JP2005169201A - Droplet discharge apparatus, droplet discharge method, electrooptical device and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a droplet discharge apparatus provided with a wiping unit capable of clearly wiping a nozzle surface of a discharge head even in using any ink, a droplet discharge method, an electrooptical device manufactured by the droplet discharge apparatus and an electronic equipment loading the electrooptical device. <P>SOLUTION: In the droplet discharge apparatus 1 provided with a discharge head 30 for discharging ink droplets from a nozzle and a wiping unit 70 having a wiping member 71 for cleaning the nozzle surface 30a of the discharge head 30, a heater (heating means) 76 for heating the wiping member 71 is provided in the wiping unit 70. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet discharge device, a droplet discharge method, an electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus, and more specifically, a droplet discharge device including a wiping unit that wipes a nozzle surface of a discharge head, a droplet discharge method, The present invention relates to an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.

  A droplet discharge device such as an ink jet device is used for film formation of various electronic devices. The droplet discharge device has a droplet discharge mechanism called a discharge head. A plurality of nozzles are regularly formed in the discharge head. In a droplet discharge device, a pattern made of a discharge material is drawn on a substrate which is a component of some product by discharging droplets of a discharge material (ink) from these nozzles.

  In the droplet discharge device, a predetermined amount of ink is discharged from the discharge head and supplied to the substrate. As a means for discharging the ink, a plurality of nozzle openings are formed on the wall surface constituting the ink tank, and In many cases, piezoelectric elements are arranged so that the expansion and contraction directions coincide with each other so as to face the nozzle openings. As this kind of piezoelectric element, an electrode and a piezoelectric material alternately laminated on a sandwich have been proposed, and ink in the cavity (ink reservoir) of the ejection head is caused by pressure waves generated by deformation of the piezoelectric element. It becomes the structure discharged.

  When ink droplets are ejected from the nozzles of the ejection head, fine droplets are scattered on the nozzle surface, and if these are stacked, an ink film may be connected to the surface of the nozzle plate. Accordingly, there is a problem that normal ejection cannot be performed due to variations in the ink ejection direction and the particle size of the ejected ink droplets, and high-precision printing cannot be performed. In order to solve such a problem, a wiping mechanism that periodically cleans the nozzle surface of the ejection head has been proposed. A conventional wiping mechanism is known that scrapes ink, dust, and the like on the nozzle surface using a wiping blade (see Patent Document 1).

JP-A-8-142345

  However, since some inks have high viscosity and are easy to dry, there is a problem that the ink film on the nozzle surface may not be wiped clean with the conventional wiping mechanism even when wiping with a wiping member. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and a droplet ejection apparatus and a droplet ejection method provided with a wiping unit capable of cleanly wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head regardless of the use of any ink An object is to provide an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a droplet including a discharge head that discharges a droplet from a nozzle, and a wiping unit that includes a wiping member that cleans the nozzle surface of the discharge head. In the discharge device, the wiping unit is provided with a heating unit that heats the wiping member.

  Thus, by wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head while the wiping member is heated, wiping can be performed with the ink kept at a low viscosity even with low viscosity ink or dry ink. The ink film formed on the nozzle surface can be wiped clean. As a result, it is possible to provide a droplet discharge device including a wiping unit that can cleanly clean the nozzle surface of the discharge head regardless of the ink used. Therefore, when printing is performed with the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the nozzle surface can be wiped cleanly, so that defective discharge can be prevented and high-precision drawing can be performed.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the wiping unit includes temperature detection means for detecting temperature, and further, based on a detection result of the temperature detection means so that the temperature of the wiping member becomes a target temperature. It is desirable to provide temperature control means for controlling the heating means. Thereby, temperature control can be performed so that the wiping member reaches the target temperature.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the wiping member is formed of a rubber blade. Thereby, an inexpensive material can be used as the wiping member, and the cost of the wiping unit can be reduced.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the temperature control means performs temperature control of the wiping unit only when wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head. Thereby, the power consumption required to drive the heating means can be reduced.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the apparatus further comprises second heating means for heating the ejection head, and second temperature detection means for detecting the temperature of the ejection head, wherein the temperature control means is It is desirable to control the heating unit based on the detection result of the temperature detection unit so that the temperature of the ink becomes a target temperature. As a result, the ink adhering to the nozzle surface of the ejection head can be brought into a low-viscosity state, and when wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head with a wiping member, the ink film formed on the nozzle surface is wiped cleanly. be able to.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the electro-optical device is preferably manufactured using the droplet discharge device of the present invention. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an electro-optical device manufactured using a droplet discharge device capable of printing with high accuracy.

  Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the electronic apparatus is equipped with the electro-optical device of the present invention. Accordingly, it is possible to provide an electronic device equipped with an electro-optical device manufactured using a droplet discharge device capable of printing with high accuracy.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a droplet discharge method for discharging a coating liquid from a nozzle of a discharge head, in which the nozzle surface of the discharge head is heated by a wiping member with a heating unit. However, the method includes a step of cleaning with the wiping member.

  Thus, by wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head while the wiping member is heated, wiping can be performed with the ink kept at a low viscosity even with low viscosity ink or dry ink. The ink film formed on the nozzle surface can be wiped clean. As a result, it is possible to provide a droplet discharge method capable of neatly wiping the nozzle surface of the discharge head regardless of the ink used. Therefore, when printing is performed by the droplet discharge method of the present invention, the nozzle surface can be wiped cleanly, so that defective discharge can be prevented and high-precision drawing can be performed.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art or those that are substantially the same. In the following embodiments, an industrial inkjet apparatus will be described as an example of a droplet discharge device, but the droplet discharge device of the present invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of a droplet discharge apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The droplet discharge device 1 of the present embodiment mainly includes a control unit 10, a first carriage 20, an discharge head 30, an ink tank 40, a stage 50, a second carriage 60, a wiping unit 70, A temperature control unit (temperature control means) 80 is provided.

  The control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and controls the entire droplet discharge device 1. Specifically, the control unit 10 controls the operation of drawing with the discharge head 30 on the drawing object such as the substrate W placed on the stage 50 and wipes the nozzle surface 30 a of the discharge head 30 with the wiping unit 70. Control the operation. The first carriage 20 conveys the ejection head 30 in the sub-scanning direction (X-axis direction) along the first rail 21 under the control of the control unit 10.

  The ejection head 30 is carried by the first carriage 20 and moves together with the first carriage 20, and ejects ink droplets from the nozzles according to a drive signal input from the control unit 10. Further, the ejection head 30 is controlled by the temperature sensor (second temperature detection means) 30b that detects the temperature and outputs the temperature detection result to the temperature control unit 80, and the temperature control unit 80, so that the ejection head 30 A heater 30 (second heating means) c for heating the ink 2 is provided. The ink tank 40 is filled with the ink 2 and supplies the ink 2 to the ejection head 30 via the tube 41. On the stage 50, a drawing target such as the substrate W is placed and conveyed in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction) by a driving mechanism (not shown) under the control of the control unit 10.

  The second carriage 60 conveys the wiping unit 70 in the sub-scanning direction (X-axis direction) along the second rail 61 under the control of the control unit 10. The wiping unit 70 includes a wiping member 71 that scrapes the nozzle surface 30a of the ejection head 30 that is contaminated with the ink 2 or the like while moving in the X-axis direction. Further, the wiping unit 70 is controlled by the temperature sensor 75 (temperature detection means) that detects the temperature and outputs the temperature detection result to the temperature control unit 80, and the temperature control unit 80, thereby wiping the member 71. And a bar heater 76 (heating means).

