MXPA00008109A - Method of making a slitted or particulate absorbent material and structures formed thereby - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of making a slitted or particulate absorbent material for an absorbent article such as sanitary napkins, diapers, incontinence devices, and the like is disclosed. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method as described above which can be carried out in situ on another component of the absorbent article in a manufacturing process without cutting the other component. In one embodiment, the absorbent material is placed between two carrier webs, and a force is applied to the composite of the absorbent material and the carrier webs. The force breaks the absorbent material, but only deforms the carrier webs to provide a self-contained web of particulate material between two carrier webs. Absorbent structures formed by this method are also disclosed. In one embodiment, the absorbent structure comprises a composite web of discrete elements of absorbent material. The composite web comprises at least one carrier web and a plurality of discrete elements of absorbent material arranged in an orderly array on the carrier web. In one embodiment, the discrete elements of absorbent material are positioned adjacent to each other without any intervening material between the discrete elements of absorbent material.

Description

METHOD FOR ELABORATING AN ABSORBENT MATERIAL WITH HENDEDURES OR PARTICLES AND STRUCTURES FORMED IN THIS WAY FIELD OF THE INVENTION •• The present invention relates to a method for making an absorbent material with slits or particles for absorbent articles such as sanitary napkins, panty liners, interlabial absorbent devices, diapers, incontinence devices, tampons, bands, cleaning towels, and the like. Plus ^^ particularly, the present invention relates to a method as described above which can be carried out in place in another component of the absorbent article in a manufacturing process, and can be achieved without cutting the other components unless you want to do so. The present invention is also relates to the absorbent structures formed by this method.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION m Absorbent items such as sanitary napkins, pantiliners, disposable diapers, incontinence products, and bandages, are designed to absorb and retain fluid and other discharges from the human body and to prevent staining of the body and clothing. The absorbent articles typically comprise a liquid permeable topsheet, a liquid impermeable backsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and the backsheet. The absorbent core of the absorbent articles currently in use may comprise a variety of different types of absorbent materials, including wood pulp crushed, commonly known as air felt, accreted cellulose wadding, meltblown extruded polymers including coform, chemically hardened, modified or crosslinked cellulosic fibers, synthetic fibers such as pleated polyester fibers, moss peat, tissue including tissue wraps and tissue laminates, absorbent foams, absorbent sponges, superabsorbent polymers, gelling absorbent materials, or any equivalent material or combinations of matepals, or mixtures thereof In some cases, it has been proposed to groove the absorbent material for various purposes. various materials for purposes different of the slotted articles are described in patent literature The request ^ * of European Patent 0 234 194 published September 2, 1987, discloses a method and apparatus for providing sanitary articles with fastening means for attachment for the lower garment which involve slotting a soft and elastic plastic foam sheet. European patent specification 0 293 208 B1 discloses the formation of the matepal fluid absorption for a catamenial towel or disposable diaper from a laminate of compressed sponge sheets based on cellulose having slots provided therein U.S. Patent No. 5,397,316 ^^ issued to LaVon, et al., discloses absorbent members made of foam absorbent materials that remain relatively thin until wet. which are provided with regions with slots The United States patent No. 5,611,790 issued to Osborn, and others discloses extensible absorbent articles which may have an absorbent core that is provided with slots therein. The known slotting methods, however, are typically Related printing In these methods, grooving is done by placing the material to be grooved between a sharp cutting blade and a hard backing surface, and the Cutting the material against the backing surface by applying pressure against the backing surface. The grooving methods associated with printing suffer from several disadvantages. The cutting blade will have a high tendency to wear, ^ B ^ P particularly if metal-to-metal contact exists between the cutting blade and the backing surface. In addition, with grooving related to printing, it is difficult to create narrow strips of grooved material (eg strips of material less than 1.3 cm wide) due to the difficulty in arranging the cutting blades sufficiently together to create strips. narrow. Another disadvantage is that there are limitations with regarding the location of the grooving operation in the process of preparing ^^ an absorbent article. It is generally difficult to groove a web of material after it is combined with another web material without grooving both materials. Although it is possible to groove only one screen of this combined screen, greater care must be taken when adjusting the distance between the cutting blade and the backing surface in such a way that only one of the frames is grooved. It has also been proposed to use particulate absorbent material within the absorbent articles. However, the only known methods for ^^ providing a particulate absorbent material for an absorbent core involves a step of chopping the absorbent material to form the particulate absorbent material, then transferring the chopped absorbent material to a supply system for supplying the absorbent material to the absorbent core, providing a suitable receptacle for containing the particulate absorbent material, and supplying the chopped absorbent material to the receptacle. Often, the supply system to provide the material The particulate absorbent will involve mixing the particulate material in a stream of air and using the air to blow the particulate material into the receptacle for the particulate material. Í & í absorbent material This will generally require that the receptacle be closed on all sides to prevent particles from being carried out of the receptacle. It is also required that the amount of the absorbent material particles delivered to the absorbent article be controlled (or "dosed"). These known methods for providing the particulate absorbent material suffer from numerous disadvantages. These involve a number of substantial steps. These require the use of a delivery system, which must typically be a closed system in such a way that the particles can These require a supply of compressed air, and a closed receptacle 10 for receiving the particulate material ^^ Thus, there is a need for an improved method for making and providing an absorbent material with slit or with particles for absorbent particles BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a method for making a material ^^ absorbent with slits or particles for an absorbent article such as sanitary napkins, diapers, incontinence devices, tampons, bandages, towels Cleaning, and the like More particularly, the present invention is related as a method as described above which can be carried out in place on another component of the absorbent article in a manufacturing process, and can be performed without cutting the other component unless desired to be made in this manner The present invention can be used even more broadly to breaking (fracturing, fragmenting, or otherwise altering the integrity of) an absorbent material This is particularly the case if it is not necessary to groove the material as length of previously defined lines or to form the absorbent matepal in particulate matepal The method of the present invention can break an absorbent material in a composite web without breaking the web or external cutting frames by applying a force on the composite web The force applied to the composite frame can be a force, a compression force or both. If both of these types of forces are used, they can be applied either simultaneously, or sequentially (in any order). A large number of Different processes and types of apparatus to apply force to the composite frame. Suitable types of processes include, but are not limited to passing the composite frame to through a gripping between grooved or patterned rollers, enhanced (against a surface ^^^ rigid or deformable), with pressure between splice plates, vacuum, or other methods for exerting a force on a material In a preferred embodiment, the method for making an absorbent material with slits or particles comprises the steps of 15 to ) provide a carrier web having a first break point, - b) provide a second material on the carrier web to form a composite web having two surfaces, whose second material has a ? second break point that is less than the break point of the frame carrier, and comprises an absorbent material, c) provide an apparatus for applying localized forces on parts of the composite screen, and d) applying a force to at least a portion of at least one of the surfaces of the composite screen using the apparatus, whose force is greater than the second breaking point, but less than the ppmer breaking point in such a way that the second material breaks in at least one place without breaking the carrier web In a particularly preferred embodiment, the absorbent material is an absorbent foam that is wrapped within a nonwoven carrier web. The force applied by the apparatus breaks the internal absorbent material (due to its greater destructivility), but only deforms the nonwoven outer web. for ^ BQP Providing a Weft of Self-Contained Particulate Matter in a Non-woven Wrapper The present invention provides an improved method for making and providing a self-contained slit or particulate absorbent material for absorbent articles. The method of the present invention involves very few steps. and significantly smaller additional equipment, and does not require a supply system that use compressed air to transport the particulate material to a receptacle ^^ closed The method of the present invention also eliminates the need to re-dose the amount of the particulate material supplied to the absorbent article. The present invention also relates to absorbent structures formed by this method. In one embodiment, the absorbent structure comprises a composite web of discrete absorbent material elements The composite web comprises at least one carrier web and a plurality of discrete absorbent material elements arranged in an array in an orderly manner on the web. ^^ carrier pattern In this modality, the discrete absorbent matepal elements h can be placed adjacent to each other without any intervening material between them.

Discrete Elements of the Absorbent Material In other embodiments, portions of the weft web may extend downwardly between discrete absorbent material elements In these and other embodiments, the composite absorbent structure may be extensible, stretchable, and / or elastically extensible Absorbent structures of the present invention provide numerous advantages. These include, but are not limited to, to provide a composite structure with flexibility and / or improved conformability to a user's body, improve the smoothness of the structure, improve the distribution of absorbent material into particles within the structure, and, improve the acquisition and management of bodily fluids BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS # • Although the description concludes with the claims pointing out in a particular way and claiming differently the exposed matter that is considered as formant of the present invention, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from the following description which is taken in combination with the drawings that you accompany, in which ^ k Figure 1 is a simplified perspective view of a part of the ^ P apparatus that it can be used to carry out the method of the present invention. Figure 2 is a simplified perspective view of another part of the apparatus that can be used to perform the method of the present invention. Figure 2A is a fragmentary view in cross section taken in the grip between the rollers shown in Figure 1 showing the teeth of the rollers that are partially coupled Figure 3 is a simplified perspective view of a weft of composite material passing through the apparatus shown in Figure 1 and the apparatus O shown in Figure 2, with the composite screen that is shown partially fragmented Figure 3A is a schematic side view of an alternative apparatus for making the particulate material according to the present invention. Figure 4 shows a screen made according to a variation of the present invention. invention, which is provided with a central zone that is grooved or formed in particulate material and a surrounding area that is not grooved or formed into particulate material. Figure 4A shows a weft made according to another variation, which is provided with a central zone which is not grooved or formed into material of particles and a surrounding area which is grooved or formed into particulate material. Figure 5 shows a weft made in accordance with another variation of the present invention which is provided with a plurality of strips that are not grooved or formed into particulate material that separate areas that are grooved or formed into particulate material. 0 Figure 5A shows a plot made according to another variation of the This invention is provided with a longitudinal central region with grooves oriented in the transverse direction and longitudinal side regions with grooves oriented in a longitudinal direction. Figure 6 shows a composite absorbent structure made by the method of the present invention in which a strip of additional absorbent material is placed over the top of a continuous layer of absorbent material, and the absorbent structure is formed and formed into a material in which the absorbent structure is formed. particles inside the ^^ screed of the material strip. Figure 7 shows a web of material having circular portions in the same that have been grooved or formed into particulate material, and parts that have not been formed, in which the regions are arranged in a pattern where the portions not formed they will form a plurality of structure in the form of a spring when the weft is folded. Figure 8 shows a web of material in Figure 7 after it has been folded longitudinally in several places to provide a tube-like structure of the spring-like structures on its sides.

Figure 9 shows a web of material having slotted or particulate portions formed therein which has been bent in a manner similar to the weft of the material shown in Figure 8, but the slotted or particulate portions are formed in a configuration different to form a structure in the form of armor. ? Figure 10 shows a relatively thick piece of material having portions of each side of its surfaces formed in the grooved or particulate material while the interior of the piece of material is unchanged. Figure 11 shows a web of material similar to that shown in Figure 10; however, in Figure 11, only a part of the surface on one side of the weft of the material is grooved. ^^ Figure 11A shows an example of a structure that the web of material shown in Figure 11 can be formed therein when bent into an arched configuration. Figure 12 is a schematic side view showing the layers of a composite web that are combined by stressing the composite web in such a way that the fibers of the outer fibrous layers entangle the inner foam layer, ff Figure 13 shows a winged sanitary napkin that can be formed with several different characteristics using the method of the present invention. Figure 14 is a simplified perspective view showing an alternative embodiment in which the method of the present invention is used to make an hourglass-shaped web of absorbent material with slots for use in the diapers. Figure 15 is a partially fragmented top plan view of a diaper having an absorbent core in the form of an hourglass comprising the particulate absorbent material.

