JP2009139888A - Surface light-diffusing polyester film - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surface light-diffusing polyester film having excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength, thickness accuracy and the like, achieving both total light transmittance and light diffusivity, suppressing curling due to heat originating from a bimetal structure, suppressing the occurrence of moire or scintillation when used for a liquid crystal display, and showing excellent post-processing property. <P>SOLUTION: The surface light-diffusing polyester film has a Δn<SB>ab</SB>(relating to the refractive index) of 0.015 to 0.060 and is characterized in that: (1) the film has a light-diffusing layer comprising a blended composition of 50 to 99 parts by mass of a crystalline polyester and 1 to 50 parts by mass of an additive incompatible with the polyester; (2) the film has a plane orientation coefficient ΔP of 0.08 to 0.16; (3) the film has a surface haze of ≥15%; (4) the film has an internal haze less than the surface haze; (5) the film has a tensile strength of ≥100 MPa; (6) the film has an S(3) factor, which represents diffusivity, of ≥30% and <50%; and moreover, the film shows heat shrinkage percentages HS150 close to both ends in the width direction of the film ranging from 0.7% to 2.0%, the difference in the HS150 close to both ends being ≤0.1%, and the amount of variation along the longitudinal direction in the HS150 close to both ends being ≤0.25%. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a light diffusing film used for a backlight unit, a lighting device, etc. of a liquid crystal display with a large screen and high luminance. More specifically, the present invention relates to a surface light diffusible polyester film that has both light diffusibility and light transmittance, is less likely to curl due to temperature change, and has excellent processability.

  In recent years, the technological progress of liquid crystal displays has been remarkable and widely used as display devices for personal computers, televisions, mobile phones and the like. In particular, in recent years, high definition has been advanced for various uses of liquid crystal displays. Especially for television applications, with the widespread use of high-definition broadcasting, horizontal 1920 × vertical 1080 dots, which has traditionally been mainly used for large-screen liquid crystal televisions. The so-called full HD display liquid crystal panel has been adopted for a relatively small screen size LCD TV, and the demand for higher definition is increasing. Since these liquid crystal displays do not have a light emitting function by themselves, a liquid crystal display unit can be displayed by installing a backlight unit on the back surface thereof.

  There are various types of backlight units, but they are roughly classified into two types. In general, the most common method is a method called a direct type, in which the light source is inside the illumination surface. In this system, a large number of light sources such as cold-cathode ray tubes can be arranged directly under the illumination surface, so that extremely high luminance is obtained and light loss is small. For this reason, it is often used for large liquid crystal displays such as large liquid crystal TVs that require high brightness.

  The other method is called an edge light type. The light source is arranged outside the illumination surface, and a fluorescent lamp (many of them are placed on one or two sides of a light guide plate made of a transparent acrylic resin plate or the like arranged on the illumination surface. Is a system in which a substantially linear light-emitting body such as a cold cathode discharge tube is closely attached and a lamp cover made of a reflector is provided to introduce light into the light guide plate. This method has the characteristics that power consumption is small, and that it can be reduced in size and thickness. For this reason, it is widely used in applications that require a reduction in thickness and weight, such as a small display such as a notebook personal computer.

  The functions required of the light guide plate of the edge light type backlight unit are a function of transmitting light incident from the end portion forward and a function of emitting the transmitted light to the liquid crystal display element side. The former function depends on the material used and the interface reflection characteristics. The latter function is determined according to the shape of the light guide plate surface that avoids the total reflection condition. As a method of forming the shape of the surface of the light guide plate, a method of applying a white diffusing material to the surface of the light guide plate and a method of providing a Fresnel shape of lenticular or prism to the surface of the light guide plate are known. However, the light emitted from the light guide plate having these surface shapes shows a non-uniform distribution due to the shape. Therefore, in order to obtain a high-quality image, a light diffusive film is installed on the light guide plate, and the light emitted from the light guide plate is diffused and scattered, and the brightness of the illumination surface is made uniform.

  In order to further improve the front luminance of these backlight units, a prism sheet or a sheet having a light collecting function called a lens sheet is used so as to collect the light transmitted through the light diffusing film in the front direction as much as possible. May be. The surface of the sheet has a large number of minute irregularities such as a prism shape, a wave shape, and a pyramid shape, and the emitted light that has passed through the light diffusing film is refracted and collected in the front to improve the luminance of the illumination surface. Such a prism sheet is used by being arranged one or two on the surface side of the light diffusing film.

  Furthermore, in order to make the luminance unevenness and the defect of the prism sheet caused by the arrangement of the prism sheet inconspicuous (improve concealment), a light diffusing film may be arranged on the surface side of the prism sheet. .

The light diffusing film used in the backlight unit as described above is obtained by coating a light diffusing layer made of a transparent resin containing fine particles on the surface of a biaxially stretched polyester film (for example, Patent Document 1). 2) is the mainstream.
JP-A-6-59108 Japanese Patent No. 3698978 specification

  However, in this method, since it is necessary to provide a light diffusion layer by coating on one side of the base film, the light diffusion film has a bimetallic structure due to the difference in the linear expansion coefficient between the light diffusion layer and the base film. There is a problem that curling is likely to occur due to heating. This problem is becoming an important problem particularly in a liquid crystal display employing a direct type backlight unit that requires a large size and extremely high luminance, such as a large liquid crystal TV in recent years. This is because the larger the area of the light diffusing film, the more the curling becomes more prominent, and the higher the brightness of the display, the greater the power consumption of the light source, that is, the amount of heat generated by the backlight unit. is there.

  In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to eliminate bimetal. Generally, a hard coat layer (non-light diffusible layer) is formed on the surface of the light diffusion layer of the base film with a thickness of several μm to several tens of μm, and linear expansion stress is formed on both sides of the light diffusion layer. The measures to balance are taken.

  However, the thickness of the hard coat layer is originally unnecessary, which causes an increase in thickness unnecessary for the light diffusing film and an increase in manufacturing cost. Furthermore, there is a limit to measures for balancing the linear expansion stresses on the front and back sides, and the above-described large screen and high brightness display can provide only an insufficient effect.

  In recent years, many studies have been made to integrate a light diffusing film with another optical functional film for the purpose of reducing the number of backlight unit parts, simplifying the manufacturing process, and reducing the cost.

  For example, a prism row is formed on the first surface side of a plate-like translucent base material having two main surfaces, a first surface and a second surface, and a large number of transparent surfaces are formed on the second surface side of the base material. There is disclosed a prism sheet (see Patent Document 3), in which a light diffusion layer containing a light bead is formed.

  Further, at least two layers of a light diffusing layer composed of a thermoplastic resin layer kneaded with a light diffusing agent and a prism shape forming layer having a prism shape formed on the surface of a thermoplastic resin layer not kneaded with the light diffusing agent are laminated. A lens sheet for a liquid crystal display device (see Patent Document 4) is disclosed.

Furthermore, a light-scattering biaxially stretched polyester film for a prism sheet (see Patent Document 5), in which light diffusibility is imparted by a light-scattering agent added inside the film and voids generated around the light-scattering agent, is disclosed.
JP-A-9-281310 Japanese Patent No. 3732253 JP 2005-181648 A

  However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a problem in that the translucent beads having a lens action are placed on the light incident surface side, so that a so-called reverse diffusion state occurs and the front luminance is greatly reduced. For this reason, this method cannot provide sufficient luminance and light diffusibility.

  On the other hand, in the methods disclosed in Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 5, since light diffusibility is imparted by the light scattering material inside the substrate, some incident light undergoes backscattering, and the light transmittance is reduced. There is a problem of doing.

  In recent years, many approaches have been made to impart light diffusibility to a biaxially stretched polyester film itself having excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength, and thickness uniformity. Providing light diffusibility to a polyester film consisting essentially of a single material opens the way for solving the above-mentioned heating curl problem and integrating the functions of the diffusion sheet and prism sheet. The value is very great.

  However, any of the previously proposed proposals for imparting light diffusibility to the biaxially stretched polyester film itself is one of the inherent characteristics (heat resistance, mechanical strength, etc.) of the biaxially stretched polyester film. Or the characteristics that the light diffusive film should have such as light transmittance and light diffusibility are impaired, and it has not been put into practical use.

  For example, the film disclosed in Patent Document 5 is presumed to have characteristics inherent to a biaxially stretched polyester film, such as excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength, and excellent thickness uniformity. However, since the light diffusibility is imparted by bubbles existing inside the layer, there is a problem that the light transmittance is low. Bubbles (voids) generated in the biaxial stretching process of the film have a flat plate shape parallel to the film surface. Therefore, when used as a light diffusive film in a backlight unit, most of the light emitted from the illumination surface is backscattered, and the light transmittance is impaired. In fact, the total light transmittance shown in the examples is only 85.3% at the highest.

Further, as a constituent polyester resin of a light diffusion layer containing fine particles, an internal light diffusion film using an amorphous polyester obtained by copolymerizing 25 mol% of an isophthalic acid component with polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is laminated on at least one surface thereof. A laminated light diffusing film made of PET film (see Patent Document 6) is disclosed.
JP 2001-272508 A

  In the above method, since the elimination of voids is considered, the light transmittance is improved. However, even in this method, the light diffusibility is imparted by light scattering inside the film, and a decrease in light transmittance accompanying backscattering of incident light is inevitable.

  Further, in the film of Patent Document 6, the crystallinity of the constituent resin (PET homopolymer) of the base material layer and the constituent resin (amorphous polyester) of the light diffusion layer is remarkably different. As a result, the obtained biaxially stretched film itself has a bimetallic structure, and the biaxially stretched film itself is easily curled by heating. For this reason, curling may occur depending on the heat treatment in the post-processing step and the use environment (temperature) of the liquid crystal display.

In addition, a light diffusing layer in which a melting point is 210 ° C. or less or amorphous polyester is used as a constituent resin, and a light diffusing additive composed of incompatible particles or thermoplastic resin is blended with the constituent resin is used as an intermediate layer. Moreover, the film which laminated | stacked the crystalline polyester resin layer on the both surfaces is disclosed (refer patent documents 7-13).
JP 2001-324606 A JP 2002-162508 A JP 2002-182013 A JP 2002-196113 A JP 2002-372606 A JP 2004-219438 A JP 2004-354558 A

  In these methods, since the film structure is the front and back object, the occurrence of curl due to the asymmetric structure is improved to some extent. However, there is no difference in crystallinity between the light diffusing intermediate layer and the surface layer, and the flatness during temperature changes is significantly deteriorated due to slight layer thickness fluctuations and physical properties fluctuations on both sides. Is inherent.

  In these methods, most of the film is made of amorphous or extremely poorly crystalline polyester, so that the excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength and thickness uniformity inherent in the biaxially stretched film can be obtained. I can't.

Moreover, the biaxially-stretched polyethylene terephthalate film which mix | blended the particle | grains on the spherical or convex lens of a specific particle diameter is disclosed (refer patent document 14).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-37898

  Patent Document 14 discloses a film having a total light transmittance of 88% and a diffuse transmittance of 68% while using polyethylene terephthalate as a raw material for polyester. Furthermore, a film having a total light transmittance of 85% and a diffuse transmittance of 63% is disclosed. However, the basic properties such as heat resistance, mechanical strength, and thickness accuracy of these films are not disclosed, and heat resistance, mechanical strength, and high thickness accuracy, which are inherent characteristics of biaxially stretched polyethylene terephthalate films, are not disclosed. The probability of obtaining is not recognized at all.

  This is because these films are obtained by stretching an unstretched film having a thickness of 200 μm by 3.0 times in the vertical, horizontal, and both directions, that is, by an area magnification of 9.0 times. Is 50 μm, and the actual area stretch ratio calculated from the thickness ratio before and after stretching is only 4.0 times. In other words, due to the influence of width shrinkage that occurs during longitudinal stretching, stretching ratio distribution that occurs during transverse stretching, and dimensional changes during heat treatment, the setting ratio of the stretching equipment and the actual stretching ratio are significantly different. Conceivable. And, when the actual area draw ratio is about 4 times, even if excellent light transmittance is obtained, the heat resistance, mechanical strength and high thickness accuracy which are the original characteristics of the biaxially stretched film are achieved. That is impossible.

  As described above, the problem that the bimetallic film base material is likely to be curled as the backlight unit for liquid crystal display is increased in size and output is increasing, and the offline coating method is used to solve the above problem. However, it is desirable to use the actual stretched film itself (Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, in the method of imparting light diffusibility to the biaxially stretched film itself, generation of voids due to the light diffusing particles is unavoidable, and there is a problem that the total light transmittance is reduced (Patent Documents 3, 4, and 5). . As a method for avoiding the generation of voids, there has been a problem that the problem of curling cannot be solved by changing the resin properties and stretching conditions that have been made conventionally (Patent Document 6) or the mechanical strength of the film is reduced (patent) References 7-14). That is, since the mechanical properties and optical properties of the biaxially stretched film are in a trade-off relationship, no film satisfying any of the properties has been obtained. For this reason, in terms of overall quality, the method has not been put into practical use, in comparison with the conventional method of applying a light diffusion layer to a transparent substrate film by post-processing.

  In addition, as a result of studying various forms of use of light diffusing polyester films, the shape of lens sheets and prism sheets combined with light diffusing films, especially in full HD type liquid crystal displays with higher definition and higher brightness, has been developed. It has become clear that various ingenuity has been applied to the pitch and pitch. In addition, the pixel pitch is extremely small in a high-definition liquid crystal panel.

  In view of the problems as described above, the biaxially stretched polyester film has excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength, thickness accuracy, etc., and has both total light transmittance and light diffusibility, and is derived from a bimetallic structure. The inventors of the present invention have previously made the invention of the prior application (I) for the purpose of providing a surface light diffusible polyester film that suppresses the occurrence of heat curl and exhibits excellent display characteristics in a wide range of usage forms. Japanese Patent Application No. 2007-316713).

  The invention (I) of the prior application is a surface light diffusible polyester that suppresses the occurrence of curling by heating, has the original excellent mechanical properties of the biaxially stretched polyester film, and further achieves both total light transmittance and light diffusibility. A film is provided. In order to achieve both of the above characteristics, the inventors of the present application have made extensive investigations, particularly focusing on the control of the surface orientation coefficient of the film, the relationship between the internal haze and the surface haze, and the surface uneven structure of the light diffusion layer. went. As a result, the present inventors have taken the measures described in [1] to [8], which will be described later, so that the characteristics of tradeoff are compatible and can be utilized in a wide range of usage forms, particularly various lens sheets and prisms. The present inventors have found that excellent display characteristics are exhibited in combination with a sheet and a liquid crystal panel, and have arrived at the prior invention (I).

  In the surface light diffusible polyester film of the invention (I) of the prior application, since the support layer and the light diffusing layer both have a multilayer structure mainly composed of crystalline polyester, generation of heating curl derived from the bimetallic structure is suppressed. In addition, the biaxially stretched polyester film had excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength and thickness accuracy inherent to the biaxially stretched polyester film.

  The surface light diffusing polyester film of the invention (I) of the prior application uses crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component as the main raw material of the light diffusing layer, and the plane orientation coefficient of the entire film is controlled within a specific range. The voids are not substantially generated around the incompatible additive added in the light diffusion layer, and the surface of the light diffusion layer has an uneven structure. Therefore, it has both excellent surface light diffusibility and high light transmittance.

