ABSORBENT PRODUCT COMPRISING INLET MATERIAL

Abstract

An absorbent product includes a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet and an absorbent core enclosed between the liquid pervious topsheet and liquid impervious backsheet. The absorbent product has in its longitudinal direction a crotch part and two end parts. The absorbent product includes at least in its crotch part an inlet material having a plurality of openings. The plurality of openings in the inlet material are formed from a plurality of slits extending in the transversal direction of the absorbent product by expanding the continuous inlet material in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent product. The liquid inlet material has in its transversal direction of the absorbent product a central region and two edge regions. The openings are located in the central region so that the central region of the material with the plurality of openings has a lesser degree of elasticity than the edge regions.

Claims

1. An absorbent product having in its longitudinal direction a crotch part and two end parts comprising: a liquid pervious topsheet; a liquid impervious backsheet; an absorbent core enclosed between the liquid pervious topsheet and liquid impervious backsheet; and an inlet material having a plurality of openings located in at least the crotch part, wherein the plurality of openings in the inlet material are formed from a plurality of slits extending in the transversal direction of the absorbent product by expanding the continuous inlet material in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent product, and wherein the liquid inlet material in the transversal direction of the absorbent product has a central region and two edge regions and the plurality of openings are located in the central region so that the central region of the inlet material with the plurality of openings has a lesser degree of elasticity than the edge regions.

2. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the edge regions of the inlet material has a greater elasticity than the central region of the inlet material.

3. The absorbent product according to claim 2, wherein the crotch part has a bowl shape.

4. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is located in the crotch part only.

5. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is located between the top sheet and the absorbent core.

6. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is the liquid permeable top sheet or part thereof.

7. The absorbent product according to claim 5, wherein the inlet material, at least in the crotch part, has a greater width than the absorbent core.

8. The absorbent product according to claim 7, wherein the central region of the inlet material, at least in the crotch part, also has a greater width than the absorbent core.

9. The absorbent product according to claim 5, wherein the liquid pervious topsheet and the liquid impervious backsheet have substantially same or greater width in the crotch part than the inlet material.

10. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the edge regions have a width that is of least 5.0 mm.

11. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the length of the openings in the transversal direction of the absorbent product are 5.0 to 20.0 mm.

12. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the width of the openings in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent product is 0.2 to 3.0 of the length of the opening in the transversal direction.

13. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material has been extended 30% to 200% from the original length of the unexpanded inlet material.

14. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is hydrophobic.

15. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is a foam material.

16. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material is a nonwoven.

17. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the openings are 1.5 to 5.0 mm.

18. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the total open area in the horizontal plane of the product formed by the plurality openings in the central region is 40% to 70% of the total area in the horizontal plane in the central region.

19. The absorbent product according to claim 1, wherein the inlet material and the layer directly below the inlet material have different colors.

20. An incontinence shield comprises the absorbent product according to claim 1.

21. The incontinence shield according to claim 20, wherein the length of the inlet material in the longitudinal direction of the incontinence shield is 20 to 80% of the total length of the incontinence shield in the longitudinal direction.

22. The incontinence shield according to claim 20, wherein the incontinence shield is less than 50 cm in its longitudinal direction.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FIGURES

[0039] FIG. 1A shows a top view of a slit inlet material according to an embodiment of the invention before it has been expanded.

[0040] FIG. 1B shows a top view of the inlet material according to FIG. 1A after it has been expanded, i.e. after the slits have been opened to form openings.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of an incontinence shield according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0042] FIG. 3 shows the incontinence shield of FIG. 2, seen from the side which will be facing the user when it is worn.

[0043] FIG. 4 also shows the incontinence shield of FIG. 2, seen from the side which will be facing the user when it is worn.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0044] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by means of examples referring to FIGS. 1A-B and FIGS. 2-4. FIG. 1A shows a top view of a slit inlet material according to an embodiment of the invention before it has been expanded. FIG. 1A shows a top view of the inlet material 1 after provision of transversal slits 2. The slits 2 in FIG. 1A are straight, but may have any suitable shape such as for example wave-shaped. The slits 2 are provided in staggered rows extending in the transversal direction of the inlet material 1 having a slit length A and a slit distance B between the ends of two mutually sequential slits in the staggered row, and a row distance C between two adjacent rows. The inlet material 1 has in its transversal direction a central region 4 with slits and two edge regions 5, 6 without slits.

[0045] FIG. 1B shows a top view of the inlet material 1 according to FIG. 1A after it has been expanded in the direction transversal to the slit 2 direction, i.e. after the slits 2 have been opened to form openings 3.

[0046] FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the different layers in the incontinence shield according to an embodiment of the invention. The incontinence shield 100 includes a liquid permeable topsheet 7, a liquid impermeable backsheet 8, and an absorbent core 9 enclosed between the topsheet 7 and the backsheet 8, and an inlet material 1 arranged between the topsheet 7 and the absorbent core 9. The incontinence shield 100 has in its longitudinal direction a front end part 15, a back end part 17 and a crotch part 16 intermediate the front end part 15 and the back end part 17. The inlet material 1 is located in the crotch part 16 of the product and the length of the front end part 15 in its longitudinal direction of the incontinence shield 100 is shorter than the length of the back end part 17 in the longitudinal direction of the incontinence shield 100. The crotch part 16 is a portion which is intended to be placed against the crotch of a wearer during use of the product and to constitute the main acquisition area for body fluid that reaches the incontinence shield 100.

