Disposable absorbent garment having stretchable side waist regions

A method of making a stretchable ear portion in a composite web structure used for forming a disposable absorbent garment, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a first layer having a front longitudinal end, a back longitudinal end and a pair of opposing lateral edges therebetween;
• providing a second layer having a front longitudinal end, a back longitudinal end, and a pair of opposing lateral edges therebetween;
• providing an absorbent core;
• providing a stretchable member contractible from a stretched configuration to a contracted configuration;
• positioning said stretchable member adjacent a first section of said first layer, said first section being located proximate one of said lateral edges and one of said longitudinal ends of said first layer;
• securing said first section to a surface of said stretchable member, while said stretchable member is disposed in a stretched configuration, such that said first section is subsequently extendible with said stretchable member;
• and
• securing said first layer, said second layer and said absorbent core together to form a web structure having a central longitudinal plane and including a front region that includes said front longitudinal ends and a pair of ear portions extending in substantially opposite lateral directions with respect to said longitudinal plane, a back region including said back longitudinal ends and a pair of ear portions extending in substantially opposite lateral directions with respect to said longitudinal plane, and a crotch region disposed between said front region and said back region, whereby said stretchable member and said first section are included in one of said ear portions to form a stretchable ear portion.

A disposable absorbent garment comprising:

• a layered assembly including
• a topsheet
• a backsheet, and
• an absorbent core disposed between said topsheet and said backsheet,
• said layered assembly having a first pair of elasticated ear portions and a second pair of elasticated ear portions, each of said first and second pairs of elasticated ear portions being joined to define a waist opening and a pair of leg openings;
• and
• wherein each of said ear portions includes
• an ear section of said topsheet having an outside surface
• an ear section of said backsheet having an outside surface, and
• an elastic member disposed between said ear sections and extendible between a contracted condition and an extended condition, said ear sections being secured to said elastic member such that said ear sections are extendible with said elastic member from a contracted configuration to an extended configuration wherein each of said outside surfaces is disposed in a substantially planar configuration.

A method of making a disposable garment having an elasticated ear portion, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a first layer and a second layer, each layer including a front section having a first pair of ear sections, a back section having a second pair of ear sections, a crotch section extending between said front and back sections, and a longitudinal axis extending substantially centrally between said front section, back section, and crotch section, wherein said pairs of ear sections extend substantially laterally respective of said longitudinal axis;
• providing an absorbent core;
• providing an elastic member contractible from an extended configuration to a relaxed configuration;
• positioning said elastic member adjacent a first ear section of said first layer;
• securing said first ear section to a surface of said elastic member, while said elastic member is disposed in an extended configuration, such that said first ear section is subsequently contractible and extendible with said stretchable member;
• positioning said absorbent core centrally adjacent said first layer;
• securing said first layer, said second layer and said absorbent core together, such that said longitudinal axes align, to form a composite structure having a front region that includes said front sections and a pair of laterally extending ear portions, a back region that includes said back sections and a pair of laterally extending ear portions, and a crotch region that includes said crotch sections, whereby said elastic member and said first ear section are included in one of said ear portions to form an elasticated ear portion;
• and
• joining each of said ear portions of said front region with a corresponding ear portion of said back region to define a waist opening and a pair of leg openings.