JP2018144408A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a printer that is capable of carrying out more ideal defect-free complete transfer, forming a fine image patter, and executing continuous printing.SOLUTION: A printer 1 comprises a pressing body (an impression cylinder 10) including a grounded base material having electric conductivity and an electrification layer 13 covering a surface of the base material, a plate cylinder 40 including a grounded cylindrical printing cylinder 41 having electric conductivity and a printing plate 42 installed at an outer periphery of the printing cylinder 41, a voltage impression unit for electrifying the electrification layer 13 of the pressing body, and an ink supply unit 50 capable of supplying ink to the printing plate 42. The printing plate 42 includes a sheet-like base material 42a having elasticity. On the surface of the base material 42a, liquid repellent parts 42c composed of a liquid repellent layer arranged in a pattern and lyophilic parts 42b which are openings in the liquid repellent layer and at which the surface of the base material 42a is exposed are formed. Also, the base material of the pressing body 10 and the electrification layer 13 are electrically insulated from each other.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a printing apparatus having a printing plate including a lyophilic part and a liquid repellent part.

  In recent years, in order to cope with cost reduction of electronic components, it has been attempted to form a patterned film such as a wiring, an insulating layer, and a semiconductor layer included in the electronic component by a printing method.

  Among the printing methods, a reverse offset printing method can be cited as a technique capable of forming a fine image pattern required for an electronic component (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  An apparatus used for the reverse offset printing method generally includes a cylindrical cylinder, a blanket made of silicone rubber or the like fixed to the outer periphery of the cylinder, an ink supply means for supplying ink to the blanket to form an ink film, and a blanket A removal plate for removing the non-image area from the ink film formed on the substrate.

  In the ink film formed on the blanket, the non-image area is transferred and removed by the removal plate, and a predetermined pattern is obtained. The predetermined pattern is transferred from the blanket to the surface of the printing medium such as a substrate.

  The advantage of this technique is that the transfer of ink is performed as a complete transfer in both the blanket to the removal plate and the blanket to the printing medium. That is, the entire ink film is transferred to the removal plate or the printing medium in the pattern portion, and tearing and stringing do not occur, so that a fine pattern can be easily obtained and the flatness of the pattern surface is improved.

  However, the reverse offset printing method has a problem that an ink film remains on the removed plate after printing. When the material of the removal plate is glass, metal, resin, etc. that are often used, it is necessary to wash using a liquid such as a cleaning liquid or solvent to remove the remaining ink film, and continuous printing is performed. It was a hindrance.

  As a printing method capable of forming a fine image pattern required for an electronic component, a technique using a printing plate having a hydrophobic solvent permeation preventive layer formed in a pattern has been proposed (for example, patent document). 2).

  In this technique, a base material containing an elastic body swellable in a solvent, a hydrophobic solvent permeation preventive layer formed in a pattern on the base material, and a base material surface of an opening of the hydrophobic solvent permeation preventive layer A printing plate that is formed and has a hydrophilic portion that is more hydrophilic than the hydrophobic solvent permeation prevention layer is used as a removal plate.

  The blanket made of silicone rubber or the like and the ink supply means for supplying ink to the blanket and using it as an ink film are used in the same manner as in the reverse offset printing method such as Patent Document 1.

  Even when using a printing plate having a hydrophobic solvent permeation preventive layer, it is the same in that the ink film remains on the removed plate after printing, but if the substrate of the removed plate is made of silicone rubber, washing with a liquid is used. Regardless of this, it is possible to remove the remaining ink film by, for example, a cleaning substrate. Specifically, it can be expected that the cleaning substrate guided by the roll is pressed against the removal plate and removed by a mechanism such as transferring the ink film thereto.

  However, this method has a problem that a part of the ink film tends to remain at the boundary portion between the hydrophobic solvent permeation preventing layer of the removal plate and the hydrophilic portion. Accumulation of residual ink at the boundary causes disturbance of the boundary between the image area and the non-image area in the print pattern, thereby reducing the print quality.

JP 2000-289320 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-10965

  An object of the present invention is to provide a printing apparatus that realizes more ideal and perfect transfer without wrinkles, can form a fine image pattern, and can perform continuous printing.

