JP7621776B2 - CUTTING METHOD, CUTTING APPARATUS, ROBOT SYSTEM, PRODUCTION METHOD OF ARTICLE USING ROBOT SYSTEM, PROGRAM, AND RECORDING MEDIUM - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method and device for cutting flexible materials such as sheet materials in which a deformable base material is laminated to a backing paper via an adhesive material.

The basic configuration for cutting a sheet material having a base sheet and a release liner by cutting the base sheet and leaving the release liner without cutting it completely, i.e., performing a half cut, is shown in, for example, Patent Document 1. This example is a press cutting type in which a cutter is vertically lowered onto the sheet material, and is configured so that the protruding dimension of the cutting blade that cuts only the base sheet material is smaller than the protruding dimension of the cutting blade that cuts both the base sheet and the release liner.

Patent Document 2 also shows a method for expanding the allowable range of the cutting depth of the blade for half-cutting. In this example, when the base sheet is placed on top and the release liner on the bottom, a flexible material is placed on the bottom of the release liner and the cutting blade cuts from above. As a result, the base sheet that is closer to the cutting blade placed on the top is cut, but the release liner is not cut because the flexible material moves away from the cutting blade as it deforms. This cutting method makes it possible to cut the base sheet without cutting the release liner, without strictly setting the cutting depth of the blade.

Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 57-98837 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 8-229887

However, using only the conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, it is difficult to half-cut a sheet material with a soft base sheet with good dimensional accuracy.

That is, Patent Document 1 is a press-cutting type technology in which a cutter is brought down vertically into the sheet material, but if the base sheet is a soft material such as urethane foam, the cutting blade will deform when it is brought down, making it impossible to cut accurately and precisely.

Therefore, if the lowest point of the cutting blade is simply set lower in order to completely cut through the soft base sheet, there is a risk that the release liner, which is not what you want to cut, will also be cut.

In order to half-cut sheet material with a soft base sheet that deforms greatly with good dimensional accuracy, not only is extremely high precision required for setting the lowest point where the cutting blade is lowered, but the force and speed with which the cutting blade is lowered also play a large role. Various technical innovations are necessary to stably and reliably perform half-cuts, but such technical innovations are not disclosed in the above-mentioned conventional technology.

Patent Document 2 also discloses an example in which a flexible material is placed under the release paper to expand the allowable range of the cutting depth dimension of the blade during half-cutting, and half-cutting is made possible by utilizing the fact that the release sheet deforms and escapes from the blade when cutting the sheet material. This makes it possible to achieve half-cutting even with soft bodies that deform greatly, without strictly setting the cutting depth.

However, even if the cutting blade is moved with great precision, if the cutting blade is thin and does not have sufficient rigidity, it will bend and cause cutting errors, and if the sheet material is soft, it will deform significantly during cutting, causing large errors in the cutting position accuracy. Therefore, it is difficult to reliably cut the sheet material halfway with high precision.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a method and device for cutting sheet material that can reliably cut half-cuts of sheet material laminated with soft base sheets with high dimensional accuracy, something that could not be achieved with the above-mentioned conventional techniques.

In order to solve such problems, according to the cutting method described in claim 1 of the present invention, there is provided a method for cutting a sheet material in which a soft body is placed on a backing paper via an adhesive material, characterized in that a cutting blade is brought into contact with the soft body, and the cutting blade cuts into the soft body to a predetermined depth, and then a pressing portion presses the sheet material toward the cutting blade from the side opposite the cutting blade, and the pressing portion is moved relatively to the sheet material in a direction intersecting the thickness direction of the sheet material, thereby cutting the sheet material to the predetermined depth of the soft body, the adhesive material, and the backing paper with the cutting blade.

Furthermore, according to the cutting device described in claim 16 of the present invention, there is provided a cutting device for a sheet material in which a soft body is arranged and laminated on a backing paper via an adhesive layer, the cutting device comprising a cutting blade for cutting the sheet material from the soft body side, a pressing unit for pressing the sheet material, and a moving means for moving the pressing unit, the pressing unit pressing the sheet material toward the cutting blade from the side opposite the cutting blade, and the moving means moving the pressing unit relative to the sheet material in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction of the sheet material, thereby enabling the cutting blade to cut the sheet material to a predetermined depth in the backing paper including the soft body and the adhesive .

The present invention provides a method and device for cutting flexible materials, such as sheet materials with soft layers, that can reliably cut half-cuts with high dimensional accuracy regardless of the cutting shape.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a sheet material cutting device according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state before cutting, for explaining a half-cut cutting operation by the sheet material cutting device according to the present invention; FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a state after cutting, for explaining a half-cut cutting operation by the sheet material cutting device according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a side view of a main part for explaining a half-cut cutting operation by the sheet material cutting device according to the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a sheet material cut by a sheet material cutting device according to the present invention; 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the half-cut portion of the sheet material in FIG. 5 has been peeled off after cutting; FIG. 2 is a side view showing a structure of an example of a sheet material used in the embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a flowchart showing a sheet cutting operation in the sheet material cutting device according to the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating a half-cut cutting operation in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a top view for explaining the half-cut cutting operation in FIG. 9 . FIG. 13 is a top view illustrating a half-cut cutting operation in the third embodiment of the present invention.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a case will be described in which the cutting method and the soft material cutting device of the present invention are applied to a sheet material cutting device for cutting a sheet material including a soft material layer.

Figure 7 shows the sheet material 200 of this embodiment, which is made by laminating a soft layer 200c such as urethane on a backing 200a via an adhesive layer (including a bonding layer) 200b. In some cases, a release layer 200d that is difficult to adhere to the adhesive layer may be provided between the backing 200a and the adhesive layer (bonding layer) 200b.

In the case of a half cut, in which the soft sheet layer is completely cut and only a portion of the mount 200a is cut in the thickness direction, the mount 200a is assumed to have a certain thickness, for example, approximately 80 μm.

In other words, when the dimensional accuracy of the device is taken into consideration, it is difficult to set the closest distance between the cutting edge of the cutting blade and the tip of the pressing part (described later) to 50 μm or less, and there is a risk of damaging the cutting edge if the cutting edge and the tip collide. If a highly accurate positioning means is provided to set the distance to 50 μm or less, the device becomes expensive and its effectiveness is reduced. For these reasons, it is preferable that the backing paper 200a has a thickness of about 80 μm or more.

It is also desirable that the backing paper 200a does not deform in the thickness direction even when pressed against the cutting blade by the pressing part before cutting. Large deformation in the thickness direction is not desirable because it reduces the set value of the distance when the tip of the cutting blade and the tip of the pressing part approach each other.

In addition, if the thickness of the backing paper 200a is sufficiently thick, for example, about 200 μm, even if the deformation of the soft body when the cutting blade tip is inserted into the soft body is about half that amount, about 100 μm, the distance between the cutting blade tip and the tip of the pressing part will still be 80 μm or more. Therefore, there is no need to set this to 50 μm or less.

However, the backing paper is not necessary when the sheet material is actually used, and will end up being discarded, so using a thick backing paper is wasteful. Therefore, it is desirable for the backing paper not to deform in the thickness direction before cutting, and paper is the preferred material. This is because the deformation is not large, but the material is not hard, and compared to steel, which is usually used as a cutting blade material, it is less likely to wear down the cutting edge, and is inexpensive. It goes without saying that other materials are also acceptable as long as they have these properties, and are not limited to paper.

The soft body layer 200c is expected to deform significantly in the thickness direction just before being cut, and the amount of deformation is expected to be such that it will deform to less than half the initial thickness when no force is applied, without being cut. This has the effect of allowing the tip of the cutting blade to bite into the sheet material, thereby determining the positional relationship between the cutting blade and the sheet material before cutting. In addition, examples of the material of the soft body include, but are not limited to, resin foam such as urethane foam, moltoprene, and nonwoven fabric made of fibers solidified with resin.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the sheet material 200 is made by laminating, for example, a soft material such as Moltoprene (thickness 2 mm), a double-sided adhesive layer (thickness 0.01 mm), and a backing paper (thickness 0.14 mm) with a release layer. In addition, the surface of the Moltoprene has characters such as "ABCDEFGHIJ" printed in colored ink, and is wound into a roll 200R that is 10 mm wide and 30 m long.

Next, the entire sheet material cutting device of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 3. A sheet supply unit 2 that supplies sheet material 200 is arranged on a chassis 1. In addition, a half-cut cutting unit 4 that half-cuts the sheet material 200 while leaving a part of the backing paper 200a, and a full-cut cutting unit 5 that cuts the sheet material 200 completely down to the backing paper 200a are arranged along the sheet running path 100.

Furthermore, downstream of the full cut cutting section 5, there is disposed a gripping section 7 for gripping the cut sheet material 200 and transferring it to the next process of pasting, discharging, etc. The gripping section 7 is a robot hand, and is a robot device provided with a robot arm as shown in the attached drawings. For example, as a pasting operation, the sheet material 200 cut by the gripping section 7 is used as material to perform a process of pasting the sheet material 200 to another workpiece, and the workpiece to which the sheet material 200 is pasted is manufactured as a finished product. In this way, the sheet material cutting device and the robot device can be combined and used as a robot system for manufacturing goods.

The sheet supply unit 2 rotatably holds the roll 200R on which the sheet material 200 is wound, and is driven and controlled together with the guide and drive rollers 3 (3a, 3b) by the sheet supply drive unit 301. The sheet supply drive unit 301 pulls out the sheet material 200 from the roll 200R in fixed length units, and controls it to be transported along the sheet running path 100 in the direction of the arrow A in the figure while maintaining a predetermined tension.

The half-cut cutting section 4 is disposed downstream of the sheet supply section 2, and is provided with a cutting blade 42 for cutting the sheet material 200 at the half-cut cutting position, which can be raised and lowered in the direction of arrow C by a cutting blade raising and lowering mechanism 41. In addition, at a position opposite the cutting blade 42, a base 44 for holding the sheet material 200 from the backing paper 200a side, and a sheet pressing mechanism 43 for pressing the sheet material 200 onto the base to prevent the sheet material 200 from shifting or floating when the sheet material 200 is cut are provided.

The cutting blade lifting mechanism 41 is then driven and controlled in the direction of arrow C by the cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 303, and the cutting blade 42 is lowered onto the sheet material 200 to perform a half-cut.

As shown in Figures 5 and 6, half-cut cutting refers to cutting the soft body layer 200c and the adhesive layer 200b completely in the thickness direction of the sheet material 200, and cutting a part of the backing 200a. This refers to a cutting state in which the sheet layer consisting of the completely cut soft body layer and adhesive layer can be peeled off from the backing 200a from the cutting line 200e according to the cut shape.

The base 44 is disposed on the chassis 1 opposite the cutting blade lifting mechanism 41, supports the sheet material 200 from the backing paper 200a side, and has fixed bases 44a and 44b disposed at a predetermined distance in front of and behind the cutting blade 42 in the sheet running direction. In the space between the fixed bases 44a and 44b, a movable base 44c is disposed, which is movable in the directions indicated by the arrows B1 and B2 perpendicular to the sheet running path 100, i.e., perpendicular to the paper surface.

The movable base 44c is driven and controlled by the movable base drive unit 302. On its upper surface, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a pressing unit 44d is formed that performs a pressing operation in the thickness direction from the underside of the sheet material 200 in order to bring the sheet material 200 from the backing paper 200a side into contact with the descending cutting blade 42. As a result, the cutting blade 42 and the pressing unit 44d can be brought into contact with each other.

Figure 2 shows the movable base 44c in a position before movement, with the pressing portion 44d spaced to the side from the sheet material 200 and the cutting blade 42.

Figure 3 shows the state in which the moving base 44c moves in the direction of the arrow B2, and the pressing part 44d passes through to the opposite side of the sheet material 200 while pressing the sheet material 200 and the lower part of the cutting blade 42 upward, i.e., in the thickness direction of the sheet material 200.

As the movable base 44c moves in the direction of arrow B2 from the position in FIG. 2 to the position in FIG. 3, the pressing portion 44d presses the sheet material 200 upward from the backing paper 200a side toward the cutting blade 42, while moving across the sheet material 200 from the right edge to the left edge along the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42.

This makes it possible to cut the sheet material 200 to a thickness that corresponds to the distance between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 and the tip of the pressing portion 44d. This state is shown in Figure 4.

At this time, the tip of the pressing part 44d presses the backing 200a side of the sheet material 200, and the backing 200a side (backing side) is not cut. Therefore, the sheet material 200 is continuously cut from the soft body layer 200c side (soft body side) to a depth determined by the distance between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 and the tip of the pressing part 44d.

In other words, the soft body layer and the adhesive layer (glue layer) are completely cut, and the half-cut cutting, which cuts the backing sheet 200a to a depth of a specified dimension (any dimension), can be accurately controlled, making it possible to half-cut the sheet material 200.

In addition, because cutting is performed only in a small area where the cutting blade 42 and the pressing portion 44d are closely opposed to each other, the load associated with cutting is small and cutting can be performed with a light force, making it possible to simplify the device configuration, reduce its size, and reduce costs.

This pressing portion 44d can be realized by a protrusion or ridge with an arc-shaped tip in cross section, but it can also be configured to rotatably support a sphere or cylindrical roller, reducing the load during movement. More details will be provided later.

