JPH1176920A - Continuous working - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a high degree of freedom with respect to change in kind and working conditions of a work, rapid change in working conditions of the work and the working excellent in accuracy by successively processing the work in plural working stages including coating stages with liquid coating materials, while allowing the work to travel around along a loop passing through these working stages, with an automated guided vehicle for horizontally holding the work, rotating it and conveying it. SOLUTION: This method comprises: horizontally holding a cylindrical substrate, i.e., work on an automated guided vehicle and fitting two flanges, each of which is to be attached to a chuck, to the both ends of the work, respectively with a robot, in a stage A; cleaning the work in a stage B; coating the cleaned work to form an undercoating layer on the substrate in a stage C; further coating the undercoated work to form a charge generation layer on the undercoating layer in a stage D; drying the resulting work in a stage E; successively processing the dried work in other stages F to I; and thereafter, removing the work thus processed from the vehicle in a stage J to return the vehicle to the original position in the stage A. At the time of allowing the automated guided vehicle to travel on a track, turntables 30 are placed at the four corners of a loop, respectively, to receive the vehicle and to turn the traveling direction of the vehicle by 90 deg.. The position of the vehicle in the transverse direction with respect to its traveling direction is accurately controlled and the vehicle is allowed to travel at a constant speed, and if necessary, stopped. Thus, the positioning of the work is easily controllable and accurately performed, to enable practical continuous working of the work.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous processing method for smoothly performing a series of operations for producing a product by performing various processes and processing on a base material. More specifically, laser processing,
Cleaning using a cleaning agent, inkjet type, spray type,
Alternatively, the present invention relates to a continuous processing method suitable for processing performed with multi-step processing such as coating or decoration using a blade method or the like.

In particular, the present invention relates to various processes such as substrate correction, base layer formation, intermediate layer formation, upper layer formation, and protection layer formation for a cylindrical or cylindrical object or a belt-shaped object held in a cylindrical shape. The present invention relates to a continuous processing method suitable for performing a multi-step process including a coating process. Further, it is a continuous processing method suitable for a production line of an electrophotographic photosensitive member or a cylindrically formed electrophotographic seamless belt.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art As a method of applying a coating solution for forming an underlayer or a photosensitive agent for forming a photosensitive layer on a substrate for an electrophotographic photosensitive drum, the inner surface of a cylindrical substrate is gripped. A dip coating method in which the substrate is immersed in a bath in which the coating solution is held, a ring-shaped container is provided around the cylindrical substrate to store the coating solution, and a packing is provided between the substrate and the ring to prevent the leakage of the coating solution. In addition to the method of applying the coating liquid while keeping it in the container, such as a ring coating method for forming a coating film on the substrate by relatively moving the container and the base, the coating liquid is once in a space in various forms. There is a method in which a coating is formed by discharging the ink, applying the liquid to a substrate, and leveling the liquid.

As the latter method, there are nozzle coating, spray coating, curtain coating and the like. In the former, contamination is apt to occur due to repeated use of the coating liquid, and concentration distribution easily occurs in the hold tank due to the evaporation surface.
In the latter case, such a problem does not occur because the coating liquid is used in one pass. However, when the latter is applied industrially, a rational transport method is one major problem.

The present inventor has already proposed a conveying method for spray coating in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-32318.
Further, Japanese Patent Application No. 9-40742 has been proposed as a transfer method which can be applied in common to the above-mentioned coating method.

However, there is a great degree of freedom when industrially developing blade coating, ultrasonic spray coating, nozzle coating, curtain coating, and the like that can arrange and apply a workpiece at a higher density, and the dimensions of the workpiece change. There is a demand for the development of a continuous processing method in which jigs can be easily replaced when they are used.

[0007]

In order to perform the coating operation efficiently in any of blade coating, spray coating, nozzle coating, and curtain coating, it is necessary to work (material, intermediate product, etc.).
However, it is desirable from the viewpoint of work efficiency that the coating operation is performed in a state of being close to each other. However, when multiple workpieces are to be installed, it is advantageous to arrange a large number of workpieces, to determine whether the workpiece will go through several machining steps but to move the workpiece, or to move the machining means with the workpiece fixed. Considering if there is
You need to design an efficient system.

[0008] Further, in the case of including coating as a processing step,
In order to obtain an accurate coating film, it is necessary to always rotate the work during movement, but any method is used to rotate the moving work while independently changing the movement speed and rotation speed. There are issues such as whether it is better The present invention, in consideration of these problems, has a high degree of freedom with respect to changes in the type of work and processing conditions, and can perform changes in work or processing conditions quickly and with excellent precision. An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous processing method which enables the continuous processing method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, is excellent in operability, satisfies the rotation and straight-line accuracy required from the coating film accuracy, and is suitable for processing a plurality of workpieces simultaneously. An object of the present invention is to achieve highly efficient continuous processing by using a mass-production type transfer means and a transfer pallet.

The present invention pays attention to such a problem, and as a result of diligent studies, it has been found that excellent results can be obtained by constituting from the following viewpoints. First, in order to reduce the influence of gravity and uniformly apply the work, it is necessary to rotate the work while keeping it horizontal. In order to hold the work horizontally, there is a method of chucking the inner surface of the work or both ends of the work. In particular, a method in which a flange is mounted on a work at the initial stage and a flange hole can be chucked is preferable.

Of course, it is desirable that the concentricity of both collet chucks is sufficiently accurate, for example, about 10 μm. If a plurality of such collet chuck shafts are provided on a pallet or a moving table, simultaneous processing of a plurality of works becomes possible.

In the case where the work is fixed and the coating device is moved, a plurality of coating devices are formed in a loop and circulated in order to efficiently perform multi-layer coating. In this case, the work must be loaded and unloaded at each pallet position, and the coating liquid must be supplied to the circulating discharge port. Operation is required. Conversely, loading and unloading is performed by circulating the pallet or moving table on which the work is placed with the coating device fixed.
It can be carried out at individual locations, and the supply of the coating liquid becomes easy.

Further, since the coating liquid includes an organic solvent evaporation type coating liquid, the coating operation is performed even in a solvent vapor atmosphere, and countermeasures are required. On the other hand, the accuracy of the coating film thickness is required to be, for example, ± 0.1 μm with respect to the dry film thickness of 20 μm.
± 0.5 μm is required for 00 μm.

In order to meet such a demand for accuracy, a high-precision rotation and straight-moving means is required. However, when the externally powered electric rotary drive function is mounted on a pallet, it is necessary to take the power of the motor with a pantograph type current collector, etc., but the trolley wire is exposed and the Can cause sparks, and cannot be adopted due to electric shock or safety of organic solvents.

Further, it is not impossible to provide a sliding portion at the center of a passage that moves in a loop by taking out a conductor from the motor, but it is very confusing. It is advantageous to adopt a method in which a power supply is built in the pallet or the self-propelled transfer device itself after taking explosion-proof means.

As can be seen from the above description, in the continuous production system adopted by the present invention, several fixed processing stages are installed, and the work mounted on the self-propelled transfer device and horizontally rotated and held is successively mounted therebetween. It is preferred that the process be completed to complete the processing. Therefore, it is desirable that a new work is mounted on the self-propelled transport device, and the new work is mounted again at the next stage in the self-propelled transport device that has been emptied after processing has been completed. That is, the processing stages are preferably arranged in a ring shape as a whole to form a loop. If both the rotational drive source for the work and the linear drive source for the self-propelled transport device are built into the self-propelled transport device itself, the signals from each stage can be used to adjust the rotational linear travel speed according to the conditions required for each stage. It is easy to change. In addition, there is little problem in changing the direction of the self-propelled transfer device for forming a loop, and it can be easily performed by using a turntable or a laterally moving cart.

However, when a trackless self-propelled transport device is used, it is difficult for the current technology to satisfy the linearity accuracy and the linear speed accuracy required for coating with the accuracy of the self-propelled transport device itself. In such a case, it is advantageous to deliver the self-propelled transfer device that arrives shortly before the stage to the straight moving mechanism of the stage itself, and pass the stage while satisfying the required accuracy. After passing, the vehicle travels straight or changes direction by the loaded self-propelled mechanism until it reaches the next stage. The present invention has been made from this point of view. Specifically, a work is mounted on a self-propelled transfer device having a chuck mechanism that holds and rotates the work horizontally and a rotation drive mechanism that rotates the chuck mechanism. And rotate it,
An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous processing method characterized by performing a processing by sequentially circulating a plurality of processing stages including a coating step of a coating liquid.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A specific embodiment of the present invention will be described for the case of manufacturing an electrophotographic photosensitive member using a mirror-cut aluminum tube for an electrophotographic photosensitive member as a base. Of course, for example, in the case of using an extruded aluminum tube as a base material and correcting the accuracy with a UV curable resin (Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 7-227569 and 8-2).
43377).

In the present invention, the term "work" generally refers to a workpiece to be processed in each stage from a raw material of a product to a product. In one embodiment of the present invention, the self-propelled transfer device 1 has a pallet 2 and work holding and rotating mechanisms 3a and 3b provided thereon. As shown in FIG. 1, the pallet 2 has four work holding / rotating mechanisms 3a arranged on the flat pallet 2 in FIG. 1, and each work holding / rotating mechanism 3a is provided with one collet chuck 5a.
And the collet chuck 5a is rotated by the rotation mechanism 6a. The one work holding and rotating mechanism 3 a is fixed to the pallet 2.

The other work holding / rotating mechanism 3b is provided at a position facing the work holding / rotating mechanism 3a, and the work holding / rotating mechanism 3b is slidable by the slide plate 7 in the direction of the opposite work holding / rotating mechanism 3a. The collet chuck 5b is mounted and has the other collet chuck 5b and a rotation mechanism 6b for rotating the collet chuck 5b. The number of the work holding and rotating mechanisms 3a and 3b is not limited, and can be arbitrarily set according to the purpose.

8a and 8b are collet chucks 5;
Reference numeral 9 denotes a lever for operating the workpiece holding and rotating mechanism 3b. Reference numeral 10 denotes an electric motor for rotating the collet chucks 5a and 5b, which rotates the rotation mechanism 6a via the timing belt 11 and the pulley 12, and also rotates the rotation mechanism 6b via the timing belt 13 and the pulley 14.

The rotation mechanisms 6a and 6b rotate when a flange is attached to a work to be described later, and otherwise rotate only one of the rotation mechanisms with the clutch (not shown) of one of the rotation mechanisms being disconnected. And the other is driven. The pallet 2 provided with the work holding and rotating mechanisms 3a and 3b is mounted on the self-propelled transfer device 1 which is self-propelled by a battery 15 and an electric motor 18 mounted thereon.
It is possible to go around each processing station.

However, in order to precisely control the traveling speed and position adjustment at each processing station, it is desirable to employ the following mechanism. That is, the lower part of the self-propelled transfer device 1 has wheels 17, 17. It is configured to be driven to rotate via the motor 24.

A pinion 25 is provided in contact with the traveling electric motor 18, and the pinion 25 is rotated by rotation of a gear 26. The gear 20 connected to the traveling electric motor 18 is pivotally mounted on a rod 27 that swings about the rotation axis of the gear 19, and the rod 27 is rotated by an air cylinder 28, and the wheel driving gear is rotated. The gear 20 which has engaged the wheel 21 and has rotated the wheel 17
Is rotated in the direction of arrow A to rotate the pinion 25
And the pinion 25 is rotated.

Although the figure shows a simple structure to show the principle, it is needless to say that various switching gear boxes can be used. Reference numeral 15 denotes a drive battery of the self-propelled transfer device 1, which rotates the work, drives the work, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, each processing stage forms the traveling path of the self-propelled transfer device 1 into a quadrangular loop.

