JP2009051195A - Solution film forming method and apparatus for it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a casted film superior in flatness by peeling off the casted film from a casting drum without leaving any part of the film. <P>SOLUTION: A hydrophobic layer 32c is formed at a position (an area for forming a lug) A1 which is a circumferential face 32b of the casting drum 32 and both ends of the casted film are positioned. The hydrophobic layer 32c is made of a PTFE and its contact angle with water is made at least 90 degrees. The part put between two of the area for forming a lug A1 is used as a product forming area A2. A smooth layer 32d without a surface defect but superior in flatness is made on the product forming area A2. A dope is casted on the surface of the casting drum 32 by using a casting die. The casting drum 32 is rotated, then a casted film 33 is formed on the surface of the casting drum 32. The casted film 33 obtains a self-sustaining property by being cooled and gelated on the casting drum 32 and is peeled off. Owing to a water repellency by hydrophobic layer 32c, a smooth peeling can be conducted without residue at the lug part of the casted film 33. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention casts a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support that runs endlessly, and after forming a cast film on the support, the cast film is peeled off from the support and dried. The present invention relates to a solution casting method and equipment for producing a film.

  Polymer films (hereinafter referred to as films) are widely used as optical functional films because of their features such as excellent light transmittance, flexibility, and reduction in weight of thin films. Among these, cellulose ester films using cellulose acylate have toughness and low birefringence, so that liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) that have recently expanded in the market including photographic photosensitive films. (Liquid Crystal Display)) is used for an optical functional film such as a protective film of a polarizing plate or an optical compensation film.

  The main film production methods include a melt extrusion method and a solution casting method. The melt-extrusion method is a method in which a polymer is heated and dissolved as it is and then extruded with an extruder to produce a film, which has features such as high productivity and relatively low equipment cost. However, it is difficult to adjust the film thickness accuracy, and because fine lines (die lines) can be formed on the film, it is difficult to produce a high-quality film that can be used for optical functional films. is there. On the other hand, the solution casting method is a polymer solution containing a polymer and a solvent (hereinafter referred to as a dope. In the present invention, the dope is a polymer solution or dispersion obtained by dissolving or dispersing a polymer in a solvent. After the cast film formed by casting on the support has a self-supporting property, it is peeled off from the support to form a wet film. It is a method of drying to make a film. Compared with the melt extrusion method, it is excellent in optical isotropy and thickness uniformity, and a film with less foreign matter can be obtained. Therefore, optical functional films for LCD applications are mainly produced by solution casting methods. ing.

  In this solution casting method, a dope is prepared by dissolving a polymer such as cellulose triacetate in a mixed solvent containing dichloromethane or methyl acetate as a main solvent. Furthermore, a predetermined additive is mixed with this dope to prepare a dope for casting. This dope is discharged from a casting die to form a casting bead and cast on a support such as a casting drum or an endless band to form a casting film (hereinafter referred to as a casting process). After the cast film is dried or cooled on the support and becomes self-supporting, it is peeled off from the support as a film (hereinafter, this film is referred to as a wet film), and the wet film is dried. Roll up the film as a film.

In the casting step, the solvent tends to evaporate at both end portions of the casting bead as compared with the central portion. For this reason, when local drying at both end portions of the casting bead becomes significant, skinning occurs in the vicinity of both end portions of the outlet of the casting die. In order to prevent this skinning, a liquid method in which a solvent having the same composition as the dope is dropped on both side ends of the casting bead is performed (for example, see Patent Document 1). Moreover, the solvent content of an inner layer and an outer layer is changed by co-casting, and it discharges toward a support body as a casting beat (for example, refer patent document 2).
JP 2003-181857 A JP 2003-80541 A

  According to such a liquid method or co-casting, the solvent content at both ends becomes higher than that at the center of the casting dope, and when the drying or cooling gelation is performed, both ends of the casting film are left unstriped. May end up. When the peeling residue progresses, the cast film may be broken at the time of peeling, which causes a problem that the production line is stopped and the production efficiency is lowered.

