JP2012131208A - Apparatus for cutting and recovering film edge, method for manufacturing lengthy optical film, and method for manufacturing film edge roll - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for cutting and recovering a film edge, capable of stably recovering the film edge while preventing a grasped portion of the film edge from being split off or cut.SOLUTION: The apparatus includes: a tenter device 100 provided with a grasper capable of grasping a lengthy optical film 10 at an end thereof, and configured to draw the optical film by pulling the optical film 10 by the grasper; a trimming device 200 configured to cut, from the optical film 10 drawn in the tenter device 100, a width-directional end portion of the optical film 10 continuously in the length direction to cut out the film edge; nip rolls 300, 400 configured to hold and feed the film edge cut in the trimming device 200 in the length direction; and a recovery device 500 configured to recover the film edge fed out of the nip rolls 300, 400. The nip rolls 300, 400 include a large-diameter portion having a large diameter, and a small-diameter portion smaller in diameter than the large-diameter portion.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cut and recovery device that cuts and collects film ears from the widthwise end of a stretched long optical film, a method for producing a long optical film, and a winding in which the film ears are wound in a roll shape. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a body.

  Among optical films, an optical film that has been subjected to a stretching treatment is generally produced in a long form by combining a certain amount from the viewpoint of production efficiency, and this long optical film is wound to form a roll. Store as a body (see Patent Document 1). In use, a long optical film is pulled out from the wound body, and is bonded to another film by a roll-to-roll method or the like as necessary, and then used after forming such as punching.

  When a long optical film is manufactured by the manufacturing method as described above, the end portion in the width direction of the optical film is often separated from the optical film main body (that is, the portion excluding the end portion in the width direction). This is because the end of the long optical film in the width direction usually tends to have low optical performance because it is difficult to control stretching or is easily damaged. Thus, the film at the end in the width direction separated from the optical film main body (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “film ear” as appropriate) is usually wound into a roll and collected as a wound body.

JP 2010-36414 A

  One stretching method for optical films is a stretching method using a gripper. In this stretching method, both ends in the width direction of the optical film are gripped by a gripper, and the optical film is stretched by pulling the optical film with the gripped gripper to obtain a stretched optical film. However, in such a stretching method using a gripper, a portion of the optical film that is gripped by the gripper (hereinafter sometimes referred to as “grip part” as appropriate) is usually stretched because it is not stretched. The strength is lower than that of the part. Furthermore, the gripping part tends to be weakened by being deformed or damaged by gripping by the gripper.

  As described above, if the film ear is separated from the optical film main body, the gripping portion moves toward the film ear, so that the quality of the optical film main body does not deteriorate. Further, since the film ear is not required to be as high quality as the optical film main body, even if the grip portion is deformed or damaged in the film ear, this is permissible. However, when the film ear is wound, the following problems may occur due to the decrease in the strength of the grip portion.

  When obtaining a roll of film ears, the film ears may be sandwiched between a pair of nip rolls after the film ears are separated from the optical film body and wound up. In this case, if the gripping part is deformed or damaged in the film ear, the gripping part may be broken or cut when sandwiched between nip rolls. If the grip portion is broken, debris is generated, which may cause foreign matter scattering and cause the quality of the optical film body. Further, when the film ear is cut from the grip portion, it may be difficult to stably wind the film ear. Furthermore, when the tension difference is generated in the width direction of the film, the flatness and optical accuracy of the optical film body may be deteriorated.

  The present invention was devised in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a film ear cut-out recovery device that can stably recover a film ear while preventing the gripping portion from being broken or cut in the film ear, as described above A method for producing an optical film capable of producing a long optical film while preventing the film ear from being cracked or broken, and stably preventing the gripping portion from being broken or broken at the film ear. It aims at providing the manufacturing method which can manufacture the winding body of a film ear.

As a result of intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor provided a portion with a large diameter (large diameter portion) and a portion with a small diameter (small diameter portion) in the nip roll, and when sandwiching the film ears with the nip roll, It has been found that by preventing the large diameter portion from coming into contact with the gripping portion, the gripping portion can be prevented from being broken or cut, and the present invention has been completed.
That is, the gist of the present invention is the following [1] to [4].

