JP7465438B2 - Glass roll manufacturing method and glass roll manufacturing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a glass roll and an apparatus for manufacturing a glass roll.

Glass rolls are manufactured by winding a strip of glass film into a roll. While the manufactured strip of glass film is being transported, manufacturing-related processes such as cutting, film formation, surface treatment, and cleaning are performed on the strip of glass film.

In addition, when manufacturing-related processes are performed while transporting as described above, the glass film may be transported while being adsorbed to the belt surface of the belt conveyor in the manufacturing-related process area or in the area before and after the manufacturing-related process area in the transport direction (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By using a belt conveyor capable of adsorption, the glass film can be stably held, and the transport speed of the glass film can be controlled by the feed speed of the belt conveyor. This makes it possible to perform manufacturing-related processes accurately and stably, thereby making it possible to obtain a high-quality glass roll.

JP 2018-150131 A

Incidentally, when providing a suction-capable belt conveyor as described in Patent Document 1, in order to accurately wind up the glass film in the winding section without shifting in the width direction, it is possible to arrange the belt conveyor at a position relatively close to the winding section so that sufficient tension can be applied to the glass film supplied to the winding section. In this case, the glass film passing on the belt conveyor is in a state of being cut off from the glass film located upstream of the belt conveyor. Therefore, if deformation such as wrinkles occurs in the glass film that has passed through the belt conveyor, the above-mentioned deformations tend to accumulate and become large as the glass film continues to be transported. In addition, since the distance from the belt conveyor to the winding section is short, deformations such as wrinkles that have occurred once are difficult to eliminate. Therefore, there is an increased risk of the glass film being damaged by winding up the glass film in this state into a roll in the winding section.

In view of the above circumstances, the technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to eliminate or suppress deformations such as wrinkles that occur during transport of the glass film when manufacturing a glass roll by winding the glass film while adjusting the transport speed of the glass film, and to accurately wind the glass film into a roll without damaging it.

The above-mentioned problem is solved by the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention. That is, this manufacturing method is a glass roll manufacturing method in which a strip-shaped glass film is unwound in an unwinding section and the unwound glass film is wound up in a winding section to obtain a glass roll, and is characterized in that a conveying speed adjustment section is provided between the unwinding section and the winding section to adjust the conveying speed when the glass film unwound by the unwinding section is conveyed toward the winding section, and a conveying distance change section is provided between the conveying speed adjustment section and the winding section to change the conveying distance of the glass film in the width direction of the glass film. In this specification, the width direction of the glass film means the direction perpendicular to both the longitudinal direction and the thickness direction of the glass film.

In this way, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, a conveying distance changer capable of changing the conveying distance of the glass film in the width direction of the glass film is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit. With this configuration, the conveying distance of the glass film can be made different in the width direction of the glass film that reaches the conveying distance changer via the conveying speed adjustment unit. Therefore, for example, when deformation such as wrinkles occurs on one side of the width direction of the glass film and tends to expand, the conveying distance on one side of the width direction of the glass film can be made larger than the conveying distance on the other side of the width direction of the glass film to eliminate or suppress the deformation such as wrinkles on one side of the width direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deformation such as wrinkles from accumulating and becoming large. Therefore, by winding the glass film in this state, it is possible to prevent breakage during winding and stably obtain a high-quality glass roll.

In addition, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, a glass film manufacturing-related processing section may be provided between the unwinding section and the conveying speed adjustment section.

According to the glass roll manufacturing method of the present invention, even when a glass film conveyance speed adjustment unit is provided, it is possible to eliminate or suppress deformation such as wrinkles that occur during conveyance of the glass film, and to accurately wind the glass film into a roll without damaging it. By providing the manufacturing-related processing unit of the glass film between the unwinding unit and the conveyance speed adjustment unit, the glass film is restrained in the conveyance speed adjustment unit after the manufacturing-related processing of the glass film, and it is possible to prevent the influence of the restraint on the glass film from extending to the manufacturing-related processing unit. As a result, since the conveyance speed adjustment unit is disposed in a position close to the winding unit, it is possible to safely wind up the glass film that has been subjected to the manufacturing-related processing to stably obtain a high-quality glass roll.

In addition, in the glass film manufacturing method according to the present invention, a lamination unit is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit, which laminates a protective film onto the glass film by attaching the protective film to the glass film via an adhesive layer, and a conveying distance change unit may be provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the lamination unit.

In the lamination section where a protective film is laminated onto a glass film, nip rolls or the like are arranged on both sides of the glass film, so that the glass film is fixed and transported. Between the two locations where the glass film is fixed and transported, such as between the lamination section and the transport speed adjustment section, deformations such as wrinkles tend to accumulate in the glass film. According to the glass roll manufacturing method of the present invention, a transport distance change section is provided between the lamination section and the transport speed adjustment section, so that the accumulation of deformations such as wrinkles can be effectively prevented.

In addition, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, the conveying distance change unit may be configured to change the conveying distance of the glass film at the widthwise end of the glass film.

When the glass film unwound from the glass roll is wound back onto the glass roll while adjusting the conveying speed, deformations such as wrinkles tend to be particularly noticeable at the widthwise ends of the glass film. In light of this, in the present invention, a conveying distance change unit is configured so that the conveying distance of the glass film can be changed at the widthwise ends of the glass film. By configuring in this way, it is possible to more effectively enjoy the effects of varying the conveying distance in the width direction of the glass film. Therefore, it is possible to more effectively eliminate or suppress deformations such as wrinkles and more reliably obtain a high-quality glass roll.

In addition, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, the conveying distance change unit may be provided at multiple different positions in the conveying direction of the glass film.

By providing the transport distance changer at multiple locations in the transport direction as described above, the transport distance of the glass film can be changed more significantly. In other words, the transport distance can be made to differ more significantly in the width direction of the same glass film. Therefore, even if the deformation such as wrinkles is large, the deformation can be effectively eliminated or suppressed. In addition, by providing the transport distance changer at multiple locations, the transport distance can be changed at different positions in the width direction of the glass film. For example, the upstream transport distance changer can increase the transport distance on one side of the width direction of the glass film to eliminate or suppress deformation such as wrinkles that occurs on the one side of the width direction, while the downstream transport distance changer can slightly increase the transport distance on the other side of the width direction of the glass film to finely adjust the transport distance of the glass film. Therefore, the above configuration makes it possible to adjust the transport distance with higher accuracy.

In addition, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, when the conveying speed adjustment unit is disposed in a relatively upper region, the winding unit is disposed in a relatively lower region, and a direction change region in which the conveying direction of the glass film that has passed through the conveying speed adjustment unit is changed is disposed between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit, the conveying distance change unit may be disposed in the direction change region.

When the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit are disposed at different positions in the height direction in this way, it becomes necessary to change the conveying direction of the glass film between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit (provide a direction change region). In the direction change region, the conveying direction of the glass film is usually changed from the horizontal direction (including cases where there is a slight inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction) to a vertically downward direction (including cases where there is a slight inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction), so that a portion of the glass film may be deformed into a curved shape in the conveying direction change region. Therefore, by providing a conveying distance change unit in the direction change region, the conveying distance of the portion of the glass film that is deformed into a curved shape can be changed in the width direction. In the case of a portion of the glass film that is deformed into a curved shape, for example, by pressing the curved portion from the concave side, it is easier to make the conveying distance of the glass film different in the width direction than in the flat portion of the glass film.

In addition, in the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention, the conveying distance change unit may be configured with a roller capable of surface contact with the glass film, and the roller may be configured to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to its rotation axis.

In this way, by configuring the conveying distance change unit with a roller capable of surface contact with the glass film, the roller can be used as a support roller that supports the glass film while conveying it. In other words, an existing support roller can be used as the roller of the conveying distance change unit. In this case, by configuring the roller to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to its rotation axis, the roller can be made to come into surface contact with the glass film while being tilted with respect to the width direction of the glass film. This allows the conveying distance on one side of the glass film in the width direction to be greater than the conveying distance on the other side of the width direction while supporting the glass film with the roller. Therefore, it is possible to effectively eliminate or suppress deformation such as wrinkles that occurs in the glass film while ensuring smooth conveyance of the glass film.

The above-mentioned problem is also solved by the glass roll manufacturing device according to the present invention. That is, this manufacturing device is a glass roll manufacturing device including an unwinding section that unwinds a strip-shaped glass film, a winding section that winds up the unwound glass film to obtain a glass roll, and a conveying speed adjustment section that is provided between the unwinding section and the winding section and adjusts the conveying speed when the glass film unwound by the unwinding section is conveyed toward the winding section, and is characterized in that a conveying distance change section that can change the conveying distance of the glass film in the width direction of the glass film is provided between the conveying speed adjustment section and the winding section.

In this way, in the glass roll manufacturing device according to the present invention, a conveying distance changer capable of changing the conveying distance of the glass film in the width direction of the glass film is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit and the winding unit. With this configuration, the conveying distance of the glass film can be made different in the width direction of the glass film that reaches the conveying distance changer via the conveying speed adjustment unit. Therefore, for example, when deformation such as wrinkles occurs on one side of the width direction of the glass film and tends to expand, the conveying distance on one side of the width direction of the glass film can be made larger than the conveying distance on the other side of the width direction of the glass film to eliminate or suppress the deformation such as wrinkles on one side of the width direction. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deformation such as wrinkles from accumulating and becoming large. Therefore, by winding the glass film in this state, it is possible to prevent breakage during winding and stably obtain a high-quality glass roll.

As described above, according to the present invention, when a glass roll is manufactured by winding a glass film while adjusting the conveying speed of the glass film, it is possible to eliminate or suppress deformations such as wrinkles that occur during the conveyance of the glass film, and to accurately wind the glass film into a roll without damaging it.

1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a glass roll manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from the side. FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view of the transport distance change unit shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 3 is a front view of the transport distance change unit and its drive mechanism shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 3 is a plan view of a transport distance changer and its drive mechanism shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 3 is a plan view for explaining an adjustment example of the conveying distance change unit shown in FIG. 2 . 4 is a plan view for explaining another adjustment example of the conveying distance change unit shown in FIG. 2 . FIG. 13 is a plan view of a transport distance change unit and its drive mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

The first embodiment of the glass roll manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to Figures 1 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, the glass roll manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes an unwinding unit 2 that unwinds the glass film G from a first glass roll GR1, a manufacturing-related processing unit 3 that performs a predetermined manufacturing-related process on the unwound glass film G, a winding unit 4 that winds up the glass film G that has been subjected to the manufacturing-related process to obtain a second glass roll GR2, a conveying speed adjustment unit 5 that adjusts the conveying speed of the glass film G, and a conveying distance change unit 6. In this embodiment, the glass roll manufacturing apparatus 1 further includes a lamination unit 7 that laminates a protective film F on the glass film G.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 is disposed upstream of the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 in the conveying direction of the glass film G, and the conveying distance change unit 6 is disposed between the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the winding unit 4. In addition, the lamination unit 7 is disposed between the conveying distance change unit 6 and the winding unit 4.

In this embodiment, a first direction change area 8 that changes the conveying direction of the glass film G from the upward direction to the horizontal direction is disposed between the unwinding unit 2 and the manufacturing-related processing unit 3, and a second direction change area 9 that changes the conveying direction of the glass film G from the horizontal direction (including the case where the conveying direction has a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction) to the downward direction is disposed between the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the lamination unit 7 (winding unit 4). As a result, the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 and the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 are located in a relatively upper area, and the unwinding unit 2 and the winding unit 4 are located in a relatively lower area. In addition, in terms of the XYZ coordinate system shown in FIG. 1, the X direction and the Y direction coincide with the horizontal direction, and the Z direction coincides with the vertical direction (upward and downward). In addition, the Y direction coincides with the width direction of the glass film G.

The unwinding unit 2 unwinds the glass film G from the first glass roll GR1 and supplies the unwound glass film G to the manufacturing-related processing unit 3. Here, the glass film G is a base glass film formed into a strip shape by a predetermined forming unit (not shown) or a glass film obtained by subjecting the base glass film to a predetermined manufacturing-related processing.

In this embodiment, the manufacturing-related processing section 3 includes a chemical processing device 10 that performs a predetermined chemical treatment on the end surface of the glass film G unwound from the first glass roll GR1, a surface processing device 11 that performs a predetermined surface treatment on the glass film G that has been subjected to the chemical treatment, and a cleaning device 12 that cleans the glass film G that has been subjected to the surface treatment. Note that the configuration of the manufacturing-related processing section 3 shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example. Two or less or four or more processing devices may be provided as necessary. In addition, the type of processing device is not limited to that shown in the figure, and any device that is generally used for processing that is recognized as being related to the manufacturing of the glass film G, such as a cutting device or a film forming device, may be provided.

The winding unit 4 rotates the winding core 13 to wind up the glass film G that has been subjected to manufacturing-related processing by the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 into a roll. In this embodiment, a protective film F is laminated onto the glass film G by a lamination unit 7 arranged upstream of the winding unit 4 in the conveying direction of the glass film G, and the resulting laminated film GF is wound into a roll. Thus, the second glass roll GR2 obtained by the winding unit 4 has a form in which the glass film G and the protective film F are alternately stacked. The second glass roll GR2 may be produced by interposing a resin sheet such as a polyethylene terephthalate sheet (not shown) between the glass film G and the protective film F as a buffer sheet and winding it up.

The conveying speed adjustment unit 5 is a conveying device that supports and conveys the glass film G, and is configured to be able to adjust the conveying speed of the glass film G. In this embodiment, the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 is a belt conveyor 14 that can adsorb the glass film G, and includes, for example, an air intake device that draws in air through holes provided in the belt of the belt conveyor 14, a driving source such as a motor that applies driving force to the belt, and a control unit that controls the driving source (all of which are omitted from the illustration). Here, the conveying support surface 14a of the belt conveyor 14 may be oriented in the horizontal direction (X direction in this illustrated example). Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 2, the belt conveyor 14 may be tilted and arranged so that the conveying support surface 14a has a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction of the conveying support surface (so that it is lower toward the downstream side).

In this embodiment, the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 is exemplified as a belt conveyor 14 capable of adsorbing the glass film G, but of course, this is not limited to this. Any configuration is possible as long as the desired conveying speed can be imparted to the glass film G while the glass film G is held.

Although not shown in the figure, in addition to the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 as a conveying device, another conveying device for conveying the glass film G may be provided between the unwinding unit 2 and the winding unit 4. In this case, the other conveying device is not limited to a belt conveyor, and may be a roller conveyor or any other type of conveying mechanism.

The lamination unit 7 is capable of laminating the protective film F on the glass film G by attaching the protective film F to the glass film G via an adhesive layer (not shown), and has a pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b and a protective film roll FR in which the protective film F is wound up in a roll. Although not shown, the protective film roll FR is formed by overlapping a separator with an adhesive layer formed on one side of the strip-shaped protective film F, and winding it up in a roll around a winding core 16. The protective film roll FR is disposed near the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b, and is configured to be able to supply the protective film F between the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b. Depending on the type and adhesive strength of the adhesive layer, it is also possible to omit the separator.

Figure 2 is a side view of the main parts of the transport distance change unit 6. As shown in Figure 2, the transport distance change unit 6 has movable rollers 17, 18 that can come into surface contact with the glass film G during transport. In this embodiment, both of the two movable rollers 17, 18 are disposed in the second direction change region 9. In this case, by changing the form of surface contact of each of the movable rollers 17, 18 with the glass film G, the transport distance of the portion of the glass film G that passes through the transport distance change unit 6 can be changed in the width direction of the glass film G (the Y direction in this illustrated example).

The above-mentioned change in the form of surface contact can be achieved by rotating the movable rollers 17, 18 around an axis A2 in a direction different from the central axis A1 of the axial rotation (for example, a direction perpendicular to the central axis A1 of the axial rotation), as shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 shows an example of a drive mechanism 19 for realizing the above-mentioned operation (rotation around axis A2) of the upstream first movable roller 17. This drive mechanism 19 is composed of bearings 20, 20 that support the first movable roller 17 for rotation at both axial ends, a motor 21, and a connecting part 22 that connects the bearings 20, 20 and the motor 21. In this case, the rotation axis of the motor 21 coincides with axis A2. The direction of axis A2 coincides with the Z direction.

