JP2003266669A - Liquid ejector and its writing method, system and method for fabricating device, and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a high performance device by ensuring the degree of freedom in the design of a liquid material while suppressing cost increase. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid ejector comprises a liquid ejection head for ejecting a first liquid drop 99 and a second liquid drop 99 at a specified pitch 91P and forms a linear body 81 extending in a specified direction by shooting the first liquid drop 99 and the second liquid drop 99 against a substrate. After the first liquid drop 99 and the second liquid drop 99 are shot against the substrate through a space, they spread on the substrate while wetting and overlap each other. <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 droplet discharge device and a drawing method thereof, a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing method, and a device, for example, a color filter applied to a display device such as a liquid crystal display device. The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device used in manufacturing, a drawing method using droplets such as ink drops in the droplet discharge device, a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing method including the droplet discharge device, and a device. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of electronic equipment such as computers and portable information equipment terminals, the use of liquid crystal display devices, especially color liquid crystal display devices, has been increasing. This type of liquid crystal display device uses a color filter for colorizing a display image. The color filter has a substrate on which R (red) and G are attached.
Some are formed by landing droplets (ink) of (green) and B (red) in a predetermined pattern. As a method of landing droplets on such a substrate, a droplet discharge method such as an inkjet method is adopted.

When a droplet discharge method is adopted, a predetermined amount of liquid (ink) is discharged from a nozzle of a droplet discharge head (inkjet head) onto a filter and landed on the filter. As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2771724, it is mounted on an XY stage (a stage that is movable in a two-dimensional direction along the XY plane). By moving the substrate in the X and Y directions by this XY stage, liquids from a plurality of droplet discharge heads can land on predetermined positions on the substrate.

[0004]

However, the above-described conventional droplet discharge device has the following problems. Since the size of the liquid droplets ejected from the nozzle varies, the size of the liquid droplets that have landed on the substrate and spread out is often non-uniform. In particular, in the case of the bankless method that does not use a bank for defining the filter element, it is difficult to manage the line width of the pixel formed by a plurality of droplets.

Therefore, in the prior art, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3111 is used.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 024, a technique has been adopted in which an absorbing layer for absorbing a liquid is provided on the surface of a substrate and the landed droplet is absorbed to prevent the droplet from spreading.

However, in this technique, since the absorption layer is provided, the number of manufacturing steps is increased, which causes a cost increase. In addition, it is necessary to design both the liquid and the absorption layer so that the liquid is sufficiently absorbed in the absorption layer, so that the degree of freedom of the material is lowered in ensuring the performance of the device, and as a result, the device performance is reduced. It was one of the reasons why it was inferior.

Further, line widths of various pixels are required depending on the specifications and characteristics of the device, but it has been difficult to change the line widths of pixels in the past.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and a liquid droplet ejecting apparatus capable of realizing a high-performance device while ensuring the flexibility of liquid material design while suppressing cost increase and its drawing. A method, a device manufacturing apparatus, a device manufacturing method, and a device manufactured by this device manufacturing apparatus are provided.

Another object of the present invention is to easily change the line width of a linear body formed by droplets.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following constitutions. The drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention includes a droplet discharge head that discharges the first droplet and the second droplet at a predetermined pitch, and the first droplet and the second droplet are landed on the substrate to be predetermined. A method of drawing a droplet discharge device for forming a linear body extending in a direction, comprising: landing a first droplet and a second droplet on a substrate with a gap between them;
The feature is that they are made to overlap each other when they spread on the substrate.

Thus, in the drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the first droplet and the second droplet do not overlap each other when landed on the substrate, so that the first landed droplet is landed later. As in the case where the deposited droplets overlap with each other, the droplets that have landed later are not absorbed by the droplets that have landed first, and the first and second droplets that have landed
It is possible to spread the droplets isotropically. And
When the first and second droplets spread wet and overlap each other, a linear body such as a pixel having a predetermined width can be formed. As described above, according to the present invention, since the linear body can be formed even on the substrate having no absorption layer, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost related to the formation of the absorption layer, and the liquid material is not restricted by the absorption characteristics of the absorption layer. Optimum design is possible and high-performance devices can be realized.

Further, in the drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the size of the first droplet and the size of the second droplet upon landing are made different from each other.

Thus, in the present invention, for example, if the size of the second droplet is made smaller than that of the first droplet, the width of the linear body formed by these first and second droplets is made narrower. be able to. Therefore, by previously obtaining the sizes of the first and second droplets and the width of the linear body corresponding to these sizes, it is possible to appropriately form the linear body having an arbitrary width. Become.

Furthermore, in the drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the length of the predetermined pitch in the predetermined direction is the first droplet and the second droplet.
It is preferable that the diameter is larger than the diameter when the droplets land on the substrate, and is smaller than the diameter after the first droplets and the second droplets spread and spread on the substrate.

Accordingly, in the present invention, a gap can be formed between the first droplet and the second droplet that have landed on the substrate, and these can be overlapped with each other when they wet and spread. . Therefore, in the present invention, unlike the case where the droplet that has landed first overlaps the droplet that has landed first, the droplet that landed later is not absorbed by the droplet that landed first, and The first and second droplets can be isotropically wet and spread.

Further, in the drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the arrangement direction of the first nozzle for discharging the first droplet and the second nozzle for discharging the second droplet is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. A configuration can also be adopted.

Thus, in the present invention, the first droplet and the second droplet
Even if the distance between the droplets is smaller than the pitch between the first nozzles and the second nozzles, it can be dealt with by adjusting the degree to which the arrangement direction of the first nozzles and the second nozzles is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. Therefore, it becomes possible to appropriately form a linear body having an arbitrary width and an arbitrary length in a predetermined direction.

After the first nozzle ejects the first droplet, the second nozzle
It is desirable that the droplet discharge head and the substrate are relatively moved so that the time until the nozzle ejects the second droplet is shorter than the time until the first droplet is ejected and the droplet is landed on the substrate. .

Accordingly, in the drawing method of the droplet discharge device of the present invention, when the second nozzle relatively moves to the discharge position and discharges the second droplet after discharging the first droplet from the first nozzle. In addition, since the second droplet can be ejected before the first droplet has landed on the substrate, the first droplet that spreads wet on the substrate.
It is possible to prevent the droplet and the second droplet immediately after landing from overlapping. Therefore, in the present invention, unlike the case where the droplet that has landed first overlaps the droplet that has landed first, the droplet that landed later is not absorbed by the droplet that landed first, and The first and second droplets can be isotropically wet and spread.

The device manufacturing method of the present invention is a device manufacturing method including a step of forming a linear body on a substrate by using a droplet discharge device for discharging a plurality of droplets, and The feature is that a linear body is formed.

As a result, in the device manufacturing method of the present invention, since the linear body can be formed by using the substrate having no absorption layer, it is possible to suppress the cost increase related to the formation of the absorption layer and to improve the absorption characteristics of the absorption layer. It enables the optimum design of liquid materials without being restrained, and makes it possible to manufacture high-performance devices.

On the other hand, the droplet discharge device of the present invention comprises a droplet discharge head which discharges the first droplet and the second droplet at a predetermined pitch, and makes the first droplet and the second droplet land on the substrate. And a linear droplet extending in a predetermined direction to form a linear body, wherein the first droplet and the second droplet land on a substrate with a gap between them and then when they spread on the substrate, It is characterized in that a discharge control device for discharging the first droplet and the second droplet in an overlapping size is provided.

As a result, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention,
Since the first droplet and the second droplet do not overlap with each other when landed on the substrate, the droplet landed later may be the first landed droplet like the case where the landed droplet is overlapped with the later landed droplet. The first and second droplets that have landed can be isotropically wetted and spread without being absorbed by the droplets. And the first and second
When the droplets spread wet and overlap each other, a linear body such as a pixel having a predetermined width can be formed. As described above, according to the present invention, since the linear body can be formed even on the substrate having no absorption layer, it is possible to suppress an increase in cost related to the formation of the absorption layer, and the liquid material is not restricted by the absorption characteristics of the absorption layer. Optimum design is possible and high-performance devices can be realized.

The present invention can also employ a configuration in which the size of the first droplet and the size of the second droplet upon landing are different from each other.

As a result, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention,
For example, if the size of the second droplet is made smaller than that of the first droplet, the width of the linear body formed by these first and second droplets can be made narrower. Therefore, by previously obtaining the sizes of the first and second droplets and the width of the linear body corresponding to these sizes, it is possible to appropriately form the linear body having an arbitrary width. Become.

Further, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the length of the predetermined pitch in the predetermined direction is larger than the diameter when the first droplet and the second droplet land on the substrate, and the first droplet and the second droplet are provided. It is preferable that the diameter is set to be smaller than the diameter after the droplet has spread on the substrate.

As a result, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention,
A gap can be formed between the first droplet and the second droplet that have landed on the substrate, and they can be overlapped with each other when they spread by wetting. Therefore, in the present invention, unlike the case where the droplet that has landed first overlaps the droplet that has landed first, the droplet that landed later is not absorbed by the droplet that landed first, and The first and second droplets can be isotropically wet and spread.

Further, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the arrangement direction of the first nozzles for discharging the first droplets and the second nozzles for discharging the second droplets is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. Can be adopted.

As a result, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention,
Even when the interval between the first droplet and the second droplet is narrower than the pitch between the first nozzle and the second nozzle, the first nozzle and the second nozzle
This can be dealt with by adjusting the degree to which the nozzle array direction is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. Therefore, it becomes possible to appropriately form a linear body having an arbitrary width and an arbitrary length in a predetermined direction.

After the first nozzle discharges the first droplet, the second nozzle
A driving device that relatively moves the droplet discharge head and the substrate such that the time until the nozzle ejects the second droplet is shorter than the time until the nozzle ejects the first droplet until it hits the substrate. It is desirable to have.

As a result, in the droplet discharge device of the present invention,
When the second nozzle relatively moves to the ejection position and ejects the second droplet after ejecting the first droplet from the first nozzle, the second droplet is ejected before the first droplet reaches the substrate. Since the droplets can be ejected, it is possible to prevent the first droplet that spreads wet on the substrate from overlapping with the second droplet that has just landed. Therefore, in the present invention, unlike the case where the droplet that has landed first overlaps the droplet that has landed first, the droplet that landed later is not absorbed by the droplet that landed first, and The first and second droplets can be isotropically wet and spread.

The device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is a device manufacturing apparatus equipped with a droplet discharging device that discharges a plurality of droplets to form a linear body on a substrate, and is used as the droplet discharging device. It is characterized in that the liquid droplet ejection device is used.

Thus, in the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the linear body can be formed by using the substrate having no absorption layer, so that the cost increase related to the formation of the absorption layer can be suppressed and the absorption characteristics of the absorption layer can be improved. It enables the optimum design of liquid materials without being restrained, and makes it possible to manufacture high-performance devices.

The device of the present invention is characterized by being manufactured by the above device manufacturing apparatus.

As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a device that can exhibit high performance by being formed of an optimum liquid material and at the same time suppress the manufacturing cost.

[0036]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a droplet discharge apparatus and a drawing method thereof, a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing method, and a device of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 15. Here, the droplet discharge device of the present invention will be described as being applied to a filter manufacturing device (device manufacturing device) for manufacturing a color filter or the like used for a liquid crystal display device, for example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a filter manufacturing apparatus (device manufacturing apparatus) 1. Filter manufacturing equipment 1
Are three drawing devices (droplet ejecting devices) 2b, 2d, 2f having substantially the same structure, and these drawing devices 2b, 2
and a transfer system 3 for transferring a substrate such as a glass substrate between d and 2f.

The transfer system 3 transfers a substrate between the magazine loader 4 and the drawing device 2b, between the drawing devices 2b, 2d and 2f, and between the drawing device 2f and the magazine unloader 5. Substrate transfer / rotation areas 3a and 3g, drawing device areas 3b, 3d and 3f, and intermediate transfer areas 3c and 3e are installed along the X direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1). In the following,
The scanning direction in which the substrate moves when the liquid is landed is the Y direction (the vertical direction in FIG. 1), and the direction orthogonal to the paper surface in FIG. 1 is the Z direction.

