JPH06945A - Enlarging/reducing printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To from finer patterns at a high yield and at a low cost by printing the fine patterns at a reduced magnification (or enlarged magnification) as desired, which patterns are used in the manufacture of electronic parts used for various electrical equipments such as circuit substrates, liquid crystal display devices, transparent touch panels, plasma display devices, ceramic multilayered substrates and the like. CONSTITUTION:When an elastic blanket 15a moves on a surface of an article 20a being printed while rotating in a direction indicated by an arrow 16a, a printed pattern 19a is formed by a transferred ink pattern 17a. The reference numerals 21a and 21b indicate a direction, in which the elastic blanket is elongated, and the transferred ink pattern 17a can be elongated at any magnification only in one direction.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mainly reduces a fine pattern used in manufacturing electronic parts such as a circuit board, a liquid crystal display device, a transparent touch panel, a plasma display, and a ceramic multilayer board at an arbitrary magnification (or The present invention relates to a stretchable printing method for printing (enlarged).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for forming a fine conductive pattern has been used when manufacturing electronic parts such as a circuit board, a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display and a transparent touch panel. Furthermore, as other electronic parts, resistors, coils,
Formation of a pattern of an insulator (or a dielectric, magnetic material, etc.) also in the production of a capacitor or a composite electronic device of these, or formation of a fine pattern in the production of a light emitting portion such as a color filter or a CRT. Is essential. Further, these fine patterns tend to be formed in a larger area with the increase in size of liquid crystal display devices and the like.

Against this background, in recent years, in comparison with the conventional method of manufacturing a fine pattern using a photoresist, various printing methods are advantageous in terms of productivity, cost, and large area. A method of manufacturing a fine pattern has been proposed.

First, a screen printing method which has heretofore been widely used for such a purpose will be described. Next, the principle of the screen printing method will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is for explaining the principle of the screen printing method. In FIG. 10, 1 is a screen frame, 2 is a screen pattern, 3 is a squeegee, 4 is ink, and 5 is an arrow indicating the moving direction of the squeegee 3.
The screen pattern 2 is patterned by a resist material or the like, and the squeegee 3 moves in the direction of arrow 5. At this time, the ink 4 is formed as a predetermined pattern on the surface of the printing medium via the screen pattern 2.
In such a screen printing method, the ink pattern formed by printing naturally has the same size as that of the screen plate. In other words, in the case of the screen printing method, the pattern formed on the screen plate cannot be printed by enlarging or reducing it on the printing medium. If it is not done, the tension of the screen pattern 20 stretched inside the screen frame 1 can be raised or lowered. If the screen pattern is about 1%, the screen pattern can be extended or contracted. However, in this case, although the screen itself such as polyester forming the screen pattern can reversibly expand and contract, the resist pattern formed of the photosensitive resin on the screen cannot reversibly expand and contract. Therefore, when the resist pattern is forcibly expanded and contracted, the resist material adheres to the surface of the screen mesh in a dot (or line) shape, resulting in uneven elongation and microcracks, and peeling from the screen surface. And other defects will occur. Such defects deteriorate pattern accuracy and are not practical. Further, in the screen printing method, since the resist is stuck on the screen surface, the influence of the screen mesh remains on the printed surface. Therefore, there is a limit to fine printing.

Offset intaglio printing has been proposed against the above limits of screen printing. Next, the offset intaglio will be described with reference to FIG. Figure 11
Is for explaining the principle of offset intaglio,
It is introduced in Japanese Patent Publication No. 55-36512. In FIG. 11, 6 is an intaglio plate and 7 is an ink pattern, which is formed on the surface of the intaglio plate 6. 8 is an offset blanket, 9 is the transferred ink pattern, 10
Is an object to be printed, 11 is a printed ink pattern, and 12 is an arrow indicating the rotation direction of the offset blanket 8. First, the ink pattern 7 formed on the surface of the intaglio 6
However, when the offset blanket 8 rotates in the direction of the arrow 12, it is transferred to the surface of the offset blanket 8 to form the transferred ink pattern 9. Next, with the rotation of the offset blanket 8 in the direction of the arrow 12, the transferred ink pattern 9 is transferred onto the surface of the printing medium 10 to form a printed ink pattern 11. However, even in the case of such intaglio offset printing, in order to perform finer printing, it is necessary to prepare an expensive intaglio that is fine and highly accurate.

As described above, in the conventional printing method, the pattern formed on the plate is printed and formed as a pattern on the object to be printed at the original size. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare a large plate for a large pattern and a plate on which a fine pattern is formed for a fine pattern.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional printing method, even in the case of screen printing or intaglio offset printing, only a pattern having the same size as the plate can be formed by printing. Therefore, when printing a large area, a large area plate is required. On the contrary, when printing a fine pattern, it is necessary to prepare a finer plate and a more expensive and highly accurate plate. In other words, conventional printing means
It was how to transfer and form the pattern formed on the plate onto the surface of the printing medium without lowering the precision.
Therefore, the printing pattern formed on the surface of the printing medium is inferior to the plate in terms of accuracy and fineness.
Further, defects such as stains adhering to the surface of the plate were transferred to and printed on the material to be printed at the actual size.

The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a stretchable printing method which enables the precision and fineness of a printed material to exceed that of a printing plate. Further, by using the stretchable printing method proposed in the present invention, the printing method can be used to perform the same pattern formation by the reduction exposure method as is performed in a general photoresist process. For example, if the reduction printing method, which is a part of the stretchable printing method in the present invention, is used,
It is possible to reduce the size of defects such as scratches that have occurred on the plate, which have been a problem during fine printing, on the printing medium. In this way, it is possible to easily contribute to the improvement of the yield during fine printing.

[0009]

In order to achieve this object, an elastic printing method of the present invention is directed to a surface of an object to be printed after enlarging or reducing an ink pattern formed on the surface of an elastic blanket to a predetermined size. It has a structure of transferring.

[0010]

With this structure, the ink pattern formed on the surface of the elastic blanket is expanded or contracted to a predetermined size, and at the same time, the ink pattern is freely expanded or contracted to a desired magnification. Can be made. By transferring the ink pattern thus expanded and contracted to a predetermined size from the elastic blanket rubber surface to the surface of the printing medium, the ink pattern formed on the blanket surface can be further enlarged or reduced. In this state, it can be transferred and formed on the surface of the printing medium.

[0011]

【Example】

(Embodiment 1) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a view for explaining the principle and apparatus of enlargement printing for one direction in the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 13a is a plate and 14a is an ink pattern, which is formed in a predetermined pattern on the plate 13a. 15a is an elastic blanket, 17
a is the transferred ink pattern. When the stretchable blanket 15a rolls on the plate 13a in the direction of the arrow 16a, the ink pattern 17a transferred to the surface of the stretchable blanket 15a is formed. Reference numeral 19a is a printed pattern, and 20a is an object to be printed. When the elastic blanket 15a moves on the surface of the printing medium 20a while rotating in the direction of the arrow 16a, a pattern 19a printed by the transferred ink pattern 17a is formed. Reference numerals 21a and 21b indicate the directions in which the stretchable blanket is stretched, and the transferred ink pattern 17a is stretched in only one direction at an arbitrary magnification.

Next, an example of the stretchable blanket will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. 2 and 3 are sectional views for explaining the structure of the stretchable blanket in FIG. In FIG. 2, FIGS. 2A and 2B show cross sections of the stretchable blanket in different directions. In FIG. 2A, a blanket rubber fixing jig 22a fixes the blanket rubber 24a. 23 is a blanket cylinder. The blanket rubber fixing jig 22a can be pulled by an air cylinder or the like in the direction of an arrow 25a while the blanket rubber 24a is fixed. In this way, the blanket rubber 24a fixed to the blanket rubber fixing jig 22a is expanded and contracted while sliding along the blanket cylinder 23. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 26 is a bellows, which is pulled in a direction of an arrow 25b to thereby fix the blanket rubber 24 fixed to the blanket rubber fixing jig 22b.
b will expand and contract.

The stretchable printing apparatus configured as above will be described in more detail. First, the size is 30
A cm square letterpress was used. First, a circuit board film mask (manufactured by Lithfilm) was prepared, and the resin mask on which the circuit board pattern (20 cm square) was formed was prepared by exposing and developing the film mask on the resin relief plate. . As a stretchable blanket, a commercially available mold-molded silicone rubber film with a thickness of about 1 mm is prepared, and a slide type jig (diameter 20 cm, length 30 cm) is formed into a shape as shown in FIG.
I prepared something wrapped around. By doing this,
The stretchable blanket can be stretched only in one direction. A commercially available copper foil-clad glass-epoxy printed circuit board was used as the material to be printed. As the ink, a commercially available etching resist ink for screen printing was used. Next, enlarged printing was performed using this stretchable printing apparatus.

First, ink was uniformly applied onto the resin relief plate by using an ink roller to form an ink pattern 14a shown in FIG. Next, the stretchable blanket 15a was pressed and rolled on the ink pattern 14a to form a transferred ink pattern 17a. Next, attach the elastic blanket 15a to the arrow 21a,
It was stretched in the direction of 21b and fixed in the stretched state. At the time of this stretching, the elastic blanket,
Due to the structure described in FIGS. 2 and 3, no dimensional change occurred in the circumferential direction. At this time, the transferred ink pattern formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket was stretched in one direction along the stretched direction of the stretchable blanket.

