Transparent Body-Contour Mounts for Absorbent Article Assessment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatus for assessing absorbent article performance do not accurately replicate the wearer's body contours, leading to discrepancies in performance assessment.
Innovation Solution
The apparatus includes an inner mount with a transparent resin forming a contour matching the wearer's abdomen and hips, an outer mount with a larger transparent resin contour, and features such as dorsal and ventral buttresses, urethral ports, and a cradle that adjusts the diaper's position to simulate various wearing postures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a simple hemispherical mount is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision of absorption performance deteriorates due to inability to replicate wearer's body contours
Solution Approach 1:
The mount is divided into three distinct parts: an inner mount part with a first surface conforming to the wearer's body contours, a middle mount part, and an outer mount part with a second surface conforming to the diaper's external contours. This segmentation allows each part to serve its specific function in replicating the wearing state while maintaining manageable complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner mount part's first surface is designed to conform to the body contours of a wearer, and the outer mount part's second surface is designed to conform to the external contours of a diaper when worn. This copying of real-world geometries into the test apparatus enables accurate replication of the wearing state, thereby improving measurement precision of absorption performance.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If transparent resin is used for mount parts, then the ability to observe absorption state improves, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The inner and outer mount parts are formed of transparent resin, allowing visual observation of the absorption state of the absorbent article from the inside. This transparency enables direct detection of liquid distribution and absorption characteristics without complex sensing systems, improving observability while the molded contours ensure manufacturing precision is achieved through form-based fabrication.
3Measurement precision
If the mount replicates accurate body contours, then the measurement precision of leakage position improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The mount is segmented into functional zones: the inner mount part replicating body contours for positioning, the middle mount part providing structural transition, and the outer mount part replicating diaper contours for leakage observation. This segmentation allows accurate leakage position detection while distributing structural complexity across manageable components.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner mount part's first surface conforms to body contours and the outer mount part's second surface conforms to diaper external contours, creating an accurate geometric copy of the wearing state. This copying enables precise determination of leakage position relative to the body and diaper boundaries without requiring complex electronic sensing systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is apparatus for assessing performance of absorbent articles which is capable of assessment closely resembling assessment of performance of an absorbent article worn by a wearer. The apparatus for assessing performance of an absorbent article has a mount including an inner mount part for bearing a body-facing surface of an absorbent article and an outer mount part for bearing a surface of the absorbent article opposite from the body-facing surface, and a cradle for supporting the mount, the inner and outer mount parts are formed of a transparent resin, the external contour of the inner mount part represents the figures of the abdomen and the hips of a wearer, and the internal contour of the outer mount part represents the figures of the abdomen and the hips of the wearer and is larger in size than the external contour of the inner mount part.