JP2008238023A - Discharge apparatus and method of arranging liquid body - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the difference in discharge quantity among nozzles in an inkjet head. <P>SOLUTION: The inkjet head in the discharge apparatus has a plurality of discharge blocks divided by a plurality of partition walls extending to the short direction of the inkjet head. At least one nozzle in the plurality of the nozzles is dispersedly arranged to each of the plurality of the discharge blocks so that at least one nozzle is arranged to each of the plurality of the discharge blocks. The plurality of the discharge block has at least a first discharge block, a second discharge block and a third discharge block and the second discharge block is arranged between the first discharge block and the third discharge block. A second liquid body supplied to the second discharge block has viscosity lower than that of a first liquid body and a third liquid body and each of the first liquid body, the second liquid body and the third liquid body contains a solute comprising a common functional material. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a discharge device and a liquid material arranging method.

  A technique for correcting the variation in the discharge amount between nozzles in an inkjet head is known. Patent Document 1 describes that a nozzle row is divided into a plurality of nozzle groups, and different drive waveforms are given to the respective nozzle groups, thereby suppressing a difference in ejection amount between the nozzles.

JP 2002-196127 A

  However, the solution according to Patent Document 1 has a problem that the circuit configuration of the drive circuit becomes complicated, which increases the cost.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and one of its purposes is to reduce the difference in the ejection amount between the nozzles on the inkjet head without complicating the drive circuit.

  According to an aspect of the present invention, the ejection device includes an inkjet head including a plurality of nozzles that eject a liquid material. Here, the ink jet head has a plurality of ejection blocks divided by a plurality of partition walls extending in the short direction of the ink jet head. The plurality of nozzles are distributed and arranged in the plurality of discharge blocks such that at least one nozzle is arranged in each of the plurality of discharge blocks. , At least a second discharge block and a third discharge block, and the second discharge block is disposed between the first discharge block and the third discharge block. Further, the second liquid material supplied to the second discharge block has a lower viscosity than the first liquid material supplied to the first discharge block and the third liquid material supplied to the third discharge block, The first liquid body, the second liquid body, and the third liquid body include a solute made of a common functional material.

  With the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the difference between the discharge amount of the nozzles located on both ends of the inkjet head and the discharge amount of the nozzles located at positions other than both ends.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the discharge device includes a first tank including the first liquid material supplied to the first discharge block, and the second liquid supplied to the second discharge block. A second tank provided with a body, and a third tank provided with the third liquid material supplied to the third discharge block.

  According to the above configuration, the first liquid, the second liquid, and the third liquid having the above-described viscosities can be supplied to one inkjet head.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, the number of nozzles arranged in the second discharge block among the plurality of nozzles is the number of nozzles arranged in the first discharge block among the plurality of nozzles. And more than the number of nozzles arranged in the third discharge block among the plurality of nozzles.

  Furthermore, according to the liquid material arranging method of an aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal material has an ink jet head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging the liquid material, and the ink jet head extends in a short direction of the ink jet head. A plurality of discharge blocks divided by the plurality of discharge blocks, wherein the plurality of nozzles are distributed and arranged in the plurality of discharge blocks such that at least one nozzle is disposed in each of the plurality of discharge blocks, The plurality of discharge blocks include at least a first discharge block, a second discharge block, and a third discharge block, and the second discharge block is disposed between the first discharge block and the third discharge block. The liquid material is placed on the substrate using the droplet discharge device. Here, the second liquid material supplied to the second discharge block has a lower viscosity than the first liquid material supplied to the first discharge block and the third liquid material supplied to the third discharge block, and the A liquid material containing a solute made of a functional material contained in the first liquid material and the third liquid material and a common solute is used.

  According to the above configuration, it is possible to reduce the difference between the discharge amount of the nozzles located on both ends of the inkjet head and the discharge amount of the nozzles located at positions other than both ends.

  According to still another aspect of the invention, the discharge device includes a first tank connected to the first discharge block, a second tank connected to the second discharge block, and the third discharge block. And a third tank connected thereto. The first liquid is supplied to the first tank, the second liquid is supplied to the second tank, and the third liquid is supplied to the third tank.

