Abstract
In this work, we investigated the compensation of strain deviation in the machine direction of a web in the roll-to-roll process. As flexible devices have become popular, many researchers have begun to study roll-to-roll processes for the mass-production of flexible devices at low cost. In the continuous roll-to-roll process, an electronic circuit pattern is printed on the web while the web is transferring. Due to tension and Poisson’s ratio, a non-uniform strain distribution can occur in the web. This strain distribution occurs mainly at the center of the web and causes a register error in the machine direction. In this work, we designed a roller to minimize the strain deviation. The design of the compensation roller was optimized using the design of experiments (DOE) methodology and analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the compensation performance was verified through experiments and simulations. According to the results of a comparative experiment conducted to confirm the correcting performance of the optimized roller, the strain deviation in the machine direction decreased by approximately 48% with the proposed roller compared to that of the conventional roller.
Highlights
Flexible devices are part of the generation of mobile technology and include foldable displays, wearable devices, and implant sensors
Since the roll-to-roll process is suitable for the low-cost mass production of flexible substrates, researchers have attempted to develop the process for manufacturing flexible devices
In the roll-to-roll process, electronic circuit patterns are printed onto flexible substrates which are transferred between unwinding and rewinding rollers
Summary
Flexible devices are part of the generation of mobile technology and include foldable displays, wearable devices, and implant sensors. In the roll-to-roll process, electronic circuit patterns are printed onto flexible substrates which are transferred between unwinding and rewinding rollers. A register error occurs if the strain generated on the web in each span is uneven. If the strain distribution is uneven, the pattern is misaligned, resulting in an MD register error and poor print quality. We considered interactions between the design parameters From this analysis, we found that the strain of the web was most uniform in the roller with a barrel-type core with a thickness gradient of approximately 8 mm. We found that the strain of the web was most uniform in the roller with a barrel-type core with a thickness gradient of approximately 8 mm This roller compensated the uneven strain distribution by approximately 48%.
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