Method of manufacturing polyimide film and tenter apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9352498-B2
Application number	US-201013500282-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 7, 2010
Priority date	Oct 9, 2009
Publication date	May 31, 2016
Grant date	May 31, 2016

Abstract

In manufacture of a polyimide film, self-supporting film is heated with both ends in a width direction held and carried by the tenter apparatus. The tenter apparatus has a guide member placed on each side of a carry path for the self-supporting film and a pair of tenter chains each moved along the guide member and each including a film holding mechanism for holding an edge portion of the self-supporting film. The tenter chain has a rotating body supported rotatably around a shaft member extending in a direction in parallel with a carry face of the self-supporting film and perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the guide member for movably supporting the tenter chain. The shaft member is directly or indirectly fixed to a member identical to a member to which the film holding mechanism is fixed.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tenter apparatus comprising a pair of guide members placed on both sides of a width direction of a film to be carried and a pair of tenter chains each moved along the guide member and each including a film holding mechanism for holding an edge portion of the film,
wherein the tenter chain has a plurality of outer links alternately coupled to a plurality of inner links and at least one rotating body supported rotatably around a shaft member extending in the width direction of the film to be carried such that the tenter chain is moved by rotating of the rotating body on an upper surface of the guide member, the shaft member and the film holding mechanism are fixed to the outer links, each of the guide members extends along a carry direction of the film, which guide members are a pair of guide plates placed in parallel with each other, and a roller and at least one secondary bearing are supported rotatably around a common axis perpendicular to the extending direction of the shaft member and the carry direction of the film between the pair of guide plates.

2. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , comprising a plurality of the rotating bodies, wherein at least one of the rotating bodies is a bearing.

3. The tenter apparatus according to claim 2 , comprising a plurality of the bearings, wherein at least one of the bearings is a rolling bearing.

4. The tenter apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the rolling bearing has an outer ring, an inner ring, a plurality of rolling elements placed between the outer ring and the inner ring, and a spacer for spacing the rolling elements in a circumferential direction, and the spacer and/or at least some of the rolling elements contain a solid lubricant.

5. The tenter apparatus according to claim 2 , comprising a plurality of the bearings, wherein at least one of the bearings is a sliding bearing.

6. The tenter apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the sliding bearing has a multilayered structure in which an innermost layer contains a solid lubricant.

7. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating body is a roller.

8. The tenter apparatus according to claim 7 , wherein the roller has a multilayered structure in which an innermost layer contains a solid lubricant.

9. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the shaft member and the film holding mechanism are fixed to an outer plate which is a part constituting the outer link.

10. The tenter apparatus according to claim 9 , wherein the film holding mechanism is attached to the outer plate with an attach plate interposed between them.

11. The tenter apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein the attach plate has a plate thickness smaller than a plate thickness of the outer plate.

12. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the inner link has a pair of inner plates placed opposite to each other and a bush coupling the pair of inner plates, and the secondary bearing is supported on an outer periphery of the bush.

13. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tenter chain has a plurality of the secondary bearings, and at least one of the secondary bearings is a rolling bearing.

14. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the tenter chain has a plurality of the secondary bearings, and at least one of the secondary bearings is a sliding bearing.

15. The tenter apparatus according to claim 13 , wherein the secondary bearing is lubricated by a solid lubricant.

16. The tenter apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the film holding mechanism has a pin plate and a plurality of piercing pins provided for the pin plate, and the film is held by piercing the film with the plurality of piercing pins.

Assignees

• Ikeuchi Hiroyuki
• Noda Yujiro
• Nagoshi Yasuhiro
• Fujinaga Takeru
• Anno Toshihiko
• Kimura Masakatsu
• Ube Industries

Inventors

• Ikeuchi Hiroyuki
• Noda Yujiro
• Nagoshi Yasuhiro
• Fujinaga Takeru
• Anno Toshihiko
• Kimura Masakatsu

Classifications

• B29C55/165

  Apparatus therefor · CPC title

• B29C41/24 Primary

  for making articles of indefinite length · CPC title

• B29C55/20

  Edge clamps · CPC title

• B29K2079/08

  PI, i.e. polyimides or derivatives thereof · CPC title

• B29K2079/00

  Use of polymers having nitrogen, with or without oxygen or carbon only, in the main chain {, not provided for in groups B29K2061/00 - B29K2077/00}, as moulding material · CPC title