JP5324155B2 - Liquid coating apparatus and method for manufacturing absorbent article - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid coating apparatus.

As an apparatus that can be used for adhesive coating, a porous roller whose outer peripheral surface is a porous cylinder is provided, and a liquid such as a hot melt adhesive that has passed through the porous cylinder is applied to a moving web. A fluid application apparatus is known (see Patent Document 1).
In addition, as an adhesive coating apparatus for applying an adhesive to a moving object to be coated in a predetermined pattern, a cylindrical pattern cylinder having a plurality of discharge holes corresponding to the predetermined pattern and an inside of the pattern cylinder are arranged. A hot drum adhesive supplied from a supply means is ejected in a predetermined pattern from a discharge hole of a pattern cylinder, and the discharged hot melt adhesive is moved by a transfer means. There is known an adhesive coating device which is transferred to the surface (see Patent Document 2).

JP-A-62-204876 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-299849

However, in the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, since the porous cylindrical body is made of sintered metal, the size of the holes is determined by the order of arrangement of the metal particles during quenching. In the obtained porous cylindrical body, a fine portion and a coarse portion are generated. When using a porous cylinder made of such a sintered metal, the liquid permeation amount of the fine-grained portion is small and the liquid permeation amount of the coarse-grained portion is large. Inhomogeneity occurs. When the adhesive is applied as a liquid, the non-uniformity of the coating amount appears as non-uniform adhesive strength.
In the apparatus described in Patent Document 2, the adhesive is discharged from a plurality of discharge holes formed in the cylindrical pattern cylinder, but there are cases where the discharge amount is uneven or uneven.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid coating apparatus capable of uniformly coating a liquid such as an adhesive.

  The present invention includes a discharge roller that discharges a liquid supplied from a supply unit through a surface plate, and applies the liquid discharged from the discharge roller to a moving workpiece. And the said surface plate achieves the said objective by providing the liquid coating apparatus which has a structure where the aperture | opening material of several sheets was laminated | stacked.

Further, the present invention is a method for producing an absorbent article that has an adhesive part formed by applying an adhesive on a garment contact surface, and is used by being fixed to clothing through the adhesive part, The manufacturing method of the absorbent article which comprises the process of applying an adhesive agent to the sheet material which comprises the said clothing contact surface with the said liquid application apparatus which applies an adhesive agent as the said liquid is provided.
Further, the present invention provides a process of applying an adhesive to a constituent material of an absorbent article by the liquid application apparatus that applies an adhesive as the liquid, and the constituent material is passed through the adhesive to the other material. The manufacturing method of the absorbent article which comprises the process joined to a constituent material is provided.

According to the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention, a liquid such as an adhesive can be applied uniformly.
According to the method for producing an absorbent article of the present invention, the adhesive can be applied evenly to the region to be coated, and a high-quality absorbent article can be produced efficiently.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on preferred embodiments with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of a liquid coating apparatus (hereinafter also referred to as the present coating apparatus 1) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The present coating apparatus 1 is a hot melt adhesive coating apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, a supply means 2 for supplying a hot melt adhesive and a hot melt adhesive supplied from the supply means 2 are predetermined. A discharge roller 3 that discharges in a pattern; and a transfer unit 4 that transfers the hot-melt adhesive 50 having a predetermined pattern discharged from the discharge roller 3 to the surface of a belt-like sheet (object to be coated) S that is continuously supplied. It comprises. The code | symbol 5 in FIG. 1 has shown the part (adhesive coating part) in which the hot-melt-adhesive 50 was coated in the strip | belt-shaped sheet | seat S. FIG.

  The supply means 2 includes a tank (not shown) containing hot melt adhesive, a supply pipe 21 connecting the tank and the discharge roller 3, and a pump (not shown) interposed in the supply pipe 21. A return pipe 22 branched from the supply pipe 21 and connected to the tank, and a control valve 23 for switching the flow of the hot melt adhesive from the supply pipe 21 to either the return pipe 22 side or the discharge roller 3 side. And.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the discharge roller 3 includes a surface plate 31 that forms an outer peripheral portion of the discharge roller 3, and a roller main body 32 that forms an inner side (rotation axis side) portion of the discharge roller 3 than the surface plate 31. And comprising.
The roller body 32 has a columnar shape, and a plurality of concave portions 33 are formed on the outer peripheral portion thereof at intervals in the circumferential direction. Each recessed portion 33 is formed with a step between the portions other than the recessed portion 33, and an introduction port 34 for introducing a hot melt adhesive into the recessed portion 33 is provided on the bottom surface portion thereof. And the surface plate 31 is being fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the roller main body 32 so that the recessed part 33 may be covered.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the roller main body 32 in the coating apparatus 1 has a main body portion 35 constituting a portion close to the rotation axis thereof, and an opening portion 36 a having a predetermined shape, and the inner side of the opening portion 36 a. The portion includes a pattern-shaped plate 36 that forms the concave portion 33.
The main body portion 35 has a cylindrical shape and has the introduction port 34 on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
The pattern shape plate 36 is fixed so that the introduction port 34 is located inside the opening 36a.

  A plurality of pattern shape plates 36 are fixed in series in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 35, and a cylindrical outer peripheral portion of the roller main body 32 is formed by the plurality of pattern shape plates 36. ing. The surface plate 31 is fixed to the outer side of the outer peripheral portion made of the pattern-shaped plate 36 of the roller body 32. The surface plate 31 is fixed so as to cover the entire recess 33 formed by the opening 36 a of the pattern shape plate 36. The pattern shape plate 36 may be fixed to the main body portion 35 after being fixed to the surface plate 31. Similar to the pattern shape plate 36, there are a plurality of surface plates 31 in the circumferential direction of the main body portion 35, and one surface plate 31 is provided for each pattern shape plate 36. The surface plate 31 may have a length that extends over the entire length of the roller body 32 in the circumferential direction. Even if the outer peripheral surface of the coating roller 3 is formed by only one surface plate 31. good.

  As shown in FIG. 3, a main pipe line 35 b that extends in the rotation axis direction of the discharge roller 3 and into which the hot melt adhesive supplied from the supply pipe 21 flows is provided in the shaft core portion of the roller body 32. . A plurality of branch pipes 35 c that connect the main pipe 35 b and the introduction port 34 are formed inside the roller body 32. Then, the hot melt adhesive supplied through the supply pipe 21 of the supply means 2 is introduced into the recess 33 from the introduction port 34 through the main pipeline 35b and the branch pipeline 35c, and the hot melt adhesive introduced into the recess 33 is introduced. Is diffused in the recess 33 in a direction along the surface of the surface plate 31 (a direction substantially parallel to the surface of the surface plate 31), and then discharged from the surface of the discharge roller 3 through the hole of the surface plate 31. It has been. The direction along the surface of the surface plate 31 is also a direction orthogonal to the depth direction of the recess 33. Further, the diffusion in the direction along the surface of the surface plate 31 means that the diffusion is very small in the direction, and the direction perpendicular to the surface of the surface plate 31 simultaneously with the diffusion in the direction (depth direction of the recess). It does not prevent it from diffusing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 is formed by laminating a plurality of aperture materials 31a, 31b, 31c, and 31d. FIG. 4 shows a part of the surface plate 31, for example, a part indicated by P in FIG.
In the opening material in the present invention, it is desirable that a large number of holes penetrating between the front and back surfaces are regularly arranged in the plane direction (a direction orthogonal to the thickness direction), but a large number are irregularly arranged in the plane direction. May be used and is not restricted.
Examples of the hole material preferably used in the present invention include a wire mesh, an etching hole material, a punching metal, a sintered metal, and a ceramic. As these opening materials, a plurality of the same kind of materials may be laminated, or two or more kinds of different materials may be laminated.

When the hole material constituting the surface plate 31 is a punching metal or an etching hole material, the hole area (open area ratio) of each hole material is 1 to 76%, particularly 10 to 60%. The number of holes per 1 cm ² of the pore opening material is preferably 1 to 10,000, more preferably about 125 to 2,500. It is preferable that the hole diameter of each hole is 0.05-2 mm.
When the opening material constituting the surface plate 31 is a wire mesh, sintered metal, or ceramic, the area of the holes (opening area ratio) is preferably 1 to 80%, particularly 10 to 60%. the area of, preferably a 0.002～3.2Mm ^2, more preferably 0.004~0.5mm ^2.

