Circuit manufacturing apparatus and circuit manufacturing method

Abstract

The application discloses a kind of circuit manufacturing equipment and method.The circuit manufacturing equipment includes: printing nozzle;Position and distance monitoring component is used to carry out the position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle of the printing nozzle and target area on the printing surface;Driving mechanism is used to drive printing nozzle to move at least one of the following actions: along a first direction on a horizontal plane, along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction on a horizontal plane, along vertical direction, be tilted to have the required angle between itself axis and vertical direction, rotate around itself axis;And control unit is connected at least with the printing nozzle, position and distance monitoring component and driving mechanism.Compared with prior art, the application can effectively consider the accuracy and production efficiency of printing circuit by adjusting angle in stages, and greatly reduce production cost, significantly improve product quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a circuit manufacturing method, specifically a method for manufacturing circuits using a printing method, and belongs to the field of additive manufacturing technology. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of additive manufacturing technology, it has become increasingly possible to directly manufacture conductive components such as circuits and antennas on various surfaces using printing methods. While significant progress has been made in the research of materials and processes for printing various conductors, semiconductors, and dielectric layers, they still cannot replace traditional semiconductor integrated circuits in most cases. Therefore, a major mainstream approach is Hybrid Electronics, or "hybrid manufacturing electronics." Simply put, this involves using printed conductors to connect traditional electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, inductors, chips, and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). From another perspective, such circuits are more similar to PCBs or FPCs, but the manufacturing process has undergone a revolutionary change, particularly the use of printed conductors or other conductive components to replace the conductive components previously etched from a single sheet of copper foil.

[0003] To illustrate the characteristics of the hybrid manufacturing electronics technology described above more concretely, a printed antenna RFID tag can be used as a specific example. The typical approach is to first print the antenna and heat-treat it, then fix the chip in the pre-defined position, ensuring the connection between the chip and the antenna. Other complex hybrid manufacturing circuits are produced through a similar process: first, the circuit is printed, then various components are fixed in the pre-defined positions, and the connection between the components and the circuit is completed.

[0004] While the aforementioned methods can maximize compatibility with existing circuit manufacturing processes and improve the efficiency of mass production, they also have some shortcomings. One of the most prominent issues is that this process flow essentially limits the advantages of printing as an additive manufacturing technology in the customization of special circuits. For example, a key requirement of "hybrid manufacturing electronics" is to directly print conductive materials on relatively complex 3D surfaces to form conductor components such as wires, electrodes, and antennas, or to overlay them with other semiconductors and dielectric materials to form electronic components. In principle, printing can indeed directly customize circuits on irregular surfaces. However, if a production process similar to that of circuit boards is adopted, this method will be limited to fabrication on thin films or boards, wasting the potential of printing for circuit fabrication.

[0005] However, in practice, this idea of ​​directly printing fine conductive patterns on a surface with a horizontal angle also presents technical challenges. Because ink droplets from inkjet printers and airflow printers have an initial velocity of approximately 4-50 meters per second and undergo a period of gravitational acceleration, they experience considerable lateral movement upon impacting a non-perpendicular surface. This affects the accuracy of the printed image, and in high-resolution printing, such deviations are a significant factor. Furthermore, on surfaces with a large horizontal angle, liquid will gradually move downwards under the combined influence of gravity and the angle of inclination. For ink droplets that cannot dry instantly, this is also a crucial factor affecting print quality.

[0006] Therefore, new manufacturing equipment and processes are needed to meet the needs of additive circuit manufacturing in special scenarios, serving as an important supplement to mainstream methods. For example, for some small, complex 3D surfaces, a common approach is to fix the print head while the surface to be printed moves, using a 5-6 degree-of-freedom robotic arm to ensure the local horizontal state of the substrate, thus achieving circuit printing on the 3D surface. Furthermore, current technologies such as surface mounting, dispensing, and localized heating, after appropriate modifications, can also be adapted to these complex 3D surfaces, ultimately producing functional circuits.

[0007] The most challenging application scenario currently lies in printing conductive inks onto large-scale, complex 3D surfaces. For example, when the entire object to be printed is made of high-density materials such as metal and exceeds 1 meter in size, the total weight can easily exceed 100 kilograms, or even 1 ton. For such applications, existing solutions for adjusting the level of the surface using robotic arms are no longer applicable; only solutions with higher torque, such as hydraulic systems, can be used. In this case, achieving a precise level of surface level is extremely difficult. Even if, theoretically, a high-quality level can be achieved through multiple adjustments, it would severely slow down the system's printing speed, reduce its production efficiency, and significantly increase production costs.

[0008] Even when the printhead is adjusted to be perpendicular to the surface to be printed, serious problems still exist in applications with large horizontal angles. Specifically, before drying, ink droplets on the surface will spontaneously move downwards due to the combined effects of gravity and the tilt angle, severely affecting the printing quality. Furthermore, instantaneous drying of ink droplets is difficult to achieve for some inks using non-volatile solvents. Even if it is barely achieved, the excessively rapid solvent evaporation will severely damage the film-forming quality of the functional materials in the ink, leading to a significant decline in product performance. Summary of the Invention

[0009] The main objective of this invention is to provide a circuit manufacturing apparatus and a circuit manufacturing method, thereby overcoming the shortcomings of the prior art.

[0010] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the technical solution adopted by this invention includes:

[0011] This invention provides a circuit manufacturing apparatus, comprising:

[0012] A printhead is used to print conductive ink onto the printing surface of an object to form the required circuit.

[0013] A position and distance monitoring component is used to perform position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface;

[0014] A drive mechanism for driving a printhead to perform at least one of the following actions: moving along a first direction on a horizontal plane, moving along a second direction on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first direction, moving vertically, tilting to a desired angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotating about its own axis; and

[0015] The control unit is connected at least to the printhead, the position and distance monitoring component, and the drive mechanism.

[0016] In some implementations, the position and distance monitoring components include visually recognizable feature markers distributed around the printhead and multi-point ranging sensors.

[0017] In some embodiments, the object to be printed is placed on a support mechanism that can at least drive the object to be printed to rotate and / or move in a vertical and / or horizontal direction.

[0018] This invention also provides a circuit manufacturing method, comprising:

[0019] Provide a printhead for printing conductive ink onto the substrate of the object to be printed to form the required circuit;

[0020] The position alignment and distance between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface are confirmed, and the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area is 0.5-10mm, and the horizontal linear deviation between the nozzle and the target area is ≤5mm.

[0021] Based on the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area and the straight line deviation value in the horizontal direction, calculate the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane;

[0022] Specifically, when the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than or equal to a critical value, the object to be printed and the print head are kept relatively stationary. When the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is greater than the critical value, the object to be printed is driven to move until the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than the critical value, and the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is calculated again.

[0023] Based on the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane, the print head performs at least one of the following actions: moves along a first direction on a horizontal plane, moves along a second direction on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first direction, moves along a vertical direction, tilts to have the required angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotates about its own axis, so that the printing ink ejection direction of the nozzle is always perpendicular to the target area.

[0024] In some embodiments, the circuit manufacturing method includes: achieving positional alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle and the target area using visual recognition feature markers distributed around the printhead and multi-point ranging sensors.

[0025] In some implementations, the critical value is 1°-30°.

[0026] In some embodiments, the circuit manufacturing method includes: calculating the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane using trigonometric functions based on the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area and the straight line deviation value in the horizontal direction.

[0027] In some embodiments, the circuit manufacturing method includes: placing the object to be printed on a support mechanism, and at least using the support mechanism to drive the object to be printed to rotate and / or move in a vertical and / or horizontal direction.

[0028] In some embodiments, the initial velocity of the printing ink droplets ejected from the nozzle is 2-100 m / s, preferably 4-50 m / s.

[0029] Compared to existing technologies, the beneficial effects of the technical solution of this invention are at least as follows: by adjusting the angle in stages, the accuracy and production efficiency of the printed circuit can be effectively balanced. When the horizontal angle of the target area on the printing surface of the object to be printed is greater than a critical value, the horizontal angle can be coarsely adjusted by moving the object to be printed. Since the accuracy requirement is not high, it can be adjusted in one step. After this operation, the horizontal angle of the target area will be within the critical range for a relatively long time. At this time, the angle between the nozzle of the print head and the target area can be controlled by quickly and accurately adjusting the degree of freedom of the print head, which is beneficial to improving accuracy and production efficiency and ensuring the quality of the printed circuit. Attached Figure Description

[0030] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the operation of a circuit manufacturing device in a typical embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0032] Furthermore, it should be noted that in this specification, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising at least one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0033] In one typical embodiment of the present invention, a circuit manufacturing apparatus is provided, comprising:

[0034] A printhead is used to print conductive ink onto the printing surface of an object to form the required circuit.

[0035] A position and distance monitoring component is used to perform position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface;

[0036] A drive mechanism for driving a printhead to perform at least one of the following actions: moving along a first direction on a horizontal plane, moving along a second direction on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first direction, moving vertically, tilting to a desired angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotating about its own axis; and

[0037] The control unit is connected at least to the printhead, the position and distance monitoring component, and the drive mechanism.

[0038] In this specification, the formulation of the aforementioned conductive ink is known and can be selected from any ink known in the art for inkjet printing conductive traces, such as US2010 / 0178420, US 61 / 531347, etc. It can also be commercially available, for example, from companies such as DuPont (5000 silver conductor), MicrocircuitMaterials, 14T.W. Alexander Dr., Research Triangle Park, MC27709, etc.

[0039] In this specification, the aforementioned position and distance monitoring components include visually recognizable feature markers distributed around the printhead and multi-point distance sensors. Figure 1 (Not shown in the image). These ranging sensors and other components are also readily available from the market.

[0040] Accordingly, in this specification, the aforementioned position and distance monitoring components may further include visual detection devices, such as cameras, webcams, CCDs, and other optical image recording devices, which can capture and identify the aforementioned visual recognition feature marks.

[0041] In this specification, the aforementioned drive mechanism can be a multi-degree-of-freedom drive mechanism, such as a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic arm, which can drive the print head to move in multiple directions within a set three-dimensional coordinate system. Some or all components of these drive mechanisms can be integrated into the print head or added separately. For example, see [reference needed]. Figure 1 In an OXYZ coordinate system, in addition to the conventional degrees of freedom such as horizontal (x and y axis) adjustment and height (z axis) adjustment, the print head also includes two new degrees of freedom: horizontal rotation and tilt angle adjustment.

[0042] In this specification, the object to be printed can be placed on a support mechanism. For example, the support mechanism can be located above the object to be printed. The support mechanism can at least drive the object to be printed to rotate and / or move in a vertical and / or horizontal direction. The rotation includes rotating the object to be printed about a point or an axis. The axis can be the axis of the object itself. In a more preferred embodiment, the support mechanism can drive the object to be printed to rotate in a vertical direction, with its axis of rotation (axial direction) located in a horizontal direction.

[0043] In this specification, the aforementioned control unit can be a personal computer, PLC, MCU, etc., which can have pre-programmed control programs. This control unit can receive external commands and signals measured by the position and distance monitoring components, and regulate the working states of the aforementioned printhead, position and distance monitoring components, drive mechanism, and support mechanism, such as the initial velocity and type of ink ejected by the printhead, and the operating states of the drive mechanism and support mechanism.

[0044] Accordingly, this embodiment also provides a circuit manufacturing method based on the aforementioned circuit manufacturing equipment, which may include the following steps:

[0045] The position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface are achieved by visual recognition feature marks distributed around the print head and multi-point distance sensors, and the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area is 0.5-10mm, the specific value of which can be determined by process details. In addition, during the vertical descent, the horizontal straight line deviation between the nozzle and the target area is confirmed to be ≤5mm by visual recognition feature marks.

[0046] Based on the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area and the straight line deviation value in the horizontal direction, the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane is calculated using methods such as trigonometric functions.

[0047] Specifically, when the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than or equal to a critical value (e.g., 1°-30° depending on the specific process details), the object to be printed and the print head are kept relatively stationary. When the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is greater than the critical value, the object to be printed is driven to move until the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than the critical value, and the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is calculated again.

[0048] Based on the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane, the print head performs at least one of the following actions: along a first direction on a horizontal plane (e.g., Figure 1 Move along the x-direction in the middle, and along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction on a horizontal plane (such as...). Figure 1 Move in the y-direction, or along the vertical direction (e.g.) Figure 1The nozzle moves (in the z-direction), tilts to form a desired angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotates around its own axis, so that the ink ejection direction of the nozzle is always perpendicular to the target area. For example, in one case, the nozzle angle can be adjusted by adjusting the horizontal rotation and tilt angle of the print head to make its ink ejection direction perpendicular to the target area, and the angle can be finely adjusted at any time according to the angle changes during the printing process.

