The Procter Gamble Company

Ronald Ray McFall

Thomas Ward Osborn, Iii

John Richard Noel

John Lee Hammons

Pamela Jean Brown

Nicholas Albert Ahr

Letha Margie Hines

David Christopher Oetjen

Michael Nyle Hershberger

Cynthia Lee Alvis

Richard George Coe

Gary Dean Lavon

Jerry Edward Carstens

Patricia Lee Lampson

Deborah Catherine Schmitz

Nona Jane Redwine

Diane Dunn Farris

Allison Kay Hunter

Christy Ann Olson

Donald Carroll Roe

John Joseph Curro

Jason Matthew Orndorff

James W Cree

Diana Lynn Gann

Diana Lynne Gann

Wilfried Maria Kollner

Kimberly Ann Buck

Denise Jean Bien

Letha Margory Hines

Shirley Lee Chow

Dennis Allen DeHaan

Megan R Moore

Hiroaki Shikata

Kenji Ohshima

Julie Michelle Lohre

Kevin Eugene Grandison

Methods of and apparatus for bonding and/or embossing of materials, especially materials used in the manufacture of hygienic articles, including, but not limited, to absorbent articles such as feminine hygiene articles, disposable diapers, incontinence devices, wipes, and the like.

Methods of bonding materials, especially materials used in absorbent articles

Highly efficient absorbent articles for wearing by a human female such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, and adult incontinence pads. In use, the absorbent articles preferably maintain contact with and cover at least a portion of the inside surfaces of the wearer's labia, the exterior surfaces of the wearer's labia, and the supporting garment. The absorbent articles are highly flexible, having flexure resistance of less than or equal to about 100 grams. The absorbent may be flat or cup-shaped.

Highly efficient absorbent article for use with menstrual pant

Absorbent interlabial devices are disclosed. Preferably, the absorbent interlabial device has a liquid pervious topseet, a liquid impervious backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet. The device preferably also has a grasping tab joined to the backsheet. The tab preferably has at least a first zone and a second zone where the stiffness of the first zone is greater than the stiffness of the second zone. Preferably, the tab is made up of multiple layers. These layers are preferably laminated to each other in the first zone and are not laminated to each other in the second zone.

Absorbent interlabial device having an improved tab

Highly efficient absorbent articles for wearing by a human female such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, and adult incontinence pads. In use, the absorbent articles preferably maintain contact with and cover at least a portion of the inside surfaces of the wearer's labia, the exterior surfaces of the wearer's labia, and the supporting garment. The absorbent articles are highly flexible, having flexure resistance of less than or equal to about 100 grams. The absorbent articles may be flat or cup-shaped.

Method of making a slitted or particulate absorbent material and structures formed thereby

A sanitary napkin that has a three dimensionally-shaped tube of absorbent material and method of making the same is disclosed. The sanitary napkin comprises: a base pad having a body-facing side, a garment-facing side, and a longitudinal centerline. A tube of absorbent material extends outward from the body-facing side of the base pad and is aligned along the longitudinal centerline of the base pad. In one embodiment, the tube of absorbent material comprises an absorbent material and a cover at least partially wrapping the absorbent material. In this embodiment, the absorbent material is penetrated by autogenous bonds that join one portion of the cover to an opposing portion of the cover. The bonds are selectively placed to provide the tube of absorbent material with a distinct three-dimensional shape.

Sanitary napkin comprising three dimensionally shaped tube of absorbent material

An absorbent interlabial device that is worn interlabially by female wearers for catemenial purposes, incontinence protection, or both, is disclosed. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention is characterized by improved wearing comfort and increased capacity as compared to known interlabial devices. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention includes at least an central absorbent portion (or core) surrounded by a liquid pervious topsheet. The topsheet is folded laterally inward over the central absorbent portion and downdward to form a central groove on the top surface of the interlabial device. The central groove faces toward the vestibule of the wearer upon insertion into the interlabial space. The central groove improves the comfort associated with the wearing of the interlabial device, and allows the device to more rapidly acquire fluids, particularly viscous fluids. Additional features of the device may include a pair of flexible extensions, a secondary topsheet for improve acquisition rate, and tapered sealed ends for improved wearing comfort.

Absorbent interlabial device

A method of making a slitted or particulate absorbent material for an absorbent article such as sanitary napkins, diapers, incontinence devices, and the like. The method can be carried out in situ on another component of the absorbent article in a manufacturing process without cutting the other component. In one embodiment, the absorbent material is placed between two canier webs, and a force is applied to the composite of the absorbent material and the carrier webs. The force breaks the absorbent material, but only deforms the carrier webs to provide a self-contained web of particulate material between two carrier webs.

