JP2007007564A - Ink application method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an ink application method which enables highly precise drawing by using an inkjet method. <P>SOLUTION: This invention relates to the method of coating with ink by the inkjet method. The method has a process for forming on a substrate 9 an electrostatic latent image 8b corresponding to a pattern to be coated with the ink 11 and having the reverse polarity to the charging polarity of the ink 11, thereafter discharging the ink 11 to this electrostatic latent image 8b from an inkjet head 12, and applying and forming a pattern 13 on the substrate 9 along the electrostatic latent image 8b. The electrostatic latent image 8b on the substrate 9 is performed by transferring the electrostatic latent image 8b on the substrate 9 by an electrophotographic process. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of applying ink onto an object to be applied using an inkjet head, and more particularly to a method of forming various patterns such as a wiring pattern on a substrate.

  Conventionally, an ink jet head is used to apply ink on a substrate to form a wiring pattern or the like (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, since the ink discharged from the ink jet head varies in the discharge angle for each nozzle, variation in the ink landing position is unavoidable, and there is a problem in performing highly accurate drawing.

In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to improve the drawing accuracy by narrowing the gap between the nozzle surface of the ink jet head and the substrate, but there is a limit to the improvement in accuracy.
JP 10-138494 A

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is that it provides an ink application method capable of drawing with high accuracy using an inkjet method.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an ink application method for applying ink of a predetermined pattern onto an object to be applied by discharging ink from an inkjet head, Corresponding and forming an electrostatic latent image on the coating object with a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the ink ejected from the inkjet head, and ejecting ink toward the electrostatic latent image on the coating object And a step of forming a pattern corresponding to the electrostatic latent image.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the electrostatic latent image is formed by transferring an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photosensitive member by a photoconductive phenomenon onto the object to be coated.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first or second aspects, the pattern is a wiring pattern for connection.

In the case of the present invention, an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the pattern to be coated with ink and having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the ink ejected from the inkjet head is formed on the coating object. Since the ink is ejected toward the surface to form a pattern corresponding to the electrostatic latent image, the ink ejected from the ink jet and applied onto the coating object is positioned slightly away from the electrostatic latent image. Even when it has landed on the surface, it is attracted onto the pattern by an electrostatic attractive force acting between the electrostatic latent image and its application (landing) position is corrected.
As a result, according to the present invention, it is possible to form a highly accurate wiring pattern or the like on the application target.

  Further, in the present invention, if the electrostatic latent image is formed by transferring the electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor by a photoconductive phenomenon onto the application target, the surface of the application target has irregularities. Even in such a case, since the problem at the time of pattern formation on the uneven surface can be improved, there is an effect that the application target is not limited.

  According to the present invention, high-precision drawing can be performed using an ink jet method.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an ink coating method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a side view of an electrostatic latent image forming apparatus used in carrying out the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the electrostatic latent image forming apparatus 1 has a rotatable photosensitive drum 2, and a charger 3, an exposure device 4, a transfer device 6, and a removal device are arranged toward the downstream side in the rotation direction. An electric appliance 7 is provided.

  As the photoconductor drum 2, for example, a photoconductor made of an organic photoconductor is used. In the photosensitive drum 2, for example, an undercoat layer, a charge generation layer, and a charge transfer layer are sequentially laminated on a drum made of alumina.

The charger 3 has a function to uniformly charge the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 to a constant potential by attaching electrons to the surface of the photosensitive drum 2.
The exposure device 4 has a function of forming an electrostatic latent image having a predetermined pattern by irradiating the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 with, for example, laser light 5.
The transfer device 6 has a function of transferring an electrostatic latent image on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 onto a substrate by generating a high-voltage electric field.
The static eliminator 7 has a function of removing charges remaining on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 after the electrostatic latent image is transferred to the substrate.

  In order to carry out the present invention using the electrostatic latent image forming apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, first, the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 is charged to a uniform charge amount using the charger 3.

  Next, a pattern for applying ink onto the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by irradiating the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 with laser light 4 from the exposure device 3 while rotating the photosensitive drum 2. A negatively charged electrostatic latent image 8a corresponding to (hereinafter referred to as “ink application pattern”) is formed.

  Thereafter, a substrate (application object) 9 is disposed between the photosensitive drum 2 and the transfer device 6, and the transfer device 6 is operated while being moved in synchronization with the rotation of the photosensitive drum 2. The electrostatic latent image 8a on the surface 2 is transferred onto the substrate 9 as an electrostatic latent image 8b corresponding to the ink application pattern.

  In the present invention, the substrate 9 is not particularly limited, but a substrate made of polyimide, PET, glass or the like can be used from the viewpoint of insulation.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example in which a pattern is formed on a substrate using the ink coating method of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 2, the inkjet apparatus 10 used in the present embodiment has an inkjet head 12 that ejects ink 11 by, for example, a piezoelectric method, and the ink 11 ejected from the inkjet head 12 is: It has a positive charge.

  In the present embodiment, the ink 11 is ejected toward the negatively charged electrostatic latent image 8b while moving the inkjet head 12 along the electrostatic latent image 8b formed on the substrate 9 by the above-described process. Then, the pattern 13 is formed on the substrate 9.

  In the present invention, the ink 11 to be ejected is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to use an Ag nanometal ink, an Au nanometal ink, a Cu nanometal ink, or the like when forming the wiring.

3A and 3B are plan views showing the positional relationship between the ink applied on the substrate according to the present invention and the electrostatic latent image.
In the case of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, all of the ink 11 applied on the substrate 9 is an electrostatic position corresponding to a target position, that is, a pattern to which the ink 11 is to be applied. It does not land on the latent image 8b with high accuracy and land with some position variation.

  Here, while the ink 11 applied on the substrate 9 is positively charged, the electrostatic latent image 8b corresponding to the pattern to which the ink 11 is to be applied is negatively charged. And electrostatic latent image 8b have an electrostatic attractive force, and an interaction between them attracts each other.

  As a result, the ink 11 that has landed at a position slightly deviated from the electrostatic latent image 8b corresponding to the ink application pattern moves onto the electrostatic latent image 8b by this interaction, as shown in FIG. Then, the landing position is corrected.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the ink 11 is accurately applied onto the electrostatic latent image 8b formed on the substrate 9, and a desired pattern can be drawn on the substrate 9 with high accuracy.

  In particular, in the present embodiment, the electrostatic latent image 8a formed on the photosensitive drum 2 by the electrophotographic process is transferred onto the substrate 9 to form the electrostatic latent image 8b. Even when there is unevenness, there is an advantage that a highly accurate wiring pattern or the like can be formed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes can be made.
For example, in the above embodiment, the electrostatic latent image 8a is formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by the laser beam 5 irradiated from the exposure device 4 based on the ink application pattern. The electrostatic latent image 8a may be formed on the surface of the photosensitive drum 2 by irradiating the ink application pattern image with light and reflecting the reflected light.

  In the above embodiment, the electrostatic latent image 8a formed on the photosensitive drum 2 by the electrophotographic process is transferred onto the substrate 9 to form the electrostatic latent image 8b. The electrostatic latent image 8b corresponding to the ink application pattern may be directly formed on the substrate 9 without being limited thereto. Thereby, the formation procedure of the electrostatic latent image 8b can be simplified.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the electrostatic latent image 8b having a negative charge opposite to the polarity of the ink 11 is formed on the substrate 9, but the present invention is not limited to this, It is also possible to form a positive electrostatic latent image on the substrate with respect to the negative ink.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a piezoelectric method is adopted as a method for discharging the ink 11 from the inkjet head 12, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a thermoelectric method or an electrostatic method is used. It can also be adopted.

  In addition, the present invention can be used for forming various patterns in addition to the wiring pattern for electrical connection.

(Example)
<Formation of electrostatic latent image>
An organic photoreceptor obtained by laminating a charge generation layer containing metal-free phthalocyanine and a hole transport layer containing triphenyldiamine as a hole transport molecule on an Al drum was charged to -700V.

  Then, a laser beam having a wavelength of 780 nm was exposed to the pattern shape of the non-wiring portion to form an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum. Thereafter, the electrostatic latent image was transferred onto a polyimide substrate, and an electrostatic latent image corresponding to the ink application pattern was formed on the polyimide substrate.

<Formation of wiring pattern>
A positively charged Ag nanometal ink (manufactured by Vacuum Metallurgical Co.) is applied to the electrostatic latent image formed on the polyimide substrate by ejecting it from an ink jet head (Spectra Co., Ltd. SX-128), and wiring is performed on the polyimide substrate. A pattern was formed.

(Comparative Example 1)
On the polyimide substrate on which no electrostatic latent image was formed, ink was applied under the same conditions as in the example to form a wiring pattern.

<Evaluation method>
Variations in dot landing positions in a direction perpendicular to a straight line formed by one dot were measured. The results are shown in Table 1.

  As can be seen from Table 1, the embodiment in which the ink was ejected from the inkjet head and applied onto the substrate on which the wiring pattern was formed using the electrostatic latent image had less variation in the landing position than the comparative example, and the ink Is accurately applied on the wiring pattern.

Side view of an electrostatic latent image forming apparatus used for carrying out the present invention The perspective view which shows embodiment which forms a pattern on a board | substrate using this invention (A) (b): Top view showing the positional relationship between the ink applied on the substrate according to the present invention and the electrostatic latent image.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electrostatic latent image forming apparatus 2 ... Photosensitive drum 3 ... Charger 4 ... Exposure device 5 ... Laser beam 6 ... Transfer device 7 ... Static eliminator 8a ... Electrostatic latent image 8b ... Electrostatic latent image 9 ... Substrate 10 ... Inkjet device 11 ... Ink 12 ... Inkjet head 13 ... Pattern

Claims (3)

An ink application method in which ink is ejected from an inkjet head to apply a predetermined pattern of ink onto an object to be applied,
An electrostatic latent image corresponding to the pattern and having a polarity opposite to the charged polarity of the ink ejected from the inkjet head is formed on the application object,
An ink application method comprising a step of ejecting ink toward an electrostatic latent image on the application object to form a pattern corresponding to the electrostatic latent image.   The ink application method according to claim 1, wherein the electrostatic latent image is formed by transferring an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of the photoreceptor by a photoconductive phenomenon onto an object to be applied.   The ink application method according to claim 1, wherein the pattern is a wiring pattern for connection.

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