Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Evonik Corporation

Richard Norris Dodge, Ii

Lawrence Howell Sawyer

Sylvia Bandy Little

Sridhar Ranganathan

David Louis Zenker

Xiaomin Zhang

Connie Lynn Hetzler

Jian Qin

Yong Li

Stanley Michael Gryskiewicz

Billie Jean Matthews

Kuo-Shu Edward Chang

Tamara Lee Mace

Debra Jean McDowall

Hoa La Wilhelm

Clifford Jackson Ellis

Scott J Smith

Shannon Kathleen Melius

Rob David Everett

Violet May Grube

Thomas Gerald Bolwerk

Joseph Daniel Coenen

Marcille Faye Ruman

Eugenio Go Varona

Fu-Jya Daniel Tsai

Sara Jane Wille Stabelfeldt

Adrienne Rae Loyd

David Fleger Bishop

Cathleen Mae Uttecht

Gonglu Tian

Angela Ann Johnston

Margaret Gwyn Latimer

Connie May McMorrow

Yaru Shi

Eric Scott Kepner

Andrew Scott Burnes

Stephen Carl Baumgartner

Richard Allen Anderson

Mary Alice Berceau

Arvinder P Singh Kainth

Katherine Carol Wheeler

Michael William Veith

David L Bergman

Kendell Jean Williams

Stan McIntosh

Scott Smith

James Brian Riddle

Robert Lee Popp

Eric Donald Johnson

David Arthur Fell

Daniel Robert Schlinz

Candace Dyan Krautkramer

Stacy Averic Mundschau

Jayant Chakravarty

Michael John Niemeyer

Joseph R Feldkamp

Yung Hsaing Huang

Brooke Ashley Berg

Christopher Martin Pieper

Katherine Carol Shaw

Nancy Birbiglia Lange

Arvinder Pal Singh Kainth

EoYeon Hwang

Tammy J Nettekoven

JinHee Lee

Brooke Ashley Zimmer

JinYoung Jung

WonYoung Lee

Allyson Marie Sagel

Sara Jane W Stabelfeldt

Ellen S Green

Estelle Anne Ostgard

An absorbent article having improved leakage protection when the wearer of the absorbent article is lying on their side. The absorbent article has a surge layer in liquid communication with a portion of the garment facing region and a portion of a side edge of the absorbent core.

Disposable absorbent article with side lying leakage improvement

An absorbent article having improved handling of liquid and improved intake and retention of liquid loadings during use. The absorbent article can minimize the amount of moisture in contact with a wearer's skin and can provide a feeling of softness on the skin of the wearer.

Absorbent article with point fusion bonding

An absorbent article has an absorbent composite that includes a water-insoluble fibrous matrix, a superabsorbent polymer composition that has an initial absorbent capacity of at least about 5 grams of saline per gram of superabsorbent polymer composition; and a first triggering mechanism having a first release time of between about 5 and 60 minutes, and a second triggering mechanism. The superabsorbent polymer composition may have a second absorbent capacity that is at least about 25% greater than the first absorbent capacity as measured by the mCRC Test.

Absorbent composites exhibiting stepped capacity behavior

An absorbent composite includes a water-insoluble fibrous matrix, a superabsorbent polymer composition that has an initial absorbent capacity of at least about 5 grams of saline per gram of superabsorbent polymer composition; and a first triggering mechanism having a first release time of between about 5 and 60 minutes, where the superabsorbent polymer composition has a second absorbent capacity that is at least about 25 % greater than the first absorbent capacity as measured by the mCRC Test.

The present invention relates to absorbent articles that include absorbent compositions which exhibit swelling, deswelling, and reswelling behavior. More specifically, absorbent compositions of this invention swell and absorb fluids after exposure to aqueous fluids, deswell and release fluids from the swollen absorbent compositions, and can also reswell and absorb fluids. The swelling-deswelling-reswelling behavior allows enhanced liquid distribution in absorbent composites and absorbent articles.

Absorbent articles comprising absorbent materials exhibiting deswell/reswell

An absorbent article can have a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. In some aspects, at least one of the topsheet, backsheet, and absorbent core is stretchable. In other aspects, the absorbent core can comprise layers, at least one of which includes substantially the superabsorbent material only and at least one of which includes substantially fluff only. In some aspects, the article includes superabsorbent material having a surface additive that includes a surface crosslinking agent, a water-insoluble inorganic metal compound and a polymeric coating.

Absorbent articles comprising high permeability superabsorbent polymer compositions

In a method of evaluating a product worn on a body, a computer based body sub-model of at least a portion of the body is created. A computer based product sub-model of the product is created, at least one parameter of which is variable as a function of fluid loading of the product. A computer based interaction model is also created to define instructions as to how the body sub-model and the product sub-model interact and to further define instructions corresponding to a fluid loading of the product. The body sub-model, the product sub-model and the interaction model are combined in a use model to simulate interaction between the body sub-model and the product sub-model in response to fluid loading of the product. The use model is evaluated to determine the performance of at least one product feature of the product in response to fluid loading of the product.

Method of evaluating the performance of a product using a virtual environment

The present invention relates to water swellable, water insoluble superabsorbent materials having controlled variable gel-bed friction angles. Controlling the gel-bed friction angle of the superabsorbent materials may allow control of the swelling of the material, the absorbency of the material, and/or the absorbency, resiliency, and porosity of the absorbent composite containing the superabsorbent material. The present invention relates to treatments for superabsorbent materials to manipulate friction angle and new superabsorbent materials having the desired friction angle characteristics. The present invention also relates to absorbent composites employing superabsorbent materials having the desired friction angle characteristics.

Superabsorbent materials having low, controlled gel-bed friction angles and composites made from the same

There is provided a surge material for personal care products comprising a layered structure of at least one relatively high permeability layer on a top side toward a wearer and at least one relatively low permeability layer where the structure has a capillary tension range between about 1 and 5 cm with a differential capillary tension of at least about 1 cm from top to bottom. The surge material should have a high permeability layer with a permeability of at least 1000 Darcys and a low permeability layer with a permeability of less than 1000 Darcys. The surge material should also have a said high permeability layer which has a permeability of at least 250 Darcys greater than the low permeability layer. Such a layered structure should have a first insult run-off value of at most 30 ml from a 100 ml insult delivered at 20 ml/second. Such a surge material is useful in personal care products like diapers, training pants, absorbent underpants, adult incontinence products, feminine hygiene products and the like.

Heterogeneous surge material for absorbent articles

Superabsorbent polymer materials are provided including absorbent polymers having a fast vortex time, desirably about 10 seconds or less, and a stiffness index of at least about 0.7, as determined by test procedures described herein. The absorbent polymers can be modified to obtain a faster vortex time by a method including providing an absorbent polymer having a first vortex time, absorbing water with the absorbent polymer, freeze-drying the swollen absorbent polymer to remove at least a portion of the absorbed water, and obtaining a modified absorbent polymer having a second vortex time. The ratio of the first vortex time to the second vortex time is at least about 5, and desirably the modified absorbent polymer has a stiffness index of at least about 0.7.

High stiffness absorbent polymers having improved absorbency rates and method for making the same

The present invention is directed to an absorbent composite containing superabsorbent material. The superabsorbent material is in the form of superabsorbent particles having a bimodal particle size distribution. Use of superabsorbent material having a bimodal particle size distribution in the absorbent structure results in enhanced fluid distribution and fluid intake of the absorbent composite. The absorbent composite of the present invention is useful in disposable personal care products.

Composites comprising superabsorbent materials having a bimodal particle size distribution and methods of making the same

Absorbent article including an absorbent core having multiple absorbent layers. The absorbent layers interact in a manner which desirably locates absorbed liquid in an appointed, high saturation wicking layer.

Layered absorbent structure with a zoned basis weight

This invention relates to an absorbent composite which utilizes multifunctional superabsorbent materials to enhance distribution of fluids within the absorbent composite. More specifically, this invention relates to superabsorbent materials which swell and absorb fluids and also can deswell and release fluids into the surrounding absorbent composite and towards additional superabsorbent material. The superabsorbent materials of this invention deswell and release fluid by means of a triggering mechanism. Triggering mechanisms can include thermal, chemical, mechanical, electronic, magnetic, and radiation energies. Swelling and deswelling of the superabsorbent materials can be repeated for more than one cycle thereby improving fluid distribution. Multiple swelling and deswelling cycles allow multiple insults to be distributed throughout an absorbent composite, fully utilizing the absorbent capabilities of the full absorbent composite and minimizing leakage.

Absorbent composites exhibiting swelling/deswelling properties

Growing community of inventors

Appleton, WI, United States of America

Richard Norris Dodge, Ii