JP2005088124A - Alignment table, liquid drop discharge device including alignment table, manufacturing method of micro lens and laser - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an alignment table, easily adjusting the direction of a placed work piece to a designated direction. <P>SOLUTION: This alignment table 20 includes: two or more work piece placing tables 26 having a work piece receiving part 36 for fixing a work piece; an alignment camera 35 for imaging the work piece on the work piece placing table to generate image information; and a table shaft 27 for rotating the work placing tables 26. According to the image information of the alignment camera 35, the work piece placing direction is turned to the regulated direction by rotation of the table shaft 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an alignment table that allows easy position adjustment of a workpiece, a droplet discharge device including the alignment table, a microlens manufacturing method, and a laser.

  Conventionally, when a workpiece is processed by a droplet discharge device, for example, when a large number of microlenses are formed on a substrate (work) by a droplet discharge device, the substrate is placed on the table of the droplet discharge device, and the table And the droplet discharge part was adjusted and processed one by one.

  However, in the conventional processing, processing is performed for each substrate, and it is difficult to improve the operation rate of the droplet discharge device and increase the number of substrates processed per unit time because the droplet discharge device operates intermittently. . In addition, in order to perform efficient processing continuously by arranging a plurality of substrates on the same table, it is necessary to place the substrates while arranging the substrates in the direction of μm. Could not be planned.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, an alignment table on which a substrate can be placed and the placement direction can be easily adjusted, a droplet discharge device including the alignment table, a microlens manufacturing method, and An object is to provide a laser.

  An alignment table according to the present invention includes a plurality of workpiece mounting tables provided with a workpiece receiving unit for fixing a workpiece, an alignment camera that captures an image of the workpiece on the workpiece mounting table and generates image information, and a table that rotates the workpiece mounting table. An alignment table having a shaft, wherein the workpiece mounting direction is directed to a specified direction by rotation of the table shaft based on image information from the alignment camera.

  According to this alignment table, the placement direction of the placed workpiece is recognized by the alignment camera, and the difference in angle between the recognized placement direction of the workpiece and the predetermined direction that the workpiece should face can be determined by rotating the table axis. It can be adjusted freely. Accordingly, it is possible to easily adjust a workpiece placed arbitrarily in a specified direction, and shorten the work time required for placing the workpiece.

  In this case, it is preferable that the workpiece, the workpiece receiving portion, the workpiece mounting table, and the table shaft are on the same central axis.

  In this configuration, the workpiece, the workpiece receiving unit, the workpiece mounting table, and the table axis rotate based on the same central axis, and the angle can be adjusted without the center of the workpiece placed on the workpiece receiving unit being shaken.

  In this case, it is preferable that the plurality of workpiece mounting tables rotate individually in conjunction with the table shaft.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to individually adjust the workpieces placed in any direction on each workpiece placement table in the specified direction based on the information on the placement directions of the workpieces recognized by the alignment camera. it can.

  Furthermore, the workpiece has a plurality of targets arranged in a matrix, and at least one of the workpieces is rotated based on image information from the alignment camera so that the direction of the target row in each of the workpieces matches. Is preferred.

  According to this configuration, the information of the alignment camera is position information obtained by using a plurality of targets on the workpiece, and the workpiece can be rotated and adjusted in a specified direction based on the position information.

  A droplet discharge device of the present invention is a droplet discharge device including a head mechanism unit including a discharge head that discharges droplets and a work mechanism unit that relatively moves a workpiece, and the workpiece mechanism unit includes: The alignment table described above is included.

  According to this droplet discharge device, the workpiece can be easily adjusted in a direction in which droplet discharge can be optimally performed by the mounted alignment table. In addition, a plurality of workpieces can be arranged and continuous processing can be performed at once, so that the operating rate of the droplet discharge device can be improved.

  In this case, it is preferable that the plurality of work receiving portions of the alignment table are arranged so that the lines connecting the respective centers form a straight line.

  According to this structure, each workpiece | work receiving part is arrange | positioned linearly, and the workpiece | work mounted in a workpiece | work receiving part can also be arrange | positioned orderly linearly.

  In this case, it is preferable that the relative movement direction of the work mechanism portion is parallel to the direction in which the work receiving portions of the alignment table are linearly arranged.

  According to this configuration, the direction in which the workpiece is arranged and the direction in which the workpiece moves are parallel, and continuous droplet discharge to each workpiece is possible in a straight line. Therefore, droplet discharge to each workpiece can be performed at high speed.

  The method for manufacturing a microlens according to the present invention includes a step (A) of placing a plurality of substrates including discharge targets arranged in a matrix on a plurality of workpiece mounting tables, and recognizing the row direction of the discharge targets through an alignment camera. A step (B), a step (C) of rotating the workpiece mounting table to direct the direction of the rows of the discharge targets in a specified direction, and a step of discharging the lens material from the discharge head toward each of the discharge targets ( The step (D) includes a step (D1) of relatively moving the discharge head in a direction in which the plurality of workpiece mounting tables are arranged, and the discharge head corresponds to the discharge target by (D1). It is preferable to include a step (D2) of discharging droplets from the discharge head when the position is reached.

  According to this method of manufacturing a microlens, a microlens is formed by discharging droplets of lens material from a droplet discharge device onto a discharge target on a substrate that faces in a specified direction. Therefore, by rotating the work mounting table in conjunction with the alignment camera, the position of the substrate can be easily adjusted in the direction in which optimal droplet discharge can be performed, and the microlens can be efficiently formed.

  The laser of the present invention is equipped with a microlens manufactured by the method for manufacturing a microlens described above.

  According to this configuration, a large number of uniform microlenses can be formed in a short time on the target of the laser on the substrate by the droplet discharge device, which can contribute to reduction in the number of manufacturing steps of the laser and stable quality.

  The alignment table will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Specifically, the case where the microlens is formed by mounting this alignment table on the droplet discharge device will be described as an example. The droplet discharge device is a so-called inkjet device that discharges a material to a discharge target in a droplet state.

  The droplet discharge device and the microlens provided with the alignment table of the present invention will be described in detail. First, the microlens shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described. A laser 8 shown in FIG. 8 is a semiconductor laser including a microlens 80. In the laser 8, an n-type gallium arsenide substrate 53, an n-type lower distributed reflective multilayer mirror 54 (also referred to as a lower DBR mirror), a quantum well active layer 55, and a p-type upper distributed reflective multilayer mirror 56 (also referred to as an upper DBR mirror) and a contact layer 57 are formed in this order. A part of the lower DBR mirror 54, the quantum well active layer 55, the upper DBR mirror 56, and the contact layer 57 constitute a columnar portion 58 having a protruding shape. Further, in the laser 8, an insulating layer 59 that covers the lower DBR mirror 54 exposed around the columnar portion 58 and a part of the contact layer 57, and an upper electrode 60 positioned on the insulating layer 59 are formed. Yes. The insulating layer 59 has an opening at a portion corresponding to the contact layer 57 portion. The lower electrode 52 is provided on the surface of the n-type gallium arsenide substrate 53 where the lower DBR mirror 54 is not formed. On the opening on the contact layer 57 and a part of the upper electrode 60, a support 62 and a fluoroalkylsilane (FAS) film 61 are formed so as to cover the support 62. A microlens 80 is formed on the ejection target 63 of the FAS film 61 on the support portion 62.

