JPH07102694B2 - Thin film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a thin film forming apparatus capable of sufficiently filling a large number of cells on the surface of an intaglio roll with a coating material and accurately measuring the coating material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to form functional thin films related to various electronic parts such as liquid crystal alignment films, insulating films and conductive films,
A thin film forming apparatus was used. This thin film forming apparatus, an intaglio roll having a large number of cells on the surface, a coating material supply device for directly supplying to the surface of the intaglio roll, the coating material supplied to the intaglio roll by contacting the surface of the intaglio roll in the cell The coating material in the cells of the intaglio roll is transferred to the surface of the relief plate by pressure contact with a doctor blade that has an elastic relief plate on the surface, and the ink is then covered by pressure contact with the printing medium. And a printing roll on which the surface of the printed material is transferred. In this apparatus, in order to fill and measure the coating material in the cells of the intaglio roll, the following was done. (1) A doctor blade made of plastic or metal is brought into contact with the surface of the intaglio roll and slid to measure. (2) Press the doctor roll surface against the intaglio roll surface,
The cells are filled and weighed by sliding and rotating.

[0003]

However, in the case of (1), since the coating material is filled and measured only by the doctor blade, if the rotation speed of the intaglio roll is increased, the coating material is filled into the cell. Not being able to keep up, and insufficient filling occurs.

In the case of (2), since the surface of the doctor roll is made of rubber, pressure contact with the intaglio roll due to contact pressure, change in rotation speed, rubber hardness, abrasion due to sliding, deterioration due to solvent over time, etc. The condition changes and accurate measurement is not possible. These are major obstacles for forming a thin film having a high film thickness accuracy with high productivity.

[0005]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration. That is, the intaglio roll having many cells on the surface and the intaglio roll surface
Supply device for dropping the coating material from the nozzle, a doctor blade for filling and measuring the coating material supplied to the intaglio roll by contacting the surface of the intaglio roll, and an intaglio roll having an elastic relief plate on the surface, Concave by pressure welding
The coating material in the cells of the plate roll is transferred to the surface of the relief plate.
Next, the coating material is pressed onto the printing material to apply the coating material to the printing material.
In a thin film forming apparatus having a printing roll whose surface is transferred, the coating material dropped from a nozzle is temporarily held on the surface.
After that , a rubber roll for supplying the coating material by being pressed against the surface of the intaglio roll is provided, and the rubber roll is adapted to slide or rotate in synchronization with the intaglio roll. Further, the intaglio roll having a large number of cells on the surface, a supply device for dropping the coating material from the nozzle on the surface of the intaglio roll, and filling the cell with the coating material supplied to the intaglio roll by contacting the surface of the intaglio roll. With a doctor blade for weighing and an intaglio roll that has an elastic relief plate on the surface
By press contact, the coating material in the cell of the intaglio roll is
The coating material is transferred to the surface and then pressure-contacted with the printing material.
In a thin film forming apparatus having a printing roll on which the material is transferred to the surface of the printing medium , the coating material is directly dropped on the surface of the intaglio roll.
A rubber roll may be provided so as to come into pressure contact with the surface of the intaglio roll between the feeding position of the coating material and the contact position of the doctor blade, and the rubber roll may be slidably or synchronously rotated with the intaglio roll.

[0006]

Operation: First, the coating material supplied on the intaglio roll is
The surface of the intaglio roll is pressed into the cells on the surface of the intaglio roll by the pressure contact between the rubber roll and the rubber roll, and the cells are sufficiently filled. Next, the excess coating material that has overflowed from the cell is scraped off by the contact between the doctor blade and the intaglio roll,
Accurately filled and weighed and held in the cell. Next, the printing roll and the intaglio roll rotate synchronously while being in pressure contact with each other, and the coating material held in the cells of the intaglio roll is transferred to the elastic relief plate surface of the body portion of the printing roll. Then, the printing target placed on the stage and conveyed below the printing roll is brought into pressure contact with the elastic relief plate, and the coating material in the cells is transferred to the surface of the printing target.

As described above, the filling is first performed with the rubber roll, and then the weighing is performed with the doctor blade. Therefore, even in the case of high-speed rotation, the coating material can be held in the cells of the intaglio roll by the rubber roll without excess or deficiency.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, the intaglio roll 1 is also generally called an anilox roll, and the ink supplied to the surface of the intaglio roll 1 is filled and weighed and held in a large number of cells (see FIGS. 1 and 2). The intaglio roll 1 has a plating layer formed on the surface of the body and a large number of cells arranged in a predetermined pattern on the surface. The cell depth is from several μm to several tens of μm.

