JPH022875A - Absorbent and production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce a flexible absorbent having high absorbing power and satisfactory elasticity restoring ability and capable of forming an absorber having uniform absorbing power at the constituent parts by adhering a granular gelatinizer to chips of a flexible material. CONSTITUTION:Chips 1 of a flexible material are moved from the upper stream side of the passage 4 of an apparatus C to the downstream side and an adhesive 2 is sprayed on the chips 1 at the upper stream side. A granular gelatinizer 3 is spouted and adhered to the chips 1 at the downstream side. A flexible absorbent substitutable for a nonwoven fabric, having high absorbing power and satisfactory elasticity restoring ability and capable of forming an absorber having uniform absorbing power at the constituent parts can be produced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an absorbent material for disposable diapers and urinary bags;
Absorbent materials useful for various products that require other water and oil absorption capabilities, and part 1! Concerning how to send J.

(Prior art) For example, the absorbent material of the absorber in disposable diapers is
It is made of non-woven fabric such as wood pulp fiber in order to satisfy water absorbency and softness, and granular gelling agent is added to the non-woven fabric to increase absorption capacity and prevent urine from flowing back out. ing.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, since nonwoven fabrics are disposable, the consumption of nonwoven fabrics is not trivial, and with the ever-increasing demand for disposable diapers, this has become a problem that cannot be ignored. There is.

Furthermore, an allantoic membrane is formed on the absorption surface side of the nonwoven fabric, which reduces the absorption speed and increases the problem of not being able to keep up with the urination speed.

Also, since non-woven fabrics are high-strength, they must be packaged during the distribution stage.

Due to its large size, it has various problems at each stage: storage, transportation, over-the-counter sales, and IUI. However, it is also possible to package a bulky nonwoven fabric in a compressed state to make it compact, but in this case, even if the compressed state is released during use, the nonwoven fabric will not be able to recover sufficiently, and the absorption capacity before compression will decrease. In particular, a problem arises in that absorption speed is inevitably reduced due to loss of capillary passages.

In addition, since the granular gelling agent is not fixed to the nonwoven fabric, it tends to move and shift to one side, making it easy for the absorbent material to have high and low absorption areas, and the absorption capacity of each part is balanced. I have a lot of problems.

This problem causes appearance distortion due to the expansion coefficients of the high-absorbency portion and the low-absorption portion after absorption, resulting in a problem that the foreign body sensation during use becomes severe.

The present invention was made in view of these circumstances, and its purpose is to replace non-woven fabrics with soft and high absorption capacity, rich in elastic recovery power, and uniform absorption capacity in each part. The present invention aims to provide an absorbent material that can constitute an absorbent body, and also provides a method for manufacturing the absorbent material.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is made by adhering a granular gelling agent to a strip of flexible material.

In addition, the strips employed in the present invention include films and sheets made of synthetic resin, cotton, cloth, nonwoven fabric, felt, synthetic paper, and various processed papers made of chemical fibers, natural fibers, or a blend of both. It is selected from finely cut pieces of paper, etc., or a mixture thereof.

In addition, synthetic resin film is stretched to the limit, torn into small pieces in the direction of tension, and then cut into short pieces, which are as light as feathers and have a feel close to that of paper. This is the result.

In order to make the strips soft enough for diapers for infants, for example, in the case of synthetic resin films, the thickness is 3 to 20 μm.
For use in adult diapers, it is preferable to form small pieces with a thickness of 20 to 60 μm.

Further, the gluing agent bonded to the strip and its suspension are optional and are selected depending on the application.

The method for manufacturing the absorbent H is to transport a strip of flexible material from the upstream side to the downstream side of the passage, spray adhesive on the strip on the upstream side, and then There is a production method in which the granular gelling agent is jetted out and the granular gelling agent is adhered to the strips.

(Example) An example of the implementation of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the figure, (A> is an absorbent material, and this absorbent material (A> is a strip (1) made of flexible material, and an adhesive (2) on the strip (1).
and a granular gelling agent (3) adhered with.

The strip (1) is a flexible synthetic resin film or sheet,
Finely cut paper such as cotton, cloth, non-woven fabric, felt, synthetic paper, various processed papers, etc. made of synthetic fibers, natural fibers, or blends of both, or a mixture thereof. It is a small piece that has been cut into small pieces, and its size is within the range of flexibility that can be compressed and elastic recovery power that can be restored as it is released from the compression force, and it is selected depending on the variety of products. be done.

The material of this strip (1) includes, for example, polyolefin, polyurethane, acrylic, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, urethane-modified styrene-butadiene rubber (S
BR), thermoplastic resins such as flexible polyvinyl chloride, and thermoplastic elastomers.

Examples of the adhesive (2) include the following various adhesives.

For example, natural adhesives include protein-based glue, gelatin, albumin, and casein.

Various adhesives such as soybean protein and carbohydrate-based starch, cellulose, and complex polysaccharides. Various types of inorganic adhesives include low-melting glass, crystallized low-melting glass, alkali metal silicate-based inorganic, and phosphate-based inorganic adhesives. As thermoplastic adhesives, vinyl acetate polymers and copolymers, acrylics.

Various adhesives such as ethylene copolymer, thermoplastic polyamide, polyester, polyurethane, and polyvinyl acetal. Thermosetting adhesives include amino A4 resins such as urea resins and melamine resins, phenolic resins, xylene resins, furan 4iIIIi systems, epoxy resins, polyisocyanates, unsaturated polyesters, and thermosetting acrylic resins. , various adhesives such as composite thermosetting resins. Rubber adhesives include polychloroprene, nitrile rubber,
Various adhesives such as recycled rubber, SBR, and natural rubber.

Synthetic water-soluble adhesives include polyvinyl alcohol, isobutene-maleic anhydride copolymer, polyacrylamide, and polyethylene oxide.

Polyvinylpyrrolidone type, vinyl acetate copolymer type.

Various adhesives such as acrylic copolymer systems. Emulsion adhesives include polyvinyl acetate, vinyl acetate-ethylene copolymer, and polyacrylic ester.

Various scale adhesives such as polyvinyl chloride type and synthetic rubber latex type such as SBR. Liquid polymer adhesives include various adhesives such as liquid polysulfide adhesives.

Examples of the gelling agent (3) include superabsorbent polymers such as Aquapoly (manufactured by Seitetsu Kagaku Kogyo).

The absorbent material (A) shown in Figure 1 is for use in disposable diapers.
The size of 1) is 3 to 3 if the diaper is for infants.
The thickness is 20μ, preferably 5 to 15μ, making it extremely soft like a feather and extremely lightweight.

In addition, in the case of a film, the thickness of the strip (1) is 20 to 60 μm, preferably 30 to 4 μm when the diaper is for adults.
At 5μ, it is slightly harder and heavier than the above-mentioned one for infants, but it is extremely soft and extremely lightweight.

Figure 2 shows an example of use in which the absorbent material (A> shown in Figure 1) is used to form the absorbent body (B) of a disposable diaper for infants, and the absorbent body (B) has a water-permeable absorption surface. bag (B1)
The absorbent material (A) is housed within it by an appropriate amount ω.

In this absorbent body (B), the gelling agent (3) adheres to each strip (1) and exists uniformly inside the absorbent body (B), so that the gelation of urine in each part is equally stable. Therefore, no appearance distortion occurs.

Then, due to the elastic recovery force of the strip (1), each absorbent material (
A legal path (a) is formed between A>, and urine rapidly flows through this legal path (a) and has an absorption speed commensurate with the urination speed.

In addition, it is possible to make each strip (1) compact by compressing it, and when released from the compression force, each absorbent material (A)
In the meantime, the legal path (a) before compression is restored.

FIG. 3 illustrates an apparatus (C) developed for producing the absorbent material (A).

This l1l(C) is from the upstream side to the downstream side of the passage (4),
The air blower (5), the inlet (6) for the strip (1), the injection nozzle (7) for the adhesive (2), the injection nozzle (8) for the gelling agent (3), and the excess gelling A drug outlet (9) and an air blowing port (101 (11)) are arranged in this order, and a stocker (12) is arranged at the downstream end.

The feed (5) is from the hopper (13) to the inlet (6)
The strips (1) falling into the passageway (4) through the passageway (4) are fed into the lower passageway (4) portion of the vertical cylinder part (14).

The injection nozzles (7) for the adhesive (2) are installed in a stepped manner on each of the four sides of the vertical cylinder (14), and the nozzle openings are directed toward the center of the cylinder. And each nozzle (7)
The adhesive (2) is sprayed, and the spray flow creates a turbulent flow inside the passage (4), causing the falling pieces (1)
On the other hand, the adhesive (2) is sprayed in a film over the entire surface of the strip (1) while the strip (1) is made to float in a turbulent state with a long airborne time.

Like the injection nozzles (7), the gelling agent (3) injection nozzles (8) are installed on each side of the vertical cylinder (14) in a stepped manner, and the nozzle openings are located at the center of the cylinder. and each nozzle (8) is directed to a gelling agent (3).
The inside of the passage (4) is brought into a turbulent state by the jet flow,
While the falling pieces (1) are made to fly further in a turbulent state with a long airborne time, gel is applied to the film-like adhesive (2) of the pieces (1). Adhere the curing agent (3).

The outlet (9) is formed at the bottom of the vertical tube (14), and the excess gelling agent (3) that has fallen down the passageway (4) inside the vertical tube (14) can be collected in a timely manner. I have to.

The ventilation ports (10) and (11) are provided in the horizontal cylindrical portion (15) that connects to the bottom of the vertical cylindrical portion (14), and are open toward the downstream side of the passageway (4) (1G). Hot air is sent to the downstream side from each of (11), and the hot air dries the adhesive (2), stabilizes the adhesion state between the strip (1) and the gelling agent (3), and absorbs some of the adhesion. Material (A) for 111i1! L, carefully transport it to the stocker (12) side.

The stocker (12) stirs or vibrates the absorbent material (A) transferred from the passageway (4) to separate the remaining adhered absorbent material (A), and then releases the absorbent material (A) from the bottom opening (16).
) can be taken out at any time.

(17) is a viewing window.

The apparatus (C) can produce an absorbent material (A) in which a granular gelling agent (3) is adhered to a strip (1) of flexible material with an adhesive (2).

Further, in the above-mentioned manufacturing method, the drying process of the absorbent material (A> in contact with Im of the gelling agent (3) is a forced drying process using hot air, but it is also possible to adopt other drying processes. For example, the adhesive (3) in the vertical cylinder part (14)
) The installation of the jet nozzle (8) may be carried out by extending the lower cylindrical part higher from the position and extending the falling time of the absorbent material (A) falling down the same cylindrical part, thereby drying at room temperature.

Furthermore, the step of spraying the adhesive (2) and the step of ejecting the gelling agent (3) may be carried out in a horizontal cylinder (not shown) instead of the vertical cylinder (14).

(Effect of the invention) Therefore, the present invention has the following effects.

■ Because it has flexibility and elastic recovery power, as well as gelation ability, it is useful as an absorbent material for various products that require water and oil absorption ability for urine, dirty water, oil, etc., and is especially useful as an alternative to non-woven fabrics. , it is possible to construct an absorbent body having uniform high absorption gelling ability in each part.

■ Cuttings of various flexible products and defective products can be used to make small pieces.The specific gravity and price are about 1/3 that of non-woven fabrics, making it extremely lightweight for use during transportation and installation. Sex customers have various benefits and are economically beneficial.

(2) As a manufacturing method for the absorbent material, an absorbent material having excellent flexibility, elastic recovery power, and gelling ability can be easily manufactured to be suspended from the ceiling by the manufacturing method described above.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the absorbent material of the present invention. Second
This figure is a perspective view of an absorbent body for a diaper formed using the absorbent material illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the equipment employed to produce the absorbent material. In the diagram (A>), the absorbent material (1) is the strip, the adhesive (3) is the gelling agent (4), and the passageway.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Absorbent material made by adhering granular gelling agent to strips of flexible material. (2) A strip of flexible material is transferred from the upstream side to the downstream side of the passage, adhesive is sprayed on the strip on the upstream side, and granular gelling agent is sprayed on the downstream side. and a granular gelling agent is adhered to the strips.