KR101688969B1 - Cleaning Apparatus for Optical Film - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an optical film cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning an optical film cut from a film fabric for an optical film, and more particularly, to an optical film cleaning apparatus for continuously and efficiently removing an optical film And more particularly, to an optical film cleaning apparatus having a cleaning section for removing foreign matter adhered to an optical film when the cut optical film passes through the cut optical film, (1) one or a plurality of primary roller pairs arranged vertically so that a wide upper and lower surfaces of the cut optical film are transported while being in contact with each other, (2) a pair of primary rollers A plurality of cleaning units including one or a plurality of secondary roller pairs for separating foreign matters It relates to an optical film, characterized in that the cleaning device is mounted.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an optical film cleaning apparatus,

The present invention relates to an optical film cleaning apparatus capable of efficiently cleaning an optical film cut from a film fabric for an optical film, and more particularly, to an optical film cleaning apparatus for continuously and efficiently removing optical films from continuously produced film fabrics for efficient and economical optical film production To an optical film cleaning apparatus that can be applied to a manufacturing system for manufacturing.

LCD (liquid crystal display) is a display system that controls the on-off of light emitted from the backlight by using the optical switching function of liquid crystal molecules. In order to realize high-quality display, various kinds of optical films are used. Examples of the optical film include a film group (a diffusion film, a prism sheet, a brightness enhancement film, etc.) for effectively using a backlight, a film group (a polarizing film and a polarizer protective film) used for a polarizing plate, And the like).

Terms used in the present invention are summarized to avoid confusion.

An optical film plate cut to a predetermined size is simply referred to as an 'optical film', a long uncut optical film is referred to as a 'film fabric', and a film fabric wrapped in a roll is referred to as a 'roll fabric' do.

Conventionally, such an optical film is manufactured through several steps. First, a certain type and number of films are laminated with an adhesive to form a roll fabric, which is a roll-shaped optical film fabric. A slitter for releasing the roll fabric and cutting the film fabric in the longitudinal direction (film transport direction) so as to have a predetermined width, and a slitter for cutting the film in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the film transport direction) so as to have a predetermined length And then passed through a cutter made of a cross cutter to complete a plate-like optical film of a predetermined standard. The completed optical film is laminated and packaged for transport to a downstream process.

However, there are problems such as cutting chips and cutting some of the adhesive during the cutting process. If such debris or pressure-sensitive adhesive is interposed between the optical films, the optical film may be scratched, which may adversely affect subsequent processes such as causing defective products. Also, the exposed debris and the adhesive are buried on the surface of the optical film during the loading-transport-storage-post-process of the produced optical film, resulting in a defect.

In order to solve such a problem, in the patent document 10-2008-0077333 (refer to FIG. 1A), an optical film cut from a pre-fabricated optical film roll fabric (which is represented by a "disc roll" And a pair of cleaning rollers for removing foreign matters adhered to both sides of the optical film before passing through the optical film. In addition, in the registration room 20-0388522 (see FIG. 1B), there are provided a pair of primary rollers arranged vertically so as to be conveyed while contacting the optical films stacked after the cutting, one by one, A cleaning device including a pair of secondary rollers for separating foreign matters is disclosed.

According to these documents, as soon as the optical film is cut from the roll fabric, foreign matter such as debris or adhesive which may exist on both sides by a pair of primary cleaning rollers is removed with a time lag, The speed of the cutting process can be increased. That is, as shown exemplarily in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2, the optical film manufacturing system includes a pair of cleaning rollers for removing foreign matters such as debris and pressure-sensitive adhesive that may exist on both sides of the cut optical film When the optical film passes through the cleaning device, foreign substances adhered to both surfaces are removed.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 1C, the conventional optical film manufacturing process is roughly divided into a step of obtaining the optical film roll fabric through a raw resin, a raw film, and a film laminating process, and a step of cutting the roll fabric or film fabric to obtain an optical film Respectively. In this case, the former stage is separated temporally and spatially in the roll fabric manufacturing company, and the latter stage is separated in the optical film cutting / processing machine, and the back and forth steps (even if they are performed in the same factory in some cases). However, according to this method, since a part of the optical film fabric is removed twice, such as a trimming process of arranging the side of the roll in the roll fabric manufacturing step and a slitting process of cutting off the side of the film conveyed in the cutting step, Lower. Further, there is a need for a process of winding the film fabric on the roll (pre-stage) and unwinding (post-stage), and further efforts are required such as storing and transporting the roll fabric in the previous stage and storing it again in a later stage. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 1D, there is a need for a manufacturing system that integrates the steps of obtaining a roll fabric and cutting a roll fabric, that is, a manufacturing system that continuously produces an optical film from a continuously produced film fabric.

