U.S. patent application number 16/952791 was filed with the patent office on 2021-07-01 for air-floating thin film bonding apparatus and its air-supplying roller.
This patent application is currently assigned to PROLOGIUM TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. The applicant listed for this patent is Prologium Holding Inc., PROLOGIUM TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to Ching-Ho WANG, Szu-Nan YANG.
Application Number | 20210197526 16/952791 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000005650097 |
Filed Date | 2021-07-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20210197526 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YANG; Szu-Nan ; et
al. |
July 1, 2021 |
AIR-FLOATING THIN FILM BONDING APPARATUS AND ITS AIR-SUPPLYING
ROLLER
Abstract
An air-floating thin film bonding apparatus and its air-floating
roller is provided. The apparatus is composed of an air-floating
rollers, which can blow out airflow at a specific angle to be
applied to the base film with three-dimensional obstacles. The
positive pressure provided by the airflow can be utilized to fill
the gap space caused by the three-dimensional obstacles. Therefore,
the base film can bond to the bonding film tightly to overcome the
wrinkles and defects caused by the three-dimensional obstacle and
the problem of unflatness of the film-bonding can be solved.
Inventors: |
YANG; Szu-Nan; (Taoyuan
City, TW) ; WANG; Ching-Ho; (Taoyuan City,
TW) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
PROLOGIUM TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.
Prologium Holding Inc. |
Taoyuan City
Grand Cayman |
|
TW
KY |
|
|
Assignee: |
PROLOGIUM TECHNOLOGY CO.,
LTD.
Taoyuan City
TW
Prologium Holding Inc.
Grand Cayman
KY
|
Family ID: |
1000005650097 |
Appl. No.: |
16/952791 |
Filed: |
November 19, 2020 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B32B 27/16 20130101;
B32B 37/226 20130101; B32B 15/08 20130101; B65H 18/26 20130101 |
International
Class: |
B32B 15/08 20060101
B32B015/08; B65H 18/26 20060101 B65H018/26; B32B 37/22 20060101
B32B037/22; B32B 27/16 20060101 B32B027/16 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 30, 2019 |
TW |
108148289 |
Claims
1. An air-floating thin film bonding apparatus, comprising: at
least two feed rollers, used to guide a base film and a bonding
film to be bonded together, wherein the base film includes a first
surface and an opposite second surface, and at least two thin-film
components with a gap space therebetween are disposed on the second
surface; a bonding roller, receiving the bonding film guided by one
of the feed rollers; and an air-supplying roller, receiving the
base film guided by another of the feed rollers, wherein the
air-supplying roller is disposed adjacent and corresponding to the
bonding roller to press the bonding film to bond to the first
surface of the base film, and includes: an outer roller, including
a plurality of blowing holes on its outer surface and being
rotatable; an inner cylinder, disposed in the outer roller and
including a plurality of through holes within a predetermined angle
range on its outer surface; and an air source, connected to the
inner cylinder to provide an airflow to the inner cylinder, wherein
the airflow is guided to the blowing holes of the outer roller via
the through holes of the inner cylinder to fill the gap space of
the second surface of the base film within the predetermined angle
range; wherein the predetermined angle range is 20-90 degrees.
2. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein
the base film is a metal thin film.
3. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 2, wherein
a thickness of the metal thin film is 0.006-0.02 millimeters.
4. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein
a pressure of the airflow of the air source is 0.1-0.3
kg/cm.sup.2.
5. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein
a thickness of the thin-film components of the base film is 0.1-0.3
millimeters.
6. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein
a surface hardness of the bonding roller is 40-90 in Shore
durometer.
7. The air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein
a size of the through holes is greater than a size of the blowing
holes.
