JP2005296797A - Coating header, thin film forming apparatus provided with the same, and reverse printing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a material liquid coating header for a thin film forming apparatus by which the material liquid is stably applied to a material to be coated with a uniform thickness and a coating rate is improved, and to provide the thin film forming apparatus provided with the coating header, and a reverse printing device. <P>SOLUTION: The coating header for the thin film forming apparatus is used for forming a thin film on a coating surface of the material to be coated by applying the liquid coating liquid on the coating surface. A lip downstream side surface in a lip part of the tip of the coating header for supplying the coating liquid to the material to be coated is worked to be inclined to the coating surface side at an angle ranging from 0° to 20° to the center line of the coating header and the lip part is arranged upward to be adjacent to the coating surface of the material to be coated which is inclined downward at an angle ranging from 20° to 65°. Thus, the material liquid does not interlock to apply the coating liquid (a) with a stable bead shape, thereby preventing the occurrence of problems such as a ring pattern to improve a coating precision and a coating rate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating header of a thin film forming apparatus that applies a material liquid to a coating material along a moving direction by supplying a liquid material liquid to a coating surface of the coating material to be moved relatively. And a thin film forming apparatus and a reverse printing apparatus including the same.

  Recently, liquid crystal display devices and the like have become widespread, and it is necessary to form a very thin thin film by applying a material solution to a substrate such as a glass plate of the liquid crystal display device or a protective plate attached to the glass substrate. Came out. A schematic configuration diagram of a general example of a thin film forming apparatus used in such a case will be described with reference to FIG.

  In FIG. 12, 100 is a thin film forming apparatus, a coating header 101, a material liquid supply apparatus (not shown) for supplying a material liquid (coating liquid) a to the coating header 101, a coating header moving apparatus 102, A base frame 103 on which a base material (film forming material) 110 such as various substrates is set at a predetermined position is provided. Also. A thin film coating roller (a cylinder-shaped member that is a material to be coated) 104 that transfers the material liquid a supplied from the coating header 101 to the base material 110 and a thin film coating roller 104 are positioned above it. And a roller rotation device (not shown) for rotating the thin film coating roller 104.

  The coating process in the thin film forming apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12A, the thin film coating roller 104 is first moved above the coating header 101 by the roller moving device. At this time, the thin film coating roller 104 is in a rotation stopped state, and the coating header 101 is in a lowered position where it does not contact the thin film coating roller 104.

  Next, as shown in (b), the coating header moving device 102 is operated to bring the coating header 101 into the raised position where it contacts the thin film coating roller 104, and the roller rotation driving device is operated to operate the thin film coating device. The work roller 104 is rotated. Thereby, the material liquid a is applied to the peripheral surface 104 a of the thin film coating roller 104.

  When the material liquid is applied over the entire circumference of the peripheral surface 104a of the thin film application roller 104, the application header 101 is moved into the thin film application as shown in FIG. The lower position is set so as not to contact the roller 104, and the roller rotation driving device is stopped to stop the rotation of the thin film coating roller 104, and the coating process of the thin film coating roller 104 is completed.

  Then, the thin film coating roller 104 is moved to the substrate 110 by the operation of the roller moving device, and the thin film coating roller 104 is rotated by operating the roller rotation driving device. The height position of the thin film coating roller 104 is set so that the position of the lowermost peripheral surface thereof coincides with the upper surface of the base material 110, and as shown in FIG. The material liquid on the peripheral surface 104 a of the thin film coating roller 104 is transferred onto the substrate 110 by being moved on the substrate 110.

  Conventionally, as a coating header for forming an extremely thin thin film on a base material (film forming material) 110 such as a glass substrate, which is used in the thin film coating apparatus 100 as described above, conventionally, (1) surface tension utilizing type And (2) a type using a capillary wrinkle phenomenon (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-62370: Patent Document 1) has been proposed.

  (1) Surface Tension Utilizing Type: FIG. 13 is a schematic side sectional view for explaining the configuration and operation of an example of a thin film forming apparatus using a conventional surface tension utilizing type coating header.

  In this thin film forming apparatus 200, as shown in FIG. 13A, a material liquid (coating liquid) a for forming a thin film is pumped by a pump P through a liquid supply pipe 202 to form a hollow body of a cylindrical body 201 as a coating header. (Internal) Supply to 201a. A porous portion (coating portion) 203 in which a large number of holes having a diameter of about 20 μm are formed is formed with a width of about 10 mm in the circumferential direction at the upper portion of the cylindrical body 201. In the porous portion 203, The outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 201 are in communication with each other. Therefore, the material liquid a supplied to the inner part 201a by the pump P is supplied to the outer peripheral surface in the porous portion 203. However, the material liquid a supplied to the outer peripheral surface is excessively supplied. Since the posture of the cylindrical body 201 is set to a posture in which the porous portion 203 is directed vertically upward, the material liquid “a” thus dropped falls downward after exiting the porous portion 203.

  As a result, the porous portion 203 can be raised on the outer peripheral surface thereof with the material liquid a having a certain height (for example, about 400 μm). And as shown in FIG.13 (b), the base material (thin film forming material) 210 is moved in contact with the bulge of the material liquid a in the porous portion 203, whereby the liquid of the material liquid a is transferred to the base material 210. A pool (liquid bead: liquid film) 204 is formed.

  The material liquid a dropped from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical body 201 is collected by a liquid tank 205 disposed below the cylindrical body 201, sucked by the pump P through the liquid recovery pipe 206, and returned to the cylindrical body 201 again. Will be supplied.

  (2) Capillary Phenomenon Utilization Type (Capillary Coater Type): FIG. 14 is a schematic side cross-sectional view for explaining the configuration and operation of an example of a thin film forming apparatus using a conventional capillary phenomenon utilization type coating header. FIG.

