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Title:
APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF PEELING LAMINATED BODY
Document Type and Number:
WIPO Patent Application WO/2007/034762
Kind Code:
A1
Abstract:
A peeling apparatus (44) has a suction drum (62) for attracting and feeding a photosensitive web (22) and a peeling roller (64) held in line contact with an outer circumferential surface of the suction drum (62) with the photosensitive web (22) interposed therebetween, for peeling off at least partly the protective film (30) from the photosensitive web (22). A roll-to-roll gap (h) between the suction drum (62) and the peeling roller (64) is set to a dimension which is substantially the same as the thickness (t) of the photosensitive web (22) with no gap being created therebetween.

Inventors:
ARIMITSU HARUHITO (JP)
Application Number:
PCT/JP2006/318463
Publication Date:
March 29, 2007
Filing Date:
September 12, 2006
Export Citation:
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Assignee:
FUJIFILM CORP (JP)
ARIMITSU HARUHITO (JP)
International Classes:
B32B38/10
Domestic Patent References:
WO2006004225A22006-01-12
Foreign References:
US4789415A1988-12-06
US6500291B12002-12-31
Attorney, Agent or Firm:
CHIBA, Yoshihiro et al. (1-1 Yoyogi 2-chom, Shibuya-ku Tokyo 53, JP)
Download PDF:
Claims:

CLAIMS

1. An apparatus for peeling off at least partly a second layer (30) from a laminated body (22) which comprises at least a first layer (29) and the second layer (30), comprising: a suction roller (62) for attracting said laminated body (22) from a side thereof on said first layer (29) and feeding the attracted laminated body (22); and a peeling roller (64) held in line contact with an outer circumferential surface of said suction roller (62) with said laminated body (22) interposed therebetween, for peeling off at least partly said second layer (30) from said laminated body (22).

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said peeling roller (64) comprises a conductive rubber roller having a rubber hardness ranging from 20 to 90.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said peeling roller (64) is pressed against said laminated body (22) held on the outer circumferential surface of said suction roller (62) under a line pressure of 50 N/cm or lower .

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising

a takeup shaft (66) for winding said second layer (30) under a predetermined tension which has been peeled off by said peeling roller (64).

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said laminated body comprises an elongate photosensitive web (22) having a photosensitive layer (29) as said first layer, a protective film (30) as said second layer and a support layer (26) on which said photosensitive layer (29) and said protective film (30) are laminated.

6. A method of peeling off at least partly a second layer (30) from a laminated body (22) which comprises a first layer (29) and the second layer (30), comprising: attracting said laminated body (22) from a side thereof on said first layer (29) with a suction roller (62) while said laminated body (22) is being sandwiched by said suction roller (62) and a peeling roller (64); and winding said second layer (30) around an outer circumferential surface of said peeling roller (64) and applying a predetermined tension to said second layer (30), thereby peeling off at least partly said second layer (30) from said laminated body (22).

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said peeling roller (64) comprises a conductive rubber roller having a rubber hardness ranging from 20 to 90.

8. A method according to claim 6 , wherein said peeling roller (64) is pressed against said laminated body (22) held on the outer circumferential surface of said suction roller (62) under a line pressure of 50 N/cm or lower.

9. A method according to claim 6 , wherein said laminated body comprises an elongate photosensitive web (22) having a photosensitive layer (29) as said first layer, a protective film (30) as said second layer and a support layer (26) on which said photosensitive layer (29) and said protective film (30) are laminated.

Description:

DESCRIPTION APPARATUS FOR AND METHOD OF PEELING LAMINATED BODY

Technical Field The present invention relates to an apparatus for and a method of peeling off at least partly a second layer from a laminated body which comprises a first layer and the second layer.

Background Art

Substrates for liquid crystal panels, substrates for printed wiring boards , and substrates for PDP panels , for example, include a photosensitive sheet (photosensitive body) having a photosensitive material (photosensitive resin) layer and applied to a substrate surface. The photosensitive sheet is usually constructed as a laminated assembly of a photosensitive material layer and a protective film that are laminated on a flexible plastic support layer. Applying apparatus for applying such a photosensitive sheet usually operate to feed substrates such as glass substrates, resin substrates, or the like at given spaced intervals and peel protective film lengths off from the photosensitive sheet which correspond to photosensitive material layer lengths to be applied to the respective substrates.

