Patent Document ID: 8623256
Application ID: 13275712
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A method for simultaneously activating a stretchable material in multiple directions, the method comprising: feeding the stretchable material into a nip formed between a first rotatable roll and a second rotatable roll, wherein the first and second rolls comprise a first region comprising at least one three-dimensional surface feature, the three-dimensional surface feature(s) of the first region of the first roll and the three-dimensional surface feature(s) of the first region of the second roll being complementary to one another and positioned relative to one another such that when the first roll and the second roll are rotated the three-dimensional surface features of the first regions of the first and second rolls intermesh, the intermeshing surface features being operatively configured to activate the stretchable material in a first direction; a second region comprising at least one three-dimensional surface feature, the three-dimensional surface feature(s) of the second region of the first roll and the three-dimensional surface feature(s) of the second region of the second roll being complementary to one another and positioned relative to one another such that when the first roll and the second roll are rotated the three-dimensional surface features of the second regions of the first and second rolls intermesh, the intermeshing surface features of the second regions of the first and second rolls being operatively configured to activate the stretchable material in a second direction which is different from the first direction; and an axial buffer region disposed between the portions of the first and second regions that include three-dimensional surface features, wherein the axial buffer region has a width of between about 2 and 30 mm.