US20040256752A1 - Process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles - Google Patents
Process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles Download PDFInfo
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- US20040256752A1 US20040256752A1 US10/897,495 US89749504A US2004256752A1 US 20040256752 A1 US20040256752 A1 US 20040256752A1 US 89749504 A US89749504 A US 89749504A US 2004256752 A1 US2004256752 A1 US 2004256752A1
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- production line
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29B—PREPARATION OR PRETREATMENT OF THE MATERIAL TO BE SHAPED; MAKING GRANULES OR PREFORMS; RECOVERY OF PLASTICS OR OTHER CONSTITUENTS OF WASTE MATERIAL CONTAINING PLASTICS
- B29B17/00—Recovery of plastics or other constituents of waste material containing plastics
- B29B17/0005—Direct recuperation and re-use of scrap material during moulding operation, i.e. feed-back of used material
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
- A61F13/00—Bandages or dressings; Absorbent pads
- A61F13/15—Absorbent pads, e.g. sanitary towels, swabs or tampons for external or internal application to the body; Supporting or fastening means therefor; Tampon applicators
- A61F13/15577—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing
- A61F13/15699—Forming webs by bringing together several webs, e.g. by laminating or folding several webs, with or without additional treatment of the webs
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- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61F—FILTERS IMPLANTABLE INTO BLOOD VESSELS; PROSTHESES; DEVICES PROVIDING PATENCY TO, OR PREVENTING COLLAPSING OF, TUBULAR STRUCTURES OF THE BODY, e.g. STENTS; ORTHOPAEDIC, NURSING OR CONTRACEPTIVE DEVICES; FOMENTATION; TREATMENT OR PROTECTION OF EYES OR EARS; BANDAGES, DRESSINGS OR ABSORBENT PADS; FIRST-AID KITS
- A61F13/00—Bandages or dressings; Absorbent pads
- A61F13/15—Absorbent pads, e.g. sanitary towels, swabs or tampons for external or internal application to the body; Supporting or fastening means therefor; Tampon applicators
- A61F13/15577—Apparatus or processes for manufacturing
- A61F13/15804—Plant, e.g. involving several steps
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
- D01D—MECHANICAL METHODS OR APPARATUS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS
- D01D5/00—Formation of filaments, threads, or the like
- D01D5/08—Melt spinning methods
- D01D5/098—Melt spinning methods with simultaneous stretching
- D01D5/0985—Melt spinning methods with simultaneous stretching by means of a flowing gas (e.g. melt-blowing)
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- D—TEXTILES; PAPER
- D01—NATURAL OR MAN-MADE THREADS OR FIBRES; SPINNING
- D01F—CHEMICAL FEATURES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FILAMENTS, THREADS, FIBRES, BRISTLES OR RIBBONS; APPARATUS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON FILAMENTS
- D01F13/00—Recovery of starting material, waste material or solvents during the manufacture of artificial filaments or the like
- D01F13/04—Recovery of starting material, waste material or solvents during the manufacture of artificial filaments or the like of synthetic polymers
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
- B29L2031/48—Wearing apparel
- B29L2031/4871—Underwear
- B29L2031/4878—Diapers, napkins
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
- B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
- B29L2031/00—Other particular articles
- B29L2031/731—Filamentary material, i.e. comprised of a single element, e.g. filaments, strands, threads, fibres
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02P—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS
- Y02P70/00—Climate change mitigation technologies in the production process for final industrial or consumer products
- Y02P70/50—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product
- Y02P70/62—Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product related technologies for production or treatment of textile or flexible materials or products thereof, including footwear
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- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
- Y02W—CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES RELATED TO WASTEWATER TREATMENT OR WASTE MANAGEMENT
- Y02W30/00—Technologies for solid waste management
- Y02W30/50—Reuse, recycling or recovery technologies
- Y02W30/62—Plastics recycling; Rubber recycling
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T156/00—Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
- Y10T156/10—Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
- Y10T156/1052—Methods of surface bonding and/or assembly therefor with cutting, punching, tearing or severing
- Y10T156/108—Flash, trim or excess removal
-
- Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
- Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
- Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
- Y10T156/00—Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
- Y10T156/12—Surface bonding means and/or assembly means with cutting, punching, piercing, severing or tearing
Landscapes
- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
- Public Health (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Epidemiology (AREA)
- Biomedical Technology (AREA)
- Heart & Thoracic Surgery (AREA)
- Vascular Medicine (AREA)
- Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
- Animal Behavior & Ethology (AREA)
- General Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
- Textile Engineering (AREA)
- Veterinary Medicine (AREA)
- Botany (AREA)
- Environmental & Geological Engineering (AREA)
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
- General Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Nonwoven Fabrics (AREA)
- Absorbent Articles And Supports Therefor (AREA)
- Cleaning By Liquid Or Steam (AREA)
- Electrical Discharge Machining, Electrochemical Machining, And Combined Machining (AREA)
- Filters For Electric Vacuum Cleaners (AREA)
- Orthopedics, Nursing, And Contraception (AREA)
Abstract
A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles from bulk starting polymeric materials including virgin and on-line recycled polymeric materials. The production line includes a continuous process that links the steps of forming the webs with the steps of converting the webs into disposable absorbent articles. The production line recycles non-woven materials produced on the production line back into the production process of producing disposable absorbent articles. The recycling operations can also include a spun-bonded recycling and a melt-blown recycling. The production line can be a single-product-lane operation or a multiple-product-lane operation.
Description
- This application is a continuation of the copending parent application U.S. Ser. No. 10,266,227 filed on Oct. 8, 2002.
- The present invention relates to a production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles from bulk starting polymeric materials including virgin and on-line recycled polymeric materials.
