(1),如裤型尿布、卫生裤或失禁裤。该物品包括设置在吸收性物品(1)的面向衣服侧(5)上的外覆盖物(2),物品(1)还具有前部(7)、后部(8)和两者之间的裆部(9)。吸收性物品(1)进一步包括在外覆盖物(2)面向穿着者一侧布置在裆部(9)中的吸收芯(25)。外覆盖物(2)在其面向衣服侧(3)上包括非织造纤维材料(4),且包括带粘合区(12)的处理带(10)在物品(1)后部(8)中外覆盖物(2)的非织造纤维材料(4)上的附接区(13)中在带粘合区(12)处永久地附接至外覆盖物(2)。处理带(10)具有折叠的处理前构型和展开的处理构型。外覆盖物附接区(13)由非织造纤维材料(4)的改性部分构成,其中,带粘合区(12)和改性附接区(13)之间的结合强度大于带粘合区(12)和非织造纤维材料(4)的未改性部分之间的结合强度。(The present invention relates to a pant-type absorbent article (1), such as a pant diaper, a sanitary pant or incontinence pant. The article comprises an outer cover (2) arranged on the garment facing side (5) of the absorbent article (1), the article (1) further having a front portion (7), a rear portion (8) and a crotch portion (9) therebetween. The absorbent article (1) further comprises an absorbent core (25) arranged in the crotch portion (9) on the wearer-facing side of the outer cover (2). The outer coverstock (2) comprises a nonwoven fibrous material (4) on its garment facing side (3), and a disposal tape (10) comprising a tape bonded area (12) is permanently attached to the outer coverstock (2) in an attachment area (13) on the nonwoven fibrous material (4) of the outer coverstock (2) in the rear portion (8) of the article (1) at the tape bonded area (12). The disposal tape (10) has a folded pre-disposal configuration and an unfolded disposal configuration. The outer cover attachment zone (13) is constituted by a modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material (4), wherein the bond strength between the tape bonded zone (12) and the modified attachment zone (13) is greater than the bond strength between the tape bonded zone (12) and an unmodified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material (4).)

1. A pant-type absorbent article (1), such as a pant diaper, a sanitary pant or incontinence pant, the article (1) comprising an outer cover (2) arranged on a garment-facing side (5) of the absorbent article (1), the article (1) having a front portion (7), a back portion (8) and a crotch portion (9) therebetween, the article (1) comprising an absorbent core (25) arranged in the crotch portion (9) on a wearer-facing side of the outer cover (2), the outer cover (2) comprising a nonwoven fibrous material (4) on a garment-facing side (3) thereof, and wherein a disposal tape (10) comprising a tape bonding zone (12) is permanently attached to the outer cover (2) at the tape bonding zone (12) in an attachment zone (13) on the nonwoven fibrous material (4) of the outer cover (2) in the back portion (8) of the article (1), the treatment tape (10) has a folded pre-treatment configuration and an unfolded treatment configuration, characterized in that the attachment zone (13) of the outer cover is constituted by a modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material (4), wherein the bond strength between the tape bonding zone (12) and the modified attachment zone (13) is greater than the bond strength between the tape bonding zone (12) and the non-modified portion (14) of the nonwoven fibrous material (4).

2. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to claim 1, wherein the modified attachment zones (13) have a modified cross-sectional appearance such that the nonwoven fibers (4a) are at least partially consolidated and/or flattened within the attachment zones (13).

3. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the modified attachment zone (13) is a heat treated zone, such as a heat treated zone formed by hot embossing, ultrasound, hot air or infrared.

4. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of claims 1-3, wherein the modified attachment zone (13) is a compression zone, such as a compression zone formed by embossing.

5. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the modified attachment zone (13) is a compressed and heat treated zone, such as a hot compressed zone formed by means of hot embossing.

6. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the modified attachment zone (13) is a plasma-treated zone or a corona-treated zone.

7. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer cover () is a laminate of the nonwoven fibrous material (4) and at least one further material layer, such as a nonwoven material and/or a thermoplastic film.

8. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the nonwoven fibrous material (4) of the outer cover (2) comprises a plurality of discrete bonds, wherein the cumulative surface area of the bonds is in the range of 1% to 25% of the total surface area of the nonwoven fibrous material (4).

9. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the joint cumulative surface area of the modified attachment zones (13) is at least 30% of the total surface area of the modified attachment zones (13).

10. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the treatment belt (10) has a peripheral edge (15) in the folded pre-treatment configuration and the attachment zone (13) of the outer cover has a peripheral edge (16), and when arranged in the unfolded pre-treatment configuration the attachment zone (13) of the outer cover extends to the peripheral edge (15) of the treatment belt (10) or beyond the peripheral edge (15) of the treatment belt (10), e.g. at least 1mm, at least 2mm or at least 5 mm.

11. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the attachment zones (13) are modified in an intermittent or continuous pattern completely covering the attachment zones (13) of the outer cover.

12. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the disposal tape (10) is rectangular and z-folded in the pre-disposal configuration.

13. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the disposal tape (10) comprises or consists of a thermoplastic film.

14. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the disposal tape (10) is permanently attached to the attachment zone (13) by means of an adhesive.

15. A pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the disposal tape (10) has a length and a width (W) in the unfolded configuration, and the width is in the range of 5-30mm, such as 12-20 mm.

16. A method of permanently attaching a disposal tape (10) to an outer cover (2) of a pant-type absorbent article (1), comprising:

a) modifying a region (13) on a nonwoven fibrous material (4) by heat treatment, plasma treatment, by compressing the region (13), or a combination of two or more of said treatments, to provide a modified attachment region (13);

b) permanently attaching a treatment tape (10) comprising a tape bonded region (12) to the nonwoven fibrous material (4) by adhesively bonding the tape bonded region (12) to the modified attachment region (13);

c) manufacturing a pant-type absorbent article (1) comprising the nonwoven fibrous material (4) as an outer cover (2) arranged on the garment-facing side (5) of the absorbent article (1), the article (1) having a front portion (7), a back portion (8) and a crotch portion (9) there between, and comprising an absorbent core (25) arranged in the crotch portion (9),

wherein the zone modifying step a) and the disposal tape attaching step b) are performed before, during or after the pant-type absorbent article assembling step c).

17. Method of permanently attaching a disposal tape (10) to an outer cover (2) of a pant-type absorbent article (1) according to claim 16, wherein the attachment zone (13) is modified by one or more of the following treatments: hot or cold embossing, ultrasound, plasma charging, corona treatment, hot air and/or infrared radiation.

18. Method according to claim 16 or 17 for permanently attaching a disposal tape (10) to an outer cover (2) of a pant-type absorbent article (1), wherein said step c) of manufacturing the absorbent article (1) comprises elasticizing the outer cover (2) by means of elastic elongated elements or elastic materials, or wherein the nonwoven fibrous material (4) is an elastic nonwoven fibrous material providing an at least partially elastic outer cover (2), and wherein the at least partially elastic outer cover (2) is kept in a stretched state during said zone modifying step a) and said disposal tape (10) attaching step b).

19. Method of permanently attaching a disposal tape (10) to an outer cover (2) of a pant-type absorbent article (1) according to any of claims 16 to 18, wherein the modifying step a) comprises the steps of: heating and compression treatments are carried out simultaneously, for example by hot embossing.

20. Method of permanently attaching a disposal tape (10) to an outer cover (2) of a pant-type article (1) according to any of claims 16 to 19, wherein the modifying step a) comprises modifying zones (13) on the nonwoven fibrous material (4) by heat treatment, and wherein step b) is performed immediately after step a) while the modified attachment zones have a temperature still higher than the temperature of the non-modified portions (14) of the nonwoven fibrous material (4).

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a pant-type absorbent article having a disposal belt. The present disclosure also relates to a method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article.

