Patent ID: 7345004
Filing Date: 2008-03-18
Classification: A61F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. An absorbent article for absorbing body fluids comprising an absorbent core being at least partially made of fibers and constructed and arranged for receiving and holding such fluids and including a reinforcing scrim member intimately associated with the absorbent core to maintain its structural integrity in use, the absorbent core having an upper region and a lower region, the scrim member being located intermediate the upper and lower regions, said scrim member comprising a network of machine direction (MD) strands extending in a machine direction, and cross direction (CD) strands extending in a cross direction, at least some of said MD strands and CD strands crossing over each other and being interconnected, the MD strands and the CD strands cooperatively defining a plurality of openings in the scrim member, said MD strands being selected and formed to provide a predetermined stiffness and strength in supporting said absorbent core in the machine direction, and said CD strands being selected and formed with at least one characteristic difference from said MD strands to provide a stiffness of the absorbent core in the cross direction that is less than said stiffness of the absorbent core in the machine direction, wherein the network of MD strands and CD strands is formed with at least some of the CD strands being continuous and having weakened points along their lengths to enhance buckling, the scrim member being attached to the absorbent core through at least one of fibers from the upper region of the absorbent core passing through openings in the scrim member and entangling with fibers from the lower region; fibers from the lower region of the absorbent core passing through the openings in the scrim member and entangling with fibers in the upper region; fibers from the upper region of the absorbent core passing through openings in the scrim member and entangling with other fibers in the upper region so that the entangled fibers encircle and thereby capture at least one strand of the scrim member; and fibers from the lower region of the absorbent core passing through openings in the scrim member and entangling with other fibers in the lower region so that the entangled fibers encircle and thereby capture at least one strand of the scrim member, wherein the CD strands are at least one of notched, abraded and compressed at predetermined places between preselected MD strands to provide the weakened points.