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Title:
DIAPPER EAR STOCK MATERIAL WITH FASTENING COMPONENT AND MULTIPLE FOLDS
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2018/185677
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
Ear stock material for use in disposable absorbent articles include a fastening component and multiple folds to stabilize the material when in roll form.

Inventors:
GILBERT THOMAS J (US)
BECKER DENNIS L (US)
PELTIER MARK A (US)
Application Number:
PCT/IB2018/052325
Publication Date:
October 11, 2018
Filing Date:
April 04, 2018
Export Citation:
Click for automatic bibliography generation   Help
Assignee:
3M INNOVATIVE PROPERTIES CO (US)
International Classes:
A44B18/00; A61F13/62
Domestic Patent References:
WO2001067912A22001-09-20
WO2011163020A12011-12-29
Foreign References:
EP1681155A22006-07-19
US5744080A1998-04-28
US5077870A1992-01-07
US4775310A1988-10-04
US6190594B12001-02-20
US7214334B22007-05-08
US6287665B12001-09-11
US7198743B22007-04-03
US6627133B12003-09-30
US4894060A1990-01-16
US20110151171A12011-06-23
US20110147475A12011-06-23
US20140142533A12014-05-22
US20120204383A12012-08-16
US20110313389A12011-12-22
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
BERN, Steven A., et al. (US)
Download PDF:
Claims:
Claims

1. A roll of pre-combined ear stock material having a carrier with hook material, for use in disposable absorbent articles comprising:

a carrier having a first major surface and a second major surface opposite the first major surface, the carrier having a cross-web and down-web aspect, the down-web aspect comprising a length of at least 10 meters;

a first strip of hook-type material coupled to the first major surface of the carrier and centrally and continuously oriented along the down-web aspect of the carrier, the strip having an outer surface comprising hook features and having first and second cross-web edges running down-web, and wherein the carrier material extending beyond the first strip edge defines a first hemisphere of carrier material at least 10mm wide, and the carrier material extending beyond the second strip edge defines a second hemisphere of carrier material at least 10mm wide;

at least one continuous down-web fold in the first hemisphere;

at least one continuous down-web fold in the second hemisphere; and

and wherein at the carrier having the multiple continuous down-web folds and including the strip of hook material is wound on a roll. 2. The roll of claim 1, wherein the carrier comprises a non-woven material.

3. The roll of claim 1, wherein the at least one continuous down- web fold in the first hemisphere is symmetric with the at least one continuous down-web fold in the second hemisphere.

4. The roll of claim 1, further comprising at least two continuous down-web folds in the first hemisphere, and at least two continuous down-web folds in the second hemisphere.

5. The roll of claim 4, wherein the two continuous folds in the first hemisphere are symmetric with the two continuous folds in the second hemisphere.

6. The roll of claim 5, wherein the continuous down-web folds in the first hemisphere and that in the second hemisphere comprise a Z-fold.

7. The roll of claim 1, wherein the hook features comprise male fastening elements.

8. The roll of claim 7, wherein the male fastening elements comprise a mushroom, hook, palm-tree, or nail shape.

9. The roll of claim 1, wherein the strip of hook-type material is integrally molded to the first maj or surface.

10. Pre-combined folded ear stock material, comprising:

a carrier having a length and a width, the carrier's width defined by first and second outer parallel outer edges, wherein there is a high aspect ratio between the length and width, and a longitudinal dimension that is along the length of the carrier;

at least one strip of longitudinally oriented hook-type material disposed on the carrier;

wherein a first hemisphere of carrier material comprises carrier material located from the first outer edge of the carrier to the closest hook-type material, and a second hemisphere of carrier material comprises carrier material located from the second outer edge of the carrier to the closet hook-type material;

a first fold running continuously longitudinally in the first hemisphere parallel to the strip of hook-type material; and,

a first fold running continuously longitudinally in the second hemisphere parallel to the strip of hook-type material.

11. The pre-combined folded ear-stock material of claim 10, wherein the first fold in the first hemisphere is symmetric with the first fold in the second hemisphere. 12. The pre-combined folded ear-stock material of claim 11, further comprising a second fold in the first hemisphere running continuously longitudinally parallel to the first fold in the first hemisphere, and a second fold in the second hemisphere running continuously longitudinally parallel to the first fold in the second hemisphere.

13. The pre-combined folded ear-stock material of claim 12, wherein the first and second folds of the first hemisphere are symmetric with the first and second folds of the second hemisphere.

14. The pre-combined folded ear-stock material of claim 10, further comprising at least a second strip of longitudinally oriented hook-type material disposed on the carrier.

