JP4879058B2 - Polymer film production equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to apparatus for producing a polymer film.

  A TAC film formed from cellulose ester, particularly cellulose triacetate (hereinafter referred to as TAC) having an average degree of acetylation of 58.0 to 62.5%, is a film of a photographic photosensitive material because of its toughness and flame retardancy. It is used as a support. Further, since the TAC film is excellent in optical isotropy, it is used as a protective film for a polarizing plate of a liquid crystal display device whose market is expanding in recent years.

  The solution film-forming method, which is a method for producing a TAC film, can produce a film having excellent physical properties such as optical properties as compared with other production methods such as a melt film-forming method. In the solution casting method, first, a polymer solution (hereinafter referred to as “dope”) in which a polymer is dissolved in a mixed solvent containing dichloromethane or methyl acetate as a main solvent is prepared. A dope is cast on a support from a casting die to form a casting film. After the cast film becomes self-supporting on the support, it is peeled off from the support as a wet film, dried and then wound up as a film (for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

  In the solution casting method, drying air is applied to the surface of the casting film in order to advance the drying of the casting film. However, depending on how the dry air is applied, the surface condition may be deteriorated. In order to solve this problem, in Patent Document 1, in a method for producing a TAC film using a dope having a solvent content of 300% by weight or more, when the surface of the casting film is dried, the per minute The solvent content of the cast film to be dried is suppressed to 300% by weight or less, the surface of the cast film is dried, and the flatness of the surface is improved.

In addition, the casting film from the casting start position where the dope flowing out from the casting die contacts the support to the drying wind is applied to the wind naturally generated in the area between them (hereinafter referred to as “sequential wind”). ”), The surface may be roughened, and streaky or spotted unevenness may occur on the surface. In order to deal with this problem, in Patent Document 2, a windbreak plate that covers the casting film is provided within 1000 mm downstream of the casting die to prevent the wind from hitting the surface of the casting film.
JP-A-11-123732 JP 2004-314527 A Japan Society for Invention and Innovation Public Technical Bulletin No. 2001-1745

  However, the methods described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 have the following problems. In the method described in Patent Document 1, since the rate at which the cast film is dried is suppressed, the productivity of the film is lowered. Moreover, in the method of patent document 2, although the method of installing a windbreak board is devised, even if it installs a windbreak board for reasons, such as having a relative speed because the support body is running, Wind is generated in the windbreak plate region, and as a result, the surface of the casting film cannot be improved.

  An object of this invention is to provide the manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of a polymer film which aim at the improvement of the flatness of a film by forming a smooth casting film.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention forms a casting film by casting on a support running on a dope containing a polymer and a solvent, and then peels the casting film from the support. In the polymer film manufacturing apparatus for drying the polymer film after taking the solvent into the polymer film, the first film is directed from the first air outlet provided to face the support toward the casting film. a first blowing means for blowing drying air, Ri send a second drying air from the second blower outlet facing the traveling direction of the support, and a second blowing means arranged downstream of the first blowing means, A first rectifying member provided between the first air blowing means and the second air blowing means and allowing the first dry air to flow in the direction of travel of the support body, and allows the first dry air to pass therethrough. Sending the second dry air at a position higher than the height of the air passage; And features.

A casting band as the support that is stretched over a pair of rollers and travels endlessly, and a casting die that is disposed above the casting band and flows out of the dope, the first blowing means Is preferably arranged above the casting band. The height H1 of the first air path is preferably in the range of 20 mm to 300 mm. The length of the first air passage La, the second second air passage through the drying air has preferably be smaller than the length Lb. Second rectifying members passing a pre-Symbol second drying air to travel direction of the support is preferably arranged at the upper end of the second blowing outlet. It is preferable to provide a suction port that is provided in the vicinity of the first air blowing port and sucks the first drying air so that the first drying air flows in the running direction of the support in the vicinity of the casting film. .

A value α1 obtained by dividing the wind speed V1 (unit; m / second) of the first dry wind by the square root H1 ^1/2 of the height H1 (unit; m) , and the wind speed V2 (unit: m ) of the second dry wind. / Α) divided by the square root H2 ^1/2 of the second airway height H2 (unit: m) is preferably in the range of 20 or more and 150 or less. It is preferable that the time until the cast film hits the first drying air is 15 seconds or less after the dope contacts the support. Preferably, the first air blowing means blows the first dry air to the cast film within 15 seconds after being formed for at least 3 seconds. The temperature of the first and second drying air is preferably in the range of 40 ° C. or higher and 150 ° C. or lower.

  According to the present invention, from the height of the first air passage through which the first drying air is blown out from the first air blowing port provided so as to face the support toward the casting film. At a higher position, the second drying air is sent from the second air blowing port directed in the direction of travel of the support, so that the first drying air passes through the first drying air path, It flows in the direction of travel, the surface of the cast film can be formed smoothly, and the flatness of the film can be improved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments given here.

[material]
The polymer in the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it is a known polymer that can be used for solution casting. Among them, cellulose ester, particularly cellulose acylate having an average degree of acetylation of 58.0% to 62.5% is preferable. As the cellulose acylate, triacetyl cellulose (TAC) is particularly preferable. Of the cellulose acylates, those in which the substitution degree of the acyl group with respect to the hydrogen atom of the hydroxyl group of cellulose satisfies all of the following formulas (I) to (III) are more preferable. In the following formulas (I) to (III), A and B represent the substitution degree of the acyl group with respect to the hydrogen atom of the hydroxyl group of cellulose, A represents the substitution degree of the acetyl group, and B represents 3 to 3 carbon atoms. 22 is the substitution degree of the acyl group. In addition, it is preferable that 90 mass% or more of TAC is a particle | grain of 0.1 mm-4 mm.
(I) 2.5 ≦ A + B ≦ 3.0
(II) 0 ≦ A ≦ 3.0
(III) 0 ≦ B ≦ 2.9

  Glucose units having a β-1.4 bond constituting cellulose have free hydroxyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th positions. Cellulose acylate is a polymer obtained by esterifying some or all of these hydroxyl groups with an acyl group having 2 or more carbon atoms. The degree of acyl substitution means the ratio at which the hydroxyl group of cellulose is esterified at each of the 2-position, 3-position and 6-position (100% esterification has a substitution degree of 1).

  The total acylation substitution degree, that is, DS2 + DS3 + DS6 is preferably 2.00 to 3.00, more preferably 2.22 to 2.90, and particularly preferably 2.40 to 2.88. Further, DS6 / (DS2 + DS3 + DS6) is preferably 0.28 or more, more preferably 0.30 or more, and particularly preferably 0.31 to 0.34. Here, DS2 is the degree of substitution of the hydroxyl group at the 2-position of the glucose unit with an acyl group (hereinafter also referred to as “degree of acyl substitution at the 2-position”), and DS3 is the degree of substitution of the hydroxyl group at the 3-position with an acyl group (hereinafter, referred to as “acyl group”). DS6 is the substitution degree of the hydroxyl group at the 6-position with an acyl group (hereinafter also referred to as “acyl substitution degree at the 6-position”).

