AU2010287902B2

AU2010287902B2 - Wearing article

Info

Publication number: AU2010287902B2
Application number: AU2010287902A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Yuki Hashino; Shunsuke Masaki; Yoshio Ono; Toshiyasu Yoshioka
Original assignee: Unicharm Corp
Current assignee: Unicharm Corp
Priority date: 2009-08-31
Filing date: 2010-06-21
Publication date: 2015-06-11
Anticipated expiration: 2030-06-21
Also published as: TWI572340B; AU2010287902A1; EA024531B1; CN101785729B; CN101785729A; BR112012004209A2; MY159082A; BR112012004209B1; EA201290064A1; JP2011050501A; TW201108999A; AR078103A1; JP5483682B2; WO2011024542A1

Abstract

A wearing article configured in such a manner that a liquid absorbing structure, such as an absorbing body, does not separate in the front and rear waist regions from the wearer's body and, as a result, urine, etc. are prevented from leaking due to the formation of a gap between the wearer and the liquid absorbing structure. A diaper (10) includes a front waist member (20), a rear waist member (30), and a crotch member (40). The outer surface of a liquid absorbing structure (41) of the crotch member (40) is covered with an outer covering sheet (44), and gasket cuffs (50) and leakage barrier cuffs (60) are formed by the outer covering sheet (44). Imaginary folding lines (65) extending in the longitudinal direction (Y) are each formed between the proximal edge (62) and the distal edge (63) of a leakage barrier cuff (60), and the leakage barrier cuff (60) is folded along the imaginary folding line (65) while a barrier elastic member (64) is not being stretched or contracted. The leakage barrier cuffs (60) are joined at the front and rear portions (45, 46) of the liquid absorbing structure (41) to an inner covering sheet through a joining means, such as an adhesive agent, and this forms front and rear joined regions (66, 67) extending in the longitudinal direction (Y).

Description

Title of Invention WEARING ARTICLE Technical Field {0001} 5 The present invention relates to wearing articles and particularly to wearing articles such as disposable diapers, toilet-training pants or incontinent briefs. {Background} {0002} 10 There exist disposable diapers that are provided with a liquid-absorbent structure having a liquid-retention property and leakage-barrier cuffs adapted to prevent body waste such as urine from leaking out. For example, the diaper disclosed by PTL 1 includes front and rear waist regions, a crotch region 15 extending between these two waist regions and a liquid-absorbent structure which is provided on its skin-facing side with leakage-barrier cuffs. Each of the leakage-barrier cuffs has a free side edge lying inboard of a fixed side edge and folded outward as viewed in a transverse direction. The 20 free side edge is fixed at longitudinally opposite end portions thereof to the liquid-absorbent structure so that the leakage-barrier cuff may be kept in the folded state. The free 25 -2 side edge of the leakage-barrier cuff is provided with elastics so that an intermediate portion of the cuff defined between the longitudinally opposite end portions may be spaced apart from the liquid-absorbent structure and raised toward the wearer's 5 body under contraction of the elastics. Such leakage-barrier cuffs serve to prevent body waste such as urine from leaking out of the diaper. {Citation List} {PTL 1} JP 2001-137282 A 10 The above discussion of background art is included to explain the context of the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any of the documents or other material referred to was published, known or part of the common general knowledge in Australia at the priority date of any one of the 15 claims of this specification. Technical Problem {0004} The leakage-barrier cuffs extend across the crotch region into the front and rear waist regions and the free side edges 20 thereof are fixed at the respective longitudinally opposite end portions to the liquid-absorbent structure. With such an arrangement, the respective intermediate portions defined between the respective longitudinally opposite end portions are spaced apart from the liquid-absorbent structure and raised 25 toward the wearer 's body not only in the crotch region but also in the front and rear waist 3 regions. This means that the liquid-absorbent structure is spaced apart from the wearer's body and void space is formed also in the front and rear waist regions. Consequentially, there is a possibility that discharged 5 body waste such as urine might move into such void space and eventually leak out of the diaper. 0005} A desirable outcome of the present invention is to provide a wearing article improved to prevent the liquid 10 absorbent structure inclusive of an absorbent core in the front and rear waist regions and the wearer's body from being spaced apart from one another and forming void spaces between them which might cause a leakage of body wastes. Throughout the description and claims of this 15 specification, the word "comprise" and variations of that word, such as "comprising" and "comprises" are not intended to exclude other additives, steps or integers. Summary of the Invention 0006} 20 According to the present invention, there is provided A disposable diaper having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction comprising: a chassis including a skin-facing side, a non-skin facing side opposed to the skin-facing side, a front waist 25 region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between the front and rear waist regions; a liquid-absorbent structure extending across the crotch region into the front and rear waist regions; a pair of leakage-barrier cuffs lying on the skin 30 facing side of the chassis; and 4 a pair of gasket cuffs lying outboard of the liquid absorbent structure as viewed in the transverse direction, wherein: the liquid-absorbent structure comprises a front 5 section, a rear section separated from the front section in the longitudinal direction and a middle section extending between the front and rear sections; each of the leakage-barrier cuffs comprises a proximal edge bonded to the chassis, a distal edge 10 elasticized in the longitudinal direction and adapted to be spaced from the chassis toward the skin-facing side and an imaginary folding line lying between the proximal edge and the distal edge to extend in the longitudinal direction wherein each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is folded along 15 the imaginary folding line and the distal edge is bonded, in regions overlapping the front and rear sections, to the liquid-absorbent structure to form front and rear bond regions extending in the longitudinal direction, the leakage-barrier cuff is folded along the 20 imaginary folding line so that the distal edge lies outboard of the imaginary folding line as viewed in the transverse direction; and the front bond region has a dimension in the longitudinal direction larger than that of the rear bond 25 region. { 0008 According to one embodiment of the present invention, each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is elasticized by a plurality of elastics extending in the longitudinal 30 direction and at least -5 one of the elastics is provided between the proximal edge and the imaginary folding line. {0009} According to another embodiment of the present invention, 5 the front bond region has a dimension corresponding to a range of 45 to 70% of a dimension in the longitudinal direction of the front waist region and the rear bond region has a dimension corresponding to a range of 30 to 50% of a dimension in the longitudinal direction of the rear waist region. 10 {0010} According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the front bond region has a dimension in the longitudinal direction larger than that of the rear bond region. {0011} 15 According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, each of the gasket cuffs includes an inner side edge and an outer side edge lying outboard of the inner side edge as viewed in the transverse direction wherein the outer side edge is elasticized to be contractible in the longitudinal 20 direction; and the distal edge of each of the leakage-barrier cuffs has a tensile stress higher than a tensile stress of the outer side edge of each of the gasket cuffs. {0012} -6 According to further another embodiment of the present invention, the liquid-absorbent structure includes a liquid-absorbent core having a dimension in the transverse direction of the middle section smaller than a dimension in the 5 transverse direction of the front and rear sections, respectively; and the proximal edge of the leakage-barrier cuff is bonded to the chassis without overlapping the liquid-absorbent structure in the middle section. {0013} 10 According to an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the front and rear waist regions are elasticized by a plurality of elastics extending in the transverse direction and at least some of the elastics partially overlap the front and rear bond regions. 15 {0014} According to another alternative embodiment of the present invention, a dimension as measured from the proximal edge to the distal edge of each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is larger than a dimension as measured from the inner side edge 20 to the outer side edge of each of the gasket cuffs. {0015} According to still another alternative embodiment of the present invention, the chassis includes the rear waist region -7 having a dimension in the longitudinal direction larger than that of the front waist region and further includes a lower end section extending from a section of the front waist region toward a section of the rear waist region close to the crotch 5 region, and each of the gasket cuffs is elasticized by a plurality of elastics extending in the longitudinal direction and these elastic members serving to elasticize the gasket cuff are arranged to intersect at least part of elastics associated with 10 the lower end section. Advantageous Effects of the Invention {0016) According to the present invention, each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is folded along the imaginary folding 15 line and the distal edge is, in the regions overlapping the front and rear sections of the liquid-absorbent structure, bonded to the liquid-absorbent structure in the front and rear bond regions. With such a unique arrangement, the liquid-absorbent structure would not be spaced apart from the wearer's body in 20 the front and rear waist regions. In this way, undesirable void spaces should not be left between the wearer's body and the liquid-absorbent structure, and leakage of urine, for example, may be prevented.

-8 Brief Description of the Drawings {0017} {Fig. 1} Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a diaper as one example of wearing articles; 5 {Fig. 2} Fig. 2 is a flatly developed plan view of the diaper as viewed from its skin-facing side; (Fig. 3} Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 2; {Fig. 4) Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV in 10 Fig. 2; (Fig. 5) Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the diaper exploded from Fig. 2; and {Fig. 6} Fig. 6 is a front elevation view of the diaper. Detailed Description 15 {0018} Details of the present invention will be more fully understood from the description of a disposable diaper as one example of wearing articles according to the present invention given hereunder with reference to Figs. 1 through 6. 20 (0019} Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a diaper 10 with a waist-opening as well as leg-openings being kept annular, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the diaper 10 being developed and kept flat -9 by stretching respective elastics against contractile force thereof and viewed from the skin-facing side of the diaper 10, Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in Fig. 5 2, Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the diaper 10 exploded from the state of Fig. 2 and Fig. 6 is a front elevation view of the diaper 10 with the waist-opening as well as the leg-openings flattened out from the annular states. Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, the right side about the imaginary longitudinal center 10 line P-P shows the respective elastics being in a state of contraction. {0020} The diaper 10 has a longitudinal direction Y and a transverse direction X and includes a skin-facing side, a 15 garment-facing side opposite to the skin-facing side, a front waist region 11, a rear waist region 12 and a crotch region 13 extending between the front and rear waist regions 11, 12. The diaper 10 includes the imaginary longitudinal center line P-P bisecting a dimension of the diaper 10 in the transverse 20 direction X and the imaginary transverse center line Q-Q bisecting a dimension of the diaper 10 in the longitudinal direction Y wherein the diaper 10 has a shape substantially symmetric about the imaginary longitudinal center line P-P.

- 10 {0021} The diaper 10 further includes a front waist member 20 forming the front waist region 11, a rear waist member 30 forming the rear waist region 12 and a crotch member 40 forming the crotch 5 region 13 and extending into the front and rear waist regions 11, 12. The front and rear waist members 20, 30 and the crotch member 40 partially define a chassis according to the present invention. {0022} 10) The front waist member 20 includes a front waist inner sheet 21 lying on the skin-facing side, a front waist outer sheet 22 lying on the garment-facing side and front waist elastics 23 sandwiched between these sheets 21, 22. The rear waist member 30 includes a rear waist inner sheet 31, a rear waist 15 outer sheet 32 lying on the garment-facing side and rear waist elastics 33 sandwiched between these sheets 31, 32. Both the front waist elastics 23 and the rear waist elastics 33 extending in the transverse direction X and attached under tension in a contractible manner to the respective waist members 20, 30 to 20 elasticize the front and rear waist regions 11, 12 in the transverse direction X. Both the front waist elastics 23 and the rear waist elastics 33 are spaced one from another by a given dimension in the longitudinal direction Y.

- 11 {0023) The rear waist member 30 has a dimension in the longitudinal direction Y larger than that of the front waist member 20 and, in a section of the rear waist member 30 close 5 to the crotch region 13, in other words, in a section of the rear waist member 30 close to the imaginary transverse center line Q-Q, formed is a lower end section 30a extending from a section of the front waist member 20 close to the crotch region 13. In the lower end section 30a, the rear waist elastics 33 10 are spaced one from another in the longitudinal direction Y by a distance larger than that in the other region. By setting the distance between each pair of the adjacent elastics to be larger than in other region, a soft texture can be maintained without increasing a stiffness of the inner and outer sheets 15 in the rear waist region. The rear waist elastics 33 attached to the lower end section 30a ensure that the lower end section 30a may be put in close contact with the wearer's skin, and prevent the lower end section 30a from unintentionally being folded or curled up. 20 {0024) The front and rear waist members 20, 30 may be bonded together along respective opposite side edges 24, 34 thereof to form an annular waist-opening.

-12 Referring to Fig. 2, respective outer ends 26, 36 of the front and rear waist members 20, 30 opposite to each other as viewed in the longitudinal direction Y are folded toward the imaginary transverse center line Q-Q to form front and rear 5 sleeves 25, 35. These front and rear sleeves 25, 35 cover opposite ends of the crotch member 40. In the front and rear waist regions 11, 12, the garment-facing side of the crotch member 40 is bonded to the front and rear waist inner sheets 21, 31. 10 {0025} The crotch member 40 includes a liquid-absorbent structure 41, an inner sheet 42 covering an upper side of the liquid-absorbent structure 41, a leakage-barrier sheet 43 covering the a lower side of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 15 and an outer sheet 44 lying outboard of the leakage-barrier sheet 43 and on the garment-facing side. The liquid-absorbent structure 41 includes a liquid-absorbent core wrapped with a liquid-dispersant sheet such as tissue paper and this liquid-absorbent core may be formed of, for example, fluff wood 20 pulp fibers and super-absorbent polymer particles. Such liquid-absorbent structure 41 has its dimension in the transverse direction X gradually reduced toward the imaginary transverse central line Q-Q to be curved inwardly -13 concave-shaped. More specifically, the liquid-absorbent structure 41 includes front and rear sections 45, 46 and a middle section 47 defined between these front and rear sections 45, 46 wherein a dimension of the middle section 47 in the transverse 5 direction X is smaller than those of the front and rear sections 45, 46. {0026} Specifically, the liquid-absorbent structure 41 has a dimension in the longitudinal direction Y is set to be in a range 10 of about 300 to about 400mm, preferably in a range of about 335mm to about 380mm. Both the inner sheet 42 and the leakage-barrier sheet 43 have a dimension in the longitudinal direction Y larger than that of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 and, specifically, set to be in a range of about 350 to about 450mm, 15 preferably in a range of about 375 to about 430mm. The liquid-absorbent structure 41 is not present in front and rear ends of the crotch region 40 in the longitudinal direction Y. In other words, front and rear flaps 48, 49 are defined only by the inner sheet 42 and the leakage-barrier sheet 43. In these 20 front and rear flaps 48, 49, the inner sheet 42 and the leakage-barrier sheet 43 are bonded to each other by adhesive means such as hot melt adhesives. {0027} - 14 The inner sheet 42 may be formed, for example, of a liquid-pervious fibrous nonwoven fabric. More specifically, air-through fibrous nonwoven fabrics, point bonded fibrous nonwoven fabrics, spun bonded fibrous nonwoven fabrics or the 5 like having a basis mass in a range of about 10 to about 25g/m 2 may be used as stock materials for the inner sheet 42. {0028} The leakage-barrier sheet 43 may be formed, for example, of a moisture-pervious but liquid-impervious plastic film and 10 the liquid-absorbent structure 41 may be fully covered with at least the leakage-barrier sheet 43 to prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking out of the diaper 10. {0029} The outer sheet 44 may be formed of a moisture-pervious 15 but liquid-impervious fibrous nonwoven fabric such as a spun bonded/melt blown/spun bonded (SMS) fibrous nonwoven fabric, a point-bonded fibrous nonwoven fabric or a spun bonded nonwoven fabric, each having a basis mass in a range of about 10 to about 2 25g/m 20 {0030} The outer sheet 44 forms gasket cuffs 50 and leakage-barrier cuffs 60. Specifically, the outer sheet 44 defining the bottom surface of the liquid-absorbent structure -15 41 and being folded outboard of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 as viewed in the transverse direction X to form first and second sleeves 51, 61 which define the respective gasket cuffs 50 (See Figs. 2 through 5). 5 {0031} In each of the gasket cuffs 50, the first sleeve 51 has an inner side edge 52 and an outer side edge 53 as viewed in the transverse direction X of the first sleeve 51. A plurality of gasket cuff elastics 55 extending in the longitudinal 10 direction Y are attached under tension and in a contractible manner to the inner surface of the first sleeve 51 to elasticize each of the gasket cuffs 50 in the longitudinal direction Y. Between opposite surfaces of the first sleeve 51, i.e., opposite layers of the folded outer sheet 44, the associated side edge 15 portion of the leakage-barrier sheet 43 extending outboard of the associated side edge of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 is sandwiched. In the first sleeve 51, the outer sheet 44, the leakage-barrier sheet 43 and the gasket cuff elastics 55 are bonded together by bonding means such as adhesives to define 20 a gasket cuff bond region 56. The gasket cuff bond region 56 continuously extends in the longitudinal direction Y of the crotch member 40. {0032} - 16 The gasket cuff elastics 55 include first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c arranged to be spaced one from another in the transverse direction X. The first gasket cuff elastic 55a extends along the outer side edge 53, the third gasket cuff 5 elastic 55c extends along the inner side edge 52 and the second gasket cuff elastic 55b extends between and in parallel to the first and second gasket cuff elastics 55a, 55c. The elastics 55 elasticize each of the gasket cuffs 50 in the longitudinal direction Y so that the outer side edge 53 of each of the gasket 10 cuffs 50 may stand up on the inner side edge 52 of each of the gasket cuffs 50 and the outer side edge 53 may come in close contact with the wearer's inguinal region. In this way, the gasket cuffs 50 function to prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking out of the diaper beyond the leg-openings' 15 peripheral edges. {0033} The gasket cuff elastics 55 are arranged to intersect the rear waist elastics 33 attached to the rear waist member 30 in the lower end section 30a thereof. With such an arrangement, 20 it is possible to elasticize the lower end section 30a also in the longitudinal direction Y and thereby to put the lower end section 30a in close contact with the wearer's body following the curve of the wearer's buttocks. Particularly in the diaper .17 formed of the front and rear waist members 20, 30 and the crotch member 40 prepared separately as in the present embodiment, the crotch member 40 would otherwise move and displaced relatively to the front and rear waist members 20, 30. Such a possibility 5 of displacement can be effectively restricted by putting the lower end section 30a in close contact with the wearer's body. {0034} As the first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c, elastic yarns or threads each having a fineness in a range of 10 about 470 to about 1240dtex and an elongation ratio in a range of about 1. 