  In the thin film forming apparatus 300, the coating header 301 is submerged in the material liquid layer 302 during the non-coating operation, and the tip of the coating header 301 is moved from the material liquid layer 302 to the substrate (covered) during the coating operation. It protrudes toward the (thin film forming material) 310. The coating header 301 is formed with a slit 303 that is oriented and opened in a direction substantially perpendicular to the moving direction of the substrate 310, and the material liquid a that forms the material liquid layer 302 is caused by the capillary phenomenon. A liquid bead (liquid pool) 304 is formed by rising at the tip of the coating header 301 through the inside. This liquid bead 304 is kept substantially constant in height by extension of its height due to the surface tension of the material liquid a.

  Then, with the liquid pool 304 formed at the tip of the coating header 301, the base material 310 is brought into contact with the liquid pool 304 while leaving a predetermined gap (gap) with respect to the coating header 301. By moving it, the material liquid a is applied to the base material 310.

  During such a coating operation, the liquid pool 304 is reduced by the amount applied to the base material 310, but the material liquid a is naturally and constantly pooled 304 by the capillary phenomenon. It is a mechanism to be supplied to.

  The coating work is performed in the order of (a) to (f) in FIG. 14. First, before the start of coating, as shown in (a), the coating header 301 is submerged in the liquid tank 305. The upper part of the liquid tank 305 is covered with a lid 306.

  Next, as shown in (b), the lid 306 slides to open the liquid tank 305, and the coating header 301 protrudes from the liquid tank 305 to the substrate 310 side. At this time, the material liquid a in the liquid tank 305 rises up the slit 303 formed in the coating header 301 by the capillary phenomenon and rises at the tip of the coating header 301 to form a liquid pool 304.

  And in such a state of the coating header 301, as shown in (c), (d), (e), the base material 310 is brought into contact with the liquid pool 304 at the tip of the coating header 301, The substrate 301 is slid to the left in the drawing integrally with the stage 307 on which 301 is set. In this process, the coating thin film 308 is gradually formed on the substrate 310. As shown in (f), when the base material 310 passes through the liquid pool 304 and the coating is completed, the coating header 301 is submerged in the material liquid layer 302 in the liquid tank 305, and then the lid 306 slides. Then, the liquid tank 305 is covered and the coating operation is completed.

  However, the above-described two types of conventional coating headers for thin film forming apparatuses still have the following problems.

(1) Surface Tension Utilization Type FIG. 15 is an explanatory view of the problem of the cylindrical body 201 as a conventional surface tension utilization type coating header as shown in FIG. It is sectional drawing by typical side view of the closest part (henceforth nip part) with the porous part (coating part) 203 of the cylindrical body 201, (b) is typical AA of (a). It is arrow sectional drawing.

  A broken line 207 in FIG. 15A indicates a pressure distribution line of the pressure received by the material liquid films 208 and 209 around the nip portion between the base material 210 and the porous portion 203, which is on the upper side in FIG. The higher pressure is shown. The narrower the gap between the substrate 210 and the porous portion 203, the higher the pressure received by the material liquid a. Therefore, since the material liquid a is squeezed at the nip (this is called liquid squeezing), the pressure of the material liquid a rapidly increases. On the other hand, since the gap between the substrate 210 and the porous portion 203 suddenly widens on the downstream side of the nip portion, the pressure of the material liquid becomes negative (see the portion indicated by reference numeral 207a in the pressure distribution line 207).

  Due to the generation of the negative pressure, when the liquid film is split on the downstream side of the nip portion, that is, when a part of the material liquid film 208 in the porous portion moves to the base material 210 as the material liquid film 209, the negative pressure acts as described above. A phenomenon occurs in which the meniscus of the material liquid films 208 and 209 is drawn into the gap between the base 210 and the porous portion 203, and as shown in FIG. 15B, a regular ring is formed on the material liquid films 208 and 209. It is easy to generate streak-like unevenness called a pattern that extends in the circumferential direction of the cylinder 201 (liquid thickness unevenness repeated at a pitch of about several mm in the axis direction of the cylinder 201). Reference numeral 211 in FIG. 15B denotes an excess liquid (excess material liquid) that forms a ring pattern and is not normally applied to the substrate 210. The pitch and height of the unevenness of the ring pattern differ depending on the surface tension and viscosity of the material liquid a and the degree of the negative pressure 207a generated on the downstream side of the nip portion.

  When such a ring pattern is generated, if the substrate 210 is a printing plate, unevenness in density corresponding to the ring pattern is generated on a printed material printed using the printing plate, resulting in a defective printed material. In addition to this problem, the general tendency of surface tension-based coating headers is that the coating speed can be increased to some extent, but the accuracy of thin film formation cannot be sufficiently increased.

(2) Capillary phenomenon type (capillary coater type)
FIG. 16 is an explanatory view of the problem of the conventional capillary phenomenon-based coating header 301 as shown in FIG. 14, wherein (a) is the closest part (hereinafter referred to as the base material 310 and the coating header 301). FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a schematic side view of a nip portion), and FIG.

  The capillary phenomenon-based coating header 301 also has the same problems as the cylindrical body 201 as the surface tension-based coating header. That is, on the downstream side of the coating header 301 in the movement direction of the base material 310, the space defined by the upper surface of the coating header 301 is rapidly expanded so that a negative pressure portion 309 is generated and the liquid material a is pooled. At the time of liquid film splitting in which part of 304 moves to the coating thin film 308 on the substrate 310, the meniscus of the material liquid a is drawn to the coating header 301 side. As a result, a ring pattern in which irregularities are repeated at a pitch of several mm in the direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the base material 310 as shown in FIG. Reference numeral 311 in (b) is an excess liquid (excess material liquid) that forms a ring pattern and is not normally applied to the substrate 310.

  Further, in this coating header 301 utilizing capillary action, if the relationship between the width of the slit 303 (slit opening width) and the distance from the tip of the coating header 301 to the surface of the substrate 310 can be controlled, a uniform thin film can be formed. It is possible to form (suppress the generation of the ring pattern), but it is difficult to uniformly process the slit opening width in the apparatus width direction [direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. There is a problem that it is actually difficult to appropriately adjust the slit opening width according to the distance between the work header 301 and the base material 310. In addition to that problem, as a general tendency of capillary action type coating headers, it is easy to obtain a beautiful coating film that can improve the accuracy of thin film formation, but there is a problem that the coating speed is low, The supply of the material liquid a can be improved to some extent by simply using a pump-feeding means irrespective of the capillary phenomenon, but there is a limit in relation to the thin film accuracy.

