WO2000049984A1 - An absorbent product, such as an adults' diaper and a process for manufacturing same - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to manufacturing a diaper, e.g. for disabled or incontinent persons and the respective diaper. Manufacturing such a diaper (6) includes the steps of feeding an absorbent material in a raw or compacted form, a non woven material, adhesive and/or elastic materials and impermeable or hydrophobic materials, steps of advancing said material towards cutting stations, an assembly step of the diaper (6) by putting portion of said materials together, a folding step and a packaging step of the diaper (6). During the assembly step of a pad (16) is associated to the rear portion (9) the diaper (6), which pad is obtained during the same assembly step in such a way to have a layer of an absorbent material (18) located at least at the inner side facing the user's body, a facing layer (19) of a non woven material, and a layer (17) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at the outer side facing the rear part (9) of the diaper (6).

Description

"An absorbent product, such as an adults' diaper and a process for manufacturing same"

The present invention concerns absorbent products, such as, for instance, adults' diapers for disabled or incontinent persons or babies' diapers.

As is well known, disabled persons and particularly those immobilised in bed steadily wear diapers of suitable dimensions for their physiological needs . Furthermore, in so far as the conditions of use of diapers by incontinent persons are concerned, various cases exist: current use by self-sufficient persons, use by persons in homes for the old, use in hospitals and home use by ill persons being nursed in their homes.

However, under any circumstances, in the case of poor hygiene or little efficiency in duly providing for changes, or long illnesses of immobilised patients, in spite of the efficiency of modern absorbent materials, and the special structure and shape of existing diapers, particularly where changes take place with a low frequency, small or large quantities of urine generally tend to wet the patient, particularly at the roots of the buttocks and/or at the lower extremity of the trunk, thus causing irritation and inflammatory phenomena which quite often lead to the painful situation of sores being developed over more or less extended surfaces of the body.

Furthermore, changes represent a necessary, yet not sufficient condition since, in the long run, so- called painful bedsores and/or rhagades are developed.

Remedies aiming at obviating such situations generally consist of creams and anti-inflammatory medical products in addition to diapers being changed more frequently. Unfortunately, such remedies only provide a partial response to the captioned problem and exhibit some drawbacks .

Obviously, creams and anti-inflammatory products are used only when the problem related to sores already exists for the patient, leading to results which are generally hardly satisfactory, as the prime reason underlying the inflammatory processes is not dispensed with due to changes being little frequent. Change of diapers may then be more frequent either in highly efficient hospital structures with a sufficient number of operators or in the case of patients provided with good assistance at home, which cases are not so frequent. Furthermore, the shape of known diapers is in no way helpful in preventing development of sores, frequent changes being the only preventive therapy heretofore practicable.

The object of the present invention is obviating the drawbacks typical of the prior art.

According to the present invention, that object is achieved by the means set forth in the following claims .

In a first possible aspect, the invention relates to providing absorbent products, such as diapers for disabled or incontinent persons, which may be manufactured at low cost by using or simply modifying existing machinery, the product thus obtained having features adapted for preventing maceration and/or inflammatory phenomena of the wearer's skin, in addition to providing better local blood circulation. In such a way also self-sufficient incontinent persons may have an appreciable advantage, in that they can sit and stand up repeatedly, without liquids giving rise to a commonly unpleasant feeling of humidity also at the buttocks whenever posture is changed.

The invention provides a process for manufacturing, for instance, a diaper for disabled or incontinent persons including steps of feeding absorbent materials in a raw or compacted form, adhesive and/or elastic materials and impermeable or hydrophobic materials, steps of advancing said materials towards cutting stations, an assembly step of the diaper by putting portions of said materials together, a folding step and a packaging step of the diaper itself, wherein during the assembly step a pad is superposed to the inner body of the diaper, at the rear portion thereof, which pad is obtained during the same assembly step in such a way as to have a layer of an absorbent material located at least at the inner side facing the wearer's body, preferably with a facing layer of a non-woven material, and a layer of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at the outer side facing the rear portion of the diaper.

A diaper obtained with such a method has a shaped body comprising a layer of an absorbent material, a layer of a facing material, and a layer of an impermeable or hydrophobic material, possibly adhesive and/or elastic materials operatively connected thereamong and including a central portion, a forward portion and a rear portion having operatively associated therewith a pad including a layer of an absorbent material located at least at the inner side facing the wearer's skin possibly with a facing layer, preferably of a non-woven material, and a layer of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at the outer side facing said rear inner portion of the diaper.

Further details and advantages of the invention will be better understood by referring to the following description, provided in connection with the enclosed drawings which show, by way of non-limiting example, a preferred embodiment thereof. In the drawing:

- figure 1 is a block diagram showing a process for realising the invention,

- figure 2 is a plan view of a diaper obtained according to the invention, and

- figure 3 is a sectional view of the diaper in question along line III-III of figure 2. With reference to the figures described in the foregoing, a process for manufacturing an absorbent product according to the invention, such as a diaper for disabled or incontinent persons, includes a step 1 wherein the various component materials of the diaper 6 are fed to a substantially known machine (not shown in the drawing) .

More precisely, if cellulose or another equivalent material in the raw state is used, this is pre- processed and compacted to be subsequently advanced towards a rotary drum or mould from which feeding proper of that material will take place.

In step 1 additional drums are also provided from which the following are fed: a hypoallergenic material of non-woven fibers, preferably united to form a closely knit web, adapted for facing the user's skin and containing absorbent material; a hydrophobic or impermeable material to ensure containment of the liquids absorbed by the absorbing material; and finally adhesive and/or elastic materials for ensuring adaptation of the diaper 6 after it is worn by the user.

Within the present context, the hydrophobic material is preferably a material permitting transpiration, while preventing flow of liquid or solid particles. Such a material is currently designated a "breathable" material.

In parallel therewith, a feeding step 11 is provided by means of a further mould of an absorbent material adapted to form a pad or insert 16 which, as better illustrated in the following, is subsequently associated to the rear portion 9 of diaper 6.

Subsequently, two parallel steps 2, 12 are provided wherein dragging and cutting means, of a known type derive, starting from the plurality of rotary drums previously described, strips of the various materials from which diaper 6 is subsequently assembled.

During assembly step 3 the body of diaper 6 is first assembled in a known way.

It exhibits a shaped form and can be regarded as subdivided in a forward portion 7, a central portion β and a rear portion 9, the forward 7 and rear 9 portions having larger widths. Furthermore, the materials employed are layered one over the other and united therebetween by stitching, heat bonding, ultrasound welding, glueing or other known means. More specifically, the body of diaper 6 includes proceeding from the outer to the inner layer thereof, a layer 10 of an impermeable or hydrophobic material, a layer 13 of an absorbent material, which is subsequently covered by a hypoallergenic material 14 comprised, for instance, of non-woven fibers . Along the sides of the central portion 8, members of an elastic material or of a non-woven material are provided which are processed to achieve a certain degree of elasticity to give rise to an elastic containment web 15. Finally, at the forward 7 or rear 9 portions adhesive elements or releasably-coupled members of a non-woven material (not shown, but of a known type) may be provided for fixing the diaper 6 around the wearer' s body.

Simultaneously, step 3 provides for the separate provision, with the same principles, of a pad or insert 16 preferably of an anatomic shape, also including by proceeding from the outer towards the inner layer thereof, a layer 17 of an impermeable or hydrophobic material, a layer 18 of an absorbent material and a hypoallergenic facing layer 19, for instance of a non- woven material, covering layer 18.

Such pad 16 is subsequently connected pointwise or in a continuous manner to the rear portion 9 of the body of diaper 6, with the impermeable or hydrophobic layer 17 facing the non-woven layer 14 covering the padding of diaper 6.

Connection can be achieved by means of any methods known in the art as cited previously, such as by stitching, heat bonding, ultrasound welding or glueing.

Optionally, pad or insert 16 may include within layer 17 bubbles B such as gas bubbles of a suitable size, possibly differentiated depending on the types and intended final use, such as for instance those for self-sufficient or disabled persons; these bubbles enable self-massaging even with vary small movements of the patient's body.

More precisely, the impermeable or hydrophobic material, fed during step 1, is subdivided over two rotary drums, one of which is fed with the captioned impermeable or hydrophobic material with bubbles B preformed therein. A drum will then feed the impermeable or hydrophobic material with no bubbles for realising layer 10 of the body of diaper 6, the other drum feeding the impermeable or hydrophobic material with the bubbles constituting layer 17 of pad 16.

Subsequently a folding 4 and a packaging 5 step, carried out in a known manner, will render diaper 6 ready for distribution and/or sale.

To advantage, the packaging step 5 may use polyethylene bags.

Alternatively, as the absorbent material, a pre- compacted material (for instance a so-called "air laid" material) may be used which will not require any preliminary steps in order to be collected onto the respective rotary drum, with an ensuing advantage in terms of manufacturing process.

