ONTEX BV

An absorbent article for personal hygiene such as a diaper, or training pant, or incontinence insert, the absorbent article comprising: a liquid permeable topsheet; a liquid impermeable backsheet; an absorbent core positioned between said topsheet and backsheet, an indicator for indicating the presence of exudates and being positioned on a body-facing side of said backsheet, the indicator comprising an electrically conductive material, the article further comprising a detection device that can be removably attached to the absorbent article such to become in electrical communication with said indicator when attached to said article to measure a change in resistance or capacitance in response to a voiding event, wherein the absorbent core comprises a core wrap enclosing absorbent material therein and wherein a top layer of the core wrap is joined to a bottom layer of the core wrap to form one or more channels substantially free of absorbent material, and wherein the indicator comprises a pattern that extends inboard and/or outboard of said channel(s) such that it does not substantially overlap with said channel(s).

An absorbent article comprising an absorbent core sandwiched between a liquid permeable topsheet and a liquid impermeable backsheet, wherein the absorbent core comprises absorbent material selected from the group consisting of cellulose fibers, superabsorbent polymers and combinations thereof, wherein said absorbent material is contained within at least one core wrap substrate enclosing said absorbent material, and wherein a top layer of said core wrap is adhered to a bottom layer of said core wrap to form one or more channels substantially free of said absorbent material, wherein said channels have a length extending along a longitudinal axis and the absorbent core has a length extending along said longitudinal axis and wherein the length of said channels is from 10% to 95% of the length of said absorbent core such that each said channels are surrounded by absorbent material wherein said top layer of the core wrap is in direct contact with the topsheet, and wherein said top layer of the core wrap comprises a spunbond nonwoven or a carded thermobonded nonwoven.

The disclosure pertains to a wrapper ( 22 ) for an absorbent article ( 10 ) comprising a layer of cellulosic fibers ( 33 ), a layer of peeling agent ( 32 ) arranged onto the layer of cellulosic fibers ( 33 ). According to the disclosure, the layer of cellulosic fibers ( 33 ) comprises a basis weight comprised between 10 gsm and 40 gsm. The disclosure also relates to an assembly comprising an absorbent article ( 10 ) and such wrapper ( 22 ) and a process to manufacture such assembly ( 10 ).

The present disclosure invention relates to a disposable absorbent article ( 100 ) comprising a liquid-pervious topsheet ( 10 ), a liquid-impervious backsheet ( 20 ) and an absorbent assembly ( 30 ) between the topsheet ( 10 ) and the backsheet ( 20 ). The absorbent assembly ( 30 ) comprises an absorbent core ( 40 ), an upper core wrap ( 50 ) and a lower core wrap ( 60 ). The absorbent core ( 40 ) comprises at least two cavities ( 70 ) free of absorbent material wherein the upper core wrap ( 50 ) and the lower core wrap ( 60 ) are permanently attached to each other, said cavities ( 70 ) being interconnected via at least one connecting line ( 80 ) comprising absorbent material. The absorbent core ( 40 ) has a first basis weight in the zone out of the cavities ( 70 ) and the connecting lines ( 80 ) and a second basis weight in the connecting lines ( 80 ), the first basis weight being greater than the second basis weight. in the cavities ( 70 ). The resulting absorbent assembly ( 30 ) may show all together a very good integrity, a very good distribution of fluids and a quick rate of absorption.

A method for making an absorbent article comprising an absorbent core comprising one or more channels, the method comprising the steps of: i. providing a first endless moving surface comprising a plurality of molds typically in the form of pockets, each mold comprising an insert therein, wherein the molds are in fluid communication with an under-pressure source except for said insert such that a suction zone is formed in areas neighboring said insert; ii. feeding a first nonwoven web to said first endless moving surface and over one or more said molds; iii. depositing an absorbent material, comprising cellulose fibers and/or superabsorbent polymer particles, over at least a portion of said nonwoven web; iv. optionally further selectively removing said absorbent material from areas of the nonwoven web corresponding to said insert; v. applying a second nonwoven web directly or indirectly over the absorbent material, or folding said first nonwoven web, such to sandwich said absorbent material between upper and lower layers of said nonwoven web(s); vi. joining said upper and lower layers together at least in the areas of the nonwoven web(s) corresponding to the insert to form an absorbent core having one or more channels substantially free of absorbent material; vii. optionally joining an acquisition distribution layer to said absorbent core, typically a skin facing surface of said upper layer; viii. optionally laminating said absorbent core and acquisition distribution layer between a liquid pervious topsheet and a liquid impervious backsheet; wherein at least a portion of said insert is porous and is in fluid communication with a positive pressure source such that air is blown out of said insert to form an air cushion or air film around at least an uppermost surface of said insert and in that said absorbent material is thereby forced away from areas of the nonwoven web corresponding to said insert.

A process for making individually wrapped personal hygiene absorbent articles is provided. It comprises: (i) providing a single image with indicia wherein at least one of the indicia is repeated more than once within said single image; (ii) printing a plurality of said single images over a continuous film to form a continuous repetition of the same single image in a side-by-side arrangement; (iii) cutting the printed film and/or web material along a transverse axis such to form a plurality of individual segments of film forming individual wrapping sheets comprising a portion of said single image and sized such to each accommodate one of said personal hygiene absorbent articles therein; (iv) wrapping individual personal hygiene absorbent articles each with one of said wrapping sheets such that a printed portion of the wrapping sheet is viewable; (v) stacking a plurality of the individually wrapped personal hygiene absorbent articles into a container.

A male incontinence disposable absorbent article comprising: a waistband assembly configured to be worn about a waist of a subject; and an absorbent panel assembly having first and second ends that are coupled to the waistband assembly, the absorbent panel assembly comprising a liquid-impervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and backsheet, and further comprising lateral cuffs extending along a length of said core and joined to at least a portion of said topsheet on a skin-facing surface thereof; wherein the absorbent panel assembly is arranged such that it overlaps at least a portion of the waistband assembly in at least a front and/or back portion thereof, and wherein the waistband assembly comprises a first waist region, a second waist region, and a third waist region, each said waist regions comprising a plurality of elastic strands, wherein said elastic strands of said first waist region have a first spacing, said elastic strands of said second waist region have a second spacing, and said elastic strands of said third waist region have a third spacing, wherein said absorbent panel assembly comprises a frontal barrier comprising a nonwoven substrate that is joined to at least portions of each said lateral cuffs at distinct joining zones and wherein said joining zones do not substantially overlap with the topsheet in areas thereof that are free from said lateral cuffs such that a pocket is formed, and wherein said nonwoven substrate is joined to said topsheet along a further joining zone that is positioned between said distinct joining zones and along an extremity of the pocket along a transverse direction crossing the distinct joining zones, and in that said pocket is arranged to provide for containment of the male genitalia when the article is worn by a subject and/or provide a barrier to leakage on the front of said article towards the waistband assembly.

The current invention concerns to an absorbent article ( 100 ) comprising a first part being a disposable part ( 10 ), and a second part being a re-usable part ( 20 ) wherein the re-usable part ( 20 ) is configured to removably hold the disposable part ( 10 ), and wherein the absorbent article ( 100 ) comprises an electronic system ( 22 ) configured to measure data related to a wearer of the absorbent article, and/or to the absorbent article and/or to ambient conditions in close proximity to the wearer of the absorbent article.

The present invention relates to a method of guiding a web with a shifting path of the web to a substantially constant centration point. It comprises the steps of providing a web with a shifting path of the web from a source of the web, measuring upstream of said centration point, the position and/or orientation of said web by a sensor arrangement, and guiding said web to said centration point in accordance to the measurement results. The present invention advantageously relates to operations in the manufacturing of absorbent articles such as unwinding web rolls that are wound in a shifted manner, in particular spirally wound web rolls, and removing web from containers of loose web material. The invention also relates to a device for the execution of the method.

The current invention concerns a method and apparatus for stretching and repitching an elastic member for attachment to a moving substrate, the elastic member being stretchable in at least a longitudinal direction and said elastic member in an essential non-stretched condition comprising an initial length along said longitudinal direction, the method comprising the steps of: (1) providing the elastic member in essentially non-stretched condition to a set of repitching members with an initial supply pitch, said set of repitching members comprising at least a first repitching member and a second repitching member, and optionally one or more repitching members arranged between said first and said second repitching member; (2) receiving said elastic members arranged in non-stretched condition between said set of repitching members, whereby the distance between the first and the second repitching member corresponds to the initial length of the elastic member; (3) moving at least said first and said second repitching members following trajectories diverging from each other, thereby stretching said elastic members arranged between the repitching members to an application length which is longer than the initial length and which corresponds to the length of said elastic member in elastically stretched condition, whereby said repitching members are moved with selectively variable velocity when transferring said elastic members to selectively vary the application pitch of said elastic member in stretched condition on said substrate, the variation of the speed of said repitching members determining the application pitch of said elastic member in stretched condition on said substrate, characterized in that during step (3), said set of elastic members are rotated around a common rotation axis while the elastic member is being stretched from the initial length to the application length. Additionally, the invention concerns a method and apparatus for stretching and repitching an elastic member for attachment to a moving substrate whereby the elastic members are held by repitching members, which are rotated at an essentially constant rotational speed around rotation axes in trajectories, said trajectories being defined by having a different radial distance from the rotation axis to the repitching member rotating around said rotation axis at the application position where the elastic member is attached to the substrate, than at the initial position where the elastic member is received by the repitching members, thereby changing the pitch of the elastic members.