KR101639774B1 - Method for manufacturing nozzle head based on mems and the nozzle head - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly and a nozzle head assembly, comprising: a nozzle substrate; A nozzle tip protruding downward from a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and having a nozzle hole vertically penetrating therethrough; A moving groove formed on the lower surface of the nozzle substrate, the moving groove being concave in the top surface direction around the nozzle tip; A vacuum operation hole disposed so as to be spaced apart from the nozzle tip and passing through the moving groove in a vertical direction and a glass member attached to a bottom surface of the nozzle substrate and partially opposed to the nozzle tip, , The liquid stem can be jetted finely and continuously from the beginning of the jetting, and the supply and blocking of the liquid jetted from the nozzle can be freely adjusted.

Description

≪ Desc / Clms Page number 1 > METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING NOZZLE HEAD BASED ON MEMS AND THE NOZZLE HEAD < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly and a nozzle head assembly, and more particularly to a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly and a nozzle head assembly capable of continuously injecting fine liquid stem .

Along with the rapid development of the advanced information technology industry, the delivery of high-speed information has come to a society in which information such as text, voice, and images can be exchanged without restriction of time and place.

This medium of information transmission has been developed as a starting point of CRT, and now it has become a small size flat display such as LCD, PDP, LED, UHD and high speed mobile communication terminal, PDA and Web Pad which can meet ergonomics and high function. The display market is changing rapidly, and the display market is constantly evolving due to the demand for convenience.

Various application markets are becoming more active on the basis of high quality and low power consumption of flat panel displays, and OLEDs are attracting attention as LCDs and PDPs as next generation displays.

OLED has made a number of technological advances since 1987, when Eastman Kodak's Tang succeeded in glowing light from laminated organic materials at high brightness.

OLED has been regarded as a so-called 'dream display' because it has excellent image quality in terms of brightness, contrast ratio, response speed, color reproduction rate and visibility, and merits that the manufacturing process is simple and inexpensive.

However, due to short life span and low yield, OLED has been difficult to commercialize. Due to the rapid progress of LCD related technology, the OLED market has become too narrow to enter the market and its commercialization has been delayed.

In recent years, the global display industry has solved a great deal of technical problems, and related companies such as Korea, Japan and Taiwan are beginning mass production.

In OLED, excitons are formed by recombination of holes and electrons injected through an anode and a cathode into an organic thin film, and the excitons are returned to a stable state, Emitting display device.

The OLED with the simplest structure consists of a cathode for injecting electrons, a cathode for injecting holes, and an organic thin film for emitting light. In addition, a functional layer for injecting and transporting electrons or holes is added to improve carrier recombination and luminescence characteristics .

The organic thin film formation technology includes a large area deposition technique using FMM (Fine Metal Mask), a patterning technique using a laser, and a printing technique using a liquid-based inking material.

The large-area deposition technique is classified into an evaporation source technique and a mask technique. The evaporation source technique includes a conventional evaporation source and a line evaporation source for large-area deposition, a gas deposition technique, and a vertical and horizontal evaporation source depending on the deposition direction And the mask technology includes aligner mechanism technology and pattern mask technology.

In addition, printing techniques include inkjet, offset, gravure, and flexo using a polymer light emitting solution and a conductive solution.

In the case of the printing technique, the liquid is moved to the nozzle head and then discharged.

On the other hand, when the printing technique is applied for the formation of an OLED pixel or the like, it is necessary to spray the liquid finely and continuously through the nozzle head.

In order to satisfy these requirements, nozzles of various structures and shapes have been developed, but no nozzles have been able to continuously spray continuously without interruption from the beginning of the spraying.

For example, as shown in Fig. 1, a phenomenon of accumulation of liquid at the nozzle tip portion occurs at the initial stage of injection, and is supplied at a large flow rate for a predetermined time (see Fig. 1 (a) (See Fig. 1 (b)).

If the flow rate is insufficient, the gas can be continuously injected and then can be switched back and forth discontinuously at any moment (see Fig. 1 (c)).

Thus, according to the prior art, there is always a problem of coating failure due to the accumulation of liquid at the initial stage of injection, so that a part of the panel is excluded from the product, resulting in a waste of material.

Further, in the case of forming a somewhat complicated pattern by liquid application, there is a disadvantage that a pattern formed at the beginning can not be used.

Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0525720 (November 2, 2005)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for dispensing liquid from a nozzle, The present invention provides a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly and a nozzle head assembly that are adjustable.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly and a nozzle head assembly capable of uniformly applying a thin film of 100 nm or less without defects.

In order to achieve the above object, a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention includes:

A nozzle substrate;

A nozzle tip protruding downward from a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and having a nozzle hole vertically penetrating therethrough;

A moving groove formed on the lower surface of the nozzle substrate so as to be concave upward in the periphery of the nozzle tip;

A vacuum operation hole disposed so as to be spaced apart from the nozzle tip and vertically penetrating through the movement groove; And

And a portion of the glass substrate, which is attached to a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and is opposed to the nozzle tip, includes a penetrating glass.

And a flow space is formed between the bottom of the moving groove and the upper surface of the glass.

And a solution supply line and a vacuum-cleaning liquid action line are connected to the upper surface of the nozzle substrate.

The solution supply line and the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line are connected to a nozzle back plate, and the nozzle back plate is attached to the upper surface of the nozzle substrate.

The nozzle substrate is characterized in that at least two nozzle tips are formed and at least one vacuum operation hole is formed.

Wherein the nozzle substrate is formed in a rectangular shape, a flow space is extended along two adjacent sides of the nozzle substrate, a vacuum action hole is formed at an end of the flow space along one side of the two sides, And two or more nozzle tips communicating with the flow space along one side are arranged in a row in parallel with the remaining one side.

And a connection space is formed between the nozzle tip and the flow space along the remaining one side.

Sectional area of the flow space along one side of the two sides is larger than the sectional area of the flow space along the remaining one side and the sectional area of the flow space along the remaining one side is formed to be larger than the sectional area of the connection space .

And a guide bar for aligning the nozzle tips is formed between the remaining one side and the flow space along the remaining one side.

The nozzle tips, the vacuum action holes, and the connection space communicate with each other, and the nozzle tips formed respectively in the two sets are arranged in parallel with the remaining one side .

At least one solution supply line is provided, and the one solution supply line is connected to at least one nozzle tip.

The liquid is recovered through the vacuum operation hole to stop the application of the liquid during the vacuum operation, and the liquid is applied during the release of the vacuum.

And is configured to be able to apply various shapes by controlling a vacuum operation time and a vacuum release time.

On the other hand, the liquid supply apparatus according to the present invention includes the aforementioned nozzle head assembly,

An intermediate storage tank is connected to the vacuum operation hole, and a vacuum pump and a recovery tank are separately connected to the intermediate storage tank.

In this case, a cleaning liquid supply pump is connected to the intermediate storage tank, and a cleaning liquid storage tank is connected to the intermediate storage tank.

And the purge device 1 is connected to the vacuum operation hole and the intermediate storage tank.

And a purge device 2 branched separately from the vacuum pump is connected to the intermediate storage tank.

The object of the present invention as described above is to enable the liquid stem to be ejected finely and continuously from the beginning of the ejection and to freely control the supply and blocking of the liquid ejected from the nozzle.

According to the present invention, there is also an advantage that a thin film of 100 nm or less can be uniformly applied without defects

In addition, according to the present invention, vacuum suction through a nozzle head or cleaning of a nozzle head can be easily performed in one place.

