JP2007111914A - Ink applicator, method for inspecting delivery nozzle and ink applying method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology that enables an image pick-up means to be prevented from being smudged due to an ink solvent while enabling the application of an ink without a deficit by certainly detecting the presence or absence of the ink plugging of a delivery nozzle of an inkjet nozzle of an inkjet head at applying the ink. <P>SOLUTION: The ink applicator is equipped with a transparent plate-like ink landing part 8a for dividing the space near the delivery nozzle 2a while receiving the ink 3 discharged from the delivery nozzle 2a in the vicinity of the ink application area of an applied object 5, the image pick-up means 14 which is arranged with a space with request to an inkhead 2 by the ink landing part 8a and incorporates the image of the ink 3 on the ink landing part 8a from the rear face side and converts it into image information, an analysis means 15 for analyzing the landing state of the ink 3 on the ink landing part 8a based on the image information. The inkhead 2 moves between the position for discharging the ink 3 to the ink landing part 8a and the position for discharging the ink 3 to the applied object 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink coating apparatus and an ink coating method for ejecting ink from, for example, a discharge nozzle of an inkjet head and forming a coating film on a coating target, and in particular, inspecting a discharge state of a discharge nozzle of an inkjet head. Related to technology.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an apparatus that forms a coating film on a coating object by ejecting ink from an ejection nozzle of an inkjet head is widely known.
In such an apparatus, ink clogging may occur in some ejection nozzles, for example, due to long-term use.
The ink clogging of the ejection nozzle results in a defect in the coating film formed on the coating target.

  On the other hand, as a method for inspecting defects in the coating film formed on the coating object, the ink is ejected from the ejection nozzle of the inkjet head onto the coating object to form the coating film, and then provided in the ink coating apparatus. A coating film is imaged by an imaging means, and the discharge nozzle is inspected (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  However, such a coating film defect inspection method is to inspect the coating film after forming the coating film on the coating object, and to ensure that the ink jet nozzles are not clogged during ink application. Therefore, there is a demand for a technique for detecting the above.

On the other hand, when the imaging unit is provided in the ink coating apparatus, there is a possibility that the imaging unit may be contaminated by the ink solvent that evaporates from the ink that has landed on the application target.
JP 11-316380 A

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems of the prior art, and the object of the present invention is to reliably detect the presence or absence of ink clogging in the ejection nozzles of an inkjet head during ink application. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for preventing ink contamination of an image pickup means for inspecting the discharge state of ink from a discharge nozzle while enabling ink application without any ink.

The invention according to claim 1, which has been made to achieve the above object, is an ink coating apparatus that performs coating by ejecting ink onto a coating object from a discharge nozzle of an inkjet head, wherein the ink of the coating object A flat plate-shaped ink landing portion that is provided in the vicinity of a region where the ink is applied, receives light discharged from the discharge nozzle, and has a light transmitting property for partitioning a space in the vicinity of the discharge nozzle; and the ink landing portion And an image pickup means for taking an image of ink landed on the ink landing part from the back side and converting it into predetermined image information, and based on the image information Analyzing means for analyzing a landing state of ink on the ink landing portion, and the ink jet head ejects ink to the ink landing portion. And it is configured to move between a position for ejecting ink to the object to be coated and a position of.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the ink landing portion and the discharge nozzle are configured to relatively move in the surface direction of the ink landing portion.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the ink landing portion moving mechanism for moving the ink landing portion in the surface direction thereof is provided.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the imaging means is configured to move in a surface direction of the ink landing portion.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for inspecting a discharge nozzle using the ink application apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein ink is discharged from the discharge nozzle to the ink landing portion. The ink landing part and the discharge nozzle are moved relatively in the surface direction of the ink landing part, and the ink is discharged from the discharge nozzle to the ink landing part and landed. In a space that is separated from the ink jet head by the ink landing portion, a step of performing the predetermined number of times, and an image of ink in a predetermined region landed on the ink landing portion is captured from the back side and converted into predetermined image information. And a step of analyzing an ink landing state on the ink landing portion based on the image information.
The invention described in claim 6 has a step of inspecting the discharge state of the discharge nozzle of the ink jet head by the method according to claim 5 before forming the coating film on the coating object using the ink jet head. It is.

  In the present invention, ink is ejected from an ejection nozzle of an inkjet head to an ink landing part provided separately from an object to be coated, the landed ink image is captured and converted into image information, and the ink landing state is analyzed. To do.

In this case, for example, the arrangement or the like of the ejection nozzles of the inkjet head is stored in advance, and the presence or absence of ink ejection from the ejection nozzles can be detected by comparing the information with the image information of the landing ink.
According to the present invention, it is possible to detect the ink discharge state of each discharge nozzle and always keep it in a good state when applying ink on a coating object to form a coating film. Become.

  In the case of the present invention, the image pickup means for capturing the ink image is provided in a space separated from the discharge nozzle by the flat ink landing portion, and the ink discharged from the discharge nozzle adheres to the image pickup means. The ink solvent evaporated from the landed ink does not enter the space where the image pickup means is provided. Therefore, according to the present invention, the imaging unit is not contaminated by the ink ejected from the ejection nozzle, and a good ink image can always be captured by the imaging unit.

  Further, in the case of the present invention, since the image pickup means does not interfere with the drive system of the ink jet head and the like, it is possible to reduce the size of the ink coating apparatus by arranging the ink jet head and the like at an optimal position.

  Furthermore, in the case of the present invention, the inkjet head is configured to move between a position where ink is ejected to the ink landing part and a position where ink is ejected to the application target. After inspecting the ink discharge state of the discharge nozzle by image analysis of the ink landed on the ink landing part, it is possible to immediately apply the ink to the object to be applied. It becomes possible to form.

  On the other hand, as in the present invention, after ink is ejected from the ejection nozzle to the ink landing part and landed, the ink landing part and the ejection nozzle are relatively moved in the surface direction of the ink landing part, and further the ejection nozzle If the operation of ejecting and landing ink on the ink landing part is performed a predetermined number of times, it is possible to accurately detect minor ejection defects of the ejection nozzles that are difficult to detect with only one ejection. In addition, by performing ejection in a state close to the actual ink application, it is possible to reliably inspect whether there is an ink ejection deviation of the ejection nozzle during ink application.

Further, in the present invention, if the discharge state of the discharge nozzle of the ink jet head is inspected by the above-described method before forming the coating film on the application object using the ink jet head, maintenance is performed in advance. The discharge state of the discharge nozzle can always be made good during ink application.
For this reason, according to the present invention, it is possible to improve the yield by suppressing the occurrence of defects in the coating film.

  According to the present invention, when ink is applied, it is possible to reliably detect the presence or absence of ink clogging in the ejection nozzles of the inkjet head and perform ink application without a defect. Further, it is possible to prevent the image pickup means from being contaminated by the ink solvent for inspecting the ink discharge state of the discharge nozzle.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the ink coating apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ink coating apparatus, FIG. 3A is a side view of the ink coating apparatus, and FIG. These are explanatory drawings which show the example of the inkjet head and imaging means of the ink application device.

  4A to 4C are explanatory views showing an operation of inspecting the ejection nozzle using the ejection nozzle inspection method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the landing state of the ink on the ink landing portion. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1 or 2, the ink coating apparatus 1 of the present embodiment has a box-shaped main body 11, and each means (described later) constituting the ink coating apparatus 1 is attached to the main body 11. ing.
An ink jet head 2 for ejecting ink 3 is provided above the main body 11.

  A discharge nozzle 2 a is provided below the ink jet head 2. In the case of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 3A, in addition to a configuration in which a plurality of discharge nozzles 2a are arranged linearly in the width direction of the main body 11, a configuration in which a plurality of head portions having a plurality of discharge nozzle rows are arranged. It can also be adopted.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, it is possible to arrange a plurality of head portions 20 in which the discharge nozzles 2a are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the ink application direction.
The inkjet head 2 is configured to move horizontally in the ink application direction.

A support base 4 is provided in a predetermined region on the upper part of the main body 11, and the application target 5 is placed on the support base 4.
Maintenance means 6 is provided in an area adjacent to the support 4 of the main body 11. When the ink clogging occurs in the discharge nozzle 2a of the inkjet head 2, the maintenance means 6 performs maintenance such as suctioning the discharge nozzle 2a to remove the ink clogging.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4A, a cylindrical feeding roll 9 is provided in a region adjacent to the maintenance means 6 of the main body 11, and a predetermined height is provided at a position that is the same height as the feeding roll 9. A cylindrical take-up roll 12 is provided with an interval of. The winding roll 12 is configured to rotate at a predetermined timing according to a command from a control unit (not shown).

Above the feed roll 9 and the take-up roll 12, cylindrical support rolls 10a and 10b are provided at the same height position at predetermined intervals.
An ink landing sheet 8 is wound around the feeding roll 9. The ink landing sheet 8 is fed from the feeding roll 9, supported by the support rolls 10 a and 10 b, facing the inkjet head 2, and the winding roll 12. It is comprised so that it may be wound up by.

With such a configuration, the ink landing sheet 8 is formed in a substantially U-shaped section with the lower part opened. Hereinafter, the horizontal portion of the ink landing sheet 8 that receives the ink 3 facing the inkjet head 2 is referred to as an ink landing portion 8a.
The ink landing sheet 8 of the present embodiment is made of a material having translucency and solvent resistance.

  In the case of the present invention, the material constituting the ink landing sheet 8 is not particularly limited, but from the viewpoint of ensuring translucency and solvent resistance, a transparent resin film such as a polyester film or a polypropylene film. Can be suitably used.

  In the present invention, considering the contact angle between the landed ink 3 and the ink landing sheet 8, it is preferable to use a material that does not contact the landed inks 3 on the ink landing portion 8a.

  In this case, in order to optimize the tensile strength and the contact angle with respect to the ink 3, a laminate of different types of films can be used. Further, in order to optimize the contact angle with respect to the ink 3, a film that has been surface-treated with plasma, reactive gas, UV light, or the like, or a film that has been coated with a material for adjusting the contact angle on the surface can be used. .

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the ink landing sheet 8 of the present embodiment is configured to be substantially equal to the width of the inner wall of the main body 11 so that there is no gap between the ink landing sheet 8 and the inner wall of the main body 11. It has become. With such a configuration, the space surrounded by the ink landing sheet 8 is separated from the space in the vicinity of the discharge nozzle 2 a of the inkjet head 2.

In a space surrounded by the ink landing sheet 8, a plurality of imaging means 14 are provided. As shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), these image pickup means 14 are provided at predetermined positions over a length substantially equal to the area where the ink 3 is landed on the ink landing portion 8a. The 14 imaging areas Q overlap so that the entire area can be imaged.
Here, the imaging means 14 is composed of, for example, a CCD camera or the like, and has a function of converting the captured image into digital data.

  The imaging unit 14 is connected to the analysis unit 15. Then, the image information created in the imaging means 14 is sent to the analysis means 15 and the landing state of the ink 3 described later is analyzed based on this image information.

  In the present embodiment having such a configuration, before forming the coating film on the coating object 5, as shown in FIG. 1, the inkjet head 2 is disposed above the ink landing sheet 8 and the discharge nozzle. The discharge state of 2a is inspected.

  In order to perform this inspection, first, as shown in FIG. 4A, the ink 3 is ejected from the plurality of ejection nozzles 2 a of the inkjet head 2 disposed above the ink landing sheet 8 to the ink landing sheet 8. Then, the ink 3 is landed on the ink landing portion 8 a of the ink landing sheet 8.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the take-up roll 12 is rotated to take up the ink landing sheet 8, and the ink 3 that has landed on the ink landing portion 8 a is moved in a direction orthogonal to the arrangement direction of the ink 3. Move horizontally. At this time, for example, when the ink 3 is actually ejected onto the application target 5, the ink landing sheet 8 is moved by a distance equal to the interval between adjacent ink landing points on the application target 5.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, the ink 3 is discharged again from the discharge nozzle 2a, and the ink 3 is landed on the ink landing portion 8a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the ink 3 is landed on the ink landing portion 8a in two linear rows so as to correspond to the position of the discharge nozzle 2a of the inkjet head 2.

  In this case, the respective inks 3 are scattered at positions where they do not overlap each other even if they spread around the landing point due to impact upon landing or the wettability of the surface of the ink landing sheet 8. To.

Then, all the images of the ink 3 that have landed on the ink landing portion 8a are captured by the imaging unit 14 from the back side of the ink landing portion 8a and converted into predetermined image information.
Thereafter, the image information is sent from the imaging means 14 to the analysis means 15 to perform predetermined image processing and image analysis.

