Apparatus for laminating thermoplastic film materials

An apparatus for producing a laminate of thermoplastic film materials exhibiting throughgoing porosity and comprising plies A and B, the ply A having an inner surface A1 partly in contact with the ply B and an outer surface A2, and the ply B having an inner surface B1 partly in contact with the ply A and an outer surface B2, where the ply A and the ply B comprise continuous materials, the apparatus comprising in line:

• a perforation station adapted to perforate the plies A and B together simultaneously;
• a displacement station for mutually displacing the ply A and the ply B in a controlled manner in a longitudinal or a transverse direction after they have been perforated together;
• and
• a laminating station for lamination the surface A1 to the surface B1 in a discontinuous manner such that there is formed a channel system between the surfaces A1 and the surface B1 connecting a majority of the perforations in the ply A each with at least one of the perforations in the ply B, and connecting a majority of the perforations in the ply B each with at least one of the perforations in the ply A, whereby substantially no perforation in the ply A corresponds directly to a perforation in the ply B

An apparatus for producing a ply with surface irregularities forming protruding bosses and adjacent receding portions comprising:

• a means for segmentally transversely or longitudinally stretching a ply to form linear receding portions;
• and
• upstream or downstream of this means, a means for stretching this ply substantially in the longitudinal direction of the receding portions,
• wherein the means for segmental transverse or longitudinal stretching comprises intermeshing grooved rollers on which the grooves are circular or helical and each crest of the grooved surface of the roller has two sharp edges which are sufficiently sharp to produce a receding linearly extending region in the ply.