JP2011033280A - Heater unit and inkjet coating equipment including the heater unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heater unit having a safe configuration preventing a volatile component of an organic solvent, etc. from reaching inside of the heater unit and suppressing thermal propagation to the periphery of the heat unit. <P>SOLUTION: The heater unit 12 includes: an air heater 1 in which a jetting port for ejecting heating air for heating a treated object is located at a tip; and a casing for storing the air heater 1. A projecting port 5a from which the air heater 1 can be protruded is provided in the casing, and a shutter 5 for changing the opening/closing state of the projecting port 5a is provided in the projecting port 5a. A movement mechanism 2 for changing a relative distance between the projecting port 5a and the air heater 1 by moving the air heater 1 is arranged within the casing. An upper gas introduction port 8 and lower gas introduction port 9 for introducing cooling gas suppressing temperature rise within the casing to inside of the casing and a gas discharge port 10 for discharging the cooling gas to outside of the casing are formed in the casing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heater unit and an inkjet coating apparatus including the heater unit.

  In recent years, the flat panel display (FPD) has been increased in size, and accordingly, the substrate used for the manufacturing process has been increased in size. Regarding the liquid crystal display device, the glass substrate for liquid crystal used is called the 10th generation, and the length of one side reaches about 3 m.

  It is extremely difficult to uniformly manufacture a large number of electronic devices and the like manufactured over the entire area on such a large substrate without any defect, and a repair device that repairs a locally generated defect is important. .

  Such a repair device is required to be able to perform a repair process with high accuracy at a specific position on a large substrate. The repair method should be determined according to the defect generation mode. For example, when electrical insulation characteristics cannot be ensured due to local defects in the insulating layer, baking is performed after applying a liquid containing a silicon compound. However, a technique such as forming a local insulating film is conceivable.

  As an apparatus for applying a minute amount of liquid to a specific position, for example, an inkjet coating apparatus in which an inkjet unit is mounted on a biaxial orthogonal type gantry robot is disclosed in Patent Document 1. The gantry robot can perform a positioning operation with high accuracy of about 10 microns or less, can form a thin film by specifying a fine area, and can be suitably used for a defect repairing operation or the like.

  In addition, examples of the liquid silicon compound component that forms the insulating film include components used in spin-on glass, but detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  By the way, in addition to the formation of the insulating film, in general, in the case of a method of forming a thin film by liquid application, the liquid often needs to be dried and solidified or fired.

  In general, a baking furnace intended for firing is prepared, but naturally a large baking furnace is required to accommodate a large substrate. Therefore, if the number of repaired parts is as small as several, it is considered that it is better to adopt a means for locally firing in terms of apparatus cost, footprint, and the like.

  When a means for locally baking is employed, in particular, if a heater unit for performing local heating is mounted on the inkjet coating apparatus having the biaxial moving means, the same application and baking of the local liquid are performed. It becomes possible to carry out with this apparatus. As a result, it is possible to perform a series of repair processes at a low cost while suppressing the footprint.

  As a heater used in the heater unit, a lamp heating method is generally used, but the following problems are conceivable. That is, when the object to be baked is a transparent material such as a glass substrate, components that pass through the substrate cannot be ignored even if the lamp wavelength is in the infrared region, and the stage on which the glass substrate is placed is heated. Then, the glass substrate is heated by heat transfer from the stage. Here, the stage is provided with suction holes and the like for holding the substrate by vacuum suction, and since it is a locally non-uniform structure, heat transfer to the substrate cannot be uniform. Therefore, the firing temperature is locally distributed.

  Therefore, it is better to heat the applied liquid directly. Use an air heater that heats the air with a heater heated by resistance heating or the like, and jets the heated air to heat the workpiece. Can be considered. Since the air heater performs heat treatment by ejecting high-temperature air to the object to be treated, the applied liquid can be directly heated. For mounting on an inkjet coating apparatus, a small air heater is preferable. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a rod-shaped small air heater used for soldering or the like.

  If the heater unit adopts a small air heater, it can be mounted on the biaxial moving means together with the ink jet unit.

JP 2007-31985A (published on December 13, 2007) JP-A-6-304747 (published on November 1, 1994)

  However, when adopting a configuration in which the heater unit using the air heater and the ink jet unit are both mounted on the gantry as described above, there are various problems shown below.

  First, since the air heater energizes the resistance heating type heater, a certain time is required until the air having the desired set temperature is stably ejected. Depending on the desired substrate heating method, if firing is required with the air temperature of the blown air constant, energization of the air heater is started at another position and the air reaches a predetermined temperature. It is necessary to have a function of waiting for the air to be blown out.

