Absorbent articles with barrier leg cuffs

Abstract

An absorbent article ( 20 ) for personal hygiene having a body-facing surface and an opposed garment-facing surface, the article having a front region (Z 1 ), a back region (Z 3 ) and an intermediate crotch region (Z 2 ). The absorbent article comprises on each longitudinal side a gasketing cuff ( 32 ) and a barrier leg cuff ( 34 ) formed from the same web of nonwoven barrier material ( 110 ). The web of nonwoven barrier material is attached at least in the crotch region (Z 2 ) to the topsheet by a plurality of mechanical and/or heat bonds ( 70 ), the plurality of mechanical and/or heat bonds defining in the crotch region a longitudinally extending bonding area ( 71 ) having a width W 1 . An adhesive ( 75 ) attaches in the crotch region the topsheet to the backsheet so that the adhesive covers at least 20% of the bonding area, this being also the case when the adhesive is notionally shifted laterally by any distance up to 4 mm.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An absorbent article for personal hygiene having a body-facing surface and an opposed garment-facing surface, the article having a front region, a back region and an intermediate crotch region, the absorbent article comprising:
 a liquid pervious topsheet;   a liquid impervious backsheet;   an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet;   wherein the absorbent article comprises on each of its longitudinal sides:   a barrier leg cuff having a free distal edge, and an elastically contractible gasketing cuff disposed adjacent to a longitudinal edge of the absorbent article;   wherein the gasketing cuff and barrier leg cuff are at least partially formed from the same web of nonwoven barrier material extending at least from the distal edge of the barrier leg cuff to the longitudinal side edge of the article;   wherein the nonwoven barrier material is attached at least in the crotch region to the topsheet by a plurality of mechanical and/or heat bonds, the plurality of mechanical and/or heat bonds defining in the crotch region a longitudinally extending bonding area having a width W 1  of from about 0.5 mm to about 8 mm;   the absorbent article further comprising an adhesive attaching the topsheet to the backsheet at least in the crotch region;   wherein the adhesive covers about 50% or more of the bonding area.   
     
     
         2 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the adhesive is laterally centered on the bonding area. 
     
     
         3 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the barrier leg cuff comprises an elastic element for spacing the distal edge of the barrier leg cuff away from the body-facing surface of the absorbent article, so as to cause the barrier leg cuff to stand up. 
     
     
         4 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the topsheet and the web of nonwoven barrier material have a combined basis weight of about 60 gsm or less. 
     
     
         5 . The absorbent article according to  claim 5 , wherein the combined basis weight is in the range of about 10 to about 50 gsm. 
     
     
         6 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the mechanical bonds are generally of ovoid shape, with their longer axis aligned at an angle of from about 20° to about 80° relative to the longitudinal direction of the article. 
     
     
         7 . The absorbent article according to  claim 6 , wherein the mechanical bonds are staggered in chevrons along two parallel lines along the longitudinal direction of the article. 
     
     
         8 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the bonding area and the adhesive extend longitudinally beyond the crotch region into the front region and back region of the absorbent article. 
     
     
         9 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of mechanical and/or heat bonds extend longitudinally beyond the crotch region into the front region and back region of the absorbent article. 
     
     
         10 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the absorbent core comprises from about 80% to about 100% by weight of superabsorbent polymers as absorbent material. 
     
     
         11 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the absorbent core comprises at least a pair of channels free of absorbent material. 
     
     
         12 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven barrier material comprises a nonwoven component layer comprising fine fibers with an average diameter of less than 1 micron. 
     
     
         13 . The absorbent article according to  claim 1 , wherein the nonwoven barrier material is hydrophobic.