Method and device for manufacturing capacitor element

A method for manufacturing a capacitor element having an element body portion including dielectric layers and internal electrode layers laminated alternately along a predetermined direction, comprising the steps of:

• preparing a mother block formed by laminating a plurality of dielectric green sheets which will serve as said dielectric layers and a plurality of conductive patterns which will serve as said internal electrode layers;
• singulating said mother block into a plurality of laminate blocks having a shape of an elongated, substantially rectangular parallelepiped, by dividing said mother block in rows along a first dividing plane which is substantially parallel to a lamination direction of said plurality of conductive patterns;
• rolling each of said plurality of laminate blocks such that each of a pair of first cut surfaces does not face a laminate block located adjacent thereto, said pair of first cut surfaces being formed in each of said plurality of laminate blocks by dividing said mother block;
• and
• singulating each of said plurality of laminate blocks into a plurality of laminate chips having a shape of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped, by dividing said plurality of laminate blocks after rolling in columns along a second dividing plane which is substantially parallel to the lamination direction of said plurality of conductive patterns in said plurality of laminate blocks after rolling, and is substantially perpendicular to said pair of first cut surfaces,
• wherein the step of rolling each of said plurality of laminate blocks includes the steps of
• placing said plurality of laminate blocks on a stage such that each of said pair of first cut surfaces remains to face the laminate block located adjacent thereto, and
• relatively moving, on said stage, said plurality of laminate blocks placed thereon, with respect to the stage, along a direction in which the plurality of laminate blocks are arranged side by side, thereby sequentially pushing each of said plurality of laminate blocks to an end portion of said stage and causing each of said plurality of laminate blocks to rotationally fall from the end portion, and thereby causing one of said pair of first cut surfaces of each of said plurality of laminate blocks which have rotationally fallen to land in a region outside said stage.