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US-12616616-B2 - Pant-type wearable article

US12616616B2US 12616616 B2US12616616 B2US 12616616B2US-12616616-B2

Abstract

Disclosed is a wearable article comprising a front elastic belt, a back elastic belt, a crotch region extending longitudinally between the front elastic belt and the back elastic belt; wherein at least 10% of the longitudinal dimension of the front and back elastic belts from a waist opening is a laminate in active elasticity defining an Upper Gather Region. The Upper Gather Region may have a particular Directional Dispersion Value and a particular Continuity Value according to measurements herein. The laminate may have at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprising a plurality of deformations aligned in the longitudinal direction.

Inventors

  • Shiqiao LI
  • Ruizhi PEI
  • Kaoru Ishihara
  • Koichi Morimoto
  • Xuechun Wang
  • Ling Tong
  • John Andrew Strasemeier
  • Vanessa Marie Melendez
  • Monica Renee Tournoux

Assignees

  • THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20200211
Priority Date
20190214

Claims (10)

  1. 1 . A wearable article continuous in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction comprising a front elastic belt, a back elastic belt, a crotch region, a waist opening, and a pair of leg openings; the crotch region extending longitudinally between the front elastic belt region and the back elastic belt region; wherein at least 10% and not more than 70%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front and back elastic belts from the waist opening is a laminate in active elasticity defining an Upper Gather Region, the laminate comprising an inner sheet, an outer sheet, and an elastic member continuously running in the transverse direction, wherein the laminate further comprising an elastic bonding which continuously bonds the elastic member for at least about 10 mm in the direction of stretch in a region adjacent the side edges of the front and back elastic belts, and a vertical bonding applied to at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet with intervals in the transverse direction to intermittently bond the inner sheet and the outer sheet, wherein at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprises a plurality of deformations wherein the deformations are aligned in the longitudinal direction; and wherein the vertical bonding has a transverse dimension VG 2 and is a continuous pattern aligned in the longitudinal direction, each longitudinal pattern of vertical bonding spaced apart from each other with a transverse pitch VG 1 , wherein VG 1 is from about 2 mm to about 15 mm, and VG 2 is from about 0.2 mm to about 7 mm; and wherein the article has a Full Stretch Circumference W 1 , and a 70% Stretch Circumference W 2 , according to measurements herein, wherein the article is so configured such that the following formula is from about 1.46 to about 2.59: ((VG 1 −VG 2 )×W 1 )/(VG 1 ×W 2 −VG 2 ×W 1 ).
  2. 2 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the elastic member is a plurality of elastic strands running parallel to each other in the transverse direction with a longitudinal pitch of from about 2 mm to about 20 mm.
  3. 3 . The article of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the Upper Gather Region has the elastic strands disposed with a longitudinal pitch of from about 3 mm to about 7 mm.
  4. 4 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the elastic strands disposed in the Upper Gather Region have a constant pitch with a deviation of no more than about 1.5 mm.
  5. 5 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the vertical bonding is an array of discrete bondings aligned in the longitudinal direction wherein each discrete bonding has a longitudinal dimension of from about 0.5 mm to about 10 mm and a longitudinal pitch of from about 0.8 mm to about 5 mm.
  6. 6 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the vertical bonding is tilted in an angle from the longitudinal axis by from about 0.1 to about 30 degrees.
  7. 7 . The article claim 6 , wherein at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprises a plurality of deformations wherein the deformations are aligned in the longitudinal direction, each longitudinal deformation pattern spaced apart from each other with a transverse pitch of DF 1 , wherein VG 1 is greater than DF 1 and VG 1 is at least about 1.5 times as DF 1 .
  8. 8 . The article of claim 7 , wherein the deformation is an array of discrete deformations aligned in the longitudinal direction and spaced apart from each other with a longitudinal pitch of DF 2 , wherein DF 2 is not greater than DF 1 .
  9. 9 . The article of claim 7 , wherein the deformation is a plurality of apertures in the outer sheet, wherein the aperture has a minor radius of at least about 0.1 mm.
