Patent ID: 7901534

Claim:
A method of making diapers substantially without producing discarded waste material, comprising the steps of: providing a composite web of diaper main body material comprising a substantially liquid impervious outer layer, a substantially liquid pervious inner layer and an absorbent intermediate layer between the outer and inner layers, the composite web having a longitudinal extent of an indeterminate continuous length substantially intact and uncut with substantially parallel linear edge margins along opposite lateral sides thereof for substantially the entire length of the composite web, providing a single independent web of diaper tab material having a longitudinal extent of indeterminate continuous length, cutting the web of diaper tab material into discrete tab sections of predetermined mating shapes which produce substantially no waste material which is unused as the tab sections, placing each tab section in overlying relation to the composite web at predetermined regular longitudinal spacings along the composite web and with respective edges of the tab sections in alignment with the edge margins of the composite web without projection of the tab sections beyond the edge margins of the composite web, affixing the tab sections to the opposite edge margins of the composite web in said overlying relation by forming a seal between the respective aligned edges of each tab section and the edge margins of the composite web, cutting the composite web transversely at regular longitudinal intervals therealong corresponding to the spacings of the tab sections and including cutting of the tab sections into discrete tabs to produce a plurality of discrete diapers each having a generally rectangular main body and one tab at each respective corner of the main body substantially without cutting and discarding any material from the composite web or the tabs.