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EP-4734902-A1 - PACKAGING UNIT FOR A HYGIENE ARTICLE

EP4734902A1EP 4734902 A1EP4734902 A1EP 4734902A1EP-4734902-A1

Abstract

A packaging unit (1) for a hygiene article. The packaging unit comprises a disposable hygiene article (10) having an adhesive coating (11) for attaching the disposable hygiene article to a garment of a user and a packaging for enclosing the disposable hygiene article. The packaging comprising a sheet of wrapping material. The disposable hygiene article is releasably attached to the packaging by the adhesive coating. The wrapping material comprises natural fibres in mixture with reinforcing fibres. The reinforcing fibres have a greater length-weighted average fibre length than the natural fibres.

Inventors

  • DAHL, ANNIKA
  • WÄSTLUND-KARLSSON, Jan

Assignees

  • Essity Hygiene and Health Aktiebolag

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20230630

Claims (18)

  1. 1. A packaging unit (1) for a hygiene article, the packaging unit (1) comprising a disposable hygiene article (10) having an adhesive coating (11) for attaching the disposable hygiene article (10) to a garment of a user and a packaging for enclosing the disposable hygiene article (10), the packaging comprising a sheet of wrapping material, wherein the disposable hygiene article (10) is releasably attached to the packaging by the adhesive coating, and wherein the wrapping material comprises natural fibres in mixture with reinforcing fibres, the reinforcing fibres having a greater length-weighted average fibre length than the natural fibres.
  2. 2. The packaging unit (1) according to claim 1 , wherein the wrapping material comprises 50 to 99 wt%, preferably 70 to 99 wt%, more preferably 85 to 99 wt%, of the natural fibres and 1 to 50 wt%, preferably 1 to 30 wt%, more preferably 1 to 20 wt%, of the reinforcing fibres.
  3. 3. The packaging unit (1) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the natural fibres are natural cellulosic fibres, preferably wood fibres, or fibers from non-wood plant material.
  4. 4. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the natural fibres have a length-weighted average fibre length of 0.5 to 5.0 mm, preferably 0.8 to 3.5 mm.
  5. 5. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing fibres are of non-fossil origin.
  6. 6. The packaging unit (1) according any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing fibres are selected from polylactide fibres, glycolic acid polymer fibres, polyvinyl alcohol fibres, bicomponent fibres comprising thermoplastic polymers, nonwood natural fibres, manmade cellulosic fibres, and combinations thereof.
  7. 7. The packaging unit (1) according to claim 6, wherein the reinforcing fibres are manmade cellulosic fibres, preferably manmade fibres formed of cellulose of natural origin, more preferably manmade fibres formed of cellulose that has not been chemically modified, such as viscose, rayon or lyocell, most preferably viscose.
  8. 8. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the reinforcing fibres have a length-weighted average fibre length of 3 to 100 mm, preferably 5 to 30 mm, more preferably 6 to 15 mm.
  9. 9. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the natural fibres and reinforcing fibres are randomly oriented.
  10. 10. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the wrapping material further comprises a binder selected from the group consisting of polyvinyl alcohols, polyvinyl acetate dispersions, ethyl vinyl alcohol dispersions, polyurethane dispersions, acrylic latexes, styrene butadiene dispersions, binders based on finely divided cellulose, binders based on cellulose derivatives, biopolymers and combinations thereof, preferably acrylic latexes.
  11. 11 . The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet of wrapping material has a basis weight of 10 to 50 g/m 2 , preferably 15 to 30 g/m 2 .
  12. 12. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet of wrapping material has a stretch of 0,5 to 7 % and/or an air permeability of 0 to 1000 l/m 2 /s.
  13. 13. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet of wrapping material has a release coating, and the adhesive coating of the disposable hygiene article (10) is releasably attached to the release coating.
  14. 14. The packaging unit (1) according to claim 13, wherein the release coating comprises silicone.
  15. 15. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the packaging further comprises a release liner, the release liner being attached to the sheet of wrapping material, and the adhesive coating (11 ) of the disposable hygiene article (10) is releasably attached to the release liner.
  16. 16. The packaging unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the packaging unit (1) has two longitudinal edges and two transversal folding axes (5), the transversal folding axes (5) dividing the packaging unit (1 ) into a first region (7), a second region (8) and a third region (9), and the packaging unit (1) is folded about said folding axes (5) with the first region (7), the second region (8) and the third region (9) in an overlapping configuration.
  17. 17. The packaging unit (1 ) according to claim 16 wherein overlapping regions of the packaging are joined by seals along the longitudinal edges of the packaging unit (1).
  18. 18. The packaging unit (1) according to claim 17, wherein the seals are formed by mechanical sealing, such as embossing or ultrasonic welding, by heat sealing, by an adhesive, or by a combination thereof.

Description

PACKAGING UNIT FOR A HYGIENE ARTICLE Technical field The present application relates to a packaging unit for a hygiene article. Background Disposable hygiene articles, such as sanitary napkins and panty liners, can be individually packaged in a wrapper of thin plastic film material. Individual packages enable hygienic carrying of the disposable hygiene articles for example in a bag or pocket. The packaging may be used both as a means for protecting an unused article against contamination and as a means for disposal of a used article. It is desirable that used disposable hygiene articles can be disposed of discretely and hygien ically , especially when the user lacks possibility to discard the used article immediately after the used article has been replaced. Problem may arise for example when there is no waste bin available in the toilet area and the used disposable article needs to be initially put in a bag or pocket. In such case it is required that the wrapping material withholds body fluid absorbed by the article in order to avoid staining and odour. The packaging may also function to protect an adhesive layer which is necessary to affix the article to a garment. The adhesive layer is applied on the garment side of the disposable hygienic article. The package, wrapper, is discarded after use either with the used hygiene article or by itself. There is therefore a need for more sustainable solutions in this area. Summary of the invention It is an object of the present invention to provide a solution to the above- mentioned needs. This object, as well as other objects being apparent to a skilled person studying the present description, are achieved by a packaging unit for a hygiene article, the packaging unit comprising a disposable hygiene article having an adhesive coating for attaching the disposable hygiene article to a garment of a user and a packaging for enclosing the disposable hygiene article, the packaging comprising a sheet of wrapping material, wherein the disposable hygiene article is releasably attached to the packaging by the adhesive coating, and wherein the wrapping material comprises natural fibres in mixture with reinforcing fibres, the reinforcing fibres having a greater length-weighted average fibre length than the natural fibres. It has thus been found that a packaging made from a wrapping material comprising natural fibres in mixture with reinforcing fibres, wherein the reinforcing fibres have a greater length-weighted average fibre length than the natural fibres, provides a sustainable solution to the above-mentioned needs. The disposable hygiene article may be a sanitary napkin or panty liner. Such products are well known in the art and therefore not described more in detail herein. Any disposable hygiene article could be used in the packaging unit of the present invention. The adhesive coating may cover all or part(s) of an outer surface, i.e., a garment-facing surface, of the disposable hygiene article, for example in the form of stripes across said surface. The wrapping material may comprise 50 to 99 wt%, preferably 70 to 99 wt%, more preferably 85 to 99 wt%, of the natural fibres and 1 to 50 wt%, preferably 1 to 30 wt%, more preferably 1 to 20 wt%, of the reinforcing fibres. The natural fibres may be natural cellulosic fibres, preferably wood fibres, wheat straw fibres or bamboo fibres, more preferably wood fibres. Alternatively or additionally, the natural fibres may originate from wood pulp, non-wood plant material, and combinations thereof. The origin of the natural fibres may for example be selected from chemical pulp, such as sulphate and sulphite pulp, organosolv pulp; recycled fibres; and/or mechanical pulp including e.g. refiner mechanical pulp (RMP), pressurized refiner mechanical pulp (PRMP), pretreatment refiner chemical alkaline peroxide mechanical pulp (P-RC APMP), thermomechanical pulp (TMP), thermomechanical chemical pulp (TMCP), high-temperature TMP (HT-TMP) RTS-TMP, alkaline peroxide pulp (APP), alkaline peroxide mechanical pulp (APMP), alkaline peroxide thermomechanical pulp (APTMP), thermopulp, groundwood pulp (GW), stone groundwood pulp (SGW), pressure groundwood pulp (PGW), super pressure groundwood pulp (PGW-S), thermo groundwood pulp (TGW), thermo stone groundwood pulp (TSGW), chemimechanical pulp (CMP), chemirefinermechanical pulp (CRMP), chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP), high-temperature CTMP (HT-CTMP), sulphite- modified thermomechanical pulp (SMTMP), reject CTMP (CTMPR), groundwood CTMP (G- CTMP), semichemical pulp (SC), neutral sulphite semi chemical pulp (NSSC), high-yield sulphite pulp (HYS), biomechanical pulp (BRMP), pulps produced according to the OPCO process, explosion pulping process, Bi-Vis process, dilution water sulfonation process (DWS), sulfonated long fibres process (SLF), chemically treated long fibres process (CTLF), long fibre CMP process (LFCMP), Kraft wood pulp, and modifications and combinations thereof. The pulp may be a blea