Absorbent article which includes superabsorbent material located in discrete, elongate pockets placed in selected patterns
First Claim
1. An absorbent article, comprising:
- a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer;
water-sensitive carrier attaching means for securing together said carrier layers at substantially attached zones thereof, said carrier layers having substantially unattached zones providing a plurality of pocket regions with said substantially attached zones located between said pocket regions; and
high-absorbency material located within said pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a laminate length and a laminate width;
whereinsaid water-sensitive carrier attaching means provides a wet strength adequate to hold said carrier layers together when wet, and said wet strength is less than a separating force imparted by a swelling of said high-absorbency material when said high-absorbency material is exposed to an aqueous liquid;
said plurality of pocket regions are included within a dispersed pocket array;
said pocket array includes a plurality of elongate pocket regions which have major and minor axes thereof; and
said elongate pocket regions are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration with immediately adjacent pocket regions of said staggered configuration having a separation distance therebetween.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An absorbent article comprises a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer. A carrier attaching mechanism secures together the carrier layers to provide substantially attached zones and a multiplicity of substantially unattached zones thereof. The substantially unattached zones provide a plurality of pocket regions, and high-absorbency material is located within the pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a laminate length and a laminate width. A selected plurality of the pocket regions can, for example, be configured with an elongate shape having a major axis length and a relatively shorter minor axis width. The selected plurality of elongate pocket regions is included within a dispersed pocket array having a non-contiguous, labyrinth configuration of pockets. For example the pocket array can include a plurality of regular or irregular rows of pocket regions, and immediately adjacent rows portions of the array can have pocket regions which are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration. In particular aspects of the invention, the carrier attaching mechanism can be water-sensitive.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1. An absorbent article, comprising:
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a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer; water-sensitive carrier attaching means for securing together said carrier layers at substantially attached zones thereof, said carrier layers having substantially unattached zones providing a plurality of pocket regions with said substantially attached zones located between said pocket regions; and high-absorbency material located within said pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a laminate length and a laminate width;
whereinsaid water-sensitive carrier attaching means provides a wet strength adequate to hold said carrier layers together when wet, and said wet strength is less than a separating force imparted by a swelling of said high-absorbency material when said high-absorbency material is exposed to an aqueous liquid; said plurality of pocket regions are included within a dispersed pocket array; said pocket array includes a plurality of elongate pocket regions which have major and minor axes thereof; and said elongate pocket regions are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration with immediately adjacent pocket regions of said staggered configuration having a separation distance therebetween. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An absorbent article, comprising:
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a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer; carrier attaching means for securing together said carrier layers to provide substantially attached zones and substantially unattached zones thereof, said substantially unattached zones providing a plurality of pocket regions and said substantially attached zones located between said pocket regions; and high-absorbency material located within said pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a laminate length and a laminate width;
whereinsaid water-sensitive carrier attaching means provides a wet strength adequate to hold said carrier layers together when wet, and said wet strengths is less than a separating force imparted by a swelling of said high-absorbency material when said high-absorbency material is exposed to an aqueous liquid; said plurality of pocket regions are included within a dispersed pocket array; said pocket array includes elongate pocket regions which have major and minor axes thereof and are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration; a first plurality of said elongate pocket regions are located in an intermediate section of said article with the major axes thereof cooperatively arranged in a convergent pattern relative to a longitudinal line of said laminate; and a second plurality of said elongate pocket regions are located in at least one waistband section of said article with the major axes thereof substantially aligned along a cross-direction of said article. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30)
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31. An absorbent article, comprising:
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a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer; carrier attaching means for securing together said carrier layers to provide substantially attached zones and substantially unattached zones thereof, said substantially unattached zones providing a plurality of pocket regions and said substantially attached zones located between said pocket regions; and high-absorbency material located within said pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a periphery with curvilinear regions thereof;
whereinsaid water-sensitive carrier attaching means provides a wet strength adequate to hold said carrier layers together when wet, and said wet strength is less than a separating force imparted by a swelling of said high-absorbency material when said high-absorbency/material is exposed to an aqueous liquid; said plurality of pocket regions are included within a dispersed pocket array; said pocket array includes elongate pocket regions which are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration and have major and minor axes thereof; said pocket array includes peripheral elongate pocket regions located adjacent said curvilinear regions of said periphery, said peripheral elongate pocket regions selectively arranged with major axes thereof aligned substantially parallel with respectively adjacent portions of said laminate periphery; and said pocket array includes a first plurality of said elongate pocket regions which are located in an intermediate section of said article with the major axes thereof cooperatively arranged in a convergent pattern relative to a longitudinal line of said laminate.
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32. An absorbent article, comprising:
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a first, liquid-permeable carrier layer and at least a second carrier layer; carrier attaching means for securing together said carrier layers at substantially attached zones thereof, said carrier layers having substantially unattached zones providing a plurality of pocket regions with said substantially attached zones located between said pocket regions; and high-absorbency material located within said pocket regions to provide an absorbent laminate having a laminate length and a laminate width;
whereinsaid water-sensitive carrier attaching means provides a wet strength adequate to hold said carrier layers together when wet, and said wet strength is less than a separating force imparted by a swelling of said high-absorbency material when said high-absorbency material is exposed to an aqueous liquid; said plurality of pocket regions are included within a dispersed pocket array; said pocket array includes a plurality of elongate pocket regions which have major and minor axes thereof; and said elongate pocket regions are arranged in a non-contiguous and staggered configuration with immediately adjacent pocket regions of said staggered configuration having a separation distance of at least about 15% of a width dimension of said immediately adjacent pocket regions. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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Specification