TW201910282A - Cracking device - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a breaking device capable of suppressing occurrence of scratches or adhesion of minute foreign matter on a surface of a substrate during transportation, and obtaining a high-quality product. The present invention has the following configuration, that is, comprises an air floating device which ejects air from the surface of a floating tables 1 and 11 to float a substrate W during the conveyance of the substrate W and scribbing a line; fixtures 2 and 12 which are used to fix an end portion of the floated substrate W and move the floated substrate W horizontally, and to fixedly hold the substrate W during breaking; and a breaking mechanism which breaks the floated substrate W along the scribbed line.

Description

Breaking device

The present invention relates to a breaking device for cutting a substrate of a brittle material such as glass along a scribe line (groove). In particular, the present invention relates to a fracturing device in which during the manufacturing process of a flexible OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, the surface area layer on the glass substrate becomes flexible. The glass substrate before the formation of the organic film of the mother film of the resin film (polyimide film (also called PI film)) of the base material is divided along the scribe line (groove).

In the process of breaking a substrate of a fragile material such as a glass substrate, previously, a cutting wheel is pushed against the surface of the substrate to form a scribe line, and thereafter, an external force is applied along the scribe line from a surface opposite to the scribe line forming surface to bend the substrate. Thereby, it is divided | segmented into each unit substrate (refer patent document 1).

In recent years, since high definition of a display is required, it is necessary to further improve the surface quality or end face strength of a substrate. In addition, from the viewpoint of expanding the use of the display, there is also a need to adopt a flexible display, and an OLED using a flexible substrate is manufactured. In such an OLED display, a resin film (PI film) is formed on a glass substrate during a manufacturing process, and an organic film having an electrode layer or an organic EL layer is formed thereon. Since the film thickness of the electrode layer or the organic EL layer is thin, and the composition is very slim, even very small foreign matter may adhere to the surface of the resin film, which may cause defects and affect the reduction of yield.

In order to obtain a high-quality and highly productive OLED display manufacturing technology, it is necessary to avoid the generation of scratches or adhesion of fine foreign matter on the glass plate on which the resin film (PI film) is formed before the organic film is formed. That is, the flaw of a glass plate will become a cause of strength deterioration, and the adhering foreign material will be conveyed to an organic film formation process, and will become a cause of deterioration of a working environment. In addition, if there are scratches or tiny foreign matter on the back of the glass plate, the lift-off (peeling) step of separating the glass substrate and the resin film of the product after the formation of the organic film may be a cause of poor peeling, so the glass is removed. In addition to the front side of the substrate (the side where the organic film is formed), it is also necessary to prevent the generation of scratches or dust on the back side as much as possible. [Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5210356

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In a general cracking device, since the substrate to be processed is moved to the breaking position, it is carried on the upper surface of a conveyor or a workbench for transportation, so the back surface of the substrate is always in contact with the conveyor or the workbench. In addition, since the back surfaces of the left and right sides of the substrate are held on the conveyor or the table via the scribe line, the back surface of the substrate is still in contact. In this case, the longer the contact time and the longer the moving distance in the contact state, the greater the probability of small scratches on the back of the substrate, and the higher the probability of adhesion of small foreign matter such as dust on the conveyor or the workbench. Large, it will affect the reduction of yield, and it will hinder the manufacture of high-precision and excellent quality products.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a cracking device for solving the above problems, which has a high yield and obtains a high-quality product. [Technical means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the following technical means are adopted in the present invention. That is, the breaking device of the present invention is configured to break a substrate containing a brittle material, and is provided with an air-floating device that ejects air from the surface of the floating table during substrate transfer and breaking to make the substrate Floating; a clamp that holds the end of the floating substrate and moves in a horizontal direction, and fixedly holds the substrate when scribing; and a breaking mechanism that breaks the floating substrate along the scribing line. Here, it is preferable that the above-mentioned air floating device ejects pressurized air from a plurality of small holes opened on the surface of the floating platform. In addition, the breaking mechanism is preferably formed of a breaking roller that is in contact with one surface of the substrate and rolls; and a receiving roller that faces the breaking roller and receives the opposite side of the substrate. surface. [Effect of the invention]

When the substrate to be cut is moved to the scribing position, the cracking device of the present invention is conveyed in a posture of being floated by an air floating device, so the back surface of the substrate does not contact the worktable, and it is also clamped by a clamp during cutting. It is held in a floating horizontal posture, so it has the effect of preventing scratches on the back surface of the substrate due to contact or adhesion of small foreign matter, and can obtain high-precision and excellent quality products.

In the present invention, it is preferable to adopt a configuration in which the air-floating device and the jig are respectively disposed on both sides via the breaking mechanism, and one of them is set as an upstream conveying unit, and the other is set It is the downstream transportation department. With this, any one of the upstream side conveyance for feeding the substrate to the breaking position and the downstream side conveyance for moving the substrate to the downstream side after the breaking and discharging to the outside of the device can float the substrate. Performed in a horizontal posture.

In addition, the present invention can also adopt the following structure: it is used to cut off a substrate containing a brittle material; and it is provided with an air floating device that is self-floating when the substrate is transported, when the scribing is processed, and when it is cut off Air is ejected from the surface to float the substrate; the clamp holds the end of the floating substrate and moves in the horizontal direction and fixedly holds the substrate during scribing and breaking; the scribing mechanism processes the floating substrate Scribing; and a severing mechanism that breaks the substrate along the scribe line processed by the scribing mechanism. Thereby, the processing of the scribing line and the cutting along the scribing line can be performed by the same device, and it can also be held in a floating horizontal posture by the fixture during the transportation of the substrate or the scribing line and the breaking line, so it can be held It can prevent scratches or small foreign matters from adhering to the back of the substrate due to contact, and can obtain high-precision and excellent quality products.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the breaking device of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing the entire substrate processing apparatus A including the breaking device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a plan view thereof.

The substrate processing apparatus A includes an upstream transfer unit B that linearly transfers a substrate W to be processed from upstream to downstream in a horizontal posture, and a scribing / breaking mechanism unit C that transfers and transports the back surface of the substrate W that is transferred. A scribe line is processed in a direction orthogonal to the direction, and the substrate W is divided along the scribe line; and a downstream transfer unit D, which transfers the separated substrate W toward the downstream. Furthermore, a substrate supply unit E for supplying a substrate W to be processed to the upstream transfer unit B of the substrate processing apparatus A is disposed on the upstream side of the upstream transfer unit B. In the following description, the transport direction of the substrate W is referred to as the X direction, and the direction orthogonal thereto is referred to as the Y direction.

The substrate W processed by the substrate processing device A is used as a mother board in the manufacturing process of the OLED display. As shown in FIG. 5, an organic film forming a flexible substrate is formed on the upper surface of the glass plate W2. Used a thin resin film W1. In addition, a region where the resin film W1 is not provided along the planned scribe line L is formed in a band shape. For the resin film W1, a polyimide film (PI film) was used.

The upstream transfer unit B of the substrate processing apparatus A includes a floating stage 1 that floats the substrate W in a horizontal posture by blowing out air pressure, and a clamp 2 that holds the upstream edge portion of the floating substrate W and moves downstream. Side transport. The jig 2 is supported by a beam member 2a extending in the Y direction, and the beam member 2a can be movably assembled with respect to the left and right rails 2b, 2b arranged in parallel along the conveyance direction (X direction) of the substrate W. In this embodiment, as a floating mechanism (air-floating device) that ejects air from the floating platform 1 to float the substrate W to float the substrate W, a plurality of small holes 1a are formed on the upper surface of the floating platform 1. As a nozzle for air ejection, an air ejection nozzle may be separately provided along the floating platform 1. In addition, the floating platform 1 is installed on a stand 10.

The scribing / breaking mechanism unit C includes a gate-type standing bridge 3 arranged so as to straddle the conveyed substrate W. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, a pair of upper and lower guide rails 4 a and 4 b are arranged along the Y direction as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, and the substrate W is transported from above and below. An upper scribing head 5a is attached to the upper rail 4a by an upward and downward movement adjustment by a lifting mechanism (not shown), and a lower scribing head 5b is attached to the lower rail 4b.

In addition, a receiving roller 6 having a flat outer peripheral surface is mounted on the upper scribing head 5a by a lifting mechanism (not shown) to move up and down, and the lower scribing head 5b can be adjusted by a lifting mechanism (not shown). A cutting wheel 7 and a cutting roller 8 for scribing are mounted to move up and down. The breaking roller 8 is provided with a V-shaped groove 8a on the outer peripheral surface (see FIG. 9). Furthermore, a cleaner 9 is provided on the upper rail 4a to move in the Y direction via the head 9a to attract and remove minute foreign matter formed after the scribe line is formed. As shown in FIG. 6, the cleaner 9 is provided with: an elongated air suction port 9b whose X direction is the long side direction; and a plurality of air blowing ports 9c which are equal to the air blown out from the periphery of the air suction port 9b; The cleaner 9 moves along the scribe line above the scribe line of the substrate W, and attracts small foreign matters such as dust by the air suction port 9b, and prevents the substrate W from being closely contacted with the cleaner 9 by the air blown out from the air blowout port 9c. surface.

