Slitter device

Abstract

Provided is a slitter device that has a novel configuration and makes it possible to safely adjust a toe-in angle and to achieve high slit quality when cutting a variety of sheet-shaped starting materials.　An extending member 313 is pivotally secured to a raising / lowering body 316 of a knife holder 300 by a bolt 312. A helical gear 313A that engages a spur gear 314 is formed at a tip part of the extending member 313 that is opposite the side that is pivotally secured. The spur gear 314 is connected to an output shaft of a stepping motor 320 and is rotationally driven by the stepping motor 320. When the spur gear 314 is rotationally driven by the stepping motor 320, the extending member 313 and a knife cartridge that is attached to the extending member 313 are made to rock about the axis of the bolt 312 via the helical gear 313A that engages the spur gear 314. The rocking rotates a rotation surface of an upper blade knife, and a toe-in angle can be changed.

Description

Slitting equipment

[0001] The present invention relates to a slitter device that cuts sheet-shaped raw material with two rotary circular blades.

[0002] In recent years, slitter machines have expanded beyond paper to cut a variety of sheet-like raw materials, including thin metal films and thin plastic films. Examples include electrode materials for lithium-ion batteries, consisting of sheet aluminum foil or copper foil coated with active material, and the extremely thin plastic separators placed between electrodes. In the case of lithium-ion batteries, burrs or chips invisible to the human eye near the cut edges of aluminum or copper foil can penetrate the separator, causing short circuits between electrodes and potentially reducing battery performance or even causing fires. For this reason, slitter machines today require high-quality cut edges to minimize the generation of burrs and chips during cutting.

[0003] Figure 1 shows the overall appearance of a currently used slitter. A slitter generally comprises a feed section that feeds out the raw sheet material, a cutting section that cuts the sheet material, and a winding section that winds up the cut sheet material. Some slitters are equipped with multiple cutting sections, and there are also known slitters in which the sheet material is sent directly from the production line to the cutting section, where it is cut, and then wound up by the winding section.

[0004] Figure 2 shows a side view of the upper blade knife 1 and the lower blade knife 3 provided above and below the cutting section of the slitter device shown in Figure 1. The sheet-like material is conveyed from left to right in Figure 2 and cut by the upper blade knife 1 and the lower blade knife 3. As shown in Figure 2, the upper blade knife 1 and the lower blade knife 3 partially overlap each other above and below, and this overlap is called the "lap amount," which is the amount by which the knife bites into the surface of the sheet material.

[0005] FIG. 3(A) shows the upper knife 1 and lower knife 3 as viewed from above, and FIG. 3(B) shows the upper knife 1 and lower knife 3 as viewed from the conveyance direction of the sheet-like raw material. As shown in FIG. 3, the upper knife 1 is a circular dish knife with a blade around its periphery. The lower knife 3 is bowl-shaped with a blade around the entire periphery of the edge of the bowl that contacts the upper knife 1 at the top. As shown in FIG. 3(A), the upper knife 1 and lower knife 3 are inclined at a slight angle θ relative to the lower knife 3. This angle θ is called the "toe-in angle." Note that this angle θ is very small, but is exaggerated in FIG. 3(A) for clarity. During cutting, the upper knife 1 contacts the lower knife 3 with this toe-in angle θ, and both are rotated. The pressure with which the upper knife 1 contacts the lower knife 3 is called "contact pressure."

[0006] During slitting, the upper blade knife 1 and lower blade knife 3 are rotated with the lap amount, contact pressure, and toe-in angle adjusted to predetermined values, and the sheet material is fed from the rear side of Figure 1 (the direction of arrow S in Figure 3(A)), and the sheet material is cut by the upper blade knife 1 and lower blade knife 3. The cut sheet material is wound up by a winding section provided on the front side of Figure 1. The "lap amount," "contact pressure," and "toe-in angle" are important factors that affect the quality of the cut edge of the sheet material cut by the slitter device.

