JPH04200544A - Method for loading absorber and device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To lamellately superpose and place an absorptive fiber and an absorptive granular body by a miniature device by providing a first fiber supply process, a granular body supply process, a second fiber supply process, and a transfer process for supplying the absorptive fiber to gas-diffissible pocket formed in the periphery of a drum. CONSTITUTION:Crushed pulp is supplied to the peripheral surface of a drum 3 rotated in the direction as indicated with an arrow A from a first fiber supply unit 4. Subsequently, when the drum 3 further rotates and a pocket 2 loaded with the crushed pulp of a first layer comes to the uppermost position, a water absorption polymer is supplied from a granular body supply unit 5. Next, when the drum 3 further rotates and the pocket 2 comes to a diagonally upper position, the crushed pulp is supplied again from a second fiber supply unit 6. In a transfer unit 9, an absorber in the pocket 2 is transferred to pasteboard 8 which is fed synchronously with a rotation of the drum 3. Thereafter, the absorber 7 contained in the pocket 2 is discharged forcibly and placed on the pasteboard 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for stacking absorbent materials, particularly a method for manufacturing sanitary holes in disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, etc. The present invention relates to a method for stacking absorbent materials and an apparatus therefor.

[Prior Art] Generally, sanitary holes in napkins, disposable diapers, and the like are provided with an absorbent body for absorbing excrement.

This type of sanitary hole is manufactured by placing a predetermined amount of absorbent fibers on a mount (conveyor) such as a breathable sheet and covering it with a continuous seal, but since it is manufactured continuously, Absorbent fibers serving as an absorbent body are placed one after another at regular intervals on a mount that is supplied in the form of a strip.

For example, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-111365, absorbent fibers are supplied into pockets formed at equal intervals on the circumferential surface of a rotating drum, and a backing paper is supplied to the circumferential surface of the rotating drum. The absorbent fibers are sequentially transferred to the paper.

Also, JP-A-58-8175, JP-A-56-89
No. 839, JP-A No. 63-59465, and JP-A No. 2-107250 disclose that water-absorbing polymers (absorbent granules) are mixed with pulp (absorbent fibers) to improve water-absorbing properties. A technique for stacking such absorbent bodies into fibers has been disclosed.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, when pulp and water-absorbing polymer are mixed to form an absorbent material, it is difficult to adjust the mixing ratio of pulp and water-absorbing polymer, and it is difficult to completely mix the pulp and water-absorbing polymer in the supply chamber. It may not always be possible to supply absorbers with a uniform mixing ratio.

Furthermore, if it is desired to change the mixing ratio of pulp and water-absorbing polymer during continuous production, this is only possible after the absorbent material in the flask has been discharged. That is, it has been difficult to control the quality of the absorber on the production line.

On the other hand, in order to perform such quality control, it is conceivable to form the absorbent body in layers, that is, to provide a water-absorbing polymer layer on a pulp layer, and to further form a pulp layer on top of the water-absorbing polymer layer. With this three-layer structure sandwiching the water-absorbing polymer layer, the amounts of the water-absorbing polymer and pulp can be easily adjusted as appropriate.

However, if such a layered structure is to be achieved by the prior art, - a fiber stacking device or a polymer spreader is required, which is equipped with a rotating drum and a feeding hub for each layer, and the stacked fibers are separated by the number of layers; Since it is necessary to arrange the device and the polymer sprayer in series on the production line, there is a problem that an enormous amount of space is required and the device becomes large.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to arrange absorbent fibers and absorbent powder in layers using a small device, and also to facilitate quality control of the absorbent material on the production line. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for stacking an absorbent material and an apparatus therefor.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention includes a first fiber supply step of supplying absorbent fibers to an air permeable pocket formed around a drum, and supplying absorbent powder into the pocket after the first fiber supply step. a second fiber supplying step of supplying absorbent fibers into the pocket after the powder supply step;
A transfer step of transferring an absorbent body made of the absorbent fibers stacked in the pocket and the absorbent powder onto a conveying body conveyed around the drum. The above object has been achieved by providing a method for stacking an absorbent body.

Further, as a device that can be suitably used when carrying out the above method, there is provided a drum in which an air-permeable pocket is formed to support the absorbent body, and a device provided around the drum so that the absorbent material is absorbed into the pocket of the drum. a first fiber supply unit that supplies absorbent fibers, a second fiber supply unit that is provided around the drum in line with the first fiber supply unit and supplies absorbent fibers to pockets of the drum; a powder supply unit that is provided between the first fiber supply unit and the second fiber supply unit and supplies the absorbent powder to the pocket of the drum; A transfer unit for transferring the supplied absorbent fibers and the absorbent powder onto a conveying body is also provided. be.

