Disposable absorbent articles for the absorption and containment of urine, menses and other body exudates are generally known in the art. Generally, these articles are referred to as absorbent personal care articles and have taken various forms including, diapers for infants and children, training pants for children, sanitary napkins, pantiliners, incontinence pads, incontinence garments and the like, for teenagers and adults. Of these absorbent personal care articles, sanitary napkins, incontinence pads and pantiliners are articles which are not garment-like in form, meaning that they do not rely on the body structure of the user to stay in place during use. For example, diapers use the hips and waist of the user to hold the diaper in place during use. As a result, sanitary napkins, pantiliners and incontinence pads are less noticeable and more discrete than diapers and incontinence garments.
Instead, sanitary napkins, pantiliners, and incontinence pads use an undergarment attaching device to hold the article in place during use. Conventional means of holding these absorbent personal care articles in place include, for example, garment attachment adhesives, which are generally pressure sensitive adhesives, attachment panels, which are sometimes referred to as wings or flaps, extending from the longitudinal side edges of the absorbent article which wrap around the undergarment of the user, a body adhesive, which secures the absorbent personal care article directly to the body of a user. In addition, combinations of the attachment devices have also been used.
In selecting an attachment device, several considerations must be considered and balanced. The attachment device must hold the absorbent personal care article in place, providing adequate protection, the attachment device must be comfortable, and the attachment device must be convenient and easy to use. Currently, the most common attachment device is a garment adhesive. While absorbent personal care articles with the garment adhesive attachment device have performed well, remaining in place and providing the user with ease of placement and removal, these absorbent personal care articles have suffered from certain drawbacks. For example, the inner crotch surface of the undergarment to which the absorbent personal care articles are adhered is constantly being distorted, twisted and stretched due to the movements of the wearer. As a result, frequently the garment adhesive detaches with the undesirable result of the sanitary napkin, pantiliner or incontinence pad moving out of position. In an extreme case, detachment of the adhesive may also result in the adhesive folding over on itself and then becoming unavailable for reattachment to the undergarment of the user.
In the case of sanitary napkins, some sanitary napkins have been provided with attachment panels which, in use, are generally folded around the crotch portion of the undergarment and affixed to the outer crotch portion. Although such attachment panels have been partially successful in protecting certain regions of the wearer's undergarment, such sanitary napkins are still subject to the forces which cause the sanitary napkin to be distorted, twisted or stretched.
It has also been suggested in the art to use body adhesives on the body facing surface of a sanitary napkin to secure the sanitary napkin to the wearer's body. This provides a sanitary napkin having intimate contact with the wearer without subjecting the sanitary napkin to the twisting and bunching forces normally exerted on a sanitary napkin secured to the undergarment. However, the proper placement of such a sanitary napkin for maximum absorbent efficiency and comfort may be difficult for users. In addition, having an adhesive on the body-facing surface of the sanitary napkin makes it difficult for a user to perform normal bodily function of removing waste from the body, since the sanitary napkin would have to be removed from the body of the user to perform this bodily function. Often, removing the sanitary napkin from the body of the user will result in the adhesive losing its ability to adhere to the user's body, or the sanitary napkin folding over on itself, causing the adhesive to attach to itself. In either situation, the sanitary napkin will lose its ability to be reattached to the user.
There is a need in the art for an absorbent personal care article, in the form of a sanitary napkin, incontinence pad or pantiliner, which can be effectively held into place against a user's body, providing an effective means to hold the absorbent personal care article in place, thereby providing adequate protection to the user, providing comfort to the user and providing an attachment device which is convenient and easy to use.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds