CORELESS ROLL OF ABSORBENT TISSUE WEB

Abstract

A coreless roll of absorbent tissue web is provided, the web having a length and a width, and the roll defining a central axial hole that extends from a first end of the roll to a second end of the roll in a direction perpendicular to the length of the absorbent tissue web. The coreless roll has a high density. The absorbent tissue web includes an outer perforated length located in the periphery of the coreless roll, the outer perforated length having a plurality of perforation lines across the width of the absorbent tissue web such as to form individual sheets. The absorbent tissue web of the coreless roll further includes an inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web.

Claims

1.-19. (canceled)

20. A coreless roll of absorbent tissue web, the absorbent tissue web having a length and a width, the roll defining a central axial hole that extends from a first end of the roll to a second end of the roll in a direction perpendicular to the length of the absorbent tissue web, wherein the coreless roll has a density of at least 235 kg/m.sup.3, wherein the absorbent tissue web comprises an outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web that is wound in a periphery of the coreless roll, the outer perforated length comprising a plurality of perforation lines across the width of the absorbent tissue web such as to form individual sheets, and wherein the absorbent tissue web of the coreless roll further comprises an inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web arranged and wound at an inner radial part of the coreless roll close to the central axial hole, such that the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is arranged closer to the central axial hole than the outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web.

21. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is longer than the length of the individual sheets.

22. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web has a length of 1 to 6 meters.

23. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is arranged within an innermost 10 meters of the absorbent tissue web at the central axial hole.

24. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web represents inner windings arranged at an inner radius of the coreless roll such as to define the central axial hole.

25. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the coreless roll comprises an inner portion arranged closest to the central axial hole, wherein windings of absorbent tissue web of the inner portion are releasably attached to each other.

26. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is part of the inner portion.

27. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner portion of the coreless roll is stiffened so as to maintain a shape of the central axial hole.

28. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 27, wherein the coreless roll comprises an outer portion arranged closest to the periphery of the coreless roll, and wherein the stiffened inner portion is stiffer than the outer portion.

29. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner portion is stiffened by application of a composition to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole.

30. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner portion is stiffened by application of water to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole.

31. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner portion is stiffened by application of adhesive applied to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole.

32. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the inner portion is stiffened by application of starch applied to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole.

33. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 25, wherein the first and/or second end of the coreless roll comprises an end indentation at the inner portion extending in an axial direction and arranged around the central axial hole.

34. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the first and/or second end of the coreless roll has a shape of revolution with a cross section decreasing towards the central axial hole of the coreless roll.

35. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the coreless roll comprises inner indentations at an inner surface of the central axial hole.

36. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web defines a remaining strength of between 30% and 65% of an unperforated length of absorbent tissue web.

37. The coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of claim 20, wherein the individual sheets have a length between 8 cm and 40 cm.

38. A coreless roll of absorbent tissue web, the absorbent tissue web having a length and a width, the roll defining a central axial hole that extends from a first end of the roll to a second end of the roll in a direction perpendicular to the length of the absorbent tissue web, wherein the coreless roll has a density of at least 235 kg/m.sup.3, wherein the absorbent tissue web comprises an outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web that is wound in a periphery of the coreless roll, the outer perforated length comprising a plurality of perforation lines across the width of the absorbent tissue web such as to form individual sheets, wherein the absorbent tissue web of the coreless roll further comprises an inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web arranged and wound at an inner radial part of the coreless roll close to the central axial hole, such that the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is arranged closer to the central axial hole than the outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is longer than the length of the individual sheets, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web has a length of 1 to 6 meters, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is arranged within an innermost 10 meters of the absorbent tissue web at the central axial hole, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web represents inner windings arranged at an inner radius of the coreless roll such as to define the central axial hole, wherein the coreless roll comprises an inner portion arranged closest to the central axial hole, wherein windings of absorbent tissue web of the inner portion are releasably attached to each other, wherein the inner unperforated length of the absorbent tissue web is part of the inner portion, wherein the inner portion of the coreless roll is stiffened so as to maintain a shape of the central axial hole, wherein the coreless roll comprises an outer portion arranged closest to the periphery of the coreless roll, and wherein the stiffened inner portion is stiffer than the outer portion, wherein the inner portion is stiffened by at least one of the following: application of a composition to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole, application of water to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole, application of adhesive applied to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole, and application of starch applied to the absorbent tissue web that is wound closest to the central axial hole, wherein the first and/or second end of the coreless roll comprises an end indentation at the inner portion extending in an axial direction and arranged around the central axial hole, wherein the first and/or second end of the coreless roll has a shape of revolution with a cross section decreasing towards the central axial hole of the coreless roll, wherein the coreless roll comprises inner indentations at an inner surface of the central axial hole, wherein the outer perforated length of the absorbent tissue web defines a remaining strength of between 30% and 65% of an unperforated length of absorbent tissue web, and wherein the individual sheets have a length between 8 cm and 40 cm.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0059] Various additional features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of the following detailed description of one or more illustrative embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate one or more embodiments of the invention and, together with the general description given above and the detailed description given below, explain the one or more embodiments of the invention.

[0060] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a coreless roll of absorbent tissue web according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0061] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the inner end of the coreless roll of absorbent tissue web of FIG. 1.

