Disposable incontinence garment or training pant

Claim 2

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising a liquid-impervious outer cover, a liquid-pervious liner, and an absorbent medium therebetween; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels and said absorbent assembly being joined together to form a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, portions of said absorbent assembly side edges being generally adjacent respective said leg openings, said absorbent assembly end edges being generally adjacent said waist opening, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening adjacent said absorbent assembly for gathering said crotch portion, a remaining portion of each said leg opening being relatively non-gathered, whereby said stretchable side panels provide generally inwardly directed force vectors against a wearer to maintain said garment snugly against the wearer's body and said absorbent assembly snugly in place against the crotch area both before and after a discharge, and said gathering means and said side panels provide elasticity about said leg openings to prevent leakage thereat.

Claim 3

The garment of claim 1 wherein said gathering means has a relaxed, attached length of about 10% to about 100% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 4

The garment of claim 2 wherein said gathering means has a relaxed, attached length of about 10% to about 50% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 5

The garment of claim 3 wherein said gathering means has a relaxed, attached length of about 15% to about 25% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 6

The garment of claim 1, wherein said gathering means has an elasticity of about 25% to about 350%.

Claim 7

The garment of claim 5 wherein said gathering means has an elasticity of about 30% to about 260%.

Claim 8

The garment of claim 6 wherein said gathering means has an elasticity of about 125% to about 200%.

Claim 9

The garment of claim 1, wherein each said gathering means is a plurality of elongate elastic members.

Claim 10

The garment of claim 1, wherein each said gathering means is pre-stretched when joined to its respective said leg opening.

Claim 11

The garment of claim 1, wherein each said gathering means is an integral extension of at least one of said stretchable side panels.

Claim 12

The garment of claim 10 wherein each said integral extension is pre-stretched when joined to said absorbent assembly.

Claim 13

The garment of claim 1, further comprising a pair of substantially non-stretchable side sections, each said side section being joined intermediate of a respective said stretchable side panel.

Claim 14

The garment of claim 1, wherein at least one of said stretchable side panels is manually tearable from said absorbent assembly.

Claim 15

The garment of claim 1, wherein each said stretchable side panel is a stretch-bonded laminate comprising a stretchable layer stretch-bonded to a gatherable layer, whereby upon relaxing said stretch-bonded layers, sad gatherable layer is gathered.

Claim 16

The garment of claim 14 wherein said stretch-bonded laminate comprises a second gatherable layer, said stretchable layer being stretch-bonded to said second gatherable layer, whereby upon relaxing said stretch-bonded layers, said second gatherable layer is gathered.

Claim 17

The garment of claim 1, or wherein at least an edge portion of each said gathering means is joined between said outer cover and said liner.

Claim 18

The garment of claim 1, or wherein edge portions of said gathering means directly abut against respective sides of said absorbent medium.

Claim 19

The garment of claim 16 wherein said gathering means edge portions are spaced apart from respective sides of said absorbent medium about 0 inches to about 2 inches.

Claim 20

The garment of claim 18 wherein said gathering means edge portions are spaced apart from said sides from about 0 inches to about 1 inch.

Claim 21

The garment of claim 19 wherein sad gathering means edge portions are spaced from said sides from about 0 inches to about 1/2 inch.

Claim 22

The garment of claim 16 wherein each said gathering means edge portion extends over a respective side of said absorbent medium a distance of about 0% to about 50% of the maximum width of said absorbent medium.

Claim 23

The garment of claim 21 wherein each said gathering means edge portion extends over a respective said side of said absorbent medium a distance of about 3% to about 20% of the maximum width of said absorbent medium.

Claim 24

The garment of claim 22 wherein each said gathering means edge portion extends over a respective said side of said absorbent medium a distance of about 6% to about 12% of the maximum width of said absorbent medium.

Claim 25

The garment of claim 1, wherein each said side panel has a tension range per inch of about 50 grams to about 1,000 grams.

Claim 26

The garment of claim 24 wherein each said side panel has a tension range per inch of about 200 grams to about 500 grams.

Claim 27

The garment of claim 1 wherein each said side panel has an elasticity of about 10% to about 500%.

Claim 28

The garment of claim 26 wherein each said side panel has an elasticity of about 50% to about 500%.

Claim 29

The garment of claim 27 wherein each said side panel has an elasticity of about 75% to about 200%.

Claim 30

The garment of claim 1, wherein said side panels comprise between about 20% to about 80% of the total surface area of said garment.

Claim 31

The garment of claim 29 wherein said side panels comprise between about 25% to about 50% of the total surface area of said garment.

Claim 32

The garment of claim 30 wherein said side panels comprise between about 35% to about 45% of the total surface area of said garment.