The downstream conveying section D of the substrate processing apparatus A is the same as the upstream conveying section B described above, and includes: a floating table 11 that floats the substrate W in a horizontal posture by the ejection air pressure from the small hole 11a; and a clamp 12 that holds the floating The raised end of the substrate W is conveyed downstream. The jig 12 is supported by a beam member 12a extending in the Y direction, and the beam member 12a can be movably assembled with respect to the left and right rails 12b and 12b arranged in parallel along the X direction. A discharge conveyor 13 is provided on the downstream side of the floating stage 11 to send the separated substrates Wa and Wb to the outside of the substrate processing apparatus A.

Furthermore, the substrate processing apparatus A is provided with covers 14, 15, and 16 that individually cover the upstream transfer section B, the scribe / break mechanism section C, and the downstream transfer section D in a state of being distinguished from each other. Each of the housings 14, 15, 16 is provided with entrances 14a, 15a, 16a into which the substrate W is taken out, and shutters 14b, 15b, 16b that can be opened and closed are installed at each entrance and exit.

Pressurized air inlets 17 and 18 are provided on the outer covers 14 and 16 of the upstream conveying section B and the downstream conveying section D. The pressurized pressurized air from the pressurized air inlets 17 and 18 converts The interior is always pressurized, and in order to continuously supply air, a small slit-like opening is formed in the side walls of the outer covers 14, 16 to discharge part of the air. This prevents dust from flowing into the scribing / breaking mechanism section C, and reduces the adhesion of minute foreign matter such as dust floating inside the substrate W. An air vacuum mechanism 19 is disposed inside the cover 15 of the scribing / breaking mechanism section C, and the inside of the cover 15 is always decompressed by the air suction of the air vacuum mechanism 19. Thereby, the minute foreign matter generated during the processing of the scribing and the breaking step is sucked and removed to prevent the contamination inside the cover 15.

Furthermore, an Ionizer 20 is provided inside the outer covers 14 and 16 of the upstream transfer section B and the downstream transfer section D to prevent the substrate W from being charged. The static elimination device 20 is preferably a Photo-Ionizer that does not generate soft X-rays of ozone, and a plurality of the static elimination devices 20 are provided on the lower surface of the top plates 14 and 16 along the conveying direction of the substrate W. By providing the static elimination device 20 in the hermetically sealed outer covers 14 and 16, it is possible to improve the efficiency of static elimination and prevent external leakage of soft X-rays.

In addition, a plurality of sensors 21 are provided at a predetermined interval in the substrate transfer area of the upstream transfer section B and the downstream transfer section D to detect the floating substrate W and the floating tables 1 and 11, that is, the floating amount. If an abnormal floating amount is detected, the ejection pressure of the air can be increased or decreased to maintain the floating posture at all times. In addition, if the floating platforms 1 and 11 are divided into a plurality of blocks, the sensors 21 and the plurality of small holes 1a are formed in each block, and the amount of air sprayed to each block can be adjusted. Finely adjust the floating posture.

In this embodiment, a substrate supply section E that supplies a substrate W to the floating stage 1 of the upstream transfer section B is used. The substrate supply section E has a small contact surface with the substrate W that can be moved up and down and back and forth by a drive mechanism (not shown). Lift of the fork claw 22. Alternatively, the substrate W may be fed in by a conveyor, a crank claw, or the like.

The small holes 1a, 11a for the air ejection in the floating tables 1 and 11 of the substrate processing apparatus A described above, the air suction port 9b and the air blowing port 9c of the cleaner 9, the upstream transfer section B, and the downstream transfer section D cover 14 The pressure air inlets 17, 18 of 16 and 16 and the air vacuum mechanism 19 of the cover 15 are connected to an air source (not shown) through piping, respectively.

Next, the operation of the substrate processing apparatus A will be sequentially described based on FIGS. 2, 8 to 17. FIG. 2 shows a state immediately before the substrate W is sent to the substrate processing apparatus A, with a posture in which the scribe line L is directed toward the Y direction, and the glass plate W2 (see FIG. 5) of the substrate W is placed on the lower side. The fork claw 22 on the substrate supply portion E. Then, the baffle 14b of the upstream inlet / outlet 14a of the upstream transfer section B is opened, the fork claw 22 is inserted, and the substrate W is transferred to the floating stage 1 of the upstream transfer section B. Thereafter, the fork claw 22 is returned to the original position, the shutter 14 b is closed, and the substrate W is floated and the upstream end portion thereof is held by the jig 2 (see FIG. 11).

