JP2003053238A - Paste coating machine and paste coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate vibration generated when drawing is applied to the corner part of a pattern at a high speed in applying and drawing a plurality of paste patterns to one substrate. SOLUTION: The paste pattern formed on the substrate 9 is resolved into linear patterns, that is, a vertical pattern SP-Y and a horizontal pattern SP-X and these patterns are separately drawn to eliminate work for coating the corner part of the pattern with paste. At the crossing part XP of the vertical pattern SP-Y and the horizontal pattern SP-X, the coating amount of the paste at the crossing part XP is reduced as compared with a linear part other than the crossing part XP when the vertical pattern SP-Y is applied and drawn at first. Next, paste coating is performed so that the coating amount of the paste at the crossing part XP becomes equal to that at the linear part other than the crossing part XP in the obtained paste pattern when the horizontal pattern SP-X is applied and drawn.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a paste applicator, and more particularly to a paste applicator and a coating method capable of drawing a seal pattern having a stable height when a large number of liquid crystal panels are produced from one substrate. Regarding

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, JP-A-6-160828.
When a plurality of liquid crystal panels are produced from a single substrate as described in Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2003-242, a seal pattern is drawn on each of the liquid crystal panels with a thermosetting resin (paste), and a seal pattern is drawn in this way. There is known a technique of forming a liquid crystal panel by bonding the two substrates thus formed. In this way, when forming the seal patterns of a plurality of panels on the same substrate, while moving the table on which the substrates are placed according to a predetermined seal pattern for each panel, paste is applied from the paste discharge port of the nozzle to the substrate. A drawing method for ejecting ink onto the surface is known.

[0003]

By the way, when a pattern is drawn by this method, in order to mass-produce the panel, the coating drawing time becomes long and the productivity is lowered. Therefore, it is conceivable to increase the paste application speed and perform the paste application at a high speed. However, if the application direction is changed at the square corners of the pattern, the table and the entire device will vibrate vertically, horizontally, forward and backward, There is a problem that the seal pattern cannot be applied in a desired shape.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, prevent a decrease in productivity when a large number of panels are taken per substrate, shorten the coating tact and stabilize the coating drawing precision of a seal pattern. It is to provide a paste coating machine and a paste coating method that can realize the above.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is for applying and drawing a grid pattern paste pattern composed of a combination of vertical line patterns and horizontal line patterns. When the paste is applied to the intersection between the line pattern and the horizontal line pattern, by controlling the distance between the nozzle and the substrate surface, the paste discharge pressure or the relative speed between the nozzle and the substrate, The paste application amount of the paste application and the second paste application is made substantially equal to the paste application amount of the straight line portion other than the intersecting portion.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a paste coating machine according to the present invention, in which 1 is a mount, 2 is a Z-axis table support mount, 3 is an X-axis moving table, 4 is an X-axis servo motor, and 5 is Y. Axis moving table, 6 Y-axis servo motor, 7 substrate holding mechanism, 8 θ axis moving table, 9 substrate, 10 Z axis moving table support bracket, 11 Z axis moving table, 11a support base, 12 Is a Z-axis servomotor, 13 is a paste storage cylinder (syringe), 14
Is a nozzle support, 15 is an image recognition camera, 16 is a rangefinder, 17 is a main controller, 18 is a sub controller, 18a is a hard disk, 18b is a floppy disk, 19 is a monitor,
20 is a keyboard and 21 is wiring.

In FIG. 1, an X-axis moving table 3 is provided on the gantry 1, and a Y-axis moving table 5 is provided on the X-axis moving table 3 so as to be orthogonal thereto. There is. The Y-axis moving table 5 moves on the X-axis moving table 3 in the X-axis direction by driving the X-axis servo motor 4 provided on the X-axis moving table 3.
A substrate holding mechanism 7 is provided on the Y-axis moving table 5. This substrate holding mechanism 7 is driven by a Y-axis servo motor 6 attached to the Y-axis moving table 5.
The Y-axis moving table 5 is moved in the Y-axis direction. Further, a θ-axis moving table 8 is attached to the substrate holding mechanism 7, and the θ-axis moving table 8 is rotationally driven by a θ-axis servo motor (not shown) so that the substrate holding mechanism 7 moves in the θ-axis direction (Z direction).
It is driven to rotate around the axis). The substrate 9 is attached to the substrate holding mechanism 7 and moved in the X and Y axis directions or rotated in the θ axis direction by driving the servo motors of the X, Y and θ axis moving tables 3, 5, and 8. Then, it is positioned at a predetermined position.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the substrate 9 is moved in the direction of its surface to position it, or paste is applied, but by moving a nozzle to be described later, similar positioning or It goes without saying that it is also possible to control the paste application. Also,
The entire mechanism for driving the moving tables 3, 5, 8 or the mechanism for moving the nozzle in the surface direction of the substrate 9 is generically called a table driving mechanism.

