JP2012096169A - Drawing method and drawing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a drawing method and a drawing device, in which the possibility of the occurrence of failure is prevented from being made high because a stopping state of a discharge nozzle, in which operation chance is small during the operation time of a discharge head, continues because all discharge nozzles included in the discharge head are not always operated even when the discharge head is operated.SOLUTION: The drawing method is a drawing method of drawing an image using a liquid body on a surface to be drawn by carrying out a drawing processing including a drawing scanning step of selectively discharging a liquid body from a plurality of the discharge nozzles while relatively moving the discharge head provided with the plurality of discharge nozzle for discharging the liquid body and a medium to be drawn in a nearly parallel direction to a surface to be drawn of the medium to be drawn. The drawing method has a scanning relative direction adjusting step of adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction which is a relative direction of a drawing scanning direction to the direction of the medium to be drawn, wherein the drawing scanning direction is a relative movement direction of the discharge head to the medium to be drawn in the drawing scanning step.

Description

  The present invention relates to a drawing method for drawing using a droplet discharge head for discharging a liquid material as droplets, and a drawing apparatus including the droplet discharge head.

  Conventionally, a liquid droplet ejection head has been provided, and a liquid material is ejected as liquid droplets from the ejection nozzle of the liquid droplet ejection head and landed at an arbitrary position, whereby a predetermined amount of the liquid material is accurately placed at a predetermined position. A droplet discharge device to be arranged is known. Various liquid materials are handled and various images and films are formed by using a droplet discharge device. In a droplet discharge head that can accurately discharge a minute liquid, there is a possibility that a discharge failure may occur due to a slight disturbance around the discharge nozzle. In order to suppress the occurrence of defects, maintenance processes such as cleaning and preliminary discharge are performed.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a suction cap that can eliminate defective discharge without causing damage to a functional liquid droplet ejection head, a suction unit including the same, a head cleaning device, a liquid droplet ejection device, and a functional liquid droplet ejection. A head cleaning method and a functional droplet discharge head maintenance method are disclosed. The suction cap disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a suction cap for performing a suction process on a discharge nozzle formed on a nozzle surface, which is in close contact with the nozzle surface of an ink jet type functional liquid droplet discharge head. A cap body connected to the vacuum suction mechanism, and a close seal that is attached to the cap body and in close contact with the nozzle surface so that only a plurality of discharge nozzles that are a part of all the discharge nozzles formed on the nozzle surface can be sucked It is characterized by having.

JP 2009-214415 A

  However, if the discharge nozzles are not in operation, troubles are likely to occur in the discharge. However, even if the discharge head is in operation, not all the discharge nozzles provided in the discharge head are in operation. Discharge nozzles that have few opportunities to operate within the operation time of the discharge head are in a stopped state, and the problem that a failure such as a discharge failure due to thickening of the liquid material is likely to occur when the stopped state continues was there.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

  [Application Example 1] In the drawing method according to this application example, a discharge head including a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging a liquid and a drawing medium are relatively moved in a direction substantially parallel to a drawing surface of the drawing medium. A drawing method for drawing an image using the liquid material on the drawing surface by performing a drawing step including a drawing scanning step of selectively discharging the liquid material from the plurality of discharge nozzles. , A scanning relative direction adjustment for adjusting a drawing scanning relative direction which is a relative direction between a drawing scanning direction which is a relative movement direction between the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning step and a direction of the drawing medium. It has the process.

The drawing method according to this application example includes a scanning relative direction adjustment step of adjusting a drawing scanning relative direction that is a relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction.
In general, an image drawn by ejecting liquid droplets is obtained by relatively moving the ejection nozzle and the drawing medium in a straight line, and ejecting liquid droplets from the ejection nozzle at a predetermined relative position. Drawing is performed by landing at a predetermined position on the drawing medium. In the image drawn on the drawing medium, the position of drawing on the drawing medium and the direction of the image with respect to the direction of the drawing medium are defined together with the shape of the image. Therefore, the drawing scanning relative direction that is the relative direction between the drawing medium direction and the drawing scanning direction that is the direction of relative movement between the drawing medium and the discharge nozzle (discharge head) in the drawing scanning process with respect to the drawing medium. Depending on the operation state of the discharge nozzle in the drawing scanning process.

  By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the operating state of the discharge nozzles in the drawing scanning step can be changed. For example, when there are ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection in the drawing scanning step, the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection can be reduced by adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction.

  The ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection in the drawing scanning process are substantially in a stopped state while the drawing scanning process is performed. During this time, the discharge nozzle is not maintained. The discharge nozzle is in a state of being substantially stopped and left in the drawing environment without being subjected to maintenance measures, and there is a high possibility that a problem due to being left in that state occurs. By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction, the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection is reduced, thereby reducing the number of ejection nozzles that are more likely to malfunction due to not operating in the drawing scanning process. Can be made.

  Application Example 2 In the drawing method according to the application example, the drawing scanning relative direction is set in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, and the drawing scanning is performed in the plurality of discharge nozzles in the drawing scanning step with respect to the drawing medium. It is preferable to adjust in the direction in which the working nozzle rate, which is the ratio of the discharge nozzles that discharge in the process, becomes maximum.

According to this drawing method, in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is adjusted to a direction in which the working nozzle rate is maximized.
In the scanning relative direction adjustment step, by adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction to the direction in which the working nozzle rate is maximized, the ratio of the discharge nozzles that discharge in the drawing scanning step is maximized, and the discharge nozzles that do not perform discharge The ratio is minimized. Discharge nozzles that do not perform discharge in the drawing scanning process are in a state where they are almost paused and are left in the drawing environment without being subjected to maintenance measures. Is more likely to do. By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction to the direction in which the working nozzle ratio is maximized, it is possible to suppress the number of ejection nozzles that are likely to cause problems due to not operating in the drawing scanning process. .

  Application Example 3 In the drawing method according to the application example, in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is set in the first drawing scanning step in which the drawing scanning direction is the first drawing scanning direction. A first placement region in which the liquid material is placed, which is located across a maximum non-placement region in which the width in the direction orthogonal to the first drawing scanning direction of the non-placement region in which the liquid material is not placed is maximum And the second placement area are preferably adjusted in a direction in contact with the same straight line extending in parallel to the drawing scanning direction.

  According to this drawing method, in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction, is set as the first drawing scanning direction. In the drawing scanning step, the first non-arranged area where the liquid material is not arranged is located across the maximum non-arranged area where the width in the direction orthogonal to the first drawing scanning direction is the largest. The arrangement area and the second arrangement area are adjusted in a direction in contact with the same straight line extending in parallel to the drawing scanning direction.

Accordingly, in the drawing scanning step in the drawing scanning direction which is the adjusted drawing scanning relative direction, the discharge nozzle for discharging the liquid material toward the first placement region and the liquid material toward the second placement region There is no discharge nozzle that does not discharge the liquid material during the drawing scanning step between the discharge nozzle and the discharge nozzle that discharges the liquid.
Since there are no discharge nozzles that do not discharge the liquid material during the drawing scanning step between the discharge nozzles that discharge the liquid material, the number of discharge nozzles that do not discharge the liquid material during the drawing scanning step is suppressed. Can do. That is, by not discharging the liquid material during the drawing scanning process, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a discharge nozzle that is likely to cause a problem due to being left in a substantially paused state.

  Application Example 4 In the drawing method according to the application example, in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is adjusted by changing a direction of the drawing medium with respect to the drawing scanning direction. Is preferred.

  According to this drawing method, the direction of the drawing medium is changed in the scanning relative direction adjustment step. Since the drawing medium direction changes with respect to the drawing scanning direction, the drawing scanning relative direction is changed to the appropriate direction by changing the drawing scanning relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction. Can be adjusted.

  Application Example 5 In the drawing method according to the application example, in the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is adjusted by changing the drawing scanning direction with respect to the direction of the drawing medium. Is preferred.

  According to this drawing method, the drawing scanning direction is changed in the scanning relative direction adjustment step. Since the drawing scanning direction changes with respect to the direction of the drawing medium, the drawing scanning relative direction between the drawing medium direction and the drawing scanning direction is changed to change the drawing scanning relative direction to an appropriate direction. Can be adjusted.

  Application Example 6 In the drawing method according to the application example described above, the scanning relative direction adjustment step is performed between the drawing step and the material supply step for supplying the drawing medium to the drawing apparatus that performs the drawing step. It is preferable to implement.

  According to this drawing method, the drawing process is performed after the scanning relative direction adjustment process is performed on the drawing medium supplied in the material supply process. The direction of the drawing medium is adjusted in the scanning relative direction adjustment step so that the drawing scanning relative direction becomes an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction in the drawing step (drawing scanning step). Thereby, in a material supply process, a to-be-drawn medium can be supplied irrespective of the suitable drawing scanning relative direction in a drawing process (drawing scanning process). Even if an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction in the drawing process (drawing scanning process) changes, it is possible to make it unnecessary to correspond the direction of the drawing medium in the material supply process.

  [Application Example 7] In the drawing method according to the application example described above, the direction of the drawing medium is set in the feeding step between the drawing step and the material removal step of removing the drawing medium from the drawing apparatus. It is preferable to further include a direction returning step in which the direction is substantially the same as the supplied direction.

  According to this drawing method, the material removal step is performed after the direction returning step is performed on the drawing medium drawn in the drawing step. The direction of the drawing medium is returned to the direction substantially the same as the direction fed in the feeding step in the direction returning step. As a result, in the material removal process, the drawing medium in a state facing substantially the same direction can be targeted for material removal regardless of an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction in the drawing process (drawing scanning process). Even if the appropriate drawing scanning relative direction in the drawing process (drawing scanning process) changes, the drawing medium can be removed in substantially the same operation in the material removal process.

  Application Example 8 A drawing apparatus according to this application example includes: a discharge head including a plurality of discharge nozzles that discharge a liquid material; a support device that supports a drawing medium; the discharge head; and the support device. A relative movement means for relatively moving in a direction substantially parallel to a drawing surface of the drawing medium supported by the supporting device; a relative movement direction of the relative movement by the relative movement means; and a direction of the drawing medium. And a relative direction adjusting means for adjusting the relative direction to a direction defined by the relative direction defining means.

  According to the drawing apparatus according to this application example, the drawing apparatus is defined by the relative direction defining unit that defines the relative direction of the relative movement direction and the direction of the drawing medium, and the relative direction is defined by the relative direction defining unit. Relative direction adjusting means for adjusting the direction.

  In general, an image drawn by ejecting liquid droplets is obtained by relatively moving the ejection nozzle and the drawing medium in a straight line, and ejecting liquid droplets from the ejection nozzle at a predetermined relative position. Drawing is performed by performing a drawing scan for landing at a predetermined position on the drawing medium. In the image drawn on the drawing medium, the position of drawing on the drawing medium and the direction of the image with respect to the direction of the drawing medium are defined together with the shape of the image. Therefore, in the drawing scanning relative direction that is the relative direction between the drawing medium direction and the drawing scanning direction that is the relative movement direction of the drawing medium and the ejection nozzle (ejection head) in the drawing scanning with respect to the drawing medium. Accordingly, the operation state of the discharge nozzle in the drawing scan changes.