[Operation] In the present invention, first, the first fiber supply unit supplies absorbent fibers to the pockets of the rotating drum to form a layer of absorbent fibers in the pockets.

Subsequently, the drum rotates, and the pockets containing the absorbent fibers reach the powder supply unit. here,
A powder supply unit supplies absorbent powder onto the absorbent fiber layer in the pocket of the drum to form an absorbent powder layer.

Further, the drum rotates and the pocket reaches the second fiber supply unit. This second fiber supply unit further supplies absorbent fibers onto the absorbent powder layer in the pocket to form an absorbent fiber layer, resulting in a three-layer absorbent structure.

Then, in the transfer step, the absorbent material in the pocket is transferred onto a mount conveyed to the circumferential surface of the drum.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In this example, manufacturing of an absorbent body used for disposable diapers will be explained as an example.

First, a description will be given of an optimal device for use in the absorbent fiber stacking method of the present invention.

The fiber stacking device 1 according to this embodiment includes a drum 3 provided with a plurality of pockets 2, and around the drum 3 there is a first fiber supply unit 4 that supplies absorbent fibers to the pockets 2, and a first fiber supply unit 4 that supplies absorbent fibers to the pockets 2; This system includes a powder supply unit 5 that supplies powder and granules, a second fiber supply unit 6 that supplies absorbent fibers, and a transfer unit 9 that transfers the absorbent material 7 in the pocket onto a mount 8 as a conveyor. arranged in order.

As shown in FIG. 2, the drum 3 is formed into a hollow cylindrical shape, and a plurality of pockets 2 having a predetermined shape, approximately an hourglass shape in this embodiment, are formed on its circumferential surface. This drum 3 is connected to a drive mechanism (not shown), and is configured to rotate at a predetermined speed in the direction of the arrow.

The pocket 2 has a predetermined shape, for example, a substantially hourglass-shaped concave,
The bottom surface is made of wire mesh or the like and has a breathable structure.

The first fiber supply unit 4, the powder supply unit 5, and the second fiber supply unit 6 are integrally included in the supply hopper II.

That is, the supply hopper 11 is supplied with pulverized pulp fibers as absorbent fibers, and the pulverized pulp in the supply hopper 11 is taken out by the first fiber supply unit 4 and the second fiber supply unit 6, and is independently supplied to the supply hopper 11. It is designed to be supplied to the pocket 2 of the drum 3 at the same time. And supply hopper 11
A powder supply unit 5 is disposed within the supply hopper 11 between the first fiber supply unit 4 and the second fiber supply unit 6. Water-absorbing polymer in the form of powder is supplied from outside the supply pump 11 by a supply vibrator 13 connected to the outside of the supply pump 11.

The first fiber supply unit 4 and the second fiber supply unit 6 will be described in detail below, but since they have the same configuration, they will be described together here.

Inside the supply hopper 11 are first lattice shells 14A and 14B that are driven from above to below within the supply hopper 1.
is provided to guide the pulverized pulp in the supply fly 1 toward the supply ports 15A and 15B. These first lattice belts 14A, 14B are connected to rollers 16
The hook is supported by a substantially triangular shape.

At the position facing the first lattice belts 14A and 14B,
Second lattice belts 16A, 16B are provided, and these first and second lattice belts 14A, 14B, 16
The pulverized pulp in the supply hopper is sandwiched between A and 16B and guided to the first and second supply ports 15A and 15B.

Supply ports 15A, 15B and first and second lattice belts 14
There is a guide roll 1 between A, 14B, 15A, and 15B.
7A and 17B are arranged with gradually narrowing intervals. Feed rolls 18A and 18B are provided at the supply ports 15A and 15B, respectively, facing the circumferential surface of the drum 3. The feed rolls 18A and 18B are made of garnet cylinders and are positioned diagonally above the drum 3.
The pulverized pulp is fed diagonally above.

This powder supply unit 5 includes the first fiber supply unit 4
second lattice shell l-16A and second fiber supply unit 5
The feed box 20 is disposed between the second lattice belts 16B, and the feed box 20 is provided with a powder supply device, and the powder supply device is disposed facing the circumferential surface of the drum 3. There is. A supply pipe 13 through which the water-absorbing polymer is supplied is connected to the upper part of the feed box 20, so that the water-absorbing polymer is supplied from outside the supply hopper 11.

A removing device 21 for removing excess absorbent material adhering to the drum 3 is arranged below the second fiber supply unit 6 . This removing device 21 includes a scarfing roll 27 for scraping off fibers on the drum 3 and a suction duct 2B.

On the other hand, inside the drum 3, a first suction chamber 22 is provided at a position corresponding to the supply port 15A of the first fiber supply unit 4 for sucking and holding the absorbent material into the pocket. The bottom side of 2 is under reduced pressure. Similarly, the second fiber supply unit 6 corresponds to the second fiber supply unit 6.
A suction chamber 24 and a suction pipe 25 are provided.

The transfer unit 9 includes an exhaust chamber 26 arranged inside the drum 3 and is configured to transfer the absorbent body 7 stored in the pocket 2 onto the mount 8.

Next, a fiber stacking method using the fiber stacking device of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, pulverized pulp is supplied from the first fiber supply unit 4 toward the circumferential surface of the drum 3 rotating in the direction of the arrow (first fiber supply step).

In this first fiber supply step, the first and second lattice belts 14A and 16A are respectively driven obliquely downward, and a supply hopper is placed between the first and second lattice belts 14A and 16A.
The pulverized pulp stored therein is pinched and guided and supplied to the feed roll 18A located at the supply port 15A via the guide roll 17A.

Then, at the supply port 15A, the pulverized pulp is supplied to the circumferential surface of the drum 3 by rotation of the feed roll 18A.

On the other hand, inside the drum 3, the first suction chamber 22 suctions under reduced pressure, so the supplied pulverized pulp is supplied toward the breathable pocket 2, and at the bottom of the pocket 2, the first
Layers of pulverized pulp are stacked (see Figure 4).

Next, the drum 3 rotates further, and when the pocket 2 stacked with the first layer of pulverized pulp reaches the uppermost position, water-absorbing polymer is supplied from the powder supply unit 5 (powder supply step). .

In this powder supply step, a predetermined amount of water-absorbing polymer is dropped or scattered from the feed box 20 containing the water-absorbing polymer. Therefore, the water-absorbing polymer is stacked as a second layer on the 1N pulverized pulp layer.

Subsequently, when the drum 3 rotates further and the pocket 2 reaches a diagonally upward position, the pulverized pulp is supplied again from the second fiber supply unit 6 (second fiber supply step).

In this second fiber supply step, similarly to the first fiber supply step, the first and second lattice belts 14B and 16B are driven diagonally downward, respectively, and the first and second lattice belts 14B and 16B are driven obliquely downward.
, 16B, the pulverized pulp in the supply hopper 11 is sandwiched and guided, and is supplied to the feed roll 18B of the supply port 1.5B via the guide roll 17B.

Then, at the supply port 15B, the pulverized pulp is supplied toward the circumferential surface of the drum by rotation of the feed roll 18B.

-4. Inside the drum 3, the second suction channel 24 suctions under reduced pressure, so the crushed pulp is supplied to the breathable pocket 2 in the same way as the first fiber supply unit, and the pulverized pulp is supplied to the pocket 2 of the drum 3. , the third layer of pulverized pulp is loaded.

By such a second fiber supply step, in the pocket 2, a pulverized pulp layer is formed on the water-absorbing polymer layer, and an absorbent body 7 consisting of three layers is formed.

Subsequently, the drum 3 rotates and reaches the removal device 21, where the excess ground pulp and water-absorbing polymer adhering to the drum 3 are removed.

Further, the drum 3 rotates and the pocket 2 moves to the transfer unit throat 9, but the second suction chamber 24 sucks and holds the absorbent body 7 in the pocket 2 until just before the transfer unit 9.

In the transfer unit 9, the absorber 7 in the mount 8 and the poquent 2, which has been sent in synchronization with the rotation of the drum 3, is transferred (transfer step).

In this transfer process, when the pocket 2 is directly below, air is blown from the bottom of the pocket 2 by the exhaust chamber 26 of the drum 3, and the absorbent body 7 stored in the pocket 2 is forcibly ejected onto the mount 8. It will be placed.

The above-described steps are repeated to sequentially stack absorbent bodies 7 of a predetermined shape on the mount 8 at approximately equal intervals.

In this way, the absorbent body 7 placed on the mount 8 has a pulverized pulp layer A, a water-absorbing polymer layer B, and a
, will form a three-layer structure to the pulverized pulp layer.

According to the embodiment described above, the amounts of each pulverized pulp A and water-absorbing polymer B can be adjusted independently, and the quality of the absorbent material on the production line can be easily controlled.

For example, water-absorbing polymer B in the powder supply unit 5
The supply amount can be increased or decreased at any time.

Furthermore, by separately supplying the pulverized pulp A and the water-absorbing polymer B, it is possible to maintain a constant quality of the absorbent body 7 in which the pulverized pulp A and the water-absorbing polymer B are blended in a constant ratio.

Furthermore, pairs of lattice belts 14A, 16B and 14A, 16
It is also possible to independently vary the amount of ground pulp fed by varying the speed of B.

In addition, when an absorbent material having such a layered structure is used in a diaper, urine excreted from the human body passes through the first pulverized pulp layer and the second water-absorbing polymer layer. , 3rd
It is also diffused into the Nth pulverized pulp layer. The return of the urine that has been diffused into the pulverized pulp layer is blocked by the water-absorbing polymer present in the middle.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The other embodiments differ from the above-described embodiments in that the first fiber supply unit 4, the second fiber supply unit 6, and the powder supply unit 5 are provided separately. In other respects, this embodiment is the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, so the same parts as in the above-mentioned embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and a detailed explanation of those parts will be omitted.

That is, the first M1i fiber supply unit 4 includes an independent first fiber supply duct 35, and a supply pipe 36 through which pulverized pulp is supplied is connected to the duct 35.

A feed hopper 37 is arranged in the powder supply unit 5, and a water-absorbing polymer supply pipe 38 is connected to the feed hopper 37.

The second fiber supply unit 6 also includes the first fiber supply unit 4.
A first fiber supply duct 39 independent from the first fiber supply duct 39 and a supply pipe 40 for supplying pulverized pulp thereto are provided.

Furthermore, the first fiber supply duct 35, the third granule feed hopper 37, the second fiber supply duct 39, and the supply pipes 36, 38, and 40 connected to these extend upward, respectively, and are arranged around the drum 3. to avoid taking up unnecessary space.

In addition, in order to reduce the amount of pulverized pulp and water-absorbing polymer in each layer according to other embodiments, supply pipes 36, 38,
This is achieved by adjusting the feed rate to each duct and hopper by 40.

The present invention is not limited to the one embodiment described above, and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist of the present invention.

For example, in all of the above-mentioned examples, the structure of the absorbent body is a three-layer structure sandwiched between absorbent fibers of absorbent powder, but the structure is not limited to this, and absorbent powder and absorbent fibers are arranged alternately. It may also have a four-layer or five-layer structure.

Further, the supply amount of the absorbent fibers supplied by the first fiber supply unit and the second fiber supply unit is made different,
The amount of each absorbent fiber layer may be different.

Furthermore, the absorbent fibers supplied from the first fiber supply unit and the second fiber supply unit may be of different types, that is, the upper and lower layers of the absorbent body may be of different types.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the absorbent fiber stacking method and its wrapping W according to the present invention,
With a small device, absorbent fibers and absorbent powder can be arranged in layers.

By separating the supply process for absorbent fibers and absorbent powder, it is easier to check the dispersion status of absorbent powder.
It is possible to increase the credibility of the property management in order to prevent the absorbent powder from falling out of the absorbent body.

Since the absorbent fiber and absorbent powder supply processes are independent of each other, the basis weight of each layer of the multilayer absorbent body can be set independently.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a stacking device for an absorbent body according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a drum, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stacking device for an absorbent body according to another embodiment of the present invention. , FIG. 4 is a cross section V of the absorber. 1; Fiber stacking device, 2; Pocket, 3; Drum, 4; First fiber supply unit, 5; Powder supply unit, 6; Second fiber supply unit, 8; Mounting paper (*transparent), 9; Transfer unit.

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) A first fiber supply step in which absorbent fibers are supplied to an air-permeable pocket formed around the drum, and after the first fiber supply step, powder particles are supplied in the pocket to supply absorbent powder. a second fiber supply step of supplying absorbent fibers into the pockets after the powder supply step; and a second fiber supply step in which absorbent fibers are stacked in the pockets and the absorbent powder and A method for stacking an absorbent material, comprising: a transfer step of transferring an absorbent material made of the above material onto a conveying body that has been conveyed around the drum. (2) The above-mentioned first fiber supply process and second fiber supply process are:
A method for stacking absorbent materials, characterized in that absorbent fibers of the same type are taken in from a common hopper and supplied to the pockets of the drum. (3) a drum in which a breathable pocket for supporting the absorbent body is formed; a first fiber supply unit provided around the drum and supplying absorbent fibers to the pocket of the drum; a second fiber supply unit disposed in parallel with the first fiber supply unit around the drum and supplying absorbent fibers to the pockets of the drum; and a second fiber supply unit arranged around the drum to supply the first fiber supply unit and the second fiber supply unit a powder supply unit provided between the unit and the absorbent powder supply unit that supplies the absorbent powder to the pockets of the drum; and the absorbent fibers and the absorbent powder supplied to the pockets of the drum. A transfer unit for transferring an absorbent made of the above onto a conveying body; (4) The first fiber supply unit and the second fiber supply unit have a common hopper containing absorbent fibers,
The first and second fiber supply units each include a pair of belts for introducing absorbent fibers from the hopper, and the pair of belts move in the same direction to supply the absorbent fibers to the pockets of the drum. The absorbent fiber stacking device according to claim (3).