[1] a tenter device that includes a gripper that can grip a long optical film at both ends in the width direction, and that can stretch the optical film by pulling the optical film with the gripper;
A trimming device capable of continuously cutting at least one end in the width direction of the optical film in the longitudinal direction from the optical film stretched in the tenter device, and cutting off film ears;
A pair of nip rolls capable of sandwiching and feeding out the film ears cut in the trimming device;
A recovery device capable of recovering the film ears fed from the nip roll;
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large-diameter portion having a large diameter and a small-diameter portion having a smaller diameter than the large-diameter portion.
[2] The film ear cut and recovery device according to [1], wherein a concave portion or a convex portion extending in parallel with the circumferential direction of the nip roll is formed in the large diameter portion.
[3] A step of gripping a long unstretched film with a gripper at both ends in the width direction;
Stretching the pre-stretched film gripped by the gripper to obtain a stretched film;
From the obtained stretched film, a trimming step of continuously cutting at least one end in the width direction of the stretched film in the longitudinal direction and cutting off the film ears of the stretched film;
A step of winding up the optical film which is the remaining part after the film ear is cut off, and a method for producing a long optical film comprising:
A step of sandwiching the film ears cut in the trimming step with a pair of nip rolls and feeding them in the longitudinal direction;
Collecting the film ears fed from the nip roll, and
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large diameter portion having a large diameter and a small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion,
The manufacturing method of the elongate optical film by which the said film ear is arrange | positioned so that the said large diameter part may contact | connect the said film ear only in parts other than the part hold | gripped by the said holding element.
[4] A long optical film is gripped with a gripper at both ends in the width direction, and the optical film is stretched by pulling the optical film with the gripper,
From the stretched optical film, at least one end in the width direction of the optical film is continuously cut in the longitudinal direction to cut out film ears,
The cut film ears are sandwiched between a pair of nip rolls and sent out in the long direction.
A method for producing a roll of film ears, which winds up the film ears fed from the nip roll to obtain a roll.
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large diameter portion having a large diameter and a small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion,
The manufacturing method of the roll body of a film ear | edge in which the said large diameter part contacts the said film ear | edge only in parts other than the part grasped by the said holding element.

According to the cutting and collecting apparatus of the present invention, the film ear can be stably recovered while preventing the gripping portion from being broken or cut at the film ear.
According to the method for producing a long optical film of the present invention, it is possible to produce a long optical film while preventing the film ear from being broken or cut.
According to the method for manufacturing a film ear winding body of the present invention, a film ear winding body can be stably manufactured while preventing the gripping portion from being broken or broken in the film ear.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a film ear cutting and collecting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the tenter device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a trimming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a pair of nip rolls according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view schematically showing, in an enlarged manner, the vicinity of the concave portion in a cross section obtained by cutting the nip roll on a plane orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the nip roll when the concave and convex portion is a concave portion (groove portion). It is. FIG. 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view schematically showing an enlarged vicinity of the convex portion in a cross section obtained by cutting the nip roll on a plane orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the nip roll when the concave and convex portion is a convex portion. is there. FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a modified example of the nip roll according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a perspective view schematically showing the configuration of the recovery device according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing how the film ear is folded by the turn bar.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments and examples, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and examples described below, and the gist of the present invention and its equivalent scope are described below. You may implement arbitrarily changing in the range which does not deviate. In the following description, the direction of the component is “parallel” or “orthogonal” may include an error within a range that does not significantly impair the effects of the present invention (for example, ± 5 °). Further, “along” in a certain direction means “in parallel” in a certain direction. Furthermore, all the rolls described in the following embodiments are rotatably provided unless otherwise specified.

Overview FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a film ear cut and recovery device according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the cut and recovery device 1 includes a tenter device 100, a trimming device 200, a pair of nip rolls 300 and 400, and a recovery device 500. In the cutting and collecting apparatus 1, as shown by an arrow A1, the continuous optical film 10 is continuously transported in a longitudinal direction (longitudinal direction, also referred to as MD direction) by a transport roll (not shown) while stretching, cutting, and cutting. Operations such as collection are performed. Here, the “long” film means a film having a length of at least 5 times the width of the film, preferably a length of 10 times or more, specifically a roll. It has a length enough to be wound up into a shape and stored or transported.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of the tenter device 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The tenter device 100 includes a gripper 110 that can grip the optical film 10 at both end portions 11 in the width direction, and can stretch the optical film 10 by pulling the optical film 10 by the gripper 110.

  In the present embodiment, the tenter device 100 includes a plurality of grips 110 that can grip the optical film 10 at both end portions 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10, as shown in FIG. In addition, the tenter device 100 includes a pair of guide rails 120 that guide the gripper 110 on both the left and right sides of the optical film 10 in the longitudinal direction. The gripper 110 is movable, and can be moved along the guide rail 120 by being driven by an appropriate arbitrary mechanism so as to be able to go around in the direction indicated by the arrow A2.

  The tenter device 100 is continuously supplied with the film 10 from the upstream (left side in FIG. 2) along the direction of the arrow A3 and passes through the tenter device 100. When the optical film 10 passes through the tenter device 100, the gripper 110 grips both end portions 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10 in the section 130 near the entrance of the tenter device 100 by any appropriate mechanism. It moves along the guide rail 120 while maintaining the gripped state, and can be released in the section 140 near the exit of the tenter device 100.

  In the tenter device 100, the gripper 110 moves along the guide rail 120 in a state where the gripper 110 grips the end portion 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10 as described above, whereby the optical film 10 is moved in the longitudinal direction by the gripper 110. The optical film 10 can be stretched by pulling in a width direction (also referred to as a transverse direction or a TD direction) or an oblique direction. The stretched optical film 10 is sent out from the tenter device 100 to the downstream trimming device 200 as indicated by an arrow A4.

