Printing equipment and method for manufacturing thick conductor and thick conductor circuit

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of silk-screen printing thick conductors, and particularly relates to printing equipment and method for manufacturing a thick conductor and a thick conductor circuit. The printing area is used for printing conductor paste on the LTCC raw ceramic chip; the drying area is used for drying the conductor paste printed on the LTCC raw ceramic chip; the workbench is installed on a guide rail arranged between the printing area and the drying area, and a plurality of adsorption openings are formed in the workbench and used for adsorbing and fixing LTCC raw ceramic chips. The control system controls the workbench to move between the printing area and the drying area through the guide rails. Compared with the prior art, the device has the beneficial effects that multiple printing and drying procedures can be completed on the same equipment, and by improving the workpiece fixing mode and the transfer mode between the procedures, it is guaranteed that alignment marks on a screen printing plate and a green ceramic chip are accurately aligned every time printing is conducted; by using the equipment, the thick conductor can be printed on the LTCC raw ceramic chip, the sintering thickness of the conductor is greater than 50 microns, the pattern line width precision of the thick conductor is high, and the alignment precision is high.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of screen printing thick conductors, and particularly relates to a printing device, a method for manufacturing thick conductors, and a thick conductor circuit. Background Art

[0002] LTCC high-power circuit boards and high-power components require printing thick conductors, and the sintered thickness of the conductors needs to be greater than 50 microns. However, the sintered thickness of the conductors printed by conventional printing devices and printing methods is about 10 to 20 microns, which is difficult to meet the requirements.

[0003] There are two conventional methods for increasing the conductor thickness in LTCC screen printing: one is to use a low-mesh screen; the other is to use the overprinting method, that is, after the first printing on the green ceramic chip, it is placed in an oven to dry, and then the same pattern is printed and dried for the second time, and this is repeated many times to increase the conductor thickness. The problem with the first method is that the increased thickness of the conductor is limited, and the accuracy of the conductor printed by the low-mesh screen is not high. The problem with the second method is that the green ceramic chip will shrink and deform after drying in the oven, and the alignment error between the alignment marks on the screen and the green ceramic chip increases when performing the next screen printing, resulting in poor alignment accuracy of the circuit patterns printed multiple times. Summary of the Invention

[0004] To solve the problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a printing device, a method for manufacturing thick conductors, and a thick conductor circuit.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention to solve its technical problems is as follows: A printing device for manufacturing thick conductors includes: a printing area for printing conductor paste on an LTCC green ceramic chip; a drying area for drying the conductor paste printed on the LTCC green ceramic chip; a workbench installed on a guide rail disposed between the printing area and the drying area, and a plurality of suction ports are provided on the workbench for adsorbing and fixing the LTCC green ceramic chip; a control system for controlling the workbench to move between the printing area and the drying area through the guide rail.

[0006] Preferably, the guide rail is a linear guide rail made of a high-strength and wear-resistant material, and the workbench base is made of a high-rigidity material.

[0007] Preferably, the workbench is a porous stone vacuum adsorption table.

[0008] Preferably, an air duct is provided inside the workbench, and the suction ports are connected to a vacuum pump through the air duct.

[0009] Preferably, the drying area is hot air drying.

[0010] Preferably, the printing area includes: a squeegee and a screen, the screen is installed above the printing work area, the squeegee is located above the screen, and the squeegee can move up and down and horizontally.

[0011] Printing method for making thick conductors, the steps are as follows: S1. Place the LTCC green ceramic sheet on the workbench, and the workbench fixes the LTCC green ceramic sheet through vacuum adsorption; S2. Move the workbench with the LTCC green ceramic sheet in step S1 to the printing area, and print the conductor paste in the printing area to become the primary printing workbench; S3. Move the primary printing workbench along the guide rail to the drying area for hot air drying; S4. Then perform the next printing of the conductor paste and subsequent drying of the conductor paste, repeating multiple times until the conductor thickness meets the requirements.

[0012] Preferably, the drying temperature provided by the drying area is 60°C to 120°C.

[0013] Thick conductor circuit, a circuit with a sintered conductor thickness greater than 50 microns manufactured by using the printing equipment or the printing method described in the present application.

[0014] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: 1. By adsorbing and fixing the LTCC green ceramic sheet, and the printing area and the drying area are located in the same equipment, the movement of the workbench between the printing area and the drying area is realized through the guide rail. Multiple printing and drying processes can be completed in the same equipment. By improving the workpiece fixing method and its transfer method between processes, the precise alignment of the alignment marks on the screen and the green ceramic sheet during each printing is ensured; 2. The guide rail adopts a linear guide rail made of high-strength and wear-resistant material, and the workbench base adopts a high-rigidity material, ensuring that the workbench does not deviate or shake during movement, improving the operation stability, and facilitating the alignment of the conductor on the green ceramic sheet and the screen; 3. The workbench has a vacuum adsorption function. During screen printing and drying, the LTCC green ceramic sheet is always vacuum adsorbed on the workbench, which can avoid the deformation of the green ceramic sheet due to force during the transfer between processes, and can also avoid the shrinkage of the green ceramic sheet due to heat during drying, ensuring that the size and shape of the LTCC green ceramic sheet do not change during the drying process, so that precise alignment can be achieved when overprinting thick conductors; In summary, using this equipment can print thick conductors on the LTCC green ceramic sheet, with a sintered conductor thickness greater than 50 microns, high precision of the thick conductor graphic line width, and high alignment precision. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015] Figure 1 It is the front view of the printing equipment for making thick conductors; Figure 2 It is the schematic diagram of the printing area in the present invention; Figure 3 It is the schematic diagram of the internal structure of the workbench; Figure 4Schematic diagram of the drying area; In the figure: 1. LTCC green ceramic sheet, 2. Workbench, 3. Printing area, 4. Drying area, 5. Guide rail, 201. Adsorption port, 202. Air duct, 203. Vacuum pump, 302. Doctor blade, 303. Screen plate, 304. Slurry. Detailed implementation method

[0016] For the convenience of understanding the present invention, the present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described in this specification. On the contrary, the purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosed content of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive.

[0017] Embodiment: With reference to Figure 1 understanding, a printing area 3 and a drying area 4 are provided on the same printing device. Photoelectric sensors are installed at the printing area 3 and the drying area 4 to detect the position of the workbench 2 in real time and feed the signal back to the control system. The control system controls the workbench 2 to move precisely between the printing area 3 and the drying area 4 through the guide rail 5. The LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 is vacuum adsorbed on the workbench 2. First, the conductor slurry is printed in the printing area 3, and then it is moved to the drying area 4 to dry the organic solvent in the conductor slurry. Then, the next printing of the conductor slurry and drying of the conductor slurry are carried out repeatedly for many times until the thickness of the conductor slurry meets the requirements. In order to improve the operation accuracy, multi-point auxiliary calibration is arranged on the running path of the workbench 2, and the calibration program is built into the control system.

[0018] With reference to Figure 4 understanding, the drying area 4 is hot air drying, and the drying temperature is 60°C to 120°C. When drying, the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 remains vacuum adsorbed on the workbench 2 to avoid shrinkage and deformation of the green ceramic sheet during drying.

[0019] Printing method, the steps are as follows: S1. The LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 is placed on the workbench 2, and the workbench 2 fixes the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 through vacuum adsorption; S2. The workbench 2 equipped with the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 in step S1 moves to the printing area 3, and the printing area 3 prints the conductor slurry to complete the workbench 2 for one printing; S3. Move the workbench 2 that has completed one printing along the guide rail 5 to the drying area 4 for hot air drying at a drying temperature of 60°C to 120°C; S4. Then, the next printing of the conductor slurry and drying of the conductor slurry are carried out repeatedly for many times until the conductor thickness meets the requirements.

[0020] The printing area 3 and the drying area 4 are located in the same device. The movement of the workbench 2 between the printing area 3 and the drying area 4 is realized through the guide rail 5, and multiple printing and drying processes can be completed in the same device. The workbench 2 has a vacuum adsorption function. During screen printing and drying, the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 is always kept adsorbed on the workbench 2 under vacuum, which can avoid the deformation of the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 due to force during the transfer between processes, and can also avoid the shrinkage of the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 due to heat during drying, ensuring that the size and shape of the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 do not change during the drying process, so that accurate alignment can be achieved when overprinting patterns. By improving the fixing method of the manufactured thick conductor semi-finished parts and their transfer method between processes, the accurate alignment of the screen plate and the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 during each printing is ensured. Using the printing device or the printing method described in the present application to manufacture a circuit with a thick conductor sintering thickness greater than 50 microns, the thick conductor pattern line width has high precision and the alignment precision is high.

