KR20210049323A - Inkjet pringting apparatus having high speed curing fuction - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inkjet printing device having a high-speed curing function that provides an integrated printing device wherein a head unit and a head curing machine are integrated; the integrated printing device has a frame with a UV blocking wall between the head and the curing machine, but supporting the head and the curing machine so that the head and the curing machine are integrally accommodated; and the head is not affected by the UV, and a delay time from printing the liquid to the start of curing can be reduced, thereby reducing an overall curing time.

Description

Inkjet printing device with high speed curing function {INKJET PRINGTING APPARATUS HAVING HIGH SPEED CURING FUCTION}

This document particularly relates to an inkjet printing apparatus used for manufacturing an OLED panel, and relates to an inkjet printing technology for curing droplets at high speed by integrating a head for discharging droplets and a UV curing machine for curing droplets.

Recently, a display device using an organic light emitting diode (OLED) is attracting attention. The organic light emitting display device has a self-emission characteristic, and unlike a liquid crystal display, it does not require a separate light source, and thus the thickness and weight can be reduced. The organic light-emitting display device exhibits high quality characteristics such as low power consumption, high luminance, and fast reaction speed.

Recently, an inkjet printing device has been used to manufacture an OLED display panel.When the substrate is mounted on the stage of the inkjet printing device, the stage and the head unit translate in a vertical direction to each other, and the head unit becomes colored ink droplets. ) Is ejected onto the substrate and printing is being done. In addition, recently, OCR (Optically Clear Resin) is used to contact the OLED panel and the cover glass, and an inkjet printing device is also used as an equipment for dispensing (discharging) OCR.

1 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet printing apparatus including a conventional UV curing machine. For reference, FIG. 1 is a device developed by the applicant and does not act as a prior art disclosed in the present specification. As shown, the inkjet printer 100 including a conventional UV curing machine, the substrate stage 130 for transferring the substrate 131 in the Y direction through the Y-axis guide 140, ink on the substrate 131 At least one head unit 110 for applying a pattern, including a UV curing machine 120 for curing the ink pattern in the X direction through the X-axis guide unit 150, and the UV curing machine 120 includes one or more UV LEDs. A UV LED module that detects the location information of the UV LED module, an encoder (not shown) that detects the location information of the UV curing machine 120, and checks the curing area based on the ink pattern image and the location information of the UV curing machine. It includes a controller (not shown) that controls the on/off of the UV LED. The head unit 110 and the UV curing machine 120 are supported by the gantry 160 and positioned above the chuck unit 130 to discharge the ink droplets or OCR droplets on the substrate 130 immediately after the UV (Ultra-violet) is irradiated to the substrate and cured.

However, since the head unit 110 and the UV curing machine 120 are spatially separated from each other with a gantry interposed therebetween, the gap is significant, so there is inevitably a delay time until curing after printing, so curing begins. It takes time to do it unnecessarily, resulting in a problem of lowering productivity. That is, because the printing zone and the curing zone are far from each other, a delay time occurs. In addition, due to the occurrence of such a delay time, it is difficult to perform elaborate printing due to a phenomenon in which the liquid is relaxed or contracted. Although attempts are made to reduce the process time by increasing the print scan speed, the higher the speed, the more unstable the frequency of the head may occur due to inertia and vibration.

In addition, according to the trend of advanced electronic devices, when printing (applying) ink or OCR on a substrate, the edge area may be thickened or thinned differently from other areas. There is also a need for a technology to form a special shape by applying coating to maintain the angle, and high-speed curing is also required to elaborately form and preserve such various special shapes.

Therefore, in order to solve these issues, it is emerging as an important issue to increase production and improve quality by performing UV curing treatment at high speed.

Korean Patent Publication (Publication Publication No.: 10-2019-0078218, “UV curing inkjet printer”) shows a technology in which an ink head unit (inkjet modular) and a UV curing machine are integrated (see FIG. 1 of the above publication), There is no disclosed technology that integrates by a frame and blocks the UV irradiated from the UV curing machine so that it does not directly affect the head.

The present invention relates to an inkjet printing device used for manufacturing an OLED panel, and is an optimal device to minimize the delay time from printing a liquid (droplet) until the start of curing, and to keep the applied ink or OCR in a special shape. It aims to invent the structure.