  10. 10 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the front elastic belt comprises: a waist opening gather zone along the waist opening for from about 5% to about 30%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front elastic belt LF, wherein the waist opening gather zone is in active elasticity and provided with an artwork; and a pair of leg opening gather zones along at least part of the leg openings for from about 5% to about 25%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front elastic belt LF, wherein the leg opening gather zones are in active elasticity and provided with an artwork; wherein the longitudinal dimension of the leg opening gather zone is from about 30% to about 80% of that of the waist opening gather zone.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application claims priority to Chinese PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CN2020/073398, filed on Jan. 21, 2020, and to Chinese PCT Patent Application No. PCT/CN2019/075100, filed on Feb. 14, 2019, both of which are incorporated by reference herein. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to pant-type wearable articles having an elastic belt with improved regularity of gathering. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Infants and other incontinent individuals wear absorbent articles such as diapers to receive and contain urine and other body exudates. Pull-on absorbent articles, or pant-type absorbent articles, are those which are donned by inserting the wearer's legs into the leg openings and sliding the article up into position about the lower torso. Pant-type absorbent articles have become popular for use on children who are able to walk and often who are toilet training, as well as for younger children who become more active in movement such that application of taped-type absorbent articles tends to be more difficult, and also for younger babies requiring a soft fit around the waist opening and leg openings. Pant-type articles may take various structures wherein the circumference of the waist opening and vicinity thereof is made elastic enough to facilitate the wearer or the caregiver to expand the article and insert the wearer's legs into the leg openings for wearing the article. The region of the waist circumference and vicinity thereof is often referred to as the elastic belt. One type of structure for the pant-type article is the belt-type pant having a central chassis to cover the crotch region of the wearer and a separate elastic belt defining the waist opening and leg opening, such as described in PCT Publication WO 2006/17718A. Another type of structure for the pant-type article is the uni-body pant configured such that the outer cover of the article completely covers the entirety of the garment-facing surface of the article, wherein the portion configured to stretch about the torso is considered the elastic belt region. Whatever the structure of the pant-type article may be, pant-type articles provide no or only a very small range of size adjustment or body configuration adjustment based on the structural limitations of the article. As such, pant-type articles are typically so configured to accommodate size and configuration ranges by providing the elastic belt region very stretchable and comfortable to wear, yet with reliable fit such that sufficient protection against sagging and leakage may be provided. Further, the elastic belt region may be the portion which is most touched and observed by the wearer or the caregiver upon use, and thus its properties most associated with the quality of the article. By quality, what may be desired is an undergarment-like appearance provided by aesthetically pleasing regularity of gathering. Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a wearable article providing improved stretchability for ease of application, improved fit for preventing sagging, improved comfort and softness, and improved breathability for skin health. There is also a need for a wearable article having improved gathering quality which intuitively communicates the functional benefits described above. There is also a need for providing such a wearable article which can be economically made. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a wearable article continuous in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction comprising a front elastic belt, a back elastic belt, a crotch region, a waist opening, and a pair of leg openings; the crotch region extending longitudinally between the front elastic belt and the back elastic belt; wherein at least 10%, preferably at least 15% and not more than 70%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front and back elastic belts from the waist opening is a laminate in active elasticity defining an Upper Gather Region, the laminate comprising an inner sheet, an outer sheet, and an elastic member continuously running in the transverse direction. The Upper Gather Region may have a particular Directional Dispersion Value according to measurements herein. The Upper Gather Region may have a particular Continuity Value according to measurements herein. The laminate may comprise an elastic bonding which continuously bonds the elastic member for at least about 10 mm in the direction of stretch in a region adjacent the side edges of the front and back elastic belts, and a vertical bonding applied to at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet with intervals in the transverse direction to intermittently bond the inner sheet and the outer sheet. The laminate may have at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprising a plurality of deformations wherein the deformations are aligned in the longitudinal direction. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS While the specification concludes with claims