JPH0976456A - Squeegee alignment device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [PROBLEMS] To facilitate the alignment of a squeegee with respect to a squeegee holder and to improve productivity. A squeegee holder 8 is provided on one main surface 5a of the fixed base 3 and the movable base 5, which are arranged so that the main surfaces 3a and 5a of the opposed surface are substantially parallel to each other. Is mounted, and the squeegee 13 is inserted into the squeegee holder 8, and the one main surface 3a serving as the facing surface of the fixed base 3 is brought into contact with the squeegee 13. In addition, it is preferable to have, for example, an air filter regulator 6 as a pressure control mechanism that controls the pressing force when the movable table 5 abuts. Further, it is preferable to provide, for example, a squeegee holder setting guide 9 as a squeegee holder positioning means on the one main surface 5a that faces the movable table 5.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a squeegee alignment device for aligning a squeegee used for screen printing with a squeegee holder. More specifically, the present invention relates to a squeegee alignment device that facilitates alignment of a squeegee with a squeegee holder by sandwiching and pressing a pair of support bases, at least one of which is movable.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Screen printing technology is very important for manufacturing printed wiring boards, and
It is often used, for example, when forming a solder resist layer that covers a portion that does not require soldering or a symbol mark that indicates various symbols such as a manufacturing lot.

In screen printing, a screen having openings of a predetermined shape is arranged on the printing surface of a printing object with a slight gap, and solder resist or the like is formed on the surface of the screen opposite to the surface facing the printing object. Of the ink, and while pushing the spatula called squeegee on the ink supply surface of this screen, the ink is pushed out from the opening of the screen, and the ink is placed at a position corresponding to the opening on the printing surface of the printing material. This is a method of attaching and printing a predetermined shape.

The squeegee is a plate having a width corresponding to the width of the screen and is capable of scratching the screen in the width direction at once. Also, in this squeegee, the corners in the width direction are pressed against the screen. Further, this squeegee is usually made of an elastic material such as rubber in order to enhance the adhesion to the screen. At this time, the squeegee is supported by a squeegee holder in order to facilitate the pressing of the squeegee against the screen.

Namely, as shown in FIG. 2, which the pair of squeegee holder blocks 106 and 107 of a substantially L-shape bent portion were opposite to face, in the drawing W ₁ of the squeegee 101 The width indicated by W ₂ in the figure equivalent to the thickness indicated, and the width L indicated in the figure by L ₁ of the squeegee 101
_A squeegee 101 is fitted into the groove 102 of the squeegee holder 103, which is formed so that a groove 102 having a substantially U-shaped cross section having a length shown by ₂ faces the one main surface 103a.
1 is sandwiched in the thickness direction in a partially exposed state. Further, in order to fix the squeegee 101 to the squeegee holder 103, the squeegee 101 is supported by being fastened with a plurality of screws 104. At this time, the one main surface 103a which is the groove opening surface and the one main surface 103b which is the bottom surface of the squeegee holder 103 are parallel to the bottom surface 102a of the groove 102.

[0006]

When a solder resist or the like is printed in a predetermined shape by the screen printing method as described above to form a solder resist layer or the like, the corners of the squeegee are arranged parallel to the screen. If it is not, the screen cannot be scratched uniformly in the width direction, the print density distribution becomes uneven, and there are inconveniences such as the occurrence of a part where printing is not performed, causing a decrease in manufacturing yield. It also becomes.

Therefore, as described above, the squeegee holder 10
When fixing the squeegee 101 to 3, the squeegee 101 is fitted into the groove portion 102 of the squeegee holder 103 so that the bottom surface 101a of the squeegee 101 and the bottom surface 102a of the groove portion 102 are in contact with each other, and then fixed by the screw 104 in this state. There is.

At this time, as described above, the squeegee holder 1
Since the one main surface 103a which is the groove opening surface and the one main surface 103b which is the bottom surface and the bottom surface 102a of the groove 102 are parallel to each other, the parallelism between the squeegee 101 and the squeegee holder 103 is secured.

The squeegee 101 is adjusted by adjusting the angle of the squeegee holder 103 with respect to the screen.
Printing is performed by aligning the corners of the screen and the screen in parallel.

However, fitting and screwing of the squeegee 101 into the squeegee holder 103 are performed manually, and the wide squeegee 101 is pressed into the groove 102 of the squeegee holder 103 by applying uniform pressure over the entire width. , It is difficult to fix with screws,
While fixing the screws, the squeegee 101 tilts, the bottom surfaces 101a and 102a are not parallel as shown in FIG. 3, and a gap 105 is formed between the bottom surfaces 101a and 102a as shown in FIG.

As described above, it is very skillful to fix the squeegee holder with the screws while keeping the bottom surface of the squeegee and the groove portion of the squeegee holder parallel to each other and aligning the squeegee with the squeegee holder. , Which hinders the improvement of productivity. In addition, a plurality of manpower may be required, which hinders improvement in productivity.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of the conventional circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a squeegee positioning device which facilitates the positioning of the squeegee with respect to the squeegee holder and improves the productivity. And

[0013]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the squeegee positioning device of the present invention is arranged such that the facing surfaces facing each other are substantially parallel to each other.
At least one is provided with a pair of support bases that are movable in order to make the distance between the facing surfaces variable, and a squeegee holder is placed on one of the facing surfaces of the support bases, With the squeegee inserted in the squeegee holder, the opposing surface of the other support is brought into contact with the squeegee to align the squeegee with the squeegee holder.

It should be noted that such a squeegee alignment device preferably has a pressure control mechanism for controlling the pressing force when the support base abuts.

Further, in such a squeegee position aligning device, it is preferable that squeegee holder positioning means is provided on a surface of the supporting base on which the squeegee holder is placed.

That is, in the squeegee position adjusting device of the present invention, at least one of them is movable, and the squeegee is placed on one of the opposing surfaces of the pair of supporting bases arranged so that the opposing surfaces are substantially parallel to each other. With the squeegee inserted in the holder, the squeegee is pressed against the squeegee holder with the parallelism of the pair of supports so that the opposing surface of the other support comes into contact with the squeegee. Will be sandwiched between a pair of supports. Therefore, the parallelism between the pair of supports ensures the parallelism between the squeegee and the squeegee holder. If the screws are fixed in this state, the squeegee can be easily aligned with the squeegee holder in a short time.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In addition,
Here, a squeegee alignment device in which one of a pair of supports is movable will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment has a fixed base 3 supported by four first columns 2 on one main surface 1a which is an upper surface of a main body 1, and a first support base 3a. Prop 2
4 second columns 4 that can be moved up and down along
The movable base 5 supported by the above is arranged so that the main surfaces 3a, 5a which are the opposing surfaces thereof are substantially parallel to each other.

The second support column 4 has the first support column 2 inside.
A through hole (not shown) having a larger diameter than that of the first pillar 2 is arranged in the through hole so that the first pillar 2 can be moved up and down along the first pillar 2.

In the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment, the one main surface 5a of the movable base 5 and the one main surface 3a of the fixed base 3 are kept parallel by the vertical movement of the second support column 4. The movable table 5 can be moved up and down as shown by an arrow M in the figure.

The second support column 4 is connected to a driving device and can be moved up and down by driving the driving device.

An example of this drive device is an air cylinder system, which is equipped with a pressure reducing valve and a pressure gauge as shown in FIG. 1 and which allows the movable table 5 to move up and down by adjusting the air pressure. Regulator 6 etc. are mentioned.

Other examples of the driving device include a motor type driving device and a hydraulic driving device.

In addition, in the squeegee alignment device of this example, an operation switch 7 is provided on one main surface 1b, which is the front surface of the main body 1, to adjust the air pressure and to move the movable table 5 up and down. And its operation is easy.
The operation switch 7 can be switched to three kinds of operations of down (DOWN), stop (N), and up (UP).

Further, in the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment, the squeegee holder 8 is positioned on the one main surface 5a which is the facing surface of the movable table 5 and the squeegee setting guide for holding the squeegee holder 8 so that it does not fall. 9 are arranged.

The squeegee setting guide 9 includes a reference portion 10
Is a plate body having a substantially L-shaped cross section in which a support portion 11 is formed perpendicularly to, and one main surface 10a serving as an upper surface of the reference portion 10 is parallel to one main surface 5a of the movable table 5.

The squeegee holder 8 is composed of a pair of squeegee holder blocks each having a substantially L-shaped cross section, which are opposed to each other so that their bent portions are opposed to each other. A groove portion having a substantially U-shaped cross section, which has a width equal to the thickness of the squeegee and a length equal to the width of the squeegee, is provided in the longitudinal direction, and the groove portion opening surface and the bottom surface of the squeegee holder 8 and the groove portion. The bottom surface of is made parallel.

Therefore, when the squeegee holder 8 is placed on the squeegee setting guide 9, the one main surface 10a serving as the upper surface of the reference portion 10 and the support portion 11 are arranged so that the groove opening surface of the squeegee holder 8 is on the upper side. If the corner in the longitudinal direction of the squeegee holder 8 is abutted against the corner formed by the one main surface 11a that is the front surface at right angles, the bottom of the groove of the squeegee holder 8 and the main part of the reference portion 10 of the squeegee setting guide 9 will be described. The surface 10a and the one main surface 5a, which is the upper surface of the movable table 5, are parallel to each other.

In the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment, the protrusion 12 is provided on the surface 5b facing the main body 1 so that the movable base 5 does not come into contact with the main body 1 when the movable base 5 moves downward in the figure.
Is provided.

To align the squeegee with the squeegee holder with the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment,
First, with the squeegee 13 lightly inserted in the groove of the squeegee holder 8, the screw 14 is lightly tightened, and the squeegee holder 8 is placed on the squeegee setting guide 9 as described above.

The operation switch 7 provided on the main body
To the UP side, the air pressure is automatically adjusted by the air filter regulator 6, the movable table 5 is raised upward in the figure, and the tip of the squeegee 13 is brought into contact with the one main surface 3a of the fixed table 3. Although the squeegee 13 is usually made of an elastic material such as rubber, the air filter regulator 6 adjusts the air pressure to adjust the pressing force to function as a pressure control mechanism, and the squeegee 13 is not deformed. Contact them with a force that does not occur.

At this time, the movable table 5 moves up and down with the opposing surfaces 3a, 5a of the fixed table 3 and the movable table 5 kept parallel to each other, and the tip of the squeegee 13 is attached to one main surface of the fixed table 3. One main surface 13a which becomes the printing surface of the squeegee 13 when brought into contact with 3a
Then, the squeegee 13 is pressurized so that the one main surface 3a becomes parallel.

As a result, the squeegee 13 is in the groove of the squeegee holder 8 and the bottom surface of the squeegee 13 is the squeegee holder 8.
The squeegee 1 is fitted so as to be pressed against the bottom surface of the groove portion of the squeegee, uniform pressure is applied to one main surface 13a of the squeegee 13 in the width direction, and the squeegee 1 according to the parallelism between the movable table 5 and the fixed table 3.
3 is aligned with the squeegee holder 8 to ensure their parallelism.

That is, a part of the squeegee 13 is exposed,
The squeegee 13 is sandwiched by the squeegee holder 8 from the thickness direction such that the groove opening surface and the bottom surface of the groove of the squeegee holder 8 are parallel to the bottom surface of the squeegee 13 and the one main surface 13a serving as a printing surface.

Next, the squeegee holder setting guide 9, the squeegee holder 8 and the squeegee 13 are sandwiched by the fixed table 3 and the movable table 5 in this manner, and the squeegee 13 is pressed against the squeegee holder 8 with a uniform force in the width direction. Tighten the screw 14 to fix the squeegee 13 to the squeegee holder 8. That is, the squeegee 13 and the squeegee holder 8 are fixed in a state where their parallelism is maintained.

When the squeegee 13 fixed to the squeegee holder 8 is taken out, the operation switch 7 is set to DOW.
It is sufficient to switch to the N side, automatically adjust the air pressure by the air filter regulator 6, and lower the movable table 5 downward in the figure.

