Disposable garment with breathable leg cuffs

Patent 5085654 Issued on February 4, 1992. Estimated Expiration Date:

April 22, 2011. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.

Abstract Claims Description Full Text

Patent References

Re26151

2545674

3156242

3295526

3452753

3807402

3860003

3881488

3881489

3929135

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Inventor

Buell, Kenneth B.

Assignee

The Procter & Gamble Company

Application

No. 689136 filed on 04/22/1991

US Classes:

604/370, Thermoplastic604/385.28Upstanding side flap

Examiners

Primary: Green, Randall L.
Assistant: Clarke, R.

Attorney, Agent or Firm

Miller; Steven W., Witte; Monte D., Witte; Richard C.

Foreign Patent References

3319043A1 DE. 11/24/1984
41-18031 JP. 08/24/1966
0790062 GB. 02/24/2013
1428572 GB. 03/24/1976

International Classes

A61F 013/15
A61F 013/20

Abstract

Disposable diapers provided with breathable leg cuffs. Disposable diapers comprise a topsheet, an absorbent element, and a backsheet. The leg cut of a disposable diaper is that part of the diaper which fits about the wearer's leg. Extensions of the backsheet can be used to form cuffs which are frequently elasticized. In the present invention the cuffs are formed of a material which allows passage of vapor ("breathes") while tending to retard the passage of liquid. Apertured thermoplastic films are examples of such materials. Certain advantages accrue in cuffs which are permeable to vapor in their distal portions and impermeable in the portions adjacent the absorbent element. If the disposable diaper has a breathable backsheet, the cuffs are constructed to be more permeable to vapor per unit area in their breathable portions than is the backsheet.

Other References

Request for Reexamination filed Apr. 20, 1988, by Dressler, Goldsmith, Shore, Sitker & Milnamow. The Request for Reexamination appears in the arguments on pp. 11 and 12 regarding a statement appearing in U.S. Pat. No. 4,597,760 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,496,360. The statement in question appears in the Buell '760 patent at column 4, lines 23-29, and in the '360 patent at column 5, lines 41-4