WO2022172762A1

WO2022172762A1 - Droplet discharging device and droplet discharging method

Info

Publication number: WO2022172762A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/003013
Authority: WO
Inventors: 義治太田
Original assignee: 東京エレクトロン株式会社
Priority date: 2021-02-10
Filing date: 2022-01-27
Publication date: 2022-08-18
Also published as: KR20230142538A; JPWO2022172762A1; CN116806172A

Abstract

Provided is a droplet discharging device which discharges droplets of a functional liquid on a work to perform drawing thereon. The droplet discharging device includes: a plurality of droplet discharging heads; and carriages. The plurality of droplet discharging heads include: a first droplet discharging head for discharging a first functional liquid; a second droplet discharging head for discharging a second functional liquid; and a third droplet discharging head for discharging a third functional liquid. Two carriages are arranged along the printing direction. The first droplet discharging head is arranged in a first carriage, the second droplet discharging head is arranged in each of the first carriage and a second carriage, and the third droplet discharging head is arranged in the second carriage. A plurality of the first droplet discharging heads, a plurality of the second droplet discharging heads and a plurality of the third droplet discharging heads are provided in a direction intersecting the printing direction.

Description

Droplet ejection device and droplet ejection method

The present disclosure relates to a droplet ejection device and a droplet ejection method.

Patent Document 1 discloses a stage (work table) on which a substrate is placed, a moving mechanism for moving the work table in the horizontal direction, a rotating mechanism for rotating the work table around a vertical axis, and a horizontal stage above the work table. a plurality of nozzles arranged in a direction and placed on a work table to apply a coating material to the substrate; a first imaging unit for capturing an image of the substrate placed on the work table; A second imaging unit that images a substrate placed on a worktable with a narrow angle of view and high resolution, and a control unit that controls the movement mechanism, the rotation mechanism, the first imaging unit, and the second imaging unit. A coating device is disclosed.

Patent Document 2 discloses an inkjet ejection apparatus having an inkjet head unit in which a plurality of R, G, and B inkjet head groups each having a large number of ink ejection nozzles are arranged. The inkjet ejection device is disclosed in which the groups of inkjet heads overlap each other in the longitudinal direction and are arranged so that the vicinity of the nozzles at the ends of the inkjet heads are not adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2015-186771 Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-261021

The technology according to the present disclosure shortens the stage length in the printing direction of the droplet ejection device.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a droplet ejection device that ejects droplets of a functional liquid onto a work to perform drawing, comprising: a work table on which the work is placed; a plurality of droplet ejection heads that eject droplets; a carriage to which the plurality of droplet ejection heads are attached; and a moving mechanism that relatively moves the work table and the droplet ejection heads in a printing direction. wherein the plurality of droplet ejection heads includes a first droplet ejection head for ejecting a first functional liquid, a second droplet ejection head for ejecting a second functional liquid, and a third functional liquid. and a third droplet ejection head that ejects the A second droplet ejection head is arranged on each of the first carriage and the second carriage, and a third droplet ejection head is arranged on the second carriage, and the first droplet ejection head is arranged on the second carriage. A plurality of ejection heads, the second droplet ejection heads, and the third droplet ejection heads are provided in a direction intersecting the printing direction.

According to the present disclosure, the stage length in the printing direction of the droplet ejection device can be shortened.

1 is a side view showing an outline of a configuration of a droplet ejection device according to an embodiment; FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of a configuration of a droplet ejection device according to an embodiment; FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the outline of the configuration of the carriage; FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of droplet ejection heads; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of droplet ejection heads; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of droplet ejection heads; FIG. 4 is a diagram schematically showing coating regions within sub-pixels; FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram in a side view showing how the workpiece is moved toward the droplet discharge head;

Conventionally, as a device for drawing on a substrate using a functional liquid, there is known an ink-jet droplet ejection device that ejects the functional liquid in the form of droplets. The droplet ejection device is used to manufacture electro-optical devices (flat panel displays: FPD) such as organic EL devices, color filters, liquid crystal display devices, plasma displays (PDP devices), electron emission devices (FED devices, SED devices), and the like. widely used, such as

A typical inkjet droplet ejection device consists of a carriage equipped with a droplet ejection head that ejects functional liquid droplets, a stage (work table) on which a workpiece is mounted, and a work table that moves along the printing direction. It has a moving mechanism that allows Then, while the work table is moved relative to the carriage, the functional liquid is ejected from the liquid droplet ejection head to banks previously formed on the workpiece, thereby performing drawing on the workpiece.

Since the coating device described in Patent Document 1 is configured to eject a coating material of red (R), green (G), or blue (B) from coating nozzles provided in a carriage, coating processing of three colors of RGB is performed. In order to perform the above, it is necessary to switch the coating material discharged from the coating nozzle. For this reason, in order to apply three colors of RGB to the substrate, it is necessary to reciprocate the work table a plurality of times in the printing direction, and there is room for improvement in terms of throughput.

On the other hand, in the inkjet ejection device described in Patent Document 2, an inkjet head group (carriage) attached with nozzles that eject only red (R) ink and nozzles that eject only green (G) ink are attached. and a carriage to which nozzles for ejecting only blue (B) ink are separately provided. Each carriage is arranged side by side along the printing direction. According to such an ink jet ejection device having a carriage dedicated to each color, the work table on which the substrate is placed can be moved once in the printing direction to perform the three-color coating process of RGB, thereby improving the throughput. .

However, in the case of a device configuration in which one carriage ejects one color of ink, three carriages must be arranged in the printing direction in order to perform three-color coating processing of RGB. When ejecting functional liquid such as ink onto a workpiece, the entire workpiece needs to pass under the carriage. To increase. That is, the greater the number of carriages lined up in the printing direction, the longer the length of the stage in the printing direction is required.

Therefore, the technology according to the present disclosure shortens the stage length in the printing direction of the droplet ejection device.

A droplet ejection device and a droplet ejection method according to the present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same functional configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, thereby omitting redundant description.

<Structure of Droplet Ejecting Device>
First, the configuration of the droplet ejection device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. FIG. 1 is a side view showing an outline of the configuration of a droplet discharge device 1. FIG. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an outline of the configuration of the droplet discharge device 1. FIG. In the following description, the printing direction (the scanning direction of the workpiece W) is the Y-axis direction, the direction orthogonal to the printing direction is the X-axis direction, the vertical direction orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction is the Z-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction is the vertical direction. Let the direction of rotation around the direction be the θ direction.

The droplet ejection device 1 extends in the printing direction (Y-axis direction), and a Y-axis stage 10 that moves the workpiece W in the printing direction. It has a pair of

X-axis stages

11, 11 extending in the direction (X-axis direction). A pair of Y-

axis guide rails

12 , 12 are provided on the upper surface of the Y-axis stage 10 so as to extend in the Y-axis direction, and each Y-axis guide rail 12 is provided with a Y-axis linear motor 13 . An X-axis guide rail 14 is provided extending in the X-axis direction on the upper surface of each X-axis stage 11 , and an X-axis linear motor 15 is provided on the X-axis guide rail 14 . In the following description, on the Y-axis stage 10, the area on the Y-axis negative direction side of the X-axis stage 11 is referred to as a loading/unloading area A1, and the area between the pair of

X-axis stages

11, 11 is referred to as a processing area A2. No, the area on the Y-axis positive direction side of the X-axis stage 11 is called a standby area A3.

A carriage unit 20 and an imaging unit 30 are provided on the pair of

X-axis stages

11 , 11 . A work table 40 , a flushing unit 50 , and an ejection inspection unit 60 are provided on the Y-axis stage 10 . The work table 40, the flushing unit 50, and the discharge inspection unit 60 are arranged in this order in the Y-axis direction.

A plurality of, for example, ten carriage units 20 are provided on the X-axis stage 11 . Each carriage unit 20 has a carriage plate 21 , a carriage holding mechanism 22 and a carriage 23 . The carriage holding mechanism 22 is provided at the center of the lower surface of the carriage plate 21 , and the carriage 23 is detachably attached to the lower end of the carriage holding mechanism 22 .

The carriage plate 21 is attached to the X-axis guide rail 14 and is movable in the X-axis direction by the X-axis linear motor 15 . It is also possible to move a plurality of carriage plates 21 together in the X-axis direction.