Background

Disposable absorbent articles are designed to receive and contain bodily waste or fluids such as urine. The absorbent article is configured for single use and includes a liquid permeable topsheet, an outer cover, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the outer cover.

Disposable absorbent articles should be comfortable to wear when in use, and it may be desirable for the absorbent article to have a cloth-like and soft appearance and to approximate conventional undergarments as closely as possible. For disposable pant diapers, the outer cover may be folded generally inwardly over the waist edge and thus directly into contact with the wearer's skin, and it is therefore advantageous for the outermost layer of material on the outer cover to have a soft, cloth-like nonwoven material.

Disposable pant diapers may be provided with various types of disposal tape arrangements to secure the rolled-up garment so that the diaper can be easily and hygienically disposed of. Such a disposal tape may be a longitudinally extending fastening tape having a bonded portion releasably joined to the outer cover of the diaper. The upper or lower end of the belt is permanently bonded to the outer surface of the garment. After peeling a portion of the tape from the base, the disposal tape may be stretched and then wrapped around the diaper to secure the diaper in a rolled configuration for disposal. In the course of using the diaper, if the attachment of the disposal tape to the outer cover is insufficient, rubbing and scratching on the user's clothing may cause the edges or corners of the disposal tape to separate, which gives a negative impression of the quality of the diaper at the time of disposal, and the disposal tape may be partially peeled off from the outer cover when the disposal tape is unwound and pulled when the wearer or a caregiver winds the disposal tape around the rolled-up diaper.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides for modified attachment of a treatment belt to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article and methods for permanently attaching a treatment belt to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article.

The present invention relates to a pant diaper according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 16. Further embodiments are set forth in the dependent claims, the following description and the drawings.

The present disclosure relates to a pant-type absorbent article, such as a pant diaper, a sanitary pant or incontinence pant. The article includes an outer cover disposed on the garment-facing side of the absorbent article, and the article also has a front portion, a back portion, and a crotch portion therebetween. The absorbent article further comprises an absorbent core arranged in the crotch portion on the wearer facing side of the outer cover. The outer cover comprises a nonwoven fibrous material on its garment-facing side, and a treatment tape comprising a tape bonded area is permanently attached to the outer cover at the tape bonded area in an attachment zone on the nonwoven fibrous material of the outer cover in the article back portion. The disposal tape has a folded pre-disposal configuration and an unfolded disposal configuration. The outer cover attachment zone is comprised of a modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material, wherein the bond strength between the belt bonded zone and the modified attachment zone is greater than the bond strength between the belt bonded zone and the unmodified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material.

The term "absorbent article" refers to products that are placed against the skin of the wearer to absorb and contain bodily waste, such as urine, feces, and menses. The present invention also relates to disposable absorbent articles, which refers to articles that are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or reused as an absorbent article after use. The present disclosure relates to a "disposable pant-type absorbent article" having an outer cover disposed on the garment-facing side of the absorbent article and an absorbent core disposed in the crotch portion on the wearer-facing side of the outer cover.

Examples of such pant-type absorbent articles are pant diapers, sanitary pants and incontinence pants.

By "permanently attached" is meant the attachment of two elements, in this context the attachment of the nonwoven fibrous material to the treatment tape, such that under normal conditions of use of the absorbent article, these elements tend to and remain bonded, e.g. the treatment tape is permanently attached to the nonwoven fibrous material, this bonding being such that the tape bears a load of at least 25N in the grip end of the treatment tape, without leaving the nonwoven fibrous material.

The pant-type absorbent article comprises an outer cover, which may be elastic, and may comprise an elasticized waist portion, e.g. comprising elastic members, e.g. elastic threads, secured between a garment-facing nonwoven material of the outer cover and other material layers provided on the wearer-facing side of the nonwoven material. The outer cover may also include an elastic laminate, such as, for example, an elastic laminate including an elastic film bonded on opposite sides to the first and second non-elastic fibrous nonwoven materials. Laminates are made by bonding a non-elastic fibrous nonwoven to an elastic film layer and then stretching the composite. The elastic film material may be a breathable material.

The modified attachment zone may be a heat treated zone, for example formed by means of hot embossing, ultrasound, hot air or IR. The heat treatment of the nonwoven fibers causes the polymeric material in the nonwoven fibers to soften and/or melt, thereby modifying the nonwoven surface.

The modified attachment zone may be a compressed zone, such as a compressed zone formed by embossing (e.g., by a die or by a roller). The compression of the nonwoven fibrous material compresses and flattens the nonwoven material, which provides a bonding surface.

The modified attachment zone may have a modified cross-sectional appearance such that the nonwoven fibers are at least partially consolidated or flattened within the attachment zone. Such modification may form and modify the attachment zones by heat treatment and/or compression, thereby increasing the bond strength with the treatment tape adhesive zone. The combination of heating and compression can be accomplished using heated rollers and hot embossing, which soften and/or melt the polymeric material in the nonwoven while also providing pressure to provide a flat surface.

The modified attachment region may be a plasma treated region, such as an atmospheric pressure plasma, or a corona treated region. Plasma and corona treatment improve the bond strength between the nonwoven outer cover and the treatment belt by modifying the surface of the nonwoven.

Plasma treatment modifies the surface of the nonwoven fibers at a nanometer scale by changing the chemical structure of the fibers. The plasma is an outwardly neutral, partially ionized gas whose composition depends on the gas used in the formation of the plasma. Gas molecules are ionized in an electric field by electron impact, and the ionized highly reactive species (e.g., ions, electrons, and radicals) modify the surface of the nonwoven material. Plasma treatment can provide permanent surface modification.

Corona treatment uses a low corona discharge to alter the properties of the nonwoven surface. The surface modification provided by corona treatment is not permanent.

The outer cover may be a laminate of a nonwoven fibrous material and at least one additional layer of material, such as a nonwoven and/or a thermoplastic film.

The laminate may have a laminate bonding area of 5 to 100%. The laminate may be bonded by means of adhesive slit bonding or spraying. Alternatively, the laminate bond area may be less than 100%, for example 5% to 95%.

The nonwoven fibrous material may comprise a plurality of discrete bonds, such as thermal bonds, and the cumulative surface area of the discrete bonds may be in the range of 1% to 25% of the total surface area of the nonwoven fibrous material, such as from 5% to 25% of the total surface area of the nonwoven fibrous material. It has been found that nonwoven materials having a low cumulative discrete bond area provide a soft and underwear-like appearance to the nonwoven material. The discrete bonds may further be at least 2mm, or at least 4mm, from adjacent discrete bonds, the distance being measured from edge to edge of the discrete bonds. The nonwoven fibrous material may also be treated with melt additives to increase the softness of the nonwoven material, examples of such melt additives being polyolefin waxes and primary and secondary amides, such as erucamide, oleamide and stearyl derivatives. However, the fact that the nonwoven material is soft and bulky makes it more difficult to attach the disposal tape to the nonwoven fibrous material. The inventors of the present invention have also noticed that a problem associated with absorbent articles having a softer nonwoven fibrous material as an outer cover is that the bond strength between the softer nonwoven material and the disposal tape is not strong enough, which may result in partial detachment of the disposal tape when used for packaging used absorbent articles.

Thus, the nonwoven fibrous material may be a soft nonwoven fibrous material, such as a spunbond nonwoven, a laminate of spunbond-meltblown-spunbond. The nonwoven fibrous material may be a carded nonwoven material, and the nonwoven fibrous material may be an air-through bonded nonwoven material. To increase the softness of the nonwoven fibrous material, the nonwoven material may have a low cumulative area of thermally discrete bonds.

The nonwoven fibrous material may have a higher bond area in the modified attachment zone than in the non-modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material.

The cumulative surface area of the bonds in the modified attachment region may be at least 30%, such as 30% to 85%, of the total surface area of the modified attachment region.

For absorbent articles comprising an elastic outer cover, a firm attachment between the outer cover nonwoven and the treatment belt may also be required, as wrinkles created by the elastic outer cover may result in a weaker bond of the treatment belt and/or increase the risk of the outer edge of the treatment belt separating from the outer cover.

The disposal tape may have a peripheral edge in the folded pre-disposal configuration, and the outer cover attachment region may have a peripheral edge. When arranged in the unfolded pre-treatment configuration, the outer cover attachment region may extend to or beyond the peripheral edge of the treatment belt. The outer cover attachment zone may extend at least 1mm, or at least 2mm, or at least 5mm beyond the peripheral edge of the treatment belt.

The fact that the outer cover attachment zone may extend to or beyond the peripheral edge of the treatment belt provides a higher bond strength between the nonwoven fibrous material and the treatment belt at the peripheral edge of the treatment belt, which prevents the outer edge from coming loose from the nonwoven fibrous material, which might cause the treatment belt to become stuck in the garment of the wearer and cause the treatment belt to unfold prematurely.

The attachment zones may be modified in an intermittent pattern or a continuous pattern that covers the entire outer cover attachment zone.

When in the pre-treatment configuration, the treatment tape may be rectangular and may be z-folded.

The processing belt comprises or consists of a thermoplastic film.

The treatment tape may be permanently attached to the attachment zone by an adhesive. The adhesive may for example be a Pressure Sensitive Hot Melt (PSHM) adhesive.

The treatment tape may have a length and a width in the deployed configuration, and the width may be in the range of 5 to 30mm, for example 12 to 20 mm. The inventors have found that a treatment tape having a width of at least 5mm, for example at least 12mm and adhesively adhered to an outer cover nonwoven fibrous material modified according to the present disclosure provides significantly improved attachment of the treatment tape.

The present disclosure also relates to a method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant article, the method comprising:

a) modifying the regions of the nonwoven fibrous material by heat treatment, plasma treatment, by compressing the regions of the nonwoven fibrous material, or a combination of two or more treatments to provide modified attachment regions;

b) permanently attaching a treatment tape comprising a tape bonded region to the nonwoven fibrous material by adhesively bonding the tape bonded region to the modified attachment region;

c) pant-type absorbent articles comprising a nonwoven fibrous material as an outer cover arranged on the garment-facing side of the absorbent article are produced, the absorbent article having a front portion, a rear portion and a crotch portion therebetween, in which crotch portion an absorbent core is arranged.

Wherein the zone modifying step a) and the disposal tape attaching step b) are performed before, during or after the pant-type absorbent article assembling step c).

The attachment zone may be modified by one or more of the following treatments; hot or cold embossing, ultrasound, plasma charge such as corona treatment, hot air and/or infrared radiation.

Step c) of producing the absorbent article may comprise elasticizing the outer cover by an elastic elongated element or an elastic material, or wherein the nonwoven fibrous material is an elastic nonwoven fibrous material to provide an at least partially elastic outer cover, and wherein the elastic outer cover is stretched during the zone modifying step a) and the disposal tape installing step b).

The modification step a) may comprise the step of simultaneous heat treatment and compression treatment, for example by hot embossing, for example by heated rollers or heated stamps.

The fact that the modification step can be performed with both heat treatment and compression treatment provides improved bond strength between the tape bonded regions and the modified attachment regions without the use of too high temperatures or too high pressures, which may otherwise result in damage to the nonwoven fibrous material or high energy consumption due to the need to heat the compression tool to high temperatures to obtain the desired modified nonwoven fibrous structure. Such modification can result in the nonwoven fibers in the modified attachment zones being at least partially consolidated and flattened.

The modification step a) may comprise modifying a zone on the nonwoven fibrous material by heat treatment, and step b) is performed immediately after step a), while the temperature of the modified attachment zone is still higher than the temperature of the non-modified part of the nonwoven fibrous material.

Drawings

The disclosure will be further explained hereinafter by way of non-limiting examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a pant-type absorbent article with a disposal tape attached to the article in a folded pre-disposal configuration;

figure 2 shows a pant-type absorbent article before attachment of a disposal tape;

figure 3 shows a pant-type absorbent article with a disposal tape attached to the article in an unfolded disposal configuration;

FIG. 4a shows a treatment tape attached to a non-modified nonwoven fibrous material of the prior art;

FIG. 4b shows a treatment tape attached to a thermally modified partial nonwoven fibrous material; and

fig. 4c shows a treatment tape attached to the plasma modified nonwoven fibrous material.

Detailed Description

It should be understood that the figures are schematic and that various components, such as material layers, are not necessarily drawn to scale. The pant-type absorbent articles shown in the drawings are provided by way of example only and should not be construed as limiting the present disclosure. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the scope of the appended claims.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pant-type absorbent article 1 according to the invention. The pant diaper 1 has an outer cover 2, a topsheet 24 and an absorbent core 25 disposed between the topsheet 24 and the outer cover 2. The pant diaper 1 has a front portion 7, a back portion 8 and a crotch portion 9 and a seam 17, which seam 17 joins the front portion 7 and the back portion 8 to form two leg openings 18 and a waist opening 19. The outer cover 2 shown in fig. 1 is in the form of a multi-component outer cover 2 comprising an outer cover body portion 2a comprising a breathable outer cover front portion 2b and a breathable outer cover back portion 2 c. The outer cover main body portion 2a is joined to the topsheet 24 around the periphery of the absorbent core 25 so that the absorbent core 25 is enclosed in an enclosure formed by the topsheet 24 and the outer cover main body portion 2 a. The outer cover body portion 2a may be breathable to allow vapors to escape from the absorbent core 25 while still preventing liquids from passing through the absorbent core 25.

However, the outer cover 2 may also be formed of a continuous outer nonwoven fibrous material 4 extending over the outer cover main body 2a, the front portion 2b and the back portion 2 c. The outer cover 2 may be reinforced with an air permeable or impermeable polymeric film or film/nonwoven laminate in the outer cover body portion 2a extending over the crotch region of the wearer.

Examples of breathable materials are microporous polymeric films, nonwoven laminates from spunbond and meltblown layers, laminates from microporous polymeric films and nonwoven materials. In the region of the absorbent core 25 that covers the absorbent core, the outer cover 2 may comprise a liquid impermeable film layer, such as a thermoplastic film, for example a polyethylene or polypropylene film. The liquid-impermeable film layer covers the absorbent core 25 at least on the garment-facing side of the pant diaper 1.

The liquid permeable topsheet 24 may be any suitable topsheet material known to those skilled in the art, and may be a fibrous topsheet material comprised of a nonwoven material, such as spunbond, meltblown, carded, hydroentangled, wetlaid, and the like. Suitable nonwoven materials may be composed of natural fibers (e.g., wood pulp or cotton fibers), synthetic thermoplastic fibers (e.g., polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, mixtures and combinations thereof) or from mixtures of natural and synthetic fibers. Other examples of topsheet materials are porous foams. Materials suitable for use as topsheet materials should be soft and non-irritating to the skin and be readily penetrated by body fluid, e.g. urine or menstrual fluid. The topsheet material may consist essentially of non-absorbent fibers, such as synthetic thermoplastic fibers, e.g., polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, and mixtures and combinations thereof. The synthetic fibers may be monocomponent, bicomponent, or multicomponent fibers including polyesters, polyamides, and/or polyolefins, such as polypropylene and polyethylene.

The disposable absorbent article of the present disclosure includes an absorbent core 25 disposed on the wearer-facing side of the outer cover. The absorbent core 25 may be of any conventional type and may have any useful size and shape. Examples of common absorbent materials are cellulosic fluff pulp, tissue layers, highly absorbent polymers (so-called superabsorbents), absorbent foam materials, absorbent nonwoven materials and the like. It is common to combine cellulosic fluff pulp with superabsorbents in an absorbent structure. Absorbent structures having layers comprising different materials with different properties in terms of liquid acquisition capacity, liquid distribution capacity and storage capacity are also common. This is well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described in detail. Thin absorbent bodies are common in today's hygiene products and usually comprise a compressed mixed or layered structure of cellulosic fluff pulp and superabsorbents. The size and absorbent capacity of the absorbent structure may be varied to suit different uses, such as adult incontinence pants and baby diapers.

In fig. 1, the outer cover 2 is made of another web material in an outer cover main body portion 2a, which provides comfort and breathability. Both the outer cover front portion 2b and the outer cover back portion 2c comprise a soft nonwoven fibrous material 4 on their garment facing side 3.

The pant diaper 1 in figure 1 further comprises leg barrier gathers 21 arranged along the longitudinal side edges of the pant diaper 1 in the crotch portion 9. The leg barrier gathers 21 provide improved containment of liquids and other bodily discharges in the crotch portion 9.

The nonwoven fibrous material 4 may be a soft nonwoven fibrous material 4, such as a spunbond nonwoven, a laminate of spunbond-meltblown-spunbond. The nonwoven fibrous material may be a carded nonwoven material, and the nonwoven fibrous material may be an air-through bonded nonwoven material. Nonwoven fibrous materials having low cumulative areas of discrete thermal bonds have been found to have improved softness. The discrete thermal bonds may be placed in a sparse pattern comprising discrete bonds at a distance of at least 2mm or at least 4mm from adjacent bonds, the distance being measured from edge to edge of the discrete bonds. The cumulative surface area of the bonds may be in the range of 1% to 25% of the total surface area of the nonwoven material 4. The nonwoven material 4 may also be treated with a melt additive to increase the softness of the nonwoven material 4.

In the rear portion 8 of the pant diaper 1, a disposal tape 10 is attached to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 of the outer coversheet 2. The disposal tape 10 is attached to the pant diaper 1 by an adhesive in a folded, pre-disposal state. The adhesive may for example be a Pressure Sensitive Hot Melt (PSHM) adhesive. The treatment tape 10 may, for example, comprise or consist of a thermoplastic film, such as a polyolefin film. The disposal tape 10 has a peripheral edge 15 in the folded pre-disposal configuration.

Fig. 2 shows a view of a pant diaper 1 according to fig. 1 before attaching a disposal tape 10 to the outer cover 2 in the rear portion 8 of the absorbent article 1. The disposal tape 10 comprises a tape bonded area 12, the tape bonded area 12 being provided with an adhesive for permanently attaching the disposal tape 10 to the outer coverstock 2 in a modified attachment zone 13 on the nonwoven fibrous material 4. The modified attachment zone 13 is comprised of a modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 that is modified to increase the bond strength between the belt adhesive region 12 and the modified attachment zone 13. Thus, the modification of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 in the modified attachment zone 13 provides a higher bond strength between the belt adhesive zone 12 and the modified attachment zone 13 as compared to the non-modified portion 14 of the nonwoven fibrous material 4.

The bond strength can be measured by any relevant method that compares the measured bond strength between the tape bonded region 12 and the modified attachment region 13 to the bond strength between the tape bonded region 12 and the non-modified portion 14 of the nonwoven fibrous material.

Fig. 2 shows a modified attachment zone 13 having a modified cross-sectional appearance, wherein the nonwoven fibers are at least partially consolidated and/or flattened within the attachment zone 13.

The modification of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 and the attachment of the treatment tape 10 to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 may optionally be carried out before the assembly of the diaper 1. The nonwoven fibrous material 4 may be provided in the form of a continuous web of nonwoven fibrous material and the zones are modified by having a predetermined distance between the zones of the continuous web of nonwoven fibrous material. As described herein, modification to provide modified attachment regions 13 can be achieved by thermal treatment, plasma treatment, by compressing the region, or a combination of two or more of the treatments. In a subsequent step, a disposal tape 10 may be attached to each modified attachment region 13. By pressing and thereby bonding the tape bonded region 12 to the modified attachment region 13, the modified attachment region 13 is attached to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 at the tape bonded region 12 where the adhesive layer is provided. The modification of the nonwoven material and the attachment of the treatment tape can be carried out in a separate production step, so that the nonwoven material can be transported in roll form to a pant-type diaper assembly line, while the treatment tape has been attached to the pants at a predetermined and repeated position; alternatively, the modification of the nonwoven material and the attachment of the disposal tape may be performed before, during or after assembly of the pant-type absorbent article in the production of the pant-type absorbent article on a continuous production line.

As shown in fig. 2, the outer cover attachment zone 13 has a peripheral edge 16, and when the outer cover attachment zone 13 is attached to the outer cover 2 and disposed in the unrolled pre-treatment configuration, the outer cover attachment zone 13 extends to the peripheral edge 15 of the treatment belt 10. The peripheral edge 16 of the outer cover attachment region 13 can also extend beyond the peripheral edge 15 of the treatment belt 10, for example by at least 1mm or at least 2 mm.

Figure 3 shows a pant diaper 1 according to the invention with the disposal tape 10 in an unfolded disposal configuration. When the gripping end 23 of the treatment tape 10 is pulled, the treatment tape 10 will unwind.

The disposal tape 10 may comprise a first tape 22 attached to the outer cover 2 and a second tape 11, the first tape 22 comprising a first tape reinforcement portion 22a and a first tape connection portion 22b attached to the second tape 10. A treatment belt configuration having a T-shaped attachment configuration provides improved attachment to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 when the treatment belt 10 is in an unfolded treatment configuration.

Fig. 4a shows a soft and unmodified prior art nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein a treatment tape 10 has been attached to the unmodified nonwoven fibrous material 4 in an unmodified attachment zone 13. The treatment tape 10 has a tape bonded region 12 with an adhesive layer. As shown in fig. 4a, the hydrophobic nature of the nonwoven fibers 4a and the fact that the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has a relatively low total bond area, i.e. the cumulative surface area of the discrete bonds, making the material softer also results in a reduction of the contact area between the nonwoven material 4 and the treatment belt 10. This results in a lower bond strength between the tape bonded region 12 and the attachment region 13.

Fig. 4b shows a nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has been modified by hot embossing such that the nonwoven fibers 4a are at least partially consolidated and flattened within the attachment zones 13. The treatment tape 10 is attached to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 in the attachment zone 13 at the tape bonding zone 12. The fact that the attachment regions 13 are heat embossed increases the bond strength between the tape adhesive region 12 and the heat embossed attachment regions 13.

Fig. 4c shows a nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has been modified by plasma treatment in the attachment zone 13 of the nonwoven fibrous material 4. The plasma treatment provides surface modification to the nonwoven fibers 4a, which increases the surface energy, thereby improving the wettability and adhesion of the nonwoven material 4. The plasma treatment thus results in improved adhesion between the belt adhesion zone 12 of the treatment belt 10 and the modified attachment zone 13 of the nonwoven fibrous material 4.

Examples of the invention

The bond strength between the treatment tape and the backsheet material was measured.

A method is used to determine the bond strength between the disposal tape and the backsheet nonwoven of the diaper when subjected to a specified pull rate in a tensile tester. The test is performed after the product has been manufactured and packaged in a bag for at least 24 hours. An Instron tensile tester with a 50 or 100N load cell was connected to a computer running appropriate software to perform the test. The rear waist portion of the diaper was fixed in a fixture specifically designed for this method in an Instron tensile tester. The tensile tester pulls the tape at a speed of 300mm/min at a 90 ° angle and records the maximum force generated during the test. A test series of treated tapes adhesively attached to heat treated areas on the backsheet nonwoven of a diaper according to the invention and a series of reference samples bonded directly to the backsheet nonwoven were tested. The results are shown in table 1. From the results it is evident that the modified zone of the backsheet nonwoven according to the invention significantly improves the bond strength to the handling tape with a 95% confidence interval.

TABLE 1