JP2003260423A - Apparatus and method for cleaning nozzle tip part - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the consumption of a cleaning liquid, to curtail a cleaning time, and to attempt uniform, sure cleaning in a nozzle cleaning apparatus and a nozzle cleaning method for cleaning the discharge openings of an application nozzle. <P>SOLUTION: A solvent 71 is sprayed from a solvent nozzle 31 toward a coating liquid adherent to the discharge openings 2 of the application nozzle 1 to dissolve the coating liquid, the dissolved substance 8 is scattered off from the discharge openings 2 by gas from a gas nozzle and sucked from a suction opening 4, so that while individual discharge openings 2 of the application nozzle 1 are cleaned convergently, the discharge openings 2 arranged longitudinally are cleaned in turn over the entire range by moving means 11, 12, and 13. By the combination of cleaning nozzles set on both sides of the gas nozzle and the moving means, a forward action step and a backward action step are changed over. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nozzle cleaning device and a nozzle cleaning method for efficiently cleaning a peripheral portion of a discharge port of a coating nozzle in which pipe-shaped discharge ports are linearly arranged.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a display device called a plasma display which displays an image by irradiating an arbitrary portion of a glass panel filled with a phosphor with ultraviolet rays to cause the phosphor to emit light. A plurality of grooves are formed at a constant pitch by convex ribs extending in one direction on the panel back plate facing the glass panel. Each of these grooves has a red color,
The phosphors corresponding to blue and green are alternately filled.
As a device for filling the phosphor on the panel back plate of such a plasma display, an application nozzle having a plurality of ejection openings arranged in a row is used to eject the paste-like phosphor from each ejection opening. There is known a phosphor layer filling device that moves in a direction along the groove and fills the groove on the panel back plate with the phosphor paste. The coating nozzle used for filling the phosphor paste is, as shown in FIG.
A large number of pipe-shaped discharge ports 2 are arranged along the arrangement direction X. The coating liquid made of the phosphor paste is pressure-fed from the injection port of the pipe 90 in the direction indicated by the arrow 91 and is ejected from each ejection port 2 in the direction indicated by the arrow 92. The tips of these discharge ports 2 need to be cleaned appropriately because they become soiled by the application of the coating liquid that has been scattered during the phosphor paste filling operation.

As a conventional nozzle cleaning device, an application nozzle is placed on the cleaning device to form a closed space at the tip of the discharge port, and then the cleaning liquid is supplied from one end in the longitudinal direction of the cleaning device and drained from the other end. Or a method for discharging the cleaning liquid from a nozzle having a plurality of cleaning liquid discharge ports provided in the cleaning device and draining the cleaning liquid from the bottom surface of the cleaning device to clean the tip of the discharge port is generally known. ing.

[0004]

However, in the above-described nozzle cleaning device and cleaning method, the nozzle having a plurality of independent discharge ports such as the pipe-shaped discharge ports arranged in a straight line is cleaned. Therefore, it is difficult to uniformly apply the cleaning liquid to all the ejection ports, and it is difficult to remove the coating liquid adhering to the tip of the ejection port over the entire range with a small amount of cleaning liquid in a short time. is there.

The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in cleaning an application nozzle in which a plurality of pipe-shaped discharge ports are linearly arranged, the entire range can be covered with a small amount of cleaning liquid in a short time. An object of the present invention is to provide a nozzle cleaning device and a nozzle cleaning method capable of removing dirt.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is the tip of the outlet of a coating nozzle in which a plurality of pipe-shaped outlets for discharging the coating liquid are linearly arranged. In a cleaning device for cleaning a part, a solvent nozzle for discharging a solvent for dissolving a coating liquid adhering to a discharge port, a gas nozzle for blowing a dissolved substance dissolved by the solvent from a discharge port by a gas injection, and a gas injection It is provided with a suction port for sucking the blown melted material, a solvent nozzle, a gas nozzle, and a moving means for moving the suction port along the arrangement direction of the discharge ports.

In the nozzle cleaning device having the above structure, the solvent is sprayed from the solvent nozzle toward the coating liquid adhering to the discharge port of the coating nozzle to dissolve the solution, and the dissolved product is blown off from the discharge port by the gas from the gas nozzle. By sucking the melted material blown off by the gas from the suction port, intensive cleaning is performed aiming at each discharge port of the coating nozzle, and the entire range along the longitudinal direction in which the discharge ports are arranged by the moving means. Therefore, it is possible to surely wash in order.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a nozzle cleaning method for cleaning the tip of the discharge port of a coating nozzle in which a plurality of pipe-shaped discharge ports for discharging the coating liquid are linearly arranged. The solvent nozzle that discharges the solvent for dissolving the coating liquid, the gas nozzle that blows away the dissolved substance dissolved by the solvent by gas injection, the suction port that sucks the blown dissolved substance, the solvent nozzle, the gas nozzle, and the suction port And a moving means for moving the solvent nozzles, which are arranged so as to sandwich the gas nozzles, are arranged along the direction of the arrangement of the discharge ports by the moving means while cleaning the solvent nozzle, the gas nozzle, and the suction port on the advancing direction side of the solvent nozzle. The forward operation step of moving to the end of the nozzle, the stop step of stopping the discharge of the solvent nozzle at the end of the array of discharge ports, and the opposite step across the gas nozzle. Solvent nozzles are those made from the gas nozzle, and a recovery operation step by the moving means while the suction port is cleaning operation is moved to the end of the sequence in the opposite direction along the direction of array of the discharge ports.

In the nozzle cleaning method having the above structure, the coating liquid adhering to the discharge port of the coating nozzle is dissolved by the solvent from the solvent nozzle on the advancing direction side, and the dissolved substance is blown off by the gas from the subsequent gas nozzle, It is possible to efficiently and reliably clean the individual discharge ports while sucking and discharging the melted product through the suction ports. Further, it is possible to move to the longitudinal end portion of the array of the discharge ports while moving the place to be washed by the moving means, then reverse the moving direction and perform washing in the same manner as above with respect to the new traveling direction. . If necessary, the reciprocating operation of washing can be repeated.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A nozzle cleaning device for cleaning a discharge port of a coating nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Common members in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. The nozzle cleaning device 100 includes a moving body portion 101 and a fixed portion 102 for cleaning the ejection port 2 of the coating nozzle 1. The moving body portion 101 includes a gas nozzle 17 installed horizontally toward the center, solvent nozzles 31 and 32 arranged on both sides of the gas nozzle 17, and a suction port 4 installed opposite to the gas nozzle 17. Further, the moving body part 101
A saucer 14 having an opening facing upward is provided below the center of the tray. These structures are fixed to a bracket 10 having a U-shaped cross-section by using respective piping portions, and integrally constitute a moving body portion 101. The fixed portion 102 includes a rail 12 placed horizontally, a ball screw 11 provided in parallel with the rail 12, and a ball screw 11.
Is provided with a motor 20 for rotating the motor. In addition, the slide block 13 provided on the bottom of the bracket 10
Is slidably fitted to the rail 12, and
It is also connected to the ball screw 11. Then, the moving body portion 101 moves forward and backward in the movement directions indicated by the + and − symbols by the rotation of the ball screw 11.

Nozzle cleaning device 1 constructed as described above
At 00, the coating nozzle 1 is placed above the fixed portion 102 by a fixture (not shown) so that the arrangement direction of the discharge ports 2 is downward and the arrangement direction is parallel to the moving direction. At this time, one side surface of the array of the discharge ports 2 is in a state of facing the tip ends of the gas nozzle 17 and the solvent nozzles 31, 32, and the other side surface is in a state of facing the tip ends of the suction ports 4.

Next, the nozzle cleaning operation will be described. In the above arrangement state, the motor 20 is driven to move the moving body portion 101 in the forward direction +. And the solvent nozzle 32
The solvent 72 supplied through the solvent pipe 52 is sprayed onto the discharge port 2 in the vicinity thereof. Further, at the rear of the moving direction, the gas 16 which is pressure-fed through the gas pipe 18 is injected from the gas nozzle 17 to the discharge port 2. By moving the moving body portion 101, the solvent
The discharge port 2 blown with 2 is blown with the gas 16 in a subsequent process after a while. That is, it takes time to dissolve the phosphor paste (coating liquid) that is the dirt attached to the ejection port 2. The dissolved substance 8 is blown off by the gas 16 and discharged from the suction port 4 to the outside through the suction pipe 6. In addition, the solvent 72 that is not sucked by the suction port 4 and is dripped from the solvent nozzle 32 and the discharge port 2,
The melt 8 is collected by the pan 14 and discharged as waste liquid 15 through the waste liquid pipe 19 to the outside. When the moving body portion 101 is moved in the backward direction, the solvent nozzle 32, the solvent pipe 52, and the solvent 72 are stopped, and instead, the nozzle 31, the solvent pipe 51, and the solvent pipe 51 that are newly located in the forward direction are formed. The solvent 71 is operated. In this case, the operations of the gas nozzle 16, the suction port 4, and the tray 14 are performed in the forward direction +
The same as when moving to.

Next, regarding another example of the nozzle cleaning device,
This will be described with reference to FIG. This nozzle cleaning device is provided with a plurality of nozzles of the above-described embodiment arranged side by side in the moving direction in order to enhance the cleaning ability. The solvent nozzles 32a, 32b, 31a, 31b and the gas nozzle 17 are provided.
a and 17b.

Next, still another example of the nozzle cleaning device will be described with reference to FIG. This nozzle cleaning device also aims to enhance the cleaning ability, and the solvent nozzle 32c,
31c and the gas nozzle 17c, and the solvent nozzles 32d and 31d and the gas nozzle 17 in the arrangement facing them.
and d. In this way, by providing a plurality of nozzles facing each other for one function, a further cleaning effect can be expected. The suction port may be provided at the bottom.

Next, a cleaning method using the nozzle cleaning device according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 5 and FIGS. Fixed part 10
The motor 20 side of the ball screw 11 in 2 is the end, and the opposite side is the start. And the coating nozzle 1 to be cleaned is
It is assumed that the moving body portion 101 is placed on the cleaning apparatus 100 and is at the starting end defined above.

First, the solvent nozzle 32 on the traveling side,
The gas nozzle 17 and the suction port 4 are operated (# 1). Next, the motor 20 is operated to move the moving body portion 101 from the start end to the end of the array of the discharge ports 2 to perform the forward side cleaning (# 2). If the position of the moving body portion 102 is not the end, the movement and cleaning are continued (NO in # 3), and if it is the end (YES in # 3), the motor 20 is stopped to stop the movement and the solvent nozzle 32 is set. Stop (# 4).

Next, the solvent nozzle 31 which is newly on the traveling direction side is operated (# 5). Subsequently, the rotation direction of the motor 20 is reversed from that in the previous operation, the moving body portion 101 is moved from the end to the start of the array of the discharge ports 2, and the backward cleaning is performed (# 6). If the position of the moving body portion 102 is not the start end, the movement and cleaning are continued (NO in # 7), and if it is the end end (YES in # 7), the motor 20 is stopped to stop the movement and the recovery solvent nozzle. 31 is stopped (# 8).

Next, looking at the cleaning state of the discharge port 2, there is dirt that cannot be completely removed by the reciprocating cleaning of the previous step, or
When the cleaning is performed again under the condition determined by checking the dirty state of the discharge port 2 before the cleaning (YES in # 9), the solvent nozzle 32 is operated to perform the forward side cleaning (# 11). If the cleaning is not necessary again or if the cleaning is not performed again (NO in # 9), the gas nozzle 17 is stopped, the suction port 4 is stopped (# 10), and the nozzle cleaning process is completed. As described above, the coating nozzle cleaning method according to the embodiment of the present invention includes the forward operation steps of steps # 1, # 2, # 3, and # 11 and steps # 4, # 8, # 9, and #. 10 stop steps and steps # 5, # 6, # 6 and # 7
It is made up of the returning operation steps, and repeated cleaning is possible.

The present invention is not limited to the above construction, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the embodiment, the application nozzle, which is the object to be cleaned, is fixed, and the cleaning solvent nozzle, the gas nozzle, the suction port, and the like are moved by the moving means, but it is sufficient that both are moved relatively. The nozzle may be moved by moving means. Further, regarding the directions of the solvent nozzle and the gas nozzle, the configuration is shown in which the solvent is sprayed from right beside the discharge port. However, from obliquely above the discharge port to below, obliquely in the direction toward the advancing direction, or in the opposite direction. Alternatively, these may be combined and sprayed. The number and arrangement of the nozzles are not limited to the above configuration, and each configuration may be determined as needed.

[0020]

As described above, according to the invention of claim 1,
The solvent is sprayed from the solvent nozzle toward the coating liquid adhering to the discharge port of the coating nozzle to dissolve it, and the dissolved substance is blown off from the discharge port by the gas from the gas nozzle, and the dissolved substance blown off by the gas is sucked off from the suction port. By sucking, it is possible to reliably wash the entire range in order along the longitudinal direction in which the discharge ports are arranged by the moving means while intensively cleaning the individual discharge ports of the application nozzle. Therefore, in cleaning the coating nozzle in which the pipe-shaped discharge ports are linearly arranged, the solvent and gas can be uniformly sprayed to the discharge ports in the entire range of the coating nozzle, and a small amount of cleaning liquid can be used in a short time and with high efficiency. Therefore, it is possible to remove the stains evenly over the entire range. As a result, the state of the tip of the discharge port of the coating nozzle can be maintained in good condition and the coating quality can be maintained. Further, the reciprocating cleaning operation can be easily performed by combining a plurality of cleaning nozzles and the moving means, and the cleaning time can be shortened.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the coating liquid adhering to the discharge port of the coating nozzle is always dissolved by the solvent from the solvent nozzle on the advancing direction side, and is dissolved by the gas from the subsequent gas nozzle. It is possible to efficiently and surely wash individual discharge ports while blowing away the substance and sucking and discharging the melted substance through the suction port. Further, it is possible to move to the longitudinal end portion of the array of the discharge ports while moving the place to be washed by the moving means, then reverse the moving direction and perform washing in the same manner as above with respect to the new traveling direction. . If necessary, the reciprocating operation of washing can be repeated.
As a result, the same effect as in claim 1 can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a nozzle cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another example of the cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing still another example of the cleaning device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a nozzle cleaning method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an application nozzle to which the nozzle cleaning device of the present invention is applied.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 coating nozzle 2 outlet 4 suction port 11 Ball screw (moving means) 12 rails (transportation means) 13 Slide block (moving means) 17, 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d Gas nozzle 20 motors (moving means) 31, 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d Solvent nozzle 32, 32a, 32b, 32c, 32d Solvent nozzle X array direction

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 3B116 AA47 BB22 BB42 BB90                 3B201 AA47 BB22 BB42 BB90 BB95                       BB98 CC12                 4D073 AA09 BB03 CA20 CB03 CC04                       CC07 DC02                 4D075 AA01 AA32 AA74 BB65Z                       EA05

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device for cleaning the tip of the discharge port of a coating nozzle in which a plurality of pipe-shaped discharge ports for discharging the coating liquid are linearly arranged, wherein the coating liquid adhering to the discharge port is dissolved. A solvent nozzle for discharging a solvent for, a gas nozzle for blowing a melted substance dissolved by the solvent from the discharge port by gas injection, a suction port for sucking the melted substance blown off by the gas injection, the solvent nozzle, A nozzle cleaning apparatus comprising: the gas nozzle, and a moving unit that moves the suction port along an arrangement direction of the discharge ports. 2. A nozzle cleaning method for cleaning a tip of a discharge port of a coating nozzle in which a plurality of pipe-shaped discharge ports for discharging the coating liquid are linearly arranged. A solvent nozzle that discharges a solvent for dissolution, a gas nozzle that blows away the melted substance dissolved by the solvent by gas injection, a suction port that sucks the blown melted substance, and the solvent nozzle, the gas nozzle, and the suction port are moved. Along with the direction of the arrangement of the discharge ports by the moving unit while cleaning the solvent nozzle on the advancing direction side of the solvent nozzle arranged so as to sandwich the gas nozzle, the gas nozzle, and the suction port. Forward operation step of moving the solvent nozzles to the end of the array, and a stopping step of stopping the discharge of the solvent nozzle at the end of the array of the discharge ports, The returning operation step of moving the solvent nozzle, the gas nozzle, and the suction port on the opposite side of the gas nozzle in the opposite direction along the direction of the array of the discharge ports to the end of the array while performing the cleaning operation. A method for cleaning a nozzle characterized by comprising: