Methods and apparatuses herein relate to folding a substrate advancing in a machine direction through and assembly process, wherein the substrate includes a first outer region separated from a second outer region in a cross direction by a central region. The first outer region and the second outer region are continuous in the machine direction and the central region is discontinuous in the machine direction. During the folding process, the first outer region is conveyed in the machine direction while the central region is folded around a folding axis to place the second outer region in a facing relationship with the first outer region. The folding axis may be defined by a rail and/or a longitudinal edge of a conveyor. As such, the folding apparatus may be configured in various ways to help reduce negative effects of frictional forces acting on the central region of the substrate while folding.

A product including a feminine hygiene pad in a folded configuration provided within an individualized envelope package is disclosed. The pad is folded separately of the envelope package and is entirely contained within the package. The package has a rectangular shape and includes a section of polymeric film, a pair of side seams, and a closure flap overlapping an opening edge, wherein the package is configured to create an access opening upon lifting of the closure flap, while allowing material along the side seams to remain unseparated.

A product including a feminine hygiene pad in a folded configuration provided within an individualized envelope package is disclosed. The pad is folded separately of the envelope package and is entirely contained within the package. The package has a rectangular shape and includes a section of polymeric film, a pair of side seams, and a closure flap overlapping an opening edge, wherein the package is configured to create an access opening upon lifting of the closure flap, while allowing material along the side seams to remain unseparated.

An absorbent article has a wrapping sheet wrapping an absorbent body including an intermediate part located on one side of front face side and back face side of the body and both side parts folded back to the other side of the body from the intermediate part. Distal ends of the both side parts are overlapped on the other side of the body to form a connecting portion. A whole part of an internal surface of the wrapping sheet faces the body and is bonded to an external surface of the body through hot melt adhesives. A usage amount of the hot melt adhesives bonds the wrapping sheet and the body together and is larger at least in a region of both end portions in a width direction on the other side of the body than on the one side of the body.

A male incontinence guard has a fluid-impermeable backsheet, a fluid-permeable topsheet facing a user and an absorbent body arranged between the backsheet and the topsheet. The guard has a longitudinal extension along a longitudinal axis and a transverse extension along a transverse axis. The transverse axis divides the guard into an upper and a lower region. The upper region has a greater maximum extension along the transverse axis than the lower region. The absorbent body has primary and secondary cores arranged in a stacked configuration. The primary core has a greater area in an XY plane than the area of the secondary core. The secondary core has side edges that are at least partly generally parallel to the longitudinal axis. Also disclosed is a method for manufacturing the male incontinence guard.

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 male incontinence guard having a fluid-impermeable backsheet, a fluid-permeable topsheet facing the user and an absorbent body arranged between the backsheet and the topsheet. The guard has a longitudinal extension along a longitudinal axis and a transverse extension along a transverse axis. The transverse axis divides the guard into an upper region and a lower region. The transverse axis extends between first and second lower corner points which define the two outermost points of the guard, which define a first width. The upper region has an inwardly recessed curvature portion extending between first and second upper corner points. The upper corner points define a second width such that the first width is greater than the second width. The corner points are connected by their respective outer side edges. A method for manufacturing a male incontinence guard is disclosed.

An absorbent article has an absorbent body obtained by mixing and accumulating fibers and high absorbent polymer particles. A wrapping sheet includes an intermediate part located on a front face side of the absorbent body and both side parts folded back to a back face side of the absorbent body from the intermediate part. Distal ends of the both side parts of the wrapping sheet are overlapped on the back face side of the absorbent body to form a connecting portion. A total weight of the high absorbent polymer particles is larger than a total weight of the fibers in the absorbent body. A content rate of the high absorbent polymer particles of the absorbent body increases stepwise or continuously from the back face side toward the front face side.

In the present invention, an elastic resin material having a thermoplastic elastic resin is extruded into a sheet shape on a die and made to have a thickness that varies along the width direction, and then is cooled, to a temperature in which the elastic resin material elastically deforms, to form a sheet body that varies in thickness along the width direction, and a stretchable sheet is formed by laminating and joining base sheets. The sheet body includes at least two first and second regions adjacent to each other in the width direction, and the thicknesses of the second regions are greater than that of the first regions. In a wearable article, the stretchable sheet is disposed so that at least a portion of the second regions is closer to an opening around a body or an opening around a leg of the disposable wearable article than the first regions.

A method for manufacturing feminine hygiene pad products is disclosed. The method may include: providing a continuous stream of pads moving along a machine direction; orienting each of the pads such that its longitudinal axis is substantially aligned with a cross direction; providing a continuous web of backsheet adhesive coversheet material moving along the machine direction, the material bearing a series of spaced separation perforations along cross direction lines of separation, or alternatively, providing such separation perforations; providing deposits of backsheet adhesive between the material and the pads; successively disposing the pads in contact with the material, wherein the pads are adhered to the material by the backsheet adhesive; and following such disposition of the pads, successively separating each pad, together with a portion of the material, from a following pad, and from the material, along the separation perforations, thereby creating individual pads each bearing an individual backsheet adhesive coversheet.