JP2015062869A - Coating device and coating method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating device which inhibits an amount of a liquid discharged from a coating head immediately after valve opening from being reduced, and to provide a coating method.SOLUTION: A coating device includes: a coating head 10; a valve body 32; and a control device 50. The coating head 10 intermittently discharges a liquid 82 to a base material 80. The valve body 32 may move in a flow direction of the liquid 82 and regulates a flow rate of the liquid 82 flowing into the coating head 10. The control device 50 controls a trajectory of the valve body 32. The valve body 32 may further move from a first position, in which the flow rate is maximized in a steady state, in the flow direction of the liquid.

Description

  The present invention relates to a coating apparatus and a coating method for intermittently discharging a liquid toward a substrate.

  There is known a coating apparatus that intermittently applies a liquid toward a substrate such as a film or glass and forms a plurality of application patterns on the surface of the substrate (see Patent Documents 1 to 4). The coating apparatus described in Patent Documents 1 to 4 includes a tank capable of storing a coating liquid (liquid), a coating head that discharges the coating liquid supplied from the tank toward the metal foil, and a coating from the tank. And a valve body for adjusting the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing to the working head.

  The valve body described in Patent Document 1 opens and closes in the liquid flow direction. When the valve body comes into contact with the valve seat, the liquid passage of the valve body is blocked. When the valve body is separated from the valve seat, the valve body opens the liquid flow path. When the valve body is closed, the valve body moves in the direction opposite to the flow direction of the liquid. As the valve element moves, the liquid in the coating head is pulled back. Thereby, when the valve body is closed, the liquid discharged from the coating head is rapidly shut off. As a result, the end of the coating film formed from the liquid can be steeply inclined.

  Patent document 2 discloses calculating the target operation profile of the gate valve based on the calculation of the difference between the target shape of the coating film and the actual shape of the coating film. The gate valve is controlled by the actuator according to the calculated target operation profile. Thereby, it is supposed that the excessive discharge of the coating liquid at the time of an application | coating start can be prevented.

  In the coating apparatus described in Patent Document 3, the moving speed of the valve body can be changed by speed control of an electric servo motor. The optimum value of the moving speed of the valve body is obtained by a coating test performed in advance.

  In the coating apparatus described in Patent Document 4, the flow rate of the coating liquid is adjusted when the thickness of the coating film is out of the allowable range due to the change in the physical properties of the paint over time.

Japanese Patent No. 3399881 JP 2011-88138 A JP 2011-83719 A JP2011-194329A

  Currently, there are cases where a coating film having a sharply inclined end portion is required depending on the application of the coating film. In order to meet this requirement, it is necessary to increase the valve opening speed of the valve body. However, in the case of a valve body as described in Patent Document 1, that is, a valve body that moves in the fluid flow direction, the applicant of the present invention has a liquid discharge rate immediately after opening the valve body when the valve opening speed is fast. Found a problem that may decrease. As a result, a dent is generated in the vicinity of the front end of the coating film made of the liquid discharged to the substrate. In general, the thickness of the coating film is preferably uniform.

  Also, Patent Documents 2 to 4 do not consider the problem of a decrease in the liquid discharge amount that occurs immediately after the valve is opened when the valve opening speed is high. In particular, Patent Document 4 considers the problem of non-uniformity of the coating film thickness between a plurality of intermittently formed coating areas, but the film within a single coating area. It does not consider the problem of thickness non-uniformity.

  The objective of this invention is providing the coating apparatus and the coating method which can suppress that the quantity of the liquid discharged from a coating head immediately after valve opening falls.

  The coating apparatus in one form has a coating head, a valve body, and a control apparatus. The coating head discharges liquid intermittently toward the substrate. The valve body is movable in the liquid flow direction, and adjusts the flow rate of the liquid flowing into the coating head. The control device controls the trajectory of the valve body. The valve body is further movable in the liquid flow direction from the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state.

  Further, the coating method according to another embodiment includes a coating head that intermittently discharges liquid toward the substrate, and a liquid that is movable in the flow direction of the liquid and adjusts the flow rate of the liquid flowing into the coating head. The present invention relates to a method of intermittently forming a coating film on a substrate using a coating device having a valve body. In this coating method, after moving the valve body from the closed position to the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state, the valve body is moved from the first position to the second position further opened in the liquid flow direction. While moving, a liquid is discharged from the coating head to form a coating film on the substrate.

  According to this invention, it can suppress that the quantity of the liquid discharged from a coating head immediately after valve opening falls.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the coating apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the target shape profiling which is the target shape of a coating film. It is the schematic which shows the target orbit profile of the valve body which a user sets. It is the schematic explaining the problem of the nonuniformity of the film thickness of a coating film. It is the schematic of the flow volume adjustment part during the movement of the valve body to an open position. It is a flowchart which shows the determination method of a target track | orbit profile. It is a flowchart which shows a specific example of the determination method of a target track | orbit profile. (A) is the schematic which shows the update of the setting of a target track profile, (b) is the schematic which shows the actual profile of the coating film formed based on the updated target track profile. (A) is schematic which shows the further update of the setting of a target track profile, (b) is the schematic which shows the actual profile of the coating film formed based on the target track profile after the further update. . It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the coating apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a coating apparatus according to the first embodiment. The coating apparatus includes a coating head 10, a tank 20, a pump 22, a flow rate adjusting unit 30, and a control device 50. The tank 20 can store the liquid 82. The tank 20 is in fluid communication with the flow rate adjusting unit 30 via the liquid feeding pipe 24. The pump 22 is provided in the liquid feeding pipe 24. The pump 22 sends the liquid 82 in the tank 20 to the coating head 10 via the flow rate adjusting unit 30.

  The coating head 10 discharges the liquid 82 from the slit 12 toward the substrate 80. The base material 80 may be a long foil or film made of, for example, metal. The liquid 82 may be any material depending on the product to be manufactured.

  The flow rate adjusting unit 30 adjusts the flow rate of the liquid 82 that flows into the coating head 10. Specifically, the flow rate adjusting unit 30 includes a housing 31, a valve body 32 disposed in the housing, and a valve seat 34. The casing 31 has an internal space through which the liquid 82 fed by the pump 22 flows. The valve seat 34 is formed on the inner wall of the housing 31.

  The valve body 32 is attached to the shaft 33. The shaft 33 extends to the outside of the housing 31. One end of the shaft 33 is connected to the actuator 52 of the control device 50. Between the shaft 33 and the housing 31, a sealing material 36 for preventing the liquid 82 from leaking is provided. The sealing material 36 may be an O-ring, for example.

  The valve body 32 can reciprocate between a closed position in contact with the valve seat 34 and an open position away from the valve seat 34 (see a double-headed arrow in FIG. 1). Specifically, the valve body 32 is movable along the flow direction of the liquid 82 in the housing 31. When the valve body 32 comes into contact with the valve seat 34 (closed position), the valve body 32 blocks the flow path of the liquid 82. When the valve body 32 is away from the valve seat 34 (open position), the valve body 32 opens the flow path of the liquid 82. When the valve body 32 is in the open position, the liquid 82 flows into the coating head 10. The liquid 82 that has flowed into the coating head 10 is discharged from the slit 12 toward the substrate 80. The valve body 32 can adjust the flow rate of the liquid 82 flowing into the coating head 10 according to the position (opening) of the open position.

  The control device 50 includes an actuator 52 and a control unit 54. The actuator 52 freely controls the trajectory of the valve body 32 based on a control signal from the control unit 54. That is, the control device 50 controls the trajectory of the valve body 32 by the actuator 52 and the control unit 54.

  The control device 50 reciprocates the valve body 32. By the reciprocation of the valve body 32, the coating head 10 discharges the liquid 82 intermittently. Specifically, the actuator 52 moves the valve body 32 according to the target trajectory profile set in the control unit 54. The “target trajectory profile” is a time function of the position of the valve body, and is a profile that determines the target position of the valve body.

  Actuator 52 preferably includes a linear motor. However, the actuator 52 is not limited to a linear motor, and may have any configuration as long as the valve body 32 can be freely moved according to the target trajectory profile. For example, the actuator 52 may be composed of a combination of a rotary motor and a gear.

  The control unit 54 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes various arithmetic processes, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores various control programs, and a RAM that is used as a work area for storing data and executing programs. (Random Access Memory), an input / output interface, and the like may be provided. The control unit 54 is preferably communicable with the input device 60. The user can input various data to the control unit 54 through the input device 60 and can give various commands to the control unit 54.

  When the valve body 32 is closed, the valve body 32 moves in the direction opposite to the flow direction of the liquid 82. As the valve body 32 moves, the liquid 82 in the coating head 10 is pulled back. Thereby, the valve body 32 has the advantage that the outflow of the liquid 82 from the coating head 10 can be stopped suddenly when the valve is closed.

  The base material 80 is conveyed by the conveyance parts 25 and 26 as shown in FIG. The transport units 25 and 26 may be transport rollers, for example. A conveyance roller conveys the base material 80 by rotating. By intermittently ejecting the liquid 82 from the coating head 10 while transporting the substrate 80 at a constant speed, the application region and the non-application region of the liquid 82 are alternately arranged on the substrate 80. The liquid 82 on the application area forms a coating film 83.

  In the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the coating head 10 is stationary and the substrate 80 moves relative to the coating head 10. Instead of this, the substrate 80 may be stationary and the coating head 10 may move with respect to the substrate 80. In other words, the coating apparatus only needs to have a moving mechanism that relatively moves the substrate 80 and the coating head 10.

  The coating device may optionally have a drying device 28 that dries the coating film 83 formed on the substrate 80. The drying device 28 can dry the coating film 83 on the substrate 80.

  The coating apparatus may optionally have a cutting device (not shown) that cuts the substrate 80 at a predetermined position. By cutting the substrate 80 on which the coating film 83 is formed, a plurality of products having the coating film 83 formed on the substrate 80 can be manufactured.

  Preferably, the coating apparatus includes a measuring unit 40 that measures the thickness of the coating film 83 formed on the substrate 80. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the measurement unit 40 is located on the upstream side of the drying device 28, but may be located on the downstream side of the drying device 28. The measuring unit 40 can measure the film thickness of the coating film 83 at a plurality of positions on one coating region. Alternatively, the measuring unit 40 can continuously measure the film thickness of the coating film 83 on one coating region. The measuring unit 40 can transmit the measured value of the thickness of the coating film 83 to the control unit 54.

  The measuring unit 40 may be any device as long as it can measure the film thickness of the coating film 83. For example, the measurement unit 40 may include an optical sensor that measures the distance between the measurement unit 40 and the coating film 83.

  Next, one of the problems of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The user normally sets a target trajectory profile (see FIG. 3) that determines the target position of the valve element 32 in accordance with a target shape profile (see FIG. 2) that defines the target shape of the coating film 83. Hereinafter, the “target shape profile” may be simply referred to as “target profile”.

  The control device 50 controls the trajectory of the valve body 32 according to the target trajectory profile. FIG. 2 shows a target profile (target film thickness) of one coating film 83 among a plurality of coating films 83 to be formed. FIG. 3 shows a target trajectory profile for forming one coating film 83. A point A in FIGS. 2 and 3 corresponds to a position at which the valve body 32 starts to open, and a point D in FIG. 2 corresponds to a position at which the valve body 32 finishes closing.

  Here, when the opening amount of the valve body 32 is insufficient, the flow rate of the liquid 82 is decreased. Therefore, the film thickness of the coating film 83 is smaller than the target shape profile. Therefore, the opening amount of the valve body 32 is set to be more than the necessary minimum. In particular, when shifting from the closed position to the open position, the valve body 32 is preferably moved to the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state. Furthermore, the end of the coating film 83 formed intermittently is required to have a steep slope. Therefore, it is required that the opening operation of the valve body 32 is completed before a predetermined time. In other words, the moving speed of the valve body 32 is required to be fast.

  However, when the moving speed of the valve body 32 is high, a dent may be formed in the actually formed coating film 83 as shown in FIG. Hereinafter, the cause of this dent will be described.

  When the speed of the valve body 32 increases, the supply of the liquid 82 by the pump 22 cannot catch up with the speed of the valve body 32. As a result, the pressure of the liquid 82 on the upstream side P2 of the valve body 32 becomes lower than the pressure of the liquid 82 on the downstream side P1 of the valve body 32 (see FIG. 5). Immediately after the valve body 32 reaches the open position (point B in FIG. 3), a portion where the pressure of the liquid 82 is low, that is, a portion where the density of the liquid is low flows into the coating head 10. As a result, the discharge amount of the liquid 82 decreases immediately after the valve body 32 reaches the open position (the first position). As a result, a depression is generated in the shape of the actually formed coating film 83, that is, in the vicinity of one end of the actual profile (see FIG. 4). In short, the portion of the liquid 82 that cannot keep up with the speed of the valve body 32 causes a depression in the coating film 83. Thereafter, the supply of the liquid 82 by the pump 22 catches up, and the film thickness of the coating film 83 becomes substantially constant.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present embodiment, the valve body 32 is movable further to the downstream side in the flow direction of the liquid 82 from the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state. The control device 50 moves the valve body 32 from the closed position to the first position, and then moves the valve body 32 from the first position to the second position that is further opened. Thus, the coating apparatus forms the coating film 83 on the substrate 80 by discharging the liquid 82 from the coating head 10 while controlling the valve body 32.

  According to the control method of the valve body 32 described above, when the valve body 32 once moves to the first position, the low pressure region (low density portion) P2 is formed on the upstream side of the valve body 32. At the timing when the low density portion flows into the coating head 10, the valve body 32 opens further toward the second position, and thus the valve body 32 forcibly pressurizes the liquid 82 toward the coating head 10. Extrude. Thereby, the flow volume of the liquid 82 which flows out from the coating head 10 immediately after valve opening can be increased intentionally. As a result, a decrease in the amount of the liquid 82 ejected from the coating head 10 immediately after the valve opening can be suppressed, and the coating film 83 can be made as uniform as possible.

  Note that in the valve body 32 having a structure that moves in the liquid flow direction, the liquid supply amount in a steady state hardly changes at an opening degree greater than or equal to a predetermined opening degree. That is, at the predetermined opening, the liquid supply amount in the steady state reaches a maximum value. Therefore, normally, the valve body 32 does not need to be designed to be further opened than the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state. Patent Documents 1 to 4 do not disclose or suggest such a design of the valve body.

  Next, an example of a coating method using the above-described coating apparatus will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user sets a target trajectory profile that defines the target position of the valve body 32. In a specific example, the user may input a plurality of reference points for creating the target trajectory profile of the valve body 32 from the input device 60 (step S1).

  In the example shown in FIG. 3, in order to create a target trajectory profile, the user may set four reference points A, B, C, and D. Thus, the target trajectory profile set initially may be trapezoidal. The reference point A is the starting position of the opening operation of the valve body 32. The reference point B is the end position of the opening operation of the valve body 32. It is preferable that the size of the reference point B corresponds to a position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in a steady state. The reference point C is a start position of the closing operation of the valve body 32. The reference point D is the end position of the closing operation of the valve body 32. Here, as described above, in order to make the end portion of the coating film 83 steeply inclined, the reference point B is set so that the opening operation of the valve body 32 is finished before a predetermined time. Is required.

  Next, between the reference points A to D of the target trajectory profile may be complemented by an appropriate trajectory interpolation method as necessary (step S2). In this case, the complemented profile is used as the target trajectory profile. Examples of the trajectory interpolation method include spline interpolation and Hermite interpolation.

  Next, the control device 50 discharges the liquid 82 from the coating head 10 while moving the valve body 32 according to the target trajectory profile (step S3). At this time, the conveyance units 25 and 26 convey the substrate 80 at a constant speed. Thereby, a coating film 83 having a predetermined shape on the substrate 80 is formed.

  Next, the measurement part 40 measures the film thickness of the coating film 83 (step S4). The measuring unit 40 measures the film thickness at a number of locations in one coating film 83 or continuously measures the film thickness in one coating film 83. As an example, the result measured by the measurement unit 40 is an actual profile such as the graph shown in FIG. The measurement result of the film thickness of the coating film 83 is sent to the control unit 54.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is a dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 thickness (step S5). If there is no dent, it can be judged that the currently set target trajectory profile is good.

  If it is determined that there is a dent, the target trajectory profile is updated (step S6). That is, the control unit 54 of the control device 50 reduces the difference between the actual profile created from the film thickness of the coating film 83 measured by the measuring unit 40 and the target shape profile of the film thickness of the coating film 83. The target trajectory profile is updated. More specifically, the control device 50 updates the target trajectory profile so that a portion corresponding to the timing from the timing corresponding to the dent to the timing of closing the valve body 32 is increased by a predetermined value in the target trajectory profile ( (See also FIG. 8 (a)). Thereby, when the valve body 32 is controlled according to the updated target trajectory profile, the valve body 32 moves from the closed position to the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state, and further opens from the first position. It will move to the second position. As described above, the movement of the valve body 32 from the first position to the second position reduces the depression of the coating film 83 so that the film thickness of the coating film 83 can be made as uniform as possible. become.

  A plurality of coating films 83 can be obtained on the substrate 80 by repeatedly controlling the valve body 32 according to the updated target trajectory profile. The coating film 83 formed on the substrate 80 is preferably dried by the drying device 28. Then, the base material 80 may be cut | disconnected for every area | region in which the coating film 83 was formed.

  Next, an example of setting the target trajectory profile will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a method for setting a target trajectory profile of the valve body 32.

  First, similarly to the flowchart shown in FIG. 6, the user inputs a plurality of reference points for creating a target trajectory profile (step S1). In this example, the user sets four reference points A, B, C, and D as shown in FIG. Next, the control unit 54 supplements between the reference points A to D of the target trajectory profile by an appropriate trajectory interpolation method as necessary (step S2).

  Next, while the control device 50 moves the valve body 32 according to the target trajectory profile, the liquid 82 is discharged from the coating head 10 (step S3). At this time, the conveyance units 25 and 26 convey the substrate 80 at a constant speed. As a result, a coating film 83 having a predetermined shape is formed on the substrate 80.

  Next, the measurement part 40 measures the film thickness of the coating film 83 (step S4). The actual profile created from the values measured by the measurement unit 40 is, for example, a profile like the graph shown in FIG. The measurement result of the film thickness of the coating film 83 is sent to the control unit 54.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there is a dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 thickness (steps S51 and S52). Therefore, first, the difference between the target profile of the coating film 83 and the actual profile is calculated at the position X (1) (step S51).

  Here, the position X (1) corresponds to a position on the coating film 83 corresponding to the time when a predetermined time Δt has elapsed from the reference point B set by the user or the time when the predetermined time Δt has elapsed from the reference point B. (See FIG. 8 (a) and FIG. 8 (b)). In addition, since the base material 80 is conveyed at a fixed speed, the elapsed time uniquely corresponds to the position on the coating film.

  When the difference between the target profile and the actual profile is within a predetermined allowable range at the position X (1), it can be determined that there is no dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (1) (step S52). . If there is no dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (1) immediately after valve opening, it can be determined that the currently set target trajectory profile is good. Therefore, the setting of the target trajectory profile is finished.

  When the difference is out of the predetermined allowable range, more specifically, when the actual profile at the position X (1) falls below the target profile by a predetermined value or more, the target trajectory profile of the valve element 32 is updated. (Steps S61 to S68).

  In step S61, the control device 50 adds a new reference point B (1) to the target trajectory profile. The reference point B (1) to which the target trajectory profile is added corresponds to a point X (1) at which a predetermined time Δt has elapsed from the reference point B. The size of the reference point B (1) is set to a value that is larger than the size of the reference point B by a predetermined value Δd (see FIG. 8A). For convenience, the reference point B is also expressed as “B (0)”.

  In step S62, as the new reference point B (1) is added, the size of the reference point C that defines the timing at which the valve body 32 starts to close is increased by Δd (see the reference point C ′ in FIG. 8A). . In this way, when it is determined that the actual profile of the coating film 83 has a dent, the timing (reference point) for closing the valve element 32 from the timing corresponding to the dent (reference point B (1)) in the target trajectory profile. The portion corresponding to point C) is uniformly increased by a predetermined value. Thereby, the film thickness of the coating film 83 can be kept flat also in the region behind the reference point B (1).

  Next, the controller 50 complements the reference points A, B, B1, C ′, and D of the target trajectory profile by an appropriate trajectory interpolation method as necessary (step S63).

  Next, the liquid 82 is discharged from the coating head 10 while the valve body 32 is moved according to the updated target trajectory profile (step S64). At this time, the conveyance units 25 and 26 convey the substrate 80 at a constant speed. As a result, a coating film 83 having a predetermined shape is formed on the substrate 80.

  Next, the measurement part 40 measures the film thickness of the coating film 83 (step S65). Here, the film thickness of the coating film 83 at the point corresponding to the position X (1) may be measured. Next, the difference between the target profile of the coating film 83 and the actual profile (actual film thickness) is calculated at the position X (1) (step S66).

  When the difference is outside the predetermined allowable range, more specifically, when the actual profile (film thickness) at the position X (1) is lower than the target profile by a predetermined value or more, the coating at the position X (1) is performed. It can be determined that the dent of the work film 83 has not been eliminated (step 67). In this case, the control unit 54 increases the size of the reference point B (1) of the target trajectory profile by a predetermined value Δd (step 68). Accordingly, the control unit 54 increases the size of the reference point C 'that defines the timing for starting the closing of the valve body 32 by Δd (step 62).

  Thereafter, Step 62 to Step 68 are repeated until the difference between the target profile of the coating film 83 and the actual profile at the position X (1) falls within a predetermined allowable range.

  In step S67, when the difference between the target profile and the actual profile falls within a predetermined allowable range, it can be determined that the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (1) has no dent. That is, it can be determined that at least the dent of the coating film 83 at the position X (1) has been eliminated.

  Next, when it is determined that the dent at the position X (1) has been eliminated, it is determined whether the dent exists at the position X (2). Here, the position X (2) corresponds to a position on the coating film corresponding to a time when a predetermined time Δt has elapsed from the position X (1) or a time when a predetermined time Δt has elapsed from the position X (1). (See FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B). First, the control device 50 discharges the liquid 82 from the coating head 10 while moving the valve body 32 according to the target trajectory profile (step S3). Thereafter, steps S4, S51, and S52 are executed as described above, and it is determined whether or not there is a dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (2).

  When there is no dent in the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (2), it can be determined that the currently set target trajectory profile is good. Therefore, the setting of the target trajectory profile is finished.

  When the actual profile of the coating film 83 has a dent at the position X (2), as described above, steps S61 to S68 are executed to update the target trajectory profile of the valve element 32. As a result, another reference point B (2) is added at a point later than the reference point B (1) of the target trajectory profile. The size of the reference point B (2) is larger than the size of the reference point B (1). That is, the valve body 32 moves to a further open position. In this way, no depression is generated in the actual profile of the coating film 83 at the position X (2).

  The updating of the target trajectory profile as described above is repeated up to the position X (N). Here, the position X (N) corresponds to the position of the reference point C set by the user. For convenience, the reference point C is also expressed as “B (N)”. FIG. 9B shows how the dents in the coating film 83 are eliminated along with the update of the target trajectory profile.

  If it is determined in step S52 that there is no dent, the target trajectory profile update process ends. Further, also when it is determined that the update of the target trajectory profile has been completed up to the position X (N) (step S70), the update process of the target trajectory profile ends.

  The target trajectory profile of the valve body 32 is determined as described above. The liquid 82 is intermittently ejected from the coating head 10 while the valve body 32 is repeatedly moved according to the updated target trajectory profile. At this time, the conveyance units 25 and 26 convey the substrate 80 at a constant speed. Thereby, a plurality of coating films 83 having a desired shape on the substrate 80 are formed.

  By updating the target trajectory profile of the valve body 32 in steps S61 to S68, the valve body 32 moves from the closed position to the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state, and further opens from the first position. Will move to the second position. Thereby, the valve body 32 can pressurize and extrude the liquid 82 toward the coating head 10 immediately after opening the valve.

  The coating apparatus may have a program for executing the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. This program is stored in the control unit 54. Thereby, the control apparatus 50 can determine the target track profile of the valve body 32 automatically. This program may be stored in an external storage medium that is detachable from the control device 50.

  Generally, when a user sets a target trajectory profile of a valve body, the user needs considerable skill. However, the above method has an advantage that the control device 50 can automatically determine the target trajectory profile. Thereby, the work man-hour by a user can be reduced.

  In the method shown in the flowchart of FIG. 7, the control device 50 adds a reference point for automatically determining the target trajectory profile. Therefore, there is an advantage that the user only needs to set a small number of reference points, for example, four reference points at the beginning. In addition, since the number of times the control device 50 corrects the trajectory can be minimized, there are also advantages of shortening the adjustment time and suppressing product loss during adjustment.

  The method shown in the flowcharts of FIGS. 6 and 7 is preferably performed immediately after the user inputs a plurality of reference points. Thus, this method can be used as an initial setting of the coating apparatus. This simplifies initial setting of the coating apparatus. After the target trajectory profile is updated, the coating film 83 may be repeatedly and intermittently formed in earnest.

  FIG. 10 shows a configuration of a coating apparatus according to the second embodiment. In the coating apparatus of the second embodiment, a measuring unit 42 that measures the pressure of the liquid 82 that flows to the coating head 10 is used instead of the measuring unit 40 that measures the film thickness of the coating film 83. The measuring unit 42 can measure the pressure of the liquid in the coating head 10. Instead of this, the measuring unit 42 may measure the pressure of the liquid in the pipe between the flow rate adjusting unit 30 and the coating head 10.

  The measurement result obtained by the measurement unit 42 is transmitted to the control unit 54 as in the first embodiment. The other configuration of the coating apparatus according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the coating apparatus according to the first embodiment, and therefore description thereof is omitted.

  In the first embodiment, the actual film thickness of the coating film 83 is measured, and the result is fed back to the target trajectory profile. In contrast, in the second embodiment, the pressure of the liquid flowing into the coating head 10 is measured, and the result is fed back to the target trajectory profile.

  There is a correlation between the pressure of the liquid 82 flowing into the coating head 10 and the film thickness of the coating film 83. That is, the graph of the time dependency of the pressure of the liquid 82 flowing into the coating head 10 has the same shape as the graphs shown in FIGS. 4, 8 (b), and 9 (b). Therefore, similarly to the method described in the first embodiment, the target trajectory profile of the valve body 32 can be determined based on the difference between the preset target pressure profile and the actually measured actual pressure profile. it can. Specifically, the flowchart shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is obtained by replacing “target profile of coating film” and “actual profile of coating film” with “target pressure profile” and “actual pressure profile”, respectively. Can be used as is.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been presented and described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it is understood that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the gist. I want to be.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Coating head 20 Tank 22 Pump 30 Flow control part 32 Valve body 34 Valve seat 40 Measuring part 42 Measuring part 50 Control apparatus 52 Actuator 80 Base material 82 Liquid 83 Coating film

Claims (10)

A coating head that intermittently discharges liquid toward the substrate;
A valve body that is movable in a flow direction of the liquid and adjusts a flow rate of the liquid flowing into the coating head;
A control device for controlling the trajectory of the valve body,
The said valve body is a coating apparatus which can move to the flow direction of the said liquid further from the 1st position used as the maximum flow volume in a steady state.   2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device moves the valve body from a closed position to the first position, and then moves the valve body from the first position to a second position that is further opened. Coating equipment. A moving mechanism for relatively moving the base material and the coating head;
A measuring unit that measures the pressure of the liquid flowing into the coating head or the thickness of the coating film made of the liquid formed on the substrate, and
The control device controls the trajectory of the valve body according to a target trajectory profile that defines a time function of the position of the valve body,
The control device calculates a difference between an actual profile created from the liquid pressure or the coating film thickness measured by the measurement unit and a target profile of the liquid pressure or the coating film thickness. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the target trajectory profile is updated so as to be reduced. The controller is
The target trajectory profile is generated based on a plurality of reference points that determine the trajectory of the valve body set by the user,
While controlling the trajectory of the valve body according to the target trajectory profile, generate the actual profile from the value measured by the measurement unit,
When it is determined that there is a dent in the actual profile, the target trajectory profile is increased by a predetermined value in a portion corresponding to the timing from the timing corresponding to the dent to the timing of closing the valve body. Update the trajectory profile,
The coating apparatus according to claim 3. The controller is
When it is determined that there is a dent in the actual profile, based on the difference between the actual profile and the target profile, a new reference point is added at a predetermined time interval from the reference point set by the user,
Updating the target trajectory profile based on the plurality of reference points set by the user and the new reference points;
The coating apparatus according to claim 4.   The coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the control device includes an actuator that freely controls a trajectory of the valve body. A coating apparatus comprising: a coating head that intermittently discharges liquid toward a substrate; and a valve body that is movable in a flow direction of the liquid and that adjusts a flow rate of the liquid flowing into the coating head. A coating method for intermittently forming a coating film on a substrate using
After the valve body is moved from the closed position to the first position where the maximum flow rate is obtained in the steady state, the valve body is moved from the first position to the second position further opened in the liquid flow direction. A coating method in which the liquid is discharged from the coating head to form a coating film on the substrate. Generating a target trajectory profile that defines a time function of the position of the valve body based on a plurality of reference points set by a user;
Discharging the liquid from the coating head while moving the valve body according to the target trajectory profile;
Measure the thickness of the coating film formed on the substrate by the pressure of the liquid flowing into the coating head or the discharge of the liquid, and the actual pressure of the liquid or the thickness of the coating film Creating a profile;
Updating the target trajectory profile to reduce the difference between the target profile of the liquid pressure or the coating film thickness and the actual profile;
The step of discharging a liquid from the coating head while moving the valve body in accordance with the updated target trajectory profile to form a coating film on the substrate. Method.   When the target trajectory profile is determined to have a dent in the actual profile, a portion of the target trajectory profile corresponding to a timing from the timing corresponding to the dent to the timing of closing the valve body is set to a predetermined value. The coating method according to claim 8, wherein the coating method is updated so as to increase. Updating the target trajectory profile comprises:
Adding a new reference point at a predetermined time interval from the reference point set by the user when it is determined that the actual profile has a dent;
Updating the target trajectory profile based on the plurality of reference points set by the user and the new reference points;
The coating method of Claim 9 containing these.

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