JP2007050689A - Method and apparatus for manufacturing plastic sheet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing a plastic sheet capable of precisely positioning a layer body composed of a film and core sheet. <P>SOLUTION: The method and apparatus for manufacturing plastic sheet comprises the steps of forming an image on one side of the film by an electrophotography method, positioning the laminate of the two films on contact with the core sheet so that their imaged planes are mutually faced, and laminating the core sheet with the two film by heating and pressing the positioned laminate, the step of positioning comprising the steps of gathering using the laminate by fitting two orthogonal sides of the laminate, and thereafter tentatively fixing the laminate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plastic sheet laminated with a film that is directly imaged (recorded) by an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and more specifically, a cash card with a face photo, an employee ID card, a student ID card, an individual ID card Used for non-contact or contact-type personal information image information information media such as residence certificate, various driver's licenses, various qualification certificates, etc., as well as image sheets, image display boards, and display labels for personal verification used in medical settings The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a plastic sheet and a manufacturing apparatus therefor.

  In recent years, along with the development of image forming technology, means for forming images of the same quality in large quantities and at low cost by various printing methods such as intaglio printing, relief printing, planographic printing, gravure printing, and screen printing are known. Yes. Such a printing method is used for surface printing of an information medium that can store predetermined information, such as an IC card, a magnetic card, an optical card, or a combination of these, and can communicate with or without contact with an external device. Are often used.

  However, for example, the screen printing requires a large number of printing plates corresponding to the number of images to be printed, and in the case of color printing, printing plates corresponding to the number of colors are further required. Therefore, these printing methods are unsuitable for individually responding to individual identification information (face photo, name, address, date of birth, various licenses, etc.).

  The most mainstream image forming means for the above problems is an image forming method using a printer or the like employing a sublimation type or melting type thermal transfer system using an ink ribbon or the like. However, these can easily print personal identification information, but still have the problem that the resolution decreases when the printing speed is increased, and the printing speed decreases when the resolution is increased.

  In contrast, in electrophotographic image formation (printing), the surface of the image carrier is uniformly charged, exposed in accordance with an image signal, and an electrostatic latent image due to a potential difference between an exposed portion and a non-exposed portion is generated. After that, a color powder (image forming material) called toner having a polarity opposite to (or the same as) the charge is electrostatically developed to form a visible image (toner image) on the surface of the image carrier. Done in the way. In the case of a color image, this process is repeated a plurality of times, or a plurality of image forming devices are arranged in parallel to form a visible color image, and these are transferred and fixed (fixed: mainly by heat) to the image recording medium. This is performed by a method of obtaining a color image by melting and solidifying the color powder by cooling.

  As described above, in the electrophotographic method, the electrostatic latent image on the surface of the image carrier is electrically formed by the image signal, so that not only the same image can be formed many times, but also different images can be easily handled. Image formation is possible. Further, the toner image on the surface of the image carrier can be transferred almost completely to the surface of the image recording body, and the toner image slightly remaining on the surface of the image carrier can be easily removed with a resin blade or a brush. Therefore, it is possible to easily produce printed materials for multi-product small-volume production.

  The toner is usually formed by melt-mixing a heat-meltable resin, a pigment, and optionally an additive such as a charge control agent, and pulverizing and finely pulverizing the kneaded product. Furthermore, the electrostatic latent image in the electrophotographic system has a considerably higher resolution than the finely divided toner, and a sufficient resolution is expected compared to the resolution of the screen printing and thermal transfer system of the ink ribbon. it can.

  For color images, the four primary colors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black are used as color toners, and these can be mixed to theoretically reproduce the same color as in printing. In the above color toner, since the toner resin and the pigment can be blended relatively freely, it is easy to increase the image concealment by the toner.

Examples of printing various cards using the electrophotographic apparatus described above include the following.
For example, it is known that a plus chip sheet applicable to various cards can be obtained by laminating a laminated body formed by sandwiching a core sheet between two plastic films on which images are formed (for example, , See Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.)
JP2004-188603 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-195973

  However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 above does not disclose a specific configuration for increasing the accuracy in the positioning step before laminating the laminate, and can be applied to sheets of various sizes. There has been no investigation such as correspondence or collating each film with a simple structure with high accuracy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art.
That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a plastic sheet manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus capable of positioning a laminate composed of a film and a core sheet with high accuracy.