  According to the above configuration, the first liquid, the second liquid, and the third liquid having the above-described viscosities can be supplied to one inkjet head.

  Furthermore, according to the other aspect of this invention, the ratio which the 1st solute which consists of the said functional material contained in the said 1st liquid body accounts to the said 1st liquid body, and the said function contained in the said 2nd liquid body The proportion of the second solute made of a functional material in the first liquid is the same as the proportion of the third solute made of the functional material contained in the third liquid in the first liquid. is there.

  According to the above configuration, the proportion of the functional material is the same in any of the first liquid body, the second liquid body, and the third liquid body. Therefore, if droplets are ejected the same number of times from nozzles belonging to any of the first ejection block, the second ejection block, and the third ejection block, the thickness of the functional material layer obtained (for example, the layer of the layer) The thickness of the central portion is close to a predetermined constant value.

  Furthermore, according to another aspect of the present invention, the viscosity of the second solvent contained in the second liquid material is the viscosity of the second solvent contained in the first liquid material and the viscosity of the second solvent contained in the third liquid material. The viscosity is lower than the viscosity of the three solvents.

  According to the above configuration, the first liquid body, the second liquid body, and the third liquid body have different viscosities while containing a common functional material.

  Furthermore, according to the other aspect of this invention, the difference of the boiling point of the said 1st solvent, the boiling point of the said 2nd solvent, and the said 3rd solvent boiling point is 0 to 10 degreeC on common conditions.

  According to the above configuration, the drying behavior of the discharged first liquid body, the second liquid body, and the third liquid body becomes more uniform, and for this reason, the thickness of the layer made of the functional material finally obtained The variation in thickness is reduced.

(A. Inkjet head)
1A and 1B schematically show an example of an inkjet head 1 used in the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1A, the ink jet head 1 is divided into a plurality of ejection blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D. Here, the ejection block 2B and the ejection block 2C are adjacent to each other, and the ejection block 2B and the ejection block 2C are located between the ejection block 2A and the ejection block 2D.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, each of the discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D includes a nozzle plate 3, a plurality of nozzles 4, and a plurality of discharge mechanisms 5 electrically connected to the plurality of nozzles 4 on a one-to-one basis. A common ink chamber 11 and a common flow path 12. Therefore, the inkjet head 1 includes four common ink chambers 11 and four common flow paths 12. Here, the plurality of nozzles 4 belonging to the same ejection block are arranged side by side in one direction of the nozzle plate 3. Similarly, a plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 belonging to the same ejection block are also arranged side by side in one direction of the nozzle plate 3. Here, the plurality of nozzles 4 belonging to the same discharge block is also expressed as constituting one “nozzle group”. Further, according to this expression, a plurality of nozzles 4 belonging to the same discharge block can be expressed as belonging to the same “nozzle group”.

  In the present embodiment, the nozzle plate 3 is common to the ejection blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D. The nozzle plate 3 borders the openings of the plurality of nozzles 4.

  In this embodiment, the discharge block 2A includes three nozzles 4, the discharge block 2B includes eight nozzles 4, and the discharge block 2C includes seventeen nozzles 4. The block 2D includes two nozzles 4. For this reason, there are a total of 30 nozzles 4 in the ejection blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D. In the present embodiment, each of the discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D includes the discharge mechanism 5 that corresponds to the nozzle 4 on a one-to-one basis. However, in another embodiment, at least one of the discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D may include only one set of the nozzle 4 and the discharge mechanism 5.