Figure 16 is a cross-sectional view of the diaper shown in Figure 15 taken along line 16-16 of Figure 15; Figure 16A is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment of the diaper shown in Figures 15; and Figure 17 is a side view of a segmented structure that is formed from an expandable material which is surrounded by a wrapping material, which was developed using the method of the present invention. Figure 18 is a simplified perspective view of a part of a structure in which a plurality of columns of material extend from a backing, which was made using the METHOD OF THE PRESENT INVENTION Figure 19 is a schematic side view of a portion of a variation of the structure shown in Figure 18, in which a cover, such as an upper sheet, is wrapped over the columnar elements thereof. 20 is a schematic side view of a part of another apparatus which can be used to carry out the method of the present invention, which apparatus comprises a pair of splice plates, each of which has a surface with a plurality of teeth thereon ^ fc Figure 21 is a view in perspective of a layer of the material An absorbent which has a part that is provided with a plurality of slits therein that are oriented at an angle with respect to the plane of the material Figure 22 is a schematic side view of a portion of another apparatus that can be used to carry out the method of the present invention, which comprises a plate which has a pattern on its surface, and an opposite flat plate Figure 23 is a side view of a part of another apparatus that can be to use to carry out the method of the present invention, which comprises a roller with pattern and an anvil roller, which can be similar to an apparatus for joining non-woven materials.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION • The present invention in a preferred embodiment relates to a method for making an absorbent material with slits or particles for an absorbent article such as a sanitary napkin, panty-absorbers, interlabial absorbent devices, diapers, devices for incontinence, tampons, bandages, cleaning towels and the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to ^^ with a method as described above which is preferably carried out in place in another component of the absorbent article in a manufacturing process, and can be achieved without cutting the other component, unless it is desired to do in this way .

The present invention can be used even more widely to break (fracture, fragment, or otherwise alter the integrity of) an absorbent material. This is particularly the case if it is necessary to groove the material along the previously defined lines or to form the absorbent material in particulate material. In ^^ The preferred modalities, the absorbent material can be placed within the frame Composite M and the weft or carrier frames placed on the outer side of the frame composed. The method of the present invention can break the absorbent material in the composite web, without breaking the carrier web by applying a force on the composite web. This is due to the greater destruction capacity of the absorbent material compared to that of the weft or weft frames. The force applied to the composite frame can be a tension force, a force of compression, a force that is partially tension and partially compression, or both tension and compression forces (either simultaneously, or sequentially (in any order)) The versions of the method of the present invention that apply only compressive forces to the composite screen will not tend to stretch the frame or frames ^ k carriers, as will the versions of the method of the present invention that apply at least some tensile forces A tension force component is preferred if it is desirable to create space between the broken portions (i.e., the pieces) of the absorbent material The provision of the space between the pieces of the absorbent material may be desirable for the acquisition of the liquid towards the absorbent material, creating spaces for extending portions of the carrier web downwards between the pieces of the absorbent material. of the carrier webs to the other, and / or the formation of the absorbent material in different forms (such as the hourglass-shaped webs) In other words, the method of the present invention provides the The ability to fracture at least partially a material without fracturing a material placed adjacent to it. The expression "partially fractured", as used herein, refers to partial breaking, breaking the integrity of, or producing ^ fc Discontinuities in the Matter in Discussion The term "break", as used herein, refers to a more significant fracture such as where the material is separated and the parts of the material adjacent to the break apart The material that is at least partially fractured is preferably absorbent The other material may be deformed (eg, corrugated and / or permanently elongated), but in the common embodiment described herein, retains its integrity structural and does not break down (that is, it remains in an integral condition) The materials described here can be in many forms different In the preferred modes, the materials are in the form of two (or more) Layers These materials differ in their response to compression forces and / or the forces acting to lengthen materials. A greater number of different processes and types of apparatus can be used to apply force to the composite screen. Suitable types of processes include , but are not limited to passing the composite screen through a grooved or patterned roll grip, a process that has been described as precorrugado (or "rolling with rings"), enhancement (against a rigid or deformable surface), with pressure between splice plates, vacuum, or other methods to exert a force on the material. Suitable methods for rolling with rings are described in the patent of the States.

United States No. 4, 107,364 issued to Sisson on August 15, 1978, patent of the United States ^^ United No 5,143,679 issued to Gerald M Weber, and others on 1 September 1992, United States Patent No. 5,156,793 issued to Kenneth B Buell, and others on October 20, 1992, and in the United States Patent No 5,167,897 issued to Gerald M Weber, and others on December 1, 1992. 15 The term "patterned", as used herein with reference to a part of the apparatus used in the method, refers to a surface with projections or depressions thereon (for example). example, a notch or notch pattern) The apparatus used in the The present invention is not limited to those who have regular or ^ repeat on it If you use an appliance with an item that has a surface with pattern, any suitable pattern that is capable of breaking the absorbent material can be used. The pattern can be regular or irregular (e.g., random). Without considering the specific process or apparatus used, the method of the present invention is directed to the application of a concentrated force high enough to cause localized failure in the absorbent material The method of The present invention preferably breaks or fractures the absorbent material completely from one side to the other, but in certain embodiments of the present invention, this does not Preferably, the method of the present invention does not break the weft or weft frames, but variations of the present invention are not precluded from doing so. Figures 1 and 2 show two parts of a preferred embodiment of a The apparatus 30 (shown in Figure 3) which can be used to carry out the method of making a particulate material of the present invention, and more specifically which can be used to prepare a particulate absorbent material. Figure 3 is a simplified perspective view of a composite web 26 passing through the parts of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 in sequence.

The process shown in Figure 3 is especially preferred if one wishes to form ^^ regular slots or particles, it is desired to provide the carrier web with a degree or extent of extension, and / or it is desired to provide the carrier web with a degree of additional smoothness, flexibility, or both. It should be understood that the method of the present invention is shown and describes in terms of a method to make particulate material The preparation of a grooved material is an intermediate step in the method of processing the particulate material To make a grooved material, it is only necessary to cut the frame ^^ of the absorbent material in such a way that it is provided with slits that are f oriented in one direction The slits can be oriented in the direction longitudinal, transverse direction or at an angle with respect to the longitudinal and transverse directions To make the particulate material, the weave of absorbent material is grooved in more than one direction (for example, the weft can be grooved twice with oriented slits). in a manner perpendicular to each other) In other modes of processing the particulate material, the weft of the material The absorbent can be provided with slits that are oriented at an angle to each other that is not perpendicular (for example, to form a diamond-shaped pattern). slots can be linear, curvilinear, or these can have some linear segments and some curvilinear segments. As shown in Figure 3, one embodiment of the method of making a particulate material according to the present invention comprises preferably: (a) providing a carrier material, which in this case is in the form of a weft and is referred to as a first frame (or "carrier frame") 20 having a first limit to the point of rupture under tension forces; (b) providing a destructible material to form in the particulate matepal, which in this case is referred to as a second material and is in the form of a web of material (second web of material) 22 on the carrier web 20 for form a composite frame 26, whose ^^ second web of material 22 has a second limit to the point of rupture under tensile forces that is less than the limit to the point of rupture of the carrier web 20; (c) providing an apparatus 30 for mechanically tensioning the composite web 26, the apparatus having an element with at least one patterned surface thereon; and (d) subjecting the composite web 26 to a mechanical stressing process using the apparatus 30 by printing the patterned surface on the composite web 26 such that the second web of material 22 is formed at least partially on the web material. ^^ particles and forming the carrier web 20 in the particulate material. In the embodiment shown, the carrier web 20 can comprise any suitable material having a limit to the point of rupture under tension forces that is greater than that of the second web of material 22. The carrier web 20 can be manufactured from a wide range of materials such as woven and non-woven materials; polymeric materials such as thermoplastic films formed with openings, plastic films with openings or without openings, and hydroformed thermoplastic films; porous foams; polyurethane foams; cross-linked foams; crosslinked thermoplastic films; and thermoplastic canvases. Woven materials and not Suitable fabrics can be composed of natural fibers (for example wood or cotton fibers), synthetic fibers (for example, polymer fibers such as polyester, polypropylene or polyethylene fibers), two-component fibers (ie, fibers that they have a core of a matepal that is encased in a cover made of another material), or from a combination of natural and synthetic fibers. Preferably, the carrier web 20 comprises a material that is also suitable for containing the particulate material that will be formed , and retaining the same in its desired position within the absorbent article. For example, the carrier web 20 may serve as a cover or top sheet, or as a backsheet for the absorbent article. Preferably, if the carrier web 20 is used for contain the ^^ Absorbent material, any of pores or openings in the carrier web 20 are smaller than the chopped particles for the containment of those particles within the absorbent article. Films with openings suitable for use as a carrier web 20 are described in the US Pat. United States No. 3,929,135, issued to Thompson on December 30, 1975, United States Patent No. 4,324,246, issued to Mullane, and others on April 13, 1982, United States Patent No ^^ 4,342,314, issued to Radel, and others on August 3, 1982, United States Patent No. 4,463,045, issued to Ahr, and others on July 31, 1984, and in the United States Patent No. 5,006,394, issued to Baird on April 9, 1991 An especially preferred apertured film carrier web useful as an outer cover for the absorbent material comprises a formed film described in one or more of the above patents and sanitary napkins are marketed by The Procter & Gamble Company of Cincmnati, Ohio as the top sheet "DRI-WEAVE" In the preferred embodiment of the process shown in the drawings, however, the carrier web 20 comprises a non-woven web.

Different nonwoven webs are suitable for use as the carrier web 20 Suitable nonwoven webs may include, but are not limited to carded nonwoven materials, spin-linked non-woven materials, non-woven needle-punched non-woven webs, non-woven spunbond materials , air-laid non-woven materials, including thermally bonded non-woven webs, air-laid nonwoven webs bonded with latex, and non-woven webs placed as multi-bonded air cone, and non-woven webs wet-laid thermally bonded A particularly preferred non-woven spunbonded material is a non-woven spunbonded polypropylene non-woven fabric of 22 5 g / m2 referred to as the product ^ No 065MLPV60U (or "P-9") obtained from Fiberweb, North America of Washougal, WA Another particularly preferred nonwoven material is a nonwoven spunbonded polyethylene material known as CAROLIND sold by Corovm GmbH, Peine, Germany which can be obtained in two base weights, 23 grams / m2 and 30 grams / m2 5 The material placed with suitable thermally bonded air (which can be referred to as "TBAL" for brevity) to be used as a carrier weave 20 can be made from a mixture of cellulose and synthetic fibers The materials ^ b placed with preferred thermally bonded air are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,607,414 entitled "Catamenial absorbent structures having 0 thermally bonded layers for improved management of menstrual fluids, and their use in sanitary napkins having fit and comfort Improved "issued to Richards, et al. on March 4, 1997 A matte placed with air attached with adequate low density latex (which may be referred to as" LBAL "for brevity) to be used as a carrier 5 web 20 is a material which has a basis weight of approximately 80 g / m2 known as product No. F6413MHB, which is obtained from Walkisoft, USA from Mt. Holly, NC. A nonwoven material placed with adequate multi-bonded air (which can be referred to as "MBAL" for brevity) comprises approximately 77% of ? jf cellulose fibers, approximately 20% powder binder, and approximately 3% latex agglutinator (1.5% sprayed on each side of the weft) and has a basis weight of approximately 60 g / m2). (Unless stated otherwise, all percentages here are by weight.) Nonwoven material placed with multi-bonded air is preferably obtained as product No. 90830X312 from Merfin Hygienic Products, Ltd. from Delta, British Columbia, Canada. ^^ Suitable thermally bonded wet laid nonwoven webs (which may be referred to as "TBOWL" for brevity) are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,5,5,589 entitled "Fluid distribution member for absorbent articles. that exhibit high suction and high capacity ", issued to Horney, and others on August 27, 1996. The carrier web 20 may also comprise a material that is extensible, or stretchable before any mechanical manipulation thereof, if desired, ^^ for example, a carrier web may comprise an apertured film made of P a polyethylene / Kraton blend such as the Exxon film formerly known as EXX-7, available from Exxon Corporation. Additional extensible materials that are suitable for use as the carrier web 20 are described in the patent of the United States No. 5,611, 790 issued to Osborn. Preferably, at least one carrier frame is used in the method of the present invention. In some modalities of the method, a simple carrier plot will be placed adjacent to one side of the web of material that will be grooved or formed in the particulate material (the "second web of material" 22). As shown in the Figure 3, in other embodiments of the present invention, two or more carrier frames can be used. If two or more carrier frames are used, at least one carrier frame, the first carrier frame 20, will be placed adjacent to one side (the first side or surface) of the second frame of the material 22. A second carrier frame, the? 9 carrier web 24, will be placed adjacent to the other side (the second side or surface) of the second web of material 22 which will be grooved or formed in the particulate material. Placing a carrier web adjacent to each side of the second web of material 22 is particularly preferred when forming a particulate material such that when the material is formed the particulate material will be content between the two carrier webs 20 and 24 ^^ The second web of material 22 (the web of the material to be grooved or formed into particles) must have certain characteristics. The second web of material 22 must have a second break point that is less than the break point of at least one of the frame or carrier frames. The second web of material 22 must be Preferably capable of being easily cut, preferably into strips and / or particles.

