JP2011183291A - Nozzle, coating apparatus, coating method, and method for manufacturing display member - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve a nozzle having a plurality of coating liquid outlets and forming a striped coated film, the nozzle forming the striped coated film having a considerably fine width even with any characteristic coating liquid or even under any coating condition; to achieve a coating apparatus and a coating method; and to provide a method for manufacturing a display member which manufactures a high-quality display member at low cost. <P>SOLUTION: The nozzle includes a pair of opposed flat surfaces for guiding the coating liquid ejected from the outlet in a coating liquid-ejecting direction, and the pair of opposed flat surfaces are formed to be parallel with a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the nozzle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is mainly used in the field of producing display members such as organic EL and color filters for color liquid crystal displays. Specifically, the present invention is applied to the surface of a member to be coated such as a glass substrate in a stripe shape with a predetermined width. The present invention relates to an improvement in a nozzle capable of forming a large number of films, a coating apparatus and a coating method, and a method for manufacturing a display member.

  As is known in the art, on the back plate of organic EL, color filters for color liquid crystal displays, and plasma display panels, straight lines formed between banks of polyimide, black matrix, glass, etc., arranged at equal pitches There is a step of filling the grooves with a coating solution to form a coating film in stripes. As a means for forming such a stripe-shaped coating film on a coated member such as a glass substrate by screen coating or a nozzle method is well known, a secondary material such as a screen is unnecessary and necessary. The nozzle method capable of forming a coating film by supplying a coating solution that is expensive in an amount is superior in cost and has recently attracted particular attention.

Also in the nozzle method, there are an inkjet nozzle method in which a coating liquid is intermittently ejected from a nozzle having a plurality of discharge ports provided in accordance with the arrangement pitch of stripes, and a continuous discharge nozzle method in which the coating liquid is continuously discharged. is there. Since the inkjet nozzle method can control the discharge of the coating liquid at each discharge port, it can cope with any pattern shape formed on the member to be coated and has high flexibility, but there is a problem with uniformity and discharge stability. is there. On the other hand, the continuous discharge nozzle method discharges the coating liquid simultaneously from all the discharge ports, so that it can be applied only in a stripe shape, but on the contrary, it is widely used in the manufacturing process because of its excellent uniformity and discharge stability. . Furthermore, in the continuous discharge nozzle method, the clearance between the nozzle and the member to be coated, that is, the clearance is relatively large, and the coating liquid is ejected from the nozzle in a columnar flow (straight bar shape) having a stripe width. A columnar flow method applied to a member to be coated (for example, Patent Document 1), a bead that is a liquid pool is formed between the nozzle outlet and the member to be coated with a relatively small clearance, and the bead width in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle There is a bead method (for example, Patent Document 2) for forming a stripe-shaped coating film having a corresponding width. The bead method has a feature that the range of the viscosity of the coating solution and the coating film thickness that can be applied is much wider than that of the columnar flow method and is easy to use.
The nozzles used in the bead method disclosed in Patent Document 2 are the nozzles shown in FIGS. 5A and 6 (an enlarged perspective view of the nozzle 92 seen in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 5A is shown). 92, in order to easily form a bead B having a desired width between the discharge port surface 94 including the discharge port 95 and the substrate A which is a member to be coated, the discharge port surface 94 is more coated than the other portion. A protruding portion 93 is formed so as to protrude in the discharge direction. In such a nozzle 92, as shown in FIG. 5A, the coating liquid discharged from the discharge port 95 expands to the length LI in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 of the discharge port surface 94 of the protrusion 93. The width LB of the stripe-shaped coating film applied to A is at least the length LI. When the clearance LC between the discharge port surface 94 and the substrate A increases, the width LB of the stripe-shaped coating film becomes larger than the length LI of the discharge port surface 94 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92. That is, if the width LB of the stripe-shaped coating film is to be made smaller, the length LI of the discharge port surface 94 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 must be made smaller accordingly. However, since the length LI of the discharge port surface 94 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 is difficult to be set to 100 μm or less due to processing limitations, the means disclosed in Patent Document 2 has a target width LB of 100 μm or less. It is difficult to form a striped coating film.
Further, when a low-viscosity coating liquid of 50 mPa · s or less is applied at a relatively low film thickness with a Wet film thickness of 20 μm or less and at a low speed, the discharge speed of the coating liquid from the discharge port 95 becomes low. As shown in (b), the discharged coating liquid passes through the discharge port surface 94 of the protruding portion 93 and rises to the middle of the inclined portion 96 of the protruding portion 93, and then hangs down by gravity and is applied to the substrate A. The As a result, the width LB of the stripe-shaped coating film applied to the substrate A is considerably larger than the length LI of the discharge port surface 94 in the nozzle longitudinal direction, and a fine stripe-shaped coating film having a width LB of 100 μm or less is formed. I can't hope for anything.

JP 2003-10755 A JP 2007-187948 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and in a nozzle that has a plurality of coating liquid discharge ports to form a stripe-shaped coating film, regardless of the characteristics of the coating liquid and the coating conditions, it has a very fine width. An object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing method of a display member capable of manufacturing a high-quality display member at low cost while realizing a nozzle, a coating apparatus, and a coating method capable of forming a stripe-shaped coating film.

