JP2005013951A - Droplet ejecting device, droplet ejecting method, production method of color filter display device, production method of electroluminescent display device, production method of plasma display device, and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a droplet ejecting device which ejects a liquid material in a droplet state from a nozzle to a receiving part where a liquid material layer is formed and with which the liquid material is efficiently arranged. <P>SOLUTION: In the droplet ejecting device, the liquid material is ejected in the droplet state from the nozzle to the receiving part where the liquid material layer is formed and is arranged. When the droplet is ejected from the nozzle, droplets having size different from one another are ejected or droplets of prescribed size are ejected to the receiving part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device and a droplet discharge method such as an inkjet device that discharges a liquid material in the form of droplets, a method for manufacturing a color filter display device, a method for manufacturing an electroluminescence display device, and a plasma display device The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and an electronic device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a method of forming a display device such as a color filter on a substrate, which is an object to be ejected by a droplet ejection device, as in the pattern formation shown in Patent Document 1 in each color receiving portion constituting the color filter, There is a method of arranging droplets of the same size (color filter material) in order.
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-260307 (FIG. 3)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the larger the display device such as a color filter, the larger the receiving part, so in order to fill the entire receiving part with droplets, the number of droplets discharged must be increased in proportion to the size of the receiving part. I had to.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve such a problem, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus of the present invention is a liquid droplet ejection system in which a liquid material is ejected from a nozzle in a liquid droplet state to a receiving portion where a layer of the liquid material is formed. An apparatus is characterized in that when droplets are ejected from a nozzle, droplets of different sizes are ejected to a receiving portion. In addition, the nozzle moves relatively while ejecting droplets to the receiving portion and performs scanning a plurality of times, and the droplets ejected in each scan are droplets of a prescribed size. Is preferred.
[0006]
According to these configurations, droplets having different sizes can be ejected depending on the ejection position of the receiving portion, and an optimum size droplet can be ejected to each ejection position, thereby providing an efficient droplet arrangement. It becomes possible.
[0007]
The droplet discharge method of the present invention is a droplet discharge method including a step of discharging and arranging a liquid material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion on which a layer of the liquid material is formed. The step of ejecting droplets from is characterized by ejecting droplets of mutually different sizes to the receiving part. In addition, the nozzle moves relatively while ejecting droplets to the receiving portion and performs a plurality of scanning steps. In this case, the scanning step arranges the droplets at the corner and the peripheral portion of the receiving portion. A first scanning step and a second scanning step in which a droplet larger than the droplet disposed in the first scan is arranged in the central portion of the receiving portion, or droplets at the corner and the peripheral portion of the receiving portion A first scanning step in which a droplet having the same size as the first scanning step is disposed in a region adjacent to the first scanning step, a first scanning step in the center of the receiving portion, and It is preferable to comprise a third scanning step in which droplets larger than the droplets disposed in the second scanning step are disposed.
[0008]
According to these configurations, an appropriate droplet arrangement corresponding to the receiving portion is obtained by each scanning process in which small droplets are ejected to places where the droplets are difficult to fill and large droplets are ejected to other portions. Is possible.
[0009]
The method for manufacturing a color filter display device according to the present invention includes a step of discharging and arranging a color filter material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion on which a liquid material layer is formed. In the manufacturing method, the step of discharging the color filter material from the nozzle is characterized by discharging droplets having different sizes from each other to the receiving portion. Similarly, in the method of manufacturing the electroluminescence display device, the step of discharging the luminescent phosphor material from the nozzle discharges droplets having different sizes from each other to the receiving portion. In the manufacturing method, the step of discharging the plasma fluorescent material from the nozzle is characterized in that droplets having different sizes are discharged to the receiving portion.
[0010]
The electronic apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a display device including a color filter display device, an electroluminescence display device, and a plasma display device manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention is mounted.
[0011]
According to these configurations, it is possible to uniformly and efficiently form the color display portion of the display device mounted on various electronic devices by using a method of discharging droplets of different sizes from the nozzle. it can.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of a droplet discharge device of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This droplet discharge device is provided with a liquid (liquid material) such as a color filter material in a droplet state on a substrate or the like, which is used for manufacturing various display devices including a color filter display device. This is a so-called ink jet type apparatus that discharges to a receiving portion.
[0013]
As shown in FIG. 1, a droplet discharge device 1 includes a head mechanism unit 2 having a head unit 10 that discharges droplets, and a workpiece 20 that is a discharge target of droplets discharged from the head unit 10. The mechanism unit 3 includes a liquid supply unit 4 that supplies a liquid to the head unit 10, and a control unit 5 that collectively controls the mechanism units and the supply unit.
[0014]
The droplet discharge device 1 includes a plurality of support legs 6 installed on the floor and a surface plate 7 installed on the upper side of the support legs 6. On the upper side of the surface plate 7, the work mechanism unit 3 is disposed so as to extend in the longitudinal direction (X-axis direction) of the surface plate 7, and is fixed to the surface plate 7 above the work mechanism unit 3. Further, the head mechanism portion 2 that is supported at both ends by two pillars is arranged so as to extend in a direction (Y-axis direction) orthogonal to the workpiece mechanism portion 3. Further, on one end of the surface plate 7, a liquid supply unit 4 that communicates from the head unit 10 of the head mechanism unit 2 and supplies a liquid is disposed. Further, a control unit 5 is accommodated below the surface plate 7.
[0015]
The head mechanism unit 2 includes a head unit 10 that ejects liquid, a carriage 11 on which the head unit 10 is mounted, a Y-axis guide 13 that guides the movement of the carriage 11 in the Y-axis direction, and a lower side of the Y-axis guide 13. The Y-axis ball screw 15 installed in the Y-axis direction, the Y-axis motor 14 for rotating the Y-axis ball screw 15 forward and backward, and the lower part of the carriage 11 are screwed into the Y-axis ball screw 15 and engaged with the carriage. And a carriage screwing portion 12 in which a female screw portion for moving 11 is formed.
[0016]
The work mechanism unit 3 is located below the head mechanism unit 2 and is arranged in the X-axis direction with the same configuration as the head mechanism unit 2. The workpiece 20 and a mounting table 21 on which the workpiece 20 is mounted. An X-axis guide 23 that guides the movement of the mounting table 21, an X-axis ball screw 25 installed below the X-axis guide 23, an X-axis motor 24 that rotates the X-axis ball screw 25 forward and backward, At the bottom of the mounting table 21, the mounting table 21 includes a mounting table screwing portion 22 that is screwed with the X-axis ball screw 25 to move the mounting table 21.
[0017]
Although not shown, the head mechanism unit 2 and the work mechanism unit 3 are respectively provided with position detection means for detecting the positions where the head unit 10 and the mounting table 21 have moved. Further, a mechanism for adjusting the rotation direction (so-called Θ axis) is incorporated in the carriage 11 and the mounting table 21, and the rotation direction adjustment with the center of the head unit 10 as the rotation center and the rotation direction adjustment of the mounting table 21 are possible. It is.
[0018]
With these configurations, the head unit 10 and the workpiece 20 can reciprocate in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction, respectively. First, the movement of the head unit 10 will be described. By rotating the Y-axis motor 14 forward and backward, the Y-axis ball screw 15 rotates forward and backward, and the carriage screwing portion 12 screwed to the Y-axis ball screw 15 moves along the Y-axis guide 13. The carriage 11 integrated with the carriage screwing portion 12 moves to an arbitrary position. That is, the head unit 10 mounted on the carriage 11 freely moves in the Y-axis direction by driving the Y-axis motor 14.
[0019]
Similarly, the workpiece 20 mounted on the mounting table 21 has a mounting table screwing portion 22 that is rotated by the X-axis ball screw 25 and screwed with the X-axis ball screw 25 by driving the X-axis motor 24. By moving along the X-axis guide 23, it moves freely in the X-axis direction.
[0020]
As described above, the head unit 10 is configured to move to the discharge position in the Y-axis direction and stop, and discharge the droplets in synchronization with the movement of the work 20 below in the X-axis direction. The X-axis direction in which the workpiece 20 continuously moves is the so-called main scanning direction, and the Y-axis direction in which the head unit 10 moves intermittently (pitch movement) is the sub-scanning direction. By relatively controlling the workpiece 20 that moves in the X-axis direction and the head unit 10 that moves in the Y-axis direction, predetermined drawing or the like can be performed on the workpiece 20.
[0021]
In the present embodiment, the workpiece 20 is set to move in the main scanning direction (X-axis direction), but the head unit 10 may be moved in the main scanning direction. Alternatively, the head unit 10 may be fixed and the workpiece 20 may be moved in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Conversely, the workpiece 20 may be fixed and the head unit 10 may be moved in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. It may be.
[0022]
Next, the liquid supply unit 4 that supplies the liquid 33 to the head unit 10 supplies a tube 31 a that forms a flow path that communicates with the head unit 10, a pump 32 that sends the liquid to the tube 31 a, and supplies the liquid 33 to the pump 32. And a tank 30 that communicates with the tube 31b and stores the liquid 33, and is disposed at one end on the surface plate 7. Considering the replenishment and replacement of the liquid 33, the tank 30 is preferably installed above or below the surface plate 7. However, if it can be installed above the head unit 10 in terms of arrangement, the single flexible tube without the pump 32 is provided. Thus, the tank 30 and the head unit 10 are connected, and the liquid can be naturally supplied by gravity.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 2A, the head unit 10 holds a plurality of ejection heads 16 having the same structure. Here, FIG. 2 is a view of the head unit 10 observed from the mounting table 21 side. Two rows of six ejection heads 16 are arranged in the head unit 10 such that the longitudinal direction of each ejection head 16 forms an angle with respect to the X-axis direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 2B, the ejection head 16 for ejecting the liquid 33 has two nozzle rows 18 and 18 each extending in the longitudinal direction of the ejection head 16. One nozzle row 18 is a row in which 180 nozzles 17 are arranged in a row, and the interval between the nozzles 17 along the direction of the nozzle row 18 is about 140 μm. The nozzles 17 between the two nozzle rows 18 and 18 are each shifted by a half pitch (about 70 μm).
[0024]
As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, each discharge head 16 includes a vibration plate 43 and a nozzle plate 44. Between the diaphragm 43 and the nozzle plate 44, a liquid pool 45 that is always filled with the liquid 33 supplied from the tank 30 through the hole 47 is located. In addition, a plurality of partition walls 41 are located between the diaphragm 43 and the nozzle plate 44. A portion surrounded by the diaphragm 43, the nozzle plate 44, and the pair of partition walls 41 is a cavity 40. Since the cavities 40 are provided corresponding to the nozzles 17, the number of cavities 40 and the number of nozzles 17 are the same. The liquid 33 is supplied from the liquid pool 45 to the cavity 40 via the supply port 46 positioned between the pair of partition walls 41.
[0025]
On the vibration plate 43, the vibrator 42 is positioned corresponding to each cavity 40. The vibrator 42 includes a piezoelectric element 42c and a pair of electrodes 42a and 42b that sandwich the piezoelectric element 42c. By applying a driving voltage to the pair of electrodes 42 a and 42 b, the liquid 33 is discharged as droplets 50 from the corresponding nozzles 17.
[0026]
Next, a control system for controlling the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. The control system includes a control unit 5 and a drive unit 75, and the control unit 5 includes a CPU 70, a ROM, a RAM, and an input / output interface 71. Various signals input by the CPU 70 via the input / output interface 71 are read from the ROM. Then, processing is performed based on the data in the RAM, and a control signal is output to the drive unit 75 via the input / output interface 71 to control each of them.
[0027]
The drive unit 75 includes a head driver 76, a motor driver 77, and a pump driver 78. The motor driver 77 controls the movement of the workpiece 20 and the head unit 10 by rotating the X-axis motor 24 and the Y-axis motor 14 forward and backward according to the control signal of the control unit 5. The head driver 76 controls the liquid crystal ejection from the ejection head 16, and performs predetermined drawing on the workpiece 20 in synchronization with the control of the motor driver 77. The pump driver 68 controls the pump 32 in accordance with the liquid discharge state, and optimally controls the liquid supply to the discharge head 16.
[0028]
The control unit 5 is configured to give independent signals to each of the plurality of vibrators 42 via the head driver 76. For this reason, the volume of the droplet 50 ejected from the nozzle 17 is controlled for each nozzle 17 in accordance with a signal from the head driver 76. Furthermore, the volume of the droplet 50 discharged from each of the nozzles 17 is variable between 0 pl to 42 pl (picoliter). For this reason, as will be described later, it is possible to set the nozzle 17 that performs the ejection operation during scanning and the nozzle 17 that does not perform the ejection operation.
[0029]
Using such a droplet discharge device 1, the droplet size is selected and efficiently discharged to the receiving portion 55, which is a rectangular region of the droplet discharge destination as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. A method for discharging droplets to be filled will be described. The size of the receiving portion 55 is 300 μm in the X-axis (longitudinal) direction and 100 μm in the Y-axis direction. In order to fill this size range, it can be calculated that about 300 pl of droplets are required. However, even if 15 droplets of 20 pl in the X-axis direction are ejected by a conventional droplet ejection device, The surrounding area is not full. Further, the corners and the peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55 cannot be filled only by increasing the number of ejections by overlapping the droplets. These are contents corresponding to a color filter material, a luminescence fluorescent material, a plasma fluorescent material, and the like used in the display device.
