KR100993345B1 - Inkjet printer and method for printing using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An inkjet printer and a printing method using the same are disclosed. An inkjet printer including a fixed head in which a plurality of nozzles are formed in one direction, a moving head moving in one direction, and a stage moving toward the fixed head, on which a to-be-printed object is seated, prints a plurality of directional print patterns with a certain quality. It is possible to form uniform printed wiring.

Inkjet Printers, Print Quality, Moving Heads, Fixed Heads

Description

Inkjet printer and method for printing using same

The present invention relates to an inkjet printer and a printing method using the same.

The inkjet process is emerging as a new printing technology due to several advantages such as cost reduction, environmentally friendly technology and process simplification. In particular, various applications have been attempted as a method of reducing time and costs by replacing the existing photo process in the electronic industry.

The application of the inkjet method to the electronics industry has been mainly focused on spraying ink to be applied through an inkjet head, but recently, the development of a process for forming wiring has been chiefly.

The wiring forming method using the inkjet method was initially used to form relatively large wirings of 100 µm or more, but recently, with the development of technology, its use has also been attempted to fine wirings of 20 µm or less. Accordingly, securing the accuracy of the printing pattern in the fine wiring process has been a major problem of the wiring forming method using the inkjet method.

In detail, one inkjet head has 128 to 508 fine nozzles. In addition, the printing of each nozzle of the single head has an error of about 5% due to various causes (Drop size variation, Jet Straightness, Drop velocity variation, Crosstalk, etc.). In addition, the use of multiheads is generalized to increase printing speed, and errors due to deviations between the heads in the multiheads are also generated.

In particular, such an error causes a difference in the quality of the printing pattern according to the printing direction. This is because in the conventional inkjet method, since printing is performed only in one axial direction, a difference in printing accuracy occurs between a wiring formed in accordance with the printing direction and a wiring which is not.

Specifically, since the inkjet printer according to the prior art prints when the head moves only in one predetermined direction, the process of repeatedly printing the next row by moving sideways after printing one row is performed. Accordingly, the printing pattern in the direction in which the head moves is formed by successive injections of ink from the same nozzle along the direction of the pattern. Therefore, the influence which the error which arises between nozzles has little influence on the precision of a printing pattern. On the other hand, the printing pattern formed in the direction different from the moving direction of the head is formed by the ink that the different nozzles intermittently spray each time the head passes the position where the pattern is to be formed. Therefore, since the error between the nozzles described above leads directly to the error of the printing pattern, a precision difference occurs according to the direction of the printing pattern.

In particular, since the printed pattern formed in a direction different from the moving direction of the head becomes thick due to an error, the printed wiring is also formed thick, causing a problem of contact with adjacent pads.

The present invention provides an inkjet printer for printing a plurality of directional printing patterns with a constant quality and a printing method using the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an inkjet printer including a fixed head in which a plurality of nozzles are formed in one direction, a moving head moving in one direction, and a stage moving toward the fixed head and on which a to-be-printed object is seated.

At this time, the stage may be characterized in that the object is rotated to align.

In addition, the fixed head and the moving head includes a head support is installed, the head support may be characterized in that the object is rotated to align.

At this time, the position detection means for measuring the position of the object to be seated on the stage may be further included.

In this case, the position detecting means may include an infrared light emitting unit installed at one side of the stage, and an infrared light receiving unit installed at the other side of the stage and facing the infrared light emitting unit.

On the other hand, the fixed head is composed of a plurality of unit heads, the plurality of unit heads may be characterized in that arranged in a zigzag in one direction.

The moving head can also be reversed in one direction.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, in the printing method using a fixed head located in the direction in which the to-be-printed object is moved and a moving head moving in one direction with respect to the fixed head, the print data is X-direction print data and Y-direction print data Dividing by, forming an X-direction print pattern on the substrate according to the X-direction print data while moving the moving head in the X direction with respect to the substrate, and printing the Y-direction while moving the substrate in the Y direction with respect to the fixed head. There is provided a printing method comprising forming a Y-direction printing pattern on a to-be-printed object in accordance with data.

In this case, the forming of the Y-direction printing pattern may include moving the to-be-printed object corresponding to the width of the print area of the moving head.

In addition, the method may further include aligning the position of the object with the X direction or the Y direction.

The method may further include inverting the moving head with respect to the X direction after forming the X direction printing pattern.

According to the present invention, it is possible to print a plurality of directional printing patterns with a certain quality, thereby forming a uniform printed wiring.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all transformations, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that the detailed description of the related known technology may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of an inkjet printer and a printing method using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in the description with reference to the accompanying drawings, the same or corresponding components are given the same reference numerals. And duplicate description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a plan view showing an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a plan view showing a fixed head composed of a plurality of unit heads in the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a fixed head 10, a moving head 20, and a stage 30 are shown.

Inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention is a fixed head 10, a moving head 20 and a moving head 20 moving in one direction is formed a plurality of nozzles in one direction, the to-be-printed 40 Including the stage 30 is seated, it is possible to print a print pattern having a plurality of directional with a certain quality.

The fixed head 10 uniformly forms a printing pattern arranged in the moving direction of the object 40. In order to form a print pattern in one direction among the print patterns having a plurality of directions, the to-be-printed object 40 is moved in the direction of the fixed head 10 and the nozzle 12 of the fixed head 10 is connected to the to-be-printed object 40. Ink may be sprayed to form a print pattern arranged in the moving direction of the object 40. At this time, since the moving direction of the to-be-printed object 40 is kept constant, the nozzle 12 forming the printed pattern is not changed in the process of forming the printed pattern. As a result, the print pattern is formed by successive injections of the same nozzle, so that the error between the nozzles does not affect the accuracy of the print pattern, thereby forming a print pattern with uniform accuracy.

The fixed head 10 may have a plurality of nozzles 12 arranged in a predetermined direction to form several printing patterns at one time. In this embodiment, the nozzles arranged in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the to-be-printed object 40 are formed in the fixed head 10 having a length corresponding to the length of one side of the to-be-printed object 40. Therefore, it is possible to print on the entire surface of the object 40 at one time.

In this case, the fixed head 10 may be formed of a plurality of unit heads 15, and the plurality of unit heads 15 may be arranged in a zigzag in a direction in which the nozzles 12 are arranged.

The fixed head 10 may be configured as one head, but may be configured as a plurality of heads. However, when the fixed head 10 is formed of a plurality of unit heads 15, the unit heads 15 are arranged in a row, and the last nozzles of the front unit heads 15 and the two adjacent unit heads 15 are connected. The distance between the first nozzles of the next unit head 15 may be larger than the nozzle distance of each unit head 15. Then, nozzle intervals formed along the adjacent unit heads 15 may vary. At this time, as shown in Figure 3, by arranging a plurality of unit heads 15 in a zigzag it is possible to obtain a constant nozzle interval as a whole of the fixed head (10).

The moving head 20 uniformly forms a printing pattern arranged in the direction in which the nozzle 12 of the fixed head 10 is formed. In order to form a print pattern in one direction in which the nozzle 12 of the fixed head 10 is formed among the print patterns having a plurality of directions, the to-be-printed object is moved while moving the moving head 20 in one direction with respect to the to-be-printed object 40. 40 may be sprayed with ink to form a printing pattern in one direction. At this time, since the moving direction of the moving head 20 is kept constant, the nozzle for forming the print pattern is not changed in the process of forming the print pattern. As a result, the print pattern is formed by successive injections of the same nozzle, so that the error between the nozzles does not affect the accuracy of the print pattern, thereby forming a print pattern with uniform accuracy.

The moving head 20 of the present embodiment moves in the forming direction of the nozzle 12 which is arranged perpendicularly to the direction in which the to-be-printed object 40 moves to form a printed pattern. Accordingly, the inkjet printer according to the present embodiment can uniformly form orthogonal printing patterns without being affected by the error between the nozzles. However, the inkjet printer of the present invention is not limited to a printing pattern orthogonal to each other, and it is also possible to form printing patterns in various directions depending on the setting of the moving direction of the to-be-printed object 40 and the moving direction of the moving head 20. .

On the other hand, the moving head 20 can be reversed to reverse to the direction in which it was moved. The moving head 20 may form a print pattern across the to-be-printed object 40 and then form a print pattern even in a process of returning the printed object 40 to increase printing efficiency. At this time, the printing pattern may be formed even in the return process by rotating the moving head 20 in reverse so that the front surface of the moving head 20 on which printing is performed faces the direction in which the moving head 20 returns. However, when the moving head 20 is capable of double-sided printing from the front and the rear, the printing pattern may be formed while the moving head 20 is returned without being reversed.

The stage 30 mounts the to-be-printed object 40 in the printing process and moves the to-be-printed object 40 to the fixed head 10. Referring to FIG. 1, the stage 30 supports the to-be-printed object 40 at the time of printing by seating the to-be-printed object 40 on the upper surface, and is movable toward the fixed head 10 so as to move the to-be-printed object 40. It can be moved to the fixed head (10). At this time, as described above, the printing pattern of uniform quality can be obtained by matching the direction of the printing pattern with the moving direction of the printed object 40.

