Disposable diaper

• US 7,722,587 B2
• Filed: 08/13/2004
• Issued: 05/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2003
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Sachiyo, Otsubo, Toshifumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Zalukaeva; Tatyana
• Assistant Examiner(s): ANDERSON, CATHARINE L
• Application Number:
  US10/917,318
• Publication Number:
  US 20050038401A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,111 Days
• Field of Search: 604/385.19, 604/385.16, 604/385.02, 604/385.01, 604/385.101, 604/385.17, 604/385.08, 604/385.26
• US Class Current: 604/385.101
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/495 with faecal cavity
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2013/4956 with vertical spacer or separator keeping other components out of contact

Abstract

A disposable diaper has a chassis and a body fluid absorbent structure. The body fluid absorbent structure comprises a panel of body fluid absorbent material and a liquid-pervious sheet covering a surface of the panel facing the wearer'"'"'s skin. The diaper is provided with a plurality of crossover members extending across the body fluid absorbent structure and facing the liquid-pervious sheet. The crossover member has its transversely opposite end portions bonded to the diaper in the vicinity of the side edge portions of the body fluid absorbent structure and its intermediate portion defined between the side end portions not bonded to the liquid-pervious sheet.

Claims

1. A disposable diaper, comprising:

a chassis;

at least one crossover member; and

a body fluid absorbent structure having opposite inner and outer surfaces;

said chassis having

a back-and-forth direction, and a width direction orthogonal to the back-and-forth direction,

a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending in the back-and-forth direction between the front and rear waist regions, and

an inner surface adapted to face a wearer'"'"'s skin, in use, and an outer surface adapted to face away from the wearer'"'"'s skin, in use;

said absorbent structure comprising

a body fluid absorbent panel lying on said inner surface of said chassis so as to extend in at least said crotch region, and

a liquid-pervious sheet covering a surface of said absorbent panel adapted to face the wearer'"'"'s skin, in use, and defining at least said inner surface of said absorbent structure;

said absorbent structure being dimensioned in said crotch region to be narrower than said crotch region and having a pair of side edge portions extending in said back-and-forth direction and front and rear end portions extending in said width direction;

on the side adapted to face said wearer'"'"'s skin, in use, said liquid-pervious sheet being opposed to said at least one crossover member that extends across said absorbent structure above said absorbent structure in said width direction and has a length in a range of 5 to 250 mm as measured in said back-and-forth direction; and

said crossover member comprising, in the width direction,

transversely opposite end portions bonded to said diaper in a vicinity of and along said side edge portions of said absorbent structure, and

an intermediate portion defined between said transversely opposite end portions and free of direct bonding to the diaper, said intermediate portion being deformable so as to become convex from said outer surface toward said inner surface as said chassis and said absorbent structure are deformed in said crotch region so as to become convex from said inner surface toward said outer surface and to reduce respective widths of said chassis and absorbent structure;

wherein

said crossover member is free of absorbent material;

said diaper comprises a pair of said crossover members being adjacent to each other in said back-and-forth direction, located in a vicinity of an area adapted to correspond to the wearer'"'"'s anus, in use, and entirely spaced apart from each other in said back-and-forth direction by a spacing in a range of 10 to 150 mm to define a passage for excrement discharged by the wearer to pass through the spacing defined between said adjacent crossover members;

said diaper further comprises a pair of leak-barrier cuffs located, in the width direction, outboard of and extending, in the back-and-forth direction, along the side edge portions of said absorbent structure;

said crossover member is free of direct attachment to the leak-barrier cuffs; and

said outer surface of said absorbent structure has, between said side edge portions and between said front and rear end portions, an intermediate zone directly bonded to the inner surface of said chassis, whereas the side edge portions on opposite sides of said intermediate zone are free of direct attachment to said chassis.

2. The disposable diaper as set forth by claim 1, wherein said leak-barrier cuffs are elastically stretchable and contractible in said back-and-forth direction and each said crossover member is entirely located, in the width direction, between said leak-barrier cuffs.

3. The disposable diaper as set forth by claim 1, wherein the end portions of said crossover member are directly bonded to the absorbent structure and the crossover member is entirely free of direct attachment to the chassis.

4. A disposable diaper, comprising:

a chassis;

at least one crossover member; and

a body fluid absorbent structure having opposite inner and outer surfaces;

said chassis having

a longitudinal direction, and a transverse direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction,

a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending in the longitudinal direction between the front and rear waist regions, and

an inner surface adapted to face a wearer'"'"'s skin, in use, and an outer surface adapted to face away from the wearer'"'"'s skin, in use;

said absorbent structure comprising

a pair of side edge portions extending in said longitudinal direction and front and rear end portions extending in said transverse direction,

a body fluid absorbent panel lying on said inner surface of said chassis so as to extend in at least said crotch region, and

a liquid-pervious sheet covering a surface of said absorbent panel adapted to face the wearer'"'"'s skin, in use, and defining at least said inner surface of said absorbent structure;

said crossover member different from said liquid-pervious sheet and comprising, in the transverse direction,

transversely opposite end portions directly bonded to one of said absorbent structure and said chassis in a vicinity of and along said side edge portions of said absorbent structure, and

an intermediate portion defined between and connecting said transversely opposite end portions, and being free of direct attachment to both said chassis and absorbent structure, said intermediate portion being deformable and convex away from said chassis and said absorbent structure;

wherein

an entirety of said crossover member is free of absorbent material and the intermediate portion of said crossover member is free of direct attachment to any absorbent material;

said diaper further comprises a pair of leak-barrier cuffs located, in the transverse direction, outboard of and extending, in the longitudinal direction, along the side edge portions of said absorbent structure;

the intermediate portion of said crossover member is free of direct attachment to the leak-barrier cuffs;

said crossover member has longitudinally opposite front and rear ends extending in the transverse direction across the absorbent structure and being free of direct attachment to said chassis and said absorbent structure;

said crossover member defines together with said absorbent structure a channel having, in the longitudinal direction, two open ends at said front and rear ends of said crossover member, respectively;

said crossover member is entirely located, in the transverse direction, between the leak-barrier cuffs;

said outer surface of said absorbent structure has, between said side edge portions and between said front and rear end portions, an intermediate zone directly bonded to the inner surface of said chassis, whereas said outer surface of said absorbent structure in the side edge portions on opposite sides of said intermediate zone is free of direct attachment to said chassis; and

wherein said diaper comprises a pair of said crossover members being adjacent to each other in said longitudinal direction, located in a vicinity of an area adapted to correspond to the wearer'"'"'s anus, in use, and entirely spaced apart from each other in said longitudinal direction by a spacing in a range of 10 to 150 mm to define a passage for excrement discharged by the wearer to pass through the spacing between said adjacent crossover members;

each said crossover member comprising a plurality of slits elongated in said transverse direction between the transversely opposite end portions of said crossover member;

each of said slits extending through an entire thickness of the respective crossover member to allow body waste to pass though the crossover member though the slits to reach the absorbent structure; and

a pattern in which the slits of one of the crossover members are arranged is different from that of the slits of the other crossover member.