JP5324156B2 - Liquid coating apparatus and method for manufacturing absorbent article - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid application device from which a liquid can be applied uniformly to the whole area to be applied when the liquid is applied to the object to be applied in a predetermined application pattern. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid application device has a discharge roller 3 for discharging a liquid, which is supplied from a supply means, in the predetermined pattern and is constituted so that the liquid to be discharged from the discharge roller 3 is applied to the moving object S to be applied. The discharge roller 3 has a surface plate 31 and a roller main body 32. A depression 33, which has such a predetermined shape that the liquid to be introduced through the inside of the roller main body 32 is diffused in the direction along the surface of the surface plate 31, is formed on the outer periphery of the roller main body 32. The surface plate 31 has a liquid discharge section 3b, from which the liquid is discharged in a shape different from the shape of an opening of the depression 33, and a liquid impervious section 3c, which does not permit the liquid to pass therethrough, at its portion covering the depression 33. The liquid discharge section 3b is made of a porous material having a large number of pores. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid coating apparatus.

Conventionally, 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 An adhesive having a driving drum disposed therein, and once the hot melt adhesive supplied from the supply means is accumulated in a recess formed on the back side of the pattern cylinder, and then discharged from the discharge hole of the pattern cylinder A coating apparatus is known (see Patent Document 1).
Further, in Patent Document 1, since the hot melt adhesive is once accumulated in the recesses and then discharged from the pores through the discharge holes, a uniform pressure is applied to the hot melt adhesive and a more stable pattern coating is applied. There is a description that it is possible to work.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-299849

  However, in the coating apparatus described in Patent Document 1, there are cases where the discharge amount is uneven or uneven. In addition, since the discharge holes are formed in the thick pattern cylinder, the micro holes are difficult to process, and there is a problem that it is not possible to cope with a fine and complicated coating pattern.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to uniformly apply the liquid over the entire region to be coated when a liquid such as an adhesive is applied to an object to be coated with a predetermined coating pattern. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid coating apparatus that can handle the above.

  The present invention is a liquid coating apparatus that includes a discharge roller that discharges a liquid supplied from a supply unit in a predetermined pattern, and that applies the liquid discharged from the discharge roller to a moving workpiece, The discharge roller includes a surface plate that forms an outer peripheral portion, and a roller main body that forms a portion inside the surface plate of the discharge roller, and the outer peripheral portion of the roller main body includes an inner portion of the roller main body. A recess having a predetermined shape for diffusing the liquid introduced through the surface plate in a direction along the surface of the surface plate is formed, and the surface plate is different from the opening shape of the recess in a portion covering the recess. A liquid discharge unit that discharges liquid into a shape and a liquid impervious portion that does not allow liquid to permeate; the liquid discharge unit is a liquid coating device made of a porous material having a large number of micropores; By subjecting, in which to achieve the above object.

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, when a liquid such as an adhesive is applied to an object to be coated with a predetermined coating pattern, the liquid is uniformly applied to the entire area to be coated. Can be crafted. Also, fine and complicated patterns can be applied.
According to the method for producing an absorbent article of the present invention, the adhesive can be uniformly applied 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 of 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 has.

  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 is provided with a main body portion 35 constituting a portion close to the rotation axis and a concave portion forming fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 35. Plate 36.
The recess forming plate 36 has a hole 36 a penetrating through the plate 36 in the thickness direction, and overlaps the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 35 and the inner peripheral surface of the hole 36 a and the main body portion 35. A portion surrounded by the outer peripheral surface is a recess 33.
The recess 33 has an opening in the depth direction (thickness direction of the plate 36) on the side opposite to the outer peripheral surface of the main body 35, and the opening shape (planar shape) of the opening is the recess 33. The opening shape. In the state assembled as the discharge roller 3, the opening of the recess 33 is covered with the surface plate 31 as shown in FIG. 2.
The main body portion 35 has a cylindrical shape and has the introduction port 34 on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
The recess forming plate 36 is fixed so that the introduction port 34 is located inside the hole 36a.

  The three-dimensional shape (predetermined shape) of the recess 33 is the direction in which the liquid introduced from the inlet 34 into the recess 33 is aligned with the surface of the surface plate 31 in the recess 33 (the circumferential direction and axial length of the discharge roller 3). Any shape that can be diffused in the direction) is acceptable.

