Machine and a method for manufacturing absorbent articles

A method for manufacturing absorbent articles which include an elongated central body and at least one pair of tab closure elements, comprising:

• providing a machine including:
• a transport line along which the absorbent articles advance in a predetermined feed direction, and a feed unit by which pairs of the tab closure elements are associated with each of the absorbent articles,
• wherein the feed unit comprises:
• a cutter device by which successive transverse cuts are made in a continuous strip of material to produce a succession of single tab closure elements:
• a separation roller, operating downstream of the cutter device and placed to receive the succession of single tab closure elements, by which each element is distanced from a next element in sequence, the separation roller comprising a plurality of slides traversable along respective directions parallel to a rotational axis of the separation roller, wherein, during rotation of the separation roller, the slides are movable between:
• a receiving position, in which each slide receives a respective single tab closure element and is aligned at least with an adjacent slide which is about to receive a subsequent single tab closure element, and
• a releasing position, located downstream of the receiving position and in which each slide is staggered relative to the next slide in sequence and approaches the alignment roller to release the respective single tab closure elements onto the alignment roller, wherein the slides occupying the releasing position define two spaced apart columns of tab closure elements advancing in a staggered formation;
• and
• an alignment roller, operating downstream of the separation roller and rotating tangentially to the transport line, the alignment roller being configured to take up the staggered tab closure elements released from the slides of the separation roller, order the taken up staggered tab closure elements into a succession of pairs advancing two abreast, and then place each successive pair of tab closure elements on a respective absorbent article advancing along the transport line;
• advancing the absorbent articles in succession along the predetermined feed direction, associating the pairs of tab closure elements with each of the absorbent articles, and sealing each pair of tab closure elements to a respective one of the absorbent articles;
• wherein the associating the pairs of tab closure elements with the absorbent articles includes:
• making the successive transverse cuts in the continuous strip of material to create the succession of single tab closure elements;
• distancing the tab closure elements one from another to form the two spaced apart columns of the tab closure elements;
• aligning the two spaced apart columns of the tab closure elements to order the tab closure elements in the succession of pairs.