The rubber roll 2 is a roll for forcibly filling the cells of the intaglio roll 1 with the coating material 9 supplied to the surface of the intaglio roll 1. The rubber roll 2 is provided so as to be in pressure contact with the surface of the intaglio roll 1 between the supply position 7 of the coating material 9 and the contact position 8 of the doctor blade 3, and the rubber roll 2 rotates slidingly or synchronously with the intaglio roll 1. (See Figures 1 and 2).

The rubber roll 2 only needs to be filled with the coating material 9 in the cells of the intaglio roll 1, and does not need a measuring function. Therefore, the rubber roll 2 and the surface of the intaglio roll 1 may be pressed against each other with a contact pressure weaker than that in the case of the conventional doctor roll. Even in this case, the rubber roll 2
Is effective because the coating material 9 can be surely filled in the cell before the measurement of the coating material 9 by the doctor blade 3 and the surface of the rubber roll 2 is not extremely worn.

The rubber roll 2 and the intaglio roll 1 are rotated so that the tangential velocities at the pressure contact positions are the same, and they rotate synchronously or slide. The synchronous rotation mentioned here means a rotation having the same tangential velocity. Further, the sliding rotation referred to here means a rotation having different tangential velocities at the pressure contact position.

The rubber roll 2 is formed by winding rubber around the surface of the roll. As the rubber material, butyl rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, or the like can be used.

The rubber roll 2 is an intaglio roll 1.
The coating material 9 may be supplied while being pressed against the surface and slidingly or synchronously rotating. Specifically, after the coating material 9 is dropped on the surface of the rubber roll 2 by the coating material supply nozzle and the coating material 9 is once held on the surface of the rubber roll 2,
The coating material 9 is filled into the cells on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 while rotating in contact with the surface of the intaglio roll 1 (see FIG. 1).

The coating material 9 may be directly supplied to the surface of the intaglio roll 1. In that case, intaglio roll 1 from the tip of the nozzle
The coating material 9 is dropped directly on the surface (see FIG. 2).

The doctor blade 3 is provided so as to come into contact with the intaglio roll 1 immediately before the position where the ink of the intaglio roll 1 is pressed against the printing roll 4, and the coating material 9 filled in the cells by the rubber roll 2 is applied. It is scraped and weighed. Doctor blade 3 has a thickness of 0.10 to 0.30 m
Some are made of stainless steel or plastic.

The distance between the supply position 7 of the coating material 9 and the contact position 8 of the doctor blade 3 on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 is preferably 1/4 or less of the circumference of the intaglio roll 1. This is because, in the thin film forming apparatus of the present invention, printing is performed while the intaglio roll 1 is repeatedly rotated at high speed, at low speed, and stopped. The amount of the coating material 9 supplied to the surface of the intaglio roll 1 and the amount of the coating material 9 measured by the doctor blade 3 change at each stage. As a result, the amount of coating material 9 held in the cells of the intaglio roll 1 varies. Therefore, the distance on the intaglio roll 1 between the feed position 7 of the coating material 9 and the position where the doctor blade 3 contacts must be shortened within a range that does not cause an unreasonable design of the device. Therefore, in the present invention, the distance is preferably 1/4 or less of the circumference of the intaglio roll 1.

The printing roll 4 is provided with an elastic relief plate at a predetermined position on the surface of the body. As a material for the relief printing plate, a rubber-based synthetic resin such as butyl rubber or ethylene propylene, or a photosensitive rubber or photosensitive resin can be used. The printing roll 4 comes into contact with the intaglio roll 1 at a predetermined pressure, and receives the coating material 9 held in the cells of the intaglio roll 1 on the relief plate on the surface of the printing roll 4. Further stage 1
The printing material 5 placed on the sheet 1 and conveyed below the printing roll 4 is brought into contact with the printing roll 4 at a predetermined pressure, and the coating material 9 on the relief plate of the printing roll 4 is transferred to the surface of the transfer material 5. (See FIGS. 1 and 2). Examples of the coating material 9 include polyimide varnish.

Example 1 A cell group having a predetermined pattern was formed on the surface, and the tangential velocity was 400 m.
An intaglio roll 1 set to rotate at m / sec, a doctor blade 3 made of plastic, and a rubber roll 2 set to rotate at a tangential velocity of 350 mm / sec with ethylene propylene rubber wrapped around the surface (diameter 80 mm) and were placed at predetermined positions. Then, the coating material 9 consisting of the liquid crystal alignment film forming agent is supplied onto the rubber roll 2 from the tip of the nozzle, and the intaglio roll 1 and the rubber roll 2 are brought into pressure contact with each other at a contact pressure (rubber indentation amount conversion) = 0.08 mm, and at the pressure contact position. It was slid and rotated so that the direction of the tangential velocity was the same. Further, a printing roll 4 for receiving the coating material 9 while pressingly contacting the intaglio roll 1 while rotating in synchronization and printing the coating material 9 on the printing medium 5 was installed. When printing was carried out under such settings, the filling of the coating material 9 into the cells was good, and the amount of the liquid crystal alignment film forming agent retained on the surface of the intaglio roll 1 was uniform. Also, since the printing speed was set fast, the printed film surface became smooth. After printing, the liquid crystal alignment film forming agent was heat treated to form a polyimide film, and the final product was measured for film thickness distribution.The average film thickness was as high as 812Å, and the dispersion of film thickness distribution was as low as 32Å. The filling amount of the coating material 9 and the uniformity of the film thickness were good.

Comparative Example 1 When printing was carried out by using a device having substantially the same structure as described above and performing filling and weighing using only the doctor blade 3 without using the rubber roll 2, the ink was transferred into the cells of the intaglio roll 1. Insufficient filling of the liquid crystal alignment film-forming agent of No. 3 caused unevenness in the amount of the liquid crystal alignment film forming agent retained on the surface of the intaglio roll 1. After the printing was completed, the liquid crystal alignment film forming agent was heat-treated to form a polyimide film, and the final product was measured for film thickness distribution. As a result, the average film thickness was 764Å compared with the measurement result of Example 1 of the present invention. Low and variation in film thickness distribution is 44Å
And the filling amount of the coating material 9 and the uniformity of the film thickness were poor.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the coating material is first filled in the cells on the surface of the intaglio roll by pressure contact between the surface of the intaglio roll and the rubber roll, and then the surface of the intaglio roll filled with the coating material is contacted with the doctor blade. The excess coating material that overflows from the cell is weighed. Therefore,
Even when the intaglio roll rotates at a high speed, a sufficient amount of the coating material can be filled in the cells of the intaglio roll and can be accurately measured and held, so that a thin film with high film thickness accuracy can be formed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Intaglio roll 2 Rubber roll 3 Doctor blade 4 Printing roll 5 Printed material 6 Supply device of coating material 7 Supply position of coating material 8 Contact position of doctor blade 9 Coating material 10 Elastic relief plate 11 Stage

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An intaglio roll having a large number of cells on its surface, and a device for dropping a coating material from a nozzle onto the surface of the intaglio roll.
A feeding device, a doctor blade for filling and measuring the coating material supplied to the intaglio roll by contacting the surface of the intaglio roll , and an intaglio roll having an elastic relief plate on the surface.
The coating material in the cell of the intaglio roll is
It is transferred to the surface of the letterpress plate, and then pressed against the substrate to be printed.
In a thin film forming apparatus having a printing roll that transfers the coating material onto the surface of a printing medium, the coating material dropped from a nozzle
A thin film forming apparatus, characterized in that a rubber roll is provided for supplying a coating material by pressing the material once on the surface and then pressing it against the surface of the intaglio roll, and the rubber roll rotates slidingly or synchronously with the intaglio roll. 2. An intaglio roll having a large number of cells on its surface, a feeder for dropping the coating material onto the surface of the intaglio roll from a nozzle, and a coating material supplied to the intaglio roll by contacting the surface of the intaglio roll with the cells. It has a doctor blade for filling and weighing inside, and an intaglio plate with an elastic relief plate on the surface.
The coating material in the cell of the intaglio roll is
It is transferred to the surface of the letterpress plate, and then pressed against the substrate to be printed.
In a thin film forming apparatus having a printing roll that transfers the coating material to the surface of the printing medium , the coating material is applied to the surface of the intaglio roll.
It is characterized in that a rubber roll is provided so as to be directly dropped and pressed against the surface of the intaglio roll between the supply position of the coating material and the contact position of the doctor blade, and the rubber roll rotates slidingly or synchronously with the intaglio roll. Thin film forming equipment. 3. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the pressure contact position of the rubber roll and the contact position of the doctor blade on the surface of the intaglio roll is 1/4 or less of the circumferential length of the intaglio roll. 4. The thin film forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the distance on the surface of the intaglio roll between the supply position of the coating material and the contact position of the doctor blade is 1/4 or less of the circumference of the intaglio roll.