Stretchable Sheet Manufacturing With Intersecting Elastic Body Orientation

The patent changes the orientation dimension of the elastic body arrangement. Instead of arranging elastic bodies parallel to the conveyance direction (one-dimensional arrangement), the patent arranges them in a zigzag pattern that spans across the width direction, creating a two-dimensional distribution. This dimensional change ensures that regardless of manufacturing speed variations, the elastic bodies are distributed uniformly across the sheet width, maintaining consistent stretch stress characteristics.

The patent applies preliminary action by pre-stretching the thread-shaped elastic body before fixing it to the sheet. The elastic body is stretched in advance to a predetermined tension state, and this pre-stretched state is maintained during the fixing process. This preliminary stretching ensures that the elastic properties are established before the sheet is manufactured, making the stretch stress characteristics independent of subsequent manufacturing speed variations.

The patent applies inversion by changing the conventional approach: instead of manufacturing the waist panel material with elastic bodies oriented perpendicular to the required stretch direction and then rotating it 90 degrees, the patent directly orients the elastic bodies in the correct stretch direction during the manufacturing process. This inversion eliminates the need for post-manufacturing rotation while maintaining production efficiency.

The patent changes the orientation parameter of the elastic body arrangement during manufacturing. By adjusting the feeding direction and arrangement pattern of the thread-shaped elastic bodies, the patent directly produces the waist panel material with the correct orientation (elastic bodies perpendicular to the stretch direction) without requiring subsequent rotation. This parameter change during the manufacturing process eliminates additional equipment needs.