8. An air-supplying roller, adapted for corresponding to a bonding
roller to bond a base film to a bonding film, wherein the base film
includes a first surface and an opposite second surface, and at
least two thin-film components with a gap space therebetween are
disposed on the second surface, the air-supplying roller
comprising: an outer roller, including a plurality of blowing holes
on its outer surface and being rotatable; an inner cylinder,
disposed in the outer roller and including a plurality of through
holes within a predetermined angle range on its outer surface; and
an air source, connected to the inner cylinder to provide an
airflow to the inner cylinder, wherein the airflow is guided to the
blowing holes of the outer roller via the through holes of the
inner cylinder to fill the gap space of the second surface of the
base film within the predetermined angle range; wherein the
predetermined angle range is 20-90 degrees.
9. The air-supplying roller of claim 8, wherein a pressure of the
airflow of the air source is 0.1-0.3 kg/cm.sup.2.
10. The air-supplying roller of claim 8, wherein a size of the
through holes is greater than a size of the blowing holes.
Description
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] The present application claims priority to Taiwanese Patent
Application 108148289 filed in the Taiwanese Patent Office on Dec.
30, 2019, the entire contents of which is being incorporated herein
by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a thin film bonding
apparatus, in particular to an air-floating thin film bonding
apparatus and its air-floating roller to fill the gap space by the
airflow of the air-floating roller to overcome the wrinkles and
defects caused by the gap space and the problem of unflatness of
the film-bonding can be solved.
Related Art
[0003] In recent years, various electronic products have developed
towards to lightness, thinness and microminiaturization, which has
made the application of the film bonding technologies more
extensive. The most common film bonding technology is the roll to
roll method, which is a high-efficiency, continuous production
method, and is a specialized treatment for the flexible thin films.
In this method, the cylindrical base material and the cylindrical
thin film material to be bonded are pressed by rollers to achieve
continuous bonding. After the bonding is completed, it can be
rolled into a cylindrical shape or to be cut as a semi-finished
product for subsequent processing.
[0004] The main key of the thin film bonding is how to bond the
thin film without wrinkles to make the lamination be flat. The
WO2011093427A1 mainly uses an insulating film, a metal foil, a
divider film, a metal foil and an insulating film to be bonded via
thermocompression bonding. Two laminates, each with one
metal-plated side, can then be separated from the divider film to
achieve the flattened bonding.
[0005] However, in case of existing a coating layer on the back of
the film to be bonded, the coating layer will form a
three-dimensional obstacle. And there will be a gap space between
the three-dimensional obstacles. In addition, the thickness of the
film is relatively thin, which cannot provide sufficient stiffness.
Therefore, wrinkles and defects will be occurred and make the film
be unflatness. Many techniques are provided to improve the flatness
for the thin films bonding. However, the conditions with
three-dimensional obstacles are not considered in these
techniques.
[0006] Therefore, this invention provides an air-floating thin film
bonding apparatus and its air-floating roller to overcome the
conventional shortages caused by the three-dimensional
obstacles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] It is an objective of this invention to provide an
air-floating thin film bonding apparatus and its air-floating
roller to overcome the forgoing shortcomings. The positive pressure
provided by the airflow of the air-floating roller can be utilized
to fill the gap space caused by the three-dimensional obstacles to
achieve the flattened bonding.
[0008] In order to implement the abovementioned, this invention
discloses an air-floating thin film bonding apparatus and its
air-floating roller, which includes at least two feed rollers, a
bonding roller and an air-floating roller. The feed rollers are
used to guide a base film and a bonding film to be bonded together,
and the base film includes a first surface and an opposite second
surface. At least two thin-film components with a gap space
therebetween are disposed on the second surface. The bonding roller
receives the bonding film guided by one of the feed roller. The
air-floating roller receives the base film guided by the another
feed roller, and the air-floating roller is disposed adjacent and
corresponding to the bonding roller to press the bonding film to
bond to the first surface of the base film. The air-floating roller
can continuously supply an airflow with a positive pressure during
bonding to the second surface of the base film to fill the gap
space caused by the three-dimensional obstacles. Therefore, the
stiffness of the base film is increased to make the base film bond
to the bonding film tightly.
[0009] Further, the air-floating roller includes an outer roller,
an inner cylinder and an air source. The outer roller includes a
plurality of blowing holes on its outer surface and is rotatable.
The inner cylinder is fixed without rotation and is disposed in the
outer roller. Also, the inner cylinder includes a plurality of
through holes within a predetermined angle on its outer surface.
The inner cylinder can receive the airflow of the air source and
guide the airflow to the blowing holes of the outer roller via the
through holes of the inner cylinder to fill the gap space of the
base film during bonding. The predetermined angle is 20-90 degrees.
Therefore, the wrinkles and defects caused by the gap space are
overcome and the problem of unflatness of the film-bonding can be
solved.
[0010] Further scope of applicability of the present invention will
become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter.
However, it should be understood that the detailed description and
specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the
invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various
changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the
invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from
this detailed description.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The present invention will become more fully understood from
the detailed description given hereinbelow illustration only, and
thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of the air-floating roller of
this invention.
[0013] FIG. 1B is an exploded diagram of the air-floating roller of
this invention.
[0014] FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams of the air-floating
roller when in use of this invention.
[0015] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the air-floating thin film
bonding apparatus of this invention.
[0016] FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional diagram of the air-floating thin
film bonding apparatus for illustrating the bonding process of this
invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0017] The invention discloses an air-floating roller, which can
continuously supply an airflow with a positive pressure to fill the
gap space of the films to be bonded to overcome the wrinkles and
defects caused by the three-dimensional obstacle and make the films
be bonded tightly. Please refer to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the
air-floating roller 10 includes an outer roller 11 and an inner
cylinder 12. The outer roller 11 is rotatable and guides the
bonding film to be pressed. Therefore, the outer roller 11 is
substantially a hollow cylinder, and includes a plurality of
blowing holes 111 on its outer surface. Because the outer roller 11
is in direct contact with the film to be bonded, the size of the
blowing holes 111 should not be too large (to be described in
detail later). The inner cylinder 12 is fixed without rotation and
is disposed in the outer roller 11. Also, the inner cylinder
includes 12 a plurality of through holes 121 within a predetermined
angle on its outer surface. Because the inner cylinder 12 does not
need to be rotated in company with the film to be bonded or during
the bonding process, it only needs to be able to guide an air to
pass through the through holes 121. Therefore, the inner cylinder
12 can be partially solid or hollow. It is sufficient to guide the
airflow to the through holes 121. Compared with the aforementioned
blowing holes 111 of the outer roller 11, the size of the through
holes 121 can be larger to provide sufficient airflow.
[0018] In order to explain the angle of the airflow guide and the
arrangement of the through holes 121, please refer to FIGS. 2A and
2B. The air-floating roller 10 can operate in coordination with the
bonding roller 21 to press the base film 40 and the bonding film 50
to be bonded. The base film 40 has a first surface 401 and an
opposite second surface 402. The bonding film 50 is bonded to the
first surface 401 of the base film 40, and the second surface 402
of the base film 40 has a plurality of thin-film components 41.
Therefore, the thin-film components 41 of the base film 40 will
form a three-dimensional obstacle due to with a certain thickness,
and a gap space would be formed between the three-dimensional
obstacles. Hence, when bonding, the gap space of the second surface
402 of the base film 40 will affect the bonding flatness between
the base film 40 and the bonding film 50.
[0019] Due to the thickness of the thin-film components 41 is quite
small and the thin-film components 41 is fragile, it is difficult
to press the second surface 402 of the base film 40 directly.
Therefore, in this invention, by the design of the outer roller 11
and an inner cylinder 12, the air-floating roller 10 can
continuously supply an airflow, which the pressure of the airflow
is 0.1-0.3 kg/cm.sup.2, during bonding to the second surface 402 of
the base film 40 to fill the gap space. Therefore, the stiffness of
the base film 40 is increased to make the base film 40 bond to the
bonding film 50 in a flat state. The predetermined angle .theta. of
the airflow is about 20-90 degrees, which may be defined
essentially from the central axis of the air-floating roller 10 to
the contact point of the base film 40 and the bonding film 50 as
the central line L. The predetermined angle .theta. is calculated
on both sides along this central line L. Theoretically, the angles
on both sides can be the same. For example, when the predetermined
angle .theta. is 90 degrees, a range of 45 degrees on both sides of
the center line L can be configured. However, according to
different bonding conditions, the configuration of the
predetermined angle .theta. may also be unequal on both sides. For
example, considering that the gap space is difficult to fill (such
as a larger range or a more complex shape, etc.), the blowing angle
before bonding can be designed (left side of the figure) to be
larger, or when the base film 40 and the bonding film 50 are
difficult to adhere (such as material problems), the blowing angle
after bonding (right side of the figure) can be designed to be
larger.