Trimming Device FIG. 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of a trimming device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The trimming apparatus 200 is an apparatus that can cut the film ear 20 by continuously cutting at least one end 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10 in the longitudinal direction from the optical film 10 stretched in the tenter apparatus 100. is there. The cut film ear 20 includes a gripping portion (see FIG. 4) that is a portion gripped by the gripper. For this reason, a gripping part does not remain in the optical film main body (that is, the portion excluding the film ear 20 of the optical film 10) 30, and a product having high optical performance is obtained as the optical film main body 30.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the trimming apparatus 200 includes a pair of pressing rolls 210 and 220 that press the stretched optical film 10 from one side in the thickness direction (here, the upper side in the figure). Provided at two locations upstream and downstream. Further, the trimming apparatus 200 includes a pair of tension rolls 230 and 240 that press the optical film 10 from the other side in the thickness direction (here, the lower side in the drawing) between the upstream pressing roll 210 and the downstream pressing roll 220. Provided at two locations upstream and downstream of the transport line. These rolls are provided in order of the press roll 210, the tension roll 230, the tension roll 240, and the press roll 220 from the upstream side, and the optical film 10 is conveyed in this order as shown by an arrow A5. Yes.

  Cutters 250 and 260 for cutting the optical film 10 are provided between the upstream tension roll 230 and the downstream tension roll 240. Here, although it demonstrates as what uses the cutter 250,260 by which the blade was mounted | worn on the outer periphery of a disc, the kind of cutter 250,260 is not limited to this. At the position where the cutters 250 and 260 are provided, a sufficiently large tension is applied to the optical film 10 by the tension rolls 230 and 240, so that the optical film 10 can be easily cut by the cutters 250 and 260.

The cutters 250 and 260 are provided at two places in the width direction. Specifically, the cutter 250, 260 are respectively provided at a position apart from the width direction of the edge 12 of the optical film 10 by a predetermined distance _{W 20.} Thereby, both the edge parts 11 of the width direction of the optical film 10 are cut off as the film ear | edge ₂₀ of the width W20. The cut film ear 20 is fed to the nip rolls 300 and 400 as indicated by an arrow A6. On the other hand, the optical film main body 30, which is the remaining part after the film ear 20 is cut off, is conveyed separately from the film ear 20 as shown by an arrow A7, and is wound after being subjected to necessary processing. . Widths _{W 20} of the film ears, preferably 50mm or more, more preferably 100mm or more, preferably 350mm or less, more preferably 250mm or less.

-Nip roll FIG. 4: is a perspective view which shows typically the structure of a pair of nip roll 300,400 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The nip rolls 300 and 400 are rolls that can sandwich the film ears 20 obtained by the trimming apparatus 200 and feed them out in the longitudinal direction. For example, the pressure of compressed air is used for the film ears 20 on one nip roll 400. The other nip roll 300 can be pressed down to fix the film ear 20 on the nip roll 400. As the material of the nip rolls 300 and 400, various materials such as a metal and a rubber material are generally used depending on the purpose. When the material of the nip roll 400 is a metal, it is preferable to use an elastic rubber material typified by silicone rubber or acrylonitrile butadiene rubber for the nip roll 300 from the viewpoint of adhesion. Further, in order to prevent static electricity generated in the film ear 20, conductivity may be imparted by including carbon black or the like in the rubber material. The following advantages (i) and (ii) can be obtained by sandwiching the film ears 20 with the nip rolls 300 and 400.

  (I) When the nip rolls 300 and 400 are not present and the film ears 20 are cut downstream from the trimming apparatus 200, the film ears 20 are collected in the trimming apparatus 200, or a conveyance roll (not shown) existing in the conveyance line. There is a possibility that the film ear 20 that has been cut is caught. When such a thing occurs, the cutting position of the optical film 10 in the trimming apparatus 200 may fluctuate, and the quality of the optical film main body 30 may deteriorate. On the other hand, if the film ears 20 are sandwiched by the nip rolls 300 and 400 downstream of the trimming apparatus 200, the film ears 20 will remain as described above even if the film ears 20 are cut downstream of the nip rolls 300 and 400. It is possible to prevent the trimming device 200 from accumulating or being caught in the transport roll.

  (Ii) The film ear 20 is sandwiched between the nip rolls 300 and 400, and the film ear 20 is conveyed so as to be pulled in the longitudinal direction, whereby the tension can be appropriately applied to the optical film 10 in the trimming apparatus 200. Thereby, the cutting of the optical film 10 by the trimming apparatus 200 can be performed stably and accurately.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, nip rolls 300 and 400 provided so as to face each other so that their rotation axes are parallel to each other are provided downstream of the trimming apparatus 200. As shown by an arrow A8 between 400, the film ear 20 passes. Further, the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400 are pressed against each other at the contact portion of the surface, and the film ear 20 is moved while pressure is applied to the film ear 20 passing between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400. It can be sent out.

However, one of the nip roll 300 has a large diameter portion 310 larger diameter _{R 310,} and a small-diameter portion 320 the diameter _{R 320} is smaller than the large diameter portion 310. That is, in the nip roll 300, the diameter R ₃₁₀ of the large diameter portion 310 is larger than the diameter R ₃₂₀ of the small diameter portion 320. For this reason, when the film ear 20 passes between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, the film ear 20 passes relatively between the large-diameter portion 310 of one nip roll 300 and the other nip roll 400. Although a large pressure is applied, no pressure is applied to the portion of the film ear 20 that passes between the small diameter portion 320 of one nip roll 300 and the other nip roll 400, or a relatively small pressure is applied. In particular, the surface of the small-diameter portion 320 may not contact the film ear 20, and if not so, the portion of the film ear 20 that passes between the small-diameter portion 320 of one nip roll 300 and the other nip roll 400. In general, no pressure is applied.

