JP2013086296A - Printing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a letterpress printing apparatus in which ink supplied into cells of respective regions of an anilox roll is consumed at predetermined time intervals without fail.SOLUTION: The letterpress printing apparatus using a relief printing plate as a printing plate includes a rotary printing cylinder, a substrate surface plate on which a substrate to be printed is placed, the anilox roll supplying ink to the relief printing plate, an ink chamber for immersing the anilox roll in ink to supply the ink, and a device scraping the supplied ink to a constant film thickness. The letterpress printing apparatus being characterized in the anilox roll is slidable along its axis of rotation, and printing is carried out by changing the position where relief parts of a relief printing plate come into contact with the anilox roll each time a substrate to be printed is printed.

Description

  The present invention relates to a relief printing apparatus for printing a fine pattern functional thin film.

  In recent years, the development of electronic devices using high-definition processing technology has made rapid progress. Such electronic devices are expected to contribute to the development of the next generation electronics field, biotechnology field, optronics field and the like.

  A photolithography method is generally used as a technique for forming a fine pattern with high positional accuracy while maintaining in-plane uniformity. However, the photolithography method has many steps and the apparatus is expensive. Further, there is a problem that the functional thin film is deteriorated by the patterning process by photolithography, and the function may be reduced or lost.

  Due to the above problems of photolithography, in recent years, direct patterning technology using wet thin film fabrication technology has attracted attention.

  The direct patterning method based on the wet thin film manufacturing technique described above mainly involves printing using a plate such as a relief printing method, an intaglio printing method, a lithographic printing method, and a screen printing method, and a technology such as an inkjet method that does not use a plate. It is used.

  These printing technologies are used to form various patterns such as color filters for liquid crystal displays (LCDs), light-emitting layers and charge transport layers of organic electroluminescence (EL) elements using wet methods, and electrode portions of organic thin-film transistor substrates. Has been applied.

  As described above, printing as a high-definition patterning technology can be performed by various printing methods, but the apparatus is simple, does not limit the substrate to be printed, and functions by elution from the material that becomes the plate In recent years, the relief printing method has been attracting attention as a printing method that is unlikely to cause deterioration in properties of the conductive thin film. (See Patent Document 1)

An outline of a conventional relief printing apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the relief printing apparatus includes an anilox roll 1 for supplying ink 6 to the plate surface of the relief plate 8, a cylindrical plate cylinder 9 on which the relief plate 8 for line pattern formation is mounted, and a substrate 11 to be printed. A substrate surface plate 10 to be placed, an ink chamber 3 for supplying ink 6 to the anilox roll 1, and a doctor blade 2 for scraping off excess ink from the anilox roll 1 are configured.
An ink circulation system 4, an ink pump 5, and an ink tank 7 are also arranged to circulate and supply the ink 6 to the ink chamber 3.
The ink 6 is applied from the anilox roll 1 onto the relief printing plate 8 on the cylindrical plate cylinder 9 and then transferred from the printing plate to the printing substrate 11.

JP 2001-328241 A

In the above-described relief printing method, the printing relief 8 has a plurality of line-like projections (line patterns) running in the circumferential direction of the cylindrical surface of the cylindrical plate cylinder 9, and the upper surface portion of the projection is The ink 6 is applied in contact with the surface of the anilox roll 1. Here, the upper surface of the convex portion of the printing relief plate 8 is repeatedly contacted only with the same circumferential region of the cylindrical surface of the anilox roll 1.
In the cell of the anilox roll in the area where the printing relief 8 comes into contact, the ink is newly supplied after being printed and transferred. However, in the area where the printing relief 8 does not contact, the ink in the cell is not consumed and time passes.

  When an expensive ink material such as an organic EL material is used, a minimum amount of ink is often used. On the other hand, in continuous printing, the ink remaining in the cell of the anilox roll enters the ink chamber again and is re-dissolved, supplied onto the anilox roll, dried after doctoring, transferred to the printing letterpress, and again in the ink chamber. Repeat to go back to. At this time, if the amount of ink in the ink chamber is small, the redissolving of the ink in the anilox roll cell is not smoothly performed, and the ink is solidified and floats in the ink chamber as contamination. If the floating contamination adheres to the printing relief plate via the anilox roll, printing failure occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and after printing the substrate to be printed, the anilox roll is moved in the direction of the rotation axis by the line width of the line pattern, and then the next substrate to be printed is printed. The ink in the anilox roll cell can be consumed uniformly. As a result, even with a minimum amount of ink, it is possible to stably perform continuous printing without causing contamination in the ink.

  Furthermore, this mechanism is effective not only when the anilox roll is moved in the axial direction but also when the plate cylinder is moved in the axial direction, or when the plate cylinder and the anilox roll are moved in the opposite directions in the axial direction for printing. .

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that in a relief printing apparatus using a relief plate as a printing plate, a rotary plate cylinder, a substrate platen on which a substrate to be printed is placed, An anilox roll for supplying ink to a relief printing plate, an ink chamber for immersing the anilox roll in ink and supplying the ink and a device for scraping the supplied ink to a constant film thickness ,
The relief printing apparatus is characterized in that the anilox roll is slidable in the direction of the rotation axis, and printing can be performed by moving the position where the convex part of the printing relief plate contacts the anilox roll every time the printed substrate is printed. Is.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the printing press device according to claim 1, wherein the circumference of the anilox roll is longer than the length of the line pattern of the relief plate, and the printing start side end of the line pattern of the relief plate The relief printing apparatus is characterized in that the position at which the portion starts to contact the anilox roll can be shifted by a predetermined angle.

  The invention according to claim 3 is a printing apparatus using a doctor blade as an apparatus for scraping the ink supplied in the ink chamber so as to have a constant film thickness in the printing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 2. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printing apparatus according to any one of the first or second aspect, the printing apparatus using a doctor roll as a device for scraping the ink supplied in the ink chamber so as to have a constant film thickness. .

  According to the present invention, by using an anilox roll that is movable in the direction of the rotation axis, an anilox roll is moved by moving a region on the anilox roll that is in contact with the printing relief for each printing substrate. All the ink in the upper cell is consumed regularly. As a result, ink that is not consumed and stays in the cell dries, floats in the ink chamber as a contamination, and does not adhere to the plate surface via the anilox roll, causing printing defects and stable continuous printing. It is possible to do.

Schematic diagram showing the configuration of a relief printing press Schematic explaining the embodiment of the present invention Schematic explaining the embodiment of the present invention Schematic explaining the embodiment of the present invention

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

2-4 is the schematic which expanded and showed the cross section in the AA in FIG. That is, it is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the contact portion between the printing relief 8 and the anilox roll 1.
First, as shown in FIG. 2, the anilox roll 1 filled with the ink 6 in all the cells and the printing relief plate 8 come into contact with each other, and the ink 6 is transferred to the upper surface portion of the printing relief plate 8.

In the cell of the area | region which contacted the printing relief plate 8 on the anilox roll 1, since the ink which existed in the cell was consumed, it will be in the state which is not filled with ink (area | region B in FIG. 3). On the other hand, in the cells in the area on the anilox roll 1 that is not in contact with the printing relief plate 8, the ink in the cells is not consumed, so that the ink remains (area C in FIG. 3).
In FIG. 3, for easy understanding, the printing relief plate 8 is shown as a dotted line, and shows a state after ink transfer to the upper surface portion of the printing relief plate 8.
The ink 6 transferred to the upper surface portion of the printing relief plate 8 is transferred to the substrate 11 to be printed.

Next, the anilox roll 1 is slid in the direction of the rotation axis by the line width of the printing relief plate 8. (Refer to FIG. 4) Thereby, the area on the anilox roll 1 with which the printing relief printing plate 8 comes into contact next moves to the area adjacent to the area with which the printing tape 8 is in contact. That is, the ink in a cell different from the cell where the ink has been consumed is consumed.
In FIG. 4, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, in the region where the cell where the ink has been consumed is present, the ink has been consumed as if the ink was not newly supplied. (In actuality, the cell in which the ink has been consumed is newly supplied with ink when it enters the ink chamber 3.)

  The timing for moving the anilox roll 1 in the axial direction is preferably when there is no convex portion of the printing relief 8 and the anilox roll 1 and the printing relief 8 are not in contact. This is to prevent the convex portions of the printing relief 8 and the surface of the anilox roll 1 from being damaged.

  In order to prevent the old ink from being consumed in the anilox roll cell, it is desirable that the amount of movement of the anilox roll 1 in the axial direction is 80% or less of the line width of the printing relief plate 8.

  When the anilox roll 1 is slid in the axial direction a predetermined number of times, the anilox roll 1 is slid in the opposite direction by the same distance as the slide movement so far and returned to the initial position.

  The circumference of the anilox roll 1 is preferably longer than the length of the line pattern of the printing relief plate 8. Further, when the circumference of the anilox roll 1 is made longer than the length of the line pattern of the printing relief plate 8 in this way, the line pattern of the printing relief plate 8 is prevented so that a region where ink is not consumed on the anilox roll 1 does not occur. It is desirable to gradually shift the position where the printing start side end portion starts to contact the anilox roll 1. That is, it is desirable to start contact from the state where the anilox roll 1 is rotated by a predetermined angle.

  Although FIG. 1 shows the case where the doctor blade 2 is used to scrape off excess ink from the anilox roll 1, it is also possible to scrape off excess ink using a doctor roll.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and improvements, modifications, etc. within the scope that can achieve the present invention do not depart from the gist of the present invention.

1 ... Anilox roll 2 ... Doctor blade 3 ... In-chamber 4 ... Ink circulation system 5 ... Ink pump 6 ... Ink 7 ... Ink tank 8 ... Letterpress (plate)
9: Plate cylinder 10 ... Substrate surface plate 11 ... Printed substrate

Claims (4)

In a relief printing apparatus using a relief plate as a printing plate, a rotary plate cylinder, a substrate surface plate on which a substrate to be printed is placed, an anilox roll that supplies ink to the relief plate, and an anilox roll that is dipped in the ink A printing apparatus having an ink chamber for supplying and a device for scraping the supplied ink to a certain film thickness,
A relief printing apparatus characterized in that an anilox roll is slidable in the direction of its rotation axis, and printing can be performed by moving the position where the convex part of the printing relief plate contacts the anilox roll every time the substrate to be printed is printed.   2. The printing machine apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a circumference of the anilox roll is longer than a length of a line pattern of the relief plate, and a position at which an end portion on a printing start side of the line pattern of the relief plate starts to contact the anilox roll. A letterpress printing apparatus characterized by being capable of shifting by a predetermined angle.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a doctor blade is used as an apparatus for scraping the ink supplied in the ink chamber so as to have a constant film thickness.   3. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a doctor roll is used as an apparatus for scraping the ink supplied in the ink chamber so as to have a constant film thickness.

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