Method and Apparatus for Bonding Elastic Parts Under Tension to an Advancing Carrier

Uwe Schneider, Cincinnati, OH; Michael Brian Quade, Blue Ash, OH; Jason Edward Naylor, Loveland, OH; Jeromy Thomas Raycheck, South Lebanon, OH; Urmish Popatlal Dalal, Milford, OH; and Keith Richard Willhaus, Cincinnati, OH.

Assigned to The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH. Filed by The Procter & Gamble Company, Cincinnati, OH.

Filed: 8/27/24
Issued: 6/2/26

A method of assembling absorbent articles, the method comprising steps of: providing an elastic part comprising a first surface and an opposing second surface, the elastic part further comprising a first end region and a second end region separated from the first end region in a cross direction by a central region; providing a zone of adhesive positioned on the second surface of the elastic part; advancing the elastic part in a machine direction on a first roll, wherein the second surface is facing radially outward; transferring the first end region and the second end region of the elastic part from the first roll to a rotatable transfer device, wherein the second surface of the elastic part is facing radially inward; stretching the central region of the elastic part in the cross direction while rotating the transfer device; transferring the stretched elastic part to a second roll, wherein the second surface of the elastic part is facing radially outward; advancing a carrier substrate adjacent the second roll, the carrier substrate comprising a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge separated from the first longitudinal side in the cross direction; advancing the elastic part from the second roll to the carrier substrate such that the stretched central region extends in the cross direction between the first and second longitudinal edges of the carrier substrate; adhesively bonding the stretched central region of the elastic part with the carrier substrate; and mechanically bonding the first end region and the second end region of the elastic part with the carrier substrate.