Absorbent Article Protrusion Folding via Shrinkable Member
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing absorbent article folding methods struggle to stably fold protrusion sections due to their discontinuous nature, leading to unstable folding and increased user burden during use.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an expandable-and-shrinkable member between protrusion sections, which shrinks to form wrinkles, allowing the protrusion sections to be easily raised and folded with side sections by reducing the moment of inertia and creating concave shapes that facilitate stable folding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a folding apparatus designed for continuous side section regions is used to fold protrusion sections that are discontinuous in the machine direction, then the side section regions can be easily folded to overlap the center region, but the protrusion sections become difficult to fold stably to overlap the center region
Solution Approach 1:
An expandable-and-shrinkable member is introduced as an intermediary element between the protrusion sections. This member can be expanded during folding to provide mechanical assistance in lifting and folding the discontinuous protrusion sections, ensuring they stably overlap the center region. After folding, the member is shrunk to a compact state for storage or disposal, having fulfilled its mediating function.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical state of the expandable-and-shrinkable member is changed between expanded and shrunk states. During the folding process, the member is expanded to increase its size and provide the necessary mechanical force to lift and fold the protrusion sections. After folding is complete, the member is shrunk to reduce its size, eliminating its visual presence and preparing it for disposal or storage.
2Reliability
If two locations are folded at each side in the widthwise direction (protrusion sections and side section regions separately), then the protrusion sections can be folded, but the amount of preliminary manipulation during use increases and fitting time is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable-and-shrinkable member merges the folding operations of the protrusion sections and side section regions into a single unified action. By expanding the member, both the protrusion sections and side section regions are lifted and folded simultaneously in one motion, rather than requiring separate manual operations for each. This merging of operations maintains reliable folding while significantly reducing the time and manipulation steps required during use.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables stable folding of protrusion sections with side sections without increasing user operation burden, as the expandable-and-shrinkable member reduces the force required to fold the protrusion sections and simplifies the opening process during use.
Implementation Method 1
shrinks to form wrinkles, allowing the protrusion sections to be easily raised and folded with side sections by reducing the moment of inertia and creating concave shapes that facilitate stable folding
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3
AI summary
The method for producing an absorbent article stably folds protrusion sections together with side section regions without increasing the burden of operation during use. The method for producing an absorbent article comprises: a providing step of providing a semi-processed continuous body comprising semi-processed products for the absorbent article connected in a machine direction, the semi-processed product comprising a pair of protrusion sections formed protruding outward in the widthwise direction and an expandable-and-shrinkable member expandable and shrinkable in the widthwise direction and disposed in a expanded state; a shrinking step of shrinking the expandable-and-shrinkable member (11) to reduce a length in the widthwise direction of the semi-processed product (1b) and form a plurality of wrinkles (11S) in the expandable-and-shrinkable member; a pressing step of pressing a center region MA in the widthwise direction of the semi-processed product while transporting the semi-processed continuous body in the machine direction, and a folding step of folding a pair of side section regions (PA, PA) in the widthwise direction of the semi-processed product upward in the center region at the pair of folding lines (FL1, FL2) extending along the machine direction while transporting the semi-processed continuous body in the machine direction.