Next, the shutters of the downstream side inlet and outlet 14a of the upstream conveying section B, the entrances 15a and 15a on both sides of the scribing / breaking mechanism section C, and the upstream side inlet and outlet 16a of the downstream conveying section D are opened, and the clamp 2 is moved downstream. Moving in the direction, the substrate W is transported to a position where the scribe line L of the substrate W is located directly above the cutting wheel 7 of the scribe / break mechanism unit C while floating the substrate W. At this position, the downstream end portion of the substrate W is held by the clamp 12 on the downstream side, and the substrate W is stably held on the upstream side and the downstream side in a posture of horizontally floating the substrate W (see FIGS. 12 and 7).

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the cutting wheel 7 of the scribing / breaking mechanism part C is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate W in the floating state, and the cutting wheel 7 is pressed to make the upper and lower scribing heads 5a 5b moves along the guide rails 4a, 4b, thereby processing the scribe line L1 along the Y direction (see FIG. 13).

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the cutting wheels 7 are moved backward and the cutting roller 8 is pushed against the scribe line L1 while the scribe heads 5 a and 5 b are moved to the original position together with the upper receiving roller 6. Thereby, the board | substrate W bends and is divided | segmented along the scribe line L1 (refer FIG. 14). In this way, processing of the scribing line L1 and division along the scribing line L1 can be performed by one reciprocating movement of the scribing heads 5a, 5b.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 15, the cleaner 9 moves along the scribe line L1 of the substrate W in a non-contact manner with the substrate W in the Y direction, and is sucked and removed by the air suction port 9 b during the scribe process or Small foreign matter such as dust generated during breaking. At this time, the substrate W is prevented from coming into close contact with the lower surface of the cleaner 9 due to the blown air from the air blow-out port 9c.

The separated substrate Wa on the downstream side is transported in the downstream direction by the clamper 12 while maintaining the floating posture, and is discharged from the downstream inlet / outlet 16b by the discharge conveyor 13 (see FIG. 16). The separated substrate Wb on the upstream side is also received by the returned downstream-side clamp 12, and is discharged by the discharge conveyor 13 in the same manner as the preceding downstream-side substrate Wa (see FIG. 17).

As described above, in the upstream conveying section B and the downstream conveying section D, since the substrate to be conveyed is floated by a floating mechanism (air-floating device), that is, pressurized air ejected from a plurality of small holes 1a, the substrate can be lifted. Before the formation of the organic film, the occurrence of scratches due to contact or adhesion of minute foreign matter on the back of the glass plate is minimized.

In addition, since the inside of the outer covers 14, 16 covering the upstream conveying section B and the downstream conveying section D is constantly pressurized by the pressurized air, the inflow of floating dust from the scribing / breaking mechanism section C can be prevented, and the tiny foreign matter can be prevented from adhering to the conveying. The substrate surface of the process.

In addition, since the inside of the cover 15 covering the scribe / break mechanism section C is always decompressed by the air vacuum mechanism 19, fine foreign matters such as dust floating inside will be sucked and removed by the air vacuum mechanism 19, and the cover 15 can be removed. The interior is kept clean. Thereby, it can be supplemented with the action of the cleaner 9 directly attracting and removing dirt on the scribe line L1 to prevent tiny foreign matter from adhering to the substrate surface.

As mentioned above, although the typical embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not necessarily limited to the said embodiment. For example, in the above embodiment, the cleaner 9 is disposed on the upper side of the substrate W, but may be disposed on the lower side of the substrate W. Further, as for the scribing / breaking mechanism section C, the cutting wheel 7 and the breaking roller 8 may be arranged on the upper side of the substrate W and the receiving roller 6 may be arranged on the lower side to perform scribing, contrary to the above-mentioned embodiment. And breaking.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the scribing / breaking mechanism portion C performs the processing of the scribing line L1 and the cutting along the scribing line L1. However, the scribing mechanism may be omitted and only the cutting mechanism may perform the cutting. . In this case, the scribing process is performed by another scribing device. Moreover, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the processing example of the OLED mother board in which the resin film (PI film) W1 which becomes a flexible base material was formed on the upper surface of the glass substrate W2 was demonstrated, but it can also be used as Used for scribing devices of glass substrates for other purposes. In addition, in the present invention, appropriate modifications and changes can be made within the scope that can achieve its purpose without departing from the scope of patent application. [Industrial availability]

The invention can be applied to a breaking device for cutting a substrate of a brittle material such as glass along a scribe line.

1‧‧‧floating platform

1a‧‧‧small hole

2‧‧‧ Fixture

2a‧‧‧ beam member

2b‧‧‧ track

3‧‧‧ Ferry

4a‧‧‧ Upper rail

4b‧‧‧Lower guide

5a‧‧‧ Upper scribing head

5b‧‧‧Lower scribing head

6‧‧‧bearing roller

7‧‧‧ cutting wheel

8‧‧‧ breaking roller

8a‧‧‧slot

9‧‧‧ Cleaner

9a‧‧‧head

9b‧‧‧Air suction port

9c‧‧‧Air blowing outlet

10‧‧‧stand

11‧‧‧ floating platform

11a‧‧‧small hole

12‧‧‧ Fixture

12a‧‧‧ beam member

12b‧‧‧ track

13‧‧‧Discharge conveyor

14‧‧‧ Outer cover of upstream transfer department

14a‧‧‧Entrance

14b‧‧‧ bezel

15‧‧‧ Cover for scribe / split mechanism section

15a‧‧‧Entrance

15b‧‧‧ bezel

16‧‧‧ Outer cover of downstream conveying department

16a‧‧‧Entrance

16b‧‧‧ bezel

17‧‧‧Pressure air inlet

18‧‧‧Pressure air inlet

19‧‧‧air vacuum mechanism

20‧‧‧ static elimination device

21‧‧‧Sensor

22‧‧‧ Fork Claw

A‧‧‧ substrate processing equipment

B‧‧‧ Upstream Transport Department

C‧‧‧Scribing / Cracking Mechanism Department

D‧‧‧ Downstream Transport Department

E‧‧‧ Substrate Supply Department

L‧‧‧ underline scheduled

L1‧‧‧ crossed

W‧‧‧ substrate

W1‧‧‧Resin film

W2‧‧‧ glass plate

Wa‧‧‧ substrate

Wb‧‧‧ substrate

X‧‧‧ direction

Y‧‧‧ direction

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus including a breaking device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged front view of a scribing / fracture mechanism portion of the substrate processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view similar to FIG. 3. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a substrate to be processed according to the present invention. 6 (a) and 6 (b) are a sectional view and a bottom view of the cleaner of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a state where the substrate is held by the upstream-side clamp and the downstream-side clamp. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a scribing / fracture mechanism portion during scribing. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing the breaking operation of the scribing / breaking mechanism portion. Fig. 10 is a sectional view showing the operation of the cleaner. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing the first step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a second step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a third step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 14 is a plan view showing a fourth step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 15 is a plan view showing the fifth step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing a sixth step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus. FIG. 17 is a plan view showing the seventh step of the operation of the substrate processing apparatus.

Claims (9)

A breaking device is characterized in that it is used to break a substrate containing a brittle material, and is provided with: an air-floating device that ejects air from the surface of a floating table during the transportation of the substrate and breaks the substrate to cause the substrate to float A jig, which holds the end of the floating substrate and moves in the horizontal direction, and fixedly holds the substrate when scribing; and a breaking mechanism, which breaks the floating substrate along the scribing. The breaking device according to claim 1, wherein the above-mentioned air-floating device ejects pressurized air from a plurality of small holes opened on the surface of the floating platform. For example, the breaking device of claim 1, wherein the air-floating device and the jig are respectively disposed on both sides via the breaking mechanism, and one of them is set as an upstream transfer unit, and the other is set as a downstream transfer. unit. For example, the breaking device of claim 2, wherein the air-floating device and the jig are respectively disposed on both sides via the breaking mechanism, and one of them is set as an upstream transfer unit, and the other is set as a downstream transfer unit. unit. The breaking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the breaking mechanism includes: a breaking roller, which is in contact with one surface of the substrate and rolls; and a receiving roller, which faces the breaking roller. And bear the surface on the opposite side of the substrate. The breaking device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the substrate is a mother board for an OLED display having a surface area layer above a glass plate for forming a resin film of an organic film. The breaking device according to claim 5, wherein the substrate is a mother board for an OLED display having a surface area layer above a glass plate for forming a resin film of an organic film. A breaking device is characterized in that it is used to break a substrate containing a brittle material, and is provided with: an air-floating device, which is ejected from the surface of the floating table when the substrate is transported, when the scribing is processed, and when the cutting is broken The substrate is floated by air; the clamp holds the end of the floating substrate and moves in the horizontal direction, and fixedly holds the substrate during scribing and breaking; the scribing mechanism processes the scratch on the floating substrate A wire; and a breaking mechanism that breaks the substrate along the scribe line processed by the scribe mechanism. The breaking device according to claim 8, wherein the substrate is a mother board for an OLED display having a surface area layer above a glass plate for forming a resin film of an organic film.