Sheet material attaching apparatus and sheet material attaching method

Abstract

To provide a sheet material attaching method and a sheet material attaching apparatus capable of attaching a sheet material to a workpiece having a curved surface with high accuracy, and reducing variations in the properties of the sheet material over the entire surface of the workpiece.SOLUTION: An upper housing 20 and a lower housing 22A sandwich a sheet material PT to form a chamber 17, and a contact surface 95 of a deforming member 63 is brought into contact with the sheet material PT inside the chamber 17 to deform the sheet material PT and form a protrusion V. In a state where the sheet material PT deformed by the deforming member 63 is brought close to or into contact with a curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, differential pressure is generated in the chamber 17, and the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb by the differential pressure. The curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deforming member 63 is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a sheet material attaching device and a sheet material attaching method used for attaching a sheet material such as an adhesive tape or an adhesive film to a work having a curved surface.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, flat wafers or substrates have been used as works to which a sheet material for purposes such as circuit protection is to be attached. On the other hand, in recent years, the shapes of works have become diversified, and there are cases where a sheet material is attached to a curved surface of a work having a curved surface such as a concave shape.

[0003] When attaching a sheet material to the curved surface of a work, due to the sheet material coming into contact with the outer peripheral portion of the curved surface first, a situation where wrinkles occur in the sheet material or a situation where air bubbles (voids) are mixed between the work and the sheet material may occur. As an example, if the sheet material contacts the shallow recessed portion on the outer peripheral portion of the curved surface before contacting the deep recessed portion in the central portion of the concave curved surface, wrinkles or air bubbles will occur when the sheet material is attached to the entire curved surface of the work. In order to avoid a decrease in the adhesion accuracy of the sheet material to the work due to the occurrence of such wrinkles or the mixing of air bubbles, a sheet material attaching device that deforms the sheet material using a rod-shaped deformation member has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

[0004] In such a device, a rod-shaped protruding member is brought into contact with a part of the sheet material inside a vacuum chamber to form a protruding portion toward the curved surface of the work. By bringing the protruding member closer to the work in a state where the protruding portion is formed, the protruding portion is brought into contact with, for example, a deep portion on the curved surface of the work. Then, by forming a differential pressure between the upper space and the lower space in the vacuum chamber partitioned by the sheet material, the sheet material is attached to the curved surface of the work so as to spread from the portion where the protruding portion contacts to the surroundings. In this case, since the sheet material is attached to the deep recessed portion of the work first, it is possible to more reliably avoid the occurrence of wrinkles or air bubbles.

[0005]

Patent Document 1

Disclosure of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0006] However, the above conventional device has the following problems. That is, when a sheet material is attached to a workpiece having a curved surface, it has been newly discovered that it is difficult to cause the sheet material to exhibit uniform characteristics over the entire workpiece. That is, it has been found that there are variations in the characteristics of the sheet material over the entire workpiece.

[0007] The following are considered as the causes of such variations in the characteristics of the sheet material. That is, in the conventional configuration according to Patent Document 1, when a thin rod-shaped protruding member is brought into contact to form protrusions on a part of the sheet material, the sheet material in the portion where the protrusions are formed is stretched and thinned. That is, the elongation rate of the sheet material is significantly different between the portion where the protrusions are formed and the portion where no protrusions are formed. In the sheet material, when the elongation rate is different, the characteristics of the sheet material may change. That is, the characteristics of the sheet material attached to the region of the workpiece where the sheet material in the portion where the protrusions are formed is attached and the region of the workpiece where the sheet material in the portion where no protrusions are formed is attached are significantly different due to the variation in the elongation rate. As a result, while the requirement of preventing the generation of wrinkles or bubbles can be satisfied, it becomes difficult to satisfy the requirement of causing the sheet material attached to the entire workpiece to exhibit uniform characteristics.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a main object thereof is to provide a sheet material attaching method and a sheet-like attaching device that can attach a sheet material to a workpiece having a curved surface with high accuracy and reduce variations in the characteristics of the sheet material over the entire surface of the workpiece.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, a sheet material attaching device for attaching a sheet material to a curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface, a holding table for holding the workpiece with the side having the curved surface facing upward, a chamber that partitions an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material by sandwiching the sheet material between an upper chamber and a lower chamber, and houses the holding table in the lower space, a supply mechanism for supplying the sheet material, a deformation member having a contact surface, and deforming the sheet material by bringing the contact surface into contact with the sheet material, a deformation member moving mechanism that moves the deformation member close to the holding table in a state where the deformation member is in contact with the sheet material, and brings the sheet material deformed by the deformation member close to or into contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the workpiece, a decompression mechanism for decompressing at least the lower space of the upper space and the lower space, a pasting mechanism that pastes the sheet material to the curved surface of the workpiece by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material in a state where the lower space is decompressed and the sheet material is close to or in contact with a part of the curved surface of the workpiece, is provided, characterized in that the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0010] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, in a sheet material attaching device for attaching a sheet material to a curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface, a chamber and a deformation member are provided. That is, with the workpiece having a curved surface held by a holding table, the sheet material is sandwiched between an upper chamber and a lower chamber, thereby partitioning the internal space of the chamber into an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material. At this time, the holding table holding the workpiece is housed in the lower space of the chamber. The sheet material sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber is deformed when the contact surface of the deformation member comes into contact therewith. The sheet material deformed by the deformation member approaches or contacts a part of the curved surface of the workpiece, and is further attached to the curved surface of the workpiece by the differential pressure formed in the chamber.

[0011] At this time, the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece. Therefore, when attaching the sheet material deformed by the deformation member to the curved surface of the workpiece, it is possible to prevent tension from occurring due to the sheet material contacting an unexpected part such as the end of the workpiece. Such tension causes wrinkles and bubbles to occur when attaching the sheet material to the curved surface. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the formation of wrinkles and bubbles in the sheet material attached to the curved surface of the workpiece, so that the sheet material can be accurately adhered to the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0012] Also, by making the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece, the area of the sheet material that contacts and deforms against the contact surface becomes wider, so that the degree of stretching of the sheet material per unit area of the area can be reduced. As a result, regarding the entire sheet material attached to the curved surface of the workpiece, the variation in the stretching rate of the sheet material is reduced, so that it is also possible to exhibit uniform characteristics in the entire workpiece to which the sheet material is attached.

[0013] Also, in the above-described invention, the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface of the deformation member and the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface of the workpiece are

Number

[0014] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface in the deformable member and the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface in the workpiece are configured to satisfy the condition of a ≧ 0.3 × b. Since the deformable member is configured such that the cross-sectional width satisfies the said condition, the area of the sheet material that contacts and deforms on the contact surface becomes wider, so the degree to which the sheet material stretches per unit area of the said area can be reduced. As a result, regarding the entire sheet material attached to the curved surface of the sheet material workpiece, the variation in the stretching rate of the sheet material is reduced, so it becomes possible to exhibit uniform characteristics in the entire workpiece to which the sheet material is attached.

[0015] Further, in the above-described invention, it is provided with a pressure adjustment mechanism that adjusts the air pressure in the lower space to be higher than the air pressure in the upper space, and in a state where the air pressure in the lower space is adjusted to be higher than the air pressure in the upper space by the pressure adjustment mechanism, the deformable member moving mechanism preferably brings the sheet material deformed by the deformable member close to or into contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0016] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, by adjusting the air pressure in the lower space to be higher than that in the upper space, the sheet material can be more reliably separated from the workpiece. Therefore, in the process of deforming the sheet material with the deformable member and the process of bringing the deformed sheet material close to or into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece, the situation where the sheet material unexpectedly contacts the peripheral part of the workpiece or the like can be more reliably avoided. Therefore, it is possible to surely prevent the generation of wrinkles, bubbles, etc. caused by the unexpected contact between the sheet material and the workpiece, so it becomes possible to further improve the adhesion accuracy of the sheet material to the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0017] In addition, in the above-described invention, it is preferable that the pasting mechanism pastes the sheet material onto the curved surface of the workpiece by means of a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material in a state where the sheet material is in contact with a part of the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0018] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, a differential pressure is generated after the portion of the sheet material deformed by the deformation member comes into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece. In this case, the timing at which the entire sheet material in the chamber is deformed by the differential pressure is surely after the timing at which the sheet material deformed by the deformation member comes into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation in which a portion of the sheet material other than the deformed portion comes into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece unexpectedly before the portion of the sheet material deformed by the deformation member comes into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably prevent the occurrence of wrinkles, bubbles, etc. caused by unexpected contact of the sheet material.

[0019] In addition, in the above-described invention, it is preferable that the deformation member is provided with an elastic body on the contact surface, and the sheet material is deformed by bringing the elastic body into contact with the sheet material.

[0020] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, when the sheet material of the portion deformed by the contact of the contact surface comes into contact with the curved surface of the workpiece, the elastic body provided on the contact surface is appropriately elastically deformed according to the shape of the curved surface of the workpiece. Due to the elastic deformation, it is possible to prevent the pressing force acting on the workpiece from the deformation member from becoming excessive when the deformation member moves close to the holding table that holds the workpiece. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation in which the workpiece is deformed or damaged due to the deformation member pressing the workpiece excessively.

[0021] In addition, in the above-described invention, the workpiece has a concave curved surface, and it is preferable that the deformation member moving mechanism brings the sheet material deformed by the deformation member close to or into contact with a region including the deepest portion of the concave curved surface.

[0022] (Operation and Effect) According to this configuration, the portion of the sheet material deformed by the deformation member approaches or abuts against the region including the deepest portion of the concave curved surface of the workpiece. In the conventional configuration, the deepest portion of the concave curved surface is the position where the sheet material is finally attached, and it is a portion where bubbles and the like are likely to occur and it is difficult to attach the sheet material accurately. In the configuration according to the present invention, since the deformed portion of the sheet material approaches or abuts against the deepest portion of the concave curved surface, the sheet material is attached to the curved surface of the workpiece so as to spread radially from the deepest portion during the attachment process. Therefore, it is possible to surely avoid the generation of bubbles and the like in the portion where attachment errors are likely to occur conventionally, so that the sheet material can be accurately adhered to the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0023] Further, in the above-described invention, it is preferable that the sheet material includes a sheet piece having a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the workpiece and a long carrier tape for holding the sheet piece.

