The present invention relates to a web winding up or unwinding device, a web winding up or unwinding chamber device, and a method of winding up or unwinding a web. Particularly, the present invention relates to a web winding up or unwinding device adapted for a web-form material coating machine, a web winding up or unwinding chamber device for a web-form material coating machine, and a method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-form material to be coated in a coating machine.
In installations for coating a web-form material, typically a web of a synthetic film, a first web drum is unwound, the wound-off web is coated, for instance by sputtering, and the coated web is wound up again on a second web drum. When the first web drum has been fed out completely, it must be replaced by a new and full web drum. In addition, the coated web, which is completely wound-up on the second web drum, must also be removed and be replaced by an empty web drum. The term web drum is also referred to herein as web roll.
In known arrangements and methods for coating a web-form material, the steps of winding up and unwinding the web-form material are conducted in winding up and unwinding chambers being separated from the coating sites. For replacing the web drums, a crane may be used to remove the web drums out of the winding up and unwinding chambers and to introduce new web drums into the chambers from above.
Sometimes the uncoated fresh web-form material has not been wound up properly such that the lateral edges of consecutive layers of the film on the web drum are not positioned exactly on top of each other, resulting in a lateral winding deviation. Such a winding deviation, however, may result in an undesirably laterally shifted coating of the web-form material during coating processing. In addition, after coating processing the coated web-form material may be wound up in a laterally shifted way, which may be undesirable for a subsequent application of the coated web-form material.
In light of the above, the web winding up or unwinding device according to independent claim 1, the web winding up or unwinding chamber device according to independent claim 4, and the method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-from material according to independent claim 11 are provided.
In one embodiment it is provided a web winding up or unwinding device adapted for a web-form material coating machine, comprising a web roll support comprising a web roll changing device adapted for changing a web roll essentially outside a web winding up or unwinding chamber, and a web edge guide device comprising a sensor device adapted for determining a shifting of a lateral edge of a web of the web-form material to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support during winding up or unwinding, a web roll support displacing device adapted for laterally displacing the web roll support, and a control device adapted for controlling the web roll support displacing device on the basis of data received from the sensor device.
According to another embodiment, a web winding up or unwinding chamber device for a web-form material coating machine is provided, the chamber device comprising a web winding up or unwinding device, the web winding up or unwinding device comprising a web roll support, the web roll support comprising a web roll changing device adapted for changing a web roll essentially outside the chamber device, and a web edge guide device, the web edge guide device comprising a sensor device adapted for determining a shifting of a lateral edge of a web of the web-form material to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support during winding up or unwinding, a web roll support displacing device adapted for laterally displacing the web roll support, and a control device adapted for controlling the web roll support displacing device on the basis of data received from the sensor device.
Furthermore, in another embodiment a method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-form material to be coated in a web-form material coating machine is provided, comprising winding up or unwinding a web on or from a web roll arranged on a web roll support in a web winding up or unwinding chamber, the web roll support comprising a web roll changing device for changing the web roll essentially outside the web winding up or unwinding chamber, and simultaneously monitoring by a sensor device the position of a lateral edge of the web to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll, and if a shifting of the lateral edge of the web is determined, guiding the lateral edge of the web by laterally displacing the web roll support in a direction opposite to the shifting of the lateral edge.
Further features and details are evident from the dependent claims, the description and the drawings.
Embodiments are also directed to apparatuses for carrying out the disclosed methods and including apparatus parts for performing described method steps. Furthermore, embodiments are also directed to methods by which the described apparatus operates or by which the described apparatus is manufactured. It may include method steps for carrying out functions of the apparatus or manufacturing parts of the apparatus. The method steps may be performed by way of hardware components, firmware, software, a computer programmed by appropriate software, by any combination thereof or in any other manner.
