JP2007204153A - Non-contact conveying device for web - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a non-contact conveying device capable of enhancing a floating amount of a turn bar without changing an opening ratio, solving a problem on a manufacturing of the turn bar, being inexpensively manufactured with high accuracy and reducing a risk of web contact. <P>SOLUTION: The non-contact conveying device of the present invention floats up the web by a fluid jetted from a delivery port formed on a conveying surface of the turn bar and conveys it. An opening ratio of the delivery port of the conveying surface 35 is set to 0.2% to 1.0% and the delivery port is formed into an approximately round hole having a diameter of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a web non-contact conveyance device, and more particularly to a web non-contact conveyance device used in a photosensitive printing plate production line.

  In a photosensitive printing plate (PS plate) production line, a web of aluminum or the like is conveyed by a roller. During conveyance, there is a problem that the web surface (photosensitive layer application surface) is damaged due to contact between the web and the roller, and quality failure is likely to occur. In order to prevent such quality failure, it is preferable to reduce the number of rollers installed in the process as much as possible, and the best countermeasure is contactless conveyance that conveys the web without contacting the surface of the web. As a non-contact conveyance method, a method using an air cushion has been proposed (see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  However, since the web transport requires a large tension exceeding 8000 N at the maximum, the web width is appropriately set between 400 mm and 1650 mm depending on the target product. There is. Therefore, by dividing the inside of the turn bar of the non-contact conveyance device (see Patent Document 3) or by arranging a support roller in the vicinity of the turn bar (see Patent Document 4), it can cope with various width dimensions of the web. There has been proposed a non-contact transfer device that can be used.

By the way, in a digital CTP product, a photosensitive coating solution may be applied to a web, and the web may have to be conveyed while the coated surface has high adhesion. In this case, if a rubber roller, a metal roller, or the like is brought into contact with the application surface of the web and conveyed, a problem of causing a surface failure due to adhesion to the application surface occurs. In this case, the web tension may be in the minimum range in the PS plate production line, and there is a demand to reduce the size of the non-contact conveyance device using the air cushion method. Therefore, a wire winding type punching screen type air cushion device that is the same size as a roller with a diameter of 300 mm is proposed as a turn bar that floats the web by combining a low aperture ratio of 1% or less and high pressure air outflow. (See Patent Document 5). Since the wire type is difficult to clean and there are problems such as difficulty in countermeasures at the time of cutting the wire, it is preferable to apply the punching screen type in the PS plate & CTP plate production line.
JP 2004-256264 A JP 2004-262570 A JP 2005-46771 A Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-145577 JP 2000-16649 A

  However, the punching screen type turn bar is mainly applied to a device that transports a resin film in a contactless manner with a low tension of several hundreds N or less as a transport symmetry. When an aluminum sheet is used as a web, for example, When an aluminum web having a web thickness of 0.1 to 0.5 mm and a width of 400 to 1650 mm is used, there is no application record under the condition that the tension to the web is 400 to 1500 N, and a stable floating state without contact. There was a problem that it was difficult to obtain.

  Further, there is a demand for the PS plate & CTP plate aluminum web that the minimum flying height should be as close as possible to 1 to 2 mm in order to suppress the steering in the line direction. However, the plane accuracy of the conveyance surface is poor, and if it is larger than ± 0.5 mm, there is a risk that the web comes into contact with the conveyance surface. In addition, even when the web width is changed to 2 to 4 times, in order not to change the flying pressure, high pressure and low air volume air is discharged with an aperture ratio of 0.55% or less. If the accuracy is not limited to ± 15% or less, a difference in the partial flying height occurs, and there is a risk that the web comes into contact with the conveyance surface.

  In addition, punching screen type turn bars have various problems in manufacturing. For example, when manufacturing a semicircular shape with φ600 × surface length of 2000 or more, if a curved surface is to be formed, the unevenness of the flat surface adversely affects the cylindricity of ± 2 mm or more, and correction is required everywhere. Also, in the case of a plate thinner than 1.5 mm, cracks are generated by bending during bending, bending with a turn bar of φ600 or more becomes more difficult, and precise measurement of the opening area becomes difficult. There arises a problem that a high aperture ratio cannot be guaranteed. In addition, the turn bar is very expensive, and there is a problem that the cost increases if it is guaranteed to improve accuracy.

