JP3200919B2 - Vacuum differential pressure sealing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum differential pressure sealing device used for an apparatus for performing processing such as vacuum deposition on a long member.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a vacuum differential pressure sealing device employed in a device for performing processing such as vacuum deposition on a long member, the present applicant has
A plurality of guide rolls which are supported so as to be parallel to each other and convey a long member, a motor for driving the guide rolls, a guide roll casing for accommodating the guide rolls in a chamber provided therein, and the chamber In the transport direction, the adjacent ones are communicated with each other, and a tunnel portion through which the long member transported by the guide roll is inserted, and a suction device directly or indirectly connected to at least one of the chambers. An earlier application has been filed for a vacuum differential pressure sealing device having the same (Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 3-2191).
No. 87).

[0003]

The above-mentioned vacuum differential pressure sealing device exhibits an effect that an extremely high sealing property can be obtained. However, if the elongate member is bent or the like, the elongate member becomes a tunnel. There is room for further improvement in this respect, since the inner wall surface of the part contacts the inner wall surface and the surface is scratched.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to enable the long member to be satisfactorily conveyed without the long member coming into contact with the inner wall surface of the tunnel even if the long member is bent. It is to provide a vacuum differential pressure sealing device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a vacuum differential pressure sealing device according to the present invention comprises a plurality of guide rolls supported in parallel to each other and transporting a long member, and the guide rolls. A motor for driving a roll, a guide roll casing for accommodating the guide roll in a chamber provided therein, and communicating between adjacent ones of the chambers in the transport direction, and a long member transported by the guide roll. It has a tunnel portion to be inserted, and a suction device directly or indirectly connected to at least one of the chambers, and the tunnel portion has a long member to be inserted along the transport direction. A plurality of small guide rollers for guiding, and a gap sensor for detecting a gap between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel portion are provided. In response to a signal from, it is characterized in that the gap between the elongated member and the tunnel portion walls formed by providing a control device for controlling the driving force of the motor to maintain constant.

[0006]

According to the vacuum differential pressure sealing device of the present invention, the long member through which the plurality of small guide rollers provided in the tunnel section pass is guided along the transport direction. Moreover, the gap sensor detects the distance between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel, and a signal from the gap sensor causes the control device to drive the motor so as to maintain a constant gap between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel. You will control the force. Therefore, even if the elongate member is bent or the like, the elongate member does not contact the inner wall surface of the tunnel portion.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vacuum differential pressure sealing device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

In the drawing, reference numeral 10 denotes a guide roll which is supported so as to be parallel to each other and transports a long member 11 such as a flexible steel plate. In this embodiment, the guide roll 10 is long. The member 11 is wound around the long member 1
Adjacent ones of the long members 11 in the transport direction are arranged alternately in the vertical direction so that the portions located between the respective guide rolls 10 are along the vertical direction.
Here, each guide roll 10 is driven by a motor (not shown), and the motor is connected to a control device (not shown), and the driving torque thereof is controlled in accordance with a signal from the control device. It has become so.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a long member 11 having a chamber 13 therein and conveyed by a guide roll 10.
A guide roll casing for accommodating the guide roll 10 in the chamber 13 such that a portion located between the guide rolls 10 adjacent in the transport direction has a predetermined length;
Reference numeral 14 denotes a tunnel unit that connects adjacent chambers 13 in the transport direction and has a small clearance with respect to the elongated member 11 inserted therein. Reference numeral 15 denotes a suction device connected to the chamber 13. Here, the guide roll casing 12 for accommodating the guide roll 10 in the chamber 13 is also disposed in the same manner as the guide roll 10, and the long member 11 to which the tunnel portion 14 is also conveyed
Are provided along the vertical direction in accordance with the above.

Each of the tunnel sections 14 is provided with a plurality of small guide rollers 16 for guiding the transport of the long member 11 along the transport direction (vertical direction). The small guide rollers 16 are rotatably supported by the tunnel section 14 so as to be alternately left and right in the vertical direction. Each small guide roller 16 has its tip end disposed substantially on the same plane. It protrudes inward from the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 by a predetermined amount.

A gap sensor 17 for detecting a gap between the conveyed long member 11 is embedded in an inner wall surface 14a of each tunnel portion 14 facing each small guide roller 16. The gap sensor 17 is connected to the above-described control device (not shown). The control device includes a long member 11 to be conveyed and a corresponding inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 where the gap sensor 17 is provided. Is transmitted.

The guide member casing 12 on the most upstream side in the carrying direction of the long member 11 has a long member 1 to be carried.
No. 1 is provided, and a nozzle portion 18 is provided.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, a tunnel section, a guide roll, a guide roll casing, and the like having the same configuration as described above are connected in a plurality of stages on the downstream side in the transport direction of the long member 11 of the guide roll casing 12. A vacuum deposition chamber or the like for performing a predetermined process on the long member 11 is connected to the guide roll casing at the last stage on the downstream side.

According to the vacuum differential pressure sealing device configured as described above, the elongate member 11 is not subjected to the vacuum differential pressure sealing by the suction device 15 provided on the guide roll casing 12, and the elongate member 11 is not illustrated in the vacuum evaporation chamber or the like. However, since the long member 11 through which the plurality of small guide rollers 16 provided in each tunnel portion 14 pass is guided along the conveyance direction, the long member 11 is bent. Even if this occurs, the long member 11 does not come into contact with the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 on the side where the small guide roller 16 is provided. The bending of the elongated member 11 that has occurred projects to the side where the small guide rollers 16 are not provided. The projecting side of the bending of the elongated member 11 includes the elongated member 11 and the tunnel portion. A gap sensor 17 is provided which constantly detects the interval between the inner wall 14 and the inner wall surface 14a and transmits a detection signal to a controller (not shown). When the signal from the gap sensor 17 causes the long member 11 to bend and the gap between the long member 11 and the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 to become smaller than a predetermined value, the control device is provided on the guide roll 10. The driving force of the motor (not shown) is controlled so that the tension generated in the long member 11 is constant, and the gap between the long member 11 and the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 is kept constant.

More specifically, for example, when the bending generated in the long member 11 becomes large and the gap between the long member 11 and the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the length becomes smaller. The drive torque of the motor of the guide roll 10 located on the downstream side with respect to the bent portion is increased by a predetermined amount with respect to the drive torque of the motor of the guide roll located on the upstream side.
1 reduce the deflection. Then, the bending of the long member 11 is reduced, and the gap between the long member 11 and the inner wall surface 14a of the tunnel portion 14 becomes larger than a predetermined value based on a signal from the gap sensor 17, and a normal state is established. When it is detected, the drive torque of the downstream motor and the drive torque of the upstream motor are controlled to substantially the same value so that the tension generated in the long member 11 becomes constant. here,
Due to the reduction in the bending of the long member 11, this bending is particularly sent to a portion on the downstream side in the transport direction. This sent bending is also sequentially reduced in the same manner as described above, and all the guide rolls 10 The driving force of each motor is appropriately controlled in order to keep the generated tension of the long member 11 constant.

As described above, even if the elongate member 11 bends or the like occurs, the elongate member 11 is
No more contact. Therefore, the long member 11
Can be satisfactorily conveyed without scratches or the like.

In the above embodiment, the case where the long member 11 between the guide rolls 10 is conveyed in the vertical direction has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to various things such as those conveyed in a vertical direction and those conveyed obliquely at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction.

[0017]

As described above in detail, according to the vacuum differential pressure sealing device of the present invention, a long member through which a plurality of small guide rollers provided in a tunnel section are inserted is guided along the transport direction. In addition, the gap sensor detects the distance between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel, and a signal from the gap sensor causes the control device to control the motor to maintain a constant gap between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel. The driving force will be controlled. Therefore, even if the elongate member is bent, the elongate member does not contact the inner wall surface of the tunnel portion, so that the elongate member can be satisfactorily conveyed without being damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a vacuum differential pressure sealing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Guide roll 11 Long member 12 Guide roll casing 13 Chamber 14 Tunnel part 15 Suction device

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-167348 (JP, A) JP-A-3-211276 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C23C 14/56 C23C 16/54 C21D 9/32-9/66 B29C 71/04 C08J 7/00-7/02 C08J 7/12-7/18

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of guide rolls supported to be parallel to each other and transporting a long member, a motor for driving the guide rolls, and a guide roll for accommodating the guide rolls in a chamber provided therein. A casing and a tunnel portion that allows communication between adjacent ones in the transfer direction of the chamber and allows a long member to be transferred by the guide roll to pass therethrough, and is directly or indirectly connected to at least one of the chambers. In the vacuum differential pressure seal device having a suction device, the tunnel portion, a plurality of small guide rollers to guide the long member to be inserted along the transport direction, the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel portion A gap sensor for detecting a gap is provided. In response to a signal from the gap sensor, a gap between the long member and the inner wall surface of the tunnel portion is provided. Vacuum differential pressure sealing apparatus characterized by comprising providing a control device for controlling the driving force of the motor to maintain a gap constant.