CA1056103A

CA1056103A - Adhesively attached absorbent product

Info

Publication number: CA1056103A
Application number: CA237,674A
Authority: CA
Inventors: James A. Ginocchio
Original assignee: Personal Products Co
Current assignee: Personal Products Co
Priority date: 1974-10-16
Filing date: 1975-10-15
Publication date: 1979-06-12
Also published as: US3913580A; JPS5913212B2; IE41811B1; ZA756523B; IE41811L; AU8508475A; JPS5185297A; DE2546208A1

Abstract

Abstract of the Disclosure An absorbent product is disclosed which includes a fluid impervious barrier sheet at one side thereof adhered to an absorbent pad that is surrounded, at least in part, by a fluid pervious cover to be positioned against the body of the wearer. The barrier sheet includes a central strip of pressure sensitive adhesive for adhering the absorbent product to a garment, and a protective cover strip is releasably adhered to the pressure sensitive adhesive. The barrier sheet is secured in place by a plurality of spaced parallel lines of adhesive on the surface thereof opposite to the strip of pressure sensitive adhesive. This surface also includes a band of adhesive in alignment with the strip of pressure sensitive adhesive to reinforce the mid-portion of the product and prevent different sections of the strip of pressure sensitive adhesive from inadvertently adhering to one another once the protective cover strip has been removed. The band of adhesive includes a rectangular area generally coextensive with the length of the absorbent pad, and a plurality of lines of adhesive extend outwardly from opposite ends of the generally rectangular area into the tab portions of the product. Such lines of adhesive are spaced from one another by a distance generally the same as the distance between the lines of adhesive outwardly of the adhesive band.

Description

1051i103 ~ )~

~ ,ound of ~he Inventlsn ..' ~ , '.
ThL~ inventioll rela~e~ in general to absorbent productR
of the s~nitary napk~n type, and particul~rly to such product~
which are retained in place by adhe~,ive ~dher~men~ ~o a garment of the wearer to provide protection for ~uch garment. -Such adhesively attached abæorbent product~ have met . with ignificant commerci~l success in the recent past, and have been particularly convenient ~o use ill the days preceding ,7 ~ ':
a woman's menstrual cycle and at the end o~ the menstrual cycle.
S~ch products have al~o had widespread use dùring periods of heavy discharge as added protection for~a woman using a tampon.
Women have also found it con~enien~ to use such products in : between menstr~al cycles to protect undergarments against ; body di~charges and when using variou~ medicaments.: These product~ are partlcularly convenient to u~e, slnce they do not f ~5 require any pins, bel~s or special undergal~ent~, and can be readily retained in place by merely pres~n~ the ~dhes~e in~o $
en~agement with an undergarment. .

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AbRorbent product~ of the above type conventionally have included an absorbent core or pad formed entirely of short cellulose fibers, such as cotton linters or wood pulp fiber~, or mixtures thereof, held together primarily by interfiber S bonds, and which are commonly referred to as "fluff". Such pads ~re generally rectan8ular both in plan view and in cross section, and are surrounded by a soft fluid pervious body engaging cover, ~uch as ~n apertured nonwoven fabrlc as disclosed, for example, in eommonly assignad U.S. Patent numbers 2,862,251i 3,081,514 and 3,081.515. The side of ~he produc~ opposi~e :~
from the side to be po~itioned again~ the body of the wearer has conventionally included a thin fluid i~pervious barrier sheet formed of a material such as polyethylene. Such~a sheet i8 nor~lly adhesively adhered to the re~a~nder of the absor-bent product, and ~he exposed outer face of the b~rrier ~heet ~^-~8 provided with a strip of pressure sensiti~e adhe~ive for securing the product to a garment such a underpants. A pro-tective cover strip i8 releassbly adhered to the strip of adhesive, and i8 re ved Ju~t prior to use of the product. The covers ;
and barrier sheets that are u~ed in absorbent products of the ~type de3cribed ~bove are usually longer th~n the absorbent ~:
pad~ to confine t~e pad to the in~erior of the product, and to provide tab~ at oppo~i~e ends of the product, ~ :
One of the problem~ that has been encountered in the past i8 to adequately control the ~mount of a & esive substanee ~-that i8 utilized to secure the barrier sheet in place on the ~ -~
product, ~ince if too much adhesive i~ used, undesirable stiffening occur~, par~cularly in ~he tab area, and if too ~ :
little adhesive i8 u~ed, the absorbent product can come apart when subjected to s~ress.

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, ': ' ' , , ' ' ' -~ ~ 5 ~ ~ ~ 3 Another ve~atiou~ problem that ari~e~ in the use o$
product~ ~8 describ~d above re8ult8 from the faet ~hat the barrier sheet that i8 utili2ed to retain body fluid~ w~thin the product i~ extremely thin and flexible. A~ a result, when the protective cover ~trip is removed from the pres~ure sensitive adhesive, unless tha user of the product i8 extremely CQrefU1, it i8 pos~ible that different section~ of the pressure sensitive adhe~ive will adhere to one another, oftentlme~
c~ueing perm~nent creasing or wrlnkling of the barrier ~heet and someti~e mak~ng the pro~uct unusabl~. The problem i~
complieated by the fact that the exposed pressure sensitive adhe~ive must be readily adhereable to the garment of the wearer, so that of necessity, ~he pressure 3ensitive adhesive mu8t be extre~ely tacky. As a r~sult, wh~n different sections o~ the pressure sensi~ive adhesive stick to one anGther, they are extr~mely difficult to pull apart.: Should this occur in use, as a re~ult for ex~mple of the constant stresses to ~:
which the product i~ ~ub~eoted to when worn, these self- :
adhered por ions w~ll no longer be available ~o maintain the produc~t in itA proper position 2nd, as a reQult~ the product may shift ou~ of position. ...
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um~arL ~f the _n ent~on .

The pre~ent invention provideQ a ~olution to the problems set forth above by virtue of a unique adhesive pattern f~r ~oining the b~rrier ~heet to the reM~inder of the absorbent product. The adhesive pattern include~ a co~t~nuous band of adhesive which extends from end to end of the barrier ~heet on the side thereof oppo~lte from the pre~sure sens~tive adhe~ive ~ ~

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~5 ~ ~ 3 and in alignment therewith, which bQnd adds significant strength to the barrier sheet in the cross direction. The band of adhesiYe includes a generally rectangularly shaped mid-portion which extendf9 a maJor portion of the length of the barrier sheet and which i8 preferably sllghtly wider than the strip of pressure sensitive adhesive, al~hough thi~ i8 not critical to the present in~ention.
The adhe~ive pattern ~urther includes a plurality of spaced continuow a~d par~llel lines.of ~dhesive on- `-opposite ~ides of the band of adhesi~e, which lines ext~nd from e~d to end of the bar~ier ~heet, and which cooperate with the band of adhe~ive to bond the barrier ~heet ~o the under-lying portion of ~he absorbent product. The band of adhesive ;~
also includes a plurality o ~paced line~ which extend ou~wardly from the rectangular area at opposite end~ thereof, with the lines of the band being ~paced from one another by about the :~
same distance a~ the lines outwardly of ~he band.
The generally rectangular area of the band of adhesive corresponds in length ~o the pad of the absorbent prod~ct, with the lines at the oppo~ite end~ of the band being pre~en~ in the ~abs of the produc~. With the above d~scribed adhesive pattern, a continuou~ band of adhe~ive ~ 8 provlded from end to end of ~: -the b~rrier ~heet, with lesser amoun~ of adheslve being pre~ent in the tab area than in the remainder of the p~oduct.
During manufac~ure of the absorbent product, the sub-assembly consl~ting of the pad nd fluid pervious cover i~
brought ~nto registry with ~he barrier sheet having the ~bove described adhe3i~e pattern thereon9 ~nd the resultlng ~tructure ~ :
i8 sub~ected ts compression in the area~ outwardly of ~he -, . . :. , .

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: ' `, ' ' : , ~ 3 absorbent pad to cause the adhesive on th~ barrier shee~ to ~pread ~lightly in the tab area and ~o bond po~itively wlth the cover of the product, By vir~ue of provid~ng spaced lines of adhesive outwardly of eh~ rlgidifying rectangular area of the continuous band of adhe~ive, not on$y i~ the amount of adhesive nece~sary to complete the prodNct minimized, but al80 ~n effective tab ~eal i~ cre~ted without stiffening of ths tab~. The lesser qu~ntlty of adhe~ive in the tab areas (as com~ared to the generally rectangular area of the band), al80 prevents bleed-through of the adhes~ve ~ubstance during the 10 compre~8~0n 3tep, which otherwi~e could foul ~he proces8ing equip~ent and pre~en~ an effectlve high-speed production operatlon.
The continuous central band of ~he adhesive pattern can be applied ~imul~an~ou~ly with the applica~ion of the:adhe~ve lines outwardly thereof, or in a ~eparate proce8~ng step~ ;;
In either event; the band is preferably;fonmed by discharging ~ .
an appropriate adhesive sub~tance onto the barrier sheet through openings in the ~etering val~e, and controlling the valve -~
such tha~ the adhesive substance pools or floods the area of the barrier sheet lm~edia~ely ad3acen to the metering valve during formation of the generally rectangular area of the ~ ~ -band and forms discreet lines of adhesive ou~wardly of the ends of the generally rectangular are~ in ~hose sections of ~he band corre~ponding to the tab areas of the product. The ba~ic weight of the lines outwardly of the ends of the generally rectangular area i8 ~ubstantially the same a~ the lines at oppo~ite sides of the rectangular area, 80 th~t the strength of the tab seal is generally uniform throughout the width of the product.

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~ ~56~3 According to a broad aspect of the present invention there is provi~ed an absorbent product for adhesive attachment to a wearer's garment. I'he absorbent product comprises an absorbent pad having longitudinal qides, transverse ends, a first generally rectangular face to be disposed toward the body of the wearer, and a second generally rectangular face to be disposed toward the garment of the wearer. A fluid pervious cover is positioned adjacent the first face, and is ~-generally rectangular and larger and wider than the pad. The opposite longitudinal marginal portions of the cover is folded over adjacent and longitudinal sides of the pad and extends in~
wardly over the second face of the pad. A fluid impervious barrier sheet overlies the inwardly extending portion of the ; -cover. This barrier sheet is generally coextensive ln length with the cover. Pressure sansitive adhesive means extends longitudinally on the outer face of the barrier sheet. A
protective strip covers the pressure sensitive adhesive means ;~
and releasably adheres thereto. Adhesive means is provided `~
on the inner face of the barrler sheet for attaching the barrier -sheet to the product. This adhesive means comprises a plurality of lines extending longitudinally of the barrier sheet and parallel with the side edges of the pad and a band of adhesive coaligned with and beneath the pressure sensitive adhesive means.
The band of adhesive is at least as wide as the pressure . . - . .
sensitive adhesive means. ~

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Brlef De~crl~tion of the_D;rawln~s Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an ab30rbent product formed in accordance with the teachings of the present i~ven-tion, with certaln portlo~ of the product being folded back or torn away to axpo~e underlying por~ions;
S Flg. 2 is a pla~ vi~w of the underAurfac~ of the barrier aheet of the a~sorbent product of the present i~ven~ion;
Fig. 3 is a cros3-se~tional view taken generally along line 3-3 of Fi~. l;
Fig. 4 is a crozs-sectional view t~k~n g~nerally along line 4-4 of Fig. l;
Fig. 5 i3 a bott~m plan view of a metering ~al~e which may be used to form the cen~ral band of adhe~ive on the under~
surfao~ o the barrier sheet; and ~
FLg. 6 is a eross-sectional vi~w taken generally alo~g. ~ ~ ;
line 6-6 o~ Fig. 5.

