Droplet discharge device and method for controlling droplet discharge device
A droplet discharge device is adapted to perform drawing of droplets of functional liquid from a functional droplet discharge head onto a workpiece in a drawing area, and to perform discharge inspection of the functional droplet discharge head in an inspection area, which is separated from the drawing area. The droplet discharge device includes a positioning stage, a flushing unit and an inspection stage disposed in this order along a common movement axis passing through the drawing area and the inspection area so that the inspection stage is disposed at a position closer to the inspection area. An image recognition device is disposed in the inspection area. A movement mechanism is arranged to move the positioning stage, the flushing unit and the inspection stage along the common movement axis. The movement mechanism is arranged to move the inspection stage independently of the positioning stage and the flushing unit.
1. A droplet discharge device adapted to perform drawing of droplets of functional liquid from a functional droplet discharge head onto a workpiece in a drawing area, and to perform discharge inspection of the functional droplet discharge head in an inspection area, which is separated from the drawing area, the droplet discharge device comprising:
a positioning stage configured and arranged to support the workpiece placed thereon, the positioning stage being disposed on a common movement axis passing through the drawing area and the inspection area;
a flushing unit disposed on the common movement axis closer to the inspection area with respect to the positioning stage, and configured and arranged to receive droplets from the functional droplet discharge head during a flushing discharge;
an inspection stage disposed on the common movement axis closer to the inspection area with respect to the flushing unit, and configured and arranged to support thereon an inspection sheet for receiving droplets from the functional droplet discharge head during an inspection discharge;
an image recognition device disposed in the inspection area, and configured and arranged to conduct image recognition of the droplets discharged on the inspection sheet during the inspection discharge; and
a movement mechanism configured and arranged to move the positioning stage, the flushing unit and the inspection stage along the common movement axis so that the drawing of the droplets onto the workpiece is being performed in the drawing area while the image recognition of the droplets discharged on the inspection sheet is being conducted by the image recognition device in the inspection area, the movement mechanism being configured and arranged to move the inspection stage independently of the positioning stage and the flushing unit.
2. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1 , wherein
the movement mechanism is further configured and arranged to move the flushing unit independently of the positioning stage and the inspection stage.
3. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1 , further comprising
a main chamber accommodating the drawing area and the inspection area, and
a supplemental chamber accommodating a sub-maintenance area for maintaining the inspection stage, the sub-maintenance area being disposed along the common movement axis so that the inspection area is disposed between the drawing area and the sub-maintenance area.
4. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1 , further comprising
a control unit configured to control the functional droplet discharge head, the image recognition device and the movement mechanism to perform the discharge inspection including a discharge failure inspection for inspecting a discharge failure of discharge nozzles in the functional droplet discharge head and a discharge amount inspection for inspecting an amount of the functional liquid discharged from the discharge nozzles, the control unit being configured to perform a first inspection discharge on the inspection sheet for inspecting the discharge failure and a second inspection discharge on the inspection sheet for inspecting the discharged amount, and then to perform image recognition on a discharge result of the first inspection discharge and to perform image recognition on a discharge result of the second discharge inspection.
5. The droplet discharge device according to claim 1 , wherein
the discharge inspection of the functional droplet discharge head includes a discharge failure inspection for inspecting a discharge failure of discharge nozzles in the functional droplet discharge head, and a discharge amount inspection for inspecting an amount of functional liquid discharged from the discharge nozzles,
the inspection stage has a first inspection stage configured and arranged to support a first inspection sheet for receiving droplets discharged during a first inspection discharge for the discharge failure inspection, and a second inspection stage configured and arranged to support a second inspection sheet for receiving droplets discharged during a second inspection discharge for the discharge amount inspection, and
the image recognition device has a first image recognition unit configured and arranged to conduct image recognition of the droplets discharged during the first inspection discharge on the first inspection sheet, and a second image recognition unit configured and arranged to conduct image recognition of the droplets discharged during the second inspection discharge on the second inspection sheet.
6. The droplet discharge device according to claim 5 , wherein
a frequency of replacing the second inspection sheet is set higher than the frequency of replacing the first inspection sheet,
the first inspection stage and the second inspection stage are provided in this sequence from the positioning stage along the common movement axis, and
the movement mechanism is configured and arranged to move the first inspection stage and the second inspection stage independently of each other.