JPH06177028A - Support for circuit board for photoresist application and photoresist application using same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a circuit board support for applying a photoresist that allows shorter time in forming photoresist film on both sides of the circuit board. CONSTITUTION:Four sides of a circuit board bearing a circuit pattern are, with an L-shape member consisting of the first and second supporting members 1 and 2 and the third and fourth supporting members 3 and 4, supported from under to keep the circuit board at a specified level. The third supporting member 3 consists of a rod 9 having one end that slides along a slide channel 9 of the second supporting member 2, and a slide member 6 that slides along the rod 5. The fourth supporting member 4 comprises, at one end, a projecting part 4b that slides along a slide channel 8 of the first supporting member 1, and a slide hole 12, for the other end of the third supporting member to slide through. Inside of respective supporting members 1-4, an intermediate supporting material 7 that supports the center of the circuit board is assigned. With this, a circuit board of arbitrary size is supported, and while the bottom surface of circuit board is floating the photoresist is applied.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a support used for applying a photoresist for protecting and insulating a circuit pattern on a circuit board, and a method for applying a photoresist using the support.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, electric circuits used in electric devices are often formed by attaching various integrated circuits, elements, etc. to a circuit pattern formed on a substrate. One or a plurality of such circuit patterns are formed on the substrate, and are protected by an insulating protective film made of photoresist or the like except for the portion to be soldered. After that, the circuit board is divided for each circuit pattern and used as a printed board. This photoresist film is formed by applying a liquid photoresist to a substrate made of epoxy glass or the like by screen printing, drying, and further exposing and developing.

Such a photoresist film is formed through the following steps. First, a substrate on which a circuit pattern is formed is placed on a flat surface of a work table, and a photoresist is applied to one surface of this substrate. When the photoresist is applied on the flat surface of the work table, a photoresist film having a uniform thickness can be obtained.
The uniformity of the photoresist film is an important factor in insulating and protecting the circuit pattern. Next, this substrate is put in an oven or the like and dried (semi-cure) for about 20 minutes. Then, the substrate is taken out of the oven and left for 15 minutes to cool. After cooling, apply photoresist to the other side of the substrate, put it in the oven again and dry for about 20 minutes, then
Leave to cool for a minute. Of the photoresist film thus formed on both surfaces of the substrate, the round portion for soldering is exposed and developed to be removed.

[0004]

As described above, conventionally, the photoresist film is formed on one surface of the substrate, dried and cooled, and then the photoresist film is formed on the other surface through the same steps. Therefore, it has to undergo two drying and cooling steps. This drying and cooling process has to be relatively long, even though it is merely a waiting time that requires no special work. Due to the time required for the drying and cooling steps, work efficiency cannot be improved.

The present invention solves such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a circuit board support for photoresist coating which can shorten the time required for forming a photoresist film. . Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for coating a photoresist using this support.

[0006]

A circuit board support for photoresist application according to the present invention has a plurality of support members for floating and supporting a peripheral portion of a circuit board on which one or more circuit patterns are formed, The supporting member is formed with a notch for holding at least two sides of the circuit board.

Further, the plurality of supporting members are fixed to each other in an L-shape so as to respectively support adjacent first and second sides of the circuit board and have slide grooves parallel to the cutouts. An L-shaped member having a second supporting member, a rod having one end slidable along the slide groove of the second supporting member of the L-shaped member, and a third side of the circuit board are supported. And a third support member having a slide member capable of sliding along the rod, and a third support member supporting the fourth side of the circuit board and sliding along the slide groove of the first support member of the L-shaped member. And a fourth support member having a slide hole that penetrates the other end of the rod and slides the other end along the fourth side of the circuit board. it can.

Further, in addition to the above structure, an intermediate support member for supporting the lower surface of the circuit board at the same height as the support member at a portion other than the peripheral portion of the circuit board to prevent the circuit board from bending is further provided. It can be configured to have.

A photoresist coating method of the present invention is a coating method using the above-mentioned photoresist coating circuit board support, wherein after fixing each side of the circuit board to the notch of the support member, the circuit board of the circuit board is fixed. After coating the photoresist on one surface, after turning over the circuit board and fixing each side of the circuit board to the notch of the supporting member of the circuit board support for photoresist coating, the other side of the circuit board is further fixed. It is characterized in that a photoresist is applied to the surface of.

In this specification, the side of the circuit board means
The part that is inside by a predetermined width from the side end surface of the circuit board.

[0011]

The circuit board support for photoresist application having the above construction is used, for example, placed on a flat workbench. The circuit board is placed so that each side thereof is along the notch of each supporting member. By placing the circuit board in this way,
The circuit board is held a predetermined distance from the workbench,
Its lower surface does not contact the workbench. In this state, if a photoresist is applied to the upper surface of the circuit board by, for example, silk screen printing, the circuit board is fixed to the notches of the respective supporting members, so that the circuit board does not move during printing. Moreover, since the support of the present invention supports only the peripheral portion of the back surface of the circuit board, after applying the photoresist to one surface, the circuit board is turned over without the drying and cooling steps, and then the other surface The surface can be coated with photoresist.

The support member includes an L-shaped member having first and second support members, a third support member having a rod and a slide member, and a fourth support member having a slide hole. In the configuration, one end of the rod of the third support member is slid along the slide groove of the second support member of the L-shaped member, and the other end of the rod is penetrated into the slide hole of the fourth support member. The distance between the first and third support members can be changed by sliding the first support member and the third support member. Similarly, one end of the fourth support member is slid along the slide groove of the first support member of the L-shaped member, and the slide hole of the fourth support member is inserted into the rod of the third support member. By sliding, the distance between the second support member and the fourth support member of the L-shaped member can be changed. In this way, the distance between the first and third support members and the distance between the second and fourth support members can be arbitrarily changed, so that a circuit board of an arbitrary size is supported and fixed. can do.

Further, in the structure having the intermediate support material, even when the area of the circuit board is large or the circuit board is thin, the intermediate support material supports the portion other than the peripheral portion of the substrate from the back surface when the photoresist is applied. Therefore, the circuit board is prevented from bending, and the photoresist can be applied uniformly.

The photoresist coating method of the present invention uses the photoresist coating support. That is, in this method, after placing each side of the circuit board in the notch of each support member and fixing it, a photoresist is applied to one surface of the circuit board, and then the circuit board is turned over again and each support member is again turned on. After each side of the circuit board is placed and fixed in the notch, a photoresist is applied to the other surface of the circuit board. As described above, in the coating method of the present invention, the photoresist is coated on both surfaces before drying, so that the photoresist film can be formed on both surfaces by one drying step.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a photoresist coating circuit board support of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof. Also,
FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIGS. 1 and 2. The circuit board support for photoresist application of the present embodiment supports first and second support members 1 and 2 for supporting four sides of a circuit board 20 (FIG. 2) having a plurality of circuit patterns at a predetermined height from below. It has a support member 2, a third support member 3 and a fourth support member 4. The first support member 1 and the second support member 2 are fixed at right angles to each other to form an L-shaped member 10.
The first support member 1 and the second support member 2 are provided with notches 1a and 2a for supporting and fixing the circuit board 20, respectively. Further, slide grooves 8 and 9 are provided on the side surfaces of the first support member 1 and the second support member 2, respectively. These slide grooves 8 and 9 are provided to slide the convex portion 4b of the fourth support member 4 and the end portion 5a of the rod 5 of the third support member 3, which will be described later, respectively.

The third support member 3 has a rod 5 and a slide member 6, and the slide member 6 is provided with a notch 6a for supporting one side of the circuit board 20. In addition, the slide member 6 is provided with a through hole 6b for penetrating the rod 5, and the slide member 6 is, as shown by an arrow 21 in FIG.
It is slidable along the longitudinal direction of the rod 5. The end 5a of the rod 5 is slidably inserted into the slide groove 9 of the second support member 2. Therefore, the rod 5 can be translated in the direction shown by the arrow 22 in FIG.