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While thi~ invention i8 susceptible o ~mbodi~ent in -~
many different form~, ~here i8 shown in ~he drawings and will ~:
herein be~described in dQtsil, a preferr~d embodiment of ::
the in~entio~ w~th the understanding ~hat the pre~ent disclo sure i8 to be considered as an exemplif~cation of the principles of the in~ention and i8 not intended to limit the lnvention to the embodlment illustreted. ;~
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. . , -. ,' ' ' ~5~ 3 The absorbent product of the pre ent invention i~
illustrated in it8 entirety at 10 ~n Fig. 1, and include~
an absorbent core or pad 12, a f luid pervious cover 14, and a fluid impervious barrier sheet 16~ Absorbent pad 12 i8 formed entirely of 1008ely compacted ~hort cellulo8ic fibers, i.e., fibers having a length les~ than abou~ ~6", and preferably i8 in the form of a low-bulk den3ity batt referred to conven- :
tionally as "fluff", wherein the fibers ~re retained together by interfiber bonds without the use of 2dded-adhesive. Pad 12 may be formed of wood pulp fibers or cotton linters or mixtures thereof. Pad 12 i~ generally in the shape of a rec-t~ngular parallelpiped as i~ evident by comparing Fi8s. 1 and 3.
A wide variety of fabrics may be utilized a8 cover 14j :
~o long as the~fabric~ are soEt, di~enslonally seable, and ~ :
pervious to body fluid8. Apertured ~onwoven fabrics of the type described in the previously mentioned patents have been found to be particularly well-suited for the present in~ention.
Cover 14 is rectangular in shape and wider and longer than pad 12. The side marginal edges 14a and 14b (Figs~ 3 and 4) of the ;:
cover are folded around th~ opposite side edges of the pad, 80 as to be present at the outer side of the product, i.e., that side which face~ away from the body of the wearer and which i8 to be adhered to an undergarment, as will hereinAfter :
appear. While cover portions 14a and 14b have been illustrated as being spaced ~rom one another, the pre~ent invention con~
templates that a wider cover may be utilized, with the oppo~ite edge~ being folded into close proximity or even into over- :.
lapping relation~hip with one another.

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. ~ '- ~ ' ' : ~: , . , ~ 3 Barrier sheet 16 is formed of a thin ~luid impervious film material, such as polyethylene, and barrier ~heet 16 i8 al~o rectangular, corre~ponding in length to ~over 14 and approxima~ely in width to pad 12. A polyethylene sh~et 2 mils thick has functioned very ~atisfactorily as a ~arrier sheet in the present invention. A strip 18 of tacky pressure sen~itive athesive i8 providet on the outer face of barrier sheet 16, and extend~ continuo~sly from end to end thereof. Pre~sure sensiti~e adhesive ~trip 18 cover~ a rectsngular area which ~-0 i8 centrally located on ~he exposed ~ide of barrier sheet 16, ~nd a pxotective coYer strip 20 i8 releas~bly adhered to ad~
hesive 18 to protect the same prior to use of the product. ;~
Pro~ective strip 20 may be ~lightly wider than adhe~iv~ ~trip 18. The pressure sensitive ~trip 18 may be coated direetly . .
onto the barrier sheet, applied to protective cover 8trip 20 and transferred to the barrier sheet (as i8 desoribed~in c~mmonly assigned U.S. Patent number 3,595,237), or may be provided by a double faced adhe~ive tap8, a~ will be well~understood by those ;-skilled in the ar~. In any event ~ once protective strip 20 is r~oved, adhesive strip 18 provides an expoQed tacky mass ;:
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which is utilized to retatn the product in place on the garment of the wearer but which wculd, prior to the incorpsration of the barrier sheet adhesion syst~m of thls invention, require great care on the part of the user to avoid ~he proble~s of self adhesion herein referred to. ; ~: :
In accordance with this invention, there i8 provided, on the undersurface or inner surface 22 of barrier ~heet 16, a continuous central adhesive band 24 in ~lignmen~ with adhesive strip 18 and a plurality of spaced parallel adhesive line~ 26 :~
arranged outwardly and on opposite ~des of band 24.
As ~8 evident from Fig. Z, lines 26 extend continuously _9_ ~ 0 3 from end to end of the barrier sheet (the le~g~h of ~he barrier she~ being denoted by the broken line~ in Fig. 2), and are d~s-posed in parallell~m with the s~des of the ~heet and with band 24.
Band 24 includes ~ generRlly rectangularly shaped midportion 28 which extends a ma~or portion of the length of the barrier sheet, and a plur~lity of equally laterally Qpaced parallel lines 28a extending outwardly fro~ each end of rectangular area 28. Rec-tangular area 28 corresponds in length gen~rally with pad 12 and line~ 28a extend outwardly fr~m pad 12 so as to be pre~ent ,~ -in the tabs 30 at opposite ends of the product. The d~stanoe between lines 28a i8 generally the same as the distance between .
lines 26, and the quunti~y of adhesive per unit length for all ; ~ ~-of the lines i8 essentially the same ~o ~hat ~he strength of .;
the tab ~eals will be unifcr~ across thG width thereof. ~`:
Bsnd 24 can be formed simultaneou~ly with the formation of line~ 26 or in a separate proce~sing step. The same or different . ;~ ~-adhesives can be used. A metering valve 32, which may be utilized to form band 24 i8 ~hown in Figis. 5 and 6, and valve 32 forms the desired adhesive pat~ern on a continuoua web o barrier sheet ~:
film stock by a wipi~ action aR the i;~nmove~ beneath the valve ;;:~
in engageqnent with the low~r surface thereof.
Valve 32 include~ a body 34 ha~ing ~ chamber 3S t~erein, : :
which converges downwardly, as can be seen in Flg. 6. ~n appro-priate adhe~iv~ substance under pres~ure i8 admitted into .:
chamber 36 through inlet 38, and is forced from chsmber 36 through downwardly extending discharge port~ 40, there being one such di~charge port for ea~h line 28a.
The lower end of valve body 34 i~ undercut at 42 to ~:;
define a recess in which adhesive from port~ 40 i8 collected.
A control spool 44 i8 mounted for vertical mov~ment within valve body 34 for controlling the quantity o adhesive 10wing through ports 40. The lower end 46 of the con~rol spool iB
~apered corresponding to the taper at the lower end of eha~ber .

