JP5864141B2 - Thin film forming apparatus and thin film forming method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ink jet thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method.

  The ink jet method is a method in which ink droplets as a coating material are ejected little by little with high accuracy from an ink jet coating head using bubbles or a piezoelectric element as a coating head. An ink jet coating apparatus is a device that applies a process for applying ink droplets to a member to be coated by highly accurate ejection of the ink droplets. This has attracted attention in recent years as an apparatus that can realize high-definition ink application, and is not limited to printing on paper. is there.

  A plurality of nozzles are provided at a predetermined pitch at the tip of the lower surface of the coating head, and a discharge interval of droplets that are coating materials is determined by the pitch of the nozzles. Since the nozzle pitch is small and the presence or absence of ejection can be individually managed for each nozzle, it is possible to apply a free shape in a plane without using a plate as in the flexographic printing method.

  On the other hand, since the viscosity of the coating material is adjusted so that droplets can be ejected from the nozzle, wetting and spreading of the coating material occurs on the substrate after ejection. For this reason, the stability of the surface shape formed by one droplet of one droplet and one droplet of the adjacent droplet becomes a problem, and the line shape at the outermost periphery of the surface shape greatly affects the quality of the product.

  For example, in Patent Document 1, an alignment film material is ejected by an ink jet head and adhered onto a substrate. In the method of forming an alignment film by drying and solidifying, a solvent for adjusting the surface tension and a deaeration solvent to be added to the alignment film material for achieving a viscosity suitable for ink jet discharge are shown. This is intended to improve the inkjet discharge operation and leveling on the substrate after discharge, and the drying and solidification is transferred to the next drying apparatus as a separate process (see Non-Patent Document 1). ).

Japanese Patent No. 3073493

Yoshihiro Iwai and Kenji Koshiishi, “Thorough Comparison of Liquid Crystals, PDPs and Organic EL”, First Edition, Industrial Research Co., Ltd., July 2004, p. 50-58

Until now, in order to obtain high coating position accuracy and film thickness uniformity in inkjet coating, the relative positional relationship between the target coating interval and the nozzle pitch of the coating head has been focused.
However, in order to utilize inkjet application in various fields, in addition to the operation at the time of application, it is also important how to manage from immediately after application to drying and fixing on the substrate.

In particular, in a case where the present invention is applied to the production of a liquid crystal glass substrate, it is extremely important what kind of fixing state is brought about as the size of the substrate increases. For this reason, it is desirable that the position is controlled and applied by an ink jet method and dried quickly so that the controlled position can be maintained.
However, in the conventional method as shown in Non-Patent Document 1, a drying process is performed after a series of coating processes are completed. For this reason, the drying process is not performed during the period from the start of the coating process until the drying process is started after being set in the drying apparatus. For this reason, there is a possibility that the droplets applied to the glass substrate move before the drying process starts, or that the leveling due to the overlap between the droplets may occur in an unintended state.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to provide the thin film formation apparatus and thin film formation method which can apply | coat uniformly with high precision.

In order to solve such a problem, the present invention provides a suction table for sucking and holding a coating object, and discharging a coating material from an inkjet nozzle onto the surface of the coating object sucked and held by the suction table. after applying the outer frame, and a plurality of coating head for forming a thin film on the inner surface of the outer frame, a gantry for moving the coating head above the position of the object to be coated, are arranged on the gantry, the object to be coated A heat source device that heats the outer frame pattern on the surface of the substrate, and a control device that controls the suction table, the coating head, the gantry, and the heat source device. The control device includes: The gantry is moved in the first direction, and a droplet of the thin film material is dropped from the nozzle of the coating head. By controlling the timing, after the application operation for applying the outer frame pattern and the movement of the gantry in the first direction, the gantry is moved in a second direction opposite to the first direction, The outer frame application that turns on the heat source device to heat the outer frame pattern and repeats the heating operation of the outer frame pattern to turn off the heat source device after the movement of the gantry in the second direction is repeated a predetermined number of times. A thin film forming apparatus comprising: means; and an inner surface applying means for applying a thin film material to an inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern after the outer frame is applied .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the thin film formation apparatus and thin film formation method which can apply | coat uniformly with high precision can be provided.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the thin film forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram explaining the structure of the back side of a gantry. It is an enlarged view of a head recovery device. It is a schematic diagram explaining operation | movement of a head recovery apparatus. It is a functional block diagram explaining the function of a control part. It is a flowchart explaining the thin film formation method of the thin film formation apparatus which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining an outer frame application | coating process. It is a flowchart explaining an inner surface application | coating process. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outer frame application | coating process of the thin film forming apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, (a) shows the time of an outward path, (b) shows the time of a return path. It is a structure schematic diagram explaining the structure of the gantry of the thin film forming apparatus which concerns on a modification. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outer frame application | coating process of the thin film forming apparatus which concerns on a modification, (a) shows the time of an outward path, (b) shows the time of a return path.

  Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described in detail with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In each figure, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment.
The thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a wide variety of uses such as a flat panel display and a flexible bendable electronic paper called an electrophoretic method. In the following description, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described as forming (coating) a polyimide thin film on a glass substrate 100 used in a flat panel display. In addition, the polyimide thin film formed (coated) on the glass substrate 100 by the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment becomes an alignment film by performing the main drying process and the alignment process (rubbing). However, in the present description, the thin film before the main drying process / alignment process is also referred to as an “alignment film”.

  The thin film forming apparatus 1 includes a gantry 2, a gantry 3, a coating head unit 5 having a plurality of coating heads 4, an X-axis moving mechanism 6, a Y-axis moving mechanism 7, a Z-axis moving mechanism 8, an alignment film The suction table 9 that vacuum-sucks and fixes the glass substrate 100 to be formed (applied), the head recovery device 10, the heat source device 31, the alignment camera 32 (see FIG. 2), and the alignment camera moving mechanism 33 (See FIG. 2) and a control unit 50 (see FIG. 5).

  In the following description, as shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal direction of the gantry 2 (moving direction of the gantry 3) is taken as the X axis, and the width direction of the gantry 2 (the direction perpendicular to the X axis on the horizontal plane) is taken as the Y axis. In the following description, the vertical direction is the Z axis. Further, it is assumed that the movement of the gantry 3 in the positive direction of the X axis is the forward path and that the movement of the gantry 3 in the negative direction of the X axis is the backward path.

The gantry 3 is a portal gantry having an opening 3 a between the gantry 2 and the gantry 3 is provided on the gantry 2 via the X-axis moving mechanism 6.
On the return path side of the gantry 3, a coating head unit 5 having a plurality of coating heads 4 is provided via a Y-axis moving mechanism 7 and a Z-axis moving mechanism 8.
A heat source device 31 is provided on the forward path side of the gantry 3. An alignment camera 32 (see FIG. 2) is provided on the forward path side of the gantry 3 via an alignment camera moving mechanism 33 (see FIG. 2).

The X-axis moving mechanism 6 is a linear motor actuator including a stator (magnet plate) 6 a provided on the gantry 2 and a mover (coil) 6 b provided on the gantry 3. Can be moved in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis moving mechanism 7 is a linear motor actuator including a stator (magnet plate) 7 a provided on the gantry 3 and a mover (coil) 7 b provided on the coating head unit 5. The coating head unit 5 can be moved in the Y-axis direction.
The Z-axis moving mechanism 8 is composed of a servo motor, and can move the coating head unit 5 in the Z-axis direction with respect to the gantry 3.
That is, the coating head unit 5 (the coating head 4 and a nozzle 4a described later) can be moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis moving mechanism 6, and is moved in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving mechanism 7. The Z-axis moving mechanism 8 can move in the Z-axis direction.
The X-axis moving mechanism 6, the Y-axis moving mechanism 7, and the Z-axis moving mechanism 8 are controlled by the control unit 50.

A coating head unit 5 having a plurality of coating heads 4 is provided. In order to ensure the continuity of the pitch of the nozzles that discharge the alignment film material, a plurality of coating heads 4 are provided. In the example shown in FIG. 1, in the coating head unit 5, four coating heads 4 are arranged in a row along the Y-axis direction, and three rows of the coating heads 4 are arranged in the X-axis direction. It is shown in the figure.
Further, a plurality of nozzles (not shown) that discharge alignment film material to one coating head 4 are arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction, and a plurality of nozzle rows are arranged (not shown). ). The coating head 4 is an inkjet head that ejects a small amount of liquid droplets from a nozzle with high accuracy using a piezoelectric element or the like.
The controller 50 can control the presence / absence and timing of the alignment film material discharge and the amount of the alignment film material to be discharged for each nozzle of the coating head 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the structure of the back side of the gantry 3. In FIG. 2, the mover 6b, the Y-axis moving mechanism 7, and the Z-axis moving mechanism 8 of the X-axis moving mechanism 6 are not shown.
As shown in FIG. 2, the heat source device 31 disposed on the forward path side (back side in FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 is configured by, for example, an infrared lamp, and can irradiate infrared rays in a substantially vertical direction. ing. That is, it is possible to irradiate an object (glass substrate 100) that has passed through the opening 3a (see FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 when the gantry 3 returns.
The heat source device 31 is controlled to be turned on / off by the control unit 50.

Although the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is described as using an infrared lamp as the heat source device 31, the present invention is not limited to this, and is a visible light lamp (not shown) that emits visible light. Alternatively, an ultraviolet lamp (not shown) for irradiating ultraviolet rays may be used, and any material that can heat the alignment film material applied to the glass substrate 100 may be used.
Incidentally, when an ultraviolet lamp (not shown) is used as the heat source device 31, it takes time until the intensity of the irradiated ultraviolet light is stabilized after the ultraviolet lamp is turned on. Therefore, a shutter (not shown) is provided and the ultraviolet lamp is provided. Instead of controlling the lighting / extinguishing of the lamp, it is desirable to control the start and stop of irradiation by opening and closing the shutter.
Further, the heat source device 31 may be a hot air blowing device (not shown) that heats clean air that does not contain dust or the like and blows it on the object (glass substrate 100). By spraying heated clean air onto the object as a heat medium, the object (glass substrate 100) can be further heated. Further, a combination of a hot air blower and an infrared lamp (visible light lamp, ultraviolet lamp) may be used.

The alignment camera 32 is used for positioning the glass substrate 100 sucked by the suction table 9 and is a camera for observing the alignment film material discharged from the coating head 4 and applied to the glass substrate 100. .
The alignment camera moving mechanism 33 can move the alignment camera 32 in the Y-axis direction with respect to the gantry 3. That is, the alignment camera 32 can be moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis moving mechanism 6, and can be moved in the Y-axis direction by the alignment camera moving mechanism 33.
The X axis moving mechanism 6 and the alignment camera moving mechanism 33 are controlled by the control unit 50. Further, the image captured by the alignment camera 32 is transmitted to the control unit 50 and used for position correction of the coating head 4.

Returning to FIG. 1, the suction table 9 can fix the glass substrate 100 by vacuum suction. Further, the suction table 9 is provided with a θ rotation mechanism (not shown) made of a servo motor, and can be rotated by a rotation angle θ with the axis in the Z-axis direction as a rotation axis.
The suction table 9 is configured such that the controller 50 controls the attachment / detachment of the glass substrate 100 and the rotation angle θ.

Next, the head recovery device 10 will be further described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the head recovery device 10.
The head recovery device 10 is a device that discharges from the nozzles of the coating head 4 to prevent clogging of the nozzles and detect recovery of clogging.
The head recovery device 10 includes a suction port 11, an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 12, a camera 13, an LED moving mechanism 12A that moves the LED 12 in the Y-axis direction, and a camera 13 that moves in the Y-axis direction. A camera moving mechanism 13A and an electronic balance 14 are provided. In the electronic balance 14, the alignment film material is discharged from the nozzles of the coating head 4 to adjust the discharge amount per one time between the coating heads 4.

  The suction port 11 is connected to a vacuum chamber (not shown) or the like, and is arranged so that the position corresponds to the plurality of coating heads 4 provided in the coating head unit 5 when viewed in the Z-axis direction. That is, corresponding to the coating head unit 5 shown in FIG. 1, four suction ports 11 are arranged in a row along the Y-axis direction, and three rows of the suction ports 11 are arranged in the X-axis direction. .

The LEDs 12 are arranged so that their positions correspond to the application heads 4 arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction provided in the application head unit 5. That is, corresponding to the coating head unit 5 shown in FIG. 1, four LEDs 12 are arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction. Further, the LED 12 can be moved in the Y-axis direction by the LED moving mechanism 12A.
The LED 12 is controlled to be turned on / off by the control unit 50.

The camera 13 is arranged so that the position thereof corresponds to the coating heads 4 arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction provided in the coating head unit 5. That is, corresponding to the coating head unit 5 shown in FIG. 1, four cameras 13 are arranged in a row along the Y-axis direction. The camera 13 can be moved in the Y-axis direction by the camera moving mechanism 13A.
The image captured by the camera 13 is transmitted to the control unit 50.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the operation of the head recovery device 10. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram seen in the XZ plane of FIG. Further, in FIG. 1, a plurality of coating heads 4 and suction ports 11 are arranged in the X-axis direction, but the components other than the coating head 4 and the suction ports 11 corresponding to the nozzles to be inspected are shown in FIG. Is omitted.

  First, the control unit 50 (a head recovery control unit 51 described later) controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 to move the coating head 4 so as to correspond to the suction port 11. The control unit 50 (head recovery control unit 51) controls the LED moving mechanism 12A and the camera moving mechanism 13A so that the Y-axis coordinates of the LED 12 and the camera 13 coincide with the Y-axis coordinates of the nozzle 4a to be inspected. Move to. The camera 13 has a moving mechanism (not shown) in the X-axis direction, and moves the imaging focus position so as to coincide with the X-axis coordinates of the nozzle 4a to be inspected.

Next, the control unit 50 (head recovery control unit 51) controls the coating head 4 to perform a recovery operation in which the droplets 4b of the alignment film material are ejected from the nozzles 4a. The discharged alignment film material droplet 4 b enters the suction port 11.
At this time, the control unit 50 (head recovery control unit 51) turns on the LED 12 and takes an image with the camera 13. The discharged droplet 4b of the alignment film material is captured as a shadow in the image captured by the camera 13. Thereby, recovery of clogging of the nozzle 4a can be detected.

  The clogging of the nozzle 4a is eliminated by discharging the droplet 4b of the alignment film material. However, when the clogging cannot be eliminated only by the discharge control, the control unit 50 (head recovery control unit 51) The moving mechanism 8 (see FIG. 1) may be controlled to lower the coating head 4 so as to come into contact with the suction port 11 to perform suction recovery. Then, the control unit 50 (head recovery control unit 51) controls the Z-axis moving mechanism 8 (see FIG. 1) to return to a predetermined height, and discharges the droplets 4b of the alignment film material from the nozzle 4a. The image is taken at 13 to confirm recovery.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of the control unit 50.
The control unit 50 can control the movement positions of the X-axis movement mechanism 6, the Y-axis movement mechanism 7, the Z-axis movement mechanism 8, the LED movement mechanism 12A, the camera movement mechanism 13A, and the alignment camera movement mechanism 33. ing.
In addition, the controller 50 can control the attachment / detachment of the glass substrate 100 and the rotation angle θ in the suction table 9.
Moreover, the control part 50 can control lighting / extinction of LED12 and the heat source apparatus 31. FIG.
Further, the control unit 50 can control the presence / absence and timing of the alignment film material for each nozzle of the plurality of coating heads 4.
In addition, the control unit 50 is configured to receive images captured by the camera 13 and the alignment camera 32.

The control unit 50 includes a head recovery control unit 51, an outer frame application process control unit 52, and an inner surface application process control unit 53.
The head recovery control unit 51 performs control for recovering the nozzles of the coating head 4.
The outer frame application process control unit 52 performs control to form the outer frame of the alignment film applied to the glass substrate 100.
The inner surface application process control unit 53 performs control to apply the alignment film material inside the outer frame of the alignment film formed by the outer frame application process control unit 52.

  Next, a thin film forming method of the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In step S <b> 1, the head recovery control unit 51 of the control unit 50 confirms whether or not the alignment film material can be normally dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4. Further, the discharge amount of the alignment film material from the nozzle of the coating head 4 is adjusted using the electronic balance 14.
Specifically, the head recovery control unit 51 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 and the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 to move the coating head 4 so as to correspond to the suction port 11. In addition, the LED moving mechanism 12A and the camera moving mechanism 13A are controlled to move the Y axis coordinates of the LED 12 and the camera 13 so as to coincide with the Y axis coordinates of the nozzle to be inspected.
Then, the head recovery control unit 51 controls the coating head 4 to discharge the alignment film material from the nozzle, and images and confirms the discharged droplets of the alignment film material with the camera 13.
When the nozzle is clogged and not dropped, the above-described suction recovery is executed.
If it is confirmed that the liquid can be normally dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4, the process proceeds to step S2.

  In step S2, the controller 50 controls the suction table 9 to suck the glass substrate 100 disposed on the suction table 9 by an external substrate loading mechanism (not shown) (substrate loading). Further, the control unit 50 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 and the alignment camera moving mechanism 33 to move the alignment camera 32, and the glass substrate 100 sucked by the suction table 9 based on the image captured by the alignment camera 32. Check the position of. The controller 50 controls the movement of the coating head 4 to be described later based on the positional information of the glass substrate 100 confirmed here.

In step S <b> 3, the outer frame application process control unit 52 of the control unit 50 applies and forms the outer frame of the alignment film on the glass substrate 100. Here, the outer frame coating process shown in step S3 will be further described with reference to FIG.
First, in step S31, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 controls the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 so that the coating head 4 forms the outer frame pattern 110 (see FIG. 9A) in step S32 described later. The position of the Y axis is moved so as to pass through (coating head Y axis alignment).

In step S32, as shown in FIG. 9A, the outer frame application process control unit 52 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 to move the gantry 3 in the forward direction and to control the application head 4. The timing of dropping the droplets of the alignment film material from the nozzles of the coating head 4 is controlled.
Thereby, the outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film is applied to the glass substrate 100.

When the movement of the gantry 3 in the forward direction ends, the process proceeds to step S33.
In step S33, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 turns on the infrared lamp that is the heat source device 31 (heat source device ON).

In step S34, as shown in FIG. 9B, the outer frame application process control unit 52 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 to move the gantry 3 in the backward direction. In this manner, the glass substrate 100 that has passed through the opening 3a (see FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 is irradiated with infrared rays (heating region).
Thereby, the outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film applied to the glass substrate 100 in step S32 is dried.

When the movement of the gantry 3 in the return direction is completed, the process proceeds to step S35.
In step S35, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 turns off the infrared lamp that is the heat source device 31 (heat source device OFF).

In step S36, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 determines whether or not the predetermined number of times has been completed.
In the outer frame application process shown in step S3, in order to set the outer frame pattern 110 to a predetermined height, the application and drying of the outer frame pattern 110 are repeated a plurality of times, and the predetermined number of times is not completed. (S36, No), the process of the outer frame application process control unit 52 returns to step S31. When the predetermined number of times is finished (S36 / Yes), the outer frame coating step (step S3) shown in FIG. 7 is finished, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG.

Returning to FIG. 6, in step S <b> 4, the inner surface coating process control unit 53 of the control unit 50 applies the alignment film material to the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 (see FIG. 9) formed in step S <b> 3. Here, the inner surface coating process shown in step S4 will be further described with reference to FIG.
In step S41, the inner surface application process control unit 53 controls the Y axis movement mechanism 7 to move the position of the Y axis so that the application head 4 is arranged at the initial position in the Y axis direction (application head Y). Axis alignment).

In step S42, the inner surface coating process control unit 53 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 to move the gantry 3, and also controls the coating head 4 to control the timing of dropping the alignment film material droplets from the nozzles. Control (gantry movement and application). In addition, the movement of the gantry 3 in S42 does not ask | require an outward path and a return path.
Thus, the alignment film material is applied to the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 (see FIG. 9) formed in step S3.

In step S43, the inner surface application process control unit 53 determines whether or not a predetermined application number (N times) has been completed.
As will be described later, the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 is applied N times while the application head 4 is moved 1 / N of the nozzle pitch. As a result, the pitch of droplets dropped on the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 is 1 / N of the nozzle pitch of the coating head 4. Thereby, a film thickness can be made uniform.
If the predetermined number of times of application has not been completed (No at S43), the process proceeds to Step S44, and the inner surface application process control unit 52 controls the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 to move the application head 4 by 1 / N nozzle pitch. . Then, the process returns to step S42.
When the predetermined number of times of application is completed (S43 / Yes), the inner surface application process (step S4) shown in FIG. 8 is ended, and the process proceeds to step S5 of FIG.

In step S <b> 5, the control unit 50 controls the suction table 9 to release the suction of the glass substrate 100 disposed on the suction table 9. The glass substrate 100 coated with the alignment film is extracted from the thin film forming apparatus 1 (substrate unloading) by an external substrate loading mechanism (not shown).
The glass substrate 100 extracted from the thin film forming apparatus 1 is sent to a drying processing apparatus (not shown) that performs the main drying process.

  As described above, since the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms an alignment film using an ink jet method, it does not require a plate as in the conventional flexographic printing method, and forms a small amount and a variety of alignment films. (In other words, it is possible to manufacture a small amount and a variety of flat panel displays).

Moreover, when forming the alignment film on the glass substrate 100, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms the outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film, and then applies the alignment film material in the frame.
Here, as shown in FIG. 9, when forming the outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film, the alignment film material applied on the glass substrate 100 is heated by the heat source device 31 such as an infrared lamp. Spreading of the alignment film material from the applied position on the glass substrate 100 can be reduced. Thereby, the protrusion from the alignment film forming region can be reduced, and the alignment film material can be used efficiently.
Further, the linearity of the edge of the alignment film can be improved. Thereby, the area of the non-display portion of the flat panel display can be further reduced. In addition, in a multi-surface glass substrate, the space between adjacent alignment film patterns can be reduced, and the number of flat panel displays that can be taken out from one glass substrate can be improved.

  Next, the alignment film material applied in the frame is blocked by the outer frame so that it does not spread further. Thereby, the protrusion (wetting spread) from the alignment film forming region can be reduced, and the alignment film material can be used efficiently.

Further, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with a head recovery device 10 adjacent to the suction table 9. Thereby, the clogging of the coating head 4 can be prevented and the nozzle can be recovered (cleaned), and the amount of the alignment film material dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4 and the timing of dropping are suitably controlled. be able to.
Further, by imaging the alignment film material discharged from the coating head 4 with the camera 13, it can be confirmed whether or not the film is correctly discharged without clogging.
In addition, since the irradiation area | region (heating area | region 34 shown in FIG.9 (b)) of the heat source apparatus 31 is orient | assigned to the glass substrate 100 below the gantry 3, clogging of the coating head 4 is not promoted. It is like that.

<Modification>
The thin film forming apparatus according to this embodiment is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the gantry 3 of the thin film forming apparatus according to the modification. Compared with the gantry 3 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 2), the gantry 3 according to the modification (see FIG. 10) includes a heat source device 35 on the return path side (front side in FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 as well. Yes. Similarly to the heat source device 31, the heat source device 35 is configured by, for example, an infrared lamp, and can irradiate infrared rays in a substantially vertical direction. In other words, the heat source device 35 can irradiate the object that has passed through the opening 3 a (see FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 during the outward travel of the gantry 3.
The heat source device 35 is controlled to be turned on / off by the control unit 50.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outer frame coating process of the thin film forming apparatus according to the modification, where (a) shows the time of the forward path and (b) shows the time of the return path.
As shown in FIG. 11A, when the gantry 3 is moved in the forward direction, the coating head 4 is controlled to control the timing of dropping the droplets of the alignment film material from the nozzles of the coating head 4, and the heat source The glass substrate 100 is irradiated with infrared rays (heating region) 36 by turning on the device 35.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11B, when moving the gantry 3 in the backward direction, the coating head 4 is controlled to control the timing of dropping the droplets of the alignment film material from the nozzles of the coating head 4. The glass substrate 100 is irradiated with infrared rays (heating region) 34 by turning on the heat source device 31.
As described above, according to the thin film forming apparatus according to the modification, the alignment film material can be dropped and dried both during the outward path and during the return path, and the tact time for forming the outer frame can be shortened.
Further, since the time from application (dropping of droplets of alignment film material) to drying (infrared irradiation) can be shortened, the linearity of the outer frame is further improved.

  Further, the apparatus further includes a heating means (not shown) for heating the glass substrate 100 adsorbed to the adsorption table 9 (see FIG. 1), and is dropped by heating the glass substrate 100 in the outer frame forming step (step S3). The drying of the alignment film material droplets may be promoted.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thin film forming apparatus 2 Base 3 Gantry 3a Aperture 4 Coating head 4a Nozzle 4b Alignment film material droplet 5 Coating head unit 6 X-axis moving mechanism 6a Stator 6b Moment 7 Y-axis moving mechanism 7a Stator 7b Movable element 8 Z Axis moving mechanism 9 Suction table 10 Head recovery device 11 Suction port (discharge position)
12 LED (imaging device)
12A LED moving mechanism (imaging device)
13 Camera (imaging device)
13A Camera moving mechanism (imaging device)
31 Heat source device 32 Alignment camera 33 Alignment camera moving mechanism 34 Infrared ray (heating region)
35 Heat source device 36 Infrared (heating area)
50 Control Unit 51 Head Recovery Control Unit 52 Outer Frame Application Process Control Unit 53 Inner Surface Application Process Control Unit 100 Glass Substrate (Coating Object)
110 Outer frame pattern

Claims (4)

An adsorption table for adsorbing and holding an application object;
A plurality of application heads that form a thin film on the inner surface of the outer frame after applying the outer frame to the surface of the application object held by suction on the suction table while discharging an application material from an inkjet nozzle;
A gantry that moves the application head above the application object;
A heat source device that is arranged in the gantry and heats an outer frame pattern on the surface of the application object;
A controller for controlling the suction table, the coating head, the gantry, and the heat source device,
The controller is
The coating head is moved so as to pass through the region forming the outer frame pattern, the gantry is moved in the first direction, and the timing at which the thin film material droplets are dropped from the nozzle of the coating head is controlled. Thus, after the application operation of applying the outer frame pattern and the movement of the gantry in the first direction, the heat source device is moved while moving the gantry in a second direction opposite to the first direction. Heating the outer frame pattern by turning on, and after the movement of the gantry in the second direction, the outer frame pattern heating operation for turning off the heat source device is repeated a predetermined number of times ,
An inner surface coating means for coating a thin film material on the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern after applying the outer frame . The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a discharge position that is different from a surface of the application target and that discharges the application material from the application head. In the discharge position,
The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising an imaging device that images a coating material discharged from a nozzle of the coating head. An adsorption table for adsorbing and holding an application object;
A plurality of application heads that form a thin film on the inner surface of the outer frame after applying the outer frame to the surface of the application object held by suction on the suction table while discharging an application material from an inkjet nozzle;
A gantry that moves the application head above the application object;
A heat source device that is arranged in the gantry and heats an outer frame pattern on the surface of the application object;
A thin film forming method for a thin film forming apparatus comprising: the suction table, the coating head, the gantry, and a control device for controlling the heat source device,
The controller is
The coating head is moved so as to pass through the region forming the outer frame pattern, the gantry is moved in the first direction, and the timing at which the thin film material droplets are dropped from the nozzle of the coating head is controlled. Thus, after the application operation of applying the outer frame pattern and the movement of the gantry in the first direction, the heat source device is moved while moving the gantry in a second direction opposite to the first direction. Heating the outer frame pattern by turning on, and after the movement of the gantry in the second direction, the outer frame pattern heating operation of turning off the heat source device is repeated a predetermined number of times ,
After the outer frame coating, thin film forming method of the outer frame and the inner surface coating step of coating a thin film material on the inner surface surrounded by the pattern, characterized <br/> performing the thin-film forming apparatus.

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