JP2003270429A - Apparatus for manufacturing device and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for manufacturing a device capable of stably discharging a liquid drop and obtaining a predetermined plotting characteristic. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for manufacturing the device has a nozzle plate 50 formed by penetrating a nozzle 91 to discharge a liquid body. The device is manufactured by discharging liquid body on a substrate from one surface 50a of the nozzle plate 50. A liquid repellent film 52 is formed on one surface 50a of the nozzle plate 50, the inner surface of the nozzle 91, and the surrounding part 58 of the nozzle 91 on the other surface 50b of the nozzle plate 50. <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 device manufacturing apparatus used for manufacturing a color filter applied to a display device such as a liquid crystal display device and a device manufactured by the device manufacturing apparatus. is there.

[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 (green) and B (red) inks in a predetermined pattern. As described above, as a method of manufacturing a device by landing ink (liquid material) on a substrate, an industrial application drawing apparatus (device manufacturing apparatus) using an inkjet method is adopted.

When the ink jet system is adopted, a predetermined amount of ink is ejected from a nozzle of an ink jet head onto a filter to land it, and this substrate is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-271724. , XY stages (stages that are movable in two dimensions along the XY plane). By moving the substrate in the X and Y directions with this XY stage, ink from a plurality of inkjet heads can land on a predetermined position on the substrate.

[0004]

However, the conventional device manufacturing apparatus and device as described above have the following problems.
There are the following problems. When manufacturing a color filter as described above, it is necessary to accurately land each color of ink on the substrate, and to land in a predetermined area,
There are various inks used in industrial application drawing devices, and among them, inks having good wettability also exist.

Since the ink having good wettability exudes from the nozzle of the ink jet head and the ejection of the ink droplet becomes unstable, the predetermined drawing characteristics cannot be obtained and the device quality may be deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and a device manufacturing apparatus and a device manufacturing apparatus capable of stably ejecting droplets such as ink droplets and obtaining predetermined drawing characteristics. It is an object to provide a device manufactured by an apparatus.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following constitutions. The device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a nozzle plate formed by penetrating a nozzle for discharging a liquid material, and is an apparatus for manufacturing a device by discharging the liquid material from one surface of the nozzle plate onto a substrate, A liquid-repellent film that repels the liquid is formed on one surface of the nozzle plate, the inner surface of the nozzle, and the peripheral portion of the nozzle on the other surface of the nozzle plate.

As a result, in the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the meniscus maintains a stable spherical surface even if the meniscus of the liquid material fluctuates due to pressure fluctuation or the like, so that the liquid material does not seep out from the nozzle and is stable. As a result, it is possible to eject liquid droplets and obtain predetermined drawing characteristics.

Further, the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the liquid repellent film is made of fluororesin.

As a result, in the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the meniscus of the liquid material can be held on the spherical surface due to the liquid repellency of the fluororesin, and the liquid material does not seep out from the nozzle and droplets are stably generated. Can be discharged.

Further, in the present invention, the liquid repellent film may be made of silicone resin.

As a result, in the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the meniscus of the liquid material can be held on the spherical surface due to the liquid repellency of the silicon resin, and the liquid material does not seep out from the nozzle and droplets are stably generated. Can be discharged.

The liquid repellent film is preferably formed by a plasma polymerization method.

In this case, since the liquid repellent film can be made very thin in the present invention, the variation in the nozzle diameter is reduced and the variation in the discharge amount of the liquid droplets can be reduced.

It is also possible to form the liquid repellent film by a printing method.

In this case, in the present invention, since the liquid repellent film can be formed by a simple process, the liquid repellent film treatment can be carried out at low cost.

Further, it is possible to form the liquid repellent film by the eutectoid plating method.

In this case, according to the present invention, since the liquid repellent film can be formed hard, a liquid repellent film having excellent durability can be obtained.