By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction by the relative direction adjusting means, it is possible to change the operating state of the ejection nozzle in the drawing scanning. Further, the relative direction defining means can define the drawing scanning relative direction in a direction that reduces the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection.
The relative direction defining means defines the drawing scanning relative direction in a direction that reduces the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection, and the relative direction adjusting means adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction in the direction defined by the relative direction defining means. By doing so, the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection in the drawing scan can be reduced.

  The ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection in the drawing scan are substantially in a paused state while the drawing scan is performed. During this time, the discharge nozzle is not maintained. The discharge nozzle is in a state of being substantially stopped and left in the drawing environment without being subjected to maintenance measures, and there is a high possibility that a problem due to being left in that state occurs. By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction, the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection is reduced, thereby reducing the number of ejection nozzles that are likely to cause problems due to not operating in the drawing scanning. be able to.

  Application Example 9 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example, the relative direction adjusting unit relatively moves the ejection head and the drawing medium in a direction substantially parallel to the drawing surface of the drawing medium. In a relative direction between a drawing scanning direction that is a relative movement direction of the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning in which the liquid material is selectively ejected from the plurality of ejection nozzles, and a direction of the drawing medium. It is preferable that a certain drawing scanning relative direction is defined as a relative direction in which the operation nozzle ratio, which is the ratio of the discharge nozzles that perform discharge in the drawing scanning, among the plurality of discharge nozzles is maximized.

  According to this drawing apparatus, the relative direction defining means maximizes the working nozzle ratio in the drawing scan relative to the drawing medium in the drawing scanning relative direction which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction. Specify the direction. The relative direction adjusting means adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction to the direction defined by the relative direction defining means.

  By the relative direction defining means, the drawing scanning relative direction is defined as the direction in which the working nozzle ratio is maximized, and the relative direction adjusting means is adjusted to the direction defined by the relative direction defining means. The ratio of ejection nozzles that perform ejection in the drawing scan is maximized, and the percentage of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection is minimized.

  Discharge nozzles that do not perform discharge in the drawing scan are in a state of being substantially paused and left in the drawing environment without being subjected to maintenance measures, and problems caused by being left in that state occur. The possibility increases. By defining the drawing scanning relative direction in the direction in which the working nozzle ratio is maximized and adjusting it in the prescribed direction, there is a high possibility that a malfunction will occur due to not operating in the drawing scanning. The number can be suppressed.

  Application Example 10 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example, the relative direction defining unit relatively moves the ejection head and the drawing medium in a direction substantially parallel to the drawing surface of the drawing medium. In a relative direction between a drawing scanning direction that is a relative movement direction of the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning in which the liquid material is selectively ejected from the plurality of ejection nozzles, and a direction of the drawing medium. A width in a direction perpendicular to the first drawing scanning direction of a non-arranged area where the liquid material is not arranged in the first drawing scanning in which the drawing scanning direction is the first drawing scanning direction. Are located on both sides of the maximum non-arrangement area, and the first arrangement area and the second arrangement area where the liquid material is arranged extend in parallel to the drawing scanning direction. Who touches It is preferred that specified in.

According to this drawing apparatus, the relative direction defining means indicates the drawing scan relative direction that is the relative direction between the drawing scan direction and the drawing medium direction, and the first drawing scan direction is the first drawing scan direction. In scanning, a non-arranged area where no liquid material is arranged is located across a maximum non-arranged area having a maximum width in a direction orthogonal to the first drawing scanning direction, and a first arrangement area where the liquid material is arranged And the second placement region are defined in a direction in contact with the same straight line extending parallel to the drawing scanning direction. The relative direction adjusting means adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction to the direction defined by the relative direction defining means.
The discharge nozzles that do not perform discharge in the drawing scan are in a state of being substantially suspended during the drawing scan and are left in the drawing environment without being subjected to maintenance measures, and are left in that state. There is a high possibility that a problem due to the above will occur.
By the relative direction defining means, the drawing scanning relative direction is a direction in which the first placement area and the second placement area located across the maximum non-placement area are in contact with the same straight line extending in the drawing scanning direction. And is adjusted in the specified direction by the relative direction adjusting means. In a drawing scan in the drawing scan direction, which is a specified drawing scan relative direction, a discharge nozzle that discharges the liquid material toward the first placement region and a discharge that discharges the liquid material toward the second placement region There is no discharge nozzle that does not discharge the liquid material between the nozzle and the drawing scan. Thereby, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of a discharge nozzle that is highly likely to cause a problem due to being left in a substantially paused state during the drawing scan.

  Application Example 11 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example, the relative direction adjusting unit changes the drawing scan relative direction to the relative direction by changing the direction of the drawing medium with respect to the drawing scan direction. It is preferable that the medium direction changing unit adjusts the relative direction defined by the defining unit.

  According to this drawing apparatus, the relative direction adjusting means is a medium direction changing means, and changes the direction of the drawing medium relative to the drawing scanning direction. Since the direction of the drawing medium changes with respect to the drawing scanning direction, the drawing scanning relative direction is changed by changing the drawing scanning relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction, and the relative direction defining means Can be adjusted in the relative direction defined by.

  Application Example 12 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example described above, the relative direction adjustment unit defines the drawing scanning relative direction by the relative direction defining unit by changing the drawing scanning direction by the relative moving unit. It is preferable that the drawing scanning direction changing unit adjusts the relative direction.

  According to this drawing apparatus, the relative direction adjusting means is a drawing scanning direction changing means, and changes the drawing scanning direction with respect to the direction of the drawing medium. Since the drawing scanning direction changes with respect to the direction of the drawing medium, the drawing scanning relative direction is changed by changing the drawing scanning relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing medium direction and the drawing scanning direction. Can be adjusted in the relative direction defined by.

  Application Example 13 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example described above, the medium direction changing unit is supplied and supported on the support device, and changes the direction of the drawing medium whose direction is adjusted in a predetermined direction. The drawing scanning relative direction is preferably adjusted to a direction defined by the relative direction defining means.

  According to this drawing apparatus, the drawing scanning relative direction is adjusted to the direction defined by the relative direction defining means by the relative direction adjusting means that is the medium direction changing means for the drawing medium supplied on the support device. After that, drawing is performed. The direction of the drawing medium is adjusted by the medium direction changing means so that the drawing scanning relative direction becomes an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction when drawing (drawing scanning) is performed. Thus, when the drawing medium is supplied onto the support device, the drawing medium is supplied regardless of the direction of the drawing medium that is an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction when performing drawing (drawing scanning). be able to. Even if an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction at the time of drawing (drawing scan) changes, it is not necessary to correspond to the direction of the drawing medium when the drawing medium is supplied onto the support device. it can.

  Application Example 14 In the drawing apparatus according to the application example, the medium direction changing unit changes the direction of the drawing medium on which drawing has been performed before removing the drawing medium from the drawing apparatus. It is preferable that the drawing medium is directed in substantially the same direction as that supplied on the support device.

  According to this drawing apparatus, before removing the drawing medium from the drawing apparatus, the drawing medium is supplied onto the support device by the relative direction adjusting unit that is a medium direction changing unit. Direct in the same direction as As a result, when removing the drawing medium, the drawing medium in the substantially same direction regardless of the appropriate drawing scanning relative direction at the time of drawing (drawing scanning) is set as the material removal target. can do. Even when an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction at the time of drawing (drawing scanning) is changed, the drawing medium can be removed by substantially the same operation when the drawing medium is removed.

FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device. (A) is a top view of a workpiece | work mechanism part. (B) is a side view of a work mechanism part. FIG. 3A is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge head. (B) is a perspective sectional view showing the structure of a droplet discharge head. FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the discharge nozzle portion of the droplet discharge head. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a head unit. FIG. 3 is an electrical configuration block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device. Explanatory drawing which shows the electrical structure and signal flow of a droplet discharge head. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the arrangement position of a discharge nozzle. (B) is explanatory drawing which shows the state which made the droplet land linearly in the extension direction of a nozzle row. (C) is explanatory drawing which shows the state which made the droplet land linearly in the main scanning direction. (D) is explanatory drawing which shows the state which made the droplet land in surface shape. The flowchart which shows a drawing process. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows a marking image and a drawing scanning direction. (B) is explanatory drawing which shows a marking image and the drawing scanning direction which adjusted the direction. (C) is explanatory drawing which shows the marking image and drawing scanning direction in the body for chip drawing. (D) is explanatory drawing which shows the marking image in the body for chip | tip drawing, and the drawing scanning direction which adjusted the direction. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the body for a chip drawing supplied on the workpiece mounting base. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram showing a chip drawing body and a drawing scanning direction during drawing scanning. The flowchart which shows a drawing process. Explanatory drawing which shows the body for chip drawing at the time of drawing scanning, and the drawing scanning direction.

Hereinafter, a drawing method and a drawing apparatus will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a droplet discharge device that includes a droplet discharge head and draws an image on a drawing medium using the droplet discharge head will be described as an example. The droplet discharge device relatively moves the droplet discharge head and the drawing medium, and discharges a droplet of the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle of the droplet discharge head to land on a predetermined position on the drawing medium. Thus, the apparatus forms a predetermined image.
In the drawings referred to in the following description, the vertical and horizontal scales of members or portions may be shown differently from actual ones for convenience of illustration. The droplet discharge device corresponds to a drawing device. The functional liquid corresponds to a liquid material.

<Droplet ejection method>
First, a droplet discharge method for discharging a liquid material as droplets will be described. Examples of the discharge technique of the droplet discharge method include a charge control method, a pressure vibration method, an electromechanical conversion method, an electrothermal conversion method, and an electrostatic suction method.
In the charge control method, a charge is applied to a liquid material by a charging electrode, and the flying direction of the liquid material is controlled by a deflection electrode and discharged from a discharge nozzle. In addition, the pressurized vibration method is a method in which an ultra-high pressure of about 30 kg / cm ² is applied to the liquid material and the liquid material is discharged to the tip side of the discharge nozzle. When no control voltage is applied, the liquid material goes straight. When the control voltage is applied, electrostatic repulsion occurs between the liquid materials, and the liquid material is scattered and is not discharged from the discharge nozzles. In addition, the electromechanical conversion method utilizes the property that a piezoelectric element (piezoelectric element) deforms in response to a pulsed electric signal, and a flexible substance is placed in a space where a liquid material is stored by deformation of the piezoelectric element. The pressure is applied through the liquid, and the liquid material is pushed out from the space and discharged from the discharge nozzle.

