JP2001176946A - Conveyor of substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a conveyor capable of promptly supplying a substrate to a next step by a method wherein the heated substrate is compulsorily cooled and static charge generated at that time can be eliminated. SOLUTION: A conveyor for conveying a heated substrate 1, comprises: a conveying roller 11 for conveying the substrate in a predetermined direction; a cooler 22 for cooling the substrate to be conveyed by this conveying roller; and a conveying roller comprising a conductive roller member 13a for eliminating static charge generated in the substrate during conveyance of this substrate by cooling by this cooler.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a substrate transfer device for transferring a heat-treated substrate to the next step.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in a manufacturing process of a solar cell module, a thin film such as a semiconductor layer and a metal electrode film is formed on a substrate, and the thin film is scribed with a laser beam to form an electric power on the substrate. It is common practice to form a plurality of cells connected in series.

[0003] The formation of a semiconductor layer on the above substrate is usually performed by C
VD is performed, and the formation of the metal electrode film is performed by sputtering. In any of the film forming processes of CVD and sputtering, the substrate is heated to a temperature of 100 degrees or more and thermally expanded. For this reason, if the substrate is cooled to a predetermined temperature after film formation and then scribe is not performed in the subsequent scribe step, scribe may not be performed with high accuracy due to thermal expansion.

[0004]

Conventionally, in order to scribe a substrate on which a thin film has been formed in a film forming step, the film formed substrate is stacked and stored in a stocker, left to cool to a predetermined temperature, and cooled. Was to do from.

[0005] For this reason, it is necessary to perform an operation of stacking and storing the substrates on which the films are formed in a stocker, which may take extra time, or a time required for the substrate to be cooled to a predetermined temperature. As a result, the productivity may be reduced.

Therefore, it has been considered that the cooling time is shortened by blowing cooling air to the substrate on which the thin film is formed to forcibly cool the substrate. However,
When the cooling air is blown on the substrate, the substrate is rubbed by the cooling air. As a result, electric charges are generated on the substrate to generate static electricity, and the static electricity may cause damage to a thin film formed on the substrate or particles may be easily attached to the substrate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a substrate transfer apparatus which forcibly cools a substrate in a process of transferring a heat-treated substrate to a next step and which can remove static electricity generated on the substrate by the cooling. It is in.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a transfer device for transferring a substrate subjected to a heat treatment, a transfer unit for transferring the substrate in a predetermined direction, and a substrate transferred by the transfer unit. And a static eliminator for removing static electricity generated on the substrate during the transfer of the substrate by cooling the substrate by the cooling unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transfer apparatus for transferring a substrate of a solar cell module on which a thin film has been formed in a film forming step to a scribe step of scribing the thin film. Transport means for transporting the substrate on which the substrate is formed to the scribing step, and a substrate provided between the film forming step and the scribe step, which is heated in the film forming step and transported by the transport means to a predetermined position. A substrate transport apparatus comprising: a cooling unit for cooling to a temperature; and a static elimination unit for removing static electricity generated on a substrate by being cooled by the cooling unit during transportation of the substrate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the transport means has a plurality of rotationally driven transport rollers, and the discharging means has at least one of the transport rollers having conductivity. A substrate transport apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the static elimination means is an ionized gas generator for blowing an ionized gas for removing static electricity generated on the substrate cooled by the cooling means. Claim 1.
Alternatively, there is provided the substrate transfer device according to claim 2.

According to the present invention, by forcibly cooling the heat-treated substrate, even if static electricity is generated on the substrate, the static electricity can be removed by the static eliminator during the transport of the substrate. Therefore, since the cooling of the substrate and the removal of the static electricity need not be performed in a separate process, it is possible to continuously perform the next processing on the substrate after the substrate is heated.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a part of a manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a substrate 1 of a solar cell module indicated by a dashed line in FIG. This manufacturing apparatus includes a transfer device 2 for intermittently transferring the substrate 1 in the direction of the arrow and a semiconductor layer 1b which is a thin film by CVD on the substrate 1 on which the transparent conductive film 1a is formed as shown in FIG. A film forming chamber 3 to be formed and a semiconductor layer 1 provided on the substrate 1 by the film forming chamber 3
a scriber 4 that divides the cell into a plurality of cells by dividing grooves 1c by irradiating b with laser light and scribing. Note that a dividing groove 1d is formed in the transparent conductive film 1a in advance.

The film forming chamber 3 and the scriber 4 face the transfer device 2 and are sequentially arranged at predetermined intervals along the transfer direction of the substrate 1. The transfer device 2
The substrate 1 conveyed to a position facing the carry-in port of the film formation chamber 3 by the first robot 6 is carried into the film formation chamber 3 by the first robot 6. And this film forming chamber 3
The substrate 1 on which the semiconductor layer 1b is formed is sent out from the carry-out port, returned to the transfer device 2 by the second robot 7, and transferred in the direction of the scriber 4.

The substrate 1 transported to a position facing the scriber 4 is supplied to the scriber 4 by a third robot 8. Here, the semiconductor layer 1b formed on the substrate 1 is scribed by a laser beam. The scribed substrate 1 is returned to the transfer device 2 by the third robot 8 and sent to a sputtering device (not shown) in the next step, where a metal film as a thin film is formed on the semiconductor layer 1b. It has become.

The transport device 2 has a plurality of transport rollers 11 as shown in FIGS. The transport roller 11 includes a support shaft 12 and a plurality of roller members 13 formed of a synthetic resin, rubber, or the like into a disk shape larger in diameter than the support shaft 12 and attached to the support shaft 12.

The transport roller 11 is mounted on a pair of support members 14 arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval so as to face each other.
Are rotatably supported at both ends. Each transport roller 1
1 is provided with a plurality of roller members 13, and the roller members 13 of the adjacent transport rollers 11 are shifted in position in the axial direction.

Each transport roller 11 is driven to rotate in a predetermined direction by a drive source (not shown). Thereby, the substrate 1 on the transport roller 11 can be transported from the film forming chamber 3 indicated by an arrow in FIG.

The substrate 1 is provided on the inner surface of the support member 14.
A guide member 15 for guiding the transport of the sheet is provided. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide member 15 has a metal plate 15 a covered with a synthetic resin 15 b such as a fluororesin, and is attached to the support member 14 by the fixture 6. Thereby, meandering of the substrate 1 transferred by the transfer device 2 is regulated.

The substrate 1 is made of a synthetic resin 15b of the guide member 15.
When there is a possibility that static electricity may be generated on the substrate 1 due to the above, the conductive material such as carbon is put into the synthetic resin 15b so that even if the substrate 1 comes into contact with the It is possible to prevent generation of static electricity due to charging.

At a portion between the film forming chamber 3 and the scriber 4 of the transfer device 2, a plurality of pedestals 21 (shown in FIGS. 3 and 4) attached to the support member 14 transfer the substrate 1. They are provided at predetermined intervals along the direction. Each mount 21 has a cooler 2 as a cooling means for forcibly cooling the substrate 1 transferred by the transfer device 2, that is, the substrate 1 heated to a high temperature by forming a film in the film forming chamber 3.
2 are provided.

As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
Has a cover 23 having an open lower surface. The cover 23 is provided with a drive source 24 and a fan 25 driven to rotate by the drive source 24. Therefore, when the fan 25 is rotationally driven, the fan 25 is blown toward the substrate 1 conveyed on the conveying roller 11 of the conveying device 2.
The substrate 1 is forcibly cooled.

When the substrate 1 is forcibly cooled by blowing air from the cooler 22, the substrate 1 is charged by the friction of the substrate 1 by the cooling air. That is, the substrate 1
Generates static electricity. In addition, the substrate 1 is charged even by the friction when the substrate is transported on the transport roller 11.

The static electricity generated on the substrate 1 is removed by the charge removing means. In this embodiment, two types of static elimination means are provided. The first static elimination means uses some of the plurality of roller members 13 provided on the transport roller 11 as conductive rollers. Specifically, the roller member 13 is made to have conductivity by putting carbon as a conductive material into the roller member 13 formed of rubber or synthetic resin. A roller member having conductivity is indicated by 13a in FIG. 1, and this roller member is referred to as a conductive roller member 13a.

In this embodiment, the conductive roller member 13a is provided downstream of the last cooler 23 in the transport direction of the substrate 1. At least the support shaft 12 of each transport roller 11 provided with the conductive roller 13a is grounded via a support member 14.

Thus, static electricity generated by forcibly cooling the substrate 1 can be reliably removed from the substrate 1 by transporting the substrate 1 on the conductive roller member 13a. With conductive roller 1
The substrate 1 from which static electricity has been removed by 3a is prevented from being rubbed again by the cooling air to generate static electricity.

The second static elimination means comprises an ionized gas generator 31 for blowing an ionized gas onto the substrate 1 cooled by the last cooler 22 in the transport direction of the substrate 1 as shown in FIGS. When the ionized gas is blown onto the substrate 1 by the ionized gas generator 31, the charge on the substrate 1 is neutralized by the ions, so that the static electricity generated on the substrate 1 is removed by forced cooling. Will be done.

In order to remove the static electricity generated on the substrate 1, at least one of the first electricity removing means and the second electricity removing means may be provided. It is possible to perform the operation more reliably.

According to the transfer device for the substrate 1 having such a structure, the substrate 1 heated to a high temperature by forming a film in the film forming chamber 3 is transferred by the transfer device 2 to the scriber 4 in the next step. On the way, the cooling air from the plurality of coolers 22 is forcibly cooled.

Therefore, the substrate 1 is cooled to a predetermined temperature and supplied to the scriber 4, so that the substrate 1 is scribed without thermal expansion. That is, by forcibly cooling the substrate 1 during the transfer, the film formation of the semiconductor layer 1b on the substrate 1 and the scribing of the semiconductor layer 1b can be continuously performed. Can be planned. Moreover, by forcibly cooling the substrate 1, the time required for cooling can be shortened, so that productivity can be improved.

On the other hand, when the substrate 1 is forcibly cooled by the cooling air from the cooler 22, static electricity is generated on the substrate 1. However, the static electricity generated on the substrate 1 is reliably removed during the transfer by the conductive roller 13 a provided on the transfer roller 11 and the ionized gas from the ionized gas generator 31.

Therefore, the substrate 1 on which the semiconductor layer 1b is formed in the film forming step is not transported to the scribe step in a state where the semiconductor layer 1b is charged with static electricity. Or particles can be prevented from being attached.

The removal of the static electricity generated on the substrate 1 can be performed while the substrate 1 is being transported. For this reason, a dedicated process for removing static electricity from the substrate 1 is not required, thereby improving productivity.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment of the present invention.
This embodiment is a modification of the transport roller 11A of the transport device 2. That is, in the above embodiment, the transport roller 1
Although the plurality of roller members 13 are provided on the support shaft 12 of 1A, in this embodiment, the roller member 13A is provided over substantially the entire length excluding both end portions of the support shaft 12. Also in this case, among the plurality of transport rollers 11,
1 located at least downstream of the last cooler 23
The first static eliminator may be formed by putting a conductive substance into the three roller members 13A to form a conductive roller member.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, productivity is improved by forcibly cooling the substrate while transferring it. Furthermore, even if static electricity is generated on the substrate due to forced cooling, the static electricity can be removed while transporting the substrate, thereby not only improving the productivity but also damaging the substrate due to the static electricity, Particles can be prevented from adhering.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for manufacturing a solar cell module using a transfer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a part of the transport device.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of a part of the conveyance device along the longitudinal direction.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a part of the conveying device along the width direction.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a part of a state where a semiconductor layer formed on the substrate is scribed.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conveyance roller according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Substrate 3 ... Film-forming chamber 4 ... Scriber 11 ... Conveying roller (conveying means) 13a ... Conductive roller member (static elimination means) 22 ... Cooler (cooling means) 31 ... Ionized gas generator (static elimination means)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01L 31/04 B

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A transfer device for transferring a heat-treated substrate, a transfer unit for transferring the substrate in a predetermined direction, a cooling unit for cooling the substrate transferred by the transfer unit, and a cooling unit. A substrate transfer device, comprising: static elimination means for removing static electricity generated on a substrate by cooling during the transfer of the substrate. 2. A substrate transfer device for transferring a substrate of a solar cell module on which a thin film has been formed in a film forming step to a scribe step of scribing the thin film, the substrate having a thin film formed in the film forming step. Transport means for transporting the substrate to the scribing step; and cooling provided between the film forming step and the scribing step to raise the temperature in the film forming step and cool the substrate transported by the transport means to a predetermined temperature. And a static eliminator for removing static electricity generated on the substrate by being cooled by the cooling unit during the transfer of the substrate. 3. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer device includes a plurality of transfer rollers that are driven to rotate, and the static elimination device includes a conductive member in at least one of the transfer rollers.
3. The substrate transfer device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said static eliminator is an ionized gas generator which blows an ionized gas for removing static electricity generated on said substrate cooled by said cooling means. The substrate transfer device according to claim 1 or 2.