Disposable diaper

The present invention relates to a disposable diaper of the type which does not require a diaper cover, more specifically such diapers which are provided with leak-preventing means having elastic flaps in the areas where the legs and / or hips are enclosed.

State of the art:

EP-A-219 326 describes diapers which are provided with leak-preventing means which have elastic flaps which are each placed around the legs of the baby. These anti-leakage means disclosed in this document include first flaps extending outwardly and each being provided with elastic members, and second flaps having an elastic portion machined in the side edge thereof, while the opposing side edge is formed with a main body of the article connected is. One of these side edges is pressed inwardly and fixed to the longitudinally opposite ends.

Each of the second flaps is formed as a pocket to prevent any flow of exudates in the transverse direction when this flap is erected under the action of the elastic means associated therewith. In a diaper having such a structure, the pockets are open around the legs of the wearer, the second flaps being erected against the crotch region under the contracting force of the associated elastic members (the region between the two legs is defined as the crotch region). At the same time, the first flaps are folded onto the inner sides of the article and pressed against the obliqued legs under the influence of the associated elastic parts. In this state, respective fold lines of the first flaps are covered with the base lines of the associated second flaps, ie the lines along which the second flaps are connected to the main body of the diaper, and the second flaps are not pressed against the associated legs.

It should be emphasized that the extent to which these pockets are opened depends on the angle at which the second flaps are erected. For example, if the wearer assumes a posture or a position of the legs in which the legs are widely spread so that the second flaps are extended, or when the wearer sits, with the second flaps being pressed downwards, these pockets are insufficiently opened , So that the desired blocking effect of these pockets against a flow of excrements, in particular loose excreta and urine, can not be maintained, and unpleasant leakage phenomena can occur.

It is the main object of the invention to provide a diaper of the above-mentioned type in which complete sealing is achieved by the anti-leakage means in any situation.

The object is achieved according to the invention in a disposable diaper having a liquid-permeable upper, a liquid-impermeable lower layer, a suction core inserted between both layers, and an anti-leakage means forming a pocket and arranged in each case a flexible flap and a A plurality of elastic members, wherein:<ul><li>The flap has a support portion extending upwardly from the diaper, an inner inner portion extending inwardly from the support portion, and an outer branch portion extending outwardly from the support portion;</li><li>The one or more elastic part (s) are at least partially incorporated into the inner and outer branch portions and form elastic folds; and</li><li>At least the respective inner surfaces of the supporting portion and the inner branch portion form the pocket for receiving exudates.</li></ul>

It is preferred to dispose a pair of such anti-leakage means in the crotch region around each leg of the wearer along longitudinally extending sides of the absorbent core so that the inner branch portions are usually subjected to the action of the elastic, Means against the associated legs and not towards the crotch region such that the pockets formed at least by the respective inner surfaces of the inner branch portions and the associated support portions are kept open in their respective open positions regardless of the posture or position of the wearer. As a result, the pockets can effectively prevent the leakage of exudates, in particular loose excrements and urine. At the same time, the inner branch portions cooperate with the outer branch portions to provide a high sealing effect which is necessary to prevent leakage of the excrements; This is achieved by the fact that the outer branch sections, which run alongside the inner branch sections, are also pressed elastically against the associated legs.

If desired, these leakage preventing means may also be provided along the waist or waistline of the diaper to achieve the same high sealing effect.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.

Show it:<ul><li>1 shows a top view of a first exemplary embodiment of a diaper according to the invention with partially broken-away regions;</li><li>FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1, showing only the anti-leakage means according to the invention;</li><li>FIGS. 3 and 4 are partial views of sections of two embodiment variants of the anti-leakage means shown in FIG. 2; FIG.</li><li>FIG. 5 is a partial perspective view corresponding to the embodiment according to FIG. FIG. 2; FIG.</li><li>FIGS. 6-10 are cross-sectional views of further embodiments of the anti-leakage means; FIG.</li><li>FIG. 11 is a plan view of an unwound diaper according to the invention with partially broken-away areas and FIG</li><li>FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the diaper of FIG. 11.</li></ul>

Preferred embodiments of the earth connection:

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring first to FIG. The disposable diaper illustrated therein comprises a liquid-permeable upper layer 1, a liquid-impermeable lower layer 2, a suction core 3, hip and lateral flaps 4, which are inserted between these two layers and which are respectively formed by sections of the two layers, Opposite longitudinal and transverse edges of the suction core, and adhesive tapes 6 attached to the opposite lateral ends of the hip flap.