15. A method of manufacturing a roll of pre-combined ear-stock material, comprising: coupling a first strip of hook-type material to a first side of a carrier longitudinally along a down-web axis, the carrier having first and second cross-web edges, wherein a first hemisphere of carrier material is defined on the first side of the carrier by the carrier area from the first edge to the nearest hook-type material, and a second hemisphere of carrier material on the first side of the carrier is defined by the carrier area from the second edge to the nearest hook-type material;

continuously folding the carrier in the first hemisphere to create a first fold in the first hemisphere;

continuously folding the carrier in the second hemisphere to create a first fold in the second hemisphere;

rolling the folded carrier onto a roll.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising:

continuously folding the carrier longitudinally in the in the first hemisphere to create a second fold in the first hemisphere;

continuously folding the carrier longitudinally in the second hemisphere to create a second fold in the first hemisphere. 17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first fold in the first hemisphere is symmetric with the first fold in the second hemisphere.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first and second folds in the first hemisphere are symmetric with first and second folds in the second hemisphere.

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the first fold in the first hemisphere and the first fold in the second hemisphere are parallel with either down-web edge of the hook-type material.

Description:
DIAPER EAR STOCK MATERIAL WITH FASTENING COMPONENT AND

MULTIPLE FOLDS

BACKGROUND

Many absorbent articles intended for personal wear, such as diapers, training pants, feminine hygiene products, adult incontinence products, bandages, medical garments and the like are designed to be sufficiently absorbent to absorb moisture from liquid body exudates including urine, menses, blood, etc., away from the wearer to reduce skin irritation caused by prolonged wetness exposure. Diapers, as an example, are typically placed and secured on a wearer using a set of primary fastening tabs, or "ears" that extend laterally from the rear of the diaper, and include a fastening component such as adhesive tabs or a mechanical (e.g., hook or loop) system, and left in place to absorb insults as well as to contain fecal waste. The stock material used by the diaper manufacturer, from which ear subassembly is cut typically includes one or more strips of hook-type material centrally oriented on carrier.

In roll form such a construction presents certain challenges, because the roll has greater thickness and density in bands associated with the hook-type strips, and lower density in areas of the carrier not containing hook. Thus, as stock material is assembled into a roll, it may start to exhibit stability issues and telescoping. An improved approach to

manufacturing the stock material is needed.

SUMMARY

A feedstock material for conversion into diaper ear subassemblies designed for improving stability when put in roll format. The feedstock material includes symmetric folds running down-web, configured in such a way as to allow denser packing of the feedstock material. The feedstock material includes a carrier and, coupled thereto, at least one strip of hook- type material. The roll of feedstock material is shipped to a diaper manufacturer where it is unrolled and cut into ear subassemblies, which are then coupled to diaper chassis. The hook-type material on either of the two ears thereby comprises a fastening component for the finished diaper, and may mate with a suitably receptive surface on the outer front surface of the diaper chassis (such as a loop-type material).

Multiple configurations of the symmetric down-web folds are discussed herein. Multiple configurations of the strips of hook-type material are possible and may be combined with the various fold patterns described herein. For example, a single, central strip of hook- type material is possible, as are two or more strips. Typically the hook-type material, regardless of its configuration in one or more strips, is disposed on a carrier along and area of the central axis of the web of material, running down-web. Folds of the present disclosure, in one embodiment, run down-web and are located the area of the carrier web outside of the outer edges of the hook-type material (regardless of the number of strips of hook-type material).

The pre-combined ear stock material of the present disclosure is manufactured, in one embodiment, by coupling to a web carrier one or more strips of hook-type material. The web is then continuously folded by pulling the web through a folding tool. In another embodiment, the carrier web is folded before the one or more strips of hook-type material is coupled to the web carrier. These and other embodiments are further described herein.

DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a drawing of a diaper in plain view.

Figure 2 is a drawing of a manufacturing process for pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 2A is a view of the cross section of the embodiment shown in Figure 2 at 2a.

Figure 3 is a drawing of a manufacturing process that uses pre-combined ear stock material.

Figure 4 is a plan view of a manufacturing process for folded pre-combined ear stock material.

Figure 4 A is a view of the cross section of the embodiment shown in Figure 4 at 4a.

Figure 4B is a view of the cross section of the embodiment shown in Figure 4 at 4b.

Figure 4C is a view of the cross section of the embodiment shown in Figure 4 at 4c. Figure 5 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 6 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 7 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 8 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 9 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 10 is a profile view of a fold pattern for a folded pre-combined ear stock material.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure relates generally to absorbent articles intended for personal wear, and more particularly to disposable absorbent articles having a fastening tab system for selectively fastening and refastening the article about the wearer wherein the fastening system is made from an "ear" subassembly.