The average pore diameter and the area of the pores of each pore opening material are measured as follows.
The average pore diameter was determined by observing each aperture material from directly above with an optical microscope, measuring at least 10 openings on the surface, and S (area of the pore) = PAI / 4 × d ² (PAI = 3. D calculated backward in 14) is the equivalent circle diameter, and is the average value of these. The area of the hole can be easily measured by, for example, using a Keyence digital HD microscope VH-7000 and surrounding an arbitrary point on the observed screen.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a wire mesh that is preferably used as an aperture material.
The wire mesh 30 shown in FIG. 5 is formed by integrating a plurality of vertical wires and a plurality of horizontal wires in a lattice shape, and square holes in a plan view are regularly formed in both the vertical and horizontal directions.
In one metal mesh 30a shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of vertical wires and a plurality of horizontal wires constituting the metal mesh are combined and integrated in a plain weave shape. Thus, when combining in a plain weave shape, the intersection of a vertical wire and a horizontal wire may or may not be joined by fusion or the like. In the other wire mesh 30b shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of horizontal wires are superposed on a plurality of vertical wires, and in this state, the contacts of each other are fused.

  FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 show preferred examples of combinations of aperture materials to be laminated and how to laminate them. In each of FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C, the wire mesh (opening material) described on the leftmost side is the coating roller 3 of the plurality of wire meshes (opening material) constituting the surface plate. The wire net is positioned at the outermost side in the radial direction, and the wire net is sequentially arranged below the wire mesh as it goes to the right. The wire mesh (opening material) described on the rightmost side is the wire mesh (opening material) positioned on the most central side (rotating shaft side) in the radial direction of the coating roller 3.

In the example shown in FIG. 6A, four pieces of single-type wire mesh (opening material) 30a having the same shape and size of the holes are stacked while shifting the angle by 45 degrees.
In the example shown in FIG. 6B, two types of wire meshes (opening materials) 30a and 30c having different hole sizes are alternately stacked in the thickness direction, and a total of four layers are stacked.

In the example shown in FIG. 6 (c), three wire nets (opening material) 30a having the same shape and size of the holes and the shape of the holes are square and the same as the other three sheets. Is laminated with a single wire netting (opening material) 30c different from the other three.
In the example shown in FIG. 7, two single-type wire nets 30a, 30a having the same shape and size of the holes are stacked while shifting the positions of the holes.

As for the surface plate used by this invention, it is preferable that at least 2 of the opening material is laminated | stacked at different angles like the example shown to Fig.6 (a) or FIG.6 (c), for example. .
The number of hole material such as a wire mesh to be laminated while shifting the angle by 45 degrees may be two, three, five to ten, etc. instead of four. Also, the angle shift provided between adjacent metal meshes can be set to 30 degrees, 60 degrees, etc. instead of 45 degrees. Also, an aperture material that is laminated without shifting the angle with respect to the aperture material disposed below it, and an aperture material that is laminated with an angle shifted relative to the aperture material disposed below it May be mixed.
In the case of a wire mesh having a vertical wire and a horizontal wire, shifting the angle does not match the direction in which the vertical wire of a certain wire mesh extends with either the direction in which the vertical wire of the wire mesh to be compared or the direction in which the horizontal wire extends. That means.

  In addition, the surface plate used in the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (b) and FIG. 6 (c), at least two of the opening materials are different in the size of the holes. Is also preferable. It is also possible to laminate three or more types of wire meshes having different hole sizes.

  In addition, the surface plate used in the present invention is preferably formed by laminating at least two aperture materials with the positions of the holes being shifted, for example, as a surface plate 31 shown in FIG. In particular, as shown in FIG. 7, at least two of the apertured materials to be stacked are portions (wire portions) other than the aperture of the other aperture material in which the aperture 30 a ′ of one aperture material crosses the aperture. Are preferably laminated so as to be divided into a plurality of sections 30a ″, 30a ″,.

The surface plate used in the present invention is formed by laminating two or more aperture materials such as a wire mesh, but the layers between the aperture materials laminated may or may not be joined. In the case of joining, examples of the joining means include sintering, fusion (welding, etc.), and an adhesive.
One surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 is provided for each pattern-shaped plate 36, and each surface plate 31 is fixed to the pattern-shaped plate 36 by a fixing tool such as a bolt. ing. And in this fixing, the lamination | stacking state of the several hole material which comprises each surface plate 31 is fixed. The plurality of aperture materials constituting the surface plate 31 may be integrated in advance before being fixed to the roller body 32 by an integration means such as a bolt or a clamping tool.
In the coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment, the pattern shape plate 36 is also detachably fixed to the main body portion 35 by a fixing tool such as a bolt. The fixture that fixes the pattern shape plate 36 to the main body portion 35 may also serve as the fixture that fixes the surface plate 31 to the pattern shape plate 36.

