JP2009037071A - Head cap, suction unit, liquid droplet discharging apparatus, method for manufacturing electo-optical apparatus, and electo-optical apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head cap or the like by which cap assemblies can be easily replaced and leakage of functional liquid and air leak can be surely prevented. <P>SOLUTION: A head cap is equipped with: a cap body 223 which is constituted of the cap assembly 221 being in close contact with a functional liquid droplet discharging head, an assembly base 222 for supporting the cap assembly 221 and a mounting screw 242 for fixing the cap assembly 221 to the assembly base 222; and a cap holder 224 for holding the cap body 223. The cap assembly 221 has an absorbing material holder 231, a functional liquid absorbing material 232, a sealing member 234 which is in close contact with the functional liquid droplet discharging head, a frame-shaped pressing member 235 and a fastening screw 236 which fastens the frame-shaped pressing member 235 to the absorbing material holder 231. The fastening screw 236 penetrates the absorbing material holder 231 from its rear side and is screwed to the frame-shaped pressing member 235. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a head cap, a suction device, a droplet discharge device, a method for manufacturing an electro-optical device, and an electro-optical device that are in close contact with a functional droplet discharge head represented by an inkjet head and maintain the discharge nozzle of the functional droplet discharge head It relates to the device.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a head cap including a cap body (cap assembly), a body receiving block (assembly base), and a cap holder is known (see Patent Document 1). The cap body includes a cap base in which an absorbent material accommodating portion is formed, a functional liquid absorbent material accommodated in the absorbent material accommodating portion, a presser frame that holds the functional liquid absorbent material, and an annular seal packing ( The seal member) and a seal fixing material (frame-like pressing member) that holds the seal packing, and is integrated by a fixing screw that penetrates the seal fixing member and is screwed to the cap base. On the other hand, a part of the main body receiving block is made of a magnet, and holds the cap main body as a unit so as to be detachable. As a result, the cap body, which is a replacement part, can be replaced as a unit.
JP 2007-117879 A

  In such a conventional head cap, the cap assembly (cap body) can be easily replaced. However, since the cap assembly and the assembly base (body receiving block) are magnetized, the holding force is weak. It was. As a result, the suction channel O-ring and the air release channel O-ring interposed between the cap assembly and the assembly base are not sufficiently crushed. There was a problem of leaking.

  The present invention relates to a head cap, a suction device, a droplet discharge device, a method for manufacturing an electro-optical device, and an electro-optical device that can easily replace a cap assembly and can reliably prevent leakage of functional liquid and air. The challenge is to provide

  A head cap according to the present invention comprises a cap assembly that is in close contact with a nozzle surface of an ink jet type functional liquid droplet ejection head, an assembly base that supports the cap assembly, and a mounting screw that fixes the cap assembly to the assembly base; A cap holder, and the cap assembly surrounds the absorbent material container, the absorbent material holder having the absorbent material container formed on the surface, the functional liquid absorbent material accommodated in the absorbent material container, and the absorbent material container. A sealing member provided in close contact with the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head, a frame-shaped pressing member that presses the peripheral edge of the sealing member, and a fastening screw that fastens the frame-shaped pressing member to the absorbent material holder, The mounting screw passes through the frame-shaped holding member and absorbent holder from the front side and assembles. Screwed to the base, the fastening screw, characterized in that screwed to the frame-shaped pressing member through the absorbing member holder from the back.

  According to this configuration, since the cap assembly and the cap main body are fixed by the fastening screws, it is possible to exchange the seal member and the functional liquid absorbing material accommodated in the cap assembly as a whole. Therefore, by preparing a substitute for the cap assembly in advance, the replacement work of the seal member, the functional liquid absorbent, and the like can be performed in a short time. Furthermore, the seal member and functional fluid absorber are fastened with fastening screws from the back side of the absorber holder, and the cap assembly and the assembly base are fixed with mounting screws from the front side. It is possible to replace the sealing member, the functional liquid absorber, etc. accommodated in the cap body without doing so. On the other hand, since the cap assembly is fixed to the assembly base by means of mounting screws, it is possible to suppress leakage of functional liquid and air leakage between the cap assembly and the assembly base.

  In this case, the assembly base has a suction communication channel having one end connected to a suction channel opened to the bottom surface of the absorbent material accommodating portion and the other end connected to a suction joint connected to the suction means, and the back surface of the absorbent material holder It is preferable that a liquid-tight seal member that fluidly connects the suction channel and the suction communication channel is attached in a state where the cap assembly is fixed to the assembly base.

  According to this configuration, since the suction channel and the suction communication channel are liquid-tightly connected by the liquid-tight seal member, it is possible to effectively prevent leakage of the functional liquid. Further, since the liquid-tight seal member is attached to the surface of the absorbent material holder, the liquid-tight seal member can be replaced at the same time when the cap assembly is replaced.

  In this case, the suction joint is preferably attached to the back surface of the assembly base, extends through the cap holder, and is formed in a straight shape.

  According to this configuration, since the suction joint is formed straight, the suction tube connected to the suction joint can be easily separated and connected, and the suction joint and the cap assembly receive unnecessary force from the suction tube. There is nothing.

  In this case, the assembly base has an atmosphere communication channel having one end communicating with the atmosphere release channel opened at the bottom surface of the absorber housing portion and the other end connected to the atmosphere release valve. In addition, it is preferable that an airtight seal member for airtightly communicating the air release channel and the air communication channel is attached in a state where the cap assembly is fixed to the assembly base.

  According to this configuration, since the air release channel and the air communication channel are airtightly connected by the airtight seal member, it is possible to effectively prevent air leakage during suction. Further, since the hermetic seal member is attached to the surface of the absorbent material holder, the hermetic seal member can be replaced at the same time when the cap assembly is replaced.

  In this case, the mounting screw is composed of a pair of screws disposed at both outer end portions in the long side direction of the frame-shaped pressing member, and the fastening screw is disposed at both outer end portions in the long side direction of the absorbent material holder. It is preferable that each mounting screw and each fastening screw at each outer end portion are arranged side by side in the short side direction.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily process the fastening screw hole and the fixing screw hole for the frame-shaped pressing member.

  In this case, a positioning means for positioning the cap assembly on the assembly base in a plane is further provided. The positioning means includes three positioning protrusions protruding from the surface of the assembly base and spaced from each other, and an absorbent holder. It is preferably composed of three positioning recesses formed on the back surface and engaged by the three positioning protrusions.

  According to this configuration, the cap assembly can be positioned on the assembly base at three points by the positioning convex portion and the positioning concave portion, so that the cap assembly can be accurately positioned and fixed to the assembly base. As a result, the cap assembly and the droplet discharge head can be accurately aligned without impairing the maintainability of the cap body.

  In this case, it is preferable that each positioning convex part is comprised by the positioning pin, and each positioning concave part is comprised by the notch part formed in the back surface of an absorber holder.

  According to this configuration, the positioning recess can be formed by simple processing on the lower surface of the cap base.

  In this case, the cap holder is interposed between the holder main body, the holder main body and the assembly base, receives the holder main body and biases the cap main body in the protruding direction, and the assembly against the close spring. A protrusion restricting member for restricting the position of the protruding end of the base and allowing tilting following the nozzle surface of the cap body, and a receiving groove for receiving a close spring is recessed in the surface of the holder body. It is preferable.

  According to this configuration, even if the inclination of the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head and the contact surface of the head cap does not completely coincide, the cap assembly tilts following the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. The nozzle surface of the droplet discharge head and the cap assembly can be securely adhered.

  The suction device of the present invention includes a head cap, a suction unit that sucks the functional liquid from the functional liquid droplet ejection head via the head cap, and a separation member that separates the head cap from the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. And a contact means.

  According to this configuration, since the functional liquid can be sucked through the functional liquid droplet ejection head and the functional liquid droplet ejection head and the head cap can be mechanically separated from each other, the working time required for the suction can be shortened. it can.

  A liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to the present invention includes a drawing unit that performs drawing by ejecting a functional liquid droplet from a functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the ink jet type functional liquid droplet ejection head with respect to a work, and the above-described suction device. And.

  According to this configuration, since the replacement work of the seal member, the functional liquid absorbent, and the like can be performed in a short time and efficiently, the work processing tact time can be reduced as a whole, and productivity can be improved. Can do.

  A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device according to the present invention is characterized in that a film-forming unit made of functional droplets is formed on a workpiece using the above-described droplet discharge device.

  In addition, an electro-optical device according to the present invention is characterized in that the above-described droplet discharge device is used to form a film forming portion using functional droplets on a workpiece.

  According to these configurations, the productivity of the workpiece can be improved by manufacturing with the droplet discharge device that can efficiently perform the replacement operation of the seal member, the functional liquid absorbent, and the like in a short time. As an electro-optical device (flat panel display: FPD), a color filter, a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device, a PDP device, an electron emission device, and the like are conceivable. The electron emission device is a concept including a so-called FED (Field Emission Display) or SED (Surface-conduction Electron-Emitter Display) device. Further, as the electro-optical device, devices including metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, and the like are conceivable.