  As described above, the conventional non-contact conveyance device has problems in terms of the web floating ability and the production accuracy of the turn bar, and it is necessary to increase the web floating ability and the turn bar production accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to increase the floating amount of the turn bar without changing the aperture ratio, and to solve the problem in manufacturing the turn bar, and to manufacture it with high accuracy and at low cost. Another object of the present invention is to provide a web non-contact conveyance device capable of reducing the risk of web contact.

  In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention according to claim 1 is a non-contact conveyance device that floats and conveys a web by a fluid ejected from a discharge port formed on a transfer surface of a turn bar. The opening ratio is set to 0.2% to 1.0%, and the discharge port is formed as a substantially round hole having a diameter of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm.

  According to the present invention, since the aperture ratio of the conveyance surface is as low as 0.2% or more and 1.0% or less, the web can be levitated and supported with uniform pressure over the entire conveyance surface.

  In addition, according to the present invention, since the discharge port is a substantially round hole having a diameter of 0.2 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less, the air jet from the discharge port directly hits the web, and the flying height of the web increases. Since the discharge ports are densely arranged, the synergistic effect between the dynamic pressure and the static pressure is increased, and the flying height can be increased.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the discharge port is manufactured by laser beam hole processing or water jet hole processing.

  According to the present invention, since the discharge port is formed by laser beam hole processing or water jet hole processing, a hole with high dimensional accuracy is formed. Accordingly, the web can be stably levitated and the web can be reliably prevented from coming into contact with the conveyance surface.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the turn bar divides the interior of the turn bar into a plurality of rooms with respect to the width direction of the transfer surface, and the internal pressure of the plurality of chambers from both ends. It is characterized by an increase toward the center.

  According to the present invention, the inside of the turn bar is divided into a plurality of parts in the width direction and the internal pressure on the center side is increased, so even webs with different width dimensions can always be contacted and conveyed in a stable floating state. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, a support roll is disposed at the floating inlet and the floating outlet of the web.

  According to the present invention, since the support roll is provided, the vibration of the web can be suppressed, and the contact of the web can be more reliably prevented.

  According to the present invention, the opening ratio of the discharge port is set to a very small value of 0.2% to 1.0%, and the diameter of the discharge port is set to a very small value of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm. The web can be floated and supported at a uniform pressure over the entire conveyance surface, and the discharge ports can be arranged densely to increase the flying height.

  DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a web non-contact conveyance device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a PS plate manufacturing facility in an embodiment of the present invention.

  The PS plate manufacturing facility 10 shown in the figure includes a surface treatment device 13, a water washing device 14, first and second coating devices 15 and 16, and first and second drying devices 17 and 18. The aluminum web 11 is sent from a web roll 19 as a supply source by a web delivery machine 20 and sent to a surface treatment device 13 by a plurality of conveying rollers 21. In the surface treatment apparatus 13, a surface treatment is performed to improve the coating property and adhesion of the photosensitive compound applied to the surface of the web 11. The web 11 subjected to the surface treatment is washed by a water washing device 14, and further a photosensitive coating solution is applied by a first coating device 15.

  The web 11 coated by the first coating device 15 is sent to the first drying device 17 and the coated surface is dried. At that time, the contactless conveyance device 22 of the present embodiment is used for conveying the web 11 from the first drying device 17 to the second coating device 16. The non-contact transport device 22 uses a plurality of turn bars 23 as transport means. The turn bar 23 floats the web 11 and conveys it without contact. Therefore, even after drying, the coating surface having high adhesion is subjected to a drying process without contacting the member or the like until reaching the second coating device 16.