The inventors of the present invention have developed and continuously operated a production system (see Fig. 2) continuously producing an optical film, which is filed by the same applicant as the present application, as a result of which a malfunction or defect occurs and an event The frequency of the cleaning operation is 1.5 to 2.5 times higher than that of the fabricating apparatus 10 in the order of [the cutting apparatus 20 (the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10, the cleaning apparatus 30) The frequency at which the process should be stopped).

However, if the most upstream fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 is stopped, the downstream apparatus is also stopped, and no additional loss of raw material occurs. However, if a problem occurs in the cleaning apparatus 30, the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 must be stopped as well. There is a problem in that a considerable loss of raw materials must be paid until stabilization occurs at the time of restarting.

≪ tb > Registration Practice 20-0388522

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning apparatus capable of greatly reducing the frequency of maintenance in a manufacturing system for manufacturing an optical film.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device capable of significantly improving the operation efficiency of a manufacturing system for continuously producing an optical film from a continuously produced film raw material.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical film cleaning apparatus having a cleaning section for removing foreign matter adhered to an optical film when a cut and passed optical film passes therebetween, the optical film cleaning apparatus comprising: One or a plurality of primary rollers arranged vertically so as to be conveyed while being in contact with the upper and lower surfaces of the primary rollers and one or a plurality of primary rollers rotating in contact with the primary rollers, A plurality of cleaning units including a pair of rollers are continuously mounted.

As described above, the optical film cleaning apparatus according to the present invention has a plurality of cleaning units that can operate independently and alternately, so that even if a problem occurs in any one of the cleaning units, the other cleaning units are operated, Therefore, unlike the conventional cleaning apparatus, it is possible to prevent the entire optical film manufacturing system from being shut down due to the maintenance of the cleaning apparatus.

1A is a view showing an example of a cutting apparatus according to the prior art.
1B is a view showing an example of a cleaning apparatus according to the prior art;
1C is an exemplary flow chart of an optical film manufacturing process according to the prior art.
1D is an exemplary flow chart of an optical film manufacturing process by a manufacturing system for manufacturing an optical film.
2 is an illustration of an example of a continuous optical film production system;
3 is a conceptual sectional view of a cleaning apparatus in which a plurality of cleaning units are continuously arranged in a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4A is a photograph in which a plurality of cleaning devices are continuously mounted in a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 4B is a photograph of a cleaning system in which a plurality of cleaning units are continuously installed in a manufacturing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 4C is a comparative photograph showing a narrow gap and a wide state of the primary roller in the manufacturing system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only the contents and scope of technology of the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention based on these examples. It is also to be understood that when an element of a claim is referred to by reference to an element, it is for the purpose of illustration only and is not intended to limit the element.

In the present invention, an optical film plate cut to a predetermined size is referred to as an 'optical film', an uncut long optical film is referred to as a 'film fabric', and a film fabric wound in a roll is referred to as a 'roll fabric' . The 'optical film' in the present invention is a concept including an article that can be directly applied to a display device and a semi-article that is applied through an additional processing step.

As described above, the present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus 30 in a manufacturing system for manufacturing an optical film including a fabric manufacturing apparatus 10, a cutting apparatus 20, and a cleaning apparatus 30 in general.

For the sake of understanding, the optical film manufacturing system will be briefly described first with reference to Fig. 2, there is shown an example in which the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10, the cutting apparatus 20 and the cleaning apparatus 30 are continuously operated. However, the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10, the cutting apparatus 20, and the cleaning apparatus 30 Or the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 - the cutting apparatus 20 and the cleaning apparatus 30 may be spatially and spatially separated as shown in FIG. 1B.

In the optical film production system, the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 is a device for continuously producing a film material to be an optical film by cutting. The fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 may be changed depending on whether the optical film is a single layer or a multi-layer, and if the multi-layer optical film is multi-layered, whether to directly produce the multi-layer raw films. That is, the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 is a film producing apparatus such as a film casting apparatus or a film extruding apparatus for producing a film from a raw resin in the case where the optical film is a single layer, (2) Or (2) a film production apparatus for producing a raw film from a plurality of raw resin materials, and a laminating apparatus for laminating the same. Film casting apparatuses, film extrusion apparatuses, laminating apparatuses and the like are well-known apparatuses, and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The cutting device 20 cuts a film end of a film fabric or a roll end fabric produced by the fabric manufacturing apparatus 10 into an optical film of a predetermined size and forms a film end in a longitudinal direction , And a cross cutter 22 for cutting the film material in a width direction (a direction perpendicular to the film transport direction) so as to have a predetermined length.

The slitter 21 is a cutter for cutting between both side edges of the film fabric corresponding to a predetermined width of the optical film and between the optical films cut in the width direction of the film fabric, It may be a pair of circular cutters, but the specific shape or structure is not limited thereto.

The cross cutter 22 functions to cut the film in the direction perpendicular to the direction of feeding the film corresponding to the optical film of the predetermined length. The cross cutter 22 may be a press cutter in which the operating cycle is adjusted, a knife roller having at least one knife in the longitudinal direction on the outer circumferential surface, and a plain roller positioned below the knife roller and having an outer peripheral surface in contact with the cutting edge of the knife The rotary cutter configured can be accommodated. However, the specific form and structure are not limited thereto.

The cleaning device 30 according to the present invention applied to the optical film production system is for removing foreign matters such as debris and adhesive which may exist on both sides of the cut optical film and includes a pair of cleaning rollers, When the optical film passes between the optical films, a plurality of cleaning portions 31 for removing foreign substances adhered to both surfaces are provided.

In the present invention, the cleaning unit 31 includes: (1) a pair of one or more primary rollers 31a arranged vertically so that a wide upper and lower surfaces of the cut optical film are transported while being in contact with each other, and (2) And a pair of one or more secondary rollers 31b rotating in contact with the pair of primary rollers 31a and separating the foreign substances attached to the pair of primary rollers 31a. The foreign matter adhered to the surface of the optical film is moved to the tacky primary roller 31a and then the foreign matter adhered to the primary roller 31a is moved and attached to the secondary roller 31b having higher tackiness. When foreign matter is adhered to the secondary roller 31b to some extent, the surface of the secondary roller 31b is cleaned by a predetermined method or replaced with a new secondary roller 31b. FIG. 3 illustrates a cleaning apparatus 30 in which two cleaning units 31 (indicated by green ovals) having a pair of primary rollers 31a and a pair of secondary rollers 31b are continuously arranged.

A plurality of cleaning units 31 may be continuously arranged in the cleaning apparatus 30 such that the first cleaning unit 31 is operated first and the first cleaning unit 31 of the second cleaning unit 31 31a are separated from each other so that the optical film cleaned by the first cleaning unit 31 passes through the second cleaning unit 31 (see FIG. 3). If a problem occurs in the first cleaning unit 31, the first roller 31a of the first cleaning unit 31 is separated from the first roller 31a of the second cleaning unit 31, So that the pairs are brought into close contact with each other. Accordingly, the cleaning process can be carried out without interruption. The first cleaning device 30 immediately repairs it to a "standby" state. Therefore, it is preferable that the plurality of cleaning units 31 operate independently of each other.

One or a plurality of auxiliary rollers (not shown) may be provided on the cleaning portion 31 so that the optical film passes through the cleaning portion 31 when the cleaning portion 31 is in the standby state.

In the present invention, between the pair of primary rollers 31a and between the pair of primary rollers 31a and 31b, so as to be able to clean or repair / replace the secondary roller 31b, It is preferable that the gap between the secondary rollers 31b is adjustable. Since the method of adjusting the gap of the roller is well known, a detailed description of the roller gap adjustment is omitted. The cleaning unit 31 on the right side of the cleaning device 30 shown in Fig. 3 is provided between the pair of primary rollers 31a and between the pair of primary rollers 31a and 2b so that the secondary roller 31b can be cleaned or replaced. And the left and right rollers 31b are separated from each other.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cleaning apparatus 30 includes a cleaning unit 31, an optical film formed by one or a plurality of rollers or a conveyor belt at the front end and the rear end of the cleaning unit 31, And / or a discharge section 33 for transferring the cleaned optical film to the laminating apparatus 40. The discharge section 33 may be provided with a discharge port 33 for transferring the cleaned optical film to the laminating apparatus 40. [

The present invention also relates to a manufacturing system for continuously producing optical films from continuously produced film fabrics, comprising a fabric manufacturing apparatus (10), a cutting apparatus (20) and the cleaning apparatus (30)

An exemplary flow chart of the optical film manufacturing process and a conceptual top view of the manufacturing system with the manufacturing system according to the present invention are shown in Figures 1D and 2. In the drawings, the sizes of the devices are arbitrarily set for convenience of understanding.

As shown in FIG. 1A relating to the prior art and FIG. 1D relating to the present invention, the present invention is applicable to the frequent stopping of the cleaning apparatus 30 in a manufacturing system for continuously producing an optical film from a raw material resin or the like without time- The cleaning process is effectively performed in any case in order to prevent a loss due to the cleaning process. Thus, it is possible to realize the continuous production process in which the roll fabric is wound by winding the film fabric, the step of trimming the roll fabric, the step of storing / transporting / storing the roll fabric, and the step of unrolling the roll fabric are all omitted .

2, in the manufacturing system for manufacturing the optical film according to the present invention, a stacking device 40 for automatically or manually stacking the cut and clean optical films is provided at the rear end of the cleaning device 30, . When manually working, the laminating apparatus 40 may be [operator + dust-proof packing box].

[Production example]

A cleaning device 30 comprising two sets of cleaning portions 31 including two pairs of primary rollers 31a and two secondary rollers 31b rotating in contact with them from below was manufactured Reference). The upper secondary roller 31b, the lower primary roller 31a, and the lower secondary roller 31b in the cleaning unit 31 are each formed in a cassette shape and can be mounted and removed by sliding on the side surface (see FIG. 4B) ).

In Fig. 4A, reference numerals 31a and 31b denote a cassette on which an upper secondary roller 31b, a pair of primary rollers 31a, and a lower secondary roller 31b are mounted. In FIG. 4B, the upper and lower images show the left and right cassettes of the upper secondary roller 31b and the primary roller 31a are slid out, respectively. In this state, The cleaning portion 31 indicated by the green oval on the left side (in the lower photograph) is normally operated. That is, in the cleaning device 30 according to the present invention, for example, while the left cleaning portion 31 is normally operating, the cassette of the right cleaning portion 31 is slid out to replace or clean the upper and lower secondary rollers 31b If the left cleaning unit 31, which is in operation while maintaining the cassette in the 'standby' state after the maintenance, performs a maintenance operation, immediately stops the operation of the left cleaning unit 31 and operates the right cleaning unit 31 in the standby state, The cleaning device 30 can be maintained without interruption.

As shown in FIG. 4C, the upper and lower intervals of the pair of primary rollers 31a are narrowed automatically or manually by the roll gap adjusting means (not shown in the figure) of the cassettes of the pair of primary rollers 31a ) Is widening (pictured below). For example, if there is a predetermined sensing means and an abnormality is detected in one cleaning portion 31, the upper and lower intervals of the pair of primary rollers 31a of the cleaning portion 31 of one side are widened to stop the operation and the other cleaning portion The upper and lower intervals of the pair of primary rollers 31a of the rollers 31 are narrowed to start the operation.

F. Film Fabric
P. optical film
10. Fabric manufacturing equipment
20. Cutting device
21. Slitter 22. Cross cutter
30. Cleaning device
31. Cleaning section 31a. Primary roller 31b. Secondary roller
32. Inlet 33. Outlet
40. Laminating apparatus

Claims (5)

1. An optical film cleaning apparatus having a cleaning section for removing foreign matters adhered to an optical film when an optical film cut and fed passes therebetween,
(1) one or a plurality of primary roller pairs arranged vertically so that a wide upper and lower surfaces of the cut optical film are transported while being in contact with each other, (2) a foreign matter attached to the primary roller pair while rotating in contact with the primary roller pair A plurality of cleaning units including one or a plurality of secondary roller pairs for separating are continuously mounted in the horizontal direction,
Wherein the plurality of cleaning units operate alternately to enable continuous operation without temporary interruption of the cleaning device even when repairing some cleaning units.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a gap between the pair of primary rollers is adjustable.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the gap between the primary roller and the secondary roller is adjustable so that the secondary roller can be cleaned, repaired or replaced.
The method according to claim 1,
An inlet portion for transferring the cut optical film to the cleaning portion at the front end of the cleaning portion,
Further comprising a discharge unit for transferring the optical film cleaned by the cleaning unit to the rear end of the cleaning unit.
(A) a fabric manufacturing apparatus for continuously producing a monolayer or multilayer film fabric;
(B) a slitter for cutting the continuous fabric film in the longitudinal direction so as to have a predetermined width, at the rear end of the fabric manufacturing apparatus, and a cross cutter for cutting the film fabric in the width direction so as to have a predetermined length A cutting device for cutting a film material into an optical film of a predetermined standard; And
(C) a cleaning device according to any one of claims 1 to 3;
Wherein the optical film is continuously produced from the continuously produced film fabric without the optical film lamination process before the roll fabric forming process and the cleaning process.

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