1 is a photograph showing a state in which liquid is sprayed by a nozzle head assembly according to the prior art.
2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a configuration of a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention.
3 is a bottom view showing a configuration of a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention.
4 is a view showing a configuration of a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention.
5 (a) and 5 (b) are photographs showing a shape in which liquid is sprayed by a liquid supply device including a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention.
6 (a) is a view showing a periodically changing vacuum suction ON / OFF according to the present invention, and Fig. 6 (b) is a photograph showing a pattern formed on an actual panel.
7 is a view showing an example in which a rectangular pattern is formed by a liquid supply apparatus including a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention.
8A is a bottom view showing the structure of a nozzle substrate of a nozzle head assembly including a multi-nozzle tip according to the present invention.
8B is a bottom view showing another example of a nozzle back plate of a nozzle head assembly including a multi-nozzle tip according to the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying FIGS. 2 to 8. FIG.

The structure of the nozzle head assembly manufactured by the present invention is as shown in FIGS.

2, the nozzle head assembly 1000 according to the present invention includes a nozzle substrate 10, a nozzle tip 15 protruding downward from the lower surface of the nozzle substrate 10, A nozzle hole 20 through which the liquid is injected and which is formed so as to penetrate the nozzle substrate 10 and the nozzle substrate 10 upward and downward; A vacuum operation hole 90 formed in the moving groove 30 so as to be spaced apart from the nozzle tip 15 and vertically penetrating the nozzle hole 15; The portion opposite to the nozzle tip 15 includes a penetrating glass 40.

The solution supply line 200 and the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300 are preferably connected to the upper surface of the nozzle substrate 10.

A flow space 32 is formed between the bottom of the moving groove 30 and the upper surface of the glass 40 so that a vacuum or a cleaning liquid flows through the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300.

The solution supply line 200 and the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300 are connected to the nozzle back plate 400 and the nozzle back plate 400 may be attached to the upper surface of the nozzle substrate 10.

Figure 3 shows a bottom view of the nozzle head assembly 1000.

3, a circular groove 15a having a diameter larger than the diameter of the nozzle tip 15 is formed around the nozzle tip 15 of the nozzle substrate 10, A plurality of guide grooves 15b are formed between the nozzle tips 15 along the circumference of the nozzle tip 15. Between the circular grooves 15a and the vacuum operation holes 90, Is formed.

The liquid jetted from the nozzle tip 15 is uniformly divided and moved by the guide groove 15b, so that it is possible to more reliably recover the liquid.

8A, two or more nozzle tips 15 are formed on the nozzle substrate 10 and one or more vacuum operation holes 90 may be formed.

Specifically, the nozzle substrate 10 is formed in a rectangular shape, and a flow space 32 is extended along two adjacent sides of the nozzle substrate 10, and a flow along one side of the two sides is formed. A vacuum action hole 90 is formed at an end of the space 32a and a nozzle tip 15 communicating with the flow space 32b along the remaining one side is arranged in two or more lines .

With such a configuration, it is possible to arrange the nozzle tips 15 as many as possible at a predetermined interval on one side of the nozzle substrate 10, and uniform and smooth suction can be performed.

A connection space 35 is formed between the nozzle tip 15 and the flow space 32b along the remaining one side so that the suction can be smoothly performed through the flow space 32. [

The cross sectional area of the flow space 32a along one side of the two sides is larger than the cross sectional area of the flow space 32b along the remaining one side and the cross sectional area of the flow space 32a along the remaining one side is Sectional area of the connection space (35).

As a result, smooth suction can be performed from the nozzle tip 15 to the vacuum pump (not shown).

A guide bar 17 for aligning the nozzle tip 15 is formed between the remaining one side and the flow space 32a along the remaining one side.

As shown in the drawing, the guide bar 17 serves as a guide for adjusting the interval between nozzles when the number of nozzles is doubled by disposing the flow spaces 32a and 32b opposite to each other.

The flow spaces 32a and 32b are formed in two sets and the nozzle tips 15, the vacuum operation holes 90 and the connection space 35 are communicated with the respective flow spaces, The tips 15 are arranged in parallel with the remaining one side.

At least one solution supply line 200 is provided, and one solution supply line 200 is connected to at least one nozzle tip 15.

