JP2005145577A - Non-contact carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To inexpensively provide a non-contact carrying device capable of stably carrying a web while floating. <P>SOLUTION: A curved surface portion 35a is an jet surface jetting air, and formed with a plurality of jet ports 39 in a staggered shape. Two rollers 24a are disposed so as to be adjacent to both end portions in a carrying direction of the jet surface and parallel with a turn bar 23, and rotate while contacting with an opposite surface to a floating surface of the web 11 when carrying the web 11. Therefore, vibrations of the web 11 are prevented, so that the web 11 is prevented from contacting with the turn bar 23. Omission in the carrying direction of the web11 of air jetted from the jet surface is suppressed, and the air escapes in a width direction of a carrying surface. Therefore, lowering in air pressure at both end portions of the jet surface is reduced, and floating amount on a carrying plate 35 is made to be uniform, so that a surface of the web 11 is prevented from contacting with the turn bar 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a non-contact conveying apparatus that non-contact conveys a strip-shaped material (web) in a stable floating state.

  In a photosensitive printing plate (PS plate) production line, a web of aluminum or the like is conveyed by a roller. At this time, the web surface (photosensitive layer application surface) is easily damaged due to contact between the web and the roller, slip, or the like, and quality failure is likely to occur. In order to prevent such quality failure, it is necessary to carry out contactless conveyance without bringing the web surface and the roller surface into contact with each other. As such a non-contact conveyance method, a method of floating and conveying a web by injecting air from the conveyance surface of a turn bar is considered. However, when floating and transporting using such a turn bar, fluttering due to vibration of the web occurs, the air pressure decreases near the entrance / exit of the turn bar, and there is a possibility that the surface of the web and the transport surface of the turn bar come into contact with each other. . For this reason, it has been difficult to stably contactlessly convey the web while keeping the flying height uniform.

  As described above, extra air is blown out near the entrance and exit of the turn bar to prevent the web from vibrating near the entrance and exit of the turn bar and causing the web surface to contact the transport surface of the turn bar. By doing so, there is known a method for preventing a decrease in air pressure in the vicinity of the entrance and exit, making the web flying height uniform, and reducing the possibility of contact with the conveyance surface of the turn bar by the vibration of the web (for example, patents) Reference 1 and 2).

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 5-28632 Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 6-6341

  However, the turn bars described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have a problem in that the structure of the turn bar is complicated and the cost is increased in addition to the extra air amount required for flying.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a non-contact conveying apparatus that can reduce the vibration of the web and keep the flying height uniform without complicating the structure of the turn bar at a low cost. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the contactless conveyance device of the present invention has an injection surface in which a plurality of injection ports from which gas is injected is formed, and the web is discharged from the injection surface by the gas injected from the injection port. A non-contact conveying device that includes a turn bar that floats and conveys the web in a non-contact manner, is adjacent to both ends of the ejection surface with respect to the web conveying direction, and is arranged to be parallel to the turn bar. It has a roller which rotates in contact with the surface opposite to the air bearing surface.

  In addition, it is preferable that a winding angle changing unit that changes a winding angle in which the web is wound in contact with the roller is provided, and the winding angle is reduced when the web has high rigidity.

  According to the non-contact conveyance device of the present invention, since the rollers are arranged so as to be adjacent to both ends of the jet surface of the turn bar with respect to the web conveyance direction, vibration of the web at both ends can be reduced and flutter can be prevented. By preventing this fluttering, contact between the web and the turn bar is suppressed, and the gas injected from the injection surface is prevented from escaping from both ends, thereby preventing a decrease in gas pressure at both ends. can do. For this reason, since the pressure on the ejection surface is kept uniform, the web can be stably contactlessly conveyed with a uniform flying height. In addition, the structure of the turn bar is simply provided with two rollers as it is, and since there is no special structure, the amount of gas injection at both ends in the web conveyance direction of the turn bar is increased so that the web and the turn bar Compared to the case of using a turn bar having a structure that prevents contact with the contactless conveying device, it is possible to provide a non-contact conveyance device at a low cost.

