Patent Application
20130231231
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a roller, an apparatus and a method for manufacturing the roller.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical films define a number of micro structures. One method for forming the micro structures is a roll forming process using a metal roller. A circumference of the metal roller has impression patterns coupled with the micro structures. The impression pattern is formed by a laser knife. However, the roller of the roll forming process has a relatively low forming efficiency, and has a relatively high cost.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a roller, an apparatus and a method for manufacturing the roller that can overcome the above-mentioned limitations.
Many aspects of the embodiments should be better understood with reference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Referring to
The main body 31 is made of stainless steel or other metals. The circumferential surface 301 has a number of teeth 302 to increase the adhesive potential of the resin film 33 thereon. In the first embodiment, the teeth 302 are the same as each other and are evenly distributed on the circumferential surface 301 making the main body 31 to be gear-shaped. Each of the teeth 302 is substantially triangle-shaped. A highest point of each teeth 302 is about 1 centimeter (cm) to 2 cm in height with respect to the circumferential surface 301. The main body 31 defines a fixing hole 310 at the center thereof. In other embodiments, the fixing hole 310 can be omitted.
The resin film 33 is made of polymer resin having the molecular chain with fluorine element, such as ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) or poly tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). Therefore, the optical films are easily separated from the resin film 20, and the quality of the optical films can be greatly improved.
The resin film 33 has a cylindrical-shaped rolling surface 330 opposite to the main body 31, and defines a number of impression patterns 35 coupled with the micro structures of optical films. In the first embodiment, the impression patterns 35 are micro-grooves uniformly distributed on the rolling surface 330. The thickness of the resin film 33 between the rolling surface 330 and the circumferential surface 301 is about 1.5 cm to about 2.5 cm.
Referring to
The heating device 20 melts a polymer resin 10 at a first predetermined temperature. The polymer resin 10 is made of polymer resin having the molecular chain with fluorine element. In the second embodiment, the polymer resin 10 is made of PTFE, and the first predetermined temperature is about 340 Celsius degrees (° C.).
The molding device 40 molds a preprocessed resin film 33a on the circumstance surface 301 to form a preprocessed roller 30a. The molding device 40 has two molding sheets 401 contacting with each other. The two molding sheets 401 cooperatively define a cylindrical molding cavity 41. The molding device 40 further has an injection port 42 communicating with the molding cavity 41 and a rotating element 402 received in the molding cavity 41. The main body 31 is received in the molding cavity 41 and can be driven by the rotating element 402 to rotate. In this embodiment, the rotating element 402 is a rotating shaft fit with and extending through the fixing hole 310.
When the main body 31 rotates, the melted polymer resin 10 is poured into the molding cavity 41 through the injection port 42 until the molding cavity 41 is filled with the melted polymer resin 10. When the melted polymer resin 10 is cooled to be half-solid or solid, a preprocessed resin film 33a coated on the main body 31 and the preprocessed roller 30a is obtained. Then the two molding sheets 401 are separated to take out the preprocessed roller 30a from the molding cavity 41. In the second embodiment, the injection port 42 is defined on one of the two molding sheets 401.
The processing device 60 forms the impression patterns 35 on the preprocessed resin film 33a to obtain the roller 30. The processing device 60 includes a molding plate 601 and a driving element 604. The molding plate 601 has a plane-shaped molding surface 602 evenly distributing a number of molding patterns 603. In the second embodiment, the molding patterns 603 are micro-protrusions. The driving element 604 is used for driving the preprocessed roller 30a to roll on the molding surface 602 to form the impression patterns 35 on the processed resin film 33a. In this embodiment, the driving element 604 is a rotating shaft fit with and extending through the fixing hole 310.
In other embodiments, if the melted polymer resin 10 is cooled to be solid before being removed from the molding cavity 41, the solid polymer resin 10 can be heated again to be half-solid, and thus the impression patterns 35 can be easily formed.
Also referring to
In step S1, the polymer resin 10 is provided, and is heated to be melted at a first predetermined temperature by the heating device 20. In the third embodiment, the polymer resin 10 is made of PTFE, and the first predetermined temperature is about 340° C.
In step S2, the cylindrical main body 31 is provided, and is sandblasted to be rough to enforce the adhesive potential of the melted polymer resin 10 thereon.
In step S3, the main body 31 is placed in the molding cavity 41.
In step S4, the main body 31 is driven to be rotate, and the melted polymer resin 10 is poured into the molding cavity 41 through the injection port 42 until the molding cavity 41 is filled.
In step S5, the melted polymer resin 10 is cooled to obtain the preprocessed roller 30a. And the preprocessed roller 30a includes the main body 31 and the preprocessed film 33a. The preprocessed film 33a has a preprocessed rolling surface 330a opposite to the main body 31.
In step S6, the preprocessed roller 30a is taken out from the molding cavity 41.
In step S7, the preprocessed rolling surface 330a is polished.
In step S8, the preprocessed resin film 33a is heated to be half-melted at a second predetermined temperature (such as 250° C.˜260° C.).
In step S9, the molding plate 601 having a plane-shaped molding surface 602 with a number of molding patterns 603 is provided, and the preprocessed roller 30a is driven to roll on the molding surface 602, and thus to form a number of impression patterns 35 on the preprocessed resin film 33 to obtain the roller 30.
Referring to
Also referring to
The steps S11-S18 are substantially the same as the steps S1-S8 respectively.
The step S19 includes the following sub-steps: the laser device 460 emits laser beams to the preprocessed resin film 33a; the laser device 460 is turned off; the preprocessed roller 30a is rotated a predetermined angle; and the laser device 460 is turned on and emits the laser beams to the preprocessed resin film 33a again. The above steps are repeated until the molding patterns 35 are formed on the preprocessed resin film 33a, and thus the roller 30 is obtained.
By employing the apparatus and the method, the seamless ring-shaped preprocessed resin film 33a can be directly formed on the circumferential surface 301 of the main body 31 using the molding device, and then the impression patterns 35 can be directly formed on the preprocessed resin film 33a to from the resin film 33, and the roller is thus obtained. Therefore, the manufacturing efficiency will be improved.
The above particular embodiments are shown and described by way of illustration only. The principles and the features of the present disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiments thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure as claimed. The above-described embodiments illustrate the scope of the disclosure but do not restrict the scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101107107 | Mar 2012 | TW | national |