A motor (not shown) is attached to the carriage 23 . This motor allows the carriage 23 to move in the X-axis direction and the θ direction. A droplet discharge head 24, which will be described later, provided on the carriage 23 can also be moved in the X-axis direction and the θ direction. The movement of the carriage 23 in the X-axis direction and the θ direction may be performed by the carriage holding mechanism 22, for example.

Two carriages 23 are provided along the Y-axis direction. In this specification, one of these two carriages 23 is referred to as the first carriage 23a and the other as the second carriage 23b. Since a plurality of carriage units 20 including the first carriage 23a and the second carriage 23b are provided in the X-axis direction as described above, a plurality of

carriages

23a and 23b are also provided in the X-axis direction. ing. It should be noted that the names of the first carriage 23a and the second carriage 23b are defined for convenience of explanation only, the carriage 23 on the negative side of the Y-axis is called the second carriage 23b, and the carriage 23 on the positive side of the Y-axis is called the second carriage 23b. The carriage 23 may also be called a first carriage 23a.

　A plurality of droplet ejection heads 24 are arranged in the Y-axis direction and the X-axis direction on the lower surface of the carriage 23 as shown in FIG. In this embodiment, 6 in the Y-axis direction and 6 in the X-axis direction, that is, a total of 36 droplet ejection heads 24 are provided in each of the

carriages

23a and 23b. are placed in The six droplet ejection heads 24 arranged in a direction intersecting the Y-axis direction (the X-axis direction in this embodiment) are linearly arranged to form one row. Six rows of droplet ejection heads 24 are formed.

A plurality of ejection nozzles (not shown) are formed on the lower surface of the droplet ejection head 24, that is, the nozzle surface. From the ejection nozzles, droplets of the functional liquid are ejected to droplet ejection positions directly below the droplet ejection head 24 .

The plurality of droplet ejection heads 24 include a first droplet ejection head 24a that ejects a first functional liquid, a second droplet ejection head 24b that ejects a second functional liquid, and a third liquid droplet ejection head 24b. There is a third droplet ejection head 24c for ejecting liquid. The first to third functional liquids are processing liquids made of different materials.

The first droplet ejection head 24a is arranged on the first carriage 23a, and the second carriage among the six rows of the droplet ejection heads 24 arranged in the Y-axis direction on the first carriage 23a. Four rows positioned far from 23b are the first droplet ejection heads 24a.

The second droplet ejection head 24b is arranged on the first carriage 23a, and among the six rows of the droplet ejection heads 24 arranged in the Y-axis direction on the first carriage 23a, the second carriage Two rows located on the side closer to 23b are the second droplet ejection heads 24b.

The second droplet ejection head 24b is also arranged on the second carriage 23b. The two rows positioned closer to the first carriage 23a are also the second droplet ejection heads 24b.

The third droplet ejection head 24c is arranged on the second carriage 23b, and the first carriage among the six rows of the droplet ejection heads 24 arranged in the Y-axis direction on the second carriage 23b. Four rows positioned far from 23a are the third droplet ejection heads 24c.

Therefore, in the example of FIG. 3, a group of first droplet ejection heads 24a, a group of second droplet ejection heads 24b, and a group of third droplet ejection heads 24c are arranged in order along the Y-axis direction. It is

The arrangement of the first to third droplet ejection heads 24a to 24c is not limited to the arrangement described in the present embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, a group of second droplet ejection heads 24b, a group of first droplet ejection heads 24a, a group of second droplet ejection heads 24b, and a third group of droplet ejection heads 24b are arranged along the Y-axis direction. A group of droplet ejection heads 24c may be arranged in order. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, along the Y-axis direction, a group of second droplet ejection heads 24b, a group of first droplet ejection heads 24a, a group of third droplet ejection heads 24c, a group of A group of two droplet ejection heads 24b may be arranged in sequence. However, in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 5, there are two groups of the second droplet ejection heads 24b in the Y direction. It is preferable that the droplet ejection heads 24 that eject the functional liquid are positioned close to each other.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the second droplet ejection head 24b of the first carriage 23a is arranged closer to the second carriage 23b than the first droplet ejection head 24a. It is preferable that the second droplet ejection head 24b of the carriage 23b is arranged closer to the first carriage 23a than the third droplet ejection head 24c.

