SUCK BACK TYPE INTERMITTENT COATING SYSTEM

Abstract

A suck back type intermittent coating system including a valve mechanism, a valve manipulating mechanism and a solenoid valve for controlling the operation of the valve manipulating mechanism and a control device that inputs therein a pulse signal indicative of the travel state (travel speed etc.) of a base material traveling along a coating line, and outputs an electrical command to the solenoid valve. A displacement sensor for detecting a displacement of the movable valve body of the valve mechanism is provided so that the operation of the valve manipulating mechanism is remotely controlled by a command signal to the solenoid valve; and with a computer having a feedback function that issues a correction signal to the operation of the solenoid valve confirmation and tally of the operation of a coating gun module is performed even when away from a production line.

Claims

1. A suck back type intermittent coating system comprising: a suck hack type intermittent coating device including a valve mechanism, a valve manipulating mechanism for manipulating an up and down motion of a movable valve body of the valve mechanism, and a solenoid valve for controlling an operation of the valve manipulating mechanism; and a control device configured to input therein a pulse signal, which is from an encoder and is indicative of a travel state of a base material traveling along a coating line, and outputs an electrical command to the solenoid valve, wherein: the system further comprises a displacement sensor for detecting a displacement of the movable valve body; the displacement sensor is configured to input a detection signal from the displacement sensor to the control device; the control device, under a computer control thereof, is configured to remotely confirm a coating state, including a coating position and a coating length and remotely control an operation of the valve manipulating mechanism by outputting a command signal to the solenoid valve; and the control device is provided with a computer having a feedback function that issues a correction signal to the operation of the solenoid valve by storing an amount of lag in air drive of the suck back valve mechanism with respect to a record of computer control settings including at least a coating section setting and a coating start position setting; thus allowing a confirmation and tally of an operation of a gun module to be performed even when away from a production line.

2. (canceled)

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0051] [FIG. 1] A simplified diagram illustrating remote operation of a suck back type intermittent coating system according to the present invention.

[0052] [FIG. 2] A simplified diagram of the suck back type intermittent coating system of the present invention.

[0053] [FIG. 3] A diagram illustrating a signal to a sequence part of a computer.

[0054] [FIG. 4] A diagram illustrating temporal flow in the sequence control by the computer.

[0055] [FIG. 5] A sequence control diagram for the computer.

[0056] [FIG. 6] A diagram illustrating the relation between the suck back type intermittent coating device and the solenoid valve operation, showing a point when the movable valve body has begun to descend from the upward position of the closed (OFF operation) movable valve body to the downward position of the open (ON operation) movable valve body.

[0057] [FIG. 7] A diagram illustrating the relation between the suck back type intermittent coating device and the solenoid valve operation, showing a point when the movable valve body has begun to ascend from the downward position of the open (ON operation) movable valve body to the upward position of the closed (OFF operation) movable valve body valve.

[0058] [FIG. 8] A block diagram of a computer function for automatically detecting an abnormality in the valve mechanism and issuing a warning, for remote confirmation.

[0059] [FIG. 9] A flowchart of the same.

[0060] [FIG. 10] A simplified diagram similar to FIG. 1, illustrating a remote operation of a suck back type intermittent coating system designed for on-site confirmation.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0061] A suck back type intermittent coating system includes a suck back type intermittent coating device that is comprised of a suck back type intermittent coating device 1 and a control device 10. The coating device 1 is comprised of a valve mechanism 2, a valve manipulating mechanism 3 for manipulating the up and down motion of a movable valve body 20 of the valve mechanism 2, and a solenoid valve 4 for controlling the operation of the valve manipulating mechanism 3. The control device 10 inputs thereinto from an encoder 9 a pulse signal Sp indicative of the travel state (travel speed, etc.) of a base material W traveling along a coating line, and outputs an electrical command Sg to the solenoid valve 4. In this system, a displacement sensor for detecting the displacement of the movable valve body 20 is provided, so that the detection signal from the displacement sensor is inputted to the control device 10, and a command signal to the solenoid valve is outputted under sequence control by a computer of the control device 10, thus the operation of the valve manipulating mechanism is remotely controlled.

[0062] In working the present invention, the valve mechanism of a valve body structure having a suck back action is provided in the lower part of a valve housing.

[0063] In the valve mechanism described above, an enlarged part is formed at the lower end of the movable valve body, so that the enlarged part serves as a valve seat that partitions the valve chamber. The opening and closing (ON operation and OFF operation) of the valve is performed by the ascent and descent of the movable valve body.

[0064] The valve housing has an internal space formed in the upper part thereof. This internal space is separated vertically by a partition to form two chambers: an upper internal chamber and a lower internal chamber.

[0065] An extended portion of the movable valve body is fixed by being passed through the partition.

[0066] The housing side walls are provided with a first operating air opening, which opens into the upper inner chamber, and an opening in the lower inner chamber.