  The temperature controller 80 always controls the temperature of the heater 30b based on the temperature detection result input from the temperature sensor 30a in order to heat the ink 2 in the ejection head 30. Further, the temperature controller 80 heats the wiping member 71 of the wiping unit 70 based on the temperature detection result input from the temperature sensor 75 of the wiping unit 70 during the wiping operation of the wiping unit 70. The temperature of the bar heater 76 is controlled.

  2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the configuration of the ejection head 30 in FIG. 1, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the ejection head 30, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the ejection head 30. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the ejection head 30 includes a nozzle plate 31 made of, for example, stainless steel and a vibration plate 32, and both are joined via a partition member (reservoir plate) 33. A plurality of spaces (pressure chambers) 34 and a liquid reservoir (reservoir) 35 are formed between the nozzle plate 33 and the diaphragm 32 by a partition member. Each space 34 and the liquid reservoir 35 are filled with ink 2 (not shown), and each space 34 and the liquid reservoir 35 communicate with each other via a supply port 36. The nozzle plate 31 is formed with one or a plurality of rows of micro-hole nozzles 37 for ejecting the ink 2 from the spaces 34 along the longitudinal direction. On the other hand, a hole 37 a for supplying the ink 2 to the liquid reservoir 35 is formed in the vibration plate 32.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a piezoelectric element (piezo element) 38 is bonded on the surface of the diaphragm 32 opposite to the surface facing the space. The piezoelectric element 38 is positioned between a pair of electrodes 39 and 39 as shown in FIG. 3, and bends so that when energized, it projects outward. The diaphragm 32 to which the piezoelectric element 38 is bonded in such a configuration is integrally bent with the piezoelectric element 38 and bends outward at the same time, whereby the internal volume of the space 34 is increased. Is increasing. Therefore, the ink 2 corresponding to the increased volume in the space 34 flows from the liquid reservoir 35 through the supply port 36. Further, when the energization to the piezoelectric element 38 is released from such a state, both the piezoelectric element 38 and the diaphragm 32 return to their original shapes. Therefore, since the space 34 also returns to its original volume, the pressure of the ink 2 inside the space rises, and the spray droplets of the ink 2 are ejected from the nozzle 37 toward the substrate W.

  The ejection head 30 may be driven by a method other than the piezo jet type using the piezoelectric element as described above, and vibration is applied or pressure is applied to the tank by an ultrasonic motor, a linear motor, or the like. By doing so, the ink 2 may be ejected from the nozzle 37.

  4 and 5 are diagrams for explaining the configuration of the wiping unit 70, FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of the wiping unit 70, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, the wiping unit 70 includes a wiping member 71 composed of a rubber blade that scrapes the nozzle surface 30 a of the discharge head 30 that is contaminated with ink or the like while moving in the X-axis direction. A holding plate 72 and a receiving plate 73 that sandwich the wiping member 71, and a support base 74 that supports the wiping member 71, the holding plate 72, and the receiving plate 73 are provided. As the rubber blade of the wiping member 71, for example, butyl rubber, fluorine rubber, or the like can be used.

  The support base 74 is fixed to the second carriage 60 described above, and the wiping unit 70 is carried by the second carriage 60 and moves. 4 and 5, the sensor mounting groove 73a is formed in the longitudinal direction in the receiving plate 73. The sensor mounting groove 73a has a rod-shaped temperature sensor 75 made of a thermocouple, thermistor, or the like. Is installed. The receiving plate 73 is formed with a heater mounting groove 73b parallel to the sensor mounting groove 73a, and a cartridge type bar heater 76 is mounted in the heater mounting groove 73b. The temperature sensor 75 detects the ambient temperature and outputs the temperature detection result to the temperature control unit 80. The temperature control unit 80 (see FIG. 1) performs ON / OFF control and current control of the bar heater 76 based on the temperature detection result of the temperature sensor 75, and performs temperature control so that the wiping member 71 reaches the target temperature. . Here, in order to wipe off the ink 2 efficiently, it is desirable to set the temperature of the wiping member 71 lower than the temperature of the ink 2. Thus, the bar heater 76 and the temperature sensor 75 are provided on the receiving plate 73, and the wiping member 71 is heated via the receiving plate 73.