  The surface plate 31 used in the coating apparatus 1 has a structure in which the entire planar direction (referred to as a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction) is formed by laminating a plurality of aperture materials. Accordingly, the hot melt adhesive is discharged from the entire area of the surface plate 31 covering the recess 33, and the shape of the discharged hot melt adhesive is substantially the same as the opening shape of the recess 33.

The depth of the recess 33 in the present embodiment (the same as the distance between the bottom surface 35a of the recess 33 and the surface plate 31) is uniform throughout the entire area. The depth of the recess 33 is preferably 0.1 to 5.0 mm, and more preferably 0.5 to 3.0 mm.
Moreover, it is preferable to provide the inlet 34 provided in the recessed part 33 in the ratio used as one per 0.5-10 cm < ² > of bottom areas of the recessed part 33. FIG.

  The thickness of the surface plate 31 is preferably 2 mm or less as a whole, more preferably 1 mm or less, and even more preferably 0.3 to 0.9 mm, from the viewpoint of uniformly coating the entire region to be coated. Further, from the same viewpoint, the thickness of the surface plate 31 is preferably 0.05 to 20 times, and more preferably 0.1 to 2 times the depth of the recess 33.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a pipe portion 35 d that is rotatably connected to the end portion of the supply pipe 21 of the supply means 2 is provided at one end of the main body portion 35 of the roller main body 32. The other end portion is provided with a shaft portion 35e connected to a drive shaft of a drive source (not shown). Further, heating means (not shown) such as a cartridge heater is incorporated in the main body portion 35 of the roller main body 32, and the hot flow that flows in the roller main body 32 by adjusting the temperature by the cartridge heater or the like. The viscosity of the melt adhesive can be controlled.

  The transfer unit 4 includes a transfer roller 41 that rotates to face the outer peripheral surface of the surface plate 31 of the discharge roller 3 and the surface to be coated of the belt-like sheet S, and a belt-like sheet that is disposed below the transfer roller 41 and is placed together with the transfer roller 41. And a nip roller 42 for feeding out S.

  The outer peripheral surface 41a of the transfer roller 41 is lined with an easily peelable material such as silicone rubber so that the discharged hot melt adhesive can be easily peeled off and applied to the surface of the object to be coated. There is. Further, a pipe line (not shown) is provided inside the transfer roller 41, and the temperature of the transfer roller 41 can be controlled to a low temperature by circulating cooling water through the water supply pipe line 41b. It is. One end of the transfer roller 41 is provided with a pipe 41c that is rotatably connected to the water supply pipe 41b, and a shaft 41d that is connected to drive of a drive source (not shown) is provided at the other end. Is provided.

  The coating apparatus 1 is equipped with a controller (not shown) for controlling the rotation speed of the discharge roller 3 and the transfer roller 41, the on / off of the control valve 23 and the cartridge heater, the circulation amount of the cooling water, and the like. The operation control of the coating apparatus 1 corresponding to the hot melt adhesive, the coating pattern and the like can be performed.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus 1 will be described.
First, a hot melt adhesive is put into a tank (not shown) to bring it into a molten state. Then, the discharge roller 32 and the transfer roller 41 are rotated so that their peripheral speeds are equal. Further, the nip roller 42 is also rotated so that the circumferential speed thereof is equal to that of the transfer roller 41, and the conveyance speed of the belt-like sheet S is made the same as the circumferential speed of the transfer roller 41.
Then, the hot melt adhesive in a molten state is supplied into the roller body 32 of the discharge roller 3 through the supply pipe 21 of the supply means 2 by a pump (not shown).

The hot melt adhesive supplied from the supply means 2 passes through the main pipe 35b and the branch pipe 35c formed in the main body portion 35 of the roller main body 32 and enters the recess 33 from the inlet 34 formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. After being supplied and diffused in the direction along the surface of the surface plate 31 in the recess 33, it is guided to the surface of the discharge roller 3 through the hole of the surface plate 31 constituted by the combination of the aperture materials, and the transfer roller 41. The ink is discharged in a predetermined pattern on the outer surface.
Then, the transfer roller 41 rotates to transfer the hot melt adhesive onto the surface of the belt-like sheet S that moves between the transfer roller 41 and the nip roller 42.
In this way, the hot melt adhesive is applied to the surface of the belt-like sheet S (the surface to be coated 9), so that the adhesive coating having substantially the same shape as the opening shape of the recess 33 is applied to the surface of the belt-like sheet S. A working part 5 (liquid coating part) is formed.

