JPH08332783A - Method and apparatus for leveling ultrasonic noncontact type coating film - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain an ultrasonic non-contact type coating film leveling apparatus of directly ultrasonically vibrating a coating film formed on a coated article without impairing the base material of the film. CONSTITUTION: The apparatus for leveling ultrasonic non-contact type coating film comprises an ultrasonic vibrator for oscillating an ultrasonic wave, an amplifying horn 8 for amplifying the longitudinal vibration of the wave generated from the vibrator, a vibrating plate 9 vibrated in a specific mode by the amplified longitudinal vibration to radiate the ultrasonic vibration in the vibrating direction into the air, and reflecting plates 10 for reflecting the ultrasonic vibration radiated from the plate 9 to converge it on a coating film 13 formed on an object 12 to be coated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a leveling method for uniformizing the thickness of a coating film in a coating process, and particularly,
TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method and an apparatus for non-contact uniformizing the thickness of a coating film by ultrasonic waves.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a manufacturing process of a solar cell, a film forming the solar cell is applied on a glass substrate by a screen printing method. This screen printing method
Although it is advantageous in terms of cost, there is a drawback in that since the coating film is printed through the gaps in the screen mesh, there remain marks of irregularities due to the contact of the screen mesh.

Since the unevenness of the coating film surface greatly affects the performance of the solar cell, in order to form an efficient coating film of the solar cell using the screen printing method, some step of smoothing the coating film surface is required. Will be required.

Conventionally, a glass substrate coated with a film is subjected to ultrasonic vibration in a contact system to smooth the surface of the coated film. A conventional ultrasonic contact type coating film leveling method and apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 5, first, the Cds film 4 is applied to the surface of the glass substrate 3 by the screen printing method, and the Cds film 4 is applied.
The glass substrate 3 coated with the film 4 is placed on the table 5.

[0006] A combination of an ultrasonic oscillator 1 that oscillates ultrasonic waves by driving a high frequency power source 1a and a titanium amplification horn 2 that amplifies longitudinal vibration of ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic oscillator 1 A plurality of ultrasonic vibrating means A are prepared, and the ultrasonic vibrating means A, A are used for the table 5 described above.
The glass substrate 3 placed on the table 5 is laterally pressed against the stopper 6 provided at the end of the table 5 with a force of 1 to 1.5 kg, and at the same time, the ultrasonic vibration means A, A is used to move the table 5 above. By vertically pressing the glass substrate 3 placed on the table 5 against the table 5 with a force of 1 to 1.5 kg, ultrasonic vibration is applied to the glass substrate 3, and the vibration causes the coating film of the glass substrate to be applied. Ultrasonic contact type coating film leveling method for making the thickness of the film uniform.

[0007]

However, in the structure of the above-mentioned conventional example, since the ultrasonic vibrating means A is pressed against the glass substrate 3, high-frequency noise is generated or the glass substrate 3 is sonicated. The titanium amplifying horn 2 of the vibrating means A may be scraped or damaged, which makes it difficult to level the coated surface having a large area.

In order to manufacture a solar cell, the Cds film 4 coated on the glass substrate 3 is fired in a firing furnace to give a first firing.
It is necessary to apply the Cds film 4 on the layer Cds film a plurality of times, level the coating film by the ultrasonic contact system coating film leveling method, and bake, but in the second and subsequent steps, the ultrasonic contact system coating is performed. When carrying out the film leveling method, the baked Cds film that has been previously baked becomes a damping material for ultrasonic vibrations, and the Cds film 4 applied thereon becomes difficult to vibrate, and the leveling effect becomes insufficient. There is a problem.

The present invention solves the above problems, and ultrasonic non-contact coating capable of directly ultrasonically vibrating and leveling the uppermost coating film of a multilayer coating film without damaging the base material of the coating film. An object is to provide a film leveling method and a device therefor.

[0010]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the first invention of the present application forms a coating film on an object to be coated, and the ultrasonic oscillation means Ultrasonic vibration is applied to the vibrating piece to cause a specific mode of ultrasonic vibration in the vibrating piece, and the ultrasonic vibration radiated in the air from the vibrating piece in the vibrating direction is reflected by a reflecting plate, and the ultrasonic wave is applied on the coating film. And the surface of the coating film is smoothed by ultrasonic vibration.

Further, in the first invention of the present application, it is preferable that the ultrasonic vibration is focused on a focusing line on the coating film and the object to be coated is moved in a direction perpendicular to the focusing line.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling device of the second invention of the present application has an ultrasonic vibrator for oscillating ultrasonic waves, and a longitudinal wave of ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic vibrator. An amplification horn that amplifies the vibration, a vibrating piece that vibrates in a specific mode by the amplified longitudinal vibration and radiates ultrasonic vibration in the air in the vibration direction, and an ultrasonic vibration radiated from the vibrating piece is reflected. And a reflector for focusing on the coating film formed on the object to be coated.