  A printing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a pressed body including a grounded substrate having conductivity and a charged layer covering the surface of the substrate, and a grounded cylindrical printing cylinder having conductivity. And a plate cylinder including at least a printing plate installed on the outer peripheral portion of the printing cylinder, a voltage applying unit for charging the charging layer of the pressing body, and an ink supply unit capable of supplying ink to the printing plate. The printing plate includes a sheet-like substrate having elasticity, and the surface of the substrate includes a liquid-repellent portion composed of a liquid-repellent layer arranged in a pattern, and an opening of the liquid-repellent layer. And a lyophilic portion where the surface is exposed, and the base material of the pressing body and the charging layer are electrically insulated.

  In the printing apparatus of the present invention, the ink film pattern is transferred from the printing plate to the printing body by obtaining not only the adhesive force but also the electrostatic force, so that more ideal complete transfer is easily achieved. Since the ink remaining in the ink is further suppressed, a fine image pattern can be formed and continuous printing can be performed.

It is the schematic of the principal part of the printing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic (1) which showed the printing procedure by the printing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic (2) which showed the printing procedure by the printing apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic of the principal part of the printing apparatus which concerns on another embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same referential mark is attached | subjected to the component which exhibits the same or similar function through all the drawings, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a main part of a printing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The printing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment includes at least a cylindrical impression cylinder 10 and a plate cylinder 40, a voltage application unit 30, and an ink supply unit 50 that supplies ink to the plate cylinder 40. FIG. 1 is a view of the impression cylinder 10 and the plate cylinder 40 as seen from the axial direction.

  The impression cylinder 10 serves as a pressing body for pressing the printing medium against the plate cylinder 40. The impression cylinder 10 includes a cylindrical pressing cylinder 11, an insulating layer 12, and a charging layer 13. The pressing cylinder 11 is made of a conductive material such as metal, and the pressing cylinder 11 is grounded (grounded). The insulating layer 12 is an insulator that covers the outer periphery of the pressing cylinder 11, and the charging layer 13 covers the outer periphery of the insulating layer 12. Due to the presence of the insulating layer 12, the charging layer 13 is electrically insulated from the pressing cylinder 11. A voltage application unit 30 is provided in the vicinity of the impression cylinder 10 so that the charging layer 13 can be charged. The voltage application unit 30 is, for example, a charging device that charges an object by corona discharge. However, any device can be used for the voltage application unit 30 as long as the device can charge the charging layer 13 (or apply a voltage to the charging layer 13).

  The plate cylinder 40 includes a cylindrical printing cylinder 41 and a printing plate 42 attached to the outer periphery of the printing cylinder 41. The printing plate 42 can be supplied with ink from the ink supply unit 50. The printing cylinder 41 is made of a conductive material such as metal and is grounded in the same manner as the pressing cylinder 11. In the printing plate 42, a liquid-repellent layer made of a material having liquid repellency with respect to the ink used for printing (ink supplied from the ink supply unit 50) is formed in a pattern on the surface of the sheet-like base material 42a. It has been done. In the present embodiment, the portion of the surface of the base material 42a where the liquid repellent layer is formed is referred to as a liquid repellent portion 42c. On the other hand, the surface of the base material 42a is exposed at the opening where the liquid repellent layer is not formed on the surface of the base material 42a. In this embodiment, this portion is called a lyophilic part 42b.

In the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the liquid repellent layer (the liquid repellent portion 42c) and the lyophilic portion 42b have the relationship (a) or (b) described below (or both of the relationship (a) and (b)). ) Is desirable.
(A) The contact angle of the lyophilic part 42b with respect to the ink used for printing is 5 ° or more lower than the contact angle of the liquid repellent part 42c.
(A) The ratio of ink adhesion in the lyophilic part 42b and the liquid repellent part 42c is 2 or more. The ink adhesion ratio is a value obtained by the following equation (1), where θ ₁ is the ink sliding angle in the lyophilic portion 42 b, and θ ₂ is the ink sliding angle in the lyophobic portion 42 c. It is.

  For the liquid repellent layer (the liquid repellent portion 42c) and the lyophilic portion 42b, a material satisfying the above relationship (a) or (b) (or both of the relationships (a) and (b)) may be used. In addition, when a substance satisfying this relationship (a) or (b) (or both of the relations (a) and (b)) is used for the liquid repellent layer, this substance is referred to as a “liquid repellent substance”. Call.

  In addition, it is more preferable that the contact angle of the ink in the lyophilic portion 42b is 10 ° or more lower than the contact angle in the lyophobic portion 42c. Further, the ratio of the adhesion force of the ink in the lyophilic part 42b and the liquid repellent part 42c is more preferably 3 or more, and further preferably 4 or more.

  When the lyophilic portion 42b and the lyophobic portion 42c of the printing plate 42 have the above-described characteristics with respect to the ink, the ink is applied only on the lyophilic portion 42b. Examples of ink used in the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described later.

  The substrate 42a of the printing plate 42 preferably has elasticity, and from that viewpoint, as a material of the substrate 42a, for example, silicone rubber, acrylic rubber, urethane rubber, fluorine rubber, polysulfide rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, nitrile rubber, Preferably, butyl rubber, chloroprene rubber, butadiene rubber, or styrene butadiene rubber is used. The materials listed here are also suitable for the material of the base material 42a in that they can swell in the solvent of the ink (the solvent penetrates). However, the present invention can be implemented even if a material that does not penetrate the ink solvent is used for the base material 42a.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that the base material 42a of the printing plate 42 has conductivity because an electrostatic force can be applied uniformly over the entire plate surface during ink transfer described later. As a means for imparting conductivity to the base material 42a, conductive particles such as carbon black, metal powder, zinc white, and metal-plated silica powder may be mixed into the material of the base material 42a exemplified above. Can be mentioned. For this reason, it is preferable to use a material obtained by mixing such conductive particles in the material of the base material 42a mentioned above for the base material 42a.

  Further, the base material 42 a of the printing plate 42 is grounded via the printing cylinder 41. It is preferable that the base material 42a is grounded because the action of electrostatic force is stabilized during ink transfer.

  The liquid repellent layer on the surface of the base material 42a is formed of a material having a low surface free energy. Specifically, for example, the liquid repellent layer may be formed by patterning a fluorine-based photoresist.

  The ink supply unit 50 may be anything as long as ink can be supplied to the printing plate 42. Examples of the ink supply unit 50 include a die nozzle, an inkjet nozzle, a slit nozzle, and a wire bar.

  Among them, the die nozzle is preferable in that it can discharge a predetermined amount of ink, and the ink jet nozzle is preferable in that it can discharge ink only to the lyophilic portion 42 b of the printing plate 42.

  A typical printing method by the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the printing apparatus 1 first supplies ink 51 from the ink supply unit 50 to the printing plate 42.

  Any solvent can be used as the solvent of the ink 51 as long as it can stably dissolve or disperse the solid content of the ink. For example, cyclohexanone, ethyl cellosolve acetate, butyl cellosolve acetate, 1-methoxy-2- Propyl acetate, octane, decane, undecane, dodecane, tridecane, tetradecane, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, mesitylene, cyclohexylbenzene, vinyltoluene, decahydronaphthalene, tetrahydronaphthalene, 1-methylnaphthalene, 3-carene, p-cymene, deca Methyltetrasiloxane, d-limonene, 2-phenylethyl isobutyrate, thioanisole, trans-anethole, benzyl benzoate, 2-phenylethyl acetate, ethyl phenylacetate, propionic acid Benzyl, cinnamyl acetate, butyl benzoate, anisole, quinoline, 4-ethylmorpholine, phenyl acetate, 1-cyclohexyl-2-pyrrolidone, eugenol, hexamethyl phosphate triamide, propylene carbonate, propylene glycol monomethyl ether, diethylene glycol dimethyl ether, ethylene glycol Mention may be made of diethyl ether, ethyl cellosolve, butyl cellosolve, methyl-n amyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketone, ethyl acetate, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, butanol, isobutyl ketone, petroleum solvent, water or a mixture containing two or more thereof. .

  Among them, as the solvent of the ink 51, for example, when the base material 42a of the printing plate 42 is silicone rubber, p-cymene, decamethyl is used from the viewpoint of contact angle or adhesion at the lyophilic part 42b and the liquid repellent part 42c. Tetrasiloxane, trans-anethole, 2-phenylethyl acetate, ethyl phenylacetate, benzyl propionate, quinoline, 1-cyclohexyl-2-pyrrolidone, eugenol, propylene carbonate and the like are preferable.

  After the ink 51 is supplied, the printing plate 42 is allowed to stand for a predetermined time and dried until the ink 51 on the lyophilic portion 42b of the substrate 42a is in an appropriate state. In the present embodiment, the ink 51 on the lyophilic portion 42b is called an ink film 52 (FIG. 3). At this time, even if the base material 42a of the printing plate 42 is a material that does not allow the solvent of the ink 51 to permeate, the ink 51 may be dried by allowing it to stand for an appropriate period of time and applying air to the ink film surface. However, if the base material 42a can swell in the solvent of the ink 51, the removal of the solvent from the ink 51 is easy to proceed quickly. Therefore, it is more preferable to use a material that can penetrate the solvent of the ink 51 for the base material 42a.

  From the viewpoint of promptly removing the solvent, the solvent of the ink 51 includes alkanes such as octane, alkyl substituents of benzene such as toluene, cyclohexylbenzene, decahydronaphthalene, tetrahydronaphthalene, Those having low polarity such as p-cymene, decamethyltetrasiloxane, d-limonene, trans-anethole and 2-phenylethyl acetate are preferred.

  On the other hand, the liquid repellent layer (liquid repellent portion 42c) of the printing plate 42 is preferably a material that does not penetrate the solvent of the ink 51, such as the fluorine-based photoresist described above.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 3, the charging layer 13 of the impression cylinder 10 is charged by the voltage application unit 30. The charging layer 13 may be charged before the ink 51 is supplied from the ink supply unit 50 to the printing plate 42.

  Then, the printing medium 2 is inserted between the impression cylinder 10 and the plate cylinder 40, the plate cylinder 40 is pressed against the impression cylinder 10, and the impression cylinder 10 and the plate cylinder 40 are rotated. As a result, the pattern of the ink film 52 formed on the lyophilic portion 42b of the substrate 42a is transferred to the printing medium 2. At this time, since the charging layer 13 of the impression cylinder 10 is charged, an electric field is generated between the impression cylinder 10 and the plate cylinder 40, and an electrostatic force acts on the ink film 52. Therefore, the ink film 52 is easily transferred from the printing plate 42 to the printing medium 2.

  Any material can be used as the printing medium 2 as long as the desired ink film pattern can be formed. Examples thereof include polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polyethylene naphthalate, polyamides such as nylon, Resin films and plates such as linear or branched polyolefin, cyclic polyolefin, polycarbonate, polyethersulfone, polyarylate, polyacrylate, polymethacrylate, polyimide, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, or copolymers thereof And inorganic plates such as glass, quartz, and metal.

  In addition, a pattern other than the pattern to be formed by the printing apparatus according to the present embodiment may be formed in advance on the printing material 2, or a metal oxide such as silicon oxide or aluminum oxide may be formed on the film or plate described above. Or metal fluorides such as aluminum fluoride and magnesium fluoride, metal nitrides such as silicon nitride and aluminum nitride, metal oxynitrides such as silicon oxynitride, and various polymer resin films Good.

  In the configuration of the printing apparatus described in the first embodiment, the pressing body is not necessarily limited to a cylindrical shape. Anything other than a cylindrical shape may be used as long as the printing medium can be appropriately pressed against the plate cylinder during printing. In Example 2, as another embodiment, an example of a printing apparatus having a planar stage instead of a cylindrical impression cylinder will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a printing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

  The stage 20 typically includes a flat plate or rectangular parallelepiped base 21, an insulating layer 22 covering the surface of the base 21, and a charging layer 23 covering the surface of the insulating layer 22. The base 21 is made of a conductive material such as metal and is grounded. The charging layer 23 is electrically insulated from the base 21 by the insulating layer 22. A voltage application unit 30 is provided in the vicinity of the stage 20 to charge the charging layer 23.

  The charging layer 23 is not necessarily provided so as to cover the entire surface of the base 21. Since the charging layer 23 only needs to be present on the surface facing the plate cylinder 40, a configuration in which the charging layer 23 is provided only on the upper surface of the substrate 21 as shown in FIG. In this case, the insulating layer 22 is preferably provided only between the base 21 and the charging layer 23.

  In the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment, the configurations of the plate cylinder 40 and the ink supply unit 50 may be the same as those described in the first embodiment. The printing method using the printing apparatus according to the second embodiment may be the same as the procedure described in the first embodiment. Therefore, explanation here is omitted.

  As described above, the ink film 52 is more ideally completely transferred from the printing plate 42 to the printing medium 2 by the action of electrostatic force, so that the ink film 52 is formed on the printing plate 42 after printing. It is difficult to remain, a fine image pattern can be formed, and continuous printing can be performed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Printing apparatus 2 ... To-be-printed body 10 ... Pressure cylinder 11 ... Pressing cylinder 12 ... Insulating layer 13 ... Charged layer 20 ... Stage 21 ... Base | substrate 22 ... Insulating layer 23 ... Charged layer 30 ... Voltage application part 40 ... Plate cylinder 41 ... Printing cylinder 42 ... Printing plate 42a ... Base material 42b ... Lipophilic part 42c ... Liquid repellent part 50 ... Ink supply part 51 ... Ink 52 ... Ink film

Claims (10)

A grounded cylindrical pressing cylinder having conductivity; an insulating layer covering an outer periphery of the pressing cylinder; and an impression cylinder including at least a charging layer electrically insulated from the pressing cylinder by the insulating layer;
A voltage application unit for charging the charging layer of the impression cylinder;
A grounded cylindrical printing cylinder having conductivity, and a plate cylinder including at least a printing plate installed on an outer periphery of the printing cylinder;
An ink supply unit capable of supplying ink to the printing plate;
A printing apparatus comprising:
The printing plate includes a sheet-like base material having elasticity, a liquid-repellent portion including a liquid-repellent layer arranged in a pattern on the surface of the base material, and a lyophilic liquid in which the surface of the base material is exposed. Part is formed,
A printing apparatus characterized by that. A grounded flat or rectangular parallelepiped substrate having conductivity, an insulating layer covering an upper portion of the substrate, and a stage including at least a charging layer electrically insulated from the substrate by the insulating layer;
A voltage application unit for charging the charging layer of the stage;
A grounded cylindrical printing cylinder having conductivity, and a plate cylinder including at least a printing plate installed on an outer periphery of the printing cylinder;
A printing apparatus comprising an ink supply unit capable of supplying ink to the printing plate,
The printing plate includes a sheet-like base material having elasticity, a liquid-repellent portion including a liquid-repellent layer arranged in a pattern on the surface of the base material, and a lyophilic liquid in which the surface of the base material is exposed. Part is formed,
A printing apparatus characterized by that.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material of the printing plate is swellable in a solvent of the ink, and the ink solvent does not penetrate into the liquid repellent layer of the printing plate.   The substrate of the printing plate comprises silicone rubber, acrylic rubber, urethane rubber, fluorine rubber, polysulfide rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, chloroprene rubber, butadiene rubber, or styrene butadiene rubber. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printer.   4. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a contact angle of the lyophilic portion with respect to the ink is 5 ° or more lower than a contact angle of the liquid repellent layer with respect to the ink. The ink adhesion ratio (sin θ ₁ / sin θ ₂ ) obtained from the ink sliding angle (θ ₁ ) in the lyophilic part and the ink sliding angle (θ ₂ ) in the liquid repellent part is 2 or more. The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing apparatus is a printing apparatus.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the base material of the printing plate has conductivity.   The printing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the base material of the printing plate is grounded via the printing cylinder.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink supply unit is a die nozzle.   The printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ink supply unit is an inkjet nozzle.

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