JP2010284652A - Gravure coater and method of manufacturing flexible belt-like support - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To uniformly transfer and apply a coating liquid on the surface of a flexible belt-like support by suppressing the longitudinal stripe like flow of the excess coating liquid scraped by a doctor blade or the effect of the deformation of the doctor plate. <P>SOLUTION: The gravure coater possesses: a gravure roll 15; a manifold block 13 for dipping the lower outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 into the coating liquid to continuously apply the coating liquid; and the doctor blade 23 for scraping the excess portion of the applied coating liquid from the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15. The tip part of a gravure roll outer peripheral surface roll-out part (dam block) 25 which is formed by extending from the manifold block 13 in the roll-out side of the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 by the rotation of the gravure roll 15 is positioned above the axial center O of the gravure roll 15 and below an excess coating material scraping point by the doctor blade 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gravure coating apparatus that uniformly applies a coating solution onto a surface of a flexible belt-like support that is continuously transferred.

A gravure coating apparatus is known as an apparatus for applying a coating solution to the surface of a flexible belt-like support. In this gravure coating apparatus, as shown in FIG. 3, a gravure roll 1 that is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A is formed in a concave shape in a manifold block 2 with a slight gap with respect to its outer peripheral surface. The coating liquid L is applied to the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 by being immersed in 2a. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the outer surface of the gravure roll 1 is scraped off by the doctor blade 4 pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 while scraping off the excess coating liquid L applied to the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1. The coating liquid L trapped in each cell engraved on is transferred and applied onto the flexible belt-like support 5 (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
The coating liquid L scraped off by the doctor blade 4 after being applied to the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 is collected in the recovery pan 6 from the outer surface side 2c of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 2b of the manifold block 2. The

By the way, in this type of gravure coating apparatus, as shown in FIG. 5, the excessive coating liquid scraped and collected by a doctor blade 4 over a relatively long distance is finely spaced in the width direction due to the effect of surface tension. A large number of vertical streak-like flows Ls are generated due to the contracted flow. Due to this vertical streak-like flow Ls, a pressure difference of the liquid with respect to the back surface of the blade tip is generated, and the amount of coating liquid passing through the doctor blade 4 varies in the blade width direction. As a result, the flexible belt-like support 5 Therefore, the amount of the transfer coating applied to the surface is uneven in the width direction.
For this reason, as shown in FIG. 6, a coating liquid guide 7 that is curved with a slight gap with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 of the manifold block 2. The leading end of the guide 7 is stretched to the position closest to the contact point between the doctor blade 4 and the gravure roll 1, and the vertical streak-like flow Ls of the excess coating liquid L that is scraped off and collected by the doctor blade 4 is transferred. It is intended to suppress the influence on the coating amount. (For example, refer to Patent Document 2).

JP-A-4-41764 JP-A 63-194766

  However, in order to suppress the longitudinal streak-like flow Ls of the recovered coating liquid L, as described above, when the coating liquid guide 7 is extended to the position closest to the contact point between the doctor blade 4 and the gravure roll 1, When the coating liquid L guided by the coating liquid guide 7 and supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 has a high viscosity, the liquid pressure and the liquid resistance of the coating liquid L passing through the coating liquid guide 7 increase. As a result, as the doctor blade 4 is deformed, the transfer coating amount of the coating liquid L onto the flexible belt-like support 5 may be uneven. Further, when the coating liquid L passing through the coating liquid guide 7 has a low viscosity, the coating liquid L may not be satisfactorily filled in the gap between the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 1 and the coating liquid guide 7, Depending on the shape of the coating liquid guide 7, its workability, cleaning properties, attachment / detachment workability, maintenance properties, etc. may be difficult.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and suppresses the influence of the vertical streak-like flow of excess coating liquid scraped off by the doctor blade and the deformation of the doctor blade on the surface of the flexible belt-like support. An object of the present invention is to provide a gravure coating apparatus that can uniformly transfer and coat the film.

