Sanitary napkin

• US 5,795,345 A
• Filed: 10/21/1996
• Issued: 08/18/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Original Assignee: Unicharm Corporation
• Inventors: Mizutani, Satoshi, Hisada, Kenichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss, John G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): O YONG, KI
• Application Number:
  US08/731,808
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 604/358, 604/380, 604/378, 604/385.1, 604/379, 604/382, 604/383, 604/384
• US Class Current: 604/380
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/4756 the means consisting of grooves, e.g. channels, depressions or embossments, resulting in a heterogeneous surface level
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 13/533 having discontinuous areas of compression
• CPC Class Codes: A61F 2013/4587 with channels or deep spot depressions on the upper surface A61F13/4704 and A61F13/49001 take precedence

Abstract

A sanitary napkin comprising a pair of grooves being formed in a top surface of the napkin by compression-molding along transversely opposite sides of the napkin, and each of these grooves has lower and higher density compressed zones arranged on a bottom thereof alternately in a longitudinal direction thereof.

Claims

1. An absorbent article comprising;

a liquid-permeable topsheet;

a liquid impermeable backsheet;

a liquid-absorbent core disposed therebetween, said core defining an absorbing region; and

said absorbent article having a pair of compression-molded grooves formed in said topsheet and said core, said grooves extending longitudinally along transversely opposite sides of said absorbing region, and said grooves are spaced apart from each other by a distance gradually increasing from the minimum at a longitudinally middle point thereof to the maximum at longitudinally opposite ends thereof, said grooves having higher and lower density compressed zones alternately arranged in a longitudinal direction thereof.

2. A sanitary napkin according to claim 1, wherein said groove has a width at an upper opening thereof larger than a width at a bottom thereof and an edge of said upper opening describes a circular arc in a transverse cross-section.

3. A sanitary napkin according to claim 1, wherein said higher and lower density compressed zones extend obliquely to a longitudinal axis of said napkin.

4. A sanitary napkin according to claim 1, wherein said lower density compressed zone has a vertical dimension larger than the corresponding dimension of said higher density compressed zone as measured from said bottom.

5. A sanitary napkin according to claim 1, wherein said groove is defined by inner and outer side walls and a portion of said core lying along said inner side wall has a density higher than a density in a portion of said core lying along said outer side wall.