Method for manufacturing multilayer film for recording and reproduction, and manufacturing apparatus for multilayer film for recording and reproduction

Abstract

To provide a manufacturing method of multilayer films for recording / reproducing and a manufacturing device for multilayer films for recording / reproducing for efficiently manufacturing multilayer films for recording / reproducing.SOLUTION: A manufacturing method of multilayer films for recording / reproducing includes: a coating process in which a liquid containing an ultraviolet-curing resin whose optical properties change when irradiated with light is applied to one surface of a film through which light passes; a drying process in which the liquid applied to the film by the coating process is dried; a winding process in which a coated film which is a film in which the liquid is coated after the drying process, is wound by rotating a polygonal roller whose cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis is polygonal; an ultraviolet irradiation process in which the coated film wound around the polygonal roller is irradiated with ultraviolet light; and a laminating process in which a laminating roller is provided at the position where the coated film starts to be wound around the polygonal roller and a pressing force is applied in the direction toward the rotation axis against one side of the polygonal roller.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction, and an apparatus for manufacturing the multilayer film for recording and reproduction.

Background Art

[0002] As a method for increasing the recording capacity of an optical disc, a method using a laminated film in which a plurality of films (intermediate layers) through which light passes and recording layers whose optical properties change by light irradiation are alternately laminated has been proposed.

[0003] As a method for manufacturing a laminated film in a Roll-to-Roll (R2R) type, a coextrusion method and a method of repeating coating and curing are known (Patent Documents 1 and 2).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Disclosure of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, the coextrusion method can only use thermoplastic materials, and in addition, it is necessary to consider the solubility of the dye and the solubility between the two materials to be laminated. Therefore, the coextrusion method has a problem that the range of material selection is very narrow.

[0006] Also, the method of repeating coating and drying, although the range of material selection is widened, requires repeating coating and curing for multilayer formation, or preparing a large number of webs and laminating them by roll lamination or the like for multilayer formation. Therefore, the method of repeating coating and drying has a problem that a large-sized apparatus is required and it is very difficult to achieve both cost and yield.

[0007] The present disclosure aims to provide a technique for efficiently manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] A method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a coating step of applying a liquid containing an ultraviolet curable resin and having optical properties changed by irradiation with light to one surface of a film through which light passes; a drying step of drying the liquid applied to the film in the coating step; a winding step of winding a coating film, which is the film having the liquid applied thereto after the drying step, with a polygonal roller whose cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis is polygonal rotating; an ultraviolet irradiation step of irradiating ultraviolet rays onto the coating film wound around the polygonal roller; and a lamination step of providing a lamination roller at a position where the coating film starts to be wound around the polygonal roller and applying a pressing force in a direction toward the rotation axis to one side of the polygonal roller.

[0009] A manufacturing apparatus for a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a coating device that applies a liquid containing an ultraviolet curable resin and having optical properties changed by irradiation with light to one surface of a film through which light passes; a drying device that dries the liquid applied to the film by the coating device; a polygonal roller whose cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis is polygonal and that winds a coating film, which is the film having the liquid applied thereto after drying by the drying device, while rotating; an ultraviolet irradiation device that irradiates ultraviolet rays onto the coating film wound around the polygonal roller; and a lamination roller that is provided at a position where the coating film starts to be wound around the polygonal roller and that applies a pressing force in a direction toward the rotation axis to one side of the polygonal roller.

Advantages of the Invention

[0010] According to the present disclosure, a multilayer film for recording and reproduction can be efficiently manufactured.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with appropriate reference to the drawings. However, a more detailed description may be omitted as necessary. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known matters and duplicate descriptions of substantially the same configurations may be omitted. This is to avoid making the following description unnecessarily redundant and to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art. It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

[0013] (Embodiment 1) <Configuration of the Manufacturing Apparatus> FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a manufacturing apparatus for a multilayer film for recording and reproduction (hereinafter simply referred to as "manufacturing apparatus") according to Embodiment 1. In the description of FIG. 1, for convenience, the direction from left to right in the drawing is expressed as the X-axis, the direction from bottom to top on the paper surface is expressed as the Y-axis, and the direction from the back to the front of the paper surface is expressed as the Z-axis.

