Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Kimberly-clark Corporation

Robert Eugene Vogt

Timothy James Blenke

Paul John Serbiak

Joseph Daniel Coenen

Robert Lee Popp

Georgia Lynn Zehner

Shawn Ahmed Quereshi

Patrick Sean McNichols

Bruce Michael Siebers

Timothy Raymond Heindel

Tim Joseph Janssen

Scott Lee Pennings

Thomas David Ehlert

Gary Mack Reynolds

Robert John Leveille

Barbara Oakley Sauer

Rebecca Lyn Dilnik

John Gerard Hein

Michael A Snyder

Allen Todd Leak

James Alvin Boldra

Kathleen Ann Peterson

Scott Leslie Williams

Thomas Harold Roessler

Mark Michael Mleziva

Jody Dorothy Suprise

Jennifer Elizabeth Pozniak

Cassandra E Morris

Gregory John Rajala

Michael Barth Venturino

Thomas Walter Odorzynski

Paul Joseph Datta

Donald Joseph Sanders

Keith R Haen

Daniel James Oshefsky

James Bennington Stopher

Toan Thanh Le Minh

Paul A Gavronski

Jeffrey Dean Lindsay

Fung-jou Chen

Paul Theodore Van Gompel

Frank Paul Abuto

Jark Chong Lau

Tong Sun

Franklin M Chen

John Philip Vukos

Michael Joseph Garvey

Julie Bednarz

Dan D Endres

Robert Griffiths Brandon

Timothy James Rymer

Jane Louise Clough

David Peter Kielpikowski

Joseph Richard Alberts

Mary A Bruemmer

Gerald Leigh Rabe

Kambiz Bayat Makoui

Richard Mark Konetzke

Edward John Foley

Darin Allen Engelhart

Edward Herman Ruscher

Dennis John DeGroot

James Frederick Roth

Mark Scott Lancaster

Laura Jean Turner

Linda K Lemerande

Edward Anthony Drezdzon, Ii

Kellie M Goodrich

Donald Merlin Fries

Allen James Dohnalik

Robert D McQuiggin

Kenneth R Schmidt

Robert Micheal Letterman

Steven H Levine

Steven L Goodman

An absorbent article including an absorbent chassis and a pair of back ears. The absorbent chassis includes a liquid impermeable outercover and an absorbent body disposed on said outercover. A least a portion of each back ear is substantially flush with the chassis back waist edge.

Absorbent article

A package containing an article. The article includes a first article texture and a second article texture. The package includes a plastic packaging material having an outer surface. Further the first article texture and the second article texture are non-similar and at least a portion of the outer surface has a packaging texture that is a simulant of the first article texture and at least a portion of the outer surface has a packaging texture that is a simulant of the second article texture.

Absorbent article packaging

Absorbent structures are disclosed which may be incorporated into liquid absorbent products, such as diapers, adult incontinence products, feminine hygiene products, and the like. The absorbent structures are made from a fibrous material and include a pair of opposing lateral flaps. The lateral flaps are folded onto the fibrous web. By folding the lateral flaps onto the fibrous web, greater basis weight areas may be formed on the absorbent structure. By varying the width of the lateral flaps, the basis weight differential may be increased and decreased. The lateral flaps also form the widest portion of the web material for facilitating folding during a continuous process.

Folded absorbent product

Prefastened absorbent articles () may include a singular fastening mechanism that includes an oversized fastener (), to provide stability between the front waist region and the back waist region and to maintain the prefastened configuration. The prefastened absorbent articles can include a multiple property fastener () that has at least one engagement zone () and at least one non-abrasive zone ().

Pre-fastened absorbent article having simplified fastening features

An absorbent garment, such as a diaper, folded in a manner that prevents leg elastics from remaining folded inward in a crotch region during product application. Each of two transversely opposed distal edges in a back waist region and each of two transversely opposed distal edges in a front waist region are folded onto a surface of the garment along respective longitudinal fold lines. The garment is also folded along at least one transverse fold line. A distance between the longitudinal fold lines in the back waist region may be greater than a distance between transversely opposed leg elastics in a crotch region of the garment. A distance between the longitudinal fold lines in the back waist region may be less than a combined distance between each of the transversely opposed distal edges of the back waist region and the respective longitudinal fold line.

Easy-to-unfold folded absorbent garment with distal edges of the front and back waist regions folded along respective longitudinal fold lines

A method and apparatus for bonding and aperturing one or more fibrous webs including bonding at least one fibrous web in a bonding nip created by a rotatable bonding roll and a rotatable anvil roll and aperturing the at least one fibrous web in an aperturing nip created by a rotatable aperture roll and an anvil roll. The bonding roll has a plurality of protuberances extending from the peripheral bonding surface that define a bonding pattern and result in highly bonded regions within the fibrous web. The aperture roll has a plurality of projections extending from the peripheral aperture surface that define an aperturing pattern. The aperturing pattern substantially aligns with the bonding pattern thereby creating apertures within the highly bonded regions.

Multi-roll bonding and aperturing

A pant-like, refastenable, disposable absorbent article includes an absorbent chassis, a pair of opposed side panels, a pair of releasable joints and a pair of proportional fasteners. The absorbent chassis defines a pair of laterally opposed side edges and a pair of longitudinally opposed waist edges. The side panels extend between and connect the side edges of the absorbent chassis to define a waist opening and a pair of leg openings in the pant-like disposable absorbent article. Each of the opposed side panels defines a first side margin which is permanently attached to the side edge of the absorbent chassis in one waist region of the absorbent article to provide a permanent joint. Each of the opposed side panels further defines a second side margin opposite the first side margin which is releasably attached to the side edges of the absorbent chassis in the other waist region of the absorbent article to provide the releasable joints. The proportional fasteners are located adjacent the releasable joints and are configured to be smaller in the longitudinal direction than the releasable joints. The fasteners are used to refastenably engage the second side margins of the side panels to the opposite waist region of the absorbent article.