As can also be seen in FIG. 2, the disposable diaper also has second flaps 7, which extend along the respective flaps 5. Each of the side flaps 7 is formed from a single layer into a sleeve or loop having a T-shaped cross-section with a support portion 8 fixed on top of the surface of the associated flap 5, an inner branch portion 9 extending from the upper end of the cross- And an outer branch portion 10 extending outwardly from the upper end of the supporting portion 8. As shown in FIG. The inner and outer support portions 9, 10 include a relatively wide elastic portion 11 common to both branch portions. The elastic part 11 must at least be arranged in the crotch region of the diaper.

The inner branch section 9 and / or the outer branch section 10 is / are preferably attached to the associated flap at the opposite longitudinal ends or the longitudinal end in the front area of ​​the diaper. Such attachment can be achieved in various ways, for example, by attaching the inner branch portion 9 to the opposing longitudinal ends indicated by the reference numeral 12 in FIG. 1 by fastening the outer branch portion 10 at the longitudinally opposite ends thereof by fastening both Of the inner and outer branch portions 9,10 at the longitudinally opposite ends (see Fig. 5), by attaching the inner branch portion at the longitudinal end located in the front portion of the diaper by attaching the outer branch portion to the outer branch portion Which is located in the front region of the diaper, or by fastening both the inner branch portion and the outer branch portion 9, 10 at the respective longitudinal ends provided in the front portion of the diaper.

With regard to the width with which the inner and outer branch portions 9, 10 extend laterally, the width of the inner branch portion may be substantially equal to the width of the outer branch portion, as shown in FIG. The former may, however, also be narrower than the latter, as shown in FIG. 3, or the former may also be wider than the latter, compare FIG.

Due to the broad design of the inner branch section 9, the excreta collected in the pocket do not come into contact with the skin of the wearer, which results in a particularly comfortable wearing comfort.

The manner in which the inner and outer branch portions 9, 10 are attached to the opposing longitudinal ends, as well as the extent of the width with which these portions extend laterally, is chosen so as to ensure optimal load conditions, taking into account the various factors, Such as the size of the diaper, distance between the suction core 3 and each flap 7, and the height of the support section 8 can be achieved.

FIGS. 6 to 10 show various variants of the exemplary embodiment described above, which have the same effects as the described exemplary embodiment.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 6, each flap 7 consists of an inner and an outer section 9, which are each formed separately from one another into corresponding loops or sleeves, which comprise separate elastic parts 11.

The flap 7 of the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 7 has an inner and an outer branch section, the respective free outer edges of which cover an associated, snap-shaped elastic part 11.

The flap 7 shown in FIG. 8 has an inner branch section 9, the free edge edge of which encloses a single thread-like or cord-shaped elastic part, while the outer branch section 10 encloses a plurality of thread-shaped or cord-shaped elastic parts 11 substantially over its entire width .

The flap 7 shown in FIG. 9 has an inner and an outer branch section 9 and 10 which are formed from a single layer into a T-shaped sleeve. The sections contain the elastic part 11, which has a cross section which is opened concave upwards. In this embodiment, the width of the upper ply 1 is less than that of the lower ply 2 to keep the outer side portions of the lower ply 2 free from a permeable upper ply. In place of this upper layer 1, the base section 13 of the support section 8, which is glued to the impermeable lower layer 2, comes to cover the assigned outer side area with this base section 13.

In the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 6 to 8, the flaps 7 are formed by two separate layers, which are glued together along the two lower halves, in order to form the support section 8. In the upper region, the two layers are in each case free and are formed to the inner or outer sections 9 and 10, which results in a branch line which results through the common boundary line of the sections 9 and 10. As a result, the inner and outer portions 9 and 10 each have a tendency to bend upwardly along the branch line to a V when the corresponding elastic members 11 contract to a certain extent. While the inner and outer branch portions 9, 10 of the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 4 and 9 also tend to bend upwardly, but here U-shaped depending on the extent to which the elastic portion 11 contracts, This V-shaped formation of the exemplary embodiments of FIGS. 6 to 8 is more significant than in the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 2 to 4 and 9. Also in the exemplary embodiments according to FIGS. 6 to 9, the width with which the inner and / Section 9 and 10 respectively, as well as the manner in which these sections are fixed at the longitudinal ends or at a longitudinal end, in a corresponding manner as in FIGS. 2 to 4.

