JP6220693B2 - Coating device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention includes a semiconductor wafer, a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device, a glass substrate for a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), a glass substrate for an organic EL display panel, a substrate for a solar cell, a glass for a magnetic or optical disk, or a ceramic substrate. The present invention relates to a coating apparatus that applies a coating liquid to various substrates to be processed.

  For example, when an organic EL display device is manufactured, as a coating device 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, a plurality of coating liquids are continuously discharged. There is known an apparatus for applying a coating liquid in a stripe shape to a coating region on a substrate by moving the nozzle in the main scanning direction and a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction with respect to the substrate (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2011-72974 A

  In this type of coating apparatus, the uniformity of the film thickness of the coating solution coated on the substrate is required. In order to make the film thickness of the coating solution uniform, it is necessary to make the flow rate of the coating solution discharged from the nozzle uniform.

  However, in the configuration in which the coating liquid is supplied to the moving nozzle through the coating liquid supply pipe, an inertial force accompanying the nozzle movement is applied to the coating liquid flowing in the coating liquid supply pipe, and the nozzle is discharged from the nozzle due to the influence of the inertial force. There has been a problem that the flow rate of the coating liquid is disturbed.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and reduces disturbance in the flow rate of the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle in the configuration in which the coating liquid is fed to the moving nozzle by the coating liquid supply pipe. An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus that can perform the above-described operation.

  A coating apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention is a coating apparatus, and includes at least a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate and a coating liquid that is discharged onto the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. Supplied from a coating unit that holds one nozzle, a displacement mechanism that displaces the coating unit along a main scanning direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and a coating liquid supply source Comprising at least one pipe for feeding the coating liquid to the at least one nozzle, and at least one pressure fluctuation absorbing portion for absorbing pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe, A first pipe section on the upstream side and a second pipe section on the downstream side that is relatively fixed to the coating unit, and the second pipe section is a portion of the second pipe section. Of which, upstream fixed pipeline section A downstream fixed pipe section of the second pipe section, and the downstream fixed pipe section is arranged along a plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction. The pressure fluctuation absorbing portion is provided in the downstream fixed pipeline section.

  A coating apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the second pipeline section has a branching portion that branches the plurality of bundled pipes, Of the second pipeline section, the upstream side of the branch portion is the upstream fixed pipeline section, and of the second pipeline section, the downstream side of the branch portion is the downstream fixed pipeline section, and the first A plurality of pipes are bundled in one pipe section and the upstream fixed pipe section.

  A coating apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is a coating apparatus, and includes at least a substrate holding unit that holds a substrate, and at least discharges a coating liquid to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit. Supplied from a coating unit that holds one nozzle, a displacement mechanism that displaces the coating unit along a main scanning direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit, and a coating liquid supply source Comprising at least one pipe for feeding the coating liquid to the at least one nozzle, and at least one pressure fluctuation absorbing portion for absorbing pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe, A first pipe section on the upstream side and a second pipe section on the downstream side relatively fixed to the coating unit, and the second pipe section is a plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Arranged in the Fluctuation absorbing unit is characterized in that provided in the second conduit section.

  A coating apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to the third aspect, wherein the main unit is synchronized with the displacement of the coating unit along the main scanning direction by the displacement mechanism. A pipe support member that is displaced along the scanning direction, the pipe support member being arranged in the middle of the first pipe section, and upstream of the pipe support member in the first pipe section. Then, a plurality of the pipes are bundled, and a plurality of the pipes are branched on the downstream side of the pipe support member in the first pipe section.

  A coating apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion has a pipe diameter larger than that of the pipe in the first pipeline section. It has a large flexible first pipe, and a part of the pipe is constituted by the first pipe.

  The applicator according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the applicator according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, wherein the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion has a pipe diameter larger than that of the pipe in the first pipeline section. It has small flexible 2nd piping, and a part of said piping is comprised by said 2nd piping, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  A coating apparatus according to a seventh aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, wherein the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion is along a flow path direction of the coating liquid in the pipe. And a branch pipe branched from the trunk road in a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and a part of the pipe is constituted by the T pipe. .

  An application device according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the application device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the application unit is displaced along the main scanning direction by the displacement mechanism. A mover and a nozzle holding part that is coupled to the mover and holds the nozzle, and the pipe is composed of n (n is an integer of 2 or more) pipes and n-1 pipe connection parts. Are connected in series with each other, and only one pipe connection portion is disposed on the nozzle holding portion side when viewed from the movable element.

  A coating apparatus according to a ninth aspect of the present invention is the coating apparatus according to the eighth aspect, wherein the nozzle holding portion is a portion that holds the nozzle movably, and the position of the nozzle in the nozzle holding portion. It further comprises a nozzle moving mechanism for adjusting.

  The coating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention has at least one pipe that feeds the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source to at least one nozzle. The pipe has a first pipeline section on the upstream side and a second pipeline section on the downstream side that is fixedly arranged relative to the coating unit. For this reason, even if the coating unit moves, the second pipe section of the pipe does not break due to this movement, and pressure fluctuation occurs in the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe due to bending. Can be prevented.

  The second pipeline section is along an upstream upstream fixed pipeline section of the second pipeline section and a plane perpendicular to the scanning direction of the coating unit on the downstream side of the second pipeline section. And a downstream fixed pipeline section. For this reason, due to the inertial force (force acting in the scanning direction) generated by the scanning of the coating unit, pressure fluctuation in the channel direction occurs in the coating liquid flowing in the downstream fixed pipeline section of the piping. Can be effectively prevented.

  In addition, a pressure fluctuation absorbing portion that absorbs pressure fluctuations of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe is disposed in the downstream fixed pipe section of the pipe. For this reason, the coating liquid in which the pressure fluctuation is sufficiently absorbed can be supplied to the nozzle.

  The coating apparatus according to the third aspect of the present invention has at least one pipe that feeds the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source to at least one nozzle. The pipe has a first pipeline section on the upstream side and a second pipeline section on the downstream side that is fixedly arranged relative to the coating unit. For this reason, even if the coating unit moves, the second pipe section of the pipe does not break due to this movement, and pressure fluctuation occurs in the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe due to bending. Can be prevented.

  The second pipeline section is arranged along a plane perpendicular to the scanning direction of the coating unit. For this reason, due to the inertial force (force acting in the scanning direction) generated by the scanning of the coating unit, the pressure fluctuation in the flow channel direction occurs in the coating liquid flowing inside the second pipe section of the piping. It can be effectively prevented.

  In addition, a pressure fluctuation absorbing portion that absorbs pressure fluctuations of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe is disposed in the second pipe section of the pipe. For this reason, the coating liquid in which the pressure fluctuation is sufficiently absorbed can be supplied to the nozzle.

  In the coating apparatus according to the eighth aspect of the present invention, when a pipe is formed by connecting n pipes (n is an integer of 2 or more) in series with n-1 pipe connection parts, As seen, only one pipe connection portion is arranged on the nozzle holding portion side. For this reason, the member configuration arranged on the nozzle holding part side can be sufficiently reduced, and when various processing is performed on the nozzle, the processing can be easily performed.

It is a schematic plan view which shows the coating device 1 which concerns on embodiment. It is a schematic front view which shows the coating device 1 same as the above. It is AA sectional drawing in FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a coating unit 50. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a member configuration for one pipe 83. FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of 50 A of application | coating units which concern on a modification. It is a schematic diagram which shows the member structure about the one piping 83 concerning a modification. It is the schematic side view which showed the T-shaped piping 835 which concerns on a modification.

<1 embodiment>
<1.1 Configuration of coating apparatus 1>
1 is a schematic top view showing a coating apparatus 1 according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the coating apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 1 and each subsequent figure, in order to clarify those directional relationships, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system in which the Z direction is the vertical direction and the XY plane is the horizontal plane is appropriately attached. Further, for the purpose of easy understanding, the dimensions and numbers of the respective parts are exaggerated or simplified as necessary.

  The coating apparatus 1 is an apparatus that applies a coating liquid to the substrate 10. As the substrate 10, for example, a glass substrate for a flat display device or the like is assumed. Moreover, as a coating liquid, for example, when manufacturing an organic EL display device is assumed, a liquid containing an organic EL material and its solvent is assumed.

  The coating apparatus 1 mainly includes a substrate holding unit 30, a main scanning mechanism 40, a coating unit 50, a piping support member 60, a piping unit 80, and the like.

<Substrate holder 30>
The substrate holding unit 30 is configured to be able to hold the substrate 10 in a substantially horizontal posture. Here, the substrate holding part 30 has a stage 32 in which one main surface is disposed in a horizontal position upward at a predetermined height position. For this reason, the substrate 10 is held in a horizontal posture by placing the substrate 10 on the stage 32 so that the lower main surface of the substrate 10 abuts on the upper main surface of the stage 32. As the substrate holding unit, various other configurations such as a configuration for holding the substrate by adsorbing the lower main surface of the substrate and a configuration for holding the substrate by gripping the periphery of the substrate can be adopted.

  A sub-scanning mechanism 34 that moves the substrate 10 relative to the coating unit 50 along the Y direction (sub-scanning direction) is provided below the substrate holding unit 30. Here, the sub-scanning mechanism 34 has a base portion 36 that supports the stage 32 and a pair of slide receiving portions 37. The slide receiving portion 37 is provided at the lower end of the base portion 36 and is configured to be slidable on a pair of sub-scanning direction guide portions 39 extending along the Y direction. The sub-scanning mechanism 34 moves along the Y direction together with the stage 32 and the substrate 10 by receiving a driving force from a substrate movement driving unit (not shown) such as a linear motor. Instead of moving the substrate 10 along the Y direction, the main scanning mechanism 40 and the coating unit 50 may be moved along the Y direction with respect to the substrate 10.

  The stage 32 may be provided with a heating mechanism for heating the substrate 10 as necessary. The stage 32 may be configured to be rotatable around the vertical axis with respect to the sub-scanning mechanism 34.

<Main scanning mechanism 40>
The main scanning mechanism 40 has a main scanning direction guide portion 42. The main scanning direction guide portion 42 is formed in an elongated member extending along the main scanning direction (X direction) substantially parallel to the substrate 10 at a position above the substrate 10. Further, the slider 44 (movable element) constituting a part of the coating unit 50 is a member having an internal space in which the main scanning direction guide portion 42 can be inserted and arranged, and between the outer peripheral surface of the main scanning direction guide portion 42. The main scanning direction guide portion 42 is supported so as to be movable along the X direction with the air layer interposed therebetween.

  More specifically, the main scanning direction guide part 42 is formed in a substantially square bar-like member. The outer shape of the slider 44 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an inner space 44 </ b> S capable of surrounding the outer peripheral surface of the main scanning direction guide portion 42 with a space is formed in the slider 44. An air discharge portion 44 a is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the slider 44. Then, air supplied from the outside via piping or the like, which will be described later, is discharged from each air discharge portion 44 a via an air branch path formed in the slider 44. Then, by discharging air from the air discharge portion 44a, the slider 44 has an air layer interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the main scanning direction guide portion 42 (that is, the main scanning direction guide portion 42). In a state where it floats with respect to the outer peripheral surface), it is supported so as to be movable along the X direction. As a result, the slider 44 is supported in a manner capable of moving at high speed and high acceleration and having excellent durability.

  A driving belt 74 for driving the slider 44 is attached to an upper portion of the slider 44. Therefore, when the drive mechanism 72 described later rotates the pair of pulley bodies 73 forward and backward, the drive belt 74 and the slider 44 connected to the drive belt 74 are moved along the X direction. In addition, an air layer is interposed between the main scanning direction guide portion 42 and the slider 44. However, such an air layer ejects air as in the present embodiment and is interposed by air pressure. Further, it may be an aspect in which it is interposed by other force (repulsive force of magnetic force, etc.).

<Coating unit 50>
The coating unit 50 has, as main components, a slider 44 as a mover movable along the main scanning direction guide part 42, a nozzle holding part 52 coupled to the −Y side of the slider 44, and a nozzle holding part 52. At least one nozzle 54 formed. The number of nozzles 54 and the number of pipes 83 are the same, and each nozzle 54 is connected to a coating liquid supply source 88 via each pipe 83. In the present embodiment, a case where the number of nozzles 54 is ten and the number of pipes 83 is ten will be described.

  The nozzle holding portion 52 includes a base end portion 52a attached to the −Y side surface of the slider 44 and a nozzle attachment plate portion 52b extending from the lower end of the base end portion 52a toward the −Y side. Ten nozzles 54 are attached and fixed to the nozzle attachment plate portion 52b while shifting their positions in the X direction and the Y direction. The nozzle holding part 52 is a part that holds each nozzle 54 movably. By driving a nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 100 described later, the position in the Y direction of each nozzle 54 held by the nozzle holding portion 52 is adjusted.

  Each nozzle 54 has a discharge port through which the coating liquid can be discharged, and is fixed to the nozzle mounting plate portion 52b in such a posture that the discharge port faces downward of the nozzle mounting plate portion 52b. Therefore, the application liquid is applied to the upper main surface of the substrate 10 placed on the stage 32 by discharging the application liquid from each nozzle 54 while moving the slider 44 in the X direction.

<Piping support member 60>
The pipe support member 60 is configured to be movable following the movement of the coating unit 50 along the X direction. Here, the pipe support member 60 is movably supported by a pipe support guide 62 provided separately from the main scanning mechanism 40.

  That is, the pipe support guide portion 62 is formed in a long member extending along the X direction at a position above the substrate 10. In addition, the pipe support member 60 is a member having an internal space in which the pipe support guide portion 62 can be inserted and arranged, and with an air layer interposed between the pipe support guide portion 62 and the outer peripheral surface of the pipe support guide portion 62, The pipe support guide portion 62 is supported so as to be movable along the X direction.

  More specifically, the pipe support guide portion 62 is formed in a substantially square bar-like member. The outer shape of the pipe support member 60 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an internal space 64S that can surround the outer peripheral surface of the pipe support guide part 62 with an interval is formed in the pipe support member 60. . An air discharge part 60 a is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the pipe support member 60. And the air supplied via the piping etc. which are mentioned later from the exterior is discharged from each air discharge part 60a via the air branch path etc. which are formed in the piping support member 60. FIG. Then, by discharging air from the air discharge part 60a, the pipe support member 60 is in a state where an air layer is interposed between the outer peripheral surface of the pipe support guide part 62 (that is, the pipe support guide part). In a state of floating with respect to the outer peripheral surface of 62), the state is supported so as to be movable along the X direction.

  A drive belt 78 for driving the pipe support member 60 is attached to the upper surface of the pipe support member 60. Here, as the configuration in which the pipe support member 60 is supported so as to be movable with respect to the pipe support guide portion 62, various configurations can be adopted as described regarding the main scanning mechanism 40.

  However, the pipe support member need not be movably supported in the state where the air layer is interposed with respect to the pipe support guide portion as described above. For example, the pipe support member may be configured to be movably supported in a state in which the pipe support member is in contact with the long pipe support guide portion via another low friction member, a rolling element, or the like.

