CN1796001A - Coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a coating device, which comprises nozzles (521-523), an objective table (21), a nozzle moving mechanism part (51) and a liquid receiving part (53). The nozzles (521-523) discharge the coating liquid in a liquid column state onto the substrate. The stage (21) has a substrate mounted thereon. The nozzle moving mechanism (51) reciprocates the nozzles (521-523) in a direction crossing the stage surface in a space above the stage (21). The liquid receiving section (53) has a slit-like opening formed in the upper surface thereof parallel to the transverse direction, and collects the discharged coating liquid in the form of a liquid column through the opening when the nozzle (521-523) is moved by the nozzle moving mechanism section (51) at a position displaced from the stage (21).

Description

Coating device

technical field

The present invention relates to a coating device, and more particularly to a coating device that discharges a coating liquid in a liquid column state from a nozzle to a substrate placed on a stage for coating.

Background technique

Conventionally, various developments have been made on coating devices for coating coating liquids on objects to be processed such as substrates. For example, as disclosed in JP Unexamined Publication No. 2003-31460 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1), when coating a coating liquid on a substrate, in order to recover the coating liquid coated outside the substrate or useless coating For liquid distribution, a liquid contact portion is provided on the outer edge of the substrate. The liquid contact portion disclosed in Patent Document 1 is provided along the outer edge of the substrate so that more developer can be recovered.

In addition, a coating device is also being developed that continuously and continuously coats a substrate with a coating liquid while discharging the coating liquid from a nozzle. For example, in an apparatus for manufacturing an organic EL display device, an organic EL material is nozzle-coated in a predetermined pattern onto the main surface of a substrate such as a glass substrate placed on a stage. At this time, when the nozzle moves outside the substrate, the liquid contact portion that receives the coating liquid is provided outside the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 11 , the manufacturing apparatus of an organic EL display device has: a stage 101 on which a glass substrate P that receives application of red, green, and blue organic EL materials is placed; A nozzle 102 for green, a nozzle 103 for green that discharges a green organic EL material, a nozzle 104 for blue that discharges a blue organic EL material, and a liquid contact portion 105 that collects the organic EL material discharged out of the substrate P. As the red, green, and blue organic EL materials, for example, organic EL materials having fluidity and viscosity so as to spread in grooves formed on the substrate P in stripes can be used. Then, the organic EL material is discharged from the nozzles 102 to 104 in a linear rod shape (hereinafter referred to as a liquid column state) at a predetermined pressure and flow rate, and is coated on the substrate P. In addition, the liquid contact portion 105 is provided on both outer sides of the substrate P (only one side is shown in FIG. 11 ), and has an opening on the upper side.

The nozzles 102 to 104 are supported by a holding member (not shown) in a state of juxtaposing them, and the holding member and the stage 101 are operated by respective driving mechanisms of the manufacturing apparatus of the organic EL display device. The driving mechanism reciprocates the holding members supporting the nozzles 102 to 104 in a predetermined direction across the substrate P (the direction of the stripe-shaped grooves formed on the substrate P, the direction of arrow F in the drawing). At this time, the drive mechanism is set between the upper space of the liquid contact portion 105 arranged outside one side edge of the substrate P and the upper space of the liquid contact portion 105 arranged outside the other side edge of the substrate P across the substrate P. The above-mentioned holding member reciprocates. In addition, when the holding member is arranged in the upper space of the liquid contact part 105, the stage 101 is moved by a predetermined pitch in a predetermined direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface) perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the nozzle. While such a drive mechanism operates, the organic EL materials are discharged from the nozzles 102 to 103 in a liquid column state, and the red, green and blue organic EL materials are arranged in the order of red, green and blue in each of the stripes. In the groove, a so-called stripe arrangement is formed on the substrate P.

However, when the coating liquid in a liquid column state is discharged to the liquid contact portion 105 provided outside the substrate P, the following problems arise. Since the distance h1+h2 between the nozzles 102 to 104 and the liquid contact portion 105 becomes longer, the coating liquid in a liquid column state is formed into droplets due to surface tension. For example, although the distance h1 from the front ends of the nozzles 102 to 104 to the upper surface of the substrate P can be set to a distance of about 0.25 to 0.50 mm that can ensure the liquid column state, if the distance h1+h2 is about 20 mm In some cases, it is difficult to prevent dropletization only by adjusting the discharge pressure and flow rate. In addition, when the nozzles 102 to 104 move at a high speed in the direction F shown in the drawing, the coating liquid that has been formed into droplets is further split into fine mist according to the speed. Then, the space behind the nozzles 102 to 104 moving at high speed becomes negative pressure, and the mist-like coating liquid is blown around the nozzles 102 to 104 . As a result, misty coating liquid generated outside the substrate P falls onto the substrate P and adheres thereto, causing poor coating.

