Sanitary Towel Solid Gather Z-Fold Leakage Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Thin sanitary towels face challenges in maintaining a comfortable fit and effective liquid blocking due to insufficient standing height of solid gathers, which can lead to lateral leakage and discomfort, as existing designs either increase thickness or result in a narrow surface area for absorption.
Innovation Solution
A sanitary towel design featuring a solid gather formed by folding side nonwoven fabric to create a standing wall with an inside elastic member as a bending point, ensuring the gather stands up with an outside edge portion as a base, reducing the risk of falling inward and maintaining a wide surface area for absorption, while minimizing thickness and discomfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If solid gathers are not provided in thin sanitary towels, then the towel remains thin and compact, but lateral leakage of menstrual blood and body liquid occurs due to gaps between the towel and skin
Solution Approach 1:
The side nonwoven fabric is folded back in a Z-shape cross-section to create a three-dimensional solid gather structure that stands up on the front side. This dimensional transformation allows the gather to protrude from the thin towel body, forming an L-shaped cross-section with a pocket that maintains close contact with the skin while preventing lateral leakage, thus resolving the contradiction between thinness and leakage prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The elastic expandable members are disposed within the folded side nonwoven fabric structure, nested inside the Z-shaped fold. This nesting allows the elastic members to be contained within the solid gather without significantly increasing the overall thickness of the towel, while still providing the necessary contractile force to maintain the gather's standing shape and ensure leakage prevention.
2Reliability
If solid gathers are provided in thin sanitary towels, then lateral leakage is prevented, but the towel thickness increases and mountability is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of increasing thickness uniformly, the side nonwoven fabric is folded back to create a Z-shaped cross-section that forms a three-dimensional solid gather. This allows the gather to stand up and protrude from the thin towel body in the vertical dimension while maintaining the overall thin profile of the towel, thus preventing leakage without significantly increasing thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The side nonwoven fabric is used as a flexible thin film that is folded back to form the solid gather structure. This flexible material can be folded multiple times in a Z-shape to create the standing gather shape, providing leakage prevention functionality while maintaining the thin and flexible characteristics of the overall towel structure.
3Shape
If side nonwoven fabric is folded in Z-shape to form solid gather, then standing shape is achieved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The side nonwoven fabric is divided into multiple folded sections forming a Z-shaped cross-section with distinct segments. This segmentation allows the fabric to be folded back in a systematic pattern to create the standing gather shape, making the manufacturing process more manageable and reproducible while achieving the desired three-dimensional structure.
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
The design effectively blocks lateral leakage and maintains high absorbency even in thin towels by securing a wide surface area for liquid absorption and reducing the risk of the gather falling inward, enhancing comfort and functionality.
Implementation Method 1
when a side nonwoven fabric is disposed in the intermediate portion in a height direction with a plurality of elastic expandable members
Data Source
Figure 1
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AI summary
[Problem] To provide a solid gather structure that is free from an uncomfortable feeling when wearing, is high in a body liquid blocking effect, and blocks from falling down on the inside even in a thin sanitary towel. [Means for Solving the Problem] When a side nonwoven fabric 7 is folded back in a folded state, an outside extended stock 7c that has a lower layer side cuff surface 7a and an upper layer side cuff surface 7b and in which the upper layer side cuff surface 7b is extended outward than an absorber side edge 4a on the upper layer side cuff surface 7b is disposed, an inside elastic member 8 is disposed in an intermediate portion in a width direction corresponding to a non-joint area 14 of the upper layer side cuff surface 7b, and when standing-up toward a skin side with an inside edge portion 13a of a joint area 13 as a base in a standing state, a portion between from the inside elastic member 8 to the inside edge portion 13a of a joint area works as a standing wall Gc and an outside portion than the inside elastic member 8 works as a skin-abutting surface Gd when wearing, and a portion that works as a skin-abutting surface Gd moves outward in a towel width direction in the standing state than in the folded state.