JP2003165160A - Laminator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a continuous laminator capable of performing a vacuum laminating process in succession. <P>SOLUTION: A strip-shaped base material B drawn out of a base material roll and a strip-shaped base material D drawn out of a laminate roll are lapped on each other by a first gathering roll and the lapped base materials B and D are introduced into a vacuum chamber 6 formed by an upper and a lower unit 2 and 4. A part of the lower face of the vacuum chamber 6 serves as a diaphragm 14 which bulges to pressurize both base material and laminate D. The operation to bulge the diaphragm 14 is performed by making a pressurizing chamber vacuum or sending a compressed air to the pressurizing chamber. The diaphragm 14 has a side edge held by a frame 16, and the base material B and the laminate D are taken up by a finished product take-up roll after pressurizing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a laminator for laminating a base material (material to be laminated) and a laminated material in a vacuum atmosphere.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one of laminators, there is known one in which a base material and a laminated material are pressure-bonded to each other in a vacuum atmosphere. Such a laminator has a chamber in which a vacuum atmosphere can be formed by vacuuming, and a heatable film body that expands into the chamber by adjusting the pressure, and is cut so that it can be housed in the chamber. After introducing the base material and the laminated material one by one, vacuuming is performed (batch type), the expanded film body is brought into pressure contact with the laminated material, and vacuum lamination is performed.

[0003]

In the batch type laminator, the base material and the laminated material have to be cut beforehand, which is troublesome, and the base material and the laminated material are bulky after cutting, and the management is complicated. Becomes In addition, the mechanism for loading and unloading the base material and the laminated material into the chamber is complicated and the cost is high. On the other hand, the operation is such that the materials are introduced one by one and then bonded and taken out, so that the lamination takes time.

Therefore, in the invention described in claim 1, the base material and the laminated material from the roll are vacuum laminated one after another,
It is intended to provide a continuous laminator that can be wound into a roll.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 is a vacuum formed in a state including a base material and a laminated material which are stacked in a state of being respectively drawn out from a roll. A chamber and a diaphragm that contacts the base material and the laminated material so as to pressurize the base material and the laminated material in a vacuum chamber in a vacuum atmosphere,
It is characterized by including an operating means for operating the contact of the diaphragm, and a winding means for introducing the base material and the laminated material into the vacuum chamber and winding them after applying pressure.

In addition to the above object, the invention according to claim 2 or claim 3 has an operating means for achieving the purpose of preventing problems such as occurrence of wrinkles and deviations and insufficient laminating property. The present invention is characterized in that the diaphragm is expanded and / or pressed, and a plurality of diaphragms are provided.

In order to achieve the purpose of smoothing the contact of the diaphragm, in addition to the above-mentioned objects, the invention according to claims 4 to 6 further includes a frame for pressing the peripheral edge of the diaphragm, or a frame. The angle between the outside of the pressed portion of the and the diaphragm is 0 degree to 4 degrees.
The angle between the diaphragm and the inside of the holding portion of the frame is set to 15 degrees to 45 degrees.
It is characterized in that it falls within the range of degrees.

In order to achieve the object of facilitating the formation of a vacuum atmosphere in a continuous laminator, in addition to the above objects, the invention according to claim 7 forms the vacuum chamber with a set of overlapping units. The packing is provided in each unit so as to face each other.

In addition to the above object, the invention according to claim 8 is provided with a heating means for heating the base material and the laminated material in the vacuum chamber in order to achieve the object of improving the finish in the continuous laminator. At the same time, a heat insulating means for preventing heat transfer to the packing is provided.

The term "vacuum chamber" means a space that can be made into a vacuum atmosphere, and the vacuum atmosphere includes not only a complete vacuum but also a state under a predetermined pressure sufficiently lower than atmospheric pressure.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a laminator 1 according to the embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a front explanatory view of the laminator 1, in which a lower unit 2 and an upper unit 4 which are made of metal and are opposed to each other are provided, except for a particular portion.
To form a vacuum chamber 6, and the strip-shaped laminated material D from the laminated material roll C above and below the strip-shaped (film-shaped) base material B (polyimide film) from the base material roll A in the vacuum chamber 6.
(Resist film) is overlaid, and a belt-like protective material F (polyethylene terephthalate film) from the protective roll E is further overlaid and introduced, and the laminated material D is laminated on both sides of the base material B while being protected by the protective material F. It is a thing.

Here, in the laminated material roll C, the laminated material D
Since the peeling layer G (polyethylene terephthalate film) is provided on, the peeling layer G is separated and wound up by the peeling winding shaft H. Further, the base material B, the laminated material D, and the protective material F pass between the upper and lower first collecting rolls R upstream of the vacuum chamber 6. Furthermore, since the protective material F can be introduced downstream of the first collecting roll R, the second collecting roll S can be attached immediately downstream of the first collecting roll R. In addition, upper and lower feed rolls T are provided downstream of the vacuum chamber 6, and a product take-up shaft U as a winding means and a protective material take-up shaft V are provided further downstream.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the lower unit 2
When connected to an air cylinder (not shown), can move up and down, and can approach and retreat with respect to the upper unit 4. The operation of the laminator 1 including the air cylinder is controlled by a control unit (not shown).

A pressurizing chamber 10 as an operating means is formed inside the lower unit 2, and a connection port 12 communicating with the pressurizing chamber 10 is formed outside the lower portion of the lower unit 2. There is. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the lower unit 2 is provided with a connection port 13 that communicates with the vacuum chamber 6, and the upper surface of the lower unit 2 is the upper surface of the pressurizing chamber 10 that is the vacuum chamber. The diaphragm 14 stretched so as to be the lower surface of 6 is exposed.

The diaphragm 14 includes a vacuum chamber 6 and a pressure chamber 1.
It is possible to bulge by adjusting the pressure to 0, and by bringing both the vacuum chamber 6 and the pressurizing chamber 10 into a vacuum atmosphere, they are brought into pressure contact with the introduced protective material F. The diaphragm 14 is made of fluororubber from the viewpoint of preventing problems.

Further, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4, the diaphragm 14 is mounted by applying a ring-shaped frame 16 to the outer edge (edge) and fixing the frame 16 to the lower unit 2. The cross section of the frame 16 has a fixing bolt 2
Portion 22 through which 0 passes and portion 2 that holds down diaphragm 14
3 is L-shaped, and the outer side (base end side in cross section) of the portion 23 that holds down the diaphragm 14 is substantially horizontal (the angle X between the base end side and the horizontal plane is substantially 0 degrees). , The inside (the tip side in the cross section) is 22.
It is tapered in a state where it is inclined 5 degrees (the angle Y between the tip side and the horizontal plane is 22.5 degrees). The inside of the portion 23 presses the bulging diaphragm 14. Further, a groove 25 for receiving an annular projection 24 formed on the diaphragm 14 is provided outside the portion 23 from the viewpoint of preventing the diaphragm 14 from being displaced.

Further, a side wall 26 of the vacuum chamber 6 is provided around the frame 16, and an annular packing 28 made of synthetic resin is installed on the upper surface of the side wall 26.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, a similar packing 30 is installed on the lower surface of the upper unit 4 at a portion facing the packing 28 of the lower unit 2.

A heating section 34 is provided inside the packing 30 with an annular gap 32 therebetween. Heating part 3
4 is a cover 38 containing a heating source 36 which is an electric heater.
A metal heating plate 40 that receives heat from the heating source 36 is provided on the upper part of the. The heating plate 40 has substantially the same height as the packing 30, and the bulging diaphragm 14 can be pressed against the heating plate 40. Furthermore, in the upper unit 4,
The upper side of the heating unit 34 and the side of the gap 32 facing the upper side (above the packing 30) near the upper side are formed by a heat insulating material 42 made of polyoxymethylene as a heat insulating means.