5 to about 3.0 may be used. The first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c are arranged to be spaced one from another in the transverse direction x at a distance in a range of about 3 to about 20mm. By setting the distance to 3mm or more, it 15 is possible toprevent the elastics fromoverlappingone another and coming in contact with the wearer's body in such an overlapped state and thereby to prevent the wearer's skin from bearing traces of gathers. By setting the distance to 20mm or less, it is ensured that the gasket cuffs 50 can reliably stand 20 up and come in close contact with the wearer's skin. {0035} The first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c are attached to each of the gasket cuffs so that these gasket cuff - 18 elastics 55a - 55c extend outboard of and along the middle section 47 of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 as viewed in the transverse direction X thereof and do not further extend at all or slightly extend into the areas associated with the 5 front and rear sections 45, 46 of the liquid-absorbent structure 41. In other words, the first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c are attached to each of the gasket cuffs so that the liquid-absorbent structure 41 may be substantially not af f ected by the contractile force of these elastics 55a - 55c. With such 10 an arrangement, it is possible to prevent the front and rear sections 45, 46 from getting wrinkles under the contractile force of these first to third gasket cuff elastics 55a - 55c. {0036) The third gasket cuff elastic 55c is arranged to be spaced 15 from the side edge of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 in the middle section 47 thereof by a distance in a range of about 5 to about 15mm. By setting the distance to 5mm or more, it is possible to prevent the middle section 47 from getting wrinkles and, at the same time, to prevent the stiffness of the middle 20 section 47 from interfering with the desired contraction of the third gasket cuff elastic 55c. By setting the distance to 15mm or less, it is ensured that the side edges of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 can be put in close contact with -19 the wearer's body under the desired contraction of the third gasket cuff elastic 55c. {0037} The leakage-barrier cuffs 60 are formed of respective 5 second sleeves 61 which are formed by folding opposite lateral portions of the outer sheet 44 extending outward from the inner side edges 52 of the respective gasket cuffs 50. In each of the second sleeves 61, the opposite lateral portions of the outer sheet 44 are folded and bonded to each other. The second 10 sleeve 61 has a proximal edge 62 which is contiguous to the inner side edge 52 and a distal edge 63 defined closer to the wearer's body compared to the proximal edge 62. The inner side edge 52 and the proximal edge 62 are defined generally by the same portion. In other words, the proximal edge 62 is bonded over 15 its entire area in the longitudinal direction Y together with the inner side edge 52 to the outer sheet 44 by the intermediary of the leakage-barrier sheet 43. {0038} Within the second sleeve 61, leakage-barrier cuff 20 elastics 64 extending in the longitudinal direction Y are provided under tension and in a contractible manner to elasticize the leakage-barrier cuff 60 in the longitudinal direction Y. The leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64 include four -20 elastics, i.e., first to fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64a - 64d in this order from the distal edge 63 to the proximal edge 62. {0039} 5 As the first to fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64a - 64d, elastic yarns or threads each having a fineness in a range of about 470 to about 1240dtex and an elongation ratio in a range of about 1. 5 to about 3.0 may be used. The first to fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64a - 64d are arranged to be 10 spaced one from another in the transverse direction X at a distance in a range of about 3 to about 20mm. By setting the distance to 3mm or more, it is possible to prevent the elastics from overlapping one another and coming in contact with the wearer' s body in such an overlapped state and thereby to prevent 15 the wearer's skin from bearing traces of gathers. By setting the distance to 20mm or less, it is ensured that the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 can reliably stand up and come in close contact with the wearer's skin. {0040} 20 The fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastic 64d is arranged to be spaced from the inner side edge 52 of the gasket cuff 50 toward the distal edge 63 by the distance of about 5mm or more. As long as the distance is set to about 5mm or more, it is possible -21 to put the inner side edge 52 and the proximal edge 62 in close contact with the wearer's inguinal region. The first to fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastics64a 64d extend outboard of and along the middle section 47 of the 5 liquid-absorbent structure 41 as viewed in the transverse direction X and further extend outboard of and along the front and rear sections of the liquid-absorbent structure 41. (0041) Between the proximal edge 62 and the distal edge 63 of 10 the leakage-barrier cuff 60, more specifically, between the third leakage-barrier cuff elastic 64c and the fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastic 64d, an imaginary folding line 65 extending in the longitudinal direction Y is formed. With the leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64 being kept inactive, the 15 leakage-barrier cuff is folded along the imaginary folding line 65 so that the distal edge 63 may lie outboard of the imaginary folding line 65 as viewed in the transverse direction X. The leakage-barrier cuff 60 folded in this manner overlaps the skin-facing side of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 in the 20 front and rear sections 45, 46 thereof but not in the middle section 47 and lies outboard of the middle section 47 as viewed in the transverse direction X thereof. (0042} -22 The leakage-barrier cuff 60 folded in this manner is bonded to the inner sheet 42 by appropriate bonding means such as adhesives to form front and rear bond regions 66, 67 which extend in the