Frame assembly, stencil, screen printing device and screen printing method

Abstract

The present invention provides a frame assembly, which comprises a first frame and a second frame provided to surround the first frame. The first frame and the second frame are configured to support mesh fabric therebetween.

Claims

1. A stencil, comprising a frame assembly comprising a first frame and a second frame provided to surround the first frame, wherein the first frame and the second frame are configured to support mesh fabric therebetween; and mesh fabric provided between the first frame and the second frame, wherein, at least a part of the mesh fabric is a screen printing area, the mesh fabric is not provided inside the first frame, and the first frame has a hollow structure.

2. The stencil according to claim 1, wherein the mesh fabric is made of polyester.

3. The stencil according to claim 1, wherein the screen printing area is provided to surround the first frame.

4. The stencil according to claim 1, wherein the first frame is a rectangle.

5. A screen printing device, comprising the stencil according to claim 1 and a scraper, wherein a width of the scraper is less than or equal to a width of a gap between the first frame and the second frame.

6. The screen printing device according to claim 5, wherein, the screen printing device is a screen printing device configured to perform secondary screen printing on a touch panel, the screen printing area corresponds to a blank margin of the touch panel, a length and a width of the first frame are less than those of the touch panel, respectively, and a length and a width of the second frame are larger than those of the touch panel, respectively.

7. A screen printing method, comprising a step of performing screen printing by the screen printing device according to claim 5.

8. The screen printing method according to claim 7, wherein, the step of performing screen printing comprises steps of: providing a touch panel under the screen printing device, so that the screen printing area corresponds to a blank margin of the touch panel; and driving the scraper to scrape the screen printing area.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a structure of a touch panel in the prior art;

(2) FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a method for manufacturing the touch panel in the prior art;

(3) FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a screen printing device for secondary screen printing in the prior art;

(4) FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a screen printing device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

(5) FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the screen printing device according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(6) 1visible area; 2black matrix; 3blank margin; 41frame; 411second frame; 412first frame; 42mesh fabric; 43ink permeable area; 44, 44Ascraper.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

(7) To make those skilled in the art better understand the technical solutions of the present invention, the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the following embodiments.

First Embodiment

(8) The present embodiment provides a frame assembly. As shown in FIG. 4, the frame assembly includes a first frame 412 and a second frame 411 provided to surround the first frame 412. The first frame 412 and the second frame 411 are configured to support mesh fabric 42 therebetween.

(9) That is, a frame 41 in the prior art is in a shape of . However, the frame assembly according to the present embodiment includes the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 provided to surround the first frame 412, and thus is in a shape of . After mesh fabric 42 is provided between these two frames of the frame assembly, an inner side and an outer side of the mesh fabric 42 are fixed to the inner and outer frames (i.e., the first frame 412 and the second frame 411), respectively, thus the forces applied to the mesh fabric 42 are more uniform.

Second Embodiment

(10) The present embodiment provides a stencil, which includes the frame assembly according to the first embodiment and the mesh fabric 42 provided between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, wherein, at least a part of the mesh fabric 42 is an ink permeable area 43.

(11) That is, in a screen printing device in the prior art, a scraper 44 moves horizontally, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3. In the present embodiment, however, as shown in FIG. 4, the inner side and the outer side of the mesh fabric 42 are fixed to the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, respectively, and a scraper 44A moves a lap between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 along the arrow as shown in FIG. 4. The mesh fabric 42 is not provided inside the first frame 412, and the first frame 412 has a hollow structure. Thus, no contamination will be brought to the visible area 1 of a touch panel, and a protection film for protecting the visible area 1 can be omitted. The forces applied to the mesh fabric 42 are more uniform, and when the scraper 44A scrapes the mesh fabric 42, ink permeates through the ink permeable area 43 uniformly.

Third Embodiment

(12) The present embodiment provides a screen printing device. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the screen printing device includes the stencil according to the second embodiment and a scraper 44A, wherein a width of the scraper 44A is less than or equal to a distance between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 (i.e., is less than or equal to a width of a gap between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411), such that the scraper 44A can be driven to move between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 along the arrow as shown in FIG. 4.

(13) That is, when the screen printing device according to the present embodiment is in use, ink only needs to be introduced onto a portion of the mesh fabric 42 which is located between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, and then it only needs to drive the scraper 44A to move a lap on the mesh fabric 42 between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 to cause the ink in the ink permeable area 43 to be printed onto the blank margin 3 of a touch panel. As described above, the mesh fabric 42 needs not to be provided inside the first frame 412, thus an amount of material of the mesh fabric 42 is reduced. In addition, the first frame 412 has a hollow structure and will not bring contamination to the visible area 1 of a touch panel, thus a protection film for protecting the visible area 1 can be omitted, thereby eliminating a segment difference resulted from the protection film, and eliminating a risk that the scraper 44A easily damages the mesh fabric 42. Furthermore, since the inner and outer sides of the mesh fabric 42 are fixed to the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, respectively, the forces applied to the mesh fabric 42 are more uniform. As a result, when the scraper 44A scrapes the mesh fabric 42, the scraped ink has a uniform thickness, and the quality of screen printing and a utilization ratio of the ink are increased. The screen printing device according to the present embodiment is applicable to performing screen printing on various touch panels.

(14) Optionally, the mesh fabric 42 is made of polyester.

(15) That is, after the mesh fabric 42 is scraped by the scraper 44A tens of thousands times, ink accumulation and ink overflow may occur. In order to avoid ink accumulation and ink overflow, the mesh fabric 42 provided between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411 may be replaced with a new one. Since the mesh fabric 42 is made of polyester, a service life of the mesh fabric 42 can be extended.

(16) Optionally, the ink permeable area 43 is provided to surround the first frame 412.

(17) Optionally, the first frame 412 is a rectangle.

(18) That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the ink permeable area 43 corresponds to the blank margin 3 on a surface of a touch panel. Generally, the ink permeable area 43 is a rectangular ring, and is provided to surround the first frame 412. As a result, forces imposed on the inner side of the mesh fabric 42 can be uniform.

(19) Optionally, the screen printing device is a screen printing device configured to perform secondary screen printing on a touch panel, and the ink permeable area 43 corresponds to the blank margin 3 of the touch panel; a length and a width of the first frame 412 are less than those of the touch panel, respectively, and a length and a width of the second frame 411 are larger than those of the touch panel, respectively. In other words, the length of the first frame 412 is less than that of the touch panel, the width of the first frame 412 is less than that of the touch panel, the length of the second frame 411 is larger than that of the touch panel, and the width of the second frame 411 is larger than that of the touch panel.

(20) That is, the inner side of the mesh fabric 42 is fixed to the first frame 412, and the outer side of the mesh fabric 42 is fixed to the second frame 411. The ink permeable area 43 is provided in the middle of the mesh fabric 42. With such configuration, the inner and outer sides of the mesh fabric 42 are subjected to uniform forces when the mesh fabric 42 is scraped by the scraper 44A, causing ink to permeate through the ink permeable area 43 uniformly.

(21) Obviously, many variations may be made to details in the foregoing embodiments. For example, a size of the first frame 412 or the second frame 411 may be adjusted according to a practical application, a width of the mesh fabric 42 or the ink permeable area 43 may be adjusted according to different products to which the present is applied, and the like.

Fourth Embodiment

(22) The present embodiment provides a screen printing method, including a step of performing screen printing by the screen printing device as described above.

(23) Optionally, the step of performing screen printing specifically includes steps of: providing a touch panel under the screen printing device, so that the ink permeable area 43 corresponds to the blank margin 3 of the touch panel (as shown in FIG. 5); and driving the scraper 44A to scrape the ink permeable area 43 of the mesh fabric 42. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that, prior to the step of driving the scraper 44A to scrape the ink permeable area 43 of the mesh fabric 42, the screen printing method further includes a step of coating ink on the mesh fabric 42.

(24) When screen printing is to be performed, ink only needs to be introduced onto a portion of the mesh fabric 42 which is located between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, and then the scraper 44A is driven to move a lap, along the frame assembly in the shape of , on the mesh fabric 42 between the first frame 412 and the second frame 411, to cause the ink in the ink permeable area 43 to be printed onto the blank margin 3 on a surface of a touch panel.

(25) It should be understood that, the foregoing embodiments are only exemplary embodiments used for explaining the principle of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Various variations and improvements may be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from the protection scope of the present invention, and these variations and improvements also fall into the protection scope of the present invention.