The present invention relates a processing apparatus and a method of processing a sheet member. Specifically, the present invention relates to a processing apparatus that processes a sheet member used in manufacturing an absorbent article and a method of processing the sheet member.
Processing apparatuses that process sheet members used for manufacturing absorbent articles are already known, and there is a type of apparatus that includes a mounting member on which the sheet member is mounted, a rotating roller that rotates with a peripheral surface thereof opposing the mounting member, and a processing component that is provided on the peripheral surface and movable on the peripheral surface along an axial direction of the rotating roller. With the processing apparatus of the above-mentioned configuration, the processing component processes the sheet member by coming into contact with the sheet member with the rotating roller being rotated, while the sheet member is passing between the mounting member and the rotating roller with the sheet member being mounted on the mounting member.
With the processing apparatus of the above-mentioned configuration, in order to process the sheet member with an increased accuracy, an accurate positioning of the processing component (positioning with respect to the mounting member) is required. To this end, in assembling the processing apparatus, the position of the processing component in the axial direction of the rotating roller may be adjusted (see, e.g., PTL 1). As a position adjustment measure for such processing component, it is conceivable to move the rotating roller itself, which has the processing component provided on its peripheral surface, in the axial direction thereof.
[PTL 1] JP-A-H6-507536
However, in a case where position adjustment of the processing component is performed by moving the rotating roller, since a greater force and more time is required as compared to a case in which the processing component as a single body is moved, and position adjustment of the rotating roller itself is required after having performed the position adjustment of the processing component, a greater effort will be required and the work becomes cumbersome.
The present invention has been contrived in view of the drawbacks described above, and its object is to perform positioning of the processing component in a more simplified manner.
In order to overcome the above-described drawbacks, a principal aspect of the invention is a processing apparatus that processes a sheet member used in manufacturing an absorbent article, and the processing apparatus includes (A) a mounting member on which the sheet member is mounted, (B) a rotating roller that rotates with a peripheral surface thereof opposing the mounting member, (C) a processing component that is provided on the peripheral surface and movable on the peripheral surface along an axial direction of the rotating roller, and (D) an adjustment mechanism that adjusts a relative position of the processing component with respect to the peripheral surface in the axial direction, (E) the processing component processing the sheet member by coming into contact with the sheet member with the rotating roller being rotated, while the sheet member is passing between the mounting member and the rotating roller with the sheet member being mounted on the mounting member, (F) the adjustment mechanism adjusting the relative position by moving the processing component on the peripheral surface along the axial direction.
Features of the invention other than those described above will become clear by the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.
According to the present invention, positioning of the processing component utilized in the processing of the sheet member used in the manufacturing of the absorbent article can be performed in a simplified manner.
At least the following matters will become apparent from descriptions of this present specification and of the accompanying drawings.
First, an aspect of the present invention is a processing apparatus that processes a sheet member used in manufacturing an absorbent article, and the processing apparatus includes (A) a mounting member on which the sheet member is mounted, (B) a rotating roller that rotates with a peripheral surface thereof opposing the mounting member, (C) a processing component that is provided on the peripheral surface and movable on the peripheral surface along an axial direction of the rotating roller, and (D) an adjustment mechanism that adjusts a relative position of the processing component with respect to the peripheral surface in the axial direction, (E) the processing component processing the sheet member by coming into contact with the sheet member with the rotating roller being rotated, while the sheet member is passing between the mounting member and the rotating roller with the sheet member being mounted on the mounting member, (F) the adjustment mechanism adjusting the relative position by moving the processing component on the peripheral surface along the axial direction. With a processing apparatus of such structure, since position adjustment of the processing component as a single body can be performed with out moving the rotating roller, the position adjustment is simplified.
Further, with the processing apparatus described above, the processing component may be provided at each end section of the peripheral surface in the axial direction, two such adjustment mechanisms being provided, among the two adjustment mechanisms, one adjustment mechanism may adjust the relative position of the processing component on one end side in the axial direction by moving the processing component on one end side on the peripheral surface along the axial direction, and the other adjustment mechanism may adjust the relative position of the processing component on the other end side in the axial direction by moving the processing component on the other end side on the peripheral surface along the axial direction. With such structure, adjustment of the relative position can be performed individually for each of the processing components provided on the both end sections in the axial direction of the rotating roller.
Further, with the processing apparatus described above, the processing component may be a movable processing component, the processing apparatus may further include: a fixed processing component provided on the peripheral surface, a position of the fixed processing component being fixed on the peripheral surface; and a shaft-side adjustment mechanism that adjusts a position of the rotating roller in the axial direction, the movable processing component being adjacent to the fixed processing component in the axial direction, the shaft-side adjustment mechanism adjusting the position of the rotating roller in the axial direction by moving the rotating roller in the axial direction. With such configuration, the position adjustment of the fixed processing component that cannot be handled with the adjustment mechanism is carried out by moving the rotating roller, and thereafter, the position adjustment of the movable processing component is carried out by the adjustment mechanism. Accordingly, position adjustment of the movable processing component and the fixed processing component can be performed respectively with an increased accuracy.
