Apparatuses and Methods for Folding Absorbent Articles

Methods and apparatuses herein relate to folding a substrate advancing in a machine direction through and assembly process, wherein the substrate includes a first outer region separated from a second outer region in a cross direction by a central region. The first outer region and the second outer region are continuous in the machine direction and the central region is discontinuous in the machine direction. During the folding process, the first outer region is conveyed in the machine direction while the central region is folded around a folding axis to place the second outer region in a facing relationship with the first outer region. The folding axis may be defined by a rail and/or a longitudinal edge of a conveyor. As such, the folding apparatus may be configured in various ways to help reduce negative effects of frictional forces acting on the central region of the substrate while folding.