JP2007008009A - Laminating equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a laminating apparatus with effective measures against falling dust.
A laminating apparatus of the present invention is a laminating apparatus for laminating a recording medium by heat-pressing at a pressure-bonding part while conveying the recording medium between a laminating material and an under film. A laminating material supply unit that supplies the laminating material to the pressure-bonding part from the recording surface side of the recording medium, and an under-supply that supplies the under film to the pressure-bonding part from the side opposite to the recording surface of the recording medium. A film supply unit; and a cover that covers an upper region of the laminate material supply unit, the under film supply unit, and the pressure bonding unit, and an opening for conveying the recording medium to the pressure bonding unit is formed in the cover. It is characterized by that.
[Selection] Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to a laminating apparatus for forming a laminating layer on a recording surface of a recording medium on which an image is recorded.

  As a result of various improvements made to the recording apparatus (printer) and the recording medium, the recording system such as the ink jet recording system and the thermal transfer recording system can obtain an image quality comparable to a silver salt color photograph. In recent years, image information captured by a digital camera, digital video, scanner, or the like or electronic image information in a computer has been widely used as a technique for hard copying.

  In addition, in these recording methods, the recording surface of the recording medium is protected to give permanent durability, and the glossiness and smoothness of the recording surface are increased to further improve the image quality. For this purpose, a technique of laminating a laminate layer on a recording surface of a recording medium after image recording is also widely known.

  As an apparatus used for laminating on a recording surface, a recording medium and a laminating material which are laminated by supplying a laminating material comprising a base material and a laminating layer formed so as to be peelable on the base material onto the recording surface. There is a laminating apparatus that transfers the laminate layer onto the recording surface of the recording medium by thermocompression bonding, and then peels the substrate from the laminate layer (Patent Document 1).

  However, in the laminating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, every time the recording medium is replaced with one having a different width size, the laminating material must be replaced with one having a suitable width size. However, in this case, an extra portion of the laminate layer (after the lamination process ( It is necessary to cut off a portion that is not laminated on the recording surface (non-laminated portion) along the edge of the recording medium, and in any case, it is complicated.

  For this reason, there is a laminating apparatus that can save the labor of cutting a non-laminate portion (Patent Document 2). In the laminating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, a piece-like recording medium cut to a predetermined feeding length and a laminating material supplied as a continuous sheet from a roll are laminated via a film guide roll, and a platen Laminate disclosed in Patent Document 1 in that it is heat-pressed when passing between the roll and the heated intermediate roll, and thereafter the substrate is peeled from the laminate layer by the peeling roll disposed on the downstream side. Although generally the same as the apparatus, in the laminating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, when the base material is peeled off, the non-laminate part is separated from the laminated part and is carried away together with the base material.

  The laminating apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2 lifts the non-laminate portion together with the base material by separating the base material from the recording surface of the recording medium, and near the boundary between the non-laminate portion and the laminate portion generated at that time The portion is forcibly broken (forcibly torn off) by the pulling force.

  Therefore, in the vicinity of the boundary between the laminate part and the non-laminate part, a part of the non-laminate part remains on the laminate part side or a part of the laminate part is peeled off from the recording medium. There is a problem in that the edge of the separated laminated portion does not follow the edge of the recording medium, resulting in a non-uniform shape, and the edge processing of the laminated recording medium is forced. Yes.

  Also, if the adhesion between the laminate part and the recording medium and / or the adhesion between the non-laminate part and the base material is uneven or insufficient near the edge of the recording medium, the conveying speed of the laminate material When the characteristics of the laminate layer and the peeling angle of the substrate with respect to the recording medium are not appropriate, the laminate portion and the non-laminate portion are not separated and are pulled by the non-laminate portion so that the entire laminate portion is covered. There is also a problem that the surface layer including the recording surface is peeled off from the recording medium by being peeled off from the recording medium or pulled by the non-laminate portion.

