Disposable diaper

Claim 2

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said cellulosic fibrous batt is in direct contact with said water-impervious backing sheet.

Claim 3

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said cellulosic fibrous batt is in contact with a second highly porous batt of short cellulosic fibers which are loosely compacted throughout the thickness of the batt, on the side of said first named batt opposite said facing layer and said second highly porous fibrous batt is in direct contact with said water-impervious backing sheet.

Claim 4

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said cellulosic fibrous batt is in direct contact with a crimped cellulose wadding layer on the side of said batt opposite said facing layer and said crimped cellulose wadding layer is in direct contact with said water-impervious backing sheet.

Claim 5

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said water-impervious backing sheet is adhered directly to its adjacent layer by an adhesive discontinuously distributed over the entire interface between them.

Claim 6

The diaper of claim 6 wherein said backing sheet is substantially rectangular and said adhesive is distributed in the form of parallel lines running longitudinally with respect thereto.

Claim 7

The diaper of claim 5 wherein said layer of creped cellulose wadding is substantially rectangular in shape and is oriented so that the ridges of its crepe run longitudinally.

Claim 8

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said backing sheet and said facing layer are substantially rectangular and substantially coextensive, said batt is substantially rectangular, narrower than said backing sheet and facing layer, and centrally disposed with respect thereto to provide marginal portions of said diaper in which said backing sheet and said facing web are in direct contact with each other.

Claim 9

The diaper of claim 1 wherein the fiber content of said facing layer comprises from about 75 to about 98 weight percent of short fibers having a fiber length less than one-fourth inch and from about 2 to about 25 weight percent of long fibers having a fiber length between about one-half and about 2 1/2 inches.

Claim 10

The diaper of claim 1 wherein the fibers of said facing layer are bonded together by a water repellent polymeric bonding agent and wherein the fibers of said facing layer are coated with a surfactant.

Claim 11

The diaper of claim 3 wherein said batt and said backing sheet are adhered to each other by an adhesive discontinuously distributed over the entire interface between them.

Claim 12

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said facing layer has a fabric weight of about 1 to about 5 ounces per square yard and a density less than about 0.15 grams per cubic centimeter.

Claim 13

The diaper of claim 13 wherein said density is between about 0.05 and about 0.1 grams per cubic centimeter.

Claim 14

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said batt has a density between about 0.10 and about 0.20 grams per cubic centimeter.

Claim 15

The diaper of claim 1 wherein said batt contains among its loosely compacted fibers, randomly dispersed clumps of fibers, said clumps measuring no more than about one-fourth inch in their largest dimension and constituting from about 2 to about 10 percent of the weight of the loosely compacted batt.

Claim 16

A multi-layer diaper comprising (1) a porous facing layer in the form of a water-wettable bonded web of mixed long and short fibers, of which from about 75 to about 98 weight percent are short fibers having a fiber length less than one-fourth inch and from about 2 to about 25 weight percent are long fibers having a fiber length between about one-half and about 2 1/2 inches, said fibers being bonded together by a water repellent bonding agent and coated with a surfactant, (2) a highly porous, loosely compacted batt of short cellulosic fibers in face-to-face juxtaposition to said facing layer, having greater wettability to water than said facing layer and having substantially no density gradient in the thickness dimension when in an unfolded state, and (3) a water-impervious backing sheet adhered directly to said loosely compacted batt on the face thereof opposite the face in juxtaposition to said facing layer by an adhesive discontinuously distributed over the entire interface between them, said backing sheet and facing layer being substantially rectangular and substantially coextensive and said batt being substantially rectangular, narrower than said backing sheet and facing layer and centrally disposed with respect thereto to provide marginal portions of said diaper in which said backing sheet and said facing layer are in direct contact with each other.

Claim 17

The diaper of claim 17 wherein said facing layer has a double thickness at its side marginal portions.

Claim 18

The diaper of claim 17 wherein at least 50 percent of the individual fibers in said facing web have liquid-fiber contact angles with respect to water between about 30* and about 60* .

Claim 19

The diaper of claim 17 wherein the individual fibers in said cellulosic batt have liquid-fiber contact angles with respect to water not greater than about 15*.

Claim 20

The diaper of claim 17 wherein said discontinuously distributed adhesive is in the form of parallel lines running lengthwise on said backing sheet.

Claim 21

A multi-layer diaper comprising (1) a porous facing layer in the form of a water-wettable bonded web of mixed long and short fibers, of which from about 75 to about 98 weight percent are short fibers having a fiber length less than one-fourth inch and from about 2 to about 25 weight percent are long fibers having a fiber length between about one-half and about 2 1/2 inches, said fibers being bonded together by a water-repellent bonding agent and coated with a surfactant, (2) a first highly porous, loosely compacted batt of short cellulosic fibers in face-to-face juxtaposition to said facing layer, having greater wettability to water than said facing layer and having substantially no density gradient in the thickness dimension when in an unfolded state, (3) a second highly porous, loosely compacted batt of short cellulosic fibers in contact with said first highly porous batt on the side thereof opposite said facing layer, and (4) a water-impervious backing sheet adhered directly to said second highly porous batt on the face thereof opposite said first highly porous batt by an adhesive discontinuously distributed over the entire interface between them, said backing sheet and facing layer being substantially rectangular and substantially coextensive, said second batt being substantially rectangular, narrower than said backing sheet and facing layer and centrally disposed with respect thereto and said first batt being substantially rectangular, narrower than said second batt and centrally disposed with respect thereto to provide a step-wise construction and to provide marginal portions of said diaper in which said backing sheet and said facing layer are in direct contact with each other.

Claim 22

A multi-layer diaper comprising (1) a porous facing layer in the form of a water-wettable bonded web of mixed long and short fibers, of which from about 75 to about 98 weight percent are short fibers having a fiber length less than one-fourth inch and from about 2 to about 25 weight percent are long fibers having a fiber length between about one-half and about 2 1/2 inches, said fibers being bonded together by a water-repellent bonding agent and coated with a surfactant, (2) a highly porous, loosely compacted batt of short cellulosic fibers in face-to-face juxtaposition to said facing layer, and having greater wettability to water than said facing layer, and having a substantially no density gradient in the thickness dimension when in an unfolded state, (3) a crimped cellulose wadding layer comprising from two to four plies of crimped cellulose wadding in contact with said highly porous batt on the side thereof opposite said facing layer, and (4) a water-impervious backing sheet adhered directly to said crimped cellulose wadding layer on the face thereof opposite said highly porous batt by an adhesive discontinuously distributed over the entire interface between them, said backing sheet and facing layer being substantially rectangular and substantially coextensive and said batt and wadding layer being substantially rectangular, narrower than said backing sheet and facing layer and centrally disposed with respect thereto to provide marginal portions of said diaper in which said backing sheet and said facing layer are in direct contact with each other.

Claim 23

The diaper of claim 23 wherein said wadding layer is disposed on said diaper so that the ridges of its crepe run in the longitudinal direction of the diaper.