TWI567019B - Tension adjustment device and continuous web processing method using the same - Google Patents

Description

Tension adjusting device and continuous coil processing method using same

The present invention relates to a tension adjusting device and a continuous web processing method using the same, and more particularly to a tension capable of adjusting the tension of a web by applying a repulsive force caused by ultrasonic vibration to the coil. Adjustment device, and continuous coil processing method using the same.

Coil refers to a soft material that is continuous in length. A web processing system for continuously processing a web, such as a coil, includes a coiler, an uncoiler, a plurality of drive rollers, a plurality of idlers, and the like. Continuous processing is typically performed using volume-to-volume processes or roll-to-sheet processes. A dancer roll device is used as a method of controlling the web tension in a roll-to-roll and roll-to-sheet process. The tension adjusting roller device can be configured to apply a predetermined amount of tension to a predetermined amount of tension by using a pressing device such as a spring, a pneumatic pressure device or a weight to apply a specific amount of force to the coil regardless of the position of the coil. Coil.

Fig. 1 graphically illustrates a tension adjusting device commonly used in the prior art.

As explained in Fig. 1, the tension adjusting roller 311 adjusts the tension of the web W by mechanical contact (friction) with the web W. Support rollers 312 and 313 support the web W in a fixed position.

Coil, more specifically, thin glass coils or thin glass sheets produced from thin glass coils can be used in a variety of fields, such as displays, electronic materials (eg, photovoltaic cells, touch sensors) , or wafer), construction and home appliances. Such thin glass webs are fragile for mechanical contact prior to coating with a protective film. Thus, uncoated glass coils that have not been coated with a protective film are required to avoid mechanical contact. In addition, because the thin glass web is usually a high hardness glass material, the thin glass web may damage the surface of the roller. Prior art tensioning devices use chromium (Cr) coating to protect the rollers from damage. However, relatively expensive Cr coating is a factor in increased equipment cost.

In the prior art, there is provided a method of supporting a web using a contact (friction) tension adjusting roller, and a non-contact technique for supporting a coil by discharging liquid from a liquid vent to an outer surface of the arch tension adjusting roller. method. However, these methods have the following disadvantages. The former method tends to damage the surface of the thin glass coil by mechanical contact. According to the latter method, the flow rate using only compressed air is severely difficult to uniformly adjust the height of the web, and the force (repulsive force) for maintaining the tension adjusting roller in a state of being non-contact with the web is very weak. Thus, when the web is in an unstable state (for example, at the time of tremor), the web tends to contact the tension adjusting roller (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2011-0095191, entitled "Non-contact tension adjusting roller mechanism ( NON) -CONTACT DANCER MECHANISM )").

Moreover, since the thin glass web has the characteristics of a fragile material, it tends to crack when subjected to any prior art method of controlling the web tension based on ductility. What is more, in the prior art, when the web is transported, the tension of the web is controlled based on the ductility of the web. More specifically, the tension of the web is controlled by moving the tension adjusting roller upward to extend the web. However, since the thin glass web formed from the fragile material has a small ductility, this may increase the likelihood that the thin glass web may be subjected to mechanical contact or may be damaged.

The information disclosed in the prior art section of the present invention is only for a better understanding of the background of the present invention, and should not be construed as a form of prior art recognition or any form known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Suggestions.

Various aspects of the present invention provide a tension adjusting roller mechanism for maintaining the web against tension under uniform tension during transport by applying a uniform amount of force (pressure) to the web without mechanical contact.

In one aspect of the invention, provided is a tension adjusting device comprising a tension adjusting roller capable of adjusting the tension of a web by applying a force to the web. The tension adjusting roller includes a first ultrasonic vibrator that generates ultrasonic vibration and applies a force to the coil in a non-contact manner by applying a repulsive force caused by ultrasonic vibration to the coil.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a continuous web processing method comprising the steps of: adjusting tension of a web using the above-described tension adjusting device; and processing a web subjected to tension adjustment.

According to the invention as set forth above, in order to reliably transport the web, the tension adjusting device includes a non-contact tension adjusting roller mechanism (for example, by controlling tension or ultrasonic vibration occurring during transportation), and the continuous web processing method uses tension The adjustment device continuously processes the web.

Therefore, it is possible to prevent fragile materials, such as thin glass coils, from being damaged by mechanical contact with, for example, a dancer roller. In addition, additional processing on the dancer rolls, such as mechanical coating, is not required. What is more, it is possible to adjust the tension of the web when transporting the web at a uniform height.