In addition, even if the above-mentioned organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus adopts the liquid contact portion of the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 disposed near the substrate, because the upper surface of the liquid contact portion is opened for recycling as much as possible, or the liquid contact portion is enlarged. In the liquid port, the same dropletization and atomization occur inside the liquid contact part, so the same problem occurs.

Contents of the invention

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a coating device that does not affect the substrate when the coating liquid is discharged out of the substrate when the coating liquid is applied to the substrate in a column state.

In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention has the following features.

The first situation: This coating device is a coating device that discharges the coating liquid in the state of a linear rod-shaped liquid column in the vertical downward direction onto the substrate, and applies the coating liquid. The coating device includes a nozzle, a stage, a nozzle moving mechanism, and a liquid contact unit. The nozzle discharges the coating liquid in a liquid column state from its tip. The stage mounts the substrate thereon. The space of the nozzle moving mechanism on the loading platform enables the nozzle to reciprocate in the direction across the loading platform. The liquid contact unit receives the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle to the outside of the stage when the nozzle moving mechanism moves the nozzle to a position deviated from the stage in the transverse direction. A slit-shaped opening is formed on the upper surface of the liquid-contacting part at a position perpendicular to the downward direction from the front end of the nozzle disposed at a position deviated from the stage in the transverse direction, and a slit-shaped opening is formed through the opening to collect the The coating liquid in the liquid column state discharged from the nozzle.

Second aspect: In the above-mentioned first aspect, the opening formed in the liquid contact portion is formed at a position closer to the nozzle side than a height at which the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle starts to split from a liquid column state.

Third aspect: In the above-mentioned first aspect, the liquid contact portion is provided near the side surface of the stage. The opening formed in the liquid contact portion is formed below the upper surface of the stage.

Fourth Aspect: In the third aspect described above, the substrate is placed on the stage so as to be bridged over a part of the upper surface of the liquid contact portion where the opening is formed.

Fifth aspect: In the above-mentioned first aspect, the coating device has a plurality of nozzles. The nozzle moving mechanism integrally reciprocates the plurality of nozzles in the transverse direction. The opening formed on the upper surface of the liquid contact part is a slit-shaped opening parallel to the transverse direction at a position vertically downward from the front ends of the plurality of nozzles disposed at positions deviated from the stage in the transverse direction, and It is formed in a shape in which all the coating liquids in the liquid column state discharged from the plurality of nozzles pass through at the same time.

Sixth aspect: In the above-mentioned first aspect, the coating device has two liquid-contacting parts in the transverse direction in the vicinity of the two opposing side surfaces on the stage, respectively. The stage is movable in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the transverse direction.

According to the above-mentioned first aspect, since the upper surface of the liquid contact part is not opened, but a slit-shaped opening is formed to allow the coating liquid discharged in a liquid column state to pass, it is possible to prevent the coating liquid discharged into the liquid contact part from flowing again. Flappy outside. Therefore, the coating liquid discharged to the outside of the stage does not fall and adhere to the substrate placed on the stage, and coating failure can be prevented.

According to the above-mentioned second aspect, since the coating liquid in the state of a liquid column can be recovered by using the liquid contact part provided outside the stage, the coating liquid will not be dropletized or atomized, and dropletization can be prevented. Or the atomized coating solution is returned to the substrate.

According to the above-mentioned third aspect, while reliably recovering the coating liquid discharged out of the stage, it is possible to prevent the substrate placed on the stage from interfering with the liquid contact portion.

According to the above-mentioned fourth aspect, since the substrate is superimposed and placed on a part of the upper surface of the liquid contact portion, the coating liquid discharged to the outside of the substrate can be reliably recovered.

According to the fifth aspect, even in an apparatus that simultaneously applies a coating liquid to a substrate using a plurality of nozzles, it is possible to prevent the coating liquid discharged into the liquid contact portion from flying outside again. Therefore, the coating liquid discharged to the outside of the stage does not fall and adhere to the substrate placed on the stage, and coating failure can be prevented.

