JPS648650B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for batch-continuous vacuum processing of flexible objects, such as plastic molded articles, and in particular, a device for vacuum-treating flexible objects, such as plastic molded articles.
This invention relates to an apparatus for vacuum-processing wound materials such as films and electric wires in batches and continuously.

Up until now, a few proposals have been made for continuous batch processing of plastic molded products that require a vacuum treatment chamber, such as plasma, ion plating, sputtering, vacuum evaporation, and vacuum ultraviolet treatment. In the case of processing a material in the form of a roll, the vacuum processing tank is designed to have a built-in unwinding device and a winding device; This has the disadvantage that it is necessary to open up the entire structure (return it to atmospheric pressure), and therefore the time required to reach the necessary vacuum level for reprocessing becomes longer, resulting in a significant loss of time. Another disadvantage is that the interior of the device becomes contaminated with moisture, dust, etc. due to opening, and countermeasures are required to prevent this. In addition, in this type of equipment, objects to be processed containing volatile substances or sheets,
When a wound body such as a film is charged into a vacuum processing tank, volatile substances or gases such as air trapped in the wound body gradually escape in the vacuum processing tank, resulting in a decrease in the vacuum level of the vacuum processing tank. There is a problem that the vacuum level required for processing cannot be reached, which not only necessitates the use of a large-capacity vacuum pump, but also increases the time required to process one batch, which is a major economic disadvantage. It was hot. Furthermore, volatile substances or vaporized air in the processed material have a negative effect on the processing effect. For example, in the case of plasma processing, if the volatile substances or air are mixed into the target gas, the effectiveness of the plasma processing will be reduced. Not only does it decrease, but in that case, there is a drawback that the effect becomes unstable due to variations in discharge.

The present invention relates to a batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus that solves these problems. A preliminary vacuum chamber is provided, and a vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device is connected to the front preliminary vacuum chamber, and a vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device is connected to the rear preliminary vacuum chamber. The present invention relates to a batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus which is a mechanism for continuously vacuum-processing the substance in the extrusion apparatus while the apparatus is vacuum-blocked by the sealing mechanism described above.

To explain this, the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention includes a vacuum processing tank for processing a workpiece under vacuum using plasma, ion plating, sputtering, vapor deposition, ultraviolet irradiation, etc., and a pair of upper and lower chambers provided before and after the vacuum processing tank. The continuous vacuum processing equipment consists of a front preliminary vacuum chamber and a rear preliminary vacuum chamber formed by a sealing mechanism consisting of a roll and a housing, and in order to make this a batch continuous type, it can also maintain a vacuum. Since the vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device and the vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device are provided before and after the front preliminary vacuum chamber and the rear preliminary vacuum chamber, respectively, according to this, the sheet, film, etc. mounted on the unwinding device, A continuous material to be treated, such as an electric wire, can be surface-treated continuously while the entire system from the unwinding device to the winding device is maintained in a vacuum. The vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device and the vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device are equipped with airtight doors that can be opened and closed to take in and out the rolled material to be processed. When the rolled material stored in the chamber has finished its vacuum treatment and is rolled up into the vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device, the vacuum in both chambers is released and the processed rolled material is taken out. By storing the unprocessed roll-shaped workpiece in the chamber and then evacuating both chambers, the next vacuum treatment can be carried out immediately. Accordingly, batch-continuous processing can be carried out efficiently. In addition, both the vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device and the vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device are isolated from the vacuum processing tank by the above-mentioned sealing mechanism. Or, even if the object to be treated is a roll-shaped object and air is entrained therein, the disadvantages caused by this can be prevented.

The apparatus of the present invention is configured as described above, and dust and dirt adhering to the object to be processed are vacuum removed in the vacuum chamber built in the extrusion device. It is said to be useful for plasma treatment of medical sheet materials such as materials. In addition, this device can have multiple vacuum processing tanks, and if the vacuum processing tanks are separated by a seal mechanism, different types of surface treatments can be performed continuously in each vacuum processing tank. can.

