Patent ID: 7704243

Claim:
A disposable absorbent article comprising: a) an absorbent core disposed between a liquid pervious top sheet and a liquid impervious back sheet; b) a pair of flexible leg wraps extending outwardly from and along side edges of said absorbent core, the flexible leg wraps being adapted to wrap around a wearers legs; c) a plurality of spaced-apart elastic strands within the pair of flexible leg wrappings, wherein an inelastic zone of the pair of flexible leg wrappings extends outward from the longitudinal edge of the absorbent core, the longitudinal edge of the absorbent core defines an inner boundary of the inelastic zone and a first elastic strand within the pair of flexible leg wrappings defines an outer boundary of the inelastic zone, wherein the leg wraps and absorbent core are capable of forming a reservoir with a plurality of fluid dams that are defined at least in part by the plurality of elastic strands during use of the absorbent article, wherein each fluid dam is capable of capturing a volume of liquid waste from passing through the leg wrap, wherein when the absorbent article is disposed in a relaxed, generally flat, open condition, the inelastic zone extends outwardly away from a longitudinal edge of the absorbent core and the first elastic strand defining the outer edge of the inelastic zone is the closest elastic strand to the longitudinal centerline of the body, wherein the distance between the absorbent core and the nearest strand of elastic is between 19 mm to 64 mm, the number of elastic strands per side panel region is between 4 and 10 strands, and a distance between the individual elastic strands is between 4 mm to 30 mm; and, wherein when the absorbent article is disposed in a relaxed, generally flat, open condition, the flexible leg wrappings extend from the lateral edge of the absorbent core to the longitudinal periphery edge of the article in a single plane and wherein the plurality of elastic strands are disposed within the single plane occupied by the flexible leg wrappings.