JP2009233573A - Head unit, ejection apparatus, and ejection method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a head unit, an ejection apparatus, and an ejection method, each of which enables the individual control of an ejection amount for each of ejection nozzles while preventing a time necessary for processing from getting longer, which is caused by such a heavy load applied to a controller, as changing a driving pulse voltage from one ejection nozzle to another. <P>SOLUTION: The head unit includes: a nozzle plate formed of a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting a liquid; an ejection head that supports the nozzle plate and has a plate holding member wherein a liquid passage communicating with the ejection nozzles is formed; a heat source or a cooling source; and a temperature controller terminal formed of a material of heat conductivity at least higher than that of the atmospheric air with its one end contacting the outer wall of the plate holding member facing a passage communicating with the ejection nozzles and the other end contacting the heat source or the cooling source. The ejection apparatus is equipped with the head unit. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a head unit including a discharge head having a discharge nozzle for discharging a liquid material, a discharge device, and a discharge method in the head unit or the discharge device.

  Conventionally, as a technique for forming a functional film such as a color filter film of a color liquid crystal device, a liquid droplet containing a functional film material is used using a droplet discharge device having a droplet discharge head that discharges a liquid material as droplets. A technique is known in which a liquid material is disposed at an arbitrary position on a substrate by discharging a droplet of the body, and a functional film is formed by drying the disposed liquid material at the position. Since the droplet discharge head of the droplet discharge apparatus used for forming such a film can selectively discharge minute droplets from the discharge nozzle and land with high positional accuracy, the precise planar shape and film A film having a thickness can be formed.

In order to form a functional film having a higher function, it is necessary to realize a functional film having a more precise planar shape and film thickness. In order to form a functional film having a constant thickness, it is necessary to maintain a constant discharge amount of the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle. The ejection amount is the size (volume) of the droplets ejected by the droplet ejection head or the amount ejected per unit time by the ejection head that continuously ejects. The weight of the functional liquid corresponding to the discharge amount is expressed as the discharge weight.
Patent Document 1 discloses an inkjet printer that stabilizes print quality by cooling or heating an inkjet head using a Peltier element, focusing on the fact that the ejection amount of a droplet ejection head varies under the influence of temperature. It is disclosed. However, even if the temperature of the entire droplet discharge head is kept constant, the discharge amount of each of the plurality of discharge nozzles of the droplet discharge head is not necessarily uniform, so that it is formed by one droplet discharge head. In some cases, the plurality of functional films are not necessarily uniform. Patent Document 2 discloses a method for manufacturing a color filter, a method for manufacturing a color filter, which uniformizes the ink discharge amount of a nozzle of a liquid discharge head by controlling the discharge amount by changing the voltage of a drive pulse for each discharge nozzle. A manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method, a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display panel, and a manufacturing method of an apparatus including a liquid crystal display panel are disclosed.

JP 2001-334645 A JP 2008-3586 A

  However, when the voltage is controlled for each discharge as in the method or apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is necessary to perform control to vary the discharge amount as part of the discharge control. Accordingly, there is a problem that even a normal discharge control requires a larger load on a control device that requires a large load because it requires a huge amount of data processing. In particular, in recent years, the droplet discharge device has become large, the number of droplet discharge heads (discharge nozzles) provided increases, and the load on the control device tends to increase. When the load applied to the control device is large and the time required for processing becomes long, there arises a problem that the working time of the droplet discharge device becomes long.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  Application Example 1 A head unit according to this application example supports a nozzle plate in which a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging a liquid material are formed, and supports the nozzle plate, and discharges each of the plurality of discharge nozzles inside. It is formed of a discharge head having a plate holding part in which a flow passage of the liquid material communicating with a nozzle is formed, a heat source or a cooling source, and a material having a thermal conductivity higher than at least air, and one end of the discharge head And a temperature adjusting terminal that is in contact with the outer wall of the plate holding portion facing the flow path communicating with the nozzle and whose other end is in contact with the heat source or the cooling source.

  According to this head unit, the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal in the ejection head can be adjusted by heating or cooling the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal with a heat source or a cooling source. Of course, the temperature adjustment according to the said part can also be carried out also in the circumference | surroundings of the part which the temperature adjustment terminal is contacting in the range which heat | fever conducts from the said part. The discharge amount from the discharge nozzle varies depending on the temperature of the discharge nozzle and the liquid material even when the same drive signal is applied. By adjusting the temperature of the portion of the discharge head, the amount of discharge from the discharge nozzle in that portion can be adjusted. Since the discharge amount from the discharge nozzle can be adjusted to an appropriate discharge amount in the discharge nozzle, it is possible to suppress variation in the discharge amount between the discharge nozzles in the discharge head.

  Application Example 2 In the head unit according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each of the discharge nozzles.

  According to this head unit, the temperature can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle via the temperature adjustment terminal disposed for each discharge nozzle. Thereby, the discharge amount can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle.

  Application Example 3 In the head unit according to the application example, it is preferable that the temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each nozzle group including the first plurality of discharge nozzles.

  According to this head unit, the temperature can be adjusted for each nozzle group via the temperature adjustment terminal disposed for each nozzle group. Thereby, the discharge amount from a discharge nozzle can be adjusted for every nozzle group.

  Application Example 4 In the head unit according to the application example, it is preferable that the heat source or the cooling source is individually provided for each temperature adjustment terminal.

  According to this head unit, the temperature can be adjusted for each temperature adjustment terminal by the heat source or the cooling source provided for each temperature adjustment terminal. Thereby, the discharge amount can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle or nozzle group to which the temperature adjustment terminal corresponds.

  Application Example 5 In the head unit according to the application example described above, a plurality of the temperature adjustment terminals are connected to the heat source or the cooling source, and the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals are connected to the first temperature adjustment terminal. The first temperature adjustment terminal preferably includes a second temperature adjustment terminal having a different amount of heat conduction per unit time between the heat source or the cooling source and the ejection head.

According to this head unit, the temperature of the part connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals can be adjusted by adjusting one heat source or cooling source.
The first temperature adjustment terminal and the second temperature adjustment terminal are connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal by different amounts of heat conduction per unit time between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. Even if the temperature of the part is the same, the temperature of the part of the ejection head that is in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal is connected to the part where the first temperature adjustment terminal is connected to the second temperature adjustment terminal. Can be different from each other.

  Application Example 6 In the head unit according to the application example described above, a cross-sectional area of the first temperature adjustment terminal in a direction substantially orthogonal to a heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head is provided. It is preferable that at least a part of a heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the ejection head is different from the second temperature adjustment terminal.

  According to this head unit, the cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminal in the direction substantially perpendicular to the heat energy transfer direction from the heat source or the cooling source to the discharge head is the heat energy between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. In at least a part of the transmission path, the first temperature adjustment terminal and the second temperature adjustment terminal are different from each other. Since the amount of heat that can be transmitted through the cross section per unit time depends on the cross sectional area, the heat conduction amount per unit time can be made different between the first temperature adjustment terminal and the second temperature adjustment terminal.

  Application Example 7 In the head unit according to the application example, the thermal conductivity per unit length and unit time in the discharge nozzle arrangement direction in the temperature adjustment terminal in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles, It is preferred that they differ stepwise or continuously.

  According to this head unit, the amount of heat conduction per unit length and unit time in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles at the temperature adjustment terminal is different. For this reason, the amount of heat conduction per unit time between the part connected to the heat source or the cooling source and the part connected to the discharge head in the temperature adjustment terminal differs for each part of the discharge head in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. ing. Thereby, the temperature of the portion connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal is substantially uniform, but the temperature of the portion of the discharge head that is in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal is made different in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. be able to.

  Application Example 8 In the head unit according to the application example, the discharge nozzle in the direction substantially orthogonal to the heat energy transfer direction between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head in the temperature adjustment terminal. In the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles, the cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminals per unit length in the arrangement direction is at least part of the heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. It is preferred that they differ stepwise or continuously.

  According to this head unit, there is a portion where the cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminal per unit length in the discharge nozzle arrangement direction is different in the discharge nozzle arrangement direction. Since the amount of heat that can be transmitted through the cross section per unit time depends on the cross sectional area, the amount of heat conduction per unit time at the temperature adjustment terminal can be made non-uniform in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. Thereby, the temperature of the portion connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal is substantially uniform, but the temperature of the portion of the discharge head that is in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal is made different in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. be able to.

  Application Example 9 In the head unit according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the heat source or the cooling source is a member having a heat capacity larger than at least the discharge head.

  According to this head unit, the ejection head is connected to a member having a larger heat capacity than the ejection head via the temperature adjustment terminal so as to be able to conduct heat. When thermal energy is applied to the ejection head and the temperature of the ejection head rises, the thermal energy is transmitted to the member and the temperature of the member is also raised. However, since the heat capacity of the member is large, the increase in temperature due to the same heat energy is small. The same applies when heat energy is removed from the discharge head. Thereby, the temperature fluctuation of the ejection head can be reduced.

  Application Example 10 In the head unit according to the application example, it is preferable that the member is a head support member to which the discharge head is attached and supported.

  According to this head unit, the head support member is large enough to support the ejection head, and has a larger volume and larger heat capacity than the ejection head, so that temperature fluctuations of the ejection head due to the same thermal energy can be reduced. it can.

  Application Example 11 In the head unit according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the heat source or the cooling source is air in an environment where the head unit is installed.

  According to this head unit, when thermal energy is applied to the ejection head and the temperature of the ejection head rises, the thermal energy can be released into the atmosphere. When heat energy is removed from the ejection head, the heat energy can be absorbed from the atmosphere. Thereby, the temperature fluctuation of the ejection head can be reduced.

  Application Example 12 In the head unit according to the application example, it is preferable that the temperature adjustment terminal is configured by the heat source or the cooling source.

  According to this head unit, the temperature of the portion of the ejection head can be directly adjusted by a heat source or a cooling source.

  Application Example 13 In the head unit according to the application example described above, it is preferable that the discharge head is an inkjet droplet discharge head.

  According to this head unit, by adjusting the temperature of the portion of the droplet discharge head in the droplet discharge head, the volume of the droplet, which is a unit discharge amount from the discharge nozzle, can be adjusted to an appropriate volume. .

  Application Example 14 A discharge device according to this application example includes the head unit according to the application example.

  According to this discharge apparatus, by including the head unit that can adjust the discharge amount from each discharge nozzle, it is possible to discharge a suitable discharge amount from each discharge nozzle.

  Application Example 15 In the discharge device according to the application example described above, based on the information acquisition unit that acquires information on the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount at each discharge nozzle of the plurality of discharge nozzles, and the information on the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount It is preferable to further include a head partial temperature control unit that adjusts the temperature of each part of the ejection head by controlling a temperature adjusting device including the heat source or the cooling source.

  According to this discharge device, it is possible to acquire information on the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount at the discharge nozzle and control the temperature adjustment device based on the information. Thereby, the temperature of each part of the discharge head can be adjusted to a temperature at which the discharge nozzle of the part can discharge an appropriate discharge amount based on the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount of the discharge nozzle of the part.

  Application Example 16 In the ejection device according to the application example described above, the ejection device according to the application example further includes a temperature measurement unit that measures the temperature of the ejection head, and the head partial temperature control unit is based on a measurement result and a temperature characteristic of the ejection amount. It is preferable to adjust the temperature of each part of the ejection head.

  According to this discharge apparatus, the temperature of each part of the discharge head is adjusted based on the temperature of the discharge head measured by the temperature measuring unit. Since the temperature of the ejection head is known, the temperature of each part of the ejection head can be efficiently adjusted to an appropriate temperature at which an appropriate ejection amount can be realized at the ejection nozzle of the part.

  Application Example 17 In the ejection device according to the application example, the temperature measurement unit calculates the temperature of each part of the ejection head from the ejection weight measurement unit and the ejection weight measured by the ejection weight measurement unit. And an arithmetic unit.

  According to this discharge apparatus, instead of directly measuring the temperature of each part of the discharge head, the temperature of each part of the discharge head can be obtained by measuring the discharge weight.

  Application Example 18 An ejection device according to this application example includes the head unit according to the application example.

  According to this discharge apparatus, by including the head unit that can adjust the discharge amount from the discharge nozzle, it is possible to discharge a suitable discharge amount from each discharge nozzle.

  Application Example 19 A discharge method according to this application example includes a nozzle plate on which a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging a liquid material are formed, and supports the nozzle plate, and discharges each of the plurality of discharge nozzles inside. A discharge method using a discharge head having a plate holding part in which a flow passage of the liquid material communicating with a nozzle is formed, wherein a temperature adjustment terminal for adjusting a temperature is provided on a portion of an outer wall of the plate holding part The temperature adjusting step of adjusting the temperature of the portion of the plate holding portion in contact with the temperature adjusting terminal by adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjusting terminal while being in contact with the temperature adjusting terminal.

  According to this discharge method, the temperature of the portion of the discharge head in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal can be adjusted by the temperature adjustment step. Of course, the temperature adjustment according to the said part can also be carried out also in the circumference | surroundings of the part which the temperature adjustment terminal is contacting in the range which heat | fever conducts from the said part. The discharge amount from the discharge nozzle varies depending on the temperature of the discharge nozzle and the liquid material even when the same drive signal is applied. By adjusting the temperature of the portion of the discharge head, the amount of discharge from the discharge nozzle in that portion can be adjusted. Since the discharge amount from the discharge nozzle can be adjusted to an appropriate discharge amount in the discharge nozzle, it is possible to suppress variation in the discharge amount between the discharge nozzles in the discharge head.

  Application Example 20 In the discharge method according to the application example, it is preferable that the temperature adjustment terminal is disposed for each discharge nozzle, and the temperature of the discharge head is adjusted for each discharge nozzle in the temperature adjustment step.

  According to this discharge method, the temperature can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle via the temperature adjustment terminal provided for each discharge nozzle. Thereby, the discharge amount can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle.

  Application Example 21 In the discharge method according to the application example, the temperature adjustment terminal is disposed for each nozzle group including the first plurality of discharge nozzles, and the temperature adjustment process includes the temperature adjustment terminal for each nozzle group. It is preferable to adjust the temperature of the ejection head.

  According to this discharge method, the temperature can be adjusted for each nozzle group via the temperature adjustment terminal provided for each nozzle group. Thereby, the discharge amount from a discharge nozzle can be adjusted for every nozzle group.

  [Application Example 22] In the discharge method according to the application example, a heat source or a cooling source for adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal is individually provided for each temperature adjustment terminal, and the heat source or the cooling source is used. It is preferable to individually adjust the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal.

  According to this discharge method, the temperature can be adjusted for each temperature adjustment terminal by the heat source or the cooling source provided individually for each temperature adjustment terminal. Thereby, the discharge amount can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle or nozzle group to which the temperature adjustment terminal corresponds.

  [Application Example 23] In the discharge method according to the application example described above, a plurality of the temperature adjustment terminals are connected to a heat source or a cooling source that adjusts the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal, and each of the heat sources or the cooling sources Adjusting the temperature of one end connected to the heat source or the cooling source in each temperature adjustment terminal of the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals, and the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals connected to the same heat source or the cooling source. The amount of heat conduction per unit time in each of the temperature adjustment terminals is different from each other, so that the discharge nozzles communicating with the flow path corresponding to the outer wall to which the temperature adjustment terminals are connected, Alternatively, it is preferable to adjust the relative temperature between the nozzle groups.

  According to this discharge method, by adjusting one heat source or cooling source, the temperatures of the portions connected to the heat source or cooling source in the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals can be adjusted. Because the amount of heat conduction per unit time in each temperature adjustment terminal is different from each other, even if the temperature of the part connected to the heat source or cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal is the same, the temperature adjustment terminal is in contact The temperatures of the discharge head portions can be made different from each other.

