JP7291606B2 - Deposition equipment - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a film forming apparatus for forming a functional film having a predetermined function on a strip-shaped substrate using a vacuum film forming method.

In recent years, a technique of coating the surface of a product such as a plastic film with a functional film, which is a thin film, to enhance the function of the product has been used in various fields. One example is a barrier film in which a barrier film is formed on a plastic film for the purpose of preventing oxidation and moisture penetration.In addition, a transparent conductive film, an antireflection film, and the like can also be formed on the substrate.

Such a film-forming substrate is formed by a film-forming apparatus as disclosed in Patent Document 1 below, for example. FIG. 9 shows a schematic diagram of the film forming apparatus described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. In this film forming apparatus 100, a barrier film, which is a kind of functional film, is formed on the substrate 101 by a plasma CVD method, which is a kind of vacuum film forming method. Specifically, the raw material gas for the barrier film supplied into the film forming chamber 102 is decomposed by plasma, and the decomposed raw material gas is deposited on the substrate 101 to form a thin film, which is the barrier film, on the substrate. 101.

Further, in the film forming apparatus 100 of FIG. 9, the long strip-shaped base material 101 unwound from the unwind roll 105 and wound up by the take-up roll 106 is transported by the main roll 103 and the guide roll 104 . Conveyed along the route. In particular, when the substrate 101 is conveyed along the main roll 103 , a thin film is formed on the substrate 101 by the film forming chamber 102 provided facing the main roll 103 .

JP 2016-060942 A

However, in the film forming apparatus 100 described above, the performance of the functional film formed on the substrate 101 may deteriorate. Specifically, in the film forming apparatus 100 described above, the guide roll 104 forming the transport path of the substrate 101 includes a film forming surface side roll 104 a that contacts the film forming surface side of the substrate 101 and a film forming surface of the substrate 101 . There is a back side roll 104b that contacts the side opposite to the surface, and the substrate 101 that has passed through the film forming chamber 102 and has a thin functional film formed thereon and the film forming side roll 104a that has a hard surface. However, there is a problem that the functional film is damaged when it comes into contact with the metal, and its performance is deteriorated. If the film forming apparatus is configured so that there is no film forming surface side roll that contacts the base material on which the thin film of the functional film is formed, the conveying path of the base material is limited, resulting in an increase in the size of the apparatus. , there was a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a film forming apparatus and a film forming method capable of forming a functional film on a substrate without reducing the performance of the functional film. and

In order to solve the above problems, the film forming apparatus of the present invention comprises a film forming chamber for forming a thin film on the film forming surface side of a substrate conveyed by roll-to-roll, and a film forming surface side or the opposite side of the substrate. a guide member that forms a transport path of the substrate by guiding the transport direction of the substrate by contacting with the substrate, and a film forming surface side of the substrate that is positioned downstream of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate. and a protective member bonding portion provided between the guide member and the film forming chamber that first contact with and bonding a flexible protective member to the film forming surface side of the base material , The conveying direction of the base material can be reversed, and the protective member bonding portions are provided on both sides of the conveying path of the base material with the film forming chamber interposed therebetween.

According to the film forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to form a functional film on a substrate without reducing the performance of the functional film. Specifically, it is provided between the film forming chamber and the guide roll located downstream of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate and first contacting the film forming surface side of the substrate, and has flexibility. By providing a protective member bonding portion for bonding the protective member having the protective member to the film forming surface side of the base material, it is possible to avoid physical contact between the thin film formed on the base material and the guide roll. Contact with the surface can prevent the membrane from being scratched. Further, even when the substrate is reversed and transported in the film forming apparatus to form a film, physical contact between the thin film formed on the substrate and the guide roll can be avoided.

Further, the surface of the protective member on the side facing the substrate may have a higher adhesive strength at portions facing both ends of the substrate in the width direction of the substrate than at portions therebetween.

By doing so, it is possible to reduce the peeling of even the thin film from the base material when the protective member is peeled off from the base material.

Moreover, the protective member may face only a part of the substrate in the width direction of the substrate.

By doing so, it is possible to avoid physical contact between the thin film and the guide roll by forming a gap between the portion of the base material to which the protective member is not attached and the guide roll.

Further, the substrate may be wound while the protective member is attached to the substrate.

By doing so, it is possible to prevent the thin film from coming into contact with the back surface of the substrate when the substrate is wound.

Moreover, it may further include a protective member peeling section for peeling the protective member from the base material before the base material is wound up.

By doing so, it is possible to prevent winding misalignment due to winding with the protective member stuck together, and only the base material is wound.

Further, the protection member peeled off at the protection member peeling section may be sent to the protection member bonding section, and a circulation path for the protection member may be formed.

By doing so, the length of the protective member to be prepared can be made relatively short.

According to the film forming apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to form a functional film on a substrate without reducing the performance of the functional film.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a film forming apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. It is the schematic showing the protection member in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the protection member in other embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a protective member in still another embodiment of the invention; It is a schematic diagram showing the film-forming apparatus in other embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the film-forming apparatus in other embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the film-forming apparatus in other embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing the film-forming apparatus in other embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram showing a conventional film forming apparatus.

An embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram and a front view of a film forming apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The film forming apparatus 1 is for performing surface treatment on a base material to form a thin film, for example, a functional film for the purpose of preventing oxidation and moisture intrusion on a plastic film having flexibility. It forms a barrier film and is used in food protection films, flexible solar cells, etc. Specifically, in the case of a flexible solar cell, after forming a solar cell composed of each electrode layer, a photoelectric conversion layer, etc. on a belt-shaped base material such as a plastic film, the solar cell is A barrier film is formed by forming a plurality of thin films on the cell. As a result, penetration of moisture into the solar cell is effectively prevented, and a flexible solar cell having excellent oxidation durability can be formed.

This film forming apparatus 1 includes a bundle holding roll 3 and a bundle holding roll 4, which are two bundle holding rolls that hold a bundle of flexible substrates, and a roll between the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4. It has a main roll 5 to be arranged, a main roll chamber 6 that houses the main roll 5, and a film formation chamber 7 that forms a thin film. A thin film is formed on the substrate 2 by passing the substrate 2 through each film forming chamber 7 while conveying it along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roll 5 . It is adapted to be taken up by a roll 4.

Further, the rotation direction of the main roll 5 is indicated by an arrow in FIG. 1, and the direction of this arrow (counterclockwise direction) is the conveying direction of the substrate 2 in this case.

In addition, the film forming apparatus 1 has a protective member bonding portion 9a, and forms a transport path for the substrate 2 by bonding a protective member B to the film forming surface side of the substrate 2 on which the thin film is formed. Physical contact between the guide roll 104a, which is a roll body and contacts the film forming surface side of the base material 2, and the thin film formed on the base material 2 is avoided.

The bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 have a substantially cylindrical core portion 31 and a core portion 41, respectively. is formed.

By rotating the core portion 31 and the core portion 41, the base material 2 can be sent out or wound up. That is, so-called roll-to-roll transport is performed by the bundle holding rolls 3 and the bundle holding rolls 4, and the rotation of the core portion 31 and the core portion 41 is controlled by a control device (not shown) to control the delivery speed or the winding speed of the substrate 2. Pick up speed can be increased and decreased. Specifically, in the embodiment of FIG. 1, the bundle holding roll 3 is located upstream of the main roll 5 in the transport path of the base material, so the bundle holding roll 3 serves as the roll for sending out the base material 2, and conversely, the bundle holding roll 3 The holding roll 4 is the roll on which the substrate 2 is wound. Then, by rotating the core portion 31 on the upstream side while the base material 2 receives a tensile force from the core portion 41 on the downstream side, the base material 2 is sent out to the downstream side, and the core portion 31 brakes as appropriate. The base material 2 is sent out at a constant speed without bending by applying the pressure. In addition, by adjusting the rotation of the core portion 41, it is possible to suppress the warping of the delivered base material 2 and conversely prevent the base material 2 from being subjected to excessive tension so that it can be wound up. It's becoming

Here, the substrate 2 is a thin plate-like long body having flexibility extending in one direction, and a long body having a flat plate shape with a thickness of 0.01 mm to 0.2 mm and a width of 5 mm to 1600 mm is applied. . Although the material is not particularly limited, for example, a resin film such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is preferably used.

In this way, the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 are paired, one of which feeds out the base material 2, and the other rolls up the base material 2 at the same winding speed as the feeding speed. It is possible to convey the substrate 2 while maintaining the tension applied to the substrate 2 at a predetermined value.

The main roll 5 is arranged between the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 in the transport path of the base material 2, and is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape having a larger diameter than the respective core portions 31 and 41. ing. The outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roll 5 is formed with a curved surface having a constant curvature in the circumferential direction, and is driven and controlled by a control device (not shown) to rotate. The rotation of the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 is controlled according to the rotation of the main roll 5, so that the base material 2 delivered from the bundle holding roll 3 is loaded with a predetermined tension. is conveyed along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roll 5 at . That is, with the substrate 2 along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roll 5, the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 rotate in accordance with the rotation of the main roll 5 so as to interlock with the conveyance of the substrate 2. The base material 2 is conveyed from the bundle holding rolls 3 to the bundle holding rolls 4 in a state in which the entire base material 2 is stretched and the surface of the base material faces the film forming chambers 7 .

In this way, the base material 2 is conveyed in a stretched state, and the film is formed by the film forming chamber 7 while the base material 2 is being conveyed. 2, the film thickness precision of the thin film laminated|stacked on 2 can improve, and the generation|occurrence|production of the particle by the fluttering of the base material 2 can be prevented. In addition, by increasing the radius of curvature of the main roll 5, film formation is performed while the substrate 2 is supported in a nearly flat state, so warping of the substrate 2 after film formation can be prevented. At the same time, the distance between the substrate 2 and the plasma electrode 72 in the deposition chamber 7 becomes substantially uniform, making it easier to form a thin film with a uniform thickness. The conveying speed of the substrate 2 during film formation is as high as 40 to 50 m/min.

In addition, by setting the tension from the main roll 5 to the bundle holding roll 4 which is the take-up roll slightly higher than the tension from the bundle holding roll 3 which is the delivery roll to the main roll 5, the substrate 2 is can be attached more tightly.

The main roll chamber 6 is a space surrounded by a cover to accommodate the main roll 5 and keep the pressure in the chamber constant. The main roll chamber 6 has a partition part 61 in addition to a cover that forms the exterior of the film forming apparatus 1 . partitioned. Only a portion of the substrate 2 conveyed along the outer peripheral portion 51 of the main roll 5 is exposed to the film forming chamber 7 by the partition portion 61 .

Further, in this embodiment, the vacuum pump 71 is provided only on the side of the film forming chamber 7, and when the vacuum pump 71 operates, the film forming chamber 7 and the main roll chamber 6 are decompressed. A vacuum pump may also be provided on the chamber 6 side.

In the case where the main roll chamber 6 is also provided with a vacuum pump, the pressure in the main roll chamber 6 is reduced to prevent the particles generated in the film forming chamber 7 from being blown up to the outside of the film forming chamber 7. It is preferably set to be higher than the pressure inside the chamber 7 .

Although the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 are accommodated in the main roll chamber 6 in this embodiment, they may be provided outside the main roll chamber 6 . However, by providing these in the main roll chamber 6 as in the present embodiment, the substrate 2 and the substrate 2 after film formation (film formation substrate) can be protected from being exposed to the atmosphere.

The film forming chamber 7 is means for forming a thin film on the substrate 2 by plasma CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition), which is a kind of vacuum film forming method. The film forming chamber 7 includes a vacuum pump 71 for reducing the pressure in the chamber, a plasma electrode 72 for applying a high voltage for generating plasma, and a raw material gas as a raw material for the thin film to be formed on the substrate 2 in the chamber. and a raw material gas supply unit 73 for supplying. In addition, in the present embodiment, a plasma forming gas, which is a source of plasma, is also supplied from the source gas supply section 73 .

In the film forming chamber 7, the pressure inside the film forming chamber 7 is reduced by the vacuum pump 71, and the voltage is applied to the plasma electrode 72 while the plasma forming gas is supplied from the raw material gas supply unit 73, whereby the plasma electrode 72 A plasma is generated in the vicinity of , and the inside of the film forming chamber 7 becomes a plasma atmosphere. In this state of the plasma atmosphere, the raw material gas is supplied from the raw material gas supply unit 73 , so that the raw material gas is decomposed (activated) by the plasma, and the substrate 2 facing the film forming chamber 7 is removed. A thin film is formed on the film forming surface of .

Further, in this embodiment, a pressure control mechanism (not shown) is further provided for controlling the pressure in the film forming chamber 7 by reducing the pressure. The inside of the film forming chamber 7 is decompressed. In this embodiment, the source gas is supplied after the inside of the film forming chamber 7 is depressurized to 10 ⁻² Pa or less. Then, film formation is performed in a state in which the inside of the film formation chamber 7 is set to approximately 0.5 Pa to 3.0 Pa by supplying the raw material gas.

Further, in the present embodiment, two film forming chambers 7 (film forming chambers 7a and 7b) are arranged along the outer peripheral surface 51 of the main roll 5 so as to face the area with which the substrate 2 contacts. are provided, and film formation is performed in each film formation chamber 7 while the substrate 2 is conveyed by the rotation of the bundle holding roll 3, the bundle holding roll 4, the main roll 5, and the like. 1, thin films are formed in the film forming chamber 7a and the film forming chamber 7b in order. Both the two deposition chambers 7 have the vacuum pump 71, the plasma electrode 72, and the raw material gas supply unit 73. For convenience of drawing, FIG. Only the electrodes 72 and the source gas supply section 73 are denoted by reference numerals.

The plasma electrode 72 has a substantially U-shape extending in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the main roll 5. FIG. It is shown. A high-frequency power supply (not shown) is connected to the end of the plasma electrode 72 .

Moreover, the folded portion of the plasma electrode 72 is formed so as to be positioned outside the film forming chamber 7 , and only the substantially linear portion of the plasma electrode 72 faces the substrate 2 on the main roll 5 . ing.

Also, the plasma electrode 72 is surrounded by an electrode cover 74 having an opening facing the main roll 5 . During film formation, the film forming chamber 7 is in a decompressed state, but the electrode cover 74 suppresses the diffusion of the plasma forming gas supplied to the vicinity of the plasma electrode 72, thereby facilitating the formation and maintenance of plasma. there is

The raw material gas supply unit 73 is a pipe-shaped member that extends in the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the main roll 5 and is provided near the main roll 5 in the film forming chamber 7 . It is connected to raw material gas supply means (not shown) via a pipe. In addition, the raw material gas supply unit 73 is provided with a plurality of openings in the Y-axis direction, and the width direction (Y-axis direction) of the substrate 2 near the film forming surface of the substrate 2 on the main roll 5 is ), the raw material gas is supplied substantially uniformly.

In this embodiment, the raw material gas supply unit 73 is also connected to plasma forming gas supply means (not shown) outside the film forming apparatus 1 via a pipe. , is supplied to the vicinity of the plasma electrode 72 in the deposition chamber 7 .

Here, in this embodiment, the source gas is HMDS (hexamethyldisilazane) gas, for example. The HMDS gas contains silicon and carbon, and by supplying argon gas, nitrogen gas, etc. as the plasma forming gas, a highly adhesive silicon carbide (SiC)-based thin film is formed. By supplying oxygen gas, a dense SiO2 film with high barrier properties is formed.

Here, in the present embodiment, the SiO2 film has a high barrier property as described above, and is a film that greatly contributes to the barrier property of the barrier film, which is a functional film.

On the other hand, the silicon carbide thin film has a lower density than the SiO2 film, and thus has a lower barrier property than the SiO2 film. There are no restrictions. Instead, the adhesion is high as described above, and by forming this silicon carbide-based thin film between the substrate 2 and the SiO2 film and between the SiO2 film and the SiO2 film, not only is the barrier property high but also the flexibility is high. A barrier film with high resistance is formed.

Here, in this description, from the viewpoint of the barrier film, the SiO2 film having barrier properties is called a barrier layer, and the silicon carbide thin film having adhesion properties is called a buffer layer. A layer is formed and the deposition chamber 7b forms a barrier layer. That is, the surface layer of the thin film serves as a barrier layer.

The guide roll 8 is one aspect of a member that forms the conveying path of the base material 2, and is called a guide member in the present invention. It is a cylindrical roll body arranged in the . Each guide roll 8 has its central axis as a rotation axis, and the direction of the rotation axis is the same as the direction of the rotation axes of the bundle holding roll 3, the bundle holding roll 4, and the main roll 5. The base material 2 unwound from the bundle holding rolls 3 comes into contact with a part of the outer peripheral surface of each of the guide rolls 8, and travels along the outer peripheral surfaces of the guide rolls 8 while being guided in the conveying direction to hold the bundle. It is wound on a roll 4. At this time, the conveying path of the base material 2 is determined by the arrangement of the guide rolls 8 , and each guide roll 8 feeds the base material 2 downstream while rotating due to the frictional force with the base material 2 . Further, the guide roll 8 provided near the main roll 5 adjusts the embrace angle of the base material 2 with respect to the main roll 5, and the base material 2 is conveyed on the main roll 5 without slipping. corner is secured.

In this description, the roll 8a on the side of the film forming surface is the guide roll 8 that contacts the side of the substrate 2 on which the thin film is formed (film forming surface), and the surface opposite to the film forming surface. The one in contact is called the back side roll 8b.

The protective member bonding portion 9a is downstream of the film formation chamber 7 in the transport path of the substrate 2, and is formed by the film formation surface side roll 8a that first contacts the film formation surface side of the substrate 2 and the film formation chamber 7. The protective member B is attached to the substrate 2 on which the thin film is formed. By sandwiching the base material 2 and the protective member B together between the protective member bonding portion 9 a and the main roll 5 , the protective member B is pressed toward the base material 2 , whereby the protective member B is adhered to the base material 2 . be matched.

FIG. 2 shows a protective member B in one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the protective member B and the base material 2, is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the base material 2 and the film forming surface side roll 8a.

The protective member B is a long, flexible belt-like body made of resin, paper, or the like, and has adhesiveness on the entire surface facing the base material 2 . The protective member B is adhered so as to face the film forming surface of the substrate 2 as shown in FIG. 2(a).

Here, as described above, since the protective member B is bonded by the protective member bonding portion 9a located downstream of the film forming chamber 7, the protective member B and the substrate are attached to the substrate 2 with the thin film M formed thereon. Material 2 is pasted together. That is, the thin film M is positioned between the substrate 2 and the protective member B, and as shown in FIG. Instead, the protective member B contacts the surface of the film forming surface side roll 8a. Therefore, physical contact between the thin film M formed on the substrate 2 and the film forming surface side roll 8a can be avoided. Even if minute unevenness is formed, the thin film M can be prevented from being scratched by the minute unevenness.

In addition, since the protective member bonding portion 9a is located downstream of the film forming chamber 7, the protective member B is not adhered to the substrate 2 when the thin film is formed by the film forming chamber 7. It does not interfere with the thin film formation on the substrate 2 by the film forming chamber 7 .

Returning to FIG. 1, in the film forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, a bundle holding roll 91 is provided in the vicinity of the protective member bonding portion 9a. The protective member B unwound from the bundle holding roll 91 is guided to the protective member bonding portion 9a, travels along a part of the outer peripheral surface of the protective member bonding portion 9a, and is rolled between the protective member bonding portion 9a and the main roll 5. The protective member B is sent to a position where the substrate 2 and the protective member B are sandwiched.

The bundle holding roll 91 is a cylindrical roll body around which a protective member B for bonding to the base material 2 is wound. A protective member B is supplied toward the portion 9a.

The tip of the protective member B wound around the bundle holding roll 91 is manually guided to the protective member bonding portion 9a and bonded to the base material 2. As shown in FIG. From this state, the substrate 2 is conveyed by the bundle holding roll 3, the bundle holding roll 4, and the main roll 5, so that the driving force for unwinding the protective member B from the bundle holding roll 91 increases the protective member B is pulled in the conveying direction by the main roll 5 and the bundle holding roll 4 . Therefore, the bundle holding roll 91 may not have a drive source such as a motor.

In the present embodiment, the film forming apparatus 1 is also provided with a protective member peeling section 9 b for peeling the protective member B from the base material 2 before the base material 2 is wound around the bundle holding roll 4 . The protective member peeling portion 9 b is a nip roll composed of a pair of cylindrical roll bodies that sandwich the base material 2 at a position in front of the bundle holding roll 4 . The protective member B is separated from the base material 2 by running along the outer peripheral surface of one of the pair of roll bodies forming the protective member peeling portion 9b.

A bundle holding roll 92 is provided in the vicinity of the protective member peeling portion 9b, and the protective member B peeled from the base material 2 is guided to the bundle holding roll 92 and wound up.

The bundle holding roll 92 is a cylindrical roll body, attached to a drive source such as a motor (not shown), and driven to rotate about its own central axis. The protective member B is first peeled off from the base material 2 manually at the position of the protective member peeling portion 9 b and wound around the bundle holding roll 92 . After that, the bundle holding roll 92 is driven to rotate, so that the protective member B is automatically and continuously peeled off from the substrate 2 at the position of the protective member collecting portion 9b and wound up by the bundle holding roll 92 . Here, the recovery speed of the protective member B by the bundle holding roll 92 is the same as the recovery speed of the base material 2 by the bundle holding roll 4 .

Further, after the formation of the thin film on the entire base material 2 is completed and the entire protective member B is wound around the bundle holding roll 92, the bundle holding roll 92 is replaced with the bundle holding roll 91. The protection member B can be reused.

Here, the portion indicated by the thick line in FIG. 1 indicates the portion where the protective member B is conveyed. This also applies to subsequent drawings. In FIG. 1, the transport path of the protective member B and the transport path of the base material 2 are aligned in the portion between the protective member bonding portion 9a and the protective member peeling portion 9b in the transport route of the base material 2. , it can be seen that the protective member B is attached to the base material 2 only in this portion. Since all of the film forming surface side rolls 8 a downstream of the film forming chamber 7 are positioned on the path indicated by the thick line, the thin film on the substrate 2 is formed until it is taken up by the bundle holding roll 4 . Since contact with the film forming surface side roll 8a is completely avoided, it is possible to prevent the thin film from being damaged by the surface of the film forming surface side roll 8a. Therefore, the film forming apparatus 1 of the present invention can form a thin film on the substrate 2 without reducing the performance of the thin film.

In addition, the protective member peeling portion 9b peels off the protective member B before the base material 2 is wound around the bundle holding roll 4, so that before the protective member B is bonded to the base material 2 by the protective member bonding portion 9a. Particles and the like adhering to the thin film are transferred to the adhesive surface of the protective member B, and the bundle holding roll 4 can wind the base material 2 in a state in which particles are not adhered to the base material 2. - 特許庁

In addition, winding misalignment that may occur when the bundle holding roll 4 winds the base material 2 together with the protective member B is prevented, and only the base material 2 is wound up.

In this embodiment, when the protective member B is peeled off at the protective member peeling portion 9b, the adhesive force of the protective member B is adjusted to the same as that of the base material 2 in order to prevent the thin film from being peeled off together with the protective member B. It is preferably relatively weak within conditions that do not cause displacement while being transported into the air.

Next, FIG. 3 shows a protective member B in another embodiment. In this embodiment, the protective member B has strong adhesive portions B1 at both ends in the width direction of the surface facing the substrate 2, and weak adhesive portions B2 therebetween. The adhesive force in the weak adhesive portion B2 is weaker than that in the strong adhesive portion B1, and depending on the case, it does not matter if there is no adhesive force.

As described above, if the adhesive strength of the protective member B is strong, the thin film may peel off together with the protective member B. Here, the thin film formed on the substrate 2 is often required to have performance as a thin film especially in the inner part in the width direction, whereas the thin film formed at both ends in the width direction is cut in a later process and discarded. In some cases, the performance is expected to be low, such as when the thin film is formed, and in some cases, the thin film is not formed at the end in the width direction in the first place. In such a case, the strong adhesive portions B1 facing both ends of the base material 2 in the width direction are bonded to the film forming surface side of the base material 2 with a strong adhesive force, while the portions between the both ends of the base material 2 By keeping the adhesive force between the base material 2 and the protective member B weak, it is possible to prevent the important part of the thin film from being peeled off together with the protective member B when the protective member B is peeled off from the base material 2. be able to.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a protective member B in still another embodiment. FIG. 4(a) is a diagram showing the positional relationship between the protective member B and the base material 2, and FIG. 4(b) is a positional relationship between the base material 2 to which the protective member B is bonded and the film forming surface side roll 8a. It is a figure showing. In this embodiment, the protective member B faces only a part of the base material 2 in the width direction of the base material 2 and is bonded. In the form of FIG. 4A, the protective member B is attached only to both ends of the substrate 2 in the width direction.

When the substrate 2 to which the protective member B is attached only partially in this manner contacts the film-forming surface side roll 8a, the portion of the substrate 2 to which the protective member B is not attached and the film-forming surface side roll are in contact with each other. As shown in FIG. 4(b), a gap S is formed between the roll 8a and the thin film M formed on the substrate 2, so that contact between the thin film M formed on the substrate 2 and the outer peripheral surface of the film forming surface side roll 8a is prevented. can be prevented.

In this embodiment, the parts to which the protective member B is attached are parts such as both ends in the width direction of the base material 2 where the performance of the thin film is not expected because it is cut and discarded in a later process, or where the thin film is formed in the first place. It is preferable to select a portion that is not exposed, and by doing so, it is possible to prevent important portions of the thin film from being peeled off together with the protective member B when the protective member B is peeled off from the base material 2 . It is useful to use such a protective member B when the dimension of the width direction of the base material 2 is comparatively small and bending does not occur easily.

FIG. 5 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to another embodiment of the invention.

In this film forming apparatus 1, the rotation directions of the bundle holding roll 3 and the bundle holding roll 4 can be reversed, so that the conveying direction of the substrate 2 can be reversed. In FIG. 1, the substrate 2 is unwound from the bundle holding roll 3 and wound onto the bundle holding roll 4. However, the rotation directions of the bundle holding roll 3, the bundle holding roll 4, and the main roll are reversed, the bundle holding roll 4 becomes the delivery side and the bundle holding roll 3 becomes the winding side opposite to the above. Then, film formation is performed while the transport direction of the base material 2 is reversed at predetermined time intervals, so that film formation is performed while the base material 2 reciprocates within the film forming apparatus 1 .

Here, in this embodiment, the film forming chamber 7 is separated so that the protective member B can be attached to the base material 2 on the downstream side of the film forming chamber 7 even when the conveying direction of the base material 2 is reversed. A protective member bonding portion 9a and a protective member peeling portion 9b are provided on both sides of the conveying path of the base material 2. As shown in FIG. By doing so, the thin film formed on the substrate 2 and the film forming surface side roll 8a are in physical contact even when the substrate 2 is reversed and conveyed in the film forming apparatus 1 to form a film. can be avoided.

In this film forming apparatus 1, as indicated by the thick line in FIG. Alternatively, the protective member B may be adhered to the film formation surface of the base material 2 until just before the film formation by the film formation chamber 7 . By doing so, it is possible to prevent particles and the like from adhering to the film forming surface of the substrate 2 .

FIG. 6 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

In this film forming apparatus 1, the protective member B peeled from the base material 2 in the protective member peeling section 9b is guided by a plurality of guide rolls, guided to the protective member bonding section 9a, and bonded to the base material 2 again. That is, a circulation path for the protection member B is formed so that the protection member B can be reused. Here, each guide roll 95 may be a free roll that is not connected to a drive source, or some of the guide rolls 95 may be connected to a drive source so as to assist the force for circulating the protective member B. It's okay to be.

In the case of the film forming apparatus 1 of the embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to prepare a protective member B having the same length as the base material 2, whereas in the film forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment The length of the protective member B that can form the circulation path is sufficient, and the length of the protective member B to be prepared can be made relatively short.

Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the circulation path of the protective member B is provided on both the upstream side and the downstream side of the film forming chamber 7, so that when the transport direction of the substrate 2 can be reversed, in which transport direction The protective member B protects the thin film formed on the substrate 2 even when the substrate 2 is being conveyed, and the thin film can be prevented from coming into contact with the film forming surface side roll 8a. In addition, the film formation of the substrate 2 is performed until immediately before the film formation by the film formation chamber 7 using the protective member bonding portion 9a and the protective member peeling portion 9b which are upstream of the film formation chamber 7 in the conveying direction of the substrate 2. By attaching the protective member B to the surface, it is possible to prevent particles and the like from adhering to the film forming surface of the substrate 2 .

FIG. 8 shows a film forming apparatus 1 according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

In this film forming apparatus 1, the base material 2 is wound around the bundle holding roll 4 while the protective member B is adhered to the protective member adhered portion 9a. By winding the base material 2 together with the protective member B in this way, it is possible to prevent the thin film from coming into contact with the back surface of the base material 2 while the base material 2 is wound up.

Further, in the film forming apparatus 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. It is preferable that the protective member B is peeled off from the substrate 2 by the provided protective member peeling portion 9 b before the film is formed by the film forming chamber 7 .

With the film forming apparatus described above, it is possible to form a functional film on a base material without reducing the performance of the functional film.

Here, the film forming apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the illustrated form, and may be of other forms within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the present description, an embodiment in which a barrier film corresponds to a functional film is shown, but the film forming apparatus of the present invention is used to form other functional films such as a transparent conductive film and an antireflection film without being limited to this. May be used.

Further, the guide member forming the transport path of the base material is not limited to a roll body such as the guide roll 8 in the above description, and may be a belt or the like.

In addition, although plasma CVD is used to form the thin film in this description, other CVD methods such as catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat CVD), or other vacuum methods such as sputtering and vapor deposition may be used. A film forming method may be used.

Also, although the number of deposition chambers is two in the above description, the number of chambers is not limited to one and may be three or more.

Also, in the above description, the base material is a PET film, but the base material is not limited to this, and may be another resin film such as a PEN film. Moreover, it is not limited to a resin film, and may be, for example, a metal film.

In the above explanation, the method of bonding the base material and the protective member is based on adhesive strength, but is not limited to this, and may be based on, for example, static electricity.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 film forming apparatus 2 substrate 3 bundle holding roll 4 bundle holding roll 5 main roll 6 main roll chamber 7 film forming chamber 7a film forming chamber 7b film forming chamber 8 guide roll (guide member)
8a film forming surface side roll 8b back side roll 9a protective member bonding portion 9b protective member peeling portion 31 core portion 41 core portion 51 outer peripheral surface 61 partition portion 71 vacuum pump 72 plasma electrode 73 source gas supply portion 74 electrode cover 91 bundle holding Roll 92 Bundle holding roll 95 Guide roll 100 Film formation device 101 Substrate 102 Film formation chamber 103 Main roll 104 Guide roll 104a Film forming surface side roll 104b Rear side roll B Protection member B1 Strong adhesion part B2 Weak adhesion part M Thin film S Gap

Claims (6)

a film forming chamber for forming a thin film on the film forming surface side of the substrate conveyed by roll-to-roll;
a guide member that forms a transport path for the substrate by contacting the film-formed surface side of the substrate or the opposite side thereof and guiding the transport direction of the substrate;
A flexible protection provided between the guide member and the film forming chamber, which is positioned downstream of the film forming chamber in the transport path of the substrate and first comes into contact with the film forming surface side of the substrate. a protective member bonding portion that bonds the member to the film forming surface side of the base material;
and
A film forming apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the conveying direction of the base material can be reversed, and the protective member bonding portions are provided on both sides of the conveying path of the base material with the film forming chamber interposed therebetween. The surface of the protective member on the side facing the base material is characterized in that the adhesive strength of the portions facing both ends of the base material in the width direction of the base material is higher than the adhesive strength of the portions therebetween. Item 1. The film forming apparatus according to item 1. 2. The film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the protective member faces only a part of the substrate in the width direction of the substrate. 4. The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the substrate is wound while the protective member is attached to the substrate. 4. The film forming apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a protective member peeling section for peeling the protective member from the substrate before the substrate is wound. 6. The film forming apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the protective member peeled off by the protective member peeling section is sent to the protective member bonding section, and a circulation path for the protective member is formed.

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