The object of the present invention is achieved by the means described below.
(1) The nozzle according to the present invention has a coating liquid supply port to which a coating liquid is supplied, a manifold that widens the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply port in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle, and the coating liquid is distributed through the manifold. A nozzle having a plurality of branched portions and a plurality of discharge ports at one end where the branch portions are open and from which the coating liquid is discharged to the outside, and further applying the coating liquid discharged from the discharge ports A pair of opposed planes for guiding in the liquid discharge direction are provided, and the pair of opposed planes are formed so as to be parallel to a direction substantially orthogonal to the nozzle longitudinal direction. Here, it is preferable to provide a third plane that guides the coating liquid ejected from the ejection port in the coating liquid ejection direction and intersects each of the pair of opposed planes.
(2) A coating apparatus according to the present invention includes the nozzle according to (1), a coating liquid supply unit that includes a unit that supplies a fixed amount of coating liquid to the nozzle, a mounting table that holds a member to be coated, A moving means for relatively moving at least one of the nozzle and the mounting table, a proximity means for bringing the nozzle close to the member to be coated, and an ejection port of the nozzle are aligned at an arbitrary position on the member to be coated. And an alignment means for forming a stripe-shaped coating film.
(3) In the coating method according to the present invention, the nozzle described in (1) is brought close to the member to be coated, the coating liquid is supplied from the coating liquid supply device to the nozzle, and the coating liquid is discharged from the plurality of discharge ports of the nozzle. The striped coating film is formed on the member to be coated by discharging the substrate and moving the member to be coated relative to the nozzle.
(4) A method for producing a display member according to the present invention is characterized in that a display member is produced using the coating method described in (3).

  When the nozzle, the coating apparatus, and the coating method according to the present invention are used, a pair of opposed planes that guide the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle discharge port in the coating liquid discharge direction are parallel to a direction substantially orthogonal to the nozzle longitudinal direction. Thus, the coating liquid flows out from the space formed by the pair of opposed planes in the coating liquid discharge direction and the coating direction, and is applied to the member to be coated in stripes. By this action, a stripe-shaped coating film can be formed with a width of the facing interval between a pair of facing planes that is substantially equal to the length of the ejection port in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle, regardless of the characteristics of the coating solution and the coating conditions. . As a result, it is possible to easily form a very fine stripe-shaped coating film having a width of 100 μm or less regardless of the characteristics of the coating solution and the coating conditions.

  According to the method for manufacturing a display member according to the present invention, since the display member is manufactured using the above-described excellent coating method, a high-definition and high-quality display member can be manufactured at a low cost.

It is a perspective view which shows one embodiment of the stripe coating device concerning this invention. It is an expanded front sectional view of the nozzle 30 of FIG. It is an expansion perspective view of the nozzle 30 seen from the arrow E direction of FIG. It is an expansion perspective view of nozzle 100 which is another example of an embodiment of the present invention. It is an expanded front sectional view showing an example of the conventional nozzle. FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a nozzle 92 viewed from the direction of arrow E in FIG. 5.

  A nozzle, a coating apparatus, and a coating method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a stripe coating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front sectional view of the nozzle 30 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a nozzle 30 viewed from the direction of arrow E in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a nozzle 100 which is another embodiment of the present invention.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a stripe coating apparatus 1 capable of coating a coating solution in a stripe shape is shown.

  The stripe coating apparatus 1 includes a nozzle 30 that applies a coating solution to a substrate A that is a member to be coated, an XYZ stage 10 that is attached to the nozzle 30 and the substrate A, and that freely moves them, and a coating solution that is applied to the nozzle 30. Coating liquid supply device 50 that is a coating liquid supply means for supplying the liquid, and a control device 80 that comprehensively controls the operation of the XYZ stage 10 and the coating liquid supply device 50.

A substrate A is placed on the suction plate 14 of the XYZ stage 10, and a nozzle 30 is fixedly held on the Z-axis linear drive device 12. A large number of suction holes (not shown) are arranged on the upper surface of the suction disk 14, and the substrate A can be sucked and held by a vacuum pressure from a vacuum source (not shown). The suction disk 14 is attached to the X-θ drive device 16 via a rotation shaft (not shown) at the center. The X-θ drive device 16 is fixed on the base 26 and can freely rotate the suction disk 14 in the XY plane and reciprocate in the X direction (longitudinal direction of the substrate A). Note that the directions of X, Y, and Z are as shown in FIG. 1, and the origin O of each axis of X, Y, and Z is provided at the lower left corner of the XYZ stage 10 and the direction of the arrow at the origin O Is the positive direction. The rotation direction in the XY plane is the θ direction.
The Z-axis linear drive device 12 that holds the nozzle 30 can move the nozzle 30 up and down freely in the Z direction, that is, in the vertical direction, and is fixed to the bracket 18. The bracket 18 is further held by the Y-axis linear drive device 20. The Y-axis linear drive device 20 is fixed on a portal base 28 arranged at one end on the base 26, and can reciprocate the bracket 18 freely in the Y direction. As a result, the nozzle 30 fixed to the bracket 18 can be freely reciprocated in the Y direction. Further, a CCD camera 22 and a height sensor 24 are also mounted at a position corresponding to the bracket 18 above the suction plate 14. The CCD camera 22 is electrically connected to the control device 80, detects the position of the alignment mark on the substrate A, and transmits it to the control device 80. The control device 80 is connected to the X-θ drive device 16 or the Y-axis linear. By driving the driving device 20, the alignment of the substrate A with respect to the nozzle 30 and the relative rotation angle setting in the θ direction can be performed. On the other hand, the height sensor 24 detects the position of the upper surface of the substrate A, that is, detects the thickness of the substrate A, and transmits it to the control device 80 that is electrically connected. Based on the signal, the control device 80 drives the Z-axis linear drive device 12 and the like, whereby the clearance between the lowermost surface of the nozzle 30 and the upper surface of the substrate A, that is, the clearance can be set to a predetermined value.

