Miwa Iida, Kagawa, Japan; and Osamu Ishikawa, Kagawa, Japan. Assigned to Uni-Charm Corporation, Ehime, Japan.
Filed: 8/22/11
Issued: 1/19/16
A manufacturing method for a composite body of a continuous sheet associated with an absorbent article, the composite body being manufactured by attaching a single-cut sheet to the continuous sheet at a predetermined attachment pitch, the method comprising: providing a cutter roller and an anvil roller to form the single-cut sheet therewith; receiving the single-cut sheet at a receipt position by a holding section in surface-to-surface contact from the anvil roller, the holding section moving along a path, the holding section having an arc-shaped surface extending along the path; weakening a holding force by which the single-cut sheet is held; exerting a suction force on the single-cut sheet through the continuous sheet, the suction force causing the single-cut sheet to be sucked toward the continuous sheet; and when the holding section passes a delivery position set on the path, separating the single-cut sheet from the holding section, and delivering the single-cut sheet to the continuous sheet by attaching the single-cut sheet to the continuous sheet without pinching the single-cut sheet between the holding section and the continuous sheet due to the weakening and the exerting, the continuous sheet being running through a neighboring position near the delivery position, wherein a gap between the holding section and an adjacent holding section at the delivery position is wider than the gap between the holding section and the adjacent holding section at the receipt position, a running speed of the continuous sheet being set so as to be higher than a peripheral speed of the anvil roller, the holding section has a holding surface, a plurality of suction holes formed on the holding surface, and an air flow path that is formed inside the holding section and communicates with the suction holes, when the holding section arrives at the delivery position, the air flow path communicates with a positive pressure chamber and the holding section ejects air outwardly toward the single-cut sheet, through all the suction holes on the holding surface substantially at the same time such that the elected air pushes the single-cut sheet toward the continuous sheet and the single-cut sheet jumps from the holding section to the continuous sheet, suction holes are provided to a suction belt conveyer and at the neighboring position, the suction holes sucking air through the continuous sheet in a direction in which the single-cut sheet is separated from the holding section passing the delivery position, and a suction amount of the suction applied to the holes provided to the suction belt conveyer is increased or decreased according to an increase or decrease of a running speed of the continuous sheet such that the higher the running speed becomes, the shorter a jumping time of the single-cut sheet toward the continuous sheet becomes.