JP3337540B2 - Wax sheet manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing a wax sheet of a controlled thickness.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a wax layer is formed on the surface of a sheet or plate (hereinafter referred to as a wax-coated material or a laminated material), a method of immersing the coated material in a molten wax tank has been widely used. Have been. Also, a method of applying a molten wax to the surface of an object to be coated with a brush has been widely used.

[0003]

Problems of the prior art In these conventional methods, it is very difficult to control the wax coating thickness to a constant level.
There is a problem that the thickness of the wax layer varies greatly.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of such circumstances, the inventor of the present invention considers that when a wax layer having a predetermined thickness is formed on an object to be coated such as a sheet, the wax layer is dipped in a molten wax layer or applied with a brush. Instead of using a wax sheet having a constant thickness, the viscosity of the wax itself was used for adhesion. A first object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a wax sheet used for this purpose. It is a second object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing apparatus directly used for carrying out this method.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a first object is to provide a method for continuously producing a wax sheet having a constant thickness by melting a top surface of a lower release sheet conveyed substantially horizontally at a constant speed. Wax is continuously supplied with a substantially constant thickness, and the molten wax is gradually cooled while the lower release sheet is placed on a horizontal table having a controlled surface temperature and conveyed substantially horizontally. The upper release sheet conveyed at the same speed while maintaining a constant interval with the lower release sheet
This is achieved by a method for producing a wax sheet, wherein wax is sandwiched between lower release sheets and carried out.

A second object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for continuously producing a wax sheet having a constant thickness, comprising at least two lower conveying rollers for conveying a lower release sheet at a substantially horizontal and constant speed. The lower release sheet is held substantially horizontally from below between the two lower transport rollers and the surface temperature is controlled.
A horizontal table for controlling the cooling of the lower release sheet, a wax nozzle for supplying molten wax with a substantially constant thickness from the vicinity of the upstream end of the horizontal table onto the lower release sheet, This is achieved by an apparatus for manufacturing a wax sheet, comprising: an upper transport roller for superimposing an upper release sheet on the lower release sheet at the same speed while maintaining a constant interval with the transport roller.

[0007]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
Is a perspective view of a part thereof, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same. The wax sheet manufactured by this apparatus is laminated on both sides or one side of an occlusal force diagnostic sheet, for example, and is used for diagnosing teeth alignment of a dental arch from a tooth pattern remaining on the wax sheet.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a die cutting blade for cutting the wax sheet into a shape for use in an occlusal force diagnostic sheet. FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a cut-out molded product, and FIG.
Is an exploded view of an occlusal force diagnostic sheet using the same, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing its structure, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing another structural example.

First, the configuration of the occlusal force diagnostic sheet will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9, reference numeral 10 denotes a sheet-shaped synthetic resin support, for example, P having a thickness of 25 μm.
An ET (polyethylene terephthalate) film is used. Reference numeral 12 denotes a developer coating layer, which is formed by applying a solution obtained by dispersing an acid clay (montmorillonite) sulfuric acid-treated product in water containing caustic soda to one surface (surface) of the support 10 and drying the solution. is there.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a color-developing agent coating layer formed on the color-developing agent coating layer 12, which is formed by dissolving a color developing agent such as 1-phenyl-1-xylylethane in oil and microencapsulating it. is there. Here, the microcapsules are adjusted to various strengths, and the microcapsules to be destroyed change according to the pressure. When the microcapsules are destroyed by the pressure, the color developing agent therein is absorbed by the color developing agent together with the oil to form a color. In this embodiment, the color is red. The color density increases with increasing pressure.

As described above, the support 10 and the developer coating layer 1
After laminating 2 and the coloring agent coating layer 14, the laminate is cut out in a substantially horseshoe shape. This shape is determined to substantially follow the shape of the human dental arch.

Reference numeral 16 denotes a back waterproof layer, which is formed of the same PET film as the support 10, for example, a 16 μm transparent film. An adhesive type paste is applied to one surface of the back waterproof layer 16 to form an adhesive layer 18. The back waterproof layer 16 is adhered to the back surface of the support 10 (the surface opposite to the developer application layer 12) by the adhesive layer 18.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a front waterproof layer, which is formed of a transparent PET film of 16 μm in the same manner as the back waterproof layer 16. The front waterproof layer 20 is overlaid on the color forming agent coating layer 14, and is adhered to the adhesive layer 18 of the back waterproof layer 16 along the outer periphery of the support 10. In this case, it is desirable that the pressure between the waterproof layers 16 and 20 be sufficiently reduced and evacuated.

As described above, the support 10, the developer coating layer 1
2. The pressure-sensitive sheet 22 is formed by covering the laminate of the coloring agent application layer 14 with the waterproof layers 16 and 20 and bonding the peripheral edges thereof. The pressure-sensitive sheet 22 is sealed with the back waterproof layer 16 and the front waterproof layer 20. For this reason, the water resistance is improved, and even if the saliva adheres in the oral cavity, there is no influence on the coloring property, and the reliability is increased.

Since one waterproof layer 16 is adhered to the back surface of the support 10, the back waterproof layer 16 does not peel off or move with respect to the support 10. Therefore, the front waterproof layer 20 whose periphery is fixed to the back waterproof layer 16 is
Will not move.

The horseshoe-shaped pressure-sensitive sheet 22 waterproofed by the waterproof layers 16 and 20 as described above has a wax layer 2 on both surfaces thereof.
4 and 26 are formed. The wax layers 24 and 26 are made of dental paraffin wax (JIS-T-6502) having a uniform thickness of, for example, 0.35 ± 0.03 mm. It is attached using its own viscosity.

The wax layers 24 and 26 are desirably colored so as to have a color complementary to the color of the pressure-sensitive sheet 22. In this embodiment, a blue-green color is used. The occlusal pressure diagnostic sheet 28 is completed by laminating the wax layers 24 and 26 in this manner. Note that a wax layer 24 may be formed on only one surface as shown in FIG.

Next, a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a wax sheet used for the wax layers 24 and 26 will be described with reference to FIGS. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 50 denotes a wax sheet manufacturing apparatus, which is a wax sheet 5 having a constant thickness and a constant width.
2 is sandwiched between a pair of upper and lower release sheets 54 and 56 to produce a laminate 58. A cutting device 100 is connected downstream of the wax sheet manufacturing device 50, and the laminated body 58 is cut into a shape used for the occlusal force diagnostic sheet 28, that is, a substantially horseshoe shape.

The wax sheet manufacturing apparatus 50 includes three lower conveying rollers 6 arranged in parallel at a predetermined distance from each other.
0, 62, 64, and these lower transport rollers 60, 62,
64, a wax nozzle 70 provided near the upstream end of the horizontal table 66 on the upstream side, and an upper conveying roller 72 provided above the lower intermediate conveying roller 62.
And release sheet supply reels 74 and 76.

The release sheet 56 supplied from the release sheet supply roller 74 is guided by the lower transport rollers 60, 62, 64 and the horizontal tables 66, 68 and transported at a constant speed to the left in FIG. The release sheet 54 supplied from another release sheet supply reel 76 is guided by the upper transport roller 72 and overlaps the lower release sheet 56 from above, and both sheets 56 and 54 are fed at the same speed. .

The upper transport roller 72 is connected to the lower transport roller 62.
Are positioned so as to form a gap of a certain size between them. For the release sheets 54 and 56, for example, glassine paper is suitable, and in particular, a standard 8L (basis weight 74.5 g / m ² , thickness 71 μm)
m) or a standard 8LK (basis weight 100 g / m ² ,
A thickness of 93 μm) is suitable.

The wax nozzle 70 is connected to the lower release sheet 5
The molten wax is supplied onto the sheet 6 with a constant width w (FIG. 3) smaller than the sheet 56 and a constant thickness. This wax nozzle 7
0 is supplied from a wax melting tank 78 with a molten wax controlled at a constant temperature.

As shown in FIG. 1, an electric heater 80 and a stirrer 82 are attached to the wax melting tank 78.
The molten wax heated by the heater 80 is supplied to a gear pump 84.
To the wax nozzle 70. An electric heater is incorporated in the wax nozzle 70 to keep the molten wax flowing onto the release sheet 56 at a constant temperature.