The above-mentioned subject is achieved by the following present invention. That is, the present invention
(1) An image forming step of forming an image on one side of the film by an electrophotographic method, and a positioning step of positioning a laminate in which the two film films are laminated so that the image surfaces face each other via a core sheet And a laminating step of laminating the core sheet with the two films by heating and pressing the positioned laminate, and a method for producing a plastic sheet,
In the plastic sheet manufacturing method, the positioning step is a step of temporarily fixing the laminated body after collating using two orthogonal sides of the laminated body together.
According to the method for producing a plastic sheet of (1) above, a laminated body composed of a film and a core sheet is used together with two orthogonal sides and collated, and then temporarily fixed, thereby positioning the laminated body. It can be performed with high accuracy.

(2) The method for producing a plastic sheet according to (1), wherein the temporary fixing position is a distal end portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminate.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing method of (2) above, since the position of the temporary fixing in the positioning step is the downstream end in the transport direction of the laminated body, the lamination is performed when entering the next laminating step. No deviation occurs in the body.

(3) The plastic sheet according to (1) or (2), wherein one of the two orthogonal sides is a side orthogonal to the conveyance direction on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the laminate. This is a manufacturing method.
According to the method for producing a plastic sheet of (3) above, since the leading end on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminate composed of the film and the core sheet is collated, the film and the core sheet with different sizes are used. Even if there is, it becomes possible to collate. Therefore, a multi-size laminate can be obtained.

(4) Positioning for positioning a laminated body in which two image films are laminated so that the image surfaces face each other through an image forming portion for forming a fixed image by electrophotography and a core sheet on one side of the film A laminate for heating and pressurizing the positioned laminate and laminating the core sheet with the two films, and a plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus comprising:
The positioning portion includes a holding member for placing the laminated body, collating means for collating two orthogonal sides of the laminated body together, and temporary fixing means for temporarily fastening the laminated body. This is a plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (4) above, the laminated body composed of the film and the core sheet has positioning means for collating two orthogonal sides together, and temporary fixing means. Positioning can be performed with high accuracy.

(5) The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to (4), wherein the temporary fixing position is a distal end portion on a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the laminated body.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (5) above, since the position of the temporary fixing in the positioning portion is the downstream end in the transport direction of the laminated body, the lamination is performed when entering the laminating process of the next process. No deviation occurs in the body.

(6) The plastic sheet according to (4) or (5), wherein one of the two orthogonal sides is a side orthogonal to the conveyance direction on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the laminate. This is a manufacturing apparatus.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (6) above, since the leading end on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminate composed of the film and the core sheet is collated, the film and the core sheet of different sizes can be used. Even if there is, it becomes possible to collate. Therefore, a multi-size laminate can be obtained.

(7) The holding member and the collating means are configured of a collating tray having two orthogonal sides including one side parallel to the transport direction of the laminate, and the bottom surface of the collating tray is horizontal, Alternatively, the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to any one of (4) to (6), wherein the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus is installed with an inclination that becomes lower toward a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the laminate.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (7) above, the collating tray having two orthogonal sides including one side parallel to the transport direction of the laminate is horizontal or downstream in the transport direction of the laminate It is possible to collate with a simple configuration, especially when the laminate is composed of films and core sheets of different sizes. It becomes.

(8) The holding member includes a conveyance belt that conveys the laminate, and the collating means is disposed on the conveyance belt in parallel with the conveyance direction of the laminate, and the conveyance path of the laminate is The plastic according to (4), comprising: a pair of guides to be formed; and a stopper provided at a position downstream of the guide in the transport direction of the laminated body and orthogonal to the transport direction. This is a sheet manufacturing apparatus.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (8) above, the laminated body conveyed through the conveyance path formed by the pair of guides is brought into contact with the stopper, whereby the laminated body can be collated. The body can be positioned with high accuracy.

(9) The holding member includes a transport table that holds the laminate, and the collating means is disposed on the transport table in parallel with the transport direction of the stack, and the transport path of the stack is (4) characterized by comprising a pair of guides to be formed and a pair of transport rolls provided on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminate from the guides so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction. The plastic sheet production apparatus described in 1.
According to the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of (9) above, the laminated body conveyed through the conveying path formed by the pair of guides is brought into contact with the conveying roll, whereby the laminated body can be collated, With a simple configuration, the laminated body can be positioned with high accuracy.

