US Patent No.: 8,574,210 B2
Inventor(s): Werner Van Ingelgem, Zele, Belgium; Rudolf Pollack, Grosspostwitz, Germany; and Steven Smet, Zele, Belgium.
Company: Ontex Hygieneartikel Deutschland GmbH, Grosspostwitz, Germany.
Filed: 2/5/08
Issued: 11/5/13

A tampon having an insertion end, a withdrawal end and a tampon body in between whereby said tampon body essentially consists of liquid absorbing material and has an outer circumferential surface which is provided with longitudinal grooves that are separated from each other by longitudinal ribs, wherein at least one tampon groove is defined an outer longitudinal path on the surface of the tampon that diverges from the longitudinal path of the groove below the surface of the tampon, wherein the groove of a tampon is defined by a plurality of inner longitudinal paths below the surface of the tampon, the path of each inner longitudinal path being across an x-y plane at a depth z, whereby the inner longitudinal paths of at least two x-y planes are divergent, wherein the divergent paths give rise to a path length in an x-y plane that decreases as the x-y plane rises towards the surface of the tampon or wherein the divergent paths give rise to a path length in an x-y plane that increases as the x-y plane rises towards the surface of the tampon.