JP2017207236A - Dyer, method of manufacturing optical film, and method of manufacturing light control film - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively avoid enlargement of a dry furnace to enable a light control film to be stably and surely manufactured, in a case of manufacturing the light control film with a base material drawn out from a roller.SOLUTION: A dryer for drying a coating layer manufactured on base materials 6, 15 made of a long film material is configured to, in a dry chamber 20 useful for dryness of the coating layer, fold a conveyance route, selectively contact a first conveyance roller 22 with both end parts in width direction of the base materials 6, 15, and then convey the base materials 6, 15.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a light control film that is attached to a window or the like of a passenger car to control the transmission of extraneous light.

  Conventionally, for example, various devices relating to a light control film that is attached to a window to control the transmission of external light have been proposed (Patent Documents 1 and 2). One such light control film uses liquid crystal. In the light control film using the liquid crystal, a transparent electrode and an alignment layer are sequentially formed on a base material made of a transparent film material to prepare first and second laminates, and the first and second laminates provide liquid crystal. A liquid crystal cell is manufactured by sandwiching the material. The light control film is produced by laminating this liquid crystal cell with a linear polarizing plate. As a result, in this light control film, the orientation of the liquid crystal is changed by changing the electric field applied to the liquid crystal, thereby blocking or transmitting the extraneous light, and further changing the amount of transmitted light. To control.

  In such a film material production process, the film material is generally transported horizontally with a roll support. Here, the roll support is configured to support the conveyance of the film material by the conveyance roller by placing and holding the film material on the conveyance rollers arranged at regular intervals. Regarding this type of production process, a method has also been proposed in which air is blown onto the film material from above and below to hold the film material in the air and the film material is conveyed in a non-contact manner. Patent Document 3 proposes a method of using a magnetic material coated on a film material to hold the film material in the air by a magnetic force and transporting the film material in a non-contact manner.

  By the way, the light control film is desired to be efficiently mass-produced with a large area product by being attached to a window glass or the like. For this purpose, it is necessary to efficiently provide each constituent member on a substrate made of a long film-shaped transparent film material.

  For this purpose, the substrate made of the transparent film material supplied in the form of a long film is transported while being pulled out from the roll, and the orientation layer and the like are sequentially produced in the transport process to efficiently mass-produce. It is thought that you can. In addition, by configuring the alignment layer with a photo-alignment layer, for example, it is possible to increase the viewing angle characteristics by patterning the alignment layer to improve the viewing angle characteristics, or to reduce the thickness of the light control film, and to mass-produce efficiently. It is thought that you can.

  However, in the case of producing a photo-alignment layer, it is necessary to apply an application liquid for the alignment layer, then to dry, and then to set an alignment regulating force by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. After drying, it takes about 30 minutes to dry. Thus, when producing the substrate while pulling out the substrate from the roll, there is a problem that the structure of the drying furnace used for drying the alignment layer becomes remarkably long. Specifically, when the line speed is 1 m / min, a drying furnace having a length of 30 m or more is required to ensure a drying time of 30 minutes.

  In addition, in the drying process according to such an alignment layer, it is necessary to convey the coated surface without bringing a roll or the like into contact. It becomes difficult to transport the film material. In the case of conveying in a non-contact manner by blowing air, the thickness of the alignment layer is disturbed by blowing air, and as a result, the optical characteristics are deteriorated. When producing by carrying out drawing and conveying a base material from a roll by these, the problem which becomes unable to produce a light control film stably and reliably also generate | occur | produces.

  In the light control film, it is conceivable that a spacer is provided to maintain the thickness of the liquid crystal layer, and it is conceivable that the spacer is made of a photoresist. That is, in this case, it is conceivable to apply the coating liquid related to the spacer, and then to dry, and then to cure only the necessary portion by ultraviolet patterning irradiation to produce a spacer with a columnar shape such as a columnar shape. However, also in this case, it takes about 30 minutes to dry after coating the coating liquid, which makes the drying furnace lengthy and it becomes difficult to produce a light control film stably and reliably.

JP 03-47392 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 08-184273 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 06-226188

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and in the case of producing a light control film while pulling out a substrate from a roll and transporting it, effectively avoiding an increase in the length of a drying furnace and is stable. And it aims at enabling it to produce a light control film reliably.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor has conducted extensive research, bent the transport path, transported the substrate made of a long film material and dried it, and transported it to both ends in the width direction of the substrate. The idea of forming a region and transporting the substrate using this region has led to the completion of the present invention.

  Specifically, the present invention provides the following.

(1) In a drying apparatus for drying a coating layer produced on a substrate made of a long film material,
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. A drying apparatus for conveying the substrate.

  According to (1), an increase in the length of the drying furnace can be effectively avoided by bending the conveyance path. In addition, from the side of the coating layer, the transport roller is selectively brought into contact with both ends in the width direction of the base material to transport the base material, so that the central portion in the width direction of the base material is applied to the coating layer. On the other hand, by non-contact, it can be conveyed without affecting the thickness, whereby a light control film or the like can be produced stably and reliably.

  (2) The drying apparatus according to (1), wherein the coating layer is a coating layer of a photo-alignment layer.

  (3) The drying apparatus according to (1), wherein the coating layer is a photoresist coating layer.

  According to (2) or (3), a light control film or the like can be produced stably and reliably with a more specific configuration.

(4) In any one of (1), (2) and (3),
The conveyance path is a conveyance path having a triangular wave shape in a side view,
At the apex on the mountain side related to the triangular-wave-shaped conveyance path in side view, a second conveyance roller that sequentially contacts the substrate on the surface opposite to the coating layer and conveys the substrate is provided,
A drying apparatus in which the first transport roller is provided between the adjacent second transport rollers.

  According to (4), in the case of producing a light control film or the like while pulling and transporting the base material from the roll, the lengthening of the drying furnace related to the coating layer is effectively avoided by a more specific configuration. Thus, a light control film or the like can be produced stably and reliably.

(5) In any one of (1), (2), (3) and (4),
The first conveying roller is disposed so as to face the first conveying roller, abuts on the surface opposite to the coating layer of the substrate, and conveys the substrate while sandwiching the substrate together with the first conveying roller. A drying apparatus including three transport rollers.

  According to (5), in the case of producing a light control film or the like while pulling out the substrate from the roll and transporting it with a more specific configuration, it is possible to effectively avoid the lengthening of the drying furnace and to adjust stably and reliably. An optical film or the like can be produced.

(6) In any one of (1), (2), (3), (4), (5),
The drying device in which the first conveyance roller is provided with a protrusion on a peripheral side surface thereof that is inserted into an opening provided in the base material.

  According to (6), the base material can be transported more reliably by providing the protrusion inserted into the opening of the base material.

(7) In the manufacturing method of the optical film provided with the base material by the transparent film material,
A coating step of applying a coating liquid to the substrate to produce a coating layer;
A drying step of drying the coating layer,
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the optical film which conveys the said base material.

  According to (7), it is possible to effectively avoid an increase in the length of the drying furnace by bending the conveyance path. In addition, from the side of the coating layer, the transport roller is selectively brought into contact with both ends in the width direction of the base material to transport the base material. By non-contacting the work layer, it can be transported without affecting the thickness, whereby a light control film or the like can be produced stably and reliably.

(8) In the manufacturing method of the light control film formed by laminating | stacking a liquid crystal cell with a linearly-polarizing plate,
A first laminate production step of producing a first laminate by producing a transparent electrode and an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A second laminate production step of producing a second laminate by producing at least an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A laminating step of manufacturing a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first and second laminates,
The first and / or second laminate manufacturing process includes:
A coating step of applying a photo-alignment layer coating solution to the substrate to produce a photo-alignment layer coating layer;
A drying step of drying the coating layer of the photo-alignment layer to produce a material layer of the photo-alignment layer;
An exposure step of producing a photo-alignment layer by subjecting the material layer of the photo-alignment layer to an exposure process,
Forming the alignment layer with the photo-alignment layer;
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the light control film which conveys the said base material.

  According to (8), it is possible to effectively avoid an increase in the length of the drying furnace related to the alignment layer by bending the conveyance path. In addition, from the side of the coating layer, the transport roller is selectively brought into contact with both ends in the width direction of the base material to transport the base material. By non-contacting the work layer, it can be transported without affecting the thickness, whereby a light control film can be produced stably and reliably.

