Patent ID: 6889409

Claim:
A process for producing a tampon comprising the steps of: (i) winding up a length of tape-shaped nonwoven material to form a blank; (ii) radially pressing a circumferential surface of the blank at a first pressure over an even number of mutually spaced apart longitudinally extending portions about the circumferential surface of the blank so as to produce a preform, the even number being at least six, only the longitudinally extending portions of the circumferential surface of the blank being pressed, whereby the preform has a central approximately circular compressed fibre core and a plurality of longitudinal ribs formed between the longitudinally extending pressed portions, each of the longitudinal ribs extending radially outwards from the fibre core and being separated from one another by longitudinal grooves, each of the longitudinal ribs having a distal end; and (iii) exposing only the longitudinal ribs to a radially applied second pressure, the second pressure being less than the first pressure so as to soften the distal ends of the longitudinal ribs.