Screen Printing Apparatus Parallel Workpiece Alignment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing screen printing methods face challenges in achieving high productivity while maintaining printing accuracy, particularly when dealing with small, individual boards on a carrier, as the sequential execution of steps leads to delays and limitations in shortening work time.
Innovation Solution
A screen printing apparatus and method that includes a mask plate with pattern holes, a carrier supporter, a backup unit with workpiece supporters, an aligner, and a print head, which allows for simultaneous lifting, alignment, and printing of multiple workpieces, compensating for positional deviations and reducing the time required for squeegeeing operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If sequential execution of printing steps is used for each individual board, then printing accuracy is ensured by compensating positional deviation, but productivity is reduced due to time delays
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple individual printing operations into a single simultaneous operation. Multiple workpieces are mounted on a carrier and processed together through the screen printing apparatus, allowing parallel execution of printing steps across all workpieces. This merging of operations maintains printing accuracy through coordinated positioning mechanisms while dramatically improving productivity by eliminating sequential time delays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the workpiece handling system into individual workpieces mounted on a carrier, allowing each workpiece to be independently positioned and compensated for positional deviation while being processed simultaneously. The carrier acts as a modular platform that can accommodate multiple segments (workpieces) and maintains their relative positions during the printing process.
2Productivity
If multiple workpieces are processed simultaneously, then productivity is improved, but positional deviation compensation becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates position detection mechanisms that monitor the actual positions of workpieces on the carrier during the printing process. Based on this feedback, the system adjusts the positioning of individual workpieces or the carrier itself to compensate for positional deviations. This feedback loop enables simultaneous processing of multiple workpieces while maintaining printing accuracy through continuous position correction.
Solution Approach 2:
The carrier is designed as a multi-functional platform that simultaneously serves as a mounting structure for multiple workpieces, a positioning reference system, and a compensation mechanism. The carrier integrates functions for holding, aligning, and adjusting workpiece positions, enabling the system to handle multiple workpieces with positional deviation compensation in a single operation.
3Manufacturing precision
If sequential processing is used for each workpiece, then positioning can be controlled precisely, but the time required for squeegeeing operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables continuous useful action by performing the squeegeeing operation simultaneously on all workpieces mounted on the carrier. Instead of completing squeegeeing for one workpiece before moving to the next, the system maintains the screen printing apparatus in a continuous printing state, applying paste to all workpieces at once. This eliminates idle time between operations while preserving positioning control through coordinated movement mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a screen printing apparatus including: a mask plate on which a plurality of pattern holes are formed; a carrier supporter which supports a carrier which has a plurality of first openings and in which a plurality of workpieces are disposed on the plurality of first openings; a backup unit which has a plurality of workpiece supporters; a raising and lowering unit which lifts up the plurality of workpieces from the carrier and returns the plurality of lifted-up workpieces to the carrier; an aligner which aligns the plurality of workpieces in accordance with arrangement of the plurality of pattern holes; an overlapper which relatively moves the backup unit and the mask plate; and a print head which prints a paste on the plurality of workpieces on the plurality of workpiece supporters through the plurality of pattern holes.