JP3835030B2 - Photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for a photoelectric conversion module, and in particular, a flexible film substrate in which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements such as amorphous silicon solar cell elements are formed on one side is weather-resistant and flexible. The present invention relates to a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module sandwiched between films.
[0002]
[Prior art]
A plurality of thin film photoelectric conversion elements formed by laminating a back electrode layer, a thin film photoelectric conversion layer, and a transparent electrode layer on a flexible film substrate such as a polymer material film are formed. A photoelectric conversion module that is protected from the influence of moisture and gas of the outside air by connecting the two with a connecting conductor and covering both surfaces with a protective film or the like is known. A manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing such a photoelectric conversion module is also known in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-135596 by the applicant of the present application. Hereinafter, the manufacturing apparatus for the photoelectric conversion module will be described.
[0003]
6A and 6B are diagrams showing the configuration of a conventional photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus, where FIG. 6A is a plan view, FIG. 6B is a front view, and FIG. 6C is a left side view. For example, the manufacturing apparatus is installed in the vertical direction of the figure in (A) and a first conveyance line for conveying the film substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is formed, and in the horizontal direction of the figure in (A), for example. The second transport line that transports the protective film and the supply device that is arranged at a position where these transport lines intersect and supplies the photoelectric conversion elements of the first transport line to the second transport line.
[0004]
As best shown in (C), the first transport line is wound with a feed roll 1L on which a flexible film substrate on which a photoelectric conversion element is formed is wound, and a film of a heat-adhesive resin. 11L, the heating roll 21, the 1st cutting blade 33 and the 2nd cutting blade 34 which cut out the part of a photoelectric conversion element from the film substrate conveyed from the 1st conveyance line, and photoelectric conversion from a film substrate A winding roll 1R that winds up the remaining film substrate from which the element has been cut is provided, and the first cutting blade is held by the guide 3g so that the cutting width can be adjusted.
[0005]
The second transport line, as best shown in (B), is an accumulator that adjusts the speed so that the intermittent feed operation of the feed roll 12L for feeding out the protective film, the heating roll 22k, and the intermittent feed operation of this line becomes a continuous feed operation. 4, a feed roll kL for supplying the conductive tape, a feed roll 13 </ b> L for feeding the protective film, a heating roll 22, and a take-up roll 12 </ b> R for the photoelectric conversion module.
[0006]
The supply device 30 includes a suction table 32t that sucks the photoelectric conversion element 1u cut from the film substrate 1s and supplies the photoelectric conversion element 1u to the second transport line.
In the photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus having the above-described configuration, first, in the first transport line, a film made of a heat-adhesive resin supplied from the delivery roll 11L to the photoelectric conversion element side of the film substrate 1s fed out from the delivery roll 1L. 11 are stacked and thermally bonded by the heating roll 21.
[0007]
At the position of the supply device 30, the film substrate 1 s to which the film 11 has already been thermally bonded is cut. This cutting is performed by the first cutting blade 33 and the second cutting blade 34. That is, the pair of first cutting blades 33 installed on the upstream side of the first transport line is adjusted by the guide 3g in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the film substrate 1s (the width direction of the film substrate 1s). At the position, two cuts are made in the conveying direction while conveying the film substrate 1s to the film substrate 1s. Thereafter, the film substrate 1s is transported to the position P1 where the portion of the photoelectric conversion element 1u having the cut of the film substrate 1s is opposed to the protective film 12 of the second transport line and stopped. Next, the portion of the photoelectric conversion element 1u is vacuum-sucked and fixed to the suction table 32t stopped at the position P1. Here, with the two second cutting blades 34 moving in the width direction of the film substrate 1s, the next cut is made between the cuts made by the first cutting blade 33, and the photoelectric conversion element 1u portion is replaced. Cut. The photoelectric conversion element 1u is vacuum-sucked to the suction table 32t simultaneously with the cutting.
[0008]
After the photoelectric conversion element 1 u is cut at the supply device 30, the remaining film substrate 1 s is taken up and collected by the take-up roll 1 R.
Next, in the 2nd conveyance line orthogonal to the 1st conveyance line, the protective film 12 which is a conveyance base | substrate is drawn | fed out from the sending roll 12L. A predetermined number of photoelectric conversion elements 1 u supplied by the supply device 30 are arranged and mounted on the protective film 12 that has been fed out. That is, the adsorption table 32t that adsorbs the photoelectric conversion element 1u is moved from the position P1 to the position P2 upstream of the heating roll 22k, and the adsorption surface is lowered to a position slightly higher than the conveyance surface of the protective film 12 at that position. , Stop. At the same time, the conveyance of the protective film 12 is also stopped. Next, at the downstream end position Q1 of the suction table 32t, the heating roll 22k that has been waiting below is raised, and the protective film 12 is pressed against the suction surface (photoelectric conversion element 1u) of the suction table 32t. Then, the heating roll 22k is moved at a predetermined speed to the downstream end position Q2 of the suction table 32t, whereby the protective film 12 and the photoelectric conversion element 1u are temporarily bonded.
[0009]
The protective film 12 is lifted by the heating roll 22k, and the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the protective film 12 are in contact with each other only on the tangent line between the suction table 32t and the heating roll 22k, and are mounted and thermally bonded on this tangential line. .
[0010]
After the thermal temporary bonding, the vacuum suction of the suction table 32t is stopped, the suction of the photoelectric conversion element 1u is released, the suction table 32t is raised and returned to the position P1 where the photoelectric conversion element 1u is sucked, and the thermal temporary bonding is completed. Then, the heating roll 22k at the position Q2 is lowered, and this is returned to the position Q1 where thermal temporary bonding is started. Next, the conveyance of the protective film 12 is started, and the above operation is repeated, whereby the supply device 30 sequentially mounts the photoelectric conversion element 1 u on the protective film 12.
[0011]
In the protective film 12 on which the photoelectric conversion element 1u is mounted in this manner, the conductive tape 1k fed out from the feed roll kL is then overlapped on the back electrode of the photoelectric conversion element 1u, and further the protection fed out from the feed roll 13L. The film 13 is stacked and heated by the heating roll 22. As a result, the film substrate 1s and the protective film 12 are bonded via the heat-adhesive film 11, and the protective film 13 is directly heat bonded to the film substrate 1s to form a three-layer laminated photoelectric conversion module. The At the same time, the solder coated on the surface of the electrode is melted, and the conductive tape 1k is connected and fixed. In this way, the photoelectric conversion module using the protective film 12 as the transport base is wound around the winding roll 12R.
[0012]
In addition, since it takes time to set the heating roll 22 to the thermal bonding temperature, it is necessary to continuously supply the necessary material to the heating roll 22, and in order to eliminate intermittent feeding during temporary bonding, the heating roll 22 is required. While the protective film 12 is stopped for mounting and thermal temporary bonding of the photoelectric conversion element 1u by the accumulator 4 provided so as to be movable up and down on the upstream side, the accumulator 4 is raised and conveyed. The accumulator 4 is lowered or stopped, and the transport of the protective film 12 after the accumulator 4 is always maintained at a predetermined speed.
[0013]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus as described above, a plurality of thin layers of electrode layers and photoelectric conversion layers are laminated at regular intervals on a flexible film substrate such as a polymer material film. In this case, both ear ends of the film substrate curl due to the difference in film stress between the portion where the thin film is laminated and the portion where the thin film is not laminated, the state of the ear end is not stable, the cutting size of the photoelectric conversion element is poor, and the conveyance There was a problem of causing trouble. In addition, since the film substrate is cured by heating and laminating the thin film, and after the first cut is put in the transport direction, the second cut is cut in the width direction, and the remaining edge is sharp. There is a problem that the processing trace remains, the stress concentration occurs due to the tension of the conveyance and the fracture occurs, and the conveyance and winding of the remaining part of the film substrate cannot be normally performed.
[0014]
The present invention has been made in view of such points, and can be cut accurately even when the edge of the film substrate is curled and unstable, and the photoelectric conversion element is stably supplied onto the protective film. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method of a photoelectric conversion module.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In the present invention, in order to solve the above problem, in a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus configured by covering both sides of a photoelectric conversion element with a protective film, a flexible film substrate on which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are formed is provided. A feeding unit that feeds out while adsorbing, a length measuring unit that transports a predetermined cutting length while adsorbing the fed film substrate, and a cutting unit that cuts the film substrate into a single photoelectric conversion element. And collecting a non-used remaining portion of the film substrate other than the cut photoelectric conversion element, and a fixed position supply means for positioning to a position reference to be supplied to the step of covering with the protective film while adsorbing the photoelectric conversion element And a recovery meansThe cutting means has two first cutting blades for cutting the left and right ear ends of the film substrate, and a second cutting blade for cutting the width direction of the film substrate, and the collecting means It has the remainder process means which winds up the ear | edge end of the said film substrate cut | judged with the 1st cutting blade.An apparatus for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module is provided.
[0016]
  According to such a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus, the feeding means for feeding out the film substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is formed, the length measuring means for measuring the cutting position from the carry amount and cutting the photoelectric conversion element from the film substrate, and the cutting The fixed position supply means for transporting the photoelectric conversion element thus formed to a predetermined position is configured to transport the film substrate while adsorbing each film substrate. Thereby, since a film substrate is always conveyed in the stable state and length can be measured, it can cut accurately. In addition, since the fixed position supply means is provided, the cut photoelectric conversion element is always transported to a certain position, and therefore the photoelectric conversion element that is always adsorbed at the same position is received even when moved onto the protective film. Therefore, the photoelectric conversion element can be stably supplied on the protective film with high reproducibility of mounting accuracy.Further, the film substrate fed from the feeding means is curled at both ear ends due to the difference in film stress from the photoelectric conversion element, but the ear ends are removed by the two first cutting blades. By doing so, the film substrate on which the photoelectric conversion element is formed can be more stably conveyed to the fixed position supply means.
[0017]
  According to the present invention, in the method for producing a photoelectric conversion module configured by covering both sides of the photoelectric conversion element with a protective film, the flexible film substrate on which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are formed is drawn out, The film in which the ear end is removed while the film substrate is cut in parallel with the conveying line by two first cutting blades installed in the width direction, and the cut end of the ear is wound by the remaining processing means The substrate is unrolled, and the first detection means detects the marker formed on the film substrate to obtain the first cutting position signal, stops the unwinding of the film substrate, and passes through the second cutting blade. While sucking the unnecessary portion between the photoelectric conversion elements drawn out on the endless belt having a suction function by the endless belt and pulling it in the transport directionSaidThe film is cut in the width direction of the film substrate by a second cutting blade, and the unnecessary portion is cut by the second detection means.EndlessDetecting that the film has been transported past the discharge position of the belt, and feeding the film substrate by a predetermined length in the transport direction of the photoelectric conversion element, the first cutting positionThe position where the signal was obtainedThe tip of the photoelectric conversion element cut byEndlessPositioning the film substrate opposite to the positioning hole by continuously applying a tensile force to the film substrate by rotating the film substrate while sucking the film substrate with the endless belt until the positioning hole is formed in the belt. The detection hole provided in the third detection means detects the second cutting position signal of the photoelectric conversion element, and the film substrate is cut by the second cutting blade to separate from the film substrate. A method for producing a photoelectric conversion module comprising the steps of: cutting out the photoelectric conversion element of the above, and moving the cut out single photoelectric conversion element to a transport line of a protective film and covering with a protective film from both sides is provided. Is done.
[0018]
According to this method for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module, a film substrate on which a photoelectric conversion element is formed is transported while being adsorbed to an endless belt, and the cutting of the photoelectric conversion element from the film substrate is performed on the side in the transport direction. While the substrate is being fed out, the first cutting blade performs the drawing, and the side in the width direction of the film substrate is drawn by the second cutting blade through the drawn portion from the decompression chamber to give a pulling force in the conveying direction. While doing so. Accordingly, stable conveyance, feeding, and cutting can be performed even on a film substrate in which curling has occurred due to a difference in film stress, thermal residual stress, or the like.
[0019]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
1A and 1B are diagrams showing a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view, FIG. 1B is a front sectional view, and FIG. 1C is a right side sectional view. In this photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus, as shown in (A), a second transport line transports a first transport line of a film substrate arranged in the vertical direction of the figure and a protective film arranged in the horizontal direction of the figure. It is comprised from the conveyance line and the supply apparatus arrange | positioned in the position which these conveyance lines cross | intersect. Here, the heating and bonding process of the second transfer line and the module is almost the same as the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 6 described as the conventional example. That is, as shown in (B), in the second transport line, the protective film 12 that has been fed from the feed roll 12L to the lower surface of the photoelectric conversion element 1u that has been attracted to and moved by the suction table 32t by the supply device 30. Is heat-bonded to the module where the conductive tape 1k fed from the feed roll kL and the protective film 13 fed from the feed roll 13L are heat-bonded by the heating roll 22 and wound. The take-up roll 12R is wound up.
[0020]
Since the photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by the configuration of the first transport line, the first transport line will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 1C, the first transport line includes a feed roll 1L for supplying a film substrate 1s, a feed roll 11L for supplying a film 11 of a heat-adhesive resin, a heating roll 21, and a film. 11 is a drawing unit 51 that sucks and feeds the film substrate 1s to which heat bonding is performed, an accumulator 6 that synchronizes heat bonding and cutting work time, and a first cutting blade 33 that cuts both ear ends of the film substrate 1s. The remaining portion processing units 7L and 7R for collecting the edge portions cut on both sides, the length measuring unit 52 for measuring the length of the photoelectric conversion element 1u in the transport direction, and the photoelectric conversion element 1u at right angles to the transport direction A second cutting blade 34 for cutting in any direction, and a fixed position for supplying the photoelectric conversion element 1u cut by the second cutting blade 34 to a position where the suction table 32t sucks it in a reproducible manner. And parts 53, and a recovery portion 54 for recovering the unnecessary portion of the shredded film substrate 1s by the second cutting blade 34. Here, the feeding unit 51, the length measuring unit 52, and the fixed position supply unit 53 respectively convey or cut the film substrate 1s or the photoelectric conversion element 1u while being attached to the endless belt. When there is no adsorption, it is called adsorption.
[0021]
Here, the delivery roll 1L that is mounted on the first transport line and supplies the film substrate 1s will be described.
2A and 2B are diagrams showing a film substrate in a pre-process mounted on the manufacturing apparatus, wherein FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a winding state of the film substrate, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the film substrate. It is. The delivery roll 1L mounted on the first transport line is obtained by winding up a flexible film substrate 1s, and a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements 1u are formed in a line in the longitudinal direction on one surface thereof. After each photoelectric conversion element 1u is formed on the film substrate 1s, an evaluation test is performed. As a result of the quality determination, a marker 1m is recorded at a predetermined position in the case of a non-defective product. Therefore, only the photoelectric conversion element 1u on which the marker 1m is recorded is a target to be cut by the first transport line.
[0022]
Further, as shown in (B), when the cross section taken along the line XX, which is the cutting position of the film substrate 1s, is seen, the photoelectric conversion at the center is caused by the difference in film stress between the film substrate 1s and the photoelectric conversion element 1u. In the vicinity of the element 1u, it is wavy and curled at the ear ends on both sides. In this state, the film substrate 1s is wound up.
[0023]
In the first transport line to which the delivery roll 1L for the film substrate 1s is mounted, first, a marker 1m indicating that the photoelectric conversion element 1u is a good product is read from the film substrate 1s fed out from the delivery roll 1L. In the case of a non-defective photoelectric conversion element 1u, the non-defective photoelectric conversion element 1u is transferred onto the protective film 12 by the suction table 32t. And collected.
[0024]
In the first transport line, the film substrate 1s to which the film 11 has already been thermally bonded by the heating roll 21 is transported by the feeding unit 51 adsorbing and moving it. The thermal bonding between the film 11 and the film substrate 1s is performed by continuous conveyance. On the other hand, the cutting of the film substrate 1s is performed with the conveyance stopped. For this reason, the accumulator 6 synchronizes the work time between the thermal bonding and the cutting so that the photoelectric conversion elements 1u can be continuously supplied.
[0025]
Cutting is performed by the first cutting blade 33 and the second cutting blade 34. In this embodiment, two pairs of left and right slitters are used as the first cutting blade 33 and a shear blade is used as the second cutting blade 34. The cutting dimension of the photoelectric conversion element 1u parallel to the first transport line can be arbitrarily changed by the mounting position of the first cutting blade 33. The left and right ear ends slitted by the first cutting blade 33 are wound up and collected by controlling the torque so that the ear ends are not cut off by the remaining processing units 7L and 7R installed on the left and right sides, respectively. .
[0026]
Thereafter, the film substrate 1s with the left and right ear ends slit is cut into a rectangle. For this reason, the film substrate 1 s is sucked and moved with the length measuring unit 52 as a reference for length measurement, and the film substrate 1 s is fed to the second cutting blade 34 and the fixed position supply unit 53 to measure the length. Done. Since the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the unnecessary part are formed on the film substrate 1s at regular intervals, the length of the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the unnecessary part is set in the length measurement function of the length measurement part 52, and the length measurement part 52 The conveyance amount of the set length is controlled, and the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the unnecessary portion are fed out to the fixed position supply unit 53 via the second cutting blade 34, and the fixed position supply unit 53 controls the suction force. Then, the second cutting blade 34 alternately cuts the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the unnecessary portion while sucking and pulling the drawn portion.
[0027]
The non-defective photoelectric conversion element 1u cut into a rectangular shape is continuously transported to the position where the suction table 32t is vacuum-sucked while being sucked by the fixed position supply unit 53, and the fixed position supply unit 53 sucks the defective and unnecessary parts. It continues to move and is transported to the collection unit 54 and collected. Thereafter, this series of operations is repeated.
