JPH10216598A - Method and device for coating and method and device for manufacture of color filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating device and a coating method for removing securely the adhered matter such as a coating liquid adhered on the periphery of a jet opening of a coating instrument regardless of the kind of the coating liquid while minimizing the wear of a cleaning head and securing the dustproof properties and long life and forming a high quality film free from film defects, and also provide a manufacturing device and a manufacturing method thereof for a color filter in which the above coating device and the coating method are used. SOLUTION: A cleaning component 94 moving along the longitudinal direction of a jet opening while being brought into contact slidably with a jet opening peripheral section 10 of a coating instrument 40 and removing a coating liquid adhered on the jet opening peripheral section is provided, and also a sensing means for sensing the position of the jet opening of the coating instrument is provided, and based on the measured value of the jet opening position sensed by the sensing means, the relative position between both of the cleaning component 94 and the coating instrument 40 at the time of being brought into contact slidably is controlled to be constant on the basis of the jet opening position of the coating instrument as a reference.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is used, for example, in the field of manufacturing color filters for color liquid crystal displays, optical filters, printed boards, integrated circuits, semiconductors, and the like. The present invention relates to a coating apparatus and a coating method for forming a coating film while discharging a coating liquid onto a surface, and to an improvement of a color filter manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method using the apparatus and the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A color filter for a color liquid crystal display has a fine lattice pattern of three primary colors on a glass substrate. Such a lattice pattern is formed by first forming a black coating film on a glass substrate. After that, it can be obtained by separately applying red, blue and green coating films.

[0003] Therefore, in order to manufacture a color filter, a coating step of applying black, red, blue, and green coating liquids on a glass substrate and sequentially forming these coating films is indispensable. In this type of coating process, a spinner, a bar coater, a roll coater, or the like has been used as a conventional coating device, but recently, in order to reduce the consumption of the coating liquid and to improve the physical properties of the coating film, Is considering using a die coater.

An example of this type of die coater is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-208154. This known die coater has a slit die as a coating device, and forms a coating film on a member to be coated such as a film traveling in one direction while discharging a coating liquid from a discharge port of the slit die. I have.

In recent years, the discharge ports of these die coaters have been provided with a cleaning head around the discharge ports in order to always apply a normal discharge port. It moves in the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while contacting with the liquid, and with this movement, wipes off the coating liquid adhering to the periphery of the discharge port.

[0006]

For example, the above-mentioned cleaning head has an elastic supporting portion made of foamable polyethylene, and this elastic supporting portion is pressed against the discharge port of the slit die by an air cylinder at a constant pressure. At this time, the elastic supporting portion can be in close contact with the peripheral portion extending along the discharge port so as to straddle the discharge port of the slit die by its own elastic deformation.

In this case, it is convenient to apply a constant pressure by the air cylinder because it can easily follow a change in the vertical dimension of the base, but there is a disadvantage that fine adjustment of the urging force is not possible. In order to perform the wiping completely and to minimize the displacement due to the wear of the cleaning head, and to obtain the dust resistance and the long service life, the optimum biasing pressure must be used. To achieve this, the urging of the cleaning head to the slit die must be controlled not by pressure but by the relative positional relationship between the two.

Further, in the production of coated products using an actual slit die coater, since the type of coating liquid and the coating width are different for each type, a plurality of bases having different shapes and dimensions are prepared.
It is common to change it for each variety. In addition, even if it is the same type, it has a spare slit die in case of an unexpected situation. There is no problem if the shape of these slit dies, especially the vertical direction, that is, the length in the urging direction of the cleaning head is almost the same, but since they often differ, the relative positional relationship must be adjusted again for each die. become. That is, the relative positional relationship control between the two is also required here.

Further, in the known cleaning head, no consideration is given to a highly volatile liquid such as an acrylic coating liquid. With these coating liquids, the coating liquid adhering to the tip of the slit die dries before wiping is performed, so that mere wiping cannot completely clean the discharge port. If the deposits remain, the shape of the liquid pool between the substrate and the slit die at the time of coating will not be stable, and the coating film defects such as vertical stripes will be induced.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and a first object of the present invention is to minimize the wear of a cleaning head, to secure dustproofness and a long service life, and to reduce the number of types of coating liquids. A coating apparatus and a coating method capable of reliably removing deposits such as a coating liquid adhering to a peripheral portion of a discharge port of a coating device, and forming a high-quality coating film having no coating defects, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a color filter manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method using these apparatuses and a coating method.

Further, a second object of the present invention is to provide a method capable of reliably removing deposits such as a coating liquid adhering to the periphery of a discharge port of a downward coating device regardless of the viscosity of the coating liquid. An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus and a coating method capable of forming a high-quality coating film without defects, and a color filter manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method using these apparatuses and the coating method.

[0012]

The object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus, comprising: a means for supplying a coating liquid; a coating apparatus having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means; A moving unit for relatively moving at least one of the coating members to form a coating film on the coating member; and (A) slidingly contacting a periphery of a discharge port of the coating device. A cleaning member that moves along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while removing the coating liquid adhering to the periphery of the discharge port, (B) a detection unit that detects the position of the discharge port of the applicator, and (C) Control means for controlling the relative position between the cleaning member and the applicator at the time of sliding contact with the applicator based on the measured value of the ejection port position by the detection means, based on the ejection port position of the applicator. It is a coating device characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the relative positional relationship between the applicator and the cleaning member at the time of cleaning is determined by the detecting means and the control means for the position of the discharge port of the applicator. However, since it is set to be constant, it is possible to always perform wiping and cleaning in the same state.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus, comprising: a means for supplying a coating liquid; a coating apparatus having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means; A moving unit for relatively moving at least one of the coating members to form a coating film on the coating member, wherein (A) a cleaning liquid is applied to a periphery of a discharge port of the coating device; A cleaning liquid adhering means for adhering; and (B) a cleaning member which moves along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while sliding on the peripheral part of the discharge port to remove the coating liquid adhering to the peripheral part of the discharge port. It is a coating device characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to the coating apparatus of the present invention, even a highly volatile coating liquid that dries immediately after being discharged from the discharge port of the coating device is cleaned after the cleaning liquid is applied. Deposits near the discharge port can be completely removed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a coating apparatus for supplying a coating liquid, a coating apparatus having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means, the coating apparatus and the coating apparatus. A moving means for relatively moving at least one of the coating members to form a coating film on the coating member; and (A) surrounding means surrounding the discharge port of the coating device And (B) a solvent vapor generating means located inside the surrounding means for generating a solvent vapor of the coating liquid.

According to the coating apparatus of the third aspect, the vicinity of the discharge port of the coating apparatus is filled with the solvent vapor, and even if the coating liquid is easily evaporated, the coating liquid can be prevented from solidifying due to the evaporation of the coating liquid. The attached matter can be completely removed by wiping with the cleaning member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coating device, further comprising a liquid reservoir for storing the removed coating liquid around the discharge port of the coating device.

According to the coating apparatus of the present invention, the coating liquid having a low viscosity and flowing easily re-adheres to the discharge port along the slope of the coating apparatus, and the residual coating liquid is solidified to clean the cleaning member and the coating apparatus. Can be prevented from hindering sliding contact.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coating apparatus according to the fourth aspect, further comprising a discharge unit for discharging the coating liquid accumulated in the liquid reservoir.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the coating apparatus, further comprising a discharger which protrudes outside the contact area of the cleaning member and discharges the coating liquid remaining around the discharge port.

