JP2000015697A - Laminating equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a miniaturized laminating apparatus which prevents heating before lamination, does not generate waving or bubbles, and the like. An upper vacuum container (2) having therein a hot plate (5) having a flat lower surface and a stretchable sheet (7) are stretched over an opening.
A laminating apparatus having an upper vacuum container 1 in which an inner portion is a lower vacuum chamber, wherein when the two vacuum containers are closed with the laminated sheet 24 interposed therebetween, the upper vacuum chamber and the lower vacuum chamber are bounded by an elastic sheet. Two vacuum chambers are formed, and the elastic sheet expands only when the upper vacuum chamber is depressurized to create a pressure difference between these vacuum chambers, and the laminated sheet is pressed against the hot plate by the elastic sheet to apply pressure and heat. And laminate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for producing a thin-film photoelectric conversion module or the like in which a thin-film photoelectric conversion element (cell) is sandwiched between flexible weather-resistant films and both sides are protected.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional laminating apparatus, a so-called double vacuum laminating apparatus including an upper vacuum container and a lower vacuum container separated by an elastic sheet is known. In order to laminate a continuous base material and a laminated body such as another covering sheet (hereinafter referred to as a “laminated sheet”), a double vacuum laminating apparatus equipped with a supply device for the laminated sheet and a recovery device after lamination is proposed. The inventor has disclosed it in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-97915.
3A and 3B show a conventional laminating apparatus, in which FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view along a conveying direction of a sheet to be laminated, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the laminating section on a plane perpendicular to the transport direction.

A sealing sheet 24a, which is a light-transmitting weather-resistant film wound on a delivery roll 21, is conveyed in the direction of an arrow 29, and a thin-film photoelectric conversion cell 24b is supplied at a tower mounting position 28 manually or supplied (not shown). It is mounted on the sealing sheet 24a by the device. Here, in order to fix and seal the thin-film photoelectric conversion cells 24b on the sealing sheet 24a, a weather-resistant sealing sheet 24d is sent out from the feed roll 23,
The sheet 24 to be laminated, which is brought into close contact with the press rolls 25a and 25b and stacked, is conveyed.

The periphery of an elastic sheet 7 made of silicone rubber or the like is fixed to the periphery of the upper vacuum
Is composed. O-ring 4 around upper vacuum vessel 2
Is attached, and in the closed state, matches with the O-ring 3 around the lower vacuum vessel 1. Further, a heating plate 5 having a heater 5a is attached to the lower vacuum vessel 1 via a heat insulating member 6, and the heating plate 5 is constantly heated to a constant temperature.

After the sheet 24 to be laminated is conveyed to the hot plate 5, the upper vacuum container 2 is lowered by the opening / closing mechanism 10, and the O-rings 3 and 4 sandwich the sheet 24 to be laminated and seal around the lower vacuum container 1. To form the lower vacuum chamber 8. The lower vacuum chamber 8 and the upper vacuum chamber 9 are connected to a vacuum pump 16 via a control valve 14 and a control valve 15, respectively. The inside of the chamber 9 is evacuated, and the space between the sealing sheets is evacuated. After the degassing is sufficiently performed, the control valve 15 is switched to bring the inside of the upper vacuum chamber 9 to the atmospheric state, and the elastic sheet 7 is pressed against the laminated sheet 24 by the pressure difference between the lower vacuum chamber 8 and the upper vacuum chamber 9. Press. After laminating the module 24m for a predetermined time in this state, the control valve 14 is switched to bring the inside of the lower vacuum chamber 8 to the atmospheric state, and the upper vacuum container 2 is raised by the opening / closing mechanism 10 to convey the module 24m.

The transporting module 24m has a transport pitch 33 shorter than the effective cross-linking area 31 so that the previous lamination area 30 and the current effective cross-linking area 31 overlap.
To stop at a position where the previous lamination range 30 does not deviate from the effective cross-linking area 31. During this transport, the thin film photoelectric conversion cells 24b are simultaneously mounted on the sealing sheet 24a on the delivery roll side.

[0007] The cooling roll 2
6a and 26b, and cooled by the take-up roll 27.
It is wound up.

[0008]

In such a laminating apparatus, when a sheet to be laminated is supplied, it is placed directly on a heated hot plate, so that degassing by evacuation and expansion and contraction are performed. There is a problem that the object to be laminated is heated before the pressure is applied by the conductive sheet. If heating is performed before degassing and pressurization is performed in this way, ripples and bubbles are generated, and in this portion, a cross-linking reaction due to heating proceeds, so even if degassing and pressurizing are performed in the next step Wavy and air bubbles remain as traces, making it difficult to perform high quality lamination.

Further, a cooling roll is separately provided in a vacuum chamber for cooling after lamination, so that the apparatus is large and the occupied area is large. An object of the present invention is to provide a miniaturized laminating apparatus that prevents heating before lamination, does not generate waving or bubbles, and the like.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, an upper vacuum vessel having a hot plate having a flat lower surface therein and a lower vacuum vessel having an elastic sheet stretched over an opening are provided. A laminating apparatus having two vacuum chambers, an upper vacuum chamber and a lower vacuum chamber, which are bounded by a stretchable sheet when the two vacuum containers are closed with a sheet to be laminated sandwiched therebetween. Only when a pressure difference is applied to these vacuum chambers, the stretchable sheet expands, and the laminated sheet is pressed against the hot plate by the stretchable sheet and pressurized and heated for lamination. Thus, if the sheet to be laminated is simply conveyed to the laminating apparatus, it does not come into contact with the hot plate and is not heated before lamination, so that no waving or bubbles are generated.

[0011] A cooling plate provided with a cooling mechanism through which a cooling medium flows is provided in the lower vacuum vessel, and the laminated sheet is preferably cooled through the elastic sheet. Because of this, the laminated sheet can be cooled when the two vacuum containers are separated after the lamination is completed, and it is not necessary to separately provide a cooling device below the conveyance. It is preferable that a cooling device having the cooling medium supply means and the temperature control is provided outside the vacuum vessel. Because of this, the volume of the vacuum vessel could be reduced.

It is preferable that the stretchable sheet does not contact the cooling plate at least at the time of pressurizing and heating the sheet to be laminated. With this configuration, heat does not escape to the cooling body, and the heating efficiency of the hot plate is high. A supply unit for supplying a continuous container to be laminated formed by laminating at least one or more heat-reactive films to the vacuum container unit; and a collection unit for collecting the processed sheet to be laminated. good. Because of this, continuous sheets to be laminated can be laminated, and the operation rate of the laminating apparatus is high.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows a laminating apparatus according to the present invention, and is a cross-sectional view taken along a conveying direction of a sheet to be laminated. The translucent and weather-resistant sealing sheet 24a wound on the delivery roll 21 is transported in the direction of the arrow 29, and the thin-film photoelectric conversion cells 24b are loaded at the mounting position 28 manually or by a supply device (not shown). 24a. Further, a power supply terminal of the mounted thin film photoelectric conversion cell 24b
The conductive tape 24c is supplied from the delivery roll 22 and connected to perform the current collection wiring of the thin-film photoelectric conversion cell 24b. Then, the weather-resistant heat-adhesive film 24d is sent out from the sending-out roll 23 and put on the thin-film photoelectric conversion cell 24b and the conductive tape 24c.
The sheet 24 to be laminated in which these are adhered to and laminated on the sealing sheet 24a by 25b is conveyed to the laminating section, and lamination is performed for fixing and sealing to the sealing sheet 24a. In the laminating section, lamination is performed for a predetermined time as described below.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the laminating unit of the laminating apparatus (FIG. 1) according to the present invention, taken along the conveying direction of the sheet to be laminated. ) Shows the pressurized state of the elastic sheet. A heating plate 5 having a flat lower surface is attached to the upper vacuum vessel 2 via a heat insulating member 6, and the heating plate 5 is constantly heated to a constant temperature. O-ring 4 around upper vacuum vessel 2
Is mounted, and the upper vacuum container 2 is lowered by the opening / closing mechanism 10 so as to match the O-ring 3 of the lower vacuum container 1,
The upper vacuum chamber 9 is configured and closed. Lower vacuum vessel 1
The periphery of an elastic sheet 7 such as silicone rubber is fixed to the peripheral edge of the lower part, thereby forming a lower vacuum chamber 8. Lower vacuum chamber 8
When no pressure difference is generated between the upper and lower vacuum chambers 9, the elastic sheet 7 is supported by the flat plate 11 in a flat shape. A cooling mechanism 12 is attached to the flat plate 11, and a cooling medium is flown to cool the flat plate 11 and cool the stretchable sheet 7 while supporting the stretchable sheet 7. The temperature of the cooling medium is controlled by the cooling device 13 and is supplied to the cooling mechanism 12.

After the sheet 24 to be laminated is placed above the elastic sheet 7 supported in a plane, the upper vacuum container 2 is lowered by the opening / closing mechanism 10, and the O-rings 3 and 4 are placed around the lower vacuum container 1. To form the upper vacuum chamber 9. The lower vacuum chamber 8 and the upper vacuum chamber 9 are connected to a vacuum pump 16 via a control valve 14 and a control valve 15, respectively. The sheet 24 is pressurized, and is simultaneously evacuated so that the deaeration is not hindered, and the inside of the laminated sheet 24 is deaerated. After the degassing is sufficiently performed, the control valve 14 is switched to bring the inside of the lower vacuum chamber 8 to the atmospheric state, and the elastic sheet 7 is moved upward together with the sheet 24 to be laminated by the pressure difference between the lower vacuum chamber 8 and the upper vacuum chamber 9. , And the sheet 24 to be laminated is sandwiched between the hot plate 5 and the elastic sheet 7, pressurized, and simultaneously heated. After laminating by pressurizing and heating for a predetermined time in this state, the control valve 15 is switched to bring the inside of the upper vacuum chamber 9 into an atmospheric state, and the upper vacuum container 2 is raised by the opening / closing mechanism 10,
Take out the laminated sheet 24 to be laminated, that is, the module 24m.

After laminating, the upper vacuum container is raised, the module 24m is transported while the thin film photoelectric conversion cell 24b is mounted at the mounting position 28, and the module 24m is taken up by the take-up roll 27 as a collecting means. The conveyed module 24m is step-conveyed at a conveyance pitch 33 shorter than the heat reaction area 31 so that the rear end of the previous lamination area 30 and the heat reaction area 31 overlap.

[0017]

According to the present invention, an upper vacuum container provided with a hot plate having a heating plane facing downward, and an upper vacuum vessel for mounting a sheet to be laminated and pressing upward toward a heating plane installed above. An elastic sheet that can expand toward the front,
By providing a lower vacuum container having a flat plate for supporting the stretchable sheet in a planar shape below and a laminating unit configured to be openable and closable, the sheet to be laminated does not come into contact with the hot plate in a state where pressure is not applied. Therefore, even when the temperature of the hot plate is kept constant, the transfer of heat to the sheet to be laminated is extremely reduced, and furthermore, the flat plate is provided with a cooling structure for cooling the stretchable sheet. Without this, only the sheet to be laminated can be cooled, and as a result, even when the temperature of the hot plate is kept constant, the heat transfer to the sheet to be laminated becomes extremely small, and the sheet to be laminated is This eliminates the problem that the material is heated, and enables efficient lamination with good quality. In addition, before and after the laminating device, a supply unit for supplying a continuous laminating sheet formed by laminating at least one layer of the heat-reactive film to the laminating unit, and recovering the processed laminating sheet. , A high-quality continuous lamination free of waving and bubbles can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a laminating apparatus according to the present invention, taken along a conveying direction of a sheet to be laminated.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a laminating unit of a laminating apparatus (FIG. 1) according to the present invention along a conveying direction of a sheet to be laminated, (a) showing an open state of a vacuum container,
(B) shows the pressurized state of the elastic sheet.

FIG. 3 shows a conventional laminating apparatus, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view along a conveying direction of a sheet to be laminated;
(B) is a cross-sectional view of the laminating section on a plane perpendicular to the transport direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower vacuum container 2 Upper vacuum container 3 O-ring 4 O-ring 5 Hot plate 6 Insulating member 7 Elastic sheet 8 Lower vacuum chamber 9 Upper vacuum chamber 10 Opening / closing mechanism 11 Flat plate 12 Cooling mechanism 13 Cooling device 14 Control valve 15 Control valve 16 Vacuum pump 21 Delivery roll 22 Delivery roll 23 Delivery roll 24a Sealing sheet 24b Thin film photoelectric conversion cell 24c Conductive tape 24d Sealing sheet 24 Sheet to be laminated 24m Module 25a Press roll 25b Press roll 27 Take-up roll 28 Tower loading position 29 Transport direction 30 Previous lamination area 31 Thermal reaction area 33 Transport pitch

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A laminating apparatus comprising: an upper vacuum container having a hot plate having a flat lower surface therein; and a lower vacuum container having an elastic sheet stretched over an opening, wherein both the vacuum containers are covered. When closed with the laminate sheet in between, the upper vacuum chamber and the lower vacuum chamber
The upper vacuum chamber is decompressed, and a pressure difference is applied to these vacuum chambers to expand the stretchable sheet. The sheet to be laminated is pressed against the hot plate by the stretchable sheet and pressurized and heated to laminate. A laminating apparatus. 2. The lower vacuum container is provided with a cooling plate having a cooling mechanism through which a cooling medium flows, and cools the sheet to be laminated through the elastic sheet. 3. The laminating apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The laminating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a cooling device having the cooling medium supply means and temperature control is provided outside the vacuum vessel. 4. The laminating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable sheet is not in contact with the cooling plate at least when the sheet to be laminated is pressed and heated. 5. A supplying means for supplying a continuous sheet to be laminated constituted by laminating at least one layer of a heat-reactive film to a laminating section, and a collecting means for collecting the processed sheet to be laminated. The laminating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising means.