  In the present embodiment, the passage position of the film ear 20 is set so that the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 is in contact with the film ear 20 only in a portion other than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the grip portion 21 exists in the vicinity of the left edge 22 in the figure of the film ear 20, and therefore, the portion 23 on the right side in the figure than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 has a large diameter of the nip roll 300. It is set so as to pass between the section 310 and the nip roll 400. Accordingly, the gripping portion 21 of the film ear 20 passes between the small diameter portion 320 of the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400.

  Since the gripping portion 21 passes between the small diameter portion 320 of the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, pressure is not normally applied to the gripping portion 21 from the nip rolls 300 and 400. However, the magnitude of the pressure becomes smaller. Therefore, even if the gripping portion 21 is deformed or damaged, it is possible to prevent the gripping portion 21 from being broken or cut when the film ear 20 passes between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400.

  Further, since the portion 23 other than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 passes between the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, the portion 23 other than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 includes A sufficiently large pressure is applied from the nip rolls 300 and 400. Therefore, the film ear 20 can be stably sandwiched by the nip rolls 300 and 400. For this reason, when the film ear 20 is cut, it is possible to reliably prevent the film ear 20 from returning to the upstream side of the nip rolls 300 and 400, or to stably apply tension to the optical film 10 in the trimming apparatus 200. ing.

  In the present embodiment, an example in which the edge portion 24 of the film ear 20 far from the grip portion 21 also passes between the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400 is shown. You may make it pass between the small diameter part 320 and the nip roll 400. FIG.

In nip rolls 300, the difference between the diameter _{R 320} of the diameter _{R 310} and the small diameter portion 320 of the large-diameter portion 310, but may be any degree that can prevent the gripping portion 21 is cut or cracked, typically 1mm or more, preferably Is 3 mm or more, more preferably 5 mm or more, and usually 50 mm or less. The range of the diameter R ₃₁₀ of the large-diameter portion 310 is usually 22 mm or more, preferably 56 mm or more, and is usually 200 mm or less, preferably 90 mm or less. Furthermore, the range of the diameter R ₃₂₀ of the small diameter portion 320 is usually 20 mm or more, preferably 50 mm or more, and is usually 100 mm or less, preferably 80 mm or less.

The large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 has a concave portion or a convex portion that extends in parallel with the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 (hereinafter referred to as “concave portion” where appropriate). .) 330 is formed. When the uneven portion 330 extending in a certain direction is formed in the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300, the film ear 20 passing between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400 proceeds in the direction in which the uneven portion 330 extends. The direction of travel is controlled. Therefore, if the uneven portion 330 extending in parallel to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 is provided, the straightness is improved by controlling the film ear 20 to stably move in parallel to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300. Therefore, the passage position of the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 is hardly changed, and the grip portion 21 can be stably controlled so as not to pass between the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400. . In addition, the film ear 20 itself can be stably controlled so as not to be detached from between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400.
The shape of the concavo-convex portion is preferably a concave portion. This is because the straight area of the film ear 20 is stabilized because the contact area between the film ear 20 and the nip roll 300 is increased. Further, the degree of shape transfer to the film ear 20 based on the concavo-convex portion 330 is smaller, and the concave portion is easier to give the shape by processing the nip roll 300.

  The uneven portion 330 may be formed at least partially in the circumferential direction of the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300, but is preferably provided on the entire surface. This is because the straightness of the film ear 20 can be effectively improved by providing the uneven portion 330 in the entire circumferential direction.

  The number of the concavo-convex portions 330 may be one or more. For example, two or three or more as shown in FIG. 4 may be used. When there are two or more concavo-convex portions 330, only the concave portion may be provided, only the convex portion may be provided, or the concave portion and the convex portion may be provided in combination. However, from the viewpoint of sufficiently widening the contact area between the film ear 20 and the nip roll 300 to stably increase the straightness of the uneven portion 330, the number of the uneven portions 330 is preferably 50 or less.

FIG. 5 schematically shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the recess 340 in a cross section of the nip roll 300 taken along a plane orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 when the uneven portion 330 is a recess (groove) 340. It is an expanded sectional view shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the recess 340 may be formed as a recess having a square cross section, but may be formed as a recess having a shape other than this. Further, the depth D ₃₄₀ and the width W ₃₄₀ of the recess 340 are arbitrary as long as the effects of the present invention are not significantly impaired, but the contact area between the film ear 20 and the nip roll 300 is sufficiently widened so that the straightness of the film ear 20 is achieved. From the viewpoint of stably increasing the width, the width W _{340 of the} recess 340 is preferably 30 mm or less. Further, from the viewpoint of sufficiently exhibiting the effect of forming the recess, the width W _{340 of the} recess 340 is preferably set to 0.1 mm or more.

