Patent ID: 7807086

Claim:
A method of strengthening a boundary region between a first portion and a second portion of a fibrous body for absorbent articles, which method comprises: providing a fibrous body having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first portion is thicker than the second portion, and wherein the second portion consists of two areas, a first area and a second area; feeding the fibrous body to a compressor, the compressor having a cut-out, the cut-out having an area greater than the area of the first portion; compressing the entirety of the first area of the second portion to a substantially uniform thin portion thickness, while feeding the first portion and the entirety of the second area of the second portion into the cut-out, wherein the entirety of the second area of the second portion forms a boundary region; and strengthening the boundary region by providing said boundary region with a pattern of compressed spots, wherein an amount of compressed surface area per unit surface area is gradually increasing in a direction leading away from an edge of said first portion of said fibrous body towards the first area of the second portion, wherein the pattern reaches into the first portion of said fibrous body.