JP2007229569A - Coating apparatus and method for cleaning coated material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating apparatus and its method which enable the continuous and easy execution of coating of a high quality under a lighter an environmental load of reduced cost. <P>SOLUTION: Pre-dispensing action is performed for every coating to realize continuous production. An unrequired coated material adhering to a priming roll during the pre-dispensing action can be easily removed by arranging a transfer roll in the periphery of the priming roll. The unrequired coated material transferred to the transfer roll can be scraped by a squeegee installed to the transfer roll for recycling. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating apparatus including a cleaning unit and a method for cleaning the coating apparatus. The coating apparatus includes an ink discharge unit. The coating apparatus varies depending on the type of the ink discharge unit, and examples thereof include an ink discharge printing apparatus, a die coater, a spin coater, and various printing apparatuses. Moreover, a color filter can be illustrated as what is manufactured with this coating apparatus, and a color filter can be manufactured by forming a colored resist thin film with a spin coater or a die coater and patterning it with a photolithography method. Moreover, an electroluminescent element can also be illustrated as said product, and this organic light emitting layer is formed using an ink discharge printing apparatus etc. In addition, circuit boards, thin film transistors, microlenses, biochips, and the like can be manufactured. It is suitable for a coating apparatus capable of cleaning an ink discharge portion of an ink discharge printing apparatus (Ink-jet Printer) that performs application by ink discharge printing (Ink-jet).

  Conventionally, for example, when coating is performed using a coating apparatus including a die coater as an ink discharge unit, a gravure coat, a roll coat, a slide coat, a curtain coat, and a curtain coat Various systems such as “coat”, “extrusion coat”, and “spin coat” are used depending on applications. In particular, when high-quality and stable coating is performed at high speed, an extrusion coat, a curtain coat, a slide coat, or the like is adopted, and a die head having a slit nozzle is used as an ink discharge portion.

  For example, in a spin coater, after the object to be coated is adsorbed on a base and a coated object such as a resist is dropped from a coating nozzle on the center of the object to be coated, the base and the object to be coated are rotated. The coated material can be diffused and uniformly coated by the centrifugal force generated in step (b). However, in the spin coater, most of the coated material is scattered to the outer peripheral portion of the table by the centrifugal force generated during rotation, and there is a waste that only a small amount can remain on the surface of the product that is the coated material. There was a problem that the production cost was increased accordingly.

  Therefore, instead of the above-mentioned spin coater, a die coater having a coating nozzle discharge port having a width more than that required for the product and moving the nozzle or the object to be coated at a constant speed can be applied uniformly and without waste. It is known to use. However, in the die coater, after the coating operation, the coated material easily wraps around the tip of the coating nozzle discharge port, and when these are dried, particles and the like are generated, resulting in a decrease in product quality. was there. At present, in order to prevent the occurrence of the trouble, the coating nozzle discharge port tip portion in which the peripheral portion as described above is soiled by the surrounding of the coating material is immersed in the coating nozzle standby pot soaked with a cleaning liquid such as an organic solvent. An apparatus that dissolves and removes the dirt by dipping is used.

  However, if the coating nozzle is simply immersed in the standby pot, the cleaning liquid enters the nozzle tip discharge port, which hinders stable coating. For this reason, the pre-dispensing section normally discharges the cleaning liquid in the nozzle and the coating material diluted with the cleaning liquid before the coating operation. At that time, as shown in FIG. 4, the pre-dispensing portion is usually provided with a priming roller having an appropriate gap and a priming roller pot that can be immersed in a cleaning liquid. The pot has a function of dissolving and removing a coating such as a resist adhering to the priming roller with the cleaning liquid in the pot when a pre-dispensing operation is performed. Examples of a coating apparatus having such a mechanism are shown in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  However, when the coating operation is continuously performed, a pre-dispensing operation is performed from one to the next. At that time, a coating material such as a resist is supplied to the priming roller, and it is dissolved in the cleaning liquid each time. As a result, the degree of contamination in the pot increases, and the dirt causes aggregation and the like, and particles such as resist residue may be generated in the pot. In that case, the particles are reversely transferred to the priming roller and eventually adhere to the tip of the nozzle, causing troubles such as streaks, unevenness and foreign matter during coating, resulting in a reduction in product quality. there were. Therefore, when the above method is used, it is necessary to always keep the cleaning liquid in the pot portion clean by using a large amount of cleaning liquid. However, when a large amount of cleaning liquid is used, the cost of the product increases, and the environmental burden due to the use of the cleaning liquid increases, which is a problem.

In the conventional method, the priming roller needs to be directly scratched with a squeegee after the priming roll is immersed in the cleaning liquid in order to prepare the priming roller and dry it. However, it is very difficult to handle the squeegee, and the removal residue of resist, etc. occurs on the priming roller depending on the selection of the material and the method of application to the priming roller. Quality problems such as unevenness and streaks may occur, which is a problem.
JP 2000-135463 A JP 2005-270848 A

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus and method capable of performing high-quality coating easily at a low cost with a low environmental burden.

A configuration of the present invention for solving the above-described problems will be described below.
(Claim 1)
In a coating device including a priming roller,
A coating apparatus comprising: a priming roller; a transfer roller in contact with the priming roller; and means for removing a coating material attached to the transfer roller.

(Claim 2)
2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for removing the coating material adhering to the transfer roller is a squeegee.

(Claim 3)
The coating device, wherein the means for removing the coating material adhered to the transfer roller is a roll having an adhesive film.

(Claim 4)
In a method for cleaning a coating adhered to a coating apparatus using a priming roller,
(A) a step of transferring the coating material adhering to the coating apparatus to a priming roller;
(B) a step of further transferring the coated material attached to the priming roller to a transfer roller;
(C) a step of removing the coating material adhering to the transfer roller, and a coating material cleaning method characterized by comprising:

(Claim 5)
5. The method of cleaning a coated product according to claim 4, wherein the step (c) of removing the coated product is a step of bringing a squeegee into contact with the transfer roller and scraping the coated product.

(Claim 6)
5. The coating according to claim 4, wherein the step (c) of removing the coated product is a step of bonding a roll having an adhesive film to a transfer roller and transferring the coated product to the roll. Work cleaning method.

The present invention is characterized in that the coated material adhered to the priming roller is not directly removed, and the transferred coated material is removed after being reliably transferred to the transfer roller. For this reason, since the squeegee was not directly applied to the priming roller, the coated material could be removed evenly.
Furthermore, in the present invention, an unnecessary coating material adhering to the priming roller can be removed without using a cleaning liquid, and therefore, a coating apparatus capable of performing high-quality coating easily at low cost with low environmental load, and We were able to provide a coating cleaning method.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 to 3 show the basic configuration of the coating apparatus of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the present invention, a transfer roller 3 is provided in contact with the priming roller 2. The transfer roller 3 is not particularly limited as long as the transfer roller 3 is located around the priming roller 2, and the number thereof is not particularly limited, but in order to more reliably remove unnecessary coatings from the priming roller 2. It is preferable to install as many as possible.
The material of the transfer roller 3 is not particularly limited. There is no problem as long as the material can transfer the coated material from the priming roller 2, specifically, for example, polyolefin resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, styrene resin, polyamide resin, epoxy resin, Synthetic resins such as melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol resin, polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, fluorine resin, rubber, aluminum, stainless steel There are metal-based materials such as these, or composites thereof, etc., and a laminated body, etc., which may be appropriately selected according to the intended use.
Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the magnitude | size of the said transfer roller 3, the peeling angle at the time of transferring the unnecessary coated material to the said transfer roller 3 from the said priming roller 2 becomes an acute angle, and it will become easy to peel. So it is more preferable.
There is no particular limitation on the nip pressure of the transfer roller 3 to the priming roller 2. What is necessary is just to select optimal conditions by the combination of material conditions, such as the material of a coating material to be used, usage conditions, and the material of the said roller.
The lower rotation speed of the transfer roller 3 is more effective for removing unnecessary coatings, but the best speed is considered in consideration of various conditions such as the balance with the amount of discharged coating liquid to be pre-dispensed. Should be selected.

The transfer roller 3 includes one or a plurality of squeegees 4 in order to remove unnecessary coatings transferred from the priming roller 2. In that case, it is preferable to install as many as possible because unnecessary coated materials can be removed more reliably. When there are a plurality of transfer rollers 3, a single or a plurality of squeegees 4 may be installed on any or all of the transfer rollers 3.
The material of the squeegee 4 is not particularly limited as long as the required performance can be obtained. Specifically, for example, metal such as rubber, aluminum, stainless steel, etc., synthetic resin such as epoxy resin, polyethylene resin, fluorine resin, phenol resin, etc. There are composite resins that are formed by mixing glass fibers / particles, carbon fibers / particles, etc. mainly composed of them, such as materials or composites thereof, laminates, etc. That's fine.
There are no particular restrictions on the mounting angle and nip pressure of the squeegee 4. What is necessary is just to select optimal conditions by the combination of conditions, such as the material of the coating material to be used, use conditions, such as a viscosity, the material of the said transfer roller 3, and the material of the said squeegee 4.

  In the present invention, unnecessary coating materials removed by the squeegee 4 can be collected and reused, so that the coating material can be used efficiently.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, unnecessary coating material may be removed from the transfer roller by providing one or more other transfer rollers A31, transfer rollers B32, transfer rollers C33, etc. around the transfer roller 3. It is better to install as many transfer rollers as possible to make sure. At this time, as described above, the squeegee 4 may be provided singly or plurally on any or all of the transfer rollers.

Further, instead of at least one of the transfer rollers, one or a plurality of rolls or the like having the adhesive film 5 are installed, and unnecessary adhesive is removed from the priming roll 2 by the adhesive film 5. Also good. FIG. 3 shows a case where there is only one transfer roller 3. The material of the adhesive added to the adhesive film 5 is not particularly limited.
Specifically, for example, polyester resin, alkyd resin, silicone resin, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, acrylic resin, rubber, silicone, epoxy resin, vinyl resin, etc. What is necessary is just to select suitably according to the use made. Furthermore, a separator may be added to the adhesive film in order to prevent dust adhesion and the like. Moreover, there is no restriction | limiting in particular in the material of the support body of the said adhesive film, The arbitrary materials conventionally used can be used. Specifically, for example, woven or non-woven fabric made of natural fiber or synthetic fiber, polyolefin resin, polyester resin, acrylic resin, styrene resin, polyamide resin, epoxy resin, melamine resin, urethane resin, phenol Resin, polycarbonate resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, polyvinylidene chloride resin, polyvinyl acetate resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, fluororesin and other synthetic resin base materials, rubber base materials, metal bases such as aluminum and stainless steel What is necessary is just to select suitably from base materials etc. or those composites, a laminated body, etc. according to the intended use.

Examples of the present invention will be described below.
In the equipment shown in Fig. 1, a rubber transfer roll is placed in contact with the stainless steel priming roller, and an unnecessary coating is scraped off with a rubber squeegee on the transfer roll for continuous production. During the process, each time one product is applied, a pre-dispensing operation is performed from the coating nozzle to the priming roller, and unnecessary coating material is ejected onto the priming roller. As a result, the unnecessary coating material is transferred to the transfer roller. As a result, it was possible to continuously produce a high-quality product easily and inexpensively without staining with a coating that could not be removed from the priming roller.
Moreover, the unnecessary coating material scraped off by the squeegee could be recovered and reused by dissolving with a solvent.

In the apparatus of FIG. 3, the support is made of polyester resin and the adhesive is made of acrylic resin so that the nip can be in contact with a priming roller made of stainless steel and chrome-plated on the surface. When a roller is installed and one product is coated in the same manner as in Example 1, a pre-dispensing operation is performed from the coating nozzle to the priming roller, and unnecessary coating material is discharged onto the priming roller. By transferring unnecessary coating materials, it was possible to easily and inexpensively produce high-quality products continuously without fouling with the coating materials in which the priming roller could not be removed.
Moreover, the unnecessary coating material scraped off by the squeegee could be recovered and reused by dissolving with a solvent.

Schematic diagram of an example of the coating apparatus of the present invention Schematic diagram of an example of the coating apparatus of the present invention Schematic diagram of an example of the coating apparatus of the present invention Schematic diagram of conventional coating equipment

Explanation of symbols

1: Coating nozzle 2: Priming roller 3: Transfer roller 31: Transfer roller A
32: Transfer roller B
33: Transfer roller C
4: Squeegee 5: Adhesive film 6: Cleaning liquid 7: Pot for priming roller 8: Standby pot for coating nozzle 9: Pre-dispensing section

Claims (6)

In a coating device including a priming roller,
A coating apparatus comprising: a priming roller; a transfer roller in contact with the priming roller; and means for removing a coating material attached to the transfer roller.   2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for removing the coating material adhering to the transfer roller is a squeegee.   The coating device, wherein the means for removing the coating material adhered to the transfer roller is a roll having an adhesive film. In a method for cleaning a coating adhered to a coating apparatus using a priming roller,
(A) a step of transferring the coating material adhering to the coating apparatus to a priming roller;
(B) a step of further transferring the coated material attached to the priming roller to a transfer roller;
(C) a step of removing the coating material adhering to the transfer roller, and a coating material cleaning method characterized by comprising: 5. The method of cleaning a coated product according to claim 4, wherein the step (c) of removing the coated product is a step of bringing a squeegee into contact with the transfer roller and scraping the coated product. 5. The coating according to claim 4, wherein the step (c) of removing the coated material is a step of bonding a roll having an adhesive film to a transfer roller and transferring the coated material to the roll. Work cleaning method.