Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C63/00—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C63/0004—Component parts, details or accessories; Auxiliary operations
  • B29C63/0013—Removing old coatings
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29C—SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING
  • B29C63/00—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor
  • B29C63/02—Lining or sheathing, i.e. applying preformed layers or sheathings of plastics; Apparatus therefor using sheet or web-like material
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B38/00—Ancillary operations in connection with laminating processes
  • B32B38/18—Handling of layers or the laminate
  • B32B38/1825—Handling of layers or the laminate characterised by the control or constructional features of devices for tensioning, stretching or registration
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B29—WORKING OF PLASTICS; WORKING OF SUBSTANCES IN A PLASTIC STATE IN GENERAL
  • B29L—INDEXING SCHEME ASSOCIATED WITH SUBCLASS B29C, RELATING TO PARTICULAR ARTICLES
  • B29L2009/00—Layered products
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B38/00—Ancillary operations in connection with laminating processes
  • B32B38/18—Handling of layers or the laminate
  • B32B2038/1891—Using a robot for handling the layers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B2457/00—Electrical equipment
  • B32B2457/20—Displays, e.g. liquid crystal displays, plasma displays
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B37/00—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding
  • B32B37/0046—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by constructional aspects of the apparatus
  • B32B37/0053—Constructional details of laminating machines comprising rollers; Constructional features of the rollers
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B32—LAYERED PRODUCTS
  • B32B—LAYERED PRODUCTS, i.e. PRODUCTS BUILT-UP OF STRATA OF FLAT OR NON-FLAT, e.g. CELLULAR OR HONEYCOMB, FORM
  • B32B37/00—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding
  • B32B37/02—Methods or apparatus for laminating, e.g. by curing or by ultrasonic bonding characterised by a sequence of laminating steps, e.g. by adding new layers at consecutive laminating stations
  • B32B37/025—Transfer laminating

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for joining a film and the like to a substrate with a laminating roller, and particularly to a laminating apparatus in which tension of a film is kept constant.
• a laminating apparatus is employed in a liquid-crystal production line, a semiconductor production line and so forth wherein a film and the like having photosensitivity is joined to a glass substrate, a semiconductor substrate and so forth.
• the film is superimposed on one surface of the respective substrates successively fed at predetermined intervals, and a pair of laminating rollers pinches the substrate and the film to joint them with pressure (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-062906, for instance) .
• the film is sent first into a passage wherein the substrate and the film are joined.
• a transport route of the film is moved to superimpose the film on the substrate.
• the film includes a base film, a resin layer formed on the base film to join to the substrate, and a protective layer stacked on the resin layer.
• the protective layer is peeled before the film is sent into the passage.
• the resin layer is melted by heating to tightly adhere to the substrate.
• the resin layer has adhesion also in a state that the protective layer is peeled at room temperature. Due to this, the resin layer adheres to a carrying roller and the like coming into contact therewith.
• a suction drum is disposed at an upstream side of a laminating roller.
• the suction drum draws the film and rotates in a film-carrying direction and in a reverse direction thereof to stabilize tension of the film put on the laminating roller. Meanwhile, the tension of the film is measured between the suction drum and the laminating roller. On the basis of a measurement result of the tension, a rotation speed of the suction drum is regulated to keep the film tension constant.
• the suction drum has a larger diameter in comparison with a roller used for carrying the film, and the inside thereof is provided with an air passage for performing air aspiration .
• the inertia moment is comparatively large.
• the suction drum employed in the laminating apparatus has a larger diameter as a liquid-crystal panel and so forth have a larger screen. Consequently, the inertia moment further increases.
• the above-noted Publication No. 2003-062906 does not disclose how to change the rotation speed of the suction drum. However, when a rotation speed of a motor rotating the suction drum is regulated, a time lag occurs until the rotation speed of the suction drum is actually changed after regulating the rotation speed of the motor.
• a primary object of the present invention is to provide a laminating apparatus in which tension of a film is kept constant between a suction drum and a laminating roller. Disclosure of Invention
• the laminating apparatus comprises a laminating roller and a tension roller.
• the laminating roller joins a film to a substrate by carrying and pressing the substrate and the film.
• the tension roller is disposed at an upstream side of the laminating roller in a carrying direction of the film to apply tension to the film.
• a torque regulator intervenes to regulate torque to be transmitted from the motor to the tension roller.
