JP2002189115A - Apparatus for manufacturing color filter and method for manufacturing color filter using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To manufacture a highly reliable color filter with excellent productivity. SOLUTION: A substrate to be colored and a plotting head are highly accurately aligned with each other in each of the horizontal direction and the vertical direction by discharging ink to a dummy substrate to be colored and detecting the landing position and the alignment mark.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a color filter which is a component of a color liquid crystal display used in a color television, a personal computer, and the like, and a method for manufacturing a color filter using the apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, the production of a color filter includes:
Generally, the following method was used.

Dyeing method: A water-soluble polymer material as a material for dyeing is formed on a glass substrate, formed into a desired pattern by a photolithography process, and then immersed in a dyeing tank to be colored. Get the pattern. By repeating this process three times, R (red), G (green), B
A (blue) color filter is formed.

[0004] Pigment dispersion method: This method is currently replacing the dyeing method, and a monochromatic pattern is obtained by forming a photosensitive resin layer in which a pigment is dispersed on a glass substrate and patterning the same. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, B color filters.

Electrodeposition method: A transparent electrode is patterned on a glass substrate, and immersed in an electrodeposition coating solution containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolytic solution and the like to electrodeposit a single color. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, B color filters.

Printing method: R, G, B color filters are formed by dispersing a pigment in a thermosetting resin and repeating printing three times, and finally firing.

[0007] Common to these methods are R,
In order to form three color filters of G and B, it is necessary to repeat the same process three times, resulting in problems such as an increase in cost and a decrease in yield due to the large number of processes.

[0008] Furthermore, since the shape of a pattern that can be formed by the electrodeposition method is limited, application to a TFT type (TFT, ie, an active matrix driving type using a thin film transistor as a switching element) is difficult. In addition, the printing method has a problem that resolution is poor and it is difficult to cope with pattern miniaturization.

In order to compensate for these problems, a method of manufacturing a color filter by an ink jet system is disclosed in, for example, JP-A-59-75205, JP-A-63-235901, and JP-A-1-217302. I have.

[0010]

However, in a conventional manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by an ink-jet method, there is a problem that the function of the apparatus is insufficient and productivity is not sufficiently considered. .

An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of manufacturing an inexpensive and highly reliable color filter utilizing the characteristics of an ink jet system, and a manufacturing method using the apparatus.

[0012]

The first aspect of the present invention is a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by applying inks of a plurality of colors on a substrate to be colored by an ink jet method.
A means for mounting a substrate to be colored, and a drawing head located above the substrate to be colored and having a plurality of nozzles are provided for each of a plurality of colors, and the rotation of each head and the position of each head can be adjusted for each head. A head unit rotatable as a whole, horizontal adjustment means for moving the substrate to be colored relative to the drawing head in a direction parallel to the coloring surface of the substrate to be colored, the drawing head and the substrate to be colored Head / substrate detecting means for measuring the distance between the head and the substrate, vertical adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the drawing head and the substrate to be colored, positions of alignment marks or black matrices formed on the substrate to be colored, and Position detecting means for detecting a landing position of ink ejected from the drawing head, and a plurality of color inks are simultaneously applied to the substrate to be colored from the plurality of drawing heads. A color filter manufacturing apparatus characterized by simultaneously drawing a plurality of colors of pixels out.

