Patent ID: 8100877

Claim:
An absorbent article comprising: a chassis having a front body and a back body and a crotch portion arranged therebetween, the front body and the back body having an edge of a waist opening extending in a first direction, side edge portions of the front body and the back body, respectively, being connected, the side edge portions extending in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, an absorbent body adjacent a skin-facing side of the chassis and extending from the front body, across the crotch portion and onto the back body, a first sheet member covering a skin-facing side of the absorbent body, and a pair of leg openings comprised of respective edges of the front body, the sheet member, and the back body, stretchable members extending along back body portions of the leg openings and across a portion of the back body that is adjacent to the crotch portion; wherein the front body and the back body each comprise a stretchable composite sheet which is stretchable in the first direction and which includes a stretchable sheet and a non-stretchable sheet connected at portions, wherein each of the pair of leg openings includes a front edge portion formed by the front body, a crotch edge portion formed by the sheet member, and a back edge portion formed by the back body, wherein the front edge portion of each of the pair of leg openings extends laterally inward from the connection between the side edge portions of the front body and the back body to a first connection point with the crotch edge portion, first approaching the waist opening and then diverging from the waist opening and toward the crotch edge portion, wherein the crotch edge portion extends longitudinally from the front edge portion to a second connection point with the back edge portion, wherein the back edge portion extends laterally outward from the crotch edge portion to a bottom-most point on the connection between the side edge portions of the front body and the back body, continually approaching the waist opening, and wherein an angle is defined between a first line intersecting the second connection point and said bottom-most point on the connection between the side edge portions of the front body and the back body, and a second line extending along the first direction through the second connection point, which angle is in the range of 0 to 50 degrees.