Laminating apparatus

Abstract

A laminating apparatus (100) comprises: a heating means (110) for heating a resin film (S); a holding means (130) for holding the resin film (S); and a vacuum suction means (140) for coating and forming the resin film (S) on the surface of a base material (B). The laminating apparatus (100) further comprises a shutter device (120) that is disposed between the heating means (110) and the resin film (S) held by the holding means (130) and that opens and closes by being divided at a central portion so as to act as a heat blocking means. The shutter device (120) is controlled so as to be in an open state when the resin film (S) held by the holding means (130) is heated by the heating means (110), and is controlled so as to be in a closed state when the resin film (S) is adhered to the surface of the base material (B) by a vacuum suction means or a compressed air means and the resin film (S) is fused to the surface of the base material (B).

Description

Laminating equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a laminating device having a function of attaching a resin film to the surface of a paper container or the like.

[0002] In light of the current situation, the use of paper containers has been reconsidered. However, when paper containers are used to replace the plastic containers that have been used until now, problems such as leakage must be solved. As part of the leakage prevention measures, paper containers are sometimes laminated to prevent leakage.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology relating to a heat-insulating paper container and a raw material sheet used for the heat-insulating paper container. The raw material sheet used for the heat-insulating paper container has a thermoplastic resin layer formed on at least one side of a paper base material, and the paper base material contains 0.3 g / m of a hydroxycarboxylic acid or a metal salt thereof. ２ 6.0g / m or more ２ By using the raw material sheet containing the following, a paper container with excellent heat insulation properties can be provided.

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a technology relating to waterproof paper and a method for manufacturing the same. The technology comprises a paper base material, a primer layer containing fine cellulose fibers with a fiber diameter of 60 μm or less and provided on at least one side of the paper base material, and a waterproof layer containing a styrene-acrylic resin and wax and provided as the outermost layer on the primer layer, thereby enabling the production of paper that is both moisture-proof and waterproof.

[0005] JP 2009-83202 A JP 2023-59450 A

[0006] However, the technologies described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are both technologies for providing a waterproof layer on the surface of a flat paper substrate, and it is difficult to provide a waterproof layer on the surface of a paper container that has a three-dimensional shape after thermoforming. There is also demand for folding paper boxes, but when a waterproof layer is provided on a flat paper substrate and then the paper substrate is folded three-dimensionally to form a folding paper box, there is a problem of leakage from gaps. A method has been proposed in which gaps are sealed using adhesive or the like, but this is costly and difficult to completely prevent leakage.

[0007] In recent years, demand for paper containers such as pulp molded products and paper folding boxes has been increasing, and in order to provide such products with a waterproof layer, technologies have been developed to attach an adhesive layer to the back of a laminate film, but the addition of an adhesive layer also creates problems. From an environmentally friendly perspective, it is desirable to make the laminate film as thin as possible, and adding an adhesive layer is undesirable because it affects recycling and increases costs. For this reason, new methods of providing waterproofing that can be used on paper containers are being sought.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a laminating device that can provide a waterproof layer on the surface of a paper container.

[0009] In order to achieve the above object, a laminating apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention has the following features.

[0010] (1) A laminating apparatus comprising a heating means for heating a resin film, a film holding means for holding the film, and a vacuum suction means or compressed air means for coating and molding the film onto the surface of a substrate, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a shutter device that is divided at the center and opens and closes as heat shielding means, disposed between the heating means and the film held by the film holding means, the shutter device being controlled to an open state when the film held by the film holding means is heated by the heating means, and is controlled to select an open state or a closed state when the film is adhered to the surface of the substrate by the vacuum suction means or the compressed air means and the film is fused to the surface of the substrate.

[0011] According to the embodiment (1) above, by using a shutter device that opens and closes by dividing it from the center in the laminating device, it is possible to quickly block the transfer of heat from the heating means to the film. The film is heated using, for example, a hot plate or a radiant heating means, but even with a radiant heating means that has a relatively fast temperature rise rate, it takes some time for the influence (heating) on ​​the film to disappear after the heating is turned off.

[0012] However, by adopting a configuration that can block the transfer of heat from the heating means to the film using a shutter device, it is possible to quickly block the effects of the heating means. As a result, when a thin film is used to coat and mold the surface of a substrate, the occurrence of film drawdown due to overheating can be suppressed, thereby minimizing defects such as the occurrence of wrinkles, which ultimately leads to improved production efficiency and stable quality. Furthermore, if additional heating is required to improve adhesion to the mold or substrate, the shutter device can be opened to heat the film. In this case, the heating can be switched by opening and closing the shutter device, allowing for a rapid transition to an overheated state, which contributes to shortening processing time.

[0013] (2) In the laminating apparatus described in (1), it is preferable that the shutter device is controlled by selecting an open state or a closed state when heating the film until the heating means reaches a target temperature.