Then, the transferred ink pattern thus stretched in one direction was pressed against the surface of the material to be printed to form the pattern 19a printed on the surface of the material to be printed 20a. Here, when the stretching magnification of the stretchable blanket was continuously changed from 1 × (actual size) to 3 ×, the transferred ink pattern 17a and the printed pattern 19a formed on the stretchable blanket surface were also stretched. It changed continuously in proportion to the magnification. In this way, in this example, the ink pattern formed on the plate could be expanded in one direction at a predetermined magnification.

For comparison, enlargement printing was tried using the conventional offset letterpress (general name is dry offset) printing method and offset intaglio printing method. First, in the normal printing method, the blanket can cope with some dimensional changes in order to prevent bulging in the thickness direction, but does not cause dimensional changes in the planar direction. The blanket is stretched and fixed to the blanket cylinder with a constant tension. In this way, in the conventional offset printing, the predetermined pattern formed on the plate is printed and formed as an ink pattern on the surface of the printing object as it is without changing the dimension on the blanket. ing. Therefore, for enlargement printing in the conventional example, the plate is extended. Metals, hard resins, ceramic materials including glass, etc., which are widely used as ordinary plate materials, are originally selected so that they do not cause dimensional changes. Not only does it change, but it destroys the version itself. Therefore, a rubber-like photosensitive resin was used as the plate material.

First, using the film mask of the circuit board, it was processed into a relief printing plate and an intaglio printing plate to obtain a conventional printing plate for enlargement printing. Next, the conventional plate for enlargement printing was made to extend only in one direction. Next, the conventional plate for enlarged printing was attached to the position of the intaglio plate 6 in the offset intaglio device shown in FIG. In this way, a conventional offset printing machine for enlargement printing with a stretchable plate attached was prepared.

Next, an enlarged printing experiment was conducted. First, using the offset printing machine for enlargement printing, the conventional plate for enlargement printing was set to 0% (actual size), 1% (enlargement), 5% (enlargement),
Enlargement printing was performed by extending the image to 10% (enlargement) and 30% (enlargement). In this way, 0% (full-scale printing) and 1% ~
The dimensional change of the 30% magnified and printed ink pattern was measured. As a result, it was confirmed that the ink pattern printed by the conventional enlargement printing was stretched as a whole. It is considered that this is because the conventional plate for magnifying printing was made of a rubber-like material and was deformed as a whole by the amount of pulling.

Next, when the printed ink pattern was observed with a microscope, it was confirmed that the ink pattern was irregularly deformed. This irregular deformation is
The print sample with higher stretch ratio becomes more violent and becomes 5
In the case of the stretched sample, considering the imprinting of a plurality of printing patterns, etc., it was no longer practical. It was considered that this is because the surface of the conventional plate for enlargement printing had an uneven shape, and was affected by the shape at the time of deformation of stretching. Therefore, in the conventional enlarging printing method, practical printing accuracy could not be obtained even with enlarging by 5%.

On the other hand, in the case of stretch printing using the stretchable blanket of the present invention, the stretch of 50% is performed for the strain, and continuous 1000 times of printing are repeated. Was able to maintain the printing accuracy of. The plate itself did not change at all, and the stretchable blanket did not change at all. Further, before and after the stretch printing corresponding to the strain of 50%, the stretch printing corresponding to the strain of 20% was performed, but no change was observed before and after the stretch printing.

As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, it is not necessary to change the plate, and a stretchable blanket having a smooth surface can be used even in enlarged printing, so that the stretchable blanket as a whole is stretched. Even if the problem does not occur. Further, in the case of this embodiment, since it is not necessary to form irregularities on the surface of the stretchable blanket, the surface of these blanket can be uniformly deformed, and the influence of the stretching magnification is less likely to occur. As described above, in the case of the present embodiment, the ink pattern formed by printing on the surface of the printing medium was highly accurate.

Further, in the case of the stretch printing method of this embodiment, the ink film thickness of the printed pattern 7 became thinner as the magnification of the stretch blanket was increased. This is because the amount of ink transferred to the stretchable blanket surface is constant,
It was considered that this was because the ink film thickness became relatively thin as the stretchable blanket was stretched. By using this property, the ink film thickness can be reduced. For example, in the case of a monolithic ceramic capacitor which is one of electronic components, a noble metal internal electrode is often used as the internal electrode from the viewpoint of reliability. In such a case, by using the enlargement printing method proposed in this embodiment, the film thickness of the internal electrodes can be reduced, and the monolithic ceramic capacitor can be manufactured at a lower cost.

As an enlargement printing method using a stretchable blanket, an enlargement method in a plurality of steps is also easy. For example, a force is applied to the stretchable blanket to fix it in a compressed state in advance, and the ink is transferred from the plate to the stretchable blanket to form the transferred ink pattern. Next, the transferred ink pattern can be enlarged by relaxing the force applied to the stretchable blanket. By doing so, it is possible to print and form the enlarged pattern in a stable state.