The above object is achieved by a gravure coating apparatus having the following configuration.
(1) A gravure roll that is rotationally driven at a predetermined peripheral speed, a manifold block that immerses the lower outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll in a coating solution, and continuously coats the coating solution on the outer peripheral surface; A doctor blade that scrapes off the excess of the applied coating liquid from the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll that has been coated with the coating liquid and rotationally displaced upward, and can be transferred to the gravure roll. A gravure coating apparatus for applying a predetermined amount of the coating liquid onto the surface of the flexible belt-shaped support by bringing the surface of the flexible belt-shaped support into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll, the gravure The tip of the dam block formed to extend to the manifold block on the side where the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll is rolled out by the rotation of the roll is above the axis of the gravure roll. Gravure coating apparatus characterized by being arranged below the excess the coating liquid scraper point and by the doctor blade on the gravure roll outer surface.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the tip of the dam block formed on the gravure roll outer peripheral surface roll-out side of the manifold block is above the gravure roll axis and is excessively applied by the doctor blade on the gravure roll outer peripheral surface. By placing it below the scraping point of the landing liquid, even if the coating liquid is highly viscous, the increase in the liquid pressure and liquid resistance of the coating liquid is suppressed and deformation of the doctor blade is prevented. The vertical streak-like flow of the dropped excess coating liquid is greatly suppressed, and thus the coating liquid can be uniformly transferred and applied to the surface of the flexible belt-like support.

  (2) A line connecting the tip of the dam block and the axis of the gravure roll is a first line, and a line connecting the scraping point of excess coating liquid by the doctor blade and the axis of the gravure roll is a first line. The gravure coating apparatus according to (1), wherein the angle formed by the first and second lines is 40 ° or less when the second line is formed.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the line connecting the tip of the dam block and the axis of the gravure roll is the first line, and the line connecting the scraping point of the excess coating liquid by the doctor blade and the axis of the gravure roll is By setting the angle formed by the first and second lines to 40 ° or less when the second line is used, even if the coating liquid has a high viscosity, the liquid pressure and liquid resistance of the coating liquid are increased. Thus, the deformation of the doctor blade is prevented, and the vertical streak-like flow of excess coating liquid scraped off by the doctor blade is greatly suppressed.

  (3) The tip of the dam block is positioned downward with a height difference of 3 to 25 mm in the vertical direction with respect to the excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade (1) ) The gravure coating device described.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the tip of the dam block has a height difference of 3 to 25 mm in the vertical direction above the gravure roll axis and perpendicular to the excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade. Therefore, even if the coating liquid has a high viscosity, the increase in the liquid pressure and liquid resistance of the coating liquid is suppressed, the deformation of the doctor blade is prevented, and the excess coating liquid scraped off by the doctor blade is prevented. Vertical streak-like flow is greatly suppressed.

  (4) A line connecting the tip of the dam block and the axis of the gravure roll is a first line, and a line connecting a scraping point of excess coating liquid by the doctor blade and the axis of the gravure roll is a first line. The angle formed by the first and second lines is 40 ° or less, and the tip of the dam block is perpendicular to the excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade. The gravure coating apparatus according to (1), wherein the gravure coating apparatus is positioned downward with a height difference of 3 to 25 mm.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the tip of the dam block has a height difference of 3 to 25 mm in the vertical direction above the gravure roll axis and perpendicular to the excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade. In addition, the tip of the dam block has a height difference of 3 to 25 mm above the gravure roll axis and in the vertical direction with respect to the excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade. Therefore, even if the coating liquid has a high viscosity, the increase in the liquid pressure and liquid resistance of the coating liquid is suppressed, the deformation of the doctor blade is prevented, and the excess coating liquid scraped off by the doctor blade is prevented. The streak-like flow is greatly suppressed.

  (5) The dam block is formed by extending upward while gradually increasing a gap facing the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll, according to any one of (1) to (4), Gravure coating device.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the dam block is formed by extending upward while gradually increasing the facing interval with respect to the gravure roll, thereby further enhancing the effect of stable liquid supply regardless of the viscosity of the coating liquid. It is done.

  (6) The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the gravure roll is rotationally driven in a direction opposite to a transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support.

  According to this gravure coating device, the gravure roll can be driven to rotate in the direction opposite to the direction in which the flexible belt-like support is transferred, so that reverse kiss coating can be performed.

  (7) The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein the gravure roll is rotationally driven in the same direction as the transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the gravure roll can be rotated in the same direction as the transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support, whereby forward kiss coating can be performed.

  (8) The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (7), wherein the dam block is provided at least upstream in the rotation direction of the gravure roll.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the coating liquid is stably supplied to the gravure roll by providing the dam block at least upstream in the rotation direction of the gravure roll. Further, by providing both on the downstream side, further stabilization can be achieved.

  (9) The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (8), wherein a diameter of the gravure roll is in a range of 20 to 300 mm.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, coupled with the form in which the dam block has a shape in which the distance from the gravure roll increases toward the top, a stable liquid supply effect can be further enhanced regardless of the viscosity of the liquid.

  (10) The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of (1) to (9), wherein a liquid outflow prevention plate is provided at both ends of a space formed by sandwiching the dam block and the gravure roll.

  According to this gravure coating apparatus, the outflow of the coating liquid can be prevented by providing the liquid outflow prevention plates at both ends of the space formed by sandwiching the dam block and the gravure roll.

  According to the gravure coating apparatus of the present invention, the tip of the dam block formed by extending the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll by the rotation of the gravure roll is formed more than the axis of the gravure roll. By positioning the upper part below the point where the excess coating liquid is scraped off by the doctor blade on the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll, the positional relationship between the gravure roll and the doctor blade at the extending tip of the outer surface of the gravure roll outer surface Depending on the selection, the vertical streak-like flow of excess coating liquid due to the doctor blade being scraped off can be greatly suppressed, and the coating liquid is uniformly transferred to the surface of the flexible belt-like support to improve the coating quality. Can be achieved.

It is sectional drawing of the gravure coating apparatus explaining the structure of the gravure coating apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an expanded sectional view of the supply side of the coating liquid in the gravure coating apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the gravure coating apparatus explaining the structure of the conventional gravure coating apparatus. It is an expanded sectional view by the side of the supply side of the coating liquid in the conventional gravure coating apparatus. It is a perspective view explaining the application | coating state of the coating liquid to the flexible strip | belt-shaped support body by the conventional gravure coating apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the gravure coating apparatus explaining the other conventional example of a gravure coating apparatus.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a gravure coating apparatus according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a coating liquid supply side in the gravure coating apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 1, the gravure coating apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment has a manifold block 13 in which a recess 11 having a substantially arc-shaped cross section is provided.
The manifold block 13 has a gravure roll 15 disposed in the recess 11 so as to be continuously rotatable in the direction of arrow A, and a gap G1 is provided between the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 and the inner peripheral surface of the recess 11. ing.

  The manifold block 13 further forms a liquid supply path 17 so as to communicate with a liquid retaining portion 19 defined by a gap G1 between the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 and the inner peripheral surface of the recess 11, and the coating liquid L is externally provided. Further, the liquid is continuously supplied to the liquid distillation part 19 through the liquid supply path 17. When the liquid retaining portion 19 is filled with the coating liquid L, the lower outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 is immersed in the coating liquid L.

  The gravure coating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes, for example, a long paper sheet material, a plastic film, and the like on the upper outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 that is rotationally driven in the direction of arrow A at a constant peripheral speed. The lower surface of the flexible belt-like support 21 transported at a constant peripheral speed in the direction opposite to the gravure roll 15, that is, in the direction of arrow B, comes into contact with the coating liquid L from the upper outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15. A reverse coating method for efficiently transferring to the lower surface of the belt-like support 21, a so-called reverse kiss coating method is adopted.

Further, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2, the manifold block 13 further includes a gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion (dam block) 25 on the upstream side of the liquid retaining portion 19 and a gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion (dam block) on the downstream side. The liquid level in the liquid retaining part 19 is raised above the axis O of the gravure roll 15 and is maintained by arranging 27 as an extension part of the concave part 11. In addition, the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25 and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 27 as a dam block are the outer peripheral surfaces of the gravure roll 15 above the axial center O of the gravure roll 15, respectively. and it is stretched upward while the opposing gap G ₁ is gradually increased to the spacing G ₂ between.