  A plurality of recess forming plates 36 are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the main body portion 35 in series in the circumferential direction, and the cylindrical outer peripheral portion of the roller main body 32 is formed by the plurality of recess forming plates 36. Is formed. The surface plate 31 is fixed to the outer side of the outer peripheral portion made of the concave portion forming plate 36 of the roller body 32. The surface plate 31 is fixed so as to cover the entire recess 33 formed by the hole 36 a of the recess forming plate 36. One surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 is provided for each recess forming plate 36, and each of the surface plates 31 is fixed to one recess forming plate 36 by a fixing tool such as a bolt. It is fixed so as to be removable. The recess forming plate 36 is also detachably fixed to the main body portion 35 by a fixing tool such as a bolt. The fixture for fixing the recess forming plate 36 to the main body portion 35 may also serve as the fixture for fixing the surface plate 31 to the recess forming plate 36. The recess forming plate 36 may be fixed to the main body portion 35 after being fixed to the surface plate 31. The surface plate 31 may have a length extending over the entire length of the roller body 32 in the circumferential direction, and the one surface plate 31 is attached to the body portion 35 to which the recess forming plate 36 is fixed. On the other hand, it may be detachably fixed.

  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 at least diffusion in the direction, and at the same time as the diffusion in the direction, the direction perpendicular to the surface of the surface plate 31 (depth direction of the recess). It does not prevent it from spreading.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 has a liquid discharge part 3 b that discharges liquid to a part 3 a covering the concave part 33 in a shape different from the opening shape of the concave part 33; A liquid impervious portion 3c that does not allow liquid to pass therethrough.
The liquid ejection part 3b is a part through which the liquid can permeate the surface plate 31 in the thickness direction, and is also a part other than the liquid impermeable part 3c in the part 3a that covers the recess 33 of the surface plate 31.
The shape of the liquid discharge part 3b can be appropriately determined according to what shape the liquid coating part 5 is formed on the article S to be coated. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, in order to form a rectangular liquid coating portion 5 on an object to be coated S, the shape of each liquid ejection portion 3 b is changed to the liquid coating. The rectangular shape has the same shape as the portion 5.

When the liquid is discharged in a shape different from the opening shape of the concave portion 33, the shape of the liquid discharged onto the surface of the discharge roller, and further, the shape of the liquid coating portion 5 is determined by the opening shape of the concave portion 33. Instead, it means that it is determined by the shape of the liquid ejection part 3b. Even when the opening shape of the concave portion 33 and the shape of the liquid ejection portion 3b in plan view are similar, they are different shapes. That is, the opening shape of the concave portion 33 and the shape of the liquid discharge portion 3b in plan view are not the same.
The size (area) of each liquid ejection part 3b can be determined as appropriate according to the size of the liquid coating part 5 to be formed on the article S to be coated. 005 to 10,000 cm ² . In the case where a slip stopper (adhesive part) for fixing to a short or the like is formed on a skin contact surface such as a sanitary napkin or panty liner, the size (area) of each liquid discharge part 3b is 0.005. it is preferable that the ~500cm ^2.
In addition, the white arrow in FIG. 4 shows the rotation direction of the discharge roller 3 or the conveyance direction of the workpiece S.

  The surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 has a plurality of liquid discharge portions 3b in a portion 3a covering the recess 33, and is separated from each other with the liquid discharge portion 3b and the liquid impervious portion 3c interposed therebetween. Is formed. Even in the case of having a plurality of liquid ejection portions 3b, in the apparatus of the present invention, since the liquid diffuses well in the recess 33, a uniform amount of liquid without unevenness can be obtained from each of the plurality of liquid ejection portions 3b. Can be discharged. In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, six liquid discharge portions 3 b are formed for one recess 33.

Each liquid discharge part 3b of the surface plate 31 is made of a porous material having a large number of micropores. The fine pores of the porous material are remarkably small with respect to the size of the liquid ejection part 3b.
As the porous material used in the present invention, a wire mesh, an etching aperture material, a punching metal, a ceramic, a sintered metal, a laminate of these, and the like can be used, and a wire mesh is preferable.

The average pore diameter of the porous material constituting the liquid discharge part 3b is preferably 0.05 to 2 mm, particularly 0.07 to 0.8 mm, and the opening area ratio of the porous material is 1 to 80%, particularly It is preferably 10 to 60%, and the area of each hole is preferably 0.002 to 3.2 mm ² , particularly preferably 0.004 to 0.5 mm ² . In addition, the number of micropores of the porous material included in one liquid discharge unit 3b is at least three.

The average pore diameter and pore area of the porous material are each measured as follows.
The average pore diameter was observed from directly above the surface plate 31 with an optical microscope, and the area of the openings on the surface was measured at least 10 points. S (hole area) = PAI / 4 × d ² (PAI = 3.14) ) Is calculated as the equivalent circle diameter and the average of these values. 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.

