Apparatus and methods are provided to minimize waste and improve quality and production in web processing operations. The apparatus and methods provide defect detection in deposition of acquisition material, which on current machines frequently flips and is difficult to detect when it has flipped causing manufacturers to scrap thousands of products. Using the present invention, defects are able to be detected by discerning a difference in the appearance from side to side with a vision camera, and an acquisition inverter can flip the material to a correct orientation.

The present disclosure relates to methods for making elastomeric laminates that may be used as components of absorbent articles. During assembly of the elastomeric laminate, elastic material may be advanced and stretched in a machine direction and joined with either or both first and second substrates advancing in the machine direction. The apparatuses according to the present disclosure may be configured with a plurality of spools, wherein each spool comprises a single elastic strand wound onto a core. The elastic strands are unwound from respective spools by rotating the spools about the cores. Neighboring elastic strands may be spaced or separated from each other at a desired distance in a cross direction by advancing the elastic strands through a strand guide that may comprise a plurality of tines or reeds. The assembled elastomeric laminate may then be accumulated by being wound onto a roll or festooned in a container.

The present disclosure relates to systems and processes for controlling the relative positions or phasing of advancing substrates and/or components in absorbent article converting lines. The systems and methods may utilize feedback from technologies, such as vision systems, sensors, remote input and output stations, and controllers with synchronized embedded clocks to accurately correlate component placement detections and placement control on an absorbent article converting process. The systems and methods may accurately apply the use of precision clock synchronization for both instrumentation and control system devices on a non-deterministic communications network. In turn, the clock synchronized control and instrumentation network may be used to control the substrate position. As such, the controller may be programmed to the relative positions of substrates and components along the converting line without having to account for undeterminable delays.

An absorbent article includes an absorbent element obtained by wrapping an absorbent body in a wrapping sheet, wherein the absorbent body is obtained by mixing and accumulating fibers and high absorbent polymer particles and includes an impregnation layer impregnated with a hot melt adhesive having melt viscosity of 1,000 to 6,000 mPa.Math.s on at least one side of a front face side and a back face side thereof. A part of an internal surface of the wrapping sheet facing the impregnation layer is bonded to an external surface of the impregnation layer through an adhesive layer made of a hot melt adhesive having melt viscosity within a range of 4,000 to 9,000 mPa.Math.s and having higher melt viscosity than melt viscosity of the hot melt adhesive impregnated into the impregnation layer.

A wetness monitor suitable for use in a diaper comprises an optical fibre having a core (11) and a cladding (12), borne on a substrate which is typically the outer layer (17) of the diaper. The fibre includes one or more discontinuities (13) in at least the cladding, and which may extend through the fibre; in that case the separate sections of the fibre are maintained in optical alignment. Ambient liquid enters the discontinuity preferentially, whereby the intensity of light passing through the core from a light source (14) to a light detector (15) is modified in the presence of liquid.

Disclosed herein are apparatus, systems and methods of measuring the weight and distribution of the fluff pulp and super absorbent polymer (SAP) or absorbent gelling material (AGM) of absorbent articles. The apparatus may be located at a position after the absorbent cores are formed. Each absorbent article is passed between the light emitter and the camera as well as between the radio transmitter and the radio detector. The camera and radio detector receive the signal transmitted by the light emitter and the radio transmitter respectively through the absorbent articles. The encoder synchronizes the transmission of data by the camera and the radio receiver to the movement of the web. The computer receives the signal data from radio detector and the image data from the camera from each absorbent article and uses the data to determine at least the weight of the fluff pulp and SAP/AGM in the absorbent core.

A method for inspecting absorbent articles is provided. The inspection is performed using an inspection algorithm generated with a convolutional neural network having convolutional neural network parameters. The convolutional neural network parameters are generated by a training algorithm. Based on the inspection, characteristics of the absorbent articles, such as defects, can be identified. Absorbent articles having identified characteristics can be rejected, or other actions can be taken.

A method for inspecting absorbent articles is provided. The inspection is performed using an inspection algorithm generated with a convolutional neural network having convolutional neural network parameters. The convolutional neural network parameters are generated by a training algorithm. Based on the inspection, characteristics of the absorbent articles, such as defects, can be identified. Absorbent articles having identified characteristics can be rejected, or other actions can be taken.

A device for measuring absorbent bodies that are spaced from each other on a continuous web comprises at least two microwave resonators configured to measure values of a shift of a resonance frequency and a spreading of a resonance frequency. The continuous web moves through the at least two microwave resonators and the at least two microwave resonators are positioned at an offset with respect to each other in the transverse and transport direction relative to a direction of transport of the continuous web in order to measure the entire width of the continuous web. At least one of a moisture and a density of the absorbent bodies is determined using the at least two microwave resonators to continuously determine the values of the shift of the resonance frequency and the spreading of the resonance frequency.

An absorbent article processing device includes a cutter roll and an anvil roll. The cutter roll includes a roll main body; a blade protruding in a radial direction in a first angular range of a part of a circumferential direction of the roll main body; a first bearer protruding in the radial direction in a second angular range of a part of the circumferential direction including at least the first angular range and being in contact with the anvil roll, and being cut out in an angular range excluding the second angular range at a first end portion in an axial direction of the roll main body; and a second bearer provided around the entire circumference or a part of the circumferential direction and being in contact with the anvil roll at the second end portion in an axial direction of the roll main body.