JP3459811B2 - Method and apparatus for manufacturing inkjet head, inkjet head unit, and color filter - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ink jet head, an ink jet head unit, a color filter manufacturing method and apparatus, and a color mixing reduction method for a color filter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the development of personal computers,
Particularly, with the development of portable personal computers, the demand for liquid crystal displays, especially color liquid crystal displays, tends to increase. However, for further widespread use, it is necessary to reduce the cost of liquid crystal displays, and there is an increasing demand for cost reduction of color filters, which have a high cost weight. Conventionally, various methods have been tried to meet the above-mentioned requirements while satisfying the required characteristics of the color filter, but a method that satisfies all the required characteristics has not yet been established. Each method will be described below. The first method is a pigment dispersion method. In this method, a monochromatic pattern is obtained by forming a photosensitive resin layer in which a pigment is dispersed on a substrate and patterning the photosensitive resin layer. By repeating this process three times, R,
A G and B color filter layer is formed.

The second method is a dyeing method. The dyeing method is that a glass substrate is coated with a water-soluble polymer material, which is a material for dyeing, and this is patterned into a desired shape by a photolithography process, and then the obtained pattern is immersed in a dyeing bath to be colored. Get the pattern. By repeating this three times, R, G, and B color filter layers are formed.

The third method is an electrodeposition method. In this method, a transparent electrode is patterned on a substrate, and the first color is electrodeposited by immersing it in an electrodeposition coating solution containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolytic solution and the like. This process is repeated three times to form R, G, and B color filter layers, and is finally baked.

A fourth method is a printing method. In this method, a pigment is dispersed in a thermosetting resin, printing is repeated three times to apply R, G, and B separately, and then the resin is thermally cured to form a colored layer. In any method, it is general to form a protective layer on the colored layer.

The common points of these methods are R,
It is necessary to repeat the same process three times in order to color the three colors of G and B, which is costly. Further, there is a problem that the yield decreases as the number of processes increases.
Further, in the electrodeposition method, since the pattern shape that can be formed is limited, it is difficult to apply the present technology to a TFT. Further, in the printing method, it is difficult to form a fine pitch pattern because of poor resolution and smoothness.

In order to make up for these drawbacks, JP-A-59-7 is used.
5205, JP-A-63-235901, JP-A-1-217320 and the like disclose a method for producing a color filter using an inkjet method. These methods are R (red), G (green), B
Ink containing three color dyes of (blue) is jetted onto a light-transmitting substrate by an inkjet method, and each ink is dried to form a colored image portion. In such an inkjet method, it is possible to form each pixel of R, G, and B at one time, and it is possible to obtain a great simplification of the manufacturing process and a great cost reduction effect.

[0008]

As one of the ink jet methods, a so-called bubble jet (registered) is used in which ink is film-boiling by thermal energy to generate bubbles, and the volume expansion of the bubbles pushes out and ejects the ink. There is a method called the trademark system. When such a bubble jet method is used for the inkjet head, the temperature of the head rises due to the generated thermal energy. Such a temperature rise causes thermal expansion of the head and causes positional deviation of the ink ejection nozzles. Particularly recently, a method has been used in which a long head in which a large number of nozzles are arranged is used, and the head is scanned in a direction substantially orthogonal to the direction in which the nozzles are arranged to color a large number of pixel rows at once. The positional shift of the nozzle due to the extension of the head in the longitudinal direction has become an important issue.

Further, in the long head as described above,
It is difficult to manufacture a head in which a large number of nozzles are arranged in a straight line on the order of μm, and particularly when high ink landing accuracy is required as in the manufacture of color filters, the nozzle position accuracy is Improving is becoming an important issue.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to reduce the deviation of the ink landing position.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, an ink jet head according to the present invention is a color filter that ejects ink while scanning the ink jet head relative to a substrate. An ink jet head used in a method for manufacturing a method, wherein a plurality of ink ejection nozzles are arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction,
Surrounded by the black matrix of the color filter
The width of one pixel GL, CL the diameter of ink dots formed by the ink deposited on the substrate, the inclination angle of said ink jet head with respect to a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction θ that, when there is no warp in the ink-jet head When the width of the deviation amount of the ink discharge nozzles in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line with respect to the ideal straight line in which the plurality of ink discharge nozzles are lined up is y, 0 ° <θ <90 ° is satisfied.
At an arbitrary angle θ, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) of the main body of the inkjet head
It is characterized in that it is provided with a warp correction means for correcting the warp .

