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US 8,573,075 B2Granted
Liquid droplet discharging apparatus
AssigneeSeiko Epson Corporation
InventorKenji Kojima
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
The liquid droplet discharging apparatus includes an image formation area and two inspection areas. The apparatus includes a pair of workpiece stages each configured to support a workpiece thereon, an inspection stage arranged between the two workpiece stages, a pair of image recognizing sections configured to execute image recognition with respect to an inspection discharge result discharged onto the inspection stage, and a stage moving mechanism configured to selectively move one of workpiece stages between the image formation area and one of the workpiece exchange areas, to selectively move the other of the workpiece stages between the image formation area and the other of the workpiece exchanges areas, and to move the inspection stage between the inspection areas.
Claims16
A liquid droplet discharging apparatus comprising:
- a functional liquid droplet discharging head;
- a first workpiece stage and a second workpiece stage each configured to support a workpiece thereon;
- an inspection stage disposed between the first workpiece stage and the second workpiece stage, and configured to receive an inspection discharge of a liquid from the functional liquid droplet discharging head;
- an image formation area in which an image forming operation is executed by discharging the liquid from the functional liquid droplet discharging head onto the workpiece mounted on one of the first and second workpiece stages while causing relative movement between the functional liquid droplet discharging head and the one of the first and second workpiece stages in a movement direction;
- a first inspection area and a second inspection area that are arranged with the image formation area being disposed therebetween along the movement direction so that a discharge inspection of the functional liquid droplet discharging head is selectively executed in the first inspection area and the second inspection area by image recognition;
- a first workpiece exchange area and a second workpiece exchange area that are arranged with the first inspection area, the image formation area, and the second inspection area being disposed therebetween along the movement direction so that the workpieces are selectively supplied to and removed from the first workpiece stage and the second workpiece stage in the first workpiece exchange area and the second workpiece exchange area, respectively;
- a first image recognizing section disposed in the first inspection area, and configured to execute the image recognition with respect to a result of the inspection discharge to the inspection stage in the first inspection area;
- a second image recognizing section disposed in the second inspection area and configured to execute the image recognition with respect to a result of the inspection discharge to the inspection stage in the second inspection area;
- and
- a stage moving mechanism configured to move the inspection stage to the second inspection area when the first workpiece stage is selectively moved between the image formation area and the first workpiece exchange area, and to move the inspection stage to the first inspection area when the second workpiece stage is selectively moved between the image formation area and the second workpiece exchange area.
7 more elements
A liquid droplet discharging apparatus comprising:
- a functional liquid droplet discharging head;
- a pair of workpiece stages each configured to support a workpiece thereon;
- an inspection stage disposed between the workpiece stages, and configured to receive an inspection discharge of a liquid from the functional liquid droplet discharging head;
- an image formation area in which an image forming operation is executed by discharging the liquid from the functional liquid droplet discharging head onto the workpiece mounted on one of the workpiece stages while causing relative movement between the functional liquid droplet discharging head and the one of the workpiece stages in a movement direction;
- a pair of inspection areas located on opposite sides of the image formation area in positions separated outwardly along the movement direction;
- a pair of workpiece exchange areas located on opposite sides of the inspection areas in positions separated outwardly along the movement direction so that the workpieces are alternately supplied to and removed from the workpiece stages in the workpiece exchange areas;
- a pair of image recognizing sections respectively arranged in the inspection areas, each of the image recognizing sections being configured to perform an image recognition of a result of the inspection discharge onto the inspection stage so that a discharge inspection of the functional liquid droplet discharging head is alternatively executed in the inspection areas by the image recognition;
- and
- a stage moving mechanism configured to selectively move one of the workpiece stages between the image formation area and one of the workpiece exchange areas, to selectively move the other of the workpiece stages between the image formation area and the other of the workpiece exchanges areas, and to move the inspection stage between the inspection areas.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.