초록 ▼

A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles from bulk starting polymeric materials including virgin and on-line recycled polymeric materials. The production line includes a continuous process that links the steps of forming the webs with the steps of converting the webs into di

A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles from bulk starting polymeric materials including virgin and on-line recycled polymeric materials. The production line includes a continuous process that links the steps of forming the webs with the steps of converting the webs into disposable absorbent articles. The production line recycles non-woven materials produced on the production line back into the production process of producing disposable absorbent articles. The recycling operations can also include a spun-bonded recycling and a melt-blown recycling. The production line can be a single-product-lane operation or a multiple-product-lane operation.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles, the production line extruding a number of polymeric materials and forming from the extruded polymeric materials individual components of the disposable absorbent articles including a liquid pervious topeheet, a liquid impervious b

1. A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles, the production line extruding a number of polymeric materials and forming from the extruded polymeric materials individual components of the disposable absorbent articles including a liquid pervious topeheet, a liquid impervious backsheet and an absorbent core disposed therebetween, the production line comprising: a) a first moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; b) a backsheet station adjacent the first moving surface to form the backsheet by extruding a first polymeric material onto the first moving surface, the first polymeric material being provided to the backsheet station as a first starting material, c) a core station adjacent the first moving surface to form the absorbent core by extruding a second polymeric material onto the backsheet, the second polymeric material being provided to the core station as a second starting material; d) a second moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; e) a topsheet station adjacent the second moving surface to form the topsheet by extruding a third polymeric material onto the second moving surface, the third polymeric material being provided to the topsheet station as a third starting material, the topsheet being placed onto the absorbent core; f) one or more cutting devices adjacent the first and second moving surfaces to cut a side-trim to form lateral configurations of the topsheet or the backsheet; g) a first recycling station for collecting and recycling the side-trim into a first recycled material; h) a second recycling station for collecting and recycling non-woven materials of the topsheet, the backsheet or the absorbent core during an outage of the production line into a second recycled material; i) one or more bonding modules adjacent the first and second moving surfaces to provide the second recycled material for bonding the backsheet or the topsheet; and j) a conduit for providing the second recycled material from the second recycling station to one or more of the bonding modules. 2. The production line of claim 1, wherein the first starting material comprises a first virgin material. 3. The production line of claim 1, wherein the first starting material comprises the first recycled material. 4. The production line of claim 1, wherein the first starting material comprises the second recycled material. 5. The production line of claim 1, wherein the second starting material comprises the first recycled material. 6. The production line of claim 1, wherein the second starting material comprises a second virgin material. 7. The production line of claim 1, wherein the third starting material comprises a third virgin material. 8. The production line of claim 1, wherein the third starting material comprises the first recycled material. 9. The production line of claim 1, wherein the third starting material comprises the second recycled material. 10. A production line for manufacturing disposable absorbent articles, the production line comprising: (a) a first moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; (b) a backsheet station adjacent the first moving surface to form a backsheet of the disposable absorbent article by extruding a first polymeric material onto the first moving surface, the first polymeric material being provided to the backsheet station as a first starting material; (c) a second moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; (d) a core station adjacent the second moving surface to provide an absorbent core produced off the production line and provided to the production line as a continuous web or discrete objects; (d) a third moving surface to move a web of material through the production line; (e) a topsheet station adjacent the third moving surface to form a topsheet of the disposable absorbent article by extruding a second polymeric material onto the third moving surface, the s econd polymeric material being provided to the topsheet station as a second starting polymeric material, the topsheet being placed onto the absorbent core; (f) one or more cutting devices adjacent the first and third moving surfaces to cut a side-trim to form lateral configurations of the topsheet or the backsheet; (g) a recycling station for collecting and recycling the side trim or non-woven materials of the topsheet or the backsheet collected during an outage on the production line into a recycled polymeric material; (h) one or more bonding modules adjacent the first and third moving surfaces to provide the recycled material for bonding the backsheet or the topsheet; and (i) a conduit for providing the recycled material from the recycling station to one or more of the bonding modules. 11. The production line of claim 10, wherein the first starting material comprises a first virgin material. 12. The production line of claim 10, wherein the first starting material comprises the recycled material. 13. The production line of claim 10, wherein the second starting material comprises a second virgin material. 14. The production line of claim 1, wherein the second starting material comprises the recycled material.