Contour Articles with Leg Hoops

1. Contour Articles with Leg Hoops For superior comfort and performance

2. Objectives: • Improved wearer comfort • Reliable product performance • Consumer affordability

3. How contoured pants or diapers can help: • Excellent sealing: intimate contact between leg hoops and upper thighs • Excellent body fit: product components connected by „darting“-type connections • Lean product and process design: 100% material usage and multi - lane manufacturing options allow affordable pricing • Skin friendly design: there are No elastic components needed!

4. Key technical questions: • How can Contour articles be assembled cost efficiently? • How do they fit the wearer? • What is the impact of the new assembly technology on the • manufacturing system, particularly on line capacity?

5. CONTOURproducts - low cost making: • designed to use 100% of their raw materials; no • trimmed off pieces; • made of low cost materials • smaller number of different materials, compared • to conventional products

6. -in a first step, the leg hoops are fed by a „cut and space“ unit -in a second step, left and right sidepanels are provided such that they slightly overlay the leg hoops -in a further step, leg hoops and side panels are connected to each other where they overlap, via „FLEXIBOND“ bonding technology -as a next component, the backsheet is provided -with another FLEXIBOND connection, the backsheet is connected to hoops and sidepanels, whereby the backsheet side is completed

7. -the topsheet comes in as first component of the topsheet side -next, the topsheet is completely or partly covered with glue -the core is laid down onto the glued topsheet -finally, some glue on the core makes the topsheet side assembly ready to be combined with the backsheet side Assembly - topsheet side -

8. View from backside, „in process“ condition Leg hoops and sidepanels positioned flat on centre piece core

9. Contour products are easy to put on: • by unfolding the product and closing the fasteners, • the leg hoops are placed around the wearer‘s legs • Contour products fit perfectly even when loaded: • „belt-like fit“ around waist and legs keeps product • up and close to the body

10. erected leg hoops, unfolded sidepanels Contour Article, ready to be put on a Wearer - backside view of open product - by unfolding the side panels, the leg hoops are errected and stretched, such that they form reliable seals around the legs

11. View on a standing wearer sidepanels, leg hoop (right leg) -force lines between front and rear leg hoop and the back waist ensure that the product seals and stays up without effecting wearer‘s flexibility -over the buttocks, forces are very low, to avoid slippage caused by sitting down and standing up

12. CONTOUR products can be made „Side by Side“ • more than one product of a size can be made side • by side simultaneously • products with different waist circumferences can be • made side by side simutaneously see also GB2475589(A) and GB2475572 for reference

13. CONTOUR product: narrow while in process wnew Conventional product: side panels and ears in an open position until the product is completely assembled i. e. it is wider while in process wconv Assembly - Impact on line capacity -

14. Width w is saved in process. This allows to multiply line capacity! D Assembly - Impact on line capacity - wnew wconv D w

15. make more than one of the products at a time, thereby multiplying line capacity by a factor of 2 or 3 or Assembly - Impact on line capacity - more

16. Back and front view of a CONTOUR product