  [Application Example 24] In the discharge method according to the application example, the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge at each of the temperature adjustment terminals of the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals connected to the same heat source or the cooling source. A cross-sectional area in a direction substantially orthogonal to a heat energy transmission direction between the head and the head may be different from each other in at least a part of a heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. preferable.

  According to this discharge method, the cross-sectional areas of the temperature adjustment terminals in the direction substantially orthogonal to the heat energy transfer direction from the heat source or the cooling source to the discharge head are different from each other at least in a part of the heat energy transfer path. Since the amount of heat that can be transferred through the cross section per unit time depends on the cross sectional area, the amount of heat conduction per unit time at the temperature adjustment terminal can be made different from each other.

  [Application Example 25] In the discharge method according to the application example described above, the thermal conductivity per unit length and unit time of the discharge nozzle in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzle in the temperature adjustment terminal is determined in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzle. The thermal conductivity per unit time transmitted to the portion of the outer wall corresponding to each of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle group to which the temperature adjustment terminal corresponds is mutually different for each portion. It is preferable to make them different.

  According to this discharge method, the amount of heat conduction per unit time in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles at the temperature adjustment terminal is not uniform. For this reason, the amount of heat conduction per unit time between the part connected to the heat source or the cooling source and the part connected to the discharge head in the temperature adjustment terminal differs for each part of the discharge head in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. ing. Thereby, the temperature of the portion connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal is substantially uniform, but the temperature of the portion of the discharge head that is in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal is made different in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. be able to.

  Application Example 26 In the discharge method according to the application example, the temperature adjustment terminal is substantially orthogonal to the heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source for adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal and the discharge head. The cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminal per unit length in the direction of arrangement of the discharge nozzles in the direction is at least part of the heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. The amount of heat conduction per unit time transmitted to the portion of the outer wall corresponding to each of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle group corresponding to the temperature adjustment terminal by making the stepwise or continuous difference in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles Are preferably different for each part.

  According to this discharge method, the cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminals per unit length in the discharge nozzle arrangement direction is not uniform in the discharge nozzle arrangement direction. Since the amount of heat that can be transmitted through the cross section per unit time depends on the cross sectional area, the amount of heat conduction per unit time at the temperature adjustment terminal can be made non-uniform in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. Thereby, the temperature of the portion connected to the heat source or the cooling source in the temperature adjustment terminal is substantially uniform, but the temperature of the portion of the discharge head that is in contact with the temperature adjustment terminal is made different in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. be able to.

  Application Example 27 In the discharge method according to the application example, the temperature adjustment terminal is a heat source or a cooling source, and in the temperature adjustment step, the temperature of the heat source or the cooling source is adjusted, It is preferable to adjust the temperature of the ejection head.

  According to this discharge method, the temperature of the portion of the discharge head can be directly adjusted by a heat source or a cooling source.

  [Application Example 28] In the discharge method according to the application example, the discharge method according to the application example further includes an information acquisition step of acquiring information on a temperature characteristic of a discharge amount of each of the plurality of discharge nozzles, and in the temperature adjustment step, It is preferable to adjust the temperature for each portion of the ejection head in accordance with the information on the temperature characteristic of the ejection amount obtained in the information obtaining step.

  According to this discharge method, it is possible to acquire information on the temperature characteristics of the discharge amount at the discharge nozzle in the information acquisition step and perform the temperature adjustment step based on the information. Thereby, the temperature of each part of the discharge head can be adjusted to a temperature at which the discharge nozzle of the part can discharge an appropriate discharge amount based on the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount of the discharge nozzle of the part.

  [Application Example 29] The ejection method according to the application example further includes a temperature measurement step of measuring the temperature of the ejection head, and the temperature adjustment step acquires the measurement result in the temperature measurement step and the information acquisition step. It is preferable to adjust the temperature of each part of the ejection head based on the temperature characteristics of the ejection amount.

  According to this ejection method, the temperature of each part of the ejection head is adjusted based on the temperature of the ejection head measured in the temperature measurement step. Since the temperature of the ejection head is known, the temperature of each part of the ejection head can be efficiently adjusted to an appropriate temperature at which an appropriate ejection amount can be realized at the ejection nozzle of the part.

  Application Example 30 In the discharge method according to the application example, the temperature adjustment step is measured in a discharge weight measurement step of measuring discharge weight discharged from the discharge head per unit time and in the discharge weight measurement step. And a temperature calculation step of calculating the temperature of each part of the discharge head from the discharge weight.

  According to this ejection method, instead of directly measuring the temperature of each part of the ejection head, the temperature of each part of the ejection head can be obtained by measuring the ejection weight.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a head unit, a discharge device, and a discharge method will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment, a color element film (filter film) or the like constituting a color filter is formed on a substrate having a color filter constituting a liquid crystal display device by using an ink jet type droplet discharge apparatus which is an example of an ejection apparatus. This process will be described as an example. In the drawings referred to in the following description, the vertical and horizontal scales of members or portions may be shown differently from actual ones for convenience of illustration.

(First embodiment)
The liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to the present embodiment is incorporated in a liquid crystal device production line, and uses an ink jet type liquid droplet ejection head into which a functional liquid including a resin is introduced, and the functional liquid is disposed on a drawing target. By doing so, a color element film of a color filter or the like is formed.

<Droplet ejection method>
First, a droplet discharge method used for forming a functional film such as a filter film will be described. The droplet discharge method has an advantage that the use of the material is less wasteful and a desired amount of the material can be accurately disposed at a desired position. Examples of the discharge technique of the droplet discharge method include a charge control method, a pressure vibration method, an electromechanical conversion method, an electrothermal conversion method, and an electrostatic suction method.
Among them, the electromechanical conversion method uses the property that a piezoelectric element (piezoelectric element) deforms in response to a pulsed electric signal, and a flexible substance is placed in a space where material is stored by deformation of the piezoelectric element. The pressure is applied through this, and the material is pushed out from this space and discharged from the discharge nozzle. The piezo method does not directly apply heat to the liquid material, so it does not affect the composition of the material, and the droplet size can be easily adjusted by adjusting the drive voltage. Have. In this embodiment, since the composition of the material is not affected, the degree of freedom in selecting the liquid material is high, and since the size of the droplet can be easily adjusted, the controllability of the droplet is good. The above piezo method is used.

<Droplet ejection device>
Next, the overall configuration of the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the droplet discharge device.

  As shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, the droplet discharge device 1 includes a discharge unit 2 having a droplet discharge head 17 (see FIG. 3), a work unit 3, and a liquid supply unit 60 (see FIG. 9). And an inspection unit 4, a maintenance unit 5, and a discharge device controller 6 (see FIG. 9).

  The discharge unit 2 includes twelve droplet discharge heads 17 that discharge a functional liquid corresponding to a liquid as droplets. The droplet discharge head 17 is moved in the Y-axis direction and held at the moved position. A Y-axis table 12 is provided. The work unit 3 includes a work mounting table 21 on which a work W that is a discharge target of liquid droplets discharged from the liquid droplet discharge head 17 is mounted. The liquid supply unit 60 includes a storage tank (not shown) that stores the functional liquid, and supplies the functional liquid to the droplet discharge head 17. The inspection unit 4 includes a discharge inspection unit 18 and a weight measurement unit 19 for inspecting a discharge state from the droplet discharge head 17, and the weight measurement unit 19 is provided with a flushing unit 14. The maintenance unit 5 includes a suction unit 15 and a wiping unit 16 that maintain the droplet discharge head 17.

  The discharge device control unit 6 comprehensively controls these units and the like. For the weight measurement process, drawing process, discharge inspection process, and maintenance process performed using the weight measurement unit 19, the discharge unit 2, the discharge inspection unit 18, the maintenance unit 5, etc., the discharge device control unit 6 performs each unit. It is carried out by controlling the above.

  The droplet discharge device 1 includes an X-axis support base 1A supported on a stone surface plate, and each unit is disposed on the X-axis support base 1A. The X-axis table 11 extends in the X-axis direction, which is the main scanning direction, and is disposed on the X-axis support base 1A, and moves the work table 21 in the X-axis direction (main scanning direction). .

The Y-axis table 12 of the discharge unit 2 is disposed on a pair of Y-axis support bases 7 and 7 spanned across the X-axis table 11 via a plurality of support columns 7A. Extending in the Y-axis direction. The discharge unit 2 includes a carriage unit 51 having 12 droplet discharge heads 17. The carriage unit 51 is suspended from the bridge plate 52. The bridge plate 52 is supported by the Y-axis table 12 via a Y-axis slider (not shown) so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis table 12 moves the bridge plate 52 (carriage unit 51) in the Y-axis direction (sub-scanning direction).
In synchronism with the driving of the X-axis table 11 and the Y-axis table 12, the droplet discharge head 17 of the discharge unit 2 is driven to discharge, thereby discharging functional liquid droplets onto the workpiece mounting table 21. An arbitrary drawing pattern is drawn on the placed work W.

  The discharge inspection unit 18 includes an inspection drawing unit 161 and an imaging unit 162. The inspection drawing unit 161 is fixed to the X-axis second slider 23 and is configured to move integrally with the weight measuring unit 19 and the flushing unit 14 that are also fixed to the X-axis second slider 23. The imaging unit 162 includes two inspection cameras 163 and a camera moving mechanism 164 that slidably supports the inspection camera 163 in the Y-axis direction.

  The suction unit 15 and the wiping unit 16 included in the maintenance unit 5 are disposed on the gantry 8 disposed at a position where the carriage unit 51 can be moved by the Y-axis table 12 while being detached from the X-axis table 11. Yes. The suction unit 15 has a divided suction unit 141, sucks the droplet discharge head 17, and forcibly discharges the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle 78 (see FIG. 3) of the droplet discharge head 17. The wiping unit 16 has a wiping sheet 16a sprayed with a cleaning liquid, and wipes (performs wiping) the nozzle forming surface 76a (see FIG. 3) of the droplet discharge head 17 after suction. In this way, the suction unit 15 and the wiping unit 16 perform maintenance work for maintaining or recovering the function of the droplet discharge head 17 of the discharge unit 2.

  The X-axis table 11 includes an X-axis first slider 22, an X-axis second slider 23, a pair of left and right X-axis linear motors 26 and 26, and a pair of X-axis common support bases 24 and 24. .

  A workpiece mounting table 21 is attached to the X-axis first slider 22. The X-axis first slider 22 is supported by an X-axis common support base 24 extending in the X-axis direction so as to be slidable in the X-axis direction. An inspection drawing unit 161, a weight measurement unit 19, and a flushing unit 14 are attached to the X-axis second slider 23. The X-axis second slider 23 is supported by an X-axis common support base 24 extending in the X-axis direction so as to be slidable in the X-axis direction. The X-axis linear motor 26 is arranged in parallel with the X-axis common support base 24, and moves the X-axis first slider 22 or the X-axis second slider 23 along the X-axis common support base 24. The placing table 21 (work W placed on the workpiece placing table 21) or the weight measuring unit 19 is moved in the X-axis direction. The X-axis first slider 22 and the X-axis second slider 23 can be individually driven by an X-axis linear motor 26. The X-axis direction corresponds to the main scanning direction, and the Y-axis direction corresponds to the sub-scanning direction.

  The work mounting table 21 includes a suction table 31 for sucking and setting the work W, 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. is doing. The θ table 32 has a θ drive motor 532 and is driven by the θ drive motor 532.

  The position of the workpiece mounting table 21 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is a feeding / unloading material position for feeding and unloading the workpiece W, and when an unprocessed workpiece W is introduced (feeding) into the suction table 31 Or, when the processed workpiece W is collected (material removal), the suction table 31 is moved to this position. The workpiece W is carried in and out (replaced) with respect to the suction table 31 by a robot arm (not shown) at the supply / discharge material position. The alignment of the unprocessed workpiece W supplied to the suction table 31 is performed at the supply / discharge material position using the θ table 32.

  The image recognition unit 80 has two alignment cameras 81 and a camera moving mechanism 82. The camera moving mechanism 82 is disposed on the X-axis support base 1 </ b> A so as to extend in the Y-axis direction and straddle the X-axis table 11. The alignment camera 81 is supported by a camera moving mechanism 82 via a camera holder (not shown) so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction. The alignment camera 81 supported by the camera moving mechanism 82 faces the X-axis table 11 from above, and images each reference mark (alignment mark) of the work W placed on the work placing table 21 on the X-axis table 11. Can be recognized. The two alignment cameras 81 are independently moved in the Y-axis direction by a camera movement motor (not shown).

  Each alignment camera 81 cooperates with the movement of the work table 21 in the X-axis direction, and moves in the Y-axis direction by the camera moving mechanism 82 while the alignment marks of the various works W supplied by the robot arm described above. To recognize the position of various workpieces W. Based on the imaging result of the alignment camera 81, θ correction (alignment) of the workpiece W by the θ table 32 is performed.

  The Y-axis table 12 includes a pair of Y-axis sliders (not shown) and a pair of Y-axis linear motors (not shown). The pair of Y-axis linear motors are respectively installed on the pair of Y-axis support bases 7 and 7 and extend in the Y-axis direction. The pair of Y-axis sliders are slidably supported one by one on each of the pair of Y-axis support bases 7 and 7. The pair of Y-axis sliders, each composed of one Y-axis slider supported on each of the pair of Y-axis support bases 7, 7, has both bridge plates 52 to which the carriage unit 51 constituting the discharge unit 2 is fixed. I support it. The bridge plate 52 to which the carriage unit 51 constituting the discharge unit 2 is fixed is installed on the pair of Y-axis support bases 7 and 7 via a Y-axis slider that supports the bridge plate 52 with both ends.

  When the pair of Y-axis linear motors are driven (synchronously), each Y-axis slider translates simultaneously in the Y-axis direction using the pair of Y-axis support bases 7 and 7 as a guide. As a result, the bridge plate 52 moves in the Y-axis direction, and the carriage unit 51 suspended from the bridge plate 52 moves in the Y-axis direction.

  The carriage unit 51 includes 12 droplet discharge heads 17 and a carriage unit 53 (see FIG. 6) that supports the 12 droplet discharge heads 17 divided into two groups of six. 6). The head unit 54 is supported so as to be movable up and down in the Z-axis direction via a head lifting mechanism (not shown).

<Droplet ejection head>
Next, the droplet discharge head 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the droplet discharge head. 3A is an external perspective view of the droplet discharge head as viewed from the nozzle plate side, and FIG. 3B is a perspective cross-sectional view showing the structure around the pressure chamber of the droplet discharge head. FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the discharge nozzle portion of the droplet discharge head. The droplet discharge head 17 corresponds to the discharge head.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the droplet discharge head 17 is a so-called double-unit, and includes a liquid introduction part 71 having two connection needles 72 and 72 and a side of the liquid introduction part 71. A continuous head substrate 73, a pump unit 75 connected to the liquid introduction unit 71, and a nozzle plate 76 connected to the pump unit 75 are provided. A pipe connection member is connected to the connection needle 72 of the liquid introduction part 71, a liquid supply tube is connected via the pipe connection member, and the liquid supply unit 60 (see FIG. 9) connected to the liquid supply tube. Functional fluid is supplied. A pair of head connectors 77 and 77 are mounted on the head substrate 73, and a flexible flat cable (FFC cable) is connected via the head connector 77. The pump unit 75 and the nozzle plate 76 constitute a square head main body 74.

  A flange portion 79 is formed in a rectangular flange shape on the base side of the pump portion 75, that is, the base side of the head main body 74 so as to receive the liquid introduction portion 71 and the head substrate 73. The flange portion 79 is formed with a pair of screw holes (female screws) 79a for small screws for fixing the droplet discharge head 17 to the sub head holding member 103 (see FIG. 4). The droplet discharge head 17 is fixed to the sub head holding member 103 by a head set screw 107 (see FIG. 4) that passes through the sub head holding member 103 and is screwed into the screw hole 79a.

  On the nozzle forming surface 76a of the nozzle plate 76, two nozzle rows 78A are formed which are formed on the nozzle plate 76 and include discharge nozzles 78 for discharging droplets. The two nozzle rows 78A are arranged in parallel to each other, and each nozzle row 78A is configured by 180 (schematically illustrated) discharge nozzles 78 arranged at an equal pitch. That is, two nozzle rows 78A are arranged on the nozzle forming surface 76a of the head body 74 with the center line therebetween.

  In a state where the droplet discharge head 17 is attached to the droplet discharge device 1, the nozzle row 78A extends in the Y-axis direction. The discharge nozzles 78 constituting the two nozzle rows 78A are displaced from each other by a half nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction. One nozzle pitch is 140 μm, for example. At the same position in the X-axis direction, droplets discharged from the discharge nozzles 78 constituting each nozzle row 78A land on a straight line at equal intervals in the Y-axis direction by design. When the nozzle pitch of the discharge nozzles 78 is 140 μm, the center-to-center distance of the landing positions is 70 μm by design.

As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, in the droplet discharge head 17, the pressure chamber plate 151 constituting the pump unit 75 is laminated on the nozzle plate 76, and the vibration plate 152 is disposed on the pressure chamber plate 151. Are stacked.
The pressure chamber plate 151 is formed with a liquid pool 155 that is always filled with the functional liquid supplied from the liquid introducing portion 71 via the liquid supply hole 153 of the vibration plate 152. The liquid pool 155 is a space surrounded by the diaphragm 152, the nozzle plate 76, and the wall of the pressure chamber plate 151. The pressure chamber plate 151 is formed with a pressure chamber 158 divided by a plurality of head partition walls 157. A space surrounded by the diaphragm 152, the nozzle plate 76, and the two head partition walls 157 is a pressure chamber 158.

  The pressure chambers 158 are provided corresponding to the discharge nozzles 78, and the number of pressure chambers 158 and the number of discharge nozzles 78 are the same. The functional fluid is supplied from the liquid pool 155 to the pressure chamber 158 via the supply port 156 located between the two head partition walls 157. A set of the head partition wall 157, the pressure chamber 158, the discharge nozzle 78, and the supply port 156 is arranged in a line along the liquid pool 155, and the discharge nozzles 78 arranged in a line form a nozzle line 78A. . Although not shown in FIG. 3B, the discharge nozzles 78 arranged in one row form another nozzle row 78A in a substantially symmetrical position with respect to the liquid pool 155 with respect to the nozzle row 78A including the discharge nozzle 78 shown in the figure. The corresponding head partition 157, pressure chamber 158, and supply port 156 are arranged in a line. The pressure chamber plate 151 and the vibration plate 152 or the pump unit 75 including the pressure chamber plate 151 and the vibration plate 152 corresponds to the plate holding unit.

One end of the piezoelectric element 159 is fixed to the portion of the diaphragm 152 that constitutes the pressure chamber 158. The other end of the piezoelectric element 159 is fixed to a base (not shown) that supports the entire droplet discharge head 17 via a fixing plate (not shown).
The piezoelectric element 159 has an active portion in which an electrode layer and a piezoelectric material are stacked. By applying a driving voltage to the electrode layer, the active portion is arranged in the longitudinal direction (the diaphragm 152 in FIG. 3B or 3C). Shrink in the thickness direction). By contracting the active portion, the diaphragm 152 to which one end of the piezoelectric element 159 is fixed receives a force that is pulled to the side opposite to the pressure chamber 158. When the diaphragm 152 is pulled to the opposite side to the pressure chamber 158, the diaphragm 152 is bent to the opposite side of the pressure chamber 158. Thereby, since the volume of the pressure chamber 158 increases, the functional liquid is supplied from the liquid pool 155 to the pressure chamber 158 through the supply port 156. Next, when the driving voltage applied to the electrode layer is released, the active portion returns to the original length, and the piezoelectric element 159 presses the diaphragm 152. When the diaphragm 152 is pressed, it returns to the pressure chamber 158 side. As a result, the volume of the pressure chamber 158 suddenly returns to the original, that is, the increased volume is reduced, so that pressure is applied to the functional liquid filled in the pressure chamber 158 and communicates with the pressure chamber 158. The functional liquid is discharged as droplets from the discharge nozzle 78 formed in this manner. The liquid pool 155, the supply port 156, the pressure chamber 158, and the like through which the functional liquid flows correspond to the functional liquid flow path.

  The discharge device control unit 6 controls the discharge of the functional liquid to each of the plurality of discharge nozzles 78 by controlling the voltage applied to the piezoelectric element 159, that is, by controlling the drive signal. More specifically, the volume of droplets ejected from the ejection nozzle 78, the number of droplets ejected per unit time, and the like can be changed. This makes it possible to change the distance between the droplets that have landed on the substrate, the amount of the functional liquid to land on a certain area on the substrate, and the like. For example, by selectively using a discharge nozzle 78 that discharges droplets from among a plurality of discharge nozzles 78 arranged in the nozzle row 78A, the range of the length of the nozzle row 78A in the extending direction of the nozzle row 78A. In this case, a plurality of droplets can be discharged simultaneously at the pitch interval of the discharge nozzles 78. In a direction substantially orthogonal to the extending direction of the nozzle row 78A, the substrate and the discharge nozzle 78 are moved relative to each other, and the discharge nozzle 78 is located at an arbitrary position on the substrate where the discharge nozzle 78 can face in the relative movement direction. It is possible to arrange liquid droplets discharged from the liquid crystal. In addition, the volume of the droplet discharged from each of the discharge nozzles 78 is variable between 1 pl and 300 pl (picoliter), for example.

<Attachment of droplet discharge head and cooling unit>
Next, the attachment structure of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 and the attachment structure of the cooling unit 110 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a view showing a structure for attaching the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit to the carriage plate. 4A is a plan view of the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate as seen from the nozzle plate side, and FIG. 4B is shown by AA in FIG. 4A. FIG. 4C is a side view of the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate, and FIG. 4D is a side view of the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate. FIG. 4E is a plan view of the terminal board of the cooling unit.

4A, 4B, and 4C, the droplet discharge head 17 is attached to the carriage plate 53 via the main head holding member 102 and the sub head holding member 103. . The main head holding member 102 and the sub head holding member 103 are used to position the droplet discharge head 17 with respect to the carriage plate 53 with high accuracy and to be easily attached to and detached from the carriage plate 53.
A head opening 53a is formed in the carriage plate 53, and the main head holding member 102 is fixed to the carriage plate 53 so as to substantially cover the head opening 53a. The main head holding member 102 is fixed to the carriage plate 53 by three holding member screws 108 that pass through holes formed in the main head holding member 102 and screw into screw holes formed in the carriage plate 53. Yes. Hereinafter, the side on which the main head holding member 102 is set is referred to as “back side”, and the opposite side is referred to as “front side”.

  A flange opening 102a is formed in the main head holding member 102, and the sub head holding member 103 is fixed to the back side of the main head holding member 102 so as to straddle the flange opening 102a at both ends in the long side direction. Has been. The sub head holding member 103 is inserted into the main head holding member 102 by two holding member screws 108 that pass through holes formed in the sub head holding member 103 and are screwed into screw holes formed in the main head holding member 102. It is fixed to.

  The sub head holding member 103 is formed in a substantially rectangular flat plate shape made of stainless steel or the like. The sub head holding member 103 is formed with a square head main body opening 103 d through which the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 is inserted. As described above, the sub head holding member 103 is set on the back side of the main head holding member 102 so as to straddle the flange opening 102a. On the other hand, the droplet discharge head 17 inserts the head main body 74 into the head main body opening 103 d so that the head main body 74 protrudes to the back side of the sub head holding member 103, so that the front side of the main head holding member 102 It is set from. The droplet discharge head 17 is attached to the sub head holding member 103 by two head set screws 107 that pass through holes formed in the sub head holding member 103 and screw into screw holes 79 a formed in the flange portion 79. It is fixed.

  Around the head main body opening 103d of the sub head holding member 103, there are two through holes corresponding to the screw holes 79a, and the first adjustment hole 103a and the second adjustment hole 103b on the center line of the head main body opening 103d. Is formed. The first adjustment hole 103a and the second adjustment hole 103b are portions where the position correction adjustment pins are engaged.

Further, on the center line of the head main body opening 103d, two adhesive holes 103c are formed in substantially symmetrical positions with respect to the head main body opening 103d on the opposite side of the first main adjustment hole 103a and the second adjustment hole 103b to the head main body opening 103d. Has been. Each adhesive hole 103 c is a long hole extending in the transverse direction of the sub head holding member 103. An adhesive is injected into the adhesive hole 103c, and the sub head holding member 103 is bonded and fixed to the main head holding member 102 with the adhesive (not shown).
Two cooling units 110 are attached to one droplet discharge head 17. The cooling unit 110 is fixed along an outer surface extending in the extending direction of the nozzle row 78 </ b> A of the droplet discharge head 17 in the head main body 74.

As shown in FIG. 4D, the cooling unit 110 includes a cooling element 111 and a terminal board 112. The terminal substrate 112 is formed by laminating a base film 116, a heat transfer pattern 114, and a cover film 117 with the heat transfer pattern 114 interposed therebetween. The base film 116 and the cover film 117 are made of a highly flexible material such as polyimide. The heat transfer pattern 114 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity such as copper, and is formed in a foil-like or thin-plate shape that can be bent and deformed.
The exposed portion of the heat transfer pattern 114 that is not covered with the cover film 117 is bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. . A cooling element 111 is fixed to the heat transfer pattern 114 exposed at the opening 116a shown in FIG. The cooling element 111 is electrically connected to the discharge device control unit 6 (see FIG. 9) by a flexible flat cable (not shown), and the temperature is controlled by the discharge device control unit 6.
The heat transfer pattern 114 fixed to the cooling element 111 is cooled by the cooling element 111, and the outer wall of the head main body 74 to which the heat transfer pattern 114 is bonded is cooled. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the pressure chamber 158 is formed inside the outer wall, and the portion facing the pressure chamber 158 and the pressure chamber 158 of the nozzle plate 76 by cooling the outer wall. In addition, the functional liquid in the pressure chamber 158 is cooled.

As shown in FIG. 4E, the heat transfer pattern 114 of the terminal substrate 112 includes a heat transfer base 114a, and a terminal portion 114b and a terminal portion 114c protruding from the heat transfer base 114a in a comb shape. ing. The thickness of the heat transfer pattern 114 is substantially uniform.
One side of the heat transfer base 114 a is covered with the cover film 117, and the other side of the heat transfer base 114 a is covered with the base film 116, and the opening 116 a portion of the base film 116 is exposed. The cooling element 111 is connected to the exposed portion of the heat transfer base 114a so as to be able to conduct heat.

  The terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c protrude from the heat transfer base portion 114a in a comb shape, and one side is covered with the base film 116 together with the heat transfer base portion 114a. On the other side, the cover film 117 covers from the heat transfer base portion 114a to the base portion of the terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c to the heat transfer base portion 114a, and most of the terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c are exposed. Yes. The exposed portions of the terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c are connected to the outer wall of the head main body 74 so as to conduct heat.

The terminal part 114c includes a terminal heat transfer part 114v on the base side to the heat transfer base part 114a and a terminal end part 114w on the front end side. The terminal end 114w is connected to a position on the outer wall of the head main body 74 that substantially faces the pressure chamber 158 described above so as to be able to conduct heat. The width of the terminal end portion 114w is set to be the same as the width of the terminal portion 114b, and the range in which the terminal portion 114c faces the pressure chamber 158 and the like is the same as that of the terminal portion 114b. The width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v is smaller than the terminal end portion 114w, and the amount of heat transferred per unit time from the heat transfer base portion 114a to the terminal end portion 114w is unit time from the heat transfer base portion 114a to the distal end side of the terminal portion 114b. The amount of heat transmitted to the hit is less. By changing the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v, it is possible to form the terminal portions 114c having different amounts of heat transferred per unit time from the heat transfer base portion 114a to the terminal end portion 114w. Although only one type is shown in FIG. 4, the heat transfer pattern 114 has a plurality of types of terminal portions 114 c having different widths of the terminal heat transfer portions 114 v.
The cooling element 111 corresponds to a cooling source, and the terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c of the heat transfer pattern 114 correspond to a temperature adjustment terminal.

<Discharge nozzle temperature, discharge weight, and terminal>
Next, the relationship between the discharge nozzle temperature and the discharge weight, the distribution of the discharge weight for each discharge nozzle 78 in the droplet discharge head 17, and the shape of the terminal heat transfer section 114v will be described with reference to FIG.
The temperature of the functional liquid in the diaphragm 152, the nozzle plate 76, the head partition 157, and the pressure chamber 158 constituting the discharge nozzle 78 and the pressure chamber 158 is collectively referred to as the discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzle 78. . Although the temperature of each of these portions is not strictly uniform, the temperature of the measurable portion is used as the discharge nozzle temperature. Since it is very difficult to directly measure the temperature of the discharge nozzle 78, the pressure chamber 158, and the functional liquid in the pressure chamber 158, the discharge nozzle temperature here is, for example, the vibration plate 152 of the piezoelectric element 159, The temperature at the end of contact is used.
The discharge weight is the weight of the functional liquid discharged per unit time. In this embodiment, the discharge weight is the weight of one droplet of the functional liquid discharged from the discharge nozzle 78. The discharge amount is the amount of functional liquid discharged per unit time, and in this embodiment, is the amount (volume) of one droplet of functional liquid discharged from the discharge nozzle 78. When the amount of one droplet of the functional liquid discharged from the discharge nozzle 78 is expressed by weight, it is expressed as discharge weight, and when expressed by volume, it is expressed as discharge amount.
FIG. 5A is a diagram showing the relationship between the temperature of the ejection nozzle and the ejection weight, FIG. 5B is a diagram showing the ejection weight for each ejection nozzle in the nozzle row, and FIG. FIG. 5D is a diagram showing the distribution of the width of the terminal heat transfer portion in the terminal substrate, and FIG. 5D is a diagram showing the temperature for each discharge nozzle in the nozzle row when the cooling unit is used.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the discharge weight increases as the temperature of the discharge nozzle increases.
As shown in FIG. 5B, the discharge weights of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 from # 1 to # 180 constituting the nozzle row 78A are different from each other. There is a tendency that the discharge weight of the discharge nozzle 78 near both ends of the nozzle row 78A is larger than the discharge weight of the discharge nozzle 78 at a position near the center of the nozzle row 78A. In this case, the temperatures of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 are substantially uniform.

As shown in FIG. 5C, one terminal portion 114b or terminal portion 114c is provided for the five discharge nozzles 78 in the nozzle row 78A, and the terminal substrate 112 is provided with the nozzle row 78A. Corresponding to 180 discharge nozzles 78, 36 terminal portions 114b or terminal portions 114c are formed. In the present embodiment, the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v in the terminal portion 114c is equal to the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v in the terminal portion 114c close to both ends of the terminal substrate 112 at a position close to the center of the terminal substrate 112. It is larger than the width of the terminal heat transfer part 114v in the terminal part 114c. The terminal portion 114b corresponds to the terminal portion 114c in which the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v is the same as that of the terminal end portion 114w, and the terminal portions 114b are formed on both ends of the terminal substrate 112. Such a distribution of the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v in the terminal substrate 112 is a distribution corresponding to the distribution of the discharge weights of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 constituting the nozzle row 78A shown in FIG. is there.
In the configuration in which one terminal portion 114b or terminal portion 114c is provided for five discharge nozzles 78, five discharge nozzles 78 corresponding to one terminal portion 114b or terminal portion 114c are included in the nozzle group. Equivalent to.

