CN114630925B

CN114630925B - Film forming apparatus

Info

Publication number: CN114630925B
Application number: CN202080075134.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 恩地卓也; 小森常范
Original assignee: Toray Engineering Co Ltd
Current assignee: Toray Engineering Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-10-29
Filing date: 2020-09-04
Publication date: 2024-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2040-09-04
Also published as: WO2021084911A1; JP2021070837A; JP7291606B2; CN114630925A

Abstract

The invention provides a film forming apparatus capable of forming a functional film on a substrate without degrading the performance of the functional film. Specifically, the film forming apparatus includes: a film forming chamber (7) for forming a thin film on the film forming surface side of the substrate (2) transported in a roll-to-roll manner; a guide member (8) that guides the transport direction of the substrate (2) by contacting the film formation surface side of the substrate (2) or the opposite side thereof, thereby forming a transport path for the substrate (2); and a protective member attaching section (9 a) which is provided between the film forming chamber (7) and a guide member (8) that is positioned downstream of the film forming chamber (7) in the transport path of the base material (2) and is in contact with the film forming surface side of the base material (2) at first, and which attaches a flexible protective member (B) to the film forming surface side of the base material (2).

Description

Film forming apparatus

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus for forming a functional film having a predetermined function on a band-shaped substrate by a vacuum film forming method.

Background

In recent years, a method of improving the function of a product by coating a functional film as a thin film on the surface of the product such as a plastic film has been used in various fields. A barrier film in which a barrier film for the purpose of oxidation resistance, moisture permeation prevention, and the like is formed on a plastic film is one example, and other transparent conductive films, antireflection films, and the like may be formed on a substrate.

Such a film-forming substrate is formed by using a film-forming apparatus shown in patent document 1, for example. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a film forming apparatus described in patent document 1. In the film forming apparatus 100, a barrier film, which is one of functional films, is formed on a substrate 101 by a plasma CVD method, which is one of vacuum film forming methods. Specifically, the source gas supplied to the barrier film in the film formation chamber 102 is decomposed by the plasma, and the decomposed source gas is deposited on the substrate 101, whereby a thin film as a barrier film is formed on the substrate 101.

In the film forming apparatus 100 of fig. 9, the long strip-shaped substrate 101 wound up by the winding roller 106 from the winding roller 105 is conveyed along the conveying path formed by the main roller 103 and the guide roller 104. In particular, when the substrate 101 is conveyed along the main roller 103, a thin film is formed on the substrate 101 by the film forming chamber 102 provided opposite to the main roller 103.

Prior art literature

Patent literature

Patent document 1: japanese patent laid-open publication 2016-060942

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the film forming apparatus 100, the performance of the functional film formed on the substrate 101 may be degraded. Specifically, in the film forming apparatus 100, the guide roller 104 forming the transport path of the substrate 101 includes a film formation surface side roller 104a contacting the film formation surface side of the substrate 101 and a back surface side roller 104b contacting the surface opposite to the film formation surface of the substrate 101, but when the substrate 101 having a thin film of a functional film formed in the film forming chamber 102 contacts the film formation surface side roller 104a having a hard surface, there is a problem that the functional film is damaged and the performance thereof is lowered. Further, if the film forming apparatus is configured such that there is no film forming surface side roller in contact with the substrate on which the thin film having the functional film is formed, there is a problem in that the transport path of the substrate is limited, and as a result, the apparatus becomes large.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a film forming apparatus and a film forming method capable of forming a functional film on a substrate without degrading the performance of the functional film.

Means for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problems, a film forming apparatus according to the present invention includes: a film forming chamber for forming a thin film on a film formation surface side of a substrate transported in a roll-to-roll manner; a guide member that guides a transport direction of the substrate by contacting a film formation surface side or an opposite side thereof of the substrate, thereby forming a transport path of the substrate; and a protective member attaching portion that is provided between the film forming chamber and the guide member that is positioned downstream of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate and that is first in contact with the film forming surface side of the substrate, and that attaches a flexible protective member to the film forming surface side of the substrate.

According to the film forming apparatus of the present invention, a functional film can be formed on a substrate without degrading the performance of the functional film. Specifically, by providing the protective member attaching portion which is provided between the film forming chamber and the guide member which is provided on the downstream side of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate and which is in contact with the film forming surface side of the substrate at first, and which attaches the flexible protective member to the film forming surface side of the substrate, it is possible to prevent the film formed on the substrate from coming into physical contact with the guide roller, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the film from being damaged by contact with the surface of the guide roller.

