Patent ID: 6345660
Filing Date: 2002-02-12
Classification: A61F

Abstract:
A laminating apparatus for providing a laminated fabric for a disposable garment, the apparatus comprising:a laminating frame having upper and lower laminating frame regions; a first roll of fabric mounted to the upper laminating frame region so as to provide a first web of fabric when unwound from said first fabric roll; a second roll of fabric mounted to the lower laminating frame region and positioned adjacent said first fabric roll so a to provide a second web of fabric when unwound from said second fabric roll; a third redundant roll of fabric mounted to the upper laminating frame region and positioned adjacent said first fabric roll so as to provide a third web of fabric when unwound from said third fabric roll; a fourth redundant roll of fabric mounted to the lower frame region and positioned adjacent said second and third fabric roll so as to provide a fourth web of fabric when unwound from said fourth fabric roll; a first splicer mounted to the upper laminating frame region for splicing the third web of fabric to the first web of fabric when said first web of fabric is near its end to thereby provide substantially continuous operation of the laminating apparatus; a second splicer mounted to the lower laminating frame region for splicing the fourth web of fabric to the second web of fabric when said second web of fabric is near its end to thereby provide substantially continuous operation of the laminating apparatus; fabric dance controlling means mounted to the laminating frame, positioned downstream from at least the first and second fabric rolls, and positioned to receive at least the first and second webs of fabric therefrom for independently and dancingly controlling the tension of at least the first and second webs of fabric being received from at least the first and second fabric rolls when maintaining constant speeds of the first and second fabric rolls by independently adjusting tension of the first and second fabric rolls to maintain a uniform tension on each of the first and second webs of fabric, the fabric dance controlling means comprising first and second dancer assemblies positioned downstream from the first and second fabric rolls to receive the respective first and second webs of fabric to dancingly control the tension of the respective first and second webs of fabric, the first and second dancer assemblies comprising fabric tension controlling means for weightingly adjusting the tension of the first and second webs of fabric by applying a preselected tension to the first and second webs of fabric defined by first and second preselected tensions independently applied to the respective first and second webs of fabric so that the preselected tension applied to the first web of fabric is independently adjusted from the preselected tension applied to the second web of fabric; fabric laminating means mounted to the laminating frame, positioned downstream from said fabric dance controlling means, and positioned to receive at least the first and second independently tensioned webs of fabric for combiningly laminating at least the first and second webs of fabric to thereby provide a uniformly laminated web of fabric therefrom; and a lifting assembly including a frame boom member connected to and extending outwardly from the laminating frame to lift at least the first and second fabric rolls to a preselected elevation to be mounted to the laminating frame, a lift adjusting member positioned in cooperation with the frame boom member for adjusting and positioning the placement of at least the first and second fabric rolls, and a roll engagement member connected to the lift adjusting member for engagement of at least the first and second fabric rolls to be mounted to the laminating frame.