Method of making a slitted or particulate absorbent material

The method of making a shaped tube of absorbent material for the sanitary napkin, in one embodiment, involves the steps of: (a) providing a web of absorbent material, the web of absorbent material having a length, a width, a longitudinal centerline oriented in the direction of the length of the web of absorbent material, a first surface and an opposed second surface; (b) providing a cover for the first and second surfaces of the web of absorbent material; (c) at least partially covering the first and second surfaces of the web of absorbent material with the cover to form a composite web having longitudinal side margins; (d) folding the composite web at least once with folds defining fold lines that are arranged about the longitudinal centerline of the web of absorbent material; and (e) autogenously bonding a portion of the cover that covers the first surface of the web of absorbent material to a portion of the cover that covers an opposing portion of the second surface of the web of absorbent material.

Method of making sanitary napkin comprising three dimensionally shaped tube of absorbent material

Absorbent devices, and more particularly absorbent devices that are worn interlabially by female wearers for catamenial purposes, incontinence protection, or both, are disclosed. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention comprises a main absorbent portion with an upper portion, a lower portion opposed to the upper portion, and two ends. The upper portion faces toward the vestibule of the wearer during insertion of the device into the wearer's interlabial space and during use. The ends of the absorbent device are preferably taped so that the lower portion of the interlabial device is longer than the upper portion. The ends are also provided with at least one curvilinear segment, with the ends preferably having a sinusoidal or S-shape. The absorbent interlabial device preferably also has an arcuate pattern of discrete autogenous bonds. The combination of the preferred S-shaped ends and the arcuate bonding pattern provides greater product stiffness control for simultaneous improved comfort and handling characteristics.

Shaped absorbent interlabial device

A liquid impervious seal for extensible absorbent articles for wearing in an undergarment, such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, incontinence pads, and the like, is disclosed. The absorbent articles are typically formed from the following components: a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet joined to the topsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and backsheet. The components forming the absorbent article are held together by use of an extensible liquid impervious seal having a sinusoidal configuration.

Extensible crimp seal for feminine hygiene products

An absorbent interlabial device that is worn interlabially by female wearers for catemenial purposes, incontinence protection, or both, is disclosed. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention is characterized by improved wearing comfort and increased capacity as compared to known interlabial devices. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention includes at least an central absorbent portion (or core) surrounded by a liquid pervious topsheet. The topsheet is folded laterally inward over the central absorbent portion and downward to form a central groove on the top surface of the interlabial device. The central groove faces toward the vestibule of the wearer upon insertion into the interlabial space. The central groove improves the comfort associated with the wearing of the interlabial device, and allows the device to more rapidly acquire fluids, particularly viscous fluids. Additional features of the device may include a pair of flexible extensions, a secondary topsheet for improve acquisition rate, and tapered sealed ends for improved wearing comfort.

A method of making an absorbent interlabial device that is worn interlabially by female wearers for catamenial purposes, incontinence protection, or both, is disclosed. The absorbent interlabial device of the present invention preferably includes at least an central absorbent portion (or core) surrounded by a liquid pervious topsheet. The topsheet is folded laterally inward over the central absorbent portion and downward to form a central groove on the top surface of the interlabial device. The central groove faces toward the vestibule of the wearer upon insertion into the interlabial space. The central groove improves the comfort associated with the wearing of the interlabial device, and allows the device to more rapidly acquire fluids, particularly viscous fluids. The device is more easily manufactured than previous interlabial devices using current web handling techniqures.

Method of making an absorbent interlabial device with a central groove

Interlabial absorbent device

A method of making an absorbent device that is worn interlabially by female wearers for catamenial purposes, incontinence protection, or both, is disclosed. The method involves at least partially enclosing a continuous length of absorbent material in a cover material. The cover material is positioned so that it lies on opposite sides of the length of absorbent material. The absorbent material is then optionally shaped so that along its length there are regions of greater and lesser thickness on alternating sides of the longitudinal axis of the absorbent material. In one embodiment, the shaping is accomplished by bonding a first portion of the cover material to a second portion of the cover material on the opposite side of the absorbent material so that the bonding penetrates through the absorbent material. A generally transverse direction cut is made across the length of absorbent material which alternates longitudinally across the length of absorbent material to provide the device with shaped ends. The method produces a plurality of interlabial devices having an asymmetrical shape about a longitudinal axis and shaped end with a minimum of waste therebetween.

Growing community of inventors

West Chester, OH, United States of America

Ronald Ray McFall