JP6007883B2 - Metal strip processing apparatus and metal strip manufacturing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for metal strips such as grain-oriented electrical steel sheets used for applications such as iron cores in electrical equipment such as transformers, and a metal strip manufacturing method using the same.

  Conventionally, a magnetic domain refinement process is used as a method for reducing the iron loss of grain-oriented electrical steel sheets. In Patent Document 1, hot rolling is performed on a silicon steel material containing an inhibitor, and then cold rolling is performed once or twice with an intermediate annealing, and then the final finishing annealing is performed. A magnetic domain refinement method for a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is described in which a groove is formed by performing a local etching process. As such an etching method, chemical etching and electrolytic etching are known, and electrolytic etching is advantageous in that it is easy to control the groove depth by current.

  In Patent Document 2, after the final cold rolling, an etching resist is applied and baked on the surface of the steel sheet to leave a continuous or non-continuous linear non-coated portion region, and electrolytic etching is performed to form a linear groove on the steel sheet surface. A method of forming is described. In this electrolytic etching, an insulating material such as ink is applied as an etching resist material (etching mask) on the surface of the steel plate in advance and baked, and then the electrolytic etching is performed, and then the insulating material (resist material) is removed. It is also implemented industrially.

In order to obtain good magnetic characteristics in this method, it is important to appropriately control the cross-sectional shape (groove shape) of the groove such as the groove depth and groove width. If the groove depth in the cross-sectional shape of the groove is small and the groove is shallow, the effect of magnetic domain fragmentation will be insufficient. Conversely, if the groove depth is large groove too deep, impeded the flow of the magnetic flux, the magnetic flux density represented by B ₈ is lowered. For this reason, various methods for appropriately controlling the groove shape have been proposed (Patent Documents 3 and 4).

  In Patent Document 3, the electrode in the electrolytic etching tank is divided into multiple parts in the plate width direction, the groove depth in the plate width direction is measured on the exit side of the etching tank, and the groove in the plate width direction is measured based on the measured value. A method for manufacturing a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is described in which the groove depth is made uniform by controlling the value of current applied to each divided electrode so as to make the depth uniform.

  Patent Document 4 discloses that the electrical resistance of the steel strip and the electrical resistance of the electrolytic solution are reduced in order to reduce variations in the etching groove depth due to changes in the electrical resistance of the steel strip and electrolytic solution during electrolytic etching. The manufacturing method of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet which correct | amends setting voltage according to this and performs electrolytic etching is described.

JP-A-63-42332 JP-A-4-88121 JP-A-7-331332 JP-A-9-316698

  However, the methods described in Patent Documents 3 and 4 described above are insufficient to reduce the variation caused by the electrolytic etching process. The reason is that the defect in the groove shape does not occur only in the electrolytic etching process, but greatly affects the coating state in the resist coating process.

  FIG. 5 shows a gravure offset printing machine for applying an etching resist to the cold rolled sheet 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the resist application portion in the gravure offset printing machine includes a backup roll 2, a gravure roll 3, an offset roll 4, and doctor knives 5 and 6.

  The gravure roll 3 picks up a certain amount of resist solution in a specific pattern and transfers it to the surface of the offset roll 4. The offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2 transfer the resist solution transferred to the surface of the offset roll 4 to the surface of the cold-rolled plate 1 by sandwiching the cold-rolled plate 1 and pressing it with a constant nip pressure. At this time, the wetting and spreading of the resist solution on the surface of the cold-rolled plate 1 changes depending on the nip pressure, and the resist solution spreads to a wider region along the rolling direction at a portion where the nip pressure is high. Therefore, in the portion where the nip pressure is high, the groove of the resist pattern itself for forming the groove becomes narrow, so that the groove width of the linear groove formed on the surface of the cold-rolled plate 1 tends to be small. In particular, the cold-rolled sheet 1 after cold rolling has a non-uniform thickness distribution along the sheet width direction perpendicular to the rolling direction due to elastic deformation of the rolling mill or roll during rolling. Usually, the cold-rolled sheet 1 has a thin edge portion (both side end portions in the plate width direction) and a small plate thickness. Therefore, the nip pressure is smaller in the vicinity of the edge portion than the center in the plate width direction. Get smaller. Therefore, the groove width along the plate width direction in the resist pattern changes and becomes non-uniform.

