KR101650378B1 - Paste dispenser - Google Patents

Abstract

The paste dispenser according to the present invention has an effect of simplifying the structure for measuring the height variation of the top surface of the substrate by providing the head unit with the undulation measuring member for measuring the height variation of the top surface of the substrate.

Paste dispenser, substrate

Description

PASTE DISPENSER < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to a paste dispenser for applying a paste onto a substrate.

In general, a flat panel display (FPD) is thinner and lighter than a television or a monitor using a cathode ray tube. As a flat panel display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) .

Among them, a liquid crystal display is a display device that can display a desired image by individually supplying data signals according to image information to liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix form to adjust light transmittance of liquid crystal cells. Liquid crystal displays are widely used because they are thin and light, and have low power consumption and low operating voltage. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel generally used in such a liquid crystal display will be described below.

First, a color filter and a common electrode are formed on an upper substrate, and a thin film transistor (TFT) and a pixel electrode are formed on a lower substrate corresponding to the upper substrate. Then, the alignment film is applied to the substrates, and then the alignment film is rubbed to provide a pre-tilt angle and alignment direction to the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer to be formed therebetween.

A paste pattern is formed by applying a paste to at least one of the substrates in a predetermined pattern so as to maintain the space between the substrates and to prevent the liquid crystal from leaking to the outside and to seal between the substrates, Thereby forming a liquid crystal panel.

In manufacturing such a liquid crystal panel, a paste dispenser is used to form a paste pattern on a substrate. The paste dispenser includes a stage on which a substrate is mounted, a head unit mounted with a nozzle through which the paste is discharged, and a head supporter for supporting the head unit.

Such a paste dispenser forms a paste pattern on a substrate while changing the relative positions of the respective nozzles and the substrate. That is, the paste dispenser moves the nozzles and / or the substrate horizontally in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction while vertically moving the nozzles mounted on the respective head units in the Z-axis direction so as to control the distance between the ejection openings of the nozzles and the substrate to be constant. And a paste is discharged from the nozzle onto the substrate to form a paste pattern.

When the substrate is mounted on the stage, the height of the top surface of the substrate is not kept constant, and the top surface of the substrate changes in the vertical direction according to the characteristics of the substrate itself or the shape of the top surface of the stage.

The height of the top surface of the substrate may be different for each application region in which the paste is applied, and the distance between the substrate and the nozzle is kept constant even if the position of the nozzle is adjusted by driving the Z- The height of the upper surface of the substrate may vary greatly. Therefore, it is required to adjust the vertical position of the nozzle so as to correspond to the height of the upper surface of the substrate. For this purpose, the height of the upper surface of the substrate must be measured.

In the conventional case, a separate measuring device such as a dial indicator was constructed in the paste dispenser, and the height of the upper surface of the substrate was measured using the measurement device. However, a difference may occur in the mechanical configuration of the separate measurement equipment and the mechanical configuration of the head unit. When the head unit is operated based on the height data of the top surface of the substrate measured by a separate measuring equipment, There is a problem that the head unit can not be operated properly due to the difference in the mechanical configuration between the equipment and the head unit.

In addition, in the conventional case, additional cost is incurred in order to provide additional measuring equipment, and further work is required to operate a separate measuring equipment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a head unit having nozzles for discharging a paste onto a substrate and having an undulation measuring member for measuring a height of an upper surface of the substrate, And it is an object of the present invention to provide a paste dispenser capable of simplifying a structure for measuring a height of an upper surface of a substrate.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paste dispenser comprising: a head unit including a nozzle for discharging a paste onto a substrate mounted on a stage; a head unit provided on the head unit, And a position measuring device for measuring a displacement of the undulation measuring member, the undulation measuring member moving up and down in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate while being in contact with the upper surface of the substrate when moved .

Here, the head unit may include a first support member, a second support member supported by the first support member so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction and equipped with a laser displacement sensor, A third support member provided so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction and provided with the nozzle, and a second support member provided between the second support member and the third support member, And the position measuring device measures the relative position in the axial direction, and the undulation measuring member is provided on the third supporting member and moves up and down together with the third supporting member according to the height change of the upper surface of the substrate And the position measuring device can be configured to measure a relative position between the second supporting member and the third supporting member when the undersurface measuring member and the third supporting member are displaced.

On the other hand, it is preferable that the elevation device further comprises a lift device for independently elevating the elevation measuring member in the Z-axis direction with respect to the third supporting member.

In addition, it is preferable to provide a friction reducing means for reducing friction with the substrate at the end portion of the undulation measuring member facing the substrate, in order to prevent damage to the substrate.

The head dispenser according to the present invention is characterized in that the head unit is provided with an undulation measuring member moving in the vertical direction in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate while being in contact with the upper surface of the substrate when the head unit or the substrate is moved in the horizontal direction, It is possible to simplify the configuration and the control method for measuring the height of the upper surface of the substrate by measuring the displacement in the vertical direction of the undulation measuring member using the position measuring device provided in the head unit.

Further, since the height of the upper surface of the substrate can be measured using the undulation measuring member in the vicinity of the nozzle, the paste dispenser according to the present invention can measure the height of the upper surface of the substrate, It is possible to eliminate the problem caused by differences in the configuration.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the paste dispenser according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3, the paste dispenser according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a frame 10 and a frame 10 which is movable in the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction A stage 30 mounted on the table 20 and on which the substrate S is mounted and a pair of support frame moving guides 30 provided on both sides of the stage 30 and extending in the Y axis, A head support base 50 which is supported on both ends of the pair of support guide movement guides 40 and which is installed at an upper portion of the stage 30 and extends in the X axis direction; A head unit 60 provided movably in the direction of the syringe 72 and having a laser displacement sensor 71, a syringe 72 filled with a paste, and a nozzle 73 communicating with the syringe 72 to discharge the paste, An undulation measuring member 110 provided on the substrate 60 for measuring the height of the upper surface of the substrate S, It can comprise a control unit (not shown) that performs control of the height measurement of the surface of the substrate (S) by a coating operation and a relief measuring member 110. The height of the upper surface of the substrate S may be a height from the upper surface of the stage S to the upper surface of the substrate S when the substrate S is mounted on the stage 20. [

A plurality of head support rods 50 may be provided on one frame 10 and the head support rods 50 may be installed on the support roving guide 40 so as to be movable in the Y axis direction. A plurality of head units 60 may be installed on one head support 50.

2, the head unit 60 includes a first support member 61 and a second support member 61 which are supported so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction in Fig. 2) And a third support member 63 supported so as to be movable independently in the Z-axis direction with respect to the second support member 62. As shown in Fig.

The second support member 62 is provided with a laser displacement sensor 71. The laser displacement sensor 71 includes a light emitting portion for emitting a laser beam and a light receiving portion for receiving a laser beam reflected from the substrate S and spaced apart from the light emitting portion by a predetermined distance, And outputs an electrical signal corresponding to the image forming position of the laser reflected on the substrate S to the control unit to measure an interval between the substrate S and the nozzle 73.

The third support member 62 is provided with a syringe 72 filled with a paste, a nozzle 73 provided at a position adjacent to the laser displacement sensor 71 to discharge paste, a syringe 72 and a nozzle 73 (Not shown).

A first driving unit 81 for moving the second supporting member 62 in the Z axis direction may be provided between the first supporting member 61 and the second supporting member 62. A second driving unit 82 is provided between the second and third supporting members 62 and 63 to move the third supporting member 63 individually in the Z axis direction with respect to the second supporting member 62, May be provided.

The first driving unit 81 includes a first driving motor 811 and a first driving shaft 812 connecting the first driving motor 811 and the second supporting member 62 . The second support member 62 can be individually moved in the Z-axis direction with respect to the first support member 61 by the operation of the first drive motor 811.

The second driving unit 82 is connected to the second driving motor 821 fixed to the second supporting member 62 and the second driving motor 821 and the third supporting member 63 And a second drive shaft 822 that drives the second drive shaft. The third support member 63 can be individually moved in the Z-axis direction with respect to the second support member 62 by the operation of the second drive motor 821. [

Since the second driving motor 821 of the second driving unit 82 is fixed to the second supporting member 62, the second supporting member 62 is moved in the Z-axis direction The second drive motor 821 fixed to the second support member 62 and the third support member 63 connected to the second drive motor 821 are moved together with the second support member 62 Z-axis direction.

A connecting portion 64 is provided between the second driving shaft 822 and the third supporting member 63 of the second driving portion 82 to connect the second driving shaft 822 and the third supporting member 63 The connecting portion 64 includes a first connecting member 641 extending in the Y axis direction at the upper end of the second supporting member 62 and a second connecting member 641 extending in the Y axis direction at the lower end of the second driving shaft 822, And a second linking member 642 extending toward the first linking member 641 and disposed below the first linking member 641. Therefore, the third supporting member 63 has a configuration suspended from the second connecting member 642 through the first connecting member 641. [

With this configuration, when the second support member 62 is moved in the downward direction by the operation of the first drive unit 81, the third support member 63 is moved in the downward direction together with the second support member 62 The third support member 63 can not be moved further downward when the nozzle 73 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S so that the third support member 63 is stopped The second supporting member 62 is moved in the downward direction while the second connecting member 642 is separated from the first connecting member 641. When the nozzle 73 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S and the second connecting member 642 is separated from the first connecting member 641, Before the second connecting member 642 is brought into contact with the first connecting member 641 by the upward movement of the second supporting member 62 even if the member 62 moves in the upward direction, The second support member 62 can be moved upward while the member 63 is stopped. When the movement of the third support member 63 in the downward direction is restricted as in the case where the nozzle 73 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, 2 connecting member 642 can be spaced from the first connecting member 641. [

Therefore, when the nozzle 73 is not in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, the laser displacement sensor 71 and the nozzle 73 can be moved upward or downward together, and the laser displacement sensor 71, The nozzle 73 can be moved upward or downward. When the movement of the third support member 63 in the downward direction is restricted as in the case where the nozzle 73 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, The sensor 71 can be moved upward or downward. Of course, when the first driving unit 81 and the second driving unit 82 are simultaneously operated while the nozzle 73 is not in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, The sensor 71 can be moved upward or downward, and the laser displacement sensor 71 and the nozzle 73 can be simultaneously moved in opposite directions.

On the other hand, between the second support member 62 and the third support member 63, there are provided a position measuring device (a second position detecting device) 62 for measuring the relative position of the second support member 62 and the third support member 63 in the Z- 90 may be provided. The position measuring device 90 includes a reference portion 91 provided on the second support member 62 and a second support member 63 provided on the third support member 63 to sense the position of the reference portion 91 in the Z- And a sensing unit 92. The position measuring device 90 can measure the relative position of the second supporting member 62 and the third supporting member 63 in the Z axis direction by the interaction of the reference portion 91 and the sensing portion 92 .

The position measuring device 90 may be constituted by, for example, a camera in which the reference portion 91 is composed of a scale having a predetermined scale and the sensing portion 92 is a camera for picking up a scale. In this case, the relative position of the reference portion 91 and the sensing portion 92 can be measured from the image of the scale captured by the camera.

As another example, the position measuring device 90 may be constituted by a reflection surface whose reflection angle varies with the position of the reference portion 91, and the sensing portion 92 may include a light receiving sensor In this case, the relative position of the reference part 91 and the sensing part 92 can be measured by measuring the light emitted from the separate light source and reflected by the reflection surface by the light receiving sensor.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the reference portion 91 is provided on the second support member 62 and the sensing portion 92 is provided on the third support member 63. However, The reference portion 91 may be provided on the third support member 63 and the sensing portion 92 may be provided on the second support member 62. [

The undulation measuring member 110 is supported by the third supporting member 63 and has a shape extending in the longitudinal direction toward the substrate S.

It is preferable that the third supporting member 63 is provided with a lifting device 120 for moving the undulation measuring member 110 alone in the Z axis direction with respect to the third supporting member 63, The undulation measuring member 110 is moved up and down. The end of the undulation measuring member 110 facing the substrate S can be lowered to a position lower than the height of the discharge port of the nozzle 73 by the driving of the lifting device 120, Can rise to a position higher than the height of the discharge port of the nozzle 73. Therefore, when the paste is applied onto the substrate S by discharging the paste from the nozzle 73, the undulation measuring member 110 is raised to a position higher than the height of the discharge port of the nozzle 73, It is possible to prevent the end portion of the substrate 110 from contacting the substrate S or the paste applied on the substrate S and to measure the height of the upper surface of the substrate S, The edge of the undulation measuring member 110 can be brought into contact with the substrate S in a state in which the nozzle 73 is not brought into contact with the substrate S on the substrate S by descending to a position lower than the height of the discharge port of the nozzle 73 have.

