A system for controlling the temperature of a film before and/or during application, the system including: a heat source for heating a film; and stretch rollers; wherein the heat source heats the film from an ambient temperature to a temperature from about 2° C. to about 40° C. above the ambient temperature, wherein the film is heated prior to or simultaneous to being stretched by the stretch rollers, and wherein the ambient temperature is below 15° C. The preheating system may be used to enhance binding and sealing properties of stretch films used for wrapping palletized products in a reduced temperature environment. Other embodiments of the preheating film system, and methods for its use, are described herein.

The present invention provides constructs including a tubular biodegradable polyglycolic acid scaffold, wherein the scaffold may be coated with extracellular matrix proteins and substantially acellular. The constructs can be utilized as an arteriovenous graft, a coronary graft, a peripheral artery bypass conduit, or a urinary conduit. The present invention also provides methods of producing such constructs.

The present disclosure encompasses three-dimensional articles comprising flexible-composite materials and methods of manufacturing said three-dimensional articles. More particularly, the present system relates to methods for manufacturing seamless three-dimensional-shaped articles usable for such finished products as airbags/inflatable structures, bags, shoes, and similar three-dimensional products. A preferred manufacturing process combines composite molding methods with specific precursor materials to form fiber-reinforced continuous shaped articles that are flexible and collapsible.

A welding process of an inflatable product is provided that includes using isolating members between first and second portions of weldable tensioning members to resist the first and second portions of the weldable tensioning structures being welded together during welding of the first portions to a first sheet of weldable material and welding of the second portions to a second sheet of weldable material.

Apparatus for longitudinal orientation of thermoplastic film material (4) comprises a width-reduction zone upstream of the longitudinal stretching zone, through which the width of the film is gradually reduced so as to allow longitudinal stretching without necking. The width-reduction zone comprises at least one, preferably several, pairs of pleating rollers (16, 17) comprising intermeshing grooves or discs for pleating the material, the length of said width reduction zone preferably being less than 3 times the original width of the film. The width-reducing zone has upstream (14) and downstream (15) rollers or roller assemblies, with curved axes and optionally also conveyor belts for providing smooth width reduction. Longitudinal stretching is preferably between at least two, and preferably more than two, pairs of stretching rollers (9, 10, 11, 12) which are relatively close together. The pleats may be provided in several stages with increasing pleats per stage, while guiding means preferably lay all the pleats to one side. The apparatus allows achievement of high tensile strength, yield point, resistance to tear propagation and puncture resistance, especially for polyethylene and polypropylene films.

A method of forming dual layer water soluble packets includes drawing a base film into a cavity of a mold, drawing air through openings in the base film, metering an amount of a first product of a first color onto the base film in the cavity, metering an amount of a second product of a second color onto the amount of the first product, and, sealing a lid film to the base film.

A panel assembly includes a multilayer load bearing panel configured to enclose an opening to an interior compartment by positioning the panel in the opening. The panel has opposing first and second appearance layers and is reversible in the opening between first and second positions. In the first position, the first appearance layer is outwardly facing in the opening and the second appearance layer faces inwardly to the compartment. In the second position, the second appearance layer is outwardly facing in the opening and the first appearance layer faces inwardly to the compartment. One of the appearance layers is made of a protective polymeric coating such as a thermosetting polyurethane-based coating or thermoset polyurea coating. The other appearance layer is made of one of a laminate structure which can include a wood veneer, a textile, or a carpeting material. A method for making the multilayer panel is provided.

The present disclosure relates to methods for sealing absorbent cores of disposable diaper pants during the assembly process. The diaper pants may include a chassis connected with a ring-like elastic belt. Aspects of the assembly methods involve bonding a continuous length of absorbent cores between a continuous topsheet substrate and a continuous backsheet substrate advancing in a machine direction. The combined continuous topsheet substrate, continuous backsheet substrate, and continuous length of absorbent cores are then cut along a cross direction to create discrete chassis, wherein the topsheet, the backsheet, and the absorbent core of each chassis have equal longitudinal lengths. The discrete chassis are then deposited onto a first continuous elastic laminate and a second continuous elastic laminate. Opposing end regions of the absorbent cores may then be sealed by positioning a sealing layer across the topsheets of the chassis.

A molded component is produced by heating a non-woven material web to bring it into a plastically deformable state, and then plastically deforming the non-woven material under pressure between two mold tools of a molding apparatus. The mold tools define therebetween at least one or preferably several mold cavities that respectively simultaneously form molded products therein. A cut is formed in the plastically deformable non-woven material web, preferably between two adjacent mold cavities, immediately before and/or during the molding step. The cut facilitates a pulling or flowing of the non-woven material away from the cut and toward a respective mold cavity to facilitate the molding deformation thereof while avoiding excessive stretching and thinning of the non-woven material, especially at the transition area between adjacent mold cavities.

Patterned substrates having a first substrate region that is incrementally mechanically stretched with corrugations and a second substrate region having a plurality of discrete unstretched portions completely surrounded by the first substrate region.