Patent ID: 8506545

Claim:
An absorbent pad, comprising: a chassis having a front edge, a back edge, a first side edge extending in a straight line from the front edge to the back edge and a second side edge extending in a straight line from the front edge to the back edge, the chassis comprising: a liquid pervious topsheet; and a liquid impervious backsheet; an absorbent system disposed between'the topsheet and the backsheet; an elastic element disposed along each of the first and second side edges of the chassis and attached to at least one of the topsheet and the backsheet and disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, the elastic elements generating a cupping action so that the absorbent pad is biased towards a cup-like shape; a first side adhesive element attached to the chassis inwardly from the first side edge of the chassis and extending along substantially the entire length of the first side edge; a second side adhesive element attached to the chassis inwardly from the second side edge of the chassis and extending along substantially the entire length of the second side edge; and a central adhesive element attached to the chassis between the first and second side adhesive elements, the absorbent pad having a first configuration in which the central adhesive element is releasably attached to an inner surface of an undergarment so that the absorbent pad retains its cup-like shape and a second configuration in which the first and second side adhesive elements are releasably attached to an outer surface of the undergarment to overcome the cupping action of the elastic elements; wherein the first and second side edges extend in said straight lines when the cupping action is overcome or when the pad is in a flat configuration.