  These 30 nozzles 4 are arranged in a row so as to form a nozzle row on the nozzle plate 3. For this reason, the inkjet head 1 is also expressed as including a nozzle row. In this specification, the direction in which the nozzle row extends is expressed as the X-axis direction for convenience. Two directions perpendicular to the X-axis direction are a Y-axis direction and a Z-axis direction. Further, the opening of the nozzle 4 penetrates the nozzle plate 3 substantially along the Z-axis direction. And the relative position of the nozzle 4 with respect to the target 30 (FIG. 5) is changed in a plane parallel to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction by a discharge device 80 (FIG. 9) described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, each of the plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 includes a vibration plate 6, a vibration element 7 positioned on the vibration plate 6, and a pressure at which vibration of the vibration element 7 is transmitted via the vibration plate 6. A chamber 8, a partition wall structure 9 that defines the pressure chamber 8 together with the diaphragm 6, and an ink flow path 10 that supplies a liquid material into the pressure chamber 8 are provided. A liquid material from the common ink chamber 11 is introduced into each pressure chamber 8 via each ink flow path 10. Further, the liquid material is supplied to the common ink chamber 11 from the external common tank 13 (FIG. 9) via the common flow path 12. Here, the common ink chamber 11, the common flow path 12, and the common tank 13 are all common to the ejection mechanisms 5 belonging to the same ejection block. For this reason, in the inkjet head 1, a common liquid material is supplied to the ejection mechanisms 5 belonging to the same ejection block.

  The vibration element 7 is located on the vibration plate 6. The vibration element 7 in this embodiment is an actuator including a pair of electrodes 7A and 7B and a piezo element 7C positioned between the pair of electrodes 7A and 7B. Further, the discharge mechanism 5 is configured so that a drive signal from a drive circuit (not shown) is given to the pair of electrodes 7A and 7B. The discharge mechanism 5 having such a configuration discharges the liquid material in the pressure chamber 8 as droplets from the nozzle 4 by bending the diaphragm 6 according to the drive waveform in the drive signal. In another embodiment, the vibration element 7 may have a configuration in which the liquid material is discharged from the nozzle 4 using an electrostatic force (Coulomb force) acting between the pair of electrodes.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram depicting the inside of the inkjet head 1 so as to map from the Z-axis direction to the XY plane. As shown in FIG. 2, the partition wall structure 9 described above has a plurality of partition walls extending in the short direction of the inkjet head 1 so that the common ink chamber 11 is partitioned for each ejection block. From this, the inkjet head 1 can also be expressed as being divided into a plurality of ejection blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D by a plurality of partition walls extending in the short direction. Note that the short direction here is parallel to the Y-axis direction.

  Here, when a common liquid material is supplied to all of the plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 included in the inkjet head 1 and the same driving waveform is applied, the nozzles 4 are connected between the ejection mechanisms 5 (or the nozzles 4). The discharge amount will be different. This is because the rigidity of the portion including the discharge mechanism 5 and its surroundings varies depending on the relative position of the discharge mechanism 5 inside the inkjet head 1. In addition, in the present embodiment, the plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 are in contact with each other. The plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 share the diaphragm 6 and the nozzle plate 3 as a common part. Furthermore, there may be a difference in performance of the vibration element 7 among the plurality of ejection mechanisms 5. These can also cause a difference in discharge amount between the nozzles 4.

  As shown in FIG. 3, specifically, the discharge amount from the nozzles 4 positioned on both ends of the nozzle row is larger than the discharge amount from the nozzles 4 positioned between the nozzles 4 on both ends. Although FIG. 3 shows an example, in short, the inkjet head 1 has a non-negligible difference between the discharge amount of the nozzles 4 located at both ends and the discharge amount of the nozzles 4 at positions other than both ends. The phenomenon in which a difference appears between the discharge amounts of the nozzles 4 at both ends and the discharge amounts of the other nozzles 4 can be obtained even when a plurality of discharge mechanisms 5 are given drive waveforms simultaneously. Even when a drive waveform is given to each of 5, it appears.

  Here, the “ejection amount” in the present embodiment is represented by the total mass of the liquid material ejected from one nozzle 4 by ejection of a prescribed number (for example, 500 times) according to a prescribed drive waveform. However, the “discharge amount” may be expressed by an average mass obtained by dividing the total mass by the predetermined number. Furthermore, if the specific gravity of the liquid is known, the “ejection amount” may be expressed as a total volume or an average volume converted from the total mass or the average mass based on the specific gravity of the liquid. In any case, as long as the same drive waveform is used between the plurality of nozzles 4 and a common measurement / derivation method is applied, the “discharge amount” is measured / derived using any measurement / derivation method. May be.

