JP2011230024A - Workpiece gap adjustment method of droplet discharge apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a workpiece gap adjustment method of a droplet discharge apparatus capable of regulating a workpiece gap without influencing a cycle time.SOLUTION: The workpiece gap adjustment method of the droplet discharge apparatus 1 which performs drawing on a workpiece W supplied to a worktable 41 by discharge-driving a functional liquid drop discharge head 7 of an inkjet system includes: an alignment process for aligning the workpiece W supplied to the worktable 41 with respect to the functional liquid drop discharge head 7; a thickness measurement process for measuring the thickness of the workpiece W on the worktable 41 along with the alignment process; and a gap adjustment process for adjusting a workpiece gap between a surface of the workpiece W and a nozzle face 37 of the functional liquid drop discharge head 7 to a given value based on the measurement result of the thickness measurement process.

Description

  The present invention relates to a work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device that adjusts a work gap between a surface of a work set on a work table and a nozzle surface of a functional liquid droplet discharge head.

Conventionally, as a work gap adjustment method of this type of droplet discharge device, prior to droplet discharge (drawing) by the discharge head (functional droplet discharge head), the work gap is measured along the movement path of the discharge head, A device is known that adjusts the gap of each scanned ejection head on the basis of measurement data (see Patent Document 1).
In this work gap adjustment method, after the object to be ejected (work) is aligned with respect to the ejection head, the unevenness detecting device is moved along the nozzle movement path along which the ejection head (droplet ejection nozzle) moves, The height data on the surface of the discharge target body is acquired. Next, three-dimensional movement path data of the ejection head is formed based on the plane data of the nozzle movement path and the acquired height data of the surface of the ejection target. Thereafter, the ejection head is ejected while being moved based on the movement path data, and droplets are ejected onto the object to be ejected.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-138013

  However, in such a work gap adjustment method, the height data is acquired by scanning the unevenness detecting device along the nozzle movement path before droplet discharge. That is, it is necessary to generate three-dimensional movement path data for adjusting the work gap before performing drawing on the discharge target object. As a whole, the cycle time of the drawing operation becomes longer, and the productivity decreases. There was a problem.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device that can adjust the work gap without affecting the cycle time.

  A work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to the present invention is a method for adjusting a work gap of a droplet discharge device that performs drawing by discharging a functional droplet discharge head of an ink jet method to a work supplied to a work table. An alignment process for aligning the workpiece supplied to the work table with respect to the functional liquid droplet ejection head, a thickness measurement process for measuring the thickness of the work on the work table in parallel with the alignment process, and a thickness measurement process And a gap adjustment step of adjusting the work gap between the work surface and the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head to a predetermined value based on the measurement result.

The alignment of the workpiece is performed by setting the workpiece on the workpiece table in a temporarily positioned state, recognizing the reference mark formed on the workpiece, and aligning the workpiece with the functional liquid droplet ejection head.
According to this configuration, the workpiece thickness is measured (thickness measurement step) in parallel with the alignment of the workpiece with respect to the functional liquid droplet ejection head (thickness measurement step), and based on the measurement result of the thickness measurement step, the surface of the workpiece The work gap with the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is adjusted (gap adjustment process). That is, since the workpiece thickness measurement and the workpiece gap adjustment are performed during the physical alignment operation (including image recognition) of the workpiece, the workpiece gap adjustment from the measurement to the adjustment is performed. There is no effect on the cycle time of the drawing operation including the workpiece supply material.

  In this case, the workpiece is a glass substrate, and in the thickness measurement step, it is preferable to measure the thickness of the workpiece from the back side using a laser measuring device.

  According to this configuration, since the thickness is measured from the back surface of the workpiece constituted by the glass substrate, it is not necessary to arrange a laser measuring device above the workpiece when measuring the thickness of the workpiece. Therefore, the laser measuring apparatus does not get in the way of the workpiece material removal operation, and the apparatus configuration of the laser measuring apparatus can be simplified.

  In this case, the workpiece is a glass substrate having a black matrix pattern formed on the surface, and in the thickness measurement process, it is preferable to measure the thickness of the workpiece at the position of the bank using a laser measuring device.

