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US 9,387,136 B2Granted
Absorbent articles with channel and related methods therefor
AssigneeCovidien LP
InventorsVishal Narvekar, Harish A. Patel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An absorbent article includes a fluid pervious top sheet, a fluid impervious bottom sheet, and an absorbent core positioned therebetween. The absorbent core includes a plurality of superabsorbent sections defining a channel therebetween.
Claims21
An absorbent article comprising:
- a fluid pervious top sheet;
- a fluid impervious bottom sheet;
- and
- a discontinuous absorbent core positioned between the top sheet and the bottom sheet including a plurality of superabsorbent sections defining at least one channel in space between the plurality of superabsorbent sections, the at least one channel linearly extending along a length of the absorbent core and the superabsorbent sections positioned on opposing sides of the at least one channel being in parallel arrangement with respect to each other, and the at least one channel being configured to allow fluid flow in the at least one channel,
- at least one of the plurality of superabsorbent sections defining a first zone comprising a first amount of superabsorbent material and a second zone comprising a second amount of superabsorbent material positioned laterally proximate to the first zone in a transverse direction, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to a length of the at least one channel, the first amount of superabsorbent material being greater than the second amount of superabsorbent material, the first and second amounts of superabsorbent material being distributed in a uniform manner through the first and second zones, respectively, and the first and second zones not being separated by a channel of the at least one channel.
2 more elements
A method of fabricating an absorbent article, comprising:
- positioning a discontinuous absorbent core between a fluid pervious top sheet and a fluid impervious bottom sheet, the absorbent core comprising a plurality of superabsorbent sections defining at least one channel in space between the plurality of superabsorbent sections, the at least one channel linearly extending along a length of the absorbent core and the superabsorbent sections positioned on opposing sides of the at least one channel being in parallel arrangement with respect to each other, the at least one channel being configured to allow fluid flow in the at least one channel, at least one of the plurality of superabsorbent sections defining a first zone comprising a first amount of superabsorbent material and a second zone comprising a second amount of superabsorbent material positioned laterally proximate to the first zone in a transverse direction, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to a length of the at least one channel, the first amount of superabsorbent material being greater than the second amount of superabsorbent material, the first and second amounts of superabsorbent material being distributed in a uniform manner through the first and second zones, respectively, and the first and second zones not being separated by a channel of the at least one channel.
An absorbent article comprising:
- a fluid pervious top sheet;
- a fluid impervious bottom sheet;
- and
- a discontinuous absorbent core positioned between the top sheet and the bottom sheet including a plurality of superabsorbent sections defining at least one channel therebetween, the at least one channel linearly extending along a length of the absorbent core and the superabsorbent sections positioned on opposing sides of the at least one channel being in parallel arrangement with respect to each other, the at least one channel fluidically being configured to allow fluid flow in the at least one channel,
- at least one of the plurality of superabsorbent sections defining a first zone comprising a first amount of superabsorbent material and a second zone positioned laterally proximate to the first zone comprising a second amount of superabsorbent material, the first amount of superabsorbent material being greater than the second amount of superabsorbent material, the first and second amounts of superabsorbent material being distributed in a uniform manner through the first and second zones, respectively, wherein the first zone and the second zone are dimensioned to extend linearly along a longitudinal length of the absorbent core and one of the first and second zones is proximate to the at least one channel in a transverse direction, and the other of the first and second zones is laterally spaced from the at least one channel in the transverse direction such that the one of the first and second zones is between the other of the first and second zones and the at least one channel, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to the at least one channel, and the first and second zones not being separated by a channel of the at least one channel.
2 more elements
An absorbent article comprising:
- a fluid pervious top sheet;
- a fluid impervious bottom sheet;
- and
- a discontinuous absorbent core positioned between the top sheet and the bottom sheet including a plurality of superabsorbent sections defining at least one channel linearly extending along a length of the absorbent core between the plurality of superabsorbent sections, the at least one channel being configured to allow fluid flow in the at least one channel,
- at least one of the plurality of superabsorbent sections defining a first zone comprising a first amount of superabsorbent material and a second zone positioned laterally next to the first zone comprising a second amount of superabsorbent material, the first amount of superabsorbent material being greater than the second amount of superabsorbent material, and one of the first and second zones is proximate to the at least one channel in a transverse direction, the other of the first and second zones is laterally spaced from the at least one channel in the transverse direction, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to the at least one channel, and the first and second zones not being separated by a channel of the at least one channel.
2 more elements
An absorbent article comprising:
- a discontinuous means for absorbing an incident fluid, wherein the discontinuous means comprises a plurality of superabsorbent means for absorbing the incident fluid, at least one superabsorbent means of the plurality of superabsorbent means comprising a first means for absorbing the incident fluid and a second means for absorbing a lesser amount of the incident fluid than the first means for absorbing the incident fluid positioned laterally proximate to the first means for absorbing the incident fluid in a transverse direction, the discontinuous means positioned between a means for allowing the incident fluid to contact the discontinuous means and a means for retaining the incident fluid absorbed by the discontinuous means;
- and
- a means for fluidically distributing the incident fluid along a length of the discontinuous means for absorbing incident fluid, the transverse direction being substantially perpendicular to a length of the means for fluidically distributing the incident fluid, and the first means for absorbing the incident fluid and the second means for absorbing a lesser amount of the incident fluid not being separated by the means for fluidically distributing the incident fluid along the length of the discontinuous means for absorbing incident fluid.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.