JP2005222996A - Treating device and treatment method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a treating device and a treatment method capable of efficiently, quickly carrying in/out a glass substrate to/from the treating device and precisely, and stably treating the glass substrate. <P>SOLUTION: A groove for carrying in and enabling a walking beam at a substrate carry-out section to advance is provided at an application stage for placing the glass substrate to be treated. A plurality of pins for supporting the glass substrate by point contact are provided on the application stage. A roller conveyer for moving the glass substrate and the walking beam that can place the glass substrate and advance, retreat, and move upward and downward is provided at a substrate carry-in section and the substrate carry-out section. The walking beams at the substrate carry-in section and the substrate carry-out section are allowed to alternately advance into the groove of the application stage to carry in and out the glass substrate. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a processing apparatus such as a substrate coating apparatus and a processing method.

  In the manufacturing process of color filters such as liquid crystal display devices, when a black matrix or a colored pattern of R, G, B (Red, Green, Blue) is formed on the surface of a rectangular glass substrate, a predetermined coating is applied on the substrate. A coating process for coating the liquid to form a coating film is performed.

  The above-described coating process is usually performed using a coating apparatus having a mounting table on which a substrate is mounted and a die head that discharges a coating liquid. The die head has a rectangular parallelepiped shape with a length of about one side of the glass substrate, and includes a slit-like discharge port on the lower surface. A coating process is performed by moving the die head along the mounting table from one end to the other end of the glass substrate while discharging a predetermined coating liquid from a discharge port.

  During the coating process, the coating is performed with the glass substrate in close contact with the mounting table in order to maintain the flatness of the surface of the glass substrate mounted on the mounting table and to prevent the position of the glass substrate from shifting. Also, when discharging the glass substrate, the lift pins provided on the mounting table are raised, the glass substrate that is in close contact with the mounting table is lifted from the mounting table, an arm is inserted into the gap between the glass substrate and the mounting table, and the glass substrate is Unload from the mounting table.

As such a coating apparatus, a coating apparatus capable of easily removing a glass substrate after coating from a mounting table has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
JP 9-192567 A

  However, this coating apparatus prevents the glass substrate from being displaced or trapped due to the lowering of the lift pins and the adsorption of the glass substrate when the glass substrate is supplied. When canceling, there is a problem that care must be taken not to damage the glass substrate due to peeling charging or the like.

  Furthermore, in order to avoid displacement, air accumulation, and damage to the glass substrate, the lift pins must be lifted and lowered slowly, and there is a problem that it takes time to feed and discharge the glass substrate. Also, if there is a notch groove such as a hole opened on the application stage for lifting and lowering the lift pin, the thermal conductivity of that part is different from other parts of the application stage, leaving a mark on the application film There is also.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus and a processing method capable of performing stable coating without unevenness while the supply and discharge time of the glass substrate is short. is there.

  A first invention for solving the above-described problem is a processing apparatus for processing a substrate placed on a processing unit stage, and a substrate carry-in mechanism for mounting the substrate on the processing unit stage, and a processed unit A substrate unloading mechanism for unloading the substrate from the processing unit stage. When the substrate is unloaded from the processing unit stage by the substrate unloading mechanism, the substrate loading mechanism simultaneously places the next substrate on the processing unit stage. It is the processing device characterized by doing.

  The substrate carry-in mechanism and the substrate carry-out mechanism have a rotating roller or belt, and the substrate carry-in mechanism, the processing unit stage, and the substrate carry-out mechanism have a groove in which the walking beam moves, and are processed by the rotary roller or belt of the substrate carry-in mechanism The substrate loaded in the apparatus is placed on the processing unit stage by moving and moving the walking beam in the groove, and the substrate that has been processed on the processing unit stage is placed in the groove. The substrate is unloaded from the processing unit stage by moving and moving up and down, and the rotating roller or belt of the substrate unloading mechanism unloads the substrate to another processing apparatus. In the substrate carry-in mechanism, it is desirable to process the alignment and thickness measurement of the substrate in advance.

  The coating stage has a plurality of pins, and the substrate is supported by point contact with the pins when the substrate is placed. It is desirable that the plurality of pins have a curved surface with a convex tip and have, for example, a rotatable sphere. In addition, the pins are preferably arranged so that the height is 1.0 mm or more, the ratio of the projected area within 1 mm from the substrate contact point is 5% or less, and the distance from the adjacent pins is 60 mm or less.

  Further, it is desirable that these pins are provided as separate structures with respect to the base of the coating stage, and can be exchanged or the height can be adjusted.

  Further, the second invention is a method of processing a substrate using a processing apparatus, wherein a walking beam is moved in a groove and moved up and down a substrate carried into the processing apparatus by a rotating roller or belt of a substrate carry-in mechanism. The loading process to be placed on the processing unit stage and the substrate that has been processed on the processing unit stage are moved out of the processing unit stage by moving the walking beam in the groove and moving up and down, A rotating roller or belt of a substrate carry-out mechanism has a carry-out process for carrying the substrate to another processing apparatus.

  Here, the walking beam advances, retreats, and moves up and down in the grooves provided in the substrate carry-in mechanism, the processing unit stage, and the substrate carry-out mechanism, so that the placement process and the carry-out process are continuously performed. It can be fast.

  In the processing apparatus and the processing method of the present invention, a groove for allowing the walking beam to enter is provided in the processing apparatus, and the walking beam is moved forward and backward, and moved vertically to move the substrate one after another. By providing a plurality of pins on the coating stage that can be placed on the stage and supporting the substrate by point contact, stable coating can be achieved without vacuum-adhering the glass substrate to the coating stage.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of a coating apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the coating apparatus 1, and FIG. 3 shows the structure of a coating stage 5 of the coating apparatus 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure for supplying and discharging the glass substrate to and from the coating apparatus 1, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the shape and arrangement of the pins 43 of the coating stage 5.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the coating apparatus 1 includes a base 3, a coating stage 5, a die head 7, and rails 9 a and 9 b that move the die head 7, and a substrate carry-in portion 11 and a substrate carry-out portion 12 on both sides in the X direction. Have A coating stage 5 for placing a glass substrate is installed at the center of the base 3, and the glass substrate carried by the substrate carry-in unit 11 is transported onto the coating stage 5 and placed on the coating stage 5. . The application stage 5 is made of a material such as stone.

  The four corners of the base 3 are respectively provided with support members 8a, 8b, 8c, and 8d having a rectangular column shape. The support members 8a and 8b support the rail 9a, and the support members 8c and 8d support the rail 9b. A die head 7 is attached to the rails 9a and 9b so as to pass between the rails 9a and 9b. The die head 7 moves on the coating stage 5 along the rails 9a and 9b. The rails 9a and 9b have an air slider mechanism, and the die head 7 is driven by a drive unit (not shown) such as a linear motor and slides on the rails 9a and 9b.

  The die head 7 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape with the X direction as the longitudinal direction, and a slit for discharging the coating liquid is provided on the lower surface facing the glass substrate. By moving the die head 7 in the Y direction along the rails 9a and 9b, the coating liquid is discharged onto the glass substrate placed on the coating stage 5 to perform the coating process.

  The substrate carry-in part 11, the coating stage 5, and the substrate carry-out part 13 have an integrated structure and are provided with through grooves 27a, 27b, 27c having lengths in the X direction. Furthermore, the grooves 27a, 27b, 27c are provided with guide rails 17a, 17b, 17c. The guide rails 17a, 17b, and 17c are provided continuously in the grooves 27a, 27b, and 27c of the substrate carry-in portion 11, the coating stage 5, and the substrate carry-out portion 13. Walking beams 15a, 15b, 15c are provided in the respective grooves 27a, 27b, 27c.

  In addition to this, the substrate carry-in part 11 has a roller conveyor 19, and the substrate carry-out part 13 has a roller conveyor 25. The substrate carry-in unit 11 conveys the glass substrate in the X direction and places it on the coating stage 5, and the substrate carry-out unit 13 conveys the glass substrate on the coating stage 5 that has completed the coating process in the X direction. It is carried out to the processing equipment.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view at _{X 1} of the coating apparatus 1 Figure 1 shows the grooves 27a, 27b, walking beam 15a in 27c, 15b, the structure of 15c. The groove 27 passes through the substrate carry-in portion 11, the coating stage 5, and the substrate carry-out portion 13, and a guide rail 17 that is continuous between the substrate carry-in portion 11, the coating stage 5 and the substrate carry-out portion 13 is provided in the groove 27. ing.

  The walking beam 15 is attached to the traveling units 21a, 21b, and 21c by lifts 23a, 23b, and 23c, with the approximate length of the length of the substrate carry-in unit 11 and the coating stage 5 in the X direction being combined. The guide rail 17 is, for example, a linear guide rail, and the running portions 21a, 21b, and 21c are driven by a ball screw or the like (not shown), and slide on the guide rail 17 to move. On the other hand, the lifts 23a, 23b, and 23c are rotated by a drive mechanism (not shown) to raise and lower the walking beam 15.

  Although FIG. 1 shows three grooves 27a, 27b, and 27c and walking beams 15a, 15b, and 15c, the number of the grooves is not limited to this. In FIG. 2, the walking beam 15 is supported by the three traveling portions 21 and the lifts 23, but the number of the pairs is not limited to this.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the roller conveyor 19 of the substrate carry-in portion 11 is arranged so as to sandwich the grooves 27a, 27b, and 27c, and is composed of a plurality of rollers. The roller conveyor 19 has, for example, a plurality of rotating shafts parallel to the Y axis, and several disk-shaped rollers are attached to each rotating shaft. Each rotating shaft is rotated at a predetermined same rotational speed by a driving device (not shown), and conveys the glass substrate toward the coating stage 5 in the X direction. The number of disk-shaped rollers attached to each shaft is not limited to the number shown.

  Further, the roller conveyor 25 of the substrate carry-out unit 13 is the same as the roller conveyor 19 of the substrate carry-in unit 11 and includes a plurality of rollers arranged so as to sandwich the grooves 27a, 27b, and 27c. The roller conveyor 25 is rotated at a predetermined same rotation speed by a driving device (not shown), and conveys the glass substrate toward another processing device in the X direction.

Further, a plurality of pins 43 and intake holes 41 are provided on the surface of the coating stage 5 as shown in FIG. 3 (a) is a perspective view of the application stage 5, FIG. 3 (b) is a sectional view in _{X 2} in FIG. 3 (a).

  Although the material, shape, and arrangement of the pin 43 will be described later, the tip of the pin 43 has a spherical shape and makes point contact with a glass substrate placed thereon. By arranging the plurality of pins 43 on the coating stage 5, the glass substrate is supported by minute point contact with the tips of the pins 43 and placed on the coating stage 5.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the suction hole 41 provided in the coating stage 5 is connected to the suction pipe 45 inside the coating stage 5, and the suction pipe 45 is provided, for example, outside the coating stage 5. So that the glass substrate 51 is stably placed on the coating stage 5 by sucking air between the glass substrate 51 and the coating stage 5 through the intake pipe 45 during the coating process. To do. The degree of pressure reduction by the pump 47 is set to 20 mmH ₂ O, for example, and the opening rate of the intake hole 41 is set to 5% or more, for example.

  That is, when the glass substrate 51 is placed on the coating stage 5 by the substrate carry-in unit 11, the pressure is reduced by the pump 47, the placement on the coating stage 5 of the glass substrate 51 is stabilized, and the coating process is performed. When the processing is completed, the pump 47 is opened to the atmosphere to stop the suction, and the glass substrate 51 is unloaded by the substrate unloading unit 12.

  Next, procedures for carrying the glass substrate 51 into the coating stage 5 by the substrate carry-in unit 11, coating processing by the die head 7, and carrying out the glass substrate 51 by the substrate carry-out unit 13 will be described in detail.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view in _{X 1} of FIG. There is a coating stage 5 in the center, a substrate carry-in section 11 having a roller conveyor 19 on the left side of the coating stage 5, and a substrate carry-out section 13 having a roller conveyor 25 on the right side of the coating stage 5. The roller conveyors 19 and 25 are rotated clockwise at a predetermined rotation speed by a driving device (not shown), and move the glass substrate 51a to the right.

  FIG. 4A shows a state where the coating process is performed on the glass substrate 51 a by the die head 7 in the coating stage 5. The glass substrate 51a is placed on the pin 43 of the coating stage 5, and is coated by the die head 7 that moves along the rails 9a and 9b. At this time, the glass substrate 51a is supported by a plurality of pins 43 of the coating stage 5, and the pump 47 shown in FIG. 3B sucks air through the intake pipe 45 and the intake hole 41 to apply the glass substrate 51a. It is fixed on a plurality of pins 43 on the stage 5. In FIG. 4, the intake hole 41, the intake pipe 45, and the pump 47 are not shown.

  During the execution of the coating process on the glass substrate 51a, the lifts 23a, 23b, and 23c are contracted, the walking beam 15 is lowered, and the glass substrate 51b that performs the next coating process is transferred from the previous processing apparatus to the roller conveyor 19. Is moved in the direction of arrow A, and is carried into the substrate carry-in portion 11. When the glass substrate 51b is carried to a predetermined position of the substrate carry-in unit 11, the substrate carry-in unit 11 performs processing such as alignment and thickness measurement of the glass substrate 51b.

  When the coating process on the glass substrate 51a in the coating stage 5 is completed, as shown in FIG. 4B, the lifts 23a, 23b and 23c extend in the direction of arrow B, the walking beam 15 rises, and the glass substrate 51a. And the glass substrate 51b gets on the walking beam 15. Then, as shown in FIG. 4C, the traveling parts 21a, 21b, 21c move on the guide rail 17 in the arrow C direction, and the walking beam 15 also moves in the arrow C direction. As a result, the glass substrate 51a moves to the substrate carry-out unit 13, and at the same time, the glass substrate 51b moves onto the coating stage 5.

  Next, the lifts 23a, 23b, and 23c contract in the direction of arrow D, and the walking beam 15 also descends in the direction of arrow D. As a result, the coated glass substrate 51 a is placed on the roller conveyor 25 of the substrate carry-out unit 13, and the next glass substrate 51 b is placed on the pins 43 of the coating stage 5. Then, air is sucked through the suction pipe 45 and the suction hole 41 by the pump 47 shown in FIG. 3B, and the glass substrate 51b is fixed on the plurality of pins 43 on the coating stage 5 to complete the mounting. Then, the coating process by the die head 7 is started.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 4 (e), the coated glass substrate 51a on the roller conveyor 25 of the substrate carry-out section 13 is moved in the direction of arrow F by the roller conveyor 25 and directed to the next processing apparatus. Are carried out. At this time, the glass substrate 52b is being coated on the coating stage 5, while the substrate carry-in portion 11 has a glass substrate 51c to be coated next moved on the roller conveyor 19 in the direction of arrow G. The substrate is loaded into the substrate loading unit 11 from the previous processing apparatus. At this time, the walking beam 15 remains in the lowered state, and the traveling parts 21a, 21b, 21c move on the guide rail 17 in the direction of arrow E and return to the position shown in FIG.

  Then, by repeating the above steps, the glass substrate 51 is successively carried into the coating apparatus 1 sequentially from the previous processing apparatus, the coating process is performed, and the glass substrate 51 is carried out to the next processing apparatus.

  As described above, the glass substrate 51 is successively applied by moving the walking beam 15 having the length in the X direction of the substrate carry-in portion 11 and the coating stage 5 alternately in the right direction and the left direction. It can be placed on the stage 5 and the throughput of the coating process is improved. Further, since it is not necessary to vacuum-suck the entire surface of the glass substrate on the coating stage, the glass substrate is not damaged due to peeling charging or the like, and the glass substrate can be loaded and unloaded at high speed.

  Further, the glass substrate 51 is supported by the minute surfaces at the tips of the plurality of pins 43 on the coating stage 5, and the air layer covers the entire surface of the glass substrate 51 even during the coating process, so that the thermal conductivity is constant. The evaporation of the coating liquid does not vary depending on the location, and no traces appear on the coating film, so that stable coating with a uniform film thickness is possible.

  Next, the shape, arrangement, and material of the pins 43 suitable for supporting the glass substrate 51 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, the pin 43 is attached on the coating stage 5 and supports the glass substrate 51 at its tip.

  The pin 43 is made of a material such as resin or metal, for example. The base surface of the application stage 5 is made of a material such as stone, for example, and the pins 43 have a separate structure from the base of the application stage 5. It is also possible to bond the pins 43 on the coating stage 5 or make the pins 43 detachable so that the pins can be exchanged or the height can be adjusted depending on the size of the glass substrate.

  It is desirable that the tip of the pin 43 has a spherical shape or the like so as to make point contact with the glass substrate 51 with a small area. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, a sphere having a diameter of 2 mm or less is joined to the tip of a columnar shaft. The height h1 of the pin 43 is preferably 1.0 mm or more, and the ratio of the projected area of the pin 43 within 1 mm from the contact point with the glass substrate 51 is preferably 5% or less. Further, the arrangement of the pins 43 may be such that the distance d is 60 mm or less.

  The operation control of the walking beam 15 and the control of intake and release to the atmosphere by the pump 47 are performed by a computer (not shown), for example.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications are possible, and these are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. For example, a belt can be used in place of the roller conveyors 19 and 25, and a ball screw, an air cylinder, or the like can be used as a driving mechanism for the walking beam 15. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to the coating apparatus but also to other processing apparatuses such as an exposure apparatus.

  According to the present invention, the substrate can be carried in and out efficiently at high speed, and can be used in a production line for liquid crystal color filters and the like. In addition, the coating surface does not leave a mark and can be applied with high precision, and can be used for a coating apparatus such as a material that easily evaporates, such as an organic EL (electroluminescence) material.

The perspective view which shows the structure of the coating device 1 concerning embodiment of this invention. The top view which shows the structure of the coating device 1 The figure which shows the structure of the coating stage 5 of the coating device 1 The figure which shows the procedure of the supply / discharge of the glass substrate to the coating device 1 The figure which shows the procedure of the supply / discharge of the glass substrate to the coating device 1 The figure which shows the procedure of the supply / discharge of the glass substrate to the coating device 1 The figure which shows the procedure of the supply / discharge of the glass substrate to the coating device 1 The figure which shows the procedure of the supply / discharge of the glass substrate to the coating device 1 The figure which shows the shape and arrangement | positioning of the pin 43 of the application | coating stage 5

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ......... Coating apparatus 3 ......... Base 5 ......... Coating stage 7 ......... Die head 11 ......... Substrate carrying-in part 13 ......... Substrate carrying-out part 15 ......... Walking beam 17 ......... Guide rail 19 , 25 ......... Roller conveyor 27 ......... Groove 43 ......... Pin

Claims (12)

A processing apparatus for processing a substrate placed on a coating stage,
A substrate carry-in mechanism for placing the substrate on the processing unit stage;
A substrate unloading mechanism for unloading the processed substrate from the processing unit stage;
When the substrate is unloaded from the coating stage by the substrate unloading mechanism, the substrate loading mechanism places the next substrate on the coating stage at the same time.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate carry-in mechanism and the substrate carry-out mechanism have a rotating roller or a belt. The substrate carry-in mechanism, the processing unit stage, and the substrate carry-out mechanism have a groove in which the walking beam moves,
The substrate carried into the processing apparatus by the rotating roller or belt of the substrate carrying mechanism is placed on the processing unit stage by moving the walking beam in the groove and moving up and down, and on the processing unit stage. The substrate that has been processed in (1) is unloaded from the processing unit stage by moving the walking beam in the groove and moving it up and down, and the rotating roller or belt of the substrate unloading mechanism transfers the substrate to another processing apparatus. The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the processing apparatus is carried out.   The processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the walking beam moves in a forward direction, a backward direction, and a vertical direction.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate carrying-in mechanism performs positioning and thickness measurement of the substrate in advance.   The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating stage has a plurality of pins, and the substrate is supported by point contact with the pins when the substrate is placed.   The plurality of pins are arranged such that the height is 1.0 mm or more, the ratio of the projected area within 1 mm from the substrate contact point is 5% or less, and the distance between adjacent pins is 60 mm or less. The processing apparatus according to claim 6.   The processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a tip portion of the pin is a convex curved surface.   The processing device according to claim 6, wherein a tip portion of the pin has a rotatable sphere.   The processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the plurality of pins are separate structures with respect to a base of the processing unit stage, and can be replaced and adjusted in height. A method of processing a substrate using the processing apparatus,
A placing step of placing the substrate carried into the processing apparatus with a rotating roller or belt of the substrate carrying-in mechanism on the processing unit stage by moving the walking beam in the groove;
The substrate that has been processed on the processing unit stage is unloaded from the processing unit stage by moving the walking beam in the groove, and the rotating roller or belt of the substrate unloading mechanism moves the substrate to another substrate. A processing method comprising an unloading step of unloading to a processing apparatus.   The placing step and the unloading step are continuously performed by the walking beam moving forward, backward, and up and down in the groove provided in the substrate loading mechanism, the processing unit stage, and the substrate unloading mechanism. The processing method according to claim 11.

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