Unicharm Corporation

Tsutomu Shirai

Satoshi Nozaki

Toshiyuki Tanio

Kiyoko Nishimura

It is an object of the invention to provide an absorbent article that is resistant to twisting and flattening, and that is superior in terms of fluid absorption rate, fluid diffusibility, absorbed fluid retention volume and fluid retention. The absorbent article comprises a top sheet on the skin contact side, a back sheet on the non-skin contact side, and an absorbent body situated between the two sheets, wherein the absorbent body comprises a bulky absorbent sheet, and the bulky absorbent sheet comprises heat-expanding particles that are dispersed in the bulky absorbent sheet and have been expanded by heat.

Absorbent article

A process for producing a bulky paper with a concavo-convex pattern includes the steps of producing a wet mixed sheet comprising high-basis-weight regions and low-basis-weight regions from a paper-making material prepared by dispersing a fiber starting material and heat-expanding particles in water, the heat-expanding particles being evenly dispersed in the fiber in the high basis-weight and low basis-weight regions; and then heating the wet mixed sheet to cause expansion of the heat-expanding particles and form a concavo-convex pattern. This allows the free designing of concavo-convex sections on bulky papers.

Bulky paper with concavo-convex pattern and process for producing thereof

The present invention relates to a process for producing a bulky paper with a concavo-convex pattern consisting of low density regions with a high degree of expansion of the heat-expanding particles and high density regions with a low degree of expansion of the heat-expanding particles, comprising: making a wet mixed sheet having heat-expanding particles uniformly dispersed in fibers from a paper-making material prepared by dispersing a fiber starting material and heat-expanding particles in water; then spraying prescribed sections of the wet mixed sheet with moist hot air or water vapor at above the initial expansion temperature of the heat-expanding particles to cause expansion of the heat-expanding particles at those sections; and then drying at a temperature at which the heat-expanding particles do not fully expand. The process allows free designing of concavo-convex sections on bulky papers.

Growing community of inventors

Kanonji, Japan

Tsutomu Shirai