  Furthermore, the surface light diffusing polyester film of the prior invention (I) can be utilized in a wide variety of usage forms because the uneven structure on the surface of the light diffusing layer is suitably controlled, and in particular, various lens sheets and prism sheets, Excellent display characteristics were obtained in combination with a liquid crystal panel.

  On the other hand, the surface light diffusing polyester film has a width in a state where the end of the film is held in the tenter after the unstretched film original is stretched in the longitudinal direction between rolls having a difference in rotational speed. Manufactured by stretching in the direction and heat setting. In this case, since the longitudinal direction cannot be relaxed at the end of the film in the width direction at the time of heat fixing, the heat shrinkage rate in the longitudinal direction varies depending on the position in the film width direction. Therefore, in the slit roll corresponding to the edge of the mill roll, the thermal contraction rate at the one end edge in the width direction (thermal contraction rate in the longitudinal direction) is larger than the thermal contraction rate at the other end edge. When such a slit roll is used, meandering, undulations, and wrinkles are generated in the film due to a heat treatment step during post-processing, heat generation of the UV curable resin during lens processing, and the like, and the passability of the film is deteriorated. In some cases, the film is rubbed and scratched by the frame of the machine base and others. In addition, adjusting the post-processing conditions in order to prevent the film from being damaged is a very time-consuming operation. For the above reasons, only slit rolls other than the edge of the mill roll could be used without adjusting the post-processing conditions.

  In addition, the demand for wide slit rolls is increasing in order to reduce post-processing costs. In order to collect a wide slit roll, it is desirable to increase the width of the mill roll. However, when the width of the mill roll is widened, it becomes difficult to keep the temperature in the width direction uniform during heat setting. That is, the temperature fluctuation range is large both in terms of position and time. Therefore, in order to increase the width of the mill roll, it is necessary to finely adjust the hot air blowing amount and the like to maintain the temperature uniformity in the width direction of the heat fixing device. However, even when fine adjustments such as the amount of blown hot air are made, it is not possible to reduce the difference in thermal shrinkage at the film edge to a level sufficient to improve the film passability in post-processing.

  Until now, as a method of reducing the difference in thermal shrinkage in the width direction of the film, the applicant has increased the temperature in the width direction of the film from the center to the end by the following means, thereby relaxing the edge. A method of bringing the amount close to the relaxation amount in the central portion has been proposed (Patent Document 15). That is, in the heat fixing process of the film, (1) covering a plenum duct (hot air outlet) arranged vertically at a certain interval with respect to the film traveling direction, and (2) shielding the film. The width of the plate is gradually widened according to the film traveling direction side.

JP 2001-138462 A

  Further, as a method for reducing the difference in the heat shrinkage rate in the width direction of the film, the applicant attached discontinuous shielding plates to the five plenum ducts in the film heat setting step, and from each plenum duct, per unit time Discloses a method of increasing the amount of hot air impinging on the end by increasing the speed of air blown from the plenum duct while keeping the amount of hot air blown to the air (Patent Document 16).

JP 2002-79638 A

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1 in which a continuous shielding plate is simply put on the plenum duct, the heat treatment in post-processing (coating and drying) is improved to some extent at about 120 ° C. The film relaxation is still inadequate. That is, in the above method, the passability when heat treatment at about 160 ° C. is performed for a relatively long time (10 to 60 seconds) (formation of a hard coat film, etc.) is not improved so much. Therefore, when post-processing is performed at a high temperature for a long time, the conditions must be adjusted, but such adjustment may not be possible.

  In addition, in the method of Patent Document 15, since temperature turbulence occurs in the heat setting zone, when a long film (mill roll) having a length of 1,000 m or more is manufactured, there is a difference in heat shrinkage rate in the width direction of the film. A big part arises.

  Further, in the method of Patent Document 16, since the air volume of each plenum duct is constant, the wind speed is different for each plenum duct, so that turbulent flow occurs in the heat fixing device. Therefore, the temperature in the heat setting zone is greatly inhomogeneous, which is inconvenient. Moreover, the effect of reducing the difference in the heat shrinkage rate in the width direction due to the shielding plate was not satisfactory.

  From the viewpoint of improving productivity, it is predicted that the line speed of post-processing will be further improved, and it is considered that a surface light diffusible polyester film that can be suitably used even in high-temperature post-processing is required. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the surface light diffusible polyester film described above, and to provide a surface light diffusible polyester film having good film permeability in the heat treatment step during post-processing over the entire length of the roll. It is to provide a method.

  The surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention that can achieve the above object and the method for producing the same have the following constitutions.

That is, of the present invention, the configuration of the invention described in claim 1 is that the refractive index in the direction that forms an angle of 45 degrees with the winding direction of the film and the direction that forms an angle of 135 degrees with the winding direction of the film. A surface light diffusing polyester film satisfying the following requirements (1) to (6) made of a biaxially oriented polyester film, wherein Δn _ab which is a difference from the refractive index is 0.015 or more and 0.060 or less, The first sample cutout is provided within 2 m from the end of winding, the final cutout is provided within 2 m from the beginning of winding of the film, and the sample is divided into 9 equal parts between the first and final cutouts. By providing the cutout portions, the following requirements (7) to (9) are satisfied when a total of 10 sample cutout portions are provided.
(1) A support layer comprising a crystalline homopolyester or a crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component, and a copolymer component having a melting point of 235 to 255 ° C. laminated on at least one surface of the support layer by a co-extrusion method. (2) The surface of the film defined by the following formula: having a light diffusion layer comprising a blended composition of 50 to 99 parts by mass of the crystalline polyester and 1 to 50 parts by mass of an additive incompatible with the polyester Orientation coefficient ΔP is 0.08 to 0.16 ΔP = (nx + ny) / 2−nz
Here, nx, ny, and nz represent the refractive index in the longitudinal direction, the refractive index in the width direction, and the refractive index in the thickness direction, respectively.
(3) The surface haze is 15% or more (4) The internal haze is less than the surface haze (5) The tensile strength is 100 MPa or more in both the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction (6) Defined by the following formula S (3) indicating the light diffusibility of the film is 30% or more and less than 50%.
S (3) = I (3) / I (0) × 100
Here, I (3) and I (0) respectively represent a value of 3 degrees and 0 degree of the diffusion angle in the transmitted light intensity.
(7) When each sample is cut out from a position within 50 mm from one edge and a position within 50 mm from the other edge in the width direction of the film, and the two samples are heated at 150 ° C. for 30 minutes. HS150, which is the heat shrinkage rate in the film winding direction, and when the heat shrinkage difference, which is the difference between the HS150, is obtained, the heat shrinkage difference in all cutout portions is 0.1% or less. (8) In each of the cutout portions, when a sample was cut out from a position within 50 mm from one end edge and a position within 50 mm from the other end edge in the width direction of the film, and HS150 was obtained for each sample, HS150 of samples at both end edges in all cutout portions is 0.7% or more and 2.0% or less. (9) The fluctuation amount of the HS 150 on the one end edge side in the width direction of the film obtained in each cutout portion, and the fluctuation amount of the HS150 on the other end edge side in the width direction of the roll obtained in each cutout portion are both The structure of the invention described in claim 2 is the invention described in claim 1, wherein the total light transmittance is 86% or more and the image definition is 2 mm in the comb width. It is characterized by being 40% or less.
The structure of the invention described in claim 3 is a copolymer polyester resin, a polyurethane resin provided on the surface of the light diffusion layer in the invention described in claim 1 before completion of stretching and orientation of the film, or It has the application layer which has an acrylic resin as a main component at least 1 or more types.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a copolymer polyester resin, a polyurethane resin, or an acrylic resin on both the light diffusing layer side and the support layer side of the surface light diffusing polyester film according to the first aspect. It has the application layer which has at least 1 or more types as a main component.
The structure of the invention described in claim 5 is that the surface light diffusible polyester film described in claim 1 is for a prism sheet, and a copolymer polyester resin, polyurethane resin, Or it has the application layer which has an acrylic resin as a main component at least 1 or more types.
The structure of the invention described in claim 6 is a manufacturing method for manufacturing the surface light diffusing polyester film described in claims 1 to 4, and is unstretched by melt-extruding a raw material resin from an extruder. A film forming step for forming the sheet, a biaxial stretching step for biaxially stretching the unstretched sheet obtained in the film forming step in the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction, and a heat setting step for heat-setting the film after biaxial stretching. The heat setting step is performed in a heat setting device that satisfies the following requirements (10) to (12).
(10) A plurality of wide plenum ducts for blowing hot air are disposed vertically opposite to the film traveling direction. (11) Shielding for shielding hot air outlets from the plurality of plenum ducts. (12) The dimension of each shielding plate in the traveling direction of the film is adjusted to be substantially the same as the dimension of the outlet of each plenum duct in the traveling direction of the film. The dimension in the width direction of a film is adjusted so that it may become long gradually with respect to the advancing direction of a film The structure of the invention described in Claim 7 of the surface light diffusable polyester film described in Claim 6 A manufacturing method, in which a biaxial stretching step stretches a film in the longitudinal direction and then stretches in the transverse direction, and performs the transverse stretching An intermediate zone that does not perform wind blowing is provided between the heat fixing device and the heat fixing device.
The structure of the invention described in claim 8 is the method for manufacturing the surface light diffusible polyester film described in claim 6 or 7, wherein the heat setting device is divided into a plurality of heat setting zones. In addition, the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between adjacent heat setting zones is set to be 250 ° C. · m / s or less.

  The surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention is a trade-off that curling due to heating is suppressed, the mechanical properties inherent to the biaxially stretched polyester film are excellent, and the total light transmittance and light diffusibility are compatible. In addition to solving this problem, by realizing an improved surface relief structure, it is possible to prevent display quality degradation such as moire and scintillation even when used in combination with various lens sheets, prism sheets, and liquid crystal panels. The effect is also realized.

  Furthermore, since the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention is very excellent in film passing properties during post-processing such as prism lens processing, hard coat processing, and AR processing, it can be post-processed with a very high yield. . Therefore, the surface light diffusable polyester film of the present invention can be suitably used as a film for processing in which post-processing heat treatment is performed at a high temperature (about 160 ° C.) for a relatively long time (10 to 60 seconds).

The present invention suppresses the occurrence of curling due to heating, has the original excellent mechanical properties of a biaxially stretched polyester film, and further achieves both total light transmittance and light diffusibility, and various lens sheets. Even when used in combination with a prism sheet or liquid crystal panel, the display quality can be prevented from deteriorating, such as moire and so-called scintillation color flickering, and excellent workability can be achieved during post-processing. A surface light diffusing polyester film and a method for producing the same are provided. In order to realize the above characteristics, the inventors of the present invention particularly dealt with the unevenness of the thermal contraction rate of the film in addition to the plane orientation coefficient of the film, the relationship between the internal haze and the surface haze, and the surface uneven structure of the light diffusion layer. Attention was also paid to the study. As a result, the present inventors have found that such characteristics can be realized by taking the measures described in [1] to [9] below, and have reached the present invention. First, the characteristics of these achievement means will be described. In order to realize the above characteristics, only one of the following means [1] to [9] does not contribute effectively, but the means [1] to [9] are combined. It is considered that the above characteristics can be realized for the first time by using it.
[1] Control of melting point of resin in light diffusion layer [2] Control of difference in melting point [3] Control of laminated structure of light diffusion layer [4] Control of thickness of light diffusion layer [5] Intrinsic viscosity of resin constituting light diffusion layer [6] Control of difference in melt viscosity between base polymer and incompatible resin [7] Control of stretching temperature and heat treatment temperature condition [8] Control of surface uneven structure of light diffusion layer [9] Film in heat setting process Control of heating state

[1] Control of resin melting point of light diffusing layer (B) The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention has a support layer (A) made of a crystalline homopolyester or a crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component. A light diffusion layer (B) comprising a blended composition of a crystalline polyester containing a polymerization component and the incompatible additive. Here, crystalline polyester / crystalline homopolyester refers to polyester / homopolyester having a melting point. The melting point is the endothermic peak temperature at the time of melting detected at the time of primary temperature rise in so-called differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Any polyester / homopolyester having a crystal melting heat peak clearly observed as a melting point when measured using a differential scanning calorimeter is included in crystalline polyester / crystalline homopolyester.

  In view of the heat resistance, mechanical strength, and thickness accuracy of the film, the higher the melting point of the resin, the better. However, when the melting point of the resin is high, the stretching stress generated during stretching increases. Therefore, if there are incompatible particles in the resin, voids (cavities) are easily generated, and the total light transmittance is reduced. The ease with which voids are generated is influenced by the stretching conditions as described later, but is strongly related to the plane orientation coefficient of the produced film. The plane orientation coefficient indicates the orientation state of the polymer chain formed in the stretched film. The higher the orientation state, the stronger the mechanical strength, but the more voids are generated in the film. Therefore, it is desirable to control the melting point of the resin constituting the light diffusion layer (B) within a certain range in order to reduce the degree of plane orientation of the film and suppress the generation of voids. The lower limit of the melting point of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component constituting the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably 235 ° C, more preferably 240 ° C. When the melting point is 235 ° C. or higher, an orientation coefficient that can exhibit desirable heat resistance, mechanical strength, and thickness accuracy can be obtained. Further, the upper limit of the melting point of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component constituting the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably 255 ° C. If melting | fusing point is 255 degrees C or less, since generation | occurrence | production of the void in a light-diffusion layer (B) is suppressed, it is preferable.

[2] Control of Difference in Melting Point The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention has a support layer (A) made of crystalline homopolyester or crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component. In order to obtain predetermined heat resistance, mechanical strength and thickness accuracy as a film, it is preferable that the crystalline polyester / crystalline homopolyester constituting the support layer (A) has a higher melting point. However, when the melting point of the resin constituting the two layers of the support layer (A) and the light diffusion layer (B) is large, curling due to the bimetal structure is likely to occur. Therefore, the melting point difference between the crystalline polyester / crystalline homopolyester constituting the support layer (A) and the crystalline polyester constituting the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably within 25 ° C., and within 20 ° C. More preferably, it is more preferably within 10 ° C, particularly preferably within 5 ° C. If the melting point difference is within 25 ° C., the occurrence of curling due to the bimetal structure can be suppressed within the practical range. Since the melting point of the resin constituting the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably within the above range, the upper limit of the melting point of the crystalline polyester / crystalline homopolyester constituting the support layer (A) is preferably 270 ° C.

  The melting point of the crystalline polyester constituting the support layer (A) and the light diffusion layer (B) can be controlled by introducing a copolymer component. In particular, in the present invention, it is desirable to introduce a predetermined amount of a copolymer component into the crystalline polyester constituting the light diffusion layer (B). By introducing the copolymer component into the polyester, the plane orientation coefficient of the biaxially stretched film can be controlled, and the light transmittance and the light diffusivity can be highly compatible. However, if the copolymer component is excessively introduced, the melting point of the polyester is lowered, and the original excellent characteristics of the biaxially stretched polyester film cannot be obtained. The introduction amount of the copolymer component is preferably 3 mol% or more, more preferably 5 mol% or more, and particularly preferably 8 mol% or more with respect to the entire aromatic dicarboxylic component or the entire glycol component. When the content of the copolymer component is larger than 3 mol%, it is preferable because generation of voids is suppressed and the light transmittance and the light diffusibility are highly compatible. On the other hand, the upper limit of the introduction amount of the copolymer component is preferably 20 mol% or less, more preferably 18 mol% or less, and particularly preferably 15 mol% or less with respect to the above components. When the content of the copolymer component is 20 mol% or less, it is preferable because the melting point is such that the mechanical properties of the biaxially stretched polyester film are within the practical range. The composition of the copolymer component that can be used in the present invention will be described later.

