JP2005014468A - Thin film printing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the space efficiency of the conventional thin film printing equipment and, at the same time, realize the more precise controlling of its driving system. <P>SOLUTION: In this thin film printing equipment, pinions 3 and 3 having nearly the same diameter are fixed to both ends of a shaft, which is rotatably mounted in the bearings of a side frame 2, of a plate cylinder 1. A surface plate 4 is secured beneath the plate cylinder 1 so as to lay linear guides 5 and 5 and racks 6 and 6 parallel to each other at both the sides of the surface plate. At the back of the plate cylinder 1, an anilox roll 7 and a doctor roll 8 are laid parallel to the plate cylinder 1. Linear bearings 9 and 9 slidingly engaged with the linear guides 5 and 5 are fixed to the bottom parts at both the sides of the side frame 2. The pinions 3 and 3 engage with the racks 6 and 6 under the condition that the pinions 3 and 3 connect with a running motor 11 through a first transmission gear 10 constantly engaging with one side pinion 3. A driving motor 12 connects with one end of the shaft of the anilox roll 7, to the other end of the shaft of which a second transmission gear 13 is fixed. The doctor roll 8, the peripheral surface of which contacts with the anilox roll 7, is driven under speed-reduced state through a third transmission gear 14, which is fixed to the end of the shaft of the doctor roll and is constantly engaged with the second transmission gear 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a thin film printing apparatus that forms a film by printing a thin film having a predetermined thickness on the surface of a liquid crystal glass substrate.
[0002]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The size of liquid crystal glass substrates is increasing with each generation, and the size of glass substrates after the so-called sixth generation is 1500 × 1800 mm or more, although there are some differences depending on the manufacturer.
For this reason, it has become necessary to increase the efficiency of the installation space and work space of a manufacturing apparatus such as a thin film printing apparatus in response to the increase in size of the glass substrate.
Furthermore, there is a demand for an apparatus that can cope with a glass substrate having a small size before the sixth generation and that can obtain the same effect.
[0003]
However, as shown in FIG. 9, the conventional thin film printing apparatus transmits the rotation of the traveling motor 11 to the outer pinion 20 via the speed reducer 19 and rotates the left and right inner pinions 21 and 21 fixed coaxially. This is a platen moving type printing apparatus that slides downward racks 6, 6 meshing with the inner pinions 21, 21, and reciprocates the platen 4 integrated with the racks 6, 6 back and forth of the plate cylinder 1. .
For this reason, the platen 4 and the racks 6 and 6 protrude greatly behind the plate cylinder 1 at the time of printing, so a large movement space is required not only in front of the plate cylinder 1 but also in the rear as the glass substrate becomes larger. It came to be.
[0004]
Further, the drive gear 22 is fixed to the shaft end on one side of the plate cylinder 1, and the drive gear 22 is connected to the outer pinion 20 via the two idlers 23 and 23.
Thus, the rotation of the traveling motor 11 is transmitted to the drive gear 22 via the outer pinion 20, and the plate cylinder 1 is rotated in the same direction as the moving direction of the surface plate 4.
For this reason, since the two idlers 23 and 23 are interposed between the drive gear 22 and the outer pinion 20, three-stage backlash (play between the gear tooth surfaces) occurs, and the rotation of the plate cylinder 1 occurs. It was difficult to control the speed and the moving speed of the surface plate 4 with high accuracy.
[0005]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made for the purpose of improving the space efficiency of a conventional thin film printing apparatus and making the control of the drive system highly accurate.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve this object, the present invention is configured as follows.
[0007]
That is, the thin film printing apparatus of the present invention transfers the material liquid applied to the plate mounted on the plate cylinder to the substrate when the substrate fixed on the stage by rotating the plate cylinder passes under the plate cylinder to transfer the substrate. In the apparatus for forming a thin film on the surface, this apparatus is a plate cylinder moving type in which the stage is fixed and moved back and forth in the printing direction and the return direction while rotating the plate cylinder on a linear track laid on both sides of the stage. This achieves the above object.
[0008]
The thin film printing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that when the material liquid is applied to a plate, the plate cylinder is rotated away from the linear track.
[0009]
The thin film printing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that, when the plate cylinder is moved in the return direction, a gap is provided between the substrate lowered on the stage and fixed on the stage and the plate mounted on the plate cylinder. To do.
[0010]
In the thin film printing apparatus of the present invention, the pinion is fixed to both ends of the axis of the plate cylinder, the pinion is freely moved and meshed with the rack that forms the linear track, and the pinion is rotated thereby to be integrated with the pinion. The plate cylinder is moved on the rack while rotating the plate cylinder.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a thin film printing apparatus embodying the present invention.
The thin film printer is a rack and pinion driven printing machine that prints a thin film with a predetermined film thickness on the surface of the substrate by flexographic transfer, and an LM (linear motion) guide is used for travel guidance. use.
In FIG. 1, the shaft of the plate cylinder 1 is rotatably attached to the bearing of the side frame 2, and pinions 3 and 3 having substantially the same diameter are fixed to both ends of the shaft.
A surface plate 4 is installed under the plate cylinder 1, and linear guides 5 and 5 and racks 6 and 6 are laid in parallel on both sides.
An anilox roll 7 and a doctor roll 8 are installed in parallel with the plate cylinder 1 behind the plate cylinder 1.
[0013]
The side frame 2 has linear bearings 9, 9 fixed to the bottoms of both sides, and the linear bearings 9, 9 are slidably engaged with the linear guides 5, 5.
Further, a pressing mechanism (not shown) is provided, and the plate cylinder 1 is pressure-bonded to the anilox roll 7 by controlling the ball screw with a pulse motor.
[0014]
The pinions 3 and 3 mesh with the racks 6 and 6 and connect the pinions 3 and 3 to the traveling motor 11 via the first transmission gear 10 that meshes with the pinion 3 on one side at all times.
Accordingly, when the traveling cylinder 11 is rotated with the plate cylinder 1 and the pinions 3 and 3 being freely rotated, the plate cylinder 1 and the pinions 3 and 3 are moved while rotating on the racks 6 and 6.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 2, the racks 6 and 6 are configured so that both end portions 6a and 6a can be moved up and down and are provided with a rack lifting mechanism (not shown), and when the plate cylinder 1 at the end portion 6a is moved, FIG. As shown in FIG. 2A, when the end 6a is raised to connect the racks 6 and 6 to the pinions 3 and 3 and the plate cylinder 1 at the end 6a is rotated on the spot, FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the end 6a is lowered to separate the racks 6 and 6 from the pinions 3 and 3.
The surface plate 4 includes a table elevating mechanism (not shown). When the plate cylinder 1 is moved in the printing direction, the surface plate 4 is raised, and when the plate cylinder 1 is moved in the return direction, the surface plate 4 is lowered.
[0016]
The anilox roll 7 has a driving motor 12 connected to one shaft end and a second transmission gear 13 fixed to the other shaft end.
The doctor roll 8 is brought into contact with the anilox roll 7 on the peripheral surface, and the third transmission gear 14 that is always meshed with the second transmission gear 13 is fixed to the shaft end and driven at a reduced speed.
[0017]
The thin film printing apparatus embodying the present invention has the above-described configuration. As shown in FIG. 3, first, the driving motor 12 is rotated to rotate the anilox roll 7 and the doctor roll 8 in opposite directions to each other. Is moved in the axial direction to drop the coating liquid between the anilox roll 7 and the doctor roll 8.
At this time, the excess coating liquid attached to the anilox roll 7 is scraped off by the scraping plate 16.
The coating solution is kneaded between the two rolls and held as a liquid film on the peripheral surface of the anilox roll 7.
[0018]
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the end portions 6a of the racks 6 and 6 are lowered to separate the pinions 3 and 3, and the traveling motor 11 is rotated to rotate the plate cylinder 1 on the spot.
Then, the plate cylinder 1 is accelerated until the rotational speed of the plate cylinder 1 becomes equal to that of the anilox roll 7, and when the speed reaches the same speed, the side frame 2 is pushed in to press the plate cylinder 1 to the anilox roll 7.
At this time, the starting point of the pressure bonding is stored, and when the plate cylinder 1 rotates once and returns to the start point, the plate cylinder 1 is separated from the anilox roll 7.
As a result, the thin film of the coating liquid is transferred to the plate 17 mounted on the plate cylinder 1.
[0019]
Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the substrate 18 is placed on the surface plate 4 by a robot (not shown) and fixed by suction, and the surface plate 4 is raised so that the coating film has a predetermined film thickness. The height of the surface plate 4 is adjusted according to the thickness of the substrate 18 with a resolution of 0.01 μm.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the end 6a of the racks 6 and 6 is raised and connected to the pinions 3 and 3, and the traveling motor 11 is rotated forward to rotate the plate cylinder 1 at a speed of, for example, 20 to 30 m / min. Move in the printing direction.
Thereby, the thin film of the coating solution is transferred and applied from the plate 17 to the substrate 18.
[0020]
Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the platen 4 is lowered so that the substrate 18 does not contact the plate 17 of the plate cylinder 1 in order to prevent double printing.
Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the traveling motor 11 is rotated in the reverse direction, and the plate cylinder 1 is moved in the return direction at a maximum speed of, for example, 30 m / min to return to the original print start position.
The above processing is repeated until the number of printed substrates reaches the predetermined number.
When the plate 17 is replaced in order to change the printing pattern, after the plate cylinder 1 is moved in the printing direction, the end portions 6a of the racks 6 and 6 are lowered to separate the pinions 3 and 3 so that the plate cylinder is separated. The plate 17 is removed from the plate cylinder 1 by rotating 1 on the spot.
[0021]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, since the thin film printing apparatus of the present invention is a plate cylinder moving type in which the stage is fixed and the plate cylinder moves, the stage does not protrude greatly behind the plate cylinder during printing as in the prior art. Saves space.
For this reason, the space efficiency of the apparatus is increased, and the size of the glass substrate can be accommodated.
[0022]
Further, since the stage is fixed and only the plate cylinder is driven, there is no need to interpose an idler for synchronously driving the stage and the plate cylinder as in the prior art, and the accuracy of the drive system is improved accordingly.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a thin film printing apparatus embodying the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a rack whose both ends can be moved up and down.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view when a coating solution is applied to an anilox roll.
FIG. 4 is a schematic view when a thin film of a coating solution is transferred to a plate.
FIG. 5 is a schematic view when the height of the surface plate is adjusted according to the thickness of the substrate.
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram when the plate cylinder is moved in the printing direction.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view when the platen is lowered so that the substrate does not contact the plate.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram when the plate cylinder is moved in the printing return direction.
FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a conventional thin film printing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 plate cylinder 2 side frame 3 pinion 4 surface plate 5 linear guide 6 rack 7 anilox roll 8 doctor roll 9 linear bearing 10 first transmission gear 11 driving motor 12 driving motor 13 second transmission gear 14 third transmission gear 15 dispenser 16 scraper plate 17 plate 18 substrate 19 reduction gear 20 outer pinion 21 inner pinion 22 drive gear 23 idler

Claims (4)

In an apparatus for forming a thin film on the surface of the substrate by transferring the material liquid applied to the plate mounted on the plate cylinder when the substrate fixed on the stage by rotating the plate cylinder passes under the plate cylinder,
This device
A thin-film printing apparatus, characterized in that it is of a plate cylinder moving type in which the stage is fixed and laid on both sides of the stage and the plate cylinder rotates and reciprocates in the printing direction and the return direction. When applying the material solution to the plate,
2. The thin film printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plate cylinder is rotated on the spot away from the linear track. When moving the plate cylinder in the return direction,
2. The thin film printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a gap is provided between the substrate that is lowered on the stage and fixed on the stage and the plate mounted on the plate cylinder. Pinions are fixed to both ends of the plate cylinder shaft,
The pinion is free to move and meshes with the rack that forms the straight path,
2. The thin film printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the thin film printer is moved on the rack while rotating the pinion by rotating the plate cylinder integrated with the pinion.

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