According to a film applying method and apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 11-

34280, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 of the accompanying drawings, a laminated film Ia unreeled from a film roll 1 is wound around guide rolls 2a, 2b and extends along a horizontal film feed plane. The guide roll 2b is combined with a rotary encoder 3 for outputting a number of signal pulses depending on the distance that the laminated film Ia is fed.

The laminated film Ia that extends along the horizontal film feed plane is wound around a suction roll 4. A partial cutter 5 and a cover film peeler 6 are disposed between the guide roll 2b and the suction roll 4.

The partial cutter 5 has a pair of disk cutters 5a, 5b. When the partial cutter 5 operates, the disk cutters 5a, 5b move transversely across the laminated film Ia to cut a cover film (not shown) and a photosensitive resin layer on the reverse side of the cover film, on the laminated film Ia.

The cover film peeler 6 has an adhesive tape roll 7 , two pairs of presser rollers 8a, 8b, and a takeup roll 9. In operation, an adhesive tape 7a unreeled from the adhesive tape roll 7 is pressed against the cover film by the presser rollers 8a, 8b. Then, the adhesive tape 7a with the cover film sticking thereto is wound by the takeup roll 9. Therefore, the cover film is peeled off from the photosensitive resin layer and wound together with the adhesive tape 7a around the takeup roll 9.

The suction roll 4 is followed downstream by a pair of

lamination rolls 12a, 12b for pressing the laminated film Ia against the upper surfaces of a plurality of substrates 11 that are successively fed at spaced intervals by a substrate feeder 10. A support film takeup roll 13 is disposed downstream of the lamination rolls 12a, 12b for winding light-permeable support films (not shown) from between the respective substrates 11.

According to the disclosed film applying method and apparatus, pulses generated by the rotary encoder 3 start being counted when the partial cutter 5 starts to cut the laminated film Ia. When the counted number of pulses generated by the rotary encoder 3 reaches a numerical value corresponding to a certain point on the cut line on the laminated film Ia, the substrate feeder 10 starts to operate, feeding a substrate 11 between the lamination rolls 12a, 12b in synchronism with the laminated film Ia. In this manner, the substrate 11 is aligned with a cut length of the laminated film Ia which is to be applied to the substrate 11. In the cover film peeler 6, the adhesive tape 7a is pressed against the cover film by the presser rolls 8a, 8b, and then wound by the takeup roll 9.

At this time, since the cover film of the laminated film Ia is peeled off from the photosensitive resin layer on the pair of presser rolls 8b, the laminated film Ia tends to be subject to tension variations. Therefore, the laminated film Ia may possibly be undulated or creased, or the

photosensitive resin layer may possibly be peeled off.

Disclosure of Invention

It is a major object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for and a method of peeling off a second layer from a laminated body which comprises a first layer and the second layer, without causing the laminated body to suffer tension' variations , with a simple arrangement and process. According to the present invention, there are provided an apparatus for and a method of peeling off at least partly a second layer from a laminated body which comprises at least a first layer and the second layer. The peeling apparatus has a suction roller and a peeling roller. While the laminated body is being sandwiched between the suction roller and the peeling roller, the laminated ' body is attracted from a side thereof on the first layer by the suction roller, and the second layer is wound around an outer circumferential surface of the peeling roller and a predetermined tension is applied to the second layer, thereby peeling off at least partly the second layer from the laminated body.

Preferably, the peeling roller comprises a conductive rubber roller having a rubber hardness ranging from 20 to 90. The peeling roller is preferably pressed against the laminated body held on the outer circumferential surface of the suction roller under a line pressure of 50 N/cm or

63

lower .

The laminated body preferably comprises at least an elongate photosensitive web having a photosensitive layer as the first layer, a protective film as the second layer and a support layer on which the photosensitive layer and the protective film are laminated.

According to the present invention, since the laminated body is attracted and held at its side on the first layer by the suction roller, the laminated body is reliably prevented from being subject to tension variations when the second layer is peeled off. Therefore, the laminated body is prevented from being undulated and unwanted layer peelings from the laminated body do not occur. The second layer can neatly be peeled off from the laminated body with a simple arrangement and process.

Furthermore, the suction roller and the peeling roller are held in line contact with each other with the laminated body interposed therebetween. Accordingly, the second layer can easily and reliably be peeled off from the laminated body.