[0007] 4 shows the lower knife 3 and lower knife drive motor 5 in the cutting section of the slitter machine, and a knife holder 40 to which the upper knife 1 is attached. The knife holder 40 mainly includes a main shaft 10, an elevating piston unit 11 that raises and lowers the main shaft 10, a lateral movement piston unit 12 attached to the lower end of the main shaft 10, and an upper blade cartridge 13 attached to an upper blade drive shaft that is driven laterally by the lateral movement piston unit 12 and rotated by an upper blade drive motor (not shown). The upper blade 1 is attached to and held in the upper blade cartridge 13. A known contact pressure sensor 16 that detects the contact pressure between the upper blade 1 and the lower blade 3 is provided in the middle of the main shaft 10. The knife holder 40 also includes a toe-in angle setting device.

[0008] A linear sensor is attached to the knife holder 40 shown in Figure 4, and the position of the linear sensor, which grasps the amount of movement between the position of the main body and the knife mounting portion of the lower blade knife 3, can be read numerically in the knife holder 40, which is raised and lowered by an air cylinder or the like. This read value can be displayed on a digital display that displays the diameter of the upper blade knife 1, and the gain is adjusted so that 1 mm on the linear sensor corresponds to 2 mm on the digital display.

[0009] The diameter of the upper knife 1 is precisely measured in advance using a digital caliper or the like. The measured upper knife 1 is then attached to the knife holder 40, and the appropriate vertical positions and lap amount of the upper knife 1 and lower knife 3 are mechanically adjusted based on the operator's experience to suit the material to be cut. In this state, the digital display is adjusted electrically or mechanically by offset adjustment so that the value on the digital display matches the previously measured diameter of the upper knife 1. After completing the above steps, from the next time the upper knife is replaced, the operator simply operates the handle of the lifting device of the knife holder 40 to adjust the value on the digital display to the same as the diameter of the upper knife, so that the knife diameter is measured in advance. This allows the operator to set the lap amount without directly visually checking the lap amount.

[0010] The toe-in angle setting device comprises a swivel mechanism 30 incorporated in the knife holder 40 between the main shaft 10, on which the contact pressure sensor 16 is mounted, and the lateral movement piston 12. The swivel mechanism 30 includes a swivel drive motor 31, a reducer 32, and a spur gear 33. The spur gear 33 is rotated by the swivel drive motor 31 via the reducer 32. The lateral movement piston 12, the upper blade cartridge 13, and the upper blade knife 1 are also referred to as a swivel part, and the part of the swivel part that engages with the spur gear 33 is spur geared. As a result, by rotating the spur gear 33, the lateral movement piston 12 swivels around the main shaft 10. With this configuration, the relationship between the rotation angle of the swivel drive motor 31 and the toe-in angle, i.e., how much the toe-in angle changes when the swivel drive motor 31 is rotated, is investigated in advance, and the results are obtained as data.

[0011] In the cutting section shown in Figure 4, the upper knife 1 and the lower knife 3 are fixed by adjusting the lateral movement piston so that a slight contact pressure is applied while observing the contact pressure value displayed on a contact pressure gauge (not shown). Next, the swing drive motor 31 is driven to swing left and right until the point at which the contact pressure value is minimum is found, which becomes the zero point of the toe-in angle. To set the toe-in angle to a desired angle, the swing drive motor 31 is rotated by an angle corresponding to the toe-in angle based on a relationship determined in advance.

[0012] However, because the toe-in angle setting device shown in Figure 4 uses spur gears 33, the problem of backlash due to gaps between the gears is unavoidable, and the presence of backlash increases the error in setting the toe-in angle. Also, when cutting new materials such as thin metal films or thin plastic films, narrow cutting widths are sometimes required, so in recent slitter devices, not only is high-quality cutting required, but the miniaturization of knife holders is also required.

[0013] In one aspect, the present invention aims to provide a slitter device that solves various problems associated with conventional toe-in angle setting devices, reduces the workload of an operator who adjusts the toe-in angle, enables the operator to adjust the toe-in angle safely, can cut a variety of sheet-like raw materials with higher cut edge quality than conventional devices, and has a configuration that allows the toe-in angle to be adjusted while the device is in operation without having to stop the device.