[0014] The manufacturing apparatus 10 includes a film roller 20, a pretreatment apparatus 25, a coating apparatus 30, a drying apparatus 40, a laminating roller 50, a polygonal roller 60, an ultraviolet (UV) irradiation apparatus 70, and a separator arranging apparatus 80.

[0015] The film roller 20 is an apparatus on which the raw material of the film 101 is set. The film 101 is a thin transparent film through which light can pass, and is, for example, a PET (polyethylene terephthalate) film. The film 101 forms the intermediate layer 121 in the multilayer film 120 (see FIG. 5) for recording and reproducing optical disks. The thickness of the film 101 (thickness in the Y-axis direction) is, for example, 10 μm or less.

[0016] The film roller 20 and the polygonal roller 60 constitute Roll-to-Roll (R2R). That is, the film roller 20 rotates in accordance with the rotation of the polygonal roller 60, the film 101 is drawn out from the raw material set on the film roller 20, and the drawn film 101 is wound around the polygonal roller 60 while maintaining a tension state.

[0017] The pretreatment apparatus 25 is an apparatus that performs a process (hereinafter referred to as the "pretreatment process") of performing UV ozone treatment and / or plasma treatment on both surfaces of the film 101.

[0018] The coating apparatus 30 is an apparatus that performs a process (hereinafter referred to as the "coating process") of coating the liquid adhesive 102 on one surface of the film 101. For example, the coating apparatus 30 coats the liquid adhesive 102 with a uniform film thickness on the upper surface (the surface in the positive direction of the Y-axis) of the film 101 drawn out from the film roller 20 by a die coating method. The coating apparatus 30 coats the adhesive 102 with a film thickness of, for example, 10 μm or less. Hereinafter, the surface of the film 101 on which the adhesive 102 is coated may be referred to as the upper surface, the inner surface, or the coated surface, and the surface of the film 101 on which the adhesive 102 is not coated may be referred to as the lower surface, the outer surface, or the non-coated surface.

[0019] The adhesive 102 contains at least an ultraviolet (UV) curable resin and a material whose optical properties (such as reflectance or refractive index) change upon light irradiation. The material whose optical properties change upon light irradiation may be an organic dye (dye) that is easily soluble in a solvent. The organic dye may cause two-photon absorption. In addition to the above materials, the adhesive 102 may contain a crosslinking agent, a photoinitiator, and the like. The adhesive 102 forms the recording layer 122 in the multilayer film 120 (see FIG. 5) for recording and reproducing an optical disc.

[0020] The drying device 40 is a device that performs a process of drying the adhesive 102 applied to the film 101 (hereinafter referred to as the "drying process"). For example, the drying device 40 heats and dries the adhesive 102 on the film 101 after the coating process. The heating temperature is, for example, 150 degrees or less. As a result, the solvent contained in the liquid adhesive 102 applied to the upper surface of the film 101 evaporates, the viscosity of the adhesive 102 increases, and the film thickness of the adhesive 102 decreases. The film thickness of the adhesive 102 after the drying process is, for example, 1 μm or less. In other words, the drying device 40 dries the adhesive 102 on the upper surface of the film 101 so that the film thickness of the adhesive 102 after the drying process becomes 1 μm or less. Hereinafter, the film 101 and the adhesive 102 after the drying process applied to the upper surface of the film 101 are collectively referred to as the coated film 103.

[0021] The polygonal roller 60 is a device that performs the process of winding the coating film 103 (hereinafter referred to as the "winding process"). The polygonal roller 60 includes a rotation axis 61 parallel to the Z-axis, and is a roller whose cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis 61 is polygonal. That is, the three-dimensional shape of the polygonal roller 60 is a shape obtained by laying a prism on its side. Hereinafter, when the polygonal roller 60 is regarded as a prism, each side surface (a plane parallel to the Z-axis) is referred to as a plate 62, and the boundary line between adjacent side surfaces (a side parallel to the Z-axis) is referred to as an edge 63. In other words, the edge 63 is a side connecting the vertices of the opposing bottom surfaces in a prism. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an example in which the cross-sectional shape of the polygonal roller 60 is hexagonal (i.e., a hexagonal prism) will be described, but the cross-sectional shape of the polygonal roller 60 may be any polygon. Note that the cross-sectional shape of the polygonal roller 60 is preferably a regular polygon.

