JP2008191373A - Discharge pattern generating apparatus and method, color filter, and method of manufacturing organic functional element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a discharge pattern generating apparatus capable of manufacturing a high grade color filter or an organic functional element without causing density unevenness to degrade the quality due to the variation of the discharge in each nozzle. <P>SOLUTION: The discharge pattern generating apparatus for forming a pixel on a substrate by discharging ink on an opening of a pattern on the substrate from a plurality of nozzles has the nozzle, a means for selecting the effective nozzle from parameter information of the substrate and a means for fixing the increase or decrease number of drops of the ink discharged from the effective nozzle using random numbers. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to an ejection pattern generation method and ejection apparatus for ejecting a high-definition pattern, and more particularly to an inkjet ejection apparatus suitable for ejecting a predetermined amount of droplets onto a partition pattern.

The substrate size of color filters is increasing year by year. Conventionally, a pigment dispersion method or the like that repeats the photolithography process has been used. However, in order to reduce the cost of the color filter, the number of processes is small in recent years, and each colored layer of the color filter can be formed simultaneously. A method using an ink jet apparatus has been studied.

As a method for producing a color filter using an ink jet apparatus, a method of forming each colored layer by discharging ink corresponding to each color of the color filter from the nozzle of the ink jet head to the openings partitioned by the partition walls is generally used. is there. At this time, the color variation of the color filter is reduced as the variation in the filling amount of each ink discharged and filled into each opening is reduced, and a high-quality color filter can be manufactured.

On the other hand, color filters tend to be miniaturized year by year due to higher resolution of display devices and higher definition. As the color filter becomes finer, the pattern pitch to be applied by the ink jet becomes narrower. Therefore, it is necessary to control the amount of ink discharged from the ink jet head with a small amount and with high accuracy so as to be uniform. For this reason, in the manufacturing method of the color filter using an inkjet apparatus, the method of accumulating a some inkjet head and improving the resolution is examined.

However, since the amount of ink ejected from the inkjet head varies from nozzle to nozzle, the ejection amount may differ. In particular, in the case of an ejection device aiming at high resolution in which a plurality of inkjet heads are stacked, the amount of ink ejected from one nozzle is extremely small, so the variation is relatively large. End up.

In this case, in order to fill each opening with the same amount of ink, even if the ink is ejected the same number of times from each nozzle, there will be a difference in the final ink filling amount due to the variation of each nozzle, Color unevenness between pixels is a cause of reducing the quality and yield of the color filter.

As a result, the discharge amount to each partition wall opening (hereinafter referred to as cell) discharged by the combination of the same headset is substantially equal, so that it is different from the discharge pattern line (hereinafter referred to as cell line) formed by the same headset. The difference in the discharge amount in the cell line formed by the headset appears visually as color unevenness due to the variation in the average total liquid amount of the ink.

To solve such problems, for example, a circuit device that can change the drive voltage value for each nozzle is incorporated as a means to suppress discharge variation for each nozzle, and the ideal discharge amount is compared with the actual discharge amount to adjust the discharge amount. A method of reducing the unevenness by doing so is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

JP 2004-90621 A

However, as shown in Patent Document 1, in order to change and correct the drive voltage value for each nozzle, discharge is performed depending on the variation of each nozzle, whether adjacent nozzles are discharging at the same time, or not discharging. It is necessary to grasp all the effects of adjacent crosstalk of different amounts. For this reason, since discharge and measurement are repeated many times and work is performed until there is no discharge variation among the nozzles, there is a problem of using enormous time and materials.

A similar problem is that an organic functional element such as an organic EL element or an organic solar cell in which a partition wall is formed on a substrate and one or more organic functional layers are stacked in the opening is manufactured using an inkjet method. Sometimes it happens. For example, in an organic EL element, when organic functional ink is ejected from an ejection device and unevenness or variation occurs in the formed light emitting layer, the organic EL element becomes conspicuous in unevenness or variation in light emission as a whole. End up.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and measures and corrects the discharge amount for each nozzle and does not change the drive voltage. On the other hand, density unevenness due to discharge variation for each nozzle occurs and the quality deteriorates. It is an object of the present invention to provide a discharge pattern generation apparatus capable of manufacturing a high-quality color filter and organic functional element without performing the above.

