Patent ID: 7744578

Claim:
An absorbent article comprising: an elongated main body having a skin-side surface and a garment-side surface and including a liquid absorbent layer intended to absorb liquid applied to the skin-side surface and a backsheet appearing on the garment-side surface; and leakage preventing walls disposed at equal distances on each side of a longitudinal centerline of the main body and extending longitudinally of the main body, the leakage preventing walls being fixed at longitudinally opposing front and rear ends to the main body and subjected to a longitudinal elastic contractive force between the front and rear ends so as to rise between the front and rear ends with longitudinally extending tops moved away from the skin-side surface; wherein each leakage preventing wall is provided, between the front and rear ends, with a constraint portion in which the leakage preventing wall is capable to rise to an allowable rising height from the skin-side surface, the allowable rising height within the constraint portion being constrained to be smaller than the allowable rising heights in portions forward and rearward of the constraint portion; wherein each leakage preventing wall comprises a rising base extending longitudinally along an entire length of the leakage preventing wall along the skin side surface of the main body; wherein each leakage preventing wall comprises a first inclined panel extending obliquely upward from the rising base, a second inclined panel extending obliquely upward from the first inclined panel in an opposing direction to the first inclined panel, and a skin-contacting panel extending obliquely upward from the second inclined panel in an opposing direction to the second inclined panel; wherein said skin-contacting panel comprises a fold line, said fold line forming a top of the leakage preventing wall; wherein the allowable rising height is a distance between the rising base of the leakage preventing wall and the fold line of the skin contacting panel when the leakage preventing wall is forcibly developed; wherein in the constraint portion, one of the inclined panels is at least partially joined to an adjacent panel comprising the leakage preventing wall, thereby constraining the allowable rising height within the constraint portion; and wherein in the constraint portion, the leakage preventing wall is joined to itself so as to constrain the allowable rising height within the constraint portion.