At least one embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a screen printing device and a screen printing method.
In the process of screen printing and operation, as static electricity on surfaces of materials and static electricity produced by friction will affect normal inking in the printing process and result in stencil clogging, a substrate will be caught by a screen mesh at the moment of output and will even break down a circuit which has been already formed and damage a product.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a screen printing device and a screen printing method, which can prevent the generation of static electricity.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a screen printing device, comprising a screen plate and an electrifying device, wherein the screen plate includes a conductive mesh; and the electrifying device is electrically connected with the conductive mesh and configured to apply voltage to the conductive mesh.
In some examples, in a screen printing process, a polarity of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh by the electrifying device is a first polarity; a polarity of electrostatic charges on a substrate in the screen printing process upon the conductive mesh being not electrified is a second polarity; and the first polarity is opposite to the second polarity.
In some examples, in the screen printing process, an absolute value of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh by the electrifying device is directly proportional to a charge quantity of the electrostatic charges.
In some examples, the screen plate further includes a conductive screen frame; and the conductive mesh is disposed in the conductive screen frame and electrically connected with the conductive screen frame.
In some examples, the conductive screen frame is fixed through a screen frame mounting bracket.
In some examples, the screen frame mounting bracket includes a conductive portion; the electrifying device is electrically connected with the conductive portion of the screen frame mounting bracket through a lead; and the conductive portion of the screen frame mounting bracket is electrically connected with the conductive screen frame.
In some examples, the screen printing device further comprises a printing head, wherein the printing head is configured to print ink onto the substrate through the screen plate.
In some examples, the conductive mesh includes a metal wire mesh.
In some examples, the screen printing device further comprises a signal generator, wherein the signal generator is connected with the electrifying device to control a polarity and time of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh by the electrifying device.
In some examples, the screen printing device further comprises a bearing table for supporting the substrate in the screen printing process, wherein the bearing table is configured to be grounded.
In some examples, the signal generator is configured to control the polarity of the voltage applied by the electrifying device in the screen printing process to be opposite to the polarity of the voltage applied in a process of placing the substrate on the bearing table and in a process of separating the substrate from the bearing table.
In some examples, the screen printing device further comprises a detector, wherein the detector is configured to detect the polarity and the charge quantity of the electrostatic charges on the substrate in the screen printing process upon the conductive mesh being not electrified.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a screen printing method, comprising: adopting a printing head to rub against a screen plate to print ink onto a substrate for silk screen printing, wherein the screen plate includes a conductive mesh; and applying voltage to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process.
In some examples, the screen printing method further comprises applying positive voltage or negative voltage to the conductive mesh in a process of placing the substrate on a bearing table and/or in a process of separating the substrate from the bearing table.
In some examples, voltage with different polarities is respectively applied to the conductive mesh at different moments.
In some examples, one of the positive voltage and the negative voltage is applied to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process.
In some examples, the other of the positive voltage and the negative voltage is applied to the conductive mesh in the process of placing the substrate on the bearing table and in the process of separating the substrate from the bearing table.
In some examples, the screen printing method further comprises: before applying the voltage to the conductive mesh, adopting the ink for silk screen printing upon the conductive mesh being not electrified, and measuring the polarity of electrostatic charges on the substrate.
In some examples, the polarity of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process is opposite to the polarity of the electrostatic charges.
In some examples, an absolute value of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process is directly proportional to the charge quantity of the electrostatic charges.
In order to clearly illustrate the technical solution of the embodiments of the disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described in the following; it is obvious that the described drawings are only related to some embodiments of the disclosure and thus are not limitative of the disclosure.
In order to make objects, technical details and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiment will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings related to the embodiments of the disclosure. It is obvious that the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. Based on the described embodiments herein, those skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment(s), without any inventive work, which should be within the scope of the disclosure.
Unless otherwise defined, the technical terminology or scientific terminology used herein should have the general meanings understood by those skills in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. The “first”, “second” and similar words used in the present disclosure application specification and claims do not mean any sequence, amount or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Likewise, the word “comprise”, “include” or the like only indicates that an element or a component before the word contains elements or components listed after the word and equivalents thereof, not excluding other elements or components. “Connecting” or “connected” and similar words are not limited to the physical or mechanical connection, but may comprise electrical connection, no matter directly or indirectly. “Over”, “under”, “right”, “left” and the like are merely used to denote the relative location relationship which based on the relationship described in drawings, and only to describe the present disclosure conveniently.
Static electricity must be eliminated in the screen printing process. It is more urgent to eliminate static electricity especially in the case of applying the screen printing process in the fields with high requirement on static electricity, e.g., thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), organic light-emitting diode (OLED) and printed circuit board (PCB). The usual method is to control the static electricity by controlling the temperature, the humidity and the like of a workshop, but this method has low control reliability and the control is more difficult especially in areas with low humidity.
One feasible means is to eliminate the static electricity by ionic wind. However, as most ink solvent has volatility and air flow will accelerate its volatilization, especially when one thin layer of ink solvent covers the screen plate, ink setting tends to occur, resulting in stencil clogging and poor printing quality.
Another feasible means is to conduct away the static electricity through a conducting rod. However, when ink is an insulator, a wire mesh of a metal screen plate is full of insulating ink and cannot play a role of conducting away the static electricity, so this means will fail in this case.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure provides a screen printing device, which, as illustrated in
In the screen printing process, static electricity tends to occur when the printing head is adopted to rub against the screen plate; the static electricity, for example, may be produced among the printing head, the screen plate, the ink and the substrate; and considering that the printing head, the screen plate and the ink have high antistatic effect, the embodiment of the present disclosure mainly focuses on the impact of electrostatic charges on the substrate. If positive voltage or negative voltage is applied to the conductive mesh 11 by the electrifying device 2 in the process of adopting the printing head to rub against the screen plate, as the positive voltage may absorb electrons and the negative voltage may repel the electrons, the gains and losses of electrons on the substrate 7 can be avoided, and hence the generation of static electricity can be prevented. Therefore, the problem of static electricity in the printing process can be solved.
Compared with the usual method of controlling the printing environment such as temperature and humidity, the screen printing device provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure has low cost and high reliability.
Compared with the means adopting ionic wind, the screen printing device provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure can well ensure the solvent content and the viscosity in the ink and hence avoid poor printing quality caused by ink setting and viscosity change.
Compared with the means adopting the electrostatic conducting rod, the screen printing device provided by at least one embodiment of the present disclosure may be applicable to the case that the ink is an insulating material.
For example, the electrifying device 2 may adopt the electrifying device in the prior art, as long as the positive voltage or the negative voltage can be provided. For example, the electrifying device 2 may provide positive voltage or negative voltage at different moments. For example, the electrifying device may adopt a voltage source capable of providing positive voltage or negative voltage at different moments.
There are a variety of means to achieve the electric connection between the electrifying device 2 and the conductive mesh 11. One embodiment of the present disclosure provides a means. For example, as illustrated in
For example, as illustrated in
For example, the screen plate 1 may be manufactured by the conventional method. The manufacturing method of the screen plate 1 is not limited in the embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, in one embodiment, the screen plate 1 may, as illustrated in
For example, in the screen printing process, the polarity of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh 1 by the electrifying device 2 is the first polarity; the polarity of the electrostatic charges on the substrate in the screen printing process when the conductive mesh 11 is not electrified is the second polarity; and the first polarity is opposite to the second polarity. For example, in the screen printing process, the absolute value of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh 11 by the electrifying device 2 is in direct proportion to the quantity of electric charge of the electrostatic charges.
For example, the signal generator is connected with the electrifying device to control the polarity and the time of the voltage applied to a conductive mesh.
For example, the screen printing device further comprises a bearing table (as illustrated in
For example, the signal generator is configured to control the polarity of the voltage applied by the electrifying device in the screen printing process to be opposite to the polarity of the voltage applied in the process of placing the substrate on the bearing table and in the process of separating the substrate from the bearing table.
More detailed description will be given below in the screen printing method to the voltage application means of the electrifying device, for example, the polarity and the time of voltage application.
For example, the detector is configured to detect the polarity and the quantity of electric charge of the electrostatic charges on the substrate in the screen printing process when the conductive mesh is not electrified. It should be noted that the detector here is not a necessary component of the screen printing device, and the electrostatic charges may be detected by an external detector, e.g., an electrostatic tester.
At least one embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a screen printing method, which comprises:
as illustrated in
For example, as illustrated in
As illustrated in
Similarly, as illustrated in
For example, the charges carried by the screen plate in the case of producing static electricity may be determined according to the material of the ink. When the material of the ink is fixed, the polarity of the voltage applied to the screen plate in the screen printing process may be determined. In actual operation, screen printing may be performed at first when the conductive mesh is not electrified; an electrostatic tester (e.g., an infrared electrostatic tester) is adopted to measure the electrostatic charges on the substrate 7; the polarity of the voltage applied to the screen plate (whether positive voltage or negative voltage is applied) is determined according to the polarity of the electrostatic charges on the substrate 7; and the value of the voltage applied to the screen plate may also be determined according to the amount of the electrostatic charges on the substrate 7. For example, the absolute value of the voltage applied to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process is directly proportional to the quantity of electric charge of the electrostatic charges.
The screen printing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure can avoid the generation of static electricity and hence can avoid the influence of static electricity on the substrate. The substrate 7, for example, may be a glass substrate. Moreover, the substrate 7, for example, may be an on-cell touch panel, a solar substrate or the like, but not limited thereto. For example, the on-cell touch panel may include an array substrate, and the array substrate may include thin-film transistors (TFTs), pixel electrodes, etc. When the substrate 7 is an array substrate of a liquid crystal display (LCD) touch panel, the array substrate may further include an alignment film. The array substrate may also be an array substrate of touch display panels of other types and is not limited to the array substrate of the LCD touch panel. For example, the screen printing device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied ill the touch panel process to prepare border ink, applied in the solar process to print silver threads, or applied in the on-cell touch panel to print a protective film, but not limited thereto.
For example, in the screen printing method, the conductive mesh includes but not limited to a wire mesh.
For example, positive voltage or negative voltage is applied to the conductive mesh at different moments.
For example, in the process of placing the substrate 7 on the printing stable 8 (as illustrated in
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
For example, when the material of the bearing table 8 is metal and the substrate 7 is a glass substrate, the substrate 7 is easy to lose electrons. For example, when the material of the bearing table 8 is marble and the substrate 7 is a glass substrate, the substrate 7 is easy to get electrons.
The symbol “+” on the left of
For example, the property of getting and losing electrons of the substrate 7, in the process of placing the substrate 7 on the bearing table 8 or in the process of separating the substrate 7 from the bearing table 8, is different from the property of getting and losing electrons of the substrate 7 in the screen printing process. Therefore, one of the positive voltage and the negative voltage may be applied to the conductive mesh in the screen printing process; and the other of the positive voltage and the negative voltage is applied to the conductive mesh in the process of placing the substrate 7 on the bearing table 8 or in the process of separating the substrate 7 from the bearing table 8.
For example, in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the polarity, for example, includes positive or negative. The polarity of the positive voltage is positive, and the polarity of the negative voltage is negative. The polarity of positive charges is positive, and the polarity of negative charges is negative.
For example, the screen printing method provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure may adopt the screen printing device provided by the embodiment of the present disclosure for electrifying.
In the mass production process, the voltage applied by the electrifying device may be as illustrated in
It should be noted that description is given in
As illustrated in
In addition, as can be seen from
The following points should be noted:
(1) Unless other defined, in the embodiments and the accompanying drawings in the disclosure, the same reference number refers to the same feature.
(2) Only the structures relevant to the embodiments of the present disclosure are involved in the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and other structures may refer to the conventional design.
(3) For clarity, the thickness of layers or areas in the accompanying drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure is enlarged. It should be understood that when an element such as a layer, a film, an area or a substrate is referred to be disposed “on” or “beneath” another element, the element may be “directly” disposed “on” or “beneath” another element, or an intermediate element may be provided.
(4) Features in a same embodiment or different embodiments in the disclosure may be mutually combined without conflict.
The foregoing is only the specific embodiments of the present disclosure and not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Any change or replacement that may be easily thought of by those skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed by the present disclosure shall fall within the scope of protection of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure shall be defined by the appended claims.
The application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 201610728846.6, filed Aug. 25, 2016, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as part of the application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
2016 1 0728846 | Aug 2016 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/CN2017/080793 | 4/17/2017 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
WO2018/036175 | 3/1/2018 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
3450043 | Flax | Jun 1969 | A |
5355794 | Freudenheim | Oct 1994 | A |
20040160505 | Ando | Aug 2004 | A1 |
20110318500 | Kawaoka | Dec 2011 | A1 |
20170144429 | Fukui | May 2017 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
1511086 | Jul 2004 | CN |
201030667 | Mar 2008 | CN |
102348511 | Feb 2012 | CN |
202727532 | Feb 2013 | CN |
204123759 | Jan 2015 | CN |
106379037 | Feb 2017 | CN |
2014-208405 | Nov 2014 | JP |
Entry |
---|
International Search Report and Written Opnion dated Jul. 19, 2017; PCT/CN2017/080793. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20180244036 A1 | Aug 2018 | US |