Figure 1 illustrates a known diaper, indicated generally at 10, that includes two such ear subassemblies extending laterally from the diaper. Figure 1 depicts the diaper 10 in an unfolded and laid flat condition to show an outer cover 32 of the diaper which would form the outer surface of the diaper when worn. The diaper 10 has a longitudinal direction 12 and a lateral direction 14. In the longitudinal direction 12, the diaper 10 defines a front portion 16, a back portion 18, and a crotch portion 20 extending between and connecting the front portion and the back portion. Diaper 10 also includes a bodyside liner 30 (facing away from the view depicted in Figure 1), and an absorbent core 34 located between the bodyside liner and the outer cover 32. The diaper 10 has opposite longitudinal side edges 28 that extend between a back waist edge 38 and a front waist edge 40. Diaper 10 also includes a pair of longitudinally-extending leg cuffs 36. Leg cuffs 36 may be adapted to fit about the legs of a wearer in use and serve as a mechanical barrier to the lateral flow of body exudates.

The back portion 18 of the diaper 10 includes a pair of ears, indicated generally at 22. Each ear 22 includes a primary fastening component 24 coupled to backing 78. The primary fastening system is used to secure the diaper 10 around the waist of a wearer. The fastening component may comprise a pressure sensitive adhesive or a hook-type material, for example. The diaper's front portion 16 would include an outer cover 32 suitably selected to form a receptive fastening component to the fastening component of the ear (fastening component 24 in this case). For example if fastening component 24 comprises a hook-type material, the diaper's front portion 16 might comprise a nonwoven material selected to suitably engage with and couple to the selected hook-type material.

In the manufacturing of diaper 10, each ear 22 is typically converted (i.e., die-cut) and coupled to the diaper chassis at the time of diaper assembly. In some cases the diaper manufacturer purchases carrier material and fastening component material (ie, hook), then undertakes the task of bonding these two materials together in the process of making the ear sub-assembly. However, the manufacturer may avoid these additional assembly steps by buying rolls of ear stock material that have the fastening component already included thereon (called pre-combined ear stock material). The ear sub-assembly is in such cases cut from the roll of ear stock material, such that the manufacturer need only cut the ear in the desired shape, then couple it to the diaper chassis (that is, the steps associated with coupling the fastening component to a backing is avoided). In such cases, rolls of ear stock material are received by the manufacturer, stored in inventory until needed, then processed as part of the diaper manufacturing process.

As mentioned, pre-combined ear stock material is a known format that diaper

manufacturers may utilize in their operations. In such format, the hook is laminated to a carrier (typically a nonwoven) in a separate step (offline lamination step) and the resultant carrier wound into a roll, which is then then transported to the diaper manufacturer to be unwound, cut into ear sub-assembly pieces, the pieces then applied to the diaper.

The known rolling process of such pre-combined ear stock material is represented in Figure 2, which shows rolling operation 50. A web of pre-combined ear stock material is wound onto roll 56 by the manufacturer of the pre-combined ear stock material. The web includes a strip of hook-type material 58 (two centrally oriented strips are also known in the art) oriented along the central down-web axis of the web of material, and includes carrier section 54 and 54' . A cross section of the roll at perspective 2a is also shown in Figure 2a. The hook sections 58 stack upon one another, creating a thick, dense section in the roll, but carrier areas 54 and 54' are not densely packed on the roll. When a relatively narrow strip of hook is laminated to a larger carrier, as is normal in the art of pre- combined ear stock material, there is an inherently thick section where the hook and carrier stack together, and this thick section when wound on itself creates a hardband in the final roll. The roll may exhibit good stability over this narrow hardband section (58 in Figure 2a), but since the hook is narrow, the complete roll does not achieve very good stability, particularly as its diameter increases. The wider the strip of hook, the better the roll stability, but it is common for customers to only want narrow strips of hook with a lot of carrier exposed on the edges of the pre-combined ear stock material. The roll of material, depending on the width of the strip of hook, will typically have a relatively low inherent maximum diameter limitation due to instability as the roll diameter increases. Figure 3 is a representation of the process by which a diaper manufacturer, for example, might unwind roll 56 and S-cut the roll of pre-combined ear stock material along dashed line 52, creating ear subassemblies for later coupling to a diaper chassis.