Further, with the processing apparatus described above, the processing component may be a movable processing component arranged at each end section of the peripheral surface in the axial direction, the processing apparatus may further include: a fixed processing component provided on the peripheral surface, a position of the fixed processing component being fixed on the peripheral surface; and a shaft-side adjustment mechanism that adjusts a position of the rotating roller along in the axial direction, the fixed processing component being situated between the movable processing components in the axial direction, wherein, two such adjustment mechanisms may be provided, among the two adjustment mechanisms, one adjustment mechanism may adjust the relative position of the movable processing component on one end side in the axial direction by moving the movable processing component on one end side on the peripheral surface along the axial direction, the other adjustment mechanism may adjust the relative position of the movable processing component on the other end side in the axial direction by moving the movable processing component on the other end side on the peripheral surface along the axial direction, and the shaft-side adjustment mechanism may adjust the position of the rotating roller in the axial direction by moving the rotating roller in the axial direction. With such structure, the position adjustment of the fixed processing component that cannot be handled with the adjustment mechanism is carried out by moving the rotating roller, and thereafter, the individual adjustment of the relative position of each of the processing components arranged at both end sections in the axial direction of the peripheral surface of the rotating roller is performed with the respective adjustment mechanisms. As a result, the respective position adjustment of the movable processing component and the fixed processing component can be performed with an increased accuracy.
Further, the processing apparatus described above may be configured such that the rotating roller is a first rotating roller that has a first peripheral surface as the peripheral surface, the processing component is a plurality of first drawing patterns arranged along the axial direction, the mounting member is a second rotating roller that has a second peripheral surface and rotates with the sheet member being mounted thereon, a plurality of second drawing patterns arranged along the axial direction are provided on the second peripheral surface, the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern are disk-like patterns, the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern are arranged alternately in the axial direction, and the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern cause the sheet member to extend along the axial direction by nipping the sheet member therebetween with the first rotating roller and the second rotating roller being rotated, while the sheet member is passing between the second rotating roller and the first rotating roller with the sheet member being mounted on the second rotating roller. With such configuration, the position adjustment for adjusting the clearance between the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern in the axial direction can be performed in a simplified manner.
Further, with the processing apparatus described above, among the first rotating roller and the second rotating roller, at least one of the rotating rollers may be supported in a movable state in such a manner that an interval between the first peripheral surface and the second peripheral surface varies. With such configuration, a degree of meshing between the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern is adjustable and, when passing the sheet member between the first rotating roller and the second rotating roller at the time of setting the drawing apparatus, the interval can be broadened to facilitate the passing of the sheet member.
Further, with the processing apparatus described above, the sheet member may be made of a material having a thermoplastic property, and among the first rotating roller and the second rotating roller, at least one of the rotating rollers may have a heating mechanism provided inside thereof that heats the rotating roller. In order to perform an appropriate drawing of the sheet member, there is a case where at least one of the first rotating roller and the second rotating roller is heated. In such a case, since the rotating roller on the heated side is subject to thermal expansion along the axial direction, even if the clearance between the first drawing pattern and the second drawing pattern is adjusted before operation of the apparatus, the clearance will change again during operation of the apparatus. At this time, with the structure of the present invention, even if the clearance has changed during the operation of the apparatus, position adjustment for readjusting the clearance can be performed in a simplified manner. In other words, with the structure described above, the effect of the present invention will be more useful.
Further, the processing apparatus described above may be configured such that among two directions in mutually opposite directions along the axial direction, one direction is referred to as a first direction and the other direction is referred to as a second direction, the first direction being a direction orienting from the processing component to an end that is nearer to the processing component among the both ends of the rotating roller in the axial direction, the adjustment mechanism may include: a pulling screw that pulls the processing component in the first direction while being screwed; and a pressing screw that presses the processing component in the second direction while being screwed, in a case where the adjustment mechanism may move the processing component in the first direction, the pressing screw is screwed after the pulling screw has been screwed, and in a case where the adjustment mechanism may move the processing component in the second direction, the pulling screw is screwed after the pressing screw has been screwed. With such structure, the relative position of the processing component can be adjusted with a simple structure.