The invention according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above problems, is an ejection pattern generation device that ejects ink from a plurality of nozzles to openings of a pattern on a substrate to form pixel portions on the substrate. A plurality of inkjet heads having the nozzles, means for selecting an effective nozzle located in the opening from the parameter information of the nozzle and the substrate, and a random number for increasing or decreasing the number of ink drops ejected from the nozzle. And a means for determining the discharge pattern. The parameter information is information related to the discharge pattern, for example, information that is input in advance such as the size of the substrate and the formation pattern, and information that is sequentially input such as the position of the nozzle and the substrate, and the information related to the substrate. .

The invention according to claim 2 is the ejection pattern generation device according to claim 1, further comprising means for randomly selecting a nozzle for increasing or decreasing the number of drops from the effective nozzles.

The invention according to claim 3 is an ejection pattern generation device comprising a plurality of nozzle heads having a plurality of nozzles, and comprises means for setting the ejection amount of ink ejected from the nozzles at a time for each nozzle head. The discharge pattern generation device according to claim 1, wherein the discharge pattern generation device is a discharge pattern generation device.

The invention according to claim 4 is an ejection pattern generation method for ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles to an opening of a pattern on a substrate to form a pixel portion on the substrate, from the parameter information of the nozzle and the substrate A method for generating an ejection pattern, comprising: selecting an effective nozzle located in the opening; and determining an increase / decrease in the number of ink drops ejected from the effective nozzle using a random number. is there.

The invention according to claim 5 is a discharge pattern generation method for forming a pixel portion on a substrate by discharging ink from a plurality of nozzles to an opening portion of the pattern on the substrate, from the parameter information of the nozzle and the substrate. A step of selecting an effective nozzle located in the opening, a step of determining an increase / decrease in the number of ink drops discharged from the effective nozzle using a random number, and a nozzle for discharging ink from the effective nozzle. And a step of randomly selecting the discharge pattern generating method.

In the invention according to claim 6, the increase / decrease number of the number of drops is from an ideal value of the average total liquid amount (average of the total liquid amount discharged in one cell) of the ink discharged to the opening by the same nozzle head. The discharge pattern generation method according to claim 4, wherein the discharge pattern generation method is weighted according to the amount of deviation.

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the number of drops before being increased or decreased by a random number is set so as to be closest to the ideal value of the average liquid amount. It is a generation method.

The invention according to claim 8 is characterized in that the maximum value of the number of drops to be increased or decreased is determined by the degree of variation in the average total liquid amount of each opening. Is the method. Here, the cell line means a set of ejection patterns generated by the same nozzle head.

The invention according to claim 9 is a method of manufacturing a color filter comprising a partition pattern on a substrate and a pixel portion of an opening of the partition pattern, and the discharge pattern generation method according to any one of claims 4 to 7 provides a pixel. A color filter manufacturing method is characterized by forming a portion.

The invention according to claim 10 is a method of manufacturing an organic functional element comprising a partition pattern on a substrate and one or more organic functional layers in an opening of the partition pattern, wherein An organic functional layer is formed by a discharge pattern generation method.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by providing means for randomly varying the amount of ink ejected to each cell, the number of drops actually ejected for each cell can be widened so that the cell line has By giving a certain variation, it was possible to make the variation in the average discharge amount for each cell line inconspicuous, thereby reducing the overall color unevenness.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by randomly selecting nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops, it is possible to reduce color unevenness caused by variations in the discharge amount of each nozzle, and as a whole, variations in the discharge amount between cells. Was able to be reduced.

According to the invention of claim 3, the discharge amount can be adjusted for each nozzle head, and the average total liquid amount of each cell line can be brought close to the ideal total liquid amount. This makes it possible to form a discharge pattern with little variation in film thickness for each cell line.

According to the invention of claim 4, by providing variation in the ejection amount of ink ejected from each nozzle, it is possible to reduce variation in ejection amount between cells due to variation in ejection amount that has occurred between the nozzles in advance. did it.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, by randomly selecting the nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops, it is possible to reduce the variation caused by the discharge amount of each nozzle, thereby reducing the variation of the total liquid amount of the cells as a whole. I was able to.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to easily control the ejection of ink in accordance with the degree of variation in the ejection amount of the nozzles, and to correct the deviation of the ejection amount from the ideal value. As a result, the average total liquid volume can be made closer to the ideal total liquid volume, and a discharge pattern can be generated.

