JPS58220041A - Sheet carrying method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To carry sheet having low stiffness stably with high speed by floating the sheet such as a photographic film through compressed air from above and below and carrying under the state deformed into an arc thereby improving the apparent stiffness. CONSTITUTION:A sheet 1 such as a photographic film is fed one by one onto an air table 2 then the pressurized air is ejected through air ejection holes 3 made in the air table 2 toward the sheet 1 to support it contactless. Since the air table 2 is inclined by minute angle theta against the horizontal face FL, the sheet 1 will move to the carrying mechanism 8 at the lower side and one end of the sheet 1 will contact with the carry belt 9. At the same time, pressurized air is ejected through air ejection holes 6 in the air nozzle 5 toward the sheet 1. Consequently the sheet 1 is carried while being deformed into an arc to improve the apparent stiffness of the sheet 1 enabling high speed stable carrying of sheet 1 having low stiffness.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for conveying rectangular sheets, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for contactless sheet conveyance.

It is a daily practice in the photographic industry and the like to appropriately process raw rolls or rolls of paper, plastic films, etc. to form sheets in the shape of nieces. Conventionally used methods for conveying these sheets include a belt conveying method in which a multi-stripe conveyor belt sandwiches the sheet from above and below, and the sheet is fmA as the conveyor belt moves; Instead of this, there is a suction belt conveyance system in which a suction box is provided on the lower belt side, suction holes are provided in the lower belt at appropriate pitches, and the sheet and the lower belt are conveyed integrally by suction force. If the sheet is an X-ray film coated with photosensitive emulsion on both sides, in the former sheet conveyance method, slippage is likely to occur between the sheet sandwiched between the upper and lower belts and the upper and lower belts, resulting in In the latter method, because the belt is constantly in sliding contact with the SAXILON box, the belt surface is easily charged with static electricity, which discharges onto the photographic film sheet that is being conveyed, resulting in charging failures called static marks. may occur. Furthermore, if the suction pressure of the SAXILON box is inappropriate and too high, the suction holes of the suction belt may be transferred to the film, which may cause film failures called hallmarks when developed. If we try to transport photographic film, especially radioactive film sheets, using conventional sheet transport methods, this can lead to various product defects, so we have to reduce production speed and continue operations under a careful quality assurance system. Currently, there is C.

These drawbacks of the conventional method are due to the contact conveyance with the sheet, and as a result, a non-contact conveyance of the sheet has been proposed.
In fact, non-contact transport using an air table is used to transport glass dry plates for photomask manufacturing in the IC manufacturing process, which is extremely strict to prevent scratches and adhesion of dust. Non-contact conveyance using an air table is effective for conveying heavy objects and for conveying sheets that can be considered rigid objects such as the glass round casing described above, but it is especially effective when conveying weak photographic film, especially when the conveyance speed is If the speed is too high, the sheet will fly up, making it impossible to convey the sheet.

The present invention was made to solve the drawbacks of such conventionally known methods, and its first purpose is to provide a sheet conveying method that does not cause malfunctions peculiar to sheets such as photographic film. and equipment.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a sheet conveying method and apparatus that can stably convey even a weak sheet at high speed.

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It's clear. In FIG. 1, 1 is a rectangular conveyed sheet ~
Reference numeral 2 denotes an air table with a hollow box-like cross section provided along the conveyance path of the sheet 1; 3 denotes an air jet hole bored in the upper surface of the air table 2; It's communicating. The hollow portion 4 of the air table 2 is connected to a pressure source (such as a compressor or a blower) (not shown). Reference numeral 5 denotes an air nozzle having a hollow pipe-like cross section, for example, which is disposed along the sheet traveling direction on the opposite side of the air table 2 across the sheet 1, and one end of the air nozzle 5 is connected to a pressurizing group (not shown). There is.

As shown in FIG. 2, the air nozzle 5 has at least two side edges parallel to the sheet traveling direction.
placed on the edge. Note that the air jet holes 3 of the air table 2 do not need to be perforated across the width of the sheet 1 as shown in FIG. It may be perforated.

The air jets of the air table 2 (for example, 3 rows and 7 sets) and the air nozzles 5 are arranged alternately with the sheet 1 in between. That is, it is desirable that the portion of the sheet 1 above which the air is ejected from the air nozzle 5 has a configuration in which no ejection hole array is provided below. 7 is the air table 2
A guide plate 8 is attached to one end of the air table 2.
A conveyance mechanism attached to the other side of the conveyor belt 9 contacts the side edge of the sheet 1 and conveys the sheet 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and a drive device (not shown) applies power to the conveyor belt. A rotatably supported pulley 10 for transmitting data
It consists of As shown in FIG. 1, the air table 2 is tilted by a small angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane 11i'jFL, and is installed so that the transport mechanism 8 side is lower than the guide plate 7 side. In addition, -1 the upper surface of the air table 2, the lower surface of the seat 1, one side of the pulley 10, etc., and the area surrounded by the guide plate 7 maintain a constant static pressure by pressurized air from the air outlet 3, etc. configured to do so.

The operation of the present invention configured as above will be explained.

Seven rectangular sheets 1 are fed onto the air table 2 from a sheet feeding device (not shown). Pressurized air supplied from an unillustrated pressurizer is ejected from the air ejection holes 3 of the air table 2 toward the seats 1 to 1, so that the sheet 1 is supported without contact. Furthermore, since the air table 2 is tilted by a small angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane FL, the sheet 1 moves toward the lower transport mechanism 8, and one end of the sheet 1 contacts the transport belt 9. Regarding the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet 1, even for photographic film sheets that require careful handling, conveying the sheet while touching the side edges does not reduce the commercial value of the sheet in any way.

Pressurized air supplied from a pressurizer (not shown) is deformed toward the sheet 1 from the air jet hole 6 of the air nozzle 5. In this stable state, the pulley 10 is rotated in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 2 by a drive device (not shown), and the sheet 1 is therefore advanced in the direction of arrow B by the conveyor belt 9. Since the sheet 1 is deformed into an arcuate shape and conveyed without contact,
The sheet appears to be stiffer, so the sheet does not lift up even during high-speed conveyance.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, when the width of the sheet is wide, the air nozzle 5 as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to increase the number of wafers to deform the sheet 1 into a wave shape and convey it. In the same figure, parts with the same numbers as in FIG. 1 indicate the same parts and names. Further, in this embodiment, the air jet holes 6 of the air jet 5 and the air jet holes 3 of the air table 2 are formed so as to blow air at right angles to the sheet 1, but they are not necessarily limited to the right angle direction. The hole may be drilled at an angle in the sheet traveling direction. If the holes are formed in this manner, the compressed air that is ejected supports the sheet 1 without contacting it and at the same time generates a conveying force in the sheet advancing direction, which has the effect of downsizing the drive device for the pulley 10.

Note that the sheet in the present invention refers to something that serves as a base, for example, one on which a photographic emulsion layer or the like is provided on one or both sides, or one that has not yet been provided with a photographic emulsion layer, or only a part of it (
It may be an intermediate product (for example, on one side only), or it may be a sheet-like material itself, such as a plastic sheet itself, rather than the base.

According to the present invention, since the sheet is supported and conveyed in a non-contact manner, it can be conveyed without causing the am peculiar to sheets such as photographic film. Even weak sheets can be transported stably at high speeds, making it particularly suitable for directly transporting X-ray films that have photosensitive emulsion layers coated on both sides of the sheet.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the same, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a sheet, 2 is an air table, 5 is an air nozzle, and 8 is a transport structure. Patent applicant Konishiroku Photo Industry Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Compressed air is ejected from the side of the image forming sheet.
A rectangular sheet is supported in a non-contact floating state by air at 3°, and compressed air is jetted from the opposite side to at least two side edges parallel to the direction of travel of the sheet. A sheet conveyance method in which the sheet is held without contact and conveyed while being deformed into a bow or wave shape. (2) an air table that blows out compressed air to support the sheet without contact; a plurality of air nozzles arranged on the opposite side of the air table across the sheet; The air table includes a sheet conveying mechanism that conveys the sheet, and the air jet hole rows of the air table and the air nozzles are arranged alternately across the sheet, and at least the air nozzles are arranged at side edges parallel to the sheet traveling direction. 2
By arranging the sheet on the side, the sheet is deformed into an arcuate or wavy shape without contact, and the air table is slightly tilted with respect to a horizontal plane in a direction perpendicular to the direction of travel, so that the end of the sheet is brought into contact with the sheet conveyance mechanism and conveyed. A sheet conveying device having a configuration of