Further, a method of processing a sheet member used in manufacturing an absorbent article is also achieved which includes: (A) processing, while the sheet member is passing between a mounting member on which the sheet member is mounted and a rotation that rotates with a peripheral surface thereof opposing the mounting member with the sheet member being mounted on the mounting member, the sheet member by causing a processing component provided on the peripheral surface of the rotating roller to come into contact with the sheet member with the rotating roller being rotated, (B) the processing component being movable on the peripheral surface of the rotating roller along the axial direction, (C) the method further including adjusting, by an adjustment mechanism that adjusts a relative position of the processing component with respect to the peripheral surface in the axial direction, before the processing, the relative position by moving the sheet member on the peripheral surface along the axial direction. With such method, the position adjustment of the processing component can be performed without moving rotating roller and in a facilitated manner.
In the present embodiment, a drawing apparatus 10 that draws a sheet member S in a predetermined drawing direction will be described as an exemplary processing apparatus, and an object to be processed is the sheet member S used in the manufacture of absorbent articles such as diapers and sanitary napkins. That is to say, a method of drawing the above-mentioned sheet member S corresponds to an exemplary method of processing the sheet S. Hereinafter, the sheet member S, which is an object to be processed, and a drawing step performed by the drawing apparatus 10 will be described respectively.
The sheet member S is a material made of nonwoven fabric, a film sheet, or a composite sheet in which these are bonded together and, for example, used as a constituent element of the diaper 1 illustrated in
The sheet member S of the present embodiment is made of a thermoplastic material. Specifically, the sheet member S made of nonwoven fabric may be, for example, produced by mixing thermoplastic fiber having extensibility (a property of extending in a non-elastic manner) and thermoplastic fiber having stretchability (a property of extending in an elastic manner) or produced solely by thermoplastic fiber having extensibility. The sheet member S made of a film sheet may be, for example, produced by using a thermoplastic plastic film as a material. The sheet member S made of a composite sheet of nonwoven fabric and a film sheet may be, for example, produced by bonding the nonwoven fabric and the film sheet, which have been described above as illustrative examples.
As will be described later, when performing a drawing process, the sheet member S is heated to an appropriate temperature (specifically, an appropriate temperature within a range of at or below the melting point of the constituent material of the sheet member S), thereby causing the sheet member S to exhibit its plasticity during the drawing process to facilitate the drawing of the sheet member S and to prevent the sheet member S from breaking during the drawing process.
It is to be noted that, on a production line of the diaper 1, the sheet member S is fed in a continuous state in a continuous direction. In other words, on the production line of the diaper 1 of the present embodiment, the sheet member S moves along the continuous direction and towards a position where the drawing process is performed. Then, after the drawing process, the sheet member S in the continuous state is bonded together with other materials and then cut into a shape of a product. Hereinafter, a direction in which the sheet member S continues (i.e., a transport direction of the sheet member S) is referred to as an MD-direction and a direction intersecting with the MD-direction (in other words, a direction along which a width direction of the sheet member S lies) is referred to as a CD-direction.
A drawing step is a processing step in which the sheet member S is drawn in the CD-direction, i.e., the width direction of the sheet member S. In other words, in the present embodiment, the CD-direction corresponds to a drawing direction. A mode in which such drawing step is performed is illustrated in
As shown in
In a roller gap space Ar through which the sheet member S passes, the drawing patterns 13 provided on one of the rotating roller 11 and the drawing patterns 14 provided on the other rotating roller 12 mesh with each other. In other words, when passing through the above-mentioned roller gap space Ar, the sheet member S is bitten between the drawing patterns 13, 14. At this time, as shown in
As the tension is released from the above-mentioned state, a portion of the sheet member S bitten between the drawing patterns 13, 14 attempts to restore its original state, but becomes slack with pleats being formed due to elongation in its width direction. In other words, as shown in
As has been described above, in the drawing step, the sheet member S that is passing through the roller gap space Ar is bitten between the drawing patterns 13, 14 to draw the sheet member S in the width direction. It is to be noted that the purpose of performing the drawing step is to increase a planar size of the sheet member S in the width direction to enlarge an effectively usable region in the sheet member S. Also, a portion of the sheet member S where the drawing step has been applied (a portion bitten between the drawing patterns 13, 14) is provided with stretchability produced therein after the drawing step and raised by a height of the pleats that have been formed. By making use of such a state, it is also possible to form the above-mentioned gathered section at a portion section where the drawing step has been applied.
Next, as an exemplary configuration of the drawing apparatus 10 that performs the above-mentioned drawing step, a configuration illustrated in
As shown in
The pair of rotating rollers 11, 12 each rotates about an axis extending along the CD-direction. Hereinafter, one of the rotating rollers 11 is referred to as a first rotating roller 11 and the other rotating roller 12 is referred to as the second rotating roller 12. Also, a peripheral surface of the first rotating roller 11 is referred to as a first peripheral surface and a peripheral surface of the second rotating roller 12 is referred to as a second peripheral surface. Also, the drawing pattern 13 provided on the first peripheral surface is referred to as a first drawing pattern 13 and the drawing pattern 14 provided on the second peripheral surface is referred to as a second drawing pattern 14.
The first rotating roller 11 rotates with the first peripheral surface opposing the second rotating roller 12 (more specifically, the second peripheral surface).
As shown in
As has been described above, when the drawing apparatus 10 performs the drawing step, the second rotating roller 12 receives a processing component provided on the first rotating roller 11 (specifically, a group of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c consisting of the first drawing patterns 13) with the sheet member S mounted thereon. In other words, the second rotating roller 12 serves as a stage for performing a drawing step with the sheet member S mounted thereon during the drawing step. However, it is not limited the configuration described above (a configuration in which the sheet member S is laid around the second rotating roller 12), but may be a configuration in which the sheet member S travels linearly towards the roller gap space Ar and, when passing through the roller gap space Ar, mounted and placed on the second rotating roller 12.
Each of the first rotating roller 11 and the second rotating roller 12 is rotatably supported by a rectangular frame 24 via a bearing 22 at a shaft section thereof (both end sections in the axial direction) and are capable of performing a thrust movement (a movement along the CD-direction) by a shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 described later (see
A plurality of the first drawing patterns 13 are provided and arranged along the CD-direction (i.e., an axial direction of each of the rotating rollers 11, 12) and form a group of patterns. As shown in
Among the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c, the groups of patterns 13a, 13b provided on the both end sections of first peripheral surface in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11 are movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b that are capable of moving (slide movement) on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction (i.e., the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11). These movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b correspond to the processing components (more specifically, the movable processing components) of the present invention. The remaining group of patterns 13c, which is different from the above-mentioned two groups of patterns 13a, 13b, is a fixed group of patterns 13c whose position on the first peripheral surface is fixed (i.e., fixed to a roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 and does not perform a sliding movement). This fixed group of patterns 13c corresponds to the fixed processing component, and is situated between the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b in the CD-direction (in other words, the fixed group of patterns 13c is adjacent to each movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11).
A plurality of second drawing patterns 14 are arranged along the CD-direction and form a group of patterns. This group of patterns may be, similarly to the group of patterns formed by the first drawing patterns 14, categorized into a movable group of patterns and a fixed group of patterns (the group of pattern whose position on the second peripheral surface is fixed, or may belong to the fixed group of patterns only.
In a space where the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 mesh (specifically, the roller gap space Ar), as shown in
With the configuration described above, when the sheet member S passes between the second rotating roller 12 and the first rotating roller 11 (roller gap space Ar) with the sheet member S being mounted on the second rotating roller 12, while the first rotating roller 11 and the second rotating roller 12 are rotating, the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 nip (bite) the sheet member S and come into contact with the sheet member S. In this manner, the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 draw the sheet member S along the CD-direction by cooperating with each other.
Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to adjust an interval of the roller gap space Ar (i.e., an interval between the first peripheral surface and the second peripheral surface), and with the adjustment of the interval, a degree of meshing between the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 (a degree of an overlap between the tip end section of the first drawing pattern 13 and the tip end section of the second drawing pattern 14) is adjustable. By changing the degree of meshing of each of the drawing patterns 13, 14, an amount of draw applied to the sheet member S can be varied. Here, the amount of draw is an amount of draw when extending the sheet member S in its width direction during the drawing step, and in other words, it is a degree of deformation (degree of strain) when it is deformed (strained) by a tension exerted on the sheet member S. Adjustment of the interval of the roller gap space Ar will be described in detail below.
Further, as shown in
In order to draw the sheet member S with an increased precision with the drawing apparatus 10 of the above-mentioned structure, ideally, a clearance between the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 is uniform. However, in practice, a tolerance occurs at steps such as a step of manufacturing the drawing patterns 13, 14, a step of attaching the drawing patterns 13, 14 to each of the rotating rollers 11, 12, a step of assembling the drawing apparatus 10 by assembling the rotating rollers 11, 12 whereto the drawing patterns 13, 14 have been attached. Considering such tolerance, it is required to accurately position the first drawing pattern 13 with respect to the second rotating roller 12 (specifically, the second drawing pattern 14) in the step of assembling the drawing apparatus 10.
