ABSORBENT ARTICLES HAVING A FOLDED ABSORBENT CORE DEFINING ONE OR MORE CHANNELS

1 . An absorbent article comprising:

a chassis having opposing front and rear waist portions and a crotch portion extending longitudinally between the front and rear waist portions, where the crotch portion is configured to conform about at least one of a wearer's groin area, perineum, and rear when the chassis is configured in a wearable configuration; and

an absorbent core extending longitudinally along the crotch portion and comprising a laminate, where the laminate is longitudinally folded such that the absorbent core includes:

a lower layer spanning a portion of a lateral width of the absorbent core, the lower layer including a first portion and a second portion; and

a plurality of folded layers of the laminate disposed over the lower layer and configured to define at least one non-overlapping channel;

where the absorbent core is disposed between a topsheet and a backsheet.

2 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where:

the plurality of folded layers comprises one or more folded layers within a middle region, one or more folded layers within a first edge region, and one or more folded layers within a second edge region opposite to the first edge region;

a first channel of the at least one non-overlapping channel is defined between the first edge region and the middle region; and

a second channel of the at least one non-overlapping channel is defined between the middle region and the second edge region.

3 . The absorbent article of claim 2 , where:

the one or more folded layers within the middle region comprise a first folded layer, a second folded layer, and a third folded layer; and

the first folded layer and the second folded layer are disposed between the third folded layer and the lower layer.

4 . The absorbent article of claim 3 , where the third folded layer spans the first folded layer, the second folded layer, and a gap between the first portion of the lower layer and the second portion of the lower layer.

5 . The absorbent article of claim 3 , where:

the one or more folded layers within the first edge region comprise a fourth folded layer and a fifth folded layer; and

the fourth folded layer is disposed between the fifth folded layer and the first portion of the lower layer.

6 . The absorbent article of claim 5 , further comprising a longitudinally-extending insert coupled to the laminate such that a portion of the longitudinally-extending insert is disposed between the first portion of the lower layer and the first and fourth folded layers, where the longitudinally-extending insert comprises at least one of:

fluff and superabsorbent polymer; and

a through-air bonded polymer nonwoven.

7 . The absorbent article of claim 5 , where:

the one or more folded layers within the second edge region comprise a sixth folded layer and a seventh folded layer; and

the sixth folded layer is disposed between the seventh folded layer and the second portion of the lower layer.

8 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , further comprising a core cover coupled to the absorbent core.

9 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , further comprising an acquisition distribution layer (ADL), the ADL coupled to a top surface of the absorbent core, to a bottom surface of the absorbent core, or to a surface of a core cover of the absorbent core.

10 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where additional layers of material are incorporated within the chassis, between the absorbent core and the topsheet, between the absorbent core and the backsheet, or a combination thereof

11 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where a width of each of the at least one non-overlapping channel is approximately 5-20 millimeters.

12 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where each of the at least one non-overlapping channel is configured to provide a flow path to a corresponding void cavity defined by at least some of the plurality of folded layers and the lower layer.

13 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where a first sub-portion of the first portion of the lower layer and a second sub-portion of the second portion of the lower layer are bonded to the crotch portion.

14 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where:

the laminate includes two or more substrate laminae and one or more absorbent laminae;

each of the one or more absorbent laminae comprises superabsorbent polymer (SAP); and

a first one of the one or more absorbent laminae is disposed between first and second ones of the two or more substrate laminae.

15 . The absorbent article of claim 1 , where:

the absorbent core further includes at least one absorbent core component that includes one or more folded layers; and

the at least one non-overlapping channel is further defined by the at least one absorbent core component.