Three dimensional nonwoven materials and methods of manufacturing such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, a nonwoven material may comprise a plurality of fibers and may further comprise an opposing first surface and a second surface, an apertured zone comprising a plurality of nodes extending away from a base plane on the first surface, a plurality of connecting ligaments interconnecting the plurality of nodes, and a plurality of openings providing a percent open area for the apertured zone that is greater than about 15%, as determined by the Material Sample Analysis Test Method. The material may further comprise a first and second side zones with the nonwoven material having a material width and the first and second side zones having first and second side zone widths, and wherein each of the first and second side zone widths are between about 5% and about 25% of the nonwoven material width.

Three dimensional nonwoven materials and absorbent articles comprising such materials are disclosed. In one embodiment, an absorbent article may comprise an outer cover, a bodyside liner, an absorbent body, and a nonwoven material coupled to the bodyside liner. The nonwoven material may comprise an apertured zone providing a percent open area for the apertured zone that is greater than about 15%. The nonwoven material may be coupled to liner by a front waist bond forming a front waist bonding region which extends through the apertured zone and a rear waist bond forming a rear waist bonding region, wherein the rear waist bonding region has a length that is between about 2% and about 10% of the material length and the front waist bonding region has a length that is between about 20% and about 50% of the material length.

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.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating absorbent article having multiple layers, and deformed zones of targeted performance, and colored regions, the method comprising the steps of forming discrete features on at least one layer, printing colored regions on at least one layer, integrating multiple layers to form an absorbent assembly, and cutting the absorbent assembly into individual absorbent articles, wherein the steps are carried out continuously.

The present invention relates to multi-layered non-woven structures being useful as components of disposable absorbent articles and garments comprising super absorbent particles and thereby acts as a core. The invention thereby ensures that the body fluids can penetrate from a first layer, which acts as an acquisition layer, up to a third layer comprising SAP particles, the second non-woven layer serving to decrease the fluid volume per surface unit, as a conventional dispersion layer. However the second layer of the invention additionally acts like a non-return valve, preventing, or at least strongly limiting, any fluid transfer from the third layer to the first layer. Channels free of SAP can additionally be design to improve the inlet and rewet properties of the multilayer acquisition and distribution sheet non-woven material.

Provided is an absorbent article which includes a top sheet having extruded protrusions and a second sheet bonded to the top sheet and has adequate softness, satisfactory appearance, and yet prevents wrinkles in the top sheet along the MD. The problem is solved by a method of producing an absorbent article including forming the extruded protrusions through embossing of non-woven fabric to be a top sheet transferred by being drawn from downstream of a production line; and then bonding the non-woven fabric and a material of a second sheet in a bonding pattern formed by aligning the material of the second sheet 40 with the back face of the non-woven fabric having extruded protrusions, forming rows of plurality of top-second bonded portions at intervals in the CD in regions between the extruded protrusions adjacent each other in the MD so as to be provided across the center positions of the regions in the CD, and compressing the non-woven fabric in areas between the top-second bonded portions in the rows in the CD without welding of the non-woven fabric and the material of the second sheet.

The present disclosure relates to assembling elastic laminates that may be used to make absorbent article components. Methods herein may include an anvil adapted to rotate about an axis of rotation, wherein first and second spreader mechanisms adjacent the anvil roll are axially and angularly displaced from each other with respect to the axis of rotation. During the assembly process, a substrate may be advanced in a machine direction onto the rotating anvil. The first spreader mechanism stretches a first elastic material in the cross direction, and the second spreader mechanism stretches a second elastic material in the cross direction. The stretched first and second elastic materials advance from the spreader mechanisms and onto the substrate on the anvil roll. The combined and elastic materials may then be ultrasonically bonded together on the anvil to form at least one elastic laminate.

An absorbent article comprises first and second substrates and one or more elastic elements disposed at least partially intermediate the substrates. The second substrate is attached to the first substrate and/or to portions of the elastic elements. The absorbent article comprises an adhesive having a first and second pattern of elements disposed on first substrate, and first and second texture zones. The first texture zone comprises a first portion of the substrates, a first portion of the elastic elements, and the first pattern of elements of the adhesive and forms a background pattern in the first portion of the substrates. The second texture zone comprises a second portion of the substrates, a second portion of the one or more elastic elements, and the second pattern of elements of the adhesive and forms a macro pattern in the second portion of the substrates.

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for mechanically bonding substrates together. The apparatuses may include a pattern roll including a pattern element protruding radially outward. The pattern element includes a pattern surface and includes one or more channels adjacent the pattern surface. The pattern roll may be positioned adjacent an anvil roll to define a nip between the pattern surface and the anvil roll, wherein the pattern roll is biased toward the anvil roll to define a nip pressure between pattern surface and the anvil roll. As substrates advance between the pattern roll and anvil roll, the substrates are compressed between the anvil roll and the pattern surface to form a discrete bond region between the first and second substrates. As such, during the bonding process, some yielded substrate material flows from under the pattern surface and into the channel to form a channel grommet region.

The present disclosure relates to printing graphics onto advancing substrates in diaper converting lines, wherein first graphics having relatively low print resolutions and second graphics having relatively high print resolutions may be both printed onto advancing substrates. During the assembly process, localized speed variances may be imparted to the advancing substrates to achieve the different print resolutions. In some configurations, first graphics with relatively low print resolutions may be printed onto the substrate while advancing at relatively high speeds, and second graphics with relatively high print resolutions may be printed onto portions of the substrate that have been temporarily stopped or slowed to relatively slow speed. The printed substrates may then be incorporated into assembled diapers so as place the graphics in desired positions on the diapers.