USPTO Patent US12582557B2: Bonding elastic parts under tension to carrier

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Prosthetics (A61F)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted patent US12582557B2 to The Procter & Gamble Company for a method and apparatus for bonding elastic parts under tension to a carrier substrate. This patent relates to the assembly of absorbent articles and was filed on September 10, 2024.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12582557B2 to The Procter & Gamble Company. The patent covers a method and apparatus for stretching, transferring, and bonding elastic parts under tension to a carrier substrate during the assembly of absorbent articles. The invention details how to prepare and attach elastic components to a carrier, ensuring they are stretched in a specific direction and bonded using adhesive or mechanical means.

This patent grant is primarily an intellectual property matter and does not impose new regulatory obligations on manufacturers. However, companies involved in the production of absorbent articles, such as diapers or incontinence products, should be aware of this patent and its claims to ensure their manufacturing processes do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of The Procter & Gamble Company. The patent was filed on September 10, 2024, and granted on March 24, 2026.

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Method and apparatus for bonding elastic parts under tension to an advancing carrier

Grant US12582557B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

The Procter & Gamble Company

Inventors

Uwe Schneider, Michael Brian Quade, Jason Edward Naylor, Jeromy Thomas Raycheck

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to methods and apparatuses for stretching, transferring, and bonding elastic parts under tension to an advancing carrier substrate during the assembly of absorbent articles. A continuous carrier substrate may be advanced in a machine direction at a first speed, and a discrete elastic part may be cut from a continuous elastic substrate having a direction of stretch in a cross direction. The speed of the discrete elastic part is changed from a second speed to the first speed, and the central region of the discrete elastic part is stretched in the cross direction. The discrete elastic part is bonded with the continuous carrier substrate such that the stretched central region extends in the cross direction between the first and second longitudinal edges of the continuous carrier substrate. The discrete elastic part may also be bonded with the carrier substrate with adhesive and/or mechanical bonds.