longitudinal direction Y. 5 {0043) In the diaper as has been described above, the distal edges 53 of the respective leakage-barrier cuffs 60 are spaced from the inner sheet 42 to stand up thereon and come in close contact with the wearer's inguinal region and, outboard of the 10 respective distal edges 63, the respective outer side edges 53 of the gasket cuffs 50 come in close contact with the peripheries of the wearer's thighs. In this way, these leakage-barrier cuffs 60 and the gasket cuffs 50 define a double cuff structure serving to prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking 15 beyond the peripheral edges of the respective leg-openings. {0044} The leakage-barrier cuffs 60 as have been described above are designed to have a tensile stress in the longitudinal direction Y higher than a tensile stress in the longitudinal 20 direction Y of the gasket cuffs 50. With such an arrangement, the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 lying inboard of the gasket cuffs 50 may come in close contact with the wearer's thighs in so-called surface contact relation. Additionally, respective -23 pairs of the gasket cuffs 50 and the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 may be spaced from each other by a given distance and may come in contact with the wearer's body, and thereby it is possible to prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking out from 5 the diaper in two stages. The tensile stress of the gasket cuff 50 and the leakage-barrier cuff 60 in the longitudinal direction Y may be appropriately adjusted by selecting the number or the diameter of the respective elastics. Magnitude correlation of the tensile stress between the gasket cuff 50 and the 10 leakage-barrier cuff 60 are also not limited to that in the present embodiment and may be appropriately adjusted. {0045} A dimension of the respective leakage-barrier cuffs 60 measured from the proximal edge 62 to the distal edge 63 is in 15 a range of about 260 to about 300mm, preferably about 290mm, and a dimension of the respective gasket cuffs 50 measured from the inner side edge 52 to the outer side edge 53 is in a range of about 200 to about 350mm, preferably in a range of about 230 to about 270mm. In this manner, the dimension of the respective 20 leakage-barrier cuffs 60 is set to be larger than the dimension of the respective gasket cuffs 50. With such a dimensional relationship and a tensile stress relationship, each of the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 extends outward from each inner side -24 of the gasket cuffs 50, as shown in Fig. 6. When the diaper is viewed from above, only the leg-openings contoured by the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 can be visually recognized and the gasket cuffs 50 are hidden behind the leakage-barrier cuffs 60. 5 More specifically, the visually recognizable leg-openings facilitate the diaper to be put on the wearer's body merely by guiding the wearer's legs therethrough. In addition, it is possible to let the wearer or his or her parent or helper recognize that the cuffs are arranged in two stages and may 10 reliably prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking out of the diaper, and thereby it is possible to provide them with a sense of assurance. {0046} The segments of the leakage-barrier cuff 60 overlapping 15 the front and rear sections 45, 46 of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 have respective folded portions adhesively closed in the front and rear bond regions 66, 67, respectively so that the distal edge 63 along these segments can not stand up even when the leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64 contract. In 20 consequence, it is ensured that the liquid-absorbent structure 41 is always put in contact with the wearer's body over a wide region and no void space is left between the wearer's body and the liquid-absorbent structure 41. In this way, it is possible -25 to prevent bodily fluids such as urine from leaking out beyond the waist-opening peripheral edge. Furthermore, the dimension of the front bond region 66 in the longitudinal direction Y set to be larger than the dimension of the rear bond regions 67 5 advantageously allows the liquid-absorbent structure 41 to be put in close contact with the wearer's body in the front waist region 11 and allows the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 to stand up over a wide range in the rear waist region 12. {0047} 10 Of the leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64, the fourth leakage-barrier cuff elastic 64d lies between the proximal edge 62 and the imaginary folding line 65 and serves to increase stiffness in the vicinity thereof so that the leakage-barrier cuffs 60 may sufficiently stand up to put the distal edge 63 15 in close contact with the wearer's inguinal region. {0048} The diaper according to the present invention has a dimension in the longitudinal direction Y in a range of about 400 to about 520mm, preferably in a range of about 410 to about 20 450mm and, in the present embodiment, this dimension is set to about 415mm. The dimension of the crotch member 40 in the longitudinal direction Y is in a range of about 370 to about 450mm, preferably in a range of about 350 to about 380mm and, -26 in the present embodiment, this dimension is set to about 375mm. The dimension of the front waist member 20 defining the front waist region 11 in the longitudinal direction Y is in a range of about 80 to about 130mm, preferably in a range of about 85 5 to about 125mm and, in the present embodiment, this dimension is set to about 90mm. The dimension of the rear waist member 30 defining the rear waist region 12 is in a range of about 150 to about 190mm, preferably in a range of about 155 to about 185 and, in the present embodiment, this dimension is set to about 10 155mm. {0049} In the diaper 10 according to the present invention, the front and rear waist members 20, 30 are partially overlapped by the crotch member 40. Specifically, about 70mm of the total 15 dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 overlaps the front waist member 20 and about 80mm overlaps the rear waist member 30. In other words, about 45% of the total dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the front waist member 20 and about 24% of the 20 total dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the rear waist member 30 are occupied by the liquid-absorbent structure 41. The front and rear bond regions 66, 67 formed in these -27 overlapping regions respective have dimensions in the longitudinal direction Y set to about 60mm and about 