JP5467905B2 - Film conveying apparatus and method, film manufacturing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a film transport apparatus and method used in a clean room, and a film manufacturing apparatus and method.

  For the liquid crystal display panel, optical films having various functions such as a phase difference compensation film and a light diffusion film are used. In addition to such optical films, generally when manufacturing films industrially, the coating process, the drying process, and the inspection process are sequentially performed while the film is transported in a belt-like state with a certain width. Yes. If it is difficult to produce a film only with a series of transport systems, the film is temporarily wound into a roll in the middle of manufacturing, and the roll is set on a transport device for the next process to continue manufacturing. Sometimes.

  When manufacturing an optical film as described above, the film transport system is accommodated in a clean room so that dust does not adhere to the surface of the film during the transport of the film. For example, in the process of applying a scratch-preventing hard coat layer on the surface of a diffusion film, pinhole defects may occur if the coating is performed with dust remaining on the surface of the film, and the film is transported in a clean room. Regularly clean air is blown onto the surface of the film to prevent dust from adhering.

  Such a method using a clean room is known in Patent Documents 1 and 2, etc., and clean air is blown to an object in the clean room, and the blown air is efficiently exhausted outside the clean room. Inside, clean air is constantly introduced to prevent dust from adhering to the object.

JP 2007-38179 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-141723

  However, for example, when air is blown onto the film surface from above the clean room, the blown air wraps around the film and vortexes on the back side of the film. The vortex includes not only dust removed from the film surface but also dust rolled up from the floor surface of the clean room. For this reason, there is a problem that dust adheres to the back surface of the film.

  The back side of the film is not necessarily the target of the coating process. However, even if the back side of the film is not the coated surface, if the film is wound up in a roll shape after the coating process with the dust attached to the back side, the dust is caught between the coated surface and the back side, There is concern that it may cause scratches. In particular, in recent years, even in the case of an optical film, even a slight flaw caused by dust having a size of about 10 μm is easily noticeable as a scattering flaw when irradiated with high-intensity light, which is a factor that impairs the quality of the product.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above background, and provides a film transport device that prevents dust from adhering not only to the film surface but also to the back surface of the film when transporting the film in a clean room. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, the film transport apparatus of the present invention comprises transport means for transporting a belt-like film along a longitudinal direction in a clean room, and clean air in a predetermined path toward a predetermined surface of the film. Air supply / exhaust means for supplying and exhausting clean air into the clean room so as to flow, and a wind shielding plate arranged to face a surface opposite to the predetermined surface of the film It is characterized by that.

  Providing a wind guide plate for introducing a part of clean air supplied into the clean room by the air supply / exhaust means between the wind shield plate and a surface opposite to the predetermined surface of the film; Also good.

  The wind guide plate may be provided integrally with the wind shield plate by bending an end portion of the wind shield plate.

  Furthermore, you may provide the ventilation means which ventilates clean air between the said windshield and the surface on the opposite side to the said predetermined surface of the said film.

  Further, the blowing means may supply clean air from one end side in the width direction of the film toward the other end side.

  Further, the blowing means may supply clean air from the downstream side to the upstream side in the film transport direction.

  The air supply / exhaust means supplies clean air from one end side to the other end side in the width direction of the film, and the windshield plate is further arranged to face the predetermined surface of the film. Clean air from the air supply / exhaust means is provided between one wind shield and the predetermined surface of the film, and between the other wind shield and the opposite surface of the film. It may be supplied.

  Further, the windshield plate may be provided so as to surround a work area where an operator enters the clean room.

  The film transport method of the present invention is characterized in that the film is transported using the above-described film transport apparatus.

  Furthermore, the film manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that processing is performed on the surface of the film transported by the above-described film transport apparatus by a processing apparatus provided in the clean room.

  The film manufacturing method of the present invention is characterized in that the film is manufactured by the above-described film manufacturing apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the clean air is blown to a predetermined surface of the film and the wind shield is provided so as to face the surface opposite to the predetermined surface of the film. Further, it is possible to prevent fine dust of about 10 μm from adhering to the back surface of the film, and to improve the quality of the optical film. In addition, since clean air can always flow through the film transport section, both capital investment and running cost can be reduced to about half.

It is a top view which shows the structure of a film manufacturing equipment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a windshield. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that clean air is ventilated between a diffusion film and a windshield. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that clean air is ventilated between a diffusion film and a windshield. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that clean air is ventilated between a diffusion film and a windshield. It is a top view which shows the structure of a ventilation port. It is a top view which shows the structure of a ventilation port. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the width direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the width direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the width direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the width direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that the clean room was observed from the conveyance direction of the diffusion film. It is explanatory drawing which shows the result of having simulated the flow of the air in a clean room.

  The applicant and the inventor have studied the cause of the minute size dust adhering to the film in a clean room having a cleanness of about class 10. As a result, dust is mainly generated in the operator's work area, and the dust level varies depending on the location even in the clean room, and the dust on the surface opposite to the surface where the clean air hits the downflow of the film transport device. It turns out that the degree is high. Further, as a result of analyzing the cause of the increase in the dust level at this position by simulation, as shown in FIG. 19, a vortex is generated in the vicinity of the back surface of the film (the surface opposite to the surface on which the air hits). I found out that it was caused by the fact that it stayed near the back of the time film. In the simulation, the film is placed horizontally in the clean room, and clean air is blown at a wind speed of 0.3 (m / min) from the top of the clean room toward the top surface of the film (surface). The air flow at various locations in the clean room when exhausting from both side walls under the grating floor was displayed as a vector viewed from a cross section perpendicular to the film transport direction. For this simulation, STAR-LT software manufactured by C / D Adapto Japan Co., Ltd. was used. Based on these findings, the present invention has been devised to eliminate the vortex generated on the back side of the film to prevent the attachment of fine dust to the film and to improve the surface quality of the film (especially optical film). It is a thing.

The film production apparatus of the present invention made based on the above knowledge will be described below.
As shown in FIG. 1, the film manufacturing facility 10 includes a clean room 12 in which a feeding device 14, transport rollers 16 a to 16 b, a coating device 18, a drying chamber 20, and a winding device 22 are housed. The film manufacturing facility 10 manufactures a product film 26 by laminating a hard coat layer on the surface of the diffusion film 24 while transporting the diffusion film 24 in the clean room 12.

  A diffusion film roll 28 around which a diffusion film 24 is wound is set in the delivery device 14. The diffusing film 24 is fed from the diffusing film roll 28 by the feeding device 32 and conveyed toward the coating device 18 by the conveying rollers 16a to 16d. Thereafter, the material of the hard coat layer is applied to the diffusion film 24 by the coating device 18 and dried in the drying chamber 20 to become the product film 26. And the product film 26 manufactured in this way is wound up by the winding device 22, and becomes the product film roll 30.

  The transport rollers 16a to 16d are formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and are arranged with the rotation axis horizontal. Thereby, the diffusion film 24 is conveyed along the longitudinal direction in a state where the width direction is kept horizontal. Further, the transport rollers 16a to 16d are arranged at positions corresponding to the four corners of the quadrangle. Thereby, the conveyance path | route of the diffusion film 24 becomes the substantially U shape which orient | assigned the opening below. The space formed by bending the conveyance path of the diffusion film 24 in this way is a work space 38 where an operator who performs maintenance of the film manufacturing facility 10 enters.

  The clean room 12 is provided with an FFU 32, an exhaust port 34, and a wind shield 36. The FFU 32 is provided on the top surface of the clean room 12. The FFU 32 blows clean air that has been purified through a filter toward the upper surface of the diffusion film 24 that is transported between the transport rollers 16b and 16c. The exhaust port 34 exhausts air to the outside of the clean room 12 and is provided in the lower part of the clean room 12. The exhaust port 34 is provided on both side walls of the clean room 12 so as to face each other in the width direction of the diffusion film 24 (see FIG. 3).

  As shown in FIG. 2, the wind shield plate 36 is disposed below the diffusion film 24 so as to face the lower surface of the diffusion film 24 conveyed between the conveyance rollers 16b and 16c. The width of the wind shield plate 36 is formed substantially equal to the width of the diffusion film 24, and the length of the wind shield plate 36 is formed substantially equal to the distance between the transport rollers 16b and 16c. As described above, the wind shield plate 36 is provided so as to cover the surface of the diffusion film 24 opposite to the surface on which the clean air from the FFU 32 hits.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the clean air from the FFU 32 hits the upper surface of the diffusion film 24 and removes dust adhering to the upper surface of the diffusion film 24 and then swirls around the right and left sides of the diffusion film 24. Due to this vortex, the dust removed from the diffusion film 24 and the dust accumulated on the floor of the clean room 12 are directed to the lower surface of the diffusion film 24 so as to be wound up from below. In this example, a wind shielding plate 36 is provided. This prevents the dust that has been wound up from hitting the lower surface of the diffusion film 24.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the dust rolled up from below is blocked by the wind shielding plate, so that the cleanliness in the vicinity of the diffusion film can be kept high. In addition, the cleanliness in the vicinity of the diffusion film can be kept high with a simple configuration such as providing a windshield. For this reason, for example, cost can be suppressed compared with the method of keeping the cleanliness vicinity of a diffusion film high by raising the cleanliness class of the whole clean room without using a windshield.

  Specifically, by providing a windshield, even if the cleanliness class (definition of FED-STD-209D) as an average of the entire clean room is approximately class 100, the cleanliness class near the diffusion film is approximately class 10. It can be. According to the method for improving the cleanliness class in the vicinity of the diffusion film by the windshield as described above, the capital investment is compared with the case where the cleanliness class of the entire clean room is set to approximately class 10 in order to obtain the same effect. And running costs can be cut in half.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment because the cleanliness in the vicinity of the diffusion film only needs to be increased by providing a windshield so as to face the diffusion film conveyed in the clean room. It can be changed as appropriate. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the entire film manufacturing facility is stored in the clean room has been described. However, a part of the film manufacturing facility may be stored in the clean room.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which two exhaust ports facing each other in the width direction of the diffusion film has been described. However, as in the clean room 50 shown in FIG. 4, the exhaust ports 52 are provided only on one side in the width direction of the diffusion film. It may be provided. In this case as well, the wind around the diffusion film 24 does not hit the lower surface of the diffusion film 24 as in the above embodiment, so that the cleanliness in the vicinity of the diffusion film 24 can be increased. In the description using FIG. 4 and subsequent drawings, the same members as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the width of the wind shielding plate is formed to be approximately equal to the width of the diffusion film has been described. However, one side portion of the wind shielding plate 60 shown in FIG. You may form wider than the diffusion film 24 so that it may be located outside a side part. By so doing, the clean air that hits one side of the windshield 60 passes between the windshield 60 and the diffusion film 24 and is guided toward the other side of the windshield 60. The cleanliness in the vicinity of the diffusion film 24 can be kept higher.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, a wind guide plate 70 is provided on one side in the width direction of the wind shield plate 36, and this wind guide plate 70 allows clean air from the FFU 32 to flow between the wind shield plate 36 and the diffusion film 24. You may wind in between. Furthermore, like the wind shield plate 80 shown in FIG. 7, the air guide plate 82 is provided on one side in the width direction, the air guide plate 84 is provided on the other side, and the opening 86 is formed in the center in the width direction. The clean air from the FFU 32 may be guided between the wind shielding plate 80 and the diffusion film 24 from both sides in the width direction, and the guided clean air may be discharged from the opening 86.

  Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8, you may provide the air blower 90 which forcibly ventilates between the baffle plate 36 and the diffusion film 24. FIG. In FIG. 8, the blower 90 includes an FFU 92, and clean air cleaned by the FFU 92 is passed through a chamber 94 and a duct 96 from an air supply nozzle 98 formed long in the conveying direction of the diffusion film 24. The air is blown between 36 and the diffusion film 24.

  Of course, as shown in FIG. 9, an exhaust nozzle 100 that collects clean air blown from the air supply nozzle 98 may be provided. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the exhaust nozzle 100 and the air intake port of the FFU 92 are connected by a duct 102 to circulate air.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 10, a blower 112 having an air supply nozzle 110 that is long in the width direction of the diffusion film 24 may be provided, and clean air may be blown along the conveyance direction of the diffusion film 24. In the example shown in FIG. 10, clean air is blown from the upstream side in the conveyance direction of the diffusion film 24 toward the downstream side.

  Furthermore, when providing a blower as shown in FIGS. 8, 9, and 10, it is preferable to blow at a wind speed of about 0.3 m / s. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the intake nozzles 98 (see FIGS. 8 and 9) and 110 (see FIG. 10) have a diameter of about 20 mm to 30 mm, and the intake nozzles are arranged at intervals of about 50 mm to 60 mm. A blower port 120 arranged in the longitudinal direction is provided, and clean air is blown from the blower port 120, or as shown in FIG. 12, the slits are long in the longitudinal direction of the air supply nozzles 98 and 110 and have a width of about 5 mm to 10 mm. It is preferable to provide a gas-like air outlet 130 and blow clean air from the air outlet 130.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the example which provides a horizontal windshield, as shown in FIG. 13, you may provide the vertical windshield 140. As shown in FIG. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, a wind shielding plate 150 may be provided so as to surround the work space 44. Of course, as shown in FIG. 15, a wind shielding plate 160 is provided so as to cover the lower surface of the diffusion film 24 that is transported upstream of the transport roller 16a in the transport direction and downstream of the transport roller 16d. May be. Further, as shown in FIG. 16, three blowers 170 are provided, and clean air is supplied between the horizontal wind shield 36 and the diffusion film 24 and between the vertical wind shield 140 and the diffusion film 24, respectively. You may blow.

  In the above embodiment, the FFU is arranged on the top surface of the clean room and the clean air is blown downward. However, the FFU 182 is arranged on the side surface of the clean room 180 as in the clean room 180 shown in FIG. It may be arranged and clean air may be blown substantially horizontally from one side in the width direction of the diffusion film 24 toward the other side. In the example shown in FIG. 17, the entire side surface opposite to the FFU 182 across the diffusion film 24 is an exhaust port 184. In the example shown in FIG. 17, a wind shield 186 is provided so as to cover the lower surface of the diffusion film 24 so that clean air from the FFU 182 is blown between the wind shield 186 and the diffusion film 24. A wind guide plate 188 is provided so that more clean air can be sent between the wind shield plate 186 and the diffusion film 24.

  As shown in FIG. 17, when the clean air is blown substantially horizontally from one side in the width direction of the diffusion film 24 toward the other side, as shown in FIG. 18, the upper surface of the diffusion film 24 is covered. A wind shield 190 may be provided. Also in FIG. 18, the air guide plate 192 is provided so that more clean air can be sent between the wind shield plate 190 and the diffusion film 24.

  In the above embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to a film manufacturing facility in which a hard coat layer is laminated on a diffusion film has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be widely applied to a film transport apparatus that transports a film in a clean room, and a film manufacturing apparatus that manufactures a film using such a film transport apparatus, regardless of the type of film.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Film production equipment 12, 50, 180 Clean room 14 Delivery apparatus 16a-16d Conveyance roller 18 Coating apparatus 20 Drying room 22 Winding apparatus 24 Diffusion film 32, 92, 182 FFU
34, 52 Exhaust port 36, 52, 60, 80, 140, 150, 160, 186, 190 Air shield plate 38 Work space 70, 82, 84, 188, 192 Air guide plate 90, 112, 170 Air blower 98, 110 Air supply nozzle 120, 130 Air outlet

Claims (11)

Transport means for transporting the belt-like film along the longitudinal direction in the clean room;
Air supply / exhaust means for supplying clean air into the clean room so that clean air flows along a predetermined path toward a predetermined surface of the film and exhausting the air,
A windshield arranged to face a surface opposite to the predetermined surface of the film;
A film transport device comprising:   An air guide plate is provided for introducing a part of the clean air supplied into the clean room by the air supply / exhaust means between the wind shield plate and the opposite surface of the film. The film transport apparatus according to claim 1.   3. The film transport device according to claim 2, wherein the wind guide plate is provided integrally with the wind shield plate by bending an end portion of the wind shield plate.   2. The film transport device according to claim 1, further comprising a blowing means for blowing clean air between the wind shielding plate and the opposite surface of the film.   5. The film transport device according to claim 4, wherein the blowing means supplies clean air from one end side to the other end side in the width direction of the film.   5. The film transport apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the blowing means supplies clean air from the upstream side to the downstream side in the transport direction of the film. The air supply / exhaust means supplies clean air from one end side to the other end side in the width direction of the film,
The windshield plate is further arranged to face the predetermined surface of the film, and clean air from the air supply / exhaust means is between one windshield plate and the predetermined surface of the film, and the other The film transport device according to claim 1, wherein the film is fed together between the windshield plate and the opposite surface of the film.   The film transport device according to claim 1, wherein the wind shielding plate is provided so as to surround a work area where an operator enters the clean room.   A film transport method comprising transporting a film using the film transport apparatus according to claim 1.   9. A film production apparatus, wherein a film is conveyed by a processing apparatus provided in the clean room on a surface of the film conveyed by the film conveying apparatus according to claim 1.   A film production method comprising producing a film with the film production apparatus according to claim 10.

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