  In addition, the electrothermal conversion method is a method in which a liquid material is rapidly vaporized by a heater provided in a space in which the liquid material is stored to generate bubbles, and the liquid material in the space is discharged by the pressure of the bubbles. It is. In the electrostatic suction method, a minute pressure is applied to the space in which the liquid material is stored, a meniscus of the liquid material is formed on the discharge nozzle, and the liquid material is drawn out after applying an electrostatic attractive force in this state. In addition to this, it is also possible to apply a technique such as a system that uses a change in the viscosity of a fluid caused by an electric field or a system that uses a discharge spark.

  The droplet discharge method has an advantage that a liquid material is less wasted and a desired amount of the liquid material can be accurately disposed at a desired position. Among these, the piezo method has the advantage that it does not affect the composition or the like of the liquid material because heat is not applied to the liquid material. In the present embodiment, the above-described piezo method is used from the viewpoint of a high degree of freedom in selecting a liquid material and good controllability of droplets.

<Droplet ejection device>
Next, the overall configuration of the droplet discharge apparatus 1 including the droplet discharge head 20 (see FIG. 3) will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a droplet discharge device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the droplet discharge device 1 includes a head mechanism unit 2, a work mechanism unit 3, a functional liquid supply unit 4, and a maintenance device unit 5. The head mechanism unit 2 includes a droplet discharge head 20 that discharges a functional liquid as droplets. The workpiece mechanism unit 3 includes a workpiece mounting table 30 on which a workpiece W that is a target for landing droplets discharged from the droplet discharge head 20 is mounted. The functional liquid supply unit 4 includes a storage tank, a relay tank, and a liquid supply tube. The liquid supply tube is connected to the droplet discharge head 20, and the functional liquid is liquidated via the liquid supply tube. It is supplied to the droplet discharge head 20. The maintenance device unit 5 includes each device that performs inspection or maintenance of the droplet discharge head 20. The droplet discharge device 1 also includes a discharge device control unit 6 that comprehensively controls these mechanism units. The droplet discharge head 20 corresponds to the discharge head. The work W corresponds to a drawing medium.

  The droplet discharge device 1 further includes a plurality of support legs 8 installed on the floor and a surface plate 9 installed on the upper side of the support legs 8. On the upper side of the surface plate 9, the work mechanism unit 3 is arranged in a state extending in the longitudinal direction (X-axis direction) of the surface plate 9. Above the work mechanism unit 3, the head mechanism unit 2 supported by two support pillars erected on the surface plate 9 extends in a direction orthogonal to the work mechanism unit 3 (Y-axis direction). It is arranged in a state. Further, a storage tank of the functional liquid supply unit 4 having a liquid supply tube communicating with the droplet discharge head 20 of the head mechanism unit 2 is disposed beside the surface plate 9. In the vicinity of one support column of the head mechanism unit 2, the maintenance device unit 5 is arranged in the X-axis direction along with the work mechanism unit 3. Further, the discharge device controller 6 is accommodated below the surface plate 9.

The head mechanism unit 2 includes a head unit 21 having a droplet discharge head 20, a head carriage having the head unit 21, a moving frame 22 on which the head carriage is suspended, and a Y that moves the moving frame 22 in the Y-axis direction. A shaft scanning mechanism 26 is provided.
By moving the moving frame 22 in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26, the droplet discharge head 20 is freely moved in the Y-axis direction. Moreover, it holds at the moved position.
The work mechanism unit 3 includes a work mounting table 30 and an X-axis scanning mechanism 36. The workpiece mechanism unit 3 moves the workpiece mounting table 30 freely in the X-axis direction by moving the workpiece mounting table 30 in the X-axis direction by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36. Moreover, it holds at the moved position.

  The droplet discharge head 20 moves to the discharge position in the Y-axis direction and stops, and discharges the functional liquid as droplets in synchronization with the movement of the workpiece W below in the X-axis direction. By controlling the work W moving in the X-axis direction and the liquid droplet ejection head 20 moving in the Y-axis direction relatively, the liquid droplets are landed at an arbitrary position on the work W, so that a desired plane is obtained. It is possible to perform shape drawing.

The maintenance device unit 5 includes various inspection devices, various maintenance devices, and a maintenance device scanning mechanism. The inspection apparatus is an apparatus for inspecting the droplet discharge head 20 such as an ejection inspection unit for inspecting the discharge state of the droplet discharge head 20. The maintenance device is a device that performs various types of maintenance of the droplet discharge head 20. The maintenance device scanning mechanism is a device that can move these devices in the X-axis direction and supports the devices so as to be held at arbitrary positions.
When performing inspection and maintenance of the droplet discharge head 20, the head unit 21 (droplet discharge head 20) is moved to a position facing the maintenance device unit 5 using the Y-axis scanning mechanism. Also, the inspection device or maintenance device corresponding to the inspection or maintenance to be performed is moved to a position facing the head unit 21 (droplet discharge head 20) by the maintenance device scanning mechanism.

<Work mechanism>
Next, the work mechanism unit 3 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of the work mechanism unit. FIG. 2A is a plan view of the work mechanism unit, and FIG. 2B is a side view of the work mechanism unit.

As shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece mechanism unit 3 includes a workpiece mounting table 30 and an X-axis scanning mechanism 36.
The workpiece mounting table 30 includes a mounting table 31, a rotation mechanism 32, a mounting table base 33, and a slider frame 34. By driving an X-axis slider (not shown) of the pair of slider frames 34 and 34 fixed to the mounting table base 33 by an X-axis linear motor provided in the X-axis scanning mechanism 36, the workpiece mounting table 30 is moved to the X-axis. Move in the direction. Further, it is held at an arbitrary position.
The mounting table 31 includes a suction mechanism (not shown) that sucks and fixes the mounted work W. When supplying the workpiece W to the mounting table 31, the workpiece W is mounted on the mounting table 31 in a substantially predetermined direction in the droplet discharge device 1. Subsequently, the workpiece W is positioned at a predetermined position in the droplet discharge device 1 in a predetermined direction by performing alignment. The workpiece W positioned at a predetermined position in a predetermined direction is sucked by a suction mechanism and fixed to the mounting table 31 in a predetermined direction.

The mounting table 31 is rotatably attached to the mounting table base 33 via a rotation mechanism 32. The rotation mechanism 32 has a rotation axis 32a (on the Z axis described in FIGS. 1 and 2) that is substantially perpendicular to the surface on which the work W of the mounting table 31 is mounted. It can be rotated around a substantially parallel axis) and can be held at an arbitrary position with high accuracy. Thereby, the workpiece W fixed in a predetermined direction with respect to the mounting table 31 can be rotated around the rotation shaft 32a, and can be held at an arbitrary position with high accuracy. The workpiece mounting table 30 or the mounting table 31 corresponds to a support device.
The rotation mechanism 32 can rotate the mounting table 31 by 180 degrees or more around the rotation shaft 32a. Thereby, the direction of the workpiece W fixed to the mounting table 31 can be directed in an arbitrary direction with respect to the X-axis direction that is the moving direction of the workpiece mounting table 30.

<Droplet ejection head>
Next, the droplet discharge head 20 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the droplet discharge head. 3A is an external perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the droplet discharge head, FIG. 3B is a perspective sectional view showing the structure of the droplet discharge head, and FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the part of the discharge nozzle of a droplet discharge head. The Y axis and the Z axis shown in FIG. 3 coincide with the Y axis and the Z axis shown in FIG. 1 when the droplet discharge head 20 is mounted on the droplet discharge apparatus 1.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the droplet discharge head 20 includes a nozzle substrate 25. In the nozzle substrate 25, two rows of nozzle rows 24A in which a large number of discharge nozzles 24 are arranged in a substantially straight line are formed. The functional liquid is ejected as droplets from the ejection nozzle 24 and landed on a drawing object or the like at an opposing position, thereby arranging the functional liquid at the position. The nozzle row 24 </ b> A extends in the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the droplet discharge head 20 is mounted on the droplet discharge apparatus 1. In the nozzle row 24A, the discharge nozzles 24 are arranged at equal nozzle pitches, and the position of the discharge nozzle 24 is shifted by a half nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction between the two nozzle rows 24A. Therefore, as the liquid droplet ejection head 20, functional liquid droplets can be arranged at half nozzle pitch intervals in the Y-axis direction. The nozzle pitch is, for example, 140 μm, and the half nozzle pitch is 70 μm.

As shown in FIGS. 3B and 3C, in the droplet discharge head 20, the pressure chamber plate 51 is stacked on the nozzle substrate 25, and the vibration plate 52 is stacked on the pressure chamber plate 51.
The pressure chamber plate 51 is formed with a liquid pool 55 in which the functional liquid supplied to the droplet discharge head 20 is always filled. The liquid pool 55 is a space surrounded by the diaphragm 52, the nozzle substrate 25, and the wall of the pressure chamber plate 51. The functional liquid is supplied from the functional liquid supply unit 4 to the droplet discharge head 20 and is supplied to the liquid pool 55 via the liquid supply hole 53 of the vibration plate 52. Further, the pressure chamber plate 51 is formed with a pressure chamber 58 partitioned by a plurality of head partition walls 57. A space surrounded by the diaphragm 52, the nozzle substrate 25, and the two head partition walls 57 is a pressure chamber 58.

  The pressure chambers 58 are provided corresponding to the respective discharge nozzles 24, and the number of the pressure chambers 58 and the number of the discharge nozzles 24 are the same. The functional fluid is supplied from the liquid pool 55 to the pressure chamber 58 via the supply port 56 positioned between the two head partition walls 57. A set of the head partition wall 57, the pressure chamber 58, the discharge nozzle 24, and the supply port 56 is arranged in a line along the liquid pool 55, and the discharge nozzles 24 arranged in a line form a nozzle line 24A. . Although not shown in FIG. 3B, the discharge nozzles 24 arranged in one row are arranged in a substantially symmetrical position with respect to the liquid pool 55 with respect to the nozzle row 24A including the discharge nozzle 24 shown in the figure. A nozzle row 24A is formed. A set of a head partition wall 57, a pressure chamber 58, and a supply port 56 corresponding to the nozzle row 24A is arranged in one row.

One end of each piezoelectric element 59 is fixed to the portion of the diaphragm 52 that constitutes the pressure chamber 58. The other end of the piezoelectric element 59 is fixed to a base (not shown) that supports the entire droplet discharge head 20 via a fixing plate (not shown).
The piezoelectric element 59 has an active part in which an electrode layer and a piezoelectric material are stacked. In the piezoelectric element 59, by applying a driving voltage to the electrode layer, the active portion contracts in the longitudinal direction (the thickness direction of the diaphragm 52 in FIG. 3B or 3C). When the drive voltage applied to the electrode layer is released, the active portion returns to its original length.