  When the nozzle 30 is viewed again, the supply hose 68 connected to the coating liquid supply device 50 and the nozzle 30 are always connected, so that the coating liquid can be supplied from the coating liquid supply device 50 to the nozzle 30. The coating solution supplied to the nozzle 30 is discharged from the nozzle 30 toward the substrate A through the internal passage of the nozzle 30.

  The coating liquid supply device 50 includes a filter 56, a supply valve 52, a syringe pump 60, a suction valve 54, a suction hose 70, and a tank 72 on the upstream side of the supply hose 68. A coating liquid 74 is stored in the tank 72 and is connected to a pressure air source 76 so that an arbitrary back pressure can be applied to the coating liquid 74. The coating liquid 74 in the tank 72 is supplied to the syringe pump 60 through the suction hose 70. In the syringe pump 60, a syringe 62 and a piston 64 are attached to the main body 66. Here, the piston 64 can freely reciprocate in the vertical direction by a driving source (not shown). The syringe pump 60 is a constant-capacity intermittent supply type pump that can fill a syringe 62 having a constant inner diameter with a coating liquid 74, push it out by a piston 64, and supply a fixed volume of coating liquid to the nozzle 30. When filling the syringe 62 with the coating liquid 74, the suction valve 54 is opened, the supply valve 52 is closed, and the piston 64 is moved downward. When supplying the coating liquid filled in the syringe 62 toward the nozzle 30, the suction valve 54 is closed, the supply valve 52 is opened, and the piston 64 is moved upward, so that the piston 64 moves inside the syringe 62. The coating liquid 74 is pushed up and discharged.

  As described above, the X-θ drive device 16, the Y-axis linear drive device 20, the Z-axis linear drive device 12, the coating liquid supply device 50, etc. that are operated by the control signal are all electrically connected to the control device 80. ing. And a control command signal is transmitted to each apparatus according to the automatic driving program incorporated in the control apparatus 80, and predetermined operation | movement is performed. When changing the conditions, if a change parameter is appropriately input to the operation panel 82, the change parameter is transmitted to the control device 80, and the change of the driving operation can be realized. In particular, in the coating liquid supply device 50, the syringe pump 60, the supply valve 52, and the suction valve 54 are electrically connected, and the electrical signal is taken into the control device 80, or by a command from the control device 80, Arbitrary operations such as supplying the coating liquid 74 to the nozzle 30 can be performed. By using the control device 80, the operation of the stripe coating apparatus 1 can be freely controlled, so that coating under given coating conditions can be performed freely.

  Next, the nozzle 30 which is one element constituting the stripe coating apparatus 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  2A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the central portion of the nozzle 30 shown in FIG. 1 viewed in the Y direction, that is, the direction perpendicular to the short side direction of the substrate A and the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 (X direction). FIG. 2B shows a situation in which the coating liquid 74 indicated by oblique lines is applied in stripes to the substrate A separated by the clearance LC by the nozzle 30. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the vicinity of the discharge port 42 of the nozzle 30 as viewed from the direction of arrow E in FIG. The nozzle 30 moves in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2A, that is, the Y direction in FIG. 1, and this is the coating direction. A manifold 34 extending in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 is formed at the center of the main body 32 constituting the nozzle 30. A coating liquid supply port 36 is provided above the center of the manifold 34. The coating liquid supply port 36 is connected to the supply hose 68 of FIG. The coating liquid 74 can be supplied from the coating liquid supply device 50 to the manifold 34 through the coating liquid supply port 36, and the coating liquid 74 can be filled in the manifold 34. A plurality of branch portions 40 are formed in the lower plate portion 38 below the manifold 34 so as to communicate with the manifold 34 as flow paths. One end of the branching portion 40 opposite to the manifold 34 opens to the outside of the nozzle 30 at the discharge port surface 45 to form a discharge port 42. Accordingly, since the discharge port 42 is in fluid communication with the coating liquid supply device 50, when the coating liquid 74 is supplied from the coating liquid supply device 50, the coating liquid 74 is discharged from the discharge port 42 as shown in FIG. It is discharged in the downward direction (Z direction). This direction is the coating liquid discharge direction.