  Therefore, the present applicant filed Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-98858 prior to the present application. The laminating apparatus according to this application forms a laminate layer on the recording surface of the recording medium by laminating a laminating material having a size larger than that of the recording medium so as to cover the recording medium, and by thermocompression bonding. In this configuration, the laminate layer that protrudes from the recording medium is transferred to the transfer means that is disposed on the opposite side of the recording surface of the recording medium.

  According to such a configuration, when the transfer target is separated to the opposite side of the recording surface of the recording medium, the laminate layer is pulled (pulled) to the opposite side of the recording medium. Since the tensile force acts intensively along the boundary between the portion where the recording medium is present and the portion where the recording medium is not present (that is, the edge of the recording medium), the portion where the laminate layer and the recording surface are pressure-bonded (recording) Of course, the laminate portion where the laminate layer is laminated on the surface and the portion where the laminate layer and the transfer means are pressure-bonded (the non-laminate portion not laminated on the recording medium) are separated. The edge of the laminate layer formed on the recording surface becomes clean along the edge of the recording medium.

  As a transfer means, for example, a resin film such as PET (polyethylene terephthalate) made of a material having thermal adhesiveness to the adhesive layer of the laminate material or a material having the same quality as the adhesive layer (referred to as an “under film” in terms of its function). Is preferred. In this case, the laminate material and the under film are respectively fed out from the rolls, overlapped with a recording medium interposed therebetween, and heat-pressed at the pressure-bonding portion, and then on the peeling portion disposed on the downstream side. Then, the base material is peeled off from the laminate layer, and the under film is separated from the recording medium at the separation portion disposed on the downstream side.

JP-A-58-224779 JP 10-211161 A

  By the way, the laminating apparatus may be provided in a vertical unit configuration from the viewpoint of space saving and compactness (for example, when provided integrally with a printing apparatus).

  In such a vertical laminating apparatus, usually, the recording medium is laminated while being conveyed from above to below (vertical direction). In this case, particularly in the laminating apparatus using the under film, since the roll of the laminating material and the under film are arranged to face the conveyance path, the laminating material fed from both rolls and the pressure bonding part of the under film are reached. The shape of the locus is an inverted triangle with the crimping point of the crimping portion as a downward apex. It can be said that such a shape is a shape in which dust falling from above the apparatus easily enters the crimping point. That is, the vertical laminating apparatus is compared with the laminating apparatus (specifically, the laminating layer) and the recording medium, and between the under film and the recording medium, compared to the horizontal laminating apparatus (conveying direction is substantially horizontal). Dust is easy to get in between. In this case, there is a problem that dust adheres to the inner side of both films (the side in close contact with the recording medium) and is heat-pressed with the dust still attached, resulting in a deterioration in the quality of the laminating process.

  The present invention has been made to eliminate the above-described adverse effects when the laminating apparatus is a vertical type, and an object of the present invention is to provide a laminating apparatus in which an effective measure against falling dust is taken.

  The laminating apparatus according to the present invention is a laminating apparatus for laminating a recording medium by heating and press-bonding the recording medium while sandwiching the recording medium between the laminating material and the under film and transporting the recording medium. Laminating material supply unit for supplying the under film from the recording surface side of the recording medium, and an under film supply unit for supplying the under film from the side opposite to the recording surface of the recording medium to the compression unit And a cover that covers an upper region of the laminate material supply part, the under film supply part, and the pressure bonding part, and an opening for conveying a recording medium to the pressure bonding part is formed in the cover. And

  According to the laminating apparatus having the above-described configuration, the laminate material supply unit, the under film supply unit, and the pressure bonding unit are covered with a cover in which an opening (slit) for allowing a recording medium to pass is formed. By blocking dust coming in, it is possible to reliably prevent adhesion to the laminate material or the under film or entry of the crimping part into the crimping point.

  The laminating material supply unit and the under film supply unit are housed in a magazine housing that is detachable from the housing of the apparatus main body, and a part of a frame constituting the magazine housing covers the cover. You may make it the structure which serves as both.

  According to the said structure, since the said laminate material supply part and the said under film supply part can be handled integrally, while being excellent in maintainability, there also exists an effective dustproof effect.

  As described above, according to the laminating apparatus of the present invention, since the cover for blocking the falling dust is provided, the processing environment from the supply of the laminating material and the under film to the thermocompression bonding with the recording medium is clean. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent a problem that the heat and pressure bonding is performed while dust is adhered between the laminate material and the recording medium or between the under film and the recording medium.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of a laminating apparatus according to the present invention, an apparatus that is integrated with a printer apparatus and that can continuously perform image recording (printing) on a recording medium that is a premise of a laminating process will be described. .

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the entire apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a specific sectional side view thereof. The printer device 1 is on the right side from the boundary line L, and the laminating device 2 is on the left side.

  Since the printer apparatus 1 is not directly related to the present invention, the printer apparatus 1 includes a printing table 4 and a print head 5 that employs an ink jet recording system, and the recording medium A drawn out from the roll 3 Along the longitudinal direction, the sheet is intermittently conveyed on the printing table 4, during which printing is performed by the print head 5, and an image is recorded (formed) on the recording surface.

  A cutter device 7 is disposed downstream of the print head 5, and the recording medium A after recording is cut in units of formed images. Each recording medium A that has become cut paper is transported on the transport path by a plurality of pairs of rollers, and then is ejected from the ejection port 10 and sequentially fed into the laminating apparatus 2.

  The configuration indicated by reference numeral 6 is a cleaner unit for cleaning the print head 5, the configuration indicated by reference numeral 8 is a dot impact printer unit capable of printing various information on the back surface of the recording medium A, and a configuration indicated by reference numeral 9. When the recording medium A is long so as to straddle both the apparatuses 1 and 2, the recording medium A is temporarily bent in a loop shape in order to absorb each processing speed difference between the printer apparatus 1 and the laminating apparatus 2. Although a buffer may be formed, a relay tank for accommodating the loop, the configuration indicated by reference numeral 11 is an electrical component such as a control board and a power supply board, and the configuration indicated by reference numeral 12 is not used for printing. This is a waste ink tank for collecting collected ink.

  The laminating apparatus 2 receives the recording medium A sent from the printer apparatus 1 from the receiving port 15. The laminating apparatus 2 is configured to be selectable between a case where the laminating process is performed and a case where the laminating process is not performed. When the laminating process is performed, the sorting unit 16 is in the first posture, and the recording medium A is the laminating unit. 17, and finally discharged onto the first tray 18 in a state of being subjected to a laminating process. On the other hand, when the laminating process is not performed, the sorting unit 16 is in the second posture, and the recording medium A is discharged onto the second tray 19 as it is.

  FIG. 3 shows an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the laminating apparatus 2. Since the laminating apparatus 2 is directly related to the present invention, it will be described in detail below.

  The functional unit of the laminating apparatus 2 includes a laminating material supply unit 20 that supplies the laminating material B from the recording surface side (left side in the drawing) of the recording medium A that is conveyed on the conveying path after the distributing unit 16, and a recording target. Recording is performed between the under film supply unit 30 that supplies the under film E from the surface (base surface) side (the right side in the drawing) opposite to the recording surface of the medium A, and the supplied laminate material B and the under film E. A pressure bonding unit 40 that heat-presses the laminated body supplied with the medium A, a peeling unit 50 that peels the base material from the laminated material B after the thermocompression bonding, and a base material recovery unit that recovers the peeled base material 60, a separation unit 70 for separating the underfilm E after thermocompression bonding from the recording medium A, and an underfilm collection unit 80 for collecting the separated underfilm E.

  The laminate material supply unit 20 supplies the laminate material B from the roll as a continuous sheet, and includes a holder (laminate material roll holder) 21 that holds the roll of the laminate material B. On the other hand, the under film supply unit 30 supplies the under film E from the roll as a continuous sheet, and includes a holder (under film roll holder) 31 that holds the roll of the under film E.