In the surface of the protective member facing the base material, the adhesive force of the portion facing the both end portions of the base material in the width direction of the base material may be higher than the adhesive force of the portion between the both end portions.

This makes it possible to reduce the peeling of the protective member from the base material even if the film is peeled from the base material.

The protective member may be disposed so as to face only a part of the base material in the width direction of the base material.

This makes it possible to prevent the film from physically contacting the guide roller by generating a gap between the guide roller and the portion of the base material to which the protective member is not attached.

The substrate may be reversely conveyed, and the protective member attaching portion may be provided on both sides of the substrate conveying path through the film forming chamber.

In this way, even when the substrate is reversely conveyed in the film forming apparatus to form a film, the film formed on the substrate can be prevented from physically contacting the guide roller.

The base material may be wound up in a state where the protective member is attached to the base material.

This prevents the film from coming into contact with the back surface of the base material in a state where the base material is wound.

The winding device may further comprise a protective member peeling section for peeling the protective member from the base material before winding the base material.

This prevents the winding from being shifted by winding in a state where the protective member is attached, and only the base material is wound.

The protective member peeled off by the protective member peeling section may be sent to the protective member attaching section to form a circulation path of the protective member.

This makes it possible to reduce the length of the protective member to be prepared.

ADVANTAGEOUS EFFECTS OF INVENTION

According to the film forming apparatus of the present invention, a functional film can be formed on a substrate without degrading the performance of the functional film.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a film forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing a protective member according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing a protective member according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing a protective member according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a film forming apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing a film forming apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing a film forming apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing a film forming apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a conventional film forming apparatus.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a film forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is a front view.

The film forming apparatus 1 is an apparatus for forming a thin film by performing a surface treatment on a substrate, and is used for, for example, a protective film for food, a flexible solar cell, or the like, in which a barrier film that is a functional film for the purpose of oxidation resistance and moisture permeation prevention is formed on a flexible plastic film. Specifically, in the case of a flexible solar cell, after forming a solar cell including electrode layers, photoelectric conversion layers, and the like on a band-shaped substrate such as a plastic film, a barrier film is formed by forming 2 or more thin films on the solar cell by the film forming apparatus 1. This effectively prevents moisture from penetrating into the solar cell, and a flexible solar cell excellent in oxidation durability can be formed.

The film forming apparatus 1 includes: a bundle holding roller 3, a bundle holding roller 4, which are 2 bundle holding rollers for holding a bundle of a substrate having flexibility; a main roller 5 disposed between the bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4; a main roller chamber 6 accommodating the main roller 5; and film forming chambers 7 for forming a thin film, wherein the substrate 2 fed from one beam holding roller (beam holding roller 3) is conveyed along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roller 5 and passed through each film forming chamber 7, thereby forming a thin film on the substrate 2, and is wound up by the other beam holding roller (beam holding roller 4).

The direction of rotation of the main roller 5 is indicated by an arrow in fig. 1, and the direction of the arrow (counterclockwise direction) is the transport direction of the substrate 2 at this time.

The film forming apparatus 1 further includes a protective member attaching portion 9a, and by attaching the protective member B to the film formation surface side of the substrate 2 on which the thin film is formed, the guide roller 104a, which is a roller body forming the transport path of the substrate 2 and is in contact with the film formation surface side of the substrate 2, is prevented from physically contacting the thin film formed on the substrate 2.

The bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4 each have a core 31 and a core 41 having a substantially cylindrical shape, and the base material 2 is wound around these core 31 and core 41 to form a bundle of the base material 2.

By rotationally driving these core portions 31 and 41, the base material 2 can be sent out or wound up. That is, the so-called roll-to-roll conveyance is performed by the bundle holding rollers 3 and 4, and the feeding speed or the winding speed of the base material 2 can be increased or decreased by controlling the rotation of the core 31 and the core 41 by a control device not shown. Specifically, in the embodiment of fig. 1, the bundle holding roller 3 is located on the upstream side of the main roller 5 in the transport path of the substrate, and therefore, the bundle holding roller 3 serves as a roller for feeding out the substrate 2, and conversely, the bundle holding roller 4 serves as a roller for winding up the substrate 2. Then, in a state where the base material 2 receives the pulling force from the core 41 located on the downstream side, the base material 2 is fed out to the downstream side by rotating the core 31 located on the upstream side, and the base material 2 is fed out at a constant speed without being deflected by appropriately applying the brake to the core 31. Further, by adjusting the rotation of the core 41, the substrate 2 to be fed can be wound without applying tension more than necessary to the substrate 2 while suppressing the deflection.

