US 12,115,044 B2
Composite stretchable member manufacturing apparatus
Asuka Minami, Osaka (JP); and Miwa Koshijima, Osaka (JP)
Assigned to ZUIKO CORPORATION, Osaka (JP)
Appl. No. 17/610,209
Filed by ZUIKO CORPORATION, Osaka (JP)
PCT Filed Apr. 7, 2020, PCT No. PCT/JP2020/015713
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Nov. 10, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/230479, PCT Pub. Date Nov. 19, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 2019-090798 (JP), filed on May 13, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0218534 A1, Jul. 14, 2022
Int. Cl. B32B 41/00 (2006.01); A61F 13/15 (2006.01); A61F 13/49 (2006.01); B29C 65/00 (2006.01); B29L 31/48 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 13/15593 (2013.01) [A61F 13/49011 (2013.01); A61F 13/15699 (2013.01); A61F 13/4902 (2013.01); B29C 66/1122 (2013.01); B29L 2031/4878 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a composite stretchable member including two sheets and multiple elastic members sandwiched between the two sheets by bonding the two sheets to each other and bonding the sheets to the multiple elastic members while conveying each of the sheets in a longitudinal direction thereof, the manufacturing apparatus comprising:
a bonding device that welds and bonds the multiple elastic members to the two sheets, and the two sheets to each other, while the multiple elastic members are sandwiched between the two sheets being conveyed; and
a guide device that guides the two sheets and the multiple elastic members to the bonding device in such a manner that each of the multiple elastic members extends in a longitudinal direction thereof and is sandwiched between the two sheets, wherein:
the bonding device includes:
a conveying roller that has an outer peripheral surface used for conveying the two sheets sandwiching the multiple elastic members in the longitudinal direction of each of the two sheets and that rotates about an axis predetermined; and
a compressing device that faces the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller to compress the two sheets sandwiching the multiple elastic members between the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller and the compressing device;
the bonding device is configured to apply heat to the two sheets between the conveying roller and the compressing device;
the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller is provided with at least one protruding section formed protruding radially outward from the outer peripheral surface;
the at least one protruding section includes multiple grooves extending in a conveying direction of the conveying roller and being away from each other in a direction parallel to the axis;
the guide device includes a guide member provided with a leading end closest to the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller, and multiple guide grooves, provided in the leading end, for holding the corresponding multiple elastic members, in a state where the multiple elastic members are away from each other in a direction parallel to the axis of the conveying roller, to guide the multiple elastic members into the corresponding multiple grooves of the conveying roller,
the guide member is disposed to allow each of the multiple elastic members positioned between the guide grooves and the corresponding grooves of the conveying roller to have a length within a range of 1 mm to 30 mm, and
the leading end of the guide member is disposed upstream of a contact point at which the elastic members are in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller in a rotation direction of the conveying roller,
the elastic members engaged into the respective guide grooves are bent at bottoms of the respective guide grooves, and each of the elastic members extends in a tangential direction of the contact point on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller and is inserted into the corresponding one of the grooves at the contact point on the outer peripheral surface of the conveying roller.