The circuit board 20 is provided on the fourth support member 4.
A notch 4a that supports one side is provided, and a convex portion 4b is provided at the end of the fourth support member 4. This convex portion 4b
Is slidably inserted into the slide groove 1a of the first support member 1 as described above. Therefore, the fourth support member 4 can move in parallel in the direction indicated by the arrow 23 in FIG.
A slide hole 12 is provided in the fourth support member 4, and the end 5b of the rod 5 described above penetrates through the slide hole 12. As described above, this end portion 5b can be translated in the direction shown by the arrow 22 in FIG.

Further, in the present embodiment, the intermediate supporting member 7 is arranged inside the region surrounded by the first to fourth supporting members 1, 2, 3 and 4. The intermediate support member 7 has a tip portion 7 a for supporting the circuit board 20. Intermediate support material 7
The pointed end portion 7a is placed and used so as to support an area other than the area where the circuit pattern is formed on the circuit board. When a plurality of circuit patterns are formed on the circuit board, a gap of about 5 to 7 mm where no pattern is formed is usually provided between the circuit patterns. It is arranged to support a portion of the gap.

A method of applying a photoresist using the circuit board support for photoresist application of the present embodiment having the above-mentioned structure will be described. First, the first to fourth support members 1,
2, 3, and 4 are placed on a workbench, and these support members 1,
The intermediate support material 7 is arranged in the approximate center of the area surrounded by 2, 3, and 4. The intermediate support material 7 is placed so as to be positioned in the gap between the circuit patterns when the circuit board 20 is placed on each of the support members 1, 2, 3 and 4 as described above.

Next, two adjacent sides of the circuit board 20 are provided with the notches 1 of the first and second supporting members 1 and 2 of the L-shaped member 10.
The circuit board 20 is placed so as to be placed on the a and 2a without a gap. Usually, an outer frame portion of about 10 to 30 mm is provided outside the area where the circuit pattern of the circuit board 20 is formed, so that the outer frame portion is supported and fixed by the notches 1a and 2a. The circuit board 20 is placed.

Next, the fourth support member 4 is moved to a position where the notch 4a supports one side of the circuit board 20, and at the same time, the notch 6a of the slide member 6 causes the notch 6a of the circuit board 20 to move. Move to a position that supports the other side. As a result, all four sides of the circuit board 20 are supported by the first to fourth support members 1, 2, 3 and 4 and also supported by the intermediate support member 7 in the central portion of the circuit board 20. become.

Next, in this state, a photoresist is applied by silk screen printing. After that, the side of the circuit board 20 coated with the photoresist is gripped and turned upside down, and the circuit board 20 is fixed to the circuit board support for photoresist application of this embodiment by the same procedure as described above. At that time, since the supporting member of this embodiment supports only the peripheral portion of the circuit board, the circuit board can be supported without touching the already-applied photoresist. Further, a photoresist is further applied to the other surface of the substrate 20, and then the circuit board 20 having the photoresist applied to both surfaces as described above is dried by an autoclave and cooled, and then the circuit is passed through each step of exposure and development. The substrate 20 is completed.

In this embodiment, the four sides of the circuit board 20 are
Notches 1a, 2a, 6 of the fourth support members 1, 2, 3 and 4
Since it is supported and fixed by a and 4a, the photoresist can be applied to the upper surface of the circuit board 20 without contacting the lower surface of the circuit board 20 with the workbench. Therefore, after applying the photoresist to one surface of the circuit board 20, the photoresist can be subsequently applied to the other surface. Thus, when the photoresist coating support of this embodiment is used, the drying and cooling steps are only required once, and the working time can be shortened to about one-third that of the conventional method. Such shortening of the working time is particularly effective for manufacturing circuit boards of various kinds in small lots.

