KR101430742B1 - Apparatus of discharging treating fluid - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a processing solution dispensing apparatus comprising: a substrate supporting unit on which a substrate is placed and which is linearly movable in a first direction; A gantry provided on the movement path of the substrate supporting unit, the gantry being moved in the first direction; First moving units moved in the longitudinal direction of the gantry; An ink jet head unit coupled to each of the first moving units so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the gantry and discharging the liquid crystal by an inkjet method; And head control units respectively installed in the first moving units to individually control the operation of each of the inkjet head units.

Description

[0001] APPARATUS OF DISCHARGING TREATING FLUID [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a process liquid ejection apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for ejecting a process liquid onto a substrate by an inkjet method for ejecting droplets.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, liquid crystal display devices have been widely used in display portions of electronic apparatuses such as mobile phones and portable computers. A liquid crystal display device includes: a color filter substrate on which a black matrix, a color filter, a common electrode, and an alignment film are formed; Liquid crystal is injected into a space between a thin film transistor (TFT), a pixel electrode and an array substrate on which an alignment film is formed, and a video effect is obtained by using a difference in refractive index of light according to anisotropy of liquid crystal.

An ink jet type coating apparatus is used as an apparatus for applying an alignment liquid or a liquid crystal onto a color filter substrate and an array substrate.

However, in the conventional inkjet type coating apparatus, the equipment can not be reduced due to the weight occupied by the electrical component units, the number of design and assembly due to a large amount of piping / wiring is increased, It was possible to configure the equipment only in the array (MHA) type.

In particular, the internal pressure control of the head is an indispensable element for correcting the ejection uniformity by ensuring uniform jetting performance, and the MPC (Pressure Control Unit) Although it is necessary to install it at a close distance (prevention of pressure hunting), the conventional structure can not be configured as a separate axis control type due to a large number of mechanical elements and a plurality of electric field control elements.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing solution dispensing apparatus capable of improving pressure control precision.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a processing solution dispensing apparatus capable of reducing design and assembly costs through reduction in piping / wiring quantity.

The objects of the present invention are not limited thereto, and other objects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for ejecting a process liquid of an inkjet type, comprising: a substrate supporting unit on which a substrate is placed and which is linearly movable in a first direction; A gantry provided on the movement path of the substrate supporting unit, the gantry being moved in the first direction; First moving units moved in the longitudinal direction of the gantry; An ink jet head unit coupled to each of the first moving units so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the gantry and discharging the liquid crystal by an inkjet method; And control units respectively installed in the first moving units to individually control the operation of each of the ink jet head units.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the control unit includes a frame installed in the first mobile unit; A control board mounted on the frame; A pressure control module for regulating a positive pressure and a negative pressure to be provided to the inkjet head unit; And a direction control module connected to the pressure control module and selectively providing the positive or negative pressure controlled by the pressure control module to the inkjet head unit.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pressure control module includes a positive pressure control valve connected to the positive pressure line, a positive pressure control board for controlling the positive pressure control valve, a negative pressure control valve connected to the negative pressure line, And a control board.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the direction control module includes a positive pressure measurement board on which a sensor for measuring a positive pressure is mounted on a board and provides a pressure value to the positive pressure control board in real time, And a negative pressure opening / closing valve for selectively providing a positive pressure or a negative pressure to the ink jet head unit.

According to the present invention, the pressure control unit can be modularized so that easy maintenance and installation space can be reduced, and pressure control precision can be improved.

Further, according to the present invention, since the pressure control unit does not need a single pipe structure, the pressure loss transmitted to the inkjet head unit can be minimized, and the number of design and assembly operations can be reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, since the control unit receives only data set values from the main computer and controls the operation of the inkjet head unit individually, the processing speed can be kept constant.

The drawings described below are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
1 is a view showing a configuration of an inkjet type liquid crystal coating equipment.
2 is a perspective view of the liquid crystal discharge portion of FIG.
3 is a plan view of the liquid crystal discharge portion of FIG.
Fig. 4 is a view showing the first drive unit of Fig. 3. Fig.
FIG. 5 is a view showing the second drive unit of FIG. 3. FIG.
6 is a view showing a linear movement and a rotation process of the gantry.
Fig. 7 is a side view of the head moving unit of Figs. 2 and 3. Fig.
Figure 8 is a front view of the first mobile unit of Figure 7;
FIGS. 9 to 10 are views illustrating the configuration of an inkjet head unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a view for explaining the control relationship between the inkjet head unit, the individual head control unit and the liquid crystal supply unit.
12 is a view for explaining the configuration of the pressure regulator of the individual head control unit.
13 is a configuration diagram showing an individual head control unit and a liquid crystal supply unit connected to the inkjet head unit.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Each drawing has been partially or exaggerated for clarity. It should be noted that, in adding reference numerals to the constituent elements of the respective drawings, the same constituent elements are shown to have the same reference numerals as possible even if they are displayed on different drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear.

(Example)

Hereinafter, a facility for applying a treatment liquid to an object by an ink jet system for ejecting liquid drops and a method for applying the treatment liquid to the object using the apparatus will be described.

For example, the object may be a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate of a liquid crystal display panel, and the processing liquid may be liquid crystal, alignment liquid, red (R) , Green (G), and blue (B) ink. As the alignment liquid, polyimide may be used.

The alignment liquid can be applied to the entire surface of the color filter (CF) substrate and the thin film transistor (TFT) substrate, and the liquid crystal can be applied to the entire surface of the color filter (CF) substrate or the thin film transistor (TFT) substrate. The ink may be applied to the interior area of the black matrix arranged in a lattice pattern on a color filter (CF) substrate.

In this embodiment, a facility using liquid crystal as a treatment liquid is described as an example, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto.

1 is a view showing a configuration of an inkjet type liquid crystal coating equipment. The liquid crystal coating equipment 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a facility for applying a liquid crystal to a substrate by an inkjet method for discharging droplets.

The substrate may be a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate of a liquid crystal display panel, and the liquid crystal may be applied to an entire surface of a color filter (CF) substrate or a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate.

1, the liquid crystal coating equipment 1 includes a liquid crystal discharge unit 10, a substrate transfer unit 20, a loading unit 30, an unloading unit 40, a liquid crystal supply unit 50, and a main controller 90 ). The liquid crystal discharge portion 10 and the substrate transfer portion 20 are arranged in a line in the first direction I and can be positioned adjacent to each other. A liquid crystal supply part 50 and a main control part 90 are disposed at positions facing the substrate transfer part 20 with the liquid crystal discharge part 10 as a center. The liquid crystal supply part 50 and the main control part 90 may be arranged in a line in the second direction II. The loading unit 30 and the unloading unit 40 are disposed at positions facing the liquid crystal discharge unit 10 with the substrate transfer unit 20 as a center. The loading section 30 and the unloading section 40 may be arranged in a line in the second direction II.

Here, the first direction I is an arrangement direction of the liquid crystal discharge portion 10 and the substrate transfer portion 20, the second direction II is a direction perpendicular to the first direction I on the horizontal plane, (III) is a direction perpendicular to the first direction (I) and the second direction (II).

The substrate to which the liquid crystal is to be applied is brought into the loading section 30. The substrate transferring unit 20 transfers the substrate loaded into the loading unit 30 to the liquid crystal discharging unit 10. The liquid crystal discharging portion 10 receives liquid crystal from the liquid crystal supplying portion 50 and discharges the liquid crystal onto the substrate by an ink jet method for discharging liquid droplets. When the liquid crystal discharge is completed, the substrate transfer section 20 transfers the substrate from the liquid crystal discharge section 10 to the unloading section 40. The substrate coated with the liquid crystal is taken out of the unloading portion 40. The main control unit 90 controls the overall operations of the liquid crystal discharge unit 10, the substrate transfer unit 20, the loading unit 30, the unloading unit 40, and the liquid crystal supply unit 50.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the liquid crystal discharge portion of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a plan view of the liquid crystal discharge portion of FIG. 2 and 3, the liquid crystal discharging portion 10 includes a base B, a substrate supporting unit 100, a gantry 200, a gantry moving unit 300, inkjet head units 400, Unit 500, a liquid crystal supply unit 600, an individual head control unit 700, a liquid crystal discharge amount measurement unit 800, a nozzle inspection unit 900, and a head cleaning unit 1000.

Hereinafter, each configuration of the liquid crystal discharge portion will be described in detail.

(Substrate supporting unit)

The base (B) may be provided in a rectangular parallelepiped shape having a constant thickness. A substrate supporting unit 100 is disposed on the upper surface of the base B. The substrate supporting unit 100 has a supporting plate 110 on which the substrate S is placed. The support plate 110 may be a rectangular plate. The rotation driving member 120 is connected to the lower surface of the support plate 110. The rotation drive member 120 may be a rotary motor. The rotation driving member 120 rotates the support plate 110 around a rotation center axis perpendicular to the support plate 100. [

When the support plate 110 is rotated by the rotation drive member 120, the substrate S can be rotated by the rotation of the support plate 110. [ When the long-side direction of the cell formed on the substrate to which the liquid crystal is to be applied faces the second direction II, the rotation driving member 120 can rotate the substrate such that the long-side direction of the cell is in the first direction I.

The support plate 110 and the rotation driving member 120 may be linearly moved in the first direction I by the linear driving member 130. The linear driving member 130 includes a slider 132 and a guide member 134. The rotation driving member 120 is provided on the upper surface of the slider 132. [ The guide member 134 is elongated in the first direction I in the center of the upper surface of the base B. A linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the slider 132 and the slider 132 is linearly moved in the first direction I along the guide member 134 by a linear motor (not shown).

(Gantry)

The gantry 200 is provided at an upper portion of a path through which the support plate 110 is moved. The gantry 200 is disposed upwardly away from the upper surface of the base B and the gantry 200 is arranged such that its longitudinal direction is in the second direction II. The inkjet head unit 400 is coupled to the gantry 200 by the head moving unit 500. The inkjet head unit 400 can be linearly moved by the head moving unit 500 in the longitudinal direction of the gantry, that is, in the second direction II, and linearly in the third direction III.

(Gantry moving unit)

The gantry moving unit 300 moves the gantry 200 in a first direction I or moves the gantry 200 in such a direction that the longitudinal direction of the gantry 200 is inclined in the first direction I . By the rotation of the gantry 200, the nozzles (not shown) of the inkjet head unit 400 are aligned in an oblique direction in the first direction I.

The gantry moving unit 300 can rotate the other end of the gantry 200 with the one end of the gantry 200 as the center of rotation as will be described below. Alternatively, the gantry moving unit 300 may be configured to rotate the gantry 200 with the center of the gantry 200 as the center of rotation. The gantry moving unit 300 is also referred to as a "rotating unit "

The gantry drive unit 300 includes a first drive unit 310 and a second drive unit 320. The second drive unit 320 is provided at one end of the gantry 200 serving as a rotation center, and the first drive unit 310 is provided at the other end of the gantry 200.

Fig. 4 is a view showing the first drive unit of Fig. 3. Fig. Referring to FIG. 4, the first drive unit 310 includes a slider 312, a first rotation support member 314, and a first linear drive member 318. A guide rail 210 is provided along the longitudinal direction of the gantry 200 at the lower end of the other end of the gantry 200. The slider 312 is guided by the guide rail 210 and linearly moved. The first rotation support member 314 is coupled to the lower end of the slider 312. The first rotation support member 314 may be a bearing capable of relative rotation between the upper and lower portions. A first linear driving member 318 is coupled to the lower surface of the first rotation support member 314. The first linear driving member 318 linearly moves the first rotation supporting member 314 in the first direction I.

The first linear driving member 318 includes a guide rail 315 and a slider 317. The guide rail 315 is disposed in the other side edge of the upper surface of the base B with the guide member 134 of the substrate supporting unit 100 as the center, with the longitudinal direction thereof facing the first direction I. A slider 317 is movably coupled to the guide rail 315. The first rotation support member 314 is coupled to the upper surface of the slider 317. The slider 317 may include a linear motor (not shown). The slider 317 linearly moves in the first direction I along the guide rail 315 by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown).

FIG. 5 is a view showing the second drive unit of FIG. 3. FIG. 5, the second driving unit 320 linearly moves one end of the gantry 200 in the first direction I when the gantry 200 is linearly moved. When the gantry 200 is rotated, As shown in Fig.

The second drive unit 320 includes a second rotation support member 324 and a second linear drive member 328. A connecting member 322 is coupled to a lower end of the gantry 200 and a second rotation supporting member 324 is coupled to a lower surface of the connecting member 322. The second rotation support member 324 may be a bearing capable of relative rotation between the upper and lower portions. And a second linear driving member 328 is coupled to a lower surface of the second rotation supporting member 324. [ The second linear driving member 328 linearly moves the second rotation supporting member 324 in the first direction I. The connection member 322 and the one end of the gantry 200 are linearly moved by the linear movement of the second rotation support member 324.

The second linear drive member 328 includes a guide rail 325 and a slider 327. The guide rail 325 is disposed in one side edge portion of the upper surface of the base B about the guide member 134 of the substrate supporting unit 100 with its longitudinal direction directed in the first direction I. A slider 327 is movably coupled to the guide rail 325. And the second rotation support member 324 is coupled to the upper surface of the slider 327. [ The slider 327 may include a linear motor (not shown). The slider 327 linearly moves in the first direction I along the guide rail 325 by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown).

6 is a view showing the rotation and linear movement of the gantry. In Figs. 3 and 6, the liquid crystal supply unit is omitted for convenience of illustration.

 4, 5 and 6, the gantry 200 is rotated by the first drive unit 310 and the second drive unit 320 so as to be inclined in the first direction I , And can be linearly moved in the first direction (I).

When the first linear driving member 318 of the first driving unit 310 linearly moves in the first direction I in a state where the second linear driving member 328 of the second driving unit 320 is fixed, (200) is rotated. This will be described in detail as follows.

First, the slider 317 of the first linear driving member 318 moves in the first direction I along the guide rail 315 by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown). At this time, one end of the gantry 200 is rotated by the second rotation supporting member 324 in the state where there is no movement in the first direction I because the second linear driving member 328 is not driven.

As the slider 317 of the first linear driving member 318 moves in the first direction I, the first rotation supporting member 314 disposed on the upper portion thereof is moved along the guide rail 315 in the first direction I). At the same time, the slider 312 coupled to the upper end of the first rotation support member 314 is rotated by the relative rotation between the upper and lower portions of the first rotation support member 314, and the guide rail 210 To the other end side of the gantry 200. As a result, the gantry 200 rotates about the supporting position of the second driving unit 320, and the supporting position of the gantry 200 of the first driving unit 310 is shifted to the outside of the other end. Through this operation, the gantry 200 can be rotated in an oblique direction in the first direction I, so that the inkjet head unit 400 is aligned in an inclined direction in the first direction I.

As such, when the ink jet head unit 400 is aligned in the oblique direction in the first direction I, the liquid crystal discharge pitch can be flexibly adjusted in accordance with the pixel pitch change of the substrate S to which the liquid crystal is to be applied, It is possible to increase the film uniformity of the liquid crystal applied to the substrate.

The gantry 200 can be rotated in the same manner as described above and the gantry 200 can be rotated in a state where the slider 317 of the first linear driving member 318 and the slider 317 of the second linear driving member 328 327 in the first direction I further. One end of the gantry 200 is linearly moved in the first direction I by the movement of the slider 327 of the second linear driving member 328 and the other end of the gantry 200 is moved in the first direction I by the first linear driving member 318, Can be linearly moved in the first direction (I) by the movement of the slider (317).

When the gantry 200 is fixed and the substrate moves in the first direction I, the substrate can be moved from one side of the gantry 200 to the other side, so that the footprint of the equipment can be increased. However, according to the present invention, since the gantry 200 can be linearly moved in the first direction I with the substrate fixed or with the linear movement of the substrate, the footprint of the facility can be reduced.

(Head moving unit)

The head moving unit 500 may be provided to the inkjet head unit 400, respectively. In the case of this embodiment, since three inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c are provided as an example, three head moving units 500 can also be provided corresponding to the number of heads. Alternatively, one head moving unit 500 may be provided, in which case the ink jet head unit 400 can be moved integrally, not individually.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the head moving unit of Figs. 2 and 3, and Fig. 8 is a front view of the first moving unit of Fig.

7 to 8, the head moving unit 500 includes a first moving unit 520 and a second moving unit 540. [ The first moving unit 520 linearly moves the inkjet head unit 400a in the longitudinal direction of the gantry, that is, in the second direction II, and the second moving unit 540 moves the inkjet head unit 400a in the third direction (III).

The first moving unit 520 includes guide rails 522a and 522b, sliders 524a and 524b, and a moving plate 526. [ The guide rails 522a and 522b may extend in the second direction II and be spaced apart from the gantry 200 in the third direction III. Sliders 524a and 524b are movably coupled to the guide rails 522a and 522b and linear actuators such as a linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the sliders 524a and 524b. The moving plate 526 is coupled to the sliders 524a and 524b. The upper region of the moving plate 526 is coupled to the upper slider 524a and the lower region of the moving plate 526 is coupled to the lower slider 524b. The moving plate 526 linearly moves in the second direction II along the guide rails 522a and 522b by the driving force of a linear motor (not shown) as shown in Fig. Thus, as the inkjet head units 400a, 400b, 400c are individually moved along the second direction II, the gap between the inkjet head units 400a, 400b, 400c can be adjusted.

The second moving unit 540 includes a guide member 542, a slider 544, a detector 546, and a controller 548. The guide member 542 is engaged with the moving plate 526 of the first moving unit 520 and guides the linear movement of the slider 544 in the third direction III. The slider 544 is coupled to the guide member 542 so as to be linearly movable. A linear actuator such as a linear motor (not shown) may be incorporated in the slider 544. The inkjet head unit 400a is coupled to the slider 544 and is moved in the third direction III by the linear movement of the slider 544 in the third direction III.

The detector 546 may be installed in the gantry 200 and detects the distance between the inkjet head unit 400a and the substrate S. [ The detector 546 may be a laser sensor. The controller 548 generates a control signal corresponding to the detection signal of the detector 546 and transmits a control signal to the linear motor built in the slider 544 to control the driving of the linear motor. If it is determined that the interval between the inkjet head unit 400a and the substrate S deviates from a preset reference value in accordance with the detection result of the detector 546, the controller 548 controls the driving of the linear motor (not shown) The distance between the head unit 400a and the substrate S is adjusted.

(Inkjet head unit)

The inkjet head unit 400 discharges droplets of liquid crystal onto the substrate. A plurality of inkjet head units 400 may be provided. In this embodiment, three inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c are provided, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The inkjet head units 400 may be arranged in a line in a row in the second direction II and are coupled to the gantry 200.

A plurality of nozzles (not shown) for ejecting droplets of liquid crystal are provided on the bottom surface of the inkjet head unit 400. For example, 128 or 256 nozzles (not shown) may be provided in each of the heads. The nozzles (not shown) may be arranged in a line at intervals of a predetermined pitch. The nozzles (not shown) can eject the liquid crystal in an amount of μg.

In the conventional point dotting method using a syringe, since the ejection pitch of the liquid crystal is large and the amount of liquid crystal to be ejected is in the unit of mg, the liquid crystal is not spread evenly on the substrate due to the viscous flow resistance of the liquid crystal There was a problem. However, since the liquid crystal is ejected in units of micrograms through a plurality of nozzles (not shown) having a narrow pitch interval, the liquid crystal can be coated more evenly on the substrate despite the viscous flow resistance of the liquid crystal.

The number of piezoelectric elements corresponding to the nozzles (not shown) may be provided in each of the inkjet head units 400, and the amount of droplets discharged from the nozzles (not shown) may be controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements Respectively.

FIGS. 9 to 10 are views illustrating the configuration of an inkjet head unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Since the ink jet head units 400a, 400b and 400c have the same configuration, the ink jet head unit 400a will be described below as an example.

9 and 10, the inkjet head unit 400a includes a body 412, a reservoir 420 for storing a chemical solution in the body 412, a reservoir 420, And a coupling member 214 for coupling the body 412 to the front surface of the moving plate 526. The head 440 includes a head 440 for receiving the chemical liquid from the chemical liquid supply unit and discharging the chemical liquid onto the surface of the substrate. In addition, the inkjet head unit 400a includes sensors 430 for sensing the level of the chemical solution stored in the reservoir 420. [

The body 412 has a head 440 disposed on the lower surface thereof and is coupled with the moving plate 526 so as to be movable in at least one direction. The body 412 is provided with a reservoir 420 at its inner bottom.