  When the driving voltage is applied to the electrode layer and the active portion of the piezoelectric element 59 is contracted, the vibration plate 52 to which one end of the piezoelectric element 59 is fixed receives a force that is pulled to the side opposite to the pressure chamber 58. When the diaphragm 52 is pulled to the opposite side of the pressure chamber 58, the diaphragm 52 is bent to the opposite side of the pressure chamber 58. Thereby, since the volume of the pressure chamber 58 increases, the functional liquid is supplied from the liquid pool 55 to the pressure chamber 58 through the supply port 56. Next, when the driving voltage applied to the electrode layer is released, the active portion returns to the original length, and the piezoelectric element 59 presses the diaphragm 52. When the diaphragm 52 is pressed, it returns to the pressure chamber 58 side. As a result, the volume of the pressure chamber 58 is rapidly restored. That is, since the increased volume is reduced, pressure is applied to the functional liquid filled in the pressure chamber 58, and the functional liquid becomes droplets from the discharge nozzle 24 formed in communication with the pressure chamber 58. Discharged.

<Head unit>
Next, a schematic configuration of the head unit 21 provided in the head mechanism unit 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of the head unit. The X axis and the Y axis shown in FIG. 4 coincide with the X axis and the Y axis shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the head unit 21 is attached to the droplet discharge device 1.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the head unit 21 includes a unit plate 23 and nine droplet discharge heads 20 mounted on the unit plate 23. The droplet discharge head 20 is fixed to the unit plate 23 via a head holding member (not shown). In the fixed droplet discharge head 20, the head body is loosely fitted in a hole (not shown) formed in the unit plate 23, and the nozzle substrate 25 is located at a position protruding from the surface of the unit plate 23. . FIG. 4 is a view as seen from the nozzle substrate 25 side. The nine droplet ejection heads 20 are divided in the Y-axis direction to form three groups of head groups 20A each having three droplet ejection heads 20 each. The nozzle row 24 </ b> A of each droplet discharge head 20 extends in the Y-axis direction when the head unit 21 is attached to the droplet discharge device 1.

  The three droplet discharge heads 20 included in one head set 20A are more than the discharge nozzles 24 at the ends of one droplet discharge head 20 of the droplet discharge heads 20 adjacent to each other in the Y-axis direction. The discharge nozzle 24 at the end of one of the droplet discharge heads 20 is disposed at a position where it is shifted by a half nozzle pitch. In the three droplet discharge heads 20 included in the head set 20A, if the positions of all the discharge nozzles 24 in the X-axis direction are the same, the discharge nozzles 24 are arranged at equal intervals of a half nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction. In other words, at the same position in the X-axis direction, the droplets ejected from the ejection nozzles 24 constituting each nozzle row 24A included in each droplet ejection head 20 are arranged at equal intervals in the Y-axis direction by design. To land on a straight line.

  The six nozzle rows 24A included in the three droplet discharge heads 20 included in one head set 20A can be handled as one nozzle row. The nozzle row has, for example, 180 times six times and 1080 discharge nozzles 24, the nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction is 70 μm, and the distance between the centers of the discharge nozzles 24 at both ends in the Y-axis direction (nozzle row) Length) is about 75.5 mm. Since the droplet discharge heads 20 overlap with each other in the Y-axis direction, the head set 20A is configured in a stepwise manner in the X-axis direction.

  The three head sets 20A included in the head unit 21 are arranged at positions where the nozzle arrays that can be regarded as one nozzle array included in each of the head units 21 are shifted by a half nozzle pitch of the nozzle array 24A in the Y-axis direction. . In other words, each head unit 21 has the other of the droplet discharge heads 20 constituting the adjacent head set 20A with respect to the discharge nozzle 24 at the end of the droplet discharge head 20 in one head set 20A. The discharge nozzle 24 at the end of the droplet discharge head 20 in the head set 20A is disposed at a position shifted by a half nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction.

  The 18 nozzle rows 24A included in the nine droplet discharge heads 20 in the three head sets 20A provided in one head unit 21 can be handled as one nozzle row. The nozzle row is referred to as “unit nozzle row 240A”. The unit nozzle row 240A has, for example, 180, 18 times, 3240 discharge nozzles 24, the nozzle pitch in the Y-axis direction is 70 μm, and the distance between the centers of the discharge nozzles 24 at both ends in the Y-axis direction (nozzle) The column length) is about 226.7 mm. That is, when one droplet is discharged from the discharge nozzle 24 of one head unit 21 and landed so that the X-axis direction is at the same position, a straight line is formed in which 3240 points are connected at a pitch interval of 70 μm.

  The droplet discharge device 1 includes one head unit 21 and one unit nozzle row 240A. The unit nozzle row 240A can form, for example, a straight line in which 3240 points are connected at a pitch interval of 70 μm during one scan.

<Electrical configuration of droplet discharge device>
Next, an electrical configuration for driving the droplet discharge device 1 having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is an electrical configuration block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge device. The droplet discharge device 1 is controlled by inputting data or inputting a control command such as operation start or stop via the control device 65. The control device 65 includes a host computer 66 for performing arithmetic processing and an input / output device 68 for inputting / outputting information to / from the droplet discharge device 1, and a discharge device control unit via an interface (I / F) 67. 6 is connected. The input / output device 68 includes a keyboard capable of inputting information, an external input / output device that inputs / outputs information via a recording medium, a recording unit that stores information input via the external input / output device, a monitor device, and the like It is.

  The ejection device controller 6 of the droplet ejection device 1 includes an input / output interface (I / F) 47, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 84, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 45, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 46, And a hard disk 48. The head driver 20d, the drive mechanism driver 8d, the liquid supply driver 4d, the maintenance driver 5d, and a detection unit interface (I / F) 83 are provided. These are electrically connected to each other via a data bus 49.

  The input / output interface 47 exchanges data with the control device 65, and the CPU 84 performs various arithmetic processes based on commands from the control device 65 and outputs control signals for controlling the operation of each part of the droplet discharge device 1. To do. The RAM 46 temporarily stores control commands and print data received from the control device 65 in accordance with instructions from the CPU 84. The ROM 45 stores routines for the CPU 84 to perform various arithmetic processes. The hard disk 48 stores control commands and print data received from the control device 65, and stores routines for the CPU 84 to perform various arithmetic processes.

  The head driver 20d is connected to the droplet discharge head 20 constituting the head unit 21. The head driver 20d drives the droplet discharge head 20 in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 84 to discharge the functional liquid droplets. The drive mechanism driver 8d includes a Y-axis linear motor of the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26, an X-axis linear motor of the X-axis scanning mechanism 36, a rotation mechanism 32 of the work mounting table 30, and various drive mechanisms having various drive sources. Is connected to the drive mechanism 80. The various drive mechanisms are a camera movement motor for moving the alignment camera when performing alignment of the workpiece W, a drive motor for the suction mechanism of the workpiece mounting table 30, and the like. The drive mechanism driver 8d drives the motor or the like in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 84 to move the droplet discharge head 20 and the workpiece W relative to each other so that an arbitrary position of the workpiece W and the droplet discharge head 20 face each other. In cooperation with the head driver 20d, the droplet of the functional liquid is landed at an arbitrary position on the workpiece W.

  The functional liquid supply unit 4 is connected to the liquid supply driver 4d. The liquid supply driver 4 d supplies the functional liquid to the droplet discharge head 20 by driving the pressure applying section of the functional liquid supply section 4 and the drive source of the valve according to the control signal from the CPU 84.

  The maintenance driver 5d is connected to a suction unit, a wiping unit, a discharge inspection unit, a weight measurement unit, and the like included in the maintenance device unit 5. The maintenance driver 5d drives the suction unit or the wiping unit in accordance with a control signal from the CPU 84 to perform maintenance work on the droplet discharge head 20. Further, the ejection inspection unit is driven to inspect the ejection state of the droplet ejection head 20 such as the presence / absence of ejection and the landing position accuracy, or the weight measurement unit is driven to eject from the droplet ejection head 20. Or measuring the discharge weight of the droplet of the functional liquid.

  A detection unit 82 having various sensors is connected to the detection unit interface 83. Detection information detected by each sensor of the detection unit 82 is transmitted to the CPU 84 via the detection unit interface 83.

<Discharge of functional liquid>
Next, an ejection control method from the droplet ejection head 20 in the droplet ejection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an electrical configuration of the droplet discharge head and a signal flow.

As described above, the droplet discharge device 1 includes the discharge device control unit 6 that controls the operation of each unit of the droplet discharge device 1. The ejection device controller 6 includes a CPU 84 that outputs a control signal and a head driver 20 d that performs electrical drive control of the droplet ejection head 20.
As shown in FIG. 6, the head driver 20d is electrically connected to each droplet discharge head 20 via an FFC cable. In addition, the droplet discharge head 20 corresponds to the piezoelectric element 59 provided for each discharge nozzle 24 (see FIG. 3), a shift register (SL) 85, a latch circuit (LAT) 86, and a level shifter (LS). ) 87 and a switch (SW) 88.

  The ejection control in the droplet ejection apparatus 1 is performed as follows. First, the CPU 84 transmits the dot pattern data obtained by converting the arrangement pattern of the functional liquid on the drawing object such as the workpiece W to the head driver 20d. Then, the head driver 20d decodes the dot pattern data to generate nozzle data that is ON / OFF (discharge / non-discharge) information for each discharge nozzle 24. The nozzle data is converted into a serial signal (SI) and transmitted to each shift register 85 in synchronization with the clock signal (CK).

  The nozzle data transmitted to the shift register 85 is latched at the timing when the latch signal (LAT) is input to the latch circuit 86, and further converted into a gate signal for the switch 88 by the level shifter 87. That is, when the nozzle data is “ON”, the switch 88 is opened and the drive signal (COM) is supplied to the piezoelectric element 59, and when the nozzle data is “OFF”, the switch 88 is closed and the piezoelectric element 59 is closed. No drive signal (COM) is supplied to 59. Then, the functional liquid is discharged as droplets from the discharge nozzle 24 corresponding to “ON”, and the discharged droplets of the functional liquid land on the drawing object such as the workpiece W, and the drawing object The functional liquid is placed on the top.

<Landing position>
Next, the relationship between the discharge nozzles 24 of the droplet discharge head 20 and the landing positions of the droplets discharged from the respective discharge nozzles 24 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the discharge nozzles and the landing positions of the droplets discharged from the respective discharge nozzles. FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement positions of the discharge nozzles, and FIG. 7B is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which droplets are landed linearly in the extending direction of the nozzle rows, FIG. 7C is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which droplets are landed linearly in the main scanning direction, and FIG. 7D is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which droplets are landed in a planar shape. is there. The X axis and Y axis shown in FIG. 7 coincide with the X axis and Y axis shown in FIG. 1 when the head unit 21 is attached to the droplet discharge device 1. The X-axis direction is the main scanning direction, and the functional liquid droplets are discharged at an arbitrary position while the discharge nozzle 24 (droplet discharge head 20) is relatively moved in the direction of arrow a shown in FIG. Thus, the droplet can be landed at an arbitrary position in the X-axis direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the discharge nozzles 24 constituting the nozzle row 24A are arranged at the center distance of the nozzle pitch P in the Y-axis direction. As described above, the positions of the discharge nozzles 24 constituting the two nozzle rows 24A are shifted from each other by ½ of the nozzle pitch P in the Y-axis direction.

  As shown in FIG. 7B, the landing point 91 indicating the landing position and the landing circle 91A indicating the wet and spread state of the landed droplet indicate the state of one landed droplet. By ejecting droplets from all the ejection nozzles 24 of the two nozzle rows 24A on the virtual line L indicated by the one-dot chain line in FIG. A straight line connecting the landing circles 91 </ b> A is formed at an interval between the centers of two.

  As shown in FIG. 7C, by continuously ejecting liquid droplets from one ejection nozzle 24, a straight line in which landing circles 91A are continuous in the X-axis direction is formed. The minimum value of the center-to-center distance between the landing points 91 in the X-axis direction is denoted as the minimum landing distance d. The minimum landing distance d is a product of the relative movement speed in the main scanning direction and the minimum discharge interval of the discharge nozzle 24.

  As shown in FIG. 7 (d), each droplet is ejected at the timing of landing on the virtual lines L1, L2, and L3 indicated by the alternate long and short dash lines, so that the interval between the centers of the nozzle pitch P is ½. A landing surface in which the straight lines connecting the landing circles 91A are arranged in parallel in the X-axis direction is formed. Each landing point 91 in the case where the distance between the virtual lines L1, L2, and L3 shown in FIG. 7D is the minimum landing distance d is a position where a droplet of the functional liquid can be placed by the droplet discharge device 1. is there.

  At the time of drawing an image, a position where a droplet is arranged is determined for each position of the landing point 91 shown in FIG. For example, an arrangement table specifying the arrangement position and the discharge nozzles 24 that discharge droplets at the arrangement position is formed, and the functional liquid is landed according to the arrangement table, thereby drawing an image defined by the image information. In the example shown in FIG. 7 (d), there is a gap between the landing circles 91A. However, the discharge weight per one droplet to be discharged is appropriate for the nozzle pitch P and the minimum landing distance d. It is possible to arrange the functional liquid without gaps.

<Drawing process>
Next, a drawing process for drawing a marking image for marking on a semiconductor chip using the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11. In this embodiment, drawing on a semiconductor chip is performed on a semiconductor chip in a state of a chip drawing body including a large number of semiconductor chips.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the drawing process. 9 and 10 are explanatory diagrams showing a marking image to be drawn and a drawing scanning direction. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing a chip drawing body and a drawing scanning direction. 9A is an explanatory diagram showing the marking image and the drawing scanning direction, and FIG. 9B is an explanatory diagram showing the marking image and the drawing scanning direction with the direction adjusted, and FIG. FIG. 10C is an explanatory diagram showing a marking image and a drawing scanning direction in the chip drawing body, and FIG. 10D is an explanation showing a marking image in the chip drawing body and the drawing scanning direction adjusted in direction. FIG. FIG. 11A is an explanatory view showing a chip drawing body fed on the workpiece mounting table, and FIG. 11B is an explanation showing a chip drawing body and a drawing scanning direction during drawing scanning. FIG. The X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11 coincide with the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3.

In step S1 of FIG. 8, image information of a marking image to be drawn is acquired. The image information is, for example, information that specifies the coordinates of a landing point on which a droplet is landed. The coordinate system of image information is expressed as image coordinates. A coordinate system indicating a position on the drawing medium is referred to as medium coordinates. By associating the image coordinates with the medium coordinates, the position and direction of the marking image on the drawing medium are defined.
The coordinate system indicating the position of the landing point described with reference to FIG. 7 in the droplet discharge device 1 is referred to as device coordinates. By associating the medium coordinates with the apparatus coordinates, a droplet can be landed at a specified position on the drawing medium. The step of adjusting the orientation (alignment) of the drawing medium supplied on the work table 30 is a step of associating the medium coordinates with the apparatus coordinates.
With the image coordinates, the medium coordinates, and the apparatus coordinates associated with each other, the droplet of the functional liquid is landed on the landing point in the image information, so that the image information of the marking image is applied to the designated position on the drawing medium. A defined marking image can be formed.

The marking image 71 shown in FIG. 9A is composed of a character image 72 and a blank portion 74.
In FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, the character image 72 is a set of landing point sections 73 having a substantially square shape. The landing point section 73 is a virtual region set on the drawing surface, and corresponds to the landing point 91 and the landing circle 91A described with reference to FIG. Each landing point section 73 in FIG. 9A corresponds to each landing point 91 shown in FIG. Except for the case of landing repeatedly, one droplet is landed on one landing point section 73. The landing droplets form a landing circle 91A as described with reference to FIG. 7, but in the following description, the functional liquid of the landed droplets is the landing point section 73 in order to simplify the description. Will be described as being located in a state of covering. The landing circle 91 </ b> A can cover the drawing surface without a gap because there are portions that overlap each other, but the functional liquid filling the landing point section 73 touches each other without a gap so that the drawing surface is covered. Assume that it is possible to cover without gaps.

  The marking image 71 includes a character image 72a, a character image 72b, a character image 72c, a character image 72d, a blank portion 74a, and a blank portion 74b. The marking image 71 has a rectangular shape with four sides extending in the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction, respectively. The character image 72a, the character image 72b, the character image 72c, and the character image 72d are each positioned at any one of the four corners of the marking image 71 having a rectangular shape. Between the character images 72 positioned at the four corners, a blank portion 74a extending in the X-axis direction at the approximate center in the Y-axis direction of the marking image 71, and the Y-axis direction at the approximate center in the X-axis direction of the marking image 71 A blank portion 74b extending to the left is located. The landing point section 73 at the portion where the blank portion 74a and the blank portion 74b intersect is a common portion included in the blank portion 74a and the blank portion 74b.

Among the landing point sections 73 constituting the character image 72, the landing point section 73 in which the droplets are landed and the functional liquid is disposed is referred to as an actual landing section 73a. The landing point section 73 on which the droplet does not land is referred to as a non-landing section 73b.
The alphabet A, B, C, or D is written in the character image 72a, the character image 72b, the character image 72c, and the character image 72d by the actual landing section 73a in the character image 72. The blank portion 74a and the blank portion 74b are a set of non-landing sections 73b.
The image information of the marking image 71 is information that defines the position of the actual landing section 73a. The non-landing section 73b that constitutes the character image 72, the blank portion 74a that is a set of the non-landing sections 73b, and the blank section 74b are formed by causing the liquid droplets of the functional liquid to land and forming the actual landing section 73a. ,It is formed.

Next, in step S2 of FIG. 8, the image to be drawn is analyzed. With respect to the marking image 71 defined by the image information acquired in step S1, the discharge nozzle 24 used for drawing is analyzed.
The discharge nozzle numbers shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B respectively indicate the positions of the discharge nozzles 24 arranged in the Y-axis direction in the Y-axis direction. The scanning direction by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36 is the X-axis direction, which is the direction indicated by the arrow a in FIG. The vertical direction of the character included in the marking image 71 indicated by the arrow P in FIGS. 9A and 9B is referred to as “image direction” of the marking image 71. The relative angle between the image direction of the marking image 71 shown in FIG. 9A and the drawing scanning direction is 90 degrees.

  When the relative angle between the image direction of the marking image 71 and the drawing scanning direction is 90 degrees, the direction indicated by the arrow a is the drawing scanning direction. When the marking image 71 is drawn by scanning in the direction indicated by the arrow a, there are 16 discharge nozzles 24 having discharge nozzle numbers 3 to 18 capable of discharging functional liquid droplets toward the range of the marking image 71. This is the discharge nozzle 24. The four discharge nozzles 24 having the discharge nozzle numbers 9 to 12 are in positions facing only the blank portion 74a and have no opportunity to discharge, so the operating nozzle rate, which is the ratio of the discharge nozzles 24 that perform discharge, is 75%. It is. The width of the blank portion 74 a in the Y-axis direction, which is a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, is approximately the width of four landing point sections 73. The width changes in accordance with the amount of deviation with the relative direction deviating from 90 degrees.

When the angle of the relative direction between the image direction of the marking image 71 and the drawing scanning direction is 0 degree (the direction is the same), the direction indicated by the arrow b is the drawing scanning direction. When the marking image 71 is drawn by scanning the direction indicated by the arrow b in the X-axis direction and in the direction indicated by the arrow b, a discharge capable of discharging functional liquid droplets toward the range of the marking image 71 The nozzles 24 are twelve discharge nozzles 24. Since the two discharge nozzles 24 are located at the positions facing only the blank portion 74b and there is no opportunity for discharge, the operating nozzle ratio, which is the ratio of the discharge nozzles 24 that perform discharge, is about 83%. In FIG. 9A, which is a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, of the blank portion 74 b, the width in the X-axis direction is approximately the width of two landing point sections 73. The width changes in accordance with the amount of deviation in which the relative direction deviates from 0 degrees.
As described above, the number of ejection nozzles 24 that are only at the positions facing the blank portion 74a, the blank portion 74b, and the like, and have no chance of ejection in the drawing scan, varies depending on the relative direction.

Next, in step S3 of FIG. 8, an appropriate relative direction is calculated. For example, in the marking image 71, for the blank portion 74 having the maximum width in the direction orthogonal to the drawing scanning direction, tan θ1 = (width in the direction orthogonal to the drawing scanning direction of the blank portion 74) / (drawing scanning direction of the blank portion 74) The angle θ1 is obtained.
When the relative direction is 90 degrees, since the marking image 71 faces only the blank portion 74a in the drawing scan, the number of ejection nozzles 24 that do not have a chance of ejection is maximized. By reducing the number of discharge nozzles 24 that do not have the opportunity to discharge, the operating nozzle rate can be increased. The operating nozzle rate is the ratio of the discharge nozzles 24 that perform discharge in the drawing scan.

  In the blank portion 74 a in the marking image 71 shown in FIG. 9A, the width W <b> 1 in the X-axis direction is the width corresponding to the 12 landing point sections 73. The width H1 in the Y-axis direction is a width corresponding to four landing point sections 73. θ1 is an angle at which tan θ1 = H1 / W1 = 4/12. At this time, if the relative direction is set to (90−θ1) degrees, as shown in FIG. 9B, the character image 72 a and the character image 72 d that are located on both sides of the blank portion 74 a and have a substantially rectangular shape are substantially rectangular. The corners of the shape are substantially in contact with the common straight line L1. The straight line L1 is a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction that is the drawing scanning direction. The marking image 71 is located at a position where the straight line L1 passes between the discharge nozzle 24 with the nozzle number 11 and the discharge nozzle 24 with the nozzle number 12 with respect to the droplet discharge head 20.

The discharge nozzle 24 with the nozzle number 11 is opposed to a portion substantially in contact with the straight line L <b> 1 in the character image 72 a, and functional liquid droplets are arranged by the discharge nozzle 24. The discharge nozzle 24 with the nozzle number 12 is opposed to a portion substantially in contact with the straight line L1 in the character image 72d, and droplets of functional liquid are arranged by the discharge nozzle 24.
The relative angle between the image direction of the marking image 71 and the drawing scanning direction is (90−θ1) degrees, and the direction indicated by the arrow a is the drawing scanning direction. When the marking image 71 is drawn by scanning in the direction indicated by the arrow a, 19 discharge nozzles 24 having discharge nozzle numbers 2 to 20 that are capable of discharging functional liquid droplets toward the range of the marking image 71 are provided. This is the discharge nozzle 24. Since there is no discharge nozzle 24 that is in a position facing only the blank portion 74a and the blank portion 74b and has no opportunity to discharge, the operating nozzle rate, which is the ratio of the discharge nozzles 24 that perform discharge, is 100%.

  In order to make it easy to explain the calculation of the amount of tilt of the image, a single marking image 71 that can be drawn using only some of the ejection nozzles 24 of the ejection nozzles 24 included in the droplet ejection head 20 has been described as an example. . However, in actual drawing, in order to draw efficiently, an image having a size that needs to be drawn multiple times by the unit nozzle row 240A is drawn.

  As shown in FIG. 10C, the chip drawing body 63 is a semiconductor chip 61 aligned and temporarily fixed on a holding plate 62. A marking image 76a is drawn on the surface of the semiconductor chip 61 opposite to the surface on which the bonding pads are formed. The marking image 76a is, for example, a logo mark, a product name, a product model number, a lot number, or the like. The marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 is an assembly of marking images 76 a drawn on the semiconductor chip 61. The X-axis direction in the chip drawing body 63 shown in FIG. 10C is the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63. The chip drawing body 63 corresponds to a drawing medium.

The blank portion 74c in the marking image 76 shown in FIG. 10C has a width W2 in the X-axis direction and a width H2 in the Y-axis direction. The blank portion 74d has a width W3 in the X-axis direction. When the drawing scanning direction is the X-axis direction, the width of the blank portion 74c in the direction perpendicular to the drawing scanning direction is H2. When the drawing scanning direction is the Y-axis direction, the width of the blank portion 74d in the direction perpendicular to the drawing scanning direction is W3. In the marking image 76, the maximum non-arrangement region where the width in the direction orthogonal to the drawing scanning direction is maximum is the blank portion 74c.
The X-axis direction when the drawing scanning direction is the X-axis direction corresponds to the first drawing scanning direction. The drawing scanning process when the drawing scanning direction is the X-axis direction corresponds to the first drawing scanning process. The blank part 74c and the blank part 74d correspond to the non-arrangement region.

The blank portion 74c has a width W2 in the X-axis direction and a width H2 in the Y-axis direction. θ2 is an angle at which tan θ2 = H2 / W2. When the relative direction between the image direction and the drawing scanning direction is θ2 degrees during the drawing scanning, as shown in FIG. 10D, the portions located on both sides of the blank portion 74c are substantially in contact with the common straight line L2. Yes. The straight line L2 is a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction that is the drawing scanning direction. When the marking image 76 is drawn by performing a drawing scan in which the drawing scanning direction is the X-axis direction, there is no discharge nozzle 24 that is in a position facing only the blank portion 74c and has no opportunity to discharge. 100%. The portions located on both sides of the blank portion 74c correspond to the first placement area or the second placement area, respectively.
The analysis of the image drawn in step S2 and the calculation of the relative direction in step S3 are performed by the CPU 84 based on a program stored in the ROM 45 or the like in accordance with a command from the control device 65. The CPU 84 in this case corresponds to the relative direction defining means.

  Next, in step S <b> 4 of FIG. 8, a chip drawing body 63 that is a drawing medium is supplied to the droplet discharge device 1. For example, a chip drawing body 63 as a drawing medium is supplied onto the mounting table 31 of the work mounting table 30 using a supply / discharge material device such as an industrial robot. As shown in FIG. 11A, the supplied chip drawing body 63 is positioned with respect to the droplet discharge device 1 with accuracy within a range of positional accuracy determined by positioning accuracy of the supply / discharge material device, and the like. It is fixed to the work table 30 by suction.

  Next, in step S5, alignment of the chip drawing body 63, which is a drawing medium, is performed. By the alignment, the position and direction of the chip drawing body 63 attracted and fixed to the workpiece mounting table 30 with respect to the droplet discharge device 1 are accurately adjusted to a predetermined position and direction. The predetermined direction is a direction in which the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 coincides with the drawing scanning direction like the chip drawing body 63 shown in FIG.

Next, in step S6 of FIG. 8, direction adjustment of the chip drawing body 63 that is a drawing medium is performed. The chip drawing body 63 fixed to the mounting table 31 is rotated by rotating the mounting table 31 around an axis parallel to the Z axis by the rotation mechanism 32 of the workpiece mounting table 30 described with reference to FIG. The direction is adjusted to the direction shown in FIG. The direction of the chip drawing body 63 is adjusted such that the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 realizes the relative direction obtained in step S3 with respect to the drawing scanning direction. Step S6 corresponds to a scanning relative direction adjustment step.
The rotating mechanism 32 corresponds to a relative direction adjusting unit and also corresponds to a medium direction changing unit. The relative direction between the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 and the drawing scanning direction corresponds to the drawing scanning relative direction.

  There is a possibility that the relative direction between the image direction of the marking image 76 and the like and the drawing scanning direction is geometrically any one of 0 degrees to 360 degrees. However, the width of the blank portion 74 in the direction perpendicular to the drawing scanning direction is the same when the relative direction is θ degrees and when (θ + 180) degrees. Therefore, the number of discharge nozzles 24 that do not have the opportunity to discharge to face only the blank portion 74 during the drawing scan is the same in the case where the relative direction is θ degrees and in the case of (θ + 180) degrees. For this reason, there is a possibility that the relative direction between the image direction and the drawing scanning direction is substantially any of 0 to 180 degrees. The rotation mechanism 32 preferably has a rotatable angle of at least 180 degrees.

Next, in step S <b> 7 of FIG. 8, the marking image 76 is drawn on the chip drawing body 63.
With respect to the head unit 21 whose relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 is the position of the head unit 210 shown in FIG. 11B, the workpiece mounting table 30 is moved to the position shown in FIG. The scanning is performed in the direction of the indicated arrow a1 (X-axis direction). In synchronization with the scanning, drawing scanning is performed by discharging droplets from the discharge nozzles 24 of the head unit 21 toward the position defined by the image information. A portion of the marking image 76 corresponding to the portion of the chip drawing body 63 fixed to the work mounting table 30 is drawn on the portion where the head unit 21 faces in the drawing scanning. The width of the drawn portion in the Y-axis direction is, for example, a width substantially equal to the length of the unit nozzle row 240A (see FIG. 4).

The head unit 21 in a state where one drawing scan is completed has a relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 at the position of the head unit 211 shown in FIG. Since the relative movement between the head unit 21 and the workpiece mounting table 30 in the drawing scan is performed by scanning the workpiece mounting table 30 in the X-axis direction, the head unit 21 does not move. For this reason, the position of the head unit 211 is the same as the position of the head unit 210.
The head unit 21 located at the position of the head unit 211 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 to perform a line feed. The line feed amount is a width in the Y-axis direction that can be drawn by one drawing scan, for example, a width that is substantially equal to the length of the unit nozzle row 240A. In the state in which the line feed is completed, the head unit 21 is positioned relative to the chip drawing body 63 at the position of the head unit 221 shown in FIG.

With respect to the head unit 21 whose relative position to the chip drawing body 63 is the position of the head unit 221, the workpiece mounting table 30 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow a2 (X in FIG. 11B) by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36. Scan in the axial direction). In synchronization with the scanning, drawing scanning is performed by discharging droplets from the discharge nozzles 24 of the head unit 21 toward the position defined by the image information. The head unit 21 in the state in which the drawing scanning is completed has the relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 at the position of the head unit 220 shown in FIG.
After that, the marking line 76 is drawn by repeating the line feed and drawing scan similar to the line feed and drawing scan described above. The X-axis scanning mechanism 36 corresponds to a relative movement unit.

  Next, in step S8 in FIG. 8, a step of returning the direction of the chip drawing body 63, which is the drawing medium, is performed. In this step, in step S6, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 in which the image direction is adjusted to the direction that realizes the relative direction obtained in step S3 with respect to the drawing scanning direction is supplied in step S4. This is a step of returning to a direction substantially the same as the direction. The accuracy of the direction of the returned chip drawing body 63 may be high enough that the chip drawing body 63 can be held by the feeding / dispensing material device used in the feeding process of step S4.

  Next, in step S <b> 9, the chip drawing body 63 (the drawing medium) on which the marking image 76 has been drawn is removed from the droplet discharge device 1. The material removal is performed by removing the chip drawing body 63 mounted on the mounting table 31 of the workpiece mounting table 30 using the supply / discharge material apparatus used in step S4.

Next, in step S10, it is determined whether or not there is a chip drawing body 63 (drawing medium) for which the drawing of the marking image 76 has not been completed.
If there is a chip drawing body 63 for which marking image 76 has not yet been drawn (YES in step S10), the process returns to step S4, and steps S4 to S10 are repeated to mark the chip drawing body 63. 76 is drawn.
If there is no chip drawing body 63 for which the marking image 76 has not yet been drawn (NO in step S10), the drawing process for drawing the marking image on the semiconductor chip is terminated.

<Drawing process 2>
Next, another example of a drawing process for drawing a marking image for marking on the semiconductor chip 61 using the droplet discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. Similar to the drawing process described with reference to FIGS. 8, 9, 10, and 11, the drawing on the semiconductor chip 61 is performed in the state of a chip drawing body 63 including a large number of semiconductor chips 61. 61.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the drawing process. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing a chip drawing body and a drawing scanning direction during drawing scanning. The X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 13 coincide with the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

  Each step from step S21 to step S25 in FIG. 12 is the same as each step from step S1 to step S5 shown in FIG.

After step S25 of FIG. 12, in step S26, the marking image 76 is drawn on the chip drawing body 63.
With respect to the head unit 21 whose relative position to the chip drawing body 63 is the position of the head unit 260 shown in FIG. 13, the X-axis scanning mechanism 36 moves the workpiece mounting table 30 in the direction of the arrow a <b> 1 shown in FIG. 13. Scan in the (X-axis direction). In parallel, the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 causes the head unit 21 to scan in the direction of the arrow b1 (Y-axis direction) shown in FIG. By harmonizing the moving speed of the work mounting table 30 and the moving speed of the head unit 21, the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21 fixed to the work mounting table 30 are moved in the direction of the arrow c parallel to the straight line L4. Move relative to the direction. The straight line L4 is inclined by θ2 degrees with respect to the X-axis direction.
The X-axis scanning mechanism 36 and the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 correspond to relative movement means. The CPU 84 controls the moving speed of the work table 30 and the moving speed of the head unit 21 based on a program stored in the ROM 45 or the like in accordance with a command from the control device 65. The CPU 84 in this case corresponds to a relative direction adjusting unit and also corresponds to a drawing scanning direction changing unit. The step of adjusting the drawing scanning direction in the step S26 in the direction of the parallel arrow c corresponds to the scanning relative direction adjusting step.

  As described with reference to FIG. 10, the X-axis direction of the chip drawing body 63 shown in FIG. 10C is the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63. The image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 in a state where the chip drawing body 63 is fixed to the work mounting table 30 in the direction as shown in FIG. 13 or FIG. Axial direction.

The blank portion 74c in the marking image 76 has a width W2 in the X-axis direction in a state where the chip drawing body 63 is fixed to the workpiece mounting table 30 in the direction shown in FIG. 13 or FIG. Yes, the width in the Y-axis direction is the width H2. θ2 is an angle at which tan θ2 = H2 / W2.
At the time of drawing scanning, if the image direction is swung by θ2 degrees and the relative direction between the image direction and the drawing scanning direction is θ2 degrees, as described with reference to FIG. The portion is substantially in contact with the common straight line L2. At this time, the straight line L2 is a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction which is the drawing scanning direction in the drawing scanning performed only by relative movement by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36.

  In a state where the chip drawing body 63 is fixed to the workpiece mounting table 30 in the direction shown in FIG. 13, the image direction of the marking image 76 is the X-axis direction, and the straight line L2 is θ2 with respect to the X-axis direction. Tilted. The straight line L4 is inclined by θ2 degrees with respect to the X-axis direction and is parallel to the straight line L2. The drawing scanning direction, which is the relative movement direction between the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21, is the direction of the arrow c and is inclined by θ2 degrees with respect to the X-axis direction that is the image direction of the marking image 76. The angle θ2 between the drawing scanning direction that is the relative movement direction of the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21 and the image direction of the marking image 76 corresponds to the drawing scanning relative direction.

  In synchronization with the relative movement of the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21, drawing scanning is performed by discharging droplets from the discharge nozzle 24 provided in the head unit 21 toward the position defined by the image information. . A portion of the marking image 76 corresponding to the portion of the chip drawing body 63 fixed to the work mounting table 30 is drawn on the portion where the head unit 21 faces in the drawing scanning. The width of the drawn portion in the Y-axis direction is, for example, a width substantially equal to the length of the unit nozzle row 240A (see FIG. 4).

The head unit 21 in a state where one drawing scan is completed has the relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 at the position of the head unit 261 shown in FIG.
Since the relative movement in the X-axis direction between the head unit 21 and the workpiece mounting table 30 in the drawing scan is performed by scanning the workpiece mounting table 30 in the X-axis direction, the position of the head unit 261 in the X-axis direction is the head This is the same as the position of the unit 260 in the X-axis direction. Since the relative movement of the head unit 21 and the workpiece mounting table 30 in the Y-axis direction in the drawing scan is performed by the head unit 21 scanning in the Y-axis direction, the position of the head unit 261 in the Y-axis direction is the drawing scan. Is shifted by the amount of movement at.

  The head unit 21 located at the position of the head unit 261 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 to perform a line feed. The line feed amount is a width in the Y-axis direction that can be drawn by one drawing scan, for example, a width that is substantially equal to the length of the unit nozzle row 240A. The head unit 21 in the state where the line feed is completed has a relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 to the position of the head unit 271 shown in FIG.

With respect to the head unit 21 whose relative position to the chip drawing body 63 is the position of the head unit 271, the workpiece mounting table 30 is moved in the direction of the arrow a <b> 2 shown in FIG. 13 (X-axis direction) by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36. To scan. In parallel, the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 causes the head unit 21 to scan in the direction of the arrow b2 (Y-axis direction) shown in FIG. By harmonizing the moving speed of the work mounting table 30 and the moving speed of the head unit 21, the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21 fixed to the work mounting table 30 are moved in the direction of the arrow c parallel to the straight line L4. Move relative to the direction.
In the drawing scan, a portion continuous with the portion of the marking image 76 drawn in the immediately preceding drawing scan is drawn. The head unit 21 in the state in which the drawing scanning is finished has a relative position with respect to the chip drawing body 63 to the position of the head unit 270 shown in FIG.
After that, the marking line 76 is drawn by repeating the line feed and drawing scan similar to the line feed and drawing scan described above.

  After step S26 in FIG. 12, step S27 is performed. Steps S27 and S28 in FIG. 12 are the same steps as step S9 or step S10 shown in FIG. If there is no chip drawing body 63 for which marking image 76 has not been drawn (NO in step S28), the drawing process for drawing the marking image on the semiconductor chip is terminated.

  As described above, the arrangement direction of the discharge nozzles 24 in the nozzle row 24A is the Y-axis direction. For this reason, when the drawing scanning direction is close to the Y-axis direction, the width in the direction orthogonal to the drawing scanning direction that can be drawn by one drawing scanning is reduced. When the drawing scan direction is the Y-axis direction, the width that can be drawn by one drawing scan is one width of the landing point section 73 per nozzle row 24A. When the drawing scanning direction is close to the Y-axis direction, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 when supplying the chip drawing body 63 in step S24 is set to the extension direction of the nozzle row 24A and the drawing scanning direction. The relative direction is preferably increased (closer to 90 degrees).

Hereinafter, the effect by embodiment is described. According to the present embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) The mounting table 31 included in the droplet discharge device 1 is rotatably attached to the mounting table base 33 via a rotation mechanism 32. The rotation mechanism 32 can rotate the mounting table 31 around the rotation shaft 32a with respect to the mounting table base 33, and can hold it at an arbitrary position with high accuracy. Thereby, the direction of the drawing medium such as the chip drawing body 63 fixed to the mounting table 31 can be directed to an arbitrary direction with respect to the X-axis direction that is the moving direction of the work mounting table 30.

  (2) In the drawing step 2 described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13, the workpiece mounting table 30 is scanned by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36, and in parallel, the head unit 21 is moved by the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26. Let it scan. By reconciling the moving speed of the work mounting table 30 and the moving speed of the head unit 21, the chip drawing body 63 fixed to the work mounting table 30 and the head unit 21 are relatively moved in any direction. Can do. Thereby, the relative movement direction of the chip drawing body 63 and the head unit 21 can be set to an arbitrary direction with respect to the chip drawing body 63 fixed to the work mounting table 30. That is, the drawing scanning relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium direction, is adjusted by changing the drawing scanning direction which is the relative movement direction between the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning. be able to.

  (3) The blank portion 74c of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 has a width W2 in the X-axis direction and a width H2 in the Y-axis direction. θ2 is an angle at which tan θ2 = H2 / W2. In drawing scanning, the relative direction between the image direction and the drawing scanning direction is set to θ2 degrees, so that the portions located on both sides of the blank portion 74c are substantially in contact with the common straight line L2. The straight line L2 is a straight line parallel to the X-axis direction that is the drawing scanning direction. This eliminates the discharge nozzles 24 that do not perform discharge due to being positioned at a position facing only the portion of the blank portion 74c in the range in which the marking image 76 is drawn during the drawing scan for drawing the marking image 76. Can do.

(4) In the drawing process described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11, in step S4, the chip drawing body 63 is supplied to the droplet discharge device 1, and in step S5, the chip drawing body 63 is aligned. In step S6, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 is adjusted. In step S7, the marking image 76 is drawn on the chip drawing body 63.
In step S6, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 is adjusted. Therefore, in the alignment in step S5, even if the appropriate drawing scanning relative direction is changed, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 is adjusted in a fixed direction. Alignment can be performed. In the material supply in step S4, even if an appropriate drawing scanning relative direction is changed, the material can be supplied by supplying the chip drawing body 63 in a fixed direction.
In the alignment in step S5, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 is adjusted in a fixed direction. In the direction adjustment in step S6, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 at the start of adjustment is constant. It is possible to prevent the adjustment process from becoming complicated due to the change in the direction of the chip drawing body 63.

(5) In step S7, drawing is performed on the chip drawing body 63. In step S8, a step of returning the direction of the chip drawing body 63 is performed. The material is removed from the droplet discharge device 1.
By performing the step of returning the direction of the chip drawing body 63, the direction of the chip drawing body 63 when removing the material is substantially constant even when the appropriate drawing scanning relative direction is changed. It is possible to prevent the material removal process from being complicated due to the change of the direction of the chip drawing body 63 to be material-targeted.

  (6) The relative direction between the blank portion 74c and the drawing scanning direction in the marking image 76 is changed by changing the drawing scanning relative direction between the image direction of the marking image 76 drawn on the chip drawing body 63 and the drawing scanning direction. Yes. At the time of drawing scanning, the number of ejection nozzles 24 that do not perform ejection depends on the positions of the blank portion 74c and the drawing scanning direction due to being positioned at a position facing only the portion of the blank portion 74c in the range where the marking image 76 is drawn. It depends on the relative direction. At the time of drawing scanning, by changing the relative direction of drawing scanning, it is possible to adjust the direction in which the number of ejection nozzles 24 that do not perform ejection is suppressed.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment was described referring an accompanying drawing, suitable embodiment is not restricted to the said embodiment. The embodiment can of course be modified in various ways without departing from the scope, and can also be implemented as follows.

(Modification 1) In the above-described embodiment, ejection is caused by the fact that the relative direction between the image direction and the drawing scanning direction is located at a position facing only the portion of the maximum non-arranged region such as the blank portion 74c during drawing scanning. The discharge nozzle 24 that does not perform the operation is set in a direction to be eliminated. However, the drawing scanning relative direction can also be defined using other methods.
The drawing step may be a step of developing an image to be drawn into a bitmap and drawing according to the bitmap. The bit map is a map in which an image is defined by position information for landing droplets of functional liquid and information on discharge nozzles that discharge the functional liquid. By developing the image into a bitmap, it is possible to obtain an operating nozzle ratio that is a ratio of the discharge nozzles that discharge the liquid material in the drawing scan. By changing the drawing scanning relative direction and expanding the image into bitmaps and obtaining the working nozzle rate from each bitmap, the drawing scanning relative direction that maximizes the working nozzle rate can be obtained. By adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction to the direction in which the working nozzle rate is maximized, the ratio of ejection nozzles that perform ejection in the rendering scanning process is maximized, and the ratio of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection is minimized. it can. The step of adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction in the direction in which the working nozzle ratio is maximized corresponds to the scanning relative direction adjusting step.
The process of expanding the image into a bitmap, the process of obtaining the working nozzle ratio, and the process of obtaining the drawing scanning relative direction in which the working nozzle ratio is maximized are stored in the ROM 45 or the like in accordance with a command from the control device 65. Implement based on the program. The CPU 84 in this case corresponds to the relative direction defining means. As the relative direction adjusting means, the rotation mechanism 32 may be used as in the drawing process described with reference to FIG. 8, or the workpiece mounting table 30 may be adjusted as in the drawing process described with reference to FIG. The CPU 84 may control the moving speed and the moving speed of the head unit 21.

(Modification 2) In the above embodiment, the drawing medium on which the marking image is drawn is the chip drawing body 63 in which the semiconductor chip 61 is aligned and temporarily fixed on the holding plate 62, but the image is drawn. The target is not limited to a semiconductor chip. The object for drawing the image may be any object as long as the image can be drawn using the droplet discharge device.
It is not essential that the drawing medium is a collection of objects to be drawn. You may draw on each individual drawing object like the individual semiconductor chip 61.
It is not essential that the image to be drawn is a marking image. The image to be drawn may be any image.

  (Modification 3) In the embodiment described above, the character image 72 constituting the marking image 71 is formed of 30 landing point sections 73 of 5 sections × 6 sections. However, it is preferable that the number of pixel dots for drawing a shape such as the character image 72 is larger. For example, by increasing the number of pixel dots constituting a character, the degree of freedom of the shape of the character to be drawn can be increased, and a character having a smooth shape can be drawn. As the number of pixel dots constituting the character increases, the size of the pixel dot for the character becomes relatively small.

  (Modification 4) In the above-described embodiment, the droplet discharge device 1 including the rotation mechanism 32 is used in the drawing process 2 described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. In the second drawing step, when drawing is performed, the workpiece mounting table 30 is scanned by the X-axis scanning mechanism 36, and the head unit 21 is scanned by the Y-axis scanning mechanism 26 in parallel. Therefore, in the drawing process such as the drawing process 2, the drawing scanning relative direction between the drawing scanning direction and the drawing medium can be adjusted by changing the drawing scanning direction. When the drawing scanning direction is changed in order to adjust the drawing scanning relative direction, the drawing apparatus that performs the drawing may be an apparatus that does not include the medium direction changing unit such as the rotation mechanism 32.

  (Modification 5) In the above-described embodiment, the marking image 76 is drawn with one type of functional liquid. However, it is not essential that the number of types of liquid used to form an image is one. An image may be formed using a plurality of types of liquids. When a plurality of types of liquid materials are used, a drawing scanning relative direction that suppresses the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection in the drawing scanning may be set for each ejection nozzle that ejects the same type of liquid material. Alternatively, as in the case where there is only one type of functional liquid, a drawing scanning relative direction that suppresses the number of ejection nozzles that do not perform ejection during the drawing scanning may be set in the entire ejection nozzles that are used.

  (Modification 6) In the embodiment described above, the droplet discharge device 1 includes the head unit 21, and the functional liquid discharged from the droplet discharge head 20 included in the head unit 21 is a single functional liquid. . However, it is not essential that the liquid materials discharged by the discharge heads included in the head unit are the same. In the drawing apparatus, a plurality of different liquid materials such as different colors may be ejected. Color drawing is also possible by discharging a plurality of types of liquids having different colors. The type of the liquid material may include a plurality of head units in the drawing apparatus and may be different for each head unit, may be different for each head group, or may be different for each droplet discharge head. However, it may be different for each nozzle row. A different liquid material may be discharged for each discharge nozzle using a droplet discharge head that can individually supply a liquid material for each discharge nozzle. When performing color drawing, a plurality of head units or droplet discharge heads configured to be able to land, for example, liquid materials having different colors at the same landing position, or a scanning method is used. As a result, finer drawing becomes possible.

  (Modification 7) In the above embodiment, the landing pitch of the landing points 91 in the extending direction of the nozzle row 24A is the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles 24 in the droplet discharge head 20. However, it is not essential that the landing pitch in the extending direction of the nozzle row is the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles in the droplet discharge head. By making the minimum value of the movement amount in the relative movement in the extending direction of the nozzle rows smaller than the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles, the landing pitch in the extending direction of the nozzle rows can be made smaller than the arrangement pitch of the discharge nozzles. it can.

  (Modification 8) In the above embodiment, the droplet discharge device 1 includes one head unit 21. However, it is not essential that the drawing apparatus has one head unit. Any number of head units may be provided in the drawing apparatus.

  (Modification 9) In the above embodiment, the head unit 21 includes nine droplet discharge heads 20, but it is not essential that the head unit includes nine discharge heads. Any number of ejection heads may be included in the head unit.

  (Modification 10) In the above embodiment, the droplet discharge head 20 includes two nozzle rows 24A in which a large number of discharge nozzles 24 are arranged in a substantially straight line. However, how many nozzle rows the discharge head includes. It may be. The positions of the discharge nozzles 24 included in the droplet discharge head 20 are shifted in the extending direction of the nozzle row 24A. However, the discharge heads are discharged at substantially the same position in the extending direction of the nozzle row. The structure provided with two or more nozzles may be sufficient.

  (Modification 11) In the above-described embodiment, the workpiece W 30 is moved in the X-axis direction by moving the workpiece mounting table 30 in the X-axis direction by the X-axis scanning mechanism, and the droplet discharge head 20 is moved by the Y-axis scanning mechanism. By moving in the Y-axis direction, the workpiece W and the droplet discharge head 20 are relatively moved in the plane direction. It is not essential to move both the drawing object and the ejection head in order to move the drawing object and the ejection head relative to each other. A configuration may be adopted in which either the drawing object or the ejection head is moved in the plane direction to move the drawing object and the ejection head relative to each other.

  (Modification 12) In the above embodiment, the nozzle pitch in the nozzle row 24A is 140 μm, and the discharge pitch in the nozzle row direction in the droplet discharge head 20 including the two nozzle rows 24A is about 70 μm. However, the arrangement of the nozzles in the droplet discharge head is not limited to the arrangement in the droplet discharge head 20. The nozzle pitch in the nozzle row may be a nozzle pitch different from 140 μm.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Droplet discharge apparatus, 2 ... Head mechanism part, 3 ... Work mechanism part, 6 ... Discharge apparatus control part, 20 ... Droplet discharge head, 21 ... Head unit, 22 ... Moving frame, 23 ... Unit plate, 24 ... Discharge nozzle, 24A ... nozzle row, 26 ... Y-axis scanning mechanism, 30 ... work mounting table, 31 ... mounting table, 32 ... rotating mechanism, 32a ... rotating shaft, 36 ... X-axis scanning mechanism, 45 ... ROM, 46 ... RAM, 59 ... piezoelectric element, 61 ... semiconductor chip, 62 ... holding plate, 63 ... chip drawing body, 71 ... marking image, 72, 72a, 72b, 72c, 72d ... character image, 73 ... landing point section, 73a ... actual landing section, 73b ... non-landing section, 74, 74a, 74b, 74c, 74d ... blank part, 76 ... marking image, 76a ... marking image, 84 ... CPU, 91 ... landing point, 91A ... landing circle, 21 , 211,220,221,260,261,270,271 ... head unit, 240A ... unit nozzle row.

Claims (14)

A liquid head having a plurality of discharge nozzles for discharging a liquid material and a drawing medium are relatively moved in a direction substantially parallel to a drawing surface of the drawing medium, and the liquid material is selectively selected from the plurality of discharging nozzles. A drawing method for drawing an image using the liquid on the drawing surface by performing a drawing process including a drawing scanning process for discharging
A scanning relative direction adjustment step of adjusting a drawing scanning relative direction that is a relative direction between a drawing scanning direction that is a relative movement direction of the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning step and a direction of the drawing medium. A drawing method characterized by comprising:   In the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is a working nozzle that is a ratio of the discharge nozzles that discharge in the drawing scanning step in the drawing scanning step in the drawing scanning step with respect to the drawing medium. The drawing method according to claim 1, wherein adjustment is performed in a direction in which the rate becomes maximum.   In the scanning relative direction adjustment step, the drawing scanning relative direction is set as the first drawing scanning step in which the liquid material is not arranged in the first drawing scanning step in which the drawing scanning direction is the first drawing scanning direction. The first placement area and the second placement area where the liquid material is disposed are located across a maximum non-placement area having a maximum width in a direction orthogonal to the drawing scan direction, and the drawing scan direction The drawing method according to claim 1, wherein adjustment is performed in a direction in contact with the same straight line extending in parallel with the line.   4. The scanning relative direction adjustment step adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction by changing a direction of the drawing medium with respect to the drawing scanning direction. The drawing method according to item.   4. The scanning relative direction adjustment step adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction by changing the drawing scanning direction with respect to the direction of the drawing medium. The drawing method according to item.   5. The scanning relative direction adjustment step is performed between a drawing step and a material supply step for supplying the drawing medium to a drawing apparatus that performs the drawing step. Drawing method.   Between the drawing step and the material removal step of removing the drawing medium from the drawing apparatus, the direction returning step of directing the direction of the drawing medium in a direction substantially the same as the direction fed in the feeding step. The drawing method according to claim 6, further comprising: An ejection head comprising a plurality of ejection nozzles for ejecting a liquid material;
A support device for supporting the drawing medium;
Relative movement means for relatively moving the ejection head and the support device in a direction substantially parallel to a drawing surface of the drawing medium supported by the support device;
A relative direction defining means for defining a relative direction between the relative movement direction of the relative movement by the relative movement means and the direction of the drawing medium;
A drawing apparatus comprising: a relative direction adjusting unit that adjusts the relative direction in a direction defined by the relative direction defining unit.   The relative direction adjusting means relatively moves the discharge head and the drawing medium in a direction substantially parallel to the drawing surface of the drawing medium and selectively discharges the liquid material from the plurality of discharge nozzles. The drawing scan relative direction, which is the relative direction between the drawing scanning direction that is the relative movement direction of the ejection head and the drawing medium in the drawing scanning to be performed, and the direction of the drawing medium, in the plurality of ejection nozzles, The drawing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein an operation nozzle ratio that is a ratio of discharge nozzles that perform discharge in the drawing scan is defined in a relative direction that maximizes the operation nozzle ratio.   The relative direction defining means relatively moves the ejection head and the drawing medium in a direction substantially parallel to the drawing surface of the drawing medium and selectively discharges the liquid material from the plurality of ejection nozzles. In the drawing scanning to be performed, the drawing scanning direction is a first direction of the drawing scanning relative direction between the drawing scanning direction that is the relative movement direction of the ejection head and the drawing medium and the direction of the drawing medium. In the first drawing scan that is the drawing scanning direction of the non-arranged region in which the liquid material is not disposed is located across a maximum non-arranged region having a maximum width in a direction orthogonal to the first drawing scanning direction, The first placement region and the second placement region in which the liquid material is disposed are defined in a direction in contact with the same straight line extending in parallel to the drawing scanning direction. Described in 8 Drawing device.   The relative direction adjusting unit adjusts the drawing scanning relative direction to the relative direction defined by the relative direction defining unit by changing the direction of the drawing medium with respect to the drawing scanning direction. The drawing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the drawing apparatus is a means.   The relative direction adjusting means is a drawing scanning direction changing means for adjusting the drawing scanning relative direction to a relative direction defined by the relative direction defining means by changing the drawing scanning direction by the relative moving means. The drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein   The medium direction changing means is supplied and supported on the support device, and changes the direction of the drawing medium whose direction is adjusted in a predetermined direction, thereby changing the drawing scanning relative direction by the relative direction defining means. The drawing apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the drawing apparatus is adjusted in a prescribed direction.   The medium direction changing means is substantially the same as the direction in which the drawing medium is supplied on the support device before removing the drawing medium from the drawing apparatus. The drawing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the drawing apparatus is directed in the same direction.

Images