Disposable articles, and, more particularly, a disposable undergarment including a product chassis configured to serve as a basis of a variety of disposable articles, including disposable underwear without an absorbent core, disposable underwear with an absorbent core designed for menstrual use, and disposable underwear or training pant with an absorbent core designed for incontinence use (adult and child). The product chassis is comprised of multiple sections including an elastomeric composite, containing stretch film, coupled to one another, each section is designed to provide stretch in a desired direction, thereby resulting in improved securement of the undergarment to a wearer for optimizing fit and comfort for the wearer, while reducing the risk of leakage as well as reducing the amount overall material required for producing the undergarment. Furthermore, the inclusion of an elastomeric composite can provide a smooth contoured fit to a wearer, thereby improving appearance and self-confidence for the wearer.

The present disclosure relates to elastic laminates and methods for assembling elastic laminates that may be used to make absorbent article components. Elastic laminates may include one or more reinforcement layers positioned between unstretched portions of elastic materials and substrates to which the elastic materials are bonded.

Feminine hygiene articles are disclosed herein. The feminine hygiene articles described herein can provide easily discernable placement and orientation guides which reduce the likelihood of misapplication by the user, facilitated attachment guides which can reduce the likelihood of misapplication of the feminine pad and can also reduce the likelihood of improper attachment of the feminine pad to a panty. The feminine hygiene articles disclosed include uniquely shaped wings which can provide cues on proper attachment of the article to the panty, and may help in providing sustained coverage of the feminine hygiene article to the panty which reduces the likelihood that the pad will become detached during use.

Process for making discrete fibrous layers, comprising the steps of continuously depositing fibers in an endless series of molds, with two neighboring molds connected by a connecting section, transferring the resulting continuous fibrous layer to another endless moving surface and cutting the continuous fibrous layer at the connecting sections to form discrete fibrous layers. The molds comprise at least one raised element that prevents fiber deposition in the raised element area.

A permeable material composite is provided for use in an absorbent article. The permeable material composite includes a permeable material layer that is a low-strength material layer and having a tensile strength of less than 3 N/mm. The permeable material layer has an edge having a contour and being a shaped edge providing the permeable material composite with a non-rectangular shape. The permeable material layer is reinforced along the shaped edge with a reinforcement material that is attached to the permeable material layer. The reinforcement material has a shaped outer edge having a contour that coincides fully or partly with the contour of the shaped edge of the permeable material layer.

An absorbent article (10, 110) can include a waist containment member (54) with a first longitudinal side edge (72), a second longitudinal side edge (74), a proximal portion (76), an intermediate portion (77), and a distal portion (78). The proximal portion (76) can be coupled to the chassis (11) of the absorbent article (10, 110). The intermediate portion (77) can be free to move independent of the proximal portion (76) and the distal portion (78) and free to move independent of the body facing surface (19) of the chassis (11) to provide a containment pocket (82) for containing body exudates. The distal portion (78) can be disposed underneath the intermediate portion (77) when the absorbent article (10, 110) is in the stretched, laid-flat configuration. The waist containment member (54) can also include a first lateral tack-down region (83a) and a second lateral tack-down region (83b).

The methods herein relate to assembling an elastic laminate with a first elastic material and a second elastic material bonded between first and second substrates. During assembly, an elastic laminate may be formed by positioning the first and second substrates in contact with stretched central regions of the first and second elastic materials. The elastic laminates may include two or more bonding regions that may be defined by the various layers or components of the elastic laminate that are laminated or stacked relative to each other. In some configurations, a first plurality of ultrasonic bonds are applied to the elastic laminate to define a first bond density in the first bonding region, and a second plurality of ultrasonic bonds are applied to the elastic laminate to define a second bond density in the second bonding region, wherein the second bond density is not equal to the first bond density.

The methods herein relate to assembling an elastic laminate with a first elastic material and a second elastic material bonded between first and second substrates. During assembly, an elastic laminate may be formed by positioning the first and second substrates in contact with stretched central regions of the first and second elastic materials. The elastic laminates may include two or more bonding regions that may be defined by the various layers or components of the elastic laminate that are laminated or stacked relative to each other. In some configurations, a first plurality of ultrasonic bonds are applied to the elastic laminate to define a first bond density in the first bonding region, and a second plurality of ultrasonic bonds are applied to the elastic laminate to define a second bond density in the second bonding region, wherein the second bond density is not equal to the first bond density.

An absorbent member manufacturing method of the invention is a method for manufacturing an absorbent member (100) for an absorbent article and including synthetic fibers (10b). The method involves: a cutting step of cutting a continuous synthetic fiber sheet (10bs) at predetermined lengths in a first direction and a second direction intersecting with the first direction, and forming sheet fragments (10bh) including the synthetic fibers (10b); a transporting step of transporting the formed sheet fragments (10bh) to an accumulating portion (41); and an accumulating step of accumulating, in the accumulating portion (41), the sheet fragments (10bh) transported in the transporting step, and obtaining an accumulation (100a) which is a constituent member of the absorbent member (100).

An absorbent article can have a topsheet layer, a liquid impermeable layer, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet layer and the liquid impermeable layer. The absorbent article can further include an exudate management layer in fluid communication with the topsheet layer. In various embodiments, the exudate management layer can be positioned on a body facing surface of the topsheet layer. In various embodiments, the exudate management layer can be positioned between the topsheet layer and the absorbent core. The exudate management layer has a first component which defines an opening for direct passage of body exudates into the absorbent core. The exudate management layer has a second component which at least partially overlaps the first component of the exudate management layer and further extends in the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article in a direction towards the posterior region of the absorbent article.