The present disclosure relates generally to absorbent articles intended for personal wear, and more particularly to disposable absorbent articles.
Many absorbent articles intended for personal wear, e.g., such as diapers, training pants, feminine hygiene products, adult incontinence products, bandages, medical garments and the like are designed to be sufficiently absorbent to pull moisture from liquid body exudates including urine, menses, blood, etc. away from the wearer to reduce skin irritation caused by prolonged wetness exposure. Diapers, as an example, are typically placed and secured on a wearer using a set of primary fastening tabs, such as adhesive tabs or mechanical (e.g., hook or loop) fastening system tabs and left in place to absorb insults as well as to contain fecal waste. When the diaper is to be disposed of, the caregiver will sometimes fold the diaper into a more compact configuration and secure the diaper in this configuration using the primary fastening tabs.
Training pants, unlike diapers, typically come pre-assembled in a wear configuration to more closely resemble conventional underpants. In particular, front and back waist regions of such training pants are typically attached at a seam either permanently or refastenably (such as by a primary fastening system) to define a wear configuration of the pants having a waist opening and leg openings.
For such articles where the attachment is refastenable, such as diapers and training pants, a caregiver can find the attachment difficult to open because the attachment is designed to withstand stresses placed on the attachment by movement of the wearer without pop-opens (separation of the fasteners) occurring. The addition of a finger tab that extends transversely from a side panel can assist a caregiver in opening the attachment.
A pant design advantageous for manufacturing is one that increases the ease of opening a mechanical fastener side seam by enabling the user to manipulate the tab in a less resistant longitudinal peel motion.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds