JP4363071B2 - Coating head cleaning device and cleaning method, paste coating device and coating method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for cleaning a peripheral portion of a paste discharge port of a coating head such as a die or a nozzle for discharging a paste in a manufacturing process of a color filter, a plasma display, a printed circuit board, etc. The present invention relates to a coating apparatus and a coating method for performing coating by discharging a paste from a coating head.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a paste coating apparatus using a coating head such as a die or a nozzle is known as an apparatus for coating a paste on a substrate. FIG. 3 shows a nozzle head which is an example of a coating head. A paste 203 is stored in the nozzle head 200, and a plurality of paste discharge ports 202 are formed in a straight line on the lower surface of the nozzle head 200. Here, a gas pressure such as compressed air is supplied from the gas pressure supply port 205, and the paste can be discharged and applied onto a substrate placed so as to face the discharge port 202.
[0003]
However, in the paste applying apparatus using the nozzle head 200, 1) the paste is discharged from the discharge port 202 to repeat the paste adhering to the peripheral portion of the discharge port 202, and 2) in a standby state before the paste discharge. Due to the pressure change in the nozzle head and the weight of the paste, the paste may ooze out from the discharge port 202 as shown in FIG. If the paste is discharged onto the substrate placed so as to face the discharge port 202 in such a state, the paste discharge flow from the discharge port 202 does not become vertical due to the effect of the surface tension of the paste and the like. It becomes difficult to apply the film at a uniform thickness on a straight line. Furthermore, since the amount of paste adhering to the discharge port 202 is not constant and is not uniform in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle head 200, when this residual paste adheres to the substrate, it becomes impossible to apply a uniform thickness over the entire region. In particular, when a high-viscosity paste having a viscosity exceeding 5000 mPas is used, the occurrence of the above problems becomes remarkable. In order to eliminate this problem, it is an essential requirement to reliably remove and clean the paste adhered to the discharge port 202 of the nozzle head 200 and its surroundings before discharging the paste.
[0004]
As a conventional technique for cleaning the periphery of the coating head discharge port, the wiper member wetted with a solvent is pressed against the periphery of the paste discharge port with an elastic roll such as rubber, and then the coating head and the wiping member are relatively A method of cleaning by sliding and wiping off the adhered paste is known. (For example, see Patent Document 1)
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-126599 (page 3-4, FIG. 2)
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the cleaning method of Patent Document 1, when the wiping operation of the coating head is repeatedly performed, the paste and the solvent penetrate into the elastic roll from the wiping member, so that the elastic roll swells and deforms or deteriorates. In addition, when the elastic roll is pressed at the time of wiping, the paste and the solvent that have penetrated into the elastic roll ooze out to the wiping member and are transferred to the coating head.
[0007]
The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and after the wiping member wetted with a solvent is pressed against the periphery of the paste discharge port of the coating head with an elastic body, the coating head and the wiping member are relatively In the method of sliding and wiping off contaminants such as adhering paste, the paste is discharged by preventing swelling of the elastic body constituting the cleaning means and exudation of paste and solvent from the elastic body. An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning device and method for reliably removing and cleaning the paste adhering to the periphery of the outlet over a long period of time, and a paste coating device and a coating method using the cleaning device and the cleaning method.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
[0009]
(1) A coating head having a paste discharge port, a wiping member moistened with a solvent, a pressing roll that presses the wiping member, and at least one of the coating head or the wiping member are relatively moved and slid. In the cleaning apparatus provided with the moving sliding means, the pressing roll wraps a fixed core shaft with an elastic body, further covers the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body with a resin film, and is fixed by a stopper. Application head cleaning device.
[0010]
(2) The coating head cleaning device according to (1), wherein the resin film is a polyester film, a polyethylene film, a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polypropylene film, a nylon film, a polyimide film, or a fluorine film.
