KR20220119789A - Inkjet print system and method for performing maintenance action - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an inkjet print system and a method for performing a maintenance process. According to an embodiment of the present invention, an inkjet print system comprises: a first section having a support chuck capable of supporting a substrate on which ink ejected from a nozzle lands, and a first suction device provided in parallel with the support chuck in a first direction and capable of sucking residual ink on the nozzle; a second section provided side by side on one side of the first section in the first direction, and having a second suction device capable of sucking the residual ink on the nozzle, and a wiper in contact with an end of the nozzle to remove the residual ink; and a gantry capable of moving a position of a head while supporting the head on which the nozzle is formed in the first direction along the first section and the second section. Therefore, the present invention has the effect of reducing the maintenance operation time.

Description

Inkjet printing system and maintenance process method

The present invention relates to an inkjet print system and a method for performing a maintenance process, and more particularly, to an inkjet print system capable of reducing a maintenance operation time and a method for performing a maintenance operation.

As inkjet technology develops, it is used in various fields, such as when printing type on paper, as well as in the manufacturing process of a display device by discharging droplets such as ink to form a thin film or patterning.

In the inkjet print system to which the inkjet technology is applied, it is important to prevent clogging of the nozzles of the inkjet printhead during the inkjet printing process and to accurately form a desired pattern on the substrate.

Since the quality of the pattern formation of the inkjet printing system is directly related to the ink discharge state of the ink ejecting head, a maintenance process is required to constantly maintain the optimal ink ejection state from the head at regular intervals during the printing process.

The maintenance process is configured in various ways according to the purpose of quality control. As the maintenance process, capping to block the nozzle end to block the nozzle formed on the head from the outside while the printing process is not performed, suction and wiping to remove foreign substances such as residual ink at the nozzle end , purging in which ink is ejected from the nozzle prior to the printing process, and the like, and each individual maintenance process has a different use frequency and use cycle.

In the conventional inkjet printing system, the maintenance process was spaced apart from the printing process, and was performed in the maintenance area and the printing area, respectively.

For a specific maintenance process during the printing process, the head needs to move to the maintenance area, and the time required for the printing process increases as much as the physical movement time, thereby hindering the production yield.

Korea Registration Publication No. 10-1968139 (Announcement Date: 2019.04.12.)

One technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an inkjet printing system and a method for performing a maintenance operation, which can improve a manufacturing yield by reducing the time required for a printing process.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides an inkjet printing system.

An inkjet printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a support chuck capable of supporting a substrate on which ink ejected from a nozzle arrives, and a first suction unit provided in parallel with the support chuck in a first direction to suck the residual ink on the nozzle first zone; a second section provided side by side on one side of the first section in the first direction and having a second suction unit capable of sucking in the residual ink on the nozzle and a wiper capable of removing the residual ink by contacting an end of the nozzle; and a gantry capable of moving and supporting the head in which the nozzle is formed in the first direction along the first region and the second region.

According to an embodiment, the first suction unit may further include a controller capable of controlling the driving of the second suction unit by varying the frequency of use from that of the second suction unit.

According to an embodiment, a stage provided with a substrate support area on which the support chuck can be placed; and a dummy region provided on one side of the substrate support region in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and having a hollow portion formed therein.

According to an embodiment, the hollow part may be inclined downward in a vertical direction.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a method of performing a maintenance process.

A method of performing a maintenance process according to an embodiment of the present invention includes (Sa1) locating a head parallel to a substrate support area on which a substrate can be seated; (Sa2) step of moving the head in a first direction to be positioned in parallel with the first suction unit; The head is moved in the first direction, and the dummy area provided in parallel with the substrate support area is moved in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, so that the head and the dummy area are positioned side by side (Sa3). ) may be included.

A method of performing a maintenance process according to another embodiment of the present invention includes: (Sb1) step of discharging ink from a nozzle formed in a head to perform a printing process on a substrate; (Sb2) in which the head is subjected to a maintenance process by a first suction machine to remove the residual ink of the nozzle, and in the (Sb2) step, the A curing process for curing the ink may be performed simultaneously.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the first suction device is provided in the first zone, the printing process and the maintenance process by the first suction machine are performed separately in the first zone to dramatically reduce the time required for pattern formation on the substrate. There is an advantage.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a dummy area is provided in parallel with the substrate support area in the second direction, and even after the residual ink of the nozzle is removed by the first suction device, a small amount remains on the nozzle and does not deteriorate the ejection performance. There is an advantage that the printing process performance can be improved by discharging the ink of the dummy area.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, since the dummy region is provided side by side with the substrate support region in the second direction, there is an advantage in that it is possible to shorten a position movement time in physical space, thereby improving a process yield.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the hollow portion of the dummy area is formed to be inclined toward the vertical direction, thereby improving the collection performance of waste ink.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an inkjet printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a plan view schematically illustrating an inkjet printing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a maintenance process according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a maintenance process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided so that the disclosed content may be thorough and complete, and the spirit of the present invention may be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, when a component is referred to as being on another component, it may be directly formed on the other component or a third component may be interposed therebetween. In addition, in the drawings, the shape and size are exaggerated for effective description of technical content.