According to the invention of claim 7, the average amount can be brought close to the ideal value. In addition, this makes it possible to approach the ideal total liquid amount with a smaller maximum number of drops to be increased or decreased.

According to the eighth aspect of the invention, a discharge pattern that is more uniform and has less color unevenness can be obtained by bringing the dispersion of the total liquid amount of each cell generated from the variation of the average total liquid amount of each cell line and the discharge amount variation of each nozzle closer. Became possible. When the invention according to claim 7 is included, since the range of the maximum value of the number of drops to be increased or decreased is widened, it becomes easy to match the variation in the average total liquid amount in each cell with the variation in the total liquid amount in the cell line. It was.

According to the invention of claim 9, a more uniform colored layer can be formed. As a result, a high-quality color filter with high definition, uneven color, and less variation can be produced in a shorter time.

According to the invention of claim 10, an organic functional layer having a more uniform film thickness can be formed, and a high-quality organic functional element such as an organic EL element with little emission unevenness can be produced.

FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of the ejection pattern generation apparatus of the present invention. The ejection pattern generation apparatus of the present invention has an inkjet head unit 2 in which a plurality of inkjet heads 1 are arranged. In order to generate a color filter, it is necessary to eject ink of each color (for example, R, G, B) forming a colored layer, and therefore, a combination of a plurality of the above-described inkjet heads arranged in each color is arranged. Yes. The ink jet head moves in the main scanning direction and performs image drawing.

The substrate table 3 can move in the sub-scanning direction and can further rotate in the θ direction. Since it can rotate in the θ direction, the partition wall of the substrate placed on the substrate mounting table and the inkjet head unit can be aligned in parallel, and image drawing can be performed by operating in the sub-scanning direction. Further, although not shown in the figure, the substrate table is provided with a suction mechanism, and the substrate placed on the substrate table can be fixed.

The discharge pattern generation apparatus of the present invention recognizes or measures position information based on at least nozzles existing in an inkjet head for discharging ink to the opening of the partition wall and parameter information input in advance, and outputs the position information And means for determining an increase / decrease in the number of ink drops ejected from the nozzles using random numbers. Furthermore, it is a discharge pattern generation device having means for randomly selecting nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops.

The inkjet head and the nozzle for ejecting ink used in the present invention can be applied as long as they have a configuration in which a plurality of nozzles are arranged, but in the description, nozzles arranged in a row as shown in FIG. However, a plurality of combinations are used. In this case, the ink of each phase is ejected at different timings. For example, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a cross-sectional view of an inkjet head, but the timing at which ink is ejected from the same row of the A phase, the B phase, and the C phase is shifted in the order of A, B, and C. This method (hereinafter referred to as “shear wave mode”) is suitable for the manufacture of a color filter that requires high-definition ejection pattern formation because the intervals between the nozzles can be reduced to provide a high-density inkjet head.

This ink jet head includes buffers (hereinafter referred to as line buffers) corresponding to A phase, B phase, and C phase, and the line buffers of each phase can transfer information to each other. A simple operation flow until the ink jet head discharges is shown in FIG.

First, the A-phase line buffer receives the ejection pattern information, and starts ejection from the A-phase ink ejection port based on the information related to the A phase in the transferred information. Simultaneously with the start of ejection from the A-phase ink ejection port, ejection pattern information is transferred from the A-phase line buffer to the B-phase line buffer. After completion of ejection from the A-phase ink ejection port, the B-phase ink ejection port starts ejection based on the information regarding the B phase in the transferred ejection pattern information. Simultaneously with the start of ejection from the B-phase ink ejection port, ejection pattern information is transferred from the B-phase line buffer to the C-phase line buffer. After completion of ejection from the B-phase ink ejection port, the C-phase ink ejection port starts ejection based on the information regarding the C phase in the transferred ejection pattern information. After completion of ejection from the C-phase ink ejection port, it is determined whether or not the line counter has been ejected for a set number of times, and if the set number of ejections has not been performed, the ejection pattern information is transferred to the A-phase line buffer. Again, the A-phase ink discharge port starts to discharge based on the discharge pattern information. Thereafter, the above-described operation is repeated for the number of lines to create a desired ejection pattern.

