JP2003083676A - Device and method for adjusting position of nozzle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a nozzle position adjusting device that can easily and accurately adjust the positions of air-knife nozzles. SOLUTION: This nozzles position adjusting device is provided with at least a pair of air-knife nozzles 53a and 53b which are respectively positioned on the front and rear surfaces of a substrate G transported in a prescribed direction and blow air upon the substrate G, a microphone 70 which detects the sound produced when the air is blown upon the substrate G from the nozzles 53a and 53b, and a driving section 67 which adjusts the relative position between the nozzles 53a and 53b based on the detected results of the microphone 70. This device is also provided with a controller 30 which controls the driving section 67. Consequently, the relative position between the nozzles 53a and 53b can be adjusted automatically without relying upon the visual inspections performed by a worker and, in addition, the occurrence of position adjustment errors can be prevented.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a nozzle position adjusting device for ejecting air to a glass substrate in a drying process of a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the process of manufacturing an LCD, in order to form a thin film of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or an electrode pattern on a glass substrate for LCD, a photolithography technique similar to that used for manufacturing a semiconductor device is used. Used. In the photolithography technique, a photoresist is applied to a glass substrate, which is exposed and further developed.

A series of these resist coating, exposing and developing processes have been conventionally carried out by a coating and developing system which carries out various processes such as coating, developing, baking and washing.

In the developing process and the cleaning process in this coating and developing system, for example, while the substrate is being conveyed substantially horizontally by a roller-type conveying roller, a developing solution, a cleaning liquid or the like is supplied to the substrate to perform the developing process. Cleaning process is being performed. Then, after that, for example, a long air knife nozzle arranged on the downstream side of the conveyance ejects high-pressure air onto the substrate to remove the processing liquid on the substrate and dry it.

Two such air knives may be arranged on both the front surface side and the back surface side of the substrate, for example. This is also for the purpose of efficiently removing the processing liquid on both sides of the substrate, but another purpose is to make the jet directions of air from both air knives symmetrical with respect to the substrate so that the jetting directions of both air knives are opposite to each other. By allowing the front end of the conveyed substrate to approach the part where the air collides, the residual liquid at the front end of the substrate is prevented, and further, on the end face (side surface) of the substrate. It is also necessary to remove the processing liquid.

[0006]

However, under the present circumstances, the work of matching the jets of air from both air knives on the front and back surfaces of the substrate is to make the jets of both air knives coincide with each other visually and manually. The positions are adjusted by facing each other. Therefore, if this position adjustment deviates from the normal position, it is not possible to accurately drain the front end portion and the end surface of the substrate. Further, when visually observed, the position of the air knife on the back surface side may become a blind spot due to the air knife on the front surface side of the substrate, and moreover, the air knife tends to increase in size with the recent increase in size of the glass substrate. However, such position adjustment requires labor.

On the other hand, the gap between the air knife and the substrate surface is one of the important parameters for improving the drying performance, and precise control of this gap is required.

In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide a nozzle position adjusting device capable of easily and accurately adjusting the positions of both air knife nozzles including the management of the gap between the air knife nozzle and the substrate surface. To do.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a nozzle position adjusting device according to a first aspect of the present invention is
At least a pair of nozzles which are respectively arranged on both front and back surfaces of the substrate to be conveyed in a predetermined direction and eject air toward the substrate; and when the air ejected from the nozzle is blown to the substrate to be conveyed. A sensor for detecting sound and an adjusting unit for adjusting the relative positions of the pair of nozzles based on the detection of the sensor are provided.

According to such a configuration, when determining whether the relative position of the pair of nozzles is the normal position or not, the "sound" in which the most remarkable difference appears depending on whether the relative position is the normal position or not is detected. The relative positions of both nozzles can be easily adjusted based on this "sound".

Here, the normal position means the position of both nozzles when the air jetted from both nozzles is blown to the corresponding areas on the front and back surfaces of the substrate.