In addition, the circuit board support for photoresist application according to the present embodiment includes a third support member 3 slidable along the longitudinal direction of the second and fourth support members 2 and 4, and a first and a first support member 3. Since the third support member 1 and the third support member 4 are slidable along the longitudinal direction of the third support member 3, it is possible to apply the photoresist of the circuit board of an arbitrary size.

Further, by providing the intermediate support member 7,
Even when the circuit board 20 is large or the circuit board 20 is thick, it is possible to prevent the circuit board 20 from bending and evenly apply the photoresist onto the circuit board 20.

In the above embodiment, the case where the intermediate support member 7 is used has been described. However, when the circuit board 20 is small or thick, the circuit board 20 does not bend, so it is necessary to use the intermediate member 7. Absent. Further, when the circuit board 20 is large or thin, the number of the intermediate support materials 7 can be appropriately increased. Further, as the intermediate support member, as shown in FIG. 4, it is also possible to use the intermediate support member 17 that supports the portion of the hole 13 formed in the circuit board 20.

Further, in this embodiment, four support members 1,
Although 2, 3, and 4 are provided, when the circuit board 20 is small or has a large thickness, two supporting members are used to support two sides of the circuit board 20 which face each other, or three support members. It is also possible to use a member to support the three sides of the circuit board 20.

[0028]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION By using the circuit board support for photoresist application according to the present invention, after applying the photoresist on both sides of the circuit board, it is possible to shift to the next exposure and development step in one drying and cooling step. it can. Therefore, the time required to manufacture the circuit board can be significantly reduced. Also,
Since the photoresist coating circuit board support of the present invention can support a circuit board of any size, it is possible to efficiently manufacture a large number of small lots of circuit boards. Furthermore, since the circuit board can be prevented from being bent by using the intermediate support material, a photoresist film having a uniform thickness can be formed even on a large circuit board or a thin circuit board.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a photoresist coating circuit board support of the present invention.

2 is a plan view of the photoresist coating circuit board support of FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing another embodiment of the intermediate support material.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... 1st supporting member 1a, 2a, 4a, 6a ... Notch 2 ... 2nd supporting member 3 ... 3rd supporting member 4 ... 4th supporting member 5 ... Rod 6 ... Sliding member 6b ... Through hole 7 ... Intermediate support material 8 ... Slide groove 9 ... Slide groove 10 ... L-shaped member 12 ... Slide hole 20 ... Circuit board

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of supporting members for floating and supporting a peripheral portion of a circuit board on which one or more circuit patterns are formed, the supporting member for holding at least two sides of the circuit board. A circuit board support for photoresist application, wherein a notch is formed. 2. The plurality of supporting members are fixed to each other in an L-shape, each supporting a first side and a second side of the circuit board adjacent to each other, and each having a slide groove parallel to the cutout. An L-shaped member having a second supporting member, a rod having one end slidable along the slide groove of the second supporting member of the L-shaped member, and a third side of the circuit board. A third support member having a slide member that supports and slides along the rod; and a first L-shaped member that supports a fourth side of the circuit board.
And a slide hole having one end slidable along the slide groove of the support member and having the other end penetrating the rod and sliding the other end along the fourth side of the circuit board. A circuit board support for photoresist application according to claim 1, further comprising a support member. 3. An intermediate support member for supporting the lower surface of the circuit board at the same height as the support member at a portion other than the peripheral portion of the circuit board to prevent the circuit board from bending. The circuit board support for photoresist coating according to claim 1 or 2. 4. A circuit board support for photoresist application according to claim 1, wherein each side of the circuit board is fixed to the notch of the support member, and then a photoresist is applied to one surface of the circuit board. Then, after turning over the circuit board and fixing each side of the circuit board to the notch of the support member of the circuit board support for photoresist application, further apply photoresist to the other surface of the circuit board. A method for applying a photoresist, which comprises: