Patent ID: 8790232
Filing Date: 2014-07-29
Classification: A61F,B65H

Abstract:
1. A method for making absorbent items, where each item is equipped, along the waistband line, with at least one pair of fastening and closure elements, or tabs, projecting from the sides of the body of the item, the fastening and closure elements being obtained by cutting a continuous web without waste so as to obtain a first set and a second set of said elements from the web, where the elements from the first set are angled in the opposite direction to and are alternated with the elements from the second set; each pair of fastening and closure elements consisting of one element from the first set and one element from the second set; the method comprising: feeding the cut web through a first pick-up station, in which the elements from the first set are picked up, and then through a second pick-up station, in which the elements from the second set are picked up; feeding the elements from the first set along a first path starting from the first station; feeding the elements from the second set along a second path, separate from the first, starting from the second station; moving the elements from the first set sideways in a first direction as they are fed along the first path; moving the elements from the second set sideways in a second direction which is opposite to the first direction as they are fed along the second path; bringing together the elements from the first and second sets, transferring them separately to a shared third path along which each element from the first set is placed alongside, in a synchronised fashion, spaced out from and angled in the opposite direction to a corresponding element from the second set.