  When the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v is wider, the amount of heat passing through the unit time is larger, so the portion where the terminal portions 114c located near both ends of the terminal substrate 112 are in contact is closer to the center. It is easier to be cooled by the cooling element 111 than the portion where the terminal portion 114c at the position is in contact. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 5D, the temperature of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 constituting the nozzle row 78A is the temperature of the discharge nozzle 78 closer to both ends of the nozzle row 78A. It is lower than the temperature of the discharge nozzle 78 at a position close to the center of 78A. As shown in FIG. 5A, since the discharge weight decreases when the temperature of the discharge nozzle decreases, the discharge weight of the discharge nozzle 78 near both ends of the nozzle row 78A shown in FIG. However, the tendency to be larger than the discharge weight of the discharge nozzles 78 near the center of the nozzle row 78A is alleviated, and the discharge weights of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 constituting the nozzle row 78A become substantially uniform.

<Head unit>
Next, a schematic configuration of the head unit 54 included in the discharge unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the head unit. The X axis and the Y axis shown in FIG. 6 coincide with the X axis and the Y axis shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the head unit 54 is attached to the droplet discharge device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the head unit 54 includes a carriage plate 53, twelve droplet discharge heads 17 mounted on the carriage plate 53, and twelve cooling units 110. As described above, the droplet discharge head 17 is fixed to the carriage plate 53, and the head main body 74 is loosely fitted in a hole (not shown) formed in the carriage plate 53, so that the nozzle plate 76 (head main body 74). ) Protrudes from the surface of the carriage plate 53. Two cooling units 110 are provided for each droplet discharge head 17, one on each side of the droplet discharge head 17. FIG. 6 is a view as seen from the nozzle plate 76 (nozzle forming surface 76a) side. The twelve droplet discharge heads 17 are divided in the Y-axis direction to form two groups of head sets 55 each having six droplet discharge heads 17. The nozzle row 78A of each droplet discharge head 17 extends in the Y-axis direction.

  The six droplet discharge heads 17 included in one head set 55 are already in the Y-axis direction with respect to the discharge nozzles 78 at the ends of one of the droplet discharge heads 17 adjacent to each other. The discharge nozzle 78 at the end of one droplet discharge head 17 is positioned so as to be shifted by a half nozzle pitch. If the position of all the discharge nozzles 78 in the X-axis direction is the same in the six droplet discharge heads 17 included in the head set 55, the discharge nozzles 78 are arranged at equal intervals of a half nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction. . In other words, at the same position in the X-axis direction, the droplets ejected from the ejection nozzles 78 constituting each nozzle row 78A included in each droplet ejection head 17 are arranged at equal intervals in the Y-axis direction by design. To land on a straight line. Since the droplet discharge heads 17 overlap each other in the Y-axis direction, the head set 55 is configured in a stepwise manner in the X-axis direction.

<Discharge inspection unit>
Next, the discharge inspection unit 18 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing the overall configuration of the inspection drawing unit. As described with reference to FIG. 1, the discharge inspection unit 18 includes an inspection drawing unit 161 and an imaging unit 162. The inspection drawing unit 161 is configured to move integrally with the weight measurement unit 19 and the flushing unit 14.

  The discharge inspection unit 18 is for inspecting whether or not the functional liquid is properly discharged from the all liquid droplet discharge heads 17 (discharge nozzles 78) constituting the discharge unit 2. The inspection drawing unit 161 has an all-droplet ejection head provided in the head unit 54 when the head unit 54 constituting the ejection unit 2 is in a position that can face the workpiece W placed on the workpiece platform 21 in the Y-axis direction. It is configured to receive the functional liquid that has been inspected and discharged from all 17 discharge nozzles 78. The imaging unit 162 images and inspects an inspection pattern (landing dot pattern) drawn on the inspection drawing unit 161. As described above, the inspection drawing unit 161 is mounted on the X-axis table 11. The imaging unit 162 is directly below the Y-axis table 12 and is fixed to the Y-axis support base 7 and fixedly provided at the inspection position. The two inspection cameras 163 and 163 are independently moved in the Y-axis direction. Is possible.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the inspection drawing unit 161 includes an inspection sheet 171, an inspection stage 172, a sheet feeding unit 173, a sheet feeding support member 174, and a unit base 175. The inspection sheet 171 is a belt-like sheet for landing the functional liquid droplets inspected and discharged from the droplet discharge head 17 and extends in the Y-axis direction. The inspection stage 172 extends in the Y-axis direction, and an inspection sheet 171 is placed on the inspection stage 172. The sheet feeding means 173 moves the inspection sheet 171 so as to feed the non-inspected part to the inspection stage 172 and to send out the inspected part of the inspection sheet 171 from the inspection stage 172. The sheet feeding unit 173 is supported by the sheet feeding support member 174, and the sheet feeding support member 174 is supported by the unit base 175.

  As described with reference to FIG. 2, the imaging unit 162 includes the two inspection cameras 163 and 163 and the camera moving mechanism 164 that supports the inspection camera 163 slidably in the Y-axis direction. . The inspection camera 163 recognizes the landing dots that have been inspected and discharged on the inspection sheet 171, and faces the X-axis table 11 from above, via a camera moving mechanism 164 fixed to the Y-axis support base 7. It is supported by a Y-axis support base 7 so as to be slidable in the Y-axis direction.

  The inspection drawing unit 161 can move to a position where the inspection sheet 171 faces the inspection camera 163 of the image pickup unit 162 when the suction table 31 moves to the supply / discharge material position. The imaging results obtained by the two inspection cameras 163 are transmitted to the ejection device control unit 6 for image recognition. Based on this image recognition, each ejection nozzle 78 of each droplet ejection head 17 normally ejects the functional liquid. It is determined whether or not there is no nozzle clogging. Further, it is determined whether or not the relative position of the landed droplet is a specified position.

<Weight measuring unit>
Next, the weight measuring unit 19 and the flushing unit 14 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a diagram of a weight measurement block including a weight measurement unit portion and a flushing unit portion. FIG. 8A is a plan view of the weight measurement block, and FIG. 8B is a side view of the weight measurement block. As described above, the discharge inspection block provided integrally with the weight measuring unit 19, the flushing unit 14, and the inspection drawing unit 161 is configured to move integrally.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the weight measurement block 91 </ b> A includes two weight measurement devices 91 and a support frame 92. The support frame 92 supports two weight measuring devices 91, the support frame 92 is fixed to the X-axis second slider 23, and the weight measurement block 91 </ b> A is mounted on the X-axis second slider 23. One weight measuring device 91 corresponds to one head set 55, and two weight measuring devices 91 in parallel correspond to one head unit 54.

  The weight measuring device 91 includes a regular flushing box 93, a liquid receiving container 94, an electronic balance 99 (hidden under the liquid receiving container 94 in FIG. 8A), a weight measuring flushing box 95, and a function. It has a liquid absorbent material 97, a presser plate 98, and a case 96 that accommodates these. The regular flushing box 93, the weight measurement flushing box 95, the functional liquid absorbent 97, and the presser plate 98 are included in the flushing unit 14. The liquid receiving container 94 and the electronic balance 99 are included in the weight measuring unit 19.

  The liquid receiving container 94 is a functional liquid discharged from the droplet discharge head 17 so as to face only one arbitrary droplet discharge head 17 among the six droplet discharge heads 17 constituting the head set 55. It is the size that can receive. The liquid receiving container 94 is placed on the electronic balance 99, and the electronic balance 99 measures the weight of the functional liquid landed in the liquid receiving container 94 by measuring the weight of the liquid receiving container 94. The weight of the liquid receiving container 94 increased by receiving the functional liquid discharged from the droplet discharge head 17 is the weight of the functional liquid discharged from the liquid droplet discharge head 17 and landed in the liquid receiving container 94.

  In the weight measurement flushing box 95, a weight measurement flushing box 95a and a weight measurement flushing box 95b are arranged with a liquid receiving container 94 interposed therebetween in the X-axis direction. When one of the six droplet discharge heads 17 constituting the head set 55 is in a position facing the liquid receiving container 94, the other five droplet discharges constituting the head set 55 are discharged. The head 17 is located at a position facing either the weight measurement flushing box 95a or the weight measurement flushing box 95b. When the droplet discharge head 17 subject to weight measurement faces the liquid receiving container 94 and performs discharge for weight measurement, the droplet discharge head 17 other than the measurement subject may be the flushing box 95a during weight measurement or the flushing during weight measurement. Faced with the box 95b, waste discharge is performed.

  Since the weight measurement is performed on the six droplet discharge heads 17 of the head set 55 by one weight measuring device 91, when one droplet discharge head 17 performs the weight measurement discharge, the other five The liquid droplet ejection head 17 waits for the end of the weight measurement ejection, but the liquid droplet ejection head 17 in the “waiting” state can be discarded and ejected. For this reason, it is possible to suppress drying of the discharge nozzle 78 during the “waiting” state, and to perform weight measurement discharge well after the “waiting” state, thereby obtaining an appropriate measurement result.

The regular flushing box 93 receives the functional liquid discarded and discharged during the regular flushing.
In the weight measurement flushing box 95 and the regular flushing box 93, a functional liquid absorbent 97 is laid in a state where both long sides thereof are pressed by a pair of presser plates 98. The liquid receiving container 94 is formed in a size that can receive the functional liquid for each droplet discharge head 17 in units of nozzle rows.

  The electronic balance 99 measures the weight of the functional liquid discharged to the liquid receiving container 94 and outputs the measurement result to the discharge device control unit 6. The ejection device controller 6 controls the driving power (voltage value) applied to the droplet ejection head 17 from the head driver 2d (see FIG. 9) based on the measurement result input from the electronic balance 99.

<Electrical configuration of droplet discharge device>
Next, an electrical configuration for driving the droplet discharge device 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an electrical configuration block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device. The droplet discharge device 1 is controlled by inputting data or inputting a control command such as operation start or stop via the control device 65. The control device 65 includes a host computer 66 that performs arithmetic processing, and an input / output device 68 that inputs and outputs information that is input to and output from the droplet discharge device 1, and is connected via an interface (I / F) 67. It is connected to the discharge device controller 6. The input / output device 68 includes a keyboard capable of inputting information, an external input / output device that inputs / outputs information via a recording medium, a recording unit that stores information input via the external input / output device, a monitor device, and the like It is.

  The ejection device controller 6 of the droplet ejection device 1 includes an interface (I / F) 47, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 44, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 45, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 46, And a hard disk 48. The head driver 2d, the drive mechanism driver 40d, the liquid supply driver 60d, the maintenance driver 5d, the inspection driver 4d, the cooling element driver 111d, and the detection unit interface (I / F) 43 are provided. ing. These are electrically connected to each other via a data bus 49.

  The interface 47 exchanges data with the control device 65, and the CPU 44 performs various arithmetic processes based on commands from the control device 65, and outputs control signals that control the operation of each part of the droplet discharge device 1. . The RAM 46 temporarily stores control commands and print data received from the control device 65 in accordance with instructions from the CPU 44. The ROM 45 stores routines for the CPU 44 to perform various arithmetic processes. The hard disk 48 stores control commands and print data received from the control device 65, and stores routines for the CPU 44 to perform various arithmetic processes.

  A droplet discharge head 17 constituting the discharge unit 2 is connected to the head driver 2d. The head driver 2 d drives the droplet discharge head 17 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44 and discharges droplets of the functional liquid. The drive mechanism driver 40d is connected to a head moving motor of the Y-axis table 12, an X-axis linear motor 26 of the X-axis table 11, and a drive mechanism 41 including various drive mechanisms having various drive sources. The various drive mechanisms are the above-described camera movement motor for moving the alignment camera 81, the θ drive motor 532 of the θ table 32, and the like. The drive mechanism driver 40d drives the motor or the like in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44 to move the droplet discharge head 17 and the workpiece W relative to each other so that an arbitrary position of the workpiece W and the droplet discharge head 17 are opposed to each other. In cooperation with the head driver 2d, the droplet of the functional liquid is landed at an arbitrary position on the workpiece W.

  A suction unit 15, a wiping unit 16, and a flushing unit 14 of the maintenance unit 5 are connected to the maintenance driver 5d. The maintenance driver 5 d drives the suction unit 15, the wiping unit 16, or the flushing unit 14 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44 to perform maintenance work on the droplet discharge head 17.

  A discharge inspection unit 18 of the inspection unit 4 and a weight measurement unit 19 are connected to the inspection driver 4d. The inspection driver 4d drives the discharge inspection unit 18 or the weight measurement unit 19 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44, and inspects the discharge state of the droplet discharge head 17 such as discharge weight, discharge availability, and landing position accuracy. To implement.

  The cooling element 111 of the cooling unit 110 is connected to the cooling element driver 111d. The cooling element driver 111 d drives the cooling element 111 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44 to cool the droplet discharge head 17.

  A liquid supply unit 60 is connected to the liquid supply driver 60d. The liquid supply driver 60 d drives the liquid supply unit 60 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 44 and supplies the functional liquid to the droplet discharge head 17. A detection unit 42 including various sensors is connected to the detection unit interface 43. Detection information detected by each sensor of the detection unit 42 is transmitted to the CPU 44 via the detection unit interface 43.

<Discharge of functional liquid>
Next, a discharge control method in the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the electrical configuration of the droplet discharge head and the signal flow.

As described above, the droplet discharge device 1 includes the CPU 44 that outputs a control signal that controls the operation of each unit of the droplet discharge device 1 and the head driver 17d that performs electrical drive control of the droplet discharge head 17. I have.
As shown in FIG. 10, the head driver 17d is electrically connected to each droplet discharge head 17 via an FFC cable. Further, the droplet discharge head 17 corresponds to the piezoelectric element 159 provided for each discharge nozzle 78 (see FIG. 3), a shift register (SL) 85, a latch circuit (LAT) 86, and a level shifter (LS). 87 and a switch (SW) 88.

  The ejection control in the droplet ejection apparatus 1 is performed as follows. First, the CPU 44 transmits to the head driver 17d dot pattern data obtained by converting the functional liquid arrangement pattern on the drawing object such as the workpiece W into data. Then, the head driver 17d decodes the dot pattern data to generate nozzle data that is ON / OFF (discharge / non-discharge) information for each discharge nozzle 78. The nozzle data is converted into a serial signal (SI) and transmitted to each shift register 85 in synchronization with the clock signal (CK).

  The nozzle data transmitted to the shift register 85 is latched at the timing when the latch signal (LAT) is input to the latch circuit 86, and further converted into a gate signal for the switch 88 by the level shifter 87. That is, when the nozzle data is “ON”, the switch 88 is opened and the drive signal (COM) is supplied to the piezoelectric element 159. When the nozzle data is “OFF”, the switch 88 is closed and the piezoelectric element 159 is closed. The drive signal (COM) is not supplied. Then, the functional liquid is ejected as droplets from the ejection nozzle 78 corresponding to “ON”, and the ejected functional liquid is disposed on the drawing object such as the workpiece W.

<Configuration of LCD panel>
Next, the liquid crystal display panel will be described. The liquid crystal display panel 200 is an example of a liquid crystal device, and is a liquid crystal display panel including a color filter for a liquid crystal display panel that is an example of a color filter.
First, the configuration of the liquid crystal display panel 200 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the liquid crystal display panel. A liquid crystal display panel 200 shown in FIG. 11 is an active matrix type liquid crystal device using a thin film transistor (TFT (Thin Film Transistor) element) as a driving element, and is a transmissive liquid crystal device using a backlight (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 11, the liquid crystal display panel 200 includes an element substrate 210 having a TFT element 215, a counter substrate 220 having a counter electrode 207, and an element substrate 210 and a counter substrate 220 bonded by a sealing material (not shown). And a liquid crystal 230 (see FIG. 16K) filled in the gap. A polarizing plate 231 and a polarizing plate 232 are disposed on the element substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 which are bonded to each other on the opposite sides of the surfaces bonded to each other.

