Screen Printing Dot Matrix for Silver Busbar Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing screen printing methods for applying silver coatings to glass panes, such as those used for heatable vehicle panes, struggle to achieve uniform and increased thickness of busbars and solder contact surfaces, leading to inadequate current-carrying capacity and material inefficiency.
Innovation Solution
The method involves using a dot matrix or line matrix in the printing pattern for busbars and solder contact surfaces, allowing for a greater ink volume per area and achieving a thicker wet layer thickness of 5 to 100 μm, which translates to a greater layer thickness after baking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If screen printing is used with conventional screen coating, then the printing process is simple and fast, but the busbar thickness is insufficient and material distribution is uneven
Solution Approach 1:
The screen is divided into different coating zones: a first region with a first coating thickness and a second region with a second coating thickness. This segmentation allows different parts of the screen to deposit different amounts of printing paste, achieving uniform busbar thickness across the entire width including the central region.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the screen are given different coating qualities (thicknesses) to match the specific printing requirements of different busbar regions. The first region's coating thickness is optimized for edge areas while the second region's coating thickness is optimized for the central area, ensuring uniform material distribution throughout.
2Manufacturing precision
If double silver print with intermediate drying step is used, then the printing thickness is increased, but the processing time and method complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of performing two separate printing operations, the screen is segmented into regions with different coating thicknesses, allowing both edge and central areas to receive appropriate material amounts in a single printing pass. This eliminates the need for intermediate drying steps while achieving the desired thickness distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The screen is pre-coated with varying thicknesses in different regions before the printing operation. This preliminary differentiation of coating thicknesses ensures that the single printing pass deposits the correct amount of material in each region, eliminating the need for subsequent thickness correction operations.
3Manufacturing precision
If silver content in printing paste is increased, then the busbar thickness is increased, but the maximum silver content is limited and material consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The screen coating thickness is locally optimized for each region, ensuring that the printing paste is distributed efficiently. This prevents excessive material consumption in areas where less material is needed while achieving the required busbar thickness throughout, reducing overall silver paste consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for producing a silver coating on a glass pane, wherein the silver coating includes at least one busbar and/or at least one solder contact surface, wherein the method includes printing the silver coating onto the glass pane by screen printing with a printing pattern having printing and non-printing regions and baking the printed silver coating, wherein the printing region of the printing pattern for the busbar and/or the printing region of the printing pattern for the solder contact surface is provided at least partially with a dot matrix or a line matrix.