The above is the discharge control method in the share wave mode, but the discharge apparatus of the present invention has no problem even in other methods. Hereinafter, a case where a color filter is formed by the discharge pattern forming method of the present invention will be described as an example. However, in the case of other optical elements, for example, organic EL elements, similarly, when forming each color pixel of the light emitting layer. The present invention can be used.

For example, an inkjet head controller 4 is connected to the ejection device as control means for ejecting ink from the nozzles of the inkjet head based on the ejection pattern information. The inkjet head controller 4 drives the inkjet head and stores inkjet head parameter information and ejection patterns. The inkjet head parameter information is information for driving the inkjet head. In the ejection pattern information, information on ejection of a specific nozzle is stored with the positional information of the inkjet head as an argument. When performing ejection, ejection pattern information is transferred from the inkjet head controller to each nozzle, and drawing can be performed.

In addition, in the inkjet head parameter information for driving the inkjet head of the inkjet head controller 4, it is preferable that an optimum voltage value parameter can be set for each inkjet head. If the drive voltage of all the ink jet heads is set to the same value, the amount of liquid droplets ejected from the ink jet heads varies depending on individual differences, so that it may not be possible to uniformly eject ink into the substrate. By making it possible to set an optimum voltage value parameter for each ink jet head, it becomes possible to control the discharge amount for each ink jet head and to adjust the discharge amount of each cell.

The means for recognizing or measuring the positional information and outputting the positional information possessed by the present invention is a pre-input color filter size, partition pattern pitch, pixel pattern (striped array, cell array, mosaic array, etc.) Parameters of color filter substrate such as array pattern), parameters such as ink jet head and nozzle position information (including head misalignment information), movement amount of substrate table of ejection device (hereinafter referred to as ejection together) The landing position of ink ejected from the nozzle onto the substrate is calculated from the pattern information). Alternatively, an ink landing position can be calculated by acquiring and processing an image of the substrate surface with a camera installed in the discharge device.

After calculating the position of the inkjet head and the nozzle with respect to the partition pattern on the substrate, based on this information, it is determined whether or not the ink landing position is the pixel portion formation position (target partition opening: cell). The process is determined by the program. Only when the landing position corresponds to the target partition opening, the nozzle is recognized as an effective nozzle, and is not ejected from a nozzle that is not.

FIG. 4 is a specific example of determining whether a nozzle is valid. Of the nozzles 5 of the inkjet head, the nozzles that are directly above the openings of the color filter substrate are determined to be valid, and the other nozzles are determined to be invalid, and discharge pattern information is generated. Then, according to this ejection pattern information, the nozzles of each inkjet head eject ink into the target cell.

Here, when the discharge apparatus and the discharge method of the present invention are not used, in the cell line, when the variation in the discharge amount for each cell is small, that is, when the standard deviation of the discharge amount of each cell is small (within the cell line) The standard deviation of the discharge amount between each cell line (standard deviation of the discharge amount between cell lines) is larger than the standard deviation of the discharge amount within the cell line. This results in a color filter with large color unevenness visually. Of course, since the ideal color layer thickness varies depending on the ink constituting each color layer of the color filter, the above discharge amount means the average value and standard deviation of the discharge amount for each nozzle that discharges the same color ink. .

Therefore, the ejection pattern forming apparatus of the present invention solves this problem by having means for determining the number of ink drops ejected from an effective nozzle by using a random number. In other words, a certain number of drops (hereinafter referred to as the basic number of drops) gives a certain variation within the cell line by giving a range to the number of drops actually ejected for each cell. The variation in the average discharge amount for each can be made inconspicuous, thereby reducing the overall color unevenness.

Here, the means for determining the increase / decrease number of the ink drop ejected from the nozzle using a random number selects the nozzle ejected from the above-mentioned effective nozzle, and further uses the random number to drop the ink drop ejected. Is a calculator that gives an arbitrary increase or decrease from a specified value. By distributing the increase / decrease numbers randomly within a preset increase / decrease range, the number of ink drops to be discharged to each cell in the pixel section is widened, and color unevenness between pixels due to discharge amount variation for each nozzle. Can be reduced. This is because, by randomly increasing or decreasing the number of drops in each cell line, the standard deviation of the discharge amount between the cell lines can be intentionally made closer to the standard deviation of the discharge amount in the cell line.

In addition, it is ideal to discharge the theoretical total liquid volume of ink to form the ideal colored layer thickness. However, as described in the problem, the discharge volume variation of each nozzle and the influence of crosstalk For example, the actual average ink total liquid amount may deviate from the theoretical ink total liquid amount.
Therefore, if the average total ink volume discharged (in each cell line) is large, the average total ink volume can be calculated by applying a weight to the random number allocation in the direction that the number of drops that increase or decrease increases. The value can be made closer to the value, and a higher quality color filter can be manufactured. For example, when the average total liquid amount is larger than the theoretical layer liquid amount, the random function is allocated to the number of drops to be increased or decreased so that the rate of increase is higher than the rate of decrease of the number of drops.

Note that if the average total liquid volume of ink is larger than the theoretical total liquid volume, the number of basic drops discharged from the nozzles may be increased or decreased. Thereby, the difference between the average total liquid volume and the theoretical total liquid volume can be reduced to 1 drop or less. Although a method of increasing / decreasing the discharge amount of one drop from the nozzle is also conceivable, when the discharge amount from the nozzle is set for each nozzle head, the discharge amount from the nozzle changes in the entire nozzle head. Adjustment of the amount is difficult.

In the method of increasing / decreasing the number of drops described above, when the difference between the average total liquid amount of ink and the theoretical total liquid amount is 1 drop or less, it cannot be brought closer to the theoretical value. Therefore, as in the present invention, by applying a weight to the allocation of random numbers that determine the increase / decrease in the number of drops, the average total ink volume can be made closer to a value close to the theoretical total ink volume.

In the ejection pattern generation device of the present invention, it is preferable to have means for randomly selecting nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops. By randomly specifying the nozzles to be ejected using random numbers, unevenness caused by variations in the ejection amount of each nozzle can be reduced, and the variation in ejection amount between cells as a whole can be further reduced. It becomes possible.

Since the present invention reduces variations in the film thickness of the pixel portion and eliminates unevenness in forming a pattern using the ink jet method, the present invention can be applied to manufacturing an element using the ink jet method. Hereinafter, as an example of a method for producing an element using the present invention, a method for producing a color filter and an organic functional element will be described.

The manufacture of either the color filter or the organic functional element can be made by forming a partition on a substrate and forming a pixel portion there.

[substrate]
The substrate is used as a support substrate for printed matter. For example, a glass substrate, a quartz substrate, a plastic substrate, a dry film, or the like can be used for a known transparent substrate material, although the type of substrate varies depending on the target optical element. Among them, the glass substrate is excellent in transparency, strength, heat resistance, and weather resistance in color filter and organic EL device applications.

[Partition wall]
In the present invention, ink is applied to the substrate by an ink jet printing apparatus to form a color filter or an organic functional element. In order to prevent color mixing (or mixing) between different types of inks, it is preferable to form partition walls on the substrate in advance.

The partition wall has a function of dividing the surface of the substrate into a plurality of regions and preventing color mixture of ink ejected in each of the many regions. In order to prevent color mixing, it is desirable to use a partition that exhibits a certain ink repellency. For example, a method of forming partition walls with a resin composition part containing an ink repellent, a method of imparting ink repellency by performing plasma treatment on the partition walls formed of a resin composition, and forming a partition wall together with a photocatalyst layer to repel the partition walls by photocatalysis. Examples thereof include a method for imparting ink properties. Moreover, in the color filter and organic EL element which comprise the display screen of a display, the contrast of a display screen can be improved by providing light-shielding property to this partition. In any case, when the partition is formed from a resin composition, it is necessary to contain a resin binder and an ink repellent as essential components.

The partition can be formed by a known partition forming method such as a printing method or a photolithography method.

<Color filter manufacturing method>
When forming a color filter, first, a partition wall is formed on the substrate by the method described above. A colored layer is formed by the discharge pattern forming apparatus of the present invention using colored ink. The colored ink can contain a color pigment, a solvent, and a resin binder as necessary.

<Method for producing organic functional element>
In the case of forming an organic EL element, an organic solar cell, or an organic semiconductor, first, a partition is formed on the substrate. The ink contains an organic light emitting material, and can be manufactured by forming an organic functional layer on a substrate by using the discharge pattern generating apparatus and the discharge method of the present invention. This ink can contain an organic light emitting material, a solvent, and a resin binder as needed. As the solvent and the resin binder, the same materials as those described in the above <Partition formation> can be used.
[Organic luminescent materials]
Organic light-emitting materials such as coumarin, perylene, pyran, anthrone, porphyrene, quinacridone, N, N'-dialkyl substituted quinacridone, naphthalimide, N, N'-diaryl substituted pyrrolopyrrole, iridium complex Organic light-emitting materials that are soluble in organic solvents such as those dispersed in polymers such as polystyrene, polymethyl methacrylate, polyvinyl carbazole, polyarylene-based, polyarylene vinylene-based, polyfluorene-based, etc. And a high molecular organic light emitting material.

A specific example of the discharge pattern generation method by the discharge device of the present invention and a color filter as a specific example of the optical element manufacturing according to the present invention will be described in detail below.

First, the validity / invalidity of the nozzle is determined according to the ejection pattern as described above. A nozzle that ejects ink corresponding to pixels formed in the partition opening on the substrate and formed in the pixel portion is made effective (FIG. 4).

Next, the number of effective nozzles (hereinafter referred to as the number of ejection nozzles) N in one cell can be arbitrarily determined according to the total amount of ink filled in each cell, the size of the cell, and the like.

If the amount of ink ejected from one nozzle at a time (1 drop ejection amount) is a and the number of ink drops from all ejection nozzles (reference drop number) is D, the ideal total liquid amount of ink M is represented by D × a, and the number of drops d allocated to each nozzle is [D × a / N] and the remainder.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for selecting, from each cell, a nozzle to be ejected indicated by an arrow from effective nozzles. The method of selection is arbitrary, but when nozzles are selected in a certain combination, the total liquid volume in each cell may be biased due to variations in the discharge volume of the nozzles. It is preferable. This is because by selecting the discharge nozzles at random, the difference in the total liquid amount between the cells due to the variation in the discharge amount of each nozzle can be reduced. FIG. 5A is a schematic diagram when the number of selected nozzles is one in one cell, and FIG. 5B is a schematic diagram when there are a plurality of nozzles.

Next, in the present invention, with respect to the ideal total liquid amount M of ink, a certain set amount m smaller than M is assumed as an increase / decrease amount from the ideal total liquid amount M. This set amount m is calculated from, for example, the variation (standard deviation) of the total liquid amount of cells in each actual cell line. As described above, it is preferable to adjust so that the standard deviation of the discharge amount in the cell line is close to the standard deviation of the average discharge amount between the cell lines, and the average discharge amount is matched between the cell lines.

Further, the number of drops in each cell line is adjusted in consideration of the difference between the actual average total liquid amount M ′ and the ideal total liquid amount M. Here, it is desirable to make it as close as possible from the ideal total liquid volume by adjustment. For example, the number of drops to be increased / decreased can be determined by the difference between the average total liquid amount M ′ and the ideal total liquid amount M and the ink discharge amount of one drop, and the adjusted number of drops should be written as follows: Can do.

By adjusting the number of drops as described above, the average total liquid volume can be brought close to the ideal total liquid volume, and becomes the adjusted average total liquid volume M ″. Ideal total liquid amount M, average total liquid amount M ′, adjusted average total liquid amount M ″, set amount m, number of discharge nozzles N, one-drop discharge amount a, reference drop number D, number of drops Each setting parameter such as the reference value b is set and stored in advance as ejection pattern information.

Next, the drop number D (x) in each cell is determined using the setting parameter and a random number. Here, x is a symbol representing each cell. When the average total liquid volume M ″ after adjustment is equal to the theoretical total liquid volume M, the formula for determining the drop number D (x) should be written as follows, with the increase / decrease number of the drop number being bi: Can do.