The second web of material 22 preferably has a second limit to the point of rupture under the tensile forces that is less than the limit to the breaking point of ^^ both of the carrier webs 20 and 24. In other words, the second web of material p 22 is more easily destroyed (eg, more easily cut or broken) than the webs. carrier webs 20 and 24. In the preferred embodiment of the process, the second web of material 22 comprises a web of absorbent material. Some absorbent materials suitable for use as the second web of material 22 comprise: certain non-woven materials, including but not limited to, tissue webs, any of the types of frames placed with air of specific absorbent material as being suitable for use as a carrier web; porous, absorbent macrostructures, polyimepcas, comprising crosslinked aggregates between absorbent sponge particles, absorbent foams, and any other type of absorbent material having the characteristics described herein Porous polymer macrostructures, suitable absorbers comprising the crosslinked aggregate between particles ? / describes in the following patents' U.S. Patent No. 5,124,188, issued to Roe, and others on June 23, 1992, U.S. Patent No. 5,180,622 issued to Berg, and others on January 19, 1993, and U.S. Patent No. 5,330,822 issued to Berg, and others on July 19, 1994 In the preferred embodiment of the present invention shown in US Pat. drawings, the second web of material 22 is an absorbent foam material ^^ Absorbent foams suitable for the second web of material 22 are described in U.S. Patent No. 5,260,345 issued to DesMarais, and others on November 9, 1993, U.S. Patent No. 5,268,224 issued to DesMarais, and others. December 7, 1993, United States Patent No. 5,387,207 issued to Dyer, and others on February 7, 1995, United States Patent No. 5,550,167 issued to DesMarais on August 27, 1996, United States Patent No. ,563,179 issued to Stone, and others on October 8, 1996, patent of the States ^^ United No 5,650,222 issued to DesMarais, and others on July 22, 1997, and the application ? of United States patent granted No of sene 08/5 2, 97 filed on 13 October 20, 1995, by Dyer, et al. (Case P &G 5546R) These absorbent foam mats are particularly preferred because they can be provided with good compressive strength and resilience following compression The absorbent foam mats described in these different patents have properties that allow them to acquire and / or store vain body exudates can also be provided with the ability to absorb particular types of body exudates (e.g., menses, watery bowel movements, and / or urine) It is distinguished that some of the same materials are described as being suitable for use as both a carrier web and the second web of the material. However, it should be understood that although the specific materials can be used as any component of the composite screen, the materials used in the composite screen 26 must be chosen in such a way that there is a difference in the breakpoints between the materials used as the different components of the composite frame. Therefore, the same material will typically not be chosen to be used as both the carrier web and the second web of material. For example, if you choose a material placed with air, thermally bonded to be used as the carrier web, then a material with a break point ^^ lower, such as an absorbent foam material, should be chosen as the second web of material, instead of another material placed with thermally bonded air. There are exceptions to this, however, as discussed in more detail in the part of this description that describes alternative modalities. For example, you can use the same materials if one of them is treated to reduce its breaking point. The web of the absorbent material 22 can be of any thickness that is capable of passing through the grip between the two sets of rollers. The thickness of the ^^ absorbent foam materials described herein is preferably between ? about 1 mm and about 5 mm, and more preferably is between approximately 1.5 mm and approximately 2.5 mm. However, in other embodiments of the method of the present invention (particularly where the apparatus comprises splice plates) smaller or larger thicknesses may be used. The web of the absorbent material 22 has two surfaces, a first surface and a second surface. The weft surfaces of the absorbent material 22 22 are substantially flat preferably, although it is also possible to provide an absorbent material with non-planar surfaces. The weave of absorbent matepal 22 and the weft frames 20 and 2 are preferably arranged as a laminate to form the composite weft 26 Weft wefts 20 and 24 are preferably slightly larger in the machine direction dimension ("CD" in Figure 3) in such a way These extend beyond the edges of the weft of the absorbent mat 22. The extensions of the carrier webs 20 and 24 beyond the longitudinal edges of the web of the absorbent material 22 are preferably joined together, such as by adhesives, of such that a seal will be formed along the longitudinal edges of the composite web 26 to contain the absorbent material after it is formed into particles The term "attached", as used herein, covers configurations in which one element is directly secured to the other ^ element by fixing the element directly to the other element, configurations in which the element is indirectly secured to the other element by fixing the element to a member or intermediate members which in turn are fixed to the other element, and configurations in which an element is integral with the other element, that is, a The element is essentially part of the other element. The rest of the carrier webs 20 and 24 can simply be placed adjacent to the surfaces of the weft of absorbent material. ^^ formed the particulate material, the weft of the absorbent 22 needs only to be ? placed between the carrier frames 20 and 24 and does not need to be attached to it.

Alternatively, the carrier webs may also be attached to the weft surfaces of the absorbent material 22 If it is desired to join one or more of the carrier webs to the web of absorbent material 22, adhesive may be applied between one of the carrier webs and the web. web of absorbent material 22, or between the web of absorbent material 22 and both of the carrier webs Carrier webs 20 and 24 can be attached to the web of web 22.

Absorbent material 22 by joining means such as those well known in the art For example, these components of the composite web 26 may be jointly secured by a continuous uniform adhesive layer, a patterned adhesive layer, or an array of lines, spirals or points of adhesives separated between the web of absorbent material and the carrier webs. The adhesives that have been found to be satisfactory are manufactured by H.B. Fuller Company of át¡9 st- Pau, > Minnesota under the designation HL-1258 or H-2031. If these components are joined together, this is preferably obtained by an open-pattern network of filaments of adhesives as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,573,986 entitled "Disposable Garment of Waste Containment", which was issued to Minetola. , and others on March 4, 1986. An example of a network of open filament pattern comprises several filament lines ^^ Adhesives twisted in a spiral pattern as illustrated by the apparatus and method ^^ shown in U.S. Patent No. 3,911,173 issued to Sprague, Jr. on October 7, 1975; U.S. Patent No. 4,785,996 issued to Ziecker, and others on November 22, 1978; and in U.S. Patent No. 4,842,666 issued to Werenicz on June 27, 1989. Alternatively, these components can be joined by heat-bonding, pressure joints, ultrasonic joints, mechanical dynamic joints, or any other suitable joining means or combination ^^ of the joining means known in the art. ? Although some of the absorbent materials described here (such as absorbent foam materials) are not compatible with conventional bonding techniques, if the edges of the composite web 26 are sealed as described above, and the composite web is not subjected to excessive stress, this bonding is sufficient for the purposes described here. Figures 1 and 2 show two parts of an apparatus that is used to mechanically stressing the composite web 26 in the particularly preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention. The arrangement of these parts in a general apparatus 30 is shown in Figure 3. The apparatus 30 preferably comprises a component element having at least one patterned surface thereon. In the preferred embodiment shown in Figures 1 to 3, the apparatus 30 is provided with various components. having patterned surfaces therein The part of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 comprises a first pair or set of cylindrical rollers (or rolling mills) 32 The first pair of rollers 32 comprises an upper roller 34 and a lower roller 36 rollers 32 and 34 have separate shafts, A Each of the rollers has a pattern on its surface. In Figure 1, the roller upper 34 has a plurality of ridges 38 and valleys 40 that are arranged around ^^ of the circumference of the cylindrical roller 34 The shoulders 38 form a plurality of ^^ triangular shaped teeth 39 on the surface of the upper roller 34 Preferably, as shown in greater detail in Figure 2A, the teeth 39 have cross sections in the shape of isosceles triangles. The tip of the teeth 39 may be slightly rounded, if desired The teeth 39 on the upper roller 34 can be of any suitable size and spacing The term "spacing", as used herein, refers to the ^ t distance between the tips of the adjacent teeth In the preferred embodiment shown ? in the drawings, the depth (or height) of the teeth is preferably between about 2 5 mm and about 4 3 mm The spacing is preferably between about 1 mm and about 5 mm, and more preferably is between about 1 5 mm and about 2 5 mm The separation of the teeth establishes the width of the strips in which the absorbent material is cut or minced The lower roller 36 in the first pair of rollers shown in Figure 1 also comprises a plurality of shoulders 42 and valleys 44 that are arranged around its circumference. The shoulders form a plurality of teeth in shape. triangular 3 on the surface of the lower roller 36 Teeth 43 on the lower roller 36 also preferably have cross sections in the form of isosceles triangles The teeth 43 in the lower roll 36 are preferably of the same size as those in the upper roll The lower roll 36 also comprises of Preferably, flat thin channels uniformly spaced 46 on the surface of the lower roller 36 which are oriented parallel to the axis, A, of the lower roller In this embodiment, the separate channels 46 apart in the lower roller 36 preferably have a width of 2 mm The "length" of the teeth 43 in the lower roller 36 measured around the circumference of the lower roller between the channels separated by a side is 8 mm A roller with pattern suitable for use as the bottom roller is describes in U.S. Patent No. 5,518,801 entitled "Screen Materials ^^ exhibiting behavior similar to elastic "issued to Chappell, and others on May 21, 1996 The tpangularly formed teeth 39 on the upper roller 34 are preferably displaced from the teeth 43 in the lower roller 36 The displacement is such that the tangularly formed teeth 39 in the upper roller 34 align with the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36. That is, the teeth in the upper roller 34 are ^^ centered relative to the valleys 4 in the lower roller 36, and can engage ? internally (or "couple") the lower roller parts 36 that define the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36 However, in this embodiment the rollers are preferably spaced apart such that the teeth 38 formed in the upper roller 34 only partly coupled with valleys 44 on the lower roller 36 Rollers 34 and 36 are preferably moved in opposite directions. In a preferred embodiment, the tpangularly formed teeth 39 in the upper roller 34 and the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36 must be separated in such a way that they mesh internally in a partial manner The degree to which the teeth in the opposite rollers mesh internally is referred to herein as the "coupling" of the teeth The coupling of the teeth is represented by the reference letter E in Figure 2A The coupling, E, is the distance between a position designated by the plane P, where the vertices of the teeth on the respective rollers are in the same plane ff (0% coupling) to a position designated by the plane P2 where the vertices of the teeth of a roller extend inward beyond the plane P- , towards the valleys in the placed roller The coupling of the teeth can be expressed as a percentage of the separation (distance between the vertices of the teeth in one of the rollers), or in terms of a measured distance Since the height of the teeth can be greater than the separation, the coupling can be a value that is greater than 100% ^^ (for example, if the coupling is greater than the separation) Preferably, the coupling is between about 15% and about 120% of the separation length, and more preferably is between about 65% and about 100% of the length of the separation. separation length The coupling expressed in terms of a measured distance is preferably between about 0 25 mm to about 1 8 mm, and more preferably is between about 1 mm to about 1 5 mm ^^ In other embodiments, however, the teeth 39 on the roller exceeds 3. 4 ? they do not need to be aligned with the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36 as shown in Figure 2A That is, the teeth 39 may be out of phase with the valleys 44 The teeth 39 may be out of phase to any suitable degree relative to the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36 The teeth 39 may vary from being displaced slightly of the direct alignment in relation to the valleys 44 in the lower roller 36 until they are completely displaced in such a way that there can be no gear internal of the teeth of one roller with the valleys of the other For example, instead of the teeth of one roller being aligned with the valleys of the other roller, the teeth of a roller - iirtf "" •• * - they can be directly aligned with the teeth of the other roller. Any of these arrangements can be used to apply a sufficiently high concentrated force to the absorbent material to cause a localized failure thereof. The method of the present invention is carried out by feeding the plot ? compound 26 between the splicing rollers. As shown in Figure 3, the composite web 26 is fed in a machine direction (MD) to the grip between the rollers 34 and 36. The carrier webs 20 and 24 face the patterned surfaces on the rollers. The last frame or frames capable of destroying (the carrier frames 20 and 24) must face the pattern rollers for ease in removing the composite screen subjected to mechanical stress 26 of the patterned rollers. The rollers subject to ^^ the composite weft 26 to a mechanical stressing process by printing the patterned surface in the composite weft 26 with a force that is greater than the second limit to the point of rupture, but less than the first limit to the point of rupture. This results in the weave of absorbent material 22 which is at least partially grooved without grooving carrier webs 20 and 24. Figure 3 shows the condition of the composite web 26 after it passes through the grip between the first pair of rollers 32. As shown in FIG.

^^ Figure 3, the upper and lower carrier frames 20 and 24 have a pattern of ? corrugations formed in them corresponding to the combination of the patterns on the adjacent rollers, 3-4 and 36. The carrier webs 20 and 24, however, are not slotted or cut. The intermediate web of absorbent material 22 has a plurality of slits 50 formed therein. The slots 50 are oriented in the machine direction. The grooves are intermittent and separated by strips in the transverse direction of the machine from un-grooved material 52. This is due to the The presence of the channels 46 in the lower roller 36. Between the slots 50, the The surfaces of the web of absorbent material 22 can remain substantially planar. The web of absorbent material 22 is grooved while the carrier webs 20 and 24 are not grooved because the web of absorbent material has ??) a limit to the lower breaking point under the tensile forces (the forces exerted by the stress process) than the carrier frames 20 and 24. In other words, the outer carrier frames 20 and 24 can support a higher rate of tension than the absorbent material 22 which results in a completely or partially disintegrated absorbent material fully contained between the two layers of material. 10 The web of absorbent material 22 does not need to have webs of material ^ without slotting 52 in it. In other modalities, slits can form ^^ continuous in the web of absorbent material 22. Continuous slits 50 will be formed if the lower roller 36 is modified by replacing the channels 46 therein with sections forming continuous valleys and protrusions. In this mode, the lower roller 36 would be identical to the upper roller 34. If the slots 50 are continuous, the web of absorbent material 22 will be formed into a plurality of disconnected strips 51 that have been separated. ^^ through the grooving process. These can be referred to as "threads" here, although ? these do not comprise rolled fibers or the like. These strips or threads 51 can be very narrow, or these can be quite wide with widths that increase up to slightly less than the width of the weft (depending on the apparatus used). If these strips 51 are very narrow, they can resemble spaghetti noodles in the general dimensions. However, the sides of these strips would typically be flat, rather than rounded. The width of the strips 51 depends on the separation of the teeth on the rollers. In this way, some non-limiting dimensions of the strips 51 in the preferred embodiment shown could vary from about 1 mm to about 5 mm in width, and preferably be between about 1 5 mm and about 2 5 mm in width The strips 51 can be of any suitable length These can vary from lengths that are slightly greater than their width dimension , up to an infinite length Ajf Typically, its maximum length will be limited by the length of the product in which these are incorporated. If the slits 50 are intermittent, the web of absorbent material 22 will be formed in a plurality of connected strips 51. be of any suitable length such that the strips 51 are connected in any suitable way This can, for example, be desirable to have the strips 51 so that ^^ remain connected at their ends and / or in their middle portions for ease of ^^ manipulating them in the manufacturing process The connection of the strips 51 can eliminate the need for a carrier web in the step of passing the web of absorbent material 22 towards the grip between the first set of roller It should also be understood that in situations where the strips 51 are continuous, there can also be no need for any carrier web in the step of passing a web of absorbent material 22 in the grip between the first set of rollers since the tension ^ k will be placed on the absorbent material in the direction of the machine, and this ? will support the absorbent material without a weft or weft frames even after Slotting The web of absorbent material 22 can be provided with slots 50 that are in any suitable configuration (depending on the apparatus used) Slits 50 can be linear, curvilinear, or these can be composed of some linear segments and some curvilinear segments 25 The method of the present invention is also not limited to forming grooves that are oriented only in the direction of the machine.

In this case, the first pair of rollers 32 can be configured in a manner similar to the second pair of roller 62 (which is described in more detail below). In such a case, the slits formed in the weft of absorbent material will be oriented in the transverse direction of the machine (or "CD") In still other modes, any pair of? ßp rollers can be oriented in a diagonal (ie, at an angle) relative to the machine direction to provide slots that are diagonally oriented. It is desired to make an absorbent material with slots according to the method of the present invention, the process will be completed after the composite web 26 passes between the first pair of rollers 32 If it is desired to form the material in particles, then the steps described below will be performed ^^ At this point in the process, (between the roller sets and the ^^ second 32 and 34) it is possible to carry out additional operations in the composite screen For example, a web of additional material, such as a continuous web of apertured film top sheet material, can be attached to the composite web 26 between The first and second roller sets alternately, this additional material can be cut into individual pieces and joined to the composite frame 26 between the first and second roller sets ^ k The second pair or sets of rolls 62 is shown with greater detail in the A Figure 2 The second set of rollers 62 also comprises upper and lower rollers, The upper roller 62 and the lower roller 66 Each of these rollers has a pattern on its surface As shown in Figure 2, the upper roller 64 has a plurality of shoulders 68 and valleys 70 running parallel to the axis, A, of the upper roller 64 The shoulders 68 form a plurality of triangular-shaped teeth 69 on the surface of the upper roller 64 The upper roller 64 can also have a plurality of separate channels on the side 72 that are oriented around the circumference of the cylindrical roller The lower roller 66 in the second pair of rollers shown in Figure 2 has a pattern that is identical to that of the upper roller 64 in the second pair of rollers. The lower roller 66 has a plurality of ridges 74 and valleys 76 running parallel to the axis, A, of the lower roller 66 The shoulders 74 form a plurality of teeth ? g in triangular shape 75 on the surface of the lower roller 66 The lower roller 66 can also have a plurality of channels 78 spaced apart which are oriented around the circumference of the cylindrical roller A set of rollers suitable for use as the second set of rollers it is described in U.S. Patent No. 5,518,801 issued to Chappell, and others 10 In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the rollers supepor ^^ lower 64 and 66 in the second set of rollers 66 has teeth and ridges and valleys that ^^ have similar characteristics to those elements of the first set of rollers. In this way, the teeth are preferably in the form of isosceles triangles. The teeth also preferably have the same spacing. However, in other embodiments, The separation of the teeth in the second set of rollers 62 can be less than or greater than the spacing of the teeth in the first set of rollers 32 In the preferred embodiment shown, the channels 72 and 78 spaced apart in the second set of rollers ^^ Preferably have a width of 2 mm The "length" of the measured teeth ? transversely through the rollers (parallel to the axes, A) between channels 72 and 78 separated on the side on the surface of each roller is 8 mm The triangular-shaped teeth on the upper and lower rollers also preferably have the same coupling as the teeth on the first set of rollers, although the coupling can also be brazed. upper and lower rollers are preferably rotating in opposite directions The composite web 26 is fed in a similar manner towards the grip between rollers 64 and 66 Figure 3 shows that when the composite web 26 exits the grip between the second set of rollers 62, at least a portion of the absorbent material 22 is further provided with the plurality of slits 80 that are oriented in the transverse direction of the machine. This causes the absorbent material 22 to be formed or ??? m chopped into a plurality of particles 82. In the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the particles 82 have a square surface area that is approximately 1.5mm x 1.5mm. The particles 82 are preferably approximately 2 mm thick (the thickness of the material of the absorbent foam). In some embodiments, the particles of the absorbent material 82 can be connected to the ungrooved strips that are left in the absorbent material. In others ^^ modalities, continuous slits can be formed in the transverse direction of the ^^ machine (CD) in the web of absorbent material 22 if the upper and lower rollers are modified by replacing the channels, 72 and 78, in the same with sections forming continuous valleys and protrusions. Again, the carrier frames 20 and 24 are not slotted, but they have another pattern formed in them. The general pattern formed in the carrier frames 20 and 2-4 resembles a grid with a combination of impressions created by the first and second sets of rollers 32 and 62. g ^ In other embodiments, if it is desired to form the total web of the material ? absorbent 22 in particulate material, both sets of rollers can be modified replacing any of the channels in them with sections that form continuous valleys and ledges. This will result in the formation of continuous slits in the machine direction, and then the continuous slits with cross machine direction will intersect to form a plurality of chopped particles. The particles can be of any suitable size. The particles preferably have a larger dimension having a nominal size, which is preferably between about 1.0 mm and about 25.4 mm, and more preferably between approximately 2 mm and approximately 16 mm. However, particles as small as 0.5 mm and smaller and particles larger than approximately 25.4 mm are contemplated. Particles having a nominal size of about 1.0 mm or greater are those that are generally retained in the ? gf surface of a screen with a standard United States mesh screen No. 18. Particles having a nominal size of less than about 25.4 mm are those that generally pass through the normal US 25.4 mesh screen. mm. The chopped particles can be of any suitable shape. These may have regular figures or irregular figures. The examples of the particles that ^^ have regular figures are particles in the form of cubes, rectangular particles ^^ three-dimensional, prisms, or other parallelepipeds. In still other embodiments, as described in more detail below, the pattern on the surface of the rolls may be varied to provide a virtually unlimited number of slots or variations. forms of particles in the web of the absorbent material 22. The particles may all be of the same size and / or general shape, or they may be of varying sizes and shapes. ^^ In a preferred embodiment, the particles of the foam material A absorbent are generally in the configuration of parallelepipeds. When the particles of the absorbent foam material are described as being "generally" in a particular configuration, it is understood that they do not need to be exactly in the specific configuration, and that all of the particles do not need to be exactly in the specific configuration. It is sufficient if some of the particles are approximately in the specified form in such a way that they are recognizable as having such a form The particulate absorbent material 82 formed by the method described above is entrapped and contained between the two carrier webs 20 and 24. The composite web, in this manner, forms a self-contained structure comprising particulate absorbent material. absorbent particulate matepal JU 82 in it can then be incorporated into the individual absorbent articles (Of course in the embodiments in which the absorbent material is not formed into particles, but only slit, the self-contained structure will comprise the absorbent material with slits, instead of particles) The composite web 26 can be incorporated into the absorbent articles in their flat condition as they leaves the grip between the second set of rollers In other modes, the frame ^^ Composite can be bent or otherwise manipulated in the desired way for the ^^ Inclusion in an absorbent article The present invention provides an improved method for making and providing an absorbent material with slits or self-contained particles for absorbent articles The method of the present invention involves very few steps and significantly less additional equipment, and does not require a delivery system that uses compressed air or a closed receptacle to contain the particulate material ^^ In addition, because the particles are placed in a laminated structure, and they are not ? blown or transferred from a supply system, the result is an improvement Significant in the control of particle distribution. That is, the particles can be placed in precise locations within an absorbent article. The method of the present invention also eliminates the need to re-dose the amount of particulate material delivered to the absorbent article. The method of the present invention also provides the ability to maintain the characteristics of more than one layer of absorbent matepal in relation to the other layers For example, you can have two (or more) layers of absorbent matepal, such as absorbent foam, with different characteristics (e.g., pore size, hydrophilic capacity, etc.). For example, the uppermost foam layer may have a larger pore size than the lower foam layer or layers to establish a capillary gradient from the top of the absorbent article toward the bottom of the absorbent article. The method of the present invention is capable of forming one or more of these layers of foam material in strip or particulate material while maintaining the foam particle strips in their original orientation. This preserves the desired relationship, unlike previous processes involving air supply systems. The above processes would provide a random mix of these particles instead. ^^ In addition, the method of the present invention provides other advantages ^^ numerous. The method of the present invention can be used to provide the weft or carrier webs with a degree of extension capacity due to the formation of a web tensionable from regions therein by patterned rollers. The The formation of the network tensable region in a material to provide the same extension capacity is discussed in greater detail in the Chappell patent, and others. The method of the present invention can also be used to provide the weft or weft patterns with additional softness due to the printing of the surfaces with ? pattern in them. This provides advantages similar to those associated with the enhancement process. The method of the present invention can also be used to provide the weft or weft frames with increased flexibility due to the plurality of additional bending axes imparted in the weft or weft frames by the ridges and valleys in the patterned rolls. In addition, as described in more detail below, the method of the present invention can also provide the The advantage of improving the integrity between the layers of the composite layer.

The preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention also provides advantages over printing-related grooving methods (i.e., methods of grooving materials against a rigid backing or other punching methods). The embodiment of the method of the present invention described above. is ? / f particularly preferred because it employs a type of groove related to the stress The grooving methods associated with printing suffer from many disadvantages The cutting blade will have a high tendency to wear, particularly if there is metal to metal contact between the Cutting blade and backing surface Another disadvantage is that there are limitations to the location of an operation of grooving related to printing in the process of making an article ^^ absorbent It is not possible to slot an intermediate frame into a composite frame that ^^ uses a grooving method related to printing It is also difficult to form strips of spaghetti-shaped material and small particles that the method of the present invention is capable of providing using grooving methods Related to printing In addition, it is generally difficult to groove a web of material after it is combined with another web of material without grooving both materials using the grooving methods related to printing.

^^ It is possible to slot only one frame of that combined frame, it has to be taken ? greater care in establishing the distance between the cutting blade and the surface of backing in such a way that only one of the wefts is grooved. Even after such care to fix the cutting blade, it would be difficult to completely groove through the weft of material without grooving the adjacent material. The method of the present invention, on the other hand part, it is very suitable to completely groove through a material without grooving the other However, it should be understood that the method of the present invention does not is limited to one in which the destructible material is completely grooved or broken.

The method of the present invention also includes embodiments in which merely destructible matepal destructible. Numerous alternative embodiments of the method of the present invention are possible. Vanas of these show even further advantages of the method of the present invention. A non-limiting number of these modalities are described. In alternate modalities, the material that is grooved or formed into particulate material may be in a different form to the weft. The material that is grooved or formed into particulate material (the destructible material) may be in any suitable form, including but not limited to, one piece, one or more strips, one block, one or more layers, a laminate, or a weave The material described above ^^ as being the carrier frame can also be in different forms of a frame ^^ The carrier material may be in any of the forms described above as being suitable for material that is grooved or formed into particulate material. In some cases, the carrier material may be omitted.

In addition, it should be understood that these two components, the carrier material and the destructible material, may be in different forms from one another. For example, the carrier material may be in the form of a continuous web, and the material may be destroyed. ^^ can be in the form of a piece, one or more layers, one or more strips, or a laminate ? In those alternative modalities in which the destructible material comprises one or more layers, or a laminate, the different layers thereof can be fractured to different limits or in different patterns. Many of these modalities are possible. For example, the destructible material may comprise two layers of absorbent material. absorbent material, such as the layer that will be placed on the part of the absorbent article that is worn closest to the wearer's body, can be grooved or formed into particulate material to provide improved acquisition and / or smoothness. The underlying layer can be left without grooving or forming into particle shapes Alternately, one of the layers such as the top layer can be formed into particulate material, and the other layer, such as the underlying layer can be grooved such that it is formed into strips. A method that can be used to fracture the layers at different or different aßg boundaries is to provide one or more of the layers with weakened areas to facilitate fracturing or grooving. The material that is fractured or grooved may be weakened in the desired regions by applying localized force at those regions of matepal The material under discussion may have a pattern of weakened regions formed therein by printing a pattern from a bonding apparatus on the surface of the material to be fractured or grooved before incorporating this ^^ material in a composite web ^^ In other embodiments, it may be desirable to groove or partially groove at least one of the carrier webs. For example, when the material to be grooved or formed into particulate material comprises an absorbent foam and he The carrier material comprises a non-woven web, it may be desirable to form slits in the carrier non-woven web covering the side that gives the body the absorbent foam material The slit can, thus, be used to form a web ^^ top with openings Slots can also allow at least part of ? the particles or strips of absorbent foam material are exposed to help in the acquisition of liquids The stretching and / or bending of the composite web in a convex configuration can be used to assist in the opening of the slits. These slits will typically be oriented in the direction or directions similar to the slits formed in the absorbent material. Preferably , the slots in the carrier frame are intermittent in such a way that the frame or carrier frames will retain a degree of integrity In embodiments in which the destructible material comprises more than one layer, different types of absorbent material (such as foam material) can be used for each of the layers. For example, the absorbent foam material layer that will be placed further close to the user's body may comprise a soft foam aWU with large cells for improved acquisition and comfort The underlying layer may comprise a foam that is firmer, and which has smaller cells to establish a capillary gradient to absorb by wicking effect liquids away from the foam having the larger cells for storage In the alternative embodiments of the method of the present invention, the positions of the upper and lower rollers of the roller pairs can be reversed ^^ In these or other alternative modes, the order of the roller pairs can be ^^ changed in such a way that the composite web 26 passes through the second pair of rollers before it passes through the first pair of rollers As shown in Figure 3A, in still other alternative embodiments, The two pairs of rollers shown in Figure 3 can be replaced by an apparatus 300 comprising a combination of three rollers that are capable of nibbling the particulate absorbent material. The combination of three rollers comprises ^^ preferably a pair of rollers comprising rollers 302 and 304, both of the Which have a pattern on them One of the pattern rollers, for example the first roller 302, has a plurality of grooves defining teeth that are oriented in the machine direction This roller can be similar to the rollers in the ppmer roll set 32 shown in Figure 3 the other pattern roller, the second roller 304, has a plurality of grooves defining teeth that are oriented in the transverse direction of the machine. This roller may be similar to the rollers in the second set of rollers 62 shown in Figure 3 Both patterned rollers preferably have hard surfaces such as steel The two pattern rollers 302 and 304 operate in combination with a third roller, roller 306 which has a compressible and elastic surface (eg, rubber). The third roller 306 forms a displaced pressure grip with each of the pattern rollers. 302 and 304 In this embodiment, the patterned rollers do not need to attach the tgf) partially with each other As shown in Figure 3A, instead of being fed through the grip between the two patterned rollers, the composite web is fed through a separate grip between each of the steel rollers, rollers 302 and 304, and the roller 306 having the compressible and elastic surface The method of the present invention can also be used to create webs of material with a virtually unlimited number of slots or patterns ^^ particle areas without slots or without areas of particles ^^ For example, Figure 4 shows a screen 400, such as a web of absorbent material made according to a variation of the present invention. The web of absorbent material in the Figure 4, like those that appear in a number of the following figures, shown without the weft or weft frames for simplicity The weft 400 shown in Figure 4 is provided with an area 402 which is grooved or formed into particulate material in a zone 404 which is not grooved or formed in ^^ particulate material (In the particular mode shown in Figure 4, zone 402 ? comprises 406 particulate material formed by grooving in two directions) Bliss The weft 400 can be formed by providing a pattern of teeth on the parts of the rollers that make contact with the areas of the weft that are desired to be grooved or formed into particulate material, and omitting the pattern of the remaining portions of the rollers. the embodiment shown in Figure 4, the zone 402 which is grooved or formed into particulate material 406 is surrounded by the area 404 that is not grooved or formed into particulate material Figure 4A shows a modality that is the inverse of the embodiment shown in Figure 4. In Figure 4A, the zone 402 that is grooved or formed into particulate material surrounds the portion or area 404 of the weft that is not grooved or formed. in particle material A number of infinite patterns of zones are possible ? g that are grooved or formed into 406 particles and non-grooved areas FIGS. 4 and 4A show a further advantage in the method of the present invention With conventional compressed air particle delivery systems, it is not possible to provide a zone area of zoned particles. The method of the present invention is advantageous in comparison to these supply systems. of traditional particles because it provides the ability to slot / form particles in a frame in one or more ^^ specific locations ^^ Figure 5 shows a weft 500, such as a weft of absorbent material, made according to another variation of the present invention Weft 500 shown in Figure 5 is provided with a plurality of strips 502 that do not are grooved or formed into particulate material These bands 502 separate zones 504 that are either slotted or formed into particulate material 506 Such a frame 500 can be formed by providing a tooth pattern on the parts of the rollers ^^ that are in contact with the parts of the frames that are to be grooved or formed in ^ particulate material The teeth are omitted from the remaining portions of the rollers The embodiment shown in Figure 5 provides the advantage that bands or unformed areas can be used to divide the absorbent particles 506. As shown in Figure 5, the bands or unformed areas 502 can run in a simple direction, or in more than one direction If the bands or un-formed areas 502 run in a simple direction, they may be parallel to each other, or not parallel. bands or the unformed strips 502 run in different directions, these may be perpendicular to each other as shown in Figure 5 or be oriented in any direction. suitable angle with respect to each other The unformed strips or strips 502 can be linear, curvilinear, or have some linear parts and some curvilinear parts In other embodiments, instead of omitting a pattern of the rollers used ?? to groove or form the absorbent material as described for the embodiment shown in Figure 5, a similar structure can be formed if the components of the composite weft are similar to a patterned area where some areas are glued and some are not. the glue is present, the chopped absorbent foam material is in the form of particles that are fixed to the weft carrier These fixed particles will form band-like structures where no ^^ the glue is present, the chopped material of absorbent foam is in the form of ^^ "loose" particles that are contained by the structures in the form of bands formed by the fixed particles. The method of the present invention is not limited only to forming frames having regions that are grooved or formed into particulate material, and regions that are not grooved or formed into particulate material In other embodiments, the frame may have regions with different characteristics. For example, the ^^ Total weft can be grooved or formed into particle material, but some Regions may be provided with a different grooving pattern or material particles having different characteristics For example, one or more regions can be provided with slots and other regions can be formed from particulate material. In another example, the regions of the web of material can vary by the degree of attachment of the teeth that partially engages internally or separating the teeth In other cases, either of two (or more) properties or characteristics provided by the method described here may be varied in regions different from the material that will be partially or completely grooved or formed into particulate material Figure 5A shows an example of this structure Figure 5A shows a weave of absorbent material 510 having a region along its center line ?? } longitudinal (a "longitudinal central region") 512 having a pattern of grooves formed therein, and regions laterally outward therefrom ("longitudinal side regions") 514 and 516 having a pattern of different slits formed therein This absorbent material, which comprises part of a composite absorbent structure, can be bent into a structure in the form of tube similar to that shown in Figures 8 and 9 (described below) The structure ^^ bent absorbent composite can be inverted and fixed to the side that gives the body of the ^^ sanitary napkin, preferably an ultra-thin sanitary napkin (which serves as a "base pad"), to form a "composite" sanitary napkin As shown in Figure 5A, the longitudinal center region 512 can is provided with a plurality of transverse slots 518 (or in the transverse direction of the machine) The transverse slots 518 can be used to provide the bent tube with greater flexibility along its length than in the ^^ transverse direction The transverse grooves 518 form a plurality of strips of To transversely oriented absorbent material in the longitudinal central region 512 These strips provide the longitudinal center region 512 with the ability to preferentially wick (or transport) liquids in the transverse direction. Liquids are preferably transported to the longitudinal side regions 514 and 516 to make full use of the weft of the absorbent material The longitudinal side regions 514 and 516 are provided preferably with longitudinally oriented continuous slits 520 to form a plurality of strips of longitudinally-shaped absorbent material These strips longitudinal side regions 514 and 516 are provided with the ability to transport liquids in the longitudinal direction. Longitudinally oriented slots 520 can also be used to prevent any undesirable tendencies of the liquids to flow out of the tube transversely. ? ß absorbent matepal establishing gaps that tend to avoid capillary transport in the transverse direction from a strip to the adjacent strip Absorbent material 510 shown in Figure 5A can be formed in the following manner. mm wide in a composite frame comprising the weft or weft frames as described above A longitudinal central region that is 32 mm wide can ^^ running through a gripping space between the internal gear rollers so ^^ partial with the teeth oriented in the transverse direction relative to the composite web In a preferred embodiment, these teeth can have a spacing of 1 5 mm and a coupling of 1 mm The outer part 41 on each side of the central region longitudinal 512 (which forms the longitudinal side regions 514 and 516) can be rolled with rings with rollers having teeth oriented parallel with respect to the length of the composite web In a preferred embodiment, the teeth in the latter ^^ rollers can have a spacing of 1 5 mm and a coupling of 1 5 mm A Figure 6 shows another example of a composite absorbent structure 600 which can be made by the method of the present invention The composite absorbent structure 600 in Figure 6 is shown without the weft or weft frames for simplicity In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, a strip of absorbent material 602 is placed on the upper part of a weave of absorbent material 604 The placement of the strip of absorbent material 602 as shown in Figure 6, will provide a region along the longitudinal center line of the weft of the absorbent material 602 having a larger caliber than the adjacent regions 608 of the weft of the absorbent material In the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the strip of the absorbent material 602 is formed in the particulate absorbent material 606 The portion of the weft of the absorbent material which is located immediately below the absorbent material strip 602 is also formed Preferably in the particulate material This? mf will provide a double thickness of absorbent material particles 606 along the longitudinal center line of the composite absorbent structure 600. In the variations of the embodiment shown in Figure 6, the part of the weft of the absorbent material 604 which is located immediately below the strip of the absorbent material 602 does not need to be formed in the particle material 606 In other variations of the modality shown in Figure 6, it is also possible to form the ^^ adjacent regions 608 of the weft of the absorbent material 604 in the material of ^^ particle 606 This will result in the entire composite absorbent structure comprising particles of the absorbent material The mode shown in Figure 6 provides a method for forming a "profiled" absorbent structure which comprises slit or particulate material The term "profiling", as used herein, refers to a structure having regions of greater or lesser caliber. The products can be easily profiled ^^ in the longitudinal direction, the transverse direction, or any combination of The same using the method of the present invention varying the roller patterns and The thicknesses of the absorbent material Figures 7 to 9 show that by designing different patterns on the rolls, and optionally folding the composite screen, the method of the present invention can be used to easily create structures employing mechanical and civil engineering principles. These structures include , but are not limited to structures in the form of lattices, structures in the form of mesh wire frame, I-beams, A-frame, lifting springs These structures are useful in adding various features, such as stability, flexibility and elasticity to the final product. Figure 7 shows a weft of material, such as a weave of absorbent matepal, 700 having portions or areas 702 therein that have been slotted or ? ^ formed into particulate material, and portions 704 that have been left unformed. The web of material 700 is shown for simplicity without the weft or weft frames. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, an area 706 is not formed along the web. the longitudinal centerline, L, of the frame 700 There are also areas 708 which are located along the respective bending lines, F, which are not formed. The plot is provided 700 with a plurality of parts 702 that have been grooved or formed into material of ^^ particles that are located on both sides of the longitudinal center line, L These parts ^^ 702 are arranged in rows on either side of the prospective bending lines, F Areas 702 that have been grooved or formed into particulate material are circular in shape. However, they may be formed in other embodiments, these areas 702 in any other suitable manner Figure 8 shows the weft of material 700 shown in Figure 7 after it has been folded longitudinally into several places in a structure in ^ tube shape The weft 700 is folded along the longitudinal center line, L, and in the bending lines, F, to form the structure shown in structure 8 unformed region 706 along the longitudinal centerline adds stability to the structure Circular portions 702 comprising the particulate material along the sides of the structure provide these circular regions with increased compressibility and flexibility. The unformed regions 704 surrounding the circular portions of the particulate material 702 provide stability to the sides of the bent structure The particulate material will remain in place due to the presence of the carrier frames The unformed regions 704 can act as "springs" when compressive forces are applied to the upper or lower part of the bent structure. In variations of the modality shown in Figure 8, the weft of material may be provided with slits running along or along the lines of bends desired to provide the increased bending capacity for ? facilitate when folding the plot and / or in such a way that the plot does not fracture where it folds. The tube-like structure shown in Figure 8 can be inverted and attached to the side that gives the body of a sanitary napkin, preferably an ultra thin sanitary pad (which serves as a "base pad"), to form a towel "composite" sanitary Figure 9 shows a tube-like structure formed from ^^ a web of material 900 having slotted or particulate triangular parts ^^ 902 formed in it. The web of material 900 has been bent in a manner similar to the web of material shown in Figure 8. However, in the embodiment shown in Figure 9, the grooved or particulate portions 902 and the non-formed regions 904 surrounding areas have different configurations to form a framework structure. Figure 10 shows a different type of structure comprising a ^^ pattern or block of material 1000 that is relatively thick. The block of material 1000 ^ shown in Figure 11 has several surfaces. The two opposite surfaces more large ones are designated 1000A and 1000B. The block of material 1000 shown in the Figure has portions of its thickness extending inward from any of its surfaces 1000A and 1000B which are formed in the crevice or particulate material 1002 while the interior 1004 of the block 1000 is not formed. More specifically, in the embodiment shown in Figure 10, block 1000 is grooved in two directions to form a plurality of columnar elements in 1006. The Figure 10 shows that the method of the present invention can be used to groove only part of the trajectory-through the thickness of an immaterial frame or block. As shown in Fig. 10, if desired, the parts 1008 on the outer side and the middle part of the structure can also be left unformed to form a structure similar to an I-beam. A mode can also be created which is opposite to that shown in Figure 10. That is, a weft or block of material having an inner part that is grooved or formed into particulate material and an outer side portion can be formed. adjacent to one or more of its surfaces, which is not grooved or formed into particulate material. This structure can be created if the part or parts outer sides of the weft or block of material are more resistant to fracture ^^ when the frame or block is subjected to the method of the present invention. The plot or ^^ block can be provided with these characteristics, if, for example, the weft or the block comprises a foam material that is provided with a cover that is more resistant to fracture than the inner part of the weft or block of foam. From Alternatively, the foam may have stratified properties (ie, this may be in the form of a layered structure) having an interior that is less resistant to fracture than at least one outer part. In any of these cases, ^ _ This structure provides the advantage that would eliminate the need for a plot A separate carrier. In another variation of this alternative modality, the material of foam that has the toughest outer cover can be provided in a tube shape (for example, in the form of a cylindrical tube). In such a case, the method of the present invention can be used to form a tube of particles or threads of closed material which are contained in a unitary cover. Figure 11 shows a frame similar to that shown in Figure 10.

However, in Figure 11, the weft 1100 is thinner, and only a part 1102 of the surface on one side of the weft of material is grooved. The part 1104 that forms the other side of the weft 1100 is not grooved Figure 11A shows an example of a structure that the weft of material 1100 shown in Figure 11 can be formed when folded into an arcuate configuration As shown in Figure 11 A, when the weft 1100 is folded, the slits 1106 open upwardly between the threads of the slotted material 1108 The slits 1106 can provide the folded weft 1100 with the improved ability to acquire liquids and / or the ability to transport liquids within the channels formed by the opening of the slots 1106 In still other embodiments, a similar structure can be formed by adhesively attaching a carrier web to only one side of the absorbent material (such as an absorbent foam material) to form a composite weft The weft ^^ compound is then mechanically stressed as described here. This will groove or ^^ form the absorbent foam material in the particulate material The grooved or particulate material will remain attached by the adhesive to the carrier web The mechanical stress or stress of the absorbent foam material will create a structure having a side that is grooved or formed into columns, and a side that is fixed to the carrier frame The side that is grooved or formed into columns will tend to expand more than the side that is fixed to the carrier frame This will form a ^^ structure similar to that shown in Figure 11 A Figure 12 shows that the method of the present invention is also may be used to entangle or bond two or more layers of material For example, in the embodiment shown, a layer of the foam absorbent material 1200 is placed between two air-laid plies bonded with latex 1202 and 1204 to form a composite web 1206 this particular modality, the layers of the composite weft 1206 can, but do not need to be, joined together when the composite weft is subjected 1206 to the mechanical stressing process by printing a patterned surface thereon to compress it, the foam 1200 will be formed into the particulate material. the composite web 1206 will also be at least loosely bonded together Although not wishing to be bound by any particular theory, it is believed that the fibers of the web placed with air 1202 and 1204 will wrap around the foam particles to join the layers together In some cases, if the particles of the foam material are subjected to the liquid, they can expand and break the bonds formed by the fibers that wrap around the foam particles. This can be an advantage for the designs, such as those in which the discharge capacity in the toilet is desired, which requires a product to separate when fully saturated. Compression of the composite 1206 screen will result not only in the ^^ minus the temporary reduction of the caliber of the composite 1206 frame, but also ^^ may result in an increase in the other dimensions of the composite 1206 frame The composite web 1206 may, for example, comprise a foam material having an original gauge, C ?, of about 5 mm, which is compressed to a compressed gauge, C2, of approximately 1 mm After the compression forces are removed, the composite frame 1206 may expand back to its original gauge C ,, or to an expanded gauge, C3, between its compressed gauge and its ^^ original caliber This compression in the Z direction will also likely cause the A composite grid 1206 expand in the longitudinal and transverse directions (X and Y) This The compression can, for example, result in an increase in both the length and the width of the composite web of about 50% By passing the composite web 1206 through the grip between the corrugated rollers 1208 and 1210 it will also deform the composite web in the web. Z direction forming corrugations in it This deformation in the Z direction can result in an increase (for example, of approximately 30%) in the total caliber of the 1206 compressed composite web when the total gauge is measured from the minimum amplitude point to the maximum amplitude point of the corrugated composite web 1206. Figure 13 shows an absorbent article (an extensible sanitary napkin 1320) in which the method of the present invention was used. to do ? ß simultaneously several different operations in the process of making the absorbent article The sanitary napkin 1320 comprises a main body portion 1322 The main body portion 1322 comprises a liquid permeable topsheet 1324, a liquid impermeable backsheet 1326 attached to the top sheet, and an absorbent core 1328 placed between the top sheet 1324 and the sheet postepor 1326 components can be joined in any suitable way that allows the towel ^^ sanitary napkin 1320 is extended The sanitary napkin 1320 may comprise a ^^ pair of end seals 1329 which are formed by fusing the supepor sheet and the back sheet together The sanitary pad 1320 also has wings or flaps 1330 extending from each longitudinal side edge of the main body portion 1322 15 The sanitary napkin 1320 shown in Figure 13 has an absorbent core 1328 with regions 1334 that have been formed into particulate material 1336 by the method of the present invention. As shown in Figure 13, the g regions 1334 comprising the particulate material are separated by A non-formed bands 1338 that are oriented in both the longitudinal direction as the Transverse direction In addition, the method of the present invention was also preferably used to form the tensionable network regions in the topsheet 1324 and the backsheet 1326. The term "stretchable network region" is described in greater detail in the United States No. 5 518,801 entitled "Weft materials exhibiting behavior similar to elastic", which was issued to Chappell, and others on May 21 of 1996 The formation of the tensionable network regions in the top sheet 1324 and the back sheet 1326 provide these components of the sanitary napkin with capacity of extension The unformed webs of the tensionable web in the top sheet 1324 and the backsheet 1326 provide these extensible components with properties similar to elastic The formation of the absorbent core 1328 in the particulate material places the absorbent core 1328 in a form that will not interfere with the ability to extend ? ^ top sheet 1324 and back sheet 1326 Top sheet 1324 and back sheet 1326 can be provided with an extension capacity in one direction, in more than one direction, or in all directions within the XY plane, depending on the pattern of the tensionable network formed therein In the embodiment shown in Figure 13, the sanitary napkin 1320 is extendable in both of the longitudinal and transverse directions The sanitary napkin 1320 shown in ^^ Figure 13 is preferably extensible in the quantities specified in the ^^ U.S. Patent Disclosure No. 5,611, 790 entitled "Stretchable Absorbent Articles", which was issued to Osborn, et al. on March 18, 1997. Figure 13 shows that the method of the present invention is also may be used to provide the wings or wings 1330 with extension capability The wings 1330 may be provided with extension capability in any of the directions specified above for the top sheet and the back sheet. ^^ it is possible to provide the wings 1330 with extension capacity in one direction or A quantity that differs from that of the upper sheet and the subsequent sheet by passing the sanitary napkin 1320 through an apparatus having a different pattern on the patterned surface portion contacting the wings 1330 of the part of the apparatus that is in contact with the main body portion of the absorbent article of the rollers that will be used to provide the wings with the extension capacity, if the splicing rollers are used, they can also be placed together more near, or attach to a larger extension, if the wings 1330 do not have as many layers as the main body portion 1322 has.

The method of the present invention can be used to enhance and / or join the components of the sanitary napkin together Figure 13 shows that the sanitary napkin body surface 1320 can be provided with a plurality of enhancements in the form of fusion junctions 1340 Fusion junctions 1340 may be formed by providing a plurality of bonding elements on the patterned surface of the apparatus used to form the absorbent core 1328 in the particulate material. The bonding elements may be optionally heated if desired. Typically, in order to join the components together, those components that are bonded together will preferably comprise at least some thermoplastic material In other embodiments, it may be desirable for the patterned surface to be ^^ provides with the elements that only enhance the surface that gives the body of ^^ the sanitary napkin and do not form fusing joints between the components thereof The method of the present invention can, in this way, be used to form the absorbent core 1328 in the particulate material, provide the sheet upper 1324 and to the rear sheet 1326 with extension capacity, provide the wings or fins 1330 with extension capacity, enhance and / or join together the components, and seal the ends of the sanitary napkin 1320 All this can be accomplished in a simple ^ _ step through an apparatus similar to that shown in Figure 3 ^ The method of the present invention is, therefore, capable of elaborating extensible structures which previously could only be done with great difficulty This was due to the fact that the method is capable of grooving, pitting, or otherwise breaking the integrity of the absorbent material. Previously, it was difficult to impart sufficient extension capacities to the absorbent materials forming a stretchable network therein. Grooving, chopped, or rupture of the absorbent material provides an absorbent article with absorbent material that does not significantly interfere with the desired properties of the extension capacity imparted to the topsheet and to the backsheet when the tensionable network is formed in the supepor sheet and the back sheet. Figure 14 shows an alternative embodiment of the method of the present invention that is used to make an hourglass pattern of material J ^ grooved absorbent. or particulate 1400 Figure 14 shows a suitable apparatus for grooving an absorbent material The apparatus comprises a pair of gear rollers 1402 and 1404 Any suitable pattern can be provided on the surface of the rollers The rollers 1402 and 1404 shown in Figure 14 are preferably similar to those shown in Figures 1 and 3, only without channels 46 in the lower roller. ^^ found that if the distance between the rollers increases or decreases, this ^^ In addition to grooving or nibbling the absorbent material, the total width of the grooved or minced material web 1400 will also vary. It has been found that when the rollers move closer together in the Z direction, this will increase the percentage of coupling of the teeth in the rollers, and will create a wider web of slits or particulate material. Thus, for example, if the initial width Wt of the weft of the absorbent matepal is 75 mm, we have found that it is possible increase the ^^ width of this frame at widths as large as 125 mm If the opposite is done (ie, the rollers move further apart), the weft of the material with slits or particles will be narrower in width In the modality of the method shown in Figure 14, this concept has been taken as an additional step The distance between the pair of rollers shown in Figure 14 is cyclically increased and decreased The cyclical increase and decrease of the spacing between the rollers can be achieved in a number of ways. These include, but are not limited to using a cam arrangement, a solenoid, or profiling the rollers. This forms the weft of the absorbent matepal in a web of grooved material or in particles that are provided in a plurality of hourglass-shaped parts that can be cut into individual absorbent cores The formed absorbent core can be used in a wide variety of types of absorbent articles Figure 15 shows said absorbent core of hourglass in the place ? ß ^ inside a diaper 1520 As shown in Figure 15, diaper 1520 preferably comprises a liquid-permeable top sheet 1524, a liquid-impermeable backsheet 1526, an absorbent core 1528, which is preferably placed between at least a portion of the top sheet 1524 and the back sheet 1526, side panels 1530, elasticized leg cuffs 1532, an elastic waist feature 1534, and a fastening system generally intended 1540 The diaper 1520 shown in the Figure ^^ 15 has a first waist region 1536, a second waist region 1538 opposite ^^ to the first waist region 1536 and a crotch region 1537 located between the first waist region and the second waist region The periphery of the diaper 1520 is defined by the outer edges of the diaper 1520 in which the longitudinal edges 1550 run generally parallel to the longitudinal center line L2 of the diaper 1520 and the end edges 1552 run between the longitudinal edges 1550 generally parallel to the transverse center line T? of the diaper 1520 ^^ The diaper 1520 shown in Figure 15 preferably comprises a ^ waste handling element 1620 which is capable of accepting, storing and / or immobilizing the viscous fluid body waste, such as watered faecal wastes The waste handling element 1620, and components thereof, can be located on either side of the diaper, including the crotch region or any waist region, or it may be operatively associated with or included in any structure or element such as the core 1528, or as shown in Figure 16A, a fold leg, or some other element The waste management element 1620 preferably comprises an acceptance element 1650 for accepting body exudates, particularly body wastes of viscous fluid. Materials and structures suitable for use as the acceptance element 1650 may include nonwoven webs.

? J with openings, films with openings, films formed with openings, canvases, woven wefts, canvas, mesh, thin macroporous foams, and the like. The waste handling element 1620 also preferably comprises a storage element 1652 which is capable of storing to the viscous body waste accepted by the acceptance element 1650 The modality of the element of storage 1652 shown in Figures 15, 16 and 16A, comprises a structure ^^ of macroparticles 1570 comprising a multiplicity of discrete particles 1572 ^^ arranged in an ordered arrangement The term "ordered arrangement", as used herein, includes distributions of particles that are at least approximately aligned with their 15 sides oriented in the same general direction. The particles may also be at least approximately arranged in rows. and / or layers The particulate structure 1570 can include any number of ^ _ Particles 1572 In addition, particles 1572 may be disjointed and free to move ^ P within structure 1570 or may be linked together by any means Known alternatively, the structure 1570 may include an external support, such as a melt-blown extruded thermal melt adhesive, a weft, a mesh, a canvas, a yarn or other adhesive or non-adhesive entanglement supports. they can bind any of the particles 1572 with any other part of the diaper structure, such as the topsheet or the core. The particles 1572 can also be limited in the three-dimensional regions, patterned, such as folds, "pillows", and cavities The individual particles 1572 may be made from any suitable material for use in the absorbent articles. The materials used in the particles 1572 may be absorbent, non-absorbent, microporous, macroporous, resilient, non-resilient, etc., or may have any other characteristic.

Desirable examples of macroporous absorbent materials suitable for use in particles 1572 include high-floor nonwovens, open cell foams, fiber bundles, sponges and the like. Other absorbent materials include cellulosic blocks, fibers with capillary channel , osmotic storage materials, such as superabsorbent polymers, etc. The particles non-absorbent 1572 can comprise plastic, metal, ceramic, glass, foams of ^^ closed cell, column packing materials, synthetic fibers, gel, gas ^^ encapsulated, liquids and the like. In addition, any or all of the particles 1572 may include odor absorbers, lotions, skin care formulations, antimicrobial agents, pH regulators, enzyme inhibitors, and the like.

The particulate structure 1570 preferably includes a continuous interstitial hollow space 1574 that is defined by the space between the particles 1572 By varying the size and / or the shape of the particles 1572, the space can be controlled ^^ interstitial gap 1574 The particles can be of any known form, A including spheres, flattened spheres at the poles, rectangular solids and polygonal, and the like Suitable particle shapes and corresponding hollow fractions are described in the Perry Chemical Engineering Manual, 6th edition, McGraw-Hill, 1984, on pages 18 to 20 The diaper shown in Figures 15, 16 and 16A, is described in greater detail in U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 08 / 970,508 entitled "Diaper with fecal-handling properties. improved ", presented on behalf of Roe, and others on November 11, 1997 The topsheet 1524 and / or the backsheet 1526 of the diaper 1520, or any portion thereof, may be elastically extensible in one or more directions. In one embodiment, the topsheet 1524 and / or the backsheet 1526 may comprise a weft. of film in the form of structural plastic ("SELF") to provide an expandable diaper A film web in the form of structural plastic is an extensible material that exhibits a behavior similar to elastic in the direction of elongation without the use of additional elastic materials. SELF frame includes a tensable network that has at least two contiguous, distinct and different regions. Preferably, one of the regions is configured in such a way that it will exhibit forces of resistance in response to an axial elongation applied in a direction parallel to the ^^ default axis before a substantial part of the other region develops forces ^^ of significant resistance to applied elongation At least one of the regions has a surface trajectory length that is greater than that of the other region as measured substantially parallel to the previously predetermined axis while the material is in an unstressed condition The region exhibiting the largest surface path length includes one or more strains that extend beyond the plane of the other region ^^ The SELF screen exhibits at least two stages significantly ^ P different strength controlled resistance to elongation along at least a previously determined axis when subjected to an elongation applied in a direction parallel to the previously determined axis The SELF frame exhibits ppmera strengths of applied elongation until the elongation of the frame is sufficient to cause a substantial part of the region that has the length and greater superficial trajectory between the plane of the applied elongation, with which the plot of SELF exhibits second strengths of additional elongation resistance The total strengths of elongation resistance are greater than the first strengths of Resistance to elongation provided by the first region The SELF webs suitable for use on the diaper 1520 shown in Figure 15 are more fully described in U.S. Patent No. 5,518,801 entitled "Weft materials exhibiting elastic-like behavior", which was sent to Chappell, and ? ß others on May 21, 1996, which is incorporated herein by reference. In alternate embodiments, the supepor sheet and / or the back sheet 1526 may comprise elastomeric non-woven materials, films, foams, yarns, or combinations thereof. other suitable materials with nonwovens or synthetic films Alternative types of elastically extensible absorbent structures suitable for use in a diaper (or other type of absorbent article) can also ^^ created using the method of the present invention A preferred alternative structure ^^ is formed by including an elastically extensible material in the composite web before subjecting the composite web to a force when performing the method of the present invention. The elastically extensible material can comprise any material elastically extensible suitable The elastically extensible matepal can be permeable to liquid, or if it will be located on the side that gives the garment the absorbent material, impervious to liquid The elastically extensible materials Suitable k include any of those elastically extensible materials A specific as being suitable to be used as a carrier frame A The elastically extensible material can be selected to be extensible in one direction, or in more than one direction. The elastically extensible material can, but does not need to be as wide and / or as long as the other components of the composite web. Such an elastically extensible material can be placed between a first carrier material 20 and the destructible absorbent matepal 22 Alternatively, the elastically extensible material can be placed between the second carrier material 24 and the absorbent material In other variations of this modality, the matepal elastically extensible can be placed between both carrier materials 20 and 24 and absorbent matepal 22 In still other versions of this alternative embodiment, one or more of the carrier webs can comprise the elastically extensible material In a particularly preferred embodiment of said elastically extensible structure is observes similar to the composite screen shown in Figure 3, only that it comprises a five-layer structure The absorbent structure composed of five layers comprises from top to bottom a supepor sheet material, a layer of elastic polyurethane foam, a layer of absorbent foam described in patents for absorbent foam material, another layer of10 elastic polyurethane foam, and a back sheet material The absorbent structure ^^ compound then subjected to the method of the present invention The method of the present ^^ invention can be used to either gouge or form the layer of absorbent foam material in the particulate material. This will form an elastically extensible composite absorbent structure in which the absorbent foam material is already either, grooved in a plurality of strips or formed in the particulate material. The other layers of the composite absorbent structure (including the layers of elastic polyurethane foam) will typically be corrugated by this process. However, ^^ do not exclude the modalities in which one or more of these layers are also at ^ less partially grooved 20 The elastically extensible absorbent structure formed in this manner can have numerous uses The elastically extensible absorbent structure can serve as a single absorbent article, or it can comprise a part or an aspect of an absorbent article eg the structure elastically extensible may comprise a part that forms (all or a part of) an elastic characteristic waist for a diaper and a part that forms (all or part of) an absorbent core for a diaper The part of the elastically extensible structure that forms the elastic waist feature can, but need not, comprise an absorbent foam material The method of the present invention can, in this way, be used to form an elastic, foldable, flexible, stretchable, and if desired, absorbent waist feature , that is highly comfortable and conformable to the user's body Apart from the elastically extensible absorbent structure which forms all or part of the absorbent core of the diaper in addition to the absorbency, it will have similar properties. Figure 17 shows another example of a structure 1700 that can be formed by the method of the present invention. The structure shown in Figure 17 it comprises an outer weave or envelope 1702 (such as one of the wefts) carriers described above) The envelope 1702 is wrapped around a ^^ Compressible and elastic material (such as one of the absorbent foam materials) ^^ described above) The outer shell 1702 has a stretchable network formed in it The tensable network comprises a plurality of first substantially flat unformed regions 1706, and a plurality of second regions 1708 formed in rib-shaped relief elements 1710 In the embodiment shown in Figure 17, the un-formed regions 1706 are in the form of bands intermittently surrounding the formed regions 1708. The embodiment shown in Figure 17 is ^^ Preferably elaborate by forming an outer wrap laminate 1702 and the material ^ compressible and elastic The tensable network region is then preferably formed in the laminate of the outer wrapper 1702 and the compressible and elastic material The outer wrapper 1702 is then wrapped around the compressible and elastic material fast enough so that the wrapper occurs before it begins to expand the compressible and elastic material As shown in Figure 17, when the compressible material and The elastic expands, this expands more towards the areas where the second regions 1708 of the tensable network region are formed (due to the greater capacity of extension of these regions of the sheath 1702) The expansion causes these regions to flare more outwardly than the unformed regions 1706. This provides a segmented structure. The segmented structure shown in Figure 17 is advantageous for use in the absorbent articles or as an absorbent article ( such as an interlabial absorbent device) in which it is desirable to provide an absorbent article with areas having greater flexibility (the non-formed regions with smaller diameter 1706) than other regions. This segmented structure can provide improved shaping ability with the figure of body of the user when used 10 Figure 18 shows another type of structure or absorbent article 1800 ^^ that the method of the present invention can be used to form it The article F Absorbent, or part of an absorbent article 1800 shown in Figure 18 comprises a composite structure such as a weft or a block of material 1802 that is formed in a plurality of vertical columns 1804 Columns 1804 may have any of the appropriate dimensions so that they are very narrow if desired The columns 1804 may comprise absorbent foam material The columns 1804 may be attached to a carrier frame 1806 of the type described herein. ^^ absorbent shown in Figure 18 provides a structure in which the orientation ^ P of the structural components that make up the structure is mainly oriented perpendicular to the plane of the absorbent article (ie, in the Z direction) The absorbent structure 1800 shown in Figure 18 is distinguishable from conventional fibrous webs in which the structural elements comprising the fibrous webs (the individual fibers) are typically stacked on top of one another (or oriented on the XY plane) The absorbent structure shown in Figure 18 provides the absorbent article with increased surface area for the absorption of discharged body fluids and spaces natural voids 1810 between the columns 1804 which can serve to acquire the discharges of these fluids and / or admit solid matter such as that in the intestinal evacuations or cellular wastes contained in the menstrual fluid. If desired, the columns of the absorbent material can be placed directly against the user's flP body to serve as a "top sheet" for the absorbent article To make the absorbent structure shown in Figure 18, a weft composed of a weft or block of absorbent material can be formed which is fixed to adhesive way (to the extent possible) to a carrier web using adhesive 1808 The composite web formed in this way is subjected to a force printing a patterned surface on it The surface of the composite screen ^^ 'adjacent to the exposed surface of the absorbent matepal can be, either, covered ^^ temporarily or permanently with a weave for ease of removing the composite weft from the patterned surface If a weft is used to temporarily cover the surface of the absorbent material, it can be removed after the weft is removed Composite of the patterned surface The adhesively fixed carrier web 1806 may be impermeable to the liquid and thus may serve as a liquid impervious backsheet The absorbent structure shown in Figure 18 is advantageous because it provides a surface that gives the body that is highly conformable to the ^ P Adjacent Parts of the User's Body 20 Figure 19 shows another example of a structure 1900 that can be formed by the method of the present invention The structure 1900 shown in Figure 19 is similar to that shown in Figure 18 Structure 1900 shown in Figure 19 has a surface that faces the body 1900A and a rear surface 1900B The structure also comprises a weft or block of material 1902 that is formed in columns 1904, which are attached to a 1906 carrier web by an adhesive 1908 Columns 1904 also have hollow spaces 1910 between them.

