An absorbent article may comprise a chassis having a front waist region, a rear waist region, a crotch region between the front waist region and the rear waist region, a pair of longitudinal edges, and a pair of side panels extending between and connecting the front waist region and the rear waist region to form a leg opening. Each side panel may comprise a stretch laminate joined by a mechanical bond. The article may bear a chassis graphic disposed on a backsheet and a side panel graphic disposed on a side panel.

Absorbent articles comprising connecting portions and methods of manufacture are disclosed. In an embodiment an absorbent article may comprise a chassis having a front half section, a rear half section, a body facing surface, and a garment facing surface. The article further comprises an absorbent body and a of containment flaps attached to the body facing surface of the chassis, each of the pair of containment flaps having a flap distal edge. The article may further comprise a connecting portion in the rear half section where the containment flaps and connecting portion define an opening to the body facing surface. The opening may be defined by a pair of laterally opposed edges having a minimum separation distance within the rear end section of between about one-quarter and about three-quarters of a distance between the flap distal edges of the containment flaps.

Elastic laminate with hooks comprising an upper layer (2) of nonwoven fabric extending in width in a direction CD and in length in a direction MD, a web (5) with hooks (10) comprising a strip, in particular made of thermoplastic material, from which hooks protrude, and which is attached onto the upper face of the upper layer of nonwoven fabric, the hooks being intended to engage with loops according to a hook-and-loop fastening system, an elastic film (3; 4) extending in the direction CD over a width less than or equal to the width of the upper layer (2) of nonwoven fabric, the upper face of the elastic film (3; 4) being attached to the lower side of the upper layer of nonwoven fabric, the web with hooks extending between respective side end points, left-hand and right-hand respectively, and characterised in that one (Pg6; Pd6) of the two side end points (Pg6, Pd6), left-hand and right-hand respectively, of the web (5) with hooks is located vertically in line with a point of the elastic film.

The application relates to a method of and an apparatus for tucking a pair of opposing side seams (3, 4) into a body portion (2) of a hygiene pant (1), wherein the side seams (3, 4) are pushed between a front region (20) and a back region (21) of the body portion (2) a distance toward one another, and wherein the tucked side seams (3, 4) are connected in at least one connection region (7) with each other and/or to the body portion (2).

An elastic nappy element that includes an elastic layer (1) and outer layers (2, 3) made of a non-woven fabric. The nappy element has connecting regions (4, 8) for connecting the outer layers (2, 3) to the elastic layer (1). These connecting regions (4, 8) include zones (7, 9) in which a form-fitting bond of non-woven material and solidified material of the elastic layer (1) is formed.

A pull-on absorbent article includes: an absorbent main body including an absorbent body along a vertical direction; and waist-circumference sections in a pair respectively located on one end side and another end side of the absorbent main body, the waist-circumference sections each including an elastic member stretchable in a lateral direction, the absorbent main body including extension sections in a pair respectively extending outward on two lateral sides of the absorbent body, the extension sections each having an elastic member stretchable in the vertical direction placed therein, the extension sections each forming a leg opening and including an overlap portion that overlaps in the vertical direction with at least one of the waist-circumference sections in a pair, the overlap portion having at least a part joined to the waist-circumference section, the overlap portion of the extension section having a welded region having a predetermined lateral length placed therein.

In one example, a method of fabricating a product, such as a diaper, includes a step of folding a substrate of the product to form a plurality of pleats in the substrate. The method includes a step of applying a liquified elastic to the substrate such that the liquified elastic adheres to the substrate and extends across the plurality of pleats. The method includes a step of allowing the liquified elastic to solidify on the substrate.

An apparatus for conveying and applying a discrete part to a substrate includes a plurality of transfer puck assemblies, a drive assembly, and a translation mechanism. The plurality of transfer puck assemblies is adapted to convey the discrete part to the substrate, and each transfer puck assembly includes at least one puck segment. The drive assembly is configured to rotate each transfer puck assembly about a drive axis. The translation mechanism is configured to translate the at least one puck segment in an axial direction as the plurality of transfer puck assemblies are being rotated about the drive axis to move the discrete part to a profiled configuration prior to application of the profiled discrete part to the substrate.

A method and apparatus for producing fluff-free absorbent cores for absorbent sanitary articles, wherein loose unbound fibers and superabsorbent granular material dispersed in the loose unbound fibers are deposited on a movable surface and subsequently the fibers are mixed and bound together in such a way as to form an absorbent structure of bound fibers in which superabsorbent granular material is mixed and incorporated.

Methods for forming absorbent articles and side seam bonds of absorbent articles are described. In one embodiment, a method of forming absorbent articles may comprise advancing webs, coupling absorbent cores to the webs intermittently to form open absorbent article chassis, folding the absorbent article chassis, forming a first side seam bond first bond pair between a first region of the webs and a second region of the webs with a first ultrasonic horn, forming a second side seam bond of the bond pair between the first region and the second region with a second ultrasonic horn, the first bond being associated with a first absorbent article chassis and the second side seam bond being associated with a second absorbent article chassis, and cutting the folded absorbent article chassis between the first bond and the second bond to separate the first absorbent article chassis from the second absorbent article chassis.