KR20080037812A - Apparatus for manufacturing optical plate and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate and a method for manufacturing the same. An apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate includes a roller unit, a film stamper, a resin injection unit, and an ultraviolet lamp unit. The roller unit includes at least two pressure rollers for pressing the base substrate, at least one auxiliary roller spaced apart from the pressure rollers, and at least two support rollers disposed to face the pressure rollers. Pass the base substrate between the support rollers. The film stamper is wound around the pressing rollers and the auxiliary roller in the form of a belt, and an intaglio pattern is formed. The resin injecting unit applies an ultraviolet curable resin to the surface of the film stamper on which the intaglio pattern is formed. The ultraviolet lamp unit cures the resin pattern transferred from the film stamper to the base substrate by pressure rollers. Thereby, mass productivity can be improved in manufacture of an optical plate.

Description

Apparatus for manufacturing optical plate and manufacturing method therefor {APPARATUS OF MANUFACTURING LIGHT PLATE AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME}

1 is a view showing a manufacturing process of an optical plate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing another embodiment of the roller unit shown in FIG.

3 is a view showing another embodiment of the roller unit shown in FIG.

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the shapes of the film stamper and the optical plate illustrated in FIG. 1.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

110: base substrate 111: resin pattern

120: optical plate 200: roller unit

210: pressure rollers 220: auxiliary rollers

230: support rollers 300: film stamper

400: resin injection unit 510: first lamp

520: the second lamp

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate and a method for manufacturing the same for improving mass productivity.

Since the liquid crystal display device is a non-light emitting device in which a display panel displaying an image does not emit light by itself, a separate backlight assembly for supplying light to the display panel is required. The backlight assembly includes a light source for generating light and optical plates such as a light guide plate and a diffusion plate for increasing light utilization efficiency from the light source.

In general, in order to improve the light output characteristics, a pattern having a specific shape such as a prism or hemisphere is formed on the optical plate. As a method of forming such a pattern on the optical plate, there are injection or hot pressing techniques.

The injection method is a method of injecting molten resin into a transfer mold having a concave-convex pattern. However, the injection method is difficult to eject at a large size of 17 inches or more, because the transfer rate is lowered when forming a fine pattern of several tens of micrometers, and the pressure to push the resin is limited, and mass production is inferior.

On the other hand, the hot pressing method is a method of inserting the plate between the heated upper and lower molds and crimped up and down, and then lowering the temperature to remove the upper and lower molds. However, when pressing the upper and lower molds in the hot pressing method, the plate resin flows down, there is a limit of automation such as the alignment of the upper and lower molds, there is a limit to improve the mass production.

Accordingly, the technical problem of the present invention is to solve such a conventional problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate which can improve mass productivity.

Further, another object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing the above-described optical plate.

In order to realize the above object of the present invention, an optical plate manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment includes a roller unit, a film stamper, a resin injection unit, and an ultraviolet lamp unit. The roller unit includes at least two pressure rollers for pressing the base substrate, at least one auxiliary roller spaced apart from the pressure rollers, and at least two support rollers disposed to face the pressure rollers. The base substrate is passed between the pressing rollers and the supporting rollers. The film stamper is wound around the pressing rollers and the auxiliary roller in the form of a belt, and an intaglio pattern is formed. The resin injecting unit applies an ultraviolet curable resin to the surface of the film stamper on which the intaglio pattern is formed. The ultraviolet lamp unit cures the resin pattern transferred from the film stamper to the base substrate by the pressure rollers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing an optical plate, in which a film stamper having an intaglio pattern formed on a pressure roller and an auxiliary roller is wound in a belt shape, wherein the intaglio pattern is formed. Applying an ultraviolet curable resin to the surface of the film stamper, passing a base substrate between the film stamper pressed by the pressure rollers and support rollers disposed to face the pressure rollers, Transferring a resin pattern corresponding to the intaglio pattern on a surface thereof, and curing the resin pattern by irradiating ultraviolet rays.

According to such an apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate and a method for manufacturing the same, mass production can be improved by continuously manufacturing a plurality of optical plates using a film stamper in the form of a belt.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it will be described in detail the present invention.

1 is a view showing a manufacturing process of an optical plate according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a view showing another embodiment of the roller unit shown in FIG. 3 is a view showing another embodiment of the roller unit shown in FIG.

Referring to FIG. 1, the apparatus for manufacturing an optical plate includes a roller unit 200, a film stamper 300, a resin injection unit 400, and an ultraviolet lamp unit.

The roller unit 200 includes at least two pressure rollers 210, one or more auxiliary rollers 220, and at least two support rollers 230 disposed to be spaced apart from each other. The roller unit 200 passes the base substrate 110 between the pressure rollers 210 and the support rollers 230. At this time, the pressing rollers 210, the auxiliary rollers 220 and the support rollers 230 are rotated in the same direction, the rotation axis direction of the rollers are preferably all parallel.

For example, the roller unit 200 includes two pressure rollers 210, two auxiliary rollers 220 disposed above the pressure rollers 210, and two pressure rollers 210 disposed below the pressure rollers 210. The support rollers 230 may be included. At this time, the pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 may be disposed in a rectangular shape as a whole.

The pressing rollers 210 are arranged on the same line and directly press the base substrate 110. Specifically, the pressure rollers 210 apply pressure to the base substrate 110 in contact with the film stamper 300 to be described later. At this time, the pressure applied to the pressure rollers 210 from the outside is maintained the same while the base substrate 110 is passed between the pressure rollers 210 and the support rollers 230. In one example, the pressure applied to the pressure rollers 210 is about 1 ~ 8 kgf / ㎠.

Meanwhile, the rotational speed of the pressing rollers 210 determines the speed at which the base substrate 110 passes. In one example, the rotational speed of the pressure rollers 210 is preferably about 1 m / min ~ 10 m / min.

In addition, the diameter of the pressure rollers 210 determines the rotation speed of the pressure rollers 210. Specifically, when the diameter of the pressure rollers 210 is too small, since the rotation speed is increased, the pressure rollers 210 may vibrate. When the diameters of the pressure rollers 210 are too large, since they contact the base substrate 110 in a large area, bubbles may be generated or uniformity of the transferred patterns may be degraded when the patterns are transferred. In one example, the diameter of the pressure roller 210 is preferably about 35mm ~ 45mm.

The auxiliary rollers 220 are spaced apart from the pressure rollers 210 to apply tension to the film stamper 300. The rotational speed of the auxiliary rollers 220 is the same as the rotational speed of the pressure rollers 210 so that the film stamper 300 wound around the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 in a belt form can be rotated. .

The support rollers 230 are disposed to face the pressure rollers 210 and support the lower portion of the base substrate 110 pressed by the pressure rollers 210. By the pressure rollers 210 and the support rollers 230 rotating at the same speed, the base substrate 110 passes through the roller unit 200 at a constant speed. The number of the support rollers 230 is the same as the number of the pressure rollers 210, the support rollers 230 and the pressure rollers 210 are disposed to face each other in one-to-one.

The surface of the pressure rollers 210, the auxiliary rollers 220 and the support rollers 230 is preferably made of a silicone rubber material. By using the silicone rubber, the surface hardness of the rollers can be easily adjusted. The greater the surface hardness of the pressure rollers 210, the more uniform pressure may be applied to the base substrate 110. However, if the surface hardness is too large, the variability of pressure application may be reduced according to the thickness of the base substrate 110. In one example, the surface hardness of the pressure roller 210 is preferably about 60 ~ 65 International Rubber Hardness Degrees (IRHD).

The film stamper 300 is wound around the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 in the form of a belt. The film stamper 300 is rotated while maintaining tension by the rotation of the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220. That is, the film stamper 300 may maintain tension by four points at which the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 are disposed.

An intaglio pattern is formed on the surface of the film stamper 300. Specifically, the intaglio pattern is formed in a concave-convex shape on one surface of the film stamper 300 which is not in contact with the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 (see FIG. 4). The patterns may have patterns, or patterns having different sizes and intervals between the patterns. For example, the intaglio pattern may be formed in a prism or dot shape.

The film stamper 300 may adjust its thickness so as not to be damaged or deformed by the tension by the pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220. In one example, the thickness of the film stamper 300 is about 200 μm to 400 μm. At this time, the intaglio pattern is preferably formed to a thickness within the range of several tens of ㎛.

In addition, the film stamper 300 can adjust the overall length, so that the multi-faceted process is possible. For example, the overall length of the film stamper 300 may be equal to the length of the base substrate 110 or may be equal to the length of the region to form a pattern on the base substrate 110.

The multifaceted step is a method of forming a plurality of specific substrates in one mother substrate. That is, the entire length of the film stamper 300 takes into account the size and number of optical plates to be manufactured so that a plurality of optical plates may be formed from one base substrate 110 during one rotation of the film stamper 300. Is determined. Details thereof will be described later with reference to FIG. 4.

The resin injection unit 400 applies the ultraviolet curable resin 410 to the surface of the film stamper 300 on which the intaglio pattern is formed. For example, the resin injection unit 400 is formed in a slit type to continuously spray the ultraviolet curable resin 410 by a predetermined amount.

The ultraviolet lamp unit cures the resin pattern 111 transferred from the film stamper 300 to the base substrate 110 by the pressure rollers 210. Specifically, the ultraviolet curable resin 410 applied to the film stamper 300 is transferred to the base substrate 110 in the shape of the intaglio pattern, thereby forming the resin pattern 111. In the present invention, the ultraviolet lamp unit includes a first lamp 510 and a second lamp 520, and the resin pattern 111 is cured over the first and second.

For example, the first lamp 510 is disposed in the roller unit 200, and the resin pattern 111 is primarily cured while the base substrate 100 passes through the roller unit 200. On the other hand, the second lamp 520 is disposed outside the roller unit 200, and after the base substrate 100 passes through the roller unit 200, the resin pattern 111 is secondary cured.

Meanwhile, the pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 of the roller unit 200 according to the present invention may be disposed in various forms in consideration of the overall length of the film stamper 300.

For example, referring to FIG. 2, the roller unit 200 includes two pressure rollers 210, one auxiliary roller 220, and two support rollers 230. The pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary roller 220 may be disposed in a triangular shape as a whole. For example, the auxiliary roller 220 may be disposed above the pressure rollers 210 corresponding to the pressure rollers 210. Accordingly, the film stamper 300 may maintain tension by three points at which the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 are disposed.

For example, referring to FIG. 3, the roller unit 200 includes two pressure rollers 210, three auxiliary rollers 220, and two support rollers 230. The pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 may be disposed in a pentagonal shape as a whole. In this case, the film stamper 300 may maintain tension by five points at which the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 are disposed.

2 and 3, as the roller unit 200 includes more auxiliary rollers 220, the overall length of the film stamper 300 may be increased, and the efficiency of the multi-sided chamfering process may be improved. Can be.

4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the shapes of the film stamper and the optical plate illustrated in FIG. 1.

1 and 4, a detailed method of manufacturing the optical plate 120 will be described later.

First, in order to manufacture the optical plate 120, the base substrate 110 and the film stamper 300 is prepared. The base substrate 110 is made of, for example, a transparent resin such as poly methyl methacrylate, polycarbonate, or the like. At this time, in order to manufacture the optical plate 120 in a multi-faceted manner, it is preferable that the base substrate 110 has an integer multiple of the area of the optical plate 120 to be manufactured. The plurality of base substrates 110 are stacked in the substrate loading unit 20 in multiple layers and transferred to the roller unit 200 by a substrate loading apparatus (not shown).

The intaglio-shaped intaglio pattern 311 is formed on the surface of the film stamper 300. The film stamper 300 is wound around the pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220 of the roller unit 200 in the form of a belt. The film stamper 300 continuously rotates by the pressing rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220. In this case, the overall length of the film stamper 300 may be adjusted in consideration of the number of optical plates 120 to be formed by one rotation of the film stamper 300. This will be described later in detail with reference to FIG. 4.

The UV curable resin 410 is coated on the surface of the film stamper 300 on which the intaglio pattern 311 is formed using a resin injection unit 400 to a thickness of about several tens of micrometers. The ultraviolet curable resin 410 may be, for example, a urethane acrylate resin, an epoxy acrylate resin, an ester acrylate resin, or the like that may be cured with ultraviolet rays. The ultraviolet curable resin 410 is applied on the intaglio pattern 311 of the film stamper 300.

Meanwhile, the ultraviolet curable resin 410 may be coated by, for example, a gravure coating method. The gravure coding method is, for example, by arranging the coating member 40 of the comb teeth spaced apart from the film stamper 300 by a predetermined interval, it is a method that can evenly coat the ultraviolet curable resin 410.

Next, the base substrate 110 is passed between the film stamper 300 pressurized by the pressure rollers 210 and the support rollers 230 disposed to face the pressure rollers 210. As the pressure rollers 210 apply pressure to the surface of the base substrate 110 in contact with the film stamper 300, the ultraviolet curable resin 410 applied to the film stamper 300 may be formed on the base substrate 110. Squeezed to the surface. That is, by rotating and pressing the pressure rollers 210, the ultraviolet curable resin 410 on the film stamper 300 is transferred onto the base substrate 110 to form a resin pattern 111. In this case, the resin pattern 111 corresponds to the shape of the intaglio pattern 311 and has a predetermined thickness.

Subsequently, the ultraviolet curable resin 410 is first cured while the base substrate 110 is in contact with the film stamper 300. Specifically, the first lamp 510 is disposed on one side of the base substrate 110 on which the ultraviolet curable resin 410 is pressed, and the ultraviolet ray is irradiated. That is, the primary curing proceeds in a state where the base substrate 110 is not separated from the film stamper 300.

As the film stamper 300 rotates in one direction by the rotation of the pressure rollers 210, the auxiliary rollers 220, and the support rollers 230, between the pressure rollers 210 and the support rollers 230. The injected base substrate 110 is transferred in the one direction. After the ultraviolet curable resin 410 is pressed, the base substrate 110 traveling in one direction is separated from the rotating film stamper 300 while leaving the roller unit 200.

The resin pattern 111 is second cured while the base substrate 110 is separated from the film stamper 300. That is, after the base substrate 110 is separated from the film stamper 300, the second lamp 520 is disposed on one side of the base substrate 110 on which the resin pattern 111 is formed and irradiated with ultraviolet rays. That is, secondary curing proceeds in a state where the base substrate 110 is separated from the film stamper 300 and the resin pattern 111 is exposed to the outside. In this way, the resin pattern 111 can be cured effectively by primary and secondary curing the resin pattern 111.

As in the present invention, in order to form the resin pattern 111 on the base substrate 110, by using a belt-shaped film stamper 300 to transfer a predetermined pattern continuously, the production speed in the manufacturing process increases And mass productivity can be improved more. Meanwhile, after the transfer process is performed on one surface of the base substrate 110 and then proceeds to the other surface of the base substrate 110, the optical plate 120 having the resin pattern 111 formed on both surfaces thereof may be manufactured. have.

Also, in the present embodiment, the optical plate 120 is mainly an optical plate applied to the backlight assembly of the liquid crystal display device. Alternatively, the present invention may be used to form a specific pattern of UV curable resin material on, for example, a glass substrate or a metal substrate.

Referring to FIG. 4, the intaglio patterns 311 formed on one surface of the film stamper 300, that is, one surface in contact with the base substrate 110, include first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2. Preferably, the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2 have different shapes. In addition, the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2 may have the same shape, but may have different intervals between the patterns. For example, the first intaglio pattern a1 may have a prism shape, and the second intaglio pattern a2 may have a dot shape.

Meanwhile, the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2 are preferably formed in the film stamper 300 continuously. In this case, the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2 may be formed at predetermined intervals.

The film stamper 300 in which the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and a2 are continuously formed rotates continuously due to the rotation of the pressure rollers 210 and the auxiliary rollers 220. Accordingly, the first resin pattern a2 corresponding to the first intaglio pattern a1 and the second resin pattern b2 corresponding to the second intaglio pattern b1 are successively transferred onto the base substrate 110. Thereafter, the boundary between the region where the first resin pattern b1 is transferred and the region where the second resin pattern b2 is transferred is cut from the base substrate 110, thereby forming two optical plates 120 having different patterns. It can manufacture.

On the other hand, the film stamper 300 is not limited to the first and second intaglio patterns a1 and b1, two or more intaglio patterns 311 may be formed. Accordingly, two or more different resin patterns 111 may be transferred to the optical plate 120.

As such, according to the overall length of the film stamper 300 and the shape of the intaglio pattern 311, the plurality of optical plates 120 may be continuously manufactured from one base substrate 110.

As described above, as the optical plate on which the fine pattern is formed using the ultraviolet curable resin, deformation of the optical plate due to heat, such as warping and warping, can be minimized.

In addition, by adjusting the length of the film stamper in the form of a belt, by continuously manufacturing a plurality of optical plates in one mother substrate, it is possible to increase the production speed and improve the mass production.

Although described above with reference to the embodiments, those skilled in the art can be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below. I can understand.

Claims (12)

At least two pressure rollers for pressing the base substrate, at least one auxiliary roller spaced apart from the pressure rollers, and at least two support rollers disposed to face the pressure rollers; A roller unit for passing the base substrate between the support rollers; A film stamper wound around the pressing rollers and the auxiliary roller in a belt form and having an intaglio pattern formed thereon; A resin injection unit for applying an ultraviolet curable resin to a surface of the film stamper on which the intaglio pattern is formed; And And an ultraviolet lamp unit for curing the resin pattern transferred from the film stamper to the base substrate by the pressure rollers. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pressure rollers are disposed on the same line, and the pressure rollers and the auxiliary rollers are arranged in a polygonal shape. The optical plate manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure applied to the pressure rollers from the outside is kept the same while the base substrate is passed between the pressure rollers and the support rollers. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the pressure applied to the pressure rollers is 1 kgf / cm 2 to 8 kgf / cm 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the surface of the pressing rollers is made of silicon rubber. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the intaglio pattern includes first and second intaglio patterns having different shapes. The method of claim 1, wherein the ultraviolet lamp unit comprises: a first lamp for first curing the resin pattern while the base substrate passes through the roller unit; And And a second lamp for secondary curing the resin pattern after the base substrate passes through the roller unit. 8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the first lamp is disposed inside the roller unit. Winding the film stamper having a negative pattern formed on the pressure rollers and the auxiliary rollers in the form of a belt; Applying an ultraviolet curable resin to a surface of the film stamper on which the intaglio pattern is formed; Transferring a base pattern between the film stamper pressed by the pressure rollers and support rollers disposed to face the pressure rollers, thereby transferring a resin pattern corresponding to the intaglio pattern on the surface of the base substrate; ; And Irradiating ultraviolet rays to harden the resin pattern. The method of claim 9, wherein curing the resin pattern First curing the resin pattern while the base substrate is in contact with the film stamper; And And hardening the resin pattern in a state in which the base substrate is separated from the film stamper. The method of claim 9, wherein the intaglio pattern includes first and second intaglio patterns having different shapes, and the resin pattern includes first and second resin patterns corresponding to the first and second intaglio patterns. And continuously transferring the first and second resin patterns to the base substrate. The method of claim 11, further comprising cutting the base substrate at a boundary between a region where the first resin pattern is transferred and a region where the second resin pattern is transferred.

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