JP2000235269A - Scanning type plotting device and its medium loading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use a roll sheet type medium, nevertheless, to facilitate the loading operation of the medium. SOLUTION: A scanning optical system 3 is arranged in between a loader 4 for feeding a roll sheet type medium M and an unloader 5 for collecting the medium M. A plotting table 12 for placing the medium M is made slidable toward the loader 4 and toward an unloader 5 by sliding means 12A, 14 and 14A while passing just under the scanning optical system 3. A guiding/fixing means 17 for fixing the leading end of the medium M is arranged on the plotting table 12, and in the case of loading the medium M, the plotting table 12 is moved toward the loader 4, then, the medium M set on the loader 4 is pulled out and fixed by the guiding/fixing means 17, then, the plotting table 12 is moved toward the unloader 5. And the medium M is released from the means 17, thereafter, the medium M is set on the unloader 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a scanning type drawing apparatus for drawing a desired image on a medium by scanning the medium with a laser beam and a method for loading the medium. The present invention relates to a scanning type drawing apparatus such as a laser photoplotter and a laser printer and a method for loading a medium therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a scanning type drawing apparatus such as a printed board exposure apparatus performs drawing by scanning a cut sheet-shaped medium, that is, a substrate material for a printed wiring board, with a laser beam. Was. This substrate material is obtained by forming a conductive thin film on an insulating layer and coating the conductive thin film with a photoresist. The scanning type drawing apparatus can expose a desired substrate pattern to the photoresist layer by scanning such a substrate material with a laser beam. The substrate material having been subjected to the exposure processing is removed from the scanning type drawing apparatus, and further subjected to a photo-etching processing to manufacture a substrate.

FIG. 16 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of a conventional scanning type drawing apparatus. This scanning type drawing apparatus comprises a light source 100 and an exposure optical system 10 fixedly provided.
1 and a drawing table 102 slidably disposed in the X direction in the drawing.

A laser beam emitted from a light source 100 forms a scanning line S in a Y direction orthogonal to the X direction on a drawing surface 103 on a drawing table 102 via an exposure optical system 101. Note that the operator or robot places and fixes a substrate material to be drawn on the drawing surface 103 of the drawing table 102 in advance.

[0005] The laser light emitted from the light source 100 is guided to the exposure optical system 101 and modulated, after which the drawing surface 10
3, the substrate material placed on the drawing surface 103 is scanned to expose the photoresist layer of the substrate material. The scanning by the laser beam is performed in the Y direction along the scanning line S. While the one scan is being performed, the drawing table 102 is moved by one scan width in the X direction (sub-scan direction) in FIG. Can be.

[0007] After repeating this scanning and drawing on the entire drawing surface 103, the operator or robot releases the substrate material from the drawing table 102 and picks it up. A printed wiring board is manufactured by subjecting the substrate material after the exposure processing to a photoetching processing.

[0007]

However, in the above-described conventional scanning type drawing apparatus, since a cut sheet-shaped medium is used, the medium is stored in a drawing table of the scanning type drawing apparatus using a robot or the like. After placing and scanning, the processed medium must be removed from its drawing table.

If a roll sheet-shaped medium is used instead of such a cut sheet-shaped medium, the above-described loading and unloading steps become unnecessary, and improvement in processing efficiency can be expected. Therefore, in order to use this roll sheet medium, a loader for sending out the medium and an unloader for collecting the medium are provided, and the medium is extended between the loader and the unloader so that the medium passes through the scanning position by the scanning optical system. And a method of continuously drawing by scanning the medium sent from the loader by a scanning optical system.

However, in this method, when loading the medium before starting operation, the medium set in the loader is passed through a predetermined path of the scanning optical system, and
It must be pulled out to the unloader side and fixed. The scanning optical system is composed of a laser light source and an optical path of laser light densely arranged, and various devices are also arranged around the scanning optical system. Passing through the passage is difficult.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a scanning type drawing apparatus capable of easily loading a medium while using the above-mentioned roll sheet medium, and a method for loading the medium.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the scanning type drawing apparatus according to the present invention employs the following configuration.

That is, the scanning type drawing apparatus according to claim 1 is
Storing a flexible sheet-shaped medium in a roll shape while storing the medium, and a loader that sends out the medium;
An unloader that collects a medium sent from the loader, a scanning optical system that scans a medium between the loader and the unloader by scanning a laser beam, and a drawing surface that has a drawing surface on which the medium is placed. A table, guide fixing means connected to the drawing table and fixing the medium when loading the medium, and the drawing table,
And a slide means for sliding the drawing table to the loader side and the unloader side so as to pass through the position of the scanning optical system.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the scanning type drawing apparatus is specified by providing a guide clamp for holding and fixing a medium as the guide fixing means in the first aspect.
The guide clamp may include a pair of press contact surfaces that press against each other by elastic force, and the operator may manually release the pair of press contact surfaces. The guide clamp may be operated by an actuator such as an air cylinder, a linear motion motor, or a magnet. The pressure contact surface pair may be pressed / released.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the scanning type drawing apparatus, the guide and fixing means according to the first or second aspect is provided with a fixing claw which can fix the medium by pressing the medium against the drawing surface of the drawing table. , Specified.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scanning type drawing apparatus as the guide fixing means according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein a plurality of ventilation holes opened in the drawing surface of the drawing table and a negative pressure is applied to the ventilation holes. It is specified by providing a vacuum suction means to apply.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a scanning type drawing apparatus, wherein the slide means according to any one of the first to fourth aspects is fixed to the male screw portion extending in correspondence with the operation range of the drawing table, It is specified by including a female screw portion that is screwed with the male screw portion to form a ball screw, and a motor that drives the male screw portion to rotate.

Further, the medium loading method of the scanning type drawing apparatus according to the present invention employs the following procedure in order to solve the above problems.

That is, in the loading method of the scanning type drawing apparatus according to the sixth aspect, the drawing table of the scanning type drawing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects is moved to the loader side, and the loading table is moved to the loader. After setting the medium, pull out the medium, fix the front end of the medium by the guide fixing means of the drawing table, the drawing table,
Pass the position of the scanning optical system, move to the unloader side, release the medium from the guide fixing means, pull out the medium to the unloader side than the scanning optical system, the unloader The method is characterized in that the medium loading is performed by fixing the front end of the medium.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. <Structure of Scanning Drawing Apparatus> A scanning drawing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention uses a printed wiring board substrate material M (hereinafter referred to as a medium M) formed as a roll sheet as a drawing target medium.
Abbreviation). This medium M forms a metal thin film layer such as a copper foil on a flexible film-like insulating layer,
Further, the metal thin film layer is coated with a photoresist such as polyimide to form a sheet, and the sheet is wound into a roll.

The scanning drawing apparatus 1 includes an exposure apparatus 2 for exposing the medium M by scanning the medium M with a laser beam, a loader 4 for sending the medium M to the exposure apparatus 2, and a medium M on which the exposure processing is performed. And an unloader 5 for taking. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the scanning type drawing apparatus 1.
In FIG. 1, the side surface of the housing is omitted to explain the internal configuration of the apparatus.

The exposure apparatus 2 includes a scanning optical system 3 for scanning with a laser beam, a drawing table 12 which slides under the scanning optical system 3 with a medium M mounted thereon, and a drawing table 1
And an X-axis motor 14 for sliding the slider 2. A lower part of the drawing table 12 has a female thread 12A.
The female threaded portion 12A is provided with a male threaded portion 14A extending rightward in FIG.
And a large number of balls are screwed together to form a ball screw. Therefore, the drawing table 12 can be reciprocated in the left or right direction in FIG. 1 by the X-axis motor 14 rotating the male screw portion 14A in the forward or reverse direction. These X-axis motors 14,
The male screw portion 14A and the female screw portion 12A function as sliding means.

As will be described later, the drawing table 12 further includes a fixing claw 15 for fixing the medium M, a lift roller 16 for lifting the medium M, and a guide clamp 17 used for loading the medium M.

The loader 4 includes a supply roller 70 for winding the unused medium M, a feed roller pair 71 for feeding the medium M from the supply roller 70, and a medium M fed from the feed roller pair 71. It has a guide roller 72 for guiding, a pair of clamp rollers 73 capable of clamping the medium M guided by the guide roller 72, and a sensor 74 for detecting the state of the medium M. This clamp roller pair 73
Can take either a fixed state in which the medium M is clamped and fixed, or an open state in which the medium M is released. When the medium M is fed from the feed roller pair 71, the medium M forms a slack between the feed roller pair 71 and the clamp roller pair 73.

The unloader 5 includes a drive roller pair 80 for taking the medium M exposed by the exposure device 2 into the unloader 5, a guide roller 81 for guiding the medium M sent by the drive roller pair 80, A take-up roller 82 for taking up and storing the medium M guided by the guide roller 81, and a sensor 8 for detecting the state of the medium M
3,84. The driving roller pair 80 is in a transport state in which the medium M is transported by rotating the roller,
Alternatively, any one of a fixed state in which the medium M is fixed by fixing the roller can be taken.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the scanning type drawing apparatus 1. The main control unit 6 includes a drawing control unit 7 and a machine control unit 8
, And performs these controls. The machine control unit 8 includes a drawing control unit 7, an I / O 8A, and an X-axis control unit 1.
8 and a loader / unloader control unit 9.

The drawing control unit 7 includes an acousto-optic modulator (AO)
M) 30 controls the AOM 30 to modulate the laser light emitted from the laser light source 10. The laser light modulated by the AOM 30 scans the drawing table 12 as drawing light. The machine control unit 8 includes the X-axis control unit 1
The control of the X-axis motor 14 is performed via the 8 and the X-axis servo 19. The X-axis servo 19 adjusts the voltage applied to the X-axis motor 14 in accordance with the position of the drawing table 12 detected by a sensor (not shown). The slide can be performed with high accuracy at a specified predetermined speed.

The machine controller 8 controls the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 and the air cylinder solenoid valves 62 (A, B) via the I / O 8A. An air source (not shown) installed outside the scanning drawing apparatus 1 always supplies compressed air (air) to the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 and the air cylinder electromagnetic valves 62A and 62B. At the same time, air is supplied to a vacuum generating source 63 as a vacuum suction means. The vacuum generating source 63 generates vacuum by being driven by the supplied air, and supplies the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 with a negative pressure due to the vacuum.

The vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 is connected to the drawing table 12 through a tube, and can supply either air or vacuum to the drawing table 12 according to an instruction from the machine control unit 8. . The air cylinder solenoid valve 62A is connected to the fixed claw driving air cylinder 64 through a tube. The air cylinder solenoid valve 62B is connected to a lift roller drive air cylinder 65 through a tube.

The loader / unloader control section 9 is connected to the loader drive motor 75, the clamp roller pair control section 76, the unloader drive motor 85, and the drive roller pair control section 86, and controls these.

The loader drive motor 75 drives the supply roller 70 and the feed roller 71 of the loader 4 to
The medium M is paid out. The sensor 74 includes a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown), detects whether the medium M is located at a predetermined medium lower limit position, and sends the detection result to the loader / unloader control unit 9. The clamp roller pair control unit 76 controls the clamp roller pair 73,
The medium M is clamped and fixed, or the medium M is released.

The drive roller pair controller 86 includes the unloader 5
Is controlled, and the driving roller pair 80 is
The medium M is conveyed, or the medium M is fixed. The unloader drive motor 85 drives the take-up roller 82 of the unloader 5 to take up the medium M sent into the unloader 5. Upper limit sensor 83
Comprises a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown), detects whether the medium M is located at a predetermined medium upper limit position, and sends the detection result to the loader / unloader control unit 9. The lower limit sensor 84 includes a pair of a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown), is disposed below the upper limit sensor 83, detects whether the medium M is located at a predetermined medium lower limit position, and performs loader / unloader control. The detection result is sent to the unit 9.

(Scanning Optical System of Exposure Apparatus) FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the exposure apparatus 2. Hereinafter, the scanning optical system 3 of the exposure apparatus 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The exposure apparatus 2 includes a laser light source 10 and an optical table 11 which are fixedly provided, and a drawing table 12 which is slidably provided in the X direction in the drawing. Here, an argon laser is used as the light source 10, and the laser light emitted from the light source 10 is
A scanning line S in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction is formed on the drawing surface 13 on the drawing table 12 via the scanning optical system arranged in 1.

The laser light emitted from the light source 10 disposed below the optical bench 11 is reflected by mirrors 20 and 21 and passes through an optical path hole 11a formed in the optical bench 11, and
After being reflected by the mirror 22, the beam diameter is adjusted by the variable power lens system 23. This adjustment is performed to correct a change in the beam diameter due to the characteristics of the light source 10. The laser light transmitted through the variable power lens system 23 is reflected by a half mirror 24 as a light splitting unit, and is drawn by drawing light L ₁ (shown by a solid line in FIG. 3) and transmitted monitor light L ₂ (one point in FIG. 3). (Indicated by a chain line).

The drawing light L ₁ is bisected by the half mirror 25, and the reflected drawing light enters the beam separator 26 a, and the transmitted drawing light enters the beam separator 26 b via the mirror 27. Each beam separator 26
a and 26b have a function of further separating each drawing light into a plurality of lines. In the example shown here, each drawing light is 8
Although they are separated into books, they are shown by three lines in FIG. 3 for convenience of illustration.

Each of the separated drawing lights is applied to a mirror 28.
The beam intervals are narrowed by first reduction optical systems 29a and 29b composed of a pair of lens groups disposed with the lenses a and 28b interposed therebetween, and are incident on multi-channel AOMs 30a and 30b. Each of the AOMs 30a and 30b includes a plurality of modulation units that can be independently modulated, and independently modulates each drawing light. Each drawing light modulated by one AOM 30a directly enters the beam splitter 32, and each drawing light modulated by the other AOM 30b is reflected by the mirror 31,
The light enters the beam splitter 32. That is, both AOMs
The drawing light originating from the beam splitters 30a and 30b is
And then proceed on the same optical path.

After the combined drawing light is reflected by the mirror 33, the beam interval is reduced by the second reduction optical system 35 composed of a pair of lens groups disposed with the mirror 34 interposed therebetween. The light enters the rotator 36. The image rotator 36 adjusts the direction so that a plurality of parallel drawing lights are properly arranged on the drawing surface 13.

The monitor light L ₂ transmitted through the half mirror 24 is reflected by the mirror 50, passes through the monitor light reduction optical system 51 and the monitor light magnification adjusting optical system 52, and is reflected by the mirror 53. Between the rear group lens of the second reduction optical system 35 and the image rotator 36, the light is reflected by a mirror 54 disposed outside the optical path of the drawing light and merges with the drawing light.

The drawing light and monitor light emitted from the image rotator 36 are reflected by mirrors 37 and 38, pass through a collimating lens 39, are reflected by a mirror 40, and enter a polygon mirror 41. Polygon mirror 4
1 is a substantially octagonal prism shape in which eight side surfaces are reflection surfaces,
It rotates clockwise in FIG. 3 around the central axis of the prism, and reflects and deflects the drawing light and the monitor light simultaneously. Each reflection surface of the polygon mirror 41 corresponds to one scan. That is, eight scans are performed during one rotation of the polygon mirror 41.

The drawing light and monitor light reflected and deflected by the polygon mirror 41 are transmitted to an fθ lens 4 serving as a scanning lens.
2, the mirror 43 and the condenser lens 44
Through to the drawing surface 13. The mirror 45 is disposed outside the optical path of the drawing light, and reflects only the monitor light toward the mirror 46.

The drawing light travels straight and reaches the drawing surface 13 and scans the drawing surface 13. There are a plurality of drawing lights, which scan the drawing surface 13 in parallel with S in a state where they are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the scanning lines S. Therefore, while simultaneously drawing a plurality of dots (here, 16 dots) arranged in the sub-scanning direction (X direction in FIG. 3), scanning can be performed in the Y direction in FIG. Drawing becomes possible.

The drawing light turned on by the AOMs 30a and 30b reaches the drawing surface 13 and sensitizes a corresponding portion of the medium M placed on the drawing surface 13 to form dots. Since the drawing light turned off at 30b does not reach the drawing surface 13, the drawing surface 13
The corresponding part of the upper medium M is left unexposed. Therefore, the drawing control unit 7 shown in FIG. 2 sets the AOMs 30a and 30b to O based on the drawing data acquired from the main control unit 6.
By performing N / OFF, the image specified by the drawing data can be drawn on the medium M.

The monitor light separated from the drawing light by the mirror 45 is reflected by the mirror 46 and scans on the monitor scale 47. The monitor scale 47 is a transparent plate on the surface of which a large number of opaque lines are formed at equal pitches, and a monitor signal scans over the transparent plate, so that a pulse signal is generated from a light receiving element (not shown) that detects transmitted light. Is output. Since this pulse-like signal is generated according to the opaque portion and the transparent portion on the monitor scale 47, the number of pulses corresponds to the scanning distance, and the pulse period corresponds to the scanning speed. Therefore, the drawing controller 7 causes the drawing light to be generated by the pulse sent from the light receiving element.
It is possible to detect which position on the screen is being scanned.

During one scan, the drawing table 12 moves by 16 dots in the X direction (sub-scanning direction) in FIG. 3 while the medium M is placed and fixed on the drawing surface 13. Therefore, the next scan can be performed continuously.

(Structure of Drawing Table) FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the structure of the drawing table 12, and FIG. 5 is a side view showing the structure of the drawing table 12. Hereinafter, FIG.
The configuration of the drawing table 12 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. The air C guided from the outside of the scanning drawing apparatus 1 is supplied to the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 6 via the tube C1.
1 and to a solenoid valve 62 for an air cylinder via a tube C2. Further, the negative pressure due to the vacuum V generated by the vacuum source 63 shown in FIG.
It depends on one.

First, the vacuum / air conduction by the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 will be described. Immediately below the drawing surface 13 of the drawing table 12, an air guide 13A indicated by a broken line in FIG. 4 is provided. This air guide 13A
Are arranged in parallel with each other in the width direction of the medium M, with a large number of small tubes sealed at both ends, to conduct these small tubes with each other, and further, with a large number of air holes 13 opening from the small tubes to the drawing surface 13.
B is formed. This air guide 13A
Is connected to a vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 via a tube T.
Connected to

Normally, the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61
Closes both paths of the negative pressure from the tube V1 and the air from the tube C1 so that neither the negative pressure nor the air is supplied to the air guide 13A.

In this state, the machine control unit 8 sets the I / O
When the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 is instructed to supply a negative pressure through the air valve 8A, the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 opens the path of the tube V1 while closing the path of the air C1, and A negative pressure from V1 is applied to tube T. When a negative pressure is applied to the tube T, the negative pressure is applied to the ventilation hole 13B via the air guide 13A, so that the medium M placed on the drawing surface 13 is brought into close contact with the drawing surface 13. Can be vacuum chucked.

When the machine controller 8 instructs the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 to supply air via the I / O 8A, the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61
With the first path closed, the path of the air C1 is opened, air is supplied to the air guide 13A via the tube T, and an air flow is generated from the ventilation hole 13B. Due to this air flow, the medium M placed on the drawing surface 13
Is lifted off the drawing surface 13.

Next, air conduction by the air cylinder solenoid valve 62 will be described. The air cylinder solenoid valve 62 is divided into two systems, air cylinder solenoid valves 62A and 62B, as shown in FIG.

One air cylinder solenoid valve 62A is connected to the fixed claw driving air cylinder 64 by a tube C3. The fixed claw driving air cylinders 64 are paired so as to be opposed from both sides in the width direction of the medium M, and another pair is arranged at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the medium M. Two pairs, that is, four are provided. These fixed claw driving air cylinders 64 are rotary clamp cylinders, each having an inverted L-shaped fixed claw 15 extending upward from the cylinder axis and projecting horizontally. Move up and down while rotating 90 °.

The fixed claw driving air cylinder 64 has two systems of air intakes (not shown). These air intakes are for rotating upward and rotating downward, respectively. Although the tube C3 is schematically depicted by a single line in FIG. 4, it is actually composed of two tubes, corresponding to the rotation of the air cylinder 64 and the rotation of the air cylinder 64, respectively.

Normally, the fixed claw 15 is retracted to the ascending position shown by the solid line in FIG. 4 and takes a direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the medium M, but the machine control unit 8 operates via the I / O 8A. When air is supplied to the rotation lowering side of the tube C3 by controlling the air cylinder solenoid valve 62A, the medium M is lowered while rotating by 90 ° to the position of the fixed claw 15 'shown by the broken line in FIG. The medium M is oriented in the direction of the center axis, and the medium M is sandwiched and fixed on the drawing surface 13. Further, when the machine control unit 8 controls the air cylinder solenoid valve 62A via the I / O 8A in a state where the fixed claw 15 'is in the lowered position, and supplies air to the rotation-up side of the tube C3. , Its fixed claws 15
′ Rises while rotating 90 ° in the opposite direction to the rotation down, and returns to the raised position of the fixed claw 15.

As described above, the air cylinder solenoid valve 62A
Drives the fixed claw 15, while the other air cylinder solenoid valve 62B drives the lift roller 16. The air cylinder solenoid valve 62B is connected to a lift roller drive cylinder 65 via a tube C4. The lift roller drive cylinder 65
A pair so as to face each other from both sides in the width direction of the drawing table, and another pair of the pair at a predetermined interval in the longitudinal direction of the medium M, that is, a total of two pairs. (The left-right direction in FIG. 4). The pair of lift roller driving cylinders 65 rotatably support both ends of the cylindrical lift roller 16 and can move the lift roller 16 up and down. The lift roller 16 is mounted so as to freely rotate in the forward and reverse directions about the axis of the cylinder.

The lift roller drive cylinder 65 is
It has two air intakes (not shown), and these air intakes are for ascending and descending, respectively. Although the tube C4 is schematically depicted by one line in FIG. 4, it is actually composed of two tubes, which are respectively adapted for raising and lowering the air cylinder 65.

Normally, the lift roller 16 takes the ascending position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 5, and the medium M is lifted by both lift rollers 16 and separated from the drawing surface 13. In this state, when the machine control unit 8 controls the solenoid valve 62B for the air cylinder via the I / O 8A to supply air to the lowering side of the tube C4, the lift roller 16 becomes a broken line in FIG. The medium M comes down to the illustrated position of the lift roller 16 ′ to take the lowered position, and the medium M contacts the drawing surface 13. Also,
When the machine controller 8 controls the air cylinder solenoid valve 62B via the I / O 8A and supplies air to the ascending side of the tube C4 in a state where the lift roller 16 'is at the lowered position, the lift roller 16' The lift 16 ′ rises while lifting the medium M, and returns to the lift position of the lift roller 16.

Next, a configuration for loading the medium M will be described. The drawing table 12 on the loader 4 side (FIG. 4)
A support plate 17A is fixed to an end portion (left side in FIG. 5). The support plate 17A is disposed below the drawing surface 13 of the drawing table 12 in FIG. 5 so as to be substantially parallel to the drawing surface 13 and to project leftward of the drawing table 12 in FIG. Have been. A guide clamp 17 as a guide fixing means is fixed to the upper left end of the support plate 17A in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide clamps 17 are provided in a pair in the width direction of the medium M at intervals smaller than the width of the medium M.

Each guide clamp 17 has a pair of press-contact surfaces (not shown) that are substantially parallel to the upper surface of the support plate 17A. The press-contact surface pair is always pressed by the action of an elastic body (not shown), but the operator can easily open the press-contact surface pair by manual operation. When loading the medium M, the operator passes the leading end of the medium M guided from the loader 4 side through the gap between the press-contact surface pairs in the open state,
When the press-contact surface pairs are pressed again, the medium M is clamped to these press-contact surface pairs. As will be described later, instead of the guide clamp 17, the fixing claw 15, the vacuum generating source 63, and the ventilation hole 13B can be used as the guide fixing means.

<Operation of Embodiment> (Medium Loading) FIGS. 6 and 7 are explanatory diagrams of the loading operation. Hereinafter, referring to these drawings together, FIG.
Each step of the flowchart of FIG. 8 will be described.

S1: First, the operator sets the rolled medium M on the supply roller 70 of the loader 4.

S2: Then, the leading end of the medium M is pulled out and passed through the pair of feeding rollers 71, the guide rollers 72, and the pair of clamp rollers 73 in this order.

S3: In this state, when the operator operates the operation unit (not shown) and instructs the drawing table 12 to be skipped, the machine control unit 8 controls the X-axis control unit 18,
The drawing table 12 is sent to the loader 4 by driving the X-axis motor 14 via the X-axis servo 19.

S4: When the operator fixes the leading end of the medium M by the guide clamp 17 of the drawing table 12, the state shown in FIG. 6 is obtained.

S5: Next, when the operator operates the operation unit (not shown) and instructs the drawing table to be idle-feeded, the loader / unloader controller 9 controls the clamp roller pair controller 76 to control the clamp roller pair. 73 is opened,
The machine control unit 8 sends the drawing table 12 to the unloader 5 by controlling the X-axis control unit 18 and driving the X-axis motor 14 via the X-axis servo 19. At this time, the leading end of the medium M is
7, when the drawing table 12 moves to the right in FIG.
7 under the scanning optical system 3 of FIG.

A scanning optical system 3 is provided in the upper part of the exposure apparatus 2, and an X-axis motor 14 for driving the drawing table 12 and the like are arranged below the scanning optical system 3. It is difficult to pass the medium M through the exposure apparatus 2 by sliding the drawing table 12 in the scanning drawing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment as described above.

S6: The operator operates the guide clamp 17
Is released to open the front end of the medium M, and the medium M is pulled out to the right in FIG.

S7: Further, the extracted medium M
Through the drive roller pair 80 and the guide roller 81 of the unloader 5.

S8: Then, the leading end of the medium M is fixed to the winding roller 82, and the loading is completed.

(Drawing Operation) After loading the medium M as described above, drawing is performed on the medium M. FIG.
FIGS. 10, 11, and 12 are explanatory diagrams of the drawing operation. Each step of the flowchart of FIG. 13 will be described below with reference to these drawings.

S9: First, when the operator instructs drawing by operating an operation unit (not shown), the main control unit 6 performs drawing data to be drawn on the medium M and control for controlling this drawing operation. The data is sent to the drawing control unit 7. The drawing control unit 7 stores these drawing data and control data in a storage unit (not shown).

S10: The machine control unit 8 controls the I / O 8
The fixed claw 15 is rotated upward by controlling the air cylinder solenoid valve 62A through A to supply air to the rotation increasing side of the tube C3.
To the upper outside. Next, the machine control unit 8
The lift roller 16 is raised by controlling the air valve solenoid valve 62B via / O 8A and supplying air to the lift side of the tube C4. Since the lift roller 16 rises while lifting the medium M, the medium M retreats above the drawing surface 13 of the drawing table 12 to be in a state shown in FIG.

S11: Then, the machine control unit 8
An instruction to turn off vacuum suction and turn on air flow is given to the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 via / O 8A. The vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 closes the path of the tube V1 and opens the path of the air C1, thereby supplying air to the air guide 13A via the tube T and generating an air flow from the ventilation hole 13B. .

S12: In this state, the loader / unloader controller 9 controls the clamp roller pair controller 76 to fix the clamp roller pair 73 of the loader 4 and also controls the drive roller pair controller 86. Then, the driving roller pair 80 of the unloader 5 is fixed.

Then, the machine controller 8 controls the X-axis controller 1
By driving the X-axis motor 14 via the X-axis servo 19, the drawing table 12 is moved to the loader 4 side (to the left in FIG. 9). At this time, the medium M is retracted above the drawing table 12 by the lift roller 16, and the lift roller 16 rotates as the drawing table 12 slides while in contact with the lower surface of the medium M. The drawing tables 12 do not rub against each other and are not damaged or generate dust.
When the drawing table 12 reaches a predetermined drawing start position, the machine control unit 8 stops the drawing table 12 there. This state is shown in FIG.

S13: Next, the machine control unit 8 sets the I / O
The vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 is controlled via O8A to close the path of the air C1 and stop the air supply to the air guide 13A. The vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 also closes the path of the negative pressure from the tube V1.

S14: Then, the machine control unit 8 sets I
The lift roller 16 is lowered by controlling the electromagnetic valve 62B for the air cylinder via / O 8A and supplying air to the lowering side of the tube C4. Then, the medium M supported by the lift roller 16 becomes the drawing surface 13.
, The lift roller 16 takes the lowered position and the medium M
Leave below.

S15: Here, the machine control unit 8
A negative pressure supply is instructed to the vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 via / O 8A. The vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 opens the path of the tube V1 while closing the path of the air C1, applies a negative pressure from the tube V1 to the air hole 13B of the air guide 13A via the tube T, and M is brought into close contact with the drawing surface 13.

S16: Then, the machine control unit 8
Is a solenoid valve 62A for an air cylinder via an I / O 8A.
To supply air to the lowering side of the tube C3 to lower the fixed claw 15 in rotation. The fixed claw 15
The medium M is fixed to the drawing surface 13 by taking the lowered position.

The loader / unloader control section 9 controls the clamp roller pair control section 76 to open the clamp roller pair 73 of the loader 4 and to set the loader drive motor 7
5, the supply roller 70 of the loader 4 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. 8, and the feed roller pair 71 of the loader 4 is driven to feed the medium M until the sensor 74 detects the medium M. The medium M sags in the loader 4. That is, when the medium M sags to the sensor 74, the supply roller 70 and the feed roller pair 71 stop. This state is shown in FIG.

S17: Next, the machine control unit 8 controls the X-axis control unit 18 to move the drawing table 12 to the unloader 5 side. That is, the X-axis control unit 18 controls the X-axis servo 19, and the X-axis servo 19 controls the drive voltage to the X-axis motor 14 based on the position of the drawing table 12 detected by a sensor (not shown). By adjusting, the drawing table 12 is slid with high accuracy at a constant speed. Immediately after the movement of the drawing table 12 starts, the drawing control unit 7 controls the AOM 30 of the scanning optical system 3 to perform scanning based on the drawing data stored in the storage unit (not shown), An image specified by the drawing data is drawn on the fixed medium M.

The loader / unloader control unit 9 controls the drive roller pair control unit 86 to keep the drive roller pair 80 of the unloader 5 in a transport state at the same time as the start of drawing.
When the drawing table 12 moves toward the unloader 5 in this way, the medium M that has slackened in the loader 4 is pulled out as the drawing table 12 slides. Since the clamp roller pair 73 of the loader 4 is in the open state, no extra tension is applied to the drawing table 12 and the medium M. Therefore, the transport speed of the drawing table 12 is kept constant without fluctuation.

The loader / unloader control unit 9 sets the drive roller pair 80 of the unloader 5 in the transport state via the drive roller pair control unit 86, and constantly transfers the medium M to the unloader 5.
So that it can be captured inside. Further, the loader / unloader control unit 9 drives the unloader driving motor 85 to rotate the winding roller 82 counterclockwise in FIG.
Control for winding the medium M is performed.

The loader / unloader control section 9 always monitors the slack of the medium M in the unloader 5 by the upper limit sensor 83 and the lower limit sensor 84, and controls the medium M to keep the slack within an appropriate range. .

That is, when the upper limit sensor 83 does not detect the medium M, the loader / unloader controller 9 stops the unloader drive motor 85 to interrupt the winding, and
To sag. Since the drive roller 80 always takes in the medium M into the unloader 5, the slack of the medium M in the unloader 5 increases. Then, the lower end of the medium M reaches the position of the lower limit sensor 84, and the lower limit sensor 8
4 detects the medium M, the loader / unloader controller 9
Restarts the winding of the medium M by the winding roller 82. Thus, the slack of the medium M in the unloader 5 is always kept in an appropriate range. Drawing is performed in this manner, and when the drawing table 12 reaches the drawing end position shown in FIG. 12, drawing for one drawing surface 13 is completed.

S18: If there is still drawing data to be drawn next, the main control unit 6 returns the process to S10 and repeats drawing. However, if drawing has been completed for all drawing data, Ends the process.

<Modification 1> In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the guide clamp 17 is provided as the guide fixing means has been described. Instead of this guide clamp, the fixing claw 15 of the drawing table 12 is replaced with the guide fixing means. Can be used as Hereinafter, Modification 1 will be described.

After the processing of S1 to S3 in the flow chart of FIG. 8 is completed at the time of loading the medium, the operator places the medium M on the drawing table 12 and operates the operation unit (not shown) to operate the medium. Instruct fixation. In response to the medium fixing instruction, the machine control unit 8 sets the lift roller 16 to the lower position by the lift roller driving air cylinder 65 via the air cylinder electromagnetic valve 62B, and then sets the air cylinder electromagnetic valve 62A. Then, the fixed claw 15 is moved to the lowered position by the fixed claw driving air cylinder 64. As a result, the medium M includes the fixed claw 15 and the drawing surface 1.
3 and is fixed to the drawing table 12.
This state is shown in FIG.

Next, when the operator operates an operation unit (not shown) and instructs the drawing table 12 to be skipped, the loader / unloader control unit 9 causes the clamp roller pair control unit 76 to operate.
To set the clamp roller pair 73 to the open state, and the machine control unit 8 controls the X-axis control unit 18 to control the X-axis servo 1
The drawing table 12 is sent to the unloader 5 side by driving the X-axis motor 14 via 9. At this time, since the leading end of the medium M is fixed by the fixing claws 15 of the drawing table 12, when the drawing table 12 moves toward the unloader 5, the medium M is pulled out and is positioned below the scanning optical system 3 of the exposure apparatus 2. Pass through.

Next, when the operator operates the operation unit (not shown) to instruct the release of the medium, the machine control unit 8 causes the fixed claw driving air cylinder 64 to operate the fixed claw driving air cylinder 64 via the air cylinder electromagnetic valve 62A. The lift roller 16 is moved to the raised position by the lift roller drive air cylinder 65 via the air cylinder electromagnetic valve 62B after the 15 is set to the raised position. As a result, the medium M becomes free, and the operator can pull out the medium M to the unloader 5 side. Hereinafter, S7 of the flowchart of FIG.
By performing the processing shown in S8 and S8, the medium loading is completed.

As described above, when the fixing claw 15 is used as the guide fixing means, the medium can be automatically clamped at the time of loading.

<Modification 2> In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which the guide clamp 17 was provided as the guide fixing means. Instead of this guide clamp, a ventilation hole opened in the drawing surface 13 of the drawing table 12. 13B and the vacuum source 63 can be used as guide fixing means. Hereinafter, Modification 2 will be described.

