Pants-type disposable wearing article

• US 20050004548A1
• Filed: 05/06/2004
• Published: 01/06/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/31/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Inventors: Takino, Shunsuke, Otsubo, Toshifumi, Shimoe, Nariaki
• Granted Patent: US 7,220,251 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 604/385.250
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/49001 having preferential bending zones, e.g. fold lines or grooves
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/49011 the elastic means is located at the waist region
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/49017 the elastic means being located at the crotch region
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/49413 the edge leakage prevention means being an upstanding barrier
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/49426 the barrier having an absorbent medium
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/496 in the form of pants or briefs
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/51474 characterised by its structure

Abstract

A pull-on disposable article has a liquid-absorbent first panel interposed between a liquid-absorbent sheet 2 and liquid-impervious sheets, a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes. The leg-holes are surrounding by leg-surrounding flaps extending in a leg-surrounding direction outside transversely opposite side edges of the first panel. A transverse dimension between the transversely opposite side edges is minimized in the vicinity of bottoms of the respective leg-holes. The leg-surrounding flaps are formed with first folding lines extending in the leg-surrounding direction and second folding lines extending in a transverse direction. The leg-surrounding flaps are tucked along the first and second folding lines into the respective leg-holes.

Claims

1. A pants-type disposable wearing article comprising a liquid-absorbent sheet facing a wearer'"'"'s body, a liquid-impervious sheet facing away from said wearer'"'"'s body and a liquid-absorbent first panel between said sheets, said article further having a waist-hole and a pair of leg-holes surrounded by leg-surrounding flaps extending in a leg-surrounding direction outside transversely opposite side edges of said first panel wherein a transverse dimension between said transversely opposite side edges of said first panel is minimized at bottoms of the respective leg-holes, said article further comprising:

said leg-surrounding flaps formed with first folding lines extending in said leg-surrounding direction from said side edges of said first panel at said bottoms of said respective leg-holes toward free side edges of said respective leg-surrounding flaps lying at tops of said leg-holes and second folding lines extending outwardly in a transverse direction from said side edges of said first panel lying at said bottoms of said leg-holes toward said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps lying at said bottoms of said leg-holes; and

said leg-surrounding flaps lying at said bottoms of said leg-holes rise on said first panel and said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps get nearer to each other in said transverse direction as said leg-surrounding flaps are folded along said first and second folding lines and tucked inwardly in said transverse direction into said leg-holes.

2. The wearing article according to claim 1, wherein a minimum spacing dimension between said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps is substantially same as a minimum transverse dimension between said side edges of said first panel at said bottoms of said leg-holes.

3. The wearing article according to claim 1, wherein a minimum transverse dimension between said opposite side edges of said first panel is in a range of 2-9 cm at said bottoms of said leg-holes.

4. The wearing article according to claim 1, wherein leg-surrounding elastic members extending in said leg-surrounding direction are secured in a stretched state to said leg-surrounding flaps.

5. The wearing article according to claim 1, wherein said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps curve inwardly in said transverse direction of said article from said tops toward said bottoms of said leg-holes so as to describe substantially circular arcs so that a transverse dimension between said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps is minimized at said bottoms of said leg-holes.

6. The wearing article according to claim 1, wherein liquid-absorbent second panels interposed between said liquid-pervious sheet and said liquid-impervious sheet are provided in regions defined between said first folding lines and said free side edges of said leg-surrounding flaps.

7. The wearing article according to claim 6, wherein said second panels have a relatively low or none of said second panels is present on said second folding lines.