Further, in the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the film forming portion on which the liquid repellent film is formed and the film non-forming portion on which the liquid repellent film is not formed are patterned in a predetermined shape on one surface. A configuration can also be adopted.

Accordingly, in the present invention, for example, when the cap rubber is brought into contact with one surface to suck the liquid material,
By making the abutting portion of the cap rubber a film non-forming portion, it is possible to prevent the liquid repellent film from being corroded by the cap rubber and the corrosive progress to impair the liquid repellent property of the nozzle.

The patterning can be performed by a lift-off method in which the resist applied on one surface is removed in a predetermined shape.

In this case, in the present invention, a resist having sensitivity to an electron beam is applied to the nozzle plate, and a predetermined shape is drawn on the resist with an electron beam or the like. Then, only the portion drawn by the electron beam is dissolved away with a developing solution, and a liquid repellent film is formed thereon by a plasma polymerization method, a printing method, a eutectoid plating method or the like. After that, when the resist is removed with acetone or the like, the ink repellent film on the resist is peeled off together with the resist, so that the liquid repellent film can be left only on the portion drawn by the electron beam on the nozzle plate.

The patterning can also be performed using a mask having a predetermined shape.

In this case, in the present invention, for example, the liquid repellent film can be formed only in the region corresponding to the opening formed in the mechanical mask by the plasma polymerization method and the printing mask by the printing method. Therefore, the liquid repellent film can be patterned in an arbitrary shape by forming the opening of the mask in a predetermined shape.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the outside of the peripheral portion of the other surface is a film non-formed portion where the liquid repellent film is not formed.

Accordingly, in the present invention, it is possible to prevent the adhesive property from being deteriorated by the liquid repellent film even when the substrate is adhered to the other surface of the nozzle plate to form the ink jet head.

The film non-formation portion can be formed by removing the liquid repellent film attached to the other surface by the plasma ashing method.

In this case, in the present invention, the liquid-repellent film on the outside of the peripheral portion is chemically reacted with the gas that has been turned into plasma, whereby the liquid-repellent film is entirely vaporized and can be removed from the other surface.

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

Thus, in the present invention, since the liquid droplets are stably ejected, it is possible to draw on the substrate with a predetermined drawing characteristic, and it is possible to obtain a device that maintains a predetermined quality.

[0031]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of a device manufacturing apparatus and a device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described as being applied to a filter manufacturing apparatus 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 (inkjet device, film forming device) 2b, 2d, 2f having substantially the same structure, and a transfer system for transferring a substrate such as a glass substrate between these drawing devices 2b, 2d, 2f. 3 and 3.

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 ink 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).

A heating device (bake furnace) 8b for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9b, 10b having a double arm structure are installed in the drawing device area 3b. 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 mounted 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.

In the drawing device area 3d, a heating device 8d for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9d and 10d having a double arm structure are installed. 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.

A heating device 8f for heating the substrate and transfer robots 9f and 10f having a double arm structure are installed in the drawing device area 3f. 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, and 2f perform drawing processing (film forming processing) on the conveyed substrate with red, blue, and green colored inks (liquid materials), respectively. An X having a similar structure and supporting the inkjet head 14 by a driving device such as an inkjet head 14 or a linear motor housed in a thermal clean chamber (not shown) and moving in the X direction along a pair of X guides 17. The table 15 and the Y table 1 arranged below the X table 15 (on the −Z side), which holds the substrate by suction and moves in the Y direction along the pair of Y guides 18.
6, the ink system 19 and the like.

The X table 15 drives the ink jet head 14 in the X direction by a driving device such as a linear motor.
In addition to positioning, the rotation drive device such as a direct drive motor causes the θZ direction (rotation direction around the Z axis), the θX direction (rotation direction around the X axis), and the θY direction (Y direction).
Drive and position in the direction of rotation around the axis). Further, the X table 15 is provided with a motor (not shown) for driving and positioning the inkjet 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.