  According to this configuration, the measurement of the workpiece surface in the workpiece thickness measurement reflects the laser beam to the thin film on the workpiece surface, and the workpiece thickness can be reliably and accurately measured.

  In this case, the workpiece is a glass substrate in which a target mark is formed in a non-drawing region, and in the thickness measurement process, it is preferable to measure the thickness of the workpiece at the position of the target mark using a laser measuring device.

  According to this configuration, the measurement of the workpiece surface in the workpiece thickness measurement reflects the laser beam to the target mark, and the workpiece thickness can be reliably and accurately measured.

  In this case, in the thickness measurement step, it is preferable to perform thickness measurement for measuring the thickness of the workpiece at a plurality of locations separated from each other in the workpiece.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to absorb a thickness error in manufacturing the workpiece and a measurement error caused by the laser measuring apparatus.

  In this case, in the gap adjustment step, it is preferable to adjust the work gap based on the average value of the measurement results at a plurality of locations.

  According to this configuration, the work gap can be adjusted with high accuracy.

  In this case, in the gap adjustment step, it is preferable to adjust the work gap based on the maximum value of the measurement results at a plurality of locations.

  According to this configuration, the work gap can be adjusted with a safe value so as to prevent the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head from coming into contact with the work.

  In this case, at least the alignment process and the thickness measurement process are performed in the supply material area for supplying the work, and drawing on the work is performed by moving the work from the supply material area to the drawing area via the work table. Preferably, it is implemented.

  According to this configuration, the work gap can be appropriately adjusted without hindering a series of operations of the droplet discharge device. Note that when moving from the material supply area to the drawing area, even if a “crack” occurs in the work gap, as long as there is reproducibility (the “crack” is constant), this can be corrected by the “crack” amount. Good.

It is a top view of a droplet discharge device. It is a side view of a droplet discharge device. It is a front view of a droplet discharge device. It is a schematic diagram of a head unit. It is an external appearance perspective view of a functional droplet discharge head. (A) of a suction table is a top view, (b) is sectional drawing. It is a schematic diagram of a workpiece. It is a flowchart of a work gap adjustment method.

  Hereinafter, a work gap adjustment method (hereinafter, simply referred to as “work gap adjustment method”) for a droplet discharge device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This work gap adjustment method adjusts the work gap between the surface of the work set on the work table and the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head that ejects the functional liquid. In addition, the liquid droplet ejection device in which the work gap adjustment method is implemented is incorporated in a flat panel display production line. For example, a function of an ink jet system using a special ink or a functional liquid that is a light-emitting resin liquid is introduced. A light emitting element or the like that becomes each pixel of a color filter or an organic EL device is formed by using a droplet discharge head. First, the droplet discharge device will be described.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the droplet discharge device 1 is disposed on a pair of X-axis support bases 11 supported by a stone surface plate, and extends in the X-axis direction, which is the main scanning direction. The X-axis table 2 that moves the workpiece W in the X-axis direction, the line feed axis table 3 that extends in the Y-axis direction, which is the sub-scanning direction, and moves the workpiece W in the Y-axis direction, and a plurality of columns 12 A Y-axis table 4 disposed on a pair of Y-axis support bases 13 extending across the X-axis table 2 via the Y-axis and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 7 And 13 functional liquid supply devices (not shown) for supplying functional liquid to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7. The functional liquid droplet discharge head 7 is driven to discharge in synchronism with the driving of the X-axis table 2 and the line feed axis table 3, thereby discharging the functional liquid droplets supplied from the functional liquid supply device and causing the workpiece W to have a predetermined drawing pattern. Is drawn.

  Further, the droplet discharge device 1 includes a flushing unit 14 that receives discarded discharge from the functional droplet discharge head 7, a wiping unit 15 that wipes the nozzle surface 37 of the functional droplet discharge head 7 after flushing, and a functional droplet. The maintenance device 6 includes a suction unit 16 including thirteen individual suction units 17 that forcibly suck the functional liquid from the discharge head 7. The maintenance device 6 appropriately performs function maintenance / recovery of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7.

  In the intersecting region between the X-axis table 2 and the Y-axis table 4, a drawing area for performing a drawing operation on the workpiece W is set. In addition, a maintenance area in which the above-described maintenance device 6 is disposed is set in a movement area of the Y-axis table 4 that is out of the drawing area in the Y-axis direction. Further, in one of the movement areas of the X-axis table 2 deviated from the drawing area in the X-axis direction, a discharge material area for discharging the workpiece W is set, and the workpiece W is removed by a discharge material device (not shown). It is designed to remove materials. Note that an alignment process and a thickness measurement process, which will be described later, are performed at least in the discharged material area, and drawing on the workpiece W is performed by moving the workpiece W from the discharged material area to the drawing area.

  The Y-axis table 4 includes a plurality of bridge plates 21 that support the carriage units 5, a pair of Y-axis movement guides that guide the movement of the plurality of bridge plates 21 in the Y-axis direction, and a pair of Y-axis movement guides. And a plurality of Y-axis sliders that slidably support each bridge plate 21 and a Y-axis linear motor (not shown) that individually moves the plurality of carriage units 5 via the Y-axis sliders. ing. The Y-axis table 4 moves the workpiece W to the drawing start position during drawing, and moves the carriage unit 5 to the maintenance area during function maintenance / recovery.

  Each carriage unit 5 includes a head unit 23 including twelve functional liquid droplet ejection heads 7 and a head plate 22 that supports the six functional liquid droplet ejection heads 7 in two groups. Each carriage unit 5 includes a θ rotation mechanism 24 that supports the head unit 23 so as to be capable of θ correction (θ rotation), and an elevating member 25 that moves the head unit 23 up and down via the θ rotation mechanism 24. Yes. The elevating member 25 is used for adjusting a work gap described later.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7 includes a functional liquid introduction unit 31 having two connection needles 34, two series of head substrates 32 continuous below the functional liquid introduction unit 31, and the head substrate 32. And a head main body 33 that is filled with the functional liquid. The connection needle 34 is connected to the functional liquid supply device, and supplies the functional liquid to the functional liquid introduction unit 31. The head body 33 includes a cavity (piezoelectric element) 35 and a nozzle plate 38 having a nozzle surface 37 in which a large number of discharge nozzles 36 are opened. When the functional droplet discharge head 7 is driven to discharge, functional droplets are discharged from the discharge nozzle 36 by the pump action of the cavity 35.

  The line feed axis table 3 is interposed between a work table 41 to be described later and an X axis slider, and the line feed axis linear guide 26 extending in the Y axis direction and the work table 41 on the line feed axis linear guide 26 are provided. A line feed axis slider 27 slidably supported and a line feed axis linear motor (not shown) for moving the work table 41 via the line feed axis slider 27 are provided. The line feed axis table 3 sub-scans the work W via the work table 41 at the time of drawing.

  The X-axis table 2 includes a work table 41 on which a work W is set, a pair of X-axis movement guides for guiding the movement of the work table 41 in the X-axis direction, and the work table 41 on the pair of X-axis movement guides. An X-axis slider that is slidably supported, and an X-axis linear motor that moves the work table 41 via the X-axis slider (both not shown) are included. The X-axis table 2 moves the work table 41 to the discharge material area when the workpiece W is discharged, and moves the workpiece W to the drawing area via the work table 41 when drawing.

  The work table 41 includes a suction table 42 for sucking and setting the work W, a lift mechanism 43 for lifting the work W from the suction table 42, and a plurality of (four in the drawing) laser measurements for measuring the thickness of the work W. The apparatus 44 and the suction table 42 are supported, and a θ table 45 for correcting the position of the workpiece W set on the suction table 42 in the θ-axis direction is provided. Although not shown, a pair of workpiece recognition cameras are arranged directly above the work table 41 in the material removal area so as to face the material supply position of the workpiece W. The W reference mark 46 is recognized as an image, and the workpiece W is aligned (details will be described later).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the suction table 42 is formed in a thick plate shape, and a lift mechanism 43 and a plurality of laser measurement devices 44 are incorporated therein. Further, the surface of the suction table 42 is arranged in a matrix, and has a plurality of lift holes 51 for lifting and lowering the lift pins 54 of the lift mechanism 43, and a plurality of suction holes (not shown) at the groove bottom. A plurality (three in the illustrated example) of suction grooves 52 formed concentrically and a plurality (four in the illustrated example) for measuring the thickness of the workpiece W by the laser measuring device 44 formed at the four corners. A measurement hole 53 is formed. Then, when the workpiece W is supplied, the lift mechanism 43 raises 54 to support the workpiece W, and then lowers the lift pins 54 to place the workpiece W on the suction table 42. At the time of material removal, the lift pins 54 are raised to lift the workpiece W from the suction table 42. Further, the laser measuring device 44 faces each measurement hole 53 from the lower side and is used for thickness measurement.

  The laser measuring device 44 is a so-called laser displacement meter connected to a control device, which irradiates a laser beam from the back side of the workpiece W, and determines the workpiece W from the difference between the reflected light from the front side and the reflected light from the back side. Measure the thickness. The laser measuring device 44 may be configured to be movable in the plane direction (by a microhead or a motor-driven table) so that the measurement position can be changed according to the measurement point (not shown).

  As shown in FIG. 7, the workpiece W is a transparent glass substrate, a transparent glass substrate in which the target mark 55 is formed in a non-drawing area, a transparent glass substrate in which a black matrix pattern is formed on the surface, or the like. A glass substrate having a black matrix pattern formed on the surface is a so-called mother substrate that takes a plurality of color filter panels for a large liquid crystal television, for example, and a panel portion 56 that becomes a color filter panel is formed in a matrix on the surface. Are built in (see FIG. 7A). Each panel portion 56 is formed with a large number of pixel regions 58 partitioned by a grid-like bank portion 57 serving as a black matrix (see FIG. 7B). Each pixel region 58 is recessed with respect to the bank portion 57. That is, a plurality of panel portions 56 are formed on the work W so as to be partitioned by a lattice-like non-drawing portion, and each panel portion 56 is partitioned by a lattice-like bank portion 57. A plurality of pixel regions 58 are formed. In addition, four reference marks 46 for alignment are formed at the four corners of the workpiece W so as to be positioned in the non-drawing portion. The reference mark 46 may be used as the target mark 55 for thickness measurement.

  Next, a series of operations by the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The droplet discharge device 1 includes a feeding process for feeding the work W, a work gap adjusting process for adjusting a work gap by a work gap adjusting method described later, a drawing process for drawing on the work W, and a work W after drawing. By repeatedly performing the material removal step of removing the material, the image is continuously drawn on the workpiece W.

  In the material supply process, the workpiece W is placed by the material removal device while the lift pins 54 that have been moved to the material removal material area in advance are projected from the lift holes 51. Immediately after the lift pins 54 are lowered, the suction source is driven to suck the work W onto the suction table 42 (S1). Subsequently, after the work gap adjustment step (S2 to S4), the work W is moved to the drawing area via the work table 41.

  In the drawing process, the workpiece W is moved in the main operation direction and the sub-scanning direction by the X-axis table 2 and the Y-axis table 4, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7 is driven to discharge, thereby drawing a predetermined drawing pattern on the workpiece W. (S5).

  In the material removal process, the workpiece W after drawing is moved to the material removal material area, and the workpiece W is lifted by causing the lift pins to protrude from the lift holes 51. Then, the material is removed by the material removal device (S6).

  Next, the work gap adjustment method performed in the work gap adjustment process will be described in detail. This work gap adjustment method measures the thickness of the work W on the work table 41 in parallel with the alignment process of aligning the work W supplied to the work table 41 with the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7 and the alignment process. And a gap adjusting step for adjusting the work gap between the surface of the work W and the nozzle surface 37 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7 to a predetermined value based on the measurement result of the thickness measuring step. . Here, a case where a transparent glass substrate is used as the workpiece W will be described.

  In the alignment step, after the suction to the suction table 42, the image of the reference mark 46 formed on the workpiece W is recognized by the pair of workpiece recognition cameras. Then, based on the recognized image result, the X axis direction is aligned by the X axis table 2, the Y axis direction is aligned by the line feed axis table 3, and the θ direction is physically aligned by the θ table 45 (S2). .

  The thickness measuring step is performed in parallel with the alignment step, and each laser measuring device 44 is driven to measure the workpiece W thickness at the measurement site from the back side. That is, in the alignment process, the workpiece W is in a state of being sucked (set) on the suction table 42. In this state, the laser beam is irradiated from the back side of the workpiece W at a plurality of locations separated from each other in the workpiece W, the reflected light from the front surface side and the reflected light from the back surface side are received, and the workpiece is determined from the received time difference. The thickness of W is measured (S3). The measurement result by each laser measuring device 44 is sent to the control device.

  When the glass substrate on which the black matrix pattern is formed is used as the workpiece W, the thickness of the workpiece W is measured at the position of the bank portion 57 (black matrix) using the laser measuring device 44 (S4). Similarly, when the glass substrate on which the target mark 55 is formed in the non-drawing area is used as the workpiece W, the thickness of the workpiece W is measured at the position of the target mark 55 using the laser measuring device 44 described above.

  The gap adjustment step is performed immediately after the thickness measurement step, and the average value of the thickness of the workpiece W is calculated from the thickness data of each workpiece W that has been sent. Subsequently, the height information of the surface of the workpiece W is acquired from the height information of the suction table 42. Then, each elevating member 25 is driven so that the work gap between the surface of the work W and the nozzle surface 37 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 7 becomes a predetermined value.

  The work gap adjustment method is performed not only when a workpiece W having a different thickness is fed, but also when a workpiece W having the same thickness is fed by design. In particular, in the latter case, the actual thickness of the workpiece W may be slightly different from the designed thickness due to errors in the manufacturing of the workpiece W, and this gap adjustment can provide sufficient drawing accuracy (drawing quality). Can be increased.

Further, the work gap may be adjusted based on the maximum value of the measurement results at a plurality of locations in the thickness measurement step.
Furthermore, since each carriage unit 5 is provided with an elevating member 25, the work gap may be adjusted in units of the carriage unit 5.

  According to the above configuration, since the thickness measurement of the workpiece W and the workpiece gap adjustment are performed during the alignment operation, the adjustment of the workpiece gap affects the cycle time of the drawing operation. There is no. In addition, since the thickness is measured from the back side of the workpiece W, the laser measuring device 44 does not get in the way when the workpiece W is supplied and discharged.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Droplet discharge device 7 ... Functional droplet discharge head 37 ... Nozzle surface 41 ... Work table 44 ... Laser measuring device W ... Workpiece

Claims (8)

A work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge apparatus that performs drawing by discharging a functional droplet discharge head of an ink jet method to a workpiece supplied to a work table,
An alignment step of aligning the workpiece supplied to the work table with respect to the functional liquid droplet ejection head;
In parallel with the alignment step, a thickness measurement step for measuring the thickness of the workpiece on the work table,
And a gap adjusting step of adjusting a work gap between the surface of the work and the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head to a predetermined value based on a measurement result of the thickness measuring step. Method for adjusting a work gap of a droplet discharge device. The workpiece is a glass substrate,
2. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein in the thickness measurement step, the thickness of the work is measured from the back surface side using a laser measurement device. The workpiece is a glass substrate having a black matrix pattern formed on the surface,
3. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein in the thickness measurement step, a thickness of the work is measured at a position of the bank using a laser measurement device. The workpiece is a glass substrate in which a target mark is formed in a non-drawing area,
3. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein in the thickness measurement step, a thickness of the work is measured at a position of the target mark using a laser measurement device.   5. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 1, wherein, in the thickness measurement step, the thickness of the work is measured at a plurality of locations separated from each other in the work.   6. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 5, wherein, in the gap adjustment step, the work gap is adjusted based on an average value of the measurement results at the plurality of locations.   6. The work gap adjustment method for a droplet discharge device according to claim 5, wherein, in the gap adjustment step, the work gap is adjusted based on a maximum value of the measurement results at the plurality of locations. At least the alignment step and the thickness measurement step are performed in a supply material area for feeding the workpiece,
8. The droplet according to claim 1, wherein the drawing on the work is performed by moving the work from the supply material area to the drawing area via the work table. A work gap adjustment method for a discharge device.

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