  Furthermore, if the dope is continuously cast on the support to form a cast film, and the cast film is continuously dried or cooled and gelled, the impurity of the dope is formed on the support over time. Precipitates. The deposited dope impurities (hereinafter referred to as plate-out) are transferred to the casting film, and the desired quality cannot be obtained.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a solution casting method and equipment capable of efficiently carrying out solution casting by preventing unseparation with a simple configuration.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention casts a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support that runs endlessly, forms a cast film on the support, and then flows the support from the support. In the solution casting method for producing a film by stripping and drying the casting film as a wet film, the casting film is formed on a portion of the casting film on the support where both ends of the casting film are located, Using the support having a hydrophobized layer having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more, and a smooth layer formed in the cast film forming area on the support and in a site to be a product of the cast film The casting film is formed so that both ends of the casting film are positioned on the hydrophobic layer. In the invention, it is preferable that the smooth layer has a center line average roughness Ra of 0.5 μm. The hydrophobic layer is made of a hydrophobic substance and is provided on the support by coating. The hydrophobic layer has a large number of fine pins having a top diameter of 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less, and the hydrophobicity is improved by utilizing an air layer between these pins. The support is composed of a cooling drum, and the cast film is peeled off by self-supporting by cooling gelation. The polymer preferably includes cellulose acylate, and the cellulose acylate preferably includes at least one of cellulose triacetate, cellulose acetate, propionate, or cellulose acetate butyrate.

  The present invention also provides a method of casting a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support that runs endlessly, forming a cast film on the support, and then removing the cast film from the support. In a solution casting apparatus for producing a film by peeling and drying as a film forming area on the support, the casting film is formed in a portion where both ends of the casting film are located, and a water contact angle is It is characterized by having a hydrophobic layer of 90 ° or more and a smooth layer formed in the casting film forming area on the support and at a site to be a product of the casting film.

  According to the solution casting method of the present invention, the hydrophobized layer having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more is formed in the cast film forming area on the support and at the positions where both ends of the cast film are located. Therefore, due to the water repellency, there is no peeling of the ear part, and the cast film can be peeled off reliably and easily. In addition, a hydrophobic layer is formed only on the part where both ends of the casting film are located, and the center part as a product of the casting film is cast using the peripheral surface of the casting drum as it is, so that the smoothness is improved. A product film that can be secured and has excellent smoothness can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments listed here.

[Solution casting equipment]
In FIG. 1, the schematic of the solution casting apparatus 10 used by this embodiment is shown. The solution casting apparatus 10 includes a stock tank 11, a casting chamber 12, a pin tenter 13, a clip tenter 14, a drying chamber 15, a cooling chamber 16, and a winding chamber 17.

  The stock tank 11 includes a stirring blade 11b and a jacket 11c that are rotated by a motor 11a, and a dope 21 that is a raw material for the film 20 is stored therein. The dope 21 in the stock tank 11 is adjusted by the jacket 11c so that the temperature becomes substantially constant. Further, the rotation of the stirring blade 11b keeps the dope 21 in a uniform quality while suppressing the aggregation of polymers and the like. A gear pump 25 and a filtration device 26 are installed downstream of the stock tank 11, and the dope 21 is sent to the casting die 30 through these.

  In the casting chamber 12, a casting die 30, a casting drum 32 as a support, a peeling roller 34, temperature control devices 35 and 36, and a decompression chamber 37 are installed. The casting drum 32 is rotated by a driving device (not shown), and the dope 21 is discharged from the casting die 30 toward the circumferential surface of the rotating casting drum 32 during rotation, and the circumferential surface of the casting drum 32. A casting film 33 is formed on the surface.

  The temperature in the casting chamber 12 and the casting drum 32 is set to a temperature at which the casting film 33 is easily cooled and solidified (gelled) by the temperature control devices 35 and 36. While the casting drum 32 rotates about 3/4, the casting film 33 reaches a gel strength having self-supporting properties, and is peeled off from the casting drum 32 by the peeling roller 34.

