Method of manufacturing a hip panel for a disposable absorbent article

1. A method for manufacturing a plurality of hip panels for disposable absorbent articles and attaching a pair of the hip panels to an absorbent assembly, the method comprising:

feeding a web to a cutting apparatus;

cutting the web at a first location with the cutting apparatus to form a curved upper edge of a first hip panel of the plurality of hip panels;

cutting the web at a second location with the cutting apparatus to form a curved lower edge of the first hip panel, the curved lower edge and the curved upper edge being substantially identical with respect to each other, wherein cutting the web at the first and second locations forms a discrete web segment separated from the web and defining the first hip panel;

cutting the web at a third location to form another discrete web segment separated from the web and defining a second hip panel of the plurality of hip panels, the second hip panel having a curved lower edge and a curved upper edge that are substantially identical with respect to each other, the pair of the hip panels comprising the first hip panel and the second hip panel; and

bonding the pair of the hip panels to the absorbent assembly such that the curved upper edges and the curved lower edges of the pair of the hip panels curve upward toward a line including a longitudinal end of the absorbent assembly as the edges extend away from the absorbent assembly, the absorbent assembly having a front waist region, a back waist region, and a crotch region disposed longitudinally between the front waist region and the back waist region.

2. The method set forth in claim 1 further comprising bonding a fastener component to the web.

3. The method set forth in claim 2 wherein the fastener component is bonded to the web before the web is cut by the cutting apparatus.

4. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein a distance between the first and second locations of the web is in the range between about 25 mm and about 100 mm.

5. The method set forth in claim 4 wherein the distance between the first and second locations is about 65 mm.

6. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a first location comprises cutting the web diagonally.

7. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a second location comprises cutting the web diagonally.

8. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein the absorbent assembly has side edges, the first hip panel being bonded adjacent one of the side edges in the back waist region of the absorbent assembly, and the second hip panel being bonded adjacent the opposite side edge in the back waist region of the absorbent assembly.

9. The method set forth in claim 8 wherein the absorbent assembly has longitudinal ends in the back waist region of the front waist region and each of the hip panels is bonded a distance in the range of about 0 mm to about 45 mm from the longitudinal end of the absorbent assembly in its back waist region.

10. The method set forth in claim 9 wherein each of the hip panels is bonded about 35 mm from the longitudinal end of the absorbent assembly in its back waist region.

11. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a first location and cutting the web at a second location forms the web segment wherein no portion of the web is wasted.

12. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a first location comprises cutting the web along a curved line and cutting the web along a straight line.

13. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a second location comprises cutting the web along a curved line and cutting the web along a straight line.

14. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein cutting the web at a first location comprises cutting the web along a curved line having a first radius of curvature and a second radius of curvature, the first radius of curvature being greater than the second radius of curvature.

15. The method set forth in claim 4 wherein cutting the web at the first location and cutting the web at the second location results in the first hip panel having an overall height that is defined by its maximum projected height, the ratio of the overall height to the distance between the first and second locations of the web being greater than 1.

16. The method set forth in claim 15 wherein cutting the web at the first location and cutting the web at the second location results in the hip panel having an overall height in the range between about 25 mm to about 170 mm.

17. The method set forth in claim 1 wherein the absorbent assembly has longitudinal ends in the back waist region and the front waist region and each of the hip panels is bonded to the absorbent assembly in its back waist region.