In order to expand the stretchable blanket,
In addition to pulling it on a machine, it can be easily done by filling it with various gases or liquids, such as putting air or water into a rubber balloon or causing a volume change when water is contained in a tightly squeezed sponge. it can.

(Second Embodiment) A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is for explaining the principle and apparatus of stretch printing in the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference between the first embodiment and the second embodiment is that the pattern is enlarged and printed. The difference is whether or not to print at reduced size. In FIG. 2, 13b is a plate and 14b is an ink pattern, which is formed in a predetermined pattern on the plate 13b. 15b is an elastic blanket, and 17b is the transferred ink pattern. When the stretchable blanket 15b rolls on the plate 13b in the direction of the arrow 16b, the ink pattern 17b transferred to the surface of the stretchable blanket 15b is formed. Reference numeral 19b is a printed pattern, and 20b is an object to be printed. When the stretchable blanket 15b moves on the surface of the printing medium 20b while rotating in the direction of the arrow 16b, a pattern 19b printed by the transferred ink pattern 17b is formed. Reference numerals 21c and 21d indicate the directions in which the stretchable blanket 15b is compressed, and the transferred ink pattern 17b is compressed in only one direction at an arbitrary magnification.

The stretchable printing apparatus configured as described above will be described in more detail. First, as in the first embodiment,
A relief plate having a size of 30 cm square was used as the plate. First, a circuit board film mask (manufactured by Lithfilm) was prepared, and the resin mask on which the circuit board pattern (20 cm square) was formed was prepared by exposing and developing the film mask on the resin relief plate. . As a stretchable blanket,
Prepare a commercially available silicon rubber film with a thickness of about 1 mm, and have a bellows-shaped jig (diameter 20 cm, length 30 c) as shown in FIG.
I prepared something wrapped around m). By doing so, the stretchable blanket can be stretched in only one direction. A commercially available copper foil-clad glass-epoxy printed circuit board was used as the material to be printed. As the ink, a commercially available etching resist ink for screen printing was used.

First, ink was uniformly applied onto the resin relief plate by using an ink roller to form an ink pattern 14b shown in FIG. Next, the stretchable blanket was pressed and rolled on the ink pattern 14b to form a transferred ink pattern 17b. Next, the elastic blanket 15b is attached to the arrows 21c and 21d.
It was compressed in the direction of and fixed in the compressed state. At the time of this compression, the stretchable blanket did not cause a dimensional change in the circumferential direction because of the structure described in FIGS. 2 and 3. At this time, the transferred ink pattern formed on the surface of the elastic blanket contracted in one direction as the elastic blanket contracted.

Next, the transferred ink pattern thus contracted in one direction is pressed against the surface of the printing material to print the pattern 19 printed on the surface of the printing material.
b could be formed. Here, when the compression ratio of the stretchable blanket was continuously changed from 1 time (original size) to 0.3 time (reduction), the transferred ink pattern 17b formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket and printed. The pattern 19b also changed continuously. In this way, in this example, the ink pattern formed on the plate could be reduced in only one direction at a predetermined magnification. At this time, the ink film thickness of the printed pattern 19b increased as the pressing / shrinking ratio of the stretchable blanket was increased (reduced to a smaller extent). It is considered that this is because the amount of ink transferred to the surface of the stretchable blanket is constant, and the ink film thickness becomes relatively thicker as the stretchable blanket is compressed. By using this property, the ink film thickness can be increased.
For example, by using this reduction printing method for printing electrode materials such as multilayer ceramic circuit boards, which are one of electronic parts, the electrode pattern can be made finer (miniaturized) and the film thickness of the electrode ink can be increased at the same time. The resistance can also be reduced.

For the expansion and contraction of the elastic blanket,
In addition to contracting to a machine, it is also possible to fill various gases or liquids so that the air and water filled in a rubber balloon can be removed, or the volume change can be reduced by squeezing water from a sponge whose volume has been increased with water. It can be done easily.

As a reduction printing method using a stretchable blanket, a reduction method in a plurality of steps is also easy. For example, in a state where the stretchable blanket is stretched and fixed in advance by applying force, ink is transferred from the plate to the stretchable blanket to form the transferred ink pattern. Next, the transferred ink pattern can be reduced by relaxing the force applied to the stretchable blanket. In this way, it is possible to print and form a reduced pattern in a more stable state.

(Embodiment 3) A third embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Figure 5
Is for explaining the principle and apparatus of stretch printing in the third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows the third aspect of the present invention.
The purpose of the present invention is to explain the structure of the stretchable blanket used in this example. The difference between the first and second embodiments and the third embodiment is the difference between expanding and contracting the pattern only in one direction or expanding and contracting in two different directions (XY directions).

First, in FIG. 5, 13c is a plate and 14c is an ink pattern, which is formed on the plate 13c in a predetermined pattern. 15c is an elastic blanket, 17c
Is the transferred ink pattern. By the elastic blanket 15c being pressed against the plate 13c,
The transferred ink pattern 17c is formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket 15c. Reference numeral 19c is a printed pattern, and 20c is an object to be printed. When the stretchable blanket 15c is pressed against the surface of the printing medium 20c, the printed pattern 19c is formed by the transferred ink pattern 17c. 21d,
Reference numerals 21e, 21f, and 21g indicate the directions in which the stretchable blanket is compressed, and in the third embodiment, the transferred ink pattern 17c formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket 15c is optional in two directions of XY. It can be compressed at a magnification of.

In FIG. 6, 26 is a blanket fixing jig, 27 is a fixing frame, and 28 is an air cylinder. In the third embodiment, the air cylinder 28 fixed to the fixed frame 27 pushes or pulls the blanket fixing jig 26. In this way, the elastic blanket 15c expands and contracts to a predetermined magnification.

The stretchable printing apparatus configured as described above will be described in more detail. First, as in the first and second embodiments, a relief plate having a size of 30 cm square was used as the plate. First, prepare a film mask (made of squirrel film) for a circuit board, expose the film mask on the resin relief plate,
By developing, a resin relief plate having the circuit board pattern (20 cm square) was formed. As the stretchable blanket, a commercially available silicone rubber film having a thickness of about 1 mm with blanket fixing jigs 26 set on all sides was prepared. The blanket fixing jig 26 was a 60 cm square, and was fixed to the blanket fixing frame 27 using a plurality of air cylinders 28. By controlling the air pressure applied to the air cylinder 28, the stretchable blanket 15c moves in the XY direction.
It was confirmed that it could be stretched in any direction at any magnification.

A commercially available copper foil-clad glass epoxy printed circuit board was used as the printing medium. As the ink, a commercially available etching resist ink for screen printing was used. Next, the stretchable printing method proposed in the present invention will be described. First, ink is evenly applied onto the resin relief plate by using an ink roller, and the ink pattern 14c of FIG.
Was formed. Next, the stretchable blanket 15c was pressed onto the ink pattern 14c to form a transferred ink pattern 17c. Next, the stretchable blanket is attached to the arrows 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g.
Was stretched and fixed in the stretched state.

Next, the transferred ink pattern thus expanded and contracted in the plane direction is pressed against the surface of the printing medium to print the pattern 8 printed on the surface of the printing medium.
a could be formed. Here, when the expansion / contraction ratio of the elastic blanket was continuously changed from 0.5 times (reduction) to 1 time (original size) and 2 times (enlargement), the transfer formed on the surface of the elastic blanket 15c was transferred. The ink pattern 17c and the printed pattern 19c could also be changed continuously.

For comparison, stretch printing was tried by a conventional screen printing method. First, expansion / contraction printing in the case of the conventional screen printing method will be described. In the case of screen printing, the screen plate was expanded and contracted in order to form an ink pattern by printing directly on the surface of the printing medium from the screen plate. First, as the screen, a 200-mesh screen made of polyester or stainless steel was prepared.
Next, after fixing the screen to a screen fixing jig, a hydraulic cylinder was used to extend the screen to an arbitrary magnification inside the fixing frame. Further, the screen was kept in a state of being tensioned normally, and an emulsion was attached to the surface by an indirect method. A predetermined circuit board pattern (20 cm square) was formed on the emulsion by using the film mask, and this was used as a conventional stretch screen plate. In this state, first, a printing experiment in the actual size was conducted. Next, the screen was stretched by 5% using the hydraulic cylinder, and this state was subjected to 5% enlargement printing. Thus full-scale printing, 5%
Alternately to the enlargement printing, a total of 1000 sheets of 500 sheets were continuously printed. Next, when observing the print patterns printed with the original size printing and the 5% enlarged printing, it was found that the printing dimensions varied in both the original size printing and the 5% enlarged printed sample. Next, when the screen plate was examined, it was found that the screen plate was deformed into an unrecoverable state. As described above, the conventional enlargement printing method cannot maintain the initial printing accuracy. From this, it is expected that accurate printing cannot be performed even when the amount of mechanical stretching of the screen is further increased.

On the other hand, in the case of stretch printing using the stretchable blanket of the present invention, continuous printing was repeated 1000 times with the stretch corresponding to 50% in strain, but even after the 1000th printing was completed, Was able to maintain the printing accuracy of. The plate itself did not change at all, and the stretchable blanket did not change at all. Further, before and after the stretch printing corresponding to the strain of 50%, the stretch printing corresponding to the strain of 20% was performed, but no change was observed before and after the stretch printing.

As described above, in the case of this embodiment, it is not necessary to change the plate, and it is possible to use a stretchable blanket having a smooth surface even at the time of enlargement printing. Moreover, since what is changed is not a screen having a pattern formed but a rubber-like elastic body, the recoverability after deformation is excellent.
Further, even when the entire stretchable blanket is stretched, it is not necessary to stretch the stretchable blanket on a net or the like. Therefore, in the case of the present invention, these blanket surfaces can also be uniformly deformed, and as a result, they are less susceptible to the effect of the expansion / contraction ratio. As described above, in the case of the present invention, it is possible to stably obtain a highly accurate ink pattern printed and formed on the surface of the printing medium in an enlarged or reduced state.

In this way, in this example, the ink pattern formed on the plate could be expanded and contracted in the plane direction at a predetermined magnification. At this time, by stretching the stretchable blanket, it was possible to expand the ink pattern and at the same time reduce the ink film thickness of the printed pattern 17c. Further, by shrinking the stretchable blanket, it was possible to reduce the ink pattern 17c and simultaneously increase the ink film thickness. Further, even if scratches or the like occur on the plate or the like during printing, the yield can be increased by performing reduction printing on the surface of the printing medium.

(Embodiment 4) A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 7 (A),
(B) and (C) are for explaining the transfer of the ink pattern from the stretchable blanket for stretch printing to the printing medium in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. 7 (A),
In (B) and (C), 29 is an elastic blanket,
30 is an ink pattern, and the elastic blanket 29
Formed on the surface. Reference numeral 31 is a press, 32 is an object to be printed, and 33 is a printed pattern. First, FIG.
As shown in (A), under the press 31, the stretchable blanket 29 is placed on the side where the ink pattern 30 is formed.
It is placed so as to become the printing medium 32. Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the press 31 is moved so that the stretchable blanket 29 is brought into pressure contact with the printing medium 32. Finally, Figure 7
As shown in (C), the press 31 is lifted to transfer the ink pattern 30 formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket 29 to the surface of the printing medium 32 to form a printed pattern 33. . Note that FIG.
In (C), the stretchable blanket 29 formed on the surface of the ink pattern 30 is stretched at a predetermined rate.

(Fifth Embodiment) A fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 8 is for explaining a forming method by a method of drawing an ink pattern on the surface of a stretchable blanket in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 8, 34 is an elastic blanket, 35 is a dispenser, 36 is a nozzle, and 37 is an ink pattern. In the first to third embodiments, the method of forming the ink pattern on the surface of the stretchable blanket is a fixed pattern as in the ordinary printing method, and the mass productivity is high. However, in the fifth embodiment, the ink pattern is formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket by individually drawing the ink pattern like one stroke. First, referring to FIG.
Ink is pressure-filled inside, and a valve that opens and closes according to an external signal is built inside. Ink is ejected from the nozzle 36 through the valve at a constant flow rate in accordance with an external signal. The dispenser 35 and the nozzle 36 can freely move on the stretchable blanket 34 by a servo-controlled XY drive system while being separated from the surface of the stretchable blanket 35 by a certain distance. it can. As described above, an arbitrary ink pattern can be formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket 34 as if it were drawn by using an XY pen recorder.

The method of forming the expansion / contraction pattern using the drawing method configured as described above will be described in more detail by using the steps of forming various electrodes on the ceramic multilayer substrate. First, as the dispenser, a commercially available dispenser using compressed air was selected, and a commercially available nitrogen firing type copper electrode ink and silver palladium electrode ink were filled. Next, using the dispenser, a stretchable blanket surface (2
A wiring pattern can be drawn on the 0 cm square) using the copper electrode ink and the silver palladium electrode ink. As the wiring pattern, various printability evaluation patterns and actual circuit patterns were arranged so as to fit in a 10 cm square. First, the stretchable blanket is pulled from 0% (original size) to 10%, 20%, and 50%, the silver palladium electrode ink is drawn on the stretched blanket, and then the stretchable blanket is loosened. Then, the ink pattern formed on the surface of the blanket was reduced and printed. Next, this reduced ink pattern was transferred onto a ceramic green sheet. Next, a via hole was formed in the ceramic green sheet using a mold, after performing via hole filling printing, lamination and firing were performed to form a ceramic multilayer substrate. Then, on the surface of the multilayer ceramic sintered body, the nitrogen firing type copper electrode ink was reduced and printed to 0%, 10%, 20% by using an elastic blanket as in the printing of the silver palladium electrode ink. The reduction-printed copper electrode ink was directly fired with nitrogen. When the ceramic multilayer substrate formed as described above was evaluated, the same results as those formed by the ordinary printing method were obtained, and there was no problem in performing the reduction printing proposed in the present invention.

As an example of reducing a drawing pattern using a conventional dispenser, the various printability evaluation patterns and the actual circuit pattern can be directly made into a finer shape by using a finer nozzle, and directly the ceramic green sheet and the multilayer ceramic sintered body. Draw directly on the surface. However, the more the pattern is reduced and drawn, the more clogging of the ceramic ink, short-circuiting of the pattern, and the like occur, so that a satisfactory result cannot be obtained.