[0020] Then please refer to FIGS. 1A-2B, in order to achieve the
aforementioned blowing effect, the blowing holes 111 are
distributed all the outer surface of the outer roller 11 of the
air-floating roller 10. Therefore, the airflow can be guided out
regardless of the rotation of the outer roller 11 during the
bonding process. As mentioned above, the size of the blowing holes
111 should not be too large to ensure the bonding flatness of the
outer roller 11 and the base film 40. For the inner cylinder 12,
the through holes 121 are distributed at a predetermined angle
.theta.. Also, the size of the through holes 121 should not be too
large to ensure the uniformity of the airflow. General speaking,
the size of the through holes 121 are larger than the size of the
blowing holes 111.
[0021] Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a schematic diagram of the
air-floating thin film bonding apparatus of this invention. The
air-floating thin film bonding apparatus includes at least two feed
rollers, a bonding roller 21 and an air-floating roller 10. The
amount of the feed rollers can be modified according to the amount
of the laminated films. As shown in the figure, it includes a first
feed roller 31 and a second feed roller 32. The first feed roller
31 is used to guide the bonding film 50, and the second feed roller
32 is used to guide the base film 40. Of course, if more films are
to be laminated, the corresponding number of the feed rollers will
be provided. The description here is only for illustration with
drawings, and is not intended to limit the amount and the
location.
[0022] The following is an example of actual practices. The bonding
film 50 is PET (polyethylene terephthalate) or other plastic film,
and the base film 40 is a metal film, such as copper, aluminum,
etc. The thickness of the metal film is about 0.006-0.02
millimeters (mm) There has a special patterned coating layer
(thin-film components 41) thereon, and with a thickness of 0.1-0.3
mm. The coating layer is made of the inorganic powders mixed with
the polymers which serves as a binder. Therefore, the coating layer
is fragile. The bonding film 50 and the base film 40 are
respectively guided by the feed roller 31 and the second feed
roller 32. Then, the bonding film 50 and the base film 40 are
received by the bonding roller 21 and the air-floating roller 10.
The air-floating roller 10 is disposed adjacent and corresponding
to the bonding roller 21 to press the bonding film 50 to bond to
the base film 40. Also, the free roller 33 can be used to adjust
the feeding angle of the base film 40.
[0023] The surface hardness of the bonding roller 21 is 40-90 in
Shore durometer to avoid the films from being difficult to adhere
or being crack due to too high or too low hardness. Also, the
thickness of the coating layer is quite small and the coating layer
is fragile. It is difficult to press the second surface 402 of the
base film 40 directly during the bonding process. Therefore, the
airflow with the positive pressure during the bonding process is
utilized to fill the gap space of the second surface 402. Please
refer to FIG. 4, the inner cylinder 12 of the air-floating roller
10 receives the airflow from the air source connected to the inner
cylinder, and guides the airflow through the through holes 121 of
the inner cylinder 12 and the blowing holes 111 of the outer roller
11 to fill the gap space between the thin-film components 41 of the
base film 40. Therefore, the stiffness of the base film 40 is
increased to make the base film 40 bond to the bonding film 50
tightly without wrinkles and defects. After the lamination is
completed, the laminated films is wound and stored by the receiving
roller 34. Of course, other apparatus or devices may also be used
for continuous processing directly.
[0024] The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that
the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be
regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention,
and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in
the art are intended to be included within the scope of the
following claims.
* * * * *