45mm, respectively. The dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the front bond region 66 is in a range of about 45 to about 5 70%, preferably in a range of about 55% to about 67% of the dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the front waist region 11 and the dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the rear bond region 67 is in a range of about 30 to about 50%, preferably about 29% of the dimension in the longitudinal 10 direction Y of the rear waist region 12. {0050} The front and rear bond regions 66, 67 are formed so as to overlap the front and rear waist elastics 23, 33. In regions overlapping the liquid-absorbent structure 41, both the front 15 and rear waist elastics 23, 33 are interrupted in the transverse direction X in the vicinity of the imaginary longitudinal center line P-P in order to assure that the contractile force of these elastics 23, 33 is not exerted on the liquid-absorbent structure 41. It should be noted here that both the front and rear waist 20 elastics 23, 33 extend from the side edges 24, 34 toward the imaginary longitudinal center line P-P at least in sufficient range to intersect the front and rear bond regions 66, 67. With such an arrangement, it is possible to put the front and rear -28 bond regions 66, 67 in close contact with the wearer's body and thereby to prevent undesirable void space from being left between the liquid-absorbent structure 41 and the wearer's body. 5 {0051} The present invention can be implemented in the form of a diaper particularly suitable for baby wherein the dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the diaper 10 is relatively small. Even when the dimension in the longitudinal direction 10 Y of the diaper 10 is set to be relatively small, the dimension of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 is preferably set as large as possible so that a sufficient absorption capacity for bodily fluids such as urine may be maintained. To meet such a requirement, an occupancy percentage of the liquid-absorbent 15 structure 41 with respect to the diaper 10 will be inevitably increased. Considering that the liquid-absorbent structure 41 generally has a relatively high stiffness, the high occupancy percentage of the liquid-absorbent structure 41 might make it difficult to put the front and rear waist members 20, 30 in close 20 contact with the wearer's body. In this embodiment, however, the front and rear bond regions 66, 67 allow the liquid-absorbent structure 41 to come in close contact with the wearer's body in the front waist region 11 as well as in the - 29 rear waist region 12. Consequently, it is possible to prevent the diaper 10 f rom slipping down and, at the same time, to prevent undesirable void spaces from being left between the wearer's body and the liquid-absorbent structure 41. 5 {0052} The dimension in the longitudinal direction Y of the rear waist member 30 is set to be larger than the dimension of the front waist member 20. In such diaper 10, the lower end section 30a of the rear waist member 30 extends toward the crotch region 10 13 so as to cover the wearer ' s buttocks. Such rear waist member 30 preferably extends to cover the leg-openings in the longitudinal direction Y thereof. More specifically, the lower end section 30a of the rear waist member 30 preferably extends from the peripheral edge of the waist-opening from the 15 distal edges 63 of the respective leakage-barrier cuffs 60 toward the crotch region 13. In this way, the lower end section 30a sufficiently covers the wearer's buttocks to retain bodily fluids even if bodily fluids leak beyond the peripheral edges of the respective leg-openings. Thereby it is possible to 20 protect the wearer and his or her garment from being soiled with bodily fluids. Particularly when the used diaper 10 is pulled off from baby lying abed, leakage of bodily waste beyond the leg-openings' peripheral edges which would otherwise often -30 occur can be reliably prevented. {0053} Outboard of the crotch member 40 as viewed in the longitudinal direction Y, a front waist outer elasticized 5 section 27 and a rear waist outer elasticized section 37 are formed which are elasticized by front waist elastics 23 and rear waist elastics 33 and, inboard of these front and rear waist outer elasticized sections 27, 37 as viewed in the longitudinal direction, front and rear waist inner elasticized sections 28, 10 38 are formed, respectively. The front waist outer elasticized section 27 includes, as its part, the front flap 48 and the rear waist outer elasticized section 37 lies outboard of the rear flap 49. The front and rear outer elasticized sections 27, 37 have the tensile stress set to be lower than the tensile stress 15 of the front and rear inner elasticized sections 28, 38 so that the liquid-absorbent structure 41 attached to the crotch member 40 can be put in close contact with the wearer's body and thereby slip down of the diaper can be prevented. {0054} 20 While a plurality of elastic threads is used to elasticize the front and rear waist members 20, 30 in the transverse direction X according to the illustrated embodiment, means to elasticize these members 20, 30 is not limited to these elastic -31 threads and the other various elastics such as elastic sheets or elastic ribbons also may be used for the same purpose. As the gasket cuff elastics 55 as well as the leakage-barrier cuff elastics 64 also, various types of elastics may be used. While 5 the liquid-absorbent structure 41 of which the middle section 47 has the dimension in the transverse direction X smaller than those of the front and rear sections 45, 46, respectively, according to the illustrated embodiment, these middle section 47 and the front and rear sections 45, 46 may have the same 10 dimension in the transverse direction X. {Reference Signs List} {0055} 10 diaper (wearing article) 11 front waist region 15 12 rear waist region 13 crotch region 20 front waist member 23 front waist elastics 27 front waist outer elasticized section 20 28 front waist inner elasticized section 30 rear waist member 30a lower end section 33 rear waist elastics -32 37 rear waist outer elasticized section 38 rear waist inner elasticized section 40 crotch member 41 liquid-absorbent structure 5 45 front section 46 rear section 47 middle section 50 gasket cuffs 52 inner side edges 10 53 outer side edges 55 gasket cuff elastics 60 leakage-barrier cuffs 62 proximal edges 63 distal edges 15 64 leakage-barrier cuff elastics 65 imaginary folding lines 66 front bond regions 67 rear bond regions X transverse direction 20 Y longitudinal direction