After the processing of S1 to S3 in the flowchart of FIG. 8 is completed at the time of loading the medium, the operator operates the operation unit (not shown) to instruct vacuum suction ON. In response to this instruction, the machine control unit 8 instructs the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 to supply a negative pressure. This allows
The vacuum / air switching solenoid valve 61 opens the path of the tube V1 while closing the path of the air C1, and applies a negative pressure from the tube V1 to the air guide 13A via the tube T.
To the air hole 13B.

Then, when the operator guides the medium M onto the drawing table 12, the medium M is automatically drawn into the drawing surface 13 by the negative pressure of the air holes 13 B opened in the drawing surface 13. It is closely fixed to the drawing surface 13. This state is shown in FIG. Although not shown in FIG. 15, it is preferable that the fixing claw 15 is set in the ascending position and the lift roller 16 is set in the descent position in advance.

Next, when the operator operates an operation unit (not shown) to instruct the drawing table 12 to be skipped, the loader / unloader controller 9 causes the clamp roller pair controller 76 to operate.
To set the clamp roller pair 73 to the open state, and the machine control unit 8 controls the X-axis control unit 18 to control the X-axis servo 1
The drawing table 12 is sent to the unloader 5 side by driving the X-axis motor 14 via 9. At this time, the medium M is tightly fixed to the drawing surface 13, so that when the drawing table 12 moves to the unloader 5 side, the medium M is pulled out and passes below the scanning optical system 3 of the exposure apparatus 2.

Next, the operator operates an operation unit (not shown) to instruct vacuum suction off and air flow on. In response to this instruction, the machine control unit 8 controls the vacuum / air switching electromagnetic valve 61 to close the path of the tube V1 and open the path of the air C1, and to send the air to the air guide 13A via the tube T. To generate an air flow from the ventilation hole 13B. As a result, the medium M is automatically separated from the drawing surface 13 and rises, and the operator can pull out the medium M to the unloader 5 side. After the medium M is pulled out,
The air flow may be turned off. Thereafter, the media loading is completed by performing the processing shown in S7 and S8 in the flowchart of FIG.

[0096]

According to the scanning type drawing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, the medium can be easily loaded while using a roll sheet medium.
Therefore, the drawing process can be executed continuously, and
The medium loading before the drawing processing can be performed easily and in a short time, and the overall processing efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a scanning type drawing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a scanning drawing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of an exposure apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a configuration of a drawing table.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the configuration of a drawing table.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a loading operation.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a loading operation.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a loading operation.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing operation.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing operation.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing operation.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a drawing operation.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a drawing operation.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of loading according to Modification Example 1.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram of loading according to Modification Example 2.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a conventional scanning type drawing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Scanning drawing apparatus 2 Exposure apparatus 3 Scanning optical system 4 Loader 5 Unloader 6 Main control part 7 Drawing control part 8 Machine control part 9 Loader / unloader control part 12 Drawing table 12A Female thread part 13 Drawing surface 13A Air guide 13B Vent hole 14 X-axis motor 14A Male screw part 15 Fixed claw 16 Lift roller 17 Guide clamp 18 X-axis control unit 19 X-axis servo 63 Vacuum source M Medium

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H045 AA01 BA26 BA32 CA83 CA85 2H097 AA03 AB05 CA17 DB12 DB14 LA09 3F055 AA05 AA10 FA05 FA18 3F103 AA03 AA05 BA12 CA13 EA15

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A loader for storing a flexible sheet-shaped medium wound in a roll and feeding the medium, an unloader for collecting the medium sent from the loader, and the loader A scanning optical system that scans a medium between a laser beam and an unloader to perform drawing, a drawing table having a drawing surface for mounting the medium, and is connected to the drawing table to load the medium. A guide fixing means for fixing the medium, and a slide means for sliding the drawing table to the loader side and the unloader side so that the drawing table passes through the position of the scanning optical system. Characteristic scanning type drawing apparatus. 2. A scanning type drawing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a guide clamp for holding and fixing a medium as said guide fixing means. 3. The scanning drawing according to claim 1, wherein the guide fixing means includes a fixing claw that can fix the medium by pressing the medium against a drawing surface of the drawing table. apparatus. 4. The guide fixing means according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of ventilation holes opened on a drawing surface of said drawing table, and a vacuum suction means for applying a negative pressure to said ventilation holes. A scanning type drawing apparatus according to any one of the above. 5. A male screw portion extending in correspondence with an operation range of the drawing table; a female screw portion fixed to the drawing table and screwed with the male screw portion to form a ball screw; The scanning type drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a motor that drives the male screw portion to rotate. 6. A drawing table of the scanning drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drawing table is moved to the loader side, the medium is set on the loader, and then the medium is pulled out. The tip is fixed by the guide fixing means of the drawing table, the drawing table is moved to the unloader side through the position of the scanning optical system, and the medium is released from the guide fixing means, A medium loading method for a scanning type drawing apparatus, wherein the medium is loaded by pulling out the medium to the unloader side from the scanning optical system and fixing the leading end of the medium to the unloader.