Kimberly-clark Worldwide, Inc.

Kenneth Michael Salter

James Russell Fitts, Jr

Lavada Campbell Boggs

Raymond Jeffrey May

Mark Michael Mleziva

Charles John Morell

Howard Martin Welch

Michael Charles Cook

James Marcus Carr

John A Brewer

Hannong Rhim

Ronald H Wideman

Richard Harry Thiessen

Donald V Willitts

Marion C Morris

Leslie D Dobbins

Adrian Roy Eggen

Victor Charles Lang

In the invention, a method is provided for producing a composite nonwoven fabric. A polymer is extruded into heated continuous filaments, possibly elastic, from the die head to a first chilled roller, wherein the extruder is configured to provide the continuous filaments to the chilled roller in a canted direction that is at a tangent or angle to the surface of the first chilled roller. The filaments are conveyed in a downward direction by way of chilled rollers to a nip. In a next step, the nonwoven web is sprayed with an adhesive and is laminated on the continuous filaments in the nip to form a composite nonwoven fabric. The continuous filaments move vertically downward approximately in line with the lamination process, facilitating automatic re-threading of filaments when they are broken or interrupted in their travel downward onto the chilled rolls.

Method and apparatus for producing laminated articles

A targeted elastic laminate material is provided having at least one low tension zone with first filaments having a first basis weight and at least one high tension zone having second filaments with a second basis weight greater than the first basis weight. The second basis weight is greater due to increased average thickness of the second filaments and/or increased frequency of second filaments relative to the first filaments. Methods and modifications of those methods are provided to produce a targeted elastic laminate material according to the preferred embodiments of this invention.

Targeted elastic laminate having zones of different basis weights

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LaGrange, GA, United States of America

Kenneth Michael Salter