JP2006021104A - Apparatus for discharging liquid droplet - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for discharging a liquid droplet, the positional precision of which, when a functional liquid is discharged, can be kept even when the size of a substrate, the precision of a linear scale or the precision of the apparatus itself is changed, and to provide a method for manufacturing an electro-optical apparatus, the electro-optical apparatus and electronic equipment. <P>SOLUTION: A workpiece W is divided according to each area. A characteristic point 54 for showing a detection starting position is arranged in each area. The time to discharge a functional liquid is driven/controlled on the basis of the position of the characteristic point detected by a characteristic point detecting part 70 for detecting the characteristic point 54. The contents detected by the characteristic point detecting part 70 are reset in the characteristic point 54 arranged in each area on the basis of the detection of the characteristic point 54 and then the printing starting position is decided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a droplet discharge method, a droplet discharge device, an electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus that perform drawing on a substrate by selectively discharging a functional liquid from nozzles arranged in a droplet discharge head. Is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a droplet discharge device using an ink jet print head is expected to be applied in the field of manufacturing various parts because it can accurately discharge minute droplets in a dot shape. Here, for example, it is also used in a manufacturing method of an organic EL display device or a liquid crystal display device, and a functional liquid such as a light emitting material or a filter material is discharged onto a glass substrate to form pixels in the organic EL display device. A filter element is formed in a liquid crystal display device. In this case, in order to discharge the functional liquid to the minute portions separated by the banks, a highly accurate droplet discharge method and a droplet discharge device are required.

  For example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, in the manufacturing method of these organic EL devices and liquid crystal display devices, an encoder (linear encoder or rotary encoder) is used to detect the position of the glass substrate. Based on the position detection result (output of the encoder signal), the discharge position control is performed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP 2002-347238 A

  However, when manufacturing such an organic EL display device, a liquid crystal display device, etc., as described above, the encoder moves and scans over the region of the glass substrate, and feedback pulses from the linear scale obtained by the moving scan are obtained. Information on the divided clock was detected. Further, according to this detection result, the position of the droplet discharge head is controlled to discharge the functional liquid, and thus the landing position of the functional liquid is determined after detecting the entire area of the glass substrate in a predetermined direction in advance. It was a way to decide.

  Here, glass substrates used in organic EL display devices, liquid crystal display devices, and the like are large in size, so that the glass substrate undergoes a size change due to thermal expansion due to a temperature change, or the linear scale expands or contracts. There is a risk that an error may occur as a result of a change or a change in the machine accuracy of the apparatus itself. If there is such an error, the method of deciding the landing position of the functional liquid after detecting the entire area of the glass substrate in the predetermined direction will be shifted from the target position of each drawing area. There was a risk of the functional fluid landing. Therefore, a droplet discharge method and a droplet discharge device that can process the landing position of such a functional liquid with higher accuracy are required.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a droplet discharge device capable of maintaining the discharge position accuracy of a functional liquid even when a change in the size of a substrate, a change in accuracy of a linear scale, or a change in the accuracy of the device itself occurs, and a method for manufacturing an electro-optical device It is to provide an electro-optical device and an electronic apparatus.

  The drawing position correction method of the present invention is a drawing position correction method for drawing on a substrate by selectively discharging a functional liquid from nozzles arranged in a droplet discharge head. A head unit mounted on a carriage, a plurality of drawing regions, and a substrate on which a non-drawing region that divides the head is arranged, and a feature point that divides the substrate for each area and indicates a detection start position in the area. A moving step of relatively moving the head unit and the substrate, a detecting step of detecting a feature point arranged for each area, a position of the feature point detected in the detecting step, and a substrate It is characterized by comprising a step of correcting the correction position on the basis of the design value information and a step of drawing.

  According to the present invention, feature points are arranged for each area, and the correction value is obtained for each area by comparing the design value information of the arranged feature points with the position of the detected feature point. Then, the droplet discharge device is controlled to correct the discharge position for each area, and then the functional droplet is discharged. As a result, even if the size of the substrate is changed or the substrate is thermally expanded and deformed, the ejection position is controlled for each area, so that the functional liquid can be landed on the target position.

  The drawing position correction method of the present invention preferably includes a step of detecting, distributing, and discharging the positions of feature points, and detecting the feature points while discharging.

  According to the present invention, since the finer discharge position control is performed, the functional liquid can be landed on the target position.

  The method of manufacturing an electro-optical device according to the present invention is manufactured by the above drawing position correction method.

  According to the present invention, since the droplet discharge method can maintain the discharge accuracy of the functional liquid even when the substrate becomes large, the electro-optical device can be manufactured with high accuracy.

  The droplet discharge device of the present invention is a droplet discharge device that performs drawing on a substrate by selectively discharging a functional liquid from nozzles arranged in the droplet discharge head. A head unit mounted on a carriage; a plurality of drawing regions; and a non-drawing region partitioning the substrate, the substrate, the head unit, and a moving mechanism for relatively moving the substrate; A feature point detector that divides the substrate into areas, has feature points indicating detection start positions in the areas, the feature points are arranged for the areas, and detects the positions of the feature points; Based on the position detection result of the feature point detection unit, the drawing position is divided and corrected for each area, and the drawing is performed.

  According to the present invention, even if there is a change in machine accuracy, the discharge control device corrects the feature points while detecting the positions of the feature points, so that drawing can be performed with high accuracy.

  In the droplet discharge device of the present invention, it is preferable that the feature point is that a through hole is formed in the drawing region.

  According to the present invention, since the position of the feature point can be detected using the hole as a feature point, this apparatus can be used for a thin substrate, a freely bent substrate, a transparent substrate, and the like.

  In the droplet discharge device according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the feature point is a mark formed in the non-drawing region.

  According to the present invention, since the position of the feature point can be detected using the mark as the feature point, the position of the mark can be detected even if the workpiece (substrate such as a glass substrate) becomes large, so this apparatus can be used.

  In the droplet discharge device according to the aspect of the invention, it is preferable that the feature point has a corner formed in the non-drawing region.

  According to the present invention, the feature point position can be detected by using the corner as a feature point. Therefore, the position of the step portion of the corner can be detected even when the workpiece is bonded, so that the apparatus can be used.

  The electro-optical device of the present invention is manufactured using a droplet discharge device.

  According to the present invention, the electro-optical device can be manufactured with high accuracy because the droplet can be manufactured by the droplet discharge method that can maintain the discharge accuracy of the functional liquid even when the substrate becomes large. Examples of the electro-optical device include a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display device, an electron emission device, a PDP (Plasma / Display / Panel) device, and an electrophoretic display device. The electron emission device is a concept including a so-called FED (Field, Emission, Display) device. Further, as the electro-optical device, a device including metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, and the like can be considered.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the electro-optical device described above.

  According to the present invention, the electronic apparatus corresponds to various electric products in addition to a mobile phone and a personal computer equipped with a so-called flat panel display.

Hereinafter, a droplet discharge device, an electro-optical device manufacturing method, an electro-optical device, and an electronic apparatus that embody the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The droplet discharge device according to the present embodiment is incorporated in a production line of an organic EL device which is a kind of so-called flat panel display, and forms a light emitting element (film forming portion) that becomes each pixel of the organic EL device. It is.
(First embodiment)

  Here, prior to the description of the droplet discharge device, the structure and manufacturing process of the organic EL device will be briefly described.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an organic EL device. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of R, G, and B pixels.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the organic EL device 701 includes a substrate 711, a circuit element portion 721, a pixel electrode 731, a bank portion 741, a light emitting element 751, a cathode 761 (counter electrode), and a sealing substrate 771. A wiring of a flexible substrate (not shown) and a driving IC (not shown) are connected to the organic EL element 702.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a circuit element portion 721 is formed on a substrate 711 of the organic EL element 702, and a plurality of pixel electrodes 731 are aligned on the circuit element portion 721. Bank portions 741 are formed in a lattice pattern between the pixel electrodes 731, and light emitting elements 751 are formed in the recess openings 744 generated by the bank portions 741. A cathode 761 is formed on the entire upper surface of the bank portion 741 and the light emitting element 751, and a sealing substrate 771 is laminated on the cathode 761.

  A manufacturing process of the organic EL element 702 includes a bank part forming process for forming the bank part 741, a plasma treatment process for appropriately forming the light emitting element 751, a light emitting element forming process for forming the light emitting element 751, and a cathode 761. And a sealing step in which a sealing substrate 771 is stacked on the cathode 761 and sealed. That is, the organic EL element 702 is formed by forming the bank portion 741 at a predetermined position on the substrate 711 (work W) on which the circuit element portion 721 and the pixel electrode 731 are formed in advance, and then performing plasma processing, the light emitting element 751 and the cathode 761 (opposing Electrode) are sequentially formed, and further, a sealing substrate 771 is laminated on the cathode 761 and sealed. Note that the organic EL element 702 is easily deteriorated by the influence of moisture in the atmosphere, and therefore, the organic EL element 702 is manufactured in a dry air or inert gas (nitrogen, argon, helium, etc.) atmosphere. preferable.

  Each light emitting element 751 includes a hole injection / transport layer 752 and a film forming portion including a light emitting layer 753 colored in any one color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). The light emitting element forming step includes a hole injecting / transporting layer forming step for forming the hole injecting / transporting layer 752 and a light emitting layer forming step for forming the three-color light emitting layer 753. . In this case, the arrangement of the light emitting layers 753 of three colors with respect to a large number of recess openings 744 formed by the bank part 741 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a stripe arrangement (FIG. 2A), a mosaic arrangement (FIG. 2 (b)) and delta sequences (FIG. 2 (c)) are known.

  The organic EL device 701 is manufactured by manufacturing the organic EL element 702 and then connecting the wiring of the flexible substrate to the cathode 761 of the organic EL element 702 and connecting the wiring of the circuit element unit 721 to the driving IC. The

  The droplet discharge device 1 includes a device used in the injection / transport layer forming step and a device used in the light emitting layer forming step. However, since the device itself has the same structure, R, G, and B3 are used here. The droplet discharge device 1 for forming the color light emitting layer 753 will be described in detail as an example.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of the droplet discharge device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the droplet discharge device 1 is mounted on the machine base 2, the drawing apparatus 3 widely placed on the whole area of the machine base 2, and the machine base 2 so as to be attached to the drawing apparatus 3. And a head function recovery device 4 mounted thereon. The drawing device 3 performs drawing with the functional liquid on the drawing region W1 on the workpiece W, and the head function recovery device 4 appropriately performs function recovery processing (maintenance) of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 provided in the drawing device 3. I am doing so.

  The drawing apparatus 3 includes an X / Y movement mechanism 11 including an X-axis table (main scanning means) 12 and a Y-axis table 13 orthogonal to the X-axis table 12, and a main carriage 14 movably attached to the Y-axis table 13. And a head unit 15 suspended from the main carriage 14. A functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 in which three nozzle rows 6 of R color, G color, and B color are arranged is mounted on the head unit 15 via a sub-carriage 16.

  The X-axis table 12 is mounted with a linear scale 52 a for reading the position of the workpiece W installed on the work table 10, and a linear sensor 51 a (for SCAN) is mounted on the work table 10. The Y-axis table 13 is mounted with a linear scale 52b for reading the current position of the head 5 installed in the head unit 15, and a linear sensor 51b (for FEED) is mounted on the main carriage 14. .

  In this case, the workpiece W, which is a substrate, is composed of a light-transmitting (transparent) glass substrate, and when it is loaded into the X-axis table 12, a pair of features are detected by a pair of workpiece recognition cameras 18 and 18 facing it. By recognizing the points 54, 54, the point 54 is set while being positioned on the X-axis table 12. Further, the work W is arranged in a matrix and a drawing area W1 where functional liquid is discharged (drawing is performed), and the drawing area W1 is partitioned and a non-drawing area W2. The sub-carriage 16 is equipped with one functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 in which three nozzle rows 6 are arranged. These three nozzle rows 6 are arranged in different functional liquid droplet ejection heads 5. May be installed. Moreover, the nozzle row 6 corresponding to each color may be composed of a plurality of rows.

  When the feature point detector 70 is disposed on the Y-axis table 13 and the workpiece W moves in the X-axis direction, the feature point detector 70 detects the position of the feature point 54 provided on the workpiece W. It is configured. The feature point detector 70 used here is a CCD camera 71.

  The head function recovery device 4 includes a moving table 21 placed on the machine base 2, a storage unit 22 placed on the moving table 21, a suction unit 23, and a wiping unit 24. The storage unit 22 seals this in order to prevent the nozzle 5a of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 from drying when the operation of the apparatus is stopped. The suction unit 23 has a function of a flushing box that forcibly sucks the functional liquid from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 and receives the functional liquid discarded from all the nozzles 5 a of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5. . The wiping unit 24 is mainly configured to wipe the nozzle surface 5b of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 after performing the functional liquid suction.

  The storage unit 22 is provided with, for example, a sealing cap 26 corresponding to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 so as to be movable up and down, and ascends toward the head unit (the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5) 15 when the operation of the apparatus is stopped. Then, the sealing cap 26 is brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 5b of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 to seal it. Thereby, vaporization of the functional liquid on the nozzle surface 5b of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is suppressed, and so-called nozzle clogging is prevented.

  Similarly, for example, a suction cap 27 corresponding to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is provided in the suction unit 23 so as to be movable up and down, and the head unit (functional liquid droplet ejection head 5) 15 is filled with functional liquid. When performing or when removing the functional liquid thickened in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5, the suction cap 27 is brought into close contact with the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 to perform pump suction. Further, when the discharge (drawing) of the functional liquid is suspended, the suction cap 27 is slightly separated from the functional liquid droplet discharge head 5 and the flushing (discarding discharge) is performed. Thereby, nozzle clogging is prevented or functional recovery of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 in which nozzle clogging has occurred is achieved.

  In the wiping unit 24, for example, a wiping sheet 28 is provided so as to be fed out and wound up. The wiping unit 28 functions while feeding the fed wiping sheet 28 and moving the wiping unit 24 in the X-axis direction by the moving table 21. The nozzle surface 5b of the droplet discharge head 5 is wiped off. As a result, the functional liquid adhering to the nozzle surface 5b of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is removed, and flight bending or the like during functional liquid ejection is prevented.

  As the head function recovery device 4, in addition to the above units, a discharge inspection unit that inspects the flight state of the functional liquid discharged from the functional liquid droplet discharge head 5, and functions discharged from the functional liquid droplet discharge head 5. It is preferable to mount a weight measuring unit or the like for measuring the weight of the liquid. Further, although omitted in the figure, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus 1 includes a functional liquid supply mechanism that supplies a functional liquid to each functional liquid droplet ejection head 5, the drawing apparatus 3, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5, and the like. A control device (control means: which will be described later) and the like are integrated.

  The X-axis table 12 has a motor-driven X-axis slider 31 that constitutes a drive system in the X-axis direction, and a set table 32 composed of a suction table 33, a θ table 34, and the like is movably mounted thereon. Has been. Similarly, the Y-axis table 13 has a motor-driven Y-axis slider 36 that constitutes a drive system in the Y-axis direction, and the main carriage 14 is movably mounted thereon via a θ table 37. It is configured.

  In this case, the X-axis table 12 is directly supported on the machine base 2, while the Y-axis table 13 is supported by left and right support columns 38, 38 erected on the machine base 2. The X-axis table 12 and the head function recovery device 4 are arranged in parallel to each other in the X-axis direction, and the Y-axis table 13 straddles the X-axis table 12 and the moving table 21 of the head function recovery device 4. So as to extend.

  The Y-axis table 13 includes a head unit (functional liquid droplet ejection head 5) 15 mounted on the Y-axis table 13 at a function recovery area 41 located immediately above the head function recovery device 4 and immediately above the X-axis table 12. It is appropriately moved between the drawing area 42 and the position. That is, when the Y-axis table 13 recovers the function of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5, the head unit 15 faces the function recovery area 41 and the drawing is performed on the workpiece W introduced into the X-axis table 12. First, the head unit 15 is made to face the drawing area 42. A feature point detector 70 is mounted on the end of the Y-axis table 13 so as to detect a feature point 54 provided for each area on the workpiece W.

  On the other hand, the other end of the X-axis table 12 serves as a transfer area 43 for setting (replacement) the workpiece W on the X-axis table 12. Cameras 18 are provided. The pair of workpiece recognition cameras 18 and 18 simultaneously recognize two feature points 54 and 54 of the workpiece W supplied on the suction table 33, and the workpiece W is aligned based on the recognition result. Is done.

  In the droplet discharge device (drawing device 3) 1, the movement of the workpiece W in the X-axis direction is a main scan, and the movement of the functional droplet discharge head (head unit 15) 5 in the Y-axis direction is a sub-scan. The feature point detector 70 is arranged so that the position of the feature point 54 for each area is detected by scanning the surface of W in the X-axis direction.

  When drawing on the workpiece W introduced into the drawing area 42, the functional liquid droplet ejection head (head unit 15) 5 faces the drawing area 42 and main scanning (reciprocating of the workpiece W) is performed by the X-axis table 12. In synchronization with the movement, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is driven to eject (selective ejection of functional liquid) while correcting the ejection position for each area based on the detection result of the feature point detection unit 70 described above. Further, sub-scanning (movement of the head unit 15) is appropriately performed by the Y-axis table 13. By this series of operations, a desired functional liquid is selectively discharged, that is, drawn on the drawing area W1 of the workpiece W.

  Further, when performing functional recovery of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5, the suction unit 23 is moved to the functional recovery area 41 by the moving table 21 and the head unit 15 is moved to the functional recovery area 41 by the Y-axis table 13. Then, flushing of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 or pump suction is performed. When the pump suction is performed, the wiping unit 24 is moved to the function recovery area 41 by the moving table 21 and the function liquid droplet ejection head 5 is wiped. Similarly, when the operation is finished and the operation of the apparatus is stopped, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is capped by the storage unit 22.

  FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the feature points 54 are arranged on the workpiece W. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the work W is partitioned from area 1 to area 12, and 12 areas are provided. Characteristic points 54 are formed by pattern formation (a thin film formation method such as sputtering or vacuum vapor deposition) around the area partitioned and formed in 12 places, and are provided on the workpiece W. Here, the droplet discharge head 5 and the workpiece W move and scan in the X-axis direction. This moving scanning direction is the SCAN direction. Similarly, the droplet discharge head 5 and the workpiece W move and scan in the Y-axis direction. This moving scanning direction is the FEED direction.

  When the feature point 54 on the workpiece W is detected, the feature point detection unit 70 is arranged in the drawing area 42 so as to face the workpiece W and the main scanning (workpiece by the X-axis table 12 is performed similarly to the case of drawing. The feature point detection unit 70 is configured to detect the position (position in the X and Y directions) of the feature point 54 for each area during W reciprocal movement. Here, a glass substrate having a size of 1500 mm × 1500 mm is used as the workpiece W, and it is mainly used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device and the like. Here, the workpiece W is partitioned for each area shown in FIG. 4, and a plurality of chips such as organic EL elements are arranged in the partitioned area. Furthermore, for example, each pixel constituting the organic EL element is arranged on this chip.

  5A and 5B are schematic diagrams when the position of the feature point 54 is detected. FIG. 5A is a side sectional view and FIG. 5B is a plan view.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, a feature point 54 is formed on the workpiece W (see FIG. 4), and an image of the feature point 54 is acquired by the CCD camera 71. The acquired image is subjected to image processing by the image processing unit 215 and displayed on a monitor (not shown). At this time, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the position (actual position) acquired by the CCD camera 71 is deviated from the original position of the feature point 54, the amount of deviation is quantified. Thus, a deviation amount X when it is shifted in the X direction and a deviation amount Y when it is shifted in the Y direction are obtained. In addition, by obtaining this amount of deviation for each area, it is possible to grasp all the amounts of deviation for each area.

  With such a configuration, the feature point detector 70 scans the workpiece W, detects the positions of the feature points 54 (shown in FIG. 4) from the area 1 to the area 12 in order, and prints for each area. The start position is acquired, and the position detection result for each area is stored in each work area block 231 in the RAM 230.

  FIG. 6 is a control block diagram of the droplet discharge device 1.

  Here, the control configuration of the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The droplet discharge device 1 includes an interface 111, discharge pattern data transmitted from the host computer 300 (data for determining discharge / non-discharge of functional liquid of each nozzle 5a), drive waveform data (each nozzle 5a). Waveform data applied to drive the piezoelectric element) and various control data.

  A data input / output unit 110 that outputs data related to the processing status and the like inside the droplet discharge device 1 to the host computer 300, a power supply unit 120 that has a power switch 121 and supplies and disconnects power, and a linear sensor 51 And a linear encoder 50 having a linear scale 52 for detecting the current position of the workpiece W, a CCD camera or a laser displacement measuring instrument 71, a feature point detecting unit 70 for detecting the feature point 54 of the workpiece W, and a function The liquid droplet ejection head 5 has a drawing unit 140 that performs drawing on the workpiece W, a carriage motor 151, a feed motor 152, and a feature point detection unit carriage motor 153, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 5 is mounted. A main carriage 14 (head unit 15) and a conveyance unit 150 (moving machine) for moving and conveying the workpiece W ), A head driver 161, a carriage motor driver 162, a feed motor driver 163, and a feature point detection unit carriage motor driver 164. And a control unit 200 for controlling.

  The control unit 200 includes a CPU 210, a ROM 220, a RAM 230, and an input / output control device (hereinafter referred to as “IOC: Input / Output / Controller”) 250, which are connected to each other via an internal bus 260. The ROM 220 has a control program block 221 for storing various programs to be processed by the CPU 210, and a control data block for storing control data including various tables, in addition to a program for driving and controlling ejection of each nozzle 5a (nozzle row 6). 222.

  The image processing unit 215 provided in the control unit 200 is configured to process the image of the feature point 54 detected from the feature point detection unit 70 and to display the image on a monitor (not shown). .

  The RAM 230 has a discharge pattern data block 232 for storing discharge pattern data transmitted from the host computer 300 in addition to the work area block 231 used as a flag or the like, and is used as a work area for control processing. The RAM 230 is always backed up so that the stored data is retained even when the power is turned off.

  In the IOC 250, a logic circuit that complements the functions of the CPU 210 and handles interface signals with various peripheral circuits is configured by a gate array or a custom LSI. As a result, the IOC 250 captures the ejection pattern data and control data from the host computer 300 as they are or processes them and imports them into the internal bus 260 and, in conjunction with the CPU 210, outputs the data and control signals output from the CPU 210 to the internal bus 260. Then, it is output as it is or processed to the drive unit 160.

  Then, according to the control program in the ROM 220, the CPU 210 inputs various signals and data from the respective units in the host computer 300 and the droplet discharge device 1 via the IOC 250 according to the control program in the ROM 220, and stores the various data in the RAM 230. By processing and outputting various signals and data to each part in the droplet discharge device 1 via the IOC 250, the discharge timing of the functional liquid from each nozzle 5a is driven and controlled, and drawing is performed on the workpiece W. In the present embodiment, the ejection timing drive control is performed for each nozzle row 6 by adjusting the nozzle interval in the nozzle row 6 direction to the pixel pitch.

  On the other hand, the host computer 300 outputs ejection pattern data, drive waveform data, and various control data, and also inputs an interface 310 for inputting data relating to the processing status inside the apparatus transmitted from the droplet ejection apparatus 1, CPU, ROM And a memory such as a RAM. Also, a central control unit 320 that controls the entire personal computer, an OS 330 such as Windows (registered trademark), and a driver 340 for controlling the droplet discharge device 1 are provided. Further, the central control unit 320 (RAM or the like) has a correspondence table 350 for determining the mark position of the linear scale 52 and the ejection / non-ejection corresponding to the mark position. With reference to this, discharge pattern data for determining the discharge timing of the functional liquid from each nozzle row 6 is generated.

  In addition, rather than drivingly controlling the discharge of the functional liquid based on the discharge pattern data transmitted from the host computer 300, the above correspondence table 350 is stored in the droplet discharge device 1, and based on this, A configuration may be adopted in which whether or not the functional liquid is discharged from each nozzle row 6 is determined.

  The configuration of the droplet discharge device 1 in the first embodiment is as described above, and a method for detecting and correcting the position of the feature point 54 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 7. do.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the main carriage 14 is away from the drawing area 42, the work W is set on the work table 10, and the work table 10 is moved in the main scanning direction (X-axis direction) by the feed motor 152. To do. Here, when the workpiece W reaches the drawing area 42, the feature point detection unit 70 is moved in the sub-scanning direction (Y-axis direction) by the feature detection unit carriage motor 153 to detect the feature point 54. The feature point detection unit 70 employs the CCD camera 71 shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B to detect the feature points 54 using the pattern shown in FIG. 4 as an example. Here, in the detection of the feature point 54, the actual value of the position information is obtained by counting feedback pulses from the linear sensor 51b provided in the linear encoder 50b.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a process of detecting and correcting the position of the feature point 54 for each area of the work W.

  FIG. 7 shows a process from when the feature point detection unit 70 detects the position of the feature point 54 for each area provided on the surface of the workpiece W (glass substrate) until the detected position information is stored. . Here, the description of the drawing process for drawing on the workpiece W is omitted.

  When the workpiece W is set in the drawing area 42, in step S 1, the feature point detection unit carriage motor 153 provided in the transport unit 150 is driven by the feature point detection unit carriage motor driver 164 provided in the drive unit 160. Thus, the feature point detector 70 scans and moves for each area shown in FIG. Similarly, the scanning movement is performed in the X direction.

  In step S <b> 2, the feature point detection unit 70 acquires a detection signal indicating the position information of the feature point 54, and the acquired detection signal is transmitted to the IOC 250. This detection signal is further transmitted from the IOC 250 to the image processing unit 215 provided in the control unit 200, and the image processing unit 215 performs image processing to recognize the feature point 54 as an image. The image picked up by the CCD 71 is displayed on a monitor (not shown).

  In step S3, position information of the actually measured feature point 54 is obtained by counting feedback pulses from the linear sensor 51b. That is, the position when the CCD 71 captures an image is obtained by counting feedback pulses from the linear sensor 51b, and the image of the feature point 54 is recognized in the image, and the image of the feature point 54 with respect to the reference position of the image is obtained. The relative position (X1, Y1) is calculated as the recognition position, and the position information (position coordinates) (x, y) (=) of the feature point 54 from the reference position (X0, Y0) and the relative position (X1, Y1). X0 + X1, Y0 + Y1). Alternatively, whether or not the feature point 54 is at the center of the image captured by the CCD 71 is determined by image recognition. If the feature point 54 is present, the position when the image is captured is represented by the position information (X , Y).

  In step S4, the workpiece design value information (original position) of the feature point 54 is compared with the position information of the detected feature point. If the workpiece design value information (original position) matches the detected feature point position information (no correction value), the process proceeds to step S6.

  In step S5, when the workpiece design value information (original position) and the detected feature point position information are not matched in step S4, the deviation amount (correction value) is calculated as an area correction value calculation. To do. As shown in FIG. 5B, the amount of deviation obtained at this time is the amount of deviation X in the X direction of the feature point 54 for each area and the amount of deviation Y in the Y direction. The correction value in the direction and the correction value in the Y direction are calculated, and this correction value is calculated for each area.

  In step S6, the correction value for each area obtained by calculation is stored in the work area block 231 provided in the RAM 230, and information on the operator, the print start position, and the discharge interval is obtained from the correction value for each area. Save to H.231. The positions of at least two diagonal feature points 54 among the arranged feature points 54 are obtained, and the correction values of the dot ejection start positions (end positions) X and Y in the region are obtained by distribution.

  In step S7, when the feature point detection unit 70 scans the entire area of the workpiece W by the above-described method and finishes obtaining the position information of the feature point 54, the droplet discharge head 5 provided in the head unit 15 Drawing can be started on the workpiece W.

  Here, the feature points 54 are formed by the pattern forming method, but the same can be achieved by adopting the pattern for forming the bumps as the feature points 54.

In the first embodiment as described above, the following effects are obtained.
(1) In this embodiment, even if an error occurs due to deformation of the glass substrate caused by temperature or the like, expansion / contraction of the linear scale, changes in the mechanical accuracy of the apparatus itself (pitching, yawing), the glass substrate A method for determining the print start position for each area is obtained by dividing each area, obtaining a correction value for each area, and feeding back the correction value to the control unit. As a result, the discharge position for discharging the droplets can be controlled with high accuracy, so that the drawing accuracy can be improved. In addition, even if the size becomes larger than the current glass substrate in the future, this method determines the printing start position for each area, and thus does not depend on the size of the glass substrate. Therefore, drawing accuracy can be maintained. Such a droplet discharge method and the droplet discharge apparatus 1 can be provided.
(Second Embodiment)

Next, a second embodiment will be described based on the drawings.
In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component same as the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, and the component which has the same function, The description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram when the feature point 54 of the tiling substrate W3 of the second embodiment is detected.

  Here, in the tiling substrate W3 shown in FIG. 8, the patterning substrate W5 is bonded to the base substrate W4 with an adhesive. The base substrate W4 and the patterning substrate W5 are made of glass, and a UV (ultraviolet) curable adhesive was used for bonding these glasses. As shown in FIG. 8, a total of eight patterning substrates W5 are pasted on the base substrate W4 one by one, and the patterning substrate W5 is configured to partition each area. Here, the step between the base substrate W4 and the patterning substrate W5 at this time is defined as a feature point 54. The thicknesses of the base substrate W4 and the patterning substrate W5 are 0.4 mm to 0.7 mm, respectively. Here, the droplet discharge head 5 and the tiling substrate W3 move and scan in the X-axis direction. This moving scanning direction is the SCAN direction. Similarly, the droplet discharge head 5 and the tiling substrate W3 are moved and scanned in the Y-axis direction. This moving scanning direction is the FEED direction.

  FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram when the feature point 54 is detected by the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 of the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the workpiece W and the feature point detector 70 (laser displacement measuring instrument 71) are arranged to face each other. Here, when the laser light R <b> 1 is emitted from the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 toward the workpiece W, the reflected light R <b> 2 reflected on the workpiece W is incident on the laser displacement measuring instrument 71. . The workpiece W and the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 are moved relative to each other in the direction of the arrow so that the interval H (displacement amount) between the workpiece W and the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 at each detection point is acquired. Has been. The laser displacement measuring instrument used here is a visible light semiconductor laser having a wavelength of 670 nm (manufactured by OMRON Corporation).

  The configuration of the tiling substrate W3 and the feature point detection unit 70 in the second embodiment is as described above, and the operation will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The laser displacement measuring device 71 scans each area from area 1 to area 8 in the X-axis direction for each area, and obtains position information of the feature point 54 at the stepped portion for each area. Similarly, the laser displacement measuring device 71 FEEDs each area from area 1 to area 8 for each area in the Y-axis direction, and obtains position information of the feature point 54 at the stepped portion for each area.

  The position information (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) for each area of the feature point 54 obtained as described above is calculated in the same manner as in the first embodiment, according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the second embodiment as described above, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects obtained in the first embodiment.
(2) In the configuration of the tiling substrate W3 in which the substrates are bonded to each other with an adhesive or the like, an error occurs due to an effect caused by a difference in thermal expansion between the adhesive and the glass substrate. It was difficult. However, since the stepped portion of the bonding is used as the feature point 54 and the positional information for each area is acquired and corrected before drawing, it is not necessary to consider the bonding accuracy between the substrates. Drawing accuracy can be maintained. That is, such a droplet discharge method and the droplet discharge device 1 can be provided.
(Third embodiment)

Next, a third embodiment will be described based on the drawings.
In addition, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the component which has the same function and the same function as above-mentioned 1st Embodiment and 2nd Embodiment, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram when the feature point 54 of the flexible tape circuit board of the third embodiment is detected.

  Here, the flexible tape circuit board shown in FIG. 10 is a polymer material that is made of resin and can be bent freely. As shown in FIG. 10, a through hole (hole) formed on a flexible substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as a flexible substrate) W <b> 6 is defined as a feature point 54. This feature point 54 is provided for each of the areas 1 to 3. The flexible substrate W6 has a thickness of 0.2 mm to 0.5 mm and a length of 300 m to 400 m. Further, the flexible substrate W6 can be drawn on both sides as well as on one side.

  Since the flexible substrate W6 has a tape shape, it is difficult to scan the flexible substrate W6 at the time of drawing. Therefore, the droplet discharge head 5 is moved in the Y-axis direction to draw on the flexible substrate W6. That is, even when the position information of the feature point 54 is acquired, the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 is moved in the Y-axis direction and scanned on the flexible substrate W6 as in the case of drawing.

  At this time, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 detects the feature point 54 of the through hole. Here, since the feature point 54 is a hole, the hiring light R1 passes and the reflected light R2 is not received by the laser displacement measuring instrument 71, so the interval H cannot be obtained. On the contrary, when the laser displacement measuring instrument 71 moves and scans in the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction, the reflected light R2 reflected on the flexible substrate W6 can be received by the laser displacement measuring instrument 71. At this time, the interval H can be obtained. In this way, even when the through hole is used as the feature point 54, the presence / absence of the feature point 54 is detected by the laser displacement measuring instrument 71, whereby position information (X-axis direction, Y-axis) of the feature point 54 for each area is detected. (Direction) can be acquired.

  The configuration of the flexible substrate W6 in the third embodiment is as described above, and the operation thereof will be described with reference to FIG.

  The laser displacement measuring device 71 scans each area from area 1 to area 3 in the X-axis direction for each area, and obtains position information of the feature point 54 for each area. Similarly, the laser displacement measuring device 71 FEEDs the areas 1 to 3 for each area in the Y-axis direction, and obtains the position information of the feature point 54 for each area.

  The position information (X-axis direction and Y-axis direction) for each area of the feature point 54 obtained as described above is calculated in the same manner as in the first embodiment according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

In the third embodiment as described above, the following effects are obtained in addition to the effects obtained in the first and second embodiments.
(3) In the flexible substrate W6 in which the substrate can be bent freely, when the flexible substrate W6 is already drawn on the back side in consideration of double-sided drawing, the step due to the back side wiring pattern is fixed when the flexible substrate W6 is fixed. Is concerned about the impact of For this reason, it is predicted that the drawing position will vary due to the influence of the thickness variation and deformation of the flexible substrate W6. However, a through hole is provided as the feature point 54, and the position information is obtained from the feature point 54. These effects can be avoided by adopting a method of drawing after correction and drawing. That is, although the drawing accuracy is improved even in the case of single-sided drawing, drawing can be performed without being affected by the step on the back side even in double-sided drawing, so that the drawing accuracy is improved. That is, such a droplet discharge method and the droplet discharge device 1 can be provided.

  In the above embodiment, the case where a glass substrate or a resinous film-like tape substrate is used as the workpiece W has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the substrate may cause thermal expansion or deformation due to a temperature change. For example, the present invention is applicable.

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the above-described organic EL device 701 as an electro-optical device (device), but also includes a liquid crystal display device, an electron emission device, a PDP (Plasma / Display / Panel) device, an electrophoretic display device, and the like. Applicable. The electron emission device is a concept including a so-called FED (Field, Emission, Display) device. Further, as the electro-optical device, a device including metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, and the like is also conceivable.

  In addition, examples of the electronic apparatus equipped with the electro-optical device include a mobile phone equipped with a so-called flat panel display, a personal computer, and various electric products. A specific example of the electronic apparatus of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone. In FIG. 11, reference numeral 600 denotes a mobile phone main body, and reference numeral 601 denotes a liquid crystal display unit provided with a liquid crystal display device. In addition, although the electronic device of this embodiment shall be provided with a liquid crystal device, it can also be set as the electronic device provided with other electro-optical apparatuses, such as an organic electroluminescent display apparatus and a plasma type display apparatus.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and modifications, improvements, and the like within the scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention. A modification is shown below.

  (Modification 1) In the first embodiment, the number of areas is 12 in the range of 1 to 12, but this is not particular. For example, the number of areas may be increased to 16 or more areas from 1 to 16.

  By doing this, the number of areas is increased and more feature points 54 are arranged than in the first embodiment, so that it may take some time to detect and correct the ejection position. Since the area of the area is narrower than that in the first embodiment, the discharge position can be controlled with higher accuracy, so that drawing with higher accuracy can be performed. Such a droplet discharge method and the droplet discharge device 1 can be provided.

  (Modification 2) In the first to third embodiments, the CCD camera or the laser displacement measuring device 71 is used for the feature point detection unit 70, but this is not particular. For example, a photo sensor or the like may be employed.

  In this way, the same kind of effect as in the first to third embodiments described above can be obtained.

  (Modification 3) Although the feature point detection unit 70 is arranged on the Y-axis table 13 in the first to third embodiments, this is not particular. For example, it may be arranged on the main carriage 14.

  In this way, the same kind of effect as in the first to third embodiments described above can be obtained.

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an organic EL device according to a first embodiment. It is the figure which showed the arrangement | sequence of the light emitting layer which comprises an organic EL element, (a) is a stripe arrangement | sequence, (b) is a mosaic arrangement | sequence, (c) is explanatory drawing of a delta arrangement | sequence. The plane schematic diagram of a droplet discharge device. Schematic diagram of feature points arranged on a workpiece. It is a schematic diagram at the time of CCD camera use, (a) is a sectional side view, (b) is a top view. The block diagram which showed the main control system of the droplet discharge apparatus. The flowchart of a feature point detection. The schematic diagram when detecting the feature point of the tiling board | substrate of 2nd Embodiment. The schematic diagram at the time of laser displacement measuring instrument use. The schematic diagram of the feature point arranged on the flexible substrate of 3rd Embodiment. FIG. 11 illustrates a specific example of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Droplet discharge device, 3 ... Drawing apparatus, 5 ... Functional droplet discharge head, 6 ... Nozzle row, 54 ... Feature point, 70 ... Feature point detection part, 71 ... CCD camera or laser displacement measuring device, 153 ... Feature Point detection unit carriage motor, 164 ... feature point detection unit carriage motor driver, 215 ... image processing unit, 231 ... work area block, H ... displacement amount, W ... work, W1 ... drawing area, W2 ... non-drawing area, X ... A displacement amount in the X direction, a Y displacement amount in the Y direction, a 600 mobile phone, and a liquid crystal display unit including a liquid crystal display device.

Claims (9)

A drawing position correction method for drawing on a substrate by selectively discharging a functional liquid from nozzles arranged in a droplet discharge head,
A head unit having the droplet discharge head mounted on a carriage;
The substrate on which a plurality of drawing areas and a non-drawing area that divides the drawing area are arranged,
The substrate is divided into areas, and feature points indicating detection start positions in the areas are provided.
A moving step of relatively moving the head unit and the substrate;
A detection step of detecting feature points arranged for each area;
A step of equally correcting the correction position based on the position of the feature point detected in the detection step and the board design value information;
Drawing process;
A drawing position correcting method characterized by comprising: The drawing position correction method according to claim 1,
A drawing position correction method comprising: detecting a feature point position, distributing the feature point, and discharging the feature point.   An electro-optical device manufacturing method manufactured by the drawing position correction method according to claim 1. A droplet discharge device that performs drawing on a substrate by selectively discharging a functional liquid from nozzles arranged in a droplet discharge head,
A head unit having the droplet discharge head mounted on a carriage;
The substrate on which a plurality of drawing areas and a non-drawing area that divides the drawing area are arranged,
A moving mechanism for relatively moving the head unit and the substrate;
A feature point detector that divides the substrate into areas and has a feature point indicating a detection start position in the area, the feature point being arranged for each area, and detecting the position of the feature point; ,
Based on the position detection result of the feature point detection unit, correct the drawing position for each area,
A droplet discharge device characterized by drawing. The droplet discharge device according to claim 4,
The feature point is that the through-hole is formed in the drawing region. The droplet discharge device according to claim 4,
The feature point is that the mark is formed in the non-drawing area. The droplet discharge device according to claim 4,
The feature point is that the corner is formed in the non-drawing region.   An electro-optical device manufactured by the droplet discharge device according to claim 4. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device according to claim 8.

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