[0024] (Operation and Effect) According to this configuration, the sheet material includes a sheet piece having a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the workpiece and a long carrier tape for holding the sheet piece. In this case, in the contact process, a part of the sheet piece and the carrier tape is deformed by the deformation member, and the deformed portion of the sheet material contacts the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0025] At this time, since a large force acts only on the portion of the sheet piece deformed by the deformation member, it is possible to prevent the sheet piece from being displaced when the sheet material is brought close to the workpiece. Therefore, the sheet piece of the sheet material can be accurately brought into contact with the target position on the curved surface of the workpiece, so that the accuracy of the position where the sheet piece is attached to the curved surface of the workpiece can be further improved.

[0026] In order to achieve such an object, the present invention may adopt the following configuration. That is, it is a sheet material attaching method for attaching a sheet material to the curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface in the internal space of a chamber provided with an upper chamber and a lower chamber, A work holding process of holding the work on a holding table with the side having the curved surface facing upward; A vertical space forming process of storing the holding table and sandwiching the sheet material between the upper chamber and the lower chamber to partition the internal space of the chamber into a lower space in which the work with the side having the curved surface facing upward is disposed and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween; A supply process of supplying the sheet material; A deformation process of deforming the sheet material by bringing a deformation member provided with a contact surface into contact with the sheet material; A deformation member moving process of moving the deformation member close to the holding table in a state where the deformation member is in contact with the sheet material and bringing the sheet material deformed by the deformation member close to or into contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the work; A pressure reduction process of reducing the pressure of at least the lower space among the upper space and the lower space to a vacuum; An attachment process of attaching the sheet material to the curved surface of the work by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material in a state where the lower space is reduced to a vacuum and the sheet material is close to or in contact with a part of the curved surface of the work; comprising; The curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the work.

[0027] (Function and Effect) According to this configuration, in a sheet material pasting device for pasting a sheet material onto the curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface, with the workpiece having a curved surface held by a holding table, the sheet material is sandwiched between an upper chamber and a lower chamber, thereby partitioning the internal space of the chamber into an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material. At this time, the holding table holding the workpiece is housed in the lower space of the chamber. The sheet material sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber is deformed when the contact surface of the deformation member comes into contact therewith. The sheet material deformed by the deformation member approaches or contacts a part of the curved surface of the workpiece, and is further pasted onto the curved surface of the workpiece by the differential pressure formed in the chamber.

[0028] At this time, the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece. Therefore, when pasting the sheet material deformed by the deformation member onto the curved surface of the workpiece, it is possible to prevent tension from occurring due to the sheet material contacting an unexpected part such as the end of the workpiece. Such tension causes wrinkles and bubbles to occur when pasting the sheet material onto the curved surface. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the formation of wrinkles and bubbles in the sheet material pasted onto the curved surface of the workpiece, so that the sheet material can be accurately adhered to the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0029] Also, by making the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece, the area of the sheet material that contacts the contact surface and deforms becomes wider, so that the degree of stretching of the sheet material per unit area of the area can be reduced. As a result, regarding the entire sheet material pasted onto the curved surface of the sheet material workpiece, the variation in the elongation rate of the sheet material is reduced, so that it is also possible to exhibit uniform characteristics in the entire workpiece to which the sheet material is pasted.

Effect of the Invention

[0030] According to the sheet material attaching device and the sheet material attaching method of the present invention, in a sheet material attaching device for attaching a sheet material to a curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface, a chamber and a deformation member are provided. That is, with the workpiece having a curved surface held by a holding table, the sheet material is sandwiched between an upper chamber and a lower chamber, thereby partitioning the internal space of the chamber into an upper space and a lower space via the sheet material. At this time, the holding table holding the workpiece is housed in the lower space of the chamber. The sheet material sandwiched between the upper chamber and the lower chamber is deformed when the contact surface of the deformation member comes into contact therewith. The sheet material deformed by the deformation member approaches or contacts a part of the curved surface of the workpiece, and is further attached to the curved surface of the workpiece by a differential pressure formed in the chamber.

[0031] At this time, the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece. Therefore, when attaching the sheet material deformed by the deformation member to the curved surface of the workpiece, it is possible to prevent the generation of tension due to the contact of the sheet material with an unexpected part such as the end of the workpiece. The tension causes wrinkles and bubbles to occur when the sheet material is attached to the curved surface. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the formation of wrinkles and bubbles in the sheet material attached to the curved surface of the workpiece, so that the sheet material can be accurately adhered to the curved surface of the workpiece.

[0032] Further, by making the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece, the area of the sheet material that contacts the contact surface and deforms becomes wider, so that the degree of stretching of the sheet material per unit area of the region can be reduced. As a result, the variation in the elongation rate of the sheet material is reduced for the entire sheet material attached to the curved surface of the workpiece, so that it is also possible to exhibit uniform characteristics in the entire workpiece to which the sheet material is attached. That is, the sheet material can be attached to the workpiece having a curved surface with high accuracy, and the variation in the characteristics of the sheet material over the entire surface of the workpiece can be reduced.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0033]

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Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Examples

[0034] Hereinafter, Example 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of a sheet material pasting device 1 according to Example 1. In each drawing showing the sheet material pasting device 1, illustration of support means for supporting various components and drive means for driving various components is omitted as appropriate.

[0035] In the sheet material pasting device 1 according to the present embodiment, a dish-shaped workpiece W as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) is used as the workpiece to which the sheet material PT is to be pasted in the present embodiment. In the workpiece W, the peripheral portion Wa of the surface W1 is flat, while the central portion Cp where the circuit is formed has a concave curved surface Wb. Note that the shape of the workpiece W having the curved surface Wb is not limited to a dish shape, and a tile shape as shown in FIG. 2(c) can be cited as another example. The sheet material pasting device 1 is intended to paste the sheet material PT at least on the central portion Cp of the workpiece W. Examples of the sheet material PT include an adhesive film or an adhesive tape for circuit protection.

[0036] As shown in FIG. 3, the sheet material PT used in the present embodiment has a long structure in which a non-adhesive base material Ta and an adhesive material Tb having adhesiveness are laminated. A separator S is attached to the adhesive material Tb. That is, the separator S is attached to the adhesive surface of the sheet material PT, and the adhesive surface of the sheet material PT is exposed by peeling the separator S from the sheet material PT.

[0037] Examples of the material constituting the base material Ta include polyolefin, polyethylene, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyester, polyimide, polyurethane, vinyl chloride, polyethylene terephthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyvinylidene chloride, polyethylene methacrylic acid copolymer, polypropylene, methacrylic acid terephthalate, polyamideimide, polyurethane elastomer, etc. Note that a combination of a plurality of the above-described materials may be used as the base material Ta. Further, the base material Ta may be a single layer or may have a configuration in which a plurality of layers are laminated.

[0038] The adhesive material Tb is preferably composed of a material that can ensure the function of protecting the work W and the function of maintaining the state in which the sheet material PT is attached to the work W. Examples of the material constituting the adhesive material Tb include acrylic ester copolymers, silicones, olefins, natural rubbers, butadiene rubbers, celluloses, and the like. Further, it is preferable to appropriately select a material that cures by energy ray irradiation or thermal energy for the adhesive material Tb. In this case, by applying energy rays or thermal energy, it becomes easy to peel the sheet material PT from the work W. Examples of the separator S include long paper materials and plastics.

[0039] <Description of the overall configuration> The sheet material attaching device 1 includes a sheet supply unit 2, a separator recovery unit 3, a sheet attaching unit 4, and a sheet recovery unit 5. The sheet supply unit 2 includes a supply bobbin 6, a tension mechanism 7, a peeling roller 8, and the like. A raw roll around which the sheet material PT is wound is loaded on the supply bobbin 6.

[0040] The supply bobbin 6 is interlocked and connected to an electromagnetic brake 9 and is applied with an appropriate rotational resistance. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the sheet material PT from being excessively fed out from the supply bobbin 6. The tension mechanism 7 includes a cylinder 11 that swings a swing arm 10. The swing arm 10 has a dancer roller 13 on the free end side and a rotating roller 12 pivotally supported on a support shaft at the fixed end.

[0041] Accordingly, the dancer roller 13 on the free end side of the swing arm 10 that swings in conjunction with the operation of the cylinder 11 descends, and is configured to push down the sheet material PT downward to apply tension. The sheet material PT fed out from the raw roll 6 is applied with tension in the feeding direction by a guide roller 14 or the like and is adjusted so that wrinkles do not occur.

[0042] The peeling roller 8 is configured to peel the separator S from the sheet material PT and guide it to the separator recovery unit 3. The separator recovery unit 3 is provided with a recovery bobbin 15 that winds up the separator S peeled from the sheet material PT. The recovery bobbin 15 is rotationally driven and controlled in both forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown).

[0043] The sheet sticking unit 4 includes a chamber 17, a sheet sticking mechanism 18, a nip roller 19, and a sheet cutting mechanism 21. The chamber 17 is composed of a pair of upper and lower housings having an inner diameter smaller than the width of the sheet material PT, that is, an upper housing 20 and a lower housing 22. The sheet material sticking device 1 according to the present embodiment includes one upper housing 20 and two lower housings 22. Of the two lower housings 22, one is distinguished as the lower housing 22A and the other as the lower housing 22B.

[0044] As shown in FIG. 4, the lower housings 22A and 22B are respectively provided at both ends of the turning arm 23. The turning arm 23 is connected and fixed to the rotating shaft 27 of the rotation drive device 25. That is, for example, when one lower housing 22A moves to the sticking region P1 to form the chamber 17 with the upper housing 20, the other lower housing 22B is configured to move to the retracted region P2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, etc., in the sticking region P1, the sheet material PT is adjusted to be fed out between the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22.

[0045] Also, a joint portion 29 is formed on the upper surfaces of the lower housings 22A and 22B, and a joint portion 30 is formed on the lower surface of the upper housing 20. The chamber 17 is formed by joining the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22 via the joint portion 29 and the joint portion 30. The joint surfaces of the joint portion 29 and the joint portion 30 are subjected to a release treatment with fluorine processing as an example.

[0046] As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a holding table 31 is housed in each of the lower housings 22A and 22B. The holding table 31 is configured to be movable up and down, and includes a work holding portion 33 for holding the work W. A work placement surface 35 is formed at the center of the work holding portion 33. The work placement surface 35 has a shape along the lower surface of the work W. In this embodiment, the work placement surface 35 is circular in plan view and has a concave shape in cross-sectional view. By placing the work W on the work placement surface 35, the work W can be held more stably.

[0047] Note that, in a state where the work W is placed on the work placement surface 35, it is preferable that the shape of the work placement surface 35 is predetermined such that the height of the peripheral portion Wa of the work W is higher than the height of the upper surface of the holding table 31 (see FIG. 7). By making the height of the peripheral portion Wa of the work W higher than the upper surface of the holding table 31, it becomes easier to separate the work W after the sheet material PT is attached from the holding table 31.

[0048] The holding table 31 is connected to a rod 37 that penetrates the lower housing 22. The other end of the rod 37 is drivingly connected to an actuator 39 including a motor or the like. Therefore, the holding table 31 can move up and down inside the lower housing 22.

[0049] A plurality of support pins 41 are built into the holding table 31. The support pins 41 are configured to be movable up and down, and their tips can be pushed up higher than the holding surface of the work holding portion 33. A heater 43 is embedded in the holding table 31.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 6, the upper housing 20 is provided in the drive mechanism 44. The drive mechanism 44 includes a movable table 47 that can move up and down along a rail 46 arranged vertically on the back of a vertical wall 45, a movable frame 48 that is supported by the movable table 47 so that its height can be adjusted, and an arm 49 that extends forward from the movable frame 48. The upper housing 20 is attached to a support shaft 50 that extends downward from the tip of the arm 49.

[0051] The movable table 47 is configured to be screwed up and down by rotating the screw shaft 51 forward and backward by a motor 52. Further, the upper housing 20 is configured to be able to retract from the pasting area P1 at an appropriate timing by an operation such as rotation of the movable table 47 or expansion and contraction of the arm 49.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 7, the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22 are connected in communication with a vacuum device 55 via a flow path 53. An electromagnetic valve 56 is provided in the flow path 53 on the vacuum device 55 side. Further, flow paths 59 each provided with electromagnetic valves 57, 58 for atmosphere release are connected in communication with the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22, respectively. Furthermore, a flow path 61 provided with an electromagnetic valve 60 for adjusting the internal pressure that has been once decompressed by leakage is connected in communication with the upper housing 20.

[0053] The opening and closing operations of the electromagnetic valves 56, 57, 58, 60 and the operation of the vacuum device 55 are performed by a control unit 62. The control unit 62 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and is configured to be able to comprehensively control various operations and the like for each component provided in the sheet material pasting device 1.

[0054] As shown in Fig. 4 and the like, the sheet attachment mechanism 18 includes a deformation member 63 inside the upper housing 20. A cylinder 65 is connected to the upper part of the deformation member 63, and the deformation member 63 can move up and down inside the chamber 17 by the operation of the cylinder 65. By lowering the deformation member 63 with the sheet material PT sandwiched between the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22, the deformation member 63 deforms the sheet material PT. Preferred examples of the material constituting the deformation member 63 include elastic bodies, and examples of elastic bodies include rubber, urethane, and elastomers. When the deformation member 63 is an elastic body, when the deformation member 63 contacts the workpiece W through the sheet material PT, the deformation member 63 elastically deforms according to the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. The sheet material PT can be preferably adhered to the workpiece W, and damage to the sheet material PT or the workpiece W can be prevented.

[0055] The nip roller 19 includes a feed roller 67 driven by a motor and a pinch roller 68 that moves up and down by a cylinder. The nip roller 19 is configured to be movable left and right along a guide rail 69. The guide rail 69 is installed on a pair of support frames 71 erected on the apparatus base 70 with the chamber 17 interposed therebetween.

[0056] The sheet cutting mechanism 21 is disposed above the attachment region P1 and includes a cutter unit 75 provided at the tip of a support arm 73 as shown in Fig. 1. The support arm 73 extends radially at the lower part of the tip of an arm that is cantilever-supported from a movable base 77. The movable base 77 is configured to be movable up and down along a frame 79.

[0057] A cutter 81 with a downward-facing cutting edge is attached to the cutter unit 75 via a cutter holder. Note that the cutter unit 75 can adjust the turning radius via the support arm 73. The sheet cutting mechanism 21 cuts the sheet material PT attached to the workpiece W so as to have substantially the same shape and size as the peripheral edge Wa of the workpiece W.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet collection unit 5 includes a collection bobbin 83 that winds up and collects the unnecessary sheet material PT peeled off after cutting. The collection bobbin 83 is configured to be rotationally driven and controlled in both forward and reverse directions by a motor (not shown).

[0059] As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the deformation member 63 includes a base end portion 91 and a tip end portion 93. In the first embodiment, the base end portion 91 is a substantially columnar member, and the tip end portion 93 is a member having a spherical lower surface. In other words, the tip end portion 93 is a member having a shape obtained by cutting off a part of a sphere. The tip end portion 93 is connected to the lower part of the base end portion 91, and a contact surface 95 is formed on the lower surface side of the tip end portion 93. The contact surface 95 has a curved surface, and when the deformation member 63 descends, the contact surface 95 comes into contact with the sheet material PT. In the first embodiment, the contact surface 95 has a curved surface that constitutes a part of a spherical surface.

[0060] FIGS. 8 and 9 show the relationship between the shape of the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 and the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. As shown in FIG. 8, the width of the contact surface 95 in the longitudinal section of the contact surface 95 is defined as the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95, and the width of the curved surface Wb in the longitudinal section of the workpiece W is defined as the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface Wb. That is, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95 corresponds to the length of the contact surface 95 in the x direction. Also, the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface Wb corresponds to the length of the curved surface Wb in the x direction. In the sheet material attaching device 1 according to the first embodiment, the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95 and the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface Wb are configured to satisfy the condition shown in (1) below. a ≧ 0.3 × b ……(1)

[0061] That is, the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95 is configured to be 0.3 times or more the width b of the curved surface Wb. In this way, by determining the configuration of the deformation member 63 such that the ratio of the cross-sectional width a to the cross-sectional width b is 0.3 or more, as will be described later, when the sheet material PT is deformed using the deformation member 63, the ratio of the elongation rate of the sheet material PT in the portion where the contact surface 95 is in contact and deformed to the elongation rate of the sheet material PT in the portion where the contact surface 95 is not in contact can be reduced. In other words, when the sheet material PT is deformed by the deformation member 63, the variation in the elongation rate throughout the sheet material PT can be suppressed.

[0062] Further, in the sheet material attaching device 1 according to the first embodiment, the curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Here, with reference to FIG. 9, the curvature of the contact surface 95 and the curvature of the curved surface Wb will be described. FIG. 9 shows a longitudinal cross-section of the deformation member 63 and the workpiece W, similar to FIG. 8.

[0063] In FIG. 9, a predetermined point on the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is indicated by reference numeral NP, and the normal line of the contact surface 95 at the point NP is indicated by reference numeral T1. Also, one end of the contact surface 95 in the width direction (here, the x direction) of the deformation member 63 is indicated by reference numeral NL, and the other end of the contact surface 95 is indicated by reference numeral NR. The curvature of the contact surface 95 that is a curved surface corresponds to the amount of change in the inclination of the normal line T1 while the point NP moves from one end NL to the other end NR along the arc-shaped contact surface 95.

[0064] Also in FIG. 9, a predetermined point on the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W is indicated by reference numeral WP, and the normal line of the curved surface Wb at the point WP is indicated by reference numeral T2. Also, one end of the curved surface Wb in the width direction (here, the x direction) of the curved surface Wb is indicated by reference numeral WL, and the other end of the curved surface Wb is indicated by reference numeral WR. The curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W corresponds to the amount of change in the inclination of the normal line T2 while the point WP moves from one end WL to the other end WR along the arc-shaped curved surface Wb.

[0065] <Outline of operation> Here, the basic operation of the sheet material attaching device 1 according to Example 1 will be described. FIG. 10(a) is a flowchart for explaining the process of attaching the sheet material PT to the workpiece W using the sheet material attaching device 1. In the initial state, among the lower housings 22, the lower housing 22A is arranged in the retracted region P2, and the lower housing 22B is arranged in the attaching region P1 together with the upper housing 20.

[0066] Step S1 (Supply of workpiece) When an attaching command is issued, the workpiece W is conveyed to the holding table 31 by a conveying device (not shown). At this time, the workpiece W is conveyed to the holding table 31 inside the lower housing 22 (lower housing 22A in this embodiment) arranged at the retracted position P2. Examples of the conveying device include a vacuum suction type robot arm.

[0067] Also, heating by the heater 43 is started at an appropriate timing. By the heater 43 heating the holding table 31, the sheet material PT is heated together with the workpiece W in a later process. As a result, the material constituting the sheet material PT becomes soft, so that the sheet material PT can be more easily deformed.

[0068] When the workpiece W is conveyed, the holding table 31 rises appropriately, and the support pins 41 built in the holding table 31 project from the workpiece holding portion 33 and rise to the receiving position. Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the workpiece W is delivered to the tip of the support pin 41 pushed up to a position higher than the upper surface of the lower housing 22A.

[0069] When the workpiece W is transferred, the support pin 41 descends and returns to the initial position, and the workpiece W is placed on the workpiece placement surface 35 of the workpiece holding portion 33. At this time, the height of the peripheral edge Wa of the workpiece W held by the holding table 31 via the workpiece placement surface 35 is adjusted so that it is lower than the height of the upper surface of the lower housing 22A. In addition, in order to hold the workpiece W more stably, the holding table 31 may vacuum-adsorb the back surface of the workpiece W via the workpiece placement surface 35 by a vacuum device (not shown). In the process of step S1, with the back surface W2 facing downward and the surface W1 having the curved surface Wb facing upward, the workpiece W is held by the holding table 31.

[0070] At this time, the pinch roller 68 is raised to nip the sheet material PT in cooperation with the feed roller 67, and the dancer roller 13 is swung downward to a predetermined height to apply a predetermined tension in the longitudinal direction of the sheet material PT.