~5~ 3 36, and when llne~ 28a are ~onmed on the ~ilm of b~rrier sheet material pa~sing directly below valve 32, ~pool 44 i~
moved downwardly to locat~ lower end 46 in flow-restricting relationship with respect to ports 40 30 thst adheRlve flows direc~ly onto the barrier film from ports 40. When rectangular area~ 28 are to be fonmed on the bArr~er filM, the spool 44 ~8 moved upwardly ou~ of flow-restricting rela~ionship with respect to ports 40, and adh~ive under preBBure i~ ~orced outwardly ~o fill the recess fonmed by u~dercut 42, 80 that the area 28 i8 continuou3 both lengthwi~e and transver~ely.
The exact position of the valve spool relative to the valve chamber duri~g for~a~ion of band 24 ~ill depend on many factors, such a~ whether a cold or a hot melt adhe~ive i8 u~ed, the visco~ity of the particular adhesi~e, the rate of mov~men~
of the barrier film, etc. Also, the structure of ~he metering ~alve itself is not critical to the present in~enticn, and :~ :
con~igurations other than that illustra~ed ~n Fig~. S ~nd.6 wili 8ugge8t themselves to those skilled in the art.
Durin~ m~nufacture of the absorbent product, sub~
ass2mblies con8isting of paced pads 12 par~ially wrapped~with cover 14 are fed into ~xtaposition with the shee~ of adhesively coated barrier fi~m material in timed relationship with re~pect to the reciprocation of 3pool 44 80 ~hat the lines 28a are in registry with the portions of the cover be~ween the pads.
The resultin~ ~andwich structure i8 then sub~ected to light compactio~ between compression roll~, to cau~e the adhes~ve lines 26 and the adhe~ive band 24 to penetrate ~nto and bond with the ad~acent underly~ng fibrous portion of the produc:t. ~ :~

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As i~ clear from Figs. 3 and 4 in the illus~rated embodi-ment of the lnvention, two 8et8 of two adhesive lines ~6 bond barrier sheet 16 to esch of the inwardly folded edges 14a and 14b of the cover 14, while two sets of four adhesive line~ 26 S bond the barrier sheet 16 to p~d 12 at e~ch side of band 24 and four adhesive lines 28a are pre~ent at ~he ends of band 24 in the tabs 30. In one preferred form of the invention, wherein the barrier sheet was 1-3/4 inches wide, adhesive line~ 26 and 28a were about 3/64 inch in width, with rectangular nrea 28 being about 3/8 inch ~n width. ~he entlre adheslve pattern on ~he barrier sheet was about .004 inch thick~ and was found to provide a ~ecure :-bond between the barrier ~hcet ~nd the rem~inder of the ~bsorbent product. By having spaced adhesi~e line~ 28a in the tab portions of the product, as compared to a transver~ely continuous area of adhesive like area 24, undue stiffening of the tabs i8 pre~
ven~ed. Furthermore, ~he rontrolled les~er amount of adhesive in the tab portion~ prevents bleed-khrough of the ~dhesive during the product compressing step and cohsequent fouling of the processing equipment.
The rectangul~r area 28 of band 24 i8 prefer~bly at least as wide as the pressure sensitive adhesive strip 18, and in the embodiment described in ~he preeeeting paragraph, the pre~sure sen~itive adhesive strip was 1/4 inch in width and he rectangu~ar ~ --area was 3/8 inch in ~idth. Sueh an area was found to reinforce the mid-portion o~ the barrier sheet and provited increased resi~tance to wrinkling of the barrier sheet, thereby mlnimizing the likeli-hood of one portion of the pre~sure sensitive adhesive being inad-vertently adhered to another once the protqctive covering strip has been re~oved therefrom.