A Z-axis table support pedestal 2 is also provided on the pedestal 1, and the Z-axis table support pedestal 2 is attached to the Z-axis table support bracket 10 via a Z-axis moving table support bracket 10.
An axis moving table 11 is provided. A support base 11a is mounted on the Z-axis moving table 11 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction. By driving the Z-axis servomotor 12 mounted on the Z-axis moving table 11, the support base 11a is moved. It moves in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) (this drive system is hereinafter referred to as a nozzle drive mechanism). Attached to the support base 11a are an image recognition camera 15, a range finder 16 and the like having a paste storage cylinder 13 having a nozzle support 14 at its lower end, a lens barrel having an illuminatable light source. At the tip of the nozzle support tool 14,
Although not shown, a nozzle is provided.

The paste storage cylinder 13 is detachably attached to a movable part of a linear guide (not shown). The image recognition camera 15 is provided so as to face the substrate 9 in order to align the substrate 9 and recognize the shape of the paste pattern.

A main controller 17 is installed below the gantry 1, and the main controller 17 is connected to a sub controller 18 separately provided by a wiring 21. The sub control unit 18
An external storage device using a storage medium such as a hard disk 18a or a floppy disk 18b, a monitor 19, and a keyboard 20 are provided.

The main control unit 17 is configured to operate the tables 3, 5, 1
The servo motors 4, 6 and 12 of 1 and the servo motor of the θ-axis moving table 8 are controlled. Data for various processing in the main control unit 17 is input from the keyboard 20, and an image captured by the image recognition camera 15 and the processing status in the main control unit 17 are displayed on the monitor 19. Data input from the keyboard 20 is stored and stored in a storage medium such as a hard disk 18a or a floppy disk 18b which is an external storage device.

Next, the control method in this embodiment will be described.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the main controller 17 and its control system in FIG.
Axis servo motor, 13a nozzle, 17a microcomputer, 17b motor controller, 17c data communication bus, 17d external interface, 17e
Is an image processing device, 17f to 17i are motor drivers, 2
1 is a negative pressure source, 23 is a positive pressure source, 22a and 23a are regulators, 24 is a valve unit, and 25 is atmospheric air.
The same reference numerals are attached to the portions corresponding to.

In the figure, the main controller 17 includes a microcomputer 17a, a motor controller 17b, motor drivers 17f to 17i, an image processing device 17e for processing a video signal obtained by the image recognition camera 15, and a sub controller 18. Signal transmission between and regulators 22a, 23a,
An external interface 17d for controlling the valve unit 24 and measuring and inputting the distance meter 16 is built in, and includes a microcomputer 17a and a motor controller 17
b, external interface 17d, image processing device 17e
Are connected to each other by a data communication bus 17c.

Further, the microcomputer 17a includes
Although not shown, a main arithmetic unit, a ROM storing a processing program for performing coating drawing described later, a RAM storing the processing result in the main arithmetic unit and input data from the external interface 17d and the motor controller 17b, an external interface 17d And an input / output unit for exchanging data with the motor controller 17b.

Servo motors 4, 6 and 12 for driving the tables 3, 5 and 11 and a θ-axis moving table 8 (FIG. 1).
The θ-axis servo motor 8a for driving the rotation of the motor has a built-in encoder for detecting the amount of rotation, and the detection result is applied to the corresponding motor driver 17f, 17g, 17i, 17h.
Then, the position control of the substrate 9 and the nozzle 13a is performed.

The servo motors 4, 6, 8a, 12 are input from the keyboard 20 and are input to the microcomputer 17a.
It rotates forward and backward based on the data stored in the built-in RAM. As a result, the substrate 9 held by the substrate holding mechanism 7 moves an arbitrary distance in the X and Y axis directions with respect to the nozzle 13a supported via the Z axis moving table 11.
During the movement, a slight atmospheric pressure is continuously applied to the paste storage cylinder 13, whereby the paste is discharged from the paste discharge port at the tip of the nozzle 13a, and a desired paste pattern is applied and drawn on the substrate 9.

The discharge pressure control mechanism for controlling the paste application includes a regulator 23a for adjusting the pressure of the compressed air supplied from the positive pressure source 23 and a negative pressure air supplied from the negative pressure source 22. Regulator 22a for adjusting pressure
And a valve unit 24 for switching and controlling the air pipes whose pressures are adjusted from the regulators 22a and 23a and the pipes that open to the atmosphere 25, respectively. The discharge pressure control mechanism allows the paste from the valve unit 24 to be pasted. The desired pressure is applied to the paste in the storage cylinder 13,
The discharge pressure is controlled.

Further, while the substrate 9 held by the substrate holding mechanism 7 (FIG. 1) is moving horizontally in the X and Y axis directions, the distance meter 16
Between the nozzle 13a and the substrate 9 (hereinafter, referred to as the nozzle 1
3a), and based on the measurement result, the height of the nozzle 13a is maintained substantially constant,
The Z-axis servomotor 12 is driven to control the nozzle 13a to move in the Z direction.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of this embodiment, and the operation of this embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIG. 3, first, when the power is turned on (step 100), the initial setting of the paste applicator is executed (step 200).

In this initial setting process, the servo motors 4,
The substrate holding mechanism 7 is driven by driving 6, 8, a and 12.
Is moved in the X-, Y-, and θ-axis directions and positioned at a predetermined reference position. At the same time, the nozzle 13a also has a position (that is, a position at which its paste discharge port starts applying the paste).
A predetermined origin position is set so that it becomes a paste application start point). Further, settings such as paste pattern data, substrate position data, and paste ejection end position data are set. As described above, each of these data is input from the keyboard 20, and the input data is stored in the RAM built in the microcomputer 17a.

Next, the substrate 9 is mounted on the substrate suction mechanism 7 and held (step 300), and subsequently, a substrate preliminary positioning process (step 400) is performed.

In the substrate pre-positioning process, the positioning mark of the substrate 9 mounted on the substrate holding mechanism 7 is photographed by the image recognition camera 15, and the barycentric position of the positioning mark is obtained from the photographed image by image processing, The inclination of the substrate 9 in the θ-axis direction is detected, and the servo motor 8a is driven accordingly, and the inclination in the θ-axis direction is also corrected.

When the amount of remaining paste in the paste storage cylinder 13 is small, the paste storage cylinder 13 and the nozzle 13a are previously provided together with the nozzle 13a in order to prevent the paste from being interrupted during the next paste application operation. Exchange. When the nozzle 13a is replaced, the displacement of the X and Y axis surfaces may occur. In order to eliminate this misalignment, a cross mark is drawn using the new nozzle 13a that has been replaced in the area of the substrate 9 where the paste pattern is not formed, and this cross mark is photographed by the image recognition camera 15,
From the photographed image, the center of gravity position of the intersection of the cross marks is obtained by image processing. Then, the distance between this barycentric position and the barycentric position of the positioning mark on the substrate 9 is calculated, and the calculated result is the positional deviation amount (d) of the paste ejection port of the nozzle 13a.
x, dy) is stored in the RAM built in the microcomputer 17a. This completes the substrate preliminary positioning process (step 400).

Positional deviation of nozzle 13a (dx, dy)
Is used to correct the positional deviation of the nozzle 13a during a paste pattern coating and drawing operation performed later.

Next, a paste pattern drawing process (step 500) is performed.

In this paste pattern drawing process, in order to position the paste discharge port of the nozzle 13a at the coating start position, the substrate 9 is moved and the position of the nozzle 13a is compared and adjusted. For this purpose, first, the amount of positional deviation (dx, dy) of the nozzle 13a obtained in the previous substrate preliminary positioning process (step 400) and stored in the RAM of the microcomputer 17a is set in advance for the nozzle 1
It is determined whether or not the positional deviation amount of 3a is within the permissible range (ΔX, ΔY).

If the amount of positional deviation (dx, dy) is within this permissible range (ΔX ≧ dx and ΔY ≧ dy), it is left as it is and if it is outside the permissible range (ΔX <dx or ΔY <dy). For example, by moving the substrate 9 on the basis of this positional shift amount (dx, dy), the shift between the paste discharge port of the nozzle 13 a and the desired position of the substrate 9 is eliminated, and the nozzle 13
Position a at the desired position.

Next, the Z-axis servomotor 12 is operated to set the height of the nozzle 13a to the paste pattern drawing height. The nozzle 13a is lowered by the initial moving distance based on the initial moving distance data of the nozzle. Then, the substrate 9
The height of the nozzle 13a is measured by the distance meter 14 to check whether or not the height of the nozzle 13a is set to the height for drawing the paste pattern. When the drawing height cannot be set, the nozzle 13a is lowered by a minute distance, and thereafter, the measurement of the surface height of the substrate 9 and the lowering of the nozzle 13a by a minute distance are alternately repeated to determine the height of the nozzle 13a. Set the height for applying and drawing the paste pattern. Further, when the paste storage cylinder 13 is not replaced, there is no data of the positional deviation amount (dx, dy) of the nozzle 13a, so the paste pattern drawing process (step 5).
Immediately after entering 00), the height of the nozzle 13a is set.