[0022] The polygonal roller 60 rotates about the rotation axis 61 and winds the coating film 103 after the drying process. By winding the coating film 103 around the polygonal roller 60, the coating film 103 is laminated on each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60. For example, when the polygonal roller 60 rotates 20 times, 20 layers of the coating film 103 are laminated on each plate 62. That is, 20 sets of the intermediate layer 121 and the recording layer 122 are laminated. Hereinafter, the laminated coating film 103 is referred to as a laminated film 104.

[0023] The length of one side of the polygon of the polygonal roller 60 is equal to or greater than the diameter 2r of the optical disc (see FIG. 4). Also, the length of the edge 63 of the polygonal roller 60 is equal to or greater than the diameter 2r of the optical disc. As will be described later, in the cutting process, the laminated film 104 formed on each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60 is cut into a circle with the same diameter 2r as the optical disc to obtain a circular laminated film 106 (see FIG. 4).

[0024] Also, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a gap 64 with a predetermined width extending from a vertex of the polygon toward the rotation axis 61 may be formed along the edge 63 of the polygonal roller 60. Thereby, as will be described later, in the cutting process, by inserting a blade into the gap 64 and moving the blade along the edge 63, the laminated film 104 can be removed from the polygonal roller 60, and the roll of the laminated film 104 wound around the polygonal roller 60 can be divided into the laminated films 104 for each plate 62 (see FIG. 4).

[0025] The laminating roller 50 is a device that performs a process of applying pressure to the coated film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60 (hereinafter referred to as the "laminating process"). For example, the laminating roller 50 is provided at a position where a new coated film 103 begins to be wound around the polygonal roller 60, and applies a pressing force in the direction toward the rotation axis 61 of the polygonal roller 60 (the upward direction (the positive direction of the Y-axis) in FIG. 1) to one side (plate 62) of the polygonal roller 60. Note that the rotation axis of the laminating roller 50 can move in the direction approaching or separating from the rotation axis 61 of the polygonal roller 60 (the vertical direction (the Y-axis direction) in FIG. 1) according to the rotation of the polygonal roller 60. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the generation of gaps and air bubbles between the outer surface of the coated film 103 previously wound around the polygonal roller 60 and the inner surface of the coated film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60 (i.e., wound on the outermost side). That is, the coated films 103 are laminated exactly without gaps.

[0026] The UV irradiation device 70 is a device that performs a process of irradiating ultraviolet rays (UV) on the coating film 103 wound around the polygonal roller 60 (hereinafter referred to as the "UV irradiation process"). For example, the UV irradiation device 70 irradiates UV on the coating film 103 after being pressed by the laminating roller 50 and wound around the polygonal roller 60. As a result, the UV curable resin contained in the adhesive 102 on the inner surface of the coating film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60 (that is, wound on the outermost side) is cured and adheres to the outer surface of the coating film 103 previously wound around the polygonal roller 60. That is, the laminated coating films 103 are fixed to each other.

[0027] The separator placement device 80 is a device that performs a process of placing a separator 105 on the upper surface of the coating film 103 every time the polygonal roller 60 rotates a predetermined number of times (hereinafter referred to as the "separator placement process"). The separator 105 is a sheet made of a material that does not adhere to either the adhesive 102 or the film 101, and is, for example, a paper sheet. The length of the separator 105 in the X-axis direction is, for example, equal to or greater than the perimeter of the polygon of the polygonal roller 60.