  Accordingly, the present inventor has actually applied a resist by gravure offset printing, and then formed a groove shape (groove width, groove depth) along the plate width direction of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet in which linear grooves are formed by electrolytic etching. Was measured. 6A and 6B are graphs showing the distance dependency of the groove width (μm) and the groove depth (μm) in the groove shape from the center (plate width center) along the plate width direction of the cold-rolled sheet 1, respectively. It is. Here, the plate width of the cold-rolled plate 1 is 1160 mm. In addition, the graphs of FIGS. 6A and 6B show that for each linear groove, a center position along the plate width direction of the cold-rolled sheet 1 and a distance of 275 mm and 550 mm from the center along the plate width direction toward the edge portion, respectively. In other words, the groove width and groove depth were measured at a total of five locations, and the average values of the measured groove widths and groove depths of 30 linear grooves were calculated.

  From FIG. 6A, it can be seen that the groove width of the linear groove is smaller toward the center of the cold rolled sheet 1, the groove width is larger as it is closer to the edge portion, and the linear groove is expanded toward the edge portion. On the other hand, from FIG. 6B, the groove depth of the linear groove increases toward the center of the width of the cold-rolled sheet 1, and the groove depth decreases as it approaches the edge portion, and the linear groove becomes shallower toward the edge portion. I understand that. According to the knowledge of the present inventor, the groove width of the linear groove increases toward the edge portion of the cold-rolled sheet 1 for the following reason. That is, since the cold-rolled sheet 1 has a smaller thickness in the vicinity of the edge portion, the nip pressure between the offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2 becomes relatively smaller than the center of the sheet width. This is because the wetting and spreading of the resist solution in the vicinity of the edge portion is relatively smaller than the center of the plate width.

  Further, when resist patterns having different groove widths are formed on the surface of the cold-rolled plate 1, when the electrolytic etching is performed with the same current value, the linear grooves formed as the groove width of the resist pattern becomes smaller. The larger and deeper the resist pattern, the greater the groove width of the resist pattern. As a result, the groove depth of the linear groove formed on the surface of the cold-rolled plate 1 becomes nonuniform along the plate width direction, resulting in variations in the groove depth.

If the technique described in Patent Document 3 is adopted to solve such a problem, the following measures are taken. First, the electrode in the electrolytic etching tank is divided into multiple parts in the width direction, and the groove depth in the plate width direction is measured on the exit side of the etching tank. Then, based on these measured values, the current value supplied to each of the multiple divided electrodes is controlled so that the groove depth in the plate width direction becomes uniform. Thereby, a linear groove | channel can be formed so that groove depth may become uniform along the width direction. However, in the technology described in Patent Document 3, in a region larger groove width of the resist pattern at the time of resist is applied, the volume of the base steel electropolished by etching becomes large, the deterioration of the magnetic flux density B ₈ It becomes a problem.

  Further, with the technique described in Patent Document 4, it is extremely difficult in principle to suppress the variation of the groove shape due to the variation in the groove width at the time of applying the resist, even if the above-described problem is to be solved. It is.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stable shape in the longitudinal direction and the width direction of a metal strip when electrolytic etching is performed on a metal strip such as a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet. It is an object of the present invention to provide a metal strip processing apparatus and a metal strip manufacturing method capable of forming a metal strip having a stable quality with small variations and stable industrially.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the above object, a metal strip processing apparatus according to the present invention is a metal strip processing apparatus provided with printing means for applying a resist to the surface of a metal strip to be conveyed. A first roll for applying a resist to the surface of the metal strip; and a first roll that presses the metal strip while sandwiching the first roll and the metal strip. And a pressing force control means configured to be capable of independently controlling the pressing force applied to the metal strip by the second roll for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip. And

  In the metal strip processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the pressing force control means is along the longitudinal direction of the second roll in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the metal strip while facing the second roll. A plurality of third rolls arranged side by side, a plurality of cylinders configured to be able to control the amount of pushing of the plurality of third rolls into the second roll while being connected to each of the plurality of third rolls; It is characterized by having.

  In the metal strip processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above invention, the second roll has a cylindrical sleeve and an arbor serving as an axis, and the diameter of the sleeve is between the sleeve and the arbor. A mechanism using a fluid pressure or a mechanical mechanism configured to be able to expand and contract is provided, and the diameter of the sleeve can be changed independently for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip by the pressing force control means It is characterized by being.

  In the metal strip processing apparatus according to the present invention, in the above-described invention, the winding means for discharging the metal strip wound in a coil shape, the tail end of the preceding material of the metal strip discharged in coil units, and the following material Welding means for welding the tip, cleaning means for cleaning the metal strip, printing means for applying a resist, etching means for etching the surface of the metal strip, and a resist printed on the surface of the metal strip. Peeling means for peeling, cutting means for cutting the metal strip in units of coils, and winding means for winding the metal strip into a coil shape are sequentially arranged.