The base material 2 is a thin plate-like long body having flexibility extending in one direction, and a flat plate-like long body having a thickness of 0.01mm to 0.2mm and a width of 5mm to 1600mm can be used. The material is not particularly limited, and for example, a resin film such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate ) can be suitably used.

In this way, the bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4 are paired rollers, one of which feeds the substrate 2, and the other of which winds the substrate 2 at the same winding speed as the feeding speed, so that the substrate 2 can be conveyed while maintaining the tension applied to the substrate 2 at a predetermined value.

The main roller 5 is provided between the bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4 in the conveyance path of the base material 2, and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a diameter larger than the core portions 31 and 41 of the bundle holding rollers. The outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roller 5 is formed into a curved surface having a constant curvature in the circumferential direction, and is driven and controlled to rotate by a control device, not shown. The bundle holding rollers 3 and 4 are controlled to rotate in response to the rotation of the main roller 5, and the substrate 2 fed from the bundle holding rollers 3 is conveyed along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roller 5 in a state where a predetermined tension is applied thereto. That is, the bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4 rotate in conjunction with the conveyance of the substrate 2 as the main roller 5 rotates in a state in which the substrate 2 is along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roller 5, whereby the substrate 2 is conveyed from the bundle holding roller 3 to the bundle holding roller 4 in a state in which the entire substrate 2 is tensioned and the surfaces thereof face the respective film forming chambers 7.

By conveying the substrate 2 in a tensioned state as described above and forming a film by the film forming chamber 7 while conveying the substrate 2, the vibration of the substrate 2 at the time of forming a film can be prevented, the film thickness accuracy of the thin film laminated on the substrate 2 can be improved, and the generation of particles due to the vibration of the substrate 2 can be prevented. Further, since the film formation can be performed while the substrate 2 is supported in a more nearly flat state by increasing the radius of curvature of the main roller 5, the substrate 2 after the film formation can be prevented from being warped, and the distance between the substrate 2 and the plasma electrode 72 in the film formation chamber 7 is substantially uniform, so that a thin film having a uniform film thickness can be easily formed. The transport speed of the substrate 2 at the time of film formation was 40 to 50 m/min.

Further, by setting the tension from the main roller 5 to the bundle holding roller 4 as the take-up roller slightly higher than the tension from the bundle holding roller 3 as the feed-out roller to the main roller 5, the substrate 2 can be further closely attached to the main roller 5.

The main roller chamber 6 is a space surrounded by a cover for surrounding the main roller 5 so as to hold the pressure in the chamber constant. The main roller chamber 6 has a partition 61 in addition to the cover forming the outer cover of the film forming apparatus 1, and the main roller chamber 6 and a film forming chamber 7 described later are partitioned by the partition 61 in the film forming apparatus 1. By this spacer 61, only a part of the substrate 2 conveyed along the outer peripheral portion 51 of the main roller 5 is exposed to the film forming chamber 7.

In the present embodiment, the following modes are adopted: the vacuum pump 71 is provided only on the film forming chamber 7 side, and the main roller chamber 6 is depressurized together with the film forming chamber 7 by the operation of the vacuum pump 71, but the vacuum pump may be provided on the main roller chamber 6 side.

In the case where the main roller chamber 6 is also provided with a vacuum pump, the pressure in the main roller chamber 6 is preferably set to be higher than the pressure in the film forming chamber 7 in order to prevent particles generated in the film forming chamber 7 from being wound up outside the film forming chamber 7.

In the present embodiment, the bundle holding roller 3 and the bundle holding roller 4 are housed in the main roller chamber 6, but may be provided outside the main roller chamber 6. However, by disposing these in the main roller chamber 6 as in the present embodiment, the substrate 2 and the substrate 2 after film formation (film formation substrate) can be protected from exposure to the atmosphere.