When the above processing is completed, the servo motors 4 and 6 are then driven based on the paste pattern data stored in the RAM of the microcomputer 17a. As a result, the substrate 9 moves in the X and Y directions in accordance with the paste pattern data, with the paste discharge port of the nozzle 13a facing the substrate 28. At the same time, a predetermined discharge pressure is applied from the positive pressure source 23 to the paste storage cylinder 13 via the regulator 23a and the valve unit 24, and the discharge of the paste from the paste discharge port of the nozzle 13a is started. As a result, application drawing of the paste pattern on the substrate 9 is started.

Along with this, as described above, the microcomputer 17a inputs the measured data of the height of the nozzle 13a from the range finder 16 and measures the waviness of the surface of the substrate 9 from the measured data. The nozzle drive mechanism (Z-axis servomotor 12) is operated according to the measured value. As a result, the height of the nozzle 13a is maintained substantially constant at the set value.

Here, a paste (seal) pattern for a liquid crystal panel is applied in a grid pattern (this is a combination of a vertical line pattern and a horizontal line pattern and has an intersection between the vertical line pattern and the horizontal line pattern). A drawing method will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 shows a conventional paste pattern, which has a shape as shown in the drawing.
The heights of the nozzles 13a, such as PP2, PP3, ..., PP6 in order from 1, are measured by a laser displacement meter and kept constant, and the paste discharge pressure is also kept constant to perform the coating. . However, in this method, when the coating speed is increased in order to improve the coating tact, vertical, front-rear, and left-right vibrations are generated in the device at the corners of the pattern (for example, the corner CN of the paste pattern PP1). ,
There is a problem that a desired paste pattern cannot be obtained.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the paste pattern is changed to vertical line patterns SP-Y-1 to SP-Y.
-6 and horizontal line patterns SP-X-1 to SP-X-4 are divided into substantially linear patterns, and the paste pattern is drawn by applying the substantially linear pattern. When the seal pattern is applied and drawn in this manner, there is no opening (for example, the opening AP in the pattern PP1) like the pattern shown in FIG.
Before bonding the two substrates 9 on which the paste pattern is applied and drawn, liquid crystal is dropped in the pattern of one substrate 9 and the other substrate 9 is placed on the liquid crystal from above to bond the liquid crystal panel. Obtainable. It is also possible to change the paste pattern as shown in FIG. 9 after applying and drawing the paste pattern as shown in FIG. In this case, it suffices to remove the sealant (paste) from the portion to be the opening.

In the paste applying method of this embodiment shown in FIG. 10, first, the vertical line patterns SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6 and the horizontal line patterns SP-X-1 to SP-X-4 are first described. The pattern to be applied first (first) and the pattern to be secondly applied (next) are determined in advance. That is, it is determined whether the pattern to be initially applied and drawn is the vertical line pattern or the horizontal line pattern. Here, the pattern to be applied first is a vertical line pattern.
SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6 and the second pattern to be drawn are horizontal line patterns SP-X-1 to SP-X-4. Therefore, first, the vertical line patterns SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6 are sequentially applied and drawn. At this time, other patterns intersecting at this time, in this case, the horizontal line pattern to be secondly applied. The amount of paste applied is reduced at the position (intersection XP) where SP-X-1 to SP-X-4 intersect. Next, the horizontal line patterns SP-X-1 to SP-X-4 are applied in order, but the amount of paste applied at the intersection XP with the already drawn vertical line patterns SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6. The amount of paste applied at this intersection XP is added to the amount of paste applied at the time of applying and drawing the vertical line patterns SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6. The amount of paste applied should be approximately the same as the amount of paste applied in. As a result, a seal pattern having a uniform thickness as a whole including the intersection XP is applied and drawn.

FIG. 4 shows the vertical line pattern SP-Y and the horizontal line pattern SP.
It is a figure which expands and shows the part of the intersection XP with -X.

In the figure, the vertical line pattern SP-Y (see FIG.
At any intersection of the vertical line pattern) and the horizontal line pattern SP-X (one of the horizontal line patterns in FIG. 10),
It is necessary to make the paste application amount almost equal to the other positions (hereinafter, referred to as straight line portions). Therefore,
The vertical line pattern SP-Y to be applied first is the horizontal line pattern SP
The height of the nozzle 13a is lowered at the intersection XP with -X, thereby reducing the paste application amount. After that, when applying the paste at the intersection XP of the horizontal line pattern SP-X and the vertical line pattern SP-Y, consider the paste application amount at the time of applying and drawing the vertical line pattern SP-Y at this intersection XP. The nozzle 13
The height of a is made equal to the height of the straight line portion other than the intersection portion XP of the horizontal line pattern SP-X, and thus the paste application amount at the intersection portion XP is reduced. That is, in the case of the horizontal line pattern SP-X to be secondly applied, by maintaining the height of the nozzle 13a from the surface of the substrate 9 and the paste discharge pressure as a whole, The amount of paste applied is reduced at the intersection XP.

