Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

David Glen Biggs

Eric Donald Johnson

Robert Lee Popp

Daniel Robert Schlinz

Andrew Thomas Hammond

Niall Finn

Andy R Butler

Vasily Aramovich Topolkaraev

Neil T Scholl

Kendell Jean Williams

Mark Michael Mleziva

Davis Dang H Nhan

Antonio J Carrillo Ojeda

James Hongxue Wang

Kenneth John Zwick

Candace Dyan Krautkramer

Scott S C Kirby

Leila Joy Roberson

Dustin J Smith

Steven J Roffers

Bernhardt Edward Kressner

Jayant Chakravarty

James Jay Tanner

Walter Theodore Schultz

Xiaomin Zhang

Janet Elaine Collins

William James Raynor, Jr

Mark D Perkins

Scott Sc Kirby

Duane Gerard Krzysik

Ryan J McEneany

Palani Raj Ramaswami Wallajapet

Nathan John Vogel

Alanna Nicole Haessler

Thomas Allan Eby

Joseph Kenneth Baker

Kroy Donald Johnson

Thomas Kremer

Theodore T Tower

Antonio J Carrillo

Barbara Sue Funk

Patrick Dean Abney

Peter Shawn Lortscher

Richmond R Cohen

Mary Alice Berceau

April Montoya Vaverka

Kendell Jean Wendrick

Jonathan A Baker

Udaykumar Raval

Robert Stanley Monson

Michael George Shlepr

Ryan J Mceneany

An absorbent article has a chassis having an outer cover at least in part defining the outer surface of the article, a pair of ears extending transversely outward from opposite sides of the chassis, and a fastening system comprising a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system. The secondary fastening system includes a secondary second fastening component located on each of the ears and a corresponding secondary first fastening component located on the outer surface of the article at a first waist portion. A ΔE value calculated using the Color Contrast Test between the secondary first fastening components uncovered by the ears and the outer cover being greater than 20.

Absorbent article having a fastening system with a visual cue

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, a nonwoven material comprising a plurality of fibers may comprise a first surface and a second surface, the first surface being opposite from the second surface, and an apertured zone. The apertured zone may comprise a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface, a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, wherein a majority of the plurality of nodes include at least three connecting ligaments connecting to adjacent nodes, and a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone of the nonwoven material from about 10% to about 60%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method.

Three-dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing thereof

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and absorbent articles comprising such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, an absorbent article may comprise an outer cover, a bodyside liner, an absorbent body, and a nonwoven material coupled to the bodyside liner. The nonwoven material may comprise an apertured zone providing a percent open area for the apertured zone that is greater than about 15%. The nonwoven material may be coupled to liner by a front waist bond forming a front waist bonding region which extends through the apertured zone and a rear waist bond forming a rear waist bonding region, wherein the rear waist bonding region has a length that is between about 2% and about 10% of the material length and the front waist bonding region has a length that is between about 20% and about 50% of the material length.

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, a nonwoven material may comprise a plurality of fibers, a first surface, and an apertured zone comprising: a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface, a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, wherein a majority of the plurality of nodes include at least three connecting ligaments connecting to adjacent nodes, and a plurality of openings. The apertured zone may further comprise a lane of nodes which extends substantially in the longitudinal direction, and wherein the lane of nodes extending substantially in the longitudinal direction is formed of longitudinally adjacent nodes which are aligned such that lines drawn between centers of longitudinally adjacent nodes within the lane of nodes each form an angle with respect to the longitudinal direction of less than about 20 degrees.

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, a nonwoven material may comprise a plurality of fibers and may further comprise an opposing first surface and a second surface, an apertured zone comprising a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface, a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method. The material may further comprise a first and second side zones with the nonwoven material having a material width and the first and second side zones having first and second side zone widths, and wherein each of the first and second side zone widths are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. An absorbent article can include an absorbent body and an outer cover. The absorbent article can also include a fluid-entangled nonwoven material. The absorbent body can be disposed between the fluid-entangled nonwoven material and the outer cover. The fluid-entangled nonwoven can include a first surface and a second surface. The nonwoven material can also include a plurality of nodes extending away from abase plane on the first surface towards the absorbent body. The nonwoven material can further include a plurality of openings extending from the first surface to the second surface through the fluid-entangled nonwoven material. Individual openings of the plurality of openings can be disposed between adjacent nodes of the plurality of nodes.

An absorbent article having improved handling of body exudates. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of body exudates in contact with a wearer's skin and can minimize the incidence of leakage of body exudates from the absorbent article. In one aspect, the absorbent article comprises a body facing material having a first layer and a second layer with fibers of the layers entangled with each other. The body facing material can further comprise projections and land areas adjacent to the projections along with apertures in the land area.

Absorbent article with a fluid entangled body facing material including a plurality of projections

The foam and fiber composite can provide an absorbent article with improved dryness and an improved liquid distribution capability. The foam and fiber composite can be formed from at least two materials. The first material is an open cell foam material and the second material is a fibrous material. A plurality of the fibers forming the fibrous material can be fluid inserted into the open cell foam material thereby forming the foam and fiber composite. In various embodiments, the foam and fiber composite can be incorporated into an absorbent article as a component of an absorbent system located between a topsheet layer and a backsheet layer of the absorbent article.

Method of manufacturing a foam and fiber composite

An absorbent article having improved handling of body exudates. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of body exudates in contact with a wearer's skin and can minimize the incidence of leakage of body exudates from the absorbent article. In one example, the article can include an outer cover, a body facing material, and an absorbent body. The body facing material can include a plurality of projections with a land area disposed between the plurality of projections, wherein the land area has an open area greater than about 10% open area in a chosen area.

An absorbent article has a chassis having an outer cover at least in part defining the outer surface of the article, a pair of ears extending transversely outward from opposite sides of the chassis, and a fastening system comprising a primary fastening system and a secondary fastening system. The secondary fastening system includes a secondary second fastening component located on each of the ears and a corresponding secondary first fastening component located on the outer surface of the article at a first waist portion. A &#x394;E value calculated using the Color Contrast Test between the secondary first fastening components uncovered by the ears and the outer cover being greater than 20.

A polymeric material having a multimodal pore size distribution is provided. The material is formed by applying a stress to a thermoplastic composition that contains first and second inclusion additives dispersed within a continuous phase that includes a matrix polymer. Through the use of particular types of inclusion additives and careful control over the manner in which such additives are dispersed within the polymer matrix, the present inventors have discovered that a unique, multimodal porous structure can be achieved.

Polymeric material with a multimodal pore size distribution

An absorbent article having improved handling of body exudates. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of body exudates in contact with a wearer's skin and can minimize the incidence of leakage of body exudates from the absorbent article.

Absorbent article with a fluid-entangled body facing material including a plurality of hollow projections

An absorbent article having improved handling of body exudates can include a fluid-entangled body facing material including a support layer and a projection layer. The fluid-entangled body facing material can include a plurality of hollow projections formed from a first plurality of fibers in the projection layer. The hollow projections can extend from the outer surface of the projection layer in a direction away from the support layer. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of body exudates in contact with a wearer's skin and can minimize the incidence of leakage of body exudates from the absorbent article.

Growing community of inventors

Neenah, WI, United States of America

David Glen Biggs