[0014] [1] One embodiment of the present invention provides a slitter device that brings disc-shaped upper and lower knives into contact with each other and cuts sheet-like raw material by supplying the sheet-like raw material between the upper and lower knives, and that includes: an upper knife mounting section for mounting the upper knife; an upper knife lifting section for raising and lowering the upper knife mounting section; an extension member to which the upper knife mounting section is fixed and which is axially attached to the upper knife lifting section so that the rotation surface of the mounted upper knife rotates, and which has an end gear formed on the end opposite the upper knife mounting section; a gear member that meshes with the end gear of the extension member; and a drive means for driving the gear member, and the drive means drives the gear member to swing the extension member and adjust the toe-in angle of the upper knife.

[0015] [2] In one embodiment of the present invention, in the slitter device according to [1], the driving means is a stepping motor or a motor whose rotation speed can be determined.

[0016] [3] A slitter device according to one embodiment of the present invention is a slitter device that brings disk-shaped upper and lower knives into contact with each other and cuts a sheet-like raw material by supplying the sheet-like raw material between the upper and lower knives, and that comprises: an upper knife mounting section for mounting the upper knife; an upper knife lifting section to which the upper knife mounting section is attached, that lifts and lowers the attached upper knife mounting section, and that is rotatable around a vertical axis of the device body; a screw plate provided on the upper knife lifting section, the screw plate having a first gear provided with a first screw and driven by a drive means, a second gear provided with a second screw, and rotation transmission means for transmitting rotation of the first gear to the second gear; and drive means for driving the first gear. The driving means drives the first gear, which rotates the first gear and the second gear, pushing one of the first screw and the second screw in a direction perpendicular to the screw plate and pulling the other screw out in a direction perpendicular to the screw plate, thereby rotating the upper blade knife lifting part around the device body and adjusting the toe-in angle of the upper blade knife.

[0017] [4] In one embodiment of the present invention, the driving means is a stepping motor or a motor whose rotation speed can be determined, in the slitter device according to [3].

[0018] [5] In one embodiment of the present invention, the rotation transmission means is an odd or even number of auxiliary gears provided between the first gear and the second gear, in the slitter device described in [3].

[0019] [6] In one embodiment of the present invention, the rotation transmission means is a first and second worm gear formed on a single shaft, the first worm gear meshes with the first gear, and the second worm gear meshes with the second gear, thereby transmitting the rotation of the first gear to the second gear, in the slitter device described in [3].

[0020] 5 is a diagram showing the overall appearance of a slitter device; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing upper and lower blade knives provided above and below the cutting section of the slitter device, as viewed from the side; (A) is a diagram showing the upper and lower blade knives as viewed from above, and (B) is a diagram showing the upper and lower blade knives as viewed from the conveying direction of the sheet-like raw material; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a conventional knife holder; (A) is a diagram of a knife holder in a slitter device according to an embodiment of the present invention, as viewed from a direction perpendicular to the sheet conveying direction, (B) is a diagram as viewed from the front in the conveying direction, and (C) is a diagram of (A) with the screw plate removed from the knife holder; FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a control computer incorporated in the main body of the knife holder of FIG. 5; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a top view (upper side) and a front view (lower side) of the screw plate removed from the knife holder of FIG. 7; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a modified example of the screw plate shown in FIG. 7; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a knife holder 300 having a toe-in angle adjustment mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0022] As mentioned above, in recent years, the types of sheet-like raw materials to be cut have become more diverse, and the demand for high-quality cut edges has increased. Therefore, various conditions, such as the amount of lap, must be frequently adjusted to ensure high-quality cut edges depending on the type of raw material. With the conventional knife holder shown in Figure 4, if the amount of lap is to be changed, the operator must manually readjust the amount of lap. Furthermore, if the offset between the upper and lower knives (the difference in the positions of the upper and lower knives along the conveyance direction of the sheet-like raw material) is to be changed, the operator must manually readjust the amount of lap.