As a result, the relative positions of both nozzles can be automatically adjusted without the operator's visual inspection, and the labor of the operator can be reduced. Also, this allows the air outlets of both nozzles to automatically face each other.
Misalignment can be prevented, and liquid residue on the end face, front end region, and rear end region of the substrate can be prevented.

For the detection of "sound", for example, the method of detecting the frequency or the sound pressure level is most preferable. That is, the pitch and intensity of the sound can be easily detected by a sound level meter or the like. However, the "sound" is not limited to the frequency and sound pressure level, but the "sound" variation at the normal position of the nozzle is stored not only by the "sound quality" or the "timbre", but by adjusting the nozzle position. You can

As a drive means for adjusting the relative positions of the two nozzles, a transport direction drive mechanism for driving the nozzles in the predetermined transport direction is provided.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the adjusting means further includes a gap direction driving mechanism for adjusting the gaps of the pair of nozzles from the front and back surfaces of the substrate. Thereby, the air pressure blown to the substrate can be adjusted by arbitrarily adjusting the gap, and the drying performance can be precisely controlled.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the transport direction drive mechanism and the gap direction drive mechanism each have an air cylinder mechanism, and a part of the air supplied to the two nozzles is supplied to the air cylinder. It further comprises means for powering the mechanism. As a result, it is not necessary to use extra power, and energy can be saved.

A nozzle position adjusting apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is arranged on the surface of a substrate which is conveyed in a predetermined direction, and nozzles for ejecting air to the substrate and the nozzles ejected from the nozzle. The sensor includes a sensor that detects a sound generated when air is blown onto the conveyed substrate, and an adjusting unit that adjusts a gap between the nozzle and the substrate based on the detection of the sensor.

With this structure, the air pressure blown onto the substrate can be adjusted by arbitrarily adjusting the gap, and the drying performance can be precisely controlled.

The nozzle position adjusting method according to the present invention is a nozzle position adjusting method comprising at least a pair of nozzles which are arranged on both front and back surfaces of a substrate which is conveyed in a predetermined direction and which eject air toward the substrate. The relative positions of the pair of nozzles are adjusted based on the sound generated when the air ejected from the nozzles is blown onto the conveyed substrate.

According to such a configuration, in determining whether the relative position of the pair of nozzles is the normal position or not, the "sound" which shows the most remarkable difference depending on whether the relative position is the normal position or not is detected. The relative positions of both nozzles can be easily adjusted based on this "sound". Here, the normal position refers to the position of both nozzles when the air ejected from both nozzles is blown to the corresponding regions on the front and back surfaces of the substrate.

As a result, the relative positions of the two nozzles can be adjusted by the operator's hearing, not by the operator's visual observation, and the worker's labor can be reduced. In addition, both the nozzles can be easily adjusted by the operator adjusting the position by listening to the variation in the frequency or the sound pressure level of the sound, that is, the pitch or the strength of the sound in which the most noticeable difference appears in the normal position. Can be aligned with the normal position.

Further, such a sound is detected based on a sound sensor such as a microphone without depending on an operator's hearing, and the relative positions of both nozzles are automatically adjusted by a cylinder mechanism or a belt mechanism. By doing so, the labor of the worker can be further reduced and the work efficiency can be improved.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the accompanying drawings and the description of the embodiments of the invention.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an LC to which the carrier of the present invention is applied.
It is a top view which shows the coating development processing system of D board, FIG. 2 is the front view, and FIG. 3 is the rear view.

This coating / developing system 1 includes a cassette station 2 for mounting a cassette C containing a plurality of glass substrates G, and a plurality of processing units for performing a series of processes including resist coating and development on the substrates G. And the interface unit 4 for transferring the substrate G to and from the exposure apparatus 32. The cassette station 2 and the interface unit 4 are arranged at both ends of the processing unit 3, respectively. There is.