According to the coating apparatus of the sixth aspect, the same effect as that of the coating apparatus of the ninth aspect can be obtained. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a color filter manufacturing apparatus including the coating apparatus according to any one of the first to sixth aspects.

Since the color filter is manufactured by using the coating device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention, a high quality color filter can be obtained.

In the coating method according to the present invention, at least one of the coating device and the member to be coated is relatively moved while discharging the coating liquid from a discharge port extending in one direction of the coating device. In the coating method for forming a coating film on a member, after the cleaning member of the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, the cleaning member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while sliding the cleaning member around the discharge port. The coating method removes the coating liquid adhering to the periphery of the discharge port.

According to the coating method of the present invention, even if the size of the applicator in the vertical direction is different, the relative position between the applicator discharge port and the cleaning member can always be cleaned with the same optimal urging force, and the dust of the cleaning member can be reduced. -It is possible to completely remove deposits from the discharge port while achieving a long service life.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the cleaning member of the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, and after the cleaning liquid is applied to the discharge port, the cleaning member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port. This is a coating method characterized in that the coating method is moved.

According to the coating method of the ninth aspect, even if a highly volatile coating liquid that dries and adheres to the discharge port after discharge, cleaning is performed after dissolving the adhered substance with the cleaning liquid. Kimono can be reliably removed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, after the cleaning member of the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, and the peripheral portion of the discharge port is filled with the solvent vapor of the coating liquid,
The application method is characterized in that the cleaning member is moved along a longitudinal direction of a discharge port.

According to the coating method of the tenth aspect, even with a highly volatile coating liquid, evaporation of the residual coating liquid attached near the discharge port is prevented, and the liquid state is maintained without solidification. By the sliding contact, the residual deposits can be completely cleaned and removed.

An application method according to an eleventh aspect of the invention is a coating method, wherein the application liquid which protrudes outside the contact area of the cleaning member during the removal of the application liquid is stored in a liquid reservoir provided in the application device.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the coating liquid having a low viscosity and flowing easily re-adheres to the discharge port along the slope of the coating apparatus, and the residual coating liquid is solidified to clean the cleaning member and the coating apparatus. Can be prevented from hindering sliding contact.

A coating method according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention is a coating method characterized in that the coating liquid that is outside the contact area of the cleaning member is removed during the removal of the coating liquid.

According to the twelfth aspect of the invention, there is provided the first aspect of the invention.
The same effect as the application method 1 can be obtained.

A color filter manufacturing method according to a thirteenth aspect is a method for manufacturing a color filter, wherein the color filter is manufactured using any one of the coating methods according to the eighth to twelfth aspects.

According to the color filter manufacturing method of the present invention, since the color filter is manufactured by using any one of the coating methods of the present invention, a high quality color filter can be manufactured.

[0037]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a coating apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic view around the stage 6 and the slit die 40 in FIG.

FIG. 1 shows a coating apparatus applied to manufacture a color filter for a color liquid crystal display according to the present invention, that is, a so-called die coater. A pair of guide groove rails 4 is provided on the base 2, and a stage 6 as a holder is disposed on the guide groove rails 4, and the upper surface of the stage 6 is long in the running direction and has a vacuum suction. Thus, the two coated members A and B are configured as a fixable suction surface. The stage 6 is reciprocally movable in a horizontal direction on the guide groove rail 4 via a pair of slide legs 8.

A casing 12 incorporating feed screw mechanisms 12, 14, 16 shown in FIG. 2 is disposed between the pair of guide groove rails 4, and the casing 12 extends in the horizontal direction along the guide groove rail 4. ing. Feed screw mechanism 1
4, 16 and 18 have a feed screw 14 formed of a ball screw as shown in FIG. 2, and the feed screw 14 is screwed into a nut-shaped connector 16 fixed to the lower surface of the stage 6, This connector 16
Extends through it. Both ends of the feed screw 14 are rotatably supported by bearings (not shown), and an AC servo motor 18 is connected to one end thereof.

As shown in FIG. 1, an inverted L-shaped die support 24 is disposed substantially at the center of the upper surface of the base 2. The tip of the die post 24 is positioned above the reciprocating path of the stage 6, and the lifting mechanism 26 is attached to the tip. As shown in FIG. 3, the lifting mechanism 26 includes a lifting bracket 31 that can be raised and lowered. The lifting bracket 31 is attached to a pair of guide rods in a casing 28 of the lifting mechanism 26 so as to be able to move up and down.
A feed screw 33 composed of a ball screw is also rotatably arranged in the casing 28 between the guide lots, and the lifting bracket is connected to the feed screw via a nut-type connector. An AC servomotor 30 is connected to an upper end of the feed screw, and the AC servomotor 30 is attached to an upper surface of the casing 28.

A support shaft (not shown) is provided on the lifting bracket.
A die holder 32 is attached via a groove. The die holder 32 has a U-shape and extends horizontally above a pair of guide groove rails 4 and between the rails 4. The support shaft of the die holder 32 is rotatably supported in the elevating bracket.
Is rotatable in a vertical plane together with the support shaft.

A horizontal bar 36 is fixed to the lifting bracket, and the horizontal bar 36 is located above the die holder 32 and extends along the die holder 32. Electromagnetically actuated linear actuators 38 are respectively attached to both ends of the horizontal bar 36, and these linear actuators 38 have telescopic rods projecting from the lower surface of the horizontal bar 36. The lower ends of these telescopic rods are in contact with both ends of the die holder 32, respectively.

A slit die 40 as an applicator is held in the die holder 32. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the slit die 40 is in a direction orthogonal to the reciprocating direction of the stage 6, that is, in the longitudinal direction of the die holder 32. And horizontally supported by a die holder 32 at both ends.

As shown in FIG. 2, a supply hose 42 for the coating solution extends from the slit die 40, and a tip of the supply hose 42 is a syringe pump 44, that is,
It is connected to the supply port of the electromagnetic switching valve 46.
A suction hose 48 extends from a suction port of the electromagnetic switching valve 46, and the tip of the suction hose 48 is inserted into a tank 50 that stores a coating liquid.

The pump body 52 of the syringe pump 44 is
The switching operation of the electromagnetic switching valve 46 causes the supply hose 42
And one of the suction hoses 48. The electromagnetic switching valve 46 and the pump body 52 are electrically connected to a computer 54, and the operation thereof is controlled in response to a control signal from the computer 54.

Further, a sequencer 56 is also electrically connected to the computer 54 to control the operation of the syringe pump 44. The sequencer 56 includes an AC servo motor 18 for the feed screw 14 on the stage 6 side and an AC servo motor 3 on the lift mechanism 26 side.
0, and controls the operation of the linear actuator 38 in a sequence.
The sequencer 56 receives a signal indicating an operation state of the AC servomotors 18 and 30, a signal from a position sensor 58 for detecting a moving position of the stage 6, and a sensor (not shown) for detecting an operation state of the slit die 40. A signal or the like is input.
, A signal indicating the sequence operation is output to the computer 54. Instead of using the position sensor 58, an encoder may be incorporated in the AC servomotor 18 and the sequencer 56 may detect the movement position of the stage 6 based on a pulse signal output from the encoder. Further, the control by the computer 54 can be incorporated in the sequencer 56 itself.

As schematically shown in FIG. 2, the slit die 40 has a front lip 59 and a rear lip 60 which are long blocks in a direction orthogonal to the reciprocating direction of the stage 6, that is, in the width direction. ing. The lips 59 and 60 face each other in the reciprocating direction of the stage 6, and are integrally connected to each other by a plurality of connecting bolts (not shown). By combining both lips 59, 60,
The lower portion of the slit die 40 is formed as a tapered nozzle portion.

In the slit die 40, a manifold 62 is formed at a central portion thereof, and the manifold 62 extends horizontally in the width direction of the slit die 40. The manifold 62 is always connected to the above-described coating liquid supply hose 42 via an internal passage (not shown), so that the manifold 62 can receive the supply of the coating liquid.

A slit 64 having an upper end communicating with the manifold 62 is formed inside the slit die 40, and a lower end of the slit 64 is opened at a lower surface of the slit die 40. That is, the lower end opening of the slit 64 is formed as a discharge port of the slit die 40. Specifically, the slit 64 is secured by a shim sandwiched between the front lip 59 and the rear lip 60.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, a sensor column 20 is disposed on the upper surface of the base 2 on the near side of the die column 24. This sensor support 20 is also the die support 2 described above.
4 has an inverted L-shape, and its tip is located above the reciprocating path of the stage 6.

A thickness sensor 22 is attached to the tip of the sensor support 20 via a lifting actuator 21. When the substrate of the color filter, that is, the glass substrate A, is placed on the stage 6, the thickness sensor 22 is lowered to a predetermined position by the elevation actuator 21. A
Is optically detected, and a detection signal corresponding to the thickness is output to the computer 54. Specifically, the thickness sensor 22 includes a light source that emits measurement light toward the glass substrate A to be measured, a light receiving unit that receives reflected light from the upper surface and the lower surface of the glass substrate A, and a light receiving unit. And an arithmetic circuit for calculating the thickness of the glass substrate A based on the difference between the incident positions of the reflected light. The operation of the lifting actuator 21 is controlled by a computer 54. The thickness sensor 22 is not limited to the above-described type, and may be a laser displacement meter, an electronic micro displacement meter, an ultrasonic thickness meter, or the like. Can be used.

At the end of the stage 6, an eddy current type sensor 202 for measuring the distance between the suction surface of the stage and the end 68 of the discharge port of the slit die 40 has a pair of left and right brackets 204.
Is provided through. The upper surface of this sensor is set to be the same as the suction surface of the stage. The detection range of this sensor is 2 mm and the resolution is 10 μ. As the sensor, a non-contact sensor such as a photoelectric sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, or a capacitance sensor, or a contact sensor of a differential transformer type may be used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the aforementioned lifting bracket 31 of the slit die 40 and the die support 2
4, an optical linear scale 206 is provided. The linear scale 206 detects the vertical position of the lifting bracket 31, that is, the die holder 32, and can output a detection signal. I have. The pair of sensors 202 and the linear scale 206 described above are electrically connected to the computer 54 described above, and can receive their detection signals.

Still referring to FIG. 1, the sensor support 20
A collecting / cleaning mechanism 70 for the coating liquid is provided between the die support 24 and the die support 24. The collection / cleaning mechanism 70 includes a sub-base 72, which extends laterally from the outer surface of the base 2 described above. Sub base 72
A carrier guide 74 is arranged on the upper side, and the carrier guide 74 extends in the longitudinal direction of the slit die 40, that is, the direction orthogonal to the reciprocating direction of the stage 6. A rectangular carrier 76 is slidably mounted on the carrier guide 74, and a feed screw 78 formed of a ball screw passes through the carrier 76. The feed screw 78 extends in the sliding direction of the carrier 76, that is, along the carrier guide 74, and both ends thereof are rotatably supported by a pair of bearings 80. These bearings 80 are provided upright on the carrier guide 74. Further, one end of the feed screw 78 far away from the base 2 protrudes from the bearing 80 and is connected to the output shaft of the electric motor 82. The electric motor 82 is supported on the sub-base 72 via a motor mounting plate 84.

Four guide rods 86 protrude upward from the four corners of the carrier 76, and an elevating bracket 88 is attached to the guide rods 86 so as to be able to move up and down. The lifting bracket 88 and the carrier 76 are connected to each other via an air cylinder 90 located at the center of the carrier 76 as is clear from FIG. 4, and this air cylinder 90 supports the lifting bracket 88, The level position of the lifting bracket 88 is adjusted. A gutter 92 having an open upper surface is attached to the tip of the lifting / lowering unit bracket 88. Gutter 9
Reference numeral 2 denotes a recovery hole 98 for discharging the liquid accumulated in the gutter 92 through a tube (not shown).

FIG. 4 also shows the above-described slit die 40. In this embodiment, the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 has the lower end of the slit 64, that is, the discharge port opened on the lower surface thereof. . The lower surface of the nozzle part 40a is a horizontal flat surface.

A gutter 92 having an open upper surface is attached to the lifting bracket 88 as a receiving member. The gutter 92 extends horizontally on the side opposite to the electric motor 82 side. As is clear from FIG. 5, the gutter 92 is sufficiently larger than the slit die 40, and can cover this slit 40 from below.

In the gutter 92, a pair of plate-shaped cleaning members 94 are disposed at the leading end thereof, and these cleaning members 94 are connected to the gutter 9 via a support unit 96 described later.
2 attached. The cleaning members 94 are positioned at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the gutter 92, and the upper surfaces of the cleaning members 94 have a shape that matches the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40. It can be in close contact with the portion 40a. Both sides of the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 have an angle of, for example, 45 ° with respect to a horizontal plane.

Further, the surface of the cleaning member 94 is made of a polymer resin, such as Teflon resin, urethane resin, acrylic resin, polyester resin, polypropylene resin, fluorine resin, polybutadiene resin, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, Either one kind of ethylene / vinyl acetate copolymer or a mixture of two or more kinds can be used. Also, among these, the slit die 40
It is preferable that the nozzle portion 40a has excellent adhesion to the nozzle portion 40a, resistance to a solvent contained in the coating liquid, and durability. In view of these points, silicone rubber is the most preferable. Note that a portion other than the surface of the cleaning member 94 may be a polymer resin similar to the surface,
Further, completely different materials may be used. Furthermore, in order to ensure sufficient adhesion of the nozzle portion 40a to the slit die 40, the thickness of the cleaning member 94 is set to 2 mm or more, for example, 5 mm, and a predetermined hardness is secured.

As shown in FIG. 4, a cleaning liquid discharge nozzle 208 is provided at the center between the cleaning members 94. This nozzle is a stainless steel pipe having an inner diameter of 1 mm and an outer diameter of 2 m, and the upstream side thereof is connected to a cleaning liquid pump and a cleaning liquid tank (not shown). The cleaning liquid is ejected from the nozzle to a predetermined height, and the height can be arbitrarily adjusted by changing the discharge amount of the cleaning liquid pump. Instead of a pipe, this nozzle may be of a spray type in which the cleaning liquid spreads in a fan shape.

The inner bottom surface of the gutter 92 has
Discharge ports 98 (see FIG. 5) are formed at the two places, and these discharge ports 98 are connected to a discharge hose via a nipple 100 as shown in FIG. The discharge hose 102 extends along the outer bottom surface of the gutter 92 to the carrier 76, and extends through the carrier 76 and the carrier guide 74 into the sub base 72. Although not shown, an opening for guiding the discharge hose 102 into the sub-base 72 is formed in the carrier guide 74, and this opening extends along the feed screw 78.

In the sub-base 72, the discharge hose 10
Numeral 2 has a length sufficient to allow the movement of the carrier 76, and its tip penetrates through the lid of the waste liquid tank 104 and is inserted into the waste liquid tank 104. A suction hose 106 is attached to the lid of the waste liquid tank 104 so as to penetrate therethrough.
8 is connected.

The electric motor 82 of the collecting / cleaning mechanism 70, the direction switching valve for expanding and contracting the air cylinder 90, and the vacuum pump 108 are electrically connected to the sequencer 56 described above. It also controls the operation of.

Next, one process related to the production of a color filter, that is, a coating method performed by using the above-described die coater will be described. First, the slit die 40 is attached to the die holder 32, and a preparation step before coating is performed. That is, the sensor 202 is connected to the discharge port tip 6 of the slit die 40.
The stage 6 is moved to be directly below the stage 8. Next, the slit die 40 is slowly moved downward by lowering the elevating bracket 31, and the left and right sensors 20 are moved.
2 and the distances K1L and K1R between the discharge port tip 68 are measured.

Based on the measurement result, the first interval K1L,
If the difference between K1R is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, the computer 54
Drives the linear actuator 38a in the elevating mechanism 26 via the sequencer 56, and the first intervals K1L, K1
The die holder 32 is rotated as shown by the arrow R in FIG. 1 so that the difference between R is within a predetermined value, for example, within 3 μm. Thereby, the discharge port 68 of the slit die 40 attached to the die holder 32 is adjusted so as to be substantially horizontal in the width direction. When the adjustment is completed, a brake (not shown) fixes the die holder 32.

When the horizontal adjustment of the discharge port tip 68 in the slit die 40 is completed in this way, the computer 54 sets the current interval K1L as the separation distance K3 (distance measurement process), and at the same time, sets the linear scale 20
6, the level position Z of the die holder 32 is read (level detection process).

Then, the computer 54 calculates the distance K
3 and the level Z, the reference level Y is calculated based on the following equation (calculation process).

Y = Z−K3 Here, the reference level Y is a detection signal output from the linear scale 86 when the discharge port 68 of the slit die 40 is lowered to the upper surface of the stage 6 as is clear from the above equation.
That is, the level position of the die holder 32 is shown. Next, an engagement reference level YC at which the cleaning member engages with the discharge port 68 of the slit die 40 is calculated by YC = Y + a. “a” is a value unique to the coater, which is stored in the computer 54 as a constant value. The value does not change regardless of the slit die 40. The value of a must be determined in advance by cleaning in advance and using the wear and wiping ability of rubber as evaluation indexes.

When the reference level Y and the engagement reference level YC are determined as described above (setting step), the slit die 40 and the stage 6 are returned to the origin. That is, the slit die 40 is raised to a predetermined position, and the stage 6 is moved back to the initial position.

In setting the reference level Y of the die holder 32, the operation control of the elevating mechanism 26 and the stage 6 is performed independently of the original sequence control of the sequencer 56 described above.

Next, a coating process is started. Here, first, the gutter 92 positioned at the standby position beside the base 2 as shown in FIG. 1 is rotated in one direction by the electric motor 82 of the collection / cleaning mechanism 70 to rotate the feed screw 78 in one direction. It is moved from the standby position to the collection position together with 76. At this collection position, the cleaning member 9 of the gutter 92 is
Reference numeral 4 is positioned below one end of the slit die 40.

In this state, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44 is switched to connect between the pump main body 52 and the suction hose 48, and the pump main body 52 stores the coating liquid in the tank 50 therein. Suction through 48. Thereafter, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44
Is switched to connect between the pump main body 52 and the supply hose 42, and the pump main body 52 discharges the coating liquid therein to the slit die 40 through the supply hose 42. This suction / discharge operation is repeated to exhaust all the air in the path.

The coating liquid discharged from the discharge port of the slit die 40 is received by the gutter 92, and is discharged from the gutter 92 to the waste liquid tank 104 through the discharge hose 102. Here, since the inside of the waste liquid tank 104 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 108 and the suction hose 106, the coating liquid in the gutter 92 is favorably guided to the waste liquid tank 104.

When the inside of the slit die 40 is filled with the coating liquid as described above, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44 is switched to the pump main body 52 as the coating preparation operation immediately before.
The pump body 52 is operated to switch the connection between the pump 50 and the suction hose 48, and the pump body 52 sucks a predetermined amount of the coating liquid into the tank 50 through the suction hose 48, and
The syringe pump 44 is on standby with its electromagnetic switching valve 46 switched to connect the pump body 52 and the supply hose 42.

In this state, the level position of the die holder 32 is lowered to the engagement reference level YC, and the discharge port tip 68 of the slit die 40 is set at the optimum position for cleaning.

In the collecting / cleaning mechanism 70, when the air cylinder 90 is extended to its final point, the gutter 92 is raised toward the slit die 40, and the pair of cleaning members 94 are moved to the end of the slit die 40. Abuts the part.

Thereafter, when the gutter 92 is moved toward the standby position, the pair of cleaning members 94 are moved to the slit die 4.
The nozzle member 40a of the slit die 40 is in sliding contact with the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 in a state in which the nozzle member 40a is in close contact with the periphery of the discharge port including the discharge port of the slit die 40. While removing the coating solution adhering to the surface.

When the pair of cleaning members 94 are in sliding contact with the nozzle portion 40a, they are completely in contact with each other.
The coating liquid adhering to the outer surface of the nozzle portion 40a can be completely removed over the entire area including the boundary between the nozzle portion 40a and the inclined surface. Here, even if the shape of the mouthpiece changes in the vertical direction, that is, in the urging direction of the cleaning member, the engagement reference level YC is automatically set accordingly, so that the adhesion between the cleaning member and the nozzle portion 40a is reduced. It can be reproduced and the remaining coating solution can be completely removed. Further, since the urging force of the cleaning member to the slit die can be finely controlled not at the pressure but at the position level, the sliding contact can be performed with the optimum urging force, and the wear of the cleaning member can be minimized.

Now, the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40
The coating liquid removed from the gutter 92 is received by the gutter 92 along the cleaning member 94 and the outer surface of the support unit 96.

When the gutter 92 is returned to the position above the standby position, the air cylinder 90 is contracted thereafter.

On the other hand, the glass substrate A is placed on the stage 6 via a loader (not shown) in a state where it is positioned.
The glass substrate A is suction-held on the upper surface of the stage 6 by suction.

When the loading of the glass substrate A is completed,
The thickness sensor 22 descends, and the thickness sensor 22 optically detects the thickness of the glass substrate A on the stage 6,
The detection signal is supplied to the computer 54. When the thickness measurement is completed, the thickness sensor 22 is raised to the original position.

Thereafter, the stage 6 is moved toward the slit die 40, and when the line for starting the formation of the coating film on the glass substrate A reaches the discharge port position of the slit die 40, the stage 6 moves forward. The movement is temporarily stopped.

Then, the slit die 40 is lowered in consideration of the thickness of the glass substrate A already measured, and a predetermined clearance is secured between the discharge port of the slit die 40 and the glass substrate A. Here, since the gutter 92 has been returned to the standby position, the gutter 92 is
Does not impede the decline of

After the clearance is secured, the syringe pump 44 is operated to discharge the coating liquid from the slit die 40 to form a liquid pool C between the discharge port tip 68 and the glass substrate A. Simultaneously with the formation of the liquid pool C, the stage 6 is moved in the forward direction at a constant speed while continuously discharging the coating liquid from the slit die 40, that is, the discharge port thereof, as shown in FIG. As described above, the coating film D of the coating liquid is continuously formed on the upper surface of the glass substrate A.

With the advance of the stage 6, when the formation completion line for completing the formation of the coating film D on the glass substrate A reaches the position immediately before the discharge port of the slit die 40, the syringe pump 44 The discharging operation is stopped. Even if the discharge of the coating liquid from the slit die 40 is stopped in this way, the coating liquid D is formed on the glass substrate A until the formation end line while the coating liquid in the liquid pool C is consumed (squeegee). To be continued. Note that the discharge operation of the syringe pump 44 may be stopped when the formation completion line on the glass substrate A passes through the discharge port of the slit die 40. When the discharge operation of the syringe pump 44 is stopped, the syringe pump 44 slightly performs a suction operation to suck the application liquid in the slit 64 of the slit die 40 back to the manifold 62 side. Simultaneously with the suction return operation of the syringe pump 44, the slit die 4
0 is raised to the original position.

On the other hand, the forward movement of the stage 6 is caused by the slit die 4
Even when the discharge of the application liquid from 0 is stopped, the application liquid is continued, and when the stage 6 reaches the end of the guide groove rail 4, its forward movement is stopped. Thereafter, the suction of the glass substrate A on the stage 6 is released, and the glass substrate A on which the coating film D is formed is removed from the stage 6 by an unloader, and is supplied to the next step.

After the stage 6 has passed the slit die 40, the gutter 92 is moved from the standby position to the collecting position again. In this state, the syringe pump 44 discharges the application liquid by the amount sucked back, and the slit 64 of the slit die 40
Prevents air from remaining inside. At this time, the slit die 4
Even if the coating liquid is discharged from the discharge port 0, the coating liquid is received by the gutter 92.

Thereafter, the slit die 40 is lowered to a position where the die holder 32 is at the engagement reference level, and comes into sliding contact with the cleaning member which has risen at that time. Next, since the gutter 92 is returned to the standby position, the cleaning member 94 scrapes and removes the application liquid adhering to the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 as described above.

When the gutter 92 is returned to the standby position, the stage 6 is returned to the initial position shown in FIG.
A series of application steps is completed. At the initial position, the stage 6 waits until a new glass substrate A is loaded, and the syringe pump 44 performs the above-described application preparation operation and waits.

After a highly volatile solvent such as an acrylic coating liquid is discharged, a cleaning liquid, for example, the same solvent as that used for the coating liquid is discharged from the nozzle 208 in FIG. That is, when the gutter is at the collection position for cleaning and the slit die 40 is lowered to the engagement reference level YC, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the nozzle 208 to the nozzle 208.
The air cylinder 90 is extended while ejecting the air to the height of 2 mm from the opening of
To the end of

When the gutter 92 is moved toward the standby position in this state, the member 94a on the front side in the advancing direction of the pair of cleaning members removes the residual coating liquid from the nozzle portion 40a and moves the nozzle 94a to the removed surface. The cleaning liquid is applied from 208, and the cleaning liquid is wiped off by the member 94b on the rear side in the traveling direction of the pair of cleaning members. At this time, the liquid member can be scraped off by the front member 94a, but it cannot be removed because of its high volatility, which evaporates and solidifies and adheres to the nozzle portion 40a. This is the cleaning liquid ejected from the nozzle 208 and is dissolved again into a liquid state, which is removed by the rear member 94b. Therefore, even in the case of a coating liquid having high volatility and easy to solidify, the nozzle portion 40a can be easily cleaned. It can be performed. Alternatively, the front side member 94a may be omitted, and the remaining coating liquid and the cleaning liquid may be simultaneously removed by the rear side member 94b. The cleaning liquid may be anything that dissolves the deposits remaining after the solvent of the coating liquid evaporates, and may be the coating liquid itself in addition to the solvent of the coating liquid.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in the stage running direction showing another embodiment for a coating liquid which is easily volatilized, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view in the stage width direction of FIG. Here, a solvent evaporator 220 is provided on the gutter 92 at a position adjacent to the cleaning member 94 in the running direction of the gutter 92 as shown in FIG. This evaporator has a discharge port tip 68 of the slit die 40.
Unit 225 composed of a cover 222 and a side cover 223 enclosing the cover, a seal 224 at the end of each cover that abuts against the slit die 40 to block the flow of outside air and the inside of the unit. It is constituted by a pipe 226 which is inside and ejects a solvent vapor from a hole 227.

The contact point between the seal 224 of the blocking unit and the slit die 40 is set to prevent interference between the seal 224 and the slit die 40 when wiping by the cleaning member.
Must be below the bottom surface 95 of the cleaning member. Furthermore, the sealing of the side cover 223 is performed by the slit die 40.
Are arranged so as to contact a place 310 where there is no discharge port in the width direction. The supply of the solvent vapor to the pipe 226 is performed by the solvent vapor supply device 240 shown in FIG. This solvent vapor supply device 2
Reference numeral 40 denotes a heating source 232 composed of a heater or the like and an opening / closing valve 234 for controlling the outflow of steam. Then, the pipe 226 from the valve 234 through the tube 236
Is supplied with solvent vapor. The tube 236 is kept warm to prevent dew condensation or is heated to an appropriate temperature by a heater or the like.

Here, the amount of generated steam is controlled by the heating source 232.
This is done by controlling the temperature of According to this embodiment, the vapor of the solvent of the coating liquid is seen in the space (closed space) closed by the shielding unit 225 and the slit die 40.
The humidity of the solvent there is saturated, and even if the coating liquid is present at the discharge port of the slit die 40, it cannot be evaporated.

Therefore, if the discharge port of the slit die 40 is exposed to the solvent vapor atmosphere immediately after the application as in the embodiment of FIG. 6, the coating liquid does not dry and solidifies. By wiping, the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 can be completely cleaned without any residue. The wiped residual coating liquid is guided to the waste liquid tank through the discharge port 98 of the gutter 92 and the discharge hose 102. On the other hand, the solvent condensed in the shielding unit 225,
The coating liquid discharged from the slit die 40 during the coating preparation operation is also guided to the waste liquid tank through the gutter discharge port 98, the discharge hose 302, and an opening / closing valve (not shown). The procedure of cleaning using the apparatus of the present embodiment is as follows. First, when the coating liquid is discharged by cleaning or coating preparation operation, first, the gutter 9 is removed.
2 is returned to the collection position. At this time, the shielding unit 225 and the slit die 40 are vertically separated from each other and do not interfere with each other. Here, the collection position refers to a position where the cleaning member 94 protrudes from the slit die in the width direction as shown in FIG. At this position, the coating liquid is discharged during the coating preparation operation. When the discharge of the coating liquid has been completed, the slit die 40 is lowered until it comes into contact with the seal 226 provided on the shielding unit, thereby forming a closed space. Next, the solvent vapor supply device 24
The zero valve 234 is opened, and the solvent vapor is jetted out of the pipe 226 to fill the closed space with the solvent vapor. This can prevent the coating liquid from evaporating. Next, when a series of preparations are completed, the valve 234 is closed, the supply of the solvent vapor is stopped, and the slit die 40 is once raised to the origin position. Next, the cleaning member 94 is moved to be directly below the end of the slit die 40, and then the slit die 40 is lowered until the die holder 32 reaches the engagement reference level YC. Then, the cleaning member 94 is raised to bring the cleaning member 94 into close contact with the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40, and in this state, the gutter 92 is moved to the standby position to completely remove the deposit on the nozzle portion 40a. In the present embodiment, since the discharge port of the slit die is set to an atmosphere filled with the solvent vapor of the coating liquid, the residual coating liquid at the discharge port does not evaporate and remains in a liquid state. Deposits can be completely removed.

[0098] In the above description, the cleaning member may be located inside the shielding cover. Further, a gap may be opened without sealing the shielding cover and the slit die. Further, when the closed space is formed by the shielding cover, the application liquid may be discharged in preparation for the application operation or the like. It is also possible to provide a sensor to control the solvent humidity in the closed space formed by the shielding cover and the slit die to a constant value. Furthermore, since it is desirable that saturated vapor is present in the closed space formed by the contact between the shielding unit and the slit die 40, even if the solvent vapor is supplied to the extent that the solvent condenses on the lower surface of the slit die 40 and the solvent adheres. Good. The inner diameter of the pipe 226 is 1 to 3
0 mm, wall thickness 0.5-5 mm, hole 2 on pipe 226
The diameter of 27 is desirably 0.5 to 3 mm.

The shielding cover 222 and the side cover 22
3 may be automatically opened and closed by an electric or air cylinder or the like.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention, which is different from the above-described embodiment, will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing the relationship between the slit die 40 and the collection and cleaning mechanism, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view in the width direction when the lower end surface of the slit die 40 and the slit die 40 contact each other.

Referring to FIG. 10, a groove 301 is formed in the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die near the upper end surface of the cleaning member 94.
a, 301b are provided on both sides of the tip of the slit die. The grooves 301a and 301b are corner grooves that hang down in the direction of the slit 64,
As shown in FIG. 9, it extends over the longitudinal direction of the slit die. In the longitudinal direction of the slit die, there is provided a slope which descends toward the gutter 92 support portion, that is, descends in the direction of the arrow in FIG. The tilt angle is 1 to 30
゜ is desirable.

Next, one process related to the production of a color filter, that is, a coating method performed by using the above-described die coater will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the gutter 92 located at the initial position with the table 6 and the standby position beside the base 2 is fed by the electric motor 82 of the collection / cleaning mechanism 70 into a feed screw. 78 is rotated in one direction to move from the standby position to the collection position together with the carrier 76. In this recovery position, the cleaning member 94 of the gutter 92 is positioned below one end of the slit die 40.

In this state, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44 is switched to connect between the pump main body 52 and the suction hose 48, and the pump main body 52 stores the coating liquid in the tank 50 therein. Suction through 48. Thereafter, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44
Is switched to connect between the pump main body 52 and the supply hose 42, and the pump main body 52 discharges the coating liquid therein to the slit die 40 through the supply hose 42. This suction / discharge operation is repeated to exhaust all the air in the path.

The coating liquid discharged from the discharge port of the slit die 40 is received by the gutter 92, and is discharged from the gutter 92 through a recovery hole 98 to a waste liquid tank (not shown). When the inside of the slit die 40 is filled with the coating liquid as described above, the electromagnetic switching valve 46 of the syringe pump 44 is switched to the pump main body 52 as the immediately preceding coating preparation operation.
The pump body 52 is operated to switch the connection between the pump 50 and the suction hose 48, and the pump body 52 sucks a predetermined amount of the coating liquid into the tank 50 through the suction hose 48, and
The syringe pump 44 is on standby with its electromagnetic switching valve 46 switched to connect the pump body 52 and the supply hose 42.

In this state, the die holder 32 is lowered to a predetermined position, and the tip 68 of the discharge port of the slit die 40 is set at the optimum position for cleaning.

Then, in the collection / cleaning mechanism 70, when the air cylinder is extended to the final point, the gutter 92 is raised toward the slit die 40, and a pair of cleaning members 94 are attached to the end of the slit die 40. Be abutted.

Thereafter, when the gutter 92 is moved toward the standby position, the pair of cleaning members 94
The nozzle member 40a of the slit die 40 is in sliding contact with the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40 in a state in which the nozzle member 40a is in close contact with the periphery of the discharge port including the discharge port of the slit die 40. While removing the coating solution adhering to the surface.

At this time, the blade 302 of the cleaning member 94
The coating liquid that goes above a and 302b enters slots 301a and 301b of the slit die and is captured. Then, the liquid trapped by this groove flows in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 9 and is discharged from the side of the slit die.
By this effect, the removed coating liquid does not fall along the slope of the slit die along 304a and 304b, and does not stain the vicinity of the discharge port again. If the area near the discharge port is contaminated with the coating liquid once removed, only that part at the top of the glass substrate becomes thicker, which not only increases the thickness unevenness in the running direction, but is effective when the film thickness is below the allowable value. Inconveniences such as narrowing of a product range that can be used for the above-mentioned process and occurrence of a coating film defect such as a coating streak occur. Further, the coating liquid remaining on the slope of the nozzle portion 40a solidifies and becomes an adhered substance, which is
The present invention can also prevent the inconvenience that the cleaning member 94 does not come into contact with the upper end 305 of the blade portion 302 to prevent the cleaning member 94 from coming into contact with the discharge port tip 68 so that the discharge port cannot be wiped.

Now, the nozzle portion 40a of the slit die 40
The coating liquid removed from the gutter 92 is received by the gutter 92.

When the gutter 92 is returned to the position above the standby position, the above-described air cylinder is contracted, and the gutter 92 is retracted.
As a result, the cleaning member 94 descends.

On the other hand, the glass substrate A is placed on the stage 6 via a loader (not shown) while being positioned.
The glass substrate A is suction-held on the upper surface of the stage 6 by suction.

When the loading of the glass substrate A is completed,
The thickness sensor 22 descends, and the thickness sensor 22 optically detects the thickness of the glass substrate A on the stage 6,
The detection signal is supplied to the computer 54. When the thickness measurement is completed, the thickness sensor 22 is raised to the original position.

Thereafter, the stage 6 is moved toward the slit die 40, and when the line for starting the formation of the coating film on the glass substrate A reaches the discharge port position of the slit die 40, the stage 6 moves forward. The movement is temporarily stopped.

Then, the slit die 40 is lowered in consideration of the thickness of the glass substrate A already measured, and a predetermined clearance is secured between the discharge port of the slit die 40 and the glass substrate A. Here, since the gutter 92 has been returned to the standby position, the gutter 92 is
Does not impede the decline of

When the clearance is secured, the syringe pump 44 is operated to perform a discharging operation to discharge the coating liquid from the slit die 40, and a liquid pool C is formed between the discharge port tip 68 and the glass substrate A.

When the stage 6 is advanced in the forward direction at a constant speed while the discharge of the coating liquid from the slit die 40, that is, the discharge port thereof, is continued at the same time as the formation of such a liquid pool C, As shown in FIG. 2, a coating film D of a coating liquid is continuously formed on the upper surface of the guide substrate A.

As the stage 6 advances, when the formation completion line for completing the formation of the coating film D on the glass substrate A reaches a position immediately before the discharge port of the slit die 40, the syringe pump 44 The discharging operation is stopped. Even if the discharge of the coating liquid from the slit die 40 is stopped in this way, the coating liquid D is formed on the glass substrate A until the formation end line while the coating liquid in the liquid pool C is consumed (squeegee). To be continued. When the formation completion line on the glass substrate A reaches the discharge port of the slit die 40, the slit die 40 is raised to the original position.

On the other hand, the forward movement of the stage 6 is caused by the slit die 4
Even when the discharge of the application liquid from 0 is stopped, the application liquid is continued, and when the stage 6 reaches the end of the guide groove rail 4, its forward movement is stopped. Thereafter, the suction of the glass substrate A on the stage 6 is released, and the glass substrate A on which the coating film D is formed is removed from the stage 6 by an unloader, and is supplied to the next step.

Next, the stage 6 is returned to the initial position shown in FIG. 1, whereby a series of coating steps is completed. At the initial position, the stage 6 waits until a new glass substrate A is loaded, and the syringe pump 44 performs the above-described application preparation operation, waits, and thereafter repeats the same operation.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show another embodiment according to the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic front view of the slit die 40 viewed from the stage running direction, and FIG.
FIG. 5 is a diagram viewed from the Y direction. Here is the groove 301
a and 301b are inclined downward in the longitudinal direction of the slit die (the direction of the arrow), and a damming plate 3 for damping the flow of the coating liquid near the side surface 310 of the slit die which is the terminal end thereof.
11a and 311b, and the dam plate 311
The pipes 306a and 306b are attached to the pipes a and 311b, respectively, and the coating liquid accumulated near the dam plates 311a and 311b is sucked and discharged by a pump (not shown) through the pipes 306a and 306b. As a result, even when there is a large amount of liquid to be removed, the coating liquid is effectively discharged to the outside without accumulating in the grooves 301a and 301b during cleaning of the nozzle portion 40a.

In the above embodiments, the shape and size of the slit in the cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the slit die are not particularly limited, and may be any cross section such as triangular or semicircular.

Further, in the embodiment, the groove is inclined toward the slit so as to prevent the coating liquid once entering the groove 301 from leaking to the outside. The angle is preferably 5 to 60 ° due to the ease of use and the effect of the inclination.

Also, in FIG. 10, the opening width and depth a, b
May be determined in consideration of the amount of the coating liquid to be removed, a shape that does not impair the slit die rigidity, and the like, a = 2 to 20 mm,
It is preferable that b = about 5 to 30 mm.

Further, the blade portion 302 of the cleaning member 94
a, 302b upper surfaces 308a, 308b and grooves 301a,
The vertical relationship between the lower end portions 305a and 305b of the 301b is as follows.
The opening 301b is completely closed.
The minimum length from the lower end portions 305a, 305b of the upper surfaces 308a, 308b of the blade portions 302a, 302b thereover is 2/1/2 of the opening width a of the grooves 301a, 301b.
It is desirable to set the range to 3 or less. Due to this positional relationship, the coating liquid removed upward by the cleaning member is effectively guided to the grooves 301a and 301b.

The upper surfaces 308a and 308b of the blade portions 302a and 302b may be located below the lower ends 305a and 305b of the grooves 301a and 301b. Suitable when there are many coating liquids.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of still another embodiment in the stage running direction. Here, the cleaning member 94
302 when the blade contacts the bottom view of the slit die 40
a, suction nozzles 400a, 400b near the upper surface of 302b.
Is provided to prevent the removed liquid from dripping on the surfaces 304a and 304b even when it is difficult to form grooves depending on the shape of the die. This suction nozzle 400
a and 400b are fixed to the slit die by brackets 410a and 410b.

The suction nozzle has openings 401a and 401b toward the slit die side, and the length of the openings in the longitudinal direction is slightly larger than the length of the slit die in the longitudinal direction of the discharge port, and is preferably two to two. It is better to increase the size by 20 mm. The gap between the openings 401a and 401b is 0.5 to 20 mm so that the coating liquid removed by the cleaning member can be easily sucked.
Good degree.

The suction nozzles 400a, 400b
Are provided with connection ports 403a and 403b at one end thereof, to which a suction pump (not shown) is connected.
The coating liquid on the upper surfaces of the blades 302a and 302b is
Suction is performed at a suction pressure of about 5000 mmAq.

The operation using the suction nozzles 400a and 400b is as follows.

When the cleaning member 94 comes into contact with the lower end surface of the slit die 40 and the cleaning member 94 starts to move, the coating liquid remaining on the lower end surface of the slit die is scraped off, and the remaining part is cleaned. Blades 302a, 302 of member 94
b overflows to the upper surface.

The overflowing coating liquid is supplied to the suction nozzle 400.
a, 400b, opening 401a, 401b, connection port 40
It is discharged to the outside by a suction pump (not shown) through 3a and 403b.

Therefore, the inclined surface 304 of the nozzle portion 40a
a, 304b, the coating liquid does not remain even after cleaning, and the remaining coating liquid drops and re-adheres to the discharge, thereby increasing the thickness unevenness of the coating start portion or causing a coating defect such as a coating streak. There is no adverse effect.

Further, the coating liquid remaining on the inclined surface of the nozzle portion 40a solidifies, hinders the lifting of the cleaning member 94, prevents the cleaning member 94 from contacting the discharge port tip 68, and makes it impossible to wipe the discharge port. Can also be prevented by the present invention.

In addition to the above, a suction nozzle having a longitudinal opening of the nozzle 2 to 20 mm larger than the thickness of the cleaning member 94 can be moved simultaneously with the cleaning member 94 in the longitudinal direction of the slit die 40. Only the remaining coating liquid on the upper surfaces of the blades 304a and 304b of the cleaning member 94 may be sucked and discharged. in this case,
By the simultaneous movement of the cleaning member and the suction nozzle, the cleaning of the lower end surface of the slit die 40 and the recovery of the residual coating liquid are simultaneously performed in the longitudinal direction, and the same effects as those described above are obtained.

[0137]

As described above, according to the coating apparatus and the coating method of the first and eighth aspects, the position of the discharge port of the coating device is detected for each coating device, and the discharge port of the coating device and the cleaning member are detected. Are kept in sliding contact with each other while maintaining a constant relative positional relationship between them, so that they can always be in sliding contact with a constant urging force, and the residual coating liquid attached near the discharge port of the applicator can be completely removed. Can be optimally changed by changing the position of the cleaning member, so that the wear of the cleaning member can be minimized, and the dust prevention and the life of the cleaning member can be improved.

According to the coating apparatus and the coating method of the second, ninth and tenth aspects, when a highly volatile coating liquid is used, the solvent of the coating liquid is caused to adhere to the vicinity of the discharge port of the coating apparatus before cleaning. In this case, even if the solid matter adheres by drying the coating solution, the adhered matter can be easily and completely removed, so that a high quality coated product free from coating film defects can be obtained.

Further, according to the coating apparatus of the third aspect, since the cleaning is performed in the atmosphere in which the vicinity of the discharge port of the coating device is hard to evaporate, even a highly volatile coating liquid can be cleaned as a liquid without solidifying. The remaining coating solution can be completely removed.

According to the coating device and the coating method of the fourth and eleventh aspects, the liquid collecting groove for collecting the remaining coating liquid when removed by the cleaning member is provided at a position near the upper surface of the blade of the cleaning member around the coating device. Therefore, the coating liquid having a low viscosity and easily flowing is transmitted along the slope of the applicator and reattached to the discharge port, or the coating liquid remaining on the slope of the applicator is solidified, and the contact between the cleaning member and the tip 68 of the discharge port is prevented. The inconvenience that the ejection port cannot be wiped can also be prevented.

Thus, the coating liquid can be discharged to form a bead by discharging the coating liquid in a state where the lower surface of the slit die is clean, so that the coating thickness can be uniform and the effective area in which the thickness unevenness is within an allowable value is widened. The yield can be increased, and the productivity can be improved. In addition, coating defects such as coating streaks do not occur, and the quality is improved.

Further, according to the coating apparatus and the coating method of the fifth, sixth and twelfth aspects, a discharge unit for discharging the coating liquid that accumulates in the reservoir is added, or the coating liquid overflowing from the cleaning member is directly sucked by the nozzle. Then, since the improvement is made so that the surplus coating liquid can be more effectively removed, the productivity can be further improved.

According to the color filter manufacturing apparatus and the manufacturing method of the seventh and thirteenth aspects, since the coating apparatus and the coating method are used, a high quality color filter can be manufactured and the productivity is improved. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a die coater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the die coater of FIG. 1 including a coating liquid supply system.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a slit die of the die coater of FIG. 1 and a lifting mechanism thereof.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a collecting / cleaning mechanism of the die coater of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a part of the gutter of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view in a stage traveling direction showing a collection / cleaning mechanism of another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view in the stage width direction of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing one element unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a collecting / cleaning mechanism of a die coater according to another embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view in the stage running direction of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a front view showing a collection / cleaning unit according to another embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view in the stage running direction of FIG.

FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view in a stage running direction showing a collection / cleaning mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

6 stage 202 sensor 14 feed screw 208
Nozzle 22 Thickness sensor 220
Solvent evaporator 40 Slit die (coater) 222
Sealing cover 44 Syringe pump 225
Sealing unit 50 Tank 226
Pipe 62 Manifold 232
Heat source 64 Slit 234
Valve 68 Discharge port tip 240
Solvent vapor supply device 70 Collection / cleaning mechanism 301
Groove 76 Carrier 302
Blade 78 feed screw 304
Slope 82 Electric motor 306
Pipe 88 Elevating bracket 310
Side 90 Air cylinder 311
Dam plate 92 gutter 400
Suction nozzle 94 Cleaning member 401
Opening 96 Support unit 403
Connection 98 Drain 410
Bracket 102 Drain hose 104 Waste liquid tank 106 Suction hose 108 Vacuum pump

Claims (13)

[Claims] A supply unit configured to supply the application liquid; an application device having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the application liquid supplied from the supply unit; and at least one of the application device and the application member. A moving means for relatively moving one side to form a coating film on the coating member; and (A) a longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting a periphery of the discharge port of the applicator. A cleaning member that moves along the discharge port and removes the coating liquid adhering to the periphery of the discharge port; (B) a detection unit that detects the position of the discharge port of the applicator; By the position measurement,
A coating device, comprising: a control unit that controls a relative position between the cleaning member and the coating device when the cleaning member and the coating device are in sliding contact with each other based on a discharge port position of the coating device. 2. An application device for supplying an application liquid, an application device having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the application liquid supplied from the supply device, and at least one of the application device and the application member. (A) a cleaning liquid adhering means for adhering a cleaning liquid to a periphery of a discharge port of the applicator; and a moving device for moving one of the members relatively to form a coating film on the coating member. (B) a cleaning member which moves along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting the peripheral part of the discharge port, and removes a coating liquid adhering to the peripheral part of the discharge port. apparatus. 3. A coating liquid supply unit, an application unit having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply unit, and at least one of the coating unit and the coating member. (A) an enclosing means for enclosing a discharge port of the applicator; and (B) an enclosing means for enclosing a discharge port of the applicator. And a solvent vapor generating means for generating a solvent vapor of the coating liquid, which is located inside the surrounding means. 4. A means for supplying a coating liquid, an applicator having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply means, and at least one of the applicator and the coating member Moving means for relatively moving one side to form a coating film on the coating member; and moving along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting the discharge port peripheral portion of the applicator. A coating member having a cleaning member for removing the coating liquid attached to the coating portion, comprising a liquid reservoir for storing the removed coating liquid around the discharge port of the coating device. . 5. The coating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said reservoir has a discharge unit for discharging the accumulated coating liquid. 6. A coating liquid supply unit, an application unit having a discharge port extending in one direction for discharging the coating liquid supplied from the supply unit, and at least one of the coating unit and the coating member. Moving means for relatively moving one side to form a coating film on the coating member; and moving along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting the discharge port peripheral portion of the applicator. A cleaning member that removes the coating liquid adhering to the portion, comprising a discharger that protrudes outside the contact area of the cleaning member and discharges the coating liquid remaining around the discharge port. A coating device characterized by the above-mentioned. 7. An apparatus for manufacturing a color filter, comprising the coating apparatus according to claim 1. Description: 8. A coating film is formed on the member to be coated by relatively moving at least one of the coating device and the member to be coated while discharging the coating liquid from a discharge port extending in one direction of the coating device. In the forming method, after the cleaning member of the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, the cleaning member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting the peripheral portion of the discharge port. A coating method characterized by removing a coating solution adhering to an outlet peripheral portion. 9. The coating method according to claim 8, wherein the cleaning member of the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, and after the cleaning liquid is applied to the discharge port, the cleaning member is moved in the longitudinal direction of the discharge port. A coating method, wherein the coating method is carried out along. 10. The coating method according to claim 8, wherein the cleaning member at the discharge port is initially positioned with respect to the discharge port, and after the peripheral portion of the discharge port is filled with the solvent vapor of the coating liquid, the cleaning member is removed. The coating method characterized in that is moved along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port. 11. A coating solution is discharged from a discharge port extending in one direction of an applicator while at least one of the applicator and the member to be coated is relatively moved to form a coating film on the member to be coated. A coating method for forming and moving a cleaning member along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while sliding the cleaning member in contact with the peripheral area of the discharge port of the applicator to remove the coating liquid attached to the peripheral part of the discharge port. A coating method, wherein a coating liquid which protrudes out of a contact area of a cleaning member during removal of the coating liquid is stored in a liquid storage section provided in the coating device. 12. A coating film is formed on the member to be coated by relatively moving at least one of the coating device and the member to be coated while discharging the coating liquid from a discharge port extending in one direction of the coating device. While forming, the cleaning member is moved along the longitudinal direction of the discharge port while slidingly contacting the discharge port peripheral portion of the applicator, in the coating method of removing the coating liquid attached to the discharge port peripheral portion, A coating method, characterized in that a coating liquid that protrudes outside a contact area of a cleaning member during removal of the coating liquid is eliminated. 13. A method for manufacturing a color filter, comprising: manufacturing a color filter by using any one of the coating methods according to claim 8. Description: