Christopher Philip Bewick-Sonntag, Cincinnati, OH; John Daniel Algers, Montgomery, OH; John David Norcom, Cincinnati, OH; Michael Joseph Page, Cincinnati, OH; and Shirdish Poondru, Cincinnati, OH.
Assigned to The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH.
Filed: 10/27/21
Issued: 1/14/25
An absorbent structure having a three-dimensional shape, a fluid-receiving side proximate a wearer-facing surface and a non-receiving side proximate the outward-facing surface, the non-receiving side occupying a first x-y plane, the fluid receiving side occupying a second x-y plane, a caliper measured along a z-direction relative the first and second x-y planes, a first zone constituting a first portion of the caliper proximate the non-receiving side, and a second zone constituting a second portion of the caliper proximate the fluid-receiving side, each of the first zone and the second zone comprising a co-formed blend of constituents including AGM particles and meltblown filaments, the particles in the first zone having a first average particle size, and the particles in the second zone having a second average particle size, wherein the first average particle size is smaller than the second average particle size, and wherein the AGM particles in one or both the first and second zones are stratified so as to generally exhibit a gradient of particle sizes along the z-direction, wherein the first zone has a first mass density of AGM particles therein and the second zone has a second mass density of AGM particles therein, and wherein the first mass density is greater than the second mass density, and wherein the meltblown filaments in the first zone having a first average filament size and the meltblown filaments in the second zone having a second average filament size, wherein the first average filament size is smaller than the second average filament size, and wherein the first zone has a plurality of first intra-particle spaces between the AGM particles and the meltblown filaments and the second zone has a plurality of second intra-particle spaces between the AGM particles and the meltblown filaments, and wherein the plurality of first intra particle spaces are smaller than the plurality of second intra-particle spaces; and a first boundary layer disposed on the fluid-receiving side of the absorbent structure, wherein the first boundary layer comprises filaments, wherein one or more voids are present between the filaments, wherein each of the one or more voids have a size, and wherein the size of the one or more voids is less than the first average particle size.
