Patent ID: 8449519
Filing Date: 2013-05-28
Classification: A61F,B29C,B29K,B29L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A seam in a personal care absorbent article comprising an absorbent structure and first and second web materials comprising heat fusible material joined together by a bonding pattern, the first web material having a side edge overlapping with a side edge of the second web material, wherein an overlapped portion is formed where said web materials overlap, said web materials in said overlapped portion being bonded by a bonding apparatus in which the web materials are forwarded through the bonding apparatus, said bonding pattern extending over at least a part of the overlapped portion to form said seam, said bonding pattern comprising a plurality of bonding elements spaced from each other in a repeating pattern, said overlapped portion having a pair of longitudinal side edges defined by said overlapping side edges of the web materials, said bonding pattern having a width defined by outer limiting margins of the bonding pattern, wherein said bonding pattern comprises a first bonding pattern extending in a longitudinal direction along at least a part of the overlapped portion, and at least one second bonding pattern extending in a longitudinal direction along and adjacent at least a part of at least one of said side edges of said overlapped portion, wherein the bonded area of said second bonding pattern occupies at least 50% of the combined bonded area of the first bonding pattern and the bonded area of the second bonding pattern, the bonding elements of the first bonding pattern have a mean area that is at least 2 times larger than the mean area of the bonding elements of the second bonding pattern, and a contact area of the bonding pattern, as seen in a transverse direction of the seam, is between 10 and 30% of the width of the bonding pattern at any given point along a length of the bonding pattern, wherein the contact area is a weighted mean value of the area of contact between the bonding apparatus and the web materials, and said personal care absorbent article is a pant garment comprising a first body panel, a second body panel and a crotch portion there between, said first and second body panels being joined together to form side seams and further being provided with an elastic waistband, said waistband being joined to the first or second body panel in an overlapped manner to form said seam.