JP6381902B2 - Application needle holder - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an applicator member and an applicator, and more specifically to an applicator member and an applicator for applying a liquid material droplet to a processing target material using an applicator needle.

  In recent years, printed electronics technology for forming fine circuits such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags by a printing (coating) method has been rapidly developed. As a method of forming a fine circuit or electrode pattern, a printing method, an ink jet method, etc. are common, but a method using a coating needle is also possible in that fine application is possible using a material with a wide range of viscosity. In recent years, it has attracted attention.

  As a method for finely applying a liquid material using an application needle, for example, a method using an application unit as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-268353 has been proposed. The coating unit disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-268353 is intended to correct fine pattern defects, and can perform fine coating using a material having a wide range of viscosity.

  However, in the application unit, there is only one drive shaft of the drive unit (air cylinder) that drives the application needle, and the drive unit and the arm that fixes and supports the application needle are not fixed, and are attached to the drive shaft. The arm is supported by a pin protruding from the drive plate. When the application needle is lowered toward the substrate to be processed, the drive shaft is moved to lower the pin (closer to the substrate side). Then, the arm supported by the linear motion guide member and the application needle fixing plate connected to the arm and fixing the application needle move (lower) to the substrate side by its own weight, and the application needle descends and contacts the substrate To do.

  In the application unit, when the liquid material (application material) is applied to the substrate, the application material is applied to the substrate by bringing the tip of the application needle to which the application material is attached into contact with the application target surface. At this time, the masses of the application needle fixing plate, the arm, and the movable portion of the linear motion guide member are loaded on the tip of the application needle. On the other hand, in order to draw a fine pattern, it is necessary to reduce the diameter of the tip of the application needle. As the tip of the application needle becomes thinner, the contact pressure (surface pressure) acting on the tip of the application needle increases, and the tip of the application needle is damaged during application, or a dent from the application needle is generated on the substrate surface (application target surface). The possibility to do is increased. For this reason, depending on the material of the substrate to be coated, it may be difficult to sufficiently reduce the size of the pattern to be coated.

  On the other hand, for such a problem of contact pressure as described above, for example, a mechanism as disclosed in JP 2013-109315 A has been proposed.

  In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-109315, the mass of the above-described application needle support part (application needle fixing plate and arm and movable part of the linear motion guide member) is apparently reduced by using a repulsive force of a magnet or a spring. Is disclosed. This method is effective when the tip of the application needle is brought into contact with the application target surface of the substrate at a low speed.

JP 2007-268353 A JP 2013-109315 A

  However, if the moving speed (contact speed) of the application needle when the tip of the application needle is brought into contact with the surface to be applied is increased, the above effect is reduced, and the tip of the application needle is damaged and damage to the substrate that is the application target occurs. . This is because when the contact speed is increased, the mass of the application needle support portion is instantaneously applied to the tip of the application needle. Therefore, it is difficult to increase the moving speed of the application needle in the mechanism disclosed in the above Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-109315.

  Here, from the viewpoint of increasing manufacturing efficiency and reducing manufacturing cost, it is required to draw a fine circuit such as an RFID tag in a short time. In order to perform drawing in such a short time, it is necessary to apply with a needle having a small tip size of the application needle as fast as possible. However, in the above-described coating mechanism, it is difficult to reduce the tip size of the coating needle and increase the coating speed, and it takes a long time to draw a fine pattern.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and a main object of the present invention is to provide an application member that can be applied at high speed using a fine application needle and an application apparatus using the same. Is to provide.

  An application member according to the present invention includes an application needle holder including an application needle and a base body that detachably holds the application needle holder. The application needle holder includes a housing, a fixing member, and a linear motion member. The fixing member is disposed inside the housing, and the application needle is fixed. The linear motion member supports the fixed member so as to be movable in one direction inside the housing.

  An applicator according to the present invention includes the applicator member and a holding base for holding a processing target material to which a liquid material is applied by an applicator needle.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the application | coating member which can be apply | coated at high speed using a micro application | coating needle, and an application device using the same are obtained.