Claim 33

The garment of claim 1, wherein a relaxed, attached width of each said gathering means is between about 1/8 inch to about 3 inches.

Claim 34

The garment of claim 32 wherein the width of each said gathering means is between about 1/4 inch to about 11/2 inches.

Claim 35

The garment of claim 33 wherein the width of each said gathering means is between about 1/2 inch to about 1 inch.

Claim 36

The garment of claim 1, wherein said outer cover comprises at least two layers, the outermost one of said layers being made of a cloth-like material and the innermost one of said layers being made of a liquid-impervious material.

Claim 37

The garment of claim 1, further comprising a waist elastic at least at one end portion of said absorbent assembly.

Claim 38

The garment of claim 36 wherein said waist elastic comprises a plurality of elastic member.

Claim 39

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge, comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising a liquid-impervious outer cover, a liquid-pervious liner and an absorbent medium therebetween; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels and said absorbent assembly being joined together to form a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, portions of said absorbent assembly side edges being generally adjacent respective said leg openings, said absorbent assembly end edges being generally adjacent said waist opening, respective portions of said stretchable side panels being generally peripherally disposed along respective portions of said leg openings, and a gathering means being joined generally along the remaining crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering sad crotch portion, whereby said stretchable side panels and said gathering means are generally peripherally disposed about respective said leg openings to provide elasticity thereto and to prevent leakage thereat, and said stretchable side panels provide generally inwardly directed force vectors against a wearer to maintain said garment snugly against the wearer's body both before and after a discharge.

Claim 40

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge, comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising a liquid-impervious outer cover, a liquid-pervious liner and an absorbent medium therebetween; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels and said absorbent assembly being joined together to form a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, portions of said absorbent assembly side edges being generally adjacent respective said leg openings, said absorbent assembly end edges being generally adjacent said waist opening, respective portions of said stretchable side panels being generally peripherally disposed along respective portions of said leg openings, and a gathering means being joined generally along the remaining crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering sad crotch portion, whereby said stretchable side panels and said gathering means are generally peripherally disposed about respective said leg openings to provide elasticity thereto and to prevent leakage thereat, and said stretchable side panels provide generally inwardly directed force vectors against a wearer to maintain said garment snugly against the wearer's body both before and after a discharge.

Claim 41

The garment of claim 38, wherein an upper end segment portion of at least one of said stretchable side panels tapers inwardly and upwardly toward said waist opening.

Claim 42

The garment of claim 39 wherein the length of said end segment portion is about 3% to about 40% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 43

The garment of claim 40 wherein the length of said end segment portion is about 5% to about 25% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 44

The garment of claim 41 wherein the length of said end segment portion is about 10% to about 15% of the total length of said garment.

Claim 45

The garment of claim 39 wherein said end segment portion angles inwardly toward said waist opening between about 5° to about 55° .

Claim 46

The garment of claim 43 wherein said end segment portion angles inwardly toward said waist opening between about 10° to about 40° .

Claim 47

The garment of claim 44 wherein said end segment portion angles inwardly toward said waist opening between about 15° to about 30° .

Claim 48

The garment of claim 38, wherein the front edge portion of each said leg opening is nearer to said waist opening than the back edge portion.

Claim 49

The garment of claim 38, wherein each said stretchable side panel is a stretch-bonded laminate comprising a stretchable layer stretch-bonded to a gatherable layer, whereby upon relaxing said stretch-bonded layers, said gatherable layer is gathered.

Claim 50

The garment of claim 47 wherein said stretch-bonded laminate comprises a second gatherable layer, said stretchable layer being stretch-bonded to said second gatherable layer, whereby upon relaxing said stretch-bonded layers, said second gatherable layer is gathered.

Claim 51

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising a liquid-impervious outer cover, a liquid-pervious liner, and an absorbent medium therebetween; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.

Claim 52

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising a liquid-impervious outer cover, a liquid-pervious liner, and an absorbent medium therebetween; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.

Claim 53

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising an outer cover and an absorbent medium; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.

Claim 54

A disposable pant-like garment for absorbing human discharge comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising an outer cover and an absorbent medium; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.

Claim 55

A disposable child's training pant, comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising an outer cover and an absorbent medium; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.

Claim 56

A disposable child's training pant, comprising: an absorbent assembly comprising an outer cover and an absorbent medium; said absorbent assembly further comprising generally opposite side edges and generally opposite end edges, stretchable side panels being joined to said side edges to form with said absorbent assembly a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, and a gathering means being joined along a crotch portion of each said leg opening for gathering said crotch portion, said stretchable side panels bordering a remaining portion of each said leg opening in a relatively non-gathered manner.