Folded disposable absorbent garment and a package of such garments

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9539153-B2
Application number	US-201314049589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 9, 2013
Priority date	Mar 5, 2001
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

A folded disposable absorbent garment has an absorbent chassis, a pair of front side panels extending from a front region of the absorbent chassis, and a pair of back side panels extending from a back region of the absorbent chassis. Each of the front side panels has a first fastening component and each of the back side panels has a second fastening component. Each of the second fastening components is releasably attached to a respective one of the first fastening components to define a pair of refastenable seams. The front side panels and the back side panels are folded such that each of the refastenable seams overlies an outer surface of one of the front region and the back region of the absorbent chassis in a plane generally parallel to the front and back regions of the absorbent chassis.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A folded disposable absorbent garment having a longitudinal axis and a transverse axis, the garment comprising:
a chassis including longitudinal ends, transverse sides, a front region, a back region, a crotch region extending between and interconnecting the front and back regions, the chassis being folded about the transverse axis of the garment such that the back region overlies the front region, a pair of front side panels, each of the front side panels having a transverse distal edge, the transverse distal edges of the front side panels defining a transverse width of the training pant at the front region, one of the front side panels being formed separately from, attached to and extending from one transverse side in the front region and the other front side panel being formed separately from, attached to and extending from the other transverse side in the front region, wherein an entirety of each of the front side panels comprises a non-elastic material, and a pair of back side panels, each of the back side panels having a transverse distal edge, the transverse distal edges of the back side panels defining a transverse width of the training pant at the back region, one of the back side panels being formed separately from, attached to and extending from one transverse side in the back region and the other back side panel being formed separately from, attached to and extending from the other transverse side in the back region, wherein an entirety of each of the back side panels comprises and elastic material, the width of the training pant at the back region being greater than the width of the training pant at the front region;
first and second refastenable side seams, each refastenable side seam joining one of the front side panels to one of the back side panels in an overlapping relationship and including at least one resilient fastening component, each of the back side panels and each of the front side panels being folded such that each of the refastenable side seams including the at least one resilient fastening component overlies one of the front region and the back region of the chassis.

2. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 wherein each of the refastenable side seams overlies the back region of the chassis.

3. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 wherein the at least one resilient fastening component comprises a hook component.

4. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 3 wherein the hook component is disposed on each of the front side panels.

5. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 wherein each of the front side panels has a distal edge and a resilient fastening component disposed at or adjacent to said distal edge of said front side panel; each of the back side panels having a distal edge and a corresponding resilient fastening component disposed at or adjacent to said distal edge of said back side panel.

6. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 wherein each of the back side panels is folded twice and each of the front side panels is folded once.

7. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 6 wherein each of the back side panels includes two foldlines and each of the front side panels includes one foldline.

8. The folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 7 wherein each of the front side panels have a distal edge, one of the foldlines of each of the back side panels being disposed adjacent to a respective one of the distal edges of the front side panels.

9. A package comprising a plurality of the folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 arranged in a stack.

10. A package comprising a plurality of the folded disposable absorbent garment of claim 1 .

11. The package of claim 10 comprising a flexible packaging bag having a pair of end walls, a pair of side walls, a top wall, and a bottom wall, the walls collectively defining an interior space, the plurality of the folded disposable absorbent garment being compressed within the interior space.

12. A pre-fastened, folded training pant comprising:
an absorbent chassis defining a front region, a back region, and a crotch region interconnecting the front and back regions, the crotch region having a fold therein generally about the transverse axis such that the front region and the back region lie in parallel planes, the absorbent chassis comprising an outer cover, a bodyside liner, and an absorbent assembly located between the outer cover and the bodyside liner;
a pair of transversely opposed front side panels formed separately from and attached to the front region of the absorbent chassis, wherein an entirety of each of the front side panels comprises a non-elastic material and having a hook fastener component attached thereto;
a pair of transversely opposed back side panels formed separately from and attached to the back region of the absorbent chassis, wherein an entirety of each of the back side panels comprises an elastic material, the elastic material defining at least in part a loop fastener component, each of the hook fastener components being releasably attached to a respective loop fastener component to define a pair of refastenable seams;
each of the back side panels being folded twice and each of the front side panels being folded once such that each of the refastenable side seams overlies the back region of the chassis and lies in a plane generally parallel to the plane in which the front and back regions lie.

13. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 12 wherein the absorbent chassis further comprises a pair of elasticized containment flaps adapted to form a seal against a wearer's body during use.

14. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 13 wherein the containment flaps extend longitudinally along an entire length of the absorbent chassis.

15. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 12 wherein the absorbent chassis further comprises at least one of a front waist elastic member and a rear waist elastic member.

16. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 12 further comprising a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, each of the refastenable seams extending between the waist opening and one of the leg openings.

17. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 12 wherein the absorbent chassis has a graphic disposed on the front region.

18. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 12 wherein each of the back side panels includes two foldlines and each of the front side panels includes one foldline.

19. The pre-fastened, folded training pant of claim 18 wherein each of the front side panels have a distal edge, one of the foldlines of each of the back side panels being disposed adjacent to a respective one of the distal edges of the front side panels.

Assignees

• Kimberly Clark Co

Inventors

• Popp Robert Lee
• Ruman Marcille Faye
• Bennett Kathleen Irene

Classifications

• A61F2013/8497

  having decorations or indicia means · CPC title

• A61F13/49015

  the elastic means being elastic panels · CPC title

• A61F13/55115 Primary

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

• A61F13/622

  Fabric strip fastener elements, e.g. hook and loop · CPC title

• B65D85/62

  for stacks of articles; for special arrangements of groups of articles · CPC title