JP2011218602A - Screen printing plate and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a screen printing plate that hardly causes a relative displacement between a printing pattern formed in an inner mesh and an alignment mark formed in an outer mesh, and manufactured at low cost, and to provide a method of manufacturing the same.SOLUTION: The screen printing plate 2 includes: an outer mesh 4 in which an opening 4c is arranged and which consists of a mesh made of a resin; an inner mesh 6 which is arranged at the opening 4c of the outer mesh 4 and consists of a metal mesh; an emulsion layer 16 for a printing pattern which is arranged in the inner mesh 6, in which a printing pattern 20 is formed, and which consists of a photosensitive resin; and an emulsion layer 14 for an alignment mark which is arranged in the outer mesh 4, in which an alignment mark 22 is formed, and which consists of a photosensitive resin. The printing pattern 20 and the alignment mark 22 are formed by that the emulsion layer 16 for a printing pattern and the emulsion layer 14 for an alignment mark are batch-exposed through a photomask F, and developed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen printing plate used for screen printing and a method for producing the same.

  Conventionally, a screen printing method has been used as a method for printing an electrode pattern of an electronic component such as a solar cell or a protective film pattern other than the electrode pattern. In the screen printing method, a screen printing plate made by coating a photosensitive emulsion on a mesh such as stainless steel, exposing and developing the screen is used. In this screen printing plate, in addition to the printing pattern corresponding to the printing material, alignment marks for aligning the printing material and the screen printing plate may be formed. The alignment mark is required to be arranged as close to the frame-shaped plate frame of the screen printing plate as possible in order to secure a large printing pattern area and to ensure high alignment accuracy. The

  For this reason, compared with the inner size of the frame-shaped plate frame, a plate-making method capable of ensuring a wide area where the alignment mark can be formed, that is, a plate-making method in which a stainless steel mesh is directly attached to the frame-shaped plate frame (directly stretched) However, it is usually adopted. However, this straight plate making method is biased from the viewpoint of suppressing bleeding during printing (how to stick the fiber direction of the stainless steel mesh diagonally by a certain bias angle with respect to the direction of the frame plate frame) ), The use efficiency of the stainless steel mesh is low, and the waste loss rate of the stainless steel mesh is high. For this reason, the straight plate making method is usually limited to the case where an inexpensive stainless steel mesh having a relatively large wire diameter is used.

  On the other hand, when using a high-opening stainless steel mesh that is expensive and has a thin wire diameter, in order to reduce manufacturing costs, an inexpensive polyester mesh (outer casing) provided with an opening and an opening of the outer casing A plate making method in which a screen body having a combination structure is formed by joining a stainless steel mesh (inner ridge) disposed on the metal plate with an adhesive is usually employed. However, in the screen body of this combination structure, since the alignment mark formation area has been limited to the inner collar portion in the past, the area where the alignment mark can be formed should be secured in a larger area compared to the inner dimension of the frame-shaped plate frame. I could not. For this reason, there was a problem that the alignment mark could not be arranged in the vicinity of the frame-shaped plate frame of the screen printing plate.

  As a method for solving this problem, there can be considered a method in which an alignment mark processed from a metal plate or an alignment mark processed from a sheet screen is attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the outer casing of a screen body having a combination structure (Patent Document 1). Nos. 0294-0296 and FIG. 6). In the screen printing plate using this method, the alignment mark can be arranged in the vicinity of the frame-shaped plate frame, and high-precision alignment accuracy can be ensured.

JP 2004-130820 A

  However, since the screen printing plate of Patent Document 1 is for attaching an alignment mark obtained by processing a metal plate or an alignment mark obtained by processing a sheet screen to the upper and lower surfaces of the outer casing of the screen body having a combination structure, There has been a problem that a relative misalignment tends to occur between the printed pattern formed on the inner collar and the alignment mark formed on the outer collar. In addition, it is necessary to process such an alignment mark separately, and further, a technique, an apparatus and a process for attaching the alignment mark to an accurate position on the upper surface and the lower surface of the outer casing are required, which makes the plate making process longer and the screen. This was a factor that increased the manufacturing cost of the printing plate.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a screen printing plate which is less likely to cause a relative displacement between a printing pattern formed on the inner rim and an alignment mark formed on the outer rim and which is inexpensive to manufacture. And a method of manufacturing the same.