  In addition, since the air heater has a resistance heating source, the inkjet unit is a unit that discharges a liquid (ink) mainly composed of an organic solvent. Consideration that the volatile components of the solvent do not reach is required.

  On the other hand, in order to maintain high positional accuracy of a gantry robot used in an ink jet coating apparatus or the like, the mounted ink jet unit and heater unit need to be small and light. For this reason, the heater unit and the ink jet unit are required to be arranged as close as possible.

  However, since the air heater has a resistance heating source, the air heater itself has a high temperature, and the temperature of the entire heater unit is increased to eject high-temperature air. The temperature of the ink jet unit is also increased by heat transfer through a member such as an ink jet base plate that fixes the heater unit to the ink jet unit. When the temperature of the holding member that holds the inkjet head changes, the nozzle position of the inkjet head fluctuates due to thermal expansion.

  For example, assuming that the holding member is made of aluminum, if a temperature change of 3 ° C. occurs over 10 cm, expansion of about 7 microns occurs. For this reason, when the nozzle position of the ink jet head is shifted, the positioning accuracy of the ink jet coating apparatus is greatly reduced. In the above example, only the case where the thermal expansion is performed evenly is considered. However, in reality, components such as torsion may occur due to different shapes and materials of the holding member, which may cause further deterioration in accuracy. .

  Therefore, regarding the heater unit, it is required to effectively discharge the amount of generated heat and to suppress heat transfer to peripheral components such as an ink jet unit as much as possible while reducing the size and weight.

  Furthermore, when the firing process is performed using an air heater, there is a problem that the ink in the vicinity of the nozzles of the inkjet head, which is required to be disposed close to the air heater, is dried and solidified.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and is a heater unit that can be mounted on an inkjet coating apparatus or the like, and has a safe configuration that suppresses volatile components such as organic solvents from reaching the inside of the heater unit. And providing a heater unit that suppresses heat propagation to the periphery of the heater unit.

  In order to solve the above problems, a heater unit according to the present invention includes an air heater having an air outlet at the tip for ejecting heated air for heating an object to be processed, and a housing for storing the air heater. The housing is provided with a projecting port through which the air outlet can project, and the projecting port is provided with a first lid for changing the open / closed state of the projecting port. The moving means for changing the relative distance between the projection opening and the air heater by moving the air heater is arranged, and the casing introduces cooling gas into the casing to suppress the temperature rise in the casing. And a gas exhaust port for exhausting the cooling gas to the outside of the housing.

  According to said invention, in the state in which the air heater is stored in the housing | casing, a protrusion can be closed by the 1st cover part. In addition, since the cooling gas is introduced into the housing from the gas inlet, the pressure in the housing is higher than the outside, and volatile components such as organic solvents from the outside of the housing can be prevented from reaching the inside of the housing. . For this reason, a safe configuration can be realized.

  Furthermore, according to the above configuration, in the state where the air heater is stored in the casing, the cooling gas is introduced into the casing from the cooling gas inlet, and the cooling gas is discharged from the outlet. Can be exhausted. For this reason, it is possible to provide a heater unit that suppresses heat propagation from the air heater to surrounding members.

  In the heater unit of the present invention, it is preferable that the moving means is provided with a second lid portion that moves and moves the air heater to change the open / closed states of the plurality of gas inlets. .

  According to said invention, the opening / closing state of several gas inlets can be changed by the 2nd cover part. That is, the gas introduction port into which the cooling gas is introduced is changed by the movement of the second lid portion. There may be a part where the temperature is partially raised in the housing. However, by changing the cooling gas flow path as described above, the cooling gas can be introduced in a wider range, and the exhaust heat efficiency is further improved. A heater unit can be provided.

  Further, in the heater unit of the present invention, in the standby state in which the air heater is stored in the housing, and in the processing state in which the air outlet is located outside the housing from the protruding port by the moving means. It is preferable that at least one of the plurality of gas inlets is opened and closed.

  In the standby state and the processing state, the generation of heat generated from the heater unit is greatly different. By changing the cooling gas flow path for both of these states, the exhaust heat efficiency can be greatly improved.

  In the heater unit of the present invention, in the standby state, the gas introduction is performed so that the air flow path through which the heated air moves and the cooling gas flow path through which the cooling gas introduced from the gas introduction port intersect. It is preferable that a mouth and a gas discharge port are formed, and the gas introduction port is in an open state.

  Thereby, it is possible to directly introduce the cooling gas from the gas introduction port that is in an open state with respect to the air flow path through which the high-temperature heated air flows. For this reason, the cooling gas is promptly introduced into the hottest portion in the housing, and the temperature rise in the housing can be suppressed very efficiently. That is, heat propagation to the periphery of the heater unit can be suppressed very efficiently.