The substrate transfer process in the transfer system 3 will be described. The substrate to be subjected to the drawing process with the color ink is taken out from the magazine loader 4 by the transfer robot 9b and transferred to the mounting table 6 to correspond to the drawing process. It is rotated in the same direction (direction), and at the same time, provisional positioning (pre-positioning) is performed. 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, red ink.

The substrate for which the drawing processing 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 unit 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 the 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, for example, a drawing process using blue ink.

Since the operation after this is the same as the above, a brief description will be made. For the substrate for 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 device 2f by the carrying robot 9f and subjected to a drawing process using, for example, green ink.

The substrate for which the drawing processing in the drawing apparatus 2f has been completed is transferred to the heating section 8f by the transfer robot 10f and heated, and then transferred to the mounting table 7 in the substrate transfer / rotation area 3g for magazine unloading. 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.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ink jet head 14 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the ink ejection surface (the surface facing the substrate) is arranged in rows 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 inkjet head 14 is
Aim the nozzle to the substrate side, and X-axis (or Y-axis)
A plurality of the support plates 20 each having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view are arranged in a row along the substantially X-axis direction in a state of being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to, and in two rows at a predetermined interval in the Y direction (see FIG. In 2, the number is 6 in one row, 12 in total). The inkjet head 14 is supported by the X table 15 via the support plate 20. The angle at which the inkjet 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 inkjet head 14 has
Introducing units 21 for introducing the ink supplied from the ink system 19 are provided respectively (note that these introducing units 21 are not shown in FIG. 2). Each introducing unit 21 has two nozzle rows.
The system is configured to supply ink.

On the side of the support plate 20 to which the ink jet 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 this hole is picked up by a head alignment camera (not shown), the position is detected, and the position of the support plate 20 in the θ direction with respect to the X table 15 is corrected by a rotation driving device such as a motor, so that the inkjet head 14 is corrected. The position (and thus the position of the nozzle) can be aligned.

Next, a structural example of the ink jet head 14 will be described with reference to FIG. The inkjet head 14 is, for example, a head using a piezo element (piezoelectric element), and a plurality of nozzles 91 are formed on the ink ejection surface 14a of the head main body 90 as shown in FIG. 4A. A piezo element 92 is provided for each of these nozzles 91. Note that the number and arrangement of the nozzles 91 in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 described later are simplified and illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 4B, the head main body 90
Has an ink chamber 93 and a nozzle plate 50 formed by penetrating nozzles 91 for ejecting ink from a front surface (one surface) 50a, and is adhesively fixed to a back surface (the other surface) 50b of the nozzle plate 50. And a base 51 that is The surface 50a of the nozzle plate 50 and the ink ejection surface 14a are set substantially flush with each other.

As shown in FIG. 5 (a), the nozzle plate 50 has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view formed of, for example, stainless steel, and the surface 50a has a repellant film as a liquid repellent film that repels ink. The ink film 52 (film forming portion) and the film non-forming portion 53 where the ink repellent film 52 is not formed and the stainless steel is exposed
Are formed, and the ink repellent film 52 and the film non-forming portion 53 are patterned so that the portion where the cap 33 (described later) comes into contact is the film non-forming portion 53.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), each nozzle 91 has a funnel-shaped portion 54 with a large opening on the back surface 50b side.
And an orifice portion 55 that is narrowly opened to the front surface 50a side, and an ink repellent film 52 is also formed around the funnel-shaped portion 54 on the inner surface of the nozzle and the back surface 50b (see FIG. 6G). . The method of forming the ink repellent film 52 will be described later.

