Absorbent article having a pair of rear side flaps

Abstract

An absorbent article has longitudinal edges, front and rear end regions, and a central region between the end regions, and an absorbent core disposed between a topsheet and a backsheet. A pair of central side flaps extend laterally outward from longitudinal edges of the absorbent core in the central region, and a pair of rear side flaps extend laterally outward from longitudinal edges of the absorbent core in the rear end region. A channel with a plurality of first areas and second areas alternately spaced along at least a portion of a length of the channel is present.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An absorbent article having a pair of longitudinal edges, front and rear transverse edges, a front end region, a rear end region, and a central region disposed between the front and rear end regions, the absorbent article comprising:
 a liquid pervious topsheet;   a liquid impervious backsheet;   an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet at least in the central region and the rear end region, the absorbent core having a pair of longitudinal edges;   a pair of central side flaps each extending laterally outward from the corresponding longitudinal edge of the absorbent core in the central region;   a pair of rear side flaps each extending laterally outward from the corresponding longitudinal edge of the absorbent core in the rear end region; and   a channel comprising a plurality of first areas and a plurality of second areas, each of the plurality of first areas having a thinner caliper than each of the plurality of second areas, wherein the plurality of first areas and the plurality of second areas repeat along a length of the channel   
     
     
         2 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of channels comprises a pair of central channels, a front channel disposed in the front region, and a rear channel disposed in the rear region. 
     
     
         3 . The absorbent article of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of channels are connected in series. 
     
     
         4 . The absorbent article of  claim 2 , wherein the plurality of channels comprises a front inwardly concave channel portion between the front channel and the central channels. 
     
     
         5 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the plurality of high compression areas are defined by a bottom surface, a pair of wall base edges, and a pair of side boundaries extending and connecting the pair of wall base edges, and wherein the side boundaries are not parallel to one another. 
     
     
         6 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of channels further comprises a second channel disposed within the rear channel and inboard thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , further comprising a continuous support layer disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet in the rear end region, the continuous support layer extending across the rear end region from one of the pair of rear side flaps to the other of the pair of rear side flaps and extending outboard of the longitudinal edges of the absorbent core but inboard of the longitudinal edges of the absorbent article such that the continuous support layer extends into at least a portion of the pair of rear side flaps, and wherein the continuous support layer is absent in the central side flaps. 
     
     
         8 . The absorbent article of  claim 7  further comprising a uniform adhesive layer disposed between the continuous support layer and the backsheet in the rear end region, wherein the uniform adhesive layer uniformly bonds the continuous support layer to the backsheet in the rear end region. 
     
     
         9 . The absorbent article of  claim 7  wherein the continuous support layer which has a shear rigidity value of between 0.3-10.0 gf/cm·degree in a longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         10 . The absorbent article of  claim 7  wherein the continuous support layer has a bending stiffness value of between 0.4 to 10.0 gf·cm 2 /cm in a longitudinal direction. 
     
     
         11 . The absorbent article of  claim 10  wherein the continuous support layer includes a nonwoven material having a basis weight of 40-200 g/m2. 
     
     
         12 . The absorbent article of  claim 7  wherein the continuous support layer comprises a nonwoven material. 
     
     
         13 . The absorbent article of  claim 7 , wherein the continuous support layer is disposed between the backsheet and the absorbent core. 
     
     
         14 . The absorbent article of  claim 2 , wherein spacing between the front channel area and both of the central channel areas or the spacing between the rear channel area and both of the central channel areas is between 0 mm and 20 mm. 
     
     
         15 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , wherein the channel comprises an inner ridge wall and an outer ridge wall, wherein the outer ridge wall is positioned at least 6 mm inboard of the longitudinal edges of the absorbent core. 
     
     
         16 . An absorbent article having a pair of longitudinal edges, front and rear transverse edges, a front end region, a rear end region, and a central region disposed between the front and rear end regions, and a wearer-facing surface, the absorbent article comprising:
 a liquid pervious topsheet;   a liquid impervious backsheet;   an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet at least in the central region and the rear end region, the absorbent core having a pair of longitudinal edges;   a pair of central side flaps each extending laterally outward from the corresponding longitudinal edge of the absorbent core in the central region;   a pair of rear side flaps each extending laterally outward from the corresponding longitudinal edge of the absorbent core in the rear end region; and   a channel comprising a plurality of discrete first side wall portions and a plurality of discrete second side wall portions, wherein the first side wall portions extend to a first bottom surface and the second side wall portions extend to a second bottom surface, the first surface being closer to the wearer-facing surface than the second bottom surface, the plurality of discrete first side wall portions and the plurality of discrete second side wall portions alternating with one another along the length of the channel   
     
     
         17 . The absorbent article of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of discrete first side wall portions comprises sides which are parallel and wherein the plurality of discrete second side wall portions comprises sides which are non-parallel. 
     
     
         18 . The absorbent article of  claim 16 , wherein the plurality of discrete first side wall portions comprise a geometric shape selected from the group consisting of rectangle, parallelogram, and wherein at least some of the plurality of discrete second side wall portions comprise a triangular shape. 
     
     
         19 . The absorbent article of  claim 1 , further comprising a continuous support layer disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet in the rear end region, the continuous support layer extending across the rear end region from one of the pair of rear side flaps to the other of the pair of rear side flaps and extending outboard of the longitudinal edges of the absorbent core but inboard of the longitudinal edges of the absorbent article such that the continuous support layer extends into at least a portion of the pair of rear side flaps, and wherein the continuous support layer is absent in the central side flaps. 
     
     
         20 . The absorbent article of  claim 19 , wherein the continuous support layer is disposed between the absorbent core and the backsheet.