JP2010266635A - Method for producing color filter substrate, method for producing color filter, and color filter substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for producing a color filter substrate in which variation in discharge amounts of a liquid in the edge parts of a panel region is suppressed, and also to provide a method for producing a color filter, and a color filter substrate. <P>SOLUTION: The method is provided with a step where, while relatively moving a droplet discharge head 55 provided with a plurality of nozzles N in the main scanning direction and the sub scanning directions to a mother substrate 11, a liquid body is discharged from the nozzles N to form a color filter layer on a panel region CA. The distance P1 between the panel regions CA adjoining in the sub scanning direction is larger than the length P2 in the sub scanning direction of a nozzle line NA. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a color filter substrate manufacturing method, a color filter manufacturing method, and a color filter substrate.

  In recent years, it has been proposed to form a color filter using an ink jet method in which ink is ejected by a droplet ejection head (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this manufacturing method, a liquid material (droplet) containing a coloring material is discharged from a plurality of nozzles constituting a nozzle row provided in a droplet discharge head that moves relative to the substrate, and the liquid material is arranged ( The colored liquid corresponding to the pixels is formed by solidifying the arranged liquid material by drying or the like.

In general, a color filter is formed by forming a plurality of panel regions in a matrix on a large-area mother substrate made of a light-transmitting material such as glass, and then dividing the mother substrate into each panel region. Formed. Here, the plurality of panel regions are arranged in a matrix. The droplet discharge head discharges the liquid material to each panel region by moving relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction and the sub-scanning direction. At this time, when the nozzle is located on the bank or between the panel regions, the liquid material is not ejected, so that the liquid material is not ejected simultaneously from all the nozzles.
Accordingly, the plurality of nozzles include a nozzle that discharges the liquid material and a nozzle that does not discharge the liquid material. Therefore, it is necessary to change the distribution (discharge pattern) of the nozzles that discharge the liquid material at the plurality of nozzles depending on whether the droplet discharge head is positioned at the center portion or at the end portion of the panel region.

JP 2004-255335 A

However, the following problems remain in the conventional color filter manufacturing method. That is, when the droplet discharge head is positioned over two adjacent panel regions in the sub-scanning direction, the liquid material is discharged from both ends of the nozzle row positioned on the panel region among the plurality of nozzles. Will do. That is, the ejection pattern is significantly changed as compared with the case where the droplet ejection head is located on one panel region. When the ejection pattern is changed, the ejection amount of the liquid material varies even if the liquid material is ejected from the corresponding nozzle using the same drive signal regardless of the ejection pattern. Here, it is conceivable to suppress fluctuations in the discharge amount by adjusting the supplied drive signal. However, when the liquid material is not discharged from the nozzles in the center of the nozzle row in this way, It is difficult to suppress fluctuations in the discharge amount due to the adjustment, and fluctuations in the discharge amount cannot be suppressed.
Therefore, when the liquid material is discharged from the nozzles at both ends of the plurality of nozzles, there is a problem that the discharge amount of the liquid material varies.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and therefore provides a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate, a method for manufacturing a color filter, and a color filter substrate that suppress variation in the discharge amount of the liquid material at the end of the panel region. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention employs the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. That is, the method for manufacturing a color filter substrate according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a color filter substrate in which a plurality of panel regions having color filter layers are formed on a substrate, and a droplet discharge head provided with a plurality of nozzles A liquid material is ejected from the nozzles while the substrate is moved relative to the substrate in the first and second scanning directions, and the color filter layer is formed in the panel region, and is adjacent to the substrate in the first scanning direction. A distance between the matching panel regions is larger than a length in the first scanning direction of a discharge nozzle row including the nozzles that discharge the liquid material among the plurality of nozzles.

  In addition, a color filter manufacturing method according to the present invention includes a step of manufacturing a color filter substrate by the above-described method of manufacturing a color filter substrate, and a step of dividing the color filter substrate into the panel regions. It is characterized by.