As eluded to above, a potential problem with constructions of the prior art is that rolls of pre-combined ear stock material may be stable at a relatively small roll diameter, but less stable at larger diameters. Additionally, because of the low density of the roll about the sides of the roll, the rolls of the prior art may not be amenable to high stacking, as would be desired for example on a pallet of rolls used for shipping or placed in inventory. For example, after the pre-combined hook laminate roll is made, it is placed flat on a pallet and rolls are stacked on the pallet and ultimately shipped to a customer. As more and more rolls get stacked on each other, the bottom rolls get compressed and deformed due to the loose edges of the laminate of constructions of the prior art in some embodiments. Rolls of pre-combined ear stock material of the prior art mostly comprise less dense air and are not altogether very dense or stable under compressive loads.

When a pre-combined hook roll is to be used in a manufacturing environment, an operator will pick up the roll and place it onto an unwind spindle for cutting and converting in preparation for coupling to a diaper chassis. If the roll is not very stable, it will be easy for the roll to telescope during manipulation or unwinding.

Embodiments in this disclosure improve upon all or some of these problems of the prior art.

Figure 4 shows a novel roll of pre-combined ear stock material. Figure 4 shows pre- combined ear stock material roll operation 59. A web of pre-combined ear stock material includes carrier 61 and strips of hook-type material 62 and 62' . The hook type material is typically laminated or otherwise adhered to the carrier in a previous step, though other methods, including integrally forming the hook-type material on the carrier, are possible. Though two strips of hook-type material are shown in Figure 4, one strip or more than two strips are also possible. The carrier material could comprise fibrous material (e.g., a woven, nonwoven, or knit material). In some embodiments, the either layer comprises a nonwoven. The term "nonwoven" when referring to a tab chassis or web means having a structure of individual fibers or threads which are interlaid, but not in an identifiable manner as in a knitted fabric. Nonwoven fabrics or webs can be formed from various processes such as meltblowing processes, spunbonding processes, spunlacing processes, and bonded carded web processes. In some embodiments, the tab chassis comprises multiple layers of nonwoven materials with, for example, at least one layer of a meltblown nonwoven and at least one layer of a spunbonded nonwoven, or any other suitable combination of nonwoven materials. For example, either layer or both layers of the tab chassis may comprise a spunbond-meltbond-spunbond, spunbond-spunbond, or spunbond- spunbond- spunbond multilayer material. Or, the layers in the tab chassis may be a composite web comprising a nonwoven layer and a dense film layer (e.g., a thermoplastic film layer). The carrier may comprise an integrally formed hook into a nonwoven material, as described for example in US Patent 5,744,080 (Kennedy et. al.).

Fibrous materials that can provide useful layers of the carrier may be made of natural fibers (e.g., wood or cotton fibers), synthetic fibers (e.g., thermoplastic fibers), or a combination of natural and synthetic fibers. Exemplary materials for forming

thermoplastic fibers include polyolefins (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutylene, ethylene copolymers, propylene copolymers, butylene copolymers, and copolymers and blends of these polymers), polyesters, and polyamides. The fibers may also be multi- component fibers, for example, having a core of one thermoplastic material and a sheath of another thermoplastic material. In some embodiments, one or more zones of the tab chassis may comprise one or more elastically extensible materials extending in at least one direction when a force is applied and returning to approximately their original dimension after the force is removed. However, in some embodiments, at least the portion of the tab chassis joined to the fastening patch is not stretchable or has up to a 10 (in some embodiments, up to 9, 8, 7, 6, or 5) percent elongation in the CD. In some embodiments, the layers that comprise the tab chassis may be extensible but nonelastic. In other words, the tab chassis may have an elongation of at least 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, or 50 percent but substantially no recovery from the elongation (e.g., up to 10 or 5 percent recovery). Suitable extensible tab chassis material may include nonwovens (e.g., spunbond, meltblown, spunbond meltblown, or carded nonwovens). In some embodiments, the nonwoven may be a high elongation carded nonwoven (e.g., HEC).

Useful layers used in the carrier may have any suitable basis weight or thickness that is desired for a particular application. For a fibrous carrier, the basis weight may range, e.g., from at least about 5, 8, 10, 20, 30, or 40 grams per square meter, up to about 400, 200, 100, or 50 grams per square meter. The tab chassis may be up to about 5 mm, about 2 mm, or about 1 mm in thickness and/or at least about 0.1, about 0.2, or about 0.5 mm in thickness. The carrier has a high aspect ratio, meaning its length down web (also referred to as longitudinal dimension) far exceeds its cross-web width (also referred to as the latitudinal dimension).

