Patent ID: 8821360

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a disposable worn article including: a diaper body including a front portion covering a front side of a wearer, a back portion covering a back side of the wearer, and a crotch portion between the front portion and the back portion; and a pair of side panels connecting the front portion and the back portion in a girth direction, the method comprising: a step of carrying a continuous web to be the disposable worn article in a longitudinal direction perpendicular to the girth direction; a severing step of severing the continuous web along a virtual first line extending in the girth direction so as to sever the continuous web into individual worn articles; a first folding step of folding, by a body folding apparatus including a plurality of pairs of suction pads, the diaper body along a virtual second line extending in the girth direction so that a skin-contact surface of the front portion and a skin-contact surface of the back portion lie on each other; and a second folding step of folding, by a side panel folding apparatus, the pair of side panels so that the pair of side panels of the diaper body handed over from the body folding apparatus lie on a non-skin-contact surface of the back portion or the front portion, wherein in the second folding step, while the diaper body is held on a first pad and while the side panels are held on second pads rotating in a folding direction in which the side panels are folded with respect to the first pad, the second pads rotate in the folding direction toward the first pad so that the second pads lie on the first pad, thereby the pair of side panels being folded.