Satoru Sakaguchi, Kagawa, Japan; Tomomi Oku, Kagawa, Japan; and Hideki Matsushima, Kagawa, Japan. Assigned to Unicharm Corporation, Ehime, Japan.
Filed: 10/1/10
Issued: 11/17/15
A disposable diaper, comprising: a main body having a longitudinal direction and a width direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, said main body including a liquid-permeable topsheet, a liquid-impermeable outer sheet, an absorber provided between the topsheet and the outer sheet, and a gather including a plurality of elastic members arranged, in the width direction, outboard of the absorber, said elastic members being fixed to the gather in a state where the elastic members are stretched in the longitudinal direction; a side flap which is located in one of end portions of the main body in the longitudinal direction and projects outwardly beyond at least one of lateral end portions of the main body in the width direction; and a joint portion joining the side flap and the main body, wherein in a spread-out state of the disposable diaper, an outermost elastic member among said elastic members is arranged outboard of the joint portion in the width direction, the outer sheet includes: a back nonwoven fabric arranged on a garment-facing side; and a liquid-impermeable back film which is arranged between the back nonwoven fabric and the absorber and is at least narrower than the back nonwoven fabric in the width direction, the outermost elastic member is arranged outboard of the back film in the width direction, the gather is defined by an end portion of the back nonwoven fabric which is located outboard of the outermost elastic member and is folded back onto an upper side of the back nonwoven fabric to cover the elastic members, the outermost elastic member overlaps the side flap in a thickness direction of the main body and in the spread-out state, the main body includes a region which is (i) covered with the side flap, (ii) positioned outboard of the joint portion in the width direction, and (iii) free of direct attachment to the side flap, and said region of the main body is defined by the back nonwoven fabric and is free of the back film.

The disposable diaper according to claim 1, wherein an effective length of the gather is defined by effective lengths of the elastic members and overlaps the side flap in the longitudinal direction.

The disposable diaper according to claim 1, wherein the joint portion is arranged adjacent to the absorber in the width direction and does not overlap the absorber in the thickness direction of the main body.