Patent ID: 8784397

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 wearer's legs during use; and c) a plurality of spaced-apart elastic strands within the pair of flexible leg wraps, wherein each leg wrap comprises a composite of the top sheet, the back sheet, and some of the plurality of elastic strands and does not include the absorbent core, wherein an inelastic zone of the pair of flexible leg wraps 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 wraps 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 a first portion of at least one leg wrap is folded along a first longitudinal fold line where at least a portion of the at least one leg wrap is directed inward toward the absorbent core and a second portion of the at least one leg is folded along a second longitudinal fold line where an outer side edge of the at least one leg wrap is directed outward away from the absorbent core, wherein the at least one leg wrap further comprises a first fold fixing bonded area in the inelastic zone that bonds a first portion of the top sheet to a second portion of the top sheet and a second fold fixing bonded area in the inelastic zone that bonds a first portion of the back sheet to a second portion of the back sheet, 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.