Patent ID: 11944525
Assignee: KAO CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 4:
5. An absorbent article comprising a three-dimensionally shaped topsheet having projections and recesses and a backsheet, having a longitudinal direction corresponding to the front-to-back direction of a wearer and a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, and having opposed longitudinal end portions,
the topsheet having a laminate structure comprising an upper nonwoven fabric sheet on the side facing the skin of a wearer and a lower nonwoven fabric sheet on the side away from the skin of a wearer,
the upper and lower nonwoven fabric sheets being united at bonds,
the projections being formed of the upper nonwoven fabric sheet bulging away from the lower nonwoven fabric sheet at sites other than the bonds,
the projections being formed of the upper nonwoven fabric sheet bulging away from the lower nonwoven fabric sheet at sites other than the bonds to create hollow spaces between the upper and the lower nonwoven fabric sheets, the spaces inside the individual projections arranged along the end edge of the backsheet being visible,
the topsheet having a lateral middle portion and a side portion on either side of the lateral middle portion, and the individual projections having a larger cross-sectional area of their space in the lateral middle portion than in the side portion when the end edge of the backsheet is seen along the lateral direction,
the upper nonwoven fabric sheet being longer than the lower nonwoven fabric sheet in the longitudinal direction before being united with the lower nonwoven fabric sheet, and the upper nonwoven fabric sheet protruding longitudinally outward beyond the end edge of the backsheet,
the longitudinal end portions being formed of at least the topsheet and the backsheet, and
a plurality of the projections protruding longitudinally outward beyond an end edge of the backsheet in at least one of the longitudinal end portions.