  As described above, the conventional (1) surface tension type and (2) capillary phenomenon type coating headers have been described in the case where a thin film is directly formed on a flat substrate (film forming material). When a thin film is applied to the base materials (film forming materials) 210 and 310, or a thin film coating roller once applied to a thin film coating roller as a coating material as described in FIG. In the case of coating onto a thin film coating roller when transferring from a roller to a substrate (film forming material) 210, 310, the material to be coated (such as a substrate or a thin film coating roller) is a cylinder. The thin film is continuously formed on the peripheral surface of the cylindrical object by coating with the cylindrical body 201 or the coating header 301 while rotating the cylindrical object about the axis. The ring pattern, thin film accuracy, and coating speed It was.

JP 2001-62370 A (2nd page, FIGS. 5 and 6)

  As described above, in any of the coating headers 201 and 301 of (1) surface tension utilization type and (2) capillary action utilization type, the thickness of the coating thin film tends to be uneven in the width direction with respect to the coating direction. In addition, there is a problem that unevenness in density according to the ring pattern occurs, resulting in defective printed matter (damaged paper).

  In the description of the above problem, the example in which the coating film is formed on the flat base materials (thin film forming materials) 210 and 310 as the coating material has been described. This also occurs when the base material or the thin film coating roller is a cylindrical object, and the same applies to the case where a thin film is applied to the cylindrical base material (film forming material). In the same manner as described in the above, in the case of coating on the thin film coating roller when the thin film coating roller is once coated and then transferred from the thin film coating roller to the base material (film forming material) 210, 310 , A similar ring pattern is generated, and as a result, a problem of the ring pattern on the base materials (thin film forming materials) 210 and 310 occurs.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and can apply a stable material solution to a material to be coated (such as a base material or a thin film coating roller) with a uniform thickness, and a coating speed. It is an object of the present invention to provide a coating header of a material liquid for a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming apparatus using the same.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides the following means (1) to (8), and will be described below in the order of the claims.

  (1) As the first means, it is a coating header for a thin film forming apparatus that applies a liquid material solution to a coated surface of a material to be coated and forms a thin film on the coated surface. The lip downstream side surface of the lip portion at the tip of the coating header supplied to the coating material is processed by being inclined toward the coating surface within a range of 0 ° to 20 ° with respect to the coating header center line. A coating header is provided.

  (2) As the second means, in the coating header of the first means, the coating surface of the material to be coated with a coating surface angle of 20 ° to 65 ° with respect to the horizontal direction facing downward, Provided is a coating header characterized in that the lip portion is closely arranged upward.

  (3) Further, as a third means, in the coating header of the first means or the second means, the coating header has its center direction on the coating surface at the location where the lip portion is disposed in proximity. Provided is a coating header characterized by being arranged vertically.

  (4) As a fourth means, in the coating header of any one of the first means to the third means, a coating header is provided in which the liquid material liquid is a volatile material liquid To do.

  (5) As a fifth means, in the coating header of any one of the first means to the fourth means, the material to be coated is a flat material to be coated, and the lip portion is disposed in proximity. The coating surface is a lower surface of the flat plate-shaped material to be coated, and provides a coating header.

  (6) As a sixth means, in the coating header of any one of the first means to the fourth means, the coated material is a cylindrical coated material, and the lip portion is disposed in proximity. The coating surface is a lower peripheral surface of the cylindrical coated material, and provides a coating header.

  (7) As a seventh means, there is provided a thin film forming apparatus comprising the coating header of any one of the first means to the sixth means.

  (8) As an eighth means, there is provided a reverse printing apparatus comprising the coating header of any one of the first means to the fourth means or the sixth means.

  (1) According to the invention of claim 1, since the lip downstream side surface has a sharp edge or a shape close thereto, liquid expansion wetting to the lip upstream side surface is suppressed, and material liquid adhesion does not occur. The material liquid can be applied to the material to be coated in a uniform bead shape with a stable bead shape, avoiding the problem of the ring pattern and improving the coating speed.

  (2) According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the function and effect of the invention of claim 1, the vertical liquid drawing force is increased, the liquid bead is stable, and dripping before the start of coating is prevented, resulting in film thickness error. In addition, the material liquid is not fixed, and the material liquid a can be applied to the material to be coated with a uniform thickness and a stable bead shape, avoiding ring pattern problems and coating. The work speed can be improved.

  (3) According to the invention of claim 3, the effect of the invention of claim 1 or claim 2 can be further exerted in the coating header attached in the arrangement direction perpendicular to the normal coating surface.

  (4) According to the invention of claim 4, particularly in the case of applying a volatile material liquid in which the material liquid is easily fixed, the effect of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 3 is achieved. It can play remarkably.

  (5) According to the invention of claim 5, the effect of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4 can be achieved with the lower surface of the flat coated material as the coating surface.

  (6) According to the invention of claim 6, the effect of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4 can be achieved with the lower peripheral surface of the cylindrical coated material as the coating surface.

  (7) According to the invention of claim 7, in the thin film forming apparatus, the effect of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 6 is achieved, and the coated material such as a base material or a thin film coating roller, With a uniform thickness and a stable liquid bead shape, the material liquid can be applied, a ring pattern problem can be avoided, and a thin film forming apparatus capable of improving coating accuracy and coating speed.

  (8) According to the invention of claim 8, in the reversal printing apparatus, the effects of the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4 or claim 6 are achieved, It is a reversal printing device that can apply a material liquid in a uniform liquid bead shape with a uniform thickness, avoid problems such as ring patterns, and improve coating accuracy and coating speed.

  Examples 1 to 3 will be described below as the best mode for carrying out the present invention.