Also, in various embodiments of the present specification, terms such as first, second, third, etc. are used to describe various components, but these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Accordingly, what is referred to as a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment. Each embodiment described and illustrated herein also includes a complementary embodiment thereof. In addition, in this specification, 'and/or' is used in the sense of including at least one of the elements listed before and after.

In the specification, the singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, element, or a combination thereof described in the specification exists, and one or more other features, numbers, steps, or configurations It should not be construed as excluding the possibility of the presence or addition of elements or combinations thereof. In addition, in this specification, "connection" is used in a sense including both indirectly connecting a plurality of components and directly connecting a plurality of components.

In addition, in the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related well-known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Hereinafter, for convenience of description, the first direction refers to the X axis of the Cartesian coordinate system, and the second direction refers to the Y axis of the Cartesian coordinate system. In this case, the first direction is orthogonal to the second direction.

1 is a perspective view schematically showing an inkjet printing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an inkjet printing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, each component constituting the inkjet printing system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

1 and 2, the inkjet print system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention performs a maintenance process performed at different cycles at different cycles, and performs a printing process of forming a pattern on a substrate. can The inkjet printing system 10 may include a first zone 100 , a second zone 200 , a gantry 300 , and further include a controller 400 .

The inkjet print system 10 of FIGS. 1 and 2 discloses a dual-type inkjet print system 10 that forms patterns on different substrates, but is not limited thereto, and can perform a printing process and a maintenance process. The arrangement or combination of components may vary.

1 and 2 , in the first region 100 , a printing process and some maintenance processes may be performed. In the first region 100 , the support chuck 110 and the first suction machine 120 may be provided, and further, the stage 130 and the dummy area 140 may be further provided.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the support chuck 110 may support the substrate.

A pattern may be formed on the substrate as ink discharged from a nozzle 510, which will be described later, hits the substrate.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the first suction unit 120 may be provided in parallel with the support chuck 110 in the first direction. The first suction unit 120 may suction and remove the remaining ink on the nozzle 510 after the printing process.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the stage 130 may include a substrate support region. On the substrate support area, a support chuck 110 may be placed. The stage 130 may position the substrate in the second direction by driving a movement driver (not shown).

The stage 130 may face the gantry 300 to be described later in the vertical direction.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the dummy region 140 may be provided at one side of the substrate support region in the second direction. The dummy region 140 according to an exemplary embodiment may be provided as one configuration of the stage or as a configuration separate from the stage, and may be provided in parallel with the stage in the second direction.

The dummy region 140 may have a hollow formed therein. The hollow part according to an embodiment may be inclined downward in the vertical direction.

The substrate may have various sizes and shapes.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , a maintenance process may be performed in the second region 200 . The second zone 200 may be provided side by side on one side of the first zone in the first direction. In the embodiment according to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the case of being located on the left side of the first region 100 in the first direction is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be provided on both the left and right sides as well as the right side. may be

A second suction unit 210 and a wiper 220 may be provided in the second region 200 .

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the second suction unit 210 may absorb and remove residual ink on the nozzle 510 .

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the wiper 220 may contact the end of the nozzle 510 to remove residual ink.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the gantry 300 may support the head 500 and the UV curing machine 600 . The gantry 300 may support while moving the head 500 and the UV curing machine 600 in the first direction along the first zone 100 and the second zone 200 . The gantry 300 may independently provide a movement path of the head 500 and the UV curing machine 600 in the first direction by an area corresponding to the substrate.

The controller 400 may control the operation of at least one of the first suction unit 120 , the second suction unit 210 , the wiper 220 , the head 500 , and the UV curing unit 600 . In particular, the controller 400 may drive and control the frequency of use of the first section unit 120 differently from that of the second suction unit 210 .

In addition, the controller 400 may control the operation of the head 500 differently for each nozzle 510 , such as a single discharge amount or the number of discharges at an arbitrary point. The controller 400 may control the operation of the UV curing machine 600 to adjust the UV irradiation time at any point and the intensity of UV light. That is, the controller 400 may adjust the droplet volume change according to the discharge amount of the head 500 and/or the droplet volume change according to the curing degree of the UV curing machine 600 . In this case, the controller 400 may drive the first suction unit 120 in the first region independently of the curing process on the substrate.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the head 500 may be movably supported by the gantry 300 in the first direction. The head 500 may be moved to an arbitrary position in the first direction by driving a head driving unit (not shown) on the gantry 300 . The head 500 according to an embodiment has a constant position in the second direction, but may be positioned above the first region 100 or the second region 200 in the first direction.

The head 500 may discharge ink onto the substrate. In the head 500 according to an exemplary embodiment, the amount of ink ejected and the number of times of ink ejection may be adjusted at any position according to the control of the controller 400 .

In the head 500 , tens to thousands of nozzles 510 are formed and may include an ink supply unit (not shown) on an ink discharge path for supplying ink to the nozzles 510 .

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the nozzle 510 may discharge ink having a fine size in the form of droplets. The nozzle 510 may be maintained at a certain level by a maintenance process so that ink can be smoothly discharged during the printing process.

Referring back to FIGS. 1 and 2 , the UV curing machine 600 may cure the droplets by irradiating UV on the droplets that hit the substrate. Curing is a process for minimizing shape change by reducing liquid droplet fluidity.

The UV curing machine 600 may be driven at the same time or at the same time as the printing process and performed at any cycle. In addition, the UV curing machine 600 may perform the curing process independently of the maintenance process of the first suction unit 120 .

The UV curing machine 600 may be installed independently of the head 500 on the gantry 300 . The UV curing machine 600 may be provided parallel to the head 500 in the first direction on the gantry 300 .

A droplet inspection method according to the droplet inspection apparatus 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above components will be described.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a maintenance process according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a maintenance process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3 , the method of performing the maintenance process includes a step (Sa1) in which the head is positioned in parallel with the substrate support area on which the substrate can be seated, and the head is positioned in a first direction to be positioned in parallel with the first suction unit ( Step Sa2), the head is moved in the first direction, the dummy area provided in parallel with the substrate support area is moved in the second direction, and the head and the dummy area are positioned side by side (Sa3).

Referring to FIG. 4 , in the method of performing the maintenance process, the ink is discharged from the nozzle formed on the head and the printing process is performed on the substrate (Sb1), and the head is maintained by the first suction machine to remove the remaining ink in the nozzle. It may include the proceeding (Sb2) step.

In step (Sb2), a curing process of curing the ink that has landed on the substrate by step (Sb1) may proceed simultaneously.

The maintenance process by the first suction machine may be performed simultaneously with the curing process of the UV curing machine. More specifically, after the printing process of the head, the substrate on which the ink has landed may be cured by a UV curing machine, and at the same time, the nozzle end of the head may be subjected to a maintenance process by the first suction machine.

As mentioned above, although the present invention has been described in detail using preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention is not limited to specific embodiments, and should be interpreted by the appended claims. In addition, those skilled in the art should understand that many modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

10: inkjet printing system
100: first zone 110: support chuck
120: first suction unit 130: stage
140: dummy area
200: second zone 210: second suction unit
220: wiper
300: gantry
400 : controller
500: head 510: nozzle
600: UV curing machine

Claims (6)

a first region provided with a support chuck capable of supporting a substrate on which ink ejected from the nozzle is impacted, and a first suction device arranged in parallel with the support chuck in a first direction to suck in residual ink on the nozzle;
a second section provided side by side on one side of the first section in the first direction and having a second suction unit capable of sucking in the residual ink on the nozzle and a wiper capable of removing the residual ink by contacting an end of the nozzle; and
and a supportable gantry for moving the head having the nozzle formed thereon in the first direction along the first zone and the second zone.
The method of claim 1,
The inkjet printing system of claim 1, wherein the first suction unit further includes a controller capable of controlling the operation of the second suction unit by varying the frequency of use from the second suction unit.
The method of claim 1,
a stage provided with a substrate support area on which the support chuck can be placed; and
The inkjet printing system of claim 1, further comprising: a dummy area provided on one side of the substrate support area in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction and having a hollow portion formed therein.
4. The method of claim 3,
The hollow portion is inclined downward in the vertical direction, an inkjet printing system.
(Sa1) step of positioning the head parallel to the substrate support area on which the substrate can be seated;
(Sa2) step of moving the head in a first direction to be positioned in parallel with the first suction unit;
The head is moved in the first direction, and the dummy area provided in parallel with the substrate support area is moved in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, so that the head and the dummy area are positioned side by side (Sa3). ), including the step, a method of performing a maintenance process.
(Sb1) step in which ink is discharged from the nozzle formed in the head and the printing process is performed on the substrate;
and (Sb2) performing a maintenance process on the head by a first suction machine to remove the remaining ink of the nozzle,
In the step (Sb2), a curing process of curing the ink that has landed on the substrate by the step (Sb1) can be simultaneously performed.

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