A pant-type garment having a length direction and a width direction and being divided in the length direction into a front portion, a back portion and a crotch. The front and back portions are joined in a first and a second side seam arranged in first and second side seam regions and are formed as fusion bonds formed by laser bonding of superposed layers of the front and back portions along opposing side edges of the front and back portions. The side seams have a length in the length direction of the pant-type garment and are constituted by fused thermoplastic material. Each side seam has a generally rectangular cross-sectional area, a width in the width direction of the pant-type garment and a thickness perpendicular to the width direction (W) and the length direction (L) within 80% to 100% of the length (l.sub.s) of each side seam.

An absorbent article including an absorbent core sandwiched between a liquid-permeable topsheet and a liquid-impermeable backsheet, wherein the absorbent core includes an absorbent component enclosed by a core cover including an upper side and a lower side, and a sealing arrangement for joining the upper and lower sides and including two channel sealings in the crotch portion defining a first channel sealing width and a second channel sealing width. The channel sealings are formed by thermo and/or mechanical welding pattern including a plurality of welding spots being arranged in the form of a first row along the longitudinal axis in which each welding spot extends along a first axis, and a second row along the longitudinal axis in which each welding spot extends along a second axis, the first axis and second axis defining a first angle in relation to each other.

The invention relates to a nonwoven laminated web (20) for making an elastic closure element (57) of a diaper (56) or an elastic shaping element (59) at the edge (58) of a diaper (56), having at least one laminate layer (21 and 22) of nonwoven textile (21 and 22) and a laminate layer (23) of an elastic film (23) adjacent thereto, the laminate layers (21 and 22, 23) being welded to one another at numerous spots (33) in a stretched state of the film (23). During welding, the film (23) is stretched in a central region (43) transverse to the longitudinal direction (L) of the nonwoven laminate (20) and is not stretched at the two longitudinal edge strips (50) in a width of 5-25% of the total width (G) of the film (23) in each case, so that, in the relaxed state of the film (23), the nonwoven laminate (20) forms folds (44) in the nonwoven layer (21 and 22) in the central region (43), which extend in the longitudinal direction (L) of the nonwoven laminate (20), and at the longitudinal edges (50, 51) has no folds in the nonwoven layer (21 and 22) but forms there two parallel, inelastic stiffening zones, the film (23) having a smooth, closed surface structure (49) at the longitudinal edge strips (50) and a wrinkled, furrowed surface structure (47) in the central region (43).

Provided is a disposable diaper (1) which includes an absorbent member (4) and a topsheet (2). The topsheet (2) includes a first sheet (20) and a second sheet (21). Both sheets (20) and (21) are partially joined to form a plurality of joined regions (22), and the first sheet (20) has a plurality of projections (23) which protrude from the second sheet (21) toward the wearer's skin side at a portion other than the joined regions (22). The projections (23) include first projections (23A) and second projections (23B) and, when the topsheet (2) is viewed in a plan view, a second projection region (23R) is formed which includes the second projections (23B) surrounded by the plurality of first projections (23A). When the topsheet (2) is viewed in a plan view, the joined regions (22) include an inner joined region (22A1) in the second projection region (23R).

An absorbent article including an absorbent core sandwiched between a liquid-permeable topsheet and a liquid-impermeable backsheet, wherein the absorbent core includes an absorbent component enclosed by a core cover including an upper side and a lower side, and a sealing arrangement for joining the upper and lower sides and including two channel sealings in the crotch portion defining a first channel sealing width and a second channel sealing width. The channel sealings are formed by thermo and/or mechanical welding pattern including a plurality of welding spots being arranged in the form of a first row along the longitudinal axis in which each welding spot extends along a first axis, and a second row along the longitudinal axis in which each welding spot extends along a second axis, the first axis and second axis defining a first angle in relation to each other.

Provided is a disposable diaper (1) which includes an absorbent member (4) and a topsheet (2). The topsheet (2) includes a first sheet (20) and a second sheet (21). Both sheets (20) and (21) are partially joined to form a plurality of joined regions (22), and the first sheet (20) has a plurality of projections (23) which protrude from the second sheet (21) toward the wearer's skin side at a portion other than the joined regions (22). The projections (23) include first projections (23A) and second projections (23B) and, when the topsheet (2) is viewed in a plan view, a second projection region (23R) is formed which includes the second projections (23B) surrounded by the plurality of first projections (23A). When the topsheet (2) is viewed in a plan view, the joined regions (22) include an inner joined region (22A1) in the second projection region (23R).

A stretchable structure of an absorbent article includes two sheet layers that extend in a stretchable direction and an orthogonal direction orthogonal to the stretchable direction; and elongated resilient and elastic members that are disposed between the sheet layers at predetermined intervals in the orthogonal direction and extend in the stretchable direction, wherein, the two ends in the stretchable direction of each of the resilient and elastic members comprise fixed ends fixed to the two sheet layers, and the section between the fixed ends comprises a free section unfixed to the two sheet layers, at least one sheet bonding section is disposed in at least one inter-free region defined between the free sections adjacent to each other in the orthogonal direction, the two sheet layers being bonded in the at least one inter-free region, and the two sheet layers in a contracted state conform with each other in a wave pattern in response to contraction of the resilient and elastic members.

Absorbent articles (30) have bonded materials and bond patterns. One of the absorbent articles (30) has a bond pattern (150a-150d) comprising bonds (151,153,155,155a-155d). The bond pattern (150a-150d) comprises a longitudinally extending series of bonds (151,153), which comprises a first bond (151) and a second bond (153) disposed longitudinally adjacent to the first bond (151). The first bond (151) has an inboard lateral edge (158), an outboard lateral edge (156), a top edge (152), and a bottom edge (154) having a recess portion (164). The second bond (153) has an inboard lateral edge (158) and an outboard lateral edge (156), a top edge (152) having a recess portion (164), and a bottom edge (154). The top edge (152) of the second bond (153) faces the bottom edge (154) of the first bond (151), each of the recess portion (164) of the first bond (151) and the recess portion (164) of the second bond (153) comprises terminal portions (157) which are disposed proximate the same outboard lateral edge (156) or inboard lateral edge (158) of the first bond (151) and the second bond (153). Such bond patterns (150a-150d) have been found to provide a superior combination of strength and softness.

The present disclosure is directed, in part, to webs or topsheets for absorbent articles and methods of making the same. The webs and topsheets include bicomponent fibers having a first component and a second component, wherein the first component has a different hydrophilicity than the second component. The webs and topsheets include a continuous land area and discrete zones of modified surface energy. One of the first and second components forms an outer surface of the fibers in the continuous land area and the other of the components at least partially forms an outer surface of the fibers in the discrete zones of modified surface energy such that the discrete zones of modified surface energy have a different hydrophilicity than the continuous land area.

A nonwoven fabric having a plurality of fibers bonded with a bond pattern on a surface thereof to form a coherent web, the nonwoven fabric having a vertical axis extending in a machine direction and a horizontal axis extending in a cross direction, the bond pattern having a plurality of spaced apart pairs of arrays extending in the machine, cross, and diagonal directions of the nonwoven fabric, wherein each array includes a plurality of spaced apart bond points having an oblong shape, and wherein the nonwoven fabric has a percent bonded surface area less than about 12% and an average bond point packing value from about 6.5 to 8.0 mm.sup.?1. Also provided are a thermal calender, a system for preparing a nonwoven fabric, and associated method.