  The coating header which concerns on Example 1 of this invention is demonstrated based on FIG. FIG. 1A is an arrangement view of a coating header of this embodiment with respect to a cylindrical coated material, and FIG. 1B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the coating header of this embodiment. The coating header of the present embodiment is a coating header used in the same thin film forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 12, and the entire thin film forming apparatus will be referred to FIG. 12, and will not be illustrated again. In this embodiment, the thin film forming apparatus 100 is not limited to the one shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a coating header of the present embodiment, and reference numeral 10 denotes a cylindrical coated material to be coated with a thin film of a material liquid (coating liquid) a by the coating header 1. The material liquid a includes a volatile material liquid. The cylindrical coating material 10 is, for example, a base material (film forming material) such as various substrates, or a thin film coating roller that transfers the material liquid a to the base material, and is formed in a cylinder shape. Then, while rotating in the direction of the arrow in the drawing around the axis O, it is applied by the coating header 1 close to the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface), and the liquid bead 4 of the material liquid a is formed on the peripheral surface 10a. It is formed.

  The coating header 1 is a capillary phenomenon-based coating header as described with reference to FIG. 14, and has a slit 13 provided therein. The slit 13 is a tip of the coating header 1 (hereinafter, “ 1a) having an opening, and supplying the material liquid a to the peripheral surface 10a of the cylindrical coating material 10 by utilizing capillary action. In addition, when it is necessary to increase the coating speed more than by the capillary phenomenon, the material liquid a may be supplied under pressure by a pump or the like.

  The angle of the point on the lower peripheral surface 10a of the cylindrical coating material 10 where the lip 1a of the coating header 1 is located from the position directly below the lower peripheral surface 10a of the cylindrical coating material 10 In other words, when the angle formed between the line connecting the axis O of the cylindrical coating material 10 and the coating header 1 and the vertical direction Y is θ, the coating is performed opposite to the lip portion 1a of the coating header 1. The angle of inclination of the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) of the cylindrical coated material 10, that is, the angle in the tangential direction is θ with respect to the horizontal direction X (hereinafter referred to as “coating surface angle θ”).

  In the present embodiment, the lip portion 1a of the coating header 1 (hereinafter also simply referred to as “coating header 1”) is perpendicular to the position directly below the lower peripheral surface 10a of the cylindrical coated material 10. It is located on the peripheral surface 10a at a point θ turned with respect to Y, and θ is set in the range of θ1 = 25 ° to θ2 = 65 °, θ = 25 to 65 °. That is, the coating surface angle θ is set to 25 to 65 °.

  Normally, the coating header 1 has a peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) at a location where the lip portion 1a is disposed close to the coating header center line C toward the axis O of the substantially cylindrical coating material 10. The direction of the coating header center line C with respect to the vertical direction Y is also in the range of θ = 25 to 65 °.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the cross-sectional shape of the coating header 1 is applied between the upstream lip upstream side surface 11 and the downstream lip downstream side surface 12 in the rotation direction of the cylindrical coating material 10. A slit 13 is formed along the work header center line C. The slit 13 has an opening extending in the axial direction of the cylindrical coating material 10 facing the peripheral surface 10a in the lip portion 1a, and supplies the material liquid a to the peripheral surface 10a therefrom.

  The opening width d of the slit 13 is, for example, 0.5 to 0.8 mm, and the tip member thicknesses on the lip upstream side surface 11 side and the lip downstream side surface 12 side sandwiching the slit 13 are each about 5 mm. The lip downstream side surface 12 is processed so as to form a surface inclined to the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) side at an angle α with respect to the coating header center line C, and more preferably in a range of α = 0 to 20 °. α is in the range of 5 to 20 °.

  The coating header which concerns on Example 2 of this invention is demonstrated based on Fig.2 (a). FIG. 2A is a layout view of the coating header of this embodiment with respect to the flat plate-shaped material to be coated. Similarly to Example 1, the coating header of this example is a coating header 1 used in the same thin film forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 12, except that it is for a flat coated material. The structure of the header 1 and the entire thin film forming apparatus are the same as those described in the first embodiment, and repeated description is omitted.

  In FIG. 2A, reference numeral 20 denotes a flat plate-like material to be coated with a thin film of the material liquid “a” by the coating header 1. The material liquid “a” includes a volatile material liquid. The flat coating material 20 is, for example, a flat base material (film forming material) such as various substrates, and is arranged along the horizontal axis X and is moved in the horizontal axis X direction while its lower surface ( The coating bead 4 of the material liquid a is formed on the surface. Accordingly, the coating surface angle θ = 0 ° with respect to the horizontal direction X of the flat plate-shaped material 20.

  In general, the coating header 1 is oriented with the coating header center line C substantially perpendicular to the lower surface (coating surface) of the flat plate-shaped material 20, so that the coating header center line C is perpendicular to the vertical direction Y. The angle is θ = 0 °.

  The coating header 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, has a slit 13 that is provided inside and supplies the material liquid a by utilizing a capillary phenomenon, and the coating header center line C is formed into a flat plate-like coating. The lip portion 1a is placed close to the material 20 in a substantially vertical direction. The cross-sectional shape of the coating header 1 is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 (b), and the lip downstream side surface 12 is inclined toward the coating surface side with respect to the coating header center line C. = 0 to 20 °, more preferably α = 5 to 20 °.

  The coating header which concerns on Example 3 of this invention is demonstrated based on FIG.2 (b). FIG. 2B is a layout view of the coating header of the present embodiment with respect to the flat plate-shaped material to be coated. The coating header of this example is also a coating header used in the same thin film forming apparatus as shown in FIG. 12 as in Example 1 and Example 2, except that it is for a flat coated material. The structure of the coating header and the entire thin film forming apparatus are the same as described in the first embodiment, and repeated description is omitted. The present embodiment is different from the second embodiment in that the flat plate-shaped material 20 is arranged to be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction X, and the other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In FIG. 2 (b), reference numeral 20 denotes a flat plate-like material to be coated with a thin film of the material liquid a by the coating header 1. The flat coating material 20 is, for example, a flat base material (film forming material) such as various substrates, and is installed with an inclination of θ with respect to the horizontal axis X, and moves in the direction of the angle θ. On the other hand, coating is performed by the coating header 1 that is close to the lower surface (coating surface) in the vertical direction, and a liquid bead 4 of the material liquid a is formed on the surface. The material liquid “a” includes a volatile material liquid. Therefore, the coating surface angle of the flat coated material 20 is θ.

