Apparatus for measuring the crush recovery of an absorbent article

Abstract

An apparatus is disclosed for measuring the crush recovery of an absorbent article. The apparatus includes a tester having first and second arms, at least one of which is movable. The apparatus also includes a first frame member attached at one end to the first arm of the tester. The first frame member has a shoulder with a first wand extending outwardly therefrom. The apparatus further includes a second frame member attached at one end to the second arm of the tester. The second frame member has a shoulder with a second wand extending outwardly therefrom. The first and second frame members are interleaved such that the first and second wands are spaced apart to enable an absorbent article to be positioned therebetween. Movement of the first frame member relative to the second frame member causes the absorbent article to be crushed in a sideways direction between the shoulders. As the relative movement of the frame members is reversed, the absorbent article is able to expand outward toward its original transverse dimension. The amount of sideways recovery is measured as the "crush recovery" value.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.