A production line of absorbent sanitary articles and production control method. The line includes production devices configured to perform production operations on the absorbent sanitary articles; sensors adapted to detect current values of operating parameters indicative of the current operation of the production devices; and a control unit including a memory and a processor configured to perform a comparison between the current values of the operating parameters and respective predetermined reference values stored in the memory and, in the presence of an anomalous operating parameter, to identify, among a plurality of possible malfunctioning causes, a current malfunctioning cause responsible for the anomalous operating parameter. The processor is configured to perform the comparison independently of a detection of any defects in the absorbent sanitary articles and is configured to identify the current malfunctioning cause, among a plurality of possible malfunctioning causes, starting from the anomalous operating parameter.

A production line of absorbent sanitary articles and method of predictive detection of defects of absorbent sanitary articles, wherein it is provided to: detect current values of operating parameters which are indicative of the current operation of at least one production device adapted to perform respective production operations on the absorbent sanitary articles being processed along the production line; perform a comparison between the current values of the detected operating parameters and respective predetermined reference values; in the presence of at least one anomalous operating parameter that does not comply with the respective predetermined reference values, identify, among a plurality of possible malfunctioning causes of the line, at least one current malfunctioning cause responsible for the at least one anomalous operating parameter; and make a prediction of any defects in the absorbent sanitary articles being processed along the line starting from the at least one current malfunctioning cause identified.

A factory for manufacturing an absorbent article includes a building that includes an upper story and a lower story located below the upper story. The upper story and lower story include a floor, a wall provided along an entire periphery of the floor, an illumination device provided on a ceiling, and an air conditioner having an air outlet for discharging air, respectively. An opening is formed in the floor of the upper story. The upper story includes a paying-out device to which a material coil on which a nonwoven fabric is wound is attached and that pays out the nonwoven fabric. The nonwoven fabric serves as at least one type among a plurality of types of materials. The lower story includes a processing section that processes the plurality of types including the nonwoven fabric that is transported from the upper story through the opening.

The present invention is an equipment and a method for handling web materials, in particular for recombining portions as are cut out from an essentially continuous web material machine-directionally offset with this web.

A carrying device includes: a carrying section having a receiving surface to be in contact with a first sheet material that is continuous in a carrying direction, wherein one edge of the first sheet material is wave-shaped, the carrying section defining an inclined slit portion, wherein the inclined slit portion defines an opening on the receiving surface, wherein the inclined slit portion extends in an inclined direction so as to be displaced from a proximal side toward a distal side of a protruding portion while extending downstream in the direction of carrying the first sheet material, and wherein the inclined slit portion sucks the protruding portion along the wave-shaped edge; and a box defining a suction space that keeps the inclined slit portion under a negative pressure so that the protruding portion is pulled into the inclined slit portion by suction.

Systems and methods utilizing stationary and/or moveable cutting components provide limited interference with web processing operations, such as pad spin and pitch alteration. Heat, laser, fluid, or mechanical cutting operations may be used, including respectively, a heated element (e.g., wire, ribbon, bar, or embossing or perforating element) that may be triggered inductively, water or steam jets, or improved knife/anvil cooperation.

A system for cutting a web material and applying the web material on a substrate. The system comprises a feed roll configured to advance a web material. The system includes an anvil roll configured to receive the web material from the feed roll and provide a section of web material having a defined length. The system includes a cutting element configured to cut the web material to form the section of web material. The anvil roll is configured such that the anvil roll surface advances at an anvil roll surface speed. The feed roll is configured to rotate at a first feed roll surface speed that is slower than the anvil roll surface speed and a second feed roll surface speed that is substantially the same as the anvil roll surface speed when the cutting element cuts the web material.

A sheet-feeding system includes a holding part which holds an end portion of a sheet, a nozzle part for discharging an adhesive agent for joining sheets to each other, and a nozzle moving unit which supports the nozzle part such that the nozzle part is made movable within a region including both temporarily holding parts, in which when a sheet joining condition is established where a remaining amount of the sheet on one original sheet roll becomes equal to or below a predetermined remaining amount, an end portion of the sheet on the other original sheet roll is conveyed to the temporarily holding part by the holding part and, thereafter, the nozzle part is moved to the temporarily holding part, and the adhesive agent is discharged to the end portion of the sheet from the nozzle part.

A method of forming a disposable product includes feeding an incoming web of ear material, engaging the web with a rotating anvil, cutting ears from the web via the rotating anvil and interaction thereof with a corresponding die, so as to form pairs of ears having complimentary and nested ear shapes, and coupling the ears to at least one of a wing and a web of chassis material. In feeding the incoming web of ear material, the speed of the web is selectively varied between at least a first speed and a second speed, with the web being fed to the rotating die and anvil at the first speed to result in the cut ear shapes having a first height and the web being fed to the rotating die and anvil at the second speed to result in the cut ear shapes having a second height.

Systems and methods utilizing stationary and/or moveable cutting components provide limited interference with web processing operations, such as pad spin and pitch alteration. Heat, laser, fluid, or mechanical cutting operations may be used, including respectively, a heated element (e.g., wire, ribbon, bar, or embossing or perforating element) that may be triggered inductively, water or steam jets, or improved knife/anvil cooperation.