The position of the intersection XP on the substrate 9 is determined by the pattern data of the paste pattern for coating and drawing stored in the built-in RAM of the microcomputer 17a (FIG. 2) and the substrate position data. It can be detected, and by using information from the above table drive mechanism (outputs of encoders of the servo motors 4, 5, 8a and information for driving the motor drives 17f, 17g, 17h, etc.), Nozzle 13a on the substrate 9
The position of can be detected. Therefore, such substrate 9
Whether or not the nozzle 13a is located at the intersection XP can be determined from the position information of the intersection XP and the position information of the nozzle 13a above.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of the paste application method at the intersection XP of the vertical line pattern SP-Y to be applied first and the horizontal line pattern SP-X.

In the figure, when the vertical line pattern SP-Y to be applied first is applied and drawn, the height of the nozzle 13a is maintained at a substantially constant height H0 in the straight line portion, and the paste is applied. The discharge pressure of the paste (sealant) discharged from the discharge port is maintained substantially constant, and when the intersection XP with the horizontal line pattern SP-X is reached, the Z-axis servomotor 12 (Fig. 1) is driven and controlled at high speed. To lower the nozzle 13a,
The amount of paste applied is reduced by setting the height H1 to a height H1 lower than the height H0 of the straight line portion. That is, since the paste application amount is determined by the paste discharge pressure and the height of the nozzle 13a, when the vertical line SP-Y to be applied first is applied and drawn,
While maintaining the discharge pressure of the paste discharge port of the nozzle 13a constant, the nozzle 13a is moved from the height H0 to the height H1 at the intersection XP.
The amount of paste applied at the intersection XP is reduced by rapidly lowering the temperature to the intersection XP, and when passing through the intersection XP, the control is rapidly returned to the original height H0.

Second horizontal line pattern SP to be subsequently applied
In the application drawing of -X, the nozzle 13a is formed at the intersection XP and the straight line portion.
Is maintained at the height H0, and the paste discharge pressure is also maintained constant. In this case, at the intersection XP of the horizontal line pattern SP-X and the vertical line pattern SP-Y, the height of the nozzle 13a becomes relatively low due to the vertical line pattern SP-Y already applied, As a result, the amount of paste applied at the intersection XP is smaller than that of the straight line portion, and it is possible to form a seal pattern having a paste application amount substantially equal to that of the straight line portion.

Instead of doing this, the height H0 of the nozzle 13a at the intersection XP at the time of applying the vertical line pattern SP-Y.
When the horizontal line pattern SP-X to be applied second is applied, the paste is applied while maintaining the same height H0 of the nozzle 13a.
Based on the measurement results of Fig. 2), at intersection XP, intersection XP
The Z-axis servomotor 12 is driven and controlled so that the nozzle 13a rises so that the height H0 is obtained from the vertical line pattern SP-X already applied, and the paste application amount is larger than that in the straight line portion. Become. For this reason, when the two substrates 9 on which the paste pattern is formed are bonded together, the intersection portion XP where the paste application amount is increased adversely affects. For example,
It may not be possible to finish the liquid crystal panel with regular substrate spacing, or the paste may spread into the panel and the panel shape may not be normal.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, as described above, when the horizontal line pattern SP-X is applied and drawn, the nozzle 13a is used.
Is maintained at H0, and at the intersection XP with the vertical line pattern SP-Y, the height of the nozzle 13a is fixed to the height immediately before this intersection XP. This is because in the straight line portion of the horizontal line pattern SP-X, control is performed to maintain the height of the nozzle 13a at H0 according to the measurement result of the distance meter 16, but during the application period of the crossing portion XP, this crossing is performed. The measurement result of the distance meter 16 immediately before the portion XP is retained and used as it is, and as a result, the crossing portion where the vertical line pattern SP-Y is already formed by applying the paste
In XP, regardless of the paste coating thickness of the vertical line pattern SP-Y,
The height of the nozzle 13a with respect to the surface of the substrate 9 is maintained at H0, which is the same as the straight line portion. Of course, when the paste application at the intersection XP is finished, the height control of the nozzle 13a is started again based on the measurement result of the distance meter 16. As a result, the amount of paste applied at these intersections XP after the vertical line pattern SP-Y and the horizontal line pattern SP-X have been applied and drawn is equal to their straight line portions.

At the time of applying the paste of the horizontal line pattern SP-X to be applied secondly, the height of the nozzle 13a is controlled also at the intersection XP with the vertical line pattern SP-Y based on the measurement result of the distance meter 16. You may do it. However, in this case,
The amount of paste applied at this intersection XP during the paste application of the vertical line pattern SP-Y is significantly reduced. As a result, even when the height of the nozzle 13a is set to the height of the vertical line pattern SP-Y already applied and drawn at the intersection XP at the time of applying the paste of the horizontal line pattern SP-X, The amount of paste applied at the intersection XP can be made approximately the same as the amount of paste applied at the straight portion.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another specific example of the paste application method at the intersection XP of the vertical line pattern SP-Y to be applied first and the horizontal line pattern SP-X.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a method for carrying out this specific example, in which 24a is a high-speed switching valve, and the parts corresponding to those in FIG.

In this specific example, the height of the nozzle 13a is kept constant, and the discharge pressure at the intersection is changed to reduce the paste application amount.

6 and 7, the vertical line pattern SP-Y
At the time of coating and drawing, the height of the nozzle 13a is controlled based on the measurement result of the distance meter 16 such that the height is always substantially constant SH0. During this coating and drawing operation, at the intersection XP with the horizontal line pattern SP-X, the valve unit 24 and the high-speed switching valve 24a operate under the control of the main control 17 to supply the supply pressure from the positive pressure source 23. It is switched so as to open the inside of the paste storage cylinder 13 to the atmosphere 25. The high-speed switching valve 24a communicates with the upper part of the paste storage cylinder 13a and rapidly releases the pressure in the paste storage cylinder 13a to the atmosphere 25. As a result, the pressure in the paste storage cylinder 13 is rapidly reduced to a predetermined pressure, and the amount of paste applied at the intersection XP is greatly reduced. As a result, the paste is applied at a paste application height SH1 lower than the paste application height SH0 when the height of the nozzle 13a is SH0.

Secondly, in the application drawing of the horizontal line pattern SP-X to be applied, even at the intersection XP with the vertical line pattern SP-Y, the paste discharge pressure is the same as that of the straight line portion, and the nozzle 13a is the same height. Apply. That is, as described above, by using the fact that the height of the nozzle 13a is made lower than the height from the substrate 9 by the paste height of the vertical line pattern SP-Y and the paste application amount is reduced, The coating can be performed so that the height is approximately the same as the coating height SH0 of the part. As a result, the amount of paste applied to the intersection XP and the straight portion can be made approximately equal.

Further, as a coating in consideration of prevention of waste of material, intermittent coating may be performed so that an unnecessary paste pattern is not coated and drawn, and the seal pattern end point may be coated so as to be connected to the already coated pattern. . That is, in FIG. 10, the vertical line pattern SP-Y and the horizontal line pattern
Either one of SP-X, including these intersections XP,
A line pattern having a uniform paste height is formed with a constant paste discharge pressure and a constant height of the nozzle 13a, and the paste application is interrupted at the intersection XP for the other line pattern. For example, in FIG.
When the vertical line pattern SP-Y is applied and drawn, the application of the paste is interrupted at the intersection XP (height SH1 = 0).

The vertical line pattern SP-Y and the horizontal line pattern SP
The application order with -X should follow a critical path considering the positions of the start end and the end of the seal pattern so that the application tact becomes shortest.

As a means for controlling the paste application amount at the intersection XP, there is a method of changing the moving speed of the substrate 9 or the nozzle 13a in the X and Y axis directions. When the paste application amount is reduced, the speed is increased. That is, in the case of applying and drawing the vertical line pattern SP-Y to be applied first, the intersection
When the moving speed of the substrate 9 or nozzle 13a in XP is increased in the X and Y axis directions to reduce the paste application amount, and in the case of applying and drawing the horizontal line pattern SP-X to be applied second, at the intersection XP. The moving speed of the substrate 9 or the nozzle 13a in the X and Y axis directions may be made equal to that of the straight line portion, and the paste application amount at the intersection XP may be the same as that of the straight line portion.

Further, in this embodiment, the paste discharging means uses the action of compressed air, but a piston that can be moved with high precision is provided in the paste storage cylinder 13a to control the paste discharging. You may do it. That is, the discharge amount of the paste may be controlled by controlling the moving speed of the piston.

