SCA WIPO Application in May/June 2008

In May/June 2008 WIPO published at least 14 applications from SCA. Mainly they are related to 3 projects:

1.- Antibacteria/odor control systems
The first project seems very important for SCA these months because it is the subject for 6 out of 14 applications (almost 50% of their bi-monthly production!). Altough some of them are related to the same invention but applied to different products (diapers and wipes) it represents a clear direction for future developments and news on the market. Anyway it seems some applications could face some opposition in the future for conflicts with previous applications and maybe they will be modified to have a patent granted. Here is the related applications about antibacteria/odor control project:

• WO 2008/060210
• WO 2008/060209
• WO 2008/060200
• WO 2008/060199
• WO 2008/058565
• WO 2008/054268

All of them disclose a system to reduce odor or infection through the usage of specific substance as monovalent salt, probiotic bacterium/organic acid, peroxy compound. See the applications for further details.


2.- Elastic laminates for improved pant type diapers
Additional applications are related to a new elastic material applied to construction of pant diapers. This material consists of 3 layers (outers of creped nonwoven and inner of elastic film). The laminate is activated through an incremental stretching process. According to SCA this production system should improve the usual laminates that today are available on the market. The possibility to have a specific material to produce a strechable pant with additional feature and less expensive compared to products available on the market today is a key point for SCA to keep on growing in this market sector. Howewer will wait for the next steps in the patent granting process to see if the applications will be successfull.

• WO 2008/060205
• WO 2008/060204
• WO 2008/060194

3.- Improved brethable backsheets
Some applications are related to new materials to improve breathability. This is a more and more important characteristic to improve comfort of the wearer especially for adult pant diapers.Some brethable materials seem good in terms of porosity but usually at same time they are poor in preventing leakage of liquid. In these months SCA claims a new material for breathable backsheet solving the issue of leakage of liquid through porous material. This material consists of a polymeric material that can change volume in response to liquid contact, presence of ions, change of temperature and as such closing porous when receiving insults - WO 2008/069711 and WO 2008/069752.


Other applications are related to typical belted adult diaper (WO2008/055520) with a specific ratio between belt and chassis widths, sensing magnetic device to detect diaper status (WO 2008/076005) and latest a coating of thermoplastic polymer to improve hydrophobic property of web materials and improve performances of finished product (WO 2008/071202).