Apparatus to manufacture absorbent body

An apparatus for manufacturing an absorbent body, said apparatus comprising:

• a first sheet supplying mechanism configured to reel out and supply a sheet from a sheet roll made by reeling up the sheet in a roll shape, the first sheet supplying mechanism having
• a pair of first pinch rolls configured to sandwich the sheet and drivingly rotate to reel out the sheet from the sheet roll, and
• a first sensor configured to detect that a tail end of the sheet reeling out from the first sheet supplying mechanism is close;
• a second sheet supplying mechanism configured to reel out and supply a sheet from a sheet roll made by reeling up the sheet in a roll shape, the second sheet supplying mechanism having
• a pair of second pinch rolls configured to sandwich the sheet and drivingly rotate to reel out the sheet from the sheet roll, and
• a second sensor configured to detect that a tail end of the sheet reeling out from the second sheet supplying mechanism is close;
• a controller configured to control the driving rotation of the first pinch rolls and the second pinch rolls;
• a crusher configured to crush the sheet supplied from the first or second sheet supplying mechanism into a fibrous matter by scraping a lead end of the sheet that has been reeled out from the first or second sheet supplying mechanism;
• and
• a fiber stacking device configured to laminate the fibrous matter sent out from the crusher in a predetermined shape to obtain the absorbent body,
• wherein
• when switching a supply of the sheet to the crusher from the first sheet supplying mechanism to the second sheet supplying mechanism, the controller is configured to
• control the driving rotation of the first pinch rolls such that a reeling-out speed of the sheet from the first sheet supplying mechanism is decreased in a predetermined period, and
• control the driving rotation of the second pinch rolls such that a reeling-out speed of the sheet from the second sheet supplying mechanism is increased in the predetermined period.