  Only one type of acyl group may be used in the cellulose acylate of the present invention, or two or more types of acyl groups may be used. When two or more kinds of acyl groups are used, it is preferable that one of them is an acetyl group. DSA is the sum of the substitution degrees due to hydroxyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th positions, and DSB is the sum of the degree of substitution with acyl groups other than acetyl groups at the 2nd, 3rd and 6th hydroxyl groups. More preferably, it is 2.22 to 2.90, and particularly preferably 2.40 to 2.88. Moreover, DSB is 0.30 or more, and particularly preferably 0.70 or more. Further, 20% or more of DSB is a substituent at the 6-position hydroxyl group, more preferably 25% or more is a substituent at the 6-position hydroxyl group, more preferably 30% or more, and particularly 33% or more is the 6-position. A hydroxyl group substituent is preferred. Further, cellulose acylate having a substitution degree of 6-position of cellulose acylate of 0.75 or more, further 0.80 or more, and particularly 0.85 or more can be mentioned. With these cellulose acylates, a preferable solution (dope) having solubility can be prepared. In particular, in a non-chlorine organic solvent, a good solution can be produced. Furthermore, it becomes possible to produce a solution having a low viscosity and good filterability.

  Cellulose, which is a raw material for cellulose acylate, may be obtained from either linter cotton or pulp cotton, but is preferably obtained from linter cotton.

  The acyl group having 2 or more carbon atoms of the cellulose acylate of the present invention may be an aliphatic group or an aryl group and is not particularly limited. These are, for example, cellulose alkylcarbonyl esters, alkenylcarbonyl esters, aromatic carbonyl esters, aromatic alkylcarbonyl esters, and the like, each of which may further have a substituted group. Preferred examples of these include propionyl, butanoyl, pentanoyl, hexanoyl, octanoyl, decanoyl, dodecanoyl, tridecanoyl, tetradecanoyl, hexadecanoyl, octadecanoyl, Iso-butanoyl, t-butanoyl, cyclohexanecarbonyl, oleoyl, benzoyl , Naphthylcarbonyl, cinnamoyl group and the like. Among these, propionyl, butanoyl, dodecanoyl, octadecanoyl, t-butanoyl, oleoyl, benzoyl, naphthylcarbonyl, cinnamoyl and the like are more preferable, and propionyl and butanoyl are particularly preferable.

  Solvents for preparing the dope include aromatic hydrocarbons (eg, benzene, toluene, etc.), halogenated hydrocarbons (eg, dichloromethane, chlorobenzene, etc.), alcohols (eg, methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, n-butanol, Diethylene glycol etc.), ketones (eg acetone, methyl ethyl ketone etc.), esters (eg methyl acetate, ethyl acetate, propyl acetate etc.) and ethers (eg tetrahydrofuran, methyl cellosolve etc.). In the present invention, the dope means a polymer solution or dispersion obtained by dissolving or dispersing a polymer in a solvent.

  Among these, halogenated hydrocarbons having 1 to 7 carbon atoms are preferably used, and dichloromethane is most preferably used. In addition to dichloromethane, one kind of alcohol having 1 to 5 carbon atoms is used from the viewpoint of physical properties such as solubility of TAC, peelability from cast film support, mechanical strength of film, and optical properties of film. It is preferable to mix several kinds. 2 mass%-25 mass% are preferable with respect to the whole solvent, and, as for content of alcohol, 5 mass%-20 mass% are more preferable. Specific examples of the alcohol include methanol, ethanol, n-propanol, isopropanol, n-butanol and the like, but methanol, ethanol, n-butanol or a mixture thereof is preferably used.

  By the way, recently, for the purpose of minimizing the influence on the environment, studies have been conducted on the solvent composition when dichloromethane is not used. For this purpose, ethers having 4 to 12 carbon atoms, carbon atoms A ketone having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, an ester having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, and an alcohol having 1 to 12 carbon atoms are preferably used. These may be used in combination as appropriate. For example, a mixed solvent of methyl acetate, acetone, ethanol, and n-butanol can be mentioned. These ethers, ketones, esters and alcohols may have a cyclic structure. A compound having two or more functional groups of ether, ketone, ester, and alcohol (that is, —O—, —CO—, —COO—, and —OH) can also be used as the solvent.

  The details of cellulose acylate are described in paragraphs [0140] to [0195] of JP-A-2005-104148. These descriptions can also be applied to the present invention. The same applies to additives such as solvents and plasticizers, deterioration inhibitors, UV absorbers (UV agents), optical anisotropy control agents, retardation control agents, dyes, matting agents, release agents, release accelerators and the like. JP-A-2005-104148 describes from [0196] paragraph to [0516] paragraph, and these descriptions can also be applied to the present invention.

[Dope production method]
First, a dope is manufactured using the above raw materials. As shown in FIG. 1, a dope production line 10 includes a solvent tank 11 for storing a solvent, a dissolution tank 12 for mixing the solvent and TAC, a hopper 13 for supplying TAC, and an additive. The additive tank 14 is stored. Furthermore, a heating device 15 for heating the swelling liquid described later, a temperature controller 16, a filtration device 17, a flash device 30 for concentrating the prepared dope, a filtration device 31, and a solvent for recovering the solvent. The dope production line 10 includes a recovery device 32 and a regeneration device 33 for regenerating the recovered solvent. The dope production line 10 is connected to a stock tank 41 provided in the film production line 40.

  The dope is manufactured by the following method using the dope manufacturing line 10. First, the valve 18 is opened, and the solvent is sent from the solvent tank 11 to the dissolution tank 12. Next, the TAC contained in the hopper 13 is fed into the dissolution tank 12 while being measured. In addition, the required amount of the additive solution is sent from the additive tank 14 to the dissolution tank 12 by opening and closing the valve 19.

  In addition to the method of sending the additive as a solution, for example, when the additive is liquid at room temperature, it can be sent to the dissolution tank 12 in the liquid state. Further, when the additive is solid, a method of feeding into the dissolution tank 12 using a hopper or the like is also possible. When a plurality of types of additives are added, a solution in which a plurality of types of additives are dissolved can be dissolved in the additive tank 14. Alternatively, a solution in which an additive is dissolved can be put in each of a plurality of additive tanks, and the dissolution tank 12 can be sent through independent pipes.

  The order of putting into the dissolution tank 12 is preferably solvent, TAC, and additive, but is not limited to this order. For example, the solvent can be fed after the TAC is sent to the dissolution tank 12 while being measured. Further, the additive does not necessarily need to be put in the dissolution tank 12 in advance, and can be mixed in a mixture of TAC and a solvent in a later step.

  The dissolution tank 12 includes a jacket 20 that wraps the outer surface thereof, and a first stirrer 22 that is rotated by a motor 21. Furthermore, it is preferable that a second agitator 24 that is rotated by a motor 23 is attached to the dissolution tank 12. The first stirrer 22 is preferably provided with an anchor blade, and the second stirrer 24 is preferably a dissolver type eccentric stirrer. And the melting tank 12 is temperature-controlled by flowing a heat-transfer medium inside the jacket 20, The preferable temperature range is the range of -10 degreeC-55 degreeC. By appropriately selecting and using the types of the first stirrer 22 and the second stirrer 24, the swelling liquid 25 in which the TAC is swollen in the solvent is obtained.