  The element substrate 210 has a TFT element 215, a pixel electrode 217, a scanning line 212, and a signal line 214 formed on the surface of the glass substrate 211 facing the counter substrate 220. An insulating layer 216 is formed so as to fill in between these elements and the conductive film, and the scanning line 212 and the signal line 214 are formed so as to cross each other with the insulating layer 216 interposed therebetween. The scanning line 212 and the signal line 214 are insulated from each other with the insulating layer 216 interposed therebetween. A pixel electrode 217 is formed in a region surrounded by the scanning lines 212 and the signal lines 214. The pixel electrode 217 has a shape in which some corners of the rectangular shape are lacking in the rectangular shape. A TFT element 215 including a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor portion, and a gate electrode is incorporated in a portion surrounded by the cutout portion of the pixel electrode 217, the scanning line 212, and the signal line 214. By applying a signal to the scanning line 212 and the signal line 214, the TFT element 215 is turned on / off to control energization to the pixel electrode 217.

  An alignment film 218 is provided on the surface of the element substrate 210 in contact with the liquid crystal 230 so as to cover the entire region where the scanning lines 212, the signal lines 214, and the pixel electrodes 217 are formed.

  In the counter substrate 220, a color filter (hereinafter referred to as “CF”) layer 208 is formed on the surface of the glass substrate 201 facing the element substrate 210. The CF layer 208 includes a partition wall 204, a red filter film 205R, a green filter film 205G, and a blue filter film 205B. On the glass substrate 201, the black matrix 202 which comprises the partition 204 in a grid | lattice form is formed, and the bank 203 is formed on the black matrix 202. FIG. A square filter film region 225 is formed by a partition wall 204 composed of the black matrix 202 and the bank 203. In the filter film region 225, a red filter film 205R, a green filter film 205G, or a blue filter film 205B is formed. The red filter film 205 </ b> R, the green filter film 205 </ b> G, and the blue filter film 205 </ b> B are formed at positions and shapes that face the pixel electrodes 217, respectively.

  A planarizing film 206 is provided on the CF layer 208 (on the element substrate 210 side). On the planarizing film 206, a counter electrode 207 made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO is provided. By providing the planarization film 206, the surface on which the counter electrode 207 is formed is made substantially flat. The counter electrode 207 is a continuous film having a size covering the entire region where the pixel electrode 217 is formed. The counter electrode 207 is connected to a wiring formed on the element substrate 210 through a conduction portion (not shown).

  An alignment film 228 that covers the entire surface of the pixel electrode 217 is provided on the surface of the counter substrate 220 in contact with the liquid crystal 230. The liquid crystal 230 is a sealing material that bonds the alignment film 228 of the counter substrate 220, the alignment film 218 of the element substrate 210, and the counter substrate 220 and the element substrate 210 in a state where the element substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded to each other. The space surrounded by is filled.

  Although the liquid crystal display panel 200 has a transmissive configuration, a reflective layer or a transflective liquid crystal device may be provided by providing a reflective layer or a transflective layer.

<Mother counter substrate>
Next, the mother counter substrate 201A will be described with reference to FIG. The counter substrate 220 is formed by forming the above-described CF layer 208 on the mother counter substrate 201A to be divided into the glass substrate 201, and then dividing the mother counter substrate 201A into individual counter substrates 220 (glass substrates 201). It is formed. FIG. 12A is a plan view schematically illustrating the planar structure of the counter substrate, and FIG. 12B is a plan view schematically illustrating the planar structure of the mother counter substrate. In the present embodiment, a substrate in which the CF layer 208 or the like is formed on the mother counter substrate 201A or a state in the middle of forming the CF layer 208 or the like is also referred to as a mother counter substrate 201A.

  The counter substrate 220 is formed using a glass substrate 201 made of transparent quartz glass having a thickness of approximately 1.0 mm. As shown in FIG. 12A, the counter substrate 220 has a CF layer 208 formed in a portion excluding a slight frame region around the glass substrate 201. The CF layer 208 is formed by forming a plurality of filter film regions 225 in the form of a dot pattern, in the present embodiment in the form of a dot matrix, on the surface of a rectangular glass substrate 201, and forming the filter film 205 in the filter film region 225. Is formed by. An alignment mark (not shown) is formed at a position that does not cover the region where the CF layer 208 is formed on the glass substrate 201. The alignment mark is used as a reference mark for positioning when the glass substrate 201 is attached to a manufacturing apparatus such as the droplet discharge device 1 in order to execute various processes for forming the CF layer 208 and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 12B, the mother counter substrate 201A has the CF layer 208 of the counter substrate 220 formed on each of the portions to be divided into glass substrates 201.

<Color filter>
Next, the arrangement of the filter layers 205 (the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, and the blue filter film 205B) in the CF layer 208 and the CF layer 208 formed on the counter substrate 220 will be described with reference to FIG. To do. FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view showing an example of the arrangement of the filter films of the three-color filter.

  As shown in FIG. 13, the filter film 205 includes a plurality of, for example, rectangular filter film regions that are partitioned by partition walls 204 formed in a lattice pattern by a resin material that does not transmit light and are arranged in a dot matrix. It is formed by filling 225 with a color material. For example, a film-like filter that fills the filter film region 225 by filling the filter film region 225 with a functional liquid containing a color material constituting the filter film 205 and evaporating the solvent of the functional liquid to dry the functional liquid. A film 205 is formed.

  As an arrangement of the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, and the blue filter film 205B in the three-color filter, for example, a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, a delta arrangement, and the like are known. As shown in FIG. 13A, the stripe arrangement is an arrangement in which all the columns of the matrix are the same color red filter film 205R, green filter film 205G, or blue filter film 205B. As shown in FIG. 13B, the mosaic arrangement is an arrangement in which the color is shifted by one filter film 205 for each row in the horizontal direction. In the case of a three-color filter, the mosaic arrangement is arbitrarily arranged on a vertical and horizontal straight line. The three filter films 205 are arranged in three colors. In the delta arrangement, as shown in FIG. 13C, the arrangement of the filter films 205 is different, and in the case of a three-color filter, any three adjacent filter films 205 have different colors.

  In the three-color filter shown in FIGS. 13A, 13B, or 13C, each of the filter films 205 is any one of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). It is made of colored material. A set of filter films 205 each including a red filter film 205R, a green filter film 205G, and a blue filter film 205B that are formed adjacent to each other. A pixel filter 254 "). By selectively allowing light to pass through any one of or a combination of the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, and the blue filter film 205B in one picture element filter 254, the amount of light that passes therethrough is further increased. Full color display is performed by adjusting.

<Formation of liquid crystal display panel>
Next, a process for forming the liquid crystal display panel 200 will be described with reference to FIGS. 14, 15, and 16. FIG. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a process of forming a liquid crystal display panel. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of forming a filter film in the process of forming a liquid crystal display panel, and FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view showing a process of forming an alignment film in the process of forming a liquid crystal display panel. is there. The liquid crystal display panel 200 is formed by bonding together an element substrate 210 and a counter substrate 220 that are separately formed.

The counter substrate 220 is formed by executing steps S1 to S5 shown in FIG.
In step S <b> 1 of FIG. 14, a partition wall for partitioning the filter film region 225 is formed on the glass substrate 201. The partition walls are formed by forming the black matrix 202 in a lattice shape, forming the bank 203 thereon, and disposing the partition walls 204 composed of the black matrix 202 and the bank 203 in the lattice shape. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 15A, a square filter film region 225 partitioned by the partition walls 204 is formed on the surface of the glass substrate 201.

  Next, in step S2 of FIG. 14, the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, and the blue filter film 205B are formed, and the CF layer 208 is formed. The red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, and the blue filter film 205B fill the filter film region 225 with the functional liquid containing the material constituting the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, or the blue filter film 205B, respectively. Then, the functional liquid is formed by drying.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 15B, the red discharge head 17R is opposed to the surface of the glass substrate 201 on which the filter film region 225 partitioned by the partition wall 204 is formed. The red functional liquid 252R is disposed in the filter film region 225R by discharging the red functional liquid 252R from the discharge nozzle 78 of the red discharge head 17R toward the filter film region 225R where the red filter film 205R is to be formed. . At the same time, the red functional liquid 252R is disposed in all the filter film regions 225R formed on the glass substrate 201 by moving the red discharge head 17R relative to the glass substrate 201 as indicated by the arrow a. By drying the arranged red functional liquid 252R, a red filter film 205R is formed in the filter film region 225R as shown in FIG. 15C.

  Similarly, in the filter film region 225G or the filter film region 225B where the green filter film 205G or the blue filter film 205B shown in FIG. 15B is to be formed, as shown in FIG. 252G or blue functional liquid 252B is disposed. By drying the green functional liquid 252G and the blue functional liquid 252B, a green filter film 205G or a blue filter film 205B is formed in the filter film region 225G and the filter film region 225B as shown in FIG. Together with the red filter film 205R, a three-color filter composed of a red filter film 205R, a green filter film 205G, and a blue filter film 205B is formed.

Next, in step S3 of FIG. 14, a planarization layer is formed. As shown in FIG. 15E, a planarizing film 206 as a planarizing layer is formed on the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, the blue filter film 205B, and the partition wall 204 that constitute the CF layer 208. . The planarizing film 206 is formed in a region that covers at least the entire surface of the CF layer 208. By providing the planarization film 206, the surface on which the counter electrode 207 is formed is made substantially flat.
Next, in step S4 of FIG. 14, the counter electrode 207 is formed. As shown in FIG. 15F, a thin film is formed using a transparent conductive material in a region covering the entire surface of the region where the filter film 205 of the CF layer 208 is formed on the planarizing film 206. . This thin film is the counter electrode 207 described above.

Next, in step S <b> 5 of FIG. 14, an alignment film 228 of the counter substrate 220 is formed on the counter electrode 207. The alignment film 228 is formed in a region covering at least the entire surface of the CF layer 208.
As shown in FIG. 16G, the liquid droplet ejection head 17 is opposed to the surface of the glass substrate 201 on which the counter electrode 207 is formed, and the alignment film liquid is directed from the liquid droplet ejection head 17 toward the surface of the glass substrate 201. 242 is discharged. At the same time, by moving the droplet discharge head 17 relative to the glass substrate 201 as indicated by the arrow a, the alignment film liquid 242 is disposed on the entire surface of the glass substrate 201 where the alignment film 228 is to be formed. The alignment film liquid 242 disposed is dried to form an alignment film 228 as shown in FIG. Step S5 is performed, and the counter substrate 220 is formed.

The element substrate 210 is formed by executing steps S6 to S8 shown in FIG.
In step S6 of FIG. 14, by forming a conductive layer, an insulating layer, or a semiconductor layer on the glass substrate 211, an element such as the TFT element 215, a scanning line 212, a signal line 214, an insulating layer 216, or the like is formed. Form. The scanning line 212 and the signal line 214 are formed at a position facing the partition wall 204, that is, a position around the pixel, in a state where the element substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded to each other. The TFT element 215 is formed so as to be positioned at the end of the pixel, and at least one TFT element 215 is formed in one pixel.

  Next, in step S7, the pixel electrode 217 is formed. The pixel electrode 217 is formed at a position facing the red filter film 205R, the green filter film 205G, or the blue filter film 205B in a state where the element substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded to each other. The pixel electrode 217 is electrically connected to the drain electrode of the TFT element 215.

Next, in step S8, an alignment film 218 of the element substrate 210 is formed on the pixel electrode 217 or the like. The alignment film 218 is formed in a region covering the entire surface of at least all the pixel electrodes 217.
As shown in FIG. 16I, the liquid droplet ejection head 17 is opposed to the surface of the glass substrate 211 on which the pixel electrode 217 is formed, and the alignment film liquid is directed from the liquid droplet ejection head 17 toward the surface of the glass substrate 211. 242 is discharged. At the same time, the liquid droplet ejection head 17 is moved relative to the glass substrate 211 as indicated by an arrow a, thereby arranging the alignment film liquid 242 on the entire surface of the glass substrate 211 where the alignment film 218 is to be formed. The alignment film liquid 242 disposed is dried to form the alignment film 218 as shown in FIG. Step S8 is performed, and the element substrate 210 is formed.

  Next, in step S9 of FIG. 14, the counter substrate 220 and the element substrate 210 thus formed are bonded together, and the liquid crystal 230 is filled therebetween as shown in FIG. Further, the liquid crystal display panel 200 is assembled by attaching the polarizing plate 231 and the polarizing plate 232 or the like. When a plurality of counter substrates 220 and element substrates 210 are formed on a mother substrate composed of a plurality of glass substrates 201 and glass substrates 211, the mother substrate on which the plurality of liquid crystal display panels 200 are formed is used as the individual liquid crystal display panel 200. Divide into Alternatively, step S9 is performed after the step of dividing the mother counter substrate 201A and the mother element substrate into the counter substrate 220 and the element substrate 210 is performed. Step S9 is performed and the process of forming the liquid crystal display panel 200 is completed.

<Filter film area and discharge nozzle>
Next, the positional relationship between the filter film region 225 and the discharge nozzle 78 used for disposing the functional liquid in the filter film region 225 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram showing the positional relationship between the filter film region and the discharge nozzle. The X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 17 coincide with the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction shown in FIG.

As described above, in the droplet discharge device 1, the nozzle row 78A has the discharge nozzles 78 arranged in the Y-axis direction. In FIG. 17, the space between the two nozzle rows 78A is displayed in a contracted manner. The dimension in the Y-axis direction of the filter film region 225 shown in FIG. 17 is 400 μm, and the width of the partition wall 204 defining the filter film region 225 is 15 μm. As described above, the nozzle pitch in the droplet discharge head 17 of this embodiment is 70 μm.
While moving the droplet discharge head 17 relative to the filter film region 225 in the direction of the arrow a, the functional liquid is discharged from the discharge nozzles 78 that can face the filter film regions 225 to function in the filter film region 225. The liquid 252 is landed. One filter film region 225 shown in FIG. 17 can form a filter film 205 having an appropriate thickness by landing, for example, 25 droplets discharged from the discharge nozzle 78. Five discharge nozzles 78 can be opposed to one filter film region 225 shown in FIG. Each of the five discharge nozzles 78 that can face the filter film region 225 discharges five droplets of the functional liquid 252 at a time, thereby causing 25 droplets of the functional liquid 252 to land on one filter film region 225. .
In this case, the amount of the functional liquid 252 disposed in the filter film region 225 is determined by the weight of the droplet. When there is a variation in the discharge weight as described with reference to FIG. 5B, the thickness of the formed filter film 205 may be different for each filter film region 225.
The head unit 54 of the present embodiment suppresses variation in the discharge amount for each discharge nozzle 78 by adjusting the discharge amount of the discharge nozzle 78 for each nozzle group by adjusting the cooling temperature for each nozzle group. .

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The heat transfer pattern 114 of the cooling unit 110 including the cooling element 111 is bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 in which the pressure chamber 158 is formed using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. . Thereby, the cooling element 111 can suppress the temperature rise of the pressure chamber 158 inside the head body 74 and the functional liquid filled in the pressure chamber 158.

  (2) The terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c are bonded to the head body 74. Since the portion where the terminal portion 114b and the terminal portion 114c are in contact is mainly cooled, a part of the head main body 74 can be selectively cooled. Thereby, the individual pressure chambers 158 (discharge nozzles 78) and several pressure chambers 158 (discharge nozzles 78) can be selectively cooled.

  (3) The heat transfer amount per unit time of the terminal portion 114c varies depending on the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v. Since the amount of heat transfer per unit time can be changed for each terminal portion 114c, the degree of cooling by the cooling element 111 can be adjusted for each portion where the terminal portion 114c abuts. Thereby, the degree to which the individual pressure chambers 158 (discharge nozzles 78) and several pressure chambers 158 (discharge nozzles 78) are cooled is adjusted, and the discharge nozzles 78 affected by the temperature of the pressure chambers 158, etc. The discharge amount can be adjusted.

  (4) The terminal substrate 112 is formed by laminating the base film 116, the heat transfer pattern 114, and the cover film 117 with the heat transfer pattern 114 interposed therebetween. Since the heat transfer pattern 114 is supported by the base film 116 or the cover film 117, it is not always necessary that the heat transfer pattern 114 itself has sufficient strength. Thereby, a terminal portion such as the terminal portion 114b or the terminal portion 114c can be formed in a fine shape corresponding to an individual discharge nozzle.

  (5) The terminal substrate 112 is formed by laminating the base film 116, the heat transfer pattern 114, and the cover film 117 with the heat transfer pattern 114 interposed therebetween. The planar shape of the heat transfer pattern 114 can be formed by etching, for example, a metal foil formed on the base film 116 or the cover film 117. Thereby, even if it is a complicated shape and a fine shape, it can form accurately. Since the width and the like of the terminal heat transfer portion 114v can be formed with high accuracy, the amount of heat transfer per unit time can be made with high accuracy by forming the cross-sectional area of the terminal portion with high accuracy.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment of the head unit, the ejection device, and the ejection method will be described. Similar to the first embodiment, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to this embodiment is incorporated in a liquid crystal device production line, and a liquid droplet ejection head into which a functional liquid including a resin is introduced is used for a color filter. A color element film or the like is formed.
The droplet discharge device 301 (see FIG. 18) of this embodiment has the same basic configuration and function as the droplet discharge device 1 of the first embodiment. A configuration of the droplet discharge device 301 different from the droplet discharge device 1 and a drawing process for forming the filter film 205 using the droplet discharge device 301 will be described.

<Droplet ejection device>
Initially, the whole structure of the droplet discharge apparatus 301 is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 18 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the droplet discharge device.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the droplet discharge device 301 includes a discharge unit 302 having a droplet discharge head 17 (see FIG. 3), a work unit 3, a liquid supply unit (not shown), an inspection unit 304, , A maintenance unit 305, and a discharge device controller 6 (see FIG. 9).

The discharge unit 302 includes ten carriage units 351 including the head unit 354. The inspection unit 304 and the maintenance unit 305 have a configuration corresponding to ten head units 354. The droplet discharge device 301 has basically the same configuration as the droplet discharge device 1 except that the configuration corresponds to ten head units 354.
The head unit 354 includes a cooling unit 310 that is different from the cooling unit 110.
The inspection unit 304 includes ten weight measurement units 19 so that the discharge weight measurement of the discharge from the ten head units 354 can be performed at a time. Ten flushing units 14 are also provided. The maintenance unit 305 includes a suction unit 315 having ten divided suction units 141.

<Cooling unit and installation of cooling unit>
Next, the configuration of the cooling unit 310, the mounting structure of the droplet discharge head 17 in the head unit 354 to the carriage plate 53, and the mounting structure of the cooling unit 310 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a configuration of the cooling unit, and a structure for attaching the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit to the carriage plate. FIG. 19A is a plan view of the terminal board of the cooling unit, FIG. 19B is a side view of the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a droplet discharge head and a cooling unit attached to a carriage plate as viewed from the nozzle plate side.

  As shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, the cooling unit 310 includes a cooling element 311 and a terminal board 312. The terminal substrate 312 is formed by laminating a base film 316, a heat transfer pattern 314, and a cover film 317 with the heat transfer pattern 314 sandwiched therebetween. The base film 316 and the cover film 317 are formed of a highly flexible material such as polyimide. The heat transfer pattern 314 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, such as copper, and is formed into a shape that can be bent and deformed.

The exposed portion of the heat transfer pattern 314 that is not covered by the cover film 317 and is exposed is bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. . A cooling element 311 is bonded and fixed to the heat transfer pattern 314 exposed at the opening 316a in the base film 316 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. The terminal board 312 has a plurality of heat transfer patterns 314, and a cooling element 311 is fixed to each of the heat transfer patterns 314.
The cooling element 311 is electrically connected to the discharge device control unit 6 by a flexible flat cable (not shown), and the temperature is controlled by the discharge device control unit 6. The plurality of cooling elements 311 are independently controlled in temperature.
The cooling element 311 corresponds to a cooling source, and the heat transfer pattern 314 corresponds to a temperature adjustment terminal.

  The heat transfer pattern 314 to which the cooling element 311 is fixed is cooled by the cooling element 311, and the outer wall of the head main body 74 to which the heat transfer pattern 314 is bonded is cooled. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the pressure chamber 158 is formed inside the outer wall, and the portion facing the pressure chamber 158 and the pressure chamber 158 of the nozzle plate 76 by cooling the outer wall. In addition, the functional liquid in the pressure chamber 158 is cooled.

As shown in FIG. 19C, the mounting of the droplet discharge head 17 on the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 354 is performed on the carriage plate 53 of the droplet discharge head 17 in the head unit 54 described with reference to FIG. It is the same as the attachment to.
The attachment of the cooling unit 310 to the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 354 is the same as the attachment of the cooling unit 110 to the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 54 described with reference to FIG.

<Functional liquid arrangement>
Next, a process of discharging the functional liquid and disposing the functional liquid on the filter film region 225 of the CF layer 208 in the mother counter substrate 201A will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a process of arranging the functional liquid.

In step S21 of FIG. 20, the temperature characteristics of the respective discharge nozzles 78 in the droplet discharge head 17 are acquired.
More specifically, the relationship between the discharge nozzle temperature and the discharge weight as shown in FIG. 5A is obtained by measuring each discharge nozzle 78 in advance. The acquired data is input from the input / output device 68 of the control device 65 or the like and stored in the RAM 46 or the hard disk 48 of the ejection device control unit 6. By acquiring the temperature characteristics of each discharge nozzle 78, the distribution of the discharge weight of each discharge nozzle 78 in the droplet discharge head 17 described with reference to FIG. 5B is also acquired. Step S21 corresponds to an information acquisition process. The input / output device 68 of the control device 65 for inputting data corresponds to the information acquisition unit.

  Next, in step S <b> 22, pre-discharge is performed from each discharge nozzle 78 of the droplet discharge head 17. The pre-ejection is for bringing the droplet ejection head 17 into a steady state during operation so that stable ejection can be performed. The state of the droplet discharge head 17 immediately after starting operation from the rest state is not necessarily a state in which stable discharge is performed. By driving the inactive droplet ejection head 17 to perform pre-ejection, the inactive droplet ejection head 17 is brought into a steady state during operation. By performing the pre-discharge, it is possible to cause the droplet discharge head 17 to perform the same stable discharge from the start of operation as in the normal operation. The pre-discharge may be performed by actually executing the discharge, or may be performed by applying a driving voltage to the piezoelectric element 159 to such an extent that the functional liquid is not actually discharged.

Next, in step S23, the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 of the droplet discharge head 17 that has been put into operation after pre-discharge is measured. As the discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzle 78, for example, the temperature of the connection portion of the piezoelectric element 159 with the diaphragm 152 is measured by providing a temperature measuring device. Or it can also measure using the piezoelectric element 159 as a temperature measuring element. The piezoelectric element 159 when the piezoelectric element 159 is used as a temperature measuring element corresponds to the temperature measuring unit.
As another measurement method, a method of measuring the discharge weight is possible. Near the end of the pre-discharge, the weight of the discharged functional liquid is measured using the weight measuring unit 19, and the measurement result is compared with the temperature characteristics of the respective discharge nozzles 78 to thereby determine the discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzles 78. Can be requested. The weight measurement unit 19 corresponds to the discharge weight measurement unit, and the CPU 44 that performs the calculation for obtaining the temperature corresponds to the temperature calculation unit. The weight measurement unit 19 and the CPU 44 correspond to a temperature measurement unit. Step S23 corresponds to a temperature measurement process.
In the discharge weight measurement for obtaining the discharge nozzle temperature, it is necessary that normal discharge without discharge failure is performed from the discharge nozzle 78. In order to confirm that normal discharge is being performed, it is preferable to perform a discharge inspection using the discharge inspection unit 18 prior to the discharge weight measurement.

  Next, in step S24, the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 is adjusted. From the temperature characteristics of the discharge weight of the discharge nozzle 78 acquired in step S21, an appropriate discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 is obtained. The discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 is adjusted so as to eliminate the difference in the discharge nozzle temperature acquired in step S23 with respect to the obtained appropriate discharge nozzle temperature. The discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzle 78 is implemented by driving the cooling element 311 connected to each of the heat transfer patterns 314 arranged at the position corresponding to each discharge nozzle 78.

  Next, in step S <b> 25, the functional liquid is discharged from the droplet discharge head 17 adjusted to an appropriate temperature at which the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 can realize an appropriate discharge weight toward the filter film region 225. .

Step S25 is implemented and the process of disposing the functional liquid is completed.
The step of acquiring the temperature characteristics of the discharge nozzle 78 in step S21 may be performed every time the functional liquid is discharged, or may be performed every time the droplet discharge head 17 is replaced, For example, it may be performed every time the production lot of the droplet discharge head 17 is different, or may be performed only when the type of the droplet discharge head changes.

According to 2nd embodiment, in addition to the effect acquired by 1st embodiment, the effect described below is acquired.
(1) The terminal board 312 has a plurality of heat transfer patterns 314, and a cooling element 311 is fixed to each of the heat transfer patterns 314. Thereby, the temperature can be adjusted independently for each heat transfer pattern 314.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment of the head unit, the ejection device, and the ejection method will be described. The droplet discharge device according to the present embodiment has substantially the same configuration as the droplet discharge device 1 or the droplet discharge device 301 described in the first embodiment and the second embodiment. A configuration example of a cooling unit different from the cooling unit 110 and the cooling unit 310 included in the droplet discharge device 1 or the droplet discharge device 301 will be described.

<Other cooling unit example 1>
Next, a cooling unit 410 different from the cooling unit 110 and the cooling unit 310 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the cooling unit and the mounting structure of the cooling unit. FIG. 21A is a plan view of the cooling unit, and FIG. 21B is a side view of the cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member.

As shown in FIG. 21A, the cooling unit 410 includes a support plate 415 and a plurality of cooling elements 411. The cooling element 411 has a cooling surface 411a that can adjust the temperature. The cooling element 411 is fixed to the support plate 415 so that the cooling surfaces 411a of the plurality of cooling elements 411 can come into contact with the same plane.
The cooling element 411 is electrically connected to the discharge device control unit 6 (see FIG. 9) by a flexible flat cable (not shown), and the temperature is controlled by the discharge device control unit 6. The plurality of cooling elements 411 are independently controlled in temperature.

As shown in FIG. 21B, in the cooling unit 410, the support plate 415 is fixed to the sub head holding member 103. By fixing the support plate 415 to the sub head holding member 103, the cooling unit 410 is similar to the cooling unit 110 described above, and the sub head holding member 103 and the main head holding member 102 (shown in FIG. 21B). And is attached to the carriage plate 53 (not shown in FIG. 21B). The cooling surface 411 a of the cooling element 411 faces the pump unit 75 of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17, and the heat transfer sheet 414 is sandwiched between the cooling surface 411 a and the pump unit 75. . The heat transfer sheet 414 is formed of a material having high thermal conductivity and high flexibility, and is in close contact with the cooling surface 411a and the side surface of the pump unit 75 while being pressed from both the cooling surface 411a and the pump unit 75. is doing.
The cooling element 411 can cool the outer wall of the head main body 74 that is in contact with the cooling surface 411 a via the heat transfer sheet 414. As described with reference to FIG. 3, the pressure chamber 158 is formed inside the outer wall, and the portion facing the pressure chamber 158 and the pressure chamber 158 of the nozzle plate 76 by cooling the outer wall. In addition, the functional liquid in the pressure chamber 158 is cooled.
The cooling element 411 corresponds to a cooling source.

  The attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 is the same as the attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 54 described with reference to FIG. As with the cooling unit 110 in the head unit 54, two cooling units 410 are provided for each droplet discharge head 17. The two cooling units 410 are fixed to both sides of the droplet discharge head 17 as shown in FIG.

<Other cooling unit example 2>
Next, a cooling unit 440 different from the cooling unit described above will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the cooling unit and the mounting structure of the cooling unit. 22A is a plan view of the cooling unit, and FIG. 22B is a side view showing the cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member.

  As shown in FIGS. 22A and 22B, the cooling unit 440 is a film substrate-like member having a base film 456, a heat transfer pattern 454, and a cover film 457. The cooling unit 440 has a heat transfer pattern 454 formed on the base film 456, and a cover film 457 is formed by being stacked with the center of the heat transfer pattern 454 sandwiched between the base film 456. The base film 456 and the cover film 457 are made of a highly flexible material such as polyimide. The heat transfer pattern 454 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, such as copper, and is formed in a shape that can be bent and deformed.

The heat transfer pattern 454 includes a heat transfer base 454a, and a terminal portion 454b and a terminal portion 454c protruding from the heat transfer base 454a in a comb shape. The thickness of the heat transfer pattern 454 is substantially uniform.
One side of the heat transfer base 454a is covered with the base film 456, and the other side is exposed. The exposed portion of the heat transfer base 454a is bonded to the sub head holding member 103 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity.

  The terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c protrude from the heat transfer base portion 454a in a comb shape. One side of the terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c is covered with the base film 456 together with the heat transfer base portion 454a. On the other side, the cover film 457 covers the vicinity of the base portion of the terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c to the heat transfer base portion 454a, and most of the terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c are exposed. The exposed portions of the terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c are bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity.

  The attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 is the same as the attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 54 described with reference to FIG. Similar to the cooling unit 110 in the head unit 54, two cooling units 440 are provided for each droplet discharge head 17. The two cooling units 440 are fixed to both sides of the droplet discharge head 17 as shown in FIG.

  The terminal portion 454c includes a terminal heat transfer portion 454v on the base side to the heat transfer base portion 454a and a terminal end portion 454w on the tip end side. The terminal end portion 454w is connected to a position substantially facing the pressure chamber 158 described above on the outer wall of the head main body 74 (pump portion 75) so as to be able to conduct heat. The width of the terminal end 454w is set to be the same as the width of the terminal 454b, and the range in which the terminal 454c faces the pressure chamber 158 and the like is the same as that of the terminal 454b. The width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v is smaller than the terminal end portion 454w, and the amount of heat transferred from the heat transfer base portion 454a to the terminal end portion 454w per unit time is the unit time from the heat transfer base portion 454a to the distal end side of the terminal portion 454b. The amount of heat transmitted to the hit is less. By changing the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v, it is possible to form the terminal portions 454c having different amounts of heat transferred per unit time from the heat transfer base portion 454a to the terminal end portion 454w. Although only one type is shown in FIG. 22A, the heat transfer pattern 454 has a plurality of types of terminal portions 454c having different widths of the terminal heat transfer portions 454v.