According to the coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment, since the surface plate 31 formed by laminating a plurality of aperture materials is used, the adhesive passes through many fine holes generated by the combination of aperture materials. Discharged. In addition, unevenness in the ease of penetration of the adhesive hardly occurs.
Therefore, the adhesive can be applied evenly.

  Furthermore, since the surface plate 31 is composed of a combination of a plurality of aperture materials, the aperture material and aperture material used for the surface plate 31 according to the viscosity and amount of the adhesive discharged from the coating roller. The adhesive can be applied under conditions suitable for each case.

  Furthermore, in the coating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the entire area of the portion covering the concave portion 33 of the surface plate 31 has a structure in which a plurality of aperture materials are laminated, and the portion of the surface plate 31 covering the concave portion 33 is covered. Since the hot melt adhesive is discharged from the entire area, the inside of the recess 33 is diffused as compared to the case of using a surface plate in which holes are distributed in a shape different from the opening shape of the recess 33 as shown in the example of Patent Document 2. Residue and uneven flow are less likely to occur in the adhesive. Therefore, the adhesive can be applied more evenly.

The adhesive used in the present invention is preferably a hot melt adhesive, but an adhesive other than the hot melt adhesive, for example, low density polyethylene, polyvinyl acetate, silicone resin, glue or the like can also be used.
The hot melt adhesive is not particularly limited. For example, styrene rubber such as styrene / butadiene / styrene block copolymer (SBS), styrene / ethylene / butylene / styrene block copolymer (SEBS), or amorphous poly Examples thereof include hot melt adhesives such as olefin polymers such as α-olefin (APAO) and ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA).
In addition, the object to be coated in the present invention is not particularly limited, but for example, a sheet-like material composed of a nonwoven fabric, a woven fabric, a resin film, a knitted fabric, or a laminate in which these sheet-like materials are laminated in two or more layers. And articles obtained by further laminating or sandwiching other members on the sheet, these sheet-like materials and laminates. The object to be coated may be a continuous belt-like body or may have a predetermined length and be sequentially conveyed at a predetermined interval.

The above-mentioned coating apparatus 1 has an adhesive part which consists of a hot-melt-adhesive, and can be preferably used for manufacture of the absorbent article used by being fixed to clothing via this adhesive part. Examples of such absorbent articles include absorbent articles that absorb liquid discharged from the body, such as sanitary napkins, panty liners (downlink sheets), and incontinence pads. These generally comprise a liquid-retaining top sheet, a liquid-impermeable (concept including impermeability) back sheet, and an absorber disposed between the two sheets, and are hot-melt bonded to the clothing contact surface. Has a pressure-sensitive adhesive portion made of an agent, or has a wing portion on both the left and right sides of a vertically long main body portion, and has a pressure-sensitive adhesive portion made of a hot melt adhesive on one side (clothing contact surface) of the wing portion. . You may have an adhesion part in both a main-body part and a wing part.
When manufacturing such an absorbent article, the above-described coating is applied to the strip-shaped raw sheet of the sheet constituting the clothing contact surface, or the strip-shaped or non-band-shaped original sheet of the sheet laminated with other materials. The hot melt adhesive is applied using the processing apparatus 1 to form a pressure-sensitive adhesive portion having a predetermined shape. Other than that is the same as the manufacturing method of the conventional absorbent article.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not restrict | limited to the said embodiment, It can change suitably.
For example, the adhesive coating apparatus of the present invention applies an adhesive directly to an object to be coated from the discharge roller 3 without using a transfer means, like the adhesive coating apparatus 1A shown in FIG. It may be a thing.

The adhesive coating apparatus 1A shown in FIG. 8 includes a discharge roller 3A having the same configuration as the discharge roller 3 shown in FIG. 1 except that it rotates following the rotation of the nip roller 42. The adhesive coating apparatus 1 </ b> A does not include the transfer roller 41.
In this adhesive coating apparatus 1A, the hot melt adhesive is applied directly from the outer surface of the discharge roller 3A to the belt-like sheet S moving between the discharge roller 3A and the nip roller 42. Also in this adhesive coating apparatus 1A, the surface plate 31 constituting the outer surface of the discharge roller 3A is made of a porous body over the entire portion covering the concave portion positioned below, and hot from the entire portion covering the concave portion. A melt adhesive is discharged. Therefore, the same effect as the coating apparatus 1 mentioned above is show | played.

