Exposure module and printed circuit board exposure equipment

Abstract

The present invention provides an exposure module and printed circuit board exposure equipment. The exposure module includes a light source assembly and an optical waveguide assembly. The light source assembly transforms an intermediate pattern according to the exposure position of the printed circuit board to be exposed and projects the intermediate pattern onto the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly. The optical waveguide assembly includes multiple light guides, which are arranged in a first pattern at the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly and in a second pattern at the light output end of the optical waveguide assembly. The input end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the first pattern, and the output end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the second pattern. The width of the first pattern is smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the width of the second pattern is not smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed. The present invention can significantly reduce the cost of exposure equipment while also avoiding the need to coordinate the displacement between multiple exposure heads.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of printed circuit board production, and more particularly to an exposure module and printed circuit board exposure equipment. Background Art

[0002] Exposure involves the decomposition of organic polymer materials into free radicals through light exposure. These radicals then trigger a polymerization and cross-linking reaction of photopolymerizable monomers, forming macromolecular structures that are insoluble in dilute alkali solutions. Exposure is a critical process in PCB (Printed Circuit Board) production, and its quality directly impacts the stability of the PCB's quality. Currently, PCB exposure is primarily performed using exposure machines. With the continuous development of consumer electronics, the demand for PCBs is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and accordingly, the requirements for the accuracy and speed of exposure equipment are also increasing.

[0003] Existing exposure machines, because the exposure heads are mostly square and limited in size, often utilize multiple exposure heads for a continuously moving rolling exposure method when exposing wide objects like PCBs. This means that a single exposure machine requires multiple exposure heads arranged side by side to expose and splice the PCB blocks. This multiple exposure head requirement not only significantly increases the overall cost of the exposure machine, but also requires stable operation and constant displacement during the exposure process. Any jitter or slight deviation in displacement can result in poor exposure and splicing. Furthermore, the requirement for stable operation and displacement of the exposure heads necessitates very high precision in their processing and assembly, further increasing the overall cost of the exposure machine. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a new integrated exposure module and printed circuit board exposure equipment to address the problem that the above-mentioned exposure machine uses multiple exposure heads for block exposure, which leads to high costs and high requirements for processing and assembly precision.

[0005] The present invention solves the above-mentioned technical problem by providing an exposure module, comprising a light source assembly and an optical waveguide assembly, wherein the optical waveguide assembly receives light emitted by the light source assembly through a light input end and exposes a printed circuit board to be exposed through a light output end, wherein the light source assembly transforms an intermediate pattern according to the exposure position of the printed circuit board to be exposed and projects the intermediate pattern onto the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly;

[0006] The optical waveguide assembly includes a plurality of light guides, which are arranged in a first pattern at the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly and in a second pattern at the light output end of the optical waveguide assembly. The input end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the first pattern, and the output end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the second pattern. The width of the first pattern is smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the width of the second pattern is not smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed.

[0007] As a further improvement of the present invention, the light guide is formed by an optical fiber, and the optical waveguide assembly includes m×n optical fibers, the input end of each optical fiber constitutes a pixel point of the first pattern, and the output end of each optical fiber constitutes a pixel point of the second pattern;

[0008] The pixels of the first pattern constitute a first m×n matrix, and the pixels of the second pattern are arranged into n×s columns along a first direction, and each column includes m / s pixels arranged along a second direction, the first direction is parallel to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed, m and n are positive integers, s is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and m is an integer multiple of s.

[0009] As a further improvement of the present invention, the pixels of the second pattern form a second matrix of (m / s)×(n×s).

[0010] As a further improvement of the present invention, the pixels of the second pattern constitute t second matrices, each of the second matrices includes n×s / t pixels arranged along the first direction, where t is a positive integer and n×s is an integer multiple of t;

[0011] The t second matrices are arranged into two adjacent rows along the second direction, and in each row, the pixel points in the last column of each second matrix are located on the same straight line as the pixel points in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction; or, the t second matrices are arranged into t adjacent rows along the second direction, and in each row, the pixel points in the last column of each second matrix are located on the same straight line as the pixel points in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row.

[0012] As a further improvement of the present invention, in each column of pixels in the second matrix, pixels in adjacent rows are sequentially spaced apart by preset distances in the first direction, and the distance between the first pixel point and the last pixel point in the second direction in the first direction is equal to the diameter of the optical fiber.

[0013] As a further improvement of the present invention, the light guide is composed of a planar light guiding medium, the light guide is composed of a planar light guiding medium, and the optical waveguide component includes i planar light guiding media, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 2; the first pattern is composed of i input ends of planar light guiding media arranged along the second direction, and the second pattern is composed of i output ends of planar light guiding media arranged along the first direction; the first direction is the long side direction of the cross section of the planar light guiding medium, and the second direction is the short side direction of the cross section of the planar light guiding medium.

[0014] As a further improvement of the present invention, the light source assembly includes a light-emitting unit, a DMD device and a lens group, and the DMD device is used to generate an intermediate pattern according to the control signal of the host computer, and project the light emitted by the light-emitting unit onto the lens group according to the intermediate pattern; the lens group is used to inject the light projected by the DMD device into the light incident end of the optical waveguide assembly.

[0015] As a further improvement of the present invention, the optical waveguide assembly includes a housing, the housing includes a first opening and a second opening, the plurality of light guides are respectively installed in the housing, and the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly extends outside the first opening, and the light output end of the optical waveguide assembly exposes the printed circuit board to be exposed through the second opening;

[0016] The housing is L-shaped, and the plane where the first opening is located is perpendicular to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the plane where the second opening is located is parallel to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed;

[0017] The light source assembly is mounted on the housing in a manner that the emitted light is parallel to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the emission end of the light source assembly is opposite to the light incident end of the optical waveguide assembly.

[0018] The present invention also provides a printed circuit board exposure device, comprising the exposure module as described in any one of the above items.

[0019] As a further improvement of the present invention, the printed circuit board exposure device includes a driving device, and the printed circuit board to be exposed moves relative to the exposure module under the driving of the driving device.

[0020] The exposure module and printed circuit board exposure equipment of the present invention convert the intermediate pattern generated by the light source assembly into a circuit pattern that is compatible with the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed through the optical waveguide assembly, so that only one exposure head is required to complete the scanning exposure of the printed circuit board to be exposed, greatly reducing the cost of the exposure equipment and avoiding the need to coordinate the displacement between multiple exposure heads. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 2 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention from another angle;

[0023] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of a light output end of an optical waveguide assembly in an exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] Figure 4 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an optical waveguide assembly in an exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a light input end of an optical waveguide assembly in an exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the light output end of the optical waveguide assembly in the exposure module provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 7 yes Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a partially enlarged structure of the second matrix in FIG;

[0028] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a light output end of an optical waveguide assembly in an exposure module provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of a light output end of an optical waveguide component in an exposure module provided in another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0031] like Figure 1-4 FIG2 is a schematic diagram of the structure of an exposure module provided in an embodiment of the present invention. The exposure module can be applied to exposure equipment in the exposure process of a printed circuit board (PCB) to implement scanning exposure of the PCB. The exposure module of this embodiment includes a light source assembly 11 and an optical waveguide assembly 12. The optical waveguide assembly 12 receives light emitted by the light source assembly 11 through its light input end 121 and exposes the PCB to be exposed through its light output end 122, thereby achieving the wiring layout on the PCB to be exposed.

[0032] In this embodiment, the light source assembly 11 can transform the intermediate pattern according to the exposure position of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and project the intermediate pattern onto the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide assembly 12. Specifically, the intermediate pattern is generated according to the lines of the printed circuit board to be exposed. For example, when a pixel of the intermediate pattern corresponds to a line of the printed circuit board to be exposed, the state of the pixel is non-luminous (i.e., off); when a pixel of the intermediate pattern corresponds to a non-line of the printed circuit board to be exposed, the state of the pixel is luminous (i.e., bright). In one embodiment of the present invention, the intermediate pattern can be formed by splicing one or more rows of images of predetermined height on the circuit board to be exposed into a rectangular area.