- Disposable absorbent articles are often produced on high-speed converting lines using, for starting materials, continuous webs of fabrics, films, foams, elastics, etc. that have been transported from web producers in a packaged form (e.g., as wound rolls or festooned boxes), and are unpacked (e.g., unwound or de-festooned) in order to be fed as continuous webs into the converting line. In the converting lines, various converting operations work the webs to convert them into components of disposable absorbent articles that are eventually joined into a composite web that is finally cut into discrete final articles.
- Unfortunately, packing and transporting continuous webs presents several problems. First, packing and transporting can often irreversibly change the web material, especially the webs that need to retain original, pre-packaged properties. For example, a soft, high-loft web can become continuously flat as a result of roll winding or intermittently deformed as a result of festooning. (When wound into a roll, the web is subjected to compression forces that are often needed for both retaining the web in the roll formation and for subsequent un-winding of the web from the roll. Also, when packaged in a festoon configuration into a box, the web often develops a permanent creep in the folded portions of the festooned web due to being bent and compressed.) Second, webs often need to be provided with special strength properties to make them suitable for roll winding or festooning. These properties often are achieved by applying to these webs special additives that can affect or compromise the desired properties of the final product and/or increase the cost of the web. Similar negative effects can take place when, prior to roll winding, the webs are sprayed with anti-static solutions to prevent or minimize in-layer subsequent sticking during un-winding of the web. Third, webs often require relatively expensive winding and un-winding high-speed automatic equipment and qualified personnel to operate and support it. Fourth, often the material properties that cannot be provided by a packaged web need to be provided by converting operations specially developed to make the web softer, thinner, thicker, elastic, absorbent, cloth-like, breathable, aesthetic, etc. These operations add more cost and time in developing new products.
- Consequently, it would be beneficial to reduce or eliminate the need for packing and transporting of the webs to the product converting lines by providing a new process which is continuous from the material-forming operations to the product-converting operations. Further, because the web-forming operations need to run continuously without interruptions in order to prevent solidification of molted polymeric materials inside of the web-forming equipment, and the product-converting operations may have interruptions or production outages due to various malfunctions, it would be beneficial for the new process to recycle the polymeric materials produced by the web-forming operations during the production outages. It would be further beneficial to re-use the recycled materials in the new process.
- In response to the difficulties and problems discussed above, a new production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles has been discovered that can reduce or eliminate the need for packaged webs. The production line includes a continuous process that links the web-forming operations, specifically nonwoven-web forming operations, with the product-converting operations. The production line utilizes bulk starting polymeric materials, both virgin polymeric materials and polymeric materials recycled and on the production line to be re-used on the production line in production of disposable absorbent articles. The production line can be a single-product lane operation or a multiple-product lane operation.
- In one aspect, the present invention concerns a production line that extrudes polymeric materials and forms individual components from the extruded materials, such as a liquid pervious topsheet, a liquid impervious backsheet and an absorbent core disposed therebetween. The production line includes a moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; a backsheet station adjacent the moving surface to form the backsheet by extruding a first polymeric material, provided to the backsheet station as a first starting material, onto the moving surface; a core station adjacent the moving surface to form the absorbent core by extruding a second polymeric material, provided to the core station as a second starting material, onto the moving surface; and a topsheet station adjacent the moving surface to form the topsheet by extruding a third polymeric material, provided to the topsheet station as a third starting material, onto the moving surface.
- The production line further includes one or more cutting devices adjacent the moving surface to cut a trim and to form lateral configurations of the topsheet and the backsheet. The production line further includes a first recycling station for collecting and recycling the trim into the first recycled material and a second recycling station for collecting and recycling non-woven materials of the topsheet, the backsheet or the absorbent core collected during an outage of the production line into a second recycled material. The production line further includes one or more bonding modules adjacent the moving surface to provide the second recycled material for bonding the backsheet, the topsheet and the absorbent core to each other.
- In another aspect, the present invention concerns a production line that extrudes and forms the topsheet and the backsheet from the extruded polymeric materials and combines these components with an absorbent core produced off the production line and provided to the production line as a continuous web or discrete objects. The production line further includes one or more cutting devices adjacent the moving surface to cut a trim and to form lateral configurations of the topsheet and the backsheet. The production line further includes a recycling station for collecting and recycling the trim and non-woven materials of the topsheet or the backsheet into a recycled material. The production line further includes one or more bonding modules adjacent the moving surface to provide the recycled material for bonding the backsheet, the topsheet and the absorbent core to each other.
- In another aspect, the present invention concerns a method for recycling continuous fibers exiting one or more spun-bonded modules during an outage of the production line. The method includes the following steps: (a) providing at least one spun-bonded module; (b) diverging the continuous fibers exiting the spun-bonded module into a recycling operation by a gust of a compressed fluid; (c) disintegrating the continuous fibers in the recycling operation; (d) conveying the disintegrated fibers into a recycling station; and (e) recycling the disintegrated fibers into a recycled polymeric material.
- In another aspect, the present invention concerns a method for recycling a molten polymeric material exiting a spinneret of a melt-blown module back in the melt-blown module, the method includes the following steps: (a) providing the melt-blown module extruding the molten material; (b) providing a collecting die for collecting the molten polymeric material from the spinneret; (c) providing a conduit being in communication with the collecting die for transporting the molten polymeric material; (d) collecting the molten polymeric material exiting the spinneret by the collecting die; and (e) transporting the molten polymeric material by the conduit from the collecting die to a metering pump of the melt-blown module for re-extruding the molten polymeric material through the spinneret.
- The present invention will be more fully understood and further advantages will become apparent when reference is made to the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying figures. The figures are merely representative and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
- FIG. 1 is a plan view of an exemplary diaper, which can be produced by the production line of the present invention; shown in a flat-out state, wherein the wearer-facing side of the diaper is oriented towards the viewer;
- FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the diaper in FIG. 1 taken along the cut line2-2;
- FIG. 3 is a material process flow diagram of one embodiment of the production line of the present invention for producing disposable absorbent articles;
- FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram of a recycling station including in the production line shown in FIG. 3.