The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevational view of a manufacturing apparatus which incorporates a peeling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of an elongate photosensitive web used in the manufacturing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the elongate photosensitive web with adhesive labels bonded thereto;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the peeling apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a suction drum used in the peeling apparatus; FIG. 6 is a table showing the relationship between the differences between roll-to-roll distances and the thickness of the photosensitive web and peeling evaluations; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional film cutting apparatus.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

FIG. 1 schematically shows a manufacturing apparatus 20 which incorporates a peeling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The manufacturing apparatus 20 operates to thermally transfer a photosensitive resin layer 29 (described later) of an elongate photosensitive web (photosensitive laminated film) 22 to

glass substrates 24 in a process of manufacturing color filters for use with liquid crystal panels or organic EL panels .

FIG. 2 shows in cross section the photosensitive web 22 that is employed in the manufacturing apparatus 20. The photosensitive web 22 comprises a laminated assembly of a flexible base film (support layer) 26, a cushion layer (thermoplastic resin layer) 27, an intermediate layer (oxygen blocking film) 28, a photosensitive resin layer (first layer) 29, and a protective film (second layer) 30. The photosensitive web 22 may alternatively comprise the base film 26, the photosensitive resin layer 29, and the protective film 30.

The base film 26 is made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The cushion layer 27 is made of a copolymer of ethylene and vinyl oxide. The intermediate layer 28 is made of polyvinyl alcohol. The photosensitive resin layer 29 is made of a colored photosensitive resin composition including an alkaline soluble binder, a monomer, a photopolymerization initiator, and a colorant. The protective film 30 is made of polyethylene, polypropylene, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the manufacturing apparatus 20 has a web reel-out mechanism 32 for accommodating a photosensitive web roll 22a in the form of the rolled photosensitive web 22 and reeling out the photosensitive web 22 from the photosensitive web roll 22a, a partly cutting mechanism 36 for forming a transversely severable partly cut

region 34 in the protective film 30 of the photosensitive web 22 that has been reeled out, and a label bonding mechanism 40 for bonding adhesive labels 38 (see FIG. 3); each having a non- adhesion area 38a, to the protective film 30. The manufacturing apparatus 20 may have two partly cutting mechanisms 36 spaced a distance from each other in the direction indicated by the arrow A, for forming partly cut regions 34 simultaneously at respective two locations.

Downstream of the label bonding mechanism 40, there are disposed a reservoir mechanism 42 for changing the feed mode of the photosensitive web 22 from a tact feed mode, i.e., an intermittent feed mode, to a continuous feed mode, a peeling apparatus 44 according to the embodiment of the present invention for peeling certain lengths of the protective film 30 from the photosensitive web 22, a heating mechanism 45 for heating a glass substrate 24 to a predetermined temperature and feeding the heated glass substrate 24 to a bonding position, and a bonding mechanism 46 for bonding the photosensitive resin layer 29 which has been exposed by peeling off the protective film 30 to the glass substrate

24. A workpiece which is constructed of the glass substrate 24 and the photosensitive web 22 bonded thereto by the bonding mechanism 46 will hereinafter be referred to as "substrate 24a". A detecting mechanism 47 for directly detecting a partly cut region 34 which is positioned at a boundary on the photosensitive web 22 is disposed upstream of and near

the bonding position in the bonding mechanism 46. An inter- substrate web cutting mechanism 48 for cutting the photosensitive web 22 between two adjacent glass substrates 24 is disposed downstream of the bonding mechanism 46. A web cutting mechanism 48a which is operated when the manufacturing apparatus 20 starts and ends its operation is disposed upstream of the inter-substrate web cutting mechanism 48.

A joining base 49 for joining the trailing end of a photosensitive web 22 that has essentially been used up and the leading end of a photosensitive web 22 that is to be newly used is disposed downstream of and closely to the web reel-out mechanism 32. The joining base 49 is followed downstream by a film end position detector 51 for controlling a transverse shift of the photosensitive web 22 due to a winding irregularity of the photosensitive web roll 22a.

