JP4443377B2 - Absorbent articles - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an absorbent article such as a sanitary napkin, a panty liner (cage sheet), an incontinence pad, and more particularly to an absorbent article having a wing portion.

In general, an absorbent article having a wing portion is used such that the wing portion is bent to the back side (underwear side) and fixed to a crotch portion of underwear such as shorts with an adhesive or the like so as not to be displaced.
Conventionally, when manufacturing this type of absorbent article, the top sheet and / or the back sheet including the wing part was cut from the top sheet and back sheet respectively. In this case, the shape other than the shape including the wing portion has been discarded as a useless trim without being used for the absorbent article.

Therefore, in recent years, from the viewpoint of reducing the amount of raw fabric used and the amount of trim generated, the body part without a wing part is formed on the surface while the absorber is included between the top sheet and the back sheet. A pair of wing pieces are formed from an original sheet different from the sheet original sheet and the back sheet original film, and the pair of wing pieces are joined to the inner sides of both sides of the main body to form a wing part. Yes.
Since such a wing part is weak in strength and easily detached from the main body part, the joint area between the wing piece and the top sheet and the back sheet is set to 5 mm or more. A technique has been proposed in which the bonding width dimension of the sheet is larger than the bonding width dimension on the back sheet side (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-61884

  In the technique described in Patent Document 1, since attention is paid to reliably joining the wing piece and the main body portion, the strength of the wing portion increases, but the deformability in the longitudinal direction decreases due to the rigidity of the joint portion. However, it is difficult to be deformed into a shape along the shorts or a shape along the wearer's skin, and there is a problem that the operability is deteriorated or a sense of incongruity occurs during wearing. Further, in this prior art, since the surface sheet widely spreads over the surface of the wing part, the body fluid impregnated in the surface sheet spreads and spreads to the wing part, and as a result, the crotch part is soiled or leaked. There was a risk of smearing underwear.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an absorbent article in which the wing portion forming material is sufficiently firmly fixed to the main body and is excellent in longitudinal deformability and liquid bleeding prevention properties. is there.

The present invention includes a main body including an absorber, a pair of side sheets covering the upper surface of the side of the absorber, and a back sheet covering the lower surface of the absorber, and a wing portion fixed to each side of the main body. An absorbent article comprising a wing part forming material,
Each wing part forming material is joined to the side sheet and the back sheet in the intermittent joint part intermittently formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and is formed continuously in the longitudinal direction of the main body and the intermittent joint. The above object is achieved by providing an absorbent article that is bonded to the side sheet and / or the back sheet in the continuous bonding section located on the absorber side from the section.

  The present invention includes an absorbent body, a main body including a pair of side sheets covering the upper surface of the side part of the absorbent body, and a back sheet covering the lower surface of the absorbent body, and a wing portion fixed to each side of the main body. Each of the wing part forming materials is joined to the side sheet and the back sheet at the intermittent joining part formed intermittently in the longitudinal direction of the main body. The side sheet or the wing portion forming material achieves the above object by providing an absorbent article that is folded back and itself has two layers fixed to the intermittent joint. Is.

  In the absorbent article of the present invention, the wing portion forming material is sufficiently strongly fixed to the main body, and is excellent in longitudinal deformability and liquid bleeding prevention properties.

The present invention will be described below based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
A sanitary napkin 1 (hereinafter also referred to as napkin 1) as an embodiment of the absorbent article of the present invention (first invention) includes an absorbent body 4 and an absorbent body 4 as shown in FIGS. A main body 10 having a pair of side sheets 5 and 5 covering the upper surface of the side part and a back sheet 3 covering the lower surface of the absorber 4, and the left and right wing parts 20 are fixed to both sides of the main body 10 respectively. It consists of a pair of wing part forming materials 21 and 21, which are formed respectively.

  The absorber 4 has a vertically long and substantially rectangular shape, and the upper surface of the central region in the width direction of the absorber 4 is covered with a liquid-permeable top sheet 2. The top sheet 2 covers the entire upper surface of the absorbent body 4 and has straight side edges at substantially the same position as the both side edges of the absorbent body 4. A pair of side sheet | seat 5 has leak-proof property. Each of the side sheets 5 has a predetermined width portion on the center side in the width direction of the napkin 1 overlapped on the surface sheet 2, and a known portion such as an adhesive 6 is overlapped on the surface sheet 2. The top sheet 2 is joined by a joining means. The side sheet 5 has a part that is not bonded to the top sheet 2 on the center side in the width direction of the napkin 1 together with the joint part by the known joining means, thereby causing a sense of incongruity due to the hardness of the joint part. In other words, it has excellent damming properties for liquid flowing on the surface sheet 2 and liquid diffusing in the surface sheet 2.

