Patent ID: 7549981

Claim:
A sanitary napkin comprising: a main body having a liquid-absorbent layer for absorbing and retaining liquid; and a projection separately provided on a body surface of the main body, the projection having a liquid-permeable projection topsheet and a projection interior sheet, wherein the projection comprises a stiffening member comprising a folded sheet, the stiffening member being located fully behind-a vagina-facing reference position and in front of or on an anus-facing reference position, the vagina-facing reference position being selected to correspond to the center of a vaginal opening of a wearer of the sanitary napkin, and the anus-facing reference position being selected to face the anus; a flexible portion including front and rear flexible portions respectively located in front of and behind the stiffening member, the flexible portion being subjected to a longitudinal elastic contractive force; a plurality of longitudinal elastic members for exerting the longitudinal elastic contractive force, spaced apart from each other along the projection interior sheet, wherein the elastic members are held between confronting faces of the projection interior sheet, and a hollow space, wherein the main body is concavely curved by the longitudinal elastic contractive force, wherein the stiffening member comprises a plurality of compression lines each having a first portion that extends perpendicularly from a longitudinal direction of the main body and a second portion that extends upwardly from the main body, and wherein the flexible portion is further secured to a convex part of the main body and unsecured to the main body in front of and behind the convex part.