  Further, a pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B are formed adjacent to both sides of the discharge port 42 so as to extend from the outer surface 46 by a length LA in the coating liquid discharge direction. The pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B are substantially parallel to the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the nozzle 30, that is, the Y direction, and form a space S separated by a gap LS. On the nozzle longitudinal direction side of the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B, bottom end surfaces 49A and 49B, inclined portions 47A and 47B, and an outer surface 46 are formed in a row. Further, the ridge line portions connecting the pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and 44B and the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B are the lowermost end portions 48A and 48B. The lowermost end surfaces 49 </ b> A and 49 </ b> B are configured to be substantially parallel to the discharge port surface 45 including the discharge port 42. The pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B guide the coating liquid 74 discharged from the discharge port 42 once in the coating liquid discharging direction, and when the coating liquid 74 fills the space S, in addition to the coating liquid discharging direction, the Y direction A function of pouring out the coating solution also in the coating direction is provided. Since a plurality of discharge ports 42 are provided at a pitch LR in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30, a pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and B, and lowermost end portions 48A and B, lowermost end surfaces 49A and B, and inclined portions 47A and B connected thereto. Similarly, a plurality of sets are provided at a pitch LR in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30.

  With the above configuration, the coating liquid 74 discharged from the discharge port 42 is guided to the pair of opposed planes 44A and 44B, and then the coating liquid is discharged from the space S formed between the pair of opposed planes 44A and 44B. It can flow in a total of three directions, upstream and downstream in the coating direction. When the coating liquid 74 flowing out from the space S formed between the pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and 44B is applied onto the substrate A that moves relative to the nozzle 30, a stripe-shaped coating film is formed on the substrate A. Is done.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2B, the situation where a stripe-shaped coating film is formed by the nozzle 30 will be described in more detail. First, above the stationary substrate A, the nozzle 30 is placed in close proximity so that the lowermost end surfaces 49A, B are positioned by a clearance LC. Subsequently, the coating liquid 74 is discharged from the discharge port 42, and the discharged coating liquid 74 is guided in the coating liquid discharge direction by the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B. When the guided coating liquid 74 fills the space S formed between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B, the coating liquid 74 from the space S extends in a total of three directions including the coating liquid discharge direction, the upstream side and the downstream side in the coating direction. After flowing out, a bead B is formed toward the substrate A. Since the nozzle 30 and the substrate A are stationary, the bead B formed at this time extends to the entire bottom surface 49A, B in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle (X direction), and the length LE (bottom) on the nozzle 30 side. The length in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 in the region occupied by the end faces 49A, B) is a width LB slightly larger than the length LE on the substrate A. In the state where the bead B is formed in this way, the coating liquid 74 is continuously discharged from the discharge port 42, and either one or both of the nozzle 30 and the substrate A is relatively moved in the coating direction. For example, as shown in FIG. When the substrate A is moved to the near side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface, a stripe-shaped coating film having a width LB that is slightly larger than the length LE is formed on the substrate A at the beginning. When the coating is further continued, the coating liquid 74 filled in the space S formed between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B is moved relative to the nozzle 30. Flows out of the space S more downstream than the lower side in the coating direction, that is, in the moving direction side of the substrate A (the front side in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface), and as a result, an amount of the coating liquid 74 corresponding to the coating thickness. Is applied onto the substrate A. At this time, the coating liquid does not flow out of the space S from the moving direction of the substrate A to the upstream side in the coating direction (the back side perpendicular to the paper surface).

  The bead B is pulled by the coating liquid 74 that mainly flows from the downstream side in the coating direction of the space S formed between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B, so that a negative pressure is generated inside the bead B. Therefore, the bead B is reduced in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 from the position of both ends where the ridgeline where the lowermost end surfaces 49A, B and the inclined portions 47A, B intersect to the position of the lowermost end portions 48A, B, FIG. As shown in (b), on the nozzle 30 side, the width of the gap LS between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B is obtained. At this time, a stripe-shaped coating film having a width LB slightly larger than the gap LS between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B is formed on the substrate A, and this state continues until the end of coating. That is, the width LB is slightly larger than the length LE for a very small section of 1 mm or less immediately after the start of coating, and the width LB is slightly larger than the gap LS between the opposing flat surfaces 44A and B in the section to the subsequent coating end portion. Thus, a stripe-shaped coating film is formed. In this case, as the clearance LC is reduced, the width LB of the stripe-shaped coating film further approaches the gap LS between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B.

  That is, in the conventional nozzle 92 in which the coating liquid is directly discharged from the discharge port 95 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 and applied to the substrate A, the length LJ of the discharge port 95 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 is longer than that. The length LI of the large discharge port surface 94 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 (corresponding to the length LE in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the bottom end surface 49A, B of the nozzle 30 in FIGS. 2 and 3) is minimum. In the nozzle 30 of the present invention, the nozzle 30 of the present invention guides the coating liquid 74 from the discharge port 42, and is provided with a pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B from which the coating liquid flows in a total of three directions. The gap LS between the pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and B equal to the length LD in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 of the discharge port 42 can be set to the minimum stripe width that can be applied.

  This effect works regardless of the characteristics of the coating solution, whether the coating speed is high or small. For example, when a low viscosity coating liquid of 50 mPa · s or less is applied at a relatively thin film thickness of 20 μm or less and at a low speed, the conventional nozzle 92 has a discharge speed of the coating liquid from the discharge port 95. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the discharged coating liquid passes through the discharge port surface 94 of the protruding portion 93 and rises to the middle of the inclined portion 96 of the protruding portion 93. The width LB of the coating film was considerably larger than the longitudinal length LI of the nozzle 92 of the discharge port surface 94. On the other hand, in the nozzle 30 of the present invention, the coating liquid flows out from the space S to the downstream side in the coating direction and travels toward the substrate A regardless of the discharge speed of the coating liquid 74 from the discharge port 42. A stripe-shaped coating film having a width of the gap LS between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B equal to the length LD in the longitudinal direction of the 42 nozzles 30 can be formed.

