Patent ID: 6354984
Filing Date: 2002-03-12
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
In the process of fabricating units of personal care absorbent article product by assembling a composite product web and then severing units of absorbent article product from the composite product web, a method of registering a periodic repeat element of a generally-continuous-length component web, which is being assembled into the composite product web, to a periodic master reference element of the composite product web, the method comprising:(a) assembling together a plurality of web elements, thereby progressively defining the composite product web, and units of product in the composite product web including, (i) using an application device, applying marking material to the component web and thereby defining a set of registration images periodically along a length of the component web, on trim areas defining trim material pieces removed from the component web in defining the units of product, (ii) applying the periodic repeat elements periodically along the length of the component web, using the application device to force registration of the periodic repeat elements to respective ones of the registration images on the component web during such application, and (iii) assembling the component web, as a generally-continuous-length component web, to the composite product web, including, using a sensor, sensing ones of the registration images on the component web and, based on such sensing, establishing registration of ones of the periodic repeat elements on the component web to corresponding ones of the master reference elements on the composite product web, respective ones of the registration images on the generally-continuous-length component web thus being used as registration intermediaries to establish relative locations of the periodic repeat elements on the component web relative to the respective periodic master reference elements on the composite product web; and (b) after assembling the generally-continuous-length component web to the composite product web, and after thereby registering a respective periodic repeat element of the component web to a respective master reference element of the composite product web, severing the composite product web, including corresponding severing of the component web, and thereby removing from the composite product web a respective such trim material piece corresponding to the respective registration image.