[0071] Step S2 (formation of the chamber) When the workpiece W is held by the holding table 31, as shown in FIG. 12, the rotation drive device 25 is operated to swing the swing arm 23. By the swing of the swing arm 23, the lower housing 22A is moved from the retracted region P2 to the attachment region P1. In conjunction with the movement of the lower housing 22A, the lower housing 22B moves from the attachment region P1 to the retracted region P2. In a state where the lower housing 22A has moved to the attachment region P1, the workpiece W held by the holding table 31 has a predetermined clearance from the sheet material PT.

[0072] After moving the lower housing 22A to the attachment region P1, as shown in FIG. 13, the upper housing 20 is lowered. Along with this lowering, the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22A sandwich the sheet material PT to form the chamber 17.

[0073] The internal space of the formed chamber 17 is partitioned into two spaces by the sheet material PT. That is, it is partitioned into a lower space H1 surrounded by the sheet material PT and the lower housing 22A, and an upper space H2 surrounded by the sheet material PT and the upper housing 20. The work W and the holding table 31 are arranged in the lower space H1, and the upper space H2 faces the lower space H1 with the sheet material PT interposed therebetween.

[0074] Step S3 (Deformation of the sheet material) After forming the chamber 17, the electromagnetic valve 60 for leakage is closed, and the electromagnetic valves 56, 57, 58 are opened to operate the vacuum device 53 to decompress the lower space H1 and the upper space H2. At this time, the opening degrees of the electromagnetic valves 57 and 58 are adjusted so that the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are decompressed at the same speed. When the air pressures in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are decompressed to a predetermined air pressure (for example, a vacuum state), the control unit 62 closes the electromagnetic valves 56 - 58 and stops the operation of the vacuum device 53.

[0075] After decompressing the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to a predetermined air pressure, the control unit 62 operates the sheet attaching mechanism 18. That is, the control unit 62 lowers the deformation member 63. As the deformation member 63 descends, as shown in FIG. 14, the tip portion 93 of the deformation member 63 contacts and presses the sheet material PT. Due to the pressing, a part of the sheet material PT is deformed according to the shape of the contact surface 95 provided at the tip portion 93, and a protruding portion V having a shape facing the work W is formed on the sheet material PT. In this embodiment, since the work W is housed in the lower space H1, the protruding portion V has a shape facing the lower space H1.

[0076] The control unit 62 further lowers the deformation member 63. By continuously lowering the deformation member 63, the sheet material PT is pushed down by the tip portion 93. As a result, as shown in FIG. 15, the portion of the sheet material PT that is deformed as the protruding portion V comes into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. In FIG. 15 and the like, the region of the curved surface Wb where the protruding portion V contacts is shown as the contact region M1. In the present embodiment, the arrangement position of the deformation member 63 is adjusted so that the contact region M1 becomes a region including the deepest part Wc of the curved surface Wb. When the deformation member 63 contacts the curved surface Wb via the protruding portion V, the control unit 62 stops the lowering of the deformation member 63.

[0077] Step S4 (Attachment of the sheet material) After bringing the protruding portion V into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, the process of attaching the sheet material to the workpiece is started. That is, with the protruding portion V in contact with the curved surface Wb, the control unit 62 gradually increases the air pressure in the upper space H2 so as to reach a preset target value while adjusting the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 60 to allow leakage.

[0078] By adjusting the electromagnetic valve 60, the air pressure in the upper space H2 becomes higher than the air pressure in the lower space H1, and a differential pressure F is formed between the two spaces. Then, due to the differential pressure F between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, the sheet material PT is gradually drawn into the lower housing 22A.

[0079] At the time when the differential pressure F is formed, the protruding portion V, which is a part of the sheet material PT, already contacts the contact region M1 of the curved surface Wb. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 16, the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W radially from the contact region M1 toward the outer periphery. And as shown in FIG. 17, the sheet material PT is attached over the entire surface of the curved surface Wb and adheres closely. That is, the sheet material PT is attached over the entire surface of the central portion Cp of the surface W1 of the workpiece W. In the present embodiment, after the sheet material PT is attached to the central portion Cp, the differential pressure F is further maintained, and the sheet material PT is also attached to the peripheral edge Wa of the surface W1.

[0080] The control unit 62 opens the electromagnetic valves 57 and 58 after a predetermined time has elapsed, and adjusts the air pressure in the lower space H1 and the air pressure in the upper space H2 to be the same. When the air pressures in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 become equal, the control unit 62 returns the air pressures in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to atmospheric pressure while adjusting the opening degree of the electromagnetic valve 60. Thereafter, the upper housing 20 is raised to release to the atmosphere.

[0081] Note that, while the sheet material PT is being attached to the work W in the chamber 17, the process of step S1 can be performed in the lower housing 22B that has moved to the retracted region P2. By providing a plurality of lower housings 22 and performing the process of alternately attaching the sheet material PT to the work W, the attachment efficiency of the sheet material PT to the work W can be improved.

[0082] Step S5 (Cutting of the sheet material) When the sheet material PT is attached to the work W, the cutting process of the sheet material PT is started. That is, the upper housing 20 is retracted from the attachment region P1 to an appropriate position. At this time, the holding table 31 may be appropriately raised. In this embodiment, the holding table 31 is raised to a height at which the surface of the peripheral edge Wa of the work W and the upper surface of the lower housing 22A are flush.

[0083] Furthermore, the cutter unit 75 of the sheet cutting mechanism 21 is lowered to a predetermined height. Due to the vertical movement of the holding table 31 and the sheet cutting mechanism 21, as shown in FIG. 18, at a portion slightly away from the outer periphery of the peripheral edge Wa of the work W, the cutter 81 pierces the sheet material PT.

[0084] When the cutter 81 pierces the sheet material PT, the support arm 73 pivots about the vertical axis P as the pivot center. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the vertical axis P is an axis passing through the center of the holding table 31 and the center of the work W. As the support arm 73 pivots, the cutter 81 pivots along the outer periphery of the peripheral edge Wa of the work W, and the sheet material PT is cut into substantially the same shape and size as the peripheral edge Wa. When the cutting of the sheet material PT is completed, the cutter unit 75 rises and returns to the standby position.

[0085] Further, the pinch roller 68 provided on the nip roller 19 is lowered to release the nip on the sheet material PT. Then, as shown in FIG. 19, the nip roller 19 is moved along the guide rail 69 toward the tape supply unit 2, so that the sheet material PTw of the portion cut out along the outer shape of the peripheral edge Wa of the sheet material PT and the sheet material PTa of the portion other than the sheet material PTw are separated.

[0086] Step S6 (Work recovery) When the cutting and separation of the sheet material PT are completed, the rotation drive device 25 is operated to rotate the swing arm 23. By the rotation of the swing arm 23, the lower housing 22A is moved from the attachment region P1 to the retracted region P2. In conjunction with the movement of the lower housing 22A, the lower housing 22B is moved to the attachment region P1. Then, the work W with the sheet material PTw attached to the curved surface Wb is carried out by a transport mechanism (not shown) and recovered into a work storage unit (not shown).

[0087] The sheet material PTa separated from the sheet material PTw is wound up and recovered by the recovery bobbin 83 of the sheet recovery unit 5. As the sheet material PTa is recovered, a predetermined amount of the sheet material PT is fed out from the sheet supply unit 2.

[0088] The operation for one cycle is completed above, and thereafter, the operations from step S1 to step S6 are sequentially repeated.

[0089] <Effect of the configuration of Example 1> According to the apparatus according to the above-described Example 1, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached to the work W having the curved surface Wb. Here, the effect of the configuration of Example 1 will be described while comparing with the conventional configuration.

[0090] In a conventional pasting device as disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, a process of pasting a sheet material PT onto a workpiece having a flat shape is assumed. Therefore, when the workpiece has a curved surface, it has been newly found that it is difficult for a conventional pasting device to accurately paste the sheet material PT onto the workpiece.

[0091] Regarding the cause of the difficulty in accurately pasting, the following can be considered. That is, in a general conventional configuration in which a sheet material is pasted onto a workpiece using differential pressure, as shown in Fig. 20(a), a differential pressure F is generated inside the chamber Ty with the sheet material PT in a flat state, and the sheet material PT is pasted onto the workpiece W using the differential pressure F. In such a general conventional configuration, the entire sheet material PT inside the chamber Ty is uniformly deformed by the differential pressure F. Therefore, a portion of the workpiece W that is closer to the sheet material PT comes into contact with the sheet material PT earlier than a portion that is farther from the sheet material PT.

[0092] Therefore, when using a workpiece W having a curved surface Wb as the workpiece, as shown in Fig. 20(b), the sheet material PT is concave and contacts the peripheral edge Wa of the workpiece W that is flat and at a higher position in the z direction before contacting the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W that is at a lower position in the z direction. When the sheet material PT contacts the peripheral edge Wa in this way, a tension Tx is generated in the sheet material PT.

[0093] In this case, from the state where the sheet material PT has contacted the peripheral edge Wa, the central portion of the sheet material PT further deforms to follow the curved surface Wb. However, since a tension Tx is generated in the sheet material PT and the tension Tx gradually increases as it undergoes the follow-up deformation, the sheet material PT cannot be deformed any further, and a situation occurs where a part of the sheet material PT cannot follow the curved surface Wb.

[0094] When such a situation occurs, the sheet material PT in the portion that cannot be deformed following the curved surface Wb cannot adhere to the curved surface Wb. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 20(c), air bubbles Vo are generated between the sheet material PT and the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. In particular, the deepest part Wc, which is the deepest part of the curved surface Wb, is the part where the sheet material PT that is deformed by the differential pressure comes into contact last, so air bubbles Vo are generated frequently. Therefore, the adhesion accuracy of the sheet material PT is low in particularly deep parts of the curved surface Wb.

[0095] The tension Tx generated when the sheet material PT comes into contact with the peripheral edge Wa first is considered to cause another problem. That is, when the sheet material PT deforms following the curved surface Wb while the tension Tx is generated, the sheet material PT deforms unevenly. As a result, as shown in FIG. 20(d), a situation occurs where a part of the sheet material PT adheres to an unexpected region Wbx of the curved surface Wb first. When such a situation occurs, the sheet material PT cannot be attached to the curved surface Wb so as to adhere. As shown in FIG. 20(e), the part of the sheet material PT that has come into contact with the region Wbx becomes a wrinkle Sw.