  The gravure coating apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention projects a doctor blade 23 that can be contacted by the tip 23a along the longitudinal direction of the upper outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 positioned above the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25. 10 and centering the axis O of the gravure roll 15 with respect to the excess coating liquid scraping point 23a by the doctor blade 23 on the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll. It is positioned with a height difference h of 3 to 25 mm in the direction perpendicular to the central angle θ of ˜40 °. That is, the line connecting the extending tip 25b of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25 and the axis O of the gravure roll 15 is the first line, the excess coating liquid scraping point 23a by the doctor blade 23 and the axis of the gravure roll 15 When the line connecting the core O is the second line, the angle formed by the first and second lines is 40 ° or less. The surplus coating liquid scraping point 23a by the doctor blade 23 is preferably set to an angle φ of 35 to 50 ° around the axis O with respect to the horizontal line H passing through the axis O.

  The gravure coating apparatus 100 can exhibit effectiveness when the diameter D of the gravure roll 15 is in the range of φ20 to φ300 mm. That is, when the diameter D of the gravure roll 15 is less than φ20 mm, the difference between the contact point with the doctor blade 23 and the gravure roll center line becomes substantially small, and vertical streak-like flow hardly occurs. On the other hand, when the diameter D exceeds φ300 mm, the scraped coating liquid flows down on the surface where the gravure roll 15 is gently inclined due to its arrangement, and therefore, it is difficult to form vertical stripes in the vicinity of the doctor blade 23. In addition, streaks appear when the position of the doctor blade 23 is low and the speed of the coating liquid flowing down is high, but in reality, the distance from the doctor blade 23 to the coating position becomes longer because the diameter D is large, and the coating is performed. Streaks are less likely to be a problem due to the leveling effect of the liquid.

  On the other hand, the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 27 has a symmetrical dimension between the transfer side and the transfer side, that is, relative to the gravure roll 15 in order to reliably raise the liquid level to the gravure roll outer surface transfer portion 25. It is desirable to match the shape and dimensions. However, this is not the case when the liquid surface to the transfer unit 25 is raised by gravure rotation.

  The excess coating liquid Lr scraped off by the doctor blade 23 is guided to a collecting means (not shown) through the outer inclined surface 25c of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25, while being supplied downstream from the liquid retaining part 19. The overflow of the liquid coating liquid L is led to the collecting means (not shown) through the outer inclined surface 27c of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 27 and collected.

The gravure roll 15 has a variety of plate shapes (mesh), such as diagonal lines (hatched cups), lattices (trapezoidal cups), and pyramids (pyramid cups). The above effects are expected regardless of the shape of the plate. it can. Further, the size of the mesh M can be freely selected within a range of, for example, # 50 to # 1500. If the mesh M is too coarse, the coating amount increases, and the coating amount distribution in the width direction becomes relatively small. However, the effect of the present invention is not lost because the mesh M is basically too fine.
The gravure roll 15 is basically made of metal, but may be a ceramic gravure roll in which the surface of the metal roll is covered with a ceramic coating for preventing wear and a mesh M is formed on the surface.

  Here, the coating liquid L is not particularly limited, but has a solid content concentration of 0.01 to 80% by weight and a viscosity of 0.1 to 20 cP. The solvent-based binder may be a monomer or a polymer. For example, in the case of a monomer, a monomer having two or more ethylenically unsaturated groups, an ester of a polyhydric alcohol and (meth) acrylic acid (eg, ethylene) Glycol di (meth) acrylate, 1,4-cyclohexanediacrylate, pentaerythritol tetra (meth) acrylate, pentaerythritol tri (meth) acrylate, trimethylol pro-recovery pantri (meth) acrylate, trimethylol ethanetri (meta) ) Acrylate, dipentaerythritol tetra (meth) acrylate, dipentaerythritol penta (meth) acrylate, dipentaerythritol hexa (meth) acrylate, 1,2,3-cyclohexanetetramethacrylate, polyureta Polyacrylate, polyester polyacrylate), vinylbenzene and its derivatives (eg, 1,4-divinylbenzene, 4-vinylbenzoic acid-2-acryloylethyl ester, 1,4-divinylcyclohexanone), vinylsulfone (eg, divinylsulfone) ), Acrylamide (eg, methylenebisacrylamide) and methacrylamide.

