Plate for an anvil roll with a reduced-vacuum region for use in a slip and cut system and method of using the same

A slip-and-cut system comprising:

• a web feeding assembly;
• a knife roll;
• and
• an anvil roll, the anvil roll comprising:
• a drum comprising an inner surface and an outer surface;
• a plurality of vacuum holes extending between the inner surface and the outer surface;
• and
• at least one vacuum region and at least one reduced-vacuum region on the outer surface,
• wherein the web feeding assembly is configured to feed a web having a base substrate and a fastening material to the anvil roll at a speed slower than a surface speed of the anvil roll such that the web slips along the outer surface of the anvil roll,
• wherein the knife roll is configured to contact the web slipping on the outer surface of anvil roll and cut a segment free from the web,
• wherein the anvil roll is configured to transport the segment via a vacuum pressure applied to the outer surface of the vacuum roll by a vacuum source, and
• wherein the plurality of vacuum holes are configured such that a vacuum pressure at the at least one vacuum region is greater than a vacuum pressure at the at least one reduced-vacuum region wherein, when the web slips along the outer surface of the anvil roll, the base substrate abuts the at least one vacuum region and the fastening material abuts the at least one reduced-vacuum region such that the base substrate of the web is held against the anvil roll with a greater force than the fastening material.

A method of making a web segment from a continuous web, the method comprising:

• feeding a web comprising a base substrate and a fastening material to an anvil roll of a slip-and-cut system, the anvil roll having a vacuum region and a reduced-vacuum region, the base substrate of the web being generally aligned with the vacuum region and the fastening material being generally aligned with the reduced-vacuum region;
• driving the anvil roll such that the surface speed of the anvil roll is greater than a speed at which the continuous web is fed to the anvil roll such that the web slips relative to the anvil roll;
• and
• cutting a discrete segment from the continuous web while the web is slipping relative to the anvil roll.