JPH0973013A - Production of color filter and apparatus for production therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a process for producing color filters capable of preventing the off-specification products from being produced by suppressing the variation in the impact positions of ink. SOLUTION: This process comprises producing color filters by discharging ink toward a substrate 1 by ink jet heads 120a to 120c and coloring the respective pixels of the color filters. The process includes a detecting stage for detecting the ruggedness of the surface of the substrate 1, an adjusting stage for adjusting the positions of the ink jet heads 120a to 120c in such a manner that the ink lands at the center of the pixels in the intermediate positions C between the highest point A and lowest point B of the ruggedness detected by the detecting stage and a coloring stage for coloring the respective pixels by discharging the ink from the ink jet heads in the positions adjusted in the adjusting stage.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a color filter manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by forming a large number of pixels colored in a plurality of colors on a substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the development of personal computers,
In particular, with the development of portable personal computers, the demand for liquid crystal displays, especially color liquid crystal displays, tends to increase. However, for further popularization, it is necessary to reduce the cost of the liquid crystal display, and in particular, there is an increasing demand for the cost reduction of the color filter, which has a high cost weight. Conventionally, various methods have been tried to satisfy the above-mentioned requirements while satisfying the required characteristics of the color filter, but a method for satisfying all the required characteristics has not yet been established. The respective methods will be described below.

The first method is a dyeing method. The staining method is
A water-soluble polymer material, which is a material for dyeing, is applied on a glass substrate, and is patterned into a desired shape by a photolithography process. Then, the obtained pattern is immersed in a dye bath to obtain a colored pattern. . By repeating this three times, R, G, B color filter layers are obtained.

[0004] The second method is a pigment dispersion method, which is recently replacing the dyeing method. In this method, a photosensitive resin layer in which a pigment is dispersed is formed on a substrate, and a monochromatic pattern is obtained by patterning the photosensitive resin layer. By repeating this process three times, R, G, B color filter layers are formed.

A third method is an electrodeposition method. In this method, a transparent electrode is patterned on a substrate, and immersed in an electrodeposition coating solution containing a pigment, a resin, an electrolytic solution, and the like to electrodeposit a first color. This process is repeated three times to separately apply R, G, and B, and then the resin is thermally cured to form a color layer.

As a fourth method, there is a printing method. In this method, a pigment is dispersed in a thermosetting resin, R, G, and B are separately applied by repeating printing three times, and then the resin is thermoset to form a colored layer. In any method, a protective layer is generally formed on the colored layer.

The common feature of these methods is that R,
It is necessary to repeat the same process three times in order to color the three colors G and B, which increases the cost. There is also a problem that the yield decreases as the number of processes increases. Further, in the electrodeposition method, since the pattern shape that can be formed is limited, the current technology cannot be applied to a TFT type color liquid crystal display. Further, the printing method cannot form fine-pitch patterns because of poor resolution and smoothness.

In order to make up for these drawbacks, JP-A-59-7 is used.
5205, JP-A-63-235901, JP-A-63-294503, or
Japanese Patent No. 217320 discloses a method of manufacturing a color filter using an inkjet method.

[0009]

Generally, when a color filter is manufactured by an ink jet method, the flight direction of ink ejected from an ejection nozzle of an ink jet head has a slight variation for each ejection nozzle.
When the flight direction of the ink is bent, the ink is ejected obliquely to the color filter substrate, so that the landing position of the ink on the substrate is displaced.
Specifically, the deviation of the ink landing position increases in proportion to the distance between the inkjet head and the substrate. When coloring a high-definition pattern such as a color filter, the allowable deviation of the landing position is about several μm to several tens of μm, and the deviation of the landing position as described above is a serious problem.
Therefore, in the manufacture of color filters, the distance between the inkjet head and the surface of the color filter substrate is strictly controlled, so that the deviation of the landing position can be kept within the allowable value even if the flight direction of the ink is slightly deviated. Is taken into consideration.

However, since the color filter substrate is usually made of glass, the surface thereof is several tens of μm.
There is a degree of undulation, and the distance between the inkjet head and the surface of the color filter substrate changes accordingly.
Ink landing position accuracy is deteriorated. That is,
If the position of the inkjet head is adjusted so that the ink will accurately land on the pixel of the color filter at the highest position of the waviness of the substrate, the landing position will shift at the lowest position of the substrate, and the adjacent pixel There is a problem in that a defective product is manufactured due to the occurrence of color mixture with the target pixel, or the target pixel cannot be colored and white bleeding occurs. On the contrary, if the ink is made to accurately land on the pixel of the color filter at the position where the substrate has the lowest waviness, the landing position will also shift at the highest position of the substrate.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent variations in ink landing positions and prevent defective products from being manufactured. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a filter.

[0012]

Means for Solving the Problems The above-mentioned problems are solved,
In order to achieve the object, a method for manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink toward a substrate by an inkjet head to color each pixel of the color filter, The detection step of detecting the unevenness of the surface of the substrate, and the ink so as to land in the center of the pixel at a position intermediate between the highest point and the lowest point of the unevenness detected in the detecting step. It is characterized by comprising an adjustment step of adjusting the position of the inkjet head, and a coloring step of coloring the pixels by ejecting ink from the inkjet head at the position adjusted by the adjustment step.

In the method for manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention, the ink jet head is a head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy,
It is characterized by having a thermal energy generator for generating thermal energy given to the ink.

The color filter manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is an apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink toward the substrate by an ink jet head to color each pixel of the color filter. Detecting means for detecting the unevenness of the surface of the ink jet head, and the ink jet head so that the ink may land on the center of the pixel at an intermediate position between the highest point and the lowest point of the unevenness detected by the detecting means. And adjusting means for adjusting the position of.

In the color filter manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention, the ink jet head is a head for ejecting ink by utilizing thermal energy,
It is characterized by having a thermal energy generator for generating thermal energy given to the ink.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a manufacturing process of a color filter by a color filter manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG.

In the present embodiment, a glass substrate is generally used as the substrate 1, but it is not limited to the glass substrate as long as it has necessary properties such as transparency and mechanical strength as a color filter for liquid crystal. Absent.

First, there is prepared a glass substrate 1 on which a black matrix 2 for clarifying the image of each pixel of the color filter is made clear (FIG. 1).
(A)). As a method of forming the black matrix, there is a method of forming a metal thin film by sputtering or vapor deposition and patterning it by a photolithography process.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the coating material according to the present embodiment is applied onto the substrate 1 on which the black matrix 2 is formed, and if necessary, prebaked to perform light irradiation or The resin composition layer 3 whose ink absorbency at the light-irradiated portion is increased by light irradiation and heat treatment is formed. As the coating material, a resin composition in which the ink absorbency of the exposed area is increased by exposure or by using exposure and heat treatment together is used. This is to prevent the color mixture of ink and the diffusion of ink more than necessary by utilizing the difference in the ink absorbency between the exposed portion and the unexposed portion.

Next, the coating material of the portion which is not shielded by the black matrix 2 is subjected to pattern exposure through the mask 4 in advance to perform an ink-philic treatment (FIG. 1 (c)) to form a latent image (FIG. 1). 1 (d)).

Then, using an ink jet head,
The R (red), G (green), and B (blue) inks are colored in the ink-affinitive portion 6 (FIG. 1E), and the ink is dried as necessary.

Next, light irradiation, heat treatment, or light irradiation and heat treatment is performed to cure the colored coating material, and the protective film 8 is formed if necessary (FIG. 1 (f)).
As the protective film 8, a photocurable type, a thermosetting type or a photothermal combined type resin material, or an inorganic film formed by vapor deposition, sputtering or the like can be used, and it has transparency as a color filter. And then IT
Any material that can withstand an O (Indium Tin Oxide) forming process, an alignment film forming process, and the like can be used.

2 and 3 are sectional views of a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) color liquid crystal panel incorporating the color filter according to the present embodiment. The mode is not limited to this example.

The color liquid crystal panel is generally formed by combining the color filter substrate 1 and the counter substrate 254 and enclosing the liquid crystal compound 252 therein. A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) is provided inside one substrate 254 of the liquid crystal panel.
tor) (not shown) and a transparent pixel electrode 253 are formed in a matrix. Also, inside the other substrate 1,
A color filter 10 is provided so that RGB color materials are arranged at positions facing the pixel electrodes, and a transparent counter electrode (common electrode) 250 is formed on one surface thereof. The black matrix 2 is usually formed on the color filter substrate 1 side (see FIG. 2), but is formed on the opposing TFT substrate side in a BM (black matrix) on-array type liquid crystal panel (see FIG. 3). Further, an alignment film 251 is formed in the planes of both substrates, and rubbing the alignment film 251 allows liquid crystal molecules to be aligned in a certain direction. A polarizing plate 255 is adhered to the outside of each glass substrate, and the liquid crystal compound 252 is filled in the gap (about 2 to 5 μm) between these glass substrates. In addition, a combination of a fluorescent lamp (not shown) and a scattering plate (not shown) is generally used as the backlight, and the display is performed by making the liquid crystal compound function as an optical shutter that changes the transmittance of the backlight light. I do.

An example in which such a liquid crystal panel is applied to an information processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration when the above liquid crystal panel is applied to an information processing apparatus having a function as a word processor, a personal computer, a facsimile apparatus, a copying apparatus.

In the figure, reference numeral 1801 denotes a control unit for controlling the entire apparatus, which is provided with a CPU such as a microprocessor and various I / O ports and outputs control signals and data signals to each unit and control signals from each unit. Control is performed by inputting a data signal. A display unit 1802 has various menus, document information, and an image reader 180 on this display screen.
The image data and the like read in 7 are displayed. 180
Reference numeral 3 denotes a transparent pressure-sensitive touch panel provided on the display unit 1802. By pressing the surface of the touch panel with a finger or the like, it is possible to perform item input or coordinate position input on the display unit 1802.

Reference numeral 1804 denotes an FM (Frequency Modulation) sound source section, which stores music information created by a music editor or the like in the memory section 1810 or an external storage device 1812 as digital data, and reads it from the memory or the like to perform FM.
The modulation is performed. The electric signal from the FM sound source unit 1804 is converted into an audible sound by the speaker unit 1805.
The printer unit 1806 is used as an output terminal of a word processor, a personal computer, a facsimile machine, and a copying machine.

Reference numeral 1807 denotes an image reader section for photoelectrically reading and inputting original data, which is provided in the original conveying path and reads various originals such as facsimile originals and copy originals.

Reference numeral 1808 designates a facsimile (F) which transmits the original data read by the image reader unit 1807 by facsimile and which receives and decodes the transmitted facsimile signal.
AX), and has an external interface function. Reference numeral 1809 denotes a telephone unit having various telephone functions such as a normal telephone function and an answering machine function.

Reference numeral 1810 denotes a ROM that stores a system program, a manager program, other application programs, etc., a character font, a dictionary, etc., an application program and document information loaded from an external storage device 1812, and a memory including a video RAM. It is a department.

Reference numeral 1811 denotes a keyboard unit for inputting document information and various commands.

Reference numeral 1812 denotes an external storage device having a floppy disk, a hard disk or the like as a storage medium. The external storage device 1812 stores document information, music or voice information, a user application program and the like.

FIG. 5 is a schematic external view of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

In the figure, reference numeral 1901 denotes a flat panel display using the above liquid crystal panel for displaying various menus, graphic information, document information and the like. This display 19
On 01, by pressing the surface of the touch panel 1803 with a finger or the like, coordinate input or item designation input can be performed. 1902 is a handset used when the device functions as a telephone. The keyboard 1903 is detachably connected to the main body via a cord, and can perform various document functions and various data inputs. The keyboard 1903 is provided with various function keys 1904 and the like. Reference numeral 1905 denotes a slot for inserting a floppy disk into the external storage device 1812.

Reference numeral 1906 denotes a paper placing portion on which an original read by the image reader 1807 is placed, and the read original is discharged from the rear portion of the apparatus. In the case of facsimile reception or the like, printing is performed by the inkjet printer 1907.

When the information processing apparatus functions as a personal computer or a word processor, various information input from the keyboard unit 1811 is processed by the control unit 1801 according to a predetermined program, and the printer unit 1
The image is output to an image 806.

When functioning as a receiver of a facsimile apparatus, the facsimile information input from the FAX transmission / reception unit 1808 via the communication line is received and processed by the control unit 1801 according to a predetermined program, and the printer unit 1806.
Is output as a received image.

In the case of functioning as a copying machine, a document is read by the image reader unit 1807, and the read document data is transferred to the printer unit 18 via the control unit 1801.
It is output as a copied image in 06. When functioning as a facsimile receiver, the image reader unit 1
The original data read by 807 is transmitted to control unit 180.
After transmission processing according to a predetermined program by 1
It is transmitted to the communication line via the FAX transmission / reception unit 1808.

As shown in FIG. 6, the above-mentioned information processing apparatus may be an integral type in which an ink jet printer is built in the main body, and in this case, it becomes possible to enhance the portability. In the figure, parts having the same functions as those in FIG. 5 are designated by the corresponding reference numerals.

Next, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a color pattern of a color filter manufactured by the color filter manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment. Each of the colored portions colored by the R, G, and B inks is one pixel and has a substantially rectangular shape. Assuming that the longitudinal direction of one pixel is the X direction and the direction orthogonal to the X direction is the Y direction, the size of one pixel is the same, 230 μm × 80 μm, and the pitch in the X direction is 300 μm, and the pitch in the Y direction is 300 μm. The pitch is 100 μm. Then, pixels of the same color are arranged in a straight line in the X direction, and Y
In the direction, each pixel is arranged so that adjacent pixels have different colors. Also, the pattern shown in this figure is
This corresponds to the pattern of the black matrix created in the step of FIG.

The number of pixels is 480 in the X direction and 1920 in the Y direction (640 for each color). As shown in FIG.
The size of the color filter screen is 144 mm x 192
mm for a 9.4 inch size liquid crystal panel with a diagonal length of 240 mm.

Next, FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the construction of a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing the color filter shown in FIG.

In FIG. 9, the manufacturing apparatus 20 is placed on a pedestal (not shown) and is movable in the X and Y directions in the figure, and a support member (not shown) above the XY table 22. The inkjet head IJH is fixed on the mount via the. On the XY table 22, the glass substrate 1 on which the black matrix 2 and the resin composition layer 3 are formed by the method described above is placed. The inkjet head IJH includes a red head 120a that ejects red (R) ink, a green head 120b that ejects green (G) ink, and a blue head 120c that ejects blue (B) ink. Cage,
Each of these heads 120a, 120b, 120c is configured to be able to eject ink independently. In addition, the main body of the inkjet head IJH,
R, G, B inkjet heads 120a, 120b,
An adjustment mechanism 123 for independently adjusting the position of 120c in the X, Y, and Z axis directions is built in. This adjustment mechanism 1
As 23, for example, a known mechanism such as a gear mechanism that converts the rotation amount of the screw into the movement of the base of the inkjet heads 120a, 120b, 120c can be used.

Inkjet heads IJH are provided on both sides of the inkjet head IJH in the scanning direction (X direction).
Distance sensor 1 for detecting the distance between the glass substrate 1 and
22 are provided. With this distance sensor 122,
The distance between the inkjet head IJH and the glass substrate 1 is measured. As the distance sensor 122, for example, a laser distance sensor or the like is used, but the distance sensor 122 is not limited to this and may be anything as long as it can measure the distance between the substrate and the inkjet head in a non-contact manner.

A recovery unit 30 for carrying out a recovery operation of the ink jet head IJH is provided at the end of the XY table 22.
It is arranged so as to be movable in the Z direction.

The recovery unit 30 prevents the nozzles of the inkjet head IJH from being clogged, and ink droplets on the nozzle surface of the inkjet head IJH,
It has a role to wipe off dust and to always perform normal ink ejection, and a role to prevent dust on the nozzle surface from falling during coloring of the glass substrate to cause a defect.

Next, FIG. 10 is a view showing the structure of an ink jet head IJH for ejecting ink onto the resin composition layer 3. The three inkjet heads 120
Since a, 120b, and 120c have the same structure, FIG. 10 shows one of them as a representative.

In FIG. 10, the ink jet head I
The JH is roughly composed of a heater board 104 as a substrate on which a plurality of heaters 102 for heating ink are formed, and a top plate 106 overlaid on the heater board 104. A plurality of ink ejection ports 108 are formed in the top plate 106, and behind the ejection ports 108,
A tunnel-like liquid passage 110 connected to the discharge port 108 is formed. Each liquid channel 110 is separated from an adjacent liquid channel by a partition 112. Each of the liquid passages 110 is commonly connected to one ink liquid chamber 114 at the rear of the liquid passage 110, and ink is supplied to the ink liquid chamber 114 through the ink supply port 117. The ink is supplied from the ink liquid chamber 114, respectively. Is supplied to the liquid path 110 of

The heater board 104 and the top plate 106
The heaters 102 are aligned so that they come to the positions corresponding to the respective liquid paths 110, and the state is assembled as shown in FIG. Although only two heaters 102 are shown in FIG. 10, one heater 102 is arranged corresponding to each liquid passage 110. Then, when a predetermined driving pulse is supplied to the heater 102 in the assembled state as shown in FIG. 10, the ink on the heater 102 boils to form bubbles, and the ink expands by the volume expansion of the bubbles.
It is pushed out from 08 and discharged.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the arrangement of a color filter manufacturing apparatus according to this embodiment.

In FIG. 11, a CPU 50 for controlling the overall operation of the manufacturing apparatus includes an X-direction drive motor 56 and a Y-direction drive motor 58 for driving the XY stage 22 in the XY directions, an X-motor drive circuit 52 and a Y-motor. A Z-direction drive motor 59, which is connected via the motor drive circuit 54 and drives the recovery system unit 30 in the Z direction, is connected via the Z motor drive circuit 55. Further, an adjusting mechanism 123 for adjusting the position of each of the R, G, B inkjet heads 120a, 120b, 120c in the X, Y, Z axis directions is also connected.

Further, the CPU 50 has a head drive circuit 6
0 is connected to the inkjet head IJH. Further, the CPU 50 has an X encoder 62 and a Y encoder 64 for detecting the position of the XY stage 22.
Are connected, and position information of the XY stage 22 is input. The control program in the program memory 66 is also input. The CPU 50 moves the XY stage 22 based on the control program and the positional information of the X encoder 62 and the Y encoder 64 to move a desired grid frame (pixel) on the glass substrate 1 to the inkjet head IJH.
And the glass substrate 1 is colored by discharging ink of a desired color into the pixel and coloring the pixel. By performing this for each pixel, a color filter is manufactured. Each time the coloring of the glass substrate 1 is completed, the recovery system unit 30 attached to the end of the XY stage 22 immediately below the inkjet head IJH.
Is moved, and the wiping operation is performed by the X-direction drive motor 56. Further, the Z-direction drive motor 59 moves the cap (not shown) in the Z-direction to perform the preliminary ejection operation. In the meantime, the work of exchanging the colored glass substrate 1 and the uncolored glass substrate 1 is performed by a substrate transfer device (not shown).

The distance information between the glass substrate 1 and the ink jet head IJH output from the distance sensor 122 is input to the CPU 50, and the CPU 50 operates the ink jet head IJH based on this information and the adjusting mechanism 1.
23 and the operation of the XY stage 22 are controlled.
The details of this control will be described later.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between the ink ejection direction of the ink jet head IJH and the waviness of the glass substrate 1.

In the ink jet IJH of this embodiment, the direction of the ink discharge nozzle is inclined by 10 ° with respect to the direction orthogonal to the glass substrate 1 as shown in FIG. Then, the inkjet head IJH having the inclined ejection nozzles is arranged at a height of, for example, 50 μm from the glass substrate 1. In this case, when the glass substrate 1 has a waviness of 50 μm in height, for example, the ink dot landing position is 8.8 μ from the vertical line at the highest position A of the glass substrate 1 as shown in the figure.
m, the lowest position B is 17.6 μm, and a landing position deviation of 8.8 μm occurs. When such a landing position shift occurs, the position of the ink dot is changed as shown in FIG.
As shown in (4), it is largely deviated from the lattice frame of the black matrix 2. Therefore, in the present embodiment,
At a point C, which is an intermediate height between the highest point A and the lowest point B of the glass substrate 1, the ink jet head 12 is arranged so that the ink may land on the center of the lattice frame of the black matrix 2.
The positions of 0a to 120c are adjusted by the adjusting mechanism 123. Therefore, even if the glass substrate has a waviness of 50 μm, the plus and minus directions are 4.4 μm centered on the center of the landing position shift width of 8.8 μm.
Since the landing position deviations are dispersed, the maximum value of the landing position deviation from the center of the lattice frame of the black matrix 2 is reduced to half the value from 8.8 μm to 4.4 μm.

The deviation of the ink dot ejection direction is
In addition to the original inclination of the nozzle itself as described above, there are elements that are caused by habits and variations in each nozzle, and these elements cause variations in the landing positions. In the present embodiment, such bending in the ink ejection direction for each nozzle is measured in advance, and the positions of the inkjet heads 120a to 120c are adjusted according to the measured value. That is, in addition to the inclination of the nozzles themselves, even if there is a deviation in the ejection direction due to the habit of each nozzle, the highest point and the lowest point of the glass substrate 1 are adjusted according to the overall deviation in the ink ejection direction. If the position of the inkjet head is adjusted so that the ink lands on the center of the lattice frame of the black matrix 2 at a point at the middle of the points, the deviation of the landing position of the ink is even in the plus direction and the minus direction. As a result, they are dispersed and the displacement of the landing position is reduced.

Next, FIG. 13 is a diagram showing measurement points of the height of the surface of the glass substrate 1.

As shown in FIG. 13, for example, the glass substrate 1
At the central points 302, 304, 306, 308 of the four sides and the central point 310 of the glass substrate 1, the height of the surface of the glass substrate 1 is measured by the distance sensor 122, and the highest of the glass substrate 1 is measured. Find the point and the lowest point. And
The height of the inkjet heads 120a to 120c is set to 50 μm above the highest point of the glass substrate 1, for example. Here, if the difference in height between the highest point and the lowest point of the glass substrate 1 is 50 μm, the positional relationship between the glass substrate 1 and the inkjet head will be as shown in FIG. , The deviation of the ink landing positions of the highest point and the lowest point of the glass substrate 1 is 17.6-8.8 = 8.8μ.
m. In this state, the ink lands on the center of the black matrix 2 at a point midway between the highest point and the lowest point of the glass substrate, that is, at a position of 75 μm from the surface of the inkjet head, as shown in FIG. As described above, the adjustment mechanism 123 adjusts the position of the inkjet head in the XY directions. With this arrangement, the landing position deviation of 8.8 μm is divided into plus and minus directions by 4.4 μm each, as shown in FIG. 14B, and the center of the lattice frame of the black matrix 2 is divided. The deviation of the ink landing against the maximum is 4.4 μm.

As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the ink jet head is placed in the center of the grid frame of the black matrix in the middle of the highest position and the lowest position of the waviness of the glass substrate. By adjusting the position for landing, the landing position deviation of ink is divided into the plus direction and the minus direction, and the maximum value of the landing position deviation can be suppressed to a small value.

In the present embodiment, in the ink jet head, the ink on the heater 102 boils to generate bubbles, and the volume expansion of the bubbles causes the ink to eject.
Although the bubble jet type inkjet head which is pushed out from and ejected from 08 is used, the present invention is not limited to this and may be an inkjet head using a piezo element.

In the above embodiment, the waviness of the glass substrate is 50 μm, and the distance from the highest position of the glass substrate of the ink jet head is 50 μm.
Although the description has been given assuming that the inclination of the ink ejection nozzle is 10 °, these values are merely examples, and it goes without saying that the present invention is applicable without being limited to these values.

The present invention includes a means (for example, an electrothermal converter or a laser beam) for generating thermal energy as energy used for performing ink ejection, particularly in an ink jet recording system. The printing apparatus of the type that causes a change in the state of the ink has been described.
High definition can be achieved.

With regard to its typical structure and principle, see, for example, US Pat. Nos. 4,723,129 and 4740.
What is done using the basic principles disclosed in 796 is preferred. This method can be applied to both the so-called on-demand type and continuous type, but especially in the case of the on-demand type, liquid (ink)
By applying at least one drive signal corresponding to the recorded information and providing a rapid temperature rise exceeding the film boiling to an electrothermal transducer arranged corresponding to the sheet or the liquid path in which Since thermal energy is generated in the electrothermal transducer and film boiling occurs on the heat-acting surface of the recording head, bubbles in the liquid (ink) corresponding to this drive signal on a one-to-one basis can be formed. It is valid. The liquid (ink) is ejected through the ejection openings by the growth and contraction of the bubbles to form at least one droplet. When the drive signal is formed into a pulse shape, the growth and shrinkage of the bubble are performed immediately and appropriately, so that the ejection of the liquid (ink) having particularly excellent responsiveness can be achieved, which is more preferable.

As the pulse-shaped drive signal, those described in US Pat. Nos. 4,463,359 and 4,345,262 are suitable. If the conditions described in US Pat. No. 4,313,124 of the invention relating to the rate of temperature rise on the heat acting surface are adopted, more excellent recording can be performed.

As the configuration of the recording head, in addition to the combination of a discharge port, a liquid path, and an electrothermal converter (a linear liquid flow path or a right-angled liquid flow path) as disclosed in the above-mentioned respective specifications, A configuration using U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,333 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,600, which discloses a configuration in which a heat acting surface is arranged in a bent region, is also included in the present invention. In addition, for multiple electrothermal converters,
JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which a common slot is used as a discharge part of an electrothermal transducer, and JP-A-59-123670 which discloses a configuration in which an opening for absorbing a pressure wave of thermal energy corresponds to a discharge part. A configuration based on 138461 may be adopted.

Further, as a full-line type recording head having a length corresponding to the width of the maximum recording medium that can be recorded by the recording apparatus, the length is determined by combining a plurality of recording heads as disclosed in the above specification. This may be either a configuration satisfying the above requirements or a configuration as a single recording head formed integrally.

In addition, the recording head is replaceable with a print head of a replaceable chip type, which can be electrically connected to the main body of the apparatus or supplied with ink from the main body of the apparatus, or integrated with the recording head itself. Alternatively, a cartridge type recording head provided with an ink tank may be used.

It is preferable to add recovery means for the printhead, preliminary auxiliary means, and the like provided as components of the printing apparatus of the present invention since the effects of the present invention can be further stabilized. . Specific examples thereof include capping means, cleaning means, pressurizing or suctioning means for the recording head, preheating means using an electrothermal converter or another heating element or a combination thereof, and recording. It is also effective to perform a stable recording by performing a preliminary discharge mode in which another discharge is performed.

In the embodiment of the present invention described above,
Although the ink is described as a liquid, an ink that solidifies at room temperature or lower, or one that softens or liquefies at room temperature may be used, or the ink itself may be 30 ° C. or more and 70 ° C. or more in the inkjet method. In general, the temperature is adjusted within the following range to control the temperature of the ink so that the viscosity of the ink is in the stable ejection range. Therefore, the ink may be in a liquid state when the use recording signal is applied.

In addition, in order to positively prevent the temperature rise due to thermal energy as energy for changing the state of the ink from the solid state to the liquid state,
Alternatively, in order to prevent evaporation of the ink, an ink which solidifies in a standing state and liquefies by heating may be used. In any case, by applying thermal energy such as ink that is liquefied by applying thermal energy according to the recording signal and liquid ink is ejected, or that begins to solidify when it reaches the recording medium. The present invention can be applied to the case where an ink having a property of being liquefied for the first time is used. In such a case, as described in JP-A-54-56847 or JP-A-60-71260, the ink is held in a liquid state or a solid state in the concave portion or through hole of the porous sheet. It is good also as a form which opposes an electrothermal transducer. In the present invention, the most effective one for each of the above-mentioned inks is to execute the above-mentioned film boiling method.

[0073]

As described above, according to the manufacturing method and the manufacturing apparatus of the color filter of the present invention, the ink-jet head is provided with the ink in the middle of the highest position and the lowest position of the waviness of the glass substrate. By adjusting the position so that the ink lands on the center of the pixel, the ink landing position deviation is divided into the plus direction and the minus direction, and the maximum value of the landing position deviation can be suppressed to a small value.

[0074]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of a color filter.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure when a color filter manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus of one embodiment is incorporated in a TFT liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure when a color filter manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus of one embodiment is incorporated in a TFT liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an information processing apparatus using a liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an information processing apparatus using a liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an information processing device in which a liquid crystal panel is used.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a pattern of a color filter manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a size of a display unit when the color filter manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment is incorporated in a TFT liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a structure of an inkjet head.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the relationship between the ink ejection direction of the inkjet head IJH and the waviness of the glass substrate.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing points for measuring the height of a glass substrate.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state where ink landing position deviations are distributed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Glass Substrate 2 Black Matrix 3 Resin Composition 4 Mask 5 Non-ink-philic Part 6 Ink-philic Part 7 Ink 8 Protective Film 22 XY Stage 30 Recovery System Unit 108 Ejection Nozzle 120a Inkjet Head (R) 120b Inkjet Head (G) 120c Inkjet head (B) IJH Inkjet head

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink toward a substrate by an inkjet head to color each pixel of the color filter, the detecting step of detecting irregularities on the surface of the substrate, An adjusting step of adjusting the position of the inkjet head so that the ink may land on the center of the pixel at a position intermediate between the highest point and the lowest point of the unevenness detected in the detecting step; And a coloring step of coloring the pixels by ejecting ink from the inkjet head at a position adjusted in the step. 2. The ink jet head is a head for ejecting ink by utilizing heat energy, and is provided with a heat energy generator for generating heat energy given to the ink. 1. The method for manufacturing a color filter according to 1. 3. An apparatus for manufacturing a color filter by ejecting ink toward the substrate by an inkjet head to color each pixel of the color filter, the detecting unit detecting irregularities on the surface of the substrate, And an adjusting unit that adjusts the position of the inkjet head so that the ink may land on the center of the pixel at a position intermediate between the highest point and the lowest point of the unevenness detected by the detection unit. An apparatus for manufacturing a color filter, which is characterized in that 4. The ink jet head is a head for ejecting ink by utilizing heat energy, and is provided with a heat energy generator for generating heat energy to be given to the ink. 3. The apparatus for manufacturing a color filter according to item 3.