JPH05208034A - Folding method for folded article and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To form a desired flexible shaft due to the bending tendency of a folded article correctly and in stable manner by folding a plurality of flexible shafts W crossing each other to a folded article. CONSTITUTION:The second flexible shaft 101 is formed so that an absorptive article 1 can be easily bent to a projection form to a surface member 31 side by the second flexible shaft 101, in the rear part from the first flexible shaft 100, and the absorptive article 1 can be easily bent a recessed form on the surface member 31 side by the second flexible shaft 101, in the front part in comparison with the first flexible shaft 100. Accordingly, when the absorptive article 1 is installed, an uneven 103 surface can be fitted onto a skin.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for folding a product to be folded and a device therefor, and more particularly to a method for folding a paper-cotton product such as sanitary products and a device therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Paper-cotton-like products such as sanitary products are generally folded and packaged for sale, and various proposals have been made regarding a folding method and a device thereof. For example,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 51-62590 proposes a folding device for a paper-cotton-like product such as a long sanitary napkin. The folding device includes two folding claws that move in a direction intersecting with the paper-cotton-like product. In order to speed up the folding operation of the paper-cotton-like product, the first folding claw once folds it on the conveyance path of the rotating body, and the second folding claw twice folds it away from the rotating body. ..

In Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 54-116171, a pair of rotary rods (rotary blades) are provided for the transferred pads.
There has been proposed a device which is bent by a pair and is sandwiched by a pair of nip belt means to be folded.

[0004]

However, JP-A-51-62590 and JP-A-54-116171.
In the folding device and method of the publication, the product to be folded is folded so as to intersect with the conveying direction, so that a problem occurs when the product is a paper-cotton product such as a sanitary napkin. That is,
When a paper-cotton-like product is deployed and used, a flexible shaft with a bending tendency is formed in the bent portion of the product, and the undulation of the product surface caused by this flexible shaft causes the product to bend when it is a sanitary napkin. Since the axis is orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, there is a possibility that it may be a great obstacle during mounting.

Further, in the above apparatus, since the thick paper-cotton-like product is not sufficiently held at the time of folding and conveying,
There is a possibility that a pitch shift or a timing shift may occur, which may cause troubles during folding and transportation, such as an inaccurate and unstable folded state. Therefore,
It is an object of the present invention to fold a folded product that can accurately and stably form a preferable flexible axis due to the bending tendency of the folded product, and in particular, a method for folding a sanitary napkin having a bifold intersecting flexible axis. To provide the device.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of folding a product to be folded, which is sold in a folded state, in which a plurality of flexible axes intersecting each other are formed so as to form the product. In a folding method of a product to be folded and a folding device for a product to be folded, which is folded while being conveyed, a first folding blade for forming a flexible shaft intersecting with a conveying direction is provided on the conveyed product. A first folding means, a belt conveying means for holding both side portions of the product except the central portion, a central portion of the product on the belt conveying means, and a symmetric flexible shaft along the conveying direction. The above object is achieved by providing a folding device having a second folding means having a second folding blade for forming.

[0007]

According to the method for folding a product to be folded of the present invention, a plurality of flexible shafts intersecting with each other are formed on the product and folded, so that the product is a product to be folded and the flexible cotton is formed. In the product-like product, a symmetrical flexible shaft can be formed at least in the longitudinal direction of the product to provide a desired undulation when the product is mounted.

Further, according to the folding apparatus for a product to be folded of the present invention, the first folding blade easily folds the product while forming the crossed flexible axis on the product, and the belt conveying means is configured to convey the product by the belt conveying means. Is transferred in a folded state, and the second folding blade is received in a sufficiently held state. Therefore, the product is folded with the symmetrical folding axis accurately formed by the second folding blade.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a method for folding a product to be folded and an apparatus therefor according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of a folding device for a product to be folded according to the present invention, FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the folding device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first folding means, FIG. 3A is a schematic side view of the first folding means, FIG. 3B is a schematic cross-sectional view of the first folding means, and FIG. 3C is a first folding blade. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a locus of a tip portion, FIG. 4 (a) is a diagram showing a folded state of a product to be folded at positions A to D in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a state when the existing product is developed.

In the folding device for a product to be folded according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the structure in which the product to be folded 1 is folded while being conveyed is the same as the known device for folding a product to be folded. Thus, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the folding device for folding products according to the present embodiment is provided with a first flexible shaft 100 for forming a flexible shaft 100 intersecting the transport direction on the transported product 1. First folding means 7 provided with folding blades 11, belt conveying means 15 for holding both sides of the product 1 excluding the central portion thereof, and abutting on the central portion of the product 1 on the belt conveying means 15. And a second folding means 21 having a second folding blade 22 for forming the symmetrical flexible shaft 101 along the transport direction.

