Patent ID: 8048049

Claim:
A sanitary napkin comprising: a napkin body and a surface element fixed to a body faceable surface of the napkin body, the napkin body having front and rear edges and opposing side edges, and a longitudinal center line running from the front edge to the rear edge, the napkin body comprising a liquid-absorbent layer; a liquid permeable topsheet covering a body faceable surface of the liquid-absorbent layer; and a liquid-blocking backsheet on a garment faceable surface of the liquid absorbent layer, the surface element comprising: a liquid permeable sheet having front and rear edges and opposing side edges and a constant width in a lateral direction; and a central elastic member bonded to a longitudinal center line of the liquid permeable sheet; wherein the opposing side edges of the liquid-permeable sheet are overlapped and bonded directly to one another to form a seam which is opposite the longitudinal center line of the liquid permeable sheet; wherein the seam of the surface element is situated along the longitudinal center line of the napkin body and the surface element is bonded to the napkin body at a plurality of bonding regions of the napkin body along the longitudinal center line of the napkin body, each bonding region having a bonding width that extends laterally in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal centerline of the napkin body; wherein the surface element, including the central elastic member, is secured on the body faceable surface of the napkin body in a folded state at both front and rear portions of the napkin body along the longitudinal direction of the napkin body, forming front and rear flat portions of the surface element and wherein, in portions of the surface element between the front and rear flat portions, the central elastic member is adapted to exert a contractive force between the front and rear portions of the napkin body such that the longitudinal center line of the surface element is raised above the body faceable surface of the napkin body to form a hollow projection between the front and rear portions of the napkin body; wherein a distance between base ends of a bonding region configured to face an area between the vagina and the anus of the wearer is larger than a distance between base ends of a bonding region configured to face the intergluteal cleft of the wearer; and wherein a height of the hollow projection, defined as a height from the topsheet to the elastic member, decreases as the distance between base ends of the bonding regions increases.