IP Library Granted Patent US 12,616,616
Granted Patent B2
US 12,616,616 · App. 16/787,548 · Granted May 5, 2026

Pant-type wearable article

Inventors: Shiqiao Li (Beijing, CN); Ruizhi Pei (Beijing, CN); Kaoru Ishihara (West Chester, OH); Koichi Morimoto (Beijing, CN); Xuechun Wang (Beijing, CN); Ling Tong (Beijing, CN); John Andrew Strasemeier (Aurora, IN); Vanessa Marie Melendez (Cincinnati, OH); Monica Renee Tournoux (Columbus, OH)
Assignee: The Procter & Gamble Company
A61F13/49011A61F13/5655A61F13/64A61F2013/49025A61F2013/49033
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,616,616
App. No.
16/787,548
Granted
May 5, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Disclosed is a wearable article comprising a front elastic belt, a back elastic belt, a crotch region extending longitudinally between the front elastic belt and the back elastic belt; wherein at least 10% of the longitudinal dimension of the front and back elastic belts from a waist opening is a laminate in active elasticity defining an Upper Gather Region. The Upper Gather Region may have a particular Directional Dispersion Value and a particular Continuity Value according to measurements herein. The laminate may have at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprising a plurality of deformations aligned in the longitudinal direction.

Claims (18)

1 . A wearable article continuous in a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction comprising a front elastic belt, a back elastic belt, a crotch region, a waist opening, and a pair of leg openings; the crotch region extending longitudinally between the front elastic belt region and the back elastic belt region;

wherein at least 10% and not more than 70%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front and back elastic belts from the waist opening is a laminate in active elasticity defining an Upper Gather Region, the laminate comprising an inner sheet, an outer sheet, and an elastic member continuously running in the transverse direction,

wherein the laminate further comprising an elastic bonding which continuously bonds the elastic member for at least about 10 mm in the direction of stretch in a region adjacent the side edges of the front and back elastic belts, and a vertical bonding applied to at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet with intervals in the transverse direction to intermittently bond the inner sheet and the outer sheet,

wherein at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprises a plurality of deformations wherein the deformations are aligned in the longitudinal direction; and

wherein the vertical bonding has a transverse dimension VG 2 and is a continuous pattern aligned in the longitudinal direction, each longitudinal pattern of vertical bonding spaced apart from each other with a transverse pitch VG 1 , wherein VG 1 is from about 2 mm to about 15 mm, and VG 2 is from about 0.2 mm to about 7 mm; and

wherein the article has a Full Stretch Circumference W 1 , and a 70% Stretch Circumference W 2 , according to measurements herein, wherein the article is so configured such that the following formula is from about 1.46 to about 2.59: ((VG 1 −VG 2 )×W 1 )/(VG 1 ×W 2 −VG 2 ×W 1 ).

2 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the elastic member is a plurality of elastic strands running parallel to each other in the transverse direction with a longitudinal pitch of from about 2 mm to about 20 mm.

3 . The article of claim 2 , wherein at least a portion of the Upper Gather Region has the elastic strands disposed with a longitudinal pitch of from about 3 mm to about 7 mm.

4 . The article of claim 2 , wherein the elastic strands disposed in the Upper Gather Region have a constant pitch with a deviation of no more than about 1.5 mm.

5 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the vertical bonding is an array of discrete bondings aligned in the longitudinal direction wherein each discrete bonding has a longitudinal dimension of from about 0.5 mm to about 10 mm and a longitudinal pitch of from about 0.8 mm to about 5 mm.

6 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the vertical bonding is tilted in an angle from the longitudinal axis by from about 0.1 to about 30 degrees.

7 . The article claim 6 , wherein at least one of the inner sheet and the outer sheet comprises a plurality of deformations wherein the deformations are aligned in the longitudinal direction, each longitudinal deformation pattern spaced apart from each other with a transverse pitch of DF 1 , wherein VG 1 is greater than DF 1 and VG 1 is at least about 1.5 times as DF 1 .

8 . The article of claim 7 , wherein the deformation is an array of discrete deformations aligned in the longitudinal direction and spaced apart from each other with a longitudinal pitch of DF 2 , wherein DF 2 is not greater than DF 1 .

9 . The article of claim 7 , wherein the deformation is a plurality of apertures in the outer sheet, wherein the aperture has a minor radius of at least about 0.1 mm.

10 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the front elastic belt comprises:

a waist opening gather zone along the waist opening for from about 5% to about 30%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front elastic belt LF, wherein the waist opening gather zone is in active elasticity and provided with an artwork; and

a pair of leg opening gather zones along at least part of the leg openings for from about 5% to about 25%, of the longitudinal dimension of the front elastic belt LF, wherein the leg opening gather zones are in active elasticity and provided with an artwork;

wherein the longitudinal dimension of the leg opening gather zone is from about 30% to about 80% of that of the waist opening gather zone.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 14, 2020
From: LI, SHIQIAO; PEI, RUIZHI; ISHIHARA, KAORU; MORIMOTO, KOICHI; WANG, XUECHUN; TONG, LING; STRASEMEIER, JOHN ANDREW; MELENDEZ, VANESSA MARIE; TOURNOUX, MONICA RENEE; DESIGN CENTRAL, INC.
To: THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
Reel/Frame 052657/0436 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded May 14, 2020
From: LI, SHIQIAO; PEI, RUIZHI; ISHIHARA, KAORU; MORIMOTO, KOICHI; WANG, XUECHUN; TONG, LONG; STRASEMEIER, JOHN ANDREW; MELENDEZ, VANESSA MARIE; TOURNOUX, MONICA RENEE; DESIGN CENTRAL, INC.
To: THE PROCTER & GAMBLE COMPANY
Reel/Frame 052657/0458 →
Priority Claims (2)
WO PCT/CN2019/075100 · Feb 14, 2019 · international
WO PCT/CN2020/073398 · Jan 21, 2020 · international
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20200261282A1 · Aug 20, 2020
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