The magazine loader 4 is capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates (for example, 20 substrates along the Z direction), and is arranged in two rows at intervals in the Y direction. Similarly, the magazine unloader 5 is capable of accommodating a plurality of substrates (for example, 20 substrates along the Z direction), and is arranged in two rows at intervals in the Y direction.

In the substrate transfer / rotation area 3a, mounting tables 6 are installed at positions facing the magazine loaders 4, respectively. Each mounting table 6 is configured to rotate 90 ° by a rotation driving device (not shown) and to temporarily position the mounted substrate. Similarly, substrate transfer
In the rotation area 3g, mounting tables 7 are installed at positions facing the magazine unloaders 5, respectively. Each mounting table 7 is configured to rotate 90 ° by a rotation driving device (not shown).

In the drawing device area 3b, a heating device (bake furnace) 8b for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9b, 10b having a double arm structure are installed. The heating device 8b uses the substrate drawn by the drawing device 2b (for example, 1
It is heated (baked) at 20 ° C. for 5 minutes. The transfer robot 9b is provided between the magazine loader 4 and the mounting table 6, between the mounting table 6 and the drawing device 2b, and the drawing device 2.
The substrate is transferred by suction and holding between the heating device 8b and the heating device 8b, and the transfer robot 10b includes a heating device 8b and a cooling unit 1 described later between the drawing device 2b and the heating device 8b.
1c, and between the cooling unit 11c and a buffer unit 13c described later, the substrate is conveyed by suction and holding.

In the intermediate transfer area 3c, a cooling unit 11c for cooling the substrate, a rotating unit 12c for rotating the placed substrate by 90 ° or 180 ° by a rotation driving device (not shown), and between the drawing devices 2b and 2d. And a buffer unit 13c for stocking substrates that cannot be transferred from the cooling unit 11c to the rotating unit 12c due to a difference in processing time (for example, a time difference required for head cleaning). The buffer portion 13c has a plurality of substrate stock slots along the Z direction and is movable in the Z direction.

A heating device 8d for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9d and 10d having a double arm structure are installed in the drawing device area 3d. The heating device 8d heats the substrate drawn by the drawing device 2d (for example, at 120 ° C. × 5 minutes). The transfer robot 9d includes a space between the buffer unit 13c and the rotating unit 12c, a space between the rotating unit 12c and the drawing device 2d, and a drawing device 2d and the heating device 8d.
The transfer robot 10d transfers the substrate by suction and holding between the drawing device 2d and the heating device 8d, between the heating device 8d and a cooling unit 11e described later, and between the cooling unit 11e and the cooling unit 11e described later. The substrate is transported by suction and holding between the substrate and the buffer portion 13e.

In the intermediate transfer area 3e, a cooling unit 11e for cooling the substrate, a rotating unit 12e for rotating the mounted substrate by 90 ° or 180 ° by a rotation driving device (not shown), and between the drawing devices 2d and 2f. And a buffer unit 13e for stocking substrates that cannot be transferred from the cooling unit 11e to the rotating unit 12e due to a difference in processing time (for example, a time difference required for head cleaning). The buffer portion 13e has a plurality of substrate stock slots along the Z direction and is movable in the Z direction.

In the drawing device area 3f, a heating device 8f for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9f, 10f having a double arm structure are installed. The heating device 8f heats the substrate drawn by the drawing device 2f (for example, at 120 ° C. × 5 minutes). The transfer robot 9f includes the buffer unit 13e and the rotating unit 12e, the rotating unit 12e and the drawing device 2f, and the drawing device 2f and the heating device 8f.
The transfer robot 10f transfers the substrate by suction and holding between the drawing device 2f and the heating device 8f, between the heating device 8f and the mounting table 7 in the substrate transfer / reversal area, and The substrate is conveyed by suction and holding between the mounting table 7 and the magazine unloader 5.

The drawing devices 2b, 2d, 2f perform drawing processing on the conveyed substrate with the respective colored liquids of red, blue and green, and have substantially the same structure, respectively, and are shown in the drawings. An X table 15 and an X table that move in the X direction along a pair of X guides 17 by supporting the droplet discharge head 14 by a driving device such as a linear motor or the like, which is housed in a thermal clean chamber. Y arranged below 15 (on the −Z side) to adsorb and hold the substrate and move in the Y direction along the pair of Y guides 18.
A table 16, a liquid system (ink system) 19 and the like are provided.

The X table 15 drives and positions the droplet discharge head 14 in the X direction by a driving device such as a linear motor, and the θZ direction (rotational direction around the Z axis) by a rotary driving device such as a direct drive motor. , ΘX
Direction (rotational direction around the X-axis) and θY direction (rotational direction around the Y-axis). Further X table 15
Is provided with a motor (not shown) that drives and positions the droplet discharge head 14 in the Z direction.

The Y table 16 is driven and positioned in the Y direction by a driving device such as a linear motor, and is driven and positioned in the θ direction (rotational direction around the Z axis) by a rotary driving device such as a direct drive motor. It is configured. A substrate alignment camera (not shown) is installed in the vicinity of the movement path of the Y table 16, and the placement direction and position of the substrate can be detected by detecting the alignment mark formed on the transported substrate. Has become.

As shown in FIG. 2, the droplet discharge head 14 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the liquid discharge surface (the surface facing the substrate) has a row shape along the length direction of the head. In addition, a plurality of nozzles (for example, 180 nozzles in one row, 360 nozzles in total) are provided in two rows at intervals in the width direction of the head. Further, the droplet discharge head 14 has a nozzle directed toward the substrate side and a predetermined line in the Y direction in a row along the substantially X axis direction in a state of being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the X axis (or Y axis). A plurality of support plates 20 each having a rectangular shape in plan view (6 in one row in FIG. 2, a total of 1
2) Positioned and supported. Then, the droplet discharge head 14 is connected to the X table 1 via the support plate 20.
Supported by 5. The angle at which the droplet discharge head 14 is inclined with respect to the X axis (or the Y axis) is set based on the arrangement pitch of the filter elements formed on the substrate.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG. As shown in this figure, each droplet discharge head 14 is provided with an introduction unit 21 for introducing the liquid supplied from the liquid system 19 (note that these introduction units 21 are not shown in FIG. 2). Illustration is omitted). The liquid is supplied to each introduction unit 21 in two systems for each row of nozzles.

On the side of the support plate 20 to which the droplet discharge head 14 is attached, a plurality of shafts 22 having a hole (not shown) for position detection formed in the tip end surface are provided in a protruding manner. An image of the hole is picked up by a head alignment camera (not shown) to detect the position of the hole, and the θ of the support plate 20 with respect to the X table 15 is rotated by a rotation driving device such as a motor.
By correcting the position in the direction, the position of the droplet discharge head 14 (and thus the position of the nozzle) can be aligned.

Next, an example of the structure of the droplet discharge head 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The droplet discharge head 14 is, for example, a head using a piezo element (piezoelectric element). As shown in FIG. 4A, the liquid discharge surface 14a of the head body 90 has a plurality of nozzles 91. Has been formed. These nozzles 91
A piezo element 92 is provided for each.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the piezo element 92
Are arranged corresponding to the nozzle 91 and the liquid chamber 93. Then, the applied voltage Vh is applied to the piezo element 92 as shown in FIG.
As shown in (F) and (E), by expanding and contracting the piezo element 92 in the direction of arrow Q, the liquid is pressurized and a predetermined amount of droplet 99 is ejected from the nozzle 91.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a control system of a liquid unit (described later) related to the droplet discharge head 14. Each drawing device 2
In b, 2d, and 2f, liquid supply, liquid discharge, and the like are comprehensively managed and controlled by a liquid management controller (discharge control device) 98. The droplet discharge head 14 is connected to the liquid supply unit 97, and the liquid is supplied from the liquid supply unit 97 to the liquid chamber 93 in FIG. A thermometer 96 and a viscometer 95 are connected to the liquid supply unit 97. The thermometer 96 and the viscometer 95 measure the temperature and viscosity of the liquid contained in the liquid supply unit 97 and supply it to the liquid management controller 98 as feedback signals S1 and S2 of the state of the liquid.

The liquid management controller 98 provides the computer 79 with the temperature and viscosity of the liquid as control information based on the feedback signals S1 and S2 of the liquid state. The computer 79 sends a piezo element drive signal S3 to the piezo element drive circuit 101 through the control panel 80. The piezo element drive circuit 101 supplies the applied voltage Vh according to the temperature and viscosity of the liquid at that time to the piezo element 92 of FIG. 4 based on the piezo element drive signal S3, and thereby the temperature and viscosity of the liquid Accordingly, a predetermined amount of droplet 99 can be ejected for each nozzle 91.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the liquid system 19 supplies the liquid stored in the liquid tank 97 serving as the liquid supply unit to the droplet discharge head 14 and collects and discharges the liquid. Liquid unit as described above,
A cap unit 26, a wiping unit 27, a discharge confirmation unit 29, and the like are provided. Among these, the cap unit 26, the wiping unit 27, and the discharge confirmation unit 29 are arranged below the droplet discharge head 14, and the base. It is installed on a movable platen 31 that moves in the Y direction along a pair of Y guides 30 on the upper side 23, and is configured to be movable integrally with the movable plate 31 in the Y direction.

The wiping unit 27 is for wiping (wiping) the liquid ejection surface (that is, substantially the nozzle surface) of the droplet ejection head 14 with a cloth material such as a band-shaped non-woven fabric, and unwinding the cloth material. The reel 27a, the cleaning liquid ejecting section 27b for ejecting the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid tank 32 installed on the base 23 onto the cloth material, and the droplet ejection head 14.
It is equipped with a take-up reel 27c and the like for winding up the wiped cloth material, a take-up reel 27a, and a cleaning liquid discharger 27.
By synchronously driving b, the take-up reel 27c, and the moving platen 31, for example, the liquid ejection surface can be wiped with a cloth material containing the cleaning liquid after the drawing process on the substrate.

The discharge confirmation unit 29 is provided below the moving path of the droplet discharge head 14 in the X direction.
2 are provided for each row in which 4 is arranged. Each unit 29 is provided with an ejection detection device (detection device; not shown) that detects the ejection state of the liquid from the nozzle by shielding and transmitting the laser light for each droplet ejection head 14 and for each nozzle. The detection result is output to a control device (not shown).

FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram (front view) of the cap unit 26. The cap unit 26 drives the support plate 34 in the Z direction via a plurality of caps 33 each having a suction pad, a support plate 34 that supports the cap 33, and support plates 35 and 36 connected to the support plate 34. It is roughly configured by moving means 37, 38 such as an air cylinder, a suction pump (not shown), and the like.

The cap 33 has a position and a tilt corresponding to the liquid droplet ejection head 14 on the upper surface side (+ Z side) of the liquid ejection surface 14a (see FIGS. 3 and 4) of the liquid droplet ejection head 14 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9, they are arranged in a row along the substantially X-axis direction in a state of being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the X-axis (or the Y-axis), and arranged in two rows at a predetermined interval in the Y-direction. Has been fixed. The cap 33 and the support plate 34 are arranged below the movement path of the droplet discharge head 14 in the X direction.

The moving means 37, 38 are regulated to move in the Z direction by a stopper (not shown), so that the cap 33 is moved.
Is to move the support plate 34 between a contact position where the liquid ejecting surface 14a of the liquid droplet ejecting head 14 abuts and sucks it, and a retracting position where the cap 33 is separated from the liquid droplet ejecting head 14, and the driving thereof. Is controlled by the control device described above.

In the filter manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above structure,
First, a substrate transfer process in the transfer system 3 will be described. The substrate to be subjected to the drawing processing with the color liquid is taken out from the magazine loader 4 by the transfer robot 9b and transferred to the mounting table 6, rotated in the direction (direction) corresponding to the drawing processing, and at the same time provisionally positioned (prepositioned). It The substrate on the mounting table 6 is again conveyed to the Y table 16 of the drawing device 2b by the transfer robot 9b, and is subjected to a drawing process using, for example, a red liquid.

The substrate for which the drawing process in the drawing device 2b has been completed is transferred from the Y table 16 to the heating device 8b by the transfer robot 10b, heated and dried, and then transferred to the cooling section 11c in the intermediate transfer area 3c. Note that if another substrate that has been previously processed is present at the substrate transfer destination, the substrate is transferred by another transfer robot in advance. Specifically, when another substrate is held on the Y table 16 when the transfer robot 9b transfers the substrate to the Y table 16, the transfer robot 10b transfers the substrate to the heating device 8b in advance. deep. In this way, by adopting the double arm structure, it is possible to eliminate a wasteful waiting time related to the substrate transfer, so that the production efficiency is improved.

The substrates cooled by the cooling unit 11c to the proper temperature for the drawing processing in the drawing apparatus 2d are drawn by the drawing apparatuses 2b and 2b.
In order to absorb the difference in processing time between d, it is transferred and stocked in the buffer unit 13c. If there is no difference in processing time, it is not always necessary to stock in the buffer unit 13.

When preparation for processing in the drawing device 2d is completed,
The transfer robot 9d in the drawing device area 3d transfers the substrate and transfers it from the buffer unit 13c to the rotating unit 12c. The substrate rotated and positioned by the rotating unit 12c in the direction according to the drawing process in the drawing device 2d is transferred to the Y table 16 of the drawing device 2d by the transfer robot 9d and subjected to the drawing process using, for example, a blue liquid.

Since the subsequent operation is the same as that described above, a brief description will be made. For the substrate on which the drawing processing in the drawing apparatus 2d has been completed, the Y table 16 is transferred by the transfer robot 10d.
After being transferred from the heating device 8d to the heating device 8d and heated and dried, it is transferred to the cooling unit 11e in the intermediate transfer area 3e. The cooled substrate is transferred to the buffer unit 13 by the transfer robot 10d.
After transfer to e, the rotating unit 12 is moved by the transfer robot 9f.
The sheet is conveyed to e and rotated / positioned according to the processing in the drawing device 2f. Then, the substrate is carried to the Y table 16 of the drawing apparatus 2f by the transfer robot 9f and subjected to a drawing process using, for example, a green liquid.

The substrate for which the drawing processing in the drawing apparatus 2f has been completed is transferred to the heating unit 8f by the transfer robot 10f and heated, and then transferred to the mounting table 7 in the substrate transfer / rotation area 3g to be loaded into the magazine unloader. It is rotated in the direction (direction) when it is accommodated in 5, and again accommodated in the magazine unloader 5 by the transfer robot 10f.

Next, the substrate drawing process in the drawing devices 2b, 2d, 2f will be described. Y table 16
When the substrate is transferred to the substrate, the substrate alignment camera takes an image of the alignment mark of the substrate to detect the mounting direction and the position of the substrate. Then, by driving the drive device and the rotation drive device based on the detected position, the substrate is positioned (aligned) at a predetermined position. On the other hand, with respect to the droplet discharge head 14, the position of the support plate 20, that is, the position of the droplet discharge head 14 (and thus the position of the nozzle) is detected by imaging the hole of the shaft 22 with the head alignment camera. By driving a driving device such as a linear motor or a direct drive motor, positioning is performed at a predetermined position / posture.

Here, at the beginning of the drawing process, the liquid is not introduced into the droplet discharge head 14. Therefore,
Before drawing, the liquid is introduced by sucking the droplet discharge head 14 with a suction pump. Specifically, first, the X table 15
Moves in the X direction and the droplet discharge head 14 moves to the cap 33.
When it is positioned at a position facing the
By driving 8 the support plate 34 moves from the retracted position to the contact position +
Move in Z direction. As a result, all the caps 33 come into contact with the liquid ejection surfaces 14a of the corresponding droplet ejection heads 14, respectively. When the cap 33 is positioned at the contact position, the suction pump is operated to fill the liquid in the droplet discharge head 14.

When the liquid is introduced and filled in the droplet discharge head 14 (nozzle), the droplet discharge head 14 is moved above the discharge confirmation unit 29 via the X table. Then, the liquid is preliminarily ejected from the droplet ejection head 14 to the ejection confirmation unit 29. More specifically, the support plate 2
0 is reciprocated above the ejection confirmation unit 29, and the liquid is ejected from the droplet ejection heads 14 in each of the forward and backward paths. At the time of ejecting the liquid, the ejection detection device irradiates detection light such as laser light to detect the ejection state of the liquid for each droplet ejection head 14 and each nozzle, that is, so-called dot omission detection. When the dot dropout is detected here, the cap unit 26 sucks the droplet discharge head 14 in the same manner as the above-described procedure.

When the liquid for the drawing process is ready, the drawing process is carried out. In addition, actually, the weight of the liquid ejected from the droplet ejection head 14 is measured, but the description thereof is omitted here.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the basic principle of the drawing method according to the present invention. Here, the nozzles N1 to N1
It is assumed that N5 are arranged at the nozzle interval (predetermined pitch) 91P in the same direction as the extending direction of the pixel 81 (in this case, one of the adjacent droplets is the first droplet and the other is the second droplet). Become). In FIG. 10A, the five nozzles 91 (referred to as N1 to N5 for convenience) eject almost at the same time,
The planar wetting and spreading method of the droplet landing on the substrate is shown by the change over time. In addition, in FIG. 10B, the cross-sectional wetting and spreading method at this time is shown by a change with time.

As shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, droplets 99 ejected from the nozzles N1 to N5 in substantially the same size.
Land on the substrate with a diameter D ₀ (t ₀ ). At this time, the liquid droplet 99 is controlled by the liquid management controller 98, and is ejected in an amount of liquid that forms the diameter D ₀ when the substrate lands. The diameter D _{0 at} this time is such a size that a gap is formed between the plurality of droplets 99, that is, a size smaller than the nozzle interval (predetermined pitch) 91P.

Since the adjacent droplets land on the substrate with a gap left between them, the droplets spread isotropically without interfering with each other as in the case of overlapping when landing. . The droplets 99 that have landed on the substrate wet and spread over time (t ₂ , t ₃ , t ₄ ), overlap with each other after time t ₃ and form pixels 81 with a line width W after time t ₄ . At this time, each of the droplets 99 isotropically wets and spreads, so that the plurality of overlapping droplets 99 form a pixel 81 having a substantially uniform width. At this time, the diameter D ₃ after the droplet 99 has spread wet is determined by the nozzle interval 91P.
Is bigger than

In this way, the plurality of droplets 99 that have spread wet
Thus, it is possible to form the pixel 81 having the line width W and the length corresponding to the droplet amount and the nozzle interval 91P. Regarding the amount of this liquid, the diameter D ₀ of the droplet upon landing, the diameter D _{3 of} the droplet after spreading and wetting, the line width W and the length of the pixel 81,
A pixel 81 having a line width and a length corresponding to the liquid amount can be obtained by ejecting a predetermined amount of the liquid under the control of the liquid management controller 98 by previously obtaining the correlation between them by an experiment or the like. You can

When the arrangement direction of the nozzles N1 to N5 is different from the extending direction of the pixel 81, which will be described later, FIG.
When a plurality of droplets are ejected at the same time, the diameter D ₀ of the droplet at the time of landing and the diameter D _{3 of the} droplet after it has spread by wetting as shown in FIG.
When considering the
Need to be converted into a length in the extending direction.

Next, a method of changing the line width W of the pixel 81 will be described. As shown in FIG. 11, the nozzle N1,
The droplets 99 as the first droplets are ejected from N3 and N5 with the amount of liquid which becomes the diameter D ₀ when the substrate is landed, and the nozzles N2 and N4
From ejects' droplets 99 of the second droplet with a liquid amount becomes "smaller diameter D ₀ than the diameter D ₀ at the time of substrate lands. In this case as well, the nozzle spacing 91P for both the diameters D ₀ and D ₀ '
And a gap is formed between the droplets 99 and 99 'when landing. The size of the droplets is not limited to this pattern, and different arrangements are possible.

Then, similarly to the above, the liquid that has landed on the substrate
The drops 99, 99 'are a function of time (t ₂, T₃, T_Four) And
Wet and spread, time t₃After that they overlap each other,
Interval t_FourAfter that, a pixel 81 having a line width W'is formed. In addition, this
Time t when₃, T_FourHave different sizes of droplets 99 '
Therefore, the above time t₃, T_FourIs strictly different from.

Also in this case, since the adjacent droplets land on the substrate with a gap left therebetween, the droplets spread isotropically without interfering with each other as in the case of overlapping when landing. Become. Since the diameter D ₀ ′ of the droplet 99 ′ is smaller than the diameter D _{0 of the} droplet 99, these droplets 99,
The pixel 81 formed by overlapping 99 'is formed with a line width W'which is smaller than the line width W of the pixel 81 shown in FIG. Thus, the adjacent droplets 99, 99 '
The line width of the pixel 81 can be arbitrarily changed by changing the size of the pixel. Also in this case, each of the droplets 99, 9
The liquid amount of 9 ′, the diameters D ₀ and D ₀ ′ when landed on the substrate, the diameter D ₃ of the liquid droplet after wetting and spreading, the line width W ′ and the length of the pixel 81 have been previously correlated by experiments or the like. By obtaining a predetermined amount of liquid under control of the liquid management controller 98, a pixel 81 having an arbitrary line width and length corresponding to the amount of liquid can be obtained.

Next, the case where the arrangement direction of the nozzles N1 to N5 and the extending direction of the pixel 81 are different will be described. FIG. 12 is a diagram showing how the droplet discharge head 14 draws pixels of the color filter. For the droplet discharge head 14, only the positions of the nozzle rows are shown. Here, red (R) of the decided patterns
7 shows a state of drawing a pixel (linear body) 81 extending in the X direction (predetermined direction) with the liquid (in the figure, G indicates green and B indicates blue).

The nozzle row 82 is formed by a plurality of nozzles 91 arranged in a straight line at a predetermined pitch 91P, and droplets are ejected from the selected nozzles and land on the substrate to form the pixels 81. It is formed. In the example of FIG. 12,
Since the pitch 91P of the nozzles 91 and the pitch 81P of the pixels 81 do not match, tilting the droplet discharge heads 14 tilts the arrangement direction of the nozzles 91 with respect to the extending direction of the pixels, and arranges them in the Y direction. The positions of the pixels and the positions of the liquid droplets ejected from every five nozzles 91 are substantially matched,
By moving the droplet discharge head 14 and the substrate relative to each other in the Y direction in the drawing, the droplets are landed on the substrate to form the pixels 8
1 is formed by coloring. Then, this step is performed by the droplet discharge head 14 that discharges each of the red, green, and blue liquids to manufacture a color filter.

Therefore, in the droplet discharge head 14 for forming the red pixel shown in FIG. 12 in a colored manner, for example, the right end, the second pixel from the top, the second nozzle from the upper right, the nozzles N1 to N6, The droplets are discharged up to the nozzle N5.
For example, while the droplet discharge head 14 driven by the drive device moves in the + Y direction relative to the substrate, the nozzles N1 to N
5 sequentially ejects droplets.

This will be described in detail. Particularly, the nozzles N1 and N
Focusing on No. 2, as shown in FIG. 13, after the nozzle N1 as the first nozzle ejects the droplet 99 (indicated as 99 ₁ in FIG. 13 for convenience) at the liquid ejection position, the nozzle N2 as the second nozzle. When the liquid reaches the liquid discharge position, the liquid droplet 99 (for convenience, shown as 99 ₂ in FIG. 13) is discharged. Here, the time from when the nozzle N1 ejects the droplet 99 ₁ to when the nozzle N2 ejects the droplet 99 ₂ is
By setting the relative movement speed so that it is shorter than the time from when the 9 ₁ is ejected to when it is landed on the substrate, the wetting spreads according to the time difference between the liquid ejection by the nozzle N1 and the liquid ejection by the nozzle N2. A gap is formed between the droplet 99 ₁ and the droplet 99 ₂ landed on the substrate.

Therefore, the droplets that have landed first will land later.
Droplets that land later, such as when the ejected droplets overlap.
Is absorbed by the droplets that are present first, so
Pixels are formed in a gourd shape, where the liquid droplets afterwards are narrow.
Droplet 99 that landed without ₁, 99₂Is isotropically wet
Pixels 81 having a substantially uniform width are formed by spreading.
It

Note that this drawing method is not limited to the case of ejecting droplets with a plurality of nozzles, and is similarly applicable to the case of ejecting droplets sequentially with one nozzle to form the pixel 81. .

In the drawing process described above, the pixels for the color filter can be formed even when the black matrix defining the filter element is not used, but it is also applicable when the black matrix is used. Hereinafter, an example of manufacturing a color filter by a drawing process using a black matrix will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15.

The substrate 100 shown in FIG. 14 is a transparent substrate having a suitable mechanical strength and a high light transmittance. As the substrate 100, for example, a transparent glass substrate, an acrylic glass, a plastic substrate, a plastic film, or a surface-treated product thereof can be applied.

For example, as shown in FIG. 15, a plurality of color filter regions 105 are formed in a matrix on a rectangular substrate 100 from the viewpoint of improving productivity. These color filter regions 105 can be used as color filters suitable for a liquid crystal display device by cutting the glass 100 later.

In the color filter area 105, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, the R liquid, the G liquid and the B liquid are formed and arranged in a predetermined pattern. As the formation pattern, as shown in the figure, in addition to the conventionally known stripe type, there are a mosaic type, a delta type, a square type, and the like.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a process of forming the color filter region 105 on the substrate 100.

In FIG. 14A, the black matrix 110 is formed on one surface of the transparent substrate 100. Substrate 10 that is the basis of the color filter
0 is a resin with no light transmission (preferably black)
To a predetermined thickness (for example, 2
to about 100 μm), and the black matrix 110 is provided in a matrix by a method such as a photolithography method. The smallest display element surrounded by the grid of the black matrix 110 is called a filter element,
For example, the width in the X-axis direction is 30 μm, and the length in the Y-axis direction is 100 μm.
The window has a size of about μm.

After the black matrix 110 is formed, heat is applied to the substrate 1 by, for example, a heater.
Bake the resin above 00.

As shown in FIG. 14B, the droplet 99 is
It lands on the filter element 112. The amount of the droplet 99 is a sufficient amount in consideration of the volume reduction of the liquid in the heating process.

In the heating step of FIG. 14C, when all the filter elements 112 on the color filter are filled with the droplets 99, the heater is used to perform the heating process. The substrate 100 has a predetermined temperature (for example, about 70 ° C.)
Heat to. As the liquid solvent evaporates, the liquid volume decreases. When the volume is drastically reduced, the liquid discharge step and the heating step are repeated until a sufficient thickness of the liquid film for the color filter is obtained. By this treatment, the liquid solvent evaporates, and finally only the liquid solid content remains to form a film.

In the protective film forming step of FIG. 14D, heating is performed at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time in order to completely dry the droplet 99. When the drying is completed, a protective film 120 is formed to protect the substrate 100 of the color filter on which the liquid film is formed and to flatten the filter surface. For forming the protective film 120, for example, a method such as a spin coating method, a roll coating method or a ripping method can be adopted.

In the transparent electrode forming step of FIG. 14E, the transparent electrode 13 is formed by using a recipe such as a sputtering method or a vacuum adsorption method.
0 is formed over the entire surface of the protective film 120.

In the patterning step shown in FIG. 14F, the transparent electrode 130 is further patterned into pixel electrodes corresponding to the openings of the filter element 112.

It should be noted that the TFT (T
This patterning is not necessary when using a thin film transistor or the like. In addition, it is desirable to wipe the liquid ejection surface 14a of the droplet ejection head 14 using the wiping unit 27 periodically or as needed during the drawing process. This wiping can be performed by sliding a wet cloth material unwound from the unwind reel 27a and ejected the cleaning liquid onto the liquid ejection surface 14a as the movable platen 31 moves.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the liquid droplets landing on the substrate are isotropically wet and spread to form pixels having a predetermined line width. Therefore, it is necessary to separately provide a liquid absorbing layer on the surface of the substrate. Disappears. Therefore, the cost required for forming the absorption layer can be reduced, the color filter can be manufactured at low cost, and the optimum liquid material design with high flexibility can be performed without being restricted by the absorption characteristics of the absorption layer. Therefore, a high-performance device can be realized.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the length of the nozzle interval in the pixel extending direction is larger than the diameter when the liquid droplet lands on the substrate, and is larger than the diameter after the liquid droplet wets and spreads on the substrate. When a small amount is set or when there is a time lag in the droplet ejection from the nozzle, the latter droplet is ejected before the first ejected droplet hits the substrate. A gap can be formed between them.

Further, in the present embodiment, a method is adopted in which the correlation of the liquid amount, the size of the liquid droplet, the line width of the pixel, etc. is obtained in advance, and the sizes of the adjacent liquid droplets are made different from each other. As a result, the line width of the pixel can be arbitrarily and easily changed, and various pixel line widths required when the droplet discharge device is used for industrial purposes can be easily met. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, by tilting the nozzle array direction with respect to the pixel extension direction, it is possible to easily cope with the case where the interval between the ejected droplets is narrower than the nozzle interval. Moreover, a pixel having an arbitrary length can be easily formed.

And, such a filter manufacturing apparatus 1
For a device such as a liquid crystal display device having a color filter manufactured by, a high performance can be exhibited by performing the optimum liquid material design.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

The device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the manufacture of color filters for liquid crystal display devices, but can be applied to EL (electroluminescence) display devices, for example. An EL display device has a structure in which a thin film containing a fluorescent inorganic and organic compound is sandwiched between a cathode and an anode, and excitons are generated by injecting electrons and holes into the thin film and recombining them. It is an element that produces (exciton) and emits light by utilizing the emission of light (fluorescence / phosphorescence) when the exciton is deactivated. Of the fluorescent materials used for such EL display elements, materials exhibiting red, green, and blue emission colors are patterned by droplet ejection onto an element substrate such as a TFT using the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. A self-luminous full-color EL display device can be manufactured.
The scope of the device in the present invention includes such an EL display device substrate.

In this case, the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is
It may have a step of performing a surface treatment such as plasma, UV treatment, coupling or the like on the surface of the resin resist, the pixel electrode and the lower layer so that the EL material is easily attached. The EL display device manufactured by using the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is applied to the low information field such as segment display or full-screen simultaneous light emission, for example, pictures, characters, labels, or dots / lines / planes. It can also be used as a light source having a shape. In addition, passive drive display elements, TF
By using an active element such as T for driving, it is possible to obtain a full-color display device having high brightness and excellent responsiveness. Furthermore, if a metal material or an insulating material is used for the droplet discharge patterning technique of the present apparatus, direct fine patterning of metal wiring, an insulating film, or the like becomes possible, and it can be applied to the production of a new high-performance device.

The droplet discharge head 14 of the illustrated filter manufacturing apparatus is R (red). G (green). Although one type of liquid of B (blue) can be ejected, it is of course possible to eject two or three types of liquid of these types at the same time.

The electronic equipment in which the device according to the present embodiment is incorporated is a personal computer, a portable telephone, an electronic notebook, a pager, a POS terminal, an IC card, a mini disk player, a liquid crystal projector, and an engineering workstation (EWS). ), A word processor, a television, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct-view type video tape recorder, an electronic desk calculator, a car navigation device, a device with a touch panel, a clock, a game device, and various other electronic devices.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention and is a schematic plan view of a filter manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a support plate that supports a droplet discharge head.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a structure of a droplet discharge head,
(A) is an external perspective view of the head body, (B) is a partially enlarged view, (C) is a relationship diagram between time and applied voltage, and (D) to
(F) is an operation diagram of the liquid chamber shown for each applied voltage.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing each element in the control means.

FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of a liquid system constituting the drawing device.

FIG. 7 is a front view of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a schematic front view of a cap unit that constitutes the liquid system.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a support plate that supports the cap.

10A is a diagram showing a planar wetting and spreading manner of a droplet landing on a substrate with time, and FIG. 10B is a diagram showing a cross-sectional wetting and spreading manner with time. .

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a planar wetting and spreading method of liquid droplets having different sizes landed on a substrate, with time.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a relationship between a color filter and a droplet discharge head.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a change over time in a planar wetting and spreading manner of droplets landed on a substrate with a time difference.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of manufacturing a color filter using a substrate.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a substrate and a part of a color filter region on the substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

N1 nozzle (first nozzle) N2 nozzle (second nozzle) 1 Filter manufacturing equipment (device manufacturing equipment) 2b, 2d, 2f Drawing device (droplet discharge device) 14 Droplet ejection head 81 pixels (linear body) 98 Liquid Management Controller (Discharge Control Device) 99 droplets (first droplet) 99 'droplet (second droplet)

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G02B 5/20 101 B41J 3/04 103A 4F041 G02F 1/13 101 F term (reference) 2C056 EC07 EC37 EC42 EC72 FA15 FB01 HA22 2C057 AF93 AG03 AJ10 AM15 AM17 AN07 BA03 BA14 2H048 BA11 BA64 BB02 BB07 BB42 2H088 EA68 FA17 FA30 HA12 HA14 MA20 4D075 AC07 AC08 AC09 AC91 AC93 AE04 CA47 DA04 DA06 DB13 DB43 DC24 EA07 4F041 AA02 BA13 BA22 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA02 BA10

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A linear discharge device that includes a liquid droplet ejection head that ejects a first liquid droplet and a second liquid droplet at a predetermined pitch, and extends the liquid droplet in a predetermined direction by landing the first liquid droplet and the second liquid droplet on a substrate. A method of drawing a droplet discharge device for forming a body, comprising: when the first droplet and the second droplet are landed on the substrate with a gap between them and then spread on the substrate. A drawing method of a droplet discharge device, which is characterized in that they are overlapped with each other. 2. The droplet drawing method according to claim 1, wherein the size of the first droplet and the size of the second droplet at the time of landing are different from each other. Drawing method of discharge device. 3. The drawing method of the droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein the length of the predetermined pitch in the predetermined direction is such that the first droplet and the second droplet land on the substrate. And a diameter after the first droplet and the second droplet have spread on the substrate, and a drawing method of the droplet discharge device. 4. The drawing method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising a first nozzle that discharges the first droplet, and a second nozzle that discharges the second droplet. The drawing method of the droplet discharge device, wherein the arrangement direction of the is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. 5. The drawing method of the droplet discharge device according to claim 4, wherein the first nozzle discharges the first droplet and then the second droplet is discharged.
The droplet discharge head and the substrate are positioned relative to each other such that the time until the nozzle ejects the second droplet is shorter than the time from the ejection of the first droplet to the landing on the substrate. A drawing method of a droplet discharge device, which is characterized by moving. 6. A device manufacturing method, comprising the step of forming a linear body on a substrate by using a droplet discharge device that discharges a plurality of droplets, wherein the device manufacturing method comprises: A device manufacturing method, characterized in that the linear body is formed by a drawing method. 7. A line-like discharge head that discharges the first and second droplets at a predetermined pitch, and has a linear shape in which the first and second droplets land on a substrate and extend in a predetermined direction. A droplet discharge device for forming a body, wherein the first droplet and the second droplet overlap each other when they spread on the substrate after landing on the substrate with a gap therebetween. And a discharge control device that discharges the first droplet and the second droplet. 8. The droplet discharge device according to claim 7, wherein the discharge control device causes the size of the first liquid droplet and the size of the second liquid droplet at the time of landing to be different from each other. Droplet discharge device. 9. The droplet discharge device according to claim 7, wherein a length of the predetermined pitch in the predetermined direction is a diameter when the first droplet and the second droplet land on the substrate. The droplet discharge device is set to be larger and smaller than a diameter after the first droplet and the second droplet have spread and spread on the substrate. 10. The droplet discharge device according to claim 7, wherein an arrangement direction of the first nozzle that discharges the first droplet and the second nozzle that discharges the second droplet is A liquid droplet ejection apparatus, which is inclined with respect to the predetermined direction. 11. The droplet discharge device according to claim 10, wherein the first nozzle discharges the first droplet, and then the second nozzle.
The droplet discharge head and the substrate are positioned relative to each other such that the time until the nozzle ejects the second droplet is shorter than the time from the ejection of the first droplet to the landing on the substrate. A droplet discharge device having a driving device for moving the liquid droplet discharge device. 12. A device manufacturing apparatus comprising a droplet discharge device that discharges a plurality of droplets to form a linear body on a substrate, wherein the droplet discharge device is any one of claims 7 to 11. A device manufacturing apparatus, wherein the droplet discharge device described in any one of items is used. 13. A device manufactured by the device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 12.