It is a schematic diagram of the coating device according to this embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the application | coating mechanism of the coating device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a development view of an application needle holder in the application mechanism shown in FIG. 2. It is a schematic diagram which shows the base body in the application | coating mechanism shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the application needle holder shown in FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the application needle holder shown in FIG. 3.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

  With reference to FIG. 1, the coating apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a processing chamber, a Y-axis table 2 arranged in the processing chamber, an X-axis table 1, a Z-axis table 3, and coating. It mainly includes a mechanism 4, an observation optical system 6, a CCD camera 7 connected to the observation optical system 6, and a control unit. The control unit includes a monitor 9, a control computer 10, and an operation panel 8.

  Inside the processing chamber, a Y-axis table 2 is installed on the bottom of the processing chamber. This Y-axis table 2 is movable in the Y-axis direction. Specifically, a guide portion is installed on the lower surface of the Y-axis table 2. The guide portion is slidably connected to a guide rail installed on the bottom surface of the processing chamber. A ball screw is connected to the lower surface of the Y-axis table 2. By operating the ball screw by a driving member such as a motor, the Y-axis table 2 can be moved along the guide rail (in the Y-axis direction). Further, the upper surface of the Y-axis table 2 is a mounting surface on which the substrate 5 that is a processing target material is mounted.

  An X-axis table 1 is installed on the Y-axis table 2. The X-axis table 1 is disposed on a structure that is installed so as to straddle the Y-axis table 2 in the X-axis direction. On the X-axis table 1, a moving body connected to the Z-axis table 3 is installed so as to be movable in the X-axis direction. The moving body is movable in the X-axis direction using, for example, a ball screw. The X-axis table 1 is fixed to the bottom surface of the processing chamber via the structure. Therefore, the Y-axis table 2 described above is movable in the Y-axis direction with respect to the X-axis table 1.

  As described above, the Z-axis table 3 is installed on the moving body connected to the X-axis table 1. An observation optical system 6 and a coating mechanism 4 are connected to the Z-axis table 3. The observation optical system 6 is for observing the application position of the substrate 5 to be applied. The CCD camera converts the observed image into an electrical signal. The Z-axis table 3 holds the observation optical system 6 and the coating mechanism 4 so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction.

  A control computer 10 and an operation panel 8 for controlling these Y-axis table 2, X-axis table 1, Z-axis table 3, observation optical system 6 and coating mechanism 4, and a monitor 9 attached to the control computer are: It is installed outside the processing chamber. The monitor 9 displays image data converted by the CCD camera 7 and output data from the control computer 10. The operation panel 8 is used for inputting a command to the control computer 10.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 to 6, the coating mechanism 4 includes a servo motor 41, a cam 43, a bearing 44 held in contact with the cam surface of the cam 43, a cam coupling plate 45, a movable portion 46, and coating. A movable base 35 (see FIG. 4) for holding the needle holder 20 and an application material container 21 (see FIG. 2) are mainly included. The application needle holder 20 is detachable from the movable base 35.

  In the coating mechanism 4, the servo motor 41 is installed such that the central axis extends in the direction along the Z-axis direction shown in FIG. 1. A cam 43 is connected to the rotation shaft of the servo motor 41. The cam 43 is rotatable about the central axis of the servo motor 41. The cam 43 includes a center portion connected to the rotation shaft of the servo motor 41 and a flange portion connected to one end portion of the center portion. The upper surface of the flange portion (surface on the servo motor 41 side) is a cam surface. The cam surface is formed in an annular shape along the outer periphery of the center portion, and is formed in a slope shape so that the distance from the bottom surface of the flange portion varies. Specifically, the cam surface has a farthest (thick) upper end flat region that is the farthest from the bottom surface, a lower end flat region that is spaced from the upper end flat region, and the upper end flat region. And a slope portion that smoothly connects the lower end flat region. The lower end flat region is a region where the distance from the bottom surface is the shortest (thin thickness).

  A bearing 44 is disposed in contact with the cam surface of the cam 43. A cam coupling plate 45 is connected to the bearing 44. In the cam connecting plate 45, the other end opposite to the one end connected to the bearing 44 is fixed to the movable portion 46. A movable base 35 is connected to the movable portion 46. The application needle holder 20 is installed on the movable base 35. The application needle holder 20 includes an application needle 24. The application needle 24 is arranged so as to protrude from the application needle holder 20 on the lower surface of the application needle holder 20 (the lower side opposite to the side where the servo motor 41 is located). A coating material container 21 is disposed under the coating needle holder 20. The application needle 24 is held in the application material container 21 in an inserted state.

