JP2001127130A - Cassette for substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cassette for a substrate which supports a substrate in a substantially horizontal position with a shelf piece projected from a support and can house a plurality of substrates on many stages and with which reciprocal movement of the substrate in a housed state can be reliably regulated without attaching a separate stopper to both sides of an opening, the substrates can be put in and out and costs can be reduced. SOLUTION: A shelf piece 4 on both sides of a support 3 positioned in front is constituted by providing an end of a metallic support pin 8 with an end cover 9 of organic polymer material having a support portion 9A for supporting the lower surface of a substrate B and a stopper portion 9C which extends forward from the support portion and has a stopping piece 9D projected at a front end.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate cassette, and more particularly, to a substrate substrate capable of accommodating a mother substrate or a large-sized display substrate in a multi-stage manner. Regarding cassettes.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a substrate cassette of this type, an upper frame and a lower frame made of a synthetic resin are separated from each other by a predetermined distance in a vertical direction from a shelf for supporting a substrate on a composite of a metal and a synthetic resin. Generally, a structure in which the supporting members are connected to each other by a projecting member is generally used.

[0003] Since a functional film constituting a device is formed on the surface of the substrate by various processes on the surface except the peripheral portion, the substrate is usually supported by placing the rear peripheral portion on a shelf protruding from a support. Have been. And in the conventional substrate cassette, in order to regulate the forward movement of the accommodated substrate,
Stopper members were separately attached to both sides of the opening.
However, separately attaching stopper members to both sides of the opening not only increases the number of parts but also increases the number of assembly steps, resulting in an increase in cost.

In recent years, with the increase in size of display panel devices, the size of substrates accommodated in substrate cassettes has also increased. For example, 650mm ×
Large glass substrates with a thickness of 750 mm and a thickness of 1.1 mm or 0.7 mm have been used. In the case of this large-sized substrate, since the thickness of the substrate is small, the problem of the bending at the center portion in the cassette accommodation state is important. That is, if the deflection of the substrate is large, not only is it difficult to put the substrate into and out of the substrate cassette, but if the functional film portion is excessively bent, the cell structure is broken and becomes defective. Furthermore, in order to efficiently store, store, and transport a large number of substrates, it is necessary to minimize the amount of substrate bending in a cassette. Therefore, in the case of a large-sized substrate, the length of the shelf is increased, and the lower surface of the substrate is sufficiently supported near the center from the periphery of the substrate. When the length is increased, the contact portion (stopper portion) of the stopper member on the entrance side also needs to be lengthened, which causes a problem of accuracy of the stopper portion and a problem of clearance when inserting the substrate.

[0005] Still another problem is that when a substrate is taken in and out of a substrate cassette, the shelves and the substrate rub against each other to generate fine particles such as abrasion powder and drop on the lower substrate. Here, even if the shelf is made of PEEK resin having excellent wear resistance, generation of particles due to friction between the shelf and the substrate cannot be avoided in principle. And
When these particles adhere to the functional film portion of the substrate,
The cells often become defective, and if more than a predetermined number of cells become defective, the entire device becomes defective.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above situation, the present invention is intended to solve the problem by supporting a substrate substantially horizontally on a shelf protruding from a support, and accommodating a plurality of substrates in multiple stages. It is a possible substrate cassette, and it is possible to reliably restrict the forward movement of the substrate in the housed state without separately attaching stopper members on both sides of the opening as in the related art, and Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate cassette which can be easily taken in and out and can reduce costs. Another object of the present invention is to prevent a fine particle such as abrasion powder from being generated due to friction between a shelf piece and a lower surface of a substrate and to prevent the particle from dropping onto a lower substrate surface, and to provide a device manufactured from the substrate. Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate cassette capable of greatly improving the yield of the substrate.

[0007]

According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a plurality of supports having projecting shelves for supporting substrates at predetermined intervals in an up-down direction are provided with an upper frame and a lower frame. A substrate cassette connected between frames to form a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped structure, and the shelf pieces of both sides of the support located in the front row are provided at the tips of metal support pins on the lower surface of the board. A substrate cassette is provided which is provided with a tip cover made of an organic polymer material and having a mounting portion for supporting the above and a stopper portion extending forward from the mounting portion and having a stopper at the front end.

