JP2008018626A - Head unit, and liquid discharging apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head unit which can stably maintain the precision of the discharging position, and to provide a liquid discharging apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: This head unit comprises a mark member 71 made of a super-steel on the end surface 71a on which a drilled hole 71b corresponding to a reference point is provided. The mark member 71 is firmly bonded to a base plate 11 through an adhesive injected in an attaching hole 73. On the upper side of a flange section 71c in the mark member 71, a washer 75 and an O ring 76 as an elastic member are fitted. The mark member 71 is surely fixed to the base plate 11 through the O ring 76 and a holding member 80 under a state without play. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, a display manufacturing apparatus, an electrode forming apparatus, a biochip manufacturing apparatus and the like liquid ejecting apparatus, and a head unit mounted on the liquid ejecting apparatus.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a liquid material ejecting apparatus configured to scan a discharge target with a liquid material ejecting head from a minute nozzle has been widely used for printing and industrial applications. For example, in the industrial liquid discharge device listed in Patent Document 1, a unit (head unit) in which a large number of heads are arranged in parallel is scanned in order to cope with a large substrate and shorten the process time. .

  The mounting position of each head in such a head unit is very important as an element that determines the accuracy of the liquid material discharge position, and high accuracy is required particularly in industrial applications. For this reason, when the head unit is assembled, it is necessary to define the mounting position of each head with high accuracy. In addition, in order to accurately discharge (place) a liquid material on a substrate using such a head unit, the accuracy associated with the attachment of the head unit to the apparatus main body (carriage) and the control of the scanning position of the head unit. It is necessary to pay sufficient attention to the situation.

JP 2003-127392 A

  In order to deal with the above-mentioned problems related to accuracy, the head unit has a reference point for identifying the head mounting position (posture), the head unit mounting posture to the device, and the position of the head unit after mounting. The member (marking member) which shows is attached. The end face of the marker member is provided with a perforation, and the position and posture of the head or head unit can be specified using the detection position of the perforation as a reference point.

  Since the marker member that defines the reference point plays an important role in determining the accuracy of the discharge position in the liquid material discharge apparatus, it may have high stability with respect to the shape, mounting position, posture, etc. of the member itself. Required. If these elements change during the process from assembly of the head unit to installation to the device, or in the process of accumulating the operation history, the reference point will be misaligned, which in turn will reduce the accuracy of the discharge position. is there. However, the head unit according to the prior art has not been sufficiently considered in this regard.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a head unit and a liquid material discharge device that are designed to stably maintain the accuracy of the discharge position.

The head unit of the present invention comprises a head having a nozzle formed on one surface, a base body for mounting the head, and a super steel marker member for defining a reference point in the base body. Features.
According to the head unit of the present invention, since the marker member is made of super steel having excellent thermal stability, the reference point is hardly misaligned due to the shape change of the member. For this reason, the accuracy of the discharge position can be stably maintained.

The head unit of the present invention is a head having nozzles formed on one surface, a base body for mounting the head, and a marker member for defining a reference point in the base body, directly through an elastic member And a marking member fixed to the base body indirectly or indirectly.
According to the head unit of the present invention, since the marker member is securely fixed to the base body through the elastic member without play, the reference point is not easily misaligned due to a change in the marker member mounting position or posture. . For this reason, the accuracy of the discharge position can be stably maintained.

Preferably, in the head unit, the marker member is fixed to the base body via an adhesive.
According to the head unit of the present invention, since the marker member is firmly fixed to the base body via the adhesive, the reference point is less likely to be misaligned due to a change in the attachment position or posture of the marker member.

The head unit of the present invention includes a head having a nozzle formed on one surface, a base body for mounting the head, a marking member for defining a reference point in the base body, and a direct connection to the marking member. And a protection means for suppressing interference.
According to the head unit of the present invention, since the direct interference to the marking member can be suppressed by the protection means, the reference point is hardly misaligned due to a change in the mounting position or posture of the marking member. For this reason, the accuracy of the discharge position can be stably maintained.

The head unit of the present invention is a head having nozzles formed on one surface, a base body for mounting the head, and a super-steel marking member for defining a reference point in the base body. Or a marker member fixed to the base body directly or indirectly via an elastic member; and a protection means for suppressing direct interference with the marker member.
According to the head unit of the present invention, the marking member is formed of super steel having excellent thermal stability, and the marking member is securely fixed to the base body without play through the elastic member, and further includes a protection means. This suppresses direct interference with the marker member, so that the accuracy of the discharge position can be stably maintained.

Preferably, in the head unit, the marker member has an end surface having a region corresponding to a reference point, and has an end surface that is included in substantially the same plane as the one surface of the head.
According to the head unit of the present invention, the position of the reference point can be recognized at substantially the same height (level) as one surface of the head that is the nozzle formation surface. Thereby, in the assembly of the head unit, the position of the nozzle relative to the reference point can be recognized with high accuracy, and the head mounting position can be positioned with high accuracy.

The liquid discharge apparatus of the present invention is equipped with the head unit.
Since the liquid discharge device of the present invention is equipped with the head unit, the accuracy of the discharge position can be stably maintained.

DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Note that the embodiments described below are preferred specific examples of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. Unless otherwise stated, the present invention is not limited to these forms. In the drawings referred to in the following description, the vertical and horizontal scales of members or portions may be represented differently from actual ones for convenience of illustration.

(Liquid material discharge device)
First, the configuration of the liquid material discharge apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of the liquid material discharge apparatus.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid material discharge apparatus 200 performs main scanning with a pair of guide rails 201 provided linearly, an air slider provided inside the guide rail 201, and a linear motor (not shown). A main scanning moving table 203 that moves in the direction is provided. Further, a pair of guide rails 202 linearly provided so as to be orthogonal to the guide rail 201 above the guide rail 201, an air slider and a linear motor (not shown) provided inside the guide rail 202, and A sub-scanning moving table 204 that moves in the sub-scanning direction is provided.

  On the main scanning moving table 203, a stage 205 for placing the substrate P as an ejection target and a camera 206 capable of imaging a position facing the main scanning moving table 203 are provided. The stage 205 is configured to suck and fix the substrate P, and the rotation mechanism 207 can accurately align the reference axis in the substrate P with the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction.

  The sub-scanning moving table 204 includes a carriage 209 that is attached in a suspended manner via a rotation mechanism 208. The carriage 209 includes a head unit 10 having a liquid material discharge surface 10a facing the substrate P, a liquid material supply mechanism (not shown) for supplying the liquid material to the head unit 10, and a discharge drive for the head unit 10. A driving electric board (not shown) for supplying electric signals is provided.

  The head unit 10 is moved (scanned) relative to the substrate P in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction with the ejection surface 10a facing the substrate P. In addition, minute droplets (liquid material) are ejected from the head 30 (see FIG. 2) provided on the ejection surface 10a side under appropriate control synchronized with the scanning of the head unit 10. As a result, the liquid material ejection apparatus 200 can dispose the liquid material in a minute unit at a desired position on the substrate P. In addition, liquids, such as water and an organic solvent, these solutions, what disperse | distributed solid fine particles in the liquid, etc. can be employ | adopted for a liquid body according to a use.

  Marking members 71 and 71 (see FIG. 2) for defining the reference point of the head unit 10 and the reference axis a1 (see FIG. 2) are provided on the ejection surface 10a side of the head unit 10, and this reference point. The reference axis a <b> 1 is recognized by imaging the marker members 71 and 71 by the camera 206. The liquid material ejecting apparatus 200 operates after the rotation of the rotation mechanism 208 is adjusted so that the reference axis a1 of the head unit 10 matches the main scanning direction. In this operation, the scanning position of the head unit 10 is recognized based on the position of the reference point of the head unit 10.

(Head unit)
Next, the configuration of the head unit will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the ejection surface side showing the configuration of the head unit. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the peripheral structure of the head in the head unit.

  2, the head unit 10 has a configuration in which a plurality of (in this embodiment, 12) heads 30 are attached to a base plate 11 serving as a base body via a main head holding member 50 and a sub head holding member 60. ing. The base plate 11 is a rectangular plate-like member, and has bolt holes 12 used for attachment to the carriage 209 (see FIG. 1) and through holes 13a and 13b serving as positioning holes when the head unit 10 is assembled. is doing. The through hole 13a is formed as a round hole, and the through hole 13b is formed as a long hole.

  A pair of marker members 71 and 71 are attached to the base plate 11 so as to sandwich the attachment region of the head 30. The marker member 71 is a rod-shaped member provided with a perforation 71b (see FIG. 4) as a region corresponding to the reference point on the end surface 71a. Further, around the marker member 71, a holding member 80 for holding the marker member 71 and a cover member 90 as a protection means for suppressing interference from the outside to the marker member 71 are provided.

  The center of the hole 71b (see FIG. 4) in the end faces 71a and 71a is the reference point of the head unit 10, and the axis connecting the two reference points is the reference axis a1 of the head unit 10. Optical means such as a camera is used. Recognized. The reference point and the reference axis a1 are not only used for specifying the position and posture of the head unit 10 in the liquid material discharge device 200 (see FIG. 1), but also for defining the mounting position of the head 30 to be described later. It is also used as a reference and is very important as an element that determines the accuracy of the discharge position.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the head 30 includes a discharge assembly 32 having a nozzle 31, a circuit board 34 having a connector 33 for connecting to a flexible cable for electric signals, and a needle-like member for introducing a liquid material. And a case assembly 36 having 35.

  Inside the discharge assembly 32, there are provided fine flow paths communicating with the individual nozzles 31, piezoelectric elements for mechanically deforming (displacement) the flow path walls inside the nozzles 31, and the like. The discharge driving method in the discharge assembly 32 is not limited to such a piezoelectric method, and a thermal method using a heating element can also be adopted.

  The discharge assembly 32 includes a nozzle surface 37 in which the nozzle 31 is formed on one surface, and a rectangular parallelepiped main body portion 38 having a width approximately the same as the nozzle surface 37, and the nozzle surface 37 in the main body portion 38. The opposite side is a flange portion 39 having a hook shape. The flange portion 39 is provided with screw holes 40 and 40 for screwing the head 30 to the sub head holding member 60.

  On the nozzle surface 37, the nozzles 31 constitute two sets of nozzle groups, and the nozzles 31 of each nozzle group form a line array arranged at a constant pitch along a predetermined direction. The directions of the arrangement of both nozzle groups coincide with each other, and in this embodiment, both nozzle groups form a so-called staggered arrangement in which the pitches are complemented and arranged in parallel.

  The main head holding member 50 is a plate-like member having a rectangular opening 51 having a larger outer peripheral dimension than the flange portion 39 of the head 30 at the center, and the longitudinal dimension of the main head holding member 50 is the opening in the base plate 11. It is sufficiently longer than the width of 18. Further, the main head holding member 50 has screw holes 52 and 52 on both sides in the long side direction of the opening 51 and through holes 53, 53 and 53 at three positions on the end.

  The sub head holding member 60 is a plate-like member having a rectangular opening 61 having an outer peripheral size slightly larger than the main body portion 38 of the head 30 at the center, and the size in the longitudinal direction is the main head holding member. 50 is sufficiently longer than the width of the opening 51 in the long side direction. Further, the sub head holding member 60 has through holes 62 and 62, through holes 63 and 63, through holes 64a and 64b, and through holes 65 and 65 which are provided so as to be paired in a symmetrical arrangement. Yes. The through hole 64a is a round hole, and the through hole 64b is a long hole.

  The head 30 is fixed to the sub head holding member 60 in a state where the main body portion 38 protrudes from the opening 61 by the screw 15 that passes through the through hole 65 and is screwed into the screw hole 40 of the flange portion 39. Further, the sub head holding member 60 is fixed to the main head holding member 50 in a state of being laid on the opening 51 by the screw 16 that passes through the through hole 62 and is screwed into the screw hole 52. Further, the main head holding member 50 is fixed to the base plate 11 in such a state that the main head holding member 50 is installed on the opening 18 by a screw 17 that passes through the through hole 53 and is screwed into the screw hole 14 on the side of the opening 18. The

  When the head unit 10 is assembled, the screw 16 for fixing the sub head holding member 60 and the main head holding member 50 is loosely tightened, and the head 30 has the outer edge of the flange portion 39 and the opening 51. It is held with respect to the main head holding member 50 with a play corresponding to a gap formed between the inner edge and the inner edge (this state is referred to as a temporary mounting state). The head 30 is accurately positioned with respect to the mounting position under the temporarily mounted state, and is finally fixed by final tightening of the screws 16.

  The head 30 is positioned by translating and rotating the head 30 via the adjustment pins 121 and 121 engaged with the through holes 64a and 64b of the sub head holding member 60 based on the position recognition of the nozzle 31 by imaging. Done. For example, in this embodiment, the position of the nozzle 31 with respect to the reference point (perforation 71b (see FIG. 4)) and the inclination of the nozzle group arrangement direction (calculated from the positions of the plurality of nozzles 31) from the reference axis a1. The head 30 is moved so that the angle is adjusted to a predetermined specified value. The positioning of the head 30 is performed based on the position recognition of the nozzle 31 because the position of the nozzle 31 directly determines the accuracy of the discharge position of the liquid material.

  As described above, since the position of the nozzle 31 is recognized as a relative position with respect to the reference point (perforation 71b (see FIG. 4)), the end surface 71a of the marker member 71 is formed for the purpose of performing such position recognition with high accuracy. The height (level) is such that it is included in substantially the same plane as the nozzle surface 37. That is, the marker member 71 has an elongated rod-like shape (see FIG. 4), and it is necessary to raise the height (level) of the end surface 71a sufficiently from the height (level) of one surface of the base plate 11. Because.

  After the head 30 is positioned, the sub head holding member 60 and the main head holding member 50 are completely fixed by final fastening of the screws 16 after being temporarily fixed by injecting adhesive into the through holes 63 and 63 of the sub head holding member 60. Fixed to. Thus, the head unit 10 is assembled with the head 30 positioned with high accuracy.

(About the surrounding structure of the sign member)
Next, the peripheral structure of the marker member will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the peripheral structure of the marking member in the head unit.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the marker member 71 is a rod-shaped member having a flange portion 71c, and a perforation 71b is formed in the center portion of the mirror-polished end surface 71a. The marker member 71 is inserted into the mounting hole 73 on the base plate 11 below the flange portion 71c, and the height (level) of the end surface 71a is defined by the contact of the flange portion 71c with the base plate 11. It has become.

  As described above, since the marker member 71 plays an important role in determining the accuracy of the discharge position of the liquid material discharge device 200 (see FIG. 1), the shape of the member itself, the mounting position, the posture, etc. , It is required to have high stability. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the structure related to the marker member 71 is devised as described below.

  Super steel is used as the material of the marking member 71. This is because a material having excellent thermal stability (small thermal expansion coefficient) is employed, so that the shape of the member and thus the position of the perforation 71b can be stably maintained. However, there is a problem that the marker member 71 using super steel cannot be fixed in the mounting hole 73 due to its hardness. Therefore, in order to fix the marker member 71 in a state where the attachment position and posture thereof are stably maintained, the following fixing method is employed.

  The marker member 71 is firmly joined to the base plate 11 via an adhesive (not shown) injected into the attachment hole 73. In addition, a washer 75 and an O-ring 76 as an elastic member are inserted on the upper side of the flange portion 71 c of the marker member 71, and the marker member 71 has no play through the O-ring 76 and the holding member 80. In this state, the base plate 11 is securely fixed.

  The holding member 80 includes a through hole 81 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the marker member 71, a holder portion 82 formed as a recess for holding the O-ring 76, through holes 83 and 83, screws It is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped metal member provided with holes 85 and 85. The holding member 80 is fixed to the base plate 11 by bolts 86, 86 that pass through the through holes 83, 83 and screw into the screw holes 74, 74 of the base plate 11. At this time, the O-ring 76 inserted and fitted into the marker member 71 is held by the holder portion 82, and the upper portion of the marker member 71 protrudes upward through the through hole 81.

  The marking member 71 needs to be exposed only at the end surface 71a. However, if the other portions are left exposed, due to a contact accident during the handling of the head unit 10 or the influence of the wind pressure during operation, etc. There is a risk that the mounting position and posture will change. Therefore, in this embodiment, the upper side surface of the sign member 71 is covered by the cover member 90 provided on the holding member 80, and direct interference with the sign member 71 is suitably suppressed. .

  The cover member 90 is a substantially rectangular parallelepiped metal member including a through hole 91 having an inner diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the marker member 71 and through holes 92 and 92 for bolts. It is fixed to the holding member 80 by bolts 93 and 93 that pass through and screw into the screw holes 85 and 85 of the holding member 80. Note that the cover member 90 and the holding member 80 may be integrated.

(Modification)
Next, with reference to FIG. 5, a modified example will be described focusing on differences from the previous embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a peripheral structure of a marker member according to a modification.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the base plate 11 includes a holder portion 77 formed as a recess for holding the O-ring 76 inserted into the marker member 71, and an attachment hole 78 formed on the lower surface of the holder portion 77. It has. The marker member 71 is inserted into the attachment hole 78 at the lower portion of the flange portion 71c, and is securely and firmly fixed via an adhesive (not shown) injected into the O-ring 76 and the holder portion 77.

  In addition, the base plate 11 includes a rib portion 79 that extends so as to surround the periphery of the marker member 71. The rib portion 79 plays a role as a protective means for suppressing direct interference with the marker member 71, similarly to the cover member 90.

  As in this modification, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the above-described embodiment in a mode in which the holding member 80 and the cover member 90 are not used for fixing the marker member 71.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.
For example, various changes can be made to the material, shape, attachment position, attachment method, and the like of the marker member without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
Each configuration of the embodiment can be appropriately combined, omitted, or combined with other configurations not shown.

The perspective view which shows the principal part structure of a liquid discharger. The perspective view from the discharge surface side which shows the structure of a head unit. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a peripheral structure of a head in the head unit. The perspective view which shows the periphery structure of the marker member in a head unit. The perspective view which shows the periphery structure of the marker member which concerns on a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Head unit, 11 ... Base plate as base body, 30 ... Head, 31 ... Nozzle, 37 ... Nozzle surface as one surface of head, 71 ... Marking member, 71a ... End surface of marking member, 71b ... Corresponding to reference point Perforation as region, 71c ... flange portion, 73 ... mounting hole, 75 ... washer, 76 ... O-ring as elastic member, 77 ... holder portion, 78 ... mounting hole, 79 ... rib portion as protection means, 80 ... holding 90, a cover member as a protection means, 200, a liquid material discharge device, 209, a carriage.

Claims (7)

A head with nozzles formed on one side;
A base body for mounting the head;
A head unit comprising: a super-steel marking member for defining a reference point in the base body. A head with nozzles formed on one side;
A base body for mounting the head;
A head unit comprising: a marker member for defining a reference point in the base body, the marker member fixed directly or indirectly to the base body via an elastic member.   The head unit according to claim 2, wherein the marker member is fixed to the base body via an adhesive. A head with nozzles formed on one side;
A base body for mounting the head;
A marking member for defining a reference point in the base body;
And a protection unit for suppressing direct interference with the marker member. A head with nozzles formed on one side;
A base body for mounting the head;
A super-steel marking member for defining a reference point in the base body, the marking member being directly or indirectly fixed to the base body via an adhesive or an elastic member;
And a protection unit for suppressing direct interference with the marker member.   6. The mark member according to claim 1, wherein the marker member has an end surface having a region corresponding to a reference point, and has an end surface included in substantially the same plane as the one surface of the head. The head unit described. A liquid discharger equipped with the head unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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