Moreover, in the coating apparatus 1 mentioned above, although the surface plate 31 which has a hole in the whole plane direction (direction orthogonal to a thickness direction) was used, parts other than the part which covers the recessed part 33 are silicon, an epoxy resin, A material that is blocked (masked) by a masking material such as a metal braze can also be used. In this case, it is preferable that the masking shape of the surface plate has the masking end portion of the surface plate on the extension through the concave end portion from the center of the discharge roll. It may be coincident.
FIG. 9A is an example in which only a portion other than the portion covering the concave portion 33 is masked, and FIGS. 9B to 9D include, in addition to the portions other than the portion covering the concave portion 33, In this example, a part of the portion covering the recess 33 is also masked. When the surface plate 31 shown in FIG. 9B to FIG. 9D is used, the hot melt adhesive can be applied in the same shape as the portion not sealed with the masking material. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 31e denotes a masked portion.

The blocking with the masking material may be a blockade of only the outermost aperture material among the plurality of aperture materials constituting the surface plate, or two or more of the aperture plate constituting the surface plate It is also possible to close the pores of all the aperture materials. From the viewpoint of stability in continuous application due to the uniform surface and difficulty in forming a step, the sealing material is not blocked by the masking material on the outermost opening material, but on the inner side. It is preferable to apply.
Furthermore, the surface plate 31 is formed with a portion sealed with a masking material and a portion not surrounded by the mask, and the adhesive supplied from the supply means 2 is passed through the recess 33 without passing through the recess 33. It can also be introduced directly into the unmasked part. The route for guiding the adhesive to the unmasked portion and the concave portion 33 of the above-described embodiment is not particularly limited and can be variously modified.
Since some of the holes in the surface plate are sealed, the permeation rate of the adhesive that passes through the inside of the surface plate in the unsealed part (the part other than the sealed) is increased, and the coating pattern is compared to the unsealed state. In addition, it becomes possible to perform coating even with a small amount and efficient coating.

Further, the surface plate may be intentionally provided with two regions in which the discharge amount is different by changing the size of the hole. In the surface plate 31 shown in FIG. 10, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), two types of regions 30d and 30e having different hole sizes of the opening material arranged on the outermost side in the radial direction of the coating roller. The region 30d and the region 30e are different from each other in the amount of adhesive to be discharged, and thus the amount of adhesive applied to the object to be coated (see FIG. 10B). ]. Even in this case, a uniform amount of adhesive is discharged in each region.
Moreover, the opening shape of the recessed part 33 can be made into arbitrary shapes, and can be set as the shape where an outline consists only of a straight line, the shape where an outline consists of a straight line and a curve, the shape where an outline consists only of a curve, etc. Moreover, the opening shape of the hole of each opening material can also be made into arbitrary shapes other than square shape. Specifically, the opening shape of the concave portion and the hole can be a circular shape, an oval shape, a heart shape, a bowl shape, an oval shape with a constricted central portion, a rectangular shape, a triangular shape, a diamond shape, or the like. .

Moreover, the liquid coating apparatus of this invention may apply another liquid as a liquid instead of an adhesive agent. Examples of liquids other than adhesives include oils, emulsions, creams, humectants, lotions and the like.
In addition, the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention is also preferably used for applying an adhesive to the constituent material of the absorbent article in the manufacturing process of the absorbent article. The constituent material to which the adhesive is applied can be joined to another constituent material through the adhesive. Examples of the constituent material of the absorbent article include, but are not limited to, a top sheet, an absorbent body, a back sheet, a sheet for forming a wing portion, a sheet for forming a three-dimensional gather, and the like.

  Further, the description omitted in one embodiment of the present invention and the requirements of only one embodiment can be applied to other embodiments as appropriate, and the requirements in each embodiment are appropriately described in the embodiment. Can be substituted for each other.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example is shown and this invention is demonstrated further in detail, this invention is not restrict | limited at all by such an Example.

