Sheet material processing apparatus and method for manufacturing allotropes

Abstract

The present invention provides a sheet material processing apparatus and a method for manufacturing allotropes that improve the efficiency of processing sheet materials. [Solution] The sheet material processing apparatus comprises a sheet material processing chamber for performing a predetermined process on multiple layers of sheet material in a transport-stopped state, which are spaced apart along a first direction; a one-side opening / closing mechanism located on one side of the sheet material processing chamber in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the width direction of the sheet material; and a one-side actuator for driving the one-side opening / closing mechanism. The one-side opening / closing mechanism includes a plurality of rotating shafts, which are alternately arranged with the multiple layers of sheet material in the first direction and each extends in the width direction of the sheet material, and which are configured to rotate synchronously with each other by the power of the one-side actuator; and a plurality of valve members fixed to each of the plurality of rotating shafts. As the rotating shafts rotate, the gap between the valve members and the sheet material is closed.

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] The present disclosure relates to a sheet material processing apparatus and a method for manufacturing an allotrope thereof.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing carbon nanotubes by subjecting a stainless steel sheet to a predetermined treatment. The stainless steel sheet is an example of a sheet material, and the carbon nanotubes are an example of an allotrope.

Prior Art Documents

[0007] A method for manufacturing an allotrope according to at least one embodiment of this disclosure is: A method for manufacturing allotropes using the sheet material processing apparatus described above, A sheet material loading step involves loading the sheet material on which the catalyst layer has been formed into the sheet material processing chamber and stopping it, After the sheet material loading step, the closing step involves activating the one-sided opening / closing mechanism to close the gap between each of the plurality of valve members and the sheet material. After the closing step, the allotrope formation step involves filling the sheet material processing chamber with the processing gas and raising the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber using the heater to form the allotrope on the catalyst layer, It is equipped with. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to this disclosure, a sheet material processing apparatus and a method for manufacturing an allotrope are provided that improve the efficiency of processing the sheet material. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram of a sheet material processing device according to one embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram of a rotating shaft and valve member according to one embodiment. [Figure 3] A schematic cross-sectional view of a valve member according to one embodiment (valve member: open state). [Figure 4] A schematic cross-sectional view of a valve member according to one embodiment (valve member: closed state). [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of a one-sided power transmission mechanism according to one embodiment. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram of the other side power transmission mechanism according to one embodiment. [Figure 7] This is a schematic diagram of a specific sheet material processing device according to one embodiment. [Figure 8] This is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing CNTs according to one embodiment. [Figure 9] This is a schematic diagram of a one-sided power transmission mechanism according to another embodiment. [Figure 10] This is a schematic cross-sectional view of a valve member according to another embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, several embodiments of this disclosure will be described with reference to the attached drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, etc., of the components described or shown in the drawings as embodiments are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure, but are merely illustrative examples. For example, expressions describing relative or absolute arrangements such as "in a certain direction," "along a certain direction," "parallel," "orthogonal," "center," "concentric," or "coaxial" should not only strictly describe such arrangements, but also describe states of relative displacement with tolerances or angles or distances that allow for the same function to be achieved. For example, expressions such as "identical," "equal," and "homogeneous" that describe things being in an equal state not only describe a state of being strictly equal, but also describe a state in which there is a tolerance or a difference that is sufficient to achieve the same function. For example, expressions describing shapes such as squares or cylinders shall not only represent geometrically precise shapes such as squares or cylinders, but also shapes that include protrusions, chamfers, etc., to the extent that the same effect can be achieved. On the one hand, the expressions "comprising", "including", or "having" a component do not exclude the presence of other components. For similar configurations, the same reference numerals may be used and the description may be omitted.

[0011] <Overview of the Sheet Material Processing Apparatus 1> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a sheet material processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The sheet material processing apparatus 1 is configured to perform a prescribed process on a long sheet material 5 conveyed along a prescribed conveyance path C by conveyance rollers 7. The sheet material 5 in this example is formed of a metal material such as stainless steel. The conveyance path C is a region through which the sheet material 5 passes and is defined in advance in the design of the sheet material processing apparatus 1. In FIG. 1, only the start and end portions of the conveyance path C are shown for ease of viewing the drawing.

[0012] The prescribed process executed by the sheet material processing apparatus 1 may be any process as long as it involves gas supply or temperature adjustment. The prescribed process according to this example is a process of growing carbon nanotubes on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5 or a film forming process for forming a thin film, and more specifically, a process using chemical vapor deposition, that is, a CVD process. More specifically, a catalyst layer 14 is formed on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5, and a thin film-like allotrope is formed on the catalyst layer 14 through CVD processing.

[0013] More specifically, the surface 5S of the sheet material 5 includes a first surface 5a and a second surface 5b opposite to the first surface 5a. Before the sheet material 5 is brought into the sheet material processing chamber 20, a catalyst layer 14 is formed on the first surface 5a and the second surface 5b. Allotropes are formed on each catalyst layer 14. By forming allotropes on both sides of the sheet material 5, the amount of allotropes produced per unit time is increased, and the production efficiency of allotropes can be improved. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto, and allotropes may be formed on only one of the first surface 5a or the second surface 5b. In addition, a layer or film made of other materials may be formed between the surface 5S and the catalyst layer 14 (details will be described later).

[0014] Examples of allotropes include carbon allotropes, sulfur allotropes, or phosphorus allotropes. In the embodiments illustrated below, carbon nanotubes 4 (hereinafter referred to as "CNT4"), as an example of a carbon allotrope, are formed on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5. In this case, the catalyst layer 14 is a metal such as iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), gold (Au), or an alloy consisting of two or more of these. The catalyst layer 14 may also be a metal precursor such as a metal oxide or metal compound.

[0015] CNT4 may be either a single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) or a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT). The number of layers in a multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) is two or more, for example, two or more layers and up to 15 layers. When the number of layers is two, the multi-walled carbon nanotube is a double-walled carbon nanotube (DWNT). In other words, MWNT encompasses DWNTs.

[0016] The sheet material processing apparatus 1 comprises a conveyor roller 7 for conveying the sheet material 5 along a conveyor path C, a sheet material processing chamber 20 for performing CVD processing on the sheet material 5 brought in by the conveyor roller 7, a holding roller 33 for holding the sheet material 5 so that it is positioned in a predetermined position within the sheet material processing chamber 20, a one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 and a other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 for closing the space within the sheet material processing chamber 20, and a one-side actuator 49 and a other-side actuator 59 for driving both opening / closing mechanisms, respectively. The following describes these components of the sheet material processing apparatus 1.

[0017] <Conveyor roller 7> The conveying method for the sheet material 5 used in this example is a so-called roll-to-roll method, in which the sheet material 5 unwound from one roll is wound up by another roll. The conveying roller 7 includes an unwound roller 8 and a winding roller 9.

[0018] The feed roller 8 is positioned upstream of the conveying path C relative to the sheet material processing chamber 20. The feed roller 8 holds the feed roll 2 around which the sheet material 5 is wound, and is configured to rotate in the feed direction (arrow A1) that feeds out the sheet material 5 from the feed roll 2.

[0019] The winding roller 9 is positioned downstream of the conveying path C relative to the sheet material processing chamber 20. The winding roller 9 holds the winding roll 3 around which the sheet material 5 is wound, and is configured to rotate in the winding direction (arrow A2) that winds the sheet material 5.

[0020] The feed roller 8 and the winding roller 9 are each driven by two roller motors (not shown). In one embodiment, the catalyst layer 14 is formed on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5 as it is transported from the feed roll 2 toward the sheet material processing chamber 20. In another embodiment, the catalyst layer 14 may be formed in advance on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5 before it is fed from the feed roll 2. The sheet material 5 that has undergone CVD processing in the sheet material processing chamber 20 is then wound up by the winding roll 3.

[0021] In addition, some embodiments of the sheet material processing apparatus 1 may include a feed roll 2 and a winding roll 3 as components. In other words, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 may include a sheet material 5 as a component.

[0022] <Sheet material processing room 20> As shown in Figure 1, the sheet material processing chamber 20 includes a housing 21, a gas conduit 22 for introducing a processing gas into the housing 21, and a temperature controller 23 for adjusting the temperature of the internal space of the housing 21 in conjunction with the execution of the CVD process. The processing gas is a gas used in the CVD process. For example, the processing gas may be a hydrocarbon gas such as acetylene or methane, or a carbon gas such as carbon monoxide or alcohol. In this example, the temperature controller 23 is a heater 29 for raising the temperature inside the housing 21. The sheet material processing chamber 20 may also include an exhaust device (not shown) for discharging gas from inside the housing 21 before the start of the CVD process.

[0023] As shown in Figure 1, the housing 21 of the sheet material processing chamber 20 includes the first end wall 211 and the second end wall 212, which are the end walls in the first direction (arrow P1). In this example, the first direction is the vertical direction. The first end wall 211 is located above the second end wall 212.

[0024] Furthermore, as shown in Figure 2, the housing 21 further includes the third end wall 213 and the fourth end wall 214, which are the end walls in the width direction (arrow W) of the sheet material 5. The width direction of the sheet material 5 is a horizontal direction perpendicular to the conveying direction and the first direction of the sheet material 5. Hereafter, "width direction of the sheet material 5" may be abbreviated as "sheet material width direction".

[0025] Returning to Figure 1, within the housing 21, multiple layers of sheet material 5 are arranged at intervals along the first direction (arrow P1). In other words, multiple elongated portions 5A included in the sheet material 5 are arranged at intervals along the first direction. The elongated portions 5A are the parts of the sheet material 5 that extend in the direction of transport of the sheet material 5. The arrangement of multiple layers of sheet material 5 within the housing 21 is made possible by the multiple holding rollers 33, which will be explained next. Note that multiple layers means two or more layers, for example, 3 to 13 layers.

[0026] In the following, "upstream side in transport route C" may be abbreviated as "upstream side," and "downstream side in transport route C" may be abbreviated as "downstream side." Also, "transport direction of sheet material 5" may be abbreviated as "transport direction."

[0027] <Multiple holding rollers 33> The multiple holding rollers 33 include a plurality of upstream holding rollers 31 arranged at intervals in a first direction upstream of the sheet material processing chamber 20, and a plurality of downstream holding rollers 32 arranged at intervals in a first direction downstream of the sheet material processing chamber 20. The upstream holding rollers 31 and the downstream holding rollers 32 are arranged alternately in the first direction. The upstream holding rollers 31 and the downstream holding rollers 32 are rotatably supported. In Figure 1, which is a schematic diagram, there are two of each of the upstream holding rollers 31 and the downstream holding rollers 32, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and the number of each of the rollers may be one or three or more.

[0028] The sheet material 5 is held in a folded position by the upstream holding roller 31 and the downstream holding roller 32, respectively. In this example, by bridging the sheet material 5 across each of the multiple holding rollers 33, multiple long sections 5A of the sheet material 5 can be arranged at intervals in the first direction within the housing 21. The upstream holding roller 31 and the downstream holding roller 32 are designed to rotate together with the conveyance of the sheet material 5.

[0029] Furthermore, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 includes an upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 that houses the upstream holding roller 31, and a downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 that houses the downstream holding roller 32. The upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 includes a partition end wall 37, which is the end wall on the sheet material processing chamber 20 side, and the downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 includes a partition end wall 38, which is the end wall on the sheet material processing chamber 20 side. The partition end wall 37 separates the space inside the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 from the space inside the sheet material processing chamber 20. The partition end wall 38 separates the space inside the downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 from the space inside the sheet material processing chamber 20.

[0030] Multiple end wall through holes 37A are arranged in the partition end wall 37 at intervals in the first direction (arrow P1), and multiple end wall through holes 38A are arranged in the partition end wall 38 at intervals in the first direction. Multiple elongated sections 5A included in the sheet material 5 are located inside the end wall through holes 37A and 38A. As the material is transported, each of the elongated sections 5A passes through each of the end wall through holes 37A and each of the end wall through holes 38A.

[0031] <One-sided opening / closing mechanism 40, one-sided actuator 49> The one-sided opening / closing mechanism 40 and the one-sided actuator 49 will be explained with reference to Figures 1 to 4. In the following, the direction perpendicular to the first direction and the sheet material width direction may be referred to as the "second direction" (arrow P2 in Figure 1). In this example, the second direction is the horizontal direction.

[0032] As shown in Figure 1, the one-sided opening / closing mechanism 40 is located on one side in the second direction (more specifically, the left side in Figure 2) within the sheet material processing chamber 20. More specifically, the one-sided opening / closing mechanism 40 is located on one side in the second direction relative to the gas outlet of the gas conduit 22 and the heater 29. The one-sided opening / closing mechanism 40 includes a plurality of elongated sections 5A and a plurality of rotating shafts 48 that are alternately arranged in the first direction. One of the plurality of elongated sections 5A is located between two adjacent rotating shafts 48. In other words, two rotating shafts 48 are located on both sides of each elongated section 5A in the first direction. The plurality of rotating shafts 48 extend in the sheet material width direction.

[0033] As shown in Figure 2, each rotating shaft 48 includes one end 48a in the sheet material width direction and the other end 48b opposite to the one end 48a. The one end 48a is supported by the third end wall 213 of the housing 21 via a bearing B and protrudes from the third end wall 213 to the outside of the housing 21. The other end 48b is supported by the fourth end wall 214 via a bearing B. The multiple rotating shafts 48 rotate synchronously with each other when the one-side actuator 49 is driven by the one-side power transmission mechanism 60 (see Figure 5), which will be described later.

[0034] Returning to Figure 1, the one-sided opening / closing mechanism 40 further includes a plurality of valve members 45, each fixed to a plurality of rotating shafts 48. Each valve member 45 extends continuously in the width direction of the sheet material and faces the elongated portion 5A over its entire length in the width direction of the sheet material.

[0035] Figure 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a plurality of valve members 45. This cross-sectional view is a cross-sectional view of a valve member 45 perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation axis 48 (i.e., the width direction of the seat material). In this cross-sectional view, the peripheral edge 43 of the valve member 45 is non-circular. That is, the peripheral edge 43 has a shape such that the shortest distance to the axis of the rotation axis 48 changes along the rotation direction of the rotation axis 48. As a result, when the valve member 45 rotates, the gap G formed between the valve member 45 and the elongated portion 5A decreases in the first direction. In other words, as the rotation of the rotation axis 48 occurs, the valve member 45 can close the gap G.

[0036] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the valve member 45 that closes the gap G. In this disclosure, closing the gap G does not necessarily require contact between the valve member 45 and the elongated portion 5A. The gap G may remain even after the valve member 45 switches from the open state to the closed state, as long as at least one of the leakage of the processing gas filling the housing 21 from the gap G, or the leakage of the heat contained in the processing gas inside the housing 21 from the gap G, is suppressed to the extent that the CVD treatment can be performed.

