JP7440954B2 - Thin film forming apparatus and thin film forming method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an inkjet type thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method.

The inkjet method is a method in which ink droplets as a coating material are ejected with high precision little by little from an inkjet coating head that uses bubbles or piezoelectric elements as a coating head. An inkjet coating device is an apparatus that performs the process of applying ink droplets to a member to be coated by highly accurate ejection of ink droplets. This has attracted attention in recent years as a device that can realize high-definition ink application, and its applicability is being explored not only for printing on paper but also in all industrial fields, and some have already been put into practical use. be.

A plurality of nozzles are provided at a predetermined pitch at the tip of the lower surface of the coating head, and the pitch of the nozzles determines the ejection interval of droplets of coating material. The pitch of these nozzles is small, and the presence or absence of ejection can be controlled individually for each nozzle, making it possible to coat any shape within a plane without the need for a printing plate like in flexographic printing.

On the other hand, since the viscosity of the coating material is adjusted so that droplets can be discharged from the nozzle, the coating material wets and spreads on the substrate after being discharged. Therefore, the stability of the surface shape formed by one droplet and one adjacent droplet becomes a problem, and in particular, 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 using an inkjet head and attached onto a substrate. In the method of forming an alignment film by drying and solidifying, a surface tension adjusting solvent and a deaeration solvent are added to the alignment film material to make the viscosity suitable for inkjet ejection. This is intended to improve the ejection operation of the inkjet and the leveling performance on the substrate after ejection, and the drying and solidification is transferred to the next drying device as a separate process (see Non-Patent Document 1). ).

Patent No. 3073493

Yoshihiro Iwai and Kenji Koshiishi, “Thorough Comparison of Liquid Crystal, PDP, and Organic EL”, 1st edition, Kogyo Chokenkai Co., Ltd., July 2004, p. 50-58

Until now, in seeking high coating position accuracy and film thickness uniformity in inkjet coating, attention has been focused mainly on the relative positional relationship between the target coating interval and the nozzle pitch of the coating head.
However, in applying inkjet coating in various fields, in addition to the operation at the time of coating, it is also important to manage the process from immediately after coating until it dries and adheres to the substrate.

In particular, in the case of application to the manufacture of liquid crystal glass substrates, as the size of the substrates increases, the state of adhesion becomes extremely important. For this reason, it is desirable to control the position and apply the coating using an inkjet method, and to dry it 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. Therefore, the drying process is not performed between the start of the coating process and the time when the drying process is started after being set in the drying device. For this reason, there is a risk that the droplets applied to the glass substrate may move before the drying process is started, or that leveling due to overlap between droplets may occur unintentionally.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method that are capable of highly accurate and uniform coating.

In order to solve these problems, the present invention provides a pedestal that is equipped with a suction table that suctions and holds an object to be coated with a thin film, and a gantry that is provided on the pedestal and is movable in the longitudinal direction of the pedestal. , a plurality of coating heads provided on the gantry, movable in the width direction of the gantry perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gantry and in the vertical direction of the mounting surface of the gantry, and applying a thin film to the surface of the object to be coated; and a head recovery device provided adjacent to a suction table provided on the pedestal in the longitudinal direction of the pedestal, and the head recovery device removes the material liquid from the nozzle of the coating head. A camera for discharging droplets and taking images; a suction port connected to a vacuum chamber to unclog the coating head by suction; and electronics used to adjust the amount of material discharged from the nozzle of the coating head. If the nozzle of the applicator head is clogged and the drop does not drop, the image is taken by the balance and the camera, and if the nozzle of the applicator head is clogged, the clogging of the applicator head is recovered by suction, and the material is discharged using the electronic balance. and a head recovery control section that adjusts the amount of ejection per application between the application heads based on the amount of ejection.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a thin film forming apparatus and a thin film forming method that are capable of highly accurate and uniform coating.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the back side of the gantry. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the head recovery device. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the head recovery device. It is a functional block diagram explaining the function of a control part. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a thin film forming method of the thin film forming apparatus according to the present embodiment. It is a flow chart explaining an outer frame application process. It is a flowchart explaining an inner surface coating process. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outer frame coating process of the thin film forming apparatus based on this embodiment, (a) shows the time of an outward trip, and (b) shows the time of a return trip. FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating the structure of a gantry of a thin film forming apparatus according to a modification. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outer frame coating process of the thin film forming apparatus based on a modification, (a) shows the time of an outward trip, and (b) shows the time of a return trip.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 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 parts are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a thin film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
The thin film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment has a wide variety of uses, such as flat panel displays and flexible electronic paper called flexible displays that utilize electrophoresis. In the following description, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described as one that forms (coats) a polyimide thin film on a glass substrate 100 used for a flat panel display. Note that the polyimide thin film formed (coated) on the glass substrate 100 with the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment becomes an alignment film by being subjected to main drying treatment and alignment treatment (rubbing). However, in this description, the thin film before the main drying treatment/orientation treatment will also be referred to as the "alignment film."

