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US 8,940,959 B2Granted
Disposable absorbent articles having inkjet printed wetness indicators
AssigneeThe Procter & Gamble Company
InventorKuang-kai Liu
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to disposable absorbent articles. The disposable absorbent articles include: (a) a body contacting surface; (b) a garment contacting surface opposite the body contacting surface; and (c) an inkjet printed wetness indicator which is seen through either the body contacting surface or the garment contacting surface. The wetness indicator includes a central graphic and a background graphic, the central graphic having at least one permanent ink composition and the background graphic having at least one water soluble ink composition.
Claims17
A disposable absorbent article comprising:
- a) a body contacting surface;
- b) a garment contacting surface opposite the body contacting surface;
- and
- c) an inkjet printed wetness indicator which is seen through either the body contacting surface or the garment contacting surface;
- the wetness indicator comprising a permanent hidden central graphic and a water soluble background graphic, wherein the hidden central graphic having at least one permanent ink composition and the background graphic having at least one water soluble ink composition, the central graphic and the background graphic together comprising inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition that are adjacent or overlapping inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition, such that upon wetting, the background graphic exhibits a visible change resulting in the hidden central graphic being revealed, wherein the visible change is selected from the group consisting of a color change, a graphic change, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the revealed hidden central graphic is visible through either the body contacting surface or the garment contacting surface;
- and
- wherein the inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition have a first color, the inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition have a second color, and the respective dots are disposed adjacent each other to form a built third color.
5 more elements
A disposable absorbent article comprising:
- a) a liquid pervious topsheet;
- b) a liquid impervious backsheet that is at least partially joined to the topsheet;
- c) an absorbent core disposed at least partially between the topsheet and the backsheet;
- and
- d) a wetness indicator inkjet printed onto a surface of either the absorbent core or the backsheet, the wetness indicator having a permanent hidden central graphic and a water soluble background graphic, wherein the hidden central graphic includes at least one permanent ink composition and the background graphic includes at least one water soluble ink composition, the central graphic and the background graphic together comprising inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition that are adjacent or overlapping inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition, such that upon wetting, the background graphic exhibits a visible change resulting in the hidden central graphic being revealed, wherein the visible change is selected from the group consisting of a color change, a graphic change, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the revealed hidden central graphic is visible through either the liquid pervious topsheet or the liquid impervious backsheet;
- and
- wherein the inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition have a first color, the inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition have a second color, and the respective dots are disposed adjacent each other to form a built third color.
5 more elements
A method of printing a wetness indicator onto an absorbent article, the method comprising the steps of:
- a) providing an absorbent article wherein said article comprises a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet and an absorbent core;
- and
- b) inkjet printing a wetness indicator onto a surface of the absorbent article, the wetness indicator having a permanent hidden central graphic and a water soluble background graphic, wherein the hidden central graphic includes at least one permanent ink composition and the background graphic includes at least one water soluble ink composition, the central graphic and the background graphic together comprising inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition that are adjacent or overlapping inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition, such that upon wetting, the background graphic exhibits a visible change resulting in the hidden central graphic being revealed, wherein the visible change is selected from the group consisting of a color change, a graphic change, and combinations thereof;
- and wherein the revealed hidden central graphic is visible through either the liquid pervious topsheet or the liquid impervious backsheet;and
- wherein the inkjet-applied dots of the permanent ink composition have a first color, the inkjet-applied dots of the water soluble ink composition have a second color, and the respective dots are disposed adjacent each other to form a built third color.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.