- FIG. 5 is a material process flow diagram of another embodiment of the production line of the present invention for producing disposable absorbent articles;
- FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a spun-bonded recycling system of the present invention during a normal operation of the production line of the present invention;
- FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the spun-bonded recycling system shown in FIG. 5 at the beginning of an outage on the production line of the present invention;
- FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the spun-bonded recycling system shown in FIGS. 5 and 8 during an outage on the production line;
- FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a melt-blown recycling system of the present invention during a normal operation on the production line of the present invention; and
- FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a melt-blown recycling system of the present invention during an outage on the production line of the present invention.
- The present invention reduces or eliminates the need for packing and transporting the webs (e.g., rolls of webs) from a web-producing facility to a web-converting facility producing disposable absorbent articles. The present invention includes a web-forming technology, in particular a non-woven technology, in a continuous, production line process of making disposable absorbent articles. The present invention includes a recycling technology for recycling non-woven materials on the production line of the present invention and re-using the recycled materials in the production of disposable absorbent articles of the present invention.
- Terminology
- A “disposable absorbent article” refers herein to a device that normally absorbs and retains fluids. In certain instances, the phrase refers herein to devices that are placed against or in proximity to the body of the wearer to absorb and contain the excreta and/or exudates discharged from the body, and includes such personal care articles as baby diapers, baby training pants, adult incontinence articles, feminine hygiene articles, baby swim diapers, wound dressing, and the like. In other instances, the phrase refers herein to protective articles, such as, for example, dining bibs that have the ability to absorb food items to prevent staining of the wearer's clothing. In still other instances, the phrase refers herein to devices that can retain a benefit component—such as a lotion, shampoo, soap, polishing material or cleansing material—until such time when the article is utilized by a consumer for its intended purpose. Such devices can include wash cloth, body wipes, body wraps, pet grooming articles, cleaning and polishing articles and the like.
- The term “disposable” is used herein to describe products which generally are not intended to be laundered or otherwise restored or extensively re-used in their original function, i.e., preferably they are intended to be discarded after about 10 uses or after about 5 uses or after about a single use. It is preferred that such disposable articles be recycled, composted or otherwise disposed of in an environmentally compatible manner.
- The term “diaper” refers herein to disposable absorbent articles generally worn by infants and other incontinent persons about the lower torso, and includes baby diapers, baby training pants, baby pool diapers, adult incontinence articles and the like.
- The term “feminine hygiene articles” refers herein to any absorbent article worn by women to absorb and contain menses and other vaginal exudates.
- A “body wrap” refers herein to an article or a garment worn about the body, typically to provide some therapeutic benefit, such as, for example, pain relief, wound coverage or to hold another device or article near the body.
- The term “web” is meant herein any continuous material, including a film, a non-woven fabric, a foam or a combination thereof, or a dry lap material including wood pulp, and the like, having a single layer or multiple layers.
- The term “non-woven material” refers herein to a material made from continuous and/or discontinuous fibers, without weaving or knitting by processes such as spun-bonding and melt-blowing. The non-woven material can comprise one or more layers, wherein each layer can include continuous or discontinuous fibers.
- The term “film” refers herein to any polymeric film suitable in production of disposable articles, including breathable films.
- The term “elastic” refers herein to any material that upon application of a force to its initial, relaxed, length can stretch or elongate to its elongated length without rupture and breakage, and which can substantially recover its initial length upon release of the applied force.
- The term “polymeric material” refers herein to any thermosetting and thermoplastic materials, including compositions, blends and copolymers. The term “polymeric material” can also include various pigments to provide desired colors and/or visual effects.
- The term “virgin polymeric material” or “virgin material” refers herein to materials that have been originally produced and have not been recycled for a secondary use.
- The term “extrude” or “extruding” refers herein to a process by which a heated polymer is forced through one or more orifices or slots of a die to form a molten stream.
- The term “bulk starting polymeric material” or “starting material” refers herein to any bulk polymeric material suitable in production of disposable absorbent articles or a component of a disposable absorbent article. The starting material can be provided in a bulk form including solids, semisolids, or solutions of one or more polymeric materials. In the solid form, the starting material can be supplied as pellets, granules or particles. The starting polymeric material can be a virgin polymeric material, a recycled polymeric material or a combination thereof.
- A “spun-bonded module” refers herein to a machine capable of producing a molten stream of a polymeric material in a form of continuous fibers.
- The term “melt-blown module” refers herein to a machine capable of producing a molten stream of a polymeric material in a form of discontinuous fibers.
- The term “discontinuous fibers” or “melt-blown fibers” refers herein to limited-length strings normally produced by fragmenting one or more continuous fibers by a stream of hot gas and having a length ranging from about 5 mm to about 500 mm and a diameter less than about 20 microns.
- The term “outage,” or “interruption” refers herein to a production condition on the production line of the present invention when the continuous production process is interrupted by any malfunction of any of the converting operations and/or web-forming operations resulting in production of defective products.
