Apparatus for manufacturing joined laminated media and method of manufacturing joined laminated media

An apparatus for manufacturing joined laminated media by joining layers of membrane materials by pressing them, comprising:

• a pair of endless belts that transport the laminated media that are sandwiched between the belts;
• pressing devices that are disposed at the positions that are opposed to and that sandwich the pair of the endless belts, the pressing devices giving pressing forces by pressing the endless belts on the laminated media that are transported by the endless belts;
• a housing section which is a compartmentalized space formed between the endless belts that are opposed to each other such that the laminated media can be placed in the space;
• a discharging section that protrudes in the direction of the width of the endless belt and that communicates with the housing section and that is to discharge the air from the spaces, each space compartmentalized by the pair of endless belts and the housing section;
• a sealing member that comprises a plurality of the housing sections and discharging sections that are in a line running in the direction of the movements of the endless belts, which sealing member is formed on at least one of the pair of the endless belts;
• and
• a discharging member that discharges the air from the housing space through a hole for a discharge, the hole for a discharge being formed through the endless belt at the position corresponding to the discharging section,
• wherein the holes for a discharge are in a line running in the direction of the movements of the endless belts and outside the pressing devices in the width direction of the endless belts, and
• wherein the discharging member covers the holes for a discharge by contacting the side of the endless belt which side is opposite to the side of the sealing member, the discharging members being disposed at such positions that the air in the housing space can be kept to be discharged at least for the area where the laminated media are pressed by the pressing devices, and
• wherein the pair of endless belts are fixed firmly to the laminated media that are disposed in the housing space by having the air in the housing space discharged by the discharging member through a hole for a discharge, and wherein the laminated media are transported in a fixed position and can be pressed by the pressing devices.