  Hereinafter, a droplet discharge device to which a functional liquid supply device of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This droplet discharge device is incorporated in a flat panel display production line, and uses, for example, a function droplet discharge head into which a special ink or a functional liquid that is a light-emitting resin liquid is introduced, and the color of a liquid crystal display device A light emitting element or the like to be used for each pixel of a filter or an organic EL device is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the droplet discharge device 1 is disposed on an X-axis support base 2 supported by a stone surface plate and extends in the X-axis direction which is the main scanning direction. The X-axis table 11 that moves the workpiece W in the X-axis direction (main scanning direction) and a pair (two) of Ys that are spanned across the X-axis table 11 via a plurality of columns 4 Ten carriage units 51 mounted on the shaft support base 3 and mounted with a Y-axis table (moving table) 12 extending in the Y-axis direction serving as the sub-scanning direction and a plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 are mounted. The ten carriage units 51 are suspended from the Y-axis table 12 so as to be movable. Further, the droplet discharge device 1 includes a chamber 6 that accommodates these devices in an atmosphere in which temperature and humidity are controlled, and a functional droplet discharge head 17 that passes through the chamber 6 from the outside of the chamber 6 to the inside. And a functional liquid supply unit 7 having three sets of functional liquid supply devices 101 for supplying the functional liquid. The functional liquid droplet discharge head 17 is driven to discharge in synchronization with the driving of the X-axis table 11 and the Y-axis table 12, thereby discharging the R, G, B three-color functional liquid droplets supplied from the functional liquid supply unit 7. A predetermined drawing pattern is drawn on the workpiece W.

  Further, the droplet discharge device 1 includes a maintenance device 5 including a flushing unit 14, a plurality of suction devices 15, a wiping unit 16, and a discharge performance inspection unit 18, and these units are used for maintenance of the functional droplet discharge head 17. Accordingly, the function of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is maintained and recovered. Of the units constituting the maintenance device 5, the flushing unit 14 and the discharge performance inspection unit 18 are mounted on the X-axis table 11, and the plurality of suction devices 15 and wiping units 16 are perpendicular to the X-axis table 11. It is disposed on a stand that extends and is disposed at a position where the carriage unit 51 can be moved by the Y-axis table 12 (strictly speaking, the discharge performance inspection unit 18 has a stage unit 77, which will be described later, has an X-axis. The camera unit 78 is mounted on the table 11 and supported by the Y-axis support base 3).

  The flushing unit 14 includes a pair of pre-drawing flushing units 71 and 71 and a regular flushing unit 72, and is performed immediately before ejection of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 or when drawing work is suspended such as when the workpiece W is replaced. Then, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is subjected to the discarded ejection (flushing). Each suction device 15 forcibly sucks the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle 98 of each functional liquid droplet discharge head 17 and performs capping. The wiping unit 16 has a wiping sheet 75 and wipes the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 after suction. The ejection performance inspection unit 18 includes a stage unit 77 on which an inspection sheet 83 that receives functional droplets ejected from the functional droplet ejection head 17 is mounted, and a camera unit 78 that inspects functional droplets on the stage unit 77 by image recognition. And the ejection performance (the presence / absence of ejection and the flight curve) of the functional droplet ejection head 17 is inspected.

  Next, components of the droplet discharge device 1 will be briefly described. As shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, the X-axis table 11 includes a set table 21 for setting a work W, an X-axis first slider 22 for slidably supporting the set table 21 in the X-axis direction, and the flushing described above. An X-axis second slider 23 that supports the unit 14 and the stage unit 77 slidably in the X-axis direction, and extends in the X-axis direction, and the set table 21 (work W) is moved through the X-axis first slider 22 to the X A pair of left and right X-axis linear motors (not shown) that move in the axial direction and move the flushing unit 14 and the stage unit 77 in the X-axis direction via the X-axis second slider 23, and parallel to the X-axis linear motor A pair of (two) X-axis common support bases 24 for guiding the movement of the X-axis first slider 22 and the X-axis second slider 23. That.

  The set table 21 includes a suction table 31 for sucking and setting the work W, and a θ table 32 for supporting the suction table 31 and correcting the position of the work W set on the suction table 31 in the θ-axis direction. Yes. The pre-drawing flushing unit 71 is attached to each of a pair of sides parallel to the Y-axis direction of the set table 21.

  The Y-axis table 12 includes 10 bridge plates 52 each of which has 10 carriage units 51 suspended therein, 10 sets of Y-axis sliders (not shown) that support the 10 bridge plates 52 in both ends, A pair of Y-axis linear motors (not shown) are provided on the pair of Y-axis support bases 3 and move the bridge plate 52 in the Y-axis direction via 10 sets of Y-axis sliders. In addition, the Y-axis table 12 performs sub-scanning of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 during drawing through each carriage unit 51, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is exposed to the maintenance device 5 (the suction device 15 and the wiping unit 16). I will.

  When the pair of Y-axis linear motors are driven (synchronously), each Y-axis slider translates in the Y-axis direction simultaneously with the pair of Y-axis support bases 3 as a guide. As a result, the bridge plate 52 moves in the Y-axis direction, and the carriage unit 51 moves in the Y-axis direction at the same time. In this case, by controlling the driving of the Y-axis linear motor, each carriage unit 51 can be moved independently and individually, or ten carriage units 51 can be moved together. It is.

  Further, on both sides of the Y-axis table 12, a cable carrier 81 is disposed in parallel with the Y-axis table 12. One end of each cable carrier 81 is fixed to the Y-axis support base 3 and the other end is fixed to one of the bridge plates 52. The cable carrier 81 accommodates cables, air tubes, functional liquid flow paths and the like for each carriage unit 51.

  Each carriage unit 51 includes a head unit 13 including twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 and a head plate 53 that supports the twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 in two groups. (See FIG. 4). Further, each carriage unit 51 supports the head unit 13 via the θ rotation mechanism 61 that supports the head unit 13 so as to be capable of θ correction (θ rotation), and the Y axis table 12 (each bridge plate 52) via the θ rotation mechanism 61. And a suspension member 62 to be supported on. In addition, each of the carriage units 51 has a sub tank 121 disposed thereon (actually disposed on the bridge plate 52), and each functional liquid droplet ejection head utilizes natural water heads from the sub tank 121. 17 is supplied with a functional liquid.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is a so-called double type, a functional liquid introduction unit 91 having two connection needles 92, and a dual head substrate that is continuous with the functional liquid introduction unit 91. 93, and a head main body 94 which is connected to the lower side of the functional liquid introducing portion 91 and has an in-head flow path filled with the functional liquid therein. The connection needle 92 is connected to the functional liquid supply unit 7 (functional liquid supply apparatus 101) and supplies the functional liquid to the functional liquid introduction unit 91. The head main body 94 includes a cavity 95 (piezoelectric piezoelectric element) and a nozzle plate 96 having a nozzle surface 97 in which a large number of discharge nozzles 98 are opened. When the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is driven to eject (a voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element), functional liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection nozzle 98 by the pump action of the cavity 95.

  In addition, two nozzle rows 98b made up of a large number of discharge nozzles 98 are formed on the nozzle surface 97 in parallel with each other. The two nozzle rows 98b are displaced from each other by a half nozzle pitch.

  The chamber 6 is configured to keep the internal temperature and humidity constant. That is, the drawing on the workpiece W by the droplet discharge device 1 is performed in an atmosphere in which the temperature and humidity are controlled to be constant values. A tank cabinet 84 for storing the tank unit 122 is provided in a part of the side wall of the chamber 6. In the case of manufacturing an organic EL device or the like, the chamber 6 is preferably configured in an atmosphere of an inert gas (nitrogen gas).

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the area where the wiping unit 16 and the ten (several) suction devices 15 are arranged is a maintenance area 213, and when the operation of the droplet discharge device 1 is stopped, The ten carriage units 51 are moved to the positions of the ten suction devices 15 by the Y-axis table 12, and so-called capping is performed on the all-function liquid droplet ejection heads 17. On the other hand, at the start of operation, suction processing is performed on the all-function liquid droplet ejection head 17, and then wiping processing is performed in units of carriage units 51. The ten carriage units 51 are sequentially placed on the X-axis table 11. Move to the drawing area 214.

  In addition, during operation, for example, if a discharge failure is detected in the third carriage unit 51 from the maintenance area 213 side, three carriage units from the first to the third carriage unit are arranged on the drawing area 214 side. The corresponding one carriage unit 51 is subjected to a suction process by the suction device 15, while the other two carriage units 51 pass from each functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 to the suction device 15. Discard discharge (flushing) is performed. In this manner, the ten carriage units 51 are individually controlled, and the ten suction devices 15 are also individually controlled in accordance therewith. That is, the ten suction devices 15 constitute the suction system of this device.

  Next, each suction device 15 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. The suction device 15 includes a cap unit 203 in which twelve head caps 201 corresponding to twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 are arranged on a cap plate 202, and a suction mechanism 204 (see FIG. 11) connected to each head cap. A support member 205 that supports the cap unit 203, an elevating mechanism 206 that raises and lowers the cap unit 203 via the support member 205, and an inclination adjustment mechanism 207 that adjusts the inclination of the cap unit 203 in the pitching direction and yawing direction, which will be described later. And a valve operating mechanism 209 that opens an atmosphere release valve 208 of the head cap 201 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the cap unit 203 includes twelve head caps 201 and a cap plate 202 on which the head caps 201 are mounted. The twelve head caps 201 are arranged in the same manner as the twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17. And mounted on the cap plate 202 with the same inclination posture. The cap plate 202 has 12 mounting openings corresponding to the 12 head caps 201, and 12 receiving grooves are formed so as to include the mounting openings (all not shown). Each head cap 201 is screwed into the receiving groove in a state where the lower portion is inserted into the mounting opening and positioned in the receiving groove.