FIG. 3 shows a system for preparing a photoreceptor by applying various kinds of coating materials to a substrate for an electrophotographic photoreceptor. In FIG. In this step, a flange is first mounted on the collet chucks 5a and 5b using a robot (not shown), and the collet chucks 5a and 5b are held parallel to the collet axis and horizontally movable. The structure is such that the cylindrical body is advanced to the axial position of the rotation holding mechanisms 3a and 3b, and the flange is fitted to the cylindrical body. B is a step of cleaning a work, C is a base layer, D is a step of applying and forming a charge generation layer, E is a step of drying, and the process returns to the position A through a step of removing a work J in each step. It is configured to be.

When the transport apparatus 1 travels on a track, turntables 30 are provided at the four corners of the loop as shown in FIG.
° It is configured to rotate. A case where an electrophotographic photoreceptor is prepared using the present apparatus will be described. The self-propelled transfer device 1 is first sent to the A stage and stopped.

A base material flange is mounted on the collet chucks 5a and 5b, and both of the rotating mechanisms 6a and 6b are rotated by the pulleys 12 and 14, so that the collet chucks 5a and 5b are rotated.
b is rotated. When the adhesive is applied to the flanges, the pulleys 12 and 14 stop rotating, the cylindrical base material is supplied, the flanges are mounted on both ends of the base material, the base material or the work is held horizontally, and the pulleys are again held. It is rotated by the driving of 12, 14. Next, the self-propelled transfer device 1 moves to the B stage, where the work is washed, and then the coating liquid application step for the underlayer is performed on the C stage.

During this time, when there is no need to precisely control the position of the work, the self-propelled transfer device 1 controls the rotation of the traveling electric motor 18 by the gears 19, 20, 21 and the pulley 2
2. The wheels 17 are driven via the timing belt 23 and the pulley 24 to move forward. In the application process such as the application of the base material, the position of the application stage is controlled by a guide having a triangular cross section for controlling the lateral position of the self-propelled transfer device 1 in order to precisely control the position of the work. Track 31, a rack 32 and a horizontal position adjusting track 33 are provided.

The tracks 31, 32 and the rack 32 are provided with their starting ends low and inclined so as to gradually rise, and the self-propelled transport device 1 is advanced by the wheels 17 and is located at a position where the tracks are provided. When it comes, the pinion 25 engages with the rack 32. At this position, the cylinder 28 is driven to
When the gear 7 is rotated to move the gear 20 rightward in the drawing, the rotation of the wheel 17 stops. Next, when the gear 20 is further rotated to the right, the gear 20 and the pinion driving gear 2 are rotated.
6 mesh with each other and the pinion 25 rotates. In addition, gear 2
It is preferable that the shafts 5 and 26 have a structure in which the bearing portion is vertically movably supported within a certain range so as to follow a change in the height of the rack 32 and is pressed downward by an elastic body.

When the pinion 25 rotates in a state of being engaged with the rack 32, the self-propelled transfer device 2 advances, and the traveling element 34 moves on the guide path 31 and the traveling element 35 moves on the horizontal position adjusting path 33. The self-propelled transport device 1 comes into contact with the vehicle and travels along the track and rises, and the wheels 17 float. As a result, the position of the self-propelled transport device 1 in the lateral direction with respect to the traveling direction is accurately controlled, the traveling device travels at a constant speed, and stops when necessary.

The switching stop of the gear 20 is performed by the self-propelled transport device 1.
Is controlled by an electromagnetic or optical guidance signal from the outside. In the figures, the rack 32, the track 3
The racks 1 and 33 are laid in a gradually increasing state and are raised by the power of the self-propelled transfer device. However, as shown in FIG. When the transporting device 1 reaches the position above, the power energy of the self-propelled transporting device 1 can be reduced if the transporting device 1 is lifted by external power.

When the self-propelled transfer device 1 reaches a predetermined position on the coating stage, the moving type nozzle
The blade system moves to the contact position with the workpiece based on the set data, and the coating liquid transport pump is started to discharge the coating liquid from the nozzle to the surface of the base material. Self-propelled transport device 1
In the method, the coating liquid discharged onto the surface of the base material advances at a predetermined speed so as to form a spiral with a constant pitch, and the discharged coating liquid is spread and smoothed by a plate-shaped blade simultaneously with the discharge.

The self-propelled transfer device 1 may be stopped to move the coating liquid discharge nozzle in the axial direction of the work. However, it is necessary to return the nozzle to its original position, and A method in which the nozzle is fixed and the work is moved is desirable because the progress can be performed simultaneously with the coating. At this time, if necessary, the coating liquid can be subjected to an operation of reverse charging or static elimination to prevent coating unevenness. When the self-propelled transfer device 1 processed at each stage finishes the processing of the stage E and reaches the terminal end W of the straight path, the first turntable as shown in FIG. A rack 32, tracks 31, 3 are provided on the upper surface of the turntable 30a.
2 is laid, and the self-propelled transport device 1 is moved from the straight path onto the turntable 30a.

When the self-propelled transport device 1 is positioned on the turntable 30a, the turntable 30a rotates by 90 ° and moves the self-propelled transport device 1 to the rack 3 on the traveling path transverse to the straight path.
2a, it is configured to engage with the orbits 31a and 33a to advance. When the self-propelled transfer device 1 moves on the lateral traveling path and reaches the point X, the second turntable 30b is again turned on.
The self-propelled transport device 1 is rotated by 90 ° and connected to the second straight path, and the self-propelled transport device 1 moves on the stage F while traveling on the second straight path.
After being processed in steps I to I, the work is taken out as a product in stage J.

The self-propelled transfer device 1 from which the work has been removed is moved to the third and fourth turntables 30c and 30d at the Y and Z points.
, And returns to the point A again to start the next machining cycle. The first and second turntables 30a and 30b and the end portions W and X may be trackless traveling, and a turntable is used as a method for switching to a lateral traveling path in the figure. Without being limited to this, a carriage that reciprocates in the lateral direction is provided on the lateral traveling path, and the self-propelled transport device 1 is mounted to move from the W point to the X point or from the Y point to the Z point. You may. In this case, in order to set the head and tail of the self-propelled transport device in a fixed direction, a rotary actuator is provided on the carriage and the self-propelled transport device 1 is provided.
Is desirably rotated by 180 ° C.

When the rail is not used, the traveling device 1 may be provided with a direction changing mechanism, and the traveling device 1 may change the direction by 90 ° and travel. Since the present invention is configured as described above, it is easy to control and can perform precise positioning, and is a practical continuous processing method.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a self-propelled transfer device used in the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a turntable in the direction changing unit.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of a loop processing stage.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing another example of a mechanism for performing position control.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Self-propelled conveyance apparatus 2 Pallet 3a, 3b Work holding and rotating mechanism 5a, 5b Collet chuck 10 Electric motor for work rotation 18 Electric motor for forward drive 25 Pinion 32 Rack 31, 33 Track

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of processes including a step of applying a coating liquid while mounting and rotating a work on a self-propelled transfer device having a chuck mechanism for holding and rotating the work horizontally and a rotation driving mechanism for rotating the chuck mechanism. A continuous processing method wherein a multi-stage processing is performed by sequentially rotating the processing stages. 2. The continuous machining method according to claim 1, wherein the self-propelled transfer device is a track traveling vehicle. 3. The self-propelled transfer device is a traveling vehicle capable of traveling on a trackless track and at least in a coating stage,
The continuous processing method according to claim 1, wherein the position is controlled by a trajectory. 4. The continuous processing method according to claim 3, wherein the position of the self-propelled transfer device is controlled by a track at least in a coating processing stage, and the progress is controlled by a pinion engaged with a rack laid on a floor plate. . 5. Turntables are provided at four corners of a traveling path,
The continuous processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein each stage is returned to its original position after patrol by rotating the self-propelled transfer device by 90 ° on a turntable. 6. The continuous processing method according to claim 1, wherein the self-propelled transport device is controlled by an external electromagnetic or optical guidance signal. 7. The continuous processing method according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece is a drum for an electrophotographic photosensitive member.