- Exemplary Disposable Absorbent Article
- One example of a disposable absorbent article that can be produced by the production line of the present invention is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. The
diaper 100 preferably includes a liquid-permeable topsheet 104, a liquid-impermeable backsheet 106 opposing thetopsheet 104, and anabsorbent core 108 disposed therebetween. Thetopsheet 104 of the disposableabsorbent article 100 contacts the skin of a wearer and allows bodily fluids penetrate through thetopsheet 104 into theabsorbent core 108. Thetopsheet 104 can be made of a composite material including a non-woven sheet to provide passage for the bodily fluids, elastic strands affixed to the non-woven sheet to provide a better fit around the body of the wearer (including legs, waist or whole lower torso), or any other feature suitable to provide better association of thetopsheet 104 with the wearer's skin. Thetopsheet 104 of thediaper 100 preferably includes anon-woven sheet 110 andelastic strands 112 forming elasticized barrier leg cuffs 114 and leg elastics 116 to provide leakage protection around the wearer's legs. Thetopsheet 104 is preferably folded to form the elasticized barrier leg cuffs 114 includingelastics 112. - The
backsheet 106 prevents the body fluids to leak through. Thebacksheet 106 can be made of a composite material including anon-woven sheet 120 and abreathable film 122. Thenon-woven sheet 120 provides preferably both a cloth-like appearance of the outer layer of thediaper 100 and a fastening means for a hoop-and-loop fastening system. Thebreathable film 122 provides comfort to the wearer and resistance to the bodily liquids. Thebacksheet 106 can include any other material or feature suitable to provide a desired benefit. - The
absorbent core 108 absorbs and retains the bodily fluids. Theabsorbent core 108 can include any suitable material capable of suspending and separating individual super absorbent particles (SAP) inside the absorbent core. Theabsorbent core 108 can have a single-piece or a multi-piece construction, wherein each construction piece is intended to perform a specific function in affecting or managing the bodily liquids. Theabsorbent core 108 of thediaper 100 preferably includes a two-piece construction: anacquisition core 130 for rapid acquisition of bodily liquids and astorage core 132 for storing the fluids inside thecore 108. Theacquisition core 130 is preferably a non-woven material having an open structure to facilitate rapid penetration of a flush of fluids through the structure. Thestorage core 132 is preferably a combination of anon-woven material 134 andSAP 136, which particles are preferably attached to the fibers 138 of thenon-woven material 134 in order to suspend and separate theparticles 136 inside thestorage core 132. - The
diaper 100 preferably includes a fastening system to hold thediaper 100 around the lower torso of the wearer. The fastening system can include any suitable fasteners, for example, tape fasteners or a hook-and-loop fasteners. Thediaper 100 of the present invention preferably includes a hook-and-loop fastening system 140, which includeshook portions 142 attached to thetopsheet 104, and aloop portion 144 comprised of non-woven fibers of thenon-woven material 120 of thebacksheet 106. - The
topsheet 104 is preferably joined to thebacksheet 106 and theabsorbent core 108 of thediaper 100 by abonding material 150, which can be provided in any suitable form, for example, as continuous or discontinuous fibers, beads, spirals, spots, or coated layers. It should be noted, however, that the components of thediaper 100 can be joined alternatively or in combination by any joining means known in the art, for example, heat bonds, pressure bonds, ultrasonic bonds, dynamic mechanical bonds, or any other suitable attachment means or combinations of these attachment means. - Production Line—First Embodiment
- FIG. 3 illustrates a material process flow diagram of one embodiment of a
production line 200 of the present invention for producing disposable absorbent articles—in particular, thediaper 100 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2—from bulk polymeric materials. The bulk polymeric materials include both virgin polymeric materials and recycled polymeric materials. Theproduction line 200 preferably includes abacksheet station 210, acore station 220 and atopsheet station 230 for providing, respectively, thebacksheet 106, theabsorbent core 108, and thetopsheet 104. - Backsheet Station
- Referring to FIG. 3, the
backsheet station 210 can include any suitable number of spun-bondedmodules 300 for providing continuous fibers, and/or melt-blownmodules 400 for providing discontinuous fibers, and/orfilm modules 500 for providing continuous films. The spun-bondedmodules 300, the melt-blownmodules 400, and thefilm modules 500 can be disposed in any desirable order in relation to each other. FIG. 3 illustrates one embodiment of thebacksheet station 210 including the spun-bondedmodule 300 for providingcontinuous fibers 310, the melt-blownmodule 400 for providingdiscontinuous fibers 410, and thefilm module 500 for providing acontinuous film 510. - The spun-bonded
module 300 and the melt-blownmodule 400 can be manufactured using any suitable conventional hardware normally used in production of non-woven materials and produced by such suppliers as, for example, Asson Engineering Inc., Florida 33301; Hills, Fla. 32904; Reifenhauser, Germany; JM Laboratories of Nordson, Ga., 30534; and Kobelco, Japan. Thefilm module 500 can utilize any suitable hardware commonly used in production of disposable absorbent articles for feeding continuous webs from a supply roll or a festooned box. - The spun-bonded
module 300 is provided with a bulk startingpolymeric material 320, which can be any suitable virgin polymeric material, such as, for example, a spun-bonded 35 MFR polypropylene. Thematerial 320 is converted in the spun-bondedmodule 300 into continuous spun-bondedfibers 310 that are then deposited onto a movingsurface 330 to form afirst layer 340. - The moving
surface 330 can be any suitable surface including a screen; a perforated belt; a woven belt; a non-woven belt; one or more layers of spun-bonded fibers, melt-blown fibers or combination thereof; a porous film; or any combination thereof. The movingsurface 330 can have any suitable shape, for example, flat, round, concave or convex. The movingsurface 330 can include protrusions or projections, cavities or depressions, or any combination thereof. The movingsurface 330 preferably includes openings that can be of any suitable size and shape to provide an open area sufficient for a blown gas (normally accompanying the production of non-woven materials) to flow at least partially through the openings, while the fibers are prevented to flow through the openings. - The melt-blown
module 400 is provided with a bulkpolymeric starting material 420, which can be any suitable virgin polymeric material, such as, for example, a melt-blown 1200 MFR polypropylene. Thematerial 420 is converted in the melt-blownmodule 400 into discontinuous melt-blownfibers 410 that are then deposited preferably onto thefirst layer 340 to form asecond layer 440. - The
film module 500 is provided with afilm 510, which is preferably a virgin film, i.e. a film produced from virgin, i.e., un-recycled, polymeric materials. Thefilm 510 can be any polymeric film, preferably a breathable film suitable as a backsheet for disposable absorbent articles. Thefilm 510 is deposited onto thesecond layer 440 to form amaterial 520, which is then forced through a consolidatingdevice 530 to produce thebacksheet 106 having a desired thickness and density. - The consolidating
