Patent ID: 6358233
Filing Date: 2002-03-19
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A sanitary napkin for protecting an undergarment from soiling, said sanitary napkin comprising:a longitudinal centerline defining a longitudinal direction; a central absorbent body having a body-facing side, a transverse centerline and longitudinal edges, said central absorbent body further comprising: a liquid pervious topsheet; a liquid impervious backsheet joined with said topsheet; an absorbent core between said topsheet and said backsheet; means for attaching said central absorbent body to the undergarment disposed on said central absorbent body; a pair of laterally extending elastic flaps being elastically extensible in the longitudinal direction, wherein each of said elastic flaps comprises a first portion operating as a proximal edge being joined to said central absorbent body, said proximal edge being adjacent to a respective one of said longitudinal edges, and an extensible, elastic second portion extending laterally outwardly to a distal edge, said distal edge being positioned outwardly away from the central absorbent body of the sanitary napkin; and the second portion of the flap being elastically extensible with a vector component in the longitudinal direction, said elastic flaps being attached in a longitudinally extended condition to said central absorbent body at said first portion to provide a contractive force which causes said central absorbent body to assume an arcuate configuration about said transverse centerline wherein said body facing side of said central absorbent body has a concave configuration, said contractive force being caused by the extensible, elastic second portions of the elastic flaps; and means for attaching each of said flaps to the undergarment.