Tampon, as well as a method and a device for manufacturing it

A tampon, comprised of a strip of fiber fleece material rolled to a cylindrical shape, said tampon comprising:

• a core of a circular cross-section, said core comprising an annular outer area and a circular central area surrounded by the annular outer area;
• longitudinal ribs extending in the longitudinal direction of the cylindrical shape, said longitudinal ribs abutting one another and distributed evenly about the circumference of the core;
• wherein each one of said longitudinal ribs has a constriction adjacent to said core such that between neighboring ones of said longitudinal ribs longitudinal channels are formed that are delimited radially inwardly by said core;
• wherein the fiber fleece material of the core is compressed more strongly than the fiber fleece material of the longitudinal ribs;
• and
• wherein the fiber fleece material of the circular central area is compressed less than the fiber fleece material of the annular outer area.

A tampon produced by a process comprising the steps of:

• rolling up a strip of fiber fleece material to form a cylindrical blank having a cylindrical mantle with mantle sections uniformly distributed over the circumference of the cylindrical blank;
• applying pressing forces onto the mantle sections and thereby forming a preformed blank having a core and longitudinal ribs extending in the longitudinal direction of the preformed blank and distributed adjacent to one another so as to surround the core, wherein the fiber fleece material of the core is compressed more strongly than the fiber fleece material of the longitudinal ribs;
• and
• subjecting the longitudinal ribs to radial pressure forces for finish-shaping the preformed blank to form the tampon, wherein the core of the tampon has a circular cross-section comprising an annular outer area and a circular central area surrounded by the annular outer area, wherein the fiber fleece material of the circular central area is compressed less than the fiber fleece material of the annular outer area.