Here, RAND () represents a function that generates a real random number between 0 and 1. When the average total liquid volume M ″ after adjustment is different from the theoretical total liquid volume M, the formula for determining the drop number D (x) should be written as follows, with the increase / decrease number of the drop number being bj: Can do.

According to the above formula, for example, when the actual average total liquid amount M ″ is larger than the ideal total liquid amount, the number of drops in each cell is probabilistically inclined to the number of drops larger than the reference number of drops, and as a result The corrected average total liquid amount is close to the ideal total liquid amount.

Further, by randomly selecting the nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops, it is possible to reduce the deviation in the total liquid amount due to the variation in the discharge amount of each nozzle.

In addition, when the determined increase / decrease value of the number of drops is more than a certain deviation between consecutive cells, it is possible to recalculate again with random numbers and eliminate the deviation more than a certain value.

As described above, according to the method of the present invention, it is possible to reduce color unevenness between pixels without a complicated operation of measuring variation in ejection amount for each nozzle and correcting the ejection amount. Become. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the influence on the variation in the discharge amount for each discharge in the same nozzle.

Next, a method for manufacturing a color filter will be described.

(Formation of partition walls)
As a photosensitive resin composition containing a material imparting ink repellency, a black photosensitive resin composition blended at the following composition ratio was used. As the substrate, alkali-free glass (“# 1737” manufactured by Corning) was used, and this black photosensitive resin composition was applied thereon by spin coating, and prebaked on a hot plate at a temperature of 90 ° C. for 1 minute. A film having a thickness of 2.0 μm was formed on the substrate.
[Photosensitive resin composition]
Cyclohexanone (boiling point 155.7 ° C.) 80 parts by weight cresol-novolak resin “EP4050G” (manufactured by Asahi Organic Materials Co., Ltd.) 15 parts by weight melamine resin “MW30” (manufactured by Sanwa Chemical Co., Ltd.) 5 parts by weight carbon pigment “MA-8” “(Mitsubishi Materials Co., Ltd.) 23 parts by weight Dispersant“ Solsperse # 5000 ”(Zeneca Co., Ltd.) 1.4 parts by weight Compound“ trimethylolpropane triacrylate ”(produced by Osaka Organic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.) 5 parts by weight Photopolymerization initiator “Irgacure 369” (manufactured by Ciba Specialty Chemicals) 2 parts by weight of fluorine-containing compound “Modiper F-600” (manufactured by NOF Corporation, mass average molecular weight 35000)
0.5 parts by weight

Subsequently, by using a photomask which is a stripe pattern, an exposure process of 100 mJ / cm ² was performed with an ultrahigh pressure mercury lamp, and further a development process was performed to obtain a desired partition wall pattern. Thereafter, heat treatment was performed in the hot air firing furnace under the firing conditions shown in Tables 1 to 3.

(Colored ink adjustment)
0.75 parts by weight of azobisisobutylnitrile was added to the following composition under a nitrogen atmosphere and reacted at 70 ° C. for 5 hours to obtain an acrylic copolymer resin.
[Colored ink composition]
Methacrylic acid 20 parts by weight Methyl methacrylate 10 parts by weight Butyl methacrylate 55 parts by weight Hydroxyethyl methacrylate 15 parts by weight Butyl lactate 300 parts by weight Propylene glycol monomethyl so that the resulting acrylic copolymer resin is 10% by weight Dilution with ether acetate gave a diluted solution of acrylic copolymer resin.

Add 19.0 g of color pigment and 0.9 g of polyoxyethylene alkyl ether as a dispersant to 80.1 g of this diluted solution, and knead with three rolls to obtain red, green and blue colored varnishes. It was. As a red pigment, Pigment Red 177, Pigment Green 36 as a green pigment, and Pigment Blue 15 as a blue pigment were used.

Propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate is added to each colored varnish so that the pigment concentration is 12 to 15% by weight and the viscosity is 15 cps, and red, green, and blue colored inks are obtained. It was.

(Production of color filter)
A colored layer was formed using the discharge device of the present invention shown in FIG. Here, the ideal total liquid amount M of each cell is 660 pl, the set amount m is 24 pl, the drop number increase / decrease number b is 2, and the 1-drop discharge amount a is 6 pl. Further, after the adjustment of the reference drop number when the ejection pattern generation method of the present invention is not used, the average total liquid amount M ″ before correction is as shown in FIG. As described above, since the same nozzle is used on the cell line, the discharge amount becomes almost equal, and the color unevenness between the cell lines becomes visually noticeable.

Next, a program for determining the number of drops in each cell using the mathematical formula shown in Equation 2 was incorporated into the inkjet head controller (4 in FIG. 1) to form the pixel portion.

The result is shown in FIG. Each matrix represents each cell of the colored layer on the substrate, (a) is the number of drops of each cell before correction after adjusting the number of drops, and (b) is the number of drops after correction.

Compared with the average total liquid volume M ″ before correction, the average total liquid volume after correction was 660.077 pl, which is a value close to the ideal total liquid volume, and the color filter as a whole has reduced color unevenness.

As described above, the variation in discharge amount for each nozzle is measured, and the variation in discharge amount for each cell of each colored layer is reduced in a short time without controlling the discharge amount for each nozzle. The filter could be manufactured.

Schematic showing an example of the overall configuration of the ejection pattern generation apparatus of the present invention Schematic diagram of nozzle of share wave mode inkjet head Ink discharge operation flowchart in share wave mode Schematic of selecting an effective nozzle from the nozzles of an inkjet head Schematic showing nozzles selected by random number in cell Schematic of the results of the examples Schematic of the results of the examples

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Inkjet head 2 ... Inkjet head unit 3 ... Substrate stand 4 ... Inkjet head controller 5 ... Nozzle 6 ... Effective nozzle 7 ... Partition wall opening

Claims (10)

A discharge pattern generation device that discharges ink from a plurality of nozzles to an opening of a pattern on a substrate and forms a pixel portion on the substrate,
Means for selecting an effective nozzle from parameter information of the nozzle and the substrate;
Means for determining an increase / decrease number of ink drops ejected from the effective nozzle using a random number;
An ejection pattern generation apparatus comprising: The ejection pattern generation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for randomly selecting a nozzle that increases or decreases the number of drops from the effective nozzles. An ejection pattern generation device comprising a plurality of nozzle heads having a plurality of nozzles,
The ejection pattern generation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting an ejection amount of ink ejected from the nozzle at a time for each nozzle head. An ejection pattern generation method for ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles to an opening of a pattern on a substrate and forming a pixel portion on the substrate,
Selecting an effective nozzle located in the opening from the nozzle and substrate parameter information;
Determining an increase / decrease number of ink drops discharged from the effective nozzle using a random number;
A discharge pattern generation method characterized by comprising: An ejection pattern generation method for ejecting ink from a plurality of nozzles to an opening of a pattern on a substrate and forming a pixel portion on the substrate,
Selecting an effective nozzle located in the opening from the nozzle and substrate parameter information;
Determining the number of ink drops discharged from the nozzles using a random number;
Randomly selecting nozzles that increase or decrease the number of drops from effective nozzles;
A discharge pattern generation method characterized by comprising: 6. The ejection according to claim 4, wherein the increase / decrease number of the number of drops is weighted by a deviation from an ideal value of an average total liquid amount of ink ejected to the opening by the same nozzle head. Pattern generation method. The ejection pattern generation method according to claim 4, wherein the number of drops before increasing or decreasing by a random number is set to be closest to an ideal value of the average total liquid amount. The discharge pattern generation method according to claim 4, wherein the maximum value of the increase / decrease number of the drop number is determined by the degree of variation in the average total liquid amount of each opening. A method for producing a color filter comprising a partition wall pattern on a substrate and a colored layer at an opening of the partition wall pattern,
A method for producing a color filter, wherein a colored layer is formed by the ejection pattern generation method according to claim 4. A method for producing an organic functional element comprising a partition pattern on a substrate, and one or more organic functional layers in an opening of the partition pattern,
9. A method for producing an organic functional element, wherein an organic functional layer is formed by the ejection pattern generation method according to claim 4.

Images