Patent ID: 8012388

Claim:
A method of producing a stretchable sheet from a nonwoven fabric containing fibers, the nonwoven fabric having a longitudinal direction, a width direction and a thickness direction, the method comprising: a first drawing step of drawing the nonwoven fabric in the longitudinal direction by (i) a pair of gear rolls and (ii) a roller that apply a tension to the nonwoven fabric in the longitudinal direction, and a second drawing step of drawing, in the longitudinal direction, the nonwoven fabric that has been drawn in the first drawing step with a plurality of teeth formed on an outer circumferential face of each of the gear rolls, wherein the second drawing step includes passing the nonwoven fabric through a gap between the gear rolls that rotate while the plurality of teeth being engaged with one another, wherein said roller is arranged on an upstream side of said gear rolls in the longitudinal direction; and in the first drawing step, the nonwoven fabric is drawn in the longitudinal direction by setting a circumferential velocity of the gear rolls higher than a circumferential velocity of the roller.