  Next, the wiping operation of the wiping unit 70 in the droplet discharge device of FIG. 1 will be described. The first carriage 20 on which the ejection head 30 is mounted stands by at the home position (standby position) when not drawing. At the time of drawing, the first carriage 20 moves on the first rail 21 in the X-axis direction under the control of the control unit 10. As the first carriage 20 moves, the ejection head 30 ejects ink from the ejection head 30 under the control of the control unit 10 to form an ink film on the substrate W.

  The second carriage 60 on which the wiping unit 70 is mounted normally stands by at a standby position where the wiping member 71 does not contact the ejection head 30. When the wiping sequence is started, the temperature control unit 80 turns on the bar heater 76 of the wiping unit 70 and starts temperature control of the bar heater 76. Next, the control unit 10 moves the second carriage 60 on the second rail 61 to a position where the wiping member 71 can slidably contact the ejection head 30. Thereby, the nozzle surface 30a of the ejection head 30 and the wiping surface of the wiping member 71 heated to a constant temperature are brought into sliding contact with each other, and the nozzle surface 30a of the ejection head 30 is wiped. In this case, the wiping member 71 is in sliding contact with the nozzle surface 30a in a bent state. This wiping operation is performed a plurality of times. The wiping sequence is executed when the nozzle surface 30a of the discharge head 30 is soiled with ink or the like or every time the discharge head 30 performs a certain amount of drawing. When the wiping is completed, the control unit 10 retracts the second carriage 60 to the standby position. Next, the temperature control unit 80 turns off the bar heater 76 of the wiping unit 70 and stops the temperature control of the bar heater 76.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the wiping unit 70 is provided with the rod heater 76 for heating the wiping member 71, the nozzle surface of the ejection head 30 is heated with the wiping member 71 being heated. By performing the wiping of 30a, wiping can be performed in a state where the ink has a low viscosity even with low viscosity ink or dry ink, and the ink film formed on the nozzle surface can be wiped cleanly. it can. As a result, it is possible to provide a droplet discharge device including a wiping unit that can cleanly clean the nozzle surface of the discharge head regardless of the ink used. Therefore, when drawing is performed with the droplet discharge device 1, the nozzle surface of the discharge head can be wiped cleanly, so that there is no ink discharge failure and high-precision ink drawing is possible.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, the wiping unit 70 includes the temperature sensor 75 that detects the temperature, and the temperature control unit 80 includes the temperature sensor 75 so that the temperature of the wiping member 71 becomes the target temperature. Since the rod heater 76 is controlled based on the temperature detection result, the temperature can be controlled so that the wiping member 71 reaches the target temperature.

  Moreover, according to the said Example, since it decided to form the wiping member 71 with a rubber blade, an inexpensive material can be used for the wiping member 71, and the wiping unit 70 can be reduced in cost.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, the temperature controller 80 controls the temperature of the wiping unit 70 only when the wiping unit 71 is wiped, so that the power consumption required to drive the bar heater 76 can be reduced. Can do.

  Further, according to the above embodiment, the heater 30c for heating the ejection head 30 and the temperature sensor 30b for detecting the temperature of the ejection head are provided, and the temperature control unit 80 allows the temperature of the ink 2 to be the target temperature. In addition, since the temperature of the heater 30c is controlled based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 30b, the ink 2 and the like adhering to the nozzle surface 30a of the ejection head 30 can be brought into a low-viscosity state, and the wiping member 71 Thus, when wiping the nozzle surface 30a of the ejection head 30, the ink 2 on the nozzle surface 30a can be wiped more efficiently.

  In this embodiment, the wiping unit 70 is moved and the nozzle surface 30a is wiped while the ejection head 30 is stopped. However, the ejection head 30 is moved while the wiping unit 70 is stopped. The nozzle surface 30a may be wiped by moving it. Alternatively, the nozzle surface 30 may be wiped while moving both the ejection head 30 and the wiping unit 70.

  In this embodiment, a rubber blade is used as the wiping member 71. However, the wiping member may be configured to wipe the ink by bringing the wiping sheet (fiber) into contact with the nozzle surface 30a with a roller. In this case, the ink can be efficiently wiped when the temperature of the wiping sheet (fiber) is set higher than the temperature of the ink 2. As described above, the wiping member of the present invention is not limited to the rubber blade, and may have any structure as long as wiping is possible.

[Example of application to electro-optical devices]
A case where the above-described droplet discharge device 1 is applied to the manufacture of a liquid crystal display device will be described. FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional structure of the liquid crystal display device 100. As shown in the figure, a liquid crystal display device 100 includes an upper substrate 101 and a lower substrate 102 in which a transparent conductive film (ITO film) 103 and an alignment film 104 are formed mainly on a glass substrate on opposite surfaces, and both the upper and lower substrates 101. , 102, a plurality of spacers 105 interposed between the upper and lower substrates 101, 102, and a liquid crystal 107 filled between the upper and lower substrates 101, 102, and the upper substrate The phase substrate 108 and the polarizing plate 109 are laminated on the back surface of the 101, and the polarizing plate 109 and the backlight 110 are laminated on the back surface of the lower substrate 102.

  In a normal manufacturing process, patterning of the transparent conductive film 103 and application of the alignment film 104 are performed to produce the upper substrate 101 and the lower substrate 102 separately, and then a spacer 105 and a sealing material 106 are made on the lower substrate 102, In this state, the upper substrate 101 is bonded. Next, the liquid crystal 107 is injected from the inlet of the sealing material 106, and the inlet is closed. Thereafter, the phase substrate 108, both polarizing plates 109, and the backlight 110 are laminated.

  The droplet discharge device 1 of the present embodiment can be used for forming the spacer 105 and dropping the liquid crystal 107, for example. Specifically, a spacer material (for example, an ultraviolet curable resin or a thermosetting resin) or a liquid crystal constituting the cell gap is introduced as the ink 2, and these are uniformly ejected (applied) to a predetermined position. First, the lower substrate 102 in which the sealing material 106 is printed in an annular shape is set on the substrate stage 16, and a spacer material is discharged onto the lower substrate 102 at rough intervals, and the spacer material is solidified by irradiation with ultraviolet rays. Next, a predetermined amount of liquid crystal 107 is uniformly ejected and injected inside the sealing material 106 of the lower substrate 102. Thereafter, the separately prepared upper substrate 101 and the lower substrate 102 coated with a predetermined amount of liquid crystal are introduced into a vacuum and bonded together.

  Thus, before the upper substrate 101 and the lower substrate 102 are bonded together, the liquid crystal 107 is uniformly applied (filled) into the cell, so the liquid crystal 107 does not reach the details such as the corners of the cell. Can solve the problem.

  In addition, it is also possible to print the sealing material 106 with the droplet discharge device 1 by using an ultraviolet curable resin or a thermosetting resin as the functional liquid (sealing material). Similarly, the alignment film 104 can be formed by the droplet discharge device 1 by introducing a polyimide resin as a functional liquid (alignment film material).

  As described above, when the liquid crystal display device 100 is manufactured by using the droplet discharge device 1, in the above-described droplet discharge device 1, the wiping member 71 is heated to a certain temperature to form the nozzle surface 30 a of the discharge head 30. Since wiping is performed, liquid crystal ejection defects can be eliminated and high-precision drawing can be performed, whereby the liquid crystal display device 100 can be manufactured with high precision.

  Incidentally, the droplet discharge device 1 configured as described above can be used for manufacturing various electro-optical devices (devices) in addition to the liquid crystal display device 100 described above. That is, it can be applied to the manufacture of organic EL devices, FED devices, PDP devices, electrophoretic display devices, and the like.

  An example in which the above-described droplet discharge device 1 is applied to the manufacture of an organic EL device will be briefly described. FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional structure of the organic EL device 200. As shown in FIG. 7, the organic EL device 200 includes a substrate 202, a circuit element unit 203, a pixel electrode 204, a bank unit 205, a light emitting element 206, a cathode 207 (counter electrode), and a sealing substrate 208. A wiring of a flexible substrate (not shown) and a driving IC (not shown) are connected to the organic EL element 201. The circuit element unit 203 is formed on the substrate 202, and a plurality of pixel electrodes 204 are aligned on the circuit element unit 203. Bank portions 205 are formed in a lattice shape between the pixel electrodes 204, and light emitting elements 206 are formed in the recess openings 209 generated by the bank portions 205. The cathode 207 is formed on the entire upper surface of the bank unit 205 and the light emitting element 206, and a sealing substrate 208 is laminated on the cathode 207.

  In the manufacturing process of the organic EL device 200, after the bank part 205 is formed at a predetermined position on the circuit element part 203 and the substrate 202 on which the pixel electrode 204 is formed in advance, the light emitting element 206 is appropriately formed. After that, the light emitting element 206 and the cathode 207 (counter electrode) are formed. Then, the sealing substrate 208 is stacked on the cathode 207 and sealed to obtain the organic EL element 201. Then, the cathode 207 of the organic EL element 201 is connected to the wiring of the flexible substrate, and the driving IC is connected. The organic EL device 200 is manufactured by connecting the wiring of the circuit element unit 203.

  The droplet discharge device 1 is used for forming the light emitting element 204. Specifically, the light emitting element material (ink 2) is introduced into the ejection head 3043, and the light emitting element material is ejected in accordance with the position of the pixel electrode 204 of the substrate 202 on which the bank portion 205 is formed, and is dried. Thus, the light emitting element 206 is formed. It should be noted that the formation of the pixel electrode 204 and the cathode 207 described above can also be created using the droplet discharge device 1 by using corresponding liquid materials.

  In addition, as other electro-optical devices, devices including metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, and the like are considered. In addition to the liquid crystal display device and the organic EL electroluminescence device, an organic TFT device, For plasma display devices, electrophoretic display devices, electron emission display devices (Field Emission Display and Surface-Conduction Electoron-Emitter Display, etc.), LED (Light Emitting Diode) display devices, electrochromic glass devices, electronic paper devices, etc. Can be widely applied. By using the above-described droplet discharge device 1 for manufacturing various electro-optical devices (devices), there is no defective discharge of droplets, and the amount of applied droplets can be controlled to be constant, so that highly accurate film formation is performed. It becomes possible.

[Application example to electronic equipment]
Next, a specific example of an electronic apparatus to which the electro-optical device according to the invention can be applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8A is a perspective view illustrating an example in which the electro-optical device according to the present invention is applied to a display unit of a portable personal computer (so-called notebook personal computer) 300. As shown in the figure, the personal computer 300 includes a main body 302 including a keyboard 301 and a display unit 303 to which the electro-optical device according to the invention is applied. FIG. 8-2 is a perspective view illustrating an example in which the electro-optical device according to the invention is applied to the display unit of the mobile phone 400. As shown in the figure, the cellular phone 400 includes a plurality of operation buttons 401, a receiving mouth 402, a mouthpiece 303, and a display unit 404 to which the electro-optical device according to the invention is applied.

  The electro-optical device according to the present invention includes a portable information device called PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a personal computer, a workstation, a digital still camera, an in-vehicle monitor, a digital video camera, in addition to the above-described cellular phone and notebook computer. Can be widely applied to electronic devices such as liquid crystal televisions, viewfinder type, monitor direct view type video tape recorders, car navigation devices, pagers, electronic notebooks, calculators, word processors, workstations, video phones, and POS terminals. .

  In the above embodiment, the case where the liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to the present invention is applied to an industrial ink jet apparatus has been described, but the present invention can also be applied to an ink jet printer.

  The droplet discharge device according to the present invention can be widely used for film formation in various industrial fields. The electro-optical device according to the present invention includes an organic EL electroluminescence, a liquid crystal display device, an organic TFT device, a plasma display device, an electrophoretic display device, an electron emission display device (Field Emission Display, Surface-Conduction Electoron-Emitter Display, etc. ), LED (light emitting diode) display devices, electrochromic glass devices, and electro-optical devices of electronic paper devices. The electronic device according to the present invention includes a mobile phone, a portable information device called PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a portable personal computer, a personal computer, a workstation, a digital still camera, an in-vehicle monitor, a digital video camera, and a liquid crystal display. It can be widely used in electronic devices such as televisions, viewfinder type, monitor direct view type video tape recorders, car navigation devices, pagers, electronic notebooks, calculators, word processors, workstations, video phones, and POS terminals.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of the entire droplet discharge device according to the example. FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the ejection head according to the embodiment. Sectional drawing of the discharge head which concerns on an Example. The perspective view of the wiping unit which concerns on an Example. AA sectional drawing of FIG. The figure which shows the cross-section of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on an Example. The figure which shows the cross-section of the organic electroluminescent apparatus which concerns on an Example. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer equipped with an electro-optical device according to an embodiment. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile phone including an electro-optical device according to an example.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Droplet discharge device, 2 Ink, 10 Control part 10, 20 1st carriage, 21 1st rail, 30 Discharge head, 30a Nozzle surface, 30b Temperature sensor, 30c Heater, 31 Nozzle plate, 32 Vibration plate, 33 Partition member (Reservoir plate), 34 space, 35 liquid reservoir, 36 supply port, 37 nozzle, 37a nozzle hole, 38 piezoelectric element (piezo element), 39 electrode, 40 ink tank, 50 stage, 60 second carriage, 61 second rail , 70 wiping unit, 71 wiping member, 72 holding plate, 73 receiving plate, 74 support base, 75 temperature sensor, 76 bar heater, 80 temperature control unit, 100 liquid crystal display device, 101 upper substrate, 102 lower substrate, 103 transparent conductive Film (ITO film), 104 alignment film, 105 spacer, 06 sealing material, 107 liquid crystal, 108 phase substrate, 109 polarizing plate, 110 backlight, 200 organic EL device, 201 organic EL element, 202 substrate, 203 circuit element part, 204 pixel electrode, 205 bank part, 206 light emitting element, 207 Cathode (counter electrode), 208 Sealing substrate, 209 Concave opening, 300 Personal computer, 301 Keyboard, 302 Main body, 303 Display unit, 400 Mobile phone, 401 Operation button, 402 Earpiece, 403 Mouthpiece, 404 Display Part

Claims (8)

In a droplet discharge apparatus comprising: a discharge head that discharges ink droplets from a nozzle; and a wiping unit that includes a wiping member that cleans the nozzle surface of the discharge head.
A droplet discharge device, wherein the wiping unit is provided with heating means for heating the wiping member. The wiping unit includes temperature detecting means for detecting temperature,
The liquid according to claim 1, further comprising temperature control means for controlling the heating means based on a detection result of the temperature detection means so that a temperature of the wiping member becomes a target temperature. Drop ejection device.   The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the wiping member is formed of a rubber blade.   4. The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the temperature control unit performs temperature control of the wiping unit only when wiping the nozzle surface of the ejection head. 5. A second heating means for heating the ejection head;
Second temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the ejection head,
5. The temperature control unit controls the heating unit based on a detection result of the temperature detection unit so that the temperature of the ink becomes a target temperature. 6. The droplet discharge device according to one.   An electro-optical device manufactured using the droplet discharge device according to claim 1.   An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 6. In the droplet discharge method for discharging the coating liquid from the nozzle of the discharge head,
A droplet discharge method comprising: cleaning a nozzle surface of the discharge head with a wiping member while heating the wiping member with a heating unit.

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