The Procter Gamble Company

Carlisle Mitchell Herron

Torsten Lindner

Italo Corzani

Ludwig Busam

Han Xu

Terrill Alan Young

Edward John Milbrada

Dirk Saevecke

Antonius Lambertus De Beer

John Christian Schmitt

Peter Wiedmann

Thomas Robert Hanser

Walter L Dean

Shahrokh A Naieni

Andrew Starr Bales

Taner Dirama

Walter Lee Dean

Michael Bills

A process for producing a nonwoven web material with improved edge quality, and the product thereof, are disclosed. The process may include the steps of forming a batt of polymeric fibers; consolidating the batt in a z-direction and thereby forming a nonwoven web material, conveying the nonwoven web material to a nip between a bonding roller and anvil roller, and impressing a pattern of bond impressions into the nonwoven web material, the bond impressions lying along a cut path. When the web is subsequently cut along the cut path, fibers proximate the cut path are immobilized by the bonds, providing for relatively neater, cleaner cut edges and reducing the number of loose fibers that may be released into the plant environment in downstream processing operations.

Nonwoven web with improved cut edge quality, and process for imparting

A web including a fibrous material and superabsorbent material is fed to a station. The web has a first surface, a second surface, a first side edge and a second side edge. At the station, the operation of applying a superabsorbent material movement obstruction agent and cutting the web into individual absorbent members having a pair of opposing cut ends are carried out simultaneously.

Method for cutting and sealing an absorbent member

Disclosed are individualized, crosslinked fibers, and processes for making such fibers, and absorbent structures containing the fibers. The individualized, crosslinked fibers have a polymeric polyacrylic acid crosslinking agent reacted with the fibers in the form of intrafiber crosslink bonds. Preferably, the crosslinking agent is a copolymer of acrylic acid and maleic acid and preferably, between about 1.0 weight % and about 10.0 weight % of the crosslinking agent reacts with the individualized fibers to form the intrafiber crosslink bonds. The individualized, crosslinked fibers are useful in a variety of absorbent structure applications. The absorbent structures may also contain hydrogel-forming material.

Individualized cellulosic fibers crosslinked with polyacrylic acid

Individualized, esterified high lignin content cellulosic fibers containing intrafiber C.sub.2 -C.sub.9 polycarboxylic acid ester perform unexpectedly better in absorbent applications than lower lignin content esterified fibers from the same furnish.

Esterified high lignin content cellulosic fibers

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Cincinnati, OH, United States of America

Carlisle Mitchell Herron