Hiroki Yamamoto, Kagawa, Japan. Assigned to Unicharm Corporation, Ehime-Ken, Japan.

Filed: 1/7/11
Issued: 3/29/16

A cutting apparatus configured to cut a web in which elastic members are continuously disposed into disposable articles while conveying the web in an expanded state, said cutting apparatus comprising: a holding conveying mechanism configured to convey the web along a conveyance path using a holding surface, the holding conveying mechanism having the holding surface on which the web is held; a cutting mechanism configured to perform first cutting to cut the web conveyed while being held by the holding conveying mechanism along a crossing direction crossing a conveyance direction of the conveyance path of the web, and second cutting to cut the web along the crossing direction a predetermined distance from the first cutting; and a press-down member configured to press down a portion of the web onto the holding surface at least during the first cutting, wherein the holding surface includes: a main holding area configured to hold the web, by a first holding power, along the crossing direction between the first cutting and the second cutting, and an auxiliary holding area configured to hold the web, by a second holding power weaker than the first holding power in the main holding area, at least in either upstream or downstream of the main holding area in the conveyance direction, the main holding area is recessed as compared to the auxiliary holding area, the cutting mechanism includes a cutter positioned at a first side of the conveyance path, the holding conveying mechanism is positioned at a second side of the conveyance path, the second side being opposite to the first side, the holding conveying mechanism further comprises an anvil configured to cooperate with the cutter of the cutting mechanism, the press-down member is sandwiched between the holding conveying mechanism and the cutting mechanism in a direction perpendicular to both the crossing direction and the conveyance direction, and the press-down member is disposed adjacent to the anvil in the crossing direction, without overlapping the anvil in the direction perpendicular to both the crossing direction and the conveyance direction.