The head 440 has a nozzle surface 242 provided with a plurality of nozzles (not shown) for supplying a chemical solution to the substrate S on the lower surface opposite to the surface of the substrate resting on the support plate 110. One nozzle face 242 may be provided with, for example, 128 or 256 nozzles (not shown). The nozzles (not shown) may be arranged in a line at intervals of a predetermined pitch. The nozzles (not shown) can eject the liquid crystal in an amount of μg.

In the conventional point dotting method using a syringe, since the ejection pitch of the liquid crystal is large and the amount of liquid crystal to be ejected is in the unit of mg, the liquid crystal is not spread evenly on the substrate due to the viscous flow resistance of the liquid crystal There was a problem. However, since the liquid crystal is ejected in units of micrograms through a plurality of nozzles (not shown) having a narrow pitch interval, the liquid crystal can be coated more evenly on the substrate despite the viscous flow resistance of the liquid crystal.

The number of piezoelectric elements corresponding to the nozzles (not shown) may be provided in the head 440, and the amount of liquid droplets discharged from the nozzles (not shown) may be independently controlled by controlling the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements Lt; / RTI >

The reservoir 420 serves as a buffer tank for the chemical liquid. That is, the reservoir 420 is formed inside the body 412, receives the chemical liquid from the chemical liquid supply unit 600, stores the chemical liquid, and supplies the chemical liquid to the nozzles. The reservoir 420 penetrates the sensor 230 at the center of the upper wall 415 and senses the level of the chemical solution stored therein.

Referring to FIG. 10, a lid 411 made of a transparent material is coupled to the front surface of the reservoir 420 to seal the interior of the reservoir 420. A plurality of piezoelectric elements (not shown) for adjusting the flow rate of the chemical liquid discharged from the nozzles of the head 440 and an interface unit 413 for interfacing with the nozzles are coupled to the rear surface of the reservoir 420 do. The interface unit 413 is electrically connected to the individual head control unit 700 provided on the upper surface of the moving plate 526. [

The lower surface 217 of the reservoir 220 is provided with first and second outlets 222 and 224 for supplying a chemical solution to the nozzles on both sides thereof, And a flow path 228 connecting the second outlets 222 and 224. Accordingly, the nozzles are supplied with the chemical solution from the reservoir 220 through the flow path 228. The lower surface 217 of the reservoir 220 is provided with a step so that the first and second outlets 222 and 224 have different heights. This is to easily remove bubbles contained in the chemical liquid stored in the reservoir 220 by using the pressure difference between the first and second outlets 222 and 224.

The reservoir 220 is provided at its rear surface with a first connection part 216 to which a pneumatic line for controlling internal pressure is connected and a second connection part 218 to which a chemical solution supply line for supplying a chemical solution is connected. The first connection part 216 is disposed above the reservoir 220 to stably control the pressure. The first connection portion 216 is stable in pressure and disposed at the upper portion, thereby eliminating the phenomenon that the chemical liquid flows back to the first connection portion 216 and the pneumatic line.

The pressure adjusting part 260 of the individual head control unit is connected to the first connection part 216 and the liquid crystal supply unit 600 is connected to the second connection part 218.

11 is a view for explaining the control relationship between the inkjet head unit, the individual head control unit and the liquid crystal supply unit. 12 is a view for explaining the configuration of the pressure regulator of the individual head control unit. 13 is a configuration diagram showing an individual head control unit and a liquid crystal supply unit connected to the inkjet head unit.

11 to 13, the individual head control unit 700 is installed in the first moving unit 520 and controls operations such as chemical liquid supply to the inkjet head unit 400a, pressure control, and discharge amount control individually do.

The individual head control unit 700 includes a control board 710 and a pressure regulator 720.

The control board 710 is electrically connected to the head 440 of the inkjet head unit 400a and applies a discharge control signal to the inkjet head unit 400a. The inkjet head unit 400a is provided with a number of piezoelectric elements corresponding to the nozzles and the control board 710 of the individual head control unit 700 controls the voltage applied to the piezoelectric elements to control the droplet discharge amount of the nozzles . The control board 710 is electrically connected to the pressure regulating unit 720 and is connected to the pressure regulating unit 720 in order to control the internal pressure of the reservoir 420 of the ink jet head unit 400a to be constant, . The control board 710 controls the liquid crystal supply unit 600 for supplying liquid crystal to the inkjet head unit.

12, the pressure regulator 720 is for controlling the positive pressure and the negative pressure to keep the internal pressure of the reservoir 420 constant. The pressure regulator 720 is controlled by the control board 710, and the ink jet head unit 400a The pressure control module 730 and the pressure control module 730 that control the positive pressure and the negative pressure to be provided in the inkjet head unit 400a and selectively supply the positive or negative pressure adjusted by the pressure control module 730 to the inkjet head unit 400a And a direction control module 740.

The pressure control module 730 includes a positive pressure control valve 732 connected to the positive pressure line, a positive pressure control board 733 for controlling the positive pressure control valve 732, a negative pressure control valve 734 connected to the negative pressure line, A sound pressure control board 735 for controlling the sound pressure control board 734 is modularized. The positive pressure control board 733 and the negative pressure control board 735 feedback the analog signal from the positive pressure measurement board and the negative pressure measurement board in real time to maintain the pressure at a constant level and operate in conjunction with the control board.

The direction control module 740 includes a positive pressure measurement board 743 on which a sensor 742 for measuring the positive pressure is mounted on the board and provides the pressure value to the positive pressure control board 733 in real time, A negative pressure measurement board 745 mounted on the board and providing a pressure value to the negative pressure control board 735 in real time, and a three-way valve type positive pressure opening / closing valve 745 for selectively supplying positive pressure or negative pressure to the inkjet head unit (746) and a negative pressure opening / closing valve (748). The connection port between the pressure control module 730 and the direction control module 740 has a connector 750 for mutual engagement. The positive pressure measurement board 743 and the negative pressure measurement board 745 of the direction control module 740 provide the positive pressure and negative pressure measurement values to the pressure control side in real time analog signal so that the positive pressure control valve 732 and the negative pressure control The control accuracy of the valve 734 can be improved.

As such, the pressure regulator 720 is replaced with a conventional pressure control (MPC) unit with two components, a pressure-controlled side module and a direction-controlled side module, The pressure loss can be minimized and the control pressure can be optimized. In addition, airflow reduction and cost competitiveness are improved, and optimized and minimized size enables various concepts to be applied to changes in the head axis number.

The liquid crystal supply unit 600 includes a liquid crystal supply tank 672, a pressing member 674 on which a regulator 673 is mounted and a liquid crystal supply line 675 and is disposed in front of the moving plate 526. The regulator 673 is controlled by the control board 710 and the gas pressure used in the pressure member 674 can be supplied from the positive pressure line connected to the pressure regulator 720. The liquid crystal supply tank 672 may be provided, for example, in the form of a cylinder, and the liquid crystal supply tank 672 is filled with liquid crystal. The pressure member 674 applies gas pressure to the liquid crystal supply tank 672. The liquid crystal in the liquid crystal supply tank 672 is transferred to the reservoir 420 through the liquid crystal supply line 675 by the gas pressure of the pressure member 674. The liquid crystal supply line 675 is provided with a particle filter member 676, a bubble filter member 677, and the like. One end of the liquid crystal supply line 675 is connected to the liquid crystal supply tank 672 and the other end of the liquid crystal supply line 675 is connected to the second connection portion 418 of the reservoir 420.

The conventional liquid crystal application device is provided with a control unit for controlling the inkjet head units as a main computer of the main control unit, provided separately from the inkjet head units, or provided at a distance from the inkjet head units, There is a problem that noise is generated when a control signal is transmitted from the control unit to the ink jet head units, and distortion of the control signal occurs.

However, since the individual head control unit 700 according to the embodiment of the present invention is disposed on the moving plate 200 to which the inkjet head units are respectively coupled, the head control unit 700 and the inkjet head unit It is possible to minimize the signal distortion due to the noise generation in the transmission of the control signal between the head control unit 700 and the inkjet head unit.

In particular, by modularizing the valves and the sensors of the pressure regulator 720 for pressure control of the inkjet head unit, maintenance of the inkjet head unit and the head control unit 700 connected thereto is easy.

(Liquid crystal discharge amount measurement unit)

2 and 3, the liquid crystal discharge amount measurement unit 800 measures the liquid crystal discharge amount of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c. Specifically, the liquid crystal discharge amount measurement unit 800 measures the amount of liquid crystal discharged from all of the nozzles (not shown) for each of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c. The presence or absence of abnormality in the nozzles (not shown) of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c can be confirmed macroscopically by measuring the liquid crystal discharge amount of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c. That is, when the liquid crystal discharge amount of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b, 400c is out of the reference value, it is found that at least one of the nozzles (not shown) is abnormal.

The inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c are moved in the first direction I and the second direction II by the gantry moving unit 300 and the head moving unit 500 to move the liquid crystal discharge amount measuring unit 800 As shown in FIG. The head moving unit 500 moves the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c in the third direction III to move the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c and the liquid crystal discharge volume measuring unit 800 in the vertical direction Can be adjusted.

(Nozzle inspection unit)

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the nozzle inspection unit 900 confirms whether or not the individual nozzles provided in the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c are abnormal through the optical inspection. When the abnormality of the macroscopic nozzle is checked by the liquid crystal discharge quantity measurement unit 800 and it is judged that there is an abnormality in the unspecified nozzle, the nozzle inspection unit 900 checks the existence of abnormality of the individual nozzle, .

The nozzle inspection unit 900 may be disposed on one side of the substrate supporting unit 100 on the base B. [ The inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c are moved in the first direction I and the second direction II by the gantry moving unit 300 and the head moving unit 500, Lt; / RTI > The head moving unit 500 can move the heads 410, 420 and 430 in the third direction III to adjust the vertical distance between the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c and the nozzle inspection unit 900. [

(Head cleaning unit)

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the head cleaning unit 1000 performs a purging process and a suction process. The purging process is a process in which a part of the liquid crystal accommodated in the inkjet head units 400a, 400b and 400c is injected at a high pressure. The suction process is a process of sucking and removing residual liquid crystal on the nozzle surface of the inkjet head units 400a, 400b, and 400c after the purging process.

The foregoing description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the following claims, and all technical ideas falling within the scope of the same shall be construed as falling within the scope of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art
B: Base 100: Substrate supporting unit
200: Gantry 300: Gantry moving unit
400: Head 500: Head moving unit
600: liquid crystal supply unit 700: individual head control unit
800: liquid crystal discharge quantity measurement unit 900: nozzle inspection unit
1000: Head cleaning unit

Claims (6)

In the process liquid ejecting apparatus of the inkjet method,
A substrate supporting unit on which a substrate is placed and which is linearly movable in a first direction;
A gantry provided on the movement path of the substrate supporting unit, the gantry being moved in the first direction;
First moving units moved in the longitudinal direction of the gantry;
An ink jet head unit coupled to each of the first moving units so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the gantry and discharging the liquid crystal by an inkjet method; And
And head control units installed in the first moving units to individually control the operation of each of the inkjet head units;
The head control unit
A frame installed in the first mobile unit;
A control board mounted on the frame; And
And a pressure regulator controlled by the control board and controlling the positive pressure and the negative pressure so as to maintain the pressure inside the reservoir of the inkjet head unit at a constant level. delete The method according to claim 1,
The pressure regulator
A pressure control module which is controlled by the control board and regulates a positive pressure and a negative pressure to be provided to the inkjet head unit; And
And a direction control module connected to the pressure control module and selectively providing the positive or negative pressure controlled by the pressure control module to the inkjet head unit. The method of claim 3,
The pressure control module
A positive pressure control valve connected to the positive pressure line;
A positive pressure control board for controlling the positive pressure control valve;
A sound pressure control valve connected to the sound pressure line; And
And a sound pressure control board for controlling the sound pressure control valve,
The direction control module
A positive pressure measurement board mounted on the board for measuring a positive pressure and providing the pressure value to the positive pressure control board in real time;
A sound pressure measurement board mounted on the board for measuring a sound pressure and providing the pressure value to the sound pressure control board in real time; And
And a negative pressure opening / closing valve for selectively providing a positive pressure or a negative pressure to the inkjet head unit. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the positive pressure opening / closing valve and the negative pressure opening / closing valve are three-way valves for selectively providing a positive pressure or a negative pressure. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the connection port between the pressure control module and the direction control module is provided with a connector for mutual engagement.

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