JP2006224061A - Blade application apparatus and blade application method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a blade application apparatus and a blade application method for preventing mixing of air into an application liquid and for efficiently applying application liquid. <P>SOLUTION: The blade application apparatus is provided with: a mask member having an opening for exposing an upper surface of a planar substrate when arranged on the planar substrate; and a long sized application member arranged in the upper surface side of the mask member and for applying the supplied application liquid onto the exposed planar substrate from the opening by moving in parallel to the upper surface, and the mask member is provided with a groove part for storing the excess application liquid. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a blade coating apparatus and a blade coating method for coating a coating liquid on a flat substrate.

  Conventionally, roll coating, gravure coating, and extrusion coating are known as coating methods for coating a coating solution on a flat substrate.

  Further, as a coating method for coating a coating solution on a flat substrate, a blade coating method as shown in Patent Document 1 below is known.

  In the conventional blade coating apparatus shown in FIG. 5, the flat substrate 4 is disposed so as to overlap the lower surface of the mask 2, and the flat substrate 4 is exposed from the opening 7 formed in the mask 2 and supported. Then, the coating liquid is supplied onto the mask 2, and the long blade 5 is moved in the direction of the arrow on the upper surface of the mask 2, so that the coating liquid is scratched and applied to the coated surface of the flat substrate exposed from the opening 4. By depositing the liquid, a coating layer made of the coating liquid is formed on the flat substrate 4. In the case where the flat substrate 4 is a disk-shaped disk substrate such as an optical disk, for example, a central opening is formed at the center of the substrate, so that the coating liquid does not adhere to the central opening and its peripheral edge during the coating process. A center cap 3 is attached. After coating, the flat substrate 4 is separated from the mask 2 to obtain the flat substrate 4 having a coating layer.

  For example, such a coating method has been applied as a means for forming a printing surface on a substrate by blade coating in a manufacturing process of a magnetic recording medium having a disk-shaped substrate.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-220966

  FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a coating process in a conventional coating method. As shown in FIG. 6A, when the coating liquid 103 is scraped off by the blade 102 and moved on the opening 101a of the mask 101, the coating liquid 103 is applied to the area exposed on the disk D from the opening 101a. At the same time, the coating liquid 103 overflowing without being filled in the opening 101 a is pushed to the edge of the mask 101 by the blade 102. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the blade 102 is folded back and forth on the mask 101, the blade 102 is lifted and moved to the opposite side across the overflowed coating solution 103. At this time, since the coating liquid 103 adheres to the lower end portion of the blade 102, when the blade 102 moves on the coating liquid 103, the adhered coating liquid 103 is stretched to the blade 102, and becomes a thin film. It is attached so as to cover it (see FIG. 6C). At this time, as shown in FIG. 6D, air is mixed between the thin film-like coating liquid adhering to the blade 102 and the coating liquid 103 deposited on the mask 101, and bubbles 103 a are generated in the coating liquid 103. Sometimes. When the bubbles 103a are mixed in the coating layer of the disk D, there is room for improvement in that the coating surface cannot be satisfactorily applied, such as unevenness on the coating surface. It may be improved by adjusting the moving height and distance of the blade 102, but it is easily affected by the amount of liquid and unstable.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a blade coating apparatus and a blade coating method capable of preventing air from being mixed into the coating liquid and efficiently using the coating liquid. There is to do.

  The above object of the present invention is a blade coating apparatus for forming a coating layer by applying a coating solution to a flat substrate, wherein an opening for exposing the upper surface of the flat substrate is formed in a state of being disposed on the flat substrate. The mask member is disposed on the upper surface side of the mask member, and is driven in parallel to the upper surface to apply the supplied coating liquid to the flat substrate exposed from the opening. This is achieved by a blade coating device characterized in that a groove for storing excess coating liquid is provided in the mask member.

  Further, the object of the present invention is to dispose the coating member provided on the upper surface side of the mask member in a state where the mask member is disposed on the planar substrate and the planar substrate is exposed from the opening of the mask member. A blade coating method in which the supplied coating liquid is applied to the flat substrate exposed from the opening to form a coating layer, and the excess coating liquid not filled in the opening It is achieved by a blade coating method characterized by storing the water in the groove.

  According to the present invention, when coating is performed, it is possible to drop and store excess coating liquid remaining on the mask member without filling the opening. In this way, when the coating member is driven on the mask member, excess coating liquid is accommodated in the groove, so that the air is attached to the coating member and stretched along with the movement of the coating member. It can prevent mixing. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects such as unevenness on the surface of the coating layer formed on the flat substrate, and good coating can be performed.

  In the blade coating device, it is preferable that the groove is provided at a folding position of the coating member in a state where the coating member is driven to reciprocate. If it carries out like this, when apply | coating a reciprocating drive of an application | coating member with respect to opening of a mask member, it can be made to store by dropping an application liquid in a groove part in the return position of an application | coating member. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the excessive coating liquid from being stretched following the movement of the coating member in a state where the coating liquid adheres to the coating member, and to prevent air from being mixed into the coating liquid.

  In the blade coating device, it is preferable that the coating member is inserted into the groove portion and driven so as to scrape the coating liquid stored in the groove portion. In this way, in the coating process, excess coating solution can be temporarily stored in the groove portion to prevent the occurrence of defects such as air mixing, and the coating solution stored in the groove portion is scraped out by the coating member. By applying to the coating, the coating solution can be used without waste.

  In the blade coating apparatus of the present invention, if the coating solution is supplied from the groove during coating, there is no need to provide a nozzle for dropping the coating solution on the mask member.

  In the blade coating method of the present invention, it is preferable that the coating member is reciprocally driven on the mask member, and excess coating liquid is stored in the groove portion at the turn-back position of the reciprocating drive. In this way, in the step of reciprocating the coating member, the coating member can be stored by dropping the coating solution into the groove at the turn-back position of the coating member, so that the coating member remains attached to the coating member. It is possible to prevent the air from being mixed into the coating liquid by being stretched by the above.

  In the blade coating method of the present invention, it is preferable to insert the coating member into the groove and scrape out the coating solution stored in the groove. In this way, at the time of application, excess coating liquid can be temporarily stored in the groove portion to prevent the occurrence of defects such as air mixing, and the coating liquid stored in the groove portion is scraped out by the coating member. By applying to the coating, the coating solution can be used without waste.

  In the blade coating method of the present invention, the coating liquid is preferably supplied from the groove. In this way, it is not necessary to supply the coating liquid onto the mask member, and the coating liquid supplied onto the mask member comes into contact with the coating member as in the prior art, so that the driving coating member contacts with the mask member. Thus, it does not adhere to the application member.

  Furthermore, by applying the present invention and applying the coating liquid to a disc-shaped recording medium to form at least one of the printed surfaces, the printed surface can be made a good surface free from irregularities and the like. The waste of the coating solution used for constituting the printing surface can be eliminated.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, while being able to prevent that air mixes in a coating liquid, the blade coating device and blade coating method which can use a coating liquid efficiently can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, an embodiment of a blade coating apparatus and a blade coating method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a blade coating apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIGS. 2A to 2C are cross-sectional views illustrating the coating process. FIGS. 3A to 3D are cross-sectional views illustrating the procedure according to the present invention in the coating process. 4 (a) to 4 (c) are cross-sectional views illustrating another procedure according to the present invention in the coating process.

  The blade coating apparatus 10 forms a coating layer by coating a coating liquid on the surface of a planar substrate that is a member to be coated. In this embodiment, a disk-shaped recording medium (hereinafter also referred to as a disk) is used as an example of a planar substrate. And D is a member to be coated.

  The blade coating device 10 includes a mask member 11 that is a thin plate-like member, and the mask member 11 is formed with a circular opening 11a in a top view.

  Further, the blade coating device 10 is provided with a substrate support portion 14 that can support the disk D by placing it on an upper support base and can move relative to the mask member 11. When the substrate support unit 14 is positioned above, the supported disk D is pressed below the opening 11a of the mask member 11 and holds the disk D in this state. Thus, the mask member 11 is disposed on the disk D.

  In the present embodiment, the opening 11a is formed in a circular shape having a diameter of about 120 mm. Note that the shape of the opening 11a can be made to match the shape of the coating layer formed on the disk D, and the shape of the coating layer can be freely set by appropriately changing the opening shape of the mask member 11. it can.

  Further, when the substrate support unit 14 is moved to a lower position, the disk D of the substrate support unit 14 is taken out by a robot arm or the like (not shown) and carried to the downstream side of the transport system, and the substrate support unit 14 is coated. Another disk D to which no liquid is applied can be placed. In the present embodiment, the substrate support portion 14 is moved relative to the mask member 11, but the mask member 11 may be moved relative to the substrate support portion 14.

  A long coating member (blade) 12 is provided on the upper surface (upper surface in FIG. 1) side of the mask member 11 at a position slightly separated from the upper surface. The application member 12 is configured to be driven in parallel to the surface direction of the upper surface, as indicated by an arrow in FIG. Specifically, the application member 12 is configured to be driven in parallel to the xy plane shown in FIG. Further, as will be described later, the application member 12 is configured to be appropriately driven in the z direction.

  The material of the coating member 51 is preferably a chromium content that is equal to or greater than the chromium content of SUS316, and this further improves the wear resistance, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and releasability. Can be made.

  Next, the procedure for forming the coating layer on the disk will be described. As shown in FIG. 2A, the disk D is placed flat on the substrate support portion 14 in a state of being separated from the mask member 11. At this time, it arrange | positions in the board | substrate support part 14 in the state which turned the to-be-coated side in the disk D to the upper surface.

