Patent ID: 7919033

Claim:
A method of manufacturing a honeycomb structure having a plugged portion, in which cells of a honeycomb structure are plugged, the honeycomb structure having porous partition walls and provided with a plurality of cells partitioned by the partition walls and formed so as to extend through the honeycomb structure from one end face of the honeycomb structure to the other end face thereof, the method comprising: attaching a film to the end face of the honeycomb structure so that the side surface portion of the honeycomb structure is not covered in a state where the honeycomb structure is positioned in a table portion having a through hole into which the end face portion of the honeycomb structure is to be inserted with no discernable gap existing between the side surface portion of the honeycomb structure and the through hole of the table portion, and holding the film so as to be in a flat state extending along a common plane, where the remaining portion of the film which is not attached to the end face of the honeycomb structure is attached to the table portion; forming, in the film, desired holes opened so as to correspond to the openings of a part of the cells to form the film as a mask in said flat state; and supplying a plugging material having fluidity onto said mask and/or onto the same plane surface of said mask at a peripheral side location existing beyond the boundary defined by the attached end face of the honeycomb structure to said mask, wherein an inclined plugging apparatus, that is inclined with respect to said mask and/or said surface of said mask, contacts said mask and/or said surface of said mask outward of said plugging material location, and wherein said inclined plugging apparatus in a wiping lateral motion openly and uniformly fills the desired cells of the honeycomb structure with the plugging material.