WO1997031604A1

WO1997031604A1 - Absorbent article

Info

Publication number: WO1997031604A1
Application number: PCT/US1997/002726
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yasuko Morita; Kaoru Niihara; Robert Marshall, Iii; John Glasgow Burns, Jr.; Nafumi Nishidi
Original assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
Priority date: 1996-02-28
Filing date: 1997-02-21
Publication date: 1997-09-04
Also published as: CA2247839A1; JPH11504846A; KR19990087336A; AU2133897A; EP0888102A4; EP0888102A1

Abstract

Absorbent articles (2) such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, and adult incontinence pads are disclosed that have a protective sheet (50) for protecting adhesive layers (40, 44) provided on opposite longitudinal side edges (30) of the absorbent article (2), such as on flaps (10) that are folded around leg openings of the garment and back flaps (210) that stay in widespread state in the garment. The protective sheet (50) has a pair of side edges (53) extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of end edges (54, 56) having a first end edge and a second end edge. The end edges (54, 56) connect the side edges (53). The first end edge (54) extends generally in the transverse direction and includes an inclined portion (57) inclining with respect to the transverse direction.

Description

ABSORBENT ARTICLE

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, adult incontinence devices, and the like. Still more particularly, the present invention concerns absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, and the like having improved protective sheets for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of the absorbent article.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENΩON

Absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, pantiliners, and incontinence pads are devices that are typically worn in the crotch region of an undergarment. These devices are designed to absorb and retain liquid and other discharges from the human body and to prevent body and clothing soiling. Sanitary napkins are a type of absorbent article worn by women in a pair of panties that is normally positioned between the wearer's legs, adjacent to the perineal area of the body. Sanitary napkins both with and without side flaps (or wings) are disclosed in the literature and are available in the market place.

Generally, when sanitary napkins are provided with flaps, the flaps extend laterally from a central absorbent means and are intended to be folded around the edges of the wearer's panties in the crotch region. The flaps are generally effective for preventing exudates from soiling the edges of the wearer's panties. Sanitary napkins having flaps of various types are disclosed in U.S. Patent 5,267,992; U.S. Patent 4,687,478; U.S. Patent 4,608,047; U.S. Patent Bl 4,589,876; U.S. Patent 4,285,343; U.S. Patent 3.397,697; U.S. Patent 2,787,271.

Commonly, flaps are provided with adhesive layers for either affixing the flaps to the underside of the wearer's panties or to the opposing flap. The adhesive layers are covered by protective sheets so that the adhesive layers do not stick to undesired portions such as the central absorbent means before the sanitary napkins are used. Several variations of sanitary napkins having flaps with protective sheets of various types are disclosed in the patent literature. For example, JP Utility-Model laid-open publication Nos. 6-26833 and 6-26835 disclose a sanitary napkin having a flap protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on flaps which are folded onto a topsheet of a sanitary napkin. The sanitary napkin also has a main protective sheet for protecting an adhesive layer provided on back side of a central absorbent means of a sanitary napkin. The sanitary napkin disclosed therein appears to require the user to remove the flap protective sheet and the main protective sheet individually from the sanitary napkin. It is troublesome operation for the user.

JP Utility-Model laid-open publication No. 5-9529 is directed to a sanitary napkin having flaps with a cross-shaped protective sheet for adhesive layers. The cross-shaped protective sheet comprises a first portion for protecting an adhesive layer provided on back side of a central absorbent means and a second portion for protecting adhesive layers provided on flaps which are folded onto a topsheet of a sanitary napkin. The second portion extends perpendicularly to the first portion. The cross-shaped protective sheet for the sanitary napkin disclosed therein may tear when the cross-shaped protective sheet is removed from the sanitary napkin. Since the first portion extends perpendicularly to the second portion, excessive pulling force may be applied to the portion where the first portion and the second portion cross perpendicularly each other.

JP Utility-Model laid-open publication No. 7-39820 is directed to a sanitary napkin having flaps with a wrapper for wrapping the sanitary napkin. The main body of the wrapper is a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of a napkin body. The portion which extends outwardly from one end of the wrapper in the longitudinal direction is a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of the flaps. Both protective sheets are made of one piece of the wrapper. In the sanitary napkin disclosed therein, the longitudinal length of the wrapper is relatively long compared with an ordinary wrapper since the protective sheet for adhesive layers of the flaps extends from one end of the protective sheet for adhesive layers of a napkin body. Therefore, it requires a long stroke when the protective sheets are removed from the sanitary napkin. Further, some of the sanitary napkins are provided with back flaps which extend laterally from a central absorbent means and are on a position biased backwardly. The back flaps are intended to stay widespread in the wearer's panties so that they prevent body fluids from soiling the back region of the wearer's panties. Sanitary napkins having back flaps of various types are disclosed in JP Utility-Model laid-open publication Nos. 7-12120 and 7-33314. These publication do not disclose protective sheets which can be easily removed from back flaps.

Thus, a need exists for an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, that is provided with an alternative to conventional protective sheets for adhesives provided on the back surface of an absorbent article. In a particular, a need exists for a sanitary napkin which provides easy operation and which can conveniently and efficiently solve the problems caused when attempting to remove protective sheets from a sanitary napkin.

It is, therefore, an object of the present mvention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, that is able to remove a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of an absorbent article from an absorbent article by an easy operation.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, that is able to remove a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of flaps from an absorbent article by an easy operation.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin, that is able to remove a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of back flaps on a backwardly biased position of an absorbent article from an absorbent article by an easy operation.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers of an absorbent article, that is able to provide an easy operation when the protective sheet is removed from an absorbent article.

These and other objects of the present invention will be more readily apparent when considered in reference to the following description and when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides an absorbent article, such as a sanitary napkin. The absorbent article of the present invention has a protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on the back surface of the absorbent article which provides an easy operation when the protective sheet is removed.

The absorbent article of the present invention comprises a liquid permeable body-facing side, a liquid impermeable garment-facing side, an absorbent core interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side. The adhesive layers are provided on the longitudinal side edges of the absorbent article. The protective sheet comprises protective portions for protecting the adhesive layers and a connecting portion for connecting the protective portions. The protective sheet has at least one end edge generally extending in the transverse direction. The end edge comprises an inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction.

The absorbent article of the present invention preferably comprises a main body comprising the absorbent article interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side, and a pair of flaps extending laterally outward from the opposite side edges of the main body. The flaps are folded around leg openings of the garment. The adhesive layers are provided on the surfaces of the flaps. The protective sheet protects the adhesive layers provided on the surfaces of the flaps. The end edge of the protective sheet comprises the inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction and toward a region where the adhesive layers are present.

Further, the absorbent article of the present invention preferably comprises a pair of back flaps extending laterally outward from the opposite side edges at a position biased backwardly of the main body. The back flaps tends to stay widespread in the garment. The back adhesive layers are provided on the surfaces of the back flaps. The back protective sheet protects the back adhesive layers provided on the surfaces of the back flaps. The end edge of the back protective sheet comprises the inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction and toward a region where the back adhesive layers are present.

The protective sheet preferably has a pair of side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of end edges having a first end edge and a second end edge. The end edges connect the side edges of the protective sheet. The first end edge preferably comprises at least two inclined portions. One inclined portion positions at least in part of the middle of the first end edge extending between one side edge of the protective sheet and the longitudinal center line The other inclined portion positions at least in part of the middle of the first end edge extending between the other side edge of the protective sheet and the longitudinal center line. Both inclined portions incline toward the same direction in the longitudinal direction. The inclined portion preferably has an inclination starting point and an inclination terminating point on the first end edge. The inclination terminating points position laterally outward from the inclination starting points and apart from transverse lines passing the inclination starting points toward the same direction in the longitudinal direction. Further, preferably, the transverse line passing the inclination starting point demarcates the absorbent article into two regions. The adhesive layers are located in one of the two regions and the inclination terminating points are located in the region where the adhesive layers are located. Furthermore, the inclination terminating points position apart from the transverse lines passing the inclination starting points toward the same direction as the predetermined direction where the absorbent article is separated from the protective sheet by moving the absorbent article.

The protective sheet may comprise one single sheet with opposite free side portions being free from connection The free side portions may be the protective portions being folded on the flaps. Alternatively, the protective sheet may comprise two sheets and a part of a wrapper for wrapping the absorbent article. The sheets may be connected to the wrapper. The sheets may be connected to the wrapper so that the free side portions extend laterally outward from the longitudinal center line. Then, the protective portions are folded on the flaps. Alternatively, the sheets are connected to the wrapper so that the free end portions extend laterally inward to the longitudinal center line. Then, the protective portions are superposed on the flaps. Preferably, the protective portions are joined each other over the main body before the absorbent article is used.

The absorbent article may have a wrapper for wrapping the absorbent article. The connecting portion may comprise a part of the wrapper and the protective portions may be connected to the wrapper.

The inclined portion comprises a curved line, more preferably, an arc-shaped line. Alternatively, the inclined portion comprises a straight line. The absorbent article preferably has two folding lines and may be folded into three parts along the folding lines in the longitudinal direction. The protective sheet is preferably located on the middle part. Further, in the absorbent article having the front protective sheet and the back protective sheet, the front protective sheet may be located on one of the two edge parts and the back protective sheet may be located on the middle part.

The protective sheet of the present invention comprises a pair of side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of end edges having a first end edge and a second end edge. The end edges connect the side edges of the protective sheet. The first end edge comprises an inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction at least in part of the middle of the first end edge. The first end edge further comprises straight portions extending laterally outward on opposite sides of the first end edge. The first end edge and the second end edge are formed in a same shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as forming the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention with a wrapper.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the sanitary napkin shown in Fig. 1 shown with the sanitary napkin by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the sanitary napkin shown in Fig. 1 with the flaps folded onto the topsheet and the protective sheet folded onto the flaps.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on line IV-IV in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a state wrapping the sanitary napkin of Fig. 1 in a sanitary napkin wrapper. Fig. 6 is a schematic plan view explaining a process for manufacturing the protective sheet of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view explaining a way for removing the sanitary napkin of

Fig. 1 from the sanitary napkin wrapper.

Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the second embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention with the sanitary napkin shown by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 9 is a top plan view of the third embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention with the sanitary napkin shown by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 10 is a top plan view of the sanitary napkin shown in Fig. 9 with the flaps folded onto the topsheet and the protective sheet folded onto the flaps.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the forth embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention with the sanitary napkin shown by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 12 is a top plan view of the fifth embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention with the sanitary napkin shown by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of the sixth embodiment of the sanitary napkin of the present invention having back flaps with a wrapper.

Fig. 14 is a top plan view of the sanitary napkin shown in Fig. 13 shown with the sanitary napkin by an imaginary line to show the protective sheets and the wrapper.

Fig. 15 is a top plan view of the sanitary napkin shown in Fig. 13 with the front flaps and the back flaps folded onto the topsheet and the protective sheets folded onto both flaps. Fig. 16 is a sectional view explaining a way for removing the sanitary napkin of Fig. 13 from the sanitary napkin wrapper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of a sanitary napkin 2 of the present invention is shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the sanitary napkin 2 has a liquid permeable topsheet 4 facing a wearer's body, a liquid impermeable backsheet 6 facing a wearer's undergarment, and an absorbent core 8 interposed between the topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6.

The topsheet 4 should allow body fluids excreted by the user to permeate therethrough quickly into the absorbent core 8 and should not give the wearer an excessively unpleasant feeling when brought into contact with the skin of the wearer. Suitable materials for the topsheet 4 may be, for example, a woven or nonwoven fabric of natural fibers or synthetic fibers; a thermoplastic synthetic resin film provided with numerous apertures; a sheet of porous synthetic resin foam; a sheet of meshed synthetic resin foam; a meshed thermoplastic synthetic resin film; and a sheet of thermoplastic synthetic resin scrim.

The backsheet 6 should prevent the body fluids absorbed by the absorbent core 8 from exuding from the sanitary napkin 2 to contaminate the wearer and/or the wearer's cloths. Suitable materials for the backsheet 6 may be a soft, liquid impermeable, thermoplastic synthetic resin film, such as polyolefin film. Particularly suitable films for the backsheet 6 may be a low density polyethylene film having the thickness of 0.01 to 0.05 mm; more preferably, about 0.025 mm, such as Model XP-39385 commercially marketed by Bisclean Dept., Ethyl Corp, and SOFFLEX 1401 commercially marketed by Clopay Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.A.

The absorbent core 8 should absorb and hold the body fluids excreted by the wearer and permeated through the topsheet 4. Suitable materials for the absorbent core 8 may be, for example, a fine, crushed wood pulp called air felt; a craped cellulose wadding; melt-blown polymers; chemically rigidified, deformed or bridged cellulose fibers; absorbent synthetic resin foam; tissue paper; absorption gelling materials (materials that absorb liquids and gelatinize); and suitable combinations of those materials. The external shape of the sanitary napkin 2 is defined by opposite longitudinal side edges 30, and opposite end edges 32 and 33 extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction. In this specification, the term "longitudinal", as used herein, refers to a line, axis or direction in the plane of the sanitary napkin 2 that is generally aligned with (e.g., approximately parallel to) a vertical plane which bisects a standing wearer into left and right body halves when the sanitary napkin 2 is worn. In this specification, the term "transverse" or "lateral" used herein, are interchangeable, and refer to a line, axis or direction which lies within the plane of the sanitary napkin 2 that is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.

The topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6 are formed in a shape coinciding with the external shape of the sanitary napkin 2 and extend transversely outward from the opposite side edges 14 of the absorbent core 8 to form a pair of flaps 10. When using the sanitary napkin 2, the flaps 10 are folded around the leg openings of underwear so as to extend on the outer surface in the crotch region of the underwear. The respective peripheral portions of the topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6 are joined together by heat and/or pressure to form a sealed peripheral region 12. Portions of the topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6 in regions 16 extending along the opposite side edges 14 of the absorbent core 8 are joined together by heat and/or pressure. If desired, the topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6 may be joined together by other means, such as an adhesive or the like.

Adhesive layers are provided on the surface of the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2 to be in contact with the user's underwear. First adhesive layers 38, 40 and 42 are arranged at intervals along the longitudinal direction of the absorbent core 8 on the surface of the backsheet 6 facing the underwear in regions corresponding to the absorbent core 8. The adhesive layers 38, 40 and 42 are used for attaching the sanitary napkin 2 to the inner surface of the crotch of the underwear. Instead of three of the adhesive layers 38, 40 and 42, a single continuous adhesive layer extending in the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2 may be used. In such a case, a protective sheet described hereinafter may be formed in a size necessary for protecting the single continuous adhesive layer. Second adhesive layers 44 are provided on the surfaces of portions of the back sheet 6 corresponding to the flaps 10. The adhesive layers 44 are used for attaching the flaps 10 to the outer surface of the underwear when the flaps 10 are folded back. Century Adhesive A-3050IV1 commercially marketed by Century Adhesive Corp., Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A. is an adhesive suitable for those adhesive layers. The sanitary napkin 2 is wrapped individually with a wrapping film 20. A pull tab 34 is joined to the substantially middle portion of an upper end 26 of the wrapping film 20. The pull tab 34 is pulled to unpack the sanitary napkin 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the wrapping film 20 has a rectangular shape extending along the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2. As shown in Fig. 3, opposite side portions 22 of the wrapping film 20 extend outwardly beyond folded portions 24 of the flaps when the flaps are folded. An upper end 26, as viewed in Fig. 2, of the wrapping film 20 extends outwardly beyond the upper end edge 32 of the sanitary napkin 2. The lower end 28, as viewed in Fig. 2, of the wrapping film 20 coincides substantially with the lower end edge 33 of the sanitary napkin 2. Suitable materials for the wrapping film 20 are polyethylene, polypropylene and such. The same material as the protective sheet described hereinafter, may be used instead of the materials for the wrapping film.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the upper end 26 of the wrapping film 20 extends beyond the upper end edge 32 of the sanitary napkin 2. However, the upper end 26 of the wrapping film 20 may be shorter than the upper end edge 32 of the sanitary napkin 2. The lower end 28 of the wrapping film 20 may extend beyond the lower end edge 33 of the sanitary napkin 2. Alternatively, the lower end 28 of the wrapping film 20 may be shorter than the lower end edge 33 of the sanitary napkin 2, provided that the sanitary napkin 2 can be wrapped so that any portion of the sanitary napkin 2 is not exposed between the upper end 26 and the lower end 28 of the wrapping film 20; that is, the extending length of the upper end 26 and the lower end 28 may optionally be determined, provided that the sanitary napkin 2 can be wrapped so that no portion of the sanitary napkin is exposed.

Protective sheets for protecting the adhesive layers 38, 40, 42 and 44 on the backsheet side of the sanitary napkin 2 are attached to the inner surface of the wrapping film 20 to be in contact with the sanitary napkin 2.

The protective sheets 46 and 48 are provided the inner surface of the wrapping film 20 to correspond the adhesive layers 38 and 42. The protective sheets 46 and 48 are formed in size large enough to cover the adhesive layers 38 and 42, respectively and have rectangular shapes as shown in Fig. 2. Each protective sheets 46 and 48 are attached to the wrapping film 20 by two adhesive regions 52 extending along the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2. Alternatively, the protective sheets 46 and 48 may be attached to the wrapping film 20 by a single or three or more longitudinal adhesive regions, or a single or more adhesive regions extending transversely. Preferably, the surfaces of the protective sheets 46 and 48 facing the adhesive layers 38 and 42 of the sanitary napkin 2 are coated with a surface lubricant, such as silicone. The protective sheets 46 and 48 may be made of an ordinary paper sheet. A suitable material for the protective sheets 46 and 48 is MGA Silox C3R/01 available from Akrosil Co., U.S.A. Alternatively, the protective sheets 46 and 48 may be made of the same material as the wrapping film. The protective sheets 46 and 48 may be formed integrally with a protective sheet 50 described hereinafter. Regions of the wrapping film 20 corresponding to the adhesive layers 38 and 42 may be coated with a surface lubricant such as silicone or the like, thereby the protective sheets 38 and 42 may be omitted. Both the adhesive layers 38 and 42 or one of the adhesive layers 38 and 42 may be omitted, and both the protective sheets 46 and 48 or one of the protective sheets 46 and 48 may be omitted accordingly.

The protective sheet 50 is provided to the inner surface of the wrapping film 20 to correspond the adhesive layers 40 and 44. As shown in Fig. 2, the protective sheet 50 has a shape substantially resembling an arc-shaped band. More concretely, the protective sheet 50 has a pair of side edges 53 extending in the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2, and a pair of end edges 54 and 56 interconnecting the pair of side edges 53 and generally extending in the transverse direction. As shown in Fig. 2, the end edge 54 comprises a curved-line. Preferably, the end edge 54 has an arc- shaped portion 57 inclining with respect to the transverse direction of the sanitary napkin 2, and straight end portions 59 located on the opposite sides of the arc-shaped portion 57 and extending transversely outward therefrom. The end edge 56 also has an arc-shaped portion 61 and straight end portions 63 located on the opposite sides of the arc-shaped portion 61 and extending transversely outward therefrom. The straight end portions 60 and 62 project transversely outward at the opposite sides of the protective sheet 50. The arc-shaped portions 57 and 61 curve in the same direction with respect to the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2 and are spaced a predetermined distance apart. The protective sheet 50 has a pair of protective portions 55 for protecting the adhesive layers 44 on opposite sides of the protective sheet 50. The protective sheet 50 also has a connecting portion 65 for connecting the opposite protective portions 55 in the middle of the protective sheet 50. In this embodiment, the opposite straight end portions 59, 59 and 63, 63 project at different lengths as shown in Fig. 2. Alternatively, the opposite straight end portions 59, 59 and 63, 63 may project at the same length. The arc-shaped portion 57 of the end edge 54 of the protective sheet 50 reduces resistance when removing the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20. The arc-shaped portion 57 has two inclined portions symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal center axis X of the sanitary napkin 2 on the transversely opposite sides of the longitudinal center axis X as shown in Fig. 2. Each inclined portion of the arc- shaped portion 57 is defined by an inclination starting point 69, an inclination terminating point 71 and an inclined line 75 extending between the inclination starting point 69 and the inclination terminating point 71. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2, the inclination starting point 69 positions on the longitudinal center axis X of the sanitary napkin 2. Alternatively, the inclination starting points may be apart from each other. The inclined line 75 inclines so that the inclination terminating point 71 is spaced from a transverse line 73 passing the inclination starting point 69. In other words, the inclined line 75 inclines toward the adhesive layer 44 with respect to the transverse line 73 passing the inclination starting point 69 so that the inclination terminating point 71 is located near the adhesive layer 44. Further, the inclined line 75 inclines so that the inclination terminating point 71 is spaced from the transverse line 73 passing the inclination starting point 69 toward a direction Z (shown in Figs. 1 and 2) in which the sanitary napkin 2 is pulled relative to the wrapping film 20 when removing the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20. Preferably, the inclined line 75 extends through at least a point of intersection of the end edge 54 of the protective sheet 50 and the folded portion 24 along which the flap 10 is to be folded. The arc- shaped portion 57 having such an inclined portion reduces resistance because of the function of the arc-shaped portion 57 as described later when the sanitary napkin 2 is removed from the wrapping film 20. The straight end portions 59 of the end edge 54 extend outwardly from the inclination terminating points 71 where the curves 75 terminates to the side edges 53.

The inclined line 75 in the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 is a part of an arc of a circle. Alternatively, a part of the end edge 54 may be an inclined straight line or a combination of a part of an arc and an inclined straight line. The other end edge 56 of the protective sheet 50 may be formed in the same shape as the end edge 54. Alternatively, the end edge 56 may have a straight edge extending in the transverse direction of the sanitary napkin 2 and not having the arc-shaped portion 61.

The dimensions of the protective sheet 50 are determined selectively taking into consideration the dimensions of the sanitary napkin 2 or those of the wrapping film 20. The dimensions of the protective sheet 50 are determined preferably, not necessarily, so as to meet the following conditions. Preferably, the length S, i.e., a dimension along the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2, of the protective sheet 50 is shorter than the distance T between folding lines 66 and 68 folding the sanitary napkin 2 into three parts and being folded therealong. The width P along the transverse direction of the sanitary napkin 2 of the protective sheet 50 is equal to or greater than the distance R between the outer sides of each adhesive layer 44 provided on the back surfaces of the flaps 10. More preferably, the width P is twice as long as the distance Q between the folded portions 24 or above. The protective sheet 50 having the length S described above is not folded when the sanitary napkin 2 is folded into three to be wrapped with the wrapping film 20. Accordingly, the protective sheet 50 made of a paper sheet usually need not be folded and hence the sanitary napkin 2 can easily be folded. The protective sheet 50 having the width P described above ensures to protect the adhesive layers 44 provided on the flaps 10. The vertical projections 60 and 62 of the protective sheet 50 can be overlapped and connected as shown in Fig. 3 when the protective sheet 50 is folded in a shape as described later. While the vertical projections 60 and 62 of the protective sheet 50 allows the width P of the protective sheet 50 to be long enough, the vertical projections 60 and 62 allows the length of the protective sheet 50 to be short enough.

The protective sheet 50 is attached to the wrapping film 20 by the two adhesive regions 52 extending in the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2. A single or three or more adhesive regions may be used instead of the two adhesive regions 52 to attach the protective sheet 50 to the wrapping film 20. Alternatively, a single or more adhesive regions extending transversely may be used. The protective sheet 50 is attached to the wrapping film 20 so that its center line dividing the protective sheet 50 into substantially equal two parts coincides with the longitudinal center axis X of the sanitary napkin 2. The adhesive regions 52 are located on the transversely inner side of the folded portions 24 along which the flaps 10 are folded back. Portions of the protective sheet extending on the outer sides of the adhesive regions 52 are free to move relative to the wrapping film 20. The surface of the protective sheet 50 facing the adhesive layers 40 and 44 is coated with a surface lubricant, such as silicone. The adhesive layer 40 on the back surface of the sanitary napkin 2 may be omitted. When the adhesive layer 40 is omitted, only regions on the surface of the protective sheet corresponding to the adhesive layers 44 may be coated with a surface lubricant. The protective sheet 50 may be an ordinary paper sheet or may be MGA Silox C3R/01 available from Akrosil Co., U.S.A. The same material as forming the wrapping film may be used for forming the protective sheet. The sanitary napkin 2, the wrapping film 20 and the protective sheet 50 may be assembled by the following steps. First the sanitary napkin 2 is fabricated. Next, the protective sheets 46 and 48 are attached to the sanitary napkin 2, and the protective sheet 50 is attached to the sanitary napkin 2. Subsequently, after the flaps 10 are folded, the wrapping film 20 is attached to the sanitary napkin 2. Finally the sanitary napkin 2 is folded into three to complete a sanitary napkin packet.

The steps will be described in further detail. An adhesive is applied to protective sheet 46 to form the adhesive layer 38 on each protective sheet 46. The protective sheet 46 each having the adhesive layer 38 are cut in the predetermined length. Then the protective sheets 46 are arranged at intervals. The protective sheet 46 is attached to the sanitary napkin 2 at an appropriate position on the sanitary napkin 2 with the adhesive layers 38 in contact with the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2 while the sanitary napkin 2 are conveyed continuously. Similarly, the protective sheet 48 is attached to the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2.

The adhesive layers 40 and 44, and an adhesive 64 which will be described later, are applied to the protective sheet 50. Then, the protective sheet 50 is cut in a length being applied to a product. After that, a predetermined interval is secured between the preceding and succeeding protective sheet 50. Thus the protective sheet 50 is attached to the sanitary napkin 2 at an appropriate position on the sanitary napkin 2 with the adhesive layers 40 and 44 in contact with the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2 while the sanitary napkin 2 are conveyed continuously.

Since the surfaces of the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 facing the sanitary napkin 2 are coated with a surface lubricant, such as silicone, the adhesive layers 38, 42, 40 and 44 are transferred virtually from the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 to the sanitary napkin 2. When the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 are removed from the sanitary napkin 2, the adhesive layers 38, 42, 40 and 44 remain on the sanitary napkin 2 to achieve their purposes.

The flaps 10 of the sanitary napkin 2 provided with the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 are folded along the folded portion 24 onto the topsheet 4 together with free side portions of the protective sheet 50 extending transversely outward from the folded portion 24. The free side portions of the protective sheet 50 may be folded onto the topsheet 4 after folding the flaps 10 onto the topsheet 4. The vertical projections 60 and 62 of the protective sheet 50 are joined together by the adhesive 64. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, the flaps 10 are folded on top of the topsheet 4 of the sanitary napkin 2, and the protective sheet 50 is folded on top of the flaps 10 and held fixedly in place.

Subsequently, after an adhesive is applied to the protective sheets 46, 48 and

50 in portions corresponding to the adhesive regions 52, the wrapping film 20 is joined to the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 attached to the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2. Then, as shown in Fig. 3, the sanitary napkin 2 is folded together with the wrapping film 20 along the folding lines 66 and 68 folding the sanitary napkin 2 into three parts. The lower part 74, as viewed in Fig. 3, of the three parts of the sanitary napkin 2 is folded onto the middle part 72, and then the upper part 70, to which the tape 34 is attached, is folded onto the middle part 72. The tape 34 may be attached to the wrapping film 20 after completely folding up the sanitary napkin 2 or may previously be attached to the wrapping film 20. After thus wrapping the folded sanitary napkin 2 in the wrapping film 20, the opposite side edges of the wrapping film 20 are joined together by a suitable means, such as hot-melt welding, pressure bonding or heat-sealing using heat and pressure, or with an adhesive to complete a sanitary napkin wrapper containing the sanitary napkin 2 as shown in Fig. 5.

Preferably, creases 80 of the folded protective sheet 50 in this embodiment extend in a region corresponding to the middle part 72 as shown in Fig. 3 so that the creases 80 may not extend beyond the folding lines 66 or 68 and the creases 80 may not be folded by the folding lines 66 or 68. When the creases 80 extend in the region corresponding to the middle part 72, the guiding function of the end edge 54 of the protective sheet 50 is not obstructed which will be described later since the protective sheet 50 does not have creases in the transverse direction.

As shown in Figs. 2 to 4, the adhesive 64 joins together the vertical projections 60 and 62 of the protective sheet 50. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the adhesive 64 is provided substantially at the middle of the vertical projection 60 with respect to the longitudinal direction. The position of the adhesive 64 is not necessarily limited thereto; the adhesive 64 may be formed at a position 164 longitudinally farthest from the inclined portion of the end edge 54 on the vertical projection 60 or 62. The adhesive 64 may be formed of an adhesive having a relatively weak bonding strength so that the vertical projections 60 and 62 can easily be separated from each other. The adhesive 64 may be omitted. The protective sheet 50 of the above-mentioned shape has the following advantages. The straight end portions 59 and 63 of the protective sheet 50 allow a cutting process for the protective sheet 50 described later to account for tracking variation in the protective sheet 50. Without the straight end portions 59 and 63, if the protective sheet 50 is off track, even by a few millimeters going into a cutter, the cutter will cut the opposite end edges of the protective sheet 50 at different times and the shape of the resulting protective sheet will not be symmetrical. The straight end portions 59 and 63 allow the process to account for tracking variation such that the opposite end edges of the protective sheet 50 are always cut at the same time and results in a much more uniform structure. This would be particularly important in a cutting process where cut and slip technology is used. A cutting process of making the protective sheet 50 by the cut and slip technology will be described with reference to Fig. 6. The protective sheet 50 before cutting is advanced in the direction of the arrow. A cutter 101 cuts the leading end of the protective sheet 50 in the shape of the end edge 54. Usually, the cutter 101 is mounted on a rotating cylindrical roller, not shown. In Fig. 6, the cutter 101 starts cutting the protective sheet 50 at a position corresponding to the inclination starting point 69 (Fig. 2). An incision in the protective sheet 50 develops as the roller holding the cutter 101 rotates. Finally, portions of the protective sheet 50 corresponding to the straight end portions 59 are cut to produce the protective sheet 50. Then, the cut protective sheet 50 is pulled on a conveying roll (not shown) by vacuum and is conveyed at a speed higher than a speed at which the protective sheet 50 before being cut are fed to the cutter 101, so that the protective sheets 50 separated by cutting are arranged at intervals.

In this process, the protective sheet 50 is usually fed to a predetermined position

(position indicated by continuous lines in Fig. 6) relative to the cutter 101. However, the protective sheet 50 sometimes gets off track perpendicularly to the feed direction, such as from a correct position to a position exemplified by alternate long and two short dashed lines in Fig. 6. The straight end portions 59 are surely given to the protective sheet 50 even if the position of the cutter 101 relatively dislocates with respect to the protective sheet 50, because the cutter 101 has straight portions 103. Consequently, the width of the arc-shaped portion 57 of the inclined portion of the protective sheet 50 is not affected. Since the protective sheet 50 is thus formed, the vertical projections 60 and 62 can surely overlap each other on the topsheet 4. More importantly, if the protective sheet without the straight end portions gets off track, the opposite end edges may be cut at different times. If one end edge of the protective sheet 50 is cut before the other end edge, one end edge of the protective sheet 50 will be accelerated prior to the other end edge being cut because the conveying roll pulls a vacuum on the protective sheet 50 and is rotating faster than the protective sheet 50 that is being cut. This may result in the protective sheet 50 tearing or meandering. As shown in Fig. 6, the opposite end edges 65 and 67 of the protective sheet 50 are always cut at the same time because of the presence of the straight end portions 59 and 63. Therefore they prevent the cut protective sheet 50 from tearing and/or meandering.

When taking the sanitary napkin 2 thus packaged in the wrapping film 20 from the sanitary napkin packet, the tape 34 is pulled in the direction of the arrow 76 (Fig. 5) and the sealed side edge portions 22 of the wrapping film 20 are torn apart, thereby the upper part 70 is unfolded first. Then the lower part 74 is unfolded to unfold the sanitary napkin 2 in the state shown in Fig. 3. Subsequently, the upper end edge 32 of the sanitary napkin 2 is pulled in a direction out of the paper, as viewed in Fig. 3, relative to the wrapping film 20. As the upper end edge 32 of the sanitary napkin 2 is thus pulled, first, the adhesive layer 38 sticking to the back surface of the sanitary napkin 2 is separated from the protective sheet 46. In the initial stage of separation of the adhesive layer 38 from the protective sheet 46, the vertical projections 60 and 62 joined together by the adhesive 64 are not released immediately from each other even if the sanitary napkin 2 is raised from the wrapping film 20. As the sanitary napkin 2 is raised further from the wrapping film 20, the protective sheet 50 is raised together with the sanitary napkin 2 as shown in Fig. 7. Since the arc-shaped end edge 54 of the protective sheet 50 is able to guide the sanitary napkin 2 as the sanitary napkin 2 is separated gradually from the wrapping film 20, the protective sheet 50 does not tear. As the sanitary napkin 2 is further pulled apart from the wrapping film 20, the vertical projections 60 and 62 joined together by the adhesive 64 are separated from each other. Next, the adhesive layers 44 formed on the flaps 10 are separated from the protective sheet 52. Finally, the adhesive layer 42 is separated from the protective sheet 50 to separate the sanitary napkin 2 completely from the wrapping film 20.

Fig. 8 shows a sanitary napkin 2 in a second embodiment according to the present invention. In the second embodiment, the protective sheet 50 comprises a pair of side edges 53 extending in the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2, and a pair of end edges 54 and 56 interconnecting the pair of side edges 53. The end edges 54 has an only arc-shaped portion 57. However, the straight end portions 59 and 63 in the first embodiment may not be provided. Figs. 9 and 10 show a sanitary napkin 2 in a third embodiment according to the present invention. Whereas the protective sheets 46, 48 and 50 employed in the first embodiment for protecting the adhesive layers 38, 40, 42 and 44 comprise separate sheets and attached to the wrapping film 20, the third embodiment may employ a single protective sheet 100 for protecting adhesive layers 38, 40, 42 and 44. The sanitary napkin 2 need not necessarily be provided on its back surface with the separate adhesive layers. Alternatively, the sanitary napkin 2 may be provided with a single cross-shaped adhesive layer 102 indicated by alternate long and two short dashes lines in Fig. 9. The protective sheet 100 may be attached to a wrapping film 20 by adhesive regions 52 and the transversely outer end portions of the protective sheet 100 may be free to move relative to the wrapping film 20. The opposite longitudinal end edges 104 of the protective sheet 100 may be formed in the shape of an arc. Therefore, the protective sheet 100 may have inclined edges extending between the inclination starting points 101 and the inclination terminating points 103 at the longitudinal opposite ends thereof. As is obvious from Fig. 10 showing the flaps 10 of the sanitary napkin and the protective sheet 100 in a folded state, both end edges 104 formed in the shape of an arc of the protective sheet 100 may serve as a guide when separating the sanitary napkin 2 from the protective sheet 100. Hence the sanitary napkin 2 may be pulled from any longitudinal direction when separating the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20. In the third embodiment, creases 80 in the protective sheet 100 also extend within a middle part of the sanitary napkin 2 folded into three along folding lines 66 and 68. The single protective sheet 100 formed as one sheet to protect each the adhesive layer as shown in Fig. 9 of the third embodiment may not be attached to the wrapping film 20. The protective sheet 100 may be removed from the sanitary napkin 2 after taking the sanitary napkin 2 with the protective sheet 100 out from the wrapping film 20.

Fig. 11 shows a sanitary napkin 2 in a forth embodiment according to the present invention. In the forth embodiment, adhesive layers 44 provided on the back surfaces of flaps 10 may be protected by protective sheets different in shape from the protective sheet employed in the first embodiment. More concretely, the adhesive layers 44 may be protected by a pair of protective sheets 110 having the protective portions 113. The opposite longitudinal end edges 116 of the pair of protective sheets 110 may comprise inclined straight lines extending between the inclination starting points 115 and the inclination terminating points 117 as shown in Fig. 11. Each protective sheet 110 has one side edge 112 near to the longitudinal center axis of the sanitary napkin 2. The side edge 112 is connected to the wrapping film 20 by the 19

adhesive layer 114. Therefore, the wrapper film 20 connects the opposite protective sheets 110 each other as the connecting portion 111. Since the opposite side edges 112 of the protective sheets 110 are spaced from each other, the sanitary napkin 2 in the forth embodiment may not be provided with any adhesive layer corresponding to the adhesive layer 40 of the sanitary napkin 2 in the first embodiment. If a portion of the wrapping film 20 corresponding to the space between the opposite side edges 112 is coated with a surface lubricant, the sanitary napkin 2 may be provided with an adhesive layer corresponding to the adhesive layer 40. When the flaps 10 are folded along the folded portions 24 and the protective sheets 110 are folded onto the folded flaps 10, the end edges 116 having inclined portions serve as a guide when peeling off the sanitary napkin 2.

In the forth embodiment, creases 80 in the protective sheet 110 extend within a middle part of the sanitary napkin 2 folded into three along folding lines 66 and 68. Furthermore, the entire protective sheet 110 lies within the middle part of the sanitary napkin 2. Therefore, the protective sheet 110 need not be folded when folding the sanitary napkin 2 into three.

Fig. 12 shows a sanitary napkin 2 in a fifth embodiment according to the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, the outer side edges 122 of protective sheets 120 are attached to a wrapping film 20 to portions near the side edges 22 of the wrapping film 20 by adhesive layers 124. Therefore, the free side portions of the protective sheets 120 not attached to the wrapping film 20 extend toward the longitudinal center line of the sanitary napkin 2. These protective sheets 120 may be superposed onto flaps 10 of the sanitary napkin 2. When separating the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20, the free side portions of the protective sheets 120 can be extended away from the longitudinal center line. As shown in Fig. 12, the protective sheets 120 may be attached to the wrapping film 20 so as to protect adhesive layers provided on the flaps 10 after folding back the flaps 10 of the sanitary napkin 2 along the folded portions 24. The width, i.e., the transverse dimension, of the protective sheets 120 may be somewhat greater than the transverse dimension of the sanitary napkin 2 in a state where the flaps 10 are folded back, i.e., the sum of the transverse dimension of the sanitary napkin 2 in a state where the flaps 10 are folded back and the width of a portion of the protective sheet 120 attached to the wrapping film 20. Thus, the width of the protective sheets 120 need not be very large so the cost is reduced. It is desirable to form a margin of a width L between the outer side edge 122 of each protective sheet 120 and the corresponding side edge of the wrapping film 20 to enable the opposite side edge portions 22 of the wrapping film 20 to be sealed as shown in Fig. 5. In the fifth embodiment also, each of the end edges 126 of the protective sheets 120 has an inclined portion and serves as a guide when removing the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20.

In the fifth embodiment shown in Fig. 12, the longitudinal end edge 126 of each protective sheet 120 intersect the folded portion 24 along which a flap 10 is folded at intersection points 130 and 132, respectively. It is preferable that the intersection points 130 and 132 are in a middle part of the sanitary napkin 2 as folded into three along folding lines 66 and 68, and the protective sheets 120 are in the middle part of the sanitary napkin 2 as folded into three.

Figs. 13 to 16 show a sanitary napkin 2 in a sixth embodiment according to the present invention. In the sixth embodiment, the opposite side edges of the topsheet 4 and the backsheet 6 extend at the position biased backwardly of the sanitary napkin 2 transversely outward from the opposite side edges 14 of the absorbent core 8 to form a pair of back flaps 210, in addition to the front flaps 10 in the first embodiment which are folded back around the leg openings of underwear. When using the sanitary napkin 2, the back flaps 210 tend to stay widespread in the wearer's panties so that they prevent body fluids from soiling the back region of the wearer's panties.

In the sixth embodiment, adhesive layers 38, 40, 42 and 240 are arranged longitudinally at intervals on the surface of the backsheet 6 in regions corresponding to the absorbent core 8. The adhesive layers 38, 40, 42 and 240 are used for attaching the sanitary napkin 2 to the inner surface of the crotch of the underwear. Furthermore, adhesive layers 244 are provided on the surfaces of portions of the backsheet 6 corresponding to the flaps 210. The adhesive layers 244 attach the flaps 210 to the inner surface of the underwear to hold the flaps 210 in a spread state.

Protective sheets for protecting the adhesive layers 38, 40, 42, 240, 44 and 244 are attached to the inner surface of the wrapping film 20 to be in contact with the sanitary napkin 2. The protective sheets 46, 48 and the front protective sheet 50 are provided to cover the adhesive layers 38, 42, 40 and 44 as described in the first embodiment and are attached to the inner surface of the wrapping film 20 by two longitudinal adhesive lines 52. In the sixth embodiment, the back protective sheet 250 may be provided to cover the adhesive layers 240 and 244 and attached to the inner surface of the wrapping film 20. The front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 may be formed in the same shape. Therefore, the back protective sheet 250 has a shape substantially resembling an arc-shaped band. More concretely, the back protective sheet 250 has a pair of side edges 253 parallel to the longitudinal axis of the sanitary napkin 2, and a pair of end edges 254 and 256 extending between the pair of side edges 253. As shown in Fig. 14, the end edge 254 has an arc-shaped portion 257 curving with respect to a transverse direction and straight end portions 259 extending outwardly from the opposite ends of the arc-shaped portion 257, respectively. The end edge 256 also has an arc-shaped portion 261 and straight end portions 263 extending outwardly from the opposite ends of the arc-shaped portion 261, respectively. The straight end portions 260 and 262 project transversely outward at the opposite sides of the protective sheet 50. The arc-shaped portions 257 and 261 curve in the same longitudinal direction maintaining a fixed distance therebetween. An area between the arc-shaped portions 257 and 261 is an arc-shaped main portion 265 of the back protective sheet 250. The corresponding straight end portions 259 and 263 are spaced a fixed distance apart. The protective sheet 250 has a pair of protective portions 255 for protecting the adhesive layers 244 on opposite sides of the protective sheet 250. The protective sheet 250 also has the connecting portion 265 for connecting the opposite protective portions 255 in the middle of the protective sheet 250.

The arc-shaped portion 257 of the end edge 254 of the back protective sheet 250 reduces resistance when removing the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20. The arc-shaped portion 257 has two inclined portions symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal center axis X of the sanitary napkin 2 on the transversely opposite sides of the longitudinal center axis X as shown in Fig. 14. Each inclined portion of the arc-shaped portion 257 is defined by the inclination starting point 269, the inclination terminating point 271 and the inclined line 275 extending between the inclination starting point 269 and the inclination terminating point 271. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 14, the inclination starting point 269 positions on the longitudinal center axis X of the sanitary napkin 2. The inclined line 275 inclines so that the inclination terminating point 271 is spaced from a transverse line 273 passing the inclination starting point 269. In other words, the inclined line 275 inclines toward the adhesive layer 244 with respect to the transverse line 273 passing the inclination starting point 269 so that the inclination terminating point 271 is located near the adhesive layer 244. Further, the inclined line 275 inclines so that the inclination terminating point 271 is spaced from the transverse line 273 passing the inclination starting point 269 toward a direction Z (shown in Figs. 13 and 14) in which the sanitary napkin 2 is pulled relative to the wrapping film 20 when removing the sanitary napkin 2 from the wrapping film 20. Preferably, the inclined line 275 extends through at least a point of intersection of the end edge 254 of the back protective sheet 250 and the folded portion 24 along which the flap 210 is to be folded. The arc-shaped portion 257 having such an inclined portion reduces resistance because of the function of the arc-shaped portion 257 as described later when the sanitary napkin 2 is removed from the wrapping film 20. The straight end portions 259 of the end edge 254 extend outwardly from the inclination terminating points 271 where the curves 275 terminates to the side edges 253. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 14, the curve 75 of the front protective sheet 50 and the curve 275 of the back protective sheet 250 curve in the same direction along the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2 with respect to the transverse lines 73 and 273, respectively.

The dimensions of the back protective sheet 250 may be determined selectively taking into consideration the dimensions of the sanitary napkin 2 or those of the wrapping film 20. The dimensions of the back protective sheet 250 may be determined preferably, not necessarily, so as to meet the following conditions. It is preferable that the back protective sheet 250 extend within the back part 74 so that the back protective sheet 250 may not intersect the folding line 68 along which the sanitary napkin 2 is folded. More preferably, the length S, i.e., a dimension along the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2, of the back protective sheet 250 is shorter than the distance T between folding lines 68 and the end edge 28 of the wrapping film 20. The width P along the transverse direction of the sanitary napkin 2 of the back protective sheet 250 is equal to or greater than the distance R between the outer sides of each adhesive layer 244 provided on the back surfaces of the flaps 210.

More preferably, the width P is twice as long as the distance Q between the folded portions 24 or above.

The back protective sheet 250 may be attached to the wrapping film 20 by the two adhesive regions 52 extending in the longitudinal direction of the sanitary napkin 2. The surface of the back protective sheet 250 facing the adhesive layers 240 and 244 may be coated with a surface lubricant, such as silicone

The front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 may be placed in the following arrangement. The sanitary napkin 2 is folded into a front part 70, a middle part 72 and a back part 74 by folding lines 66 and 68. The front protective sheet 50 is located in the middle part 72, and the back protective sheet 250 is located in the back part 74.

The sanitary napkin 2, the wrapping film 20, the front protective sheet 50 in the sixth embodiment may be assembled by the same manner as the first embodiment. The back protective sheet 250 is attached to the backsheet 6 of the sanitary napkin 2 by the same process as the front protective sheet 50. The front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 is attached to the sanitary napkin 2 by the same apparatus or by two apparatuses arranged along a direction in which the sanitary napkin 2 is conveyed. The front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 employed in this embodiment have the same shape. Therefore, the front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 may be attached to the sanitary napkin 2 successively by making one apparatus carry out two protective sheet attaching cycles while the sanitary napkin 2 passes the apparatus. Thus, both the front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 can be attached to the sanitary napkin 2 by a single apparatus. When the adhesive layers 44 and 244 are provided in the same shape and the adhesive layers 40 and 240 are provided in the same shape, those adhesive layers may be formed by a single adhesive applying apparatus.

As shown in Fig. 15, preferably, creases 80 of the folded front protective sheet

50 in this embodiment may extend in a region corresponding to the middle portion 72 and creases 280 of the folded back protective sheet 250 may extend in a region corresponding to the back part 74 so that the creases 80 and 280 may not extend beyond the folding lines 66 or 68 and the creases 80 and 280 may not be folded.

As shown in Figs. 14 to 15, the adhesive 264 joins together the vertical projections 260 and 262 of the back protective sheet 250. The adhesive 264 may be provided substantially at the middle of the vertical projection 260 with respect to the longitudinal direction. Alternatively, the adhesive 264 may be formed at a position 364 longitudinally farthest from the inclined portion of the end edge 254 on the vertical projection 260 or 262. The adhesive 264 may be formed of an adhesive having a relatively weak bonding strength so that the vertical projections 260 and 262 can easily be separated from each other. The adhesive 264 may be omitted.

A way for removing the sanitary napkin of Fig. 13 from the sanitary napkin wrapper is show in Fig. 16. Until the adhesive layer 42 is separated from the protective sheet 50, the same procedure is used as described in the first embodiment. After that, the sanitary napkin 2 is separated from the back protective sheet 250 as the same way that the front protective sheet 50 is removed.

In the sixth embodiment, the front flaps 10 may be omitted if desired and the front protective sheet 50 may be omitted accordingly. In such a case, the protective sheet corresponding to the adhesive layer 40, the protective sheets 46 and 48 may be substituted by a single protective sheet. Some or all of the vertical projections 60, 62, 260 and 262 of the front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 may be omitted. In such a case, the front protective sheet 50 and the back protective sheet 250 may have the arc-shaped main portions 65 and 265, respectively. The alternatives for the protective sheet shown in Figs. 8 - 12 may be applied to the back protective sheet 250.

While particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the sprit and scope of the invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An absorbent article having a liquid permeable body-facing side, a liquid impermeable garment-facing side, an absorbent core interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side, a longitudinal center line extending in a longitudinal direction, a transverse center line extending in a transverse direction, and two spaced apart longitudinal side edges and two spaced apart end edges, the absorbent article comprising;

adhesive layers provided on the longitudinal side edges of the absorbent article,

a protective sheet for protecting the adhesive layers, the protective sheet comprising protective portions protecting the adhesive layers and a connecting portion connecting the protective portions, the protective sheet having at least one end edge generally extending in the transverse direction, wherein

the end edge comprises an inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction.

2. The absorbent article of Claim 1 wherein the protective sheet has a pair of side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of end edges having a first end edge and a second end edge, and wherein the end edges connect the side edges of the protective sheet.

3. The absorbent article of Claim 2 wherein the first end edge comprises at least two inclined portions, wherein one inclined portion positions at least in part of the middle of the first end edge extending between one side edge of the protective sheet and the longitudinal center line, the other inclined portion positions at least in part of the middle of the first end edge extending between the other side edge of the protective sheet and the longitudinal center line, and both inclined portions incline toward the same direction in the longitudinal direction.

4. The absorbent article of Claim 3 wherein each inclined portion has an inclination starting point and an inclination terminating point on the first end edge, and wherein the inclination terminating points position laterally outward from the inclination starting points and apart from transverse lines passing the inclination starting points toward the same direction in the longitudinal direction.

5. The absorbent article of Claim 4 wherein the transverse line passing the inclination starting point demarcates the absorbent article into two regions, and wherein the adhesive layers are located in one of the two regions and the inclination terminating points are located in the region where the adhesive layers are located.

6. The absorbent article of Claim 5 wherein the absorbent article is separated from the protective sheet by moving the absorbent article in a predetermined direction relative to the protective sheet, and the inclination terminating points position apart from the transverse lines passing the inclination starting points toward the same direction in the longitudinal direction.

7. The absorbent article of Claim 1 wherein the absorbent article has a wrapper for wrapping the absorbent article, wherein the connecting portion comprises a part of the wrapper and the protective portions are connected to the wrapper.

8. An absorbent article having a liquid permeable body-facing side, a liquid impermeable garment-facing side, a longitudinal center line extending in a longitudinal direction, and a transverse center line extending in a transverse direction, said absorbent article comprising;

a main body having two spaced apart longitudinal side edges and two spaced apart end edges, the main body comprising an absorbent core interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side,

a pair of flaps extending laterally outward from the opposite side edges of the main body, the flaps being folded around leg openings of the garment,

adhesive layers provided on the surfaces of the flaps that face the garment, a protective sheet for protecting the adhesive layers, the protective sheet comprising protective portions protecting the adhesive layers and

75 a connecting portion connecting the protective portions, the protective sheet having at least one end edge generally extending in the transverse direction, wherein the end edge comprises an inclined portion, and wherein the inclined portion inclines with respect to the transverse direction and toward the

80 adhesive layers.

9. An absorbent article having a liquid permeable body-facing side, a liquid impermeable garment-facing side, a longitudinal center line extending in a longitudinal direction, and a transverse center line extending in a transverse 85 direction, said absorbent article comprising;

a main body having two spaced apart longitudinal side edges and two spaced apart end edges, the main body comprising an absorbent core interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side, 90 a pair of back flaps extending laterally outward from the opposite side edges at a position biased backwardly of the main body, the back flaps staying widespread in the garment,

95 back adhesive layers provided on the surfaces of the back flaps that face the garment,

a back protective sheet for protecting the back adhesive layers, the back protective sheet comprising protective portions protecting the 100 back adhesive layers and a connecting portion connecting the protective portions, the back protective sheet having at least one end edge generally extending in the transverse direction, wherein

the end edge comprises an inclined portion, and wherein the inclined 105 portion inclines with respect to the transverse direction and toward the back adhesive layers.

10. A protective sheet for protecting adhesive layers provided on opposite longitudinal side edges of an absorbent article, the absorbent article having a 110 liquid permeable body-facing side, a liquid impermeable garment-facing side, an absorbent core interposed between the body-facing side and the garment-facing side, a longitudinal center line extending in a longitudinal direction, a transverse center line extending in a transverse direction, the protective sheet comprising; 115 a pair of side edges extending in the longitudinal direction and a pair of end edges having a first end edge and a second end edge, the end edges connecting the side edges of the protective sheet, wherein

120 the first end edge comprises an inclined portion inclining with respect to the transverse direction at least in part of the middle of the first end edge, and straight portions extending laterally outward on opposite sides of the first end edge.