  Further, a crosslinkable group may be introduced instead of or in addition to the monomer having two or more ethylenically unsaturated groups. Examples of the crosslinkable functional group include an isocyanate group, an epoxy group, an aziridine group, an oxazoline group, an aldehyde group, a carbonyl group, a hydrazine group, a carboxyl group, a methylol group, and an active methylene group. There may be vinyl sulfonic acid, acid anhydride, cyanoacrylate derivative, melamine, etherified methylol, ester and urethane, metal alkoxide such as tetramethoxysilane, and dam block isocyanate group. When using these compounds having a cross-linking group, it is necessary to cross-link with heat after coating. Other examples include bis (4-methacryloylthiophenyl) sulfide, vinyl naphthalene, vinyl phenyl sulfide, 4-methacryloxyphenyl-4'-methoxyphenyl thioether, and the like.

Furthermore, it may contain a crosslinking agent, a reaction initiator that accelerates curing by heat or light, organic / inorganic fine particles of several μm, inorganic ultrafine particles of 1 μm or less, and the like. Examples of the inorganic ultrafine particles include ultrafine particles having a particle diameter of 100 nm or less, preferably 50 nm or less, composed of oxides of titanium, aluminum, indium, zinc, tin, antimony and zirconium. Examples of such ultrafine particles include TiO ₂ , Al ₂ O ₃ , In ₂ O ₃ , ZnO, SnO ₂ , Sb ₂ O ₂ , ITO, ZrO _{2 and the} like. In addition, inorganic fine particles or polymer fine particles having a particle diameter of 10 μm or less may be added to the coating liquid L. The content of the inorganic ultrafine particles in the binder is preferably 10 to 90% by weight of the total weight of the coating liquid L, and more preferably 20 to 80% by weight.

Inorganic fine particles include silica beads. Examples of the polymer fine particles include polymethyl methacrylate acrylate beads, polycarbonate beads, polystyrene beads, polyacryl styrene beads, and silicone beads.
Examples of other binders include crosslinkable fluoropolymer compounds, and other than perfluoroalkyl group-containing silane compounds (for example, (heptadecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetradecyl) triethoxysilane), Examples thereof include a fluorine-containing copolymer having a fluorine-containing monomer component and a monomer component for imparting a crosslinkable group as constituent components.

  Specific examples of the fluorine-containing monomer component include, for example, fluoroolefins (for example, fluoroethylene, vinylidene fluoride, tetrafluoroethylene, hexafluoroethylene, hexafluoropropylene, perfluoro-2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxole) Etc.), a part of (meth) acrylic acid or a fully fluorinated alkyl ester derivative (for example, Biscoat 6FM (manufactured by Osaka Organic Chemicals) or M-2020 (manufactured by Daikin)), a fully or partially fluorinated vinyl ether or the like.

  As a monomer component for imparting a crosslinkable group, in addition to a (meth) acrylate monomer having a crosslinkable functional group in the molecule in advance such as glycidyl methacrylate, it has a carboxyl group, a hydroxyl group, an amino group, a sulfonic acid group and the like ( And (meth) acrylate monomers (for example, (meth) acrylic acid, methylol (meth) acrylate, hydroxyalkyl (meth) acrylate, allyl acrylate, etc.). It is known from JP-A-10-25388 and JP-A-10-147739 that the latter can introduce a crosslinked structure after copolymerization.

Further, not only a polymer having the above-mentioned fluorine-containing monomer as a structural unit but also a copolymer with a monomer not containing a fluorine atom may be used.
There are no particular limitations on the monomer units that can be used in combination. For example, olefins (ethylene, propylene, isoprene, vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride, etc.), acrylic esters (methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, 2-ethylhexyl acrylate) , Methacrylates (methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, etc.), styrene derivatives (styrene, divinylbenzene, vinyl toluene, α-methylstyrene, etc.), vinyl ethers (methyl vinyl ether, etc.) , Vinyl esters (vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate, vinyl cinnamate, etc.), acrylamides (N-tertbutylacrylamide, N-cyclohexylacrylamide, etc.), methacrylamides, acrylonitrile It can be mentioned conductor like.

  As the solvent, alcohols and ketones are mainly used, and methanol, ethanol, propanol, isopropanol, butanol and the like are mainly used as alcohols. As the ketone, methyl ethyl ketone, methyl isobutyl ketone, cyclohexanone and the like are mainly used. In other cases, toluene, acetone or the like is used. These may be used alone or mixed and used.

Furthermore, the flexible belt-like support 21 used in the above embodiment may be a sheet, a belt-like continuous film, or a paper base. The width of the flexible belt-like support to be used is, for example, about 3 m at maximum and a thickness of 5 to 300 μm, but is not limited thereto.
The flexible belt-like support 21 is appropriately selected depending on the application, and specifically, a transparent support is used. As the transparent support, it is preferable to use a plastic film. Examples of the polymer forming the plastic film include cellulose ester (eg, triacetyl cellulose, diacetyl cellulose), polyamide, polycarbonate, polyester (eg, polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate), polystyrene, and polyolefin.

  As described above, in the gravure coating apparatus 100 according to the present invention, the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion (dam block) 25 of the manifold block 13 is above the axis O of the gravure roll 15 and the outer periphery of the gravure roll. The extending tip 25b of the surface turning portion 25 has a central angle θ of 10 to 40 ° around the axis O of the gravure roll 15 with respect to the surplus coating liquid scraping point 23a by the doctor blade 15 on the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll. They are positioned with a height difference h of 3 to 25 mm in the vertical direction. Moreover, the extending | stretching front-end | tip part 25b is extended upwards, increasing the opposing gap | interval with the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 gradually. According to this configuration, the selection of the positional relationship between the gravure roll 15 and the doctor blade 23 of the extending tip portion 25b of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 extends over the blade width direction of the excess coating liquid L due to the doctor blade 23 being scraped off. The vertical streak-like flow Ls can be greatly suppressed. Further, the gradual increase of the facing gap between the gravure roll outer peripheral surface and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 of the manifold block 13 can alleviate the influence of the viscosity of the coating liquid L. Accordingly, the coating liquid L can be uniformly transferred and applied to the surface of the flexible belt-like support 21 to improve the coating quality.

  Further, not only can the vertical streak-like flow Ls of the excess coating liquid L scraped off by the doctor blade 23 be reliably suppressed by the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25, but also the pressurized coating liquid L The deformation of the doctor blade 23 due to the hydraulic pressure deviation in the coating width direction can be suppressed, and the coating liquid L can be reliably transferred and applied to the flexible belt-like support 21.

  In the gravure coating apparatus 100 of the above embodiment, the reverse coating method (reverse kiss coating method) in which the gravure roll 15 and the flexible belt-like support 21 are reversed has been described as an example. In the case of a forward kiss coat system), the gravure roll 15 is rotationally driven in the same direction as the transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support 21 and the doctor blade 23 is arranged on the upstream side of the rotation. It can be implemented similarly. Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to a forward direct gravure in which a backup roll is provided on the surface opposite to the support coating surface, or a coating method such as a reverse direct gravure method.

Here, each of the inner peripheral surfaces 25a, 27a of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 27 is opposed to the outer peripheral surface G of the gravure roll 15 above the axis O of the gravure roll 15. ₁ is gradually increased to the interval G ₂ , and the leading end 25 _b of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25 is centered on the axis O of the gravure roll 15 with respect to the scraping point 23 a of the doctor blade 23. While the example in which the central angle is set to 10 to 40 ° is used as an example, the case where the central angle θ exceeds 40 ° is used as a comparative example, and the transfer of the coating liquid L to the flexible belt-like support 21 in each condition is performed. Then, the presence or absence of coating unevenness was examined. The results are shown in Table 1 below.

The basic specifications of the gravure coating apparatus were as follows.
(basic specifications)
Gravure roll outer diameter D: 50 mm
Gravure roll mesh M: # 200
Angle difference (φ-θ): 10-45 °
Application method: Reverse application method (reverse kiss coating method)
Peripheral speed ratio with gravure roll / flexible belt-like support: 0.6 to 1.0
Doctor blade angle (φ): 50 ° Application speed: 10 m / min
Flexible band material: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 100 μm
Coating solution;
A hard cord coating solution containing a dispersion of zirconium oxide (particle size: 30 nm) in a mixed solvent of 104.1 g of cyclohexane and 61.3 g of methyl ethyl ketone while stirring with an air disperser (trade name: KZ-7991, manufactured by JSR Corporation) 217. In addition, 5 g of a crosslinked polystyrene particle having an average particle diameter of 2 μm (trade name: SX-200H, manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added to this solution, and the mixture was stirred at 5000 rpm for 1 hour with a high-speed device. After dispersion, the solution was filtered through a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm to prepare a coating solution.
Viscosity: 0.005 N · s / m ²
Surface tension: 0.033 N / m
Application amount ... 5cc / m ²

As can be seen from the test results in Table 1, in Comparative Examples 1 and 2 having a central angle θ of 45 °, streaky flow was observed in the visual observation results downstream of the doctor blade 23, resulting in a coating result with a large thickness unevenness. It was.
Moreover, in Comparative Examples 3 to 5 in which the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 was not provided, transfer and coating unevenness occurred in all.
On the other hand, in Examples 1 to 7 in which the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 27 are provided, and the central angle θ is within 40 °, the transfer or coating unevenness is very small. I couldn't.

Next, each of the inner peripheral surfaces 25a, 27a of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 27 is opposed to the outer peripheral surface G of the gravure roll 15 above the axis O of the gravure roll 15. ₁ is gradually increased to the interval G ₂ , and the extending tip 25b of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer portion 25 is perpendicular to the excess coating liquid scraping point 23a by the doctor blade 23 on the gravure roll outer peripheral surface. Examples in which the height difference h in the direction was set to 3 to 25 mm were taken as Examples 8 to 15, while those in which the height difference h exceeded 25 mm were set as Comparative Examples 6 and 7 and the coating state was confirmed in the same manner as in Example 1. . The results are shown in Table 2 below.

The basic specifications of the gravure coating apparatus were as follows.
(basic specifications)
Gravure roll outer diameter D: 100mm
Gravure roll mesh M: # 200
Doctor blade angle (φ): 45 °
Application method: Reverse application method (reverse kiss coating method)
Peripheral speed ratio with gravure roll / flexible belt-like support: 0.6 to 1.0
Application speed: 20 m / min
Flexible band material: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 100 μm
Coating solution;
A hard cord coating solution containing a dispersion of zirconium oxide (particle size: 30 nm) in a mixed solvent of 104.1 g of cyclohexane and 61.3 g of methyl ethyl ketone while stirring with an air disperser (trade name: KZ-7991, manufactured by JSR Corporation) 217. In addition, 5 g of a crosslinked polystyrene particle having an average particle diameter of 2 μm (trade name: SX-200H, manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added to this solution, and the mixture was stirred at 5000 rpm for 1 hour with a high-speed device. After dispersion, the solution was filtered through a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm to prepare a coating solution.
Viscosity: 0.002 N · s / m ²
Surface tension: 0.033 N / m
Application amount ... 5cc / m ²

  As can be seen from the test results in Table 2, transfer and coating unevenness did not occur in any of Examples 8 to 15 in which the vertical height difference h was 3 to 25 mm, and the vertical height difference h was 35 mm. In Comparative Examples 6 and 7, transfer transfer and coating unevenness were observed.

Next, the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll 15 is positioned above the axis O of the gravure roll 15 by the forward kiss coating method so that the inner peripheral surfaces 25a and 27a of the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 25 and the gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part 27 the opposing gap G ₁ between the surface is extended while increasing the spacing G _2, and the stretched distal portion 25b of the gravure roll outer surface transfer-out unit 25, scraping off the excess the coating liquid by a doctor blade 23 on the gravure roll outer surface The coating state was confirmed in the same manner as in Example 1 by changing the vertical height difference h from the point 23a. The results are shown in Table 3 below.

