PANT-TYPE ABSORBENT ARTICLE WITH A DISPOSAL TAPE

Abstract

A pant-type absorbent article including an outer cover being disposed on a garment facing side of the absorbent article, the article having a front portion, a back portion and a crotch portion therebetween. The outer cover includes a nonwoven fibrous material on a garment-facing side thereof and a disposal tape including a tape adhesive zone is permanently attached at the tape adhesive zone to the outer cover in an attachment zone on the nonwoven fibrous material of the outer cover in the back portion of the article. The disposal tape has a folded pre-disposal configuration and an unfolded disposal configuration. The outer cover attachment zone is constituted by a modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material, wherein a bond strength between the tape adhesive zone and the modified attachment zone is greater than a bond strength between the tape adhesive zone and a non-modified portion of the nonwoven fibrous material.

Claims

1. A pant-type absorbent article, said article comprising an outer cover being disposed on a garment facing side of said absorbent article, said article having a front portion, a back portion and a crotch portion therebetween, said article comprising an absorbent core arranged in said crotch portion on a wearer facing side of said outer cover, said outer cover comprising a nonwoven fibrous material on a garment-facing side thereof and wherein a disposal tape comprising a tape adhesive zone is permanently attached at said tape adhesive zone to said outer cover in an attachment zone on said nonwoven fibrous material of said outer cover in said back portion of said article, said disposal tape having a folded pre-disposal configuration and an unfolded disposal configuration, wherein said outer cover attachment zone is constituted by a modified portion of said nonwoven fibrous material wherein a bond strength between said tape adhesive zone and said modified attachment zone is greater than a bond strength between said tape adhesive zone and a non-modified portion of said nonwoven fibrous material, wherein said modified attachment zone has a modified cross-section appearance, such that said nonwoven fibers are at ieast partly consolidated and/or flattened within said attachment zone.

2. (canceled)

3. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said modified attachment zone is a heat-treated zone.

4. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said modified attachment zone is a compressed area.

5. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said modified attachment zone is a compressed and heat-treated area.

6. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said modified attachment zone is a plasma-treated zone or a corona-treated zone.

7. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said outer cover is a laminate of said nonwoven fibrous material and at least one further material layer.

8. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said nonwoven fibrous material of said outer cover comprises a plurality of discrete bonds wherein a cumulated surface area of said bonds is in the range of from 1% to 25% of the total surface area of said nonwoven fibrous material.

9. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said modified attachment zone has a cumulated bond surface area of at least 30% of the total surface area of said modified attachment zone.

10. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said disposal tape has an outer circumferential edge in said folded pre-disposal configuration and wherein said outer cover attachment zone has an outer circumferential edge, and wherein said outer cover attachment zone extends to or beyond the outer circumferential edge of the disposal tape when arranged in said unfolded pre-disposal configuration.

11. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein said attachment zone is modified in an intermittent pattern or in a continuous pattern covering entirely the outer cover attachment zone.

12. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the disposal tape is rectangular and is z-folded when in said pre-disposal configuration.

13. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the disposal tape comprises thermoplastic film.

14. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the disposal tape is permanently attached to the attachment zone by means of an adhesive.

15. The pant-type absorbent article according to claim 1, wherein the disposal tape has a length and a width in said unfolded configuration and wherein said width is in the range from 5 to 30 mm.

16. A method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article, comprising: a) modifying a zone on a nonwoven fibrous material with heat treatment, plasma treatment, by compressing said zone or a combination of two or more of said treatments to provide a modified attachment zone; b) permanently attaching a disposal tape comprising a tape adhesive zone to said nonwoven fibrous material by adhesively bonding said tape adhesive zone to said modified attachment zone; c) producing a pant-type absorbent article comprising said nonwoven fibrous material as an outer cover being disposed on a garment facing side of said absorbent article, said article having a front portion, a back portion and a crotch portion therebetween and comprises an absorbent core arranged in said crotch portion, wherein said zone modification step a) and said disposal tape attachment step b) are carried out prior to, during or after said pant-type absorbent article assembly step c).

17. The method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article according to claim 16, wherein said attachment zone is modified by one or more of the following treatments; heated or cold embossing, ultra sound, plasma charges, corona treatment, heated air and/or infrared radiation.

18. The method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article according to claim 16, wherein said step c) of producing an absorbent article includes elastifying said outer cover by means of elastic elongated elements or an elastic material or wherein said nonwoven fibrous material is an elastic nonwoven fibrous material, providing an at least partly elastic outer cover and wherein said at least partly elastic outer cover is kept in a stretched state during said zone modification step a) and said disposal tape attachment step b).

19. The method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type absorbent article according to claim 16, wherein said modification step a) comprises a step of simultaneous heat and compression treatment.

20. The method of permanently attaching a disposal tape to an outer cover of a pant-type article according to claim 16, wherein said modification step a) comprises modifying a zone on said nonwoven fibrous material with heat treatment, and wherein step b) is performed immediately after step a) while the modified attachment zone still has a temperature above the temperature of a non-modified portion of said nonwoven fibrous material.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0040] The present disclosure will be further explained hereinafter by means of non-limiting examples and with reference to the appended drawings wherein:

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates a pant-type absorbent article with a disposal tape attached to the article in a folded pre-disposal configuration;

[0042] FIG. 2 illustrates a pant-type absorbent article prior to attachment of the disposal tape;

[0043] FIG. 3 illustrates a pant-type absorbent article with the disposal tape attached to the article in an unfolded disposal configuration;

[0044] FIG. 4a illustrates a disposal tape attached to a prior art non-modified nonwoven fibrous material;

[0045] FIG. 4b illustrates a disposal tape attached to a heat modified portion nonwoven fibrous material; and

[0046] FIG. 4c illustrates a disposal tape attached to a plasma modified nonwoven fibrous material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] It is to be understood that the drawings are schematic and that individual components, such as layers of materials are not necessarily drawn to scale. The pant-type absorbent article shown in the figures are provided as examples only and should not be considered limiting to the disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is determined solely by the scope of the appended claims.

[0048] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the pant-type absorbent article 1 according to the present disclosure. The pant diaper 1 has an outer cover 2, a topsheet 24 and an absorbent core 25 arranged between the topsheet 24 and the outer cover 2. The pant diaper 1 has a front portion 7, a back portion 8 and a crotch portion 9 and seams 17 joining the front portion 7 and the back portion 8 to form two leg openings 18 and a waist opening 19. The outer cover 2 illustrated in FIG. 1 is in the form of a multicomponent outer cover 2, comprising an outer cover main portion 2a including breathable outer cover front portion 2b and breathable outer cover back portion 2c. The outer cover main portion 2a is joined to the topsheet 24 around the periphery of the absorbent core 25, so that the absorbent core 25 is enclosed within the envelope formed by the topsheet 24 and the outer cover main portion 2a. The outer cover main portion 2a may be breathable to allow vapor to escape from the absorbent core 25 while still preventing liquids to pass therethrough.

[0049] The outer cover 2 may however also be formed of a continuous outer nonwoven fibrous material 4 extending over the outer cover main portion 2a, the front portion 2b and the back portion 2c. The outer cover 2 may be reinforced in the outer cover main portion 2a extending over the crotch area of the wearer, with a breathable or non-breathable polymeric film or with a film/nonwoven laminates.

[0050] Examples of breathable materials are microporous polymeric films, nonwoven laminates from spunbond and meltblown layers, laminates from microporous polymeric films and nonwoven materials. In the absorbent core 25 area, covering the absorbent core, outer cover 2 may comprise a liquid impervious film layer, such as a thin thermoplastic film, e.g. a polyethylene or polypropylene film. The liquid impervious film layer covers at least the absorbent core 25 on the garment-facing side of the pant diaper 1.

[0051] The liquid permeable topsheet 24 can be any suitable topsheet material as known by the person skilled in the art and may be fibrous topsheet material composed of a nonwoven material, e.g. spunbonded, meltblown, carded, hydroentangled, wet laid etc. Suitable nonwoven materials can be composed of natural fibers, such as woodpulp or cotton fibres, synthetic thermoplastic fibres, such as polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides and blends and combinations thereof or from a mixture of natural and synthetic fibres. Further examples of topsheet materials are porous foams. The materials suited as topsheet materials should be soft and non-irritating to the skin and be readily penetrated by body fluid, such as urine or menstrual fluid. The topsheet material may be essentially constituted of non-absorbent fibers, such as synthetic thermoplastic fibers, such as such as polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides and blends and combinations thereof. The synthetic fibers may be mono component fibers, bicomponent fibers or multicomponent fibers including polyesters, polyamides and/or polyolefins such as polypropylene and polyethylene.

[0052] The disposable absorbent article in this disclosure includes an absorbent core 25, provided on a wearer-facing side of the outer cover. The absorbent core 25 may be of any conventional kind and of any useful size and shape. Examples of commonly occurring absorbent materials are cellulosic fluff pulp, tissue layers, highly absorbent polymers (so called superabsorbents), absorbent foam materials, absorbent nonwoven materials or the like. It is common to combine cellulosic fluff pulp with superabsorbents in an absorbent structure. It is also common to have absorbent structures including layers of different material with different properties with respect to liquid acquisition capacity, liquid distribution capacity and storage capacity. This is well-known to the person skilled in the art and does therefore not have to be described in detail. The thin absorbent bodies, which are common in today's sanitary articles, often include a compressed mixed or layered structure of cellulosic fluff pulp and superabsorbent. The size and absorbent capacity of the absorbent structure may be varied to be suited for different uses such as, adult incontinence pants and baby pant diapers.

[0053] In FIG. 1, the outer cover 2 is made of another web material in the outer cover main portion 2a, which material provides comfort and breathability. The outer cover front portion 2b and the outer cover back portion 2c each comprises a soft nonwoven fibrous material 4 on the garment facing side 3 thereof.

[0054] The pant diaper 1 in FIG. 1 furthermore comprises barrier leg cuffs 21 disposed along longitudinal side edges of the pant diaper 1 in the crotch portion 9. The barrier leg cuffs 21 provide improved containment of liquids and other body exudates in the crotch portion 9.

[0055] The nonwoven fibrous material 4 may be a soft nonwoven fibrous material 4, for example a spunbond nonwoven material, a laminate of a spunbond-meltblown-spunbond material. The nonwoven fibrous material may be a carded nonwoven material and the nonwoven fibrous material may be a through-air-bonded nonwoven material. Nonwoven fibrous materials having a low cumulated area of discrete thermal bonds have been found to have improved softness. The discrete thermal bonds may be located in a sparse pattern including discrete bonds having a distance to adjacent bonds of at least 2 mm, or at least 4 mm, the distance being measured between edge to edge of the discrete bonds. The cumulated surface area of the bonds may be in the range of from 1% to 25% of the total surface area of the nonwoven material 4. The nonwoven material 4 may furthermore be treated with a melt additive to increase the softness of the nonwoven material 4.

[0056] A disposal tape 10 is attached to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 of the outer cover 2 in the back portion 8 of the pant diaper 1. The disposal tape 10 is attached to the pant diaper 1 with an adhesive, in a folded pre-disposal configuration. The adhesive may for example be a pressure sensitive hot melt (PSHM) adhesive. The disposal tape 10 may for example comprise or consist of a thermoplastic film, such as a polyolefin film. The disposal tape 10 has an outer circumferential edge 15 in the folded pre-disposal configuration.

[0057] FIG. 2 illustrates a view of the pant-type diaper 1 according to FIG. 1 prior to attachment of the disposal tape 10 to the outer cover 2 in the back portion 8 of the absorbent article 1. The disposal tape 10 comprises a tape adhesive zone 12 provided with an adhesive for permanently attaching the disposal tape 10 to the outer cover 2 in a modified attachment zone 13 on the nonwoven fibrous material 4. The modified attachment zone 13 is constituted of a modified part of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 which has been modified to increase the bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the modified attachment zone 13. The modification of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 in the modified attachment zone 13 thus provides higher bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the modified attachment zone 13 in comparison to a non-modified portion 14 of the nonwoven fibrous material 14.

[0058] The bond strength may be measured with any method relevant for measuring the bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the modified attachment zone 13 and comparing it with bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the non-modified portion 14 of the nonwoven fibrous material.

[0059] FIG. 2 illustrates a modified attachment zone 13 having a modified cross-section appearance, wherein the nonwoven fibers are at least partly consolidated and/or flattened within the attachment zone 13.

[0060] The modification of the nonwoven fibrous material 4 and the attachment of the disposal tape 10 to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 may optionally be performed prior to assembly of the pant diaper 1. The nonwoven fibrous material 4 may be provided in the form of a continuous nonwoven fibrous material web and by modifying zones on the continuous nonwoven fibrous material web with a predefined distance between the zones. The modification may be achieved, as set out herein, by means of heat treatment, plasma treatment, by compressing said zone or a combination of two or more of said treatments to provide the modified attachment zone 13. In a subsequent step a disposal tape 10 may be attached to each modified attachment zone 13. The disposal tape 13 is attached at the tape adhesive zone 12, provided with an adhesive layer, to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 by pressing and thereby bonding the tape adhesive zone 12 to the modified attachment zone 13. The modification of the nonwoven and the attachment of the disposal tapes may be performed either in a separate production step, such that the nonwoven material may be delivered to the pant-type diaper assembly line in rolls with the disposal tapes already attached to the modified attachment zones at predefined and repeated locations, or alternatively when producing pant-type absorbent articles on a continuous production line, prior to, during or after the assembly of the pant-type absorbent article.

[0061] As illustrated in FIG. 2, the outer cover attachment zone 13 has an outer circumferential edge 16, and the outer cover attachment zone 13 extends to the outer circumferential edge 15 of the disposal tape 10 when attached to the outer cover 2 and arranged in the unfolded pre-disposal configuration. The outer circumferential edge 16 of the outer cover attachment zone 13 may also extend beyond the outer circumferential edge 15 of the disposal tape 10, such as by at least 1 mm, or at least 2 mm.

[0062] FIG. 3 illustrates a pant diaper 1 according to the present disclosure with the disposal tape 10 in an unfolded disposal configuration. The disposal tape 10 will unfold upon pulling in the gripping end 23 of the disposal tape 10.

[0063] The disposal tape 10 may comprise a first tape 22 and a second tape 11 attached to the outer cover 2, the first tape 22 comprising a first tape reinforcing section 22a and a first tape connection section 22b being attached to the second tape 10, such disposal tape configuration having an T-shaped attachment configuration when the disposal tape 10 is in an unfolded disposal configuration provides an improved attachment to the nonwoven fibrous material 4.

[0064] FIG. 4a illustrates a soft and non-modified prior art nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein a disposal tape 10 has been attached to the non-modified nonwoven fibrous material 4 in a non-modified attachment zone 13. The disposal tape 10 has a tape adhesive zone 12 provided with an adhesive layer. As may be seen in FIG. 4a, the hydrophobic nature of the nonwoven fibers 4a and the fact that the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has a relatively low total bonding area, i.e. cumulated surface area of the discrete bonds, making the material softer, also leads to a reduced contact area between the nonwoven material 4 and the disposal tape 10. This results in less strong bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the attachment zone 13.

[0065] FIG. 4b illustrates a nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has been modified by heat embossing, such that the nonwoven fibers 4a are at least partly consolidated and flattened within an attachment zone 13. A disposal tape 10 is attached at a tape adhesive zone 12 to the nonwoven fibrous material 4 in the attachment zone 13. The fact that the attachment zone 13 is heat-embossed increases the bond strength between the tape adhesive zone 12 and the heat-embossed attachment zone 13.

[0066] FIG. 4c illustrates a nonwoven fibrous material 4 comprising nonwoven fibers 4a, wherein the nonwoven fibrous material 4 has been modified by plasma treatment in an attachment zone 13 of the nonwoven fibrous material 4. The plasma treatment provides a surface modification to the nonwoven fibers 4a which enhances the surface energy, thereby improving the wettability and adhesion properties of the nonwoven material 4. The plasma treatment thus leads to an adhesion improvement between a tape adhesion zone 12 of a disposal tape 10 and the modified attachment zone 13 of the nonwoven fibrous material 4.

EXAMPLE

[0067] Measurement of adhesive strength between disposal tape and backsheet material.

[0068] A method was used to determine the adhesive strength between the disposable tape and the backsheet nonwoven material of a diaper when subjected to a defined pulling speed in a tensile tester. The test was conducted at least 24 hours after the product had been manufactured and packed in a bag. An Instron tensile tester with a 50 or 100 N load cell connected to a computer running suitable software was used for the test. The back-waist part of the diaper was secured in a fixture, specially designed for the method, in the Instron tensile tester. The tensile tester pulled the tape at 300 mm/min in a 90 angle and registered the maximum force generated during the test. One test series with disposal tape adhered with glue on a heat-treated zone on the backsheet nonwoven material of the diaper according to the present disclosure and one test series of reference sample glued directly to the backsheet nonwoven material were tested. The result is shown in Table 1. From the result, it is evident with a confidence interval of 95%, that the modified zone of the backsheet nonwoven material according to the present disclosure increased the bonding strength to the disposal tape considerably.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Result of tensile Sample No Description testing (N) 1 Tape adhered with glue on a 28,885 heat treated backsheet nonwoven material 2 (reference) Tape adhered with glue directly 25,561 on a backsheet nonwoven material