In the second invention of the present application, the vibrating element is a vibrating plate that vibrates the surface in a specific mode in a direction perpendicular to the surface, and the reflecting plates are arranged on both sides of the vibrating plate. It is possible to provide a focusing reflection plate that deflects ultrasonic vibrations radiated in the air in the vibration direction to the side of the vibrating plate to focus it on the coating film formed on the coating object.

Further, in the second invention of the present application, the vibrating element is a vibrating rod that vibrates in a specific mode, and the reflecting plate has the vibrating rod disposed inside the focal point, and the vibrating rod moves in the air in the vibrating direction from the vibrating rod. A parabolic reflector that deflects the ultrasonic vibrations emitted to the object and focuses it on the coating film formed on the object to be coated can be used.

[0015]

The ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the first invention of the present application and the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling device of the second invention of the present application form a coating film on an object to be coated, Ultrasonic vibration of a specific mode is applied to the vibrating piece, and the ultrasonic vibration radiated into the air in the vibrating direction from the vibrating piece is reflected by the reflecting plate. By focusing on the surface and smoothing the surface of the coating film by ultrasonic vibration, ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling is possible, and the base material of the coating film is not damaged by the contact of the ultrasonic wave transmitting means.

In the conventional example of forming a multilayer coating film, the undercoating coating film serves as a damper, and the vibration effect of the uppermost coating film cannot be sufficiently obtained. Since the uppermost coating film of the film is directly vibrated by ultrasonic waves, even the uppermost coating film of the multilayer coating film can be sufficiently vibrated to make its film thickness uniform.

Further, in the first invention of the present application, if the ultrasonic vibration is focused on the focusing line on the coating film and the object to be coated is moved in the direction perpendicular to the focusing line, the coating film having a large area is formed. Can be efficiently leveled.

[0018]

EXAMPLE A first example of an ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling device using the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, first, the Cds film 13 is applied to the surface of the glass substrate 12 by a screen printing method, and C
The glass substrate 12 coated with the ds film 13 is placed on a moving table 14 that moves in the X direction.

28 kHz by the high frequency power source 7a, about 1
Ultrasonic vibrator 7 that oscillates an ultrasonic wave of 00 W and a titanium amplification horn 8 that amplifies the longitudinal vibration of the ultrasonic waves generated by this ultrasonic vibrator 7 The center of the diaphragm 9 made of titanium is attached to the tip. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this diaphragm 9 is adapted to the vibration at the position where the titanium amplification horn 8 is attached, the vibration frequency of ultrasonic waves, the material of the diaphragm 9, the horizontal length and the vertical direction. It vibrates in a specific vibration mode determined by the height and the like, vibrates the air in the vertical direction with respect to the diaphragm 9, and generates ultrasonic waves mainly in the vertical direction in the diaphragm 9. The amplification horn 8 and the diaphragm 9 are preferably made of titanium, but not limited to titanium. Further, although the frequency of 28 kHz is used in this embodiment, the frequency is not limited to 28 kHz. The output may be changed as needed.

Focusing reflectors 10 and 10 each having a curved surface are arranged so as to surround the diaphragm 9. The angles of the reflecting surfaces of the focusing reflectors 10 and 10 are configured to reflect ultrasonic waves emitted from the vibrating plate 9 in a direction perpendicular to the vibrating plate 9 so as to focus the ultrasonic waves on a focusing line 11.
In the vicinity of the upper end of the reflection plate 10, the angle is about 45 ° with respect to the glass substrate 12, and the angle is gradually increased toward the lower side. Thereby, the ultrasonic vibration generated from the diaphragm 9 in the vertical direction of the diaphragm 9 is focused on the focusing line 11.

As described above, the ultrasonic vibrating means B, the vibrating plate 9 and the reflecting plates 10 and 10 constitute the ultrasonic focusing device 15.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 1, C is obtained by the screen printing method.
The ds film 13 is applied to the surface of the glass substrate 12, and the glass substrate 12 applied with the Cds film 13 is placed on a moving table 14 that moves in the X direction. In this case, the Cds film 1
In order to print the coating film of No. 3 through the gap of the screen mesh, the Cds film 13 has a trace of unevenness due to the contact of the screen mesh.

When a high frequency power source 7a oscillates an ultrasonic wave of 28 kHz and about 100 W from the ultrasonic vibrator 7, its longitudinal vibration is amplified by the titanium amplification horn 8 and vibrates the diaphragm 9. From the vibrating plate 9, air vibration is generated mainly by a direction perpendicular to the vibrating plate 9 by ultrasonic waves of 28 kHz. The generated vibrations of the air strike the focusing reflectors 10 and 10 and are reflected, and are focused on the focusing line 11.

By adjusting the height of the moving table 14, the position of the focusing line 11 where the vibration of air by ultrasonic waves is focused is located on the upper surface of the Cds film 13 applied by the screen printing method on the surface of the glass substrate 12. When the moving table 14 is moved so as to coincide with each other, the Cds film 13 on which the marks of the unevenness due to the contact of the screen mesh remain
Is vibrated by non-contact ultrasonic waves, and it is possible to smooth the marks of irregularities due to the contact of the screen mesh.