device 530 provides thermal bonds between adjacent fibers of a consolidating material and also between the non-woven fibers and thefilm 510 contacting the fibers, by applying heat, pressure or a combination of heat and pressure. The consolidatingdevice 530 also forms a desired thickness of the consolidated material. The consolidatingdevice 530 can include a contacting or non-contacting consolidating means. The contacting means can include, for example, calendaring rolls having smooth or textured surface(s), which come in a physical contact with the material. The non-contacting means can include, for example, hot gas or air, steam, vacuum and the like or any combination thereof. - After the
consolidation device 530, the side edges of thebacksheet 106 are preferably slit longitudinally by anysuitable slitting device 550 to form a desired lateral dimension of thebacksheet 106. A backsheet side-trim 560 is then preferably recycled on theproduction line 200 by afirst recycling station 600 producing a first recycledpolymeric material 335 that can be used in formation of theabsorbent core 108. Therecycling station 600 is described in detail herein below. - The
backsheet 106 then passes afirst bonding station 570 depositing abonding material 575 onto thebacksheet 106. Thebonding station 570 can be any suitable apparatus capable of producing a desired bonding pattern of a molten stream of polymeric material. The bonding pattern can include continuous or discontinuous fibers, beads, spirals, spots, or coated layers. - The
bonding material 575 can be a second recycled polymeric material used on theproduction line 200. Thebonding material 575 is produced by asecond recycling station 700 described in detail herein below. After the application of thebonding material 575 on thebacksheet 106, thebacksheet 106 is combined with theabsorbent core 108 and with thetopsheet 104. - Core Station
- Referring again to FIG. 3, the
core station 220 can include any suitable number of core substations to provide any suitable single-piece or multi-piece construction of theabsorbent core 108. In one embodiment shown in FIG. 3, thecore station 220 includes astorage core substation 222 for providing thestorage core 132 of thediaper 100 and anacquisition core substation 224 for providing anacquisition core 130. - The
storage core substation 222 and theacquisition core substation 224 can include any suitable number of spun-bondedmodules 300 or melt-blownmodules 400, both described herein above. Thestorage core substation 222 can also include any number ofSAP modules 226 for providing preferably a distributed flow of super absorbent particles 136 (SAP). The spun-bondedmodules 300, the melt-blownmodules 400 or theSAP modules 226 can be disposed in any suitable arrangement to provide a desired formation of the layers of theabsorbent core 108. - The
storage core substation 222 preferably includes two spun-bondedmodules 300, denoted bynumerals SAP module 226 therebetween. The spun-bondedmodules module 301 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the movingsurface 330 described herein above. A consolidating device (not shown, but described herein above) forms a layer of continuous fibers having a desired thickness and thermal bonds between adjacent fibers. Then theSAP module 226 deposits theSAP material 136 onto the layer of continuous fibers, which is then covered by another layer of continuous fibers exiting the spun-bondedmodule 302. The resulting composite material undergoes a consolidation step by the consolidation device 530 (described herein above) forming astorage material 350 having a desired thickness and density. - The
acquisition core substation 224 preferably includes three spun-bonded modules 300 (described herein above) denoted bynumerals first stream 335 and asecond stream 360. In one embodiment of the present invention, thefirst stream 335 is preferably the recycled polymeric described herein below, and thesecond stream 360 is preferably a virgin spun-bonded polyester. (It should be noted, however, that therecycled stream 335 can replace all or part of any virgin bulk starting polymeric material, for example, the virgin bulk startingpolymeric material 320 used in thebacksheet station 210, described herein above, and/or in thetopsheet station 230, described herein below.) - The spun-bonded
module 303 of theacquisition core substation 224 preferably depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the moving surface 330 (described herein above) forming a first layer of continuous fibers. The spun-bondedmodule 304 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the first layer of continuous fibers forming a second layer of continuous fibers. Then the spun-module 305 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the second layer of continuous fibers forming a third layer of continuous fibers. The resulting material including the above three layers then undergoes a thermal treatment in the consolidating device 530 (described herein above) to form bonds between adjacent fibers at a very little pressure in order to preserve an open structure between the fibers and to form a desired structure of anacquisition material 370. Theacquisition material 370 is then severed laterally by anysuitable cutting device 372 to form theacquisition core 130 having a desired longitudinal dimension. Theacquisition core 130 is then deposited on top of thestorage material 350, which is then severed laterally by anysuitable cutting device 372 to form theabsorbent core 108 of thediaper 100. - The
absorbent core 108 is then preferably deposited on top of thebacksheet 106 and passed through a second bonding station 577 (described herein above) depositing thebonding material 575 onto theabsorbent core 108. Thebonding material 575 can be deposited at any desirable pattern described herein above. As described herein above, thebonding material 575 preferably includes a recycled polymeric material produced on theproduction line 200, which recycling operation is described in detail herein below. After the application of thebonding material 575 on theabsorbent core 108, theabsorbent core 108 is combined with thetopsheet 104 to form acontinuous laminate 582. - Topsheet Station
- Referring again to FIG. 3, the
topsheet station 230 can include any suitable number of spun-bondedmodules 300 to provide continuous fibers and/or melt-blownmodules 400 to provide discontinuous fibers. The spun-bondedmodules 300 and the melt-blownmodules 400 can be disposed in any desired order in relation to each other. Thetopsheet station 230 can also include any suitable number of elastic strand devices, wherein each elastic strand device can provide any desired number of elastic strands. In one embodiment shown in FIG. 3, thetopsheet station 230 preferably includes three spun-bondedmodules 300, denoted bynumerals modules 400, denoted bynumerals elastic strand devices 380, each providing preferably twoelastic strands 112. Theelastic strand device 380 can be any device suitable for feeding a desired number of continuous elastic strands simultaneously at a desired, preferably variable speed, to form preferably a differential stretch profile in theelastic strands 112. - The spun-bonded
modules modules module 306 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the moving surface 330 (described herein above) forming a first layer of continuous fibers. The spun-bondedmodule 307 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the first layer of continuous fibers to form a second layer of continuous fibers. Then the melt-blownmodule 401 depositsdiscontinuous fibers 410 onto the second layer of continuous fibers to form a first layer of discontinuous fibers. After that, each of theelastic strand stations 380 depositselastic strands 112 onto the second layer of discontinuous fibers, which are then covered by a second layer ofdiscontinuous fibers 410 deposited by the melt-blownmodule 402. Finally, the spun-bondedmodule 308 depositscontinuous fibers 310 onto the second layer of discontinuous fibers to form a composite material, which is then passes the consolidating device 530 (described herein above) to form a desiredtopsheet 104 having a desired thickness and density. - After the
consolidation device 530, the side edges of thetopsheet 104 are preferably slit or cut longitudinally by anysuitable cutting device 540 to form a desired lateral dimension of thetopsheet 104. The produced topsheet side-edge trim 584 is then preferably recycled on theproduction line 200 by thefirst recycling station 600 producing the first recycledpolymeric material 335 used in the formation of theabsorbent core 108. Thefirst recycling station 600 is described in detail herein below. - After slitting, the
topsheet 104 is preferably folded by anysuitable folding device 586 to form a desired folded configuration of thetopsheet 104, which is then deposited on top of theabsorbent core 108 to form thecontinuous laminate 582. Thecontinuous laminate 582 is then preferably undergoes a side-notch-cuttingoperation 588 to form a desirable lateral configuration of thecontinuous laminate 582 to provide a desired configuration in the crotch area of thediaper 100. A side-notch trim 590 resulting from the side-notch-cuttingoperation 588 is preferably recycled on theproduction line 200, together with thebacksheet side trim 560 and thetopsheet side trim 584, by thefirst recycling station 600 producing the first recycledpolymeric material 335. - Other Operations
- Referring again to FIG. 3, other operations on the
production line 200 preferably include an application of thefastening hook material 142 provided by afastening module 240; thefinal knife operation 592 for severing thecontinuous laminate 582 intoindividual diapers 100; folding and packagingindividual diapers 100 into any suitable size and shape packages containing any desired number of diapers. - First Recycling Station
- Referring again to FIG. 3, the
production line 200 preferably includes thefirst recycling station 600 for collecting and recycling a side-trim 602 collected during a normal operation of theproduction line 200 into the first recycledpolymeric material 335 for a re-use on theproduction line 200, preferably in production of theabsorbent core 108 of thediaper 100. The side trim 602 can include the backsheet side-trim 560 collected from cutting the side edges of the backsheet material; the topsheet side-trim 584 collected from cutting the side edges of thetopsheet 104; and separate pieces of webs comprising a side-notch trim 590 collected from cutting side-notch pieces from the combinedlaminate 582. The side-trim 602 can be collected off the movingsurface 330 by any suitable conventional means, including a suction means conveying the collected trim through a piping system. - The
first recycling station 600 can be any suitable conventional recycling operation including preferably the following process steps: collecting the side trim; shredding the side trim; mixing the shredded material with an additive material that can be any desired material intended to provide and maintain desired properties of the recycled material, melting the mixed material into a molten stage, extruding and forming pellets of recycled polymeric material, cooling and drying the pellets. Suitable recycling systems can be obtained from such companies as, for example, Artec of Austria, Zuiko of Japan, Ibis of Georgia and Osprey of Georgia. - FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic diagram1000 of the
first recycling station 600 of the present invention, which includes ahopper 1010 for feeding the collectedmaterial 1020 into a conveyor 1030 (preferably having a metal detecting device) for feeding into ashredder 1040 capable to accept anadditive material 1050 to form a mixed material. The mixed material is then melted in theextruder 1060 and formed into pellets by apelletizer 1070 feeding the pellets into a cooler 1080 and a drier 1090, which discharges the cooled, dried pellets of therecycled polymeric material 1110 through acyclone device 1100. - Second Recycling Station
- Referring back to FIG. 3, the
production line 200 further preferably includes asecond recycling station 700 for collecting and recycling the non-woven materials collected during the outages of theproduction line 200. The term “outage,” or “interruption” refers herein to a production condition on the production line of the present invention when the continuous production ofdiapers 100 on theline 200 is interrupted by any malfunction of any of the converting operations and/or the web-forming operations resulting in production of defective products. - During the outage of the
production line 200, the converting operations are interrupted, but the nonwoven-web forming operations of the spun-bondedmodules 300 and the melt-blown-modules 400 preferably continue uninterrupted in order to avoid undesired solidification of molten polymeric materials inside the nonwoven-forming equipment. The outages also include situations when one or more of the nonwoven-forming modules are malfunctioning and their operation needs to be interrupted, however, the remaining nonwoven-forming modules continue to extrude the materials for collecting, recycling and re-use on the production line of the present invention. - The collected materials can include the
backsheet 106, thetopsheet 104, thestorage core material 350 and/or theacquisition core material 370. The materials can be collected off the moving surface by any suitable conventional means. It is preferred that the nonwoven materials collected for recycling on theproduction line 200 do not include other, undesirable materials. For example, the collected for recycling thebacksheet 106 preferably does not include thefilm 510; thestorage core material 350 preferably does not include theSAP material 136, and thetopsheet material 586 preferably does not includeelastic strands 112. Therefore, it is preferred that during the outages on theline 200, the process operations for supplying thefilm 510, theSAP material 136 and theelastic strands 112 are interrupted. (It should be noted that nonwoven materials including the above-undesired materials are preferably not intended for recycling on the production line of the present invention and can be discharged as scrap materials.) - The
second recycling station 700 preferably recycles the collected non-woven materials into a secondrecycled material 710 that can be re-used on the production line as a bonding material to bond together thetopsheet 104, thebacksheet 106, and theabsorbent core 108. (It should be noted, however, that the secondrecycled material 710 can replace all or part of any virgin bulk starting polymeric material, for example, the virgin bulk startingpolymeric material 320 used in thebacksheet station 210 and/or in thetopsheet station 230, described herein above.) - The
second recycling station 700 can be any suitable commercial recycling system, for example, thefirst recycling station 600 illustrated as the schematic diagram 1000 in FIG. 4. If desired, theadditive material 1050 can be any suitable material including tackyfying materials for providing a desired tacky property and/or elasticizing materials for providing a desired elastic property of therecycled bonding material 710. - Production Line—Second Embodiment
- FIG. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a second embodiment of a
production line 800 of the present invention. Theproduction line 800 is one of the variations of theproduction line 200, wherein thecore station 220, forming thecore 108 on theline 200, is substituted by acore station 810 capable of providing theabsorbent core 108 to theproduction line 800 as a material produced off-line, i.e., off theproduction line 800, in a form of a continuous web or discrete pieces (for example, theacquisition core 130 and thestorage core 132 can be provided as one or more continuous webs or separate pieces made off the production line 800). Thecore station 810 can be any suitable conventional material-feeding systems for feeding continuous webs or discrete objects into a high-speed converting process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles. - The
production line 800 preferably includes arecycled station 830 for recycling the side-trim 602 (described herein above) collected preferably during normal operations of theproduction line 800, as well as nonwoven materials of thebacksheet 106 and thetopsheet 104 collected during the outages of theproduction line 800. (Similarly to theproduction line 200, described herein above, the production of thebacksheet 106 and thetopsheet 104 can continue uninterrupted on theproduction line 800.). - During the outages of the
line 800, the operation of thecore station 810 supplying thecore 108 is interrupted in addition to the interrupted operations for supplying thefilm 510 and theelastic strands 112. Therecycled station 830 preferably recycles the collected non-woven materials into the bonding material 575 (described herein above), which represents a re-use of the recycled non-woven materials collected from theline 800. Therecycling station 830 can be any suitable commercial recycling system, for example, thefirst recycling station 600 illustrated as the schematic diagram 1000 in FIG. 4. - Spun-Bonded Recycling System
- FIG. 6-8 show a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a spun-bonded
recycling system 900, which is especially beneficial when the movement of the movingsurface 330 needs to be interrupted and the flow ofcontinuous fibers 310 needs to be diverted from the normal flow of depositing on the movingsurface 330. The spun-bondedrecycling system 900 preferably includes one or more spun-bonded modules 300 (described herein above) and a spun-bondedrecycling operation 910. Therecycling operation 910 re-uses thecontinuous fibers 310 produced by the spun-bondedmodule 300 during outages of theproduction line 200 or theproduction line 800, preferably when the movement of the movingsurface 330 is interrupted. - FIG. 6 illustrates an operation of the spun-bonded
recycling system 900 during a normal operation of theproduction line 200 when thecontinuous fibers 310 are produced by the spun-bondedmodule 300 and deposited on the movingsurface 330, described herein above. FIG. 7 illustrates an operation of the spun-bondedrecycling system 900 at a beginning of an outage of the production line of the present invention, when thecontinuous fibers 310 continue to be produced by the spun-bondedmodule 300 and when the movingsurface 330 is stopped. At such an instance, thecontinuous fibers 310 can be diverted from their normal flow, collected and recycled on the production line of the present invention for a re-use on the production line of the present invention. - FIG. 7 illustrates the steps of diverting the flow of
continuous fibers 310 from a normal production mode into a collection-and-recycling mode by a gust of a compressed liquid, (gas, air, fluids) to force the flow ofcontinuous fibers 310 to divert into therecycling operation 910. FIG. 8 illustrates an operation of the spun-boned recycling system 900 during an outage in progress, when the divertedcontinuous fibers 310 can be disintegrated by ashredder 925 of therecycling operation 910 and conveyed through a pipe 920 (or any other suitable conventional means) into arecycling station 935 capable of producing the recycledstarting polymeric material 335, described herein above. Therecycling station 935 can be any suitable commercial recycling system, for example, thefirst recycling station 600 illustrated as the schematic diagram 1000 in FIG. 4. - As shown in FIG. 8, during the divergence of the
continuous fibers 310 into the recycling mode, atail 940 of disconnectedfibers 310 is left on thesurface 330, the movement of which can be interrupted during the outage if needed. After the outage is corrected, the movingsurface 330 resumes its movement, and thecontinuous fibers 310 are deposited again onto the movingsurface 330 for re-uniting with thetail 940 to form a continuous material flow preferably by the consolidatingdevice 530 described herein above. The movingsurface 330 resumes conveying thecontinuous fibers 310 to the downstream operations of the production line of the present invention. - Melt-Blown Recycling System
- FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of a normal operation of the melt-blown
module 400, described herein above, producing and depositing the melt-blownflow 410 onto the movingsurface 330 to form thelayer 340 of melt-blown material. FIG. 10 shows the operation of the melt-blownmodule 400 during an outage on theproduction line surface 330 be stopped. In such instances the melt-blownmodule 400 can recycle the extruded polymeric material using a melt-blownrecycling system 950, one embodiment of which is shown in FIG. 10. The melt-blownrecycling system 950 can include one or more melt-blownmodules 400, each including a collecting die 960 actuated by asuitable actuating device 962 and capable of collecting a moltenpolymeric material 965 exiting thespinneret 970 of the melt-blownmodule 400. The collectedmolten material 965 is conveyed through aconduit 975 back into ametering pump 985 of the melt-blownmodule 400. The temperature inside the collecting die 960 and theconduit 975 is preferably maintained to prove a molten state of the polymeric material. Asuitable conduit 975 can be a suitable heated pipe. - Single-Product-Lane and Multiple-Product-Lane Production Lines
- The production line of the present invention can be a single-product-lane operation or a multiple-product-lane operation, for example, from 2 to 40 or more product lanes. For the economic reasons, in order to efficiently utilize the production capability of the non-woven technology of the spun-bonded
modules 300 and the melt-blownmodules 400, the preferred embodiment of the production line of the present invention includes a four-product-lane operation, wherein the produced materials can be slit into four product lanes forming any desirable configuration. - While particular embodiments and/or individual features of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it would be obvious to those skilled in the art that various other changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, it should be apparent that all combinations of such embodiments and features are possible and can result in preferred executions of the invention. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to cover all such changes and modifications that are within the scope of this invention.
Claims (4)
1. A method for recycling continuous fibers exiting one or more spun-bonded modules, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing at least one spun-bonded module;
(b) diverging the continuous fibers exiting the spun-bonded module into a recycling operation by a gust of a compressed fluid;
(c) disintegrating the continuous fibers in the recycling operation;
(d) conveying the disintegrated fibers into a recycling station; and
(e) recycling the disintegrated fibers into a recycled polymeric material.
2. The method of claim 1 used in the manufacture of disposable absorbent articles.
3. A method for recycling a molten polymeric material exiting a spinneret of a melt-blown module back in the melt-blown module, the method comprising the steps of:
i. providing the melt-blown module extruding the molten material;
ii. providing a collecting die for collecting the molten polymeric material from the spinneret;
iii. providing a conduit being in communication with the collecting die for transporting the molten polymeric material;
iv. collecting the molten polymeric material exiting the spinneret by the collecting die; and
v. transporting the molten polymeric material by the conduit from the collecting die to a metering pump of the melt-blown module for re-extruding the molten polymeric material through the spinneret.
4. The method of claim 3 used in the manufacture of disposable absorbent articles.
Priority Applications (1)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
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US10/897,495 US20040256752A1 (en) | 2001-10-10 | 2004-07-23 | Process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles |
Applications Claiming Priority (3)
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US32821101P | 2001-10-10 | 2001-10-10 | |
US10/266,227 US6802353B2 (en) | 2001-10-10 | 2002-10-08 | Apparatus for recycling waste from an absorbent article processing line |
US10/897,495 US20040256752A1 (en) | 2001-10-10 | 2004-07-23 | Process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles |
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US10/266,227 Continuation US6802353B2 (en) | 2001-10-10 | 2002-10-08 | Apparatus for recycling waste from an absorbent article processing line |
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US10/897,495 Abandoned US20040256752A1 (en) | 2001-10-10 | 2004-07-23 | Process for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles |
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- 2002-10-08 US US10/266,227 patent/US6802353B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
- 2002-10-10 JP JP2003533830A patent/JP2005505346A/en active Pending
- 2002-10-10 EP EP02801004A patent/EP1453456B1/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-10-10 WO PCT/US2002/032381 patent/WO2003030795A2/en active IP Right Grant
- 2002-10-10 AT AT02801004T patent/ATE383134T1/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 2002-10-10 DE DE60224572T patent/DE60224572T2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
- 2002-10-10 MX MXPA04003313A patent/MXPA04003313A/en active IP Right Grant
-
2004
- 2004-07-23 US US10/897,495 patent/US20040256752A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (8)
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US3703347A (en) * | 1970-08-27 | 1972-11-21 | Eastman Kodak Co | Waste recovery of thermoplastic continuous filamentary material |
US4070218A (en) * | 1975-10-28 | 1978-01-24 | Kimberly-Clark Corporation | Method of producing a soft, nonwoven web |
US5019311A (en) * | 1989-02-23 | 1991-05-28 | Koslow Technologies Corporation | Process for the production of materials characterized by a continuous web matrix or force point bonding |
US5147722A (en) * | 1989-02-23 | 1992-09-15 | Koslow Technologies Corporation | Process for the production of materials and materials produced by the process |
US5026589A (en) * | 1989-12-28 | 1991-06-25 | The Procter & Gamble Company | Disposable sanitary articles |
US6163943A (en) * | 1997-10-24 | 2000-12-26 | Sca Hygiene Products Ab | Method of producing a nonwoven material |
US6319342B1 (en) * | 1998-12-31 | 2001-11-20 | Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. | Method of forming meltblown webs containing particles |
US20040045270A1 (en) * | 2002-06-21 | 2004-03-11 | Maschinenfabrik Rieter Ag | Method of piecing or starting of spinning for spinning positions of air spinning frames |
Cited By (3)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2008018920A2 (en) * | 2006-08-04 | 2008-02-14 | Litvay John D | Fully integrated method for producing absorbent products |
WO2008018920A3 (en) * | 2006-08-04 | 2008-03-27 | John D Litvay | Fully integrated method for producing absorbent products |
CN105342023A (en) * | 2015-11-06 | 2016-02-24 | 苏州布舞佳乡纺织科技有限公司 | Fluff pulp cleaning device for textile |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
DE60224572T2 (en) | 2008-12-24 |
DE60224572D1 (en) | 2008-02-21 |
ATE383134T1 (en) | 2008-01-15 |
MXPA04003313A (en) | 2004-07-23 |
US20030066594A1 (en) | 2003-04-10 |
US6802353B2 (en) | 2004-10-12 |
EP1453456A2 (en) | 2004-09-08 |
WO2003030795A2 (en) | 2003-04-17 |
JP2005505346A (en) | 2005-02-24 |
WO2003030795A3 (en) | 2003-12-11 |
EP1453456B1 (en) | 2008-01-09 |
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Legal Events
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STCB | Information on status: application discontinuation |
Free format text: EXPRESSLY ABANDONED -- DURING EXAMINATION |