[0028] For example, when the polygonal roller 60 rotates a predetermined number of times, after the drying process and before the coating film 103 is wound around the polygonal roller 60, the separator 105 is disposed on the upper surface of the coating film 103. The separator 105 disposed on the upper surface of the coating film 103 is wound around the polygonal roller 60 together with the coating film 103 by the rotation of the polygonal roller 60. Thereby, even when the adhesive 102 on the upper surface of the coating film 103 is cured by performing the UV irradiation step 205 on the coating film 103 newly wound together with the separator 105, the inner surface of the coating film 103 does not adhere to the outer surface of the separator 105 wound together. Therefore, every time the polygonal roller 60 rotates the same number of times as the desired number of laminations of the laminated film 104, the separator disposing device 80 disposes the separator 105, so that the roll of the laminated film 104 can be separated every predetermined number of laminations without cutting the film 101 during R2R. That is, a plurality of laminated films 104 having a desired number of laminations can be obtained from each plate 62.

[0029] <Method for manufacturing an optical disc> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a method for manufacturing an optical disc.

[0030] In the method for manufacturing the recording and reproducing multilayer film 120, a pretreatment step 200, a coating step 201, a drying step 202, a winding step 203, a lamination step 204, a UV irradiation step 205, a separator disposition step 206, and a cutting step 207 are performed. However, this manufacturing method is an example, and at least one of these steps may be omitted in manufacturing the recording and reproducing multilayer film 120.

[0031] In the method for manufacturing an optical disc, a punching step 208 and an attaching step 209 are further performed on the recording and reproducing multilayer film 120 manufactured by the above manufacturing method. Hereinafter, these steps will be described in detail.

[0032] <<Pretreatment step>> In the pretreatment step 200, the film 101 is subjected to double-sided UV ozone treatment, and / or plasma treatment, etc. Thereby, the surface of the film 101 is modified, and the coatability in the coating step 201 and the adhesion in the UV irradiation step 205 can be improved.

[0033] <<Coating Step>> In the coating step 201, the coating device 30 applies the liquid adhesive 102 to the upper surface of the film 101 drawn from the film roller 20 and maintained in a tensioned state by the die coating method so as to have a uniform film thickness of, for example, 10 μm or less. Thereby, the adhesive 102 is applied to the upper surface of the film 101 with a uniform film thickness.

[0034] <<Drying Step>> In the drying step 202, the drying device 40 heats and dries the adhesive 102 applied to the upper surface of the film 101 in the coating step 201 so as to have a uniform film thickness of, for example, 1 μm or less, and obtains a coated film 103. The temperature of the heat drying is, for example, 150 degrees or less. Thereby, the solvent contained in the adhesive 102 applied to the upper surface of the film 101 evaporates, the viscosity of the adhesive 102 increases, and the film thickness of the adhesive 102 becomes thinner.

[0035] <<Rewinding Step>> In the rewinding step 203, the polygonal roller 60 rotates and winds up the coated film 103 after the drying step 202 while maintaining the tensioned state of the film 101 by R2R. Thereby, every time the polygonal roller 60 makes one rotation, one layer of the coated film 103 is laminated on each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60. That is, the coated films 103 having a number of laminated layers corresponding to the number of rotations of the polygonal roller 60 are laminated on each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60. Therefore, a laminated film 104 having a number of laminated layers corresponding to the number of rotations of the polygonal roller 60 can be easily generated.

[0036] In FIG. 1, the film roller 20 and the polygonal roller 60 both rotate counterclockwise. However, the rotation directions of the film roller 20 and the polygonal roller 60 can be in any direction as long as R2R can be achieved.

[0037] <<Lamination Process>> In the lamination process 204, the lamination roller 50 applies a pressing force to the outermost coated film 103 wound around the polygonal roller 60 by the winding process 203. This prevents the generation of gaps and air bubbles between the outer surface of the coated film 103 previously wound around the polygonal roller 60 and the inner surface of the coated film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60 (i.e., the outermost wound). That is, the coated films 103 are laminated exactly without gaps.

[0038] <<UV Irradiation Process>> In the UV irradiation process 205, the UV irradiation device 70 irradiates UV on the coated film 103 after the lamination process 204 wound around the polygonal roller 60. As a result, the UV-curable resin contained in the adhesive 102 on the inner surface of the coated film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60 (i.e., the outermost wound) cures and adheres to the outer surface of the coated film 103 previously wound around the polygonal roller 60. That is, the laminated coated films 103 are fixed. Note that the UV irradiation process 205 may be performed at any position during one revolution of the coated film 103 newly wound around the polygonal roller 60.