In the squeegee alignment device of this embodiment, the squeegee 13 is inserted into the squeegee holder 8 so that the squeegee 13 is brought into contact with the main surface 3a, which is the facing surface of the fixed base 3, with respect to the squeegee 13. Is pressed against the squeegee holder 8 with the parallelism between the fixed base 3 and the movable base 5, and the squeegee 13 and the squeegee holder 8 are sandwiched between the fixed base 3 and the movable base 5. Therefore, the parallelism between the fixed base 3 and the movable base 5 ensures the parallelism between the squeegee 13 and the squeegee holder 8. If the screws are fastened in this state, the squeegee 13 can be easily aligned with the squeegee holder 8 in a short time.
With this device, no technical skill is required. Further, using this device, a plurality of manpower is not required unlike the conventional case. Therefore, from these points, the productivity can be improved.

When the squeegee held by the squeegee holder in this manner is used, the angle between the squeegee holder and the screen is also determined by the angle of the squeegee holder with respect to the screen. It is possible to arrange the parts in parallel with the screen, it is possible to suppress the deviation of the print density distribution and the occurrence of parts where printing is not performed, and it is also possible to improve the manufacturing yield.

When the squeegee alignment device of this example was used to measure the amount of displacement when the squeegee was aligned, it was suppressed to about 10 μm. This deviation is
The height from the bottom surface of the squeegee holder 8 to the one main surface 13a which is the printing surface of the squeegee 13 was measured, and the height was determined by the difference between this measured value and the design value. On the other hand, when the squeegee is manually aligned as in the conventional case, the deviation amount is 50 to
It is about 100 μm, and from this result, it was confirmed that the use of the squeegee alignment device of the present invention significantly improves the alignment accuracy.

In the above example, the squeegee holder setting guide 9 is provided on the movable table 5, but if the squeegee holder 8 can be supported, the squeegee holder setting guide 9 is not necessarily provided. Absent.

Further, in the above-mentioned example, the example in which the movable table 5 supports the squeegee holder 8 has been described, but the fixed table 3 may support it.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned example, the example in which the fixed base 3 and the movable base 5 are provided has been described, but both may be movable bases.

[0043]

As is apparent from the above description, in the squeegee position adjusting device of the present invention, at least one of the pair of support bases is arranged so that at least one is movable and the facing surfaces are substantially parallel to each other. The squeegee has a parallelism of a pair of supporting bases so that the opposing surface of the other supporting base is brought into contact with the squeegee in a state where the squeegee is inserted into the squeegee holder placed on one of the supporting bases. When pressed against the holder, the squeegee and the squeegee holder are sandwiched between the pair of support bases. Therefore, the parallelism between the pair of supports ensures the parallelism between the squeegee and the squeegee holder. If the squeegee is screwed in this state, the squeegee can be easily aligned with the squeegee holder in a short time. If the squeegee aligning device of the present invention is used, no technical skill is required. Also,
The use of the squeegee alignment device of the present invention eliminates the need for a plurality of manual labor as in the prior art. Therefore, if the squeegee alignment device of the present invention is used, productivity can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a squeegee alignment device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a squeegee and a squeegee holder.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a state where the squeegee is tilted with respect to the squeegee holder.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the squeegee is tilted with respect to the squeegee holder.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Fixed table 3a, 5a One main surface 5 Movable table 6 Air filter regulator 8 Squeegee holder 13 Squeegee

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A pair of support bases are arranged such that the facing surfaces facing each other are substantially parallel to each other, and at least one of them is movable in order to make the distance between the facing surfaces variable. The squeegee holder is placed on one of the facing surfaces of the supporting base, and the squeegee is inserted into the squeegee holder, and the facing surface of the other supporting base is brought into contact with the squeegee so that the squeegee is held. A squeegee alignment device that is aligned with a squeegee holder. 2. The squeegee alignment device according to claim 1, further comprising a pressure control mechanism that controls a pressing force when the support base contacts. 3. The squeegee position aligning device according to claim 1, wherein squeegee holder positioning means is provided on a surface of a support table on which the squeegee holder is placed, which is opposed to the support base.