Yoshikazu Ogasawara, Kagawa, Japan; and Noriaki Ito, Kagawa, Japan. Assigned to Unicharm Corporation, Ehime, Japan.
Filed: 12/10/09
Issued: 2/2/16
A method of manufacturing a composite body of a sheet-shaped member of an absorbent article, the method comprising: receiving a first sheet-shaped member on a holding surface of a holding section at a receiving position; holding the first sheet-shaped member on the holding surface of the holding section; and delivering and attaching the first sheet-shaped member from the holding surface to a second sheet-shaped member at a transport roller located at a delivery position, wherein the first sheet-shaped member has a section that is to be delivered first and a section that is to be delivered subsequently during delivery to the second sheet-shaped member, the first sheet-shaped member is held on the holding surface with suction force from a plurality of holes formed on the holding surface, the holding section having at least first and second suction chambers, wherein the first suction chamber is in communication with holes that suck the section that is to be delivered first, and the second suction chamber is in communication with holes that suck the section that is to be delivered subsequently, the first sheet-shaped member is delivered to the second sheet-shaped member in a state in which the first suction chamber and the second suction chamber have been partitioned so as not to allow air to pass through to each other, at the delivery position, suction operation of the first suction chamber is performed by a first suction pipe, and suction operation of the second suction chamber is performed by a second suction pipe, and at the receiving position, the first suction chamber is in communication with the first suction pipe and the second suction pipe

The suction operation of the first suction chamber is performed by cooperation of the first suction pipe and the second suction pipe which are in communication with the first suction chamber, and the second suction chamber is in communication with the first suction pipe and the second suction pipe, and suction operation of the second suction chamber is performed by cooperation of the first suction pipe and the second suction pipe which are in communication with the second suction chamber, wherein the holding section is supported by a rotating drum and turnable about a turning axis of the holding section, the turning axis of the holding section passes through a center of the holding surface along a radius direction of the rotating drum, the holding surface has end sections and a central section between the end sections in a longitudinal direction of the holding surface, the holding surface has a convex shape where the central section bulges outward in the radius direction more than the end sections, wherein the transport roller has a central section having a concave external shape in correspondence with the convex shape of the holding surface, wherein a negative pressure chamber drum has a cylindrical body arranged co-axially with the rotating drum and rotates at a same speed as the rotating drum, the cylindrical body has a doughnut-shaped internal space divided, in a circumferential direction of the negative pressure chamber drum and by a partition wall, into a negative pressure zone as a negative pressure source, and a non-negative pressure zone,

The negative pressure zone is set corresponding to an angular range from the receiving position to the delivery position, the non-negative pressure zone is set corresponding to another angular range from the delivery position to the receiving position, and wherein a middle chamber member arranged between the negative pressure chamber drum and the holding section in the radius direction is in communication with the internal space of the negative pressure chamber drum via the first suction pipe and the second suction pipe.