The present invention is related to the field of display technology, and specifically, to a metal mask strip, a metal mask plate, and a manufacturing method thereof.
Vacuum evaporation technology is inevitably used in manufacturing processes of display panels. The vacuum evaporation technology requires using metal mask plates. A metal mask plate includes a metal mask strip.
Currently, a width of the metal mask strip is determined by a width of a display panel, and a length of the metal mask strip is generally fixed. Research and development processes of the display panel and mass productions are generally separated. The research and development processes of the display panel use research and development lines. The research and development lines focus on product diversity development (in different sizes, different pixels, different functions) and verification. The mass productions use mass production lines. The mass production lines are used to mass-produce designated display panels. However, a length of a metal mask strip for the research and development lines and a length of a metal mask strip for the mass production lines are different, and the metal mask strip for the research and development lines and the metal mask strip for the mass production lines are independent of each other, so they not technically compatible. Therefore, they need to be manufactured separately, which decreases a production efficiency and addition increases production costs.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide a metal mask strip, a metal mask plate, and a manufacturing method thereof to solve problems of the prior art.
A purpose of the present invention is to provide a metal mask strip, a metal mask plate, and a manufacturing method thereof, which can increase production efficiency and reduce production costs.
In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a metal mask strip including at least two mask sub-portions. Each of the mask sub-portions includes:
a non-light-transmitting region disposed at one end of the metal mask strip;
a multiuse region disposed on a configuration side of a preset dividing line of a length of the metal mask strip, wherein the configuration side is on a same side as the non-light-transmitting region; and
at least one light-transmitting region disposed between the non-light-transmitting region and the multiuse region.
The present invention further provides a manufacturing method of a metal mask plate including:
forming a metal mask strip including at least two mask sub-portion, wherein each of the mask sub-portions includes: a non-light-transmitting region disposed at one end of the metal mask strip; a multiuse region disposed on a configuration side of a preset dividing line of a length of the metal mask strip, wherein the configuration side is on a same side as the non-light-transmitting region; and at least one light-transmitting region disposed between the non-light-transmitting region and the multiuse region;
cutting the metal mask strip along the preset dividing line to form mask sub-portions; and welding the mask sub-portions on a support frame to form a metal mask plate having a first length.
and/or welding the metal mask strip on the support frame to form a metal mask plate having a second length; wherein the second length is greater than the first length.
The present invention further provides a glass mask. The glass mask is used to manufacture a metal mask strip. The metal mask strip includes at least two mask sub-portions. Each of the mask sub-portions includes: a non-light-transmitting region disposed at one end of the metal mask strip; a multiuse region disposed on a configuration side of a preset dividing line of a length of the metal mask strip, wherein the configuration side is on a same side as the non-light-transmitting region; and at least one light-transmitting region disposed between the non-light-transmitting region and the multiuse region.
The glass mask includes a patterned region and a non-patterned region. The patterned region corresponds to the light-transmitting region and the multiuse region. The non-patterned region corresponds to the non-light-transmitting region.
The metal mask strip, the metal mask plate, and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention include at least two mask sub-portions. Each of the mask sub-portions includes: the non-light-transmitting region disposed at one end of the metal mask strip; the multiuse region disposed on the configuration side of the preset dividing line of the length of the metal mask strip, wherein the configuration side is on the same side as the non-light-transmitting region; and at least one light-transmitting region disposed between the non-light-transmitting region and the multiuse region. Because the metal mask strip can be prepared for a mask plate of a first production line and a mask plate of a second production line, the production costs is reduced, and the production efficiency is increased.
Examples are described below with reference to the appended drawings, and the drawings illustrate particular embodiments in which the present invention may be practiced. Directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as “upper”, “lower”, “front”, “rear”, “left”, “right”, “in”, “out”, “side”, etc., only refer to directions in the accompanying drawings. Thus, the adoption of directional terms is used to describe and understand the present invention, but not to limit the present invention. In the drawings, units of similar structures are represented using the same numerals.
In the specification, the claims, and the accompanying drawings, the terms “first”, “second”, and so on are intended to distinguish between similar objects, rather than indicate a specific order or a time order. Moreover, the terms “include”, “have” and any variant thereof mean to cover the non-exclusive inclusion.
An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panel is taken as an example. Thin-films of the display panel are manufactured by vacuum evaporation technology. An organic material or a metal material are heated in a vacuum environment (around 10−5 Pa), the materials are sublimated by heat, and an organic thin-film or a metal thin-film with a certain shape are formed on a surface of a substrate through metal mask plate having a pattern. Through continuous deposition and film formation of multiple materials, the display panel with multiple thin-films can be formed.
The metal mask plate includes a universal metal mask plate and a precision metal mask plate. Structures of the universal metal mask plate and the precision metal mask plate both include a metal frame and a metal mask strip fixed on the metal frame. A thickness of the metal mask strip ranges from 10 to 100 um (a common thickness includes 20 um, 25 um, and 30 um). The metal mask strip is fixed on the metal frame by laser welding.
Normally, the precision metal mask plate is manufactured by following methods. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Returning to
Production lines of the display panel determine the length L of the metal mask strip 12, and the width W thereof is not limited, which is determined by a width of the display panel. For example, the length L of the metal mask strip 12 for the mass production lines is generally around 1200 mm, and the length L of the metal mask strip 12 for the research and development lines is generally around 650 mm.
Material of the metal mask strip 12 can be an iron-nickel alloy, the length thereof is L, the width thereof is W, the thickness thereof ranges from 10 to 30 um, and a preferable thickness is one of 20 um, 25 um, and 30 um.
Please refer to
As shown in
Each of the mask sub-portions 21 includes: a non-light-transmitting region S1, a multiuse region S3, and two light-transmitting regions A1 and A2. The non-light-transmitting region S1 is disposed at one end of the metal mask strip 20. A specific structure of the non-light-transmitting region S1 can refer to
The multiuse region S3 is disposed on a configuration side of a preset dividing line 40 of a length of the metal mask strip 20. The configuration side is on a same side as the non-light-transmitting region S1. The preset dividing line 40 can be a center dividing line of the length of the metal mask strip 20. A mask sub-portion on a left side is taken as an example. When the non-light-transmitting region S1 is disposed on a left side of the metal mask strip 20, the multiuse region S3 is disposed on a left side of the center dividing line of the length of the metal mask strip 20. When the non-light-transmitting region S1 is disposed on a right side of the metal mask strip 20, the multiuse region S3 is disposed on a right side of the center dividing line of the length of the metal mask strip 20. In an embodiment, an area of the multiuse region S3 is greater than a preset area. The preset area can be determined according to a value from experiences, so that the metal mask strip 20 is more firmly fixed on a support frame. In an embodiment, in order to simplify manufacturing processes, the areas of the multiuse region S3 and the non-light-transmitting region S1 are equal. In an embodiment, a second opening 201 is defined at an end of the multiuse region S3 opposite to the configuration end. The first opening 101 is arranged corresponding to the second opening 201. A plane shape of the second opening 101 can also be a U-shaped. However, because the thickness of the metal mask strip 20 is too thin, breakages are prone to occur near the openings between two adjacent multiuse regions S3 during a production of a movement. In order to avoid this problem, in other embodiments, as shown in
In an embodiment, the non-light-transmitting region S1 and the multiuse region S3 are disposed opposite to each other in a same mask sub-portion 21. The mask sub-portion 21 on the left side is taken as an example. The non-light-transmitting region S1 is disposed on a left end of the mask sub-portion 21, and the multiuse region S3 is disposed on a right end of the mask sub-portion 21.
The light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 are disposed between the non-light-transmitting region S1 and the multiuse region S3. In an embodiment, the two adjacent light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 can be spaced apart. In this way, a gap between the two adjacent light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 is a non-light-transmitting region. Of course, the two adjacent light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 can also be disposed without spacing, which means that the two adjacent light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 are connected to form a light-transmitting region in an embodiment, the two adjacent light-transmitting regions A1 and A2 can be spaced apart or disposed without spacing. The multiuse region S3 and the light-transmitting regions A2 can be spaced apart of disposed without spacing. Understandably, a number of light-transmitting regions in each of the mask sub-portions is not limited to this.
The metal mask strip 20 in this embodiment is used for the first production line (e.g., the research and development lines). The multiuse region S3 is a non-light-transmitting region.
Understandably, each metal mask strip can include more than two mask sub-portions. At this time, the preset dividing line 40 can be a dividing line for dividing the length of the metal mask strip 20 into thirds or other dividing lines. Thus, the preset dividing line 40 can be a dividing line for dividing the length into less than or greater than seconds.
Please refer to
As shown in
The present invention further provides a metal mask plate including: a plurality of any of the metal mask strips 20 described above and a support frame. The plurality of the metal mask strips 20 are disposed on the support frame.
The present invention further provided a manufacturing method of a metal mask plate including the following steps.
S101, forming a metal mask strip.
For example, the metal mask strip 20 shown in
S102, cutting the metal mask strip along the preset dividing line to form mask sub-portions and welding the mask sub-portions on a support frame to form a metal mask plate having a first length.
For example, the metal mask strip 20 is provided with a cutting line, which is determined along the preset dividing line 40. The metal mask strip in
The mask sub-portions 21 are welded on the support frame to form the metal mask plate having the first length. A specific manufacturing process can refer to
In addition, the above methods can further include:
S103, welding the metal mask strip on the support frame to form a metal mask plate having a second length.
For example, the above metal mask strip 20 is not cut, and any one of the metal mask strips in
After the metal mask strips for the research and development lines in
For example, a meal mask strip having a length of 1300 mm can be applied in the mass production lines and is stretched and welded to obtain a metal mask plate for the mass production lines. After cutting, two metal mask strips having a length of 650 mm shown in
The following describes the first step of the above method, which is a manufacturing method of the metal mask strips.
When manufacturing the metal mask strip shown in
In another embodiment, as shown in
In order to manufacture the above metal mask strips in the
A first method: using the glass mask shown in
Because only one glass mask is needed, after manufacture the metal mask strip 20 for the research and development lines, the glass mask is re-processed (patterning). Then, the metal mask strip 20 for the mass production lines is manufactured by the processed glass mask. This method requires a second processing of the glass mask.
A second method: the metal mask strips 20 in
With reference to
During the exposure process, the shielding plate 62 is removed, and all the patterns on the glass mask 50 are projected on the photoresist layer 61. After the exposure process, the development process, and the etching process, the metal mask strip shown in
The metal mask strip, the metal mask plate, and the manufacturing method thereof of the present invention include at least two mask sub-portions. Each of the mask sub-portions includes: the non-light-transmitting region disposed at one end of the metal mask strip; the multiuse region disposed on the configuration side of the preset dividing line of the length of the metal mask strip, wherein the configuration side is on the same side as the non-light-transmitting region; and at least one light-transmitting region disposed between the non-light-transmitting region and the multiuse region. Because the metal mask strip can be applied in the first production line and the second production line, the production costs is reduced, and the production efficiency is increased.
Although the present invention has been disclosed above with the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Persons having ordinary skill in this technical field can still make various alterations and modifications without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should be defined and protected by the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202010106326.8 | Feb 2020 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2020/078538 | 3/10/2020 | WO | 00 |