Pant-like disposable absorbent articles

A method for forming a stabilized airlaid layer () can include an airforming of a substantially unbonded fibrous layer () which includes absorbent fibers and binder-fibers. The fibrous layer () is exposed to high-frequency electromagnetic energy during a distinctively short activation period to activate the binder-fibers to provide the stabilized, airlaid layer (). In a particular aspect the activation period can be not more than about 3 sec.

Method and apparatus for making on-line stabilized absorbent materials

Methods are disclosed for producing absorbent articles comprising molded airlaid webs and other molded fibrous webs. The molded webs can offer improved body fit and/or improved fluid handling. Molded airlaid webs, for example, can be formed having a central longitudinal hump and flexure zones longitudinally removed from the central hump to provide good contact with the body and improved fit when the article is squeezed from the sides. Molding can be achieved when a binder material is activated by an energy source and the web is held against a molding substrate. Energy sources can include microwaves, heated air, heated metal surfaces, ultraviolet radiation, ultrasonic energy, and the like.

Method of making molded cellulosic webs for use in absorbent articles

A pant-like absorbent garment adapted to the non-symmetrical nature and leakage demands of the anatomy of the human body has variable spacing and curvature among the elastic members bonded around the leg openings such that the spacing and/or curvature is asymmetrical with respect to the wearer's anterior and posterior sides. The spacing and curvature profiles of the elastic members are designed to accommodate various pressure demands around a wearer's legs during different activities. The resulting garment has optimized comfort, fit and containment about the leg openings.

Absorbent garment with asymmetrical leg elastic spacing

A method of making a prefastened refastenable diaper or other undergarment includes the steps of forming a web of diaper material, cutting holes in the center of the web as precursor leg cutouts and, placing a fastening system divided between front and back waist sections onto each diaper section of the web to prepare inchoate diapers having their long axes in the cross machine direction of the web. Then the web is cut to define the web into individual diapers. The diapers are then folded in half at the crotch section, placing the fastening system section in lapping alignment and fastening the system together. The diapers are then removed by the leg holes to bundle and place the diapers in point of sale containers. The method lends itself to simple in-line process machinery for accomplishing the manufacture of the diapers. The method creates diapers which are useful upon removal from the point of sale container as pull on training pants and which may be easily removed in the fashion of a diaper by separating the fasteners.

Method of making a prefastened undergarment in a cross machine direction and apparatus for carrying out said method

The invention relates to methods of fabricating an absorbent article. In one method of the invention, combination containment flaps and leg cuffs are formed on a common substrate. A plurality of elastomeric elements are included in the combination article to assist in forming containment flaps. Discrete leg cuff pieces are applied to the substrate at longitudinally spaced locations. In some embodiments, a cutting device slits the substrate substantially along a center line extending the length of the substrate, forming two continuous substrate portions. A glue gun applies adhesive to the substrate portion. The substrate portions are folded lengthwise, using the adhesive to form integral containment flaps and leg cuffs in a composite substrate. The composite substrate is secured to an absorbent article web sausage in forming absorbent articles. In another embodiment, the substrate is a first substrate which supports elastomeric elements used in forming leg cuffs and containment flaps. The first substrate is secured to a second substrate, thus forming a base structure, with the elastomeric elements between the first and second substrates. A bodyside liner and an absorbent core are added on one side of the base structure, and an outer cover is added on the second side, to form a web sausage. In both embodiments the web sausage is cut transversely at spaced locations along the length of the web sausage, to form absorbent articles.

Method of making an absorbent article having leg cuffs combined with containment flaps

A pant-like absorbent garment adapted to the non-symmetrical nature and leakage demands of the anatomy of the human body has asymmetrical pressure around the leg openings with respect to the wearer's anterior and posterior sides. Elastic members are bonded about the leg openings with either higher tension on the posterior side and lower tension on the anterior side or higher tension on the anterior side and lower tension on the posterior side, depending on the intended wearer's level of activity. The resulting garments have optimized comfort, fit and containment about the leg openings.

Absorbent garment with asymmetrical leg elastic tension

Disclosed is an improved fastening tape for use on a disposable absorbent garment. The fastening tape comprises a first substrate and an interlocking material attached to said first substrate. The interlocking material extends the entire width of the fastening tape, and the interlocking material is longitudinally spaced from both transverse edges of the fastening tape. Also disclosed is a process for manufacturing the fastening tape. The process involves providing a continuous length of an interlocking material having a width and traveling in a first direction. The interlocking material is attached to a first substrate to form a composite. The composite is then cut along a second direction to form fastening tapes suitable for attachment on a disposable absorbent garment. The second direction is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.

Mechanical fastening tapes and method for their construction

A pant-like absorbent garment having curved leg cuffs has a gasket-like fit. A chassis of the absorbent garment defines first and second leg openings with curved cut-outs in the chassis. A bonded portion is located between a first portion and a second portion of each of two elastic strands. The bonded portions are bonded to the first and second leg openings about a periphery of the curved cut-outs, thereby forming finished seams. Second portions of the elastic strands can form rolled edges. The resulting absorbent garment has a comfortable, gasket-like fit and an aesthetically pleasing, finished look about the leg openings.

Pant-like absorbent garments having curved leg cuffs

Growing community of inventors

Neenah, WI, United States of America

Robert Eugene Vogt