(10) The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to (9), wherein the transport roll is a cleaning roll.
According to the method for producing a plastic sheet of (10) above, since the transport roll also serves as the cleaning roll, it is possible to clean the surface of the laminate that has passed between the cleaning rolls.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to accurately collate a laminated body composed of various sizes of films and a core sheet, and to position the laminated body with high accuracy by further temporarily fixing the laminated body. It is possible to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing a plastic sheet that can be used.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components having substantially the same functions are described with the same reference numerals throughout the drawings, and description thereof may be omitted in some cases.
In addition, while explaining the manufacturing apparatus of a plastic sheet, the manufacturing method of the plastic sheet of this invention using this manufacturing apparatus is also demonstrated simultaneously.

First, the plastic sheet produced in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a structural cross-sectional view of a plastic sheet produced according to the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the plastic sheet has the core film 1 and the surface film 3 on which the image 2 is formed and the back film 5 on which the image 4 is formed, and the images 2 and 4 are formed. The side surfaces are stacked and laminated so that they face each other.
An embodiment of a plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus having such a configuration will be described below.

(First embodiment)
FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the first embodiment of the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.
The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes an image forming apparatus (film storage section, image forming section) 10, a positioning apparatus (positioning section) 20, and a laminating apparatus (laminating section) 30.

  The image forming apparatus 10 includes, for example, a film stacker 11, an image forming unit 12, a conveyance path 13 that conveys a film from the film stacker 11 to the image forming unit 12, and an image forming unit 12 to the discharge port 14 after image formation. It is comprised from the conveyance path 15 which conveys a film. Other configurations are omitted.

  Although not shown, the image forming unit 12 develops a latent image carrier that forms a latent image, a developer that develops the latent image using a developer containing at least toner, and obtains a toner image, and the developed toner image The image forming apparatus includes a known electrophotographic color image forming apparatus including a transfer device for transferring the toner image to a film and a fixing device for fixing the toner image transferred to the film by heating and pressing.

  The conveyance paths 13 and 15 are composed of a plurality of roll pairs and guides (not shown) including a drive roll pair, and the conveyance path 15 is provided with an inversion path 16 that reverses the film conveyance direction by 180 °. It has been. In the vicinity of the branch between the conveyance path 15 and the reversing path 16, a cam 17 is provided for changing the guiding direction of the film. When the film is reciprocated on the reverse path 16 and returned to the transport path 15 again, the transport direction of the film is reversed by 180 ° and the front and back of the film are reversed and transported.

  The positioning device 20 includes a conveyance path 21 for supplying the film discharged from the discharge port 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 to the collating tray 26, a core sheet stacker 22, a pickup roll 23, a paper feed roll 24, and a core. The conveyance path 25 supplies the core sheet from the sheet stacker 22 to the collating tray 26, a collating tray (holding member, collating means) 26, and a temporary fixing device (temporary fixing means) 27.

  The transport path 21 may be, for example, a structure provided with a smooth plate-shaped member and a transport roll for transporting a film on the surface thereof, and is configured by a rotating belt-shaped transport body. It may be. Then, at the timing when the film is discharged from the image forming apparatus 10, the transport roll and the belt rotate, and the film is transported to the collating tray 26.

  The core sheet stacker 22 is provided with a pick-up roll 23 and a paper feed roll 24 that are provided in a normal paper feeding device, and the collating tray 26 is positioned at the outlet of the core sheet stacker 22. The sheet feeding roll 24 and the like rotate at the timing immediately after the movement, and the core sheet is conveyed to the collating tray 26 through the conveyance path 25.

  The collating tray 26 is, for example, the end of the collating tray 26 stretched up and down so that the core sheet and the film are respectively supplied from the discharging portion of the conveying path 25 and the discharging portion of the conveying path 21. The belt is connected to the outer wall of a belt (not shown), and is configured to move up and down (up and down in the drawing) as the belt rotates. Not only such lifting means, but also known lifting means such as a motor drive system can be applied.

