Method for producing fiber-reinforced resin molding material, and apparatus for producing fiber-reinforced resin molding material

A splitting machine for splitting a fiber bundle at intervals in a longitudinal direction thereof, the splitting machine comprising a rotary blade for intermittently thrusting through the fiber bundle and a spacer member which is arranged adjacent to and rotates together with the rotary blade, wherein:

• a cut-off portion is formed in the rotary blade to serve as a releasing section which is not allowed to thrust through the fiber bundle, such that the rotary blade has an outer circumference of a cut-off circle shape;
• a length x (mm) and a length y (mm) satisfy x>2y, where the length x is a length of the outer circumference of a portion of the rotary blade other than the cut-off portion, and the length y (mm) is a length obtained by subtracting the length x from a length (mm) of an entire circumference of the rotary blade assumed to be in a state of not having the cut-off portion;
• and
• the cut-off portion has a cut-off angle α (°) and the cut-off angle α satisfies 180≤α≤200.