  In the heater unit of the present invention, it is preferable that a gas discharge port is formed at a position opposite to the gas introduction port for introducing the cooling gas into the cooling gas channel intersecting with the air channel.

  For this reason, the cooling gas channel is located between the gas inlet and the gas outlet. Therefore, the cooling gas that merges with the heated air at the position where the air flow path and the cooling gas flow path intersect is quickly discharged from the gas discharge port. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently discharge the generated heat amount to the outside.

  In the heater unit of the present invention, the casing includes a fixing member fixed to an ink jet unit including an ink jet head that discharges micro droplets, and the fixing member supplies cooling gas to the gas inlet. It is preferable to form at least a part of the gas supply path to be supplied.

  Thereby, in addition to the exhaust heat from a gas exhaust port, since a cooling gas leads to the said fixing member, a fixing member can be air-cooled. Therefore, it is possible to provide a heater unit that can keep the amount of heat conducted to the inkjet unit through the fixing member very low. In addition, according to the ink jet coating apparatus provided with the heater unit, an effect of suppressing the positional deviation amount of the ink jet head by thermal expansion or the like can be obtained particularly when droplet application with very high positional accuracy is required. Can do.

  The ink jet coating apparatus of the present invention includes the heater unit and an ink jet unit including an ink jet head that discharges micro droplets, and the heater unit and the ink jet unit are connected to each other.

  Since the inkjet coating apparatus includes the heater unit according to the present invention, the heater unit is safe against volatile components such as organic solvents. Therefore, it is possible to provide an ink jet coating apparatus capable of suppressing heat propagation from the air heater to surrounding members.

  In the ink jet coating apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the ink jet unit includes lifting / lowering means for moving the ink jet head up and down.

  According to said structure, after an inkjet head complete | finishes the application | coating process of a micro droplet, it is possible to raise and retreat an inkjet head by a raising / lowering means. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the heated gas ejected from the air heater from reaching the inkjet head. That is, it is possible to improve the safety of the inkjet coating apparatus and the holding performance in a state where normal operation is possible.

  In the ink jet coating apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable that the ink jet unit includes a nozzle moisturizing means for moisturizing the nozzle portion of the ink jet head.

  The nozzle moisturizing means can moisturize the nozzle portion of the inkjet head. That is, it is possible to suppress drying and solidification of the ink at the nozzle portion.

  As described above, in the heater unit of the present invention, the casing is formed with a projecting port from which the air outlet of the air heater can project, and the projecting port has a first lid that changes the open / closed state of the projecting port. A moving means for changing the relative distance between the projection opening and the air heater by moving the air heater is disposed in the housing, and the housing includes a temperature in the housing. A gas inlet for introducing a cooling gas that suppresses the rise into the casing and a gas outlet for discharging the cooling gas to the outside of the casing are formed.

  Therefore, in a state where the air heater is stored in the housing, the projecting port can be closed by the first lid portion, and the cooling gas is introduced into the housing from the gas introduction port. It is possible to prevent volatile components such as organic solvents from reaching the inside of the housing from the outside of the housing. For this reason, a safe configuration can be realized. Furthermore, in a state where the air heater is stored in the housing, the cooling gas is introduced from the cooling gas inlet into the housing and the cooling gas is discharged from the outlet, so that the heat in the housing can be exhausted. it can. For this reason, there exists an effect that the heater unit which suppresses the heat propagation from an air heater to the surrounding member can be provided.

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing a state in which the air heater according to the present embodiment is housed in the housing, and FIG. 1B is a diagram in which the air heater according to the present embodiment moves downward. It is a perspective view which shows the state made. FIG. 2A is a perspective view showing a state in which the air heater according to the present embodiment is stored in the housing, and FIG. 2B is a view in which the air heater according to the present embodiment moves downward. It is a perspective view which shows the state made. It is a perspective view which shows the inkjet coating apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a permeation | transmission perspective view which shows the internal structure of the inkjet unit with which the inkjet coating apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment is provided. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of the heater unit which concerns on this Embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows the modification of the heater unit which concerns on this Embodiment.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 as follows. In addition, this Embodiment is the illustration regarding the invention described in the claim, and does not limit a claim. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the description of the specification but by the scope of claims, and includes all modifications belonging to the scope equivalent to the scope of claims.