[3] Control of laminated structure of light diffusing layer (B) The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is formed on at least one surface of the support layer (A) comprising the crystalline homopolyester or the crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component. It is important that the light diffusion layer (B) comprising a blended composition of a crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component and an additive incompatible with the polyester has a multilayer structure laminated by a coextrusion method. .

  Light diffusion in the light diffusion layer (B) is divided into scattering due to the surface structure of the film and scattering due to the internal structure of the film. The scattering can be evaluated as surface haze, and the post-scattering can be evaluated as internal haze. Light scattering by internal structures such as voids is accompanied by backscattering, so that a high total light transmittance cannot be obtained. On the other hand, the light scattering by the surface structure can obtain high light diffusibility without greatly reducing the total light transmittance. However, in order to achieve an effective surface haze in the light diffusion layer (B), it is difficult to avoid the occurrence of curling due to the bimetallic structure. In the present invention, by taking the means disclosed in (1) to (7), it is possible to provide a film having a high surface haze while suppressing the occurrence of heating curl. That is, the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention employs the multilayer structure described above, thereby imparting light diffusibility by the concavo-convex structure on the surface of the light diffusion layer (B) caused by the incompatible additive, and the film It is possible to achieve high total light transmittance by suppressing light scattering (internal haze) in the inside. Thereby, both high light transmittance and light diffusibility can be achieved.

  When the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is used as a prism sheet, a film obtained by laminating the light diffusing layer (B) on one side of the support layer (A) is used as a base material, and the surface opposite to the light diffusing layer (B) is used. It can use suitably by providing a prism structure. The layer structure of the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention may be a two-layer structure as described above, and may be a multilayer structure of three or more layers as necessary if the effects of the present invention can be obtained. When a film having a flat surface (not having a concavo-convex structure) is stacked on a flat transparent member, Newton rings are generated, and visibility may be lowered. Therefore, when the film of the invention is used alone as a light diffusing sheet, the light diffusing layer (B) is formed on both sides of the support layer (A) in order to prevent the generation of Newton rings due to overlapping with the light guide plate or the prism sheet. Are preferably laminated. The composition of the incompatible additive that can be used in the present invention will be described later.

[4] Control of thickness of light diffusing layer (B) The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention has a support layer (A) and a light diffusing layer (B), in order to obtain the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention. The thickness of the light diffusion layer (B) is important. The surface haze of the light diffusion layer (B) tends to increase as the surface irregularity increases. Therefore, it is desirable that the particle size of the additive in the light diffusion layer (B) is large. In order to obtain a particle size effective for surface haze, the lower limit of the thickness of the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably 3 μm or more, more preferably 4 μm, and particularly preferably 5 μm.

  On the other hand, if the thickness of the light diffusing layer (B) is considerably larger than the particle size of the incompatible additive, it is difficult to effectively form the surface uneven structure. Therefore, when the thickness of the light diffusion layer (B) is increased, the formation of surface irregularities is reduced and the surface haze is reduced. Further, according to the thickness of the light diffusion layer (B), the internal haze due to the internal structure of the light diffusion layer (B) increases, and the total light transmittance decreases. In order to achieve both high total light transmittance and light diffusibility, it is desirable to control the thickness of the light diffusion layer (B) within a predetermined range. Therefore, the upper limit of the thickness of the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably 50 μm, more preferably 30 μm, and particularly preferably 20 μm.

  Further, when the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) to the total film thickness (A + B) is increased, the curl due to the bimetal structure is easily generated. Furthermore, since the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) having a relatively low melting point as compared with the support layer (A) is increased, thickness unevenness tends to occur as a whole film, and the surface smoothness is impaired. Moreover, since a light-diffusion layer (B) contains many copolymerization components, an orientation coefficient falls as the whole film, and a mechanical characteristic falls. On the other hand, if the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) to the total film thickness is small, the additive in the light diffusion layer (B) may bleed out on the surface of the film or may fall off. Therefore, it is desirable to control the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) to the total film thickness within a predetermined range, and a range of 2 to 50% is preferable. The lower limit of the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) to the total film thickness is preferably 2%, more preferably 3%, and particularly preferably 4%. On the other hand, the upper limit of the ratio of the light diffusion layer (B) to the total film thickness is preferably 50%, more preferably 35%, and particularly preferably 20%.

[5] Control of intrinsic viscosity of light diffusion layer (B) constituting resin The present invention is characterized in that the light diffusion layer (B) is applied by a coextrusion method. Since the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention is intended for optical applications, it is preferable that there are few optical defects due to foreign matters, and when a resin is supplied by a coextrusion method, it is desirable to provide a foreign matter removing filter in the melt line. In order to allow the resin to pass through the foreign matter removing filter, a certain extrusion pressure is required. However, when the intrinsic viscosity of the resin is low, the ejection stability at the time of extrusion of the molten resin is lowered, so that it is difficult to form a film stably. Moreover, when the intrinsic viscosity of resin is low, the plane orientation coefficient of the obtained light-diffusion layer (B) becomes low, and the mechanical strength of a film falls. Therefore, it was considered that the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component constituting the light diffusion layer (B) is preferably higher. However, the present inventor has found the surprising relationship described below between the inherent clay of the polyester and the surface haze.

  As the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester increases, the shearing force during melt stirring increases. Therefore, when the crystalline polyester and an incompatible additive are stirred and mixed in an extruder, the higher the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester, the higher the shearing force in melting and stirring, and the higher the dispersibility of the additive. Rise. This is thought to be due to the additive becoming finer due to the shearing force of the solvent. As a result, the particle size of the additive becomes small, and an effective dispersion diameter cannot be obtained to such an extent that a good uneven structure is imparted to the surface of the light diffusion layer (B), and the surface haze is lowered. Therefore, in order to achieve both the mechanical strength of the light diffusion layer (B) and good light characteristics, the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component constituting the light diffusion resin layer should be controlled within a predetermined range. Was found to be preferable.

  The lower limit of the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester is preferably 0.50 dl / g, more preferably 0.52 dl / g. When the intrinsic viscosity is less than 0.50 dl / g, when a foreign matter removing filter is provided in the melt line, the discharge stability during extrusion of the molten resin tends to be lowered. The upper limit of the intrinsic viscosity of the crystalline polyester is preferably 0.61 dl / g, and more preferably 0.59 dl / g. When the intrinsic viscosity exceeds 0.61 dl / g, the dispersion diameter in the polyester of the additive becomes small, and the light diffusibility tends to decrease.

[6] Control of the difference in melt viscosity between the base polymer and the incompatible resin The inventor of the present invention describes the difference in melt viscosity between the crystalline polyester constituting the light diffusion layer (B) and the incompatible additive, It has been found that it has the following relationship with the surface haze. In the present invention, surface irregularities are formed by the incompatible additive in the light diffusion layer (B), and a predetermined surface haze is obtained. The crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component constituting the light diffusion layer (B) and the incompatible additive are stirred and mixed in the extruder. As an aspect of the incompatible additive, a thermoplastic resin is preferable. However, when the melt viscosity of the crystalline polyester and the melt viscosity of the additive are approximately the same, the two components are easily dispersed, and the additive is a fine additive. Granulate. When the dispersion diameter of the additive is reduced, a good uneven structure cannot be obtained on the surface of the light diffusion layer (B), and the surface haze is lowered. Therefore, in the present invention, it is preferable that the difference in melt viscosity between the crystalline polyester containing the copolymerization component constituting the light diffusion layer (B) and the incompatible additive is large. The difference in melt viscosity is preferably 35 Pa · s or more, and more preferably 40 Pa · s or more. When the difference in melt viscosity is 35 Pa · s or more, the additive in the polyester as an additive has a good dispersion diameter, and good light diffusibility is obtained.

[7] Control of stretching temperature and heat treatment temperature conditions The mechanical characteristics and optical characteristics of the film can also be controlled by the film forming conditions. When the stretching temperature of the film is raised, the stretching stress is lowered, so the orientation coefficient is lowered and the generation of voids is suppressed. Further, since surface irregularities due to incompatible additives are easily formed, it is desirable to stretch at a high temperature from the viewpoint of achieving both the total light ray transmittance and the light diffusibility. Further, when the heat treatment is performed at a high temperature, voids disappear, the internal haze can be lowered, the rate of thermal dimensional change is also reduced, and curling during the heat treatment is less likely to occur. However, when the stretching temperature is increased, the thickness variation of the film increases, resulting in thickness unevenness and the like, and it is difficult to obtain the original mechanical characteristics of the film. In the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention, in order to achieve both excellent mechanical properties and total light transmittance and light diffusibility, film forming conditions according to the resin properties and required properties, particularly the temperature during stretching. It is desirable to appropriately control the temperature during the heat treatment.

  When the light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is produced by stretching a polyester resin, it is desirable to perform stretching within a temperature range of 120 ° C. to 160 ° C. and heat treatment within a temperature range of 235 to 250 ° C. It is desirable to perform the heat treatment within a range of 5 seconds to 100 seconds. In addition, relaxation treatment in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction may be performed simultaneously with or after the heat treatment.

[8] Control of surface uneven structure of light diffusing layer The light diffusing polyester film of the invention (I) of the prior application was achieved by relating the above means [1] to [7]. However, as the demand for higher functions such as higher definition and higher brightness of liquid crystal displays has increased in recent years, changes and improvements have been made to the specifications of lens films, prism films, and liquid crystal panels combined with light diffusing films. The light diffusing film is required to maintain excellent display performance in various combinations with these members.

  Moire and scintillation often cause problems in display performance in various usage forms by combining a light diffusive film, a lens film, a prism film, a liquid crystal panel, and the like. The moire caused by the light diffusing film is the pitch of the periodicity when the light transmitted through the light diffusing film has light and dark unevenness, that is, light distribution unevenness, and the alignment unevenness has periodicity. This is considered to be caused by interference between the lens pattern of the lens sheet, the prism pattern of the prism sheet, and the pitch of the periodic structure such as pixels of the liquid crystal panel. In addition, it is considered that scintillation is caused by uneven light distribution of the light diffusing film overlapping a part of the color pixels of the color filter incorporated in the liquid crystal panel and changing the luminance of the color pixels. Problems such as moire and scintillation are expected to become more prominent as the structural pitches of lens patterns, prism patterns, liquid crystal panel pixels, etc. become smaller as the liquid crystal display becomes higher in definition and brightness.

  Also in the surface light diffusive film of the invention (I) of the prior application, the possibility of moire or scintillation due to uneven light distribution was considered depending on the lens sheet, prism sheet, and liquid crystal panel to be combined. The uneven light distribution in the surface light diffusing film is caused by the uneven structure on the surface of the light diffusing layer becoming non-uniform.

  In the prior invention (I), the base polymer constituting the light diffusion layer (B) and the incompatible additive were stirred and mixed in the extruder. In such a production method, when the base polymer and the incompatible additive are stirred and mixed in the extruder, sufficient melting and stirring and mixing are performed so that the dispersed state and distribution state of the additive particles are uniform. In some cases, the increase in the particle size due to re-aggregation of the additive particles is not uniform, and it is difficult to converge to a uniform particle size. When a film having a light diffusing layer (B) containing non-uniform additive particles is stretched and heat-treated in this way, the distribution of additive particles in the light diffusing layer is not uniform or the particle size is not uniform. Due to the uniformity, the uneven structure on the surface of the light diffusion layer is likely to be uneven.

  In view of the above, as a result of earnestly examining measures that can prevent the non-uniformity of the additive particles in the light diffusion layer (B) as described above while taking the measures of [1] to [7] above The solution was as follows. That is, all or a part of the base polymer constituting the light diffusion layer (B) and the incompatible additive are preliminarily kneaded master pellets that are melt-mixed using an extruder, and the premixed master pellets (and The remaining base polymer) is further stirred and mixed using an extruder and laminated and coextruded with the base layer (A) to form a film. In the light diffusion layer (B) of the film thus formed, the incompatible additive is uniformly dispersed in the base polymer as compared with the prior invention (I), and the uniformity of the particle size is also the prior application. It is superior to the invention (I). Therefore, by stretching and heat-treating this film, a uniform concavo-convex structure with less unevenness such as discontinuity and undulation of the concavo-convex structure is formed on the surface of the light diffusion layer (B). In combination with the condition control of [1] to [7] above, the uniformity of the surface uneven structure of the light diffusion layer (B) is reflected in the light diffusion characteristics of the surface light diffusible polyester film. The light diffusibility S (3) represented by the following formula of the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention is 30% or more and less than 50%. When surface light diffusing polyester film with S (3) in this range is used as a diffusing film for liquid crystal displays, the occurrence of problems such as moire and scintillation is suppressed in various combinations with lens sheets, prism sheets, and liquid crystal panels. Can do. When S (3) is smaller than 30%, it is not preferable because moire or scintillation occurs depending on the combination of the lens sheet, prism sheet, and liquid crystal panel to be used due to uneven surface uneven structure. When S (3) is larger than 50%, the relative value of I (0) with respect to I (3) is inevitably small, and as a result, the front luminance in the backlight unit is undesirably reduced.

S (3) = I (3) / I (0) × 100
Here, I (3) and I (0) respectively represent a value of the diffusion angle of ± 3 degrees and a value of 0 degrees of the transmitted light intensity.

[9] Control of the heating state of the film in the heat setting process Problems of processability such as process passability during post-processing of the surface light diffusible polyester film are caused by fluctuations in the heat shrinkage rate of the film in the width direction and the length direction of the film. Caused by. Variations in the heat shrinkage rate of the film in the width direction and in the length direction are caused by an inappropriate temperature distribution in the heat process apparatus in the heat setting process of the film. Improvement of workability during post-processing can be achieved by optimizing the temperature distribution in the thermal process equipment in the heat setting process of the film and suppressing fluctuations in the heat shrinkage rate of the film in the width direction and the length direction within a predetermined range. Can be achieved. The means for optimizing the temperature distribution in the thermal process apparatus and the appropriate range of fluctuations in the thermal contraction rate of the film will be described in detail later.

In order to achieve the requirement (1) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve it by executing the condition control of the means [1] to [3].
In order to achieve the requirement (2) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve it by executing the condition control of the means [4] to [7].
In order to achieve the requirement (3) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve it by executing the condition control of the means [3] to [7].
In order to achieve the requirement (4) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve it by executing the condition control of the means [3] to [7].
In order to achieve the requirement (5) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve the condition control of the above means [1] to [4] and [7].
In order to achieve the requirement (6) described in claim 1, it is possible to achieve it by executing the condition control of the means [1] to [8].
In order to achieve the requirements (7) to (9) described in the first aspect, it is possible to achieve by performing the condition control of the means [7] and [9].
In the present invention, it is considered that the means [1] to [9] are related to each other to obtain a predetermined effect. However, it can be achieved by a method different from the method described above as long as it does not depart from the spirit of the present invention. Furthermore, the structure for obtaining the light diffusable polyester film of the present invention and the characteristics will be described in detail below.