[0011]
(3) The coating head cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic body is silicon sponge, polyethylene sponge, fluorine sponge, silicon rubber, or fluorine rubber.
[0012]
(4) A paste coating device comprising the coating head cleaning device according to any one of (1) to (3).
[0013]
(5) to the discharge opening peripheral portion of the coating head for discharging a paste, pressed by pressing a member wiping moistened with a solvent role in the cleaning process for relatively moving at least one of the coating head or wiping member, wherein A coating head cleaning method, comprising: a pressing roll in which a fixed core shaft is wrapped with an elastic body, and the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body is covered with a resin film and fixed with a stopper .
[0014]
(6) The paste application | coating method characterized by apply | coating using the application | coating head cleaning method as described in said (5).
[0015]
According to the above-described coating head cleaning device and cleaning method, since the means for preventing the paste and solvent adhering to the wiping member from penetrating from the wiping member to the elastic body is provided, deformation and deterioration due to swelling of the elastic body are prevented. In addition, it is possible to prevent the paste and solvent from seeping out from the elastic body to the wiping member and re-contamination of the coating head during the wiping operation. In addition, by preventing deformation and deterioration of the elastic body, it is possible to maintain a state where the wiping member is uniformly pressed against the coating head, so that contaminants such as paste adhering to the coating head can be reliably removed and cleaned. The effect can be maintained with good reproducibility over a long period of time.
[0016]
Furthermore, according to the coating head cleaning device, the paste coating device using the cleaning method, and the coating method of the present invention, the coating head is reliably cleaned and the paste is ejected from the coating head and applied from the initial state free from contaminants. Therefore, stable, uniform and high-quality coating can be realized over a long period of time.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 1 is a schematic front view of a paste coating apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a coating head cleaning apparatus incorporated in the paste coating apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of a nozzle head which is an example of a coating head. 4 is a plan view illustrating the state of substrate application when applied by the paste application apparatus of the present invention.
[0018]
The configuration of the paste coating apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the table 5 on which the substrate 2 is placed is guided freely in the X-axis direction (left-right direction in the drawing) by the X-axis traveling rail 4 on the machine base 3, and ball screw (not shown) by the X-axis motor (not shown). ) And the like. Although not shown, the table 5 preferably has a mechanism for adsorbing and fixing the substrate 2 by vacuum adsorption.
[0019]
A gate-shaped support machine base 6 is installed in the center of the machine base 3 in the width direction of the substrate 2 on the table 5 (direction perpendicular to the paper surface). The support machine base 6 has a Z-axis traveling rail 7 installed in a direction perpendicular to the substrate mounting surface of the table 5, and a coating head 10 is mounted on a holder 9 that freely moves up and down along the Z-axis traveling rail 7. Is attached. The longitudinal direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) of the coating head 10 is arranged to coincide with the width direction of the substrate 2. The holder 9 and the coating head 10 are driven by a Z-axis motor 8 via a ball screw (not shown) or the like and can freely reciprocate in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction).
[0020]
On the right side of the machine base 3, there are a wiping device 100 and a solvent adhering device 150 constituting an application head cleaning device. The wiping device 100 is located along the X-axis running rail 4 between the position (end point) shown in FIG. 1 and the coating head wiping position D (the position where the wiping device 100 is indicated by a broken line) in the vicinity of the coating head 10. Independent of the table 5, it can freely reciprocate.
[0021]
The travel drive mechanism for each of the X-axis, Z-axis, and other axes includes a system that directly performs linear motion such as a linear motor and an air cylinder, as well as a system that converts rotational motion to linear motion using a servo motor and a ball screw. Any method may be used as long as the positioning accuracy and speed accuracy required for the paste coating apparatus can be achieved. Further, as a guide for guiding the linear motion, an air bearing may be used in addition to a normal linear guide.