The piezo element 92 is arranged corresponding to the nozzle 91 and the ink chamber 93. Then, by applying the applied voltage Vh to the piezo element 92 as shown in FIG. 4C, the piezo element 92 is moved to the arrow direction as shown in FIGS. 4D, 4F and 4E. By expanding and contracting in the Q direction, the ink is pressurized and a predetermined amount of ink droplet 99 is ejected from the nozzle 91.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the ink system 19 supplies the ink stored in the ink tank 24 to the ink-jet head 14 and collects and discharges the ink. A unit 26, a wiping unit 27, a discharge confirmation unit 29, and the like are provided. Among them, the cap unit 26, the wiping unit 27, and the discharge confirmation unit 2 are included.
9 is arranged below the inkjet head 14 and is arranged on the base 23 along the pair of Y guides 30 in the Y direction.
It is installed on a movable platen 31 that moves in the direction, and is configured to be movable integrally with the movable plate 31 in the Y direction.

The wiping unit 27 wipes (wipes) the ink ejection surface (that is, substantially the nozzle surface) of the ink jet head 14 with a cloth material such as a band-shaped nonwoven fabric.
The winding reel 27a for unwinding the cloth material, 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 cloth material wiped with the inkjet head 14 are wound. A take-up reel 27c and the like are provided, and the take-up reel 27a, the cleaning liquid ejecting section 27b, the take-up reel 27c, and the moving board 31 are provided.
By synchronously driving, the ink ejection surface can be wiped with the cloth material containing the cleaning liquid after the drawing processing on the substrate, for example.

The discharge confirming units 29 are provided at two locations below the moving path of the inkjet heads 14 in the X direction for each row in which the inkjet heads 14 are arranged. Each unit 29 is provided with an ejection detection device (detection device; not shown) that detects the ejection state of ink from the nozzles by shielding and transmitting laser light for each inkjet head 14 and for each nozzle. The detection result is output to a control device (not shown).

FIG. 9 is a schematic configuration diagram (front view) of the cap unit 26. The cap unit 26 includes a plurality of caps 33 each having a cap rubber 33a (see FIG. 10) and a suction pad, a support plate 34 for supporting the caps 33, a support plate 35 connected to the support plate 34,
It is roughly configured by moving means 37, 38 such as an air cylinder for driving the support plate 34 in the Z direction via 36, a suction pump not shown, and the like.

The cap 33 is used for the ink jet head 1.
No. 4 ink ejection surface 14a (see FIGS. 3 and 4) support plate 3
4 at the position and tilt corresponding to the inkjet head 14 on the upper surface side (+ Z side), and more specifically, as shown in FIG. 10, in a state of being tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to the X axis (or Y axis). They are fixed in a row along the direction and in two rows at a predetermined interval in the Y direction. The cap 33 and the support plate 34 are disposed below the movement path of the inkjet 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 in contact with the ink ejection surface 14a of the inkjet head 14 for suction, and the support plate 34 is between the contact position in which the cap 33 is retracted from the inkjet head 14.
Is moved, and its drive is controlled by the above-mentioned control device.

The substrate drawing processing steps in the drawing devices 2b, 2d, 2f will be described below.
When the substrate is transferred to 6, the substrate alignment camera captures an image of the alignment mark of the substrate to detect the mounting direction and position of the substrate. Then, by driving the driving device and the rotation driving device based on the detected position, the substrate is positioned at a predetermined position (alignment).
To do. On the other hand, with respect to the inkjet head 14, the position of the support plate 20, that is, the position of the inkjet head 14 (and thus the position of the nozzle) is detected by imaging the hole of the shaft 22 with a head alignment camera, and a linear motor or By driving a drive device such as a direct drive motor, positioning is performed at a predetermined position / posture.

Here, no ink is introduced into the ink jet head 14 at the beginning of the drawing process.
Therefore, before drawing, the inkjet head 14 is sucked by the suction pump to introduce the ink. Specifically, first, when the X table 15 is moved in the X direction and the inkjet head 14 is positioned at a position facing the cap 33, the support plates 34 are moved from the retracted position to the contact position by driving the moving units 37 and 38. Move to + Z direction. As a result, all the caps 33 come into contact with the corresponding ink ejection surfaces 14a of the inkjet heads 14, respectively. When the cap 33 is positioned at the contact position, the ink jet head 14 is filled with ink by operating the suction pump.

Inkjet head 14 (nozzle 91)
When the ink is introduced / filled in the ink jet head 14, the ink jet head 14 is moved above the ejection confirmation unit 29 via the X table. Then, the ink is preliminarily ejected from the inkjet head 14 to the ejection confirmation unit 29.
This will be described in detail. The support plate 20 is attached to the discharge confirmation unit 29.
The ink is ejected from the inkjet head 14 one line each in the forward and backward paths. At the time of ink ejection, the ejection detection device irradiates detection light such as laser light to detect the ejection state of ink for each inkjet head 14 and for each nozzle, so-called dot dropout detection. When the dot dropout is detected here, the cap unit 26 may suck the inkjet head 14 in the same manner as the above-described procedure.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the nozzle plate 5
A method of forming the ink-repellent film 52 for 0 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the ink repellent film is formed of a fluororesin by the eutectoid plating method.

As shown in FIG. 6B, dry film resists 56a and 56b are laminated on both front and back surfaces 50a and 50b of the nozzle plate 50. And then,
This is covered with mask members 57a and 57b (see FIG. 6).
(C), a portion other than the funnel-shaped portion 54 and its peripheral portion 58 on the back surface 50b of the nozzle plate 50 and the film non-forming portion 53 on the surface 50a of the nozzle plate 50 are exposed and developed to remove the film non-forming portion. Masking layers 59a, 59
b is formed (FIG. 6D).

In this way, the masking layers 59a, 59 are formed.
The nozzle plate 50 on which b is formed is once washed with an acid, then immersed in an electrolytic solution in which nickel ions and a water repellent polymer resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene are dispersed by an electric charge, and then the electrolytic solution is removed. The surface is subjected to eutectoid plating 60 with stirring (FIG. 6 (e)).

As the fluorine-based polymer used for this eutectoid plating treatment, polytetrafluoroethylene, polyperfluoroalkoxybutadiene, polyfluorovinylidene, polyfluorovinyl, polydiperfluoroalkyl fumarate, alone or in a mixture. Is used.

As a result, the particles of polytetrafluoroethylene are masked by the nickel ions as a medium.
A uniform layer is attached to the front and back surfaces 50a and 50b of the nozzle plate 50 not covered with 9a and 59b and the inner surface of the nozzle 91. As the method of eutectoid plating, Li ⁺ , Na ⁺ , K ⁺ , C in the ink for ink jet drawing is used.
Since ions such as a ^{2 +} , Cl ⁻ , SO ₄ ²⁻ , SO ₃ ²⁻ , NO ₃ ⁻ , and NO ₂ ⁻ may be mixed as impurities, they are not easily affected by these ion species and are durable. A highly electrolyzed method is suitable.

Next, the masking layers 59a and 59b are melted and removed with a stripping solution (FIG. 6 (f)). Next, while applying a load to the nozzle plate 50 to suppress the occurrence of warpage,
This is the temperature above the melting point of polytetrafluoroethylene,
For example, heating is performed at a temperature of 350 ° C. or higher. At this time, the load is 0.98 N / cm @ 2 or more, preferably 4.9 N / cm @ 2.

As a result, the particles of polytetrafluoroethylene are fused to the front and back surfaces of the nozzle plate 50 not covered with the masking layers 59a and 59b and the inner surface of the nozzle 91, and are smooth and have a high hardness. An ink plating film (ink repellent film) 52 is formed (FIG. 6).
(G)).

If the film thickness of the fluoropolymer eutectoid plating layer is too thin, the ink repellency of the surface having the ink ejection port becomes insufficient, and if it is too thick, the accuracy of the diameter of the ink ejection port is affected. The thickness of the plated layer is controlled to be within the range of 1 to 10 μm. Further, it is preferable that the eutectoid amount of the fluoropolymer in the plating layer is 10 to 50 vol% in the plating layer.

Further, the back surface 50b of the nozzle plate 50
The ink jet recording head 14 is formed by joining the substrate 51 having the ink flow path formed therein.

The ink jet head 1 having the nozzle plate 50 thus treated for ink repellency.
When No. 4 is filled with ink, a drawing process is performed. Although the weight of the ink ejected from the inkjet head 14 is actually measured, the description thereof is omitted here. Hereinafter, an example of manufacturing a color filter by a drawing process will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

The substrate 100 shown in FIG. 11 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. 12, 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. 12, R ink, G ink and B ink 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. 11 shows an example of a process of forming the color filter region 105 on the substrate 100.

In FIG. 11A, 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 by, for example, a heater so that the substrate 1
Bake the resin above 00.

As shown in FIG. 11B, the ink droplet 99
Land on the filter element 112. The amount of the ink droplet 99 is a sufficient amount in consideration of the volume reduction of the ink in the heating process.

In the heating step of FIG. 11C, when all the filter elements 112 on the color filter are filled with the ink droplets 99, the heating process is performed using the heater. The substrate 100 is heated to a predetermined temperature (for example, about 70 ° C.). The evaporation of the ink solvent reduces the volume of the ink. When the volume decrease is severe, until a sufficient ink film thickness as a color filter is obtained,
The ink discharging step and the heating step are repeated. By this treatment, the solvent of the ink evaporates, and finally only the solid content of the ink remains to form a film.

In the protective film forming step shown in FIG. 11D, heating is performed at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time in order to completely dry the ink droplet 99. When the drying is completed, the protective film 120 is formed to protect the color filter substrate 100 having the ink film formed thereon and to flatten the filter surface. The protective film 120 is formed by, for example, a spin coating method,
A method such as a roll coating method or a ripping method can be adopted.

In the step of forming the transparent electrode shown in FIG. 11E, 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 process of FIG. 11F, 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 ink ejection surface 14a of the inkjet 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 ink ejection surface 14a as the movable platen 31 moves.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the eutectoid plating film 52 formed on the surface 50a of the nozzle plate 50, the inner surface of the nozzle 91, and the back surface 50b has high ink repellency (liquid repellency). Since the meniscus maintains a stable spherical surface even if the ink meniscus fluctuates due to pressure fluctuations, etc., even when an ink with good wettability is used, the ink oozes out from the nozzle, or the non-uniform ink is spread around the nozzle periphery. It does not remain as a pool. Therefore, the ejected ink droplet does not separate from the normal flight direction, and the stability of the meniscus at the time of ink droplet formation does not deteriorate due to the ink pool, so that stable and high-frequency drawing processing can be performed. to enable. Moreover, since the ink repellent film formed by the eutectoid plating method is a hard film, the effect of excellent durability can be obtained.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle plate 50 has a non-eutectoid plating film forming portion 53 formed at a portion where the cap rubber 33a is in contact with the nozzle plate 50, and since the surface is a stable stainless steel surface, the ink is not present. Cap rubber 33 under
Corrosion does not occur due to repeated close contact with a. Therefore, the adhesiveness with the cap rubber 33a is not impaired, and highly reliable sealability can be secured. Further, since the corrosion generated in the contact portion with the cap rubber 33a does not trigger the water repellency in the vicinity of the nozzle, the high ink repellency can be maintained for a long time.

Then, such a filter manufacturing apparatus 1
A device such as a liquid crystal display device having a color filter manufactured by the method described above is subjected to drawing processing with a predetermined ink ejection characteristic, so that a predetermined device characteristic can be secured.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention. Here, an example of forming the ink repellent film 52 by the plasma polymerization method will be described. FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of the plasma processing apparatus 61. Plasma processing device 6
In a chamber 62 as a reactor for causing a plasma reaction, an upper discharge electrode 63 connected to a high frequency power source 65 and a grounded lower discharge electrode 64 are arranged to face each other. In the chamber 62, a gas introduction passage 66,
67 and a gas discharge path 68 connected to a vacuum pump 69 are provided.

The gas introduction passage 66 is connected to the raw material gas supply means 71 through a valve 70, and a valve 72.
It is connected to the argon gas (Ar) supply means 73 via. Further, the gas introduction path 67 is connected to the argon gas supply means 73 via the valve 74. That is, by controlling the opening / closing of the valves 70, 72, 74,
The flow rate and concentration (monomer concentration) of the argon gas flowing into the chamber 62 and the mixed gas of the argon gas and the source gas (monomer) can be adjusted.

Then, the degree of vacuum in the chamber 62 is set to an appropriate level, and a discharge is generated between the discharge electrodes 63, 64 with the nozzle plate as the film-forming substrate placed on the discharge electrode 64. A plasma polymerization reaction is performed, and a plasma polymerization film as an ink repellent film is formed on the nozzle plate.

(Example 1) Fluorine was used as a raw material for the ink repellent film.
The output of the high frequency power supply 65 is 1600 W, C using resin₈F₈
Flow rate 30 ccm, CF_FourFlow rate 180 ccm, Ar flow rate 2
25 ccm, pressure 266 Pa, temperature 60 ° C., time 30 minutes
When plasma treatment was performed under the conditions ₂Under the atmosphere,
46 nm before annealing at 230 ° C for 30 minutes, after annealing
Thus, an ink repellent film having a film thickness of 13.4 nm was obtained.

(Example 2) Silicon resin was used as the ink repellent film raw material, the output of the high frequency power source 65 was 100 W, the raw material +
Ar flow rate 100 ccm, Ar flow rate 0 ccm, pressure 1
When plasma treatment was performed under the conditions of 7.29 Pa, temperature of 60 ° C., and time of 15 minutes, an ink repellent film having a film thickness of 300 nm was obtained.

Also in the plasma polymerization method, it is possible to pattern the film forming portion and the film non-forming portion as in the eutectoid plating method. As this patterning, for example, a method using a mask (mechanical mask) having an opening corresponding to the film forming portion or a so-called lift-off method using a resist sensitive to an electron beam can be used. When using the lift-off method,
The shape of the film forming portion is drawn with an electron beam or the like, only the drawn portion is removed with a developing solution, and then the film is formed by a plasma polymerization method. After that, when the resist is removed with acetone or the like, the metal film on the resist is peeled off together with the resist, so that the ink repellent film can be left only on the film forming portion on the nozzle plate. This lift-off method can also be applied to patterning in the above-mentioned eutectoid plating method and the printing method described later.

In the above embodiment, the eutectoid plating method and the plasma polymerization method have been described as the method for forming the ink repellent film on the nozzle plate. However, a mask in which a pattern is formed on the nozzle plate with or without openings. It is also possible to use a printing method in which a (screen) is arranged and the fluororesin or Teflon (registered trademark) resin is attached through the opening. In this case, the work for forming the ink repellent film is simple and the ink repellent treatment can be carried out at low cost.

Further, in order to form the film non-formation portion other than the peripheral portion 58 of the nozzle 91 on the back surface 50b of the nozzle plate 50, a mask member such as a mask tape is attached to the corresponding portion so that the ink repellent film is not formed. And a method of removing the ink repellent film formed on the film forming portion by plasma ashing. When this plasma ashing method is used, the gas that has been turned into plasma reacts with the resist, and the resist is vaporized together with the ink repellent film, so that the ink repellent film in the film non-formed portion can be removed.

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. Among the fluorescent materials used for such EL display elements, materials that exhibit red, green and blue emission colors are inkjet-patterned on an element substrate such as a TFT by using the device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, thereby self-luminous. A full-color EL display device can be manufactured. The scope of devices in the present invention includes such EL
It also includes the substrate of the display device.

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 inkjet patterning technology of this device, direct fine patterning of metal wiring, insulating film, etc. becomes possible,
It can also be applied to the production of new high-performance devices.

Further, the ink jet head 14 of the illustrated filter manufacturing apparatus is R (red). G (green). B
One type of ink (blue) can be ejected, but it is also possible to eject two or three types of ink at the same time. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the ink is used as the liquid material, but the liquid material ejected from the inkjet head is not limited to so-called ink, and may be any liquid that can be ejected as a droplet from the head. It goes without saying that various materials such as the above-mentioned EL device material, metal material, insulating material, or semiconductor material are included.

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.

[0105]

As described above, according to the present invention, the discharged droplets are not separated from the normal flight direction, and the stability of the meniscus at the time of forming the droplets is not lowered due to the liquid pool, and the stability is stable. This enables drawing processing with a predetermined drawing characteristic. In the case of the eutectoid plating method, a liquid-repellent film that is hard and has excellent durability can be obtained, and in the case of the plasma polymerization method, a thin liquid-repellent film that can suppress variations in nozzle diameter and reduce fluctuations in the discharge amount of the liquid material. A film can be obtained, and the liquid repellent treatment can be performed at low cost by a simple operation by the printing method.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a device in which predetermined device characteristics are secured.

[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 an inkjet head.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of FIG.

4A and 4B are diagrams showing the structure of an inkjet head, in which FIG. 4A is an external perspective view of a head main body, FIG. 4B is a partially enlarged view, FIG. 4C is a relationship diagram between time and applied voltage, and FIG. ~
(F) is an operation diagram of the ink chamber shown for each applied voltage.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a nozzle plate.

FIGS. 6A to 6G are diagrams showing respective steps of forming an ink repellent film on a nozzle plate.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of an ink system that constitutes a drawing device.

FIG. 8 is a front view of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view of a cap unit that constitutes the ink system.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a support plate that supports the cap.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of manufacturing a color filter using a substrate.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a substrate and a part of a color filter region on the substrate.

FIG. 13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a plasma processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Filter Manufacturing Device (Device Manufacturing Device) 2b, 2d, 2f Drawing Device (Inkjet Device, Film Forming Device) 14 Inkjet Head 50 Nozzle Plate 50a Front Surface (One Surface) 50b Back Surface (Other Surface) 52 Ink Repellent Film (Film) (Formation part, plating film, liquid repellent film) 53 film non-formation part 58 peripheral part 60 eutectoid plating 91 nozzle 100 substrate

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for manufacturing a device, comprising a nozzle plate formed by penetrating a nozzle for ejecting a liquid material, and ejecting the liquid material from one surface of the nozzle plate onto a substrate to manufacture a device. A device manufacturing apparatus, wherein a liquid-repellent film is formed on one surface of the nozzle plate, an inner surface of the nozzle, and a peripheral portion of the nozzle on the other surface of the nozzle plate. 2. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid repellent film is made of fluororesin. 3. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid repellent film is made of silicon resin. 4. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the liquid repellent film is formed by a plasma polymerization method. 5. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the liquid repellent film is formed by a printing method. 6. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the liquid repellent film is formed by a eutectoid plating method. 7. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid repellent film is not formed on the one surface, and the film repellent film is not formed on the one surface. A device manufacturing apparatus, wherein the film non-formation portion is patterned in a predetermined shape. 8. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the patterning is performed by a lift-off method that removes the resist applied to the one surface in a predetermined shape. 9. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the patterning is performed using a mask having the predetermined shape. 10. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an outer side of the peripheral portion of the other surface is a film non-forming portion where the liquid repellent film is not formed. A device manufacturing apparatus characterized by the above. 11. The device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the film non-formation portion is formed by removing the liquid repellent film attached to the other surface by a plasma ashing method. Manufacturing equipment. 12. A device manufactured by the device manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 11.