The film forming chamber 7 is a mechanism for forming a thin film on the substrate 2 by a plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition ) method, which is one of vacuum film forming methods. The film forming chamber 7 includes: a vacuum pump 71 for depressurizing the chamber, a plasma electrode 72 for applying a high voltage for generating plasma, and a source gas supply unit 73 for supplying source gas, which is a source material of the thin film formed on the substrate 2, into the chamber. In the present embodiment, a plasma forming gas as a raw material of the plasma is also supplied from the raw material gas supply section 73.

In the film forming chamber 7, a voltage is applied to the plasma electrode 72 in a state where the inside of the film forming chamber 7 is depressurized by the vacuum pump 71 and the plasma forming gas is supplied from the source gas supply unit 73, whereby plasma is generated in the vicinity of the plasma electrode 72, and the inside of the film forming chamber 7 is brought into a plasma atmosphere. In the state of being in the plasma atmosphere as described above, the raw material gas is supplied from the raw material gas supply unit 73, and the raw material gas is decomposed (activated) by the plasma, so that a thin film is formed on the film formation surface of the substrate 2 facing the film formation chamber 7.

In the present embodiment, a pressure control means, not shown, is further provided for controlling the pressure in the film forming chamber 7 by reducing the pressure, and the pressure in the film forming chamber 7 is reduced by the vacuum pump 71 until the predetermined pressure is reached before the source gas is supplied. In the present embodiment, the pressure in the film forming chamber 7 is reduced to 10 ^-2 And after Pa or less, the raw material gas is supplied. The film is formed in a state where the inside of the film forming chamber 7 is brought to about 0.5Pa to 3.0Pa by supplying the source gas.

In the present embodiment, 2 film forming chambers 7 (film forming chambers 7a and 7 b) are provided along the outer peripheral surface 51 so as to face the region of the outer peripheral surface 51 where the substrate 2 contacts the main roller 5, and film formation is performed by the film forming chambers 7 while conveying the substrate 2 by rotation of the bundle holding roller 3, the bundle holding roller 4, the main roller 5, and the like, whereby film formation is performed sequentially by the film forming chambers 7a and 7b on the substrate 2. Although each of the 2 film forming chambers 7 includes the vacuum pump 71, the plasma electrode 72, and the source gas supply unit 73, only the vacuum pump 71, the plasma electrode 72, and the source gas supply unit 73 included in the film forming chamber 7a are labeled in fig. 1 for convenience of drawing.

The plasma electrode 72 has a substantially U-shape extending in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the main roller 5, and only a substantially straight portion of the substantially U-shape plasma electrode 72 is shown in cross section in fig. 1. A high-frequency power supply, not shown, is connected to an end of the plasma electrode 72.

The folded portion of the plasma electrode 72 is located outside the film forming chamber 7, and only a substantially linear portion of the plasma electrode 72 faces the substrate 2 on the main roller 5.

The plasma electrode 72 is surrounded by an electrode cover 74 having an opening in a direction facing the main roller 5. The film forming chamber 7 is in a depressurized state during film formation, but the electrode cover 74 can suppress diffusion of the plasma forming gas supplied to the vicinity of the plasma electrode 72, and facilitate formation and maintenance of plasma.

The source gas supply unit 73 is a tubular member provided near the main roller 5 in the film forming chamber 7 and extending in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the main roller 5, and is connected to a source gas supply mechanism (not shown) outside the film forming apparatus 1 via a pipe. The source gas supply portion 73 is provided with 2 or more openings along the Y axis direction, and supplies the source gas substantially uniformly over the entire width direction (Y axis direction) of the substrate 2 in the vicinity of the film formation surface of the substrate 2 on the main roller 5.

In the present embodiment, the source gas supply unit 73 is also connected to a plasma forming gas supply mechanism, not shown, outside the film forming apparatus 1 via a pipe, and as described above, the plasma forming gas is also supplied from the source gas supply unit 73 to the vicinity of the plasma electrode 72 in the film forming chamber 7.

In this embodiment, the raw material gas is HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) gas, for example. The HMDS gas contains silicon and carbon, and is supplied with argon, nitrogen, or the like as a plasma forming gas to form a silicon carbide (SiC) thin film having high adhesion, and is supplied with oxygen as a plasma forming gas to form SiO having high density and barrier property ₂ And (3) a film.

Here, in the present embodiment, siO ₂ The film has high barrier properties as described above, and is a film having a great relationship with the barrier property of the barrier film as a functional film.