(material)
The crystalline homopolyester used as a film raw material in the present invention is an aromatic dicarboxylic acid such as terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid or naphthalenedicarboxylic acid or an ester thereof, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, 1,3-propanediol, 1,4-butane. Polyester produced by polycondensation with glycols such as diol and neopentyl glycol. In addition to the direct weight method in which an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and a glycol are directly reacted, these polyesters can be transesterified by an alkyl ester of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid and a glycol and then subjected to a polycondensation, or an aromatic method. It can be produced by a method such as polycondensation of diglycol ester of dicarboxylic acid.

  Typical examples of the polyester include polyethylene terephthalate, polytrimethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, and polyethylene-2,6-naphthalate. The polyester may be a homopolymer or may be a copolymer of the third component within a range that does not substantially impair the crystallinity thereof. Among these polyesters, a polyester having an ethylene terephthalate unit or an ethylene-2,6-naphthalate unit of 70 mol% or more, preferably 80 mol% or more, more preferably 90 mol% or more is preferable.

  The crystalline polyester containing a copolymerization component that can be used in the present invention is a polyester in which a third component (copolymerization component) is introduced into the main chain using the above crystalline homopolyester as a basic skeleton. The structure, molecular weight, and composition are not limited and are arbitrary.

  Further, the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention comprises a copolyester composed of an aromatic dicarboxylic acid component and a glycol component containing ethylene glycol and at least one of a branched aliphatic glycol or alicyclic glycol. It is preferable to use it for some or all of the raw materials.

  Examples of the branched aliphatic glycol include neopentyl glycol, 1,2-propanediol, 1,2-butanediol, and the like. Examples of the alicyclic glycol include 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol and tricyclodecane dimethylol.

  Among these, neopentyl glycol and 1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol are particularly preferable. Furthermore, in the present invention, it is a more preferable embodiment that 1,3-propanediol or 1,4-butanediol is used as a copolymerization component in addition to the glycol component. Introducing and using these glycols as copolymerization components in the above-mentioned range is suitable for imparting the above-mentioned characteristics, and further reduces voids in the light diffusion layer, and reduces light transmittance and light. It is also preferable from the viewpoint of achieving both high diffusibility.

  Furthermore, if necessary, one or more dicarboxylic acid components and / or glycol components as described below may be used in combination with the polyester as a copolymerization component.

  Other dicarboxylic acid components that can be used in combination with terephthalic acid or its ester-forming derivatives include (1) isophthalic acid, 2,6-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid, diphenyl-4,4'-dicarboxylic acid, diphenoxyethanedicarboxylic acid Aromatic dicarboxylic acids such as acid, diphenylsulfone dicarboxylic acid, 5-sodium sulfoisophthalic acid, phthalic acid or their ester-forming derivatives, (2) oxalic acid, succinic acid, adipic acid, sebacic acid, dimer acid, maleic acid Aliphatic dicarboxylic acids such as fumaric acid and glutaric acid or ester-forming derivatives thereof; (3) alicyclic dicarboxylic acids such as cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid or ester-forming derivatives thereof; (4) p-oxybenzoic acid; Oxycarboxylic acids such as oxycaproic acid or their esthetics Forming derivatives, and the like.

  On the other hand, other glycol components that can be used in combination with ethylene glycol and branched aliphatic glycol and / or alicyclic glycol include aliphatic glycols such as pentanediol and hexanediol, bisphenol A, bisphenol S, and the like. Aromatic glycols and their ethylene oxide adducts, diethylene glycol, triethylene glycol, dimer diol and the like can be mentioned.

  Furthermore, if necessary, the polyester may be further copolymerized with a polyfunctional compound such as trimellitic acid, trimesic acid, or trimethylolpropane.

  Examples of the catalyst used for producing the polyester include alkaline earth metal compounds, manganese compounds, cobalt compounds, aluminum compounds, antimony compounds, titanium compounds, titanium / silicon composite oxides, and germanium compounds. Of these, titanium compounds, antimony compounds, germanium compounds, and aluminum compounds are preferred from the viewpoint of catalytic activity.

  When manufacturing the said polyester, it is preferable to add a phosphorus compound as a heat stabilizer. As said phosphorus compound, phosphoric acid, phosphorous acid, etc. are preferable, for example.

  In the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention, the copolymerized polyester may be used as a raw material for the film as it is, or a copolymerized polyester having a large amount of copolymerized components is blended with a homopolyester (for example, polyethylene terephthalate) to copolymerize. You may adjust the amount.

  In particular, by producing a film using the latter blending method, a co-polymer having a high melting point (heat resistance) while achieving both the light diffusibility and the total light transmittance equivalent to the case of using only the copolyester. A crystalline polyester containing a polymerization component can be prepared.

  Alternatively, a method may be employed in which two different types of crystalline polyesters are melt-mixed and a third component (copolymerization component) is introduced into the main chain by utilizing both ester exchange reactions. In particular, the copolymer polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, and at least one homopolyester other than polyethylene terephthalate (for example, polytetramethylene terephthalate or polybutylene terephthalate) are blended and used as a raw material for the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention. The use is further preferable from the viewpoint of reducing voids.

  In addition, it is preferable that the polyester which comprises the said support layer (A) does not contain particle | grains substantially. Moreover, it is preferable that the crystalline copolyester constituting the light diffusion layer does not substantially contain particles other than the additive described later. The above-mentioned “substantially contain no particles” means, for example, in the case of inorganic particles, a content of 50 ppm or less, preferably 10 ppm or less, particularly preferably a detection limit or less when inorganic elements are quantified by fluorescent X-ray analysis. Means quantity. By using a clean polyester raw material free from impurities, the occurrence of optical defects in the liquid crystal display can be suppressed.

(Additive <Surface unevenness imparting agent>)
The additive in the present invention is added for the purpose of imparting unevenness to the surface of the light diffusion layer and exhibiting surface light diffusion performance. Light incident on the light diffusing layer (emitted from the light diffusing layer) is refracted and diffused in a random direction by the unevenness imparted to the film surface, and surface light diffusibility is exhibited. The additive is not particularly limited as long as it is a material incompatible with polyester, and the following materials are preferably used.

(Thermoplastic resin incompatible with polyester)
The most excellent additive that can be used in the present invention is a thermoplastic resin that is incompatible with the polyester. That is, by utilizing the incompatibility between polyester and thermoplastic resin, in the production process (melting / extrusion process) of the biaxially stretched film, the matrix made of polyester is made of a thermoplastic resin that is incompatible with the polyester. This is a technology that forms domains in a dispersed manner and uses them as surface irregularity forming agents. By using this technique, foreign matter can be filtered with a high-accuracy filter in the film melting / extrusion step, and the cleanliness required for a liquid crystal display film can be achieved.

  On the other hand, when using non-melting polymer particles and inorganic particles, which will be described later, as an additive, there is a limit to the fineness of filter openings that can be used in the film manufacturing process, and foreign substances are removed with high accuracy. It becomes difficult. Furthermore, when polymer particles or inorganic particles are used, voids are likely to be generated at the interface between the particles and the polyester, and it is difficult to achieve a high balance between light diffusibility and total light transmittance.

  Examples of the thermoplastic resin incompatible with the polyester that can be used as the additive include the following materials. That is, polyolefins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polymethylpentene, various cyclic olefin polymers, polycarbonate, polystyrene such as atactic polystyrene, syndiotactic polystyrene, isotactic polystyrene, polyamide, polyether, polyesteramide, polyphenylene sulfide, polyphenylene Examples thereof include acrylic resins such as ether, polyether ester, polyvinyl chloride, and polymethacrylic acid ester, copolymers having these as main components, or mixtures of these resins.

  Among these, it is particularly preferable to use an amorphous transparent polymer in order to produce a film having a high light transmittance. On the other hand, when a crystalline polymer is used as an additive, the crystalline polymer becomes cloudy, the internal haze of the film increases, and the light transmittance may decrease.

  Examples of the amorphous transparent polymer that can be used in the present invention include the following. That is, polystyrene (PS resin), acrylonitrile / styrene copolymer (AS resin), methyl methacrylate / styrene copolymer (MS resin), cyclic olefin polymer, methacrylic resin, PMMA, and the like are exemplified.

  Among these, it is further preferable from the viewpoint of void reduction to select an amorphous transparent polymer having a polymer surface tension close to that of a matrix made of polyester. Examples of such an amorphous transparent polymer having a surface tension close to that of polyester include polystyrene (PS resin) and PMMA. In the present invention, polystyrene (PS resin) and PMMA are particularly preferable.

(Non-melting polymer particles)
The composition of the non-meltable polymer particles that can be used as the additive of the present invention is limited as long as the particles do not undergo flow deformation due to melting when heated from 30 ° C. to 350 ° C. at 10 ° C./min. Not. Examples thereof include acrylic resins, polystyrene resins, polyolefin resins, polyester resins, polyamide resins, polyimide resins, fluorine resins, urea resins, melamine resins, and organic silicone resins. The shape of the particles is preferably spherical or elliptical. The particles may or may not have pores. Furthermore, you may use both together.

  The average particle diameter of the non-melting polymer particles is preferably 0.1 to 50 μm. The lower limit of the average particle size of the non-melting polymer particles is more preferably 0.5 μm, and particularly preferably 5 μm. In order to exhibit a good light diffusion effect, the average particle size of the non-melting polymer particles is preferably 0.1 μm or more.

  On the other hand, the upper limit of the average particle size of the non-melting polymer particles is more preferably 30 μm, and particularly preferably 20 μm. When the average particle diameter of the non-melting polymer particles exceeds 50 μm, the film strength and the total light transmittance are likely to decrease. The non-melting polymer particles are preferably particles having a sharp particle size distribution as much as possible.

  One type of non-melting polymer particles may be used, or two or more types may be used. Use of a plurality of non-melting polymer particles having a sharp particle size distribution (meaning that the particle size of the particles is uniform) and different average particle sizes is mixed with coarse particles, which is a film defect. Is a preferred embodiment.

(Inorganic particles)
Examples of inorganic particles that can be used as an additive include silica, calcium carbonate, barium sulfate, calcium sulfate, alumina, kaolinite, talc and the like.

  As for the average particle diameter of the said inorganic particle, 0.1-50 micrometers is preferable normally. 0.5-30 micrometers is more preferable and 1-20 micrometers is still more preferable. If the average particle size is less than 0.1 μm, a good light diffusion effect cannot be obtained. On the contrary, when it exceeds 50 μm, it is not preferable because it leads to a decrease in film strength and the like. It is preferable that the particle size distribution of the inorganic particles is as sharp as possible. When it is necessary to widen the particle size distribution, it is preferable to mix a plurality of particles having a sharp particle size distribution. By the correspondence, mixing of particles having a large particle diameter, which is a defect of the film, can be suppressed.

  The shape of the inorganic particles is not limited, but is preferably substantially spherical or true spherical. The particles may be non-porous or porous. Furthermore, you may use both together.

  The additive used for this invention may use 1 type in said 3 types, and may use 2 or more types together.

(Mixing ratio of additives)
The light diffusing layer in the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention comprises a blended composition of 50 to 99 parts by mass of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component and 1 to 50 parts by mass of an additive incompatible with the polyester. . A preferable blending ratio of both is a blend of 75 to 98 parts by weight of polyester and 2 to 25 parts by weight of additive, and more preferably a blend of 80 to 97 parts by weight of polyester and 3 to 20 parts by weight of additive.

  And when the mixing ratio of the said additive is less than 1 mass part, the uneven | corrugated formation capability of the film surface by an additive is insufficient, and sufficient surface light-diffusion performance is not obtained. On the other hand, when the mixing ratio of the additive exceeds 50 parts by mass, light scattering at the additive / polyester interface increases, and the stretching stress of the polyester increases to easily generate voids around the additive. As a result, the internal haze of the light diffusion layer increases, and the total light transmittance tends to decrease. Furthermore, the additive easily falls off during biaxial stretching of the film, and the fallout can cause foreign matter.

[Characteristics of light diffusing polyester film]
(Plane orientation coefficient)
It is important that the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention has a plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) of 0.08 to 0.16. The lower limit of the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) is more preferably 0.09, and particularly preferably 0.10. On the other hand, the upper limit of the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) is more preferably 0.15, and particularly preferably 0.14.

  When the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) is 0.16 or less, it is desirable that the unevenness on the surface of the light diffusion layer (B) is effectively formed and the light diffusion effect (surface haze) generated by the surface unevenness is exhibited.

  Further, when the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) exceeds 0.16, depending on the type of additive used, the number and size of voids generated around the additive tend to increase. Therefore, internal scattering (internal haze) increases, and the total light transmittance tends to decrease. In any case, when the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) is 0.16 or less, both the total light transmittance and the light diffusibility can be achieved.

  On the other hand, when the plane orientation coefficient is 0.08 or more, the characteristics as a biaxially stretched film are exhibited, heat resistance, mechanical strength, thickness uniformity, etc. are good, and the occurrence of heating curl is suppressed.

  Although the method for controlling the plane orientation coefficient within the above range is arbitrary, it can be controlled, for example, by adjusting the ratio of the copolymer component in the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component. If the ratio of the copolymerization component in the light diffusion layer or the support layer (A) is increased, the plane orientation coefficient is decreased, and if the ratio of the copolymerization component is decreased, the plane orientation coefficient can be increased. . The ratio of the preferable copolymerization component is as described above.

  Further, the glass transition point of the crystalline polyester containing the copolymer component may be controlled by polymer blend or copolymerization. If the glass transition point is lowered, the orientation in the biaxial stretching step described later is lowered, and the plane orientation coefficient can be lowered. Moreover, the same effect is acquired even if the intrinsic viscosity of the raw material polyester used for a light-diffusion layer is reduced. A preferred intrinsic viscosity is as described above.

  Further, the plane orientation coefficient can be controlled to some extent by adjusting the biaxial stretching conditions described later. In order to reduce the plane orientation coefficient, the stretching temperature for longitudinal stretching or transverse stretching may be set high, the stretching ratio may be set low, or the heat treatment temperature may be set high. Preferred biaxial stretching conditions will be described later.

(Optical characteristics)
Next, the present invention is characterized in that the surface haze is 15% or more and the internal haze is less than the surface haze. The surface haze is a characteristic derived from surface irregularities of the light diffusion layer. Therefore, when light is emitted from the film surface, or when light is incident on the film surface, the surface haze is increased due to the light being refracted by the surface irregularities of the light diffusion layer. Therefore, surface haze and total light transmittance are basically irrelevant. Therefore, by increasing the surface haze, the light diffusibility can be enhanced in a state where the decrease in the total light transmittance is suppressed.

  On the other hand, the internal haze is a characteristic derived from light scattering inside the film. Therefore, the total light transmittance is reduced due to the influence of backscattering of incident light. Therefore, in order to produce a light diffusible polyester film having excellent light diffusibility and high total light transmittance, it is effective means to increase the surface haze and reduce the internal haze as much as possible.

  The surface haze of the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is 15 or more. A preferable lower limit of the surface haze is 20%, a more preferable lower limit is 25%, and a particularly preferable lower limit is 30%. If the surface haze is 15% or more, an effective diffusing effect is exerted on the printed pattern of the light guide plate and the lamp image of the cold cathode tube, and light diffusing performance effective as a light diffusing film is obtained.

  On the other hand, the preferable upper limit of the surface haze is 60%, the more preferable upper limit is 70%, and the more preferable upper limit is 80%. If the surface haze is 80% or less, the internal haze is suppressed and the total light transmittance tends to increase.

  It is important that the internal haze is less than the surface haze. The upper limit of the internal haze is preferably 40%, more preferably 30%, still more preferably 20%, and particularly preferably 10%.

  If the internal haze is the same as or exceeds the surface haze, the internal haze is responsible for the light diffusing function of the film, causing light scattering (with backscattering) inside the film and total light transmission. The rate is greatly reduced. On the other hand, the lower limit of the internal haze is preferably 1%. In a film having an internal haze of less than 1%, sufficient surface haze tends not to be obtained.

  The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention desirably has a total light transmittance of 86% or more. A more preferable lower limit of light transmittance is 87%, and a more preferable lower limit is 88%.

  Further, the light diffusion performance of the light diffusing film can be quantitatively evaluated by, for example, the image definition. The image sharpness is an index indicating the sharpness when a light source such as a fluorescent lamp is viewed through a film, and is a normal method of measuring in accordance with JIS K 7105 “Testing method for optical properties of plastic” image sharpness. This is the image definition evaluated in. The smaller the image definition, the better the concealing property and the better the light diffusion performance.

  With the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention, it is possible to obtain an image definition of 40% or less in the transmission method with an optical comb width of 2 mm. A more preferable upper limit of image definition is 20%, and a more preferable upper limit is 15%. Note that the smaller the image definition, the better. However, if the image definition is to be reduced more than necessary, the internal haze increases and the total light transmittance decreases. In the present invention, the lower limit of the image definition is preferably 1%, more preferably 3%.

The light diffusing performance of the light diffusing film can be further quantitatively evaluated by, for example, transmitted light intensity using a goniophotometer GP-200 manufactured by Murakami Color Research Laboratory. Of the transmitted light intensities, the value of 0 degree is I (0), the value of N degrees is I (N), and the transmitted light intensity ratio obtained by the following formula is S (N), for example, N = 1 When the value of S (1) at the time is large, the transmitted light diffused around the transmitted light at 0 degree increases, so that the sharpness of the image seen through the film can be reduced, and the good concealing property Is obtained. Further, the surface light diffusive film with less uneven surface uneven structure has a dense surface uneven structure with a small period, and in such a surface uneven structure film, the value of S (3) when N = 3 degrees is obtained. A large trend is observed. In the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention, it is possible to obtain values of S (1) of 75% or more and S (3) of 30% or more. If the value of S (1) is less than 75%, the light diffusibility is lowered and good concealability cannot be obtained. Also, if the value of S (3) is smaller than 30%, problems such as moire and scintillation may occur depending on the lens sheet, prism sheet, liquid crystal panel, etc. to be combined.
S (N) = I (N) / I (0) × 100

The larger the transmitted light intensity ratio, the better the light diffusibility. However, if the transmitted light intensity ratio is increased more than necessary, I (0) often decreases, and as a result, the front luminance in the backlight unit is It will decline. In the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention, the upper limit value of S (1) is preferably 99%, more preferably 95%. More preferably, it is 85%. For the same reason, the upper limit value of S (3) is preferably 50%, more preferably 45%. More preferably, it is 40%.

(Mechanical characteristics)
In the present invention, since crystalline polyester is used as a raw material for the film, the original excellent mechanical strength and excellent thickness accuracy of the biaxially stretched film can be obtained.

  The lower limit of the tensile strength of the film is preferably 100 MPa, more preferably 130 MPa, and particularly preferably 160 MPa. When the tensile strength is 100 MPa or more, the mechanical strength of the biaxially stretched film is exhibited, and problems such as cracks, tears, breaks, and tears are less likely to occur in the film processing step.

  The surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention preferably has a thickness unevenness of 5.0% or less.

  When the thickness unevenness of the film is 5.0% or less, when the film is wound on a roll, it is difficult to cause wrinkles and bumps, and flatness is maintained. As a result, the luminance of the light exit surface of the backlight unit becomes uniform, and the original purpose of the light diffusing film can be achieved.

  The surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention preferably has a curl value of 5 mm or less after being heat-treated at 100 ° C. for 30 minutes under no load.

  When the curl value is 5 mm or less, for example, the handling property at the time of work under no tension when incorporated into a final product as a light diffusive film is improved. In addition, the original purpose of the light diffusing film can be achieved in that the distortion of the film is suppressed and the luminance of the light exit surface of the backlight unit is made uniform even in high temperature processing and use in a high temperature environment.

  As described above, curling can be controlled by controlling the difference in melting point between the support layer (A) and the light diffusion layer (B). In order to control the curl due to the structural difference between the front and back of the film applied in each process such as preheating, stretching, cooling, winding, etc., including the crystallinity in the thickness direction, positively generate structural differences between the front and back of the film It is preferable to apply a method of making the curl value close to zero by complementing the necessary structural difference.

  Specifically, in the stretching process such as longitudinal stretching and lateral stretching, and the heat treatment process, the degree of orientation of the film front and back is independently controlled by setting the temperature or heat quantity of the film front and back to different values. By adopting conditions that achieve both physical properties, zero curl film formation is realized.

  It is also important to use a stretch recipe with less thickness unevenness as a basic requirement for stable production with curls being low over the entire width.

  More specifically, for the longitudinal curl immediately after film formation, the structural difference between the front and back of the film during longitudinal stretching is controlled, and the lateral curl is controlled by controlling the structural difference between the front and back of the film during lateral stretching and heat setting. It is preferable to create an internal strain in the opposite direction, to make it compatible with the internal strain due to the structural difference between the front and back of the film, and to suppress curling.

  The thickness of the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is arbitrary and is not particularly limited, but is preferably in the range of 25 to 500 μm, more preferably in the range of 75 to 350 μm.

  The width of the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is preferably 0.7 m or more, and more preferably 1.0 m or more, from the viewpoint of ease of handling. On the other hand, the upper limit of the width of the film is determined by the size of the post-processing apparatus, but at present, 2.2 m is considered the maximum width, more preferably 2.0 m or less, and 1.5 m or less. And more preferred. In addition, the winding length of the surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is preferably 7,000 m or less when the film has a thickness of about 80 μm from the viewpoint of easy winding and handling, and is 6,000 m. The following is more preferable. In addition, when the film has a thickness of about 450 μm, it is preferably 1,100 m or less, and more preferably 1,000 m or less. Therefore, when the thickness of the film is in the middle of 80 to 450 μm, it is preferable to set the film length to be 400 m or more and 7,000 m or less. As the take-up core, usually, paper of 3 inches, 6 inches, 8 inches, etc., a plastic core, a metal core, and a conductive core can be used.

[Δn _ab ]
The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention is derived from a slit roll obtained by slitting a mill roll once produced in a wide width, and Δn _ab (in a direction that forms an angle of 45 degrees with the winding direction of the wound film). The difference between the refractive index on the base film side and the refractive index on the base film side in the direction forming an angle of 135 degrees with the winding direction of the wound film is 0.015 or more in all regions. It is limited to what is 0.060 or less. That is, in the case of a distorted slit roll having Δn _ab of 0.015 or more, the above-described problem of “distortion (that is, physical property difference in the width direction)” occurs. Further, in the case of a slit roll having Δn _ab of 0.060 or less, the heat shrinkage rate difference or the like can be adjusted so as to satisfy the requirements of the present invention.

(Heat shrinkage)
The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention has a cut-out portion set by the method described later, and in each cut-out portion, from a position within 50 mm from one end edge and a position within 50 mm from the other end edge in the width direction of the film. When each sample was cut out and HS150 which is a heat shrinkage rate in the film winding direction when the two samples were heated at 150 ° C. for 30 minutes was obtained, and a heat shrinkage rate difference which was a difference between the HS150 was obtained. The difference in heat shrinkage rate among all cutout portions is required to be 0.1% or less.

  That is, the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention has a total of 10 heat shrinkage ratio differences (difference in HS150 at both end edges in a film sample cut out from each cutout portion) obtained in a total of 10 cutout portions. It is necessary to be 0.1% or less. It is preferable that the difference in thermal shrinkage at each cut-out portion is 0.1% or less because the film can be easily passed in post-processing. Further, the difference in heat shrinkage rate between the cutout portions is more preferably 0.08% or less, and particularly preferably 0.06% or less. In addition, although the heat shrinkage rate difference in each cut-out part is preferably as low as possible, 0.05% is considered to be the lower limit in design.

A film sample used for the measurement of HS150 is cut out from 10 cutout portions provided by the following procedure.
(1) The first sample cutout is provided within 2 m from the end of winding of the film.
(2) A value obtained by dividing the length of the wound film by 9 (hereinafter, referred to as “cut section interval”) is calculated.
(3) A sample cutout portion is provided at a position within 10 m before and after each “cutout portion interval” from the end of winding of the film.
(4) A final cutout portion is provided within 2 m from the start of film winding.

  The cutting of the sample will be described more specifically. For example, when a film having a length of 500 m is wound on a roll, the first sample (1) is cut within 2 m from the end of winding of the film. The sample is cut out in the film winding direction (longitudinal direction) including the position within 50 mm from one end edge and the position within 50 mm from the other end edge in the roll width direction (direction orthogonal to the film winding direction). Direction) and a rectangular shape so as to have a side along the width direction (not diagonally cut). Next, the “cutting portion interval” is calculated by dividing the winding length of the film by 9. Note that the “cutout interval” is calculated to the unit of “1 m”. Therefore, as described above, when the winding length is 500 m, 2 m from the winding end where the first cutout portion can be provided and 2 m from the winding start where the final cutout portion can be provided are subtracted from 500 m in advance, and the remaining 496 m is obtained. 55 m divided into nine equal parts is defined as “interval of cutout portions”. Subsequently, the second sample (2) is cut off at a distance of 55 ± 10 m from the winding end of the film. Thereafter, similarly, samples are sequentially cut out at intervals of 55 m on the winding start side to obtain a total of 10 samples. That is, the first sample (first sample) is cut out at a position within 2 m from the end of winding, the second sample is cut out at a position near 57 m from the end of winding, and the third sample is cut at a position near 112 m from the end of winding. Similarly, the fourth to ninth samples are cut out at every position 55 m away from the end of winding, and the final sample (10th sample) is cut out at a position within 2 m from the start of winding.

  Furthermore, the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention has a position within 50 mm from one end edge in the width direction of the film and within 50 mm from the other end edge in each cutout portion when the sample cutout portion is set by the above method When each sample is cut out from the position and HS150 is obtained for each sample, the HS150 of the samples at both end edges in all cutout portions must be 0.7% or more and 2.0% or less. .

  That is, in the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention, the HS150 values (total 20 HS150 values) at both ends of the cut film sample were 0.7% or more in a total of 10 cut portions. It is necessary to be 0.0% or less. It is preferable that the value of HS150 at both ends of the film sample cut out from each cut-out portion is 2.0% or less because the film can be easily passed in post-processing. Further, the value of HS150 at both ends of the film sample cut out from each cut-out portion is more preferably 1.5% or less, and particularly preferably 1.2% or less. In addition, although the value of HS150 in the both ends of the film sample cut out from each cutout part is so preferable that it is low, it considers that 0.7% is a minimum from the point of productivity.

  Furthermore, the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention has the amount of fluctuation of HS150 on the one end edge side in the width direction of the film obtained in each cutout portion, and the HS150 on the other end edge side in the width direction of the film obtained in each cutout portion. The amount of variation needs to be 0.25% or less.

  That is, the surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention has HS150 on one end edge side (one end edge side in the width direction) and HS150 on the other end side (the other end edge side in the width direction) for 10 films cut out from each cutout portion. When obtained, the fluctuation amount (difference between the highest value and the lowest value) of the ten HS 150 on one end side is 0.25% or less, and the fluctuation amount of the ten HS 150 on the other end side is 0.25. % Or less. It is preferable that the fluctuation amount of the ten HS 150 on either edge side is 0.25% or less because the film can be easily passed during post-processing. Further, the fluctuation amount of the ten HS 150 on each edge side is more preferably 0.20% or less, still more preferably 0.18% or less, still more preferably 0.016% or less, and 0.15 % Or less is particularly preferable. In addition, although the variation | change_quantity of 10 HS150 of each edge side is so preferable that it is low, 0.05% is considered to be a minimum by design.

(Manufacture of biaxially stretched film)
In the present invention, as a method for satisfying the above characteristics, for example, the following production method is preferably used.

  Hereinafter, a polyethylene terephthalate copolymer (hereinafter simply abbreviated as polyester) is used as a crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component that is a raw material of the light diffusion layer (B) for a preferable method for producing a surface light diffusible polyester film of the present invention. A typical example using the pellets of (sometimes) will be described in detail.

  First, as a film raw material, polyester and a thermoplastic resin incompatible with the polyester are each dried by vacuum drying or hot air drying so that the moisture content is less than 100 ppm. Next, each raw material is weighed and mixed, supplied to an extruder, and melt extruded into a sheet. Furthermore, the sheet in the molten state is brought into close contact with a metal rotating roll (chill roll) controlled at a surface temperature of 10 to 50 ° C. using an electrostatic application method, and further cooled and solidified by blowing cold air from the opposite surface. An unstretched PET sheet is obtained. In the present invention, among the raw materials, the incompatible additive is used as a pre-kneading master pellet in which all or part of the base polymer and the incompatible additive are previously melt-mixed using an extruder. is important.

  At this time, it is possible to control the resin temperature up to the melting part, kneading part, polymer pipe, gear pump, filter of the extruder to 220 to 290 ° C., and the polymer temperature to the subsequent polymer pipe and die to 210 to 295 ° C. This is preferable in order to suppress the generation of foreign matters such as deteriorated products.

  In order to coextrude and laminate the light diffusion layer (B) and the support layer (A), the raw materials of each layer are extruded using two or more extruders, and a multi-layer feed block (for example, a confluence having a rectangular confluence) The two layers are joined together using a block), extruded into a sheet from a slit die, and cooled and solidified on a casting roll to form an unstretched film. Alternatively, a multi-manifold die may be used instead of the multilayer feed block.

  Moreover, in the surface light diffusable polyester film of this invention, it is preferable to have a coating layer on at least one surface, and also it is preferable to have a coating layer on both surfaces. By providing the coating layer on the surface of the light diffusion layer, the generation of reflected light on the film surface can be suppressed and the total light transmittance can be further increased. Further, when an application layer is provided on the surface opposite to the light diffusion layer and the surface of the application layer is subjected to prism sheet processing or hard coating processing, easy adhesion can be imparted.

  In this case, after an application layer is provided on the unstretched film obtained by the above method, biaxial stretching is performed. The biaxial stretching method may be a simultaneous biaxial stretching method or a sequential biaxial stretching method. Stretch in the direction and perform biaxial stretching.

  As the coating solution used when forming the coating layer, an aqueous coating solution containing at least one of a water-soluble or water-dispersible copolymerized polyester resin, acrylic resin and polyurethane resin is suitable. Examples of these coating liquids include water-soluble or water-dispersible copolyester solutions, acrylic solutions, polyurethane solutions and the like disclosed in Japanese Patent Nos. 3567927, 3589232, 3589233, and the like. The coating layer can be obtained by coating these coating solutions on one or both sides of a uniaxially stretched polyester film in the longitudinal direction, drying at 100 to 150 ° C., and stretching in the lateral direction. The final coating amount of the coating layer is preferably controlled to 0.05 to 0.20 g / m2. If the coating amount is less than 0.05 g / m 2, the adhesion between the obtained laminated film and the functional layer may be insufficient. On the other hand, when the coating amount exceeds 0.20 g / m 2, blocking resistance may be lowered. When coating layers are provided on both sides of the base film, the coating amounts of the coating layers on both sides may be the same or different, and are independently set within the above range depending on the use of the laminated film can do. It is preferable to add fine particles to the coating layer in order to impart slipperiness. It is preferable to use particles having an average particle size of 2 μm or less. When the average particle diameter of the particles exceeds 2 μm, other transparency that the particles easily fall off from the coating layer is deteriorated. The particles to be included in the coating layer include calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate, amorphous silica, crystalline glass filler, kaolin, talc, titanium dioxide, alumina, silica-alumina composite oxide, barium sulfate, calcium fluoride, and fluoride. Inorganic particles such as lithium, zeolite, molybdenum sulfide and mica, crosslinked polystyrene particles, crosslinked acrylic resin particles, crosslinked methyl methacrylate resin particles, benzoguanamine / formaldehyde condensate particles, melamine / formaldehyde condensate particles, polytetrafluoroethylene particles And heat resistant polymer particles. Among these particles, silica particles are preferable because the refractive index is relatively close to the resin component of the coating layer, and it is easy to obtain a highly transparent film. Moreover, a well-known method can be used as a method of apply | coating a coating liquid. For example, reverse roll coating method, gravure coating method, kiss coating method, roll brush method, spray coating method, air knife coating method, wire bar coating method, pipe doctor method, etc. can be mentioned. Or it can carry out in combination.

  As a method of stretching the film in the biaxial direction, the obtained unstretched sheet is stretched in the longitudinal direction by a roll or a tenter-type stretching machine, and then stretched in the width direction orthogonal to the first-stage stretching direction. A method can be mentioned. The stretching temperature in the longitudinal direction is preferably 75 to 120 ° C., and the stretching ratio in the longitudinal direction is 2.8 to 4.5 times, preferably 3.0 to 4.3 times. A stretching temperature in the longitudinal direction of 75 ° C. or higher is preferable because the film is difficult to break. Moreover, since it becomes difficult to produce the thickness spot of the obtained film at 120 degrees C or less, it is preferable. When the draw ratio in the longitudinal direction is 2.8 times or more, it is preferable in terms of the flatness of the film. Moreover, it is preferable that it is 4.6 times or less because the frequency of fracture due to orientation decreases.

  In the case of stretching in the width direction, the stretching temperature needs to be 80 to 210 ° C, and preferably 130 to 200 ° C. A stretching temperature in the width direction of 80 ° C. or higher is preferable because the film is difficult to break. Moreover, at 210 degrees C or less, it is preferable at the point of the planarity of the obtained film. The draw ratio in the width direction is 3.0 to 5.0 times, preferably 3.6 to 4.8 times. If the draw ratio in the width direction is 3.0 times or more, it is preferable because uneven thickness of the obtained film hardly occurs. It is preferable that the draw ratio in the width direction is 5.0 times or less because the breaking frequency due to orientation decreases. In addition, the draw ratio defined by this invention is the actual draw ratio by which the film was actually extended | stretched. This stretch ratio can be grasped by writing a mass change rate per unit area before and after each stretching step and a lattice-shaped magnification marker on an unstretched film.

  Subsequently, heat setting is performed. The temperature in the heat setting treatment step is preferably 180 ° C. or higher and 240 ° C. or lower. When the temperature of the heat setting treatment is 180 ° C. or higher, the absolute value of the heat shrinkage ratio is preferably reduced. Moreover, it is preferable that the temperature of the heat setting treatment is 240 ° C. or lower because the film is hardly opaque and the frequency of breakage is reduced. A suitable heat setting method will be described later.

  It is effective to control the heat shrinkage rate, particularly the heat shrinkage rate in the width direction, by narrowing the guide rail of the gripping tool by the heat setting process. The width relaxation rate is preferably 1 to 6%. If it is less than 1%, the effect is small, and if it is 6% or less, it is preferable in terms of the flatness of the film.

  Here, although the method of extending | stretching to the width direction after extending | stretching first to a longitudinal direction was described, the extending | stretching order may be reverse. In addition, the longitudinal stretching and the lateral stretching may be performed in one stage, or may be performed in two or more stages. In addition, as described above, in addition to the method of sequentially biaxial stretching, it is also possible to employ a simultaneous biaxial stretching method in which stretching is performed simultaneously in the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction. However, in order to satisfy the characteristics of the present invention, it is important to take optimum temperature conditions and longitudinal and lateral draw ratios, and it is sufficient that the finally obtained film characteristics satisfy the requirements of the present invention.

  Usually, the heat setting process of the stretched film is carried out in a heat setting device in which a plurality of plenum ducts having long hot air outlets are arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal direction. In such a heat fixing device, “circulation of hot air” is performed in order to improve the heating efficiency. Air in the heat fixing device is sucked by a circulation fan installed in the heat fixing device, the temperature of the sucked air is adjusted, and the air is again discharged from the hot air outlet of the plenum duct. In this manner, “hot air circulation” of “hot air blowing → suction by circulation fan → temperature adjustment of sucked air → hot air blowing” is performed.

  Further, as described above, the difference in thermal shrinkage in the width direction of the film roll (difference between HS 150 at the edge of one end and HS 150 at the edge of the other end) is that relaxation of the edge of the film does not occur when heat fixing is performed. It occurs because it is enough. As shown in FIG. 1, in the heat setting process, a continuous large shielding plate S is placed on the central portion of the hot air outlets 2, 2,... Of each plenum duct 3, 3,. See) improves the passage when short films are processed at relatively low temperatures (eg 120 ° C.) in post-processing. However, the permeability in a long film and the permeability when heat treatment in post-processing is performed at a high temperature (for example, 160 ° C.) are not improved.

  In order to understand why the method shown in FIG. 1 does not improve the "passability in a long film" or "passability when heat-setting treatment in post-processing is performed at a high temperature", The analysis of the phenomenon in the heat setting device was done in detail. As a result, when a continuous large shielding plate that spans multiple plenum ducts is placed over the hot air outlet of the plenum duct, the flow of hot air is restricted by the shielding plate, and the above-mentioned "hot air circulation" is performed smoothly. As a result, it was found that temperature turbulence (temperature hunting phenomenon) occurred in the heat fixing device.

Since the above-mentioned “temperature hunting phenomenon” causes insufficient thermal relaxation at the edge of the film, the present inventors have made “passability in a long film” and “heat setting treatment in post-processing high temperature. It was speculated that the “passability” would worsen. Therefore, the present inventors can improve the “passability in a long film” and the “passability when a heat setting process in post-processing is performed at a high temperature” by smoothing “circulation of hot air”. I thought that. And, as a result of trial and error to grasp the relationship between the temperature air volume condition of the heat setting device, the covering mode of the shielding plate, and the film permeability in the post-processing, the following means (1) There was a tendency that “passability in a long film” and “passability when heat-setting in post-processing was performed at a high temperature” were improved. And based on the knowledge, as a result of further trial and error, the present inventors have taken the following means (1) and then taken the following means (2) and (3). The inventors have found that it is possible to obtain a film having good permeability, and have come up with the present invention.
(1) Adjustment of temperature and air volume of plenum duct in heat fixing device (2) Adjustment of shut-off condition of hot air outlet of plenum duct in heat fixing device (3) Heat cutoff between stretching zone and heat fixing device Each of the above-described means will be described sequentially.

(1) Adjusting the temperature and air volume of the plenum duct in the heat setting device In order to heat and cool the heat setting process step by step, the heat setting device is generally divided into several sections (heat setting zones) with different temperatures. I know. In the production of the film of the present invention, from each plenum duct, the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between adjacent heat setting zones of the heat setting device is 250 ° C. · m / s or less. It is essential to adjust the temperature and air volume of the hot air blown out. For example, when the heat setting device is divided into first to third heat setting zones, the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between the first zone and the second zone, and between the second zone and the third zone. Both products of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference are adjusted to be 250 ° C. · m / s or less. Thus, by adjusting the temperature and air volume of hot air, “circulation of hot air” becomes smooth. When combined with a method of attaching a discontinuous shielding plate, which will be described later, to the hot air outlet, the “temperature hunting phenomenon” is effectively suppressed. Thus, for the first time, it is possible to obtain a long film having good passability when the heat setting treatment in the post-processing is performed at a high temperature.

  If the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between adjacent heat setting zones is 250 ° C. · m / s or less (for example, the temperature difference between adjacent heat setting zones is set to 20 ° C. The temperature difference between adjacent heat setting zones is set to 10 m / s), “circulation of hot air” in the heat setting device is smoothly performed, and “temperature hunting phenomenon” is effectively suppressed. This is preferable. In addition, if the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between adjacent heat setting zones is 250 ° C. · m / s or less, the heat setting zone downstream from the heat setting zone upstream as an accompanying flow caused by the passage of the film The temperature difference of the air flowing into Therefore, it is preferable because the temperature in the width direction of the downstream heat setting zone is stabilized. The product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference is preferably 200 ° C. · m / s or less, and more preferably 150 ° C. · m / s or less. Further, as in Patent Document 16, if the air volume of each plenum duct is made constant and the air speed of each plenum duct is made different, a “temperature hunting phenomenon” occurs. In the present invention, the “temperature hunting phenomenon” is effectively suppressed by making the wind speed in each zone constant.

(2) Adjustment of Plenum Duct Cut-off Conditions in Heat Fixing Device In the production of the film of the present invention, individual plenum ducts 3 are not attached as shown in FIG. It is necessary to attach rod-shaped shielding plates S, S,... To shield the hot air outlets (nozzles) 2, 2,. By using such a discontinuous shielding plate, “circulation of hot air” is performed smoothly. Moreover, it is preferable not to attach the same length of the shielding plate to each plenum duct, but to gradually increase the length of the shielding plate from the inlet of the heat fixing device to the outlet (film passing direction) (see FIG. 4). . Thus, by adjusting the length, the temperature of the hot air exposed to the film edge is adjusted, and the elimination of distortion at the film edge is promoted. The material of the shielding plate may be any material as long as it can withstand the temperature of the heat fixing device and does not stain the film or adhere the film, but it is the same material as the plenum duct from the viewpoint of thermal expansion. Is preferably used. Further, in order to suppress the difference in thermal contraction rate of the film edge portion due to the shielding plate to the level of the present invention, it is preferable that the number of shielding plates is large, and it is desirable to use 15 or more.

(3) Blocking of heating between the stretching zone and the heat setting device (installation of an intermediate zone)
The biaxially stretched polyester film is usually heat-set after being longitudinally and laterally stretched. In the production of the film of the present invention, it is desirable to install an intermediate zone in which active hot air is not blown between the zone that is longitudinally and laterally stretched and the heat setting device that is heat-set. As a result, the heat is completely shut off between the stretching zone and the heat setting device. More specifically, when a strip-shaped paper piece is hung between the stretching zone and the heat setting device in the state where the drawing zone and the heat setting device are in the same condition as in film production, the paper piece is almost completely removed. It is preferable to block the hot air from the stretching zone and the heat fixing device so as to hang down in the vertical direction. Note that such an intermediate zone may be surrounded by a housing, or may be provided so that a continuously manufactured film is exposed. When the hot air is sufficiently blocked in the intermediate zone, the shielding effect of the shielding plate in the heat fixing device is exhibited, and good film passage during post-processing can be obtained.

  As described above, by adopting the above methods (1) to (3), the “hot air circulation” in the heat fixing device can be smoothly executed, and the “temperature hunting phenomenon” can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to sufficiently promote relaxation in the longitudinal direction at the edge of the width direction, such as “passability in a long film” and “passability when heat setting treatment in post-processing is performed at a high temperature”. Can be improved. In the above description, the method of suppressing the “temperature hunting phenomenon” by smoothly executing “circulation of hot air” in the heat fixing device in which the plenum duct is installed. The above description discloses the technical idea of how the film of the present invention can be obtained by applying thermal energy to the film at the production level. The film of the present invention can be easily obtained by a different method from that described above. For example, instead of providing a shielding plate, an infrared heater may be used to increase the temperature in the film width direction from the center to the end. In other words, even with another type of heat fixing device, the "circulation of hot air" is smoothly executed to suppress the "temperature hunting phenomenon" and then sufficiently relaxed in the longitudinal direction at the edge of the width direction. By applying sufficient heat energy to the film, it is possible to improve the “passability in a long film” and the “passability when heat-setting treatment in post-processing is performed at a high temperature” like the film of the present invention. Film can be obtained.

  Next, the present invention will be specifically described using examples and comparative examples. First, the evaluation method of the characteristic values used in the present invention is shown below.

[Evaluation methods]
(1) Intrinsic viscosity Based on JIS K7367-5, it measured at 30 degreeC, using the mixed solvent of phenol (60 mass%) and 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane (40 mass%) as a solvent.

(2) Calorie melting calorie, melting point and glass transition temperature It is determined using a DSC 6220 type differential scanning calorimeter manufactured by SII Nanotechnology. In a nitrogen atmosphere, the resin sample was heated and melted at 300 ° C. for 5 minutes, then rapidly cooled with liquid nitrogen, and 10 mg of the pulverized resin sample was heated at a rate of 20 ° C./min, and differential thermal analysis was performed. The amount of heat of crystal fusion is obtained by integrating the DSC curve that surrounds the melting peak temperature (Tpm), extrapolation melting start temperature (Tim) and extrapolation melting end temperature (Tem) defined in JIS-K7121-1987, item 9/1. And asked. The melting peak temperature (Tpm) was taken as the melting point. Furthermore, based on JIS-K7121-1987, 9.3, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was calculated | required.

(3) Melt viscosity The viscosity of the resin sample is in accordance with JIS K 7199 “Plastic-capillary rheometer and slit die rheometer plastic flow characteristic test method”, method A (capillary die) in 5.1.3. It was measured. Using a capillary die with a diameter of 1 mm and L / D = 10 in a Capillograph 1B manufactured by Toyo Seiki Co., Ltd., a dried resin sample was filled into a cylinder maintained at 270 ° C., melted for about 1 minute, and then a shear rate of 608.0 sec. ^The melt viscosity was measured under ^-1 . When a plurality of resins are used as the base polymer, the melt viscosity of the base polymer is measured by the same method as described above after thoroughly mixing a plurality of resin samples and filling the cylinder. did.

(4) Thickness unevenness of film A continuous tape-shaped sample having a length of 3 m in the transverse stretching direction and a length of 5 cm in the longitudinal stretching direction is taken up, and the thickness of the film is measured with a continuous film thickness measuring machine (manufactured by Anritsu Corporation). Record on the recorder. From the chart, the maximum value (dmax), the minimum value (dmin), and the average value (d) of the thickness were obtained, and the thickness unevenness (%) was calculated by the following formula. In addition, when the length of a horizontal extending direction is less than 3 m, it joins and performs. The connected part is deleted from the data analysis.
Thickness unevenness (%) = ((dmax−dmin) / d) × 100

The measurement was performed 3 times, the average value was calculated | required, and the following reference | standard evaluated.
○: Thickness unevenness is 5% or less ×: Thickness unevenness exceeds 5%

(5) Haze and total light transmittance The haze (cloudiness value) and total light transmittance of the film test piece were measured according to JIS K 7105 "Testing method for optical properties of plastics". The film test piece was installed with the film longitudinal direction in the vertical direction and the light diffusion layer (B) side facing the light source, and the measurement was performed using a NDH-300A type turbidimeter manufactured by Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd.

(6) Internal haze, total haze, surface haze Highly transparent polyethylene terephthalate film having a haze of less than 1.0% (for example, coating amount: 20 ± 10 g / m 2 per side) applied to both sides of the film test piece (for example, A sample for internal haze measurement was obtained by sandwiching two sheets of Toyobo Co., Ltd., A4300, thickness 100 μm). In addition, a blank sample was obtained by superposing the two highly transparent polyethylene terephthalate films with cedar oil.

  Subsequently, the haze of the internal haze measurement sample and the blank sample was measured by the method described in (5). Then, the haze value of the blank sample was subtracted from the haze value of the internal haze measurement sample to obtain the internal haze. Moreover, the haze in the film test piece single piece measured by the method of (5) was made into the total haze, the internal haze value was subtracted from the total haze value, and the surface haze was calculated | required.

(7) Image Sharpness Measured by the transmission method according to JIS K 7105 “Testing method for optical properties of plastic” image sharpness. The film test piece was measured with the film longitudinal direction as the vertical direction and the surface of the light diffusion layer (B) facing the light source. As a measuring instrument, an ICM-1T image clarity measuring instrument manufactured by Suga Test Instruments Co., Ltd. was used.

(8) Light diffusibility The light diffusibility was measured using Goniometer Photometer GP-200 manufactured by Murakami Color Research Laboratory. A halogen lamp (12V, 50W) is used as the light source, and the light emitted from the light source is extracted in the direction of the sample holder as horizontal parallel light through a condenser lens, pinhole, and collimator, and then reduced by an ND filter with a transmittance of 1%. Used with light. The light source beam stop was 10.5 mm, and the light receiving stop of the light receiver was 9.1 mm. The film test piece was set in the sample holder so that the surface of the light diffusion layer of the sample film was the light source side, the film main surface was perpendicular to the light source luminous flux, and the MD direction of the film was up and down. The light incident on the sample film is transmitted to the opposite side of the film, reaches the light receiver, and the intensity is measured. The direction in which the light source light beam is extended coaxially is set to 0 degree, and the light receiver is rotated horizontally around the intersection of the optical axis of the light source light beam and the incident surface of the film, and from −80 degrees to +80 in 0.1 degree steps. The transmitted light intensity was measured in the range of degrees.
Transmitted light intensity ratio S (N) obtained by the following formula when the transmitted light intensity measured by the above method is I (0) and the transmitted light intensity of angle ± N degrees is I (N). [%] Was used as an index of light diffusivity. In the present invention, S (1) is a value that is correlated with the sharpness of the image observed through the light diffusion film, and a value that is correlated with the occurrence of moire or scintillation when incorporated in a liquid crystal display. S (3) was used as
S (N) = I (N) / I (0) × 100

(9) Light distribution unevenness Light distribution unevenness of the light diffusion film was evaluated by the following method. The light diffusion film was placed on a slide glass with the light diffusion layer facing upward, and a cover glass was further stacked and fixed. This light diffusing film is observed with a transmission light source using an optical microscope (5x objective, 10x eye), and when the focus is on the upper surface of the light diffusing film, a light and dark distribution state is uniform. The non-uniform thing was set as x.

(10) Tensile strength Measured according to JIS C 2318-1997 5.3.3 (tensile strength and elongation).

(11) Plane orientation coefficient (ΔP)
According to JIS K 7142-1996 5.1 (Method A), the refractive index (nx) in the longitudinal direction of the film and the refractive index (in the width direction) are measured by an Abbe refractometer using the sodium D line as a light source and the surface of the base material layer as the measurement surface. ny), the refractive index (nz) in the thickness direction was measured, and the plane orientation coefficient (ΔP) was calculated by the following formula.
ΔP = (nx + ny) / 2−nz

(12) Curl value The film is cut into a sheet of 100 mm in the longitudinal direction and 50 mm in the width direction, heat-treated at 100 ° C. for 30 minutes under no load, and then a horizontal glass plate with the convex portion of the film facing down. The vertical distance between the glass plate and the lower end of the four corners of the rising film was measured using a ruler in units of a minimum scale of 0.5 mm, and the average value of the measured values at these four locations was obtained. The same measurement was performed on the three film specimens, and the average value was taken as the curl value and evaluated according to the following criteria.
○: Curl value is 5 mm or less ×: Curl value is 5 mm or more

(13) Δn _ab
Sample films were sampled from a position within 50 mm and a center position from both edges parallel to the film winding direction of the obtained slit roll. The cut sample film was allowed to stand for 2 hours or more in an environment of 23 ° C. and 65% RH. For each sample sample, using the “Abbe refractometer 4T type” manufactured by Atago Co., Ltd. with the substrate layer side surface as the measurement surface, the refractive index (na) in _a direction that forms an angle of 45 degrees with the film winding direction The refractive index (n _b ) in a direction that forms an angle of 135 degrees with the winding direction of the film (that is, a direction that forms an angle of 45 degrees and an angle of 90 degrees) is measured. The absolute value of the difference between these two refractive indexes is Δn _ab, and Δn _ab = | n _a −n _b | It was confirmed that Δn _ab at both ends and the center of the film roll was 0.015 or more and 0.060 or less, and the largest value was designated as Δn _ab in the table. In the present invention, the winding direction of the film is also referred to as the longitudinal direction or the longitudinal direction of the film.

(14) Thermal contraction rate of the film The first sample cutout portion is provided within 2 m from the end of winding of the film, and the sample cutout portion is provided for every length obtained by dividing the winding length of the film into 9 equal parts from the end of winding of the film. By providing the final cutout portion within 2 m from the start of film winding, a total of 10 sample cutout portions were provided for one film roll. For each cut-out part, a sample film having a width of 20 mm and a length of 250 mm is cut out along the film winding direction from the left and right edge parts (the part within 50 mm from the edge) of the film roll, and the left edge part and the right edge part Ten sample films were obtained for each part. Each sample film was marked at intervals of 200 mm, placed in a heating oven adjusted to 150 ° C., and the amount of heat shrinkage was measured in accordance with JIS C-2318. In the table, “thermal contraction rate at each cutout portion” indicates a combination of the thermal contraction rate difference between the minimum and the maximum in the width direction.

(15) Film permeability The flatness of the film after the heat treatment was evaluated by the following method. As a heat treatment step, a coater having a distance between two rolls of 1,900 mm was used, the temperature was set to 100 ° C. or 160 ° C., and the furnace tension was set to 100N. Next, two rolls are horizontally arranged so that the roll interval is 2,000 mm, and further, the iron bar is positioned at the center position of the two rolls at a position 30 mm below the common tangent of the roll upper surface. Arranged. The film passed through the heat treatment step was passed between two rolls under a tension of 98N. When the film was allowed to pass through, it was marked as ◯ when the film was not in contact with the iron bar, and x when it was in contact with the iron bar. These steps were performed continuously, and it was visually confirmed whether or not the film contacted the iron bar.

Example 1
(1) Production of crystalline homopolyester resin (M1) When the temperature of the esterification reaction can reached 200 ° C, from terephthalic acid (86.4 parts by mass) and ethylene glycol (64.4 parts by mass) The resulting slurry was added and antimony trioxide (0.017 parts by mass) and triethylamine (0.16 parts by mass) were added as catalysts while stirring. Subsequently, the pressure was increased and the pressure esterification reaction was performed under the conditions of a gauge pressure of 3.5 kgf / cm 2 and 240 ° C. Thereafter, the inside of the esterification reaction vessel was returned to normal pressure, and magnesium acetate tetrahydrate (0.071 parts by mass) and then trimethyl phosphate (0.014 parts by mass) were added. Further, the temperature was raised to 260 ° C. over 15 minutes, and trimethyl phosphate (0.012 parts by mass) and then sodium acetate (0.0036 parts by mass) were added. After 15 minutes, the obtained esterification reaction product was transferred to a polycondensation reaction can, gradually heated from 260 ° C. to 280 ° C. under reduced pressure, and subjected to a polycondensation reaction at 285 ° C. until a predetermined intrinsic viscosity was reached. went.

  After completion of the polycondensation reaction, filtered with a NASRON filter with a filtration particle size of 5 μm (initial filtration efficiency: 95%), extruded into a strand from a nozzle, and preliminarily filtered (pore size: 1 μm or less) It was cooled and solidified, and cut into pellets. The obtained crystalline homopolyester resin (M1) has a crystal melting heat of 35 mJ / mg, a melting point of 256 ° C., an intrinsic viscosity of 0.56 dl / g, a melt viscosity of 91 Pa · s, an Sb content of 144 ppm, and an Mg content. The amount was 58 ppm, the P content was 40 ppm, the color L value was 56.2, and the color b value was 1.6. Further, inert particles and internally precipitated particles were not substantially contained.

(2) Production of Copolymerized Polyester Resin (M2) Intrinsic Viscosity Containing Components of 100 Mole% of Terephthalic Acid Unit as Aromatic Dicarboxylic Acid Component, 70 Mole% of Ethylene Glycol Unit and 30 Mole% of Neopentyl Glycol Unit as Diol Component Of 0.59 dl / g and a melt viscosity of 121 Pa · s were produced in accordance with the production method of (M1).

(3) Polystyrene (M3)
A polystyrene resin (PS) having a melt viscosity of 147 Pa · s was used.

(4) Preparation of incompatible additive pre-kneaded master pellet (MB1) 70.0% by weight of crystalline homopolyester resin (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours and 30.0% by weight of polystyrene (M3) Is fed to a twin-screw extruder (Toshiba TEM-37BS) adjusted to 285 ° C., mixed at a rate of 50 revolutions per minute, a discharge rate of approximately 7.5 kg per hour, and a residence time in the extruder of approximately 6 minutes. It knead | mixed and extruded, the obtained strand was cooled and cut | disconnected, and the incompatible additive pre-kneading master pellet (MB1) was prepared.

(5) Preparation of coating liquid (M4) Transesterification reaction and polycondensation reaction were carried out by a conventional method to obtain 46 mol% terephthalic acid, 46 mol% isophthalic acid and 5 mol as dicarboxylic acid components (relative to the total dicarboxylic acid components). -Preparation of water-dispersible sulfonic acid metal base-containing copolymer polyester resin having a composition of 8 mol% sodium sulfonatoisophthalate, 50 mol% ethylene glycol and 50 mol% neopentyl glycol (relative to the total glycol component) as the glycol component did. Next, 51.4 parts by weight of water, 38 parts by weight of isopropyl alcohol, 5 parts by weight of n-butyl cellosolve, 0.06 parts by weight of a nonionic surfactant were mixed and then heated and stirred. After adding 5 parts by weight of the water-dispersible sulfonic acid metal base-containing copolymer polyester resin and continuing to stir until the resin is no longer solidified, the resin water dispersion is cooled to room temperature, and the solid content concentration is 5.0% by weight. A uniform water-dispersible copolymerized polyester resin liquid was obtained. Further, after 3 parts by weight of aggregate silica particles (manufactured by Fuji Silysia Co., Ltd., Silicia 310) are dispersed in 50 parts by weight of water, 99.46 parts by weight of the water-dispersible copolyester resin solution is mixed with 99.46 parts by weight of the silicia 310. 0.54 parts by weight of the aqueous dispersion was added, and 20 parts by weight of water was added with stirring to obtain a coating liquid (M4).

(6) Production of surface light diffusing polyester film As raw material of the light diffusing layer (B), 33.4% by mass of crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours and 70 ° C. for 12 hours. The extruder was mixed with 33.3% by mass of the copolyester (M2) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) and 33.3% by mass of polystyrene pre-kneaded master pellets (MB1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) for 6 hours at 135 ° C. 2 was supplied. Further, a crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours as a raw material for the support layer (A) was supplied to the extruder 1.

  Supplied from Extruder 2 and Extruder 1 with a set temperature of 275 ° C. up to the melting section, kneading section, polymer pipe, gear pump and filter of each extruder and 270 ° C. set temperature of the polymer pipe after the filter. Each raw material was laminated using a two-layer merging block and melt-extruded into a sheet form from the die.

  In addition, the thickness ratio of the (A) layer and the (B) layer was controlled using the gear pump of each layer so that it might become 80:20. In addition, a stainless steel sintered filter material (nominal filtration accuracy: 95 μm of 10 μm particles) was used for each of the filters. The temperature of the die was controlled so that the temperature of the extruded resin was 275 ° C.

  The extruded resin was brought into close contact with a cooling drum having a surface temperature of 30 ° C. using an electrostatic application method, and solidified by cooling to prepare an unstretched film. At this time, the (A) layer surface was a surface in contact with the cooling drum. The take-up speed of the unstretched film by the cooling drum was 12 m / min.

  The obtained unstretched film was heated to 77 ° C. using a preheating roll, and stretched 3.4 times in the flow direction between rolls having different peripheral speeds. At this time, the heater temperature was controlled so that the maximum temperature of the film was 100 ° C.

  The coating solution (M4) was applied on both sides of the uniaxially stretched film so that the final coating layer thickness was 0.08 g / m 2, and then dried at 135 ° C.

  The both ends of the uniaxially stretched film having the coating layer are gripped by clips, guided to a tenter, preheated to 120 ° C, stretched 2.5 times in the width direction at 135 ° C, and then 1.6 times in the width direction at 140 ° C. The film was stretched twice, further subjected to heat setting at 240 ° C. by the method described later, and then subjected to a relaxation treatment of 3.3% in the width direction at 225 ° C. By winding this in a roll shape, a surface light diffusing polyester film roll (mill roll) was prepared by winding a film having a thickness of 100 μm and a width of 3,300 mm for 6,500 m. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm, and the remaining part is slit into three at equal intervals in the width direction, and by removing approximately 200 m from the surface layer (winding end portion) of the mill roll, Six slit rolls having a width of 1,000 mm and a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. Of the six slit rolls obtained as described above, using the slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream to the downstream of the film flow), the surface light diffusing polyester film The characteristics were evaluated.

[Heat setting]
The said heat setting process was performed with the heat setting apparatus which has a structure shown in FIG. The heat setting device is divided into four heat setting zones called first to fourth zones. Eight plenum ducts a to x are provided in the first to third zones, respectively. Eight plenum ducts are also provided in the fourth zone. Each plenum duct is vertically installed at 400 mm intervals with respect to the film traveling direction so as to be perpendicular to the film traveling direction. Hot air is blown to the stretched film from the hot air outlet (nozzle) of the plenum duct.

  In Example 1, discontinuous rod-shaped shielding plates S, S,... Were attached to hot air outlets of 15 plenum ducts a to o in the manner shown in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state where the heat fixing device having the shielding plates S, S... Attached to the hot air outlets of the plenum ducts a to o is viewed from above. The longitudinal center of each of the attached shielding plates S, S... Is set so as to substantially coincide with the center of the width of the film passing through the heat fixing device. Further, the length of each shielding plate S, S... (The dimension in the width direction of the produced film) was set so as to gradually increase from the inlet to the outlet of the heat fixing device. Table 1 shows the shielding rate of the hot air outlets of each of the plenum ducts a to o (the shield area of the hot air outlets / the area of the hot air outlets by the shielding plate) as “A mode”.

  Further, in Table 1, the adjustment values of the temperature and the wind speed in the first to fourth zones of the heat setting device in Example 1 are set as “I condition” and are shown in Table 2. In addition, as for the temperature conditions of the 1st-4th zone of the heat setting apparatus of Example 1, and the wind speed conditions, the product of the temperature difference between adjacent heat setting zones and a wind speed difference is 250 degrees C * m / s or less. Set to.

  In addition to the above, in order to measure the melting point and intrinsic viscosity of the polyester of each layer, the ejection of the (B) layer was temporarily stopped, and an unstretched film of the (A) layer alone was collected. Similarly, the discharge of the (A) layer was temporarily stopped, and an unstretched film of the (B) layer alone was collected.

(7) Film characteristics Table 3 and Table 4 show the characteristics of the surface light diffusive film obtained in Example 1. Moreover, the observation image of the light distribution nonuniformity of the film obtained in the present Example 1 is shown in FIG. As can be seen from Table 3, the surface light diffusible polyester film obtained in the present invention has excellent heat resistance, mechanical strength and thickness accuracy inherent to the biaxially stretched film. Also, the internal haze is small and the light transmittance is high. Further, most of the total haze is imparted by the surface haze, the image clarity is small, and S (1) is large. Further, as can be seen from FIG. 5, since there is no light distribution unevenness and S (3) is large, it can be seen that generation of moire and scintillation is suppressed. Further, as can be seen from Table 4, the surface light diffusible polyester film obtained by the present invention is excellent in thermal dimensional stability, and its variation is small, indicating that it is a film excellent in post-processing properties.

Example 2
The amount of extrusion of the extruder is increased to increase the width of the unstretched sheet, and the shielding plate attached to the hot air outlet of each plenum duct of the heat setting device has the shielding rate shown in “B mode” in Table 1. In the same manner as in Example 1, except that the temperature and wind speed of the first to fourth zones of the heat fixing device were changed to the adjustment values shown in “II conditions” in Table 2, the thickness was 100 μm and the width was 5 A surface light diffusing polyester film mill roll obtained by winding 6,500 m of a 300 mm film was obtained. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm, and the remaining part is slit into five at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. 10 slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the 10 slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Example 3
A film having a thickness of 100 μm and a width of 3,300 mm in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the temperatures and wind speeds of the first to fourth zones of the heat setting device were changed to the adjustment values shown in “III conditions” in Table 2. The surface light diffusable polyester film mill roll which wound up 6,500m was obtained. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm and the remaining part is slit into three at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface layer of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. Thus, six slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the six slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Example 4
A film having a thickness of 100 μm and a width of 5,300 mm in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the temperature and wind speed of the first to fourth zones of the heat setting device were changed to the adjustment values shown in “IV conditions” in Table 2. The surface light diffusable polyester film mill roll which wound up 6,500m was obtained. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm, and the remaining part is slit into five at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. 10 slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the 10 slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Example 5
A film having a thickness of 100 μm and a width of 5,300 mm in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the temperature and wind speed of the first to fourth zones of the heat setting device were changed to the adjustment values shown in “V condition” in Table 2. The surface light diffusable polyester film mill roll which wound up 6,500m was obtained. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm, and the remaining part is slit into five at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. 10 slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the 10 slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Example 6
As raw materials of the light diffusion layer (B), 30.2% by mass of crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours and a copolymer polyester (1 Torr) dried at 70 ° C. for 12 hours (1 Torr) M2) 19.8% by mass and 50% by mass of polystyrene pre-kneaded master pellets (MB1) dried at 135 ° C. for 6 hours under reduced pressure (1 Torr) were mixed and supplied to the extruder 2, and the support layer (A) As raw materials, 76.7 parts by mass of crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried at 135 ° C. for 6 hours under reduced pressure (1 Torr) and 23.3 parts by mass of copolymerized polyester (M2) dried at 70 ° C. for 12 hours under reduced pressure (1 Torr). Mixed and supplied to the extruder 1, the thickness ratio of the (A) layer and the (B) layer was controlled to be 90 to 10, and the preheating roll during stretching in the flow direction The thickness was set in the same manner as shown in Example 1 except that the heating temperature was 79 ° C. and the coating liquid (M4) was applied only to one surface side of the support layer (A). A surface light diffusing polyester film mill roll obtained by winding 6,500 m of a film having a width of 3,300 mm at 100 μm was obtained. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm and the remaining part is slit into three at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface layer of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. Thus, six slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the six slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 1
Six slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that an integrated large shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlets of the plenum ducts a to o of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 1. Using the slit roll located at the same position as in Example 1, the characteristics of the surface light diffusing polyester film were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 2
Ten slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 2 except that an integrated large shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlet of each of the plenum ducts a to v of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 2. Using the slit roll in the same position as in Example 2, the surface light diffusing polyester film characteristics were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 3
Six slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 3 except that an integrated large-sized shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlet of each of the plenum ducts a to v of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 3. Using the slit roll located at the same position as in Example 3, the characteristics of the surface light diffusing polyester film were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 4
Ten slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 4 except that an integrated large shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlets of the plenum ducts a to v of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 4. Using the slit roll located at the same position as in Example 4, the characteristics of the surface light diffusing polyester film were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 5
Ten slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 5 except that an integrated large shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlets of the plenum ducts a to v of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 5. Using the slit roll located at the same position as in Example 5, the characteristics of the surface light diffusible polyester film were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 6
Six slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 6 except that an integrated large-sized shielding plate was attached to the hot air outlet of each of the plenum ducts a to v of the heat fixing device. The shape of the large shielding plate was adjusted so that each shielding rate was the same as in Example 5. Using the slit roll located at the same position as in Example 5, the characteristics of the surface light diffusible polyester film were evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 7
The shielding plate attached to the hot air outlet of each plenum duct of the heat fixing device was changed so as to have the shielding rate shown in “C mode” in Table 1, and the temperatures and wind speeds of the first to fourth zones of the heat fixing device were changed to Table 2. A surface light diffusible polyester film mill roll obtained by winding a film having a thickness of 100 μm and a width of 3,300 mm to 6,500 m was obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the adjustment values were changed to the adjustment values shown in “VI Conditions”. It was. While rewinding the mill roll, both ends are removed by 150 mm and the remaining part is slit into three at equal intervals in the width direction. By removing approximately 200 m from the surface layer of the mill roll, the width is 1,000 mm. Thus, six slit rolls having a winding length of 3,010 m were obtained. And among the six slit rolls obtained as described above, a surface light diffusing film is used by using a slit roll corresponding to one edge side of the mill roll (the right side when viewed from the upstream side of the film flow). Evaluation of characteristics was performed. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 8
The heat fixing was carried out without attaching a shielding plate to the hot air outlet of each plenum duct, and the temperature and wind speed of the first to fourth zones of the heat fixing device were changed to the adjustment values shown in “VII conditions” in Table 2. Except for the above, six slit rolls were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1. And the characteristic of a surface light diffusable polyester film was evaluated using the slit roll in the same position as Example 1. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

Comparative Example 9
As raw materials for the light diffusion layer (B), 60 parts by mass of crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours, and copolymer polyester (M2) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 70 ° C. for 12 hours. 30 parts by mass and 10 parts by mass of polystyrene (M3) were mixed and supplied to the extruder 2, and the crystalline homopolyester dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours as a raw material of the support layer (A) (M1) A surface light diffusing polyester film of Comparative Example 9 was prepared in the same manner as shown in Example 1 except that 100 parts by mass was supplied to the extruder 1.

  Tables 3 and 4 show the characteristics of the surface light diffusible polyester film and film roll obtained in Comparative Example 9. Moreover, the observed image of the light distribution nonuniformity of the film obtained by this comparative example 9 is shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 6, the film of Comparative Example 9 shows uneven light distribution with a size close to the pixel pitch (approximately 400 μm) of a liquid crystal panel for full HD display, so that display quality such as moire and scintillation is likely to deteriorate. .

Comparative Example 10
As raw materials for the light diffusion layer (B), 65.2 parts by mass of crystalline homopolyester (M1) dried under reduced pressure (1 Torr) at 135 ° C. for 6 hours, and copolymer polyester (1 Torr) dried at 70 ° C. for 12 hours (1 Torr) M2) Surface light diffusion of Comparative Example 9 by the same method as shown in Example 6 except that 19.8 parts by weight and 15 parts by weight of polystyrene (M3) were mixed and supplied to the extruder 2 A polyester film was created. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3 and Table 4.

  In addition, from the relationship between the present invention and the prior application invention (I), as a reference example and a comparative reference example, the relationship between the film configuration and the light diffusibility other than those shown in the above examples and comparative examples for reference Table 5 shows.

  The surface light diffusing polyester film of the present invention can be used as a light diffusing film used in a backlight unit of a liquid crystal display, a lighting device and the like. Moreover, it can use as a base film for prism sheets. Therefore, it is important to contribute to the industry.

Explanatory drawing which shows the shielding aspect by the conventional shielding board (a is a partial cross section of the heat fixing device, and b is the state where the shielding board is attached to the hot air outlet of the plenum duct from above. It shows what you saw). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is explanatory drawing which shows the shielding aspect by the shielding board in this invention (a is a partial vertical cross section of a heat fixing apparatus, b is the state which attached the shielding board to the hot-air blowing outlet of the plenum duct. Is shown from the top). It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which saw through the heat fixing apparatus used by the Example and the comparative example from the top. It is explanatory drawing which shows the shielding aspect by the shielding board in Example 1. FIG. Light distribution unevenness observation image of surface light diffusible polyester film of Example 1 Light distribution unevenness observation image of surface light diffusible polyester film of Comparative Example 9

Explanation of symbols

1: Heat fixing device 2: Hot air outlet 3, a to x: Plenum duct F: Film S: Shielding plate A: Film winding direction Z1: First zone Z2: Second zone Z3: Third zone Z4: First 4 zones

Claims (8)

Δn _ab is 0.015 or more and 0.060 or less, which is the difference between the refractive index in the direction that forms an angle of 45 degrees with the winding direction of the film and the refractive index in the direction that forms an angle of 135 degrees with the winding direction of the film. A surface light diffusible polyester film satisfying the following requirements (1) to (6) comprising a biaxially oriented polyester film,
The first sample cutout is provided within 2 m from the end of winding of the film, the final cutout is provided within 2 m from the start of winding of the film, and the length between the first and final cutout is divided into nine equal parts. A surface light diffusing polyester film characterized by satisfying the following requirements (7) to (9) when a total of 10 sample cutout portions are provided by providing sample cutout portions in
(1) A support layer comprising a crystalline homopolyester or a crystalline polyester containing a copolymer component, and a copolymer component having a melting point of 235 to 255 ° C. laminated on at least one surface of the support layer by a co-extrusion method. (2) The surface of the film defined by the following formula: having a light diffusion layer comprising a blended composition of 50 to 99 parts by mass of the crystalline polyester and 1 to 50 parts by mass of an additive incompatible with the polyester Orientation coefficient ΔP is 0.08 to 0.16 ΔP = (nx + ny) / 2−nz
Here, nx, ny, and nz represent the refractive index in the longitudinal direction, the refractive index in the width direction, and the refractive index in the thickness direction, respectively.
(3) The surface haze is 15% or more (4) The internal haze is less than the surface haze (5) The tensile strength is 100 MPa or more in both the longitudinal direction and the transverse direction (6) Defined by the following formula S (3) indicating the light diffusibility of the film is 30% or more and less than 50%.
S (3) = I (3) / I (0) × 100
Here, I (3) and I (0) respectively represent a value of 3 degrees and 0 degree of the diffusion angle in the transmitted light intensity.
(7) When each sample is cut out from a position within 50 mm from one edge and a position within 50 mm from the other edge in the width direction of the film, and the two samples are heated at 150 ° C. for 30 minutes. HS150, which is the heat shrinkage rate in the film winding direction, and when the heat shrinkage difference, which is the difference between the HS150, is obtained, the heat shrinkage difference in all cutout portions is 0.1% or less. (8) In each of the cutout portions, when a sample was cut out from a position within 50 mm from one end edge and a position within 50 mm from the other end edge in the width direction of the film, and HS150 was obtained for each sample, HS150 of samples at both end edges in all cutout portions is 0.7% or more and 2.0% or less. (9) The fluctuation amount of the HS 150 on the one end edge side in the width direction of the film obtained in each cutout part, and the fluctuation amount of the HS150 on the other end edge side in the width direction of the film obtained in each cutout part are both 0.25% or less   2. The surface light diffusing polyester film according to claim 1, wherein the total light transmittance is 86% or more and the image definition at a comb width of 2 mm is 40% or less.   It has a coating layer mainly comprising at least one copolymer polyester resin, polyurethane resin, or acrylic resin provided on the surface of the light diffusion layer before completion of stretching and orientation of the film. The surface light diffusable polyester film according to claim 1.   It has a coating layer containing at least one copolymer polyester resin, polyurethane resin, or acrylic resin as a main component on both the light diffusion layer side and the support layer side of the light diffusing polyester film. The surface light diffusable polyester film according to claim 1.   It has the coating layer which has at least 1 or more types of copolymer polyester resin, a polyurethane-type resin, or an acrylic resin as a main component on the surface opposite to the light-diffusion layer of the surface light diffusable polyester film of Claim 1. Surface light diffusing polyester film for prism sheet. A production method for producing the surface light diffusible polyester film according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a film forming step of forming an unstretched sheet by melt-extruding a raw material resin from an extruder; It includes a biaxial stretching step for biaxially stretching the unstretched sheet obtained in the film forming step in the machine direction and the transverse direction, and a heat setting step for heat fixing the film after biaxial stretching. Is carried out in a heat setting device that satisfies the following requirements (10) to (12): A method for producing a surface light diffusable polyester film.
(10) A plurality of wide plenum ducts for blowing hot air are disposed vertically opposite to the film traveling direction. (11) Shielding for shielding hot air outlets from the plurality of plenum ducts. (12) The dimension of each shielding plate in the traveling direction of the film is adjusted to be substantially the same as the dimension of the outlet of each plenum duct in the traveling direction of the film. The dimension in the width direction of the film is adjusted so as to become gradually longer with respect to the film traveling direction.   In the biaxial stretching process, the film is stretched in the transverse direction after stretching the film in the longitudinal direction, and an intermediate zone that does not perform wind blowing is provided between the zone that performs the transverse stretching and the heat setting device. The method for producing a surface light diffusing polyester film according to claim 6.   The heat setting device is divided into a plurality of heat setting zones, and the product of the temperature difference and the wind speed difference between adjacent heat setting zones is set to be 250 ° C. · m / s or less. 77. The method for producing a surface light diffusing polyester film according to claim 6, wherein the surface light diffusing polyester film is formed.