The basic specifications of the gravure coating apparatus were as follows.
(basic specifications)
Gravure roll outer diameter D: 100mm
Gravure roll mesh M: # 180
Coating method: Forward kiss coating method Peripheral speed ratio with gravure roll / flexible belt-like support: 1.0
Application speed: 10 m / min
Flexible band material: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) 100 μm
Coating solution;
A hard cord coating solution containing a dispersion of zirconium oxide (particle size: 30 nm) in a mixed solvent of 104.1 g of cyclohexane and 61.3 g of methyl ethyl ketone while stirring with an air disperser (trade name: KZ-7991, manufactured by JSR Corporation) 217. In addition, 5 g of a crosslinked polystyrene particle having an average particle diameter of 2 μm (trade name: SX-200H, manufactured by Soken Chemical Co., Ltd.) was added to this solution, and the mixture was stirred at 5000 rpm for 1 hour with a high-speed device. After dispersion, the solution was filtered through a polypropylene filter having a pore size of 30 μm to prepare a coating solution.
Viscosity: 0.005 N · s / m ²
Surface tension: 0.033 N / m
Application amount ... 5cc / m ²

  As can be seen from the test results in Table 3, in Examples 16 to 18 in which the vertical height difference h was 7 to 25 mm, transfer and coating unevenness did not occur, and the vertical height difference h was 35 to 45 mm. In Comparative Examples 8 and 9, transfer unevenness and coating unevenness were observed.

13 Manifold block 15 Gravure roll 21 Flexible belt-like support body 23 Doctor blade 25 Gravure roll outer peripheral surface roll-out part (dam block)
25a Inner peripheral surface 27 Gravure roll outer peripheral surface transfer part (dam block)
27a Inner peripheral surface 100 Gravure coating device L Coating liquid O Shaft core

Claims (10)

A gravure roll that is rotationally driven at a predetermined peripheral speed, a manifold block that immerses the lower outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll in the coating liquid and continuously coats the coating liquid on the outer peripheral surface; and the coating liquid A flexible belt that is transferred to the gravure roll, comprising a doctor blade that scrapes off the excess of the applied coating liquid from the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll that has been applied and rotationally displaced upward A gravure coating apparatus for applying a predetermined amount of the coating solution to the surface of the flexible belt-shaped support by bringing the surface of the support into contact with the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll,
The tip of the dam block formed to extend to the manifold block on the side where the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll is rolled out by the rotation of the gravure roll is above the axial center of the gravure roll and the gravure roll A gravure coating apparatus, wherein the gravure coating apparatus is disposed below an excess coating liquid scraping point by the doctor blade on the outer peripheral surface.   A line connecting the tip of the dam block and the axis of the gravure roll is the first line, and a line connecting the scraping point of the excess coating liquid by the doctor blade and the axis of the gravure roll is the second line. The gravure coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an angle formed by the first and second lines is 40 ° or less.   The tip of the dam block is positioned downward with a height difference of 3 to 25 mm in a vertical direction with respect to a scraping point of excess coating liquid by the doctor blade. Gravure coating device. A line connecting the tip of the dam block and the axis of the gravure roll is the first line, and a line connecting the scraping point of the excess coating liquid by the doctor blade and the axis of the gravure roll is the second line. The angle formed by the first and second lines is 40 ° or less,
The tip of the dam block is positioned downward with a height difference of 3 to 25 mm in a vertical direction with respect to a scraping point of excess coating liquid by the doctor blade. Gravure coating device.   The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the dam block is formed by extending upward while gradually increasing a gap facing the outer peripheral surface of the gravure roll. .   The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the gravure roll is rotationally driven in a direction opposite to a transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support.   The gravure coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gravure roll is rotationally driven in the same direction as the transfer direction of the flexible belt-like support.   The gravure coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the dam block is provided at least on the upstream side in the rotation direction of the gravure roll.   The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a diameter of the gravure roll is in a range of 20 to 300 mm.   The gravure coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein a liquid outflow prevention plate is provided at both ends of a space formed by sandwiching the dam block and the gravure roll.

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