Patent ID: 6897350

Claim:
A body fluid absorbent panel for a sanitary wearing article comprising a fibrous web having a compression resilience, said fibrous web comprising a plurality of openings extending therethrough in a direction of a thickness of the fibrous web, and barriers surrounding and defining said openings, said barriers comprising a shape holding layer formed from a plurality of thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers that are hot welded together at contact points between the thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers so as to resist collapsing under pressure and a body fluid retaining layer placed upon one of an upper surface and a lower surface of said shape holding layer and formed from a plurality of thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers which are mixed with an absorbent material and are hot welded together at contact points between the thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers so as to resist collapsing under pressure, said shape holding layer and said body fluid retaining layers having surface pattern configurations defined by the barriers and exclusive of said openings which surface pattern configurations are substantially coextensive, said thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers of said shape holding layer being hot welded together at contact points thereof in said shape holding layer, said thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers of said body fluid retaining layer being hot welded together at contact points thereof in said body fluid retaining layer, and said thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers of said shape holding layer and said thermoplastic synthetic resin fibers of said body fluid retaining layer being hot welded to each other along an interface at contact points of said shape holding layer and said body fluid retaining layer.