The shelf of the support is provided at the tip of a metal support pin with a supporting portion for supporting the lower surface of the substrate and a receiving portion for receiving wear powder immediately below the mounting portion. The shelf pieces of the support members on both sides located in the front row are provided with a tip cover made of an organic polymer material and having a stopper portion provided with a stopper piece projecting forward from the tray portion at the front end. Is preferred.

Here, the area of the receiving portion is 2 to 2 times the vertical projection area of the contact portion of the supporting portion contacting the lower surface of the substrate.
More preferably, it is 20 times, and the saucer part has a shape in which the periphery protrudes upward from the center part.

In addition, the tip cover may be provided at the tip of a support pin constituting the shelf, and a slider made of an organic polymer material may be provided at an intermediate portion corresponding to a side edge of a substrate to be accommodated. preferable.

Further, it is preferable that the height of the stopper piece of the stopper part projecting from the upper end of the support part is 0.5 to 5 mm.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is an overall view of a substrate cassette A according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a shelf, FIGS. 3 and 4 are main parts of the present invention, and FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an upper frame, 2 denotes a lower frame, 3 denotes a support, and 4 denotes a shelf.

The substrate cassette A according to the present invention has a rectangular parallelepiped shape formed by connecting the both sides of the upper frame 1 and the lower frame 2 having a rectangular outer shape with a plurality of supports 3,. And the shelf 3 for supporting the substrate B on the support 3.
Are projected inward at regular intervals in the vertical direction, and the front surface is an opening 5 for taking in and out the substrate B. Further, between the upper frame 1 and the rear of the lower frame 2, In this structure, one or more stopper members 6 and 6 are provided to restrict the backward movement of the substrate B. Here, in the present embodiment, the upper frame 1 and the lower frame 2 are made of synthetic resin and have a vertically symmetrical shape, that is, the same member that has the same shape when turned upside down. The body 1 and the lower frame 2 may have different shapes. For example, a closed type in which the upper frame 1 has no opening window may be used. A lower surface of the upper frame 1, an upper surface of the lower frame 2,
A closing plate (not shown) is attached to the outer surfaces of the supports 3,... And the rear surface of the stopper member 6, or the upper frame 1 and the lower frame 2 are of a closed type, and the outer surfaces of the supports 3,. It is also possible to provide a closed structure by attaching a closing plate (not shown) to the rear side surface of the stopper member 6 and providing an opening / closing lid (not shown) in the opening 5.

The support 3 is a composite member of a metal and a synthetic resin in which a reinforcing metal rod is insert-molded, and the support members 3 located on both sides are all the same member. The stopper member 6 has the height of the shelf pieces 7 projecting from the front side thereof at a predetermined interval lower than the height of the shelf pieces 4 of the support members 3 on both sides, for example, 4 mm lower. It is set. Shelf piece 7 of the stopper member 6
The main function is to limit excessive bending of the substrate B, vibration of the substrate, and rubbing caused by the vibration, rather than the function of supporting the substrate B.

Here, the substrate B accommodated in the substrate cassette A is generally a glass substrate having a thickness of 1.1 mm or 0.7 mm, and various sizes exist. At the beginning, the dimensions of various display devices tend to be large, and in the case of a multi-panel production of a plurality of display devices from a mother substrate, for example, the width ×
The vertical dimension is 500mm × 600mm, 550mm × 6
50mm, 600mm × 720mm, 650mm × 75
The one with 0 mm is becoming mainstream.

Therefore, the substrate cassette A according to the present invention
The length of the shelf piece 4 is increased so that a large and thin substrate B can be supported with its bending being minimized. In the present embodiment, the shelf piece 4 is made of metal pins and has a structure in which the shelf piece 4 is pressed into the support body 3 or a structure in which the shelf piece 4 is fitted and fixed by appropriate retaining means. Can be set arbitrarily in accordance with the dimensions of the substrate B to be supported, and the support 3 can be used in common to accommodate various substrate dimensions. The shelf pieces 4,.
The support 3 may be integrally protruded by insert molding.