  The processing apparatus for a metal strip according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the metal strip is a cold-rolled sheet for grain-oriented electrical steel sheets that has been rolled to the thickness of the final product.

  The metal strip manufacturing method according to the present invention includes a plate thickness measuring step for measuring a plate thickness distribution along the plate width direction of the metal strip, a first roll for applying a resist to the surface of the metal strip, A second roll that is provided relative to the roll surface of the roll and presses the metal strip while sandwiching the first roll and the metal strip; A pressing force control unit configured to be independently controllable for each position along the width direction, and a metal based on a measured value of the plate thickness distribution measured in the plate thickness measuring step. The pressing force control means applies the pressing force to the metal strip of the second roll so that the groove widths of the resist groove patterns along the strip width direction are uniform. A pressing force control step for controlling each position along the plate width direction of the plate, and a resist coating step for applying a resist having a groove pattern with a predetermined groove width on the surface of the metal strip by the printing means. Features.

  The metal strip manufacturing method according to the present invention is provided with a first roll for applying a resist to the surface of the metal strip, and a roll surface of the first roll, and sandwiching the first roll and the metal strip. A second roll that presses the metal strip while pressing force applied to the metal strip by the second roll can be controlled independently for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip. A resist applying step for applying a resist to the surface of the metal strip using a printing means, and a groove forming step for forming a groove on the surface of the metal strip by etching the surface of the metal strip using the resist as a mask. After the groove forming step, the groove width of the groove formed in the metal strip is measured at a plurality of positions along the plate width direction of the metal strip. Based on the measured groove width measurement step and the measured values of the plurality of groove widths, the pressing force control means makes the groove widths in the plurality of grooves along the plate width direction of the metal strip uniform with each other. And a pressing force control step for controlling the pressing force to the metal strip of the second roll for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip.

  The method for producing a metal strip according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the above invention, the metal strip is a cold-rolled sheet for grain-oriented electrical steel sheets that has been rolled to the thickness of the final product.

  According to the metal strip processing apparatus and the metal strip manufacturing method of the present invention, in the electrolytic etching process, a linear groove having a stable shape can be formed in the longitudinal direction and the plate width direction of the metal strip, and the dispersion is small and stable. Metal strips such as grain-oriented electrical steel sheets having quality can be manufactured industrially stably.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet processing apparatus according to an embodiment. FIG. 2A is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing facility according to an embodiment. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing facility according to an embodiment. FIG. 2C is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing facility according to a modification of the embodiment. FIG. 2D is a schematic diagram illustrating a printing facility according to a modification of the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining a method of performing the nip pressure control of the backup roll by feed forward control according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a method of performing nip pressure control of a backup roll by feedback control according to an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a conventional gravure offset printing machine. FIG. 6A is a graph showing the groove width of the groove shape along the sheet width direction of the cold-rolled sheet in the prior art. FIG. 6B is a graph showing the groove depth of the groove shape along the sheet width direction of the cold-rolled sheet in the prior art.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings of the following embodiment, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Further, the present invention is not limited to the embodiment described below.

(Etching processing equipment)
First, the etching process with respect to the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet which is a processing apparatus of the metal strip by one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an etching processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the etching apparatus according to this embodiment includes a payoff reel 7 as a winding means on which a direction-oriented electrical steel sheet coil 8 is installed, a shear 10, a welding machine 11 as a welding means, Entrance looper equipment 12, electrolytic degreasing equipment 13 as cleaning means, printing equipment 14 as printing means, hot air drying furnace 15 as dry baking means, electrolytic etching equipment 16 as etching means, resist peeling equipment 17 as peeling means As a winding means on which a groove shape measuring sensor 18 for measuring the groove shape on the surface of the metal strip 9, an exit side looper equipment 19, a cutting machine 20 as a cutting means, and a directional electrical steel sheet coil 22 on the outgoing side are installed. The coiler 21 is provided sequentially. The electrolytic degreasing equipment 13 to the resist stripping equipment 17 are referred to as a central equipment 23.

(Etching method)
Next, an etching method as a processing method for the metal strip 9 in this etching processing apparatus will be described. The metal strip 9 such as a steel plate is, for example, a cold rolled sheet for a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet that has been cold-rolled to the final product sheet thickness.

  As shown in FIG. 1, first, the metal strip 9 of the directional electromagnetic steel sheet wound around the directional electromagnetic steel sheet coil 8 is paid out from the payoff reel 7. The metal strip 9 has its joining end cut together with the preceding material in the shear 10, and the leading end of the succeeding material and the end of the preceding material are joined by the welding machine 11. At this time, the conveyance of the entry-side metal strip 9 is stopped, while the metal strip 9 stored in the entry-side looper facility 12 is paid out. As a result, since the operation is continued while the speed of the metal strip 9 is maintained constant in the central facility 23, the occurrence of printing defects due to line speed changes is suppressed.

  The metal strip 9 is supplied to the printing facility 14 after the rolling oil or the like attached in the previous step is cleaned and removed by the electrolytic degreasing facility 13. In the printing facility 14, a resist is applied to the surface of the metal strip 9 with an ink containing a solvent or water and printed. At this time, since the surface of the metal strip 9 is cleaned in the electrolytic degreasing equipment 13, the occurrence of printing defects due to residual substances such as fats and oils is suppressed. Details of the printing facility 14 will be described later.

  Subsequently, the resist on the surface of the metal strip 9 is continuously solidified in the hot air drying furnace 15 disposed on the downstream side of the printing facility 14 in the conveying direction of the metal strip 9. As a result, resist peeling caused by rubbing between the metal strip 9 and various transporting rolls, which is a concern due to a solidification failure resist, is suppressed.

  Next, the metal strip 9 is etched in the electrolytic etching equipment 16 using the resist pattern formed on the surface as a mask. Thereby, a linear groove is formed on the surface of the metal strip 9. In the electrolytic etching facility 16, the metal strip 9 is passed through the electrode provided in the electrolytic etching tank (not shown) and the electrolytic etching process is performed. As a result, a linear groove is formed on the surface of the metal strip 9, for example, for magnetic domain subdivision processing in a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet. In addition, the linear groove | channel formed in this way becomes a shape extended | stretched in the direction within +/- 30 degree with respect to the plate width direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction (rolling direction) of the metal strip 9, for example.

  Subsequently, the metal strip 9 is conveyed to the resist stripping equipment 17. In the resist stripping equipment 17, unnecessary resist after etching that adversely affects the downstream process is removed, and the metal strip 9 is cleaned. On the exit side of the resist stripping equipment 17, a groove shape measuring sensor 18 for measuring a groove width and a groove depth in a linear groove formed by etching is installed. The groove shape measurement sensor 18 is configured to be able to measure the groove width and the groove depth at a plurality of positions along the plate width direction. The groove shape measurement sensor 18 is configured by, for example, installing a plurality of laser distance meters along the plate width direction perpendicular to the transport direction, and measures the groove shape of the metal strip 9 in a non-contact manner.

  Thereafter, the metal strip 9 is wound around the coiler 21 after passing through the outlet side looper equipment 19 on the downstream side of the groove shape measuring sensor 18. On the exit side of the groove shape measuring sensor 18, the length of the metal strip 9 wound around the coiler 21 becomes a predetermined length, and the directional electromagnetic steel sheet coil 22 becomes a desired size. The conveyance of the metal strip 9 is stopped. And the metal strip 9 is cut | disconnected by the cutting machine 20, and coil cutting | disconnection is performed. At this time, the conveyance of the metal strip 9 stops, while the exit side looper equipment 19 stores the metal strip 9. Thereby, the operation is continued while the speed of the metal strip 9 is kept constant in the central facility 23, and the metal strip 9 can be continuously conveyed at a constant speed. After cutting, the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet coil 22 is extracted from the coiler 21. Thereafter, after decarburization annealing is performed on the metal strip 9, a final finish annealing is performed, whereby a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet or the like is manufactured.

(Printing equipment)
Next, the structure of the printing facility 14 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. 2A and 2B are a side view and a front view, respectively, of the application unit of the printing facility 14.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the application portion of the printing equipment 14 such as a gravure offset printing machine according to this embodiment includes a backup roll 2, a gravure roll 3, an offset roll 4, doctor knives 5 and 6, a pressing roll 24, A fluid pressure cylinder 25 and a control unit 26 are provided. The gravure roll 3 picks up a certain amount of resist solution in a specific pattern. In the offset roll 4 as the first roll, the resist solution picked up by the gravure roll 3 is transferred onto the surface thereof. The offset roll 4 sandwiches the metal strip 9 between the backup roll 2 as a second roll with a predetermined pressing force, that is, a nip pressure, and transfers the resist solution transferred on the surface to the surface of the metal strip 9.