  In the laser 8 having such a configuration, the upper electrode 60 and the contact layer 57 communicate with each other through an opening provided in the insulating layer 59, and the discharge target 63 is substantially flat and has a substantially circular planar shape. . Further, the FAS film 61 exhibits liquid repellency with respect to a liquid lens material that is a raw material of the microlens 80. For this reason, the macro lens 80 can be positioned in a stable state covering the ejection target 63 even during manufacturing. In this embodiment, for the reason of the film forming process of the FAS film 61, as shown in FIG. 8, the FAS film 61 is formed not only on the upper surface of the support portion 62 but also on the upper electrode 60 and the insulating layer 59. Has been. The FAS film 61 is only required to be provided at least on the upper surface of the support part 62. For this reason, FAS films other than the FAS film 61 located on the support part 62 may be removed. The lower DBR mirror 54 is doped with serine (Se), and the upper DBR mirror 56 is doped with zinc (Zn).

  The microlens 80 is an optical element having a function of reducing the light emission angle. Specifically, the radiation angle of light emitted from the laser 8 including the microlens 80 is smaller than the radiation angle emitted from the laser 8 not including the microlens 80. A laser 8 shown in FIG. 8 is a semiconductor laser that emits laser light in a direction perpendicular to the gallium arsenide substrate 53 (upward in FIG. 8). In other words, the laser 8 is a surface emitting laser (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser: VCSEL). Specifically, when a forward voltage is applied between the lower electrode 52 and the upper electrode 60 of the laser 8, recombination of electrons and holes occurs in the quantum well active layer 55, and recombination light emission occurs. The generated light resonates between the lower DBR mirror 54 and the upper DBR mirror 56, and as a result, the light intensity is amplified. When the optical gain exceeds the optical loss, laser oscillation occurs, and laser light is emitted in a direction perpendicular to the gallium arsenide substrate 53 (upward direction in FIG. 8). The laser light is emitted from the contact layer 57 and emitted from the laser 8 through the microlens 80.

  Lens materials for forming the microlens 80 include acrylic resins such as polymethyl methacrylate, polyhydroxyethyl methacrylate, and polycyclohexyl methacrylate as light-transmitting resins, allyl resins such as polydiethylene glycol bisallyl carbonate and polycarbonate, methacrylic resins, Thermoplastic or thermosetting resins such as polyurethane resin, polyester resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, cellulose resin, polyamide resin, fluorine resin, polypropylene resin, polystyrene resin, etc. These are used, and one or more of these are used in combination. By adding a photopolymerization initiator such as a biimidazole compound to the light-transmitting resin, the light-transmitting resin is imparted with radiation irradiation curability to be of a radiation irradiation curable type. it can. Radiation is a general term for visible light, ultraviolet light, far ultraviolet light, X-rays, electron beams, etc., and particularly ultraviolet light is generally used.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 7A, the substrate 50 on which the laser 8 including the microlens 80 is formed will be described. The substrate 50 is a laminated body including the laser unit 51 and has a circular shape with a diameter of about 2 inches. Except for the outer peripheral portion 67 having a width of 3 mm, the base 50 is formed with about 8000 laser portions 51 in a matrix. The structure of each laser unit 51 is the same as that of the laser 8 in FIG. 8 except that the microlens 80 is not provided.

  FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of the laser unit 51. A discharge target 63, which is a part where the microlens 80 should be provided, is formed so as to rise in the center of the laser part 51. A cross section in the A-A ′ direction of the laser unit 51 is shown in FIG. In this figure, three adjacent laser parts 51 are shown. After the microlens 80 is formed on the discharge target 63 by a droplet discharge device, which will be described later, the substrate 50 is cut, and each laser unit 51 is used as the laser 8.

  In order to form the microlens 80 on the laser unit 51, it is effective to use a so-called ink jet type droplet discharge device that discharges the liquid of the lens material to the discharge target 63 of the laser unit 51 in the form of droplets. . Furthermore, by mounting the alignment table of the present invention on the droplet discharge device, an effect of easily adjusting the position of the substrate 50 can be added.

  As shown in FIG. 2, this droplet discharge apparatus has a head mechanism unit 2 having a head unit 10 that discharges droplets, and an alignment on which a work that is a discharge target of droplets discharged from the head unit 10 is placed. A work mechanism unit 3 including a table 20, a liquid supply unit 4 that supplies a liquid to the head unit 10, and a control unit 5 that collectively controls these mechanism units and the supply unit. When the microlens 80 is formed, the substrate 50 corresponds to the workpiece.

  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.

  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.

  The work mechanism unit 3 is positioned below the head mechanism unit 2 and is arranged in the X-axis direction with a configuration substantially similar to that of the head mechanism unit 2, and includes the mounting table 21, the plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26 and the alignment camera 35. An alignment table 20, an X-axis guide 23 for guiding the movement of the mounting table 21 on which a plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26 are mounted, an X-axis ball screw 25 installed below the X-axis guide 23, and an X-axis An X-axis motor 24 that rotates the ball screw 25 forward and backward, and a mounting table screwing portion 22 that is below the mounting table 21 and that is screwed with the X-axis ball screw 25 to move the mounting table 21. ing.

  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. The plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26 are also provided with a mechanism for individually adjusting the rotation direction.

  With these configurations, the head unit 10 and the mounting table 21 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.

  Similarly, the plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26 mounted on the mounting table 21 are driven by the X-axis motor 24, the X-axis ball screw 25 is rotated, and the mounting table screw is engaged with the X-axis ball screw 25. The joint portion 22 moves along the X-axis guide 23 to move freely in the X-axis direction.

  As described above, the head unit 10 is configured to move to the discharge position in the Y-axis direction and stop, and discharge droplets in synchronization with the movement of the mounting table 21 below in the X-axis direction. The X-axis direction in which the mounting table 21 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 mounting table 21 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 on the mounting table 21.

  In the present embodiment, the mounting table 21 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 mounting table 21 may be moved in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Conversely, the mounting table 21 may be fixed and the head unit 10 may be moved in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. The structure to be made may be sufficient.

  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.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the head unit 10 holds a plurality of ejection heads 16 having the same structure. Here, FIG. 3 is the figure which observed the head part 10 from the mounting base 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. As shown in FIG. 3B, 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).

  As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, 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.

  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 48 from the corresponding nozzles 17.

  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. 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.

  The drive unit 75 includes a head driver 76, a motor driver 77, a pump driver 78, and an alignment driver 79. The motor driver 77 controls the movement of the mounting table 21 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 ejection of the lens material from the ejection head 16, and makes it possible to perform predetermined drawing on the work on the mounting table 21 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. The alignment driver 79 controls the rotation of the table shaft 27 by a control signal from the control unit 5 based on information from the alignment camera 35.

  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).

  The alignment table 20 will be described in detail by taking as an example the case where the microlens 80 provided in the semiconductor laser is formed using the droplet discharge device 1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the alignment table 20 includes a mounting table 21 that moves on the X-axis guide 23, a plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26 that are mounted on the mounting table 21, and a plurality of workpiece mounting tables 26. A plurality of table shafts 27 that are respectively provided on the lower surfaces and rotate the workpiece mounting table 26, a motor that rotates the table shaft 27 (not shown), and a surface plate 7 that faces the workpiece mounting table 26 from above. And an alignment camera 35 fixed to the head. The alignment camera 35 includes a camera column 34 fixed to the surface plate 7, a camera body 28 installed on the opposite side of the surface plate 7 of the camera column 34, and a direction from the camera body 28 toward the workpiece mounting table 26. And a camera lens 29 attached thereto.

  In the alignment table 20 having such a configuration, the workpiece mounting table 26 on the mounting table 21, the workpiece receiving unit 36 for mounting the workpiece provided on the workpiece mounting table 26, and the table shaft 27 have the same central axis. It is provided above. The workpiece receivers 36 of the plurality of workpiece platforms 26 are arranged on the platform 21 so that the line connecting the centers of the workpiece receivers 36 is a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction. That is, the workpiece mounting tables 26 are arranged in a row in the X-axis direction in which the mounting table 21 of the workpiece mechanism unit 3 relatively moves. Note that it is more preferable that the work mounting tables 26 are arranged in equal intervals because the droplet discharge control can be performed at a high speed with a constant repetition.

  In order to form the microlens 80 by the droplet discharge device 1 provided with the alignment table 20 as described above, first, the base 50 on which the microlens 80 shown in FIG. It arrange | positions to the 26 workpiece | work receiving part 36 (process A). In this case, the workpiece receiving portion 36 is provided with a centering mechanism so that the center of the circular base 50 and the center of the workpiece receiving portion 36 coincide with each other. The mounted substrate 50 is fixed by air suction or the like. Next, the mounting table 21 is moved so that the base body 50 is positioned below the camera lens 29. At this time, the camera body 28 captures the workpiece and generates image information of the workpiece. For example, the camera body captures a plurality of laser parts 51 formed on the base 50 as shown in FIG. 6 and generates corresponding image information. The control unit 5 receives image information from the camera body 28 and recognizes a circular discharge target 63 that is located in the center of each laser unit 51 and on which the microlens 80 is to be formed. That is, the discharge target 63 is recognized through the camera body 28 (process B).

  Then, the control unit 5 confirms the recognized pitch P between the discharge targets 63 through the alignment camera 35, and recognizes the row of the discharge targets 63 arranged at the pitch P as one virtual line 66. The reason why the pitch P is confirmed is that the row of the ejection targets 63 in the oblique direction is not recognized as the virtual line 66. The alignment camera 35 has a recognition axis 65 that defines the X-axis direction in advance. If the recognition axis 65 and the virtual line 66 are compared, the angle Q formed by the virtual line 66 with respect to the X-axis is obtained. I can grasp. If this angle Q is corrected, the virtual line 66 becomes parallel to the X axis. For this purpose, the work table 26 on which the substrate 50 is placed may be rotated by an angle Q by the table shaft 27, and thus the discharge targets 63 can be arranged in a line in the X-axis direction ( Step C). The virtual line 66 is one of a plurality of discharge target 63 columns. The positions of the bases 50 of the other work mounting tables 26 are adjusted in the same manner. Thus, not only the discharge targets 63 of the substrate 50 alone are arranged in a row parallel to the X axis, but also the rows of the discharge targets 63 of all the substrates 50 can be adjusted so as to be aligned with each other in the X axis direction. .

  Next, the carriage 11 is moved in the Y-axis direction, and the head unit 10 is adjusted to the position of the discharge target 63 of the base body 50 (step D1). Then, the mounting table 21 is moved in the X-axis direction toward the head unit 10, and a droplet 48 of the lens material is discharged from the head unit 10 to the discharge target 63 of the first base 50 to form the microlens 80 ( Step D2). Since the discharge target 63 of the next substrate 50 is also on the same straight line as the discharge target 63 of the first substrate 50, the micro lens 80 can be formed continuously by moving the head unit 10 in the X-axis direction. Similarly, the microlenses 80 can be continuously formed on the other substrates 50. As described above, the alignment table 20 makes it easy to adjust the position of the base body 50, which is a workpiece, and a large number of base bodies 50 can be processed continuously and efficiently.

  As described above, the alignment table 20 according to the present invention recognizes the placement direction of the workpiece placed on the workpiece placement table 26 with the alignment camera 35 and works with the alignment camera 35 and the control unit 5. The stage 26 is rotated to adjust the workpiece in a specified direction. The alignment table 20 makes it possible to easily place and adjust the position of the workpiece, and shorten the adjustment time. For this reason, the alignment table 20 can aim at the improvement of the operation rate of the apparatus which mounts the alignment table 20, and the improvement of production efficiency.

  The droplet discharge device 1 equipped with the alignment table 20 not only allows the workpiece to be easily placed, but also allows a plurality of workpieces to be arranged in a straight line, so that droplet discharge onto the workpiece can be continuously performed at high speed. Can do.