[0023] Figure 5 shows a knife holder in a slitter device according to one embodiment of the present invention, (A) as seen from a direction perpendicular to the sheet transport direction (the direction of the arrow in Figure 5(A)), (B) as seen from the front in the transport direction, and (C) as seen from (A) with the screw plate removed from the knife holder. Figure 6 is a block diagram of a control computer incorporated in the body of the knife holder shown in Figure 5. The control computer in Figure 6 includes a CPU 150 that controls the operation of the knife holder, a memory 151, a touch panel 152, a display monitor 153, and an A / D converter 154, and the output signal of the A / D converter 154 is supplied to a linear sensor 155.

[0024] Values ​​such as the diameter of the upper knife 1, the target offset amount, and the overlap amount between the upper knife 1 and the lower knife 3 are pre-entered in the memory 151, and these values ​​can be rewritten as needed. The CPU 150 receives information about the position of the knife holder from the linear sensor 155 and controls the lifting air cylinder to operate based on a pre-prepared program, thereby moving the knife holder to a predetermined position. In one example, the predetermined position is a position that is pre-stored in the memory 151 as the origin of the knife holder. Values ​​such as the overlap amount can be input via the touch panel 152, and information about the position of the knife holder from the linear sensor 155 can be displayed on the display monitor 153.

[0025] The operator can perform the necessary operations on the touch panel 152 while checking the numerical values ​​displayed on the display monitor 153, and can set the upper blade knife 1 and the lower blade knife 3 to a desired positional relationship without having to visually check the vertical positional relationship between them in a narrow space, so there is no need for the operator to manually adjust the amount of lap, etc.

[0026] Next, the adjustment of the toe-in angle using the screw plate 160 shown in FIG. 5 will be described. FIG. 7 shows a top view (upper side) and a front view (lower side) of the screw plate 160 removed from the knife holder shown in FIG. 5. The screw plate 160 is provided with a stepping motor 161, a spur gear 162 attached to the shaft of the stepping motor 161 and directly driven by the stepping motor 161, a spur gear 163A meshing with the spur gear 162, an auxiliary gear 164A meshing with the spur gear 163A, an auxiliary gear 164B meshing with the auxiliary gear 164A, and a spur gear 163B meshing with the auxiliary gear 164B. A screw 165A is integrally attached to the shaft of the spur gear 163A, and a screw 165B is integrally attached to the shaft of the spur gear 163B. In this embodiment, both the screws 165A and 165B are right-handed screws, but they may both be left-handed screws.

[0027] 5(C), a swivel unit 170, shown with diagonal lines, is rotatably attached to the bottom of a piston lift unit 172, shown with a matte finish, by a rotary shaft 171. Two screw plate attachment parts 170A and 170B are provided on the swivel unit 170, to which a screw plate 160 is fixed. Screws 165A and 165B of the screw plate 160 can come into contact with two push / pull points 171A and 171B provided on the piston lift unit 172, respectively.

[0028] Because spur gear 162, spur gear 163A, auxiliary gear 164A, auxiliary gear 164B, and spur gear 163B are meshed as described above, when spur gear 162 is driven by the motor, each gear also rotates. At this time, because two auxiliary gears 164A and 164B are provided between them, spur gear 163A and spur gear 163B rotate in opposite directions. Therefore, when the motor rotates counterclockwise, screw 165A moves in a direction pushing push / pull point 171A of piston elevating section 172, while screw 165B moves in a direction pulling push / pull point 171B of piston elevating section 172. On the other hand, when the motor rotates clockwise, screw 165B moves in a direction pushing push / pull point 171B of piston elevating section 172, while screw 165A moves in a direction pulling push / pull point 171A of piston elevating section 172.

[0029] The screws 165A and 165B are pre-pressurized before engaging the auxiliary gears 164A and 164B. This reduces backlash without the need for a special backlash reduction mechanism. Furthermore, using a fine-thread screw to generate thrust allows for a larger reduction ratio, thereby minimizing the impact of backlash, even if it exists, between the spur gear 162 and the spur gear 163A. By determining the motor rotation speed and the toe-in angle change in advance, the toe-in angle can be remotely adjusted without the operator having to actually touch the knife holder. This reduces the risk of the operator having to approach the powered-on slitter. Furthermore, the ease of toe-in angle adjustment allows for cutting a variety of sheet materials with high cut quality. In one example, memory 151 pre-stores data relating to the relationship between the amount of motor rotation and the amount of change in toe-in angle, and CPU 150 can refer to the data and control the motor so that the amount of motor rotation corresponds to the toe-in angle input from an operator, etc., thereby allowing the operator to adjust the toe-in angle without actually touching the knife holder.

[0030] In the embodiment shown in Figure 7, two auxiliary gears 164A and 164B are provided, and the screws 165A and 165B rotate in the same direction. However, if only one auxiliary gear is provided and the two screws rotate in opposite directions, one screw can move in the direction pushing the turning portion and the other screw can move in the opposite direction, as in the embodiment shown in Figure 7. Generally, if an even number of auxiliary gears are provided, the spur gears 163A and 163B rotate in opposite directions, and if an odd number of auxiliary gears are provided, the spur gears 163A and 163B rotate in the same direction. The rotational direction of the spur gears 163A and 163B and the rotational direction of the screw can be selected according to the actual conditions of each slitter device.

[0031] Figure 8 shows a modified example of the screw plate shown in Figure 7, with the upper part of Figure 8 being a top view and the lower part of Figure 8 being a front view. In place of the spur gear 162 and auxiliary gears 164A and 164B of Figure 7, a screw plate 260 of Figure 8 is provided with a shaft 262 parallel to the screw plate 260, and the shaft 262 is provided with worm gears 264A and 264B that mesh with worm wheels 263A and 263B, respectively. The worm gears 264A and 264B are oriented in opposite directions to each other.

[0032] Shaft 262 is rotated by the output shaft of motor 261 via gear 266. It is desirable that motor 261 be a motor equipped with a rotation amount sensor that can detect the magnetic field generated by a magnet attached to the rotating shaft using a Hall element to determine the rotation speed. When motor 261 rotates, worm gears 264A and 264B are oriented in opposite directions, causing screw 265A attached to worm wheel 263A and screw 265B attached to worm wheel 263B to rotate in opposite directions. By configuring screws 265A and 265B as either right-handed or left-handed screws, the opposite rotations of screws 265A and 265B cause one to push the rotating portion and the other to pull the rotating portion, thereby enabling the rotating portion to rotate. Alternatively, worm gears 264A and 264A can be oriented in the same direction, and one of screws 265A and 265B can be a right-handed screw and the other a left-handed screw, which also allows the rotating portion to rotate.

[0033] Regarding pressure adjustment in the embodiment of FIG. 8, the pressure can be adjusted by loosening the screw for fixing the worm gear and adjusting the position in the direction in which pressure is applied, and then fixing the screw.

[0034] Fig. 9 shows a knife holder 300 having a toe-in angle adjustment mechanism according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, with the left side of Fig. 9 being a side view and the right side of Fig. 9 being a view viewed from below (i.e., from the side of the lower blade knife). When the knife holder 300 is actually attached to a slitter device, it is attached in a state where it has been rotated 90 degrees to the right from the left side of Fig. 9 so that the upper blade knife 311 protruding from the knife cover 310 faces downward.

[0035] The knife holder 300 in Fig. 9 is provided with an extension member 313 that is pivotally attached to an elevation body 316 of the knife holder 300 (an example of an "upper-knife elevation section" in the claims) by a bolt 312. The extension member 313 extends downward (toward the tip) in the left-hand view of Fig. 9 , and a helical gear 313A is formed at the tip end opposite the pivotally attached end. This helical gear 313A meshes with a helical gear 314, which is connected to the output shaft of a stepping motor 320 and is rotated by the stepping motor 320. A knife cartridge (an example of an "upper-knife mounting section" in the claims) including a contact pressure sensor 315, a knife cover 310, and an upper knife 311 is attached near the bolt 312 of the extension member 313 on the right side of the left-hand view of Fig. 9 .

[0036] The extension member 313 is axially attached to the knife holder 300 by a bolt 312 but is not completely fixed. Therefore, when the helical gear 314 is driven to rotate by the stepping motor 320, the extension member 313 and the attached knife cartridge are swung about the axis of the bolt 312 via the meshing helical gear 313A in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing on the left side of FIG. 9 (left-right direction in the drawing on the right side of FIG. 9 ). This swinging causes the rotation plane of the upper knife to rotate, thereby changing the toe-in angle of the upper knife 311 relative to the lower knife (shown separately). Therefore, by determining in advance the amount of rotation of the stepping motor 320 and the amount of change in the toe-in angle, an operator can remotely adjust the toe-in angle without actually touching the toe-in angle adjustment mechanism. This reduces the risk of an operator approaching a powered-on slitter. In one example, memory 151 pre-stores data relating to the relationship between the amount of motor rotation and the amount of change in toe-in angle, and CPU 150 can refer to this data and control the motor so that the amount of motor rotation corresponds to the toe-in angle input from an operator, etc., thereby allowing the operator to adjust the toe-in angle without having to approach the slitter device.

[0037] In each of the slitter devices according to the embodiments of the present invention described above, the toe-in angle can be adjusted to an appropriate value based on the results of a prior investigation into the relationship between the motor rotation amount and the amount of change in the toe-in angle. This allows the quality of the cut edge of sheet-like raw materials to be maintained at a high and consistent level compared to conventional devices, making it possible to reduce the generation of burrs and cutting chips, and making it possible to cut not only paper, but also thin metal films and thin plastic films, which particularly require high cut edge quality.

[0038] The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments of the invention, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed here, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist thereof, and these are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0039] 1, 311: Upper blade knife 3: Lower blade knife 40: Knife holder 160, 206: Screw holder 161: Stepping motor 163A, 163B, 263A, 263B: Spur gear 164A, 164B: Auxiliary gear 165A, 165B, 265A, 265B: Screw 264A, 264B: Worm gear 312: Bolt 313: Extension member 313A: Helical gear 314: Spur gear 320: Stepping motor

Claims

1. A slitter device that brings disc-shaped upper and lower knives into contact with each other and cuts sheet-like raw material by feeding the sheet-like raw material between the upper and lower knives, comprising: an upper knife mounting section for mounting the upper knife; an upper knife lifting section for raising and lowering the upper knife mounting section; an extension member to which the upper knife mounting section is fixed and which is axially attached to the upper knife lifting section so that the rotation surface of the mounted upper knife rotates, and which has an end gear formed on the end opposite to the upper knife mounting section; a gear member that meshes with the end gear of the extension member; and drive means for driving the gear member, wherein the drive means drives the gear member to swing the extension member and adjust the toe-in angle of the upper knife.

2. The slitter device according to claim 1, wherein the driving means is a stepping motor or a motor whose rotation speed can be determined.

3. A slitter device that brings disc-shaped upper and lower knives into contact with each other and cuts sheet-like raw material by feeding the sheet-like raw material between the upper and lower knives, comprising: an upper knife mounting section for mounting the upper knife; an upper knife lifting section to which the upper knife mounting section is attached, which lifts and lowers the attached upper knife mounting section and is capable of rotating around a vertical axis of the device body; a screw plate provided on the upper knife lifting section, which has a first gear provided with a first screw and driven by a driving means, a second gear provided with a second screw, and rotation transmission means for transmitting rotation of the first gear to the second gear; and drive means for driving the first gear. The drive means drives the first gear, which rotates the first gear and the second gear, pushing one of the first screw and the second screw in a direction perpendicular to the screw plate and pulling the other screw out in a direction perpendicular to the screw plate, thereby rotating the upper blade knife lifting part around the device body and adjusting the toe-in angle of the upper blade knife.

4. The slitter device according to claim 3, wherein the driving means is a stepping motor or a motor whose rotation speed can be determined.

5. The slitter device according to claim 3, wherein the rotation transmission means is an odd or even number of auxiliary gears provided between the first gear and the second gear.

6. The slitter apparatus of claim 3, wherein the rotation transmission means is first and second worm gears formed on a single shaft, the first worm gear meshing with the first gear, and the second worm gear meshing with the second gear, thereby transmitting the rotation of the first gear to the second gear.

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