Device and method for carrying sheet material of worn article

A method for carrying a sheet material of a worn article using a carrying device, the carrying device comprising:

• a carrying section having a contact surface to be in contact with one surface of a first sheet material that is continuous in a carrying direction, wherein at least one edge of the first sheet material is wave-shaped so as to repeatedly define a protruding portion and a depressed portion,
• the carrying section defining an inclined slit portion, wherein the inclined slit portion defines an opening on the contact 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 the protruding portion while extending in a relative direction in which the first sheet material moves relative to the contact surface, and wherein the inclined slit portion sucks at least a portion of the protruding portion along the wave-shaped edge;
• and
• a box defining a suction space that is continuous with the inclined slit portion and keeps the inclined slit portion under a negative pressure so as to suck the protruding portion of the first sheet material so that the at least a portion of the protruding portion is pulled into the inclined slit portion,
• the method comprising the steps of:
• continuously carrying the first sheet material while keeping the first sheet material under a tension in the carrying direction of the first sheet material;
• sucking the wave-shaped edge into the inclined slit portion while carrying the first sheet material;
• and
• stretching the protruding portion in a width direction perpendicular to the carrying direction by allowing a part or whole of the wave-shaped edge that is sucked in the inclined slit portion to emerge onto the contact surface of the carrying section from the inclined slit portion as the first sheet material is carried.