In other words, it is required to adjust the position of each of the first drawing patterns 13 (i.e., groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c that serve as the processing components) along the CD-direction when assembling the apparatus, in such a manner that the clearance between the drawing patterns 13 and 14 becomes uniform while preventing the drawing patterns 13, 14 from coming into contact with each other. As a method of such position adjustment, it is conceivable to employ a method of performing a thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11 itself on which the first drawing pattern 13 is installed. However, if it is attempted to adjust the position of the first drawing pattern 13 by performing a thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11, a greater force and a longer time is required as compared to a case in which the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c of the first drawing patterns 13 is moved individually. Further, after having performed the position adjustment of the above-mentioned groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c, it is necessary to further perform position adjustment of the first rotating roller 11 itself. As a result, the position adjustment becomes troublesome and the work becomes cumbersome.
Accordingly, the drawing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment is provided with a mechanism for achieving a simpler position adjustment (specifically, the position adjustment mechanism 30 described later). In the next section of the specification, such mechanism will be described in detail.
The drawing apparatus 10 includes two types of position adjustment mechanisms 30 and 40 to perform position adjustment of the above-mentioned groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c.
One position adjustment mechanism 30 corresponds to the adjustment mechanism of the present invention, and adjusts relative positions of the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b with respect to the first peripheral surface in the CD-direction (i.e., the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11). Hereinafter, the position adjustment mechanism 30 will be referred to as a pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30. The pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 is provided on each side (at the both end sides in the axial direction) of a roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 (see
The other position adjustment mechanism 40 adjusts the position of the first rotating roller 11 itself in the CD-direction, and hereinafter referred to as a shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40. The shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 adjusts the position of the first rotating roller 11 in the CD-direction by performing a thrust movement (movement in the CD-direction) of the first rotating roller 11. Then, as the position of the first rotating roller 11 is adjusted, positions (positions in the CD-direction) of the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c of the first drawing patterns 13 are adjusted.
It is to be noted that the above-mentioned position adjustment mechanisms 30, 40 perform position adjustment of the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c constituted by the first drawing patterns 13, but a similar position adjustment mechanism may be provided to perform position adjustment of the group of patterns comprised of the second drawing patterns 14. In other words, when the group of patterns comprised of the second drawing patterns 14 is divided into the movable group of patterns and the fixed group of patterns, the relative position of the movable group of patterns may be adjusted by the position adjustment mechanism corresponding to the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 and the position of the group of patterns comprised of the second drawing patterns 14 may be adjusted by performing a thrust movement of the second rotating roller 12 by the position adjustment mechanism corresponding to the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40. In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate the explanation, it is assumed that the above-mentioned position adjustment mechanisms 30 and 40 are provided to perform position adjustment of only the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c comprised of the first drawing patterns 13.
Configuration of each position adjustment mechanism 30 and 40 will be described in detail below.
First, the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 will be described with reference to
As has been described above, there are two pattern-side adjustment mechanisms 30, each being provided at a side of the roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11. Since the two pattern-side adjustment mechanisms 30 have a symmetrical structure for the one end side and the other end side in the CD-direction, the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 on the one end side in the CD-direction will be described in the following description.
Each group of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c comprised of the first drawing patterns 13 is attached to a base. Among these, the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b are attached on a peripheral surface of a substantially ring-like movable base 32, which is formed as a separate body from the roller main body 11a (see
The fixed group of pattern 13c is directly attached to the roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 (see
The pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 is made of a plurality of members including the above-mentioned movable base 32. To be more specific, in addition to the movable base 32, the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 has a restricting plate 34 (see
The restricting plate 34 is a disk-like member joined to an axial-direction end surface of the roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 and has an external diameter that is somewhat greater than an external diameter of the roller main body 11a. This restricting plate 34 restricts the movable base 32 from falling off from the roller main body 11a when the movable base 32 moves to an outer side (one end side) along the CD-direction. It is to be noted that, in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11, a gap is formed between the restricting plate 34 and the fixed group of patterns 13a fixed to the roller main body 11a, and the movable base 32 is arranged in this gap. This gap is provided so as to ensure that the movable base 32 is reciprocable along the CD-direction.
The adjustment unit 36 is a portion that is actually operated by the operator when performing the position adjustment of the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b. In the present embodiment, a plurality of adjustment units 36 are provided at regular angular intervals in the peripheral direction (see
The pulling screw 36a passes through a through hole 34a provided in the restricting plate 34 and fits into a screw hole 32a provided in the movable base 32 (see
When being screwed in, the pulling screw 36a pulls in the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the first direction d1 with a screw head section of the pulling screw 36a being engaged to the restricting plate 34. When screwing in, the pressing screw 36b presses the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the second direction d2 while pressing a tip end of the pressing screw 36b against a side surface of the movable base 32. With the structure described above, for example, when the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 moves the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the first direction d1, the pressing screw 36b is screwed after having screwed the pulling screw 36a. In other words, after having moved the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the first direction d1 by the pulling screw 36a, in order to suppress the backlash of the movable base 32 (backlash in the CD-direction), the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a are pressed in the second direction d2 by the pressing screw 36b. In this manner, as a result of a balance between a pulling force by the pulling screw 36a and the pressing force by the pressing screw 36b, the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a can be securely positioned at positions after the movement.
Similarly, in a case where the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 moves the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the second direction d2, the pulling screw 36a is screwed after having screwed the pressing screw 36b. In other words, after having moved the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a in the second direction d2 by the pressing screw 36b, in order to suppress backlash of the movable base 32, the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a are pulled in the first direction d1 by the pulling screw 36a. As a result, the movable base 32 and the movable group of patterns 13a are securely positioned at positions after the movement.
As has been described above, in the present embodiment, the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13a with respect to the first peripheral surface can be adjusted with a relatively simple mechanism. In other words, the above-mentioned adjustment of the relative position can be performed simply by operating the pulling screw 36a and the pressing screw 36b.
In the present embodiment, in order to adjust the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13a with respect to the first peripheral surface, the movable group of patterns 13a can be moved as a single body without moving the first rotating roller 11. Accordingly, a simple position adjustment can be achieved and thus the clearance between each of the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 constituting the movable group of patterns 13a can be made appropriate in a facilitated manner.
Next, the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 will be described with reference to
Among the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c comprised of the first drawing patterns 13, position adjustment of the movable patterns 13a and 13b can be performed as a single body by the above-mentioned pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30. To the contrary, it is difficult to perform position adjustment of the fixed group of patterns 13c as a single body since it is fixed to the roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 and located between the movable groups of patterns 13a and 13b in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11. Therefore, the position adjustment of the fixed group of patterns 13c will be performed by adjusting the position of the first rotating roller 11 by performing a thrust movement (movement in the CD-direction) of the first rotating roller 11 itself. The shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 is provided to achieve such adjustment.
In the present embodiment, as has been described above, both end sections (shaft sections) in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11 are supported by a frame 24 via the bearings 22, respectively (see
The inner frame section 27a of first frame body 27 and the second frame body 28 are arranged in an opposing manner with a gap between them in the CD-direction and the bearing 22 is caught in the gap (see
Also, in the present embodiment, the inner frame section 27a has an annular shape and is fitted in a fitting hole (not shown) that is formed in the outer frame section 27b, but a rotation prevention process may be applied on a contact surface between the frame sections 27a and 27b in such a manner that the inner frame section 27a does not rotated relatively with respect to the outer frame section 27b.
In the structure described above, the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 causes the inner frame section 27a to move in the CD-direction with the adjustment unit 42 (see
It is to be noted that, as shown in
In a case where the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 of the above-mentioned structure is provided on at least one end side among the both ends in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11, the position of the first rotating roller 11 can be adjusted. For example, if the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 is provided on both end sides in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11, respectively, finer position adjustment can be performed. Alternatively, the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 may be provided on only one end side in the axial direction (or the other end side in the axial direction) of the first rotating roller 11. Even with such configuration, position adjustment of the first rotating roller 11 can be performed if a so-called escape is provided at a side of an end (hereinafter, also referred to as a fixed side), among both ends in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11, opposite to a side of an end (hereinafter, also referred to as a movable side) where the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 is provided. Stating more simply, in a case of moving the bearing 22 on the movable side in the CD-direction by the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40, if it is possible to move the bearing 22 on the fixed side with a displacement (an amount of escape) which is the same as a displacement of the bearing 22 on the movable side, the first rotating roller 11 can be slid and the position of the first rotating roller 11 is adjusted.
It is to be noted that a space in which the bearing 22 moves in the CD-direction (specifically, a gap formed between the inner frame section 27a of the first frame body 27 and the second frame body 28) can be ensured in the casings 26 on both the movable side and the fixed side, or, may be ensured only in the casing 26 of the movable side.
In the casing 26, as shown in
In the present embodiment, in addition to the position adjustment of the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c, it is also possible to adjust the interval of the roller gap space Ar.
Specifically, the first rotating roller 11 is supported in such a state that its peripheral surface (first peripheral surface) can move towards and away from the peripheral surface (second peripheral surface) of the second rotating roller 12. To be more specific, as shown in
As has been described above, in the present embodiment, the first rotating roller 11 and the second rotating roller 12 are both supported in such a state that the interval between the first peripheral surface and the second peripheral surface (i.e., the interval of the roller gap space Ar) can vary. However, it is not limited thereto, and among the first rotating roller 11 and the second rotating roller 12, at least one of the rotating rollers needs to be supported in a movable manner such that the above-mentioned interval can vary.
It is to be noted that an operation of varying the above-mentioned interval by moving the first rotating roller 11 by the actuator 44 is performed, for example, for changing an amount of draw applied to the sheet member S. On the other hand, an operation of varying the above-mentioned interval by moving the second rotating roller 12 by the above-mentioned driving mechanism 46 is performed, for example, for broadening the interval and for facilitating the passage of the sheet member S when passing the sheet member S between the rotating rollers 11 and 12 at the time of setting the drawing apparatus 10 (when preparing for the restart of the drawing apparatus 10 after the maintenance of the apparatus).
Assembling Procedure of the Drawing Apparatus 10
Based on the structure described above, the procedure of assembling the drawing apparatus 10 will be described. The assembling of the drawing apparatus 10 is, of course, performed before the drawing step by the drawing apparatus 10. The assembling is performed by the procedure shown in
In the assembling, first, the first rotating roller 11 and the second rotating roller 12 in a state illustrated in
Next, as shown in
Thereafter, by performing a thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11 with the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40, the position of the first rotating roller 11 in the CD-direction (the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11) is adjusted and positioned at a position after adjustment (see
After the position adjustment of the first rotating roller 11, the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b (the movable processing components) among the groups of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c are moved on the first peripheral surface in the CD-direction with the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 and positioned at the positions after the movement (see
Further, in the present embodiment, as has been described above, the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 is individually provided for each of the two movable patterns 13a and 13b. Therefore, in the present embodiment, adjustment of the relative position can be individually performed for each of the two movable patterns 13a and 13b. Specifically, with one pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30, the movable group of patterns 13a on one end side in the CD-direction is moved on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction and the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13a on one end side in the CD-direction is adjusted. Further, with the other pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30, the movable group of patterns 13b on the other end side in the CD-direction is moved on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction and the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13b on the other end side in the CD-direction is adjusted.
In this manner, in the present embodiment, since two pattern-side adjustment mechanisms 30 are provided, individual adjustment of the relative position of each of the two movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b can be performed in a facilitated manner.
With the procedure described above, position adjustment for each of the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b, as well as, the fixed group of patterns 13c can be performed with an increased accuracy in such a manner that a clearance between the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 becomes uniform.
When the drawing apparatus 10 is operated after having performed position adjustment for each group of patterns 13a, 13b, 13c, the heating element 15 provided inside each rotating roller 11, 12 will generate heat and each rotating roller 11, 12 will be heated. Thus, each heated rotating rollers 11, 12 thermally expands along the axial direction, and particularly, the axial-direction end portions of each rotating roller 11, 12 will be situated at positions somewhat offset from the initial position along the axial direction (positions before the operation of the apparatus). As a result, even if the clearance between the first drawing patterns 13 and the second drawing patterns 14 is appropriately adjusted by performing position adjustment before operating the apparatus, such clearance will change again during the operation of the apparatus. With such a change in the clearance, the drawing patterns 13 and 14 that were originally arranged with an appropriate clearance between them will be too close to (or too spaced apart from) each other.
On the other hand, according to the configuration of the present invention, even if the above-mentioned clearance changes during the operation of the apparatus, position adjustment for readjusting the clearance can be performed in a simple manner. In other words, since position adjustment of the groups of patterns 13a, 13b (the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b) arranged at end sections in the axial direction of each rotating rollers 11, 12 which are significantly affected by thermal expansion can be performed in a simplified manner with the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30, even if there is a change of the above-mentioned clearance during the operation of the apparatus, such a situation can be handled by temporarily stopping the drawing apparatus 10 and performing position adjustment of the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 again. As has been described above, with a structure in which the first rotating roller 11 or the second rotating roller 12 is heated, the effect of the invention will be more meaningful.
Variants of Drawing Apparatus 10
The above-mentioned structure of the drawing apparatus 10 (hereinafter referred to as the present example) is shown by way of example only, and other structures are also conceivable. In relation to the drawing apparatus 10 of other structures, the drawing apparatus 10 of a first variant and the drawing apparatus 10 of a second variant will be described below.
According to the first variant, as shown in
To be more specific, the groups of patterns 13a, 13b comprised of a plurality of first drawing patterns 13 are provided at both end sections in the axial direction on the first peripheral surface of the first rotating roller 11, and such groups of patterns 13a, 13b belong to the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b. In other words, in the first variant, a group of patterns belonging to the fixed group of patterns 13c of the present example is not provided. Therefore, in the first variant, a mechanism (shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40) that performs thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11 to perform position adjustment of the fixed group of patterns 13c is not provided. Concerning the aspects described above, the first variant and the present example differ.
Further, as shown in
The cylindrical member 38 is fitted to the first rotating roller 11 and is adjacent to the movable base 32 at a position on the inner side of the movable base 32 in the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11. The cylindrical member 38 moves together with the movable base 32 when the movable base 32 moves by the adjustment unit 36 along the CD-direction and, after the movement, fixed to the roller main body 11a of the first rotating roller 11 by a set screw 38a. At this time, the movable base 32 is positioned at the position after adjustment by the adjustment unit 36, and the cylindrical member 38 is also positioned while maintaining a state of being in contact with the movable base 38. Thus, backlash of the movable base 32 (backlash in the CD-direction) can be further suppressed and positioning of the movable base 32 can be performed in a more secure manner. It is to be noted that the cylindrical member 38 can be dispensed with.
The first variant has a similar structure to the present example except for the structural differences described above and has a similar effect as the present example. For example, the first variant also discloses that the pattern-side adjustment mechanisms 30 are individually provided for the two movable patterns 13a, 13b, respectively. One pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 adjusts the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13a on one end side in the CD-direction by moving the movable group of patterns 13a on the one end side in the CD-direction on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction, and the other pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 adjusts the relative position of the movable group of patterns 13b on the other end side in the CD-direction by moving the movable group of patterns 13b on the other end side in the CD-direction on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction. Thus, individual adjustment of the relative positions can be performed respectively for the two movable groups of patterns 13a and 13b.
Also, although not shown in the drawings, a case in which a single movable pattern 13a is provided on the first peripheral surface of the first rotating roller 11 is also conceivable (in other words, a case in which every one of the plurality of first drawing patterns 13 provided on the first peripheral surface belongs to the movable group of patterns 13a). Even in such a case, adjustment of the relative position of the movable pattern 13a can be performed in a simplified manner by providing the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30.
As shown in
In other words, in the second variant, a single movable group of patterns 13a is arranged at a one-end section in the CD-direction of the first peripheral surface and the fixed group of patterns 13c is arranged on the other end section in the CD-direction and adjacent to the movable group of patterns 13a. Therefore, only one mechanism (pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30) is provided that performs the position adjustment of the movable group of patterns 13a. Concerning the aspects described above, the second variant and the present example differ.
Other than the aspects described above, the second variant has a substantially similar structure with the present example and has an effect similar to that of the present example. For example, the second variant also discloses that the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 and the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 are provided, and in the assembling operation of the drawing apparatus 10, the movable group of patterns 13a is moved on the first peripheral surface along CD-direction by the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 after having performed the thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11 by the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40. In other words, position adjustment of the fixed group of patterns 13c that cannot be handled with the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 is carried out by the shaft-side adjustment mechanism 40 by performing thrust movement of the first rotating roller 11, and thereafter, position adjustment of the movable group of patterns 13a is carried out by the pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 by moving the movable group of patterns 13a on the first peripheral surface along the CD-direction. As a result, the respective position adjustments of the movable group of patterns 13a and the fixed group of patterns 13b can be performed with an increased accuracy.
The above-mentioned embodiment was mainly described with reference to the drawing apparatus 10 and the method of drawing the sheet member S of the present invention, however, the above-mentioned embodiment is simply for facilitating the understanding of the present invention and are not in any way to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present invention may be variously modified or altered without departing from its spirit and encompass equivalents thereof. Also, the above-mentioned setting values, dimensional values and shapes, etc., are solely indicated by way of example for achieving the effect of the invention and not in any way to be construed as limiting the present invention.
Particularly, the above-mentioned pattern-side adjustment mechanism 30 is an exemplary adjustment mechanism of the present invention, and may be utilized without limitation as long as the relative positions of the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b can be adjusted by moving the movable groups of patterns 13a, 13b on the first peripheral surface along the axial direction of the first rotating roller 11.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the mounting member on which the sheet member S is mounted is the second rotating roller 12, but it is not limited thereto and may be, for example, a plate on which protrusions and depressions are formed on a surface opposing the first rotating roller 11. The protrusions of such plate and the first drawing pattern 13 provided on the first rotating roller 11 may mesh with each other and bite and draw the sheet member S by the protrusions and the first drawing pattern 13.
Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the drawing apparatus 10 which is an exemplary processing apparatus and a drawing process method is an exemplary method of processing the sheet member S have been described, respectively. In other words, in the embodiment described above, the groups of patterns 13a, 13b comprised of patterns for a drawing process (the first drawing patterns 13) are described as an exemplary processing component, but it is not limited thereto. For example, the present invention may also be applied to a processing apparatus (i.e., a cutting apparatus) and a processing method (i.e., a method of cutting the sheet member S) in which a cutter that cuts the sheet member S by coming into the sheet member S is the processing component.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2009-091502 | Apr 2009 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2010/055535 | 3/29/2010 | WO | 00 | 12/27/2011 |