The length LI of the discharge port surface 94 of the conventional nozzle 92 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 92 and the bottom end surface 49A of the present invention, and the length LE of the nozzle 30 of the B in the longitudinal direction LE are the discharge port surface 94 and the bottom end surface 49A. In order to secure the rigidity of the portion where B is formed, it is necessary to make it at least 20 μm larger than the length of the discharge port in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle. Therefore, it can be said that the nozzle 30 of the present invention can form a coating film having a fine stripe width that is at least 20 μm smaller than the conventional nozzle.
Next, when FIG. 4 is seen, the nozzle 100 which is another example of the embodiment of the nozzle according to the present invention is three-dimensionally shown by enlarging the vicinity of the discharge port 42. The nozzle 100 is exactly the same as the nozzle 30 except that it includes a third plane 41 that intersects each of the pair of opposed planes 44A and 44B. It is preferable that the third plane 41 is not directly under the discharge port 42 but is continuous with the discharge port surface 45 upstream of the discharge port 42 in the application direction (Y direction). With such a configuration, the coating liquid 74 discharged from the discharge port 42 surely flows out from the space S formed between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B to the downstream side in the coating direction (Y direction) Since it never flows out upstream in the coating direction, the bead B can be more stably reduced. As a result, it is possible to easily and stably form a stripe-shaped coating film having a fine width that minimizes the gap LS between the pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and B on the substrate A.

  The shape of the discharge port 42 of the nozzle 30 may be any shape such as a circular shape, a rectangular shape, or a long hole shape when viewed from the discharge direction of the coating liquid 74 (the direction of arrow E in FIG. 2). It is preferable that the length LD in the nozzle longitudinal direction (X direction) of the nozzle 30 of the discharge port 42 and the gap LS between the pair of opposed planes 44A and 44B are substantially the same, but even if the gap LS is made larger. good. Further, the length LE in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the nozzles 30 at the lowermost end surfaces 49A and B of the nozzle 30 is preferably 20 to 100 μm longer than the gap LS between the pair of opposed planes 44A and B as described above. . As a result, it is possible to obtain rigidity that maintains the parallelism of the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and 44B. The length La from the discharge port surface 45 including the discharge port 42 to the lowermost end surfaces 49A, B of the nozzle 30 is preferably 10 to 100 μm. If it is less than this range, a negative pressure is generated in the bead B as described above, and the space S necessary for reducing the bead B cannot be sufficiently formed. The rigidity which maintains the parallelism of 44A and B cannot be secured. If the length La is 10 to 100 μm, the discharge port surface 45 and the outer surface 46 may or may not be included on the same plane. The angle φ1 of the inclined portions 47A and B with respect to the discharge direction (Z direction) of the coating liquid 74 may be any angle, but is preferably −10 to 90 degrees, more preferably 0 to 45 degrees. In other words, the angle φ1 = 90 degrees represents that the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B of the nozzle 30 are flush with the outer surface 46 of the lower plate portion 38.

  The application direction (Y direction) length LH of the discharge port surface 45 is preferably 50 to 500 μm longer than the application direction (Y direction) length LF of the discharge port 42. If it is less than this range, the processing difficulty for forming the discharge port surface 45 becomes high, and if it exceeds this range, the capacity of the bead B increases and the magnitude of the negative pressure generated inside hardly increases. The reduction effect is limited. In addition, the application direction (Y direction) length LG of the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B of the nozzle 30 is preferably equal to or less than the application direction (Y direction) length LH of the discharge port surface 45. Due to this relationship, the inclined portion 43 connected to both sides of the discharge port surface 45 in the application direction (Y direction) has an angle φ2 with respect to the application liquid discharge direction. The angle φ2 is preferably 0 to 80 degrees.

  The length LA of the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B is preferably 0 to 2000 μm, more preferably 20 to 500 μm. Here, LA = 0 indicates that the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B of the nozzle 30 and the outer surface 46 of the lower plate portion 38 exist in the same plane. When the length LA is within the above range, a stripe-shaped coating film can be formed immediately after the start of coating. However, when the length LA is larger than 2000 μm, the shape processing difficulty of the nozzle 30 increases. The length LE in the longitudinal direction (X direction) of the nozzles 30 of the lowermost end surfaces 49A and B is preferably 30 to 300 μm, more preferably 40 to 200 μm, and the length LG in the coating direction (Y direction) is preferably 10 to 500 μm. More preferably, it is 20-200 micrometers. The length LH in the application direction (Y direction) of the discharge port surface 45 is preferably 60 to 700 μm, more preferably 70 to 600 μm. The length LD in the longitudinal direction (X direction) and the length LF in the application direction (Y direction) of the nozzle 30 of the discharge port 42 are preferably 10 to 200 μm, more preferably 20 to 100 μm. Within this range, it is easy to avoid clogging failure due to foreign matter or the like when the coating liquid 74 passes between the branching portion 40 and the discharge port 42, and an appropriate flow rate for stably discharging the coating liquid 74 is set. Can be obtained. The gap LS between the pair of opposing flat surfaces 44A and B is preferably 10 to 200 μm, more preferably 20 to 100 μm.

