| 摘要 |
A method and apparatus for stretching an elastic member in cross machine direction and combining the elastic member, while held in tension, with a moving substrate web. A web of unstretched material, having elasticity across the direction of metering, is fed onto a first rotating drum at a speed slower than the surface speed of the drum. A cutter roll severs a portion of the unstretched material from its leading edge. Vacuum grippers in a drum slot beneath the elastic member support the ends of the member when it is cut from the web. Sealing dies are mounted to the surface of the vacuum grippers below the ends of the elastic member. As the first drum rotates further, the vacuum grippers are cammed axially outward within the slot to stretch the elastic member. Meanwhile, a substrate web is metered onto a second drum which rotates at the same surface speed as the first drum. The second drum rotates against the first drum but in the opposite direction. When the stretched elastic member reaches the nip point between drums, the sealing dies compression bond the ends of the stretched elastic member to the substrate web, using the second drum surface as an anvil surface. Vacuum applied to the second drum maintains the substrate web flat after the stretched elastic member is bonded and released by the vacuum grippers. A secondary sealing operation secures the stretched elastic member to the substrate web in locations other than the ends of the member before the elastic member and substrate web are allowed to contract. |
