JP2011056374A - Coating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating apparatus for forming a coating film on a substrate by ejecting ink from its slit nozzle thereonto, capable of forming a uniform and stable coating film. <P>SOLUTION: The coating apparatus including a blade that is made to contact the tip of its slit nozzle, a holder for holding the blade, and a travelling mechanism capable of causing the holder to travel throughout the whole range of a coating area on a substrate to be coated, is characterized in that the blade is allowed to travel in a state of contacting the tip of the slit nozzle by the travelling mechanism. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for uniformly forming a coating film on a substrate to be coated such as glass.

  In a manufacturing process of a plasma display panel, a liquid crystal panel, and the like, a coating apparatus is used to form various coatings and cleaning liquids on a substrate.

  At that time, what is often a technical problem is the quality at the start of application (hereinafter referred to as the start end). This is because the quality of the start end is greatly influenced by the state of the tip of the slit nozzle when the ink first contacts the substrate. For example, when the remaining liquid of the ink applied last time is attached to the tip of the nozzle, the bead amount in that portion becomes excessive, and as a result, there is a possibility that unevenness such as film thickness abnormality or drying abnormality may occur. Also, if the ink adhering to the tip dries and the solid matter sticks near the tip, the ink may be repelled or sucked in that portion, resulting in uneven bead formation, which may cause uneven coating. There is.

  In order to avoid the above-described problems, how to keep the tip of the slit nozzle clean has attracted more attention due to the recent miniaturization of devices.

  In recent years, a method for cleaning the tip by moving a member for removing excess ink at the tip of the slit nozzle in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle is generally used. For example, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a cleaning liquid is supplied. There have been proposed a method of cleaning while spraying and a method of drying by blowing air.

JP 2007-237122 A JP 2008-149224 A

  On the other hand, in recent years, with the miniaturization and complexity of devices, there has been a demand for materials that have fewer impurities and that can be removed at low temperatures. Sometimes it is not. When such an ink is used, the ink tends to dry and the sediment and aggregation of solids in the ink are severe, so that the tip of the slit nozzle tends to become dirty and difficult to remove.

  In addition, with regard to the positional relationship between the slit nozzle cleaning unit and the slit nozzle tip, strict positioning accuracy is usually required because there is concern about increased equipment costs and processing tact when trying to ensure strict positional accuracy. Although not required, when the ink as described above is used, the nozzle tip is likely to wrap around and sag, and even a slight misalignment tends to be deficient in cleaning.

  Furthermore, as for the member that contacts the tip of the slit nozzle, a soft material is usually used because it may damage the tip. Since contact with the tip portion becomes insufficient, frequent member replacement is likely to be required.

  For such a situation, the methods described in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 and 2 cannot completely remove the excess liquid and attached solid content at the tip of the slit nozzle, causing problems such as coating unevenness at the start end. was there.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus capable of improving the uniform coating film, particularly the film formation stability of the starting end.

  In order to achieve the above object, a coating apparatus according to the present invention is a coating apparatus that forms a film on a substrate to be coated by ejecting coating ink from a slit nozzle, and holds a blade that contacts the tip of the slit nozzle and the blade And a travel mechanism that can move the entire region of the coating region on the substrate to be coated, and the travel mechanism allows the blade to move in contact with the slit nozzle tip.

  Here, it is desirable that the blade is indirectly or directly held by the holder or the traveling mechanism by an elastic mechanism, and further has a member that covers the tip of the slit nozzle, and a tank that is filled with coating ink. It is desirable that the pump for feeding the coating ink to the slit nozzle and the pump be connected to the tank and the slit nozzle by a pipe for delivering the coating ink.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, in the coating device which discharges ink from a slit nozzle and forms a film on a board | substrate, it becomes possible to suppress the stain | pollution | contamination of a slit nozzle tip and to form the stable application | coating start end part.

Schematic which shows the coating device in embodiment of this invention. Sectional drawing of the slit nozzle washing | cleaning apparatus in embodiment of this invention Schematic which shows the coating device which has a circulation mechanism in embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing only the slit nozzle of the coating apparatus and its cleaning device in the embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the slit nozzle 1 can be moved up and down by an elevating mechanism (not shown). And the washing | cleaning apparatus of the front-end | tip of the slit nozzle 1 is comprised as follows.

  A blade 2 for contacting the tip of the slit nozzle 1 and scraping off excess ink and dirt is fixed to a holder 3, and the holder 3 is connected to a traveling base 5 via a guide rail 4. For this reason, the holder 3 can move in the arrow B direction on the traveling base 5. The traveling base 5 can be moved in the direction of arrow C by the traveling guide 6. As described above, the holder 3 can be moved over the entire coating region of the substrate to be coated by the guide rail 4, the traveling base 5, and the traveling guide 6 which are traveling mechanisms.

  The procedure for cleaning the tip of the slit nozzle 1 with the above configuration will be described below. First, before the ink is applied to the substrate to be coated, the slit nozzle 1 or the cleaning unit is moved so that the slit nozzle 1 is positioned immediately above the blade 2. Subsequently, the slit nozzle 1 is lowered in the direction of arrow A to a position where the tip is in contact with the blade 2.

  At this time, since the holder 3 is movable by the guide rail 4 even if there is some deviation in positional accuracy, the holder 3 is moved according to the position of the tip of the slit nozzle 1 and controlled so that the blade 2 is in an appropriate contact state. Is done.

  Subsequently, the traveling base 5 is moved in the longitudinal direction of the slit nozzle 1 by the traveling guide 6, and the state of the nozzle tip can be adjusted by the blade 2.

  At this time, even if there is a slight deviation between the running direction of the running guide 6 and the longitudinal direction of the slit nozzle 1, the holder 3 moves on the guide rail 4 so that the deviation is corrected automatically. Since it can move in the C direction, cleaning is possible while maintaining proper contact between the blade 2 and the nozzle tip.

  As described above, by maintaining the tip portion of the slit nozzle 1 in an appropriate state, liquid unevenness at the start of coating can be suppressed, and a more uniform film surface can be obtained.

  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the slit nozzle 1 and the cleaning device at the tip thereof viewed from the side. The holder 3 holding the blade 2 is connected by a traveling base 5 and a spring mechanism 7. On the other hand, a load is applied to the movement of the holder 3 in the horizontal direction. In addition to the connection by the spring mechanism 7 as described above, any elastic mechanism may be used as long as the blade 2 is indirectly or directly connected to the holder 3 or the traveling base 5.

  With the configuration shown in FIG. 2, when the slit nozzle 1 descends and comes into contact with the blade 2, the spring mechanism 7 exerts a force to press the blade 2 against the tip of the slit nozzle 1, thereby cleaning the tip more reliably. Can be effective.

  FIG. 3 shows an extracted part of the coating apparatus having a cleaning unit at the tip of the slit nozzle 1 in the coating apparatus of the present invention as described above. Thus, the coating apparatus of the present invention seals the tank 8 filled with ink, the return pipe 9 from the slit nozzle 1 to the tank 8, the pump 10 for circulating ink, and the tip of the slit nozzle 1. The lid member (seal member) 11 is provided.

  In the case of having such a circulation system, in order to circulate ink, the slit nozzle 1 must move and descend onto the seal member 11 to seal the nozzle. Stain due to adhesion of ink and solid content becomes remarkable.

  It is extremely difficult to stably remove this dirt with a conventional cleaning apparatus configuration, and the effect of the present invention is particularly great.

  1 to 3, the shape of the blade 2 is a V-shape matching the nozzle tip. However, the shape is not limited to this, and there is no problem as long as the shape contacts the nozzle tip, such as a straight shape or an arch shape. The same applies to the attachment angle of the blade and is not limited to this figure.

  In addition, the movement mechanism of the holder 3 in FIG. 1 is shown by using the guide rail 4 in this figure, but this is not a limitation, and there is no problem if the mechanism is such that the holder can move in a direction different from the traveling direction. Absent. Further, in FIG. 1, the movement is only in the horizontal direction, but the structure in which the holder 3 is movable in the vertical direction and the vertical displacement between the longitudinal direction of the nozzle and the traveling direction of the traveling guide 6 can be corrected. Is possible.

  Further, in FIG. 2, a ring-shaped spring is used as a spring mechanism for connecting the holder 3 and the traveling base 5, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and any elastic mechanism such as a method using a leaf spring or magnetism or compressed gas may be used. The effect of can be produced.

  In FIG. 3, the circulation piping path is configured such that ink flows in from the center of the slit nozzle 1 and flows out in the direction of the piping 9. However, the configuration is not limited to this, and the configuration can circulate ink from the tank 8 to the slit nozzle 1. If so, no problem.

  Since the present invention is not directly related to the present invention, it is generally indispensable as a coating apparatus in order to avoid complication of the drawing. However, the slit nozzle holding mechanism, stage, piping, etc. are partially omitted.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for realizing a uniform and stable coating start end.

1 slit nozzle 2 blade 3 holder 4 guide rail 5 travel base 6 travel guide

Claims (3)

In a coating apparatus that forms a film on a substrate to be coated by ejecting coating ink from a slit nozzle,
A blade that contacts the tip of the slit nozzle, a holder that holds the blade, and a travel mechanism that moves the holder over the entire coating region on the substrate to be coated;
The coating apparatus, wherein the blade is movable in a state where the blade is in contact with the tip of the slit nozzle by the traveling mechanism. The coating device according to claim 1, wherein the blade is held indirectly or directly by the holder or the traveling mechanism by an elastic mechanism. A tank having a lid at the tip of the slit nozzle and filled with the coating ink; a pump for feeding the coating ink to the slit nozzle; and the pump receiving the tank, the slit nozzle, and the coating ink. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating apparatus is connected by a delivery pipe.

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