Claims

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:-

1. An absorbent product for adhesive attachment to a wearer's garment comprising:

an absorbent pad having longitudinal sides, transverse ends, a first generally rectangular face to be disposed toward the body of the wearer and a second generally rectangular face to be disposed toward the garment of the wearer.
a fluid pervious cover positioned adjacent said first face, said cover being generally rectangular and larger and wider than said pad; the opposite longitudinal marginal portions of said cover being folded over adjacent and longitudinal sides of said pad and extending inwardly over the second face of said pad;
a fluid is impervious barrier sheet overlying said inwardly extending portion of said cover, said barrier sheet being gener-ally coextensive in length with said cover;
pressure sensitive adhesive means extending longitudinally on the outer face of said barrier sheet;
a protective strip covering said pressure sensitive ad-hesive means and releasably adhered thereto; and adhesive means on the inner face of said barrier sheet for attaching said barrier sheet to said product, said adhesive means comprising a plurality of lines extending longitudinally of said barrier sheet and parallel with the side edges of said pad and a band of adhesive coaligned with and beneath said pressure sensitive adhesive means, said band of adhesive being at least as wide as said pressure sensitive adhesive means.

2. A product as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said pressure sensitive adhesive means and the band of adhesive are located in the center of said barrier sheet.

3. A product as set forth in Claim 1 wherein said band of adhesive covers a continuous generally rectangularly shaped area of said barrier sheet, said area being generally coextensive in length with said pad.

4. A product as set forth in Claim 3 wherein spaced lines of adhesive extend outwardly from each end of said band of adhesive.

5. An absorbent product having an inner face adapted to be disposed toward the body of the wearer and an outer oppositely directed face, said product comprising: an absorbent pad; a fluid cover adjacent said pat at the inner face of the product, opposite side marginal portions of said cover being folded over adjacent side edges of said pad and extending inwardly over the outer face of the product; a fluid impervious barrier sheet outwardly of the inwardly extending portions of said cover, said barrier sheet being generally coextensive in length with said cover; pressure sensitive adhesive means on the outer face of said barrier sheet for attaching said product to an undergarment or the like; and adhesive means on the inner face of said barrier sheet for attaching said barrier sheet at the outer face of the product, said latter adhesive means including a plurality of transversely spaced lines of adhesive extending longitudinally of said barrier sheet and parallel with the side edges of said pad and a band of adhesive in alignment with said first mentioned pressure sensitive adhesive means, said band of adhesive being at least twice as wide as any of said lines of adhesive.

6. A product as set forth in Claim 5 wherein said band of adhesive covers a continuous generally rectangularly shaped area of said barrier sheet, said are being generally coextensive in length with said pad.

7. A product as set forth in Claim 6 wherein spaced lines of adhesive extend outwardly from each end of said con-tinuous generally rectangularly shaped area.

8. The method of forming an absorbent product comprising the steps of: providing a fluid impervious barrier sheet having a pressure sensitive adhesive means on one side thereof; applying an adhesive substance to the side of said barrier sheet opposite said pressure sensitive adhesive means by depositing (a) a band of adhesive in alignment with said pressure sensitive adhesive means and (b) a plurality of spaced lines of adhesive outwardly of opposite sides of said band; and attaching an absorbent member to salt adhesive substance.

9. The method of Claim 8 in which said adhesive band depositing step is further characterized by depositing adhesive substance over a continuous generally rectangularly shaped area having spaced lines of adhesive substance extending outwardly from opposite ends thereof, and wherein said attaching step is performed by adhering said absorbent member to said continuous generally rectangularly shaped adhesive area and to the lines of adhesive outwardly thereof.