  Next, a stripe coating method for the substrate A that is a member to be coated with the coating liquid 74 using the stripe coating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, as a preparatory work, the coating liquid 74 is already filled from the tank 72 to the nozzle 30 in FIG. 1, and the work for discharging the residual air to the nozzle 30 after the tank 72 has already been completed. At this time, the coating liquid supply device 50 is in a state where the syringe 62 is filled with the coating liquid 74, the suction valve 54 is closed, the supply valve 52 is opened, and the piston 64 is at the lowermost position. 30 can be supplied. The suction plate 14 and the nozzle 30 are also waiting at the initial positions. That is, the suction disk 14 is arranged so that the origin position is in the X direction and the longitudinal end of the suction disk 14 is parallel to the X direction in the rotation direction (θ direction) in the XY plane. The nozzle 30 is arranged at the origin position in the Y direction and at the highest position in the Z direction.

  Subsequently, when an operation start signal of the stripe coating device 1 is transmitted from the operation panel 82 to the control device 80, lift pins (not shown) rise on the surface of the suction plate 14, and the substrate A as a member to be coated is transferred from the transfer device (not shown). Placed on top of lift pins. Then, the lift pins are lowered and the substrate A is placed on the suction disk 14 and simultaneously held by suction. Next, the height sensor 24 detects the height of the substrate A, and the CCD camera 22 detects two alignment marks, so that the coating direction determined by the alignment mark matches the Y direction. The -θ drive device 16 is driven to rotate the suction disk 14 in the θ direction. Next, the X-θ driving device 16 is driven to move the suction plate 14 in the X direction so that the ejection port 42 of the nozzle 30 is positioned immediately above the predetermined coating start position of the substrate A, and the Y-axis linear device 20 is moved. To move the nozzle 30 in the Y direction. When the nozzle 30 comes just above the coating start position on the substrate A, the nozzle 30 is stopped, and the clearance between the substrate A and the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B of the nozzle 30 is set to a predetermined clearance LC according to the measured height of the substrate A. The Z-axis linear drive device 12 is driven so that the nozzle 30 is lowered and stopped in the Z direction. In a state where the clearance between the substrate A and the nozzle 30 is stationary at the clearance LC, the syringe pump 60 of the coating liquid supply device 50 is driven to raise the piston 64 upward at a predetermined speed, so that the coating liquid 74 is moved to the nozzle. 30. When the supplied coating liquid 74 is discharged from the discharge port 42 of the nozzle 30 and a bead B is formed between the lowermost end surfaces 49A and 49B of the nozzle 30 and the substrate A, the Y-axis linear drive device 20 is driven. The nozzle 30 is started to move in the Y direction at a constant speed, and the application of the coating liquid 74 to the substrate A is started to form a stripe-shaped coating film. When the application end position of the substrate A comes to the position of the discharge port 42 of the nozzle 30, the piston 64 of the syringe pump 60 is stopped to stop the supply of the application liquid 74, and then the Z-axis linear drive device 12 is driven. The nozzle 30 is raised. As a result, the bead B formed between the nozzle 30 and the substrate A is cut off, and the striped application is completed. The Y-axis linear drive device 20 continues to move even after the application is completed, and once the nozzle 30 reaches the end point position, the nozzle 30 temporarily stops, and this time, the Y-axis linear drive device 20 is driven in the opposite direction toward the initial position to move the nozzle 30. Let Subsequently, the X-θ drive device 16 is driven to move the suction plate 14 in the X direction, and the Y-axis linear device 20 is driven to move the nozzle 30 in the Y direction so that the next coating start position on the substrate A is reached. The discharge port 42 of the nozzle 30 is made to come next. In parallel with these operations, after the supply valve 52 is closed and the suction valve 54 is opened, the piston 64 is lowered at a constant speed, and the application liquid 74 in the tank 72 is filled in the syringe 62. After the completion of filling, the piston 64 is stopped, the suction valve 54 is closed, the supply valve 52 is opened, and it waits for the nozzle 30 to be on the coating start position of the substrate A, and the same operation is repeated to apply the next stripe-shaped coating. A film is formed.

When the application is completed, the nozzle 30 returns to the initial position, and when the planned application on the substrate A is completed, the adsorption of the substrate A is released, the lift pins are raised, and the substrate A is lifted. At this time, the lower surface of the substrate A is held by a transfer device (not shown), and the substrate A is transported to the next step. In parallel with this, the supply valve 52 is closed and the suction valve 54 is opened, and then the piston 64 is lowered at a constant speed to fill the syringe 62 with the coating liquid 74 in the tank 72. After the completion of filling, the piston 64 is stopped, the suction valve 54 is closed, the supply valve 52 is opened, the next substrate A is waited for, and the same operation is repeated. The filling of the application liquid 74 into the syringe pump 60 may be performed at any time, and may be performed every 1 to N (integer) application, or when application to 1 to N substrates is completed. You may go.
In the above coating method, the substrate A is an example of an embodiment in which the substrate A is not formed with a pattern such as a partition. However, even if the substrate A is a patterned substrate in which a plurality of partitions are formed in stripes. Good.

