US Patent No.: 8,668,680 B2    
Makoto Ichikawa, Kanonji, Japan; Kenichi Sasayama, Kanonji, Japan; Hiroki Yamamoto, Kanonji, Japan; Kazuo Ukegawa, Kanonji, Japan; and Akihide Ninomiya, Kanonji, Japan. Assigned to Unicharm Corporation, Ehime, Japan.
Filed: 12/16/10
Issued: 3/11/14
A disposable wearing article having a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction orthogonal thereto, a skin facing side for facing a wearer when the wearing article is worn and a non-skin facing side opposite to the skin facing side in a thickness direction of the wearing article, the wearing article comprising: a front waist region; a rear waist region; a crotch region extending between the front and rear waist region; an annular elastic waist panel including a front waist panel defining the front waist region and a rear waist panel defining the rear waist region; and a crotch member attached to the elastic waist panel so as to define and defining parts of the front and rear waist regions and the crotch region, wherein the crotch member has a front end lying in the front waist region and a rear end lying in the rear waist region, at least one of the front and rear waist panels includes: a non-bonded region in an intermediate zone of the front and/or rear waist panel as viewed in the transverse direction; and a bonded region where an outer surface of the front and/or rear waist panel is attached to an inner surface of the front and/or rear end of the crotch member, by the intermediary of a square U-shaped bonded region opening toward the crotch region, the non-bonded region between the front and/or rear waist panels and the front and/or rear end of the crotch member define a body waste retaining space for protecting the wearer’s skin from being soiled with bodily waste.