The sheet pressing mechanism 43 presses the front and rear of the cutting position of the sheet material 200 by the cutting blade 42 against the fixed bases 44a and 44b, respectively, to prevent the sheet material 200 from shifting or floating up when the sheet material 200 is cut. Sheet pressing parts 43a and 43b are formed at positions facing the fixed bases 44a and 44b, respectively, and are controlled to move up and down in the direction of arrow D by the sheet pressing mechanism drive part 304.

Here, the half-cut cutting operation of the present invention will be described in more detail. First, before the actual cutting is performed, the cutting blade 42 is lowered to a position where the cutting edge does not cut the sheet material 200 but does not cause any misalignment with the sheet material 200, and the cutting edge is caused to bite into the soft material.

This determines the positional relationship between the sheet material 200 and the blade, and thereafter the sheet material 200 does not move laterally relative to the blade, ensuring the accuracy of the cutting position. Furthermore, when the cutting blade 42 is inserted into the soft body, there is no need to use energy for cutting, so the rigidity of the device is not increased more than necessary. Furthermore, since a large amount of energy is not required when cutting, it is possible to drive the cutting blade 42 at a speed within a range that allows for accurate positioning.

During the actual cutting operation, the sheet material 200 is compressed in the thickness direction from the backing paper side toward the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 with the tip of the pressing portion 44d, while the pressing position is continuously moved along the cutting edge, so that the sheet material 200 can be cut into a half-cut shape as desired.

At this time, the backing paper 200a is not cut from the pressing part side, so the cutting depth can be accurately controlled by the distance between the tip of the cutting blade 42 and the pressing part 44d, allowing half-cut cutting to be performed with high precision.

At a certain moment during half-cutting, the cutting area is a small area where the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 and the tip of the pressing part 44d are closely opposed to each other, and the cutting area is moved. Therefore, the entire area is cut, and the load associated with cutting can be significantly reduced compared to a method of cutting a large area at once. In fact, in the example of Figures 2 and 3, the intersection of the ridge line of the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 and the ridge line of the tip of the pressing part 44d becomes the cutting area (area S), which is a small area with an approximately point shape or linear shape. As a result, the cutting area including the cutting point where the pressure contact force between the sheet material 200 and the cutting blade 42 is maximum is made small, and the cutting area is moved in the direction of arrow B2 to perform half-cut cutting on the entire area in the sheet width direction (arrow B2 direction).

Therefore, by reducing the energy generated during half-cut cutting, it is possible to reduce the occurrence of bending of the sheet material 200 and warping of the blade, and improve the accuracy of half-cut cutting. In addition, since the energy generated during half-cut cutting can be reduced, it is also effective in making the device more compact and energy-efficient.

Depending on the configuration of the sheet material, it may be preferable to cut a portion of the sheet material in the thickness direction with the cutting blade inserted into the soft body. For example, if the sheet material has a thin, hard resin layer on its surface, even if the cutting blade is lowered until the sheet material is deformed to about half its thickness, the blade may slip on the surface layer of the hard, thin resin layer and be unable to be positioned, resulting in reduced cutting position accuracy. In such cases, it is better to cut through the surface resin layer when the cutting blade is lowered, allowing the blade to bite into the soft body layer underneath, thereby improving position accuracy.

The pressing portion 44d of the present invention has a tip that protrudes above the surface of the receiving base that supports the sheet material 200 from the back side when the cutting blade 42 is inserted into the sheet material 200. However, it is preferable that the cross-sectional shape is such that the distance from the receiving base surface gradually increases from the receiving base surface to the tip. For example, the top portion may be formed as an arc, and the arc and the receiving base may be continuously connected in a tapered shape, or the cross-sectional shape of the protruding portion may be formed as part of an arc.

It is also preferable that the pressing portion 44d does not displace in the thickness direction of the sheet material 200 when cutting the sheet material. By bringing the blade edge and the compression means close to each other, the sheet material 200 that is between them is cut, so it is not preferable for the compression means to displace in the thickness direction of the sheet material relative to the blade edge, as this has the greatest effect on the cutting state. Therefore, it is preferable that the compression means is made of a rigid body that does not deform. Examples include metal materials such as steel, hard resin materials, etc., and these members can be given a hard surface treatment in consideration of the durability of the surface, but this is not limited to this.

The full-cut cutting section 5 cuts the sheet material 200 completely, including the backing paper 200a, and is provided with a cutting blade lifting mechanism 51 that raises and lowers the cutting blade 52 in the direction of arrow E to the cutting position, and is disposed on the chassis 1 facing the cutting blade 52. It also has a base 54 that holds the sheet material 200 from the backing paper 200a side. It also has a sheet pressing mechanism 53 that presses the sheet material 200 onto the base to prevent the sheet material 200 from shifting or floating when cutting.

The cutting blade lifting mechanism 51 is driven and controlled by the cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 305, and the cutting blade 52 is lowered to a position where it can completely cut the sheet material 200, including the backing paper 200a.

The base 54 that supports the sheet material 200 at the cutting position has a polyacetal support 54b on the surface of a steel fixed base 54a. This absorbs the overstroke of the cutting edge when the cutting blade 52 descends to cut the sheet material 200, preventing damage to the cutting blade 52.

The sheet pressing mechanism 53 presses the front and rear of the cutting position on the sheet material against the fixed base 54 to position it. Sheet pressing parts 53a and 53b are formed in front and behind the cutting position, respectively, and are controlled to move up and down in the direction of arrow F by the sheet pressing mechanism drive part 305.

Downstream of the full-cut cutting section 5, a gripping mechanism 7 is arranged to grip the cut sheet material 200 via a guide roller 6 that supports the sheet material 200 on the sheet running path.

The gripping mechanism 7 is, for example, an articulated robot, and is driven and controlled by the sheet gripping mechanism drive unit 307. It is configured to grip the cut sheet material 200 in the direction of arrow G and transport it to a sheet material discharge unit (not shown) or to the next process.

The positions of the half-cut cutting section 4 and the full-cut cutting section 5 are relatively variable, and can be adjusted depending on the length of the sheet material 200 after cutting and the half-cut cutting position. In other words, if the length of one cut of the sheet material 200 is TU and the half-cut position is HC, the distance between the cutting blade 42 of the half-cut cutting section 4 and the cutting blade 52 of the full-cut cutting section 5 is adjusted to TC (= TU - HC).

The gripping unit 7 is set to a position where it can grip the leading end of the sheet material 200 when the full-cut cutting unit 5 is fully cutting the sheet material 200. This allows the leading end of the sheet material 200 to be securely gripped before or after full cutting and before the sheet pressing mechanism 53 is released.

The sheet supply unit 2 is driven and controlled by a sheet supply drive unit 301, and the half-cut cutting unit 4 is driven and controlled by a movable base drive unit 302, a cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 303, and a sheet pressing mechanism drive unit 304. The full-cut cutting unit 5 is driven and controlled by a cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 305 and a sheet pressing mechanism drive unit 306. The gripping unit 7 is driven and controlled by a sheet gripping mechanism drive unit 307. The control unit 300 controls everything to realize a series of processes in which the sheet is supplied from a roll, a half-cut cutting section is formed at a predetermined position on the sheet, and the sheet is fully cut to the length of one cut and discharged.

Next, the control sequence executed by the system control unit 300 will be explained using the flowchart in FIG.

In the initial state, no sheet material 200 is being supplied from the sheet material supply unit 2, and the half-cut cutting unit 4 and full-cut cutting unit 5 have their cutting blades 42, 52 and sheet pressing mechanisms 43, 53 spaced apart above the sheet running path 100 (S1).

The moving base 44c of the half-cut cutting unit 4 is in the initial position shown in FIG. 2, and the pressing unit 44d is in a position removed to the outside of the sheet running path. The gripping unit 7 is also controlled to a gripping or suction-released state.

When the cutting process of the sheet material 200 is started in this state, the sheet supply drive unit 301 is controlled to drive and control the sheet material supply unit 2 and the guide/drive roller 3 to rotate. Then, the roll 200R is rotated to supply one cut of the sheet material 200 onto the sheet running path 100 (S2).

The amount (position) of the sheet material being fed is detected by a sensor (not shown) arranged on the sheet running path 100, and the sheet material is stopped when the leading edge of the sheet material 200 reaches the cutting position by the full cut cutting unit 5 (S3).

At this time, the positions of the cutting blade 42 of the half-cut cutting unit 4 and the cutting blade 52 of the full-cut cutting unit 5 are set so that the half-cut cutting position of the sheet material 200 coincides with the cutting position by the half-cut cutting unit 4. This positional relationship can be adjusted according to the dimensions of the sheet material 200 to be cut.

Next, the sheet pressing mechanism drive units 304 and 305 are controlled to lower the sheet pressing mechanisms 43 and 53 of the half-cut cutting unit 4 and full-cut cutting unit 5 onto the sheet, respectively, and press the sheet material 200 onto the bases 44 and 54, respectively, to position it (S4).

At this time, when the sheet material 200 is first supplied onto the sheet travel path 100, the sheet material 200 is not present at the gripping position of the gripping unit 7 and cannot be gripped. From the second cut onwards, the leading edge of the sheet material of the first cut has already reached the gripping position, so the sheet gripping mechanism drive unit 307 is controlled so that the gripping operation can be performed before the first cut is cut by the full cut cutting unit 5 (S5).

If the operation is controlled in a sequence linked with other functions, performing a gripping operation here will not cause a problem because there will be no sheet material 200 and it will be a miss.

Then, the cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 303 of the half-cut cutting unit 4 is controlled to lower the cutting blade 42 to a predetermined position where it bites into the soft layer 200c on the surface of the sheet material without cutting it. The cutting blade 42 can be positioned with high precision by the cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 303. This enhances prevention of misalignment of the soft layer (S6).

In this state, the movable base drive unit 302 is controlled to move the movable base 44c from the state shown in FIG. 2 in the direction of arrow B2, thereby starting the half-cut cutting. As shown in FIG. 4, the pressing unit 44d presses the sheet material 200 from the backing paper 200a side toward the cutting blade 42, and the pressing position moves with the movement of the movable base 44c.

As a result, the soft layer (moltoprene) 200c and adhesive layer (double-sided adhesive layer) 200b are completely cut in the area where the tip of the pressing part 44d and the cutting edge of the cutting blade 42 are close to each other, and only a part of the surface layer of the backing paper 200a is cut, performing a half-cut cut. Note that in this embodiment, the pressing part 44d is moved in the direction of arrow B2 to move it relative to the sheet material 200, but the sheet material 200 may be moved in the B2 direction with a small half-cut by the pressing part 44d, or the cutting blade 42 may be moved in the B2 direction.

As mentioned above, in this embodiment, the distance between the tip of the cutting blade 42a and the tip of the pressing portion 44d when they approach each other is set to 50 μm.

Figure 3 shows the state where the moving base 44c and the pressing part 44d have crossed the sheet material 200 and have stopped moving, completing the half-cut cutting.

Then, the cutting blade lifting mechanism drive unit 305 of the full cut cutting unit 5 is controlled to lower the cutting blade 52 onto the sheet material 200, completely cutting through the backing paper 200a of the sheet material 200. The overstroke of the cutting edge of the cutting blade 52 is absorbed by the receiving portion 54b of the base 54 (S7).

In the above explanation, the half cut is performed first, followed by the full cut, but as long as the sheet is pressed and positioned on the base by the sheet pressing mechanism, the cutting order can be simultaneous or reversed.

Then, the half-cut and full-cut cutting blades 42, 52 are raised and separated from the sheet material 200, and the moving base 44c and the pressing part 44d of the half-cut cutting part 4 are returned to the initial positions shown in FIG. 2 (S8). The sheet pressing mechanisms 43, 53 are also raised and separated from the sheet material 200 (S9).

The above steps complete cutting one cut of the sheet material 200, and the cut sheet material 200 is transported by the gripping unit 7 to a discharge unit (not shown) or to the next process (S10). The finished sheet material 200 can be easily peeled off from the backing paper 200a at the half-cut position 200e shown by the dotted line in Figure 5, as shown in Figure 6.

If the sheet material cutting operation is to be continued, return to S2 and repeat the above steps, and if the sheet material cutting operation is to be ended, end the steps shown in the flowchart.

(Embodiment 2)
In the above-described first embodiment, an example has been described in which the sheet material is cut into predetermined length units by a cutting blade having a linear cutting edge, but the cutting method is not limited to this.

Figures 9 and 10 show other examples of cutting blades, with Figure 9 being a perspective view showing the main parts of the cutting blade, and Figure 10 being a plan view seen from above.

In each figure, the cutting blade 45 is configured to have a total shape that is the same as the desired shape to cut the sheet material 200, and the pressing part is configured as a roller 47 rotatably supported by a rotating shaft 48 on a moving base 46. All other points not specifically mentioned are the same as those in the above-mentioned embodiment 1.

The cutting blade 45 in this embodiment is a continuous cutting blade with the cutting edge having the same outer shape of a closed L-shape in order to cut out the sheet material 200 with an L-shaped outer shape.