[0021] In one embodiment, the guide rail 5 adopts a linear guide rail made of high-strength and wear-resistant material, such as hardened steel for the material, and a ball guide rail or a roller guide rail for the linear guide rail, ensuring that the workbench 2 moves smoothly without shaking during the movement. The base of the workbench 2 is made of high-rigidity material to ensure the stability of the overall structure. During installation, the parallelism and levelness of the guide rail are ensured through laser calibration, and the workbench 2 and the guide rail 5 are installed with high-precision sliding fit to avoid movement deviation caused by installation errors. In addition, a double-guide rail setting can also be adopted, so that the workbench 2 is evenly stressed during the movement, avoiding deviation caused by unilateral stress.

[0022] In one embodiment, the workbench 2 is a porous stone vacuum adsorption table. The surface of the porous stone is distributed with uniformly tiny pores, which can provide uniform adsorption force, avoid workpiece deformation or unstable adsorption caused by excessive or too small local adsorption force, has high air permeability and is resistant to high temperature, ensuring product quality and process stability. Moreover, porous stones with different pore diameters and thicknesses can be customized according to specific applications to meet the adsorption requirements of different workpieces.

[0023] In one embodiment, combined with Figure 3 Understand that an air passage 202 is provided inside the workbench 2, and the adsorption port 201 is connected to the vacuum pump 203 through the air passage 202. The adsorption force can be adjusted through the vacuum pump.

[0024] In one embodiment, combined with Figure 2It is understood that the printing area 3 includes a squeegee 302 and a stencil 303. The stencil 303 is installed above the printing working area, and the squeegee 302 is located above the stencil 303. The squeegee 302 can move up and down and horizontally. First, the material is loaded onto the stencil 303. Then, the height of the squeegee 302 is adjusted according to the printing thickness of this time, and then the height is locked. Next, the squeegee 302 is moved horizontally. Under the action of the squeegee 302, the slurry 304 is printed onto the LTCC green ceramic sheet 1 at the position corresponding to the pattern of the stencil 303.

[0025] The technical features of the above-described embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. For the sake of brevity of description, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, it should be considered as the scope recorded in this specification.

Claims

1. A printing device for thick conductor production, characterized in that: include: Printing area, printing conductor paste on LTCC green ceramic sheet; Drying area, drying the conductor paste printed on the LTCC green ceramic sheet; A workbench is installed on a guide rail arranged between the printing area and the drying area, and the workbench is provided with a plurality of adsorption ports for adsorbing and fixing the LTCC green ceramic sheet; Control system, controls the workbench to move between the printing area and the drying area via guide rails.

2. The printing device for thick conductor production according to claim 1, characterized in that: The guide rails are made of high-strength and wear-resistant linear guides, and the workbench base is made of high-rigidity material.

3. The printing device for thick conductor production according to claim 2, characterized in that: The workbench is a porous stone vacuum adsorption table.

4. The printing device for thick conductor production according to claim 2, characterized in that: An air passage is arranged inside the workbench, and the adsorption port is connected with the vacuum pump through the air passage.

5. The printing device for thick conductor production according to claim 2, characterized in that: The drying area is hot air drying.

6. The printing device for thick conductor production according to claim 2, characterized in that: The printing area includes: a scraper and a screen. The screen is installed above the printing work area, and the scraper is located above the screen. The scraper can move up and down and horizontally.

7. A printing method for thick conductor production, characterized in that Here are the steps: S1. The LTCC green ceramic sheet is placed on a workbench, and the workbench fixes the LTCC green ceramic sheet by vacuum adsorption; S2, the workbench with the LTCC green ceramic sheet in step S1 is moved to the printing area, and the printing area prints the conductor paste to form a primary printing workbench; S3, moving the primary printing workbench along the guide rail to the drying area for hot air drying; S4, then printing the conductor paste for the next time and subsequently drying the conductor paste, repeated for multiple times until the conductor thickness meets the requirements.

8. The printing method for thick conductor production according to claim 7, characterized in that: The drying temperature provided by the drying area is 60℃~120℃.

9. Thick conductor circuit, characterized in that A circuit with a conductor sintering thickness greater than 50 microns, manufactured using the printing device described in any one of claims 1-6 or the printing method described in any one of claims 7-8.

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