This application claims priority to CHINESE Application Serial Number 201721677804.0, filed Dec. 6, 2017, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a thin film coating system, and especially relates to a thin film coating system to which a flexible display is applied.
In general, flexible electronic devices are manufactured by forming various elements on a flexible substrate or a conformal substrate of a plastic sheet and/or metal sheet. Materials used in the flexible electronic device include semiconductor materials such as amorphous silicon, low temperature polycrystalline silicon, and/or organic semiconductor material. In addition, materials used in printed electronics include thin-film silicon, inorganic or organic semiconductor to manufacture thin film transistors. The printed electronics may include roll to roll (R2R), a process that overcomes some of disadvantageous features found in silicon wafers, such as their non-soft nature, brittleness, or significantly large thickness.
The present disclosure provides a thin film coating system. The thin film coating system includes at least one first supporting roller, a coating device, and at least one drying device. The first supporting roller is configured to rotate based on a rotating central axis. The coating device has an opening. The opening of the coating device faces toward the first supporting roller. The coating device is configured to coat a flowable material toward the first supporting roller along a first direction through the opening. The drying device is located at a side of the rotating central axis adjacent to the coating device in the first direction and is configured to dry the flowable material.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the opening has a first width, and the drying device has a second width in an extending direction of the rotating central axis. The first width is greater than the second width.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the thin film coating system further includes at least one second supporting roller. The second supporting roller is located at a side of the rotating central axis away from the drying device in the first direction, and is configured to support a flexible substrate where the flowable material is coated thereon.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the flowable material is metal oxide.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the drying device includes an infrared drying device.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the opening of the coating device has a projection. The projection is projected on the first supporting roller along the first direction. The infrared drying device and the projection of the opening of the coating device are spaced apart by a distance in a range from about 1 mm to about 100 mm.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the drying device includes an exhaust device. The exhaust device of the drying device has at least one inlet and at least one outlet. The opening of the coating device has a first projection projected on the first supporting roller along the first direction. The exhaust device faces toward the first supporting roller along a second direction and has a second projection. The second projection is projected on the first supporting roller along the second direction. The second projection of the exhaust device covers the first projection of the opening of the coating device. The second direction intersects the first direction.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a number of the at least one outlets are plural. The outlets of the exhaust device are equidistantly arranged on the exhaust device along an extending direction of the rotating central axis.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the exhaust device and the first projection are spaced apart by a distance in a range from about 10 mm to about 50 mm.
In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second direction is substantially perpendicular to the first direction.
In the aforementioned configurations, the flowable material can be uniformly formed on the flexible substrate in the thickness direction of the flexible substrate. Furthermore, since the thin film coating system includes a drying device, there is no need to rest the flowable material until the fluidity of the flowable material disappears for subsequent processes. However, the drying effect can be achieved immediately by the drying device at the time when the flowable material is coated on the flexible substrate. As such, the metal oxide solution may be used in a roll to roll (R2R) process, which may be also referred to as a continuous process.
Reference is made to
As shown in
In the embodiment, the flexible substrate 30 is a thin film. In some embodiments, the flexible substrate 30 is made by polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), copper (Cu), or any other suitable material.
In
As such, as shown in
In the embodiment, the infrared drying device is located at a side of the rotating central axis 100 adjacent to the coating device 12 along the first direction D1. That is, the infrared drying device 16 is located at a side of the rotating central axis 100 away from the second supporting roller 10b and the third supporting roller 10c. The infrared drying device 16 has a second width W2 (shown in
In the embodiment, the infrared drying device 16 utilizes radiation for thermal conduction and thus heats and dries the flowable material 32. Furthermore, the infrared drying device 16 of the present embodiment is able to uniformly heat the flowable material 32 so that the degree of drying of the flowable material 32 in different positions may be uniform, thereby ensuring the stability of the flexible display 3. For example, the infrared drying device 16 of the present embodiment may be a ceramic heater. The ceramic heater may include a ceramic tube and a resistive material combined with the ceramic tube. The symmetrical axis of the infrared drying device 16 is parallel to the rotating central axis 100. After the ceramic heater is turned on, the ceramic tube of the of the ceramic heater absorbs visible and/or infrared light radiated by the resistive material, thereby enabling temperature of the ceramic tube to increase, so as to produce vibrations to form pure silicon-oxygen bond molecules to radiate far-infrared rays, and thereby heating and drying the flowable material 32.
In practical application, the power used by the infrared drying device 16 may be in a range from about 50 Watts (W) to about 2000 Watts, and the voltage of the power thereof may be in a range from about 12 volts (V) to about 380 volts, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
The temperature of the infrared drying device 16 of the present embodiment may be controlled by changing the voltage of the power supply. As such, the infrared drying device 16 has good control over the heating temperature of the flowable material 32. In addition, the infrared heating device 16 has good penetration on the flowable material 32, so as to be able to heat the interior and exterior of the flowable material 32 simultaneously, and may heat the flowable material 32 locally to save energy.
In the embodiment, the flowable material 32 is made by metal oxide. In some embodiments, the flowable material 32 may be transparent oxide semiconductor. Since the metal oxide solution has low viscosity and good fluidity, the metal oxide solution can be uniformly formed on the flexible substrate 30 in the thickness direction of the flexible substrate 30. Furthermore, since the thin film coating system 1 includes infrared drying device 16, there is no need to rest the metal oxide solution until the fluidity of the metal oxide solution disappears for subsequent processes. However, the drying effect can be achieved immediately by the infrared drying device 16 at the time when the flowable material 32 is coated on the flexible substrate 30.
That is, with the foregoing configuration, after the coated flowable material 32 is driven by the flexible substrate 30 to leave the range of the first projection 124 (see
Reference is made to
As shown in
In the embodiment, the inlet 260 of the exhaust device 26 faces toward the first projection 124 of the opening 122, and has a second projection 264 shown in
The outlets 262 of the exhaust device 26 are equidistantly arranged on the exhaust device 26 along an extending direction of the rotating central axis 100, so as to stabilize the pumping speed of the exhaust device 26 in the extending direction of the rotation center axis 100, so that the exhaust device 26 is able to uniformly dry the flowable material 32. In the embodiment, the exhaust device 26 and the first projection 124 of the opening 122 are spaced apart by a distance in a range from about 10 mm to about 50 mm, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.
In some embodiments, the infrared drying device 16 shown in
According to the foregoing embodiments of the disclosure, it can be seen that, the flowable material can be uniformly formed on the flexible substrate in the thickness direction of the flexible substrate. Furthermore, since the thin film coating system includes drying device, there is no need to rest the flowable material until the fluidity of the flowable material disappears for subsequent processes. However, the drying effect can be achieved immediately by the drying device at the time when the flowable material is coated on the flexible substrate. As such, the metal oxide solution may be used in a roll to roll (R2R) process which may be also referred to as a continuous process.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201721677804.0 | Dec 2017 | CN | national |