<Piping part 80>
The piping unit 80 includes a piping 81 (one in the present embodiment) for supplying air to the piping support member 60, a piping 82 (one in the present embodiment) for supplying air to the slider 44, And a pipe 83 (10 in this embodiment) for supplying the coating liquid to the nozzle 54. The pipes 81 and 82 are connected to the air supply source 86 on the upstream side, and the pipe 83 is connected to the coating liquid supply source 88 on the upstream side. The pipes 81 to 83 of the pipe part 80 are all constituted by flexible pipes, and the pipe part 80 is supported so as to be suspended above the coating apparatus 1.

  In the piping part 80, it is preferable that the piping 81-83 are bundled to the middle of each path | route. In the present embodiment, the pipes 81 to 83 are bundled on the upstream side of the pipe support member 60. As a binding form, for example, a form in which the pipes 81 and 82 are surrounded by a plurality of pipes 83 can be employed.

  The pipe 81 reaches the pipe support member 60 in a state of being bound by the pipes 81 to 83 and is connected to an air branch path formed in the pipe support member 60.

  The pipe 82 reaches the pipe support member 60 in a state of being bound by the pipes 81 to 83, and is supported and fixed to the pipe support member 60 via the pipe fixing portion 61. The pipe 82 branches from the pipe 83 on the downstream side of the pipe support member 60 and is connected to an air branch path formed in the slider 44.

  The pipe 83 reaches the pipe support member 60 in a state of being bound by the pipes 81 to 83, and is supported and fixed to the pipe support member 60 via the pipe fixing portion 61. Further, the pipe 83 branches off from the pipe 82 on the downstream side of the pipe support member 60 and is connected to each nozzle 54 of the coating unit 50.

  As the pipe fixing part 61, a structure in which the pipe 81 and the pipe 83 are inserted and fixed in the insertion hole or the recess, a structure in which the pipe 81 and the pipe 83 are bound and fixed to the pipe support member 60, and the pipe 81 and the pipe 83 are sandwiched. The structure fixed to the piping support member 60 etc. are employable. The middle part where the pipes 82 and 83 are fixed to the pipe fixing part 61 is preferably a part relatively close to the slider 44 and the coating unit 50 in the entire length of the pipes 82 and 83.

<Detailed configuration of piping 83>
The pipe 83 is a pipe that feeds the coating liquid to the nozzle 54. For this reason, in order to discharge the coating liquid from the nozzle 54 and form a uniform coating film on the upper main surface of the substrate 10, it is desirable that the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe 83 is sent without pressure fluctuation. .

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the coating unit 50. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a member configuration for one pipe 83.

  Hereinafter, the arrangement configuration of the pipe 83 will be described mainly with reference to FIGS. In the following description, only one pipe 83 will be described, but the other nine pipes 83 have the same configuration.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the pipe 83 of the present embodiment is configured by serially connecting four different types of pipes 831 to 834 in order from the upstream side.

  The pipe 831 is a pipe whose upstream end is connected to the coating liquid supply source 88 and whose downstream end is connected to the upstream end of the pipe 832. For each pipe 83, the pipe 831 is bundled as a bundle with the other nine pipes, and the middle of the path is fixed to a fixing portion 840 fixed to the + Y side of the coating unit 50. Hereinafter, with respect to the pipe 831, the part upstream of the position fixed to the fixing part 840 is referred to as “pipe 831 A”, and the part downstream from the position fixed to the fixing part 840 is referred to as “pipe 831 B”. There is.

  The pipe 831 and the pipe 832 are connected via a branch portion 841 fixed to the + Y side of the coating unit 50. The branch portion 841 is a portion that branches the bundled ten pipes 831 at a predetermined interval in the X direction, and connects the branched ten pipes 831 to the ten downstream pipes 832 respectively. It is also a part to do.

  The pipe 832 (second pipe) is a pipe whose upstream end is connected to the downstream end of the pipe 831 and whose downstream end is connected to the upstream end of the pipe 833. The pipe 832 can be formed of a flexible tube having a smaller diameter than the pipe 831. For example, a minute orifice is formed in the pipe 832.

  When the inner diameter of the flow path of the coating liquid decreases from a certain value and then returns to the original inner diameter, the average flow velocity of the coating liquid passing therethrough once returns to the original speed after reaching a high speed. Further, the pressure loss of the coating liquid caused by the friction between the coating liquid and the inner wall of the pipe line is proportional to the square of the flow velocity. For this reason, by providing a micro-orifice in the pipe line, a relatively large pressure loss is caused in the coating liquid flowing in the pipe line, and the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing in the pipe line is reduced (absorbed). be able to. As a result, the uniformity of the flow rate of the coating liquid discharged from each nozzle 54 can be improved.

  The pipe 832 and the pipe 833 are connected via a connector portion 842 fixed to the + Y side of the coating unit 50.

  The pipe 833 (first pipe) is a pipe whose upstream end is connected to the downstream end of the pipe 832 and whose downstream end is connected to the upstream end of the pipe 834. The pipe 833 can be formed of a flexible tube having a pipe diameter larger than that of the pipe 831 and softer than that of the pipe 832.

