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US5820973: Heterogeneous surge material for absorbent articles

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Filing Information

Inventor(s) II; Richard Norris Dodge · Clifford Jackson Ellis · Connie Lynn Hetzler · Eric Scott Kepner · Sylvia Bandy Little · Lawrence Howell Sawyer ·
Assignee(s) Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. ·
Attorney/Agent(s) James B. Robinson ·
Primary Examiner James J. Bell ·
Application Number US8754417
Filing date 11/22/1996
Issue date 10/13/1998
Predicted expiration date 11/22/2016
U.S. Classifications 428/212  · 428/903  ·
International Classifications B32B 702  ·
Kind CodeA
International Classifications 428212;903 ·
24 Claims, No Drawings


Abstract

There is provided a surge material for personal care products comprising a layered structure of at least one relatively high permeability layer on a top side toward a wearer and at least one relatively low permeability layer where the structure has a capillary tension range between about 1 and 5 cm with a differential capillary tension of at least about 1 cm from top to bottom. The surge material should have a high permeability layer with a permeability of at least 1000 Darcys and a low permeability layer with a permeability of less than 1000 Darcys. The surge material should also have a said high permeability layer which has a permeability of at least 250 Darcys greater than the low permeability layer. Such a layered structure should have a first insult run-off value of at most 30 ml from a 100 ml insult delivered at 20 ml/second. Such a surge material is useful in personal care products like diapers, training pants, absorbent underpants, adult incontinence products, feminine hygiene products and the like.

Independent Claims | See all claims (24)

  1. 1. A surge material for personal care products comprising a layered structure of at least one relatively high permeability layer on a top side toward a wearer and at least one relatively low permeability layer, wherein said structure has a capillary tension range between about 1 and 5 cm with a differential of at least about 1 cm from top to bottom.
  2. 2. The surge material of claim I wherein said high permeability layer has a permeability of at least 1000 Darcys and said low permeability layer has a permeability of less than 1000 Darcys.
  3. 17. A surge material for personal care products comprising a layered structure of at least one relatively high permeability layer on a side toward a wearer and at least one relatively low permeability layer, wherein said relatively high permeability layer has a capillary tension range between about 1 and 2.5 cm and said relatively low permeability layer has a capillary tension range between about 2.5 and 5 cm.
  4. 21. A surge material for personal care products comprising a layered structure of at least one relatively high permeability layer on a side toward a wearer and at least one relatively low permeability layer, wherein said relatively high permeability layer is comprised of conjugate sheath/core microfibers and has a permeability at least 500 Darcys greater than said low permeability layer and a capillary tension range between about 1 and 2 cm, and said relatively low permeability layer comprises homopolymer microfibers and has a capillary tension range between about 2.5 and 5 cm, wherein at least one of said layers has an orientation of at least 3:1 in MD:CD.

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