(9) In (8),
The coating process includes
A method for producing a light control film, wherein a coating layer of a photo-alignment layer is produced by coating the coating liquid on a portion excluding a portion where the first transport roller contacts.

(10) In the manufacturing method of the light control film formed by laminating a linear polarizing plate on a liquid crystal cell,
A first laminate manufacturing step of preparing a first laminate by producing a transparent electrode and an alignment layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A second laminate production step of producing a second laminate by producing at least an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A laminating step of manufacturing a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first and second laminates,
The first or second laminate manufacturing step includes
A coating process for preparing a coating layer by applying a photoresist coating solution to the substrate;
A drying step of drying the coating layer;
An exposure process for producing a spacer by exposing the coating layer dried in the drying process,
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the light control film which conveys the said base material.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the lengthening of the drying furnace which concerns on a coating layer can be avoided effectively, and a light control film can be produced stably and reliably.

It is a figure which shows the light control film which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the light control film of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the upper side laminated body in the light control film of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the manufacturing process of the lower laminated body in the light control film of FIG. It is a figure where it uses for description of the drying process of the light control film of FIG. It is a figure which uses for the description of a manufacturing process the light control film which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which uses for the description of a manufacturing process the light control film which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure where it uses for description of FIG.

[First Embodiment]
[Light control film]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a light control film according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This light control film 1 is used by being attached to an area for light control such as a window glass of a building, a showcase, an indoor transparent partition, etc. with an adhesive layer or the like, and the amount of transmitted light can be reduced by changing the applied voltage. Control.

  This light control film 1 is a film material that controls transmitted light using liquid crystal, and is configured by sandwiching a liquid crystal cell 4 for light control film between linear polarizing plates 2 and 3. Here, the linear polarizing plates 2 and 3 are formed by impregnating polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with iodine or the like, and then stretched to form an optical functional layer that performs an optical function as a linear polarizing plate. TAC (triacetyl cellulose) The optical functional layer is sandwiched between base materials made of a transparent film material such as the above. The linearly polarizing plates 2 and 3 are arranged in the liquid crystal cell 4 by an adhesive layer made of an acrylic transparent adhesive resin or the like in a crossed Nicol arrangement. The linear polarizing plates 2 and 3 are provided with retardation films 2A and 3A for optical compensation on the liquid crystal cell 4 side, respectively, but the retardation films 2A and 3A may be omitted as necessary. In addition, the light control film may be composed of guest-host type liquid crystal. In this case, since one linear polarizing plate can be omitted, the light control film is formed by simply laminating the linear polarizing plate on the liquid crystal cell.

  The liquid crystal cell 4 controls the polarization plane of transmitted light by an applied voltage to a transparent electrode described later. Thereby, the light control film 1 is comprised so that transmitted light can be controlled and various light control can be aimed at.

[Liquid crystal cell]
The liquid crystal cell 4 is configured by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer 8 between a lower laminate 5D and an upper laminate 5U which are first and second laminates in the form of a film. The lower laminate 5D is formed by producing a transparent electrode 11, a spacer 12, and an alignment layer 13 on a base 6 made of a transparent film material. The upper laminate 5U is formed by laminating a transparent electrode 16 and an alignment layer 17 on a base material 15 made of a transparent film material. The liquid crystal cell 4 controls the orientation of the liquid crystal material provided in the liquid crystal layer 8 by driving the transparent electrodes 11 and 16 provided in the upper laminated body 5U and the lower laminated body 5D, thereby polarizing the transmitted light. Control the surface.

  Here, in the light control film 1, although the VA (Virtical Alignment) method is applied to the alignment control of the liquid crystal layer 8, the TN (Twisted Nematic) method, IPS (In-Plane-Switching) is used instead of the VA method. ) And other driving methods may be applied. When driving by the IPS method, either the transparent electrode 11 or 16 of the upper laminate 5U or the lower laminate 5D is omitted, and a driving electric field is applied to the liquid crystal material by patterning the other transparent electrode. . In the liquid crystal cell 4, a liquid crystal material is driven by a so-called multi-domain method by patterning a photo-alignment layer, which will be described later, thereby controlling transmitted light by an MVA (Multi-domain Vertical Aligment) method. Note that, instead of multi-domaining by patterning of the alignment layer, multi-domains may be formed by various configurations, and further, a single domain may be used.

  Although various transparent film materials applicable to this kind of film material can be applied to the base materials 6 and 15, it is desirable to apply a film material having a small optical anisotropy. In this embodiment, although the polycarbonate films having a thickness of 100 μm are applied to the substrates 6 and 15, film materials having various thicknesses can be applied, and further, a COP (cycloolefin polymer) film or the like is applied. Also good.

  As the transparent electrodes 11 and 16, various electrode materials applied to this kind of film material can be applied. In this embodiment, the transparent electrodes 11 and 16 are formed of a transparent electrode material made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). The spacer 12 is provided to define the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 8 and various resin materials can be widely applied. However, in this embodiment, the spacer 12 is made of a photoresist, and the transparent electrode 11 is made. It is produced by applying a photoresist on 6 and exposing and developing. The spacer 12 may be provided on the upper laminate 5U, or may be provided on both the upper laminate 5U and the lower laminate 5D. The spacer 12 may be provided on the alignment layer 13. As the spacer, a so-called bead spacer may be applied.

  The alignment layers 13 and 17 are formed of a photo-alignment layer. Here, as the photo-alignment material applicable to the photo-alignment layer, various materials to which the photo-alignment technique can be applied can be widely applied. However, in this embodiment, for example, a light dimerization type material is used. . The light dimerization type material is described in “M. Schadt, K. Schmitt, V. Kozinkov and V. Chigrinov: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., 31, 2155 (1992)”, “M. Schadt, H. Seiberle and A. Schuster: Nature, 381, 212 (1996) ".

  In this embodiment, a plurality of domains in which the direction in which the liquid crystal material falls is changed in the liquid crystal cell 4 by changing the electric field between the transparent electrodes 11 and 16 by patterning both or one of the alignment layers 13 and 17, Thereby, the liquid crystal layer 8 is driven by the multi-domain. The light control film 1 may be driven by a single domain by setting the alignment regulating force uniformly over the entire surface of the alignment layers 13 and 17.

  Various liquid crystal materials applicable to this type of light control film can be widely applied to the liquid crystal layer 8. In the liquid crystal cell 4, a sealing material 19 is disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal layer 8, and the upper stacked body 5 </ b> U and the lower stacked body 5 </ b> D are integrally held by the sealing material 19, thereby preventing leakage of the liquid crystal material. .

〔Manufacturing process〕
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the manufacturing process of the light control film 1. In the manufacturing process of the light control film, the upper laminate 5U and the lower laminate 5D are produced in the upper laminate production step SP2 and the lower laminate production step SP3, respectively. In the stacking step SP4, the upper stacked body 5U and the lower stacked body 5D are stacked and pressed with a liquid crystal material interposed therebetween, and the upper stacked body 5U and the lower stacked body 5D are integrated by a sealing material. A liquid crystal cell is produced. Further, in the subsequent linear polarizing plate laminating step SP5, the linear polarizing plates 2 and 3 are laminated on the liquid crystal cell 4 with an ultraviolet curable resin or the like, and thereafter, an adhesive layer, a separator film, and the like are disposed.

  In this embodiment, the manufacturing process of the light control film 1 is supplied by the form in which the base materials 6 and 15 by the shape of a long film were wound up by the roll, and a manufacturing process pulls out the base materials 6 and 15 from this roll. Each layer configuration related to the lower laminate 5D and the upper laminate 5U is sequentially produced to produce the lower laminate 5D and the upper laminate 5U, and then the lower laminate 5D and the upper laminate 5U are assembled. A liquid crystal cell is manufactured by stacking. After that, after laminating the linear polarizing plates 2 and 3 and the liquid crystal cell in the form of a long film, an adhesive layer, a separator film, etc. are arranged and cut into a desired size, whereby the base material is removed from the roll. It is mass-produced efficiently while pulling out and transporting. In addition, the light control film 1 is produced while drawing and transporting the base material from the roll as described above, and is appropriately wound around the roll and transported to the next process in the middle of the process.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing in detail the upper laminate manufacturing process SP2. In the upper laminate manufacturing step SP2 (SP11), in the electrode manufacturing step SP12, the transparent electrode 16 made of ITO is formed on the base material 15 made of a transparent film material by sputtering or the like. In the subsequent alignment layer manufacturing step SP13, the alignment layer 17 is manufactured. More specifically, in the alignment layer preparation step SP13, in the coating step SP13-1, the alignment layer coating liquid is applied by die coating or the like, and in the subsequent drying step SP13-2, the coating layer is dried by a drying furnace. Thus, a material layer of the alignment layer is produced.

  In this manufacturing process, subsequently, in the exposure process SP13-3, the alignment regulating force is set by irradiating the material layer of the alignment layer with ultraviolet rays by linearly polarized light, and thereby the alignment layer 17 is produced. In this manufacturing process, in this exposure step SP13-3, the mask for setting the domain is used to repeat the irradiation of ultraviolet rays, thereby patterning the alignment layer and driving the liquid crystal layer 8 by multi-domain.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing in detail the lower laminate manufacturing process SP3. In this lower laminated body production step SP3 (SP21), the transparent electrode 11 made of ITO is produced on the substrate 6 by sputtering or the like in the electrode production step SP22 as in the upper laminated body production step SP2. In the lower laminate manufacturing process SP3, in the subsequent spacer manufacturing process SP23, a photoresist is applied, dried, exposed, and developed to manufacture the spacer 12. More specifically, in the spacer preparation step SP23, a coating layer is prepared by applying a photoresist coating solution in the coating step SP23-1, and then in the drying step SP23-2, this coating layer is formed. Dry. Further, in the subsequent exposure step SP23-3, after exposure processing by ultraviolet patterning irradiation, in the subsequent development step SP24-4, development processing is performed, whereby the spacer 12 is manufactured.

  In the subsequent alignment layer preparation step SP24, the manufacturing process is performed by applying the alignment layer coating liquid in the coating step SP24-1, and then drying in a drying furnace in the subsequent drying step SP24-2. Create a layer. In the subsequent exposure step SP24-3, the alignment layer 13 is produced by setting the alignment regulating force by irradiating the material layer of the alignment layer with ultraviolet rays by linearly polarized light. In the exposure step SP24-3, the alignment layer 13 may be formed of a vertical alignment layer by omitting it if necessary, or the alignment layer 13 may be formed by patterning in the same manner as the upper laminate. Also good.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the coating steps SP13-1, SP23-1, and SP24-1, and drying steps SP13-2, SP23-2, and SP24-2. In the coating steps SP13-1, SP23-1, and SP24-1, the alignment layers and the photoresist coating solution are selectively applied to the center portion AR2 except for the width direction of the base materials 6 and 15 and both end portions AR1. Thus, in both end portions AR1, the alignment layer and the coating layer related to the photoresist are prepared so that the base materials 6 and 15 are exposed on the surface on which the alignment layer is formed. Here, both end portions AR1 are preferably made narrow from the viewpoint of effectively using the base materials 6 and 15, but are made wide from the viewpoint of reliably carrying the base materials 6 and 15. It is preferable that the width is 5 mm or more and 150 mm or less, preferably 20 mm or more and 50 mm or less.

  A drying furnace is provided in the drying steps SP13-2, SP23-2, and SP24-2, and the drying chamber 20 of the drying furnace is set to a desired temperature for drying. The drying steps SP13-2, SP23-2, and SP24-2 are performed by introducing and transporting the base materials 6 and 15 in which the alignment layer and the coating layer related to the photoresist are prepared to the drying chamber 20, The solvent is scattered from the coating layer to dry the coating layer.

Here, when the substrates 6 and 15 are simply transported linearly in the drying chamber 20 and dried, and the time required for drying is, for example, 30 minutes, the transport speed is 1 m / min. When the materials 6 and 15 are transported, the drying chamber 20 requires a length of 30 m, and the drying furnace becomes longer. Generally, in forming the alignment layer, the total length of the drying chamber 20 is required to be 30 m or more and 100 m or less. Therefore, in the drying steps SP13-2, SP23-2, and SP24-2, the conveyance path is bent, and in this embodiment, the base materials 6 and 15 are conveyed by the side-view triangular wave shape (zigzag) conveyance path. When the substrate is conveyed by bending the conveyance path as described above, the length of the drying chamber 20 can be remarkably shortened compared with the case of conveying the substrate linearly, and the length of the drying furnace is increased. Can be prevented. That is, in this case, when the substrates 6 and 15 are transported at a transport speed of 1 m / min to ensure a drying time of 30 minutes, the length of the drying chamber is reduced to about 20 m (30 × ^{1/2 1/2} ). can do.

That is, in the case of this side-view triangular wave-shaped conveyance path, the base materials 6 and 15 related to the conveyance when viewed from the side are bent into a substantially triangular wave shape and conveyed. In this manufacturing process, a conveyance path is produced by alternately repeating a right-down conveyance path and a right-up conveyance path by the conveyance path having a substantially triangular wave shape. When the inclination θ with respect to the vertical direction between the downwardly-sloping transport path and the upward-sloping transport path is set to 45 degrees, for example, the length of the drying chamber is longer than when the substrates 6 and 15 are transported linearly. Can be reduced to about 1/2 ^1/2 , thereby preventing an increase in the length of the drying furnace.

However, even if the substrate is transported by folding the transport path in this way, the length of the substrate transport path is still long, so that the substrate can be transported stably and reliably in the drying chamber. There may not be, thereby it may be impossible to create made stably and reliably light management films.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, the first transport roller 22 is selectively brought into contact with the area AR1 at both ends in the width direction of the base materials 6 and 15 from the coating layer side to transport the base materials 6 and 15. .

  Specifically, in this embodiment, the conveyance path is bent in this way, and the base materials 6 and 15 are conveyed by the conveyance path having a triangular wave shape when viewed from the side. The second conveying roller 23 is provided, and the second conveying roller 23 holds the base materials 6 and 15 from the back surface side (the side where the coating layer is not provided).

  Further, a conveyance path is formed between the adjacent second conveyance rollers 23 so that the base materials 6 and 15 are inclined downwardly in a straight line up to an intermediate position between the adjacent conveyance rollers 22. In addition, a conveyance path is formed in a straight line from the intermediate position to the adjacent conveyance roller 23 so that the base materials 6 and 15 are directed obliquely upward. In this embodiment, the 1st conveyance roller 22 is provided in the site | part which bends a conveyance path | route between the linear conveyance path | route which goes diagonally below, and the linear conveyance path | route which goes diagonally upward.

  Here, the first transport roller 22 is a suction roller whose peripheral side surface is in contact with a portion narrower than the area AR1 at both ends in the width direction of the base materials 6 and 15, and suction holes are provided on the peripheral side surface. The first conveying roller 22 sucks and holds the base materials 6 and 15 by sucking air from the suction holes provided on the peripheral side surface at the place where the base materials 6 and 15 come into contact, and is driven not shown. The substrates 6 and 15 adsorbed by the rotational drive by the mechanism are conveyed. In addition, a suction roll is a conveyance roll which equips a surrounding side surface with the hole for adsorption | suction, and adsorb | sucks and conveys a conveyance object by this hole for adsorption | suction.

  In contrast, in this embodiment, the second transport roller 23 is configured by a similar suction roller and transports the base materials 6 and 15. That is, the second transport roller 23 is manufactured in a substantially cylindrical shape, and is manufactured so that the length in the width direction of the base material 6, 15 on the peripheral side surface is longer than the width of the base material 6, 15. It is fabricated so that the end portions protrude from both ends of the base materials 6 and 15. The transport roller 23 is provided with suction holes on the peripheral side surface so that the entire surfaces of the base materials 6 and 15 can be sucked from the back surface side, or the base materials 6 and 15 can be sucked partially from the back surface side. , 15 is sucked and transported by the suction holes at the site where 15 and 15 come into contact.

  The first and second transport rollers 22 and 23 may be ordinary transport rollers that do not have suction holes, instead of the suction rollers, when the substrates 6 and 15 can be transported practically enough. May be. Further, the first and second transport rollers 22 and 23 may be provided with a driving mechanism related to rotational driving only at a part thereof.

  As a result, when the base materials 6 and 15 are introduced into the drying chamber 20, the base materials 6 and 15 are wound around the second transport roller 23, transported by being guided by the transport path downward to the right, and then transported to the first transport roller. The conveyance path is bent by 22 and guided to the conveyance path descending to the right, and then guided to the second conveyance roller 23.

  Thereby, in this embodiment, the non-contacted coating film related to the alignment layer is transported through a long transport path set in the drying chamber 20 without any change in the film thickness of the coating film. Thus, the alignment layer can be produced stably and reliably, and the light control film can be produced stably and reliably.

  Further, in the drying process, the first transport roller 22 is retracted upward as indicated by an arrow A in the pass-through process at the start of production. In the drying step, the base material 6 and 15 is placed linearly on the continuous second transport roller 23 with the first transport roller 22 retracted upward in this manner. 6 and 15, the first transport roller 22 is moved downward and returned to the original position, whereby the base materials 6 and 15 are placed on the transport path having a triangular wave shape in a side view related to the long transport path. It is configured so that it can be arranged easily and reliably. Instead of moving in the vertical direction on the first conveying roller 22 side, the second conveying roller 23 side may be moved in the vertical direction and passed.

  According to this embodiment, the conveyance path is bent into a triangular wave shape when viewed from the side, and the substrate is conveyed using both ends of the substrate in the width direction, whereby the light control film is drawn while being conveyed from the roll. In the case of producing a light control film, it is possible to effectively avoid the lengthening of the drying furnace related to the alignment layer and the photoresist, and to produce the light control film stably and reliably.

  Further, by arranging the first conveyance roller between the adjacent second conveyance rollers, the light control film or the like is produced while the substrate is drawn out from the roll and conveyed by a more specific configuration. Thus, it is possible to effectively avoid the lengthening of the drying furnace and to produce a light control film and the like stably and reliably.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the drying process according to the second embodiment in comparison with FIG. 5. In this embodiment, the coating layer is dried by the drying chamber 30 shown in FIG. The drying chamber 30 is provided with transport rollers 32 and 33 instead of the first transport roller 22. This embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment except that the configuration relating to the transport rollers 32 and 33 is different.

  Here, the conveyance roller 32 is a first conveyance roller, and is narrower than the area AR1 at both ends in the width direction of the base materials 6 and 15, similarly to the first conveyance roller 22 described above for the first embodiment. It is a roller whose peripheral side surface contacts the part, and selectively contacts the area AR1 at both ends in the width direction of the base materials 6 and 15 to transport the base materials 6 and 15. Although a so-called normal nip roller having no suction hole on the peripheral side surface is applied to the transport roller 33, a suction roller may be applied.

  The transport roller 33 is a third transport roller having a length that protrudes from both ends of the base materials 6 and 15 at both ends in the rotation axis direction, and is on a surface opposite to the photo-alignment layer of the base materials 6 and 15. The base members 6 and 15 are nipped and conveyed together with the first conveying roller 32 in contact with each other. In the example of FIG. 6, the third transport roller 33 is configured to be shared by the pair of first transport rollers 32, but the first transport roller 32 corresponds to the first transport roller 32. A pair of transport rollers 33 may be provided.

  As in this embodiment, the same effect as in the first embodiment can be obtained even when the paper is sandwiched and transported by the pair of transport rollers 32 and 33.

[Third Embodiment]
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the drying process according to the third embodiment in comparison with FIGS. 5 and 6. In this embodiment, the coating layer of the alignment layer is dried by the drying chamber 40 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the base materials 6 and 15 are formed with rectangular openings 44 at both ends in the width direction at a constant pitch. In the drying process, a roller (a so-called tractor roller) in which a protrusion 42A having a cross-sectional shape corresponding to the opening 44 is formed on the peripheral side surface is provided between the conveying rollers 23, and the protrusion 42A is inserted into the opening 44. Then, the base materials 6 and 15 are conveyed. This embodiment is configured in the same way as the first and second embodiments except that the configuration relating to the roller 42 is different.

  As in this embodiment, even if the substrate is transported by a roller provided on the peripheral side surface with a protrusion inserted into an opening provided in the substrate, the same effect as in the above embodiment can be obtained. .

[Other Embodiments]
The specific configuration suitable for the implementation of the present invention has been described in detail above, but the present invention is combined with the above-described embodiments and further modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the present invention. can do.

  That is, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the conveyance path is produced by the triangular wave shape when viewed from the side is described, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the case where the conveyance path is produced by the rectangular shape when viewed from the side, etc. The present invention can be widely applied to a case where the conveyance path is formed by various shapes by various bending, for example, when the conveyance path is formed by sawtooth wave system information as viewed from the side.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where a liquid crystal cell is manufactured by laminating an upper laminate and a lower laminate with a liquid crystal material interposed therebetween is described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the upper laminate, The present invention can also be widely applied to the case where a liquid crystal cell is manufactured by laminating a side laminate and then injecting a liquid crystal material between the upper laminate and the lower laminate.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the coating layer of the photo-alignment layer is dried in the manufacturing process of the light control film has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various optical systems including a retardation layer made of a liquid crystal material. In a film, it can apply widely when producing a photo-alignment layer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Light control film 2, 3, 29A, 29B Linear polarizing plate 2A, 3A Retardation film 4 Liquid crystal cell 5D Lower laminated body 5U Upper laminated body 6, 15 Base material 8 Liquid crystal layer 11, 16 Transparent electrode 12 Spacer 13, 17 Alignment layer 19 Sealing material 20, 30, 40 Drying chamber 22, 23, 32, 33 Transport roller 42 Roller 42A Protrusion 44 Opening

Claims (10)

In the drying device that dries the coating layer made on the substrate made of long film material,
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. A drying device for conveying the substrate. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is a coating layer of a photo-alignment layer. The drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating layer is a photoresist coating layer. The conveyance path is a conveyance path having a triangular wave shape in a side view,
At the apex on the mountain side related to the triangular-wave-shaped conveyance path in side view, a second conveyance roller that sequentially contacts the substrate on the surface opposite to the coating layer and conveys the substrate is provided,
The drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, and 3, wherein the first transport roller is provided between the adjacent second transport rollers. The first conveying roller is disposed so as to face the first conveying roller, abuts on the surface opposite to the coating layer of the substrate, and conveys the substrate while sandwiching the substrate together with the first conveying roller. The drying apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, and 4. The first conveying roller is provided with a protrusion provided on a peripheral side surface thereof through an opening provided in the base material. Any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. A drying apparatus according to claim 1. In the method for producing an optical film provided with a substrate made of a transparent film material,
A coating step of applying a coating liquid to the substrate to produce a coating layer;
A drying step of drying the coating layer,
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the optical film which conveys the said base material. In the manufacturing method of the light control film formed by laminating a liquid crystal cell with a linear polarizing plate,
A first laminate production step of producing a first laminate by producing a transparent electrode and an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A second laminate production step of producing a second laminate by producing at least an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A laminating step of manufacturing a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first and second laminates,
The first and / or second laminate manufacturing process includes:
A coating step of applying a photo-alignment layer coating solution to the substrate to produce a photo-alignment layer coating layer;
A drying step of drying the coating layer of the photo-alignment layer to produce a material layer of the photo-alignment layer;
An exposure step of producing a photo-alignment layer by subjecting the material layer of the photo-alignment layer to an exposure process,
Forming the alignment layer with the photo-alignment layer;
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the light control film which conveys the said base material. The coating process includes
The method for producing a light control film according to claim 8, wherein a coating layer of a photo-alignment layer is prepared by coating the coating liquid on a portion other than a portion where the first transport roller contacts. In the manufacturing method of the light control film formed by laminating a linear polarizing plate on a liquid crystal cell,
A first laminate production step of producing a first laminate by producing a transparent electrode and an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A second laminate production step of producing a second laminate by producing at least an orientation layer on a substrate made of a transparent film material;
A laminating step of manufacturing a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first and second laminates,
The first or second laminate manufacturing step includes
A coating process for preparing a coating layer by applying a photoresist coating solution to the substrate;
A drying step of drying the coating layer;
An exposure process for producing a spacer by exposing the coating layer dried in the drying process,
The drying step
In the drying chamber for drying the coating layer, the conveyance path is bent, and the first conveyance roller is selectively brought into contact with both end portions in the width direction of the base material from the coating layer side. The manufacturing method of the light control film which conveys the said base material.

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