JP4314955B2 - Vacuum laminating apparatus and vacuum laminating method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum laminating apparatus and a vacuum laminating method, and more particularly to a vacuum laminating apparatus and a vacuum laminating method applied to manufacture of a solar cell module.

  The vacuum laminating apparatus is applied as a final manufacturing apparatus for the purpose of covering elements related to semiconductors, in particular, solar cells and the like used by being exposed to the outside air. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram of a conventional vacuum laminating apparatus. A procedure for producing a solar cell module using the vacuum laminating apparatus 500 is roughly as follows.

  First, a net is laid in a space between the base member 501 and the annular tube 502, the constituent material of the solar cell module is placed thereon, and the top is covered with a lid member. Next, the vacuum pump 504 is activated to evacuate the space formed by the base material 501, the annular tube 502, and the lid member, and the air between the air in the space and the constituent material of the solar cell module. Are discharged or degassed from a plurality of deaeration holes 505 provided on the inner peripheral side of the annular tube 502. Then, with the vacuum pump 504 operating, the vacuum laminating apparatus 500 is put into a high-temperature oven, the temperature is increased to a temperature at which the filler contained in the constituent material of the solar cell module is cured, and is maintained until the curing is completed. To do. After the filler is cured, it is removed from the oven and cooled, and the vacuum pump 504 is stopped to return the space to atmospheric pressure. With the above procedure, the creation of the solar cell module is completed.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a vacuum laminating apparatus characterized in that a cushioning material is installed along the inside of a cylindrical tube to slow down the steep angle structure of the lid member by vacuuming (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP-A-9-51111 (paragraph numbers [0017] to [0026], FIG. 3)

  However, in the vacuum laminating apparatus described in Patent Document 1, when the vacuum laminating apparatus is enlarged in response to the increase in the size of the solar cell module, the adhesion between the base material and the cylindrical tube is strengthened as the apparatus. Although it is necessary to improve the rigidity, for example, even if the base material and the cylindrical tube can be integrated in a solid state by welding or the like, since the cylindrical member is generally weak in bending rigidity, the rigidity as a device There is a problem that improvement cannot be expected.

Further, since a cushioning material for protecting the lid member is also required, the number of components to be configured and the number of assembly steps are increased, resulting in an increase in apparatus cost.
In addition, the deaeration holes of the tube are not only difficult to machine, but the number of deaeration holes that can be machined is limited, and there is a problem that the conductance as a vacuuming performance is deteriorated.

  This invention is made | formed in view of such a point, and it aims at providing the vacuum laminating apparatus for manufacturing a solar cell module with high productivity with low cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum laminating method for producing a low-cost and highly productive solar cell module.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in a vacuum laminating apparatus having a space for performing a laminating process, a base material for placing a laminating module, and two opposite sides of the base material, with respect to the base material a first surface which is inclined at a predetermined angle toward the center side of the substrate, is composed of a second surface at right angles to the base, a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape, said first The inner end portion of one surface has a certain gap with respect to the base material, the second surface on the outer side is fixed to the base material in an airtight state, and an exhaust space having the gap as an exhaust port is inside. A frame member formed on the base member, a holding member disposed on the base material in the gap, a plate member fixed in an airtight manner to an end in the width direction of the frame member, and the base material and the frame member are covered. And a lid member for forming a space portion for performing a lamination process. Vacuum laminator for is provided.

According to such a vacuum laminating apparatus, a first surface that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the base material and faces the center side of the base material on two opposite sides of the base material, and the base material It is composed of a second surface that forms a right angle, and is fixed to the fixed frame body having a substantially triangular cross-sectional shape , in an airtight state with respect to the base material and the plate material, at the inner end of the first surface of the frame body An exhaust space is formed in which the fixed gap provided is an exhaust port, and evacuation is performed through the exhaust space during the laminating process.

The vacuum laminating apparatus of the present invention includes a first surface that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the base material and faces the center side of the base material, and a second surface that is perpendicular to the base material. The cross-sectional shape is substantially triangular, the inner end of the first surface has a certain gap with respect to the substrate, the outer second surface is fixed to the substrate in an airtight state, and the gap is exhausted to the exhaust port. Since the exhaust space is formed by arranging the frame with the exhaust space formed inside on the two opposite sides, it is possible to evacuate with a solid structure, and respond to the enlargement of the laminate module, etc. Productivity can be improved. In addition, since the configuration can be simplified, the cost can be reduced.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of the vacuum laminating apparatus of the present embodiment.
The vacuum laminating apparatus 10 includes a base material 11, a frame body 12, a plate material 13, a lid member 14, a holding member 15, a connection portion 16, and a valve 17.

  The base material 11 is a bottom part of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 and is a member for placing a laminate module to be laminated. The base material 11 is required to have heat resistance, rigidity, and light weight. The material used for the substrate 11 is mainly a metal such as iron or aluminum, but stainless steel is desirable in terms of weldability and corrosion resistance. In order to reduce the heat capacity and reduce the weight, it must be thinned. However, if the thickness is excessively thin, the rigidity cannot be obtained. Therefore, the thickness is preferably about 1.0 to 2.0 mm.

  The frame body 12 is a member having a triangular cross-sectional shape composed of a plurality of surfaces. The surfaces constituting the frame body 12 mainly include a surface that is perpendicular to the base material 11 and a surface that is inclined with respect to the base material 11 at a predetermined angle. The frame body 12 is arranged on two opposite sides of the base material 11 so that the surface inclined at the predetermined angle faces the center side of the base material 11.

  Here, when the side of the surface inclined at the predetermined angle is the inside of the frame 12 and the side of the surface perpendicular to the substrate 11 is the outside of the frame 12, the frame 12 is It fixes by making the outer side surface and base material 11 which touch the base material 11 into an airtight state. The frame body 12 has a certain gap with respect to the base material 11 at the inner end. The characteristics required for such a frame 12 include heat resistance, rigidity, lightness, and the like. Stainless steel is mainly used as the material.

  The plate member 13 is a member that is airtightly fixed to both end portions in the width direction of the frame body 12, and seals the end portions in the width direction of the frame body 12. In order to ensure the rigidity of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10, it is preferable that the plate member 13 communicates between the opposing frame bodies 12.

  The lid member 14 is a member that covers the base material 11 and the frame body 12 and forms a space portion (hereinafter abbreviated as a laminate space portion) in which a lamination process is performed. The characteristics required for the lid member 14 include heat resistance, flexibility, light weight, and airtightness when evacuated. Silicone resin (thickness: 2t, hardness: 50, silicon resin general-purpose type, manufactured by Tigers Polymer) was used as the material used, mainly silicon resin.

The holding member 15 is a member disposed in the gap of the frame body 12 and is used for securing the gap during the laminating process (details will be described later).
The connection part 16 is a path | route at the time of discharging | emitting air from the vacuum laminating apparatus 10, and the valve | bulb 17 is provided in the end. The vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is connected to the vacuum pump 110 installed outside via the discharge side of the valve 17.

  In the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 configured as described above, the inner end of the frame body 12 is hermetically sealed with respect to the base material 11 and the plate material 13 on the frame body 12 fixed to two opposing sides of the base material 11. An exhaust space having a certain clearance provided in the section as an exhaust port is formed. Further, a connection portion 16 is inserted into the exhaust space through the plate material 13. In the laminating process, air is exhausted from the laminating space portion to the exhaust space through the gap, and air is exhausted from the exhaust space to the outside through the connection portion 16.

  As described above, since the exhaust space 12v is formed in the frame 12 having the triangular cross section disposed on the two opposing sides of the base material 11, the lamination process can be performed with a simple structure and a rigid structure.

  Next, the configuration of the frame body 12 and the details of the exhaust space 12v will be described with reference to the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the A1-A1 direction of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the A2-A2 direction of FIG. In both figures, the holding member 15 is not shown.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the frame body 12 includes a first bent surface 12a, a second bent surface 12b, a third bent surface 12c, and a fourth bent surface 12d. Of these surfaces, the first bent surface 12a and the second bent surface 12b constitute the outer surface of the frame 12, and the third bent surface 12c and the fourth bent surface 12d constitute the inner side of the frame 12. It becomes the surface to do.

  The second bent surface 12b is bent with respect to the first bent surface 12a so that the second bent surface 12b is perpendicular to the base material 11. By bending the second bending surface 12b at such an angle, the rigidity of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 can be further improved.

  In addition, the third bent surface 12c is bent so as to have an included angle of about 30 ° with respect to the base material 11 in the present embodiment. The fourth bent surface 12d is bent so that a bent portion between the third bent surface 12c and the fourth bent surface 12d has a certain gap with respect to the base material 11. In this embodiment, the gap is bent so as to be about 2 mm.

  However, when the fourth bending surface 12d is bent, as shown in FIG. 3, the fourth bending surface 12d is bent from the third bending surface 12c so as to leave a sealed range for preventing air from being exhausted in a predetermined range on both sides in the width direction of the gap. . In the present embodiment, the sealing range is 10 mm.

  The frame body 12 and the base material 11 configured in this way are fixed by abutting the outer peripheral side of the base material 11 with the first bent surface 12a and performing electrical resistance welding. In the present embodiment, spot welding was performed at intervals of about 100 mm. By fixing the frame 12 and the base material 11 by spot welding, the time required for welding can be shortened and the manufacturing cost of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 can be reduced.

  The frame 12 and the plate material 13 and the base material 11 and the plate material 13 were spot welded by TIG welding. And all these spot welding parts are sealed using a sealant material. In the present embodiment, sealing was performed using a silicon sealant “KE45” (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Silicone, KE45 is a registered trademark of Shin-Etsu Silicone). In addition, it is preferable that the silicon sealant adhesion part of the frame 12 and the base material 11 is degreased before adhesion. Thus, by using an airtight structure using the sealant material, it is possible to prevent air leakage at the time of evacuation and to improve the reliability of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10.

  By fixing the base material 11 and the plate material 13 to the frame body 12 as described above, the frame body 12 fixed to the two opposite sides of the base material 11 has a frame body 12 as shown in FIG. And the base material 11, the frame body 12 and the plate material 13, and the joint portions of the base material 11 and the plate material 13 are sealed with a sealant material, and the third bent surface 12 c of the frame body 12 is sealed. An exhaust space 12v is formed in which a clearance provided at a bent portion with the fourth bent surface is an exhaust port.

  By the way, since the solar cell module mainly used as a roofing material is elongated, the laminate space portion also has an elongated shape. However, considering the exhaust efficiency, the facing of the base material 11 on which the exhaust space 12v is formed. It is better that the two sides to be on the longer side of the substrate 11.

  That is, when the distance between the opposing gaps is W (see FIG. 2) and the width direction length of the gap is L (see FIG. 3), L ≧ W is satisfied. By satisfying such a condition, the exhaust space 12v is disposed on the long side of the base material 11, and even when the exhaust space 12v has only two opposing sides, a sufficient evacuation for laminating is performed. Can be performed.

  Next, the laminating process in the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 will be described. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a laminating process state in the A1-A1 direction of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a laminating process state in the A2-A2 direction of FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a breathable sheet material 21 is placed on a base material 11, and a constituent material 20 of a solar cell module is disposed as a laminate module in the present embodiment, and further, a breathable sheet material is disposed thereon. 21 is put. A holding member 15 is disposed in the gap between the frame body 12 and the base material 11. In this embodiment, a stainless steel plain woven wire mesh having a wire diameter of 0.9 mm and a mesh number of 3 is used. And the base material 11 and the frame 12 are covered with the cover member 14, and the lamination space part is formed.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the lid member 14 is disposed so that the range covered by the lid member 14 and the sealed ranges on both sides of the frame body 12 have an overlap D of a predetermined range. The overlap D is 2 mm or more. In FIG. 5, illustration of the constituent material 20 of the solar cell module and the air-permeable sheet material 21 is omitted.

  In the state configured as described above, the laminating process is performed using the vacuum pump 110 connected to the outside of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10. Then, the lid member 14 presses the constituent material 20 of the solar cell module against the base material 11 to promote degassing between the constituent materials 20 of the solar cell module. The third bent surface 12c of the frame body 12 bends due to the vacuum differential pressure generated by this deaeration, but the holding member 15 prevents the bent third bent surface 12c and the base material 11 from coming into contact with each other. To prevent the flow of water from being blocked. Then, the air exhausted through the holding member 15 is discharged to the outside through the connection portion 16 inserted into the exhaust spaces 12v to 12v.

  In this way, by arranging the holding member 15 for securing the gap between the frame body 12 and the base material 11, air can be surely discharged from the gap during evacuation. Can prevent performance degradation.

Further, by using a wire mesh as the holding member 15, it is possible to maintain a good vacuuming performance even when the gap is narrowed.
In addition, by setting the overlap D between the range covered by the lid member 14 and the sealed range to be 2 mm or more, the gap between the frame body 12 and the base material 11 can be reliably covered with the lid member 14 during vacuuming. It becomes possible, and the reliability of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 can be improved.

  Next, a procedure for creating a laminate module by a laminate module manufacturing apparatus to which the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is applied, and results of actual creation will be described. In the present embodiment, a solar cell module is arranged as a laminate module. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a laminate module manufacturing apparatus to which a vacuum laminating apparatus is applied.

  In the laminating module manufacturing apparatus 100, ten vacuum laminating apparatuses 10 are horizontally arranged inside a hot-air circulating heating furnace 101. However, the discharge side of the valve 17 of each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is collectively connected to the manifold 102, the manifold 102 is connected to the vacuum pump 110, and the vacuum laminating apparatuses 10 are collectively evacuated.

A procedure for creating a solar cell module using the laminate module manufacturing apparatus 100 will be described below.
First, for each vacuum laminating apparatus 10, as in FIG. 4, a breathable sheet material 21 is placed on the base material 11, the constituent material 20 of the solar cell module is placed thereon, and further, the breathable sheet material is placed thereon. 21 is put. Then, the lid member 14 is arranged so that the overlap D between the range covered by the lid member 14 and the sealed range of the frame 12 is 2 mm or more, and a laminate space is formed in each vacuum laminating apparatus 10.

  After the arrangement of each member, the discharge side of the valve 17 of each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 and the manifold 102 are connected. And the vacuum pump 110 is started, the lamination space part of each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is evacuated, and the air between the materials of the constituent material 20 of the solar cell module arrange | positioned at each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is deaerated.

  With the vacuum pump 110 deaerated, the temperature is raised to a temperature at which the filler contained in the constituent material 20 of each solar cell module is cured (about 150 ° C.), and held for 30 minutes until the curing is completed. Thereafter, the valve 17 of each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is closed, each vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is taken out from the hot-air circulation type heating furnace 22 while being cooled and cooled, and the valve 17 is opened to laminate the space of each vacuum laminating apparatus 10. Return the part to atmospheric pressure.

Through such a procedure, 10 solar cell modules having a size of 500 × 2000 mm were produced at a time.
As described above, since the exhaust space 12v is formed in the frame 12 having the triangular cross section disposed on the two opposing sides of the base material 11, the apparatus of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 is compared with the conventional cylindrical member. As a result, the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 can be applied to a large-sized solar cell module, for example, a solar cell module having a size of 500 × 2000 mm. It becomes possible to increase the productivity of the battery module. In addition, since the configuration can be simplified, the cost can be reduced.

  In the above description, the cross-sectional shape of the frame body 12 is a triangle, but it may be a substantially triangular shape such as a trapezoid whose vertex is deformed into a flat side. In addition, the second bending surface 12b is bent perpendicularly to the base material 11, but may be bent so as to be inclined inward with respect to the base material 11.

  In the above description, an independent member is used as the plate member 13 that fixes both ends in the width direction of the frame body 12 in an airtight state. However, the both ends in the longitudinal direction of the base material 11 are bent, and this portion is used as a plate member. By using as 13, you may make it comprise the base material 11 and the board | plate material 13 integrally. Thereby, the manufacturing process of the vacuum laminating apparatus 10 can be reduced.

  In the above description, a wire mesh is used as the holding member 15 that secures the gap between the frame 12 and the base material 11, but other members may be used as long as the gap is secured and air can pass through. Good.

  In the above description, the laminate module manufacturing apparatus 100 is used to create a solar cell module, but may be used to create other laminate modules.

It is a top perspective view of the vacuum laminating apparatus of this Embodiment. It is A1-A1 direction sectional drawing of FIG. It is A2-A2 direction sectional drawing of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the lamination process state in the A1-A1 direction of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the lamination process state in the A2-A2 direction of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the lamination module manufacturing apparatus to which a vacuum laminating apparatus is applied. It is a block diagram of the conventional vacuum laminating apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vacuum laminating apparatus 11 Base material 12 Frame body 13 Plate material 14 Lid member 15 Holding member 16 Connection part 17 Valve

Claims (7)

In a vacuum laminating apparatus having a space for laminating,
A substrate for placing the laminate module;
A first surface that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the base material and faces the center side of the base material, and a second surface that is perpendicular to the base material. And the inner end of the first surface has a certain gap with respect to the base material, and the outer second surface is airtight to the base material. A frame body that is fixed in a state and has an exhaust space formed therein with the gap as an exhaust port ;
A holding member disposed on the base material of the gap;
A plate material fixed in an airtight state to an end in the width direction of the frame,
A lid member for covering the base material and the frame and forming a space portion for laminating;
A vacuum laminating apparatus comprising:   2. The vacuum laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gap has a sealed range on both sides in the width direction, and an overlap between the range covered by the lid member and the sealed range is 2 mm or more.   2. The vacuum laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a relationship between a length L of the gap in the width direction and a distance W of the gap facing the gap is L ≧ W.   2. The vacuum laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outer surface of the frame is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the base material.   2. The vacuum laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material and the frame body are fixed by spot welding and have an airtight structure using a sealant material.   2. The vacuum laminating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding member is a wire mesh.   A first surface that is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the base material and faces the center side of the base material on two opposite sides of the base material for placing the laminate module and the base material; And a second surface that is perpendicular to the cross section, the cross-sectional shape is substantially triangular, the inner end of the first surface has a certain gap with respect to the substrate, and the outer first The surface of 2 is heated by a vacuum laminating apparatus in which an exhaust space having the gap as an exhaust port is formed inside the frame disposed on the base by a frame fixed in an airtight manner on the base. In a vacuum laminating method for producing the laminating module using a vacuum laminating production apparatus arranged in a furnace and provided with a vacuum pump outside the heating furnace,
  A module material disposing step of disposing a constituent material of the laminate module on the base material inside the frame;
  A laminating process step of covering the frame body and the base material with a lid member and forming a space for laminating;
  Evacuation step of evacuating the space to be laminated and exhausting from the gap;
  A step of laminating the constituent material of the laminate module by heat-treating the space while maintaining the evacuation;
  A vacuum laminating method comprising:

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