Garment shield

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The disposable shield of the present invention comprises a thin, highly absorbent pad having a body-contacting surface, an absorbent layer, a liquid barrier, a positioning means for attaching the pad to an undergarment, and a release layer to protect the positioning means prior to use.
The pad further comprises densified areas which have been made by fusing all pad layers together in a manner such that the interstitial space between the individual fibers in the densified areas is insufficient to readily allow fluid to flow through.
The densified areas are made contiguous such that fluid, when introduced or deposited on the pad, will be prevented or hindered from flowing to the edges of the pad.
The present invention also involves a method of manufacturing the absorbent pad by applying heat and pressure to fuse all three layers of the pad--the body contacting layer, the absorbent layer, and the garment side layer--together to form fluid barriers in patterns which cause fluid to be compartmentalized on the pad, preventing or hindering its flow toward the pad edges.