KR20060104287A - Apparatus and method of clamping mask for organic electro luminescence display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a clamping apparatus and method for a mask for an organic light emitting display device capable of improving the stretching efficiency of the mask.

A clamping apparatus for a mask for an organic electroluminescent display device according to the present invention comprises: a mask selectively transmitting a deposit and having an effective region corresponding to a thin film formation region on a substrate and an invalid region surrounding the effective region; And a stretching device for stretching the mask by clamping the invalid area of the mask, wherein the invalid area of the mask is partially etched.

Description

Clamping apparatus and method for masks for organic light emitting display devices {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF CLAMPING MASK FOR ORGANIC ELECTRO LUMINESCENCE DISPLAY DEVICE}

1 is a view showing one pixel of a conventional organic electroluminescent display device.

2 is a diagram for explaining a process in which a mask is stretched by a mask clamping device.

3 is a plan view showing a mask clamping device in the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 3.

5 illustrates various forms of etched regions of the present invention.

6A to 6D are diagrams for explaining a manufacturing process of the mask of FIG. 4 step by step.

7 illustrates an organic electroluminescent display device formed using a mask formed by a mask clamping device according to the present invention.

    <Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

2,102: substrate 4,104: anode electrode

108: partition 10,110: organic light emitting layer

10c: light emitting layer 12, 112: cathode electrode

63,163: Gripper 171: Power Tree Lever

169: power transmission unit 167: ball screw box

166: motor 60160: mask

199: etching region 197: transmission region

The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display device, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for clamping a mask for an organic electroluminescent display device that can improve the stretching efficiency of the mask.

Recently, various flat panel display devices that can reduce weight and volume, which are disadvantages of cathode ray tubes, have emerged. Such flat panel displays include a liquid crystal display, a field emission display, a plasma display panel, and an organic electroluminescence display. Etc.

Among these, organic EL display devices are self-luminous devices that emit phosphors by recombination of electrons and holes, and are classified into inorganic ELs using inorganic compounds and organic ELs using organic compounds. Such an EL display element has an advantage that the response speed is as fast as that of a cathode ray tube as compared to a passive light emitting element requiring a separate light source such as a liquid crystal display device. In addition, the EL display element has many advantages such as low voltage driving, self-luminous, thin film type, wide viewing angle, fast response speed, high contrast, and the like, and is expected to be the next generation display device.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a general organic EL cell structure for explaining the light emission principle of an organic EL display element. The organic EL cell has an organic light emitting layer 10 positioned between the anode electrode 4 and the cathode electrode 12, and the organic light emitting layer 10 includes an electron injection layer 10a, an electron transport layer 10b, and a light emitting layer 10c. ), A hole transport layer 10d, and a hole injection layer 10e.

When a voltage is applied between the anode electrode 4 and the cathode electrode 12, electrons generated from the cathode electrode 12 move toward the light emitting layer 10c through the electron injection layer 10a and the electron transport layer 10b. In addition, holes generated from the anode electrode 4 move toward the light emitting layer 10c through the hole injection layer 10e and the hole transport layer 10d. Accordingly, in the light emitting layer 10c, light is generated by collision and recombination of electrons and holes supplied from the electron transport layer 10b and the hole transport layer 10d, and the light is emitted to the outside through the anode electrode 4. To display an image.

Meanwhile, the light emitting layer 10c of the conventional organic EL display device is formed by a thermal deposition and vacuum deposition process using a grill mask, and the grill mask used at this time is manufactured by a separate process and then used by a mask clamp device. After stretching to the desired size and fixed to the mask frame is used to form the light emitting layer (10c).

2 shows a mask in which the mask is stretched by a mask clamping device.

First, the mask 60 is loaded into a given system and then aligned in the region where the glyph 63 for stretching the mask 60 by vertical motion is located. Thereafter, the glyph 63 advances and the mask 60 is stretched by clamping the mask 60. Here, the mask 60 includes a transmission region 97 corresponding to the region where the thin film is to be formed on the substrate (the transmission region may be formed of only the front transmissive region or the selective transmissive region depending on the purpose of the deposit). It includes an effective area (P1) and an invalid area (P2) that surrounds the effective area (P1) to be clamped by the gripper 63.

Subsequently, when the mask 60 is stretched to a size set by the user, the mask frame 80 is aligned with the bottom of the mask 60 and the mask 60 is welded using the laser 92 irradiated from the laser device 90. ) Is attached to the mask frame 80.

On the other hand, the non-effective area P2 of the conventional mask 60 does not include the transmission area 97 in the effective area P1, and thus requires a lot of power during stretching. When the mask 60 is stretched by such a large power, the stretching ratio of the mask 60 cannot be accurately controlled. That is, while the power for stretching in the non-effective area (P2) is largely required, a relatively small power is required in the effective area (P1), which causes a problem that the stretching efficiency is lowered, such as inability to accurately control stretching. .

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a clamping apparatus and method for a mask for an organic light emitting display device capable of improving the stretching efficiency of the mask.

In order to achieve the above object, the clamping apparatus of the mask for an organic electroluminescent display device according to the present invention selectively transmits the deposit, and has an effective region corresponding to the thin film formation region on the substrate and an invalid region surrounding the effective region. A mask; And a stretching device for stretching the mask by clamping the invalid area of the mask, wherein the invalid area of the mask is partially etched.

The etching area of the invalid area is characterized in that parallel to the stretching device for clamping the invalid area.

The etching regions are formed on both surfaces of the mask, respectively.

The etching region is characterized in that at least one line shape.

The etching region is characterized in that a plurality of hemispherical grooves are irregularly arranged.

The etching region is characterized in that a plurality of hemispherical grooves are irregularly arranged.

The etching region is characterized in that the irregular shape.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of clamping a mask for an organic light emitting display device, the method comprising: forming a mask having an effective region corresponding to a thin film formation region on a substrate and having an invalid region surrounding the effective region; And stretching the mask by clamping an invalid area of the mask using a mask stretching device, wherein forming the mask includes partially etching the invalid area of the mask. do.

The etching area of the invalid area is formed side by side with the stretching device for clamping the invalid area.

The etching regions are formed on both surfaces of the mask, respectively.

The partially etching the mask may include forming a photoresist pattern partially exposing the non-effective region of the mask; And etching the non-effective area exposed by the photoresist pattern.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6.

3 is a plan view illustrating a mask clamping apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 3.

The mask clamping device 130 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is located at the long side and the short side of the mask 160 so as to stretch the mask 160 and the glyph 163 which bites the mask 160. A power transmission unit 165 positioned between the power supply unit 165 for supplying power and the power supply unit 165 and the gripper 163 to transfer the power supplied from the power supply unit 165 to the gripper 163. 169). Such a mask clamp device 130 is supported by a clamp die (not shown).

About 10 glippers 163 are arranged on the long side of the mask 60 and about 8 on the short side, for example. The gripper 163 is also equipped with an adjustment screw for adjusting the frictional resistance of the gripper 163.

The power supply unit 165 includes a plurality of motors 166 connected to the power transmission unit 169 and three motors 166 connected to the power transmission unit 169 so as to be arranged at each side of the mask 160, respectively. It is comprised by the ball screw box 167 which converts the rotational motion of 166 into linear motion.

The power transmission unit 169 is formed by a combination of a power tree lever 171 and a plurality of power tree levers 171, and each power tree lever 171 has a plurality of branches 172. ) Is a combination of

The mask 160 is a mask 160 used to form a cathode electrode of an organic EL display device, an organic light emitting layer (including R, G, and B light emitting layers), and the like. The effective area P1 and the invalid area P2 except for the effective area P1 arranged at regular intervals are provided. In the effective region P1 of the mask 160, a plurality of transmission regions 197 are formed to selectively transmit deposits, and a plurality of points that provide a reference when stretching the mask 160 are formed outside the effective region P1. 161 is formed. That is, the user sets the degree of stretching of the mask 160 based on the plurality of points 161 displayed on the mask 160, and then stretches the mask 160 with a force of a corresponding size. The ineffective region P2 is an outer region excluding the effective region P1 and is bitten by the glyph 163 to receive a tensile force first when stretching.

In the present invention, the non-effective area P2 of the mask 160 is partially etched. Accordingly, when the mask 160 is stretched, a large power is not required in the ineffective area P2, so that the stretching efficiency is improved.

This will be described in more detail as follows.

In the present invention, the etching region 199 is formed in the non-effective region P2 of the mask 160 in a direction parallel to the arrangement direction of the glyph 163. The etching region 199 is formed on at least one of an upper surface and a lower surface of the mask 160. The etching area 199 decreases the thickness of the non-effective area P2 of the mask, thereby preventing power bias for stretching the mask 160 to the non-effective area P2. As a result, the stretching efficiency is improved such that the stretching of the mask 160 can be precisely controlled with little power. In the present invention, the etching region 199 may be formed in various shapes as shown in FIG. 5 in addition to the line shapes shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. That is, in addition to one line shape, at least two or more patterns may be formed side by side or partly disconnected, or may be patterned into irregularities.

Further, the etching region 199 formed by etching may have a shape in which a plurality of hemispherical grooves are regularly arranged or irregularly arranged at random. The shape of the etching region 199 may be patterned according to the needs of the user in a variety of ways by the photolithography process.

Hereinafter, a method of forming an etching region of a mask will be described step by step with reference to FIGS. 6A to 6D.

First, a photoresist pattern 210 is formed as shown in FIG. 6A using a photolithography process using a separate photomask after preparing a mask 160 on which no pattern is formed. Here, the photoresist patterns 210a and 210b having a relatively small thickness in the etching region are formed by using a halftone mask or a transflective mask as a photo mask.

As the regions exposed by the photoresist patterns 210a and 210b are etched by the etching process, the transmission region 197 of the mask 160 is formed as shown in FIG. 6B.

Thereafter, as the etching process is performed, the relatively high height photoresist pattern 210a is removed to partially expose the ineffective region P2 as shown in FIG. 6C.

Subsequently, the exposed invalid area P2 is etched to a predetermined depth, thereby forming an etching area 199 in the invalid area P2 as shown in FIG. 6D.

Hereinafter, the clamping operation and method of the mask using the mask clamping device 130 illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4 will be described.

First, the mask 160 is loaded into a given system and then aligned with the region where the glyph 163 is located by vertical motion. Thereafter, the gripper 163 moves forward to clamp the mask 160, and the motor 166 is driven to convert the rotational motion of the motor 166 into a linear motion by the ball screw box 167, thereby driving power. It is transmitted to the glyph 163 via this power transmission unit 169. At this time, when the power transmission unit 169 received the power of the motor 166 is reversed, the gripper 163 is reversed, and accordingly, the gripper 163 clamps the mask 160 to clamp the mask 160. ) Is stretched.

Such a mask selectively exposes at least one of the light emitting regions implementing at least one of red, green, and blue, for example, to form an organic material on a predetermined substrate.

As described above, the mask clamping apparatus and method for an organic light emitting display device according to the present invention form an etching region in an ineffective region of the mask. By the etching region 199, the thickness of the ineffective region P2 of the mask 160 is reduced, so that the stretching efficiency can be precisely controlled with a small power.

7 is a perspective view showing an organic EL display device formed using a mask having an etching region in an invalid region in the present invention.

In the organic EL display device illustrated in FIG. 7, the first electrode (or anode electrode) 104 and the second electrode (or cathode electrode) 112 are formed on the substrate 102 in a direction crossing each other.

The first electrode 104 is formed on the substrate 102 spaced apart by a predetermined interval. On the substrate 102 on which the first electrode 104 is formed, an insulating film (not shown) having an opening for each EL cell EL region is formed. On the insulating layer, a partition 108 for separating the organic light emitting layer 110 and the second electrode 112 to be formed thereon is positioned. The partition 108 is formed in a direction crossing the second electrode 104 and has a reverse taper structure in which the upper end portion has a wider width than the lower end portion. On the insulating film on which the partition 108 is formed, the organic light emitting layer 110 and the second electrode 112 made of an organic compound are sequentially deposited on the entire surface. As shown in FIG. 1, the organic light emitting layer 110 is formed by stacking a hole injection layer 10e, a hole transport layer 10d, a light emitting layer 10c, an electron transport layer 10b, and an electron injection layer 10a.

Here, in the light emitting layer 10c of the organic light emitting layer, light emitting layers for R, G, and B are sequentially formed by using the mask 160 stretched using the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

As described above, in the clamping apparatus and method of the mask for an organic light emitting display device according to the present invention, the non-effective area of the mask is partially etched to reduce the thickness of the non-effective area of the mask. As a result, the stretching efficiency is improved, such that the stretching of the mask can be precisely controlled with little power.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (11)

A mask selectively transmitting the deposit and having an effective region corresponding to the thin film forming region on the substrate and an invalid region surrounding the effective region; A stretching device for stretching the mask by clamping an invalid area of the mask; And the ineffective region of the mask is partially etched. The method of claim 1, The etching area of the invalid area is And a stretching device for clamping the invalid area. The method of claim 1, And the etching region has at least one line shape. The method of claim 1, The etching region is a mask clamping device, characterized in that the plurality of hemispherical grooves are irregularly arranged. The method of claim 1, The etching region is a mask clamping device, characterized in that the plurality of hemispherical grooves are irregularly arranged. The method of claim 1, The etching region is a mask clamping device, characterized in that the irregular shape. The method of claim 1, The etching region is a mask clamping device, characterized in that formed on both sides of the mask. Forming a mask that selectively transmits the deposit and has an effective region corresponding to the thin film forming region on the substrate and an invalid region surrounding the effective region; Stretching the mask by clamping an invalid area of the mask using a mask stretching device; Forming the mask And partially etching the non-effective area of the mask. The method of claim 8, The etching area of the invalid area is Mask clamping method characterized in that formed in parallel with the stretching device for clamping the invalid area. The method of claim 8, And the etching regions are formed on both surfaces of the mask. The method of claim 8, Partially etching the mask Forming a photoresist pattern that partially exposes the non-effective area of the mask; And etching the non-effective area exposed by the photoresist pattern.

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