As shown in FIG. 2, the shelf piece 4 protruding from the support 3 is provided with a tip cover 9 made of an organic polymer material at the tip of a metal support pin 8. Substrate B
And a receiving portion 9B for receiving abrasion powder immediately below the supporting portion 9A. Here, as the organic polymer material, there are synthetic resins, synthetic rubbers, and elastomers, and an optimum material may be selected according to the use and purpose. In the present embodiment, a synthetic material having excellent wear resistance is used as a preferable material. Resin is used. Then, the base end of the support pin 8 is buried or fitted in the support 3,
A plurality of shelf pieces 4 are provided at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction of the support 3. In addition, a slider 10 made of an organic polymer material is provided at a position corresponding to a side edge of the substrate B to be accommodated, at a longitudinally intermediate portion of the support pins 8 constituting the shelf piece 4. In this embodiment, the support pins 8 are SUS3
04, and the tip cover 9 and the slider 10 are made of PEEK resin having excellent wear resistance.
In addition, the tip cover 9 and the slider 10 are integrated,
The support pin 8 may be covered over substantially the entire length, and the portion where the support 9A and the slider 10 are provided may protrude upward from other portions. Here, when covering the substantially entire length of the support pin 8, insert molding is performed using an organic polymer material. Further, since the tip cover 9 and the slider 10 are portions for supporting the substrate B, it is also preferable to add a conductive agent to impart conductivity.

Here, the tray 9B has a circular or square shape in plan view and a diameter or a side length of 10 to 2 mm.
It is preferable to set the range to 5 mm, and it is necessary to set the shape in a plan view larger than the vertical projection shape of the support 9A. When the substrate B is taken in and out of the substrate cassette A, or due to vibration during transportation, particles such as fine abrasion powder generated by rubbing between the support 9A and the back surface of the substrate B fall downward,
In order to receive the particles effectively in the receiving portion 9B, the diameter or the length of one side of the receiving portion 9B is 10 m.
If it is smaller than m, it is not sufficient, and if it is larger than 25 mm, the effect is saturated and the size of the part becomes too large, which is not preferable. Alternatively, the area of the receiving portion 9B is preferably 2 to 20 times the vertical projection area of the contact portion of the supporting portion 9A which contacts the lower surface of the substrate B. In addition, the receiving portion 9B has a shape in which the periphery protrudes upward from the central portion, so that particles generated at a contact portion between the supporting portion 9A and the substrate B can be stably deposited in the concave portion at the central portion. It is more preferable because it is possible.

The features of the present invention are shown in FIGS. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the shelf pieces 4,... Of the support members 3 on both sides located in the front row are made of an organic polymer material tip cover 9 provided at the tip of the metal support pin 8.
A supporting portion 9A for supporting the lower surface of the substrate B and the supporting portion 9A.
And a receiving portion 9B for receiving abrasion powder, a stopper 9C extends forward from the receiving portion 9B, and a stopper 9D protrudes from the front end of the stopper 9C. In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the stopper 9C may be directly extended from the mounting support 9A to the front without providing the tray 9B on the front cover 9.

Here, the stopper piece 9 of the stopper portion 9C is used.
It is preferable that D protrudes from the upper end of the support 9A by a height of 0.5 to 5 mm. When the protrusion height of the stopper piece 9D is lower than 0.5 mm, the effect of restricting the forward movement of the substrate B stored in the substrate cassette A is poor, and when it is higher than 5 mm, the substrate B is stored. It is not preferable because it becomes an obstacle at the time.

Next, the structure of each part of the substrate cassette A according to the present invention will be described in more detail. The upper frame body 1 and the lower frame body 2 are symmetrical with respect to the center line, and are formed by integrally forming vertical and horizontal grid-like reinforcing bars 12 inside an outer peripheral frame 11. At portions where the supports 3 are connected, mounting surfaces 13, having a slightly larger area, are formed. There are a total of four locations where the mounting surface portion 13 is provided, two locations at regular intervals between the front and rear end portions on both sides and the middle thereof.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the support 3 is provided with metal rods 14, such as SUS shafts, on both sides along the longitudinal direction, and with a conductive agent to impart conductivity. It is formed by insert molding in an organic polymer material, and has wide support surfaces 15, 15 which are surface-bonded to the mounting surface 13 at the upper and lower ends. Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a screw hole 16 which is directed in the axial direction is formed at the end of the metal rod 14 by direct tapping, and a bit or the like is embedded at the center end of the support surface portion 15. The nut 17 is press-fitted. The embedding nut 17 can be embedded by insert molding, helicert processing, or the like. Then, the support surface portion 15 of the support body 3 is made to protrude from the support surface portion 15 in a state where the support surface portion 15 is joined to the mounting surface portions 13, 13 of the upper frame body 1 and the lower frame body 2, or in mounting holes 18 formed in the mounting surface portion 13. Metal rods 14, 14 and embedded nuts 17
Are screwed into the screw holes 16 and the embedding nuts 17 of the metal rods 14, 14 from the opposite side with the tips of the upper frame 1 fitted. And the lower frame 2 are connected. The stopper member 6 is made of an abrasion-resistant resin obtained by insert-molding a metal rod in the same manner as the support body 3, and is bolted between the rear portions of the outer frame 11 of the upper frame body 1 and the lower frame body 2. are doing.