[0014] According to the aspect described in (2) above, the shutter device is controlled in a closed state until the heating means reaches the target temperature, thereby preventing overheating of the film. Since the temperature rise time of the heating means may have a negative effect on controlling the temperature of the film, the temperature effect on the film can be adjusted by opening and closing the shutter device. Furthermore, the film can be heated by opening it as needed. As a result, similar to the effect described in (1), the occurrence of film drawdown due to overheating can be prevented. Furthermore, by applying the necessary heat, the adhesion of the film to the mold and substrate can be improved.

[0015] (3) In the laminating apparatus described in (1) or (2), it is preferable that the shutter device has a telescopic structure and is opened so as to be separated into a front side and a rear side in the film feeding direction.

[0016] The aspect described in (3) above allows for a more compact shutter device. The shutter device has the effect of blocking heat when the heating means heats the film so that the film is not overheated. Therefore, it is desirable for the shutter device to be as compact as possible so as not to block the space between the heating means and the film when in the open state. Therefore, by adopting a telescopic structure for the shutter, the shutter device can be more compact when in the open state, contributing to the miniaturization of the device.

[0017] (4) In the laminating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (3), it is preferable that the substrate is a pulp molded container or a paper folding box.

[0018] According to the aspect (4) above, it is possible to attach a waterproof resin film to the surface of a pulp-molded container or a paper folding box. By providing a waterproof function to an environmentally friendly paper container, it becomes easier to use it as, for example, a tray for food.

[0019] 1 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of a laminating device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a substrate according to the present embodiment; FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a product according to the present embodiment; FIG. 4 is a plan view of a shutter device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 5 is a side view of a shutter device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the shutter device according to the present embodiment, showing the shutter device in a closed state; FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the shutter device according to the present embodiment, showing the shutter device in a state in the middle of opening; FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the shutter device according to the present embodiment, showing the shutter device in an open state; and FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing a laminating procedure according to the present embodiment.

[0020] First, an outline of the configuration of a laminating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the outline of the configuration of the laminating apparatus according to this embodiment. The laminating apparatus 100 comprises a heating means 110 for heating a resinous film S, a lifting platform 150 for fixing and raising and lowering a substrate B, and a shutter device 120 disposed between the heating means 110 and the resinous film S. The laminating apparatus 100 holds the resinous film S to be formed and heats it with the heating means 110 disposed above, thereby adhering the resinous film S to the surface of the substrate B.

[0021] The resin film S is a film used for lamination to impart waterproofing to the substrate B, and is made of a transparent polypropylene (PP) film material made of a thermoplastic resin. According to the JIS standard, a film is defined as a plastic membrane having a thickness of less than 250 μm, but in this embodiment, it is assumed that a resin film S having a thickness of approximately 20 μm is used. This resin film S need only be able to impart waterproofing by being attached to the surface of the substrate B, and its thickness may be changed as needed. Furthermore, the resin film S is not limited to a PP film, but is preferably a thermoplastic resin that has good adhesion to paper containers and can impart waterproofing.

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the substrate. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view of the product. The substrate B is a paper package such as a pulp-molded container, and as shown in FIG. 2, multiple containers are arranged on a tile. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, a resin film S is attached to the surface of the substrate B to obtain a product 50. The product 50 is a paper package to which the resin film S has been attached, and the resin film S has been given waterproof properties, and is, for example, a food container such as a curry container. However, the present invention is not limited to food containers and can be widely applied.

[0023] Such a substrate B is held on a lifting platform 150 equipped with a lifting mechanism (not shown) that can be raised and lowered to any height. A resin film S held by a holding device 130 is placed above the substrate B. The resin film S is configured to be unwound from a roll and held, and is fed from left to right on the paper surface of FIG. 1. This configuration may be changed as needed. For example, the resin film S may be cut into a rectangle, placed in a frame, and fed.

[0024] 1, the heating means 110 is a group of heaters 111 arranged in a tiled pattern, and is disposed above the resinous film S to perform radiant heating for the purpose of heating the resinous film S from above. The heating means 110 is held by an elevator (not shown) and is configured to be movable to any height so that it can be moved closer to or farther away from the resinous film S. The output of each heater 111 can be adjusted as desired.

[0025] A shutter device 120 is disposed below the heating means 110 for the purpose of physically blocking heat from the heating means 110 when closed. Fig. 4 shows a plan view of the shutter device. Fig. 5 shows a side view of the shutter device 120. The shutter device 120 is a type that opens in the center and opens to the left and right, and includes a first door 121 (121a, 121b) disposed on the center side and a second door 122 (122a, 122b) disposed on the outside thereof. The first door 121 and the second door 122 have a telescopic structure.