[Example 1]
Using the liquid coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the adhesive was applied to a continuous release paper having a basis weight of 38 g / m ² , and the coated adhesive was evaluated.
As the surface plate of the discharge roller, the following multilayer stainless steel wire mesh was used. A stainless wire mesh having a mesh size of # 100 (aperture size of 0.16 mm × 0.16 mm and 100 holes per 25.4 mm) and a thickness of 0.15 mm was used. This wire mesh is shown in FIG. Thus, four sheets were stacked while shifting the angle by 45 degrees. The laminated four metal meshes were integrated by sintering and an adhesive to obtain a surface plate having a total thickness of 0.6 mm. In addition, the non-coating area | region is masked by the shape used as the coating pattern of the adhesive coating part 5 of FIG. 11 with the epoxy resin before lamination | stacking on the metal mesh of the 2nd layer from the outermost peripheral surface of a surface plate.
A stainless steel pattern plate 36 having a thickness of 1.0 mm and having an opening 36 a having the same shape as the adhesive coating portion 5 shown in FIG. 11 was fixed to the main body portion 35 together with the surface plate 31 with a bolt. The opening 36a of the pattern-shaped plate has an oval shape with a narrowed central part of 48 mm in width, 130 mm in length, and 52.4 cm ² in area. The inner peripheral surface of the opening of this pattern-shaped plate and the outer peripheral surface of the main body part 35 Thus, a recess 33 having a depth of 1.0 mm and the same shape as that of FIG. 11 is formed. When viewed from the normal direction of the outer surface of the discharge roll, the size and shape of the recesses were the same size and shape as the adhesive coating portion 5 shown in FIG.

The temperature of the discharge roller of the liquid coating apparatus was 165 ° C., the speed was 100 m / min, and the adhesive liquid pressure was 1 MPa. As the adhesive, a styrene rubber hot melt adhesive of styrene / ethylene / butylene / styrene block copolymer (SEBS) was used and applied at a viscosity of 1,600 mPa · s (160 ° C.).
The adhesive coating pattern had the shape shown in FIG. 11, and the concave portion and the masking portion had the same shape. The design value of the adhesive pattern is 52.4 cm ^{2 as} a whole, the size of the outer shape (length L1 × width W1) 130 × 48 mm, the minimum width (width W2) of the central constricted portion is 37 mm, and the basis weight is 30 g. / M ² .

[Example 2]
Except for the configuration of the surface plate 31, the adhesive was applied to release paper in the same manner as in Example 1, and the applied adhesive was evaluated.
Using the same stainless steel mesh as in Example 1, the surface plate was made into a four-layer laminate and integrated in the same manner. However, the masking was applied to the wire mesh that is the outermost peripheral surface of the surface plate.

Example 3
Except for the configuration of the surface plate 31, the adhesive was applied to release paper in the same manner as in Example 1, and the applied adhesive was evaluated.
Using the same stainless steel mesh as in Example 1, the surface plate was made into a four-layer laminate and integrated in the same manner. No wire mesh is masked.

[Comparative Example 1]
Instead of the surface plate and the recess forming plate of Example 1, a metal plate having the following configuration is arranged on the outer peripheral part of the roller body, and in the same manner as in Example 1, the adhesive is applied to the release paper and applied. The engineered adhesive was evaluated. The pattern of the adhesive application part 5 used the shape of FIG.
The metal plate has a thickness of 12 mm and is provided with a recess having the same shape as in FIG. 11 and a depth of 7 mm, and a porous material made of sintered metal having a diameter of 350 μm is disposed in the recess. The porous material has a liquid passage diameter of 40 μm. A large number of branch conduits for inflow of the adhesive are opened at the bottom of the concave portion of the metal plate, and the entire area filled with the porous material becomes the liquid discharge portion.
As in Example 1, the design value of the adhesive pattern is 52.4 cm ^{2 as} a whole, the outer size is 130 × 48 mm, the minimum width of the constricted portion is 37 mm, and the basis weight is 30 g / m ² . .

[Evaluation method and evaluation results]
The following evaluation was performed about the adhesive agent coated to the release paper by the apparatuses of Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1. The adhesive was evaluated with n = 5.
<External dimensions>
About the adhesive agent adhering to a release paper, the length (L1) of the longitudinal direction and the width | variety (W2) of the center constriction part were measured. Next, the length in the longitudinal direction and the width of the central constricted portion (measured value) were divided by the length of each design value, and the ratio to the design value was calculated. The allowable value is up to 110% with respect to the design value.

<Flare width of coating amount and uniformity of coating amount>
The applied adhesive (n = 5) was equally divided into three in the longitudinal direction of the pattern shape and the direction perpendicular thereto, and divided into a total of nine regions, and the weight of the adhesive in each region was measured. Next, the weight (average value) of each region is divided by the design area of each region to obtain the basis weight of each region. About the calculated basic weight of each area | region, the ratio with respect to setting basic weight was calculated | required, the minimum value was subtracted from the maximum value of 9 area | regions, and the flare width of the coating basic weight was computed. The evaluation criteria for the uniformity of the coating amount are as follows.
◎: The flare width of the coating basis weight is within 10%. ○: The flare width of the coating basis weight is more than 10% and within 15%. △: The flare width of the coating basis weight is more than 15% and within 20%. The amount of flare exceeds 20%

<Pattern clarity>
A film having higher releasability than the release paper was attached to the adhesive attached to the release paper and wound up, and the pattern shape attached to the film was visually evaluated.
The evaluation criteria are as follows.
A: The adhesive is not removed inside the coating pattern, and the entire pattern is evenly clear.
○: There is no obvious omission of the adhesive inside the coating pattern. Even if there is a gap, the size is 2 mm or less.
Δ: There is a gap larger than 2 mm and smaller than 5 mm inside the coating pattern.
X: There is a gap of 5 mm or more inside the coating pattern.

Table 1 summarizes the evaluation results.

  As shown in Table 1, it was confirmed that Examples 1, 2, and 3 of the present invention were uniformly coated over the entire region to be coated, as compared with Comparative Example 1.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main part of an embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a configuration in the vicinity of the outer peripheral surface of the discharge roller in the same embodiment. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a roller body in the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a view showing a structure of a surface plate in the same embodiment. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged plan view showing an example of a wire mesh that is preferably used as an aperture material. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing some preferred examples of combinations of aperture materials to be laminated and how to laminate them. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a preferable example of combinations of pore materials to be laminated and how to laminate them. FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a surface plate used in still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 10: is a top view which shows the coating aspect of (a) surface plate and (b) adhesive agent in further another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of this invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating adhesive coating patterns in Examples 1 to 3 and Comparative Example 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid coating apparatus 2 Supply means 3 Discharge roller 31 Surface plate 30 Wire mesh (opening material)
31a-31d Opening material 32 Roller body 33 Recess 35 Body part 36 Pattern shape plate 36a Opening part 4 Transfer means 41 Transfer roller 5 Adhesive coating part (liquid coating part)

Claims (6)

A liquid coating apparatus that includes a discharge roller that discharges the liquid supplied from the supply unit through the surface plate, and that applies the liquid discharged from the discharge roller to a moving workpiece.
The surface plate has a structure in which a plurality of aperture materials are laminated ,
The opening material is a wire mesh, an etching opening material or a punching metal, and in the surface plate, a plurality of the same types of these are laminated,
At least two of the aperture materials are laminated at different angles,
At least two of the aperture materials are laminated such that a hole of one aperture material is divided into a plurality of sections by a portion other than the aperture of the other aperture material crossing the aperture, Are the same in size and shape,
At least one of the pore opening materials is laminated so that a part of the holes are blocked and the liquid cannot pass therethrough,
The surface plate constitutes an outer peripheral portion of the discharge roller, and a concave portion having a predetermined shape is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the roller body constituting the inner portion of the discharge roller from the surface plate,
The surface plate covers the recess, and the liquid that has been introduced into the recess through the inside of the roller body and diffused in the direction along the surface of the surface plate passes through the surface plate. It is designed to be discharged
A liquid coating apparatus in which a plurality of the recesses are formed on the outer periphery of the roller body at intervals in the circumferential direction . The liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid is discharged from the entire area of the surface plate covering the concave portion, and the shape of the discharged liquid is substantially the same as the opening shape of the concave portion. 3. The liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a single type of wire mesh having the same shape and size of the holes is stacked at an angle of 45 degrees in the surface plate. Wherein the liquid, the liquid coating apparatus according to any one of claim 1 to 3 which is an adhesive. A method for producing an absorbent article having an adhesive portion formed by applying an adhesive on a clothing contact surface and being used by being fixed to clothing through the adhesive portion,
The manufacturing method of the absorbent article which comprises the process of applying an adhesive agent to the sheet | seat material which comprises the said clothing contact surface by the liquid coating apparatus of Claim 4 . The liquid coating apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the liquid coating apparatus comprises a step of applying an adhesive to a constituent material of an absorbent article, and a step of bonding the constituent material to another constituent material via the adhesive. A method for producing a functional article.

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