  The web 11 coated with the coating liquid for the protective layer by the second coating device 16 and then dried by the second drying device 18 is transported by a plurality of transport rollers 24 and then is wound by a web winder 25. It is wound around the core 26.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the contactless conveyance device 22. The non-contact transfer device 22 includes five turn bars 23, two blowers 30 and 31 that supply air to the turn bar 23, motors 32 and 33 that drive the blowers 30 and 31, and the motors 32 and 33. It is comprised by the control part 34 which drives-controls.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the turn bar 23. The turn bar 23 has a front surface, a rear surface, and an upper surface, and a transport plate 35 having a U-shaped cross section, and two side plates 36 that form side surfaces of the turn bar 23 and cover both ends of the transport plate 35. , 37 and a bottom plate 38 that constitutes the lower surface of the turn bar 23 and covers the lower end of the conveying plate 35.

  The conveyance plate 35 includes a curved surface portion 35a that is curved in an arc shape and flat surface portions 35b that extend from both ends of the curved surface portion 35a in the conveyance direction. The conveying plate 35 is an ejection surface that ejects air to float and convey the web 11, and air jet ports 39 having the same size are formed on the entire surface of the curved surface portion 35a and the flat surface portion 35b at a predetermined pitch vertically and horizontally. It is formed in a staggered pattern. The pitch of the air injection ports 39 is preferably set according to the hole diameter of the air injection ports 39. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the horizontal pitch of the air injection holes 39 is a and the vertical pitch is b, when the hole diameter is φ0.5 mm, a = 11.12 mm and b = 6.42 mm. When the hole diameter is 1.0 mm, a = 22.24 mm and b = 12.84 mm. Note that the air injection ports 39 in FIG. 3 exaggerate the size and pitch of the air injection ports in order to avoid the complexity of the drawing.

  The air injection port 39 is a substantially circular through-hole, and the hole diameter is preferably φ0.2 mm or more and φ1.0 mm or less, and more preferably φ0.4 mm or more and φ0.6 mm or less. If the hole diameter is larger than this range, when the aperture ratio is set to the following range, the pitch of the air injection ports 39 is increased, an unstable pressure distribution is generated, and a stable levitation effect cannot be obtained. If the hole diameter is smaller than the above range, there is a problem that the number of processing of the air injection ports 39 increases and the cost increases.

The air injection port 39 is a laser beam processing machine (for example, a carbon dioxide laser processing machine SPL3230 manufactured by Shibuya Industry) or a water jet processing machine (for example, a water jet cutting processing machine SWS4425L, SWS4312 or SWS1110B manufactured by Shibuya Industry). It is preferable to form by. By forming the air injection port 39 by laser beam processing or water jet processing, high dimensional accuracy can be obtained. For example, when processing is performed on a calculated opening area of 0.785 mm ² of φ1.0 hole, in the case of a certain laser beam processing machine, an average value of 0.727 and a standard deviation of 0.8 are obtained by measurement of Keyence VH-6300. In the case of another laser beam processing machine, an average value of 0.799 and a standard deviation of 0.1142 can be processed, and in the case of a water jet processing machine, an average value of 0.704 and a standard deviation can be processed. It can be processed with 0.0532. Therefore, by performing laser beam processing or water jet processing on the air injection holes 39, the hole area accuracy of the air injection holes 39 can be reliably suppressed to 15% or less. In the laser beam processing, heat is generated during processing to cause slight deformation in the transport plate 35, but it can be easily corrected in the process of performing the curved surface processing of the curved surface portion 35a. Water jet processing is slightly more expensive than laser beam processing, but has the advantage of not generating heat during processing.

The opening ratio of the conveyance plate 35 is preferably 0.2% or more and 1.0% or less, more preferably 0.2% or more and 0.8% or less, and further preferably 0.55% or less. When the aperture ratio is large, there arises a problem that the flying height of the web 11 changes greatly or the flying state becomes unstable. For this reason, it is better that the aperture ratio is as small as possible. Also, as the aperture ratio decreases, it is better to reduce the hole diameter of the injection port and increase the number of air injection ports. Here, the aperture ratio (%) = (total area of the opening / area of the conveying surface) × 100. In addition, instead of the aperture ratio, the number may be defined by the number of air injection ports 39. In that case, it may be set to 0.9338 / 100 mm ² or more and 3.124 / 100 mm ² or less.

  Further, the inside of the turn bar 23 is divided into three rooms 41a, 41b, and 41c at equal intervals by two partition plates 40a and 40b, and the air flow between the rooms is blocked. Further, the bottom plate 38 is formed with air ducts 42a, 42b, 42c for supplying air to each of the three divided rooms 41a, 41b, 41c. When the air supplied from the air ducts 42a, 42b, and 42c is ejected from the air ejection port 39, the web 11 is floated and conveyed to the turn bar 23 without contact.

  The air ducts 42a, 42b, and 42c are connected to the blowers 30, 31, and 30 in FIG. 2, respectively, and the amount of air blown to the air ducts 42a, 42b, and 42c is controlled by the control device 34. That is, inverters 45a and 45b serving as frequency conversion means are provided in the control unit 34, and operation units 46a and 46b operated by an operator are connected to the control unit 34. Based on the operation of the operation units 46a and 46b, the control unit 34 controls the inverters 45a and 45b to change the frequency of the voltage supplied to the motors 32 and 33, thereby changing the rotation speed of the motors 32 and 33. Let Thereby, since the ventilation volume of the blowers 30 and 31 can be changed suitably, the internal pressure of each room 41a, 41b, 41c can be finely controlled. Moreover, a pressure sensor (not shown) may be provided in each of the rooms 41a, 41b, and 41c, and the control unit 34 may acquire the pressure values of the rooms 41a, 41b, and 41c. In this case, the control part 34 can acquire the measured value from a pressure sensor, and can control the internal pressure of each room 41a, 41b, 41c further finely.

  In addition, cooling units 47 a and 47 b are connected to the blowers 30 and 31. The cooling units 47a and 47b are blower air cooling coolers, and the air blown out from the blowers 30 and 31 is cooled by the cooling units 47a and 47b, and three air is passed through the air ducts 42a, 42b, and 42c. Cooled air is supplied to each of the rooms 41a, 41b, 41c. The cooling set temperature of the cooling units 47a and 47b is set so that the temperature of the web 11 in the next second coating apparatus 16 is lowered to an appropriate temperature.

  In the present embodiment, the width W1 of the air ejection surface is set to 1800 mm, and the width W2 of the turn bar 23 is set to 600 mm. However, these sizes are appropriately set depending on the size of the web 11 to be conveyed.

  Next, supply of air to the turn bar 23 will be described. The control unit 34 controls driving of the motors 32 and 33 to supply air from the blowers 30 and 31. Thereby, air sent from the blower 30 flows into the room 41b via the cooling unit 47b and the air duct 42b, and air sent from the blower 41 passes through the cooling unit 47a and the air ducts 42a and 42c. , Flows into the rooms 41a and 41c.

  At that time, the blowers 30 and 31 are controlled such that the inflow amount of air flowing from the blower 30 into the room 41b is larger than the inflow amount of air flowing from the blower 31 into the room 41a and the room 41c. For this reason, the internal pressure of the room 41b is higher than that of the rooms 41a and 41b. For example, when the internal pressure of the rooms 42a and 42c is set to about 15 kpa, the internal pressure of the room 42b is set to an internal pressure of 30 kpa or more. However, this internal pressure is appropriately set according to the type of web 11 to be conveyed. That is, when transporting narrow aluminum webs and leaders, the internal pressure of the room 42b is set as high as necessary to transport the narrow aluminum webs and leaders, and the internal pressures of the other rooms 42a and 42c are set. Is lowered to fit the product width. By setting the internal pressures of the chambers 41a, 41b, and 41c as described above, the web 11 can be stably conveyed even when the web 11 having different width dimensions is conveyed. The blower 31 may be stopped when a narrow aluminum web or a leader is transported.

  Next, the operation of the non-contact conveyance device 22 having the above configuration will be described in comparison with the conventional one.

  Conventionally, as a manufacturing method of the conveying plate 35, a punching plate is formed by pressing and is bent. When the punching plate shown in Patent Document 5 is formed by press working, the air injection port cannot be processed with high accuracy. For this reason, the conventional non-contact conveyance device has poor hole area accuracy of the conveyance plate, and there is a possibility that the web 11 may come into contact with the non-contact conveyance device due to a difference in the flying height of the web 11 partially.

  Further, when the conveyance plate 35 is formed by curving the punching plate, there is a problem that the accuracy of the cylindricity is deteriorated if it is curved to φ600 or more.