  The decompression chamber 37 is disposed upstream of the casting die 30 in the drum traveling direction, and maintains a negative pressure in the chamber 37. As a result, the back surface of the casting bead (the surface that comes into contact with the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 later) is reduced to a desired pressure, and the influence of the accompanying wind generated by the casting drum 32 rotating at high speed is affected. A stable casting bead is formed between the casting die 30 and the casting drum 32, and the casting film 33 with little film thickness unevenness is formed. Then, after the casting film 33 has a self-supporting property, the peeling roller 34 peels off the casting film 33 on the casting drum 32 as a wet film 38.

  The material of the casting die 30 is formed of a material having high corrosion resistance against a mixed solution of electrolyte aqueous solution, dichloromethane, methanol, and the like, and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. It is preferable to use a liquid contact surface finishing accuracy of the casting die 30 of 1 μm or less in terms of surface roughness and a straightness of 1 μm / m or less in any direction.

  The peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is subjected to a chrome plating process and has sufficient corrosion resistance and strength. The temperature control device 36 circulates the heat transfer medium through the casting drum 32 in order to keep the temperature of the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 at a desired temperature. The heat transfer medium is held at a desired temperature, and the temperature of the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is held at a desired temperature by passing through the heat transfer medium flow path in the casting drum 32.

  The width of the casting drum 32 is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use a casting drum having a width within a range of 1.1 to 2.0 times the casting width of the dope. The material of the casting drum 32 is preferably made of stainless steel, and more preferably made of SUS316 so as to have sufficient corrosion resistance and strength. The chromium plating treatment applied to the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is preferably so-called hard chromium plating with a Vickers hardness of Hv 700 or more and a film thickness of 2 μm or more.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, on the peripheral surface 32 b of the casting drum 32, a portion (ear formation area) A <b> 1 that is a formation area of the casting film 33 and where both ends of the casting film 33 are located, A hydrophobic layer 32c having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more is formed. The hydrophobic layer 32c is made of a material having a surface water contact angle of 90 ° or more. For example, polytetrafluoroethylene (tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE), polyolefin (PP), or the like is used, and is formed on the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 with a thickness of 1 to 200 μm by coating. The water contact angle is obtained by dropping water onto the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 as a support, photographing the shape of the dropped water, and calculating the contact angle from the image.

  Further, the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 sandwiched between the hydrophobized layers 32c is a part (product formation area) A2) to be a product later. In the product formation area A2, a smooth layer 32d that has been surface-treated so that the center line average roughness Ra is less than 0.5 μm is formed. The product forming area A2 in which the smooth layer 32d having such a high smoothness is formed forms a product portion in the film by casting. Therefore, in the casting process, the smoothness of the product part is maintained by the product forming area on the peripheral surface of the casting drum, and the ears of the casting film are peeled off by the ear forming area on the peripheral surface of the casting drum. The rest is suppressed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the casting chamber 12 is provided with a condenser (condenser) 39 for condensing and recovering the evaporated organic solvent and a recovery device 40 for recovering the condensed and liquefied solvent. . The organic solvent condensed and liquefied by the condenser 39 is recovered by the recovery device 40. The solvent is regenerated as a solvent for preparing a dope after being regenerated by a regenerator.

  On the downstream side of the casting chamber 12, a crossover part 41, a pin tenter 13, and a clip tenter 14 are installed in this order. The transfer unit 41 introduces the peeled wet film 38 into the pin tenter 13 by the conveying roller 42. The pin tenter 13 has a large number of pin plates that pass through and hold both ends of the wet film 38, and the pin plates travel on the track. During this traveling, dry air is sent to the wet film 38, and the wet film 38 is dried while traveling to become the film 20.

  The clip tenter 14 has a number of clips that hold both ends of the film 20, and these clips travel on the stretching track. During this traveling, a drying air is sent to the film 20, and the film 20 is dried while being stretched in the film width direction. Desired optical characteristics are imparted to the film 20 exiting the clip tenter 14 by the stretching process of the clip tenter 14 under predetermined conditions. The optical properties may be imparted to the film 20 offline after the film 20 is wound, and in this case, the clip tenter 14 may be omitted from the solution casting apparatus 10.