[0028]
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating the transport unit of the first transport line, where FIG. 3A is a plan view of the transport unit, and FIG. 3B is a front view of the transport unit. The feeding unit 51, the length measuring unit 52, and the fixed position supply unit 53 convey the film substrate 1s by rotationally driving the endless belts 51a, 52a, and 53a, respectively. Since the film substrate 1s excluding the ear ends and thermally sticks the adhesive film 11, the ear ends of the film substrate 1s are easily curled. Therefore, as the endless belts 51a, 52a, and 53a, in this embodiment, the upper surface is non-woven and slippery, and a plurality of holes 51b, 52b, and 53b that can be sucked from the lower surface are used. Here, the endless belts 51a, 52a, and 53a are sucked from the lower surface, and the film substrate 1s is sucked and transported to the upper surfaces of the endless belts 51a, 52a, and 53a, thereby transporting due to adhesion and curling. Defects are prevented.
[0029]
In addition, after the cutting with the second cutting blade 34, the photoelectric conversion element 1u is easily curled due to the difference in film stress, but by being conveyed while adsorbing to the surface of the endless belt 53a of the fixed position supply unit 53, Curling on the fixed position supply unit 53 is prevented, and further, the photoelectric conversion element 1u can be vacuum-sucked to the suction table 32t in this sucked state.
[0030]
The feeding unit 51, the length measuring unit 52, and the fixed position supplying unit 53 are respectively provided with boxes 51c, 52c, and 53c that are provided below the rolls that support the endless belts 51a, 52a, and 53a and do not have a top plate. It is connected to decompression generators 51e, 52e, 53e via exhaust control valves 51d, 52d, 53d. Accordingly, the suction conveyance of the film substrate 1s by the feeding unit 51, the length measuring unit 52, and the fixed position supply unit 53 starts the decompression generators 51e, 52e, 53e, and the film substrate 1s placed on the holes 51b, 52b. , 53b while rotating the endless belts 51a, 52a, 53a. Further, the adsorption force is adjusted by controlling the opening degree of the exhaust control valves 51d, 52d, 53d or the power supply frequency of the decompression generators 51e, 52e, 53e.
[0031]
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing, in chronological order, operations until the film substrate is cut and the unused portion is discharged, and FIG. 4A is a plan view of the conveyance line showing a state where the unnecessary portion is extended to the fixed position supply portion. , (B) is a front view of the conveyance line showing a state in which the unnecessary part is extended to the fixed position supply unit, (C) is a front view of the conveyance line showing a state in which the unnecessary part is cut, and (D) is a discharge of the unnecessary part. It is a front view of the conveyance line which shows the state performed. Here, the box 53c of the fixed position supply unit 53 partitions the inside into three chambers 531c, 532c, and 533c, and the respective chambers 531c, 532c, and 533c are decompressed via the exhaust control valves 531d, 532d, and 533d. The devices 531e, 532e, and 533e are connected to each other, and the pressures of the respective chambers 531c, 532c, and 533c are independently controlled so that the suction position, the suction area, the suction force, and the suction force can be individually controlled. This was done because the number of holes blocking the hole 53b increased or decreased due to the different cutting lengths of the photoelectric conversion element 1u and the unused portion, and the tensile force fluctuated due to the pressure in the box 53c changing. Is. Therefore, the partition between the chamber 531c and the chamber 532c is provided according to the cutting length of the unnecessary portion, and the partition between the chamber 532c and the chamber 533c is provided according to the cutting length of the photoelectric conversion element 1u, and the feeding amount Regardless of this, a constant tensile force is applied. Further, on the upstream side of the first cutting blade 33, a marker reading sensor 10m is provided for reading the marker 1m indicating the pass / fail judgment of the photoelectric conversion element 1u.
[0032]
As shown in (A), (B), and (C), the unnecessary portion of the photoelectric conversion element 1u on the conveyance front edge side is fixed by passing the unnecessary portion of the film substrate 1s through the second cutting blade 34. When the marker reading sensor 10m is fed onto the endless belt 53a of the position supply unit 53 and detects the marker 1m on the film substrate 1s, the conveying operation of the length measuring unit 52 is stopped and the second cutting blade 34 is stopped. Is done. At the time of cutting the unnecessary portion by the second cutting blade 34, the unnecessary portion of the film substrate 1s drawn out on the fixed position supply portion 53 is controlled to receive suction and conveying force from the chamber 531c of the box 53c, Therefore, the unnecessary portion is cut in a stable state while the tip portion is sucked and pulled in the transport direction. The cut unnecessary part is conveyed by the endless belt 53a of the fixed position supply part 53 as shown in (D), and the sensor 10L senses that the unnecessary part is discharged out of the suction area of the suction table 32t. Then, the length measuring unit 52 starts conveyance, and feeds the photoelectric conversion element 1 u after cutting the unnecessary portion to the fixed position supply unit 53.
[0033]
5A and 5B are diagrams showing the operation of cutting the photoelectric conversion element from the film substrate in time series, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a state where the photoelectric conversion element is extended to the fixed position supply unit, and FIG. The front view which shows the state which extended the photoelectric conversion element to the position supply part, (C) is a front view which shows the state which cut the photoelectric conversion element. As can be seen from the front views of FIGS. (B) and (C), guide plates 80 and 81 are installed in front of and behind the second cutting blade 34 in the transport direction. These guide plates 80 and 81 are provided with a large number of holes, and compressed air chambers are provided below the holes so that air is blown upward through these holes. These guide plates 80 and 81 are also subjected to non-adhesion processing such as blast processing and fluororesin coating processing on the surface with which the film substrate 1s is in contact. A piping port 34a that opens from the lower blade of the second cutting blade 34 toward the downstream side is provided.
[0034]
Further, in the fixed position supply unit 53, the endless belt 53a is disposed within the width dimension of the film substrate 1s on the line passing through the detection hole 53m and a direction perpendicular to the detection hole 53m for detecting the cutting timing. In addition, a positioning hole 53s for detecting the timing of stopping the driving of the endless belt 53a is provided, and a sensor 10r for detecting the detection hole 53m is installed on the side of the endless belt 53a correspondingly, and the vertical position of the endless belt 53a is set. Is provided with a transmission beam sensor 10s for detecting the positioning hole 53s. The transmissive beam sensor 10s includes, for example, a light projecting element installed above the tip position where the photoelectric conversion element 1u is to be positioned and a light receiving element installed in the chamber 533c of the box 53c. The light receiving element detects the transmitted light from the light emitting element, thereby detecting the position where the endless belt 53a should stop. Here, a transmissive sensor was used to detect the positioning hole 53s. In the case of a reflective sensor, the tip shape of the photoelectric conversion element 1u after cutting is as shown in FIG. This is due to the fact that the position of the light source cannot be detected with good reproducibility because of the irregular reflection of the light from the light source. Further, the positioning hole 53s has a sufficiently larger opening area than the hole 53b for adsorbing the film substrate 1s, and the transmission beam sensor 10s detects the positioning hole 53s by judging the difference in the light shielding amount. .
[0035]
Here, the sensor 10L senses the discharge of the unused portion, and the length measuring unit 52 feeds the photoelectric conversion element 1u portion to the fixed position supply unit 53. At this time, the film substrate 1 s is easily curled due to the difference in film stress in the formation portion of the photoelectric conversion element 1 u, and when the photoelectric conversion element 1 u after cutting the unused portion is fed out to the fixed position supply unit 53, It is easy to get caught by the two cutting blades 34. Further, since the thickness of the film substrate 1 s itself is as thin as 75 μm or less and the waist is weak, the film substrate 1 s is easily broken when being fed out to the fixed position supply unit 53. Further, a heat adhesive resin such as ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) is often used for the film 11 for the purpose of protection, but the surface is highly sticky and easily fixed to the lower blade of the second cutting blade 34. In contrast to this, in the present embodiment, the film substrate 1s is adjusted by adjusting the flow rate and pressure of the air blown from the holes of the guide plates 80 and 81 in which the contact surface with the film substrate 1s is non-adhesive. In addition to air floating, compressed air is sent from a piping port 34a installed on the lower blade of the second cutting blade 34 to prevent the film substrate 1s from being bent or stuck.
[0036]
In this way, the length measuring unit 52 measures the cutting length of the photoelectric conversion element 1 u set in the fixed position supply unit 53 while sucking and pulling the photoelectric conversion element 1 u fed out by the fixed position supply unit 53 in the transport direction. Stop for a long time. When the sensor 10r detects the detection hole 53m provided in the endless belt 53a, that is, the tip of the photoelectric conversion element 1u to be cut by the center of the positioning hole 53s. When the value matches, the second cutting blade 34 is operated to cut the film substrate 1s. The cut photoelectric conversion element 1u is sucked and conveyed by the fixed position supply unit 53, decelerates the rotational drive of the endless belt 53a before the positioning hole 53s provided in the endless belt 53a reaches the transmission beam sensor 10s, and When the positioning hole 53s reaches the optical axis of the transmission beam sensor 10s, the transport operation of the fixed position supply unit 53 is stopped. As a result, the cut photoelectric conversion element 1 u is accurately positioned at the suction position of the suction table 32 t on the fixed position supply unit 53.
[0037]
After that, the photoelectric conversion element 1u that is accurately positioned at the suction position of the suction table 32t is sucked by the suction table 32t, the chamber 531c of the box 53c of the fixed position supply unit 53 returns to the atmosphere, and is sucked by the fixed position supply unit 53. After the suction table 32t starts moving to the second transport line of the next process in which the photoelectric conversion element 1u is covered with the protective film from both sides, the fixed position supply unit 53 again opens the chamber 531c of the box 53c. Control is performed so that the pressure is reduced and the transfer operation is started.
[0038]
And the operation | movement of the above cutting of an unnecessary part and the cutting of the photoelectric conversion element 1u is repeatedly performed. When the marker reading sensor 10m does not detect the marker 1m on the film substrate 1s, the length measuring unit 52 continuously performs measurement of the cutting length of the unnecessary portion and the photoelectric conversion element 1u without stopping. The operation of cutting unnecessary portions and cutting the photoelectric conversion element 1u is passed, and the defective photoelectric conversion element 1u is recovered as an unnecessary portion by the recovery unit 54.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, in the present invention, the flexible film substrate is provided through the endless belt while rotating and driving the endless belt, which is provided with the feeding means, the length measuring means, and the fixed position supply means. It was configured to perform suction conveyance. Thereby, even if the flexible film substrate is curled due to a difference in film stress and a heat treatment history or is thin and easy to bend, it can be stably conveyed.
[0040]
Further, immediately before and immediately after the second cutting means between the length measuring means and the fixed position supplying means, the surface is subjected to non-adhesive treatment, and a guide plate provided with a plurality of blowing holes is provided. Thus, by controlling the floating of the film substrate, the tip of the film substrate is not caught by the second cutting means, and the film substrate can be stably fed to the fixed position supply unit.
[0041]
In addition, the box of the fixed position supply means is composed of a plurality of decompression chambers divided in the transport direction, and the suction position and area are controlled by adjusting the pressure of each decompression chamber, and the suction force is adjusted. . Thereby, the film substrate state just before a 2nd cutting means cuts can be made the same also in the photoelectric conversion element from which a suction area differs, and an unnecessary part from the difference in cutting length.
[0042]
Further, the belt of the fixed position supply means is provided with a positioning hole and a detection hole, and when the tip of the photoelectric conversion element matches the center of the positioning hole, the detector that outputs a cutting signal and the tip of the photoelectric conversion element are at a predetermined position. And a translucent sensor that detects the positioning hole when the sheet is conveyed and stops the conveying operation of the fixed position supply means. Thereby, the photoelectric conversion element can be stopped at the same position with good reproducibility regardless of the shape of the cut end of the photoelectric conversion element.
[Brief description of the drawings]
1A and 1B are diagrams showing a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view, FIG. 1B is a front sectional view, and FIG. 1C is a right side sectional view.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing a film substrate in a pre-process mounted on a manufacturing apparatus, wherein FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a winding state of the film substrate, and FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the film substrate; FIG.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a transport unit of a first transport line, where FIG. 3A is a plan view of the transport unit, and FIG. 3B is a front view of the transport unit.
4A and 4B are diagrams showing time-series operations from cutting a film substrate to discharging a waste portion, and FIG. 4A is a plan view of a conveyance line showing a state where the waste portion is extended to a fixed position supply portion. (B) is a front view of a conveyance line showing a state where an unnecessary part is extended to a fixed position supply unit, (C) is a front view of a conveyance line showing a state where an unnecessary part is cut, and (D) is an unnecessary part. It is a front view of the conveyance line which shows the discharged state.
FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing time-series operations for cutting a photoelectric conversion element from a film substrate, in which FIG. 5A is a plan view showing a state in which the photoelectric conversion element is extended to a fixed position supply unit, and FIG. The front view which shows the state which extended the photoelectric conversion element to the fixed position supply part, (C) is a front view which shows the state which cut the photoelectric conversion element.
6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating a configuration of a conventional photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus, where FIG. 6A is a plan view, FIG. 6B is a front view, and FIG. 6C is a left side view.
