JPH0671760A - Device for delivering and conveying adhesive film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To efficiently perform a conveyance from the peeling position of the protective film of an adhesive film to the laminating position. CONSTITUTION:A delivery and conveyance device is equipped with a peeling table 5 which sticks and holds an adhesive film F1 while keeping a protective film face upside, a protective film peeling mechanism 7 and a conveyance table 9. The protective film peeling mechanism 7 sticks a peeling tape on the protective film and tears off the protective film from the adhesive film F1. The conveyance table 9 is reciprocated and moved between the lower position of the peeling table 5 and the laminating position of the other film. The peeling table 5 is so constituted that it is divided into first and second table parts 5a, 5b respectively equipped with sticking faces on the upper surfaces and the table parts are brought close to each other, separated and moved. Sticking of only the first table part 5a is released and the table part 5a is separated and moved in a state wherein the conveyance table 9 stands by in the lower part of the peeling table 5. Thereafter sticking of the second table part 5b is released and the table part 5b is separated and moved. The adhesive film F1 is transferred onto the conveyance table 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a delivery / conveying device for an adhesive film used for forming a composite film for optical compensation of an STN type liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in a liquid crystal display device, the twist angle of liquid crystal molecules has been increased to 180 in response to a request for enlargement of a display screen.
A device of about 270 degrees (generally called an STN type liquid crystal display device) has been developed. However, this STN type liquid crystal display device has a drawback in that black and white display cannot be performed because coloring occurs due to birefringence of liquid crystal molecules. Therefore, another method of adding an achromatic liquid crystal cell as an optical compensating plate to the STN type liquid crystal cell to eliminate coloring and enable black and white display has been proposed. As the number of cells increases, the cost increases and the economy becomes poor.

Recently, a method of using a retardation film instead of the achromatic liquid crystal cell has been proposed and implemented. The retardation film has a birefringence property, and light passing through the retardation film has different refractive indexes in two directions orthogonal to each other, so that a phase difference between the orthogonally transmitted light rays after transmission occurs. Utilizing this property, the optical axis of the polarizing plate and the optical axis of the retardation film are appropriately set and laminated, and the STN liquid crystal cell is sandwiched by this composite film to realize black and white display of the STN liquid crystal display device. is doing.

By the way, if a foreign material is present between the polarizing plate and the retardation film, the quality of the display device is deteriorated. Therefore, a protective film is previously attached to the attaching surface of the polarizing plate and the retardation film. Prior to bonding the polarizing plate and the retardation film, both protective films are peeled off, and the polarizing plate and the retardation film from which the protective film has been peeled off are bonded at the bonding position.

As in the case of laminating a polarizing plate and a retardation film to form a composite film for optical compensation, the conventional means for laminating a film having an adhesive layer to another film is as follows. There is a form. That is,
The film with the adhesive side facing up is adsorbed and held on the peeling table, the protective film attached on the adhesive surface is peeled off using the strong adhesive peeling tape, and then the peeling table or the other film is adsorbed and held. The two tables are moved so that the two tables face each other, and then one table is moved along the other table with one end of one film being pressed against the other end of the other film. It is matched.

[0006]

However, the conventional example having such a structure has the following problems. For example, when one of the films peeled off the protective film on the peeling table is moved to the laminating position, the one film having an adhesive surface on the upper side is taken out from the peeling table using a suction arm or the like and conveyed to the laminating position. That is, the adhesive surface is soiled or the film is separated from the suction arm.
There are many difficulties in moving the peeling table itself to the laminating position, but while the peeling table is moving, peeling the protective film from the next film should be performed. Is not possible, the operating rate of the device is reduced. Further, even when the table supporting the other film on the peeling table is moved to perform the bonding, the above protective film is provided while the table supporting the other film is positioned on the peeling table. The peeling process cannot be performed, and the operating rate of the device is low.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a delivery / conveying device for an adhesive film, which can efficiently convey the adhesive film from the protective film peeling to the laminating position. Is intended.

[0008]

The present invention has the following constitution in order to achieve such an object. That is, the present invention, a pressure-sensitive adhesive film a protective film is adhered on the pressure-sensitive adhesive surface, a peeling table for adsorbing and holding the protective film surface upward, and a protective film on the adhesive film adsorbed and held on the peeling table. A protective film peeling mechanism that sticks a strong adhesive peeling tape and flips the protective film from the adhesive film, and a transport table that reciprocates between the lower position of the peeling table and the bonding position to another film. And the peeling table is configured to have a divided structure including a first table portion having a suction surface on an upper surface and a second table portion, and the first table portion and the second table portion are close to each other and It is configured so that it can be separated and moved, and while the transport table is standing by under the peeling table, the suction of only the first table portion is released. After the first table portion is moved away movement relative to the second table portion, in which with a table moving means of separating movement by releasing the adsorption of the second table portion.