  When, for example, the discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzle 78 rises and the temperature of the head main body 74 rises, the thermal energy is transferred from the outer wall of the head main body 74 via the terminal portion 454b or the terminal portion 454c and the heat transfer base 454a. It is transmitted to the holding member 103, transmitted to the main head holding member 102, and further transmitted to the carriage plate 53. Compared to the head main body 74, the carriage plate 53 including the sub head holding member 103 and the main head holding member 102 has a large volume and a large heat capacity. Therefore, the temperature variation of the carriage plate 53 due to the transmitted thermal energy is minute. . Therefore, even when thermal energy capable of raising the temperature of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 is applied to the droplet discharge head 17, the thermal energy is released to the carriage plate 53 and the like, thereby causing the head main body. By keeping the temperature of 74 close to the temperature of the carriage plate 53, fluctuations in the temperature of the head main body 74 can be suppressed. The sub head holding member 103, the main head holding member 102, and the carriage plate 53 correspond to a member having a larger heat capacity than the ejection head and a head support member.

Similar to the heat transfer pattern 114 in the terminal substrate 112 described with reference to FIG. 5C, the heat transfer pattern 454 includes, for example, one terminal portion for the five discharge nozzles 78 in the nozzle row 78A. 454b or terminal portions 454c are provided, and 36 terminal portions 454b or terminal portions 454c are formed corresponding to the 180 discharge nozzles 78 in the nozzle row 78A. In the present embodiment, the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v in the terminal portion 454c is the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v in the terminal portion 454c close to both ends of the heat transfer pattern 454, and is close to the center of the heat transfer pattern 454. It is larger than the width of the terminal heat transfer part 454v in the terminal part 454c at the position. The terminal portion 454b corresponds to a terminal portion 454c in which the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v is the same as that of the terminal end portion 454w, and the terminal portions 454b are formed at both ends of the heat transfer pattern 454.
Such distribution of the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v in the heat transfer pattern 454 is the distribution of the discharge weight of each of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 constituting the nozzle row 78A described with reference to FIG. Corresponding distribution.
As the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 454v is wider, the amount of heat transferred per unit time from the terminal end portion 454w to the heat transfer base portion 454a increases, so the discharge nozzle 78 positioned toward the end of the nozzle row 78A is more central. It is possible to keep the temperature closer to the temperature of the carriage plate 53 than the discharge nozzle 78 located at the position.
The terminal portion 454b and the terminal portion 454c of the heat transfer pattern 454 correspond to a temperature adjustment terminal.

<Other cooling unit example 3>
Next, a cooling unit 460 different from the cooling unit described above will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the cooling unit and the mounting structure of the cooling unit. FIG. 23A is a plan view of the cooling unit, and FIG. 23B is a side view showing the cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member.

As shown in FIGS. 23A and 23B, the cooling unit 460 includes a heat radiating plate 471 and a terminal substrate 472.
The terminal substrate 472 is formed by laminating a base film 476, a heat transfer pattern 474, and a cover film 477 with the heat transfer pattern 474 interposed therebetween. The base film 476 and the cover film 477 are made of a highly flexible material such as polyimide. The heat transfer pattern 474 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity such as copper, for example, and is formed into a shape that can be bent and deformed.
The exposed portion of the heat transfer pattern 474 that is not covered by the cover film 477 is bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. . A heat radiating plate 471 is bonded and fixed to the heat transfer pattern 474 exposed at the opening 476a of the base film 476 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. The heat radiating plate 471 is made of a material having high thermal conductivity, and by fixing the heat radiating plate 471 to the heat transfer pattern 474, the surface area in contact with the atmosphere is increased.

The heat transfer pattern 474 includes a heat transfer base portion 474a, and terminal portions 474b and terminal portions 474c that protrude from the heat transfer base portion 474a in a comb shape. The thickness of the heat transfer pattern 474 is substantially uniform.
One side of the heat transfer base 474a is covered with the cover film 477, and the other side is exposed at the opening 476a of the base film 476. A heat radiating plate 471 is bonded to the exposed portion of the heat transfer base 474a so as to allow heat conduction.

  The terminal portion 474b and the terminal portion 474c protrude from the heat transfer base portion 474a in a comb shape, and one surface is covered with the base film 476 together with the heat transfer base portion 474a. On the other side, the cover film 477 covers from the heat transfer base 474a to the base of the terminal portion 474b and the terminal portion 474c to the heat transfer base 474a, and most of the terminal portion 474b and the terminal portion 474c are exposed. Yes. The exposed portions of the terminal portion 474b and the terminal portion 474c are bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 so as to allow heat conduction.

  The attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 is the same as the attachment of the droplet discharge head 17 to the carriage plate 53 in the head unit 54 described with reference to FIG. Similar to the cooling unit 110 in the head unit 54, two cooling units 460 are provided for each droplet discharge head 17. The two cooling units 460 are fixed to both sides of the droplet discharge head 17 as shown in FIG.

  The terminal portion 474c includes a terminal heat transfer portion 474v on the base side to the heat transfer base portion 474a and a terminal end portion 474w on the tip end side. The terminal end portion 474w is connected to a position of the outer wall of the head main body 74 that substantially faces the pressure chamber 158 described above so as to be capable of conducting heat. The width of the terminal end portion 474w is set to be the same as the width of the terminal portion 474b, and the range in which the terminal portion 474c faces the pressure chamber 158 and the like is the same as that of the terminal portion 474b. The width of the terminal heat transfer portion 474v is smaller than the terminal end portion 474w, and the amount of heat transferred from the heat transfer base portion 474a to the terminal end portion 474w per unit time is unit time from the heat transfer base portion 474a to the tip end side of the terminal portion 474b. The amount of heat transmitted to the hit is less. By changing the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 474v, it is possible to form the terminal portions 474c having different amounts of heat transferred per unit time from the heat transfer base portion 474a to the terminal end portion 474w. Although only one type is shown in FIG. 23A, the heat transfer pattern 474 has a plurality of types of terminal portions 474c having different terminal heat transfer portions 474v.

  When the discharge nozzle temperature of the discharge nozzle 78 rises, for example, and the temperature of the head main body 74 rises, heat is transferred from the outer wall of the head main body 74 through the terminal portion 474b or the terminal portion 474c and the heat transfer base 474a. It is transmitted to. Compared to the head main body 74, the heat radiating plate 471 has a larger area in contact with the atmosphere, and therefore, the transmitted heat is easily released into the atmosphere. Accordingly, fluctuations in the temperature of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 can be suppressed.

Similar to the heat transfer pattern 114 in the terminal substrate 112 described with reference to FIG. 5C, the heat transfer pattern 474 includes, for example, one terminal portion for the five discharge nozzles 78 in the nozzle row 78A. 474b or terminal portions 474c are provided, and 36 terminal portions 474b or terminal portions 474c are formed corresponding to the 180 discharge nozzles 78 in the nozzle row 78A. In the present embodiment, the width of the terminal heat transfer part 474v in the terminal part 474c is the width of the terminal heat transfer part 474v in the terminal part 474c close to both ends of the heat transfer pattern 474, and is close to the center of the heat transfer pattern 474. It is larger than the width of the terminal heat transfer part 474v in the terminal part 474c at the position. The terminal portion 474b corresponds to a terminal portion 474c in which the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 474v is the same as that of the terminal end portion 474w, and the terminal portions 474b are formed at both ends of the heat transfer pattern 474.
Such distribution of the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 474v in the heat transfer pattern 474 is the distribution of the discharge weight of each of the 180 discharge nozzles 78 constituting the nozzle row 78A described with reference to FIG. Corresponding distribution.
As the width of the terminal heat transfer portion 474v is wider, the amount of heat transferred from the terminal end portion 474w to the heat transfer base portion 474a per unit time increases, so the discharge nozzle 78 located toward the end of the nozzle row 78A is closer to the center side. It is easier to cool than the discharge nozzle 78 located in the position.
The terminal portion 474b and the terminal portion 474c correspond to a temperature adjustment terminal.

Hereinafter, effects of the third embodiment will be described. According to 3rd embodiment, in addition to the effect acquired by 1st embodiment or 2nd embodiment, the effect described below is acquired.
(1) The cooling element 411 of the cooling unit 410 is connected to the outer wall of the head body 74 so as to conduct heat. Thereby, the temperature of the part to which the cooling element 411 of the head main body 74 is connected can be adjusted.

  (2) Since each cooling element 411 can be controlled independently, each portion of the head main body 74, that is, the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78, or the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle group is set to each discharge nozzle 78 or It can be adjusted for each discharge nozzle group.

  (3) The cooling unit 440 connects the outer wall of the head main body 74 to the sub head holding member 103, the main head holding member 102, and the carriage plate 53 so as to be able to conduct heat. Since the carriage plate 53 including the sub head holding member 103 and the main head holding member 102 has a large volume and a large heat capacity, the temperature fluctuation of the carriage plate 53 due to the thermal energy transmitted from the head main body 74 is very small. The temperature rise of 74 can be suppressed.

  (4) The heat transfer pattern 454 of the cooling unit 440 includes a plurality of types of terminal portions 454c having different amounts of heat transferred per unit time because the widths of the terminal heat transfer portions 454v are different from each other. For example, by disposing the terminal portion 454c that has a larger amount of heat transmitted per unit time in the portion where the temperature rise should be further suppressed, each portion of the head main body 74, that is, the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 is changed to each discharge nozzle. Each 78 can be different.

  (5) The outer wall of the head body 74 is connected to the heat radiating plate 471 so as to be able to conduct heat by the terminal board 472 of the cooling unit 460. Since heat energy is easily released from the outer wall of the head main body 74 to the atmosphere from the heat radiating plate 471, the heat energy transmitted from the head main body 74 is released from the heat radiating plate 471, thereby increasing the temperature of the head main body 74. Can be suppressed.

  (6) The heat transfer pattern 474 of the cooling unit 460 includes a plurality of types of terminal portions 474c having different amounts of heat transferred per unit time because the widths of the terminal heat transfer portions 474v are different from each other. For example, by disposing the terminal portion 474c having a larger amount of heat transmitted per unit time in the portion where the temperature rise should be further suppressed, each portion of the head main body 74, that is, the discharge nozzle temperature of each discharge nozzle 78 is changed to each discharge nozzle. Each 78 can be different.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment was described referring an accompanying drawing, suitable embodiment is not restricted to the said embodiment. The embodiment can of course be modified in various ways without departing from the scope, and can also be implemented as follows.

  (Modification 1) In the above embodiment, the amount of heat per unit time conducted through the terminal part is adjusted by changing the width of the terminal heat transfer part 114v etc. in the terminal part 114c etc. It is not essential to change the width of the terminal as a method of adjusting the amount of heat. The amount of heat per unit time conducted through the terminal portion can be adjusted by changing the cross-sectional area of the terminal portion, such as by changing the thickness of the terminal portion.

  (Modification 2) In the embodiment described above, the terminal portion 114 c that is in contact with the head main body 74 (pump portion 75) of the droplet discharge head 17 has one terminal portion for the plurality of discharge nozzles 78. Although provided, it is not essential for one terminal portion to correspond to a plurality of discharge nozzles. The configuration may be such that one terminal portion is provided for one discharge nozzle.

  (Modification 3) In the above embodiment, the portion of the droplet discharge head 17 such as the heat transfer pattern 114 that is in contact with the head body 74 is a comb-like terminal such as the terminal portion 114b. It is not essential that the terminals that contact the ejection head are divided in the arrangement direction of the ejection nozzles. The terminal contacting the ejection head may be configured to be continuous in the arrangement direction of the ejection nozzles.

  A terminal substrate 512 having a continuous heat transfer pattern 514 in contact with the droplet discharge head 17 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 24 is a plan view showing the configuration of the terminal board. 24 differs from the terminal board 112 described with reference to FIG. 4 only in the shape of the heat transfer pattern 514. The terminal board 512 shown in FIG. The heat transfer pattern 514 includes a heat transfer base portion 514a and a terminal portion 514b. An adjustment hole 515a and an adjustment hole 515b are formed at a boundary portion between the heat transfer base 514a and the terminal portion 514b. By changing the widths of the adjustment hole 515a and the adjustment hole 515b, the width of the boundary portion between the heat transfer base portion 514a and the terminal portion 514b and the arrangement of the portion connecting the heat transfer base portion 514a and the terminal portion 514b can be adjusted. it can. Thereby, similarly to the terminal board 112 etc., the amount of heat transmitted per unit time can be made different in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle row.

  As another example in which the terminals in contact with the discharge heads are continuous in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles, a terminal substrate 542 in which the heat transfer pattern 554 in contact with the droplet discharge heads 17 is continuous is described with reference to FIG. explain. FIG. 25A is a side view showing the configuration of the terminal board, and FIG. 25B is a plan view showing the configuration of the terminal board. 25 differs from the terminal board 112 described with reference to FIG. 4 only in the shape of the heat transfer pattern 554. The terminal board 542 shown in FIG. The heat transfer pattern 554 has a heat transfer base portion 554a and a terminal portion 554b. As shown in FIG. 25A, the thickness of the terminal portion 554b changes in the extending direction of the nozzle row 78A in a state where the terminal portion 554b is in contact with the head main body 74. The amount of heat conducted through the terminal portion 554b per unit length and unit time in the extending direction of the nozzle row 78A differs depending on the thickness of the portion of the terminal portion 554b in the extending direction of the nozzle row 78A. Thus, by adjusting the thickness of the terminal portion 554b for each portion, the amount of heat transmitted per unit time can be varied in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle row, as in the case of the terminal substrate 112 and the like.

  (Modification 4) In the embodiment described above, the cooling unit 460 includes the two heat sinks 471, and adjusts the amount of heat transmitted per unit time by changing the width of the terminal portion 474c of the terminal board 472. It was. However, it is not essential to make the terminal portions different in order to adjust the amount of heat transmitted per unit time. A heat radiation plate may be provided for each terminal portion 474b or terminal portion 474c, and the amount of heat radiation per unit time, that is, the degree to which the discharge nozzle is cooled may be adjusted by varying the size of the heat radiation plate.

  (Modification 5) In the embodiment described above, the head unit 54 of the droplet discharge device 1 and the head unit 354 of the droplet discharge device 301 include the 12 droplet discharge heads 17. The number of droplet discharge heads is not limited to twelve. The head unit may include any number of droplet discharge heads.

  (Modification 6) In the above embodiment, the droplet discharge device 1 includes one set of head units 54 and the droplet discharge device 301 includes ten sets of head units 354. Is not limited to one or ten head units. The droplet discharge device may include any number of sets of head units.

  (Modification 7) In the above embodiment, the heat transfer pattern 114 as the temperature adjusting terminal is formed in a substrate shape with a metal material formed in a foil shape or a thin plate shape sandwiched between films. The form of the temperature adjustment terminal is not limited to a substrate. Any shape may be used as long as heat can be conducted by contacting the ejection head. The material constituting the temperature adjustment terminal may be any material as long as it has a high thermal conductivity.

  (Modification 8) In the above embodiment, as an apparatus for adjusting the temperature of the droplet discharge head 17, the cooling apparatus such as the cooling unit 110 including the cooling element 111 has been described as an example. The device to be adjusted is not limited to the cooling device. The apparatus for adjusting the temperature of the ejection head may be a heating apparatus having a heat source for supplying thermal energy.

  (Modification 9) In the embodiment, the temperature adjustment terminal such as the heat transfer pattern 114 is bonded to the outer wall of the head main body 74 of the droplet discharge head 17 using an adhesive formed of a material having high thermal conductivity. However, it is not essential to use an adhesive to fix the temperature adjustment terminal to the ejection head. Any fixing method may be used as long as heat conduction can be performed satisfactorily. The connection between the heat source or the cooling source and the temperature adjustment terminal may be any connection method as long as heat conduction can be performed satisfactorily.

  (Modification 10) In the above-described embodiment, the droplet discharge device 1 or the droplet discharge device 301 including the inkjet droplet discharge head 17 is taken as an example of the discharge device that disposes the functional liquid on the mother counter substrate 201A. Although described, it is not essential that the ejection device is a droplet ejection device. As the discharge device, for example, a discharge device including a dispenser can be used. When it is necessary to dispose a large amount of film material in a large-area film formation section, it is useful to use a dispenser having a larger discharge amount per unit time than the droplet discharge head.