According to an aspect for achieving this purpose, an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function,

Gantry,

The substrate stage on which the substrate is mounted and the translation move in the Y direction under the gantry

A head unit supported by a gantry and translating in the X direction, and having a head for discharging droplets onto a substrate through a nozzle; and a curing machine for curing droplets discharged on the substrate by the head unit with ultraviolet rays (UV); It includes an integrated printing device integrated,

The integrated printing device,

The head and the curing machine are supported so that the head and the curing machine are integrally accommodated, but a frame provided with a UV barrier wall between the head and the curing machine is provided to increase productivity and achieve precise curing.

The present invention minimizes the relaxation or shrinkage of liquid by integrating the inkjet head unit and the UV curing machine to reduce the delay time from printing to curing, but increases productivity and quality by allowing the head unit to discharge droplets without being affected by UV. You can increase it. In addition, it may be possible to elaborately cure the applied liquid so that a specific shape is well preserved.

1 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet printing apparatus including a conventional UV curing machine.
2 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to an exemplary embodiment.
3 is a diagram illustrating a lower portion of an integrated printing device apparatus in an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to another exemplary embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating driving of an interval adjusting unit in an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to another exemplary embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily understand and reproduce the present invention through preferred embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Terms used throughout the present specification are terms defined in consideration of functions in the embodiments of the present invention and can be sufficiently modified according to the intention and custom of a user or operator, and thus the definitions of these terms are defined throughout the present specification. It will have to be made based on the contents of

In addition, the above-described and additional aspects of the invention will become apparent through the following embodiments. Aspects or configurations of the embodiments that are selectively described in the specification may be freely combined with each other, unless otherwise indicated, unless otherwise stated, unless otherwise indicated in the drawings as a single integrated configuration, the configurations of the embodiments may be freely combined with each other. I understand.

Accordingly, the embodiments described in the present specification and the configurations shown in the drawings are only the most preferred embodiment of the present invention, and do not represent all the technical spirit of the present invention. It should be understood that there may be equivalents and variations. For example, the meaning of droplet in this specification includes not only ink droplets, but also OCR (Optically Clear Resin) droplets, which are a kind of resin.

2 is a diagram illustrating an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to an exemplary embodiment. As shown, the inkjet printing apparatus 1000 includes a substrate stage 230, a gantry 260, a rail 250, a stage 270, and an integrated printing device 300.

The substrate stage 230 performs translational movement in the Y direction under the gantry 260, and a substrate may be mounted. The gantry is a support structure, and the substrate stage and the gantry may be provided on the stage 270.

The integrated printing device 300 is supported by a gantry and moves in translation along the rail 250 in the X direction.

The integrated printing device 300 includes a head unit 310, a curing machine 320, and a frame 330. The head unit 310 includes a head 311 for discharging droplets onto a substrate through a nozzle 311-1. There may be a plurality of heads. The curing machine 320 performs a function of curing the droplets discharged on the substrate by the head unit using ultraviolet rays (UV). In addition to the head, the head unit 310 may further include a reservoir (not shown) that contains liquid and supplies liquid to a lower head.

The droplet may be an ink component or a resin component. When a piezo-electric voltage is applied to the head 311, the droplets may be jetted and the droplets may be discharged from the nozzle 311-1.

The frame 330 supports the head and the curing machine so that the head and the curing machine are integrally accommodated, and a UV blocking wall 331 is provided between the head and the curing machine. The UV blocking wall 331 is intended to prevent a portion of UV from being directly irradiated to the nozzle 311-1 of the head so that the head may be clogged or discharge may not be smooth.

As shown, the frame 330 may accommodate only the head 310 or may accommodate the entire head unit 310. The UV blocking wall 331 spatially partitions the head and the curing unit. It is preferable that the head 310 is arranged in a line in front of the curing machine 320 based on the Y-axis. For this reason, UV curing is possible immediately after the droplets are first discharged onto the substrate 231 moving in the Y-axis direction by the substrate stage 230. As a result, high-speed curing is possible, and a shape of a specific angle can be formed and maintained in the edge region of the substrate.

In the inkjet printing apparatus according to another embodiment, the height of the UV blocking wall 331 is higher than the height H of the head 311 in the frame 330, and the height H of the head 311 is within the frame. It may be greater than the height (H') of the curing machine (H> H'). Therefore, since the height difference between the head and the curing machine occurs as much as h, it is difficult for the UV irradiated from the curing machine to flow into the nozzle 311-1 of the head, and the inflow is almost completely blocked due to the UV blocking wall 331. I can. H = (H' + h) can be established.

3 is a diagram illustrating a lower portion of an integrated printing device apparatus in an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to another exemplary embodiment. As shown, the integrated printing device device 300 includes a frame 330 including a UV blocking wall 331, a head 311, and a curing machine 320, and the frame further includes an interval adjusting unit 332. It can be configured to include. Due to the UV blocking wall 331, a part of UV is not directly irradiated to the nozzle 311-1 of the head. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the head from being clogged or that the discharge is not smooth.

The spacing adjustment unit 332 is attached to the curing machine, and allows the curing machine to be translated in the Y-axis within the frame to adjust the distance between the curing machine and the head. The smaller the distance between the curing machine and the head, the more advantageous the entire curing time can be shortened.

However, if the gap is too narrow and curing is performed quickly, it may be difficult to form a specific shape in the edge region. In addition, the curing rate varies depending on the application component.

Therefore, in the frame, a function of separately adjusting the distance between the curing machine and the head may be required. It is desirable that the head is fixed within the frame and that the curing machine is movable. This is because the curing machine is generally lighter than the head unit.

The spacing adjustment unit 332 may adjust a time until curing by adjusting a spatial distance between the head and the curing machine. Therefore, based on the printing speed and the spatial interval, printing and curing drives must be newly programmed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating driving of an interval adjusting unit in an inkjet printing apparatus having a high-speed curing function according to another exemplary embodiment. As shown in (b) of FIG. 4, the head 311 and the curing machine 320 may be provided in the frame 330, and a UV blocking wall 331 may be provided therebetween. The UV blocking wall 331 and the curing machine 320 are disposed at intervals. The curing machine 320 may be attached to the spacing adjusting unit 332, and the spacing adjusting unit 332 may be provided with a drive motor (not shown) to perform translational motion within the frame.

As shown in (b) of FIG. 4, when the curing machine 320 is moved in close contact with the UV blocking wall 331 to narrow the distance between the center line of the head 311 and the spacing control unit 332 to 50 mm, after printing The time required to start curing became 0.5 seconds (based on a print scan speed of 100 mm/s).

On the other hand, as shown in (c) of FIG. 4, when the curing machine 320 is moved away from the UV blocking wall 331 to increase the distance between the center line of the head 311 and the spacing control unit 332 to 100 mm , The time required from printing to the start of curing became 1 second (based on a print scan speed of 100 mm/s).

Therefore, for high-speed curing, it is advantageous to make the curing machine as close as possible to the head as shown in FIG. 4(a), and it is also advantageous to cure the liquid applied to the edge region of the substrate at a sharp angle.

However, in order for the liquid applied to the edge area of the substrate to form and maintain a relatively less sharp angle, as shown in (c) of FIG. 4, it is necessary to keep the curing machine at a certain distance from the head to increase the time required from printing to the start of curing. There is a need.

000: inkjet printing device
230: substrate stage
231: substrate
260: Gantry
250: rail
270: stage
300: integrated printing device
310: head unit
311: head
311-1: nozzle
320: curing machine
330: frame
331: UV barrier
332: spacing control unit

Claims (3)

Gantry;
A substrate stage on which a substrate is mounted while performing translational movement in the Y direction under the gantry; And
A head unit supported by a gantry, translating in the X direction, and having a head for discharging droplets onto a substrate through a nozzle; Including; an integrated printing device integrated with,
The integrated printing device,
The head and the curing machine are supported so that the head and the curing machine are integrally accommodated, but a frame provided with a UV barrier wall between the head and the curing machine; an inkjet printing apparatus having. The method of claim 1,
The height of the UV barrier wall is higher than the height of the head in the frame, and the height of the head is higher than the height of the curing machine in the frame. The method of claim 1,
The frame is,
An inkjet printing apparatus further comprising: a distance adjusting unit attached to the curing machine and adjusting the distance between the curing machine and the head by translating the curing machine in the Y-axis within the frame.

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