Also, vertical surfaces 20,... Are formed at regular intervals on the inner surface side of the support 3, and between the upper and lower vertical surfaces 20, 20 are continuous with the lower vertical surface 20, and An inclined surface 21 provided with a step portion with respect to the vertical surface 20 is formed. That is, the inclined surface 21 has a shape in which the lower end thereof has the same thickness as the vertical surface 20 and has a linearly reduced thickness as it goes upward. An insertion hole 22 for the shelf piece 4 is formed horizontally at the center in the width direction of the vertical surface 20. Therefore, each of the vertical surfaces 20,... Formed insertion holes 22,.
Are at regular intervals over substantially the entire length of the support 3 in the vertical direction. The vertical surface 20 is not always necessary, and the insertion hole 22 may be formed in the inclined surface 21.

The shelf 4 is mounted by pressing the base end of the support pin 8 into the insertion hole 22 from the inner surface side of the support 3 or by projecting the support pin 8 into the support 3 by insert molding. It is. In the present embodiment, the pitch of the shelf pieces 4 is 25 mm, the diameter of the support pins 8 is 4 mm,
Since the diameter of the supporting portion 9A and the slider 10 is set to 7 mm and the diameter of the receiving portion 9B is set to 16 mm, there is a net spacing of 18 mm between the upper and lower shelf pieces 4 and 4. When the height of the stopper piece 9D of the stopper 9C is set to 3 mm, the actual vertical spacing becomes 15 mm.
Is set so that the substrate B is supported on the upper or lower shelf pieces 4,..., And even if the central portion of the substrate B is bent, there is no hindrance to taking in and out of another substrate B by the robot arm. is there.

Here, the length of the shelf 4 projecting from the inner surface of the support 3 is determined by the length of the support pin 8, and the length of the support pin 8 is high in rigidity and straightness. It can be set appropriately by using SUS made of good SUS. In other words, it is easy to manufacture the shelf pieces 4 having different projection lengths by using the common support 3, so that the cost can be significantly reduced. Further, the inclined surface 21 of the support 3 is a portion for abutting the edge of the substrate B. If the shelf 4 is press-fitted after the support 3 is formed as described above, the support 3 is formed. If the mold has a very simple structure, and if the position at which the mold is split is on the side of the support 3,
This is preferable because no parting line is formed on the inclined surface 21. Further, since the insertion hole 22 is in a direction parallel to the direction in which the mold is removed, it is possible to make the insertion hole 22 be perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the support 3 accurately. Even if there is a gradient, if the support pins 8 are press-fitted, it is possible to project the support pins 8 exactly perpendicular to the support 3.

The insertion hole 22 can be formed by post-processing such as drilling of a drilling machine or the like, and furthermore, the support pin 8 can be insert-molded into the support 3 as described above. is there. As shown in FIG. 8, the insertion hole 22 is formed with an inner large-diameter hole 22A and an outer small-diameter hole 22A.
B, and formed with a stepped portion, and the base of the support pin 8 is formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the insertion hole 22, and is pushed into the through portion of the support pin 8 fitted in the insertion hole 22. It is also possible to attach the nut 23 and the like to prevent it from slipping out. In any case, the support pin 8 is
The support pin is completely prevented from rotating when it protrudes from the side surface of the support member.

When the substrate B is accommodated in the substrate cassette A according to the present invention, the robot arm supports a position where the substrate B is least bent at the intermediate portion in the width direction of the substrate B, and in this state, the opening 5 From the front row, 4 and 4
Are passed above the stopper portions 9C, 9C. However, both ends of the substrate B still bend downward due to its own weight. At this time, the ends of the substrate B are moved by the sliders 10 and 10 provided on the corresponding shelf pieces 4 and 4 of the left and right supports 3 and 3. Since direct contact with the support pins 8 can be prevented, the support pins 8 can be smoothly inserted into the substrate cassette A. Then, after pushing the substrate B to a predetermined position, the substrate B is slowly lowered and the substrate B is mounted on the left and right shelf pieces 4,..., As shown in FIGS. Due to its own weight, it bends downward, and both ends are slightly curved upward and lifted up, and slightly float with respect to the slider 10. The board B mounted on the left and right shelf pieces 4,... Is restricted from moving backward by the stopper members 6, 6, and is moved forward from the stopper piece 9D of the stopper portion 9C.
(See FIG. 7). Even when the substrate B is taken in and out of the substrate cassette A, or when the lower surface of the substrate B and the supporting portion 9A of the shelf piece 4 are rubbed during transportation, particles are generated. Since it is captured by the receiving tray 9B, it does not fall onto the functional film of the lower substrate B.

