Koji Imai, Ichikai-machi, Japan; Shinji Hamamoto, Shimotsuke, Japan; Makoto Kokubo, Yaita, Japan; Takuo Yanashima, Utsunomiya, Japan; and Akio Morita, Ichikai-machi, Japan.
Assigned to Kao Corporation, Tokyo, Japan.

Filed: 5/14/13
Issued: 5/9/17

A method for manufacturing an absorbent article comprising a fusion-bonded sheet article and an absorbent assembly, the method comprising the steps of: providing a belt-shaped sheet laminate comprising a plurality of sheets, at least one sheet of the plurality of sheets including a resin material; pressing one surface of the belt-shaped sheet laminate against a support member that has a light passage section through which a laser beam can pass; irradiating, from a support member side via the light passage section, the belt-shaped sheet laminate which is in a pressurized state with the laser beam having a wavelength that is absorbed by the sheets constituting the sheet laminate and that causes the sheets to generate heat; and cutting and separating the belt-shaped sheet laminate and, simultaneously, fusion-bonding cut edge sections created, by a cutting/separation, in the plurality of sheets which are in the pressurized state to form sealed edge sections, so that the fusion-bonded sheet article is obtained.