Claims

1. A disposable diaper having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction comprising: 5 a chassis including a skin-facing side, a non-skin facing side opposed to the skin-facing side, a front waist region, a rear waist region and a crotch region extending between the front and rear waist regions; a liquid-absorbent structure extending across the 10 crotch region into the front and rear waist regions; a pair of leakage-barrier cuffs lying on the skin facing side of the chassis; and a pair of gasket cuffs lying outboard of the liquid absorbent structure as viewed in the transverse direction, 15 wherein: the liquid-absorbent structure comprises a front section, a rear section separated from the front section in the longitudinal direction and a middle section extending between the front and rear sections; 20 each of the leakage-barrier cuffs comprises a proximal edge bonded to the chassis, a distal edge elasticized in the longitudinal direction and adapted to be spaced from the chassis toward the skin-facing side and an imaginary folding line lying between the proximal edge and 25 the distal edge to extend in the longitudinal direction wherein each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is folded along the imaginary folding line and the distal edge is bonded, in regions overlapping the front and rear sections, to the liquid-absorbent structure to form front and rear bond 30 regions extending in the longitudinal direction, 34 the leakage-barrier cuff is folded along the imaginary folding line so that the distal edge lies outboard of the imaginary folding line as viewed in the transverse direction; and 5 the front bond region has a dimension in the longitudinal direction larger than that of the rear bond region.

2. The disposable diaper of Claim 1, wherein each of the 10 leakage-barrier cuffs is elasticized by a plurality of elastics extending in the longitudinal direction and at least one of the elastics is provided between the proximal edge and the imaginary folding line. 15

3. The disposable diaper of Claim 1 or 2, wherein the front bond region has a dimension corresponding to a range of 45 to 70% of a dimension in the longitudinal direction of the front waist region and the rear bond region has a dimension corresponding to a range of 30 to 50% of a 20 dimension in the longitudinal direction of the rear waist region.

4. The disposable diaperof any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein: 25 each of the gasket cuffs comprises an inner side edge and an outer side edge lying outboard of the inner side edge as viewed in the transverse direction wherein the outer side edge is elasticized to be contractible in the longitudinal direction; and 30 the distal edge of each of the leakage-barrier cuffs 35 has a tensile stress higher than a tensile stress of the outer side edge of each of the gasket cuffs.

5. The disposable diaper of any one of Claims 1 to 5, 5 wherein: the liquid-absorbent structure comprises a liquid absorbent core having a dimension in the transverse direction of the middle section smaller than a dimension in the transverse direction of the front and rear sections, 10 respectively; and the proximal edge of the leakage-barrier cuff is bonded to the chassis without overlapping the liquid absorbent structure in the middle section. 15

6. The disposable diaper of any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the front and rear waist regions are elasticized by a plurality of elastics extending in the transverse direction and at least some of the elastics partially overlap the front and rear bond regions. 20

7. The disposable diaper of any one of Claims 4 to 6, wherein a dimension as measured from the proximal edge to the distal edge of each of the leakage-barrier cuffs is larger than a dimension as measured from the inner side 25 edge to the outer side edge of each of the gasket cuffs.

8. The disposable diaper of Claim 6 or 7, wherein: the chassis includes the rear waist region having a dimension in the longitudinal direction larger than that of 30 the front waist region and further includes a lower end 36 section extending from a section of the front waist region toward a section of the rear waist region close to the crotch region, and each of the gasket cuffs is elasticized by a 5 plurality of elastics extending in the longitudinal direction and these elastics serving to elasticize the gasket cuffs are arranged to intersect at least part of elastics associated with the lower end section.