  An ear clip device 43 is provided downstream of the pin tenter 13 and the clip tenter 14, respectively. The ear clip device 43 cuts off the ears at both ends of the film. The cut ears are sent to the crusher 44 by air sending, crushed and reused as a dope raw material.

  A large number of rollers 47 are provided in the drying chamber 15, and drying is performed by winding the film 20 around these rollers and transporting them. An adsorption recovery device 48 is connected to the drying chamber 15, and the solvent evaporated from the film 20 is absorbed and recovered.

  A cooling chamber 16 is provided on the outlet side of the drying chamber 15, and the film 20 is cooled in this cooling chamber 16 until it reaches room temperature. A forced static elimination device (static elimination bar) 49 is provided downstream of the cooling chamber 16 to neutralize the film 20. Further, a knurling roller 50 is provided on the downstream side of the forcible static eliminator 49, and knurling is applied to both side edges of the film 20. A winding machine 51 having a press roller 52 is installed in the winding chamber 17, and the film 20 is wound around the winding core in a roll shape.

[Solution casting method]
Next, an example of a method for manufacturing the film 20 using the solution casting apparatus 10 will be described with reference to FIG. In the stock tank 11, the temperature of the dope 21 is adjusted to 25 to 35 ° C. by flowing a heat transfer medium inside the jacket 11c, and is always uniformed by the rotation of the stirring blade 11b. An appropriate amount of the dope 21 is sent from the stock tank 11 to the filtration device 26 by the gear pump 25 and filtered to remove impurities in the dope 21. Then, the dope 21 is cast from the casting die 30 onto the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 cooled to a predetermined surface temperature while forming a casting bead. It is preferable that the temperature of the dope 21 at the time of casting is kept substantially constant within a range of 30 to 35 ° C.

  The casting drum 32 is rotated around a shaft 32a by a driving device. By this rotation, the peripheral surface 32b travels in the direction Z1 at a constant speed (30 m / min or more and 200 m / min or less). Further, the temperature of the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is adjusted to be substantially constant within a range of −10 to 10 ° C. When the casting drum 32 cooled in this way is used, the casting film 33 can be gelled to have a self-supporting property. In addition, management of the temperature of the surrounding surface 32b is performed by the temperature control apparatus 36, and the temperature of the surrounding surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is hold | maintained to a predetermined value. As the casting film 33 is cooled, a cross-linking point serving as a crystal base is formed, and gelation of the casting film 33 is promoted.

  As the gelation progresses, the casting film 33 becomes self-supporting, and then is peeled off from the casting drum 32 by the peeling roller 34 to form a wet film 38. The wet film 38 is pinned by the conveying roller 42. 13 is sent.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the peripheral surface 32b of the casting drum 32 is formed with an ear forming area A1 made of a hydrophobized layer 32c and a product forming area A2 having high smoothness. In 32c, since the water contact angle is set to 90 ° or more, it is excellent in water repellency, and the ear part can be easily peeled off. Therefore, there is no occurrence of peeling residue due to the high solvent content in the ear portion, and peeling can be easily performed. In addition, the casting film can be efficiently formed without causing a stop of casting due to poor peeling.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the internal temperature of the casting chamber 12 is adjusted by the temperature control device 35 so as to be substantially constant within a range of 10 to 57 ° C. Inside the casting chamber 12, the dope 21 to be cast and the solvent in the casting film 33 are volatilized and floated. Therefore, in the present embodiment, this floating solvent is condensed and liquefied by the condenser 39, and then recovered by the recovery device 40, further regenerated by the regenerator, and reused as the dope preparation solvent.

  In the pin tenter 13, a large number of pins are inserted and fixed at both end portions of the wet film 38, and then drying is promoted while the wet film 38 is conveyed to form the film 20. Then, the film 20 still containing the solvent is fed into the clip tenter 14. At this time, it is preferable that the residual solvent amount of the film 20 immediately before being sent to the clip tenter 14 is 50 to 150% by weight. In the present invention, the amount of solvent remaining in the film is shown on the basis of dry weight as the residual solvent amount. Further, the measurement method is to calculate {(xy) / y} × 100, where a sample is taken from the target film, x is the weight of the sample, and y is the weight after drying the sample. .

  In the clip tenter 14, drying is promoted while the film 20 is conveyed after the both ends of the film 20 are sandwiched by a large number of clips that run endlessly by the movement of the chain. At this time, the film 20 is stretched by increasing the distance between the facing clips (film width) and applying tension in the width direction of the film 20. Thus, the film 20 is stretched in the width direction so that the molecules in the film 20 are oriented and a desired retardation value can be imparted to the film 20.

  The film 20 that has exited the pin tenter 13 and the clip tenter 14 is cut at both end portions by the edge-cutting device 43. The film 20 whose both ends are cut off is wound up by a winder 51 in the winding chamber 17 via the drying chamber 15 and the cooling chamber 16. Further, both end portions cut by the ear-cutting device 43 are crushed by the crusher 44 to be reused as a dope preparation chip. In this ear-cutting device 43, the ear portion is cut as the film 20 travels, and eventually the portion cast in the product formation area remains as a product film, and a film having excellent smoothness is obtained. can get.

  The film 20 wound up by the winder 51 is preferably at least 100 m in the longitudinal direction (casting direction). The width of the film 20 is preferably 600 mm or more, and more preferably 1400 mm or more and 2500 mm or less. The present invention is also effective when the width is greater than 2500 mm. Furthermore, the present invention is also applied when manufacturing a thin film having a thickness of 20 μm or more or 80 μm or less.

  In the above embodiment, the hydrophobic layer 32c is made of a fluorine-based material or a polyolefin material having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more. Instead, as shown in FIG. 4, the metal peripheral surface 70a of the casting drum is used. The hydrophobized layer 70c may be configured by finely processing, for example, by forming a large number of fine pins 71 having a top diameter of 5 μm to 100 μm. In this case, the water repellency can be improved by utilizing the air layer 72 between the fine pins 71, and when the water 73 is placed on the hydrophobic layer 70c, the apparent water contact angle θ1 is increased. be able to.

  The present invention can also be applied to a solution casting method using a casting band that moves around a rotating drum instead of the casting drum 32. Also in this case, the hydrophobized layer 32c can be formed in the same manner as the ear forming area A1 in the casting area of the casting band, so that plate-out can be suppressed and stripping can be easily performed. Further, as a method for providing the casting film 33 with self-supporting property, it may be dried by blowing dry air or the like in addition to cooling gelation.

[Dope preparation]
Hereinafter, the raw materials used when preparing the dope 21 in the present invention will be described.

In the present embodiment, cellulose acylate is used as the polymer, and cellulose triacetate (TAC) is particularly preferable as the cellulose acylate. Among cellulose acylates, those in which the substitution degree of the acyl group to the hydroxyl group of cellulose satisfies all of the following formulas (I) to '(III) are more preferable. In the following formulas (I) to (III), A and B represent the substitution degree of the acyl group with respect to the hydrogen atom in the hydroxyl group of cellulose, A is the substitution degree of the acetyl group, and B is 3 carbon atoms. The substitution degree of the acyl group of ˜22. In addition, it is preferable that 90 weight% or more of TAC is a particle | grain of 0.1-4 mm. However, the polymer that can be used in the present invention is not limited to cellulose acylate.
(I) 2.5 ≦ A + B ≦ 3.0
(II) 0 ≦ A ≦ 3.0
(III) 0 ≦ B ≦ 2.9

  Glucose units having β-1,4 bonds constituting cellulose have free hydroxyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th positions. Cellulose acylate is a polymer obtained by esterifying some or all of these hydroxyl groups with an acyl group having 2 or more carbon atoms. The degree of acyl substitution means the ratio at which the hydroxyl groups of cellulose are esterified at each of the 2-position, 3-position and 6-position (the substitution degree is 1 in the case of 100% esterification).

