JP2001252610A - Coating method, coating device, and method and device for manufacturing color filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating method and coating device capable of improving the productivity in a die coater and reducing cost by shortening a time necessary for the positioning of a substrate before coating on an attracting plate and for the attaching and detaching of the substrate after coating to and from the upper surface of the attracting panel in a die coater to shorter the tact time, and also provide a method and device for manufacturing a color filter using the same. SOLUTION: In the coating method of forming a coating film on a member to be coated by relatively moving at least one of the coater and the member to be coated while discharging a coating liquid from a discharge port of the coater to the member-to-be coated sucked and held by sucking disk, and operation to reduce the sucking force for detaching the member to be coated from the sucking disk is executed several times after the coating film is formed on the member to be coated. The method and device of manufacturing the color filter uses the above coating method and coating device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is applied to, for example, the field of manufacturing color filters for color liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, optical filters, printed boards, integrated circuits, semiconductors, and the like. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a coating method and a coating apparatus for forming a coating film on a member to be coated while discharging a coating liquid on the surface thereof, and a method and a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter using these methods and apparatuses.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A color filter for a color liquid crystal display has a fine lattice pattern of three primary colors on a glass substrate. Such a lattice pattern is formed after a black coating film is formed on a glass substrate. The red, blue, and green coating films are sequentially formed, whereby the three primary colors are separately applied on the glass substrate.

Therefore, in the production of a color filter, a coating liquid of black, red (R), blue (B), and green (G) is sequentially applied on a glass substrate to form a coating film. The formation process becomes indispensable. Conventionally, a spinner, a bar coater, a roll coater, or the like has been used as a coating device for forming the coating film. However, in order to reduce the consumption of the coating solution and improve the physical properties of the coating film, a die coater has recently been used. Is being used.

An example of this type of die coater is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-173939.
This known die coater includes a reciprocating suction plate (table) and a coating head having a downward discharge port.
The upper surface of the suction disk is configured as a suction surface. Therefore, the glass substrate on which the coating film is to be formed can be suction-held on the suction board. Then, after the glass substrate is sucked and held on the suction plate, the coating liquid is discharged from the discharge port of the coating head as the glass substrate moves directly below the coating head together with the suction plate, and the coating film is formed on the glass substrate. Can be continuously formed. After the substrate on which the coating film has been formed by the application is stopped at the end point position, the suction is released, the substrate is peeled off from the upper surface of the suction disk, desorbed, and transferred to the next step. In the above process, it is necessary to make the relative positional relationship between the glass substrate and the discharge port of the applicator the same so that the area to be coated on the substrate is always the same. Before holding, the positioning device positions the substrate on the suction disk.

[0005]

When the above-mentioned die coater is applied to an actual production process of coating a glass substrate such as a color filter, the tact time for coating a single substrate is shortened to improve productivity. It is strongly desired to increase the cost and reduce the cost.

In order to shorten the tact time, it is most effective to increase the coating speed. However, the limit is naturally determined by the coating conditions such as the type of the coating solution and the coating thickness. It is necessary to shorten the time.

When performing work analysis, unexpectedly long time is required for the step of positioning the substrate before application and the step of desorbing the adsorbed substrate after application.

The positioning of the substrate is described in JP-A-9-17393.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-205, etc., the positioning is performed by bringing a positioning member into contact with four sides of the substrate. In this method, the substrate is moved horizontally until the positioning member does not interfere with the substrate and retreats. It is not possible to prevent the tact time from being shortened.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-19 / 1991 discloses that the suction of the coated substrate is released and the substrate is detached from the upper surface of the suction disk.
No. 2567, etc., the suction is released by introducing compressed air into a portion that is at a negative pressure for substrate suction to a pressure higher than the atmospheric pressure,
Positive pressure is applied to the substrate from the suction hole, and the substrate that has adhered to the suction plate surface is peeled off due to static electricity as well as suction force.
If the substrate is attracted to the suction plate only by the suction force, the substrate should be able to be peeled from the suction plate at the stage when the suction pressure is set to the atmospheric pressure. The substrate cannot be peeled off without the application of a positive pressure from the suction. Here, in order to shorten the time required for desorption by peeling of the substrate, it is necessary to shorten the time for returning the negative pressure to the positive pressure and at the same time, to generate a force higher than the adhesion force due to the electrostatic force in a short time. However, this can be achieved by increasing the pressure of the compressed air to be introduced. Certainly, the higher the pressure, the shorter the peeling time, but at the same time as the peeling, the substrate moves in an arbitrary direction on the upper surface of the suction plate, hindering the subsequent transfer of the substrate, or falling off from the surface of the suction plate in extreme cases Sometimes. Therefore, in order to regulate the free movement of the substrate at the time of peeling, a technique for shortening the time for peeling the substrate without increasing the pressure of the compressed air is required.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to position a substrate on a suction plate before coating by using a die coater and to measure the position of the substrate after coating from the upper surface of the suction plate. By shortening the time required for desorption of
An object of the present invention is to provide a coating method and a coating apparatus capable of shortening a tact time, improving productivity in a die coater and reducing costs, and a method and a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter using these apparatuses and methods. .

[0011]

The above objects are achieved by the present invention. The coating method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the coating device and the coating member is relatively moved while discharging the coating liquid from the discharge port of the coating device to the coating member sucked and held by the suction board. In the coating method of forming a coating film on the member to be coated, the operation of reducing the suction force for detaching the member to be coated from the suction plate is performed a plurality of times after forming the coating film on the member to be coated. The method consists of:

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the coating method, at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated is relatively discharged while the coating liquid is discharged from a discharge port of the applicator to the member to be coated held by the suction disk. After moving to form a coating film on the member to be coated, by performing a separating operation of the member to be coated from the suction plate, in the coating method of detaching the member to be coated from the suction plate, the coating member is moved halfway to the final separation position. A pause at the position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the coating method, at least one of the coating device and the member to be coated is relatively discharged while discharging the coating liquid from the discharge port of the coating device to the member to be coated held by the suction disk. The coating method of forming a coating film on the member to be coated by moving the member to be coated is characterized in that the member to be coated is sucked and held on an suction disk provided with a groove on a suction surface.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the coating method, after the relative position between the discharge port of the coating device for discharging the coating liquid and the member to be coated is determined, the coating liquid is discharged from the coating device onto the member to be coated. While applying at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated is a coating method to form a coating film on the member to be coated, the relative position is determined by contacting the member in contact with the outer edge of the member to be coated. The method is characterized in that the moving is performed in the up-down direction.

The method for manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention comprises a method for manufacturing a color filter using the above-described coating method.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus for supplying a coating liquid, a coating apparatus having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means, and a suction unit for suction-holding a member to be coated. In a coating apparatus provided with a board and a moving means for relatively moving at least one of an applicator and a member to be coated, a member to be coated and removed by removing the member to be coated from the suction disk by reducing the suction force, The apparatus is characterized in that the apparatus further comprises a detachment control means for performing the detachment operation of the member to be applied by the member-to-be-attached / removed device a plurality of times after forming the coating film on the member to be applied.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus for supplying a coating liquid, a coating apparatus having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means, and a suction unit for suction-holding a member to be coated. A coating device including a disc, a moving unit for relatively moving at least one of an applicator and a member to be coated, and a separating unit for separating and detaching the member to be coated from the suction disk; And a separation control means for temporarily stopping at a position halfway to the final separation position when the device is detached from the suction disk.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus for supplying a coating liquid, a coating apparatus having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means, and a suction unit for suction-holding a member to be coated. In a coating apparatus including a plate and a moving unit for relatively moving at least one of a coating device and a member to be coated, a groove is provided on a surface of the suction member to be coated on the member to be coated. What you do. here,
The area ratio of the groove to the suction surface is preferably 3 to 50%.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating device for supplying a coating liquid, an application device having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply device, and at least one of the coating device and the member to be coated. In a coating apparatus including a moving unit that relatively moves one of the members and a positioning unit that positions the member to be coated before the coating device and the member to be coated are brought close to each other, the positioning unit is attached to an outer edge of the member to be coated. The contact member is configured to be movable in the vertical direction.

An apparatus for manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention includes an apparatus for manufacturing a color filter using the above-described coating apparatus.

According to the coating method and the coating apparatus according to the first and sixth aspects, the suction releasing operation for desorption by peeling the substrate is started immediately after the completion of the coating. The time required for peeling off from the upper surface of the suction disk is shortened, and the tact time can be reduced.

According to the coating method and the coating apparatus according to the second and seventh aspects, the separating operation for detachment of the substrate by peeling from the suction plate is temporarily stopped at a halfway position to the final position and is performed stepwise. Therefore, the separating operation is performed slowly,
Since it can be performed quickly without causing cracking of the substrate, the time until the substrate is peeled off from the upper surface of the suction plate is shortened,
Tact time can be reduced.

According to the coating method and the coating apparatus according to the third and eighth aspects, since the groove is appropriately provided on the surface of the suction plate on which the substrate is sucked, the electrostatic force generated at the time of sucking the substrate can be reduced. Since the static electricity component of the substrate attraction force can be greatly reduced, the substrate can be peeled at the stage when the negative pressure for sucking the substrate is returned to the positive pressure, and the substrate peeling time is greatly reduced, which also reduces the tact time. Can be reduced.

According to the coating method and the coating apparatus according to the fourth and tenth aspects, the positioning member for positioning the substrate on the suction plate surface is vertically moved, so that the retreat distance of the positioning member after the positioning is reduced. Since the retraction time can be greatly reduced and the retraction time can be shortened, the time required for positioning the substrate can be greatly reduced, and the tact time can be reduced.

According to the method and the apparatus for manufacturing a color filter according to the fifth and eleventh aspects, the color filter is manufactured by the above-mentioned excellent coating method and the coating apparatus. Can be realized.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an overall schematic perspective view of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram around the suction plate 6 and the slit die 40 in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows an outline of a centering apparatus in the present invention. Plan view,
FIG. 4 is a partial front sectional view of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is an overall schematic perspective view showing an example of the suction cup according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a coating apparatus applied to manufacture a color filter for a color liquid crystal display, a so-called die coater 1, which has a base 2. A pair of guide groove rails 4 are provided on the base 2, and the guide groove rails 4 are provided above the guide groove rails 4 via a pair of slide legs 8.
An adsorber 6 that can freely reciprocate horizontally in the upper direction is arranged. The suction disk 6 holds the substrate A by suction. The detailed structure is as shown in FIG. 5, and the upper surface 102 is provided with a suction hole 104 and a lift pin hole 110 through which a lift pin as a means for separating the substrate A from a suction plate (not shown) enters and exits. The vertical groove 108 is arranged parallel to the traveling direction of the suction cup 6, and the horizontal groove 106 is arranged perpendicular to the traveling direction of the suction cup 6. These grooves are arranged vertically and horizontally so as to cover between the suction holes 104 and the hole lift pins 110, and reduce the contact area between the upper surface 102 and the substrate A to reduce the adhesion force due to static electricity. Further, the suction hole 104 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) so that the substrate A can be firmly held on the upper surface 102 by the suction action.

Referring again to FIG. 1, between the pair of guide groove rails 4, a feed screw mechanism 1 shown in FIG.
4, 16, 18 and a casing 12 containing the same are arranged, and the casing 12 extends along the guide groove rail 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the feed screw mechanism comprises a feed screw 14 composed of a ball screw and a suction disk 6.
The connector is screwed into a nut-shaped connector 16 fixed to the lower surface of the connector, further extends through the connector 16, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown), and an AC servomotor 18 is connected to one end thereof. ing. An opening is formed on the upper surface of the casing 12 so as not to hinder the movement of the connector 16, but the opening is omitted in FIG.

Referring further to FIG. 1, on the upper surface of the base 2, a die support 24 having an inverted L-shape is disposed substantially at the center. The tip of the die column 24 is positioned above the reciprocating path of the suction disk 6, and the lifting mechanism 26 is attached to the tip. The elevating mechanism 26 includes an elevating bracket (not shown) that can be moved up and down. The elevating bracket is attached to a pair of guide rods in a casing 28 so as to be able to move up and down. In the casing, a feed screw (not shown) formed of a ball screw is also rotatably disposed between the guide rods, and a lifting bracket is connected to the feed screw via a nut-type connector. Are linked. An AC servomotor 30 is connected to the upper end of the feed screw, and the AC servomotor 30 is mounted on the upper surface of the casing 28. A die holder 32 is attached to the lifting bracket via a support shaft (not shown). The die holder 32 has a U-shape and extends horizontally over a pair of guide groove rails 4 between the rails 4. ing. The support shaft of the die holder 32 is rotatably supported in the elevating bracket.
The die holder 32 can rotate in a vertical plane together with the support shaft.

A horizontal bar 36 is fixed to the elevating bracket above the die holder 32, and the horizontal bar 36 extends along the die holder 32. At both ends of the horizontal bar 36, electromagnetically actuated linear actuators 38 are respectively attached. These linear actuators 38 have telescopic rods projecting from the lower surface of the horizontal bar 36, and these telescopic rods are in contact with both ends of the die holder 32, respectively.

In the die holder 32, a slit die 40 as an applicator is mounted. As is clear from FIG. 1, the slit die 40 extends horizontally in the direction perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the suction plate 6, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the die holder 32, and is supported by the die holder 32 at both ends. .

The slit die 40 has an elongated block-shaped front lip 66 and a rear lip 60 as schematically shown in FIG. The lips 66, 60 are attached to each other back and forth as viewed in the reciprocating direction of the suction plate 6, and are integrally connected to each other by a plurality of connecting bolts (not shown). By bonding both lips 66, 60 via a shim (not shown), the slit die 4
A discharge port 72 for discharging the coating liquid is formed on the lower surface 74 of the “0”.

Inside the slit die 40, a manifold 62 is formed at a central portion thereof, and the manifold 62 is formed in the width direction of the slit die 40, that is,
It extends horizontally in a direction orthogonal to the reciprocating direction of the suction disk 6. The manifold 62 is provided with the supply hose 4 for the coating liquid described above.
2 is always connected via an internal passage (not shown), whereby the manifold 62 can receive the supply of the coating liquid. A slit 64 whose upper end communicates with the manifold 62 is formed inside the slit die 40, and the lower end of the slit 64 opens at the lower surface 74 to serve as a discharge port 72. As described above, a gap is secured between the front lip 66 and the rear lip 60 by sandwiching a shim (not shown) between the slits 64.

A supply hose 42 for the coating liquid extends from the slit die 40 as shown in FIG.
The distal end of the supply hose 42 is connected to a supply port of an electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44. A suction hose 48 extends from a suction port of the electromagnetic switching valve 46, and the tip of the suction hose 48 is inserted into the tank 50. Note that a coating liquid 70 is stored in the tank 50.

The pump section of the syringe pump 44 is in the form of a piston type pump. A syringe 80 for storing the coating liquid and a pump for extruding the stored coating liquid and conversely storing and discharging the coating liquid. / Piston 5 that performs discharge operation
It consists of two. By the switching operation of the electromagnetic switching valve 46, the coating liquid in the syringe 80 can be selectively fluidly connected to one of the supply hose 42 and the suction hose 48. A linear drive mechanism (not shown) of the electromagnetic switching valve 46 and the piston 52 is
4 in response to a control signal from the computer 54, the switching direction of the electromagnetic switching valve 46,
In addition, the moving speed and moving position of the piston 52 are controlled.

Further, in addition to the operation control of the syringe pump 44, the control of the suction and release of the substrate A on the suction disk 6, the operation control of the centering device 200 (described later), and the operation control of the lift pin as the separating means. Is performed by the computer 54 with the sequencer 56 and the suction / release control device 2
50, a centering device 200, and a lift pin operation control device (not shown) are also electrically connected. Among them, the sequencer 56 controls the sequence of the operation of the AC servomotor 18 of the feed screw 14 on the suction disk 6 side and the operation of the AC servomotor 30 and the linear actuator 38 on the lifting mechanism 26 side. The sequencer 56 has an AC servo motor 1
8 and 30, a signal from a position sensor 58 that detects the moving position of the suction plate 6, a slit die 40
A signal from a sensor (not shown) for detecting the operation state of the device is input, and a signal indicating a sequence operation is output from the sequencer 56 to the computer 54. Note that the computer 5 is connected to the sequencer 56.
4 can also be incorporated.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, a sensor column 20 having an inverted L-shape is disposed on the upper surface of the base 2 on the front side of the die column 24. The tip of the sensor support 20 is positioned above the reciprocating path of the suction plate 6, and a thickness sensor 22 is attached to the tip via a bracket 21.

Further, the die coater 1 is provided with a centering device 200 for positioning the substrate A on the suction plate 6 in the width direction and the running direction. The centering device 200 includes a contact piece 240 in contact with a side surface of a substrate A in a width direction (a direction perpendicular to the moving direction), and a lifting member capable of holding the contact piece at a leading end thereof and freely moving up and down along a guide 204 in a vertical direction. 202, a stopper 206 that can contact the lower surface of the elevating member 202 to adjust the descent stop position, and a driving source such as an air cylinder (not shown) that freely reciprocates the elevating member 202 and a guide 204, and 2 and a bracket 208 to be connected and fixed, and a pair of the brackets 208 is arranged on both sides of the board A in the width direction.

Next, the details of a centering device B201, which is another embodiment of the centering device 200, will be described with reference to FIG. The centering device B201 includes a pair of units A210A and B210B arranged on both sides in the substrate width direction. These units are
They have exactly the same structure and are symmetrical in the moving direction of the substrate.
Here, the unit A210A has a lateral side 2 that is in contact with a side surface in the moving direction and the width direction (a direction orthogonal to the moving direction) of the glass substrate.
The positioning pieces 212A and B having the tip portions 16A and 16B and the vertical sides 214A and 214B, and the holding member 230 holding the positioning pieces 212A and 212B are attached to the contact piece 2 of the centering device 200.
It is replaced with 40. Therefore, positioning piece 2
Since 12A and 12B are connected to the elevating member 202, they can be freely moved up and down along the guide 204, and are connected and fixed to the base 2 by the bracket 208. Further, the lowering limit of the positioning pieces 212A and 212B can be changed by adjusting the lowering position of the elevating member 202 with the stopper 206.

On the other hand, the unit B210B is also the unit A2
The side 22 is located at the corresponding position with the substrate
It has positioning pieces 222A, B having 6A, B and vertical sides 224A, B at its distal end. The substrate A can be positioned by surrounding the substrate A with the unit A 210A. Then, the side 216A that contacts the side surface of the substrate A,
B, 226A, B and the side cross-sectional shapes of the vertical sides 214A, B, 224A, B are as shown in FIG.
Each is composed of an inclined surface portion 218 for guiding the substrate and a vertical surface portion 220 for positioning the substrate. The angle Θ of the slope 218 with respect to the horizontal is 30 to 85, more preferably 60.
The vertical plane portion 220 has a length L of 1 to 20 mm, more preferably 2 to 10 mm.

The positioning pieces 212A, B and 222
When the substrate A is sandwiched between A and B, the horizontal sides 216A and 216A
L, which is the distance between B and the horizontal sides 226A and 226B
A is 0.05 to 3 m larger than the dimension L1 of the substrate A in the moving direction.
m is preferred, and the vertical sides 214A and 224A
LB which is the distance between the vertical sides 214B and 224B
Is preferably set to be 0.05 to 3 mm larger than the dimension L2 in the width direction of the substrate A. The positioning pieces 212A, B, 222
In a state where the substrates A and B are set, the substrate A is lowered from above, and the side surfaces of the substrate A are positioned with
After being guided by the slopes 218 at the tips of A, B, 222A, and B, the board is fitted inside the vertical face 220 to perform positioning, so that the board A and the positioning pieces 212A, B, 0.05 clearance between 222A and B
mm is smaller than the positioning piece 212A,
B, 222A and B, it is easy to ride on B, and if it is 3 mm or more, the positional deviation is large and there is no effect of positioning. Further, when the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, and B descend, they come into contact with the substrate A, but the positioning pieces 212A, B, and 22
It is preferable to adjust the stopper 206 such that a slight clearance is formed between the lower surface of the suction plate 6 and the lower surface of the suction plate 6 so that the lower surface of the suction plate 6 does not collide with the lower surface of the suction plate 6. After the positioning of the substrate A on the suction disk 6 is completed by the above operation, the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, and B are raised so that the substrate A can travel.

Next, a coating method using this coating apparatus will be described. First, when return to the origin of each operation unit in the coating apparatus is performed, the suction plate 6 and the slit die 40 move to the standby position. At this time, the coating liquid 70 has already been filled from the tank 50 to the slit die 40, and the so-called air bleeding operation of discharging the coating liquid with the die facing upward to discharge the residual air inside the die has already been completed. At the same time, the syringe pump 44 has already aspirated and stored a predetermined amount of the coating liquid from the tank 50, and is on standby in a state where the coating liquid can be discharged at any time. And suction cup 6
A lift pin (not shown) rises from the hole 110 on the surface of the positioning member 2 and the positioning piece 2 of the centering device B201.
12A, B, 222A, and B descend, stop at a position slightly apart from the upper surface of the suction disk 6, and wait for the substrate A to be placed. Here, the end surface of the lift pin supporting the substrate is positioned at the positioning piece 212 stopped at a predetermined position.
At a position higher than the upper surfaces of A, B, 222A, and B, the lower surface of substrate A is configured to be supported only by the lift pins.

Next, when the substrate A is placed on the tip surface of the lift pins from a loader (not shown), the lift pins are lowered. By this operation, the substrate A is lowered, and the side surface of the substrate A is positioned on the side 21 of the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, and B.
6A, B, 226A, B and vertical sides 214A, B, 224
It is guided by the slope portions 218 and the vertical surface portions 220 of A and B, and is positioned on the suction cup 6 at a certain allowable value.

When the substrate A is placed on the upper surface 102 of the suction plate 6, the suction / release control device 250 is sent from the computer 54.
To start suction from the suction hole 104 and
Is fixed to the upper surface 102 by suction. On the other hand, at the same time as the suction, the thickness of the substrate A is measured by the thickness sensor 22 and the slit die 40 is lowered based on the thickness so that the clearance between the substrate A and the lower surface 74 of the slit die 40 becomes a predetermined value. I do. Then, when the suction of the substrate A is completed, the positioning pieces 212A of the centering device B201,
After raising B, 222A and B to a position where they do not interfere with the end face of the substrate A, the suction plate 6 is driven to move the substrate A at a constant speed. Then, when the application start portion of the substrate A comes just below the discharge port 72 of the slit die 40, a command is issued from the computer 54 to the syringe pump 54, and the operation of the syringe pump 44 is started to start the operation of the slit die 40. The application liquid is discharged from the discharge port 72 and the slit die 4
The application liquid bead C is formed between the lower surface 74 of the substrate 0 and the substrate A, and the application to the substrate A is started. When the application end position of the substrate A is just below the discharge port 72 of the slit die 40, a stop command is issued from the computer 54 to the syringe pump 44 to stop the discharge of the coating liquid from the slit die 40 and the slit pump. By raising the die 40, the coating liquid bead C is completely discharged.

During these operations, the suction disk 6 continues to move, stops when the substrate A reaches the end point position, and issues a command to the suction / release control device 250 from the computer 54 to release the suction of the substrate A. As a method for releasing the suction, the suction operation for sucking the substrate is stopped, and compressed air is sent into the suction hole for a predetermined time. Then, the lift pins serving as the separating means are lifted to lift the substrate A to be separated from the suction plate 6, and the substrate A on the lift pins is transported to the next step by an unloader (not shown). Thereafter, the suction disk 6 returns to the origin position with the lift pins protruding. On the other hand, the syringe pump 44 performs a suction operation from when the substrate A stops at the end point position, and fills the tank 50 with the coating liquid 70 anew.
Next, the same operation is repeated until the next substrate A comes.

When the above-described coating operation on the substrate A is repeated, the tact time, which is one cycle time, is longer than the conventional one in the positioning time of the substrate A by the centering device B201 and the separation time of the substrate A from the suction disk 6. , And the desorption time is shortened.

In the positioning by the centering device B201, the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A and B are positioned horizontally after the positioning pieces 212A, B and 222A and B are moved in the width direction of the substrate. I have. Conventionally, the retreat amount is determined by the side 216 of the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, and B.
A, B, and 226A and B need a minimum length for contacting the side surface of the substrate A in the horizontal direction, whereas the present invention requires a length corresponding to the thickness of the substrate. In order to perform stable positioning, the contact length between the horizontal sides 216A, B, 226A, B and the substrate needs to be at least 10 mm, whereas the substrate thickness is only 1.1 mm at the maximum. According to the present invention, the retreat amount can be made much smaller, and the time required for positioning the substrate can be shortened accordingly.

In the present invention, the substrate A is peeled off from the suction disk 6 (desorption time).
06 and the vertical groove 108 to reduce the contact area of the upper surface 102 with the substrate A to reduce the adhesion due to static electricity. The time required for peeling A can be shortened.

A method for further shortening the time for separating the substrate A from the suction disk 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a time chart of a coating method to which the peeling method according to the present invention is applied.

Referring to FIG. 6, until the start of the pump discharge, which is the start of coating, the above-described procedure of the coating method is directly performed by measuring the position of the slit die 40, the running state of the suction plate 6, and the thickness of the substrate by the thickness sensor 22. , Syringe pump 4
4, operation of suction and release of suction, pressure acting on substrate A, lift pin position, centering device B20
1 (positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, B
Is "ON" at the descent stop position, "OFF" at the ascent stop position
) In the form of a state at each time.

When the application is completed after the discharge operation of the syringe pump 44 is completed, the suction disk 6 is still moving, but the suction is turned off and compressed air is released from the suction disk 6 to release the suction. When the pressure applied to the substrate A is returned to the atmospheric pressure from the negative pressure during suction,
Stop the introduction of compressed air. In this state, the pressure acting on the substrate A is zero, but the substrate A is still in close contact with the suction disk 6 due to static electricity generated at the time of suction. Subsequently, when the suction disk 6 reaches the end point position and stops, compressed air for suction release is again introduced into the suction hole 104 to apply a constant positive pressure to the substrate A, and then the lift pin is slightly delayed. To raise. The lift pins may also be raised to the upper point at once, but when the substrate is large, the diagonal is particularly 500 mm.
mm or more, it is raised once to a position slightly higher than the upper surface 102 of the suction disk 6, preferably to a position (peeling point) of 0.5 to 5 mm, and stopped for about 0.1 to 2 seconds. It is preferable to raise the temperature to the upper point because the substrate A is slowly separated from the suction plate 6 so that the substrate can be smoothly peeled without breaking the substrate. After that, the coated substrate A is transported to the next process by the unloader, and then the suction disk 6 is returned to the origin position, and the same process is repeated.

In the above steps, the suction release is started immediately after the end of coating while the suction plate 6 is still moving, the suction pressure on the substrate A is returned to the atmospheric pressure at which the substrate is not yet separated, and the suction plate 6 is stopped. Thereafter, compressed air is further fed to release the suction to release the substrate, and the feature is that the preceding and two-stage suction releasing operations before stopping the suction disk 6 are performed. Conventionally, the suction release is started after stopping at the end position of the suction disk 6, so that the suction release is started in a state where the negative pressure is applied to the substrate A, whereas in the present invention, the suction release is started. After the board 6 is stopped at the end position, the suction release from the state where the suction force to the substrate A is the atmospheric pressure can be started, so that the time for peeling the substrate from the upper surface 102 of the suction board 6 can be greatly shortened. As a result, the tact time of coating can be significantly reduced. The above effects can be exerted regardless of whether or not the suction cup 6 has a groove.

The coating liquid to which the present invention can be applied has a viscosity of 1 cps to 100,000 cps, preferably 10 cp.
s to 50,000 cps, and Newtonian is preferable from the viewpoint of applicability, but can also be applied to a coating liquid having thixotropic properties. The present invention can be applied not only to the drying speed of the coating liquid but also to the reduction of the tact time when coating with a die coater, in addition to the coating liquid for RGB color, the resist and the O / C material. As a member to be coated as a substrate, a metal plate such as aluminum, a ceramic plate, a silicon wafer, or the like may be used in addition to glass. Further, as a coating state to be used, the clearance is 40 to 500 μm, more preferably 80 to 3 μm.
00 m, coating speed 0.1 m / min to 10 m / min, more preferably 0.5 m / min to 6 m / min, die lip gap 50 to 1000 m, more preferably 100 to 600
μm, coating thickness 5 to 400 μm, more preferably 20
２５０250 μm.

In the present invention, the diagonal length is 5
The effect can be exhibited well with a substrate having a size of 00 mm or more.

Further, the object of the substrate centering device of the present invention includes any device in which the positioning pieces that come into contact with the substrate after positioning are retracted in the vertical direction. For example, lift pins are brought into contact with the substrate end surface so as to surround four sides of the substrate. The positioning method is also included. In this case, after the positioning, the lift pins descend into the suction disk and retreat. Further, the retracting direction may be not only vertically moving up and down, but also vertically upward or downward. The material of the portion of the centering device that contacts the side surface of the substrate may be any material, but is preferably a polymer resin, rubber, or the like so as not to damage the substrate.

The horizontal groove 106 and the vertical groove 10 of the suction disk 6
The groove shape of No. 8 is not particularly limited, but the groove has a width of 0.5
It is preferably about 20 to 20 mm and a depth of about 0.5 to 30 mm. If the width is small, the decrease in the contact area is too small, and if it is too large, the substrate is easily deformed and cracked. Regarding the number of grooves, it is desirable that the area occupied by the grooves on the upper surface 102, which is the suction surface of the substrate A, is 3 to 50% of the entire upper surface 102. If it is smaller than this, the contact area between the suction surface and the substrate A is too large to reduce the electrostatic force, and if it is too large, on the other hand, the substrate falls into the groove at the time of suction and the flatness of the substrate is reduced. Be impaired. Furthermore, the positional relationship between the suction holes 104 and the grooves is not particularly limited, and suction holes may be provided in the grooves. The material of the suction cup provided with such grooves may be any material as long as the shape can be maintained, but metals such as stainless steel and aluminum, polymer resins, and stone materials such as granite are preferable. In the case of metal, it is preferable that the surface is further subjected to a surface treatment for reducing electrostatic force, such as Kanigen plating, Caniflon, or Teflon coating.

[0057]

EXAMPLE On a non-alkali glass substrate of 360 × 465 mm and thickness of 0.7 mm, a pitch of 254 was set in the width direction of the substrate.
μm, pitch 85 μm in the longitudinal direction of the substrate, line width 20
μm, number of RGB pixels is 4800 (longitudinal direction of substrate) × 12
A black matrix film having a lattice shape of 00 (substrate width direction) and a diagonal length of 20 inches (substrate width direction 305 mm, substrate longitudinal direction 406 mm) and a thickness of 1 μm was prepared. The black matrix film used titanium oxynitride as a light-shielding material and polyamic acid as a binder.

Subsequently, after removing particles on the substrate by wet cleaning, a polyamic acid is used as a binder and γ-
A mixture of butyrolactone, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and 3-methyl-3-methoxybutanol was mixed at a solid content of 10% using a solvent, Pigment Red 177 as a pigment, and the viscosity was adjusted to 50 cps. Liquid
The entire surface was uniformly coated with a die coater at a speed of 3 m / min at a thickness of 20 μm. Here, the slit die of the die coater has a slit gap of 100 μm and a slit width of 305 m.
m, the clearance between the lower surface of the slit die and the substrate is 10
It was 0 μm. Here, the centering device for retracting the substrate in the vertical direction in FIG. 3 is used for positioning the substrate on the suction plate, the gap between the substrate and the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A, B is set to 0.5 mm, and the positioning pieces 212A, B, 222A,
The clearance between the lower surface of B and the upper surface of the suction disk 6 is set to 0.2 mm,
Then, the substrate was positioned. Further, the suction pressure of the substrate on the suction disk was set to 100 hPa, and the suction was released twice immediately after coating (release to atmospheric pressure) and after the substrate was stopped, according to the method shown in FIG. The pressure of the compressed air sent for releasing the adsorption was set to 0.2 MPa. The tact time of the application for the R color coating film performed as described above is 28.
5 seconds.

By the way, when a centering device which retreats 30 mm in the horizontal direction is used, and the suction is released by stopping the suction plate after the coating is completed and then feeding compressed air of 0.2 MPa, the tact time is 30 seconds. Was.

After coating with a die coater, the coating liquid was dried at 100 ° C. for 20 minutes in a drying apparatus using a hot plate, and a resist solution having a solid concentration of 10% and a viscosity of 8% was coated at 10 μm.
After drying on a hot plate at 90 ° C for 10 minutes,
Peeling was performed to leave a color coating film only on the R pixel portion, and heating was performed on a hot plate at 260 ° C. for 30 minutes to cure.

The same color coating film was formed for the G and B colors by using the same die coater and application conditions as for the R color, and other same processes. Here, for the G color coating solution, the pigment is pigment color 3 with the R color coating solution.
6, the viscosity is adjusted to 40 cps at a solid content concentration of 10%, and for the B color coating solution, the pigment is changed to Pigment Blue 15 with the R color coating solution, and the viscosity is 50 cp at a solid content concentration of 10%.
Those adjusted to s were used.

Finally, ITO was deposited by sputtering to form a color filter. The obtained color filter has no foreign matters such as pigment aggregates and abrasion powder,
The chromaticity was uniform over the entire surface of the substrate, and the quality was satisfactory.

[0063]

According to the coating method and the coating apparatus of the present invention, the suction releasing operation for peeling the substrate is first started immediately after the completion of the coating, and is performed in multiple stages including after the substrate is stopped. And that the separating operation for separating the substrate from the suction disk is temporarily stopped at a position halfway to the final position and is performed stepwise, so that the substrate is separated from the suction disk after the substrate is stopped. And the tact time for coating can be shortened.

Further, according to another coating method and coating apparatus according to the present invention, the grooves are appropriately provided on the surface of the suction plate on which the substrate is sucked, so that the electrostatic force generated at the time of sucking the substrate can be reduced. Since the static electricity component of the substrate attraction force can be significantly reduced, the force required for peeling the substrate is reduced,
Substrate stripping time can be greatly reduced, which can also reduce tact time for application.

Further, according to another coating method and coating apparatus according to the present invention, since the positioning member for positioning the substrate on the suction plate surface is moved in the vertical direction, the retracting distance of the positioning member after the positioning is achieved. Is greatly reduced, and the evacuation time can be shortened, so that the time required for positioning the substrate can be greatly reduced, and as a result, the tact time for coating can be shortened.

According to the color filter manufacturing method and the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention using the above-mentioned other coating method and the coating apparatus according to the present invention, the above-mentioned excellent coating method capable of shortening the tact time and the color apparatus can be used. Since the filter is manufactured, a high quality color filter can be manufactured with high productivity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a die coater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the die coater of FIG. 1 including a coating liquid supply system.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a centering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial front sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an overall schematic perspective view showing one embodiment of a suction disk according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a time chart of a coating method to which the peeling method according to the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 die coater 2 base 6 suction disk 14 feed screw 18 AC servomotor 22 thickness sensor 40 slit die (applicator) 44 syringe pump 50 tank 54 computer 62 manifold 64 slit 72 discharge port 102 upper surface 104 suction hole 106 horizontal groove 108 vertical groove 110 Lift pin hole 200 Centering device 201 Centering device B 202 Elevating member 204 Guide 206 Stopper 208 Bracket 210A, 210B Unit A, B 212A, 212B Positioning piece 214A, 214B Vertical side 216A, 216B Horizontal side 218 Slope 220 Vertical plane 222A, 222B Piece 224A, 224B Vertical side 226A, 226B Horizontal side A Substrate (member to be coated) C Coating liquid bead

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G03F 7/16 501 G03F 7/16 501 (72) Inventor Hiromitsu Kanamori 1-1-1 Sonoyama, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture No.F-term (reference) in the Shiga Plant of Toray Industries, Inc. (reference)

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated is relatively moved while discharging the application liquid from a discharge port of the applicator to the member to be coated held by the suction board. A coating method for forming a coating film on a member to be coated, wherein the operation of reducing the attraction force for detaching the member to be coated from the suction disk is performed a plurality of times after forming the coating film on the member to be coated. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated is relatively moved while discharging the coating liquid from a discharge port of the coating device to the member to be coated held by the suction disk. After the coating film is formed, by performing the separating operation of the member to be coated from the suction plate, in the coating method of detaching the member to be coated from the suction plate, temporarily stopping at a position halfway to the final separation position. A coating method characterized by the above-mentioned. 3. The member to be coated by moving at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated while discharging the coating liquid from a discharge port of the coating device to the member to be coated held by the suction board. A coating method for forming a coating film on a substrate, wherein the member to be coated is suction-held on a suction disk provided with a groove on a suction surface. 4. After positioning a relative position between a discharge port of an applicator that discharges a coating liquid and a member to be coated, the coating apparatus discharges the coating liquid onto the member to be coated while discharging the coating liquid onto the member to be coated. A coating method for forming a coating film on a member to be coated by relatively moving at least one of the members, wherein the relative position is determined by moving a member in contact with an outer edge of the member to be coated in a vertical direction. A coating method characterized by the above-mentioned. 5. A method for producing a color filter, comprising producing a color filter using the coating method according to claim 1. Description: 6. A supply unit for supplying a coating liquid, a coating device having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply unit, a suction disk for suction-holding a member to be coated, a coating device or a coating device. A coating device having moving means for relatively moving at least one of the coating members, wherein the coating member is attached to and detached from the suction disk by reducing the suction force; An application device, comprising: an attachment / detachment control unit for performing an attachment / detachment operation of a member to be applied a plurality of times after forming a coating film on the member to be applied. 7. A supply device for supplying a coating liquid, a coating device having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply device, a suction plate for suction-holding a member to be coated, a coating device or a coating device. In a coating apparatus provided with a moving unit for relatively moving at least one of the coating members and a separating unit for separating and attaching the member to be applied to and from the suction disk, further detaching the member to be coated from the suction plate by the separation unit. A coating apparatus characterized in that the coating apparatus has separation control means for temporarily stopping at a position halfway to the final separation position. 8. A supply device for supplying a coating liquid, an application device having a discharge port for discharging the application liquid supplied from the supply device, a suction plate for suction-holding a member to be coated, a coating device or a coating device. A coating device, comprising: a moving unit for relatively moving at least one of the coating members, wherein a groove is provided on a suction surface of the member to be coated of the suction disk. 9. The area ratio of the groove to the suction surface is 3 to 50.
The coating device according to claim 8, wherein the coating ratio is in the range of%. 10. A supply unit for supplying a coating liquid, an applicator having a discharge port for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply unit, and at least one of the applicator and the member to be applied are relatively moved. In a coating apparatus including a moving unit and a positioning unit that positions the member to be coated before the coating device and the member to be coated are brought closer to each other, the positioning unit moves a member in contact with an outer edge of the member to be coated in a vertical direction. A coating apparatus having a configuration capable of being performed. 11. A color filter manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter using the coating apparatus according to claim 6. Description: