Absorbent articles including a waist panel with a frangible bond

An absorbent article comprising:

• a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region disposed between the front and back waist regions;
• a first waist edge, a second waist edge longitudinally separated from the first waist edge, a first longitudinal side edge;
• and a second longitudinal edge laterally separated from the first longitudinal edge;
• a chassis comprising a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and the backsheet;
• a waist panel comprising an inboard lateral edge, an outboard lateral edge, a first longitudinal edge, and a second longitudinal edge, wherein the waist panel is connected with the chassis and positioned in the front waist region or the back waist region;
• wherein a first lateral region of the first waist panel is bonded with the chassis, the first lateral region extending adjacent the outboard lateral edge of the waist panel;
• wherein a first longitudinal region of the waist panel is bonded with the chassis, the first longitudinal region adjacent the first longitudinal edge of the waist panel;
• wherein a second longitudinal region of the waist panel is bonded with the chassis, the second longitudinal region adjacent the second longitudinal edge of the waist panel;
• wherein at least a portion of the inboard lateral edge of the first waist panel is unattached to the chassis;
• and
• wherein the waist panel is releasably bonded with the chassis with a frangible bond positioned on the inboard lateral edge of the first waist panel and/or longitudinally between the inboard lateral edge of the waist panel and the first lateral region and positioned laterally between the first longitudinal region and the second longitudinal region.

A method for assembling absorbent articles, the method comprising steps of:

• advancing a carrier substrate in a machine direction;
• positioning elastic parts on the carrier substrate, each elastic part comprising a first longitudinal edge and a second longitudinal edge separated from the first longitudinal edge in a cross direction, the elastic part further comprising a leading edge and a trailing edge separated from the leading edge in machine direction;
• permanently bonding a first region of each elastic part with the carrier substrate, the first region positioned between the leading edge and the trailing edge of the elastic part, wherein a portion of the inboard lateral edge of the elastic part remains unattached to the carrier substrate;
• and
• applying frangible bonds to bond a second region of each elastic part with the carrier substrate, the second region positioned between the first region and the leading edge of the elastic part.

An absorbent article comprising:

• a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region disposed between the front and back waist regions;
• a first waist edge, a second waist edge longitudinally separated from the first waist edge, a first side edge;
• and a second side edge laterally separated from the first side edge;
• a chassis comprising a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core positioned between the topsheet and the backsheet;
• a first leg gasketing element and a second leg gasketing element connected with the chassis and extending from the front waist region to the back waist region;
• a waist panel comprising an inboard lateral edge, an outboard lateral edge, a first longitudinal edge, and a second longitudinal edge, wherein the waist panel is connected with the chassis and positioned in the front waist region or the back waist region;
• wherein a first region of the waist panel is bonded with the chassis, the first region extending laterally adjacent the outboard lateral edge of the waist panel;
• wherein at least a portion of the inboard lateral edge of the waist panel is unattached to the chassis;
• and
• wherein the waist panel is releasably bonded with at least one of the chassis, the first leg gasketing element, and the second leg gasketing element with a frangible bond positioned on the inboard lateral edge of the waist panel and/or longitudinally between the inboard lateral edge of the waist panel and the first region.