[0037] The closing of the gap G will be explained in more detail. When the dimension of the gap G in the first direction is largest, the valve member 45 is in the open state (see Figure 3). As the valve member 45 rotates while in the open state, the dimension of the gap G in the first direction gradually decreases. In this disclosure, preferably, the thickness of the sheet material 5 (i.e., the dimension of the sheet material 5 in the first direction) is defined as D, and the dimension of the gap G in the first direction is defined as Lv. When the following equation (1) is satisfied, the gap G is considered to be closed by the valve member 45, and the valve member 45 is considered to be in the closed state. 0≦Lv≦D...Formula (1)

[0038] In this disclosure, there may be an embodiment where Lv is 0, that is, a configuration in which the valve member 45 is in contact with the seat material 5. When the valve member 45 comes into contact with the elongated portion 5A, the gap G temporarily disappears as it is closed.

[0039] The specific shape of the peripheral edge 43 is illustrated below. When viewed along the axial direction of the rotation axis 48, the peripheral edge 43 is formed in an oval shape. The peripheral edge 43 includes a first curved end 41 that curves convexly toward the first radial direction (arrow N1) away from the rotation axis 48, and a second curved end 42 that curves convexly toward the opposite direction (arrow N2) from the first radial direction. The first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 have shapes that are symmetrical with respect to the rotation axis 48.

[0040] As the rotating shaft 48 rotates, the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 move closer to the two elongated portions 5A on either side of the valve member 45. In other words, for two adjacent valve members 45 separated by one elongated portion 5A, the first curved end 41 of one valve member 45 and the second curved end 42 of the other valve member 45 can move closer to the elongated portion 5A. As a result, the two gaps G formed on either side of the elongated portion 5A are closed by the two adjacent valve members 45.

[0041] A first gap E1 is formed between the valve member 45 located at the outermost end (the uppermost in the example of Figure 1) in the first direction and the first end wall 211 of the housing 21. The size of the first gap E1 is the same as the gap G. The second curved end 42 of the uppermost valve member 45 can close the first gap E1 as it rotates. In this example, when the first gap E1 is closed, the second curved end 42 moves away from the first end wall 211, but it may be in contact with the first end wall 211. However, this disclosure is not limited to the size of the first gap E1 being the same as the size of the gap G.

[0042] Similarly, a second gap E2 is formed between the valve member 45 furthest from the first gap E1 in the first direction and the second end wall 212 of the housing 21. The first curved end 41 of the valve member 45, which is fixed to the rotating shaft 48, can close the second gap E2 as it rotates. In this example, when the second gap E2 is closed, the first curved end 41 moves away from the second end wall 212, but it may be in contact with the second end wall 212. The size of the second gap E2 is, for example, the same as the gap G. However, this disclosure is not limited to the size of the first gap E1 being the same as the size of the gap G.

[0043] The one-sided actuator 49 is located on the outside of the housing 21. In this example, the one-sided actuator 49 is a motor. The power of the one-sided actuator 49 is transmitted to multiple rotating shafts 48 by the one-sided power transmission mechanism 60 (see Figure 5), which is a component of the sheet material processing apparatus 1. Only a single one-sided actuator 49 provides power to the multiple rotating shafts 48 (modifications will be described later).

[0044] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a one-sided power transmission mechanism 60 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. The one-sided power transmission mechanism 60 comprises a rotating shaft gear 61 attached to each of a plurality of rotating shafts 48, a plurality of meshing gears 62 that mesh with each of the plurality of rotating shaft gears 61, and two transmission gears 63 for transmitting power from the one-sided actuator 49 to the rotating shaft gears 61 and the meshing gears 62.

[0045] The rotating shaft gear 61 is attached to one end 48a of the rotating shaft 48 on the outside of the housing 21. The rotating shaft gear 61 is rotatable integrally with the rotating shaft 48. Multiple rotating shaft gears 61 are arranged spaced apart in the first direction. Multiple meshing gears 62 are arranged alternately with the multiple rotating shaft gears 61 in the first direction. One meshing gear 62 directly meshes with two adjacent rotating shaft gears 61. Two transmission gears 63 are located between the rotating shaft 48 at the outermost end in the first direction and the one-side actuator 49. Power from the one-side actuator 49 is transmitted to the rotating shaft gears 61 and meshing gears 62 via the two transmission gears 63. As a result, when the one-side actuator 49 is driven, the multiple rotating shafts 48 can rotate synchronously with each other in the same direction of rotation (arrow R1).

[0046] <Other side opening / closing mechanism 50, other side actuator 59> Returning to Figure 1, the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 is located on the other side in the second direction (more specifically, the right side in Figure 2) within the sheet material processing chamber 20. More specifically, the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 is located on the other side in the second direction relative to the gas outlet of the gas conduit 22 and the heater 29. The other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 has the same configuration as the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40. That is, the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 comprises a plurality of rotating shafts 48 and a plurality of valve members 45 fixed to each of the plurality of rotating shafts 48. The other-side actuator 59 is configured to drive the plurality of rotating shafts 48 of the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50. The other-side actuator 59 has the same configuration as the one-side actuator 49. The other-side actuator 59 is, for example, a motor, and the actuator that provides power to the plurality of rotating shafts 48 is a single other-side actuator 59. The power of the other-side actuator 59 is transmitted to the plurality of rotating shafts 48 by the other-side power transmission mechanism 70 (see Figure 6).

[0047] The other-side power transmission mechanism 70 shown in Figure 6 has the same configuration as the one-side power transmission mechanism 60 (see Figure 5). The other-side power transmission mechanism 70 includes a plurality of rotating shaft gears 61 fixed to each of the plurality of rotating shafts 48, a plurality of meshing gears 62 that mesh with each of the plurality of rotating shaft gears 61, and two transmission gears 63 for transmitting power from the other-side actuator 59 to the rotating shaft gears 61 and the meshing gears 62. When the other-side actuator 59 is driven, the plurality of rotating shafts 48 can rotate synchronously with each other in the same direction of rotation (arrow R1).

[0048] <Overview of Sheet Material Processing Device 1 Operation> The CVD process performed by the sheet material processing apparatus 1 shown in Figure 1 is outlined below. The sheet material 5 on which the catalyst layer 14 has been formed is transported into the sheet material processing chamber 20 by the transport roller 7. Subsequently, the transport roller 7 stops moving, and the sheet material 5 in the sheet material processing chamber 20 stops moving. Then, the actuator 49 on one side and the actuator 59 on the other side are driven, causing the opening / closing mechanism 40 on one side and the opening / closing mechanism 50 on the other side to operate, and the multiple valve members 45 that were in the open state begin to rotate. As a result, the opening / closing mechanism 40 on one side and the opening / closing mechanism 50 on the other side close the gap G, the first gap E1, and the second gap E2, respectively.

[0049] Subsequently, after the gas in the sheet material processing chamber 20 is exhausted by the exhaust device, the heater 29 is activated and the temperature of the space inside the sheet material processing chamber 20 rises to a specified temperature. When the heater 29 is activated, a gas other than the processing gas may fill the sheet material processing chamber 20. Then, as the exhaust device discharges the gas from the sheet material processing chamber 20, the processing gas released from the gas outlet of the gas conduit 22 fills the sheet material processing chamber 20. This starts the CVD process. The processing gas in the sheet material processing chamber 20 undergoes a thermal decomposition reaction, and the carbon atoms contained in the processing gas sequentially move to the catalyst layer 14 and gradually grow into CNT4. At this time, the catalyst layer 14 promotes the growth of CNT4. As a result, CNT4 is formed on the surface 5S of the long section 5A.

[0050] After the CVD process is complete, the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 and the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 are activated again, and the multiple valve members 45 are reversed back to their original positions. After each of the multiple valve members 45 returns to the open state, the sheet material 5 is wound onto the winding roller 9 by the drive of the conveyor roller 7. Before the sheet material 5 is wound onto the winding roller 9, the CNTs 4 on the sheet material 5 may be recovered by a recovery mechanism (not shown). The recovery mechanism can recover the CNTs 4 from the sheet material 5 by performing a process of scraping off the CNTs 4 on the sheet material 5 or a process of sucking up the CNTs 4. However, the recovery mechanism is not an essential component of this disclosure, and the CNTs 4 may be wound onto the winding roller 9.

[0051] As described above, each of the multiple valve members 45 closes the gap G. This prevents the processing gas used for CVD processing and the heat contained in the processing gas from leaking out of the sheet material processing chamber 20. As a result, the sheet material processing chamber 20 can be sufficiently filled with processing gas, and the chamber temperature can be maintained at the desired temperature, so that the sheet material processing apparatus 1 can properly perform CVD processing on the sheet material 5.

[0052] Furthermore, since multiple layers of sheet material 5 are arranged in the sheet material processing chamber 20, the length of sheet material 5 targeted in each CVD treatment can be increased, thereby improving the efficiency of the CVD treatment. In addition, when performing the CVD treatment, multiple valve members 45 can close the gap G at approximately the same timing by driving either the actuator 49 on one side or the actuator 59 on the other side. This reduces the operating time of the opening / closing mechanism 40 on one side and the opening / closing mechanism 50 compared to the case where the closing timing of the gap G differs among the multiple valve members 45. Thus, a sheet material processing apparatus 1 that can perform processing on the sheet material 5 with high efficiency is realized. More specifically, a sheet material processing apparatus 1 that can manufacture CNTs 4 with high efficiency is realized.

[0053] When the valve member 45 closes the gap G, the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 move closer to the seat material 5 located between the two adjacent valve members 45. More specifically, the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 move closer to each other in the transport direction, while moving closer to the seat material 5 (multiple arrows R1 shown in Figure 4). Because the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 are curved, even if contact occurs between the seat material 5 and the valve member 45, damage to the seat material 5 can be avoided.

[0054] Furthermore, in both the one-sided power transmission mechanism 60 and the other-sided power transmission mechanism 70, one meshing gear 62 directly meshes with two adjacent rotating shaft gears 61, allowing multiple rotating shafts 48 to rotate in the same direction. As a result, for two adjacent valve members 45 separated by a single elongated section 5A, the first curved end 41 of one valve member 45 and the second curved end 42 of the other valve member 45 approach each other in the conveying direction when the gap G is closed (multiple arrows R1 shown in Figure 4). Therefore, even when the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 sandwich the sheet material 5 in the conveying direction, it is possible to avoid the sheet material 5 being strongly pinched in the first direction.

[0055] More specifically, if the rotation directions of the two valve members 45 are different, the second valve member 45 from the top in Figure 4 will rotate in the direction of arrow V. In this case, there is a risk that the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 will strongly grip the elongated portion 5A in the first direction. Therefore, there is a risk that the two valve members 45 will get caught in the elongated portion 5A. If this occurs, there is a risk not only of damaging the seat material 5, but also of the valve members 45 being unable to return to their original positions. In this regard, with a configuration in which the two valve members 45 rotate in the same direction, when the gap G is closed, the first curved end 41 and the second curved end 42 can predominantly move toward the conveying direction, and the amount of movement in the first direction can be suppressed, thus avoiding the above-mentioned biting of the valve members 45 in the first direction.

[0056] Furthermore, multiple holding rollers 33 enable the arrangement of a single sheet material 5 in multiple layers. This simplifies the mechanism for transporting the sheet material 5 compared to the case where multiple sheet materials 5 are individually transported into the sheet material processing chamber 20. However, this disclosure does not exclude components for transporting multiple sheet materials 5 into the sheet material processing chamber 20 individually. For example, if multiple sets of transport rollers 7, including a feed roller 8 and a winding roller 9, are provided, it is possible to transport multiple sheet materials 5 into the sheet material processing chamber 20 individually.

[0057] Furthermore, with a configuration in which the conveying roller 7 includes a feed roller 8 that holds the feed roll 2 and a winding roller 9 that holds the winding roll 3, CVD treatment is applied to the sheet material 5 as it is sequentially fed out from the feed roll 2, and then the sheet material 5 is sequentially wound up by the winding roll 3. This increases the conveying efficiency of the sheet material 5, and the sheet material processing device 1 can efficiently apply CVD treatment to the sheet material 5.

[0058] Furthermore, the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 includes a partition end wall 37 in which a plurality of end wall through holes 37A are formed, and the downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 includes a partition end wall 38 in which a plurality of end wall through holes 38A are formed. With this configuration, the partition end wall 37 can suppress the transfer of gas and heat between the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 and the sheet material processing chamber 20, and the partition end wall 38 can suppress the transfer of gas and heat between the downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 and the sheet material processing chamber 20. Since changes in the indoor environment of the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 and the downstream holding roller housing chamber 36 can be suppressed during CVD processing, the deterioration of the holding rollers 33 over time can be suppressed.

[0059] <Details of Sheet Material Processing Device 1> Referring to Figure 7, a preferred embodiment of the sheet material processing apparatus 1 will be described. The sheet material processing apparatus 1 includes a sputtering chamber 10 located upstream of the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35. The sputtering chamber 10 is configured to perform a sputtering treatment on the sheet material 5 before a specified treatment (CVD treatment in this example).

[0060] The sputtering chamber 10 is equipped with a sputtering exhaust system (not shown) for creating a substantially vacuum inside the chamber, a gas supply pipe 11 for supplying gas into the sputtering chamber 10, and a sputtering apparatus 13 for performing sputtering on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5 in a gas-filled atmosphere.

[0061] The gas supplied by the gas supply pipe 11 is an inert gas such as argon gas. The sputtering apparatus 13 includes a target material and an application device for causing ions such as argon ions to collide with the target material by applying a voltage. The sputtering apparatus 13 in this example includes a first sputtering apparatus 15 for forming a buffer layer 12 on the first surface 5a and the second surface 5b of the sheet material 5, and a second sputtering apparatus 16 for forming a catalyst layer 14 on the buffer layer 12.

[0062] The first sputtering apparatus 15 forms buffer layers 12 on both sides of the sheet material 5 by colliding ions such as argon ions with the first target material. The second sputtering apparatus 16 forms catalyst layers 14 on each buffer layer 12 by colliding the above-mentioned ions with the second target material.

[0063] The buffer layer 12 plays the role of suppressing interdiffusion between the catalyst layer 14 and the sheet material 5. The buffer layer 12 is made of silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3), silicon nitride (SiN), zinc oxide (ZnO), copper oxide (Cu2O), or nickel oxide (NiO). The first target material is formed from the same material as the buffer layer 12. The details of the catalyst layer 14 are as previously described, and the second target material is formed from the same material as the catalyst layer 14.

[0064] The time required for the sputtering process in this example is shorter than the time required for the CVD process. The inventors of this application considered that if the subsequent sheet material 5 that has undergone sputtering is kept waiting between the sputtering chamber 10 and the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 while the CVD process is being performed on the sheet material 5, the interval time between the end of one CVD process and the start of the next CVD process can be shortened.

[0065] Based on the above concept, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 further comprises an intermediate storage chamber 80 located between the sputtering chamber 10 and the sheet material processing chamber 20 in the conveying direction. More specifically, the intermediate storage chamber 80 is located between the sputtering chamber 10 and the upstream holding roller housing chamber 35 in the conveying direction. The intermediate storage chamber 80 includes a variable mechanism 88 configured to vary the longitudinal length of the sheet material 5 within the intermediate storage chamber 80 according to the execution state of the CVD process.