  Although the present invention can be applied to any coating solution, its effectiveness clearly appears in a coating solution having a viscosity of 0.5 to 100 mPa · s, and it is more preferable to apply it. Furthermore, as application conditions, the application speed is 1 mm / s to 500 mm / s, more preferably 10 mm / s to 350 mm / s. The clearance LC is preferably 10 to 300 μm, more preferably 20 to 150 μm. The coating thickness is not particularly limited, but the thinner one exerts its effectiveness further. Therefore, the wet thickness is preferably 1 to 20 μm, more preferably 2 to 10 μm.

  In the above embodiment, the syringe pump 60 is used as an intermittent constant volume pump. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as a constant volume of coating liquid is supplied. ), Diaphragm pumps, tubing pumps, gear pumps and the like are preferably used.

  The stripe coating apparatus 1 may be configured to change the configuration so that the nozzle 30 is fixed and the substrate A is moved in the Y direction so as to be applied in a stripe shape.

The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples.
On a non-alkali glass substrate having a thickness of 370 × 470 mm and a thickness of 0.7 mm, 4609 polyimide films having a thickness of 2 μm, a width of 30 μm, and a length of 350 mm in the short side direction of the substrate are arranged as a bank at a pitch of 100 μm in the long side direction of the substrate An organic EL pattern substrate was prepared. The polyimide film was in the center of the substrate, and 10 mm on both sides in the short-side direction of the substrate and 5 mm on both sides in the long-side direction of the substrate were non-product regions without a striped polyimide film. Further, between the polyimide films as the partition walls, an ITO transparent electrode was formed as an anode on a glass substrate with a thickness of 0.1 μm, and a hole injecting and transporting layer was formed thereon with a thickness of 0.2 μm. The hole injecting and transporting layer was mainly composed of a mixture of polyethylene dioxythiophene and polystyrene sulfonic acid.

  Next, RGB light emitting materials were prepared in order to apply R, G, and B light emitting materials in stripes on the hole injecting and transporting layer between the barrier ribs. Each of the RGB light emitting materials is a polyphenylene vinylene polymer, the R light emitting material has a solid content concentration of 1% and a viscosity of 2 mPa · s, the G light emitting material has a solid content concentration of 0.5% and a viscosity of 1.5 mPa · s, The B light emitting material had a solid content concentration of 1% and a viscosity of 1 mPa · s. A dedicated nozzle 30 was prepared in order to perform striped coating with the stripe coating apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

  In the nozzle 30, 512 rectangular discharge ports 42 having a length LD in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30 of 60 μm and a coating direction length LF of 80 μm were arranged at a pitch LR = 300 μm. Furthermore, the lowermost end surface 49A of the nozzle 30 and the longitudinal length LE of the nozzle 30 of B = 100 μm, the application direction length LG = 180 μm, the application direction length LH = 380 μm of the discharge port surface 45, a pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A, B Length LA = 300 μm, length La from the discharge port surface 45 to the bottom end surface 49A, B = 100 μm, φ1 = 20 degrees, and φ2 = 45 degrees. The gap LS between the pair of opposed flat surfaces 44A and B was 60 μm, which is the same as the length LD of the discharge port 42 in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle 30. The nozzle 30 was attached to the stripe coating apparatus 1 and the above R light emitting material was filled from the tank 72 to the nozzle 30. After the substrate on which the polyimide stripe film was formed was adsorbed to the adsorbing plate 14, the alignment mark on the substrate was detected by the CCD camera 22, and the nozzle 30 was placed immediately above the application start position of the substrate.

  The application start position is the position in the X direction where the groove between the banks of the substrate closest to the origin coincides with the discharge port closest to the origin of the nozzle 30, and the substrate end closest to the origin in the Y direction. The position was 5 mm from the part. Further, the rotation angle in the XY plane of the substrate A was adjusted by the X-θ drive device 16 so that the direction in which the discharge ports 42 are connected in a straight line and the direction in which the polyimide film extends as a stripe are orthogonal. Based on the height of the substrate A measured by the height sensor 24, the Z-axis linear drive device 12 is driven so that the clearance LC = 30 μm is provided to the clearance between the lowermost end surfaces 49A, 49B and the substrate A. The nozzle 30 was lowered.

  Subsequently, the piston 64 of the syringe pump 60 is raised at a constant speed so that the supply speed becomes 0.95 μl / s, and discharge of the R light emitting material is started from the nozzle 30. The drive of the linear drive device 20 was started and the movement of the nozzle 30 in the Y direction was started at 66 mm / s. Then, the piston 64 of the syringe pump 60 was stopped at a position 360 mm from the application start position in the short side direction of the substrate, and the Z-axis linear drive device 12 was driven at a position 365 mm from the application start position to raise the nozzle 30. . With these operations, 512 stripe-shaped coating films with a width of 70 μm and a wet thickness of 0.4 μm are formed from the coating start position of 5 mm from the edge of the substrate A, and R light emitting material is filled between the polyimide film banks. There were no items on the bank or any unfilled parts.