The strips of hook-type material 62 and 62' upstanding male fastening elements on a backing. The male elements are referred to herein as "hook type" but this terminology is used only in a general sense and is not intended to limit the design of the male elements; male elements may not actually include an actual hook-shape (for example they may be mushroom shaped or have other shapes). The male elements generally have a form that may be suitably loop engaging with a loop type material present in landing zone area of a diaper (the area where the hook-type material fastenably engages with the diaper chassis, by way of a user bringing the fastening components of the two substrates in contact with one another). The male fastening elements are typically integral with a backing layer (that is, formed at the same time as a unit, unitary). Hook-type fastening patches are typically made from at least one thermoplastic material. Suitable thermoplastic materials for mechanical fasteners include polyolefin homopolymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene, copolymers of ethylene, propylene and/or butylene; copolymers containing ethylene such as ethylene vinyl acetate and ethylene acrylic acid; polyesters such as poly(ethylene terephthalate), polyethylene butyrate and polyethylene napthalate;

polyamides such as poly(hexamethylene adipamide); polyurethanes; polycarbonates; poly(vinyl alcohol); ketones such as polyetheretherketone; polyphenylene sulfide; and mixtures thereof. Typically, the thermoplastic is a polyolefin (e.g., polyethylene, polypropylene, polybutylene, ethylene copolymers, propylene copolymers, butylene copolymers, and copolymers and blends of these materials). Upstanding male fastening elements on a backing can be made, for example, by feeding a thermoplastic material onto a continuously moving mold surface with cavities having the inverse shape of the posts. The thermoplastic material can be passed between a nip formed by two rolls or a nip between a die face and roll surface, with at least one of the rolls having the cavities. The cavities may be in the inverse shape of a capped post having a loop-engaging head or may be in the inverse shape of a post without loop-engaging heads (e.g., a precursor to a male fastening element). Pressure provided by the nip forces the resin into the cavities. In some embodiments, a vacuum can be used to evacuate the cavities for easier filling of the cavities. The nip typically has a large enough gap such that a coherent backing is formed over the cavities. The mold surface and cavities can optionally be air or water cooled before stripping the integrally formed backing and upstanding hook elements from the mold surface such as by a stripper roll. If the posts formed upon exiting the cavities do not have loop-engaging heads, loop-engaging heads could be subsequently formed into hooks by a capping method as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,077,870 (Melbye et. al.). Typically, the capping method includes deforming the tip portions of the hook elements using heat and/or pressure. The heat and pressure, if both are used, could be applied sequentially or simultaneously. Suitable tool rolls include those formed from a series of plates defining a plurality of post- forming cavities about its periphery such as those described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,310 (Fischer). Cavities may be formed in the plates by drilling or photoresist technology, for example. Other suitable tool rolls may include wire-wrapped rolls, which are disclosed along with their method of manufacturing, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,594 (Gorman et al.). Another exemplary method for forming a thermoplastic backing with upstanding posts includes using a flexible mold belt defining an array of upstanding post-shaped cavities as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,334 (Jens et al.). Yet other useful methods for forming a thermoplastic backing with upstanding posts can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,287,665 (Hammer), U.S. Pat. No. 7, 198,743 (Tuma), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,627, 133 (Tuma).

Another method for forming a thermoplastic backing with upstanding male fastening elements is profile extrusion, which is described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,060 (Nestegard). Typically, in this method a thermoplastic flow stream is passed through a patterned die lip (e.g., cut by electron discharge machining) to form a web having downweb ridges. The ridges can then be transversely sliced at spaced locations along the extension of the ridges to form upstanding fastening elements with a small separation caused by the cutting blade. The separation between upstanding fastening elements is then increased by stretching.

The male fastening elements on the fastening patch of the laminate typically have loop- engaging heads that have an overhang. The term "loop-engaging" as used herein relates to the ability of a male fastening element to be mechanically attached to a loop material. Suitable male fastening elements with loop-engaging heads can have any desired shape. For example, the male fastening element may be in the shape of a mushroom (e.g., with a circular or oval head enlarged with respect to the stem), a hook, a palm-tree, a nail, a T, or a J. The loop-engageability of male fastening elements may be determined and defined by using standard woven, nonwoven, or knit materials. A region of male fastening elements with loop-engaging heads generally will provide, in combination with a loop material, at least one of a higher peel strength, higher dynamic shear strength, or higher dynamic friction than a region of posts without loop-engaging heads. Typically, male fastening elements that have loop-engaging heads have a maximum thickness dimension (in either dimension normal to the height) of up to about 1 (in some embodiments, 0.9, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, or 0.45) millimeter.