A second aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing a color filter using the color filter manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, wherein a step of mounting a dummy substrate to be mounted on the mounting means of the substrate to be colored includes: Adjusting the distance between the dummy coloring target substrate and the drawing head by the detecting means and the vertical adjusting means, and detecting the alignment mark or the black matrix on the coloring target substrate by the position detecting means,
A step of aligning the position detection means with the dummy coloring target substrate; a step of discharging ink from the drawing head onto the dummy coloring target substrate; A step of detecting the displacement of the position, the alignment mark or the black matrix, and adjusting the relative position of each drawing head and the rotation of each drawing head in the head unit based on the detection result, and further adjusting the rotation of the head unit And the step of matching the nozzle pitch of each drawing head with the coloring pitch, the step of replacing the dummy substrate to be colored with the substrate to be colored, and the distance between the substrate to be colored and the drawing head is the distance between the dummy substrate to be colored and Set the head so that it is the distance from the drawing head.
The step of adjusting by the inter-substrate detecting means and the vertical adjusting means, and detecting the alignment mark or the black matrix on the substrate to be colored by the position detecting means, and aligning the substrate to be colored with the drawing head by the horizontal adjusting means. And a step of ejecting ink from each of the drawing heads to the substrate to be colored while moving the substrate to be colored relative to the drawing head by the horizontal adjustment means.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to an embodiment of the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an embodiment of a color filter manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is a surface plate for mounting the apparatus, 2 is a vibration isolation table for blocking external vibrations, 3 is also a means for mounting the substrate 5 to be colored, and horizontally moves the substrate 5 to be colored in the X and Y directions. The XY stage 4 is mounted on the XY stage 3, the θ · Z-tilt stage for vertically moving the substrate 5 to be colored in the Z direction and rotating the substrate 5 at an arbitrary angle in the horizontal direction, and 5 is the θ · Z-tilt stage 4. A substrate to be colored mounted on the substrate, 6 a drawing head,
Numeral 7 denotes an alignment / landing position detecting optical system as position detecting means, and reference numerals 8a to 8c denote focus detecting optical systems as head / substrate detecting means.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of the configuration near the XY stage, and the reference numerals in the figure indicate the same members as in FIG.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the drawing head 6 has R,
G and B are prepared one by one, and each drawing head 6 has a plurality of nozzles arranged linearly. Also, R, G, B
Thus, one set of drawing heads 6 is arranged in the head unit, and the position and inclination (rotation) of each drawing head can be independently performed for each head in the unit. The head unit is configured to be rotatable in a plane parallel to the coloring plane. Furthermore, in the present configuration, the adjustment (horizontal adjustment means) of the horizontal direction (the X direction, the Y direction, and the rotation direction at an arbitrary angle θ in a plane parallel to the coloring surface) of the coloring target substrate 5 is performed in the X direction. And the Y direction are performed by the XY stage 3, and the θ direction is performed by the θ · Z-tilt stage 4. Therefore, the θ · Z−
The tilt stage 4 is not only a vertical adjustment unit according to the present invention but also a θ direction adjustment unit of the horizontal adjustment unit.

In this configuration, the head unit is fixed to the apparatus, and the substrate 5 to be colored
Is to move the substrate 5 to be colored. By fixing the head unit in this way,
Dust does not drop onto the substrate 5 to be colored, and the movement speed is increased, thereby improving the productivity.

A method for manufacturing a color filter using the above manufacturing apparatus will be described below.

Step (1) A dummy substrate 5 to be colored is mounted on the θ · Z-tilt stage 4 of the apparatus. The dummy coloring target substrate 5 has exactly the same configuration as that of the coloring target substrate 5 which is originally colored, usually includes a black matrix, and further has alignment marks formed as necessary. In the present invention, the substrate to be colored 5
The black matrix or the alignment mark is used to align the image and the drawing head 6.

Step (2) The drawing head 6 is controlled by the focus detecting optical systems 8a to 8c.
And the substrate 5 to be colored is measured, and based on the measurement result, the θ / Z-tilt stage 4 is adjusted vertically so that the distance becomes a predetermined value.

Step (3) An alignment mark or black matrix formed on the substrate 5 to be colored is detected by the alignment / landing position detecting optical system 7, and based on the result, the substrate 5 to be colored and the optical system 7 are detected. Align with.

Step (4) Ink is discharged from each drawing head 6 onto the substrate 5 to be colored.

Step (5) The substrate 5 to be colored is moved in the horizontal direction by the XY stage 3, and the alignment / landing position detecting optical system 7
The displacement of the alignment mark or the black matrix formed on the substrate to be colored 5 and the landing position of the ink are detected. From this detection result, the coordinates of the alignment / landing position detection optical system 7 and the ink landing position are accurately measured.

Step (6) From the detection result of the ink landing position in step (5),
Calculate the deviation from the position to be colored, adjust the position and rotation of each drawing head 6 in the head unit for each head, and further rotate the head unit appropriately to change the nozzle pitch and coloring pitch of each drawing head. To match.
The coloring pitch usually corresponds to a pitch of three openings of the black matrix since R, G, and B coloring pixels are sequentially arranged.

Step (7) Returning to step (3), this step is repeated until there is no need for adjustment.

Step (8) The dummy colored substrate 5 is replaced with a colored substrate 5 for manufacturing.

Step (9) The distance between the substrate 5 to be colored and the drawing head 6 is adjusted by the focus detection optical systems 8a to 8c and the θ · Z-tilt stage 4 to the distance adjusted in the step (2). ,
adjust.

Step (10) An alignment mark or black matrix on the substrate to be colored 5 is detected by the alignment / landing position detecting optical system 7, and the alignment between the substrate to be colored 5 and the drawing head 6 is performed by the XY stage 3 and θ. -Performed by the Z-tilt stage 4. In the detection step, even if a plurality of detection targets (alignment marks or black matrices) are detected by the plurality of optical systems 7, the plurality of detection targets are detected by one optical system 7 on the XY stage 3. 5 may be detected while moving.

Step (11) The XY stage 3 moves the substrate 5 to be colored in the scanning direction with respect to the drawing head 6 while discharging ink from each drawing head 6 onto the substrate 5 to perform coloring. In the ink jet method, the direction of ink ejection from the nozzle often deviates from the normal direction of the colored surface. This is shown in FIG. In the drawing, 36 is a drawing head, 35, 35
Reference numerals a and 35b denote colored surfaces, and arrows indicate ejection directions. As described above, when the ink ejection direction is inclined, when the distance between the coloring target substrate 5 and the drawing head 6 changes (the coloring surface 3).
5a to 35a or 35b), the landing positions of the inks are also shifted.
Therefore, it is desirable to detect the distance between the coloring target substrate 5 and the drawing head 6 and the inclination of the coloring surface, and eject ink while controlling the distance to be constant. Depending on the accuracy, it is possible to measure the distance when the substrate to be colored 5 is mounted on the apparatus, correct the distance, and fix the distance during drawing.

Steps (9) to (11) are repeated for each of the substrates to be colored to continuously produce color filters.

In the present invention, the above step (6)
The step of adjusting the position and rotation of each drawing head 6 in each head unit in each head is performed by another apparatus, and after the head unit is attached to an apparatus used for manufacturing, the rotation of the entire head unit is adjusted. By doing so, manufacturing efficiency can be increased.

[0033]

According to the present invention, an ink jet system using a plurality of drawing heads having a plurality of nozzles is used.
Since colors are simultaneously colored and a plurality of pixels are simultaneously colored, the number of steps is small, and a color filter can be efficiently and quickly manufactured. Further, in the present invention, since the correction between the substrate to be colored and the landing position of the ink is performed with high accuracy, the relative displacement in all six degrees of freedom can be kept constant, and even when the ink ejection direction is inclined. In addition, high-precision drawing can be performed with high productivity.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration of an embodiment of a color filter manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration example near an XY stage of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the inclination of the ink ejection direction.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 surface plate 2 anti-vibration table 3 XY stage 4 θ / Z-stage 5 substrate to be colored 6 drawing head 7 optical system for alignment / landing position detection 8a to 8c optical system for focus detection 35, 35a, 35b colored surface 36 drawing head

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by applying a plurality of colors of ink to a substrate to be colored by an ink jet method, comprising: means for mounting the substrate to be colored; A head unit comprising a drawing head having a plurality of nozzles for each of a plurality of colors, wherein the rotation of each head and the position of each head can be adjusted for each head, and the head unit is rotatable as a whole; Horizontal adjustment means for moving the substrate to be colored relative to the drawing head in a direction parallel to the head, head / substrate detection means for measuring the distance between the drawing head and the substrate to be colored, and the drawing head Vertical adjusting means for adjusting the distance between the substrate and the substrate to be colored, the position of the alignment mark or black matrix formed on the substrate to be colored, And a position detecting means for detecting a landing position of the ink, wherein a plurality of color inks are simultaneously discharged from the plurality of drawing heads onto a substrate to be colored to simultaneously draw a plurality of color pixels. Filter manufacturing equipment. 2. The color filter manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the head unit is fixed to the apparatus. 3. A method for manufacturing a color filter by the color filter manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
A step of mounting a dummy substrate to be mounted on the mounting means of the substrate to be colored, a step of adjusting the distance between the dummy substrate to be colored and the drawing head by head / substrate detection means and vertical adjustment means, A step of detecting an alignment mark or a black matrix on the substrate to be colored and aligning the position detection means with the substrate to be colored, a step of discharging ink from the drawing head to the substrate to be colored, and a horizontal adjustment. Means for detecting the ink landing position on the dummy colored substrate, the alignment mark or the displacement of the black matrix by the means and the position detecting means,
Based on the above detection result, the relative position of each drawing head and the rotation of each drawing head are adjusted in the head unit, and the rotation of the head unit is further adjusted so that the nozzle pitch of each drawing head matches the coloring pitch. Process and
Replacing the dummy substrate to be colored with a substrate to be colored,
Adjusting the distance between the substrate to be colored and the drawing head by the head-substrate detecting means and the vertical adjusting means so that the distance between the dummy colored substrate and the drawing head becomes equal to each other; A step of detecting the upper alignment mark or the black matrix and aligning the substrate to be colored with the drawing head by the horizontal adjustment means, and moving the substrate to be colored relative to the drawing head by the horizontal adjustment means Discharging the ink from each of the drawing heads onto the substrate to be colored. 4. The step of adjusting each drawing head in the head unit is performed in another manufacturing apparatus.
3. The method for producing a color filter according to item 1.