HK1192438A - Particle supplying apparatus and sheet article manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus has a cylinder part having a plurality of concave portions arranged in a circumferential direction, a particle filling part which is located above the cylinder part and which stores particles of high-absorbent resin, to sequentially fill the plurality of concave portions with particles by a particle filling opening in its lower end, and a communication part which is located adjacent to the particle filling opening. A concave portion facing a posterior edge of the particle filling opening is brought into communication with external space through the communication part. Therefore, when particles are filled into the concave portion from the particle filling part, air in the concave portion is forced out by particles entering the concave portion and is easily discharged to the external space through the communication part. As a result, it is possible to increase a density of particles filled in the concave portion.

Description

Particle supply device and layered product manufacturing device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a particle supplying apparatus for supplying particles of an absorbent material or a deodorizing material onto a sheet body, and a layered product manufacturing apparatus including a particle supplying apparatus for manufacturing a layered product for the absorbent product.

Background

In absorbent articles such as absorbent pads for light incontinence used by being attached to the inside of disposable diapers, absorbent sheets obtained by sandwiching particles of high-absorbent resin between two sheet bodies formed of nonwoven fabric or the like and fixing the particles therebetween are generally used.

Japanese patent application laid-open No.2005-59579 (document 1) relates to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a layered absorbent used in a disposable absorbent article. The device provides a temporary receiving roller, a transition roller, a box and an arc-shaped guide member, wherein the temporary receiving roller is provided with an outer side surface, and a plurality of grooves which are arranged at intervals along the circumferential direction are formed on the outer side surface; the transition roller is used for holding the substrate layer below the temporary receiving roller to convey the substrate layer; the box is positioned above the temporary receiving roller to supply the high-absorptivity resin particles into the grooves; the arcuate guide faces the outer side surface of the temporary receiving roll in a region from the cassette and the transition roll to retain the superabsorbent resin particles fed into the plurality of grooves. By the rotation of the temporary receiving roller, the particles of the highly absorbent resin held in the plurality of grooves of the temporary receiving roller are moved to a lower position to be supplied onto the base layer on which the hot melt adhesive is coated. Then, by bonding the cover layer to the base layer with the superabsorbent resin particles therebetween, a layered absorbent body is formed.

Incidentally, in the apparatus described in document 1, when the particles of the high-absorbent resin are supplied from the cartridge to the plurality of grooves, it is not easy to increase the particle filling density in each groove due to the presence of air in the grooves. In particular, in the case where the temporary receiving roller having a plurality of grooves is rotated at a high speed, the filling time of particles into each groove is short, and thus, it is more difficult to increase the particle filling density in the grooves.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to a particle supply device for supplying particles of an absorbent material or an odor preventing material to a layer body. It is an object of the present invention to increase the density of particles filled into each recess.

The particle supply apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a cylindrical portion that is substantially cylindrical around a rotation axis in a horizontal direction, the cylindrical portion including a plurality of concave portions provided in a circumferential direction on an outer side surface of the cylindrical portion; a particle filling portion that is located above the cylinder portion and that stores particles of an absorbent material or an odor preventing material to continuously fill the plurality of concave portions with particles through a particle filling port that faces an outer side surface of the cylinder portion; a first cover part extending from the particle filling port in a rotation direction of the cylinder part to cover a portion of the outer side surface of the cylinder part; a second cover part extending from the particle filling port in a direction opposite to a rotation direction of the cylinder part to cover another portion of the outer side surface of the cylinder part; a communicating portion that is adjacent to the particle filling opening and is located at a rear portion of the particle filling opening in the rotation direction, through which a concave portion facing a rear edge of the particle filling opening among the plurality of concave portions communicates with the outside; and a sheet conveying portion for conveying the sheet member in a conveying direction under a rear edge of the first cover portion in the rotating direction, the conveying direction being the same as a moving direction of the outer side surface of the cylinder portion.

