US 12,004,934 B2
Absorbent article with a channel-forming area and a masking layer
Ernesto Gabriel Bianchi, Hessen (DE); Matthias Konrad Hippe, Sulzbach (DE); Aniruddha Chatterjee, Kelkheim (DE); Adrien Grenier, Frankfurt am Main (DE); Andrea Peri, Kronberg (DE); Udo Friedel Schoenborn, Bad Soden (DE); and Abhishek Prakash Surushe, Kelkheim (DE)
Assigned to The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Filed by The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH (US)
Filed on Jul. 27, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/386,086.
Prior Publication US 2022/0031527 A1, Feb. 3, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61F 13/534 (2006.01); A61F 13/15 (2006.01); A61F 13/45 (2006.01); A61F 13/53 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 13/534 (2013.01) [A61F 13/45 (2013.01); A61F 2013/15373 (2013.01); A61F 2013/15959 (2013.01); A61F 2013/4587 (2013.01); A61F 2013/530167 (2013.01); A61F 2013/530868 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An absorbent article comprising:
a liquid permeable topsheet;
a liquid impermeable backsheet;
an absorbent core comprising an absorbent material and a core wrap, wherein the absorbent material is sandwiched between a top side and a bottom side of the core wrap, wherein the absorbent core comprises at least one channel-forming area that is substantially free of absorbent material, and wherein the channel-forming area forms a three-dimensional channel when the absorbent material swells;
a masking layer between the absorbent core and the backsheet;
wherein a wearer-facing side of the masking layer and the bottom side of the core wrap are only partially bonded to each other, their interface thus comprising a bonded portion and an unbonded portion,
wherein the channel-forming area at least partially corresponds to the unbonded portion, so that the masking layer can at least partially decouple from the three-dimensional channel when the absorbent material swells so as to at least partially conceal the three-dimensional channel when the absorbent material swells.