[0067] In the suck back type intermittent coating device having the above described configuration, a heat-resistant displacement sensor is provided on the top wall of the housing. The sensing part of this heat-resistant displacement sensor is provided so as to face the distal end of the extended portion of the movable valve body.

[0068] The detection signal from the displacement sensor is inputted to the sequence controller of the computer, and the sequence control described below is performed. A coating setting time T1 corresponding to a coating state is set.

[0069] An uncoating setting time T2 corresponding to an uncoating state is set. The start of the coating section is determined from when the detection signal from the displacement sensor indicates the starting point of the valve opening (ON operation) position of the movable valve body.

[0070] After this, the solenoid valve ON operation signal is continued for the coating setting time T1. The solenoid valve ON operation signal ends at the elapse of the coating setting time T1, and is changed to the solenoid valve OFF operation signal. The start of the uncoating section is determined from when the detection signal from the displacement sensor indicates the starting point of the valve closing (OFF operation) position of the movable valve body.

[0071] After this, outputting of the solenoid valve OFF operation signal is continued during the coating setting time T2.

[0072] The solenoid valve OFF operation signal is ended at the elapse of the coating setting time T2, and is changed to the solenoid valve ON operation signal.

[0073] By detecting how long it takes for the movable valve body of the valve mechanism to go up and down, the operating state of the ON operation and OFF operation of the valve mechanism are remotely confirmed.

[Embodiments]

[0074] The present invention will now be described in detail based on the working examples shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0075] A method for remotely confirming the coating state (coating position, coating length, etc.) of a hot melt adhesive HM on a base material W traveling along the coating line will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

[0076] The suck back intermittent coating system is formed with the suck back type intermittent coating device 1 and the control device 10.

[0077] The suck back type intermittent coating device 1 is comprised of a suck back valve mechanism 2, a valve manipulating mechanism 3 for manipulating the up and down motions of the movable valve body 20 of the suck back valve mechanism 2, and a solenoid valve 4 for controlling the operation of the valve manipulating mechanism 3. The control device 10 inputs in itself from an encoder 9 a pulse signal Sp indicative of the traveling state (travel speed, etc.) of the base material W traveling along the coating line and outputs an electrical command Sg to the solenoid valve 4.

[0078] A displacement sensor 5 is provided for detecting the displacement of the movable valve body 20 of the suck back valve mechanism 2.

[0079] A detection signal S3 from the displacement sensor is inputted to the control device 10.

[0080] The control device 10 is equipped with a computer controller having a function of setting and displaying the ON and OFF operations, a touch panel, and the like. In FIG. 1, EP is a power supply.

[0081] The pulse signal Sp indicative of the travel state (traveling speed, etc.) of the base material W traveling along the coating line is inputted from the encoder 9 to the computer controller of the control device 10; and the electrical command Sg is outputted from the computer controller of the control device 10 to the solenoid valve 4, so that the valve manipulating mechanism 3 is controlled by the solenoid valve 4.

[0082] Furthermore, an operation display 6 is provided to display the control state from the computer controller.

[0083] The computer controller of the control device 10 has a feedback function in which a correction signal is imparted to the operation of the solenoid valve by storing the amount of lag in the air drive with respect to the suck back valve mechanism 2 in the record of the settings (coating section setting, coating start position setting, etc.).

[0084] Thus, even when it is far away from the production line, conducting of confirmation and tally of the operation of a gun module being operated is possible.

[0085] The suck back valve mechanism 2 and the valve manipulating mechanism 3 will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2, as a specific working example of the suck back type intermittent coating device 1.

[0086] In this suck back type intermittent coating device 1, the suck back valve mechanism 2, which provides a suck back effect, is disposed in the interior of a valve housing 11.

[0087] The suck back valve mechanism 2 is configured so that, with an enlarged part 21 formed at the lower end of the movable valve body 20, valve opening and closing (ON and OFF operation) made by the up and down motion of the movable valve body 20 from and toward a valve seat 22 that partitions the valve chamber 23 is accomplished. An adhesive supply port 17 is formed so that it opens the valve chamber 23, and an adhesive (hot melt adhesive HM) is supplied into the valve chamber 23.

[0088] Next, the valve manipulating mechanism 3 will be described. An internal space 13 is, as seen from FIG. 2, formed in the upper part of the valve housing 11, and this internal space 13 is vertically partitioned by a partition 14 to form two chambers: an upper inner chamber 13A and a lower inner chamber 13B.

[0089] An extended portion 20A of the movable valve member 20 passes through the partition 14 and is fixed.

[0090] The side walls of the valve housing 11 is provided with a first operating air opening 15 that opens into the upper inner chamber 3A, and a second operating air opening 16 in the lower inner chamber 3B.

[0091] A five-way valve 3 a for selectively supplying operating air is provided to the first operating air opening 15 and the second operating air opening 16.

[0092] The heat-resistant displacement sensor 5 is provided on the top wall of the housing 11 so that its sensing part faces the extended portion 20 A of the movable valve body 20.

[0093] In FIG. 2, 25 is a coating head that includes a hot melt supply passage 26 and a hot melt coating slit 27.

[0094] The five-way valve 3a of the valve manipulating mechanism 3 is manipulated by the solenoid valve 4.

[0095] The reference numeral 10 is a computer in an operation management component. The computer 10 is equipped with a sequence control 30 that functions to input thereinto the displacement detection signal S3 from the displacement sensor 5 and to output the electromagnetic operation signal Sg to the solenoid valve 4. The computer further functions to input therein a base material travel information (pulse input) Se from the encoder 9, to output an operation confirmation/warning signal Sp to a warning device, an operating state display device 40, etc., and to perform a remote control/remote confirmation of the coating position and coating length, an operation confirmation, an operation tallying, a confirmation of the production status, and so forth.

[0096] The operation of the sequence control 30 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7.

TABLE-US-00001 Start operation Step 1 Initial setting SG-OFF operation signal: Sgb generation Initial setting time = T0 Step 2 Solenoid valve OFF operation Step 3 Initial setting time T0 elapsed Step 4 SG-ON operation signal: Sga generation Step 5 Start of descent of movable valve body Step 6 Movable valve body downward position: ON operating position . . . Detection position signal Sa . . . Step 7 ON operation setting time T1 elapsed Step 8 SG-OFF operation signal: Sgb generation Step 9 Start of ascent of movable valve body Step 10 Movable valve body upward position: OFF operation position . . . Detection position signal Sb . . . Step 11 OFF operation setting time T2 elapsed Operation is then repeated until a stop signal is received. . . . Stop operation

[0097] Next, the operation of the solenoid valve 4 will be described.

[0098] FIG. 5 shows the start of the generation of the SG-ON operation signal Sga, and it also shows that the movable valve body 20 starts moving downward when operating air is supplied to the upper inner chamber 13A and operating air is drawn into the lower inner chamber 13B, that is, the start of descent of the movable valve body from the upward position of the closing (OFF operation) of the movable valve body to the downward position of the opening (ON operation) of the movable valve body.

[0099] FIG. 6 shows the start of the generation of the SG-OFF operation signal Sgb, and it also shows that the movable valve body 20 starts moving upward when operating air is supplied to the lower inner chamber 13B and operating air is drawn into the upper inner chamber 13A, that is, the start of ascent of the movable valve body from the downward position of the opening (ON operation) of the movable valve body to the upward position of the closing (OFF operation) of the movable valve body.

[0100] In the computer 30 of the control device 10, the sequence control inputs the displacement detection signal S3 from the displacement sensor 5, determines this signal to be either a detection position signal S3a indicative of the movable valve body downward position (ON operation position) or a detection position signal S3b indicative of the movable valve body upward position (OFF operation position), and sequentially controls the operation of the solenoid valve 4, and inputs base material travel information (pulse input) Se from the encoder 9, so that the coating state on the coating base material is remotely confirmed, thereby outputting an operation confirmation/warning signal Sp to a warning device/operating state display device 40, and performing remote control/remote confirmation of the coating position and coating length, operation confirmation, operation tallying, and confirmation of the production status. Therefore, the present invention allows a suck back type intermittent coating system to be operated by remote control and eliminates the need to visually check the coating surface in a conventional system.

[0101] The computer 30 is equipped with an up-down operation confirmation and warning component 40 for the movable valve body 20.

[0102] As seen from FIGS. 6 and 7, the up-down operation confirmation and warning component 40 for the movable valve body is constituted by a calculating function 41 for calculating the movable valve body descent time Δt.sub.1, a calculating function 42 for calculating the movable valve body ascent time Δt.sub.2, a calculating function 43 for determining the allowable range of the movable valve body descent time Δt.sub.1, and a calculating function 44 for determining the allowable range of the movable valve body ascent time Δt.sub.2.

[0103] The calculating function 41 calculates the movable valve body descent time Δt.sub.1 calculates how long it takes from the generation of the SG-ON operation signal Sga to the generation of the detection position signal Sa, as shown in FIG. 7a.

[0104] The calculating function 42 calculates the movable valve body ascent time Δt.sub.2 calculates how long it takes from the generation of the SG-OFF operation signal Sgb to the generation of the detection position signal Sa, as shown in FIG. 7b.

[0105] The calculating function 43 determines the allowable range of the movable valve body descent time Δta determines whether the inputted movable valve body descent time Δta is normal or abnormal, using a setting reference value Δtas±10% as the allowable range.