In contrast, the silicon carbide based film has a density ratio SiO ₂ Film is lower in barrier property than SiO ₂ The film is low, almost independent of the barrier properties of the barrier film, and therefore is SiO ₂ In contrast, there is no strict limitation on the composition. Instead, the silicon carbide-based film has high adhesion as described above, and is formed by forming a film between the substrate 2 and SiO ₂ Between films, and SiO ₂ Film and SiO ₂ The silicon carbide thin film is formed between the films, and a barrier film having high barrier properties and high flexibility can be formed.

Here, in the present description, from the viewpoint of the barrier film, siO having barrier properties will be used ₂ The film is referred to as a barrier layer, and the silicon carbide thin film having adhesion is referred to as a buffer layer, and in the embodiment of fig. 1, the film is formedThe chamber 7a forms a buffer layer and the film forming chamber 7b forms a barrier layer. That is, the surface layer of the film is a barrier layer.

The guide roller 8 is a member for forming a transport path of the substrate 2, and is a cylindrical roller body disposed at a predetermined relative position with respect to the bundle holding roller 3, the bundle holding roller 4, and the main roller 5. Each guide roller 8 has its center axis as a rotation axis, and the direction of the rotation axis is the same as the direction of the rotation axes of the bundle holding roller 3, the bundle holding roller 4, and the main roller 5. The base material 2 wound out from the bundle holding roller 3 is brought into contact with a part of the outer peripheral surface of each guide roller 8, advances while being guided in the conveying direction along the outer peripheral surface of the guide roller 8, and is wound around the bundle holding roller 4. At this time, the transport path of the substrate 2 is determined by the arrangement of the guide rollers 8, and each guide roller 8 rotates by friction with the substrate 2 and simultaneously feeds the substrate 2 to the downstream side. The wrap angle of the base material 2 with respect to the main roller 5 is adjusted by the guide roller 8 provided near the main roller 5, and a sufficient wrap angle is ensured so that the base material 2 is conveyed on the main roller 5 without slipping.

In the present description, among the guide rollers 8, a guide roller that contacts a surface (film formation surface) of the substrate 2 on which a film is to be formed is referred to as a film formation surface side roller 8a, and a roller that contacts a surface on the opposite side of the film formation surface is referred to as a back surface side roller 8b.

The protective member attaching portion 9a is located downstream of the film forming chamber 7 in the transport path of the substrate 2, and is located between the film forming surface side roller 8a that is first in contact with the film forming surface side of the substrate 2 and the film forming chamber 7, and is a member for attaching the protective member B to the substrate 2 on which the film is formed, and is a nip roller facing the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roller 5 in this embodiment. The protective member B is bonded to the base material 2 by sandwiching the base material 2 and the protective member B together by the protective member bonding portion 9a and the main roller 5 and pressing the protective member B against the base material 2.

Fig. 2 shows a protective member B according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 2 (a) is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the protective member B and the base material 2, and fig. 2 (B) is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the base material 2 to which the protective member B is attached and the film formation surface side roller 8 a.

The protective member B is a flexible long strip-shaped body made of resin, paper, or the like, and has adhesiveness over the entire surface of the side facing the base material 2. As shown in fig. 2 (a), the protective member B is bonded to the substrate 2 with facing the film formation surface side.

Here, since the protective member B is bonded by the protective member bonding portion 9a located on the downstream side of the film forming chamber 7 as described above, the protective member B is bonded to the substrate 2 in a state where the thin film M is formed on the substrate 2. That is, the film M is located between the base material 2 and the protective member B, and as shown in fig. 2 (B), when the base material 2 and the protective member B are guided by the film formation surface side roller 8a, the protective member B is in contact with the surface of the film formation surface side roller 8a instead of the film M. Therefore, the film M formed on the substrate 2 can be prevented from physically contacting the film formation surface side roller 8a, and therefore even if minute irregularities due to adhesion of particles or the like are formed on a part of the outer peripheral surface of the film formation surface side roller 8a, damage to the film M by the minute irregularities can be prevented.

Since the protective member attaching portion 9a is located downstream of the film forming chamber 7, the protective member B is not attached to the substrate 2 when forming a thin film in the film forming chamber 7, and therefore the protective member B does not interfere with forming a thin film on the substrate 2 in the film forming chamber 7.

Referring back to fig. 1, in the film forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a bundle holding roller 91 is provided in the vicinity of the protective member attaching portion 9 a. The protective member B wound out from the bundle holding roller 91 is guided to the protective member attaching portion 9a, and is conveyed to a position where the protective member B is sandwiched between the base material 2 and the protective member B by the protective member attaching portion 9a and the main roller 5 along a part of the outer peripheral surface of the protective member attaching portion 9 a.

The bundle holding roller 91 is a cylindrical roller body around which the protective member B for bonding to the base material 2 is wound, and the protective member B is supplied to the protective member bonding portion 9a by winding out the protective member B from the bundle holding roller 91.

The tip end portion of the protective member B wound around the bundle holding roller 91 is manually guided to the protective member attaching portion 9a and attached to the base material 2. From this state, the substrate 2 is transported by the bundle holding roller 3, the bundle holding roller 4, and the main roller 5, and thereby, the pushing force of the protective member B wound out from the bundle holding roller 91 is generated by the substrate 2 to which the protective member B is attached being pulled in the transport direction by the main roller 5 and the bundle holding roller 4. Therefore, the bundle holding roller 91 may be provided without a driving source such as a motor.

In the present embodiment, the film forming apparatus 1 is further provided with a protective member peeling section 9B that peels the protective member B from the base material 2 immediately before the base material 2 is wound up by the bundle holding roller 4. The protective member peeling section 9b is a nip roller formed of a pair of cylindrical roller bodies that sandwich the base material 2 at a position in front of the bundle holding roller 4. The protective member B separates the protective member B from the base material 2 along the outer peripheral surface of one of the pair of roller bodies forming the protective member peeling portion 9B.

The protective member B peeled from the base material 2 is guided to the bundle holding roller 92 and wound around the bundle holding roller 92 provided near the protective member peeling portion 9B.

The bundle holding roller 92 is a cylindrical roller body, and is mounted on a driving source such as a motor, not shown, and is driven to rotate about its own center axis as a rotation axis. The protective member B is initially manually peeled from the base material 2 at the position of the protective member peeling portion 9B, and is wound up by the bundle holding roller 92. Thereafter, the protective member B is automatically and continuously peeled from the base material 2 at the position of the protective member collecting portion 9B by the rotational driving of the bundle holding roller 92, and is wound up by the bundle holding roller 92. Here, the recovery speed of the protective member B by the bundle holding roller 92 is the same as the recovery speed of the base material 2 by the bundle holding roller 4.

After the film formation on the entire substrate 2 is completed and all of the protective member B is wound up by the bundle holding roller 92, the protective member B can be reused by replacing the bundle holding roller 92 to the position of the bundle holding roller 91.

Here, the portion indicated by a thick line in fig. 1 represents a portion where the protective member B is conveyed. The same applies to the following figures. As is clear from fig. 1, the conveyance path of the protective member B coincides with the conveyance path of the base material 2 in the portion between the protective member attaching portion 9a and the protective member peeling portion 9B, and the protective member B is attached to the base material 2 only in this portion. Since all of the film formation surface side rollers 8a downstream of the film formation chamber 7 are positioned on the path indicated by the thick line, the film on the substrate 2 can be completely prevented from contacting the film formation surface side rollers 8a before being wound up by the bundle holding roller 4, and therefore, damage to the film caused by the surface of the film formation surface side rollers 8a can be prevented. Therefore, the film forming apparatus 1 of the present invention can form a thin film on the substrate 2 without degrading the performance of the thin film.

Further, immediately before the substrate 2 is wound up by the bundle holding roller 4, the protective member peeling portion 9B peels off the protective member B, whereby the particles or the like adhering to the film before the protective member B is adhered to the substrate 2 by the protective member adhering portion 9a are transferred to the adhesion surface of the protective member B, and the bundle holding roller 4 can wind up the substrate 2 in a state in which the particles are not adhered to the substrate 2.

In addition, the winding shift that may occur when the bundle holding roller 4 winds the base material 2 together with the protective member B can be prevented, and only the base material 2 is wound.

In the present embodiment, in order to prevent the film from peeling together with the protective member B when the protective member B is peeled by the protective member peeling section 9B, the adhesive force of the protective member B is preferably relatively weak in a condition range where no deviation occurs during conveyance together with the base material 2.

Next, a protective member B according to another embodiment is shown in fig. 3. In this embodiment, the protective member B has strong adhesion portions B1 at both end portions in the width direction of the surface facing the base material 2, and has weak adhesion portions B2 therebetween. The weak adhesion portion B2 may be weaker than the strong adhesion portion B1, or may be free of adhesion.

As described above, in the case where the adhesive force of the protective member B is strong, the film may be peeled off together with the protective member B. Here, in most cases, the film formed on the substrate 2 is required to have performance as a film in a portion on the inner side in the width direction, whereas the film formed on both ends in the width direction may be cut, discarded, or the like in a subsequent step, and thus the performance is expected to be small; or a thin film is not formed at the widthwise end portion. In this case, the strong adhesive portion B1 facing the both ends in the width direction of the base material 2 is bonded to the film formation surface side of the base material 2 with strong adhesive force, and the adhesive force between the base material 2 and the protective member B is weak at the portion between the both ends of the base material 2, whereby an important portion of the film can be prevented from being peeled off together with the protective member B when the protective member B is peeled off from the base material 2.

Next, a protective member B according to another embodiment is shown in fig. 4. Fig. 4 (a) is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the protective member B and the substrate 2, and fig. 4 (B) is a diagram showing a positional relationship between the substrate 2 to which the protective member B is attached and the film formation surface side roller 8 a. In this embodiment, the protective member B is bonded to and opposed to only a part of the base material 2 in the width direction of the base material 2. In the embodiment of fig. 4 (a), the protective members B are bonded only to both ends in the width direction of the base material 2.

When the substrate 2 with the protective member B attached only in part is in contact with the film formation surface side roller 8a in this way, the gap S shown in fig. 4 (B) is formed between the portion of the substrate 2 to which the protective member B is not attached and the film formation surface side roller 8a, and therefore the film M formed on the substrate 2 can be prevented from being in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the film formation surface side roller 8 a.

In this embodiment, it is preferable to select a portion where the film performance is expected to be small, such as the width direction both ends of the base material 2, or a portion where the film is not formed in the original, because the portion is cut and discarded in the subsequent step, so that when the protective member B is peeled from the base material 2, the important portion of the film can be prevented from peeling together with the protective member B. Such a protective member B is useful when the width dimension of the base material 2 is relatively small and the base material is less likely to flex.

Fig. 5 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In the film forming apparatus 1, the rotation directions of the beam holding rollers 3 and 4 can be reversed, and thus the conveyance direction of the substrate 2 can be reversed. In fig. 1, the substrate 2 is wound out from the bundle holding roller 3 and the substrate 2 is wound around the bundle holding roller 4, but by reversing the rotation directions of the bundle holding roller 3, the bundle holding roller 4, and the main roller, the bundle holding roller 4 is the delivery side and the bundle holding roller 3 is the winding side, contrary to the above. Then, the film is formed while reversing the transport direction of the substrate 2 at predetermined intervals, whereby the substrate 2 is formed while reciprocating in the film forming apparatus 1.

Here, in this embodiment, in order to attach the protective member B to the substrate 2 on the downstream side of the film forming chamber 7 even when the transport direction of the substrate 2 is reversed, a protective member attaching portion 9a and a protective member detaching portion 9B are provided on both sides of the transport path of the substrate 2 through the film forming chamber 7. In this way, even when the substrate 2 is conveyed in the film forming apparatus 1 in reverse and formed, the thin film formed on the substrate 2 can be prevented from physically contacting the film forming surface side roller 8 a.

As shown by the thick line in fig. 5, the film forming apparatus 1 may use the protective member attaching portion 9a and the protective member peeling portion 9B located upstream of the film forming chamber 7 in the transport direction of the substrate 2, and attach the protective member B to the film forming surface of the substrate 2 until immediately before the film is formed in the film forming chamber 7. This prevents particles or the like from adhering to the film formation surface of the substrate 2.

Fig. 6 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

In the film forming apparatus 1, the protective member B peeled from the base material 2 by the protective member peeling section 9B is guided to the protective member attaching section 9a via guidance of 2 or more guide rollers, and is attached again to the base material 2. That is, a circulation path of the protection member B is formed so that the protection member B is reused. Here, each guide roller 95 may be a free roller that is not connected to the driving source, or a part of the guide rollers 95 may be connected to the driving source to assist the force for circulating the protection member B.

In the film forming apparatus 1 of the embodiment shown in fig. 1, it is necessary to prepare a protection member B having the same length as the base material 2 in advance, but in the film forming apparatus 1 of the embodiment, it is sufficient that the protection member B having a length capable of forming a circulation path can be formed, and the length of the protection member B to be prepared can be made short.

In addition, by providing the circulation paths of the protective member B on both the upstream side and the downstream side of the film forming chamber 7 as shown in fig. 7, the protective member B can protect the film formed on the substrate 2 regardless of the conveying direction in which the substrate 2 is conveyed in the case where the conveying direction of the substrate 2 can be reversed, and can prevent the film from coming into contact with the film forming surface side roller 8 a. Further, by using the protective member attaching portion 9a and the protective member peeling portion 9B located on the upstream side of the film forming chamber 7 in the conveying direction of the substrate 2, the protective member B is attached to the film forming surface of the substrate 2 until immediately before the film is formed by the film forming chamber 7, and it is possible to prevent particles or the like from adhering to the film forming surface of the substrate 2.

Fig. 8 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

In the film forming apparatus 1, the substrate 2 is wound around the bundle holding roller 4 in a state where the protective member B is attached to the protective member attaching portion 9 a. By winding the base material 2 together with the protective member B in this manner, the film can be prevented from contacting the back surface of the base material 2 in a state where the base material 2 is wound.

In the film forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, as shown in fig. 8, when the protective member B is also attached to the base material 2 wound up from the bundle holding roller 3 in advance, the protective member B may be peeled from the base material 2 by the protective member peeling section 9B provided on the upstream side of the film forming chamber 7 before the film is formed in the film forming chamber 7.

With the above film forming apparatus, a functional film can be formed on a substrate without degrading the performance of the functional film.

The film forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment, and may be other embodiments within the scope of the present invention. For example, although the embodiment in which the barrier film corresponds to the functional film is shown in the present description, the present invention is not limited to this, and the film forming apparatus of the present invention may be used for forming other functional films such as a transparent conductive film and an antireflection film.

The guide member forming the transport path of the substrate is not limited to the roller body such as the guide roller 8 described above, and may be, for example, a belt or the like.

In the present description, a plasma CVD method is used for forming the thin film, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be another CVD method such as a catalytic chemical vapor deposition method (Cat CVD), or another vacuum film forming method such as a sputtering method or a vapor deposition method.

In the above description, the number of film forming chambers is 2, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and 1 or 3 or more film forming chambers may be used.

In the above description, the base material is a PET film, but the base material is not limited to this, and may be another resin film such as a PEN film. The resin film is not limited to the resin film, and may be a metal film, for example.

In the above description, the adhesion force is used in the manner of bonding the base material and the protective member, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and static electricity may be used, for example.

Symbol description

1. Film forming apparatus

2. Substrate material

3. Beam holding roller

4. Beam holding roller

5. Main roller

6. Main roller chamber

7. Film forming chamber

7a film forming chamber

7b film forming chamber

8. Guiding roller (guiding component)

8a film formation surface side roller

8b backside roller

9a protective member attaching portion

9b protective member peeling section

31. Core part

41. Core part

51. An outer peripheral surface

61. Spacing part

71. Vacuum pump

72. Plasma electrode

73. Raw material gas supply unit

74. Electrode cover

91. Beam holding roller

92. Beam holding roller

95. Guide roller

100. Film forming apparatus

101. Substrate material

102. Film forming chamber

103. Main roller

104. Guide roller

104a film forming surface side roller

104b backside roller

B protective component

B1 Strong adhesion part

B2 Weak adhesion portion

M film

S gap

Claims

1. A film forming apparatus is characterized by comprising:

a film forming chamber for forming a thin film on a film formation surface side of a substrate transported in a roll-to-roll manner;

a guide member that guides a transport direction of the substrate by contacting a film formation surface side or an opposite side thereof of the substrate, thereby forming a transport path of the substrate;

a protective member attaching portion which is provided between the film forming chamber and the guide member which is positioned downstream of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate and which is disposed so as to be in contact with the film forming surface side of the substrate at first, and which attaches a flexible protective member to the film forming surface side of the substrate,

and a protective member peeling section for peeling the protective member and winding only the base material before the base material is wound by the winding roller.

2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive force of a portion of the surface of the protective member facing the base material in the width direction of the base material is higher than an adhesive force of a portion between both end portions of the base material.

3. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member faces only a part of the substrate in the width direction of the substrate.

4. The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a transport direction of the substrate is reversible, and the protective member attaching portions are provided on both sides of a transport path of the substrate via the film forming chamber.

5. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member peeled by the protective member peeling section is sent to the protective member attaching section to form a circulation path of the protective member.