JP6621644B2 - Method for producing optical laminate with metal wiring - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for producing an optical laminate with metal wiring.

  Conventionally, films with metal wiring have been widely used for electrodes of electronic devices such as touch panels. In recent years, metal wiring has been applied to cope with diversification and thinning of electronic devices. And the film (for example, brightness enhancement film with a metal wiring) which has an optical function is calculated | required. In manufacturing such a film, there are problems such as production efficiency and product-to-product variation (for example, nonuniformity of metal wiring formation positions).

JP 2007-4174 A

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described conventional problems, and a main object of the present invention is to be able to efficiently manufacture an optical laminate piece with metal wiring in which metal wiring to be arranged at a predetermined position is formed. It is to provide a method.

The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body with metal wiring cuts an elongate optical film and obtains a plurality of optical films, and a plurality of metal wiring regions are formed on the optical film obtained by cutting. Forming a metal wiring forming step, laminating the optical film on which the metal wiring region is formed, and a long polarizing plate to form an optical laminate with metal wiring; and for each metal wiring region And an optical laminate cutting step of cutting the optical laminate with metal wiring.
In one embodiment, in the metal wiring formation step, a first alignment mark is provided in the vicinity of the metal wiring region, and in the optical laminate cutting step, the position of the first alignment mark is used as a reference. Determine the cutting position.
In one embodiment, the manufacturing method includes providing the two first alignment marks for one metal wiring region.
In one embodiment, when the direction that coincides with the long direction of the long optical film is the Y direction and the direction that coincides with the width direction of the long optical film is the X direction, the two second A straight line connecting one alignment mark is parallel to the X direction or the Y direction.
In one embodiment, the elongate optical film has an optical axis in the width direction of the elongate optical film, and the elongate polarizing plate is in the elongate direction of the elongate polarizing plate. Has an absorption axis.
In one embodiment, the metal wiring formation step includes further forming a second alignment mark.
In one embodiment, the second alignment mark is provided so as to define a straight line.
In one embodiment, the straight line defined by the second alignment mark and the X direction that coincides with the width direction of the long optical film are parallel to each other.
In one embodiment, in the laminating step, the optical film, the straight line defined by the second alignment mark and the long direction of the long polarizing plate are parallel to each other, Including laminating a long polarizing plate.
In one embodiment, the optical film is a brightness enhancement film.

  According to the present invention, an optical film including a plurality of metal wiring regions and a long polarizing plate are laminated to obtain a long optical laminated body with metal wiring, and then the laminate is cut. In addition, it is possible to efficiently manufacture an optical laminated body piece with metal wiring in which metal wiring to be arranged at a predetermined position is formed.

It is a figure explaining the optical film cutting process in the manufacturing method of the present invention by one embodiment. It is a figure explaining the metal wiring formation process in the manufacturing method of this invention by one embodiment. It is a figure explaining the lamination process in the manufacturing method of the present invention by one embodiment. It is a figure explaining the optical laminated body cutting process in the manufacturing method of this invention by one embodiment.

The method for producing an optical laminate with metal wiring according to the present invention is a method for producing an optical laminate with metal wiring as a film piece by cutting an optical laminate with metal wiring of a predetermined size. Including:
(A) An optical film cutting step of cutting a long optical film to obtain a plurality of optical films;
(B) A metal wiring forming step of forming a plurality of metal wiring regions on the optical film obtained by cutting;
(C) A laminating step of laminating the optical film on which the metal wiring region is formed and a long polarizing plate to form an optical laminate with metal wiring;
(D) An optical laminate cutting step of cutting the optical laminate with metal wiring for each metal wiring region.

  1-4 is a figure explaining the manufacturing method of this invention by one Embodiment. Hereinafter, the manufacturing process included in the manufacturing method of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

A. Optical Film Cutting Step In the production method of the present invention, first, the long optical film 10 is cut to obtain a plurality of optical films 11 (FIG. 1). In the present specification, the “elongate shape” means an elongated shape having a sufficiently long length with respect to the width, for example, an elongated shape having a length of 10 times or more, preferably 20 times or more with respect to the width. Includes shape. The length of the long optical film 10 is, for example, 300 m to 4000 m. Moreover, the width | variety of the elongate optical film 10 is 500 mm-2000 mm, for example.

  As the long optical film 10, any appropriate long optical film is used. As a film constituting the long optical film 10, for example, a film having optical anisotropy and having an optical axis may be used. In one embodiment, a long optical film having an optical axis (for example, a reflection axis of a brightness enhancement film) in the width direction is used as the long optical film. In another embodiment, the long optical film has an optical axis (for example, a slow axis of a retardation film) whose angle with the width direction is 42 ° to 48 ° (preferably 45 °). A long optical film is used. As a film which comprises the said elongate optical film 10, the linearly polarized light separation film which can function as a brightness improvement film, a phase difference film, etc. are mentioned, for example. Examples of the retardation film include films composed of polyethylene terephthalate, polycarbonate resin, cycloolefin resin, and the like. The retardation film may be a stretched film. The “brightness enhancement film” has a function of separating incident light into two orthogonal polarization components, transmitting one polarization component, and reflecting the other polarization component.

  The long optical film 10 may have a single layer configuration or a multilayer configuration. In one embodiment, a laminate of a brightness enhancement film or retardation film and a conductive layer is used. Examples of the conductive layer include a conductive layer including metal nanowires, a conductive layer formed from a metal oxide such as ITO, a conductive layer including a metal mesh, and a conductive layer composed of a conductive polymer. Moreover, the elongate optical film 10 may be equipped with the adhesive layer in the single-sided outermost side or double-sided outermost side.

  The metal nanowire is a conductive material having a metal material, a needle shape or a thread shape, and a diameter of nanometer. A conductive layer including metal nanowires, and the metal nanowires can be formed into a network, so that even with a small amount of metal nanowires, a good electrical conduction path can be formed, and a conductive layer with low electrical resistance can be formed. it can. Furthermore, when the metal nanowire has a mesh shape, an opening can be formed in the mesh space to form a conductive layer having a high light transmittance.

  Any appropriate metal can be used as the metal constituting the metal nanowire as long as it is a conductive metal. As a metal which comprises the said metal nanowire, silver, gold | metal | money, copper, nickel etc. are mentioned, for example. Moreover, you may use the material which performed the plating process (for example, gold plating process) to these metals. Among these, silver, copper, or gold is preferable from the viewpoint of conductivity, and silver is more preferable.

  The conductive layer including the metal nanowire may include a polymer matrix. The polymer matrix is formed by forming a layer made of metal nanowires on a film constituting a long optical film, then applying a polymer solution on the layer, and then drying or curing the coating layer. obtain. By this operation, a conductive layer having metal nanowires in the polymer matrix is formed.

  Any appropriate method can be adopted as a method of cutting the long film 10. Examples of the cutting method include cutting with a blade and cutting with a laser beam.

  By cutting the long optical film 10, a plurality of optical films 11 are obtained. The cutting line in the cutting is preferably orthogonal to the long direction of the long optical film. The length of the cut optical film 11 obtained by cutting is, for example, 500 mm to 1500 mm. In addition, in this specification, in order to distinguish the sheet | seat optical film 11 obtained by cut | disconnecting from the elongate optical film 10, it is also only called "optical film".

  Further, hereinafter, in the present specification, in the single-wafer optical film 11, the direction that coincides with the long direction of the long optical film 10 is defined as the Y direction, and the direction that coincides with the width direction of the long optical film 10 Direction (see FIG. 1).

B. Metal Wiring Formation Step After obtaining a plurality of optical films 11 as described above, a plurality of metal wiring regions 20 having a predetermined pattern of metal wirings 22 are formed on the optical film 11 (FIG. 2). In one embodiment, a plurality (for example, 2 to 8; 8 in the illustrated example) of metal wiring regions 20 are formed for one optical film 11. Lines 21 (virtual lines) that define the individual metal wiring regions 20 correspond to cutting lines when cutting the optical laminate including the optical film 11 in the subsequent optical laminate cutting step. In the present invention, an optical laminated body with metal wiring can be efficiently obtained by forming a plurality of metal wiring regions in the metal wiring forming step.

  The shape of the metal wiring region 20 may be any appropriate shape. For example, a rectangular shape, a square shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and the like can be given. Preferably, the metal wiring region 20 is a rectangle or square composed of a straight line parallel to the X direction and a straight line parallel to the Y direction. Preferably, the metal wiring region 20 is linearly arranged in the X direction and the Y direction. Arrangement in a straight line means that a line connecting the centers of gravity of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the X direction or the Y direction is a straight line. The line connecting the centers of gravity of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the X direction is preferably a straight line, and the straight line is preferably parallel to the X direction. More preferably, the line connecting the centers of gravity of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the Y direction is a straight line, and the straight line is parallel to the Y direction. In the present specification, “parallel” includes a case where they are substantially parallel, that is, includes a case where the angle formed by two straight lines is 0 ° ± 2 °, preferably 0 ° ± 1 °. The term “perpendicular” includes a case where the two are substantially orthogonal, that is, a case where an angle formed by two straight lines is 90 ° ± 2 °, and preferably 90 ° ± 1 °.

  Preferably, the metal wiring regions 20 are arranged at equal intervals in the X direction and the Y direction. The interval between adjacent metal wiring regions is preferably 5 mm to 50 mm, and more preferably 10 mm to 30 mm.

  A metal wiring 22 is formed in the metal wiring region 20. Any appropriate metal is used as a metal constituting the metal wiring 22 as long as it has conductivity. For example, silver, gold | metal | money, copper, nickel etc. are mentioned. Arbitrary appropriate methods are employ | adopted as a formation method of metal wiring. Examples thereof include a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, a photolithography method, and a screen printing method.

  The shape of the formation pattern of the metal wiring 22 may be any appropriate shape. Examples of the pattern shape of the metal wiring 22 include a rectangular shape or a square shape (for example, a shape defined by a line along the outer periphery of the region inside the metal wiring region), or a part of the rectangular shape or the square shape. The shape etc. which excluded are mentioned. In one embodiment, each of the metal wirings 22 formed in the plurality of metal wiring regions 20 has the same pattern shape.

  The metal wiring 22 may be protected by a resin layer made of any appropriate resin. As the resin constituting the resin layer, an acid-free resin, a highly moisture-resistant resin, or the like is preferably used. Examples of such a resin include a fluorine resin, an imide resin, and an ester resin.

  Preferably, the first alignment mark 31 is provided in the vicinity of the metal wiring region 20 (for example, a position 1 mm to 30 mm away from the metal wiring region). In one embodiment, the first alignment mark 31 is formed in a dot shape. In the present specification, “dot” means a shape that can be recognized as a point by an apparatus that detects an alignment mark, and is a cross, polygon, circle, ellipse having a smaller area than the metal wiring region. It is a concept that also includes. The first alignment mark 31 is a mark that serves as a reference for determining a cutting position when the optical laminated body including the optical film 11 is cut in the subsequent optical laminated body cutting step. In the present invention, by forming the first alignment mark 31, the optical laminate including the optical film 11 can be efficiently and highly accurately cut in the subsequent optical laminate cutting step.

  In one embodiment, two first alignment marks 31 are formed for one metal wiring region 20 as in the illustrated example. These first alignment marks can be arranged on both sides in the Y direction (illustrated example) or both sides in the X direction of the metal wiring region 20. By forming the two first alignment marks 31 for one metal wiring region 20, the direction of the punching blade when cutting can be adjusted with reference to the line connecting the first alignment marks 31. it can. Preferably, a straight line connecting these two first alignment marks 31 is parallel to the X direction or the Y direction. When the first alignment mark is arranged in this way and the optical laminated body including the optical film 11 is cut with reference to the first alignment mark, there is a slight variation in the formation position / orientation of the metal wiring 22. In addition, an optical laminate with metal wiring in which the optical axis of the optical film and the optical axis of the polarizing plate are appropriately set can be obtained. Furthermore, it is preferable that the line connecting the centers of gravity of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the X direction or the Y direction and the straight line connecting the two first alignment marks 31 are orthogonal or parallel. Therefore, it is particularly preferable that the line connecting the centroids of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the X direction or the Y direction and the straight line connecting the two first alignment marks are orthogonal or parallel, and the two first A straight line connecting the alignment marks is parallel to the X direction or the Y direction.

  In another embodiment, two first alignment marks are formed on both sides in the Y direction of one metal wiring region group, with metal wiring regions arranged in the Y direction as one group.

  Any appropriate method can be adopted as a method of forming the first alignment mark 31. Examples thereof include a method of forming an alignment mark by vapor deposition or sputtering using a film mask or a metal mask, a method of forming an alignment mark by chemical etching or photolithography, a method of forming an alignment mark by pattern printing, and the like.

  In one embodiment, the second alignment mark 32 is further formed in the metal wiring forming step. The second alignment mark 32 is a position of the optical film and the long polarizing plate when the optical film on which the metal wiring is formed and the long polarizing plate are stacked in the subsequent stacking step. Used for alignment.

  In one embodiment, the second alignment mark 32 is provided so as to define a straight line. More specifically, the second alignment mark 32 is provided so as to define a straight line facing a predetermined direction in a plan view of the optical film. One straight line defined by the second alignment mark can be formed per optical film. The straight line is preferably formed to be parallel to the X direction of the optical film. The straight line is preferably parallel to a line connecting the centers of gravity of the metal wiring regions 20 in the X direction.

  In one embodiment, the second alignment mark 32 is a solid line, a dotted line, or a broken line.

  In another embodiment, the straight line defined by the second alignment mark is defined by a plurality of (for example, 2 to 10) marks formed on the optical film.

  As a method of forming the second alignment mark 32, a method similar to the method of forming the first alignment mark 31 may be mentioned.

  The optical film on which the first alignment mark and the second alignment mark are formed can contribute to improving the alignment accuracy between the optical film and the long polarizing plate, and the optical film and the long polarizing plate It can contribute to the cutting accuracy when cutting the optical laminate composed of the above. Moreover, the said optical film can improve the production efficiency from a lamination process to an optical laminated body cutting process markedly.

C. Lamination process Next, the optical film 11 in which the metal wiring area | region 20 was formed, and the elongate polarizing plate 40 are laminated | stacked (FIG. 3).

  As the long polarizing plate 40, any appropriate polarizing plate can be used. The length of the long polarizing plate 40 is, for example, 300 m to 3000 m, and the width is, for example, 600 mm to 2000 mm. In one embodiment, an elongate polarizing plate has an absorption axis in the elongate direction.

  The optical film 11 and the long polarizing plate 40 are laminated so that the X direction of the optical film 11 and the long direction of the long polarizing plate are parallel to each other. In the present invention, the optical film 11 having the optical anisotropy is obtained by laminating the optical film 11 and the long polarizing plate 30 after obtaining the single-wafer optical film 11 (so-called roll-to-sheet lamination). The relationship between the direction of the optical axis of the film 11 and the direction of the transmission axis of the long polarizing plate 30 can be set appropriately. In one embodiment, the long optical film has an optical axis (for example, a reflection axis of a brightness enhancement film) in the width direction, and the long polarizing plate absorbs in the long direction. Has an axis. In another embodiment, the long optical film has an optical axis (for example, a slow axis of a retardation film) having an angle with the width direction of 42 ° to 48 ° (preferably 45 °). And an elongate polarizing plate has an absorption axis in the elongate direction. The present invention is particularly useful in such forms. More specifically, when the optical film is a brightness enhancement film, the transmission axis of the brightness enhancement film and the transmission axis of the polarizing plate are parallel, and when the optical film is a retardation film, the retardation film is delayed. This is useful when the angle between the phase axis and the absorption axis of the polarizing plate is 42 ° to 48 ° (preferably 45 °), and the relationship between these optical axes can be strictly controlled.

  The long polarizing plate 40 is laminated on the side of the optical film 11 where the metal wiring is not formed. Any appropriate method can be adopted as the lamination method. For example, the long polarizing plate 40 is conveyed so as to pass between a pair of rolls, the optical film 11 is sequentially supplied between the rolls, and the long polarizing plate 40 and the optical film 11 are laminated. In addition, if the adhesive layer is formed in the side in which the metal wiring 22 of the optical film 11 is not formed as mentioned above, a lamination process can be performed easily. The conveyance speed of the long polarizing plate 40 is, for example, 3 m / min to 10 m / min.

  When the optical film 11 has the second alignment mark 32, the traveling direction of both members is set so that the straight line defined by the second alignment mark 32 and the longitudinal direction of the long polarizing plate 40 are parallel to each other. By adjusting, both members are laminated. As a method of adjusting the traveling direction, for example, the direction of a straight line defined by the second alignment mark is detected by any appropriate detection means (for example, a camera), and based on information on the detected direction of the straight line. And a method of adjusting the supply direction of the optical film. The supply direction of the optical film can be performed, for example, by arranging the optical film supply device 50 on the upstream side of the pair of rolls and finely adjusting the transport direction of the optical film by the optical film supply device 50.

  The interval between the adjacent optical films 11 on the long polarizing plate 40 is, for example, 1 mm to 20 mm. In one embodiment, the plurality of optical films 11 stacked on the long polarizing plate 40 are arranged at equal intervals. In another embodiment, the interval between the plurality of optical films 11 is not strictly controlled (that is, the plurality of optical films 11 are arranged at different intervals), and the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is formed. In the present invention, if the first alignment mark 31 is formed, the cutting position in the subsequent optical laminate cutting process can be accurately determined even if the distance between the optical films 11 is not constant.

  As described above, the long polarizing plate 40 and the plurality of optical films 11 are laminated to form the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring. The obtained optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring may be wound up in a roll shape in the laminating process, or may be supplied to the next process (optical laminated body cutting process) as it is without being wound up.

D. Optical Laminate Cutting Process The long optical laminate 60 with metal wiring formed as described above is cut for each metal wiring region 20 in the optical laminate cutting process (FIG. 4). The cutting position in the process is determined with reference to a specific portion (for example, a specific side or a specific corner) of the metal wiring 22 or the first alignment mark. Preferably, in the metal wiring forming step, a first alignment mark is provided on the optical film, and the cutting position is determined based on the first alignment mark. In this way, the optical laminated body with metal wiring can be cut with high positional accuracy of the metal wiring region.

  In one embodiment, after the cut portion of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is conveyed to the cutting position, the conveyance of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is stopped, and the first alignment 31 is detected by the detection means. The position of the first alignment 21 is detected and the cutting means 70 is positioned, and then the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is cut.

  The part to be cut includes a metal wiring region 20 that can be cut in one stop of conveyance of the optical laminated body with metal wiring. In one embodiment, one row of the metal wiring region arranged in the width direction (Y direction of the optical film) of the optical laminate with metal wiring corresponds to the part to be cut. In another embodiment, a plurality of rows (for example, 2 to 5 rows; 2 rows in the illustrated example) of the metal wiring regions 20 arranged in the width direction (Y direction of the optical film) of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring. Corresponds to the part to be cut.

  In one embodiment, it is detected that the first alignment mark 31 in the part to be cut has reached the cutting position, and the conveyance of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is stopped.

  As a means for detecting the first alignment mark 31, any appropriate detection means is used. Examples of the detecting means include sensors such as a transmitted light detection sensor and a reflected light detection sensor, a camera such as a transmitted light photographing type camera, and a reflected light photographing type camera.

  The cutting means 70 for cutting the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring may be in any appropriate form. In one embodiment, a cutting blade (for example, Thomson blade, corrosion blade) is used as the cutting means. The shape of the cutting blade (that is, the shape of the optical laminated body with metal wiring obtained by cutting) may be any appropriate shape. For example, a rectangular shape, a square shape, a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and the like can be given. Preferably, it is rectangular or square.

  The cutting means 70 can be moved in the width direction (Y direction of the optical film) of the optical laminate 60 with metal wiring, or can be moved in the width direction and the longitudinal direction of the optical laminate 60 with metal wiring. Configured as follows. The cutting means 70 can be configured to be rotatable around a predetermined point so that the cutting direction can be adjusted. In one embodiment, two first alignment marks 31 are formed for one metal wiring region 31, and the direction of the cutting means 70 (that is, cutting) is based on a line connecting the first alignment marks 31. Direction) is determined.

  A plurality of metal wiring regions 20 may be cut at a time using a plurality of cutting means 70. For example, a plurality of cutting means 70 may be used to cut a metal wiring region arranged in one or more rows at a time in the width direction and / or the longitudinal direction of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring. In the illustrated example, the metal wiring region 20 (2 × 2 = 4 metal wiring regions) arranged in two rows in the width direction and two rows in the longitudinal direction of the optical laminated body 60 with metal wiring is cut at a time. Therefore, four cutting means 70 are used.

  When a plurality of cutting means are used, the number of first alignment position detection means may be one or more. In one embodiment, detection means is provided for each cutting means, that is, the same number of detection means as the cutting means is used.

  The conveyance, conveyance stop, first alignment detection, positioning of the cutting means, and cutting are defined as one cycle, and the cycle is repeated to cut the supplied optical film for each metal wiring region.

  As described above, an optical laminate with metal wiring (an optical laminate with metal wiring) 61 including one metal wiring region per sheet is obtained. According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain the optical laminate with metal wiring with high yield by suppressing cutting defects.

10 Long optical film 11 Optical film (sheet-fed)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Metal wiring area | region 22 Metal wiring 31 1st alignment mark 32 2nd alignment mark 40 Long-form polarizing plate 60 Optical laminated body with metal wiring

Claims (10)

An optical film cutting step of cutting a long optical film to obtain a plurality of optical films;
Forming a plurality of metal wiring regions on the optical film obtained by cutting, a metal wiring forming step,
Laminating step of laminating the optical film in which the metal wiring region is formed and a long polarizing plate to form an optical laminate with metal wiring;
An optical laminate cutting step of cutting the optical laminate with metal wiring for each metal wiring region;
Manufacturing method of optical laminated body piece with metal wiring. In the metal wiring formation step, a first alignment mark is provided in the vicinity of the metal wiring region,
In the optical layered body cutting step, the cutting position is determined based on the position of the first alignment mark.
The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 1 . The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 1 or 2 including providing the two said 1st alignment marks per one said metal wiring area | region. When the direction that coincides with the long direction of the long optical film is the Y direction, and the direction that coincides with the width direction of the long optical film is the X direction,
A straight line connecting the two first alignment marks is parallel to the X direction or the Y direction.
The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 3. The long optical film has an optical axis in the width direction of the long optical film,
The long polarizing plate has an absorption axis in the long direction of the long polarizing plate,
The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring in any one of Claim 1 to 4. In the metal wiring forming step comprises further forming a second alignment mark, the production method of the metal wire with optical laminate element according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 6 provided so that the said 2nd alignment mark may define a straight line. The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 7 with which the straight line prescribed | regulated to a said 2nd alignment mark and the X direction which corresponds with the width direction of the said elongate optical film are parallel. In the laminating step, the optical film and the long polarizing plate are formed such that a straight line defined by the second alignment mark and a long direction of the long polarizing plate are parallel to each other. The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring of Claim 8 including laminating | stacking. The manufacturing method of the optical laminated body piece with a metal wiring in any one of Claim 1 to 9 whose said optical film is a brightness improvement film.

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