Matteo Piantoni, Albino, Italy; and Valerio Soli, Bologna, Italy.
Assigned to GDM S.p.A., Bologna, Italy.

Filed: 5/2/16
Issued: 2/26/19

A unit for forming absorbent sanitary articles, comprising: a drum rotatable about an axis of rotation and having a circumferential peripheral surface movable along a feed direction; a first feeding device including a rotatable member for feeding a succession of pairs of panels of material facing the circumferential peripheral surface and configured to position each pair such that two panels of each pair of panels are facing each other and transversely aligned with the feed direction; a second feeding device including a roller for feeding a continuous web of material suitable for defining at least part of a main body of an absorbent sanitary article, and configured to position the continuous web on the circumferential peripheral surface such that each of the two panels projects partly sideways from the continuous web; an ultrasonic sealing station located along the circumferential peripheral surface, in a zone located operatively downstream of the second feeding device, and configured to attach each of the two panels to the continuous web at at least one plurality of sealing points arranged in succession along the feed direction; the ultrasonic sealing station comprising at least one first sonotrode and at least one second sonotrode facing the circumferential peripheral surface and spaced from each other transversely to the feed direction such that each acts on a respective one of the two panels; wherein the at least one first sonotrode and the at least one second sonotrode are movable towards and away from each other in order to adapt to a size of the absorbent article.