[0096] Even if the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb while the tension Tx is generated, a strong tensile stress accumulates in the sheet material PT due to the tension Tx. Therefore, over time, the sheet material PT may be peeled off from the curved surface Wb by the tensile stress, and it is also conceivable that air bubbles Vo and wrinkles Sw are generated.

[0097] When attaching the sheet material PT to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, as a configuration for avoiding the situation where the sheet material PT comes into contact with the peripheral edge Wa before the curved surface Wb, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 21(a), a thin rod-shaped protruding member 101 is disposed inside the chamber Ty. Then, as shown in FIG. 21(b), the protruding member 101 is lowered, the central portion Q1 of the sheet material PT is pressed by the pressing member K and attached to the workpiece W, and then a differential pressure is generated to bring the sheet material PT into close contact with the entire surface of the workpiece W so as to expand radially from the central portion.

[0098] However, it has been found that the configuration of Patent Document 1 has the following new problems. That is, as shown in FIG. 21(b), since the protruding member 101 is a thin rod-shaped member, it abuts against and presses a very narrow region Q1 of the sheet material PT. Therefore, since a very large pressing force acts on the narrow region Q1, the portion of the sheet material PT in the region Q1 is greatly stretched by the pressing force. That is, the stretching rate of the sheet material PT in the region Q1 becomes very high. Also, the sheet material PT becomes thinner when it is stretched. That is, the portion of the sheet material PT in the region Q1 has a reduced thickness.

[0099] On the other hand, in the region Q2 of the sheet material PT where the protruding member 101 does not abut, the pressing force exerted by the protruding member 101 is very weak, so the stretching rate of the sheet material PT in the region Q2 is low. Also, the sheet material PT in the region Q2 is thicker than the sheet material PT in the region Q1. That is, in the configuration of Patent Document 1, due to the protruding member 101, variations in the stretching rate and variations in the thickness occur according to the position of the sheet material PT.

[0100] When the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W in a state where such variations in the stretching rate and variations in the thickness have occurred, the sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb becomes the state shown in FIG. 21(c). That is, the portion of the sheet material PT in the region Q1 is attached to the central portion of the curved surface Wb, and the portion of the sheet material PT in the region Q2 is attached to the peripheral portion of the curved surface Wb. Therefore, in the central portion of the curved surface Wb, the thickness of the attached sheet material PT is relatively thin, and in the peripheral portion of the curved surface Wb, the thickness of the attached sheet material PT is relatively thick.

[0101] The characteristics of the sheet material PT, taking light transmissivity as an example, vary greatly according to the thickness of the sheet material PT. As a result, the characteristics of the sheet material PT attached to the central portion of the curved surface Wb and the characteristics of the sheet material PT attached to the peripheral portion of the curved surface Wb will be greatly different. Therefore, it is considered difficult to uniformly exhibit the characteristics of the sheet material PT over the entire curved surface Wb with the conventional sheet material attaching device according to Patent Document 1.

[0102] On the other hand, in the sheet material attaching device 1 according to the first embodiment, the sheet material PT is deformed using the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63, and the deformed portion of the sheet material PT is brought into contact with the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Then, with the deformed portion of the sheet material PT in contact with the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, a differential pressure F is generated to attach the sheet material PT to the entire curved surface Wb. The contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is configured such that its curvature is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Also, the configuration of the contact surface 95 with respect to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W is determined so that the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95 and the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface Wb satisfy the condition a ≥ 0.3 × b.

[0103] By configuring the cross-sectional width or the curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 to satisfy the condition, when the deformation member 63 is brought into contact with the sheet material PT, the range of the sheet material PT with which the contact surface 95 comes into contact can be made larger. As a result, in the process of the deformation member 63 deforming the sheet material PT, the pressing force acting per unit area of the sheet material PT can be reduced, so that an excessive increase in the elongation rate of the sheet material PT in the region where the contact surface 95 comes into contact can be suppressed. Therefore, the difference in the elongation rate between the region of the sheet material PT where the contact surface 95 comes into contact and the region where the contact surface 95 does not come into contact becomes smaller, so that the variation in the elongation rate over the entire sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W can be reduced. That is, since the variation in the thickness of the sheet material PT on the curved surface Wb can be reduced, the characteristics of the sheet material can be exhibited more uniformly over the entire sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb.

[0104] In this embodiment, the elongation rate of the sheet material PT is calculated, for example, by the following method. Fig. 22(a) shows a first example of calculating the elongation rate. The left figure in Fig. 22(a) shows the deformation member 63 and the sheet material PT in a state where the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is not in contact with the sheet material PT. In this state, the length of the portion J of the sheet material PT facing the contact surface 95 is taken as F1. In the left figure of Fig. 22(a), since the contact surface 95 is not in contact with the sheet material PT, the length F1 is equal to the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95.

[0105] Next, the right diagram in FIG. 22(a) shows the deformation member 63 and the sheet material PT in a state where the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is in contact with the sheet material PT. In this state, let the length of the portion of the sheet material PT facing the contact surface 95 (the portion where the contact surface 95 is in contact) be F2. In the right diagram of FIG. 22(a), since the sheet material PT is deformed along the contact surface 95, the length F2 is the length along the surface of the contact surface 95. In the first example, the elongation rate Ex of the sheet material PT by bringing the deformation member 63 into contact is calculated by the mathematical formula shown in (3) below using the length F1 of the sheet material PT before deformation and the length F2 of the sheet material PT after deformation. Ex = (F2 - F1) / F1 ……(3)

[0106] In the formula (3) described above, F1 corresponds to the length of the initial facing portion J, and (F2 - F1) corresponds to the length by which the facing portion J is stretched by the deformation member 63. Therefore, the elongation rate Ex of the sheet material PT can be calculated by the mathematical formula (3).

[0107] Next, FIG. 22(b) shows a second example of calculating the elongation rate. The left diagram in FIG. 22(b) shows a plan view of the sheet material PT before bringing the deformation member 63 into contact. The right diagram in FIG. 22(b) shows a plan view of the sheet material PT after bringing the deformation member 63 into contact. That is, by bringing the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 into contact with the sheet material PT, the length of the sheet material PT in the x direction changes from X1 to X2, and the length of the sheet material PT in the y direction changes from Y1 to Y2. In the second example, the elongation rate Ex of the sheet material PT by bringing the deformation member 63 into contact can also be calculated by the mathematical formula shown in (4) below using the length X1, the length X2, the length Y1, and the length Y2. Note that the term (X1·Y1) corresponds to the product of the length X1 and the length Y1.

Number

[0108] Also, in the configuration according to the first embodiment, the curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Therefore, by bringing the sheet material PT deformed by the contact surface 95 close to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W together with the deformation member 63, it becomes easy to first bring the sheet material PT into contact with the deepest part Wc, which is the deepest part of the curved surface Wb. Therefore, in the process of attaching the sheet material PT to the curved surface Wb by differential pressure, the sheet material PT is attached radially outward from the deepest part Wc. Thus, it is possible to reliably avoid bubbles being entrapped in the deepest part Wc, which is considered to be a part where bubbles are particularly likely to occur conventionally, so that the adhesion of the sheet material PT to the curved surface Wb can be further improved.

[0109] Also, by making the curvature of the contact surface 95 larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, it has been found that a new effect can be obtained that the sheet material PT can be accurately attached even when there is a deviation between the position of the deformation member 63 and the position of the workpiece W. This effect will be described with reference to the diagrams in FIG. 23.

[0110] FIG. 23(a) shows a configuration in which the shape of the contact surface 95 coincides with the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. In this case, the curvature and the cross-sectional width of the contact surface 95 are equal to the curvature and the cross-sectional width of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. In such a configuration where the shape of the contact surface 95 coincides with the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, when the positions of the deformation member 63 in the x-direction and the y-direction and the position of the workpiece W coincide accurately, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached to the entire curved surface Wb. That is, when the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb coincide, by lowering the deformation member 63, the contact surface 95 contacts the entire curved surface Wb of the workpiece W so as to fit, so that the sheet material PT can be accurately attached to the entire curved surface Wb.

[0111] However, in a configuration where the shape of the contact surface 95 matches the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, due to a slight deviation in the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb, the pasting accuracy of the sheet material PT significantly decreases. FIG. 23(a) shows a state in which, in a configuration where the shape of the contact surface 95 matches the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb are slightly deviated in the x direction.

[0112] When the deformable member 63 is lowered in the state shown in FIG. 23(a), the positional relationship between the deformable member 63 and the workpiece W becomes as shown in FIG. 23(b). When the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb are deviated, even if the distance of the deviation (positional deviation amount) is slight, the contact surface 95 cannot contact the curved surface Wb. That is, the contact surface 95 contacts the flat peripheral portion Wa or the boundary portion between the peripheral portion Wa and the curved surface Wb (for example, one end portion WL or the other end portion WR) via the sheet material PT.

[0113] In the state shown in FIG. 23(b), since the contact surface 95 does not fit the curved surface Wb, even if the deformable member 63 is further lowered, the sheet material PT cannot be accurately pasted onto the curved surface Wb. Also, even when the differential pressure F is generated in the state shown in FIG. 23(b), since the sheet material PT is pasted onto the peripheral portion Wa prior to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, a situation where air bubbles Vo are mixed between the sheet material PT and the workpiece W or a situation where wrinkles Wbx are formed in the sheet material PT pasted onto the workpiece W frequently occurs (see FIGS. 20(b) to (d)).

[0114] Therefore, in a configuration where the shape of the contact surface 95 matches the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, it is necessary to match the position of the deformable member 63 and the position of the workpiece W in the horizontal directions (x direction and y direction) with very high accuracy, and the pasting accuracy of the sheet material PT significantly decreases due to the occurrence of a slight positional deviation.

[0115] On the other hand, when the curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deformation member 63 is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, even when a positional deviation occurs between the deformation member 63 and the workpiece W, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached. Fig. 23(c) shows a state in which the deformation member 63 is lowered and brought into contact with the workpiece W when the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb are displaced in the x direction.

