This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from a prior Taiwanese Patent Application No. 098107522, filed on Mar. 9, 2009, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to roller printing apparatuses, and in particular to a continuous roll-to-roll printing apparatuses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional printing apparatuses can be categorized into sheet-to-sheet printing apparatuses and roll-to-roll printing apparatuses.
On the other hand, for a conventional continuous printing apparatus, skip printing methods are adopted to print a roll of continuous patterns for a planographic printing device. Skip printing methods are performed by sequentially printing 1st, 3rd, 5th . . . patterns. After the patterns are dried, 2nd, 4th, 6th . . . patterns are sequentially printed. Typically, the skip printing methods include two categories: one method includes: printing 1st, 3rd, 5th . . . patterns, drying the patterns, rewinding the roll of working pieces, and printing 2nd, 4th, 6th . . . patterns; the other method includes serially setting two sets of screen printing apparatuses and drying apparatuses, printing 1st, 4rd, 5th . . . patterns, drying the patterns, sequentially printing 2nd, 4th, 6th . . . patterns, and drying the patterns.
The abovementioned first continuous printing method is advantageous in that apparatus costs and space required for the apparatus is minimal. However, different deformations between each winding process occur due to the flexible substrate being wound twice. Also, misplaced and superimposed patterns may be printed on the substrate due to the difficulty in printing subsequent patterns 2P, 4P, 6P on desired locations called stroke error. For the abovementioned second continuous printing method, it is advantageous in that tensile deformation is prevented due to the odd and even pattern process of the flexible substrate being performed under one tension.
Embodiments of the invention provide a roll-to-roll printing apparatus, comprising: a printing device including a printing stage and a squeegee moving along a first direction, thereby transferring a pattern of a stencil to a roll of working pieces; a sending roller and a receiving roller disposed on both sides of the printing device, wherein the roll of working pieces is rolled along a second direction to the printing stage; an alignment device disposed corresponding to a position of the stencil and the roll of working pieces; and a drying device disposed on one side of the printing device, wherein the drying device cures the pattern on the roll of working pieces.
Embodiments of the invention further provide another roll-to-roll printing apparatus, comprising: a printing device including a printing stage, a frame fixing a stencil, and a squeegee moving along a first direction, thereby transferring a pattern of the stencil to a roll of working pieces; a sending roller and a receiving roller disposed on both sides of the printing device, wherein the roll of working pieces is rolled along a second direction to the printing stage; an alignment device disposed over the printing stage or the frame to align a relative position of the stencil with the roll of working pieces; a drying device disposed on one side of the printing device, wherein the drying device cures the pattern on the roll of working pieces; and a controller device controlling the printing stage moving along an x direction and y direction, or rotating with an angle θ, and controlling the stencil moving along an x direction and y direction, or rotating with an angle θ, thereby regulating alignment relation between the printing stage and the frame.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the subsequent detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
It is understood that the following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or examples, for implementing different features of various embodiments. Specific examples of components and arrangements are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are merely examples and are not intended to be limited. In addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself indicate a relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations discussed. Moreover, the formation of a first feature over or on a second feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in which the first and second features are formed in direct contact or not in direct contact.
Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention mainly modifies a typical sheet-to-sheet print apparatus into a roll-to-roll printing apparatus with sending and receiving rollers. Therefore, the modified printing apparatus is advantageous not only in that high alignment precision can be achieved as with sheet-to-sheet printing but also continuous patterns can be printed on a long flexible substrate as with roll-to-roll printing. Moreover, space consumption and fabrication costs are dramatically reduced when compared to conventional apparatuses.
Subsequently, an alignment device 340 is disposed corresponding to the roll of working pieces 335 and the printing stage 310. The alignment device 340 such as multiple sets of CCD alignment devices is disposed above the printing stage 310 or the stencil. Note that, according to an embodiment of the invention, the multiple sets of CCD alignment devices are independent from movement of the printing stage.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
A sending roller 422 and a receiving roller 424 are respectively disposed on both sides of the printing device. The roll of working pieces 435 is rolled along a second direction to the printing stage 410, wherein the first direction is perpendicular to or parallel to the second direction.
An alignment device 422 (such as multiple sets of CCD alignment devices) disposed above the printing stage or the stencil is aligned to a corresponding position of the stencil and the roll of working pieces, as shown in
A drying device 450 is disposed on one side of the printing device, wherein the drying device cures the pattern on the roll of working pieces. The drying device and the receiving roller can be arranged on the same side. The drying device comprises a UV curing device, heat drying device, or an IR drying device. Alternatively, the UV curing device comprises an anti-scattering shadow mask 455 preventing paste on the stencil cured. In another embodiment, the roll-to-roll printing apparatus 400 further comprises a cleaning device 485 real-time cleaning the stencil 420, or further comprises a quality monitoring system 480 measuring thickness, line width, or further comprises line interval, or electrical properties of patterns on the roll of working pieces, or further comprises a heat dissipation device 480 cooling temperature of the roll of working pieces, or further comprises a vacuum chuck 412 in the printing staged 410 holding the roll of working pieces, thereby reducing tension of the roll of working pieces.
A controller device 470 controls the printing stage moving along an x direction and y direction, or rotating with an angle θ, and controls the stencil moving along an x direction and y direction, or rotating with an angle θ, thereby regulating alignment relation between the printing stage and the frame. Alignment precision is thus improved to within ±5 μm. In another embodiment, the roll-to-roll printing apparatus further comprises an auto-control device controlling motions of the sending roller, the receiving roller, and the printing device.
Embodiments of the invention provide roll-to-roll printing apparatuses which can be applied to electronic related products, such as electronic paper, solar devices, display devices, radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, and multilayer ceramic capacitor (MLCC) devices, and fabrication processes, such as surface mount technology (SMT).
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements (as would be apparent to those skilled in the art). Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded to the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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98107522 A | Mar 2009 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20100224087 A1 | Sep 2010 | US |