[0022]
Next, the configuration of a nozzle head 200 that is an embodiment of the coating head 10 will be described with reference to FIG. The nozzle head 200 includes a housing 207 and an upper surface plate 204. The housing 207 includes a manifold 201, and a plurality of paste discharge ports 202 are formed in a straight line on the bottom surface of the housing 207. The upper surface plate 204 is provided with a gas pressure supply port 205 and a paste supply port 206. The paste 203 is supplied from the paste supply port 206, stored in the manifold 201, pressurized by a gas pressure such as compressed air from the gas pressure supply port 205, and discharged from the paste discharge port 202. Here, as a paste discharge method, in addition to a method of pressurizing with gas pressure, a method of supplying a fixed amount by a constant capacity pump such as a syringe pump or a gear pump may be used, and an optimum method is selected according to the paste characteristics and application conditions. It is desirable.
[0023]
Next, when FIG. 2 is seen, the detail of the wiping apparatus 100 which is the cleaning apparatus of this invention is shown. The wiping device 100 includes an unwinding cloth roll 101 that sends out a wiping cloth 104 that is a wiping member, a pressing roll 103 that is an elastic body that presses a wiping member that the sent out wiping cloth 104 partially contacts, and a wiping cloth 104. Has a take-up cloth roll 102 for winding up. Here, the pressing roll 103 is configured to press the wiping cloth 104 against the coating head 10 at the coating head wiping position D as shown in FIG. The pressing roll 103 wraps core shaft 105 fixed at the elastic member 106, fixed further an outer peripheral surface of the elastic body 106 on covered with coating tree Aburafu Irumu 107, the resin film 107 by fasteners 108 Is made up of. The elastic body 106 is suitable to have an appropriate softness and flexibility that conforms to the shape of the pressed counterpart, and it is preferable to use foaming sponge, synthetic rubber, or the like. Specifically, silicon sponge, polyethylene sponge, fluorine sponge, silicon rubber, fluorine rubber and the like are preferable. In addition, about the shape of the pressing roll 103, the rectangular parallelepiped with which a contact surface becomes a plane other than a cylindrical shape may be sufficient.
[0024]
The unwinding cloth roll 101 and the unwinding cloth roll 102 are driven by the unwinding motor 109 and the winding motor 110 via connecting shafts 111a and 111b each composed of two pairs of bevel gears. Feeding and winding are performed. It is desirable that the feed amount per wiping operation of the wiping cloth 104 in the unwinding cloth roll 101 is 3 to 10 mm so as to save the amount of cloth used and increase the number of wiping operations. The feed amount is controlled by measuring the diameter of the take-up cloth roll 102 with the cloth diameter detection sensor 112 and driving speed and drive time of the take-up motor 102 calculated from the diameter. Further, a tension is always applied to the wiping cloth 104 so that the wiping cloth 104 does not wrinkle on the pressing roll 103. For this purpose, 1) winding the wiping cloth 104 with the winding cloth roll 102 while controlling the torque of the unwinding motor 109 so as to generate a braking force, and 2) when stopping the wiping cloth 104 other than feeding, the unwinding motor 109. It is preferable to apply tension to the wiping cloth 104 by.
[0025]
In this example, a cloth material is used for the wiping cloth 104 which is a wiping member. Although there are many types of cloth materials, those having a high effect of removing dirt by wiping, and having no fluff and the like and not generating dust are preferable. As a specific example, a nonwoven fabric using ultrafine fibers is preferable. Furthermore, other than the cloth material, resin and rubber sheet materials that suppress dust generation and have chemical resistance may be used. As specific examples, a fluorine rubber sheet, a butyl rubber sheet, a silicon rubber sheet and the like are preferable.
[0026]
The resin film 107 is a means for preventing the paste and solvent adhering to the wiping cloth 104 from adhering to and permeating the elastic body 106, and a chemical-resistant resin film having durability to the paste and solvent is preferable. Specific examples include polyester film, polyethylene film, polyethylene terephthalate film, polypropylene film, nylon film, polyimide film, and fluorine film. Further, in order to improve the adhesion between the wiping cloth 104 and the coating head 10, it is necessary to select a resin film 107 having a thickness that does not impair the flexibility of the elastic body 106 constituting the pressing roll 103. Specifically, a thickness of 10 to 200 μm is preferable .
[0027]
Further, in order to surely wipe off the paste and solvent adhering to the coating head 10, the wiping cloth 104 is sufficiently in close contact with the coating head 10 when the wiping cloth 104 is pressed against the coating head 10 with the pressing roll 103. It is necessary. Therefore, the pressing roll 103 is required to have an appropriate flexibility. Specifically, when three components of the wiping cloth 104, the resin film 107, and the elastic body 106 are overlapped and collectively measured with a rubber hardness meter (conforming to JIS K6351), the rubber hardness is 15 to 60 degrees. It is preferable to realize the configuration as follows.
[0028]
Next, the solvent adhesion device 150 includes a solvent nozzle 151 that sprays the solvent onto the wiping cloth 104, and a slide mechanism 154 that holds the solvent nozzle 151 and travels in the width direction of the pressing roll 103 (perpendicular to the paper surface). The The supply of the solvent to the solvent nozzle 151 is performed by pressurizing the gas from the solvent supply source 152 through the opening / closing valve 153. The gas may be air or an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon. Further, when the solvent adheres from the wiping cloth 104 wetted with the solvent during the wiping operation to the periphery of the paste discharge port of the coating head 10 and remains, the paste at the paste discharge port is dissolved, and the paste is discharged from the discharge port. Therefore, it is preferable that the solvent used be easily vaporized in the atmosphere. Specifically, acetone, ethanol, and methanol are preferable. Further, when the substrate size is changed, the travel length of the solvent nozzle 151 can be changed in accordance with the width of the coating head 10, and the solvent consumption time can be minimized by changing the solvent discharge time from the solvent nozzle 151 according to the travel length. Therefore, it is preferable.
[0029]
Next, the cleaning method using the coating head cleaning device according to the present invention will be described in order.
[0030]
(1) First, the wiping device 100 is in a standby position (a position at which the solvent is sprayed onto the wiping cloth 104 by the solvent adhering device 150 and corresponds to the position of the wiping device 100 shown in FIG. 1). In this state, the wiping cloth 104 is sent from the unwinding cloth roll 101 of the wiping device 100 to the winding cloth roll 102, and the wiping cloth 104 in contact with the coating head is updated to an unused clean part.
[0031]
(2) A solvent is sprayed on the wiping cloth 104 while the solvent adhering device 150 is driven in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) of the pressing roll 103 with the solvent nozzle 151, and the wiping cloth 104 is wetted with the solvent.
[0032]
(3) The wiping device 100 is moved to the left side from the coating head wiping position D by about 5 to 30 mm and stopped. The application head wiping position D is a position where the wiping cloth 104 contacts the application head 10.
[0033]
(4) The coating head 10 is lowered to a height at which it can be properly pushed into the pressing roll 103 and stopped. Here, the pushing amount of the coating head 10 onto the pressing roll 103 is preferably 0.1 to 1 mm. If the pressing amount is insufficient, the coating head 10 and the wiping cloth 104 do not contact evenly, and the paste and solvent around the paste discharge port cannot be wiped off reliably. If the amount of pressing is excessive, a large load is applied to the coating head 10 and the pressing roll 103 during the wiping operation, and the elastic body 106 or the resin film 107 of the pressing roll 103 is damaged.
[0034]
(5) The wiping device 100 is run along the X-axis running rail 4 to the right at a speed of 10 to 40 mm / sec. When the pressing roll 103 passes under the coating head 10, that is, when it reaches the coating head wiping position D, the wiping cloth 104 is pressed against the periphery of the paste discharge port of the coating head 10 and slides. The paste attached to the periphery of the paste discharge port of the head 10 can be removed and cleaned.