[0026] The shutter device 120 is provided in the laminating apparatus 100 so that the opening and closing direction of the shutter device 120 coincides with the feeding direction of the resinous film S. Therefore, when the shutter device 120 is in the open state, the first door 121a and the second door 122a are arranged overlapping on the front side in the traveling direction as shown in Figure 4, and the first door 121b and the second door 122b are arranged overlapping on the rear side in the traveling direction, forming a center-drawn structure. In other words, when the shutter device 120 is in the open state, the shutter device 120 does not prevent the heating means 110 from heating the resinous film S.

[0027] The shutter device 120 may be arranged so that the opening and closing direction coincides with the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of the resinous film S, but this would require the width of the laminating device 100, which would increase the size of the housing of the laminating device 100. Therefore, it is preferable to make appropriate decisions when designing.

[0028] Two rodless cylinders 131 are arranged parallel to the feed direction of the resin film S, and each is equipped with a slide table 132 that can be moved arbitrarily in the longitudinal direction of the rodless cylinder 131. The first door 121 is fixed to the upper surface of this slide table 132. The rodless cylinder 131 is driven by a supply of compressed air (not shown), and has the function of moving the slide table 132 from the forward end to the backward end. Note that the rodless cylinder 131 may be driven by a mechanism that opens and closes by incorporating an electric motor rather than by compressed air.

[0029] On the other hand, one end of the second door 122 is supported by a roller slide rail 140. Although not shown, the other end on the opposite side is guided by a roller. The roller slide rail 140 consists of a rail 141 and a slider 142, and a roller 143 held by the slider 142 moves within the rail 141 to open and close the second door 122. Two sliders 142 are provided and fixed to the side of the second door 122.

[0030] Fig. 6A is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the shutter device, showing the shutter device in a closed state. Fig. 6B shows the shutter device in a state where the shutter device is driven and the first door overlaps the second door. Fig. 6C shows the shutter device in an open state. A rodless cylinder 131 is used to open and close the shutter device 120, and in the closed state shown in Figs. 4 and 6A, a slide table 132 is located at the forward end of the rodless cylinder 131.

[0031] When the slide table 132 is moved to the center, the end 121b1 of the first door 121b attached to the slide table 132 abuts against the inner wall of the end face 121b1 of the second door 122b, as shown in Fig. 6B, thereby moving the second door 122b. When the slide table 132 is moved to the rear end of the slide table 132 as shown in Fig. 6C, the first door 121b and the second door 122b overlap. Note that the structure of the shutter device 120 is not limited to this, but a structure that opens separately to the left and right from the center of the device is desirable, and a telescopic structure is more desirable.

[0032] The outline of the configuration of the laminating apparatus 100 according to the present invention has been described above. Next, the procedure for manufacturing the product 50 using the laminating apparatus 100 will be briefly explained.

[0033] Figure 7 provides a schematic diagram illustrating the lamination procedure. Figure 7(A) shows the resinous film in an overheated state, Figure 7(B) shows the shutter device in a closed state, and Figure 7(C) shows the state in which lamination is being performed. First, as shown in Figure 7(A), the substrate B is placed on the lifting platform 150 of the laminating device 100. Then, the resinous film S is held by the holding device 130, and the resinous film S is heated by the heating means 110 while the shutter device 120 is in an open state.

[0034] 7(B), when the heated resinous film S reaches a predetermined temperature, the shutter device 120 is closed, physically blocking heat transfer between the heating means 110 and the resinous film S. Then, the substrate B is brought close to the resinous film S. At this time, the heating means 110 is provided with an elevating mechanism (not shown) and can be raised to provide a physical distance from the resinous film S and the shutter device 120, thereby not interfering with the reduction of the thermal effect on the resinous film S.

[0035] Next, as shown in Fig. 7(C), air is drawn from below the substrate B by vacuum suction means 140, and lamination is performed in such a way that the resin film S is adsorbed onto the surface of the substrate B. As a result, the resin film S is fused onto the substrate B as shown in Fig. 2, and the product 50 is obtained by cutting it out individually.

[0036] The laminating apparatus 100 of this embodiment has the above-described configuration, and therefore provides the following functions and effects.

[0037] First, an effect can be achieved by providing a laminating apparatus 100 that can provide a waterproof layer on the surface of a paper container. This is because the laminating apparatus 100 includes a heating means 110 that heats a resinous film S, a film holding means (holding means 130) that holds the resinous film S, and a vacuum suction means 140 that coats and forms the resinous film S on the surface of a substrate B, and is characterized in that the laminating apparatus 100 includes a shutter device 120 that is split at the center and opens and closes as heat shielding means, and is disposed between the heating means 110 and the resinous film S held by the holding means 130, and the shutter device 120 is controlled to an open state when the resinous film S held by the holding means 130 is heated by the heating means 110, and is controlled to a closed state when the resinous film S is adhered to the surface of the substrate B by the vacuum suction means or compressed air means and the resinous film S is fused to the surface of the substrate B.

