Disposable diaper and process of producing the same

A process of producing a disposable diaper comprising a topsheet, a backsheet, an absorbent member between the topsheet and the backsheet, and a pair of leg flaps along laterally opposing side edges of the absorbent member, the leg flaps being elasticized with an elastic member, said method comprising the steps of:

• making a continuous body of the absorbent body comprising a continuous body of the topsheet, a continuous body of the backsheet, a plurality of absorbent members disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, and a pair of continuous body of the leg flaps having an elastic member, the pair of continuous body of the leg flaps being disposed along the opposing side edges of the plurality of absorbent members,
• folding back each of the continuous body of the leg flaps over the continuous body of the backsheet side along a position inboard of the elastic member,
• joining the folded-back portion of each of the continuous body of the leg flaps to the continuous body of the backsheet at predetermined intervals,
• separately preparing a continuous body of the exterior sheet by cutting a continuous sheet of fiber to make concave shapes on both edges at a prescribed interval symmetrically about the longitudinal centerline,
• joining the continuous body of the absorbent body to the continuous body of the exterior sheet in alignment such that each pair of leg flaps of the continuous body of the absorbent body may stick out laterally from the edge of the concave shapes of the continuous body of the exterior sheet, and
• cutting the continuous body of the exterior sheet between individual absorbent bodies into individual disposable diapers,
• wherein each leg flap is fixed at a front and a rear end portion thereof to longitudinally opposite end portions of the diaper, respectively, in such a configuration that the leg flap may be folded back over the backsheet side when the disposable diaper is in a flat-out state with the elastic members stretched.