In addition, the stage 30 may be rotated to align the object 40. Since the printing pattern is formed along the moving direction of the to-be-printed object 40, the to-be-printed object 40 should be placed so that the moving direction and the printing pattern direction to be formed coincide. Therefore, alignment is necessary when the to-be-printed object 40 is laid at an angle. At this time, the stage 30 may rotate to align the movement direction of the to-be-printed material 40 and the direction of the printed pattern to be formed, in order to align the to-be-printed material 40. Referring to FIG. 1, the inkjet printer of the present embodiment is capable of aligning the to-be-printed object 40 as a stage 30 including a plate that is movable and laterally rotated toward the fixed head 10.

In addition, the head support 70 on which the fixed head 10 and the moving head 20 are installed may be rotated with respect to the stage 30 so that the object 40 is aligned. 2 is a plan view illustrating an inkjet printer including a head support 70 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the fixed head 10 is fixed to the head support 70, and the moving head 20 is attached to the conveying body 72 moving along the LM guide 74 provided in the head support 70. Combined, it is movable in one direction with respect to the fixed head (10). At this time, the head support unit 70 on which the fixed head 10 and the moving head 20 are installed can be rotated with respect to the stage 30. Therefore, in order to align the to-be-printed object 40, the moving direction of the to-be-printed material 40 may be aligned with the direction of the printed pattern to be formed.

On the other hand, the inkjet printer may further include a position detecting means 50 for measuring the position of the to-be-printed body 40 seated on the stage 30 for the alignment of the to-be-printed material 40. In order to easily perform the alignment of the above-described object 40, it is necessary to grasp the position of the object 40 seated on the stage 30.

In this case, the position detecting unit 50 may include an infrared light emitting unit 52 installed at one side of the stage 30 and an infrared light receiving unit 54 installed at the other side of the stage 30 and facing the infrared light emitting unit 52. Can be.

4 is a plan view showing the position detection means 50 of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, the inkjet printer of the present embodiment is installed to face the infrared light emitting unit 52 and the infrared light receiving unit 54 along the circumference of the upper surface of the stage 30 on which the to-be-printed body 40 is seated. It became. Accordingly, since the infrared rays do not reach the light receiving portion 54, the position of the to-be-printed object 40 is easily grasped.

The position detecting means 50 may be configured in various ways. Any method that can be modified by those skilled in the art may be included, such as reading an image using an image pickup means provided on the stage 30 or reading a position by changing a pressure by arranging piezoelectric elements at a predetermined interval on the stage 30.

Next, look at the printing method using an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flow chart showing a printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figures 6 to 7 is a plan view showing each step of the printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A printing method using an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a fixed head 10 positioned in a direction in which a to-be-printed object 40 moves and a moving head 20 moving in one direction with respect to the fixed head 10. Thus, the moving direction of the to-be-printed object 40 or the moving head 20 coincides with the printed pattern direction formed.

First, the printing method of this embodiment divides the print data into X-direction print data and Y-direction print data (S110). In order to divide and print the print pattern by using the moving head 20 forming the print pattern in one direction and the fixed head 10 forming the print pattern in the other direction, the print data is transferred to the moving head 20 and the fixed head 10. The data is divided into one direction data and the other direction along the printing pattern formation direction. At this time, the XY coordinates of the print data are set by setting the one direction and the other direction as the coordinate axes and setting the respective directions to the X and Y directions. The printing method of the present embodiment uses the moving head 20 and the fixed head 10 to form a printing pattern that is orthogonal, and thus uses an orthogonal XY coordinate system.

Next, while moving the moving head 20 in the X direction with respect to the to-be-printed object 40, the X-direction printing pattern 60 is formed in the to-be-printed object 40 according to X-direction print data (S120). Referring to FIG. 6, while the moving head 20 moves in the X direction with respect to the to-be-printed object 40, ink is sprayed onto the to-be-printed object 40 according to the X-direction print data to form the print pattern 60 in the X direction. do. Accordingly, since the nozzles forming the print pattern are not changed, the print pattern is made by successive injections of the same nozzle, so that the error between the nozzles does not affect the accuracy of the print pattern, thereby forming a print pattern with uniform accuracy.

