Keith Edgett, Middletown, CT; Robert Jorgensen, Middletown, CT; Eugene Dougherty, Camden, DE; and Yinka Abdul, Newark, DE.
Assigned to Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC, Chesterfield, MO.

Filed: 9/21/12
Issued: 1/30/18

A tampon pledget for a super absorbency tampon having an absorbency between 9-12 grams, comprising: at least one bottom pad having a length, a width and a thickness, the length of the bottom pad being approximately 4 inches and the width of the bottom pad being approximately 2 inches, the bottom pad consisting essentially of viscose rayon fiber and having a weight between about 0.94 grams and about 1.78 grams; at least one top pad having a length, a width, and a thickness, said at least one top pad positioned on said at least one bottom pad, the length of the top pad being approximately 4 inches and the width of the top pad being approximately 2 inches, the top pad consisting essentially of viscose rayon fiber and having a weight between about 0.76 grams and about 1.46 grams; and a withdrawal string; wherein said at least one top pad and said at least one bottom pad are in a cross-pad configuration such that said at least one top pad is centered on said at least one bottom pad, wherein said at least one top pad extends longitudinally across the width of said at least one bottom pad such that said at least one top pad is substantially perpendicular to said at least one bottom pad; wherein said top and bottom pads being folded to form said pledget such that said at least one bottom pad forms an inner core of said pledget and said at least one top pad forms an outer layer of said pledget; wherein after the folded formation, said tampon pledget is compressed into a self-sustaining cylindrical shape with a tapered insertion end, the cylindrical shape has a uniform diameter at a given cross-section of said tampon pledget, the overall length of said compressed pledget is less than the length or the width of either the at least one bottom pad and at least one top pad, said tampon pledget including said withdrawal string having an average mass that is about 2.6 g, the tampon pledget having an average absorbency rate that is between about 0.322 g/g/sec and about 0.362 g/g/sec between 2 and 5 seconds of a GATS test, wherein at least ten samples of said tampon pledget have been measured to determine said average mass and said average absorbency rate.