Absorbent article having a fastening system and waist elastic with low load loss properties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9468569-B2
Application number	US-201314070996-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2013
Priority date	Nov 4, 2013
Publication date	Oct 18, 2016
Grant date	Oct 18, 2016

Abstract

An absorbent article includes a pair of ears secured to and extending transversely outward from opposite sides of a back portion of the article. Each of the ears is stretchable in at least a transverse direction of the article from a relaxed position to an extended position. A waistband includes a waist elastic disposed in at least the back portion. The waist elastic has an in product load loss of less than 60 percent according to a four-hour hold stress relaxation test. A fastening system has a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system. In a wear configuration of the absorbent article, the secondary fastening system secures each of the ears of the pair of ears in the extended position.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An absorbent article comprising:
an absorbent assembly including longitudinally opposite ends, transversely opposite sides, a front portion, a back portion, and a crotch portion extending longitudinally between and interconnecting the front and back portions, an inner layer for facing a wearer, an outer layer for facing away from the wearer, an absorbent body disposed between the inner and outer layers;
a pair of ears secured to and extending transversely outward from the opposite sides of the absorbent assembly in the back portion, each of the ears being elastic and moveable in at least a transverse direction of the article from a relaxed position to an extended position, each of the ears having an in product load loss;
a waistband comprising a waist elastic disposed in at least the back portion, the waist elastic having an in product load loss of less than 60 percent according to a four-hour hold stress relaxation test, the in product load loss of the waist elastic being less than the in product load loss of each of the ears; and
a fastening system comprising a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system, wherein in a wear configuration of the absorbent article, the secondary fastening system secures each of the ears of the pair of ears in the extended position and thereby defines a pair of spaced-apart anchor points outboard of the primary fastening system.

2. The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein the waist elastic comprises a spandex laminate material.

3. The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein the waist elastic has an in product load loss of less than 50 percent according to the four-hour hold stress relaxation test.

4. The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein the primary fastening system comprises a primary first fastening component disposed on each of the pair of ears and a primary second fastening component disposed on the outer layer of the absorbent assembly at the front portion, the secondary fastening system comprising a secondary second fastening component on each of the pair of ears and a corresponding secondary first fastening component on the outer layer of the absorbent assembly at the front portion.

5. The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein the waist elastic extends between the ears.

6. The absorbent article of claim 5 wherein the waist elastic engages each of the ears.

7. The absorbent article of claim 1 wherein each of the ears has a percent average load loss between about 50 and 60.

8. An absorbent article having an inner surface, an outer surface, a front portion, a back portion, a crotch portion extending longitudinally between and connecting the front portion and the back portion, the absorbent article comprising:
a chassis having longitudinally opposite ends, transversely opposite sides, a bodyside liner at least in part defining the inner surface of the article, an outer cover at least in part defining the outer surface of the article, and an absorbent core disposed between the liner and the outer cover;
a pair of ears extending transversely outward from the opposite sides of the chassis at the back portion thereof, each ear of the pair of ears being elastic and moveable between a relaxed position and an extended position, each ear having an in product load loss according to a four-hour hold stress relaxation test;
a fastening system comprising a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system, the secondary fastening system being configured to inhibit each ear of the pair of ears from moving from the extended position to the relaxed position; and
a waist elastic disposed in the back portion, the waist elastic having an in product load loss according to the four-hour hold stress relaxation test, wherein a ratio between the percent load loss of the ear elastic and the percent load loss of the waist elastic is greater than 1 to 1 such that the in product load loss of the waist elastic is less than the in product load loss of each of the ears.

9. The absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the waist elastic comprises a spandex laminate material and the ear comprises a neck-bonded-laminate material.

10. The absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the ratio between the percent load loss of the ear elastic and the percent load loss of the waist elastic is 5 to 1.

11. The absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the ratio between the percent load loss of the ear elastic and the percent load loss of the waist elastic is 2 to 1.

12. The absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the primary fastening system comprises a primary first fastening component disposed on each of the pair of ears and a primary second fastening component disposed on the outer surface of the article at the front portion, the secondary fastening system comprising a secondary second fastening component on each of the pair of ears and a corresponding secondary first fastening component on the outer surface of the article at the front portion.

13. The absorbent article of claim 8 wherein the waist elastic extends between the ears.

14. The absorbent article of claim 13 wherein the waist elastic engages each of the ears.

15. An absorbent article comprising:
an absorbent assembly including longitudinally opposite ends, transversely opposite sides, a front portion, a back portion, and a crotch region extending longitudinally between and interconnecting the front and back portions, a liquid permeable inner layer for facing a wearer, an outer layer for facing away from the wearer, an absorbent body disposed between the inner and outer layers;
a pair of ears secured to and extending transversely outward from the opposite sides of the absorbent assembly in the back portion, each of the ears being elastic in at least the transverse direction of the article from a relaxed position to an expanded position, each of the ears having an in product load loss;
a waist elastic having an in product load loss of less than 60 percent according to a four-hour hold stress relaxation test;
a fastening system comprising a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system, the primary fastening system comprising a primary first fastening component disposed on each of the pair of ears and a primary second fastening component disposed on the outer layer of the assembly at the front portion, the secondary fastening system comprising a secondary second fastening component disposed on each of the ears of the pair of ears and a pair of secondary first fastening components on the outer layer of the assembly at the front portion, wherein in a wear configuration of the article, each of the secondary second fastening components engages one of the secondary first fastening component to define a pair of spaced-apart anchor points outboard of the primary fastening system and thereby inhibit each ear of the pair of ears from retracting from the expanded position, the in product load loss of the waist elastic being less than the in product load loss of each of the ears.

16. The absorbent article of claim 15 wherein the waist elastic has an in product load loss of less than 40 percent according to the four-hour hold stress relaxation test.

17. The absorbent article of claim 16 wherein the waist elastic has an in product load loss equal to or less than 45 percent according to the four-hour hold stress relaxation test.

18. The absorbent article of claim 15 wherein the waist elastic extends between the ears.

19. The absorbent article of claim 15 wherein each of the secondary second fastening components is elastic.

20.

Assignees

• Kimberly Clark Co

Inventors

• Hancock-Cooke Catherine
• Bishop David Fleger
• Popp Robert Lee
• Stabelfeldt Sara Jane Wille
• Vandyke Wendy Lynn

Classifications

• A61F13/581

  Tab fastener elements combining adhesive and mechanical fastening · CPC title

• A61F13/55115

  characterized by the features before use, e.g. how are the diapers folded or arranged in a package · CPC title

• A61F13/5644

  having more than one pair of fasteners · CPC title

• A61F13/58 Primary

  Adhesive tab fastener elements ({A61F13/5611, A61F13/5616}, A61F13/66 take precedence) · CPC title

• A61F13/49011

  the elastic means is located at the waist region · CPC title