In the present invention, the density of the particles filled into each concave portion can be increased.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the particle filling port is directed to a portion including a topmost part of the cylindrical part. Therefore, due to gravity, the filling of particles into the concave portion is promoted, and the density of particles filled into the concave portion can be further increased.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, one end portion of the communicating portion facing the cylindrical portion is located below the other end portion of the communicating portion. This reduces the loss of particles from the recess to the outside through the communication portion.

According to a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the particle supply apparatus further comprises a suction portion for sucking out the gas inside the communicating portion. Therefore, the density of the particles filled in each concave portion can be further increased.

The present invention is also directed to a layered article making apparatus for making a layered article for an absorbent article. The layered product manufacturing apparatus comprises the above-described particle supply apparatus; another layer conveying part for conveying another layer; and a layer bonding portion for placing the other sheet layer on the layer to which the particles have been applied by the particle supply means to bond the other layer to the layer.

These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus according to a preferred embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the cylindrical portion;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the barrel portion;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a communicating portion forming member;

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the communicating portion forming member;

fig. 6 is a sectional view of the first sheet conveying roller;

fig. 7 is a sectional view of the second sheet conveying roller;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing the vicinity of the cylinder part;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a bonding roll;

fig. 10 is a plan view of an absorbent sheet.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 shows an absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 is a single-layer product manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a layered product for an absorbent product, and manufactures an absorbent sheet by sandwiching particles of a high-absorbent resin such as SAP (super absorbent polymer) between layers formed of nonwoven fibers or the like. The absorbent sheet is a layered article for use in an absorbent article, such as a disposable diaper or an absorbent pad for light incontinence.

The absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a cylinder part 21, which is a substantially cylindrical member around (centered on) a rotation axis R1, a first sheet conveying roller 31, a second sheet conveying roller 41, and a bonding roller 51; the rotation axis R1 is along (facing) the horizontal direction; the first sheet conveying roller 31 is substantially cylindrical about a first central axis J1, the first central axis J1 being parallel to the direction of the rotation axis R1 (hereinafter, this direction is referred to as "axial direction"); the second sheet conveying roller 41 is substantially cylindrical around a second central axis J2 parallel to the axial direction; the bonding roll 51 is substantially cylindrical about a third center axis J3 parallel to the axial direction. The first center axis J1 is located directly below the rotation axis R1 in the vertical direction. The absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 further includes a plurality of auxiliary rollers 32, 42, and a first application section 61 and a second application section 62 each for applying an adhesive (hot melt adhesive in the present embodiment), the plurality of auxiliary rollers 32, 42 each being substantially columnar about a central axis parallel to the axial direction.

The cylinder part 21, the second layer-like conveyance roller 41, the adhesion roller 51, and the sub roller 42 rotate in the counterclockwise direction in fig. 1, and the first conveyance roller 31 and the sub roller 32 rotate in the clockwise direction in fig. 1. The first sheet conveying roller 31 serves as a sheet conveying portion for conveying a first sheet 91 near the lowermost portion of the cylinder portion 21, the first sheet 91 being a continuous sheet formed of nonwoven fabric or the like. The first applying part 61 is positioned above the plurality of auxiliary rollers 32, and applies the adhesive to the first sheet member 91.

The second sheet conveying roller 41 serves as a sheet conveying portion for conveying the second sheet 92 near the lowermost portion of the cylinder portion 21, the second sheet 92 being a continuous sheet formed of nonwoven fabric or the like. The second coating section 62 is positioned above the plurality of auxiliary rollers 42 and applies the adhesive to the second sheet member 92. The cylinder part 21 supplies particles of a high-absorbent resin (hereinafter simply referred to as "particles") to the first laminate 91 located at the lowermost part. The bonding roller 51 is disposed laterally of the first sheet conveying roller 31. The bonding roller 51 serves as a sheet bonding portion for bonding the first sheet member 91 and the second sheet member 92 to each other by overlapping the first sheet member 91 and the second sheet member 92 with each other and sandwiching the first sheet member 91 and the second sheet member 92 between the first sheet conveying roller 31 and the bonding roller 51.