  In addition, the microlens manufacturing method enables efficient production by the droplet discharge device 1 equipped with the alignment table 20, and freely selects the lens material, the size of the droplet, the number of microlenses 80 to be formed, and the like. This is a manufacturing method that can manufacture the microlens 80 that can be flexibly adapted to various specifications.

  Further, the laser 80 has not only the microlens 80 efficiently formed, but also has a small emission angle of the laser light and little variation due to the stable microlens 80.

  The alignment table of the present invention is mounted on the droplet discharge device, and not only the formation of the microlens 80 described above, but also the application of the filter material to the pixel region arranged in the matrix of the color filter, and also the electroluminescence display device The present invention can also be applied to applying a luminescent fluorescent material and a plasma fluorescent material to pixel regions of a plasma display device or the like. Further, the present invention can be applied to manufacture of an electron-emitting device (FED (Field Emission Display)) and a SED (Surface-Conduction Electron-Emitter Display).

The external appearance perspective view which shows the alignment table of this invention. The external appearance perspective view which shows a droplet discharge apparatus. (A) The top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the discharge head of a droplet discharge device. (B) The top view which shows arrangement | positioning of the nozzle of an ejection head. (A) The perspective view which shows the internal structure of a discharge head. (B) Sectional drawing which shows the structure of a nozzle. The block diagram which shows the control system of a droplet discharge apparatus. FIG. 6 is a view of a field of view showing an image projected by an alignment camera. (A) The top view which shows a base | substrate. (B) The top view which shows the laser part of a base | substrate. (C) Sectional drawing which shows the laser part of a base | substrate. Sectional drawing which shows the laser provided with the micro lens.

Explanation of symbols

1. Droplet discharge device 8. Laser 20. Alignment table 26. Workpiece mounting table 27. Table axis 35. Alignment camera 36. Work receiving part 50. Substrate 63. Discharge target 65. Alignment camera recognition axis 66. Virtual line 80. Micro lens

Claims (10)

A plurality of workpiece mounting tables having a workpiece receiving section for fixing the workpiece;
An alignment camera that images the workpiece on the workpiece mounting table and generates image information;
A table shaft for rotating the workpiece mounting table;
An alignment table comprising:
An alignment table characterized in that, based on the image information from the alignment camera, the mounting direction of the workpiece is directed in a specified direction by rotation of the table shaft.   The alignment table according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece, the workpiece receiving unit, the workpiece mounting table, and the table shaft are on the same central axis.   The alignment table according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of workpiece mounting tables are individually rotated in conjunction with the table shaft. The workpiece has a plurality of targets arranged in a matrix,
4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the workpieces is rotated based on the image information obtained by the alignment camera so that directions of the target rows in each of the workpieces coincide with each other. The alignment table described in 1. A head mechanism having an ejection head for ejecting droplets;
A work mechanism for moving the work relatively;
A droplet discharge device comprising:
The droplet ejecting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work mechanism includes the alignment table according to claim 1.   The droplet discharge device according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of work receiving portions of the alignment table are arranged such that a line connecting the centers thereof forms a straight line.   The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein a relative movement direction of the work mechanism unit is parallel to a direction in which the work receiving unit of the alignment table is linearly arranged. A step (A) of placing a plurality of substrates including discharge targets arranged in a matrix on a plurality of workpiece placement tables;
Recognizing the direction of the row of the ejection targets through an alignment camera (B);
A step of rotating the workpiece mounting table and directing the direction of the row of the discharge targets in a prescribed direction; and
(D) discharging the lens material from the discharge head toward each of the discharge targets;
The manufacturing method of the micro lens characterized by including.   The step (D) includes a step (D1) of relatively moving the discharge head in a direction in which the plurality of workpiece mounting tables are arranged, and a case where the discharge head reaches a position corresponding to the discharge target by the (D1). And a step (D2) of discharging the droplets from the discharge head.   A laser comprising a microlens manufactured by the method for manufacturing a microlens according to claim 8.

Images