In the exemplary embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 9, the base end 13 of the support section 8 is preferably outwards with respect to the supporting section, but the present invention is not limited to such an arrangement.

The flap 7 of the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 10 is identical in shape and structure to the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2, except that in the former the base end 13 of the support section 8 is arranged between the section of the upper layer 1 which is below the side edge of the suction core 3 And the portion of the lower sheet 2 covering said portion of the upper sheet 1 is interposed and fixed thereto.

In all the embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 to 10, a pocket 14 is formed by the inner surfaces of the support section 8 and the inner branch section 9. While the pocket is formed even if the inner branch portion and / or the outer branch portion 10 are fixed at the longitudinal ends, it is preferable to perform such fixing so that the direction in which the pocket is opened is stable.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show a variant of the inner branch section of the aforementioned embodiments. According to this variant, the pair of opposing inner branch portions 9 each follow the curves gradually approaching each other to form the middle portion of the front and rear portions of the disposable diaper, the cord or filiform elastic members 11a being arranged along these respective curves are. Along the outer branch sections 10 relatively wide elastic parts 11b are incorporated. In this embodiment, relatively wide elastic members 15 are provided between the topsheet 1 and the backsheet 2 along the respective waist flaps 4.

The upper layer 1 may be made of a nonwoven fabric, a porous plastic film or the like, the lower layer may be made of an air-permeable plastic film, a laminate layer of such a film and a fiber web or the like, the suction core 3 of a flaky pulp, a mixture of such Pulp and highly absorbent polymer particles or a similar material. Therefore, the various types of materials conventionally used for such a diaper can be used selectively, but the present invention is not limited to the use of these materials.

The flap is preferably made of a material which is, at least partially, as flexible as possible, air-permeable and water-impermeable. The flap 7 may be air-permeable and water-impermeable in the support portion 8, the outer branch portion 10, the support portion 8, and the outer portion 10, or the support portion 8, and the inner portion 9, as well as the outer branch portion 10. Such material is air permeable and water-impermeable , Comprises fiber webs, porous plastic films, and laminates thereof.

The elastic member 11 may be made of a material commonly used for such a member, eg, natural or synthetic rubber, plastics such as polyurethane or other plastics which tend to develop or maintain elasticity during a heat treatment. However, the present invention is not limited to the use of such a particular material. It is to be understood that when a relatively wide elastic member is used, as in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. Of the FIGS. 2 to 6, 19 and 11 (here the reference character 11b), polyurethane foam can preferably be used.

Although the flaps 7, each having a support portion 8 as well as an inner and an outer branch portion 9 and 10, have been described as being arranged in the crotch region of the disposable diaper, the flaps 7 can also be arranged in the rearward hip flap 4 and the flaps 5 in the crotch region or region Can only be provided in the flaps 4.

The forming of the flaps 7 in the crotch region of the disposable diaper as a means for preventing leakage around the respective legs in the manner described above ensures that when the diaper has been applied, the inner and outer branch portions 9 And 10 can be elastically pressed against the respective legs without remaining within the area defined between the legs, and the pockets 14, which are formed at least from the respective inner surfaces of the support section 8 and the associated inner branch sections 9, reliably each Prevent leakage of excretions. When the hip flap 4 of the disposable diaper is provided with the flap 7 as an anti-leakage device around the hip, it is ensured that the inner and outer branch portions 9 and 10 are pressed elastically against the hip and the pocket 14 which is at least spaced from the respective inner surfaces The support portion 8 and the inner branch portion 9 reliably prevent any leaks of exudates. It should be noted that the function and effect provided by such an anti-leakage means will be optimal when such means are formed on opposite sides of the diaper in the crotch region.

Industrial application:

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the disposable diaper constructed in accordance with the invention is suitable as a diaper which does not require any additional diaper cover. The means for preventing leakage incorporated in this diaper, together with elastic retaining means, are useful not only as a seal around the legs, but also together with the elastic retaining means as a seal around the waist.