The partly cutting mechanism 36 is disposed downstream of a pair of rollers 50 for calculating the diameter of the ' photosensitive web roll 22a wound in the web reel-out mechanism 32. The partly cutting mechanism 36 has a slide base 52 movable back and forth in directions which are perpendicular to the direction (indicated by the arrow A) in which the photosensitive web 22 is fed. A rotary circular blade (cutter) 54 is fixedly mounted on the slide base 52, and a cutter bearing base 56 is disposed below the rotary circular blade 54 in confronting relation thereto with the

photosensitive web 22 interposed therebetween.

As shown in FIG. 2, partly cut regions 34 need to be formed across at least the protective film 30. Actually, the rotary circular blade 54 is designed to cut into the photosensitive resin layer 29 and the intermediate layer 28 in order to reliably cut the protective film 30. The partly cut regions 34 may be formed by a cutting process using a fixed circular blade or ultrasonic energy, or a cutting process using a knife blade, a strip-shaped pressing blade (Thompson blade) to be described later, or the like, rather than the rotary circular blade 54. The pressing blade may be pressed vertically or obliquely into the protective film 30.

The partly cut regions 34 serve to set a spaced interval between two adjacent glass substrates 24. For example, these partly cut regions 34 are formed in the protective film 30 at positions that are 10 mm spaced inwardly from respective edges of the glass substrates 24. The section of the protective film 30 which is interposed between the partly cut regions 34 functions as a mask when the photosensitive resin layer 29 is applied as a frame to the glass substrate 24 in the bonding mechanism 46 to be described later.

The label bonding mechanism 40 supplies adhesive labels 38 for interconnecting a front peel-off section 30aa and a rear peel-off section 30ab in order to leave a residual section 30b of the protective film 30 between glass

substrates 24. As shown in FIG. 2, the front peel-off section 30aa which is to be peeled off initially and the rear peel-off section 30ab which is to be peeled off subsequently are positioned on respective both sides of the residual section 30b.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the adhesive labels 38 is of a rectangular strip shape and is made of the same resin material as the protective film 30. Each of the adhesive labels 38 has a non-adhesion (or slightly adhesive) area 38a positioned centrally which is free of an adhesive, and a first adhesion area 38b and a second adhesion area 38c which are disposed respectively on the longitudinally opposite ends of the non-adhesion area 38a, i.e., on the longitudinally opposite end portions of the adhesive label 38, the first adhesion area 38b and the second adhesion area

38c being bonded respectively to the front peel-off section 30aa and the rear peel-off section 30ab.

As shown in FIG. 1, the label bonding mechanism 40 has suction pads 58a through 58e for applying a maximum of five adhesive labels 38 at spaced intervals. A support base 59 that is vertically movable for holding the photosensitive web 22 from below is disposed at a position where adhesive labels 38 are applied to the photosensitive web 22 by the suction pads 58a through 58e. The reservoir mechanism 42 serves to absorb a speed difference between the tact feed mode in which the photosensitive web 22 is fed upstream of the reservoir

mechanism 42 and the continuous feed mode in which the photosensitive web 22 is fed downstream of the reservoir mechanism 42. The reservoir mechanism 42 also has a dancer 61 comprising two swingable rollers 60 for preventing the photosensitive web 22 from suffering tension variations. The dancer 61 may have one or three or more rollers 60 depending on the length of the photosensitive web 22 to be reserved.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the peeling apparatus 44 which is disposed downstream of the reservoir mechanism 42 comprises a suction drum (suction roller) 62 and a peeling roller 64 held in line contact with the outer circumferential surface of the suction drum 62 with the photosensitive web 22 interposed therebetween. The protective film 30 that is peeled off from the photosensitive web 22 at a sharp peel-off angle through the peeling roller 64 is wound, except a residual section 30b, by a protective film takeup shaft 66. The roll-to-roll distance h between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64 is of essentially the same dimension as the thickness t of the photosensitive web 22, so that no gap will be created between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64.

As shown in FIG. 5, the suction drum 62 has a fixed tube 68 and a movable tube 70. The fixed tube 68 has an opening 72 defined in a tubular wall thereof in a predetermined angular range. The interior of the fixed tube

68 is connected to and evacuated by a vacuum generator, not shown. The movable tube 70 has a plurality of small holes 74 defined in a tubular wall thereof. The movable tube 70 can attract the photosensitive web 22 on the outer circumferential surface of the tubular wall thereof under a vacuum acting through those small holes 74 which are positioned in a certain angular range aligned with the opening 72 of the fixed tube 68.

As shown in FIG. 1, the protective film takeup shaft 66 is coupled to a torque motor 75 for applying a predetermined tension to the protective film 30. The torque motor 75 may be replaced with ' a servomotor for torque control . The speed at which the protective film takeup shaft 66 winds the protective film 30 may be controlled in synchronism with the rotational speed of the suction drum 62. Alternatively, the torque motor 75 may be combined with a powder brake or a slip torque shaft for torque control.

The suction drum 62 has a diameter of 150 mm, for example, and the peeling roller 64 has a diameter in the range from 30 mm to 150 mm, for example. The peeling roller 64 comprises a conductive rubber roller, e.g., a silicone roller, whose rubber thickness is 5 mm and rubber hardness ranges from 20 to 90. The peeling roller 64 is pressed against the photosensitive web 22 on the outer circumferential surface of the suction drum 62 under a line pressure of 50 N/cm or lower by a cylinder or an electric actuator, not shown.

A tension control mechanism 76 for imparting tension to the photosensitive web 22 is disposed downstream of the peeling apparatus 44. The tension control mechanism 76 has a cylinder 78 that is actuatable to angularly displace a tension dancer 80 to adjust the tension of the photosensitive web 22 that the tension dancer 80 is held in rolling contact with. The tension control mechanism 76 may be employed only when necessary, and may be dispensed with. The detecting mechanism 47 has a photoelectric sensor 82 such as a laser sensor, a photosensor, or the like for directly detecting a change in the photosensitive web 22 due to wedge-shaped grooves in the partly cut regions 34, steps due to a thickness of the protective film 30, or a combination thereof. A detected signal from the photoelectric sensor 82 is used as a boundary position signal representative of the boundary position in the protective film 30. The photoelectric sensor 82 is disposed in confronting relation to a backup roller 83. Alternatively, a non-contact displacement gauge or an image inspecting means such as a CCD camera or the like may be employed instead of the photoelectric sensor 82.

The positional data of the partly cut regions 34 which are detected by the detecting mechanism 47 can be statistically processed and converted into graphic data in real time. When the positional data detected by the detecting mechanism 47 show an undue variation or bias, the manufacturing apparatus 20 may generate a warning.

The manufacturing apparatus 20 may employ a different system for generating boundary position signals. According to such a different system, the partly cut regions 34 are not directly detected, but marks are applied to the photosensitive web 22. For example, holes or recesses may be formed in the photosensitive web 22 near the partly cut regions 34 in the vicinity of the partly cutting mechanism 36, or the photosensitive web 22 may be bored or slit by a laser beam or an aqua jet or may be marked by an ink jet or a printer. The marks on the photosensitive web 22 are detected, and detected signals are used as boundary position signals.

The heating mechanism 45 has a feed mechanism 84 for feeding glass substrates 24 as workpieces in the direction indicated by the arrow C. The feed mechanism 84 has a plurality of disk-shaped feed rollers 86 of resin that are arrayed in the direction indicated by the arrow C. The heating mechanism 45 also has a receiver 88 for receiving glass substrates 24 which is disposed upstream of the feed mechanism 84 in the direction indicated by the arrow C. The heating mechanism 45 further includes a plurality of heating furnaces 90 disposed downstream of the receiver 88.

The heating mechanism 45 monitors the temperature of glass substrates 24 at all times. In the event that the heating mechanism 45 detects an abnormal temperature, the heating mechanism 45 stops the feed rollers 86 or issues a warning, and transmits malfunctioning information which may

be used to eject an abnormal glass substrate 24 at a later step and to control quality or to manage production. The feed mechanism 84 may have an air-lifting plate, not shown, for lifting glass substrates 24 while they are being fed in the direction indicated by the arrow C.

A substrate storage frame 100 for storing a plurality of glass substrates 24 is disposed upstream of the heating mechanism 45. The substrate storage frame 100 has dust removing fan units (or duct units) 102 disposed on respective three sides except for a charging slot and a discharging slot thereof. The fan units 102 eject electrically neutralizing clean air into the substrate storage frame 100. The glass substrates 24 stored in the substrate storage frame 100 are attracted one by one by suction pads 106 on a hand 104a of a robot 104, taken out from the substrate storage frame 100, and inserted into the receiver 88.

