TWI485053B - Apparatus and method of forming patterned micro-structure - Google Patents

Description

Apparatus and method for forming patterned microstructure

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for forming a patterned microstructure, and more particularly to an apparatus and method for forming a patterned microstructure by striking a surface of an optical film with a striker.

In the liquid crystal display technology, how to make the most comprehensive and efficient use of limited light sources has always been the direction of the industry. In the backlight module of a general liquid crystal display, many kinds of optical films are utilized to improve or adjust the distribution and effect of the light source. The types of these optical films include a light guide plate, a diffusion film, a reflecting plate, and a prism sheet. Since these optical films are required to have functions of light guiding, reflection, homogenizing, and light collecting, in general, in addition to fabricating a multilayer film structure by mixing materials of various optical properties, various patterned microstructures are formed on the surface of the optical film. Achieving the desired optical effect is also a common method of making optical films.

There are many ways to form microstructures on the surface of optical films. At present, dot printing, injection molding, extrusion molding, and laser engraving are commonly used in the industry. Among them, dot printing, injection molding, and extrusion molding have relatively low cost, but have problems such as low optical efficiency, long cycle time, low yield, and small process variation elasticity. On the other hand, the optical film having the microstructure prepared by the laser engraving method has better optical efficiency, and the process variation elasticity is large, but the cost is too high and the production time is too long. In addition, when it is necessary to form a finer-sized microstructure, the above-described methods are also limited by the machine or mold limitation and cannot achieve the desired effect. Therefore, how to produce optical films with diverse microstructures and high optical efficiency characteristics in a low-cost, high-efficiency manner is a direction that manufacturers and equipment manufacturers are striving to develop.

One of the main objects of the present invention is to provide a method of forming a patterned microstructure for use in an optical film to produce an optical film having a patterned microstructure in a low cost, high production efficiency manner.

To achieve the above object, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure for use in an optical film, the method comprising sequentially striking at least one surface of an optical film with at least one striker to produce a surface of the optical film A plurality of dimples are formed to form a patterned microstructure on the surface of the optical film.

In order to achieve the above object, another embodiment of the present invention provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure of an optical film, the method comprising: providing an optical film and sequentially striking at least one surface of the optical film with at least one striker to make the optical film A plurality of cavities are formed on the surface to form a patterned microstructure on the surface of the optical film.

To achieve the above object, yet another embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for forming a patterned microstructure, the apparatus comprising a placement platform and an impact device. The placement platform is for placing an object to form a patterned microstructure. The impact device is disposed above the placement platform. The impact device includes an engraving head and at least one striker for striking at least one surface of the object to form a patterned microstructure on the surface of the object.

In the present invention, a plurality of cavities are formed on the surface of the optical film by impact by a striker to form a patterned microstructure, whereby a highly optically efficient optical film having a patterned microstructure can be produced in a low-cost manufacturing manner.

The present invention will be further understood by those of ordinary skill in the art of the present invention. The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2. 1 and 2 illustrate a schematic diagram of a method of forming a patterned microstructure in the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, this embodiment can use a device 10 for forming a patterned microstructure to perform the method of forming a patterned microstructure of the present invention, wherein the device 10 for forming a patterned microstructure includes a placement platform 11 and an impact Device 12. The placement platform 11 can include a movable placement platform, and the impact device 12 can include a movable impact device, but the invention is not limited thereto and other suitable placement platforms and impact devices can be used. The impact device 12 is disposed above the placement platform 11, and the impact device 12 includes an engraving head 12A and at least one striker 12B. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the present embodiment provides a method for forming a patterned microstructure, which can be used for an optical film 16. However, the method for forming a patterned microstructure in this embodiment is not limited thereto. Can be used for other objects that want to form a patterned microstructure. The following examples are based on optical films, but are not limited thereto. Thus, the method of forming a patterned microstructure of the present embodiment includes a method of forming a patterned microstructure of an optical film. The method includes forming an optical film 16 and sequentially striking at least one surface 16S of the optical film 16 with at least one striker 12B to cause the surface 16S of the optical film 16 to generate a plurality of recesses 17A, thereby forming a surface 16S of the optical film 16. Patterned microstructure 17B. The optical film 16 of the present embodiment may be formed by extrusion forming, but the optical film 16 may be formed by other suitable forming methods without limitation. In more detail, as shown in FIG. 2, the method of forming the patterned microstructure of the present embodiment first strikes the optical film 16 by the striker 12B in the direction of the placement stage 11, while controlling the striker 12B to strike the optical film 16. At a predetermined depth, the striker 12B is then removed from the optical film 16, and a recess 17A of a certain depth is formed on the surface 16S of the optical film 16. By repeating this impact operation at different positions on the optical film 16, a plurality of pits 17A can be formed on the surface 16S of the optical film 16, thereby forming the patterned microstructure 17B as shown in Fig. 1. In the present invention, the depth of the optical film 16 can be adjusted by the impact pin 12B to form the recesses 17A of different sizes and depths. In addition, the differently shaped strikers 12B can be used to generate the required recesses 17A to achieve the optical The surface 16S of the film 16 forms the desired patterned microstructure 17B. In this embodiment, the material of the optical film 16 may include polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), methyl methacrylate and styrene (Methyl Methacrylate-Styrene (MMS) or polycarbonate (Polycarbonate, PC), but the material of the optical film 16 of the present embodiment is not limited thereto and may be other suitable materials. It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the method of forming the patterned microstructure 17B can move the striker 12B in the direction X or/and the direction Y of the surface 16S of the parallel optical film 16 by using the movable impact device 12. Or, by using the movable placement platform 11, the optical film 16 is moved in a direction X or/and a direction Y parallel to the surface 16S of the optical film 16, so that the striker 12B sequentially strikes the surface 16S of the optical film 16 to form a pattern. Structured microstructure 17B. In addition, in the present invention, the interaction between the movable impact device 12 and the movable placement platform 11 can be simultaneously utilized to effectively shorten the processing time for forming the patterned microstructure 17B and improve the process. effectiveness.

Please refer to Figure 3, and please refer to Figure 1 together. Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing an optical film produced by the method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, in the present embodiment, the method of forming the patterned microstructure includes, besides forming the patterned microstructure 17B on the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B in an impact manner, The surface 16S of the optical film 16 may be struck by the striker 12B to form a positioning mark 18 on the surface 16S of the optical film 16, and the positioning mark 18 may provide a positioning function during subsequent processes, and the subsequent process may include the cutting of the optical film 16. Cutting process, but this embodiment is not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the optical film 16 having the patterned microstructure 17B can be used as a light guide plate, a diffusion sheet or other special optical applications in a backlight module because of its special optical properties, but this embodiment Not limited to this.

The different embodiments of the method for forming a patterned microstructure of the present invention will be described below, and for the sake of simplification of the description, the following description mainly focuses on the differences of the embodiments, and the same points are not repeated. Narration. In addition, the same elements in the respective embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals to facilitate the comparison between the embodiments.

Please refer to Figure 4, and please refer to Figure 1 together. 4 and 1 are schematic views showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to a second embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figures 1 and 4, a second embodiment provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure for an optical film 16, the method comprising sequentially striking at least one surface of the optical film 16 with at least one striker 12B. 16S, a plurality of pits 17A are formed on the surface 16S of the optical film 16, whereby the patterned microstructure 17B is formed on the surface 16S of the optical film 16. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the method for forming the patterned microstructure may further include the step of sequentially striking the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B, and heating the striker 12B, the heating method being applicable to the striker. 12B pre-heats the striker 12B to a specific temperature range or/and continues to heat the striker 12B during the step of striking the optical film 16 to maintain the striker 12B within a certain temperature range. , but not limited to this. More specifically, in the present invention, when the material of the optical film 16 has thermoplastic properties, the use of the striker 12B having a high temperature will contribute to the formation of the patterned microstructure 17B on the surface 16S of the optical film 16 in an impact manner, and At the same time, it is helpful to slow down the loss of the striker 12B in the process, thereby prolonging the life cycle of the striker 12B to reduce the overall cost. In the same manner, in the embodiment, the method of forming the patterned microstructure 17B may be further included in the step of sequentially striking the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B, and heating the optical film 16 to facilitate patterning. The structure 17B is formed. Similarly, the heating method can preheat the optical film 16 to a specific temperature range or the step of the striker 12B striking the optical film 16 before the step of the striker 12B striking the optical film 16. The optical film 16 is heated to maintain the optical film 16B within a specific temperature range, but the invention is not limited thereto. The specific temperature range described above is generally between 75 ° C and 150 ° C, but the invention is not limited thereto and the temperature range can be adjusted depending on the relevant materials and equipment requirements. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 1, in the present embodiment, the apparatus 10 for forming a patterned microstructure may further include a first heating device 13 or/and a second heating device 14. The first heating device 13 is for heating the striker 12B, and the second heating device 14 is for heating the optical film 16. The first heating device 13 can be disposed in the engraving head 12A, and the second heating device 14 can be disposed in the placement platform 11, but the invention does not limit the first heating device 13 and the visual design requirements. The position of the heating device 14 is such that the effect of effectively heating the striker 12B or heating the optical film 16 is indeed achieved. In addition, in this embodiment, one of the two ways of heating the striker 12B or heating the optical film 16 or heating the striker 12B and the optical film 16 may be selected to enhance the process effect of forming the patterned microstructure 17B.

Please refer to Figure 5, and please refer to Figure 1 together. Fig. 5 and Fig. 1 are schematic views showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Figures 1 and 5, a third embodiment provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure for an optical film 16, the method comprising sequentially striking at least one surface 16S of the optical film 16 with at least one striker 12B. The surface 16S of the optical film 16 is formed with a plurality of recesses 17A, whereby the patterned microstructures 17B are formed on the surface 16S of the optical film 16. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the method of forming the patterned microstructure may further include the step of sequentially striking the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B to provide the ultrasonic vibration effect of the striker 12B. As shown in Fig. 5, by the ultrasonic vibration effect, the striker 12B can be caused to strike the surface 16S of the optical film 16 with vibrations in different directions, for example, in the direction V1 or/and parallel to the optical film 16. Fine ultrasonic vibration is generated perpendicular to the direction V2 of the optical film 16, but is not limited thereto. The striker 12B having the ultrasonic vibration effect can produce a smoothing effect on the edge of each of the recesses 17A struck on the optical film 16, facilitating the formation of the patterned microstructure 17B. As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the apparatus 10 for forming a patterned microstructure may further include an ultrasonic device 15 for providing an ultrasonic vibration effect of the striker 12B, and the ultrasonic device 15 It can be disposed in the engraving head 12A, but the embodiment does not limit the position of the ultrasonic device 15 according to the design requirements, so as to effectively provide the supersonic vibration effect of the striker 12B. In addition, in other variations of the present invention, the method of forming the patterned microstructure may also include heating the striker 12B, heating the optical film 16, and providing a supersonic vibration effect of the striker 12B to form the patterned microstructure 17B. Optimized adjustments in terms of process efficiency and efficiency.

Please refer to Figure 6. FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to a fourth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 6, a fourth embodiment provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure for an optical film 16, the method comprising sequentially striking at least one surface 16S of the optical film 16 with at least one striker 12B to cause an optical film The surface 16S of 16 forms a patterned microstructure 17B. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, a plurality of optical films 16 may be placed on the placement platform 11, and the shapes and sizes of the optical films 16 may be different, and the movable design of the impact device 12 is utilized. Moving the striker 12B in the direction X or direction Y of the surface 16S of the parallel optical film 16, or moving the optical film in the direction X or direction Y parallel to the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the movable design of the placement stage 11, The striker 12B is sequentially struck against the surface 16S of the optical film 16 to form a patterned microstructure 17B. Therefore, the method for forming the patterned microstructure provided in this embodiment can be applied to impact the surface 16S of the optical film 16 of various shapes and sizes that have been cut to form various different patterned microstructures 17B, so that The process flexibility of forming a patterned microstructure is effectively enhanced. In addition, the present embodiment can also be combined with the ultrasonic device and the heating device in the above embodiments to further adjust the process effect and efficiency of forming the patterned microstructure.

Please refer to Figure 7. FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the fifth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 7, a fifth embodiment provides a method of forming a patterned microstructure for an optical film 16, the method comprising sequentially striking at least one surface 16S of the optical film 16 with at least one striker 12B to cause an optical film The surface 16S of 16 forms a patterned microstructure 17B. It is to be noted that, in the present embodiment, the optical film 16 is formed by extrusion forming, and the step of sequentially striking the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B is performed in the semi-solidified state of the optical film 16. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the apparatus 20 for forming a patterned microstructure is disposed adjacent to an extrusion device 19 for forming an optical film 16 by extrusion forming, such that the optical film 16 is extruded. After the formation of 19, the semi-solidified state suitable for the impact process is placed on the placement stage 11 for the subsequent process of sequentially striking the surface 16S of the optical film 16 by the striker 12B. In this embodiment, the temperature of the optical film 16 in the semi-solidified state is substantially between 75 ° C and 150 ° C, but the invention is not limited thereto and can be used for the respective process temperatures according to the relevant materials and equipment requirements. Adjustment. By designing the apparatus 20 for forming the patterned microstructure in the present embodiment adjacent to the extrusion device 19, in addition to improving the process effect of the striker 12B striking the optical film 16 to form the patterned microstructure 17B, the optical can be further reduced. The overall processing time of the membrane 16 achieves an effect of improving process efficiency and productivity. In addition, the present embodiment can also be combined with the ultrasonic device and the heating device in the above embodiments to further adjust the process effect and efficiency of forming the patterned microstructure, and the details will not be described herein.

In summary, the present invention utilizes a striker to strike an object, such as an optical film, that forms a patterned microstructure on a surface to form a patterned microstructure on its surface, while utilizing a movable impact device or a movable placement platform. , selectively forming the desired patterned microstructure. In addition, it can also be combined with a heating device, an ultrasonic device, and an extrusion device to effectively improve the process efficiency and efficiency of forming a patterned microstructure.

The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all changes and modifications made to the scope of the present invention should be within the scope of the present invention.

10. . . Device for forming patterned microstructure

20. . . Device for forming patterned microstructure

11. . . Placement platform

12. . . Impact device

12A. . . Carving head

12B. . . firing pin

13. . . First heating device

14. . . Second heating device

15. . . Ultrasonic device

16. . . Optical film

16S. . . surface

17A. . . pit

17B. . . Patterned microstructure

18. . . Positioning mark

19. . . Extrusion device

X. . . direction

Y. . . direction

V1. . . direction

V2. . . direction

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the first, second and third embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an optical film produced by the method for forming a patterned microstructure of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a method of forming a patterned microstructure according to the fifth embodiment.

10. . . Device for forming patterned microstructure

11. . . Placement platform

12. . . Impact device

12A. . . Carving head

12B. . . firing pin

16. . . Optical film

16S. . . surface

17B. . . Patterned microstructure

X. . . direction

Y. . . direction

Claims (21)

A method of forming a patterned microstructure for use in an optical film, comprising: providing a device for forming a patterned microstructure, the device for forming a patterned microstructure comprising: a placement platform for placing the optical film; And an impact device disposed above the placement platform, the impact device comprising an engraving head and at least one striker; and sequentially striking at least one surface of the optical film by the striker to generate a plurality of surfaces of the optical film a cavity for forming a patterned microstructure on the surface of the optical film, wherein the striker is heated in the step of sequentially striking the surface of the optical film with the striker. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of striking the surface of the optical film by the striker to provide the impact-sound vibration effect. The method of claim 1, further comprising heating the optical film in the step of sequentially striking the surface of the optical film with the striker. The method of claim 1, further comprising striking the surface of the optical film with the striker to form a positioning mark on the surface of the optical film. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving the striker in a direction parallel to the surface of the optical film such that the striker sequentially strikes the surface of the optical film. The method of claim 1, further comprising moving the optical film in a direction parallel to the surface of the optical film such that the striker sequentially strikes the surface of the optical film. A method of forming a patterned microstructure of an optical film, comprising: providing a device for forming a patterned microstructure, the device for forming a patterned microstructure comprising: a placement platform; and an impact device disposed on the placement platform Above, the impact device comprises an engraving head and at least one striker; forming an optical film on the placement platform; and sequentially striking at least one surface of the optical film by the striker to generate a plurality of surfaces of the optical film a cavity for forming a patterned microstructure on the surface of the optical film, wherein the striker is heated in the step of sequentially striking the surface of the optical film with the striker. The method of forming according to claim 7, wherein the optical film is formed by extrusion forming. The method of forming according to claim 8, wherein the step of sequentially striking the surface of the optical film by the striker is performed in a state in which the optical film is half solidified. The method of forming according to claim 7, further comprising the step of striking the surface of the optical film by the striker to provide the ultrasonic shock effect of the striker. The method of forming of claim 7, further comprising heating the optical film in the step of sequentially striking the surface of the optical film with the striker. The method of forming of claim 7, further comprising striking the surface of the optical film with the striker to form a positioning mark on the surface of the optical film. The method of forming of claim 7, further comprising moving the striker in a direction parallel to the surface of the optical film such that the striker sequentially strikes the surface of the optical film. The method of forming of claim 7, further comprising moving the optical film in a direction parallel to the surface of the optical film such that the striker sequentially strikes the surface of the optical film. An apparatus for forming a patterned microstructure, comprising: a placement platform for placing an object to form a patterned microstructure; and an impact device disposed above the placement platform, the impact device including an engraving And a head and at least one striker for striking at least one surface of the object to form the patterned microstructure on the surface of the object. The device of claim 15 further comprising a first heating device for the collision The needle is heated. The apparatus of claim 15 further comprising a second heating means for heating the article. The device of claim 15 further comprising an ultrasonic device for providing the ultrasonic vibration effect of the striker. The device of claim 15 wherein the placement platform comprises a removable placement platform. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the impact device comprises a movable impact device. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the device forming the patterned microstructure is disposed adjacent to an extrusion device.