As shown in FIG. 4, the surface plate 31 in the coating apparatus 1 includes a pattern forming plate 31a having a hole 31a ′ having a shape different from the opening shape of the recess 33, and the hole 31a of the pattern forming plate 31a. And a porous plate 31b having a large number of micropores arranged on top of each other. The pattern forming plate 31a determines a liquid discharge pattern. The porous plate 31b is made of the porous material described above. In the porous plate 31b, the portion overlapped with the hole 31a ′ of the pattern forming plate 31a constitutes the liquid ejection part 3b described above, and the portion other than the hole 31a ′ of the pattern forming plate 31a (non-hole portion) is formed. The overlapped portion together with the non-hole portion constitutes the liquid impermeable portion 3c of the surface plate 31.
In the present embodiment, the porous plate 31b and the pattern forming plate 31a are joined and integrated by welding, sintering, adhesive, or the like at a portion other than the hole 31a ′. As a forming material of the pattern forming plate 31a, metal, resin, or the like can be used. For example, a thin plate stainless steel provided with a predetermined opening, a punching metal, an etching aperture material, a polyester mesh, or the like can be used. The polyester mesh can be masked by post-processing.
As the porous plate, a plate obtained by laminating a plurality of the porous materials described above can also be used.

  In the surface plate 31 in the present embodiment, the porous plate 31 b is located outside the pattern forming plate 31 a and constitutes the outermost surface of the discharge roller 3. Thus, when the porous plate 31b constitutes the outermost surface, the surface becomes uniform, it becomes difficult to produce a step, and the stability of coating in continuous coating is improved.

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.

  At one end of the main body portion 35 of the roller body 32, there is provided a pipe portion 35d that is rotatably connected to the end of the supply pipe 21 of the supply means 2, and is not shown at the other end. A shaft portion 35e connected to the drive shaft of the drive source is provided. 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, operation | movement of this coating apparatus 1 is demonstrated.
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 concave portion 33, it is guided to the surface of the discharge roller 3 through the fine holes of the liquid discharge portion 3 b of the surface plate 31, and the outer surface of the transfer roller 41. In a predetermined pattern.
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 (surface to be coated 9), so that the surface of the belt-like sheet S is substantially the same as the planar view shape of the liquid ejection part 3b. A shaped adhesive coating part 5 (liquid coating part) is formed.

According to the coating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the liquid discharge part 3b is made of a porous material having a large number of micropores, and resistance is applied to the hot melt adhesive that passes through it. Does not easily flow out to the surface of the surface plate 31, and the hot melt adhesive introduced into the recess 33 is filled relatively uniformly into the recess 33. Then, the hot melt adhesive receives a uniform pressure and is discharged from the liquid discharge portion 3b. For this reason, when the hot melt adhesive is discharged from the plurality of liquid discharge portions 3b, the amount discharged from each of the plurality of liquid discharge portions 3b is less likely to vary. In addition, even with respect to the liquid discharged from one liquid discharge unit 3b, discharge unevenness in which the discharge amount varies depending on the position is less likely to occur.
Therefore, the hot melt adhesive discharged from the surface plate 31 has a uniform discharge amount over the entire discharge range, and a uniform amount of hot melt over the entire area of the outer surface of the transfer roller 41 that overlaps the recess 33. Adhesive adheres. And since the hot-melt-adhesive agent which adhered so uniformly is transcribe | transferred to the strip | belt-shaped sheet | seat S, the adhesive agent coating part 5 to which the hot-melt adhesive agent in the strip | belt-shaped sheet | seat S was coated is uniform in the whole region An amount of hot melt adhesive is applied.
In this way, according to the present coating apparatus 1, when the adhesive is applied to the object to be coated with a predetermined coating pattern, the adhesive is uniformly applied over the entire area to be coated. Can be crafted.

  Further, according to the coating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the shape of the hot melt adhesive that is discharged onto the surface of the discharge roller is extended by the shape of the liquid discharge portion 3b of the surface plate 31 instead of the opening shape of the recess 33. Since the shape of the liquid coating part 5 is determined, when the coating shape is changed, the surface plate 31 can be replaced easily. That is, in the coating apparatus 1 of this embodiment, since the surface plate 31 is detachably fixed to the roller body 32, only the surface plate 31 is replaced when the adhesive coating pattern is changed. And the same thing can also be used for the recessed part formation plate 36 and the roller main body 32, without replacing | exchanging.