The smoothing of the Cds film 13 of the second and subsequent layers can be easily carried out by finely adjusting the height of the moving table 14.

A second ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling apparatus using the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the present invention.
An embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The present embodiment shown in FIG. 4 is different from the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that the diaphragm 9 shown in FIG.
In FIG. 4 of the present embodiment, the focusing reflectors 10 and 10 in FIG. 1 are parabolic reflectors 17,
It is only that the ultrasonic focusing device 18 is configured as 17.

The vibration mode of the vibrating rod 16 is basically the same as in FIGS. 2 and 3, although the nodes for the same frequency and the distance between the nodes and the antinodes are slightly different from those of the diaphragm 9. Since the vibration direction of the titanium amplification horn 8 is horizontal, the vibration direction of air by ultrasonic waves is mainly the horizontal direction, but the position of the vibrating rod 16 is changed to the parabolic reflectors 17 and 1.
When it is displaced slightly inward of the focal position of 7, that is, to the upper side in FIG. 4, the vibration of the radiated air hits the focusing reflectors 10 and 10 and is reflected, and is focused on the focusing line 11.

Since the other contents are the same as those of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the description thereof will be omitted.

In order to eliminate the non-uniformity of the amount of focusing of the ultrasonic vibration on the focusing line 11 which occurs corresponding to the antinode and node of the vibration in the specific mode of the vibrating element shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. , A plurality of ultrasonic wave concentrators 15 or ultrasonic wave concentrators 1/4
It may be arranged in series by shifting the wavelength.

[0033]

The ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the first invention of the present application and the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling device of the second invention of the present application enable ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling and The contact between the base material and the ultrasonic wave transmitting means does not generate high-frequency noise or damage the base material of the coating film, and it is possible to level the coating film over a wide area.

Further, in the conventional example of forming a multi-layer coating film, the undercoating coating film serves as a damper for damping vibration,
While the vibration effect of the uppermost coating film is not sufficiently obtained, in the present invention, since the uppermost coating film of the multilayer coating film is directly ultrasonically vibrated, the uppermost coating film of the multilayer coating film is applied. Even with a film, there is an effect that the film can be sufficiently vibrated to have a uniform film thickness.

Further, in the first invention of the present application, when ultrasonic vibration is focused on the focusing line on the coating film and the object to be coated is moved in the direction perpendicular to the focusing line, the coating film having a large area is formed. There is an effect that the leveling processing can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling apparatus using the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a specific mode of vibration of the resonator element according to the invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific mode of vibration of the resonator element according to the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of an ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling apparatus using the ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an ultrasonic contact type coating film leveling device using the conventional ultrasonic contact type coating film leveling method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 B Ultrasonic Vibrating Means 7 Ultrasonic Transducer 7a High Frequency Power Supply 8 Titanium Amplification Horn 9 Reflector 10 Focusing Reflector 11 Focusing Line 12 Glass Substrate 13 Coating Film 14 Moving Table 15 Ultrasonic Focusing Device 16 Vibrating Rod 17 Parabolic Reflecting Plate 18 Ultrasonic Focusing

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A coating film is formed on an object to be coated, ultrasonic vibration from an ultrasonic wave oscillating means is applied to the vibrating piece, and ultrasonic vibration of a specific mode is caused in the vibrating piece. An ultrasonic non-contact coating film, characterized in that ultrasonic vibrations radiated in the air in the vibration direction are reflected by a reflecting plate and focused on the coating film to smooth the surface of the coating film by ultrasonic vibrations. Leveling method. 2. The ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling method according to claim 1, wherein the ultrasonic vibration is focused on a focusing line on the coating film, and the coating object is moved in a direction perpendicular to the focusing line. 3. An ultrasonic transducer that oscillates ultrasonic waves, an amplification horn that amplifies longitudinal vibration of ultrasonic waves generated by the ultrasonic transducer, and an ultrasonic horn that vibrates in a specific mode by the amplified longitudinal vibration. A vibrating piece that radiates sonic vibration into the air in the vibration direction, and a reflecting plate that reflects the ultrasonic vibration radiated from the vibrating piece and focuses it on the coating film formed on the object to be coated. An ultrasonic non-contact coating film leveling device characterized by: 4. The vibrating element is a vibrating plate that vibrates a surface thereof in a specific mode in a direction perpendicular to the surface, and reflectors are arranged on both sides of the vibrating plate, and the vibrating plate moves from the vibrating plate to an air flow direction thereof. The ultrasonic non-contact coating film according to claim 3, which is a focusing reflection plate that deflects ultrasonic vibrations radiated therein to a side of the diaphragm to focus the vibration on a coating film formed on an object to be coated. Leveling device. 5. The vibrating element is a vibrating rod that vibrates in a specific mode, and the reflector has the vibrating rod disposed inside a focal point.
The ultrasonic non-contact coating according to claim 3, which is a parabolic reflector that deflects ultrasonic vibrations radiated in the air from the vibrating rod in the vibration direction and focuses the ultrasonic vibrations on a coating film formed on an object to be coated. Membrane leveling device.