The lower release sheet 56 on which the molten wax supplied from the wax nozzle 70 to a substantially constant thickness is placed,
It slides on the horizontal base 66 and moves horizontally, and is cooled during this time to become the wax sheet 52. It is desirable that the horizontal table 66 be controlled at a constant temperature by a heater, cooling water, or the like. Alternatively, cooling air may be sent from above by a blowing fan 86 to promote cooling.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a pair of rollers 88, 88 are in rolling contact with both edges of the lower release sheet 56. These rollers 88, 88 are held such that their rotation surface 88a, that is, a plane perpendicular to the rotation axis, is obliquely directed to the outer edge of the release sheet 56 in the feed direction. Therefore, when the release sheet 56 is fed, the rollers 88 rotate and pull both edges of the release sheet 56 outward, so that wrinkles generated in the release sheet 56 due to the heat of the molten wax can be extended.

An upper release sheet 54 is
Is guided over the lower conveying roller 62 to be superimposed on the wax sheet 52 in a semi-cured state.
A laminate 58 composed of the wax sheets 52 and the semi-cured state sandwiched therebetween is formed. The laminate 58 is further cooled while moving horizontally on the horizontal table 68. Since the interval between the upper and lower transport rollers 72 and 62 is kept constant, the thickness of the laminated body 58, that is, the thickness of the wax sheet 52 in a semi-cured state is also kept constant. In this state, cooling proceeds on the horizontal table 68, and the wax sheet 52 is further hardened.

Next, the laminate 58 is guided to a die-cutting device 100 and die-cut into a predetermined shape. In this embodiment, since it is used for the occlusal force diagnostic sheet 28, it is die-cut into a horseshoe shape slightly larger than the pressure-sensitive sheet 22. Here, the die cutting is an intermittent operation, while the wax sheet manufacturing apparatus 50 is used.
Is a continuous operation, so that it is necessary to make play of the laminate 58 between the wax sheet manufacturing apparatus 50 and the die cutting apparatus 100.

However, since the laminate 58 has the wax sheet 52, when the radius of curvature becomes too small, the cured wax sheet 52 is cracked. Therefore, in this embodiment, both devices 5
Light emitting / receiving elements 102 and 104 for detecting the lower edge of the play portion of the stacked body 58 are provided between 0 and 100. Then, the conveying speed of the die cutting device 100 is set to be higher than the unloading speed of the wax sheet manufacturing device 50, and the light receiving element 104 is
When the looseness exceeding a certain level is detected, the die cutting device 100 is started, and when the looseness is insufficient, the die cutting device 100 is stopped.

An appropriate number of transport rollers 106, 108, 110, 1 and
12, a die cutting blade 114 and a receiving base 116 provided between the two transport rollers 108 and 110, and the transport roller 1
10, a stacker 118 provided between the two. The die cutting blade 114 moves up and down by, for example, an eccentric cam 120 to punch out a horseshoe-shaped molded product 58A from the laminate 58.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cutting blade 114 is a blade (a so-called big blade) 114A projecting in a thin plate shape along the outer shape of the molded product 58A, and is attached to a portion surrounded by the blade 114A. And a sponge 114B attached thereto. These are appropriately arranged in parallel in the width direction of the laminate 58. The lower surface of the sponge 114B protrudes below the blade 114A.

Therefore, the eccentric cam 12 can be
When the sponge 114B is lowered by the rotation of 0, the sponge 114B first presses the stacked body 58 to hold it between the stacked body 58 and the cradle 116.
Next, the blade 114A cuts out the horseshoe-shaped molded product 58A from the laminated body 58 and returns upward. At this time, the sponge 114B presses the molded product 58A. Due to the viscosity of the wax sheet 52 itself, the molded product 58A is
Never fall off.

The stacker 118 is cut out of the stack 58
And a rack 118B for holding the molded products 58A pushed up from below in a stacked manner. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, a molded product 58A in which a wax sheet 52A having a constant thickness is sandwiched between release sheets 54A and 56A is completed.

The remaining laminate 5 from which the molded product 58A was die-cut
8B is sent in a substantially vertical direction above the wax recovery tank 122, where the release sheets 54B and 56B are separated in a substantially horizontal direction and collected on the recovery reels 124 and 126, respectively.
It is wound up. At this time, since the wax sheet 52B sandwiched between the release sheets 54B and 56B is sufficiently cooled and brittle, the wax sheet 52B separates from the release sheets 54B and 56B and falls downward while cracking. Will be collected. The wax collected here is returned to the wax tank 78 and used.

The molded article 58A thus produced is
One of the release sheets 54A or 56A is peeled off, and the emerging wax sheet 52A is overlaid and adhered to a separately prepared pressure-sensitive sheet 22 as shown in FIG. FIG.
The wax sheet 52A is bonded to both surfaces of the pressure-sensitive sheet 22 to form wax layers 24 and 26. FIG. 9 shows a wax layer 24 in which a wax sheet 52A is adhered to one surface of the pressure-sensitive sheet 22.

Here, the adhesion is performed using the viscosity of the wax sheet 52A itself, and no adhesive is required. FIG. 8
The molded article 58A is made slightly larger than the pressure-sensitive sheet 22, and the wax sheets 52A, 52A on both sides are adhered to each other by wax. Since the wax layers 24 and 26 are covered with the release sheets 54A and 56A, the release sheets 54A and 56A can protect the wax layers 24 and 26. When using the occlusal force diagnostic sheet, the release sheets 54A, 56A
Can be easily peeled off.

In this embodiment, a wax sheet to be attached to both sides or one side of the occlusal force diagnostic sheet 28 is manufactured, but the present invention is not limited to this. The molded product cut into a predetermined shape can be used for various applications.

[0037]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the lower release sheet is placed on a horizontal table having a controlled surface temperature and is transported substantially horizontally, and the molten wax is placed thereon to a substantially uniform thickness. Is supplied while the wax is conveyed on a horizontal table while being cooled, a release sheet is placed on top of it and solidified while keeping a constant interval between both release sheets. The thickness can be controlled with high precision.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a manufacturing apparatus directly used for implementing the first aspect of the present invention. Here, on a release sheet under which molten wax is placed above a horizontal table
Cooling is promoted by providing a blower fan that sends cooling air
This is desirable (claim 3). Also, after supplying the molten wax, in order to prevent wrinkles from occurring in the lower release sheet, rollers are rolled on both side edges of the release sheet, and the rotating surfaces of these rollers obliquely move the outer edge in the feeding direction. It is desirable to provide them in such a manner as to satisfy (claim 4).

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a part thereof.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the same.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of a cutting blade.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a blade type of a die cutting blade divided by the line VV.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a cut-out molded product.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view of an occlusal force diagnostic sheet using the same.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the structure.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing many structural examples.

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 22 pressure-sensitive sheet 24, 26 wax layer 28 occlusal force diagnostic sheet 50 wax sheet manufacturing apparatus 54, 56 release sheet 58 laminated body 58A molded product 60, 62, 64 lower transport roller 66, 68 horizontal table 70 wax nozzle 86 blowing fan

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-58-101056 (JP, A) JP-A-56-56835 (JP, A) JP-A 5-56175 (JP, U) JP-A 2-56 36455 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B29C 39/00-39/44 B29C 47/00-47/96 B29C 43/00-43/58

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for continuously producing a wax sheet having a constant thickness, wherein molten wax is continuously supplied at a substantially constant thickness to an upper surface of a lower release sheet conveyed substantially horizontally at a constant speed. The surface temperature of the lower release sheet is controlled.
The molten wax is gradually cooled while being transported substantially horizontally on a horizontal table, and the slowly cooled wax is transported at the same speed while maintaining a constant interval with the lower release sheet. A method for producing a wax sheet, comprising stacking release sheets and carrying out the wax by sandwiching wax between upper and lower release sheets. 2. An apparatus for continuously producing a wax sheet having a constant thickness, comprising: at least two lower transport rollers for transporting a lower release sheet at a substantially horizontal and constant speed; and two lower transport rollers. The lower release sheet is held substantially horizontally from below while the surface temperature is controlled and the lower release sheet is controlled.
A horizontal table for cooling the sheet, a wax nozzle for supplying the molten wax with a substantially constant thickness onto the release sheet below the vicinity of the upstream end of the horizontal table, and a constant interval with the downstream lower conveying roller An apparatus for producing a wax sheet, comprising: an upper conveying roller for superposing an upper release sheet on the lower release sheet at the same speed. 3. A molten wax was loaded release sheet horizontal base upwardly from the wax sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, Ru comprising a blower fan for sending cooling air to the bottom was. 4. A pair of rollers mounted on the upper surface of the horizontal base, the rollers being in contact with both edges of the lower release sheet in a state where the rotation surface is directed obliquely to the outer edge of the lower release sheet in the feeding direction. The wax sheet manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: