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AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorKenji Kojima
Estimating the term…
A liquid droplet ejection apparatus includes an ejection inspecting section for recognizing an inspection pattern printed on a printing unit as an image, and inspecting ejection performance of the functional liquid droplet ejection heads, a workpiece alignment section for aligning a workpiece relative to a set table, a table moving section for moving the set table between the printing area and an alignment position, a unit moving section for moving the printing unit between a retracted position and an inspection position, and a controller for controlling the functional liquid droplet ejection heads, the ejection inspecting section, the table moving section, the unit moving section, and the workpiece alignment section. The controller allows alignment processing of moving the set table to the alignment position and aligning the workpiece and inspection processing of moving the printing unit to the inspection position and performing inspection of the ejection performance to be performed simultaneously.
A liquid droplet ejection apparatus that performs printing processing by ejecting functional liquid from functional liquid droplet ejection heads onto a workpiece while a set table on which the workpiece is mounted and which faces a printing area moves in a scanning direction relative to the functional liquid droplet ejection heads, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.
Drives, motors, controls or automatic cut-off devices for the entire printing mechanism: devices for controlling or analysing the entire machine ;…
Caps, spittoons or covers for cleaning or preventing drying out: connected with the printer frame
Cleaning of print head nozzles: by driving a fluid through the nozzles to the outside thereof, e.g. by applying pressure to the inside or vacuum…
By driving a fluid through the nozzles to the outside thereof, e.g. by applying pressure to the inside or vacuum at the outside of the print head:…
About 3 years 10 months of term left · ends 17 Aug 2030 (estimated)
The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-283103, filed Oct. 17, 2006 is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to liquid droplet ejection apparatuses which perform printing processing on a workpiece using an ink-jet functional liquid droplet ejection head, and particularly relates to a liquid droplet ejection apparatus on which an ejection inspecting unit for inspecting the functional liquid droplet ejection head, a method for manufacturing an electro-optical apparatus, an electro-optical apparatus, and an electronic apparatus.
The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference like elements.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a side view of the liquid droplet ejection apparatus.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. A liquid droplet ejection apparatus according to this embodiment is used in a production line of a flat panel display device. For example, the liquid droplet ejection apparatus employs functional liquid droplet ejection heads using special ink or functional liquid such as luminescent resin liquid to form light-emitting elements serving as pixels of a color filter of a liquid crystal display device or an organic EL device.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a liquid droplet ejection apparatus 1 includes an X-axis table 11, a Y-axis table 12, and ten carriage units 51. The X-axis table 11 is disposed on an X-axis supporting base 2 mounted on a stone surface plate, extends in an X-axis direction which is a main scanning direction, and moves a workpiece W in the X-axis direction (main scanning direction). The Y-axis table 12 is disposed on a pair of (two) Y-axis supporting bases 3 which is arranged so as to stride across the X-axis table 11 with a plurality of poles 4 interposed between the Y-axis supporting bases 3 and the X-axis table 11, and extends in a Y-axis direction which is a sub-scanning direction. Ten carriage units 51 include a plurality of functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 (not shown) mounted thereon, and are arranged so as to hang from the Y-axis table 12. The functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 are driven to perform ejection processing in synchronization with driving operations of the X-axis table 11 and the Y-axis table 12 whereby functional liquid droplets of three colors, R, G, and B are ejected and a predetermined printing pattern is printed on the workpiece W.
The liquid droplet ejection apparatus 1 further includes a maintenance unit 5 having a flushing unit 14, a suction unit 15, a wiping unit 16, and an ejection function inspection unit 18 which are used for maintenance of the functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 so that functional maintenance and functional recovery of the functional liquid droplet ejection heads 17 are achieved. Note that, among the units constituting the maintenance unit 5, the flushing unit 14 and the ejection function inspection unit 18 are mounted on the X-axis table 11, the suction unit 15 and the wiping unit 16 are disposed on a mount 6 which is disposed so as to be displaced from the X-axis table 11 and is disposed in a position which does not disturb movement of the carriage units 51 moved using the Y-axis table 12.