As described above, after the film and the core sheet are supplied to the collating tray 26 and the laminated body is formed, the laminating body which will be described later is collated and temporarily fixed to complete the positioning.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, the holding member on which the laminated body is placed and the collating means for collating two orthogonal sides of the laminated body together are configured by the collating tray 26.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the collating tray 26 is shown, and a specific method of collating will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining the configuration of the collating tray 26 in FIG.
On the tray bottom surface 50 of the collating tray 26 shown in FIG. 3, a laminate P in which a core sheet, a front film, and a back film are laminated is placed.
As shown in FIG. 3, the collating tray 26 is installed so that the reference walls 61 and 62 are orthogonal to each other in order to collate the stacked body P with respect to the tray bottom surface 50. Thereby, collation is performed by using two orthogonal | vertical sides of the laminated body P together, and abutting these 2 sides to the reference walls 61 and 62. FIG. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the collating tray 26 is provided with dampers 63 and 64, which are moved in the directions of arrows A and B by driving mechanisms (not shown), respectively. Thus, two orthogonal sides of the stacked body P can be brought into contact with the reference walls 61 and 62.

  Here, the reference wall 61 is installed on the downstream side of the collating tray 26 in the transport direction of the stacked body P. Further, the damper 63 used for abutting the laminated body P against the reference wall 61 can also move to a position indicated by C. With such a configuration, for example, it is possible to abut against the reference wall 61 by moving the position of the damper 63 even with respect to the laminated body P having different sizes such as A4 and A3. I can meet.

Since the reference wall 61 shown in FIG. 3 is provided at a position orthogonal to the transport direction, after the collation is completed and the temporary fixing by the temporary fixing device 27 is completed, the conveyance of the stacked body P is hindered. As shown in FIG. 4, it is necessary to be provided so as to be movable. Here, FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the collating tray 26 shown in FIG.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4A, the reference wall 61 is movable in the direction of arrow D (that is, up and down movement) and moved to a position indicated by 61a, so that the post-process of the stacked body P can be performed. Transport is possible.
Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the reference wall 61 is moved in the direction of arrow E by the hinge 51 (that is, the circumferential direction around the hinge 51) and moved to the position indicated by 61b. Thus, the laminate P can be conveyed to the subsequent process.

On the other hand, in FIGS. 2 and 4, an example in which the tray bottom surface 50 of the collating tray 26 is installed so as to be horizontal is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the collating tray The bottom surface may be provided with an inclination so that the downstream side or the upstream side in the transport direction is lowered.
For example, like the configuration of the collating tray 26a shown in FIG. 5A, the collating tray 26a may be installed with an inclination that becomes lower toward the downstream side in the transport direction. Also in this case, collation is performed by abutting two orthogonal sides of the laminate P against both the reference wall 61c and a reference wall (not shown) orthogonal to the reference wall 61c. Here, similarly to the configuration shown in FIG. 3, it is preferable that a damper is provided and two orthogonal sides of the stacked body P are abutted against both reference walls by the movement.
In the collating tray 26a shown in FIG. 5A, the action of gravity may be used as means for abutting the laminated body P against the reference wall 61c. In that case, the damper can be omitted.
Further, in the case of such a collating tray 26a, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the tray bottom surface 50a is in the direction of arrow G around the fulcrum F (that is, in the circumferential direction around the fulcrum F). By moving and moving the tray bottom surface 50a to the horizontal position, it is possible to convey the temporarily fixed laminated body P to the laminating apparatus of the next process.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the collating tray 26 is provided with a temporary fixing device 27 that temporarily fixes a laminated body P in which a core sheet, a front film, and a back film are laminated. The temporary fixing device 27 is composed of a pair of protrusions made of metal so as to be heated by, for example, a heater, and the end of the stacked body P is sandwiched between the heated pair of protrusions. The ends of the laminate P are heat-welded and temporarily fixed.

Here, as the temporary fixing position, it is desirable to be a tip portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the stacked body P. Here, the distal end portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminated body P to be temporarily fixed is preferably a distance from the most distal portion of the laminated body P to 10 mm.
In this manner, by temporarily fixing the downstream end portion in the transport direction of the laminated body P, as shown in FIG. 6A, a belt nip type composed of a pair of belts 31 in the next step is used. When entering the laminating apparatus 30, the position of the film in the laminated body and the core sheet does not shift.
If the temporary fixing is not performed after the collation of the laminated body P is completed, there is a possibility that the film and the core sheet are misaligned as shown in FIG.

  The laminated body P that has been temporarily fixed and has been positioned is transported to a laminating apparatus 30 in the next step by a transport means (not shown). At this time, the reference walls 61 and 61c are moved to positions that do not hinder the conveyance of the stacked body P, as shown in FIGS.

  The laminating apparatus 30 can employ, for example, a belt nip method including a pair of belts 31. Each belt 31 is stretched by a stretch roll 32 and a heating / pressure roll 35.