  A fixed pin is fixed to the movable portion 46. Further, the other fixing pin is fixed to the gantry holding the servo motor 41. A spring is installed so as to connect the fixing pins. Due to this spring, the movable portion 46 is in a state of receiving a force directed toward the coating material container 21 side. Further, the bearing 44 is kept pressed against the cam surface of the cam 43 by the force of the spring.

  In addition, the movable portion 46 and the movable base 35 are connected to a linear guide installed on a gantry holding the servo motor 41 and are movable along the Z-axis direction.

  In the coating mechanism 4 described above, the servo motor 41 is driven to rotate the rotation shaft of the servo motor 41 to rotate the cam 43. As a result, the position of the bearing 44 in contact with the cam surface of the cam 43 in the Z-axis direction varies according to the rotation of the rotation shaft of the servo motor 41. Then, the position of the application needle 24 in the Z-axis direction can be changed by moving the movable portion 46 and the movable base 35 in the Z-axis direction in accordance with the position variation of the bearing 44 in the Z-axis direction.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the application needle holder 20 mainly includes a holder base 22, an application needle fixing plate 25 to which the application needle 24 is fixed, and a holder lid 23. Inside the holder base 22, a recess is formed for accommodating the application needle fixing plate 25 to which the application needle 24 is bonded and fixed. A linear guide 26 is fixed in the recess. The linear guide 26 is arranged to define the moving direction of the application needle fixing plate 25. The application needle fixing plate 25 is held in contact with the linear guide 26.

  A spring 27 as an elastic member is connected to the other end of the application needle fixing plate 25 opposite to the one end where the application needle 24 is fixed. The spring 27 is disposed in a state of being sandwiched between the other end of the application needle fixing plate 25 and the spring receiver 28 in the holder lid 23. By disposing the spring 27 in a state compressed to some extent, the application needle fixing plate 25 can be pressed to the application needle 24 side. For this reason, when the applicator needle 24 is moved up and down, the position of the applicator needle 24 can be prevented from shifting (fluctuating with respect to the holder base in the vertical direction). Further, when an excessive stress is applied to the application needle 24 when the application needle 24 comes into contact with the surface of the substrate 5 as a processing target material, the spring 27 is elastically deformed to absorb the stress.

  The value of the stress applied to the application needle 24 when the application needle 24 comes into contact with the surface of the substrate 5 is affected by the force from the spring 27, so that the force that the spring 27 applies to the application needle fixing plate 25. Is preferably adjusted to a minimum value necessary for holding the application needle 24 at a position on the substrate side.

  The holder lid 23 is formed with a long hole 29 through which a screw used for fixing the holder lid 23 to the holder base 22 is passed. The long hole 29 is formed to have a long axis in a direction along the direction in which the linear guide 26 extends (that is, the direction in which the application needle 24 moves) when the holder lid 23 is installed on the holder base 22. . As a result, the holder lid 23 can be fixed to the holder base 22 after the position of the holder lid 23 with respect to the holder base 22 is changed in the long axis direction of the long hole. Therefore, by changing the position of the holder lid 23 with respect to the holder base 22, as a result, the distance between the spring receiver 28 and the end of the application needle fixing plate 25 (the size of the region where the spring 27 is disposed) is changed. Can change. Therefore, when assembling the application needle holder 20, the holder lid 23 may be fixed to the holder base 22 while measuring the force applied to the tip of the application needle 24 by the spring 27, for example.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, in the application mechanism 4, the application needle holder 20 is detachable from the movable base 35. Specifically, in the application needle holder 20, a plurality of (two in FIG. 6) magnets 32 are arranged on the surface (the surface of the holder base 22) that faces the movable base 35. In addition, a plurality of (two in FIG. 4) magnets 33 are also arranged on the movable base 35. By applying the magnet 32 and the magnet 33 to each other, the application needle holder 20 can be installed on the movable base 35. Then, by adjusting the positions of the magnet 32 and the magnet 33, the position of the application needle holder 20 is adjusted when the application needle holder 20 is attracted to the movable base 35 by the magnetic force acting between the magnet 32 and the magnet 33. Accurate positioning. For example, the reference surface 30 of the application needle holder 20 can be pressed against the reference surface 34 of the movable base 35, and the reference surface 31 of the application needle holder 20 can be pressed against the reference surface 36 of the movable base 35. . In this state, for example, when the application needle holder 20 is installed on the movable base 35, the position of the magnet 33 of the movable base 35 is changed from the position of the magnet 32 of the application needle holder 20 facing each other to the reference surfaces 34 and 36. By disposing them close to each other, a magnetic force between the magnets 32 and 33 can apply a suction force toward the reference surfaces 34 and 36 (attraction force in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 4) with respect to the application needle holder 20. it can. As a result, the application needle holder 20 can be fixed to the movable base 35 with high reproducibility with high positional accuracy.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 6 will be described.
In the coating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, when drawing a circuit pattern, first, the X-axis table 1 and the Y-axis table 2 are operated so that the drawing area on the substrate 5 to be coated is directly below the observation optical system 6. Move. Then, the drawing start position is observed and confirmed by the observation optical system 6, and the drawing start position is determined. Using the determined drawing start position as a reference, when the application needle 24 is projected, the Z-axis table 3 is operated to a position where the tip of the application needle 24 contacts the surface of the substrate 5, and the application mechanism 4 is lowered. Thereafter, the servo motor 41 is operated to cause the application needle 24 to protrude, and the liquid material adhering to the tip of the application needle 24 is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate 5. Specifically, the substrate 5 is moved from the drawing start position using the X-axis table 1 and the Y-axis table 2 so that the position to be drawn is located immediately below the coating mechanism 4. When the application needle 24 is projected when the movement is completed, the application mechanism 4 is lowered by the Z-axis table 3 to a position where the tip of the application needle 24 contacts the surface of the substrate 5. Then, the servo motor 41 of the application mechanism 4 is driven to apply the liquid material to the substrate 5 by projecting the application needle 24. When coating continuously, the substrate 5 is moved by the X-axis table 1 and the Y-axis table 2 so that the next drawing position is located immediately below the coating mechanism 4, and the servo motor 41 of the coating mechanism 4 is driven. Apply. By repeating this operation, a circuit pattern is drawn on the surface of the substrate 5. After all the coating is completed, the coating mechanism 4 is raised using the Z-axis table 3.

  The relationship between the lower end position of the application needle 24 and the focus position of the observation optical system 6 is stored in advance in the control unit. At the time of drawing, the position where the image is focused by the observation optical system 6 is used as a reference in the Z-axis direction, and the coating mechanism is applied by the Z-axis table 3 until the coating needle 24 comes into contact with the substrate 5 when the coating needle 24 is projected. After the position of 4 in the Z-axis direction is moved, the servo motor 41 of the application mechanism 4 is driven, and the application needle 24 is projected to perform application.

  If the circuit pattern to be drawn has a large area and the substrate surface height changes greatly during drawing, the focus position is confirmed during the drawing operation as necessary, and the Z axis of the application needle 24 is checked. Apply after correcting the position in the direction. The adjustment of the focus position at this time may be a method of automatically adjusting the focus using image processing, or the height position of the surface of the substrate 5 is always detected by using a laser sensor or the like, and the focus is corrected in real time. The method of doing may be used.

  Here, although there is a part which overlaps with embodiment mentioned above, the characteristic structure of this invention is enumerated.

  (1) An application member (application mechanism 4) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an application needle holder 20 including an application needle 24, and a base body that detachably holds the application needle holder 20. The application needle holder 20 includes a housing (holder base 22, holder lid 23), a fixing member (application needle fixing plate 25), and a linear motion member (linear guide 26). The fixing member (25) is disposed inside the housing (22, 23), and the application needle 24 is fixed thereto. The linear motion member (26) supports the fixed member (25) so as to be movable in one direction inside the housings (22, 23).

  In this way, the application needle holder 20 includes the application needle 24 and the linear movement member (26) that supports the application needle 24 so as to be movable in one direction, so that the linear movement member (26) is the application needle. The application member (4) can be made smaller and lighter than when it is arranged separately from the holder 20. For this reason, even when the moving speed of the application needle 24 is high when the application needle 24 is brought into contact with the surface of the processing target material (the substrate 5 that is the application target material), the load applied to the application needle 24 is reduced. It can be made smaller than before (for example, the mass of the portion supporting the application needle 24 can be reduced to about 10% of the conventional one). Therefore, the diameter of the application needle 24 can be reduced and the application speed can be increased.

  (2) In the application member (4), the application needle holder 20 has an elastic member (spring 27) that applies a pressing force to the fixing member (25) in a direction in which the application needle 24 protrudes from the application needle holder 20. Further, it may be included. In this case, since a certain stress can be applied to the application needle 24 by the elastic member (27), the relative movement of the application needle 24 in the application needle holder 20 when the application member (4) is moved. The fluctuation of the position can be suppressed and the position accuracy of the application needle 24 can be increased.

  (3) In the application member (4), in the application needle holder 20, the housing (22, 23) includes a first housing portion (holder base 22) and a second housing portion (holder lid 23). May be. The fixing member (25) may be connected to the first housing portion (22) via the linear motion member (26). The elastic member (27) may be disposed so as to contact a part of the fixing member (25) and a part of the second housing part (23) (spring receiver 28). The first housing portion (22) and the second housing portion (23) may be capable of changing the relative positional relationship.

  In this case, by changing the relative positional relationship between the first housing part (22) and the second housing part (23), a part of the fixing member (25) (the upper end of the application needle fixing plate 25) ) And a portion of the second housing portion (23) (spring receiver 28) (that is, the size of the space in which the elastic member (27) is to be disposed) can be arbitrarily changed. Therefore, by adjusting the distance, when the elastic member (27) is disposed between a part of the fixing member (25) and a part (28) of the second housing part (23), the elasticity The degree to which the member (27) is compressed (that is, the magnitude of the stress that the fixing member (25) receives from the elastic member (27)) can be adjusted.

  (4) The coating apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a holding table (Y-axis table 2) that holds the coating member (4) and a processing target material (substrate 5) to which a liquid material is coated by the coating needle 24. ). In this way, it is possible to realize a coating apparatus that can perform coating at high speed using the miniaturized coating needle 24.

  The embodiment disclosed this time should be considered as illustrative in all points and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  The present invention provides a coating member for conducting conductive pattern drawing, correcting open defects in conductive patterns, forming fine circuit patterns such as RFID tags, correcting defects, and applying a conductive adhesive. And particularly advantageously applied to liquid material applicators.

  1 X-axis table, 2 Y-axis table, 3 Z-axis table, 4 coating mechanism, 5 substrate, 6 observation optical system, 7 CCD camera, 8 operation panel, 9 monitor, 10 control computer, 20 coating needle holder, 21 coating Material container, 22 Holder base, 23 Holder lid, 24 Application needle, 25 Application needle fixing plate, 26 Linear guide, 27 Spring, 29 Long hole, 30, 31, 34, 36 Reference plane, 32, 33 Magnet, 35 Movable base 41 Servo motor, 43 Cam, 44 Bearing, 45 Cam connecting plate, 46 Movable part.

Claims (3)

A housing ,
And a fixed member, at least a portion of said fixing member is disposed in the interior of the housing, further,
An application needle fixed to the fixing member;
A linear motion member and the said casing being disposed within and supporting the fixing member move capable in contact with the fixing member,
An applicator needle holder including an elastic member disposed inside the housing ,
The application needle holder is configured to be detachably held by a moving mechanism that moves the application needle when applying the application material using the application needle,
The application needle holder does not include the moving mechanism and a container for storing the application material,
The elastic member is configured to apply a pressing force to the fixing member in a direction in which the application needle protrudes from the application needle holder, and the direction is movably supported by the linear motion member. An applicator needle holder extending along a moving direction of the fixing member . Before Kikatamitai includes a first housing portion and second housing portion,
The fixing member is connected through the linear motion member to the first housing portion,
The elastic member is in contact with a part of the fixing member and a part of the second casing part, and the part of the fixing member and the part of the second casing part It is arranged in a compressed state between
The applicator needle holder according to claim 1 , wherein the first housing portion and the second housing portion are configured to be capable of changing a relative positional relationship in the direction . The application needle holder according to claim 1 , wherein a part of the fixing member protrudes from the housing .

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