The side sheet 5 and the back sheet 3 extend from the both side edges in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent body 4 outward in the width direction, and form side flap portions 7 on both sides of the main body 10.
The wing portion forming material 21 is fixed to the side flap portion 7. As shown in FIG. 1, the wing part forming material 21 is joined to both the side sheet 5 and the back sheet 3 in an intermittent joining part 31 that is intermittently formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body 10.
In the state where the wing portion forming material 21 is interposed between the side sheet 5 and the back sheet 3, the intermittent joining section 31 is formed by subjecting them integrally to heating and pressing. Examples of the heating and pressurizing treatment for forming the intermittent joint portion 31 include heat embossing, ultrasonic embossing, and high-frequency embossing. Particularly, heat embossing is preferable from the viewpoints of workability and joint stability. Moreover, after apply | coating an adhesive agent, it is more preferable to perform a heating and pressurization process from a viewpoint of stabilizing joining of the intermittent junction part 31. FIG.

The wing part forming material 21 includes an inner part 21 a disposed between the side sheet 5 and the back sheet 3, and an outer part 21 b extending from the main body 10 and forming the wing part 20. The inward portion 21 a is vertically long in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the main body 10, and is disposed on the side flap portion 7. The outer portion 21b has a substantially trapezoidal shape.
A plurality of intermittent joint portions 31 are arranged in the longitudinal direction of the main body 10 and are intermittently arranged so as to cover substantially the entire longitudinal direction of the inner portion 21a. Moreover, the intermittent joining part 31 is formed in the outer side edge part vicinity of the width direction of each of the side part sheet | seat 5 and the back surface sheet 3, more specifically, a little inside the outer side edge edge.

The intermittent joint 31 has a width W of the napkin 1 (see FIG. 2) of 1 to 10 mm, particularly 2 to 5 mm, which stabilizes the joint (mainly joint strength) and is attached to the wearer. It is preferable from the viewpoint of improving the performance and wearing feeling.
Further, the intermittent joint portion 31 has a longitudinal dimension L (see FIG. 1) of the napkin 1 of 0.5 to 10 mm, particularly 1 to 5 mm, which stabilizes the joint (improves joint strength and breaks). (Suppression of occurrence) is preferable. The dimension L may be larger or smaller than the dimension W, but if the dimension L is smaller than the dimension W, it tends to bend in the longitudinal direction, and the wearability and wearing feeling to the wearer are further improved. It is more preferable from the point of making.
Moreover, the intermittent junction part 31 is that the space | interval P (refer FIG. 1) of the longitudinal direction of the napkin 1 is 0.5-10 mm, especially 1-5 mm from the point which makes the wearer feel favorable. preferable.

The wing portion forming material 21 is joined to the back sheet 3 at a continuous joining portion 32 continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body 10. The continuous joint portion 32 is formed closer to the absorber 4 than the intermittent joint portion 31. The continuous joining part 32 in the napkin 1 is formed by joining the wing part forming material 21 and the back sheet 3 by heat sealing or hot melt adhesive. The continuous joint portion 32 is formed over substantially the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the inner portion 21a. The width of the continuous joint portion 32 is preferably narrower than the dimension W in the width direction of the intermittent joint portion, and is preferably 0.5 to 7 mm, particularly preferably 1 to 3 mm. In addition, the continuous joint portion may be formed in a linear form by gathering a plurality of lines or portions that are strongly formed, such as lattice patterns or dots.
In addition, in the peripheral part of the main body 10, the side sheet 5 or the top sheet 2 and the back sheet 3 are joined by a known joining means at a portion where the wing part forming material 21 is not interposed. In the portion where the wing portion forming material 21 is not interposed, the influence of the increase in rigidity due to joining is small.

