Patent ID: 7871401

Claim:
A stretchable absorbent article having a longitudinal axis, a lateral axis, a front waist region, a back waist region, a crotch region extending longitudinally between and interconnecting said front and back waist regions, a length, and a width, said absorbent article comprising: a liquid impermeable outer cover stretchable in at least one direction; a liner in opposed relationship with the outer cover and stretchable in at least one direction, at least one of the liner and the outer cover having a width substantially equal to the width of the absorbent article along the length thereof; and an absorbent structure disposed between the liner and the outer cover and extending from the crotch region to at least one of the front waist region and the back waist region of the article, said absorbent structure comprising at least one weakening element located in said at least one of the front waist region and back waist region for reducing the resistance of the absorbent structure and thereby the absorbent article to stretching, wherein the crotch region is free from weakening elements, the absorbent article having a retraction loading, an extension loading, and a ratio of retraction loading to extension loading as measured by an Absorbent Article Tensile Test, the ratio of retraction loading to extension loading of the absorbent article being between about 0.1 and 0.15 for a strain of approximately 10 percent as measured by said Absorbent Article Tensile Test.