[0030]
Therefore, a first droplet discharge method has been invented in which droplets 50a and 50b of two kinds of sizes are ejected as shown in FIG. The size of the droplet 50 is 15 pl for the small droplet 50 a and 40 pl for the large droplet 50 b, and varies depending on the magnitude of the vibration of the diaphragm 43 due to the difference in driving voltage applied to the vibrator 42. In this case, 10 droplets are ejected from the small droplet 50a and 4 droplets are ejected from the large droplet 50b, resulting in a total ejection of 310 pl.
[0031]
In order to fill the corner 50 and the peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55 with the droplet 50, each droplet 50 is divided into two rows of small droplets 50a along each of the peripheral portions of the receiving portion 55 in the X-axis direction. The four large droplets 50b are disposed along the X-axis direction at the center of the receiving portion 55. The order of arrangement is as follows. First, the small droplet 50a is ejected from the two nozzles 17 and 17 spaced at an interval of about 60 μm while moving from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction of the receiving portion 55 in the X-axis direction. Scan 60 is performed. Next, the movement direction is changed to the opposite direction, and the large droplets 50b are discharged between the two rows of small droplets 50a from one nozzle 17 different from the first scan 60, while A second scan 62 is performed that moves from the end of the first scan 60 to the other end. As described above, the small droplet 50a is arranged in the peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55 where the droplet 50 is difficult to be filled to fill the peripheral portion, and the large droplet 50b is arranged in the central portion of the remaining receiving portion 55. Thus, the droplet 50 can be filled in the entire receiving portion 55.
[0032]
Further, while the nozzles 17 and 17 of the first scan 60 perform relative scanning from one end to the other end of the receiving portion 55 along the X-axis direction, no material is discharged from the nozzles 17 of the second scan 62. In this case, it is preferable to apply vibration to the liquid 33 filled in the cavity corresponding to another nozzle 17 that performs the second scanning 62. This vibration is a vibration that does not cause the liquid 33 to be discharged from the nozzle 17 as the droplet 50, and is referred to as non-discharge vibration. When the piezo element 42c corresponding to the nozzle 17 that performs the second scanning 62 performs non-ejection vibration, the liquid 33 filled in the cavity 40 corresponding to the nozzle 17 that performs the second scanning 62 receives the vibration. Convection occurs in the cavity 40. When the liquid 33 convects, the liquid 33 on the surface in contact with the atmosphere always flows, so that the solvent is prevented from evaporating from the liquid 33, and thus the viscosity of the liquid 33 does not increase. For this reason, defective discharge from the nozzle 17 can be prevented.
[0033]
When the receiving portions 55 are continuous as shown in FIG. 9A, the first scanning 60 is sequentially performed on all the receiving portions 55 that discharge the same droplets 50 in one column in the X-axis direction. Next, a scan that changes direction and performs the second scan 62 and returns is efficient. Further, the nozzles 17 of the first scan 60 and the second scan 62 may be separate nozzles 17 and 17 as described above, taking advantage of the feature that different droplets 50 can be selectively ejected, the first scan. One of 60 nozzles 17 may be used. When the nozzle 17 ejects the liquid 33 intermittently a plurality of times, non-ejection vibration may be caused in the piezo element 42c corresponding to the nozzle 17 between ejection timings. This is preferable in this respect because the discharge of the liquid 33 from the nozzle 17 is stabilized.
[0034]
Further, the nozzle 17 is moved to a predetermined position outside the scanning range every time before or after the nozzle 17 relatively scans from one end of the scanning range to the other end along the X-axis direction. You may perform what is called flushing which discharges 50. By doing so, discharge from the nozzle 17 can be secured more stably.
[0035]
As described above, by receiving and arranging the droplets 50a and 50b having different sizes, the receiving portion 55 can be efficiently filled with the liquid 33. For a receiving portion having a longer Y-axis direction, the first scanning 60 and the second scanning 62 can be performed a plurality of times, or the droplets 50a and 50b can be discharged in a larger size. Yes. Since the droplets 50 are discharged to the receiving portions 55 in the same arrangement, uniform receiving portions 55 can be obtained without variations in the appearance of the receiving portions 55.
[0036]
Next, a second droplet discharge method to the receiving portion 55 will be described with reference to FIG. In the droplet discharge method shown in FIG. 6, the droplet 50 is discharged with a size smaller than that described with reference to FIG. 5, and the droplet 50 is arranged more precisely at the corners and the peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55. It is a method to do. In this case, the size of the droplet 50 is 6 pl for 32 small droplets 50c and 20 pl for 6 large droplets 50d, for a total of 312 pl.
[0037]
The droplets 50 are arranged by three scans in the X-axis direction. First, the small droplets 50c are ejected in two rows from the two nozzles 17 and 17 with an interval of about 60 μm in the X-axis direction. A first scan 60 that moves from one end to the other end in the longitudinal direction of the receiving portion 55 is performed. One of the two nozzles 17, 17 discharges a small droplet 50 c at a position close to the periphery of the receiving portion 55 along the X axis. Next, the first scanning 60 was performed at a position close to the other peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55 along the X axis by changing the moving direction to the opposite direction and moving the discharge position in the Y axis direction. A second scan 62 that moves from the end of the first scan 60 to the other end is performed so that the small droplet 50 c is ejected from the other nozzle 17 that is not the nozzle 17. As a result, two rows of small droplets 50c are arranged on both peripheral portions of the receiving portion 55 along the X axis. At this time, the droplet 50 is not arranged in the central portion.
[0038]
Next, the movement direction is changed to the opposite one more time, and a large droplet 50d is ejected from one nozzle 17 different from the first scan 60 and the second scan 62 to the central portion of the receiving portion 55, and the first in the longitudinal direction. Three scans 64 that move in the same manner as one scan 60 are performed. As described above, the small droplets 50c smaller than the case shown in FIG. 5 are arranged in the peripheral portion of the receiving portion 55 that is difficult to be filled with the droplets 50, so that the peripheral portion is more uniformly filled. A large droplet 50d can be arranged at the center of the liquid crystal so that the entire receiving portion 55 can be filled with the droplet 50.
[0039]
Further, as described above, during the first scan 60 and the second scan 62, non-ejection vibration is applied to the nozzle 17 that performs the third scan 64 that does not perform the ejection operation, and the nozzle 17 is flushed in each scan. It is preferable to do so. A receiving portion having a long dimension in the Y-axis direction can be dealt with by performing the first scan 60, the second scan 62, and the third scan 64 a plurality of times, or is a feature of the droplet discharge device 1. The fact that the size of the droplet 50 can be changed and the size of the droplets 50c and 50d is changed and discharged can also be handled. As described above, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus 1 and the liquid droplet ejection method of the present invention enable uniform liquid droplets 50 to be arranged at corners or the like over a large area.
[0040]
In the first and second droplet discharge methods, the distance between the two nozzles, which is 60 μm, can be adjusted by rotating the carriage 11 in the Θ-axis direction as described above, and the size of the receiving portion 55 can be adjusted. Correspondingly, the size of the droplet 50 can be selected, and can be set optimally.
[0041]
Meanwhile, the droplet discharge device 1 of the present invention can discharge liquids having various functions, can be used for manufacturing various display devices, and is particularly effective in a large display device. . For example, the present invention can be applied to a color filter display device, an electroluminescence display device, a plasma display device, and as an application, metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation device, and the like. Therefore, as an example, a manufacturing method of a color filter display device, an electroluminescence display device, and a plasma display device using the droplet discharge device 1 will be briefly described with reference to the drawings.
[0042]
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the color filter display device. As shown in the figure, in the color filter display device 100, polarizing plates 122 and 127 are arranged to face each other, a color filter 110 is formed on the inner surface of the polarizing plate 122, and the inner surface of the polarizing plate 127 is opposed to the color filter display device 100. A substrate 126 is formed. In addition, alignment films 121 and 124 are formed between the color filter 110 and the counter substrate 126, and TFT (thin film transistor) elements (not shown) and pixel electrodes 123 are arranged in a matrix on the inner surface of the counter substrate 126. Is formed. And the color filter display apparatus 100 is comprised by enclosing the liquid crystal 125 in the space enclosed by the seal | sticker part 128 installed between alignment film 121,124.
[0043]
By applying the droplet discharge apparatus 1 and the droplet discharge method of the present invention, the color filter 110 can be efficiently manufactured. In this case, the color filter 110 corresponding to the workpiece 20 of the droplet discharge device 1 in FIG. 1 includes a receiving portion 55 that is a colored layer (filter element) arranged in a matrix as shown in FIG. 9A. These boundaries are delimited by banks 112 formed by a dispenser, screen printing, or photolithography. In each of the receiving portions 55, any one of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filter materials is introduced. That is, the color filter 110 includes a translucent substrate 111 and a light-blocking bank 112 as shown in FIG. 7, and a portion where the bank 112 is not formed constitutes the receiving portion 55. Further, an overcoat layer 114 and an electrode layer 115 are formed on the top surfaces of the bank 112 and the receiving portion 55. In addition, the receiving part 55 may be not only a mosaic arrangement as shown in FIG. 9A but also a stripe or delta arrangement.
[0044]
The receiving unit 55 uses the droplet discharge device 1 and the R, G, and B color filter materials of each color are formed by the discharge head 16 in each region formed by being partitioned by the bank 112 shown in FIG. The droplets 180 are selectively ejected by the droplet ejection method described with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. The applied color filter material 180 is dried to obtain the receiving portions 55R, 55G, and 55B for the respective colors. As the color filter display device 100 is increased in size, the receiving portion 55 is also increased in size. For example, the ability to selectively discharge large droplets 180 can be effective in forming the large receiving portion 55. The overcoat layer 114 is also formed by discharging the overcoat material with the discharge head 16 using the droplet discharge device 1.
[0045]
The manufacturing apparatus 130 of the color filter display device 100 shown in FIG. 8 includes a discharge device that discharges the corresponding color filter material droplets 180 to each of the color filter receiving portions 55 of FIG. 9B. It is a device group. Each discharge device is the droplet discharge device 1 of the present invention. The manufacturing apparatus 130 has a discharge device 140R for applying the red color filter material to all the receiving portions 55R to which the red color filter material is applied, a drying device 150R for drying the color filter material on the receiving portion 55R, and a green color. A discharge device 140G for applying a green color filter material to all the receiving portions 55G to which the color filter material is applied, a drying device 150G for drying the color filter material on the receiving portion 55G, and a blue color filter material as well. A discharge device 140B and a drying device 150B for respectively applying and drying a blue color filter material to all of the receiving portions 55B to be applied, and an oven 160 for reheating (post-baking) the color filter material of each color were post-baked. An overcoat layer 114 is provided on the color filter material layer. And device 140C, and includes a drying device 150C that dries the overcoat layer 114, and a curing device 165 which cures by heating the dried overcoat layer 114 again. Furthermore, the manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a color filter receiving unit 55 in the order of the discharge device 140R, the drying device 150R, the discharge device 140G, the drying device 150G, the discharge device 140B, the drying device 150B, the discharge device 140C, the drying device 150C, and the curing device 165. Is also provided.
[0046]
Next, a process of enclosing the liquid crystal 125 will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The first substrate 180 includes the polarizing plate 122, the color filter 110, and the alignment film 121 described above, and the second substrate 190 includes the polarizing plate 127, the counter substrate 126, the pixel electrode 123, and the alignment film 124. It is made up. First, on the surface of the first substrate 180, a rectangular seal portion 128 that forms an application region of the liquid crystal 125 is formed by dispenser or screen printing. Inside the seal portion 128, the liquid crystal 125 is discharged from the nozzle 17 of the discharge head 16 in the same manner as the color filter material using the droplet discharge device 1. After the liquid crystal 125 is filled inside the seal portion 128, the color filter display device 100 is completed by attaching the second substrate 140 to the seal portion 128 on the first substrate 180.
[0047]
Furthermore, with reference to FIG. 10, an electroluminescence display device which is a display device and a manufacturing method thereof will be described. As shown in the figure, in the electroluminescence display device 200, a circuit element unit 202 is laminated on a glass substrate 201, and an electroluminescence display element 204 which is a main body is laminated on the circuit element unit 202. On the upper side of the electroluminescence display element 204, a sealing substrate 205 is formed with an inert gas space.
[0048]
In the electroluminescence display element 204, a bank 212 is formed by an inorganic bank layer 212a and an organic bank layer 212b superposed on the inorganic bank layer 212a. The bank 212 corresponds to the receiving portion 55 of the color filter material in FIG. A matrix-like receiving part 220 is defined. In each receiving portion, a pixel electrode 211, a light emitting layer 210 of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) and a hole injecting / transporting layer 213 are laminated from the lower side, and the whole Is covered with a counter electrode 203 in which a plurality of thin films such as Ca and Al are laminated using a vacuum deposition method or the like.
[0049]
The formation of the light emitting layer 210 is similar to the application of the color filter material 180 described with reference to FIG. 9 by using the droplet discharge device 1 of the present invention and the droplet discharge method described with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. In addition, luminescence fluorescent materials of R, G, and B colors are selectively ejected from the nozzles 17 of the ejection head 16 to the receiving portions 220 formed by being partitioned by the banks 212. Then, the light-emitting layers 210R, 210G, and 210B of the respective colors are formed in the respective receiving portions 220 by drying the applied luminescent fluorescent material.
[0050]
The electroluminescent display device manufacturing device 230 shown in FIG. 11 is a device group including devices that discharge the corresponding luminescent fluorescent material to each of the matrix-shaped receiving portions 220. The manufacturing apparatus 230 includes a discharge device 240R that applies the red luminescence fluorescent material to all of the light emitting layers 210R that apply the red luminescence fluorescent material, a drying device 250R that dries the applied red luminescence fluorescent material, Similarly, a discharge device 240G for applying and drying a green luminescence fluorescent material on the light emitting layer 210G and a drying device 250G, respectively, and a discharge device for applying and drying a blue luminescence fluorescent material on the light emitting layer 210B, respectively. 240B, a drying device 250B, and a discharge device 260 for applying a functional liquid for forming the hole injection / transport layer 212 on the luminescent fluorescent material. The manufacturing apparatus 230 further includes a transport device 270 that transports the light emitting layer 210 in the order of the discharge device 240R, the drying device 250R, the discharge device 240G, the drying device 250G, the discharge device 240B, the drying device 250B, and the discharge device 260.
[0051]
As described above, the counter electrode 203 is laminated on the receiving portion 220 and the bank 212 formed as described above, and an inert gas is sealed between the counter electrode 203 and the sealing substrate 205 to display the electroluminescence. The device 200 is completed. Also in the electroluminescence display device 200, the receiving portion 220 is enlarged with an increase in size as in the color filter display device 100. For example, it is possible to selectively discharge a large droplet of luminescence fluorescent material. An effect can be exhibited in formation of 220.
[0052]
Next, an example in which the droplet discharge device 1 is applied to a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the back substrate 315 of the plasma display device 300 will be described with reference to FIG. The back substrate 315 has a plurality of receiving portions 325 arranged in a lattice pattern. Specifically, a support substrate 301, a plurality of address electrodes 302 formed in a stripe shape on the support substrate 301, a dielectric glass layer 303 formed so as to cover the address electrodes 302, and a lattice shape And a bank 305 defining a plurality of receiving area. The plurality of receiving portion regions are located in a lattice pattern, and each of the plurality of columns including the receiving portion regions corresponds to each of the plurality of address electrodes 302. The address electrode 302 and the dielectric glass layer 303 are formed by a screen printing technique.
[0053]
For the receiving portion 325, the discharge head 16 is used in each receiving portion region formed by being partitioned by the bank 305, similarly to the application of the color filter material 180 described with reference to FIG. The fluorescent layers 320R, 320G, and 320B are formed by selectively discharging plasma fluorescent materials of R, G, and B colors by the nozzle 17. And the back substrate 315 is formed by drying the applied plasma fluorescent material.
[0054]
A manufacturing apparatus 330 shown in FIG. 13 is an apparatus that discharges a corresponding plasma fluorescent material to each of the receiving portions 325 of the back substrate 315. The manufacturing apparatus 330 includes a discharge device 340R that applies the red plasma fluorescent material to all of the fluorescent layer 320R that applies the red plasma fluorescent material, a drying device 350R that dries the applied red plasma fluorescent material, and a fluorescent device as well. A discharge device 340G for applying and drying a green plasma fluorescent material on the layer 320G and a drying device 350G, a discharge device 340B for applying and drying a blue plasma fluorescent material on the fluorescent layer 320B, respectively, and a drying device 350B It has. The manufacturing apparatus 330 further includes a transport device 370 that transports the back substrate 315 in the order of the discharge device 340R, the drying device 350R, the discharge device 340G, the drying device 350G, the discharge device 340B, and the drying device 350B.
[0055]
Next, as shown in FIG. 12, the plasma display device 300 is obtained by bonding the back substrate 315 and the front substrate 316 together. The front substrate 316 is a dielectric glass layer formed so as to cover the glass substrate 313, the display electrodes and display scan electrodes 312 patterned in parallel on the glass substrate 313, and the display electrodes and display scan electrodes 312. 311 and a protective layer 310 formed on the dielectric glass layer 311. The rear substrate 315 and the front substrate 316 are aligned so that the address electrodes 302 of the rear substrate 315 and the display / display scan electrodes 312 of the front substrate 316 are orthogonal to each other. Then, a discharge gas 314 is sealed in a region surrounded by each bank 305 at a predetermined pressure. In the plasma display device 300 as well, as the color filter display device 100 and the electroluminescence display device 200, the receiving portion 325 is enlarged with an increase in size, and for example, a luminescent fluorescence material of a large droplet can be selectively discharged. Can exert an effect on the formation of the large receiving portion 325.
[0056]
As described above, the droplet discharge device and the droplet discharge method of the present invention can contribute to the manufacture of display devices such as a color filter display device, an electroluminescence display device, and a plasma display device as described above. Electronic devices such as televisions, personal computers, car navigation systems, digital cameras, and mobile phones can be provided. Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to metal wiring formation. In addition to a plasma display, a liquid crystal panel, an organic EL, an electron-emitting device (FED (Field Emission Display)), a SED (Surface-Condition Electron-Emitter Display), and the like It can also be applied to the display (electro-optical device).
[0057]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the droplet discharge device of the present invention, since droplets of different sizes can be selectively discharged, the corners and peripheral portions of the receiving portion that are difficult to be filled with droplets, The small droplets 50a and 50c are arranged and filled uniformly, and the remaining large-area receptacles are arranged with the large droplets 50b and 50d and filled with the droplets 50, whereby the small receptacles are received. Needless to say, it is possible to efficiently arrange droplets even on a large receiving portion.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a droplet discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A is a plan view showing an arrangement of ejection heads of a droplet ejection apparatus.
(B) It is a top view of the nozzle provided in the discharge head.
FIG. 3 is a detailed view showing the structure of the ejection head.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a control system of the droplet discharge device.
FIG. 5 is a droplet arrangement diagram illustrating a first droplet discharge method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a droplet arrangement diagram showing a second droplet discharge method according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of a color filter display device manufactured using a droplet discharge device.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing a color filter display device.
FIG. 9A is a plan view showing an arrangement of color filters.
(B) It is sectional drawing which shows a color filter.
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an electroluminescence display device manufactured using a droplet discharge device.
FIG. 11 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing an electroluminescence display device.
FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a plasma display device manufactured using a droplet discharge device.
FIG. 13 is a schematic view showing an apparatus for manufacturing a plasma display device.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Droplet ejection device
10 Head
16 Discharge head
17 nozzles
43 Diaphragm
50a, 50c Small droplet
50b, 50d large droplets
55, 220, 325 receiving part
60 First scan
62 Second scan
64 Third scan
76 head driver
100 color filter display device
110 Color filter
130 Color Filter Display Manufacturing Device
200 Electroluminescence display
210R, 210G, 210B Light emitting layer
230 Electroluminescence display device manufacturing apparatus
300 Plasma display device
320R, 320G, 320B Fluorescent layer
330 Plasma Display Manufacturing Equipment

Claims (11)

A droplet discharge device that discharges and arranges a liquid material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion where a layer of the liquid material is formed,
A droplet discharge apparatus, wherein droplets having different sizes are discharged to the receiving portion when the droplets are discharged from the nozzle. The droplet discharge apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle moves relatively while discharging the droplet with respect to the receiving portion and performs a plurality of scans. The droplet discharge device according to claim 2, wherein the droplets are droplets each having a size defined in the scanning. A droplet discharge method including a step of discharging and arranging a liquid material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion where a layer of the liquid material is formed,
The step of ejecting the droplets from the nozzle ejects droplets having different sizes from each other to the receiving portion. 5. The droplet discharge method according to claim 4, wherein the nozzle moves relative to the receiving portion while discharging the droplet to perform a plurality of scanning steps. The scanning step includes a first scanning step of arranging the droplets at corners and peripheral portions of the receiving unit, and a droplet larger than the droplets arranged by the first scanning at a central portion of the receiving unit. 6. The droplet discharge method according to claim 4, further comprising a second scanning step. The scanning step has the same size as the first scanning step in a first scanning step in which the droplets are arranged at corners and peripheral portions of the receiving portion, and a region adjacent to the region coated in the first scanning step. A second scanning step for disposing the droplets, and a third scanning step for disposing a droplet larger than the droplets disposed in the first scanning step and the second scanning step in the central portion of the receiving portion; The droplet discharge method according to claim 4 or 5, characterized by comprising: In a method for manufacturing a color filter display device, including a step of discharging and arranging a color filter material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion where a layer of liquid material is formed,
The method of manufacturing a color filter display device, wherein the step of discharging the color filter material from the nozzle discharges droplets of different sizes to the receiving portion. In a method for manufacturing an electroluminescence display device, the method includes a step of ejecting and arranging a luminescent fluorescent material from a nozzle in a droplet state with respect to a receiving portion on which a liquid material layer is formed.
The method of manufacturing an electroluminescence display device, wherein the step of discharging the luminescent fluorescent material from the nozzle discharges droplets of different sizes to the receiving portion. In a method for manufacturing a plasma display device, including a step of discharging and arranging a plasma fluorescent material in a droplet state from a nozzle with respect to a receiving portion where a layer of liquid material is formed,
The method of manufacturing a plasma display device, wherein the step of discharging the plasma fluorescent material from the nozzle discharges droplets of different sizes to the receiving portion. 11. An electronic apparatus comprising a display device including a color filter display device, an electroluminescence display device, and a plasma display device manufactured by the manufacturing method according to claim 8.

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