KR920006590B1 - Apparatus for preparation of a sheet-shaped photoconductor - Google Patents

Abstract

No content.

Description

Method and apparatus for forming sheet-type photoconductor

1 is a schematic front view showing one embodiment of an apparatus for forming a sheet-like photoconductor according to the present invention.

2 is a bottom view showing the spin nozzle of FIG.

3 is a perspective view of the main part of the apparatus shown in the direction of arrow R in FIG.

4 is a partially enlarged view of the grooved rotation guide shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

5a, 5b, and 5c are front views showing examples of the fusion guide used in the present invention.

6 is a front view showing another example of the fusion guide.

7A and 7B are partial cross-sectional views of sheet-like photoconductors obtained in accordance with the present invention.

8 to 10 are front views of another embodiment of the forming apparatus of the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: spin nozzle 2: groove rotation guide

3: auxiliary guide 4: fusion guide

5, 6: nip roller 7: heating device

8: reelwinder 9: cutter

10 container case 11: orifice

An apparatus and method for forming sheet-shaped photoconductors that can be used as various image guides or photoconductor materials of the present invention.

Sheet-like photoconductors comprising optical fibers are used as image guides or devices of photoconductors for various display devices. As a method of continuously forming such a sheet-shaped photoconductor, a method in which a plurality of optical fibers are arranged in the form of a sheet by a comb-type guide and a piano string, whereby the method of being combined and fixed is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 52 Known from -38419. However, if the optical fiber passes strongly through the guide, the outer surface of the optical fiber is damaged and the optical properties are also degraded. In addition, since the method requires a joining step, the operation becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost increases.

As a means of overcoming this problem, Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-8540 discloses that a plurality of optical fibers are melt-spinned and the spinned optical fibers are fusion-bonded in parallel to each other while at a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature. Techniques for retaining to form tape-shaped photoconductors are known. In this way, the back joining process becomes unnecessary, but the fibers are arranged in a sheet form by a rod-shaped width adjustment guide arranged downstream of the spin nozzle, so that the concentric cylindrically spun optical fibers are immediately parallel to each other. Are arranged linearly. In addition, since the width-adjusting guide is in the form of a rod, the difference between the yarn tension of the optical fiber spun from the periphery of the spin nozzle and the yarn tension of the optical fiber spun from the center of the spin nozzle is large, thus stably guiding the optical fiber stably. It is very difficult. Therefore, uneven yarns or overlaps of optical fibers occur locally in the sheet-like arrangement of the optical fibers, and as a result, it is difficult to obtain a sheet having a uniform width, and frequently an optical fiber sheet is formed that is not uniform in light conductivity.

Under this background, the main object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for forming a sheet-like photoconductor having high photoconductivity, uniformity of width and non-overlapping portions with high efficiency.

According to one aspect of the invention, spin-doped into a plurality of optical fibers to form a sheet-like photoconductor in which the optical fibers therein are arranged in parallel, the optical fiber full length before the optical fiber is cooled Wherein the optical fibers are melt-spinned from a spin nozzle having a plurality of orifices arranged in an annular arrangement, wherein the spun optical fibers are linearly arranged in parallel but mutually contactless and bonded to each other at the same time. A sheet-type photoconductor forming method is provided, characterized in that the sheet-shaped photoconductor thus formed is wound.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a melt-spin nozzle comprising: a nozzle having a plurality of circularly arranged orifices for melt extrusion of a spin dope for an optical fiber; and a plurality of grooves extending in a circumferential direction of the groove rotation guide. A groove-rotating guide arranged in an axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the spin axis, a fusion guide having a centrally concave curved surface and arranged in an axis generally parallel to the axis of the groove-rotating guide, and formed sheet-shaped light A sheet-type photoconductor forming apparatus composed of a winding roller for winding a conductor is provided.

The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. 1 is a schematic front view of the apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the optical fiber F ₁ is melt-spind from a spinning nozzle with multiple orifices in the circular arrangement shown in FIG. 2. The groove rotation guide 2 is arranged in an axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the spin nozzle and consists of a number of grooves formed equal to or greater than the number of orifices. The groove extends in the circumferential direction of the groove rotation guide. In sheet-like photoconductors that work better, the diameter of the circle (S, shown in FIG. 2) along the circumferential direction of the orifice arrangement is shown in FIG. 3 The width of the groove of the groove rotation guide 2 It is approximately equal to the sum (T, shown in FIG. 3). In the case where contact between the optical fibers F ₁ is prevented, the shape of each groove of the groove rotation guide 2 is not so important.

For example, V-shaped grooves and U-shaped grooves are available. Preferably, the auxiliary guide 3 is arranged in an axis parallel to the axis of the groove rotation guide 2 spaced at regular intervals as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, but with good parallelism between the optical fibers F ₂ . An arrangement can be obtained, and the auxiliary guide 3 is also placed in a position where the optical fiber F ₂ conveyed from the groove rotation guide ₂ is slightly displaced so that a constant tension is imposed on the optical fiber F ₂ . The fusion guide 4 has a concave curved surface formed near the center of the guide for arranging the optical fibers F _{3 in} parallel with each other and fusion in parallel. The fused optical fiber F ₄ is wound in the form of a sheet-like photoconductor by a first nip roller 5 (nip roller, shown in FIG. 1).

The preparation step is described with reference to the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 10. The core and sheath components dissolved by the melting apparatus, not shown in the figure, are passed through predetermined flow passages and spun from the conjugate spin nozzle 1. In this spin nozzle 1, the orifice 11 is arranged circularly for extruding the optical fiber F with the core-external structure. The spin fibers F ₁ extruded directly from the orifices 11 are cylindrical in shape having a diameter substantially equal to the diameter of the circle (S, shown in FIG. 2) along the circumferential direction of the arranged orifices 11, respectively. When the fibers F are guided into the grooves of the groove rotation guide 2, the optical fibers F ₁ can be linearly arranged in parallel with each other without contacting each other (see FIG. 4). As the optical fiber Fl flows smoothly and approximately linearly in the groove, no strain is imposed on the optical fiber F ₁ . At this time, the tension is applied to the optical fiber F ₂ by the auxiliary guide 3 located downstream, which stabilizes the movement of the optical fiber, thereby making the movement of the optical fiber stable. In this regard, the optical fibers F ₂ are not fused to each other and reach the fusion guide 4 independently. Since the fusion guide 4 consists of a concave curved surface at the center, the optical fibers F ₃ are fused and concentrated together as shown in FIG.

The structure as shown in the figures 5A to 5C is suitable for the fusion guide 4. More specifically, FIG. 5A is a structure having the curvature R ₁ shown, a structure having the curvature R ₂ on both left and right sides shown in FIG. 5B, and a curvature at the groove center shown in FIG. 5C. Structures with R ₃ ) and V-shaped grooves are suitable. The combined optical fibers F ₄ are generally fused and linearly arranged to each other and wound in such a state by the nip roller 5 acting as a winding roller. The sheet-like photoconductor of the optical fiber is formed in the manner described above. In the present invention, since the optical fiber spun from the nozzle 1 is guided by the groove rotation guide 2 which stably guides the flow of the optical fiber, generally the same tension is imposed on each optical fiber, and there is no local overlap. A very uniform sheet-like photoconductor can be obtained.

An embodiment of the same fusion guide as the guide 4 shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 is shown in FIG. 6 in addition to the fusion guide designed such that a plurality of sheet-like photoconductors of FIG. 6 can be formed with one spin nozzle. Is shown. More specifically, a fusion guide with the structure shown in FIG. 6 is arranged in place of the fusion guide 4 shown in FIG. 1 in the apparatus of the invention. Thus, the spun optical fiber is divided into a plurality of groups and fed linearly by a fusion guide, arranged on a plurality of concave curved surfaces, each group of optical fibers having a plurality of sheet-types having different or equal widths from each other. In order to obtain a photoconductor, they are mutually fused together as mentioned above.

7A and 7B are partial cross-sections of sheet-like photoconductors prepared in the present invention, and FIG. 7A shows an embodiment of an optical fiber configuration having a two-layer structure including cores Fa and sheaths Fb. FIG. 7B shows an embodiment of an optical fiber configuration having a three-layer structure including core Fa, sheath Fb, and protective layer Fc.

8 shows another embodiment of a sheet-type photoconductor forming method using the apparatus of the present invention. In this embodiment, the second winding roller (nip roller, 6) is arranged downstream of the first winding roller (nip roller, 5), and the heating device 7 is arranged between the two nip rollers 5, 6. do. In this embodiment, the sheet-like photoconductor can be subjected to hot drawing between the first and second nip rollers 5, 6 to give a very high rigidity to the optical fiber.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment in which the reel winder 8 is arranged behind the second nip roller 6 shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the sheet-like photoconductor is wound on a reel winder 8 and overlaid in multiple layers, and the stack is fixed to each of the optical fiber bands having a length corresponding to one side of the reel winder 8. Is cut at the corner of the

10 illustrates an embodiment of obtaining a sheet-like photoconductor F ₅ having a constant length. In this embodiment, the cutter 9 for cutting the sheet-like photoconductor to a predetermined length is arranged behind the second nip roller 6, and the cut photoconductor is stacked in the container case 10. Since the melt spin is possible, the type of optical fiber used in the present invention is not critical, but a thermoplastic resin such as an acrylic polymer, a crosslinked cured polymer such as a crosslinked silicone polymer or a polyallylate or polycarbonite, a crosslinked acrylate polymer, Or a core composed of an ion-crosslinking binder polymer; Preference is given to using plastic optical fibers with sheaths composed of polymers having a refractive index smaller than core polymers such as fluorine-containing polymers or acrylic polymers. The appropriate protective layer can be selected according to the intended use.

