Winding – tensioning – or guiding – Convolute winding of material – With cutting – perforating – or notching
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-06
2001-10-09
Marcelo, Emmanuel M. (Department: 3653)
Winding, tensioning, or guiding
Convolute winding of material
With cutting, perforating, or notching
C242S525300, C242S525600
Reexamination Certificate
active
06299098
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium capable of stabilizing accuracy of the width of a magnetic recording medium cut to have a given width.
Hitherto, magnetic recording mediums, such as audio tapes, video tapes and computer tapes, have been manufactured such that a wide width blank web comprising a non-magnetic support member on which a magnetic layer containing ferromagnetic particles is formed, is conveyed by rollers. Then, the web is subjected to an orienting process, a drying and solidifying process and surface treatment. Finally, the web is cut into the longitudinal direction of the web.
After the magnetic layer of the wide web is subjected to surface treatment, the web is temporarily wound up. Then, the wound web is set to a cutting apparatus.
FIG. 3
shows a state in which the web has been set to the cutting apparatus. In the cutting apparatus
20
, the blank web
50
is fed from a feeding roller
100
to be conveyed on a conveying roller
21
, and then guided to a cutting blade
40
through a reference roller
22
and conveying rollers
23
,
24
and
25
.
The web
50
guided to the cutting blade
40
is cut into the longitudinal direction by upper and lower blades
41
and
42
which constitute the cutting blade
40
. Thus, a plurality of magnetic recording mediums
51
each having a small width are formed. The magnetic recording mediums
51
are conveyed on the conveying rollers
27
and
28
to be wound around individual winding rollers
29
.
A wide web having a width of, for example, about 1000 mm has a thick coating in the central portion thereof so as to reliably be wound up by utilizing its tension. If the web having the above-mentioned coating is kept maintained in a state that it has been wound around the feeding roller for a predetermined period of time, the web is apt to be slack easily due to the fact that the central portion X is stretched excessively as shown in FIG.
4
. Such web kept maintained under the above-mentioned state for the time is sequentially fed from the feeding roller, subjected to the foregoing processes, and then moved to the cutting portion
40
to be cut into predetermined number of parts (for example, six parts in
FIG. 4
) At that time, a portion of the web where must be cut is undesirably moved vertically and laterally by the existence of the slack at the central portion X thereof. Accordingly, it is difficult to obtain a plurality of cut webs (that is, six parts) which have the same widths Y one another. Namely, the plurality of cut webs each having stable width cannot be realized by the cutting.
Note that a thick web having a large thickness does not arise a critical problem because the thick web is free from considerable slack of the central portion, whereas a thin web, such as a thin metal web, having a small thickness suffers from the problem of the slack of the central portion.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium which are capable of stabilizing the accuracy of the width of the magnetic recording medium cut to have a given width even when the web has a small thickness in the central portion.
The above-mentioned object can be achieved by a method for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium, the method according to the present invention comprising the step of:
conveying a blank web fed from a feeding roller by rollers,
primary cutting the blank web in a longitudinal direction of the blank web into a plurality of sections;
secondary cutting the thus primary cut blank web into a plurality of webs each having a given width substantially immediately after the primary cutting; and
winding the webs around winding rollers respectively.
In the above-mentioned method, it is preferable that the primary cutting steps comprises the step of: cutting a center portion of the blank web in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
In the above-mentioned method, it is also preferable that one of the primary and secondary cutting steps comprises the step of:
cutting both edge portions of the blank web in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
Moreover, the above-mentioned object can be attained by an apparatus for manufacturing a magnetic recording medium, the apparatus comprising:
a plurality of rollers for conveying a blank web fed from a feeding roller,
a primary cutting mechanism for primary cutting the blank web in a longitudinal direction of the blank web into a plurality of sections;
a secondary cutting mechanism, disposed immediately downstream of the primary cutting mechanism in a web conveying direction, for secondary cutting the thus primary cut blank web into a plurality of webs each having a given width; and
winding rollers on which the webs are respectively wound, the winding rollers being disposed downstream of the secondary cutting mechanism in the web conveying direction.
In the above-mentioned construction, it is advantageous that the primary cutting mechanism comprises:
a cutting blade for cutting a center portion of the blank web in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
In the above-mentioned construction, it is advantageous that one of the primary and secondary cutting mechanisms comprises:
cutting blades for cutting both edge portions of the blank web in a lateral direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction.
According to the present invention, immediately after the blank web fed from the feeding roller is primary cut into a plurality of sections, the thus primary cut web is secondary cut into the longitudinal direction to have a given width, when the magnetic recording medium is manufactured. In other words, the blank web is previously cut and sectioned into a plurality of webs immediately before the webs are guided and reached to the secondary cutting mechanism.
Accordingly, even when a web of a type having a central portion coated with a thick coating and being slack is conveyed, the slack portion of the web is easily eliminated by stretching the web in both widthwise and longitudinal directions by the process for primary cutting the web into a plurality of sections. Therefore, occurrence of slack on the web can be prevented.
With the method and the apparatus of the present invention, accuracy of the width of the magnetic recording medium can be stabilized, because the webs are finally cut in the secondary cutting mechanism while the web is held by being subjected to tension.
As described above, it is possible to cut the blank web into the plural sections by placing a primary cutting mechanism into a space between the feeding roller and a cutting blade of the secondary cutting mechanism, in which the primary cutting mechanism has a cutting blade which cuts the blank web in the longitudinal direction of the web.
Accordingly, according to the present invention above, accuracy of a width of a magnetic recording medium can be stabilized, because a blank web is primary cut into a plurality of sections immediately before a process of the secondary cut.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.
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Fuji Photo Film Co. , Ltd.
Marcelo Emmanuel M.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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