Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Methods – Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-17
2002-06-11
Osele, Mark A. (Department: 1734)
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Methods
Surface bonding and/or assembly therefor
C156S502000, C156S504000, C242S556000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06402868
ABSTRACT:
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials and an apparatus for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials which is used for carrying out the method. More particularly, it relates to a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials which are used in various fields including the processing of metal foils, the processing of metal-plastic composite film materials, and the processing of heat-resistant resin films such as polyimides and which require high-temperature processing in the range of 200° C. to less than 550° C. by means of coating and drying equipment, heat-treating equipment or the like, as well as an apparatus for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials which is used for carrying out the method.
2. Prior Art
Conventionally, ultrasonic welding has been employed as a method for connecting metal foils with each other. Moreover, connecting methods using or staples have been employed to connect heat-resistant plastics, such as polyimides, with each other.
Ultrasonic welding can be used to connect different metal foils, but cannot be used to connect heat-resistant plastics such as polyimides. On the other hand, the connecting method using a heat-resistant adhesive tape can be employed in a temperature range of less than 200° C., but shows a reduction in adhesion strength when it is employed at temperatures higher than 200° C. Consequently, the joint may be separated when a tension of 0.1 to 50 kgf/cm is applied to the material. Moreover, the connecting method using staples fails to give sufficient bonding strength when it is employed for thin metal foils, plastic films and other materials having a thickness of not greater than 18 mm. Consequently, this method is not satisfactory in that the material may be broken when a tension of 0.1 to 50 kgf/cm is applied thereto.
PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION
In view of the above-described disadvantages of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials wherein a metal foil and a heat-resistant plastic can be satisfactorily connected together, to say nothing of metal foils or heat-resistant plastics, and wherein the connected materials will not be separated even where they are processed at a temperature in the range of 200° C. to less than 550° C. and under a tension in the range of 0.1 to 50 kgf/cm, as well as an apparatus for forming a continuous material which is used for carrying out the aforesaid method.
MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM
In order to solve the above-described problem, the present inventors made intensive investigations and have now found a method in which, using a connecting apparatus comprising a hot press, a material locking device and an accumulator, a continuous material can be formed by interposing a resin bonding layer between the trailing edge of a sheet material and the leading edge of another sheet material, and subjecting this part to thermocompression bonding. During thermocompression bonding, the material locking device is operated so that the part to be joined by thermocompression bonding comes to a standstill within the hot press, and the accumulator is also operated so that the feed speed of the sheet material on the downstream side is adjusted to a predetermined value. Thus, the completely connected sheet materials can be processed continuously. The present invention has been completed on the basis of these findings.
That is, the present invention provides a method for forming a continuous material by connecting a preceding sheet material with a succeeding other sheet material in end-to-end relationship while feeding them in their longitudinal direction, the method comprising the steps of:
(1) interposing a resin bonding layer
5
between the trailing edge of the preceding sheet material
4
and the leading edge of the succeeding other sheet material
6
, and temporarily joining them together;
(2) after the preceding sheet material
4
and the succeeding other sheet material
6
are fed until the temporarily joined part reaches a hot press
1
, operating a material locking device
2
to lock a part of the preceding sheet material
4
and thereby bring the temporarily joined part to a standstill within the hot press
1
, and also operating an accumulator
3
to keep the feed speed of the preceding sheet material
4
constant on the downstream side thereof;
(3) operating the hot press
1
to effect thermocompression bonding of the temporarily joined part and thereby connect the preceding sheet material
4
with the succeeding other sheet material
6
; and
(4) releasing the preceding sheet material
4
from the lock by the material locking device
2
and feeding the connected sheet materials downstream through the accumulator
3
.
Preferred embodiments of the above-described method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials in accordance with the present invention include a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials as described above wherein the thermocompression bonding is performed at a temperature in the range of 200° C. to less than 550° C. and a pressure in the range of 0.001 to 50 kgf/cm
2
; a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials as described above wherein the trailing edge of the preceding sheet material
4
and the leading edge of the succeeding other sheet material
6
each have a length of 10 to 1,000 mm; a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials as described above wherein the preceding sheet material
4
and the succeeding other sheet material
6
each comprise a metal foil or heat-resistant resin film having a thickness of 5 to 500 &mgr;m; and a method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials as described above wherein the resin bonding layer has a thickness of 0.1 to 50 &mgr;m. Each of the above-described methods for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials is preferably employed especially where the connected sheet materials are continuously processed at a temperature in the range of 200° C. to less than 550° C. and under a tension in the range of 0.1 to 50 kgf/cm.
In another aspect, the present invention also provides an apparatus for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials which is used for carrying out each of the above-described methods for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials, the apparatus comprising a hot press for effecting thermocompression bonding of a temporarily joined part formed by making the trailing edge of a preceding sheet material and the leading edge of a succeeding other sheet material overlap with a bonding layer interposed therebetween, and temporarily joining them together; a material locking device for locking a part of the preceding sheet material in order to bring the temporarily joined part to a standstill within the hot press; and an accumulator for keeping the traveling speed of the preceding material constant on the downstream side of the material locking device.
According to the present invention, even where a subsequent processing step is carried out under severe conditions including a temperature in the range of 200° C. to less than 550° C. and a tension in the range of 0.1 to 50 kgf/cm, sheet materials can be satisfactorily processed without suffering from breakage, separation, meandering, variation in tension, or the like. Moreover, by connecting sheet materials according to the present invention, they can be stably and efficiently connected with each other, and they can be fed to a subsequent step at a constant feed speed.
EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is more specifically described hereinbelow.
An outline of the method for forming a continuous material by connecting sheet materials in accordance with the present invention is as follows. First of all, while
Kijima Shigemoto
Kobayashi Yoshitake
Ohtsubo Eiji
Tagawa Kimiteru
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis L.L.P.
Mitsui Chemicals Inc.
Osele Mark A.
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