Apertured web

Abstract

A web for use in disposable absorbent articles is disclosed herein. The web has a first surface and an opposing second surface. A plurality of discrete extended elements and a plurality of macro apertures arranged in a staggered pattern are provided. A plurality of web regions between adjacent macro apertures has a top plane having a length less than or equal to about 0.9 mm between the two adjacent macro apertures.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A web having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, the web further comprising:
 a) a plurality of discrete extended elements extending outwardly from the first surface, the discrete extended elements having open proximal ends, open or closed distal ends and side walls;   b) a plurality of macro apertures having a major axis dimension and a minor axis dimension and being arranged in a staggered pattern; and   c) a plurality of web regions between adjacent macro apertures, at least a portion of the plurality of web regions comprising a top plane having a length less than or equal to about 0.9 mm between the two adjacent macro apertures as measured according to the Top Plane Length Measurement.   
     
     
         2 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the web comprises the discrete extended elements selected from discrete extended elements having a diameter of less than about 500 microns, the discrete extended elements having an aspect ratio of at least about 0.2, at least about 95 discrete extended elements per square centimeter, and mixtures of thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the web comprises the macro apertures with a macro aperture density of from about 20 to about 40 macro apertures/cm 2 . 
     
     
         4 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of discrete extended elements comprises opened distal ends. 
     
     
         5 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the macro apertures have a ratio of a major axis dimension to minor axis dimension no greater than about 3.3. 
     
     
         6 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the macro apertures have a ratio of a major axis dimension to minor axis dimension of no greater than 1.9. 
     
     
         7 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein a portion of the plurality of web regions comprise a top plane having a length greater than about 0.9 mm as measured according to Top Plane length Measurement. 
     
     
         8 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the discrete extended elements are formed by a vacuum formation process. 
     
     
         9 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the discrete extended elements are formed by a hyrdroforming process. 
     
     
         10 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the macro apertures are formed by a mechanical deformation process. 
     
     
         11 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein a film web and a nonwoven web. 
     
     
         12 . The web of  claim 11 , wherein the nonwoven web comprises a spunbond nonwoven. 
     
     
         13 . The web of  claim 11 , wherein the nonwoven web comprises carded fibers. 
     
     
         13 . The web of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of discrete extended elements extend in a first direction from the web and the plurality of macro apertures extend in a second direction from the web, opposite the first direction. 
     
     
         14 . A disposable absorbent article comprising a topsheet a backsheet, and an absorbent core disposed between the topsheet and the backsheet, wherein the web of  claim 1  forms a portion of the topsheet. 
     
     
         15 . A laminate web comprising a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface, the laminate web further comprising:
 a nonwoven web;   a film web;   a plurality of macro apertures arranged in a staggered pattern extending through the laminate web;   a plurality of extended elements extending outwardly from the first surface, the discrete extended elements having open proximal ends, open or closed distal ends and side walls; and   a plurality of web regions between adjacent macro apertures, at least a portion of the plurality of web regions comprising a top plane having a length less than or equal to about 0.9 mm between the two adjacent macro apertures as measured according to the Top Plane Length Measurement.   
     
     
         16 . A method of forming a web having a first surface and an opposing second surface, the method comprising the steps of:
 extruding a film layer;   obtaining a nonwoven layer;   combining the film layer and nonwoven layer to form a laminate; and   providing the laminate web to a forming apparatus to create macro apertures therein, wherein a plurality of web regions disposed between adjacent macro apertures have a top plane having a length of less than or equal to about 0.9 mm between two adjacent macro apertures as measured according to the Top Plane Length Measurement.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the step of forming a plurality of discrete extended elements via hydroforming. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , further comprising the step of forming a plurality of discrete extended elements via vacuum forming. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the forming apparatus comprises a pair of rolls and wherein at least one of the rolls is heated.