Example 1

The sheet-like photoconductor is formed by the forming apparatus shown in FIG. Conjugated spin nozzle 1 with 100 orifices 11 arranged in a circle is used, polymetal methacrylate is supplied as a core consisting of a rate of 1.07 g / min per orifice, and fluorine-containing methacrylate polymer is 0.08 per orifice It is supplied as a sheath configured at a rate of g / min. Conjugated melt spin is performed at a spin temperature of 255 ° C., wherein the spun fibers pass through the groove rotation guide 2, the auxiliary guide 3, the fusion guide 4, and the formed sheet-like photoconductor is a nip roller. Winding is carried out at a winding speed of 120 m / min by (5). The distance l ₁ between the spin nozzle 1 and the groove rotation guide 2 is adjusted to 300 mm, and the distance l ₂ between the groove rotation guide 2 and the auxiliary guide 3 is adjusted to 500 mm, The distance l ₃ between the auxiliary guide 3 and the fusion guide 4 is adjusted to 50 mm. The groove rotation guide 2, the auxiliary guide 3, and the fusion guide 4 are strongly cooled, so that the surface temperature of the guide is maintained at the same level. In the resulting sheet-type photoconductor, optical fibers having a diameter of 100 μm are linearly and uniformly arranged in parallel with each other, and the width of the sheet-type photoconductor is 10 mm. In the 100 optical fiber if the fiber diameter is within 100μm ± 1μm, the light transmission performance is as high as 285dB / km / ± 30dB / km.

Example 2

In the same apparatus as used in Example 1, a sheet-like photoconductor is formed by the fusion guide arrangement with the structure shown in FIG. The polymetal methacrylate is supplied as a core composed of a rate of 2.45 g / min per orifice, the fluorine-containing methacrylate polymer is supplied as a sheath configured at a rate of 0.15 g / min per orifice, and the polymetal methacrylate is supplied as an orifice It is supplied as a protective layer configured at a rate of 0.13 g / min per sugar. The supply spin is carried out at a spin temperature of 250 ° C., and the spun fibers are divided into four groups each consisting of 25 fibers by fusion guides, and the sheet-type photoconductor is provided with the heating apparatus shown in FIG. Prepared at 200 ° C.). The winding speed of the second nip roller 6 is adjusted to 51 m / min for discharging the photoconductor at a discharge ratio of 1.05.

In each of the resulting sheet-like photoconductors, the single fiber diameter is 250 μm, the sheet width is 6.25 mm, and in 100 fibers the fiber diameter is 250 μm ± 2 μm, and the photoelectric performance is within 230 dB / km ± 20 dB / km. Sheet-like photoconductors do not have bent deformation but are very flexible. According to the present invention, a sheet-like photoconductor having good photoelectric performance and having uniformity without local overlapping or bending can be formed with very high efficiency.

Claims (10)

Melt-spinning the spin dope into a plurality of optical fibers, and mutually coupling along the entire length of the optical fiber before the optical fiber is cooled to form a sheet-like optical fiber photoconductor in which the optical fibers are arranged in parallel. A method of forming a sheet-like optical fiber photoconductor, wherein the optical fiber is melt-spinned from a spin nozzle having a plurality of orifices arranged in a circular manner, and the spinned optical fiber is parallel to each other using a groove rotation guide (2). A sheet, characterized in that it is linearly arranged but non-contacted to each other, wherein the center is formed by contact welding with a fusion guide 4 formed thereon, and the sheet-shaped photoconductor thus wound is wound. -Type photoconductor formation method. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein tension is imposed on the spun optical fibers that are linearly arranged parallel to each other and are not fused, so that the movement of the optical fibers is stabilized. The optical fiber of claim 1, wherein the spinned optical fibers arranged in parallel and linearly without contacting each other are divided into a plurality of fiber groups, each fiber group is fused to each other, and a plurality of sheet-like optical fiber photoconductors are formed. Characterized in that the method. A method according to claim 1, wherein the formed sheet-like optical fiber photoconductor is subjected to hot drawing. A nozzle having a plurality of circularly arranged orifices 11 for melt extruding a spin dope for an optical fiber: a plurality of grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the groove-turning guide 2, the shaft being a melt-spin nozzle ( A groove rotation guide 2 arranged to extend in a direction perpendicular to the spin axis of 1); An apparatus for forming a sheet-shaped photoconductor, comprising: a fusion guide having a central portion, the center of which is arranged so that the axis is parallel to the axis of the groove guide, and a winding roller for winding the formed sheet-shaped photoconductor. 6. The groove diameter according to claim 5, wherein the number of grooves formed in the groove rotation guide 2 is equal to or greater than the number of orifices 11 of the nozzle 1, and the overall width of the grooves is a circular diameter along the circumferential direction in which the orifices are arranged. Device, characterized in that it is about the same. 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising an auxiliary guide (3) arranged between the groove rotation guide (2) and the welding guide (4) such that the axis of the auxiliary guide is parallel to the axis of the groove rotation guide and the welding guide. Device. 8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein tension is imposed on the optical fiber as the auxiliary guide is positioned at a position where the optical fiber conveyed from the groove rotation guide is slightly out of position. 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the fusion guide consists of a plurality of concave surfaces, so that the optical fiber is divided into a plurality of groups, each group being formed of a sheet-like photoconductor. 6. An apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a second winding roller arranged downstream of said winding roller and a heating device arranged between said two winding rollers.

Images