US Patent No.: 8,585,672 B2
Inventor(s): Gary Dean LaVon, Liberty Township, OH, US; Kevin Michael Smith, Cincinnati, OH, US; Yoichiro Yamamoto, Cologne, Germany; and Michael Patrick Hayden, Mason, OH, US.
Company: The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH, US.
Filed: 2/28/07
Issued: 11/19/13

A disposable diaper comprising: a chassis comprising a front waist region including a front waist end edge, a longitudinally opposing back waist region including a back waist end edge, and a crotch region between the waist regions, a longitudinal axis and a lateral axis, laterally opposing side edges defining its width, the longitudinally opposing front and back waist end edges defining its length; an absorbent assembly; an interior surface and an exterior surface; a water-impermeable backsheet; laterally opposing side flaps formed by laterally inwardly folded portions of the chassis, each side flap being attached to the interior surface adjacent to its longitudinally distal ends and comprising a longitudinally extending elastic gathering member attached adjacent to its proximal edge, wherein the proximal edge is substantially linear between the front and back waist end edges, and wherein the proximal edge between the front and back waist end edges is substantially parallel with the longitudinal axis; a first belt ear and a second belt ear making up a pair of laterally opposing deployable belt ears having a distal edge and a proximal edge, wherein each of the belt ears at or adjacent the distal edge are attached at or adjacent to the side edges of the chassis in the back waist region; wherein, prior to application of the diaper to a wearer, the belt ears extend laterally inward from the side edge of the chassis and are disposed in a surface to surface orientation with an interior surface of the chassis in the back waist region; wherein the first belt ear comprises a first fastener and wherein the second belt ear comprises a second fastener, wherein the first fastener is engaged with the interior surface of the diaper in the back waist region, and wherein the second fastener is engaged with the interior surface of the diaper in the back waist region; wherein, prior to application of the diaper to a wearer, the belt ears do not overlap each other in the back waist region; and wherein, when the diaper is configured to form a waist opening and a pair of leg openings, the belt ears do not overlap each other; wherein the belt ears are formed separately from the chassis; wherein the chassis comprises the belt ears in both of the waist regions.