[0047] The topsheet 7 and the backsheet 8 of the incontinence shield 100 extend together laterally outside of the absorbent core 9 along the whole circumference of the absorbent core 9. The topsheet 7 includes any material which is suitable for the purpose, i.e. soft and liquid pervious. Examples of commonly found topsheet 7 materials are nonwoven materials, perforated plastic films, plastic or textile mesh, and fluid permeable foam layers. Laminates include two or more topsheet materials are also commonly employed, as are top sheets including different materials within different parts of the fluid permeable wearer-facing surface.

[0048] The backsheet 8 is fluid impermeable. However, backsheet materials that are only fluid repellant may be used particularly in instances where relatively small amounts of urine are expected to be taken up. The backsheet 8 is commonly constituted by a thin, flexible, fluid-impermeable plastic film, but fluid-impermeable nonwoven materials, fluid impermeable foams and fluid impermeable laminates are also contemplated within the scope of the invention. The backsheet 8 may be breathable, implying that air and/or vapor may pass through the backsheet 8. Furthermore, the backsheet 8 may have an outer, garment-facing surface of a textile material such as nonwoven.

[0049] The absorbent core 9 may be made up of any suitable absorbent or fluid uptake material as known in the art, such as one or more layers of cellulose fluff pulp, foam, fibre waddings, etc. The absorbent core 9 may contain fibers or particles of highly absorbent polymer material, commonly known as superabsorbents, which are materials having the ability to absorb and retain large quantities of fluid upon formation of a hydrogel. The superabsorbents may be mixed with cellulose fluff pulp and/or may be arranged in pockets or layers in the absorbent core 9. The fibres may be pulp fibres and the superabsorbent material may be polyacrylate-based particles. The absorbent core 9 may further incorporate components for improving the properties of the absorbent core 9. Some examples of such components are binder fibers, fluid-dispersing materials, wetness indicators etc., as known in the art. The incontinence shield 100 has an elongate, generally rectangular shape when fully extended in all directions. Any suitable shape may be used for the absorbent product, such as hourglass shape, trapezoidal shape, etc. The incontinence shield has a transversal rear end edge 14 intended to be orientated rearwards during use of the absorbent article, and a front end edge 13 intended to be facing forwards towards the abdomen of the wearer. The incontinence shield 100 may further include fastening means for fastening of the absorbent product inside a supporting pant garment, such as a pair of underpants. The fastening means may be in the form of two longitudinally extending bands of pressure sensitive adhesive arranged on the garment-facing surface of the backsheet 8. The fastening means can be covered by a releasable protective layer, e.g. a siliconized paper, a nonwoven or any other releasable material as is known in the art. Before placing the absorbent product in the supporting pant garment, the protective layer is removed from the fastening means to expose the adhesive and make it available for fastening to the pant garment.

[0050] The fastening means is optional and may be omitted, if desired. When using an adhesive fastening means, any suitable adhesive pattern may be used such as full coating of the backsheet, one or more longitudinal adhesive band, transverse bands, dots, circles, curves, stars, etc.

[0051] The inlet material 1 in FIG. 2 is situated above the absorbent core 9 and beneath and in direct contact with the topsheet 7. The absorbent core 9 of the incontinence shield 100 includes one absorbent layer, but the absorbent core 9 may also include two or more absorbent layers. The absorbent core 9 may be homogeneous structures or may in themselves be layered structures such as absorbent laminates of the same or different materials. The absorbent layers may have uniform thickness or may vary in thickness in different parts of the layers. Similarly, the basis weight and composition may vary within the absorbent layers. By way of example, an absorbent layer may include a mixture of absorbent and/or non-absorbent fibers and superabsorbent material, wherein the ratio of superabsorbent material to fibers may vary in the layer. The absorbent core 9 may have any suitable shape, such as an hourglass shape with widened end portions and a narrow portion in the crotch portion, or a rectangular shape. The inlet material 1 in the incontinence shield illustrated in FIGS. 2-4 has a rectangular shape.

[0052] FIG. 3 shows the incontinence shield of FIG. 2, seen from the side which will be facing the user when it is worn. In FIG. 3, the edge regions 5, 6 of the inlet material 1 is forming the leg elastics 18, 19. The edge regions 5, 6 have a greater elasticity than the central region 4 of the inlet material 1 and functions as leg elastics 18,19. The leg elastics 18,19 are the edge regions 5,6 of the inlet material 1. FIG. 4 also shows the incontinence shield (100) of FIG. 2, seen from the side which will be facing the user when it is worn. In FIG. 4, the bowl shape of the incontinence shield 100 formed by the elastic contraction of the edge regions 5,6 of the inlet material 1 is illustrated. The incontinence shield 100 described in FIGS. 2-4 is only one illustration of an absorbent product suitable for the present invention.