The male fastening elements on can have a variety of useful maximum heights (above the backing) of up to 3 mm, 1.5 mm, 1 mm, or 0.5 mm and, in some embodiments a minimum height of at least 0.05 mm, 0.1 mm, or 0.2 mm. The upstanding posts have a variety of aspect ratios (that is, a ratio of height to width at the widest point) such as at least about 2: 1, 3 : 1, or 4: 1. Advantageously, a variety of densities of the upstanding fastening elements may be useful. For example, the male fastening elements have a density of at least 248 per square centimeter (cm2) (1600 per square inch, in2) and up to about

1500/cm2 (10000/in2), 1240/cm2 (8000/in2), or 852/cm2 (5500/in2). For example, the density of the male fastening elements may be in a range from 271/cm2 (1750/in2) to about 852/cm2 (5500/in2) or from 248/cm2 (1600/in2) to 542/cm2 (3500/in2). The spacing of the male fastening elements need not be uniform.

Fastening components suitable for embodiments described herein may include laminates. In such an embodiment, the fastening patch (backing plus male members) may be joined to a carrier, for example, by lamination (e.g., extrusion lamination), adhesives (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesives, hot melt adhesives, or structural adhesives), or other bonding methods (e.g., ultrasonic bonding, thermal bonding, compression bonding, or surface bonding).

In some embodiments the fastening component is joined to a carrier using surface bonding or loft-retaining bonding techniques. The term "surface-bonded" when referring to the bonding of fibrous materials means that parts of fiber surfaces of at least portions of fibers are melt-bonded to the backing of the fastening patch, on a side opposite the male fastening elements, in such a manner as to substantially preserve the original (pre-bonded) shape of the surface of the backing and to substantially preserve at least some portions of the surface of the backing in an exposed condition in the surface-bonded area.

Quantitatively, surface-bonded fibers may be distinguished from embedded fibers in that at least about 65 percent of the surface area of the surface-bonded fiber is visible above the surface of the backing in the bonded portion of the fiber. Inspection from more than one angle may be necessary to visualize the entirety of the surface area of the fiber. The term "loft-retaining bond" when referring to the bonding of fibrous materials means a bonded fibrous material comprises a loft that is at least 80 percent of the loft exhibited by the material prior to, or in the absence of, the bonding process. The loft of a fibrous material as used herein is the ratio of the total volume occupied by the web (including fibers as well as interstitial spaces of the material that are not occupied by fibers) to the volume occupied by the material of the fibers alone. If only a portion of a fibrous web has the surface of the backing bonded thereto, the retained loft can be easily ascertained by comparing the loft of the fibrous web in the bonded area to that of the web in an unbonded area. It may be convenient in some circumstances to compare the loft of the bonded web to that of a sample of the same web before being bonded. In some of these embodiments, joining the fastening patch to a fibrous carrier comprises impinging heated gaseous fluid (e.g., ambient air, dehumidified air, nitrogen, an inert gas, or other gas mixture) onto a first surface of the fibrous web carrier while it is moving; impinging heated fluid onto the second surface of the backing while the continuous web is moving, wherein the second surface is opposite the male fastening elements; and contacting the first surface of the fibrous web with the second surface of the backing so that the first surface of the fibrous web is melt-bonded (e.g., surface-bonded or bonded with a loft-retaining bond) to the second surface of the backing. Impinging heated gaseous fluid onto the first surface of the fibrous web and impinging heated gaseous fluid on the second surface of the backing may be carried out sequentially or simultaneously. Further methods and apparatus for joining a continuous web to a fibrous carrier web using heated gaseous fluid may be found in U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. Nos. 2011/0151171 (Biegler et al.) and 2011/0147475 (Biegler et al.). The patches of hook-type material may include openings as illustrated for example in

