Laminator

Details Laminator Laminator

1999-11-12

2002-04-09

Sells, James (Department: 1734)

Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture

Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor

With gas, vapor, or flame contact means for work

C156S521000, C156S522000, C156S552000, C156S555000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06367532

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laminator, and more particularly to an improvement in the structure of a film holding member which is provided near a laminate roll to laminate a film on a plate.
2. Description of the Background Art
A laminator disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 60-85927 is typical of laminators which employ the auto-cutting method whereby a photosensitive resist film (hereinafter, referred to as a film), for example, is successively laminated on (applied to) a plate by using a pair of laminate rolls (pressure rolls).
The schematic structure and operation of the laminator disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 60-85927 will be described with reference to
FIGS. 13
to
15
. The laminator structure disclosed in the gazette is capable of laminating a film on both sides of a plate. Since the plate structure is basically identical on the upper and lower surfaces, laminating a film on the upper surface of the plate will only be described.
Main Structure of Laminator
In the following, the main structure of the laminator will be described with reference to
FIGS. 13
to
15
. The laminator which employs the auto-cutting method includes, as its main components, a pair of laminate rolls (pressure rolls)
2
,
2
, a film holding member
5
, tacking members
1
,
1
, a film cutter
3
(shown in FIGS.
14
and
15
), and a cutter backup
4
. There is also a film
6
provided upward in the form of a film roll (not shown).
Here, film
6
means a dry photo-resist film (DRF). The dry photoresist film (DRF) has the three-layer structure of a base film, a photo-resist film, and a cover film when it is wound around the film roll. In laminating the dry photo-resist film on a plate
7
described below, only the cover film is removed and the photo-resist film plane is applied to plate
7
.
Tacking members
1
,
1
, cutter backup
4
, and film holding member
5
are connected to a negative pressure supplying apparatus (not shown). Film sucking bores
10
which can be supplied with negative pressure are provided in such contact surfaces of tacking members
1
,
1
, cutter backup
4
, and film holding member
5
that are in contact with film
6
. By properly applying negative pressure to film sucking bores
10
using the negative pressure supplying apparatus, film
6
is sucked and held as necessary.
Film cutter
3
has a rotary circular blade, and cuts film
6
by moving in the width direction of cutter backup
4
(in the direction perpendicular to the sheet) while rotating the rotary circular blade.
Operation of Laminator
In the following, the operation of laminating film
6
on a plate
7
by the laminator will be described with reference to
FIGS. 13
to
15
.
Here, plate
7
is used for a glass plate which is used for a printed wiring board, a flat display, and so on.
Referring to
FIG. 13
, the front end of film
6
which is drawn out from the film roll is first brought toward the front end of plate
7
while it is sucked and held by tacking member
1
which is supplied with negative pressure. Thereafter, the front end of film
6
is pressed against the front end of plate
7
for a while by tacking member
1
. Thus, tacking of the front end of film
6
on the front end of plate
7
is completed. Film
6
is tacked on plate
7
such as by pressure and heating.
Referring to
FIG. 14
, after tacking film
6
on plate
7
, tacking member
1
stops sucking and holding film
6
and moves together with cutter backup
4
and film cutter
3
away from plate
7
. Simultaneously with the operation, plate
7
on which the front end of film
6
has been tacked is transported in the direction of a pair of laminate rolls
2
,
2
(in the direction of Y in the figure) by a transporting apparatus such as a roll conveyor, and directed between laminate rolls
2
,
2
.
Thereafter, plate
7
is sent in the direction of Y with rotation of laminate roll
2
, and film
6
is sequentially laminated on plate
7
from the front end of plate
7
. At this time, tacking member
1
and film holding member
5
guide film
6
to laminate roll
2
in contact with film
6
.
Referring to
FIG. 15
, after laminating film
6
on plate
7
by a prescribed amount, tacking member
1
, film cutter
3
, and cutter backup
4
move at the same speed and in the same direction as film
6
. In the meantime time, film cutter
3
moves in the width direction of cutter backup
4
while rotating, and cuts film
6
by the rotary blade. Thus, the rear end of film
6
is cut at right angle with respect to the sending direction of film
6
, resulting in a film sheet
6
A of a prescribed length.
The rear end of film sheet
6
A is guided to laminate roll
2
while being sucked and held by film holding member
5
in which negative pressure is applied to film sucking bores
10
. Thus, the rear end is laminated on plate
7
.
In the laminator which has the above described structure and operation principle, sucking and holding of the rear end of film sheet
6
A by film holding member
5
is important in evaluating the laminator performance.
Before cutting film
6
, not only sucking and holding through negative pressure application to film holding member
5
but tensile force by the film roll or sucking and holding through negative pressure application to tacking member
1
gives sufficient tensile force to film
6
, and thus film
6
is laminated on plate
7
. In other words, film
6
is stably laminated on plate
7
without touching plate
7
before being guided to laminate roll
2
.
After cutting film
6
, however, tensile force is applied to the rear end of film sheet
6
A only through sucking and holding by film holding member
5
. The tensile force is generated by applying negative pressure to a plurality of film sucking bores
10
which are provided in such a surface of film holding member
5
that is in contact with the film.
Therefore, if film sucking bores
10
cannot be supplied with sufficient negative pressure, tensile force which is applied to film sheet
6
A becomes insufficient, and the rear end of film sheet
6
A comes in contact with plate
7
before being guided to laminate roll
2
, thereby causing wrinkles and bubbles. Thus, stable laminating of film
6
on plate
7
cannot be implemented.
FIGS. 16 and 17
show sectional and front exploded views of film holding member
5
. Film holding member
5
has a plurality of film sucking bores
10
in the contact surface
5
a
which is in contact with film
6
, which are arranged at regular intervals at pitch P
4
parallel to the sending direction of film
6
(hereinafter, referred to as the Y direction) and at pitch P
3
perpendicular to the sending direction of film
6
(hereinafter, referred to as the X direction). These film sucking bores
10
are connected to the negative pressure supplying apparatus and have a structure which can be supplied with negative pressure.
The rear end of film sheet
6
A immediately after being cut by film cutter
3
is sucked and held by most film sucking bores
10
of film holding member
5
. Therefore, the negative pressure applied to the film sucking bores
10
of film holding member
5
maintains sufficient pressure, and film sheet
6
A is supplied with sufficient tensile force. As a result, film sheet
6
A is stably laminated on plate
7
in this situation without coming in contact with plate
7
before being guided to laminate roll
2
.
As shown in
FIG. 17
, however, as the laminating operation advances and the rear end of film sheet
6
A is sent to laminate roll
2
, the number of film sucking bores
10
of film holding member
5
which are opened without being covered with film sheet
6
A gradually increases. Therefore, negative pressure applied to film holding member
5
decreases, which makes it impossible to apply sufficient tensile force to film sheet
6
A.
As a result, before film sheet
6
A is guided to laminate roll
2
, film sheet
6
A comes in contact with plate
7
and causes winkles and bubbles. Thus, film
6
a
cannot be stably laminated on plate
7
till

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