By the way, in the embodiment described above, one nozzle 13a is used, but in order to further improve the coating tact, a plurality of nozzles are used and a linear shape is used as shown in FIG. A plurality of paste patterns may be simultaneously applied and drawn. FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram showing a main part of an embodiment of such a paste applicator, in which 13a ₁ , 13a ₂ and 13a ₃ are nozzles, and 14a is a nozzle support, and the parts corresponding to the above drawings are the same. It is marked.

In the figure, a nozzle support 14a having parallelism is provided at the lower end of the paste storage cylinder 13a, and a plurality of nozzles, here three nozzles, are provided on the lower surface of the nozzle support 14a. Nozzles 13a ₁ , 13a ₂ , 13a
₃ is installed. The sealant (paste) filled in the paste container 13 is the nozzle support 14a.
Are distributed to the nozzles 13a ₁ , 13a ₂ , 13a ₃ . The nozzles 13a ₁ , 13a ₂ and 13a ₃ simultaneously apply and draw three vertical line patterns SP-Y to be applied, and when this is repeated, the vertical line pattern SP-Y is applied and drawn. 2nd horizontal line pattern SP-X to be applied is 3
It is applied and drawn one by one simultaneously. Here, the nozzle 13
The distances d1 and d2 between a ₁ , 13a ₂ and 13a ₃ are determined according to the distance between the patterns to be applied and drawn on the substrate 9.

Although not shown in FIG. 8, the coating head consisting of a plurality of nozzles 13a1, 13a2, 13a3 is used for each vertical line pattern SP-Y for first coating and each horizontal line pattern SP-X for second coating. Alternatively, one coating head may be rotated 90 degrees by a rotating mechanism,
The vertical line pattern SP-Y and the horizontal line pattern SP-X may be commonly used.

As described above, the drawing of the paste pattern (step 500) in FIG.
If the paste discharge port 3a is the end of the drawing pattern determined by the paste pattern data on the substrate 9 and it is not the end, the process returns to the surface waviness measurement process of the substrate 9 again. The above coating and drawing are repeated until paste pattern formation reaches the end of the drawing pattern. When the end of the drawing pattern is reached, the Z-axis servomotor 12 is drive-controlled to raise the nozzle 13a, and the paste pattern drawing step (step 500) is completed.

Next, the holding of the substrate 9 by the substrate holding mechanism 7 is released, and a substrate discharging process for discharging the substrate 9 is performed (step 600). Then, it is determined whether or not all the above steps are stopped (step 700), and when the same paste pattern is formed on a plurality of substrates, it is repeated from the substrate mounting process (step 300), and all the substrates are processed. When this series of processing is completed, all the work is completed (step 800).

As described above, in this embodiment, when a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed on one substrate, a plurality of panels are formed by combining the linear patterns, and the intersecting linear patterns are formed. When the paste is applied to the substrate for the first time so that the amount of paste applied at the intersection is substantially the same as the straight line portion other than this intersection, either lower the height of the nozzle that applies the paste, or reduce the discharge pressure. Lower
When the crossing portion is applied for the second time, the paste is applied at the same height as the other straight portions at the same discharge pressure. This makes it possible to form a paste pattern at high speed and without uneven coating.

[0062]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Productivity is prevented from lowering when the number of panels taken per substrate is large, and the coating work at the corners of the paste pattern is eliminated, shortening the coating tact and stabilizing the paste pattern drawing accuracy. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a paste applicator according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of a main control unit and its control system in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating an intersecting portion of a paste pattern formed according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a method of applying a paste at an intersection of the paste patterns shown in FIG.

6 is a diagram showing another specific example of the method of applying the paste at the intersection of the paste patterns shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a pneumatic circuit diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 for executing the specific example shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another specific example of the coating head unit in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a paste pattern formed by a conventional paste applicator.

10 is a diagram showing a specific example of a paste pattern according to the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 X-axis movement table 4 X-axis servo motor 5 Y-axis movement table 6 Y-axis servo motor 7 Substrate holding mechanism 8 θ axis movement table 9 substrates 11 Z-axis movement table 12 Z-axis servo motor 13 Paste storage cylinder (syringe) Nozzles 13, 13a to 13c 14,14a Nozzle support 15 Image recognition camera 16 rangefinder 17 Main control unit 22 Negative pressure source 22a Negative pressure regulator 23 Positive pressure source 23a Positive pressure regulator 24 valve unit 24a high speed switching valve P paste SP-X-1 to SP-X-4 horizontal line pattern SP-Y-1 to SP-Y-6 Vertical line pattern XP intersection

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yoshinori Tokuyasu             Hitachite 5-2 Koyodai, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki             Development Laboratory, Kuno Engineering Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Yukihiro Kawasumi             Hitachite 5-2 Koyodai, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki             Development Laboratory, Kuno Engineering Co., Ltd.             Within (72) Inventor Shinya Yamama             Hitachite 5-2 Koyodai, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki             Kuno Engineering Co., Ltd. Ryugasaki Factory             Within (72) Inventor Kiyoshi Matsumoto             Hitachite 5-2 Koyodai, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki             Development Laboratory, Kuno Engineering Co., Ltd.             Within F term (reference) 4D075 AC08 AC73 AC84 AC88 AC93                       BB92Y CB33 DA06 DC21                       EA14                 4F041 AA05 AB01 BA10 BA21 BA56                 4F042 AA06 AB00 BA06 BA08 BA25                       CB03 CB10 DF01 DF11 DF26                       ED05

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A nozzle provided with a paste ejection port, a table on which a substrate is placed so as to face the paste ejection port, and a table drive for driving the table or the nozzle in a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate. A paste applicator having a mechanism and a nozzle drive mechanism that variably drives the distance between the nozzle and the substrate surface, and means for storing and holding in advance the pattern data of the paste pattern to be applied and drawn on the substrate, Means for detecting the position of the intersection of the paste pattern on the substrate based on the pattern data and the position information of the nozzle based on the information from the table drive mechanism, and the first paste at the intersection. At the time of coating, by driving the nozzle driving mechanism, the height of the nozzle from the surface of the substrate can be adjusted by applying the paste at a straight line portion other than the intersecting portion. Lower than the height from the surface of the substrate, and when applying the paste at the second intersection, the height of the nozzle from the surface of the substrate is the nozzle when applying paste at the straight portion. And a means for setting the height from the surface of the substrate to be substantially equal to the height. 2. A nozzle having a paste discharge port, a discharge pressure control mechanism for variably controlling the pressure of discharging the paste from the paste discharge port, and a table on which a substrate is placed so as to face the paste discharge port. A paste driving machine comprising: a table driving mechanism that drives the table or nozzle in a direction parallel to the surface of the substrate; and a nozzle driving mechanism that variably drives a distance between the nozzle and the substrate surface. Means for previously storing and holding pattern data of the paste pattern to be applied and drawn on the substrate, and the paste pattern of the paste pattern on the substrate based on the pattern data and the position information of the nozzle based on the information from the table driving mechanism. A means for detecting the position of the intersecting portion, and at the time of the first paste application at the intersecting portion, the discharge pressure control mechanism allows the paper to be moved to a straight portion other than the intersecting portion. Than the case of applying the paste, the paste discharge pressure is made lower, or the moving speed of the nozzle or the substrate is made faster to reduce the paste discharge amount, and at the time of the second paste application at the intersection, A paste applicator, comprising means for making the discharge pressure of the paste or the moving speed of the substrate or the nozzle approximately the same as when applying the paste at the straight line portion. 3. A vertical line pattern by changing the relative positional relationship between the substrate and the nozzle while discharging the paste from a paste discharge port of a nozzle provided so as to face the substrate placed on the table. In a paste application method for drawing a double-sided paste pattern in which a horizontal line pattern and a horizontal line pattern are combined, the paste is applied separately to a vertical line pattern and a horizontal line pattern, and the paste is applied to the intersection of the vertical line pattern and the horizontal line pattern. When applying the paste to the intersecting portion for the first time, the gap between the nozzle and the substrate is set to be narrower than the gap when the straight portion other than the intersecting portion is paste-applied. When the paste is applied to the intersections at the same time, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate should be made substantially equal to the distance when the straight portions other than the intersections are applied with the paste. Paste coating method and butterflies. 4. A vertical line pattern is formed by changing the relative positional relationship between the substrate and the nozzle while discharging paste from a paste discharge port of a nozzle provided so as to face the substrate placed on a table. In a paste application method for drawing a cross-shaped paste pattern in which a horizontal line pattern is combined, the paste is applied separately to a vertical line pattern and a horizontal line pattern, and the paste is applied at the intersection of the vertical line pattern and the horizontal line pattern. When applying the paste to the intersecting portion first, the discharge pressure of the paste is set to be smaller than the discharge pressure when applying the paste to the straight portion other than the intersecting portion, or the substrate or the nozzle. The moving speed of is set faster than the moving speed at the time of applying the paste to the straight portion other than the intersection, and when applying the intersection to the paste twice. , The paste discharge pressure is set to be substantially equal to the discharge pressure when applying a paste to a straight line portion other than the intersection, or the moving speed of the substrate or the nozzle is set to paste the straight line portion other than the intersection portion. A paste applying method, wherein the moving speed is set to be substantially equal to the moving speed.