The bonding mechanism 46 has a pair of vertically spaced laminating rubber rollers 110a, 110b that are heated to a predetermined temperature. Backup rollers 112a, 112b are held in rolling contact with the respective laminating rubber rollers 110a, 110b. The backup roller 112b is pressed against the laminating rubber roller 110b by a roller clamp unit 114. A contact prevention roller 116 is movably disposed near the rubber roller 110a for preventing the photosensitive web 22 from contacting the rubber roller

110a. A preheating unit 117 for preheating the photosensitive web 22 to a predetermined temperature is disposed upstream of and closely to the bonding mechanism 46. The preheating unit 117 comprises a heat applying means such as an infrared bar heater or the like.

Film feed rollers 118a and substrate feed rollers 118b are disposed between the bonding mechanism 46 and the inter- substrate web cutting mechanism 48. A cooling mechanism 120 is disposed downstream of the inter-substrate web cutting mechanism 48, and a base peeling mechanism 122 is disposed downstream of the cooling mechanism 120. The cooling mechanism 120 supplies cold air to a substrate 24a after the photosensitive web 22 is cut off between the substrate 24a and a following substrate 24a by the inter-substrate web cutting mechanism 48. Specifically, the cooling mechanism

120 supplies cold air having a temperature of 10° C at a rate ranging from 1.0 to 2.0 m/min. However, the cooling mechanism 120 may be dispensed with, and the substrate 24a may be naturally cooled in a photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136.

The base peeling mechanism 122 disposed downstream of the cooling mechanism 120 has a plurality of suction pads 124 for attracting the lower surface of a substrate 24a. While the substrate 24a is being attracted under suction by the suction pads 124, the base film 26 and the residual section 30b are peeled off from the substrate 24a by a robot hand 126. Electrically neutralizing air blowers (not shown)

for ejecting electrically neutralizing clean air to four sides of the laminated area of the substrate 24a are disposed upstream, downstream, and laterally of the suction pads 124. Peeling may be conducted while a table for supporting the substrate 24a thereon is being oriented vertically, obliquely, or turned upside down for dust removal .

The base peeling mechanism 122 is followed downstream by the photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136 for storing a plurality of photosensitive laminated bodies 130. A photosensitive laminated body 130 that is produced when the base film 26 and the residual section 30b are peeled off from the substrate 24a by the base peeling mechanism 122 is attracted by suction pads 134 on a hand 132a of a robot 132, taken out from the base peeling mechanism 122, and placed into the photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136.

The photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136 has dust removing fan units (or duct units) 102 disposed on respective three sides except for a charging slot and a discharging slot thereof. The fan units 102 eject electrically neutralizing clean air into the photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136.

In the manufacturing apparatus 20, the web reel-out mechanism 32, the partly cutting mechanism 36, the label bonding mechanism 40, the reservoir mechanism 42, the peeling apparatus 44, the tension control mechanism 76, and the detecting mechanism 47 are disposed above the bonding

mechanism 46. Conversely, the web reel-out mechanism 32, the partly cutting apparatus 36, the label bonding mechanism 40, the reservoir mechanism 42, the peeling apparatus 44, the tension control mechanism 76, and the detecting mechanism 47 may be disposed below the bonding mechanism 46 to apply the photosensitive resin layer 29, which is turned upside down, to the lower surface of the glass substrate 24. Alternatively, the components of the manufacturing apparatus 20 may be arranged in a linear pattern as a whole. The manufacturing apparatus 20 is controlled in its entirety by a lamination process controller 140. The manufacturing apparatus 20 also has a lamination controller 142, a substrate heating controller 144, and a base peeling controller 146, etc. for controlling the different functional components of the manufacturing apparatus 20. These controllers are interconnected by an in-process network .

The lamination process controller 140 is connected to the network of a factory which incorporates the manufacturing apparatus 20, and performs information processing for production, e.g., production management and mechanism operation management, based on instruction information (condition settings and production information) from a factory CPU (not shown) . The lamination controller 142 serves as a process master for controlling the functional components of the manufacturing apparatus 20. The lamination controller 142

operates as a control mechanism for controlling the heating mechanism 45, for example, based on the positional information, detected by the detecting mechanism 47, of the partly cut regions 34 of the photosensitive web 22. The base peeling controller 146 controls operation to peel off the base film 26 from the substrate 24a that is supplied from the bonding mechanism 46, and also to discharge the photosensitive laminated body 130 to a downstream process. The base peeling controller 146 also handles information about the substrate 24a and the photosensitive laminated body 130.