However, in Figure 19, a liquid permeable carrier 1912 is placed on top of the absorbent foam material 1902. As shown in Figure 19, mechanical tensioning can force or reinforce portions of the liquid permeable carrier 1912. between the columns 1904 The liquid permeable carrier 1912 may, as shown in Figure 19, be partially biased downward toward the carrier web 1906 which serves as a backup In other embodiments, the liquid permeable carrier 1912 web may be enforced all trajectory down to the 1906 backrest (and if desired, attached to it) The parts of the liquid permeable carrier 1912 that are entangled between the columns 1904 can be provided with openings, generally ^^ designated 1914, as the portions of the 1912 liquid-permeable carrier web that are ^^ located on the upper parts of the columns 1904 These openings 1914 can be of any shape and size The openings 1914 can be circular, slits, etc. The openings 1914 can all have the same size. may use openings of different sizes For example, portions of the liquid permeable carrier web 1912 that are entangled between the columns 1904 may be provided with larger openings (or macro openings) 1916, while g ^ that the parts of the frame liquid permeable carrier 1912 that is located on the ^ P upper parts of the columns may be provided with smaller openings (or micro openings) 1918 In the embodiment shown in Figure 19, however, the openings 1916 and 1918 in these different locations are of the same size. Figure 20 shows an alternative embodiment of the method of the present invention in which an embossing process is used. In the embodiment shown in Figure 20, the composite 2026 pattern is placed in a 2000 device, and it pressurized The apparatus comprises a pair of plates 2002 and 2004 that are attached to movable plates 2006 and 2005, respectively Each plate has a pattern of teeth on its surface The embossing process shown in Figure 20 provides a greater degree of flexibility because it can be more easily able to form more complicated patterns, such as slits in the form of diagonal lines, in the absorbent material, which are difficult to form using rollers ? having internal gear teeth Figure 21 shows that in other embodiments of the method of the present invention, it is possible to form slits 2102 in the absorbent material 2100 that are oriented at an angle with respect to the plane of the absorbent material (the XY plane in the Figure 21) A part of absorbent matepal 2100, on the left side of it is left without grooving by comparison The use of plates, instead of rollers, also ^ F provides the ability to more easily form these structures ^ Figure 22 shows another alternative embodiment of the method of the present invention in which an embossing process is used In the embodiment shown in Figure 22, the composite pattern is placed 2226 in a device, and submit under pressure The apparatus 2220 also comprises a pair of plates, 2202 and 2204 However, only one of the plates the upper plate 2202, has a tooth pattern 2206 on its surface The other plate, the flat plate 2204, does not have it The flat plate ^^ 2204 can have a rigid surface, or a deformable surface? Figure 23 shows another alternative mode of the present method In the embodiment shown in Figure 23, the apparatus 2300 comprises an anvil roller 2302 and a pattern roller 2304 having a plurality of elements 2306 having a small surface or "landing" area. This apparatus 2300 may be similar to an apparatus used to stitch together non-woven materials The mode in Figure 23 shows the absorbent material 2322 without the weft or wefts carriers for simplicity of illustration This modality shows that the compression of absorbent matepals 2322 in very small areas can not result in any noticeable amount of absorbent material that is removed from the area where localized pressure is exerted on the material. Instead, localized pressure causes fractures 2308 that develop in absorbent material 2322 emanating from points where localized pressure has been applied. Fractures 2308 may or may not be visible?) Fractures 2308 may also not fully extend through absorbent material 2322 If absorbent material 2322 is stretched after it is passed through apparatus 2300 shown in Figure 23, the fractures 2308 can expand and propagate in such a way that they are visible in other modalities, particularly where the material is slotted absorbent with a plurality of intermittent slits, the absorbent material can ^ F to be stretched simultaneously with the grooving, or subsequently This will create openings in ^ F the absorbent material Certain grooving patterns combined with stretch to widen the grooves can form the grooved absorbent material in a structure that resembles an "expanded metal" structure with openings in the form of diamond The openings can then, if desired, be filled with particles of absorbent material In still other embodiments, the materials used here, or the method of ^^ This invention can be altered in such a way that a variety of other materials Wide will be suitable for use in this method For example, materials that are described herein as being suitable for being broken, grooved, or formed into particulate material, are generally those that are capable of being fractured in these ways in their natural state, at room temperature. In other embodiments, materials having a point of Superior rupture (or that are less brittle) than those described here, can be altered in such a way that they can be fractured For example, polymeric materials having these characteristics can be treated with a solvent to selectively cut the polymer components for To make the polimenco material more brittle at room temperature Alternatively, or additionally, the material to be fractured can be irradiated (for example, treated with ultraviolet light) to make it more brittle Alternatively, or additionally, the material that is will fracture can be cooled to a temperature That is below ambient temperature to make it more susceptible to fracture These treated materials can then be combined with one or more carrier webs to form the composite web that is processed according to the present invention In still other variations of this embodiment , the material that is going to fracture can be the same type of material as that used for the plot or wefts carriers, only the piece or the web of material that will be fractured can be treated ^ in one of these ways before it is combined into a composite pattern In yet m ^ * other modalities, the carrier material can be treated to increase its breaking point In still other modalities, the variations of the method described here can be combined to create additional embodiments. The structures described herein can also be combined in any suitable manner to create additional structures. In addition, although the method of the present invention will be ^^ directed primarily to grooving or forming the absorbent material in the material of ^ particles, it is also possible to use the method of the present invention to groove or Form non-absorbent material in particulate material Disclosures of all patents, patent applications (and any patents issued therefrom, as well as any of the corresponding published foreign patent applications), and publications mentioned throughout. This description is hereby incorporated by reference herein. However, it is not expressly admitted that some of the documents incorporated herein by reference teach or disclose the present invention.

Although the particular embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (1)

1. A structure composed of discrete elements of material The absorbent material is in the form of columns of absorbent material extending outwardly of the carrier matepal. The composite structure of discrete elements of absorbent material according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the ? f discrete elements of absorbent material are attached to the carrier material 8 The composite structure of discrete elements of absorbent material according to claim 1, wherein the absorbent material has a first surface adjacent to the carrier material and a second opposing surface, further comprising a opposite carrier material adjacent to the second surface 10 of the absorbent material ^ F 9 The composite structure according to claim 8, in ^ F wherein at least a portion of at least one of the carrier materials is encased between two or more adjacent discrete elements of absorbent material. The composite structure according to claim 9, wherein the carrier material is entangled therebetween. Adjacent discrete pieces of absorbent material is in contact with a portion of the opposing carrier material 11 The composite structure according to claim 8, in which the at least one of the carrier materials has crevices therein. ^ P 12 The composite structure according to claim 1, in Wherein the discrete pieces of absorbent material comprise absorbent foam material 13 The composite structure according to claim 8, wherein at least one of the carrier materials is extensible 14 The composite structure according to claim 13, wherein the less a carrier material comprises a material in the form of a structural elastic comprising a network of tense regions exhibiting a behavior in the form of elastic in the direction of elongation without the use of additional elastic materials 15 An absorbent, elastic composite structure comprising a) a plurality of discrete pieces of absorbent material, said plurality of discrete pieces defining a macro structure having two surfaces , at least one of which is a generally flat surface, b) at least one elastic material which is placed generally parallel to the plane of at least one generally planar surface of the absorbent material, c) at least one expandable containment member to contain ^ pieces of discrete absorbent material, the containment member comprising ^ plurality of corrugations defining valleys between the discrete absorbent material pieces 16 The absorbent, elastic composite structure according to claim 15, wherein the discrete absorbent material pieces comprise strips of absorbent material 17 The absorbent, elastic composite structure , according to claim 11, wherein the discrete pieces of absorbent material comprise ^ absorbent foam 20 18 The absorbent, elastic composite structure according to claim 15, wherein the elastic material comprises an elastic polyurethane foam 19 The absorbent, elastic composite structure according to claim 15, wherein at least one containment member comprises a sheet 25 upper and one back sheet, wherein the top sheet and the back sheet are placed on opposite sides of the mat composed of said discrete pieces of absorbent material and said elastic material, and the upper sheet and the back sheet are at least partially joined together peripherally. 20. The absorbent, elastic composite structure according to claim 15, which is extensible in at least one direction.