Further, the ink jet head according to the present invention ejects ink from the ink jet head while relatively scanning the ink jet head with a substrate having a plurality of pixels surrounded by a black matrix having a predetermined width. An ink jet head used in a method of manufacturing a color filter by coloring a plurality of pixels by using a plurality of ink discharge nozzles arranged in a line in a longitudinal direction, the ink jet heads being adjacent to each other in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. When the distance between the centers of the black matrix is the width of one pixel, the width of the one pixel is G
L, the diameter of the ink dot formed by the ink landed on the substrate is CL, the inclination angle of the inkjet head with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction is θ, and the plurality of ink ejections when the inkjet head has no warp When the straight line in which the nozzles are arranged is an ideal straight line and the ink jet head has a warp, and the width of the deviation amount of the ink ejection nozzle in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line is y, 0 ° <θ < At any angle θ of 90 °
And y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
The present invention is characterized by including a warp correction means for correcting the warp of the wet head.

Further, in the ink jet head according to the present invention, the diameter CL of the ink dot is a diameter when the ink is spread on the glass having no partition or the glass coated with the ink receiving layer and the ink is spread. It is characterized by that.

[0014]

[0015]

[0016]

The method of manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention is characterized in that the color filter is manufactured by using the above ink jet head and ejecting ink from the ink jet head toward the substrate.

[0018]

The color filter manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that the above-mentioned ink jet head is used to manufacture a color filter by ejecting ink from the ink jet head toward the substrate.

Further, the ink jet head unit according to the present invention is used in a method of manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink while scanning the ink jet head relative to a substrate, and a plurality of ink ejecting nozzles in the longitudinal direction. An inkjet head unit including a plurality of inkjet heads arranged side by side, wherein a width of one pixel of the color filter surrounded by a black matrix is GL, and a diameter of an ink dot formed by ink landed on a substrate. CL, θ is the inclination angle of the inkjet head with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, and the direction in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line with respect to the ideal straight line in which the plurality of ink ejection nozzles are aligned when the inkjet head has no warp The width of the deviation amount of the ink ejection nozzle is set to y In case any is 0 ° <θ <90 °
At an angle θ of y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
The present invention is characterized by including a warp correction means for correcting the warp of the wet head.

In addition, the ink jet head unit according to the present invention ejects ink from the ink jet head while relatively scanning the ink jet head with the substrate having a plurality of pixels surrounded by a black matrix having a predetermined width. An ink jet head unit comprising a plurality of ink jet heads having a plurality of ink discharge nozzles arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction, the ink jet head unit being used in a method of manufacturing a color filter by coloring the plurality of pixels. The width of one pixel is GL when the distance between the centers of adjacent black matrices in the direction orthogonal to the direction is the width of one pixel, and the diameter of the ink dot formed by the ink that has landed on the substrate is GL. CL, the ink jet in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction When the inclination angle of the inkjet head is θ, and a straight line in which the plurality of ink ejection nozzles are aligned when the inkjet head has no warp is an ideal straight line, when the inkjet head has a warp, a direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line The width of the deviation amount of the ink discharge nozzle is defined as y
If, then at any angle θ such that 0 ° <θ <90 °
Oite, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sinθ ( except 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
The present invention is characterized by including a warp correction means for correcting the warp of the wet head.

[0022]

[0023]

[0024]

[0025]

[0026]

[0027]

[0028]

[0029]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing the arrangement of an embodiment of a color filter manufacturing apparatus.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 51 is an apparatus mount, 52 is an XYθ stage arranged on the mount 51, 53 is a color filter substrate set on the XYθ stage 52, and 54.
Is a color filter formed on the color filter substrate 53, 55 is R (red) for coloring the color filter 54,
G (green) and B (blue) inkjet heads, 58 is a controller for controlling the overall operation of the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90, 59 is a teaching pendant (personal computer) which is a display portion of the controller, and 60 is a teaching pendant 59. The keyboard which is an operation part is shown.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the controller of the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90. Reference numeral 59 is a teaching pendant which is an input / output means of the controller 58, and 62
Is a display unit that displays information such as the progress of manufacturing and whether or not the head is abnormal, and 60 is an operation unit (keyboard) that instructs the operation of the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90.

Reference numeral 58 is a controller for controlling the overall operation of the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90, 65 is an interface for exchanging data with the teaching pendant 59, 66 is a CPU for controlling the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90, and 67 is a CPU 66. A ROM storing a control program for operating the color filter, 68 a RAM for storing production information and the like, 70 an ejection control unit for controlling the ejection of ink into each pixel of the color filter, and 71 a color filter manufacturing apparatus. The stage control unit 90 controls the operation of the XYθ stage 52, and 90 is a color filter manufacturing apparatus that is connected to the controller 58 and operates according to the instructions.