The diaper 6 manufactured according to the captioned process therefore exhibits at its rear portion 9 pad 16 adapted to contact just the root portions of the buttocks, or those parts of the body most exposed to the risks of sores and inflammatory processes . In that way, even when layer 13 is particularly wet in correspondence with pad 16, and therefore no longer in a position to absorb further liquids, layer 17 will in any case enable dounflow, thereby avoiding contact with the skin, while layer 18 will absorb any humidity possibly remaining and hypoallergenic layer 19 will remain dry and in contact with the user's skin.

Also in the case of changes being little frequent, with the obvious specific limitation of the absorbing characteristics of the materials employed, the diaper of the invention will keep the user dry also in those parts which are most sensitive and exposed to inflammatory processes without giving rise to any drawbacks, before, after or during use.

Of course, the exemplary embodiment previously described merely for exemplary, non-limitative purposes, is suitable of various modifications, adjustments, additions, variants and changes. For instance, pad 16 may be included between absorbing layer 13 and layer 14 of the diaper body thereby using layer 14 also for covering pad 16, thus possibly rendering layer 19 superfluous. Possibly layer 17 may at least be partly bent over the body of pad 16 so as to form a barrier against humidity. All this, of course without going beyond the scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. An absorbent product, such as a diaper (6), including a shaped body comprising a layer (13) of an absorbent material, a layer (14) of a facing material and a layer (10) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material and having a central portion (8), a forward portion (7) and a rear portion (9), characterised in that said rear portion (9) has operatively associated therewith a pad (16) including a layer (18) of an absorbent material located at least at the inner side facing the user's skin and a layer (17) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at the outer side facing said rear portion (9) of the diaper (6) .

2. The diaper of claim 1, characterised in that it includes a facing layer (19, 14) covering said layer

(18) of an absorbent material at the inner side facing the user's skin.

3. The diaper of claim 2, characterised in that said facing layer (19, 14) is of a non-woven material.

4. The diaper of any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said forward (7) and rear (9) portions have a larger width than said central portion (8) .

5. The diaper of any of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that said central portion (8) has at its sides two strips (15) of an elastic material.

6. The diaper of any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said rear portion (9) has said pad (16) connected thereto in a continuous or pointwise manner by stitching, heat bonding, ultrasound welding or glueing.

7. The diaper of any of the preceding claims, characterised in that said layer (17) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material of said pad (16) includes bubbles (B) such as gas bubbles.

8. The diaper of claim 2 or claim 3, characterised in that said facing layer (19, 14) includes hypoallergenic fibers preferably united to form a closely knit web.

9. A process for manufacturing an absorbent product such as a diaper for disabled or incontinent persons including steps (1, 11) of feeding absorbent materials in a raw or compacted form, adhesive and/or elastic materials and impermeable or hydrophobic materials, steps (2, 12) of advancing said materials towards cutting stations, an assembly step (3) of the diaper (6) by putting portions of said materials together, a folding step (4) and packaging step (5) of the diaper (6) itself, characterised in that during the assembly step (3) a pad (16) is superposed to the inner body of the diaper (6) at the rear portion thereof (9), which pad (16) is obtained during the same assembly step (3) in such a way as to have a layer lδ) of an absorbent material located at least at the inner side facing the user' body, preferably with a facing layer (19), and a layer (17) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at the outer side facing the rear portion (9) of the diaper (6) .

10. The process of claim 9, characterised in that one feeding step (1) provides for the use of a plurality of rotary drums, one for the absorbent material, one for the facing material, one for the hydrophobic or impermeable material, one for the adhesive material, while the other feeding step (11) provides for a rotary drum for the absorbent material.

11. The process of claim 9 or claim 10, characterised in that said impermeable or hydrophobic material is fed by means of two rotary drums, one of which is fed with an impermeable or hydrophobic material with pre-formed bubbles B such as gas bubbles therein, this latter being devoted to realising said layer (17) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material at said pad (16) .

12. The process of any of claims 9 to 11, characterised in that said feeding step (1) provides for a plurality of rotary drums, while also provides for a drum for feeding elastic material.

13. The process of any of claims 9 to 12, characterised in that the assembly step (3) provides for stitching, heat bonding, ultrasound welding or glueing a layer (10) of an impermeable or hydrophobic material, a layer (13) of an absorbent material, possibly a layer (14) of a non woven material at least partly covering said layer (13) of absorbent material, adhesive and/or elastic members to realise the body of the diaper (6) having a forward portion (7), and a rear portion (9) of a larger width then the central portion

(8) as well as a quantity of absorbent material and sides with elastic characteristics wherein said pad (16) is subsequently connected to the rear portion (9) thereof pointwise or in a continuous manner by stitching, heat bonding, ultrasound welding or glueing.

14. The process of any of claims 9, 11 or 13, characterised in that said facing material includes hypoallergenic fibers forming a closely knit web.