[0116] When the curvature of the contact surface 95 is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb, the distance between the central portion of the contact surface 95 and the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W is surely larger than the distance between the peripheral portion of the contact surface 95 and the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Therefore, even when the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb are displaced in the horizontal direction, as shown in Fig. 23(c), the curved portion of the contact surface 95 surely comes into contact with the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W.

[0117] Also, when a positional deviation occurs, the position of the region M2 where the contact surface 95 and the curved surface Wb come into contact is close to the position of the contact region M1 (for example, the position of the deepest part Wc) when no positional deviation occurs. Therefore, when the differential pressure F is generated in a state where the contact surface 95 is in contact with the contact region M2 on the curved surface Wb via the sheet material PT, the sheet material PT is attached to the entire curved surface Wb so as to radially expand starting from the contact region M2 close to the contact region M1 (the deepest part Wc).

[0118] As a result, a situation where air bubbles Vo are mixed in or a wrinkle Wbx is generated can be surely prevented. That is, different from a configuration in which the shape of the contact surface 95 coincides with the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, in a configuration where the curvature of the contact surface 95 is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb, the allowable amount with respect to the positional deviation between the deformation member 63 and the workpiece W in the horizontal direction becomes very large. In other words, in a configuration where the curvature of the contact surface 95 is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb, even when the positions of the center line Kn of the contact surface 95 and the center line Kw of the curved surface Wb are displaced in the horizontal direction, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W.

Example

[0119] Next, Example 2 of the present invention will be described. In Example 1, the configuration of attaching the long sheet material PT to the work W having the curved surface Wb was described as an example. In Example 2, the configuration of attaching the sheet material PT, which is a fragment of a predetermined shape according to the shape of the work W, to a predetermined region including the curved surface Wb will be described as an example. That is, in Example 2, the configuration of attaching a precut adhesive tape to the work will be described as an example. Regarding the same configuration as the sheet material attaching device 1 according to Example 1, only the same reference numerals will be given, and different constituent parts will be described in detail.

[0120] As shown in FIG. 24, the sheet material PT according to Example 2 is pre-cut into a predetermined shape, and each sheet material PT is held by a long carrier tape CT. That is, in the sheet material attaching device 1A according to Example 2, the sheet materials PT, which are fragments of a predetermined shape, are arranged at predetermined intervals on the carrier tape CT, and the carrier tape CT is fed out and supplied from the sheet supply unit 2 together with the sheet material PT. The sheet attaching unit 4 attaches the sheet-like sheet material PT to the circuit forming surface of the work W having the curved surface Wb. The sheet collecting unit 5 winds up and collects the carrier tape CT peeled off from the sheet material PT.

[0121] In this example, it is assumed that the shape of the sheet material PT is circular. Further, since the sheet material PT already has a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the work W, the sheet cutting mechanism 21 can be omitted in the sheet material attaching device 1A.

[0122] The differences from Example 1 in the operation of the sheet material attaching device 1A according to Example 2 will be described while illustrating. The flowchart of the operation of the sheet material attaching device 1A is as shown in FIG. 10(b). Since the outline of the sheet material attaching process according to Example 2 is the same as the process according to Example 1, the detailed description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0123] Step S1 (Supply of work) In step S1, the work W having the curved surface Wb is conveyed to the lower housing 22A disposed in the retraction region P2. Then, the work W is placed on the holding table 31 housed in the lower housing 22A, and the work W is held via the work placement surface 35 of the holding table 31. The work W is held with the side of the surface W1 having the curved surface Wb facing upward.

[0124] Step S2 (formation of the chamber) Next, in step S2, the lower housing 22A is moved to the pasting region P1. At this time, the position of the fed sheet material PT is adjusted in advance so as to be above the curved surface Wb of the work W. After moving the lower housing 22A, the upper housing 20 is lowered. As shown in FIG. 25, the chamber 17 is formed by the upper housing 20 and the lower housing 22A sandwiching and joining the carrier tape CT.

[0125] The internal space of the formed chamber 17 is partitioned into two spaces by the carrier tape CT. That is, it is partitioned into a lower space H1 surrounded by the carrier tape CT and the lower housing 22A and an upper space H2 surrounded by the carrier tape CT and the upper housing 20.

[0126] Step S3 (deformation of the sheet material) After forming the chamber 17, the vacuum device 53 is operated to reduce the pressure in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 at the same speed. When the air pressures in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are reduced to a predetermined air pressure, the operation of the sheet pasting mechanism 18 is started and the deformation member 63 is lowered. By lowering the deformation member 63, as shown in FIG. 26, the contact surface 95 provided at the tip portion 93 of the deformation member 63 contacts the sheet material PT via the carrier tape CT and presses the sheet material PT. Due to the pressing, a part of the sheet material PT is deformed according to the shape of the contact surface 95, and the protruding portion V is formed.

[0127] After the sheet material PT is deformed by the joint surface 95, the control unit 62 further lowers the deformation member 63. By continuing to lower the deformation member 63, as shown in FIG. 27, the protruding portion V comes into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Similar to Example 1, it is preferable that the arrangement position of the deformation member 63 is adjusted so that the contact region M1 where the protruding portion V contacts the curved surface Wb is a region including the deepest part Wc of the curved surface Wb. When the deformation member 63 contacts the curved surface Wb via the protruding portion V, the control unit 62 stops the lowering of the deformation member 63.

[0128] Step S4 (Attaching the sheet material) After the protruding portion V is brought into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, a differential pressure is formed between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1 while the protruding portion V is in contact with the curved surface Wb. Due to the differential pressure between the upper space H2 and the lower space H1, the sheet material PT is gradually drawn into the lower housing 22A. Then, the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W so as to radially expand from the contact region M1 toward the peripheral edge. As a result, as shown in FIG. 28, the sheet material PT is attached over the entire surface of the curved surface Wb.

[0129] After a predetermined time has elapsed, the control unit 62 raises the deformation member 63 to return it to the initial position and adjusts the air pressure in the lower space H1 and the air pressure in the upper space H2 to be the same. Thereafter, the air pressures in the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 are returned to atmospheric pressure, and the upper housing 20 is raised to open to the atmosphere.

[0130] Step S5 (Peeling of the carrier tape) Since the sheet material PT according to Example 2 has already become a fragment having a shape corresponding to the outer shape of the workpiece W, the step of cutting the sheet material PT can be omitted. Therefore, in Example 2, after the sheet material PT is attached to the workpiece W, the step of peeling the carrier tape CT from the sheet material PT is performed. That is, the upper housing 20 is retracted from the attachment region P1 to an appropriate position. In Example 2, at this time, the holding table 31 is raised in the same manner as in Example 1.

[0131] Next, the pinch roller 68 provided on the nip roller 19 is lowered to release the nip of the sheet material PT. Then, as shown in FIG. 29, the nip roller 19 is moved along the guide rail 69 toward the tape supply unit 2, so that the carrier tape CT is wound up, and the carrier tape CT is peeled off from the sheet material PT attached to the work W.

[0132] Step S6 (Recovery of work) When the peeling of the carrier tape CT is completed, the turning arm 23 is turned, and the lower housing 22A is moved from the attachment area P1 to the retraction area P2. Then, the work W with the sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb is carried out by a conveying mechanism (not shown) and recovered into a work storage section (not shown). The carrier tape CT separated from the sheet material PT is wound up and recovered by the recovery bobbin 83 of the sheet recovery section 5.

[0133] The operation for one cycle is completed above, and thereafter, the operations from step S1 to step S6 are sequentially repeated.

[0134] <Effect of the configuration of Example 2> According to the apparatus according to Example 2, when the precut adhesive tape-like sheet material PT is attached to the work W having the curved surface Wb, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached to the curved surface Wb. That is, similar to Example 1, a part of the sheet material PT is deformed to form the protruding portion V, and the protruding portion V is first brought into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb. Then, after the protruding portion V is brought into contact with the curved surface Wb, the sheet material PT is attached to the entire curved surface Wb by the differential pressure between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 inside the chamber 17.

[0135] Therefore, also in the configuration of the second embodiment, it is possible to avoid the generation of the tension Tx caused by the sheet material PT coming into contact with the peripheral portion Wa first. Therefore, even when the sheet material PT is attached to the workpiece W having the curved surface Wb, it is possible to avoid a situation where wrinkles are generated in the sheet material PT or a situation where bubbles are generated between the sheet material PT and the curved surface Wb. Thus, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached so as to be in close contact with the entire surface of the curved surface Wb.

[0136] Also in the second embodiment, similar to the first embodiment, the contact surface 95 of the deformable member 63 is configured such that its curvature is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. Also, the configuration of the contact surface 95 with respect to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W is determined so that the cross-sectional width a of the contact surface 95 and the cross-sectional width b of the curved surface Wb satisfy the condition a≧0.3×b.

[0137] By configuring the cross-sectional width and curvature of the contact surface 95 of the deformable member 63 to satisfy the said condition, when the deformable member 63 is brought into contact with the sheet material PT, the range of the sheet material PT with which the contact surface 95 comes into contact can be made larger. As a result, in the process of the deformable member 63 deforming the sheet material PT, the pressing force acting per unit area of the sheet material PT can be reduced, so that an excessive increase in the elongation rate of the sheet material PT in the region where the contact surface 95 comes into contact can be suppressed. Therefore, the difference in the elongation rate between the region where the contact surface 95 comes into contact and the region where the contact surface 95 does not come into contact in the sheet material PT becomes smaller, so that the variation in the elongation rate of the entire sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W can be reduced. That is, the variation in the thickness of the sheet material PT on the curved surface Wb can be reduced, so that the characteristics of the sheet material can be more uniformly exhibited in the entire sheet material PT attached to the curved surface Wb.

[0138] Also, by making the curvature of the contact surface 95 larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, even when a deviation occurs between the position of the deformable member 63 and the position of the workpiece W, the sheet material PT can be accurately attached. That is, unlike the configuration in which the shape of the contact surface 95 coincides with the shape of the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, in the configuration where the curvature of the contact surface 95 is larger than the curvature of the curved surface Wb, the allowable amount for the positional deviation between the deformable member 63 and the workpiece W in the horizontal direction can be made very large.

[0139] Furthermore, in the configuration according to the second embodiment, by pressing the deformable member 63 against a part of the precut sheet material PT, the part is deformed into a shape protruding in the direction toward the workpiece W to form a protruding portion V. In the state where the protruding portion V is formed, the position of the sheet material PT is suppressed from shifting in the horizontal direction. Therefore, in step S3, the protruding portion V of the sheet material PT can be accurately brought into contact with a desired position (contact region M1) on the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. As a result, in the attaching step according to step S4, the accuracy of the position where the sheet material PT is attached can be greatly improved compared to the conventional method, so that in the method of attaching the precut sheet material PT to the workpiece W using differential pressure, the sheet material PT can be attached to a more accurate position.

[0140] It should be noted that the embodiments disclosed this time are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the description of the above embodiments but by the claims, and further includes all changes (modification examples) within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims. As an example, the present invention can be implemented with the following modifications.

[0141] (1) In each of the embodiments, as an example of the sheet material to be attached to the workpiece W, the sheet material PT has been described by way of example, but the sheet material is not limited thereto. In addition to the adhesive tape for protecting the circuit surface, an adhesive tape used for other purposes such as a supporting adhesive tape (dicing tape) may be used. In the present invention, as the sheet material, a sheet, tape, or film provided with an adhesive material having adhesive force or an adhesive material having adhesive force can be applied.

[0142] Note that the structure of the sheet material is not limited to the structure in which the adhesive material Tb is laminated on one surface of the base material Ta shown in FIG. 3, and a laminated structure of an adhesive and a base material may also be used. In addition to the single-layer structure of the adhesive material or the adhesive without a base material, examples of suitable structures include a structure in which the adhesive material or the adhesive is provided on both surfaces of the base material Ta. Furthermore, if the sheet material can be in close contact with the workpiece W, a sheet material composed only of the base material Ta may be used.

[0143] In this embodiment, a configuration in which the separator S is attached to the sheet-like adhesive material T is illustrated. However, the separator S may be omitted depending on the structure of the sheet material attaching device 1 or the sheet material.

[0144] (2) In each of the embodiments, the workpiece W having the concave curved surface Wb is illustrated as the workpiece to which the sheet material is to be attached. However, the shape and material of the workpiece are not limited to this. The configuration according to this embodiment can be applied to materials used for various semiconductor members such as substrates, panels, and wafers, as well as ceramics such as ceramics, resins, metals, glasses, woods, stones, paper materials, or mixtures of the above materials as the workpiece materials. In addition to the circular shape, the shape of the workpiece may be a rectangular shape, a polygonal shape, a substantially circular shape, or the like.

[0145] (3) In each of the embodiments, the case where the workpiece W has a concave curved surface Wb is illustrated. However, the curved surface is not limited to being concave, and may be convex, for example. When attaching the sheet material PT to the convex curved surface Wd provided on the workpiece W, as shown in FIG. 30, a part of the sheet material PT is deformed to form a protruding portion V, and after the protruding portion V is brought into contact with a part of the convex curved surface Wd, the attaching process by differential pressure is started.

[0146] In this case, the contact area M1 for contacting the protruding portion V is preferably an area including the top We which is the highest portion of the convex curved surface Wd. By starting the pasting process by differential pressure with the protruding portion V in contact with the top We, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation where air bubbles are trapped between the sheet material PT and the workpiece W and a situation where wrinkles are generated in the sheet material PT.

[0147] (4) In each of the embodiments, the pasting process by differential pressure, that is, the process according to step S4, is started with the deformable member 63 in contact with the curved surface Wb via the protruding portion V, but it is not limited to this. That is, if the protruding portion V of the sheet material PT is stably attached to the curved surface Wb, as shown in FIG. 31, the pasting process by differential pressure may be started after raising the deformable member 63. Even in the configuration according to the modification, pasting by differential pressure is started with the sheet material PT in contact with a part of the curved surface Wb. Therefore, the sheet material PT can be attached radially from the contact area M1 to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W without generating tension Tx in the sheet material PT. Thus, the sheet material PT can be accurately adhered to the entire surface of the curved surface Wb.

[0148] (5) In each of the embodiments, the shape of the deformable member 63 may be appropriately changed. Examples of the shape of the base end portion 91 of the deformable member 63 include a conical shape, a pyramid shape, a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a frustum of a cone shape, and a frustum of a pyramid shape in addition to a cylindrical shape. Examples of the shape of the tip end portion 93 of the deformable member 63 include a shape obtained by cutting off a part of an ellipsoid in addition to a shape obtained by cutting off a part of a sphere (true sphere).

[0149] (6) In each of the embodiments, after the deformable member 63 is brought into contact with the curved surface Wb via the protruding portion V, control for generating a differential pressure F between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 is started, but the timing of bringing the protruding portion V into contact with the curved surface Wb is not limited to this. That is, the differential pressure F may be generated in a state where the protruding portion V of the sheet material PT formed by the contact surface 95 of the deformable member 63 is close to (in a non-contact state) the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W.

[0150] In this case, after evacuating the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to a vacuum state, the contact surface 95 of the deformable member 63 is brought into contact with the sheet material PT and deformed to form the protruding portion V. Then, the deformable member 63 is lowered and moved proximally toward the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W. At this time, with the tip 93 having moved to a position where a slight gap is formed between the protruding portion V and the curved surface Wb, the control unit 62 stops the downward movement of the deformable member 63. Then, with the protruding portion V being close to the curved surface Wb, the control unit 62 starts control to generate a differential pressure F between the lower space H1 and the upper space H2.

[0151] When the differential pressure F is generated, the sheet material PT constituting the protruding portion V is attached to the contact region M1 by the differential pressure F. Then, starting from the contact region M1, the sheet material PT is attached to the entire curved surface Wb so as to radially expand. By generating the differential pressure F in a state where such a protruding portion V is close to the curved surface Wb and attaching the sheet material PT to the curved surface Wb of the workpiece W, it is possible to more reliably prevent air bubbles Vo from being entrapped between the workpiece W and the sheet material PT.

[0152] (7) For each embodiment, before lowering the deformable member 63 to form the protruding portion V in step S3, control may be performed to make the air pressure in the lower space H1 higher than the air pressure in the upper space H2. That is, after starting step S3 and evacuating the lower space H1 and the upper space H2 to a predetermined air pressure at a constant speed, the control unit 62 adjusts the opening degree of each electromagnetic valve so that the air pressure in the lower space H1 becomes higher than the air pressure in the upper space H2.

[0153] Since the air pressure in the lower space H1 becomes higher than the air pressure in the upper space H2, as shown in FIG. 32(a), a differential pressure Fb is generated between the two spaces. Then, due to the differential pressure Fb, the sheet material PT deforms so as to move away from the workpiece W. After deforming the sheet material PT with the differential pressure Fb, the deformable member 63 is lowered to form the protruding portion V.

[0154] In this modified example, since the protrusion V is formed in a state where the differential pressure Fb is generated, in the step of forming the protrusion V and bringing the protrusion V into contact with the curved surface Wb, the sheet material PT of the portion other than the protrusion V is deformed so as to move away from the workpiece W (Fig. 32(b)). Therefore, in the step of bringing the protrusion V into contact with the curved surface Wb, it is possible to avoid the situation where the sheet material PT of the portion other than the protrusion V comes into contact with the workpiece W first.

[0155] That is, when bringing the protrusion V into contact with the contact region M1 of the curved surface Wb, it is possible to prevent the sheet material PT other than the protrusion V from contacting an unintended portion or a portion of the peripheral edge Wa of the curved surface Wb. As a result, it is possible to prevent wrinkles or bubbles from occurring when the sheet material PT is attached to the curved surface Wb.

[0156] After bringing the protrusion V into contact with the curved surface Wb, the control unit 62 adjusts the opening degree of each electromagnetic valve so that the air pressure in the upper space H2 is higher than the air pressure in the lower space H1. By this adjustment, a differential pressure F is generated, and the sheet material PT is radially attached to the curved surface Wb outward from the contact region M1 by the differential pressure F. In this modified example where the differential pressure Fb is generated, the protrusion V may be formed by pressing the sheet material PT against the deformation member 63 by the differential pressure Fb.

[0157] (8) In each embodiment, although one workpiece W is housed inside the chamber 17 and the sheet material PT is attached, it is not limited thereto. That is, the sheet material PT may be attached in a state where a plurality of workpieces W are housed inside the chamber 17. In this modified example, a plurality of holding tables 31 are arranged inside the lower housing 22 according to the number of workpieces W, and a plurality of deformation members 63 are arranged inside the upper housing 20 according to the number of workpieces W. In this modified example, as shown in Fig. 33, it is assumed that two holding tables 31A and 31B are arranged in the lower housing 22, and two deformation members 63A and 63B are arranged in the upper housing 20.

[0158] In this modification example, when the chamber 17 is formed, the positions where the holding table 31 is disposed and the positions where the deformation members 63 are disposed are adjusted in advance such that the deformation members 63 are respectively disposed above each of the holding tables 31. Specifically, it is preferable that the respective disposition positions are adjusted such that the deformation member 63A contacts the deepest part Wc of the workpiece W held by the holding table 31A and the deformation member 63B contacts the deepest part Wc of the workpiece W held by the holding table 31B. In this modification example, since the sheet material PT can be attached to a plurality of workpieces W simultaneously, the attachment efficiency can be improved.

[0159] (9) In each of the embodiments, the workpiece W is exemplified as having one curved surface Wb, but it is not limited thereto. That is, the configuration of the present invention can also be applied to a workpiece W having a plurality of curved surfaces Wb. In this modification example, as shown in FIG. 34, the workpiece W is assumed to have three curved surfaces Wb. Each of the curved surfaces Wb is distinguished as the curved surfaces Wb1, Wb2, and Wb3 from the left side.

[0160] In a workpiece W having a plurality of curved surfaces Wb, a portion connecting the curved surfaces Wb to each other is defined as a curved surface connection portion G. In this modification example, the curved surface connection portion G connecting the curved surface Wb1 and the curved surface Wb2 is denoted by the reference sign G1, and the curved surface connection portion G connecting the curved surface Wb2 and the curved surface Wb3 is denoted by the reference sign G2 to distinguish the two.