Next, FIG. 3 is a view showing the structure of the ink jet head 55 used in the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90 described above. In FIG. 1, three inkjet heads are provided corresponding to the three colors of R, G, and B.
Since these three heads have the same structure, FIG. 3 shows the structure of one of the three heads as a representative.

In FIG. 3, the ink jet head 55
Is roughly composed of a heater board 104 which is a substrate on which a plurality of heaters 102 for heating ink are formed, and a top plate 106 which is placed on the heater board 104. A plurality of discharge ports 108 are formed in the top plate 106, and a tunnel-shaped liquid path 110 communicating with the discharge ports 108 is formed behind the discharge ports 108. Each liquid passage 110 is isolated from an adjacent liquid passage by a partition wall 112. Each of the liquid passages 110 is commonly connected to one ink liquid chamber 114 at the rear of the liquid passage 110, and the ink is supplied to the ink liquid chamber 114 through the ink supply port 116. It is supplied to each liquid passage 110.

The heater board 104 and the top plate 106 are
The heaters 102 are aligned so that they come to the positions corresponding to the respective liquid paths 110, and assembled in the state as shown in FIG.
Although only two heaters 102 are shown in FIG. 3, the heaters 102 correspond to the respective liquid passages 110 by one.
They are arranged one by one. When a predetermined drive pulse is supplied to the heater 102 in the assembled state as shown in FIG. 3, the ink on the heater 102 boils to form bubbles, and the ink expands from the ejection openings 108 due to the volume expansion of the bubbles. It is pushed out and discharged. Therefore, the size of the bubble can be adjusted by controlling the drive pulse applied to the heater 102, for example, by controlling the magnitude of the electric power,
The volume of ink ejected from the ejection port can be freely controlled.

In the present embodiment, a glass substrate is generally used as the substrate 1, but it is not limited to a glass substrate as long as it has necessary properties such as transparency and mechanical strength as a liquid crystal color filter. Absent.

Next, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the manufacturing process of the color filter.

FIG. 4A shows a glass substrate 1 provided with a light transmitting portion 7 and a black matrix 2 which is a light shielding portion. First, a resin composition that is curable by light irradiation or light irradiation and heating and has ink receptivity is applied onto the substrate 1 on which the black matrix 2 is formed, and if necessary, prebaked to perform resin layer 3 ′. Are formed (FIG. 4B). The resin layer 3'can be formed by a coating method such as spin coating, roll coating, bar coating, spray coating, or dip coating, and is not particularly limited.

Next, the resin layer in the portion shielded by the black matrix 2 is preliminarily subjected to pattern exposure using the photomask 4'to cure a part of the resin layer 5'and the portion 5 '(which does not absorb ink). (Non-colored portion) is formed (FIG. 4C), and then each color of R, G, and B is colored at once using an inkjet head (FIG. 4D), and the ink is dried as necessary. .

As the photomask 4'used at the time of pattern exposure, a photomask 4'having an opening for hardening the light-shielding portion by the black matrix is used. At this time, it is necessary to apply a relatively large amount of ink in order to prevent color loss of the colorant at the portion in contact with the black matrix. Therefore, it is preferable to use a mask having an opening narrower than the (light-shielding) width of the black matrix.

As the ink used for coloring, it is possible to use both dye-based and pigment-based inks, and also liquid inks and solid inks.

As the curable resin composition used in the present invention, any curable resin composition can be used as long as it has ink receptivity and can be cured by at least one of light irradiation and heating. Examples thereof include cellulose derivatives such as acrylic resins, epoxy resins, silicone resins, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and carboxymethyl cellulose, or modified products thereof.

It is also possible to use a photoinitiator (crosslinking agent) for promoting a crosslinking reaction of these resins by light or light and heat. As the photoinitiator, dichromate,
Bisazide compounds, radical initiators, cationic initiators, anionic initiators and the like can be used. It is also possible to use these photoinitiators in combination or in combination with other sensitizers. Further, it is also possible to use a photo-acid generator such as an onium salt together as a cross-linking agent. Note that heat treatment may be performed after the light irradiation in order to further promote the crosslinking reaction.

The resin layer containing these compositions is very excellent in heat resistance, water resistance and the like, and can sufficiently withstand a high temperature or a washing step in a subsequent step.

As the ink jet system used in the present invention, a bubble jet type using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating element can be used, and a colored area and a colored pattern can be set arbitrarily.

Then, the curable resin composition is cured by light irradiation only, heat treatment only, or light irradiation and heat treatment (FIG. 4 (e)), and the protective layer 8 is formed if necessary (FIG. 4).
(F) In the figure, hν represents the intensity of light, and in the case of heat treatment, heat is applied instead of the light of hν. The protective layer 8 can be formed by using a second resin composition of a photo-curing type, a thermosetting type, or a photo-thermal combination type, or can be formed by vapor deposition or sputtering using an inorganic material. Any material can be used as long as it has transparency in such a case and can sufficiently withstand the subsequent ITO forming process, alignment film forming process and the like.

In this example, the resin composition is formed on the substrate, but the ink may be directly applied to the substrate as follows.

That is, the R, G, and B inks are applied by using the ink jet method so as to fill the light transmitting portions between the black matrices that form the light shielding portions. The R, G and B patterns may be formed in a so-called casting-like shape. Further, it is preferable that the respective color inks are printed on the black matrix within a range where they do not overlap each other.

The ink to be used may be either a dye type or a pigment type as long as it can be cured by application of energy such as light or heat, and both liquid ink and solid ink can be used. It is essential that the ink contains a photo-curable component or a thermo-curable component or a component curable by both light and heat,
As such a component, various commercially available resins and curing agents can be used and are not particularly limited as long as they do not cause a problem such as sticking in the ink. Specifically, acrylic resins, epoxy resins, melamine resins and the like are preferably used.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are sectional views showing the basic structure of a color liquid crystal display device 30 incorporating the above color filter.

The color liquid crystal display device is generally formed by combining the color filter substrate 1 and the counter substrate 21 and enclosing the liquid crystal compound 18. A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) is provided inside one substrate 21 of the liquid crystal display device.
r) (not shown) and transparent pixel electrodes 20 are formed in a matrix. In addition, a color filter 54 is installed inside the other substrate 1 so that RGB color materials are arranged at positions facing the pixel electrodes, and a transparent counter electrode (common electrode) 16 is formed on one surface of the color filter 54. To be done. The black matrix 2 is usually formed on the color filter substrate 1 side (see FIG. 5), but in the BM (black matrix) on-array type liquid crystal panel, it is formed on the opposing TFT substrate side (see FIG. 6). Further, an alignment film 19 is formed on the surfaces of both substrates, and by rubbing the alignment film 19, liquid crystal molecules can be aligned in a certain direction. In addition, a polarizing plate 1 is provided on the outside of each glass substrate.
1, 22 are bonded, and the liquid crystal compound 18 is filled in the gap (about 2 to 5 μm) between these glass substrates.
In addition, a combination of a fluorescent lamp (not shown) and a scattering plate (not shown) is generally used as the backlight, and the liquid crystal compound is displayed by functioning as an optical shutter that changes the transmittance of the backlight. I do. next,
The coloring process of the color filter when the manufacturing method of this embodiment is applied will be described.

First, XY of the color filter manufacturing apparatus 90
The glass substrate 53 is set on the θ stage 52. Then, after appropriately positioning, the color filter formation region (colored region) of the glass substrate 53 is moved to directly below the inkjet head 55, and the inkjet head 5 is moved.
Ink is ejected while the 5 and the glass substrate 53 are relatively scanned by the XYθ stage 52, and each pixel of the color filter is colored.

FIG. 7 shows the relationship between the glass substrate 53 and the head 55a for ejecting the red (R) ink of the inkjet head 55 at the time of coloring.

In FIG. 7, the head 55a is, for example,
When the nozzles 313 are arranged at intervals of 70.5 μm and are used for coloring a color filter in which R, G, and B pixels 314 are arranged in order at intervals of 100 μm, for example, red nozzles arranged at intervals of 300 μm are used. It is necessary to align the position of the nozzle with the pixel. Therefore, the nozzles of the head 55a are used every 5 nozzles, and the head 55a is used while being inclined by 31.7 ° with respect to the scanning direction. This way, 5
The nozzle placed on the nozzle comes directly above the red pixel, and coloring can be performed. Such a relationship is the red head 55
The same applies to the other heads 55b and 55c as well as a.

Next, FIG. 8 is a rear view showing the constitution for suppressing the temperature rise of the ink jet head which is a characteristic part of this embodiment, and FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 8 seen from the left side. Is. Here, the inkjet head 55a that ejects red ink will be described, but the other heads 55b and 55c have the same configuration.

Inkjet head 55a of this embodiment
Employs a so-called bubble jet method in which bubbles are generated in the ink by thermal energy and the ink is pushed out and ejected by the growth of the bubbles. Therefore, the temperature of the inkjet head rises due to its own heat generation. And
This increase in temperature causes thermal expansion in the inkjet head and changes the distance between the nozzles. For example,
In the present embodiment, the inkjet head 55a
When the ink is ejected continuously by itself, the temperature rises by about 5 ° C. The main body of the inkjet head 55a is made of aluminum alloy, and the total length in the longitudinal direction is about 100.
Since the temperature is about mm, when the temperature rises by 5 ° C., the distance between the nozzles at both ends in the longitudinal direction is extended by about 10 μm. When the nozzle position changes by 10 μm in this way, when the color filter is colored, color mixing with adjacent pixels of different colors may occur. In order to prevent the occurrence of color mixture, it is necessary to suppress the positional deviation of the nozzles to about 3 μm or less.

Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, a plate 120 having a heat capacity of about 2 to 4 times the heat capacity of the ink jet head 55a is attached to the back surface of the ink jet head 55a, resulting in ink jet. The heat capacity of the combined head and plate is three times that of the inkjet head 55a alone.
5 times. In this way, the temperature rise of the inkjet head is 1/3 to 1/5 that of the head alone.
Therefore, the amount of change in the distance between the nozzles at both ends of the inkjet head in the longitudinal direction is about 2 μm to 3 μm. As a result, a head that enables coloring without color mixture is realized. The material of the plate 120 is preferably aluminum alloy or stainless steel because it is easy to process and is low cost.

Next, FIG. 10 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 8 seen from below. Plate 120 used in this embodiment
Also has a function of correcting the warp of the inkjet head 55a. A structure for correcting this warp will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 10.

8 and 10, the plate 12
0 is fixed to the main body 56 of the inkjet head 55a by three bolts 122. Around the female screw portion 56b with which the three bolts 122 of the main body 56 are screwed, a flat surface portion 56a slightly higher than the other portions of the main body 56.
Is formed on the plate 120, and the plate 120 is
It is fixed on the upper surface of a.

On the other hand, a plurality of screw holes 120a are formed in an intermediate portion of the plate 120 where the bolts 122 are mounted. The screw hole 120a is, for example, an M4 screw hole. Then, two types of bolts 124 and 126 are mounted in the screw hole 120a. The bolt 124 is, for example, an M4 screw just screwed into the screw hole 120a,
By screwing the bolt 124 into the screw hole 120a, the tip of the bolt 124 comes into contact with the surface of the head body 56 and pushes the head body 56 away from the plate 120 to shift the nozzle in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. Can be done. Further, the bolt 126 is, for example, the screw hole 120.
M3 bolt that can be freely inserted with a gap in a,
By screwing the bolt 126 into the M3 screw hole 56c formed in the head body 56, the head body 56 is drawn toward the plate 120, and the nozzle can be displaced in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. As described above, by selectively mounting the bolts 124 that are just screwed into the respective screw holes 120a or the bolts 126 that are freely inserted, the position of the nozzle at the position of the screw holes is moved in the arrow A direction or the arrow B direction. It can be done. Thereby, a slight warp that the inkjet head 55a has when it is manufactured can be arbitrarily corrected.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a specific adjusting method of the ink jet head 55a.

The ink jet head 55a is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), there is a slight warp at the time of manufacture (in FIG. 11 (a), the warp is emphasized and shown large). This warp is caused by the bolt 12 shown in FIG.
4 or 126 is appropriately replaced, and the ink jet head is pushed and pulled with respect to the plate 120 to correct. At this time, as shown in FIG. 11 (a), depending on the size of the warp, a combination of operations such as pulling a little, pulling a large amount, pushing a little and pushing a large amount is combined, and the head is straightened as shown in FIG. 11 (b). To correct the condition.

By carrying out such correction, at the time of manufacture, ± 10 μm as shown by the solid line in FIG.
The head having the above warp can be corrected to have a warp of about ± 2 μm as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG.

When correcting the warp, as shown in FIG. 13, the nozzle holes of the ink jet head 55a are
The image is enlarged by the microscope 200, captured by the television camera 202, and displayed on the monitor 206 via the image processing device 204.
Perform the correction work while observing the position of the nozzle hole.

In this way, it is possible to correct the ink jet head, which has a slight warpage during manufacturing, into a state in which the nozzles are aligned on a straight line with an extremely small deviation of about ± 2 μm or less.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a modified example of the plate. As shown in the drawing, the fins 1 are attached to the plate 120 '.
By forming 30, heat dissipation is improved and the temperature rise of the head can be further suppressed.

By making the plate black,
The heat radiation is improved, and the effect of suppressing the temperature rise of the head is further enhanced.