  Furthermore, the color filter substrate according to the present invention includes a plurality of panel regions having a color filter layer formed by discharging a liquid material onto a substrate from a droplet discharge head provided with a plurality of nozzles along one direction. In the arranged color filter substrate, a distance between the panel regions adjacent in the one direction is larger than a length in the one direction in a discharge nozzle row including the nozzles that discharge the liquid material among the plurality of nozzles. It is characterized by that.

In the present invention, when the panel region is formed, the nozzle row is not disposed across two adjacent panel regions in the first scanning direction (one direction), and therefore, variation in the discharge amount of the liquid material can be suppressed.
That is, when the liquid discharge is ejected to each panel region by moving the droplet discharge head relative to the substrate in the first scanning direction (one direction) and the second scanning direction, the discharge nozzle row has a plurality of panels. It is not placed across areas. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a large change in the discharge pattern in which the liquid material is discharged only from the nozzles at both ends of the discharge nozzle row by the discharge nozzle row straddling a plurality of panel regions. Accordingly, the discharge amount of the liquid material discharged from the nozzles constituting the discharge nozzle row is stabilized, and the film thickness of the color filter layer, particularly the color filter layer film at the end in the first scanning direction (one direction) of the panel region. The thickness can be made more uniform.

It is a schematic plan view which shows the color filter substrate in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows arrangement | positioning of a color filter layer. It is a schematic plan view which shows a color filter. It is a perspective view which shows a droplet discharge device. It is a figure which shows the structure of a droplet discharge head. It is a schematic plan view explaining the manufacturing process of a color filter substrate.

  Hereinafter, a color filter substrate manufacturing method, a color filter manufacturing method, and a color filter substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each drawing used in the following description, the scale is appropriately changed to make each member a recognizable size.

[Color filter substrate]
First, the color filter substrate in the present embodiment will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the color filter substrate 1 includes a mother substrate 11, a bank 12 and a color filter layer 13 formed on the mother substrate 11. In the color filter substrate 1, the bank 12 and the color filter layer 13 constitute a plurality of panel areas CA.

The mother substrate 11 is made of a light-transmitting material such as glass and has a substantially rectangular shape in plan view.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the panel area CA is arranged in a matrix along the A direction and the B direction (one direction) orthogonal to the A direction. Further, a distance P1 between adjacent panel areas CA in the B direction is larger than a length P2 in a sub-scanning direction (Y direction shown in FIG. 5A) of a nozzle array NA described later.

  The bank 12 is formed of a light shielding material such as a resin material such as acrylic colored in black or the like. The bank 12 is formed in a frame shape having a substantially rectangular opening on the mother substrate 11, thereby defining a drawing area 14 that is a recessed area. The drawing areas 14 are arranged in a matrix along the A direction and the B direction.

The color filter layer 13 is formed of, for example, acrylic, and contains a color material corresponding to the display color of each drawing region 14. The arrangement of the color filter layers 13 is the same color in the B direction, and is repeated in the order of R (red), G (green), and B (blue) in the A direction. That is, the arrangement of the color filter layer 13 is a stripe type in which the color filter layers 13 of the same color provided linearly in one direction (B direction) are alternately arranged in the other direction (A direction). .
The arrangement of the color filter layer 13 is not limited to the stripe type as shown in FIG. 2A, but a mosaic type as shown in FIG. 2B, a delta type as shown in FIG. Other arrangements may be used.

[Color filter]
As shown in FIG. 3, the color filter 20 is formed by dividing the color filter substrate 1 configured as shown in FIG. 1 into each panel area CA. The color filter 20 includes a substrate 21 that is rectangular in plan view formed by dividing the mother substrate 11, and a bank 12 and a color filter layer 13 that are formed on the substrate 21.

[Color filter substrate and color filter manufacturing method]
Next, a method for manufacturing the color filter substrate 1 having the above configuration will be described.
The color filter substrate 1 is manufactured using a droplet discharge device 50 as shown in FIG.
The droplet discharge device 50 is a device that forms the color filter layer 13 by discharging a liquid material to a predetermined region of the mother substrate 11 by, for example, an inkjet method. The droplet discharge device 50 includes an apparatus mount 51, a work stage 52, a stage moving device 53, a carriage 54, a droplet discharge head 55, a carriage moving device 56, a tube 57, and first to first. 3 tanks 58 to 60 and a control device 61 are provided.

The device mount 51 is a support for the work stage 52 and the stage moving device 53. The work stage 52 is installed on the apparatus base 51 so as to be movable in the X direction (second scanning direction), which is the main scanning direction, by the stage moving device 53 and is transported from an upstream transport device (not shown). The mother substrate 11 is held on the XY plane by a vacuum suction mechanism.
The stage moving device 53 includes a linear motion mechanism such as a linear guide and a ball screw. The stage moving device 53 moves the work stage 52 to the X based on a stage position control signal indicating the X coordinate of the movement destination of the work stage 52 input from the control device. Move in the direction.

The carriage 54 holds a droplet discharge head 55 and is provided so as to be movable in the Y direction (first scanning direction) and the Z direction, which are sub-scanning directions, by a carriage moving device 56.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the droplet discharge head 55 includes a plurality of nozzles N, and a liquid material is applied based on drawing data and drive signals input from the control device 61. Discharge. As shown in FIG. 4, the droplet discharge head 55 is provided corresponding to R (red), G (green), and B (blue) of the liquid material, and is connected to the tube 57 via the carriage 54. Has been.
The droplet discharge head 55 corresponding to R (red) is supplied with the liquid for R (red) from the first tank 58 via the tube 57, and the droplet discharge head corresponding to G (green). 55, the G (green) liquid material is supplied from the second tank 59 via the tube 57, and the third tank 60 is supplied via the tube 57 to the droplet discharge head 55 corresponding to B (blue). To B (blue) is supplied.

  The carriage moving device 56 has a bridge structure straddling the device mount 51, and includes a linear motion mechanism such as a linear guide and a ball screw along the Y direction and the Z direction, and the movement destination of the carriage 54 input from the control device 61. The carriage 54 is moved in the Y and Z directions based on the carriage position control signal indicating the Y and Z coordinates.

The tube 57 is a liquid supply tube that connects the first to third tanks 58 to 60 and the carriage 54.
The first tank 58 stores the liquid material for R (red) and supplies the liquid material to the droplet discharge head 55 corresponding to R (red) via the tube 57. The second tank 59 stores the liquid material for G (green) and supplies the liquid material to the droplet discharge head 55 corresponding to G (green) via the tube 57. The third tank 60 stores the liquid material for B (blue) and supplies the liquid material to the droplet discharge head 55 corresponding to B (blue) via the tube 57.

  The controller 61 positions the mother substrate 11 by moving the work stage 52, positions the droplet discharge head 55 by moving the carriage 54, and sets the liquid material at a predetermined position on the mother substrate 11 by the droplet discharge head 55. Is a device for controlling the droplet discharge operation for discharging the liquid. The control device 61 outputs a stage position control signal to the stage moving device 53, outputs a carriage position control signal to the carriage moving device 56, and outputs drawing data and a driving signal to the droplet discharge head 55.

Next, the configuration of the droplet discharge head 55 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 5A, the droplet discharge head 55 includes a plurality of (for example, 180) nozzles N _{1 to} N ₁₈₀ (hereinafter, collectively referred to as nozzles N) arranged in the Y direction. I have. The plurality of nozzles N are arranged at equal intervals. A nozzle array (discharge nozzle array) NA is formed by the nozzles N _{1 to} N ₁₈₀ .

The droplet discharge head 55 includes only one nozzle row NA, but may include a plurality of rows, and the number of nozzles N constituting the nozzle row NA is not limited to 180. Further, the number of droplet discharge heads 55 arranged in the carriage 54 can be arbitrarily changed. Furthermore, a plurality of carriages 54 may be provided for each sub-carriage.
Here, both ends of the nozzles of the plurality of nozzles _N 1 _{to N 180} (e.g. nozzles _N 1 to N _9, nozzles _N 171 _{to N 180)} For, since the variation in the discharge amount of the liquid is large, the liquid material It may not be used for discharge. In such a case, actually discharge nozzle row is constituted by the nozzle N ₁₀ to N ₁₇₀ that is used to discharge the liquid material.