  In the coating direction, a stripe-shaped coating film having a width of 65 μm was formed on a substrate without a bank pattern by 5 mm before and after the bank. Next, the application start position of the nozzle 30 is moved by 153.6 mm in the negative X direction to perform the same application, and the application start position of the nozzle 30 is further moved by 153.6 mm in the positive X direction. The coating was repeated to form a total of 1536 striped coating films, and all the R light emitting materials were filled between the banks of the polyimide film that had been planned. The substrate on which the application of the R light emitting material was completed was taken out and dried on a hot plate at 120 ° C. for 10 minutes.

  Subsequently, the same stripe coating was applied to the G light emitting material and the B light emitting material. The G light emitting material is positioned so that it can be applied between the banks immediately adjacent to the R light emitting material, and is the same as the R light emitting material except that the discharge speed when applying the stripe of the syringe pump 60 is 1.9 μl / s. Application and drying were performed under conditions. The B light-emitting material was positioned so that it could be applied between the banks between the R light-emitting material and the G light-emitting material. As a result of the above application and drying, 1536 striped coating films each having a thickness of 4 nm, a width of 70 μm, and a length of 360 mm were formed from the coating start position 5 mm from the edge of the substrate for each of the R, G, and B light emitting materials. Then, the R, G, and B light emitting materials were regularly filled between the banks of all the polyimide films. The thickness unevenness of the R, G, and B light emitting materials was very good at ± 5% or less in the product region excluding 5 mm from the coating start and end portions.

  And the negative electrode was vapor-deposited so that the RGB light-emitting material and the partition which were apply | coated last may be covered, and the organic EL element was created. When this organic EL element was further processed in a subsequent process to form a display device, the RGB color was uniform over the entire surface of the substrate, and the quality was satisfactory.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION This invention can be utilized for manufacture of the member for various displays which forms a striped coating film in the surface on substrates, such as organic EL, a color filter, a plasma display.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Stripe coating apparatus 10 XYZ stage 12 Z-axis linear drive device 14 Suction board 16 X-theta drive device 18 Bracket 20 Y-axis linear drive device 22 CCD camera 24 Height sensor 26 Base 28 Gate type base 30 Nozzle 32 Main body 34 Manifold 36 Coating liquid supply port 38 Lower plate portion 40 Branch portion 41 Third plane 42 Discharge port 43 Inclined portion 44A, B A pair of opposed flat surfaces 45 Discharge port surface 46 Outer surface 47A, B Inclined portion 48A, B Bottom end portion 49A, B Lower end surface 50 Coating liquid supply device 52 Supply valve 54 Suction valve 56 Filter 60 Syringe pump 62 Syringe 64 Piston 66 Main body 68 Supply hose 70 Suction hose 72 Tank 74 Coating liquid 76 Pressure air source 80 Controller 82 Operation panel 92 Nozzle 93 Protrusion 94 Discharge port surface 95 Discharge port 96 Inclined portion 100 Nozzle A Substrate B Bead LA Length La of a pair of opposed planes 44A, B Length LB from discharge port surface 45 to bottom end surface 49 Width of striped coating film LC Clearance LD Longitudinal direction of nozzle 30 of discharge port 42 (X direction) ) Length LE of the lowermost end surfaces 49A and B of the nozzle 30 in the longitudinal direction (X direction) LF The application direction (Y direction) length of the discharge port 42 LG The application direction of the lowermost end surfaces 49A and B (Y direction) ) Length LH Application direction (Y direction) length LI of discharge port surface 45 Length LJ of discharge port surface 94 in the longitudinal direction of nozzle 92 Length JL of discharge port 95 in the longitudinal direction LR Pitch LS Gaps between planes 44A and B S Space formed between a pair of opposed planes 44A and B θ Rotation direction φ1 in inclined plane φ1 Inclined portion 47A, angle B of coating liquid discharge direction φ2 Application liquid of inclined portion 43 To discharge direction Angle

Claims (5)

A coating liquid supply port to which the coating liquid is supplied; a manifold that widens the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply port in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle; a plurality of branch portions that communicate with the manifold and distribute the coating liquid; And a pair of opposed planes for guiding the coating liquid discharged from the discharge port in the direction of discharging the coating liquid. And the pair of opposed planes are formed so as to be parallel to a direction substantially orthogonal to the longitudinal direction of the nozzle. The nozzle according to claim 1, further comprising a third plane that guides the coating liquid discharged from the discharge port in the coating liquid discharge direction and intersects each of the pair of opposed planes. The nozzle according to claim 1 or 2, a coating liquid supply means including means for supplying a predetermined amount of coating liquid to the nozzle, a mounting table for holding a member to be coated, and at least one of the nozzle and the mounting table A moving means for relatively moving the nozzle, a proximity means for bringing the nozzle close to the member to be coated, and a positioning means for aligning the discharge port of the nozzle at an arbitrary position on the member to be coated. A coating apparatus for forming a striped coating film. The nozzle according to claim 1 or 2 is brought close to a member to be coated, the coating liquid is supplied from a coating liquid supply device to the nozzle, and the coating liquid is discharged from a plurality of discharge ports of the nozzle, thereby A coating method comprising forming a stripe-shaped coating film on a member to be coated by performing relative movement with respect to the nozzle. A display member is manufactured using the coating method according to claim 4, wherein the display member is manufactured.