  As shown in FIGS. 8 to 10, the head cap 201 includes a cap assembly 221 that contacts the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 and a cap body 223 that includes an assembly base 222 that receives the cap assembly 221, and a cap that holds the cap assembly 221. Holder 224. An atmosphere release valve 208 that opens the inside of the cap body 223 to the atmosphere and a suction joint 226 for the suction tube 225 that communicates with the inside of the cap body 223 are attached to the lower surface of the cap body 223.

  The cap assembly 221 forms the main body of the cap assembly 221 and expands with an absorbent material holder 231 in which an absorbent material accommodating part 231a is formed at the center of the surface, and a functional liquid absorbent 232 accommodated in the absorbent material accommodating part 231a. A functional liquid absorbent presser 233 that holds the functional liquid absorbent 232 flat, a seal member 234 that is provided so as to surround the absorbent accommodating portion 231a and is in close contact with the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17, and a seal member A frame-shaped pressing member 235 that presses the peripheral edge of the 234; and two fastening screws 236 that fasten the frame-shaped pressing member 235 to the absorbent material holder 231.

  The absorbent material holder 231 is formed in a substantially square shape, and a rectangular absorbent material accommodating portion 231a for accommodating the functional liquid absorbent 232 is provided in a frame shape at the center of the surface of the absorbent material holder 231. Further, fastening screw through holes 241 for fastening screws 236 and mounting screw through holes 243 for mounting screws 242 described later are formed side by side in the short side direction on both sides in the long side direction of the absorbent material holder 231. (See FIG. 9). Further, an X-axis notch 245 that engages a pair of X-axis positioning pins 244 described later is formed on the back surface of the absorbent material holder 231 so as to extend in the long side direction. A Y-axis notch 247 that engages a Y-axis positioning pin 246, which will be described later, is formed at one corner.

  A suction port 248 and an air insertion port 250 are opened on the bottom surface of the absorbent material accommodating portion 231a so as to be aligned in the long side direction, and the suction port 248 communicates with the suction joint 226 via the suction channel 251. The atmosphere insertion port 250 communicates with the atmosphere release valve 208 through the atmosphere release channel 252. An annular groove 253 in which a liquid-tight seal member 237 (O-ring) described later is mounted is formed on the lower surface of the absorbent material holder 231 so as to be concentric with the suction flow path 251. Similarly, an annular groove 253 in which an airtight seal member 238 (O-ring), which will be described later, is mounted is formed on the lower surface of the absorbent material holder 231 so as to be concentric with the atmosphere opening flow path 252. Note that the liquid-tight seal member 237 and the air-tight seal member 238 are integrally replaced as a part of the cap assembly 221 (see FIG. 8).

  The functional liquid absorbent 232 is configured by laminating two types of functional liquid absorbents 232 composed of an upper absorbent material 232a on the upper side mainly absorbing functional liquid and a lower absorbent material 232b on the lower side mainly holding functional liquid. It is accommodated so as to be laid in the absorbent material accommodating portion 231a. The functional liquid absorbent 232 is not limited to a two-layer structure, and may have a single-layer structure or a multilayer structure.

  The functional liquid absorbent presser 233 is made of a thin plate made of a corrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel, and has a substantially rectangular frame-shaped portion 233a and a cross-shaped portion 233b (three) formed so as to cross the frame-shaped portion 233a. And are integrally formed. Thereby, swelling of the functional liquid absorbent 232 can be prevented and suppressed to be flat.

  The seal member 234 is made of a corrosion-resistant rubber, resin, or the like, and has a cross section formed in a crank shape and in an annular shape along the absorbent material accommodating portion 231a (see FIG. 8). Thereby, the seal member 234 can be brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 97 so as to include the nozzle row 98b. Further, the seal member 234 and the absorbent material holder 231 are configured so as to sandwich the edge of the functional liquid absorbent material holder 233, so that the functional liquid absorbent material holder 233 can be stably and airtightly fixed. .

  The frame-shaped pressing member 235 is made of stainless steel or the like, and has an opening facing the seal member 234 and is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape. An attachment screw through hole 261 for the attachment screw 242 and a fastening screw hole 262 for the fastening screw 236 are formed at both ends in the long side direction of the frame-shaped pressing member 235 so as to be aligned in the short side direction. The pair of fastening screws 236 and 236 pass through the absorbent material holder 231 and are screwed into the frame-shaped pressing member 235, and the cap assembly 221 is integrated by the fastening screws 236 and 236. In the state where the cap assembly 221 is fixed to the assembly base 222 by the mounting screw 242, the fastening screw 236 is concealed in the cap body 223.

  The assembly base 222 is slightly longer than the cap body 223 and is substantially rectangular, and includes a base body 222a on which the cap body 223 is seated, and a pair of held members extending from the base body 222a on both sides in the long side direction. It is integrally formed with the portion 222b. The assembly base 222 is held by the cap holder 224 at the pair of held portions 222b. Further, a suction communication channel 271 connected to the suction channel 251 is formed in the base body 222a, and a suction joint 226 formed in a straight shape is attached to the suction communication channel 271. A suction tube 225 that guides the sucked functional liquid to a waste liquid tank 281 (see FIG. 11) described later is connected to the joint body of the suction joint 226. In this case, since the suction tube 225 is formed in a straight shape, the suction tube 225 can be easily detached and connected, and the suction joint 226 and the cap assembly 221 do not receive unnecessary force from the suction tube 225.

  Similarly, an air communication channel 272 that communicates with the air release channel 252 is formed on the lower surface of the base body 222a. In the air communication channel 272, a rod holder 291 that extends downward is slid vertically. An atmosphere release valve 208 is attached so as to be freely supported. The atmosphere release valve 208 is provided in the rod holder 291, a valve seat 302 a embedded in the atmosphere communication channel 272, a valve body 302 b formed on the upper end portion of the operation rod 301 slidably supported by the rod holder 291. A return spring 303 that biases the operation rod 301 in the valve closing direction (upward), an input piece 304 that is screwed to the lower portion of the operation rod 301, and a lock nut 305 that fixes the input piece 304 are configured. Although the details will be described later, the valve operating mechanism 209 is engaged with the input piece 304, and the operating rod 301 is pulled up via the input piece 304 by the valve operating mechanism 209, so that the air release valve 208. Is closed, and the return rod 303 raises the operating rod 301 to close the atmosphere release valve 208. Further, a pair of spring receiving holes 326 and 326 are formed on the lower surface of the base main body 222a so as to be positioned outside the suction joint 226 and the atmosphere release valve 208 and receive a close spring 322 described later.

  A liquid-tight seal member 237 (O-ring) and an air-tight seal member 238 (O-ring) are interposed between the cap assembly 221 and the assembly base 222 so as to be fitted in the pair of annular grooves 253 of the absorbent material holder 231. It is installed.

  The mounting screw 242 passes through the frame-shaped pressing member 235 and the absorbent material holder 231 and is screwed to the assembly base 222 in order to fix the cap assembly 221 to the assembly base 222 from the surface of the frame-shaped pressing member 235. It has become. When the cap assembly 221 is fixed to the assembly base 222 by the pair of mounting screws 242, the liquid tight seal member 237 and the air tight seal member 238 are crushed and the suction flow path 251 and the suction communication flow path 271 are connected in a liquid tight manner. In addition, the atmosphere release channel 252 and the atmosphere communication channel 272 are hermetically connected. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent leakage of functional fluid and air leakage from the connection portion between the cap assembly 221 and the assembly base 222. In this embodiment, O-rings are used for the liquid-tight seal member 237 and the air-tight seal member 238, but X-rings and D-rings are used if functional liquid leakage and air leakage can be effectively prevented. (Not shown).

  The cap holder 224 is made of a corrosion-resistant material such as stainless steel, and has a cap holder main body 320 having an elongated shape, a pair of holding blocks 321 that hold the cap main body 223 on the cap holder main body 320, and a cap holder A pair of close springs 322 and 322 for biasing the cap body 223 upward in response to the body 320 are provided. The cap holder main body 320 is integrally formed with a pair of thick portions 320a at both ends to which a pair of holding blocks 321 are fixed, and an intermediate thin portion 320b. The opening 323 into which the suction joint 226 and the atmosphere release valve 208 are inserted is formed. The thin portion 320b is formed with a pair of spring receiving grooves 212 and 212 that are positioned outside the opening 323 and receive a close spring 322, which will be described later. Each spring receiving groove 212 is provided with a spring support pin 324 standing at the center thereof, and a close spring 322 is disposed so as to be wound around the spring support pin 324. That is, each close spring 322 is interposed between the spring receiving groove 212 of the cap holder main body 320 and the spring receiving hole 326 of the assembly base 222, and receives the cap holder main body 320 so that the cap main body 223 is attached upward. It is fast.