[Configuration of heater unit]
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air heater 1 is stored in the casing of the heater unit 12 in a state where the air heater 1 is disposed above by the moving mechanism (moving means) 2 (standby state). On the other hand, FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air heater 1 is disposed below by the moving mechanism 2 with the shutter 5 opened and opened.

  As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the air heater 1 is stored in a housing composed of a heater unit base plate 3, a bottom plate 4 and a cover 6. The moving mechanism 2 is fixed to the fixed plate 3 a in the housing, and the moving mechanism 2 is connected to the lid member 11. The lid 11 is connected to the air heater 1.

  Further, the casing is formed with a projecting port 5a through which the air outlet of the air heater 1 can project at a position facing the long axis direction of the air heater 1, and the heater unit base plate 3 is supplied with gas. A gas discharge port 10 is formed in each of the mouth 7 and the cover 6. A shutter (first lid) 5 is provided on the outside of the housing with respect to the protrusion 5a. The air ejection port ejects heated air that heats the workpiece.

  The air heater 1 only needs to be able to heat an object to be processed disposed at a position along the protruding port 5a outside the housing with heated air, and a known air heater can be used. For example, Super Air Heater SEN manufactured by Infridge Industries Co., Ltd., Hot Air Heater SAH manufactured by Fintech Co., Ltd. and the like can be mentioned.

  The air heater 1 is connected to the moving mechanism 2 via a lid member (second lid portion) 11. The moving mechanism 2 can move the air heater 1 in the direction of the protrusion 5a as shown in FIG. 1B by moving the shaft portion connected to the lid member 11 into the housing of the moving mechanism 2. it can.

  A flexible pipe (illustrated by a dotted line) for supplying air is connected above the air heater 1, and air can be introduced into the air heater 1 by an open / close valve (not shown). In the heater unit 12 according to the present embodiment, the air outlet from which the air heated by the air heater 1 is ejected is disposed below (at the front end) of the air heater 1.

  A cooling gas pipe (not shown) is connected to the gas supply port 7 from the outside of the heater unit 12. Further, the heater unit base plate 3 is provided with a gas flow path through which cooling gas is introduced from the gas supply port 7 into the housing. The gas flow path includes an upper gas introduction port (gas introduction port) 8 and It is connected to a lower gas inlet (gas inlet) 9. Further, the lower gas inlet 9 and the gas outlet 10 are arranged at opposing positions.

  In addition, the said cooling gas should just be able to suppress the temperature rise in a housing | casing, For example, inert gas, such as argon, air, nitrogen, etc. can be used.

  In the heater unit 12, the gas supply port 7 is formed at one place, but a plurality of gas supply ports 7 may be formed. However, when the lid member 11 is provided as shown in FIG. 1A, one of the upper gas inlet 8 and the lower gas inlet 9 can be covered with the lid member 11. As shown in FIG. 1B, when the lower gas inlet 9 is covered with the lid member 11, most of the cooling gas is introduced into the casing from the upper gas inlet 8 that is not covered with the lid member 11. It becomes. That is, since the gas supply port 7 is connected to both the upper gas introduction port 8 and the lower gas introduction port 9, it is possible to avoid an unnecessary increase in internal pressure in the gas flow path.

  In the heater unit 12, the air flow path through which the heated air heated by the air heater 1 moves in a state where the air heater 1 is housed in the casing is a direction from the air outlet of the air heater 1 toward the protrusion 5 a. A is formed along A. On the other hand, the gas flow path through which the cooling gas introduced from the lower gas inlet 9 moves is formed along the direction B from the lower gas inlet 9 toward the gas outlet 10.

  According to this configuration, the cooling gas can be directly introduced into the air flow path through which the high-temperature heated air flows from the lower gas inlet 9 that is open. For this reason, the cooling gas is promptly introduced into the hottest portion in the housing, and the temperature rise in the housing can be suppressed very efficiently. That is, heat propagation to the periphery of the heater unit 12 can be suppressed very efficiently. Note that “the lower gas inlet 9 is in an open state” can be said to be “main gas inlet”.

  Further, in the heater unit 12, a gas discharge port 10 is formed at a position facing the lower gas introduction port 9 located in the gas flow path intersecting the air flow path. For this reason, as shown to Fig.1 (a), a cooling gas flow path will be located between the upper gas introduction port 8 and the gas exhaust port 10. FIG. Therefore, the cooling gas that merges with the heated air at the position where the air flow path and the cooling gas flow path intersect is quickly discharged from the gas discharge port 10. Therefore, it is possible to efficiently discharge the generated heat amount to the outside.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the heater unit 12 can store the air heater 1 by moving the air heater 1 into the housing by the moving mechanism 2. And in the state where the air heater 1 is stored in the housing, the shutter 5 covers the protrusion 5a. Further, since the cooling gas is mainly introduced into the casing through the gas supply port 7 from the lower gas inlet 9, the pressure inside the casing becomes higher than the outside, and volatile components such as organic solvents are generated from the outside of the casing. Reaching the inside of the housing can be suppressed. For this reason, the heater unit of a safe structure is realizable.

