Drawing Engine Spacing Correction for High Resolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing drawing apparatuses face challenges in maintaining high resolution performance due to manufacturing variations, leading to displacement and buildup issues when the design spacing of drawing devices does not match the actual spacing, resulting in image expansion or shrinkage and reduced resolution.
Innovation Solution
The drawing engine is designed with a design spacing equal to a product of the unit pixel spacing and an integer, and the drawing data is corrected to account for the actual spacing, ensuring that the data is supplied at the correct timing to maintain intended resolution, thereby correcting for displacement and image distortion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If the design spacing of drawing devices is used without correction, then the device structure is simple, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to displacement buildup and image distortion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating and storing correction values for drawing device spacing deviations in a lookup table before actual drawing operations. The system measures the actual spacing of drawing devices, calculates correction values based on the difference between design and actual spacing, and stores these corrections in advance. During drawing, the pre-computed correction values are retrieved and applied to pixel data, eliminating the need for complex real-time calculations and maintaining high drawing resolution.
2Manufacturing precision
If real-time correction calculations are performed for each pixel, then manufacturing precision improves, but productivity deteriorates due to increased computational burden
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-computes correction values for all possible drawing positions and stores them in a lookup table before actual drawing operations. This eliminates the need for complex real-time calculations during drawing, maintaining high drawing resolution while preserving drawing speed. The correction values are calculated once based on measured spacing deviations and then reused for all subsequent drawing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a corrected copy of the pixel data by applying pre-computed correction values to the original drawing data. Instead of modifying the physical drawing process or hardware spacing, the system generates a corrected digital representation of the drawing pattern that compensates for spacing deviations. This corrected data is then used to drive the drawing devices, achieving high precision without slowing down the physical drawing process.
3Manufacturing precision
If the drawing data is supplied based on design spacing, then the control system is simple, but manufacturing precision deteriorates due to displacement and image expansion/shrinkage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-calculating correction values for drawing data based on measured spacing deviations between design and actual drawing device positions. These correction values are stored in a lookup table and applied to pixel data before it is sent to the drawing devices. This ensures that the drawing pattern accurately reflects the intended design while compensating for manufacturing variations in device spacing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical approach of physically adjusting drawing device spacing with a digital correction system. Instead of mechanically repositioning drawing devices to match design specifications, the system uses software-based correction of drawing data to compensate for spacing deviations. This substitution of mechanical adjustment with digital correction simplifies the physical system while maintaining or improving pattern accuracy.
Data Source
AI summary
A drawing apparatus, for forming a desired drawing pattern by drawing the pattern directly on a drawing target surface using a drawing engine equipped with a plurality of drawing devices arranged along a direction of relative movement of the drawing target surface, the drawing engine being designed so that the design spacing of the thus arranged drawing devices is equal to a product of a unit pixel spacing in drawing data and an integer, comprises: correcting means for generating corrected drawing data by correcting the drawing data based on the difference between the design spacing and the actual spacing of the drawing devices; and supplying means for supplying the drawing engine with the corrected drawing data just necessary for direct drawing to a drawing block that the drawing engine can draw at a time on the drawing target surface, each time the drawing target substrate moves in relative fashion by a distance corresponding to an actual pixel spacing that is obtained by dividing the actual spacing of the drawing devices by that integer.