Method of manufacturing plugged honeycomb structure and manufacturing apparatus of plugged honeycomb structure

A method for manufacturing a plugged honeycomb structure provided with a cylindrical honeycomb structure having a plurality of cells functioning as fluid passages and partitioned by porous partition walls and plugging members for plugging open ends on one side of the cells,

• wherein the method has a process of forming the plugging members on open ends on one side of the cells, the process comprising the steps of:
• preparing an unplugged honeycomb structure,
• disposing a plugging material supplier having a slit aperture on a plane in parallel with the plane and supplying a plugging material on a plane from the slit aperture of the plugging material supplier with moving the plugging material supplier or with moving the plane to level the plugging material on the plane, and
• filling the plugging material into the cells from openings on one side of the cells by pressing an end face of the unplugged honeycomb structure against the leveled plugging material on the plane or by pressing the leveled plugging material against the end face of the unplugged honeycomb structure on the plane.

A device for manufacturing a plugged honeycomb structure by plugging open end on one side of a plurality of cells functioning as fluid passages and partitioned by porous partition walls of a cylindrical honeycomb structure with plugging members, the device comprising:

• a belt conveyer provided with a portion where a belt having a plane horizontally moves and a portion where the belt vertically moves,
• a plugging material supplier for supplying a plugging material to function as the plugging member on the plane of the belt,
• a leveling means for leveling the plugging material supplied on the plane on a portion where the belt horizontally moves,
• a honeycomb structure fixing means for disposing and fixing a honeycomb structure in such a manner that an end face on one side where open ends of the cells of the cylindrical honeycomb structure are shown faces the plane of the belt in a portion where the belt vertically moves, and
• a pressing means for pressing the leveled plugging member in a portion where the belt vertically moves from the side opposite to the plane of the belt where the plugging material is supplied to fill the plugging material into the cells on the end face on one side of the fixed honeycomb structure.