[0161] In this modification example, the shape of the workpiece placement surface 35 is adjusted according to the shape of the workpiece W having three curved surfaces Wb. Further, a plurality of deformation members 63 corresponding to the number of the curved surfaces Wb, that is, the deformation members 63A, 63B, and 63C are disposed on the upper housing 20.

[0162] In this modified example, when the chamber 17 is formed, the position of the work placement surface 35 and the position where the deformation members 63 are disposed are adjusted in advance so that the deformation members 63 are respectively disposed above each of the curved surfaces Wb. That is, the deformation member 63A is disposed at a position where it can contact the curved surface Wb1, the deformation member 63B is disposed at a position where it can contact the curved surface Wb2, and the deformation member 63C is disposed at a position where it can contact the curved surface Wb3.

[0163] Specifically, it is preferable that the respective disposition positions are adjusted such that the deformation member 63A contacts the deepest part Wc1 which is the deepest part of the curved surface Wb1, the deformation member 63B contacts the deepest part Wc2 of the curved surface Wb2, and the deformation member 63C contacts the deepest part Wc3 of the curved surface Wb3. By providing such a configuration, the protrusions V formed by each of the deformation members 63 contact each of the deepest parts Wc. By performing the pasting step by the differential pressure F in the state where such contact is made, it is possible to more reliably prevent air from being trapped between the sheet material PT and the work W. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation where wrinkles and bubbles are generated in the sheet material PT, and the sheet material PT can be accurately adhered to the curved surface Wb.

[0164] Also, in this modified example, in a state where the work W is held by the holding table 31, it is preferable that the heights of each of the curved surface connection parts G are all lower than the height of the peripheral part Wa. By having such a configuration, when each of the protrusions V is brought into contact with each of the curved surfaces Wb, it is possible to more reliably avoid a situation where the sheet material PT of a portion other than the protrusion V contacts the curved surface connection part G and tension is generated in the sheet material PT due to such contact.

[0165] In this modified example, it is preferable that each of the protrusions V is brought into contact with each of the curved surfaces Wb in a state where the differential pressure Fb is generated by making the air pressure in the lower space H1 higher than the air pressure in the upper space H2 as described in the modified example according to (7). Since the generation of the differential pressure Fb deforms the sheet material PT so as to move it away from the work W, it is possible to more reliably avoid the situation where the sheet material PT contacts the peripheral part Wa or the curved surface connection part G in the step of bringing the protrusion V into contact with the curved surface Wb.

[0166] (10) In each embodiment, the configuration is not limited to contacting the protruding portion V with the curved surface Wb by lowering the deformation member 63. That is, the protruding portion V may be brought into contact with the curved surface Wb by raising the holding table 31 while holding the work W.

[0167] (11) In each embodiment, the position where the heater 43 is disposed is not limited to the inside of the work holding portion 33, and can be appropriately changed as long as the work W or the sheet material PT is heated. Also, the timing of heating by the heater 43 can be appropriately changed.

[0168] Note that it is preferable to perform heating by a heater in at least one of the contact process according to step S3 and the pasting process according to step S4. An operation of deforming the sheet material PT is performed in this process. When the sheet material PT is heated, the base material Ta, the adhesive material Tb, etc. become soft and are more easily deformed. Therefore, the contact process or the pasting process can be executed more preferably.

[0169] (12) In each embodiment, although the configuration in which the entire central portion Cp on the surface W1 of the work W is the curved surface Wb is illustrated, the present invention is not limited thereto. As another example of the shape of the central portion Cp, a configuration in which a part of the central portion Cp is a curved surface can be mentioned. That is, as shown in FIG. 35(a), even for a work W in which the central portion Cp of the surface W1 has the curved surface Wb and the flat surface St, the configuration according to the present invention can be applied. In the case of this modification, the pasting process of the sheet material PT according to step S4 is started in a state where the protruding portion V is in contact with at least a part of the central portion Cp of the surface W1. That is, in step S3, the protruding portion V may be brought into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb, or the protruding portion V may be brought into contact with a part of the flat surface St. Also, the protruding portion V may be brought into contact with a part of the curved surface Wb and a part of the flat surface St.

[0170] Furthermore, the shape of the central portion Cp is not limited to a configuration having only a single curved surface Wb. That is, as shown in FIG. 33(b), the central portion Cp may have a concave curved surface Wb and a recessed portion Ht. The shape of the recessed portion Ht is not limited to a substantially hemispherical curved surface having a curvature different from that of the curved surface Wb as shown in FIG. 35(b), and may be any shape. Examples of the shape of the recessed portion Ht include a conical recess, a pyramidal recess, a cylindrical recess, a prismatic recess, and the like.

[0171] As shown in FIG. 35(c), the central portion Cp may have a concave curved surface Wb and a convex portion Gt. The shape of the convex portion Gt may be any shape. Examples of the shape of the convex portion Gt include a substantially hemispherical shape, a conical shape, a pyramidal shape, a cylindrical shape, a prismatic shape, and the like. Also, the central portion Cp may have a curved surface Wb, a recessed portion Ht, and a convex portion Gt.

[0172] (13) In each of the embodiments, although an example of a configuration in which both the front surface W1 and the back surface W2 of the workpiece W have curved surfaces has been illustrated, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, as shown in FIG. 36, the back surface W2 may have a flat shape. When the back surface W2 is flat, the workpiece W can be held on the holding table 31 in a more stable state. Therefore, the sheet material PT can be more suitably attached to the side of the front surface W1 having the curved surface Wb.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0173] 1... Sheet material attaching device 2... Sheet supply unit 3... Separator recovery unit 4... Sheet attaching unit 5... Sheet recovery unit 6... Supply bobbin 7... Tension mechanism 13... Dancer roller 14... Guide roller 15... Recovery bobbin 17... Chamber 18... Sheet attaching mechanism 19... Nipper roller 20... Upper housing 21 … Sheet cutting mechanism 22 … Lower housing 29 … Joint part 30 … Joint part 31 … Holding table 33 … Work holding part 35 … Work placement surface 41 … Support pin 43 … Heater 55 … Vacuum device 62 … Control unit 63 … Deformation member 65 … Cylinder 67 … Feed roller 68 … Pinch roller 69 … Guide rail 75 … Cutter unit 81 … Cutter 83 … Recovery bobbin 91 … Base end part 93 … Tip end part 95 … Contact surface

Claims

1. A sheet material pasting device for pasting a sheet material onto a surface of a workpiece having a curved surface, comprising: a holding table for holding the workpiece with the side having the curved surface facing upward; a chamber partitioned into an upper space and a lower space through the sheet material by sandwiching the sheet material between an upper chamber and a lower chamber, and the holding table is housed in the lower space; a supply mechanism for supplying the sheet material; a deformation member having a contact surface, and deforming the sheet material by bringing the contact surface into contact with the sheet material; a deformation member moving mechanism for moving the deformation member close to the holding table in a state where the deformation member is in contact with the sheet material, and bringing the sheet material deformed by the deformation member close to or into contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the workpiece; a pressure reducing mechanism for evacuating at least the lower space of the upper space and the lower space; a pasting mechanism for pasting the sheet material onto the curved surface of the workpiece by a differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material in a state where the lower space is evacuated and the sheet material is close to or in contact with a part of the curved surface of the workpiece; and comprising a sheet material pasting device, wherein the curvature of the contact surface of the deformation member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the workpiece.

2. In the sheet material pasting device according to Claim 1, a cross-sectional width a of the contact surface of the deformation member and a cross-sectional width b of the curved surface of the workpiece satisfy 【Number 1】 the following conditions.

3. In the sheet material pasting device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, a pressure adjusting mechanism for adjusting the pressure in the lower space to be higher than the pressure in the upper space is provided, and in a state where the pressure in the lower space is adjusted to be higher than the pressure in the upper space by the pressure adjusting mechanism, the deformation member moving mechanism brings the sheet material deformed by the deformation member close to or into contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the workpiece. A sheet material pasting device characterized by the above.

4. In the sheet material pasting device according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, The pasting mechanism pastes the sheet material onto the curved surface of the workpiece by means of the differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material with the sheet material being in contact with a part of the curved surface of the workpiece. A sheet material pasting device characterized by the above.

5. In the sheet material pasting device according to claim 1 or claim 2, the deformable member is provided with an elastic body on the contact surface, and the sheet material is deformed by bringing the elastic body into contact with the sheet material. A sheet material pasting device characterized by the above.

6. In the sheet material pasting device according to claim 1 or claim 2, the workpiece has a concave curved surface, and the deformable member moving mechanism proximates or brings into contact with the sheet material deformed by the deformable member in a region including the deepest part of the concave curved surface. A sheet material pasting device characterized by the above.

7. In the sheet material pasting device according to claim 1 or claim 2, the sheet material includes a sheet piece having a predetermined shape corresponding to the shape of the workpiece and a long carrier tape for holding the sheet piece. A sheet material pasting device characterized by the above.

8. A sheet material pasting method for pasting a sheet material onto a curved surface of a workpiece having a curved surface in an internal space of a chamber provided with an upper chamber and a lower chamber, comprising: a workpiece holding process of holding the workpiece on a holding table with the side having the curved surface facing upward; a vertical space forming process of storing the holding table and partitioning the internal space of the chamber into a lower space in which the workpiece with the side having the curved surface facing upward is arranged and an upper space facing the lower space with the sheet material interposed therebetween by sandwiching the sheet material between the upper chamber and the lower chamber; a supply process of supplying the sheet material; a deformation process of deforming the sheet material by bringing a deformable member provided with a contact surface into contact with the sheet material; a deformable member moving process of moving the deformable member close to the holding table with the deformable member being in contact with the sheet material and bringing the sheet material deformed by the deformable member into proximity or contact with at least a part of the curved surface of the workpiece; a pressure reduction process of reducing the pressure of at least the lower space among the upper space and the lower space to a vacuum. In a state where the lower space is evacuated and the sheet material is close to or in contact with a part of the curved surface of the work, the differential pressure formed between the upper space and the lower space in the chamber partitioned by the sheet material causes the sheet material to be attached to the curved surface of the work. Attachment process, Comprising, A method for attaching a sheet material, characterized in that the curvature of the contact surface of the deformable member is configured to be larger than the curvature of the curved surface of the work.

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