In laminating with such a laminator 1, as shown in FIG. 6A, with the lower unit 2 lowered from the upper unit 4, the base material B, the laminated material D,
The protective material F is passed from between the first collecting rolls R to the feeding roll T through the lower side of the upper unit 4 and the heating source 3
6 is activated and set appropriately.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6B, the controller raises the lower unit 2 to a state where the upper and lower packings 28 and 30 are in contact with each other, and the upper and lower units 2 and 4 are stacked.
Here, the stationary base material B or the like is located between the packings 28, 30 on the upstream side and the downstream side, and the packings 28, 3
0 and the base material B are in contact with each other. In this state, the vacuum chamber 6 is formed, a pump (not shown) is connected to the connection ports 12 and 13, and the vacuum chamber 6 and the pressurizing chamber 10 are evacuated to a predetermined pressure or less. When the pressure reaches a predetermined level, the control unit causes the lower unit 2 to move to the packings 28, 30.
Are further raised until they come into close contact with each other (for example, about 3 mm), and the vacuum chamber 6 is sealed.

In the evacuation, since the packings 28 and 30 are arranged so as to face each other even at the introduction portion of the base material B or the like, even if the base material B or the like is formed into a strip shape for continuous lamination, Prevents leakage, creates a vacuum atmosphere quickly,
It can be retained after formation. Since the packings 28 and 30 are brought into close contact with each other after the predetermined pressure is reached, the vacuum chamber 6
The vacuum atmosphere can be made more complete.
Further, by forming the base material B and the like into a strip shape, the base material B from the roll
And the like, and the product after lamination can be wound (also roll-to-roll), and the base material B, etc. and the product can be compactly housed and are extremely easy to handle.

When the vacuum atmosphere is formed, the control unit opens the pressurizing chamber 10 to the atmosphere via the connection port 12. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the diaphragm 14 swells and pushes the base material B, the laminated material D, and the protective material F toward the heating plate 40. By this pressing, the base material B is laminated with the laminated material D under the heating of the heating plate 40 and the protection of the protective material F.
Further, during lamination, the control unit further sends compressed air to the pressure chamber 10 to swell the diaphragm 14 to every corner,
Make the laminate uniform over a given range.

In the frame 16 to which the diaphragm 14 is attached, the angle X in the cross-sectional shape of the portion 23 for pressing the diaphragm 14 is 0 degree, and the angle Y is 22.5 degrees.
It is possible to consider the prevention of defects, such as making the bulging shape of No. 2 good and making the laminating property (adhesion between the laminated material D and the base material B, finish of the laminate) in the diaphragm 14 good.

Here, regarding the angle X, the angle Y is set to 22.
As shown in FIG. 7 (a), the outline of the laminating property in the diaphragm 14 when the compressed air having a relatively high pressure is fed while being changed at a fixed temperature of 5 ° is shown in FIG. Was extremely good, while it was normal when it exceeded 45 degrees. The laminating property was examined with various values of the angle Y, but the results were the same.

That is, by setting the angle X to 0 degree or more and 45 degrees or less, it is possible to secure sufficient bulging of the diaphragm 14 and prevent problems such as insufficient laminating property.

Further, an outline of the laminating property of the diaphragm 14 when the angle X is changed with the angle X fixed at 0 degree and compressed air having a relatively high pressure is fed is shown in FIG. 7 (b). As described above, the laminating property was extremely good in the range of 15 degrees or more and 45 degrees or less, whereas it was normal in the angle of less than 15 degrees or more than 45 degrees. The laminating property was examined with various values of the angle X, but the results were the same.