  By relatively moving the substrate support portion 14 and the mask member 11, the disk D is held in a state of being pressed below the opening 11 a of the mask member 11 as shown in FIG. At this time, the outer peripheral end of the disk D contacts the lower part of the opening 11a, and the upper surface of the disk D is exposed upward from the opening 11a. The area on the disc D exposed from the opening 11a is the application area.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, a center cap 13 for preventing the coating liquid from being attached is attached to the center opening of the disk D in a state where the mask member 11 is disposed on the disk D. The center cap 13 is sucked and held by a suction portion of a center cap attaching / detaching arm (not shown), and is attached to the center opening of the disk D from above the opening 11a.

  As shown in FIG. 2 (c), the coating member 12 is driven in a slight gap above the mask member 11 and parallel to the surface direction (the direction indicated by the arrow in the figure), and the coating supplied in advance. The liquid 16 is spread on the side surface of the application member 12. As a result, the coating liquid 16 is thinly spread on the mask member 11 and filled in the opening 11a, and is applied to the coated area on the upper surface of the disk D exposed from the opening 11a. By drying after the coating process, the coating liquid 16 applied to the disk D is cured and a coating layer is formed.

  In the present embodiment, the application member 12 is driven to reciprocate in the linear direction above the opening 11a of the mask member 11, but is not limited thereto.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mask member 11 has grooves 15 formed on both sides of the opening 11 a with respect to the driving method of the application member 12. The groove portion 15 has a shape that is recessed downward from the upper surface of the mask member 11 so that an excessive coating liquid in the mask member 11 can be stored. Moreover, the groove part 15 is formed in parallel with the longitudinal direction of the application member 12, and it is comprised so that at least one part of the lower end part of the application member 12 can be inserted in the inner side. In this embodiment, each groove part 15 is provided in the folding | turning position of the both ends side of the drive area | region of the application member 12 to reciprocately drive.

  The groove part 15 should just be formed in one of the folding | turning positions in the both ends of the drive area | region of the application member 12. FIG. Moreover, the groove part 15 should just be formed in either of the drive area | regions of the application | coating member 12, and the number and shape can be suitably changed in the range which can show | play the effect of this invention.

  In the present embodiment, the coating solution 13 can be supplied from each groove 15. Although not shown, a supply pipe that communicates with the inside of the groove 15 may be provided, the supply pipe may be connected to the coating liquid supply section 22, and the coating liquid may be sent to the groove 15 through the supply pipe during coating. The blade coating device 10 may be configured such that the coating liquid 13 is ejected from a supply nozzle (not shown) and supplied to the upper surface of the mask member 11.

  The blade coating apparatus 10 may include a blade driving unit 23 that controls driving of the coating member 12 and a control unit 21 that can control the blade driving unit 23. Alternatively, the coating liquid supply unit 22 may be connected to the control unit 21, and the driving of the coating member 12 and the supply of the coating liquid 16 may be linked by the control unit.

  The blade coating device 10 can store the excess coating liquid 16 that has not been filled in the opening 11a in the groove 15 during coating.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the procedure for storing the coating liquid in the groove will be described.
As shown in FIG. 3A, a part of the coating liquid 16 is filled in the opening 11a of the mask member 11 by the coating member 12, and the remainder is not filled in the opening 11a, so that the excess coating liquid 16a is filled. It becomes.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (b), the coating member 12 is further scraped to the upper surface side of the coating member 11, and the coating member 12 is driven to the vicinity of the upper portion of the groove portion 15, so that the excess coating liquid 16 drops into the groove portion 15. Is included. As shown in FIG. 3C, in a state where the application member 12 is positioned on the groove portion 15, the coating liquid 16 attached to the application member 12 hangs down on the groove portion 15 due to its own weight.

  As shown in FIG. 3 (d), when the upper portion of the groove portion 15 is driven and passed, the excess coating liquid 16 is stored in the groove portion 15 and separated without being stretched by the application member 12.

  As the dimensions of the groove portion 15, the width W of the groove can be in the range of 10 mm to 50 mm, and the depth d of the groove can be in the range of 5 mm to 25 mm.

  In the blade coating apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the excess coating liquid 16a stored in the groove portion 15 can be used as a coating liquid used in the subsequent coating process. In addition, the excess coating liquid 16a stored inside the groove part 15 may be discharged | emitted from the mask member 11 with the collection pipe | tube etc. which are not shown in figure, and may be sent to a coating liquid supply part via a reflux pipe.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the procedure for scraping off the coating solution stored in the groove will be described.
As shown in FIG. 4A, the lower end portion of the application member 12 is inserted inside the groove portion 15 and brought into contact with the stored application liquid 16b (FIG. 4B). Thereafter, the coating member 12 is driven upward and is driven parallel to the upper surface of the mask member 11, whereby the coating liquid 16 b stored inside the groove portion 15 is scraped to the upper surface of the mask member 11. At this time, the application member 12 is driven in the z direction based on the shape of the groove 15 along with the drive parallel to the xy plane shown in FIG. The driving locus of the application member 12 is defined by a program including three-dimensional position information represented by xyz coordinates, and can be stored in the control unit 21 in advance.

  By driving the coating member 12 in parallel with the upper surface of the mask member 11, the scraped coating liquid 16b is pushed by the side surface of the coating member 12 and is spread to the opening 11a side. By further driving the application member 12, the application liquid 16 b is filled in the opening 11 a and applied to the application area of the disk D.

  According to the present invention, when coating is performed, the excess coating liquid 16 that remains on the mask member 11 without being filled in the opening 11a can be dropped into the groove 15 and stored. In this way, when the coating member 12 is driven on the mask member 11, the excess coating liquid 16 a is accommodated in the groove portion 15, so that it adheres to the coating member 12 and moves along with the movement of the coating member 12. It is possible to prevent air from being mixed in by being stretched. Therefore, since the surplus coating liquid 16 in which air is not mixed is used for the subsequent coating, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defects such as irregularities on the surface of the coating layer formed on the disk D, and good coating can be performed. It can be carried out.

  If the groove portion 15 is provided at the folding position of the coating member 12 in a state in which the coating member 12 is driven to reciprocate as in the present embodiment, the coating member with respect to the opening 11a of the mask member 11 is used. When coating is performed by reciprocally driving 12, the coating liquid 16 can be stored by dropping into the groove 15 at the turn-back position of the coating member 12. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the excess coating liquid 16a from being stretched following the movement of the coating member 12 in a state where the coating liquid 16a adheres to the coating member 12, and air can be mixed into the coating liquid. Can be prevented.

  Further, as in the above-described embodiment, it is preferable that the application member 12 is inserted into the groove portion 15 and driven so as to scrape the application liquid 16b stored in the groove portion 15. In this way, in the coating process, it is possible to temporarily store the excess coating liquid 16a in the groove 15 to prevent the occurrence of defects such as air mixing (see FIG. 3). The coating solution 16b is scraped by the coating member 12 and used for coating (see FIG. 4), so that the coating solution 16 can be used without waste.

  By applying the present invention to the disk-shaped recording medium and applying the coating liquid to form at least one layer of the printed surface, the coating can be performed so that a good surface state without defects such as irregularities can be obtained. The waste of the coating solution used for constituting the printing surface can be eliminated.

It is a figure explaining the structure of a blade coating device. It is sectional drawing explaining an application | coating process. It is sectional drawing explaining the procedure which concerns on this invention in an application | coating process. It is sectional drawing explaining another procedure which concerns on this invention in an application | coating process. It is a figure which shows the conventional blade coating device. It is sectional drawing which shows the application | coating process in the conventional application | coating system.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Coating apparatus 11 Mask member 12 Coating member 15 Groove part 16 Coating liquid D Disk (planar substrate)

Claims (10)

A blade coating apparatus for forming a coating layer by coating a coating solution on a flat substrate,
A mask member in which an opening for exposing the upper surface of the planar substrate is formed in a state of being disposed on the planar substrate;
An elongated coating member that is disposed on the upper surface side of the mask member and is driven in parallel with the upper surface to apply the supplied coating liquid to the planar substrate exposed from the opening; Prepared,
A blade coating apparatus, wherein the mask member is provided with a groove for storing an excess coating liquid.   2. The blade coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the groove is provided at a folding position of the coating member in a state in which the coating member is driven to reciprocate.   3. The blade coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating member is inserted into the groove and is driven to scrape the coating liquid stored in the groove. 4.   The blade coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the coating liquid is supplied from the groove during coating.   The blade coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the coating liquid is applied to a disk-shaped recording medium to form at least one layer of a printing surface. A mask member is arranged on the flat substrate, and the coating member provided on the upper surface side of the mask member is driven in parallel with the upper surface in a state where the flat substrate is exposed from the opening of the mask member, and then supplied. A blade coating method for forming a coating layer by coating the applied coating liquid on the flat substrate exposed from the opening,
A blade coating method, wherein an excess coating liquid not filled in the opening is stored in a groove.   The blade coating method according to claim 6, wherein the coating member is reciprocated on the mask member, and the surplus coating liquid is stored in the groove at a turn-back position of the reciprocating drive.   The blade coating method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the coating member is inserted into the groove and the coating liquid stored in the groove is scraped out.   The blade coating method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the coating liquid is supplied from the groove.   The blade coating method according to any one of claims 6 to 9, wherein the coating liquid is applied to a disk-shaped recording medium to form at least one layer of a printing surface.

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