As shown in FIG. 5B, the droplet discharge head 55 includes a vibration plate 71 provided with a material supply hole 71a connected to a tube 57, a nozzle plate 72 provided with nozzles N _{1 to} N _180, and A reservoir 73 provided between the vibration plate 71 and the nozzle plate 72, a plurality of partition walls 74, and a plurality of liquid reservoirs 75 are provided.
On the vibration plate 71, drive elements PZ _{1 to} PZ _N (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as drive elements PZ) are arranged corresponding to the nozzles N _{1 to} N ₁₈₀ . The drive element PZ is, for example, a piezo element.

The reservoir 73 is filled with a liquid material supplied through the material supply hole 71a.
The liquid reservoir 75 is formed by being surrounded by a diaphragm 71, a nozzle plate 72, and a pair of partition walls 74. The liquid reservoir 75 is formed to correspond to the nozzles N _{1 to} N ₁₈₀ on a one-to-one basis. Furthermore, a liquid material is introduced into each liquid reservoir 75 from a reservoir 73 through a supply port 75 a provided between the pair of partition walls 74.

As shown in FIG. 5C, the drive element PZ includes a piezoelectric material 76 and a pair of electrodes 77 that sandwich the piezoelectric material. The drive element PZ contracts the piezoelectric material 76 by applying a drive signal between the pair of electrodes 77, and the piezoelectric material 76 contracts the diaphragm 71 together with the drive element PZ at the same time (opposite of the liquid reservoir 75). And the volume of the liquid reservoir 75 is increased.
Therefore, the liquid corresponding to the increased volume in the liquid reservoir 75 flows from the reservoir 73 through the supply port 75a. Further, when the application of the drive signal to the drive element PZ is stopped from such a state, the drive element PZ and the diaphragm 71 return to the original shape, and the liquid reservoir 75 also returns to the original volume. As a result, the pressure of the liquid in the liquid reservoir 75 rises, and a liquid droplet L is ejected from the nozzle N1 toward the mother substrate 11.

Next, a method for manufacturing the color filter substrate 1 and the color filter 20 will be described.
First, the bank 12 is formed on the mother substrate 11 using a photolithography technique or the like. At this time, the distance P1 between two adjacent panel areas CA in the B direction is larger than the length P2 in the X direction of the nozzle row NA of the droplet discharge head 55 used.
Then, the color filter layer 13 is formed in the drawing area 14 partitioned by the bank 12 in each panel area CA by using the droplet discharge device 50 described above.
Here, first, the mother substrate 11 is placed on the work stage 52, and the upper surface of the mother substrate 11 and the droplet discharge head 55 are made to face each other. At this time, the A direction of the mother substrate 11 is matched with the X direction of the droplet discharge device 50, and the B direction of the mother substrate 11 is matched with the Y direction of the droplet discharge device 50. The panel area CA of the mother substrate 11 is arranged in a matrix along the main scanning direction and the sub scanning direction.

  Then, while moving (scanning) the stage moving device 53 and the carriage moving device 56 relative to the mother substrate 11, the liquid material is discharged from the plurality of nozzles N of the droplet discharge head 55 toward the drawing region 14. At this time, the droplet discharge head 55 moves relative to the mother substrate 11 along the arrow A1 that is the main scanning direction shown in FIG. And a relative distance is again moved along the arrow A2 which is the main scanning direction. By repeating this, when the droplet discharge head 55 moves (sub-scan) from the left end to the right end of one panel area CA, it returns to the left end of the panel area CA again and is slightly different from the position where the discharge has already been performed. Then, scanning is performed along the Y direction which is the main scanning direction. Then, the color filter layer 13 having a desired film thickness is formed in all the drawing areas 14 in the panel area CA by performing such scanning a plurality of times and drying the discharged liquid material.

  Here, since the panel area CA is arranged in a matrix on the mother substrate 11, the liquid material is not discharged simultaneously from all the nozzles N in the droplet discharge head 55. Therefore, the plurality of nozzles N include a nozzle N (discharge nozzle) that discharges the liquid material by being positioned on the drawing region 14 and a nozzle N (non-discharge nozzle) that does not discharge the liquid material by not being positioned on the drawing region 14. ) And exist.

  In this embodiment, the distance between two panel areas CA adjacent in the X direction is larger than the length of the nozzle row NA. For this reason, the nozzle array NA is not arranged across the two panel areas CA adjacent in the Y direction when moving in the Y direction which is the sub-scanning direction. At this time, since the nozzle array NA is arranged on the end of the panel area CA, the ejection pattern of the nozzle array NA is such that the ejection nozzles are arranged on one side on the panel area CA and the non-ejection is on the other side. This is a discharge pattern in which the nozzles are arranged. As described above, in the case of a discharge pattern in which the discharge nozzles are concentrated only on one side of the nozzle row NA, the drive signal supplied to the droplet discharge head 55 is appropriately corrected so as to be on one side of the nozzle row NA. The discharge amount of the liquid material from the concentrated discharge nozzle is stabilized.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6B, when the distance between two panel areas CA adjacent in the X direction is smaller than the length of the nozzle row NA, the nozzle row NA moves in the Y direction, which is the sub-scanning direction. In doing so, they are arranged across the two panel areas CA. At this time, the discharge pattern of the nozzle array NA is a discharge pattern in which the discharge nozzles are disposed at both ends of the nozzle array NA and the non-discharge nozzle is disposed at the center. Thus, in the case of a discharge pattern in which the discharge nozzles are concentrated only at both ends of the nozzle array NA, the discharge nozzles that are concentrated on both ends of the nozzle array NA can also be corrected by correcting the drive signal as described above. The amount of liquid discharged is not stable.

As described above, the discharge pattern is not formed in which the discharge nozzles are arranged at both ends of the nozzle array NA and the non-discharge nozzle is arranged in the central portion, so that the discharge amount of the liquid material in the discharge nozzle is stabilized. Therefore, the layer thickness of the color filter layer 13 formed in each drawing region 14 becomes uniform.
The droplet discharge head 55 is arranged along the Y direction which is the sub-scanning direction. However, in order to make the pitch of the nozzles N and the pitch of the drawing region 14 have a predetermined correspondence, It may be tilted at an angle.
The color filter substrate 1 is manufactured as described above. Thereafter, the mother substrate 11 is divided for each panel area CA to manufacture individual color filters 20.

  As described above, in the method for manufacturing the color filter substrate 1, the method for manufacturing the color filter 20, and the color filter substrate 1 in the present embodiment, the nozzle row NA is not disposed across the two panel areas CA adjacent in the Y direction. The discharge amount of the liquid material discharged from the nozzles N constituting the nozzle row NA is stabilized. For this reason, the layer thickness of the color filter layer 13, especially the film thickness of the color filter layer 13 at the end in the B direction of the panel area CA can be made more uniform.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various change can be added in the range which does not deviate from the meaning of this invention.
For example, as long as a plurality of panel regions are arranged in at least one direction, they may not be arranged in a matrix.

1 the color filter substrate, 11 a mother board (substrate) 13 color filter layer, 20 a color filter, CA panel _area, N, N _{1 to N 180} nozzles, NA nozzle row (the ejection nozzle array)

Claims (3)

A method of manufacturing a color filter substrate in which a plurality of panel regions having a color filter layer are formed on a substrate,
A liquid material is discharged from the nozzle while moving a droplet discharge head provided with a plurality of nozzles in the first and second scanning directions relative to the substrate, and the color filter layer is formed in the panel region. With a process,
A distance between the panel regions adjacent in the first scanning direction is longer than a length in the first scanning direction of a discharge nozzle row including the nozzles that discharge the liquid material among the plurality of nozzles. A method for manufacturing a color filter substrate. A step of producing a color filter substrate by the method of producing a color filter substrate according to claim 1;
And a step of dividing the color filter substrate into each panel region. In a color filter substrate in which a plurality of panel regions having a color filter layer formed by discharging a liquid material onto a substrate from a droplet discharge head provided with a plurality of nozzles are arranged along one direction.
The color filter substrate, wherein a distance between the panel regions adjacent in the one direction is larger than a length in the one direction in a discharge nozzle row including the nozzles that discharge the liquid material among the plurality of nozzles. .

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