JP2014188382A - Coating apparatus, and coating film formation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating apparatus and a coating film formation system capable of keeping a coating gap substantially within an allowable range and of obtaining a coating film with desired film thickness on a substrate at low cost with simple control.SOLUTION: In a coating apparatus 300, a gap (coating gap D) between a discharge port 310a and a substrate FS conveyed by a conveyance roller 23 in an X direction is regulated by a gap regulation part 37 disposed nearer to the conveyance roller 23 than a fixed table 330 in the X direction. Thereby, even if a frame fixing and supporting the fixed table 330, the conveyance roller 23 and the gap regulation part 37 is deformed by change of a peripheral temperature, the change amount ΔD of the coating gap D is suppressed to be small compared with a case where the coating gap D is regulated by the table 330. As a result, the coating gap D within an allowable range can be obtained even when a member having high linear expansion coefficient is not utilized for the frame, or the temperature surrounding the coating apparatus 300 is not strictly controlled.

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for coating a coating liquid on the surface of a flexible substrate, and a coating film forming system.

  A conveyance roller that contacts the back surface of the substrate and conveys the substrate, a discharge unit that discharges the coating liquid from the discharge port toward the surface of the substrate conveyed by the conveyance roller, and the discharge unit in the discharge direction And a discharge portion displacement mechanism that displaces in a bidirectional manner (in the following description, the discharge portion and the discharge portion displacement mechanism are collectively referred to as a “coating portion”), and is supported and conveyed by a conveyance roller. There is a coating apparatus that coats a coating liquid such as an electrode material on a conductive substrate (for example, a metal foil).

  In this type of coating apparatus, the discharge unit is moved along the discharge direction by the discharge unit displacement mechanism in a state where the transport roller and the coating unit are supported by a common support member and the relative positional relationship between the two is maintained. The distance between the base material and the discharge port during the coating process (hereinafter referred to as “coating gap”) can be adjusted (for example, Patent Document 1). This coating gap is a factor that affects the film thickness of the coating film formed on the base material, and is required to be adjusted with a certain level of accuracy.

  As a typical example of adjusting the coating gap, the discharge unit is positioned by the discharge unit displacement mechanism so that the gap between the base material and the discharge port becomes an ideal coating gap prior to the coating process. A mode of executing the process is exemplified.

JP 2011-189272 A

  However, it is not sufficient to keep the coating gap in an ideal state only by controlling the discharge part displacement mechanism as in the above typical example. This is because each member of the apparatus such as a support member expands or contracts due to a change in ambient temperature. That is, even if positioning is performed so that an ideal coating gap is obtained before the coating process as in the above typical example, if there is a change in the ambient temperature between the positioning process and the coating process, the support member is caused by this. Stretches and changes the coating gap.

  Therefore, in order to keep the coating gap constant (to form a desired film thickness on the substrate), in addition to controlling the discharge part displacement mechanism, changes in the coating gap due to changes in the ambient temperature are prevented. There is a need to. As this method, the following two methods are known.

  The first is that the temperature around the apparatus is thoroughly controlled during the coating process and / or a member that is not easily deformed by a temperature change is used as a support member, so that the deformation of the support member is substantially acceptable. It is a method to keep in. In this method, since the deformation amount of the support member can be suppressed, the position is maintained during the coating process after the discharge section is positioned by the discharge section displacement mechanism prior to the coating process, as in the above-described typical example. Just do it.

  In the second method, a sensor for detecting a coating gap is provided in the vicinity of the discharge port and the conveyance roller, the coating gap is detected during the coating processing period, and the discharge unit displacement mechanism is based on the detection result. This is a method for performing feedback control of the operation in real time. In this method, when the coating gap is large (the support member is expanded), the discharge unit is brought closer to the conveyance roller, and when the coating gap is small (the support member is contracted), the discharge unit is separated from the conveyance roller. The influence of the deformation of the support member can be removed by feedback controlling the discharge portion displacement mechanism with respect to the detection result of the coating gap so as to be separated.

  However, in the former, there is a problem that the required cost is high, such as the use of a member that requires a strict temperature control in the periphery of the device, a member that is not easily deformed by a temperature change, and the latter in the device. There was a problem of complicated control.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a coating that obtains a coating film having a desired film thickness on a substrate while keeping the coating gap substantially within an allowable range with low cost and simple control. An object is to provide a processing apparatus and a coating film forming system.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 is a coating apparatus for applying a coating liquid to the surface of a flexible substrate, and (a) abuts against the back surface of the substrate. A transport roller for transporting the base material, and (b) a discharge section for discharging a coating liquid from a discharge port toward the surface of the base material transported by the transport roller, and the discharge section in the discharge direction. A coating unit comprising: a discharge unit displacement mechanism that displaces the discharge unit in both directions along; and a biasing unit that biases the discharge unit toward the discharge direction; and (c) the discharge biased by the biasing unit. A gap defining portion that prescribes a coating gap, which is an interval in the discharge direction, between the surface of the base material and the discharge port that is conveyed by the conveyance roller when the portion abuts, and (d ) The shaft of the transport roller is fixedly supported at the first position, and the coating portion is moved from the first position. A support member that fixes and supports the gap defining portion at a second position that is a predetermined distance away from the output direction, and that fixes and supports the gap defining portion at a third position that is closer to the discharge direction than the first position. The discharge portion is displaced in a direction approaching the transport roller by the discharge portion displacement mechanism, and the discharge portion is urged by the urging portion and is in contact with the gap defining portion. The coating process is performed.

  Invention of Claim 2 is a coating apparatus of Claim 1, Comprising: The said gap prescription | regulation part receives the predetermined | prescribed control signal, The gap adjustment mechanism which adjusts the said coating gap based on this It is characterized by providing.

  Invention of Claim 3 is a coating apparatus of Claim 2, Comprising: The said gap adjustment mechanism is a prescription | regulation member contact | abutted with the said discharge part urged | biased by the said urging | biasing part toward a discharge direction And a defining member displacement mechanism for displacing the defining member in both directions along the discharge direction based on the control signal.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the gap defining portion fixes the coating gap to a predetermined gap amount.

  Invention of Claim 5 is a coating apparatus of Claim 4, Comprising: The said gap prescription | regulation part is a ring-shaped member which has the hole part which penetrates the said axis | shaft of the said conveyance roller to the inside. The shape of the outer periphery of the shaft corresponds to the shape of the hole, and the shaft that is fixedly supported by the support member passes through the hole so that the gap defining portion is attached to and detached from the shaft. It is characterized by being supported.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a distance between the first position and the third position is shorter than half of the predetermined distance. Features.

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the urging portion is an elastic body that acts on the discharge portion in the discharge direction. It is characterized by comprising.

  In addition to the coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, the invention according to claim 8 is disposed on the downstream side of the coating portion along the transport path of the base material. A coating film forming system, further comprising: a drying device that dries the coating liquid coated on the surface.

  In the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8, the application process to the base material is executed in a state where the discharge part is urged to the gap defining part by the urging part and the coating gap is defined at a predetermined interval. Is done. For this reason, even when the support member expands (or contracts) with a temperature change around the apparatus, the state in which the discharge portion is in contact with the gap defining portion is maintained by the action of the urging portion. The amount by which the coating gap expands / contracts under the influence of the expansion (or contraction) is the distance between the first position where the transport roller is fixedly supported and the second position where the coating portion is fixedly supported (hereinafter referred to as “coating”). It is determined by the distance between the first position and the third position where the gap defining portion is fixedly supported (hereinafter referred to as “defining portion-roller interval”).

  The gap defining portion is fixedly supported by the support member at a third position closer to the transport roller than the coating portion. That is, the defining portion-roller section is shorter than the coating portion-roller section. Since deformation due to expansion (or contraction) of a member is proportional to a change in temperature and the length of the member, as in the present invention, coating is performed by a gap defining portion provided at a position closer to the conveyance roller than the coating portion. By defining the gap, even when the support member is thermally deformed, the amount by which the coating gap expands and contracts due to the influence can be kept small.

  In the invention according to claim 2, the coating apparatus includes a gap adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the coating gap. For this reason, even if there is a change in the coating process conditions such as the type of coating liquid or coating pattern, the coating gap can be adjusted with the gap adjustment mechanism to apply a coating on the substrate with the desired film thickness. The liquid can be applied.

  In the invention according to claim 6, the defining portion-roller section is shorter than half of the coating portion-roller section. For this reason, even when the support member is thermally deformed, the amount by which the coating gap expands and contracts due to the influence can be more effectively suppressed.

1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a coating film forming system 1 according to an embodiment. It is a side view showing composition of coating device 300 in the state where slit nozzle 310 concerning an embodiment was displaced to the -X direction. It is a side view showing composition of coating device 300 in the state where slit nozzle 310 concerning an embodiment was displaced in the + X direction. It is a top view which shows the structure of the coating apparatus 300 of the state which the slit nozzle 310 concerning the embodiment displaced in the + X direction. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the coating gap D and the protrusion length Da of the prescription | regulation member 371 concerning embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the control part 6 concerning embodiment. It is a side view which shows the mode after the thermal expansion of the coating apparatus 300 concerning embodiment. It is a side view which shows the mode after the thermal expansion of 300 A of coating apparatuses concerning a comparative example. It is a side view which shows roughly the structure of the coating apparatus 300B concerning a modification. It is a side view which shows roughly the structure of the coating apparatus 300C concerning a modification.

