Absorbent articles forming a three-dimensional basin

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016235594-A1
Application number	US-201615044138-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Feb 16, 2016
Priority date	Feb 17, 2015
Publication date	Aug 18, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An absorbent article such as a diaper comprises a topsheet, a backsheet and an absorbent core. The absorbent layer comprises at least a longitudinally-extending central portion, and a first and second side portions disposed transversally outward of the central portion. The absorbent core further comprises first and second folding guides between the central portion and the side portions. Each side portion comprises a plurality of winglets, each winglet having a proximal side relative to a folding guide and extending outward from this proximal side, and wherein neighboring winglets are separated by a gap between their neighboring sides. The central portion and the side portions form a three-dimensional basin when the absorbent core is folded along the folding guides. The article further may comprise at least one liquid management layer substantially free of superabsorbent polymer between the topsheet and the absorbent core. The absorbent core may be substantially free of cellulose fibers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An absorbent article having a wearer-facing side and a garment-facing side, and extending in a longitudinal direction and a transversal direction, the article comprising:
a topsheet on the wearer-facing side; a backsheet on the garment-facing side; an absorbent core between the topsheet and the backsheet, wherein the absorbent core comprises an absorbent layer in a core wrap, the absorbent layer comprising an absorbent material and having a longitudinally extending central portion, a first side portion disposed transversally outward of the central portion and a second side portion disposed transversally outward of the central portion on another side of the central portion; wherein the absorbent core further comprises a first folding guide between the central portion and the first side portion, and a second folding guide between the central portion and the second side portion; wherein each side portion comprises a plurality of winglets, each winglet having a proximal side relative to a folding guide and extending outward from this proximal side, and wherein neighboring winglets are separated by a gap between their neighboring sides; wherein when the absorbent core is folded along the folding guides, the central portion and the side portions form a three-dimensional basin and the gaps between the winglets decrease, the article further comprising: at least one liquid management layer between the topsheet and the absorbent core.

2 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent core is substantially free of cellulose fibers.

3 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the core wrap comprises a top layer and a bottom layer, and the top layer of the core wrap is bonded to the bottom layer of the core wrap at least through the folding guides and at least some of the gaps between the winglets.

4 . The absorbent article of claim 3 , further comprising an auxiliary glue between the absorbent layer and at least one of the top layer of the core wrap and the bottom layer of the core wrap.

5 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent material consists essentially of superabsorbent polymer particles and is at least partially immobilized within the core wrap by a microfibrous glue.

6 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the folding guides of the absorbent core are inwardly curved towards the central portion of the absorbent layer.

7 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein each folding guide of the absorbent core comprises an extremity and wherein both extremities of each of the folding guides extend to the longitudinal side edges of the absorbent layer.

8 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein for each side portion at least one gap has a generally triangular shape.

9 . An absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the at least one gap is disposed between two neighboring winglets and the neighboring sides of the two neighboring winglets at their proximal sides form an angle ranging from about 5° to about 60°.

10 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein each side portions comprises from about 3 to about 10 winglets.

11 . The absorbent article of claim 1 further comprising a longitudinal axis, a front region, a back region and an intermediate crotch region, each region measuring a third of the length of the article as measured along the longitudinal axis, and wherein the central portion of the absorbent layer extends longitudinally across the front region, crotch region and back region of the article, and the first and second side portions of the absorbent layer are at least partially within the crotch region of the article.

12 . The absorbent article of claim 1 further comprising one or more elasticized components, wherein:
the one or more elasticized components are selected from the group of:
a pair of elasticized leg cuffs, each cuff having a proximal edge attached to the topsheet and a free-standing distal edge;
a pair of elasticized gasketing cuffs placed transversally outward from the absorbent layer; and
a longitudinally extending elasticized element at least partially placed between the side portions of the absorbent layer and the backsheet; and
the one or more elasticized components exerts a contraction force on the absorbent core that brings the absorbent core into a basin shape along the folding guides when the article is placed on a wearer.

13 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the liquid management layer comprises cross-linked cellulosic fibers.

14 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the liquid management layer comprises a resin-bonded nonwoven layer.

15 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the liquid management layer comprises a pair of folding guides at least partially superposed with the folding guides of the absorbent core.

16 . The absorbent article of claim 15 , wherein the liquid management layer comprises a plurality of liquid management layer winglets extending outward from an area adjacent the liquid management layer's folding guides.

17 . The absorbent article of claim 15 , wherein the liquid management layer's folding guides are formed by at least one of:
grooves having a lower basis weight than surrounding areas of the liquid management layer, wherein the folding guides are areas substantially free of liquid management layer material; grooves having a higher degree of compression than the surrounding areas of the liquid management layer; and slits in the liquid management layer.

18 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , wherein the folding guides of the absorbent layer each have a length measured in the longitudinal direction which is at least two-tenths of the length of the central portion of the absorbent core.

19 . The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein the length of the folding guides of the absorbent layer is at least about 40 mm as measured in the longitudinal direction.

20 . A package comprising a plurality of absorbent articles, the articles being compressed in the package and each article comprising:
a wearer-facing side and a garment-facing side, and extending in a longitudinal direction and a transversal direction; a topsheet on the wearer-facing side; a backsheet on the garment-facing side; an absorbent core between the topsheet and the backsheet, wherein the absorbent core comprises an absorbent layer in a core wrap, the absorbent layer comprising an absorbent material and having a longitudinally extending central portion, a first side portion disposed transversally outward of the central portion and a second side portion disposed transversally outward of the central portion on another side of the central portion; wherein the absorbent core further comprises a first folding guide between the central portion and the first side portion, and a second folding guide between the central portion and the second side portion; wherein each side portion comprises a plurality of winglets, each winglet having a proximal side relative to a folding guide and extending outward from this proximal side, and wherein neighboring winglets are separated by a gap between their neighboring sides; wherein when the absorbent core is folded along the folding guides, the central portion and the side portions form a three-dimensional basin and the gaps between the winglets decrease, the article further comprising: at least one liquid management layer between the topsheet and the absorbent core.

Assignees

• Procter & Gamble

Inventors

• Ehrnsperger Bruno Johannes
• Jackels Hans Adolf
• Stoelzel Sr Claus Peter
• Zipf Christine Elisabeth

Classifications

• A61F13/49001 Primary

  having preferential bending zones, e.g. fold lines or grooves · CPC title

• A61F13/5323

  having absorbent material located in discrete regions, e.g. pockets · CPC title

• A61F2013/4581

  with absorbent core in separated pieces · CPC title

• A61F13/49017

  the elastic means being located at the crotch region · CPC title

• A61F2013/53786

  with folds · CPC title