  The pressure bonding unit 40 includes a drive roller 41 and a pressure roller 43. The driving roller 41 is disposed on the base surface side of the recording medium A, and the pressure roller 43 is disposed on the recording surface side of the recording medium A. Between the rollers 41 and 43, the laminate material B and the under film E and the recording medium A supplied therebetween are laminated (hereinafter, at least two of the recording medium A, the laminate material B, and the under film E are included). The laminated material is generically called “laminated body”).

  Both rollers 41 and 43 have a heater at their shaft cores and are heating rollers. The heating temperature on the surfaces of the rollers 41 and 43 is set in the range of 60 to 120 ° C. for the driving roller 41, and is set in the range of 80 to 120 ° C. for the pressure roller 43. In addition, the roller (driving roller) 41 on the under film E side in the pressure bonding part 40 is also a heating roller, and the lower film is set below the heating temperature on the roller surface of the roller (pressure bonding roller) 43 on the laminate B side. It is for activating the heat-welding property between the laminate layer and the under film E while suppressing the thermal effect on E.

  The peeling unit 50 is arranged in the vicinity of the peeling roller (peeling guide body) 51 disposed opposite to the conveyance path and the upstream side of the peeling roller 51 to increase the winding angle of the base material around the peeling roller 51. The step roller 52 is provided. The peeling roller 51 is disposed at a position sufficiently separated from the pressure-bonding portion 40 on the downstream side. This is because the laminate layer activated by the pressure-bonding portion 40 is activated (exhibits viscosity or the like). This is because an external force is applied to the laminate material B (laminate layer) after a normal equilibrium state (a state in which the adhesive force is increased). That is, when a predetermined time elapses from the heating in the crimping portion 40, the adhesive force of the laminate layer to the recording medium A is more reliably increased than the adhesion force between the base material and the laminate layer. If the peeling process is performed, the laminate layer is not peeled off from the recording medium A inadvertently, and only the base material is peeled cleanly. Therefore, a gap between the peeling portion 50 and the pressure-bonding portion 40 is provided.

  The base material collection unit 60 collects a continuous sheet-like base material peeled from the laminate layer in a roll shape, and includes a holder (recovered base material roll holder) 61 that holds the base material roll. . The holder 61 is disposed so that its winding surface is on the upstream side of the conveyance path with respect to the separation roller 51, so that the base material peeled from the conveyance path is wound around the separation roller 51, and the conveyance path is also combined. Determine the peel angle of the substrate relative to.

  The separation unit 70 includes a separation roller (separation guide body) 71 disposed to face the conveyance path. Similar to the peeling roller 51, the separation roller 71 is disposed at a position sufficiently separated from the pressure-bonding portion 40 on the downstream side, but this is activated (viscosity, etc.) by being heat-pressed by the pressure-bonding portion 40. This is because an external force is applied to the laminate material B (laminate layer) after the laminated layer that has been exhibited) is in a normal equilibrium state (a state in which the adhesive strength is increased). That is, when a predetermined time elapses after heating in the crimping portion 40, the adhesive force of the laminate layer to the recording medium A is surely increased. If the under film E separation step is performed in this state, the laminate layer is covered. Since the recording medium A is not inadvertently peeled off, a gap between the separation unit 80 and the crimping unit 40 is provided.

  The under film collection unit 80 collects a continuous sheet of the under film E onto which the excess laminate layer has been transferred by winding it into a roll, and holds a roll of the under film E (collected under film roll holder). 81. The holder 81 is arranged so that its winding surface is on the upstream side of the transport path from the separation roller 71, so that the under film E separated from the transport path is wound around the separation roller 71 and transported together. Determine the separation angle of the underfilm E relative to the path.

  The schematic configuration of each functional unit is as described above. The laminating material B is drawn out from the laminating material supply unit 20 in advance, inserted into the pressure bonding unit 40 (between the driving roller 41 and the pressure roller 43), and the leading end is wound around the holder 61 of the base material collecting unit 60. . The under film E is also drawn out from the under film supply unit 30 and inserted into the pressure bonding unit 40 (between the driving roller 41 and the pressure roller 43), and the leading end is wound around the holder 81 of the under film collection unit 80. Yes. In this state, the laminate material B and the under film E are overlapped on the conveyance path between the crimping portion 40 and the peeling portion 60.

  Then, not only the driving roller 41 of the crimping unit 40 but also all of the holders 61 and 81 of the base material collecting unit 60 and the under film collecting unit 80 are driven by known driving force transmission means such as sprockets, chains, and gear trains. A driving force (not shown) is transmitted at the same time. By these synchronous drives, the laminate material B is pulled and fed out from the laminate material supply unit 20, the underfilm E is pulled and fed out from the under film supply unit 30, and the laminate is downstream along the transport path. It is designed to be transported.

  In this state, when the recording medium A is sequentially supplied from the receiving port 15, each recording medium A is interposed between the laminate material B and the under film E with the recording surface and the laminate layer facing each other. The laminate material B, the recording medium A, and the under film E are heated and pressure-bonded at the pressure-bonding portion 40.

  And the laminated body obtained by the crimping | compression-bonding part 40 is conveyed by the peeling part 50, and after a base material peels, it is further conveyed by the isolation | separation part 70 and the underfilm E is isolate | separated. At this time, the recording medium A and the under film E move relative to each other so that the base surface of the recording medium A and the under film E are separated from each other. That is, the recording medium A attempts to move further down the transport path, whereas the under film E moves in a direction different from the moving direction of the recording medium A (from the base surface of the recording medium A). Will be pulled in the direction of separation). Therefore, since the laminate layer of the non-laminate portion from which the substrate has been peeled also moves in the same direction as the under film E, the boundary between the portion with the recording medium A and the portion without the recording medium A (that is, the non-laminate portion and the laminate portion) The tensile force acts intensively at the boundary). As a result, only the non-laminate portion is surely cut off, and the edge of the laminate portion is clean along the edge of the recording medium A. As a matter of course, the laminate layer of the non-laminate portion separated from the laminate portion is recovered by the under film recovery unit 80 together with the under film E.

  As a result, the first tray 18 has a clean edge along the edge of the recording medium A, and a laminate layer that is in close contact with the recording surface without any air or the like between the recording medium A. Thus, the recording medium A laminated in the above is discharged.

  By the way, in this embodiment, in order to improve maintainability, the apparatus of the laminating apparatus 2 so that the laminating material supply part 20, the under film supply part 30, the base material collection part 60, and the under film collection part 80 can be handled integrally. The magazine is designed to be detachable from the main unit. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the magazine 100, FIG. 5 is an external perspective view of the magazine 100 viewed from the opposite side, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of the magazine 100.

  A casing 101 of the magazine 100 is arranged at appropriate positions between the side frames 101a and 101b and the side frames 101a and 101b arranged on the left and right in the width direction of the laminate material B and the under film E, and the side frame 101a. , 101b are connected to each other at a predetermined interval. The side frames 101a and 101b are divided into front and rear parts, respectively, and the side frames 101a-1 and 101b-1 at the front part (left side in FIG. 4 and right side in FIG. 5) and the connecting frames connecting them. 101c-1 and 101c-2 constitute a front casing 101A, while side frames 101a-2 and 101b-2 at the rear (the right side in FIG. 4, the left side in FIG. 5) and the connecting frame 101c connecting them. −3, 101c-4, and 101c-5 constitute the rear housing 101B. The connection frame 101c-3 is formed with an opening 103 for guiding the recording medium A distributed by the distributing unit 16 into the magazine 100 (that is, for passing the recording medium A). .

  From the above, the housing 101 can be separated forward and backward. More specifically, a part 101d of the rear housing 101B is rotatably supported by the front housing 101A and swings so as to be openable and closable with respect to the front housing 101A. In addition, a lock mechanism 102 is provided in the housing 101 in order to maintain a closed position where the front housing 101A and the rear housing 101B are combined.

  The conveyance path of the recording medium A that connects the crimping unit 40 and the peeling unit 50 is set along the boundary portion between the front housing 101A and the rear housing 101B. Accordingly, at the open position where the angle between the front housing 101A and the rear housing 101B is opened, the transport path is opened, and the recording medium A on the transport path can be taken out.

  The laminate material supply unit 20, the peeling unit 50, and the base material collection unit 60 are arranged in one housing (the front housing 101 </ b> A located on the recording surface side of the recording medium A), while the under film supply unit 30. The separation unit 70 and the under film collection unit 80 are disposed in the other housing (the rear housing 101B located on the base surface side of the recording medium A).

  As described above, using a magazine improves convenience in maintenance and the like, but in addition, an effective dustproof effect can be expected. This is because the connecting frame 101c-3 disposed so as to cover the laminate material supply unit 20 and the under film supply unit 30 also functions as a kind of dust-proof cover that blocks dust falling from above the magazine 100. Because.

  As described above, the falling dust is effectively blocked above the laminate material supply unit 20 and the under film supply unit 30 by the connecting frame 101c-3, so that the recording medium A and the recording medium A can be removed from the feeding of the laminate material B and the under film E. A series of processes up to thermocompression bonding can be performed in a clean environment. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent a problem that the heat pressure bonding is performed while dust is adhered between the laminate layer of the laminate material B and the recording medium A or between the under film E and the recording medium.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change is possible in the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention.

  For example, in the above embodiment, the connecting frame 101c-3 constituting the housing 101 of the magazine 100 functions as a dustproof cover. However, in the application of the present invention, such a magazine is not an essential requirement, and only the dustproof cover is separated. Of course, it is possible to arrange them independently.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an overall apparatus in which a laminating apparatus and a printer apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention are integrated. FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional side view of the overall device of FIG. The expanded sectional side view of the lamination apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment is shown. The cross-sectional side view of the magazine 100 of the laminating apparatus which concerns on the same embodiment is shown. The external appearance perspective view which looked at the magazine of Drawing 4 from the opposite side is shown. FIG. 5 shows a plan view of the magazine of FIG. 4.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Reception port, 16 ... Sorting part, 20 ... Laminate supply part, 21 ... Holder (laminate material roll holder), 30 ... Under film supply part, 31 ... Holder (under film roll holder), 40 ... Crimp part , 41 ... driving roller, 43 ... pressure roller, 50 ... peeling part, 51 ... peeling roller (peeling guide body), 52 ... step roller, 60 ... base material recovery part, 61 ... holder (collecting base material roll holder), DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 70 ... Separation part, 71 ... Separation roller (separation guide body), 80 ... Under film collection | recovery part, 81 ... Holder (collection under film roll holder), 100 ... Magazine, 101 ... Case of magazine, 101a ... Side frame , 101b ... side frame, 101c ... connection frame, 101d ... part, 101A ... front case, 101B ... rear case, 102 ... lock Mechanism, 103 ... opening, A ... recording medium, B ... laminate, E ... under film

Claims (2)

A laminating apparatus for laminating a recording medium by carrying out thermocompression bonding at a pressure-bonding part while conveying the recording medium between a laminate material and an under film,
A laminate material supply unit for supplying the laminate material from the recording surface side of the recording medium to the pressure-bonding unit;
An under film supply unit that supplies the under film from the opposite side of the recording surface of the recording medium to the pressure-bonding unit;
A cover that covers an upper region of the laminate material supply unit, the under film supply unit, and the crimping unit;
An opening for transporting the recording medium to the pressure bonding portion is formed in the cover.   The laminating material supply unit and the under film supply unit are housed in a magazine case that is detachable from the case of the apparatus main body, and a part of the frame that forms the magazine case also serves as the cover. The laminating apparatus according to claim 1.

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