  In this embodiment, the coating surface angle θ is set to be in the range of θ = 25 to 65 °. In general, the coating header 1 is oriented with the coating header center line C substantially perpendicular to the lower surface (coating surface) of the flat plate-shaped material 20, so that the coating header center line C is perpendicular to the vertical direction Y. The angle is also in the range of θ = 25 to 65 °.

  The coating header 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, has a slit 13 that is provided inside and supplies the material liquid a by utilizing a capillary phenomenon, and the coating header center line C is formed into a flat plate-like coating. The lip portion 1a is placed close to the material 20 in a substantially vertical direction. The cross-sectional shape of the coating header 1 is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 (b), and the lip downstream side surface 12 is inclined toward the coating surface side with respect to the coating header center line C. = 0 to 20 °, and further on the machine work, preferably α = 5 to 20 °.

  The shape of the coating header 1 according to each of the above embodiments and the characteristics of the arrangement will be described together below.

(1) About the lip shape (tip shape) of the coating header:
As a result of research by the present inventor, it has been found that the shape of the lip portion 1a of the coating header 1 affects the stabilization of the coating state of the material liquid (coating liquid) a. The following has been found regarding the optimization of the shape.

The center line C of the coating header 1 is made substantially perpendicular to the peripheral surface 10a of the cylindrical coating material 10 so that the lip 1a is brought close to the coating header 1, and the cylindrical coating material 10 is rotated around its axis O. The material liquid a was applied on the peripheral surface 10a while the basic test conditions were as follows.
・ Material liquid (volatile ink): Viscosity ≦ 4 mPa · s
・ Coating material: Silicon blanket ・ Coating speed: 0.03 m / s, 0.05 m / s
-Coating film thickness: 10-20 μm
-Material of header and lip portion: SCM material Fig. 3 shows an angle formed by the lip downstream side surface 12 of the lip portion 1a being inclined toward the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) side and the coating header 1 center line C (lip downstream side surface angle) ) It is an example of a test result applied by changing α, and is a coating state diagram.

  (When the lip downstream side surface angle α = 0 °) As shown in FIG. 3A, the lip downstream side surface 12 is 0 ° with respect to the coating header 1 center line C, and is sharp with a right angle to the lip end surface. Therefore, the liquid expansion wetting to the lip upstream side surface 11 is suppressed. Further, the bead position on the downstream side of the lip 1a is stabilized. Therefore, a stable liquid bead 4 is obtained.

  (In the case of the lip downstream side surface angle α = 12 degrees) As shown in FIG. 3B, the lip downstream side surface 12 also has a shape close to a sharp edge, 12 degrees with respect to the center line C of the coating header 1 in this case. Therefore, the liquid expansion wetting to the lip upstream side surface 11 is suppressed, and a good and stable liquid bead is obtained.

  (In the case of the lip downstream side surface angle α = 30 degrees) As shown in FIG. 3 (c), when the lip downstream side surface 12 is larger than the coating header 1 center line C by 30 degrees, and the lip downstream side surface angle α is increased, The liquid easily adheres to the material liquid a on the lip downstream side surface 12. Since the adhered material liquid a is volatile ink, it immediately cures and adheres to the lip 1a. The newly applied material liquid a adheres to the fixed material liquid a, and the bead position 5 on the downstream side of the lip 1a is disturbed as shown in the figure. As a result, the coated liquid beads 4 are non-uniform and unstable liquid beads.

  A graph summarizing the above test results is shown in FIG. The horizontal axis indicates the lip downstream side surface angle α, the left vertical axis indicates “(b) material liquid adhesion prevention effect” (liquid bead stability), and the right vertical axis indicates “(b) difficulty level of lip tip shape workability”. Show. The difficulty of the machinability of the lip tip shape is that the tip of the lip 1a is very small and uses a hard material, but in order to use it in an actual device, it is accurate in the width direction with respect to the coating direction. This is due to the fact that it is necessary to perform uniform processing, and this processing is actually difficult.

  As shown in FIG. 4, (a) the material liquid sticking prevention effect (liquid bead stability) is such that a better bead is obtained when the lip downstream side surface angle α is 0 ° and the lip downstream side surface 12 has a sharp edge (right angle). However, when the lip downstream side surface angle α is 30 °, the material liquid a is fixed, which is not suitable. Further, the difficulty of machining the lip portion 1a becomes more difficult as the edge becomes sharper, and becomes easier as the lip downstream side surface angle α increases.

  Therefore, an appropriate region where the actual machining can be performed and a good liquid bead can be obtained is a lip downstream side surface angle α = 0 to 20 °, and more preferably α = 5 to 20 ° from the viewpoint of machining. . In that case, even when the material liquid a to be applied is a volatile ink liquid, the ink liquid does not adhere to the tip of the lip, so that a good and stable coating can be achieved.

(2) About the layout of the coating header:
According to the inventor's research, the inclination angle of the material to be coated applied by the coating header 1, that is, the coating surface angle θ is used to stabilize the coating state such as the thickness of the material liquid (coating liquid) a. As a result of research and testing, it was found that the coating surface angle θ was optimized (and the coating header 1 is usually disposed substantially perpendicular to the coating surface, so that the optimal placement of the coating header 1 is The following was found.

Based on FIG. 5, the test for determining the optimal arrangement | positioning of the coating header 1 is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is a layout diagram of the coating header with respect to the cylindrical coating material 10 in the test for optimizing the coating surface angle θ, and the coating header 1 with respect to the peripheral surface 10 a of the cylindrical coating material 10. The center line C is oriented vertically, that is, toward the axis O of the cylindrical coating material 10, the lip portion 1 a is brought close to it, and the binder-shaped coating material 10 is rotated, while the material liquid a is peripheral. The basic test conditions are as follows.
・ Material liquid (volatile ink): Viscosity ≦ 4 mPa · s
・ Coating material: Silicon blanket ・ Coating speed: 0.03 m / s, 0.05 m / s
-Coating film thickness: 10-20 μm
-Header and lip material: SCM material When the coating header 1 is arranged upward at a position directly below the cylindrical coating material 10, that is, the coating surface angle θ = 0 ° of the cylindrical coating material 10. From the position of the angle θ = 0 ° in the direction C of the coating header 1 with respect to the vertical direction Y, in the case of a horizontal orientation at a position just beside the cylindrical coated material 10, that is, the coating surface angle θ = 90 °, The material liquid a applied to the cylindrical coated material 10 by changing the position of the coating header 1 until the position of the coating header 1 on the peripheral surface 10a is at an angle θ = 90 ° with respect to the vertical direction Y. The coating condition of the liquid beads was tested.

  When the material liquid a supplied from the coating header 1 is applied to the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) of the cylindrical coating material 10, the material liquid a has a force that drops with a weight G and a cylindrical shape. Due to the movement of the material to be coated 10, a liquid drawing force f (hereinafter referred to as “coating surface direction liquid drawing force f”) in the direction along the coating surface (tangential direction) based on the viscosity of the material liquid a acts.

  In this test, a liquid in which the relationship between the weight G and the vertical component F of the liquid drawing force f in the coating surface (hereinafter referred to as “vertical liquid drawing force F”) is applied to the material to be coated. It focuses on the stability of the bead.

  As shown in FIG. 5, since F = f · sin θ, F = f · sin 0 ° = 0 at θ = 0 °, and F = f · sin 90 ° = f at θ = 90 °. Representative examples of the results are shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 as follows.

  (When the coating header 1 is arranged upward directly below the axial center of the cylindrical coating material 10) As shown in FIG. 6 (and FIG. 5), the tangential direction of the peripheral surface 10a facing the coating header 1 The angle with respect to the horizontal direction X is the coating surface angle θ, and the angle with respect to the vertical direction Y of the position on the peripheral surface 10a of the coating header 1 is also θ = 0 °. Accordingly, when the coating header 1 is applied to the cylindrical coating material 10 from directly below, the vertical direction liquid drawing force F = sin 0 ° = 0, while the weight G acts greatly (F << G In addition, since it acts in the direction in which the material liquid supply speed decreases, the liquid bead 4 applied to the cylindrical coated material 10 is not uniform in both the width direction and the traveling direction, as shown in the figure. It is easy to become uneven liquid beads 4a.

  (When the coating header 1 is arranged on the circumferential surface of the cylindrical coating material 10 at a position rotated θ from the position directly below the vertical direction Y) As shown in FIG. 7 (and FIG. 5) The angle with respect to the horizontal direction X in the tangential direction of the peripheral surface 10a facing the work header 1 is the coating surface angle θ, and the angle with respect to the vertical direction Y of the position on the peripheral surface 10a of the coating header 1 is θ.

  When the coating surface angle θ = 20 ° to 65 °, vertical components of the gravity G and the liquid drawing force f in the coating surface are generated, and the vertical liquid drawing force F = fsinθ is almost equal to the weight G or slightly larger force. Since it is easy to set it as (F> = G), a dripping does not generate | occur | produce and a uniform bead can be apply | coated.

  (When the coating header 1 is arranged at a position close to the side of the cylinder-shaped coated material 10 and at a position of 75 ° from directly below) As shown in FIG. 8 (and FIG. 5), the circumferential surface facing the coating header 1 The angle of the tangential direction of 10a with respect to the horizontal direction X is the coating surface angle θ = 75 °, and the angle of the position on the peripheral surface 10a of the coating header 1 with respect to the vertical direction Y is also θ = 75 °. In this case, the vertical liquid drawing force F = fsin 75 ° is further larger than that in the case of the coating surface angle θ = 20 ° to 65 °, and F> G tends to be satisfied, so that the formation of the liquid bead 4 is further stabilized.

  That is, as it approaches the horizontal position as described above, the coating surface angle θ at the mounting position of the coating header 1, that is, the angle θ on the peripheral surface 10 a increases and approaches 90 °, and the coating surface angle θ approaches 90 °. The liquid withdrawal force F in the vertical direction is increased, and the liquid bead 4 is stabilized.

  However, in actual operation, as the coating surface angle θ increases, the center line direction C of the coating header 1 tilts from the vertical direction Y upward to the horizontal direction X, and therefore, dripping 4b occurs before the start of coating. Then, the lip portion 1a (the tip portion of the coating header 1) goes around to the back side, and the upstream bead position (liquid pool) is disturbed. Therefore, the liquid bead 4 is also in a non-uniform coating state. Therefore, when the coating surface angle θ exceeds 45 °, the film thickness error increases.

  By the way, when the coating header 1 is disposed downward with respect to the cylindrical coating material 10, the weight G acts greatly, and the material liquid supply speed increases, so that dripping easily occurs. Stable coating becomes difficult and is not usually used.

  FIG. 9 is a graph summarizing the above test results. In FIG. 9, the horizontal axis represents “coating surface angle θ” with respect to the horizontal plane direction X [in the case of the cylindrical coating material 10, the position of the coating header 1. Of the coating header relative to the vertical direction Y when the coating header center line C is arranged perpendicular to the coating surface direction (tangential direction of the circumferential surface 10a). The vertical axis (c) shows the stability of the bead liquid film of the coated liquid bead, and the vertical axis (d) shows the film thickness error of the liquid bead.

  Moreover, evaluation of the result shown in FIG. 9 is collectively shown in [Table 1].

この結果より、比較的良好な液ビード４が得られる塗工面角度θは、θ＝２５〜６５°の領域、また望ましくは、θ＝４０〜５０度の領域であることが判明した。すなわち、塗工ヘッダ１をシリンダ状被塗工材１０の真下からθ＝２５〜６５°、望ましくは、θ＝４０〜５０°回った位置に取付け、鉛直方向液引出し力Ｆを重量Ｇ以上（Ｆ≧Ｇ）とし、上流側のビード位置を固定した方が良い。

From this result, it was found that the coating surface angle θ at which a relatively good liquid bead 4 is obtained is in the region of θ = 25 to 65 °, and preferably in the region of θ = 40 to 50 degrees. That is, the coating header 1 is mounted at a position θ = 25 to 65 °, preferably θ = 40 to 50 °, directly below the cylindrical coating material 10, and the vertical liquid drawing force F is more than the weight G ( F ≧ G) and the upstream bead position should be fixed.

