Absorber including by-pass channel member and absorber product therefrom

• US 7,521,109 B2
• Filed: 04/04/2003
• Issued: 04/21/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DAIO Paper Corporation
• Original Assignee: Absorbent Technology Institute
• Inventors: Suzuki, Migaku, Moriya, Reiko
• Primary Examiner(s): LONEY, DONALD J
• Application Number:
  US10/509,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20050147810A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,209 Days
• Field of Search: 428/166, 428/137, 428/138, 428/172, 604/385.01, 604/385.101
• US Class Current: 428/137
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/535 inhomogeneous in the plane of the pad, e.g. core absorbent layers being of different sizes A61F13/5323, A61F13/537 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/53743 characterised by the position of the layer relative to the other layers
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2013/53791 being resilient or elastic
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/022 Non-woven fabric
• CPC Class Codes: B32B 5/26 another layer next to it also being fibrous or filamentary relative arrangement of fibres or filaments of different layers B32B5/12
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24322 Composite web or sheet
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24331 including nonapertured component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/269 including synthetic resin or polymer layer or component

Abstract

An absorber comprising a laminate of two or more layers of highly water-absorbent sheets each containing a highly water-absorbent resin in high proportion, which absorber can satisfactorily cope with the feeding speed of aqueous liquid. In particular, an absorber comprising a laminate water-absorbent member, the laminate water-absorbent member consisting of a laminate of two or more layers of highly water-absorbent sheets each containing a highly water-absorbent resin and capable of absorbing an aqueous liquid, and a by-pass channel member, the by-pass channel member having a channel for, providing that an upper side refers to the side of laminate water-absorbent member fed with the aqueous liquid, moving the aqueous liquid fed to a first highly water-absorbent sheet disposed at the uppermost part of the laminate water-absorbent member from the first highly water-absorbent sheet to another highly water-absorbent sheet.

Claims

1. An absorber comprising:

a laminated absorbent member comprised of laminated two or more super-absorbent sheets, a first upper super-absorbent sheet of the super-absorbent sheets has an uppermost surface, each of said super-absorbent sheets containing a super-absorbent polymer capable of absorbing aqueous liquid, and

a by-pass channel member which has a channel for moving aqueous liquid, fed to the uppermost surface of said first super-absorbent sheet, from the uppermost surface of the first super-absorbent sheet to another super-absorbentsheet of the super-absorbent sheets; and

wherein the by-pass channel member transports a portion of liquid disposed at the uppermost surface of the first super-absorbent sheet to said another super-absorbent sheet so that the portion of the liquid transported by the by-pass channel member to said another super-absorbent sheet is not absorbed by the first super-absorbent sheet, and the first super-absorbent sheet is closer to a skin of a user than the another super-absorbent sheet when the absorber is worn by the user,

at least a part of the by-pass channel member is composed of a non-woven sheet member, air gaps inside thereof function as the channel for moving the aqueous liquid;

a part of the non-woven sheet member is positioned above the first super-absorbent sheet; and

another part of the non-woven sheet member is positioned either above the another super-absorbent sheet or under the laminated absorbent member or both.

2. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein at least one layer of the super-absorbent sheets contains 50 wt % or more of the super-absorbent polymer and a thickness of the super-absorbent sheet is 1.5 mm or less.

3. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein a part of the non-woven sheet member is positioned above the first super-absorbent sheet so as to rise from a surface thereof.

4. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein a part of the non-woven sheet member covers an area in a vicinity of a center portion of the first super-absorbent sheet, and functions as a skin-contact sheet.

5. An absorbent product to be fed with an aqueous liquid from an upper side thereof, comprising an aqueous liquid permeable sheet member, the absorber according to claim 1, and an aqueous liquid impermeable sheet member, from the top in this order.

6. An absorber of claim 1, wherein the by-pass channel member also transports a portion of the aqueous liquid fed directly onto the by-pass channel member to said another super-absorbent sheet.

7. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein the basis weight of the non-woven sheet member is 20 mg/m² or more.

8. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein apparent specific gravity of the non-woven sheet member is 0.1 g/cm³ or less.

9. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein the non-woven sheet member uses thermal-bond non-woven fabric.

10. The absorber according to claim 9, wherein the thermal-bond non-woven fabric is constructed in the form of laminate of the hydrophobic and hydrophilic fiber layers.

11. The absorber according to claim 1, wherein the non-woven sheet member uses non-woven fabric in a multi-layered structure.

12. The absorber according to claim 11, wherein the non-woven fabric in a multi-layered structure is a composite sheet made by bonding a paper layer or non-woven fabric layer with a flat and smooth surface altenately with one another.