  Furthermore, according to the above configuration, in the state where the air heater 1 is stored in the casing, the cooling gas is introduced into the casing and discharged from the gas discharge port 10, so that the heat in the casing is discharged. Can do. For this reason, it is possible to provide the heater unit 12 which suppresses the heat propagation from the air heater 1 to the surrounding members.

  In the heater unit 12, the casing is composed of the heater unit base plate 3, the bottom plate 4, and the cover 6 as described above. However, the housing only needs to store the heater unit 12 and be formed with an opening such as the protrusion 5a, and is not limited to the configuration of the heater unit base plate 3, the bottom plate 4, and the cover 6. For example, the bottom plate 4 and the cover 6 may be configured integrally and the housing may be configured by combining with the heater unit base plate 3 later.

  Next, the state of the heater unit 12 in FIG. 1B is for ejecting the air heated by the air heater 1 below the heater unit 12. In this state, the object to be processed is placed below the heater unit 12. Place and heat-treat.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, the heater unit 12 is moved in the direction of the protrusion 5a by the moving mechanism 2 so as to protrude the air outlet of the air heater 1. That is, the moving mechanism 2 changes the relative distance between the protrusion 5 a and the air heater 1. With the movement of the heater unit 12, the lid member 11 is also moving at the same time.

  By the way, in the standby state in which the air heater 1 is positioned above (see FIG. 1A), the opening of the upper gas inlet 8 is narrowed by the lid member 11, and the inlet of the main cooling gas is the lower gas inlet. Nine. On the other hand, in the processing state in which the air heater 1 is located below (see FIG. 1B), the opening of the lower gas inlet 9 is narrowed by the lid 11, and the main cooling gas inlet is connected to the lid 11. The upper gas inlet 8 is not covered. That is, the covering state of the upper gas inlet 8 and the lower gas inlet 9 with the lid 11 is different between the standby state of FIG. 1A and the processing state of FIG.

  In the heater unit 12, the air heater 1 is moved by the moving mechanism 2 as described above, and the lid member 11 is moved to change the open / closed states of the upper gas inlet 8 and the lower gas inlet 9. Thus, the cooling gas flow path is changed by changing the open / closed state of both gas inlets. There may be a part where the temperature is partially raised in the housing, but the cooling gas flow path is changed as described above, so that the cooling gas can be introduced in a wider range and the exhaust heat efficiency is improved. Can do.

  In addition, it is preferable that the cooling channel is changed in both states in which the amount of heat generation is greatly different as described above. By changing the cooling gas flow path for both the above states, the exhaust heat efficiency can be greatly improved.

  As a modification of the heater unit, as in the heater unit 12a shown in FIG. 2, the heater 1 and the mechanical components for fixing and holding the heater 1 are disposed in the vicinity of the upper gas inlet 8 and the lower gas inlet 9, and the air heater The arrangement may be such that the open / close state is changed by 1.

  A specific configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air heater 1 is stored in the casing of the heater unit 12 in a state where the air heater 1 is disposed above by the moving mechanism (moving means) 2 (standby state). On the other hand, FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the air heater 1 is disposed below by the moving mechanism 2 with the shutter 5 opened and opened.

  FIG. 2A shows a state in which the air heater 1 is disposed above, and the upper gas inlet 8 is shielded by a mechanical component that holds and fixes the air heater 1, and the lower gas in a relatively open state. The inlet 9 is the main gas inlet. FIG. 2B shows a state in which the air heater 1 is lowered, the lower gas inlet 9 is shielded by the air heater 1, and the upper gas inlet 8 that is relatively open is the main gas inlet. It has become. Although the change of the gas inlet is different, the effect of improving the exhaust heat efficiency is the same as in FIG.

  In the heater unit according to the present invention, if at least one gas inlet (upper gas inlet and lower gas inlet) is formed, the cooling gas can be introduced into the casing, It is possible to suppress the heat propagation to. When there is one gas inlet, the lid member 11 is not necessary. However, from the viewpoint of exhaust efficiency, it is needless to say that three or more gas inlets may be provided.

