Patent ID: 8894798
Filing Date: 2014-11-25
Classification: A61F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of manufacturing an absorbent article including a front waistline portion to be fitted to a front waistline of a wearer, a back waistline portion to be fitted to a back waistline of the wearer, and a crotch portion to be fitted to a crotch of the wearer, the crotch portion arranged between the front waistline portion and the back waistline portion, the method comprising: a front-and-back waistline division step of dividing a strip-shaped web into (i) a front waistline web including the front waistline portion and (ii) a back waistline web including the back waistline portion; a web reversing step of reversing the front waistline web and the back waistline web, and concurrently setting a gap between the front waistline web and the back waistline web in a width direction of the front and back waistline webs by a web reversing mechanism; a web conveying step of conveying the front waistline web and the back waistline web by a web conveying mechanism, with the front and back waistline webs being arranged side by side in the width direction of the front and back waistline webs; a flap attaching step of attaching a flap portion onto one of the front waistline portion of the front waistline web and the back waistline portion of the back waistline web, the flap portion fixed to said one of the front waistline portion and the back waistline portion to be temporarily attached to the other waistline portion when being worn; a web gap changing step of changing the gap between the front waistline web and the back waistline web by a web gap changing mechanism; and a crotch member attaching step of attaching a crotch member to be formed into the crotch portion to a portion between the front waistline web and the back waistline web, wherein the web gap changing step is performed between the flap attaching step and the crotch member attaching step, the front-and-back waistline division step is performed before the web conveying step, the web reversing step is performed after the front-and-back waistline division step and before the web conveying step, the web reversing mechanism includes: in a plan view of the front and back waistline webs, positions of the first bar-shaped portion and the second bar-shaped portion are shifted from each other in a web conveyance direction in which the front and back waistline webs are conveyed before coming into contact with the first bar-shaped portion, in the plan view of the front and back waistline webs, the first bar-shaped portion and the second bar-shaped portion are inclined with respect to the web conveyance direction by approximately same angles, and the web reversing mechanism conveys the front waistline web while reversing front and back surfaces of the front waistline web along the first contact portion, and conveys the back waistline web while reversing front and back surfaces of the back waistline web along the second contact portion.