  The total degree of acylation substitution, that is, the value of DS2 + DS3 + DS6 is preferably 2.00 to 3.00, more preferably 2.22 to 2.90, and particularly preferably 2.40 to 2.88. Further, the value of DS6 / (DS2 + DS3 + DS6) is preferably 0.28 or more, more preferably 0.30 or more, and particularly preferably 0.31 to 0.34. Here, DS2 is the ratio of the hydrogen of the hydroxyl group at the 2-position in the glucose unit (hereinafter referred to as the acyl substitution degree at the 2-position), and DS3 is the hydroxyl group at the 3-position in the glucose unit. This is the rate at which hydrogen is substituted by an acyl group (hereinafter referred to as the 3-position acyl substitution degree), and DS6 is the rate at which the hydrogen at the 6-position hydroxyl group is substituted by an acyl group in a glucose unit (hereinafter, (Referred to as the degree of acyl substitution at the 6-position).

  Only one type of acyl group may be used in the cellulose acylate of the present invention, or two or more types of acyl groups may be used. When two or more kinds of acyl groups are used, it is preferable that one of them is an acetyl group. The sum of the degree of substitution of the hydroxyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th positions by acetyl groups is DSA, and the sum of the degree of substitution of the hydroxyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th positions by acyl groups other than acetyl groups When DSB is DSB, the value of DSA + DSB is preferably 2.22 to 2.90, and particularly preferably 2.40 to 2.88.

  The DSB is preferably 0.30 or more, particularly preferably 0.7 or more. Further, 20% or more of DSB is preferably a substituent at the 6-position hydroxyl group, more preferably 25% or more, further preferably 30% or more, and particularly preferably 33% or more. Further, the value of DSA + DSB at the 6-position of cellulose acylate is 0.75 or more, more preferably 0.80 or more, and particularly preferably cellulose acylate of 0.85 or more. These cellulose acylates By using, a dope with better solubility can be produced. In particular, when a non-chlorine organic solvent is used, a dope having excellent solubility, low viscosity and excellent filterability can be produced.

  Cellulose, which is a raw material for cellulose acylate, may be obtained from either linter or pulp.

  The acyl group having 2 or more carbon atoms of the cellulose acylate in the present invention may be an aliphatic group or an aryl group, and is not particularly limited. For example, cellulose alkylcarbonyl ester, alkenylcarbonyl ester, aromatic carbonyl ester, aromatic alkylcarbonyl ester and the like may be mentioned, and each may further have a substituted group. Preferred examples of these include propionyl group, butanoyl group, pentanoyl group, hexanoyl group, octanoyl group, decanoyl group, dodecanoyl group, tridecanoyl group, tetradecanoyl group, hexadecanoyl group, octadecanoyl group, iso-butanoyl group. , T-butanoyl group, cyclohexanecarbonyl group, oleoyl group, benzoyl group, naphthylcarbonyl group, cinnamoyl group and the like. Among these, a propionyl group, a butanoyl group, a dodecanoyl group, an octadecanoyl group, a t-butanoyl group, an oleoyl group, a benzoyl group, a naphthylcarbonyl group, a cinnamoyl group, and the like are more preferable, and a propionyl group and a butanoyl group are particularly preferable. It is.

  Solvents for preparing the dope include aromatic hydrocarbons (eg, benzene, toluene, etc.), halogenated hydrocarbons (eg, dichloromethane, chlorobenzene, etc.), alcohols (eg, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, Diethylene glycol, etc.), ketones (eg, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.), esters (eg, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate, etc.) and ethers (eg, tetrahydrofuran, methyl cellosolve, etc.).

  Among the above halogenated hydrocarbons, halogenated hydrocarbons having 1 to 7 carbon atoms are preferably used, and dichloromethane is most preferably used. From the viewpoint of physical properties such as solubility of TAC, peelability of cast film from the support, mechanical strength and optical properties of the film, one or several kinds of alcohols having 1 to 5 carbon atoms are mixed in addition to dichloromethane. It is preferable to do. The content of alcohol is preferably 2 to 25% by weight, more preferably 5 to 20% by weight, based on the entire solvent. Examples of the alcohol include methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol, etc., but methanol, ethanol, n-butanol, or a mixture thereof is preferably used.

  Recently, a solvent composition that does not use dichloromethane has been studied for the purpose of minimizing the impact on the environment. In this case, an ether having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, a ketone having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, an ester having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, and an alcohol having 1 to 12 carbon atoms are preferable. Sometimes used. For example, a mixed solvent of methyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, and n-butanol can be mentioned. These ethers, ketones, esters and alcohols may have a cyclic structure. A compound having two or more functional groups of ether, ketone, ester and alcohol (that is, —O—, —CO—, —COO— and —OH) can also be used as a solvent.

  Details of cellulose acylate are described in paragraphs [0140] to [0195] of JP-A-2005-104148, and these descriptions can also be applied to the present invention. The same applies to additives such as solvents and plasticizers, deterioration inhibitors, UV absorbers (UV agents), optical anisotropy control agents, retardation control agents, dyes, matting agents, release agents, release accelerators, etc. JP-A-2005-104148 describes in detail in paragraphs [0196] to [0516], and these descriptions can also be applied to the present invention.

  In the solution casting method of the present invention, when casting a dope, two or more types of dopes are simultaneously co-cast and laminated, or a plurality of dopes are sequentially co-cast. Sequential lamination co-casting can be performed. In addition, you may combine both casting. When performing simultaneous lamination and co-casting, a casting die to which a feed block is attached may be used, or a multi-manifold casting die may be used. However, it is preferable that at least one of the thickness of the layer on the air surface side and the thickness of the layer on the support side is 0.5 to 30% of the thickness of the entire film in the film composed of multiple layers by co-casting. . In addition, when performing simultaneous lamination and co-casting, it is preferable that the high-viscosity dope is enveloped by the low-viscosity dope when the dope is cast from the die slit to the support, and is formed from the die slit to the support. Of the casting beads, the dope in contact with the outside world preferably has a higher alcohol composition ratio than the inner dope.

  From casting die, decompression chamber, support structure, co-casting, peeling method, stretching, drying conditions for each process, handling method, curl, winding method after flatness correction, solvent recovery method, film recovery method Until now, the details are described in paragraphs [0617] to [0889] of JP-A-2005-104148, and these descriptions can also be applied to the present invention.

  Examples of the present invention will be described below to explain the effects of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[Film production]
In the solution casting apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical casting drum 32 having a diameter of 1000 mm was used, the drum surface temperature was −5 ° C., and the deposition rate was 100 m / min. On the peripheral surface 32 b of the casting drum 32, the dope 21 was cast with a dry thickness of 80 μm to form a casting film 33.
In the casting drum 32, the peripheral surface 32b is subjected to chrome plating and mirror finishing, and the PTFE hydrophobized layer 32c (water contact angle 120 °) is formed in the ear forming area A1. Moreover, the smooth layer 32d is formed in the product formation area A2, and the center line average roughness Ra is less than 0.5 μm (see FIG. 2).

  The casting film 33 that had reached the self-supporting property on the casting drum 32 was peeled off by the peeling roller 34 to obtain a wet film 38. The wet film 38 was dried to a predetermined residual solvent amount with the pin tenter 13 and the clip tenter 14 to obtain a film 20. About the peeling residue, it was observed visually whether the peeling residue had generate | occur | produced. When no peeling residue occurred, good results were obtained. As for smoothness, the haze of the film 20 is measured with a haze meter, and if it is 1.0% or less, it can be used as a product without any problem, and a film 20 having high smoothness and excellent smoothness is obtained. It was decided that Moreover, since it cannot be used as a product when larger than 1.0%, it was decided that the defective film 20 was obtained. In Example 1, there was no peeling residue and the haze was 0.4%, so that a film excellent in smoothness was obtained.

[Dope]
The dope raw materials used in Example 1 are as follows.
Cellulose triacetate 100 parts by weight Dichloromethane 320 parts by weight Methanol 83 parts by weight 1-butanol 3 parts by weight Plasticizer A 7.6 parts by weight Plasticizer B 3.8 parts by weight UV agent a 0.7 part by weight UV agent b 0.3 part by weight Part fine particles 0.05 parts by weight

  The cellulose triacetate has a substitution degree of 2.84, a viscosity average polymerization degree of 306, a water content of 0.2% by weight, a viscosity of 6% by weight in a dichloromethane solution of 315 mPa · s, an average particle diameter of 1.5 mm, and a standard deviation of 0.8. 5 mm powder, plasticizer A is triphenyl phosphate, plasticizer B is diphenyl phosphate, and UV agent a is 2 (2′-hydroxy-3 ′, 5′-di- tert-butylphenyl) benzotriazole, UV agent b is 2 (2′-hydroxy-3 ′, 5′-di-tert-amylphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole, and the citrate ester compound is It is a mixture of acid, monoethyl ester, diethyl ester and triethyl ester, and the fine particles have a mean particle size of 15 nm and a Mohs hardness of about 7 It is silicon.

  The same procedure as in Example 1 was performed except that the hydrophobic layer 32c made of PP (water contact angle 95 °) was used instead of the hydrophobic layer 32c made of PTFE in Example 1. Also in Example 2, there was no peeling residue and the haze was 0.4%, so that a film excellent in smoothness was obtained.

  The same operation as in Example 1 was performed except that the casting drum 32 in which the center line average roughness Ra of the smooth layer 32d was 0.6 μm was used. No peeling residue occurred at both ends of the film, and the peelability was good. However, with respect to smoothness, the haze was 1.5%, which resulted in an unsuitable film for applications requiring smoothness.

[Comparative Example 1]
The same operation as in Example 1 was performed except that the hydrophobic layer 32c was omitted. The drum peripheral surface was subjected to a hard chrome plating process, and the contact angle of water was 85 °. Stripping residue occurred at both ends of the film. As for the smoothness, the haze was 0.3%, so that a film excellent in smoothness was obtained.

  From the results of these examples and comparative examples, it was found that in the present invention, there was no peeling residue and smooth continuous casting was possible. Moreover, the film excellent in smoothness was obtained.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the outline | summary of the solution casting apparatus of this invention. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the hydrophobization layer of a casting drum. It is a schematic top view which similarly shows the hydrophobization layer of a casting drum. It is general | schematic sectional drawing which expands and shows the hydrophobization layer in 2nd Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Solution film forming equipment 11 Stock tank 12 Casting chamber 13 Pin tenter 14 Clip tenter 15 Drying chamber 16 Cooling chamber 17 Winding chamber 20 Film 21 Dope 30 Casting die 32 Casting drum 32b Peripheral surface 32c Hydrophobized layer 32d Smooth layer 33 Casting film 34 Stripping roller 35, 36 Temperature control equipment 37 Depressurization chamber 38 Wet film 41 Transition part A1 Ear formation area A2 Product formation area

Claims (6)

Casting a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support that runs endlessly,
In the solution casting method for producing a film by forming a casting film on the support and then peeling off the casting film as a wet film from the support and drying it,
A hydrophobized layer formed on a portion of the casting film on the support where the both ends of the casting film are located and having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more, and the casting on the support Using the support having a smooth layer formed at a site that is a film forming area and is a product of the cast film,
A solution casting method, wherein the casting film is formed so that both ends of the casting film are positioned on the hydrophobic layer.   2. The solution casting method according to claim 1, wherein the smooth layer has a center line average roughness Ra of less than 0.5 [mu] m.   3. The solution casting method according to claim 1, wherein the hydrophobic layer is made of a hydrophobic substance, and is provided on the support by coating.   The hydrophobized layer has a large number of fine pins having a top diameter of 5 μm or more and 100 μm or less, and the hydrophobicity is improved by utilizing an air layer between these pins. 2. The solution casting method according to 2.   The solution casting method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the support is constituted by a cooling drum, and the casting film is peeled off by self-supporting by cooling gelation. Casting a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support that runs endlessly,
In a solution casting apparatus for producing a film by forming a casting film on the support and then peeling off the casting film as a wet film from the support and drying it,
A formation area of the casting film on the support, which is formed at a position where both ends of the casting film are located, and a hydrophobized layer having a water contact angle of 90 ° or more;
A solution casting apparatus, comprising: a smooth layer formed on a portion of the support where the casting film is formed and which is a product of the casting film.

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