JP5808927B2 - Coating device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is a coating that applies a coating solution to a substrate such as a glass substrate for an organic EL display device, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for PDP, a substrate for solar cell, a substrate for electronic paper, or a mask substrate for semiconductor manufacturing equipment. Relates to the device.

  For example, when manufacturing an active matrix driving type organic EL display device using a polymer organic EL (Electro Luminescence) material, a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) circuit is formed on a glass substrate, and an ITO (anode) is used as an anode. Indium Tin Oxide) electrode forming step, partition wall forming step, flowable material coating step including hole transport material, hole transport layer forming step by heat treatment, flowable material including organic EL material coating step, An organic EL layer forming step by heat treatment, a cathode forming step, and a sealing step by forming an insulating film are sequentially performed.

  When manufacturing such an organic EL display device, the coating liquid is continuously discharged as a coating apparatus that applies a coating liquid such as a fluid material containing a hole transport material or a fluid material containing an organic EL material to a substrate. An apparatus is known in which a plurality of nozzles are moved relative to a substrate in a main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction to apply a coating solution onto a coating region on the substrate in a stripe shape.

  By the way, in such a coating device, if there is unevenness in the coating amount of the coating liquid, display unevenness of the display device or the like is caused accordingly, so the coating amount of the coating liquid is controlled very accurately. There is a need to.

  For this reason, in Patent Document 1, a supply unit that supplies the coating liquid, a plurality of nozzles that discharge the coating liquid, and a plurality of coating liquids that are supplied from the processing liquid supply unit via the main pipe are connected to the nozzles. A branch part that divides into the branch pipe, a reference flow meter that measures the flow rate of the coating liquid that flows through the main pipe, and a flow rate of the coating liquid that flows through the branch pipes. An actual discharge flow rate and a reference flow meter in a coating apparatus comprising a plurality of branch pipe flow meters for measurement and a plurality of flow rate control valves that are arranged in the branch pipes and adjust the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing through the branch pipes. The relational expression indicating the relationship between the measured flow rate value and the relational expression indicating the relationship between the measured flow rate value of the reference flow meter and the measured flow rate value of the branch flow meter, and using these relational expressions, the flow control valve A coating apparatus is disclosed which controls the above.

JP 2009-45574 A

  In the coating apparatus described in Patent Document 1 described above, a thermal type is generally used as a flow meter. This thermal flow meter measures the flow rate of fluid by measuring the degree to which the fluid carries heat away from the heating element. Such a thermal flow meter is often used in the above-described coating apparatus because it can accurately measure the flow rate of the coating solution up to a minute flow rate without contaminating the coating solution.

  By the way, when using the branch flow meter arrange | positioned at several branch pipes other than the reference | standard flow meter arrange | positioned at the main pipe like the coating device of patent document 1 mentioned above, these several flow volume is used. There may be a temperature difference between the meters, which may cause a flow measurement error between the flow meters. When such a measurement error occurs, an error also occurs in the coating amount of the coating liquid, which causes a problem that the coating liquid cannot be applied accurately. Such a problem becomes particularly problematic when, for example, outside air flows into the installation part by negative pressure by opening the door of the installation part where the flow meter is installed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to accurately control the coating amount of the coating solution by accurately measuring the flow rate of the coating solution using a thermal flow meter. An object of the present invention is to provide a simple coating apparatus.

The invention according to claim 1 is a coating liquid storage section that stores a coating liquid, a nozzle that discharges the coating liquid to a substrate, and a pipe that feeds the coating liquid from the coating liquid storage section to the nozzle. And a thermal flow meter disposed in the conduit, wherein the coating device is disposed within the housing portion and the housing portion, and the plurality of flow meters are disposed therein. An air chamber made of a resin film having translucency to be housed and gas supply means for supplying a temperature-controlled gas into the air chamber are provided.

The invention described in claim 2 is a coating liquid storage section for storing the coating liquid, a nozzle for discharging the coating liquid to the substrate, and a tube for feeding the coating liquid from the coating liquid storage section to the nozzle. And a thermal flow meter disposed in the conduit, wherein the coating device includes a housing part and the thermal flow meter disposed in the housing part. And a gas supply means for making the air chamber a positive pressure with respect to the outside by supplying a gas having a predetermined pressure controlled in temperature to the air chamber. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the air chamber includes a gas supply port formed above the gas chamber, and a gas discharge port formed below the gas supply port. Is provided.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, further comprising a plate-like member disposed between the supply port and the thermal flow meter.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating liquid storage section for storing a coating liquid, a plurality of nozzles for discharging the coating liquid to the substrate, and a coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid storage section via a main pipe. A branch portion for branching a plurality of branch pipes connected to the nozzle, a thermal reference flow meter for measuring the flow rate of the coating liquid disposed in the main pipe and flowing through the main pipe, and a branch pipe for each branch pipe. A plurality of thermal branch flow meters installed to measure the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing through the branch pipes, and a plurality of flow rate control valves for adjusting the flow rate of the coating liquid disposed in the branch pipes and flowing through the branch pipes. And an air chamber that is disposed in the housing portion and houses the plurality of reference flow meters and the plurality of branch pipe flow meters therein. by supplying temperature-controlled predetermined pressure of gas in the gas chamber, the gas Characterized by comprising a gas supply means for a positive pressure to the inner to the outside.

According to the first and second aspects of the invention, the flow rate of the coating liquid can be accurately measured even when a thermal flow meter is used. For this reason, it becomes possible to accurately control the coating amount of the coating liquid.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the air chamber is made of a resin film having translucency, the atmosphere temperature of the thermal flow meter is kept constant while being a simple structure. It becomes possible to do. Further, since visibility from the outside is good, maintenance of a thermal flow meter or the like can be easily performed.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, the gas flow can be made constant, and the atmospheric temperature of the thermal type flow meter can be appropriately controlled.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, it is possible to prevent the gas supplied from the supply port from being directly ejected to the thermal flow meter by the action of the plate-like member. For this reason, the gas flow toward the thermal flow meter can be made constant, and the atmospheric temperature of the thermal flow meter can be appropriately controlled.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the flow rate of the coating liquid can be accurately measured even when a thermal reference flow meter and a plurality of thermal branch flow meters are used. For this reason, it becomes possible to accurately control the coating amount of the coating liquid.

It is a top view of the coating device concerning this invention. It is a front view of the coating device concerning this invention. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the vicinity of a slider 31 in the head moving mechanism 21. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the main control systems of the coating device which concerns on this invention. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a coating liquid supply unit 24 and a connection relationship between the coating liquid supply unit 24 and a plurality of nozzles 23 in the coating head 20. It is a perspective view of a coating liquid supply part. It is a schematic diagram which shows the principal part of a coating liquid supply part.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a coating apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a front view thereof.

  This coating apparatus is for coating a coating solution on a rectangular glass substrate 100. More specifically, the coating apparatus includes a glass substrate 100 for an active matrix driving type organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display device, a volatile solvent (in this embodiment, an aromatic organic solvent), and This is for applying a coating liquid containing an organic EL material as a light emitting material.

  This coating apparatus includes a substrate moving mechanism 11 for moving the glass substrate 100. As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate moving mechanism 11 includes a substrate holding unit 10 that holds the glass substrate 100 from its back surface. The substrate holding unit 10 is supported by a base 13 that moves along a pair of rails 12 and a turntable 14 disposed on the base 13. For this reason, this board | substrate holding | maintenance part 10 can move in parallel with the surface of the glass substrate 100 in the Y direction shown in FIG. This Y direction is a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction (X direction in FIG. 1) which is the reciprocating direction of the coating head 20. Hereinafter, this Y direction is also referred to as “sub-scanning direction”. The substrate holding unit 10 is rotatable about an axis that faces in the vertical direction (Z direction in FIG. 1).