The thin film forming apparatus 1 includes a pedestal 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, and an alignment film. A suction table 9 that fixes the glass substrate 100 to be formed (coated) by vacuum suction, a head recovery device 10, a heat source device 31, an alignment camera 32 (see FIG. 2), and an alignment camera movement mechanism 33. (see FIG. 2) and a control section 50 (see FIG. 5).

In the following explanation, as shown in FIG. 1, the longitudinal direction of the gantry 2 (the direction in which the gantry 3 moves) is the X axis, and the width direction of the gantry 2 (the direction perpendicular to the X axis on the horizontal plane) is the Y axis. The following description assumes that the vertical direction is the Z axis. Further, the explanation will be made assuming that the gantry 3 moves in the positive direction of the X-axis as an outward path, and that the gantry 3 moves in the negative direction of the X-axis as a backward path.

The gantry 3 is a gate-shaped gantry having an opening 3a between it and the gantry 2, and is provided on the gantry 2 via an X-axis moving mechanism 6.
A coating head unit 5 having a plurality of coating heads 4 is provided on the return path side of the gantry 3 via a Y-axis moving mechanism 7 and a Z-axis moving mechanism 8 .
A heat source device 31 is provided on the outgoing side of the gantry 3. Furthermore, an alignment camera 32 (see FIG. 2) is provided on the outgoing 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 consisting of a stator (magnetic plate) 6a provided on the pedestal 2 and a movable element (coil) 6b provided on the gantry 3. can be moved in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis moving mechanism 7 is a linear motor actuator consisting of a stator (magnetic plate) 7a provided on the gantry 3 and a movable element (coil) 7b 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 includes a servo motor, and is capable of moving the coating head unit 5 in the Z-axis direction with respect to the gantry 3.
That is, the coating head unit 5 (coating head 4, nozzle 4a described later) can be moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis movement mechanism 6, and can be moved in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis movement mechanism 7. It is now possible to move in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis moving mechanism 8.
Note that the X-axis moving mechanism 6, the Y-axis moving mechanism 7, and the Z-axis moving mechanism 8 are controlled by a control section 50.

A coating head unit 5 having a plurality of coating heads 4 is provided. A plurality of coating heads 4 are provided in order to ensure continuity of the pitch of the nozzles that discharge the alignment film material. 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. Illustrated. Further, a plurality of nozzles (not shown) for discharging the alignment film material to one coating head 4 are arranged in a row along the Y-axis direction, and a plurality of rows of the nozzles (not shown) are arranged in a row along the Y-axis direction. ). Note that the application head 4 is an inkjet head that uses a piezoelectric element or the like to eject a small amount of droplets from a nozzle with high precision.
Note that the control unit 50 is capable of controlling whether or not the alignment film material is discharged, the timing, and the amount of the alignment film material to be discharged for each nozzle of the coating head 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of the back side of the gantry 3. As shown in FIG. Note that in FIG. 2, the movable element 6b of the X-axis moving mechanism 6, the Y-axis moving mechanism 7, and the Z-axis moving mechanism 8 are omitted from illustration.
As shown in FIG. 2, the heat source device 31 disposed on the outbound side of the gantry 3 (back side in FIG. 1) is composed of, for example, an infrared lamp, and is capable of emitting infrared rays in a substantially vertical direction. ing. That is, when the gantry 3 returns, it is possible to irradiate the object (glass substrate 100) that has passed through the opening 3a (see FIG. 1) of the gantry 3 with infrared rays.
Note that the heat source device 31 is controlled to be turned on and off by the control unit 50.