[0033] The optical waveguide assembly 12 includes multiple light guides, and receives an image unit on the intermediate pattern generated by the light source assembly 11 through the input ends of the multiple light guides, and then exposes the printed circuit board to be exposed through the output ends of the multiple light guides. That is, each light guide exposes or does not expose the corresponding position of the printed circuit board to be exposed according to the state of an image unit on the intermediate pattern.

[0034] Furthermore, the plurality of light guides are arranged in a first pattern at the light input end of the optical waveguide component 12 and in a second pattern at the light output end of the optical waveguide component 12. The input end (i.e., the first end) of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the first pattern, and the output end (i.e., the second end) of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the second pattern. That is, the arrangement of the light guides at the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide component 12 is different from the arrangement of the light guides at the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide component 12. The above-mentioned first pattern is adapted to the shape and size of the output end of the light source component 11. Specifically, in combination with Figure 4-5 As shown, due to the shape and size of the light source assembly 11, the width L2 of the first pattern is smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed. Figure 3 、 6 As shown, the width L1 of the second pattern is not less than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, so that a single exposure module can perform scanning exposure of the printed circuit board in units of rows, that is, one exposure module exposes at least one or more rows of the printed circuit board to be exposed at a time.

[0035] The above-mentioned exposure module converts the intermediate pattern generated by the light source assembly 11 into a circuit pattern that matches the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed by changing the arrangement of the light guides in the optical waveguide assembly 12 at its light input end 121 and light output end 122. This allows the exposure width of a single exposure module to match the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed. As a result, only a single exposure head is required to complete the scanning exposure of the printed circuit board to be exposed (unidirectional movement, without the need for reciprocating movement for splicing). This significantly reduces the cost of the exposure equipment and avoids the need to coordinate the displacement between multiple exposure heads, thus avoiding splicing errors caused by inconsistent displacement. In particular, when the width of the second pattern is greater than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, the intermediate pattern generated by the light source assembly 11 can be adjusted to accommodate the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed.

[0036] Combine Figure 5-9 As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the light guide is composed of optical fibers 123. The optical waveguide assembly 12 includes m×n optical fibers 123. The input end of each optical fiber 123 constitutes a pixel of the first pattern, and the output end of each optical fiber 123 constitutes a pixel of the second pattern. Accordingly, the pixels of the first pattern form an m×n first matrix, i.e., the optical fibers 123 are arranged in a rectangle with m rows and n columns at the input end 121 of the optical waveguide assembly 12. The pixels of the second pattern are arranged in n×s columns along a first direction X, with each column including m / s pixels arranged along a second direction Y. i.e., the optical fibers 123 are arranged in m / s rows and n×s columns at the output end 122 of the optical waveguide assembly 12. The first direction is parallel to the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, m and n are positive integers, s is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and m is an integer multiple of s. The second direction Y is perpendicular to the first direction X. Of course, in practical applications, the first direction X and the second direction Y may also have other angles.

[0037] In specific applications, the above m, n, and s can be adjusted based on the shape and size of the light source assembly 11's output end, the exposure accuracy and size requirements of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and other requirements. For example, m:n equals the aspect ratio of the light source assembly 11's output end. Furthermore, the arrangement of the optical fibers 123 at the light input end 121 and the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide assembly 12 can also be adjusted as needed. Accordingly, the light source assembly 11 only needs to adjust the algorithm for generating the intermediate pattern based on the arrangement of the optical fibers 123 at the light input end 121 and the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide assembly 12.

[0038] Combine Figure 6 As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the pixels of the second pattern form a second matrix of (m / s)×(n×s). That is, the optical fibers 123 are arranged in a rectangle of m / s rows and n×s columns at the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide assembly 12.

[0039] In particular, combined Figure 7 As shown, to improve exposure accuracy, within each column of pixels in the second matrix, adjacent rows of pixels are sequentially spaced a preset distance (e.g., 0.5 microns) apart in the first direction. Furthermore, the distance d between the first and last pixels in the second direction Y in the first direction X is equal to the diameter of optical fiber 123 (offset by one optical fiber 123 diameter on either side). In this case, the second direction Y forms an angle greater than 90° relative to the X direction. That is, the first and last rows of the second matrix differ by one optical fiber in the first direction X. As a result, each pixel on the printed circuit board to be exposed is exposed by m / s optical fibers in the second direction Y, reducing aliasing on the printed circuit board circuits and achieving exposure accuracy higher than the resolution of a circular exposure point.

[0040] Combine Figure 8 As shown, the pixels of the second pattern at the light-emitting end 122 of the optical waveguide assembly 12 may further form t second matrices, each second matrix including n×s / t pixels arranged along the first direction X, and each column including m / s pixels arranged along the second direction Y, where t is a positive integer and n×s is an integer multiple of t. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the t second matrices are arranged in two adjacent rows along the second direction Y, and in each row, the pixels in the last column of each second matrix are co-aligned with the pixels in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row, and the second direction Y is perpendicular (including nearly perpendicular) to the first direction X.

[0041] Or, as Figure 9 As shown, the t second matrices can also be arranged into t adjacent rows along the second direction Y, and in each row, the pixels in the last column of each second matrix are on the same straight line as the pixels in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row.

[0042] Alternatively, the light guide may be formed of a planar light-guiding medium, and the optical waveguide assembly 12 includes i planar light-guiding media, where i is an integer greater than or equal to 2. The first pattern of the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide assembly 12 is formed by the input ends of i planar light-guiding media arranged along a second direction Y, while the second pattern of the light output end 122 is formed by the output ends of i planar light-guiding media arranged along a first direction X. The first direction X is the longitudinal direction of the cross-section of the planar light-guiding medium, and the second direction Y is the transverse direction of the cross-section of the planar light-guiding medium.

[0043] To improve exposure accuracy, multiple plane light guide media can be Figure 9 Arranged in a .

[0044] like Figure 1-2As shown, in one embodiment of the present invention, the light source assembly 11 of the exposure module includes a light-emitting unit 111, a DMD device 112, and a lens assembly 113. The light emitted by the light-emitting unit 111 is reflected by the DMD device 112 to the lens assembly 113, and is converted into parallel light by the lens assembly 113 before being projected onto the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide assembly 12. Specifically, the light-emitting unit 111 can be an LED array, and the wavelength of the light it emits can correspond to the material of the coating on the printed circuit board to be exposed. Of course, in actual applications, the light-emitting unit 111 and the DMD device 112 can also be replaced by an LED matrix.

[0045] Specifically, the DMD device 112 is connected to a host computer (e.g., an industrial computer of the exposure equipment) and generates an intermediate pattern based on a control signal from the host computer (the control signal is related to the line of the exposure position of the printed circuit board to be exposed), and projects the light emitted by the light-emitting unit 111 onto the lens group 113 according to the intermediate pattern. The lens group 113 then converts the light projected by the DMD device 112 into parallel light and then injects it into the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide component 12, that is, projects it onto the input end of each light guide.

[0046] like Figure 1-4 As shown, in order to improve the integration of the exposure module, the optical waveguide component 12 of the exposure module includes a shell 120, which includes a first opening and a second opening. A plurality of light guides are respectively installed in the shell 120, and the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide component 12 extends outside the first opening, and the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide component 12 exposes the printed circuit board to be exposed through the second opening.

[0047] In particular, to reduce the volume of the exposure module, the housing 120 of the optical waveguide assembly 12 can be L-shaped, with the plane where the first opening is located perpendicular to the first direction X, and the plane where the second opening is located parallel to the first direction X. The light source assembly 11 is mounted to the housing 120 such that the emitted light is parallel to the first direction X, and the light output end of the light source assembly 11 is opposite the light input end 121 of the optical waveguide assembly 12.

[0048] The present invention also provides a printed circuit board exposure device, comprising the above Figure 1-9 The exposure module is shown in FIG. The exposure module is used to realize scanning exposure of the printed circuit board to be exposed.

[0049] As a further improvement of the present invention, the above-mentioned printed circuit board exposure equipment includes a driving device. In this embodiment, the exposure module is fixed, and the driving device drives the printed circuit board to be exposed to move relative to the exposure module. During the movement of the printed circuit board, the exposed surface of the printed circuit board to be exposed passes through the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide component 12 of the exposure module, thereby realizing scanning exposure by the light emitted from the light output end 122 of the optical waveguide component 12 of the exposure module.

[0050] The above-mentioned printed circuit board exposure equipment converts the intermediate pattern generated by the light source assembly into a circuit pattern that is compatible with the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed through the optical waveguide assembly, so that only one exposure head is needed to complete the scanning exposure of the printed circuit board to be exposed, which greatly reduces the cost of the exposure equipment and avoids the coordination of the displacement between multiple exposure heads.

[0051] Of course, in practical applications, the exposure module can also be driven to move along the surface of the printed circuit board to be exposed, thereby achieving scanning exposure of the printed circuit board to be exposed.

[0052] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the scope of protection of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes or substitutions that can be easily conceived by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be based on the scope of protection of the claims.

Claims

1. An exposure module, comprising a light source assembly and an optical waveguide assembly, wherein the optical waveguide assembly receives light emitted by the light source assembly through a light input end and exposes a printed circuit board to be exposed through a light output end, characterized in that: The light source assembly transforms the intermediate pattern according to the exposure position of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and projects the intermediate pattern onto the light incident end of the optical waveguide assembly; The optical waveguide assembly includes a plurality of light guides, wherein the plurality of light guides are arranged in a first pattern at a light input end of the optical waveguide assembly and in a second pattern at a light output end of the optical waveguide assembly, wherein the input end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the first pattern, and the output end of each light guide constitutes an image unit of the second pattern, and wherein the width of the first pattern is smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the width of the second pattern is not smaller than the width of the printed circuit board to be exposed; The light guide is composed of optical fibers, and the optical waveguide assembly includes m×n optical fibers, the input end of each optical fiber constitutes a pixel point of the first pattern, and the output end of each optical fiber constitutes a pixel point of the second pattern; The pixels of the first pattern form an m×n first matrix, where m and n are positive integers, s is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2, and m is an integer multiple of s; the pixels of the second pattern form t second matrices, each of the second matrices includes n×s / t pixels arranged along the first direction, t is a positive integer, and n×s is an integer multiple of t; The t second matrices are arranged into two adjacent rows along the second direction, and in each row, the pixel points in the last column of each second matrix are located on the same straight line as the pixel points in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row, and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction; or, the t second matrices are arranged into t adjacent rows along the second direction, and in each row, the pixel points in the last column of each second matrix are located on the same straight line as the pixel points in the first column of a second matrix in the adjacent row.

2. The exposure module according to claim 1, wherein: In each column of pixels in the second matrix, pixels in adjacent rows are sequentially spaced apart by preset distances in the first direction, and the distance between the first pixel and the last pixel in the second direction in the first direction is equal to the diameter of the optical fiber.

3. The exposure module according to claim 1, wherein: The light source assembly includes a light-emitting unit, a DMD device and a lens group, and the DMD device is used to generate an intermediate pattern according to the control signal of the host computer, and project the light emitted by the light-emitting unit onto the lens group according to the intermediate pattern; the lens group is used to inject the light projected by the DMD device into the light input end of the optical waveguide assembly.

4. The exposure module according to claim 1, wherein: The optical waveguide assembly includes a housing, the housing includes a first opening and a second opening, a plurality of light guides are respectively installed in the housing, and a light input end of the optical waveguide assembly extends outside the first opening, and a light output end of the optical waveguide assembly exposes the printed circuit board to be exposed through the second opening; The housing is L-shaped, and the plane where the first opening is located is perpendicular to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the plane where the second opening is located is parallel to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed; The light source assembly is mounted on the housing in a manner that the emitted light is parallel to the width direction of the printed circuit board to be exposed, and the emission end of the light source assembly is opposite to the light incident end of the optical waveguide assembly.

5. A printed circuit board exposure device, characterized in that: Comprising the exposure module as described in any one of claims 1-4.

6. The printed wiring board exposure device according to claim 5, characterized in that The printed circuit board exposure device includes a driving device, and the printed circuit board to be exposed moves relative to the exposure module under the driving of the driving device.

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