Also, the droplet ejection heads 24 are not limited to being arranged in a zigzag pattern as in the present embodiment. The arrangement and number of the droplet ejection heads 24 are appropriately changed according to the shape of the bottom surface of the carriage and the size of the application area of the functional liquid. For example, if the arrangement of the droplet ejection heads 24 shown in FIG. 3 is for drawing at 720 dpi, when performing drawing at 1080 dpi, the droplet ejection heads 24 are arranged, for example, as shown in FIG. You may

As shown in FIGS. ₁ and 3, the first carriage 23a in this embodiment is rotatable so that the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) is the center of rotation C1 at the center of the first carriage 23a. It is configured. The second carriage 23b is rotatable such that the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) is the center of rotation _C2 at the center of the second carriage 23b. When ejecting the functional liquid onto the work W, the carriage 23 may be rotated as necessary. 24, the positional deviation from the desired positional coordinates is suppressed. For this reason, it is preferable to arrange a droplet ejection head 24 near the center of rotation of the carriage 23, which ejects the functional liquid having the smallest application area among the functional liquids that can be supplied by the carriage 23. FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a sub-pixel 200 includes a first functional liquid application region a, a second functional liquid application region b, and a third functional liquid application region c. . . . c, the region with the smallest size is assumed to be region a. In this case, since the coating area a of the first functional liquid is smaller than the other coating areas b and c, the first droplet ejection head 24a that ejects the first functional liquid is the other droplet ejection head. It is preferable that they are arranged at a position closer to the center of rotation of the carriage 23 than 24b and 24c. For example, in the first carriage 23a shown in FIG. 3, the functional liquids that can be supplied are the first functional liquid and the second functional liquid, and the first functional liquid having a relatively small application area is discharged. The _first droplet ejection head 24a is arranged at a position closer to the rotation center C1 than the second droplet ejection head 24b.

Note that when red (R), green (G), and blue (B) inks are used as functional liquids for forming the light-emitting layer of the organic light-emitting diode, the smallest coating area a in the sub-pixel 200 is It becomes a red (R) application area. Therefore, when the carriage 23 is rotated to eject ink, the droplet ejection head 24 that ejects red (R) ink is positioned closer to the center of rotation of the carriage 23 than the droplet ejection heads that eject other inks. It is preferable that they are arranged close to each other.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the image pickup unit 30 includes a first image pickup section 31 and a second image pickup section 31 provided facing each other in the Y-axis direction with the carriage 23 (droplet ejection head 24) interposed therebetween. It has a portion 32 . For example, a CCD camera is used as the first imaging unit 31 and the second imaging unit 32, and the work table 40 can be detected during movement, stop, or during work processing (during droplet discharge). The workpiece W placed on 40 can be imaged. The first imaging unit 31 is arranged on the Y-axis negative direction side with respect to the carriage 23 , and the second imaging unit 32 is arranged on the Y-axis positive direction side with respect to the carriage 23 . Note that the imaging unit 30 may be configured to be movable in the X-axis direction.

Of the pair of

X-axis stages

11, 11, the first imaging unit 31 is supported by a base 33 provided on the side surface of the X-axis stage 11 on the Y-axis negative direction side. Then, when the work table 40 is guided directly under the first imaging unit 31 , the first imaging unit 31 images the work W placed on the work table 40 .

Of the pair of

X-axis stages

11, 11, the second imaging unit 32 is supported by a base 34 provided on the side surface of the X-axis stage 11 on the Y-axis positive direction side. Then, when the work table 40 is guided directly under the second imaging section 32 , the second imaging section 32 images the work W placed on the work table 40 .

The work table 40 is, for example, a vacuum suction table on which the work W is placed by suction. The work table 40 is supported so as to be movable in the X-axis direction and rotatable in the θ direction by a table moving mechanism 41 provided on the underside of the work table 40 . The work table 40 and the table moving mechanism 41 are supported by a first Y-axis slider 42 provided on the underside of the table moving mechanism 41 . The first Y-axis slider 42 is attached to the Y-axis guide rail 12 and configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis linear motor 13 . Therefore, the work W can be moved in the Y-axis direction by moving the work table 40 along the Y-axis guide rail 12 with the first Y-axis slider 42 while the work W is placed thereon. can. In this embodiment, the table moving mechanism 41 moves the work table 40 in the X-axis direction and rotates it in the θ direction. Each mechanism may be different.

A work alignment camera (not shown) that captures an image of the work W on the work table 40 is provided above the work table 40 in the loading/unloading area A1. Based on the image captured by the work alignment camera, the first Y-axis slider 42 and the table moving mechanism 41 move the work W placed on the work table 40 in the Y-axis direction, the X-axis direction, and the θ direction. The position is corrected if necessary. Thereby, the workpiece W is aligned and set at a predetermined initial position.

The flushing unit 50 is a unit that receives test ejection from the droplet ejection head 24 . The flushing unit 50 is provided with a plurality of, for example, ten flushing collection bases 51 arranged side by side in the X-axis direction. The number of flushing collection bases 51 is the same as the number of carriages 23 arranged in the X-axis direction, and the pitch of the flushing collection bases 51 is also the same as the pitch of the carriages 23 .

The flushing recovery table 51 has an open upper surface, and when the flushing recovery table 51 is guided directly below the corresponding carriage 23, droplets are ejected (flushed) from the droplet ejection head 24 of the carriage 23, and the liquid droplets are flushed. It is adapted to receive and contain droplets. That is, a flushing operation is performed before drawing on the work W with droplets, and the droplets based on the flushing are collected by the flushing collection table 51 .

The ejection inspection unit 60 is a unit that receives inspection ejection from the droplet ejection head 24 . The discharge inspection unit 60 is provided with an inspection table 61 extending in the X-axis direction. An inspection sheet 62 whose surface is coated with a film is arranged on the upper surface of the inspection table 61 . Droplets ejected from the droplet ejection head 24 land on the inspection sheet 62 arranged on the inspection table 61 when the inspection table 61 is guided directly below the droplet ejection head 24 . .

The flushing unit 50 and the discharge inspection unit 60 are supported by the second Y-axis slider 80. The second Y-axis slider 80 is attached to the Y-axis guide rail 12 and is attached to the Y-axis guide rail 12 and is configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis linear motor 13 . Therefore, the flushing unit 50 and the discharge inspection unit 60 can also be moved in the Y-axis direction along the Y-axis guide rail 12 by the second Y-axis slider 80 .

<Control part>
A control unit 150 is provided in the droplet discharge device 1 described above. The control unit 150 is, for example, a computer equipped with a CPU, memory, etc., and has a data storage unit (not shown). The data storage unit stores, for example, drawing data (bitmap data) for controlling droplets ejected onto the work W and drawing a predetermined pattern on the work W, and the like. The control unit 150 also has a program storage unit (not shown). The program storage unit stores programs for controlling various processes in the droplet ejection device 1 and the like. The program may be recorded in a computer-readable storage medium, and may be installed in the control unit 150 from the storage medium. A storage medium may be a temporary storage medium or a non-transitory storage medium. Part or all of the program may be realized by dedicated hardware (circuit board).

<Workpiece processing in droplet ejection device>
Next, a description will be given of work processing performed using the droplet ejection device 1 configured as described above.

First, the work table 40 is placed in the loading/unloading area A1, and the work W loaded into the droplet discharge device 1 by a transport mechanism (not shown) is placed on the work table 40. Subsequently, the alignment mark of the work W on the work table 40 is imaged by the work alignment camera. Based on the captured image, the position of the workpiece W placed on the work table 40 in the X-axis direction and the θ direction is corrected by the table moving mechanism 41, and the workpiece W is aligned.

After that, the Y-axis linear motor 13 moves the work table 40 from the loading/unloading area A1 to the processing area A2. In the processing area A2, droplets of the first to third functional liquids are ejected from the droplet ejection head 24 onto the workpiece W that has moved below the droplet ejection head 24. FIG. Further, the work table 40 is further moved toward the standby area A3 so that the entire surface of the work W passes below the droplet discharge head 24 as shown in FIG. As a result, a predetermined pattern is drawn on the workpiece W. FIG.

After that, the work table 40 is moved from the waiting area A3 to the loading/unloading area A1. When the work table 40 moves to the loading/unloading area A<b>1 , the work W for which drawing processing has been completed is unloaded from the droplet ejection device 1 . This completes a series of work processes.

In the droplet ejection device 1 according to the embodiment described above, it is possible to apply three types of functional liquids simply by providing two carriages 23 in the Y-axis direction. That is, since three types of functional liquid can be applied without arranging carriages for each type of functional liquid as in the conventional art, the number of carriages in the Y-axis direction can be reduced from three to two. can. This makes it possible to reduce the amount of movement of the work table 40 in the Y-axis direction during ejection of the functional liquid by one carriage, thereby shortening the length of the Y-axis stage 10 in the Y-axis direction.

In the case of a conventional structure in which three carriages are arranged in the Y-axis direction, the carriage located in the center of the three carriages may be affected by the existence of the carriages on both sides when performing maintenance work on the carriages. The space where the operator's hand enters is small. Therefore, maintenance work cannot be easily performed. On the other hand, in the droplet ejection device 1 according to the present embodiment, a space can be secured on the Y-axis negative direction side or the Y-axis positive direction side of each carriage 23, so maintenance work for the carriages 23 can be easily performed. .

Therefore, according to the droplet ejection device 1 according to the present embodiment, it is possible to shorten the overall length of the device in the Y-axis direction while ensuring the maintainability of the carriage 23 . As a result, the amount of stage material used for the Y-axis stage 10 can be reduced, and concerns about an increase in procurement cost and a prolonged procurement time for the Y-axis stage 10 can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the Y-axis linear motor 13 (first Y-axis slider 42) and the table moving mechanism 41 are used as the work moving mechanism to move the work table 40 in the Y-axis direction. may be configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction, and the droplet discharge head 24 may be moved in the Y-axis direction. Also, both the work table 40 and the droplet discharge head 24 may be moved in the Y-axis direction.

Further, in the above embodiment, the Y-axis linear motor 13 (second Y-axis slider 80) is used as the unit moving mechanism to move the flushing unit 50 and the discharge inspection unit 60 in the Y-axis direction. The unit 20 may be configured to be movable in the Y-axis direction, and the droplet discharge head 24 may be moved in the Y-axis direction. Also, both the flushing unit 50 and the ejection inspection unit 60, and the droplet ejection head 24 may be moved in the Y-axis direction.

<Application Example of Droplet Discharge Device>
The droplet ejection device 1 configured as described above is applied to a substrate processing system for forming an organic EL layer of an organic light emitting diode. Specifically, the droplet ejection device 1 includes a coating device for coating an organic material for forming a hole injection layer on a glass substrate as a work W, and a hole transport layer on the glass substrate (hole injection layer). The present invention is applied to a coating device for coating an organic material for forming a coating and a coating device for coating an organic material for forming a light-emitting layer on a glass substrate (hole transport layer). In addition, in the substrate processing system, when forming an electron transport layer and an electron injection layer in addition to forming the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, and the light emitting layer of the organic light emitting diode, the droplet discharge device 1 may It can also be applied to the coating process of the transport layer and the electron injection layer.

In addition, in the space vacated by reducing the number of carriages in the Y-axis direction of the droplet ejection device 1 from three to two, functional liquids other than the first to third functional liquids can be used by other droplet ejection devices. A new carriage may be arranged for ejecting the functional liquid to be used. In this case, the number of carriages provided in other droplet ejection devices can be reduced, or the other droplet ejection device itself can be eliminated, and a substrate processing system for manufacturing an organic light emitting diode can be used. It is possible to reduce the amount of stage materials used as a whole. For example, when the above-mentioned first to third functional liquids are red (R), green (G), and blue (B) inks, the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer are used as the newly arranged carriage. A carriage may be arranged for ejecting the functional liquid used in the forming process. Thereby, the coating device for forming the light-emitting layer can also function as the coating device for forming the hole injection layer and the coating device for forming the hole transport layer.

In addition, for example, as a carriage newly arranged in the space that has been vacated by reducing the number of carriages from three to two, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) inks for mass production have components. Carriages for ejecting different colors of prototype ink may be arranged. In this case, the newly arranged carriage is attached with a droplet ejection head for each color that ejects prototype ink. Such a droplet discharge device can be used as a device for mass production of products, and can also be used as a device for research and development. Note that, in this embodiment, the droplet ejection heads for the prototype ink of each color are arranged on one carriage, so the number of rows of the droplet ejection heads for each color is relatively small. For this reason, when applying the prototype ink to a desired application area, it is necessary to reciprocate the work table a plurality of times, and it takes a long time to complete the application. However, if the application work is for research and development, there is no restriction on the application time, so there is no problem.

In addition to being applied to the formation of the organic EL layer of the organic light-emitting diode as described above, the droplet discharge device 1 is applied to, for example, a color filter, a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display (PDP device), an electron emission device (FED device). , SED device) and other electro-optical devices (flat panel displays: FPD), or when manufacturing metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, etc. may also be applied to

The embodiments disclosed this time should be considered illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The embodiments described above may be omitted, substituted, or modified in various ways without departing from the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

1 droplet ejection device 23 carriage 23a first carriage 23b second carriage 24 droplet ejection head 24a first droplet ejection head 24b second droplet ejection head 24c third droplet ejection head 40 work table 42 First Y-axis slider W Work

Claims

A droplet discharge device for drawing by discharging droplets of a functional liquid onto a work,
a work table on which the work is placed;
a plurality of droplet ejection heads for ejecting droplets onto the workpiece placed on the work table;
a carriage to which the plurality of droplet ejection heads are attached;
a moving mechanism for relatively moving the work table and the droplet ejection head in a printing direction;
The plurality of droplet ejection heads are
a first droplet ejection head for ejecting a first functional liquid;
a second droplet ejection head for ejecting a second functional liquid;
a third droplet ejection head for ejecting a third functional liquid;
Two carriages are arranged along the printing direction,
The first droplet ejection head is arranged on a first carriage,
the second droplet ejection head is arranged on each of the first carriage and the second carriage;
The third droplet ejection head is arranged on the second carriage,
The first droplet ejection head, the second droplet ejection head, and the third droplet ejection head are
A plurality of droplet ejection devices provided in a direction intersecting with the printing direction.
the second droplet ejection head of the first carriage is arranged closer to the second carriage than the first droplet ejection head;
2. The droplet ejection device according to claim 1, wherein said second droplet ejection head of said second carriage is arranged closer to said first carriage than said third droplet ejection head.
the first carriage is rotatable about a vertical direction at the center of the first carriage;
Among the functional liquids that can be supplied by the liquid droplet ejection head of the first carriage, the liquid droplet ejection head that ejects the functional liquid having a relatively small application area to the work is replaced by another liquid droplet ejection head. 3. The liquid droplet ejecting device according to claim 1, arranged at a position closer to said center of rotation than said center of rotation.
A droplet discharge method for drawing by discharging droplets of a functional liquid onto a work,
a work table on which the work is placed;
a plurality of droplet ejection heads for ejecting droplets onto the workpiece placed on the work table;
a carriage to which the plurality of droplet ejection heads are attached;
a moving mechanism for relatively moving the work table and the droplet ejection head in a printing direction;
The plurality of droplet ejection heads are
a first droplet ejection head for ejecting a first functional liquid;
a second droplet ejection head for ejecting a second functional liquid;
a third droplet ejection head for ejecting a third functional liquid;
Two carriages are arranged along the printing direction,
The first droplet ejection head is arranged on a first carriage,
the second droplet ejection head is arranged on each of the first carriage and the second carriage;
The third droplet ejection head is arranged on the second carriage,
Using a droplet ejection device in which a plurality of the first droplet ejection head, the second droplet ejection head, and the third droplet ejection head are provided in a direction intersecting the printing direction,
By passing the work table under the carriage, the first functional liquid, the second functional liquid, and the third functional liquid are discharged onto the work placed on the work table for drawing. A droplet ejection method for performing processing.