• a device for measuring the tension of the film is disposed at a film transport route extending between the tension roller and the laminating roller. On the basis of the measured tension, the torque regulator is controlled by a tension controller to control the tension of the film.
• a roller rotating in a direction opposite to the carrying direction of the film may be used.
• a circumferential surface thereof may suction the film.
• a clutch for regulating the torque, which is transmitted from the motor to the tension roller is suitable. Further, as the clutch, a powder clutch is suitable because it is possible to rapidly and accurately control the transmission torque.
• the tension controller comprises a torque calculator and a drive-signal producer.
• the torque calculator compares the torque measured by the tension measuring device, with preset reference tension to calculate torque necessary for the tension roller.
• the drive-signal producer produces a drive signal of the torque regulator.
• the torque calculator may calculate the torque of the tension roller necessary for equalizing the measured tension with the reference tension.
• the laminating apparatus further comprises a carrying mechanism and a torque changer .
• the carrying mechanism carries only the film or both of the film and the substrate .
• the carrying mechanism enables a carry speed to change between a film-carrying speed set at a time when only the film passes the laminating roller, and a joining speed set at a time when the substrate and the film are joined.
• the torque changer changes the transmission torque of the torque regulator by inputting a torque instruction into the tension controller when the carrying mechanism changes the carry speed.
• the transmission torque of the torque regulator In changing the transmission torque of the torque regulator, when the joining speed is faster than the film-carrying speed, the transmission torque of the torque regulator is decreased at an acceleration period during which the film-carrying speed is changed to the joining speed. In contrast, the transmission torque of the torque regulator is increased at a deceleration period during which the joining speed is changed to the film-carrying speed.
• a route changer for changing the transport route of the film is disposed at the upstream side of the laminating roller, it is preferable to provide an actuator for moving the tension measuring device in a direction substantially perpendicular to the transport route of the film.
• the actuator moves the tension measuring device in accordance with the operation of the route changer so that the transport-route length of the film is kept constant.
• the film includes a base film and a photosensitive resin layer formed on the base film. After joining the film to the substrate, the base film is peeled from the substrate in a state that the photosensitive resin layer is transferred to the substrate.
• the laminating apparatus of the present invention it is possible to more rapidly change the torque of the tension roller in comparison with a case in that a rotation speed of a motor is changed. Moreover, it is possible to shorten an unstable period at the time of the tension change. Further, since the tension applied to the film is kept constant, it is possible to prevent a defect from being caused due to fluctuation of the tension.
• the torque regulator it is possible to utilize a clutch of a powder clutch and so forth. In virtue of this, it is possible to correctly regulate the torque at comparatively lower cost.
• the transmission torque of the torque regulator is changed in accordance with the change of the carry speeds of the film and the substrate, it is possible to accurately compensate the film-tension fluctuation caused by the change of the carry speed.
• the transport-route length of the film is kept constant even when the transport route of the film is changed at the joining time of the film and the substrate, it is possible to properly measure the film tension.
• Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a film and a substrate joined by the laminating apparatus according to the present invention
• Figure 2 is a section view showing a layer structure of the film
• Figures 3A to 3F are illustrations showing a joining procedure of the laminating apparatus
• Figure 4 is a schematic illustration showing a structure of the laminating apparatus
• Figure 5 is a schematic illustration showing an adjacent structure of a suction drum
• Figures 6A and 6B are schematic illustrations showing a structure of a joining area
• Figures 7A and 7B are timing charts showing timing of a carry-speed changeover and a torque instruction
• Figure 8 is a flowchart showing a joining process of the laminating apparatus
• Figure 9 is a schematic illustration showing an adjacent structure of a suction drum of another laminating apparatus in which transmission torque of a powder clutch is regulated by a torque instruction of a PLC.
• Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a substrate 2 to which a film is joined by the laminating method according to the present invention.
• the substrate 2 is a thin plate made of transparent glass and plastic, for instance, and is a base of a color filter employed in a liquid-crystal display, a plasma display and so forth.
• Reference numeral 9 denotes a photosensitive resin layer composing the color filter.
• the photosensitive resin layer 9 is a part of a film 3 (see Fig. 2) to be joined to the substrate 2. After joining the photosensitive resin layer 9 to the substrate 2, a predetermined pattern is left on the substrate 2 by exposure, development and cleaning to compose the color filter.
• Figs. 3A to 3F are illustrations showing a procedure for joining the film 3 to the substrate 2.
• Fig. 3A shows an external shape of the film 3, which is a strip of film and is wound as a film roll 6 to be set to the laminating apparatus. As shown in the section view of Fig.
• the film 3 is a layered product including the photosensitive resin layer and having a multilayer structure in which plural layers are stacked.
• the film 3 is composed of a base film 8, the photosensitive resin layer 9 and a protective film 10 stacked in this order from the bottom. Since the respective layers have flexibility, these layers are not damaged even though the layers are wound in the roll form.
• the film 3 set to the laminating apparatus is drawn out of the film roll 6 such as shown in Fig.3B. And then, the protective film 10 is cut at two intervals of lengths Ll and L2. This process is called as half-cut process and is successively performed for the film 3 under the condition that the two intervals Ll and L2 are alternately used.
• the interval Ll is a joining length of the photosensitive resin layer 9 to be joined to the substrate 2.
• the interval L2 defines a half-cut interval between areas of the joining length Ll.
• the protective film 10 becomes a sheet-like shape by the half-cut process, the protective film 10 stays on the photosensitive resin layer 9 without peeling therefrom.
• half-cut portion 3a the portion for which the half-cut process has been performed
• residual region 3b the region for which the half-cut process has been performed at the interval L2
• attachment labels 13 are attached onto the sheet-shaped protective films 10a and 10b, for which the half-cut process has been performed, so as to straddle the residual region 3b.
• the attachment labels 13 are attached to a posterior end of the preceding sheet-shaped protective film 10a and an anterior end of the succeeding sheet-shaped protective film 10b.
• the protective film 10 cut in the sheet shape is continuously peeled by the attachment labels 13 in a web-like form such as shown in Fig.3D.
• the attachment labels 13 are not attached to the residual region 3b for the purpose of staying the residual region 3b of the protective film 10 on the film 3 at the time when the protective film 10 is peeled.
• the film 3 from which the protective film 10 is peeled is reversed and the photosensitive resin layer 9 is joined to an upper surface of the substrate 2.
• the substrate 2 and the film 3 are pressed by a pair of laminating rollers 16a and 16b.
• the laminating roller 16a is rotated by a motor 17 • In virtue of this , the substrate 2 and the film 3 are joined and simultaneously carried.
• the substrates 2 are successively fed to join with the photosensitive resin layer 9.
• a feeding interval of the substrates 2 is 20 ⁇ 5mm and a length L3 of the outer frame 2a is
• the half-cut interval L2 becomes a length calculated by adding the feeding interval of the substrates 2 to the outer frames 2a of two substrates 2 of the preceding and following sides in the feeding direction.
• the base film 8 is peeled after joining the photosensitive resin layer 9 to the substrate 2. In this way, only the photosensitive resin layer 9 remains on the substrate
• the base film 8 may be peeled in a web state (hereinafter referred to as continuous type) , and may be peeled after being cut into a sheet shape corresponding to each substrate (hereinafter referred to as sheet type) .
• Fig. 4 is a schematic illustration showing a structure of the laminating apparatus according to the present invention.
• the laminating apparatus 20 joins the substrate 2 and the film 3 while continuously carrying them.
• the laminating apparatus 20 comprises a film supplying zone 21 for supplying the film 3, a joining zone 22 for joining the substrate 2 and the film 3, a substrate heating zone 23 for heating and feeding the substrate 2, a substrate cooling zone 24 for cooling the substrate 2 after completion of joining, and a base peeling zone 25 for peeling the base film 8 from the film 3.
• a first clean room 29a and a second clean room 29b are partitioned by a partition wall 28.
• the first clean room 29a contains the film supplying zone 21.
• the second clean room 29b contains the joining zone 22, the substrate heating zone 23, the substrate cooling zone 24 and the base peeling zone 25.
• the first and second clean rooms 29a and 29b are connected via a through hole 28a formed in the partition wall 28.
• the film supplying zone 21 comprises a film advancing mechanism 33, a processing mechanism 34, a label attaching mechanism 35 and a peeling mechanism 36.
• the film advancing mechanism 33 contains the film roll 6, in which the film 3 is wound in the roll form, and advances the film 3 from this film roll 6.
• the processing mechanism 34 performs the half-cut process for the protective film 10 of the advanced film 3.
• the label attaching mechanism 35 sticks the attachment label 13 on the protective film 10.
• the peeling mechanism 36 peels the protective film 10 from the film 3 at predetermined intervals.
• the peeling mechanism 36 is composed of a suction drum 39 for working as a tension roller, a take-up roll 40 for taking up the protective film 10 peeled from the film 3, and a plurality of guide rollers 41 for guiding the protective film 10 between the suction drum 39 and the take-up roll 40.
• Fig. 5 shows an adjacent structure of the suction drum 39.
• the suction drum 39 is connected to an air pump (adsorption member) , which is not shown, to attract the film 3 by suction holes formed in a drum surface.
• the suction drum 39 is rotated by a motor 42 in a direction opposite to the film-carrying direction.
• the suction drum 39 works as the tension roller for applying constant load to the transport of the film 3 so that tension of the film 3 is stabilized between the suction drum 39 and the joining zone 22.
• a powder clutch 43 is disposed for the purpose of regulating torque to be transmitted from motor 42 to the suction drum 39.
• the joining zone 22 is provided with a tension measuring portion 46 for measuring the tension of the film 3, a passage 47 into which the substrate 2 and the film 3 are fed, and a joining mechanism 48 disposed at the passage 47.
• the photosensitive resin layer 9 exposed by peeling the protective film 10 is joined to the substrate 2 by the joining mechanism 48.
• a route changing mechanism 49 , a preheater 50 and a detection camera 51 are disposed at an upstream side of the joining mechanism 48.
• the route changing mechanism 49 changes a transport route of the film 3 to be sent into the joining mechanism 48.
• the preheater 50 preheats the film 3 up to a predetermined temperature.
• the detection camera 51 detects the half-cut portion of the film 3.
• the tension measuring portion 46 is composed of a measurement roller 54 and a tension meter 55.
• the measurement roller 54 is rotated in association with the film 3 put thereon.
• the tension meter 55 measures the tension of the film 3 on the basis of pressure of the film 3 applied to the measurement roller 54.
• the measurement roller 54 and the tension meter 55 are held by an actuator 56 comprising an air cylinder, and are moved in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the film 3.
• the actuator 56 moves the tension measuring portion 46 to keep a length of the transport route of the film 3 constant.
• the powder clutch 43 and the tension meter 55 are connected to a tension controller 59, which comprises a memory 60, a torque calculator 61 and a drive-signal producer 62 to control the tension of the film 3 by controlling the powder clutch 43.
• a tension controller 59 which comprises a memory 60, a torque calculator 61 and a drive-signal producer 62 to control the tension of the film 3 by controlling the powder clutch 43.
• the memory 60 stores preset reference tension.
• the torque calculator 61 compares the measured tension, which is inputted from the tension meter 55, with the reference tension to calculate the torque of the suction drum 39 necessary for equalizing the measured tension to the reference tension.
• the drive-signal producer 62 produces a control signal of the powder clutch 43 on the basis of the torque calculated by the torque calculator 61 to control the torque to be transmitted from the motor 42 to the suction drum 39. In virtue of the tension controller 59, the tension of the film 3 is kept constant between the suction drum 39 and the joining mechanism 48.
• Fig. 6A is a schematic illustration showing a structure of the passage 47.
• the joining mechanism 48 comprises laminating rollers 65a and 65b vertically arranged and heated up to a predetermined temperature.
• the respective laminating rollers 65a and 65b are composed of a columnar core, which is made of a metal and so forth, and a resilient material of silicon rubber and so forth coating the periphery of the core.
• Backup rollers 66a and 66b respectively come into contact with the peripheries of the laminating rollers 65a and 65b to keep pressurization of these laminating rollers constant.
• the laminating roller 65a is rotated by a motor 67 to join the photosensitive resin layer 9 to the substrate 2 while interposing and carrying the film 3 and the substrate 2 with the laminating roller 65b.
• the laminating roller 65b and the backup roller 66b disposed under the passage 47 are vertically movable.
• the backup roller 66b is vertically moved by an actuator 70 comprising a cylinder device, a solenoid and so forth.
• the laminating roller 65b is moved in association with the vertical movement of the backup roller 66b and is pressed against the laminating roller 65a.
• the backup roller 66b is vertically moved by a roller clamper 71 as well via the actuator 70.