That is, by setting the angle Y to be 15 degrees or more and 45 degrees or less, the diaphragm 14 can be sufficiently bulged, and problems can be prevented. Even if the chamfer M (length in the vertical direction in FIG. 4) inside the pressed portion of the diaphragm 14 is 0 mm or more and 2.0 mm or less (more preferably around 0.2 mm), the bulging of the diaphragm is good. It is possible to prevent problems.

When the expanded state of the diaphragm 14 is maintained for a certain period of time and the adhesion of the base material B to the laminated material D in the range of the diaphragm 14 and the heating plate 40 is sufficiently secured, the laminator 1 is controlled by the control unit via the connection port 13. The vacuum chamber 6 is opened to the atmosphere. Similarly, the pressure in the pressure chamber 10 is stopped at the same time as the opening of the vacuum chamber 6 or a predetermined time after the opening, and the vacuum is again evacuated. Then, as shown in FIG. 6D, the diaphragm 14 becomes flat, and the pressure contact of the diaphragm 14 to the heating plate 40 is released.

Then, the control section confirms that the vacuum chamber 6 has a substantially atmospheric pressure and the pressure chamber has a vacuum atmosphere by a sensor (not shown), and then the lower unit 2 is lowered.
The vacuum chamber 6 is opened. Further, the control unit drives the feed roll T and the product winding shaft U, and the base material B on which the laminated material D is laminated.
A predetermined amount (a predetermined amount added to the laminated portion, or a length added to the length of the vacuum chamber 6).

Here, the stacked base materials B are fed by contacting the packing 30 of the upper unit 4, but the heat insulating material 4
Due to the arrangement of 2, the heat generated by the heating portion 34 is not transmitted to the packing 30, so that it is possible to prevent excess heat from being transmitted to the product and affecting the quality. Further, similarly, since the heat insulating material 42 for preventing heat conduction to the packing 30 is provided, it is possible to prevent heating vacuum lamination by the upper and lower packings 28 and 30 at the time of pressing, and avoid excess lamination. .

Thus, the state shown in FIG. 6 (a) is obtained again, and the above procedure can be repeated. Therefore,
Vacuum lamination can be continuously performed from the first collecting roll R (second collecting roll S) to the feed roll T, or from the base material roll A and the laminated material roll C to the product winding shaft U.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be variously modified without departing from the present invention, as will be partially shown below.

That is, the operating means is not limited to the one that bulges the diaphragm, and any means may be used as long as it makes contact with the base material or the like for pressurization. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, by pressing the lower unit to the upper unit, the diaphragm attached to the lower unit is brought into contact with the facing surface, and the pressing force by the pressing can be used for vacuum lamination. it can. According to this operation means, the periphery of the diaphragm can be simply configured, and the operation is
The vacuum chamber can be formed and pressed in common, which is efficient.

A plurality of diaphragms, frames, heating units, or pressurizing chambers as operating means can be provided. In this case, the upper and lower units can be arranged side by side along the flow, or, as shown in FIG. 9, they can be integrated into a common vacuum chamber to simplify the control of the lower unit.

By providing a plurality of diaphragms, frames, operating means, and / or heating units, vacuum lamination can be applied a plurality of times, the smoothness of the product is improved, and the boundary line of pressure applied by the diaphragms upstream. If there is even a slight occurrence, this can be eliminated.

If a plurality of operating means can be different from each other and a swelling type is arranged on the upstream side and a pressing type is arranged on the downstream side, the pressing operation is performed after the relatively strong vacuum lamination by the swelling. It is possible to apply a vacuum laminate that can effectively use the entire diaphragm by means of the above, and it is possible to provide an efficient laminator that makes good use of each feature and has a good finish. Further, in the laminator shown in FIG. 9, the pressurizing chambers as operating means are connected or shared, the heating unit is shared, the control of the heating unit is shared, the frame is shared, and the like. You can

On the other hand, the means for bringing the upper and lower units closer may be a hydraulic cylinder. Alternatively, the lower units may be arranged vertically so that the diaphragms face each other. When the diaphragms are opposed to each other, especially when laminating the laminated material on both surfaces of the base material, both laminating properties are improved and smoothness is increased. Further, heating means for heating the diaphragm may be provided. Furthermore, the arrangement of the upper and lower units can be changed in any manner as long as they are opposed to each other (form a vacuum chamber), such as being reversed or left and right. In addition, the base material and the laminated material can be introduced into the vacuum chamber, and the protective material can be omitted. The laminated material or the laminated material and the protective material can be introduced on only one side.

Further, the materials of the upper and lower units, diaphragm, heat insulating material, packing, heating plate, or base material, laminated material, protective material and the like can be changed appropriately. Further, the configuration of the heating unit can be appropriately changed, and for example, the heating source and the heating plate can be a single Peltier element. Furthermore, the operating means for operating the bulging of the diaphragm can be changed as appropriate, and can be mechanically pushed up without using the pressurizing chamber. In addition, the frame can be configured by combining plate-shaped portions, for example.

Also, the laminating operation can be changed as appropriate, for example, by omitting the delivery of compressed air, or by adhering the upper and lower units from the beginning, or by taking a distance of two or more steps before adhering. Alternatively, some operations can be performed manually.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention, continuous vacuum laminating can be smoothly carried out, and high quality laminating can be easily carried out at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front explanatory view of a laminator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view of the upper and lower units in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory plan view of a lower unit in FIG.

4 is a partially enlarged explanatory view of a lower unit in FIG.

5 is a bottom view of the upper unit in FIG.

6 (a) to 6 (d) are operation explanatory views of the laminator of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a table showing the laminating property of the diaphragm when (a) angle X (b) angle Y in FIG. 4 is changed.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing a modified example of the upper and lower units in the laminator according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a vertical cross-sectional explanatory view showing a further modified example of the upper and lower units in the laminator according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Laminator, 6 ... Vacuum chamber, 10 ... Pressurization chamber, 1
4 ... Diaphragm, 16 ... Frame, 28, 30 ...
・ Packing, A ... Base material roll, C ... Laminated material roll,
R ... 1st assembly roll, S ... 2nd assembly roll, T ...
Feed roll, U ... product take-up roll.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Kiyotaka Fujihira             Stock Exchange, 3-14-15 Yaguchi, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Company Tanken seal ginger (72) Inventor Masakazu Murata             Stock Exchange, 3-14-15 Yaguchi, Ota-ku, Tokyo             Company Tanken seal ginger F-term (reference) 4F211 AA40 AD08 AG01 AG03 AH36                       AM28 TA01 TA03 TC02 TD11                       TH02 TH06 TJ13 TJ14 TJ15                       TJ30 TQ01 TQ07

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum chamber formed so as to include a base material and a laminated material which are respectively stacked in a state of being drawn out from a roll, and a base material and a laminated material are pressurized in a vacuum chamber in a vacuum atmosphere. A laminator comprising: a diaphragm in contact with the operation means; an operation means for operating the contact of the diaphragm; and a winding means for introducing the base material and the laminated material into a vacuum chamber and winding up after applying pressure. 2. The operating means swells the diaphragm,
And / or pressing, the laminator according to claim 1. 3. The laminator according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of diaphragms are provided. 4. The laminator according to claim 1, further comprising a frame that holds down a peripheral edge of the diaphragm. 5. The laminator according to claim 4, wherein the angle formed between the outside of the portion to be pressed in the frame and the diaphragm is within the range of 0 to 45 degrees. 6. The laminator according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the angle formed between the inside of the pressed portion of the frame and the diaphragm is within the range of 15 degrees to 45 degrees. 7. The vacuum chamber is formed by a set of overlapping units, and packing is provided in each unit so as to be opposed to each other.
Laminator according to any one of 1. 8. The laminator according to claim 7, further comprising heating means for heating the base material and the laminated material in the vacuum chamber and heat insulating means for preventing heat transfer to the packing.