JP2001011506A - Manufacture of metal foil, and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently manufacture a metal foil while keeping a specified strength by feeding a metal powder between a pair of rolling rolls in a controlling manner by a powder feeder to roll the powder into the metal foil having a specified thickness and porosity, and sintering this metal foil in a heating furnace at a specified temperature. SOLUTION: The metal powder is fed onto rolling rolls 1 from a powder feeder 4, and a gate plate 7 is vibrated with the powder feed interval 6 adjusted by a vibrator 8. Then, the metal powder is fed to a rolling roll interval 3 of the rolling rolls 1, 2 in a controlling manner, and rolled while forming a layer on the rolling roll 1 to obtain a metal foil 12. The obtained metal foil 12 is 5-500 μm in thickness, and 10-50% in porosity. After the metal foil 12 is subjected to a specified machining as necessary by a metal foil machining device 16, and it is led to a heating furnace 17. The metal foil 12 is heated in the heating furnace 17 at the temperature of about 0.3-0.66 Tm where Tm is the melting point of the metal powder, and is sintered.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for producing a metal foil for producing a thin plate having a thickness of, for example, about 500 microns or less using a metal powder.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Heretofore, it has been practiced to manufacture a rolled powder material by rolling metal powder with a rolling roll. However, powder rolled materials manufactured by rolling conventional metal powders are mainly intended for plates having a thickness of several millimeters or more, and the manufacture of thin metal foils such as 500 microns or less is not common. Furthermore, production of a metal foil of 10 μm or less is not known.

Conventionally, a powder rolled material formed by rolling as described above is maintained at a predetermined strength by sintering. As a method of sintering a powder rolled material, conventionally, 2/3 Tm is used for the melting point Tm of the metal.
It is generally known that heating is performed at a temperature not lower than.

[0004] On the other hand, in recent years, various methods for producing a thin porous metal foil using metal powder have been proposed.

[0005] As a conventional method for producing this kind of metal foil, a metal powder is mixed with a solvent (binder) to form a liquid material, and this liquid material is thinly coated on a substrate, dried, and then fired. There is a doctor blade method in which a metal foil is obtained by tying.

[0006] Another conventional method for producing a metal foil is to use a fibrous metal and woven it into a woven fabric.
There is a woven method in which a metal foil is obtained by sintering.

[0007]

However, in both the doctor blade method and the woven method, the work is complicated and requires many steps, so that the work is time-consuming, inefficient and productive. Had the problem of being bad.

Further, the doctor blade method and the woven method are
In any case, it was technically very difficult to produce an extremely thin metal foil of several tens of microns.

Further, the metal foil obtained by the above doctor blade method is melted at a melting point T as in a conventional sintering method.
When sintering is performed by heating at a temperature of ２ Tm or more with respect to m, the metal foil shrinks unevenly and undulates and deforms, so that stable flatness cannot be obtained. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is intended to manufacture a metal foil including a thin porous material while maintaining a predetermined strength. It is intended to provide a method and apparatus.

[0011]

According to the present invention, a metal powder is controlled and supplied between a pair of rolling rolls by a powder supply device to have a thickness of about 5 to 500 microns and a porosity of about 10 μm.
Powder rolling to a metal foil of about 50%, and then guiding the metal foil to a heating furnace to obtain a melting point Tm of the metal powder of about 0.3 to 0.66.
Sintering at a temperature of Tm.

In the above means, the thickness dimension of the metal foil to be roll-formed may be about 5 to 100 microns.

The present invention is also directed to a rolling roll provided in pairs in the lateral direction, a powder supply device for controlling and supplying metal powder between the rolling rolls, and a metal roll-formed by the rolling roll disposed below the rolling roll. A heating furnace for vertically heating and sintering the foil, and a metal foil manufacturing apparatus,
It is related to.

In the above means, a metal foil processing apparatus may be provided between the rolling roll and the heating furnace or after the heating furnace. The metal foil processing device may be a forming roller for controlling the shape of the surface of the metal foil, or may be a punching device for making a hole in the metal foil.

The punching device may be a punching machine that vibrates the needle back and forth, may be a punching machine using a rotating body having protruding teeth on its surface, or may be a punching machine using a laser. Alternatively, a perforator using ultrasonic waves or a perforator that injects compressed air may be used.

[0016] According to the above means, 5 which has not been possible before.
It is possible to continuously and efficiently manufacture a metal foil having an extremely thin plate thickness of from 500 to 500 microns, or even from 5 to 100 microns, while maintaining the required strength.

When a metal foil processing device is provided between the rolling roll and the heating furnace or after the heating furnace, the porosity of the metal foil is adjusted by forming or punching the metal foil. be able to.

Further, since the metal foil rolled by the rolling rolls is guided vertically to a metal foil processing device and a heating furnace provided at a lower portion, tension acts due to the weight of the metal foil, so that the metal foil is straightened. In addition, even when the metal foil is cut, the subsequent recovery work becomes easy.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of an apparatus used in the method for producing a porous metal foil of the present invention. In the powder rolling device shown in FIG. 1, a pair of rolling rolls 1 and 2 are provided in parallel in a horizontal direction so as to maintain a required rolling roll interval 3. 4 are provided.

The powder supply device 4 is provided with a supply means 5 such as a conveyor for supplying metal powder onto one of the rolling rolls 1. And a vibrator 8 for vibrating the weir plate 7 so as to form a powder supply interval 6 with a lower end approaching the outer peripheral surface of the feeder.

The weir plate 7 is attached to the fixed part 10 so that the upper end thereof can bend and vibrate, and a predetermined powder supply interval 6 is maintained between the lower end of the weir plate 7 and the peripheral surface of the rolling roll 1. In this state, by vibrating the vibrator 8, the flow rate of the metal powder supplied to the rolling roll gap 3 can be controlled. The frequency and amplitude of the vibrator 8 that vibrates the weir plate 7 can be arbitrarily adjusted by a vibration adjuster (not shown).

The rolling rolls 1 and 2 are rotated in a reverse direction by a rotary driving device (not shown) at an arbitrary rotation speed as shown by an arrow in FIG. Rolling roll interval 3
The thickness t of the metal foil 12 to be rolled can be controlled by changing the amount of reduction.

The metal powder supplied on the rolling roll 1 is
Since the layer is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the rolling roll 1 while being supplied to the rolling roll interval 3 through the powder supply interval 6, the layer thickness M of the metal powder is detected by the layer thickness detecting sensor 14. I am trying to do it. As the layer thickness detection sensor 14, an ultrasonic sensor, an electromagnetic induction sensor, a laser sensor, or the like can be used.

On the basis of the layer thickness signal detected by the layer thickness detection sensor 14, the supply amount adjusting means 9 controls the distance between the rolling rolls 3
The porosity of the metal foil 12 to be rolled can be adjusted by adjusting the amount of the metal powder supplied to the rolling roll gap 3 according to the size of the metal foil 12.

In addition, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is blown to the vicinity of the rolling roll interval 3, which is a rolling portion of the rolling rolls 1 and 2, to prevent oxidation of the metal powder, thereby improving the adhesiveness of the metal powder. An enhanced antioxidant device 15 can be provided. As the antioxidant device 15, instead of the method in which the inert gas is blown, a reducing gas such as hydrogen is blown, or the rolling rolls 1, 2 and the entire powder supply device 4 are sealed in a closed container (FIG. (Not shown), and the sealed container may be connected to a vacuum generator to maintain a vacuum, or the inside of the sealed container may be an inert gas atmosphere. Further, a DC or AC power supply may be connected to the rolling rolls 1 and 2 to perform rolling while heating the metal powder to a melting temperature or lower.

Below the rolling rolls 1 and 2, there is provided a metal foil processing device 16 for processing the metal foil 12 which is roll-formed and guided downward. Further, a heating furnace 17 for heating and sintering the metal foil 12 is provided below the metal foil processing apparatus 16. As the heating furnace, various heating systems can be used, but a heating furnace capable of adjusting the heating temperature is preferable. In the figure, reference numeral 18 denotes tension rollers provided above and below the metal foil processing apparatus 16 and a lower part of the heating furnace 17;
Is a heat shielding plate provided between the metal foil processing apparatus 16 and the heating furnace 17. The metal foil processing apparatus 16 may be arranged after the heating furnace 17 as shown by a broken line in FIG.

As the metal foil processing apparatus 16, a forming roller for controlling the shape of the surface of the metal foil 12 can be used. When the forming rollers 20a and 20b having the unevenness as shown in FIG. 2 are used, the metal foil 12 having the uneven surface is obtained, and when the brush rollers 21a and 21b as shown in FIG. Attached metal foil 12
Is obtained.

The metal foil processing apparatus 16 has a metal foil 1
Piercing device 22, for example as shown in FIG.
Can be used. The metal foil 1 by the punching device 22
When a hole is formed in 2, the porosity of the metal foil 12 can be adjusted arbitrarily.

FIG. 4 shows a punching machine 24 in which a needle 23 is vibrated back and forth.
The drilling device 22 shown in FIG. 5 is a rotating body 2 having two protruding teeth.
6a and 26b are passed through the metal foil 12 so that the metal foil 12
A punching machine 27 is shown in which a protruding tooth is inserted into the surface. Further, as the punching device 22, in addition to the devices shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a punch using a laser, a punch using an ultrasonic wave, a punch using a compressed air, or the like may be used. Can be.

The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 will be described below.

In the apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the rolling rolls 1 and 2 are rotated at a constant speed so that the roll surface forming the rolling roll gap 3 moves downward, and the metal is supplied by the supply means 5 of the powder supply unit 4. The weir plate 7 is vibrated while the powder is supplied onto the rolling roll 1 and the powder supply interval 6 is adjusted by the vibrator 8 of the supply amount adjusting means 9. Then, the metal powder supplied onto the rolling roll 1 is controlled and supplied to the rolling roll interval 3 by a predetermined amount while forming a layer on the rolling roll 1 through the powder supply interval 6, and is rotating at a constant speed. The metal foil 12 is rolled while being bitten by the rolling roll gap 3 between the rolling rolls 1 and 2.

The thickness of the rolled metal foil 12 is measured by a downstream measuring means (not shown), and the pressing device 11 is operated so that the thickness of the metal foil 12 becomes a predetermined thickness of, for example, 5 to 500 microns. To adjust the rolling roll interval 3. The thickness of the metal foil to be roll-formed can be as thin as 500 microns or less, or even 100 microns or less, which was not possible conventionally, and the lower limit of the thickness is 5 microns. The lower limit of the thickness of the metal foil 12 that can be formed by rolling is as follows:
Therefore, it can be said that the lower limit is about 5 microns.

Further, the porosity of the rolled metal foil 12 is measured by measuring means (not shown) at the downstream side, and the supply amount is adjusted so that the porosity of the metal foil 12 becomes a predetermined value of, for example, 10 to 50%. The vibration of the weir plate 7 is adjusted by the vibrator 8 of the adjusting means 9 to control the amount of metal powder supplied to the rolling roll gap 3.

The rolled metal foil 12 is subjected to necessary processing by a metal foil processing device 16 as required, and then guided to a heating furnace 17 for sintering.

As the metal foil processing apparatus 16, a forming roller for controlling the shape of the surface of the metal foil 12, for example, FIG.
When the forming rollers 20a and 20b having irregularities are used as shown in (1), the metal foil 12 having an irregular surface can be obtained. Also, as shown in FIG.
If 1b is used, a scratched metal foil 12 can be obtained.

When the metal foil processing device 16 uses a punching device 22 comprising a hole punching machine 24 for vibrating a needle 23 as shown in FIG. 4, for example, as shown in FIG. A hole can be formed in the metal foil 12. In addition, if a punch 27 is used to pass the metal foil 12 through the gap between the rotating bodies 26a and 26b having two protruding teeth as shown in FIG. 5, a large number of holes can be formed continuously and simultaneously. Can be. Also, the punch 2 shown in FIGS.
Instead of 4, 27, use a laser drilling machine,
Similarly, a hole can be formed in the metal foil 12 by using a hole drilling machine using ultrasonic waves, a hole drilling machine that injects compressed air, or the like.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the metal foil 12 formed by rolling has a large distortion at the portion where the particles 25 of the metal powder are in contact with each other by rolling (black portion), and is integrated. At this stage, the strength is relatively low because it has not been sintered.
2, the holes can be relatively easily formed, and by adjusting the interval between the holes to be opened, the metal foil 12 can be formed.
Can be arbitrarily adjusted.

Therefore, even if the porosity of the metal foil 12 to be rolled is not so precisely adjusted by the supply amount adjusting means 9 of the powder supply device 4 of FIG. A metal foil 12 having a porosity can be obtained.

When the rolls 1 and 2 are rolled, the porosity is reduced (the relative density is increased) because the strength of the metal foil 12 is increased and the metal foil 12 can be easily manufactured. In this way, it is effective to adjust the porosity by the perforating device 22 at the subsequent stage.

In the heating furnace 17, the metal foil 12 is sintered by heating at a temperature of about 0.3 to 0.66 Tm with respect to the melting point Tm of the metal powder.

Conventionally, when sintering metal powder, the melting point T
Heating at a temperature of 2/3 Tm (approximately 0.66 Tm) or more with respect to m to maintain strength has been generally performed.
When sintering an ultra-thin metal foil 12 having a thickness of 5 to 100 microns, the strength is improved, but the metal foil 12 shrinks unevenly and undulates, resulting in stable flatness. There is a problem that it cannot be obtained.

The inventors of the present invention have reported that the metal foil 12 roll-formed using nickel powder has a melting point Tm of nickel powder.
A test was performed on the relationship between the temperature index and the tensile strength, where 1 was set as 1, and the results are shown in FIG.

According to FIG. 7, the melting point Tm is 2 / 3T.
m (about 0.66 Tm) or less, a tensile strength of several kgf / mm ² to several tens kgf / mm ² was obtained, and it was found that the metal foil 12 with sufficient strength could be manufactured. At this time, it has been found that even when sintered at a temperature of 0.3 Tm with respect to the melting point Tm, a strength of about 3 kgf / mm ² can be obtained, and thus a sufficiently usable material can be obtained depending on the purpose.

As described above, sufficient strength can be maintained even when sintering at a low temperature of about 0.3 to 0.66 Tm without setting the sintering temperature to 0.66 Tm or higher. I knew I could do it.

The reason for this is that when the metal powder is rolled using the rolling rolls 1 and 2, as shown in FIG. When the foil 12 is introduced into the heating furnace 17 and heat-treated, the strained portion is recrystallized even at a temperature of 0.66 Tm or less, whereby the strength is maintained.

Further, the present inventors have made a study on the metal foil 12 rolled and formed using nickel powder when the treatment time is changed from 5 minutes to 35 minutes at a sintering temperature of 0.53 Tm. A test was conducted for the change in the shrinkage rate of the sample, and the results are shown in FIG.

According to FIG. 8, it was found that the shorter the heating time, the smaller the shrinkage ratio, and hence the less the deformation. Also,
When the heating time is short, the length of the heating furnace 17 can be effectively reduced in an apparatus for continuously rolling and forming the metal foil 12 as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is effective to shorten the heating time while maintaining the strength of the metal foil 12 at a predetermined value or more.

As described above, the rolling rolls 1 and 2
A metal foil processing device 16 and a heating furnace 17 are provided below the
Since the metal foil 12 rolled by the rolling rolls 1 and 2 is guided downward, the tension is exerted by the weight of the metal foil 12 even though the tension is hardly exerted by the tension roll 18. Even if it is easy to be formed in a straight line and the metal foil 12 may be cut,
Subsequent recovery work becomes easier.

Therefore, according to the above, the metal foil 12 capable of transmitting liquid, gas or light with an extremely thin plate thickness of 500 μm or less, and even 100 μm or less, maintains the required strength. In this state, it can be manufactured continuously and efficiently.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiment, and that the powder supply device may employ various methods other than the illustrated example, and various other methods may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. Of course, changes can be made.

[0052]

According to the present invention, it has been impossible 5
There is an effect that a metal foil having an extremely thin thickness of from 500 to 500 microns, or even from 5 to 100 microns, can be continuously and efficiently produced while maintaining the required strength.

When a metal foil processing apparatus is provided between the rolling roll and the heating furnace or after the heating furnace, the porosity of the metal foil is adjusted by forming or punching the metal foil. There is an effect that can be.

Further, since the metal foil rolled by the rolling rolls is guided vertically to the metal foil processing apparatus and the heating furnace provided at the lower part, tension is applied by the weight of the metal foil, and the metal foil is straightened. In addition, even if the metal foil is cut, the subsequent recovery operation is facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an example of an apparatus for producing a metal foil used in the method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a metal foil processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another example of the metal foil processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing an example of a punching device.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing another example of the punching device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing the behavior of particles when obtaining metal powder under pressure.

FIG. 7 shows the melting point of a metal foil using nickel powder as 1
4 is a graph showing the results of testing the relationship between the temperature index and the tensile strength.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing the results of a test on the relationship between the processing time of sintering and the shrinkage ratio of a metal foil.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference numerals 1, 2 Roll rolls 4 Powder supply device 12 Metal foil 16 Metal foil processing device 17 Heating furnace 20a, 20b Forming roller 21a, 21b Forming roller 22 Punching device 23 Needle 24 Punching machine

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Nomura 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Ishikawashima-Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Machinery & Plant Development Center (72) Inventor Tomotoshi Mochizuki Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku Ishi Kawashima-Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd. Machinery and Plant Development Center F-term (reference) 4K018 CA38 DA11 DA21 HA01 HA08

Claims (11)

[Claims] A metal powder is controlled and supplied by a powder supply device between rolling rolls provided in a pair to have a thickness of about 5 to 50.
0 micron, powder-rolled into a metal foil having a porosity of about 10 to 50%.
A method for producing a metal foil, comprising sintering at a temperature of about 0.3 to 0.66 Tm with respect to m. 2. The thickness of a metal foil to be roll-formed is about 5 to 5.
The method for producing a metal foil according to claim 1, wherein the thickness is 100 microns. 3. Rolling rolls provided in pairs in the horizontal direction, a powder supply device for controlling and supplying metal powder between the rolling rolls, and a metal foil rolled and formed by the rolling rolls disposed below the rolling rolls and vertically formed. An apparatus for producing a metal foil, comprising: a heating furnace for guiding, heating, and sintering. 4. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 3, further comprising a metal foil processing device between the rolling roll and the heating furnace or after the heating furnace. 5. The metal foil manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the metal foil processing apparatus is a forming roller for controlling a shape of a surface of the metal foil. 6. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 4, wherein the metal foil processing apparatus is a punching apparatus for making a hole in the metal foil. 7. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 6, wherein the perforation device is a perforator for vibrating the needle back and forth. 8. The apparatus for manufacturing a metal foil according to claim 6, wherein the punching device is a punching machine using a rotating body having protruding teeth on a surface. 9. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 6, wherein the punching device is a laser punch. 10. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 6, wherein the punching device is a punching machine using ultrasonic waves. 11. The apparatus for producing a metal foil according to claim 6, wherein the perforating apparatus is a perforator for injecting compressed air.