(Modification 11) In the above embodiment, the drawing discharge when forming the filter film 205 of the liquid crystal display panel 200 has been described. However, the film to be formed is not limited to the filter film. The film to be formed may be an overcoat film provided to protect a pixel electrode film, an alignment film, a counter electrode film, a color filter, or the like of a liquid crystal display device.
An apparatus having a film to be formed or an apparatus that needs to form a film in the formation process is not limited to a liquid crystal display device. Any device may be used as long as it is a device having a film as described above or a device that needs to form a film as described above in the formation process. For example, it can be applied to an organic EL display device. The functional film formed by using the above-described droplet discharge device when manufacturing the organic EL display device includes a positive electrode film and a cathode electrode film of the organic EL display device, a film for forming a pattern by photoetching, It may be a photoresist film such as photoetching.

  (Modification 12) In the above-described embodiment, a liquid crystal including a color filter, which is an example of an electro-optical device, as an example of a drawing target on which drawing is performed by arranging a functional liquid using the droplet discharge device 1 Although the display panel 200 has been described, the drawing object is not limited to the electro-optical device. The head unit, the discharge device, and the discharge method described above can be used as a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for processing various objects to be processed in which various liquid materials are arranged during manufacturing. For example, a mother circuit board of a circuit board and a wiring conductive pattern processing method or processing apparatus for discharging a liquid conductive material, a mother circuit board of a circuit board having an insulating film, and an insulating film pattern for discharging a liquid insulating material Processing method or processing apparatus, semiconductor wafer, and processing method or processing apparatus for wiring conductive film of semiconductor device for discharging liquid conductive material, semiconductor wafer, and processing method for insulating layer of semiconductor device for discharging liquid insulating material or It can also be used as a processing device.

  (Modification 13) In the above embodiment, the CF layer 208 provided in the liquid crystal display panel 200 is a three-color filter having three color filter films: a red filter film 205R, a green filter film 205G, and a blue filter film 205B. However, the color filter may be a multicolor color filter having more types of filter films. As the multicolor filter, for example, six colors including organic EL elements of cyan (blue green), magenta (purple red), and yellow (yellow) which are complementary colors of red, green and blue in addition to red, green and blue. Examples include a color filter and a four-color filter in which green is added to three colors of cyan (blue green), magenta (purple red), and yellow (yellow).

  (Modification 14) In the above embodiment, the film forming section, the functional film section, or the filter film area 225 as the color element area is rectangular, but the film forming section, the functional film section, or the color element area is It is not essential to be rectangular. In recent years, in order to improve display characteristics, display devices having pixel shapes different from rectangular shapes have been devised. The shape of the film forming section, the functional film section, or the color element region may be a shape capable of forming a pixel or the like whose shape is different from the rectangle.

  (Modification 15) In the above embodiment, in one film formation region, functional film region, or filter region film, the film formation region, the functional film region, the filter film region 225 as the color element region, etc. are the same size. And shape. However, in one film formation region, functional film region, or filter region film, it is not essential that the film formation section, the functional film section, or the color element region have a single size and shape. For example, film forming sections, functional film sections, or color element areas having different sizes, such that the sizes of the colors of the color elements constituting the minimum unit of display in the four-color filter are different according to the characteristics of the light source It may be a film forming region, a functional film region, or a filter region film.

(Modification 16) In the embodiment described above, the droplet discharge device 1 moves the workpiece mounting table 21 on which the mother counter substrate 201A and the like are mounted in the main scanning direction, and discharges the functional liquid from the droplet discharge head 17. The functional liquid was arranged by making it. Further, by moving the head unit 54 in the sub-scanning direction, the position of the droplet discharge head 17 (discharge nozzle 78) with respect to the mother counter substrate 201A is adjusted. However, the relative movement in the main scanning direction between the droplet discharge head as the placement head and the mother substrate can be performed by moving the mother substrate, and the relative movement in the sub-scanning direction can also be performed by moving the discharge head. It is not essential to do.
The relative movement in the main scanning direction between the ejection head and the mother substrate may be performed by moving the ejection head in the main scanning direction. The relative movement between the ejection head and the mother substrate in the sub-scanning direction may be performed by moving the mother substrate in the sub-scanning direction. Alternatively, the relative movement of the ejection head and the mother substrate in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction may be performed by moving either the ejection head or the mother substrate in the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. Alternatively, both the ejection head and the mother substrate may be moved in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction.

1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device according to a first embodiment. The side view which shows schematic structure of a droplet discharge apparatus. (A) is the external appearance perspective view which looked at the droplet discharge head from the nozzle plate side. (B) is a perspective sectional view showing a structure around a pressure chamber of a droplet discharge head. FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the discharge nozzle portion of the droplet discharge head. (A) is the top view which looked at the droplet discharge head and cooling unit attached to the carriage plate from the nozzle plate side. (B) is sectional drawing of the cross section shown by AA in (a). (C) is a side view of a droplet discharge head and a cooling unit attached to a carriage plate. (D) is a side view of the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate. (E) is a top view of the terminal board of a cooling unit. (A) is a figure which shows the relationship between the temperature of a discharge nozzle, and discharge weight. (B) is a figure which shows the discharge weight for every discharge nozzle in a nozzle row. (C) is a figure which shows distribution of the width | variety of the terminal heat-transfer part in a terminal board | substrate. (D) is a figure which shows the temperature for every discharge nozzle in a nozzle row at the time of using a cooling unit. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a head unit. The external appearance perspective view which shows the whole structure of a test | inspection drawing unit. FIG. 4 is a diagram of a weight measurement block including a weight measurement unit portion and a flushing unit portion. FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device. Explanatory drawing which shows the electrical structure and signal flow of a droplet discharge head. The disassembled perspective view which shows schematic structure of a liquid crystal display panel. (A) is the plane which shows the planar structure of a counter substrate typically. (B) is a top view which shows typically the planar structure of a mother opposing substrate. The schematic plan view which shows the example of an arrangement | sequence of the filter film | membrane of a 3 color filter. The flowchart which shows the process in which a liquid crystal display panel is formed. Sectional drawing which shows the process etc. which form the filter film in the process of forming a liquid crystal display panel. Sectional drawing which shows the process etc. which form the alignment film in the process of forming a liquid crystal display panel. Explanatory drawing which shows the positional relationship of a filter film area | region and a discharge nozzle. The top view which shows schematic structure of the droplet discharge apparatus in 2nd embodiment. (A) is a top view of the terminal board of a cooling unit. FIG. 4B is a side view of the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate. FIG. 6C is a plan view of the droplet discharge head and the cooling unit attached to the carriage plate when viewed from the nozzle plate side. The flowchart which shows the process of arrange | positioning a functional liquid. (A) is a top view of the cooling unit in a third embodiment. FIG. 6B is a side view of a cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member. (A) is a top view of a cooling unit. FIG. 5B is a side view showing a cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member. (A) is a top view of a cooling unit. FIG. 5B is a side view showing a cooling unit attached to the droplet discharge head and the sub head holding member. The top view which shows the structure of the terminal board in a modification. (A) is a side view which shows the structure of a terminal board. (B) is a top view which shows the structure of a terminal board.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,301 ... Droplet discharge apparatus, 17 ... Droplet discharge head, 53 ... Carriage plate, 54 ... Head unit, 74 ... Head main body, 75 ... Pump part, 76 ... Nozzle plate, 78 ... Discharge nozzle, 78A ... Nozzle row , 110 ... Cooling unit, 111 ... Cooling element, 112 ... Terminal substrate, 114 ... Heat transfer pattern, 114a ... Heat transfer base, 114b, 114c ... Terminal part, 114v ... Terminal heat transfer part, 114w ... Terminal end, 116 ... Base film, 117 ... cover film, 151 ... pressure chamber plate, 152 ... diaphragm, 157 ... head partition, 158 ... pressure chamber, 159 ... piezoelectric element, 310 ... cooling unit, 311 ... cooling element, 312 ... terminal board, 314 ... heat transfer pattern, 410 ... cooling unit, 411 ... cooling element, 414 ... heat transfer sheet, 440 ... cooling unit, 45 ... heat transfer pattern, 454a ... heat transfer base, 454b, 454c ... terminal, 454v ... terminal heat transfer, 454w ... terminal end, 460 ... cooling unit, 471 ... heat sink, 472 ... terminal board, 474 ... heat transfer Pattern, 474a ... Heat transfer base, 474b, 474c ... Terminal part, 474v ... Terminal heat transfer part, 474w ... Terminal end, 512 ... Terminal substrate, 514 ... Heat transfer pattern, 514a ... Heat transfer base, 514b ... Terminal part, 515a, 515b ... adjustment hole, 542 ... terminal board, 554 ... heat transfer pattern, 554a ... heat transfer base, 554b ... terminal.

Claims (30)

A nozzle plate having a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging the liquid material, and a liquid channel for supporting the nozzle plate and communicating with the discharge nozzles of the plurality of discharge nozzles are formed therein. A discharge head having a plate holding portion,
A heat source or a cooling source;
It is formed of at least a material having a higher thermal conductivity than the atmosphere, one end is in contact with the outer wall of the plate holding part facing the flow path communicating with the discharge nozzle, and the other end is connected to the heat source or the cooling source. And a temperature adjusting terminal in contact with the head unit.   The head unit according to claim 1, wherein the temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each of the discharge nozzles.   The head unit according to claim 1, wherein the temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each nozzle group including the plurality of first discharge nozzles.   The head unit according to claim 1, wherein the heat source or the cooling source is individually provided for each of the temperature adjustment terminals. A plurality of the temperature adjustment terminals are connected to the heat source or the cooling source,
The plurality of temperature adjustment terminals are different from each other in the first temperature adjustment terminal and the first temperature adjustment terminal in the amount of heat conduction per unit time between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. 4. The head unit according to claim 1, further comprising: a temperature adjustment terminal.   A cross-sectional area of the first temperature adjustment terminal in a direction substantially orthogonal to a heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head is between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. The head unit according to claim 5, wherein the head unit is different from the second temperature adjustment terminal in at least a part of the heat energy transmission path.   The amount of heat conduction per unit length and unit time in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in the temperature adjustment terminal varies stepwise or continuously in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles. The head unit according to claim 3.   Disconnection of the temperature adjustment terminal per unit length in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in a direction substantially orthogonal to the heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head in the temperature adjustment terminal. The area differs stepwise or continuously in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in at least a part of a heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. The head unit according to claim 7.   The head unit according to any one of claims 5 to 8, wherein the heat source or the cooling source is a member having a heat capacity larger than at least the ejection head.   The head unit according to claim 9, wherein the member is a head support member to which the ejection head is attached and supported.   The head unit according to claim 5, wherein the heat source or the cooling source is an atmosphere of an environment in which the head unit is installed.   The head unit according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the temperature adjustment terminal is configured by the heat source or the cooling source.   The head unit according to claim 1, wherein the discharge head is an ink jet type droplet discharge head.   An ejection device comprising the head unit according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and 12. An information acquisition unit that acquires information on the temperature characteristics of the discharge amount in each of the plurality of discharge nozzles;
A head partial temperature control unit that adjusts the temperature of each part of the discharge head by controlling a temperature adjustment device including the heat source or the cooling source based on the information of the temperature characteristic of the discharge amount. The discharge device according to claim 14, characterized in that: A temperature measuring unit for measuring the temperature of the ejection head;
16. The ejection device according to claim 15, wherein the head partial temperature control unit adjusts the temperature of each part of the ejection head based on a measurement result and a temperature characteristic of the ejection amount.   The temperature measurement unit includes: a discharge weight measurement unit; and a temperature calculation unit that calculates the temperature of each part of the discharge head from the discharge weight measured by the discharge weight measurement unit. 16. The discharge device according to 16.   An ejection device comprising the head unit according to any one of claims 9 to 11. A nozzle plate having a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging the liquid material, and a liquid channel for supporting the nozzle plate and communicating with the discharge nozzles of the plurality of discharge nozzles are formed therein. A discharge method using a discharge head having a plate holding portion,
In the state where the temperature adjustment terminal for adjusting the temperature is in contact with the outer wall portion of the plate holding portion, the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal is adjusted to adjust the temperature of the plate holding contact with the temperature adjustment terminal. A discharge method comprising a temperature adjustment step of adjusting the temperature of the portion. The temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each discharge nozzle,
20. The discharge method according to claim 19, wherein in the temperature adjustment step, the temperature of the discharge head is adjusted for each discharge nozzle. The temperature adjustment terminal is arranged for each nozzle group composed of the first plurality of the discharge nozzles,
The discharge method according to claim 19, wherein in the temperature adjustment step, the temperature of the discharge head is adjusted for each nozzle group.   A heat source or a cooling source for adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal is individually provided for each temperature adjustment terminal, and the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal is individually adjusted by each of the heat source or the cooling source. The discharge method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein the discharge method is characterized in that A plurality of the temperature adjustment terminals are connected to a heat source or a cooling source for adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal,
The temperature of one end connected to the heat source or the cooling source at least in each temperature adjustment terminal of the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals is adjusted by each of the heat source or the cooling source, and
The temperature adjustment terminals are connected to each other by making the heat conduction amounts per unit time of the temperature adjustment terminals of the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals connected to the same heat source or cooling source different from each other. The discharge according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein a relative temperature between the discharge nozzles communicating with the flow path corresponding to the outer wall or between the nozzle groups is adjusted. Method.   The temperature adjustment terminal of each of the plurality of temperature adjustment terminals connected to the same heat source or cooling source is substantially orthogonal to the heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source and the ejection head. 24. The ejection method according to claim 23, wherein cross-sectional areas in directions are different from each other in at least a part of a heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the ejection head.   By varying the amount of heat conduction per unit length and unit time in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in the temperature adjustment terminal stepwise or continuously in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles, the temperature adjustment terminal The amount of heat conduction per unit time transmitted to the portion of the outer wall corresponding to each of the discharge nozzles in the corresponding nozzle group is made different from each other for each portion. Discharge method.   Per unit length in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in the direction substantially perpendicular to the heat energy transmission direction between the heat source or the cooling source for adjusting the temperature of the temperature adjustment terminal and the discharge head in the temperature adjustment terminal. The cross-sectional area of the temperature adjustment terminal is different stepwise or continuously in the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles in at least a part of the heat energy transmission path between the heat source or the cooling source and the discharge head. The thermal conductivity per unit time transmitted to the part of the outer wall corresponding to each of the discharge nozzles in the nozzle group to which the temperature adjustment terminal corresponds is made different for each part. The discharge method according to claim 25. The temperature adjusting terminal is a heat source or a cooling source;
The discharge method according to any one of claims 19 to 21, wherein in the temperature adjustment step, the temperature of the discharge head is adjusted by adjusting the temperature of the heat source or the cooling source. . An information acquisition step of acquiring information on temperature characteristics of the discharge amount of each of the plurality of discharge nozzles;
28. The temperature adjustment step, wherein the temperature is adjusted for each portion of the ejection head according to the information on the temperature characteristic of the ejection amount obtained in the information obtaining step. The discharge method according to item. A temperature measuring step of measuring the temperature of the ejection head;
The temperature adjustment step adjusts the temperature of each part of the discharge head based on a measurement result in the temperature measurement step and a temperature characteristic of the discharge amount acquired in the information acquisition step. 28. The ejection method according to 28.   The temperature adjustment step calculates a discharge weight measurement step of measuring a discharge weight discharged from the discharge head per unit time, and calculates a temperature of each part of the discharge head from the discharge weight measured in the discharge weight measurement step. 30. A discharge method according to claim 29, further comprising a temperature calculation step.

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