This invention
An outer casing made of a resin mesh provided with an opening,
An inner casing made of a metal mesh disposed in an opening of the outer casing,
An emulsion layer for a printing pattern made of a photosensitive resin provided on the inner wall and having a printing pattern formed thereon;
An emulsion layer for alignment marks made of a photosensitive resin provided on the outer casing and having an alignment mark formed thereon,
The print pattern and the alignment mark are formed by collectively exposing and developing the emulsion layer for the print pattern and the emulsion layer for the alignment mark through a photomask,
A screen printing plate characterized by Here, the alignment mark refers to a mark for aligning the printing pattern position formed on the screen printing plate with the printing position of the substrate.

  In the present invention, since the alignment mark is formed on the outer casing portion, the alignment mark can be disposed in the vicinity of the frame-shaped plate frame, and high-precision alignment is possible. The printed pattern emulsion layer provided on the inner rim and the alignment mark emulsion layer provided on the outer rim are collectively exposed and developed through a photomask on which the printed pattern portion and the alignment mark pattern portion are drawn. For this reason, it is difficult for relative displacement to occur between the print pattern formed on the inner collar and the alignment mark formed on the outer collar. Furthermore, the alignment mark emulsion layer is exposed and developed on the outer shell made of resin mesh, and alignment marks are formed. Compared to the case where a metal mesh is used as the outer shell, it is unique to the metal mesh. The exposure accuracy is not deteriorated due to the reflection of light or the non-transmission of light.

In addition, this invention
Forming a screen body of a combination structure having an outer casing made of a resin mesh provided with an opening and an inner casing made of a metal mesh disposed in the opening of the outer casing;
Forming an emulsion layer for a printing pattern made of a photosensitive resin on the inner side of the screen body, and forming an emulsion layer for an alignment mark made of a photosensitive resin on the outer side of the screen body;
A step of simultaneously exposing and developing the emulsion layer for a printing pattern and the emulsion layer for an alignment mark through a photomask to form a printing pattern on the inner side and forming an alignment mark on the outer side;
A method for producing a screen printing plate, comprising:

  According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a screen printing plate that is less likely to cause a relative displacement between the printing pattern formed on the inner rim and the alignment mark formed on the outer rim and that is inexpensive to manufacture with high productivity. .

  According to the present invention, the printing pattern emulsion layer provided on the inner rim and the alignment mark emulsion layer provided on the outer rim are collectively provided via the photomask on which the printing pattern portion and the alignment mark pattern portion are drawn. Since exposure and development are performed, the print pattern and the alignment mark can be formed without causing a relative positional shift between them. Furthermore, by forming an alignment mark emulsion layer on the outer shell made of a resin mesh and exposing it, the exposure accuracy caused by reflection and light impermeability peculiar to the metal mesh is not caused, and desired Since the alignment mark can be formed, the printing accuracy can be improved. In addition, by using a resin mesh for the outer casing of the screen body and a metal mesh for the inner casing, the amount of expensive metal mesh used can be reduced, reducing the production cost of the screen printing plate. Can be reduced.

  The above-mentioned object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments for carrying out the invention with reference to the drawings.

(A) is a top view which shows one Embodiment of the screen printing plate which concerns on this invention, (B) is a reverse view, (C) is a schematic block diagram. It is a figure for demonstrating one Embodiment of the manufacturing method of the screen printing plate shown in FIG. 1, (A) is a top view, (B) is a schematic block diagram. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the screen printing plate following FIG. 2, (A) is a top view, (B) is a schematic block diagram. It is a figure for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the screen printing plate following FIG. 3, (A) is a top view, (B) is a schematic block diagram. FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged schematic configuration diagram for explaining a method for manufacturing a screen printing plate subsequent to FIG. 4. It is a top view which shows a photomask. It is a top view for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the screen printing plate following FIG.

  An embodiment of the screen printing plate according to the present invention will be described. 1A is a plan view showing the screen printing plate 2, FIG. 1B is a back view, and FIG. 1C is a schematic configuration diagram. The screen printing plate 2 generally includes a screen body 8 having a combination structure having an outer collar 4 and an inner collar 6, and a frame-shaped plate frame 10.

  The frame-shaped plate frame 10 having a rectangular overall shape is made of aluminum, stainless steel, or the like, and has a rectangular cross section in order to reduce weight and mechanical distortion, and has elongated holes 10a and the like at predetermined intervals. Is formed.

  The outer casing 4 is made of a rectangular resin mesh, and is normally tensioned on the frame-shaped plate frame 10 (a method of tensioning with the fiber direction of the resin mesh parallel to the direction of the frame-shaped plate frame 10). Directly pasted with adhesive. The normal tension can be made because the printing pattern 20 is not formed on the outer casing 4 and therefore it is not necessary to consider bleeding suppression during printing. Therefore, the use efficiency of the resin mesh is increased, and the waste loss rate of the resin mesh can be reduced. A rectangular opening 4c for squeegeeing is formed at the center of the outer casing 4. The outer casing 4 is preferably a highly stretchable or elastic mesh. For example, a resin mesh such as polyester or nylon is used.

