Patent ID: 7150731

Claim:
A disposable absorbent underpants for containing body fluid comprising: a) an outer cover having a front portion and a back portion joined together by a crotch portion, said crotch portion having an hourglass configuration with a minimum width W 3 ; b) an inner liner having a front portion and a back portion, said front and back portions of said inner liner being attached to said front and back portions, respectively, of said outer cover, and said inner liner and said outer cover being joined together to form a waist opening and a pair of leg openings; c) an absorbent pad including a liquid permeable cover, a liquid-impermeable baffle and an absorbent layer positioned therebetween, said baffle being secured to said crotch portion of said outer cover, said absorbent pad having a width W 2 which is less than said width W 3 , and said absorbent pad overlapping at least about 80% of said crotch portion; d) a first pair of leg elastics secured between said outer cover and said inner liner at said front portion, at least a portion of the length of each of said first pair of leg elastics being aligned parallel to an edge of one of said leg openings, and each of said first pair of leg elastics being positioned within 1 inch of one of said pair of leg openings; e) a second pair of leg elastics secured between said outer cover and said inner liner at said back portion, at least a portion of the length of each of said second pair of leg elastics being aligned parallel to an edge of one of said leg openings, and each of said second pair of leg elastics being positioned within 1 inch of one of said pair of leg openings; f) a third pair of leg elastics secured between said liquid permeable cover and said liquid-impermeable baffle, said third pair of leg elastics having an arcuate profile, each of said third pair of leg elastics being positioned within 1 inch of one of said leg openings intermediate one of said first and second pairs of leg elastics, each of said third pair of leg elastics being separated from one of each of said first pair of leg elastics by a first gap of at least about 0.125 inches and each of said third pair of leg elastics being separated from one of each of said second pair of leg elastics by a second gap of at least about 0.125 inches, said first, second and third pairs of leg elastics allowing gathers to form about each of said leg openings to prevent leakage of body fluid from said underpants; and g) waist elastic attached between said outer cover and said inner liner at said front and back portions, said waist elastics allowing gathers to form about said waist opening to prevent leakage of body fluid from said underpants.