Although the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described as using an infrared lamp as the heat source device 31, it is not limited to this, and it may also be a visible light lamp (not shown) that emits visible light. It may also be an ultraviolet lamp (not shown) that irradiates ultraviolet rays, as long as it can heat the alignment film material applied to the glass substrate 100.
Incidentally, when using an ultraviolet lamp (not shown) as the heat source device 31, it takes time for the intensity of the emitted ultraviolet rays to stabilize after the power is turned on for the ultraviolet lamp, so a shutter (not shown) is provided to It is desirable to control the start and stop of irradiation by opening and closing a shutter instead of controlling the lighting and extinguishing of a lamp.
Alternatively, the heat source device 31 may be a hot air blower (not shown) that heats clean air that does not contain dust and the like and blows it onto the target (glass substrate 100). By blowing heated clean air onto the target as a heat medium, the target (glass substrate 100) can be further heated. Alternatively, 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 adsorbed on the suction table 9, and is also 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 is capable of moving 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 movement mechanism 6, and can be moved in the Y-axis direction by the alignment camera movement mechanism 33.
Note that the X-axis moving mechanism 6 and the alignment camera moving mechanism 33 are controlled by a control section 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 is capable of vacuum suctioning and fixing the glass substrate 100. Further, the suction table 9 is equipped with a θ rotation mechanism (not shown) consisting of a servo motor, and can be rotated by a rotation angle θ with the axis in the Z-axis direction as the rotation axis.
Note that the attachment/detachment of the glass substrate 100 and the rotation angle θ of the suction table 9 are controlled by the control unit 50 .

Next, the head recovery device 10 will be further explained using 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 causes ink to be ejected from the nozzle of the coating head 4 to prevent clogging of the nozzle and to detect recovery from 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 an LED moving mechanism 12A that moves the camera 13 in the Y-axis direction. It includes a camera moving mechanism 13A and an electronic balance 14. In the electronic balance 14, the alignment film material is discharged from the nozzle of the coating head 4, and the discharge amount per time between each coating head 4 is adjusted.

The suction port 11 is connected to a vacuum chamber (not shown) or the like, and is arranged so as to correspond to the plurality of coating heads 4 provided in the coating head unit 5 when viewed in the Z-axis direction. That is, 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, corresponding to the coating head unit 5 shown in FIG. .

The LEDs 12 are arranged to correspond in position to the coating heads 4 provided in the coating head unit 5 and arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction. That is, four LEDs 12 are arranged in a line along the Y-axis direction, corresponding to the coating head unit 5 shown in FIG. Further, the LED 12 can be moved in the Y-axis direction by an LED moving mechanism 12A.
Note that the LED 12 is controlled to turn on and off by the control unit 50.

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

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating the operation of the head recovery device 10. Note that FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram as viewed from the XZ plane of FIG. 1. Further, in FIG. 1, a plurality of coating heads 4 and suction ports 11 are arranged in the X-axis direction, but the coating heads 4 and suction ports 11 that correspond to the nozzle to be inspected are not shown in FIG. is omitted.

First, the control unit 50 (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) also 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 match the Y-axis coordinates of the nozzle 4a to be inspected. move it to Further, the camera 13 has a moving mechanism (not shown) in the X-axis direction, and moves the focal position of the image to match the X-axis coordinate 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 droplets 4b of the alignment film material are ejected from the nozzle 4a. Note that the discharged droplet 4b of the alignment film material enters the suction port 11.
At this time, the control section 50 (head recovery control section 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 an image captured by the camera 13. Thereby, recovery from clogging of the nozzle 4a can be detected.

Note that the clogging of the nozzle 4a is resolved by discharging the droplets 4b of the alignment film material, but if the clogging cannot be resolved only by discharging 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 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 it to a predetermined height, ejects droplets 4b of the alignment film material from the nozzle 4a, and 13 to confirm recovery.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram illustrating the 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.
Further, the control unit 50 is capable of controlling attachment/detachment of the glass substrate 100 and rotation angle θ on the suction table 9 .
Further, the control unit 50 is capable of controlling lighting/extinguishing of the LED 12 and the heat source device 31.
Further, the control unit 50 can control whether or not the alignment film material is ejected and the timing for each nozzle of the plurality of coating heads 4.
Further, the control unit 50 is configured to receive images captured by the camera 13 and the alignment camera 32.

The control section 50 includes a head recovery control section 51, an outer frame coating process control section 52, and an inner surface coating process control section 53.
The head recovery control section 51 performs control to recover the nozzles of the coating head 4.
The outer frame coating process control unit 52 is configured to control forming an outer frame of an alignment film to be coated on the glass substrate 100.
The inner surface coating process control unit 53 is configured to control coating of the alignment film material inside the outer frame of the alignment film formed by the outer frame coating process control unit 52.

Next, a thin film forming method using the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 6 to 8.

In step S1, the head recovery control section 51 of the control section 50 checks whether the alignment film material can be normally dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4. Further, the amount of the alignment film material discharged 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. Further, the LED moving mechanism 12A and the camera moving mechanism 13A are controlled to move the LED 12 and the camera 13 so that their Y-axis coordinates match 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.
Note that if the nozzle is clogged and drops are not dropped, the above-described suction recovery is performed.
After confirming that the droplet can be dropped normally from the nozzle of the coating head 4, the process proceeds to step S2.

In step S2, the control unit 50 controls the suction table 9 to cause an external substrate loading mechanism (not shown) to suction the glass substrate 100 placed on the suction table 9 (substrate loading). The control unit 50 also 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 to the suction table 9 based on the image captured by the alignment camera 32. Check the location. The control unit 50 controls the movement of the coating head 4, which will be described later, based on the position information of the glass substrate 100 confirmed here.

In step S3, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 of the control unit 50 coats and forms an outer frame of the alignment film on the glass substrate 100. Here, the outer frame coating process shown in step S3 will be further explained using FIG.
First, in step S31, the outer frame coating process control unit 52 controls the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 to form an area where the coating head 4 forms an outer frame pattern 110 (see FIG. 9(a)) in step S32, which will be described later. Move the Y-axis position so that it passes through (coating head Y-axis alignment).

In step S32, as shown in FIG. 9(a), the outer frame coating process control unit 52 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 to move the gantry 3 in the forward direction, and also controls the coating head 4. , the timing at which droplets of the alignment film material are dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4 is controlled.
As a result, 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 is completed, the process advances 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. 9(b), the outer frame coating process control unit 52 controls the X-axis moving mechanism 6 to move the gantry 3 in the backward direction. In this way, 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) 34.
As a result, 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 backward 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 a predetermined number of times has been completed.
In the outer frame coating process shown in step S3, in order to make the outer frame pattern 110 a predetermined height, the coating and drying of the outer frame pattern 110 is repeated multiple times, and the predetermined number of times has not been completed. (S36・No), the process of the outer frame coating process control unit 52 returns to step S31. When the predetermined number of times has been completed (S36, Yes), the outer frame coating step (step S3) shown in FIG. 7 is ended, and the process proceeds to step S4 in FIG. 6.

Returning to FIG. 6, in step S4, the inner surface coating process control section 53 of the control section 50 coats the alignment film material on the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 (see FIG. 9) formed in step S3. Here, the inner surface coating process shown in step S4 will be further explained using FIG.
In step S41, the inner surface coating process control unit 53 controls the Y-axis moving mechanism 7 to move the Y-axis position so that the coating head 4 is placed at the initial position in the Y-axis direction (coating 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 determine the timing for dropping droplets of alignment film material from the nozzle. Control (gantry movement/application). Note that the movement of the gantry 3 in S42 does not matter whether it is an outward movement or a return movement. As a result, 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 coating process control unit 53 determines whether a predetermined number of coatings (N times) has been completed.
As will be described later, the inner surface surrounded by the outer frame pattern 110 is coated N times while moving the coating head 4 by 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 becomes 1/N of the nozzle pitch of the coating head 4. Thereby, the film thickness can be made uniform.
If the predetermined number of coatings has not been completed (S43, No), the process proceeds to step S44, and the inner surface coating process control unit 52 controls the Y-axis movement mechanism 7 to move the coating head 4 by 1/N nozzle pitch. . Then, the process returns to step S42.
If the predetermined number of coatings has been completed (S43, Yes), the inner surface coating process (step S4) shown in FIG. 8 is finished, and the process proceeds to step S5 in FIG. 6.

In step S5, the control unit 50 controls the suction table 9 to release the suction of the glass substrate 100 placed on the suction table 9. The glass substrate 100 coated with the alignment film is extracted from the thin film forming apparatus 1 by an external substrate loading mechanism (not shown) (substrate unloading).
Note that 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 processing.

In this way, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms an alignment film using an inkjet method, so it does not require a plate like the conventional flexo printing method, and can form alignment films in small quantities and in a wide variety of types. (In other words, manufacturing of flat panel displays in small quantities and in a wide variety of products) is possible.

Furthermore, when forming an alignment film on the glass substrate 100, the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment forms an outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film, and then applies the alignment film material within the frame.
Here, as shown in FIG. 9, when forming the outer frame pattern 110 of the alignment film, the alignment film material coated on the glass substrate 100 is heated by a heat source device 31 such as an infrared lamp. Spreading of the alignment film material from the position where it is applied on the glass substrate 100 can be reduced. Thereby, it is possible to reduce protrusion from the alignment film formation area and to use the alignment film material efficiently.
Moreover, 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. Furthermore, in a multi-sided glass substrate, the distance between adjacent alignment film patterns can be reduced, and the number of flat panel displays that can be produced from one glass substrate can be increased.

Next, the alignment film material applied within the frame is dammed by the outer frame to prevent it from spreading any further. Thereby, it is possible to reduce protrusion (wetting and spreading) from the alignment film forming area and to use the alignment film material efficiently.

Further, in the thin film forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a head recovery device 10 is provided adjacent to the suction table 9. This prevents clogging of the coating head 4 and allows recovery (cleaning) of the nozzle, and appropriately controls the amount and timing of droplets of the alignment film material dripping from the nozzle of the coating head 4. be able to.
Furthermore, by taking an image of the alignment film material discharged from the coating head 4 with the camera 13, it is possible to confirm whether or not the alignment film material is being discharged correctly without clogging. Note that since the irradiation area of the heat source device 31 (the heating area 34 shown in FIG. 9(b)) is directed toward the glass substrate 100 and below the gantry 3, clogging of the coating head 4 is not promoted. It looks like this.

<Modified example>
Note that the thin film forming apparatus according to this embodiment is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a gantry 3 of a thin film forming apparatus according to a modification. Compared to the gantry 3 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 2), the gantry 3 according to the modified example (see FIG. 10) is also equipped with a heat source device 35 on the return path side of the gantry 3 (on the front side in FIG. 1). There is. Like the heat source device 31, the heat source device 35 is composed of, for example, an infrared lamp, and is capable of emitting infrared rays in a substantially vertical direction. That is, the heat source device 35 is capable of irradiating infrared rays onto an object that has passed through the opening 3a of the gantry 3 (see FIG. 1) during the outward movement of the gantry 3.
Note that the heat source device 35 is controlled to be turned on and off by the control unit 50.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram illustrating the outer frame coating process of a thin film forming apparatus according to a modified example, in which (a) shows the outward journey and (b) shows the return journey.
As shown in FIG. 11(a), when moving the gantry 3 in the forward direction, the coating head 4 is controlled to control the timing at which droplets of alignment film material are dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4, and the heat source By lighting the device 35, the glass substrate 100 is irradiated with infrared rays (heating region) 36.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11(b), when the gantry 3 is moved in the backward direction, the coating head 4 is controlled to control the timing at which droplets of the alignment film material are dropped from the nozzle of the coating head 4. By turning on the heat source device 31, the glass substrate 100 is irradiated with infrared rays (heating region) 34.
In this way, according to the thin film forming apparatus according to the modified example, the alignment film material can be dropped and dried both during the forward trip and during the return trip, and the takt time for forming the outer frame can be shortened.
Furthermore, since the time from application (dropping of alignment film material droplets) to drying (infrared ray irradiation) can be shortened, the linearity of the outer frame is further improved.

Moreover, it is further provided with a heating means (not shown) that heats the glass substrate 100 adsorbed on the adsorption table 9 (see FIG. 1), and by heating the glass substrate 100 in the outer frame forming step (step S3), the droplet is removed. Drying of the droplets of the alignment film material may be accelerated.

1 Thin film forming device 2 Frame 3 Gantry 3a Opening 4 Coating head 4a Nozzle 4b Droplets of alignment film material 5 Coating head unit 6 X-axis moving mechanism 6a Stator 6b Mover 7 Y-axis moving mechanism 7a Stator 7b Mover 8 Z Axis movement 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 movement mechanism (imaging device)
31 Heat source device 32 Alignment camera 33 Alignment camera movement mechanism 34 Infrared rays (heating area)
35 Heat source device 36 Infrared rays (heating area)
50 Control unit 51 Head recovery control section 52 Outer frame coating process control section 53 Inner coating process control section 100 Glass substrate (object to be coated)
110 Outer frame pattern

Claims (1)

a stand equipped with a suction table that suctions and holds an object to be coated with a thin film;
a gantry provided on the pedestal and movable in the longitudinal direction of the pedestal;
A plurality of application heads are provided on the gantry and are movable in the width direction of the gantry perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the gantry and in the vertical direction of the mounting surface of the gantry, and apply a thin film to the surface of the object to be coated. a coating head unit having;
a head recovery device provided adjacent to a suction table provided on the pedestal in the longitudinal direction of the pedestal;
The head recovery device includes:
a camera that discharges droplets of material from the nozzle of the application head and captures an image;
a suction port connected to a vacuum chamber and configured to unclog the application head by suction;
an electronic balance used to adjust the amount of material discharged from the nozzle of the coating head;
Confirm by taking an image with the camera, and if the nozzle of the applicator head is clogged and the drop does not drop, the clogging of the applicator head is recovered by suction, and using the electronic balance, from the amount of material discharged, An inkjet type thin film forming apparatus comprising: a head recovery control section that adjusts the amount of ejection per time between the coating heads.

Images