  2B, the pressing roll 24 as the third roll has a plurality of pressing rolls 24-1, 24-2, 24-3,..., 24 divided along the width direction of the backup roll 2. -N is provided. In the printing facility 14 according to this embodiment, the pressing roll 24 is provided at a position facing the backup roll 2. The fluid pressure cylinder 25 includes a plurality of fluid pressure cylinders 25-1, 25-2, 25-3,..., 25-n that can be independently controlled by the control unit 26. The fluid pressure cylinders 25-1 to 25-n are connected so as to be able to push in the pressing rolls 24 at positions respectively corresponding to the pressing rolls 24-1 to 24-n arranged in the width direction. . The pressing amount of the pressing roll 24 is controlled by a fluid pressure cylinder 25 and a control unit 26 as pressing force control means. Thereby, the nip pressure between the offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2, which is a pressing force against the metal strip 9, is controlled for each position along the longitudinal direction of the backup roll 2 in the plate width direction of the metal strip 9.

  Specifically, the control unit 26 controls the push-in amount with respect to the press rolls 24-1 to 24-n for each of the fluid pressure cylinders 25-1 to 25-n, and the press rolls 24-1 to 24-n are controlled. Each pushes into the backup roll 2 independently to control its deflection. Thereby, the nip pressure between the backup roll 2 and the offset roll 4 can be adjusted and controlled independently for each position along the width direction. Thus, the nip pressure to the metal strip 9 by the backup roll 2 and the offset roll 4 can be controlled independently for each position along the plate width direction. Therefore, the wetting and spreading of the resist solution in the rolling direction on the surface of the metal strip 9 can be controlled along the plate thickness direction, so that the groove width of the resist pattern for forming the linear groove can be adjusted.

(Modification of printing equipment)
Next, the structure by the modification of the printing equipment 14 by one Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. 2C and 2D are a side view and a front view, respectively, at the application unit of the printing facility 14.

  As shown in FIGS. 2C and 2D, in the modification of the printing facility 14, the backup roll 2 as the second roll includes a sleeve 27 having a cylindrical shape and an arbor 28 serving as the axis of the backup roll 2. Is done. Between the sleeve 27 and the arbor 28, there is provided an actuator 30 configured so that the diameter of the sleeve 27 can be enlarged and reduced (hereinafter referred to as expansion / contraction). In the printing facility 14 according to this modification, the actuator 30 is composed of a plurality of hydraulic cylinders (not shown) that can be controlled independently by the control unit 26.

  Each fluid pressure cylinder is connected to a fluid pressure pump 32 via a pipe 31. The rotary joint 29 is a joint that connects the inner and outer pipes 31 at the position where the backup roll 2 rotates. The actuator 30 and the control unit 26 as pressing force control means control the discharge amount of the fluid supplied from the fluid pressure pump 32 to each fluid pressure cylinder, thereby expanding and reducing the diameter of the sleeve 27. By the expansion / contraction of the sleeve 27, the pressing force applied to the metal strip 9 by the backup roll 2 is changed. Thereby, the nip pressure between the offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2, which is a pressing force against the metal strip 9, is controlled for each position along the longitudinal direction of the backup roll 2 in the plate width direction of the metal strip 9. The

  Specifically, the control unit 26 controls the expansion and contraction of the diameter of the sleeve 27 at the corresponding position for each fluid pressure cylinder of the actuator 30 via the fluid pressure pump 32. Thereby, the nip pressure between the backup roll 2 and the offset roll 4 is adjusted and controlled independently for each position along the width direction. In this way, the control unit 26 can independently control the nip pressure applied to the metal strip 9 by the backup roll 2 and the offset roll 4 for each position along the plate width direction. Therefore, the wetting and spreading of the resist solution in the rolling direction on the surface of the metal strip 9 can be controlled along the plate thickness direction, so that the groove width of the resist pattern for forming the linear groove can be adjusted.

  When the printing facility 14 has the above-described mechanism, it is possible to uniformly apply a resist to the surface of the metal strip 9 having a plate thickness distribution having a plate thickness deviation along the plate width direction. Thereby, the groove width in the resist pattern for forming the linear groove can be made uniform along the plate width direction of the metal strip 9.

(FF control of pressing amount of presser roll)
Next, a method for controlling the nip pressure of the backup roll 2 will be specifically described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control method for performing nip pressure control by feedforward control (FF control) according to this embodiment. In the following description, the control unit 26 in the printing equipment 14 according to this embodiment shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B controls the pressure of the fluid pressure cylinder 25 and the pressing amount of the pressing roll 24. A method for controlling the nip pressure of the backup roll 2 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in controlling the nip pressure of the backup roll 2 according to this embodiment, first, a plate along the width direction of the metal strip 9 is used by using a plate thickness distribution measuring means (not shown). The thickness distribution is measured (step ST1). Next, for example, the control unit 26 or an external process computer (not shown) determines the nip pressure between the offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2 that changes according to the measured thickness distribution based on the elastic analysis. Calculate (step ST2). If necessary, the results of the elastic analysis of the plate thickness distribution and nip pressure are preferably stored in the storage area of the control unit 26 or an external process computer so that data can be extracted. .

  And the control part 26 adjusts the pressure of each fluid pressure cylinder 25-1 to 25-n independently so that the non-uniformity of the nip pressure between the offset roll 4 and the backup roll 2 may be compensated. The pressing amount of each pressing roll 24-1 to 24-n is controlled independently (step ST3). Thereafter, a resist is applied to the surface of the metal strip 9 as described above in a state where the pressing amount of the pressing roll 24 is adjusted so as to compensate for the non-uniformity of the nip pressure (step ST4). Then, after this resist is fixed, a linear groove is formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 by etching using the resist pattern as a mask in the electrolytic etching equipment 16 (step ST5). A plurality of linear grooves are continuously formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 by repeatedly executing the above series of operations (steps ST1 to ST5).

  According to the control of the nip pressure by the feed forward control described above, the control unit 26 controls the pressure of the fluid pressure cylinder 25 according to the plate thickness distribution along the plate width direction of the metal strip 9. Therefore, the groove width of the linear groove can be made uniform in a desired region along the plate width direction of the metal strip 9. Further, if necessary, linear grooves having a desired groove width can be formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 along the conveying direction (rolling direction).

(FB control of pressing amount of presser roll)
Next, a control method for performing control of the nip pressure of the backup roll 2 by the control unit 26 in the printing facility 14 by feedback control (FB control) will be specifically described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control method for controlling the nip pressure by the FB control according to this embodiment.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4, first, as described above, a resist is applied to the surface of the metal strip 9 (step ST11). After fixing the resist, etching is performed using the resist pattern as a mask in the electrolytic etching equipment 16, thereby forming a linear groove on the surface of the metal strip 9 (step ST12).

  Next, the groove shape measurement sensor 18 measures the groove width of the linear groove on the surface of the metal strip 9 at a plurality of positions along the plate width direction (step ST13). The measured values of the plurality of groove widths are supplied to the control unit 26 and an external process computer (not shown in FIG. 1). And based on the measured value of the groove width of those linear grooves, the control part 26 adjusts the pressure of each fluid pressure cylinder 25-1 to 25-n so that the groove width becomes uniform along the width direction. Each of the pressing rolls 24-1 to 24-n is adjusted independently to control the pressing amount of each pressing roll 24-1 to 24-n (step ST14). Thus, the nip pressure of the backup roll 2 is controlled for each position along the longitudinal direction.

  Thereafter, the process returns to step ST11, and a resist is applied to the surface of the metal strip 9 in a state where the pressing amount of the pressing roll 24 is adjusted so as to compensate the nip pressure (step ST11). After this resist is fixed, etching is performed using the resist pattern as a mask to form linear grooves on the surface of the metal strip 9 (step ST12). A plurality of linear grooves are continuously formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 by repeatedly executing the above series of operations (steps ST11 to ST14).

  According to the nip pressure control based on the feedback control described above, the control unit 26 controls the pressure of the fluid pressure cylinder 25 in accordance with the shape of the linear groove on the surface of the actually etched metal strip 9, so that the pressing roll Since the pressing amount of 24 can be controlled, the groove width of the linear groove can be made uniform in a desired region along the plate width direction of the metal strip 9. Further, if necessary, linear grooves having a desired groove width can be formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 along the conveying direction (rolling direction).

(Examples and Comparative Examples)
Next, a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet having linear grooves formed by an example based on the above-described embodiment and a comparative example based on the prior art will be described. In this example and comparative example, etching is performed on silicon steel containing aluminum nitride (AlN) and manganese selenide (MnSe) as inhibitors and 3.2% silicon (Si). That is, first, this silicon steel is rolled until the plate thickness becomes 0.22 mm by cold rolling twice with intermediate annealing from a hot rolled plate. And in the etching processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, after apply | coating an etching resist to the surface of silicon steel, electrolytic etching is performed and a linear groove | channel is formed.