  The pair of holding blocks 321 are respectively screwed to the thick wall portion of the cap holder main body 320, and the pair of held portions 222b and 222b of the assembly base 222 are slidably engaged in the up and down direction on the inside thereof. In addition, the upper end position of the assembly base 222 is regulated in contact with the pair of close springs 322. That is, the cap body 223 is biased upward by the pair of close contact springs 322 in a state in which the position is regulated by the pair of holding blocks 321. As a result, the cap body 223 can be reliably brought into close contact with the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17. Further, the pair of holding blocks 321 regulates the position of the cap body 223 so that the cap body 223 is slightly inclined, and when the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is separated, the functional liquid is greatly increased from the surface of the cap body 223. Prevents scattering.

  Here, the assembly procedure of the cap body 223 will be described with reference to FIG. The absorbent material holder 231, the functional liquid absorbent material 232, the functional liquid absorbent material presser 233, the seal member 234 and the frame-like presser member 235 are assembled in advance, and the fastening screw 236 is attached to the frame-like presser member from the back surface of the absorbent material holder 231. The cap assembly 221 is assembled by being screwed to 235. In this state, the notch 245 and the notch 247 formed on the lower surface of the absorbent material holder 231 are aligned with the X-axis positioning pin 244 and the Y-axis positioning pin 246 of the base body 222a. Then, the cap assembly 221 is fixed to the base main body 222a by screwing the mounting screw 242 into the base main body 222a so as to penetrate the cap assembly 221 from the upper surface of the frame-shaped pressing member 235.

  On the other hand, when the functional liquid absorbent 232 or the seal member 234 is replaced, a new cap assembly 221 in which the absorbent holder 231, the functional liquid absorbent 232, the seal member 234 and the like are assembled is prepared, and the mounting screw After removing 242 and removing the existing cap assembly 221, a new cap assembly 221 is mounted. Thus, as the cap assembly, the absorbent material holder 231, the functional liquid absorbent material 232, the functional liquid absorbent material presser 233, the seal member 234, and the frame-like presser member 235 are fastened from the lower surface of the absorbent material holder 231. The cap assembly 221 is fixed by being screwed to the base body 222a from the upper surface of the frame-shaped pressing member 235.

  Therefore, when the cap assembly 221 is replaced, only the pair of mounting screws 242 are exposed on the upper surface of the frame-shaped pressing member 235. Therefore, it is possible to replace the cap assembly 221 as a single unit by removing the mounting screw 242 without disassembling the cap assembly 221 by mistake. Therefore, the cap assembly 221 can be reliably replaced in a short time. For example, the work time of this replacement work is about 5 minutes per replacement work of one head cap 201 (consumable) in the conventional screw fixing, but is about 30 seconds in the method of this embodiment. Therefore, the conventional replacement work for the 12 head caps 201 takes about 60 minutes, but the replacement work by the method of the present embodiment is completed in about 6 minutes.

  As described above, the cap unit 203 has four head caps 201 corresponding to the four color droplets of the head unit 13 and a total of twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17. The suction mechanism 204 of the present embodiment can perform suction processing for each color. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the suction mechanism 204 corresponds to the R, B, and G3 color functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17, and is independent of the R color suction mechanism 204 a, the G color suction mechanism 204 b, and the B color suction. And a mechanism 204c.

  Here, since the configuration and function of each suction mechanism 204 are the same, the R color suction mechanism 204 will be described as an example. Each R-color suction mechanism 204 includes four individual suction tubes 225 connected to each of the four R-color head caps 201, and a merging tube 225b connected to the downstream end of the four individual tubes 225a via the manifold 330. And a waste liquid tank 281 to which the downstream end of the suction tube 225 is connected, and an ejector 331 that introduces air to the waste liquid tank 281 and the primary side and connects the secondary side to the waste liquid tank 281. is doing. Each individual suction tube 225 is provided with a pressure sensor 332 and an opening / closing valve 333, and the four head caps 201 are sucked with the same suction pressure.

  When the ejector 331 is driven so that compressed air is introduced to the primary side in a state where the respective functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 and the respective head caps 201 are in close contact with each other, the waste liquid tank 281 and the suction flow path 251 are negatively pressurized (suctioned). Pressure). As a result, the functional liquid is sucked from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 through the head cap 201 and stored in the waste liquid tank 281. Further, in the suction device 15 of the present embodiment, in addition to sucking the functional liquid from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17, there may be a case where the liquid droplet ejection head 17 receives waste discharge (flushing). The head cap 201 is slightly separated from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 so that the ejection is received while the ejector 331 is driven. The negative pressure is detected by the pressure sensor 332, and the primary regulator 334 is feedback-controlled based on the detection result. Further, in the present embodiment, suction by the ejector 331 is shown, but instead of this, a suction method by a suction pump may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the elevating mechanism 206 includes an elevating cylinder 311 that directly elevates and lowers the head cap 201 via a support member 205, a pair of linear guides 314 that guide elevating by the elevating cylinder 311, and a base that supports them. Part 341. The elevating cylinder 311 greatly lowers the head cap 201 when the head unit 13 is replaced, and separates the head cap 201 from the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17. That is, the elevating cylinder 311 moves the cap unit 203 between the close position for suction, the separation / contact position for flushing, and the replacement position for replacement of the head unit 13 and consumables of the cap unit 203 (maintenance). Raise and lower in 3 stages.

  The support member 205 includes a support member main body 343 having a support frame 342 that supports the cap unit 203 at the upper end, and a stand 344 that supports the support frame 342 slidably in the vertical direction. A pair of air cylinders 345 and 345 are fixed to the lower surfaces on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the support member main body 343, and an operation plate 312 that is lifted and lowered by the pair of air cylinders 345 and 345 is provided on the operation plate 312. A plurality of (12) actuating members 307 that engage with the input pieces 304 of the atmosphere release valve 208 of each head cap 201 are attached (details will be described later). Thus, a valve operating mechanism 209 that opens and closes the atmosphere release valve 208 via the operation plate 312 is formed by the pair of air cylinders 345 and 345 and the operating member 307 (see FIG. 13).

  Next, an inclination adjustment mechanism 207 that adjusts the inclination of the cap unit 203 in the pitching direction and the yawing direction will be described with reference to FIGS. The tilt adjustment mechanism 207 includes four height adjustment mechanisms 313 provided at the four corners of the cap plate 202 in the cap unit 203, and each height adjustment mechanism 313 has a lower end on the upper surface of the support frame 342. And a fixing screw 352 that penetrates the axis of the adjusting screw 351 and screwes the cap plate 202 into the support frame 342.

  The support frame 342 is formed in a substantially square shape, and supports both ends in the long side direction of the cap plate 202 from below. A pair of Y-axis positioning plates 354 and 354 are provided at both ends of the support frame 342, and an X-axis positioning block 355 is provided at one end (see FIG. 7). The cap unit 203 is positioned on the support frame 342 such that the cap plate 202 abuts against the Y-axis positioning plate 354 and the X-axis positioning block 355. Reference numeral 346 in the drawing is a lock screw that locks the fixing screw 352.

  The adjustment screw 351 is a male screw member that is screwed into the cap plate 202 on the outer peripheral surface, and a tool hook portion 355 for rotating the adjustment screw 351 forward and backward is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the upper end portion. When the adjustment screw 351 is rotated forward and backward with a tool or the like, the cap plate 202 relatively moves up and down. On the other hand, the lower end portion of the adjusting screw 351 is formed in a crown shape in order to suppress the adjustment screw for the rotation angle of the adjusting screw 351, and the adjusting screw 351 is abutted against the support frame 342 at this portion. . The lead formed on the side surface of the adjustment screw 351 is formed short so that the vertical movement of the cap plate 202 can be finely adjusted. Further, a through hole 356 through which the fixing screw 352 passes is formed at the axis of the adjustment screw 351.

  The fixing screw 352 passes through the axis of the adjusting screw 351 and is screwed into the support frame 342. That is, after adjusting the inclination of the cap plate 202 in the pitching direction and the yawing direction with the four adjusting screws 351, the cap unit 203 whose inclination is adjusted is secured by fastening the four fixing screws 352 to the support frame 342. Fixed to the support frame 342.

  Next, a method for adjusting the inclination of the cap plate 202 by the inclination adjustment mechanism 207 will be described. First, by measuring the shortest distance between the four corners of the cap plate 202 and the nozzle surface 97 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 with a micrometer or the like, the four height adjustment mechanisms 313 move the cap plate 202 up and down the four corners. Each distance is determined. Next, the fixing screws 352 are made rotatable by loosening the four adjusting screws 351 screwed into the support frame 342. Then, the height level of the cap plate 202 is adjusted by rotating the adjusting screws 351 disposed at the four corners of the cap plate 202 forward and backward with a wrench or the like so as to match the moving distance determined above. Finally, the cap unit 203 is fixed to the support frame via the adjustment screw 351 by tightening the fixing screw 352.

  Therefore, after adjusting the position of the cap plate 202 with respect to the adjustment screw 351 with the four adjustment screws 351 while the fixing screw 352 is loosened, the cap unit 203 is supported via the cap plate 202 by tightening the fixing screw 352. 342 can be fixed. In addition, since the height of each of the four corners of the cap plate 202 can be adjusted, the inclination of the plurality of head caps 201 can be adjusted to the nozzle surfaces of the plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17. Therefore, the head cap 201 mounted on the cap plate 202 can be brought into close contact with the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 with high accuracy, and leakage of functional liquid and air leakage can be reliably prevented. Even if the inclination of the nozzle surfaces 97 of the plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 and the inclination of the cap plate 202 do not completely coincide with each other, as described above, the cap body 223 slightly moves up and down relative to the cap holder 224. Therefore, the plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 and the head cap 201 can be brought into close contact with each other with high accuracy.

  Next, the valve operating mechanism 209 that opens and closes the atmosphere release valve 208 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 13. As described above, the atmosphere release valve 208 is slidably provided in a direction to be separated from and in contact with the cap body 223. The operation rod 301 that opens and closes the atmosphere communication channel 272 by this sliding operation and the lower portion of the operation rod 301 are provided. The input piece 304 and a lock nut 305 for fixing the input piece. On the other hand, the valve operating mechanism 209 attaches an operating member 307 engaged with the input unit 306, a pair of air cylinders 345 and 345 as a power source for moving the operating member 307 up and down, and an operation rod 301 in the valve closing direction. And a return spring 303 for biasing.

  The input piece 304 is screwed into the operation rod 301 so that the axial attachment position with respect to the operation rod 301 can be adjusted by rotating in the forward and reverse directions, and the adjusted position is fixed by the lock nut 305. The input piece 304 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and an upper flange portion 304a and a lower flange portion 304b are integrally formed at both upper and lower ends. On the other hand, the operating member 307 is formed in an inverted “L” shape with a claw portion 307a and a mounting portion 307b, fixed to the upper surface of the operation plate 312 with the mounting portion 307b, and engaged with the input piece with the claw portion 307a. ing. The claw portion 307 a has a notch portion 310 formed in a “U” shape. The notch portion 310 is a cap in addition to the movement of the input piece 304 accompanying the tilt adjustment of the tilt adjustment mechanism 207 described above. A gap S allowing the movement of the input frame 304 accompanying the tilting of the main body 223 is present. In other words, the operation rod 301 is swung and the inclination of the input piece 304 is moved in accordance with the adjustment by the inclination adjustment mechanism 207. Assuming this movement range, the gap between the trunk of the input piece 304 and the notch 310 ( Clearance S is designed. As described above, since a large clearance is provided between the input piece 304 and the notch portion 310, the lower flange portion 304b can be securely engaged with the lower flange portion and the claw portion 307a of the operating member 307. The diameter is larger than the width of the actuating member 307 (see FIG. 14).

  Next, the opening / closing operation of the air release valve 208 performed immediately after completion of the suction operation will be described. First, the operation plate 312 connected to the air cylinder 345 is moved downward by the air cylinder 345. Accordingly, the operating member 307 is pulled down, the operation rod 301 is pulled through the lower flange portion 304b of the input piece 304, and the atmosphere release valve 208 is opened. On the other hand, when the operation plate 312 is moved upward by the power source, the atmosphere release valve 208 is opened by the return spring 303.

  Note that, as described above, the notch 310 has the cap body 223 at the time of the movement of the input piece 304 accompanying the tilting of the head cap 201 by the height adjustment mechanism 313 and the close contact between the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 and the cap body 223. There is a gap S that allows the movement of the input piece 304 accompanying the tilting. Therefore, at the time of assembly, the operation member 307 and the input part 306 can be easily engaged with each other, and the notch part 310 does not interfere with the input piece 304 screwed into the operation rod 301. Further, since the flange portion 309 is formed to be larger than the width of the operating member 307, even if the gap S between the input portion 306 and the notch portion 310 is large, the flange portion 309 is hooked on the operating member 307, thereby reliably opening the valve. In addition, the air release valve 208 can be smoothly closed by the return spring 303. As a result, the functional liquid contained in the functional liquid absorbent 232 can be sucked and the functional liquid remaining in the vicinity of the nozzle surface 97 can be prevented from being scattered. In this case, the gap S is preferably 2 mm.

  Although not particularly illustrated, in this embodiment, the X-axis and Y-axis notch portions 245 and 247 of the absorbent material holder 231 and the X-axis and Y-axis positioning pins 244 and 246 of the assembly base 222 are positioned. However, instead of this, positioning may be performed by fitting the pin holes provided in the absorbent material holder 231 and the X-axis and Y-axis positioning pins 244 and 246 provided in the cap assembly 221. . Further, positioning may be performed by fitting a concave portion provided in the absorbent material holder 231 and a convex portion provided in the assembly base 222. Further, the cap assembly 221 may be unitized (the frame-shaped pressing member 235 is press-fitted into the absorbent material holder 231).

  In the present embodiment, the apparatus including the droplet discharge device 1 including the ten carriage units 51 is used. However, the number of carriage units 51 and the functional droplets mounted on each carriage unit 51 are used. The number of ejection heads 17 is arbitrary.

  Next, as an electro-optical device (flat panel display) manufactured using the droplet discharge device 1 of this embodiment, a color filter, a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device, a plasma display (PDP device), an electron emission device ( FED devices, SED devices), and active matrix substrates formed in these display devices will be described as an example for their structures and manufacturing methods. Note that an active matrix substrate refers to a substrate on which a thin film transistor, a source line electrically connected to the thin film transistor, and a data line are formed.

First, a method for manufacturing a color filter incorporated in a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device or the like will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the manufacturing process of the color filter, and FIG. 16 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the color filter 500 (filter base body 500A) of this embodiment shown in the order of the manufacturing process.
First, in the black matrix forming step (S101), a black matrix 502 is formed on a substrate (W) 501 as shown in FIG. The black matrix 502 is formed of metal chromium, a laminate of metal chromium and chromium oxide, resin black, or the like. A sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, or the like can be used to form the black matrix 502 made of a metal thin film. Further, when forming the black matrix 502 made of a resin thin film, a gravure printing method, a photoresist method, a thermal transfer method, or the like can be used.

Subsequently, in the bank formation step (S102), a bank 503 is formed in a state of being superimposed on the black matrix 502. That is, first, as shown in FIG. 16B, a resist layer 504 made of a negative transparent photosensitive resin is formed so as to cover the substrate 501 and the black matrix 502. Then, an exposure process is performed with the upper surface covered with a mask film 505 formed in a matrix pattern shape.
Further, as shown in FIG. 16C, the resist layer 504 is patterned by etching an unexposed portion of the resist layer 504 to form a bank 503. When the black matrix is formed from resin black, it is possible to use both the black matrix and the bank.
The bank 503 and the black matrix 502 below the partition wall 507b partitioning each pixel region 507a, and in the subsequent colored layer forming step, the colored liquid layers (film forming portions) 508R, 508G, When forming 508B, the landing area of the functional droplet is defined.

The filter substrate 500A is obtained through the above black matrix forming step and bank forming step.
In the present embodiment, as the material for the bank 503, a resin material whose surface is lyophobic (hydrophobic) is used. Since the surface of the substrate (glass substrate) 501 is lyophilic (hydrophilic), the droplets into each pixel region 507a surrounded by the bank 503 (partition wall portion 507b) in the colored layer forming step described later. Variations in landing position can be automatically corrected.

  Next, in the colored layer forming step (S103), as shown in FIG. 16 (d), functional droplets are ejected by the functional droplet ejection head 17 to enter each pixel region 507a surrounded by the partition wall portion 507b. Make it land. In this case, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 is used to introduce functional liquids (filter materials) of three colors of R, G, and B to eject functional liquid droplets. Note that the three-color arrangement pattern of R, G, and B includes a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, and a delta arrangement.

Thereafter, the functional liquid is fixed through a drying process (a process such as heating), and three colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed. If the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed, the process proceeds to the protective film forming step (S104), and as shown in FIG. 16 (e), the substrate 501, the partition wall portion 507b, and the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B A protective film 509 is formed so as to cover the upper surface.
That is, after the protective film coating liquid is discharged over the entire surface of the substrate 501 where the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed, the protective film 509 is formed through a drying process.
Then, after forming the protective film 509, the color filter 500 moves to a film forming process such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) which becomes a transparent electrode in the next process.

  FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a schematic configuration of a passive matrix liquid crystal device (liquid crystal device) as an example of a liquid crystal display device using the color filter 500 described above. By attaching auxiliary elements such as a liquid crystal driving IC, a backlight, and a support to the liquid crystal device 520, a transmissive liquid crystal display device as a final product can be obtained. Since the color filter 500 is the same as that shown in FIG. 16, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

The liquid crystal device 520 is roughly configured by a color filter 500, a counter substrate 521 made of a glass substrate, and a liquid crystal layer 522 made of an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal composition sandwiched between them, The filter 500 is arranged on the upper side (observer side) in the figure.
Although not shown, polarizing plates are provided on the outer surfaces of the counter substrate 521 and the color filter 500 (surfaces opposite to the liquid crystal layer 522 side), and the polarizing plates located on the counter substrate 521 side are also provided. A backlight is disposed outside.

On the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (on the liquid crystal layer side), a plurality of strip-shaped first electrodes 523 elongated in the left-right direction in FIG. 17 are formed at predetermined intervals. The color of the first electrode 523 A first alignment film 524 is formed so as to cover the surface opposite to the filter 500 side.
On the other hand, a plurality of strip-shaped second electrodes 526 elongated in a direction orthogonal to the first electrode 523 of the color filter 500 are formed on the surface of the counter substrate 521 facing the color filter 500 at a predetermined interval. A second alignment film 527 is formed so as to cover the surface of the two electrodes 526 on the liquid crystal layer 522 side. The first electrode 523 and the second electrode 526 are made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO.