<1 embodiment>
<1.1 Configuration of Coating Film Forming System 1 of Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a coating film forming system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in FIG. 1 and each subsequent figure, in order to clarify those directional relationships, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the Z direction is the vertical direction and the XY plane is the horizontal plane is appropriately attached. Further, for the purpose of easy understanding, the dimensions and numbers of the respective parts are exaggerated or simplified as necessary.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the coating film forming system 1 of the present embodiment generally has a flexible base material FS (for example, a belt-like shape) whose surface S1 (FIG. 2) is subjected to a coating process. The metal foil) is unwound from the unwinding machine 21 and conveyed until it is wound up by the winding machine 26, and the coating liquid 90 (for example, positive electrode) is applied to the surface S1 of the substrate FS conveyed by the conveying unit 2. Alternatively, a coating portion 3 (FIG. 2) that coats the coating liquid 90 with a coating pattern extending along the transport path on the surface S1 of the substrate FS by discharging a negative electrode active material slurry). And drying the coating liquid 90 disposed on the downstream side of the coating unit 3 and upstream of the winder 26 along the conveyance path of the base material FS and applied to the surface S1 of the base material FS. The apparatus 4 and the control part 6 which performs operation control of each part of the coating film formation system 1 are provided. In the present specification, the surface S1 of the base material FS is the main surface on the side on which the coating liquid 90 is applied to form a predetermined coating film (active electrode layer in this embodiment). The back surface S2 means the other main surface.

  The transport unit 2 is mounted by winding a flexible base material FS in a coil shape. The unwinding machine 21 feeds the base material FS by the rotational drive of the rotary motor 21a, and the base material fed from the unwinding machine 21. A plurality of transport rollers 22 to 25 that transport the FS to the winder 26 and the base material FS transported through the plurality of transport rollers 22 to 25 are wound into a coil shape by the rotational drive of the rotary motor 26a and collected. A winder 26.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1, the transport unit 2 transports the base material FS unwound from the unwinder 21 toward the coating unit 3 as a plurality of transport rollers 22 to 25 (in this embodiment, in the present embodiment). 3), a transport roller 23 (FIG. 2) that is disposed to face the discharge unit 31 and abuts against the back surface S2 of the base material FS and transports the base material FS, and the base material FS in the drying device 4 A plurality of conveying rollers 24 (three in this embodiment, conveying rollers 24a to 24c) for floating conveyance, and a plurality of conveying rollers for conveying the substrate FS sent from the drying device 4 until it is taken up by the winder 26 25 (a part of which is shown in FIG. 1).

  Each of the transport rollers 22 to 25 is a cylindrical flat roller (for example, a SUS roller) having a width longer than the width of the base material FS (length in the Y direction), and can be rotated mainly by a motor (not shown). It has become. For this reason, the control unit 6 rotates the transport rollers 22 to 25 synchronously, so that the substrate FS is transported along the transport path.

  2 and 3 are side views of the coating apparatus 300 when the coating unit 3 is displaced in the −X and + X directions by the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33. FIG. 4 is a top view of the coating apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 3 in a state where the substrate FS is not conveyed. 2 to 4, the configuration relating to the supply unit 311 (FIG. 1) is omitted.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the coating unit 3 includes a discharge unit 31 that discharges the slurry-like coating liquid 90 from the discharge port 310 a toward the surface S <b> 1 of the base material FS conveyed by the conveyance roller 23. The discharge unit displacement mechanism 33 is configured to displace the discharge unit 31 in both directions along the discharge direction (X direction), and the urging unit 35 is configured to urge the discharge unit 31 in the discharge direction.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the transport roller 23 has a shaft 23a extending in the Y direction at a position P1 (first position), and the coating unit 3 is at a position P2 (first position) away from the position P1 by a distance L12 in the -X direction. The two frames 30 are fixedly supported by two frames 30 (for example, plate members made of SUS), which are common support members, via a fixing member 330a. In this way, since the transport roller 23 and the fixing member 330a (the coating unit 3) are fixed to the two frames 30, the discharge unit 31 is displaced along the discharge direction (X direction) by the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33. By doing so, the interval between the discharge port 310a of the slit nozzle 310 and the base material FS supported and conveyed by the conveying roller 23 is adjusted. In the present specification, the coating film forming system 1 includes the transport roller 23, the coating unit 3, the gap defining unit 37, and the frame 30, and a configuration for performing a coating process on the substrate FS. Is specifically referred to as “coating apparatus 300”.

  2 and the subsequent drawings, the cross marks shown in the drawing are marks that conceptually indicate the fixing positions of the two frames 30 and the shaft 23a of the conveying roller 23, the gap defining portion 37, and the fixing member 330a. It is. This cross mark in the present embodiment indicates the center position on the fixing surface (XZ plane) between the above-described portions and the frame 30. Further, in this specification, “fixed to the frame 30” means not only when the member is directly fixed to the frame 30, but also through another member (fixing member 330a) such as the coating portion 3. Indirect fixing.

  The discharge unit 31 extends in the Y direction + a slit nozzle 310 having a long discharge port 310a that discharges the coating liquid 90 in the X direction, and a supply unit 311 that supplies the coating liquid 90 to the slit nozzle 310. Composed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the supply unit 311 sends the coating solution 90 through the piping unit 314 from the supply source 312 to the slit nozzle 310 by driving the supply source 312 containing the coating solution 90 and the motor 313a. Supply pump 313.

  For this reason, the coating liquid 90 is fed to the slit nozzle 310 by the supply pump 313, and the coating liquid 90 is ejected from the ejection port 310 a toward the base material FS supported and transported by the transport roller 23. As a result, the coating liquid 90 is applied along the transport path on the surface S1 of the base material FS.

  The discharge part displacement mechanism 33 includes a fixing base 330 fixed to the frame 30 at a position P2 via a fixing member 330a, two guide parts 331 formed on the upper surface of the fixing base 330 along the X direction, and a slit. A nozzle support 334 that supports the nozzle 310 and a ball screw 333 that extends in the X direction and engages with the nozzle support 334 are rotated forward and backward to displace the nozzle support 334 in both directions along the X direction (in other words, A reciprocating drive unit 332. Further, two guide receiving portions (not shown) that receive the two guide portions 331 and guide the nozzle support base 334 along the X direction are provided on the lower surface of the nozzle support base 334.

  For this reason, the nozzle support 334 and the slit nozzle 310 supported by the ball screw 333 can be displaced (moved) in the ± X directions by rotating the ball screw 333 forward and backward by the drive unit 332 (typically a motor). it can. In the coating film forming system 1 of the present embodiment, the ejection unit 31 is displaced in the + X direction by the ejection unit displacement mechanism 33 during the period in which the coating process is performed on the substrate FS conveyed by the conveyance unit 2 (see FIG. 3) During the period when the coating process is not performed for the purpose of maintenance or the like, the discharge unit 31 is displaced in the −X direction by the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33 (FIG. 2). Various known methods can be used for the displacement control. As a typical example, the drive unit is based on an encoder that detects the position of the nozzle support base 334 screwed to the ball screw 333 from the rotation amount of the motor. There is a method of controlling 332.

  The biasing portion 35 has an end on the −X side attached to the nozzle support base 334 and an end on the + X side attached to the slit nozzle 310, and the + X direction with respect to the slit nozzle 310 supported by the nozzle support base 334. An elastic part 351 (an elastic body such as a spring) that acts on the elastic member, and a rod-like member that penetrates a part of the nozzle support base 334 in the X direction, and its + X side end is connected to the slit nozzle 310, And a locking member 352 having a locking portion 352a at the end on the −X side.

  For this reason, as shown in FIG. 2, when the discharge part 31 is arranged on the −X side, the slit part 310 is biased in the + X direction by the elastic part 351, but the locking part 352 a of the locking member 352. Is brought into contact with and caught by the nozzle support base 334, so that the slit nozzle 310 is not detached from the nozzle support base 334.

  Positioning members 316 for positioning the slit nozzle 310 are provided on both side surfaces on the ± Y side of the slit nozzle 310 to abut against a defining member 371 of a gap defining portion 37 described later. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the state where the discharge unit 31 is displaced to the + X side, the two nozzles 316 are urged by the urging unit 35 urging the slit nozzle 310 in the + X direction. The slit nozzle 310 is positioned by contacting the two defining members 371.

  FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are diagrams showing the relationship between the protruding length Da of the defining member 371 by the gap defining portion 37 and the coating gap D. FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the gap defining portion 37 is positioned on each of the two frames 30 at a position P3 (third position) where the distance L13 from the transport roller 23 (position P1) is smaller than the distance L12. ), A defining member 371 that is a rod-shaped member extending in the X direction, and a drive unit 372 that displaces the defining member 371 along the X direction.

  The drive unit 372 (typically a mechanism having a linear motion motor) displaces the defining member 371 in both directions along the X direction, whereby the length Da of the defining member 371 protruding from the drive unit 372 (see FIG. 5) Functions as a regulating member displacement mechanism for adjusting. Further, the end portions on the −X side of the two defining members 371 are provided at a position overlapping the positioning member 316 in the YZ plan view.

  For this reason, the slit nozzle 310 is driven in the + X direction by the discharge portion displacement mechanism 33 in a state where the protrusion length Da of the defining member 371 is adjusted in advance by the drive portion 372 (from the state of FIG. 2 to the state of FIG. 3). Thus, the two positioning members 316 of the discharge unit 31 urged by the urging unit 35 abut against the two defining members 371 and the slit nozzle 310 is positioned (FIG. 5). As described above, the gap defining portion 37 functions as a stopper that restricts the displacement of the slit nozzle 310 in the + X direction (conveying roller 23 side) by the urging portion 35 (positioning at a position corresponding to the protruding length Da). In the coating apparatus 300 of this embodiment, the protrusion length Da of the defining member 371 adjusted by the drive unit 372 is adjusted based on a predetermined control signal sent from the control unit 6.

  As a result of the positioning of the slit nozzle 310 in this way, an interval in the discharge direction between the discharge port 310a and the surface S1 of the substrate FS (hereinafter referred to as “coating gap D”) is defined. The coating gap D is a factor that affects the film thickness of the coating film formed on the base material FS, and thus is required to be adjusted with a certain level of accuracy.

  As described above, in the coating film forming system 1 of the present embodiment, the fixing member 330a and the shaft 23a of the transport roller 23 are fixedly supported by the frame 30, and the relative positional relationship between them is maintained. By activating the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33, the macro positional relationship in the X direction between the slit nozzle 310 and the transport roller 23 (and the base material FS supported and transported by it) is adjusted (FIGS. 2 and 3). When the discharge unit 31 is displaced in the direction approaching the transport roller 23 (+ X direction) by the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33, the discharge unit 31 is urged by the urging unit 35 and brought into contact with the gap defining unit 37. A coating gap D is defined (gap defining process: FIG. 5). After the coating gap D is thus defined by the gap defining unit 37, each part of the coating film forming system 1 is activated and the coating process on the substrate FS is executed.

  In the present embodiment, the coating gap D is not defined by the discharge portion displacement mechanism 33 (typically, its encoder), but the distance from the transport roller 23 (position P1) as shown in FIG. The reason why the gap is defined by the gap defining portion 37 (position P3) closer to the fixing member 330a (position P2) will be described in detail in <1.2 Influence of coating gap D due to change in ambient temperature>.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the drying device 4 includes three drying units 4 a to 4 c in order from the transport upstream side, and sequentially transports the base material FS through the inside of the drying units 4 a to 4 c. It is an apparatus that dries the coating liquid 90 applied to the surface S1 (forms a coating film on the substrate FS). As the drying device 4, various known drying means such as a configuration in which hot air is blown onto the surface of the substrate FS to dry the coating liquid 90 can be used.

  Then, the base material FS that has been dried by the drying units 4a to 4c is transported through a plurality of transport rollers 25 downstream of the transport, and is collected by the winder 26 (FIG. 1).

  The control unit 6 shown in FIG. 6 controls the above various operation mechanisms provided in the coating film forming system 1. The configuration of the control unit 6 as hardware is the same as that of a general computer. That is, the control unit 6 stores a CPU 61 that performs various arithmetic processes, a ROM 62 that is a read-only memory that stores basic programs, a RAM 63 that is a readable / writable memory that stores various information, and processing programs and data. The fixed disk 64 to be placed is connected to the bus line 69.

  Further, the transport unit 2, the coating unit 3, the drying device 4, and the gap defining unit 37 are connected to the bus line 69. The CPU 61 of the control unit 6 executes each process by controlling each unit related to the coating film forming system 1 by executing a processing program stored in the fixed disk 64.

  In addition, an input device 65 and a display device 66 are electrically connected to the bus line 69. The input device 65 is configured using, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and receives input of commands, parameters, and the like. The display device 66 is configured using, for example, a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays various information such as processing results and messages.

  The user of the coating film forming system 1 can input commands and parameters from the input device 65 while confirming the contents displayed on the display device 66. Note that the input device 65 and the display device 66 may be integrated to form a touch panel.

  Further, a reading device 67 that reads recorded contents from a recording medium RM such as a DVD or a CD-ROM is connected to the bus line 69. The processing program may be read from the recording medium RM by the reading device 67 and stored in the fixed disk 64. Further, it may be downloaded from an external information processing apparatus via a network.

  Due to the overall configuration as described above, in the coating film forming system 1, the substrate FS to be coated is unwound from the unwinder 21 and collected by the winder 26 before being coated. A gap defining process for defining the working gap D, a coating process for applying the coating liquid 90 to the surface S1 of the substrate FS, and a drying process for evaporating a solvent component, moisture, etc. contained in the coating liquid 90; Can be applied. As a result, a coating film is formed on the surface S1 of the substrate FS with a predetermined coating pattern (typically a stripe-like parallel arrangement pattern), and the substrate FS on which the coating film is formed is wound. It can be recovered by the take-up machine 26. In addition to the striped parallel arrangement pattern, various coating patterns such as an intermittent coating pattern and a so-called solid coating pattern can be employed as the coating pattern.

  And the collect | recovered base material FS is conveyed to the process part (not shown) outside the coating film formation system 1, and is cut | disconnected by the said process part to a desired magnitude | size, Then, it processes as an electrode plate. Is done.

<1.2 Effect of coating gap D due to changes in ambient temperature>
Hereinafter, the influence of the coating gap D due to the change in the ambient temperature of the coating apparatus 300 and the effects of the coating apparatus 300 of the present embodiment and the coating film forming system 1 including the same will be described.

  In the actual coating process, each part of the coating apparatus 300 expands (or contracts) due to a change in the ambient temperature of the coating apparatus 300. In the following description, as an example, the case where the coating gap D changes from the gap defining process as a result of the surrounding temperature being higher during the coating process than the gap defining process and the parts of the coating apparatus 300 expanding. Explained as an example.

  Equation 1 below is a general equation for linear expansion, where ΔH is the expansion length of the portion subject to the temperature rise, L is the length of the portion before the temperature rise, α is the linear expansion coefficient of the portion, Δt is the temperature Indicates the amount of change in temperature during the rise.

ΔH = L × α × Δt (Formula 1)
For this reason,
Condition 1: The length L of the portion related to expansion is reduced,
Condition 2: Use a member having a small linear expansion coefficient α.
Condition 3: Ambient temperature change amount Δt is reduced.
Combining the above conditions and reducing the expansion length ΔH are effective in suppressing the change amount of the coating gap D within a substantially allowable range.

  However, a member having a small linear expansion coefficient α and hardly causing thermal deformation is often expensive, and satisfying the condition 2 sufficiently leads to an increase in manufacturing cost. In addition, with respect to the above condition 3, although it is possible in a general apparatus to perform temperature management in the coating apparatus 300 and its surroundings with a certain degree of strictness (for example, within ± 1 ° C. from the standard temperature), the temperature management is performed. Performing with higher strictness (for example, within ± 0.5 ° C. from the standard temperature) increases the difficulty of control and increases the manufacturing cost.

  Therefore, the coating unit 3 of the present embodiment sufficiently satisfies the above condition 1 in order to reduce the expansion length ΔH, which is a factor of the change in the coating gap D, so that the amount of change in the coating gap D is within an allowable range. The other conditions (conditions 2 and 3) required for keeping the pressure within the range can be relaxed. Details will be described below.

  FIG. 7 is a side view of the coating unit 3 and the conveyance roller 23 showing a state in which the coating gap D is increased as the ambient temperature increases. Further, FIG. 8 shows, as a comparative example of FIG. 7, in the coating apparatus 300 </ b> A in which the urging portion 35 and the gap defining portion 37 are not provided and the slit nozzle 310 is positioned only by the discharge portion displacement mechanism 33. It is a side view which shows the state which the coating gap D became large with the raise of [a].

  ΔH13 indicates the expansion amount of the frame 30 with respect to the X-direction distance L13 between the transport roller 23 (position P1) fixedly supported by the frame 30 and the gap defining portion 37 (position P3). Similarly, ΔH12 indicates the amount of expansion of the frame 30 with respect to the X-direction distance L12 between the conveyance roller 23 (position P1) fixedly supported by the frame 30 and the coating unit 3 (position P2).

  As described above, in the coating apparatus 300 of this embodiment, the coating gap D is defined when the positioning member 316 is brought into contact with the defining member 371 by the urging portion 35. For this reason, even if the distance between the coating portion 3 and the gap defining portion 37 is expanded to L12 + ΔH12 by expanding the portion of the frame 30 corresponding to the distance L12 by the expansion amount ΔH12, the urging portion 35 causes the slit nozzle 310 and The positioning member 316 is acted in the + X direction, and the state where the positioning member 316 is in contact with the defining member 371 is maintained.

  By using Equation 1, ΔH13 and ΔH12 can be expressed as follows.

ΔH13 = L13 × α × Δt (Formula 2)
ΔH12 = L12 × α × Δt (Formula 3)
Further, as described above, the gap defining portion 37 is positioned such that the distance L13 between the conveyance roller 23 (position P1) is smaller than the distance L12 between the coating portion (position P2) and the conveyance roller 23 (position P1). Arranged at P3. Therefore, the following formula 4 is derived from L13 <L12, formula 2, and formula 3.

ΔH13 <ΔH12 (Formula 4)
As described above, in the coating film forming system 1 of the present embodiment, the amount of expansion caused by the frame 30 is small as compared with the apparatus (FIG. 8) that positions the slit nozzle 310 only by the discharge portion displacement mechanism 33. As described above, since the coating gap D is a factor related to the film thickness performance of the coating film on the substrate FS, the coating gap D + ΔD at the time of the coating process is determined from the coating gap D at the time of the gap defining process. Suppressing the change amount ΔD of the value to be small leads to an improvement in yield.

  In particular, as shown in FIG. 4, when the distance L12 is the largest as the length of each part in the direction (X direction) that defines the coating gap D, ΔH12, which is the expansion amount of the distance L12, is the change amount ΔD. Therefore, the effect of defining the coating gap D by the gap defining portion 37 disposed closer to the transport roller 23 than the distance L12 becomes remarkable.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the above-described condition 1 is sufficiently satisfied by using the gap defining portion 37 instead of the fixed base 330 as the location defining the coating gap D. As a result, the other conditions (conditions 2 and 3) required to satisfy the allowable range of the change amount ΔD of the coating gap D are relaxed.

  In addition, in this embodiment, if the conditions 2 and 3 are sufficiently satisfied, the coating gap D at the time of the gap defining process can be more strictly maintained even at the time of the coating process, and desired on the substrate FS. Needless to say, the film thickness can be formed.

  2 to 4, if the distance L13 between the transport roller 23 and the gap defining portion 37 is set to be shorter than half of the distance L12 between the transport roller 23 and the fixing member 330a, 2 × ΔH13 < Since ΔH12, the condition 1 can be more fully satisfied and the conditions 2 and 3 can be relaxed particularly effectively compared to the configuration in which the gap defining portion 37 and the biasing portion 35 are not provided (FIG. 8).

<2 Modification>
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention can be modified in various ways other than those described above without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the coating liquid 90 is an electrode material for the purpose of forming an electrode on the substrate FS by the coating film forming system 1 has been described. Various treatment liquids such as a sealing material and an adhesive for forming the film can be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the temperature around the coating apparatus 300 increases and the expansion has been described. The same applies to the contraction. In other words, in the case of contraction, the distance L12 and the distance L13 satisfy L12> L13, so that the portion that defines the coating gap D of the coating apparatus 300 is not easily affected by the contraction of the frame 30, and as a result The deformation amount ΔD of the work gap D can be kept small.

  FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are diagrams showing configurations of coating apparatuses 300B and 300C as modifications of the coating apparatus 300 of the above embodiment. In FIG. 9 and subsequent drawings, the same elements as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  The coating apparatus 300B (FIG. 9) replaces the two gap defining portions 37 in the coating apparatus 300 with two gap defining portions 37B having a hole 371B through which the shaft 23a of the transport roller 23 passes. Is provided. The gap defining portion 37B is a ring-shaped member in which the shape of the hole 371B corresponds to the shape of the outer periphery of the shaft 23a. For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the shaft 23a passes through the hole 371B of the gap defining portion 37B on the ± Y side of the transport roller 23 fixedly supported by the frame 30. Thus, the two gap defining portions 37B are detachably supported on the shaft 23a. The two gap defining portions 37B are supported by the shaft 23a of the transport roller 23 at a position overlapping the two positioning members 316 in the YZ plan view.

  In the gap defining process, the discharge portion 31 is displaced in the + X direction by the discharge portion displacement mechanism 33, and the two positioning members 316 of the discharge portion 31 that are urged in the + X direction by the urging portion 35 have two gap definitions. The coating gap D is defined by contacting the portion 37B.

  As described above, in the coating apparatus 300B, the gap defining portion 37B does not have a function as a gap adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the coating gap D, and the coating gap D is fixed to a predetermined gap amount. The Thus, since the gap defining portion 37B has a simple configuration, the gap defining portion 37B and the coating apparatus 300B including the gap defining portion 37B can be manufactured inexpensively and easily.

  Moreover, it is common that the shape of the hole 371B corresponds to the shape of the outer periphery of the shaft 23a, and by preparing a plurality of gap defining portions 37B having different shapes and sizes of the outer periphery of the gap defining portion 37B, a maintenance period, etc. During a period when the coating process is not performed in the coating film forming system 1, the user of the apparatus can replace the gap defining portion 37B attached to the shaft 23a with another gap defining portion 37B. Thereby, similarly to the said embodiment, even when changing the conditions of a coating process, the coating gap D can be adjusted before a coating process.

  Further, in the coating apparatus 300B according to this modification, the shaft 23a passes through the central portion of the ring-shaped gap defining portion 37B in the XZ plane, and the position P1 that is the fixing position of the transport roller 23 and the gap defining portion 37B. The position P3 which is a fixed position is shared (FIG. 9). For this reason, in the coating apparatus 300B, the X direction distance L13 = 0 between the position P1 and the position P3, and the deformation amount ΔH13 of the frame 30 in this section is also ΔH13 = 0. Therefore, even when the temperature around the apparatus changes between the gap defining process and the coating process, the coating gap D defined at the gap defining process is more effectively maintained (the deformation amount ΔD is small). ).

  In the coating apparatus 300C (FIG. 10), the two gap defining portions 37C (typically stoppers) are fixed to the two frames 30 at positions where they overlap the two positioning members 316 in YZ plan view. . In the gap defining process, the ejection unit 31 is displaced in the + X direction by the ejection unit displacement mechanism 33, and the positioning member 316 of the ejection unit 31 urged in the + X direction by the urging unit 35 contacts the gap defining unit 37B. By contact, the coating gap D is defined.

  In the coating apparatus 300C, the gap defining portion 37C does not have a function as a gap adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the coating gap D, and the shape thereof is not limited to that of the gap defining portion 37B. Can be manufactured.

  In the coating film forming system 1 of the above embodiment, the coating gap D or the index of the coating gap D (the position of the slit nozzle 310, the shape of the coating liquid 90 applied to the substrate FS, etc.) is used. Although the detection means for detecting was not provided, the structure provided with the said detection means may be sufficient.

  For example, in the coating film forming system 1 having a detecting means such as a camera and capable of detecting the coating gap D and its index and having the gap adjusting mechanism as in the above embodiment, the detection is performed in real time during the coating process. By performing feedback control of the gap defining portion 37 (controlling the protruding length Da of the defining member 371) based on the detection result, the coating gap D can be precisely adjusted.

  Even in this case, as in the above-described embodiment, by defining the coating gap D by the gap defining portion 37 arranged on the transport roller 23 side from the coating portion 3 in the X direction, the coating gap D due to a temperature change. Since the amount of change ΔD is small, the complexity of the feedback control is reduced.

  Further, the configuration of the discharge unit displacement mechanism 33, the configuration of the urging unit 35, the number of transport rollers 22 to 25, the number of drying units, and the like are not limited to the example of the above embodiment, and the design can be changed appropriately. Is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Coated film formation system 2 Conveyance part 3 Coating part 4 Drying apparatus 4a, 4b, 4c Drying unit 6 Control part 22,23,24,25 Conveyance roller 23a Axis 31 Discharge part 33 Discharge part displacement mechanism 35 Energizing part 37 , 37B, 37C Gap defining portion 300, 300A, 300B, 300C Coating device 310 Slit nozzle 310a Discharge port 316 Positioning member 330 Fixed base 330a Fixed member D Coating gap ΔD Change amount FS base material ΔH, ΔH12, ΔH13 Expansion amount L12, L13 Distance P1, P2, P3 position

Claims (8)

A coating apparatus for coating a coating liquid on the surface of a flexible substrate,
(a) a transport roller that contacts the back surface of the base material and transports the base material;
(b) A discharge unit that discharges a coating liquid from a discharge port toward the surface of the base material that is transported by the transport roller, and a discharge unit displacement that displaces the discharge unit in both directions along the discharge direction. A coating portion comprising a mechanism and a biasing portion that biases the discharge portion toward the discharge direction;
(c) Coating that is an interval in the discharge direction between the surface of the base material transported by the transport roller and the discharge port when the discharge unit biased by the biasing unit comes into contact therewith A gap defining portion for defining the gap at a predetermined interval;
(d) The transport roller shaft is fixedly supported at a first position, the coating portion is fixedly supported at a second position away from the first position in the ejection direction by a predetermined distance, and the gap defining portion is disposed in the ejection direction. A support member fixedly supported at a third position whose distance from the first position is closer than the predetermined distance;
With
The discharge portion is displaced in the direction approaching the transport roller by the discharge portion displacement mechanism, and the discharge portion is urged by the urging portion and is in contact with the gap defining portion. A coating apparatus characterized in that a construction process is performed. The coating apparatus according to claim 1,
The said gap prescription | regulation part is provided with the gap adjustment mechanism which adjusts the said coating gap based on this in response to a predetermined control signal, The coating apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The coating apparatus according to claim 2,
The gap adjusting mechanism is configured to displace the regulation member in both directions along the ejection direction based on the control signal and a regulation member that contacts the ejection part urged toward the ejection direction by the urging part. The coating apparatus characterized by including a regulating member displacement mechanism. The coating apparatus according to claim 1,
The said gap prescription | regulation part fixes the said coating gap to predetermined | prescribed gap amount, The coating apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The coating apparatus according to claim 4,
The gap defining portion is a ring-shaped member having a hole through which the shaft of the transport roller passes.
The shape of the outer periphery of the shaft corresponds to the shape of the hole, and the shaft that is fixedly supported by the support member passes through the hole so that the gap defining portion can be attached to and detached from the shaft. A coating apparatus characterized by being supported by In the coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The coating apparatus, wherein a distance between the first position and the third position is shorter than half of the predetermined distance. In the coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The said biasing part is comprised by the elastic body which acts an elastic force toward a discharge direction with respect to a discharge part, The coating device characterized by the above-mentioned. In addition to the coating apparatus according to claim 1 to claim 7,
A drying device that is disposed on the downstream side of the coating unit along the transport path of the base material, and dries the coating liquid applied to the surface of the base material.
A coating film forming system, further comprising:

Images