According to the sixth aspect, after the nozzle for discharging the coating liquid in the direction crossing the stage is moved to one of the liquid contact parts, the stage is moved by a predetermined amount so that the coating liquid is discharged in the direction crossing the stage. The nozzle of the nozzle moves to the other liquid contact part, and by repeating the above operation, the coating liquid can be applied to the substrate surface in stripes.

These and other objects, features, aspects, and effects of the present invention will be further clarified from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Description of drawings

1 is a plan view and a front view showing a schematic configuration of main parts of an organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing control functions of the organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 .

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the liquid contact portion 53 in FIG. 1 .

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a section A-A of FIG. 3 viewed from the B direction regarding a part of the liquid contact portion 53 .

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the liquid contact portion 53 seen from the direction D in FIG. 3 .

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the organic EL material discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 in FIG. 1 and the liquid contact portion 53 .

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the nozzles 521 to 523 in FIG. 1 and the liquid contact portion 53 when they move.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the A-A cross-section of FIG. 3 seen from the B direction for explaining another example of the slit portion 533 .

FIG. 9 is a schematic side view seen from the direction D for showing another example of the local exhaust unit 535 in FIG. 3 .

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view seen from the direction D for showing another example of the local exhaust unit 535 in FIG. 3 .

11 is a schematic side view showing the positional relationship between the nozzles 102 to 104 and the liquid contact portion 105 in a conventional organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus.

Detailed ways

Hereinafter, a coating device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For a specific description, the following description will be made by taking the coating device applicable to the manufacture of an organic EL display device as an example. An apparatus for manufacturing an organic EL display device is an apparatus for manufacturing an organic EL display device by applying an organic EL material in a predetermined pattern on a glass substrate placed on a stage. FIG. 1 is a plan view and a front view showing a schematic configuration of main parts of a manufacturing apparatus of an organic EL display device.

In FIG. 1 , a manufacturing device 1 of an organic EL display device roughly includes a substrate mounting device 2 and an organic EL coating mechanism 5 . The organic EL coating mechanism 5 has a nozzle moving mechanism part 51 , a nozzle unit 52 and a liquid contact part 53 . The nozzle moving mechanism part 51 is equipped with a guide member 511 extending along the X-axis direction shown in the figure, and moves the nozzle unit 52 along the guide member 511 in the X-axis direction shown in the figure. The nozzle unit 52 holds nozzles 521 to 523 that respectively discharge red, green, and blue organic EL materials in a state of being arranged in parallel. Red, green, and blue organic EL materials are supplied to the respective nozzles 521 to 523 from a supply unit (see FIG. 2 ), respectively.

The substrate placement device 2 has a stage 21 , a rotation unit 22 , a translation table 23 , a receiving guide unit 24 , and a guide member 25 . The stage 21 mounts the board|substrate P, such as a glass substrate used as a to-be-coated body, on the said stage surface. The lower part of the stage 21 is supported by the rotating part 22, and the stage 21 is freely rotatable in the θ direction shown in the figure by the rotating operation of the rotating part 22. In addition, a heating mechanism for preheating the substrate P coated with the organic EL material on the table is provided inside the stage 21 .

The guide member 25 is extended and fixed in the illustrated Y-axis direction perpendicular to the above-mentioned X-axis direction so as to pass below the organic EL coating mechanism 5 . Under the parallel movement table 23 , there is fixedly provided a receiving guide portion 24 which is in contact with and slides on the guide member 25 . Furthermore, on the upper surface of the parallel movement table 23, the rotation part 22 is fixedly provided. Thereby, for example, the parallel movement table 23 can receive the driving force from the linear motor (not shown) and move along the Y-axis direction shown in the figure of the guide member 25, so that the stage 21 supported by the rotating part 22 can also be moved. .