The undulation measuring member 110 has a height of the upper surface of the substrate S when the substrate S and / or the head unit 60 are moved in the horizontal direction in a state where an end thereof is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S In order to prevent the upper surface of the substrate S from being damaged due to the friction between the upper surface of the substrate S and the end of the undulation measuring member 110 in this process, 110 are preferably provided with friction reducing means for reducing friction with the upper surface of the substrate S. As shown in FIG. 3, the undulation measuring member 110 may be a ball 111, which is rotatably installed at the end of the undulation measuring member 110, Various structures for reducing the friction with the upper surface of the substrate S, such as a structure in which the end of the substrate S is made of a soft non-metallic material as compared with the strength of the substrate S, can be applied.

Hereinafter, the process of measuring the height of the top surface of the substrate S using the paste dispenser according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6. FIG.

The measurement of the height of the upper surface of the substrate S can be performed on the entire upper surface of the substrate S and can be performed only on the coating section on the substrate S to which the paste is applied.

4, the undulation unit 110 is lowered by driving the elevation unit 120 to measure the height of the upper surface of the substrate S, The end portion is located at a lower position than the height of the nozzle 73.

The third supporting member 63 is lowered by the driving of the first driving unit 81 and / or the second driving unit 82 and the end of the undulation measuring member 110 is lowered toward the substrate S do. The first connecting member 641 and the second connecting member 642 are brought into contact with each other by the driving of the second driving unit 82 until the edge of the undulation measuring member 110 comes into contact with the substrate S State. When the third supporting member 63 and the undulation measuring member 110 continue to descend, the underside of the undulation measuring member 110 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the substrate S.

5, by driving the first driving unit 81 and / or the second driving unit 82 in a state where the end of the undulation measuring member 110 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, 3 When the support member 63 and the undulation measuring member 110 are continuously lowered, the third and fourth supporting members 63 and 63 are separated from the first connecting member 641 while the second connecting member 641 is separated from the third supporting member 63 The load of the component including the syringe 73 and the nozzle 73 provided on the substrate S is not transmitted to the second support member 62 but is applied to the upper surface of the substrate S via the undulation measuring member 110 . In this way, when the undulation measuring member 110 is displaced in the vertical direction in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate S, the third supporting member 63 connected to the undulation measuring member 110 is supported by the second supporting member 62 can be independently displaced in the vertical direction.

As described above, when at least one of the substrate S and the head unit 60 is moved in the horizontal direction while the end of the undulation measuring member 110 is in contact with the upper surface of the substrate S, the undulation measuring member 110 Is displaced in the vertical direction in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate S and the third support member 63 is also displaced in the vertical direction together with the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110. Here, the movement of the substrate S in the horizontal direction can be performed by the movement of the stage 30 in the horizontal direction by the movement of the table 20 in the X-axis direction and / or the Y-axis direction. The movement of the head unit 60 in the horizontal direction is performed by the movement of the head unit 60 in the X-axis direction in the head support 50 and in the Y-axis direction of the head support 50 .

In this way, the height of the upper surface of the substrate S can be measured by the vertical displacement of the undulation measuring member 110, and the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 in the vertical direction can be measured Can be measured by a position measuring device 90 provided between the second supporting member 62 and the third supporting member 63.

That is, by the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 and the third supporting member 63 in the vertical direction due to the height change of the upper surface of the substrate S, the second supporting member 62 and the third supporting member 63 So that the relative position between the reference portion 91 and the sensing portion 92 is changed. 3, the edge of the undulation measuring member 110 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the substrate S and the second connecting member 642 is separated from the first connecting member 641 so that the third supporting member 63 When the arbitrary position of the reference portion 91 is set to the zero point O in a state where the second support member 62 can be independently displaced in the vertical direction, When the member 110 and the third supporting member 63 rise by C, the sensing unit 92 can detect that the reference unit 91 has moved by + C from the zero point, It is possible to measure that the height of the top surface of the substrate S is increased to + C by measuring the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 by + C by receiving the signal of the portion 92. Similarly, when the undulation measuring member 110 and the third supporting member 63 are lowered by C in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate S, the sensing unit 92 moves from the zero point to the reference position 91, C, and the control unit receives the signal of the sensing unit 92 and measures the displacement of the undulation-measuring member 110 by -C, so that the height of the upper surface of the substrate S becomes - C, respectively.

Thus, the amount of change (+ C) (- C) of the height of the upper surface of the substrate S can be measured using the displacement (+ C) (- C) of the undulation measuring member 110, The absolute value of the height of the upper surface of the substrate S can also be calculated by using a variation amount (+ C) (-C) of the height of the upper surface of the substrate S and a predetermined reference value for measuring the height of the upper surface of the substrate S. If the predetermined reference value for measuring the height of the upper surface of the substrate S is the above-mentioned zero point O, the height of the upper surface of the substrate S is O + C when the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 is + C , And the height of the upper surface of the substrate S when the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 is -C is OC.

At this time, the undulation measuring member 110 is displaced in the vertical direction in accordance with the change of the height of the upper surface of the substrate S, the third supporting member 63 is displaced by the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110, The displacement amount of the nozzle 73 in a predetermined section is displaced by the displacement of the relief measuring member 110 ). That is, the amount of displacement of the undulation-measuring member 110, the amount of displacement of the nozzle 73, and the amount of change in height of the upper surface of the substrate S coincide with each other in a predetermined section. The height of the upper surface of the substrate S is measured using the displacement of the undulation measuring member 110 measured by the position measuring apparatus 110 and the height of the nozzle S The distance between the nozzle 73 and the substrate S can be minimized when adjusting the distance between the nozzles 73 and the substrate S in the vertical direction.

In the paste dispenser according to the present invention as described above, the undulation measuring member 110 capable of coming into contact with the substrate S is provided on the third support member 63 of the head unit 60, and the second support member The height of the upper surface of the substrate 60 can be measured using the position measuring device 90 for measuring the relative positions of the first supporting member 62 and the third supporting member 63. A head unit 60 for applying the paste onto the substrate S and a structure for moving the head unit 60 and a structure for moving the substrate S are provided without separately adding a complicated structure for measuring the height of the top surface of the substrate S. [ S can be used as it is, the manufacturing cost of the paste can be remarkably reduced, and the complexity of the equipment and the difficulty of the control method due to the addition of the structure for measuring the height of the upper surface of the substrate S There is an effect that can be removed.

Particularly, the paste dispenser according to the present invention is provided with the undulation measuring member 110 at a position adjacent to the nozzle 73, and the height of the upper surface of the substrate S can be measured using the undulation measuring member 110, It is possible to eliminate the problem caused by the difference in the mechanical structure between the measuring unit of the head unit 60 and the head unit 60. [

The technical ideas described in the embodiments of the present invention can be performed independently of each other, and can be implemented in combination with each other.

1 is a perspective view of a paste dispenser according to the present invention.

2 is a schematic view showing the head unit of the paste dispenser of Fig.

Fig. 3 is a schematic view showing an undulation measuring member installed on the head unit of Fig. 2 in an enlarged manner. Fig.

4 and 5 are operation state diagrams illustrating the process of measuring the height of the top surface of the substrate using the paste dispenser according to the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic view for explaining the position measuring apparatus of the head unit of Fig. 2;

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE SYMBOLS

60: head unit 64:

71: laser displacement sensor 72: syringe

73: nozzle 110: undulation member

111: friction reducing means 120: elevating device

Claims (4)

A head unit provided with a nozzle for discharging a paste onto a substrate mounted on a stage; An undulation measuring member provided on the head unit and being displaced in the Z axis direction in accordance with the height change of the upper surface of the substrate while being in contact with the upper surface of the substrate when the head unit or the substrate is moved in the horizontal direction; And And a position measuring device for measuring a displacement of the undulation measuring member, The head unit includes a first support member, a second support member supported by the first support member so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction and equipped with a laser displacement sensor, and a second support member, Axis direction of the second supporting member and the third supporting member, which is provided between the second supporting member and the third supporting member so as to be movable in the Z-axis direction And a position measuring device for measuring a relative position of the position measuring device, The undulation measuring member is disposed on the third supporting member and is displaced in the Z-axis direction together with the third supporting member according to the height change of the upper surface of the substrate, Wherein the position measuring device measures a relative position between the second supporting member and the third supporting member when the undulation measuring member and the third supporting member are displaced. delete The method according to claim 1, Further comprising a lift device for independently lifting the elevation measuring member in the Z-axis direction with respect to the third support member. The method according to claim 1 or 3, And a friction reducing means for reducing friction with the upper surface of the substrate is provided at an end of the relief measuring member facing the substrate.

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