JP2002148555A - Light irradiation device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To have a shutter including two shutter blades,
When the shutter is in the closed state, it exerts the light blocking function,
Provided is a light irradiation device which can process an object by reflecting light from a light source lamp in an open state, and has no or extremely small shock when stopping a shutter blade. SOLUTION: The shutter blade includes a shutter having two rods, and a shutter blade driving means for rotating each of the shutter blades between a closed position and an open position to drive the shutter blades. A shutter mechanism having a light blocking function in a closed state and a reflecting function in an open state is provided. When the shutter is in an open state, a reflecting mirror in each shutter wing is a light source lamp. When the shutter is in the closed state, the shutter blades are disposed at positions that are asymmetric with respect to the axis of symmetry of the reflecting mirror in the open state so that the tips of the shutter blades overlap each other. I have.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a light irradiating device having a shutter mechanism, and more particularly to a light irradiating device having a shutter mechanism which functions as a light shielding shutter in a closed state and functions as a reflection mirror in an open state. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, by irradiating a protective film, an adhesive, a paint, an ink, a photoresist, and the like on an object to be processed with an ultraviolet light using a light irradiation device having a light source lamp for irradiating the ultraviolet light. Performing curing, drying, melting, or softening treatments is widely performed in each field. Here, as the light source lamp for irradiating ultraviolet light, a discharge lamp such as a bar-shaped high-pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp having a large output can be preferably used because an object to be processed can be processed in a short time. ing.

In such a light irradiation device, when the light source lamp cannot be repeatedly turned on or off in a short cycle, a shutter having a length equal to or longer than the light source lamp and driving means for driving the shutter are provided. The shutter device includes a shutter device that is closed when the object is not irradiated with ultraviolet light, and is opened when the object is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Used to be. In such a shutter device, it is necessary that light from the light source lamp does not leak when the shutter is in the closed state.

[0004] As a shutter device used in a light irradiation device, various types of shutter devices have been conventionally proposed.
For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 6-12826 discloses a shutter composed of two long plate-shaped mirrors symmetrically arranged with respect to a light source lamp, each of the shutters being rotatable about an axis parallel to the light source lamp. And a drive mechanism provided in each of the long plate-shaped mirrors, and performs a function of a reflecting mirror when the shutter is in an open state, and performs a function of a light shielding shutter when the shutter is in a closed state. A shutter device for a light irradiator is disclosed. In this shutter device, a light-shielding piece having a different shape is provided at each end of the long-plate mirror, and when the shutter is in the closed state, the light-shielding piece of each long-plate mirror is provided. Are superimposed to prevent light leakage.

However, in such a shutter device, the provision of the light-shielding piece makes the structure of the long plate-shaped mirror complicated, and the shape of the light-shielding piece differs for each long plate-shaped mirror. The same one of the two long plate-shaped mirrors cannot be used, and as a result, the manufacturing cost is increased, and the mirror cannot be advantageously manufactured.

On the other hand, when the shutter is shifted from the open state to the closed state, it is possible to prevent light leakage when the shutter is in the closed state and to prevent the light-shielding pieces of the respective long plate-shaped mirrors from colliding with each other. In order to prevent this, it is required to stop the shutter member with a relatively high degree of positional accuracy.

In response to such a demand, for example, Japanese Patent No.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 031843 discloses a shutter provided with two rotatable shutter members. A rotating shaft of one shutter member is connected to a drive motor, and a rotating shaft of the other shutter member is, for example, a sector. There is disclosed a shutter device provided with a pair of stoppers which are connected to a rotation shaft of one shutter member via gears and regulate a rotation range of a rotation shaft of the other shutter member which is a driven side. According to this shutter device, the shutter member can be stopped at a predetermined position in the open state or the closed state by the sector gear attached to the driven shutter member colliding with the stopper.

However, in such a shutter device, since the shutter member is driven at the rotation speed of the drive motor rotated at a constant speed, the sector gear of the shutter member is driven each time the shutter is opened and closed. The stopper collides with the stopper at the rotation speed of the motor, and the shock when the sector gear collides with the stopper is transmitted to the shutter member as it is. This may cause breakage, particularly when the reflecting mirror provided on the inner surface of the shutter member is a cold mirror manufactured by depositing a dielectric film on a glass plate and reflecting only ultraviolet light.

Recently, from the viewpoint of accurate control of the amount of irradiation of ultraviolet light and improvement of throughput, the opening or closing operation of the shutter is completed within a short time of, for example, 0.1 to 0.3 seconds. Is being demanded. In such a case, the rotation speed of the drive motor may be increased. However, as the rotation speed increases, the impact transmitted to the shutter member when the sector gear collides with the stopper and stops increases. In addition, the reflection mirror of the shutter member is easily damaged.

[0010]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and its object is to provide:
It has a shutter mechanism provided with a shutter composed of two shutter blades, and reliably shields light from the light source lamp when the shutter is in the closed state without providing a special light blocking member on the shutter blade. And reflect light from the light source lamp when the shutter is open,
An object of the present invention is to provide a light irradiation device that can perform processing of an object to be processed. Another object of the present invention is to provide a light irradiating device that has no or very little impact when stopping the shutter blades.

[0011]

The light irradiation device according to the present invention comprises:
A shutter comprising two shutter blades each rotatably disposed about an axis parallel to the light source lamp, and each of the shutter blades being moved between a closed position and an open position. A shutter blade driving means for rotating and driving the shutter blades. When the shutter is in a closed state, the light from the light source lamp is blocked, and when the shutter is in an open state, a light source is provided by a reflection mirror on each inner surface of the shutter blade. In a light irradiation device having a shutter mechanism that reflects and irradiates light from a lamp, the rotation center axis of each shutter blade is such that the rotation center axis of each shutter blade is open when the shutter is open. The reflection mirrors of the shutter blades are symmetrical with respect to the light source lamp, and when the shutters are closed, the tips of the shutter blades overlap each other. Fit manner, characterized in that it is arranged to be asymmetrical position with respect to the symmetry axis of the reflection mirror when in the open state.

In the light irradiation apparatus according to the present invention, the shutter blade driving means comprises a link mechanism including a rotating link that rotates in an angle range of 180 °, and converts the rotating motion of the rotating link into a swinging motion. Then, the shutter blade is rotated about a rotation center axis by transmitting the shutter blade to the shutter blade.

[0013]

According to the above construction, since the turning radii of the tip portions of the respective shutter blades are different from each other, even when the respective shutter blades are simultaneously rotated in the opening / closing operation of the shutter, each of the respective shutter blades is rotated. A state in which the tips of the shutter blades do not interfere with each other can be easily realized,
When the shutter is in the closed state, the tips of the two shutter blades overlap each other, so that light leakage can be reliably prevented only with the shutter blades without using a special light blocking member.

Further, since the shutter blade driving means has the above-described structure, as the rotation angle of the rotation link approaches 180 °, each of the shutter blades becomes:
Since the driving speed is gradually reduced and stopped, the impact at the time of stop is zero or extremely small, and it is possible to reliably prevent the reflection mirror and the like on the shutter blade from being damaged.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 are cross-sectional views schematically illustrating an example of the configuration of a light irradiation device according to the present invention, and are perpendicular to a light source lamp when a shutter is open and when the shutter is closed. Each section is shown. The light irradiation device 10 includes a lamp house 11 having a light irradiation port 12 that opens downward, and an upper chamber 11A and a lower chamber 11B that are vertically divided by a partition plate 13. At a position above the central portion, a rod-shaped light source lamp 15 is arranged so as to extend in parallel to the light irradiation port 12 (a direction perpendicular to the paper surface). In the figure, a quartz window 12A is provided in the light irradiation port 12, but this is not an essential component.

The light irradiation device 10 includes a light source lamp 15
And a shutter composed of two shutter blades 21A and 21B each having a length equal to or longer than that of the shutter blades and having a light reflecting surface, and each of these shutter blades 21A and 21B is moved between a closed position and an open position. A shutter mechanism 20 including shutter blade driving means 22A and 22B that are driven to rotate is provided, and has a shutter function of blocking light from the light source lamp 15 when the shutter is in a closed state. When in the open state, it has a reflection function of reflecting light from the light source lamp 15 and irradiating the light toward the light irradiation port 12. Here, the “open state” of the shutter refers to a state in which the two shutter blades 21A and 21B are both in the open position, as shown in FIG. 1, and the “closed state”, as shown in FIG. This refers to a state in which the two shutter blades 21A and 21B are both in the closed position.

Each of the two shutter blades 21A, 21B with respect to the light source lamp 15 is arranged such that the shutter blades 21A, 21B are, for example, gutter-shaped when the shutter is open.
The light reflecting surfaces of 21B are arranged symmetrically, and are each rotatable around rotation center axes 23A and 23B parallel to the light source lamp.

On the inner surface of each shutter blade 21A, 21B
Light reflecting surface is designed to reflect only ultraviolet light.
For example, titania (TiO_Two) And silica (S
iO _Two) Is alternately laminated on a quartz plate
It is formed by a multi-layer body evaporation film.

The rotation center axis 23 of one shutter blade 21A
A and the rotation center axis 23B of the other shutter blade 21B are the axis of symmetry S of the light reflecting surface when the shutter is open.
Are arranged at positions that are asymmetrical with respect to. This allows
As shown in FIG. 2, when the shutter is in the closed state, the leading ends of the respective shutter blades 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are in a state of overlapping each other in the vertical direction. In the illustrated example, when a point at which a straight line D passing through the rotation center axis 23B of the other shutter blade 21B is orthogonal to the light reflecting surface of the other shutter blade 21B is P, the rotation center axis of the other shutter blade 21B is shown. 23B is displaced outward in the direction of the straight line D from a position symmetrical with the rotation center axis 23A of one of the shutter blades 21A. That is, the distance from the rotation center axis 23A of the one shutter blade 21A to the light reflecting surface at the point Q is ha, and the distance from the rotation center axis 23B of the other shutter blade 21B to the light reflecting surface at the point P is hb.
Satisfies the relationship of hb> ha. Here, the point Q on the light reflecting surface of one shutter blade 21A is set in the same manner as the point P on the light reflecting surface of the other shutter blade 21B.

A shutter blade driving means 22A for rotating one of the shutter blades 21A is a driving source (35 in FIG. 3) which is provided in the upper chamber 11A of the lamp house 11 and comprises, for example, a driving motor and a rotary actuator. And a disk 25, which is a rotary link attached to the rotary shaft 36 of the drive source and reciprocates in an angle range of 180 °, and a connecting rod 26A having one end rotatably connected to the disk 25. And a swing arm 27A rotatably connected to the other end of the connecting rod 26A. One shutter blade 21A is fixedly connected to the swing arm 27A to form a four-bar linkage. are doing.
Also, the shutter blade driving means 22B for rotating the other shutter blade 21B has the same configuration, and the same members are denoted by reference numerals using B instead of A.

The disk 25 is provided with both shutter blade driving means 2.
2A and 22B, the connecting rods 26A and 26B of each of the shutter blade driving means 22A and 22B are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the disk 25 (rightward in FIG. 3). ) Are supported at different level positions, so that they do not interfere with each other. Also, the disk 25
As shown in FIG. 4, the position of the connection point between the connecting rod 26A and the connecting rod 26A is
The swing angle α of the connection point 29 between the swing arm A and the swing arm 27A is
It is preferable that the angle is set to 90 ° or less with respect to the rotation center axis 23A. Also, the other shutter blade 21
The same applies to B. Thereby, the shutter blade 21
When the shutter blades 21A and 21B are rotated by the swing angle α, the shutter can be changed from the open state to the closed state or closed. The state can be shifted to the open state.

The disk 25 is provided with a rod-shaped or plate-shaped projection 30 protruding radially outward from the outer peripheral edge thereof, and a pair of stoppers 31, 31 are connected to the center axis of rotation of the disk 25. The angle between the rotation axis and the rotation axis of the drive source is 180 °, that is, the level positions of the stoppers 31 and 31 are substantially aligned with the rotation center axis of the disk 25, and the protrusion 30 is The rotation range of the disk 25 is restricted by colliding with the stopper 31.

Hereinafter, the operation of the light irradiation device 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, when the shutter is open, the light from the light source lamp 15
5, the light is reflected by the light reflecting surfaces of the shutter blades 21A and 21B directly, and is irradiated through the light irradiation port 12. However, when the shutter is in the open state, of the light emitted from the light source lamp 15, light other than the direction of the light irradiation port 12 is reflected by the light reflecting surfaces of the shutter blades 21A and 21B, and Light from the light source lamp 15 can be increased, and the two shutter blades 21A, 21B
Are arranged symmetrically with respect to the light source lamp 15, light can be emitted with a uniform illuminance distribution.

When the shutter is shifted from the open state (FIG. 1) to the closed state (FIG. 2), first, the drive motor 35 is operated so that the disk 25 is rotated about the rotation shaft 36 of the drive motor 35. It is rotated at a constant speed over an angle range of 180 °, and accordingly, each swing arm 27A,
27B is driven via the respective connecting rods 26A, 26B, and one end thereof is connected to each of the shutter blades 21A, 21B.
Are rotated by 90 ° about the rotation center axes 23A and 23B, and accordingly, the respective shutter blades 21A and 21B rotate from the open position to the closed position about the respective rotation center axes 23A and 23B. Is done.

A 180 ° constant velocity circular motion of the disk 25 is converted into an arc motion of 90 ° or less and transmitted to each of the swinging arms 26A and 26B, and the driving speed is determined by the rotation angle of the disk 25. Drive while changing according to. Thus, each of the shutter blades 21A and 21B is rotated while changing its driving speed. Specifically, until the rotation angle of the disk 25 reaches 90 ° from 0 °, that is, until each of the shutter blades 21A and 21B reaches an intermediate position between the open position and the closed position from each open position. Between the swing arms 26A, 26B as the rotation angle of the disc 25 increases.
The drive speed of the shutter blades 21A and 21B increases, and when the rotation angle of the disk 25 reaches 90 °, these drive speeds become the highest.

When the rotation angle of the disk 25 exceeds 90 °, the swing arm 26 becomes larger as the rotation angle increases.
A, 26B, and the drive speed of the shutter blades 21A, 21B gradually decrease, and when the rotation angle reaches 180 °,
That is, when the projection 30 of the disk 25 collides with the stopper 31, the driving speed of these becomes zero, and as shown in FIG.
21B stops in a state in which the tip ends overlap each other in the vertical direction.

When shifting the shutter from the closed state to the open state, the drive motor 35 may be driven in a direction opposite to that in the above-described shift operation, and when the shutter is shifted from the open state to the closed state. Similarly, each shutter blade 21
A and 21B are each driven to a predetermined open position while changing the driving speed.

According to the above-described light irradiation device 10, since the turning radii of the tip portions of the respective shutter blades 21A and 21B are different from each other, the shutter blades 21A and 21B are simultaneously rotated in the opening and closing operation of the shutter. However, it is possible to easily realize a state in which the tip portions of the shutter blades 21A and 21B do not interfere with each other, and when the shutter is in the closed state, the respective shutter blades 21A and 21B
21B, the shutter blades 2B overlap each other.
Light leakage can be reliably prevented only by 1A and 21B. As a result, a special light-blocking member such as a light-blocking piece in the conventional example becomes unnecessary, so that the structure of the shutter mechanism 20 can be simplified, and the basic structure of the two shutter blades 21A and 21B is shared. Therefore, the number of components and the number of manufacturing steps can be reduced, and the light irradiation device having the shutter mechanism 20 can be advantageously manufactured.

When the disk 25 is driven, the tip of each swing arm 27A, 27B is accelerated or decelerated on an arc orbit about the center axes 23A, 23B of the shutter blades 21A, 21B. And each of the shutter blades 21 connected to the swing arms 27A and 27B.
A and 21B are rotated around their respective rotation center axes 23A and 23B while changing their drive speeds, and the drive speed is gradually reduced and finally stopped. The impact applied to the shutter blades 21A and 21B can be eliminated, problems such as breakage can be prevented, and the amount of movement of each of the shutter blades 21A and 21B is larger than the rotation angle range of the disk 25. Each shutter blade 21 is regulated in accordance with the
A and 21B can be stopped with high positional accuracy.
Therefore, even if the rotation speed of the drive motor or the like is increased in order to perform the opening or closing operation of the shutter in a short time, it is possible to reliably prevent the reflection mirrors and the like on the inner surfaces of the respective shutter blades 21A and 21B from being damaged. can do.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various changes can be made in the present invention. For example, as means for arranging the rotation center axis of each shutter blade asymmetrically with respect to the symmetry axis of the reflection mirror when the shutter is open, as shown in FIG. The level position of the moving central axis 23A (the vertical position in FIG. 5) may be displaced above the level position of the rotating central axis 23B of the other shutter blade 21B. In the figure, H indicates the amount of displacement.

Further, the shape of the shutter blade is not limited to that of the above-described embodiment, and a flat plate can be used as shown in FIG. Also in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, similarly to the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the level position (the vertical position in the figure) of the rotation center axis 23A of one shutter blade 21A is changed to the other shutter blade 21B.
Is displaced upward by H from the level position of the rotation center shaft 23B, the magnitudes of the rotation radii of the tip portions of the respective shutter blades 21A and 21B are different from each other, and both the shutter blades 21A and 21B are Even if it rotates simultaneously, the shutter blade 2
The leading ends of the shutter blades 1A and 21B do not interfere with each other, and when the shutters are closed, the leading ends of the shutter blades stop in a state of overlapping each other without collision. In FIG. 6, reference numeral 40 denotes an auxiliary reflection mirror.

In the above embodiment, the two shutter blades 21
A and 21B were driven by one drive source 35,
A configuration in which one drive source is provided for one shutter blade may be adopted. However, in this case, it is necessary to control the operation of the drive source so that the two shutter blades are driven synchronously. The individual links (mechanical elements) constituting the shutter blade drive mechanism are not limited to those in the above-described embodiment. For example, a rod-shaped member, a plate-shaped member, or the like can be used instead of a disk as the rotating link. In this case, a rotating shaft such as a drive motor may be connected to one end, and a connecting rod may be rotatably connected to the other end. Further, the two links (mechanical elements) of the swing arm and the shutter blade may be integrally formed. In this case, if the position which is the central axis of the rotational movement is fixed, the position is fixed. Good.

In the above, the light irradiation apparatus of the present invention is suitable as a processing apparatus for performing curing, drying, melting or softening of a protective film, an adhesive, a coating material, an ink, a photoresist, etc. on an object to be processed. Can be used.

[0034]

According to the light irradiation apparatus of the present invention, the turning radii of the tip portions of the two shutter blades are different from each other. Can easily realize a state in which the tip portions of the shutter blades do not interfere with each other, and when the shutter is in the closed state, the tip portions of the two shutter blades overlap each other. ,
Light leakage can be reliably prevented only by the shutter blades.
As a result, a special light-blocking member such as a light-blocking piece in the conventional example becomes unnecessary, so that the structure of the shutter mechanism is simplified, the number of components and the number of manufacturing steps are reduced, and the basic structure of the two shutter blades is shared. Thus, a light irradiation device having a shutter mechanism can be advantageously manufactured.

According to the light irradiation device of the present invention, as the rotation angle of the rotation link approaches 180 °, the shutter blades are gradually stopped and their driving speeds are stopped. The impact becomes zero or extremely small, and it is possible to reliably prevent the reflection mirror and the like on the shutter blade from being damaged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing an example of the configuration of a light irradiation device of the present invention, showing a case where a shutter mechanism is in an open state.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a case where a shutter mechanism is in a closed state in the light irradiation device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a connecting portion between a rotating link and a connecting rod in the light irradiation device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a correlation between movements of a disk and a swing arm.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing another example of the configuration of the light irradiation device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view schematically showing still another example of the configuration of the light irradiation device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 light irradiation device 11 lamp house 11A upper chamber 11B lower chamber 12 light irradiation port 12A emission window 13 partition plate 15 light source lamp 20 shutter mechanism 21A, 21B shutter blade 22A, 22B shutter blade driving means 23A, 23B rotation center axis S light Symmetry axis of reflection surface 25 Disc 26A, 26B Connecting rod 27A, 27B Swing arm 29 Connection point between connecting rod and swing arm 30 Projection 31 Stopper 35 Drive source 36 Rotation axis 40 Auxiliary reflection mirror

Claims (2)

[Claims] A shutter comprising two light-source lamps, each of which is rotatably disposed about an axis parallel to the light-source lamp, and each of the light-source lamps is opened and closed. And a shutter blade driving unit that rotates and drives between the positions, and shields light from a light source lamp when the shutter is in a closed state.
A light irradiating device having a shutter mechanism for reflecting and irradiating light from a light source lamp with a reflecting mirror on each inner surface of each of the shutter blades when the shutter is in an open state; Are in the open state, the reflecting mirrors in each shutter blade are symmetrical with respect to the light source lamp, and when the shutters are in the closed state, they are in the open state so that the tips of the shutter blades overlap each other. A light irradiating device, wherein the light irradiating device is disposed at a position asymmetric with respect to a symmetric axis of the reflecting mirror. 2. The shutter blade driving means comprises a link mechanism including a rotating link that rotates in an angle range of 180 °.
2. The shutter blade according to claim 1, wherein the rotation of the rotation link is converted into a swinging motion and transmitted to the shutter blade to rotate the shutter blade about a rotation center axis. Light irradiation device.