The substrate P is placed on the stage 21, and when the parallel movement table 23 moves below the organic EL coating mechanism 5, the substrate P is in the state of being coated with red, green and blue organic EL materials from the nozzles 521 to 523. position of the cloth. In addition, the control unit (see FIG. 2 ) controls the nozzle moving mechanism unit 51 so that the nozzle unit 52 reciprocates in the X-axis direction so that the stage 21 moves linearly in the Y-axis direction by a predetermined pitch each time. The parallel movement table 23 is controlled in such a manner that a predetermined flow rate of the organic EL material is discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 . In addition, at the discharge positions in the X-axis direction of the nozzles 521 to 523 , in spaces on both sides away from the substrate P placed on the stage 21 , liquid contact portions 53L for receiving the organic EL material discharged off the substrate P are fixedly provided, respectively. and 53R. The nozzle moving mechanism part 51 moves the nozzle unit 52 from the upper space of the liquid contact part 53 disposed outside one side edge of the substrate P to the liquid contact part 53 crossing the substrate P and arranged outside the other side edge of the substrate P. Do reciprocating movement between the upper space. In addition, the table 23 is moved in parallel, and when the nozzle unit 52 is arranged in the upper space of the liquid contact part 53, the stage 21 is moved by a predetermined pitch in a predetermined direction (Y-axis direction in the figure) perpendicular to the reciprocating direction of the nozzle. . While the nozzle moving mechanism part 51 and the parallel moving table 23 are operating, the organic EL materials are discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 in a liquid column state, and the organic EL materials of red, green and blue are separated by red, green and blue. are arranged in the order of stripes in each groove formed on the substrate P, forming a so-called stripe arrangement on the substrate P.

Next, a schematic configuration of the control function of the organic EL display device manufacturing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . In addition, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control function of the manufacturing apparatus 1 of the organic EL display device.

In FIG. 2 , the manufacturing apparatus 1 of an organic EL display device includes a control unit 3 , a first supply unit 54 a , a second supply unit 54 b , and a third supply unit 54 c in addition to the above-mentioned configuration units. The first supply unit 54 a supplies the red organic EL material to the red nozzle 521 . The second supply unit 54 b supplies the green organic EL material to the green nozzle 522 . The third supply unit 54c supplies the blue organic EL material to the blue nozzle 523 . The first supply unit 54a has a supply source 541a for the red organic EL material, a pump 542a for taking out the red organic EL material from the supply source 541a, a flow meter 543a for detecting the flow rate of the red organic EL material, and a flow meter 543a for removing the red organic EL material. Filter 544a for foreign matter in. In addition, the second supply unit 54b has a supply source 541b of the green organic EL material, a pump 542b for taking out the green organic EL material from the supply source 541b, a flow meter 543b for detecting the flow rate of the green organic EL material, and a flow meter 543b for removing the green organic EL material. A filter 544b for foreign matter in the EL material. Furthermore, the third supply unit 54c has a supply source 541c for the blue organic EL material, a pump 542c for taking out the blue organic EL material from the supply source 541c, a flow meter 543c for detecting the flow rate of the blue organic EL material, and a A filter 544c that removes foreign matter in the blue organic EL material. And the control part 3 controls each operation|movement of the 1st - 3rd supply part 54a-54c, the rotation part 22, the parallel movement stage 23, and the nozzle moving mechanism part 51. As shown in FIG.

On the surface of the substrate P receiving the application of red, green and blue organic EL materials, a plurality of stripes corresponding to the predetermined pattern shapes of the organic EL materials to be applied are formed in parallel. groove. As the organic EL materials of red, green and blue, for example, organic EL materials having fluidity viscosity so that they can spread in the grooves on the substrate P, specifically, polymers of each color can be used. Types of organic EL materials. The nozzle unit 52 is rotatably supported around a predetermined support shaft, and by being controlled by the control unit 3 to rotate around the support shaft, the coating pitch interval of each color can be adjusted. In addition, the hole diameters of the nozzles 521 to 523 for discharging the organic EL material are smaller than the width of the grooves formed on the substrate P by about several tens of μm, for example, 10 to 70 μm.

Based on the position or direction of the substrate P placed on the stage 21, the control unit 3 adjusts the angle of the rotation unit 22 so that the direction of the groove formed on the substrate P is the above-mentioned X-axis direction, and calculates the coating start point, that is, the position at which the coating starts. A coating start position where coating starts at one end side of the groove formed on the substrate P. In addition, the above-mentioned coating start position becomes the upper space of one liquid contact portion 53 . And the control part 3 drives the parallel movement table 23 and the nozzle moving mechanism part 51 as mentioned above.

At the coating start position, the controller 3 instructs the respective pumps 542a to 542c to start discharging the organic EL material from the respective nozzles 521 to 523 . At this time, the control unit 3 controls the coating amount corresponding to the moving speed of the nozzles 521-523, and feeds back the flow rate information obtained from the flow meters 543a-543c to control so that the organic EL material at each point of the stripe-shaped groove The coating amount becomes uniform, and the organic EL material is discharged in a liquid column state. And, in order to inject the organic EL material into the groove on the substrate P, the controller 3 controls the nozzle unit 52 to move along the guide member 511 so that the organic EL material is injected into the groove along the groove on the substrate P. According to this operation, the red, green and blue organic EL materials discharged in the liquid column state are simultaneously injected into the respective tanks.

When the nozzle unit 52 crosses the substrate P and is located on the other liquid contact portion 53 fixedly provided outside the other end, the control unit 3 stops while maintaining the state in which the organic EL material is continuously discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523. Movement of the nozzle unit 52 by the nozzle moving mechanism part 51 . This movement completes the application of the organic EL material to the three-column grooves.

Next, the control unit 3 advances the parallel movement table 23 in the Y-axis direction only by the pitch of the three rows of grooves, and then applies the organic EL material to the next three rows of grooves. And, when the control unit 3 starts from the upper space of the liquid contact portion 53 on the other side, and makes the nozzle unit 52 cross the substrate P in the opposite direction and is positioned on the liquid contact portion 53 on one side, it keeps the flow from the nozzle 521 to the liquid contact portion 53 . 523 stops the movement of the nozzle unit 52 by the nozzle moving mechanism 51 while the organic EL material is continuously being discharged. This second movement completes the application of the organic EL material to the next three rows of grooves. By repeating such operations, organic EL materials of respective colors are injected into each groove. In this way, red, green, and blue organic EL materials are arranged in the order of red, green, and blue in each of the stripe-shaped grooves formed on the substrate P, forming a so-called stripe arrangement.

Next, the liquid contact portion 53 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 7 . In addition, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the structure of the liquid contact portion 53 . FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a section A-A of FIG. 3 viewed from the B direction regarding a part of the liquid contact portion 53 . FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the liquid contact portion 53 seen from the direction D in FIG. 3 . FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the organic EL material discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 and the liquid contact portion 53 . FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the positional relationship between the nozzles 521 to 523 and the liquid contact portion 53 when they move. In addition, the liquid contact portion 53L and the liquid contact portion 53R (refer to FIG. 1 ) located on both sides of the stage 21 have the same structure symmetrical to the stage 21. In FIGS. 3 and 5 to 7, the One of them is shown as the liquid contact portion 53 .

In FIG. 3 , the liquid contact portion 53 has a lower receiving portion 531 , an upper tank portion 532 , a slit portion 533 , an upper support member 534 , and a local exhaust portion 535 .

The lower stage receiving part 531 is connected to the nozzle moving mechanism part 51, for example, and is fixedly installed so that the positional relationship with the nozzle moving mechanism part 51 is normally fixed. The lower receiving portion 531 has a box shape with its upper surface open, and a part thereof is provided so as to be bridged over the lower portion of the stage 21 . The organic EL material discharged into the lower receiving portion 531 is recovered by a liquid discharge container (not shown) through a liquid passage (not shown) flowing from the lowermost position. In addition, inside the lower stage receiving portion 531, a local exhaust portion 535 for sucking air in the space near the side surface of the stage 21 is provided. Furthermore, an upper support member 534 for supporting the upper box portion 532 is fixedly provided on the upper end surface of the lower receiving portion 531 .

The upper case part 532 is supported by the upper support member 534 and is fixedly installed in the upper space of the lower receiving part 531 . The upper box portion 532 has a box shape with its upper surface opened, and is provided with a slit portion 533 to close the upper box portion 532 so as to cover the upper surface. The slit portion 533 is formed with a slit opening portion 533 a whose length opening direction is narrow (for example, 1 to 3 mm) in the illustrated X-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 4 , the slit portion 533 is attached like a cover of the upper case portion 532 and fitted so as to be detachable from the upper case portion 532 . Furthermore, when the slit portion 533 is attached to the upper case portion 532 , the slit opening portion 533 a functions as an opening between the inner space and the outer space of the upper case portion 532 . In addition, the organic EL material discharged into the upper tank portion 532 flows into the lower receiving portion 531 through a liquid passage (not shown) flowing from the lowermost position thereof.

The upper surface of the slit portion 533 is fixedly provided at substantially the same height (see height d in FIG. 5 ) as the upper surface of the stage 21 . The front end portion of the upper case portion 532 and the slit portion 533 on the stage 21 side is fixed to form a predetermined gap (see gap a in FIG. 5 ) in the vicinity of the stage 21 . And, on the upper surface of the slit portion 533, the substrate P (shown by a dotted line in FIG. , this part is superimposed (referring to Fig. 5 superposition length c) configuration.

In FIG. 5 , the upper box portion 532 and the front end portion of the slit portion 533 on the stage 21 side are provided so as to form a gap a from the side surface of the stage 21 . This gap a is provided to prevent the stage 21 from interfering with the upper case portion 532 and the slit portion 533 due to the parallel movement of the stage 21 in the illustrated Y-axis direction or the rotation of the rotating portion 22. For example, is 4mm. In addition, the substrate P is placed on the end surface of the stage 21 so that only the length b is exposed on the side of the liquid contact portion 53 . The length b is set so that the upper surface of the slit portion 533 and the substrate P overlap only by the length c, b=a+c, for example, the length b=5 mm, and the overlapping length c=1 mm. Although it is preferable to set the upper surface of the slit portion 533 at the same height as the upper surface of the stage 21 in order to prevent leakage downward from the end of the substrate P, in order to parallelly move and rotate as described above, it is placed on the stage. For the substrate P of the object stage 21 , it is necessary to prevent interference between the lower surface of the substrate P and the upper surface of the slit portion 533 . For this reason, the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is set to be lower than the upper surface of the stage 21 by a height d, for example, a height d=0.5˜2.0 mm. The effect of the present invention can be obtained if the height d is set so that the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is disposed above the height at which the organic EL material discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 breaks up from the liquid column state.

In addition, although the example in which the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is set to be lower than the upper surface of the stage 21 by a height d in order to prevent the lower surface of the substrate P from interfering with the upper surface of the slit portion 533 has been described, this effect is not expected. In this case, the upper surface of the slit portion 533 may be set higher than the upper surface of the stage 21 . The effects of the present invention can be obtained as long as the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is set lower than the front ends of the nozzles 521 to 523 .

Next, the positional relationship between the nozzles 521 to 523 and the liquid contact portion 53 will be described with reference to FIG. 6 . In addition, in FIG. 6, the nozzles 521-523, the liquid contact part 53, and the board|substrate P are mainly shown, and other parts are abbreviate|omitted. As described above, when coating the organic EL material on the substrate P, the nozzles 521 to 523 are arranged in the upper space of the liquid contact portion 53 at the start and end of coating, or at the time of turning back in the X-axis direction. At this time, the nozzles 521 to 523 discharge the organic EL material in a liquid column state onto the upper surface of the liquid contact portion 53 .

When the nozzles 521 to 523 move to the upper space of the liquid contact part 53, the organic EL material discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 is received inside the upper tank part 532 through the slit opening part 533a, and the liquid contact part 53 is provided. . That is, when the nozzles 521 to 523 go out of the substrate P in the X-axis direction, the slit openings 533 a are formed so as to include positions immediately below the front ends (discharge ports) of all the nozzles 521 to 523 . Therefore, the moving direction (X-axis direction) of the nozzles 521 to 523 is parallel to the length forming direction (X-axis direction) of the slit opening 533a, and the Z-axis direction shown relative to the front ends of the nozzles 521 to 523 is downward. A slit opening portion 533a is formed in the direction. Here, the nozzles 521 to 523 are arranged with a slight shift (for example, 0.36 mm) in the illustrated Y-axis direction in order to simultaneously apply the organic EL material to the three rows of grooves arranged in parallel in the X-axis direction. The slit opening 533a has a width allowing the organic EL material discharged in a liquid column state from these nozzles 521 to 523 to completely pass through, and is formed with a width of, for example, 1 to 3 mm.

Here, the distance from the front ends of the nozzles 521 to 523 to the upper surface of the substrate P is set to a distance that can ensure the liquid column state so that the organic EL material applied to the substrate P is discharged to the substrate P while maintaining the liquid column state. . On the other hand, as described above, the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is set slightly lower than the upper surface of the stage 21 , and the height difference between the upper surface of the substrate P and the upper surface of the slit portion 533 is set to be very small. Specifically, the thickness+height d (see FIG. 5 ) of the substrate P is a difference in height between the two. Therefore, since the height difference between the substrate P and the top of the slit 533 is extremely small, the organic EL material can pass through the slit opening 533a while maintaining a liquid column state by adjusting the discharge pressure or flow rate from the nozzles 521-523. That is, the organic EL material discharged outside the substrate P can be recovered in the slit portion 533 and the upper tank portion 532 in a state where it is not formed into droplets. In addition, since the upper surface of the upper tank part 532 is blocked by the slit part 533, and the slit part 533 opens only the part through which the organic EL material discharged in a liquid column state passes through in a slit shape, the organic EL material discharged in the upper tank part 532 The organic EL material flows to the lower receiving portion 531 without flying to the outside again.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 6, when the nozzles 521-523 are arranged in the upper space of the liquid contact part 53, the nozzles 521-523 move at high speed in the direction C shown as the X-axis direction (FIG. 7). As shown in FIG. 7 , when the nozzles 521 to 523 move from the upper space of the liquid contact portion 53 to the direction C in the drawing, the organic EL materials discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 are all discharged with The liquid column state passes through the slit opening 533 a and is recovered to the upper tank 532 . Here, when the nozzles 521 to 523 move at high speed in the direction of C in the figure, if there is any organic EL material formed into droplets, it will be further split into fine mist, causing negative pressure generated behind the nozzles 521 to 523. The organic EL materials that have become mist under the influence of the nozzles fly around the nozzles 521 to 523 . Nevertheless, since all the organic EL material discharged out of the substrate P is collected in the upper tank portion 532 in a liquid column state, such flying does not occur.

In this manner, the coating device according to the present embodiment can recover the coating liquid in a liquid column state at the liquid-receiving part provided outside the substrate, so that the coating liquid does not form droplets or atomize. Therefore, the coating liquid discharged to the outside of the substrate does not fall and adhere to the substrate, and coating defects can be prevented.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, since a gap of height d is formed between the lower surface of the substrate P and the upper surface of the slit portion 533, the organic EL material is discharged to the vicinity of the slit opening 533a and the P end surface of the substrate. Possibility of flowing out toward the side of the stage 21 through the gap. Nevertheless, a local exhaust unit 535 (refer to FIG. 3 ) is provided inside the lower receiving unit 531 to suck the gas in the space near the side surface of the stage 21, so that the organic EL that cannot be recovered to the upper box unit 532 can be sucked and recovered. Material.

In addition, since the detachable slit 533 is fitted in the upper case 532 , the user can easily clean the inside of the upper case 532 by removing the slit 533 . However, in order to automatically perform such maintenance work, the rinse liquid for washing may be appropriately flowed into the upper tank portion 532 through an inflow passage not shown. By making this rinse liquid flow in the upper tank part 532, in addition to the above-mentioned self-cleaning effect, the organic EL material discharged into the upper tank part 532 is mixed with the rinse liquid and hardly flows out again. .

In addition, FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the A-A section of FIG. 3 seen from the B direction for explaining another example of the slit portion 533 . As shown in FIG. 8 , a downward folded portion 533 b may be formed in the slit opening portion 533 a formed in the slit portion 533 . This further provides an effect that the organic EL material discharged into the upper tank portion 532 is less likely to flow out again.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the manufacturing device of the organic EL display device was described as an example, the present invention can be applied to other devices as long as it is a device for applying a coating liquid in a liquid column state on a substrate. of. For example, it can also be applied to a device that coats a resist liquid or SOG (Spin On Glass: spin-on-glass) liquid on a substrate, or even coats a hole transport layer.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the flow rate of the organic EL material to the nozzles 521 to 523 is detected to feedback the flow rate of the discharged organic EL material, it is also possible to detect the pressure of the organic EL material with a pressure sensor or other pressure detection device, and feed back the flow rate of the organic EL material. The flow rate of the organic EL material discharged from the nozzles 521 to 523 is controlled.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the height d (refer to FIG. 5 ) between the lower surface of the substrate P and the upper surface of the slit opening 533a is provided with the local exhaust part 535 (refer to FIG. 3 ), it may be as follows: The local exhaust portion 535a is configured as shown in FIG. 9 . That is, the suction openings of the local exhaust portion 535a are arranged very close to each other at the gap of the height d. For example, along the side surface of the upper case part 532 on the stage part 21 side, between the stage part 21 and the pipe part 535a, the piping of the local exhaust part 535a is extended upward. Thereby, the organic EL material which cannot be collected in the upper tank part 532 can be recovered reliably. Here, the above-mentioned gap a is provided to prevent interference caused by the parallel movement of the stage 21 in the illustrated Y-axis direction and the rotation of the rotating part 22. Therefore, the partial exhaust part 535a When it is installed between the stage part 21 and the side surface of the upper case part 532, let the gap between the local exhaust part 535a and the stage part 21 be a gap a. That is, it goes without saying that the above-mentioned length b may be set in consideration of the space for installing the local exhaust portion 535a when the same stacking length c is ensured.

In addition, the local exhaust portion 535b may be configured as shown in FIG. 10 corresponding to the height d between the lower surface of the substrate P and the upper surface of the slit portion 533 . As shown in FIG. 10 , the bottom and side portions of the upper case portion 532 on the side of the stage portion 21 are thin-walled, and the piping of the local exhaust portion 535b is arranged along the thin-walled bottom. The gaps are arranged in close proximity to the suction openings of the local exhaust 535b. Thereby, the organic EL material which cannot be collected in the upper tank part 532 can be recovered reliably.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, although the nozzles 521 to 523 for red, green and blue are used as a set of three to inject the organic EL material into each groove of the substrate P, multiple sets of such three nozzles may be provided. A set of nozzles 521 to 523 injects an organic EL material into each groove of the substrate P. As shown in FIG. In this case, the effects of the present invention can be obtained while shortening the time required for the coating process by providing the liquid contact portions 53 corresponding to the positions where the groups of nozzles move in the X-axis direction.

The coating device according to the present invention can reliably recover the coating liquid discharged to the outside of the substrate as the object to be coated, and is useful for devices and the like that apply the coating liquid in a liquid column state to the substrate.

As mentioned above, the present invention has been described in detail, but the above-mentioned descriptions are merely illustrative points of the present invention, and are not limited thereto. It goes without saying that various improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. A kind of coating device, the coating liquid that becomes the liquid column state of linear bar shape in downward vertical direction is discharged on the substrate, and coats this coating liquid, it is characterized in that, has: Nozzle: Discharges the above-mentioned coating liquid in the state of the above-mentioned liquid column from the front end thereof, Stage: Place the above-mentioned substrate on it, Nozzle moving mechanism: in the space on the above-mentioned stage, the above-mentioned nozzle is reciprocated in the direction across the stage, A liquid receiving part: receiving the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle to the outside of the stage when the nozzle moving mechanism moves the nozzle to a position deviated from the stage along the transverse direction; A slit-shaped opening is formed on the upper surface of the liquid contact portion, and the opening is perpendicular to the transverse direction downward from the front end portion of the nozzle disposed at a position deviated from the stage along the transverse direction. The directions are parallel, and through this opening, the coating liquid in the liquid column state discharged from the above-mentioned nozzle is recovered. 2. The coating device according to claim 1, wherein the opening formed in the liquid contact portion is formed on the side closer to the nozzle than the height at which the coating liquid discharged from the nozzle starts to split from the state of the liquid column. s position. 3. The coating device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid contact portion is disposed near the side of the stage; the opening formed in the liquid contact portion is formed slightly below the upper surface of the stage. s position. 4 . The coating apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the substrate is placed on the stage so as to be bridged over a part of the upper surface of the liquid contact portion where the opening is formed. 5 . 5. The coating device according to claim 1, wherein the coating device has a plurality of nozzles; the nozzle moving mechanism makes the plurality of nozzles reciprocate integrally in the above-mentioned transverse direction; The above-mentioned opening on the upper surface of the liquid-contacting part is a slit-like shape parallel to the transverse direction at a position perpendicular to the downward direction from the front ends of the plurality of nozzles arranged at positions deviated from the stage along the transverse direction. The openings are formed in such a shape that all the coating liquids in the liquid column state discharged from the plurality of nozzles pass through simultaneously. 6. The coating device according to claim 1, wherein the coating device has two liquid-contacting parts in the vicinity of two opposing side surfaces of the stage, along the transverse direction, respectively, and the The object stage can be moved in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the above-mentioned transverse direction.

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