JP2005118672A - Action evaluation method for drawing device and drawing device, method for manufacturing electro-optical device, electro-optical device and electronic instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an action evaluation method for a drawing device capable of specifying a cause for delivery failure occurring in a delivery nozzle at maintenance of a function liquid drop delivery head, and a drawing device. <P>SOLUTION: The action evaluation method for the drawing device for carrying out drawing action for drawing on a work by the function liquid drop by driving the function liquid drop delivery head; and maintenance action for carrying out the maintenance of the function liquid drop delivery head using a head maintenance means comprises a drawing step for drawing a predetermined test pattern on the function liquid drop delivery head after the maintenance; an image recognition step for image-recognizing the drawn test pattern; a drawing failure determination step for determining whether or not the drawing failure is generated based on the image recognition; a failure specifying step for specifying which of the function liquid drop delivery head itself and the action of maintenance is the cause for the drawing failure based on the image recognition when it is determined as the drawing failure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an operation evaluation method and a drawing apparatus for a drawing apparatus that performs drawing on a workpiece using a functional liquid droplet ejection head, a method for manufacturing an electro-optical apparatus, an electro-optical apparatus, and an electronic apparatus.

  The drawing apparatus includes a functional liquid droplet ejection head in which ejection nozzles are formed. By selectively driving the functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the functional liquid droplet ejection head relative to the workpiece, the drawing apparatus is slightly disengaged from the ejection nozzle. Functional droplets (dots) are ejected with high accuracy, and drawing is performed on the workpiece.

The discharge nozzle applied to the drawing device is prone to clogging that causes discharge failure due to the characteristics of the functional fluid to be introduced and the inclusion of bubbles, etc., so the discharge nozzle prevents clogging of the discharge nozzle. In order to ensure an appropriate ejection function, a maintenance operation is performed on the functional droplet ejection head immediately before drawing using a head maintenance device. Specifically, the functional liquid is sucked from the discharge nozzle of the functional liquid droplet ejection head using the cleaning unit, and the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet discharge head is wiped after the functional liquid is sucked using the wiping unit. (Wiping) is performed. Furthermore, after the completion of such a maintenance operation, the drawing apparatus draws an inspection pattern (test pattern) on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and detects ejection defects of the ejection nozzles based on the test pattern. It is possible to prevent dot dropout when performing and to obtain an appropriate drawing result.
JP 2003-251243 A

  By the way, the ejection failure of the ejection nozzle is caused by the malfunction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself and the head maintenance device, in addition to the above-described characteristics of the functional liquid and mixing of bubbles. In addition, the maintenance operation of the head maintenance device for the functional liquid droplet ejection head is originally intended to prevent clogging of the functional liquid droplet ejection head and to recover its function, but depending on the operating conditions of the maintenance operation, On the contrary, the maintenance operation may cause a discharge failure such as clogging and may adversely affect the functional liquid droplet discharge head. Therefore, in order to prevent the discharge failure of the discharge nozzle and obtain an appropriate drawing result, the actual failure cause is identified from the plurality of possible failure causes, and maintenance corresponding to the identified failure cause is performed. It is necessary to do.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a drawing apparatus operation evaluation method, a drawing apparatus, an electro-optical device manufacturing method, and an electro-optical device, which can specify the cause when a discharge failure occurs in a discharge nozzle in maintenance of a functional liquid droplet discharge head. It is an object to provide an apparatus and an electronic device.

  The present invention drives a functional liquid droplet ejection head while relatively moving a functional liquid droplet ejection head formed by aligning a plurality of ejection nozzles with respect to a workpiece, whereby functional liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection nozzle. After maintenance in a drawing apparatus operation evaluation method for performing a drawing operation for performing drawing with the functional liquid droplets on the workpiece and a maintenance operation for performing maintenance of the functional liquid droplet ejection head using the head maintenance means. A drawing process for drawing a predetermined test pattern on the liquid droplet ejection head, an image recognition process for recognizing the drawn test pattern, and a drawing defect for judging whether or not a drawing defect has occurred based on the image recognition Determine whether the cause of the drawing failure is due to the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or maintenance operation based on the image recognition and the judgment process That the defect specification step, characterized by comprising a.

  The present invention also provides a functional liquid ejected from the ejection nozzle by driving the functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the functional liquid droplet ejection head formed by aligning a plurality of ejection nozzles with respect to the workpiece. The above-mentioned function after maintenance in a drawing apparatus which performs a drawing operation for discharging a droplet and drawing a functional droplet on a work and a maintenance operation for maintaining a functional droplet discharge head using a head maintenance means A drawing means for drawing a predetermined test pattern on the droplet discharge head, an image recognition means for recognizing the drawn test pattern, and a drawing defect judgment means for judging whether or not a drawing defect has occurred based on the image recognition And, when it is determined that the drawing is defective, based on the image recognition, the defect that specifies whether the cause of the drawing failure is due to the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or the maintenance operation Characterized by comprising a constant means.

  According to these configurations, it is determined (determined) whether or not the functional liquid droplets are appropriately ejected from the functional liquid droplet ejection head based on the test pattern drawn after the maintenance operation of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. Therefore, it is possible to determine the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head while reflecting the influence of the maintenance operation. In other words, it is possible to determine the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head in a state where the influence of the maintenance operation on the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself and the maintenance operation on the functional liquid droplet ejection head are combined. Also, based on the image recognition of the test pattern, it is specified whether the cause of the drawing failure is due to the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or the maintenance operation, so by performing maintenance corresponding to the specified cause of failure, It is possible to promptly lead to a state in which functional liquid droplets are appropriately ejected from the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and it is possible to improve the maintainability of the apparatus. That is, it is possible to prevent the maintenance related to the maintenance operation from being performed even though the functional liquid droplet ejection head is defective. It should be noted that the test pattern drawing (by the drawing step or drawing means) is preferably performed immediately after the maintenance of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is completed.

  In this case, it is preferable that the drawing defect determination step determines that the drawing is defective when any functional droplet that does not satisfy a preset reference condition is detected among all the functional droplets constituting the test pattern. .

  According to this configuration, if even one functional droplet that does not satisfy the reference condition is detected based on the image recognition, it is determined that the drawing is defective. This is because even if one functional droplet that does not satisfy the reference condition is ejected, the drawing result may be adversely affected. Therefore, when only one functional droplet that does not satisfy the reference condition is detected, it is possible to obtain a highly accurate drawing result and to improve the manufacturing yield by determining that the drawing is defective. Can do.

  In this case, when it is determined that the drawing failure is determined by the drawing failure determining step, the maintenance operation is performed again on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and after the maintenance is performed again, the test pattern is redrawn on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and redrawing is performed. The test pattern is further re-recognized, and a re-judgment step for re-determining whether or not a drawing defect has occurred in the re-image-recognized test pattern is provided. The defect identification step re-draws the test pattern drawn in the re-judgment step. It is preferable to specify the cause of the drawing failure when it is determined to be defective.

  In this case, when it is determined that the drawing is defective, the maintenance operation is performed again on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and after the maintenance is performed again, the test pattern is redrawn on the functional liquid droplet ejection head. Re-recognizing means for re-recognizing and re-determining whether or not a drawing defect has occurred in the re-image-recognized test pattern, and the failure identifying means determines that the test pattern drawn by the re-determining means is a drawing defect again. When it is done, it is preferable to identify the cause of the drawing failure. The redrawing of the test pattern is preferably performed immediately after the functional liquid droplet ejection head is re-maintained.

  According to this configuration, even if it is determined that the drawing is defective, the test pattern is drawn again and a determination (determination) based on the test pattern is performed again. Judgment of ejection failure can be made. That is, when a discharge failure is determined only once, it is determined as a discharge failure that occurs by chance (for example, a discharge failure due to a work set error or the like). In this way, by requesting reproducibility of the drawing defect, there is a high possibility that the defective ejection of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is judged when the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or the maintenance operation itself is the cause of the malfunction. . The test pattern is for identifying the discharge nozzle that has caused the discharge failure as a defective nozzle from the drawing result.

  In this case, the defect specifying step includes a first defective nozzle specifying step for specifying, as a defective nozzle, a discharge nozzle that discharged the functional liquid droplet that caused the drawing defect based on image recognition in the image recognition step, and a re-determination step. Based on the re-image recognition, the second defective nozzle identifying step for identifying the defective nozzle is compared with the generation mode of the defective nozzle identified in the first defective nozzle identifying step and the second defective nozzle identifying step, and the drawing defect It is preferable to include a cause specifying step for specifying whether the cause of this is a functional liquid droplet ejection head or a maintenance operation.

  Further, in this case, the defect specifying unit includes a first defective nozzle specifying unit that specifies, as a defective nozzle, a discharge nozzle that has discharged the functional liquid droplet that has caused the drawing defect based on image recognition by the image recognition unit. Based on the re-image recognition by the judging means, the second defective nozzle specifying means for specifying the defective nozzle is compared with the generation mode of the defective nozzle specified by the first defective nozzle specifying means and the second defective nozzle specifying means, It is preferable to have cause identifying means for identifying whether the cause of the drawing failure is the functional liquid droplet ejection head or the maintenance operation.

  According to these configurations, the cause of the drawing failure is determined by comparing the occurrence modes of the defective nozzles obtained based on the drawing of the test pattern performed twice for judging the drawing failure. It is possible to specify whether the head is in the maintenance operation. That is, paying attention to the occurrence mode of defective nozzles that cause drawing defects, and comparing them, the tendency of drawing defects can be recognized, and the cause of drawing defects can be identified.

  In this case, the cause identification step causes the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself to cause the drawing failure if the generation mode of the defective nozzles identified in the first defective nozzle identification step and the second defective nozzle identification step is the same. It is preferable to identify the cause.

  According to this configuration, when the defective nozzles are generated in the same manner in both steps, the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself can be specified as the cause of the drawing failure. This is because the defective nozzles are generated in the same manner, and the defective drawing continuously occurs because it can be determined that there is a high possibility that the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself has a defect. In other words, if there is a cause of failure on the head maintenance device side, even if the reason for failure is the same, there is a low possibility that the discharge nozzles that are defective nozzles will be consistent. In addition, the generation mode of a defective nozzle is the concept which combined the generation | occurrence | production location of a defective nozzle, and the reason for the defect determined to be a defective nozzle.

  In this case, the cause identifying step is a cause of the drawing defect when the defective nozzle generation modes in the first defective nozzle identifying step and the second defective nozzle identifying step are different, and the reason for the defective defective nozzles in both steps is different. Is preferably identified as being caused by a maintenance operation.

  According to this configuration, when the defective nozzle generation mode is different in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step, and the reason for the failure in both steps is different, the cause of the drawing failure is caused by the maintenance operation. Can be specified. This is because the accuracy of the maintenance operation is not stable, and it is considered that the discharge state becomes unstable if maintenance is performed on the functional droplet discharge head.

  In this case, in the cause identification step, when the defective nozzle generation modes in the first defective nozzle identification step and the second defective nozzle identification step are different from each other, the reasons for the defective nozzles in both steps coincide with each other, and the reason for the defect Is not the deviation of the landing position of the functional liquid droplets, it is preferable to specify that the cause of the drawing failure is due to the maintenance operation.

  According to this configuration, even when the defective nozzle generation modes in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step are different, if the reason for the defective nozzle is the same, in principle, the drawing defect It can be specified that the cause is caused by the maintenance operation. This is because if the reason for failure does not change, there is a high possibility that the maintenance action on the functional liquid droplet ejection head by the maintenance operation is insufficient. Note that even when the liquid repellent film on the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is damaged, the generation mode of the defective nozzle is different and the reason for the defective defective nozzle may be the same. If there is a shift in the landing position caused by damage, this is excluded.

  In this case, in the cause specifying step, when the generation mode of the defective nozzle in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step is different, the reason for the defective nozzle in both steps is the landing position of the functional droplet. It is preferable to specify that the cause of the drawing failure is caused by the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself when the deviation directions of all the functional liquid droplets that are coincident with each other and are substantially identical in both steps substantially coincide with each other. .

  According to this configuration, when the defective nozzle generation modes in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step are different from each other, the reason for the failure in both steps is the deviation of the landing position of the functional liquid droplet (flight bend). When it does, when the displacement directions of all the functional droplets that have shifted substantially coincide, it is possible to specify that the cause of the drawing failure is due to the functional droplet discharge head itself. When the liquid-repellent film plated on the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is damaged, especially when the liquid-repellent film is scratched in a specific direction by wiping the nozzle surface, depending on the direction of the scratch In many cases, the landing position shifts in a substantially constant direction. On the other hand, when there is a problem with the maintenance operation, regularity hardly occurs in the landing position shift direction. Therefore, even if the occurrence locations of defective nozzles are different, if the deviation direction of the landing positions of all the functional liquid droplets ejected by these nozzles is substantially constant, there is a possibility that the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself has a cause of ejection failure. It is high. Therefore, if the reason for the failure in both steps is the same due to the deviation of the landing position of the functional liquid droplet (flight bend), and the deviation direction of all functional liquid droplets in which the deviation has occurred in both steps is substantially the same, the drawing failure It can be determined that the cause of this is due to the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself.

  In this case, the maintenance operation is composed of a suction operation for sucking the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle formed in the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and a wiping operation for wiping the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head after the suction operation. It is preferable to further include a failure maintenance operation specifying step for further specifying that the cause of the failure is the suction operation and / or the wiping operation when it is determined that the cause of the drawing failure is the maintenance operation. .

  Further, in this case, the head maintenance device includes a suction unit that sucks the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle formed in the functional liquid droplet discharge head, and a wiping unit that wipes the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet discharge head after the suction operation. And a failure maintenance operation specifying means for further specifying that the cause of the failure is the maintenance operation of the suction means and / or the wiping means when it is determined that the cause of the drawing failure is the maintenance operation. Furthermore, it is preferable to provide.

  According to these configurations, when the maintenance operation includes a suction operation (by the suction unit) and a wiping operation (by the wiping unit), either the suction operation or the wiping operation is a cause of the defect of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. Can be identified. Therefore, maintenance can be performed more pinpointed, and the maintainability of the apparatus can be further improved.

  In this case, it is preferable that the defective maintenance operation specifying step specifies the suction operation as the cause of the defect when the missing dot has occurred in the test pattern. In this case, the defective maintenance operation specifying step preferably specifies the suction operation as the cause of the failure when the landing diameter of the functional liquid droplet constituting the test pattern is too small.

  According to this configuration, if the missing dot is generated in the test pattern due to the defective nozzle, or if the landing diameter of the functional liquid droplet is too small, the suction operation is identified as the defective cause. Can do. This is because bubbles in the head flow path and functional liquid thickened over time, which were not properly excluded from the functional liquid droplet ejection head if the suction operation to the functional liquid droplet ejection head was insufficient, This is because the dot omission and the impact diameter are affected.

  In this case, it is preferable that the defect maintenance operation specifying step specifies the wiping operation as the cause of the defect when the landing position of the functional liquid droplet is shifted in the test pattern. In this case, it is preferable that the defect maintenance operation specifying step specifies the wiping operation as the cause of the defect when the landing diameter of the functional droplet constituting the test pattern is excessive.

  According to this configuration, the cause of the failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is identified based on the test pattern, and the landing position of the functional liquid droplet is displaced due to the flight bending of the ejected functional liquid droplet, When the landing diameter of the function droplet is excessive, the wiping operation can be specified as the cause of the failure.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include an operation condition changing step for changing the operation condition of the maintenance operation specified in the defective maintenance operation specifying step.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include an operation condition changing means for changing the maintenance operation condition of the head maintenance means specified by the defective maintenance operation specifying means.

  According to these configurations, the operating condition of the maintenance operation is changed corresponding to the cause of the drawing failure. Specifically, when the suction operation is determined as the cause of the failure, the suction conditions (for example, suction time and suction pressure) in the suction operation are changed, so that the cause of the failure due to the suction operation can be eliminated. Also, if the wiping operation is judged as the cause of failure, the wiping conditions (for example, the wiping pressure on the nozzle surface, the wiping speed, etc.) in the wiping operation can be changed. The cause can be resolved. Accordingly, it is possible to appropriately perform the wiping operation on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and it is possible to maintain this so that the functional liquid droplet ejection head appropriately ejects the functional liquid droplets. In this case, the operating condition may be changed automatically by the control device or manually based on the user's judgment.

  In this case, it is preferable to further include a failure cause display means for displaying the cause of the specified drawing failure.

  According to this configuration, when the cause of the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is specified, the cause is displayed by the failure cause display means, so that the user can easily recognize the cause of the failure, Maintainability for removing the cause can be improved.

  The electro-optical device manufacturing method of the present invention uses the maintenance method of the drawing apparatus described above or the drawing apparatus described above to form a film-forming portion with functional droplets on a workpiece. It is characterized by.

  In addition, the electro-optical device according to the aspect of the invention uses the maintenance method for the drawing apparatus described above or the drawing apparatus described above to form a film-forming portion using functional liquid droplets on a workpiece. Features.

According to these configurations, since the electro-optical device is manufactured using the drawing device operation evaluation method or the drawing device having a good maintainability by identifying the cause of the malfunction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head, maintenance during the manufacturing is performed. The time required for the production can be reduced and the production can be performed efficiently. Examples of the electro-optical device (device) include a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) device, an electron emission device, a PDP (Plasma Display Panel) device, and an electrophoretic display device. The electron emission device is a so-called FED (Field
It is a concept including an Emission Display (Smission) device or a Surface-Conduction Electron-Emitter Display (SED) device. Further, as the electro-optical device, devices including metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, light diffuser formation, and the like are conceivable.

  An electronic apparatus according to an aspect of the invention includes the electro-optical device manufactured by the above-described electro-optical device manufacturing method or the electro-optical device described above.

  In this case, the electronic apparatus corresponds to various electric products in addition to a mobile phone and a personal computer equipped with a so-called flat panel display.

  As described above, according to the operation evaluation method or the drawing apparatus of the drawing apparatus of the present invention, the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is determined based on the test pattern drawn on the functional liquid droplet ejection head. The cause of ejection failure can be identified. Therefore, at the time of ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head, appropriate maintenance can be performed on the drawing apparatus based on the specified cause. In addition, the maintenance operation of the functional liquid droplet ejection head may adversely affect the function of the functional liquid droplet ejection head. However, in the present invention, the ejection state of the maintained functional liquid droplet ejection head is determined. If the maintenance operation has an adverse effect on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, this can be detected. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the drawing of the defective liquid droplet ejection head on the work, and it is possible to improve the manufacturing yield. Furthermore, the drawing apparatus maintenance method or drawing apparatus of the present invention evaluates whether or not the maintenance operation of the head maintenance device is appropriately performed in order to determine the ejection state of the maintained functional liquid droplet ejection head. Can also be used.

  Since the electro-optical device manufacturing method, the electro-optical device, and the electronic apparatus of the present invention use the above-described drawing device, they can be efficiently manufactured.

  Hereinafter, a drawing apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. This drawing apparatus is incorporated into a so-called flat display production line, and by a droplet discharge method using a functional droplet discharge head, a color filter of a liquid crystal display device, a light emitting element that becomes each pixel of an organic EL device, or the like Is formed. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a drawing apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the drawing apparatus 1 includes a machine base 2 and a functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and a liquid droplet ejection apparatus 3 widely placed over the entire area of the machine base 2, and a liquid droplet ejection apparatus And a maintenance device 4 placed on the machine base 2 so as to be attached to the machine base 2.

  In addition, the drawing apparatus 1 includes a control device 5 that controls the drawing device 1 as a whole. Through the control of the control device 5, drawing on the workpiece W using the droplet discharge device 3 is performed. Maintenance (maintenance) of the droplet discharge device 3 (functional droplet discharge head 16) by the maintenance device 4 is appropriately performed.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the droplet discharge device 3 includes an X / Y movement mechanism including an X-axis table 12 for moving the workpiece W in the main scanning (moving in the X-axis direction) and an X-axis table 13 orthogonal to the X-axis table 12. 11, a main carriage 14 that is movably attached to the X-axis table 13, and a head unit 15 that is suspended from the main carriage 14 and has a functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 mounted thereon. The droplet discharge device 3 synchronizes main scanning (reciprocating movement of the workpiece W) with the X-axis table 12 and discharge driving of the functional droplet discharge head 16 (selective discharge of functional droplets). At the same time, drawing on the workpiece W is performed by appropriately performing sub-scanning (movement of the head unit 15 in the Y-axis direction) by the X-axis table 13.

  The X-axis table 12 has an X-axis slider 21 driven by an X-axis motor (not shown) constituting a drive system in the X-axis direction, and a set table 22 including a suction table 23, a θ table 24, and the like can be moved freely. It is configured on board. Similarly, the X-axis table 13 includes a Y-axis slider 25 that drives a Y-axis motor (not shown) constituting a drive system in the Y-axis direction, and supports the head unit 15 via a θ rotation mechanism 26. The main carriage 14 is mounted movably.

  The X-axis table 12 is disposed in parallel with the maintenance device 4 in the X-axis direction and is directly supported on the machine base 2. On the other hand, the X-axis table 13 is supported by a pair of left and right columns 27 erected on the machine base 2 and extends in the Y-axis direction so as to straddle the X-axis table 12 and the maintenance device 4 (see FIG. 1). In the droplet discharge device 3, the area where the X-axis table 13 and the X-axis table 12 intersect is the drawing area 31 where the workpiece W is drawn, and the area where the X-axis table 13 and the maintenance device 4 intersect is the functional droplet. The X-axis table 13 is a maintenance area 32 where maintenance of the discharge head 16 is performed. The X-axis table 13 is placed in the drawing area 31 when drawing on the work W, and the maintenance area when maintaining the functional droplet discharge head 16. 32, the head unit 15 is allowed to face.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the head unit 15 includes a head plate 41 on which the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is mounted via a head holding member (not shown), and a head support member 42 configured to be detachable from the main carriage 14. And. The main carriage 14 is provided with a θ rotation mechanism 26 that slightly rotates the head unit 15 in the θ direction. The head unit 15 is attached to the main carriage via a head plate 41 supported by the θ rotation mechanism 26. 14 is supported. Although not shown, the head plate 41 is provided with a joint unit having a pipe joint. One end of the piping joint is connected to a head side piping member (not shown) from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 (piping adapter 55), and the other end is a functional liquid supply mechanism that supplies the functional liquid to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. A device-side piping member (not shown) from (not shown) is connected.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 has a so-called double structure, a functional liquid introduction part 51 having two connection needles 52, and a double head substrate that is continuous with the functional liquid introduction part 51. 53, and a head main body 54 which is connected to the lower side of the functional liquid introducing portion 51 and has an in-head flow path filled with the functional liquid therein. Each connection needle 52 is connected to the head-side piping member via a pipe adapter 55, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is supplied with a functional liquid from each connection needle 52. The head body 54 includes a cavity 56 (piezoelectric element) and a nozzle plate 57 having a nozzle surface 58. On the lower surface of the nozzle surface 58, two rows of nozzle rows composed of a large number (180) of discharge nozzles 59 are formed. In the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, the functional liquid is ejected from the ejection nozzle 59 by the pump action of the cavity 56. The nozzle surface 58 is subjected to a liquid repellent treatment in order to prevent flying of functional droplets discharged from the discharge nozzles 59.

  Although not shown in the drawings, the droplet discharge device 3 has a function liquid supply mechanism for supplying a function liquid to each function droplet discharge head 16 and an adsorption for adsorbing and setting the work W on the set table 22 in addition to those described above. A set mechanism and the like are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the maintenance device 4 includes a suction unit 71, a wiping unit 72, and a defect inspection unit 73. These are installed on the machine base 2 and arranged side by side on a moving table 74 configured to be slidable in the X-axis direction. The unit is appropriately moved to the maintenance area 32 via the moving table 74. Further, on the moving table 74, a head observation camera 75 is provided in parallel with each of the above units.

  The suction unit 71 forcibly discharges the functional liquid from the discharge nozzle 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 by sucking the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 (discharge nozzle 59). When the functional liquid filling head 16 is filled with the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, or when the functional liquid thickened in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 or mixed bubbles are removed, the ejection nozzle 59 It is used when suction (cleaning) is performed to prevent clogging.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the suction unit 71 (suction means) includes a cap stand 81, a cap 82 supported by the cap stand 81 and in close contact with the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and the cap 82. A suction pump (not shown) for sucking the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 via the suction head, and a suction tube (not shown) for connecting the cap 82 and the suction pump. Although not shown, the cap stand 81 incorporates a cap raising / lowering mechanism that raises and lowers the cap 82 by driving a motor. The cap stand 81 has a cap for the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 of the head unit 15 facing the maintenance area 32. 82 can be separated. When suctioning the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, the cap lifting mechanism is driven to bring the cap 82 into close contact with the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and the suction pump is driven to drive the cap 82. By applying a suction force to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 via the function liquid, the functional liquid is forcibly discharged from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. Although not shown, a suction pressure detection sensor for detecting the suction pressure and a liquid detection sensor for detecting the presence or absence of the functional liquid passing through the suction tube are provided on the downstream side (suction pump side) of the cap 82 of the suction tube. It has been.

  Note that the cap 82 has a function of a flushing box that receives the functional liquid ejected by the discarding (preliminary ejection) of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and drawing on the workpiece W as when the workpiece W is replaced. The function liquid of the regular flushing performed when stopping temporarily is received. In this case, in order to prevent the flushed functional liquid from splashing out of the cap 82, the cap lifting mechanism is arranged so that the nozzle surface 58 and the cap 82 (the upper surface) of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 are slightly separated from each other. 82 is supported.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the wiping unit 72 (wiping means) is wound in a roll shape and adsorbs dirt, and a winding unit 92 that winds up the wiping sheet 91 while feeding it out. A wiping unit 93 for wiping the fed wiping sheet 91 against the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and a cleaning liquid supply unit 94 for supplying a cleaning liquid to the wiping sheet 91. The wiping sheet 91 is stretched around the wiping unit 93 from the winding unit 92. The wiping operation is mainly performed following the suction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 by the suction unit 71, and the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is covered with a wiping sheet 91 impregnated with a cleaning liquid. By wiping, dirt such as functional liquid and dust adhering to the nozzle surface 58 is removed, and flight bending (displacement of landing position) of functional liquid droplets ejected from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is prevented. It comes to prevent.

  The take-up unit 92 includes a feed reel 95 on which a roll-shaped wiping sheet 91 is mounted, a take-up reel 96 that takes up the fed wiping sheet 91, and a take-up motor (not shown) with an encoder. When the take-up motor is driven and the take-up reel 96 is rotated, the wiping sheet 91 is fed out from the feed-out reel 95, and the winding amount (or take-up speed) of the wiping sheet 91 is detected by the encoder. On the other hand, the wiping sheet 91 fed to the take-up reel 96 is taken up.

  The wiping unit 93 moves the wiping roller 97 away from the nozzle surface 58 by lifting and lowering the wiping roller 97 that contacts the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 via the wiping sheet 91. And an elevating mechanism (not shown). Further, the wiping unit 93 is provided with a wiping pressure detection sensor (not shown) for detecting the pressing force of the wiping sheet 91 against the nozzle surface 58, and the wiping roller 97 is lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism based on the wiping pressure detection sensor. Is adjusted, the pressing force of the wiping sheet 91 can be adjusted. In this embodiment, the wiping sheet 91 is brought into contact with the nozzle surface 58 by moving up and down the wiping roller 97, but the head unit 15 may be moved up and down.

  The cleaning liquid supply unit 94 includes a cleaning liquid tank (not shown), a cleaning liquid nozzle 98 communicating with the cleaning liquid tank, and cleaning liquid dropping means (not shown) for dropping the cleaning liquid stored in the cleaning liquid tank from the cleaning liquid nozzle 98. Yes. The plurality of cleaning liquid nozzles 98 are arranged in a uniform manner so as to face the wiping sheet 91 and to be orthogonal to the feeding direction of the wiping sheet 91 (that is, in the width direction of the wiping sheet 91). The cleaning liquid dropping means drops the cleaning liquid from each cleaning liquid nozzle onto the wiping sheet 91 by introducing the compressed air into the cleaning liquid tank, and the amount of the cleaning liquid dropped by adjusting the amount of the compressed air introduced into the cleaning liquid tank. Can be adjusted.

  The head observation camera 75 faces the maintenance area 32 after the wiping operation by the wiping unit 72 is completed, and images the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. The imaging result is transmitted to the control device 5 and subjected to image processing, so that the remaining wiping of the nozzle surface 58 after completion of wiping can be confirmed. The head observation camera 75 supports the camera body 101 with a lens (not shown) facing upward (toward the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16) and the camera body 101 so that the height can be adjusted (to adjust the focal length). Then, a support stand 102 is provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the defect inspection unit 73 draws a predetermined test pattern on the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 after a series of maintenance operations from suction to wiping of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. In order to detect malfunctions of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, the suction unit 71, and the wiping unit 72 by imaging this, a small substrate 111 for inspection on which a test pattern is drawn is placed ( A mounting table 112 for setting) and an imaging unit 113 for imaging the drawn test pattern. In the present embodiment, the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 that perform maintenance directly on the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 are collectively referred to as a head maintenance device 70.

  The mounting table 112 is disposed on the moving table 74 and is configured to appropriately move in the X-axis direction via the moving table 74. Specifically, the placement table 112 moves to the maintenance area 32 when the test pattern is drawn so that the small substrate 111 faces the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, while the imaging table 113 is moved to the imaging unit 113 when the small substrate 111 is imaged. The small-sized substrate 111 is moved to the facing imaging area 114 and faces a CCD camera (objective lens) 115 of the imaging unit 113 described later.

  The image pickup unit 113 is a CCD camera 115 that picks up a test pattern facing the set small substrate 111, a camera stand 116 that is installed on the machine base 2 so as to straddle the moving table 74, and supports the CCD camera 115, and a camera. A camera moving mechanism (not shown) that is incorporated in the stand 116 and moves the CCD camera 115 in the Y-axis direction, and illumination (not shown) that emits light for imaging. Although not shown, the CCD camera 115 is a camera for changing an imaging magnification (field of view) in addition to an imaging objective lens and a CCD imaging device that converts an image of a functional droplet imaged by the objective lens into an electrical signal. It has a zoom motor for zooming and camera zooming. In addition, it is preferable to comprise illumination with the LED array which can ensure sufficient light quantity and has little thermal influence in an apparatus.

  A series of operations from test pattern drawing to imaging will be described. First, the moving table 74 is driven, the mounting table 112 is moved to the maintenance area 32, and the small substrate 111 is made to face the head unit 15 (FIG. 1). reference). Then, while the small substrate 111 is moved slightly, the functional droplet discharge head 16 is driven to discharge the functional droplet, and a test pattern is drawn on the upper surface of the small substrate 111. The test pattern is a pattern in which the functional liquid droplets ejected from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 are landed one by one in a matrix at predetermined positions and drawn using all the ejection nozzles 59 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. Is done. In addition, each dot (functional droplet) constituting the test pattern and each ejection nozzle 59 of the functional droplet ejection head 16 are associated with each other, and the ejection nozzle 59 that ejects the dot is specified from the position of the dot in the test pattern. It can be done.

  A test pattern may be formed by ejecting one dot at a predetermined position from each ejection nozzle 59 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, but each ejection nozzle may be landed at a different position. It is preferable that a test pattern is formed by discharging a plurality of dots from 59.

  When the drawing of the test pattern is completed, the moving table 74 is driven again so that the mounting table 112 faces the imaging area 114 (see FIG. 4). Then, the entire test pattern drawn on the small substrate 111 is imaged by the CCD camera 115. When the field of view of the CCD camera 115 is narrow and the entire test pattern cannot be imaged at once, the entire field of the test pattern is imaged by expanding the field of view by camera zoom. Alternatively, the test pattern is divided into a plurality of parts, and the CCD camera 115 is moved by the camera moving mechanism (and the moving table 74), and the test pattern is divided (divided) and the test pattern is divided into a plurality of times to perform the test. Image the entire pattern.

  Although details will be described later, an imaging result obtained by the imaging unit 113 (CCD camera) is transmitted to the control device 5 for image recognition. Then, based on this image recognition, it is determined whether or not the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is normally ejecting the functional liquid, and when the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is defective, the cause is the functional liquid droplet ejection. It can be determined whether the head 16 itself or the head maintenance device 70 itself (among them, the suction unit 71 itself, or the wiping unit 72 itself) is present. It has become.

  Note that the defect inspection unit 73 of the present embodiment has a function of ejecting from the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 (each ejection nozzle 59) as in the case where the cause of ejection failure is caused by the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 itself. It is also used when correcting the droplet discharge amount. The ejection amount (volume) of each functional droplet can be calculated based on the test pattern drawing result, and the variation in the functional droplet amount ejected from each ejection nozzle 59 of the functional droplet ejection head 16 can be calculated. The discharge amount of each discharge nozzle 59 can be adjusted by calculating and correcting the drive waveform of each discharge nozzle 59 (piezo piezoelectric element) based on this calculation.

  Specifically, a dedicated small substrate 111 is set on the mounting table 112, functional droplets are ejected from the ejection nozzles 59 of the functional droplet ejection head 16, and a test pattern is drawn. In this case, on the surface of the small substrate 111, the landed functional droplets have a coronal spherical shape, and the angle between the small substrate 111 and the landed functional droplets, that is, the contact angle θ is constant for each type of functional liquid. Special processing is applied.

  Subsequently, the drawn test pattern is imaged, and the controller 5 recognizes the image, and the landing diameters of all the landed dots are measured. Next, based on the landing diameter and contact angle θ of each dot landed on the small substrate 111, the volume of each functional droplet landed on the small substrate 111 is calculated. Then, based on the deviation amount from the predetermined reference discharge amount, the drive waveform of the discharge nozzle 59 that discharges the functional liquid amount deviating from the reference discharge amount is corrected, and all the discharge nozzles 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 are set as the reference. Adjust the discharge amount to discharge. The reference discharge amount may be an average discharge amount of all the discharge nozzles 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 so that the discharge amount of the functional liquid droplets discharged from all the discharge nozzles 59 is substantially constant, and is designed. A value determined in advance for each discharge nozzle may be used as a reference.

  In addition to the above units, the maintenance device 4 includes a storage device for storing the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 in order to prevent the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 from drying when the drawing apparatus 1 is stopped, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. It is preferable to mount a weight measuring unit or the like for measuring the weight of the functional liquid droplets discharged from the liquid crystal.

  The control device 5 is configured by a personal computer or the like, and has an interface 121 for connecting to the droplet discharge device 3 and the maintenance device 4 and a storage area that can be temporarily stored, as shown in FIG. A RAM 122 used as a work area for control processing, a ROM 123 having various storage areas, storing control programs and control data, and various data (from the CCD camera 115) from the droplet discharge device 3 and the maintenance device 4 Image data and various data based on the image data), the hard disk 124 for storing programs for processing the various data, and the like, and the various data based on the programs stored in the hard disk 124. A CPU 125 that performs arithmetic processing and a bus 126 that connects them to each other are provided. The control device 5 includes an input device 127 such as a keyboard and a mouse, a monitor display 128 that displays various data and messages, and the like.

  In the control device 5, various data from the droplet discharge device 3, the maintenance device 4, and the input device 127 are input via the interface 121 and stored in the hard disk 124 (or sequentially read out by a CD-ROM drive or the like). The CPU 125 performs arithmetic processing according to a program and outputs the processing result to the droplet discharge device 3 or the maintenance device 4 through the interface 121, thereby realizing various means. And the image recognition means, the drawing defect judgment means, the defect identification means, the re-judgment means, the first defective nozzle identification means, the second defective nozzle identification means, the cause identification means, the operating condition change means, etc. These are virtual means realized in the control device 5 by the arithmetic processing of the CPU 125.

  By the way, since the discharge nozzle 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 is liable to cause a discharge failure due to clogging or the like, as described above, the head maintenance device 70 (the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit) is used to prevent clogging. 72) is used to perform maintenance of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. However, the maintenance operation by the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 may adversely affect the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 depending on the operation conditions. Further, when the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 itself is defective, as in the case where the liquid repellent film plated on the nozzle surface 58 is damaged, even if the maintenance operation by both units 71 and 72 is performed, the ejection failure is not caused. The image cannot be eliminated and appropriate drawing on the workpiece W cannot be performed.

  As described above, both the head maintenance device 70 and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 can cause the malfunction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. It is important to identify the cause and perform maintenance appropriate to the cause of the defect. Therefore, the drawing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a defect inspection unit 73, and after the maintenance operation is completed, it is possible to detect an ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 and to identify the cause of the failure. .

  With reference to FIG. 6, a series of processes for detecting ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 will be described. As shown in the figure, when the maintenance operation of the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 with respect to the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is completed (S1), a test pattern is drawn on the small substrate 111 (S2: drawing process). The test pattern is imaged by the imaging unit 113 (S3). The captured image data of the test pattern is transmitted to the control device 5 (S4), image recognition is performed based on a predetermined program stored in the control device 5 (S5: image recognition process), and defective nozzles are detected. It is specified (S6: first defective nozzle specifying step).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the test pattern has a drawing failure (drawing failure determination step). As shown in the figure, in the determination of the drawing failure (drawing failure determination step), the presence / absence of the discharge nozzle 59 specified as a defective nozzle is confirmed (S7), and if no defective nozzle is detected (S7: Yes), it is determined that drawing is appropriate, that is, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 has no ejection failure, and the process is terminated. On the other hand, when even one defective nozzle is detected (S7: No), the maintenance operation of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is executed, and the above processing is repeated (S2 to S6: re-determination step and second). Defective nozzle identification step), the presence or absence of a defective nozzle is detected again based on image recognition (S7). When a defective nozzle is detected again (S8: Yes), that is, when it is determined that the drawing is defective, it is determined that there is a defect in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, at least the suction unit 71 or the wiping unit 72 ( S9) After identifying the cause of failure (S10: cause identifying step), a series of processing is terminated.

  As described above, once a defective nozzle is detected, the maintenance operation is further repeated to eliminate the accidental ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, and the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16, the suction unit 71, and the wiping are eliminated. It is possible to increase the probability that any of the units 72 has a cause of failure. In addition, since data for specifying the cause of failure increases, an appropriate determination can be made. In the present embodiment, the number of maintenance times of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 that is repeated when a defective nozzle is detected is set to one, but the number of times of maintenance can be arbitrarily set. When the maintenance operation is repeated, a series of operations from the suction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 to the wiping may be performed. However, depending on the situation (only the dot misalignment was detected in the image recognition) Only the wiping operation may be performed.

  Here, image recognition of imaging data will be described. In image recognition, a reference test pattern as a reference is compared with an actually drawn test pattern, and recognition is performed sequentially for all the dots constituting the test pattern. First, the presence / absence of missing dots is detected, and when missing dots are detected, the discharge nozzle 59 that caused the missing dots is identified and stored as a defective nozzle. It should be noted that each discharge nozzle 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 is assigned a unique nozzle number, and when the discharge nozzle 59 is stored as a defective nozzle, it goes without saying that the nozzle number is stored. Absent.

  On the other hand, when dot missing is not detected, the landing diameter of the dot landed on the small substrate 111 is measured and stored, and the positional deviation between the reference position (dot position in the reference test pattern) and the actual dot is measured. The amount (due to the flight curve of the ejected functional droplet) is calculated and stored in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. In addition, for each dot, the direction of displacement from the reference position is specified and stored. Further, it is checked whether or not the dot landing diameter and the positional deviation amount are within a preset allowable range with respect to all stored data, and a dot having a landing diameter or positional deviation amount outside the allowable range is discharged. The discharge nozzle 59 is stored as a defective nozzle.

  In this embodiment, image recognition is performed for all dots, but image recognition may be performed (sampling) only for a predetermined number of dots. Thereby, although the detection accuracy of ejection failure is slightly lowered, the inspection speed can be improved, and the time required for image recognition can be reduced. In this case, it is preferable to select dots for image recognition at random from all the dots constituting the test pattern and uniformly from the row direction and the column direction arranged in a matrix. In addition, when a functional liquid droplet is ejected from each ejection nozzle 59 at the time of drawing a test pattern, if a defect is detected even at one of the plurality of dots, the ejection nozzle that ejects the dot 59 is identified as a defective nozzle.

  Next, a method for identifying the cause of failure performed when a discharge failure of the functional droplet discharge head 16 is detected will be described with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, here, the first test pattern drawn is the first test pattern, the test pattern drawn after the maintenance operation is performed again is the second test pattern, and image recognition of the first test pattern is performed. The detected defective nozzle is defined as a first defective nozzle, and the defective nozzle detected by image recognition of the second test pattern is defined as a second defective nozzle.

  As shown in the figure, in the failure cause identification (cause identification step), first, in the ejection failure detection, first, the occurrence modes of the first defective nozzle and the second defective nozzle are compared (S11). The “occurrence mode” of the defective nozzle here refers to a combination of the nozzle number of the discharge nozzle 59 and the reason (defect reason) specified as the defective nozzle. In S11, the first defective nozzle and the second defective nozzle are considered. For defective nozzles, the nozzle number and reason for failure are compared. In addition, when functional droplets are ejected from the respective ejection nozzles 59 by a plurality of dots, the timing of occurrence or the number of occurrences of ejection defects may be compared together.

  When the generation modes of the first defective nozzle and the second defective nozzle are different (S11: No) and when the reason for the defect is different (S12: No), the maintenance operation is not stably performed, that is, the head maintenance device. Since 70 is unstable and the maintenance operation accuracy is poor, the proper maintenance of the functional liquid droplet ejection head is not performed, and the head maintenance device 70 itself is identified as the cause of the malfunction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 (S13). . In addition, even if the nozzle numbers specified as defective nozzles are different, if the reason for the defects is the same (S12: Yes), the maintenance action by the maintenance operation is insufficient, and thus the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 (ejection) Assuming that the discharge state of the nozzle 59) is not stable, in principle, it is determined that the operating condition of the head maintenance device 70 is the cause of the failure of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 (S16).

  When the liquid-repellent film plated on the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is damaged, particularly when the nozzle surface 58 is scratched in a certain direction due to wiping of the nozzle surface 58, the head maintenance device 70 Even if there is no problem in the operating conditions, the landing position of the functional liquid droplet (flying bend) may occur for the unspecified discharge nozzle 59. In this case, a certain regularity is likely to occur in the direction of deviation of the landing position according to the scratches on the nozzle surface 58. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, before it is determined that there is a problem in the operating condition of the head maintenance device 70, it is checked whether the landing position shift is listed as the reason for the failure (S14). When the landing position shift is confirmed (S14: Yes), the landing position shift direction is recognized for each discharge nozzle 59 of the first and second defective nozzles (S15), and the landing position shift direction is substantially the same. If it is determined that the variation in the deviation direction of the landing position is within a predetermined range set in advance (S15: Yes), it is determined that there is a cause of the defect in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 itself. If the landing position deviation cannot be confirmed (S14: No) or the deviation direction is not constant (S15: No), the operating condition of the head maintenance device 70 has a cause of the defective function droplet ejection head 16. (S16).

  On the other hand, if the first defective nozzle and the second defective nozzle are generated in the same manner (S11: Yes), it is determined that there is a cause of the defect in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 (S17). This is because if there is a cause of failure in the head maintenance device and the maintenance operation is inappropriate, even if the reason for the drawing failure is the same, the location where the defective nozzle is generated may be consistent. The reason why the same discharge nozzle becomes a defective nozzle in succession is that there is a high possibility that it is caused by a defect in the functional liquid droplet discharge head itself.

  In determining whether there is a defect cause in the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 or the head maintenance device 70, a determination made based on the imaging data captured after the wiping is completed by the head observation camera 75 described above is incorporated. May be. In this case, for example, the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is checked for wiping residue, and if there is no wiping residue, it is determined that the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 has some defect, and the wiping residue remains. If there is, it is determined that the head maintenance device 70 has a cause of failure.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, when it is determined that there is a cause of failure in the maintenance conditions of the head maintenance device 70, the cause of failure in the head maintenance device 70 is determined based on the data obtained by the image recognition of the test pattern described above. Further, the maintenance condition (suction condition or wiping condition) of the unit identified as the cause of the defect is changed in order to identify the cause of the defect and to identify the cause of the defect.

  In the defect maintenance operation specifying step, the cause of the defect is sequentially specified for the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 based on the reason for the defect of the defective nozzle. Therefore, it is possible to identify which of both units has the cause of failure, including cases where both the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 have a cause of failure. Specifically, when the dot omission is the reason for failure, the suction of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is not sufficient, and there is a high possibility that the nozzle clogging has not been eliminated in the ejection nozzle 59. It is judged that. Similarly, when the dot landing diameter is abnormal and the dot landing diameter Lm is smaller than the allowable landing diameter L, the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is not sufficiently sucked, and thus the thickened functional liquid is discharged. It is determined that the suction unit 71 is defective.

  When it is determined that there is a cause of the defect in the suction unit 71, the suction conditions (for example, the suction pressure by the suction pump, the driving time of the suction pump, etc.) are changed so as to increase the suction force of the suction unit 71. When the missing dot has occurred, the suction condition change A is performed. When the dot landing diameter Lm is smaller than the allowable landing diameter L, the suction condition change B is performed. In the suction condition change A, the suction condition is changed so that the suction force is larger than the suction condition change B (operation condition changing step).

  If the flying curve of the dots is the reason for the failure, it is considered that the remaining wiping of the nozzle surface 58 of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 due to wiping is the cause, so the wiping unit 72 is specified as the cause of the failure. Also, when the dot landing diameter is abnormal and the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L, it is determined that the wiping unit 72 has a cause of failure. This is because the cleaning liquid applied to the wiping sheet 91 enters the discharge nozzle 59 of the functional liquid droplet discharge head 16 during wiping, and the concentration of the functional liquid is reduced in the discharge nozzle 59.

  When it is determined that the wiping unit 72 is defective, the wiping conditions of the wiping unit 72 (for example, the pressing force of the wiping sheet 91 against the nozzle surface 58, the winding speed of the wiping sheet 91, the wiping time, the application to the wiping sheet 91) The amount of cleaning liquid to be changed). In this case, the wiping condition is appropriately changed based on the combination of reasons for failure (condition changing step).

  If only the flight curve is the reason for the failure, the wiping condition change B is performed. In the wiping condition change B, it is conceivable to increase the setting value of the wiping condition such as increasing the pressing pressure of the wiping sheet 91 or increasing the wiping time. In this case, a plurality of wiping conditions may be changed. When the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L, the wiping condition change C is performed. In the wiping condition change C, the amount of cleaning liquid applied to the wiping sheet 91 is reduced or the pressing pressure of the wiping sheet 91 is reduced to prevent the cleaning liquid from entering the discharge nozzle 59. Further, when there is a flight curve and the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L, the wiping condition change C is performed. In the wiping condition change C, the winding speed and wiping time of the wiping sheet 91 are increased, while the amount of cleaning liquid applied to the wiping sheet 91 and the pressing pressure of the wiping sheet 91 are decreased.

  With reference to FIG. 8, a flow for identifying the cause of the failure of the head maintenance device 70 will be described. As shown in the figure, when it is specified that the operating condition of the head maintenance device 70 is defective (S16), the presence or absence of missing dots is confirmed (S31). Here, when it is determined that there is a missing dot (S31: Yes), it is specified that there is a cause of the defect in the suction unit (S32), and the suction condition change A is performed (S33). If it is determined that there is no missing dot (S31: No), it is determined whether the dot landing diameter Lm is smaller than the allowable landing diameter L (S34), and the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L. When it is small (S34: Yes), it is specified that the suction unit has a cause of failure (S35), and the suction condition change B is performed (S36).

  Subsequently, the presence / absence of a flight curve is confirmed (S41). If it is determined that there is a flight curve (S41: Yes), it is determined that the wiping unit 72 has a defect cause (S42). Further, it is confirmed whether or not the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L (S43). When the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L (S43: Yes), wiping is performed. When the condition change A is performed (S44) and the dot landing diameter Lm is equal to or smaller than the allowable landing diameter L (S43: No), the wiping condition B is performed (S45). If it is determined that there is no flight curve (S41: No), it is confirmed whether or not the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L (S46), and the dot landing diameter Lm is larger than the allowable landing diameter L. Is larger (S46: Yes), it is determined that there is a defect cause in the wiping unit 72 (S47), and the wiping condition change C is performed (S48).

  Note that after the maintenance condition is changed, the above-described series of processing for detecting the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is performed, and it is confirmed whether the ejection failure has been eliminated by the change of the maintenance condition. If the ejection failure is not resolved, a series of processing is repeated a preset number of times. If the ejection failure is not resolved even after repeating a series of processes a predetermined number of times, an error is displayed on the monitor display 128. At this time, a selection screen may be displayed together with an error display so that switching to the manual change mode for manually setting the operation condition of the maintenance operation may be selected.

  In this embodiment, the cause of failure is specified in the order of the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72, but the order of specifying the cause of failure is not limited to this, and can be changed as appropriate. In the present embodiment, the operation conditions of the maintenance operation (suction conditions by the suction unit 71 and wiping conditions by the wiping unit 72) are automatically changed. However, the user manually changes them from the beginning. May be.

  The control device 5 monitors maintenance operations of the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 through various sensors (for example, a suction pressure detection sensor, a wiping pressure detection sensor, an encoder attached to the motor, etc.). The monitor display 128 of No. 5 shows the operation status. When an abnormal operation occurs due to a mechanical failure or the like of the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72 during the maintenance operation, this is detected and the fact that the abnormal operation has occurred is displayed on the monitor display 128. It is like that. Thereby, the user can recognize the failure of the suction unit 71 and the wiping unit 72, and can perform appropriate maintenance for the failed unit.

  In addition, the monitor display 128 can display various data obtained by the above image recognition together with the cause of the failure identified by a series of processes for detecting the ejection failure of the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16. is there. For example, the nozzle number of the discharge nozzle 59 specified as a defective nozzle, the number of missing dots generated during drawing of the test pattern, and various data of each dot constituting the test pattern (position shift amount, size of impact diameter, etc.) It is possible to display the maximum value / minimum value of the displacement amount and the maximum value / minimum value of the impact diameter. In addition, the cause of failure is displayed together with the specified unit name as the cause of failure. Therefore, when manually changing the operating conditions of the maintenance operation, these data and display can be referred to.

  Further, in the control device 5, maintenance is used to set the operation condition of the maintenance operation to an appropriate operation condition when newly setting the operation condition of the maintenance operation, as in the case where the drawing apparatus 1 is newly installed. An evaluation function is provided. The maintenance evaluation function draws a test pattern after the maintenance operation for the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is completed, and evaluates the operation condition of the head maintenance device 70 based on the test pattern. Here, it is assumed that the functional liquid droplet ejection head 16 is normally driven. After the image recognition of the test pattern is completed, it follows the flow for specifying the cause of the failure of the head maintenance device 70 described above. Maintenance evaluation is performed.

  When the maintenance evaluation function is used, a maintenance evaluation screen 131 as shown in FIG. On the maintenance evaluation screen 131, following the driving of the suction unit 71, a continuous drive button 132 for driving the wiping unit 72, a suction drive button 133 for driving only the suction unit 71, and a wiping drive button 134 for driving only the wiping unit 72 are displayed. Is provided so that the head maintenance device 70 can be instructed to be driven from the maintenance evaluation screen 131. Further, the maintenance evaluation screen 131 is provided with an evaluation box 136 for displaying whether the maintenance operation is good (OK) or defective (NG) in addition to the operation display box 135 indicating the operation status in the maintenance evaluation. Yes. The evaluation box 136 has an individual evaluation box 137 that displays pass / fail for each failure reason, and an overall evaluation box 138 that displays the overall pass / fail of the maintenance operation based on this. When the individual evaluation boxes 137 are all in good display, a display indicating that they are good is made. Furthermore, the maintenance evaluation screen 131 is provided with a comment box 139 for displaying various data obtained by image recognition.

  Next, as an electro-optical device (flat panel display) manufactured using the drawing device 1 of the present embodiment, a color filter, a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device, a plasma display (PDP device), an electron emission device (FED device). The structure and the manufacturing method thereof will be described by taking an active matrix substrate and the like formed in these display devices as examples. Note that an active matrix substrate refers to a substrate on which a thin film transistor, a source line electrically connected to the thin film transistor, and a data line are formed.

First, a method for manufacturing a color filter incorporated in a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL device or the like will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing the manufacturing process of the color filter, and FIG. 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the color filter 500 (filter base body 500A) of this embodiment shown in the order of the manufacturing process.
First, in the black matrix forming step (S51), a black matrix 502 is formed on a substrate (W) 501 as shown in FIG. The black matrix 502 is formed of metal chromium, a laminate of metal chromium and chromium oxide, resin black, or the like. A sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, or the like can be used to form the black matrix 502 made of a metal thin film. Further, when forming the black matrix 502 made of a resin thin film, a gravure printing method, a photoresist method, a thermal transfer method, or the like can be used.

Subsequently, in the bank formation step (S52), the bank 503 is formed in a state of being superimposed on the black matrix 502. That is, first, as shown in FIG. 11B, a resist layer 504 made of a negative transparent photosensitive resin is formed so as to cover the substrate 501 and the black matrix 502. Then, an exposure process is performed with the upper surface covered with a mask film 505 formed in a matrix pattern shape.
Further, as shown in FIG. 11C, the resist layer 504 is patterned by etching an unexposed portion of the resist layer 504 to form a bank 503. When the black matrix is formed from resin black, it is possible to use both the black matrix and the bank.
The bank 503 and the black matrix 502 below the bank 503 serve as partition wall portions 507b for partitioning the pixel regions 507a, and the colored layers (film forming portions) 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed by the droplet discharge head 10 in the subsequent colored layer forming step. The landing area of the functional droplet is defined when forming the.

The filter substrate 500A is obtained through the above black matrix forming step and bank forming step.
In the present embodiment, as the material of the bank 503, a resin material whose coating film surface is lyophobic (hydrophobic) is used. Since the surface of the substrate (glass substrate) 501 is lyophilic (hydrophilic), the droplets into each pixel region 507a surrounded by the bank 503 (partition wall portion 507b) in the colored layer forming step described later. The landing position accuracy is improved.

  Next, in the colored layer forming step (S53), as shown in FIG. 11D, functional droplets are ejected by the droplet ejection head 10 and land in each pixel region 507a surrounded by the partition wall portion 507b. Let In this case, the functional liquid droplets are ejected by introducing functional liquids (filter materials) of three colors of R, G, and B using the liquid droplet ejection head 10. Note that the arrangement pattern of the three colors R, G, and B includes a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, a delta arrangement, and the like.

Thereafter, the functional liquid is fixed through a drying process (a process such as heating), and three colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed. When the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed, the process proceeds to the protective film forming step (S54), and as shown in FIG. 11E, the substrate 501, the partition wall portion 507b, and the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are moved. A protective film 509 is formed so as to cover the upper surface.
That is, after the protective film coating liquid is discharged over the entire surface of the substrate 501 where the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B are formed, the protective film 509 is formed through a drying process.
Then, after forming the protective film 509, the color filter 500 moves to a film forming process such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) which becomes a transparent electrode in the next process.

  FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a main part showing a schematic configuration of a passive matrix liquid crystal device (liquid crystal device) as an example of a liquid crystal display device using the color filter 500 described above. By attaching auxiliary elements such as a liquid crystal driving IC, a backlight, and a support to the liquid crystal device 520, a transmissive liquid crystal display device as a final product can be obtained. Since the color filter 500 is the same as that shown in FIG. 11, the corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

The liquid crystal device 520 is roughly composed of a color filter 500, a counter substrate 521 made of a glass substrate, and a liquid crystal layer 522 made of STN (Super Twisted Nematic) liquid crystal composition sandwiched between them, The filter 500 is arranged on the upper side (observer side) in the figure.
Although not shown, polarizing plates are provided on the outer surfaces of the counter substrate 521 and the color filter 500 (surfaces opposite to the liquid crystal layer 522 side), and the polarizing plates located on the counter substrate 521 side are also provided. A backlight is disposed outside.

On the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (on the liquid crystal layer side), a plurality of strip-shaped first electrodes 523 elongated in the left-right direction in FIG. 10 are formed at predetermined intervals. The color of the first electrode 523 A first alignment film 524 is formed so as to cover the surface opposite to the filter 500 side.
On the other hand, a plurality of strip-shaped second electrodes 526 elongated in a direction orthogonal to the first electrode 523 of the color filter 500 are formed on the surface of the counter substrate 521 facing the color filter 500 at a predetermined interval. A second alignment film 527 is formed so as to cover the surface of the two electrodes 526 on the liquid crystal layer 522 side. The first electrode 523 and the second electrode 526 are made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO.

The spacer 528 provided in the liquid crystal layer 522 is a member for keeping the thickness (cell gap) of the liquid crystal layer 522 constant. The sealing material 529 is a member for preventing the liquid crystal composition in the liquid crystal layer 522 from leaking to the outside. Note that one end of the first electrode 523 extends to the outside of the sealing material 529 as a lead-out wiring 523a.
A portion where the first electrode 523 and the second electrode 526 intersect with each other is a pixel, and the color layers 508R, 508G, and 508B of the color filter 500 are located in the portion that becomes the pixel.

  In a normal manufacturing process, patterning of the first electrode 523 and application of the first alignment film 524 are performed on the color filter 500 to create a portion on the color filter 500 side. Patterning of the electrode 526 and application of the second alignment film 527 are performed to create a portion on the counter substrate 521 side. Thereafter, a spacer 528 and a sealing material 529 are formed in the portion on the counter substrate 521 side, and the portion on the color filter 500 side is bonded in this state. Next, liquid crystal constituting the liquid crystal layer 522 is injected from the inlet of the sealing material 529, and the inlet is closed. Thereafter, both polarizing plates and the backlight are laminated.

  The drawing apparatus 1 of the embodiment applies, for example, the spacer material (functional liquid) that constitutes the cell gap described above, and before the portion on the color filter 500 side is bonded to the portion on the counter substrate 521 side, the sealing material 529 is used. Liquid crystal (functional liquid) can be uniformly applied to the enclosed area. In addition, the above-described sealing material 529 can be printed by the droplet discharge head 10. Further, the first and second alignment films 524 and 527 can be applied by the droplet discharge head 10.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a principal part showing a schematic configuration of a second example of a liquid crystal device using the color filter 500 manufactured in the present embodiment.
The liquid crystal device 530 is significantly different from the liquid crystal device 520 in that the color filter 500 is arranged on the lower side (the side opposite to the observer side) in the figure.
The liquid crystal device 530 is generally configured by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer 532 made of STN liquid crystal between a color filter 500 and a counter substrate 531 made of a glass substrate or the like. Although not shown, polarizing plates and the like are provided on the outer surfaces of the counter substrate 531 and the color filter 500, respectively.

On the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (on the liquid crystal layer 532 side), a plurality of strip-shaped first electrodes 533 elongated in the depth direction in the figure are formed at predetermined intervals, and the liquid crystal of the first electrodes 533 is formed. A first alignment film 534 is formed so as to cover the surface on the layer 532 side.
A plurality of strip-shaped second electrodes 536 extending in a direction orthogonal to the first electrode 533 on the color filter 500 side are formed on the surface of the counter substrate 531 facing the color filter 500 at a predetermined interval. A second alignment film 537 is formed so as to cover the surface of the second electrode 536 on the liquid crystal layer 532 side.

The liquid crystal layer 532 is provided with a spacer 538 for keeping the thickness of the liquid crystal layer 532 constant and a sealing material 539 for preventing the liquid crystal composition in the liquid crystal layer 532 from leaking to the outside. Yes.
Similarly to the liquid crystal device 520 described above, a portion where the first electrode 533 and the second electrode 536 intersect with each other is a pixel, and the colored layers 508R, 508G, and 508B of the color filter 500 are located at the portion that becomes the pixel. Is configured to do.

FIG. 10 shows a third example in which a liquid crystal device is configured using a color filter 500 to which the present invention is applied, and is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a transmissive TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type liquid crystal device. It is.
In the liquid crystal device 550, the color filter 500 is arranged on the upper side (observer side) in the figure.

The liquid crystal device 550 includes a color filter 500, a counter substrate 551 disposed so as to face the color filter 500, a liquid crystal layer (not shown) sandwiched therebetween, and an upper surface side (observer side) of the color filter 500. The polarizing plate 555 and the polarizing plate (not shown) arranged on the lower surface side of the counter substrate 551 are roughly configured.
A liquid crystal driving electrode 556 is formed on the surface of the protective film 509 of the color filter 500 (the surface on the counter substrate 551 side). The electrode 556 is made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO, and is a full surface electrode that covers the entire region where a pixel electrode 560 described later is formed. An alignment film 557 is provided so as to cover the surface of the electrode 556 opposite to the pixel electrode 560.

  An insulating layer 558 is formed on the surface of the counter substrate 551 facing the color filter 500, and the scanning lines 561 and the signal lines 562 are formed on the insulating layer 558 in a state of being orthogonal to each other. A pixel electrode 560 is formed in a region surrounded by the scanning lines 561 and the signal lines 562. In an actual liquid crystal device, an alignment film is provided on the pixel electrode 560, but the illustration is omitted.

  In addition, a thin film transistor 563 including a source electrode, a drain electrode, a semiconductor, and a gate electrode is incorporated in a portion surrounded by the cutout portion of the pixel electrode 560 and the scanning line 561 and the signal line 562. . The thin film transistor 563 is turned on / off by application of signals to the scanning line 561 and the signal line 562 so that energization control to the pixel electrode 560 can be performed.

  Note that the liquid crystal devices 520, 530, and 550 in the above examples are transmissive, but a reflective liquid crystal device or a transflective liquid crystal device is provided by providing a reflective layer or a transflective layer. You can also.

  Next, FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of a display area of an organic EL device (hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 600).

The display device 600 is schematically configured with a circuit element portion 602, a light emitting element portion 603, and a cathode 604 stacked on a substrate (W) 601.
In the display device 600, light emitted from the light emitting element portion 603 to the substrate 601 side is transmitted through the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601 and emitted to the observer side, and the light emitting element portion 603 is opposite to the substrate 601. After the light emitted to the side is reflected by the cathode 604, the light passes through the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601 and is emitted to the observer side.

  A base protective film 606 made of a silicon oxide film is formed between the circuit element portion 602 and the substrate 601, and an island-shaped semiconductor film 607 made of polycrystalline silicon is formed on the base protective film 606 (on the light emitting element portion 603 side). Is formed. In the left and right regions of the semiconductor film 607, a source region 607a and a drain region 607b are formed by high concentration cation implantation, respectively. A central portion where no positive ions are implanted is a channel region 607c.

  In the circuit element portion 602, a transparent gate insulating film 608 covering the base protective film 606 and the semiconductor film 607 is formed, and a position corresponding to the channel region 607c of the semiconductor film 607 on the gate insulating film 608 is formed. For example, a gate electrode 609 made of Al, Mo, Ta, Ti, W or the like is formed. On the gate electrode 609 and the gate insulating film 608, a transparent first interlayer insulating film 611a and a second interlayer insulating film 611b are formed. Further, contact holes 612a and 612b are formed through the first and second interlayer insulating films 611a and 611b and communicating with the source region 607a and the drain region 607b of the semiconductor film 607, respectively.

A transparent pixel electrode 613 made of ITO or the like is patterned and formed in a predetermined shape on the second interlayer insulating film 611b, and the pixel electrode 613 is connected to the source region 607a through the contact hole 612a. .
A power line 614 is disposed on the first interlayer insulating film 611a, and the power line 614 is connected to the drain region 607b through the contact hole 612b.

  Thus, the driving thin film transistors 615 connected to the pixel electrodes 613 are formed in the circuit element portion 602, respectively.

The light emitting element portion 603 includes a functional layer 617 stacked on each of the plurality of pixel electrodes 613, and a bank portion 618 provided between each pixel electrode 613 and the functional layer 617 to partition each functional layer 617. It is roughly structured.
The pixel electrode 613, the functional layer 617, and the cathode 604 provided on the functional layer 617 constitute a light emitting element. Note that the pixel electrode 613 is formed by patterning in a substantially rectangular shape in plan view, and a bank portion 618 is formed between the pixel electrodes 613.

The bank unit 618 is laminated on the inorganic bank layer 618a (first bank layer) 618a formed of an inorganic material such as SiO, SiO ₂ , TiO _{2 and the} like, and is laminated on the inorganic bank layer 618a. It is composed of an organic bank layer 618b (second bank layer) having a trapezoidal cross section formed of a resist having excellent heat resistance and solvent resistance. A part of the bank unit 618 is formed on the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 613.
An opening 619 that gradually expands upward with respect to the pixel electrode 613 is formed between the bank portions 618.

The functional layer 617 includes a hole injection / transport layer 617a formed in a stacked state on the pixel electrode 613 in the opening 619, and a light emitting layer 617b formed on the hole injection / transport layer 617a. Has been. In addition, you may further form the other functional layer which has another function adjacent to this light emitting layer 617b. For example, it is possible to form an electron transport layer.
The hole injection / transport layer 617a has a function of transporting holes from the pixel electrode 613 side and injecting them into the light emitting layer 617b. The hole injection / transport layer 617a is formed by discharging a first composition (functional liquid) containing a hole injection / transport layer forming material. A known material is used as the hole injection / transport layer forming material.

  The light emitting layer 617b emits light in red (R), green (G), or blue (B), and discharges a second composition (functional liquid) containing a light emitting layer forming material (light emitting material). Is formed. As the solvent (nonpolar solvent) of the second composition, a known material that is insoluble in the hole injection / transport layer 617a is preferably used, and such a nonpolar solvent is used as the second composition of the light emitting layer 617b. By using the light emitting layer 617b, the light emitting layer 617b can be formed without re-dissolving the hole injection / transport layer 617a.

  The light emitting layer 617b is configured such that the holes injected from the hole injection / transport layer 617a and the electrons injected from the cathode 604 are recombined in the light emitting layer to emit light.

  The cathode 604 is formed so as to cover the entire surface of the light emitting element portion 603, and plays a role of flowing current to the functional layer 617 in a pair with the pixel electrode 613. Note that a sealing member (not shown) is disposed on the cathode 604.

Next, the manufacturing process of said display apparatus 600 is demonstrated with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 18, the display device 600 includes a bank part forming step (S61), a surface treatment step (S62), a hole injection / transport layer forming step (S63), a light emitting layer forming step (S64), It is manufactured through an electrode formation step (S65). In addition, a manufacturing process is not restricted to what is illustrated, and when other processes are removed as needed, it may be added.

First, in the bank part forming step (S61), as shown in FIG. 17, an inorganic bank layer 618a is formed on the second interlayer insulating film 611b. The inorganic bank layer 618a is formed by forming an inorganic film at a formation position and then patterning the inorganic film by a photolithography technique or the like. At this time, a part of the inorganic bank layer 618 a is formed so as to overlap with the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 613.
When the inorganic bank layer 618a is formed, an organic bank layer 618b is formed on the inorganic bank layer 618a as shown in FIG. The organic bank layer 618b is also formed by patterning using a photolithography technique or the like in the same manner as the inorganic bank layer 618a.
In this way, the bank portion 618 is formed. Accordingly, an opening 619 opening upward with respect to the pixel electrode 613 is formed between the bank portions 618. The opening 619 defines a pixel region.

In the surface treatment step (S62), a lyophilic process and a lyophobic process are performed. The regions to be subjected to the lyophilic treatment are the first stacked portion 618aa of the inorganic bank layer 618a and the electrode surface 613a of the pixel electrode 613. These regions are made lyophilic by plasma treatment using oxygen as a processing gas, for example. Is done. This plasma treatment also serves to clean the ITO that is the pixel electrode 613.
In addition, the lyophobic treatment is performed on the wall surface 618s of the organic bank layer 618b and the upper surface 618t of the organic bank layer 618b, and the surface is fluorinated (treated to be liquid repellent) by plasma treatment using, for example, tetrafluoromethane. )
By performing this surface treatment process, when forming the functional layer 617 using the droplet discharge head 10, the functional droplet can be landed more reliably on the pixel region, and has landed on the pixel region. It is possible to prevent the functional droplet from overflowing from the opening 619.

  Then, the display device base 600A is obtained through the above steps. The display device base 600A is placed on the set table 25 of the drawing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, and the following hole injection / transport layer forming step (S63) and light emitting layer forming step (S64) are performed.

  As shown in FIG. 17, in the hole injection / transport layer forming step (S63), the first composition containing the hole injection / transport layer forming material is removed from the droplet discharge head 10 into each opening 619 that is a pixel region. To discharge. After that, as shown in FIG. 18, a drying process and a heat treatment are performed, the polar solvent contained in the first composition is evaporated, and a hole injection / transport layer 617a is formed on the pixel electrode (electrode surface 613a) 613.

Next, the light emitting layer forming step (S64) will be described. In this light emitting layer forming step, as described above, in order to prevent re-dissolution of the hole injection / transport layer 617a, the hole injection / transport layer 617a is used as a solvent for the second composition used in forming the light emitting layer. A non-polar solvent insoluble in.
However, since the hole injection / transport layer 617a has a low affinity for the nonpolar solvent, the hole injection / transport layer 617a has a low affinity even if the second composition containing the nonpolar solvent is discharged onto the hole injection / transport layer 617a. There is a possibility that the injection / transport layer 617a and the light emitting layer 617b cannot be adhered to each other, or the light emitting layer 617b cannot be applied uniformly.
Therefore, in order to increase the surface affinity of the hole injection / transport layer 617a with respect to the nonpolar solvent and the light emitting layer forming material, it is preferable to perform a surface treatment (surface modification treatment) before forming the light emitting layer. In this surface treatment, a surface modifying material which is the same solvent as the non-polar solvent of the second composition used in the formation of the light emitting layer or a similar solvent is applied on the hole injection / transport layer 617a, and this is applied. This is done by drying.
By performing such treatment, the surface of the hole injection / transport layer 617a is easily adapted to the nonpolar solvent. In the subsequent step, the second composition containing the light emitting layer forming material is added to the hole injection / transport layer. It can be uniformly applied to 617a.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 17, the second composition containing the light emitting layer forming material corresponding to one of the colors (blue (B) in the example of FIG. 17) is used as a functional droplet as a pixel region ( A predetermined amount is driven into the opening 619). The second composition driven into the pixel region spreads on the hole injection / transport layer 617a and fills the opening 619. Even if the second composition deviates from the pixel region and lands on the upper surface 618t of the bank portion 618, the upper composition 618t is subjected to the liquid repellent treatment as described above. Things are easy to roll into the opening 619.

  Thereafter, by performing a drying process or the like, the discharged second composition is dried, and the nonpolar solvent contained in the second composition is evaporated. As shown in FIG. 18, the hole injection / transport layer 617a A light emitting layer 617b is formed thereon. In the case of this figure, a light emitting layer 617b corresponding to blue (B) is formed.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 17, the droplet discharge head 10 is used to sequentially perform the same steps as in the case of the light emitting layer 617b corresponding to the blue (B) described above, and perform other colors (red (R) and green). A light emitting layer 617b corresponding to (G)) is formed. Note that the order in which the light-emitting layers 617b are formed is not limited to the illustrated order, and may be formed in any order. For example, the order of formation can be determined according to the light emitting layer forming material. Further, the arrangement pattern of the three colors R, G, and B includes a stripe arrangement, a mosaic arrangement, a delta arrangement, and the like.

  As described above, the functional layer 617, that is, the hole injection / transport layer 617a and the light emitting layer 617b are formed on the pixel electrode 613. And it transfers to a counter electrode formation process (S65).

In the counter electrode forming step (S65), as shown in FIG. 18, a cathode 604 (counter electrode) is formed on the entire surface of the light emitting layer 617b and the organic bank layer 618b by, for example, vapor deposition, sputtering, CVD, or the like. In the present embodiment, the cathode 604 is configured by, for example, laminating a calcium layer and an aluminum layer.
On top of the cathode 604, an Al film, an Ag film as electrodes, and a protective layer such as SiO ₂ or SiN for preventing oxidation thereof are provided as appropriate.

  After forming the cathode 604 in this way, the display device 600 is obtained by performing other processes such as a sealing process for sealing the upper part of the cathode 604 with a sealing member and a wiring process.

Next, FIG. 17 is an exploded perspective view of a main part of a plasma display device (PDP device: hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 700). In the figure, the display device 700 is shown with a part thereof cut away.
The display device 700 is schematically configured to include a first substrate 701 and a second substrate 702 that are disposed to face each other, and a discharge display portion 703 that is formed therebetween. The discharge display unit 703 includes a plurality of discharge chambers 705. Among the plurality of discharge chambers 705, the three discharge chambers 705 of the red discharge chamber 705R, the green discharge chamber 705G, and the blue discharge chamber 705B are arranged to form one pixel.

Address electrodes 706 are formed in stripes at predetermined intervals on the upper surface of the first substrate 701, and a dielectric layer 707 is formed so as to cover the address electrodes 706 and the upper surface of the first substrate 701. On the dielectric layer 707, partition walls 708 are provided so as to be positioned between the address electrodes 706 and along the address electrodes 706. The partition 708 includes one extending on both sides in the width direction of the address electrode 706 as shown, and one not shown extending in the direction orthogonal to the address electrode 706.
A region partitioned by the partition 708 is a discharge chamber 705.

  A phosphor 709 is disposed in the discharge chamber 705. The phosphor 709 emits red (R), green (G), or blue (B) fluorescence. The red phosphor 709R is disposed at the bottom of the red discharge chamber 705R, and the green discharge chamber 705G. A green phosphor 709G and a blue phosphor 709B are arranged at the bottom and the blue discharge chamber 705B, respectively.

On the lower surface of the second substrate 702 in the drawing, a plurality of display electrodes 711 are formed in stripes at predetermined intervals in a direction orthogonal to the address electrodes 706. A dielectric layer 712 and a protective film 713 made of MgO or the like are formed so as to cover them.
The first substrate 701 and the second substrate 702 are bonded so that the address electrodes 706 and the display electrodes 711 face each other in a state of being orthogonal to each other. The address electrode 706 and the display electrode 711 are connected to an AC power source (not shown).
When the electrodes 706 and 711 are energized, the phosphor 709 emits light in the discharge display portion 703, and color display is possible.

In the present embodiment, the address electrode 706, the display electrode 711, and the phosphor 709 can be formed by using the drawing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. Hereinafter, a process of forming the address electrode 706 on the first substrate 701 will be exemplified.
In this case, the following steps are performed with the first substrate 701 placed on the set table 25 of the drawing apparatus 1.
First, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a conductive film wiring forming material is landed on the address electrode formation region as a functional droplet by the droplet discharge head 10. This liquid material is obtained by dispersing conductive fine particles such as metal in a dispersion medium as a conductive film wiring forming material. As the conductive fine particles, metal fine particles containing gold, silver, copper, palladium, nickel, or the like, a conductive polymer, or the like is used.

  When the replenishment of the liquid material is completed for all the address electrode formation regions to be replenished, the address material 706 is formed by drying the discharged liquid material and evaporating the dispersion medium contained in the liquid material. .

By the way, although the formation of the address electrode 706 has been exemplified in the above, the display electrode 711 and the phosphor 709 can also be formed through the above steps.
In the case of forming the display electrode 711, as in the case of the address electrode 706, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a conductive film wiring forming material is landed on the display electrode formation region as a functional droplet.
In the case of forming the phosphor 709, a liquid material (functional liquid) containing a fluorescent material corresponding to each color (R, G, B) is ejected as droplets from the droplet ejection head 10, and the corresponding color is selected. In the discharge chamber 705.

Next, FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view of an essential part of an electron emission device (also referred to as an FED device or an SED device: hereinafter simply referred to as a display device 800). In the drawing, a part of the display device 800 is shown as a cross section.
The display device 800 includes a first substrate 801, a second substrate 802, and a field emission display unit 803 formed therebetween, which are disposed to face each other. The field emission display unit 803 includes a plurality of electron emission units 805 arranged in a matrix.

  On the upper surface of the first substrate 801, a first element electrode 806a and a second element electrode 806b constituting the cathode electrode 806 are formed so as to be orthogonal to each other. In addition, a conductive film 807 having a gap 808 is formed in a portion partitioned by the first element electrode 806a and the second element electrode 806b. That is, the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 constitute a plurality of electron emission portions 805. The conductive film 807 is made of, for example, palladium oxide (PdO), and the gap 808 is formed by forming after forming the conductive film 807.

  An anode electrode 809 that faces the cathode electrode 806 is formed on the lower surface of the second substrate 802. A lattice-shaped bank portion 811 is formed on the lower surface of the anode electrode 809, and a phosphor 813 is disposed in each downward opening 812 surrounded by the bank portion 811 so as to correspond to the electron emission portion 805. Yes. The phosphor 813 emits fluorescence of any one of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and each opening 812 has a red phosphor 813R, a green phosphor 813G, and a blue color. The phosphors 813B are arranged in the predetermined pattern described above.

  The first substrate 801 and the second substrate 802 configured as described above are bonded together with a minute gap. In this display device 800, electrons that jump out of the first element electrode 806 a or the second element electrode 806 b that are cathodes through the conductive film (gap 808) 807 are formed on the phosphor 813 formed on the anode electrode 809 that is an anode. When excited, it emits light and enables color display.

  Also in this case, similarly to the other embodiments, the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, the conductive film 807, and the anode electrode 809 can be formed using the drawing apparatus 1, and the fluorescence of each color can be formed. The bodies 813R, 813G, and 813B can be formed using the drawing apparatus 1.

  The first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 have the planar shape shown in FIG. 17A, and when these are formed, as shown in FIG. 17B. In addition, the bank portion BB is formed (photolithographic method), leaving portions where the first element electrode 806a, the second element electrode 806b, and the conductive film 807 are previously formed. Next, after the first element electrode 806a and the second element electrode 806b are formed in the groove portion constituted by the bank portion BB (inkjet method using the drawing apparatus 1), the solvent is dried, and film formation is performed. A conductive film 807 is formed (an ink jet method using the drawing apparatus 1). Then, after forming the conductive film 807, the bank portion BB is removed (ashing peeling process), and the process proceeds to the above forming process. As in the case of the organic EL device described above, it is preferable to perform a lyophilic process on the first substrate 801 and the second substrate 802 and a lyophobic process on the bank portions 811 and BB.

  As other electro-optical devices, devices such as metal wiring formation, lens formation, resist formation, and light diffuser formation are conceivable. By using the drawing apparatus 1 described above for manufacturing various electro-optical devices (devices), various electro-optical devices can be efficiently manufactured.

It is a plane schematic diagram of the drawing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an external appearance perspective view of a functional droplet discharge head. It is explanatory drawing of a maintenance apparatus, and is a right view around a moving table. It is explanatory drawing of a defect test | inspection unit, and is a plane schematic diagram of the drawing apparatus when a mounting table faces an imaging unit. It is explanatory drawing of a control apparatus. 6 is a flowchart showing a series of processes for detecting a discharge failure (drawing failure) of a functional droplet discharge head. It is the flowchart shown about a series of processes for pinpointing the cause of a drawing defect. 6 is a flowchart showing a series of processes performed when it is determined that the cause of the drawing failure is a maintenance operation of the head maintenance device. It is explanatory drawing which illustrated the maintenance evaluation screen of this embodiment. It is a flowchart explaining a color filter manufacturing process. (A)-(e) is a schematic cross section of the color filter shown to the manufacturing process order. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device of the 2nd example using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal device of the 3rd example using the color filter to which this invention is applied. It is principal part sectional drawing of the display apparatus which is an organic electroluminescent apparatus. It is a flowchart explaining the manufacturing process of the display apparatus which is an organic electroluminescent apparatus. It is process drawing explaining formation of an inorganic bank layer. It is process drawing explaining formation of an organic substance bank layer. It is process drawing explaining the process in which a positive hole injection / transport layer is formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the positive hole injection / transport layer was formed. It is process drawing explaining the process in which a blue light emitting layer is formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the blue light emitting layer was formed. It is process drawing explaining the state in which the light emitting layer of each color was formed. It is process drawing explaining formation of a cathode. It is a principal part disassembled perspective view of the display apparatus which is a plasma type display apparatus (PDP apparatus). It is principal part sectional drawing of the display apparatus which is an electron emission apparatus (FED apparatus). It is the top view (a) around the electron emission part of a display apparatus, and the top view (b) which shows the formation method.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Drawing apparatus 5 Control apparatus 16 Function droplet discharge head 58 Nozzle surface 59 Discharge nozzle 71 Suction unit 70 Head maintenance apparatus 72 Wiping unit 73 Defect inspection unit 111 Mounting table 113 Imaging unit 115 CCD camera 128 Monitor display

Claims (23)

By driving the functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the functional liquid droplet ejection head formed by aligning a plurality of ejection nozzles with respect to the work, the functional liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection nozzle. In the operation evaluation method of the drawing apparatus for performing the drawing operation for drawing with the functional liquid droplets on the work and the maintenance operation for maintaining the functional liquid droplet ejection head using a head maintenance unit,
A drawing step of drawing a predetermined test pattern on the functional liquid droplet ejection head after maintenance;
An image recognition step for recognizing the test pattern drawn in the drawing step;
A drawing failure determination step of determining whether a drawing failure has occurred based on the image recognition;
A failure identifying step for identifying, based on the image recognition, whether the cause of the rendering failure is caused by the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or the maintenance operation when the rendering failure is determined; An operation evaluation method for a drawing apparatus, comprising:   The drawing defect determining step determines that the drawing defect is detected when at least one functional droplet that does not satisfy a preset reference condition is detected among all the functional droplets constituting the test pattern. The operation evaluation method for a drawing apparatus according to claim 1. When the drawing failure determination step determines that the drawing failure, the maintenance operation is performed again on the functional liquid droplet ejection head,
After maintenance again, let the functional droplet discharge head redraw the test pattern,
Re-image recognition of the redrawn test pattern,
A re-determination step of re-determining whether or not a drawing defect has occurred in the test pattern that has been re-image recognized;
The drawing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the defect specifying step specifies a cause of the drawing defect when the test pattern drawn in the redetermination step is determined to be a drawing defect again. Evaluation method of operation. The defect specifying step is a first defective nozzle specifying step of specifying, as a defective nozzle, the discharge nozzle that discharged the functional liquid droplet that caused the drawing failure based on the image recognition by the image recognition step;
A second defective nozzle specifying step for specifying the defective nozzle based on the re-image recognition by the redetermination step;
By comparing the generation modes of the defective nozzles specified in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step, whether the cause of the drawing failure is the functional liquid droplet ejection head or the maintenance operation A method for evaluating the operation of a drawing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: a cause identifying step for identifying   In the cause specifying step, when the generation modes of the defective nozzles specified in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step are the same, the cause of the drawing failure is determined as the functional droplet discharge head. 5. The operation evaluation method for a drawing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the operation is specified to be caused by itself.   If the cause of the defective nozzle in the first defective nozzle identifying step and the second defective nozzle identifying step are different from each other, the cause of the defective nozzle is different in the reason for the defective nozzle in the two steps. The drawing apparatus operation evaluation method according to claim 4, wherein the cause is identified as being caused by the maintenance operation.   When the cause identification step is different from the generation mode of the defective nozzle in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step, the reason for the defect of the defective nozzle in both steps is the same, and 7. The drawing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein when the reason for the failure is not a deviation in the landing position of the functional liquid droplet, the cause of the drawing failure is specified as being caused by the maintenance operation. Evaluation method of operation.   In the cause specifying step, when the defective nozzle generation modes in the first defective nozzle specifying step and the second defective nozzle specifying step are different, the reason for the defective nozzle in both steps is the landing position of the functional liquid droplet And the cause of the drawing failure is caused by the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself when the deviation directions of all the functional liquid droplets that have produced the deviation in both steps substantially coincide. 8. The operation evaluation method for a drawing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the operation evaluation method is specified. The maintenance operation includes a suction operation for sucking a functional liquid from a discharge nozzle formed in the functional liquid droplet discharge head;
After the suction operation, and wiping operation to wipe off the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head,
And a failure maintenance operation specifying step for further specifying that the cause of the failure is the suction operation and / or the wiping operation when it is determined that the cause of the drawing failure is the maintenance operation. An operation evaluation method for a drawing apparatus according to claim 1.   The drawing apparatus operation evaluation method according to claim 9, wherein the defect maintenance operation specifying step specifies the suction operation as the cause of the defect when a dot dropout occurs in the test pattern.   The defect maintenance operation specifying step is characterized in that the suction operation is specified as the cause of the defect when an impact diameter of the functional liquid droplet constituting the test pattern is too small. Item 15. The method for evaluating the operation of the drawing apparatus according to Item 9 or 10.   The defect maintenance operation specifying step specifies the wiping operation as the cause of the defect when the landing position of the functional liquid droplet is shifted in the test pattern. The operation | movement evaluation method of the drawing apparatus in any one.   The defect maintenance operation specifying step specifies the wiping operation as the cause of the defect when the landing diameter of the functional liquid droplet constituting the test pattern includes an excessive one. Item 13. The method for evaluating the operation of the drawing apparatus according to any one of Items 9 to 12.   The drawing apparatus operation evaluation method according to claim 9, further comprising an operation condition changing step of changing an operation condition of the maintenance operation specified in the defective maintenance operation specifying step. By driving the functional liquid droplet ejection head while moving the functional liquid droplet ejection head formed by aligning a plurality of ejection nozzles with respect to the work, the functional liquid droplets are ejected from the ejection nozzle. In a drawing apparatus that performs a drawing operation for drawing with the functional liquid droplets on the work and a maintenance operation for maintaining the functional liquid droplet ejection head using a head maintenance unit,
Drawing means for drawing a predetermined test pattern on the functional liquid droplet ejection head after maintenance;
An image recognition means for recognizing the drawn test pattern;
A drawing failure determination means for determining whether a drawing failure has occurred based on the image recognition;
A failure specifying means for specifying, based on the image recognition, whether the cause of the drawing failure is caused by the functional liquid droplet ejection head itself or the maintenance operation when the drawing failure is determined; A drawing apparatus comprising: When it is determined that the drawing is defective, the maintenance operation is performed again on the functional liquid droplet ejection head, and after the maintenance is performed again, the test pattern is redrawn on the functional liquid droplet ejection head. Re-recognizing, further comprising a re-determination means for re-determining whether or not a drawing defect has occurred in the test pattern that has been re-image recognized,
16. The drawing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the defect specifying unit specifies a cause of the drawing defect when the test pattern drawn by the re-determination unit is determined to be a drawing defect again. The defect identifying means, based on the image recognition by the image recognition means, a first defective nozzle identifying means for identifying the ejection nozzle that ejected the functional liquid droplet that caused the rendering defect as a defective nozzle;
Second defective nozzle specifying means for specifying the defective nozzle based on the re-image recognition by the redetermining means;
By comparing the generation modes of the defective nozzles specified by the first defective nozzle specifying unit and the second defective nozzle specifying unit, whether the cause of the drawing failure is the functional liquid droplet ejection head or the maintenance operation The drawing apparatus according to claim 16, further comprising cause identifying means for identifying The head maintenance device includes a suction unit that sucks a functional liquid from a discharge nozzle formed in the functional liquid droplet discharge head;
Wiping means for wiping off the nozzle surface of the functional liquid droplet ejection head after the suction operation, and
When it is determined that the cause of the drawing failure is the maintenance operation, the maintenance device further includes failure maintenance operation specifying means for further specifying that the failure cause is the maintenance operation of the suction unit and / or the wiping unit. The drawing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the drawing apparatus is provided.   19. The drawing apparatus according to claim 18, further comprising an operation condition changing unit that changes a maintenance operation condition of the head maintenance unit specified by the defective maintenance operation specifying unit.   20. The drawing apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising defect cause display means for displaying the cause of the specified drawing defect.   A method for evaluating the operation of the drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or the drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein a film-forming unit made of functional droplets is formed on the workpiece. A method for manufacturing an electro-optical device.   Use of the drawing apparatus operation evaluation method according to any one of claims 1 to 14 or the drawing apparatus according to any one of claims 15 to 20 to form a film-forming portion using functional droplets on the workpiece. Electro-optical device characterized. An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device manufactured by the method for manufacturing the electro-optical device according to claim 21 or the electro-optical device according to claim 22.

Images