It is contemplated that elements of one embodiment may be advantageously utilized in other embodiments without further recitation.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of embodiments of the present invention can be understood in detail, a more particular description may be had by reference to embodiments. The accompanying drawings relate to embodiments of the invention and are described in the following. Some of the above mentioned embodiments will be described in more detail in the following description of typical embodiments with reference to the following drawings in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the various embodiments, one ore more examples of which are illustrated in the figures. Each example is provided by way of explanation, and is not meant as a limitation of the invention. Within the following description of the drawings, the same reference numbers refer to the same components. Generally, only the differences with respect to the individual embodiments are described. Throughout the description and in the claims, the web winding up or unwinding chamber device may also be referred to as chamber device, web winding up or unwinding chamber, and chamber.
Typical applications of embodiments of the invention are in systems for coating of flexible web-form materials in a roll-to-roll process. Such systems may be, for instance, thin film deposition systems or clean room compatible vacuum web coaters. Examples of the web-form material to be coated are webs of synthetic films or of papers. The coating processing may for example be accomplished by sputtering or evaporation at vacuum conditions, for instance at a base pressure in the range of 10−7 mbar. Coating can also be effected by Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapour Deposition at higher pressures than sputtering and evaporation. The coating material may typically be metallic, such as aluminum, polymeric or may include organic small molecules. The coating may also be polycrystalline or amorphous, such as polycrystalline or amorphous silicon. Therefore, embodiments of the invention are useful for example in vacuum web coaters for producing Flexible Printed Circuit Boards, flexible displays using Organic Light Emitting Devices, or flexible solar cells. Moreover, embodiments of the invention may be used in systems for producing metallized protective packaging materials, such as aluminum coated thin plastic films and papers. Embodiments of the invention can also be applied in other coating systems, for instance for depositing optical or magnetical layers or antireflective, conductive and/or dielectric coatings on flexible substrates, such as for the production of window films, printed circuit boards, touch panels, TV screens or other displays.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, the following is directed to a web winding up or unwinding device for a web-form material coating machine, a web winding up or unwinding chamber for a web-form material coating machine and a method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-form material to be coated in a web-form material coating machine. Embodiments of the present invention can be applied to all kinds of systems for coating a flexible web-form material in a roll-to-roll process. Such systems are not limited to vacuum coating systems. As the person skilled in the art knows, the term “winding up” may be also referred to as “coiling” or “recoiling”, and the term “unwinding” may be also referred to as “uncoiling”. Likewise, the term “wind up” may be replaced by “coil” or “recoil”, whereas the term “unwind” may be replaced by “uncoil”. Furthermore, the “web roll” as mentioned herein may also be called “coil”.
The unwinding chamber 4 is attached to the coating chamber 2 for feeding a web to be coated. The unwinding chamber 4 includes an unwinding cylinder 19 as a web roll and two guide rollers 20, 21. As shown in
The winding up chamber 3, which is mounted at the coating chamber 2 at the side opposite to the unwinding chamber 4, has a structure which corresponds to the structure of the winding up chamber 3 in a mirror-inverted way. Hence, it includes a winding up cylinder 26 as a web roll, guide rollers 27 and 37 and is provided with a vacuum pump (not shown). A feeding-out opening of the winding up chamber 3 is closable with a door.
The unwinding chamber 4 includes a web roll changing device, i.e. an arrangement for changing a winding cylinder.
Reference is made to the example of the unwinding chamber 4 as shown in
Above example of the unwinding chamber 4 will now be described in more detail referring to
In the present example and as shown in
The unwinding cylinder 19 of the above example of unwinding chamber 4 is arrested in its position shown in
As shown in
If the unwinding cylinder 19 is to be replaced in the unwinding chamber 4, the door 25 is opened and the pivotable guide rail sections 49 and 48 on support sections 72 and 74, respectively, are folded outwardly until they are in line with the corresponding stationary guide rail sections 46 and 47. Then the unwinding cylinder 19 is released from the claws 53 and 54 by actuating arms 55 and 56. After that the unwinding cylinder 19 is horizontally slid onto the projecting guide rail sections 48, 49 and removed. A new unwinding cylinder 19 provided with a fresh uncoated web is arranged on the projecting guide rail sections 48 and 49. The new unwinding cylinder is horizontally slid into the unwinding chamber 4 and arrested in its operating position by claws 53, 54. Finally, the pivotable guide rail sections 48 and 49 are folded back and the door 25 is closed.
Since the structure of the winding up chamber 3 may be mirror-inverted with respect to the structure of the unwinding chamber 4, only the structure of the unwinding chamber 4 is described herein in detail. From this description, the skilled person will easily determine the structure of the winding up chamber 3. Furthermore, it is apparent for the skilled person that the winding up cylinder 26 is exchanged in an analogous way as described for the unwinding cylinder 19.
Based on
In some instances, the uncoated film 36 installed in the unwinding chamber 4, which includes the above web roll changing device for changing the web roll essentially outside the unwinding chamber, has been wound up on the unwinding cylinder 19 in a laterally shifted way, resulting in a lateral winding deviation. Therefore, during coating processing in the coating chamber 2, the coating may be undesirably applied on the film in a laterally shifted way. In addition, for some subsequent applications of the coated film, after coating a winding deviation has to be avoided during winding up of the coated film 36′ in the winding up chamber 3, which includes the above mentioned web roll changing device for changing the web roll essentially outside the winding up chamber. Therefore, the unwinding chamber 4 and/or the winding up chamber 3 include a web edge guide device comprising a sensor device adapted for determining a shifting of a lateral edge of a web of the web-form material to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support during winding up or unwinding, a web roll support displacing device adapted for laterally displacing the web roll support, and a control device adapted for controlling the web roll support displacing device on the basis of data received from the sensor device. In this context, the term lateral edge refers to an edge of the web extending in parallel to the winding direction and/or to the transport direction of the web. Moreover, laterally shifting or laterally displacing is meant to indicate a direction of shifting or displacing, which is perpendicular to the winding and transport direction of the web.
In
As shown in
In addition, according to the example of
The web edge guide device of the present example further includes a web roll support displacing device comprising a linear actuator 800 and a setting piston 820 which is operably connected to the linear actuator 800. The setting piston 820 is laterally attached to the web roll support 71 to 74 and extends in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll, i.e. in the present example in parallel to the central axis of the unwinding cylinder 19. The linear actuator 800 and the setting piston 820 are shown in
In the example shown in
A web winding up or unwinding device or a web winding up or unwinding chamber of examples or embodiments described herein may be operated according to the following method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-form material to be coated in a web-form material coating machine. This method comprises winding up or unwinding a web on or from a web roll arranged on a web roll support in a web winding up or unwinding chamber, the web roll support comprising a web roll changing device for changing the web roll essentially outside the web winding up or unwinding chamber, and simultaneously monitoring by a sensor device the position of a lateral edge of the web to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll, and if a shifting of the lateral edge of the web is determined, guiding the lateral edge of the web by laterally displacing the web roll support in a direction opposite to the shifting of the lateral edge.
One example of embodiments of above method will be illustrated in more detail, based on the exemplary operation of the coating machine 1 described above referring to
As a result of above process, the uncoated film 36 is fed into the coating chamber 2 in an alignment necessary to apply the coating in a correct position on the film 36, avoiding an undesired lateral shifting of the coating layer. Then the film 36 is coated. The coated film 36′ leaves the coating chamber 2 via guide roller 16 to be transferred into the winding-up chamber 3 via the guide rollers 37 and 27 to be finally wound up at the winding up cylinder 26.
In order to avoid a laterally shifted winding up of the coated film 36′ on the winding up cylinder 26, an additional web edge guide device as described above may be installed in the winding up chamber 3. As is apparent for the skilled person, the arrangement of the web edge guide device in the winding up chamber 3 may be mirror-inverted as compared to the web edge guide device installed in the unwinding chamber 4, as indicated in
After the coated film 36′ is fully transferred to the winding up cylinder 26, the latter is removed from the winding up chamber 3 by opening its door, unfolding the corresponding pivotable guide rail sections and transporting the winding up cylinder 26 to the position 26′ indicated in
Above described embodiment of a method utilizes a web winding up device as well as a web unwinding device each including a web edge guide device according to embodiments disclosed herein. Hence, in case that the uncoated fresh web-form material has not been wound up properly, this winding deviation is compensated by the web edge guide device of the unwinding chamber. Therefore, during coating processing an undesirably laterally shifted coating of the web-form material is avoided. In addition, after coating processing the coated web-form material may be wound up such that the lateral edges of consecutive layers of the film on the web drum are positioned exactly on top of each other. Thereby, a winding deviation of the wound up coated web-form material is avoided. However, in other examples of embodiments disclosed herein, only the unwinding chamber 4 may be provided with a web edge guide device, thus including a web unwinding device being able to compensate winding deviations as described above. Alternatively, in yet other examples of embodiments disclosed herein, only the winding up chamber 3 may be provided with a web edge guide device.
Furthermore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that in the above embodiments the coating machine 1 will be designed for webs or films, respectively, of specific dimensions and materials and for specific coating materials. Therefore, the dimensions of the web winding up or unwinding device or of the a web winding up or unwinding chamber and the features of the corresponding winding up or unwinding method can be specifically adjusted to those dimensions and/or materials of the web to be coated. Thus, by knowing the dimensions and/or the materials of the webs for which the coating chamber and the coating method is designed, the skilled person can determine the suitable dimensions of the web winding up or unwinding device and/or of the web winding up or unwinding chamber and the suitable features of the corresponding winding up or unwinding method such that a suitable winding up and/or unwinding of the webs is achieved. Moreover, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that in other examples of a coating machine in both or in only one of an unwinding chamber and a winding up chamber a web edge guide device as described above may be installed, depending on the production requirements.
In one embodiment it is provided a web winding up or unwinding device adapted for a web-form material coating machine, comprising a web roll support comprising a web roll changing device adapted for changing a web roll essentially outside a web winding up or unwinding chamber, and a web edge guide device comprising a sensor device adapted for determining a shifting of a lateral edge of a web of the web-form material to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support during winding up or unwinding, a web roll support displacing device adapted for laterally displacing the web roll support, and a control device adapted for controlling the web roll support displacing device on the basis of data received from the sensor device.
In a modification of the above embodiment, the sensor device comprises a sensor being positioned relative to the web roll support such that the position of the lateral edge of the web to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support is monitored during winding up or unwinding.
In a modification of any of the above embodiment and modification, the web roll support is supported by at least two bearings, each bearing being guided by a linear track extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above embodiment and modifications, the web roll support displacing device comprises a linear actuator and a setting piston operably connected to the linear actuator, the setting piston being laterally attached to the web roll support and extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
A modification of any of the above embodiment and modifications further comprises a web roll driving unit comprising a flexible web roll coupling, the web roll driving unit optionally being controlled by the control device.
In the above modification, the flexible web roll coupling may comprise a clutch connected to the web roll driving unit and adapted for operably accommodating a web roll gear connected to the web roll, the flexible web roll coupling comprising a plastic material. In addition or alternatively to comprising a plastic material, the flexible web roll coupling may be adapted to allow a shift of the web roll gear of +/−10 mm in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above embodiment and modifications, the web roll changing device comprises two guide rails to accommodate web roll bearings supporting a web roll, each of the guide rails being divided into a first and a second rail section, of which in each instance the first rail section is pivotable relative to the second rail section.
In a modification of any of the above embodiment and modifications, the web roll support may include a web guide roller positioned adjacent to the sensor device.
In a further embodiment it is provided a web winding up or unwinding chamber for a web-form material coating machine, the chamber comprising a web winding up or unwinding device, the web winding up or unwinding device comprising a web roll support, the web roll support comprising a web roll changing device adapted for changing a web roll essentially outside a web winding up or unwinding chamber, and a web edge guide device, the web edge guide device comprising a sensor device adapted for determining a shifting of a lateral edge of a web of the web-form material to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support during winding up or unwinding, a web roll support displacing device adapted for laterally displacing the web roll support, and a control device adapted for controlling the web roll support displacing device on the basis of data received from the sensor device.
In a modification of the above further embodiment, the chamber further comprises at least one element selected from the group consisting of: the web roll changing device comprising two guide rails to accommodate web roll bearings supporting the web roll, each of the guide rails being divided into a first and a second rail section, of which in each instance the first rail section is pivotable relative to the second rail, the web roll support including a web guide roller positioned adjacent to the sensor device, each first rail section being positioned essentially outside the chamber when pivoted into a web roll changing position wherein the first and the second rail section of each guide rail may be in line with each other, and a door for closing the chamber.
In a modification of any of the above further embodiment and modification thereof, the sensor device comprises a sensor being positioned in the chamber such that the position of the lateral edge of the web to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll arranged on the web roll support is monitored during winding up and unwinding.
In a modification of any of the above further embodiment and modifications thereof, the web roll support is supported by at least two bearings, each bearing being guided by a linear track provided in the chamber and extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above further embodiment and modifications thereof, the web roll support displacing device comprises a linear actuator and a setting piston operably connected to the linear actuator, the setting piston being laterally attached to the web roll support and extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
A modification of any of the above further embodiment and modifications thereof comprises a web roll driving unit comprising a flexible web roll coupling.
In the latter modification, the flexible web roll coupling may comprise a clutch connected to the web roll driving unit and adapted for operably accommodating a web roll gear connected to the web roll, the flexible web roll coupling comprising a plastic material. In addition or alternatively to comprising a plastic material, the flexible web roll coupling may be adapted to allow a shift of the web roll gear of +/−10 mm in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above further embodiment and modifications thereof, the control device is adapted for controlling the web roll driving unit.
According to yet another embodiment it is provided a method of winding up or unwinding a web of a web-form material to be coated in a web-form material coating machine, comprising winding up or unwinding a web on or from a web roll arranged on a web roll support in a web winding up or unwinding chamber, the web roll support comprising a web roll changing device for changing the web roll essentially outside the web winding up or unwinding chamber, and simultaneously monitoring by a sensor device the position of a lateral edge of the web to be wound up on or unwound from the web roll, and if a shifting of the lateral edge of the web is determined, guiding the lateral edge of the web by laterally displacing the web roll support in a direction opposite to the shifting of the lateral edge.
In a modification of the above yet another embodiment, the web roll changing device comprises two guide rails to accommodate web roll bearings supporting the web roll, each of the guide rails being divided into a first and a second rail section, of which in each instance the first rail section is pivotable relative to the second rail section.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modification thereof, the method further includes at least one step selected from the group consisting of: changing the web roll essentially outside the web winding up or unwinding chamber, and closing the web winding up or unwinding chamber with a door.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof, the web roll support is supported by at least two bearings, each bearing being guided by a linear track extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof, the web roll support may include a web guide roller positioned adjacent to the sensor device.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof, the web roll support is displaced by a linear actuator and a setting piston driven by the linear actuator and being laterally attached to the web roll support, the setting piston extending in parallel to a longitudinal axis of the web roll.
A modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof may comprise driving the web roll by a driving unit comprising a flexible web roll coupling.
In the latter modification, the flexible web roll coupling may comprise a clutch connected to the web roll driving unit and adapted for operably accommodating a web roll gear connected to the web roll, the clutch being formed of a plastic material.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof, the control device controls on the basis of data received from the sensor device at least one step selected from the group of: the steps of monitoring and guiding the lateral edge of the web, and the step of driving the web roll.
In a modification of any of the above yet another embodiment and modifications thereof, the step of changing the web roll comprises pivoting each first rail section into a web roll changing position wherein the first and the second rail section of each guide rail may be in line with each other, moving the web roll along the guide rail onto the first rail section, removing the web roll, and arranging another web roll on the first rail section.
In the latter modification, the web roll changing position may be essentially outside the web winding up or unwinding chamber.
The written description uses examples to disclose the invention, including the best mode, and also to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the invention. While the invention has been described in terms of various specific examples and embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the spirit and scope of the claims. Especially, mutually non-exclusive features of the examples and/or embodiments described above may be combined with each other. The patentable scope of the invention is defined by the claims, and may include other examples that occur to those skilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within the scope of the claims.
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