Figure 4 of US Patent Application Publication No. US2014/0142533 (Peltier et. al.). Such may be in the form of a repeating pattern of geometric shapes such as polygons. The polygons may be, for example, hexagons or quadrilaterals such as parallelograms or diamonds. The openings may be formed in the fastening patch by any suitable method, including die punching. In some embodiments, the openings may be formed by slitting the thermoplastic backing of a fastening patch to form multiple strands attached to each other at intact bridging regions in the backing and separating at least some of the multiple strands between at least some of the bridging regions. The bridging regions are regions where the backing is not cut through, and at least a portion of the bridging regions can be considered collinear with the slits. The intact bridging regions of the backing serve to divide the slits into a series of spaced-apart slit portions aligned in the direction of slitting (e.g., the machine direction), which can be referred to as interrupted slits. In some embodiments, for at least some adjacent interrupted slits, the spaced-apart slit portions are staggered in a direction transverse to the slitting direction (e.g., the cross-machine direction). The interrupted slits may be cut into the backing between some pairs of adjacent rows of male fastening elements although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, curved lines may be used, which can result in crescent shaped openings after spreading. There may be more than one repeating pattern of geometric shaped openings. The openings may be evenly spaced or unevenly spaced as desired. For openings that are evenly spaced, the spacing between the openings may differ by up to 10, 5, 2.5, or 1 percent. Further details about providing openings in a mechanical fastener can be found in U.S. Appl. Pub. No. 2012/0204383 (Wood et al.). In some embodiments, the fastening patch can comprise multiple strands attached to each other at intact bridging regions in the backing without spreading the strands apart to create openings. The interrupted slits may be made in either the longitudinal direction of the absorbent article or in a transverse direction. Such slits may improve the flexibility of the fastening patch improve the peel performance. Further details about providing interrupted slits in a mechanical fastener can be found in U.S. Appl. Pub. No. 2011/0313389 (Wood et al.).

As mentioned earlier, the hook-type material can in some embodiments comprise multiple discrete fastening subcomponents. In some embodiments, the laminate comprises a plurality of narrow fastening patch strips separated by a distance that is usually smaller than the length of each fastening patch (that is, in the direction of the longest dimension of the carrier). An example of a configuration of two discrete fastening patches that effectively make up a fastening component is described in Int. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. WO 2011/163020 (Hauschildt et al.).

Hook-type fasteners may be attached to carrier 61 using any suitable method. For example, adhesives (e.g., pressure sensitive adhesives, hot melt adhesives, or structural adhesives), non-adhesive bonding (e.g., ultrasonic bonding, thermal bonding, compression bonding, or surface bonding as described above), or a combination of any of these methods may be useful A central strip of carrier 61 separates, in this embodiment, the two strips of hook-type material 62 and 62' . Carrier areas laterally outside of the two outermost edges of the hook-type material (outer carrier area 64 and 64') are folded at folding operation 170 along folding dashed lines 68 and 68', thus increasing (in this case doubling) the thickness of the web in the sections that overlap after the fold, and transforming the pre-combined ear stock material into pre-combined folded hook stock material. The folds, in the would roll of pre-combined folded ear stock material 60, run continuously longitudinally in both the first hemisphere 69 and second hemispheres 69'. Folds 68 and 68' run parallel to the down-web orientation of the strip of hook material 62 and 62' . Folds 68 and 68' run down-web. Pre-combined ear stock material comprises first and second hemispheres 69 and 69', which are defined by a cross-web axis along the down-web dimension (that is, an axis bisecting the web running in the middle of the two strips of hook-material, down- web). In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the fold pattern comprises a single fold. In preferred embodiments, the fold pattern of hemisphere 69 is symmetric with hemisphere 69' across the cross-web axis. In the embodiment shown in Figure 4, this means the distance between the outer edge of carrier 61 and the nearest fold is the same, for all intents and purposes, in hemispheres 69 and 69'. The pre-combined folded ear stock material is wound into roll 60 as part of a winding operation. The roll may contain any length of material desirable. In one embodiment it contains at least 10 meters of material. In another embodiment it contains at least 25 meters of material. In another embodiment it contains at least 100 meters of material. In another embodiment it contains at least 200 meters of material. In another embodiment it contains at least 250 meters of material. T

In some embodiments, including the one shown in Figure 4, the folded carrier material of the pre-combined folded ear stock material has a thickness that more closely matches the thickness of the area of the pre-combined ear stock material that includes the strip of hook- type material. The thickness of the hook material is in one embodiment about 0.2mm (200 microns) to about 0.5mm (500 microns). The carrier would, depending on implementation particulars, may have an average thickness that is between about 200 microns and 700 microns. These thickness ranges for both the hook material and the carrier are illustrative only; other thicknesses are possible depending on implementation. The carrier material in one embodiment has a thickness selected to be within about 80 to 120% of the thickness of the hook-type material. In another embodiment, the carrier material has a thickness selected to be within about 70 to 130% of the thickness of the hook-type material. In another embodiment, the carrier material has a thickness selected to be within about 90 to 110% of the thickness of the hook-type material. In another embodiment, the carrier material has a thickness selected to be within about 60 to 140% of the thickness of the hook-type material.

Cross sections 4a, 4b, and 4c of the pre-combined ear stock material are shown in Figures 4a, 4b, and 4c respectively. Cross section E-F shows the improved density of the pre- combined folded ear stock material as it would exist on the roll.

Figure 5 - 10 show profile views of further configurations of strips of hook-type material with a carrier, where the carrier is folded so as to improve roll stability.

Figure 5 shows a profile view of a single hook lane pre-combined ear stock material 70 having a single strip of hook-type material 72 disposed along the center cross-web axis in a down-web orientation. First and second hemispheres of carrier material 74 and 74' include a single fold 76 and 76' . The fold pattern is symmetric about cross web axis 71, and both the first and second hemispheres of carrier material have a symmetric fold orientation relative to one another.

A roll of pre-combined folded ear stock material 70 may be unwound and cut into ear subassemblies, largely as shown with respect to Figure 3 - for example an S-type cut, or in whatever suitable shape / pattern is desired for the finished ear subassembly. The cut ear subassembly, which would still include at least one fold as described herein, would then be coupled to the diaper body using techniques known in the art for ear subassemblies. A user of the diaper would then extend the tab, thereby unfolding it, across and over the outer cover of the front portion of the diaper, bringing the fastening component included thereon in contact with a suitable fastening component on the front outer cover of the diaper or absorbent article.

Figure 6 shows a profile view of a further embodiment of a hook configuration and folding pattern combination in a pre-combined ear stock material suitable for placement on a roll. Pre-combined ear-stock material 80 is shown having two strips of hook-type material 82 and 82', separated by a central area 84. Carrier hemispheres 88 and 88' have been folded over and on top of the strips of hook-type material at folds 86 and 86' . Figure 7 shows a profile view of yet a further embodiment of a pre-combined ear stock material 90, in which a central strip of hook-type material 92 is coupled with two folds (folds 96, 96', 98, 98') in each of hemisphere 94 and 94', to provide the carrier with a "Z- fold" type configuration. Even in this configuration, the fold patterns in the hemispheres are symmetric with one another.

Figure 8 shows a profile view of yet a further embodiment of a pre-combined ear stock material 100. Here a single strip of hook-type material 102 is coupled on a carrier defining two hemispheres each having one fold 104 and 104' respectively. Each hemisphere of carrier material overlaps the strip of hook-type material, and one of the hemispheres (in this one the one associated with carrier area 106') overlaps the other hemisphere (the hemisphere associated with carrier area 106). The fold patter established by folds 104 and 104' are symmetric in the embodiment shown. In another embodiment they are not symmetric. Figure 9 shows a profile view of yet a further embodiment of a pre-combined ear stock material 110. In this embodiment, two strips of hook material 102 and 102' are separated by a central carrier area 111 that includes folds 104 and 104' in it.

Figure 10 shows a profile view of yet a further embodiment of a pre-combined ear stock material 120. In this embodiment, a single strip of hook type material is oriented on the side of carrier opposite the direction of folds 124 and 124' . Depending on implementation specifics associated with various embodiments in this disclosure, pre-combined ear stock material as described herein could yield a number of improvements. For example, rolls of such pre-combined ear stock material as described herein could be larger and more dense, thus reducing shipment and inventory costs. In some embodiments, rolls per shipment could potentially increase by 70% by folding in the edges of the carrier and being able to stack more rolls on a pallet at the same overall height as before.

Example

A roll of PSA coated hook material 13mm wide was mounted on a shaft. Hook material is available from 3M Company of St. Paul, MN under product name CHK-05810. The hook material was unwound and fed into a lamination process. At the same time, a roll of 50gsm spunbond nonwoven carrier material 100mm wide was mounted on a different shaft. The nonwoven carrier material was also unwound and fed into the same lamination process. The PSA coated hook material was laminated to the nonwoven carrier material at a nip to secure the hook to the nonwoven producing a 100mm wide hook laminate. The 13mm wide hook was located in the center of the 100mm wide nonwoven producing two 43.5mm wide nonwoven flaps on either side of the hook portion of the hook laminate. The outer 20mm of each nonwoven flap was then folded 180 degrees towards the hook side of the laminate using a folding apparatus to produce a 60mm wide hook laminate web with two folds. The folded 60mm wide hook laminate web was then wound into a roll with the hooks facing inward producing a hook laminate roll that exhibited good stability.

Comparative Example:

A roll was produced with the same method as described above with the exception that the nonwoven carrier flaps were not folded over prior to winding into a roll. The final width of the hook laminate in the above example was 60mm compared to the comparative example which was 100mm. The 60mm example was a denser roll, thus reducing shipment and inventory costs since more material can occupy the same volume. From a roll stability perspective, the 60mm roll was better than the 100mm roll of the comparative example since the extra folds on the edge of the nonwoven provide additional thickness to the laminate which provides support to the roll as the layers are stacked in the winding process.