FIG. 6 schematically shows an enlarged view of the vicinity of the convex portion 350 in a cross section obtained by cutting the nip roll 300 on a plane orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 when the concave and convex portion 330 is the convex portion 350. It is an expanded sectional view shown. As shown in FIG. 6, the convex portion 350 may be formed as a convex portion having a square cross section, but may be formed as a convex portion having a shape other than this. The height H ₃₅₀ and the width W ₃₅₀ of the convex portion 350 are arbitrary as long as the effects of the present invention are not significantly impaired. However, the contact area between the film ear 20 and the nip roll 300 is sufficiently widened so that the film ear 20 advances straight. From the viewpoint of stably increasing the property, the height H ₃₅₀ of the convex portion 350 is preferably 15 mm or less. Further, from the viewpoint of sufficiently exhibiting the effect of forming the convex portion, the height H ₃₅₀ of the convex portion 350 is preferably set to 0.1 mm or more.

  The concavo-convex portion 330 may be provided continuously as shown in FIG. 4 in the circumferential direction of the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300, but may be provided intermittently as shown in FIG. 7, for example. . Whether the film ear 20 is provided continuously or intermittently, the straightness of the film ear 20 can be effectively improved. However, since the uneven portion 330 is easily formed, the uneven portion 330 is preferably provided continuously.

-Collection | recovery apparatus FIG. 8: is a perspective view which shows typically the structure of the collection | recovery apparatus 500 which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. The collection device 500 is a device that can wind up and collect the film ears 20 fed from the nip rolls 300 and 400. By being wound by the winding device 500, a roll-shaped wound body 510 of the film ear 20 is obtained.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the winding device 500 winds the film ear 20 fed from the nip rolls 300 and 400 as indicated by an arrow A9 around a suitable winding core 520, and winds it. A gyrus 510 is obtained. However, as a recovery method by the recovery device 500, for example, a method such as pulverization, volume reduction, extrusion, re-pelletization, or the like may be employed.

-Collection method The cutting collection device 1 concerning one embodiment of the present invention is constituted as mentioned above. When recovering the film ear 20 using the cut and recover device 1,
(A) The long optical film 10 is gripped by the gripper 110 at both ends 11 in the width direction, the optical film 10 is pulled by the gripper 110, and the optical film 10 is stretched.
(B) From the stretched optical film 10, at least one end portion 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10 is continuously cut in the longitudinal direction, and the film ear 20 is cut off.
(C) The cut film ear 20 is sandwiched between a pair of nip rolls 300 and 400 and sent out in the longitudinal direction.
(D) The film ear 20 fed from the nip rolls 300 and 400 is wound up to obtain a wound body 510.

  As described above, the film ear 20 collected using the cut and collect device 1 is obtained as a roll-shaped wound body 510. Therefore, the method for collecting the film ear 20 may be regarded as a method for manufacturing the wound body 510 of the film ear 20.

  At this time, in order to prevent the gripping portion 21 from being broken or cut when the film ear 20 passes between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 has the gripping portion 21 (that is, The film ear 20 is brought into contact with only the portion 23 other than the portion gripped by the gripper 110.

  That is, first, a long optical film 10 is prepared, and the prepared optical film 10 is supplied to the tenter device 100. In the tenter device 100, as shown in FIG. 2, in the section 130 near the entrance of the tenter device 100, both end portions 11 in the width direction of the conveyed optical film 10 are gripped by the gripper 110 (gripping step). When the gripper 110 moves while maintaining the gripped state, the optical film 10 is pulled and the optical film 10 is stretched (stretching step). Thereafter, the gripper 110 releases the optical film 10 in the section 140 near the exit of the tenter device 100. The released optical film 10 is sent out to the trimming apparatus 200.

  The optical film 10 sent out from the tenter device 100 is continuously trimmed in the longitudinal direction at least one end 11 in the width direction of the optical film 10 in the trimming device 200 (trimming step). In the present embodiment, both end portions 11 of the optical film 10 are cut by the cutters 250 and 260. The cut end portion 11 is sent out to the nip rolls 300 and 400 as a film ear 20. On the other hand, the optical film main body 30 which is the remaining part after the film ear 20 is cut off from the optical film 10 is conveyed separately from the film ear 20 and wound up.

  In the nip rolls 300 and 400, the film ear 20 sent out from the trimming apparatus 200 is sandwiched between the pair of nip rolls 300 and the nip roll 400, and sent out in a long method (nip process). At this time, the film ear 20 is arranged so that the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 is in contact with the film ear 20 only in the portion 23 other than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20. That is, the passage position of the film ear 20 is set so that the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 is in contact with the film ear 20 only at the portion 23 other than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20. For this reason, the large diameter part 310 does not contact the grip part 21. On the other hand, the small-diameter portion 320 normally does not contact the film ear 20, and even if it contacts, the pressure applied to the gripping portion 21 becomes small.

  In this way, when the film ear 20 passes between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, the large diameter portion 310 that gives a large pressure does not come into contact with the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20. It is possible to prevent the portion 21 from being broken or cut. In addition, clip oil applied to the gripper 110 may adhere to the gripping part 21, but if the gripping part 21 is not in contact with the nip roll 300, contamination of the transport line by clip oil can be suppressed. it can.

  Further, since the large-diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 is formed with a concavo-convex portion 330 extending parallel to the circumferential direction, the straightness of the film ear 20 is improved, and the gripping portion 21 is larger than the nip roll 300. It can be stably controlled so as not to come into contact with the diameter portion 310, or can be stably controlled so that the film ear 20 is not detached from between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400.

The film ears 20 fed out from the nip rolls 300 and 400 are taken up and collected by the collection device 500 (collection process). Thereby, the wound body 510 is obtained as the film ear 20 cut out from the stretched optical film 10 in a roll shape. At this time, since the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 is not broken or cut, the wound body 510 of the film ear 20 can be obtained stably.
The wound body 510 of the film ear 20 thus obtained is reused, for example, as a raw material for the optical film 10 or used for an application other than the optical film body 30 that does not require high optical performance.

  According to the above-described method, the optical film body 30 can be manufactured while preventing the film ear 20 from being broken or cut. Here, since the optical film body 30 is a long optical film, the above-described method can be regarded as a method for producing a long optical film.

  Here, among the optical films 10 before the film ears 20 are cut off by the trimming device 200, the film before being stretched by the tenter device 100 is the “film 40 before stretching”, and the film ear 20 after being stretched by the tenter device 100. If the film until the film is cut off is referred to as “stretched film 50”, the above-described method can be regarded as a method for producing a long optical film as follows.

  That is, the above-described method includes: (a) a gripping step of gripping the long unstretched film 40 by the gripper 110 at both ends 11 in the width direction; and (b) the unstretched film gripped by the gripper 110. Stretching step 40 to obtain a stretched film 50, (c) From the obtained stretched film 50, at least one end 11 in the width direction of the stretched film 50 is continuously cut in the longitudinal direction, A trimming step of cutting off the film ear 20 of the stretched film 50; and (d) an optical film winding step of winding up the optical film (that is, the optical film body) 30 that is the remaining portion after the film ear 20 is cut off. It can also be regarded as a method for producing a long optical film comprising:

  In addition, the method for producing the long optical film includes (e) a nip step in which the film ear 20 cut in the trimming step is sandwiched between a pair of nip rolls 300 and 400 and fed in the long direction, and (f) the nip roll 300, A recovery step of recovering the film ear 20 sent out from 400. At this time, in the method for producing a long optical film, at least one of the pair of nip rolls 300 and 400 (the nip roll 300 in the present embodiment) has a larger diameter portion 310 having a larger diameter and a diameter larger than that of the larger diameter portion 310. The film ear 20 is arranged so that the large diameter portion 310 contacts the film ear 20 only at a portion other than the grip portion 21 (that is, a portion gripped by the gripper 110). Yes. Thereby, in the manufacturing method of the said long optical film, since the long optical film main body 30 can be manufactured, preventing that the film ear | edge 20 is cracked or cut | disconnected, the high quality optical film main body 30 is obtained. It is done.

-Others Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention may be further modified and implemented.
For example, the cutting and collecting device 1 may further include elements other than the tenter device 100, the trimming device 200, the nip rolls 300 and 400, and the collecting device 500. Further, for example, in the above-described collection method, steps other than the above-described stretching step, trimming step, nip step, and winding step may be further performed.

  For example, a turn bar may be provided between the nip rolls 300 and 400 and the collecting device 500, and the film ear 20 may be folded back by this turn bar. The conveyance of the film such as the optical film 10, the film ear 20, and the optical film body 30 is normally continuously performed inline using a conveyance roll or the like. At this time, if the films to be transported are close to each other, the structure of the transport line becomes complicated, and the maintainability and handleability of the apparatus may become problems. Therefore, for example, by folding the film with a turn bar, the film can be guided so as to be separated from each other, and the configuration of the transport line can be simplified.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing how the film ear 20 is folded by the turn bar. As shown in FIG. 9, the film ear 20 sent out from the nip rolls 300 and 400 is sent to the turn bar 600 as shown by an arrow A10, folded back at the turn bar 600, and sent to the collecting device 500 as shown by an arrow A11. . At this time, it is preferable to adjust the diameter of the turn bar 600. Specifically, it is preferable that the diameter R _{610 of the} portion 610 that folds the grip portion 21 in the turn bar 600 is smaller than the diameter R ₆₂₀ of the other portion 620. Thereby, since the pressure applied to the gripping part 21 at the time of folding is smaller than the pressure applied to the portion 23 other than the gripping part 21, the gripping part 21 of the film ear 20 can be prevented from being cut or broken. .

  In the embodiment described above, both the end portions 11 of the optical film 10 are cut in the trimming apparatus 200. However, for example, only one end portion 11 of the optical film 10 may be cut.

  In the above-described embodiment, only one of the pair of nip rolls 300 and 400 (that is, the nip roll 300) has the large diameter part 310 and the small diameter part 320. However, the large diameter part 310 and the small diameter part 320 are both You may make it provide in the nip roll 300,400. Therefore, for example, the large diameter part 310 and the small diameter part 320 may be provided on both of the pair of nip rolls 300 and 400.

  Moreover, although the uneven | corrugated | grooved part 330 provided in the nip roll 300 was formed in parallel with the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 in embodiment mentioned above, it is formed so that it may extend in the direction which cross | intersects with the circumferential direction as needed. May be. For example, the concavo-convex portion 300 may be formed so as to extend along a direction inclined with respect to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300 in a direction away from the optical film body 30. Thereby, the sending direction of the film ear 20 sent out from the nip rolls 300 and 400 can be set to a direction away from the optical film main body 30. Thereby, the film ear 20 can be guided so that the distance between the film ear 20 and the optical film body 30 is increased. However, the direction inclined with respect to the circumferential direction does not include the direction orthogonal to the circumferential direction of the nip roll 300.

  In addition, for example, an uneven portion may be provided on the surface of the nip roll 400 that does not include the large diameter portion 310 and the small diameter portion 320 in the same manner as the uneven portion 330. Even in this case, the straightness of the film ear 20 can be improved in the same manner as the uneven portion 330.

-Optical film The optical film 10 used as the application object of the cut-out collection | recovery apparatus 1, recovery method, and manufacturing method mentioned above is a resin film normally.
The optical film 10 preferably has a total light transmittance of 85% or more, more preferably 92% or more, from the viewpoint of stably exhibiting the function as an optical element. Here, the total light transmittance is an average value obtained by measuring five places using a “turbidity meter NDH-300A” manufactured by Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd. in accordance with JIS K7361-1997.

  The haze of the optical film 10 is preferably 5% or less, more preferably 3% or less, and particularly preferably 1% or less. Here, the haze is an average value obtained by measuring five points using a “turbidimeter NDH-300A” manufactured by Nippon Denshoku Industries Co., Ltd. according to JIS K7361-1997.

  In the above-described embodiment, one of the advantages is that the grip portion 21 having a low strength can be prevented from being broken or cut. Therefore, in order to effectively utilize this advantage, the optical film 10 has a low strength. Is preferably used. Specifically, the optical film 10 preferably has a strength of 1.5 N / mm or less in terms of tear strength in the MD direction in accordance with JIS. The JIS tear strength can be adjusted by changing the type of resin, changing the layer thickness of the resin, or the like. The JIS tear strength is the strength at the time when a crack is generated in the MD direction at the center of the optical film 10 using the tensile tester in accordance with JIS K7128-2 (Elmendorf tear method). .

  The optical film 10 may be a single-layer film composed of only one layer, or may be a multilayer film having a plurality of layers. Moreover, when the optical film 10 is provided with a plurality of layers, the types of resins forming the layers provided in the optical film 10 may be the same or different. If a specific example is given, you may make it the film of the 3 layer structure provided with the A layer which consists of resin A, and the B layer which consists of resin B different from resin A in order of A layer, B layer, and A layer.

  The width of the optical film 10 stretched in the tenter apparatus 100 is usually 1000 mm or more, preferably 1300 mm or more, more preferably 1400 mm or more. Thus, by widening the width of the optical film 10, it can be suitably used for a large-screen display device or the like. The upper limit of the width is not limited, but is usually 2500 mm or less, preferably 2000 mm or less.

  The thickness of the optical film 10 may be, for example, 180 μm or less, 120 μm or less, 60 μm or less, or 50 μm or less. Moreover, a minimum can be suitably set, for example to 10 micrometers or more, 20 micrometers or more, 25 micrometers or more, 30 micrometers or more, 35 micrometers or more, etc.

  The production method of the optical film 10 includes, for example, a coextrusion molding method such as a coextrusion T-die method, a coextrusion inflation method, and a coextrusion lamination method; a film lamination molding method such as dry lamination; a resin for a base resin film A known method such as a coating molding method for coating a solution can be appropriately performed. Among these, a molding method by coextrusion is preferable from the viewpoint of manufacturing efficiency and not leaving volatile components such as a solvent in the optical film 10. The extrusion temperature can be appropriately selected according to the type of resin constituting the optical film 10.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described with reference to examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the examples shown below, and may be arbitrarily changed without departing from the gist of the present invention and its equivalent scope. May be implemented.

[Example 1]
A raw film having a width of 1100 mm composed of three layers of polymethyl methacrylate resin layer / polystyrene resin layer / polymethyl methacrylate resin layer (film thickness: 40 μm / 40 μm / 40 μm) was manufactured by coextrusion molding. The produced raw film was wound around a roll to obtain a roll-shaped wound body having a film length of 3000 m.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cutting and collecting device including a tenter device 100, a trimming device 200, nip rolls 300 and 400, and a collecting device 500 was prepared.
In the tenter apparatus 100, the optical film 10 was set to be subjected to oblique stretching at a stretching ratio of 1.8 times in an oblique direction at an angle of 45 ° with respect to the longitudinal direction under the condition of a temperature of 134 ° C.
In the trimming apparatus 200, a cutter was installed at a position 180 mm from both edges of the stretched optical film 10 so that both ends of the optical film 10 could be cut as film ears 20 having a width of 180 mm.

  As the nip roll 300, a roll having a large diameter portion 310 having a diameter of 75 mm and a small diameter portion 320 having a diameter of 65 mm was prepared. The nip roll 300 was manufactured by winding a silicone rubber sheet around a part of a cylindrical roll having the same diameter as the small diameter part 320 to form the large diameter part 310. Further, a groove (uneven portion 330) having a width of 5 mm and a depth of 5 mm is formed in the large diameter portion 310 of the nip roll 300 so as to extend in parallel to the circumferential direction of the large diameter portion 310 as shown in FIG. Formed. These grooves were continuously formed on the entire circumference of the large diameter portion 310. Two grooves were formed. On the other hand, as the nip roll 400, a cylindrical roll having a diameter of 150 mm was used. The nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400 were installed so that their axial directions were parallel to each other. Further, by adjusting the distance between the nip roll 300 and the nip roll 400, the nip roll 300 is pressed against the nip roll 400 only at the large diameter portion 310, and the small diameter portion 320 is prevented from touching the nip roll 400. Further, by adjusting the positions of the nip rolls 300 and 400, the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20 sent out from the trimming apparatus 200 passes between the small diameter portion 320 and the nip roll 400 and is more illustrated than the grip portion 21 of the film ear 20. The middle right portion (portion other than the grip portion 21) 23 was set to pass between the large diameter portion 310 and the nip roll 400.

Further, downstream of the nip rolls 300 and 400, a collecting device 500 that winds and collects the film ears 20 folded by the turn bar (see FIG. 9) was installed. In the turn bar, the diameter R _{610 of the} portion 610 that folds the grip portion 21 is 40 mm, and the diameter R ₆₂₀ of the other portion ₆₂₀ is 70 mm.

  The roll film winding body of the original film was attached to the cutting and collecting apparatus having the above-described configuration, and the raw film drawn from the roll winding body was supplied to the tenter apparatus 100. The supplied raw film is stretched by the tenter device 100, then the film ear 20 is cut by the trimming device 200, and the cut film ear 20 is taken up by the collecting device 500 via the nip rolls 300 and 400 and the turn bar. It was. When passing through the nip rolls 300, 400, the film ear 20 was stably and straightly conveyed without causing meandering due to the action of the groove as the uneven portion 330. Moreover, in the roll-shaped winding body of the obtained film ear 20, the grip part 21 was not broken or cut.

  The present invention is suitable for use in the production of a long optical film.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Film ear cut-off collection apparatus 10 Optical film 11 Edge part of optical film 10 Edge of optical film in width direction 20 Film ear 21 Grasping part 22 Edge on left side of film ear 20 in the figure 23 Other than grip part 21 of film ear 20 Part 24 of the film ear 20 on the side farther from the gripping part 21 30 optical film body 40 film before stretching 50 stretched film 100 tenter device 110 gripper 120 guide rail 130 section near the entrance of the tenter device 100 140 of the tenter device 100 Section in the vicinity of the exit 200 Trimming device 210, 220 Pressing roll 230, 240 Tension roll 250, 260 Cutter 300 Nip roll 310 Large diameter portion 320 Small diameter portion 330 Concavity and convexity 340 Concavity 350 Convex portion 400 Nip roll 500 Recovery device 51 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 0 Film ear winding body 520 Winding core 600 Turn bar 610 The part which folds the holding part 21 in the turn bar 600 620 The other part 610 which folds the holding part 21 in the turn bar 600

Claims (4)

A tenter device comprising a gripper capable of gripping a long optical film at both ends in the width direction, and stretching the optical film by pulling the optical film with the gripper;
A trimming device capable of continuously cutting at least one end in the width direction of the optical film in the longitudinal direction from the optical film stretched in the tenter device, and cutting off film ears;
A pair of nip rolls capable of sandwiching and feeding out the film ears cut in the trimming device;
A recovery device capable of recovering the film ears fed from the nip roll;
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large-diameter portion having a large diameter and a small-diameter portion having a smaller diameter than the large-diameter portion.   The film ear cut and recovery device according to claim 1, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion extending in parallel with the circumferential direction of the nip roll is formed in the large diameter portion. A step of gripping a long unstretched film with a gripper at both ends in the width direction;
Stretching the pre-stretched film gripped by the gripper to obtain a stretched film;
From the obtained stretched film, a trimming step of continuously cutting at least one end in the width direction of the stretched film in the longitudinal direction and cutting off the film ears of the stretched film;
A step of winding up the optical film which is the remaining part after the film ear is cut off, and a method for producing a long optical film comprising:
A step of sandwiching the film ears cut in the trimming step with a pair of nip rolls and feeding them in the longitudinal direction;
Collecting the film ears fed from the nip roll, and
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large diameter portion having a large diameter and a small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion,
The manufacturing method of the elongate optical film by which the said film ear is arrange | positioned so that the said large diameter part may contact | connect the said film ear only in parts other than the part hold | gripped by the said holding element. A long optical film is gripped with a gripper at both ends in the width direction, and the optical film is stretched by pulling the optical film with the gripper,
From the stretched optical film, at least one end in the width direction of the optical film is continuously cut in the longitudinal direction to cut out film ears,
The cut film ears are sandwiched between a pair of nip rolls and sent out in the long direction.
A method for producing a roll of film ears, which winds up the film ears fed from the nip roll to obtain a roll.
At least one of the pair of nip rolls has a large diameter portion having a large diameter and a small diameter portion having a diameter smaller than that of the large diameter portion,
The manufacturing method of the roll body of a film ear | edge in which the said large diameter part contacts the said film ear | edge only in parts other than the part grasped by the said holding element.

Images