[0028]

According to the substrate cassette of the present invention described above, the following remarkable effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect, it is not necessary to separately attach stopper members on both sides of the opening, which reduces the number of parts and contributes to cost reduction, and ensures the forward movement of the substrate housed in the substrate cassette. In addition, the accuracy of the stopper portion can be increased and the clearance at the time of substrate insertion can be set large and with high accuracy compared to a case where a stopper member is separately attached to the opening of the substrate cassette. is there.

According to the second aspect, in addition to the above effects,
Even if fine particles such as abrasion powder are generated due to the friction between the shelf piece and the lower surface of the substrate, the particles are prevented from being received by the tray and dropped onto the lower substrate surface, thereby greatly increasing the yield of devices manufactured from the substrate. Can be improved.

According to the third aspect, when the substrate is taken in and out of the substrate cassette, it is possible to prevent the end portion of the substrate from directly contacting the support pins by the slider provided on the shelf, thereby preventing the substrate from being damaged.

According to the fourth aspect, the forward movement of the substrate accommodated in the substrate cassette can be reliably restricted without obstructing the operation of loading and unloading the substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall simplified perspective view of a substrate cassette according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a shelf provided with a mounting portion and a receiving portion.

FIG. 3 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a shelf provided with a stopper, which is a main part of the present invention, and further provided with a supporting portion and a tray portion.

FIG. 4 is a partially exploded perspective view showing a shelf piece having only a supporting portion and a stopper portion.

FIG. 5 is a partial vertical sectional front view showing a state in which a substrate is accommodated.

FIG. 6 is a partial vertical sectional front view showing a state in which a substrate is similarly accommodated.

FIG. 7 is a partial side view of a state in which a substrate is similarly accommodated.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a state in which a shelf is protruded from a support.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A substrate cassette B substrate 1 upper frame 2 lower frame 3 support 4 shelf 5 opening 6 stopper member 7 shelf 8 support pin 9 tip cover 9A mounting support 9B receiving tray 9C stopper 9D stopper 10 slider DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Outer peripheral frame 12 Reinforcement bar 13 Mounting surface part 14 Metal rod 15 Supporting surface part 16 Screw hole 17 Embedded nut 18 Mounting hole 19 Bolt 20 Vertical surface 21 Inclined surface 22 Insertion hole 23 Push nut

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 3E096 AA09 BA15 BB03 CA08 DA01 DC01 DC02 EA02X EA02Y EA07Y FA03 FA09 FA27 GA01 GA09 5F031 CA05 DA01 EA06 EA09 EA10 EA19

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of support members, each of which is provided with projecting shelves for supporting substrates at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction, are connected between an upper frame and a lower frame to form a rectangular parallelepiped box-shaped structure. In the substrate cassette, the shelf pieces of the support members on both sides located in the front row are provided at the distal ends of the metal support pins, with a supporting portion for supporting the lower surface of the substrate and a front end extending forward from the supporting portion. A substrate cassette, further comprising a tip cover made of an organic polymer material having a stopper portion having a stopper piece protruding therefrom. 2. The shelf of the support is provided with a supporting portion for supporting the lower surface of the substrate and a receiving portion for receiving abrasion powder immediately below the supporting portion at the tip of a metal supporting pin. The shelf pieces of the support members on both sides located in the front row are provided with a tip cover made of an organic polymer material and having a stopper portion provided with a stopper piece projecting forward from the tray portion at the front end. The cassette for a substrate according to claim 1. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said tip cover is provided at the tip of a support pin constituting said shelf, and a slider made of an organic polymer material is provided at an intermediate portion corresponding to a side edge of a substrate to be accommodated. 3. The substrate cassette according to 1 or 2. 4. The substrate cassette according to claim 1, wherein a height of the stopper piece of the stopper protruding from an upper end of the support is 0.5 to 5 mm.