• the roller clamper 71 performs the vertical movement by a motor and a cam mechanism, for example, to regulate the pressurization of the substrate 2 and the film 3.
• upstream film carrying rollers 75a, 75b and downstream film carrying rollers 76a, 76b are disposed to carry only the film 3 at the start-up time of the laminating apparatus 20.
• upstream substrate carrying rollers 77a, 77b and downstream substrate carrying rollers 78a, 78b are disposed to simultaneously carry the substrate 2 and the film 3 at the joining time thereof.
• auxiliary rollers 79 rotating in association with the substrate 2 placed thereon are disposed to assist the movement of the substrate 2.
• the upstream film carrying roller 75a, the downstream film carrying roller 76a, the upstream substrate carrying roller 77a and the downstream substrate carrying roller 78a are rotated by the motor 67 used for driving the laminating roller, and the other rollers are rotated in association with the movement of the substrate 2 and the film 3.
• the rollers 75b, 77a, 77b, 76b, 78a and 79 are vertically moved by actuators 82 to 87 respectively.
• the upstream film carrying roller 75b and the downstream film carrying roller 76b are moved to carry positions where these rollers come into contact with the photosensitive resin layer 9 of the film 3.
• the upstream substrate carrying rollers 77a and 77b, the downstream substrate carrying roller 78a and the auxiliary rollers 79 are moved to evacuation positions where these rollers are separated from the film 3.
• the photosensitive resin layer 9 is prevented from adhering to the substrate carrying rollers and the auxiliary rollers 79.
• the upstream substrate carrying rollers 77a and 77b, the downstream substrate carrying roller 78a and the auxiliary rollers 79 are moved to carry positions where these rollers come into contact with the substrate 2 and the base film 8 of the film 3.
• Fig. 7A is a timing chart showing a carry speed of the substrate 2 and the film 3 carried by the respective substrate carrying rollers 77a, 77b, 78a and 78b.
• Carrying the substrate 2 and the film 3 includes a film-carrying period during which only the film 3 is carried, and a joining period during which the substrate 2 fed into the joining mechanism 48 is joined with the film 3. These periods are repeated in order and the film 3 is sequentially joined to the plural substrates 2.
• the carry speed adopted in the joining period is defined as joining speed, which is suitable for joining the substrate 2 and the film 3.
• the carry speed adopted in the film-carrying period is defined as film-carrying speed, which is set so as to be slower than the joining speed for the purpose of improving accuracy of the joining position of the film 3 relative to the substrate 2. Consequently, an acceleration period for accelerating the carry speed occurs when the film-carrying period is changed to the joining period, and a deceleration period for decelerating the carry speed occurs when the joining period is changed to the film-carrying period.
• Reference numeral 90 denotes an end-portion cutting mechanism for cutting an anterior end of the film 3 at a time of commencement of operation
• reference numeral 91 denotes a middle-portion cutting mechanism for cutting the film 3 between the substrates 2 when a trouble has occurred in the apparatus
• reference numeral 92 denotes an auxiliary roller for guiding the film 3 at a time when the film 3 cut by the end-portion cutting mechanism 90 is discarded from the passage 47.
• the route changing mechanism 49 is composed of a contact prevention roller 95 on which the film 3 is put, and an actuator 96 for moving the contact prevention roller 95.
• the actuator 96 an air cylinder or the like is used, for instance, to vertically move the contact prevention roller 95.
• the actuator 96 moves the contact prevention roller 95 downward to prevent the film 3 from coming into contact with the laminating roller 65a and from being heated thereby when only the film 3 is fed into the passage 47, concretely when the film is stopped and when preparation operation is performed.
• the actuator 96 moves the contact prevention roller 95 upward to increase a winding angle relative to the laminating roller 65a when the substrate 2 and the film 3 are joined.
• a length of the transport route of the film 3 is changed between the suction drum 39 and the joining mechanism 48. Further, as the length of the transport route changes, the tension of the film 3 also changes.
• the actuator 56 is operated in association with the operation of the actuator 96 of the route changing mechanism 49 to keep the length of the transport route of the film 3 constant.
• the length of the transport route elongates when the contact prevention roller 95 is moved downward.
• the actuator 56 moves the tension measuring portion 46 in the right direction in Fig. 5 such as shown by a two-dot chain line of this drawing.
• the length of the transport route shortens when the contact prevention roller 95 is moved upward.
• the actuator 56 moves the tension measuring portion 46 in the left direction in Fig. 5 such as shown by a solid line.
• the tension measuring portion 46 fluctuates by a little due to a change of a winding angle of the film 3 relative to the suction drum 39.
• this fluctuation of the tension is also measured by the tension measuring portion 46 and is controlled by the tension controller 59 so that the tension of the film 3 is kept constant.
• the substrate 2 contained in a substrate stocker 100 is taken out by a robot 101 and is supplied to a substrate conveying mechanism 102.
• the substrate 2 heated in the substrate conveying mechanism 102 is fed into the joining zone 22.
• the substrate 2 to which the film 3 is joined in the joining zone 22 is cooled by a cooling mechanism 103 and is forwarded to the base peeling zone 25 , wherein the base film 8 is peeled from the film 3 by a base peeling mechanism 104 to obtain the substrate 2 to which only the photosensitive resin layer 9 adheres.
• a joining position of the photosensitive resin layer 9 is measured by a measuring unit 105, and then the substrate 2 is loaded into a processed-substrate stocker 107 by a robot 106.
• the laminating apparatus 20 is totally controlled via a laminate process controller 110.
• a substrate heating controller 111, a laminate controller 112 and a base peeling controller 113 are provided for the respective function parts of the laminating apparatus 20 and are connected via a process network.
• the laminate process controller 110 is connected to a factory network to perform production information processing of operation management and production management based on instruction information (condition setting and production information) sent from a factory CPU not shown.
• the substrate heating controller 111 controls the substrate heating zone 23, and the base peeling controller 113 controls the base peeling zone 25.
• the laminate controller 112 controls the film supplying zone 21, the joining zone 22 and the substrate cooling zone 24. At the same time, the laminate controller 112 controls the respective function parts as a master of the entire process. Further, the laminate controller 112 vertically moves the respective rollers by controlling the actuators 82 to 87, and keeps the tension of the film 3 constant by controlling the tension controller 59. Furthermore, the laminate roller 112 keeps the length of the transport route of the film 3 constant by controlling the actuators 56 and 96.
• the laminate controller 112 forwards the film 3 to the film supplying zone 21 by the film advancing mechanism 33.
• the half-cut process is performed by the processing mechanism 34 and the attachment labels 13 are attached to the protective film 10 by the label attaching mechanism 35.
• the protective film 10 is peeled from the film 3 by the peeling mechanism 36, and then the film from which the protective film is peeled is fed into the joining zone 22.
• the laminate controller 112 controls the actuators 82 through 87 to move the upstream film carrying roller 75b and the downstream film carrying roller 76b to the carry positions where these rollers come into contact with the photosensitive resin layer 9 of the film 3, such as shown in Fig. 6A.
• the laminate controller 112 moves the upstream substrate carrying rollers 77a and 77b, the downstream substrate carrying roller 78a and the auxiliary rollers 79 to the evacuation positions where these rollers are separated from the film 3.
• the film 3 is carried by the upstream film carrying rollers 75a, 75b and the downstream film carrying rollers 76a, 76b.
• the anterior end of the film 3 is sent to the outside of the passage 47 by the auxiliary roller 92 and is discarded after being cut by the end-portion cutting mechanism 90.
• the suction drum 39 disposed in the film supplying zone 21 is rotated by the motor 42 in the reverse direction of the film carrying direction to apply the tension to the film 3 between the suction drum 39 and the joining mechanism 48.
• This tension of the film 3 is measured by the tension meter 55 of the tension measuring portion 46 and is inputted into the tension controller 59.
• the torque calculator 61 of the tension controller 59 the measured tension inputted from the tension meter 55 is compared with the reference tension read from the memory 60 to calculate the torque of the suction drum 39 necessary for equalizing the measured tension with the reference tension.
• the torque calculated by the torque calculator 61 is inputted into the drive-signal producer 62 to produce the control signal of the powder clutch 43 necessary for obtaining the calculated torque.
• the powder clutch 43 is actuated on the basis of the produced control signal to regulate the torque to be transmitted from the motor 42 to the suction drum 39. In virtue of this, the tension of the film 3 is kept constant between the suction drum 39 and the joining mechanism 48.
• the substrate 2 is fed from the substrate heating zone 23 into the joining zone 22.
• the joining mechanism 48 pinches and presses the substrate 2 and the film 3 to join them.
• the laminate controller 112 controls the actuators 82 through 87 to move the upstream film carrying roller 75b and the downstream film carrying roller 76b to the evacuation positions where these rollers are separated from the substrate 2, such as shown in Fig. 6B.
• the laminate controller 112 moves the upstream substrate carrying rollers 77a and 77b, the downstream substrate carrying roller 78a and the auxiliary rollers 79 to the carry positions where these rollers come into contact with the substrate 2 and the film 3 to carry them.
• the contact prevention roller 95 is moved downward so as to separate the film 3 from the laminating roller 65a when only the film 3 is carried.
• the contact prevention roller 95 is moved upward and the transport route is changed so as to increase the winding angle of the film 3 relative to the laminating roller 65a. Since the actuator 56 moves the tension measuring portion 46 in association with the movement of the contact prevention roller 95, the length of the transport route is prevented from changing between the suction drum 39 and the joining mechanism 48 so that the tension is also prevented from changing due to the length change of the transport route.
• the tension measuring portion 46 since the tension measuring portion 46 is moved by the actuator 56, the winding angle of the film 3 changes relative to the suction drum 39. Thus, the tension of the film 3 fluctuates by a little. However, this tension fluctuation is also controlled by the tension controller 59 so that the tension of the film 3 is kept constant.
• the tension of the film 3 fluctuates during the acceleration period changing from the film-carrying period to the joining period and during the deceleration period changing from the joining period to the film-carrying period, this tension fluctuation is also controlled by the tension controller 59 so that the tension of the film 3 is kept constant.
• the tension fluctuating in the acceleration period and the deceleration period is detected by the tension measuring portion 46, and the powder clutch 43 is controlled on the basis of the detection result of the tension measuring portion 46.
• the occurrence timing of the respective acceleration and deceleration periods is identified in advance in accordance with the feeding of the substrate 2 to be performed relative to the joining mechanism 48, and since acceleration and deceleration patterns thereof are constant, it is possible to compensate the acceleration and the deceleration with great accuracy by controlling the tension in synchronism with the acceleration period and the deceleration period.
• PLC Programmable Logic Controller
• Torque instruction is directly inputted from the PLC 120 to the drive-signal producer 62 of the tension controller 59 during the acceleration period and the deceleration period shown in Fig. 7A.
• the torque instruction it is possible to prevent the film tension from increasing in the acceleration period by decreasing the torque to be transmitted from the motor 42 to the suction drum 39 in the acceleration period such as shown in Fig. 7B.
• by increasing the transmission torque in the deceleration period it is possible to prevent the film tension from decreasing.
• the drive signal of the powder clutch 43 is produced in the drive-signal producer 62 on the basis of the torque inputted from the torque calculator 61 and the torque inputted from the PLC 120, it is possible to regulate other tension fluctuation as well, which is caused due to factors excluding the acceleration period and the deceleration period. In this case, the tension may be controlled with greater accuracy.
• the powder clutch is used as a torque regulator.
• the above embodiment relates to the continuous type in which the base film 8 is peeled without cutting the film 3.
• the present invention may be adopted to the sheet type in which the base film 8 is peeled after cutting the film 3 every substrate 2.
• one strip of the film 3 is joined to the substrates 2.
• the present invention may be adopted to another laminating apparatus in which plural film strips are joined to the substrates in parallel .
• the photosensitive resin layer is formed on the glass substrate of the color filter.
• the present invention may be adopted to laminating apparatuses used for other products.
• the film comprising the adhesive photosensitive resin layer is joined to the substrate.
• the present invention may be adopted to joining of a substrate and a film having a nonadhesive joining surface.
• the present invention is preferably applied to a laminating apparatus in which tension of a film is kept constant.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Lining Or Joining Of Plastics Or The Like (AREA)

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Publications (1)

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Cited By (3)

Families Citing this family (6)

Citations (3)

• 2006
  • 2006-03-29 JP JP2006091744A patent/JP2007261188A/ja active Pending
• 2007
  • 2007-03-27 CN CNA2007800104278A patent/CN101410241A/zh active Pending
  • 2007-03-27 WO PCT/JP2007/057371 patent/WO2007114420A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2007-03-27 TW TW096110527A patent/TW200800573A/zh unknown
  • 2007-03-27 KR KR1020087023817A patent/KR20080103587A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (3)

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