Next, an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a vacuum processing apparatus having two vacuum processing vessels 101 and 102 for continuously surface-treating a flexible workpiece F such as a plastic molded product in a vacuum state. This vacuum processing tank 10
1,102 is a processing device necessary for the target processing;
For example, an anode, a cathode, a gas inlet, etc. for plasma processing are built-in. This vacuum processing tank has a front preliminary vacuum chamber 2 formed by arranging a plurality of upper and lower pairs of seal rolls in the conveyance direction of the workpiece on the front side thereof, and a front preliminary vacuum chamber 2 on the rear side thereof. A rear preliminary vacuum chamber 3 is provided, which is formed by arranging a plurality of upper and lower pairs of seal rolls in the transport direction of the processed material, and these vacuum processing tanks, front preliminary vacuum chambers, and rear preliminary vacuum chambers are They are evacuated through exhaust pipes 5 and 6 to maintain a predetermined degree of vacuum by vacuum pumps (not shown), respectively. The front preliminary vacuum chamber has a vacuum chamber 103 with a built-in unwinding device connected to its front side, and the rear preliminary vacuum chamber has a vacuum chamber 104 with a built-in winding device connected to its rear side. is evacuated through an exhaust pipe 7 by a vacuum pump (not shown). For this reason, after loading the wound workpiece in the vacuum chamber 103 with built-in unwinding device,
The entire system is evacuated and the workpiece F is placed in the front preliminary vacuum chamber 2.
After being sent to the vacuum processing tanks 101 and 102 through the process, the workpiece F is processed there, passes through the rear preliminary vacuum chamber 3, enters the vacuum chamber 104 with a built-in winding device, and is wound up there. After this process is completed, the vacuum chamber 103 with built-in unwinding device and the vacuum chamber 10 with built-in winding device
4, the vacuum is released, and then the door is opened and the processed workpiece is taken out from the vacuum chamber 104 with a built-in winding device, and the unprocessed workpiece is placed in the vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device, and then the unprocessed workpiece is rolled up again. Both chambers are evacuated and the next process is carried out, but at this time, the vacuum processing tanks 101 and 102 are always kept in a vacuum regardless of whether the object to be processed is put in or taken out. Processing can be repeated in batches with short latency.

FIG. 2 shows this slight modification, and the figure shows two vacuum processing chambers 101 and 102 that are separated by a preliminary vacuum chamber 4 having two sealing mechanisms.
A batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus having the following is illustrated.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the main parts of the preliminary vacuum chambers 2, 3, and 4, which are made up of the pair of seal rolls described above, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by side pieces 11. , an upper roll 13 whose surface is integrally coated with an elastic material 12 such as rubber, and side pieces 11 on both ends thereof.
It consists of a lower roll 14 which is rotatably supported by a shaft and whose surface is coated with a chromium nickel layer, which is placed opposite an upper roll 13, and an upper case 15 and a lower case 16 that cover this. Also, a ripple member 17 made of an elastic material such as untan rubber is fixed to the upper case 15 and is in continuous contact with a part of the outer circumference of the upper case 15 along the axial direction, and the lower case 16 A ripple member 18 also made of untan rubber is attached, which is fixed to the lower case 16 and is in continuous contact with a part of the outer periphery of the lower case 16 along the axial direction.
Similarly to the ripple member 17, the member 8 is also made of an elastic material such as untan rubber.

In short, the present invention provides the following:
A preliminary vacuum chamber with a sealing mechanism is provided, a vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device is installed in front of the front preliminary vacuum chamber, and a vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device is installed behind the rear preliminary vacuum chamber. According to this method, it is possible to vacuum-process the workpiece in batches by continuously taking it in and taking it out without releasing the vacuum in the vacuum processing chamber.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 are front views showing an example of the batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are
The figures are partially enlarged views for explaining the roll and case of the preliminary vacuum chamber in the batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention, and the sealing means between the rolls. FIG. 101, 102...Vacuum processing tank, 103...Vacuum chamber with built-in winding device, 104...Vacuum chamber with built-in winding device, 2, 3, 4...Preliminary vacuum chamber, 11...Side piece, 13...Top Roll, 14...lower roll,
17, 18... Ritupil member, F... Object to be treated.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Consisting of one or more vacuum processing tanks, a front preliminary vacuum chamber and a rear preliminary vacuum chamber formed by a sealing mechanism consisting of a pair of upper and lower rolls and a housing provided before and after the chambers. Further, this front preliminary vacuum chamber is provided with a vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device connected thereto, and the rear preliminary vacuum chamber is equipped with a vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device connected therewith, so that the vacuum processing tank, the unrolling device, and A batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus that serves as a mechanism for continuously vacuum-processing the substance in the winding device while the winding device is vacuum-blocked by the sealing mechanism. 2. The vacuum chamber with a built-in unwinding device and the vacuum chamber with a built-in winding device have doors that can be opened and closed, and are structured so that objects to be processed can be attached or taken out while the vacuum processing tank is maintained in a vacuum state. A batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of vacuum processing tanks are isolated from each other by the sealer groove. 4. The sealing mechanism is composed of a pair of upper and lower seal rolls arranged in plurality in the conveying direction of the processed material, a ripple member that is continuously opposed to a part of the seal roll along the axial direction, and a housing. A batch continuous vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3.