  The pipe 833 is elastically deformed in accordance with the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside. Specifically, the pipe 833 expands at a location where the pressure of the coating liquid flowing inside is high, so that its inner diameter increases, and the pipe 833 contracts at a location where the pressure of the coating liquid flowing inside is low. This reduces the inner diameter. Thereby, it becomes possible to reduce (absorb) the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid. As a result, the uniformity of the flow rate of the coating liquid discharged from each nozzle 54 can be improved.

  As described above, in this embodiment, after the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source 88 is absorbed in two stages of the pipe 832 and the pipe 833, the coating liquid is sent to each nozzle 54. . Therefore, it is possible to form a uniform coating film on the upper main surface of the substrate 10 with the flow rate of the coating liquid discharged from each nozzle 54 being constant.

  In general, it is known that a pipe 832 that uses an orifice as a flow path resistance has a great effect on reducing the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid. However, excessive pressure loss in the pipe 832 has a problem that the dischargeable flow rate of the coating liquid is reduced. On the other hand, in the pipe 833, the effect of suppressing the pressure fluctuation is smaller than that of the pipe 832, but the pressure loss applied to the coating liquid is also smaller than that of the pipe 832.

  For this reason, in this embodiment, the structure which absorbs the pressure fluctuation of a coating liquid is employ | adopted, suppressing the pressure loss of a coating liquid by using the pipe 832 and the pipe 833 in combination. As described above, the pipes 832 and 833 function as a pressure fluctuation absorption unit that absorbs the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe 83.

  The pipe 833 and the pipe 834 are connected via a connector portion 843 fixed to the −Y side of the coating unit 50.

  The pipe 834 is a pipe whose upstream end is connected to the downstream end of the pipe 833 and whose downstream end is connected to the nozzle 54. The pipe 834 can be made of the same material as the pipe 831, for example.

  As described above, the pipe 831B to the pipe 834 are connected between the parts fixed to the coating unit 50 (specifically, the fixed part 840, the branching part 841, the connector part 842, the connector part 843, and the nozzle 54). Has been. The total length of the pipes 831B to 834 is sufficiently shorter than the total length of the pipe 831A. Further, the pipe 831B to the pipe 834 are different from the pipe 831A provided in a bent state so that the pipe 831B can be deformed corresponding to the movement of the coating unit 50 in the X direction. It is provided in the state. As a result, the pipes 831 </ b> B to 834 are arranged relatively fixed with respect to the coating unit 50.

  In this specification, a section of the upstream pipe 831A in the pipe 83 is referred to as a “first pipe section SE1”, and a pipe that is a downstream section of the pipe 83 that is relatively fixedly disposed to the application unit 50. A section from 831B to the pipe 834 is referred to as a “second pipe section SE2”.

  As described above, the second pipeline section SE2 is fixedly disposed relative to the coating unit 50. Therefore, when the coating unit 50 is reciprocated along the X direction by the drive mechanism 72 described later, It is suppressed that the pipeline section SE2 is bent along with the movement. Thereby, it is possible to effectively prevent the pressure fluctuation from occurring in the coating liquid flowing inside the second pipeline section SE2 due to the bending of the second pipeline section SE2. As a result, the coating liquid can be discharged from the nozzle 54 at a more uniform flow rate.

  For each pipe 83, the branching portion 841, the connector portion 842, the connector portion 843, and the nozzle 54 are arranged at the same position in the X direction (in the same YZ plane). The pipes 832 to 834 connected between these parts are also arranged at the same position in the X direction (in the same YZ plane) for each pipe 83. In the present specification, in the second pipeline section SE2 that is fixedly arranged relative to the coating unit 50, the pipe 831B on the upstream side of the branch portion 841 is referred to as “upstream fixed pipeline section SE2A”. A pipe 832 to a pipe 834 arranged along a plane (YZ plane) orthogonal to the main scanning direction on the downstream side of 841 is referred to as a “downstream fixed pipe section SE2B”.

  The inertial force (action along the X direction) applied to the coating liquid flowing in the pipe 83 due to the reciprocating movement of the coating unit 50 along the X direction by the drive mechanism 72 described later is a downstream fixed pipe. It is orthogonal to the flow path direction (direction defined in the YZ plane) of the coating liquid flowing in the section SE2B. For this reason, it is possible to effectively prevent the pressure fluctuation in the flow path direction from occurring in the coating liquid flowing in the downstream side fixed pipe section SE2B due to the inertial force due to the reciprocating movement. As a result, the coating liquid can be discharged from the nozzle 54 at a more uniform flow rate.

<Main scanning drive mechanism 70>
In addition, the coating apparatus 1 includes a main scanning drive mechanism 70 that synchronously drives the slider 44 and the pipe support member 60 along the X direction. Since the slider 44 is a part of the coating unit 50 as described above, when the slider 44 and the pipe support member 60 are synchronously driven along the X direction, the coating unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are Driven synchronously along the X direction. Here, “the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are synchronously driven along the X direction” means that the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are driven in the same X direction range at the same speed. The application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are not limited to the above and within a range in which a large tensile force can be prevented from acting on the pipes 82 and 83 arranged between the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60. This includes the case where the X-direction range is driven at substantially the same speed.

  Thus, since the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are synchronously driven along the X direction, the section from the pipe support member 60 to the fixing portion 840 of the application unit 50 in the pipe 831A is accompanied by the above movement. Suppression is suppressed. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent pressure fluctuations from occurring in the coating liquid flowing inside the section due to the bending of the section. As a result, the coating liquid can be discharged from the nozzle 54 at a more uniform flow rate.

  The main scanning drive mechanism 70 includes a drive mechanism 72 that drives the slider 44 and a drive mechanism 76 that drives the pipe support member 60.

  The drive mechanism 72 includes a pair of pulley bodies 73 provided at both ends of the main scanning direction guide portion 42, a drive belt 74 wound around the pair of pulley bodies 73, and one pulley body 73 in both forward and reverse directions. And a motor 75 that can be driven to rotate. The upper portion of the slider 44 of the application unit 50 is connected and fixed to one side (lower side) of the two-path drive belt 74 that travels between the pair of pulley bodies 73. For this reason, the application unit 50 is reciprocated along the X direction by rotationally driving the motor 75 while controlling the rotation direction, the rotation speed, the rotation amount, and the like.

  Thus, the configuration realized by the main scanning mechanism 40 and the drive mechanism 72 is a displacement mechanism that displaces the coating unit 50 along the main scanning direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate 10 held by the substrate holding unit 30. Function.

  The drive mechanism 76 rotates a pair of pulleys 77 provided at both ends of the pipe support guide 62, a drive belt 78 wound around the pair of pulleys 77, and one pulley 77 in both forward and reverse directions. And a driveable motor 79. A pipe support member 60 is connected and fixed to one side (lower side) of the two paths of the drive belt 78 that travels between the pair of pulley bodies 77. For this reason, the pipe support member 60 and the application unit 50 are rotated by driving the motor 79 while controlling the rotation direction, the rotation speed, the rotation amount, and the like so that the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are synchronously driven. Synchronously, it is reciprocated along the X direction. However, as described above, the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are within a range in which a large tensile force can be prevented from acting on the pipes 82 and 83 passing between the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60. And may slightly deviate along the X direction.

  Although the example in which the slider 44 and the pipe support member 60 of the coating unit 50 are driven by separate motors 75 and 79 has been described here, the rotational driving force from the common motor is divided into two by the transmission mechanism. You may make it drive by transmitting. Alternatively, the slider 44 and the pipe support member 60 may be driven synchronously by being connected to a common drive belt. Further, the mechanism for driving the slider 44 or the pipe support member 60 is not limited to the above example, and various mechanisms can be used.

<Pitch adjustment mechanism 100>
A nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 100 is disposed on one side (+ X side) with respect to the reciprocating movement direction (X direction) of the coating unit 50. The nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 100 is a mechanism that accesses the nozzle holding unit 52 of the coating unit 50 displaced in the + X direction and adjusts the pitch in the sub-scanning direction of the nozzles 54 held by the nozzle holding unit 52.

  As described above, the coating unit 50 according to the present embodiment includes the fixing unit 840, the branching unit 841, and the connector units 842 and 843 as the configuration for holding the pipe 83. Only the connector portion 843 is disposed on the Y side (nozzle holding portion 52 side). As described above, by reducing the number of members arranged on the nozzle holding unit 52 side, the arrangement interval of the nozzles 54 held by the nozzle holding unit 52 can be easily adjusted by the nozzle pitch adjusting mechanism 100.

<Control unit 90>
In addition, the coating apparatus 1 includes a control unit 90 that controls the operation of each part of the apparatus. The control unit 90 is configured by a general microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and performs operation control of the coating apparatus 1 according to a software program stored in advance. Here, the control unit 90 supplies air from the air supply source 86 and starts supplying the coating liquid from the coating liquid supply source 88 to discharge the coating liquid from each nozzle 54, and then the slider of the coating unit 50. 44, the pipe support member 60, and the stage 32 are controlled to be driven.

<1.2 Effects of coating apparatus 1>
As described above, in the present embodiment, the second pipeline section SE2 is relatively fixed to the coating unit 50, and the downstream fixed pipeline section SE2B is arranged in the YZ plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction. As a result, the application unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 are synchronously driven, and the like, thereby suppressing the occurrence of pressure fluctuations in the coating liquid flowing in the pipe 83.

  In addition, a pressure fluctuation absorbing portion (pipe 832, pipe 833) is provided in the downstream side fixed pipe section SE2B, which is a section extending to the nozzle 54 and in which the occurrence of pressure fluctuation is suppressed. For this reason, the coating liquid in which the pressure fluctuation is sufficiently absorbed can be supplied to the nozzle 54.

  In this way, by suppressing the occurrence of pressure fluctuations and absorbing the generated pressure fluctuations, the pressure fluctuations of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe 83 can be sufficiently reduced, and more uniform from the nozzle 54. The coating liquid can be discharged at a flow rate.

<2 Modification>
While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention can be modified in various ways other than those described above without departing from the spirit of the present invention. In the following description, the same parts as those in the above embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a coating unit 50A according to a modification. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a member configuration of one pipe 83 according to the modification.

  This modification mainly includes a point where the pipe 831 is connected to the coating unit 50A in a state in which the pipe 831 is not bundled with the other nine pipes 831, and the entire second pipe section SE2 is orthogonal to the main scanning direction. It is different from the above embodiment in that it is arranged in the plane. Details will be described below.

  Unlike the application unit 50, the application unit 50 </ b> A does not have the fixing portion 840. The application unit 50 </ b> A includes a connector portion 844 instead of the branch portion 841 of the application unit 50. The pipe 831 and the pipe 832 are connected via a connector portion 844 fixed to the + Y side of the application unit 50A.

  The pipe 832 to the pipe 834 are connected between the respective parts (specifically, the connector part 844, the connector part 842, the connector part 843, and the nozzle 54) fixed to the coating unit 50A. Further, the pipe 832 to the pipe 834 are provided in a tensioned state between the respective parts fixed to the application unit 50A. As a result, the pipes 832 to 834 are arranged relatively fixed to the application unit 50A.

  As described above, in this modification, the section of the upstream pipe 831 in the pipe 83 corresponds to the “first pipe section SE1”, and the downstream of the pipe 83 that is relatively fixedly disposed on the application unit 50A. The section of the pipe 832 to the pipe 834 that is the side section corresponds to the “second pipe section SE2”.

  For each pipe 83, the connector portion 844, the connector portion 842, the connector portion 843, and the nozzle 54 are arranged at the same X direction position (in the same YZ plane). The pipes 832 to 834 connected between these parts are also arranged at the same position in the X direction (in the same YZ plane) for each pipe 83. For this reason, the second pipeline section SE2 is arranged in a plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion (pipe 832, 833) is provided in the second pipeline section SE2. Also in this modification, as in the above embodiment, the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing in the pipe 83 is sufficiently reduced by suppressing the occurrence of pressure fluctuation and absorbing the generated pressure fluctuation. In addition, the coating liquid can be discharged from the nozzle 54 at a more uniform flow rate.

  In this modification, the middle of 10 pipes 831 is held by the pipe support member 60 described above, and 10 pipes 831 (first pipe section SE1) on the upstream side of the pipe support member 60. These pipes 831 are bundled, and it is desirable that ten pipes 831 are branched downstream of the pipe support member 60 in the pipe 831. Thereby, the part (upstream part from the pipe support member 60) formed by the reciprocating movement of the coating unit 50 and the pipe support member 60 is bound, and the control of the bending is facilitated, and the application unit 50 is connected. The part (downstream part from the piping support member 60) is branched, and the advantage that there is no need to provide the branch part 841 in the coating unit 50 can be obtained.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic side view showing a T-shaped pipe 835 as a pressure fluctuation absorbing portion.

  The T-shaped pipe 835 includes a main path 835A along the flow direction AR of the coating liquid in the pipe 83 (in this modification, the + X direction), and a direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction from the main path 835A (+ Z in this modification). And a membrane 835C provided at the downstream end of the branch 835B.

  When the pressure of the coating liquid flowing inside the T-shaped pipe 835 is high, the membrane 835C is deformed in the + Z direction (see the solid line in FIG. 8), and the internal space of the branch 835B is increased, and the inside of the T-shaped pipe 835 is increased. When the pressure of the coating liquid flowing through the membrane is low, the membrane 835C is deformed in the −Z direction (see the dotted line in FIG. 8), and the internal space 44S of the branch 835B is reduced. As a result, the pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the T-shaped pipe 835 is reduced (absorbed) by the membrane 835C.

  As described above, since the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion (T-shaped pipe 835 in this modification) is a portion disposed in the YZ plane, the trunk path 835A and the branch path 835B are disposed in the YZ plane. For this reason, it can suppress that the pressure fluctuation of a flow direction arises in the coating liquid which flows through the inside of the T-shaped piping 835 due to the inertial force by the movement of the coating unit 50. In this modification, the case where the branch 835B is provided in the + Z direction has been described, but the branch 835B may be provided in the −Z direction. Further, various elastic bodies that deform according to the pressure of the coating liquid can be used instead of the membrane 835C of the present modification.

  Instead of the pipes 832 and 833 described in the above embodiment, a T-shaped pipe 835 may be used, or a T-shaped pipe 835 may be used together with at least one of the pipes 832 and 833.

  Even when the T-shaped pipe 835 is not used as the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion, in addition to the aspect of the above embodiment, the aspect having only the pipe 832, the aspect having only the pipe 833, and the pipe downstream of the pipe 833 Various aspects such as an aspect having 832 can be adopted.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the coating device 1 provided with the piping support member 60 driven synchronously with the coating unit 50, it is not restricted to this. When the pipe support member 60 is not provided, the pipe 81 for supplying air to the pipe support member 60 and the mechanism for driving the pipe support member 60 (pipe support guide portion 62, drive mechanism 76, etc.) can be omitted. Can be realized. On the other hand, when there is the pipe support member 60, it is possible to effectively suppress the occurrence of pressure fluctuations in the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe 831 due to the pipe 831 being bent as described above.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the case where the piping 83 was ten, it is not restricted to this. The number of pipes 83 may be 9 or less, or 11 or more. In this case, each structure (fixing part 840, branching part 841, connector part 842, 843, nozzle 54) for fixing the pipe 83 to the coating unit 50 is also changed to the same number as the pipe 83. The number of other units is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and the number of each unit can be changed.

  In the above embodiment, in the configuration in which the four pipes 831 to 834 are connected in series by the three pipe connection parts (branch part 841, connector parts 842, 843), one pipe connection part (connector part 843). ) Has been described on the -Y side (nozzle holding part 52 side) of the application unit 50, but is not limited thereto.

  For example, the aspect by which two or more pipe connection parts are arranged on the nozzle holding part 52 side may be used. Moreover, the aspect which is not distribute | arranged to the nozzle holding | maintenance part 52 side may be sufficient as one piping connection part. In general, when n pipes (n is an integer of 2 or more) are connected in series with n-1 pipe connection parts to form the pipe 83, the nozzle holding part 52 side as viewed from the slider 44 (movable element). If only one pipe connection portion is disposed at most, it is possible to sufficiently reduce the member configuration disposed on the nozzle holding portion 52 side. As a result, when various processes are performed on the nozzle 54 (typically, when the pitch adjustment of the nozzle 54 is performed by the nozzle pitch adjustment mechanism 100), the process can be easily performed.

  As described above, the coating apparatus according to the embodiment and the modifications thereof have been described. However, these are examples of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of implementation of the present invention. Within the scope of the invention, the present invention can be freely combined with each embodiment, modified with any component in each embodiment, or omitted with any component in each embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Application | coating apparatus 10 Substrate 30 Substrate holding | maintenance part 40 Main scanning mechanism 44 Slider 50 Application | coating unit 52 Nozzle holding | maintenance part 54 Nozzle 60 Piping support member 70 Main scanning drive mechanism 80 Piping part 81-83, 831-834, 831A, 831B Piping 835T Pipe 840 Fixed part 841 Branch part 842-844 Connector part

Claims (9)

A coating device,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate;
An application unit that holds at least one nozzle that discharges an application liquid to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
A displacement mechanism for displacing the coating unit along a main scanning direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
At least one pipe for feeding the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source to the at least one nozzle;
At least one pressure fluctuation absorbing portion for absorbing pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe;
With
The pipe has an upstream first pipeline section and a downstream second pipeline section that is fixedly arranged relative to the coating unit,
The second pipeline section includes an upstream fixed pipeline section on the upstream side of the second pipeline section, and a downstream fixed pipeline section on the downstream side of the second pipeline section. And
The downstream fixed pipeline section is disposed along a plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion is provided in the downstream fixed pipeline section. . The coating apparatus according to claim 1,
The second pipeline section has a branching portion that branches the bundled pipes.
Of the second pipeline section, the upstream side of the branch portion is the upstream fixed pipeline section, and of the second pipeline section, the downstream side of the branch portion is the downstream fixed pipeline section,
In the first pipeline section and the upstream fixed pipeline section, a plurality of the pipes are bound together. A coating device,
A substrate holder for holding the substrate;
An application unit that holds at least one nozzle that discharges an application liquid to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
A displacement mechanism for displacing the coating unit along a main scanning direction parallel to the main surface of the substrate held by the substrate holding unit;
At least one pipe for feeding the coating liquid supplied from the coating liquid supply source to the at least one nozzle;
At least one pressure fluctuation absorbing portion for absorbing pressure fluctuation of the coating liquid flowing inside the pipe;
With
The pipe has an upstream first pipeline section and a downstream second pipeline section that is fixedly arranged relative to the coating unit,
The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second pipeline section is disposed in a plane orthogonal to the main scanning direction, and the pressure fluctuation absorbing portion is provided in the second pipeline section. The coating apparatus according to claim 3,
A pipe support member that is displaced along the main scanning direction in synchronization with the application unit being displaced along the main scanning direction by the displacement mechanism;
The pipe support member is arranged in the middle of the first pipe section, and a plurality of the pipes are bundled upstream of the pipe support member in the first pipe section, and the first pipe section Among these, the some piping is branched in the downstream from the said piping support member, The coating device characterized by the above-mentioned. A coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The pressure fluctuation absorbing portion includes a flexible first pipe having a pipe diameter larger than that of the pipe in the first pipe section, and a part of the pipe is configured by the first pipe. Coating device. A coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The pressure fluctuation absorbing portion includes a flexible second pipe having a pipe diameter smaller than that of the pipe in the first pipe section, and a part of the pipe is configured by the second pipe. Coating device. The coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The pressure fluctuation absorbing section has a T-shaped pipe provided with a trunk along the flow path direction of the coating liquid in the pipe and a branch branched from the trunk in a direction perpendicular to the main scanning direction,
A part of said piping is comprised by the said T-shaped piping, The coating device characterized by the above-mentioned. A coating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The application unit includes a mover that is displaced along the main scanning direction by the displacement mechanism, and a nozzle holding unit that is coupled to the mover and holds the nozzle.
The pipe is configured by connecting n pipes (n is an integer of 2 or more) in series with n-1 pipe connections,
The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one pipe connection portion is disposed on the nozzle holding portion side as viewed from the movable element. The coating apparatus according to claim 8,
The nozzle holding part is a part that holds the nozzle movably,
The coating apparatus further comprising a nozzle moving mechanism that adjusts a position of the nozzle in the nozzle holding portion.

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