Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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ABSORBENT PADDING
The present invention relates to an absorbent padding,
more particularly, to an absorbent padding suitable as a
menstruation pad, an incontinent pad and the like.
Conventional absorbent padding such as said menstruation
pads generally have a fastening means which is on the back
thereof so that the padding may be fastened to the shorts by
the fastening means and thereby held against the target
position even during active movement of the wearer's body.
For example, Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Application No.
1984-177425 discloses a technique according to which a
transversal ~;r?~ion of a fastening means is gradually
decreased longitudinally from at least one end toward the
intermediate section of a menstruation pad. Such fastening
means function in the same manner as said fastening zones.
If a relative position of a menstruation pad and the
wearer's shorts shifts due to the movement of the wearer, the
pad may be distorted or wrinkled, not only causing the wearer
to feel uncomfortable but also causing the pad to partially
protrude out from the shorts which may smear the clothing
with menstrual discharge. Such problem likely occurs in the
crotch zone of the shorts. The pad as disclosed in the
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above-mentioned Application certainly proposes said fastening
means but teaches no effective solution of such problem.
According to this well known technique, a fastening force of
said fastening means is adjusted so as to facilitate the used
pad smeared with menstrual discharge to be separated or
peeled off from the shorts. However, in view of the fact
that the shorts are often not in close contact with the
wearer's body particularly over a region extending from the
crotch to the hip and, additionally, the hip frequently rubs
against the other objects such as a chair on which the wearer
sits. Consequently, it is often difficult for the pad to be
held between the shorts and said region of the wearer's body.
Specifically, an active movement of the wearer's body may
shift the pad relative to the wearer's shorts and the shifted
pad gives the wearer uncomfortable feeling particularly in
the hip zone and smear the wearer's body as well as the
clothing with menstrual discharge. Regarding this problem
also, the above-identified Application teaches no effective
solution.
In view of these problem left behind by the prior art,
it is a principal object of the invention to solve them by an
improved arrangement such that a dimension as measured
between outer edges of adhesive zones as a fastening means
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provided along transversely opposite side edges of an
absorbent padding is larger in longitudinally front and rear
sections of the padding than in a longitudinally intermediate
section of the padding and a force required for peeling off
of the padding is higher in the rear section of the padding
than in the other sections of the padding.
The object set forth above is achieved, according to the
invention, by an absorbent padding comprising a liquid-
permeable topsheet, a liquid-impermeable backsheet, a liquid-
absorbent core disposed between these two sheets, and a
fastening means provided on said backsheet for fastening said
padding to shorts, wherein said fastening means comprises
adhesive zones provided along transversely opposite sides of
said padding with a dimension as measured between outer edges
of the transversely opposite adhesive zones being larger in
longitudinally front and rear sections of said padding than
in a longitudinally intermediate section of said padding and
a force required for peeling off of said padding is higher in
said rear section than in said other sections.
The padding of such construction can be reliably
fastened by the fastening means to the shorts not only around
the crotch zone but also along side edges of leg-openings
longitudinally in front and rear of said crotch zone. In
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this manner, the longitudinally rear section of the padding
is sufficiently stabilized against the hip of the shorts to
assure that even an active movement of the wearer's body
causes no shifting of the padding and the padding having been
smeared with menstrual discharge can be easily peeled off
from the shorts, starting from the front section at which the
adhesive force is relatively weak.
Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of an
absorbent padding as a menstruation pad according to the
invention; and
Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing another
embodiment of said pad according to the invention.
Referring to Fig. 1, a menstruation pad 1 comprises a
liquid-permeable topsheet 2, a liquid-impermeable backsheet
3 and a liquid-absorbent core 4 disposed between these two
sheets 2, 3 wherein portions of the top- and backsheets 2, 3
extending outward beyond a peripheral edge of the core 4 are
water-tightly bonded together along a bonding line 5. The
back of the pad 1 destined to be put against shorts worn is
provided with a pair of adhesive zones defining a fastening
means, with hot melt adhesive applied on the backsheet 3 in
the form of strips, ribbons or tapes.
Assumed that the pad 1 is longitudinally divided in a
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front section 11, an intermediate section 13 and a rear
section 12, the adhesive zones 7, 8 longitudinally extend
from the front section 11 to the rear section 12, describing
circular arcs which are convex with respect to a center line
(not shown) transversely dividing the pad 1 in right and left
halves. A dimension "D" as measured between outer edges of
the respective adhesive zones 7, 8 is relatively large in the
front and rear sections 11, 12 and gradually decreased to the
minimum in the intermediate section 13. A dimension "d" as
measured between their inner edges is also gradually
decreased to the minimum in the intermediate section 13. In
each of the adhesive zones 7, 8, a width Wc in the rear
section 12 is larger than widths WA~ W3 in the front and
intermediate sections, respectively. Such configuration of
the adhesive zones 7, 8 allows the pad 1 to be fastened to
the shorts along right and left side edges around the legs of
the wearer symmetrically with respect to the crotch zone. An
area of the adhesive zones 7, 8 on the surface of the pad 1
destined to be put against the shorts worn may be dimensioned
so as to be larger in the rear section 12 than in the front
and intermediate sections 11, 13.
Referring to Fig. 2, adhesive zones along transversely
opposite side edges of the pad 1 are respectively divided
2 ~ 3 7
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into three straight zones 7A~ 7B~ 7C and 8A~ 8B~ 8c of the
substantially same length "L", occupying said front,
intermediate and rear sections 11, 13, 12 of the pad 1. The
transversely opposite adhesive zones are spaced parallel from
each other by width WA in the front section 11, W3 in the
intermediate section 13 and Wc in the rear section 12,
wherein Wc is larger than each of WA and WB.
The respective pairs of transversely opposite adhesive
zones are spaced from each other by widths WA~ WB~ WC in
front, intermediate and rear sections 11, 13, 12,
respectively, wherein DA is substantially equal to DC but DB
is smaller than DA and DC Accordingly, a total area of the
adhesive zones in larger in the rear section 12 than in the
front and intermediate sections 11, 13, and a force required
for separation of them correspondingly higher than in the
front and intermediate sections 11, 13. Alternatively, it is
possible to dimension all the adhesive zones to have uniform
areas and to adjust an adhesive force of adhesive in the
zones 7C~ 8C to be higher than in the zones 7A~ 7B~ 8A~ 8B SO
that a force required for separation in the rear section 12
may be adjusted to be higher than in the other sections.
The force required for separation in the rear section
12 assured by the arrangement exemplarily shown by Figs. 1
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and 2 is preferably at least 1.2 times of such force in the
front section 11.
The pad 1 of the invention may be worn with the
intermediate section 13 having the minimum dimension "D"
between the outer edges of the adhesive zones 7, 8 being
positioned at the crotch zone and with the rear section 12
being positioned at the hip zone, respectively, of the
shorts. The pad 1 is thus longitudinally direction-specified
and preferably provided with suitable means which facilitates
the wearer to identify this specified direction of the pad 1.
The pad 1 is commercially supplied to consumers with the
adhesive zones 7, 8 protectively covered with separator
papers. The adhesive may be applied to the zones 7, 8 to
define planar extents, spots or intermittent lines. The
dimension "d" as measured between the inner edges of the
adhesive zones 7, 8 is preferably adjusted to lOmm or larger
and more preferably to 15mm or larger in order to prevent the
adhesive zones 7, 8 from being bonded together.
A padding such as the menstruation pad of the invention
can be fastened to the shorts not only around the crotch zone
but also along the side edges of the leg-openings in the
proximity of the crotch zone without an apprehension that the
padding might be distorted even during an active movement of
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the wearer's body, since the dimension as measured between
the outer edges of the transversely opposite adhesive zones
is larger in the longitudinally front and rear sections than
in the longitudinally intermediate section of the napkin. In
addition, the padding having been smeared with menstrual
discharge can be easily peeled of from the shorts in the
direction from the front to the rear section, since the force
required for separation of the padding is adjusted to be
higher in the rear section than in the front and intermediate
sections of the napkin. Such feature of the invention
effectively stabilizes the rear section of the padding
against an active movement of the wearer's body or frequent
sitting down and standing up relative to a chair. In this
way, the padding of the invention is comfortable to wear and
rarely smeares the wearer's body and clothing.