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, as shown in FIG. 5, the outer peripheral portion 35 f from the outer peripheral surface 35 a of the main body portion 35 of the discharge roller 3 to a predetermined depth is separated from another member that is detachably fixed to the axial core side portion. It may be formed. The member constituting the outer peripheral portion 35f has branch pipes 35c ′, 35c ′, and 35c ′ that branch the one branch pipe 35c into a plurality of parts. Such a configuration makes it easier to design a flow path for guiding the adhesive to the recess 33.
In addition, the path | route which guides the hot-melt-adhesive supplied from the supply means 2 to the recessed part 33 is not restrict | limited as long as an adhesive can be guide | induced to the recessed part 33, It can deform | transform variously.

Moreover, 1 A of adhesive coating apparatuses shown in FIG. 6 are provided with the discharge roller 3A which has the structure similar to the discharge roller 3 shown in FIG. 1, except rotating according to rotation of the nip roller 42. As shown in FIG. 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 a liquid discharge portion made of a porous material having a large number of fine holes in a portion covering a concave portion located therebelow. And a liquid impervious portion, and the hot melt adhesive is discharged from the liquid discharge portion. Therefore, the same effect as the coating apparatus 1 mentioned above is show | played.

Moreover, in the coating apparatus 1 mentioned above, as the surface plate 31, what integrated and integrated the pattern formation plate 31a and the porous plate 31b was used, but it replaces with such a surface plate, and FIG. As shown, a surface plate 31 in which a liquid impervious portion 3c is formed by a sealing process can be used for a single porous plate 31c having a large number of micropores. The sealing process is a process for filling the fine pores of the porous material with a sealing material such as resin or metal so that the liquid cannot pass therethrough. The filler is preferably solidified after filling the micropores in a molten state.
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the liquid impervious portion 3 c formed by the sealing process and the liquid ejection unit 3 b not subjected to the sealing process are formed in the portion 3 a covering the concave portion 33 of the porous plate 31 c. Thus, the same effect as the above-described coating apparatus 1 is achieved.

  Moreover, although the surface plate 31 used in the coating apparatus 1 described above was obtained by superposing the porous plate 31b on the pattern forming plate 31a, the porous plate 31b was superposed on the pattern forming plate 31a. A surface plate having a three-layer structure in which a pattern forming plate is integrated between two porous plates can be used. The porous plate may be composed of a plurality of layers.

Moreover, the opening shape of the recessed part 33 can be made into arbitrary shapes. For example, in addition to the ridge-like shape shown in FIG. 1, it can also be rectangular as shown in FIG. 8, and can also be square, circular, oval, rhombus, heart shape, etc. . Further, the shape of the hole 31a ′ of the pattern forming plate and the shape of the liquid discharge portion 3b are not limited to a vertically long rectangular shape in the axial length direction of the discharge roller, and may be any shape. For example, a vertically long rectangular shape in the middle of the discharge roller, a circular shape as shown in FIG. 8, a square shape, an oval shape, a rhombus shape, a heart shape, or the like can be used. In addition, a plurality of liquid discharge portions 3b having different shapes can be formed for one concave portion 33.
In addition, the number of liquid ejection portions 3b formed for one recess 33 may be one or plural. When forming two or more, it can be set to 2-1000, for example, and about 2-100 is preferable. The number of liquid ejection portions 3b may be different for each recess 33.

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. The porous material (opening material) is mesh size # 100 (opening size 0.16 mm × 0.16 mm and 100 holes per 25.4 mm), used in a stainless steel wire mesh with a thickness of 0.15 mm, Four metal meshes were laminated while shifting the angle by 45 degrees to form a four-layer laminate. A pattern forming plate made of stainless steel with a thickness of 0.15 mm is placed on the four-layer laminate, and one layer of the above-described stainless steel wire mesh is placed thereon, and these six layers are integrated by sintering. A surface plate was obtained. The total thickness of the obtained surface plate was 0.9 mm. In the surface plate, the bottom layer of the four-layer stainless steel wire mesh is in contact with the surface of the recess forming plate, the one-layer stainless steel wire mesh is the outermost layer, and the pattern formation plate is located in the second layer from the outermost layer of the surface plate. . The pattern forming plate has a hole 31a ′ through which the liquid is permeated by opening the adhesive portion (liquid coating portion 5) shown in FIG.
A stainless steel recess forming plate 36 having a hole 36 a and a thickness of 1.0 mm was fixed to the main body portion 35 together with the surface plate 31 with a bolt. The hole 36a of the recess forming plate has an oval shape having a width (W) of 47 mm, a length (L) of 132 mm, and an area of 57.3 cm ^2. The inner peripheral surface of the hole 36a of the recess forming plate 36 and the main body portion. A concave portion 33 having a depth of 1.0 mm and a shape 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 coating pattern of the adhesive (liquid coating part 5) has the shape shown in FIG. 9, and the hole 31a ′ of the pattern forming plate has the same shape. The design value of the adhesive pattern is 21.3 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 42 mm, and the basis weight 50 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.
The surface plate 31 uses the same stainless steel wire mesh as in Example 1 to form a four-layer laminate, and the four-layer laminate is stacked on the same pattern forming plate 31a as in Example 1 to sinter these five layers in total. And integrated. The total thickness of the obtained surface plate was 0.75 mm. As the surface plate, the outermost peripheral surface was a four-layer stainless steel wire mesh, and the pattern forming plate 31a was used facing the concave portion forming plate 36 side.

[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. In addition, in the comparative example, it applied with the pattern of the adhesive agent application part 5 of FIG.
The metal plate has a thickness of 12 mm and is provided with a recess having a shape shown 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 surface of the concave portion of the metal plate, and the entire region filled with the porous material becomes the liquid discharge portion 3b.
The design values of the adhesive pattern are as follows: the area is 52.4 cm ² in total, the outer size is 130 × 48 mm, the minimum width of the central constriction is 37 mm, and the basis weight is 30 g / m ² .

[Evaluation method and evaluation results]
The following evaluation was performed on the adhesive applied to the release paper using the apparatuses of Examples 1 and 2 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 (measured value) of the central constricted portion were divided by the respective design values, 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 and 2 of the present invention were uniformly applied over the entire region to be coated as compared with the comparative example.

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. 4A is a view of the porous plate in the embodiment viewed from the normal direction, and FIG. 4B is a view of the pattern forming plate in the embodiment viewed from the normal direction. FIG. 4 (c) is a view of the concave portion in the embodiment viewed from the normal direction of the bottom surface of the concave portion, and FIG. 4 (d) shows the coating pattern of the liquid (adhesive) in the same embodiment. It is a top view of the strip | belt-shaped sheet | seat shown. FIG. 5 is a view (corresponding to FIG. 2) showing still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic side view showing still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a view (corresponding to FIG. 2) showing still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a view showing a liquid discharge part and a recess in still another embodiment of the liquid coating apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an adhesive coating pattern in Examples 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the shape of the recesses in the first and second embodiments. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an adhesive coating pattern in Comparative Example 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid coating apparatus 2 Supply means 3 Discharge roller 31 Surface plate 3a Part 3b which covers a recessed part Liquid discharge part 3c Liquid impervious part 31a Pattern formation plate 31a 'Hole part 31b Porous plate 32 Roller main body 33 Recessed part 35 Main part 36 Recessed part Forming plate 36a Hole 4 Transfer means 41 Transfer roller 5 Adhesive coating part (liquid coating part)

Claims (4)

A liquid coating apparatus that includes a discharge roller that discharges a liquid supplied from a supply unit in a predetermined pattern, and that applies the liquid discharged from the discharge roller to a moving workpiece.
The discharge roller includes a surface plate that forms an outer peripheral portion, and a roller body that forms a portion inside the surface plate in the discharge roller,
On the outer peripheral portion of the roller body, a recess having a predetermined shape is formed for diffusing the liquid introduced through the inside of the roller body in a direction along the surface of the surface plate,
The surface plate has a liquid discharge part that discharges liquid in a shape different from the opening shape of the concave part and a liquid impermeable part that does not allow liquid to pass through the part that covers the concave part ,
The liquid ejecting section, Ri Do a porous material having a large number of micropores in a portion and covering the recess, are formed in a plurality of numbers in a state of being spaced apart from each other across the liquid impermeable portion,
The surface plate includes a pattern forming plate having a hole portion having a shape different from the opening shape of the concave portion, and a porous plate having a large number of micropores arranged to overlap the hole portion of the pattern forming plate. The porous plate forms the outermost surface of the discharge roller,
The surface plate is detachably fixed to the roller body, and the liquid is an adhesive,
The pores of the porous material are remarkably small with respect to the size of the liquid discharge part,
The liquid ejected from each of the plurality of liquid ejection sections is configured to form a plurality of liquid coating sections having a shape corresponding to each of the plurality of liquid ejection sections on the object to be coated. , Liquid coating equipment. The liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the number of fine pores of the porous material included in each of the liquid ejection units is at least three . 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,
An absorbent article comprising a step of applying an adhesive to a sheet material constituting the clothing contact surface and forming the plurality of liquid coating portions on the sheet material by the liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1. Manufacturing method. The liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1 , a step of applying an adhesive to a constituent material of an absorbent article to form the plurality of liquid coating portions on the constituent material, and the constituent material with the adhesive The manufacturing method of an absorptive article which comprises the process of joining with other constituent materials via.

Images