  On the printing surface 42 of the outer casing 4 (the surface on the back side of the screen printing plate 2), an emulsion layer 14 for alignment marks having a desired thickness made of a photosensitive resin is formed. In this alignment mark emulsion layer 14, circular alignment marks 22 are formed inside the frame-shaped plate frame 10 so as to be arranged in four directions, top, bottom, left and right. The rectangular portion 24 of the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 in the vicinity of the alignment mark 22 is colored. Thereby, the contrast of the alignment mark 22 can be made clear and the visibility of the alignment mark 22 by the CCD camera can be ensured. Further, a tension supporter 30 made of a metal tape is attached on the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 to reinforce and maintain the tension of the outer casing 4. The tension supporter 30 avoids the alignment mark 22 and the colored rectangular portion 24 and is arranged in a large area around the opening 4c in a ring shape.

  The inner collar 6 is made of a rectangular metal mesh, is disposed on the printed surface 42 of the outer collar 4 so as to close the opening 4c of the outer collar 4, and is applied to the outer periphery of the opening 4c. And is joined to the outer casing 4. At this time, it is preferable that the outer peripheral end portion of the inner flange 6 is joined in a state where it is slightly retracted from the edge of the adhesive 12. The inner collar 6 is joined to the outer collar 4 with a bias tension (a tension method in which the fiber direction of the metal mesh is slanted by a certain bias angle with respect to the direction of the frame-shaped plate frame 10). This is because the print pattern 20 is formed in the inner ridge 6 and it is necessary to consider the suppression of bleeding during printing. The inner collar 6 is preferably a rigid mesh, and for example, a mesh such as stainless steel is used. The inner collar 6 is arranged so that its four corners are close to the four corners on the inner periphery of the tension supporter 30.

  A printing pattern emulsion layer 16 having a desired thickness made of a photosensitive resin is formed on the printing surface 62 (the surface on the back side of the screen printing plate 2) of the inner casing 6. On the printing pattern emulsion layer 16, a printing pattern (for example, a comb-like electrode pattern of a solar cell) 20 is formed in a state where it is disposed in the central portion of the screen printing plate 2. In addition, the printing pattern 20 has only shown the occupation range with the dashed-dotted line for simplification, and the specific pattern figure is not displayed.

  The printing pattern 20 and the alignment mark 22 are formed by collectively exposing and developing the printing pattern emulsion layer 16 formed on the inner shell 6 and the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 formed on the outer shell 4 using the same photomask. ing. Therefore, unlike conventional screen printing plates in which an alignment mark formed by processing a metal plate is attached to the outer casing of a combination structure screen body, the alignment mark can be formed on the outer casing more easily. There is no need for special techniques, equipment and processes for processing and attaching metal plates to the exact position of the outer casing.

  In the screen printing plate 2 having the above configuration, since the alignment mark 22 is formed on the outer casing 4, the alignment mark 22 can be disposed in the vicinity of the frame-shaped plate frame 10, and high-precision alignment is possible. It becomes. The printing pattern emulsion layer 16 formed on the inner shell 6 and the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 formed on the outer shell 4 are collectively exposed and developed using the same photomask. The printed pattern 20 formed on the outer periphery 4 and the alignment mark 22 formed on the outer casing 4 can be formed without causing a relative displacement between them.

  Furthermore, by forming the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 on the outer shell 4 made of a resin mesh and exposing it, without deteriorating the exposure accuracy due to reflection and light impermeability specific to the metal mesh, A desired alignment mark 22 can be formed, and the printing accuracy can be improved. In addition, by using a resin mesh for the outer casing 4 and a metal mesh for the inner casing 6, it is possible to reduce the amount of high opening metal mesh that is expensive and has a thin wire diameter. The manufacturing cost of the printing plate 2 can be reduced.

  When the printing pattern 20 (for example, a comb-shaped electrode of a solar cell) is printed at a predetermined position on the cell substrate R using the screen printing plate 2 and a device having a CCD camera linked with a computer, the alignment mark 22 is used. Is recognized by a CCD camera installed above, below or above and below the screen printing plate 2, and the position of the screen printing plate 2 is accurately adjusted. Next, after the electrode material paste P is supplied to the squeegee surface 61 of the inner casing 6 (the front side surface of the screen printing plate 2), the squeegee surface 61 of the inner casing 6 is pressed by the edge of the squeegee S, Sweeping is performed while the printed surface 62 of the ridge 6 is brought into contact with the cell substrate R. As a result, the electrode material paste P passes through the mesh of the print pattern 20 formed on the inner shell 6, and the print pattern 20 made of the electrode material paste P is printed as an electrode at a predetermined position on the cell substrate R.