[0062] FIG. 3 is a plan view that schematically illustrates the length of a coreless roll of absorbent tissue web according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0063] FIG. 4a is a top perspective view of a coreless roll according to another embodiment of the invention, the coreless roll having a stabilized inner portion.

[0064] FIG. 4b is a top perspective view of a coreless roll according to yet another embodiment of the invention, the coreless roll having an indentation at the first end.

[0065] FIG. 5 is a top plan view of a coreless roll according to yet a further embodiment of the invention, the coreless roll having a central axial bole defining a star shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0066] It is to be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the following is a description of exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended as limiting the broader aspects of the present disclosure.

[0067] FIG. 1 shows a coreless roll 11 of absorbent tissue web, such as toilet paper, with a central axial hole 12. The coreless roll 11 have a cylindrical shape delimited axially by a first end 13 and a second end 14 opposite each other. The central axial hole 12 extends from the first end of the roll 13 to the second end of the roll 14 in a direction perpendicular to the length of the web L. The central axial hole of the coreless roll has a radius of about 6 mm+/−2 mm. The outer windings of the coreless roll 11, seen in FIG. 1, are provided with a plurality of perforation lines 15 across the width W of the web such as to define individual sheets 16. The perforation lines 15 are evenly distributed along the outer perforated length L2 of the absorbent tissue web. For the sake of illustration four individual sheets 16 are unrolled from the coreless roll in FIG. 1 but the individual sheets 16 are not separated.

[0068] The coreless roll 11 is a high density coreless roll with a density above 235 kg/m.sup.3, e.g., of about 270 kg/m.sup.3. The windings are tightly wound such as to create high density in the coreless roll 11. The central axial hole 12 is stabilized by the tightly wound windings.

[0069] The coreless roll comprises an inner portion 17 defined as the radial part arranged closest to the central axial hole. Each winding of the inner portion 17 is attached to the consecutive winding of the inner portion due to the tight winding. The attachments between the windings are releasable, such that the windings may be separated upon addition of a separating force as the coreless roll is unrolled by the consumer.

[0070] In this example, the inner portion 17 is stiffened by means, water, supplied to the web length corresponding to the inner portion 17 during manufacturing of the coreless roll 11. Each winding of the stiffened inner portion is at least partly bonded to the subsequent winding of the inner portion 17. The bonding is achieved by water added during the manufacturing process; which in the ready coreless roll 11 has evaporated and left the webs bonded.

[0071] FIG. 2 shows the innermost part of the coreless roll 11 shown in FIG. 1. The absorbent tissue web at the end of the coreless roll 11 is unperforated i.e. the last length L2 of web is continuous. The inner windings are shown in FIG. 2, wherein the inner windings are releasably attached to each other at the inner portion.

[0072] The innermost, after winding, 2 meters of the absorbent tissue web has been sprayed with water in this example. The absorbent material of the inner windings seen in FIG. 2 are therefore effected by evaporated water. The water effects the paper by promoting adherence between the windings, and it also stiffens the material. A web that has been sprayed with water and dried does not have the same smoothness as a non-water-sprayed web. Moreover, the wetted absorbent tissue web creases more easily in the winding process. Creasing during the winding process also leads to subsequent windings attaching further to each other.

[0073] To avoid the risk of premature breaking in the inner windings due to the attachments; the absorbent tissue web at the inner windings of the inner portion 17 are unperforated, as seen in FIG. 2.

[0074] The length L of an absorbent tissue web according to some embodiments of the invention is seen in FIG. 3. It comprises a perforated length L1 and an unperforated length L2. The unperforated length L2 represents the length arranged closest to the central axial hole when being wound. The length L2 is longer than the length of each individual sheet 16.

[0075] A coreless roll 11 with a stiffened inner portion 17 is seen in FIG. 4a. In this example, the inner portion 17 is stiffened by water, starch and plasticizer only. In the example shown in FIG. 4b, the coreless roll 11 of FIG. 4a is further provided with a cone shaped end indentation 18. The end indentation 18 affects the outer edges of the inner portion 17 and stabilizes them so that they do not collapse inwards. The end indentation (18) also contribute to the attachment of the windings of the inner portion 17. Part of the length constituting the inner portion 18 is unperforated. The unperforated length of absorbent tissue web provides strength such that the windings of the inner portion 17 may be unwound without breaking and creating “cigars” at the center.

[0076] FIG. 5 shows a coreless roll in which the central axial hole has a star shape, i.e. the coreless roll 11 is provided with inner indentations 19 along the inner surface of the central axial hole. The specific geometric shape is provided by the winding mandrel during manufacturing. The mandrel has in this case had a star shaped cross section. The inner indentations 19 stabilize the central axial hole 12 and contribute to the attachment between the windings of the inner portion 17. The inner windings indented by the mandrel thus has an improved attachment force compared to the windings of the outer portion of the coreless roll 11.

[0077] The invention is not limited to the examples of coreless rolls that have been depicted in the Figures. The application of the absorbent web product is broad and encompasses numerous away-from-home, domestic or sanitary applications, e.g. towels, kitchen towels, hand towels, toilet papers, wipes, facial tissues, bath tissues, napkins etc.

[0078] To this end, the embodiments described above are only descriptions of preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Various variations and modifications can be made to the technical solution of the present invention by those of ordinary skills in the art, without departing from the design and spirit of the present invention. The variations and modifications should all fall within the claim scope defined by the claims of the present invention.