  The pressure bonding method in the laminating apparatus 30 is not particularly limited to the above, and any of various conventionally known laminating techniques and laminating apparatuses can be suitably employed. For example, by inserting the laminate into a nip portion formed by a pair of hot rolls, the laminate can be pressure-bonded by using a normal laminating technique and laminating apparatus in which both are thermally melted to some extent and thermally fused.

  The laminated body is discharged to the discharge tray 41, and a plastic sheet is obtained. Here, when a plurality of individual images are formed on the plastic sheet, each image is cut to obtain a plastic sheet having a predetermined size.

  As described above, in the positioning step (positioning portion) in the present invention, regardless of the path and order, the laminate including the front film, the back film, and the core sheet is accurately positioned. Is done. Moreover, the positioning process of this invention can respond also to the laminated body of various sizes.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7: is a principal part schematic block diagram which shows 2nd Embodiment of the production apparatus of the plastic sheet of this invention. 7 includes a positioning device (positioning unit) 20a and a laminating device (laminating unit) 30a, and an image forming apparatus (film storage unit, image forming unit) not shown. (Part) is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

As in the first embodiment, the positioning device (positioning unit) 20a in the second embodiment includes a conveyance path 21 that supplies the film discharged from the discharge port 14 of the image forming apparatus 10 to the conveyance belt 70, and Core sheet stacker 22, pickup roll 23, paper feed roll 24, conveyance path 25 for supplying the core sheet from the core sheet stacker 22 to the conveyance belt 70, conveyance belt (holding member) 70, a pair of guides Alignment means) 72, stopper (collation means) 74, temporary fixing device (temporary fixing means) 27 a, and cleaning roll 80.
Here, the configurations and functions of the transport path 21, the core sheet stacker 22, the pickup roll 23, the paper feed roll 24, and the transport path 25 are the same as those in the first embodiment.
Hereinafter, the collation and temporary fixing method in the second embodiment will be described.

The conveyance belt 70 is provided so as to be positioned below in the gravity direction with respect to the discharge portion of the conveyance path 25 and the discharge portion of the conveyance path 21. As a result, the core sheet and the film are respectively supplied from both discharge portions. From the relationship between the discharged force, the position of the transport belt 70, and the drive of the transport belt 70 itself, the core sheet and the film are supplied. The film is abutted against a collating means comprising a guide 72 and a stopper 74, which will be described later, and the longitudinal (conveying direction) collation of the laminate is completed.
As shown in FIG. 7, such a conveyance belt 70 is preferably stretched by a driving roll 71 and can be driven.

The pair of guides 72 are arranged on the conveyance belt 70 in parallel with the conveyance direction of the laminate composed of the core sheet and the film, and form a conveyance path for the laminate. By the transport path formed in the pair of guides 72, the core sheet and film supplied from the discharge section of the transport path 25 and the discharge section of the transport path 21 are in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction). Collated.
The collating method using the pair of guides 72 will be described more specifically with reference to FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the pair of guides 72 in the positioning device 20a shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 8, the pair of guides 72 has a width that is narrower in the conveyance direction, whereby the core sheet and film supplied onto the conveyance belt 70 are formed by the guides 72. It is transported according to the transport route. In addition, by adjusting the distance d between the portions where the pair of guides 72 are parallel, the stacked body is collated, and further, the accuracy of the collation can be improved. Further, by adjusting the distance d, it is possible to deal with films and core sheets having various widths.
In addition, the pair of guides in the present invention may be arranged to be parallel to at least the transport direction of the laminated body including the core sheet and the film, and may be configured to form the transport path of the laminated body. As shown in FIG. 5, the configuration is not limited to a configuration in which the width becomes narrower in the transport direction.

The stopper 74 is provided downstream of the pair of guides 72 in the transport direction of the laminate so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction. Collating is completed when the laminated body conveyed through the conveyance path formed by the pair of guides 72 contacts the stopper 74.
In addition, when the laminated body which consists of a film and a core sheet | seat is abutted on the stopper 74, as above-mentioned, the force which supplies a film | membrane or a core sheet | seat, or the drive of the conveyance belt 21 of the conveyance belt 21 is used, and a stopper is used. However, a method in which an operator manually hits the laminated body may be used. Alternatively, a method may be used in which a transport roll (not shown) is pressed from above the film or core sheet supplied to the transport belt 70 to assist the transport of the film or core sheet and abut against the stopper 74.

  Since the stopper 74 is provided at a position orthogonal to the transport direction, after the collating is completed and the temporary fixing by the temporary fixing device 27 is finished, the stopper 74 is arranged in the direction of the arrow H so as not to disturb the transport of the laminated body. It is configured to be movable. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the stopper 74 moves in the direction of arrow H (that is, downward movement) and moves to the position indicated by 74 a, so that the stacked body can be conveyed to the subsequent process.

After collating in this way, the laminated body is temporarily fixed by the temporary fixing device 27a and conveyed to the laminating device 30a as the next step.
Note that the temporary fixing device 27a used in the second embodiment is constituted by a protruding piece made of metal so as to be heated by, for example, a heater, and the heated protruding piece is brought into contact with the end of the laminate. By doing so, the edge part of a laminated body is heat-welded and temporarily fixed. The temporary fixing position is the same as that in the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 7, a pair of cleaning rolls 80 is provided on the most downstream side of the positioning device 20a and the most upstream side of the laminating device 30a. As described above, the cleaning roll 80 is provided in the conveyance path 82 of the laminated body, so that when the laminated body that has been collated and temporarily fixed is conveyed, it adheres to the front and back surfaces of the laminated body. Paper dust, dust, dust, and the like that have been removed are removed, making it possible to produce a product with few defective products.

  As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, by using the pair of guides 72 and the stopper 74, two orthogonal sides of the laminated body are collated. Thereby, it becomes possible to position a laminated body accurately.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram of a main part showing a third embodiment of the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. 9 includes a positioning device (positioning unit) 20b and a laminating device (laminating unit) 30, and an image forming device (film storage unit, image forming unit) not shown. Part) and the laminating apparatus 30 are the same as those in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

In the positioning device 20b according to the third embodiment of the present invention, a transport base 90 is provided instead of the transport belt 70 in the second embodiment, and a pair of transport rolls 92 is provided instead of the stopper 74. It has the composition which is. Since the other configuration and the method for transporting the stacked body through the transport path formed by the pair of guides 72 are the same as those in the second embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.
The collating method using this conveyance stand 90 and the conveyance roll 92 is demonstrated.

The laminated body supplied to the transport table 90 is transported through a transport path formed by a pair of guides 72 provided on the transport table 90, and then a pair of layers provided to be orthogonal to the transport direction. Collating is completed by being abutted against the nip portion of the transport roll 92. At this time, the pair of transport rolls 92 are not rotated.
In this aspect, the laminated body abutted against the nip portion of the pair of transport rolls 92 is rotated by rotating the pair of transport rolls 92 and then passed through the transport path 82 between them (nip portion). It is conveyed to 30. For this reason, it is desirable that the transport table 90 be disposed so that the center of the stacked body placed thereon is substantially the same height as the nip portion of the transport roll 92.
In addition, after collating using the pair of guides 72 and the transport rolls 92 in this way, the temporary fixing device 27a is used to temporarily fix the laminated body, as in the second embodiment. Then, it is conveyed to the laminating apparatus 30.

  In the present invention, the above-described transport roll 92 is preferably a cleaning roll 80. That is, it is preferable that the transport roll also serves as a cleaning roll. For this reason, the configuration of the apparatus is simplified, and further, dust, dust, and the like attached to the front and back surfaces of the laminate are removed, and the yield rate of the obtained products can be increased.

  The cleaning roll used in the second embodiment and the third embodiment preferably uses a butyl rubber rubber material on the surface. Although it is necessary to clean the surface of the material in order to maintain the dust removal performance, dust and dust can be removed almost 100% by using the above-described butyl rubber rubber material.

As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, by using the pair of guides 72 and the transport roll 92, two orthogonal sides of the laminated body are collated. Thereby, it becomes possible to position a laminated body accurately.
In addition, since the conveyance roll 92 has the function of a collation means and a conveyance means, an apparatus structure is simplified rather than 2nd Embodiment and it becomes possible to implement | achieve an inexpensive apparatus.

  Here, the core sheet and film materials used in the present invention are as follows.

-Core sheet-
The core sheet used in the present invention is preferably opaque so that an image formed on a film when formed into a plastic sheet is easily visible, and more preferably white.