  (3) From the above test results, it can be said that the above example has the following effects.

  (In the case of the cylindrical coating material 10: Example 1) As described above, the lip downstream side surface 12 has a lip downstream side surface angle α = 0 to 20 °, and more preferably α = 5 to 20 °. It is set as the coating header 1 which provided the lip | rip part 1a processed into. Moreover, the attachment position of the coating header 1 is an angle on the peripheral surface 10a from directly below the position of the coating header 1 with respect to the cylindrical coating material 10 so that the coating surface angle θ = 25 to 65 °. It is better to install in the region of θ = 25 to 65 °, set the vertical liquid drawing force F to gravity G or more (F ≧ G), and fix the upstream bead position.

  Thus, in Example 1, the material liquid does not stick, and the material liquid a can be applied to the cylindrical coated material 10 with a uniform thickness and a stable bead shape, thereby avoiding the ring pattern problem. The coating speed can be improved. In particular, when a volatile ink that is likely to adhere to the material liquid a is applied as the material liquid a, the effect is remarkable.

  (In the case of the flat coated material 20: Example 2 and Example 3) The flat coated material 20 is often disposed horizontally for the convenience of handling and coated while being moved in the horizontal direction. However, in that case, as in Example 1, the coating header 1 is arranged vertically and upward with respect to the lower surface (coating surface) of the flat plate-shaped material 20 to be coated, and the lip downstream side surface angle α = 0 to 20 °. Preferably, the coating header 1 is provided with a lip portion 1a processed so as to be in a range of α = 5 to 20 °. Thus, in Example 2, the material liquid does not stick, and even when the volatile ink is used as the material liquid a, the material liquid a has a uniform bead shape and a uniform bead shape on the flat coated material 20. The coating speed can be improved by avoiding the ring pattern problem.

  The relationship between the lower surface (coating surface) of the flat coated material 20 and the coating header 1 with respect to the lower surface is as follows: the peripheral surface 10a (coating surface) of the cylindrical coated material 10 and the coating header with respect to the same peripheral surface 1a. It is the same as the relationship with 1. Accordingly, as in the third embodiment, the lip portion 1a processed so that the lip downstream side surface angle α = 0 to 20 °, and more preferably in the range of α = 5 to 20 °, as in the second embodiment. Using the coating header 1 provided, the flat coated material 20 is installed with an inclination of θ with respect to the horizontal direction X to a coating surface angle θ, and is moved in the direction of the coating surface angle θ. In the case of coating with the coating header 1 close to the lower surface of the material to be coated 20, when the coating surface angle θ is set to 20 to 65 °, it becomes a condition that the material liquid is not fixed as in Example 1, The material liquid a can be applied to the material to be coated in a uniform bead shape with a uniform thickness, avoiding a ring pattern problem and improving the coating speed. In particular, when a volatile ink that is likely to adhere to the material liquid a is applied as the material liquid a, the effect is remarkable.

  In this case, if the central axis direction C of the coating header 1 is oriented perpendicularly to the lower surface of the flat plate-shaped workpiece 20, the angle formed by the coating header center line C with respect to the vertical direction Y is set. Is also θ.

  Therefore, the thin film forming apparatus including the coating header according to any of the first to third embodiments has a uniform liquid bead shape with a uniform thickness on a substrate or a material to be coated such as a thin film coating roller. Thus, the material liquid can be applied, and a thin film forming apparatus capable of improving the coating accuracy and the coating speed by avoiding the ring pattern problem.

  Note that the thin film forming apparatus of the present embodiment is not limited to the thin film forming apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 12, and will be described with reference to FIG. 12. The base 110 may be moved, and the base 110 is set to a height position in contact with the coating header 101, and the base 110 is moved left and right in the drawing at the height. An apparatus may be provided to perform coating directly from the coating header 101 to the substrate 110 without the thin film coating roller 104. When the substrate 110 is not flat but cylindrical, the coating header 101 It may be provided with a rotation drive device that rotates in a state of contact with.

  Further, the thin film forming apparatus 100 is not provided with a single coating header 101, but includes a plurality of coating headers 101 depending on the type of material liquid and the like, and a plurality of thin film coating rollers 104. But you can.

  As described above, the coating header 1 of each embodiment is generally used as a coating header for a thin film forming apparatus. In particular, in a reverse printing apparatus as one of the thin film forming apparatuses, As a coating header, it can be effectively implemented.

  In general, methods such as a printing method and a photolithographic method are known as methods for forming a color filter, etc., but it is effective to use a reversal printing apparatus in the printing method. The principle of forming a thin film (color filter or the like) by a printing method using an apparatus and a reverse printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 10 is a schematic configuration diagram of a general reverse printing apparatus, and FIGS. 11A to 11C are explanatory views of the operation and principle of the general reverse printing apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the fixed frame 51 of the reverse printing apparatus 50 is coated with a coating cylinder 53 with a silicon sheet 52 attached to the surface, and a resin (ink) a ′ is applied (coated) as a material liquid in contact with the surface of the coating cylinder 53. The coating device 54 to be processed is one unit, and for each color, that is, four units of black matrix, red, green, and blue (black matrix unit U1, red unit U2, green unit U3, blue unit U4) And a printing surface plate 56 on which the substrate sheet 55 is installed. Further, there is a movable frame 57 that moves on the fixed frame 51. The movable frame 57 is in contact with a blanket cylinder 59 around which a silicon blanket 58 is wound, and a rotating plate with a relief 60 attached to the surface. The cylinder 61 is a unit, and is provided corresponding to the application cylinder 53 of the fixed frame 51.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the operation and principle of the reverse printing apparatus 50 shown in FIG. A colored resin (ink) a ′ is applied on the silicon sheet 52 pasted on the coating cylinder 53 by the coating device 54, and this resin a ′ is transferred to the blanket cylinder 59 and the upper silicon blanket 58 (a). ). Next, the resin plate is exposed and developed on the plate cylinder 61, and a relief plate 60 having projections formed in a predetermined shape is attached, and the relief plate 60 is pressed to remove the resin a 'at the convex portion from the coating surface on the blanket 58. (B). The remaining resin a 'on the blanket 58 surface is transferred onto the substrate sheet 55 on the printing surface plate by moving the movable frame (c). Based on this principle, the black matrix and the color filter layers of the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) pixels are formed on the substrate sheet 55 by moving the movable frame back and forth for black matrix, red, green, and blue. be able to.

In the reverse printing apparatus 50 as described above, the coating cylinder 53 corresponds to the “cylindrical coated material 10” in the above embodiment, and thus the “coating header 1” in the above embodiment is applied to the coating apparatus 54. By doing so, the effect of the coating header 1 of the above-described first embodiment can be exhibited in the reverse printing apparatus 50. (In addition, since FIG. 10, FIG. 11 shows a general reversal printing apparatus, the coating device 54 in a figure does not clearly show the coating header 1 of the Example of this invention.)
That is, the reversal printing apparatus 50 provided with the coating header 1 of Example 1 described above has a uniform thickness, a stable liquid bead shape, and a resin (ink) as a material liquid on the coating cylinder 53 to be coated. ) A 'can be applied (coating), avoiding problems such as ring patterns, and the reverse printing apparatus capable of improving the coating accuracy and coating speed, the present invention has been described with respect to the illustrated embodiment, It goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications may be made to the specific structure within the scope of the present invention.

It is explanatory drawing of the coating header which concerns on Example 1 of this invention, (a) is the arrangement | positioning figure of the coating header of a present Example with respect to a cylindrical coating material, (b) is a coating header of a present Example. FIG. (A) is explanatory drawing of the coating header which concerns on Example 2 of this invention, the arrangement | positioning figure of the coating header of this Example with respect to a plate-shaped coating material, (b) is an Example of this invention 3 is an explanatory diagram of a coating header according to FIG. 3, and is a layout diagram of the coating header of the present embodiment with respect to a flat plate-like material to be coated. It is a coating state figure which shows the example of the test result coated by changing lip downstream side surface angle (alpha). It is a graph showing the test result of the relationship between lip downstream side surface angle (alpha), (b) difficulty of material liquid sticking prevention effect, and (b) lip tip shape workability. It is a layout view of a coating header for a cylindrical coated material in a test for optimizing the coating surface angle θ. It is explanatory drawing of the coating condition at the time of arrange | positioning a coating header upwards directly under the axial center of a cylindrical coating material. It is explanatory drawing of the coating condition at the time of arrange | positioning the coating header in the position which turned (theta) with respect to the vertical direction Y from the position right under the axial center of a cylindrical coating material. It is explanatory drawing of the coating condition at the time of arrange | positioning a coating header at the position of 75 degrees from right under an axial center near the cylinder-shaped to-be-coated material. It is a graph showing the test result of the relationship between the coating surface angle (theta) with respect to the horizontal surface direction X, (c) stability of the bead liquid film of the liquid bead applied, and (d) film thickness error of the liquid bead. It is a schematic block diagram of a general reverse printing apparatus. (A) to (c) are explanatory views of the operation and principle of a general reverse printing apparatus. It is a schematic block diagram of the general example of a thin film forming apparatus. It is a typical principal part sectional side view of an example of the thin film formation apparatus using the conventional surface tension utilization type coating header. It is a typical principal part sectional side view of an example of the thin film forming apparatus using the conventional capillary phenomenon utilization type coating header. It is explanatory drawing of the problem of the conventional surface tension utilization type coating header (cylindrical body), (a) is sectional drawing by typical side view of the nip part of a base material and a cylindrical body, (b) FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line AA in (a). It is explanatory drawing of the problem of the conventional capillary phenomenon utilization type coating header, Comprising: (a) is sectional drawing by typical side view of the nip part of a base material and a coating header, (b) is ( It is typical BB arrow sectional drawing of a).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coating header 1a Nip part 4 Liquid bead 4a Irregular-shaped liquid bead 4b Liquid dripping 10 Cylinder-shaped coating material 10a Peripheral surface 11 Lip upstream side surface 12 Lip downstream side surface 13 Slit 20 Flat plate-shaped coating material 50 Reverse printing apparatus 51 Fixed frame 53 Coating cylinder 54 Coating apparatus 55 Substrate sheet 57 Movable frame 59 Blanket cylinder 61 Plate cylinder 100 Thin film forming apparatus 101 Coating header 102 Coating header moving apparatus 104 Thin film coating roller 104a Circumferential surface θ Coating surface angle G Weight F Vertical Directional liquid withdrawal force f Coating surface direction liquid withdrawal force

Claims (8)

  A coating header for a thin film forming apparatus that applies a liquid material liquid to a coated surface of a material to be coated and forms a thin film on the coated surface, the coating liquid supplying the material liquid to the material to be coated A coating header characterized in that a lip downstream side surface at a lip portion at a tip of the processing header is processed by being inclined toward the coating surface side in a range of 0 ° to 20 ° with respect to the center line of the coating header.   The coating header according to claim 1, wherein the lip portion is arranged close to the coating surface of the material to be coated with a coating surface angle of 20 ° to 65 ° with respect to the horizontal direction facing downward. Coating header characterized by comprising.   The coating header according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the coating header is arranged such that a center direction thereof is oriented perpendicularly to the coating surface at a location where the lip portion is disposed close to the coating header. Coating header to be.   The coating header according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the liquid material liquid is a volatile material liquid.   5. The coating header according to claim 1, wherein the material to be coated is a plate-shaped material to be coated, and the coating surface on which the lip portion is disposed in proximity is the same. A coating header, characterized by being the lower surface of the work material.   5. The coating header according to claim 1, wherein the material to be coated is a cylindrical material to be coated, and the coating surface on which the lip portion is disposed in proximity is the same. Coating header characterized by being the lower peripheral surface of the material.   A thin film forming apparatus comprising the coating header according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A reverse printing apparatus comprising the coating header according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and claim 6.

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