Steven Craig Gehling, Oshkosh, WI; Lars Nilsen Nordang, Neenah, WI; Charles Robert Tomsovic, Omro, WI; and David Kevin Oldroyd, Greenville, WI.
Assigned to Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc., Neenah, WI.

Filed: 7/27/17
Issued: 6/2/20

A method for compressing a tampon blank into a pledget, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a compression apparatus for compressing the tampon blank, the compression apparatus comprising: i) a compression space and a longitudinal axis; ii) a plurality of compression jaws wherein each compression jaw comprises a compression segment which has a first sidewall and an opposing second sidewall wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall join together to form a longitudinal direction compression surface wherein at least one of the first sidewall and the second sidewall is oblique to a radial plane directed outward from the longitudinal axis; iii) a plurality of penetration jaws wherein each penetration jaw comprises: 1) a base surface comprising a longitudinal direction and at least two penetrating segments extending from the base surface wherein a first of the at least two penetrating segments is spaced apart from a second of the at least two penetrating segments and wherein each of the penetrating segments comprises a first sidewall and an opposing second sidewall wherein the first sidewall and the second sidewall join together to form a compression surface; b) inserting the tampon blank into the compression space of the compression apparatus wherein the tampon blank comprises a longitudinal direction, a longitudinal axis, a circumferential direction, and a radial depth direction; c) moving the compression jaws in a direction towards the longitudinal axis of the compression apparatus wherein the compression jaws move from an open position to a closed position to form a pledget; d) moving the penetration jaws in a direction towards the longitudinal axis of the compression apparatus wherein the penetration jaws move from an open position to a closed position to form a non-linear channel in the pledget; e) retracting the penetration jaws from the pledget in a direction away from the longitudinal axis of the compression apparatus wherein the penetration jaws move from the closed position to the open position; f) ejecting the pledget from the compression apparatus; and g) retracting the compression jaws in a direction away from the longitudinal axis of the compression space wherein the compression jaws move from the closed position to the open position.