JPH025456B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a plasma density adjusting device that can continuously uniformly adjust the plasma density of a fabric in a low-temperature plasma processing device.

Traditionally, industrially, fabrics such as woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, and non-woven fabrics are processed continuously, for example, in a treatment process before dyeing, water-repellent impurities attached to the fabric fibers are removed to make them hydrophilic, and a dye solution is applied to the fabrics. There is a scouring process that allows the dye to penetrate easily, and a finishing process that imparts properties such as flexibility, water repellency, antistatic, antifouling, and water absorption after dyeing, but both processes were performed in water.

For example, in the scouring process, fabrics containing cotton are coated with an alkaline scouring aid such as caustic soda or soda ash, and then steamed at around 100°C for 20 minutes or more or boiled in an aqueous solution containing alkali and scouring aids to make them water repellent. In order to make the impurities solubilized in water, and then to remove the chemicals adhering to the treated fabric and the solubilized impurities, it was necessary to repeatedly wash the fabric with water and then dry it after washing with water. .

In addition, in the finishing process, it is necessary to apply a finishing agent dissolved or dispersed in water and then pass it through a dryer to evaporate and remove the moisture. was necessary.

However, with such treatment means, the cost of the treatment chemicals is high, a large amount of heat is required to cause the chemicals to react with the fabric, and furthermore, in the case of the scouring process, the residual liquid contained in the treated fabric, Alternatively, a large number of water washers for removing impurities and/or deposits, a large quantity of water source to be supplied to each of these water washers, and a device for disposing of the washed waste liquid are required. Currently, processing of fabrics requires a large amount of water resources, heat energy equipment, etc., which is expensive. Furthermore, since the waste liquid discharged from washing machines inevitably contains chemicals, problems such as waste liquid pollution arise, and the treatment of the waste liquid also requires large equipment costs, personnel costs, etc. However, it lacked economic efficiency, especially in the textile processing industry.

For this reason, it has recently been proposed to treat textile products such as fabrics in a low-temperature plasma atmosphere to obtain, for example, desizing, scouring effects, or finishing effects on the fabrics. (hereinafter simply referred to as plasma) During treatment, if the plasma atmosphere in the fabric transport path in the reactor, that is, the plasma density, is non-uniform, it is natural that the plasma treatment on the fabric will be non-uniform. However, for example, if the plasma atmosphere is uniform with respect to the fabric transfer surface, a phenomenon occurs in which the plasma reactivity at the center in the width direction of the transfer fabric is weakened relative to the edges on both sides, or A middle concentration phenomenon occurs in which the plasma reactivity at the center in the width direction of the fabric is strengthened relative to the edges on both sides, and when continuous plasma treatment is performed on wide fabrics, the plasma reaction becomes uneven in the width direction. There was a problem that caused this.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and it is possible to uniformly adjust the plasma atmosphere in the plasma reactor, that is, the plasma density in the width direction of the fabric transferred in the reactor, or to An object of the present invention is to provide a plasma density adjusting device that can adjust the plasma density at the center of a fabric in the width direction to be higher than the plasma density acting on both side edges of the fabric. That is.

The present invention will be explained in detail below based on embodiments shown in the drawings.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a reactor capable of continuous plasma treatment, and the reactor 1 has an inlet 3 and an inlet 3 for continuously introducing the fabric 2 to be subjected to low-temperature plasma treatment into the reactor 1. An outlet port 4 is provided for continuously discharging the fabric. In addition, each of the inlet ports 3 and 4 has a sealing mechanism that allows the fabric to be continuously passed through the inlet port 3 and the inlet port 4 to maintain the inside of the reactor 1 at a vacuum (0.1 to 10 Torr, preferably 0.5 to 2 Torr). The sealing mechanisms 5 and 6 seal the inlet and outlet of the reactor 1 by using a known sealing mechanism developed by the present inventors. be able to. Furthermore, inside this reactor 1, a low-temperature plasma treatment mechanism is provided, and this low-temperature plasma treatment mechanism includes a high-frequency generation electrode 7 installed above the transfer path of the moving fabric 2;
One of the high-frequency generating electrodes 7 is supplied with high-frequency waves from an oscillator (not shown) installed outside the reactor 1, and the other is a ground electrode 8 installed below the reactor. The ground electrode 8 is grounded.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the configuration of the high-frequency generating electrode 7 is such that a large number of electrode plates 7a formed in small pieces are arranged at appropriate intervals in the width direction of the fabric 2 and in the transport direction of the fabric, that is, in the vertical and horizontal directions. These electrode plates 7a are arranged in a staggered pattern, and furthermore, these electrode plates 7a are arranged and held by an electrode plate holding frame 7b made of an insulating material such as quartz glass. These plates 7a are each independently connected to a plurality of output terminals provided in the oscillator, and each pole is adjusted by an output adjustment mechanism for each plate 7a provided in the oscillator. Board 7
The strength of the input applied to a can be adjusted. That is, the density of plasma generated between each electrode plate 7a and the earth electrode 8 can be selectively adjusted. The positions of the high frequency generation electrode and the ground electrode are reversed, and the high frequency is inputted to the ground electrode 8, and a resistor whose ground resistance value can be varied is connected to each plate 7a for grounding. However, the purpose of this application can be achieved.

9 is a gas nozzle made of an insulating material for blowing out gas toward the entire surface of the high-frequency generating electrode 7; 10;
An intake duct 10 is made of an insulating material and is formed to surround the ground electrode 8, and this intake duct 10 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown). Reference numeral 11 denotes a fabric guide roll disposed within the reactor 1, and this guide roll 11 allows the fabric to be transferred into a fabric passage 12 formed between the upper and lower pair of electrodes 7 and 8. .

The above is the configuration of this embodiment.Next, to describe its function, first, a vacuum pump (not shown) is used.
After reducing the pressure in the reactor 1 to a degree of vacuum of 0.5 to 5 Torr, air, oxygen, or other gas is supplied into the reactor 1 from the gas nozzle 9 to reduce the vacuum in the reactor 1. Adjust so that the temperature is approximately 1 Torr. Therefore, a high frequency power source (not shown)
A higher frequency, for example 13.56 MHz, is supplied to the high frequency generation electrode to generate plasma. By moving the fabric 2 into the atmosphere of the plasma thus generated and the gas excited by this plasma, that is, into the fabric passage 12 between the electrodes 7 and 8, the low-temperature plasma acts on the fabric 2, making the fabric hydrophilic. However, since the plasma density generated between the two electrodes 7 and 8 is determined by the strength of the high frequency power input to the electrode 7, for example, If the plasma density is non-uniform, the strength of the high-frequency power supplied to each electrode plate arranged in a staggered pattern may be adjusted for each electrode plate to ensure uniformity over the entire surface inside the fabric passage 12. On the other hand, the plasma density in a part of the fabric passage 12 can be made high or low at will, thereby achieving uniform plasma treatment over the entire surface of the fabric. can be achieved.

As described above, the present invention provides a low-temperature plasma processing apparatus equipped with a pair of electrodes spaced apart within a reaction chamber, in which one electrode is formed of a large number of small electrode plates spaced apart in a planar and staggered manner. This plasma density adjusting device is characterized in that these small plates are independently connected to an oscillator whose power can be adjusted or to the ground via a variable resistor. By adjusting the strength of the high-frequency power supplied to the small electrode plates for each electrode plate, the plasma density applied to the fabric surface to be plasma treated can be adjusted.
Changes can be adjusted so that the plasma reaction on the fabric is uniform, which eliminates the rare phenomenon of plasma treatment on fabrics that are continuously transferred, and has the effect of uniform plasma treatment over the entire surface of the fabric. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings all show embodiments of the device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the entire device, and FIG.
The figure is a cross-sectional view of the main part, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof. 1... Reactor, 2... Fabric, 3... Inlet, 4
... Outlet, 5, 6 ... Seal mechanism, 7 ... High frequency generation electrode, 7a ... Small electrode plate, 7b ... Plate holding frame, 8 ... Earth electrode, 9 ... Gas nozzle, 10
...Intake duct, 11...Guide roll, 12...
...Fabric aisle.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a low-temperature plasma processing apparatus equipped with a pair of electrodes spaced apart in a reactor, one of the electrodes is composed of a large number of small electrode plates spaced apart in a planar and staggered manner, and furthermore, these The small electrode plates are independently
A device for adjusting plasma density, characterized in that the device is connected to a power adjustable oscillator or to ground via a variable resistor, respectively.