[0106] The calculating function 44 determines the allowable range of the movable valve body ascent time Δtb determines whether the inputted movable valve body ascent time Δtb is normal or abnormal, using a setting reference value Δtbs±10% as the allowable range.

[0107] Based on the determination result, a normal signal Sp or an abnormal signal Sq is generated and a normal display 45 or an abnormality warning 46 is produced.

[0108] The calculating function 41 for calculating the movable valve body descent time Δta and the calculating function 42 for calculating the movable valve body ascent time Δtb may use the timer function of the computer. That is, the input of the SG-ON operation signal Sga causes the timer mechanism to calculate the movable valve body descent time Δta by means of the count start, the number of picoseconds tallied, and the count stop by input of the detection position signal Sa.

[0109] The operating state of the ON and OFF operations of the valve mechanism is thus remotely checked by detecting how long it takes for the movable valve body of the valve mechanism to ascend descend.

[0110] The numerical values in specific working examples of the present invention are listed below, merely for the sake of reference, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0111] ON operation setting time T1=0.03 seconds

[0112] OFF operation setting time T2=0.04 seconds

[0113] Movable valve body descent time Δt.sub.1=0.003 seconds

[0114] Movable valve body ascent time Δt.sub.2=0.004 seconds [0115] Difference in head of movable valve body=1.0 mm [0116] Travel speed of coating base material=100 meters/minute [0117] Coating length=50 mm [0118] Uncoating length=50 mm

[0119] On remotely checking the operating state of the ON and OFF operation of the valve mechanism by detecting how long it takes the movable valve body of the valve mechanism to move up and down, the allowable ranges are set as follows:

[0120] Moving valve body descent time Δt.sub.1=0.003 sec±0.0005 sec

[0121] Moving valve body ascent time Δt.sub.2=0.004 sec±0.0005 sec

[0122] As shown in FIG. 1, an operating state display device 40 is provided for the control device 10.

[0123] The operating state display device 40 is equipped with an ON operation display (blue light on) 41, an OFF operation display (yellow light on) 42, a regular operation display (white light on) 43, and an abnormality display (flashing red light) 44. As shown in FIG. 8, the computer 30 of the control device 10 is equipped with an operation remote monitoring and warning component 50.

[0124] The operation remote monitoring and warning component 50 is configured to function as: [0125] an A timer means 51 for measuring the duration of the ON operation display, [0126] a B timer means 52 for measuring the duration of the OFF operation display, [0127] an A determination means 53 for determining whether the numerical value of the duration A produced by the A timer means is within a set value, [0128] a B determination means 54 for determining whether the numerical value of the duration B produced by the B timer means is within a set value, and [0129] a warning means 55 for showing a normal display when the determination result of the A determination means indicates normal and the determination result of the B determination means indicates normal, and showing an abnormality warning display when the determination result of the A determination means indicates abnormal and when the determination result of the B determination means indicates abnormal.

[0130] On the basis of the generation of the displacement sensor ON detection position signal Sa, the ON operation display (blue light) 41 operates a blue light display for detecting the blue light display.

[0131] On the basis of the generation of the displacement sensor OFF detection position signal Sb, the OFF operation display (yellow light) 42 operates a yellow light display that performs the yellow light display.

[0132] The blue light display and the yellow light display are alternately flashed to determine that the operation is normal, and a regular operation display 43 (white light) operates to display a normal operation through the regular operation display (white light).

[0133] When the A determination means 53 determines that the numerical value of the duration of the ON operation display (blue light display) is outside of the set value range, the warning means 55 indicating an abnormality (flashing red display) causes an abnormality display (flashing red light) 44, and an abnormality display and warning (flashing red light, alarm, warning buzzer) is performed.

[0134] When the B determination means 54 determines that the numerical value of the duration of the OFF operation display (yellow light display) is outside of the set value range, the abnormality display (flashing red light) 44 operates to cause an abnormality display and warning (flashing red light display, alarm, warning buzzer) is performed.

[0135] As seen from the above, the present invention allows a suck back type intermittent coating system to be operated by remote control, and eliminates the need to visually check the coating surface in a conventional system.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

[0136] In the intermittent coating that includes a suck back type intermittent coating device, the ON and OFF operation of the valve mechanism is performed by remote control under sequence control of a computer on the basis of the detection of the distal end position of a movable valve body extended portion by a displacement sensor. Therefore, confirming and setting the coating position and coating length can be ensured by remote control, which means that this invention contributes to the development of industries that requires a process to intermittently coat an adhesive to a coating base material, such as in the manufacture of disposable diapers.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0137] 1 Suck back type intermittent coating device [0138] 2 Suck back valve mechanism [0139] 3 Valve manipulating mechanism 3 a Five-way valve [0140] 4 Solenoid valve [0141] 5 Displacement sensor [0142] 10 Control device [0143] 20 Movable valve body [0144] 30 Computer [0145] 31 Sequence control