CN111689290B

CN111689290B - Optical film processing equipment

Info

Publication number: CN111689290B
Application number: CN202010390273.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 能木直安; 杨以权
Original assignee: Sumika Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Sumika Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-16
Filing date: 2020-05-08
Publication date: 2022-03-11
Anticipated expiration: 2040-05-08
Also published as: CN111689290A; TW202103801A

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an optical film processing apparatus. The optical film processing equipment comprises a conveying system, a processing bath and a liquid guide roller. The conveying system is used for carrying and conveying the optical film. The optical film is transported through the process bath leaving a liquid on the surface of the optical film. The drain roller contacts the surface of the optical film with the contact surface. The contact surface has a micro-scale roughness structure.

Description

Optical film processing equipment

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to an optical film manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to an optical film manufacturing apparatus having a liquid guiding roller.

Background

In the manufacturing process of the optical film, the optical film is usually required to be soaked in various manufacturing baths for performing a dyeing crosslinking process, a surface treatment process or a water washing process, and then the surface of the optical film is cleaned and dried before the optical film is wound. However, when the optical film is processed in the processing bath, a large amount of processing solution or cleaning solution may remain on the optical film, which may cause a subsequent drying process to be time-consuming or consume a large amount of energy, and the weight of the accumulated solution may cause wrinkles on the optical film, thereby adversely affecting the optical properties of the optical film.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure relates to an optical film manufacturing apparatus. In the embodiment, the liquid guide roller of the optical film processing equipment contacts the surface of the optical film through the micron-sized roughened structure of the contact surface, so that the contact mode of the liquid guide roller and the optical film is converted from traditional surface contact into point contact, the contact area of the liquid guide roller and the optical film is properly reduced, the frictional resistance between the liquid guide roller and the surface of the optical film can be reduced, the fracture or scratch probability of the optical film is reduced, and the processing yield and the quality of the optical film can be improved.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an optical film manufacturing apparatus is provided. The optical film processing equipment comprises a conveying system, a processing bath and a liquid guide roller. The conveying system is used for carrying and conveying the optical film. The optical film is transported through the process bath leaving a liquid on the surface of the optical film. The drain roller contacts the surface of the optical film with the contact surface. The contact surface has a micro-scale roughness structure.

Drawings

In order to make the features and advantages of the present disclosure more comprehensible, various embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical film processing apparatus and an optical film processing method using the same according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an optical film processing apparatus and an optical film processing method using the same according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a liquid guiding roller according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a liquid guiding roller according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid guiding roller according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

[ notation ] to show

1. 2-optical film manufacturing equipment;

10-a conveying system;

20-a liquid spraying device;

30. 30', 30A, 30B, 30C, 31-liquid guide roller;

40-drying chamber;

50 to a process bath;

60-a liquid removal device;

70. 620, 630-spray washing device;

100-an optical film;

100 a-surface;

200. 200', 200A, 200B, 200C-micron-sized roughened structures;

210A-recess;

210B, 210C-groove;

220A to the top;

220B-a protruding structure;

220C-strip-shaped protruding structures;

230-a fixed shaft;

240-roller main body;

610-a compression roller set;

611 to a first roller;

613 to a second roller;

d 1-outer diameter;

d1-flow direction;

d2-direction;

DR 1-conveying direction;

g-gravity direction;

alpha-contact surface angle.

Detailed Description

In the embodiments of the disclosure, the liquid guiding roller of the optical film processing apparatus contacts the surface of the optical film by the micron-scale roughened structure of the contact surface, so that the contact manner between the liquid guiding roller and the optical film is changed from traditional surface contact to point contact, which properly reduces the contact area between the liquid guiding roller and the optical film, thereby reducing the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller and the surface of the optical film, reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film, and further improving the process yield and quality of the optical film.

While the present disclosure has been described in terms of various specific embodiments or examples, it is to be understood that these specific embodiments are merely exemplary and are not to be considered as limiting the scope of the disclosure. For example, when a first element is formed over a second element in the description, the description may include embodiments in which the first element is in direct contact with the second element, and may also include embodiments in which other elements are formed between the first element and the second element, wherein the first element and the second element are not in direct contact. The same or similar reference numbers are used in different embodiments and figures to denote the same or similar elements, but are used for simplicity and clarity in describing the disclosure and do not necessarily indicate a particular relationship between the various embodiments and/or structures being discussed. It should be noted that the embodiments are provided only for illustrating the technical features of the disclosure, and not for limiting the claims of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will recognize that, based on the following description, equivalent modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. Some elements are omitted from some embodiments to clearly show the technical features of the disclosure.

Furthermore, spatially relative terms, such as "below …," "below," "…," "between …," and the like, may be used herein to facilitate describing the relationship of element(s) or feature(s) to other element(s) or feature(s) in the drawings and may encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation and the orientation depicted in the drawings. The device may be turned to a different orientation (rotated 90 degrees or otherwise), and the spatially relative adjectives used herein may be similarly interpreted. It should be understood that some process steps may include additional process steps before, during, or after the performance of the process steps, and some process steps described in some embodiments may be replaced or deleted by other process steps in methods of other embodiments.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an optical film processing apparatus 1 and an optical film processing method using the same according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In the present disclosure, the optical film 100 may be a single-layer or multi-layer optical film, such as a polarizing film, a retardation film, a brightness enhancement film or a protection film; alternatively, the optical film 100 may be an optical laminate formed of a multilayer optical film, for example, which may include a polarizing film and a protective film formed thereon; alternatively, the optical film 100 may also include layers that are beneficial for optical gain, alignment, compensation, turning, cross-linking, diffusion, protection, adhesion prevention, scratch resistance, glare prevention, reflection suppression, high refractive index, and the like. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the optical film 100 is, for example, a continuous roll material.

In some embodiments, the optical film 100 is, for example, a polarizing film, and the material of the polarizing film may be a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) resin film, which may be prepared by saponifying a polyvinyl acetate resin. Examples of the polyvinyl acetate resin include a homopolymer of vinyl acetate, i.e., polyvinyl acetate, and a copolymer of vinyl acetate and other monomers copolymerizable with vinyl acetate.

In some embodiments, the optical film 100 is, for example, a protective film, which may be a single layer or a multi-layer structure. The material of the protective film may be, for example, a thermoplastic resin excellent in transparency, mechanical strength, thermal stability, moisture barrier property, and the like. The thermoplastic resin may include a cellulose resin (e.g., triacetate cellulose (TAC)), a cellulose Diacetate (DAC)), an acrylic resin (e.g., poly (methyl methacrylate), PMMA), a polyester resin (e.g., polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate), an olefin resin, a polycarbonate resin, a cycloolefin resin, oriented-stretched polypropylene (OPP), Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), a cycloolefin polymer (COP), a cycloolefin copolymer (COC), a material of the cycloolefin copolymer (COC), or any combination thereof, in addition to which, for example, a (meth) acrylic, a urethane protective film, an acrylic urethane, an epoxy, a silicone-based, or other thermosetting resin or a silicone-based resin, the protective film may be further subjected to a surface treatment such as an anti-glare treatment, an anti-reflection treatment, a hard coat treatment, a charge prevention treatment, or an anti-stain treatment.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an optical film processing apparatus 1 includes a transport system 10, a processing bath 50, and a drain roll 30. The transport system 10 includes at least one roller for carrying and transporting the optical film 100. The optical film 100 is transported through the process bath 50 via the transport system 10, leaving liquid from the process bath 50 on the surface 100a of the optical film 100. The liquid guiding roller 30 contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100 with a contact surface. The contact surface has the micro-scale roughness 200. In some embodiments, liquid may be directed out of optical film 100 from surface 100a of optical film 100 along the contact surface to both sides of optical film 100.

It is common practice to wipe off the liquid on the optical film by a water removal device in a full-surface contact manner, however, when the thickness of the optical film is relatively thin, the contact area between the surface-contact wiping action and the optical film is quite large, and the generated frictional resistance easily causes the optical film to be broken or scratched. In contrast, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, the liquid guiding roller 30 contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100 by the micro-scale roughened structure 200 contacting the surface to guide the liquid out of the optical film 100, so that the contact manner between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the optical film 100 is changed from the conventional surface contact to the point contact, which properly reduces the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the optical film 100, thereby reducing the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100, reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improving the process yield and quality of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, the liquid guiding roller 30 can also provide the supporting force and the direction guiding function of the optical film 100 during transmission, and through the design of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the liquid guiding roller 30 contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100 by the micron-scale roughened structure 200 contacting the surface, so as to reduce the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100, reduce the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improve the process yield and the quality of the optical film 100. In some embodiments, the design of the embodiments of the present disclosure can increase the transport speed of the optical film 100 to increase the throughput per unit time.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the drain roll 30 is positioned after the process bath 50 of the optical film processing apparatus 1 along the transport direction DR1 of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, the processing bath 50 may be a liquid tank required in the processing of the optical film 100, such as a saponification tank, a swelling tank, a dyeing tank, a cross-linking tank, or a washing tank. In some embodiments, the optical film 100 is a polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film that is dyed (e.g., with iodine or dichroic dyes added thereto), and the optical film 100 may pass through the process bath 50 along the conveying direction DR1, wherein after the dyeing crosslinking process, the surface treatment process, or the water washing process is performed, the liquid remaining on the surface 100a of the optical film 100 is a treatment liquid, such as a dye, trace element boron, iodine, potassium, sulfur, or an alkaline liquid for saponification, and/or a water washing liquid. Next, the optical film 100 is conveyed to the liquid guiding roller 30 to guide the liquid out of the optical film 100. As shown in fig. 1, the liquid contacts the liquid guiding roller 30 along the flow direction D1, and is guided out of the optical film 100.

When the optical film 100 is removed from the process bath 50 through the process bath 50, a relatively large amount of liquid is carried over on the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and the liquid is not intended to be completely removed by a single apparatus or component. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the drain roller 30 having the micro-scale roughening structure 200 can remove about 80-90% of the residual liquid from the process bath 50, and then only 10-20% of the remaining liquid needs to be completely removed again in a subsequent dewatering device and/or drying device. In this way, the liquid guiding roller 30 can remove most of the residual liquid under the condition of ensuring that the optical film 100 is not damaged, which is beneficial to enabling the subsequent water removal and/or drying steps to be performed more quickly and more effectively, so that the residual liquid can be effectively and completely removed and the good quality of the optical film 100 can be maintained.

In some embodiments, the material of the liquid guiding roller 30 may include stainless steel, titanium alloy, and/or acryl, and the micro-scale roughened structure 200 may be formed by a water jet cutting process, a laser process, and/or an etching process.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the micro-scale-roughened structure 200 may have a plurality of recesses that are recessed from the top of the micro-scale-roughened structure 200 toward the inside. Various embodiments of the recess pattern and dimensions will be described in detail later in this document with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the recess pattern and size of the embodiments of the present disclosure may have various designs according to actual needs, and are not limited to the specific embodiments described herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the top of the micro-scale roughness structure 200 directly contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and the concave of the micro-scale roughness structure 200 does not contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the concave portion does not contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and only the top of the micro-scale roughened structure 200 directly contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, so that the effect of reducing the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the optical film 100 can be effectively achieved, and the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100 can be reduced, thereby reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improving the process yield and quality of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the liquid guiding roller 30 is, for example, a fixed roller, that is, the liquid guiding roller 30 does not rotate. In this way, according to the embodiment of the disclosure, as shown in fig. 1, the liquid guiding roller 30 can contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100 only in a local area of the entire surface, so that the contact surface having the micro-scale roughened structure 200 can only occupy the local area of the entire surface of the liquid guiding roller 30, that is, only the micro-scale roughened structure 200 needs to be manufactured in the predetermined local area of the liquid guiding roller 30, which further has the advantage of saving the manufacturing cost. In some embodiments, the contact surface area may be only 20-60% of the surface area of the entire surface of the liquid guiding roller 30.

In some embodiments, the material of the liquid guiding roller 30 may include stainless steel, titanium alloy, or hard acryl, for example. Stainless steel is, for example, SUS304L, SUS309S, SUS310S, SUS311, SUS314, SUS321, SUS345, SUS348, SUS403, SUS410, SUS405, SUS406, SUS410, SUS414, SUS430, SUS330F, SUS431, SUS440A to C, SUS442, SUS443, SUS446, SUS447JI, SUS630, SUS JIS 35, SUS XM 27, SHOMAC30-2, SEA-CURE, HR-8N, SUS 316, SUS 316L, SUS 317 SUS 317, SUS 317L, SUS 316J1, SUS 316J2, CARPENTER 20 or MONIT.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 1, the outer diameter d1 of the liquid guiding roller 30 is, for example, 50-300 μm.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the liquid guiding roller 30 not only contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, but also advances about 1 to 5 centimeters (10 to 50 millimeters) in a direction D2 perpendicular to the surface 100a, so that a contact surface angle α is formed between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100, the contact surface angle α being, for example, 3 to 45 degrees, and the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100 is increased, so that the liquid is less likely to pass through where the liquid guiding roller 30 contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and the effect of guiding the liquid out of the surface 100a of the optical film 100 by the liquid guiding roller 30 is improved.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, an area covered by the contact surface angle α substantially overlaps an area covered by the micro-scale roughened structures 200 of the contact surface of the liquid guiding roller 30, and the area covered by the micro-scale roughened structures 200 is larger than the area covered by the contact surface angle α. Therefore, the liquid guiding roller 30 can be completely contacted with the surface 100a of the optical film 100 by the micron-scale roughened structure 200, so that the effect of reducing the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the surface 100a of the optical film 100 can be more effectively achieved, and the process yield and the quality of the optical film can be further improved.

In some embodiments, the average roughness (Ra) of the contact surface of the drain roller 30 is, for example, 5 to 80 micrometers. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, if the average roughness (Ra) of the contact surface is greater than 80 μm, the concern of reduced liquid blocking effect may occur, and the possibility of damage to the optical film 100 due to excessive roughness may be increased; on the other hand, if the average roughness (Ra) of the contact surface is less than 5 μm, the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30 and the optical film 100 cannot be effectively reduced. In other words, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, when the average roughness (Ra) of the contact surface of the liquid guiding roller 30 is between 5 to 80 μm, it is better to achieve the effects of reducing the damage of the optical film 100 and providing a good liquid blocking effect.

As shown in fig. 1, the optical film processing apparatus 1 may further include a liquid removing device 60 and a drying chamber 40, wherein the optical film 100 passes through the processing bath 50, the liquid guiding roller 30, the liquid removing device 60 and the drying chamber 40 in sequence along a conveying direction DR1 by the conveying system 10.

In some embodiments, the liquid removing device 60 is used to further remove the liquid remaining on the surface 100a of the optical film 100. As shown in fig. 1, in an embodiment, the liquid removing device 60 may include a pressing roller set 610, and the pressing roller set 610 includes a first roller 611 and a second roller 613 which are oppositely disposed, so that the optical film 100 is pressed between the first roller 611 and the second roller 613 to remove the liquid. In some embodiments, the liquid removing device 60 is disposed immediately after the liquid guiding roller 30 along the conveying direction DR1 to completely remove 10-20% of the residual liquid from the process bath 50 on the surface 100a of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, the liquid removing device 60 can also be used to further remove foreign matters falling from the optical film 100. As shown in fig. 1, in the embodiment, the liquid removing device 60 may further optionally include spraying

devices

620 and 630, wherein the spraying device 620 and the spraying device 630 are respectively disposed adjacent to the first roller 611 and the second roller 613, and respectively spray a cleaning liquid, such as water, for cleaning the foreign matters and the residual liquid on the surfaces of the first roller 611 and the second roller 613.

In some embodiments, the drying chamber 40 is used to dry the optical film 100 after removing liquid (e.g., treatment liquid and/or water washing liquid). In some embodiments, the drying chamber 40 is, for example, an oven, but not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 1, the optical film processing apparatus 1 may further include another liquid guiding roller 31, and the design of the liquid guiding roller 31 is substantially the same as that of the liquid guiding roller 30, and will not be described herein again. As shown in fig. 1, the liquid sprayed by the spray rinsing device 630 is likely to flow downward in a direction opposite to the conveying direction DR1, and the liquid guiding roller 31 is disposed below the spray rinsing device 630 and contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, so that most of the liquid can be effectively removed from the surface 100a of the optical film 100 by the liquid guiding roller 31, and the liquid from the spray rinsing device 630 can be prevented from being undesirably accumulated at the lower roller to adversely affect the quality of the optical film 100.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an optical film processing apparatus and an optical film processing method using the same according to another embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, the same or similar elements as those in the previous embodiment are labeled with the same or similar elements, and the description of the same or similar elements is referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the optical film processing apparatus 2 may include a transport system 10, a process bath 50, a liquid guide roller 30', and a liquid spraying device 20. The liquid ejecting apparatus 20 may eject liquid onto the surface 100a of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the entire surface of the liquid guiding roller 30 ' has the micro-scale roughened structures 200 ', so that the entire surface of the liquid guiding roller 30 ' can be used as the contact surface. Thus, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the liquid guiding roller 30' can be arbitrarily set as a fixed roller or a rotating roller according to the design and process requirements of the optical film manufacturing apparatus, which improves the design and usage flexibility of the manufacturing apparatus.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the drain roller 30 'having the micro-scale roughening structure 200' on the entire surface is, for example, a rotating roller. For example, in some embodiments, the liquid guiding roller 30' is, for example, a driving roller, and rotates on the contact surface with the surface 100a of the optical film 100 in the direction opposite to the conveying direction DR1 of the optical film 100, so as to enhance the liquid blocking and guiding effects; in some other embodiments, the liquid guiding roller 30' is, for example, a capstan, and rotates in the same direction as the conveying direction DR1 of the optical film 100 on the contact surface with the surface 100a of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, as shown in FIG. 2, the liquid spraying apparatus 20 is disposed behind the process bath 50 of the optical film processing apparatus 2 and the liquid spraying apparatus 20 is disposed in front of the liquid guiding roller 30' of the optical film processing apparatus 2 along the conveying direction DR1 of the optical film 100. In some embodiments, the liquid spraying apparatus 20 may be used to adjust the optical properties of the optical film 100 and/or wash away residual liquid on the surface 100a of the optical film 100, such as treatment liquid from the process bath 50, such as dye, trace element boron, iodine, potassium, sulfur, or alkaline liquid for saponification, and/or water washing liquid.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 2, the optical film manufacturing apparatus 2 may further include a spray cleaning device 70 for cleaning foreign substances on the rollers of the conveying system 10.

As shown in fig. 2, the gravity direction G is a spatially downward direction, the liquid sprayed by the liquid spraying device 20 is likely to flow downward along the conveying direction DR1, and the liquid guiding roller 30 'is disposed below the liquid spraying device 20 and the spraying device 70 and contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100, so that the liquid can be effectively removed from the surface 100a of the optical film 100 through the liquid guiding roller 30', thereby preventing the liquid from the liquid spraying device 20 and the spraying device 70 from being improperly accumulated at the roller below, and further preventing the quality of the optical film from being adversely affected.

As shown in fig. 2, in an embodiment, the optical film manufacturing apparatus 2 may include three liquid spraying devices 20, the liquid spraying devices 20 may spray water, the three liquid spraying devices 20 are respectively disposed at different positions and have different water temperatures, and the full-width color of the optical film 100 may be more uniform through proper arrangement of the positions and the water temperatures.

Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a liquid guiding roller 30A according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, the same or similar elements as those in the previous embodiment are labeled with the same or similar elements, and the description of the same or similar elements is referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the liquid guiding roller 30A is, for example, a fixed roller, and the liquid guiding roller 30A includes a fixing shaft 230 and a roller main body 240, and the fixing shaft 230 is fixedly connected to the roller main body 240. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the contact surface having the micro-scale roughened structures 200A may occupy only a partial region of the entire surface of the roller body 240, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 3, the micro-scale roughened structure 200A of the liquid guiding roller 30A has a plurality of concave portions 210A, and the concave portions 210A are concave inward from the top portions 220A of the micro-scale roughened structure 200A. In some embodiments, in the process of manufacturing the optical film 100, when the liquid guiding roller 30A contacts the surface 100A of the optical film 100 with a contact surface, the top 220A of the micro-scale roughened structure 200A directly contacts the surface 100A of the optical film 100, and the concave 210A of the micro-scale roughened structure 200A does not contact the surface 100A of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, the material of the liquid guiding roller 30A may include stainless steel, titanium alloy, and/or acryl, and the concave portion 210A may be formed on the surface of the roller body 240 by a sand blasting process, a water jet cutting process, a laser process, and/or an etching process. In some embodiments, for example, the recess 210A having a micrometer size may be formed on the surface of the roller main body 240 made of stainless steel and/or titanium alloy.

In some embodiments, the inner diameter dimension of the recess 210A is, for example, equal to or less than 80 microns. In some embodiments, the inner diameter dimension of the recess 210A is, for example, between 5 and 80 microns. In some embodiments, the inner diameter dimension of the recess 210A is, for example, between 10 and 50 microns. In some embodiments, the inner diameter dimensions of the plurality of recesses 210A may be the same or different from one another.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only the top 220A of the micro-scale roughened structure 200A directly contacts the surface 100A of the optical film 100, so that the effect of reducing the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30A and the optical film 100 can be effectively achieved, and the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30A and the surface 100A of the optical film 100 can be reduced, thereby reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improving the process yield and quality of the optical film.

Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a liquid guiding roller 30B according to another embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, the same or similar elements as those in the previous embodiment are labeled with the same or similar elements, and the description of the same or similar elements is referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the liquid guiding roller 30B is, for example, a fixed roller, and the liquid guiding roller 30B includes a fixing shaft 230 and a roller main body 240, and the fixing shaft 230 is fixedly connected to the roller main body 240. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the contact surface having the micro-scale roughened structures 200B may occupy only a partial region of the entire surface of the roller body 240, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the micro-scale roughened structure 200B of the liquid guiding roller 30B has a plurality of grooves 210B, and the grooves 210B extend along the width direction of the optical film 100, that is, along the extending direction of the fixed shaft 230. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 4, the micro-scale roughened structure 200B of the liquid guiding roller 30B further has a plurality of protruding structures 220B, and the grooves 210B are located between the protruding structures 220B.

In some embodiments, in the process of manufacturing the optical film 100, when the liquid guiding roller 30B contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100 with the contact surface, the protruding structures 220B of the micro-scale roughened structures 200B directly contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and the grooves 210B of the micro-scale roughened structures 200B do not contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100.

In some embodiments, the material of the liquid guiding roller 30B may include stainless steel, titanium alloy, and/or acrylic, and the grooves 210B may be formed by recessing a local region of the surface of the roller body 240 through a water jet cutting process, a laser process, and/or an etching process. In some embodiments, the surface of the roller body 240 made of acryl may be etched, for example, by an etching process to form the groove 210B. As shown in fig. 4, in the embodiment, the bottom of the groove 210B is lower than the surface of the roller body 240. In some embodiments, the width of the trench 210B is, for example, equal to or less than 80 microns. In some embodiments, the width of the trench 210B is, for example, between 5 and 80 microns. In some embodiments, the width of the trench 210B is, for example, between 10 and 50 microns. In some embodiments, the widths of the plurality of trenches 210B may be the same or different from one another.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only the protruding structures 220B of the micro-scale roughened structure 200B directly contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100, so that the effect of reducing the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30B and the optical film 100 can be effectively achieved, and the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30B and the surface 100a of the optical film 100 can be reduced, thereby reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improving the process yield and quality of the optical film.

Fig. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid guiding roller 30C according to another embodiment of the disclosure. In this embodiment, the same or similar elements as those in the previous embodiment are labeled with the same or similar elements, and the description of the same or similar elements is referred to the foregoing description, and will not be repeated herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the liquid guiding roller 30C is, for example, a fixed roller, and the liquid guiding roller 30C includes a fixing shaft 230 and a roller main body 240, and the fixing shaft 230 is fixedly connected to the roller main body 240. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the contact surface having the micro-scale roughened structures 200C may occupy only a partial region of the entire surface of the roller body 240, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the micro-scale roughened structure 200C of the liquid guiding roller 30C has a plurality of stripe-shaped protrusion structures 220C, and the stripe-shaped protrusion structures 220C extend along the width direction of the optical film 100, that is, along the extending direction of the fixed shaft 230. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the micro-scale roughened structure 200C of the liquid guiding roller 30C further has a plurality of grooves 210C, and the grooves 210C are located between the bar-shaped protrusion structures 220C.

In some embodiments, in the process of manufacturing the optical film 100, when the liquid guiding roller 30C contacts the surface 100a of the optical film 100 with the contact surface, the stripe-shaped protrusion structures 220C of the micro-scale roughness structures 200C directly contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100, and the grooves 210C of the micro-scale roughness structures 200C do not contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100. In some embodiments, as shown in fig. 5, the top surface of the bar-like protrusion structure 220C is higher than the surface of the roller body 240.

In some embodiments, the width of the bar-shaped protrusion structure 220C is equal to or less than 80 micrometers, for example. In some embodiments, the width of the bar-shaped protrusion structure 220C is, for example, between 5 and 80 micrometers. In some embodiments, the width of the bar-shaped protrusion structure 220C is, for example, between 10 and 50 micrometers. In some embodiments, the widths of the plurality of bar-shaped protrusion structures 220C may be the same or different from each other.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, only the strip-shaped protrusion structures 220C of the micro-scale roughening structure 200C directly contact the surface 100a of the optical film 100, so that the effect of reducing the contact area between the liquid guiding roller 30C and the optical film 100 can be effectively achieved, and the frictional resistance between the liquid guiding roller 30C and the surface 100a of the optical film 100 can be reduced, thereby reducing the probability of breaking or scratching the optical film 100, and further improving the yield and quality of the optical film.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it is not intended to be limited thereto. Those skilled in the art to which the disclosure pertains will readily appreciate that numerous modifications and adaptations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure should be determined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. An optical film manufacturing apparatus, comprising:

a conveying system for carrying and conveying an optical film;

a process bath through which the optical film is transported while leaving a liquid on a surface of the optical film; and

a liquid guiding roller, which contacts the surface of the optical film with a contact surface, wherein the contact surface has a micron-scale roughened structure;

wherein, the micron-scale roughened structure comprises a plurality of grooves or a plurality of concave parts, the width of each groove or the inner diameter of each concave part is between 5 microns and 10 microns, but does not comprise 10 microns.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of recesses are recessed from a top of the micro-scale roughened structure toward an interior thereof.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the top of the micro-scale roughened structure directly contacts the surface of the optical film; and/or the liquid flows from the surface of the optical film to two sides of the optical film along the contact surface to be led out of the optical film.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of grooves extend along a width of the optical film.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the micro-scale roughened structure has a plurality of bar-shaped protruding structures extending along a width direction of the optical film.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fluid guide roller is a stationary roller.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a contact surface angle between the liquid guiding roller and the optical film is 3-45 degrees.