Then, while moving the to-be-printed object 40 in the Y direction with respect to the fixed head 10, the Y-direction print pattern 65 is formed in the to-be-printed object 40 according to the Y-direction print data (S130). Referring to FIG. 6, after the X-direction print pattern 60 is formed, the to-be-printed material 40 moves in the Y direction toward the fixed head 10, and the fixed head 10 sprays ink onto the to-be-printed material 40. As a result, a print pattern 65 arranged in the Y direction is formed. Accordingly, since the nozzles forming the print pattern are not changed, the print pattern is made by successive injections of the same nozzle, so that the error between the nozzles does not affect the accuracy of the print pattern, thereby forming a print pattern with uniform accuracy.

In the present embodiment, a method of forming the Y-direction print pattern 65 after the formation of the X-direction print pattern 60 is presented. However, the method of forming the X-direction print pattern 60 after the Y-direction print pattern 65 is also possible. Do.

At this time, the to-be-printed object 40 is moved as much as the width | variety of the printing area of the moving head 20. FIG. Accordingly, after the Y-direction print pattern 65 is formed, the moving head 20 may form the X-direction print pattern 60 in the next region directly connected to the region previously printed in the X-direction. Therefore, the X-direction print pattern 60 and the Y-direction print pattern 65 are continuously formed.

On the other hand, after the X-direction printing pattern 60 is formed, the moving head 20 can be reversed with respect to the X-direction so that fast printing can be performed. As described above, the printing pattern may be formed even when the moving head 20 returns using the invertible moving head 20. To this end, when the moving head 20 forms the Y-direction print pattern 65 that does not participate in printing, the moving head 20 is previously turned in the opposite direction to the X-direction so that the Y-direction print pattern 65 is formed. Immediately afterwards, the X-direction printing pattern 60 can be formed.

In addition, when the to-be-printed object 40 is not placed correctly and the print pattern direction to be printed on the to-be-printed object 40 does not coincide with the X direction or the Y direction in which the moving head 20 and the fixed head 10 are to be printed. Before the printing pattern is formed, the position of the printed object 40 is aligned with the X direction or the Y direction. As described above, the position of the to-be-printed object 40 is made by the position detecting means, and the alignment of the position may be made by the rotatable stage 30 or the rotatable head support 70.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. It will be understood that the invention may be varied and varied without departing from the scope of the invention.

Many embodiments other than the above-described embodiments are within the scope of the claims of the present invention.

1 is a plan view showing an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a plan view showing an inkjet printer according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a plan view showing a fixed head consisting of a plurality of unit heads in the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a plan view showing a position detection means of the inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flow chart showing a printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 to 7 is a plan view showing each step of the printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

10: fixed head

12: fixed head nozzle

15: unit head

20: moving head

30: stage

40: Imprint

70: head support

Claims (11)

A fixed head in which a plurality of nozzles are formed in one direction; A stage on which the printed matter printed by the fixed head is seated, and moving toward the fixed head such that the printed matter is moved toward the fixed head side; And And a moving head moving in the one direction with respect to the stage to form the print pattern in the one direction on the to-be-printed object. The method of claim 1, The stage, And rotating the seated object so that the object is aligned with respect to the fixed head. The method of claim 1, A head support on which the fixed head and the moving head are installed, And the head support portion rotates the fixed head and the moving head so that the fixed head and the moving head are aligned with respect to the to-be-printed object. The method according to claim 2 or 3, And a position detecting means for measuring a position of the to-be-printed object seated on the stage. The method of claim 4, wherein The position detecting means, An infrared light emitting unit installed at one side of the stage; And It is installed on the other side of the stage, the inkjet printer, characterized in that it comprises an infrared light receiving portion facing the infrared light emitting portion. The method of claim 1, The fixed head, And a plurality of unit heads, wherein the plurality of unit heads are arranged in a zigzag direction in the one direction. The method of claim 1, And the movable head is invertible with respect to the one direction. In the printing method using a fixed head located in the direction in which the object to be moved and a moving head moving in one direction with respect to the fixed head, Dividing the print data into X-direction print data and Y-direction print data; Forming an X-direction printing pattern on the to-be-printed object in accordance with the X-direction print data while moving the moving head in the X-direction with respect to the to-be-printed object; And And forming a Y-direction print pattern on the to-be-printed object in accordance with the Y-direction print data while moving the to-be-printed object in the Y direction with respect to the fixed head. The method of claim 8, Forming the Y-direction printing pattern, And moving the to-be-printed object corresponding to the width of the print area of the moving head. The method of claim 8, And arranging the position of the to-be-printed object in the X or Y direction. The method of claim 8, After the forming of the X-direction printing pattern, And inverting the moving head with respect to the X direction.

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