[0038] As described in the problem, when providing a waterproof layer on the surface of a paper container (substrate B), it is desirable to avoid providing an adhesive layer as much as possible, and it is preferable that the resin film S functioning as the waterproof layer be thin. Therefore, by appropriately heating the resin film S with the heating means 110 and forming it on the surface of the substrate B at the appropriate timing using the vacuum suction means 140, it becomes possible to fuse the resin film S to the surface of the substrate B. Here, the thinner the thickness of the resin film S, the more severe the control of heating the resin film S with the heating means 110 becomes. Overheating can cause drawdown, which can lead to wrinkles, gaps, and other defects in the product 50.

[0039] Therefore, by providing a shutter device 120 as heat shielding means, heat from the heating means 110 to the resinous film S is blocked. In other words, when the shutter device 120 is in an open state with first doors 121 (121a, 121b) and second doors 122 (122a, 122b) arranged on the outside of the first doors 121 (121a, 121b) open from the center to the left and right as shown in Figures 1 and 4, it does not block heat from the heating means 110 to the resinous film S, but when it is in a closed state it can block heat from the resinous film S. A rodless cylinder 131 is used to open and close the shutter device 120, so it can be opened and closed in less than one second.

[0040] In this way, by quickly cutting off heating with the shutter device 120, it is possible to cut off the thermal influence from the heating device 110 in a shorter time than when conventional means such as cutting off the power supply to the heating device 110, moving the heating device 110 away from the resinous film S, or forcibly cooling it using compressed air are used. The shutter device 120 is structured to be opened and closed using a rodless cylinder 131, and can be opened and closed in a short time. Therefore, in order to prevent the resinous film S from being overheated by the heating device 110, the shutter device 120 can be closed quickly, which leads to suppression of overheating.

[0041] Therefore, it becomes easier to control the heating time for the resin film S, and even when a thin resin film S is used, it is possible to suppress the effects of drawdown and the occurrence of pinholes. When welding the resin film S to the substrate B, it is preferable to use a thin resin film S in order to reduce weight and costs. Furthermore, reducing the amount of resin film S used in the product 50 can help to emphasize environmental friendliness.

[0042] Furthermore, the method of laminating the resin film S by heating and welding it to the substrate B eliminates the need to apply an adhesive to the back surface of the resin film S, which leads to cost reduction and ultimately contributes to the productivity of the product 50.

[0043] When heating and welding the resinous film S to the substrate B, the shutter device 120 may be opened again to heat, thereby increasing the adhesion of the resinous film S to the substrate B, and therefore control may be performed not only in the closed state but also in the open state. In this case, a conceivable procedure is to close the shutter device 120 once after heating the resinous film S, and then heat the resinous film S again when it comes into contact with the substrate B to increase the adhesion.

[0044] The laminating apparatus 100 according to the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited thereto and various modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, although PP is used as the resin film S, it is not precluded from using a waterproof resin material instead. Furthermore, although the base material B is a pulp-molded container, it is not precluded from being applied to a folding paper box. A waterproof layer made of the resin film S can be provided on the inside of the folding paper box, preventing water from seeping in through the folds. Furthermore, although it is described that a vacuum suction means 140 is used for laminating, it is not precluded from using a compressed air forming means.

[0045] Furthermore, regarding the timing of use of the shutter device 120, an example is shown in which it is used when heating of the resinous film S by the heating means 110 is completed, but this does not preclude its use when heating begins. By using the shutter device 120 in a closed state when heating by the heating means 110 begins and in an open state just before or when the heating means 110 starts up, it becomes possible to control the heating time of the resinous film S. It is thought that using a hot plate for the heating means 110 will function effectively when a heating time is required.

[0046] S: Resin film B: Substrate 100: Laminating device 110: Heating means 120: Shutter device 130: Holding means 140: Vacuum suction means

Claims

1. A laminating apparatus comprising heating means for heating a resin film, film holding means for holding the film, and vacuum suction means or compressed air means for coating the film onto the surface of a substrate, the laminating apparatus comprising a shutter device which is divided at the center and opens and closes as heat shielding means, disposed between the heating means and the film held by the film holding means, the shutter device being controlled to an open state when the film held by the film holding means is heated by the heating means, and being controlled by selecting either the open state or the closed state when the film is brought into close contact with the surface of the substrate by the vacuum suction means or the compressed air means and the film is fused to the surface of the substrate.

2. A laminating apparatus as described in claim 1, characterized in that the shutter device is controlled by selecting either the open state or the closed state when heating the film until the heating means reaches a target temperature.

3. A laminating device according to claim 1, characterized in that the shutter device has a telescopic structure and is opened so as to be separated into a front and a rear in the film feed direction.

4. A laminating apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the base material is a pulp molded container or a paper folding box.

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