[0039] <<Separator Placement Process>> In the separator placement step 206, every time the polygonal roller 60 rotates a predetermined number of times (when the determination 221 in FIG. 2 is YES), after the drying step 202 and before the coating film 103 is wound around the polygonal roller 60, the separator 105 is placed on the upper surface of the coating film 103. As a result, the separator 105 placed on the upper surface of the coating film 103 is wound around the polygonal roller 60 together with the coating film 103 by further rotation of the polygonal roller 60. Therefore, even when the UV irradiation step 205 is performed on the coating film 103 newly wound together with the separator 105 and the adhesive 102 on the inner surface of the coating film 103 is cured, the inner surface of the coating film 103 does not adhere to the outer surface of the separator 105 wound together. Thus, every time the polygonal roller 60 rotates the same number of times as the desired number of laminations of the laminated film 104, the separator placement device 80 places the separator 105, so that the laminated film 104 with the desired number of laminations can be obtained from each plate 62 without cutting the film 101 during the R2R process.

[0040] For example, when a 20-layer recording and playback multilayer film 120 is desired, the separator placement step 206 is performed every time the polygonal roller 60 rotates 20 times. As a result, the separator 105 is sandwiched every 20 layers in the roll of the laminated film 104 wound around the polygonal roller 60 after the completion of the R2R process. Therefore, in the cutting step 207 described later, when the roll of the laminated film 104 wound around the polygonal roller 60 is cut in the Z-axis direction along the edge 63, the laminated film 104 formed on each plate 62 is separated every 20 layers by the separator 105. That is, a plurality of 20-layer laminated films 104 can be obtained from one plate 62.

[0041] <<Cutting Step>> FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the cutting step 207.

[0042] The cutting step 207 is performed after the winding by the polygonal roller 60 is completed (when the determination 222 in FIG. 2 is YES). In the cutting step 207, as shown by the dotted line 66 in FIG. 3, a blade is passed through the gap 64 formed from the vertex of the polygon toward the rotation axis 61 along the edge 63, and the roll of the laminated film 104 wound around the polygonal roller 60 is cut in the Z-axis direction along the edge 63 of the polygonal roller 60. Thereby, the laminated film 104 can be removed from the polygonal roller 60, and a planar laminated film 104 can be obtained from each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60.

[0043] Also, when the separator 105 is sandwiched, the laminated film 104 on each plate 62 after the cutting step 207 is separated by the separator 105. For example, when the separator 105 is sandwiched every 20 layers, a plurality of 20-layer laminated films 104 can be obtained on each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60.

[0044] <<Cutting-out step>> FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the cutting-out step 208.

[0045] In the cutting-out step 208, as shown in FIG. 4, the laminated film 104 cut by the cutting step 207 and obtained from each plate 62 of the polygonal roller 60 is cut out into a circle with the same diameter 2r as the optical disc. The circular laminated film 104 obtained by this cutting-out step 208 is referred to as a circular laminated film 106. In the cutting-out step 208, a plurality of circular laminated films 106 may be cut out from one laminated film 104.

[0046] <<Attaching step>> FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the attaching step 209.

[0047] In the attaching step 209, as shown in FIG. 5, a circular laminated film 106 (i.e., the multilayer film 120 for recording and reproduction) is attached to the substrate 110 with a guide track. The guide track is irregularities for guiding the light for recording and reproduction irradiated onto the optical disc. As the material of the substrate 110 with a guide track, for example, a plastic material or glass can be used, and from the viewpoint of cost, it is preferable to use a plastic material. As the plastic material, for example, a polycarbonate resin, a polyolefin resin, an acrylic resin, etc. can be used.

[0048] In addition, in the attaching step 209, a transparent protective layer 130 that transmits light may be formed on the circular laminated film 106. The material of the protective layer 130 may be made of a resin such as a photocurable resin (particularly an ultraviolet curable resin) or a delayed-action thermosetting resin. Further, the cover layer 133 may have little light absorption with respect to the laser light used. Further, the cover layer 133 may be formed using a resin such as polycarbonate, amorphous polyolefin, or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or glass.

[0049] By this attaching step 209, an optical disc is manufactured in which the circular laminated film 106 (i.e., the multilayer film 120 for recording and reproduction) is attached to the substrate 110 with a guide track.

[0050] <Recording step> FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the recording step. By performing the recording step on the optical disc manufactured by the step of FIG. 2 (see FIG. 5), data can be recorded on each recording layer 122 of the optical disc. The recording step is performed, for example, by a drive device for recording and reproduction.

[0051] In the recording step, as shown in FIG. 6, light (for example, blue light) is irradiated onto a desired recording layer 122 and a desired position among the plurality of recording layers 122 of the optical disc. Thereby, the optical characteristics (for example, reflectivity or refractive index) of the position irradiated with the light change. The position where the optical characteristics have changed is called a recording mark 123.

[0052] As shown in FIG. 6, since the optical disc manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present disclosure has a large number of recording layers 122, it can record a large amount of data as compared with a conventional optical disc having a small number of recording layers.

[0053] When reproducing the data recorded on the optical disc, light (for example, blue light) is irradiated onto a desired recording layer 122 and a desired position among the plurality of recording layers 122 of the optical disc. When the recording mark 123 exists and does not exist at the position, since the optical characteristics (for example, reflectivity or refractive index) are different, it is possible to detect whether the recording mark 123 exists at the position by detecting the difference in the optical characteristics with respect to the irradiated light. Thereby, the data recorded on the recording layer 122 of the optical disc can be reproduced.

[0054] As described above, according to the manufacturing apparatus and the manufacturing method according to Embodiment 1, a recording and reproducing multilayer film 120 having a desired number of stacked layers can be efficiently manufactured. In addition, the material selectivity in the recording layer 122 can be enhanced.

[0055] (Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 1, a method of manufacturing a laminated film 104 having a desired number of stacked layers without cutting the film 101 during R2R by disposing the separator 105 has been described. In Embodiment 2, a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for manufacturing a laminated film 104 having a desired number of stacked layers by cutting the coating film 103 during R2R without disposing the separator 105 will be described. In addition, in Embodiment 2, for the components already described in Embodiment 1, the same reference numerals may be given and the description may be omitted.

[0056] <Configuration of Manufacturing Apparatus> FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a manufacturing apparatus according to Embodiment 2.

[0057] The manufacturing apparatus 10 includes a film roller 20, a pretreatment apparatus 25, a coating apparatus 30, a drying apparatus 40, a guide roller 90, a laminating roller 50, a polygonal roller 60, and a UV irradiation apparatus 70.

[0058] The film roller 20, the pretreatment apparatus 25, the coating apparatus 30, the drying apparatus 40, the laminating roller 50, the polygonal roller 60, and the UV irradiation apparatus 70 have been described in Embodiment 1.

[0059] The guide roller 90 is a device that guides the coated film 103 after the drying step 202 to the polygonal roller 60. For example, the guide roller 90 sandwiches the coated film 103 from above and below to maintain the tension state of the film 101. Thereby, even if the coated film 103 is cut at the cutting position 91 between the guide roller 90 and the polygonal roller 60, the tension state of the film 101 is maintained between the guide roller 90 and the film roller 20.

[0060] Therefore, when the laminated film 104 with the desired number of laminations is wound around the polygonal roller 60, the coated film 103 is cut at the cutting position 91, and the steps after the cutting step 207 described in Embodiment 1 are performed on the laminated film 104 wound around the polygonal roller 60, whereby an optical disc having a recording and reproducing multilayer film 120 with the desired number of laminations can be manufactured. Further, since the tension state of the film 101 is maintained between the guide roller 90 and the film roller 20, the polygonal roller 60 can start winding the coated film 103 cut at the cutting position 91 anew.

[0061] As described above, according to the manufacturing apparatus and the manufacturing method according to Embodiment 2, a recording and reproducing multilayer film with the desired number of laminations can be manufactured without disposing the separator 105.

[0062] (Control of the manufacturing apparatus) The operations of the respective components of the above-described manufacturing apparatus 10 may be controlled by a predetermined control device (not shown). For example, the control device includes a processor and a memory. The processor cooperates with the memory to control the operations of the respective components of the above-described manufacturing apparatus 10. For example, the processor reads out and executes a computer program for controlling the operations of the respective components of the above-described manufacturing apparatus 10 from the memory. The control device may be incorporated in the manufacturing apparatus 10. Alternatively, the control device may be a device separate from the manufacturing apparatus 10 and may control the manufacturing apparatus 10 through a predetermined communication network.

[0063] (Summary of the present disclosure) A method for manufacturing a multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a coating step (201) of applying a liquid (102) containing an ultraviolet curable resin and having optical properties changed by irradiation with light to one surface of a film (101) through which light passes; a drying step (202) of drying the liquid applied to the film (101) in the coating step (201); a winding step (203) of winding up a coated film (103) which is the film (101) with the liquid (102) applied thereto after the drying step (202) while a polygonal roller (60) having a polygonal cross-section perpendicular to the rotation axis (61) rotates; and an ultraviolet irradiation step (205) of irradiating the coated film (103) wound around the polygonal roller (60) with ultraviolet rays. The liquid (102) may contain an organic dye whose optical properties change by irradiation with light.

[0064] According to this manufacturing method, the coating film (103) newly wound around the polygonal roller (60) (i.e., the outermost wound) is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. Therefore, the ultraviolet curable resin contained in the liquid (102) applied to one surface of the coating film (103) cures, and one surface of the newly wound coating film (103) adheres to the other surface of the coating film (103) previously wound around the polygonal roller (60). Thus, as the polygonal roller (60) rotates, a plurality of coating films (103) are laminated on the polygonal roller (60), and the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction is formed. That is, according to this manufacturing method, the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction can be efficiently manufactured.

[0065] The above manufacturing method of the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction may further include a separator arrangement step (206) of arranging a sheet-like separator (105) on the upper surface of the coating film (103) after the drying step (202) and before the winding step (203) each time the polygonal roller (60) rotates a predetermined number of times.

[0066] According to this manufacturing method, each time the polygonal roller (60) rotates a predetermined number of times, the separator (105) is also wound around the polygonal roller (60) together with the coating film (103). In this case, although the ultraviolet curable resin contained in the liquid (102) applied to one surface of the coating film (103) newly wound around the polygonal roller (60) cures upon irradiation with ultraviolet rays, it does not adhere to the surface of the co-wound separator (105). Therefore, by setting the predetermined number of rotations of the above polygonal roller (60) to the desired number of laminations of the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction, the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction with the desired number of laminations can be efficiently manufactured without cutting the film (101) during R2R.

[0067] In the above-described polygonal roller (60), a gap (64) may be formed from the vertex of the polygon toward the rotation axis (61). And, the method for manufacturing the above-described multilayer film (120) for recording and reproducing may further include a cutting step (207) of cutting a roll of the laminated film (104) in which the coating film (103) after the ultraviolet irradiation step (205) is laminated, wound around the polygonal roller (60), by passing a blade through the gap (64).

[0068] According to this manufacturing method, the laminated film (104) formed on each plate (62) of the polygonal roller (60) can be easily removed from the polygonal roller (60), and a planar laminated film 104 can be obtained from each plate (62).

[0069] The manufacturing apparatus (10) for a multilayer film (120) for recording and reproducing according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes a coating apparatus (30) that applies a liquid (102) containing an ultraviolet curable resin and whose optical properties change by irradiation with light to one surface of a film (101) through which light passes, a drying apparatus (40) that dries the liquid (102) applied to the film (101) by the coating apparatus, a polygonal roller (60) that rotates and winds up a coating film (103) which is the film (101) with the liquid (102) applied thereto after drying by the drying apparatus (40), and an ultraviolet irradiation apparatus (70) that irradiates ultraviolet rays to the coating film (103) wound around the polygonal roller (60).

[0070] According to this configuration, the coating film (103) newly wound around the polygonal roller (60) (i.e., the outermost wound one) is irradiated with ultraviolet rays. Therefore, the ultraviolet curable resin contained in the liquid (102) applied to one surface of the coating film (103) is cured, and one surface of the newly wound coating film (103) adheres to the other surface of the coating film (103) previously wound around the polygonal roller (60). Thus, as the polygonal roller (60) rotates, a plurality of coating films (103) are laminated on the polygonal roller (60), and the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction is formed. That is, according to this configuration, the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction can be efficiently manufactured.

[0071] The manufacturing apparatus (10) of the above-described multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction may further include a film roller (20) on which the raw roll of the film (101) is set. And the film roller (20) and the polygonal roller (60) may constitute Roll-to-Roll (R2R).

[0072] According to this configuration, the multilayer film (120) for recording and reproduction can be efficiently manufactured by R2R.

[0073] As described above, the embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present disclosure is not limited to such examples. It is obvious that those skilled in the art can conceive of various modification examples, correction examples, substitution examples, addition examples, deletion examples, equivalent examples within the scope described in the claims, and it is understood that they also belong to the technical scope of the present disclosure. Also, within the scope not departing from the gist of the invention, the components in the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined.

Industrial Applicability

[0074] The technology of the present disclosure is useful for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction.

Explanation of Signs

[0075] 10 Manufacturing apparatus of multilayer film for recording and reproduction 20 Film roller 25 Pretreatment device 30 Coating device 40 Drying device 50 Laminating roller 60 Polygonal roller 61 Rotating shaft 62 Plate 63 Edge 64 Gap 70 Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation device 80 Separator placement device 90 Guide roller 101 Film 102 Adhesive 103 Coated film 104 Laminated film 105 Separator 106 Circular laminated film 110 Substrate with guide track 120 Multilayer film for recording and playback 121 Intermediate layer 122 Recording layer 123 Recording mark 130 Protective layer 200 Pretreatment process 201 Coating process 202 Drying process 203 Rewinding process 204 Laminating process 205 Ultraviolet (UV) irradiation process 206 Separator placement process 207 Cutting process 208 Punching process 209 Affixing process

Claims

1. A coating step of applying a liquid containing an ultraviolet-curable resin and having optical properties changed by light irradiation to one surface of a film through which light passes; A drying step of drying the liquid applied to the film in the coating step; A winding step of winding a coated film, which is the film having the liquid applied thereto after the drying step and on which a polygonal roller having a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis is rotating, around the polygonal roller; An ultraviolet irradiation step of irradiating the coated film wound around the polygonal roller with ultraviolet rays; A laminating step of providing a laminating roller at a position where the coated film starts to be wound around the polygonal roller and applying a pressing force in a direction toward the rotation axis to one side of the polygonal roller; A method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction.

2. The laminating roller is movable in a direction approaching or separating from the rotation axis. The method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to Claim 1.

3. A separator arranging step of arranging a sheet-like separator on the upper surface of the coated film after the drying step and before the winding step every time the polygonal roller rotates a predetermined number of times; The method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to Claim 1 or 2.

4. A gap is formed in the polygonal roller from the vertex of the polygon toward the rotation axis. A cutting step of cutting a roll of a laminated film in which the coated films after the ultraviolet irradiation step wound around the polygonal roller are laminated, by passing a blade through the gap; The method for manufacturing a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to any one of Claims 1 to 3.

5. A coating device for applying a liquid containing an ultraviolet-curable resin and having optical properties changed by light irradiation to one surface of a film through which light passes; A drying device for drying the liquid applied to the film by the coating device; A polygonal roller having a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the rotation axis and winding a coated film, which is the film having the liquid applied thereto after drying by the drying device and on which the liquid is rotating, around the polygonal roller; An ultraviolet irradiation device for irradiating the coated film wound around the polygonal roller with ultraviolet rays; A laminating roller provided at a position where the coated film starts to be wound around the polygonal roller and applying a pressing force in a direction toward the rotation axis to one side of the polygonal roller; A manufacturing device for a multilayer film for recording and reproduction.

6. The laminating roller is movable in a direction approaching or separating from the rotating shaft. The manufacturing apparatus for a multilayer film for recording and reproduction according to claim 5.

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