The installation space of the manufacturing apparatus 20 is divided into a first clean room 152a and a second clean room 152b by a partition wall 150. The first clean room 152a houses therein the various components ranging from the web reel-out mechanism 32 to the tension control mechanism 76. The second clean room 152b houses therein the detecting mechanism 47 and the other components following the detecting mechanism 47. The first clean room 152a and the second clean room 152b are connected to each other by a through region 154.

Operation of the manufacturing apparatus 20 for carrying out a peeling method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. As shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive web 22 is reeled out from the photosensitive web roll 22a in the web reel-out mechanism 32, and fed to the partly cutting mechanism 36.

In the partly cutting mechanism 36, the slide base 52 moves transversely across the photosensitive web 22 perpendicularly to the direction (indicated by the arrow A) in which the photosensitive web 22 is fed. The rotary circular blade 54 cuts into a desired depth in the partly cut region 34 of the photosensitive web 22, and rotates while moving transversely across the photosensitive web 22. Therefore, a slit cut to the desired depth from the protective film 30 is formed in the partly cut region 34 of the photosensitive web 22 (see FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 1, the photosensitive web 22 that has thus been partly cut is fed a distance corresponding to the dimension of the residual section 30b of the protective film 30 in the direction indicated by the arrow A, and then stopped, whereupon a next partly cut region 34 is formed therein by the rotary circular blade 54. As shown in FIG. 2, a front peel-off section 30aa and a rear peel-off section 30ab are now provided in the photosensitive web 22, with the residual section 30b interposed therebetween. Then, the photosensitive web 22 is fed to the label bonding mechanism 40 to place a bonding area of the protective film 30 on the support base 59. In the label bonding mechanism 40, a predetermined number of adhesive labels 38 are attracted under suction and held by the suction pads 58a through 58e and are bonded to the front peel-off section 30aa and the rear peel-off section 30ab of the protective film 30 across the residual section 30b

thereof ( see FIG . 3 ) .

The photosensitive web 22 with the five adhesive labels 38 bonded thereto, for example, is unaffected owing to the reservoir mechanism 42 by variations of the tension to which the supplied photosensitive web 22 is subjected, and then continuously fed to the peeling apparatus 44.

In the peeling apparatus 44, the photosensitive web 22 is sandwiched between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64, and the base film 26 of the photosensitive web 22 is attracted to the suction drum 62. The suction drum 62 is rotated, and the protective film 30 is tensioned by the torque motor 75.

The protective film 30 is peeled off from the photosensitive web 22, leaving the residual section 30b. The protective film 30 is peeled off by the peeling roller 64 and wound by the protective film takeup shaft 66. It is preferable to apply an electrically neutralizing air flow to the region where the protective film 30 is peeled off.

At this time, inasmuch as the photosensitive web 22 is firmly held by the suction drum 62. shocks produced when the protective film 30 is peeled off from the photosensitive web 22 are not transferred to the photosensitive web 22 downstream of the suction drum 62. Consequently, such shocks are not transferred to the bonding mechanism 46, and hence laminated sections of glass substrate 24 are effectively prevented from developing a striped defective region.

As shown in FIG. 4, the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64 are held in line contact with each other with the photosensitive web 22 interposed therebetween (roll-to-roll distance h = web thickness t). Therefore, only the protective film 30 can easily and reliably be peeled off from the photosensitive web 22.

An experiment was conducted to peel the protective film 30 off the photosensitive web 22 for different roll-to-roll distances h. The results of the experiment are shown in FIG. 6. In FIG. 6, peeling evaluations refer to evaluations as to whether the photosensitive resin layer 29 or the cushion layer 27 was peeled off or not when the protective film 30 was peeled off from the photosensitive web 22. The evaluation is indicated by "O" when the photosensitive resin layer 29 and the cushion layer 27 were not peeled off, "δ" when the photosensitive resin layer 29 or the cushion layer 27 was slightly peeled off, and "x" when the photosensitive resin layer 29 or the cushion layer 27 was significantly peeled off. If there is a gap greater than the thickness t of the photosensitive web 22 between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64, i.e., if the roll-to-roll distance h = the thickness t + n (n = 1 or greater) , then the photosensitive resin layer 29 or the cushion layer 27 is peeled off when the protective film 30 is peeled off from the photosensitive web 22.

According to the present embodiment, the photosensitive

web 22 is tightly held between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64. Stated otherwise, with the roll-to-roll distance h = the thickness t, the photosensitive resin layer 29 or the cushion layer 27 is not peeled off at all, and the protective film 30 is pealed off highly accurately and neatly.

According to the present embodiment, furthermore, the peeling roller 64 comprises a conductive rubber roller. Therefore, when the adhesive labels 38 are bonded to the photosensitive web 22, changing the thickness thereof, the peeling roller 64 is easily elastiσally deformed to absorb the thickness change. Therefore, the shape of the adhesive labels 38 is not transferred to the photosensitive resin layer 29, and no distance adjustment is needed between the suction drum 62 and the peeling roller 64, so that the manufacturing apparatus 20 can easily be serviced for maintenance.

The rubber hardness of the peeling roller 64 is in the range from 20 to 90, and the peeling roller 64 is pressed against the photosensitive web 22 on the outer circumferential surface of the suction drum 62 under a line pressure of 50 N/cm or lower. Consequently, no pressing marks and stripes are produced on the photosensitive resin layer 29, and the protective film 30 can efficiently be peeled off while keeping the photosensitive resin layer 29 well in its desired state.

After the protective film 30 has been peeled off from

the base film 26, leaving the residual section 30b, by the peeling apparatus 44, the photosensitive web 22 is adjusted in tension by the tension control mechanism 76, and then partly cut regions 34 of the photosensitive web 22 are detected by the photoelectric sensor 82 of the detecting mechanism 47.

Based on detected information of the partly cut regions 34, the film feed rollers 118a are rotated to feed a predetermined length of the photosensitive web 22 to the bonding mechanism 46. At this time, the contact prevention roller 116 is waiting above the photosensitive web 22 and the rubber roller 110b is disposed below the photosensitive web 22.

In the heating mechanism 45, the heating temperatures in the heating furnaces 90 are set to values depending on the lamination temperature in the bonding mechanism 46. The robot 104 grips a glass substrate 24 stored in the substrate storage frame 100, and introduces the gripped glass substrate 24 into the receiver 88. The glass substrate 24 is fed by the feed rollers 86 of the feed mechanism 84 from the receiver 88 successively to the heating furnaces 90 in the tact feed mode.

In the heating furnace 90 at the downstream end of the heating mechanism 45 in the direction indicated by the arrow C, the glass substrate 24 is stopped accurately in a given stop position. The glass substrate 24 is temporarily positioned between the rubber rollers 110a, 110b in

alignment with the bonded region of the photosensitive resin layer 29 of the photosensitive web 22.

Then, the roller clamp unit 114 is operated to lift the backup roller 112b and the rubber roller 110b to clamp the glass substrate 24 under a predetermined pressure between the rubber rollers 110a, 110b. The rubber roller 110a is rotated to transfer, i.e., laminate, the photosensitive resin layer 29, which is melted with heat, to the glass substrate 24. The photosensitive resin layer 29 is laminated onto the glass substrate 24 under such conditions that the photosensitive resin layer 29 is fed at a speed in the range from 1.0 m/min. to 10.0 m/min., the rubber rollers 110a, 110b have a temperature ranging from 80 0 C to 140 0 C, and a hardness ranging from 40 to 90, and apply a pressure (linear pressure) ranging from 50 N/cm to 400 N/cm.

The substrate 24a, which comprises the glass substrate 24 and the photosensitive web 22 bonded thereto, is fed a certain distance in the direction indicated by the arrow C, cooled by the cooling mechanism 120, and then delivered to the base peeling mechanism 122. In the base peeling mechanism 122, while the substrate 24a is being attracted by the suction pads 124, the base film 26 and the residual section 30b are peeled off by the robot hand 126, thereby producing a photosensitive laminated body 130.

At this time, electrically neutralizing clean air is being ejected to four sides of the laminated area of the

substrate 24a from the air blowers disposed upstream, downstream, and laterally of the suction pads 124. The photosensitive laminated body 130 is held by the hand 132a of the robot 132 and placed into the photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136. The above operation is repeated until a predetermined number of photosensitive laminated bodies 130 are stored in the photosensitive laminated body storage frame 136.

Although a certain preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described in detail, it should be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims .