Folding apparatus and a folding method for a combined body of a continuous sheet related to an absorbent article

A folding apparatus for a combined body of a continuous sheet related to an absorbent article, that folds at least one end section of the continuous sheet on one side in a width direction together with one end section of an object in the width direction while conveying the combined body in a conveying direction, the combined body being formed by placing intermittently a plurality of the objects on the continuous sheet at a predetermined interval, the conveying direction being a direction in which the continuous sheet continues, comprising:

• a standing guide member that is disposed at a predetermined position in the conveying direction, and that stands the one end section of the combined body in the width direction by bending a predetermined section of the combined body in the width direction and forming a bent section;
• a folding guide member that is disposed at a predetermined position in the conveying direction to correspond to the stood one end section and that folds the stood one end section by laying the one end section towards a section that is located closer to another side than the one end section in the combined body;
• and
• a shift-regulating guide member that regulates shifting of the combined body towards the one side in the width direction by coming into contact, from the one side, with the combined body when laying the one end section towards the section that is located closer to the other side, wherein
• the shift-regulating guide member being either one of a roller member that rotates along the conveying direction and a belt member that moves along the conveying direction.