[0049] In the aforementioned circuit manufacturing method, the support mechanism can be used to drive the object to be printed to rotate and / or move in the vertical and / or horizontal directions. When the aforementioned horizontal angle is less than the aforementioned critical value, the support mechanism can remain stationary without any angle adjustment. Conversely, when the aforementioned horizontal angle is greater than the aforementioned critical value, the support mechanism can be used to drive the object to be printed to rotate so that the horizontal angle is less than the critical value, and then the object can remain stationary.

[0050] In some embodiments, the initial velocity of the printing ink droplets ejected from the nozzle is 2-100 m / s, preferably 4-50 m / s. In this case, because the distance between the nozzle and the target area is very limited, the droplet flight time is only on the order of milliseconds. Therefore, this circuit manufacturing method does not need to consider the effect of gravity on the droplet flight trajectory, nor does it require additional calculations to compensate for deviations in the print position of the ink droplets.

[0051] In this embodiment, by adjusting the angle in stages, both the accuracy of the printing circuit and production efficiency can be effectively balanced. When the horizontal angle of the target area on the printing surface exceeds a critical value, the support mechanism performs a coarse adjustment of the horizontal angle. Since the accuracy requirement is not high, it can be adjusted in one step. After this operation, the horizontal angle of the target area will remain within the critical range for a relatively long period of time. By quickly and accurately adjusting the degrees of freedom of the print head, it is beneficial to improve accuracy and production efficiency, reduce production costs, and improve product quality.

[0052] It should be understood that the above embodiments are merely illustrative of the technical concept and features of the present invention, and are intended to enable those skilled in the art to understand the content of the present invention and implement it accordingly. They should not be construed as limiting the scope of protection of the present invention. All equivalent changes or modifications made in accordance with the spirit and essence of the present invention should be covered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A circuit manufacturing method, characterized in that, The method is implemented using a circuit manufacturing equipment, characterized in that the circuit manufacturing equipment includes: A printhead for printing conductive ink onto the printing surface of an object to form a desired circuit; wherein the object to be printed is placed on a support mechanism that can at least drive the object to be printed to rotate and / or move in a vertical and / or horizontal direction. A position and distance monitoring component is used to perform position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface; A drive mechanism for driving a printhead to perform at least one of the following actions: moving along a first direction on a horizontal plane, moving along a second direction on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first direction, moving vertically, tilting to a desired angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotating about its own axis; and A control unit, which is at least connected to the printhead, the position and distance monitoring component, and the drive mechanism; The method includes: Provide a printhead for printing conductive ink onto the substrate of the object to be printed to form the required circuit; The position alignment and distance between the nozzle of the print head and the target area on the printing surface are confirmed, and the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area is 0.5-10mm, and the horizontal linear deviation between the nozzle and the target area is ≤5mm. Based on the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area and the straight line deviation value in the horizontal direction, calculate the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane; Specifically, when the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than or equal to a critical value, the object to be printed and the print head are kept relatively stationary. When the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is greater than the critical value, the object to be printed is driven to move until the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is less than the critical value, and the angle between the target area and the horizontal plane is calculated again. Based on the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane, the print head performs at least one of the following actions: moves along a first direction on a horizontal plane, moves along a second direction on a horizontal plane perpendicular to the first direction, moves along a vertical direction, tilts to have the required angle between its own axis and the vertical direction, and rotates about its own axis, so that the printing ink ejection direction of the nozzle is always perpendicular to the target area.

2. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The position and distance monitoring components include visually recognizable feature markers distributed around the printhead and multi-point distance sensors.

3. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 1, characterized in that... include: Position alignment and distance confirmation between the nozzle and the target area are achieved by using visual recognition feature markers distributed around the printhead and multi-point ranging sensors.

4. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The critical value is 1°-30°.

5. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 1, characterized in that... include: Based on the vertical distance between the nozzle and the target area and the straight line deviation value in the horizontal direction, the angle formed between the target area and the horizontal plane is calculated using the trigonometric function method.

6. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The initial velocity of the printing ink droplets ejected from the nozzle is 2-100 m / s.

7. The circuit manufacturing method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The initial velocity of the printing ink droplets ejected from the nozzle is 4-50 m / s.

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