[0066] The variable mechanism 88 includes two guide rollers 87 that are rotatably positioned at predetermined locations, and a first retaining roller 81 and a second retaining roller 82 that are positioned between the two guide rollers 87 in the conveying direction. The axis of each guide roller 87 is substantially immobile. The first retaining roller 81 and the second retaining roller 82 are rotatably positioned. In this example, the first retaining roller 81 is positioned on the first side with respect to a virtual plane K passing through the axes of each of the two guide rollers 87, and the second retaining roller 82 is positioned on the opposite side of the virtual plane K. The number of each of the first retaining roller 81 and the second retaining roller 82 may be multiple as shown in the figure, or it may be just one.

[0067] The variable mechanism 88 further includes a support unit 85 that supports a plurality of first retaining rollers 81 and a plurality of second retaining rollers 82. The support unit 85 has a first support member 83 that rotatably supports each first retaining roller 81 and a second support member 84 that rotatably supports each second retaining roller 82. The first support member 83 and the second support member 84 are configured to move relative to each other, and in this example, a first motor and a second motor move the first support member 83 and the second support member 84, respectively.

[0068] The general operation of the variable mechanism 88 is as follows. During the execution of the CVD process, the driving of the take-up roller 9 stops, while the rotation of the pay-out roller 8 in the pay-out direction (arrow A1) continues. As the sheet material 5 that has completed the sputtering process is carried from the sputtering process chamber 10 into the intermediate storage chamber 80, the first support member 83 and the second support member 84 move away from each other. As a result, the axial distance between the first holding roller 81 and the second holding roller 82 increases, and the subsequent sheet material 5 to be subjected to the CVD process gradually accumulates in the intermediate storage chamber 80.

[0069] After that, when the CVD process is completed, the rotation of the take-up roller 9 in the take-up direction (arrow A2) resumes. As the sheet material 5 in the intermediate storage chamber 80 is carried out toward the sheet material processing chamber 20, the first support member 83 and the second support member 84 move closer to each other, and the axial distance between the first holding roller 81 and the second holding roller 82 decreases.

[0070] According to the configuration in which the intermediate storage chamber 80 is provided, the sheet material 5 carried out from the sputtering process chamber 10 can be temporarily stored in the intermediate storage chamber 80. Thereby, it becomes possible to store the sheet material 5 in the intermediate storage chamber 80 while the CVD process is being executed in the sheet material processing chamber 20 or while the sheet material processing chamber 20 is temporarily stopped from operating due to maintenance inspection or the like. Since the interval time from the end of the CVD process until the start of the next CVD process can be shortened, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 can efficiently perform the CVD process on the sheet material 5, and the production efficiency of the CNT4 can be increased.

[0071] Also, according to the configuration in which the first holding roller 81, the second holding roller 82, and the support unit 85 are provided, as the sheet material 5 is carried into the intermediate storage chamber 80, the support unit 85 increases the axial distance, so that the amount of the sheet material 5 stored in the intermediate storage chamber 80 can be increased. Since the amount of the sheet material 5 stored can be adjusted only by adjusting the axial distance, the internal structure of the intermediate storage chamber 80 can be simplified.

[0072] <Method for manufacturing CNT4> The manufacturing method of CNT4 will be explained with reference to Figures 7 and 8. Figure 8 is a flowchart of the manufacturing method of CNT4 according to one embodiment. Hereinafter, "step" may be abbreviated as "S".

[0073] First, a supply start step (S11) is performed to begin supplying the sheet material 5 wound on the feed roll 2. Specifically, the feed roller 8 starts rotating in the feed direction and the winding roller 9 starts rotating in the winding direction, driven by two roller motors. As a result, the sheet material 5 is transported from the feed roller 8 to the sputtering chamber 10.

[0074] Next, a sputtering step (S13) is performed in which a buffer layer 12 and a catalyst layer 14 are sequentially formed on the first surface 5a and the second surface 5b of the sheet material 5 located in the sputtering chamber 10.

[0075] Next, a sheet material loading step (S15) is performed, in which the sheet material 5 on which the catalyst layer 14 has been formed is loaded into the sheet material processing chamber 20 and stopped. In S15, the two roller motors continue to drive, loading the sheet material 5 on which the catalyst layer 14 has been formed into the sheet material processing chamber 20 via the intermediate storage chamber 80 and the like. After that, when a predetermined length of sheet material 5 has been loaded into the sheet material processing chamber 20, both roller motors stop driving.

[0076] Subsequently, the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 and the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 are activated, performing a closing step (S17) in which the gap G is closed for each of the multiple valve members 45.

[0077] Next, a transport restart step (S19) is performed to resume transporting the sheet material 5 upstream of the upstream holding roller storage chamber 35. In S19, the drive of the feed roller 8 is restarted, while the winding roller 9 remains stopped rotating. During the execution of S19, subsequent sheets of sheet material 5 are brought into the sputtering chamber 10, and the sputtering step (S13) is performed continuously.

[0078] Furthermore, in S19, as the subsequent sheet material 5 that has undergone sputtering is transported into the intermediate storage chamber 80, the variable mechanism 88 of the intermediate storage chamber 80 increases the distance between the axes of the first holding roller 81 and the second holding roller 82. As a result, the subsequent sheet material 5 gradually accumulates in the intermediate storage chamber 80. During the execution of S19, the sheet material 5 in the sheet material processing chamber 20 remains in a transport-stopped state.

[0079] Next, a CNT formation step (S21) is performed to form CNTs 4 on the catalyst layer 14 by applying CVD treatment to the sheet material 5 in the sheet material processing chamber 20. Even while the CVD treatment is being performed, subsequent sheet materials 5 that have undergone sputtering treatment are continuously introduced into the intermediate storage chamber 80.

[0080] After S21, the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 and the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 are activated, and a gap-releasing step (S23) is performed in which each of the multiple valve members 45 returns to the open state.

[0081] Subsequently, a winding restart step (S25) is performed in which the winding roller 9 resumes winding the sheet material 5. In S25, the winding roller 9 resumes rotation in the winding direction. As a result, the sheet material 5 in the sheet material processing chamber 20 is wound onto the winding roll 3. During the winding process, the recovery mechanism (not shown) described above recovers the CNTs 4 from the sheet material 5. After recovery, the buffer layer 12 and the catalyst layer 14 remain in the sheet material 5.

[0082] During the execution of S25, the feed roller 8 continues to rotate. As the sheet material 5 in the intermediate storage chamber 80 is discharged toward the upstream holding roller storage chamber 35, the variable mechanism 88 reduces the distance between the axes of the first holding roller 81 and the second holding roller 82 (not shown).

[0083] Subsequently, it is determined whether additional sheet material 5 can be supplied from the feed roller 8 (S27). Whether there is any remaining sheet material 5 that can be supplied can be determined by the controller (not shown) of the sheet material processing apparatus 1 based on the number of sputtering or CVD processes performed. Alternatively, the controller can determine whether the remaining amount of sheet material 5 in the feed roller 8 is below a certain amount based on the sensor's detection result. The sensor may be a sensor that detects the cumulative rotation amount or weight of the feed roller 8, or it may be a light sensor that irradiates light toward a predetermined radial position relative to the feed roller 8. If there is sheet material 5 remaining at the predetermined radial position, the light irradiated from the light sensor is reflected back to the light sensor by the sheet material 5; otherwise, no reflection of light occurs.

[0084] The controller described above is a arithmetic unit that includes a processor and a memory device (storage medium) that temporarily or permanently stores various data, such as the results of calculations performed by the processor.

[0085] If it is determined that additional sheet material 5 can be supplied (S27:YES), the process returns to step S13. Steps S13 to S27 are repeated until all available sheet material 5 has been supplied (S27:YES).

[0086] If it is determined that additional supply of sheet material 5 is not possible (S27: NO), the reverse step of the sheet material 5 (S29) is executed. In S29, the feed roller 8 rotates in the opposite direction to the feed direction, and the winding roller 9 rotates in the opposite direction to the winding direction. As a result, all of the sheet material 5 that has been wound onto the winding roller 9 through the repetition of steps S13 to S27 is returned to the feed roller 8. After the execution of S29, the manufacturing method of CNT4 is completed. Subsequently, the manufacturing method shown in Figure 7 is restarted from S11 by the operation of the sheet material processing apparatus 1 operator.

[0087] Note that the reverse step (S29) is not an essential component of this disclosure. After all the sheet material 5 that can be supplied from the feed roller 8 has been supplied (S27:NO), the winding roll 3 removed from the winding roller 9 may be attached to the feed roller 8 as a new feed roll 2. This attachment work may be performed by an operator or by a robotic arm or the like. Even in this case, the used sheet material 5 from which the CNTs 4 have been recovered can be reused.

[0088] <Other Embodiments> The sheet material processing apparatus 1 may further include a cooling mechanism for cooling the housing 21. For example, the cooling mechanism may be a water channel formed inside at least one of the first end walls 211, second end wall 212, third end wall 213, or fourth end wall 214 of the housing 21. By allowing cooling water to flow through the water channel, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the internal space inside the housing 21 from exceeding a specified temperature, and to prevent the valve member 45 from undergoing excessive thermal expansion during CVD processing.

[0089] The sheet material processing apparatus 1 may further include a first sealing plate (not shown) interposed between the third end wall 213 and each of the plurality of valve members 45. The first sealing plate is attached to the inner wall surface of the third end wall 213 and includes a plurality of first insertion holes through which a plurality of rotating shafts 48 are inserted. Furthermore, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 may further include a second sealing plate interposed between the fourth end wall 214 and each of the plurality of valve members 45. The second sealing plate is attached to the inner wall surface of the fourth end wall 214. The second sealing plate has a plurality of second insertion holes through which a plurality of rotating shafts 48 are inserted.

[0090] The first sealing plate faces one end of each valve member 45 with a small first gap between them, and the second sealing plate faces the other end of each valve member 45 with a small second gap between them. With this configuration, the first and second sealing plates are constructed separately from the third end wall 213 and the fourth end wall 214, so the shapes of both sealing plates can be simplified. As a result, the first and second sealing plates can be manufactured with high precision to achieve the shapes specified in the design. Therefore, the dimensions in the width direction of the first and second gaps can be controlled to be extremely small, and leakage of the processing gas filling the housing 21 to the outside of the housing 21 can be suppressed more reliably. In addition, since the valve member 45 does not come into contact with the two sealing plates, it can rotate smoothly without being hindered by the two sealing plates.

[0091] Multiple layers of sheet material 5 may be arranged at intervals along the horizontal direction. In this case, the upstream holding roller 31 may be positioned above the sheet material processing chamber 20, and the downstream holding roller 32 may be positioned below the sheet material processing chamber 20. In this modified example, both the first direction and the sheet material width direction are horizontal, and the second direction is vertical.

[0092] The sheet material processing device 1 does not necessarily have to be equipped with multiple holding rollers 33. For example, a configuration in which each of multiple sheet materials 5 is fed into the sheet material processing chamber 20 may be adopted. Specifically, multiple dispensing rollers 8 may be arranged in a first direction upstream of the sheet material processing chamber 20, and multiple winding rollers 9 may be arranged in a first direction downstream of the sheet material processing chamber 20. In this case, multiple sheet materials 5 are dispensed from each of the multiple dispensing rollers 8 and fed into the sheet material processing chamber 20. Then, the multiple sheet materials 5 discharged from the sheet material processing chamber 20 are each wound up by the multiple winding rollers 9.

[0093] Furthermore, the specified treatment is not limited to CVD treatment. In the above embodiment in which multiple sheet materials 5 are each brought into the sheet material processing chamber 20, the specified treatment may be a drying treatment to dry the thin film that has been pre-formed on the surface 5S of the sheet material 5. In this case, dry, high-temperature air may be introduced into the housing 21 from the gas conduit 22. In this modified example, allotrope formation may not be performed.

[0094] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, if leakage of dry air from the sheet material processing chamber 20 toward at least one side, either upstream or downstream, is permitted, then at least one of the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 or the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50 is unnecessary. In other words, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 only needs to be equipped with either the one-side opening / closing mechanism 40 or the other-side opening / closing mechanism 50. For similar reasons, the sheet material processing apparatus 1 only needs to be equipped with either the one-side actuator 49 or the other-side actuator 59. In Figure 1, the one-side in the second direction may be the right side instead of the left side.

[0095] Furthermore, the sheet material 5 may be a semiconductor wafer formed from silicon (Si) or gallium arsenide (GaAs). In this case, the specified process may be a process in which a thin film made of silicon oxide is formed on the sheet material 5 in the sheet material processing chamber 20. By introducing oxygen gas from the gas conduit 22 into the housing 21 and causing thermal oxidation inside the housing 21 by operating the heater 29, it is possible to form silicon oxide on the sheet material 5.

[0096] The specified process may also be a cooling process to cool the sheet material 5. For example, the sheet material 5 may be subjected to CVD processing upstream of the sheet material processing chamber 20, and the sheet material 5, on which a thin film has been formed by the CVD processing, may be cooled in the sheet material processing chamber 20. In this case, the temperature controller 23 may be a cooler instead of a heater 29. The cooler may be a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between a refrigerant gas supplied from outside the sheet material processing apparatus 1 and the gas inside the housing 21. In this case, the temperature inside the housing 21 decreases through heat exchange. The sheet material processing apparatus 1 according to this modified example does not need to be equipped with a gas conduit 22.

[0097] The number of actuators 49 on one side may be multiple. For example, multiple actuators 49 on one side may be configured to drive multiple rotating shafts 48, each of them. In this case, the power transmission mechanism 60 on one side does not need to include a meshing gear 62. Similarly, the number of actuators 59 on the other side may be multiple, and the power transmission mechanism 70 on the other side does not need to include a meshing gear 62.

[0098] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a one-sided power transmission mechanism 60A according to another embodiment. The one-sided power transmission mechanism 60A includes a rack 105 extending in a first direction instead of the multiple meshing gears 62 and two transmission gears 63 shown in Figure 5. The rack 105 has a first tooth portion 101 extending in a first direction and a second tooth portion 102 extending in a first direction on the opposite side of the first tooth portion 101. The first tooth portion 101 directly meshes with each of the multiple rotating shaft gears 61. The second tooth portion 102 directly meshes with a drive gear 104 driven by a one-sided actuator 49 acting as a motor. With this configuration, the rack 105 moves linearly when driven by the one-sided actuator 49 (arrow J), and as a result, the multiple rotating shaft gears 61 can rotate in the same direction (arrow R1). The drive gear 104 may be fixed to the output shaft of the one-sided actuator 49 acting as a motor. Furthermore, the one-side actuator 49 may be an air cylinder or a solenoid instead of a motor. In this case, the drive gear 104 is not required, and the rack 105 moves by the drive of the one-side actuator 49.

[0099] The configuration of the one-sided power transmission mechanism 60A described above may also be applied to the other-sided power transmission mechanism 70 (see Figure 6). That is, the other-sided power transmission mechanism 70 may include a rack 105 instead of the multiple meshing gears 62 and the two transmission gears 63. The other-sided actuator 59 that drives the rack 105 may be a motor, an air cylinder, or a solenoid.

[0100] This disclosure is not limited to the case where multiple rotating shafts 48 rotate in the same direction. The rotation directions may differ between two adjacent rotating shafts 48 in the first direction. In this case, as shown in Figure 10, the multiple valve members 45 are configured such that two adjacent valve members 45 in the first direction rotate in different directions from each other (arrows R1, V). This simplifies and saves space in the mechanism for transmitting power from one-side actuator to multiple rotating shafts 48. Specifically, in the one-side power transmission mechanism 60 shown in Figure 5, the meshing gear 62 can be eliminated, and two adjacent rotating shaft gears 61 can be directly meshed. Thus, the one-side power transmission mechanism 60 can be simplified and saved space.

[0101] <Summary> The contents described in some of the embodiments above can be understood, for example, as follows:

[0102] 1) A sheet material processing apparatus (1) according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure is A sheet material processing apparatus for applying a prescribed treatment to a long sheet material (5) that is conveyed along a prescribed conveyance path (C) by a conveyance roller (7), A sheet material processing chamber (20) for performing the prescribed processing on multiple layers of sheet material that are in a transport-stopped state and are arranged at intervals along the first direction, Within the sheet material processing chamber, a one-sided opening / closing mechanism (40) is provided, which is located on one side of a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the width direction of the sheet material. A one-side actuator (49) for driving the one-side opening and closing mechanism, Equipped with, The aforementioned one-side opening / closing mechanism is A plurality of rotating shafts (48) are arranged alternately with the plurality of layers of sheet material in the first direction, and each rotating shaft extends in the width direction of the sheet material, and is configured to rotate synchronously with respect to each other by the power of the one-side actuator, A plurality of valve members (45) fixed to each of the plurality of rotating shafts, Includes, The system is configured to close the gap (G) between each of the plurality of valve members and the seat material as the rotating shaft rotates.

[0103] According to the configuration described in 1) above, each of the multiple valve members closes the gap, thereby suppressing gas leakage or heat leakage within the sheet material processing chamber. Subsequently, a prescribed process is performed on the sheet material in the sheet material processing chamber. Here, since multiple layers of sheet material are arranged in the sheet material processing chamber, the length of sheet material treated in each prescribed process can be increased, improving the efficiency of the prescribed process. Furthermore, when performing the prescribed process, multiple valve members can close the gaps at approximately the same timing by driving the one-side actuator. This reduces the time required for the closing operation of the one-side opening and closing mechanism compared to when multiple valve members close the gaps at different timings. Thus, a sheet material processing device that can perform processing on sheet material with high efficiency is realized.

[0104] 2) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 1) above, Each of the plurality of valve members, in a cross-section of the valve member perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation axis, A first curved end (41) that curves so as to be convex in the first radial direction away from the axis of rotation, A second curved end (42) is located on the opposite side of the first curved end with respect to the rotation axis and is curved so as to be convex in the direction opposite to the first radial direction, Includes, When the plurality of rotating shafts rotate, the first curved end of one of two adjacent valve members and the second curved end of the other valve member are configured to approach the seat material located between the two adjacent valve members.

[0105] According to the configuration described in 2) above, when the valve member closes the gap, the first curved end and the second curved end approach the seat material located between the two adjacent valve members. Because the first curved end and the second curved end are curved, even if contact occurs between the seat material and the valve member, damage to the seat material can be avoided.

[0106] 3) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 1) or 2) above, The plurality of valve members are configured to rotate relative to each other in the same direction.

[0107] According to the configuration described in 3) above, even when two adjacent valve members rotate and sandwich the seat material located between them, it is possible to avoid the seat material being strongly squeezed in the first direction. Therefore, damage to the seat material can be avoided.

[0108] 4) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 1) or 2) above, The plurality of valve members are configured such that two adjacent valve members in the first direction rotate in different directions from each other.

[0109] According to the configuration described in 4) above, the mechanism for transmitting power from one actuator to multiple rotating shafts can be simplified compared to the case where two adjacent valve members rotate in the same direction.

[0110] 5) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 3) or 4) above is The system includes a one-side power transmission mechanism (60, 60A) for transmitting power from the one-side actuator to the plurality of rotating shafts, The aforementioned one-sided power transmission mechanism is A plurality of rotating shaft gears (61) are attached to each of the plurality of rotating shafts and are arranged at intervals in the first direction, A plurality of meshing gears arranged alternately with the plurality of rotating shaft gears in the first direction, wherein each of the plurality of meshing gears (62) is arranged to mesh with two adjacent rotating shaft gears, Includes.

[0111] According to the configuration described in 5) above, since one meshing gear meshes with each of the two adjacent rotating shaft gears, when the power transmission mechanism on one side transmits power to the actuator on the other side, the multiple rotating shafts can rotate toward each other in the same direction.

[0112] 6) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in any of 1) to 5) above is The present invention further comprises a plurality of holding rollers (33) arranged at intervals in the first direction on both the upstream and downstream sides of the conveying path relative to the sheet material processing chamber, wherein the sheet material is folded over each of the holding rollers (33).

[0113] According to the configuration in 6) above, multiple holding rollers enable a single sheet material to be arranged in multiple layers. This simplifies the mechanism for transporting the sheet material compared to the case where multiple sheets of sheet material are individually transported to the sheet material processing chamber.

[0114] 7) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 6) above is The sheet material processing chamber is further provided with a pair of retaining roller housing chambers (upstream retaining roller housing chamber 35, downstream retaining roller housing chamber 36) for holding the plurality of retaining rollers on the upstream and downstream sides, respectively. Each of the pair of retaining roller housing chambers includes a partition end wall (37, 38) that separates the space within the retaining roller housing chamber from the space within the sheet material processing chamber. The partition end wall is arranged at intervals in the first direction and has a plurality of end wall through holes (37A, 38A) positioned on the inside through which the sheet material passes.

[0115] According to the configuration described in 7) above, by providing a partition end wall with an end wall through-hole, the movement of at least one of the gas or heat in the sheet material processing chamber between the holding roller housing chamber and the sheet material housing chamber can be suppressed. Since changes in the internal environment of the holding roller housing chamber can be suppressed when performing the prescribed processing, deterioration of the holding rollers over time can be suppressed.

[0116] 8) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in any of 1) to 7) above is The system further comprises the conveying rollers for conveying the sheet material along the specified conveying path, The aforementioned conveyor roller is Upstream of the conveying path relative to the sheet material processing chamber, there is a feed roller (8) for holding the feed roll (2) around which the sheet material is wound, wherein the feed roll is configured to rotate in the direction of feeding out the sheet material. Downstream of the conveying path relative to the sheet material processing chamber, a winding roller (9) for holding the winding roll (3) around which the sheet material is wound, wherein the winding roll is configured to rotate in the direction of winding the sheet material, Includes.

[0117] According to the configuration described in 8) above, the sheet material is sequentially fed out from the feed roll and subjected to the specified treatment, after which the sheet material is sequentially wound up by the winding roll. This increases the efficiency of sheet material transport, and the sheet material processing device can efficiently apply the specified treatment to the sheet material.

[0118] 9) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in any of 1) to 8) above is The system further includes a gas conduit (22) configured to guide a processing gas for use in the aforementioned processing into the sheet material processing chamber.

[0119] According to the configuration in 9) above, each of the multiple valve members closes the gap, thereby preventing the leakage of the processing gas that fills the sheet material processing chamber when the prescribed processing is performed. As a result, the sheet material processing device can properly apply the prescribed processing to the sheet material.

[0120] 10) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in any of 1) to 9) above is The system further includes a temperature controller (23) located in the sheet material processing chamber and configured to adjust the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber in accordance with the execution of the prescribed processing.

[0121] According to the configuration described in 10) above, each of the multiple valve members closes the gap, thereby suppressing the transfer of heat between the inside and outside of the sheet material processing chamber during the execution of the specified process. As a result, the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber is maintained at the desired temperature during the execution of the specified process, and the sheet material processing apparatus can properly perform the specified process on the sheet material.

[0122] 11) In some embodiments, the sheet material processing apparatus described in 10) above, The temperature controller is a heater (29) for raising the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber. A catalyst layer (14) is formed on the surface (5S) of the sheet material that is brought into the sheet material processing chamber. The aforementioned treatment is a treatment for forming an allotrope (e.g., CNT4) on the catalyst layer in an atmosphere in which the sheet material treatment chamber is filled with a treatment gas for use in the aforementioned treatment.

[0123] According to the configuration described in 11) above, a sheet material processing device capable of efficiently producing allotropes can be realized.

[0124] 12) A method for producing an allotrope according to at least one embodiment of the present disclosure is: A method for producing an allotrope using the sheet material processing apparatus described in 11) above, A sheet material loading step (S15) is performed by loading the sheet material on which the catalyst layer has been formed into the sheet material processing chamber and stopping the process, After the sheet material loading step, the closing step (S17) is performed by activating the one-side opening / closing mechanism to close the gap between each of the plurality of valve members and the sheet material, After the closing step, the allotrope formation step (S21) is performed by filling the sheet material processing chamber with the processing gas and raising the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber using the heater to form the allotrope on the catalyst layer, It is equipped with.

[0125] According to the configuration in 12) above, the same technical advantages as in 1) above can be obtained. [Explanation of symbols]

[0126] 1: Sheet material processing equipment 2: Feed Roll 3: Winding Roll 4: Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) 5: Sheet material 5A: Long part 5S:Surface 5a: 1st surface 5b: 2nd surface 7: Conveyor roller 8: Feed roller 9: Winding roller 10: Sputtering Processing Room 11: Gas supply pipe 12: Buffer Layer 13: Sputtering equipment 14:Catalyst layer 15: First sputtering apparatus 16: Second sputtering apparatus 20: Sheet material processing room 21: Cabinet 22: Gas pipelines 23: Temperature controller 29: Heater 31: Upstream retaining roller 32: Downstream retaining roller 33: Holding roller 35: Upstream retaining roller housing chamber 36: Downstream retaining roller housing chamber 37: Partition End Wall 37A: End wall through hole 38: Partition End Wall 38A: End wall through hole 40: One-sided opening / closing mechanism 41: First curved end 42: Second curved end 43: Peripheral area 45: Valve member 48: Rotation axis 48a: One end 48b: Other end 49: One-sided actuator 50: Other side opening / closing mechanism 59: Other side actuator 60, 60A: One-sided power transmission mechanism 61: Rotating shaft gear 62: Meshing gears 63: Transmission gear 70: Power transmission mechanism on the other side 80: Intermediate storage chamber 81: First retaining roller 82: Second retaining roller 83: First support member 84: Second support member 85: Support Unit 87: Guide roller 88: Variable mechanism 101: 1st tooth part 102: 2nd tooth part 104: Drive gear 105: Rack 211: First end wall 212: Second end wall 213: Third End Wall 214: Fourth End Wall B: Bearing C: Transport route E1: First gap E2: Second gap G: Gap K: virtual plane

Claims

1. A sheet material processing apparatus for applying a specified treatment to a long sheet material that is conveyed along a specified conveyance path by conveyor rollers, A sheet material processing chamber for performing the specified processing on multiple layers of sheet material that are in a transport-stopped state and are arranged at intervals along the first direction, Within the sheet material processing chamber, a one-sided opening / closing mechanism is provided, which is located on one side of a second direction perpendicular to the first direction and the width direction of the sheet material. A one-side actuator for driving the one-side opening / closing mechanism, Equipped with, The aforementioned one-side opening / closing mechanism is A plurality of rotating shafts are arranged alternately with the plurality of layers of sheet material in the first direction, and each extends in the width direction of the sheet material, and are configured to rotate synchronously with respect to each other by the power of the one-side actuator, Multiple valve members fixed to each of the aforementioned multiple rotating shafts, Includes, The rotation of the rotating shaft is configured to close the gap between each of the plurality of valve members and the seat material. Sheet material processing equipment.

2. Each of the plurality of valve members, in a cross-section of the valve member perpendicular to the axial direction of the rotation axis, A first curved end that curves so as to be convex in the first radial direction away from the axis of rotation, A second curved end is located on the opposite side of the first curved end with respect to the rotation axis, and is curved so as to be convex in the direction opposite to the first radial direction, Includes, When the plurality of rotating shafts rotate, the first curved end of one of the two adjacent valve members and the second curved end of the other valve member are configured to approach the seat material located between the two adjacent valve members. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

3. The plurality of valve members are configured to rotate in the same direction relative to each other. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

4. The plurality of valve members are configured such that two adjacent valve members in the first direction rotate in different directions from each other. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

5. The system includes a one-side power transmission mechanism for transmitting power from the one-side actuator to the plurality of rotating shafts, The aforementioned one-sided power transmission mechanism is Multiple rotating shaft gears are attached to each of the aforementioned multiple rotating shafts and are arranged at intervals in the first direction, A plurality of meshing gears arranged alternately with the plurality of rotating shaft gears in the first direction, wherein each of the plurality of meshing gears is arranged to mesh with two adjacent rotating shaft gears, including The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 3.

6. The sheet material processing chamber is further comprising a plurality of holding rollers arranged at intervals in the first direction on both the upstream and downstream sides of the transport path, wherein each of the holding rollers is stretched across so that the sheet material is folded back. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

7. The sheet material processing chamber is further provided with a pair of retaining roller housing chambers for holding the plurality of retaining rollers on the upstream and downstream sides, respectively. Each of the pair of retaining roller housing chambers includes a partition end wall that separates the space within the retaining roller housing chamber from the space within the sheet material processing chamber. The partition end walls are arranged at intervals in the first direction and have a plurality of end wall through holes positioned on the inside through which the sheet material passes. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 6.

8. The system further comprises the conveying rollers for conveying the sheet material along the specified conveying path, The aforementioned conveyor roller is Upstream of the conveying path from the sheet material processing chamber, a feed roller for holding a feed roll around which the sheet material is wound, wherein the feed roller is configured to rotate in the direction in which the feed roll feeds out the sheet material, A winding roller for holding a winding roll around which the sheet material is wound, located downstream of the conveying path relative to the sheet material processing chamber, wherein the winding roller is configured to rotate in the direction in which the winding roll winds the sheet material, including The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

9. The facility further comprises a gas conduit configured to guide a processing gas for use in the aforementioned processing into the sheet material processing chamber. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

10. The sheet material processing chamber further comprises a temperature controller, which is located in the sheet material processing chamber and configured to adjust the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber in accordance with the execution of the prescribed processing. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 1.

11. The temperature controller is a heater for raising the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber. A catalyst layer is formed on the surface of the sheet material that is brought into the sheet material processing chamber. The aforementioned treatment is a treatment for forming allotropes on the catalyst layer in an atmosphere in which the sheet material treatment chamber is filled with a treatment gas for use in the aforementioned treatment. The sheet material processing apparatus according to claim 10.

12. A method for producing an allotrope using the sheet material processing apparatus described in claim 11, A sheet material loading step involves loading the sheet material on which the catalyst layer has been formed into the sheet material processing chamber and stopping it, After the sheet material loading step, the closing step involves activating the one-sided opening / closing mechanism to close the gap between each of the plurality of valve members and the sheet material. After the closing step, the allotrope formation step involves filling the sheet material processing chamber with the processing gas and raising the temperature inside the sheet material processing chamber using the heater to form the allotrope on the catalyst layer, A method for producing allotropes comprising the same components.

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