WO2002032360A2

WO2002032360A2 - An absorbent product and the process of making an absorbent product

Info

Publication number: WO2002032360A2
Application number: PCT/BR2001/000129
Authority: WO
Inventors: Francisco Javier Valdivia Hernandez; Carlos Da Silva Macedo, Jr.; Eduardo Cezar Andreo Aledo; Altair De Paula Vitor
Original assignee: Johnson and Johnson Industria e Comercio Ltda
Current assignee: Kenvue Ltda
Priority date: 2000-10-19
Filing date: 2001-10-17
Publication date: 2002-04-25
Anticipated expiration: 2003-04-19
Also published as: AR034564A1; BR0004938A; MXPA03003524A; AU2001293529A1; WO2002032360A3; CO5310529A1

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an absorbent product and a process of making the absorbent product having a shape that has a compulsory loss of material reduced to zero.

Description

"AN ABSORBENT PRODUCT AND THE PROCESS OF MAKING AN ABSORBENT PRODUCT"

Field of the invention

The present invention refers to manuf cturing processes for disposable absorbent products, such as diapers, sanitary napkins and the like, having a shape that has a compulsory loss of material reduced to zero. More particularly, the present invention relates to a manuf cturing processes for disposable absorbent products having an absor- bent core that has a lower possibility of side leakage. Background of the invention

Generically, An absorbent product comprises a fluid permeable sheet on the inner side in touch with the user's body. In the reverse or outer side of absorbent prod- uct, a fluid impermeable sheet having a absorbent core disposed between said sheets.

The fluid permeable sheet is generically made of a soft and non-irritating material. According to the present state of the art, it can be a sheet of woven or non woven material natural (for example wood or cotton fibers) or artificial fibers (for example polyester or polypropylene, or a combination of both, a perforated plastic film, a porous or cross-linked foam and the like. The fluid permeable sheet may be of known hydrophilicity, showing a tendency to remain dry, and may be a mono or multilayered material .

The fluid impermeable sheet has the role to prevent the absorbed and retained fluid in the absorbent core from passing to the user¹ clothes or skin, being generically a thin polyethylene film. However, the fluid impermeable sheet may also be permeable to vapor and, in such case, will be provided with small pores or made of a material which provides impermeability only to fluids. The absorbent core of known disposable absorbent products is usually formed of a cellulose fiber pulp, often comprising super-absorbent polymers capable of forming a gel in contact with liquids as well. Other absorbent cores are also known such as papers, peat moss, artificial fibers, and foams and like. Processes for preparing and cutting disposable absorbent products and in particular disposable diapers from a continuous web of base material are known in the art . The cuts are made by knives, ultrasound, laser or water under pressure and the like, in order to obtain absorbent products cut in strip's longitudinal or transversal direction.

Usually, a semi finished absorbent structure of the kind herein dealt with has greater outer borders than the final product, being thus necessary to cut in order to remove, reduce or shape some specific areas, such as the groin region or adjacent regions. The state-of-the-art disposable absorbent product, aiming at the adaptation to the user' s anatomy, show in the groin region a relatively narrow width preceded by enlargements at the opposite ends forming sinuous contours after cutting the base material web. The cut portions of such shaped regions are discarded, without reusing such cut material .

The disadvantages of previous art cutting processes, due to the curved side border shape of these absor- bent products plus the disposition of the absorbent product in the base material web's longitudinal direction, reside in the high compulsory loss of material, compromising noticeably the productivity. Summary of the invention

In accordance with the present invention there has been provided a process of making an absorbent product comprising steps of feeding a continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material having a longitudinal length and a trans- verse width, it being fed in the direction of longitudinal length of said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material, placing an absorbent core transversally in relation to the longitudinal length of said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material, the absorbent core having a length, a central region and a longitudinal centerline, placing a continuous sheet of fluid permeable material in such manner that the absorbent core is located between said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material and said continuous sheet of fluid permeable material, joining the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material to the continuous sheet of fluid permeable material by means of adhesion and forming at least a continuous double sheet, the continuous double sheet having a longitudinal centerline, a transverse width and opposite borders, periodically cutting said continuous double sheet to form a succession of transversally disposed absorbent products, side by side, said product having a longitudinal centerline, the central region of the absorbent core and the longitudinal centerline of the absorbent prod- uct being located approaching a corresponding front end of respective absorbent product and simultaneously being vertically aligned with the longitudinal centerline of the double sheet . There has been also provided an absorbent product, having a transverse length, a front end, a back end and an absorbent core, the absorbent core having a transverse length and a central region wherein the central region of the absorbent core is substantially in the middle of the transverse length of the absorbent core and in a region substantially adjacent to a region defined by half the measure the transverse length of the absorbent product, the central region being located between 25% and 49% of a distance of the transverse length of the absorbent product in relation to the front end of the absorbent product.

The process of the invention allows the continuous production of absorbent products presenting an enhanced absorption capacity and lower possibility of side leakage and with a compulsory loss of material reduced substantially to zero.

In the following text, it must be understood that the expression "compulsory loss reduced to zero" refers to maximizing the disposition of adjacent absorbent product in a manufacturing process, reducing the waste between the ab- sorbent product.

Brief description of the invention

The object of the present invention is achieved through a process of making an absorbent product by placing an absorbent core in a sheet of continuous material having a longitudinal length and two opposite borders, in order to produce a plurality of absorbent products disposed side by side, with longitudinal length of the absorbent products disposed parallel to each other and transversally in relation to the length of the sheet of the continuous material, wherein the absorbent core has a central region located over the longitudinal axis thereof towards the front end of the absorbent product and equidistant from the sheet of a con- tinuous material's borders.

The present invention will be described in more details in the following, based in a realization example shown in the drawing.

Brief description of the drawing The present invention will be next described in more details, based on the following figure, which shows : Figure 1 - is an upper view of a sheet of material, which takes part in the process of making an absorbent product . Detailed description of the drawing As can be seen in figure 1, a process of the invention comprises a periodical disposition on a continuous web of a sheet of manufacturing material, indicated by 100, having opposite borders and a longitudinal centerline, of an absorbent core 2 of a transverse length Co and a central re- gion indicated by Pd, transversally to and symmetrically in relation to the web, and obtaining an absorbent products indicated by 1, 1' and 1", of transverse length Cl , in a successive disposition, side by side, transversally and alter- nately oriented by means of a zigzag cutting line defining the respective product's side borders. A back end indicated by 3 and 3 ' of the absorbent products 1 and 1 ' is formed by respective opposite border section of the continuous web of the sheet of manufacturing material. The central region Pd of the absorbent core's region is adapted to receive the greater amount of the user's body fluids and where a longitudinal centerline 4 of the absorbent product is located when in use. The first step of the process comprises feeding a continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material, of a width Cp defined between transversally opposed and parallel borders of the web of the sheet of the manufacturing material.

The second step comprises a periodical controlled placement of said absorbent core 2 and centrally in relation to the width Cp of the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material .

The third step comprises placing a continuous sheet of fluid permeable material of a width Cp coinciding with the width of the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material of step 1 and placed exactly in the same feeding position of the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material, the continuous sheet of fluid permeable material being associated to the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable ma- terial by means of an adhesion element, forming a double sheet 100 of transverse width Cp and having an absorbent core 2 located between both flexible sheets of impermeable and permeable material . The fourth step of the process comprises cutting the double sheet 100 by means of a cut which, in the present embodiment example, presents a shape substantially of a sawtooth wave, resulting in the successive disposition and ad- jacent to a plurality of absorbent products 1, 1', 1" separated by respective side margins thereof.

Each absorbent product is provided with the central region Pd of respective absorbent core 2, located in the middle of the transverse width Cp of the double sheet 100 and in a region substantially adjacent to the region defined by half the transverse length Cl of the absorbent product 1.

The transverse length Cl of the absorbent product has the same direction of the transverse width Cp and the measure thereof is substantially smaller than the transverse width Cp of the double sheet 100.

As can be seen in the figure, the absorbent products succeed along the web of the sheet of manufacturing material 100 in reversed positions, in an alternate manner, wherein adjacent portions of a border 3, 3' transversally opposed of the double sheet form the back end or groin region of respectively adjacent and non alternate absorbent products 1, 1', that is, the absorbent products of the same orientation are always upward or always downward. A contour of respective front ends 5, 5', 5" is defined by a cutting line and touch transversally the opposed borders of said continuous double sheet. In this way, there is no formation of interstices, leftovers or lack of material in the con- tinuous double sheet 100, which are responsible for the compulsory loss of material in the previous art manufacturing processes .

Therefore, longitudinal axes of two consecutive absorbent products 1 and 1" having the same orientation are parallel to each other and are spaced by a distance equivalent to the length of the back end 3 of the absorbent product and coinciding with a section of a plurality of adjacent sections of the double sheet 100 borders. However, the lon- gitudinal centerline of the double sheet 100 is coincident with the longitudinal centerline of each absorbent core 2 and, therefore, the absorbent cores 2 have a symmetrical disposition in relation to the double sheet 100.

In order to obtain the absorbent product 1 which provides maximum efficiency in absorbing body fluids and simultaneously a process of simple production said constructive geometry should be used, that is, the central region Pd of the absorbent core 2 is positioned in the middle of transverse width Cp of the double sheet 100, whereas, in the absorbent products 1, the central region Pd of the absorbent core 2 is located in relation to the middle of transverse length Cl of the absorbent product when approaching the front end. Specifically, the central region Pd of the absorbent core 2 defines a folding region along to the longitudi- nal centerline 4, the central region Pd being located between 25% and 49% of the distance of the transverse length Cl of the absorbent product 1 in relation to the front end 5 of the absorbent product 1. The central region Pd of the absorbent core 2 is located between 25% and 49%, preferably 37%, of the distance of the transverse length Cl of the absorbent product 1 in relation to the front end of the absorbent product 1.

Having now described the process of obtaining a preferred absorbent embodiment example, it should be understood that the scope of the present invention encloses other possible variations, being limited only by the following claims content, including the possible equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Process of making an absorbent product comprising :

- feeding a continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material having a longitudinal length an a transverse width, it being fed in the direction of longitudinal length of said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material;

- placing an absorbent core transversally in relation to the longitudinal length of said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material, the absorbent core having a central region and a longitudinal centerline;

- placing a continuous sheet of fluid permeable material in such manner that the absorbent core is located between said continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material and said continuous sheet of fluid permeable material, joining the continuous sheet of fluid impermeable material to the continuous sheet of fluid permeable material by means of adhesion and forming at least a continuous double sheet, the continuous double sheet having a longitudinal centerline, a transverse width and opposite borders; periodically cutting said continuous double sheet to form a succession of transversally disposed absorbent products, side by side, said product having a longitudinal centerline, the central region of the absorbent core and the longitudinal centerline of the absorbent product being located approaching a corresponding front end of each respective absorbent product and simultaneously being vertically aligned with the longitudinal centerline of the double sheet .

2. An absorbent product, having a transverse length, a front end, a back end and an absorbent core having a transverse length and a central region wherein the central region of the absorbent core is placed substantially in the middle of the transverse length of the absorbent core and in a region substantially adjacent to a region defined by half the measure the transverse length of the absorbent product, the central region being located between 25% and 49% of a distance of the transverse length of the absorbent product in relation to the front end of the absorbent product .

3. An absorbent product, according to claim 2, wherein the central region of the absorbent core is located at 37% of the distance of the transverse length of the ab- sorbent product in relation to the front end of the absorbent product .