Patent Application
20120288973
The present invention relates generally to a method and an apparatus for applying a coating material over an object to be applied, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for automatically applying a flammable coating material.
Conventionally, for effecting a method of discharging a coating material containing a flammable organic solvent to form a pattern of lines as well as dots or aggregation thereof over an object to be applied, a large number of automatic dispensing apparatuses have hitherto been manufactured and employed in industries, the apparatus being configured by setting a dispensing tool in a biaxial or triaxial Cartesian coordinate robot.
Further, as a simple version thereof, a good number of desktop robots have been also manufactured and adopted in many industries, mainly in an electronics industry, the robot being configured by setting the dispensing tool such as a dispenser, a spray nozzle, an ultrasonic atomizing device and an inkjet discharger.
For example, in the case of desiring to acquire a coated film of polymer over an object or substrate to be applied or coated, this involves preparing a solution obtained by dissolving the polymer etc with a flammable aromatic series organic solvent or hydrocarbon series organic solvent, and dispensing and spraying the solution over the object to be applied through the spray nozzle. Though possible by a manual operation, normally for obtaining reproducibility, the object to be applied is mounted on a table of the desktop robot equipped with a small-sized biaxial or triaxial driving shaft, and dispensing and spraying are performed. Thereafter, the organic solvent remaining over the coated object is forcibly volatilized by natural drying or by a dryer, thereby forming the coated film over the object. If a substance of the coated film is monomer etc such as a thermoset resin and a UV cured resin, it is required to effect hardening by heat or ultraviolet rays after having volatilized the organic solvent.
Further, the application of an adhesive containing the organic solvent involves conducting the same processing. For example, in a laboratory etc of the university or college, however, the operation is performed by placing a small-sized apparatus in a draft chamber equipped with an air intake/exhaust facility because of being small in treatment quantity of the solution etc, and hence it may be feasible to ignore influence of the volatile organic solvent on workers.
In the case of frequently performing the dispensing operations in a factory etc and dispensing a large quantity of solution etc, however, the dispensing operation is conducted by installing a dispensing apparatus equipped with the dispensing tool and a dispensing apparatus moving device and/or a table moving device in a booth enclosed by a box equipped with a comparatively large-sized air intake/exhaust system. In this case, a power motor, e.g., a servo motor as well as a stepping motor, which is used as a driving source that generates power, is exposed to the organic solvent or a vapor thereof and is therefore required to have an explosion-proof construction.
Generally, however, the explosion-proof motor is large in size and is, besides, heavy such as being twice or more in weight, and consequently the installation needs a large-sized frame with an increased strength. Moreover, in the case of adopting the biaxial Cartesian coordinate robot, a restraint arises in weight capacity of the shaft when one driving shaft supports the driving source. Further, normally the explosion-proof motor is a BTO (Build To Order) product to require 4 through 6 months up to an appointed date of delivery, which is hard to meet a requested quick delivery on the industry side.
For coping with this problem, there is simply adopted a method of putting the power source such as the motor into the box, then injecting the pressurized air therein to increase an air pressure and thus preventing infiltration of the solvent vapor. This method is not generally, however, approved based on demonstrative examination by a public institution and has a high risk in terms of self-responsibility.
Supposing that these simple internal pressure type apparatuses are expediently approved based on the responsibility of a client, it is required that pipes accommodate wires leading to the power source. As in the case of the biaxial Cartesian coordinate robot, if a necessity arises for moving the servo motor or the stepping motor defined as the power source, these apparatuses cannot be applied.
There is a case of approving a method of making a wire arrangement by use of an explosion-proof wiring connector, however, even when a cable rack normally used for the robot accommodates the wires, deterioration of the wire covering due to rubbing is inevitable, resulting in a risk causing sparks.
Furthermore, there is proposed a method of performing an air intake from within a chamber containing the solvent of which a concentration is much larger than twice of a lower limit of the explosion in a booth and performing the exhaust outside the chamber in order to avoid ignition to the solvent vapor due to the sparks caused by a cutoff of wire and an abnormal emission of heat caused by an overload on the power source. The solvent vapor is diluted as an air flow rate increases with the result that it is feasible to keep a level at which the ignition cannot be absolutely attained, however, an air speed in the booth rises, then particles escape as carried on the air especially in the case of conducting the spray-dispensing, and hence dispensing efficiency extremely decreases. For instance, a platinum catalyst used for forming an electrode of a fuel cell and YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) phosphor used for coating the LED that is obtained by coating a blue light-emitting diode and emits white light, are highly expensive, and hence it is the present condition that the industry does not accept this method.
The present invention was devised to solve the problems described above and has for its object to provide a liquid dispensing method and a liquid dispensing apparatus that are superior in terms of a sealing property.
To solve the problems, the present invention provides a dispensing method of dispensing a coating material over an object to be applied or coated by a dispensing device within a dispensing chamber composed of a top plate, a bottom plate and side plates, the method including:
forming a fresh air inlet and an exhaust outlet in an upper portion and a lower portion of the dispensing chamber, respectively;
exposing at least a discharge hole of the dispensing device to within the upper portion of the dispensing chamber;
installing an object mounting unit to be exposed to within the dispensing chamber from the side of the bottom plate and configuring the dispensing device and an object mounting unit so as to enable at least one of the dispensing device and the object mounting unit to move linearly; and
moving at least one of the dispensing device and the object mounting unit with a driving mechanism provided outside the dispensing chamber and positioning the dispensing device with respect to the object to be applied, and dispensing the coating material over the object to be applied by the dispensing device.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing chamber takes a box-like shape, an upper portion of the dispensing chamber is formed with the fresh air inlet, and a lower portion of the dispensing chamber is formed with the exhaust outlet,
a first aperture extending in a first linear direction is formed in the top plate, and a second aperture extending in a second linear direction orthogonal to the first linear direction is formed in the bottom plate,
the driving mechanism includes a first driving device that is provided above the top plate and outside the dispensing chamber for moving the dispensing device in the first linear direction and a second driving device provided below the bottom plate and outside the dispensing chamber and serving to move the object mounting unit in the second linear direction,
the object mounting unit is exposed to within the dispensing chamber through the second aperture of the bottom plate,
a first movable body is provided to be moved in the first linear direction by the first driving device;
a first bracket is provided at the first movable body and extends into the dispensing chamber through the first aperture of the top plate;
first sealing means is provided between the top plate and the first bracket to seal the first aperture;
a dispensing device assembly equipped with the dispensing device is fitted to the first bracket within the dispensing chamber;
second sealing means is provided between the bottom plate and the object mounting unit to seal the second aperture; and
a control device is provided outside the dispensing chamber to control the first and second driving devices;
wherein the object to be applied is disposed on the object mounting unit within the dispensing chamber, the dispensing chamber exclusive of the fresh air inlet and the exhaust outlet is sealed, the control device controls the first and second driving devices or positions the dispensing device with respect to the object to be applied by a programmed operation, and the dispensing device dispenses the coating material over the object to be applied.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that at least one of the side plates is provided with an opening/closing door for accessing the interior of the dispensing chamber,
the object mounting unit includes: a second movable body that is moved in the second linear direction by the second driving device; a second bracket provided at the second movable body and extending into the dispensing chamber through the second aperture of the bottom plate; and an object mounting table is fitted to the second bracket, and
the object to be applied is disposed on the object mounting unit within the dispensing chamber via the opening/closing door.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the object mounting unit includes a belt conveyor that is moved in the second linear direction by the second driving device, and the object to be applied is placed on the belt conveyer and is disposed within the dispensing chamber.
Further, in order to solve the problems given above, in the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing chamber configures a cylindrical or polygonal box body including the top plate and the side plates and fixedly disposed to open downward, the bottom plate being disposed on the lower side of the box body and enabled to make linear motions at the same height with the box body in the first direction and in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction in a contact or non-contact state with the side plate,
a dispensing device is disposed above the top plate, of which at least a discharge hole is exposed to within the dispensing chamber,
the object mounting unit includes a table covering a whole area of the central aperture of the bottom plate, the table being fixedly disposed onto the bottom plate and exposed to within the dispensing chamber and moved together with the bottom plate, the table being moved in the first linear direction and the second linear direction by the first driving device and the second driving device each provided outside the dispensing chamber,
the first and second driving devices position the dispensing device with respect to the object to be applied by a programmed operation, and
the dispensing device dispenses the coating material over the object to be applied.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing device is moved in the vertical direction by the second driving mechanism disposed outside the dispensing chamber.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that the coating material is slurry composed of a phosphor, a binder and a solvent, and
the slurry is moved by a pressure difference between two or small-sized containers or/and circulated by use of a pump and is dispensed by the dispensing device consecutively or pulsewise over an LED mounted on the temperature-controlled object mounting unit.
In the dispensing method according to the present invention, it is preferable that a circulation circuit is configured by establishing communicating paths among one small-sized container, the dispensing device and a small-sized pump to circulate the slurry filling the small-sized container and pressurized by a compressed gas, and
the dispensing device dispenses the coating material consecutively or pulsewise over the LED mounted on the temperature-controlled object mounting unit.
Still further, in order to solve the problems, the present invention provides a dispensing apparatus configured to dispense a coating material over an object to be applied by a dispensing device within a dispensing chamber including a top plate, a bottom plate and side plates, the dispensing apparatus comprising:
a fresh air inlet and an exhaust outlet being formed in an upper portion and a lower portion of the dispensing chamber, respectively;
the dispensing device getting at least its discharge hole exposed to within the dispensing chamber;
an object mounting unit being disposed to be exposed to within the dispensing chamber from the side of the bottom plate; and
a driving mechanism being provided outside the dispensing chamber and driving at least one of the dispensing device and the object mounting unit,
wherein the dispensing device is positioned with respect to the object to be applied and dispenses a coating material over the object to be applied.
In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing chamber takes a box-like shape, the fresh air inlet is formed in any one of the top plate and the vicinity of the top plate, and the exhaust outlet is formed in the bottom plate and the vicinity of the bottom plate,
a first aperture extending in a first linear direction is formed in the top plate, and a second aperture extending in a second linear direction having an orthogonal relation with the first linear direction is formed in the bottom plate,
the driving mechanism is provided above the top plate and outside the dispensing chamber and includes a first driving device for moving the dispensing device in the first linear direction and a second driving device provided below the bottom plate and outside the dispensing chamber and serving to move the object mounting unit in the second linear direction,
the object mounting unit is exposed to within the dispensing chamber through the second aperture of the bottom plate,
the dispensing apparatus further includes:
a first movable body that is moved in the first linear direction by the first driving device;
a first bracket provided at the first movable body and extending into the dispensing chamber through the first aperture of the top plate;
first sealing means provided between the top plate and the first bracket and sealing the first aperture;
a dispensing device assembly fitted to the first bracket within the dispensing chamber and including the dispensing device
second sealing means provided between the bottom plate and the object mounting unit and sealing the second aperture; and
a control device provided outside the dispensing chamber and controlling the first and second driving devices,
wherein the object to be applied is disposed on the object mounting unit within the dispensing chamber, the dispensing chamber exclusive of the fresh air inlet and the exhaust outlet, is sealed, the first and second driving devices are controlled by the control device or operated by programming to position the dispensing device with respect to the object to be applied, and the dispensing device dispenses the coating material over the object to be applied.
In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that at least one of the side plates is provided with an opening/closing door for accessing the interior of the dispensing chamber,
the object mounting unit includes: a second movable body that is moved in the second linear direction by the second driving device; a second bracket provided at the second movable body and extending into the dispensing chamber through the second aperture of the bottom plate; and an object mounting table fitted to the second bracket, and
the object to be applied is disposed on the object mounting unit within the dispensing chamber via the opening/closing door.
Yet further, in the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the object mounting unit includes a belt conveyor that is moved in the second linear direction by the second driving device, on which belt conveyer the object to be applied is placed and is disposed within the dispensing chamber.
Moreover, in the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing chamber configures a box body including the top plate and the side plates and fixedly disposed to open downward, the bottom plate being disposed on the lower side of the box body and enabled to make linear motions with respect to the box body in a first horizontal direction and in a second horizontal direction in a contact or non-contact state with the side plates,
the dispensing device is disposed above the top plate and gets at least its discharge hole exposed to within the dispensing chamber, and
the object mounting unit includes a table that covers a whole area of the central aperture of the bottom plate, and is fixed to the bottom plate to be exposed to within the dispensing chamber, the table being moved together with the bottom plate and movable in the first linear direction and the second linear direction by the first driving device and the second driving device each provided outside the dispensing chamber.
In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the dispensing apparatus further includes a second driving mechanism disposed outside the dispensing chamber and moving the dispensing device in the vertical direction.
In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that the coating material is slurry composed of a phosphor, a binder and a solvent, and
the slurry is moved by a pressure difference between two or small-sized containers or/and circulated by use of a pump and dispensed by the dispensing device consecutively or pulsewise over an LED mounted on the temperature-controlled object mounting unit.
In the dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, it is preferable that a circulation circuit is configured by establishing communicating paths among one small-sized container, the dispensing device and a small-sized pump to circulate the slurry filling the small-sized container and pressurized by a compressed gas, and
the dispensing device dispenses the coating material consecutively or pulsewise over the LED mounted on the temperature-controlled object mounting unit.
According to the method or the apparatus of the present invention, the X-, Y- and Z-directional driving motors as well as the X-, Y- and Z-directional power transmission mechanisms are installed outside the dispensing chamber, then only the dispensing device assembly to be driven and the object mounting unit may be installed within the dispensing chamber, and hence there is no necessity for installing the electric wires and electric devices within the dispensing chamber, thereby acquiring the excellent sealing structure.
In the preferable mode of the present invention, the X-, Y- and Z-directional driving motors as well as the X-, Y- and Z-directional power transmission mechanisms and also the dispensing device assembly are installed outside the dispensing chamber, and only the aperture portion of the discharge nozzle provided in the dispensing device assembly is exposed to within the dispensing chamber, and, if thus configured, it is feasible to adopt inkjet type and electromagnetic valve direct drive type dispensing guns that cannot be normally used in the booth as valves of the components of the dispensing device assembly because of their non-explosion-proof constructions, and, for example, a combinational use of the high-speed electromagnetic valve and a special controller enables the pulse dispensing at the speed as high as, e.g., 50-1000 Hz.
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to the drawings. Each of the following embodiments is nothing but one example for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and it is not an exclusive matter to make additions, replacements, modifications, etc, which can be carried out by those skilled in the art within the range that does not deviate from the technical idea of the present invention.
The drawings schematically illustrate the exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
The dispensing apparatus in the first embodiment includes an apparatus body 1 taking substantially a cubic shape that is long in a vertical direction on the whole, and the apparatus body includes a front portion 3, a rear plate 5, a left side plate 7, a right side plate 9, a bottom portion 11 and an top portion.
The apparatus body 1 is roughly sectioned into three parts in the vertical direction, in which a dispensing booth setting chamber 13 is formed at the center in the vertical direction, an upper chamber 15 is formed above or on the upper side of the dispensing booth setting chamber 13, a lower chamber 17 is formed below or at the lower side of the dispensing booth setting chamber 13, and a dispensing booth 19 within the dispensing booth setting chamber 13 is isolated from the upper chamber 15, the lower chamber 17 and the periphery thereof by a sealing structure. (The sealing structure in the specification connotes having such a degree of airtightness that a leakage of a flammable gas within the dispensing booth 19 or a dispensing chamber 23 that will be described later on is not enough to cause an explosion outside the dispensing booth 19 or the dispensing chamber 23).
The dispensing booth 19 is a box-shaped body configured by a hexahedron having six faces on the front and rear sides, the left and right sides and the upper and lower sides and is sectioned into an exhaust chamber 21 formed in the lower portion and the airtight dispensing chamber 23 formed above the exhaust chamber 21. Two doors 25, 26, which open on both sides, are provided on the front side of the airtight dispensing chamber 23, thereby enabling an access to be made from the outside. A rear plate member 27 on the rear side of the dispensing booth 19 is formed with a transparent glass window 27a.
As depicted by a dotted line in
The top plate member 29 includes perforated plates 33 such as punched plates provided on both sides of the central aperture 31, and a filter 35 is spreaded over removably inside the chamber (see
In the dispensing booth 19, as illustrated in
The rear plate member 27 is formed with two right and left exhaust ports 43a, 43b (see
An X-directional driving device 45 extending in the X-direction is, as depicted in
As illustrated in
Details of the dispensing device assembly 55 will be described later on. Further, the interior of the dispensing chamber 23 and the upper chamber 15 are isolated from each other by the sealing structure, and hence the upper bracket 53 is structured to be movable in the X-direction with respect to the top plate member 29 and to air-tightly be in contact therewith, however, this structure will be described in detail later on.
A Y-directional driving device 58 extending to a predetermined length in the Y-direction in a position in the opposed or face-to-face relation with the Y-directional aperture 41 of the metal perforated plate 37 which is for the partition between the dispensing chamber 23 and the exhaust chamber 21, is provided within the lower chamber 17 of the apparatus body 1 (see
The interior of the dispensing chamber 23 and the exhaust chamber 21 are isolated from each other by the sealing structure, and hence the Y-directional bracket 65 is movable in the Y-direction with respect to the metal perforated plate 37 and air-tightly is in contact therewith, however, this structure will be described in detail later on.
As illustrated in
In the present embodiment and the second and third embodiments that will hereinafter be described, the dispensing apparatus is preferable for dispensing polymer onto the object to be coated and is preferable for dispensing the polymer etc with a solution dissolved by a flammable aromatic series organic solvent as well as hydrocarbon series organic solvent, and the dispensing device assembly 55 is equipped with, as disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-300000, two syringe-shaped containers 75a, 75b (see
In the first embodiment, the control and the drive of the dispensing apparatus are conducted all by compressed air. Therefore the syringe-shaped containers, the discharge opening/closing means and the discharge nozzle are respectively connected to an air source via pipes (unillustrated). The pipes are preferably guided together with the upper bracket 53 to the outside of the dispensing chamber. Incidentally, another available configuration is that the circulation, without being limited to the circulation based on the two syringes, is attained by arranging a tube up to the dispensing device assembly by use of a small-sized container of one syringe and a small-sized pump. For instance, a dispensing device assembly 155 as depicted in
An in-depth description of the sealing structure between the dispensing chamber 23 and the upper bracket 53 as the movable portion for the X-directional movement in the first embodiment will hereinafter be made with reference to, particularly,
Referring to
Rail members 77 each taking a sectional shape as illustrated in enlargement in
On the other hand, as illustrated in
Referring to
As depicted in
As illustrated in
Such being the structure, the X-directional aperture 31 is configured to take the sealing structure in the way of being sealed by the belts 81a, 81b regardless of the movements of the movable body unit 75, and besides the movements in the X-direction of the movable body unit 75 get stabilized by the rail members 77.
In the conventional dispensing apparatus, the air is sucked naturally from the aperture portion by the forcible exhaust, and hence such a possibility extremely rises that when the dispensing apparatus is installed in an atmosphere other than the clean room, foreign matters such as the dusts are absorbed and adhered to the object to be coated, resulting in an extremely high possibility of causing a decline of quality of the coated object. Further, the flow of intake air from the aperture portion causes a turbulent flow in the vicinity of the object to be coated, which becomes a critical defect if the dispensing device is a spray device. In this respect, the dispensing apparatus according to the first embodiment can solve these problems because the aperture portion can be sealed by the belts 81a, 81b.
As illustrated in detail in
Within the box body 67, three rollers 93a, 93b, 93c are, as illustrated in
On the other hand, a flexible belt 95, which has a size large enough to cover the Y-directional aperture, is stretched on the upper side of the metal perforated plate 37 which partitions between the dispensing chamber 23 and the exhaust chamber 21. The flexible belt 95 is fixed to the metal perforated plate 37 at both ends in the Y-direction. At the bottom portion of the box body 67, this belt 95 passes into the box body 67 through two apertures formed at lower portions of the box body 67 and below the rollers 93a, 93c on both sides and is stretched over to the upper portion of the central roller 93b. The box body 67 is movable in the Y-direction within the Y-directional aperture 41, and at this time the Y-directional aperture 41 is configured to take the sealing structure in the way of being sealed by the belt 95. More perfection of this sealing structure may involve attaching a cover (not illustrated) to the both side surfaces of the box body 67 or the lower side of the object mounting table 69 and sealing the box body 67 by bringing the lower portion of the cover into contact with the metal perforated plate 37 or the belt 95.
According to the first embodiment, with the structure described above, the power transmission mechanisms 49, 51: 61, 63 in the X- and Y-directions as well as the driving motors 47, 59 in the X- and Y-directions are installed outside the dispensing chamber 23, then the object mounting unit including the dispensing device assembly 55 to be driven and the object mounting table 69 may be installed within the dispensing chamber 23, and hence there is no necessity for installing the electric wires and electric devices within the dispensing chamber 23, thereby acquiring the excellent sealing structure.
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to
In the second embodiment,
In the second embodiment, the dispensing apparatus includes an apparatus body 101 taking substantially the cubic shape that is long in the vertical direction on the whole, and the apparatus body 101 includes a front portion, a rear plate, a left side plate, a right side plate, a bottom portion and a top portion. The apparatus body is roughly sectioned into four parts in the vertical direction, which are, from above, an upper chamber 103, a dispensing chamber installation room 105, an XY driving portion installation room 107 provided thereunder and a lower chamber 109. Note that an XY driving portion installation room and the lower chamber may be configured by one room and may also be configured as an open space.
In the second embodiment, within the dispensing chamber installation room 105, a dispensing chamber 111 taking the box shape that is smaller in length, width and height on the whole than the dispensing chamber installation room 105 is fixedly disposed on a partition floor plate member 119 that partitions between the dispensing chamber installation room 105 and the XY driving portion installation room 107.
A top plate member 113 forming a top portion of the dispensing chamber 111 is formed with an aperture 114 taking substantially a circular shape at the central portion, in which there is fixed a bellows member 115 taking a conical shape converging from a peripheral edge of the aperture 114 toward the center downwardly. An annular member 117 is fixedly provided at the central portion of the bellows member 115, and there is provided an elongated plate-like bracket 118 penetrating the annular member 117 in the vertical direction and extending from within the dispensing chamber into the upper chamber 103 provided upwardly. The upper portion of the bracket 118 is fixed to a top plate member 114 of the apparatus body and to a partition plate 121 that partitions between the upper chamber 103 and the dispensing chamber installation room 105 of the apparatus body. Within the dispensing chamber 111, the lower end portion of the bracket 118 is fitted with a dispensing device assembly 126 similar to the dispensing device assembly in the first embodiment. The upper chamber 103 is equipped therein with a motor 131 for driving in the vertical direction (Z-direction) and a driving mechanism 133 which converts the motor driving force into the reciprocating motions in the vertical direction, and the dispensing device assembly 126 is enabled to make the reciprocating motions in the vertical direction (Z-direction) through the bracket 118. Note that the bellows member 115 may be composed of a retractable elastomer material. Further, the top plate member 113 in place of the bellows member 115 may be formed with a hole having a slight gap with respect to the bracket 118 so as to enable the bracket 118 to move vertically, and the gap may also be provided with a seal.
As depicted in
In the second embodiment, exhaust ports 125 each provided with a filter are formed in the lower portions of the right/left side plates of the dispensing chamber 111, and an exhaust device 128 is connected via the exhaust ports 125.
An object mounting square table plate 129 building up an object mounting unit is fixed to a central portion of a floor plate member 127 building up the bottom portion of the dispensing chamber 111, and a portion between this table plate 129 and the floor plate member 127 is configured to take the sealing structure. The floor plate member 127 is movable back and forth and right and left with respect to the side plates of the dispensing chamber 111. Hence, the floor plate member 127 has a size enough to build up, even when moving on one side, the bottom portion of the dispensing chamber 111 on the other side, and spaces between the edge of the table plate 129, the front side portion of the dispensing chamber on the side corresponding thereto, the rear side plate and the side plate have sizes enough to allow the movement of the floor plate member 127.
The floor plate member 119 between the dispensing chamber installation room 105 and the XY driving portion installation room 107 is formed with an aperture 131 having a size sufficient for allowing the X- and Y-directional movements of the XY movable body which supports from under the object mounting table plate 129 within the dispensing chamber 111. The undersurface of the object mounting table plate 129 is exposed open to the XY driving portion installation room 107 via this aperture.
A driving force converting transmission mechanism 132 which includes the Y-directional driving motor and a converting mechanism, such as a ball screw mechanism, for converting the rotations of this Y-directional driving motor into the reciprocating linear motions in the Y-direction, is provided at the center of the floor member 137 of the XY driving portion installation room 107. A driving force converting transmission mechanism 134 which includes the X-directional driving motor and a converting mechanism, such as a ball screw mechanism, for converting the rotations of this X-directional driving motor into the reciprocating linear motions in the X-direction is fitted to and supported on the movable member that is moved in the Y-direction by the Y-directional driving force converting transmission mechanism 132. An upper end of the X-directional movable member 135 that is moved in the X-direction by the X-directional driving force converting transmission mechanism 134, configures the XY-directional movable body and fixedly supports the undersurface of the object mounting square table plate 129.
Thus, in the second embodiment also, there is no necessity for installing the electric wires and electric devices within the dispensing chamber 111; the X-, Y- and Z-directional driving motors as well as the X-, Y- and Z-directional power transmission mechanisms are installed outside the dispensing chamber 111; and only the dispensing device assembly to be driven and the object mounting table may be installed within the dispensing chamber 111, thereby acquiring the excellent sealing structure. Further, there is no necessity for heating by the circulation of the heat carrier as in the first embodiment because the undersurface of the table is not exposed to within the dispensing chamber, and an unillustrated cartridge type electric heater etc is incorporated together with a temperature sensor into the table, whereby the table may be heated by controlling its temperature to an arbitrary temperature.
In the conventional dispensing apparatus, the air is sucked naturally from the aperture portion by the forcible exhaust, and hence such a possibility extremely rises that when the dispensing apparatus is installed in the atmosphere other than the clean room, the foreign matters such as the dusts are absorbed and adhered to the object to be coated or coated object, resulting in the extremely high possibility of causing the decline of quality of the coated object. Further, the flow of intake air from the aperture portion causes the turbulent flow in the vicinity of the object to be coated, which becomes the critical defect if the dispensing device is the spray device. In this respect, the dispensing apparatus according to the second embodiment can solve these problems because of obtaining the excellent sealing structure.
In the second embodiment, a door is provided at the front side portion of the dispensing chamber 111 and can be opened and closed to allow the access as in the case of taking the object to be coated and the coated object in and out of the dispensing chamber 111, however, the box body including the top portion, the front side portion, the rear plate and the right/left side plates to build up the dispensing chamber 111 is configured to get removable from the floor plate member 127, and this box body may be moved upward by the motor 131.
Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will hereinafter be described with reference to
In the third embodiment,
In the third embodiment, the dispensing apparatus includes an apparatus body 201 taking substantially the cubic shape that is long in the vertical direction on the whole, and the apparatus body 201 includes a front portion, a rear plate, a left side plate, a right side plate, a bottom portion and an top portion. The apparatus body is roughly sectioned into four parts in the vertical direction, which are, from above, an upper chamber 203, a dispensing chamber installation room 205, an XY driving portion installation room 207 provided thereunder and a lower chamber 209. Note that the XY driving portion installation room and the lower chamber may be configured by one room and may also be configured as the open space.
In the third embodiment, within the dispensing chamber installation room 205, a dispensing chamber 211 taking the box shape that is smaller in length, width and height on the whole than the dispensing chamber installation room 205 is fixedly disposed on a floor plate member 219 which partitions between the dispensing chamber installation room 205 and the XY driving portion installation room 207.
A top plate member 213 forming a top portion of the dispensing chamber 211 is formed with an aperture taking substantially a circular shape at the central portion, in which there is fixed a bellows member 215 taking a conical shape converging from a peripheral edge of the aperture toward the center downwardly. An annular member 217 is fixedly provided at the central portion of the bellows member 215.
In the third embodiment, a discharge nozzle 221a is configured so that only a tip end portion of this discharge nozzle penetrates the annular member 217 in the vertical direction and is exposed to within the dispensing chamber 111. By an elongated plate-like bracket 218 extending into the upper chamber 203 provided above or at the upper side of the dispensing chamber, the nozzle body unit exclusive of the tip end portion of the discharge nozzle 221a and a dispensing device assembly 221 supporting the nozzle body unit, are supported so that the nozzle body unit and the dispensing device assembly 221 exist outside the dispensing chamber. The upper portion of the bracket 218 is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction via a support member 230 by the top plate member 214 of the apparatus body and a floor plate member 219 between the upper chamber 203 and the dispensing chamber installation room 205.
The upper chamber 203 is equipped with a motor 231 for driving in the vertical direction (Z-direction) and a driving mechanism 233 for converting the motor driving force into the reciprocating motions in the vertical direction, in which the bracket 218 is driven by the driving mechanism 233, thereby enabling the dispensing device assembly 221 to make the reciprocating motions in the vertical direction (Z-direction).
The top plate member 213 of the dispensing chamber 211 includes an external layer 213a of the perforated plate and an internal filter layer 213b, thereby forming the fresh air inlet or intake portion. Note that the air intake may involve installing, into the dispensing chamber 211, the duct with the manual opening/closing dumper serving also to adjust the air flow rate, and adopting the push-pull configuration by providing the air suction fan on the upstream side, which are adopted in many cases in the technical field belonging to the invention of the present application.
In the third embodiment, exhaust ports 225 each provided with the filter are formed in the lower portions of the right/left side plates of the dispensing chamber 211, and an exhaust device 228 is connected via the exhaust ports 225.
An object mounting square table plate 229 building up an object mounting unit is fixed to a central portion of a floor plate member 227 building up the bottom portion of the dispensing chamber 211, and a portion between the table plate 229 and the floor plate member 227 is configured to take the sealing structure. The floor plate member 227 is movable back and forth and right and left with respect to the front side portion, the rear plate and the side plates of the dispensing chamber 211. Hence, the floor plate member 227 has a size enough to build up, even when moving on one side, the bottom portion of the dispensing chamber 211 on the other side, and a space between the edge of the table plate 229 and the side plate on the side corresponding thereto has a size enough to allow the movement of the floor plate member 227.
The floor plate member 219 which partitions between the dispensing chamber installation room 205 and the XY driving portion installation room 207 is formed with an aperture 231 having a size sufficient for allowing the X- and Y-directional movements of the XY movable body which supports from under the object mounting table plate 229. The undersurface of the object mounting table plate 229 is exposed to the XY driving portion installation room 207 via this aperture 231.
A driving force converting transmission mechanism 232 which includes the Y-directional driving motor and a converting mechanism, such as a ball screw mechanism, for converting the rotations of this Y-directional driving motor into the reciprocating linear motions in the Y-direction, is provided at the center of the floor member 237 of the XY driving portion installation room 207. A driving force converting transmission mechanism 234 which includes the X-directional driving motor and a converting mechanism, such as a ball screw mechanism, for converting the rotations of this X-directional driving motor into the reciprocating linear motions in the X-direction is fitted to and supported on the movable member moved in the Y-direction by the Y-directional driving force converting transmission mechanism 232. An upper end of the X-directional movable member moved in the X-direction by the X-directional driving force converting transmission mechanism 234, configures the XY-directional movable body 235 and fixedly supports the undersurface of the object mounting square table plate 229.
In the third embodiment, a door may be provided at the front side portion of the dispensing chamber 211 and can be opened and closed to allow the access as in the case of taking the object to be coated and the coated object in and out of the dispensing chamber 211, however, the box body including the top portion, the front side portion, the rear plate and the right/left side plates to build up the dispensing chamber 211 is configured to get removable from the floor plate member 227, and this box body may be moved upward by the motor 231.
Thus, in the third embodiment, there is no necessity for installing the electric wires and the electric devices within the dispensing chamber 211; the X-, Y- and Z-directional driving motors as well as the X-, Y- and Z-directional power transmission mechanisms are installed outside the dispensing chamber; and only the driven dispensing device assembly and the driven object mounting table may be installed within the dispensing chamber, thereby acquiring the excellent sealing structure. Further, there is no necessity for heating by the circulation of the heat carrier as in the first embodiment because the undersurface of the table is not exposed to within the dispensing chamber, and the unillustrated cartridge type electric heater etc is incorporated together with the temperature sensor into the table, whereby the table may be heated by controlling its temperature to an arbitrary temperature.
In the conventional dispensing apparatus, the air is sucked naturally from the aperture portion by the forcible exhaust, and hence such a possibility extremely rises that when the dispensing apparatus is installed in the atmosphere other than the clean room, the foreign matters such as the dusts are absorbed and adhered to the object to be coated or coated object, resulting in the extremely high possibility of causing the decline of quality of the coated object. Further, the flow of intake air from the aperture portion causes the turbulent flow in the vicinity of the object to be coated, which becomes the critical defect if the dispensing device is the spray device. In this respect, the dispensing apparatus according to the third embodiment can solve these problems because of obtaining the excellent sealing structure.
Additionally, in the third embodiment, only the aperture portion of the front edge of the discharge nozzle is exposed to within the dispensing chamber, the dispensing device assembly is installed outside the dispensing chamber, and it is therefore feasible to adopt an electromagnetic gun as a valve of the component of the dispensing device assembly. Therefore, according to the third embodiment, a combinational use of the high-speed electromagnetic valve and a special controller enables the dispensing at the speed as high as, e.g., 50-1000 Hz.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010-003319 | Jan 2010 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2011/050168 | 1/7/2011 | WO | 00 | 7/7/2012 |