In addition, as an etching resist ink, an ink mainly composed of an epoxy resin was used. Further, in the electrolytic etching equipment 16, the current density is set to 10 A / dm ^{2 in} a sodium chloride (NaCl) electrolytic bath, and the electrolytic etching is performed for 30 seconds. The linear grooves formed on the surface of the silicon steel by the above etching treatment are inclined at 80 ° with respect to the rolling direction (10 ° with respect to the plate width direction), and the interval between the grooves along the rolling direction is 3 mm. The target values of groove width and groove depth were 0.1 mm and 20 μm, respectively.

  In Example 1, after forming a resist pattern on the surface of silicon steel by using FF control as nip pressure control at the time of resist coating, linear grooves were formed by electrolytic etching. That is, the thickness distribution of silicon steel is measured by a width direction scanning X-ray thickness meter (none of which is shown) installed on the exit side of the rolling mill in the previous process, and printing is performed based on this thickness distribution. The resist was printed while controlling the pressing amount of each pressing roll 24-1 to 24-n of the facility 14, and then electrolytic etching was performed.

  In Example 2, after forming a resist pattern on the surface of silicon steel using FB control as nip pressure control at the time of resist coating, linear grooves were formed by electrolytic etching. That is, based on the measurement result of the groove width of the linear groove by the groove shape measuring sensor 18 disposed behind the resist stripping facility 17, each pressing roll of the printing facility 14 is made uniform so that the groove width in the plate width direction becomes uniform. Electrolytic etching was performed after printing a resist while controlling the pressing amount of 24-1 to 24-n.

  Further, as a comparative example for verifying the effects of Examples 1 and 2 above, the pressing amount of the pressing roll 24 in the printing equipment 14 is made the same at all positions in the longitudinal direction of the backup roll 2 on the surface of silicon steel. After forming a resist pattern, a linear groove was formed by etching.

In Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example, for the silicon steel after the etching treatment, the resist pattern is removed by immersing in an alkaline solution, and decarburization annealing and final finish annealing are sequentially performed. A top coat was applied. In the product obtained by such a treatment, the directional electrical steel sheet coil 22 was divided into five parts at a pitch of about 200 mm along the plate width direction at three points of the tip part, the middle part, and the tail part along the longitudinal direction of the coil 22. The Epstein specimen was taken at the position, the magnetic properties were measured after strain relief annealing, and the average value and variation were compared under the conditions of Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example. The results are shown in Table 1. Table 1 shows the results of the iron loss W _17/50 of the _grain- oriented electrical steel sheets produced by Examples 1 and 2 and the comparative example.

From Table 1, according to Examples 1 and 2 based on one Embodiment mentioned above, it _{shows with} the average value of iron loss _W17 / ₅₀ and the standard deviation (sigma) of iron loss compared with the comparative example based on a prior art. It can be seen that the variations are all small.

  As described above, according to the etching processing apparatus according to this embodiment, the groove width in the groove formation region in the resist pattern formed on the surface of the metal strip 9 of the grain-oriented electrical steel sheet is set to the plate width of the metal strip 9. Since it can be made uniform along the direction, when the metal strip 9 is electrolytically etched to form a linear groove, the metal strip 9 has a stable shape along the longitudinal direction and the plate width direction. A linear groove can be formed, and it becomes possible to industrially manufacture a grain-oriented electrical steel sheet having a stable quality with small variations in iron loss.

  Although one embodiment of the present invention has been specifically described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention are possible. For example, the numerical values given in the above-described embodiment are merely examples, and different numerical values may be used as necessary.

  In the above-described embodiment, the electrolytic degreasing equipment 13 is employed as the cleaning equipment. However, other equipment such as an immersion degreasing equipment may be employed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the drying and baking equipment is the hot air drying furnace 15, but other equipment such as an electric furnace may be adopted.

  In the above-described embodiment, the entry-side looper facility 12 and the exit-side looper facility 19 are described in the vertical type, but other types of looper facilities such as a horizontal type or a coaxial type may be employed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the groove shape measuring sensor 18 for measuring the groove shape of the metal strip 9 is a non-contact type groove shape sensor using a laser distance meter. It is also possible to use a sensor that employs the distance measuring principle of the mold.

  In the above-described embodiment, the pressing amounts of the pressing rolls 24-1 to 24-n are controlled by controlling the pressures of the plurality of fluid pressure cylinders 25-1 to 25-n independently of each other. However, a push-in mechanism that performs a push-in operation is provided inside the press rolls 24-1 to 24-n, and the press rolls 24-1 to 24-n themselves are pressed in a controllable manner for each position along the longitudinal direction of the backup roll 2. It is also possible to configure as described above. Further, the backup roll 2 is composed of a cylindrical roll, and a plurality of pressing rolls similar to the pressing rolls 24-1 to 24-n are separately provided inside the cylindrical roll, and the nip pressure is provided from the backup roll 2 inside. May be configured to be adjustable for each position.