For example, if the sheet material 200 to be cut is a sealing member that is attached to part of a container that traps resin particles and prevents the resin particles from escaping, high precision is required for its external dimensions, and naturally, high dimensional precision is also required for the cutting blade 45.

In this example, one side of the L-shape is approximately 5 mm to 15 mm, but the tolerance is made to 0.05 mm. If the sheet material 200 can be cut accurately using this cutting blade 45 without shifting, it will be possible to obtain a sheet material 200 with accurate external dimensions.

The pressing part in this embodiment is composed of a roller 47 rotatably supported on a movable base 46, and the movable base 45 moves on a guide rail 49 in the direction of arrow H by a mechanism (not shown). The roller 47 is supported on the movable base 46 by a rotating shaft 48 via a bearing, so it can rotate smoothly even with a weak force.

The sheet material 200 is supplied from the left side of FIG. 9 in the direction indicated by the arrow I. FIG. 10 is a view from above.

The process of half-cutting the sheet material 200 can be briefly explained as follows. First, the cutting blade 45 is lowered onto the sheet material 200 placed on the movable base 46, and the cutting edge is caused to bite into the sheet material 200. This prevents misalignment between the sheet material 200 and the cutting blade 45.

When the tip of the cutting blade 45 is biting into the sheet material 200, the movable base 46 is moved in the direction of the arrow H, and the top of the roller 47, which is the pressing part, becomes linear. The sheet material 200 is then pressed from the backing paper side toward the cutting blade 45, approaching the tip, and the sheet material 200 sandwiched between them is cut.

Then, as the movable base 46 moves, the proximity position is moved, so that the moltoprene layer and adhesive layer on the cutting edge side are completely cut, and only the surface layer of the backing paper 200a is cut, thus performing the desired half cut.

In other words, when cutting, the cutting blade 45 and the sheet material 200 are not subjected to unnecessary misalignment or load or deformation that would reduce the cutting accuracy, and the shape and dimensions of the cutting blade 45 can be transferred with high accuracy, making it possible to achieve high-precision cutting dimensions for the sheet material 200.

At this time, the roller 47 is supported so that it can rotate, and so it moves together with the moving base 46. As the roller rotates, the top of the roller is successively replaced by a new contact surface, and comes into contact with the back side of the sheet material 200 without rubbing, so that the moving base 46 can be moved with less force without using extra energy due to friction.

The shape of the cutting area between the cutting blade 45 and the roller 47 is also linear or dot-shaped, and since it is a very small area, the cutting load can be kept small. The cutting areas of the blade edges 45a and 45c are linear, while the cutting areas of the blade edges on the other sides are linear. Thus, the cutting blade 45 has a continuous blade edge shape that corresponds to the shape of the sheet material 200 after it has been half-cut.

In this embodiment, the distance between the top of the roller and the cutting edge of the cutting blade 45 when making a half cut is set to 50 μm, the same as in the best mode for carrying out the invention described above.

(Embodiment 3)
In this embodiment, the direction in which the cutting edge of the cutting blade extends continuously and the direction in which the top of the pressing part extends continuously (the extension direction of the pressing part or the direction of the movement trajectory of the pressing part) are made to intersect at a predetermined angle. In order to make them intersect, the cutting blade 45 of the embodiment in Figs. 9 and 10 is inclined as shown in Fig. 11. Other points not specifically mentioned are the same as those in the second embodiment.

With this configuration, there is no moment when an entire side of the cutting blade 45 is half-cut at the same time. In the case of the embodiment in Figures 9 and 10, 45a, 45b, and 45c, which are one side of the cutting blade 45, are half-cut at the same time. In this case, more energy may be required for cutting compared to the moment when other areas are half-cut, and the force required to move the movable base may also require more energy for movement at the moment when an entire side is half-cut at the same time.

In contrast, in this embodiment, 45a, 45b, and 45c do not half-cut the entire side at the same time, so there is no possibility of requiring a large amount of energy instantaneously. In other words, since there is no large fluctuation in the energy required to operate the device, it is expected that a more stable half-cut state will be achieved, and the quality of the finished half-cut sheet material can also be expected to be more stable.

Other Embodiments
The processing procedures of the various embodiments described above are specifically executed by the system control unit 300. Therefore, the above-mentioned functions can be achieved by supplying a recording medium on which a software program capable of executing the functions is recorded to the system control unit 300, and the CPU of the system control unit 300 reads and executes the program stored in the recording medium. In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of each of the above-mentioned embodiments, and the program itself and the recording medium on which the program is recorded constitute the present invention. For example, a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-mentioned embodiments can be supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device can read and execute the program. It can also be realized by a circuit (e.g., ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

In addition, in each embodiment, the computer-readable recording medium is ROM or RAM, and the control program is stored in the ROM or RAM. However, the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. The control program for implementing the present invention may be recorded in any recording medium as long as it is a computer-readable recording medium. For example, a HDD, an external storage device, a recording disk, etc. may be used as a recording medium for supplying the control program.

In addition, in the various embodiments described above, a robot device is used as the gripping unit 7, but the robot device can be implemented in various types, such as a vertical multi-axis configuration or a parallel link type.

It can also be applied to machines that can automatically perform movements such as extension, contraction, bending, vertical movement, horizontal movement, or rotation, or a combination of these movements, based on information from a memory device installed in the control device.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and many variations are possible within the technical concept of the present invention. Furthermore, the effects described in the embodiments of the present invention are merely a list of the most favorable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention.

2 sheet supply section 4 half-cut cutting section 5 full-cut cutting section 7 sheet gripping section 42, 45, 52 cutting blade 44a, 44b, 54 fixed base 44c, 45 moving base 44d pressing section 47 roller 200 sheet material

Claims (20)

A method for cutting a sheet material in which a soft body is placed on a mount via an adhesive material, comprising the steps of:
Bringing a cutting blade into contact with the soft body;
in a state in which the cutting blade has cut into the soft body to a predetermined depth, a pressing portion is used to press the sheet material toward the cutting blade from the side opposite the cutting blade, and the pressing portion is moved relative to the sheet material in a direction intersecting a thickness direction of the sheet material, thereby cutting the soft body, the adhesive material, and the backing paper to the predetermined depth with the cutting blade;
A cutting method comprising the steps of: When cutting the sheet material, the sheet material is sandwiched between the pressing portion and the cutting blade.
2. The cutting method according to claim 1 . In the pressing portion, a portion that presses the sheet material against the cutting blade has a substantially dot-like or linear shape.
3. The cutting method according to claim 1 or 2. The pressing unit is moved to move a cutting position of the sheet material.
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. a pressing portion of the soft body is brought into contact with the cutting blade, and the cutting position is moved by changing a position of the part by moving the pressing portion;
5. The cutting method according to claim 4. The part includes a cutting point where the pressure contact force between the pressing portion and the cutting blade is maximum.
6. The cutting method according to claim 5. The cutting point is moved by changing the position of the part by moving the pressing portion.
7. The cutting method according to claim 6. The shape of the pressing portion is configured so that the cutting point is substantially dot-shaped or linear-shaped.
8. The cutting method according to claim 6 or 7. By changing the distance between the cutting blade and the pressing portion, the sheet material can be half-cut at a predetermined depth in the thickness direction.
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 8. The pressing portion is a roller that is rotatably supported, and the roller rotates when cutting the sheet material.
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 9 . The cutting blade has a continuous blade tip shape corresponding to the shape of the sheet material after half-cutting.
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 10 . a direction in which the cutting edge of the cutting blade extends continuously and a direction in which the pressing portion extends or a direction in which the pressing portion moves in pressing the sheet material intersect at a predetermined angle;
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 11 . The soft body and the adhesive material are completely cut by the cutting blade, and the mount is partially cut by the cutting blade.
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 12 . a first cutting blade performs a full cut to separate the sheet material by cutting, and a second cutting blade performs a half cut to cut the soft body, the adhesive material , and the backing sheet to a predetermined depth;
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 13 . gripping the soft body, the adhesive material, and the sheet material cut to a predetermined depth of the mount by a robot;
The cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 . A cutting device for a sheet material in which a soft body is placed on a mount via an adhesive material, comprising:
A cutting blade for cutting the sheet material;
A pressing portion that presses the sheet material;
A moving means for moving the pressing portion,
in a state in which the cutting blade has cut into the soft body to a predetermined depth, the pressing unit presses the sheet material toward the cutting blade from the side opposite the cutting blade, and the moving unit moves the pressing unit relative to the sheet material in a direction intersecting a thickness direction of the sheet material, thereby cutting the soft body, the adhesive material, and the backing paper to the predetermined depth with the cutting blade;
A cutting device characterized in that A robot system comprising the cutting device according to claim 16 and a robot. A method for manufacturing an article, comprising the steps of: manufacturing the article using the robot system according to claim 17 . A program capable of executing the cutting method according to any one of claims 1 to 15 by a computer. A computer-readable recording medium storing the program according to claim 19 .

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