Absorbent undergarment with fluid transfer layer and elasticized crotch design

Claim 2

An absorbent garment defining an initial expanded shape having longitudinal and transverse axes and comprising: a liquid-impervious backing member; a liquid pervious body-side liner joined to said backing member approximate a periphery of said joined liner and backing member; a generally rectangular absorbent positioned between said bodyside liner and said backing member in board of the periphery of said joined liner and backing member; elastic gathers aligned along longitudinally extending margins of the periphery, rendering said garment elastically contractible and body-conforming adjacent the crotch of a wearer; and a generally rectangular pledget disposed between said absorbent and said backing member, said pledget being positioned symetrically relative to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the expanded garment and dimensioned to have a length and width less than the length and width of said absorbent, wherein said pledget, said elastic gathers and said absorbent function together to form a cup-shaped portion adjacent the crotch of the wearer when said garment is worn.

Claim 3

The article of claim 1 wherein said pledget has a thickness between about one-half to about four times greater than the thickness of said absorbent layer.

Claim 4

The article of claim 1 wherein said pledget is about three times thicker than said absorbent layer.

Claim 5

The article of claim 1 wherein said pledget has a width between about 60 percent and about 85 percent of the width of said backing.

Claim 6

The article of claim 1 wherein said pledget has a width of about two-thirds of the width of said backing.

Claim 7

The article of claim 1 wherein the width of said absorbent layer is between about 60 percent and about 85 percent of the width of said backing.

Claim 8

The article of claim 1 wherein the width of said absorbent layer is about 73 percent of the width of said backing.

Claim 9

The article of claim 1 wherein the width of the pledget is between about 10 percent and about 90 percent of the width of the width of the absorbent layer.

Claim 10

The article of claim 1 wherein the length of the pledget is between about 10 percent and about 100 percent of the length of the absorbent layer.

Claim 11

The article of claim 1 wherein the length of the absorbent layer is between about 80 percent and about 100 percent of the length of the backing.

Claim 12

The article of claim 1 wherein the length of said elasticized portion when the elastic is in an extended condition is between about 25 percent and about 80 percent of the total article length.

Claim 13

The article of claim 1 wherein said absorbent layer is a coform material having a basis weight between about 80 grams per square meter and about 500 grams per square meter and made of between about 90 weight percent polypropylene or polyethylene and about 10 weight percent wood fluff fibers and about 10 weight percent polypropylene and about 90 weight percent wood fluff fibers.

Claim 14

The article of claim 12 wherein said absorbent layer has a basis weight of about 126 grams per square meter and is made of about 80 weight percent wood fluff fiber and about 20 weight percent polypropylene.

Claim 15

The article of claim 1 wherein said pledget is a coform material having a basis weight of about 100 to about 525 grams per square meter and is made of about 70 to about 85 weight percent wood pulp fluff fibers and about 30 to about 15 weight percent polypropylene or polyethylene.

Claim 16

The article of claim 14 wherein said pledget further includes a superabsorbent.

Claim 17

An absorbent garment defining an initial expanded shape having longitudinal and transverse axes and comprising: a liquid-impervious backing member; a liquid pervious liner joined to said backing member approximate a periphery of said joined liner and backing member; a generally planar absorbent disposed between said backing member and said liner inboard of the periphery; elastic gathers aligned along longitudinally extending margins of the periphery, rendering the expanded garment elastically contractible and bodyconforming adjacent the crotch of a wearer; and a generally planar, superabsorbent-containing pledget disposed between said backing member and said absorbent, said pledget being positioned symetrically relative to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the expanded garment and having a length and width less than the length and width of said absorbent wherein said pledget, said absorbent and said elastic gathers function together to form a cup-shaped portion adjacent the crotch of the wearer when said garment is worn.

Claim 18

An absorbent garment defining an initial expanded shape having longitudinal and transverse axes and comprising: a liquid-impervious backing member; a liquid pervious liner joined to said backing member approximate a periphery of said joined liner and backing member; a generally planar absorbent disposed between said backing member and said liner inboard of the periphery; elastic gathers aligned along longitudinally extending margins of the periphery, rendering the expanded garment elastically contractible and bodyconforming adjacent the crotch of a wearer; and a generally planar, superabsorbent-containing pledget disposed between said backing member and said absorbent, said pledget being positioned symetrically relative to the longitudinal and transverse axes of the expanded garment and having a length and width less than the length and width of said absorbent wherein said pledget, said absorbent and said elastic gathers function together to form a cup-shaped portion adjacent the crotch of the wearer when said garment is worn.

Claim 19

The garment of claim 16 further including a second pledget between said backing and said first pledget.

Claim 20

The garment of claim 17 wherein said second pledget is generally planar and has a peripheral edge, and said first pledget extends past the peripheral edge of said second pledget.

Claim 21

The garment of claim 18 wherein said second pledget is dimensioned so as to facilitate the formation of the cup-shaped portion when the garment is worn.

Claim 22

The garment of claim 19 further including a third pledget between said backing and said second pledget, and said third pledget is generally planar and has a peripheral edge, and said second pledget extending past the peripheral edge of said third pledget.

Claim 23

The garment of claim 20 wherein said third pledget is dimensioned so as to facilitate the formation of the cupshaped portion when the garment is worn.

Claim 24

An absorbent garment defining an initial expanded shape having longitudinal and transverse axes and comprising: a combination of a liquid impervious backing member and a liquid pervious body-side liner joined together approximate a periphery of said joined liner and backing member, said combination being of a generally rectangular configuration and having a width between about 5 inches and 10 inches and a length between about 23 inches and 25 inches; a generally rectangular absorbent positioned between said backing member and said liner inboard of the periphery and having a width between about 0.75 inch and 4 inches less than the width of said combination, said absorbent having a length of at least about 21.5 inches; elastic gathers aligned along longitudinally extending margins of the periphery, rendering said garment elastically contractible and bodyconforming adjacent the crotch of a wearer; and a generally rectangular pledget disposed between said absorbent and said backing member and positioned symetrically relative to the longitudinal and transverse axes, said pledget having a length between about 6 inches and 14 inches and a width between about 30 percent and less than 100 percent of the width of said absorbent layer, wherein said pledget, said absorbent and said elastic gathers function together to form a cup-shaped portion adjacent the crotch of the wearer when said garment is worn.

Claim 25

An absorbent garment defining an initial expanded shape having longitudinal and transverse axes and comprising: a combination of a liquid impervious backing member and a liquid pervious body-side liner joined together approximate a periphery of said joined liner and backing member, said combination being of a generally rectangular configuration and having a width between about 5 inches and 10 inches and a length between about 23 inches and 25 inches; a generally rectangular absorbent positioned between said backing member and said liner inboard of the periphery and having a width between about 0.75 inch and 4 inches less than the width of said combination, said absorbent having a length of at least about 21.5 inches; elastic gathers aligned along longitudinally extending margins of the periphery, rendering said garment elastically contractible and bodyconforming adjacent the crotch of a wearer; and a generally rectangular pledget disposed between said absorbent and said backing member and positioned symetrically relative to the longitudinal and transverse axes, said pledget having a length between about 6 inches and 14 inches and a width between about 30 percent and less than 100 percent of the width of said absorbent layer, wherein said pledget, said absorbent and said elastic gathers function together to form a cup-shaped portion adjacent the crotch of the wearer when said garment is worn.

Claim 26

The article of claim 22 wherein said absorbent layer comprises wood pulp fluff fibers and polypropylene.

Claim 27

The article of claim 22 wherein said pledget comprises wood pulp fluff fibers, polypropylene and a superabsorbent.

Claim 28

The garment of claim 22 wherein said pledget contains superabsorbent.