Patent ID: 8728049
Filing Date: 2014-05-20
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
1. An absorbent article comprising a topsheet and an absorbent core in facing relationship with said topsheet, said topsheet having a length, a central part, a longitudinal centerline situated along said length, a transverse centerline orthogonal to and intersecting said longitudinal centerline, and a parallel transverse axis parallel to said transverse centerline, said longitudinal centerline being dividable into thirds, one third of which is a middle third, said parallel transverse axis intersecting said middle third of said longitudinal centerline; wherein said topsheet comprises a fibrous nonwoven web and a first and second tuft region each of which including a plurality of tufts; wherein said tufts comprise fibers integral with and extending from said fibrous nonwoven web, a plurality of said fibers of said tufts being looped fibers; wherein said topsheet comprises a pair of tuft region lateral boundaries symmetrically disposed on opposing sides of said longitudinal centerline, each said tuft region lateral boundary separating a respective first or second tuft region from an article central portion of said topsheet that is devoid of said tufts but comprises apertures and microapertures; wherein said tuft region lateral boundaries are curved whereby said tuft region lateral boundaries are spaced apart from each other by a distance that is a minimum at said parallel transverse axis and gradually increases towards said longitudinally opposing ends of said tuft region lateral boundaries or are spaced apart from each other by a distance that is a maximum at said parallel transverse axis and gradually decreases towards said longitudinally opposing ends of said tuft region lateral boundaries; wherein said plurality of said tufts have a first color and said portion of said topsheet devoid of said tufts has a second color, wherein said first color differs from said second color by a magnitude of at least 1.1 as quantified by the CIE LAB scale.