  Further, in the modified example of the above-described embodiment, in the backup roll 2 having the cylindrical sleeve 27 and the arbor 28 serving as the shaft core, the diameter of the sleeve 27 can be increased or decreased between the sleeve 27 and the arbor 28. The inside of the backup roll 2 by installing the mechanism using the configured fluid pressure or the mechanical mechanism, and expanding and reducing the diameter of the sleeve 27 independently for each position along the plate width direction by such a mechanism. From the above, the nip pressure may be adjusted for each position along the longitudinal direction of the backup roll 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cold rolled sheet 2 Backup roll 3 Gravure roll 4 Offset roll 5,6 Doctor knife 7 Payoff reel 8,22 Directional electrical steel sheet coil 9 Metal strip 10 Shear 11 Welding machine 12 Inlet looper equipment 13 Electrolytic degreasing equipment 14 Printing equipment 15 Hot air drying furnace 16 Electrolytic etching equipment 17 Resist stripping equipment 18 Groove shape measuring sensor 19 Outlet looper equipment 20 Cutting machine 21 Coiler 23 Central equipment 24, 24-1, 24-2, 24-3, ..., 24-n presser Roll 25, 25-1, 25-2, 25-3,..., 25-n Fluid pressure cylinder 26 Control unit 27 Sleeve 28 Arbor 29 Rotary joint 30 Actuator 31 Piping 32 Fluid pressure pump

Claims (7)

In a metal strip processing apparatus provided with printing means for applying a resist to the surface of a metal strip to be conveyed,
The printing means is
A first roll that form a resist pattern of the resist on the surface of the metal strip with a coating fabric,
A second roll that is provided relative to a roll surface of the first roll and presses the metal strip while sandwiching the first roll and the metal strip;
A pressing force control means configured to be able to independently control the pressing force to the metal strip by the second roll for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip;
An apparatus for treating a metal strip, comprising:   A plurality of third rolls arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the second roll in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the metal strip while facing the second roll; A plurality of cylinders configured to be respectively controllable in amounts of the plurality of third rolls pushed into the second roll while being connected to each of the plurality of third rolls. The metal strip processing apparatus according to claim 1.   The second roll has a cylindrical sleeve and an arbor serving as an axis, and fluid pressure is used between the sleeve and the arbor so that the diameter of the sleeve can be expanded and contracted. A mechanism or a mechanical mechanism is provided, and the diameter of the sleeve can be changed independently for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip by the pressing force control means. Item 2. The metal strip processing apparatus according to Item 1.   Unwinding means for discharging the metal strip wound in a coil shape, welding means for welding the leading end of the preceding material and the leading end of the trailing material of the metal strip discharged in coil units, and cleaning the metal strip Cleaning means for applying resist, printing means for applying a resist, etching means for etching the surface of the metal strip, peeling means for peeling the resist printed on the surface of the metal strip, and the metal strip. The metal strip according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein cutting means for cutting in units of coils and winding means for winding the metal strip into a coil shape are sequentially arranged. Processing equipment.   The metal strip processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the metal strip is a cold-rolled sheet for grain-oriented electrical steel sheets rolled to a thickness of a final product. A first roll for applying a resist to the surface of the metal strip to form a resist pattern; and provided to face the roll surface of the first roll, while sandwiching the first roll and the metal strip. A second roll that presses the metal strip, and a pressing force that is configured to be able to independently control the pressing force applied to the metal strip by the second roll for each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip. A resist coating step for coating a resist on the surface of the metal strip using a printing unit having a control unit;
Forming a groove on the surface of the metal strip by etching the surface of the metal strip using the resist as a mask; and
After the groove forming step, a groove width measuring step of measuring the groove width of the groove formed in the metal strip at a plurality of positions along the plate width direction of the metal strip;
Based on the measured values of the plurality of groove widths, the pressing force control means causes the second width of the plurality of grooves along the plate width direction of the metal strip to be uniform with each other. A pressing force control step for controlling the pressing force of the roll to the metal strip at each position along the plate width direction of the metal strip;
A method for producing a metal strip, comprising: Method for producing a metallic strip according to claim 6, wherein the metal strip is cold-rolled sheet for grain-oriented electrical steel sheet which has been rolled to the thickness of the final product.

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