Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi – With scrap material separation or removal
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-15
2004-04-20
Gerrity, Stephen F. (Department: 3721)
Manufacturing container or tube from paper; or other manufacturi
With scrap material separation or removal
C493S003000, C493S178000, C493S179000, C493S357000, C493S360000, C493S454000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06723034
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention pertains to processes for making garments, and more particularly to processes for making refastenable garments.
Refastenable garments can include disposable absorbent garments such as diapers, training pants, absorbent swimpants, feminine care products, and incontinence products. The typical disposable absorbent garment is formed as a composite structure including an absorbent assembly disposed between a liquid permeable bodyside liner and a liquid impermeable outer cover. These components can be combined with other materials and features such as elastic materials and containment structures to form a product that is specifically suited to its intended purposes.
What is lacking and needed in the art are improved processes for making refastenable garments.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In response to the above-referenced unfulfilled need in the art, new processes for making refastenable garments have been discovered. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a process for making prefastened and refastenable pants including the steps of: providing a plurality of discrete articles, each article having first and second waist regions, a crotch region interconnecting the waist regions, first fastening components disposed in the first waist region and separated from one another by an initial distance, and second fastening components disposed in the second waist region and adapted to refastenably engage the first fastening components; transversely displacing the first fastening components so that the first fastening components are separated from one another by a post displacement distance not equal to the initial distance; and engaging the first and second fastening components subsequent to transversely displacing the first fastening components.
The first waist region can be modified to position the first fastening components closer together, that is, the post displacement distance can be less than the initial distance. The first waist region can be modified by a wide variety of methods in order to transversely displace the fastening components closer together, including but not limited to: gathering; scrunching; folding; pleating; corrugating; wrinkling; contracting; necking; contouring or shaping, such as by bowing, elevating or otherwise separating portions of the first waist region; or the like, and combinations thereof.
In one particular embodiment, the fastening components can be positioned closer together by gathering together portions of the first waist region that are disposed between the fastening components. Such gathering functions to move the fastening components closer together. The side panels can be gathered, for example, in a channel or around a bar, rod, tube, plate or the like, all of which may be uniformly shaped or contoured. Various devices can be used to gather or scrunch waist region components together to establish a modified transverse linear distance, including: a vacuum device; contoured drum; contoured roll; pressurized air nozzles; converging conveyors or chains; vertical vacuum belts; cam systems; or the like, and combinations thereof. Such devices generally modify the contour of the pant as viewed in transverse section.
The portions to be gathered can include: the absorbent chassis; the side panels, whether integral portions of the absorbent chassis or separate elements bonded to the absorbent chassis; and portions of the fastening components themselves. For example, the side panels of one waist region can be adapted to function as fastening components by refastenably engaging one or more mating fastening components disposed on the opposite waist region. Transversely inward portions of the side panels can be gathered so that transversely outward portions of the side panels are closer together.
In related embodiments, the fastening components can be positioned closer together by creating an elevation difference between portions of the first waist region containing the fastening components and another portion of the first waist region. By way of illustration, the fastening components can be disposed in the side panels, and the absorbent chassis and/or side panels can be repositioned to create an elevation difference between at least a portion of the absorbent chassis and the side panels. Creation of this elevation difference can draw the fastening components closer together in the transverse direction. The elevation difference can be created by any mechanism to displace a portion of the waist region, including a contoured roll, contoured drum, a multi-path conveyor, guiding surfaces, fluid positioning devices, or the like. Particular devices for creating an elevation distance causing fastening components to move closer together are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/858,071, filed on May 15, 2001 by B. R. Vogt et al. and titled “Garment Side Panel Conveyor System And Method”; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/855,450, filed on May 15, 2001 by D. A. Maxton et al. and titled “Refastenable Bonding Of Garment Side Panels”; which applications are incorporated herein by reference.
In still other embodiments, the fastening components can be positioned closer together by contracting the first waist region. The pant can comprise, for example, an activatable retractive material that is adapted to contract in a direction parallel to the transverse axis of the pant upon activation. Suitable activation methods can include without limitation any means of applying energy to the retractive material, such as heating, electromagnetic radiation such as ultraviolet, infrared, microwave, or gamma radiation; chemical modification; compaction or compression of the retractive material; or the like. Latent activation, such as inducing stretch in a material prior to applying the material to the garment and allowing the material to naturally retract over time, can also be used to transversely contract the waist region. The front and back waist regions can be constructed to contract to the same or different degrees. One waist region can be adapted to contract more than the other waist region by employing different amounts or types of materials.
The retractive material can comprise any material adapted to retract upon activation, whether immediately upon activation or subsequently thereto. The retractive material can comprise elastomeric or nonelastomeric materials. Suitable nonelastomeric retractive materials can comprise without limitation oriented films, or the like, and laminates thereof. Suitable elastomeric retractive materials can comprise without limitation LYCRA® materials, elastomeric materials including latex rubber or synthetic urethanes, or the like, and laminates thereof. In particular embodiments, the retractive material can comprise an elastomeric material having an unstable state relative to some other stable and elastic state. In such embodiments, the retractive material can but need not have elastomeric properties in the unstable state.
The first waist region can alternatively be modified to position the first fastening components farther apart, that is, the post displacement distance can be greater than the initial distance. A variety of methods can be used to transversely displace the fastening components of the first waist region farther apart, including but not limited to: altering the structure of a material; stretching a material; or the like, and combinations thereof. Various devices can be used to move the fastening components further apart, such as: a tenter frame or similar device to grab and transversely pull the first waist region; diverging conveyors such as angled vacuum conveyors; angled nip rolls; or the like, and combinations thereof.
The disclosed process can provide an efficient method of manufacturing pants with fastening components disposed on opposite surfaces. For example, in one embodiment, the present invention relates to a process for making prefastened and refastenable pants including the steps of: providing a plurality of discrete articles, each article having first a
Chapple Scott Gerald
Clemens David Michael
Csida Jason Gene
Durrance Debra Hartley
Krupka Kurt Garrett
Brodersen John L.
Gage Thomas M.
Gerrity Stephen F.
Kimberly--Clark Worldwide, Inc.
Truong Thanh
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