Granted Patent B2

US 12,344,014 · App. 18/666,559 · Granted Jul 1, 2025

Inventors: Justin Mauck (Belmont, CA); Alexander Sou-Kang Ko (Santa Clara, CA); Eliyahu Vronsky (Los Altos, CA); Shandon Alderson (San Carlos, CA)

Assignee: Kateeva, Inc.

B41J29/393F24F3/14F24F3/167H05B33/10B05B17/0638B41J29/377H05B33/02H10K71/00H10K71/135H10K71/40

Abstract

Claims (36)

1. A method, comprising:

transporting a substrate into a print-head chamber using a gas bearing;

floating the substrate in the print-head chamber using a combination of pressure and vacuum provided by an inert gas;

while floating the substrate in the print-head chamber, using a print-head to print a material on the substrate;

while using the print-head to print the material on the substrate, maintaining an inert atmosphere within the print-head chamber; and

after printing the material on the substrate, transporting the substrate out of the print-head chamber using a gas bearing.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the gas bearing is provided by an inert gas.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is transported into the print-head chamber from an inlet chamber, the substrate is transported out of the print-head chamber to an outlet chamber, or both.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein using the print-head to print the material on the substrate comprises moving the print-head in a first direction and moving the substrate in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising aligning the substrate and the print-head in the print-head chamber.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein aligning the substrate and the print-head in the print-head chamber comprises using a pattern recognition system to recognize a pattern on the substrate.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising using the pattern recognition system to detect a misalignment of the substrate and adjusting print-head firing according to the detected misalignment.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to transporting the substrate into the print-head chamber, disposing the substrate in an inert environment.

9. A method, comprising:

transporting a substrate through a gate into a print-head chamber using a gas bearing;

floating the substrate in the print-head chamber using a combination of pressure and vacuum provided by an inert gas;

while floating the substrate in the print-head chamber, using a print-head to print a material on the substrate;

while using the print-head to print the material on the substrate, maintaining an inert atmosphere within the print-head chamber; and

after printing the material on the substrate, transporting the substrate through a gate out of the print-head chamber using a gas bearing.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the gas bearing is provided by an inert gas that includes nitrogen gas.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein using the print-head to print the material on the substrate comprises moving the print-head in a first direction and moving the substrate in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising aligning the substrate and the print-head in the print-head chamber.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein aligning the substrate and the print-head comprises using a pattern recognition system to register a pattern previously formed on the substrate.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the pattern recognition system detects a misalignment of the substrate and using the print-head to print the material on the substrate comprises adjusting print-head firing according to the detected misalignment.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, prior to transporting the substrate into the print-head chamber, disposing the substrate in an inert environment.

16. A method, comprising:

disposing a substrate in an inert environment;

transporting the substrate from the inert environment through a gate into a print-head chamber using a gas bearing;

floating the substrate in the print-head chamber using a combination of pressure and vacuum provided by an inert gas;

while floating the substrate in the print-head chamber, using an array of print-heads to print an organic LED material on the substrate;

while using the array of print-heads to print the organic LED material on the substrate, maintaining an inert atmosphere within the print-head chamber; and

after printing the organic LED material on the substrate, transporting the substrate through a gate out of the print-head chamber using a gas bearing.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein using the array of print-heads to print the material on the substrate comprises moving the array of print-heads in a first direction and moving the substrate in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction.

18. The method of claim 16 , further comprising registering a pattern previously formed on the substrate using a pattern recognition system.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the pattern recognition system detects a misalignment of the substrate, and using the array of print-heads to print the material on the substrate comprises adjusting print-head firing based on the misalignment.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein the inert environment comprises nitrogen gas.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (10)

References Cited (400)