  The substrate holding unit 10 includes a heater for heating the glass substrate 100 from below. On the surface of the glass substrate 100, a plurality of application regions each extending in the X direction are arranged and formed in the Y direction at a pitch of, for example, 100 to 150 μm. This application region is formed by, for example, partition walls arranged in the X direction.

  In addition, the coating apparatus includes a pair of left and right imaging units 15 for imaging and detecting an alignment mark (not shown) formed on the glass substrate 100 and imaging a coating locus by the coating head 20. Each of the pair of imaging units 15 is provided with a CCD camera. In addition, the coating apparatus includes a pair of left and right test coating stage units 16 used for the trial coating of the coating locus. In this coating apparatus, a configuration is adopted in which the feed control of the coating head 20 is adjusted using a coating locus applied on the test coating stage unit 16 on a trial basis.

  The coating head 20 that discharges the coating liquid toward the surface of the glass substrate 100 held by the substrate holding unit 10 is moved in the main scanning direction (parallel to the surface of the glass substrate 100) along the guide unit 22 by the head moving mechanism 21. It is reciprocated in the X direction in FIG. In the coating head 20, a plurality of nozzles 23 for continuously discharging the same type of coating liquid are disposed at equal intervals in the sub-scanning direction. In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, only five nozzles 23 are illustrated for convenience of illustration, but the number of nozzles 23 is further increased.

  The coating head 20 is connected to a coating liquid supply unit 24 and an air supply source 25 via a supply pipe group 26 that includes an air supply pipe and a plurality of branch pipes described later. On both sides of the substrate holding unit 10 with respect to the reciprocating movement direction (X direction) of the coating head 20, two liquid receiving portions 17 and 18 that receive the coating liquid from the nozzles 23 in the coating head 20 are disposed. Further, a nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 19 for adjusting the pitch of the plurality of nozzles 23 in the sub-scanning direction is arranged on the side of one liquid receiving unit 18 in the reciprocating movement direction (X direction) of the coating head 20. It is installed.

  FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the vicinity of the slider 31 in the head moving mechanism 21.

  A slider 31 is slidably disposed on the guide member 22 in the head moving mechanism 21 shown in FIG. A through hole 32 through which the guide member 22 passes is formed in the slider 31. As shown in FIG. 1, air of a constant pressure is supplied to the slider 31 from an air supply source 25 through an air supply pipe included in the supply pipe group 26. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, air is jetted between the inner peripheral surface of the through hole 32 and the outer peripheral surface of the guide portion 22. In FIG. 3, the air ejection direction is indicated by an arrow denoted by reference symbol A1. Thereby, the slider 31 is supported so as to be movable in the main scanning direction while being engaged with the guide portion 22 in a non-contact state.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a pair of pulleys 33 that are rotatable around an axis that faces the Z-axis direction are disposed near both ends of the guide portion 22. An endless synchronous belt 34 is wound around the pair of pulleys 33. One end of the slider 31 is fixed to the synchronization belt 34. On the other hand, the application head 20 described above is fixed to the other end of the slider 31. Therefore, the application head 20 can be reciprocated in the (−X) direction or the (+ X) direction by rotating the synchronous belt 34 clockwise or counterclockwise by driving a motor (not shown). At this time, since the slider 31 can be supported in a non-contact state with respect to the guide portion 22 by the action of the gas described above, the reciprocating movement of the coating head 20 can be made fast and smooth. .

  In this coating apparatus, the head moving mechanism 21 becomes a main scanning direction moving mechanism for moving the coating head 20 in the main scanning direction, and the substrate moving mechanism 11 moves in the sub scanning direction for moving the substrate holding portion in the sub scanning direction. It becomes a mechanism. In this coating apparatus, each time the movement of the coating head 20 in the main scanning direction is completed, the glass substrate 100 is moved in the sub-scanning direction, whereby the coating liquid is applied to the coating region on the surface of the glass substrate 100. Execute. During main scanning of the coating head 20, acceleration or deceleration is completed in the vicinity of the liquid receiving portions 17 and 18, and the coating head 20 is, for example, at a constant speed of about 3 to 5 m per second above the glass substrate 100. Move with.

  In the coating apparatus having the above-described configuration, when the application of the coating liquid is started, the glass substrate 100 is first held by the substrate holding unit 10. And the alignment mark formed in the glass substrate 100 by the imaging part 15 is detected, the substrate holding | maintenance part 10 moves and rotates based on the detection result, and the glass substrate 100 is in the application | coating start position shown as a continuous line in FIG. Be placed. In this state, discharge of the coating liquid is started from the plurality of nozzles 23 in the coating head 20 and the coating head 20 is moved in the main scanning direction by the head moving mechanism 21.

  Then, the coating liquid is continuously discharged from each of the plurality of nozzles 23 toward the surface of the glass substrate 100 at a constant flow rate, and the coating head 20 continuously moves at a constant speed in the main scanning direction. Then, the coating liquid is applied in stripes to a plurality of linear regions in the coating region of the glass substrate 100.

  In this manner, the coating head 20 moves to the standby position facing the liquid receiving unit 18 indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIGS. 1 and 2, thereby forming a stripe pattern by the coating liquid. When the coating head 20 moves to the standby position, the substrate moving mechanism 11 is driven, and the glass substrate 100 moves in the sub-scanning direction together with the substrate holding unit 10. At this time, in the coating head 20, the coating liquid is continuously discharged from the plurality of nozzles 23 toward the liquid receiving unit 18.

  The above operation is continued until the necessary application operation is completed. When the glass substrate 100 moves to the application end position, the discharge of the application liquid from the plurality of nozzles 23 is stopped, and the application operation of the application liquid to the glass substrate 100 by the application apparatus is completed. The glass substrate 100 that has been coated is transported to another coating apparatus or the like, and coating liquids of two colors other than the coating liquid coated by the coating apparatus are coated. And after a predetermined application | coating process is performed with respect to the glass substrate 100, it combines with another component and an organic electroluminescent display apparatus is manufactured.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main control system of the coating apparatus according to the present invention.

  The coating apparatus includes a control unit 60 that controls the entire apparatus. The controller 60 is connected to the substrate moving mechanism 11, the turntable 14, and the head moving mechanism 21 described above. The control unit 60 is connected to the flow rate control valve 40, the reference flow meter 42, the flow rate control valve 44, the branch flow meter 45, the open / close valve 46, the open / close valve 51, and the calibration unit 52 in the coating liquid supply unit 24. . Although not shown, the control unit 60 includes a storage unit configured by a RAM, a ROM, and the like for executing various operations described later, and a calculation unit configured by a CPU. As the control unit 60, a general personal computer may be used, or the control unit may be configured by a printed circuit board or the like.

  Next, the configuration of the coating liquid supply mechanism will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of the coating liquid supply unit 24 and the connection relationship between the coating liquid supply unit 24 and the plurality of nozzles 23 in the coating head 20.

  The coating liquid supply section 24 in the coating apparatus according to the present invention includes a flow control valve 40, a coating liquid storage section 41, a reference flow meter 42, a manifold 43 as a branch section, and a plurality of flow control valves 44a and 44b. 44n, a plurality of branch flow meters 45a, 45b, 45c,... 45n, a plurality of on-off valves 46a, 46b, 46c,... 46n, an on-off valve 51, and a calibration unit 52. . Each of the open / close valves 46a, 46b, 46c,... 46n is connected to a plurality of nozzles 23a, 23b, 23c,.

  In this specification, a plurality of flow control valves 44a, 44b, 44c... 44n are collectively referred to as a flow control valve 44 and a plurality of branch flow meters 45a, 45b, 45c. 45n is a collective term for the branch pipe flow meter 45, a plurality of on-off valves 46a, 46b, 46c... 46n is a collective term for the on-off valve 46, and a plurality of nozzles 23a, 23b, 23c. 23.

  Further, in this specification, a pipe line before branching from the coating liquid reservoir 41 to the manifold 43 via the flow rate control valve 40 and the reference flow meter 42 is referred to as a main pipe. In this specification, each flow control valve 44a, 44b, 44c ... 44n, each branch flow meter 45a, 45b, 45c ... 45n, each opening / closing valve 46a, 46b, 46c ... A branched pipe line that reaches each nozzle 23a, 23b, 23c,..., 23n through 46n is called a branch pipe. In this coating apparatus, there are a plurality of branch pipes corresponding to a to n. Furthermore, in this specification, a pipe line extending from the manifold 43 to the calibration unit 52 via the opening / closing valve 51 is referred to as a calibration branch pipe.

  The coating liquid storage unit 41 has a configuration in which a flexible bag-like container storing the coating liquid is stored in an airtight chamber, and the flow rate control valve 40 controls the coating liquid by supplying pressurized air into the airtight chamber. In addition, it has a configuration in which it is pumped toward the reference flow meter 42, the manifold 43 and the like. The reference flow meter 42 has a configuration for measuring the flow rate of the coating liquid discharged from the coating liquid storage unit 41 and flowing into the manifold 43. The reference flow meter 42 is a thermal flow meter that measures the flow rate of the coating liquid by measuring the degree to which the fluid carries heat away from the heating element using a heater and a temperature sensor. The measurement value of the flow rate by the reference flow meter 42 is transmitted to the control unit 60 shown in FIG.

  Each flow control valve 44 receives a command from the control unit 60 shown in FIG. 4 and adjusts the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing through each branch pipe. Each branch flow meter 45 measures the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing through each branch pipe. As the branch flow meter 45, similarly to the reference flow meter 42, a thermal flow rate is used to measure the flow rate of the coating liquid by measuring the degree to which the fluid carries away heat from the heating element using a heater and a temperature sensor. A meter is used. The measured value of the flow rate by this branch flow meter 45 is transmitted to the control unit 60 shown in FIG. The flow control valve 44 and the branch pipe flow meter 45 constitute a mass flow controller. Furthermore, each open / close valve 46 receives a command from the control unit 60 shown in FIG. 4 and opens or closes the flow path of each branch pipe. Similarly, the open / close valve 51 receives a command from the control unit 60 shown in FIG. 4 and opens or closes the flow path of the calibration branch pipe from the manifold 43 to the calibration unit 52.

  The calibration unit 52 includes an electronic balance (not shown) that measures the weight of the coating liquid discharged from the calibration branch pipe. The calibration unit 52 measures the weight of the coating solution discharged from the calibration branch using an electronic balance. Then, the control unit 60 calculates the volume of the coating solution based on the measured weight value and the specific gravity of the coating solution, and compares the calculated volume with the measured value of the flow rate of the coating solution by the reference flow meter 42. By doing so, calibration of the reference flow meter 42 is executed.

  At this time, as described above, the reference flow meter 42 and the branch flow meter 45 used in the coating solution supply unit 24 measure the degree of the heat that the fluid carries away from the heating element to measure the flow rate of the fluid. A flow meter of the formula is used. Such a thermal flow meter has a problem that the temperature of the atmosphere in which the flow meter is installed affects the flow rate measurement value. For this reason, the coating apparatus according to the present invention employs a configuration in which the reference flow meter 42 and the branch flow meter 45 are housed in the air chamber 72 in which the temperature and the air volume are controlled.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the coating liquid supply unit 24. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a main part of the coating liquid supply unit 24. 7A is a schematic view of the coating liquid supply unit 24 viewed from the front, and FIG. 7B is a schematic view of the coating liquid supply unit 24 viewed from the side.

  In this figure, reference numeral 84 denotes a mass flow controller disposed in the main pipe. The mass flow controller 84 includes the flow control valve 40 and the reference flow meter 42 described above, and performs flow management of the coating liquid flowing through the main pipe. The mass flow controller 84 is disposed on the surface of the board 83. Moreover, in this figure, the code | symbol 82 has shown the some mass flow controller arrange | positioned at the branch pipe. The mass flow controller 82 includes the above-described flow rate control valve 44 and branch pipe flow meter 45, respectively, and manages the flow rate of the coating liquid flowing through each branch pipe. The mass flow controller 82 is disposed on the surface of the substrate 81.

  These mass flow controllers 82 and 84 and the substrates 81 and 83 are accommodated in an air chamber 72 formed of a resin film having translucency. The air chamber 72 is formed of a bag-like member having a rectangular parallelepiped shape in which a relatively large-diameter gas supply port 74 is formed in an upper portion thereof, and a relatively small-diameter gas discharge port 73 is formed in a lower portion thereof. Is done. In this air chamber 72, as shown in FIG. 7A, an opening / closing mechanism 79 composed of a fastener or the like is formed. In addition, when the opening / closing mechanism 79 comprised from a fastener etc. is used like this embodiment, opening / closing of the air chamber 72 becomes easy. However, as the opening / closing mechanism 79, for example, a structure that opens and closes the air chamber 72 using a tool during maintenance may be employed.

  The air chamber 72 is housed in a housing portion 71 made of metal or the like and having a door on the front surface thereof. In the upper part of the casing 71, a gas ejection part 76 having a fan is disposed. A gas such as pressurized air supplied from factory piping and temperature-controlled by the temperature control unit 77 is supplied to the gas ejection unit 76 via a supply pipe 78. Thereby, the down flow by the temperature-controlled gas is supplied from the gas ejection part 76 toward the air chamber 72 in the housing part 71. A plate-like member 75 is disposed below the supply port 74 in the air chamber 72, that is, between the supply port 74 and the mass flow controllers 82 and 84. When the temperature of the outside air is maintained constant, the temperature control unit 77 may be omitted and the outside air may be taken into the air chamber 72 as it is.

  In the coating liquid supply unit 24 having such a configuration, the temperature-controlled gas ejected from the gas ejection unit 76 enters the air chamber 72 from the supply port 74 in the air chamber 72. This gas flows in the air chamber 72 as a laminar flow from the supply port 74 toward the discharge port 73. At this time, the action of the plate-like member 75 prevents the gas that has entered the air chamber 72 from the supply port 74 from directly hitting the mass flow controllers 82 and 84.

  In the coating liquid supply unit 24, the temperature-controlled and flow-controlled gas is layered around the mass flow controllers 82 and 84, that is, the thermal reference flow meter 42 and the thermal branch flow meter 45. Therefore, the ambient temperature of the thermal reference flow meter 42 and the thermal branch flow meter 45 can be kept constant.

  The air chamber 72 has a relatively large-diameter gas supply port 74 formed in an upper portion thereof, a relatively small-diameter gas discharge port 73 formed in a lower portion thereof, and a gas having a predetermined pressure therein. Is supplied. For this reason, the inside of the air chamber 72 becomes a positive pressure with respect to the outside. Therefore, even when the door in the casing 71 is opened and closed, outside air does not enter the air chamber 72. For this reason, the temperature around the mass flow controllers 82 and 84, that is, the thermal reference flow meter 42 and the thermal branch flow meter 45 can be maintained constant. Thus, the flow rate of the coating liquid can be accurately measured using the thermal reference flow meter 42 and the thermal branch flow meter 45, and the coating amount of the coating liquid can be accurately controlled. .

  Note that when performing maintenance or the like of the apparatus, the opening / closing mechanism 79 constituted by a fastener or the like is opened. At this time, since the air chamber 72 is made of a resin film having translucency, the visibility from the outside is good and the maintenance can be easily performed.

   In the above-described embodiment, the gas ejection part 76 is disposed above the air chamber 72, and the supply port 74 disposed above the air chamber 72 is directed to the discharge port 73 disposed below the air chamber 72. Gas is flowing. However, the gas may flow from the bottom to the top, or may flow in the horizontal direction (left-right direction). Here, when the gas flows from top to bottom as in the above-described embodiment, the gas flows in the downflow direction in the installation environment of the apparatus (generally in a clean room). Thus, it is possible to easily perform gas exhaust. On the other hand, when the gas is flowed from below to above, there is an advantage that the heated gas near the mass flow controller 82 including the branch flow meter 45 can be quickly discharged.

  In the above-described embodiment, the substantially rectangular parallelepiped air chamber 72 is employed, but other shapes may be employed as the shape of the air chamber 72. Further, one surface or a plurality of surfaces of the air chamber 72 may be shared with a part of the housing portion 71. In this case, a hermetic chamber may be formed using a sheet-like film or the like so as to form an individual hermetic region in the housing portion 71.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Substrate holding part 11 Substrate moving mechanism 12 Rail 13 Base 14 Rotating table 15 Imaging part 16 Test application stage part 17 Liquid receiving part 18 Liquid receiving part 19 Nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 20 Coating head 21 Head moving mechanism 22 Guide part 23 Nozzle 24 Coating liquid supply section 25 Air supply source 31 Slider 32 Through hole 33 Pulley 34 Synchronous belt 40 Flow control valve 41 Coating liquid storage section 42 Reference flow meter 43 Manifold 44 Flow control valve 45 Branch flow meter 46 Open / close valve 51 Open / close valve 52 Calibration section DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 60 Control part 71 Case part 72 Air chamber 73 Outlet port 74 Supply port 75 Plate-like member 76 Gas ejection part 77 Temperature control part 78 Supply pipe 79 Opening-closing mechanism 81 Substrate 82 Mass flow controller 83 Board 84 Mass flow controller 100 Glass substrate

Claims (5)

A coating liquid reservoir that stores the coating liquid, a nozzle that discharges the coating liquid to the substrate, a pipe that feeds the coating liquid from the coating liquid reservoir to the nozzle, and the pipe A thermal flow meter, and a coating device comprising:
A housing part;
An air chamber made of a resin film having translucency, which is disposed in the housing portion and accommodates the thermal flow meter therein,
Gas supply means for supplying a temperature-controlled gas into the air chamber;
A coating apparatus comprising: A coating liquid reservoir that stores the coating liquid, a nozzle that discharges the coating liquid to the substrate, a pipe that feeds the coating liquid from the coating liquid reservoir to the nozzle, and the pipe A thermal flow meter, and a coating device comprising:
A housing part;
An air chamber that is disposed in the housing and houses the thermal flow meter therein;
A gas supply means for providing a positive pressure to the outside of the air chamber by supplying a gas having a predetermined pressure controlled in the air chamber;
A coating apparatus comprising: In the coating device according to claim 1 or 2,
The said air chamber is a coating device provided with the gas supply port formed in the upper direction, and the gas discharge port formed in the downward direction. In the coating device according to claim 3,
A coating apparatus further comprising a plate-like member disposed between the supply port and the thermal flow meter. A plurality of nozzles that discharge the coating liquid to the substrate; a plurality of nozzles that discharge the coating liquid to the substrate; and a plurality of nozzles that supply the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid reservoir through the main pipe. A branch part that diverges into the branch pipe, a thermal reference flow meter that measures the flow rate of the coating liquid that is arranged in the main pipe and flows through the main pipe, and a coating that is arranged in the branch pipe and flows through the branch pipes. A coating apparatus provided with a plurality of thermal branch flow meters for measuring the flow rate of the liquid, and a plurality of flow control valves that are arranged in the branch pipes and adjust the flow rate of the coating liquid that flows through the branch pipes. And
A housing part;
An air chamber that is disposed in the housing and houses the thermal reference flowmeter and the plurality of thermal branch flowmeters therein;
A gas supply means for providing a positive pressure to the outside of the air chamber by supplying a gas having a predetermined pressure controlled in the air chamber ;
A coating apparatus comprising:

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