The method and apparatus of the present invention are in the nature of the embodiments of the invention and

W‧‧‧ coil

100‧‧‧Transportation unit

300‧‧‧tension adjusting device

311, 320‧‧‧ tension adjusting roller

312, 313‧‧‧ Support roller

321‧‧‧First Ultrasonic Vibrator

322‧‧‧Supersonic generator

324‧‧‧Vibration absorber

325‧‧‧Fixed frame

331, 332‧‧‧ linkage

332T‧‧‧ top link

332B‧‧‧Bottom connecting rod

332L‧‧‧Left Link

332R‧‧‧right link

332LT‧‧‧Left top link

332LB‧‧‧Left bottom link

332RT‧‧‧Right top link

332RB‧‧‧right bottom link

333‧‧‧Cylinder

333T‧‧‧ top cylinder

333B‧‧‧ bottom cylinder

333L‧‧‧left cylinder

333R‧‧‧Right cylinder

333LT‧‧‧Left top cylinder

333LB‧‧‧left bottom cylinder

333RT‧‧‧Right top cylinder

333RB‧‧‧Right bottom cylinder

334‧‧‧Slant link

341, 342‧‧‧second ultrasonic vibrator

715, 718‧‧‧ Unwinding roller

716, 717‧‧‧ winding roller

800‧‧‧cleaning unit

900‧‧‧Check unit

1 is a view schematically showing a schematic diagram of a tension adjusting device commonly used in the prior art; FIG. 2 is a view schematically showing a basic principle of tension adjusting according to the present invention; FIGS. 3 to 13 are diagrammatically illustrated. A schematic view of first to eleventh exemplary embodiments of a tension adjusting device according to the present invention; and Figs. 14 and 15 are diagrams schematically illustrating a twelfth exemplary embodiment of a tension adjusting device according to the present invention; 16 to 18 are diagrams schematically illustrating a thirteenth exemplary embodiment of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention; and Fig. 19 is a view schematically showing an exemplary method of the continuous web processing method according to the present invention A schematic of an embodiment.

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings in the accompanying drawings.

Throughout the specification, reference should be made to the drawings, wherein the same reference numerals and symbols are used in the different drawings to refer to the same or similar components. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and components incorporated herein will be omitted if the present invention is not explicitly shown.

Roll-to-roll or roll-to-sheet processes for continuous web processing use tension rollers to control the tension disturbances that occur during web transport.

The present invention relates to the treatment of a web formed of a fragile material, such as a thin glass web, and more particularly to a tension adjusting device for transporting a web formed of a fragile material, including a non-contact tension adjusting roller, and Use its continuous coil processing method.

Figure 2 graphically illustrates the basic principles of tension adjustment in accordance with the present invention.

The tension adjusting device according to the present invention includes a tension adjusting roller 320. The dancer roller 320 shown in FIG. 2 includes a first ultrasonic vibrator 321, an ultrasonic generator 322, a vibration absorber 324, and a fixed frame 325. The dancer roller 320 adjusts the tension of the web W by applying a force to the web W. The first ultrasonic vibrator 321 of the dancer roller 320 generates ultrasonic vibration. The first ultrasonic vibrator 321 applies a force to the web W in a non-contact manner (or no contact) by applying a repulsive force of a high-pressure air layer caused by ultrasonic vibration to the coil W.

The ultrasonic generator 322 of the dancer roller 320 vibrates the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 by generating an ultrasonic wave. In addition, the vibration absorber 324 of the dancer roller 320 prevents the vibration of the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 from being carried to other components of the tension adjusting device.

In order to separate the web W from the outer surface of the dancer roller 320, an ultrasonic vibration technique is applied (Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2010-0057530). Since the periodic air compression of the ultrasonic waves generates a force for repelling the outer surface of the web W and the tension adjusting roller 320, mechanical contact and damage between the tension adjusting roller 320 and the web W formed of the fragile material are prevented.

Unlike the non-contact tension adjusting device using the prior art liquid venting, when the web W is in an unstable state (vibration or tremor), the amount of repulsive force is automatically adjusted. Therefore, the repulsive force can be uniformly applied to the entire surface, thereby uniformly maintaining the tension adjusting roller in a state of being non-contact with the thin glass web W.

For the purpose of tension control, a certain amount of force is continuously applied to the web W from the outside to maintain the web W under constant tension. For the purpose of speed control, when one of the unwinding side and the winding side is the master and the other is the slave, the height of the tension adjusting roller 320 is measured and fed back by the moment. By increasing and decreasing the slave winding speed, the difference between the unwinding speed and the winding speed can be controlled and synchronized simultaneously.

Here, the web W may typically be a thin glass, but the invention is not limited thereto. The web W according to the present invention can be formed from various other materials.

Fig. 3 graphically illustrates a first exemplary embodiment of a tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 3, the tension adjusting device includes a link 331 that supports the dancer roller 320. One end of the link 331 is hingedly coupled to the dancer roller 320, and the other end of the link 331 is hingedly coupled to a fixed point. Thus, the dancer roller 320 is free to rotate about the fixed point as the center of rotation, and a uniform amount of force can be applied to the web W corresponding to its weight. Therefore, the tension adjusting device can effectively adjust the tension of the web W.

4 and 5 graphically illustrate second and third exemplary embodiments of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

A portion of the outer surface of the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 facing the web W may form an open curve along the longitudinal direction of the web W, as shown in Fig. 4, or the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 The outer surface can form a circle as shown in Figure 5. Although the prior art tension adjusting roller is rotated by its friction with the web W, since it uses the compressed air to push the web W in a non-contact manner without friction, the tension adjusting roller 320 according to the present invention does not roll with The material W rotates together. Therefore, unlike the circular tension adjusting roller of the prior art, the outer surface of the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 is not necessarily circular.

Each of the tension adjusting devices illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 includes a support unit that supports the web W in a fixed position. The support unit includes second ultrasonic vibrators 341 and 342 that generate ultrasonic vibrations. When the first ultrasonic vibrator 321 applies a repulsive force to the first surface of the web W, the second ultrasonic vibrators 341 and 342 apply a repulsive force caused by the ultrasonic vibration thereof to the second surface, that is, the first The rear surface of the surface thus supports the web W in a non-contact manner.

The dancer roller 320 and the arched support unit are configured to support the thin glass web W along a smooth curve, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. Therefore, the pressure on the thin glass web W formed of the fragile material is minimized, so that the thin glass web W does not break.

If necessary, a tension adjusting roller 320 can also be used instead of the fixed position support unit.

Fig. 6, Fig. 7, Fig. 8, and Fig. 9 graphically illustrate fourth to seventh exemplary embodiments of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

Each of the tension adjusting devices shown in FIGS. 6 to 9 includes a link 332, each of which is coupled to the tension adjusting roller 320, and the other end thereof is coupled to the piston of the cylinder 333 (for example, , hydraulic cylinder or pneumatic cylinder). The internal pressure of the cylinder is maintained constant, and the difference between the internal pressure and the external pressure is applied to the tension adjusting roller 320 through the link 332. That is, the dancer roller 320 is mechanically coupled to the cylinder 333 such that it applies a constant pressure to the web W.

Various other pressurizing devices can be used. For example, a spring can be provided with one end coupled to the dancer 120 and the other end connected to a fixed point. That is, the dancer roller 320 is mechanically coupled to the spring such that it uniformly applies a constant spring force to the web W.

10 and 11 graphically illustrate eighth and ninth exemplary embodiments of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, each of the tension adjusting devices according to these embodiments provides a non-contact tension adjusting roller mechanism including the tension adjusting roller 320 and the cylinder barrel 333. The non-contact tension adjusting roller mechanism performs an operation of moving the web W up or down while keeping the web W in a horizontal state.

12 to 13 graphically illustrate tenth to eleventh exemplary embodiments of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, each of the tension adjusting devices according to these embodiments provides a non-contact tension adjusting roller mechanism including a tension adjusting roller 320 and a vertically disposed top cylinder 333T and a bottom cylinder 333B. . This mechanism minimizes the bending pressure of the fragile material by holding the web W along a smooth curve, and can finely adjust the tension in the up and down direction.

Each of the tension adjusting devices shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 further includes a top link 332T and a bottom link 332B coupled to the tension adjusting roller 320 in opposite directions to both surfaces of the web W. One end of the top link 332T is coupled to the tension adjustment roller 320, and the other end of the top link 332T is coupled to the piston of the top cylinder 333T. One end of the bottom link 332B is coupled to the tension adjustment roller 320, and the other end of the bottom link 332B is coupled to the piston of the bottom cylinder 333B.

Fig. 14 and Fig. 15 graphically illustrate a twelfth exemplary embodiment of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

As shown in Figs. 14 and 15, when the thin glass web W is transported, the lateral end points of the non-contact tension adjusting roller 320 can independently correspond to the difference between the tensions of the lateral end points of the web W. And move up and down. It is therefore possible to correspond to the transverse difference in tension without the need to extend the thin glass web W.

The tension adjusting device shown in Figs. 14 and 15 includes the left link 332L and the tilt link 334 coupled to both ends of the tension adjusting roller 320 along the width of the web W, and the right link 332R and the tilt, respectively. The links 334 are coupled such that the lateral end positions of the dancer rolls 320 can be adjusted separately. One end of the left link 332L is hinge-coupled to the tension adjustment roller 320, and the other end of the left link 332L is coupled to the piston of the left cylinder 333L. One end of the tilt link 334 is hingedly coupled to the tension adjustment roller 320. One end of the right link 332R is hingedly coupled to the other end of the tilt link 334, and the other end of the right link 332R is coupled to the piston of the right cylinder 333R.

For example, supporting the left cylinder 333L and the right cylinder 333R applies a downward force to the web W, and the tension of the web W applies an upward force to the left cylinder 333L and the right cylinder 333R in a corresponding manner, Thus balance the force. It is assumed that the tension on the right edge of the web W is maintained constant, while the tension on the left edge of the web W is reduced. In this case, the position of the right edge of the dancer roller 320 will not change. However, this will cause the downward force from the left cylinder 333L applied to the left edge of the dancer roller 320, and the upward force applied from the tension of the web W to the dancer roller 320, and the balance between the two collapses. As a result, the dancer roller 320 will move down until the force is again balanced. Therefore, the left end point of the dancer roller 320 will be disposed lower than the right end of the dancer roller 320, as shown in FIG.

Fig. 16, Fig. 17, and Fig. 18 illustrate a thirteenth exemplary embodiment of the tension adjusting device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 16 to 18, the left top cylinder 333LT and the left bottom cylinder 333LB and the right top cylinder 333RT and the right bottom cylinder 333RB are attached to the tension adjusting roller from above and below. The two end points of 320 are coupled, thus making it possible to adjust the tension more finely, even if there is a lateral difference in the tension of the web W.

The tension adjusting device shown in FIGS. 16 to 18 includes a left top link 332LT, a left bottom link 332LB, a tilt link 334, a right top link 332RT, and a right bottom link 332RB.

The left top link 332LT and the left bottom link 332LB are hinge-coupled to one lateral end (left end) of the tension adjusting roller 320 along the width of the web W, and are disposed in opposite directions toward both surfaces of the web W. One end of the left top link 332LT is hingedly coupled to one of the lateral end points of the tension adjusting roller 320, and the other end of the left top link 332LT is coupled to the piston of the left top cylinder 333LT. One end of the left bottom link 332LB is hingedly coupled to one of the lateral end points of the tension adjusting roller 320, and the other end of the left bottom link 332LB is coupled to the piston of the left bottom cylinder 333LB.

The tilt link 334 is hingedly coupled to the other lateral end of the tension adjusting roller 320 along the width of the web W. In detail, one end of the tilt link 334 is hingedly coupled to the other lateral end of the tension adjusting roller 320.

The right top link 332RT and the right bottom link 332RB are coupled to the tilt link 334. One end of the right top link 332RT is hingedly coupled to the other end of the tilt link 334, and the other end of the right top link 332RT is coupled to the piston of the right top cylinder 333RT. One end of the right bottom link 332RB is hingedly coupled to the other end of the tilt link 334, and the other end of the right bottom link 332RB is coupled to the piston of the right bottom cylinder 333RB.

Fig. 19 is a view schematically showing an exemplary embodiment of a continuous web processing method according to the present invention.

The present invention provides a continuous web processing method for processing a web W by adjusting the tension of the web W by using the above-described tension adjusting device 300. The continuous web processing method includes an operation of adjusting the tension of the web W using the tension adjusting device 300, and an operation of processing the tension-adjusted web W. The processing operation includes at least one selected from the group consisting of forming, cutting, polishing, printing, coating, cleaning, and inspecting the web W, but is not limited thereto. The continuous web processing method is performed using a roll-to-roll process or a roll-to-roll process. Figure 19 illustrates the method of continuous cleaning and inspection. Here, the operation of processing the web W means the operation of cleaning and inspecting the web W.

The web W is unwound from the unwinding roller 715 together with the protective film. The protective film is wound around the protective film winding roller 716. The tension of the web W is adjusted by the tension adjusting device 300, and the web W is transported by the transport unit 100. The web W is then cleaned in the cleaning unit 800 and inspected in the inspection unit 900. Thereafter, the web W is wound around the winding roller 717. At this time, the protective film unwound from the protective film unwinding roller 718 is wound around the web W.

The above description of the specific exemplary embodiments of the present invention has been shown with respect to the drawings. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the inventions disclosed.

Therefore, the scope of the invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments described above, but is defined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

W‧‧‧ coil

320‧‧‧Tensile roller

321‧‧‧First Ultrasonic Vibrator

322‧‧‧Supersonic generator

324‧‧‧Vibration absorber

325‧‧‧Fixed frame

Claims (13)

A tension adjusting device comprising: a force adjusting roller that adjusts a tension of the web by applying a force to a coil; the tension adjusting roller includes a first ultrasonic vibrator that generates a supersonic vibration, And applying the force to the web in a non-contact manner by applying a repulsive force to the web caused by the ultrasonic vibration, wherein the tension adjusting roller does not contact the web. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, wherein the web comprises a thin glass. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the first ultrasonic vibrator forms a circle or a portion of the outer surface of the first ultrasonic vibrator facing the coil. An open curve is defined along a longitudinal direction of the web. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising a supporting unit for supporting the coil in a fixed position, the supporting unit comprising a second ultrasonic vibrator, wherein the first ultrasonic vibrator Applying the repulsive force to a first surface of the web, and the second ultrasonic vibrator generates an ultrasonic vibration and applying a repulsive force caused by the ultrasonic vibration to a rear surface of the first surface a second surface thus supporting the web in a non-contact manner. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising a spring, one end of the spring being coupled to the tension adjusting roller, and the other end of the spring being coupled to a fixed point. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising a connecting rod, one end of the connecting rod is hingedly coupled to the tension adjusting roller, and the other end of the connecting rod is hingedly connected to a fixed point. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising a connecting rod, one end of the connecting rod is coupled to the tension adjusting roller, and the other end of the connecting rod is coupled to a cylinder Piston coupling. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising a top link and a bottom link coupled to the tension adjusting roller in opposite directions of the two surfaces of the web, wherein the top One end of the connecting rod is coupled to the tension adjusting roller, and the other end of the top connecting rod is coupled to a piston of an upper cylinder; and an end of the bottom connecting rod is coupled to the tension adjusting roller Coupling, and the other end of the bottom link is coupled to a piston of a bottom cylinder. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising: a first link, a tilt link, and a second link, and the first link and the tilt link respectively follow the a width of the web is hingedly coupled to the two lateral ends of the tension adjusting roller, and the second link is coupled to the tilt link hinge, wherein an end of the first link is coupled to the tension adjusting roller hinge And the other end of the first link is coupled to a piston of a first cylinder; one end of the tilt link is hingedly coupled to the tension adjustment roller; and one end of the second link A point system is hingedly coupled to the other end of the tilt link, and the other end of the second link is coupled to a live race of a second cylinder. The tension adjusting device of claim 1, further comprising: a first top link and a first bottom link along a width of the web and a lateral end of the tension adjusting roller a hinge coupling, the first top link and the first bottom link being disposed in opposite directions toward two surfaces of the web; a tilt link coupled to another lateral end hinge of the tension adjusting roller; a second top link and a second bottom link are hingedly coupled to the tilt link, wherein an end of the first top link is hingedly coupled to a lateral end of the tension adjusting roller, and the first The other end of the top link is coupled to a piston of a first top cylinder; an end of the first bottom link is hingedly coupled to a lateral end of the tensioning roller, and the first bottom The other end of the connecting rod is coupled to a piston of a first bottom cylinder; one end of the inclined link is hingedly coupled to the other lateral end of the tensioning roller; the second top link is An end point system and the tilt link Another end point is hinge-coupled, and the other end of the second top link is coupled to a piston of a second top cylinder; and an end of the second bottom link is coupled to the tilt link The other end is hinge coupled and the other end of the second bottom link is coupled to a piston of a second bottom cylinder. A continuous coil processing method comprising: The tension adjusting device of claim 1 is used to adjust the tension of the web; and the tensioned web is treated. The continuous web processing method of claim 11, wherein the processed tensioned web comprises a group selected from the group consisting of forming, cutting, polishing, printing, coating, cleaning, and inspecting the web. At least one of them. The continuous web processing method of claim 11, wherein the continuous web processing method is performed using a roll-to-roll process or a roll-to-roll process.