[Explanation of symbols]
1L delivery roll
1R Winding roll
1k conductive tape
1m marker
1s film substrate
1u photoelectric conversion element
3g guide
4 Accumulator
6 Accumulator
7L, 7R Remaining processing part
10L sensor
10m Marker reading sensor
10r sensor
10s transmission beam sensor
11 film
11L delivery roll
12 Protective film
12L delivery roll
12R Winding roll
13 Protective film
13L delivery roll
21 Heating roll
22 Heating roll
22k heating roll
30 Supply device
32t suction table
33 First cutting blade
34 Second cutting blade
34a Piping port
51 Feeding part
51a, 52a, 53a Endless belt
51b, 52b, 53b hole
51c, 52c, 53c box
51d, 52d, 53d Exhaust control valve
51e, 52e, 53e Depressurization generator
52 Length measuring section
53 Fixed position supply unit
53m detection hole
53s positioning hole
54 Collection Department
80, 81 Guide plate
531c, 532c, 533c chamber
531d, 532d, 533d Exhaust control valve
531e, 532e, 533e Reduced pressure generator
kL delivery roll

Claims (10)

In a photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus configured by covering both sides of a photoelectric conversion element with a protective film,
A feeding means for feeding out a flexible film substrate formed with a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements;
A length measuring means for transporting a predetermined cutting length while adsorbing the fed film substrate;
Cutting means for cutting from the film substrate into a single photoelectric conversion element;
A fixed position supply means for positioning to a position reference to be supplied to the step of covering with the protective film while adsorbing the cut photoelectric conversion element;
A collecting means for collecting unused remainder of the film substrate other than the cut photoelectric conversion element;
The cutting means has two first cutting blades for cutting the left and right ear ends of the film substrate, and a second cutting blade for cutting the width direction of the film substrate, and the collecting means An apparatus for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module, comprising: a remaining portion processing unit that winds up an end of the film substrate cut by the first cutting blade .   In the feeding means, the length measuring means, and the fixed position supplying means, a top plate is opened between an endless belt that forms a plurality of holes and conveys the film substrate while adsorbing the film substrate, and a shaft that supports the endless belt. The apparatus for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module according to claim 1, further comprising: a box body to which a reduced pressure generator is connected. The box of at least one of the feeding means, the length measuring means, and the fixed position supply means is arranged in a plurality of partitions in the transport direction, and each of the individually controlled decompression generators is connected to the film substrate and the The apparatus for producing a photoelectric conversion module according to claim 2, further comprising a plurality of decompression chambers capable of selecting an adsorption force, an adsorption position, and an adsorption area for the photoelectric conversion element. Apparatus for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module according to claim 1, characterized in that a guide plate immediately before and after the second cutting blade located between the fixed position feed means and the measuring means.   The photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the guide plate has a non-adhesive treatment on a surface in contact with the film substrate.   6. The apparatus for manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module according to claim 5, wherein the guide plate has a plurality of air blowing holes for air floating the non-adsorbed portion of the film substrate. The fixed position supply means includes at least one positioning hole provided within a width dimension of the film substrate of the endless belt, a detection hole provided in the endless belt and detecting a position relative to the positioning hole, Cutting position detecting means for detecting the detection hole and determining that the positioning hole has been rotationally driven to the tip of the photoelectric conversion element and operating the second cutting blade; and installed at the tip position of the position reference 3. The photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising stop position detecting means for detecting the positioning hole and stopping the rotational driving of the endless belt. The stop position detecting means opposes the light projecting element installed in the box above or below the endless belt and the light projecting element in the box or above the endless belt across the endless belt. The photoelectric conversion module manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising: a light receiving element that is installed. In the method of manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module configured by covering both sides of a photoelectric conversion element with a protective film
  Feed out a flexible film substrate on which a plurality of photoelectric conversion elements are formed,
  The film substrate was cut in parallel with the conveying line by two first cutting blades installed in the width direction, and the ear end portion was removed while the cut end portion of the film was wound up by the remaining processing means. Pull out the film substrate,
  The first detection means detects the marker formed on the film substrate and obtains a first cutting position signal to stop the feeding of the film substrate,
  The film is cut by the second cutting blade while the unused portion between the photoelectric conversion elements fed through the second cutting blade and drawn on the endless belt having a suction function is sucked by the endless belt and pulled in the transport direction. Cut in the width direction of the board,
  Detecting that the unused portion has been conveyed past the discharge position of the endless belt by the second detection means, and sending the film substrate by a fixed length by the cutting length in the conveyance direction of the photoelectric conversion element,
  Rotation drive while sucking the film substrate by the endless belt until the leading end of the photoelectric conversion element cut at the position where the first cutting position signal is obtained is in contact with a positioning hole formed in the endless belt. By continuing to give a tensile force to the film substrate,
  The third detection means detects a detection hole provided at a position opposite to the positioning hole of the endless belt, thereby obtaining a second cutting position signal of the photoelectric conversion element, and the second cutting blade. Cut out a single photoelectric conversion element from the film substrate by cutting the film substrate,
  The cut out single photoelectric conversion element is moved to the transport line of the protective film and covered with the protective film from both sides.
  A process for producing a photoelectric conversion module comprising steps. After the step of cutting out the single photoelectric conversion element,
  Decreasing the transport speed of the endless belt before the single photoelectric conversion element is transported to a predetermined position after being cut by the second cutting blade based on the second cutting position signal,
  The fourth detection means detects the positioning hole of the endless belt to stop the rotational driving of the endless belt, and positions the single photoelectric conversion element at the predetermined position.
  The method of manufacturing a photoelectric conversion module according to claim 9, further comprising a step.

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