In the drive mechanism 19 configured as above, by driving the motor 21, the bearings 20, 20 and the first movable roller 17, which are connected to the motor 21 via the connecting portion 22, rotate around the vertical axis A2, which is the rotation axis of the motor 21 (see FIG. 4). Therefore, in this case, by adjusting the amount of rotation by the motor 21, it is possible to control the posture of the first movable roller 17 (for example, to the posture shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 4). By providing the second movable roller 18 with the same drive mechanism (not shown) as the drive mechanism 19 shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to control the posture in the same way as the first movable roller 17.

As the material for the glass film G supplied to the manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above configuration, silicate glass or silica glass is used, preferably borosilicate glass, soda lime glass, aluminosilicate glass, or chemically strengthened glass is used, and most preferably alkali-free glass is used. Here, alkali-free glass refers to glass that does not substantially contain an alkali component (alkali metal oxide), and specifically, glass with a weight ratio of the alkali component of 3000 ppm or less. The weight ratio of the alkali component in the present invention is preferably 1000 ppm or less, more preferably 500 ppm or less, and most preferably 300 ppm or less.

The thickness dimension of the glass film G is from 10 μm to 300 μm, preferably from 30 μm to 200 μm, and most preferably from 30 μm to 100 μm.

The above-mentioned glass film G can be formed by a known float method, roll-out method, slot downdraw method, redraw method, etc., but is preferably formed by the overflow downdraw method.

The material of the protective film F supplied between the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b may be, for example, an ionomer film, a polyethylene film, a polypropylene film, a polyvinyl chloride film, a polyvinylidene chloride film, a polyvinyl alcohol film, a polyester film, a polycarbonate film, a polystyrene film, a polyacrylonitrile film, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer film, an ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer film, an ethylene-methacrylic acid copolymer film, a nylon (registered trademark) film (polyamide film), a polyimide film, an organic resin film (synthetic resin film) such as cellophane, etc., and it is preferable to use a polyethylene terephthalate film (PET film).

The thickness of the protective film F is preferably 10 μm or more and 1000 μm or less, and more preferably 20 μm or more and 500 μm or less.

The following describes a method for manufacturing a glass roll (second glass roll GR2) using the manufacturing device 1 configured as described above. This method includes an unwinding process S1, a first direction change process S2, a manufacturing-related processing process S3, a conveying speed adjustment process S4, a second direction change process S5, a conveying distance change process S6, a stacking process S7, and a winding process S8.

In the unwinding process S1, the glass film G is unwound from the first glass roll GR1 of the unwinding unit 2 installed at a predetermined position of the manufacturing device 1, and is transported to the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 located downstream of the first glass roll GR1 by the transport speed adjustment unit 5 and, if necessary, a transport device not shown. In this embodiment, the unwinding unit 2 is located in a relatively lower area, and the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 is located in a relatively upper area (see FIG. 1). Therefore, a first direction change area 8 is provided between the unwinding unit 2 and the manufacturing-related processing unit 3, and in this first direction change area 8, the transport direction of the glass film G transported upward (Z direction in FIG. 1) is converted to a horizontal direction (X direction in FIG. 1) and transported to the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 (first direction change process S2).

In the manufacturing-related processing step S3, a predetermined manufacturing-related processing is performed on the glass film G passing through the manufacturing-related processing section 3. In this embodiment, a chemical processing device 10, a surface processing device 11, and a cleaning device 12 are arranged in this order from the upstream side of the conveying direction of the glass film G. Therefore, the glass film G unwound from the first glass roll GR1 is subjected to chemical processing of the end surface by the chemical processing device 10, surface processing by the surface processing device 11, and cleaning processing by the cleaning device 12 in this order. In addition, by arranging a conveying speed adjustment unit 5 downstream of the manufacturing-related processing section 3, the conveying speed of the glass film G passing through the manufacturing-related processing section 3 is adjusted to a predetermined magnitude (conveying speed adjustment step S4). This makes it possible to stably apply the various manufacturing-related processing described above to the glass film G.

The glass film G subjected to a predetermined process by the manufacturing-related processing unit 3 reaches the second direction change region 9 through the conveying speed adjustment unit 5. Here, the second direction change region 9 is provided with a conveying distance change unit 6. The conveying distance change unit 6 has two movable rollers 17, 18, and at least one of these two movable rollers 17, 18 is displaced from a reference state (a state shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 5) to a predetermined state. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the first movable roller 17 located relatively upstream is in a state in which the central axis A1 of the shaft rotation coincides with the width direction (here, the Y direction) of the glass film G, and is rotated by a predetermined angle θ1 around the axis A2 (here, the Z direction) in a direction perpendicular to the central axis A1. The second movable roller 18 located relatively downstream is in a state in which the central axis A1 of the shaft rotation coincides with the width direction (Y direction) of the glass film G, and is rotated by a predetermined angle θ2 around the axis A2 (here, the Z direction) in a direction perpendicular to the central axis A1. The rotation direction at this time is set so that the conveying distance on the side (e.g., the left side in FIG. 5) where deformation such as wrinkles is likely to occur in the width direction of the glass film G is relatively long. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the rotation direction of each of the movable rollers 17, 18 is set so that the conveying distance between the axial end sides 17a, 18a of the first and second movable rollers 17, 18 and one width direction side Ga of the glass film G is long.

By varying the conveying distance of the glass film G passing through the conveying distance changing unit 6 in this way in the width direction, deformation such as wrinkles that have occurred in the glass film G is eliminated or suppressed. Therefore, in this second direction changing region 9, while the conveying distance changing unit 6 eliminates or suppresses deformation such as wrinkles that have occurred in the glass film G as described above, the conveying direction of the glass film G, which is conveyed horizontally (X direction in FIG. 1) or slightly diagonally downward as shown in FIG. 2, is changed to a downward direction (Z direction in FIG. 1) and conveyed to the lamination unit 7 (second direction changing step S5, conveying distance changing step S6).

In the lamination step S7, a protective film F is laminated on the glass film G that has reached the lamination section 7 located downstream of each movable roller 17, 18. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b is arranged on the conveying path of the glass film G, and the protective film F is unwound from a protective film roll FR arranged near the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b and supplied between the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b. Here, since an adhesive layer (not shown) is integrally provided on the protective film F, the glass film G and the protective film F are sandwiched between the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b, and the protective film F is attached to the glass film G via the adhesive layer. As a result, a laminated film GF in which the glass film G and the protective film F are laminated is obtained. In addition, since the deformation such as wrinkles that has occurred in the glass film G is eliminated or suppressed in the conveying distance change step S6 on the upstream side, the glass film G having a flat shape can be stably attached to the protective film F.

In the subsequent winding process S8, the laminated film GF obtained in the lamination process S7 is wound around a winding core 13 to obtain a second glass roll GR2. In this embodiment, this second glass roll GR2 is shipped as a glass roll as the final product.

As described above, in the manufacturing method of the glass roll (second glass roll GR2) according to the present embodiment, the conveying distance change unit 6 capable of changing the conveying distance of the glass film G in the width direction of the glass film G is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the winding unit 4. With this configuration, the conveying distance of the glass film G can be made different in the width direction for the glass film G that reaches the conveying distance change unit 6 via the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 (see FIG. 5). Therefore, for example, when deformation such as wrinkles occurs on one width direction side Ga of the glass film G and tends to expand, the conveying distance on one width direction side Ga of the glass film G is made larger than the conveying distance on the other width direction side Gb of the glass film G, so that the deformation such as wrinkles on the one width direction side Ga can be eliminated or reduced. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the deformation such as wrinkles from accumulating and becoming large. Therefore, by winding up the glass film G (in this embodiment, the laminated film GF) in this state, it is possible to prevent breakage during winding and stably obtain a high-quality glass roll (second glass roll GR2).

In addition, in this embodiment, a lamination unit 7 that performs lamination by attaching a protective film F is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the winding unit 4, and a conveying distance change unit 6 is provided between the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the lamination unit 7. When the glass film G and the protective film F are sandwiched and laminated by a pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b as in this embodiment, the glass film G is cut at the position where it is sandwiched by the pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b. When the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 is a belt conveyor 14 that can be adsorbed, the glass film G is cut on the belt conveyor 14 as described above. Therefore, when a pair of clamping rollers 15a, 15b is disposed between the belt conveyor 14 and the winding unit 4, the distance between the regions of the glass film G that are cut at two different points becomes short, and deformation such as wrinkles can easily occur and expand. In addition, since the conveying distance of the glass film G until the next edge cutting is short, there is little possibility that deformation such as wrinkles that has occurred once will be eliminated or suppressed. In contrast, according to the manufacturing method of the glass roll (second glass roll GR2) according to this embodiment, the conveying distance change unit 6 can eliminate or suppress deformation such as wrinkles that occurs during the conveying of the glass film G, and the glass film G can be accurately wound into a roll without being damaged. Therefore, even when the conveying speed adjustment unit 5 and the lamination unit 7 are disposed close to each other as in this embodiment, manufacturing-related processes can be performed on the glass film G with high precision without worrying about deformation such as wrinkles.

The above describes a first embodiment of the glass roll manufacturing method and manufacturing device according to the present invention, but this manufacturing method and manufacturing device can naturally take any form within the scope of the present invention.

For example, in the first embodiment, the conveying distance change unit 6 is configured with two movable rollers 17, 18, and the drive mechanism 19 is configured to rotate each of the movable rollers 17, 18 around the vertical axis A2. In this configuration, the two movable rollers 17, 18 are rotated in the same direction to adjust the axial end sides 17a, 18a of each of the movable rollers 17, 18 to be in large contact with one width direction side Ga of the glass film G, but the contact form between the movable rollers 17, 18 and the glass film G is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, it is also possible to adjust the first movable roller 17 on the upstream side to be rotated in the same direction as in FIG. 5, and the second movable roller 18 on the downstream side to be rotated in the opposite direction to the first movable roller 17. In this case, the axial end side 17a of the first movable roller 17 and the width direction side Ga of the glass film G are in relatively large contact, and the other axial end side 18b of the second movable roller 18 and the other width direction side Gb of the glass film G are in relatively large contact. Therefore, in this case, the conveying distance of the glass film G is relatively long on one widthwise side Ga that contacts the axial end side 17a of the first movable roller 17, and the conveying distance is relatively long on the other widthwise side Gb that contacts the axial end side 18b of the second movable roller 18. In this way, by configuring the conveying distance change unit 6 with two or more movable rollers 17, 18, the conveying distance of the glass film G can be finely adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to adjust the conveying distance more accurately than by adjusting the conveying distance with only one movable roller 17 (18).

In the above embodiment, the two movable rollers 17 and 18 are configured to be rotatable around the vertical axis A2 perpendicular to the central axis A1 of their axial rotation, but other movable forms are also possible. FIG. 7 shows a plan view of the main parts of the conveying distance change unit 30 according to one example (the second embodiment of the present invention). As shown in FIG. 7, the conveying distance change unit 30 according to this embodiment differs from that of the first embodiment in the drive mechanism 32 of the movable roller 31. That is, this drive mechanism 32 differs from the drive mechanism 19 of the first embodiment in that the bearings 33a and 33b provided at both axial ends of the movable roller 31 are configured to be slidable along the longitudinal direction of the slide guides 34a and 34b. In this case, the bearings 33a and 33b also function as slide parts for the slide guides 34a and 34b, respectively. Here, the mechanism for allowing the bearings 33a, 33b to slide relative to the slide guides 34a, 34b is arbitrary, and can be configured using a known linear motion mechanism such as a linear motor or a rack and pinion mechanism. Note that while only one movable roller 31 is shown in FIG. 7, in reality, the conveying distance change unit 30 is configured with two movable rollers 31, 31.

By configuring the drive mechanism 32 of the movable roller 31 in this manner, the degree of freedom of the position of the movable roller 31 can be increased compared to the first embodiment. Therefore, the contact form with the glass film G can be set more widely, and thus the conveying distance can be changed more flexibly in the width direction.

The adjustment of the movable rollers 17, 18, and 31 described above can be performed at any time. For example, it may be performed in response to changes in the size (width dimension, thickness dimension), material, etc. of the glass film G being transported. Alternatively, it may be performed while the glass film G is actually being transported (when it is temporarily stopped).

The number of movable rollers 17, 18 (31) is not limited to two. The conveying distance change unit 6 (30) may be configured with one movable roller 17 (18, 31), or the conveying distance change unit 6 may be configured with three or more movable rollers.

In the above embodiment, the transport distance change unit 6 is provided in the second direction change region 9, and the movable rollers 17, 18 (31) also serve as guide rollers during direction change. However, this is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the movable rollers 17, 18 (31) may be arranged so as to come into surface contact with the glass film G before and after the transport direction of the second direction change region 9.

In the above description, the conveying distance change unit 6 (30) is exemplified as having movable rollers 17, 18 (31), but of course this is not limited to this. Any configuration is possible as long as the conveying distance in the width direction of the glass film G can be changed by applying some kind of force to the glass film G. Therefore, for example, the conveying distance change unit can be configured with a movable surface contact part in a form other than a roller.

1 Glass roll manufacturing apparatus 2 Unwinding section 3 Manufacturing-related processing section 4 Winding section 5 Conveying speed adjustment section 6 Conveying distance change section 7 Lamination section 8 First direction change area 9 Second direction change area 10 Chemical treatment device 11 Surface treatment device 12 Cleaning device 13 Winding core 14 Belt conveyor 15a, 15b Grip roller 16 Winding core 17, 18 Movable roller 19 Drive mechanism 20, 20 Bearing 21 Motor 22 Connection section 30 Conveying distance change section 31 Movable roller 32 Drive mechanism 33a, 33b Bearing (slide section)
34a, 34b Slide guide A1 central axis (movable roller)
A2 Vertical axis (movable roller)
F Protective film FR Protective film roll G Glass film GF Laminated film GR1 First glass roll GR2 Second glass roll

Claims (8)

A method for producing a glass roll, comprising: unwinding a band-shaped glass film at an unwinding section; and winding the unwound glass film at a winding section to obtain a glass roll,
A conveying speed adjusting unit is provided between the unwinding unit and the winding unit, the conveying speed adjusting unit adjusting a conveying speed when the glass film unwound by the unwinding unit is conveyed toward the winding unit,
a conveying direction changing region in which a conveying direction of the glass film is changed from a horizontal direction to a downward direction is disposed between the conveying speed adjusting unit and the winding unit,
The method for manufacturing a glass roll, wherein the transport direction changing region is provided with a transport distance changing unit capable of changing the transport distance of the glass film in a width direction of the glass film. The method for manufacturing a glass roll according to claim 1, wherein a processing section for manufacturing the glass film is provided between the unwinding section and the conveying speed adjustment section. a lamination unit configured to laminate a protective film on the glass film by attaching the protective film to the glass film via an adhesive layer is provided between the transport speed adjustment unit and the winding unit,
The method for producing a glass roll according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the conveying distance changing unit is provided between the conveying speed adjusting unit and the laminating unit. The method for manufacturing a glass roll according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the conveying distance change unit is configured to be able to change the conveying distance of the glass film at the width direction end of the glass film. The method for manufacturing a glass roll according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the conveying distance changing unit is provided at a plurality of different positions in the conveying direction of the glass film. 6. The method for manufacturing a glass roll according to claim 1, wherein the conveying speed adjusting unit is disposed in a relatively upper region, and the winding unit is disposed in a relatively lower region. the conveying distance changing unit is composed of a roller capable of surface-contacting the glass film,
7. The method for producing a glass roll according to claim 1, wherein the roller is configured to be rotatable about an axis perpendicular to the rotation axis of the roller. A glass roll manufacturing apparatus including: an unwinding unit that unwinds a strip-shaped glass film; a winding unit that winds up the unwound glass film to obtain a glass roll; and a conveying speed adjustment unit that is provided between the unwinding unit and the winding unit and adjusts a conveying speed when the glass film unwound by the unwinding unit is conveyed toward the winding unit,
a conveying direction changing region in which a conveying direction of the glass film is changed from a horizontal direction to a downward direction is disposed between the conveying speed adjusting unit and the winding unit,
a conveying distance changing unit that is capable of changing a conveying distance of the glass film in a width direction of the glass film is provided in the conveying direction changing region.

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