JPS6370859A - Method and device for generating pattern mask for circuit board by thermal transfer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To generate a pattern mask for a desired circuit board in a short time and at a low cost by bringing a thermosensible head to a heating operation in the course of the relative motion of a transparent film and the thermosensible head, and bringing the heat melting ink of an ink film provided between both of them, to a thermal transfer to the transparent film. CONSTITUTION:A transparent film 11 on a mobile base 6 is brought to the relative motion in forward and backward directions so that a line thermosensible head 14 can draw a pattern for a circuit board, and in the course of its movement, the black heat melting ink 12b of a black ink film 12 is brought to the thermal transfer to the transparent film 11 by a line thermosensible head 14, and a pattern for a circuit board generated by a CAD system 16 is drawn as it is onto the transparent film 11. Subsequently, when a pattern for the picture-drawing of the circuit board to one sheet of transparent film 12 is ended, and the black ink film 12 is peeled off, a black ink 12b transferred is left on the upper face of the transparent film 11, and by this black ink 12b, the pattern for the circuit board is brought to picture-drawing and a circuit board use pattern mask is generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for producing a pattern mask for a circuit board.

(Prior art) Conventionally, the method for creating pattern masks (photomasks) for circuit boards is to create a double-sized (or quadruple-sized, etc.) block by artwork work, and then print it on a full-size film using a plate-making camera. There were two methods: one method was to print the pattern on the photosensitive film, and the other method was to draw the pattern directly on the photosensitive film using a device called a photoplotter.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, although these methods are suitable for large-scale production, they are not suitable for experiments, prototype production, etc. in which circuit boards are produced on a small scale. That is, it takes time to create a block by artwork work, and the method using a photoplotter is not suitable because the equipment is expensive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a method and apparatus for producing a pattern mask for a circuit board, which can produce a desired pattern mask for a circuit board in a short time and at low cost.

Structure of the Invention (Means for Solving Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the first invention moves a transparent film and a thermal head relative to each other, and during the relative movement, the thermal head is heated. Creating a circuit board pattern mask using a thermal transfer method in which a desired circuit board pattern is drawn on the transparent film by thermally transferring the heat-melting ink of the ink film placed between the transparent film and the transparent film. The gist is the method.

Further, the second invention includes a transparent film on which a circuit board pattern is drawn, an ink film disposed on the transparent film and coated with a heat-melting ink, and a heat-melting ink disposed on the ink film and in which a heat-melting ink is applied. a thermal head that thermally transfers the heat-melting ink of the ink film onto a transparent film; a moving unit that moves the transparent film and the thermal head relative to each other; and driving data for the moving unit that determines the circuit board pattern to be drawn on the transparent film. and a storage means for storing in advance heating operation data of the thermal head, and relative movement of the transparent film and the thermal head via the moving means based on each data of the circuit board pattern stored in the storage means. The gist of the present invention is an apparatus for creating a pattern mask for a circuit board using a thermal transfer method, which comprises a control means for controlling the heating operation of a thermal head.

(Function) The first invention heats the thermal head while moving the transparent film and the thermal head relative to each other to thermally transfer the heat-melting ink of the ink film disposed between the thermal head and the transparent film onto the transparent film. By doing so, a desired circuit board pattern is drawn on the transparent film.

In the second invention, driving data of the moving means and heating operation data of the thermal head are stored in the storage means for the circuit board pattern to be drawn on the transparent film, and the control means controls the moving means based on the data. In addition to driving and controlling the
Controls the heating operation of the thermal head. As a result, the heat-melting ink of the ink film is transferred to the transparent film, and a circuit board pattern is drawn on the transparent film.

(Example) An example embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an apparatus 1 for producing a pattern mask for a circuit board, and the apparatus 1 is composed of a drawing table 2, an operation panel 3, and a vacuum pump 4. On the base 5 of the drawing table 2, a movable table 6 is disposed, which is movable in the front-rear direction (X direction in FIG. 1). This moving table 6 is drivingly connected to a drive shaft of a stepping motor M as a moving means attached to the front side. The moving table 6 is moved in the front and back direction by rotating the stepping motor M in forward and reverse directions.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the movable table 6 has a recess 7 formed on its upper surface, and a suction port 8 provided on the side wall thereof, through which the suction hose 4a of the vacuum pump 4 is connected. The air in the recess 7 is sucked by the suction operation of the vacuum pump 4. A film fixing plate 9 is fitted into the upper part of the recess 7 of the moving table 6 so as to be flush with the upper surface of the moving table 6, and a film fixing plate 9 is inserted through the inside of the recess 7 and the upper surface of the film fixing plate 9. A large number of suction holes 10 are formed.

A transparent film 11 is carved on the upper surface of the film fixing plate 9, and the transparent film 11 is suctioned and fixed to the film fixing plate 9 by suction of air in the recess 7 by the vacuum pump 4. As shown in FIG. 3, a black ink film 12 in which a black heat-melting ink 12b is applied to the bottom surface of a base film 12a is pressed onto the top surface of the transparent film 11. Both films 11 and 12 can be arranged appropriately.

Head-shaped head support members 13 are fixed to both sides of the base 5, and the horizontal portions 13a of the head support members 13 are arranged above the movable base 6 so as to be perpendicular to the moving direction (X direction) of the movable base 6. It is located in

A line thermal head 14 is disposed and supported on the lower surface of the horizontal portion 13a of the head support member 13 with a slight gap above the upper surface of the black ink film 12 set on the film fixing plate 9. Then, by the heating operation of this line thermal head 14, the black ink film 1
The black heat-melting ink 12b of No. 2 can be thermally transferred onto the transparent film 11.

The operation panel 3 connected to the drawing table 2 drives the stepping motor M and the line thermal head 14 by operating the keyboard 15 on the panel 3 to draw a circuit board pattern on the upper surface of the transparent film 11. can now be executed.

Furthermore, this operation panel 3 has a CAD as an external device.
System 16 is connected.

Next, an electrical configuration for driving and controlling the stepping motor M and the line thermal head 14 will be explained.

In FIG. 4, a microcomputer 17 built in the operation panel 3 is a central processing unit (
(hereinafter referred to as a CPU) 18, a program memory 19 consisting of a read-only memory (ROM) that stores a control program, and a readable and rewritable memory that stores arithmetic processing results of the CPU 18, circuit board pattern data, etc. The CPLJ 18 includes a working memory 20 (RAM) as a storage means, and executes arithmetic processing according to the control program.

The cpuis inputs the coordinate data transferred from the CAD system 16 and stores this data in a predetermined storage area of the working memory 20.

Based on this coordinate data, data for drawing a circuit board pattern on the transparent film 11 with the line thermal head 14, that is, the rotation direction and amount of rotation of the stepping motor M, and the operation of the line thermal head 14. Circuit board pattern data, which is timing data, is created by arithmetic processing within this creation device.

The CPU 18 drives and controls the stepping motor M via the motor drive circuit 21 based on this pattern data, and also controls the heating operation of the line thermal head 14 via the controller 22.

Note that the process execution command to the CPU 18 is issued from the operation panel 3.
This is performed by key operations on the keyboard 15 of the computer.

Next, the operation of the production device 1 configured as described above will be explained.

It is now assumed that coordinate data indicating a circuit board pattern to be drawn has been created in the CAD system 16. Based on key operations on the keyboard 15, the CPU 18
The receiver stores the coordinate data created by the AD system 16 in the working memory 20, and at the same time executes arithmetic processing based on the same data to create circuit board pattern data such as the driving amount of the stepping motor M, and stores it in the working memory. 2o in another area.

Next, the operator places the transparent film 11 with the black ink film 12 crimped onto the upper surface at a predetermined position on the film fixing plate 9 of the moving table 6, and then drives the vacuum pump 4 to fix the transparent film 11 immovably. do.

Thereafter, the start key on the keyboard 15 is operated.

In response to the ON signal of the start key, the CPU 18 drives the stepping motor M so that the transparent film 11 is positioned at the starting point in the front-rear direction (X direction), that is, the line thermal head 14 is located at the end of the transparent film 11 in the X direction. let Then, the CPU 18 reads out the circuit board pattern data created as a result of the arithmetic processing from the working memory 2o, drives and controls the stepping motor M based on the data, and also controls the heating operation of the line thermal head 14. Then, the CPU 18 controls the heating operation of the line thermal head 14 while moving the transparent film 11 to the end point (the other end of the transparent film 11) in the front-rear direction (X direction).

Therefore, the transparent film 11 on the moving table 6 moves relative to the line thermal head 14 in the front and back direction so that the line thermal head 14 can draw the circuit board pattern.
During the movement, the black thermofusible ink 12b of the black ink film 12 is thermally transferred to the transparent film 11 by the line thermal head 14, and the circuit board pattern created by the CAD system 16 is drawn on the transparent film 11 as it is. become.

After the drawing of the circuit board pattern on one transparent film 12 is completed, when the black ink film 12 is peeled off from the transparent film 11 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. The black ink 12b left behind is used to draw a circuit board pattern to create a circuit board pattern mask.

Therefore, in the circuit board pattern mask creation apparatus 1 using this thermal transfer method, the black heat-melting ink 12b
The transfer to the transparent film 11 is carried out in a dry manner, and development and fixing are not required. Therefore, although work steps such as development were required in the conventional manufacturing apparatus, such work steps are eliminated, and a pattern mask for a circuit board can be created in a very short time and at low cost. This embodiment is particularly effective when experimenting or prototyping a pattern mask for a circuit board.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. For example, although the line thermal head 14 is used in the above-mentioned embodiment, a serial system (XY designation system) thermal head may also be adopted, and the movable table 6 may be moved in the X direction. , and the Y direction perpendicular to the X direction.

Further, relative movement between the transparent film 11 and the thermal head 14 may be achieved by fixing the transparent film 11 and moving the thermal head 14.

Furthermore, although the ink film 12 was used as a pressure-bonded film to the transparent film 11, it may be fixed to the movable table 6 individually.

Effects of the Invention As detailed above, according to the present invention, a desired pattern mask for a circuit board can be produced in a short time and at low cost.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a production device embodying this invention;
The figure is a sectional view of the moving table, FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the state of the transparent film, ink film, and thermal head, and FIG. 4 is an electrical block diagram of the production apparatus. 1 is a production device, 11 is a transparent film, 12 is an ink film, 12b is a black thermofusible ink, 14 is a line thermal head, 17 is a microcomputer, 18 is a central processing unit (CPU), 19 is a program memory, and 20 is a work M is a stepping motor.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The transparent film and the thermal head are moved relative to each other, and the thermal head is heated during the relative movement to thermally transfer the heat-melting ink of the ink film disposed between the thermal head and the transparent film to the transparent film. A method for creating a pattern mask for a circuit board using a thermal transfer method in which a desired pattern for a circuit board is drawn on a transparent film. 2. a transparent film on which a pattern for a circuit board is drawn; an ink film disposed on the transparent film and coated with heat-melting ink; and a heat-melting ink disposed on the ink film and coated with heat-melting ink by a heating operation. a thermal head that thermally transfers the image to a transparent film; a moving unit that moves the transparent film and the thermal head relative to each other; and a circuit board pattern to be drawn on the transparent film based on drive data of the moving unit and heating operation data of the thermal head. The transparent film and the thermal head are moved relative to each other via the moving means based on each data of the circuit board pattern stored in the storage means, and the heating operation of the thermal head is performed. An apparatus for creating a pattern mask for a circuit board using a thermal transfer method, comprising a control means.