Next, the accuracy of adjusting the warp of the ink jet head in the case of manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink onto the glass substrate while scanning the ink jet head relative to the glass substrate will be described.

The inventor of the present application suffers from the problem of color mixing, which is a characteristic of the inkjet method, in which colors of adjacent pixels are mixed, which is characteristic of the inkjet method, when the color filter is manufactured by the inkjet method.

Therefore, in order to clarify the cause of this color mixture, the glass substrate 53 is moved so that the ink jet head is obliquely scanned with respect to the longitudinal direction of the pixel during ink ejection as shown in FIG. Then, the deviation amount (Δx) of the ink dot when the color mixture starts and the diameter CL of the ink dot
Experiments were conducted to examine the relationship between the pixel width GL and the pixel width GL.

Ejection amounts, that is, inks having different diameters when landed are ejected from a plurality of nozzles, and the pixel width (distance GL between the centers of adjacent black matrices 2a and 2b).
The pixel width is GL,
It has been found that when GL <CL + Δx, the possibility of color mixture increases rapidly, where CL is the diameter of the dots formed by the deposited ink and Δx is the amount of deviation of the landing position in the pixel width direction. Conversely, it has been found that if Δx ≦ GL-CL is satisfied, color mixing is extremely unlikely to occur.

Further, when coloring pixels having different pitch intervals at the time of manufacturing a color filter, it is possible to flexibly deal with various color filters by tilting the head as shown in FIG. Is known.

The inventor of the present invention makes it possible to prevent landing deviation due to ink deflection or the like by causing the ink to land on the glass substrate 53 before the ejected ink becomes spherical, and thus a more accurate landing position. It has been shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 7-195235 that accuracy can be realized. At this time, when the ink landing position was examined, it was also found by experiments that the ink landing position substantially coincides with the position of the hole of the ink ejection nozzle of the inkjet head, as shown in FIG.

That is, it has been found from these experiments that the positional accuracy of the nozzle holes of the head is dominant in the likelihood of color mixing in the ink jet head.

From the above, the inventor of the present application, as shown in FIGS. 15 and 17, has a pixel width of GL (distance between centers of widths of adjacent black matrices) and a dot formed by ink landing CL. , Y1 is the amount of deviation of the nozzle to the positive side in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line from the ideal straight line (the approximate straight line obtained by the least squares method) where the nozzles are aligned when there is no warp of the head, and y2 is the head When there is no warp, the amount of deviation from the ideal straight line in which the nozzles are lined to the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line, θ is the tilt angle of the head with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction, and Δx is the scanning direction. It has been found that the following formula is established when the deviation amount of the ink dots in the orthogonal direction (pixel width direction) is used.

Y = y1 + y2 Δx = y · sin θ Δx ≦ GL-CL That is, y · sin θ ≦ GL-CL y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <90 °) (1) Here, The diameter CL of the dot formed by the landed ink means the diameter at which the ink spreads by the time when the ink is landed on the uncoated glass or the glass coated with the ink receiving layer and the ink is dried. In a head having a plurality of nozzles that are not aligned, the largest impact diameter is CL.

Therefore, a color filter having no color mixture can be manufactured by correcting the nozzle deviation amount y of the warped head by the correction method described above so as to satisfy the above expression (1). . Alternatively, regardless of whether or not the warp is corrected, a color filter having no color mixture can be manufactured by coloring the color filter using a head whose nozzle displacement amount y satisfies the expression (1). .

Needless to say, some deviation of the nozzle position occurs also in the nozzle row direction at the time of manufacturing the head, but it is necessary that at least the deviation amount of the nozzle position in the direction orthogonal to the nozzle row satisfies the expression (1). .

In the formula (1), 0 ° <θ <90 ° is set, but it is generally used at 0 ° <θ ≦ 45 ° from the viewpoint of manufacturing efficiency.

In the experiment by the inventor of the present application, the pixel width GL = 102.5 μm, the landing diameter CL = 85 μm, and 3
4 inch long head of 60 dpi (nozzle number 1408
Then, discharge was performed every 5 nozzles) with an inclination of θ = 29.27 °.

At this time, the variations on the positive side and the negative side of the ideal straight line of the nozzle were substantially the same, so that y1 =
As y2, y ≦ ± {(102.5-85) / sin 29.27 °} /
2 Therefore, y ≦ ± 17.9 μm.

The inventor of the present application anticipates a margin of ± 10 μm for the accuracy of the apparatus, so that the warp amount of the head is ± 8 μm.
Coloring was performed by adjusting the head as follows. As a result, a color filter with no color mixture could be manufactured. The formula (1) is a formula assuming that the margin of the accuracy of the device is zero, and when there is a margin, the margin amount is subtracted from the value calculated from the formula (1) as described above. Adjust so that the amount of warp of the head is less than the value.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory view of the positional deviation in the head unit in which the heads having a short length are combined. Also in this example, the nozzle deviation amount y should be set so as to satisfy the expression (1). Good.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing the relationship between the pixels of the color filter and ink dots, and FIG. 20 is a diagram showing the limit of color mixing when the color filter is colored.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, by mounting the plate having a large heat capacity on the ink jet head, it is possible to suppress the temperature rise of the ink jet head, prevent the positional deviation of the nozzles, and mix the colors. It is possible to manufacture a color filter that does not have any color.

Further, a screw hole is formed in the plate, and a screw hole which is slightly smaller than that is formed on the head body side so that the screw hole of the plate can be freely inserted into the screw hole having a small diameter. It is possible to move the head both in the direction of moving it away from the plate and in the direction of moving it closer to the head by selectively mounting the bolts to prevent the nozzle from warping. An inkjet head is provided that is accurately aligned.

Furthermore, by using a head in which the displacement amount of the nozzle satisfies the expression (1), it is possible to manufacture a color filter without color mixture.

The present invention can be applied to a modified or modified version of the above embodiment without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

The present invention is particularly equipped with means for generating thermal energy as energy used for ejecting ink (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) among the ink jet recording systems, and by the thermal energy, The printing apparatus of the type that causes a change in the state of ink has been described. According to such a method, the recording density is increased,
High definition can be achieved.

Regarding its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal to the electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or liquid path in which the liquid crystal is held, which corresponds to the recorded information and gives a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling. Since the electrothermal converter is caused to generate heat energy to cause film boiling on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, as a result, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to the drive signal in a one-to-one relationship can be formed. It is valid. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. It is more preferable to make this drive signal in a pulse shape, because bubbles can be grown and contracted immediately and appropriately, and thus a liquid (ink) with excellent responsiveness can be achieved.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the constitution of the recording head, in addition to the combination constitution of the ejection port, the liquid passage, and the electrothermal converter (the straight liquid passage or the right-angled liquid passage) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, The present invention also includes configurations using US Pat. No. 4,558,333 and US Pat. No. 4,459,600, which disclose configurations in which the heat-acting surface is arranged in a bending region. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 59-123670, which discloses a structure in which a common slot is used as a discharge portion of an electrothermal converter, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-63, which discloses a structure in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy is associated with the discharge portion A configuration based on Japanese Patent No. 138461 may be used.

Further, as a full line type recording head having a length corresponding to the maximum recording medium width that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length can be increased by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above-mentioned specification. Either of the structure satisfying the requirement or the structure as one recording head integrally formed may be used.

In addition, by being attached to the apparatus main body, it can be electrically connected to the apparatus main body and can be supplied with ink from the apparatus main body by a replaceable chip type recording head or the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

Further, it is preferable to add a recovery means for the recording head, a preliminary auxiliary means, etc. provided as a configuration of the recording apparatus of the present invention because the effect of the present invention can be further stabilized. . Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording. It is also effective to perform a stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which another discharge is performed.

In the embodiments of the present invention described above, the ink is described as a liquid, but an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, or one that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used. Any ink can be used as long as the ink is in a liquid state when a recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to the thermal energy from being used as the energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state,
Alternatively, in order to prevent the ink from evaporating, an ink that solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, by applying heat energy, such as ink that is liquefied by applying heat energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In such a case, the ink is retained as a liquid or solid in the recesses or through holes of the porous sheet as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260. It may be configured to face the electrothermal converter. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

[0099]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the deviation of the ink landing position.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a configuration of an embodiment of a color filter manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit that controls an operation of a color filter manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a structure of an inkjet head used in a color filter manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of the manufacturing process of the color filter.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the basic structure of a color liquid crystal display device incorporating the color filter of one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the basic configuration of a color liquid crystal display device incorporating a color filter of one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of how to color a color filter.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a state in which a plate is attached to an inkjet head.

9 is a side view of FIG. 8 viewed from the left side.

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view of FIG. 8 seen from below.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a specific method for correcting the warp of the inkjet head.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a warp amount of an inkjet head before and after correction.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for observing a warp of an inkjet head.

FIG. 14 is a view showing a modified example of the plate.

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining a method of obtaining a deviation amount of ink dots that causes color mixing.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a relationship between ink landing positions and nozzle positions.

FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining nozzle misalignment in the pixel width direction due to head warpage.

FIG. 18 is an explanatory diagram of positional deviation in a head unit in which heads having a short length are combined.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a relationship between pixels of a color filter and ink dots.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a limit of color mixing when coloring a color filter.

[Explanation of symbols]

52 XYθ stage 53 glass substrate 54 color filter 55 Coloring head 58 controller 59 Teaching pendant 60 keyboard

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-8-230314 (JP, A) JP-A-5-19114 (JP, A) JP-A-10-151748 (JP, A) JP-A-8- 179110 (JP, A) JP-A-7-9722 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G02B 5/20 101 B41J 2/01 G02F 1/1335 505

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. An ink jet head used in a method for producing a color filter by ejecting ink while scanning an ink jet head relative to a substrate, wherein a plurality of ink ejection nozzles are arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction. It is surrounded by the black matrix of the color filter
One of the width of the pixel GL which, CL the diameter of ink dots formed by the ink deposited on the substrate, the inclination angle of said ink jet head with respect to a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction theta, is not warped on the ink jet head In the case where the width of the deviation amount of the ink discharge nozzles in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line with respect to the ideal straight line in which the plurality of ink discharge nozzles are arranged is y, 0 ° <θ <90 °.
At an arbitrary angle θ, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
An inkjet head, comprising: a warp correction means for correcting the warp of a wet head. 2. The ink is ejected from the inkjet head to color the pixels while relatively scanning a substrate having a plurality of pixels surrounded by a black matrix having a predetermined width and the inkjet head. An ink jet head used in a method for producing a color filter by arranging a plurality of ink ejection nozzles in a line in a longitudinal direction, wherein a distance between centers of adjacent black matrices in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. Where GL is the width of one pixel, GL is the width of the one pixel, CL is the diameter of the ink dot formed by the ink that has landed on the substrate, and the tilt angle of the inkjet head with respect to the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. Θ, the plurality of ink ejection nozzles when the inkjet head has no warp When the aligned straight line is an ideal straight line, and when the ink jet head has a warp and the width of the deviation amount of the ink ejection nozzle in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line is y, 0 ° <θ <9
At an arbitrary angle θ of 0 °, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
An inkjet head, comprising: a warp correction means for correcting the warp of a wet head. 3. The diameter CL of the ink dot is a diameter when the ink spreads by landing the ink on a glass without a partition or a glass coated with an ink receiving layer. Or the inkjet head according to 2. 4. Using an ink jet head according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the color filter manufacturing method characterized by manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink toward from said ink jet head to the substrate . 5. A color filter manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that a color filter is manufactured by using the inkjet head according to any one of claims 1 to 3 and ejecting ink from the inkjet head toward a substrate. . 6. An inkjet head, which is used in a method of manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink while scanning the inkjet head relative to a substrate, and in which a plurality of ink ejection nozzles are arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction. An inkjet head unit comprising a plurality of units, the color filter being surrounded by a black matrix.
One of the width of the pixel GL which, CL the diameter of ink dots formed by the ink deposited on the substrate, the inclination angle of said ink jet head with respect to a direction perpendicular to the scanning direction theta, is not warped on the ink jet head In the case where the width of the deviation amount of the ink discharge nozzles in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line with respect to the ideal straight line in which the plurality of ink discharge nozzles are arranged is y, 0 ° <θ <90 °.
At an arbitrary angle θ, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
An ink jet head unit comprising: a warp correction means for correcting a warp of a wet head. 7. The ink is ejected from the ink jet head to color the plurality of pixels while relatively scanning a substrate having a plurality of pixels surrounded by a black matrix having a predetermined width and the ink jet head. An ink jet head unit used in a method of manufacturing a color filter by including a plurality of ink jet heads in which a plurality of ink ejection nozzles are arranged side by side in a longitudinal direction, the black inks being adjacent to each other in a direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. When the distance between the centers of the matrix is the width of one pixel, the width of the one pixel is GL, the diameter of the ink dot formed by the ink landed on the substrate is CL, and the direction orthogonal to the scanning direction. The inclination angle of the inkjet head with respect to When the straight line in which the plurality of ink ejection nozzles are aligned when there is no deviation is an ideal straight line, the width of the deviation amount of the ink ejection nozzles in the direction orthogonal to the ideal straight line is y when the inkjet head has a warp. And 0 ° <θ <9
At an arbitrary angle θ of 0 °, y ≦ (GL-CL) / sin θ (where 0 ° <θ <9
0 °) and the ink amount is corrected by correcting the deviation amount y.
An ink jet head unit comprising: a warp correction means for correcting a warp of a wet head.