Patent ID: 8241543

Claim:
A method for making apertures in a web, said method comprising: a. providing a precursor web material having a first side and a second side; b. providing a pair of counter-rotating, intermeshing rollers which define a nip therebetween, said rollers comprising: (1) a first roller having a first axis about which said first roller rotates and said first roller comprises circumferentially-extending ridges and grooves that are aligned perpendicular to said first axis, and (2) a second roller having a second axis about which said second roller rotates, said second roller comprising teeth, said teeth each having a base where they are joined to said second roller and a single tip, said teeth being tapered from said base to said tip, wherein the base of each tooth has a cross-sectional length dimension measured in a direction perpendicular to the second axis, which is greater than a cross-sectional width dimension measured parallel to the second axis, wherein said teeth are generally pyramid-shaped having at least six sides, said sides being substantially triangular and tapering to substantially a point; and c. moving said web material through the nip between said counter-rotating, intermeshing rollers; d. wherein apertures are formed in said precursor web material as said teeth on one of said rollers intermesh with grooves on the other of said rollers, wherein the tip of each tooth forms a single aperture in said precursor web material.