  As the material of the core sheet, plastic is used. Specifically, there are acetate film, cellulose triacetate film, nylon film, polyester film, polycarbonate film, polystyrene film, polyphenylene sulfide film, polypropylene film, polyimide film, cellophane, and the like, among which polyester film is preferably used. In particular, a biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate film is preferably used.

  The core sheet is colored by adding pigments or dyes thereto. In addition, the core sheet may be in the form of a film or plate, or may have a shape having a thickness that is not flexible or has a strength necessary for the core sheet. .

  When the plastic sheet of the present invention is applied to an IC card, a magnetic card, etc., an IC chip, an antenna, an external terminal, etc. are embedded in the core sheet. Moreover, a magnetic stripe, a hologram, etc. may be printed separately, or a character may be embossed as needed.

  As the core sheet used in the present invention, a film made of a plastic having a thickness of 50 to 5000 μm is preferably used, and a PET film having a thickness of 100 to 1000 μm is more preferably used.

-Film-
The film in the present invention needs to have light transmittance, and a substrate usable for this film needs to have transparency. Here, the term “transparency” means, for example, the property of transmitting a certain amount of light in the visible light region. In the present invention, at least the formed image passes through the substrate from the surface opposite to the surface on which the image is formed. It should just be transparent so that it can be visually observed.

As the substrate, a plastic film that can be used as a material for the core sheet can be used.
Among the various plastic films described above, polyester films, particularly PETG in which about half of the ethylene glycol component of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is replaced with 1,4-cyclohexanemethanol component, and polycarbonate mixed with the PET are mixed. An amorphous polyester called A-PET, which has been alloyed, or PET that is not biaxially stretched, can be used more preferably.

  It is recognized that the material such as polyester is not good for the environment as the polyvinyl chloride, which has been used as a core sheet (core) material for conventional cards, generates dioxins due to combustion at the time of disposal of combustibles, It can cope with the fact that it is no longer used. In the present invention, considering the use of the above core sheet not containing chlorine, as further materials, the polystyrene resin film, ABS resin film, AS (acrylonitrile-styrene) resin film, PET film, polyethylene, polypropylene, etc. A film in which a hot-melt adhesive such as polyester or EVA is added to the polyolefin resin film can also be preferably used.

The Vicat softening temperature of the substrate is preferably in the range of 70 to 130 ° C, more preferably in the range of 80 to 120 ° C.
If the Vicat softening temperature is less than 70 ° C., the laminate film may not be sufficiently adhered and adhered to the core sheet (core) in the lamination step. Further, when the Vicat softening temperature exceeds 130 ° C., the image (image forming material) or a coating layer described later is too soft even if the adhesion / adhesion is sufficient, and a defect (image flow) occurs in the image. There is a case.

  The Vicat softening temperature is measured from a method for evaluating the softening temperature of a thermoplastic resin, and the measurement method is a method for testing the heat resistance of a molded plastic material. Are defined in JIS K 7206, ASTM D 1525, and ISO306.

On the other hand, the surface resistivity of at least one side of the substrate is preferably in the range of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹³ Ω, and more preferably in the range of 10 ⁹ to 10 ¹¹ Ω.
If the surface resistivity is less than 10 ⁸ Ω, the resistance value of the image recording material becomes too low particularly at high temperature and high humidity, and for example, the transfer toner from the transfer member may be disturbed, and the surface resistivity is 10 ^If it exceeds ¹³ Ω, the resistance value of the laminate film used as the image recording material becomes too high, and for example, the toner from the transfer member cannot be transferred to the film surface and image defects may occur due to transfer defects.

The surface resistivity should be measured in accordance with JIS K 6911 using a circular electrode (for example, “HR Probe” of Hirester IP manufactured by Mitsubishi Yuka Co., Ltd.) in an environment of 23 ° C. and 55% RH. Can do.
In addition, in the electrophotographic laminate film, when only one surface has a surface resistivity in the above range, it is preferable that the surface is a surface on which an image is formed.

When controlling the surface resistivity of at least one surface of the substrate to the range of 10 ⁸ to 10 ¹³ Ω, a surfactant, a polymer conductive agent, conductive fine particles, etc. are directly added to the resin during the production of the film to be the substrate. Or by applying a surfactant on the surface of the film, depositing a metal thin film, or adding an appropriate amount of a surfactant to an adhesive or the like.

  The thickness of the substrate is preferably in the range of 50 to 500 μm, more preferably in the range of 75 to 200 μm. If the thickness is less than 50 μm, there may be a conveyance failure in the fixing device of the image forming apparatus, and if it exceeds 500 μm, image quality may be deteriorated in the transfer machine of the image forming apparatus.

  In the film of the present invention, it is preferable that an image receiving layer is formed on one side of the substrate, and it is preferable that a functional control means is provided on the surface opposite to the surface on which the image receiving layer is formed.

  The functionality control means preferably has at least one function selected from functions to control glossiness, light resistance, antibacterial properties, flame retardancy, mold release properties, and chargeability, Specifically, gloss, light resistance, antibacterial properties, flame retardancy, releasability, conductivity, more preferably moisture resistance, heat resistance, water repellency, abrasion resistance and scratch resistance to the surface of the substrate. It is provided to add and / or improve various functions such as. Thereby, the film which has the said functionality control means can have tolerance with respect to various use conditions.

It is a composition sectional view of the plastic sheet of the present invention. It is the schematic which shows 1st Embodiment of the production apparatus of the plastic sheet of this invention. It is a schematic plan view which shows the structure of the collation tray which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the collation tray shown in FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows another structure of the collation tray which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing about the presence or absence of the position shift by temporary fixing of a laminated body. It is the schematic which shows 2nd Embodiment of the production apparatus of the plastic sheet of this invention. It is the schematic at the time of seeing a pair of guide in the positioning apparatus shown in FIG. 7 from the upper surface. It is the schematic which shows 3rd Embodiment of the production apparatus of the plastic sheet of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Core sheet 2, 4 Image 3 Surface film (film)
5 Back film (film)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Image forming apparatus 12 Image forming part 20 Positioning apparatus 26 Collating tray (holding member, collating means)
27, 27a Temporary fixing device (temporary fixing means)
30 Laminating device 70 Conveying belt (holding member)
72 A pair of guides (collating means)
74 Stopper (collating means)
80 Cleaning roll 90 Transport stand (holding member)
92 Transport roll (collating means)

Claims (9)

An image forming process for forming an image on one side of the film by an electrophotographic method, a positioning process for positioning a laminated body in which the two film films are stacked so that the image surfaces face each other via a core sheet, and positioning A laminate step of laminating the core sheet with the two films by heating and pressurizing the laminated body, and a method for producing a plastic sheet,
The method for producing a plastic sheet, wherein the positioning step is a step of temporarily fixing the laminated body after collating two orthogonal sides of the laminated body together.   The method for producing a plastic sheet according to claim 1, wherein the temporary fixing position is a leading end portion on the downstream side in the transport direction of the laminated body.   3. The method for producing a plastic sheet according to claim 1, wherein one of the two orthogonal sides is a side orthogonal to the conveyance direction on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the laminated body. . An image forming unit that forms a fixed image on one side of the film by an electrophotographic method, and a positioning unit that positions a laminate in which the two film films are stacked so that the image surfaces face each other via a core sheet; A laminate for laminating the core sheet with the two films by heating and pressing the positioned laminate, and a plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus comprising:
The positioning portion includes a holding member for placing the laminated body, collating means for collating two orthogonal sides of the laminated body together, and temporary fixing means for temporarily fastening the laminated body. Plastic sheet manufacturing equipment.   The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the temporary fixing position is a distal end portion on a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the laminated body.   6. The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein one of the two orthogonal sides is a side orthogonal to the conveyance direction on the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the laminated body. .   The holding member and the collating means are composed of a collating tray having two orthogonal sides including one side parallel to the transport direction of the laminate, and the bottom surface of the collating tray is horizontal, or The plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the plastic sheet manufacturing apparatus is installed with an inclination that becomes lower toward a downstream side in a conveyance direction of the laminated body.   The holding member is composed of a transport belt for transporting the laminate, and the collating means is disposed on the transport belt in parallel with the transport direction of the laminate, and forms a transport path for the stack 1 The plastic sheet according to claim 4, comprising: a pair of guides; and a stopper provided at a position downstream of the guide in the transport direction of the laminate so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction. apparatus.   The holding member comprises a transport table that holds the laminate, and the collating means is disposed on the transport table in parallel with the transport direction of the stack, thereby forming a transport path of the stack 1 5. The guide according to claim 4, comprising a pair of guides and a pair of transport rolls provided downstream of the guide in the transport direction of the laminate so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction. Plastic sheet manufacturing equipment.

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