Printing System Substrate Misalignment Correction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Manufacturing technologies face challenges in achieving precise alignment and uniform layer deposition on substrates, particularly in high-definition OLED displays and solar panels, due to substrate misalignment, scaling errors, and variations in layer thickness, which can result in defects and increased manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a system that detects substrate errors using fiducials and adjusts nozzle firing decisions and drive parameters in real-time, allowing for precise registration of printed layers without altering the preplanned raster sweeps, and utilizes antialiasing and droplet measurement techniques to ensure accurate droplet placement and volume control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If real-time adjustment of nozzle firing decisions is implemented to correct substrate misalignment, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system detects substrate position using fiducial markers and feeds this information back to the controller, which then adjusts nozzle firing decisions in real-time to compensate for misalignment, achieving precise layer registration without mechanical repositioning
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical substrate repositioning mechanisms with a computational approach that adjusts nozzle firing parameters based on detected substrate position, eliminating complex mechanical alignment systems
2Manufacturing precision
If droplet volume control techniques are implemented to ensure uniform layer thickness, then manufacturing precision is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system controls droplet volume by adjusting ejection parameters such as voltage, pulse width, and frequency, allowing precise thickness control while maintaining high-speed deposition through optimized parameter selection
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses periodic pulsed ejection of droplets with controlled intervals, allowing precise volume delivery while maintaining high throughput through efficient use of each ejection cycle
3Manufacturing precision
If antialiasing techniques are used to improve droplet placement accuracy, then manufacturing precision is improved, but loss of time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-calculates droplet placement patterns and antialiasing adjustments before actual deposition, allowing complex precision calculations to be performed in advance rather than in real-time during deposition
Data Source
AI summary
A repeatable manufacturing process uses a printer to deposits liquid for each product carried by a substrate to form respective thin films. The liquid is dried, cured or otherwise processed to form from the liquid a permanent layer of each respective product. To perform printing, each newly-introduced substrate is roughly mechanically aligned, with an optical system detecting sub-millimeter misalignment, and with software correcting for misalignment. Rendering of adjusted data is performed such that nozzles are variously assigned dependent on misalignment to deposit droplets in a regulated manner, to ensure precise deposition of liquid for each given area of the substrate. For example, applied to the manufacture of flat panel displays, software ensures that exactly the right amount of liquid is deposited for each “pixel” of the display, to minimize likelihood of visible discrepancies in the resultant display.