The particle filling portion 23 is provided above the cylinder portion 21. The particle filling part 23 includes a particle tank 231 and a level sensor 233 provided in the particle tank 231, the particle tank 231 being located above the cylinder part 21 and storing particles of the super absorbent resin. When the level sensor 233 detects that the number of particles stored in the particle tank 231 is equal to or lower than a certain value, the particles are supplied to the particle tank 231. The particle tank 231 extends almost parallel to the vertical direction (i.e., the direction of gravity), and the bottom end of the particle tank 231 is provided with a particle filling port 232 toward the outer side surface of the cylinder part 21. The particle filling port 232 is directed toward the topmost portion including the cylinder part 21.

A first cover part 221 and a second cover part 222 are disposed around the cylinder part 21, the first cover part 221 covering a part of the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21, and the second cover part 222 covering another part of the outer side surface 211. The first cover part 221 extends from the particle filling port 232 to the lowermost part of the cylinder part 21 in the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21 (i.e., counterclockwise in fig. 1) to cover the outer side surface of the left side of the cylinder part 21. The second cover part 222 extends from the particle filling port 232 to the vicinity of the right end portion of the cylinder part 21 in the opposite direction of the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21, i.e., toward the rear of the rotation direction (i.e., in the direction of the arrow in fig. 1), to cover the outer side surface on the right side of the cylinder part 21.

In the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21, a region between the bottom end of the first cover part 221 and the bottom end of the second cover part 222, that is, a region on the outer side surface of the cylinder part 21 where neither the first cover part 221 nor the second cover part 222 is covered, is a particle supply region 210 to be mentioned later. The first cover part 221 extends from the particle supply region 210 in the clockwise direction, and the second cover part 222 extends from the particle supply region 210 in the counterclockwise direction.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view showing the vicinity of the cylinder part 21, and shows a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis R1. Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21, and in fig. 3, an appearance of the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21 viewed in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis R1 is shown. In fig. 2, the particle region is indicated by densely hatching. In fig. 3, the first cover part 221 and the second cover part 222 are omitted.

As shown in fig. 2 and 3, the plurality of concave portions 212 are arranged closely (next to each other) on (in) the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21 in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis R1 with respect to each of the plurality of positions in the axial direction. When the plurality of concave portions 212 at the same axial position and arranged in the circumferential direction are referred to as concave portion rows 213 (concave portion rows), as shown in fig. 3, three concave portion rows 213 are provided in the cylinder part 21. In the present embodiment, the shape of each concave portion 212 viewed from a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis R1 is substantially rectangular. In a cross section perpendicular to the rotation axis R1, as shown in fig. 2, the bottom surface of each recess 212 is generally arc-shaped. The recesses 212 may be of various shapes, for example, in a cross-section perpendicular to the axis of rotation R1, the shape of each recess 212 may be generally rectangular. On the outer side surface 211 of the cylindrical portion, one, two, four, or more supply recess rows 213 may be provided.

The outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21 where the concave part 212 does not exist is very close to the inner side surfaces of the first cover part 221 and the second cover part 222, and the outer side surface 211 is actually in contact with these inner side surfaces.

In the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, the cylinder part 21 is rotated at a high speed about the rotation axis R1, and particles are sequentially filled into the plurality of concave parts 212 from the particle tank 231 on the particle filling part 23 through the particle filling port 232 by the action of gravity. In fig. 2, the right side of the particle filling port 232 is provided with a communicating portion 26 close to the particle filling port 232 (i.e., disposed on the rear side of the particle filling port 232 in the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21). A concave portion 212a (denoted by reference numeral 212a to distinguish from other concave portions 212) of the plurality of concave portions 212 that faces the rear edge of the particle filling port 232 on the cylinder part 21 (i.e., that is located at the rear end in the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21) communicates with the external space through the communication portion 26. In fig. 2, the cross-section of the communication part 26 at the position II-II of fig. 4 mentioned later is drawn to help understanding the drawing.