Particularly, when connected to two or more nozzle tips 15 on one liquid supply line 200, the structure is simplified, and manufacturing is facilitated.

4, a liquid supply apparatus 2000 including a nozzle head assembly according to the present invention is characterized in that an intermediate storage tank 500 is connected to the vacuum-cleaning liquid operation line 300, A vacuum pump 550 and a recovery tank 520 are separately connected to the storage tank 500.

Accordingly, when vacuum is applied to the vacuum-cleaning liquid operation line 300 by operating the vacuum pump 550, the liquid discharged from the nozzle tip 15 flows into the intermediate storage tank 500.

Meanwhile, a cleaning liquid supply pump 600 is connected to the intermediate storage tank 500, and a cleaning liquid storage tank 510 is connected to the intermediate storage tank 500.

Accordingly, when the cleaning liquid supply pump 600 is operated, the cleaning liquid in the cleaning liquid storage tank 510 passes through the flow space 32 through the vacuum-cleaning liquid operation line 300 to clean the nozzle tip 15.

The recovery tank 520 is a component for collecting the application liquid contained in the intermediate storage tank 500 or the like and may be reused when the collected application liquid is in a good condition.

The intermediate storage tank 500 is connected to a purge apparatus 2 (560) which branches separately from the vacuum pump 550.

The liquid in the pipeline between the intermediate storage tank 500 and the vacuum pump 550 is driven by the purge device 2 560 to be accommodated in the intermediate storage tank 500.

The purge device 1 320 is connected to the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300 and the intermediate storage tank 500 so that the cleaning liquid on the flow path can be reused by being housed in the cleaning liquid storage tank 510 .

The paths connecting the intermediate storage tank 500, the cleaning liquid storage tank 510, the recovery tank 520, the vacuum pump 550, the purge device 1 320 and the purge device 2 560 are connected to valves 1 - A valve 7 is provided to open and close the path according to the operating mode.

Hereinafter, an example of applying the liquid using the liquid supply apparatus including the nozzle head assembly having the above-described configuration with reference to Fig. 4 will be described.

The following description is based on an example in which the application is performed from the start to the end of coating at a predetermined interval using the liquid supply device and another application is performed at a predetermined interval.

(1) Cleaning mode

As shown in Table 1 below, the cleaning operation of the nozzle is performed before the liquid is supplied using the nozzle head.

[Table 1]

To do this, initially keep all valves (valves 1 to 7) closed, then open valves 1, 3, 2 in sequence.

Then, the cleaning liquid supply pump 600 is operated to cause the cleaning liquid to be supplied to the nozzle tip 15 through the vacuum-cleaning liquid operation line 300.

As a result, the nozzle tip 15 is cleanly cleaned.

At this stage, the supply of the liquid through the nozzle hole 20 is maintained in the cutoff state.

(2) Purge mode

As shown in Table 2 below, the opened valve 2 is closed and the purge apparatus 1 (320) is operated while the valve 7 is opened, so that the cleaning liquid left in the pipeline is completely pushed out into the cleaning liquid storage tank 510.

As a result, a clean state in which the cleaning liquid remains on the pipeline is maintained.

[Table 2]

(3) Vacuum suction mode 1

As shown in Table 3 below, the valves 7 and 3 that were opened are closed and the purge device 1 (320) is turned off.

On the other hand, the valve 4 is opened to operate the vacuum pump 550.

As a result, a vacuum acts on the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300, and the liquid discharged through the nozzle tip 15 is received in the intermediate storage tank 500.

[Table 3]

(4) Aspiration stop mode 1 / Coating mode (coating start)

As shown in Table 4, the opened valve 1 is closed and the valve 5 is opened, and then the purge device 2 (560) is operated.

The liquid in the pipeline between the intermediate storage tank 500 and the vacuum pump 550 is cleanly pushed out to the intermediate storage tank 500 by the purge device 2 (560).

Then, the valves 2, 3, 6 and 7 are kept closed.

As the vacuum condition breaks in the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300, liquid is continuously supplied to the panel through the nozzle tip 15.

This step is maintained until the application is completed over a predetermined section where application is performed.

[Table 4]

(5) Vacuum suction mode 2 (dispense off / intermediate storage)

As shown in Table 5, the valve 5 is closed, the operation of the purge device 2 (560) is stopped, and the valve 1 is opened.

Valves 2, 3, 6 and 7 keep the closed state.

Accordingly, a vacuum acts on the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300, and the liquid discharged through the nozzle tip 15 is received in the intermediate storage tank 500.

It is possible to control the selective coating (coating) using the modes (4) and (5).

It is possible to selectively control the vacuum suction for the suction stop for coating or the transfer of the nozzle tip 15 toward the area to be coated in a state in which the liquid is being discharged.

[Table 5]

(6) Recovery mode

As shown in Table 6, valves 1 and 4 are closed, valves 5 and 6 are opened, and purge device 2 (560) is activated.

Valves 2, 3 and 7 are still closed.

Accordingly, the liquid contained in the intermediate storage tank 500 moves to the recovery tank 520.

[Table 6]

Through the above steps (1) to (6), one process in which the liquid is applied to the panel through the nozzle tip 15 is completed.

(7) Vacuum suction mode 3

As shown in Table 7, valves 5 and 6 are closed, valves 4 and 1 are opened, and valves 2, 3 and 7 are closed.

In this state, the nozzle tip 15 can be moved at a predetermined interval.

[Table 7]

(8) Aspiration stop mode 2 / dispensing mode (coating start)

As the vacuum state is broken in the vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300, as shown in [Table 8], the liquid is supplied to the panel through the nozzle tip 15 with the nozzle tip 15 being transported at a predetermined interval Continuously supplied.

On the other hand, the purge device 2 operates to move the liquid contained in the intermediate storage tank 500 to the recovery tank 520 and recover it.

[Table 8]

According to the present invention, the application is made by a simple operation of turning ON / OFF the vacuum suction without changing the flow rate of the liquid sprayed through the nozzle tip 15. [

Actually, the shape of the liquid sprayed by the nozzle assembly according to the present invention is photographed using a CCD camera, as shown in Fig. 5, by no vacuum suction (see Fig. 5 (a)), (Fig. 5 (b)).

That is, there is no disadvantage that the liquid sprayed on the panel is initially aggregated.

It is easy to apply a stripe-shaped pattern by using such a vacuum suction property.

That is, as shown in Figs. 6 (a) and 6 (b), when the vacuum suction ON / OFF is periodically changed and the vacuum suction is turned off for a predetermined time at a constant flow rate, a pattern of a very uniform width and thickness is formed On the other hand, when the vacuum is drawn, the liquid does not contact the panel, so that a patternless section is formed.

On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 7, when a plurality of nozzles are provided and vacuum suction and suction release are suitably applied, a large number of rectangular patterns having a predetermined area can also be applied.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 8A, the nozzle tip 15 may be formed of a plurality of nozzle tips. In this case, a suitable nozzle back plate 400 is required.

8B shows various configurations of the nozzle back plate 400 with respect to the multi-nozzle tip 15. As shown in Fig.

As shown in FIG. 8A, the plate-shaped nozzle body portion has two vacuum action holes 90 including a nozzle tip 15 composed of eighteen pieces, each consisting of nine pieces centered on the center, .

In addition, the nozzle back plate 400 is provided with a vacuum-cleaning liquid action line 300 for supplying vacuum or cleaning liquid one by one, and six liquid supply lines 200 are formed to form three nozzle tips 15 As shown in FIG.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

10 ... silicon substrate
15 ... Nozzle tip
20 ... nozzle hole
30 ... Go Home
32 ... flow space
40 ... glass
90 ... Vacuum operation hole
200 ... solution supply line
300 ... Vacuum - Cleaning fluid action line
320 ... purge device 1
400 ... nozzle back plate
500 ... intermediate storage tank
510 ... cleaning liquid storage tank
520 ... Recirculation tank
560 ... purge device 2
550 ... Vacuum pump
600 ... rinse solution supply pump
2000 ... liquid supply device

Claims (18)

In a nozzle head assembly,
A nozzle substrate;
A nozzle tip protruding downward from a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and having a nozzle hole vertically penetrating therethrough;
A moving groove formed on the lower surface of the nozzle substrate so as to be concave upward in the periphery of the nozzle tip;
A vacuum operation hole disposed so as to be spaced apart from the nozzle tip and vertically penetrating through the movement groove; And
And a glass attached to a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and partially opposed to the nozzle tip, the glass being penetrated,
Wherein a circular groove having a diameter larger than the diameter of the nozzle tip is formed in the periphery of the nozzle tip of the nozzle substrate and a plurality of guide grooves are formed between the circular groove and the nozzle tip along the periphery of the nozzle tip, And a flow space is formed between the circular groove and the vacuum operation hole.
The method according to claim 1,
And a flow space is formed between the bottom of the moving groove and the upper surface of the glass.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a liquid supply line communicating with the nozzle hole and a vacuum-cleaning liquid operation line communicating with the vacuum operation hole are connected to the upper surface of the nozzle substrate.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the solution supply line and the vacuum-rinse solution action line are coupled to a nozzle back plate, wherein the nozzle back plate is attached to an upper surface of the nozzle substrate.
delete The method of claim 3,
Wherein at least two nozzle tips are formed on the nozzle substrate and at least one vacuum operation hole is formed.
In a nozzle head assembly,
A nozzle substrate;
A nozzle tip protruding downward from a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and having a nozzle hole vertically penetrating therethrough;
A moving groove formed on the lower surface of the nozzle substrate so as to be concave upward in the periphery of the nozzle tip;
A vacuum operation hole disposed so as to be spaced apart from the nozzle tip and vertically penetrating through the movement groove; And
And a glass attached to a lower surface of the nozzle substrate and partially opposed to the nozzle tip, the glass being penetrated,
Wherein the nozzle substrate is formed in a rectangular shape, a flow space is extended along two adjacent sides of the nozzle substrate, a vacuum action hole is formed at an end of the flow space along one side of the two sides, Wherein two or more nozzle tips communicating with the flow space along one side are arranged in a row in parallel with the remaining one side.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein a connection space is formed between the nozzle tip and the flow space along the remaining one side.
9. The method of claim 8,
Sectional area of the flow space along one side of the two sides is larger than the sectional area of the flow space along the remaining one side and the sectional area of the flow space along the remaining one side is formed to be larger than the sectional area of the connection space Wherein the nozzle head assembly comprises:
8. The method of claim 7,
And a guide bar for aligning the nozzle tip is formed between the remaining one side and the flow space along the remaining one side.
9. The method of claim 8,
The nozzle tips, the vacuum action holes, and the connection space communicate with each other, and the nozzle tips formed respectively in the two sets are arranged in parallel with the remaining one side . ≪ / RTI >
The method of claim 3,
Wherein at least one of the solution supply lines is provided and the one solution supply line is connected to at least one nozzle tip.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the liquid is recovered through the vacuum operation hole during the vacuum operation to stop the application of the liquid, and the liquid is applied during the vacuum release.
14. The method of claim 13,
Wherein a vacuum operation time and a vacuum release time are controlled to allow application of various shapes.
A nozzle head assembly as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 and 6 to 14,
Wherein an intermediate storage tank is connected to the vacuum operation hole, and a vacuum pump and a recovery tank are separately connected to the intermediate storage tank.
16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the intermediate storage tank is connected to a cleaning liquid supply pump and is connected to a cleaning liquid storage tank.
16. The method of claim 15,
And a purge device (1) is connected to the vacuum operation hole and the intermediate storage tank.
16. The method of claim 15,
Wherein the intermediate storage tank is connected to a purge device (2) which is branched separately from the vacuum pump.

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