[Inkjet coating equipment]
Next, the ink jet coating apparatus 14 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the ink jet coating apparatus 14. As shown in FIG. 3, the inkjet coating device 14 moves the stage 16 on which the substrate 15 is placed, the inkjet unit 13 including the inkjet head that ejects ink onto the substrate 15, the heater unit 12 b, and the inkjet unit 13 in the x-axis direction. And a drive unit 17b for moving the inkjet unit 13 in the y-axis direction.

  FIG. 4 is a transparent perspective view showing the internal structure of the inkjet unit 13 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the ink jet unit 13 basically includes an ink jet head 18 and a lifting mechanism (lifting means) 19 for moving the ink jet head 18 up and down, and a nozzle moisturizing unit (nozzle moisturizing means) 20 is a nozzle. It is mounted on a nozzle moisturizing unit driving mechanism 21 for driving the moisturizing unit 20.

  Further, the heater unit 12b is disposed adjacent to the ink jet unit 13, and the heater unit base plate of the heater unit 12b is disposed on the back surface of the ink jet unit base plate (fixing member) 22 on which the elevating mechanism (elevating means) 19 is installed. 3 is fixed. The heater unit 12b and the inkjet unit 13 are connected.

  In the arrangement shown in FIG. 4, a gas supply port 23 is provided in the inkjet unit base plate 22 so that a cooling gas pipe (not shown) can be connected to the gas supply port 7 for introducing the cooling gas to the heater unit 12. Is provided. Accordingly, the cooling gas pipe can be connected to the heater unit 12b through the gas supply port 23. As described above, unlike the heater unit 12 described with reference to FIG. 1, the gas supply port 7 may be configured not to be provided in the heater unit base plate 3.

  The heater unit 12b connected to the inkjet unit 13 will be described below. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the heater unit 12b. The heater unit 12b has the same basic configuration as the heater unit 12, and common members are given the same member numbers and descriptions thereof are omitted. The housing of the heater unit 12b includes an ink jet unit base plate 22 fixed to an ink jet unit including an ink jet head that discharges micro droplets. The ink jet unit base plate 22 is an upper gas inlet that is a gas inlet. 8 and at least a part of a gas supply path for supplying a cooling gas to the lower gas inlet 9 is formed.

  According to said structure, when the heater unit 12b will be in a standby state, heating air will arise in a housing | casing as the air heater 1 heats air. However, in addition to the exhaust heat from the gas discharge port 10, the cooling gas supplied from the gas supply port 23 can cool the inkjet unit base plate 22 by air. By these actions, it is possible to keep the amount of heat conducted through the inkjet unit base plate 22 very low. Therefore, according to the ink jet coating apparatus 14, an effect of suppressing the positional deviation amount of the ink jet head 18 by thermal expansion or the like can be obtained particularly when droplet application is required with high positional accuracy.

  Alternatively, there may be a plurality of gas supply ports 23 as in the heater unit 12c of FIG. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the heater unit 12c. In FIG. 6, gas supply ports 23 are arranged at two locations, upper and lower, and a gas path indicated by a dotted line is branched and connected to the two gas supply ports 23.

  Next, the processing operation of the inkjet coating apparatus 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. Based on a control signal from a control unit (not shown), the driving unit 17a that moves in the x-axis direction and the driving unit 17b that moves in the y-axis direction are driven to move the ink-jet head 18, and on the desired processing position, that is, The inkjet unit 13 moves so as to be on the position of the object to be processed on the substrate 15. As the control unit, a known control unit including a CPU (central controlling unit) or the like can be used.

  At this time, the air heater 1 and the inkjet head 18 are in a standby state. That is, the air heater 1 is moved to the moving mechanism 2, and the ink jet head 18 is moved to the elevating mechanism 19 and stored in the heater unit 12 and the ink jet unit 13. In the inkjet unit 13, the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 can be moved by the nozzle moisturizing unit driving mechanism 21 to the vicinity of the nozzle unit (not shown) on the lower surface of the inkjet head 18. By installing the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 at a position facing the inkjet head 18, it is possible to suppress drying and solidification of ink at the nozzle unit.

  The nozzle moisturizing unit 20 according to the present embodiment is not particularly limited. For example, the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 is a structure that stores the main solvent of the ink used in the inkjet head 18 and faces the nozzle surface of the inkjet head 18. It suffices to have a function of generating the main solvent vapor at the position. For example, a porous member such as PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) sponge may be disposed in the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 as a solvent absorbing member, a main solvent may be stored in the solvent absorbing member, and steam may be generated from above. In addition, a pipe for supplying the main solvent periodically and a solvent supply system may be separately provided, or a structure in which a solvent storage space is provided below the solvent absorbing member is provided, and a solvent replenishment system is provided. A structure that reduces the frequency may be used. As a moisturizing method for moisturizing the nozzle portion of the ink jet head 18 by the nozzle moisturizing portion 20, a known moisturizing technique related to the ink jet technology may be used. Further, the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 may be provided with a function capable of performing preliminary ejection inspection as necessary.

  After the ink jet unit 13 has moved to a desired position, the ink jet head 18 is moved downward from the opening 25 of the ink jet unit bottom plate 24 using the elevating mechanism 19, and the ink is supplied to the ink jet head by an ink supply system (not shown). 18 and the inkjet head 18 is operated to discharge fine droplets onto the substrate 15 to perform a desired coating operation.

  After the coating operation using the ink jet head 18 is completed, it may be returned to the standby state again. That is, the inkjet head 18 is raised again, and the nozzle moisturizing unit 20 is disposed so as to face the vicinity of the nozzle surface of the inkjet head 18.

  In a general ink jet technique, fine droplets are ejected in a state where a gap between an ink jet head and an object such as a substrate is set to a narrow gap of about 1 mm or less. If high temperature gas is blown from the air heater onto the substrate to be processed in this state, the high temperature gas reaches the inkjet head and there is a risk of ignition, or the ink near the nozzle of the inkjet head dries out. There may be a problem that a state in which a normal discharge operation is possible cannot be maintained.

  The ink jet coating apparatus 14 includes a lifting mechanism 19 that lifts and lowers the ink jet head 18, and the ink jet head 18 can be lifted and retracted after the ink jet head 18 finishes the coating process of the fine droplets. Thereby, it can suppress that the high temperature gas ejected from the air heater 1 reaches an inkjet head. That is, it is possible to improve the safety of the inkjet coating apparatus 14 and the holding performance in a state where normal operation is possible.

  In parallel with the operation of returning to the standby state or after the operation is completed, the air heater 1 is arranged on the droplet application position by the driving unit 17a that moves in the x-axis direction and the driving unit 17b that moves in the y-axis direction. Let

  Further, in parallel with the moving operation or after the operation is completed, air is supplied to the air heater 1 of the heater unit 12 and energization of the air heater 1 is started to raise the temperature.

  The temperature of the heated air ejected from the air heater 1 is measured by a thermocouple (not shown) installed in the vicinity of the air ejection port, reaches a desired set temperature by controlling the energization amount, and maintains the temperature. After the jetted air reaches a predetermined temperature and stabilizes, the shutter 5 is operated to be in an open state, and then the air heater 1 is lowered by the moving mechanism 2. The operation is controlled by the control unit (not shown) that has received the output signal related to the temperature of the thermocouple.

  Thereby, hot air heated to a predetermined temperature can be sprayed on the applied fine droplets, and the solute components can be fired by heating the fine droplets. The cooling gas introduced into the heater unit 12 may be always supplied from the gas supply port 23. As described above, in the ink jet coating apparatus 14 according to the present embodiment, the ink droplets are directly fired by the air heater 1 with a high-precision coating operation to the specific position of the micro droplets by the ink jet head 18. Two processing operations can be performed.

  As described above, the droplet application operation is performed by the inkjet head 18. On the other hand, during the coating operation, in a state where the main solvent component of the ink is volatilized on the substrate 15 and the vapor concentration is high, the air heater 1 can be stored and retracted in the heater unit 12b. .

  Here, if the cooling gas is constantly supplied to the heater unit 12b, the pressure inside the heater unit 12b is always higher than the outside, and the gas flows out to the outside. That is, since the pressure and explosion proof are applied to the heater unit 12b, there is an effect of suppressing the main solvent component of the ink from entering the heater unit 12b.

  In the above series of processing operations, energization of the air heater 1 is started with the air heater 1 stored in the heater unit 12b. When such energization is performed by a conventional air unit, it is recalled that a situation occurs in which high-temperature gas is gradually ejected from the air heater into the heater unit 12b.

  However, the heater unit 12b according to the present embodiment has an effect of effectively exhausting heat or suppressing heat conduction to surrounding structures due to heat transfer due to the following effects.

  That is, in the heater unit 12b based on the present embodiment, the cooling gas is introduced into the heater unit 12 with the lower gas inlet 9 as the main gas inlet while the air heater 1 is stored. At this time, the gas flow path of the cooling gas is linearly formed to the gas discharge port 10 disposed to face the lower gas introduction port 9. The flow path formed by the high-temperature air ejected from the air heater 1 intersects the cooling gas flow path of the cooling gas, and mixing of the heated air and the cooling gas occurs to lower the gas temperature.

  Furthermore, if a sufficiently large amount of cooling gas is introduced than the flow rate of the high-temperature heated air ejected from the air heater 1, the cooling gas reaches the gas discharge port 10 without substantially changing the gas flow path of the cooling gas. It can be discharged to the outside. That is, since the high-temperature gas ejected from the air heater 1 can be pushed to the gas discharge port 10 over a short distance and released to the outside by the cooling gas, the effect of exhaust heat is high and the temperature rise of the heater unit 12b is increased. Can be suppressed.

  In the state where the air heater 1 is lowered and firing is performed, the cooling gas is introduced into the heater unit 12 from the upper gas inlet 8 as the main gas inlet. In this processing state, the high-temperature heated air ejected from the air heater 1 is released to the outside of the heater unit 12b, and thus may be ignored as a calorific component that raises the temperature of the heater unit 12. In this processing state, the cylindrical side surface portion in the vicinity of where the resistance heating portion of the air heater 1 is disposed becomes the main heat generation unit.

  In the heater unit 12 according to the present embodiment, the cooling gas introduced from the upper gas inlet 8 proceeds downward along the longitudinal direction of the air heater 1 and is discharged from the gas outlet 10. It becomes possible to exhaust heat effectively by flowing the cooling gas along the part. Further, as the temperature distribution of the space in the heater unit 12, the temperature of the upper space becomes high, but according to this state, it is possible to efficiently exhaust heat.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and the technical means disclosed in different embodiments can be appropriately combined. Such embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The present invention can be applied to a process of manufacturing a large amount of electronic devices on a large substrate such as a liquid crystal display, and in particular, as a repair operation for a small amount of defects, application of a microdroplet to a specific location and drying of the droplet, It can be suitably applied to a process that requires firing.

1 Air heater 2 Moving mechanism (moving means)
3 Heater unit base plate (housing)
4 Bottom plate (housing)
5 Shutter (first lid)
5a Protruding port 6 Cover (housing)
7 Gas supply port 8 Upper gas inlet 9 Lower gas inlet 10 Gas outlet 11 Lid (second lid)
12, 12a, 12b, 12c Heater unit 13 Inkjet unit 14 Inkjet coating apparatus 15 Substrate 16 Stage 17a Drive unit moved in the x-axis direction 17b Drive unit moved in the y-axis direction 18 Inkjet head 19 Lifting mechanism (lifting means)
20 Nozzle moisturizing part (nozzle moisturizing means)
21 Nozzle Moisturizing Unit Drive Mechanism 22 Inkjet Unit Base Plate 23 Gas Supply Port 24 Inkjet Unit Bottom Plate 25 Opening

Claims (9)

In a heater unit comprising an air heater having an air outlet at the tip for ejecting heated air for heating an object to be processed, and a housing for storing the air heater,
The casing is formed with a projecting port from which the air jet can project,
The protruding port is provided with a first lid for changing the open / closed state of the protruding port,
In the housing, moving means is arranged to change the relative distance between the protrusion and the air heater by moving the air heater,
The casing is provided with a gas inlet for introducing a cooling gas for suppressing a temperature rise in the casing into the casing, and a gas outlet for discharging the cooling gas to the outside of the casing. A featured heater unit. A plurality of the gas inlets are formed,
2. The heater according to claim 1, wherein the moving means is provided with a second lid portion that moves and moves the air heater to change the open / closed state of the plurality of gas inlets. unit. A standby state in which the air heater is stored in the housing;
In the processing state in which the air ejection port is located outside the housing from the protruding port by the moving means,
The heater unit according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the plurality of gas inlets is opened and closed. In the standby state, the gas introduction port and the gas discharge port are formed such that the air flow path through which the heated air moves and the cooling gas flow path through which the cooling gas introduced from the gas introduction port intersects. And
The heater unit according to claim 3, wherein the gas inlet is in an open state.   The heater unit according to claim 4, wherein a gas discharge port is formed at a position facing a gas introduction port for introducing the cooling gas into the cooling gas flow channel intersecting the air flow channel. The housing includes a fixing member that is fixed to an ink jet unit including an ink jet head that discharges micro droplets.
The heater unit according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the fixing member forms at least a part of a gas supply path for supplying a cooling gas to the gas introduction port. The heater unit according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
An inkjet unit including an inkjet head that discharges microdroplets;
An ink jet coating apparatus, wherein the heater unit and the ink jet unit are connected.   The ink jet coating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the ink jet unit is provided with lifting means for moving the ink jet head up and down.   The ink jet coating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the ink jet unit includes nozzle moisturizing means for moisturizing a nozzle portion of an ink jet head.

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