In-Line Airlaid Core Production for Flexible Sanitary Formats
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing absorbent product production lines for sanitary use face issues of low flexibility, high material waste, and high costs due to the use of wide airlaid reels that require significant storage and logistics, limiting the ability to change formats and incorporate fine SAP without complicating the production process.
Innovation Solution
A production line and method that directly produces a continuous tape with spaced absorbent cores in a converter line, allowing for flexible format changes and efficient use of fine SAP, reducing waste by cutting out individual cores on-site and integrating them into the final product.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If wide airlaid reels are used for production, then the absorbent core material is available in sufficient quantity, but production flexibility is reduced and material waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous airlaid tape is segmented into individual pad portions through a cutting device that separates the tape into discrete sections. This segmentation allows the production line to handle variable pad sizes and formats while maintaining efficient continuous production, resolving the contradiction between producing sufficient material quantity and maintaining production flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The production system is made dynamic by allowing real-time adjustment of cutting positions, feed rates, and pad configurations. The converter line can dynamically adapt to different product specifications without changing the fundamental production process, enabling flexible production of various pad formats from a single continuous tape source.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple formats of airlaid reels are kept in stock, then format changes can be accommodated, but logistics costs and economic immobilisation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The production line is designed with universal capabilities to produce multiple pad formats from a single continuous airlaid tape. By integrating variable cutting mechanisms and adjustable feed systems, the same production line can accommodate different pad sizes, shapes, and configurations without requiring separate reels or production lines for each format, thereby eliminating the need for maintaining multiple reel inventories.
3Shape
If the airlaid tape is shaped to size for pad formation, then the final product shape is achieved, but high quantity of noble material waste is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The airlaid tape is pre-formed with the correct density, composition, and structural properties before cutting. By establishing the proper material characteristics in the continuous tape stage, the subsequent cutting operation simply separates pre-formed pad portions rather than removing excess material from oversized blanks, thereby minimizing noble material waste while achieving the required final product shape.
Data Source
Figure 1~1A
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AI summary
The present invention concerns a production line 100 (also called converter 100) for manufacturing absorbent products for sanitary use wherein the absorbent core is produced directly in special processing sections of said converter 100.