  Next, the swelling liquid 25 is sent to the heating device 15 by the pump 26. The heating device 15 is preferably a jacketed pipe, and further preferably has a configuration capable of pressurizing the swelling liquid 25. By using such a heating device 15, the dope 27 is obtained by dissolving the solid content in the swelling liquid 25 under heating conditions or under pressure and heating conditions. Hereinafter, this method is referred to as a heating dissolution method. In this case, the temperature of the swelling liquid 25 is preferably 50 ° C to 120 ° C. Moreover, the cooling dissolution method which cools the swelling liquid 25 to the temperature of -100 degreeC--30 degreeC can also be performed. By appropriately selecting a heating dissolution method and a cooling dissolution method, TAC can be sufficiently dissolved in a solvent. After the dope 27 is brought to about room temperature by the temperature controller 16, the dope 27 is filtered by the filtering device 17 to remove impurities contained in the dope 27. The filtration filter used in the filtration device 17 preferably has an average pore diameter of 100 μm or less. The filtration flow rate is preferably 50 L / h or more. The filtered dope 27 is sent to the stock tank 41 of the film production line 40 through the valve 28 and stored therein.

  By the way, the method of once preparing the swelling liquid 25 as described above and then using the swelling liquid 25 as the dope 27 increases the time required for increasing the concentration of TAC, which is problematic in terms of manufacturing cost. There is. In that case, it is preferable to prepare a dope having a concentration lower than the target concentration and then perform a concentration step for obtaining the target concentration. When using such a method, the dope 27 filtered by the filtering device 17 is sent to the flash device 30 via the valve 28, and a part of the solvent in the dope 27 is evaporated in the flash device 30. The solvent gas generated by the evaporation is condensed by a condenser (not shown) to become a liquid and is recovered by the recovery device 32. The recovered solvent is regenerated and reused as a dope preparation solvent by the regenerator 33. This reuse is effective in terms of cost.

  Further, the condensed dope 27 is extracted from the flash device 30 by the pump 34. Furthermore, it is preferable that a bubble removal process is performed to remove bubbles generated in the dope 27. As this defoaming method, various known methods are applied, for example, an ultrasonic irradiation method. The dope 27 is subsequently sent to the filtration device 31 to remove foreign matters. In addition, it is preferable that the temperature of dope 27 in the case of filtration is 0 degreeC-200 degreeC.

[Solution casting method]
Next, a method for producing a film using the dope 27 obtained above will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing the film production line 40. The film production line 40 is stretched over a stock tank 41, a casting die 42, a casting film drying device 43, and rotating rollers 44 and 45, and a casting band 46 that supports the casting film, a tenter-type drying device 48, An ear clip device 50, a drying device 51, a cooling device 52, and a winding device 53 are provided.

  An agitator 61 that is rotated by a motor 60 is attached to the stock tank 41. The stock tank 41 is connected to the casting die 42 via a pump 62 and a filtering device 63.

  As will be described in detail later, the casting film drying device 43 is provided on the downstream side of the casting die 42, and the drying film 69 is formed on the casting film 69 formed by casting from the casting die 42. Hit. A labyrinth seal 54 is provided between the casting die 42 and the casting film drying device 43. The labyrinth seal 54 suppresses the drying air discharged from the casting film drying device 43 from flowing into the casting die 42.

  The rotating rollers 44 and 45 are rotated by a driving device (not shown), and the casting band 46 travels endlessly with the rotation. The casting band 46 is preferably capable of moving at a traveling speed of 10 m / min to 200 m / min, more preferably 15 m / min to 150 m / min, and most preferably 20 m / min to 120 m / min. Is less than a minute. When the traveling speed is less than 10 m / min, the productivity of the film is inferior. Moreover, when it exceeds 200 m / min, a casting bead will not be formed stably and there exists a possibility that the surface shape of the casting film 69 may deteriorate.

  In order to set the surface temperature of the casting band 46 to a predetermined value, it is preferable that a heat transfer medium circulation device 49 is attached to the rotary rollers 44 and 45. It is preferable that the surface temperature of the casting band 46 can be adjusted to -20 ° C to 40 ° C. A heat transfer medium flow path (not shown) is formed in the rotation rollers 44 and 45 used in this embodiment, and the heat transfer medium maintained at a predetermined temperature passes through the heat transfer medium flow path. The temperature of the rollers 44 and 45 can be maintained at a predetermined value.

  The width of the casting band 46 is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use a casting band 46 having a range of 1.1 to 2.0 times the casting width of the dope 27. Further, it is preferable that the length is 20 m to 200 m, the thickness is 0.5 mm to 2.5 mm, and the surface roughness is polished to be 0.05 μm or less. The casting band 46 is preferably made of stainless steel, and more preferably made of SUS316 so as to have sufficient corrosion resistance and strength. Further, it is preferable to use a non-uniform thickness of the casting band 46 of 0.5% or less.

It is also possible to use the rotating rollers 44 and 45 directly as a support. In this case, those that can rotate with high accuracy so that the rotation unevenness is 0.2 mm or less are preferable. In this case, it is preferable that the average roughness of the surfaces of the rotating rollers 44 and 45 is 0.01 μm or less. Therefore, the surface of the rotating roller is subjected to chrome plating or the like so as to have sufficient hardness and durability. Note that surface defects of the casting band 46 and the rotating rollers 44 and 45 need to be suppressed to a minimum. Specifically, there is no pinhole of 30 μm or more, and the number of pinholes of 10 μm or more and less than 30 μm is 1 / m ² or less, and the number of pinholes of less than 10 μm is preferably ² / m ² or less.

  The casting die 42, the casting band 46, and the like are housed in a casting chamber 64. The casting chamber 64 is provided with a temperature control facility 65 for keeping the internal temperature at a predetermined value, and a condenser (condenser) 66 for condensing and recovering the volatile organic solvent. A recovery device 67 for recovering the condensed and liquefied organic solvent is provided outside the casting chamber 64. Further, it is preferable that a decompression chamber 68 for controlling the pressure of the back surface of the casting bead formed from the casting die 42 to the casting band 46 is disposed, and this is also used in this embodiment. .

  The crossover portion 80 is provided with a blower 81, and the ear-cutting device 50 downstream of the tenter-type drying device 48 is used for finely cutting the waste at the side end portion (referred to as an ear) of the cut film 82. Crusher 90 is connected.

  The drying device 51 is provided with a number of rollers 91, and an adsorption recovery device 92 for adsorbing and recovering the solvent gas generated by evaporation is attached. The cooling device 52 is provided downstream of the drying device 51, but a humidity control chamber (not shown) may be provided between the drying device 51 and the cooling device 52. A forced static elimination device (static elimination bar) 93 for adjusting the charged voltage of the film 82 to a predetermined range (for example, −3 kV to +3 kV) is provided downstream of the cooling device 52. Although the example in which the forced static eliminating device 93 is on the downstream side of the cooling device 52 is shown in FIG. 2, it is not limited to this installation position. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a knurling roller 94 for applying knurling to both edges of the film 82 by embossing is appropriately provided downstream of the forced static eliminating device 93. Further, inside the winding device 53, a winding roller 95 for winding the film and a press roller 96 for controlling the tension at the time of winding are provided. In addition, it is preferable that the unevenness | corrugation of the knurled location is 1 micrometer-200 micrometers.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the casting film drying device 43 on the downstream side of the casting die 42 includes first and second air ducts 55 and 57 that send drying air in the vicinity of the casting film 69, An air supply device 70 for supplying air to the second air ducts 55 and 57 under a predetermined condition is provided.

  The first air duct 55 is substantially box-shaped, and has an air blowing nozzle 55 b on the lower surface 55 a facing the casting band 46. The nozzle 55b has a blower opening extending in the width direction of the casting band 46, and is provided with one or more in the traveling direction of the casting band 46 (hereinafter referred to as “X direction”), and an angle θ formed with the X direction. Is arranged to be 30 ° or more and 60 ° or less. Dry air 56 is blown out from the nozzle 55b. The nozzle 55b may not only blow out the drying air 56 but also perform both blowing and sucking.

  Further, the lower surface 55a has a suction port 55c for sucking a part of the drying air 56 blown from each nozzle 55b in the X direction in the vicinity of each nozzle 55b. The suction port 55c sucks so that the dry air 56 discharged from each nozzle 55b flows in the X direction in the vicinity of the casting film 69. The sucked dry air 56 is exhausted by the exhaust device 110. The nozzles 55b and the suction ports 55c are alternately arranged in the X direction, but are not limited to this mode. Further, the number of the nozzles 55b and the suction ports 55c, the distance between the nozzles 55b, and the distance between the nozzle 55b and the suction port 55c can be set as appropriate.

  By applying the dry air 56 to the exposed surface of the casting film 69, a surface layer 69b having a lower solvent content than the inner layer 69a of the casting film 69 is formed between the exposed surface and a certain range, Improve smoothness. Hereinafter, the surface layer 69b is referred to as an initial film 69b as an initial stage film in the process of forming the casting film 69. Once the initial film 69b is formed, the solvent content of the inner layer 69a is gradually reduced in the subsequent steps. When the casting film 69 is peeled off from the casting band 46, about 50% of the casting film 69 becomes a solid content, and the entire casting film 69 has self-supporting properties.

  The second air duct 57 has a substantially box shape having an air outlet 57 a facing in the X direction, and is provided on the downstream side of the first air duct 55. Dry air 58 is sent in the X direction from the blower port 57a. A rectifying plate 59 extending in the X direction is provided at the upper end 57b of the air blowing port 57a. The rectifying plate 59 allows the drying air 58 to flow in parallel with the casting film 69.

  Therefore, a first air passage 100 through which the first dry air 56 passes is formed between the lower surface 55 a of the first air duct 55, the lower surface 57 c of the second air duct 57, and the casting band 46. In addition, a second air passage 101 through which the second dry air 58 passes is formed between the air blowing port 57a of the second air blowing duct 57 and a predetermined distance.

  The air blowing port 57a is located at a position higher than the height H1 of the first air passage 100. By sending the dry air 58 from the air blowing port 57a in the X direction, the air pressure at the outlet 100a of the first air passage 100 is It becomes lower than the atmospheric pressure of the second air passage 101. Due to the pressure drop at the outlet 100a, the dry air 56 passes through the first air passage 100 and flows to the second air passage 101. Thereby, the drying air 56 in which the flowing direction of the drying air 56 is clearly determined in the X direction flows in the vicinity of the casting film, and a smooth initial film 69b is formed. By forming the smooth initial film 69b, the flatness of the film can be improved.

  The height H1 is a distance between the surface of the casting band 46 and the lower surface 57c of the second air duct. The height H2 of the second air passage 101 is the distance between the surface of the casting band 46 and the lower surface 59a of the rectifying plate 59, and is higher than the height H1. When the height H1 is 20 mm or more and 300 mm or less, a smooth initial film 69b is formed, and finally a film having a good surface shape is manufactured. Similarly, a smooth initial film 69b is formed when H2 is 20 mm or more and 300 mm or less.

  The length La of the first air passage 100 is a distance from one end of the first air duct 55 on the casting die 42 side to the air outlet 57a of the second air duct 57. The length Lb of the second air passage 101 is a predetermined distance from the air blowing port 57a, specifically, a distance within a range where the second dry air 58 reaches the maximum, or from the air blowing port 57a to the tip of the rectifying plate 59. Is the distance. In the first air path 100, the dry air 56 is applied to the surface of the casting film 69 to form a smooth initial film 69b. Then, by sending a large amount of drying air 58 to the second air passage 101 in comparison with the drying air 56, the solvent gas concentration in the second air passage 101 is lowered, and the evaporation of the solvent in the casting film 69 is reduced. Accelerate the drying of the cast film 69. Therefore, since it is preferable to send the casting film 69 to the second air channel as soon as the smooth casting film 69b is formed, it is preferable to make the above-mentioned length La smaller than the length Lb.

Further, when the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) obtained by dividing the wind velocity V1 (m / sec) of the dry air 56 by the square root of the height H1 is 20 or more and 150 or less, a smooth initial film 69b is formed. Is done. Similarly, when the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) obtained by dividing the wind speed V2 (m / sec) of the dry wind 58 by the square root of the height H2 is 20 or more and 150 or less, the smooth initial film 69b is obtained. It is formed. The height H3, which is the distance between the surface of the casting band 46 and the lower surface 55a, is preferably the same as the height H1, but a slight difference is acceptable. In the present embodiment, the heights H1 and H2 are constant values, but a shift mechanism (not shown) that is movable in the vertical direction on the top surfaces of the first and second air ducts 55 and 57 and the rectifying plate 59. ) And the height H1 and the height H2 may be appropriately changed within the above-described range.

  The time until the casting film 69 hits the drying air 56 is preferably 15 seconds or less after the dope 27 contacts the casting band 46 (point P in FIG. 3), more preferably 5 seconds or less. Most preferably, it is 3 seconds or less. In addition, it is preferable to apply the drying air 56 to the casting film 69 within 15 seconds from the formation for at least 3 seconds. Moreover, it is preferable that the temperature of the drying wind 56 is 40 degreeC or more and 150 degrees C or less, More preferably, they are 80 degreeC or more and 145 degrees C or less, Most preferably, they are 100 degreeC or more and 140 degrees C or less. When the temperature is lower than 40 ° C., the evaporation of the solvent in the casting film 69 does not proceed. On the other hand, when the temperature exceeds 150 ° C., the solvent in the casting film 69 rapidly evaporates. In any case, it may be difficult to form the initial film 69b.

  Between the 1st ventilation duct 55 and the 2nd ventilation duct 57, the baffle plate 102 which flows the dry wind 56 to a X direction is provided. As a result, the dry air 56 sent from the first air duct 55 easily passes through the first air passage 100 and reaches the second air passage 101.

  A preferred positional relationship or width for the labyrinth seal 54, the first air duct 55, the current plate 102, and the second air duct 57 is shown below. The distance L1 between the labyrinth seal 54 and the first air duct 55 is preferably 50 mm or greater and 1000 mm or less. The width L2 of the first air duct 55 is preferably 1000 mm or greater and 5000 mm or less.

  The air supply device 70 supplies dry air 56 and 58 to the first and second air ducts 55 and 57. The air supply device 70 is connected to a controller 103 that independently controls the wind speed V1 of the drying air 56 and the wind speed V2 of the drying air 58.

  The controller 103 controls the air supply device 70 based on the input values of the wind speeds V1 and V2. A first anemometer 107 and a second anemometer 108 are attached to the lower surface 57c of the second air duct 57 and the lower surface 59a of the rectifying plate 59, and the first and second anemometers 107 and 108 are The wind speeds Va and Vb of the dry winds 56 and 58 in the first and second air paths 100 and 101 are measured. Information on the measured wind speed is sent to the controller 103, and when the difference between the wind speed Va and the wind speed V1 or the difference between the wind speed Vb and the wind speed V2 exceeds a predetermined range, the controller 103 appropriately determines the wind speed V1. And V2 are finely adjusted. When these differences extremely exceed a predetermined range, a warning or the like may be displayed on a display (not shown).

  In the solution casting method of the present invention, when casting the dope, two or more kinds of dopes can be simultaneously laminated co-casting or sequentially laminated co-casting. Furthermore, you may combine both casting. When performing simultaneous lamination and co-casting, a casting die to which a feed block is attached may be used, or a multi-manifold casting die may be used. It is preferable that at least one of the thickness of the layer on the air surface side and the thickness of the layer on the support side is 0.5% to 30% of the thickness of the entire film. Furthermore, when performing simultaneous lamination co-casting, it is preferable that the high-viscosity dope is wrapped with the low-viscosity dope when the dope is cast from the die slit to the support. Moreover, when performing simultaneous lamination | stacking co-casting, it is preferable that the dope which contact | connects an external field has a larger alcohol composition ratio than an internal dope among the casting beads formed from a die slit to a support body.

  From casting die, decompression chamber, support structure, co-casting, peeling method, stretching, drying conditions of each process, handling method, curl, winding method after flatness correction, solvent recovery method, film recovery method Until now, it is described in detail in paragraphs [0617] to [0889] of JP-A-2005-104148. These descriptions can also be applied to the present invention.

  It is preferable that the width of the film after manufacture in the said embodiment is 1400 mm or more and 2500 mm or less. In addition, even if it is a case where the width | variety of a film exceeds 2500 mm, the effect of this invention can be acquired. Moreover, the thickness of the film after production in the above embodiment is preferably 20 μm or more and 100 μm or less, more preferably 30 μm or more and 90 μm or less, and most preferably 40 μm or more and 80 μm or less.

[Performance / Measurement method]
(Curl degree / thickness)
The performance of the wound cellulose acylate film and the measuring method thereof are described in paragraphs [0112] to [0139] of JP-A-2005-104148. These can also be applied to the present invention.

[surface treatment]
It is preferable that at least one surface of the cellulose acylate film is surface-treated. The surface treatment is preferably at least one of vacuum glow discharge treatment, atmospheric pressure plasma discharge treatment, ultraviolet irradiation treatment, corona discharge treatment, flame treatment, acid treatment or alkali treatment.

[Functional layer]
(Antistatic, hardened layer, antireflection, easy adhesion, antiglare)
It is sufficient that at least one surface of the cellulose acylate film is undercoated.

  Furthermore, it is preferable to use the cellulose acylate film as a base film and as a functional material provided with other functional layers. The functional layer is preferably provided with at least one layer selected from an antistatic layer, a cured resin layer, an antireflection layer, an easy adhesion layer, a fender layer and an optical compensation layer.

The functional layers preferably contain at least one surfactant 0.1mg ^{/ m 2} ~1000mg ^/ m 2 containing. Further, it is preferable that the functional layer is at least one sort of plasticizers in the 0.1mg ^{/ m 2} ~1000mg ^/ m 2 containing. Further, the functional layers preferably contain at least one sort of matting agents in the 0.1mg ^{/ m 2} ~1000mg ^/ m 2 containing. Further, the functional layers preferably contain at least one sort of antistatic agents ^1mg / ^{m 2 ~1000mg} / m 2 containing. In addition to the above, the method for applying a surface-treated functional layer to cellulose acylate film to realize various functions and characteristics is described in detail in paragraphs [0890] to [1087] of JP-A-2005-104148. It also includes the conditions and methods. These can also be applied to the present invention.

(Use)
The cellulose acylate film is particularly useful as a polarizing plate protective film. Usually, two polarizing plates each having a cellulose acylate film bonded to a polarizer are bonded to a liquid crystal layer to produce a liquid crystal display device. However, the arrangement of the liquid crystal layer and the polarizing plate is not limited, and various known arrangements can be employed. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-104148 describes in detail TN type, STN type, VA type, OCB type, reflective type and other examples of liquid crystal display devices. This method can also be applied to the present invention. The application also describes a cellulose acylate film provided with an optically anisotropic layer and a cellulose acylate film provided with antireflection and antiglare functions. Furthermore, the use as an optical compensation film, which gives a suitable optical performance and is a biaxial cellulose acylate film, is also described. This can also be used as a polarizing plate protective film. These descriptions are also applicable to the present invention. Details are described in paragraphs [1088] to [1265] of JP-A-2005-104148, and these descriptions can be applied to the present invention.

  Moreover, the cellulose triacetate film (TAC film) which is excellent in an optical characteristic by the manufacturing method of this invention can be obtained. The TAC film can be used as a polarizing plate protective film or a base film of a photographic photosensitive material. Furthermore, it can be used as an optical compensation film for improving the viewing angle dependency of a liquid crystal display device such as a television application. In particular, it is also effective for applications that also serve as a protective layer of a polarizing plate. Therefore, it is used not only for the conventional TN mode but also for the IPS mode, OCB mode, VA mode, and the like. Moreover, you may comprise a polarizing plate using the said film for polarizing plate protective films.

  Hereinafter, Experiments 1 to 6 and Comparative Experiments 1 to 4 performed based on the above embodiment are shown. In addition, about these experiments 1-6 and comparative experiments 1-4, all the manufacturing conditions of the film except the conditions (henceforth "casting film drying") which dry the surface of the casting film immediately after casting. It implemented as the same conditions.

[Film production conditions]
The film production conditions in Experiments 1 to 6 and Comparative Experiments 1 to 4 are shown below.

[Dope composition]
Cellulose triacetate (substitution degree 2.84, viscosity average polymerization degree 306, water content 0.2% by mass, viscosity 315 mPa · s of 6% by mass in dichloromethane solution, average particle size 1.5 mm with standard deviation 0.5 mm) Some powders) 100 parts by mass dichloromethane (first solvent) 320 parts by mass methanol (second solvent) 83 parts by mass 1-butanol (third solvent) 3 parts by mass plasticizer A (triphenyl phosphate) 7.6 parts by mass Plasticizer B (diphenyl phosphate) 3.8 parts by weight UV agent a: 2 (2′-hydroxy-3 ′, 5′-di-tert-butylphenyl) benzotriazole 0.7 part by weight UV agent b: 2 ( 2′-Hydroxy-3 ′, 5′-di-tert-butylphenyl) -5-chlorobenzotriazole 0.3 part by mass of citric acid ester mixture (citric acid, monoethyl Glycol ester, diethyl ester, triethyl ester mixture) 0.006 parts by weight fine particles (silicon dioxide (average particle size 15 nm), Mohs hardness: about 7) 0.05 parts by weight

[Cellulose triacetate]
The cellulose triacetate used here has a residual acetic acid content of 0.1% by mass or less, a Ca content of 58 ppm, a Mg content of 42 ppm, a Fe content of 0.5 ppm, free acetic acid of 40 ppm, It contained 15 ppm of sulfate ion. Moreover, it was an acetyl group in which the hydrogen of the hydroxyl group at the 6-position was substituted. Moreover, the acetone extraction part which extracted this TAC with acetone was 8 mass%, and the weight average molecular weight / number average molecular weight ratio was 6.4 J / g. This TAC is synthesized using cellulose collected from cotton as a raw material. In the following description, this is called cotton raw material TAC.

(1-1) Dope preparation The above-mentioned plurality of solvents were mixed in a 4000 L stainless steel solvent tank 11 having stirring blades and stirred well to obtain a mixed solvent. In addition, as each raw material of a solvent, that whose water content is 0.5 mass% or less was used. Next, TAC flaky powder was gradually added from the hopper 13. The TAC powder was put into the dissolution tank 12 and initially dispersed for 30 minutes under the condition of stirring at a peripheral speed of 5 m / sec. The temperature at the start of dispersion was 25 ° C., and the final temperature reached 48 ° C. Further, the additive solution was fed from the additive tank 14 so that the whole became 2000 kg. After finishing the dispersion of the additive solution, the high speed stirring is stopped. And the peripheral speed of the 1st stirrer was 0.5 m / sec, and it stirred for further 100 minutes, the TAC flakes were swollen, and the swelling liquid 25 was obtained. Until the end of swelling, the inside of the dissolution tank 12 was pressurized to 0.12 MPa with nitrogen gas. The inside of the dissolution tank 12 at this time was kept in a state where the oxygen concentration was less than 2 vol% and there was no problem in explosion prevention. The amount of water in the swelling liquid was 0.3% by mass.

(1-2) Dissolution / filtration The swelling liquid 25 was fed to the heating device 15 and heated to be completely dissolved. The heating time at this time was 15 minutes. Next, the temperature of the dissolved liquid is lowered to 36 ° C. with a temperature controller 16 and passed through a filtration device 17 having a filter medium having a nominal pore diameter of 8 μm to obtain a dope 27 (hereinafter referred to as a pre-concentration dope).

(1-3) Concentration / Filtration / Defoaming / Additive The dope 27 before concentration thus obtained is flash-evaporated in a flash device 30 at normal pressure at 80 ° C., and the evaporated solvent is condensed into a condenser. It was collected at. The solid concentration of the dope 27 after the flash was 21.8% by mass. The condensed solvent was recovered by the recovery device 32 to be reused as a dope preparation solvent. The recovered solvent is regenerated by the regenerator 33 and then sent to the solvent tank 11. The recovery device 32 and the regeneration device 33 perform distillation and dehydration. The flash tank of the flash device 30 was provided with a stirrer (not shown) having an anchor blade on the stirring shaft, and the dope 27 flashed at a peripheral speed of 0.5 m / second was stirred and defoamed by the stirrer. . The temperature of the dope in this flash tank was 25 ° C., and the average residence time of the dope 27 in the tank was 50 minutes.

  Next, bubbles were removed by irradiating the dope 27 with weak ultrasonic waves. Then, the filtration apparatus 31 was allowed to pass in the state pressurized to 1.5 MPa using the pump 34. In the filtration device 31, the sintered fiber metal filter having the minimum nominal pore diameter of 10 μm was passed, and then the sintered fiber filter having the same nominal diameter of 10 μm was passed. The dope temperature after filtration was adjusted to 36 ° C., and the dope 27 was fed into a 2000 L stainless steel stock tank 41 and stored. As shown in FIG. 2, the stock tank 41 has a stirrer 61 having an anchor blade on the central axis, and was constantly stirred at a peripheral speed of 0.3 m / sec. When the dope 27 was prepared from the dope 27 before concentration, no problem such as corrosion occurred in the dope wetted part.

  Moreover, the mixed solvent A with 86.5 mass parts of dichloromethane, 13 mass parts of methanol, and 0.5 mass part of 1-butanol was produced.

(1-4) Stock tank / casting die A film 82 was produced using the film production line 40. The dope 27 in the stock tank 41 was fed to the filtration device 63 via the high precision gear pump 62. The gear pump 62 used had a volumetric efficiency of 99.2% and a discharge rate variation rate of 0.5% or less. The discharge pressure was 1.5 MPa. Then, the dope 27 that passed through the filtering device 63 was fed to the casting die 42.

  The casting die 42 was cast by adjusting the flow rate of the dope 27 at the discharge port of the casting die 42 so that the film thickness of the dried film 82 was 80 μm. At this time, the viscosity of the dope 27 was 20 Pa · s. The width of the casting die 42 was 1700 mm. The casting speed was 20 m / min. The casting die 42 was provided with a jacket (not shown), and the temperature of the dope 27 was adjusted to 36 ° C. by setting the inlet temperature of the heat transfer medium supplied into the jacket to 36 ° C.

  As the casting die 42, a coat hanger type die was used. The casting die 42 was provided with thickness adjusting bolts at a pitch of 20 mm. Moreover, as the casting die 42, what was equipped with the automatic thickness adjustment mechanism by a heat bolt was used. The thickness of the heat bolt can be adjusted in accordance with the amount of liquid fed by the gear pump 62, and the thickness can be adjusted by feedback control using an infrared thickness meter (not shown) installed in the film production line 40. .

  The casting die 42 is provided with a decompression chamber 68. The degree of decompression of the decompression chamber 68 is adjusted so that a pressure difference of 1 Pa to 5000 Pa is generated before and after the casting bead, and this adjustment is made according to the casting speed. At that time, the pressure difference between both sides of the casting bead was set so that the length of the casting bead was 20 mm or more and 50 mm or less. Further, the pressure on the back side of the casting bead was reduced by 150 Pa from the front side by the decompression chamber 68. The decompression chamber 68 was provided with a mechanism that can be set to a temperature higher than the condensation temperature of the gas around the casting portion. Further, an edge suction device (not shown) for adjusting the disturbance of both edges of the casting bead was attached to the casting die 42. This edge suction device can be adjusted so that the edge supply air volume is in the range of 1 L / m to 100 L / m, and in this experiment, it is adjusted appropriately to be in the range of 30 L / m to 40 L / m. . Further, a jacket (not shown) adjusted to 35 ° C. with a heat transfer medium was attached to the decompression chamber 68. By this jacket, the internal temperature of the decompression chamber 68 is maintained at a constant temperature.

(1-5) Casting film drying In the casting film drying process performed after the dope is cast on the casting band 46 and the casting film is formed, the drying wind is applied after the dope contacts the casting band 46. Time T (seconds) until 56 hits the casting film 69, wind speeds V1 and V2 (m / second) of the drying winds 56 and 58, and heights H1 (= H3) of the first and second air paths 100 and 101 , H2 (m) was changed for the experiment. Details of the experiment and the results of the experiment are shown in the following [Evaluation of film surface]. The casting film 69 was dried under the following conditions except for the wind speeds V1, V2 (m / second) and the distances H1 (= H3) and H2 (m). The temperature of the drying air 56, 58 was 60 ° C., and the gas concentration was 16%. The temperature in the casting chamber 64 was maintained at 35 ° C. by the temperature control equipment 65. Moreover, the labyrinth seal 54 suppressed the static pressure fluctuation in the vicinity of the casting die 42 to ± 1 Pa or less.

(1-6) Rotating Roller / Casting Band A 5 ° C. heat transfer medium was applied to the rotating roller 45 on the casting die 42 side, and a 40 ° C. heat transfer medium was applied to the other rotating roller 44. The surface temperature of the central part of the casting band 46 immediately before casting was 15 ° C., and the temperature difference between both side ends was 6 ° C. or less.

A stainless steel endless band having a width of 2.1 m and a length of 70 m was used as the casting band 46. The casting band 46 was polished so that the thickness was 1.5 mm and the surface roughness was 0.05 μm or less. The material is made of SUS316 and has sufficient corrosion resistance and strength. The thickness unevenness of the entire casting band 46 was 0.5% or less. The tension of the casting band 46 was adjusted to 1.5 × 10 ⁵ N / m ^{2 according} to the traveling method. The relative speed difference between the casting band 46 and the rotating rollers 44 and 45 was adjusted to be 0.01 m / min or less. At that time, the speed fluctuation of the casting band 46 was set to 0.5% or less. Further, when the casting band 46 makes one rotation, the positions of both ends of the casting band 46 are detected so that the meandering in the width direction of the casting band 46 is limited to 1.5 mm or less. Controlled the running.

When the solvent ratio in the casting film 69 reached 50% by mass on a dry basis, the film was peeled off as a wet film 74 while being supported by the peeling roller 75 from the casting band 46. In order to set the peeling tension to 1 × 10 ² N / m ² and suppress the peeling failure, the peeling speed (peeling roller draw) with respect to the traveling speed of the casting band 46 is 100.1% to 110%. It adjusted suitably in the range. The surface temperature of the peeled wet film 74 was 15 ° C. The solvent gas generated by the drying was condensed and liquefied by a condenser 66 at −10 ° C. and recovered by a recovery device 67. The recovered solvent was adjusted so that the water content was 0.5% or less. The drying air from which the solvent was removed was heated again and reused as drying air.

(1-7) Tenter Transport / Drying / Ear Cutting The wet film 74 sent to the tenter drying device 48 is transported in the drying zone of the tenter drying device 48 while being gripped at both ends by a clip. It is dried by. The clip was cooled by supplying a heat transfer medium at 20 ° C. The clip was conveyed by a chain, and the speed fluctuation of the sprocket was 0.5% or less. Further, the inside of the tenter type drying device 48 was divided into three zones, and the temperature of the drying air in each zone was set to 90 ° C., 110 ° C., and 120 ° C. from the upstream side. The average drying speed in the tenter type drying device 48 was 120% by mass / m on a dry basis. At the outlet of the tenter type drying device 48, the conditions of the drying zone were adjusted so that the residual solvent amount in the film was 7% by mass. In addition, the tenter type drying device 48 extends in the width direction. In addition, it extended | stretched so that the width | variety after extending | stretching might be 103% when the width | variety of this wet film before extending | stretching was 100%. The stretching ratio (tenter drive draw) from the peeling roller 75 to the entrance of the tenter dryer 48 was 102%.

  The stretching ratio in the tenter-type drying device 48 is a difference between each of the substantial stretching ratios at any two points at a position 10 mm or more away from the biting start position by the clip and 10% or less, and any two at a distance of 20 mm. The difference in the stretching ratio of points was 5% or less. Further, the length from the clip clamping start position to the clamping release position was set to 90% with respect to the length from the inlet to the outlet of the tenter type drying device 48. The solvent evaporated in the tenter dryer 48 was condensed and liquefied at a temperature of −10 ° C. and recovered. A condenser (condenser) was provided for condensation recovery, and the outlet temperature was set to -8 ° C. The condensed solvent is reused after the water content is adjusted to 0.5% by mass or less. And it is sent out as a film 82 from the tenter type drying device 48.

Within 30 seconds from the exit of the tenter-type drying device 48, both ends (hereinafter referred to as “ears”) of the film 82 are cut by the ear-cutting device 50. Ears 50 mm on both sides were cut with an NT-type cutter, and the cut ears were blown to a crusher 90 with a cut tab lower (not shown) and crushed into chips of about 80 mm ^{2 on} average. This chip was used again as a raw material for dope production together with TAC flakes as a raw material for dope preparation. The oxygen concentration in the drying atmosphere of the tenter dryer 48 was maintained at 5 vol%. Note that the air was replaced with nitrogen gas in order to maintain the oxygen concentration at 5 vol%. The film 82 was preheated with a predrying device (not shown) supplied with 100 ° C. drying air before being dried at a high temperature with the drying device 51 described later.

(1-8) Post-drying / static elimination The film 82 is dried at a high temperature by the drying device 51. The drying device 51 was divided into four sections, and drying air at 120 ° C., 130 ° C., 130 ° C., and 130 ° C. was supplied from the upstream side by a blower (not shown). The tension by the roller 91 transporting the film 82 is set at 100 N / m, and the film is dried for about 10 minutes until the residual solvent amount finally becomes 0.3% by mass. The wrap angle of the roller 91 (film winding center angle) was 90 degrees and 180 degrees. The material of the roller 91 was made of aluminum or carbon steel, and hard chrome plating was applied to the surface. The roller 91 has a flat surface shape and a blasted matte surface. Variations in the film position due to the rotation of the roller 91 were all 50 μm or less. The deflection of the roller 91 at a tension of 100 N / m was selected to be 0.5 mm or less.

  The solvent gas contained in the drying air was removed by adsorption recovery using an adsorption drying device 92. The adsorbent used here is activated carbon, and desorption is performed using dry nitrogen. The recovered solvent is reused as a dope preparation solvent after adjusting the water content to 0.3 mass% or less. Since the drying air contains solvent gas, plasticizer, UV absorber, and other high-boiling substances, these are removed by a cooler and a pre-adsorber to be cooled and reused. And adsorption / desorption conditions were set so that VOC (volatile organic compound) in the outdoor exhaust gas was finally 10 ppm or less. Moreover, the solvent amount collect | recovered by a condensation method among all the evaporation solvents was 90 mass%, and most of the remainder was collect | recovered by adsorption collection.

  The dried film 82 is conveyed to a first humidity control chamber (not shown). A drying air of 110 ° C. was supplied to the transition part between the drying device 51 and the first humidity control chamber. Air having a humidity of 50 ° C. and a dew point of 20 ° C. was supplied to the first humidity control chamber. Further, the film 82 is conveyed to a second humidity control chamber (not shown) that suppresses the curling of the film 82. In the second humidity control chamber, air of 90 ° C. and humidity 70% was directly applied to the film 82.

(1-9) Knurling and Winding Conditions The film 82 after humidity control is cooled to 30 ° C. or less by the cooling device 52 and then subjected to ear cutting at both ends again by an ear cutting device (not shown). Knurling was applied to both ends of the film 82 by a knurling roller 94. Knurling was applied by embossing from one side of the film. The width of the knurling to be applied was 10 mm, and the pressing pressure by the knurling application roller was set so that the height of the unevenness was 12 m on average higher than the average thickness of the film.

  Then, the film 82 is conveyed to the winding device 53. The winding device 53 is kept at a room temperature of 28 ° C. and a humidity of 70%. Inside the winder 53, an ion wind static eliminating device (not shown) was installed so that the charged voltage of the film 82 was -1.5 kV to +1.5 kV. The product width of the film 82 (thickness 80 μm) thus obtained was 1900 mm. The diameter of the winding roller 95 was 169 mm. The tension at the start of winding was 300 N / m, and the tension pattern was such that the end of winding was 200 N / m. The total winding length was 3940 m. The fluctuation width (sometimes referred to as the oscillating width) of the winding deviation at the time of winding was ± 5 mm, and the winding deviation period with respect to the winding roller 95 was 400 m. The pressing pressure of the press roller 96 against the winding roller 95 was set to 50 N / m. The temperature of the film 82 at the time of winding was 25 ° C., the water content was 1.4% by mass, and the remaining solvent amount was 0.3% by mass. The average drying rate throughout the entire process was 20% by mass / m on a dry basis. Further, in this embodiment, the winding was not loosened, wrinkled, and no winding slip occurred in the impact test at 10G. The roll appearance was also good.

  A film roll (not shown) of film 82 was stored in a storage rack at 25 ° C. and 55% RH for 1 month and further examined in the same manner as described above. As a result, no significant change was observed. Furthermore, the adhesiveness between each other was not recognized in the roll. Further, after the film 82 was formed, no peeling residue of the casting film 69 formed from the dope 27 was found on the casting band 46.

[Film surface condition evaluation]
In Experiments 1 to 6 and Comparative Experiments 1 to 4, time T (seconds), wind speeds V1 and V2 (m / seconds) of dry winds 56 and 58, heights H1 (= H3), and H2 (m) are as follows. The film 82 after manufacture was visually observed to evaluate the surface state of the film 82.

[Experiment 1] Time T was 3 seconds, wind speed V1 was 15 (m / second), height H1 was 0.02 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.10 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 106.1, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 37.9.

[Experiment 2] Time T was 5 seconds, wind speed V1 was 7 (m / second), height H1 was 0.02 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.20 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 49.5, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 26.8.

[Experiment 3] Time T was 5 seconds, wind speed V1 was 12 (m / second), height H1 was 0.05 m, wind speed V2 was 7 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.10 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 53.7, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 22.1.

[Experiment 4] Time T was 3 seconds, wind speed V1 was 7 (m / second), height H1 was 0.05 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.20 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 31.3, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 26.8.

[Experiment 5] Time T was 5 seconds, wind speed V1 was 12 (m / sec), height H1 was 0.01 m, wind speed V2 was 9 (m / sec), and height H2 was 0.20 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 37.9, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 20.1.

[Experiment 6] Time T was 10 seconds, wind speed V1 was 6.5 (m / sec), height H1 was 0.01 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / sec), and height H2 was 0.20 m. . In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 20.6, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 26.8.

[Comparative Experiment 1] Time T was 30 seconds, wind speed V1 was 15 (m / second), height H1 was 0.02 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.10 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 106.1, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 37.9.

[Comparative Experiment 2] Time T was 5 seconds, wind speed V1 was 30 (m / second), height H1 was 0.02 m, wind speed V2 was 12 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.20 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 212.1, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 26.8.

[Comparative Experiment 3] Time T was 3 seconds, wind speed V1 was 3 (m / second), height H1 was 0.20 m, wind speed V2 was 7 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.50 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 6.7, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 9.9.

[Comparative Experiment 4] Time T was 10 seconds, wind speed V1 was 12 (m / second), height H1 was 0.05 m, wind speed V2 was 2 (m / second), and height H2 was 0.30 m. In this case, the value α1 (V1 / H1 ^1/2 ) is 53.7, and the value α2 (V2 / H2 ^1/2 ) is 3.7.

◎：フイルム表面は平滑である。
○：フイルム表面は平滑であるが、極めて弱い凹凸が見られる。
△：フイルム表面に弱い凹凸が見られるが、光学フイルムの種類によっては使用可能である。
×：フイルム表面に凹凸が見られ、光学フイルムとして用いることは困難である。 Table 1 shows the evaluation of the surface state of the film 82 in each experiment.

A: The film surface is smooth.
○: The film surface is smooth, but extremely weak irregularities are observed.
Δ: Weak unevenness is observed on the film surface, but it can be used depending on the type of optical film.
X: Unevenness is seen on the film surface, and it is difficult to use as an optical film.

It is the schematic which shows the dope manufacturing line which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic which shows the film manufacturing line which concerns on this invention. It is the schematic which shows the cast film drying apparatus in a film production line.

Explanation of symbols

27 Dope 40 Film Production Line 43 Casting Film Drying Device 46 Casting Band 55 First Air Duct 55a (Lower of First Air Duct) 55b Nozzle 55c Suction Port 56 Drying Air 57 Second Air Duct 57a Air Source 57c (Second Lower surface 58 of the air duct 58 Dry air 59 Current plate 59a Lower surface 69 of the current plate 59 Casting film 100 First air path 101 Second air path 102 Current plate 103 Controller 107 First anemometer 108 Second anemometer

Claims (10)

After casting a dope containing a polymer and a solvent on a support running to form a cast film, the cast film is peeled off from the support to form a solvent-containing polymer film, In an apparatus for producing a polymer film for drying the polymer film,
A first air blowing means for blowing a first drying air from the first air blowing port provided to face the support toward the casting film;
Ri send a second drying air from the second blower outlet facing the traveling direction of the support, and a second blowing means arranged downstream of the first blowing means,
A first rectifying member that is provided between the first air blowing unit and the second air blowing unit, and that causes the first dry air to flow in the traveling direction of the support ,
The apparatus for producing a polymer film, wherein the second dry air is sent at a position higher than a height of the first air passage through which the first dry air passes. A casting band as the support that runs endlessly across a pair of rollers;
A casting die arranged above the casting band and out of the dope;
The apparatus for producing a polymer film according to claim 1, wherein the first air blowing means is disposed above the casting band. The height H1 of the said 1st air path is the range of 20 mm or more and 300 mm or less, The manufacturing apparatus of the polymer film of Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. The length of the first air passage La, the second drying air is less than the length Lb of the second air passage to pass, characterized in claims 1 to 3 production apparatus of a polymer film according to any one of .   5. The polymer film according to claim 1, wherein a second rectifying member that causes the second dry air to flow in a traveling direction of the support is provided at an upper end of the second air blowing port. 6. Manufacturing equipment.   A suction port is provided near the first air blowing port, and sucks the first drying air so that the first drying air flows in the running direction of the support in the vicinity of the casting film. An apparatus for producing a polymer film according to any one of claims 1 to 5. A value α1 obtained by dividing the wind speed V1 (unit; m / second) of the first dry wind by the square root H1 ^1/2 of the height H1 (unit; m) , and the wind speed V2 (unit: m ) of the second dry wind. / S) divided by the square root H2 ^1/2 of the height H2 (unit; m) of the second air passage, and a value α2 is in the range of 20 or more and 150 or less. An apparatus for producing a polymer film according to item 1.   The polymer film according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a time until the casting film hits the first drying air is 15 seconds or less after the dope contacts the support. Manufacturing equipment.   The polymer film according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the first air blowing means blows out the first dry air to a casting film within 15 seconds after being formed for at least 3 seconds. Manufacturing equipment.   The apparatus for producing a polymer film according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the temperature of the first and second drying air ranges from 40 ° C to 150 ° C.

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