[0035]
(6) The wiping device 100 is returned to the standby position shown in (1), and a series of coating head cleaning operations are completed.
[0036]
In the coating head cleaning method of the present invention described above, the operational effects of wiping and cleaning are as follows. That is, even if the paste and solvent adhering to the wiping cloth 104 permeate the wiping cloth 104 by the wiping operation of the application head 10, the resin film 107 prevents the paste and solvent from adhering to the surface of the elastic body 106. The elastic body 106 does not swell. As a result, since the elastic body 106 is not deformed and deteriorated, the elastic body 106 can always press the wiping cloth 104 uniformly against the coating head 10. Further, since the paste and solvent do not come into contact with and penetrate into the elastic body 106 by the resin film 107, the paste and solvent that have penetrated from the elastic body 106 do not bleed out, and the coating head is re-contaminated with the paste and solvent. There is nothing. Further, since the solvent is not absorbed by the elastic body 106, the amount of solvent supplied from the solvent nozzle 151 can be reduced, so that the solvent from the solvent nozzle 151 wraps around the portion of the pressing roll 103 that is not covered by the resin film 107. It is also possible to prevent penetration into the elastic body 106. The above effects can be maintained over a long period of time, and even if the wiping operation is repeated, the paste adhering to the periphery of the paste discharge port of the coating head 10 can be reliably removed and cleaned.
[0037]
Next, a paste coating method using the coating head cleaning device of the present invention will be described in order.
[0038]
(1) First, as a preparatory work, the inside of the coating head 10 of FIG. 1 is filled with paste. For example, when the nozzle head 200 is used for the coating head 10, the paste is supplied from the paste supply source to the paste supply port 205 using the gas pressure, and is filled in the nozzle head 200. Then, when a predetermined amount of paste is filled and the air removal from the nozzle head 200 is completed, the supply of the paste is stopped.
[0039]
(2) The paste adhering to the periphery of the paste discharge port of the coating head 10 is removed and cleaned by the coating head cleaning device.
[0040]
(3) The substrate 2 is placed on the table 5 by the substrate transfer device (not shown), and the substrate 2 is positioned at the center position of the table 5 by using the substrate positioning device (not shown), and then fixed by suction.
[0041]
(4) After the relative position of the substrate 2 and the coating head 10 is adjusted to the paste coating position, the coating head 10 is lowered so that the distance between the paste discharge port of the substrate 2 and the coating head 10 becomes a predetermined value. Next, the table 5 on which the substrate 2 is attracted and fixed is caused to travel to the right along the X-axis travel rail 4. When the application start portion of the substrate 2 reaches the position of the paste discharge port of the application head 10 while the table 5 is traveling, the paste is discharged from the application head 10 and applied to the substrate 2. Subsequently, when the application end portion of the substrate 2 reaches the paste discharge port of the application head 10, the paste discharge is stopped, the table running is stopped, the application head 10 is raised, and the paste application is ended. Here, the discharge of the paste is performed by supplying compressed air to the gas pressure supply port 205 of the nozzle head 200 which is the coating head 10 and pressurizing the gas. Further, the paste discharge is stopped by setting the gas pressure to zero or negative pressure.
[0042]
(5) After the table 5 has further traveled to the right substrate unloading position (not shown), the suction and fixing of the substrate is released, and then the substrate 2 is unloaded to the next process by the substrate unloading device (not shown). After the substrate has been unloaded, the table 5 is moved to the left and returned to the substrate loading position (the position of the table 5 shown in FIG. 1), thereby completing the coating operation.
[0043]
When the substrate is continuously applied by the above-described application method, the operation of cleaning the application head 10 is performed during the operation of carrying the substrate into the paste application device and the operation of positioning the substrate. It is preferable to reduce the influence of the cleaning work time on the time. Moreover, in order to make the influence on the coating quality by wiping the coating head constant, it is preferable to make the time from the completion of the coating head cleaning operation to the start of the paste discharge constant.
[0044]
As described above, when the paste application method of the present invention is used, the paste adhered to the periphery of the paste discharge port of the application head 10 by the application head cleaning method of the present invention before the paste is discharged from the application head 10. Since contaminants such as these are reliably removed and cleaned, application can always be performed in the same initial state, and high-quality paste application can be realized over a long period of time with good reproducibility.
[0045]
In addition, the result of having actually applied using the nozzle head 200 with the above-mentioned application method is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the interval and the number of coating films 210 corresponding to the pitch of the discharge ports 202 of the nozzle head 200 can be drawn in stripes uniformly in both thickness and line width.
[0046]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the coating head cleaning device and the cleaning method of the present invention, the means for preventing the paste and solvent adhering to the wiping member from penetrating from the wiping member to the elastic body is provided. In addition to preventing deformation and deterioration due to swelling, it is also possible to prevent the paste and solvent from seeping out from the elastic body to the wiping member and re-contamination of the coating head during the wiping operation. In addition, by preventing deformation and deterioration of the elastic body, it is possible to maintain a state where the wiping member is uniformly pressed against the coating head, so that contaminants such as paste adhering to the coating head can be reliably removed and cleaned. The effect can be maintained with good reproducibility over a long period of time.
[0047]
Furthermore, according to the coating head cleaning device, the paste coating device using the cleaning method, and the coating method of the present invention, the coating head is reliably cleaned and the paste is ejected from the coating head from the initial state where there is no contamination. Therefore, stable, uniform and high-quality coating can be realized over a long period of time.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a paste application apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged front view of a coating head cleaning device.
FIG. 3 is a front sectional view of a nozzle head which is an example of a coating head.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a substrate application state when applied by the paste application apparatus of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: paste application device 2: substrate to be coated 3: machine base 4: X-axis travel rail 5: table 6: support machine base 7: Z-axis travel rail 8: Z-axis motor 9: holder 10: application head 100: wiping device 101: Unwinding cloth roll 102: Winding cloth roll 103: Pushing roll 104: Wiping cloth 105: Core shaft 106: Elastic body 107: Resin film 108: Film stopper 109: Unwinding motor 110: Winding motor 111a, 111b: connecting shaft 112: cloth diameter detection sensor 150: solvent adhesion device 151: solvent nozzle 152: solvent supply source 153: solvent supply opening / closing valve 154: slide mechanism 200: nozzle head 201: manifold 202: paste discharge port 203: paste 204 : Top plate 205: Gas pressure supply port 206: Paste supply port 207: Housing 210: Coating film D: Coating Wiping head position

Claims (6)

An application head having a paste discharge port, a wiping member moistened with a solvent, a pressing roll for pressing the wiping member, and a moving slide for sliding at least one of the application head or the wiping member relatively In the cleaning device provided with the means, the pressing roll wraps the fixed core shaft with an elastic body, covers the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body with a resin film, and fixes it with a stopper. Head cleaning device. 2. The coating head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the resin film is a polyester film, a polyethylene film, a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polypropylene film, a nylon film, a polyimide film, or a fluorine film. 3. The coating head cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein the elastic body is silicon sponge, polyethylene sponge, fluorine sponge, silicon rubber, or fluorine rubber. A paste coating apparatus comprising the coating head cleaning apparatus according to claim 1. In the cleaning method in which a wiping member wetted with a solvent is pressed against a peripheral portion of a discharge port of a coating head that discharges paste by a pressing roll , and at least one of the coating head or the wiping member is relatively moved, the pressing roll A coating head cleaning method , comprising: enclosing a fixed core shaft with an elastic body, covering the outer peripheral surface of the elastic body with a resin film, and fixing with a stopper . 6. A paste coating method, wherein coating is performed using the coating head cleaning method according to claim 5.

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