  In the analysis means 15, for example, the image information of the ink 3 that has been ejected from all the ejection nozzles 2a and landed without overlapping the ink landing portion 8a is stored in advance, and this information and the imaging means are stored. 14 is compared with the image information of the ink 3 taken in, and the discharge state of the ink 3 of the discharge nozzle 2a of the inkjet head 2 is inspected by performing predetermined image processing.

Then, on the ink landing portion 8a, by identifying the area where the ink 3 has not landed and the position of the ink 3 that has landed in a missing state, the ejection nozzle 2a in which ink clogging has occurred is identified.
Further, by recognizing the ink 3 that has landed out of a predetermined position on the ink landing portion 8a, the discharge nozzle 2a that discharges the ink 3 by deviating from the predetermined direction is specified.

If it is determined by the analysis in the analysis unit 15 that there is an ink discharge failure of the discharge nozzle 2 a, for example, the inkjet head 2 is moved above the maintenance unit 6, and the maintenance unit 6 uses the ink. The ink clogging of the discharge nozzle 2a is removed by sucking the discharge nozzle 2a of the inkjet head 2 in which the discharge failure is generated.
Thereafter, the inkjet head 2 is disposed above the application target 5, the ink 3 is ejected while moving on the application target 5, and a spacer or the like is applied and formed on the application target 5.

  On the other hand, in the present invention, every time the ink 3 ejected from the ejection nozzle 2a lands on the ink landing part 8a, the image of the ink 3 is captured by the imaging means 14 from the back side of the ink landing part 8a, and a predetermined image is obtained. It is also possible to convert it into information.

  In this case, the plurality of captured image information are respectively sent from the imaging means 14 to the analysis means 15 and synthesized as a whole image of the ink 3 landed on the ink landing portion 8a, and image analysis is performed based on this data. .

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the discharge state of the ink 3 of the discharge nozzle 2a of the inkjet head 2 can be easily detected, the ink 3 is applied onto the application object 5 and the coating film is applied. When forming the ink, the ink discharge state of each discharge nozzle 2a can always be kept in a good state. As a result, it is possible to improve the yield by suppressing the occurrence of defects in the coating film.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the imaging unit 14 is separated from the atmosphere of the space on the ink jet head 2 side, the ink 3 ejected from the ejection nozzle 2a or the ink evaporated from the landed ink 3 is used. The solvent does not enter the space on the imaging means 14 side. As a result, the image pickup unit 14 is not contaminated by the ink 3 and a good ink image can always be captured by the image pickup unit 14.

  Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the image pickup means 14 does not interfere with the drive system of the ink jet head 2 and the like, so that the apparatus can be miniaturized by arranging the ink jet head 2 etc. at an optimal position. Can do.

  On the other hand, in the case of the present embodiment, after the ink 3 is ejected and landed on the ink landing part 8a from the ejection nozzle 2a, the ink landing part 8a is moved in the surface direction, and the ink landing is further performed from the ejection nozzle 2a. Since the ink 3 is ejected and landed on the portion 8a and inspected, it is possible to accurately detect a minor ejection defect of the ejection nozzle 2a that is difficult to detect only by one ejection. By performing ejection in a state close to actual ink application, it is possible to reliably inspect whether or not there is a displacement in the ink 3 of the ejection nozzle 2a during ink application.

  In addition, in the case of the present embodiment, the inkjet head 2 moves between a position where the ink 3 is ejected with respect to the ink landing part 8 a and a position where the ink 3 is ejected with respect to the application target 5. Thus, the ink 3 can be applied to the application target 5 immediately after the ink discharge state of the discharge nozzle 2a is inspected by image analysis of the ink landed on the ink landing portion 8a. As a result, a coating film can be rapidly formed continuously.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of an ink coating apparatus according to still another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the ink coating apparatus. Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are given to portions common to the above embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 6, in the ink application device 1 </ b> A of the present embodiment, one imaging unit 14 </ b> A is provided in a space surrounded by the ink landing sheet 8.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7A and 7B, the imaging unit 14A moves the ink landing area on the ink landing portion 8a in the arrangement direction of the ink 3 (longitudinal direction of the inkjet head 2). Thus, the entire landing area of the ink 3 can be imaged.

  In the present embodiment, the same operation as in the above embodiment is performed, and after the ink 3 is ejected from the ejection nozzle 2a to the ink landing portion 8a a plurality of times, the imaging unit 14A is moved in the direction in which the ink 3 is arranged. The image of the ink 3 is taken in while being moved, and the analysis unit 15 analyzes the image.

  Also in the present embodiment, each time the ink 3 is ejected from the ejection nozzle 2a to the ink landing portion 8a, the landed image of the ink 3 is taken in, and then the image data is synthesized and image analysis is performed. Also good.

According to the present embodiment, since the image of the ink 3 that has landed on the ink landing portion 8a can be captured by the single imaging unit 14A, the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified.
Since other configurations and operational effects are the same as those of the above-described embodiment, detailed description thereof is omitted.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the ink 3 is ejected twice from the ejection nozzle 2a to the application target 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ink 3 is ejected three times or more. It is also possible to do this.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the ink 3 is ejected onto the application target, the ink jet head 2 is fixed and the ink landing sheet 8 is moved. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Alternatively, the ink landing sheet 8 may be fixed and the ink jet head 2 may be moved.

  In the above-described embodiment, a sheet-like member is used as the ink landing portion 8a. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plate-like ink landing portion may be used other than the sheet shape. it can.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the image of all the inks 3 that have landed on the ink landing part 8a is captured. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the ink 3 that has landed on the ink landing part 8a Of these, an ink image of a specific area can be captured.

  Furthermore, the present invention can be applied to various apparatuses that perform formation of spacers, formation of wiring patterns, formation of coating films, and the like by discharging ink 3 from the discharge nozzle 2a to the application target 5. .

The front view of embodiment of the ink application apparatus of this invention Top view of the same ink applicator (A): Side view of the ink application device (b): Explanatory drawing showing an example of an inkjet head and an imaging means of the ink application device Explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement which inspects a discharge nozzle using the inspection method of the discharge nozzle of this invention Schematic showing the ink landing state on the ink landing part The top view of the ink application apparatus of other embodiment of this invention (A): Side view of an ink application apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention (b): An explanatory view showing an example of an inkjet head and an image pickup means of the ink application apparatus

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Ink application apparatus 2 ... Inkjet head 2a ... Discharge nozzle 3 ... Ink 5 ... Application object 6 ... Maintenance means 8 ... Ink landing sheet 8a ... Ink landing part 9 ... Winding roll 10a, b ... Conveyance roll 11 ... Main body 12 ... take-up roll 14 ... imaging means 15 ... analysis means

Claims (6)

An ink coating apparatus that performs coating by ejecting ink onto a coating object from a discharge nozzle of an inkjet head,
A flat plate-shaped ink landing portion that is provided in the vicinity of the region where the ink of the application target is applied, receives light discharged from the discharge nozzle, and has a light transmitting property for partitioning the space in the vicinity of the discharge nozzle When,
An image pickup means provided by the ink landing portion with a space from the inkjet head, for capturing an image of ink landed on the ink landing portion from the back side and converting the image into predetermined image information;
Analyzing means for analyzing the landing state of the ink on the ink landing portion based on the image information,
An ink coating apparatus, wherein the inkjet head is configured to move between a position at which ink is ejected to the ink landing part and a position at which ink is ejected to the application target.   The ink application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink landing part and the discharge nozzle are configured to move relatively in a surface direction of the ink landing part.   The ink application apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an ink landing part moving mechanism that moves the ink landing part in a surface direction thereof.   The ink application apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit is configured to move in a surface direction of the ink landing portion. A method for inspecting a discharge nozzle using the ink coating apparatus according to claim 1,
After ejecting and landing ink from the discharge nozzle to the ink landing part, the ink landing part and the discharge nozzle are relatively moved in the surface direction of the ink landing part, and further, the ink is discharged from the discharge nozzle. A step of performing a predetermined number of operations to eject and land ink on the ink landing portion;
In a space separated from the inkjet head by the ink landing part, a step of taking an image of an ink in a predetermined area landed on the ink landing part from the back side and converting it into predetermined image information;
And a step of analyzing a landing state of ink on the ink landing portion based on the image information.   An ink application method comprising a step of inspecting a discharge state of a discharge nozzle of an ink jet head by the method according to claim 5 before forming a coating film on a coating object using the ink jet head.

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