The present embodiment will be further described. A long paper-cotton product (such as a sanitary napkin) 1 which is a product to be folded shown in FIG. 4 has a holding belt 2 which is a conveyance path from the position A in FIG. And the mesh belt 3. The holding belt 2 is wound around and wound around winding rolls 4A to 4E, and the mesh belt 3 is wound around the winding rolls 5A to 5D.
It is wound around and wound around. Also, the winding roll 5
A vacuum box 6 is provided between A and 5B,
The vacuum box 6 sucks and holds the cotton wool product 1 on the mesh belt 3. Therefore, the paper-cotton-like product 1 is prevented from being displaced and meandered and safely transported.

Part of the holding belt 2 (winding rolls 4B, 4
(Between C), the rotary drum 7A serving as the first folding means 7
Is in contact with the outer peripheral surface (transport holding surface) of the holding belt 2
Is synchronized with the moving speed of the outer peripheral surface of the rotating drum 7A.
A central shaft 8 is provided in the rotary drum 7A, and a timing belt wheel 8A is attached to the central shaft 8 as shown in FIG. The rotation of the central shaft 8 is transmitted to the rotary shaft 10A having the first folding blade 11 via the timing belt wheel 8A, the timing belt 9 and the timing belt wheel 9A. Further, the rotary shafts 10, 10 ... With the first folding blades 11 are provided in the radial directions of the central shaft 8 at intervals of 90 ° in addition to the rotary shaft 10A. A transmission belt (timing belt) 12 is wound around the belt, and the rotation of the rotary shaft 10A is transmitted to the entire rotary shaft 10. Therefore, the rotation of the rotary shafts 10, 10 ... Can be synchronized with the rotation of the rotary drum 7A.

The tip portion of the first folding blade 11 is formed in an R shape, rotates with the rotation of the rotary drum 7A and the rotary shaft 10, and takes a locus shown by an imaginary line in FIG. 3C. And
At the position of B in FIG. 1, the tip of the first folding blade 11 projects from the opening 13 formed in the rotary drum 7A. Therefore, the paper-like product 1 is shown in FIG.
When it reaches the position B, it is folded by the first folding blade 11 protruding from the opening 13. in this case,
Since the tip portion of the first folding blade 11 is R-shaped, the paper-cotton product 1 is not damaged.

Further, suction holes 14, 14 ... Communicating with a suction box (not shown) are formed around each opening 13 of the rotary drum 7A, and the outer periphery of the rotary drum 7A having the suction holes 14 is formed. The surface is a suction holding surface of the paper-cotton product 1. Therefore, even when the paper-cotton-like product 1 is folded, the transfer surface and the positional deviation are prevented by the suction surface.

A belt conveying means 15 is provided in the vicinity of the rotary drum 7A, and the belt conveying means 15 is constructed by arranging two pairs of nip belts 16 and 17 in parallel as will be described later (in FIG. 1). Shows only a pair of nip belts.) The nip belt 16 is wound around the rolls 18A to 18E, and the nip belt 17 is wound around the rolls 19A to 19E.
The belts 16 and 17 are wound around in a synchronous manner.

The roll 18A and the roll 19A can face the opening 13 of the rotary drum 7A and serve as a product receiving port for the belt conveying means 15. Therefore, due to the protrusion of the first folding blade 11, the folded paper cotton product 1 is inserted into the product receiving port of the belt conveying means 15 in a folded state. The belt conveying means 15 is configured by arranging the same ones as the pair of nip belts 16 and 17 side by side, and the cotton wool product 1 is nipped and transferred by the side by side nip belts except the central portion thereof. Further, the nip belt 17 is a mesh belt, and the paper-cotton product 1
Is sucked into the vacuum box 20 between the rolls 19B and 19C, and transfer deviation and meandering are prevented.

A second folding means 21 is provided at a position facing the rolls 18C and 19C, and the second folding means 21 includes a rotary shaft 23 and a second folding blade 22,
And 22. The tips of the second folding blades 22 and 22 are formed in an R shape, and are rotated so as to come into contact with the central portions of the cotton swabs 1 held by the nip belts 16 and 17 and the vacuum box 20. Therefore, the second folding blade 22 further folds the product 1 while forming the symmetrical flexible shaft 101 along the transport direction on the cotton-cotton product 1, and sends the product 1 to the subsequent stage.

In the folding method and apparatus for folding products to be folded according to the present embodiment configured as described above, the paper-cotton-like product 1 transferred at the same speed as the product process in the preceding stage.
Are supplied from the position A in FIG. The supplied paper cotton-like product is transported to the position B in FIG. 1 by the holding belt 2, the mesh belt 3 and the rotary drum 7A. In this case, since the paper-cotton product 1 is sucked by the vacuum box 6 and the suction holes 14, 14 ... of the rotary drum 7A,
You will be guided without any displacement or meandering.

At the position of B in FIG. 1, the cotton wool-like product 1 is bent by the first folding blade protruding from the opening 13 while being sucked by the suction hole 14, and the flexible shaft 10 intersects the conveying direction.
0 is formed and folded. At the same time, it is directly inserted into the product receiving port of the belt conveying means 15. in this case,
Since the paper-cotton product 1 is held by the suction holes 14 when folded, it can be stably folded without disturbing the flexible shaft 100.

The cotton-like product 1 is moved to the positions C and D in FIG. 1 by the nip belts 16 and 17 of the belt conveying means 15 at the same speed as the protrusion synchronous speed of the first folding blade 11 or higher. Be transferred. During this time, the flexible shaft 100 of the paper product 1 is further firmly formed by the nip of the nip belts 16 and 17. When the paper-cotton product 1 is transferred to the position D in FIG. 1 while being sucked by the vacuum box 20, the juxtaposed nip belt (one of which is not shown).
The second folding blade 22 whose rotation range is between the
Abut on the central part of. The paper cotton product 1 is the second folding blade 2
Simultaneously with being folded by 2, a symmetrical flexible shaft 101 is formed in the central portion thereof. Then, the paper-cotton product 1 is detached from the belt conveying means 15 and sent to a packaging process (not shown) in the subsequent stage.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), a plurality of folded paper cotton products 1 having a plurality of intersecting undulations 103 with a plurality of intersecting flexible axes 100 and 101 as symmetrical axes.
Can be produced easily and in large quantities. Further, when such a product to be folded is a product to be mounted on the crotch, the surface of the undulations 103 can be fitted to the skin when the product is mounted.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a folding device for a folded product according to another embodiment. The folding apparatus for a product to be folded according to the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the same members as those in the embodiment shown in FIG. Although detailed description thereof will be omitted, the difference from the embodiment of FIG. 1 is that the product receiving port of the belt conveying means 15 is
The point is that the first folding means 7 does not directly face the first folding means 7, but the first folding means 7 faces through the vacuum box 30, and the upper surface of the vacuum box 30 serves as a transfer holding surface (plate surface) of the cotton wool product 1.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the same effects as those of the folding method and the apparatus for folding products to be folded of the previous embodiment can be obtained.
When the folding blade 11 is folded and transferred to the belt conveying means 15, since it is held in the vacuum box 30, stable folding is realized. In each of the above examples, as the paper-cotton-like product 1, as shown in FIG. 6, a liquid-permeable surface material 31, a liquid-impermeable leakproof material 32,
And a liquid-retaining absorber 33 interposed between these members
It is preferable to use a vertically elongated absorbent article,
Particularly, sanitary napkins and the like are preferable. In this case, the absorbent article 1 is folded in two as shown in FIG. 7 and packaged, and when unfolded as shown in FIG. 8, the second flexible shaft 101 (central long shaft portion) and the first flexible shaft 101 are expanded. A flexible shaft 100 (central short shaft) is provided. The second flexible shaft 101 is provided with the absorbent article 1 at a rear portion of the first flexible shaft 100.
Is formed so as to be easily bent in a convex shape on the surface material side,
The absorbent article 1 is formed on the front side of the first flexible shaft 100 by the second flexible shaft 101 so as to be easily bent in a concave shape toward the surface material side. First
The flexible shaft is formed so as to be easily bent in a concave shape on the surface material side. Such an absorbent article has extremely high fit when worn on the crotch.

In each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the tips of the first folding blade 11 and the second folding blade 22 are rounded, but if the tips do not damage the product, the The shape need not be limited. Further, although the first folding means 7 and the second folding means 21 are provided with a plurality of first folding blades 11 such as four sheets and second folding blades 22 such as two sheets, the number is not limited to this. Instead, the number of sheets may be increased or appropriately decreased in order to adjust the rotation of the folding blades to a low speed and stabilize the rotation.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the first folding blade 11 itself is divided into two blades as shown in FIG. 3 (b). However, it is not limited to this,
In order to fold the product 1 accurately, a folding blade divided into a plurality of blade blades may be used. Further, the rotation of the rotary drum 7A is transmitted to the rotary shaft 10 of each folding blade by the timing belt 12, but may be transmitted by a planetary orbit system using gears. In addition, the first folding blade 11
Although the ejecting mechanism by rotation is used, the present invention is not limited to this, and any mechanism can be used as long as it is a mechanism for ejecting into the opening 13 at a preferable timing. The second folding blade 22 is a propeller-type rotating blade mechanism, but it may be a rotating protruding mechanism of the first folding blade 11.

The belt conveying means 15 is composed of two sets of nip belts, but the present invention is not limited to this. As long as the nipping belt is sandwiched by the second folding blade 22 except for the central portion of the product, the nip belts are aligned. The number of installations may be increased. As described above, the first folding shaft 11 is used to form the first flexible shaft 100 in a state in which the product to be folded 1 is sufficiently held, and after the product 1 is transferred to the belt conveying means 15, The second folding shaft 22 is used to intersect the flexible shaft 100 to form the second flexible shaft 101, and the plurality of intersecting undulations 103 are used as symmetry axes.
The method and apparatus for forming the product 1 on the product are included in the method and apparatus for folding a product to be folded of the present invention.

In the above method and apparatus, a plurality of intersecting undulations can be sufficiently formed on the product with the plurality of intersecting flexible axes as axes of symmetry, and the product can be folded while the product is sufficiently held. It is possible to prevent pitch deviation and meandering in the carrying process as a countermeasure for the process trouble, and to produce a more accurate and stable product. Further, by changing the contact positions of the plurality of folding blades and the product, a plurality of arbitrary flexible axes can be formed to intersect.

[0028]

Industrial Applicability The method and apparatus for folding a product to be folded according to the present invention is capable of accurately and stably forming a preferable flexible shaft due to the bending tendency of the product to be folded. The flexible shaft can be accurately formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of a folding device for a product to be folded according to this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first folding means used in FIG.

FIG. 3 (a) is a schematic side view of a first folding means,
(B) is a schematic sectional view of the first folding means, and (c) is a view showing a locus of the tip end portion of the first folding blade.

4A is a diagram showing a folded state of a product to be folded at positions A to D in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4B is a diagram showing FIG.
The condition when the product folded by the device of

5 is a schematic explanatory view of a folding device for a product to be folded according to another embodiment different from the embodiment of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a rear portion of an absorbent article that is a product to be folded.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the absorbent article of FIG. 6 during folding and packaging.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the absorbent article of FIG. 6 when developed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Paper Cotton Product 2 Holding Belt 3 Mesh Belt 6 Vacuum Box 7 First Folding Means 7A Rotating Drum 11 First Folding Blade 13 Opening 14 Suction Hole 15 Belt Conveying 16, 16 Nip Belt 20 Vacuum Box 21 Second Folding means 22 Second folding blade 30 Vacuum box 31 Surface material 32 Leak preventive material 33 Absorber 100 First flexible shaft 101 Second flexible shaft 103 Undulating

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for folding a product to be folded, which is sold in a folded state, wherein the product is folded to form a plurality of flexible axes intersecting each other. Method. 2. The flexible shaft is a symmetrical flexible shaft of the product, and is folded so that the product is undulated by the symmetrical flexible shaft when the product is developed. How to fold products to be folded. 3. The foldable product according to claim 2, wherein the foldable product is an elongated paper-cotton product, and the symmetrical flexible axis is formed along the longitudinal direction of the product. How to fold a product. 4. A folding device for folding a product to be folded, which is conveyed while being conveyed, and first folding means having a first folding blade for forming a flexible shaft intersecting the conveying direction on the conveyed product. A belt conveying means for holding both sides of the product except the central portion, and a first means for contacting the central portion of the product on the belt conveying means and forming a symmetrical flexible shaft along the conveying direction. Folding device having a second folding means having two folding blades. 5. A holding mechanism for sucking and holding the product is provided on a transfer holding surface of the product of the first folding means, and an opening through which the first folding blade can project is formed. When the first folding blade protrudes, the opening is
The folding device according to claim 4, wherein the folding device is provided so as to face a product receiving port of the belt conveying means. 6. The folding device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the belt transporting means comprises at least two pairs of nip belts arranged side by side.