SeongDae Roh, Yongin-si, South Korea; HyongBom Kim, YongIn-Si, South Korea; HyungWoo Park, SuWon-Si, South Korea; and SeoYeon Son, SeongNam-Si, South Korea. Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI.
Filed: 5/20/13
Issued: 11/3/15

An absorbent personal care article comprising: an elongate shape defined by opposed first and second sides and opposed front and rear ends; said article defining a longitudinal axis, a transverse axis and a vertical axis normal to said longitudinal axis and said transverse axis; a liquid permeable topsheet defining a top surface and a bottom surface, a liquid impermeable backsheet and an absorbent core disposed between said liquid permeable topsheet and said liquid impermeable backsheet; a first wing extending from said first side and having a wing proximal edge and a wing distal edge; a second wing extending from said second side and having a wing proximal edge and a wind distal edge; a fastener positioned on at least one of said first and second wings; said first wing having a first hinge line and said second wing having a second hinge line, said first wing and said second wing being adapted during use to be folded along said respective first and second hinge lines downwardly relative to said vertical axis towards said backsheet; said article further including a first protective strip and a second protective strip each defining a proximal edge and a distal edge and a width therebetween, said first and second protective strips each defining a front end portion and a rear end portion with a mid-portion disposed between said front end portion and said rear end portion, said front end portion being separated from said mid-portion by a front transition portion, said rear end portion being separated from said mid-portion by a rear transition portion; said first protective strip being located adjacent said first side of said article and said second protective strip being located adjacent said second side of said article such that at least a portion of said first protective strip including at least a portion of said distal edge extends beyond said first hinge line and at least a portion of said second protective strip including at least a portion of said distal edge extends beyond said second hinge line, said first and second hinge lines being located below said respective first and second protective strips relative to said vertical axis; said mid-portion of said first and second protective strips each having a distal edge at least a portion of which is straight, said front transition portion and said rear transition portion each having a width which is less than the width of said front end portion, said mid-portion and said rear end portion; and wherein said distal edge of said first and second protective strips is unattached to said article.