According to the napkin 1 of the present embodiment, since the wing portion forming material 21 is fixed to the main body 10 by the intermittent joint portion 31 and the continuous joint portion 32, the wing portion forming material 21 is sufficiently strong against the main body 10. It is fixed. Moreover, since the joint portions are formed at intervals in the intermittent joint portion 31, the napkin 1 is easily bent in the longitudinal direction, and the napkin 1 is attached to the shape of the shorts and the skin of the wearer when worn or worn. The shape is flexibly deformed to conform to the shape, so that the mounting operability is good, and a good fit and wearing feeling can be obtained during wearing.
In addition, since the wing portion forming material 21 is bonded to the back sheet 3 in the continuous bonding portion 32, the liquid absorbed by the absorber 4 passes between the intermittent bonding portion 31 and the intermittent bonding portion 31 to the outside. Exudation can be prevented. Moreover, in the continuous joining part 32, since the wing part forming material 21 is joined only to the back sheet 3 which is one of the side sheet 5 and the back sheet 3, the continuous joining part 32 is heat-sealed or hot melted. Even if formed with an adhesive or the like, it is difficult to inhibit the bending of the napkin 1 in the longitudinal direction.

The present invention is particularly useful for an absorbent article in which the dimension L1 (see FIG. 1) in the direction along the longitudinal direction of the main body of the wing portion 20 is relatively long. When the dimension L1 of the wing part is long, the length of the joint part of the wing part forming material 21 becomes long, and there is a great problem that the part is difficult to bend. However, according to the present invention, such an absorbent article is used. In this case, the dimension L1 of the wing portion can be increased while maintaining the ease of bending in the longitudinal direction. For example, the present invention is particularly suitable for the case where the dimension L1 of the wing portion is 3 to 20 cm, particularly 7 to 15 cm. Speaking in relation to the total length of the absorbent article, the absorbent article in which the dimension L1 of the wing portion is 30 to 90%, particularly 40 to 80%, and further 50 to 80% of the total length in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article. It is suitable for.
The intermittent joint portion 31 and the continuous joint portion 32 preferably extend over at least half the length L2 of the dimension L1 of the wing portion or the length L2 of the inner portion 21a. It is more preferable that each of the joint portions 32 is formed over a length longer than the dimension L1, and each of the joint portions 32 is formed over a length substantially equal to or longer than the length L2 of the inner portion 21a. Is more preferable.

  Moreover, it is preferable that a wing part formation material has a stretching property. When the stretchable wing part forming material is used, the dimension L1 of the wing part 20 can be made longer while fitting the shorts crotch curved part without any gap and preventing inconveniences such that the wing part is difficult to bend. . As a result, it is possible to improve the difficulty of shifting the napkin during mounting (stability) and the difficulty of twisting the absorbent body / wing portion forming material, and more effectively prevent the underwear from becoming dirty. Can do.

As the stretchable wing part forming material, a stretchable nonwoven fabric is preferably used from the viewpoints of touch and flexibility. Examples of the stretchable nonwoven fabric include a nonwoven fabric that contains three-dimensionally crimped fibers and exhibits stretchability due to the entanglement of the fibers, and a nonwoven fabric that exhibits stretchability by an elastomer material such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, and spandex. It can be preferably used.
Preferred examples of the nonwoven fabric exhibiting stretchability by three-dimensionally crimped fibers include a first fiber layer including three-dimensionally crimped crimped fibers and a three-dimensionally crimped crimped fiber. Or a second fiber layer containing a crimped fiber not three-dimensionally crimped at a lower content than in the first fiber layer, and the first fiber layer and the second fiber layer are partially heat-sealed. And a stretchable laminated nonwoven fabric integrated. The laminated nonwoven fabric includes, for example, a first fiber layer forming material containing a latent crimpable fiber that develops crimps due to thermal shrinkage of the constituent components, and a fiber that does not thermally shrink below the shrinkage start temperature of the latent crimpable fiber. In the state where the second fiber layer forming material is laminated on each other, the two are partially heat-sealed by heat or ultrasonic embossing to produce an intermediate in which a large number of heat-sealed portions are formed in a dispersed state. Thereafter, the intermediate body can be heat-treated to heat shrink the first fiber layer forming material, and the second fiber layer side has a large number of independent or continuous large number of convex portions. The laminated nonwoven fabric is used with the second fiber layer side facing the top sheet. The latent crimpable fiber is a fiber that can be handled in the same manner as a conventional nonwoven fabric fiber before being heated, and has a property that a helical crimp is developed and contracted by heating at a predetermined temperature. is there. The latent crimpable fiber includes, for example, an eccentric core-sheath type composite fiber or a side-by-side type composite fiber containing two types of thermoplastic polymer materials having different shrinkage rates as components. Examples of the thermoplastic polymer material include polyolefins such as polyethylene and polypropylene, polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate, and polyamides. As the laminated nonwoven fabric having such a configuration, for example, a three-dimensional sheet material described in JP-A-2002-187228 can be preferably used.

  As the nonwoven fabric exhibiting stretchability by the elastomer material, a stretchable composite nonwoven fabric formed by laminating and integrating stretchable fiber aggregates (nonwoven fabric or fiber web) on one or both sides of a sheet made of elastomer material is used. You can also. As the elastomer material, natural rubber, synthetic rubber such as butadiene and isoprene, and the like are preferably used. As the sheet made of the elastomer material, an elastic film obtained by forming the elastomer material into a film, a sheet obtained by forming an elastic fiber made of the elastomer material into a net shape or a non-woven fabric, and the like are preferably used. As the fiber assembly, thermoplastic polyurethane fiber, highly crimped polyethylene fiber, highly crimped polyester fiber, or the like can be used. Examples of the method for fixing the fiber assembly to the sheet made of the elastomer material include a method for fixing the fiber assembly to the sheet by heat fusion.

  The napkin 1 of the present embodiment has an adhesive part (not shown) on the back surface of each wing part 20 in the same manner as a conventional napkin with a wing part, and the crotch of underwear such as shorts is provided via the adhesive part. Used fixed to the part. Other fastening means (such as a mechanical hook-and-loop fastener) can be used instead of the adhesive portion.

In addition, as a forming material of the side part sheet | seat 5, a leak-proof sheet material is preferable and the sheet | seat made from a water-repellent nonwoven fabric, a resin film, etc. are used preferably. In particular, it is preferable to use a water-repellent non-woven fabric in terms of touch and prevention of lateral leakage. As the side sheet 5, a laminate of a nonwoven fabric and a resin film can be used. Examples of the water-repellent nonwoven fabric include spunbond nonwoven fabric, spunbond-melt blown composite nonwoven fabric, and water-repellent treated air-through nonwoven fabric that have not been subjected to hydrophilic treatment.
As a forming material of the back sheet 3, a leak-proof sheet material is preferable, and various sheet materials conventionally used as a back sheet of an absorbent article can be used. For example, polyethylene film, polypropylene film, polyester film Etc. can be used. These films may be provided with fine pores for air permeability. Moreover, a highly water-resistant nonwoven fabric such as an SMS nonwoven fabric can be used.
As the material for forming the topsheet 2 and the absorbent body 4 and the like, various materials conventionally used for absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins can be used without particular limitation. For example, the topsheet has a hydrophilic treatment. The air-through non-woven fabric, its perforated sheet, and perforated film can be used. As the absorbent body, it is possible to use a fiber sheet obtained by mixing pulp and a superabsorbent polymer, a polymer sheet, or the like.

Next, a napkin as another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, only differences from the above-described napkin 1 will be described, and description of similar points will be omitted. For the points that are not particularly described, the above description of the napkin 1 is applied as appropriate.
FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B are other embodiments of the first invention. In the napkin shown to Fig.3 (a), the side part sheet | seat 5 and the wing part formation material 21 are joined by heat sealing, and the continuous junction part 32 is formed. The continuous joint portion 32 may be used in combination with a hot melt adhesive from the viewpoint of increasing the bonding strength or reducing the hardness. In the napkin shown in FIG. 3B, the continuous joint portion 32 is formed of a hot-melt adhesive. When forming a continuous joining part using a hot-melt-type adhesive, as shown in FIG.3 (b), the edge part of the wing part formation material 21 is made into the side part sheet 5 and the back surface sheet 3 with a hot-melt-type adhesive. Instead of fixing, a hot-melt adhesive is interposed between the wing portion forming material 21 and the side sheet 5 or between the wing portion forming material 21 and the back sheet 3 to form a continuous joint portion. You can also.

  4 (a) and 4 (b) show an embodiment of the second invention. In the napkins 1 ′ and 1 ″ shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the continuous joint portion 32 is not formed. Instead, the side sheet 5 is folded back in the napkin 1 ′. Itself has a portion 51 that is formed in two layers, and the portion 51 is fixed to the intermittent joint portion 31. In the napkin 1 ″, the wing portion forming material 21 is folded back to It itself has a portion 22 that forms two layers, and the portion 22 is fixed to the intermittent junction 31. The side sheet 5 or the wing part forming material 21 preferably has a folded width of about 5 to 30 mm.

In the napkin 1 ′, 1 ″, the wing portion forming material 21 is fixed to the main body 10 by the intermittent joint portions 31 that are intermittently formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body. The napkin is easy to bend in the longitudinal direction, the mounting operability is good, and a good fit and wearing feeling can be obtained during wearing.
Moreover, since the side part sheet | seat 5 or the wing part formation material 21 is folded and it fixes to the intermittent junction part 31, it can prevent that the liquid which the absorber 4 absorbed leaks outside.

  5 and 6 are other embodiments common to the first and second inventions, and in the napkin shown in FIG. 5, the intermittent joint portion 31 is concave toward the outside in the diaper width direction. In the napkin shown in FIG. 6, the joint portion 33 formed so as to extend in the width direction of the napkin is intermittently arranged in the longitudinal direction of the main body 10. Each joint 33 is composed of a plurality (four in the illustrated example) of joints 33a formed intermittently. Even if the shape of the intermittently joined portion is as shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, the same effect as the napkin 1 or the napkin 1 ', 1 "can be obtained.

The present invention (first and second inventions) is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of each invention.
For example, the absorbent article of the present invention may be a panty liner (cage sheet), an incontinence pad, etc. in addition to a sanitary napkin.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a sanitary napkin according to an embodiment of the present invention (first invention) as viewed from the surface sheet side. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b) are views (corresponding to FIG. 2) showing a sanitary napkin as another embodiment of the present invention (first invention). 4 (a) and 4 (b) are diagrams (similar to FIG. 2) showing a sanitary napkin as an embodiment of the present invention (second invention), respectively. FIG. 5 is a view (corresponding to FIG. 2) showing a sanitary napkin as an embodiment of the present invention (first and second inventions). FIG. 6 is a view (corresponding to FIG. 2) showing a sanitary napkin as an embodiment of the present invention (first and second inventions).

Explanation of symbols

1 Sanitary napkin (absorbent article)
2 Top sheet 3 Back sheet 4 Absorber 5 Side sheet 10 Main body 20 Wing part 21 Wing part forming material

Claims (4)

A main body comprising an absorbent body, a pair of side sheets covering the upper side surface of the absorbent body, and a back sheet covering the lower surface of the absorbent body, and fixed to both sides of the main body to form a wing portion. An absorbent article comprising a wing part forming material,
The side sheet is made of a leak-proof sheet material,
Each wing part forming material is made of a nonwoven fabric that exhibits elasticity by an elastomer material,
Each of the wing portion forming materials is intermittently formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and is joined to the side sheet and the back sheet, and continuously formed in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and the intermittent joint portion. In the continuous joint located on the absorber side, it is joined to the side sheet and / or the back sheet,
In the intermittent joint, between the side sheet and the wing part forming material, and between the wing part forming material and the back sheet are joined at the same position in the width direction of the main body,
The intermittent joint is formed on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and is formed in the vicinity of the side edge of each of the side sheet and the back sheet,
The absorbent article in which the wing part forming material extends from the side edge of each of the side part sheet and the back sheet, and the wing part is formed by the extended wing part forming material on each side of the main body .   The absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein each wing portion forming material is bonded to only one of a side sheet and a back sheet in the continuous bonding section. A main body comprising an absorbent body, a pair of side sheets covering the upper side surface of the absorbent body, and a back sheet covering the lower surface of the absorbent body, and fixed to both sides of the main body to form a wing portion. An absorbent article comprising a wing part forming material,
The side sheet is made of a leak-proof sheet material,
Each wing part forming material is made of a nonwoven fabric that exhibits elasticity by an elastomer material,
Each wing part forming material is joined to the side sheet and the back sheet in the intermittent joining part formed intermittently in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and the side sheet or the wing part forming material is folded back itself. Are fixed to the intermittent joint,
In the intermittent joint, between the side sheet and the wing part forming material, and between the wing part forming material and the back sheet are joined at the same position in the width direction of the main body,
The intermittent joint is formed on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the main body, and is formed in the vicinity of the side edge of each of the side sheet and the back sheet,
The absorbent article in which the wing part forming material extends from the side edge of each of the side part sheet and the back sheet, and the wing part is formed by the extended wing part forming material on each side of the main body . The absorbent article according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein each wing portion has a dimension in a direction along a longitudinal direction of the main body of 3 to 20 cm.