As described above, by forming an ink pattern on the surface of the stretchable blanket without using a plate, it is possible to meet the widespread demand for small-quantity and high-mix production of various patterns.
It can be dealt with easily. At the same time, it is possible to shorten delivery times and simplify pattern changes.

(Sixth Embodiment) A sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The difference between the fifth embodiment and the sixth embodiment is that when shrink printing is performed on a ceramic green sheet, in the case of the fifth embodiment, the shrinkage rate during firing of the ceramic green sheet is absorbed by a drawing method. On the other hand, in the sixth embodiment, the shrinkage rate at the time of firing is absorbed by the degree of expansion / contraction of the elastic blanket. FIG. 9 illustrates a child for stretch printing on a ceramic green sheet. In FIG. 9, 13d is a plate, 14
d is an ink pattern, which is formed in a predetermined pattern on the plate 13d. 15d is an elastic blanket, 1
7d is the transferred ink pattern. By pressing the stretchable blanket 15d against the plate 13d, the ink pattern 17d transferred to the surface of the stretchable blanket 15d is formed. Reference numeral 19d is a printed pattern, and 20d is an object to be printed, and in the case of the present embodiment, the dimension is contracted by firing the ceramic green sheet or the ceramic green laminate. By pressing the stretchable blanket 15d against the plate 13d, the ink pattern 17d transferred to the surface of the stretchable blanket 15d is formed.
In FIG. 9, the elastic blanket 15d expands and contracts to a predetermined size in the XY method. On this occasion,
In the present embodiment, the degree of expansion and contraction of the elastic blanket 15d is adjusted to the ceramic green sheet or the like that is the printing medium. By doing so, it is possible to deal with the shrinkage ratio of the ceramic green sheet or the like at the time of firing and its variation by adjusting the expansion / contraction ratio of the elastic blanket.

Next, a more detailed description will be given. First of all, as the material to be printed, several kinds of materials having different thicknesses, which were prepared similarly to the ceramic green sheet used in the fifth embodiment, were used. Also, various printing evaluation patterns and actual circuit patterns used in the fifth embodiment were used on a screen plate. First, as a conventional example, a process using no elastic blanket was used. First, the same electrode ink as the copper electrode ink and the silver-palladium electrode ink used in the fifth embodiment was used, and the silver-palladium electrode ink was directly screen-printed on the ceramic green sheet using the screen plate. . Next, the ceramic green sheet was subjected to via hole filling printing by forming via holes using a mold. Then, by laminating and firing, a ceramic multilayer substrate was created. Finally, the nitrogen firing type copper electrode ink was printed on the surface of the multilayer ceramic sintered body, and nitrogen firing was performed as it was.

The ceramic multi-layer substrate formed as described above was evaluated. As a result, in the ceramic green sheet, a difference in shrinkage rate during firing of up to about several percent was observed depending on the thickness of the ceramic green sheet.
As described above, in the case of a ceramic green sheet, it is often experienced that a difference in shrinkage rate during firing occurs when the thickness changes. For this reason, usually, when producing a ceramic multilayer substrate, a ceramic green sheet having the same thickness is often used. Even if such a difference in shrinkage rate during firing is about 1%, the finer the electrode pattern and the via hole diameter, the greater the problem. In the conventional process, in order to cope with such a difference in shrinkage ratio, prepare a plurality of screen plates with a slightly different pattern size per layer (in the case of a ceramic multilayer substrate of about 10 layers, dozens of plates). It corresponded with.

Next, an example in which the difference in shrinkage ratio during firing is absorbed by using the stretchable printing technique in this embodiment will be described. In this example, the stretchable blanket used in the third example was used to absorb the difference in shrinkage ratio during firing. First, using the screen plate, the print evaluation pattern and the actual circuit pattern were printed on the stretchable blanket. Next, the stretchable blanket was stretch-printed by about several percent according to the difference in the stretch ratio during firing of each ceramic green sheet. In this way, it was possible to easily absorb the difference in shrinkage rate during the firing.

In the present invention, in order to form an ink pattern on the surface of the stretchable blanket, any printing method can be selected from general printing methods. That is, in addition to the screen printing and letterpress described in the examples, planographic plates including waterless planographic plates and intaglio plates including engraved intaglio plates can be selected. Further, in order to form an ink pattern on the surface of the stretchable blanket, an ink jet method, an electrophotographic method, a samar printing method or the like may be used in addition to the usual printing method. Further, regardless of the printing method, an ink pattern may be prepared by a photo process using an ink-like photoresist material having elasticity on the surface of the elastic blanket, and the ink pattern may be expanded and contracted on the surface of the elastic blanket.

Further, it is desirable that the elastic blanket material is a rubber-like elastic body for stable expansion and contraction. For such a rubber-like elastic body, silicone resin is desirable in terms of stability and the like. However, other than the silicone resin, any cross-linked polymer having a glass transition temperature lower than the temperature used for printing can be used as the rubber-like elastic body proposed in the present invention. Further, even if the ink is water-soluble or organic-solvent-based, any ink that does not dissolve in the ink of the ink pattern formed on the surface may be used. Further, when the rubber-like elastic body contains a proper amount of silicone resin or silicone oil, the ink transfer property from the stretchable blanket to the surface of the printing medium is improved. However, in the present invention, it is not necessary that 100% of the ink pattern formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket is transferred to the surface of the printing medium.

In the case of the stretch printing method of the present invention,
Since the ink pattern is not directly formed on the surface of the printing medium from the plate but is transferred and printed through the surface of the stretchable blanket, the ink pattern is less likely to cause bleeding.
This is because when the ink pattern is transferred from the plate to the surface of the elastic blanket, the solvent contained in the ink permeates the surface of the elastic blanket. An example of such a phenomenon is a phenomenon due to the penetration of an ink solvent when an electrode ink or the like is printed on the surface of a ceramic green sheet or the like. Further, heat may be applied when transferring the ink pattern formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket to the surface of the printing medium. Further, by forming in advance a layer corresponding to an adhesive layer such as a thin resin layer on the surface of the printing medium, it is possible to improve the transferability of the ink pattern from the surface of the stretchable blanket.

The ink pattern formed on the surface of the elastic blanket in the present invention may be a flexible material having a viscosity or viscoelasticity capable of following the expansion and contraction of the elastic blanket. Specifically, various printing inks, slurries used to make ceramic products, heat-softening materials used in the thermal transfer method, and even film-like materials having tackiness can follow the expansion and contraction of the elastic blanket. It should be one. Alternatively, a material such as a dry film may be transferred onto the entire surface of the stretchable blanket, and then a pattern may be formed by a method such as exposure, which may be used. In this case, a finer pattern can be formed by using a ceramic slurry ink or the like using a photosensitive resin as a binder.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the ink pattern formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket is enlarged or reduced to a predetermined size, and then transferred to the surface of the printing medium to transfer the ink pattern to the printing medium. It can be stretch printed on the surface.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of enlarged printing in one direction according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A and 2B are cross-sectional views showing the structure of the stretchable blanket in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing another structure of the stretchable blanket in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of stretch printing in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of stretch printing in the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining the structure of a stretchable blanket used in a third embodiment of the present invention.

7A, 7B, and 7C are cross-sectional views for explaining transfer of an ink pattern from a stretchable blanket for stretch printing to a printing medium according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic view for explaining a forming method of an ink pattern on a surface of a stretchable blanket by a drawing method according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view illustrating a child for stretch printing on a ceramic green sheet.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of a conventional screen printing method.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram for explaining the principle of a conventional offset intaglio.

[Explanation of symbols]

13a, 13b, 13c, 13d plate 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d ink pattern 15a, 15b, 15c, 15d stretchable blanket 17a, 17b, 17c, 17d transferred ink pattern 19a, 19b, 19c, 19d printed pattern 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d Printed bodies 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 2
1g Extending direction 22a, 22b Blanket rubber fixing jig 23 Blanket cylinder 24a, 24b Blanket rubber 26 Bellows 27 Fixing frame 28 Air cylinder 29 Stretching blanket 30 Ink pattern 31 Press 32 Printed material 33 Printed pattern 34 Stretching blanket 35 Dispenser 36 Nozzle 37 Ink pattern

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Masaaki Hayama 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Noboru Mohri, 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A stretchable printing method in which an ink pattern formed on a stretchable blanket surface is enlarged or reduced to a predetermined size and then transferred to the surface of a printing medium. 2. The stretchable printing method according to claim 1, wherein the stretchable blanket has a structure that stretches so as to have a predetermined size. 3. An ink pattern is formed on the surface of the stretchable blanket after the stretchable blanket is stretched to have a first dimension, and then the ink is obtained after the stretchable blanket is stretched to have a second dimension. A stretchable printing method in which a pattern is transferred to the surface of a printing medium. 4. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket has a structure having stretchability in only one direction. 5. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket has a structure in which the stretchable blanket is stretchable while sliding on the surface of the central body so as to have stretchability in only one direction. 6. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket has a structure in which the stretchable blanket has stretchability in only one direction by being wrapped around a bellows-shaped central body. 7. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket is a blanket rubber having stretchability in two different directions. 8. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket has a structure in which the stretchable blanket is stretched to a predetermined size by filling a gas or a liquid therein. 9. The stretchable printing method according to claim 2, wherein the stretchable blanket uses a rubber-like elastic body containing a silicone resin.