The spacer 528 provided in the liquid crystal layer 522 is a member for keeping the thickness (cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer 522 constant. The sealing material 529 is a member for preventing the liquid crystal composition in the liquid crystal layer 522 from leaking to the outside. Note that one end of the first electrode 523 extends to the outside of the sealing material 529 as a lead-out wiring 523a.
A portion where the first electrode 523 and the second electrode 526 intersect with each other is a pixel, and the color layers 508R, 508G, and 508B of the color filter 500 are located in the portion that becomes the pixel.

  In a normal manufacturing process, patterning of the first electrode 523 and application of the first alignment film 524 are performed on the color filter 500 to create a portion on the color filter 500 side. Patterning of the electrode 526 and application of the second alignment film 527 are performed to create a portion on the counter substrate 521 side. Thereafter, a spacer 528 and a sealing material 529 are formed in the portion on the counter substrate 521 side, and the portion on the color filter 500 side is bonded in this state. Next, liquid crystal constituting the liquid crystal layer 522 is injected from the inlet of the sealing material 529, and the inlet is closed. Thereafter, both polarizing plates and the backlight are laminated.

  The droplet discharge device 1 according to the embodiment applies, for example, a spacer material (functional liquid) that constitutes the cell gap, and before the portion on the color filter 500 side is bonded to the portion on the counter substrate 521 side, the sealing material Liquid crystal (functional liquid) can be uniformly applied to the region surrounded by 529. Further, the printing of the sealing material 529 can be performed by the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17. Further, the first and second alignment films 524 and 527 can be applied by the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17.

FIG. 14 is a cross-sectional view of a principal part showing a schematic configuration of a second example of a liquid crystal device using the color filter 500 manufactured in the present embodiment.
The liquid crystal device 530 is significantly different from the liquid crystal device 520 in that the color filter 500 is arranged on the lower side (the side opposite to the observer side) in the figure.
The liquid crystal device 530 is generally configured by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer 532 made of STN liquid crystal between a color filter 500 and a counter substrate 531 made of a glass substrate or the like. Although not shown, polarizing plates and the like are provided on the outer surfaces of the counter substrate 531 and the color filter 500, respectively.

On the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (on the liquid crystal layer 532 side), a plurality of strip-shaped first electrodes 533 elongated in the depth direction in the figure are formed at predetermined intervals, and the liquid crystal of the first electrodes 533 is formed. A first alignment film 534 is formed so as to cover the surface on the layer 532 side.
A plurality of strip-shaped second electrodes 536 extending in a direction orthogonal to the first electrode 533 on the color filter 500 side are formed on the surface of the counter substrate 531 facing the color filter 500 at a predetermined interval. A second alignment film 537 is formed so as to cover the surface of the second electrode 536 on the liquid crystal layer 532 side.

The liquid crystal layer 532 is provided with a spacer 538 for keeping the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 532 constant and a sealing material 539 for preventing the liquid crystal composition in the liquid crystal layer 532 from leaking to the outside. Yes.
Similarly to the liquid crystal device 520 described above, a portion where the first electrode 533 and the second electrode 536 intersect with each other is a pixel, and the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B of the color filter 500 are located at the portion that becomes the pixel. Is configured to do.

FIG. 19 shows a third example in which a liquid crystal device is configured using a color filter 500 to which the present invention is applied, and is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a transmissive TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type liquid crystal device. It is.
In the liquid crystal device 550, the color filter 500 is arranged on the upper side (observer side) in the figure.

The liquid crystal device 550 includes a color filter 500, a counter substrate 551 disposed so as to face the color filter 500, a liquid crystal layer (not shown) sandwiched therebetween, and an upper surface side (observer side) of the color filter 500. The polarizing plate 555 and the polarizing plate (not shown) arranged on the lower surface side of the counter substrate 551 are roughly configured.
A liquid crystal driving electrode 556 is formed on the surface of the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (the surface on the counter substrate 551 side). The electrode 556 is made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, and is a full surface electrode that covers the entire region where a pixel electrode 560 described later is formed. An alignment film 557 is provided so as to cover the surface of the electrode 556 opposite to the pixel electrode 560.

  An insulating layer 558 is formed on the surface of the counter substrate 551 facing the color filter 500, and the scanning lines 561 and the signal lines 562 are formed on the insulating layer 558 in a state of being orthogonal to each other. A pixel electrode 560 is formed in a region surrounded by the scanning lines 561 and the signal lines 562. In an actual liquid crystal device, an alignment film is provided on the pixel electrode 560, but the illustration is omitted.

  In addition, a thin film transistor 563 including a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor, and a gate electrode is incorporated in a portion surrounded by the cutout portion of the pixel electrode 560 and the scanning line 561 and the signal line 562. . The thin film transistor 563 is turned on / off by application of signals to the scanning line 561 and the signal line 562 so that energization control to the pixel electrode 560 can be performed.

  Note that the liquid crystal devices 520, 530, and 550 in the above examples are transmissive, but a reflective liquid crystal device or a transflective liquid crystal device is provided by providing a reflective layer or a transflective layer. You can also

  Next, FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of a display region (hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 600) of the organic EL device.

The display device 600 is schematically configured with a circuit element portion 602, a light emitting element portion 603, and a cathode 604 laminated on a substrate (W) 601.
In the display device 600, light emitted from the light emitting element portion 603 to the substrate 601 side is transmitted through the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601 and emitted to the observer side, and the light emitting element portion 603 is opposite to the substrate 601. After the light emitted to the side is reflected by the cathode 604, the light passes through the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601 and is emitted to the observer side.

  A base protective film 606 made of a silicon oxide film is formed between the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601, and an island-shaped semiconductor film 607 made of polycrystalline silicon is formed on the base protective film 606 (on the light emitting element portion 603 side). Is formed. In the left and right regions of the semiconductor film 607, a source region 607a and a drain region 607b are formed by high concentration cation implantation, respectively. A central portion where no positive ions are implanted is a channel region 607c.

  In the circuit element portion 602, a transparent gate insulating film 608 covering the base protective film 606 and the semiconductor film 607 is formed, and a position corresponding to the channel region 607c of the semiconductor film 607 on the gate insulating film 608 is formed. For example, a gate electrode 609 made of Al, Mo, Ta, Ti, W or the like is formed. On the gate electrode 609 and the gate insulating film 608, a transparent first interlayer insulating film 611a and a second interlayer insulating film 611b are formed. Further, contact holes 612a and 612b are formed through the first and second interlayer insulating films 611a and 611b and communicating with the source region 607a and the drain region 607b of the semiconductor film 607, respectively.

A transparent pixel electrode 613 made of ITO or the like is patterned and formed in a predetermined shape on the second interlayer insulating film 611b, and the pixel electrode 613 is connected to the source region 607a through the contact hole 612a. .
A power supply line 614 is disposed on the first interlayer insulating film 611a, and the power supply line 614 is connected to the drain region 607b through the contact hole 612b.

  Thus, the driving thin film transistors 615 connected to the pixel electrodes 613 are formed in the circuit element portion 602, respectively.

The light emitting element portion 603 includes a functional layer 617 stacked on each of the plurality of pixel electrodes 613, and a bank portion 618 provided between each pixel electrode 613 and the functional layer 617 to partition each functional layer 617. It is roughly structured.
The pixel electrode 613, the functional layer 617, and the cathode 604 provided on the functional layer 617 constitute a light emitting element. Note that the pixel electrode 613 is formed by patterning in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and a bank portion 618 is formed between the pixel electrodes 613.

The bank unit 618 is laminated on the inorganic bank layer 618a (first bank layer) 618a (first bank layer) formed of an inorganic material such as SiO, SiO2, or TiO2, and has heat resistance such as acrylic resin or polyimide resin. The organic bank layer 618b (second bank layer) having a trapezoidal cross section formed of a resist having excellent solvent resistance. A part of the bank unit 618 is formed on the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 613.
An opening 619 that gradually expands upward with respect to the pixel electrode 613 is formed between the bank portions 618.

The functional layer 617 includes a hole injection / transport layer 617a formed in a stacked state on the pixel electrode 613 in the opening 619, and a light emitting layer 617b formed on the hole injection / transport layer 617a. Has been. Note that another functional layer having other functions may be further formed adjacent to the light emitting layer 617b. For example, it is possible to form an electron transport layer.
The hole injection / transport layer 617a has a function of transporting holes from the pixel electrode 613 side and injecting them into the light emitting layer 617b. The hole injection / transport layer 617a is formed by discharging a first composition (functional liquid) containing a hole injection / transport layer forming material. A known material is used as the hole injection / transport layer forming material.

  The light emitting layer 617b emits light in red (R), green (G), or blue (B), and discharges a second composition (functional liquid) containing a light emitting layer forming material (light emitting material). Is formed. As the solvent (nonpolar solvent) of the second composition, a known material that is insoluble in the hole injection / transport layer 617a is preferably used, and such a nonpolar solvent is used as the second composition of the light emitting layer 617b. By using the light emitting layer 617b, the light emitting layer 617b can be formed without re-dissolving the hole injection / transport layer 617a.

  The light emitting layer 617b is configured such that the holes injected from the hole injection / transport layer 617a and the electrons injected from the cathode 604 are recombined in the light emitting layer to emit light.

  The cathode 604 is formed so as to cover the entire surface of the light emitting element portion 603, and plays a role of flowing current to the functional layer 617 in a pair with the pixel electrode 613. Note that a sealing member (not shown) is disposed on the cathode 604.

Next, a manufacturing process of the display device 600 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 21, the display device 600 includes a bank part forming step (S111), a surface treatment step (S112), a hole injection / transport layer forming step (S113), a light emitting layer forming step (S114), and an opposing surface. It is manufactured through an electrode formation step (S115). In addition, a manufacturing process is not restricted to what is illustrated, and when other processes are removed as needed, it may be added.

First, in the bank part forming step (S111), as shown in FIG. 22, an inorganic bank layer 618a is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 611b. The inorganic bank layer 618a is formed by forming an inorganic film at a formation position and then patterning the inorganic film using a photolithography technique or the like. At this time, a part of the inorganic bank layer 618 a is formed so as to overlap with the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 613.
When the inorganic bank layer 618a is formed, the organic bank layer 618b is formed on the inorganic bank layer 618a as shown in FIG. The organic bank layer 618b is also formed by patterning using a photolithography technique or the like in the same manner as the inorganic bank layer 618a.
In this way, the bank portion 618 is formed. Accordingly, an opening 619 opening upward with respect to the pixel electrode 613 is formed between the bank portions 618. The opening 619 defines a pixel region.

In the surface treatment step (S112), a lyophilic process and a lyophobic process are performed. The regions to be subjected to lyophilic treatment are the first stacked portion 618aa of the inorganic bank layer 618a and the electrode surface 613a of the pixel electrode 613. These regions are made lyophilic by plasma treatment using oxygen as a treatment gas, for example. Is done. This plasma treatment also serves to clean the ITO that is the pixel electrode 613.
In addition, the lyophobic treatment is performed on the wall surface 618s of the organic bank layer 618b and the upper surface 618t of the organic bank layer 618b. )
By performing this surface treatment process, when forming the functional layer 617 using the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17, the functional liquid droplets can be landed more reliably on the pixel area. It is possible to prevent the functional droplets from overflowing from the opening 619.

  Then, the display device base 600A is obtained through the above steps. The display device base 600A is placed on the set table 21 of the droplet discharge device 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the following hole injection / transport layer forming step (S113) and light emitting layer forming step (S114) are performed. .

  As shown in FIG. 24, in the hole injection / transport layer forming step (S113), the first composition containing the hole injection / transport layer forming material is transferred from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17 to each opening 619 that is a pixel region. Discharge inside. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 25, a drying process and a heat treatment are performed to evaporate the polar solvent contained in the first composition, thereby forming a hole injection / transport layer 617a on the pixel electrode (electrode surface 613a) 613.

Next, the light emitting layer forming step (S114) will be described. In this light emitting layer forming step, as described above, in order to prevent re-dissolution of the hole injection / transport layer 617a, the hole injection / transport layer 617a is used as a solvent for the second composition used in forming the light emitting layer. A non-polar solvent insoluble in.
However, since the hole injection / transport layer 617a has a low affinity for the nonpolar solvent, the hole injection / transport layer 617a has a low affinity even if the second composition containing the nonpolar solvent is discharged onto the hole injection / transport layer 617a. There is a possibility that the injection / transport layer 617a and the light emitting layer 617b cannot be adhered to each other, or the light emitting layer 617b cannot be applied uniformly.
Therefore, in order to increase the surface affinity of the hole injection / transport layer 617a with respect to the nonpolar solvent and the light emitting layer forming material, it is preferable to perform surface treatment (surface modification treatment) before forming the light emitting layer. In this surface treatment, a surface modifying material which is the same solvent as the non-polar solvent of the second composition used in the formation of the light emitting layer or a similar solvent is applied on the hole injection / transport layer 617a, and this is applied. This is done by drying.
By performing such treatment, the surface of the hole injection / transport layer 617a is easily adapted to the nonpolar solvent. In the subsequent step, the second composition containing the light emitting layer forming material is added to the hole injection / transport layer. It can be uniformly applied to 617a.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 26, the pixel composition (second liquid composition containing a light emitting layer forming material corresponding to one of the colors (blue (B) in the example of FIG. 26)) is used as a functional droplet. A predetermined amount is driven into the opening 619). The second composition driven into the pixel region spreads on the hole injection / transport layer 617a and fills the opening 619. Even if the second composition deviates from the pixel region and lands on the upper surface 618t of the bank portion 618, the upper composition 618t is subjected to the liquid repellent treatment as described above. Things are easy to roll into the opening 619.

  Thereafter, by performing a drying process and the like, the second composition after discharge is dried, the nonpolar solvent contained in the second composition is evaporated, and as shown in FIG. 27, a hole injection / transport layer 617a is obtained. A light emitting layer 617b is formed thereon. In the case of this figure, a light emitting layer 617b corresponding to blue (B) is formed.

  Similarly, using the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17, as shown in FIG. 28, the same steps as in the case of the light emitting layer 617b corresponding to the blue (B) described above are sequentially performed, and other colors (red (R) and red (R) and A light emitting layer 617b corresponding to green (G) is formed. Note that the order in which the light-emitting layers 617b are formed is not limited to the illustrated order, and may be formed in any order. For example, the order of formation can be determined according to the light emitting layer forming material. In addition, the arrangement pattern of the three colors R, G, and B includes a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, a delta arrangement, and the like.

  As described above, the functional layer 617, that is, the hole injection / transport layer 617a and the light emitting layer 617b are formed on the pixel electrode 613. And it transfers to a counter electrode formation process (S115).

In the counter electrode forming step (S115), as shown in FIG. 29, a cathode 604 (counter electrode) is formed on the entire surface of the light emitting layer 617b and the organic bank layer 618b by, for example, vapor deposition, sputtering, CVD, or the like. In the present embodiment, the cathode 604 is configured by, for example, laminating a calcium layer and an aluminum layer.
On top of the cathode 604, an Al film and an Ag film as electrodes, and a protective layer such as SiO 2 and SiN for preventing oxidation thereof are provided as appropriate.

  After forming the cathode 604 in this way, the display device 600 is obtained by performing other processes such as a sealing process for sealing the upper part of the cathode 604 with a sealing member and a wiring process.

Next, FIG. 30 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a plasma display device (PDP device: hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 700). In the figure, the display device 700 is shown with a part thereof cut away.
The display device 700 is schematically configured to include a first substrate 701, a second substrate 702, and a discharge display portion 703 formed between them, which are disposed to face each other. The discharge display unit 703 includes a plurality of discharge chambers 705. Among the plurality of discharge chambers 705, the three discharge chambers 705 of the red discharge chamber 705R, the green discharge chamber 705G, and the blue discharge chamber 705B are arranged to form one pixel.

Address electrodes 706 are formed in stripes at predetermined intervals on the upper surface of the first substrate 701, and a dielectric layer 707 is formed so as to cover the address electrodes 706 and the upper surface of the first substrate 701. On the dielectric layer 707, partition walls 708 are provided so as to be positioned between the address electrodes 706 and along the address electrodes 706. The partition 708 includes one extending on both sides in the width direction of the address electrode 706 as shown, and one not shown extending in the direction orthogonal to the address electrode 706.
A region partitioned by the partition 708 is a discharge chamber 705.

  A phosphor 709 is disposed in the discharge chamber 705. The phosphor 709 emits red (R), green (G), or blue (B) fluorescence, and the red phosphor 709R is disposed at the bottom of the red discharge chamber 705R, and the green discharge chamber 705G. A green phosphor 709G and a blue phosphor 709B are arranged at the bottom and the blue discharge chamber 705B, respectively.

On the lower surface of the second substrate 702 in the drawing, a plurality of display electrodes 711 are formed in stripes at predetermined intervals in a direction orthogonal to the address electrodes 706. A dielectric layer 712 and a protective film 713 made of MgO or the like are formed so as to cover them.
The first substrate 701 and the second substrate 702 are bonded so that the address electrodes 706 and the display electrodes 711 face each other in a state of being orthogonal to each other. The address electrode 706 and the display electrode 711 are connected to an AC power source (not shown).
When the electrodes 706 and 711 are energized, the phosphor 709 emits light in the discharge display portion 703, and color display is possible.

In the present embodiment, the address electrode 706, the display electrode 711, and the phosphor 709 can be formed by using the droplet discharge device 1 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, a process of forming the address electrode 706 on the first substrate 701 will be exemplified.
In this case, the following steps are performed with the first substrate 701 placed on the set table 21 of the droplet discharge device 1.
First, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a conductive film wiring forming material is landed on the address electrode formation region as a functional liquid droplet by the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17. This liquid material is obtained by dispersing conductive fine particles such as metal in a dispersion medium as a conductive film wiring forming material. As the conductive fine particles, metal fine particles containing gold, silver, copper, palladium, nickel, or the like, a conductive polymer, or the like is used.

  When the replenishment of the liquid material is completed for all the address electrode formation regions to be replenished, the address material 706 is formed by drying the discharged liquid material and evaporating the dispersion medium contained in the liquid material. .

By the way, although the formation of the address electrode 706 has been exemplified in the above, the display electrode 711 and the phosphor 709 can also be formed through the above steps.
In the case of forming the display electrode 711, as in the case of the address electrode 706, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a conductive film wiring forming material is landed on the display electrode formation region as a functional droplet.
Further, in the case of forming the phosphor 709, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a fluorescent material corresponding to each color (R, G, B) is ejected as droplets from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 17, and it corresponds. Land in the color discharge chamber 705.

Next, FIG. 31 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an electron emission device (also referred to as FED device or SED device: hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 800). In the drawing, a part of the display device 800 is shown as a cross section.
The display device 800 is schematically configured to include a first substrate 801, a second substrate 802, and a field emission display portion 803 formed therebetween, which are disposed to face each other. The field emission display unit 803 includes a plurality of electron emission units 805 arranged in a matrix.

  A first element electrode 806a and a second element electrode 806b constituting the cathode electrode 806 are formed on the upper surface of the first substrate 801 so as to be orthogonal to each other. In addition, a conductive film 807 having a gap 808 is formed in a portion partitioned by the first element electrode 806a and the second element electrode 806b. That is, the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 constitute a plurality of electron emission portions 805. The conductive film 807 is made of, for example, palladium oxide (PdO), and the gap 808 is formed by forming after forming the conductive film 807.

  An anode electrode 809 that faces the cathode electrode 806 is formed on the lower surface of the second substrate 802. A grid-like bank portion 811 is formed on the lower surface of the anode electrode 809, and a phosphor 813 is disposed in each downward opening 812 surrounded by the bank portion 811 so as to correspond to the electron emission portion 805. Yes. The phosphor 813 emits fluorescence of any one of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and each opening 812 has a red phosphor 813R, a green phosphor 813G, and a blue color. The phosphors 813B are arranged in the predetermined pattern described above.

  The first substrate 801 and the second substrate 802 configured as described above are bonded together with a minute gap. In this display device 800, electrons that jump out of the first element electrode 806 a or the second element electrode 806 b that are cathodes through the conductive film (gap 808) 807 are formed on the phosphor 813 that is formed on the anode electrode 809 that is an anode. When excited, it emits light and enables color display.

  Also in this case, as in the other embodiments, the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, the conductive film 807, and the anode electrode 809 can be formed using the droplet discharge device 1 and each color. The phosphors 813R, 813G, and 813B can be formed using the droplet discharge device 1.

  The first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 have the planar shape shown in FIG. 28A, and when these are formed, as shown in FIG. In addition, the bank portion BB is formed (photolithographic method), leaving portions where the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 are previously formed. Next, the first element electrode 806a and the second element electrode 806b were formed in the groove portion constituted by the bank portion BB (inkjet method using the droplet discharge device 1), and the solvent was dried to form a film. After that, a conductive film 807 is formed (an ink jet method using the droplet discharge device 1). Then, after forming the conductive film 807, the bank portion BB is removed (ashing peeling process), and the process proceeds to the above forming process. As in the case of the organic EL device described above, it is preferable to perform a lyophilic process on the first substrate 801 and the second substrate 802 and a lyophobic process on the bank portions 811 and BB.

  As other electro-optical devices, devices such as metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, and light diffuser formation are conceivable. By using the droplet discharge device 1 described above for manufacturing various electro-optical devices (devices), various electro-optical devices can be efficiently manufactured.

It is a perspective view of the droplet discharge device concerning an embodiment. It is a top view of a droplet discharge device. It is a side view of a droplet discharge device. It is a figure of the functional droplet discharge head which comprises a head group. It is an external appearance perspective view of a functional droplet discharge head. It is sectional drawing of a suction device. It is a top view of a cap unit. It is an oblique view of a head cap. It is an exploded oblique view of a head cap. It is sectional drawing of a head cap. It is a suction mechanism concerning this embodiment. It is the height adjustment mechanism which concerns on this embodiment. It is a valve action mechanism concerning this embodiment. It is a top view around an operation member. It is a flowchart explaining a color filter manufacturing process. (A)-(e) is a schematic cross section of the color filter shown to the manufacturing process order. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device of the 2nd example using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device of the 3rd example using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing of the display apparatus which is an organic electroluminescent apparatus. It is a flowchart explaining the manufacturing process of the display apparatus which is an organic electroluminescent apparatus. It is process drawing explaining formation of an inorganic bank layer. It is process drawing explaining formation of an organic substance bank layer. It is process drawing explaining the process in which a positive hole injection / transport layer is formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the positive hole injection / transport layer was formed. It is process drawing explaining the process in which a blue light emitting layer is formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the blue light emitting layer was formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the light emitting layer of each color was formed. It is process drawing explaining formation of a cathode. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the display apparatus which is a plasma type display apparatus (PDP apparatus). It is principal part sectional drawing of the display apparatus which is an electron emission apparatus (FED apparatus). It is the top view (a) around the electron emission part of a display apparatus, and the top view (b) which shows the formation method.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Droplet discharge apparatus 1 15 ... Suction apparatus 17 ... Functional droplet discharge head 97 ... Nozzle surface 221 ... Cap assembly 222 ... Assembly base 223 ... Cap main body 224 ... Cap holder 231a ... Absorbing material accommodation part 224 ... Absorbing material holder 234 ... Sealing member 235 ... Frame-shaped pressing member 236 ... Fastening screw 201 ... Head cap 251 ... Suction passage 226 ... Suction joint 271 ... Suction communication passage 237 ... Liquid tight seal member 252 ... Atmospheric release passage 208 ... Atmospheric release valve 272 ... Air communication channel 238 ... Airtight seal member 224,246 ... Positioning pin 245,257 Notch 322 ... Close spring W ... Work 508 ... Film formation part

Claims (12)

A cap main body comprising a cap assembly in close contact with a nozzle surface of an ink jet type functional liquid droplet ejection head, an assembly base for supporting the cap assembly, and a mounting screw for fixing the cap assembly to the assembly base;
A cap holder for holding the cap body,
The cap assembly is provided so as to surround an absorbent material holder having an absorbent material accommodating portion formed on a surface thereof, a functional liquid absorbent material accommodated in the absorbent material accommodating portion, and the absorbent material accommodating portion, and the functional droplet A seal member that is in close contact with the nozzle surface of the discharge head, a frame-shaped pressing member that presses a peripheral edge of the seal member, and a fastening screw that fastens the frame-shaped pressing member to the absorbent material holder,
The mounting screw passes through the frame-shaped pressing member and the absorbent material holder from the front side and is screwed into the assembly base,
The head cap, wherein the fastening screw penetrates the absorbent material holder from the back side and is screwed to the frame-shaped pressing member. The assembly base has a suction communication flow path having one end connected to a suction flow path opened in the bottom surface of the absorbent material accommodating portion and the other end connected to a suction joint connected to the suction means;
A liquid-tight seal member is attached to the back surface of the absorbent material holder for fluidly communicating the suction channel and the suction communication channel with the cap assembly fixed to the assembly base. The head cap according to claim 1, characterized in that:   The head cap according to claim 2, wherein the suction joint is attached to a back surface of the assembly base, extends through the cap holder, and is formed in a straight shape. The assembly base has an atmosphere communication channel having one end communicating with the atmosphere release channel opened at the bottom surface of the absorbent material accommodating portion and the other end connected to the atmosphere release valve.
An air-tight seal member is attached to the back surface of the absorbent material holder so that the air release channel and the atmosphere communication channel communicate in an air-tight manner with the cap assembly fixed to the assembly base. The head cap according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The mounting screw is composed of a pair of ones arranged at both outer ends in the long side direction of the frame-shaped pressing member,
The fastening screw is constituted by a pair of ones disposed at both outer ends in the long side direction of the absorbent material holder,
5. The head cap according to claim 1, wherein the mounting screws and the fastening screws at the outer end portions are arranged side by side in a short side direction. Positioning means for positioning the cap assembly on the assembly base in a plane;
The positioning means includes three positioning protrusions protruding from the surface of the assembly base and spaced apart from each other.
6. The head cap according to claim 1, further comprising three positioning recesses formed on a back surface of the absorbent material holder and engaged with the three positioning protrusions. Each positioning projection is composed of a positioning pin,
The head cap according to claim 6, wherein each of the positioning recesses is formed by a notch formed on a back surface of the absorbent material holder. The cap holder includes a holder body,
A close contact spring interposed between the holder main body and the assembly base and biasing the cap main body in a protruding direction by receiving the holder main body;
A protrusion restricting member that restricts the position of the projecting end position of the assembly base against the close spring and allows the tilt of the cap body following the nozzle surface;
The head cap according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a receiving groove for receiving the close contact spring is formed in the surface of the holder main body. A head cap according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
A suction means for sucking a functional liquid from the functional liquid droplet ejection head via the head cap;
A suction device comprising: a contacting / separating means for separating the head cap from the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. A drawing means for performing drawing by ejecting a functional liquid droplet from the functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the functional liquid droplet ejection head of the ink jet system with respect to the workpiece;
A liquid droplet ejection apparatus comprising: the suction apparatus according to claim 9.   11. A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device, wherein the droplet discharge device according to claim 10 is used to form a film forming portion with functional droplets on the workpiece.   An electro-optical device using the droplet discharge device according to claim 10, wherein a film forming portion using functional droplets is formed on the workpiece.

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