  According to this embodiment, the inkjet head 1 is divided so that the discharge mechanisms 5 having relatively close discharge amounts among the adjacent discharge mechanisms 5 (or adjacent nozzles 4) belong to the same discharge block. . The inkjet head 1 is divided into discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D so that the discharge amounts of the plurality of nozzles 4 are close to each other, and liquid materials having different viscosities to the discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, respectively. Is supplied.

  Specifically, a liquid having a relatively high viscosity is supplied to the discharge block to which the discharge mechanism 5 having a relatively large discharge amount belongs. On the other hand, a liquid having a relatively low viscosity is supplied to the discharge block to which the discharge mechanism 5 having a relatively small discharge amount belongs. For this reason, the difference in the discharge amount between the plurality of discharge mechanisms 5 (the plurality of nozzles 4) is smaller than the difference in the discharge amount when a common liquid material is used.

  A method of dividing the inkjet head 1 into a plurality of ejection blocks is as follows.

  First, a test inkjet head configured so that one common ink chamber is conducted to all the ejection mechanisms 5 included in the inkjet head 1 is prepared. Then, a liquid material is supplied to the test inkjet head, and the discharge amount from each nozzle 4 is measured. Then, for example, a discharge amount profile as shown in FIG. 3 is obtained.

  Next, the inkjet head 1 is divided into a plurality of ejection blocks based on the ejection amount from each nozzle 4 calculated from the obtained ejection amount profile. Specifically, a common ink chamber 11 and a common flow path 12 are provided for each ejection block so that liquid materials having different viscosities flow for each ejection block. More specifically, the common ink chamber in the test inkjet head is changed into a separate common ink chamber 11 for each ejection block by modifying the shape of the partition wall structure 9. In each ejection block, a common flow path 12 connected to the common ink chamber 11 is provided. If it does so, the inkjet head 1 of this embodiment will be obtained. The structure of the test ink-jet head and the structure of the obtained ink-jet head 1 are the same except that the ink-jet head 1 includes a common ink chamber 11 and a common flow path 12 for each divided discharge block. Basically the same.

  Furthermore, using the obtained ink jet head 1, liquid materials having different viscosities are simultaneously supplied to the respective ejection blocks, and the ejection amounts from the respective nozzles 4 are measured. Such measurement is performed by using various liquid material sets. Then, the viscosity of each liquid material is selected such that the difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles 4 is smaller than the difference in discharge amount when a common liquid material is used.

(B. Liquid)
In the present embodiment, the liquid material 20A is supplied to the ejection block 2A. Further, the liquid material 20B is supplied to the ejection block 2B. The liquid 20C is supplied to the discharge block 2C. The liquid 20D is supplied to the discharge block 2D.

  More specifically, in the present embodiment, the liquid material 20A is supplied to the common ink chamber 11 of the ejection block 2A from the common tank 13 (FIG. 9) outside the inkjet head 1 via the common flow path 12. . The liquid material 20 </ b> A guided to the common ink chamber 11 flows through each ink flow path 10 and is supplied to each ejection mechanism 5. For this reason, the common liquid material 20A is supplied to any of the plurality of ejection mechanisms 5 belonging to the ejection block 2A. For this reason, the common liquid material 20A is discharged from each of the plurality of nozzles 4 belonging to the discharge block 2A.

  Since the liquid bodies 20B, 20C, and 20D are supplied to the discharge blocks 2B, 2C, and 2D, respectively, similarly to the discharge block 2A, a common liquid body 20B is supplied from the plurality of nozzles 4 belonging to the discharge block 2B. The common liquid 20C is discharged from the plurality of nozzles 4 that are discharged and belong to the discharge block 2C, and the common liquid 20D is discharged from the plurality of nozzles 4 that belong to the discharge block 2D.

  The combinations of the solvent and the functional material in each of the liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D of the present embodiment are as shown in Table 1. Specifically, all of the liquid materials 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D contain a common blue EL material as a functional material at a ratio of about 1.0% by weight. The liquid 20A contains about 99.0% by weight of the solvent 22A. The liquid 20B contains about 99.0% by weight of the solvent 22B. The liquid 20C contains about 99.0% by weight of the solvent 22C. The liquid 20D contains about 99.0% by weight of the solvent 22D. Thus, in this embodiment, the ratio (weight% in this embodiment) occupied by the functional material is the same in any of the three liquid bodies 20A, 20B, and 20C. Therefore, if the liquid material is ejected as droplets the same number of times from the nozzles 4 belonging to any of the ejection blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, the thickness of the functional material layer obtained (for example, the center of the layer) The thickness of the part is close to a predetermined constant value.

  Here, as shown in Table 2, each of the solvents 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D is composed of one element solvent or a mixture of two element solvents. Specifically, the solvent 22A is composed of 50% by weight of tetralin and 50% by weight of 1,2,3,5 tetramethylbenzene. The solvent 22B is composed of 10% by weight of tetralin and 90% by weight of 1,2,3,5 tetramethylbenzene. Solvent 22C consists of 100% by weight of 1,2,3,5 tetramethylbenzene. The solvent 22D is composed of 30% by weight of tetralin and 70% by weight of 1,2,3,5 tetramethylbenzene.

  Here, the viscosity of tetralin, which is one of the element solvents, is about 2.2 mPa · sec at a temperature of 20 ° C. The viscosity of 1,2,3,5 tetramethylbenzene is about 1.4 mPa · sec at the same temperature. Tetralin has a boiling point of about 208 ° C. under normal pressure. Tetramethylbenzene has a boiling point of about 198 ° C. under normal pressure. Thus, in this embodiment, the difference in boiling point between the two element solvents is 10 ° C. under the same conditions. For this reason, the difference in boiling point between the solvents 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D obtained from the combination of the two element solvents is 10 ° C. or less under the same conditions.

  Ideally, the difference in boiling point between the two component solvents being combined is 0 ° C. under common conditions for the purpose of reducing the thickness variation of the layer of functional material that is ultimately obtained. It is preferable that This is because the speed at which the solvent evaporates from the discharged liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D becomes close to each other, and thus the drying behavior of the liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D becomes more uniform. In addition to this, in this embodiment, even if the difference in boiling point between the two component solvents is 10 ° C. under the common conditions, the thickness of the layer made of the functional material finally obtained is within the allowable range. Confirmed that it was in. For this reason, it can be concluded that the difference between the boiling points of the two element solvents may be 0 ° C. or more and 10 ° C. or less under common conditions. Or, in other words, it can be concluded that the difference in boiling point between the solvents 22A, 22B, 22C and 22D may be 0 ° C. or higher and 10 ° C. or lower under common conditions.

  Now, in each of the solvents 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D, the two component solvents having different viscosities are mixed at different ratios, so that the viscosities of the solvents 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D are different from each other. Specifically, when arranged in descending order of viscosity, these four solvents 22A, 22B, 22C, and 22D are arranged in the order of solvent 22A, solvent 22D, solvent 22B, and solvent 22C. From this, the liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D have different viscosities, and when arranged in order of increasing viscosity, these four liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are liquid bodies 20A, liquid bodies The body 20D, the liquid body 20B, and the liquid body 20C are arranged in this order.

  Here, in the present embodiment, the liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are solute / solvent systems using a functional material as a solute. And the liquid body which has a different viscosity is implement | achieved by utilizing the solvent which has a different viscosity. However, the liquid material may be other than the solute / solvent system. And in the case of liquids other than the solute / solvent system, in order to realize liquids having different viscosities, for example, 1) changing the liquid for making the functional material into a colloidal state 2) contained in the liquid 3) Change the liquid that disperses the functional material as particles (that is, a dispersion medium in a narrow sense), 3) Change the liquid that swells the functional material, or 4) Change the main component that gives fluidity to the liquid. It can be.

  FIG. 4 shows the result of measuring the discharge amount from each nozzle 4 in the inkjet head 1 by supplying the liquid materials 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D to the discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, respectively. . In FIG. 4, for comparison, a graph (same as FIG. 3) when a common liquid material is supplied to the ejection blocks 2 </ b> A, 2 </ b> B, 2 </ b> C, and 2 </ b> D is also drawn. When a common liquid material was used, the maximum value of the discharge amount was 9.50, the minimum value was 9.00, and the standard deviation was 0.1168.

  As shown in FIG. 4, when the liquids 20A, 20B, 20C, and 20D are supplied to the four discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D, the discharge amounts from the nozzles 4 that belong to the discharge blocks 2A and 2D, respectively. Is close to the discharge amount from the nozzles 4 belonging to the discharge blocks 2B and 2C. Specifically, the maximum value of the discharge amount is 9.15, the minimum value is 8.90, and the standard deviation is 0.0574. From this data, it can be seen that the variation in the discharge amount among the plurality of nozzles 4 is reduced. That is, the difference in discharge amount between the discharge mechanisms 5 (that is, the nozzles 4) is reduced.

(C. Liquid arrangement method)
As shown in FIG. 5, in the present embodiment, the inkjet head 1 is further divided into three portions 1 </ b> A, 1 </ b> B, and 1 </ b> C each including the same number (10) of nozzles 4. These portions 1A, 1B, and 1C do not have to coincide with the above-described discharge blocks 2A, 2B, 2C, and 2D. In the present embodiment, the widths of the portions 1A, 1B, and 1C are all the same.

  Then, the surface of the target 30 was divided into three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C so as to correspond to the portions 1A, 1B, and 1C. Specifically, these three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C are continuous along the X-axis direction. The widths of these three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C along the X-axis direction are substantially the same as the width of the portion 1A (that is, the portions 1B and 1C). With this configuration, the portions 1A, 1B, and 1C are overlapped with any of the three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C on the target 30. For this reason, each of the three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C receives three ejection scans.

  Here, “ejection scanning” means that at least one of the inkjet head 1 and the target 30 moves relative to the other, and the liquid material is ejected from the inkjet head 1 to the target 30 during the relative movement period. It refers to a combination of things. Here, the direction in which the inkjet head 1 and / or the target 30 moves relative to each other is parallel to the Y-axis direction.

  The positional relationship between the nozzle 4 and the regions 30A, 30B, and 30C will be described more specifically.

  7 and 8 show an enlarged structure on the regions 30A, 30B, and 30C shown in FIG. Each of the regions 30A, 30B, and 30C includes a plurality of functional regions 31 arranged in a matrix and a bank structure 32 that borders each of the plurality of functional regions 31. In the present embodiment, the shape of the functional region 31 on the XY plane is a rectangle. The short side of the functional area 31 is along the X-axis direction, and the long side is along the Y-axis direction. The plurality of functional regions 31 are arranged in the X-axis direction at substantially the same pitch (about 140 μm) as the nozzles 4 so that one nozzle 4 corresponds to one functional region 31.

  In the present embodiment, an example of the functional region 31 is a pixel region of the organic EL device. In another embodiment, the functional area 31 is an area where a color filter layer is provided on the color filter substrate.

  With respect to the target 30 having such a structure, droplets D (liquid bodies 20A, 20B, 20C, 20D) from the portions 1A, 1B, 1C are arranged in any of the regions 30A, 30B, 30C. In addition, at least one of the inkjet head 1 and the target 30 was moved relative to the other in parallel with the Y-axis direction while giving a drive waveform to the inkjet head 1 at a predetermined timing.

  FIG. 6 shows the results of the ejection scanning shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 7, and FIG. A graph G1 in FIG. 6 is a result obtained using the conventional inkjet head, and graphs G2 and G3 are a result using the inkjet head 1 of the present embodiment. Each of the graphs G1, G2, and G3 shows the profile of the thickness of the layer made of the functional material. This profile is measured along the line AA in FIG. The graph G2 is a graph obtained by translating the graph G3 upward by 0.2 so that the comparison with the graph G1 is easy.

  Even in the conventional ink jet head, if the ejection scanning as shown in FIG. 5 is performed, the variation in the layer thickness between the regions 30A, 30B, and 30C can be reduced. Here, according to the present embodiment, different liquid materials are supplied to the discharge mechanisms 5 belonging to different discharge blocks so that the difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles 4 becomes small. Therefore, not only the variation in thickness among the regions 30A, 30B, and 30C is reduced, but also the variation in thickness within each of the three regions 30A, 30B, and 30C is reduced.

(D. Discharge device)
With reference to FIG. 9, an ejection device that realizes the ejection scanning described in FIG. 5 will be described.

  The discharge device 80 shown in FIG. 9 is also referred to as a droplet discharge device, and is basically an ink jet device. Specifically, the ejection device 80 includes an inkjet head 1 (FIG. 1) having a plurality of nozzles 4 (FIG. 1), a number of common tanks 13 equal to the number of ejection blocks, and a target 30 (FIG. 5). A stage 83 that is placed, a carriage 84 that holds the inkjet head 1 such that the openings of the plurality of nozzles 4 face the target 30 at a predetermined distance in the Z-axis direction, and the inkjet head 1 and the target 30. An XY scanning device 85 that changes the position of the stage 83 and / or the carriage 84 so that at least one of them moves relative to the other in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and discharge of the droplets D from the inkjet head 1. And a control device 86 for controlling.

  According to the present embodiment, since the ejection device 80 includes the inkjet head 1, it is possible to efficiently form a functional material layer with reduced thickness variation.

  In the present embodiment, the difference in the position of the discharge mechanism 5 (or the difference in the position of the nozzle 4) has been mainly described as one cause of the difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles 4. However, as described above, another cause of the difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles 4 is performance variation of the vibration element 7 itself. And according to this embodiment, the difference of the discharge amount by such a cause can also be reduced. Furthermore, this embodiment can also be applied to an inkjet head having a configuration in which droplets are ejected from a nozzle by an electrothermal conversion element instead of the vibration element 7. Specifically, since the discharge amount from the nozzle may vary depending on the performance variation of the electrothermal conversion element, a plurality of liquid materials having different viscosities are applied to the inkjet head so as to reduce the difference in the discharge amount from the nozzle. What is necessary is just to supply.

  In the above embodiment, the liquid material arranging method is applied to the manufacture of an organic EL device or a color filter substrate. In the above embodiment, the area where the liquid material is disposed is a functional area corresponding to the pixel area. However, in another form, the above-described liquid material arranging method may be applied when forming a solid alignment film over a plurality of pixel regions, or may be applied when forming a liquid crystal layer. Further, the above-described liquid material arranging method may be applied when forming a wiring pattern or an insulating pattern. Furthermore, the above-described liquid material arranging method may be embodied as a printing method executed by a consumer printer.

  Further, the ejection device 80 of the above-described embodiment has been described as a so-called industrial inkjet device. However, in another form, the ejection device may be embodied as a consumer printer. Even when the discharge device is embodied as a printer, the difference in the discharge amount between the nozzles can be reduced without complicating the drive circuit, as in the above embodiment. For this reason, a printer that provides high-quality printing can be realized at low cost.

(A) It is a top view of the inkjet head of this embodiment, (b) is sectional drawing of the discharge mechanism inside the inkjet head of (a). The schematic diagram which mapped the inside of the inkjet head of this embodiment to XY plane from the Z-axis direction. The graph which shows the discharge amount of the conventional inkjet head for every nozzle. The graph which shows the discharge amount from the inkjet head of this embodiment for every nozzle. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a method of ejection scanning according to the present embodiment. 6 is a profile of the layer thickness of the functional material obtained by the ejection scanning in FIG. 5. The figure which shows the positional relationship of the nozzle and target in the case of performing the ejection scan of FIG. The figure which shows the positional relationship of the nozzle and target in the case of performing the ejection scan of FIG. The schematic diagram which shows the discharge apparatus of this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  D ... droplet, 1 ... inkjet head, 1A, 1B, 1C ... part, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D ... discharge block, 3 ... nozzle plate, 4 ... nozzle, 5 ... discharge mechanism, 6 ... diaphragm, 7 ... Vibration element, 8 ... Pressure chamber, 9 ... Partition structure, 10 ... Ink channel, 11 ... Common ink chamber, 12 ... Common channel, 13 ... Common tank, 30 ... Target, 30A, 30B, 30C ... Region, 31 ... Functional area, 32 ... bank structure, 80 ... discharge device, 83 ... stage, 84 ... carriage, 85 ... XY scanning device, 86 ... control device.

Claims (8)

An ejection apparatus having an inkjet head having a plurality of nozzles for ejecting a liquid material,
The inkjet head has a plurality of ejection blocks divided by a plurality of partition walls extending in the short direction of the inkjet head,
The plurality of nozzles are distributed and arranged in the plurality of discharge blocks such that at least one nozzle is arranged in each of the plurality of discharge blocks.
The plurality of discharge blocks include at least a first discharge block, a second discharge block, and a third discharge block, and the second discharge block is disposed between the first discharge block and the third discharge block. And
The second liquid supplied to the second discharge block has a lower viscosity than the first liquid supplied to the first discharge block and the third liquid supplied to the third discharge block,
The discharge device, wherein the first liquid body, the second liquid body, and the third liquid body contain a solute made of a common functional material. A first tank comprising the first liquid material supplied to the first discharge block;
A second tank comprising the second liquid material supplied to the second discharge block;
A third tank comprising the third liquid material supplied to the third discharge block;
The discharge device according to claim 1, further comprising:   The number of nozzles arranged in the second discharge block of the plurality of nozzles is the number of nozzles arranged in the first discharge block of the plurality of nozzles and the number of nozzles in the plurality of nozzles. 3. The ejection device according to claim 1, wherein the number of nozzles arranged in the third ejection block is larger than the number of nozzles. An inkjet head having a plurality of nozzles for discharging a liquid material, the inkjet head having a plurality of ejection blocks divided by a plurality of partitions extending in a short direction of the inkjet head, and the plurality of nozzles Are distributed in the plurality of discharge blocks such that at least one nozzle is disposed in each of the plurality of discharge blocks, and the plurality of discharge blocks include a first discharge block, a second discharge block, And a third discharge block, and the second discharge block disposes a liquid material on a substrate using a droplet discharge device disposed between the first discharge block and the third discharge block. A liquid arrangement method for
The second liquid material supplied to the second discharge block has a lower viscosity than the first liquid material supplied to the first discharge block and the third liquid material supplied to the third discharge block, and the first liquid material. A liquid material arrangement method using a liquid material containing a common solute and a solute made of a functional material contained in the body and the third liquid material. The discharge device includes a first tank connected to the first discharge block, a second tank connected to the second discharge block, and a third tank connected to the third discharge block. ,
5. The liquid material arranging method according to claim 4, wherein the first liquid material is supplied to the first tank, the second liquid material is supplied to the second tank, and the third liquid material is supplied to the third tank. .   The ratio of the first solute made of the functional material contained in the first liquid body to the first liquid body and the second solute made of the functional material contained in the second liquid body are the first liquid. The ratio of the body occupying the body and the ratio of the third solute composed of the functional material contained in the third liquid body to the first liquid body are the same ratio. The liquid body arrangement | positioning method of description.   The viscosity of the second solvent contained in the second liquid is lower than the viscosity of the second solvent contained in the first liquid and the viscosity of the third solvent contained in the third liquid. The liquid material arranging method according to any one of claims 4 to 6. The liquid material arrangement according to claim 7, wherein a difference between a boiling point of the first solvent, a boiling point of the second solvent, and a boiling point of the third solvent is 0 ° C or higher and 10 ° C or lower under common conditions. Method.

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