  In addition, by setting the gap between the roller and the jetting surface of the turn bar to the minimum value that does not cause contact, considering the thickness of the web joint, gas escape in the web conveyance direction is suppressed, and the web due to gas pressure drop In addition to suppressing contact between the surface and the conveying surface of the turn bar, wasteful use of gas is reduced and the web can be efficiently levitated.

  Further, a winding angle changing means for changing the winding angle at which the web is wound in contact with the roller is provided. When the web has high rigidity, the winding angle is reduced, so that the contact between the web surface and the conveying surface of the turn bar is achieved. Is prevented.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a process for producing a PS plate embodying the present invention. The PS plate manufacturing process 10 includes a surface treatment device 13, a water washing device 14, first and second coating devices 15 and 16, and first and second drying devices 17 and 18. The aluminum web 11 is sent from a web roll 19 as a supply source by a web unloader 20 and sent to the surface treatment device 13 by a plurality of transport rollers 21. In the surface treatment device 13, a surface treatment for improving the coating property and adhesion of the photosensitive compound applied to the surface of the web 11 is performed. The web 11 subjected to the surface treatment is washed by a water washing device 14, and further a photosensitive coating solution is applied by a first coating device 15.

  The web 11 coated by the first coating device 15 is sent to the first drying device 17 and the coating surface is dried, but the web 11 is transported from the first drying device 17 to the second coating device 16. The non-contact conveyance device 22 is used. The non-contact transport device 22 includes a turn bar 23 and four rollers 24a and 24b. The turn bar 23 floats the web 11 and conveys it without contact. Thereby, even after drying, the coating surface having high adhesion is subjected to a drying process without contacting the member or the like until reaching the second coating device 16. The web 11 coated with the protective layer coating solution by the second drying device 16 and then dried by the second drying device 18 is conveyed by a plurality of conveying rollers 25, and then by the web winder 26. It is wound around the core 27. However, the present invention does not depend on the embodiment shown in FIG.

  Next, the configuration of the non-contact transport device 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. FIG. 2 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the contactless conveyance device 22, and FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the configuration of the turn bar 23. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the contactless conveyance device 22. As described above, the non-contact conveyance device 22 includes the turn bar 23 and the four rollers 24a and 24b. The turn bar 23 includes a transport plate 35 having a front surface, a back surface, and an upper surface and a substantially U-shaped cross section, and two side plates 36 and 37 that form side surfaces and cover both ends of the transport plate 35. And a bottom plate 38 that forms the lower surface and covers the lower end of the transport plate 35, and the inside of the turn bar 23 is hollow. Further, the transport plate 35 constitutes a transport surface for transporting the web 11.

  The transport plate 35 includes a curved surface portion 35a that is curved in an arc shape and flat surface portions 35b that extend from both ends of the curved surface portion 35a in the web transport direction. The curved surface portion 35a is an ejection surface that injects air to float and convey the web 11, and on the entire surface of the curved surface portion 35a, ejection ports 39 having the same size are formed in a staggered pattern at a predetermined pitch in the vertical and horizontal directions. ing. In the present embodiment, the pitch of the injection ports 39 is 10.0 mm in length and 10.5 mm in width. However, the present invention does not depend on the shape or pitch of the injection ports 39, and the injection ports 39 in the figure exaggerate the size, pitch, etc. of the injection ports 39 in order to avoid the complexity of the drawing. It expresses.

  The side plates 36 and 37 are provided with air ducts 40a and 40b for supplying air into the turn bar 23, respectively. Air is supplied into the turn bar 23 through air ducts 40a and 40b by a blower such as a blower (not shown). For this reason, since the internal pressure in the turn bar 23 rises and becomes higher than the external pressure, air is injected from the injection port 39. Thus, the web 11 is floated by the air jetted from the jetting port 39 and is conveyed without contact by the turn bar 23. In addition, the gas injected from the turn bar 23 may use another gas instead of air.

  The two rollers 24a are arranged in parallel with the turn bar 23 so as to be adjacent to both end portions of the curved surface portion 35a that is the ejection surface, and rotate in contact with the surface opposite to the air bearing surface of the web 11. Thereby, since the vibration of the web 11 at both ends of the ejection surface is reduced and fluttering is prevented, the contact between the surface of the web 11 and the conveying surface of the turn bar 23 can be suppressed. Furthermore, the gap d between the roller 24 and the conveying plate 35 (injecting surface) of the turn bar 23 is set as narrow as possible, so that the air injected from the curved surface portion 35a of the turn bar 23 leaks in the conveying direction of the web 11. Can be suppressed. In order to avoid contact between the surface of the web 11 and the conveying surface of the turn bar 23, the gap d is preferably set to a value of the maximum thickness of the web 11 + α.

  The other two rollers 24b are arranged on the conveyance path of the web 11 below the turn bar 23, and are arranged so as to be parallel to the turn bar 23 and symmetrical to the turn bar 23, respectively. . The interval between these rollers 24b is wider than the interval between the two rollers 24a.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the conventional non-contact conveyance device 50 has two rollers 24 b arranged below the turn bar 23. However, the distance between the turn bar 23 and the two rollers 24b becomes large, and the web 11 conveyed between them can freely move, and the web 11 vibrates violently before and after the turn bar 23 (near the entrance / exit). There was a danger that 11 and the turn bar 23 would contact. Further, since the air escape in the conveyance direction of the web 11 increases, a portion with a significantly low flying height occurs due to a decrease in pressure, and the surface of the web 11 may come into contact with the surface of the turn bar 23.

  However, as described above, the two rollers 24 a are disposed so as to be adjacent to both ends of the curved surface portion 35 a that is the ejection surface and to be parallel to the turn bar 23. For this reason, since the roller 24a and the surface of the web 11 contact | abut at both ends and the movement of the web 11 is controlled, a vibration is prevented and the contact with the web 11 and the turn bar 23 is prevented. Moreover, the escape of the air of the web conveyance direction by the vibration of the web 11 is suppressed, and the air injected from the injection port 39 escapes in the width direction of the web 11 as shown by the arrow in the figure. In order to make the blown air contribute to the floating of the web 11, it is effective to let the air escape in the width direction of the web 11. It is conveyed by contact.

  Further, since the web 11 is made of aluminum and has high rigidity, if the winding angle of the web 11 at the rollers 24a arranged at both ends of the ejection surface is large, the web 11 approaches the conveyance surface of the turn bar 23 due to the rigidity, and the web 11 is in contact. Probability is high. As shown in FIG. 4, a shift mechanism 42 is provided for each of the two rollers 24b. The shift mechanism 42 is a winding angle changing unit, and changes the winding angle, which is an angle at which the web 11 is wound around the roller 24a, by horizontally moving the roller 24b. From the state of the winding angle θ1 shown in FIG. 4, the two rollers 24b are horizontally moved by the shift mechanism 42, and as shown in FIG. 5, the interval between these rollers 24b is widened to reduce the winding angle from θ1. θ2 and the winding angle increases (θ1 <θ2).

  Thus, the winding angle of the web 11 with respect to the roller 24a can be changed by the shift mechanism 42. In the case of a web made of aluminum and having a high rigidity material such as the web 11, the shift mechanism 42 is set to θ1 having a small winding angle as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the angle θ2 is set to a large winding angle. Thereby, when the web of a material with high rigidity is levitated and conveyed, the wrapping angle of the web 11 with respect to the roller 24a can be reduced, so that the web 11 can be prevented from approaching the conveyance surface of the turn bar 23. Contact between the surface and the conveying surface of the turn bar 23 can be prevented. In the case of a web with low rigidity, the winding angle of the roller 24 a is not limited, and the winding angle may be adjusted as appropriate by the shift mechanism 42.

  Further, the shift mechanism 42 that is the winding angle changing means has been described so as to change the winding angle of the web 11 with respect to the roller 24a by moving the roller 24b in the horizontal direction, but is not limited thereto. For example, the winding angle may be changed by moving the roller 24b up and down, or the winding angle may be changed by swinging the roller 24b.

  Next, the operation of the non-contact transport device 22 having the above configuration will be described below. In the actual PS plate, the thickness of the web 11 is 0.5 mm at the maximum. When the web 11 is joined with a tape, the web 11 is overlapped with a double-sided tape, and an aluminum vapor-deposited tape is attached to the outer periphery for reinforcement. Since it sticks, the thickness of a junction part will be about 2.0 mm. Further, since the flying height of the web 11 is about 2.0 mm, if the gap d between the surface of the roller 24a and the conveying surface of the turn bar 23 (the surface of the conveying plate 35) is set to about 4.0 mm, the web 11 The vibration is also suppressed to the minimum, and a decrease in the flying height at both end portions of the curved surface portion 35a that is the ejection surface is prevented, so that the web 11 can be stably floated and conveyed.

  For this reason, the two rollers 24a are arranged in parallel with the turn bar 23 so as to be adjacent to both end portions in the web conveyance direction of the curved surface portion 35a (jetting surface) of the turn bar 23 so that the gap d is about 4.0 mm. To do.

  The web 11 conveyed by the non-contact conveying device 22 is conveyed along a conveying path formed by the rollers 24 a, the rollers 24 b, and the turn bar 23. At this time, since the roller 24a rotates in contact with the surface opposite to the air bearing surface of the web 11, the vibration of the web 11 at both ends (the inlet side and the outlet side of the web 11) of the turn bar 23 in the web conveyance direction is suppressed. Thus, fluttering is prevented. For this reason, it is prevented that the web 11 contacts the conveyance surface of the turn bar 23.

  Moreover, since the air injected from the injection surface is suppressed in the conveyance direction of the web 11 and is released in the width direction of the turn bar 23 as shown in FIG. 2, the air is injected at both ends of the curved surface portion 35a (injection surface). A decrease in air pressure is prevented. For this reason, the flying height of the web 11 is kept uniform on the transport plate 35, and the web 11 is stably levitated and transported without contacting the transport surface of the turn bar 23.

  In the present embodiment, the non-contact conveyance device has been described as including a single turn bar. However, the present invention is not limited to this and may be configured as including a plurality of turn bars. In this case, it is only necessary to arrange the two rollers so as to be parallel to the turn bar so as to be adjacent to both ends of the jet surface in the web conveyance direction for each turn bar.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the non-contact conveying apparatus 22 of this invention was arrange | positioned between the 1st coating device 15 and the 2nd coating device 16, and it demonstrated so that the web 11 might be conveyed non-contactingly. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to web conveyance in various apparatuses such as other drying apparatuses and coating apparatuses.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the PS plate is conveyed in a contactless manner has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a photographic film base material, a photographic paper baryta paper, a recording tape base material, The present invention can be applied to a continuous belt-like material having flexibility such as a video tape base material and a floppy (registered trademark) disk base material.

It is the schematic which shows a PS plate manufacturing process. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of a non-contact conveying apparatus. It is an external appearance perspective view which shows the structure of a turn bar. It is a side surface schematic diagram showing the composition of a non-contact conveyance device. It is a side schematic diagram of a non-contact conveyance device when a winding angle is large. It is a side schematic diagram showing the composition of the conventional non-contact conveyance device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 PS plate manufacturing process 11 Web 22 Non-contact conveyance apparatus 23 Turn bar 24a, 24b Roller 35 Conveyance board 35a Curved surface part 35b Plane part 39 Injection port 42 Shift mechanism d Gap (theta) 1, (theta) 2 Winding angle

Claims (2)

A non-contact conveying apparatus that has a jet surface on which a plurality of jet ports for gas is formed, has a turn bar that floats the web from the jet surface by the gas jetted from the jet port, and transports the web in a non-contact manner. In
It is adjacent to the both ends with respect to the web conveyance direction of the said injection surface, and is arrange | positioned so that it may become parallel to the said turn bar, It has a roller which contacts and rotates the surface opposite to the air bearing surface of the said web. Contact transfer device.   2. The winding angle changing means for changing a winding angle in which the web is wound in contact with the roller, and the winding angle is reduced when the web has high rigidity. Non-contact transfer device.

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