Absorbent article process and apparatus for intermittently deactivating elastics in elastic laminates

A method for severing elastic strands in an elastic laminate, the method comprising the steps of:

• advancing a continuous first substrate layer and a continuous second substrate layer in a machine direction;
• stretching a plurality of elastic strands in the machine direction;
• intermittently bonding the stretched plurality of elastic strands between the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer to form a continuous elastic laminate such that the elastic laminate includes bonded regions and non-bonded regions intermittently spaced along the machine direction, wherein the plurality of elastic strands are bonded to the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer in the bonded regions, and wherein the plurality of elastic strands are not bonded to the first substrate layer and the second substrate layer in the non-bonded regions;
• advancing the elastic laminate in the machine direction through a nip defined between a cutting roll and an anvil roll, the cutting roll rotating around a first axis of rotation and the anvil roll rotating around a second axis of rotation, wherein the anvil roll includes an outer circumferential surface defining a minimum distance D1 between the outer circumferential surface and first axis of rotation, wherein the cutting roll includes a blade having a distal edge defining a maximum distance D2 between the distal edge and the first axis of rotation, and wherein the D2 is greater than D1, wherein the distal edge of the blade defines a length that extends in a cross direction;
• deflecting the distal edge of the blade by an interference distance, wherein the interference distance is equal to or greater than a difference between D2 and D1;
• and
• severing the plurality of elastic strands by pressing the distal edge of the blade against the elastic laminate with the length of the distal edge extending across all the elastic strands in the non-bonded region in the nip without cutting either the continuous first substrate layer or the continuous second substrate layer.