Patent ID: 8337190
Filing Date: 2012-12-25
Classification: B29C

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for incrementally stretching a web, the apparatus comprising: a. a single activation member comprising a plurality of teeth and grooves; b. an activation belt comprising a plurality of teeth and grooves that complement the plurality of teeth and grooves of the single activation member; c. a deformation zone formed between the activation belt and the single activation member wherein the plurality of teeth and grooves of the single activation member engage the plurality of teeth and grooves of the activation belt at a controlled depth of engagement capable of increasing linearly over the deformation zone such that a web interposed between the activation belt and the single activation member in the deformation zone is incrementally stretched; and d. a series of back-up rollers located adjacent to a side of the activation belt opposite a side of the activation belt that faces said activation member, said series of back-up rollers capable of forcing a section of the activation belt into engagement with the single activation member, wherein there is a radial distance between an outer surface of the single activation member and each of the back-up rollers, where there is a first back-up roller and a last back-up roller, and the radial distance between the outer surface of the single activation member and each of the back-up rollers decreases an amount for each succeeding back-up roller from the first to the last back-up roller so that the depth of engagement increases continuously over the deformation zone.