Method Of Making A Mechanical Fastening System For An Absorbent Article

Abstract

A method of making a mechanical fastening system for an article includes forming an oriented nonwoven loop material from a nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers by drawing the nonwoven web using an applied force to align constituent fibers of the nonwoven web without substantial necking or gathering of the nonwoven web in a direction perpendicular to the applied force. The drawn nonwoven web is disposed on a disposable absorbent article.

1 . A method of making a mechanical fastening system for an article, comprising forming an oriented nonwoven loop material from a nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers by drawing the nonwoven web using an applied force to align constituent fibers of the nonwoven web without substantial necking or gathering of the nonwoven web in a direction perpendicular to the applied force; and disposing the drawn nonwoven web on a disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising treating the drawn nonwoven web with heat. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising disposing a hook material on the disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising engaging the drawn nonwoven web and the hook material. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the drawn nonwoven web is pressed into engagement with the hook material. 
     
     
         6 . The method  claim 5  wherein the disposable absorbent article is a training pant. 
     
     
         7 . A method of making a mechanical fastening system for an article, comprising forming an oriented nonwoven loop material from a nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers by drawing the nonwoven web using an applied force to align the constituent fibers of the nonwoven web, and bonding the drawn nonwoven web in overlaying relationship onto a layer of a disposable absorbent article to retain extension and retraction characteristics of oriented nonwoven loop material. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising laminating the drawn nonwoven material to an elastic substrate, and bonding the drawn nonwoven laminate in overlaying relationship onto the layer of the disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising disposing a hook material on the disposable absorbent article, and engaging the oriented loop material and the hook material. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the engaged hook material and oriented loop material define a refastenable seam of the disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the disposable absorbent article has a pair of leg openings and a waist opening, the refastenable seam extending between one of the leg openings and the waist opening. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11  wherein the refastenable seam extends between about 80 percent and about 100 percent a distance from the one of the leg openings to the waist opening. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 7  wherein bonding the drawn nonwoven web in overlaying relationship onto a layer of a disposable absorbent article comprises bonding a plurality of drawn nonwoven web elements in overlaying relationship onto the layer of the disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         14 . A method of making a mechanical fastening system for an article, comprising forming an oriented nonwoven loop material from a nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers by drawing the nonwoven web using an applied force to align the constituent fibers of the nonwoven web, laminating the oriented nonwoven loop material to an inelastic material, and disposing the drawn nonwoven laminate on a disposable absorbent article. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the oriented nonwoven loop material is laminated to an extensible, inelastic substrate. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising passing the nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers through a pair of spaced-part nips to draw the nonwoven web and thereby generally align the constituent fibers of the nonwoven web. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the pair of spaced-apart nips comprises a first nip and a second nip, the first nip operating at a speed greater than a speed at which the second nip is operating. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16  wherein the passing of the nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers through the pair of spaced-part nips does not substantially narrow or neck the nonwoven web. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 14  further comprising passing the nonwoven web of substantially continuous fibers through a side stretching apparatus to draw the nonwoven web in a cross machine direction and thereby generally align the constituent fibers of the nonwoven web in the cross machine direction. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 14  wherein the disposable absorbent article is a training pant.