Patent ID: 8733415

Claim:
An apparatus for manufacturing an absorbent article, the apparatus comprising: a guide unit that has a feeding part configured to feed an elastic member and that is configured to guide the elastic member, wherein the guide unit is configured to move the feeding part alternately in a first direction and a second direction, so that the elastic member is brought into contact with a web conveyed in a predetermined direction and is placed in a predetermined waveform, the first direction extending from a center portion of the web to a first end portion in a cross direction intersecting the predetermined direction, the second direction extending from the center portion to a second end portion opposite to the first end portion in the cross direction; and a speed controller configured to control a speed of the elastic member fed by the feeding part, wherein the speed controller is configured to maintain the speed of the elastic member at a constant speed different from a conveyance velocity of the web being conveyed in the predetermined direction, and in a plan view of the web, the guide unit is configured to control a position of the feeding part so that a distance between the feeding part and a nip point where the elastic member is brought into contact with the web becomes largest when the nip point goes beyond a position in the predetermined waveform where an angle between the predetermined direction and a tangent line to the predetermined waveform is largest, the guide unit is configured to move, when moving the feeding part in the first direction, the feeding part in a first marginal position closer to the first end portion than a first position on the tangent line to the predetermined waveform at the nip point, the guide unit is configured to move, when moving the feeding part in the second direction, the feeding part in a second marginal position closer to the second end portion than a second position on the tangent line to the predetermined waveform at the nip point, and the guide unit is configured to move the feeding part so that a distance between the first position on the tangent line to the predetermined waveform at the nip point and the first marginal position becomes gradually larger as the nip point moves from a position where the tangent line and the predetermined direction are parallel with each other toward the position where the angle between the tangent line and the predetermined direction is largest.