[0009]

The operation of the present invention is as follows. According to the above configuration, after the protective film is peeled from the adhesive film on the peeling table, the protective film is peeled off by the suction release and separation movement of the first table portion and the subsequent suction release and separation movement of the second table portion. Is transferred to the transport table waiting below it,
The transport table transports the adhesive film to the position where it is attached to another film. While the transport table transports the pressure-sensitive adhesive film to the position where the pressure-sensitive adhesive film is attached to another film, the protective film peeling process for the next pressure-sensitive adhesive film can be performed on the peeling table.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the entire plane of an automatic laminating apparatus for forming a composite film for optical compensation used in a STN type liquid crystal display device.

The retardation film F ₁ as the first film which is laminated by this device is a rectangular film which is preliminarily cut so that the optical axis is in a predetermined direction, and an adhesive layer is provided on the laminating surface. It is formed on the adhesive film which it has, and the protective film f is stuck on it. Further, the polarizing plate F ₂ as the second film laminated to the retardation film F ₁ is a rectangular film which is preliminarily cut so that the optical axis is in a predetermined direction, and the laminating surface also has a protective film. f is attached.

This automatic film laminating apparatus has a first film accommodating portion 1 in which about 200 sheets of the retardation films F ₁ are stacked with the protective film f on top, and the polarizing plate F with the protective film f on. _{A second} film storage unit 2 in which about 200 sheets of ₂ are stacked, and a first film transport mechanism 3 and a second film transporting the retardation films F _{1 one} by one from the uppermost layer of the first film storage unit 1 and horizontally transporting them. Storage part 2
The second film transport mechanism 4 and the first film transport mechanism 3 which take out the polarizing plates F ₂ one by one from the uppermost layer of the
The peeling table 5 for receiving and placing the retardation film F ₁ conveyed by the above, the sticking table 6 for receiving and placing the polarizing plate F ₂ conveyed by the second film conveying mechanism 4, and the phase difference on the peeling table 4. First protective film peeling mechanism 7 for peeling and collecting the protective film from the film F _1, second protective film peeling mechanism 8 for peeling and collecting the protective film from the polarizing plate F ₂ on the sticking table 6, below the peeling table 4 and the sticking table 6 is provided with a transport table 9 that can reciprocate below and below, and a composite film transport mechanism 11 that can swing back and forth between below the sticking table 6 and above the carry-out conveyor 10, and the like. The detailed configuration of each part will be described below.

2 and 3 show the configurations of the first film storage unit 1 and the first film transport mechanism 3. The first film accommodating portion 1 is a mounting table 1 that is sequentially fed up and down by an actuator (not shown) on the base frame 12.
3, a pair of fixed guide 14 from two directions perpendicular to the retardation film F ₁ group on the mounting table 13 is erected on the base frame 12 for positioning guide, the retardation film F ₁ group on the mounting table 13 each The movable guide 16 is driven by the air cylinder 15 so as to be pressed against the fixed guide 14. It should be noted that the side of the first film accommodating portion 1 is similarly provided with an elevating and lowering table 17, a fixed guide 18, an air cylinder 19
A film recovery unit 21 is provided that is provided with a movable guide 20 driven by.

The first film transport mechanism 3 is a movable table 2 supported horizontally so as to be horizontally movable along a guide rail 22.
3. A screw shaft 24 that feeds the movable table 23 by a screw, an electric motor 25 that drives the screw shaft 24 to rotate forward and backward, and a movable table 23 that is horizontally swingable by 45 ° about the vertical axis a. The swing arm 26, the air cylinder 27 that swings and drives the swing arm 26, and the first lower portion of the swing arm 26 below the swing arm 26.
An elevating bracket 3 supported so as to be able to ascend and descend via an air cylinder 28, a second air cylinder 29, and a guide 30.
1. The movable bracket 31 includes a plurality of suction pads 32 and the like.

The structures of the second film storage unit 2 and the second film transport mechanism 4 are the same as those of the first film storage unit 1 and the first film transport mechanism 3, and the description thereof will be omitted. A film collecting section 33 having the same structure is also provided on the side of the second film storage section 2.

The construction of the peeling table 5 is shown in FIGS. The peeling table 5 is arranged so that the retardation film F ₁ is mounted and sucked and held in a posture in which a diagonal line of the retardation film is directed in the left-right direction, and includes a large portion including three corner portions of the retardation film F _1. A first table portion 5a for sucking and supporting a portion and a second table portion 5a for sucking and supporting the remaining corner portions.
It has a divided structure with the table portion 5b. The first table portion 5a is supported by a movable base 37, which is laterally driven by an air cylinder 36 along a guide rail 35, so as to be vertically swung by an air cylinder 38 around a front-rear horizontal axis b. There is. On the other hand, the second table portion 5b
Is supported by a movable base 41, which is laterally driven by an air cylinder 40 along a guide rail 39, so as to be vertically swung by an air cylinder 42 around a front-rear horizontal axis c. Further, facing the two sides of the peeling table 5 which intersect at right angles,
Positioning guide 44 driven back and forth by air cylinder 43
Has been deployed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the pasting table 6 is arranged so that the polarizing plate F ₂ is placed in a posture in which the diagonal line of the polarizing plate F ₂ is directed in the left-right direction and vacuum suction is held.
It is configured to be positionally reversible and rotatable about the horizontal axis d at an angle of 45 ° via the electric motor 45 and the index mechanism 46, and the upper and lower surfaces thereof are configured as vacuum suction surfaces. In addition, a positioning guide 48 that can move forward and backward by an air cylinder 47 is provided so as to face the two sides orthogonal to each other.

7 to 10 show the structure of the first protective film peeling mechanism 7. The frame 50 of the first protective film peeling mechanism 7 includes a pair of front and rear guide rails 5.
1 is configured as a movable frame that can be horizontally moved horizontally, and is horizontally moved by a screw shaft 53 that is driven in the forward and reverse directions by an electric motor 52. Then, on the movable frame 50, the strongly adhesive peeling tape T is fed out from the tape roll 54, the feeding roller 55, the electric motor 56 for driving the peeling tape T, and the peeled peeling tape T are peeled so that the adhesive surface faces downward. A group of guide rollers 58 that guide and supply the head 57, a guide frame 59 that guides the peeling tape T that is reversed and returned from the peeling head 57, a feed roller 60 that drives and transports the peeling tape T that is returned, and a belt interlocked with this. The drive mechanism 61, etc. are equipped. In addition, the base frame 12 is equipped with a recovery reel 64 that guides and winds the returned peeling tape T through the guide roller 62 and the guide plate 63, an electric motor 65 that drives the recovery reel 64, and the like. The peeling head 57
As shown in FIG. 10, is for guiding and reversing the peeling tape T from the lower surface to the upper surface of the wide knife edge plate 66, and is configured to be movable up and down by the air cylinder 67.

Since the second protective film peeling mechanism 8 has the same structure as the first protective film peeling mechanism 7, its explanation is omitted.

12 and 13 show the construction of the carrying table 9. As shown in FIG. The transport table 9 is a movable table 7 that can be moved up and down via an air cylinder 70 and a guide 71.
2 is supported by an air cylinder 73 so as to be vertically swingable around a horizontal axis e, and the movable table 72 is
It is configured to be horizontally movable via a screw shaft 75 and a guide rail 76 that are driven in the forward and reverse directions by an electric motor 74. Further, the guide rail 76 is mounted on a swivel base 78 that can swivel around a vertical axis g by a direct motor 77, and the underframe 7 that supports the swivel base 78.
9 is horizontally moved back and forth via a screw shaft 82 that is driven in the forward and reverse directions by a guide rail 80 and an electric motor 81. Further, a pasting roller 84 that is moved up and down by an air cylinder 83 is provided at the front part of the transport table 9.

The automatic laminating apparatus according to this embodiment is constructed as described above. Next, the film laminating operation will be described in the order of its steps.

(1) Retardation film take-out process The first and second air cylinders 28 and 29 in the first film transporting device 3 located immediately above the first film accommodating portion 1 are extended and the vacuum suction pad 32 is moved to the first position. 1) The film is placed on the retardation film F ₁ which is stacked in the film storage unit 1 and stands by at a constant height. After adsorbing the uppermost retardation film F ₁ , only the second air cylinder 29 contracts and lifts the retardation film F ₁ to a predetermined height, and the presence or absence of adsorption of two sheets is confirmed by a thickness detecting means (not shown). To be done. In addition,
When suction is performed by the vacuum suction pad 32, the mounting table 13 of the first film storage unit 1 is slightly lowered to prevent the two sheets from being sucked.

If it is confirmed that there is no adsorption of two sheets, the first
The air cylinder 28 contracts, the air cylinder 27 subsequently contracts, and the swing arm 26 rotates 45 ° counterclockwise. Then, the forward screw feed drive is started, and the phase difference film F ₁ rotates 45 °. The sheet is supplied and placed on the peeling table 5 in a deflected state.

When two sheets are adsorbed, the vacuum adsorption pad 32 is moved onto the film collecting section 21 by the reverse screw feeding drive, and the two adsorbed retardation films F ₁ are discharged onto the mounting table 17. Then, it returns to the first film storage unit 1 again and repeats the film take-out operation.

(2) Polarizing Plate Retrieval Process Since the supply of the polarizing plate F ₂ from the second film accommodating portion 2 to the sticking table 6 is carried out in the same manner as described above, its explanation is omitted.

(3) Protective Film Peeling Process of Retardation Film Retardation film F ₁ supplied and placed on the peeling table 5
Is set in place and then the first table part 5
a and the upper surface of the second table portion 5b are vacuum-adsorbed.

Next, the first film peeling mechanism 7 is advanced to a predetermined position and the peeling head 5 is moved by the air cylinder 67.
7 is lowered onto the left end corner of the retardation film F ₁ , and the release tape T is attached to the retardation film F _{1 as} shown in FIG.
Is pressed against the protective film f attached to the upper surface of the.

After that, as the movable frame 50 horizontally moves backward, the peeling head 57 moves along the retardation film F ₁ . At this time, the feeding roller 55 is driven to move the peeling tape T by the same amount as the moving amount of the movable frame 50.
Is sent toward the peeling head 57, and the pinion gear 85 provided in the drive mechanism 61 so as to be engaged with the rack 86 fixed to the base frame 12 is relatively rotated with the backward movement of the movable frame 50.
Is transmitted to the feed roller 60 via the gear 87 and the belt transmission device 88, the feed roller 60 is rotationally driven counterclockwise, and the peeling tape T is fed by the same amount as the moving amount of the peeling head 57. The protective film f is flipped up from the corner of the retardation film F ₁ and returned to the rear (see FIG. 10). The protective film f that has been flipped up with the return of the protective film f is the guide frame 5
It is sent in a state of being bent upward narrowly by the guide 9 and is wound around the collecting reel 64 together with the peeling tape T and collected.

Next, when the movable frame 50 moves forward on the peeling table 5, the clutch 8 provided in the drive mechanism 61 is provided.
By turning 9 and braking the lower brake 90, the feed roller 60 is fixed even if the pinion gear 85 rotates due to the forward movement of the movable frame 50.
The peeling tape T wound around the recovery reel 64 is pulled out as the movable frame 50 advances.

(4) Protective film peeling process from the polarizing plate Protective film f from the polarizing plate F ₂ on the attachment table 6
Since the peeling operation of 1 is performed in the same manner as described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

(5) Transfer Process of Retardation Film to Transport Table During the protective film peeling process, the transport table 9 stands by under the peeling table 5 in a posture of being turned by 45 °. When the protective film peeling process is completed as described above,
First, as shown in FIG. 6A, the suction is released only from the first table portion 5a, and the air cylinder 38 contracts to swing the free end side of the first table portion 5a downward. Next, the air cylinder 36 extends, and FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the first table portion 5 a moves horizontally backward and the retardation film F ₁ is received on the transport table 9. Then, as shown in FIG. 6C, the air cylinder 42 extends and the free end side of the second table portion 5b is swung downward. Next, as shown in FIG. 6D, the first table portion 5b is horizontally moved backward to move the retardation film F
_The whole ₁ is transferred onto the transport table 9 with the adhesive side facing up.

When the transfer onto the transport table 9 is completed,
After the movable guide 44 is actuated again to perform film positioning, the retardation film F ₁ is vacuum-sucked on the upper surface of the transport table 9, and the transport table 9 is moved back and forth, left and right, and swung to move the sticking table. It is moved to the lower part of 6, and is made to face the lower surface with an appropriate small interval (about several mm). At this time, one side of the retardation film F ₁ positioned and fixed on the transport table 9 is set to protrude from the end of the table and project above the attaching roller 84.

Then, the retardation film F ₁ is moved to the lower side of the sticking table 6 by the transport table 9, and the first table portion 5a and the second table portion are held while the sticking process is performed as described later. 5b is returned to the original horizontal joining state, and the next new retardation film F ₁
And the protective film peeling process.

(6) Positioning Standby Process of Polarizing Plate While the transfer and positioning of the retardation film F _{1 on} the transport table 9 are performed as described above, the polarizing plate F ₂ on the pasting table 6 is also positioned. The sticking table 6 is turned upside down and sucked and held before the transport table 9 comes under the sticking table 6 by being sucked and held.
₂ waits downwards.

(7) Laminating Step As shown in FIG. 14, the air cylinder 70 is extended and the movable table 72 is raised while the conveying table 9 is slightly tilted downward by the contraction operation of the air cylinder 73. At the same time, the air cylinder 83 is extended to extend the sticking roller 84.
Is raised to press the end of the retardation film F ₁ against the end of the polarizing plate F ₂ supported on the lower surface of the attachment table 6.

After that, the electric motor 74 is driven to retreat the transport table 9 horizontally, so that the retardation film F ₁ is sequentially pressed against the polarizing plate F ₂ from one end to the other end to complete the bonding. To do.

As described above, while the bonding process is being performed on the lower side of the bonding table 6, the protective film peeling process of the polarizing plate F ₂ to be processed next on the upper side of the bonding table 6, and Positioning processing is performed. Also,
In parallel with this, the peeling table 5 for the retardation film F ₁
Are supplied, the protective film is peeled off, and the positioning process is performed.

(8) Composite film unloading process When the bonding process is completed as described above, the transport mechanism 11 with the vacuum suction pad 11a facing upward enters the bonding table 6 below by horizontal swinging around the fulcrum h. Then, the laminated composite film is received, and then the vacuum suction pad 11a is inverted so as to face downward, and horizontally oscillated to transfer the composite film onto the carry-out conveyor 10 and carry it out of the apparatus.

[Other Examples] The two kinds of films to be stuck together are not limited to the retardation film and the polarizing plate, but can be applied to the case where the polarizing plate is stuck to the liquid crystal plate at a predetermined angle. It is a thing. It is also possible to form an adhesive surface on the bonding surface of both films. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the automatic film laminating apparatus of the above-described embodiment is an example to which the apparatus of the present invention is applied, and the configuration of each part can be variously changed and implemented.

[0040]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the pressure-sensitive adhesive film from which the protective film has been peeled off on the peeling table is transferred to the transport table which stands by thereunder and transferred to another film. Since it is transported to the laminating position of, the protective film peeling process of the new adhesive film can be performed on the peeling table before the transport table returns to the lower side of the peeling table again, and the waiting time is reduced. It is possible to increase the operating rate of the device by reducing the number.

In particular, the transfer of the adhesive film from the peeling table to the transport table is performed by sequentially releasing the suction and retreating the peeling table having the divided structure, so that the adhesive surface exposed on the upper surface of the adhesive film is soiled. In addition, the pressure-sensitive adhesive film can be transferred smoothly with almost no displacement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall plan view of an automatic film laminating apparatus incorporating an adhesive film delivery / conveying apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a first film storage unit and a first film transport mechanism.

FIG. 3 is a front view of a first film storage unit and a first film transport mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a peeling table.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a peeling table.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram sequentially showing a film transfer operation on the peeling table.

FIG. 7 is a front view of a first protective film peeling mechanism.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a first protective film peeling mechanism.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a part of a first protective film peeling mechanism.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a peeling head portion of the first protective film peeling mechanism.

FIG. 11 (a) is a front view showing a state where the protective film is peeled off. (B) It is an enlarged view of the principal part.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a transport table.

FIG. 13 is a front view of a transport table.

FIG. 14 is a front view of a main part showing a bonding start state.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Peeling table 5a 1st table part 5b 1st table part 7 Protective film peeling mechanism 9 Conveying table F ₁ Adhesive film (retardation film) f Protective film

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A peeling table for adsorbing and holding a pressure-sensitive adhesive film having a protective film adhered on the pressure-sensitive adhesive surface, with the protective film surface facing upward, and a protective film on the pressure-sensitive adhesive film adsorbed and held on the peeling table. The protective film peeling mechanism that sticks the adhesive peeling tape and flips the protective film from the adhesive film, and the transport table that reciprocates between the lower position of the peeling table and the bonding position to other films. The peeling table has a divided structure including a first table portion having a suction surface on an upper surface and a second table portion, and each of the first table portion and the second table portion has a divided structure.
The table portions are configured to be movable toward and away from each other, and the suction of only the first table portion is released in a state where the transport table stands by under the peeling table.
A delivery / conveying device for an adhesive film, comprising: a table moving unit that moves the table portion away from the second table portion, and then releases the suction of the second table portion to move away from the second table portion.