Activatable Colorant Web Substrate for Absorbent Article Topical Additive Registration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current manufacturing processes for absorbent articles require additional capital costs and complexity to create colored regions that coincide with topical additive regions, which is not cost-effective and can be challenging to adapt, especially in high-speed production lines.
Innovation Solution
The use of activatable colorants that change color in response to external stimuli such as electromagnetic radiation and heat, allowing for the simultaneous formation of colored regions with topical additive regions without the need for additional printing or registration capabilities, using materials like photoreactive and thermochromic compounds integrated into web substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If printing capability is added to the manufacturing process to create colored regions coinciding with topical additive regions, then visual differentiation is improved, but device complexity and capital cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical printing system with a chemical activation system. Instead of using printing equipment to apply color, the invention uses photoreactive colorants that change color when exposed to light, and thermochromic colorants that change color in response to heat from the topical additive application process itself. This substitution eliminates the need for separate printing capability while achieving precise visual differentiation.
Solution Approach 2:
The manufacturing process uses the heat generated by the topical additive application to activate the thermochromic colorants, making the coloring process self-service. The topical additive application serves dual purposes: delivering the functional additive and simultaneously activating the color change to highlight the applied region, eliminating the need for separate coloring equipment.
2Manufacturing precision
If printing capability is added to create colored regions, then visual differentiation is improved, but capital cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention substitutes expensive printing equipment with inexpensive photoreactive and thermochromic colorant materials. The activation mechanisms (light exposure and heat from topical additive application) are already part of the existing manufacturing process, eliminating the need for additional capital investment in printing capability while achieving precise color region alignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the state of the colorants from inactive to active through parameter changes (light exposure for photoreactive, heat for thermochromic). This allows the existing manufacturing parameters (light sources, heating from additive application) to be utilized for color activation without requiring new equipment or processes.
3Ease of operation
If topical additives include colorants to highlight regions, then visual differentiation is improved, but color transfer to skin or clothing occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention separates the colorant from the topical additive by incorporating the colorant into the web substrate rather than mixing it with the topical additive. This segmentation ensures that when the topical additive is applied, only the functional additive transfers to the skin or clothing, while the colorant remains in the substrate to provide visual highlighting without transfer.
Solution Approach 2:
The web substrate acts as an intermediary between the colorant and the topical additive. The colorant is embedded in the substrate and activated by light or heat, providing visual feedback about where the topical additive has been applied, without the colorant itself being part of the topical additive formulation that contacts the skin.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables cost-effective production of absorbent articles with colored regions that coincide with topical additives, eliminating the need for additional printing and registration, and allows for visual differentiation without transferring colorants to skin or clothing.
Implementation Method 1
The activatable colorant can have both photoreactive and thermochromic material properties such that it first changes color to a first color upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light
Implementation Method 2
The activatable colorant can have both photoreactive and thermochromic material properties such that it first changes color to a first color upon exposure to electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet light and then changes to a second color upon exposure to heat
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to a method of producing a web substrate comprising an activatable colorant and at least one region comprising a topical additive. The web substrate is exposed to a first external stimulus producing a first activated color region. The first activated color region is subsequently exposed to a second external stimulus producing a second activated color region within the first activated color region. The second external stimulus is induced by application of the topical additive such that the second activated color region coincides with the topical additive region.