Fig. 4 shows a disk-shaped communication part-forming member 269 (plate-like communication part-forming member) that forms the communication part 26, and shows the appearance of the disk-shaped communication part-forming member 269 as viewed from the right side of the pellet box 231 in fig. 2. In fig. 4, the top of the cylinder part 21 and the communication part forming member 269 are also shown. A plurality of grooves are formed on both principal planes of the communicating portion forming member 269. As shown in fig. 2, the communicating portion forming member 269 is fixed on the inner side face on the right side of the particle tank 231, and the main plane on the left side of the disk-shaped communicating portion forming member 269 is covered with a disk-shaped member. Therefore, the groove described above becomes the passage 260 of the communication portion 26.

In the communication portion 26, the first end portion 261 is an end portion of the communication portion 26 facing the cylinder portion 21, and the first end portion 261 is located below the second end portion 262, the second end portion 262 being the other end portion of the communication portion 26 and being located on the external space side of the communication portion 26. In the present embodiment, the first end 261 is located almost directly below the second end 262 in the longitudinal direction. A suction portion 264 for sucking out the gas in the communicating portion 26 is connected to the second end portion 262 through a pipe 263. The suction unit 264 includes a regulator for regulating suction pressure and performs a light suction.

As shown in fig. 4, the first end portion 261 of the communication portion 26 is provided with four communication ports 266. The plurality of communication ports 266 are arranged to almost span the entire area of the three concave portion rows 213 provided along the axial direction of the cylinder part 21.

The passages 260 in the communication portion 26 include four first flow passages 260a, two second flow passages 260b, two third flow passages 260c, one fourth flow passage 260d, and one fifth flow passage 260 e; the four first flow passages 260a extend upward from the communication ports 266, respectively, each of the two second flow passages 260b extends in the axial direction to connect upper end portions of the two first flow passages 260a, the two third flow passages 260c extend upward from middle portions of the two second flow passages 260b, respectively, the fourth flow passage 260d connects upper end portions of the two third flow passages 260c to each other, and the fifth flow passage 260e connects the middle portion of the fourth flow passage 260d with an external space. The first flow path 260a and the fourth flow path 260d are formed on one main plane (front main plane in fig. 4) of the communication portion forming member 269, and the second flow path 260b and the third flow path 260c are formed on the other main plane (i.e., rear of the first flow path 260a and the fourth flow path 260d in fig. 4) of the communication portion forming member 269. The passage width of each first flow passage 260a gradually decreases upward from the communication port 266 in the direction parallel to the axial direction.

In fig. 4, the channels 260 extend upward from the respective communication ports 266, and are bent at the upper end portions of the first flow channels 260a to extend rearward (i.e., the thickness direction of the communication portion forming member 269). Also, the passage 260 is curved to extend parallel to the axial direction, and is curved to extend upward at the middle of the second flow passage 260 b. Further, in fig. 4, the passage 260 is bent at an upper end portion of the third flow passage 260c to extend forward, and is further bent to extend in the parallel direction of the axial direction. Then, the passage 260 in fig. 4 is bent at the middle of the fourth flow passage 260d to extend forward (i.e., form the fifth flow passage 260 e), and thus communicates with the external space. As described above, the channel 260 has many bends (multi-point bends).

As shown in fig. 5, in the communicating portion forming member 269, only one communication port 266 and one first flow passage 260a may be provided at positions corresponding to the four communication ports 266 and the four first flow passages 260a in fig. 4. In this case, both the second flow paths 260b are connected to the upper end of the first flow path 260 a.

As shown in fig. 2, in the first end portion 261, an end portion side face 265 facing the passage 260 is a slope extending toward the lower left in fig. 2. In the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, when the rotation of the cylinder part 21 is stopped, a small amount of particles sometimes enters the passage 260. In this case, when the rotation of the cylinder part 21 is resumed, the first end part 261 of the communication part 26 is pressed by the particles. In the communication portion 26, as described above, the end portion side surface 265 is a slope whose portion close to the cylindrical portion 21 is located forward in the rotational direction of the cylindrical portion 21. Therefore, when the cylinder part 21 starts rotating again, the particles in the passage 260 easily move down along the end side 265 and fall from the passage 260. As a result, the end sides 265 are prevented from being compacted by the particles in the channel 260.

In the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, until each of the concave portions 212 filled with particles reaches the particle supply region 210 provided on the bottom of the cylinder part 21, the outer end of the concave portion 212 is closed (blocked) by the first cover part 221 (that is, the concave portion 212 is covered by the outer side surface 211). When each of the concave portions 212 passes through the particle supply region 210 over one end edge of the first cover part 221 in the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the cylinder part 21, that is, over the front edge of the first cover part 221 in the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21, the particles filled in the concave portion 212 are discharged from the cylinder part 21.

In particular, the discharge of particles is started when (the front part of) the recess 212 passes the above-mentioned edge of the first cover part 221. In the following description, the position of the above-described edge is referred to as "ejection start position a 1". The ejection start position a1 is located in front of (upstream of) the lowermost portion of the cylinder part 21 in the rotational direction of the cylinder part 21, and the ejection start position a1 is located in the vicinity of the lowermost portion of the cylinder part 21. As mentioned earlier, the cylinder part 21 rotates at a high speed, and at the ejection start position a1, particles are ejected from the plurality of concave parts 212 continuously almost in the tangential direction of the outer side surface 211. Each concave portion 212, from which particles are discharged, passes through the particle supply region 210 and moves toward the top of the cylinder part 21, the outer end of which is covered with the second cover part 222 to reach the particle filling port 232 of the particle filling part 23.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional schematic view of the first sheet conveying roller 31, and shows a cross section of the first sheet conveying roller 31, which is a cross-sectional plane taken along a plane including the rotation axis R1 of the cylindrical portion 21 in fig. 1 and the first central axis J1 of the first sheet conveying roller 31. The first sheet conveying roller 31 has a substantially cylindrical outer side surface 311 around the first central axis J1, and an annular groove 312 along a circumferential direction around the first central axis J1 is formed on the outer side surface 311 at each of a plurality of positions in the axial direction. The annular groove 312 is located at the same position in the axial direction as the recess row 213 (see fig. 3) on the cylinder part 21.

The first sheet member 91 is led to the first sheet conveying roller 31 by a plurality of auxiliary rollers 32 (shown in fig. 1). At this time, the first sheet member 91 is overlapped with the plurality of annular grooves 312 by applying the adhesive to the plurality of band-shaped regions (or linear regions) on the first sheet member 91 by the first applying portion 61. The positions of the plurality of band-like regions (hereinafter referred to as "glue application regions") are the same as the positions of the plurality of concave rows 213 on the cylinder part 21 and the positions of the plurality of annular grooves 312 in the axial direction. The first sheet 91 located below the ejection start position a1 (see fig. 2) of the particle supply region 210 is conveyed by the first sheet conveying roller 31 in the moving direction of the outer side surface 211 of the cylinder part 21. The particles are discharged from the cylinder part 21 toward the plurality of glue application areas on the first laminate 91 to be held on the first laminate 91.

In the first sheet conveying roller 31, the diameter of the outer side surface 311 is relatively large, and the first sheet member 91 is stretched along the outer side surface 311 with a certain tension. Therefore, the portion 911 of the first laminate 91 corresponding to each annular groove 312 is in a shape approaching toward the bottom of the annular groove 312. In other words, the first laminate 91 is formed with a groove-shaped portion 911 corresponding to the annular groove 312. As described above, the position of the annular groove 312 on the first sheet conveying roller 31 is the same as the position of the recess row 213 in the axial direction. Thus, a plurality of particles discharged from each of the concave portions 212 enter the groove-shaped portion 911 to be collected in the groove-shaped portion 911. At this time, even if the particles bounce from the first layer member 91 into the groove portion 911, the dispersion of the particles toward the outside of the groove portion 911 can be suppressed (reduced) by the side wall of the groove portion 911. Further, since the above-described glue application region on the first laminate 91 is located on the groove-shaped portion 911, the particles are easily held in the groove-shaped portion 911.

Fig. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the second sheet conveying roller 41, and shows a cross-section of the second sheet conveying roller 41, which is a cross-sectional view taken along a plane including the second central axis J2 of the second sheet conveying roller 41 in fig. 1. The second sheet conveying roller 41 has an outer side surface 411, the outer side surface 411 forms a cylindrical surface around the second central axis J2, and an annular groove 412 is formed on the outer side surface 411 in the circumferential direction around the second central axis J2 at each of a plurality of positions in the axial direction. The plurality of annular grooves 412 are identical in position in the axial direction to the plurality of concave rows 213 on the cylinder part 21 and the plurality of annular grooves 312 on the first sheet conveying roller 31.

The second sheet member 92 is passed to the second sheet conveying roller 41 by a plurality of auxiliary rollers 42 (shown in fig. 1). At this time, the adhesive is applied only to the plurality of band-shaped (line-shaped) adhesive regions overlapping the plurality of annular grooves 412 on the second layer body by the second applying portion 62. The positions of the plurality of glue application areas are the same as the positions of the plurality of concave portion rows 213 on the cylinder part 21 and the positions of the plurality of annular grooves 312 on the first sheet conveying roller 31 in the axial direction. Some of the particles discharged from each concave portion 212 of the cylinder part 21 bounce off the groove-shaped portion 911 of the first sheet member 91 to the second sheet member conveying roller 41, and the rest of the particles discharged from each concave portion 212 of the cylinder part 21 directly enter the second sheet member conveying roller 41 from the concave portion 212 of the cylinder part 21.

As mentioned previously, the position of the annular groove 412 on the second sheet conveying roller 41 is the same as the position of the concave portion row 213 and the position of the annular groove 312 in the axial direction, and the particles facing the second sheet conveying roller 41 collide with the portion of the second sheet member 92 located directly above the annular groove 412 (i.e., the back surface of the portion is not in contact with any substance). Therefore, the collision force is absorbed and the particles are collected in the groove-shaped portion 911 of the first layer body 91. As shown in fig. 8, the second sheet member 92 is conveyed along the outer side surface 411 of the second conveying roller 41, and (a part of) the second sheet member 92 is positioned (stacked) on (a part of) the first sheet member 91 that has passed over the lowermost portion of the cylinder part 21.

Fig. 9 is a schematic sectional view of the bonding roller 51, and shows a section of the bonding roller 51, which is taken by a plane including the third central axis J3 of the bonding roller 51 in fig. 1. The bonding roller 51 has an outer side surface 511, the outer side surface 511 forms a cylindrical surface around the third central axis J3 and the outer side surface 511 is a smooth surface. As shown in fig. 8, the first sheet member 91 loaded with particles and the second sheet member 92 covering the first sheet member 91 are disposed (sandwiched) between the outer end surface 311 of the first sheet conveying roller 31 and the outer end surface 511 of the bonding roller 51. Both (or one of) the first sheet conveying roller 31 and the bonding roller 51 are provided with heaters, and the areas of the first sheet 91 and the second sheet 92 that are in contact with the convex portions on both sides of the respective annular grooves 312 (see fig. 6) on the outer end surface 311 of the first sheet conveying roller 31 are heat-sealed. Therefore, the first layer 91 and the second layer 92 are adhered to each other.

Therefore, as shown in fig. 10, an absorbent sheet 95 is formed, and a plurality of particle existence regions 951 and a plurality of non-particle existence regions 952 are alternately arranged on the absorbent sheet 95 in the width direction. The plurality of particle-existing regions 951 are band-shaped (stripe-shaped) regions coated with super absorbent resin particles, and the plurality of non-particle-existing regions 952 are band-shaped (stripe-shaped) regions where particles are substantially absent, and the first layer body 91 and the second layer body 92 are bonded to each other. In other words, the absorbent sheet 95 is provided with a plurality of band-shaped particle existence regions 951. In fig. 10, a particle existence region 951 is hatched.

As described above, in the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, the communicating portion 26 is located closer to the rear of the particle filling port 232 in the rotation direction, and the recess 212a facing the rear edge of the particle filling port 232 (i.e., the rear edge of the recess 212a facing the particle filling port 232) of the plurality of recesses 212 communicates with the external space through the communicating portion 26. Therefore, when particles are filled into the concave portion 212a from the particle filling portion 23, the air in the concave portion 212a is discharged by the particles entering the concave portion 212a and is easily discharged to the external space through the communication portion 26. Therefore, the density of the particles filled in the concave portion 212a can be increased. Further, the air in the communication portion 26 is absorbed by the air absorption portion 264, so that the air in the concave portion 212a can be more efficiently discharged, and therefore, the density of the particles filled in the concave portion 212a can be further increased.

In the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus 1, the particle filling port 232 of the particle filling part 23 is directed toward a portion including the topmost part of the cylinder part 21, and the hole of the concave part 212 is almost perpendicular to the vertical direction (i.e., the gravity direction) in the vicinity of the topmost part of the cylinder part 21. Therefore, due to gravity, the filling of particles into the recess 212 is accelerated and the density of particles filled in the recess 212 can be further increased. Since the particle tank 231 extends in the parallel direction of the vertical direction, the own weight of the particles in the particle tank 231 (exerted on the particles within the recess 212) is almost constant from the rear edge to the front edge of the particle filling port 232 (i.e., across the entire length in the circumferential direction around the rotation axis R1). As a result, the filling of the particles into the recess 212 can be stably performed.

As discussed above, in the communication portion 26, the first end portion 261 facing the cylindrical portion 21 is located below the second end portion 262 facing the external space. The communication portion 26 can reduce the loss of particles from the concave portion 212a to the external space. Further, in the longitudinal direction, since the first end portion 261 is located directly below the second end portion 262, the loss of particles to the external space through the communication portion 26 is further reduced. In addition, since the passage 260 in the communication part 26 has many bent portions, the loss of particles to the external space through the communication part 26 can be further reduced. The channel 260 may be curved in various directions at various locations. From the viewpoint of reducing the loss of particles to the external space, it is preferable that the channel 260 has at least two curved portions (i.e., the communication path 260 is curved at least two points).

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been discussed above, the present invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments described above, but various modifications may be made.

For example, in the preferred embodiment described above, the communication portions 26 almost span the entire range in which the three concave portions 213 are arranged in the axial direction of the cylindrical portion 21, however, the three communication portions 26 corresponding to the three concave portion rows 213 may be provided independently of each other. In this case, there may be a case where the three communicating portions 26 are independently connected to the air suction portion 264, respectively, or the second end portion 262 of the three communicating portions 26 is connected to a common pipe, and the air suction portion 264 performs air suction through the common pipe. If the density of the particles filled in the concave portion 212 is sufficiently large, the suction force of the suction portion 264 is negligible.

In the longitudinal direction, the first end 261 of the communication portion 26 is not necessarily located directly below the second end 262. If the loss of particles to the exterior space through the communication portion 26 is prevented or effectively reduced, for example, the second end portion 262 may be at the same level as the first end portion 261 or below the first end portion 261.

If particles are filled in the concave portion 212 with sufficiently high density, the particle filling port 232 is not necessarily directed toward a portion including the topmost portion of the cylinder part 21, and the particle filling port 232 may be located at a position directed toward the front or rear of the topmost portion in the rotation direction of the cylinder part 21.

In the above-described preferred embodiment, the manufacture (production) of the absorbent sheet 95 has been discussed, and the absorbent sheet 95 is provided with the band-shaped particle existence regions 951, however, an absorbent sheet having dot-shaped (dotted) particle existence regions may be formed by reducing the rotation speed of the cylinder part 21 or increasing the space on the cylinder part 21 between the adjacent concave portions 212 in the circumferential direction.

The cylinder part 21, the first sheet conveying roller 31, the first cover part 221, the second cover part 222, the particle filling part 23, and the communication part 26 described above may be used (combined) in various apparatuses other than the absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus. For example, there may be a case where the sheet member, the upper surface of which is supplied with pulp fibers or the like, is conveyed by the first sheet conveying roller 31, and superabsorbent resin particles are supplied onto the pulp fibers through the cylindrical portion 21. In this case, the particles filled in the concave portion 212 at a high density can be mixed with the pulp fibers.

In the above-described particle supply apparatus, the particles of the absorbent material to be supplied may be: crosslinked (crosslinked) partially neutralized polyacrylic acid, hydrolyzed starch grafted acrylic acid polymers, saponified vinyl ester acrylate copolymers, hydrolyzed acrylonitrile copolymers, crosslinked acrylonitrile copolymers, hydrolyzed acrylamide copolymers, crosslinked cationic monomers, or crosslinked polyamino acids. The particle supplying means may be provided as means for supplying particles of a deodorizing material such as activated carbon, silica, alumina, zeolite, ion exchange resin or molecular sieve to the layer body. In this case, the layered product manufacturing apparatus having the above-described particle supplying apparatus can manufacture a deodorizing sheet, which is a layered product for an absorbent product such as a disposable diaper or a light incontinence absorbent pad.

The constituent elements in the preferred embodiments and the modified embodiments discussed above may be appropriately combined with each other without being exclusive.

While the invention has been illustrated and described, the foregoing description is intended to be in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. It will be understood that numerous modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the invention.

Description of the reference numerals

1 absorbent sheet manufacturing apparatus

21 cylindrical part

23 particle filling section

26 communication part

31 first laminate conveying roller

41 second sheet conveying roller

51 bonding roller

91 first layer body

92 second layer

95 absorbing sheet

211 outer end surface

212. 212a recess

221 first covering part

222 second cover part

232 particle filling port

260 channel

261 first end portion

262 second end portion

264 air suction part

R1 axis of rotation

Claims (6)

1. A particle supply apparatus for supplying particles of an absorbent material or an anti-odour material onto a layer, the particle supply apparatus comprising:

a cylindrical portion that is substantially cylindrical around a rotation axis in a horizontal direction, the cylindrical portion including a plurality of concave portions provided in a circumferential direction on an outer side surface of the cylindrical portion;

a particle filling portion that is located above the cylinder portion and that stores particles of an absorbent material or an odor preventing material to continuously fill the plurality of concave portions with particles through a particle filling port that faces an outer side surface of the cylinder portion;

a first cover part extending from the particle filling port in a rotation direction of the cylinder part to cover a portion of the outer side surface of the cylinder part;

a second cover part extending from the particle filling port in a direction opposite to a rotation direction of the cylinder part to cover another portion of the outer side surface of the cylinder part;

a communicating portion that is adjacent to the particle filling port and is located at a rear portion of the particle filling port in the rotation direction, through which a concave portion facing a rear edge of the particle filling port among the plurality of concave portions communicates with an external space; and

a sheet conveying portion for conveying the sheet in a conveying direction under a rear edge of the first cover portion in the rotation direction, the conveying direction being the same as a moving direction of the outer side surface of the cylinder portion.

2. The particle supply apparatus according to claim 1,

the particle filling port is directed toward a portion including a topmost portion of the cylindrical part.

3. The particle supplying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,

one end of the communication portion facing the cylindrical portion is located below the other end of the communication portion.

4. The particle supplying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the channel in the communication portion includes at least two bends.

5. The particle supplying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising,

and an air suction unit for sucking out the gas in the communication unit.

6. A layered article manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a layered article for an absorbent article, the layered article manufacturing apparatus comprising:

the particle supplying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5;

another layer conveying part for conveying another layer; and

a layer bonding portion for placing the other sheet layer on the layer to which the particles have been applied by the particle supplying means to bond the other layer to the layer.