  Further, in the conventional non-contact conveyance device, in order to suppress vibration when the web 11 is lifted, a crack portion formed by pressing is used as an air injection port, and an air jet from the air injection port directly hits the web 11. There is no such thing. Therefore, the web 11 is lifted only by static pressure, and the amount of floating of the web is likely to be insufficient, and the web 11 may come into contact with the non-contact conveyance device.

  On the other hand, in the contactless conveyance device 10 of the present embodiment, since the air injection port 39 is formed by a through hole, the air jet from the air injection port 39 directly hits the web 11, and static pressure and dynamic A synergistic effect of pressure can be obtained, and the flying height of the web 11 can be increased.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the air injection port 39 is formed by laser beam processing or water jet processing, the hole diameter of the air injection port 39 can be obtained with high accuracy. Accordingly, the web 11 can be evenly floated on the entire surface of the transport plate 35, and a stable floating amount of the web 11 can be ensured.

  Further, when the air injection port 39 is formed by laser beam processing or water jet processing, a large diameter turn bar having a diameter of φ600 or more can be created with high accuracy. Furthermore, the air injection port 39 created by laser beam processing or water jet processing can suppress noise called whistling.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the hole diameter of the air injection port 39 is φ0.2 mm or more and 1.0 mm or less while the opening of the transport plate 35 is suppressed to a very small range of 0.2% or more and 1.0% or less. The air injection ports 39 are densely arranged. Therefore, the web 11 can be evenly levitated over the entire surface of the transport plate 35. In addition, by suppressing the opening of the conveying plate 35 to a very small range of 0.2% or more and 1.0% or less, it is possible to eject air with high pressure and low air volume, and change the width dimension of the web 11. In this case, the web 11 can be lifted reliably.

  In a turn bar 23 having a surface length of 500 mm, an air blowing width of 430 mm, and a curved surface of the conveyance surface of 300 mm, a 10 kgf tension was applied to the 0.24 × 400 web 11 and tested at 12 kPa. In the case of% φ0.5 hole, the flying height increased by about 1 mm with respect to the punching screen.

  Based on this, a turn bar surface length of 1800 mm, an air blowing width of 1780 mm, a curved surface of the conveying surface of φ600 mm, an aperture ratio of 0.55%, and a hole diameter of φ0.5 were manufactured by laser beam drilling. The manufacturing accuracy was realized with a hole diameter within ± 0.15, a curved surface cylindricity within ± 1.0 mm, and a roundness within ± 0.5.

  In the above-described embodiment, the inside of the turn bar 23 is divided into three parts, but it may be divided into two parts, four parts or more, or may be used without being divided. Further, the present invention may be applied to a non-contact conveying device for changing the direction of the web 11 (so-called SIAC (Shifting & Inverting Air Cushion)).

The schematic diagram which shows the structure of PS plate manufacturing equipment to which the non-contact conveyance apparatus which concerns on this invention is applied. Schematic diagram showing the configuration of the non-contact transfer device Perspective view showing the turn bar Schematic diagram showing the arrangement of air injection ports

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... PS plate manufacturing equipment, 11 ... Web, 15 ... Coating device, 17 ... Drying device, 23 ... Turn bar, 30, 31 ... Blower, 34 ... Control part, 35 ... Conveyance plate, 39 ... Air injection port

Claims (4)

In the non-contact conveying device that floats and conveys the web by the fluid ejected from the discharge port formed on the conveying surface of the turn bar,
The opening ratio of the discharge port on the transport surface is set to 0.2% to 1.0%, and the discharge port is formed as a substantially round hole having a diameter of 0.2 mm to 1.0 mm. Non-contact transfer device for web.   The non-contact transport apparatus for a web according to claim 1, wherein the discharge port is manufactured by laser beam hole processing or water jet hole processing.   The inside of the said turn bar is divided | segmented into the some room with respect to the width direction of the said conveyance surface, The internal pressure of these several rooms was enlarged from the both ends side to the center side, The Claim 1 or 2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Non-contact transfer device for web.   The non-contact conveyance apparatus of the web according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein support rolls are disposed at the floating inlet and the floating outlet of the web.

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