Patent ID: 8905989

Claim:
An intravaginal tampon having an outer surface comprising an insertion end, a withdrawal end, and a center portion formed between the insertion end and the withdrawal end, the tampon having a longitudinal axis and formed of compressed material; wherein: a. at least two segmented grooves are formed in the outer surface and each segmented groove is separated from and spaced at a distance from an adjacent segmented groove; and b. each segmented groove has: i. at least one substantially longitudinal segment having a substantially longitudinal orientation; and ii. at least two accumulator segments having a substantially circumferential orientation such that each of the at least two accumulator segments have a major axis that run substantially circumferentially and intersects the at least one longitudinal segment at a vertex, wherein each of the respective intersections of the at least one substantially longitudinal segment and each of the at least two accumulator segments when measured from the vertex forms a step having a discernible angle of less than about 110°.