  Next, an embodiment of a method for manufacturing the screen printing plate 2 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an outer casing 4 made of a rectangular resin mesh is stretched on the frame-shaped plate frame 10 in a state where an appropriate tension is applied. That is, the outer collar 4 is directly bonded to the frame-shaped plate frame 10 using a tensioning machine. In this embodiment, the frame-shaped plate frame 10 has a rectangular shape with an overall outer dimension of 360 mm and an inner dimension of 300 mm. Use an instant adhesive for bonding. A polyester mesh (# 230-45 μm wire diameter) was used as the outer casing 4.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the inner casing 6 made of a rectangular metal mesh having an outer dimension smaller than the outer dimension of the outer casing 4 is joined to the printed surface 42 of the stretched outer casing 4. . That is, the inner flange 6 is bonded with the adhesive 12 at a position corresponding to the central portion of the outer flange 4. In the present embodiment, the adhesive 12 preferably has solvent resistance, water resistance, and abrasion resistance. For example, an adhesive such as epoxy or synthetic rubber is used. As the inner rod 6, an expensive stainless steel mesh (# 360-16 μm wire diameter) having a thin wire diameter and a high opening was used. The shape of the inner collar 6 is a square having a side of 200 mm, and the width W of the adhesive 12 is about 15 mm. At this time, in order to avoid a steep step between the outer flange 4 and the outer peripheral edge of the inner flange 6, the outer peripheral edge of the inner flange 6 slightly recedes from the edge of the adhesive 12 (this embodiment). In the embodiment, a stepped step is formed by joining in a state where the receding dimension D is about 5 mm (see FIG. 5). In this way, the inner collar 6 is joined to the tensioned outer collar 4 in a state where an appropriate tension is applied. The inner collar 6 is joined to the outer collar 4 with a bias tension (a tension method in which the fiber direction of the metal mesh is slanted by a certain bias angle with respect to the direction of the frame-shaped plate frame 10). Yes.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a portion 4 b of the outer tub 4 that overlaps with the inner tub 6 (however, an adhesive portion between the inner tub 6 and the outer tub 4 is not included) is cut off with a cutter or the like and removed. . As a result, a screen body 8 having a combination structure is formed, which includes an outer casing 4 provided with a rectangular opening 4c having a side of 180 mm inside and an inner casing 6 disposed in the opening 4c of the outer casing 4. .

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a printing pattern emulsion layer 16 made of a photosensitive resin is formed on the inner shell 6 of the screen body 8. That is, the photosensitive emulsion is put in a bucket, and the photosensitive emulsion is coated on the inner shell 6. There is no limitation on the application method. In this embodiment, the photosensitive emulsion is applied twice to the squeegee surface 61 of the inner shell 6 and applied three times to the print surface 62, and dried in an oven at 40 ° C. to form a film. After that, the coating layer 62 is applied three times, dried in an oven at 40 ° C., and film formation is repeated a plurality of times to adjust the thickness of the emulsion layer 16 for the printing pattern and to obtain a desired thickness required for printing. The printing pattern emulsion layer 16 is formed on the print surface 62 of the inner shell 6. For example, by forming the emulsion layer 16 for a printing pattern having a thickness of 30 μm on the inner shell 6 having a thickness of 35 μm, the total thickness becomes 65 μm. In this embodiment, as the photosensitive emulsion, a partially saponified polyvinyl alcohol aqueous solution, an acrylate copolymer emulsion using vinyl acetate or polyvinyl alcohol as a protective colloid, a reactive monomer having an acryloyl group in which a photopolymerization initiator is dissolved, And a diazo resin were used.

  Next, an alignment mark emulsion layer 14 made of a photosensitive resin is formed on the outer casing 4 of the screen body 8. That is, the same photosensitive emulsion as the printing pattern emulsion layer 16 is put in the bucket, and the photosensitive emulsion is coated on the outer casing 4. There is no limitation on the application method. In this embodiment, the photosensitive emulsion is applied twice to the squeegee surface 41 of the outer casing 4 and applied three times to the print surface 42, and dried in an oven at 40 ° C. to form a film. Thereafter, the operation of coating the print surface 42 three times, drying it in an oven at 40 ° C., and forming a film is repeated a plurality of times to adjust the thickness of the emulsion layer 14 for alignment marks, and the emulsion for alignment marks having a desired thickness. Layer 14 is formed on outer shell 4. Since the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 is not used for printing, it has a thickness of about 5 μm. Accordingly, the total thickness is obtained by adding 5 μm of the emulsion layer 14 for alignment marks to the thickness of the outer casing 4.

  Next, for example, a photomask F for an electrode pattern of a solar cell is brought into vacuum contact with the printing surface of the screen body 8 (the surface on which the printing pattern emulsion layer 16 and the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 are formed). On this photomask F, as shown in FIG. 6, four alignment mark pattern portions 52 are also drawn together with a print pattern portion 51 corresponding to a comb-shaped electrode pattern of a solar cell arranged in the center portion. . Since the step between the outer collar 4 and the outer peripheral edge of the inner collar 6 is stepped, the deformation of the photomask F at the joint between the outer collar 4 and the inner collar 6 is also small. In FIG. 5, since the thicknesses of the constituent members 4, 6, 12, 14, and 16 of the screen body 8 are emphasized, the photomask F is formed at the step between the outer flange 4 and the inner flange 6. Although described as being extremely bent, in reality, such bending of the photomask F is not recognized. Thereafter, ultraviolet rays are irradiated through a photomask F with an exposure machine such as SERIA (3 kW metal halide lamp) manufactured by Tokai Shoji Co., Ltd., and the emulsion layer for printing pattern 16 and the emulsion layer for alignment mark 14 are simultaneously cured.

Next, water development is performed with a developing machine (SERIA manufactured by Tokai Shoji Co., Ltd.), and the unexposed portions of the printing pattern emulsion layer 16 and alignment mark emulsion layer 14 are removed. When water development is performed, the screen printing plate 2 is immersed in water at 25 ° C. for 3 minutes to elute most of the unexposed portion, and further water at 25 ° C. is sprayed by a spray gun with a water pressure of 6 kg / cm ^2. Then, the remaining unexposed portion is completely removed. Then, it is dried in an oven at 40 ° C. Thus, as shown in FIG. 7, a substantially square printed pattern (a solar cell comb-shaped electrode pattern) 20 having a side of 125 mm is formed on the printed pattern emulsion layer 16 of the inner casing 6 and the alignment mark of the outer casing 4. A screen printing plate 2 having a combination structure in which four circular alignment marks 22 having a diameter of 1 mm are formed on the emulsion layer 14 for use is obtained. The alignment marks 22 are arranged in four directions, up, down, left, and right with an interval of 240 mm with respect to the inner dimension of 300 mm of the frame-shaped plate frame 10.

  Further, in order to ensure the visibility of the alignment mark 22 by the CCD camera, the rectangular portion 24 of the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 in the vicinity where the alignment mark 22 is formed is colored with a coloring liquid, so that the alignment mark 22 is obtained. Make the contrast clear. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1B, a tension supporter 30 made of silver tape or the like is attached to the outer peripheral portion of the alignment mark emulsion layer 14 on the printing surface of the screen printing plate 2. Thus, the screen printing plate 2 can be manufactured with high productivity.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, In the range of the summary, it changes variously. The shape of the alignment mark 22 may be a different shape such as a square or a polygon other than a circle. Although four alignment marks 22 are usually used, two alignment marks 22 may be arranged on the diagonal line of the screen printing plate 2.

2 Screen printing plate 4 Outer edge 4c Opening 6 Inner edge 8 Screen body 14 Emulsion layer for alignment mark 16 Emulsion layer for printing pattern 20 Printing pattern 22 Alignment mark F Photomask

Claims (2)

An outer casing made of a resin mesh provided with an opening,
An inner casing made of a metal mesh disposed in the opening of the outer casing;
An emulsion layer for a printing pattern made of a photosensitive resin provided on the inner casing and having a printing pattern formed thereon;
An emulsion layer for alignment marks made of a photosensitive resin provided on the outer casing and having an alignment mark formed thereon,
The printing pattern and the alignment mark are formed by batch exposure and development of the printing pattern emulsion layer and the alignment mark emulsion layer through a photomask,
Features a screen printing plate. Forming a screen body of a combination structure having an outer casing made of a resin mesh provided with an opening and an inner casing made of a metal mesh disposed in the opening of the outer casing;
Forming an emulsion layer for a printing pattern made of a photosensitive resin on the inner surface of the screen body, and forming an emulsion layer for an alignment mark made of a photosensitive resin on the outer surface of the screen body;
Exposing and developing the printing pattern emulsion layer and the alignment mark emulsion layer simultaneously through a photomask to form a printing pattern on the inner edge and forming an alignment mark on the outer edge; and
A method for producing a screen printing plate, comprising:

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