The cassette station 2 is equipped with a carrying mechanism 10 for carrying the LCD substrate between the cassette C and the processing section 3. And cassette station 2
In, the loading and unloading of the cassette C is performed. Further, the transfer mechanism 10 includes a transfer arm 11 that can move on a transfer path 12 provided along the arrangement direction of the cassettes, and the transfer arm 11 can transfer the substrate G between the cassette C and the processing unit 3. Done.

The processing section 3 has a vertical direction (X direction) in the arrangement direction (Y direction) of the cassettes C in the cassette station 2.
Direction), and a main transfer section 3a extending in the
An upstream part 3b in which each processing unit including a resist coating processing unit (CT) is arranged in parallel, and a downstream part 3c in which each processing unit including a development processing unit (DEV) 18 is arranged in parallel. There is.

The main transport section 3a is provided with a transport path 31 extending in the X direction and a transport shuttle 23 configured to be movable along the transport path 31 and transporting the glass substrate G in the X direction. ing. The transport shuttle 23 is configured to hold and transport the substrate G by, for example, support pins. In addition, at the end of the main transfer section 3a on the interface section 4 side, the substrate G is provided between the processing section 3 and the interface section 4.
A vertical transport unit 7 is provided for delivering and receiving.

A scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 for cleaning the substrate G is provided at an end of the upstream portion 3b on the side of the cassette station 2. The scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 is provided above the substrate G. Excimer UV treatment unit (e-
UV) 19 is provided.

Scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20
Next to the heat treatment system blocks 24 and 2 in which units for performing heat treatment on the glass substrate G are stacked in multiple stages.
5 are arranged. These heat treatment system blocks 24 and 2
The vertical transfer unit 5 is arranged between the blocks 5 and 5, and the transfer arm 5a is movable in the Z direction and the horizontal direction and is rotatable in the θ direction. The substrate G is transferred by accessing the heat treatment system unit. The vertical transport unit 7 in the processing section 3 has the same configuration as the vertical transport unit 5.

As shown in FIG. 2, the heat treatment system block 24
In the figure, two baking units (BAKE) for performing a heat treatment on the substrate G before resist application and an adhesion unit (AD) for performing a hydrophobic treatment with an HMDS gas are sequentially laminated from the bottom. On the other hand, heat treatment system block 25
Is a cooling unit (C
OL) is stacked in two layers, and an adhesion unit (AD) is stacked in order from the bottom.

A resist processing block 15 is provided adjacent to the heat treatment system block 25 in the X direction. The resist processing block 15 includes a resist coating processing unit (CT) for coating the substrate G with a resist and a reduced pressure drying unit (V) for drying the coated resist by reducing the pressure.
D) and an edge remover (ER) for removing the resist on the peripheral portion of the substrate G are integrally provided. The resist processing block 15 is provided with a sub arm (not shown) that moves from the resist coating processing unit (CT) to the edge remover (ER).
The substrate G is carried in the resist processing block 15 by this sub-arm.

A multi-stage heat treatment system block 26 is disposed adjacent to the resist processing block 15, and the heat treatment system block 26 includes a prebaking unit (PREBAK) for performing a heat treatment after coating the substrate G with a resist.
E) is laminated in three stages.

In the downstream portion 3c, as shown in FIG. 3, a heat treatment system block 29 is provided at the end portion on the side of the interface portion 4, which includes a cooling unit (COL), a post-exposure developing treatment. Post-exposure baking unit (PEBAK)
E) is laminated in two stages in order from the bottom.

A development processing unit (DEV) 18 for performing development processing is provided adjacent to the heat treatment system block 29 in the X direction. Next to the development processing unit (DEV) 18, heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27 are arranged, and between these heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27, the same structure as that of the vertical transfer unit 5 is provided, and both blocks are provided. 28 and 2
A vertical transport unit 6 that can access each heat treatment system unit 7 is provided. Further, the i-line processing unit (i
-UV) 33 is provided.

In the heat treatment system block 28, a cooling unit (COL) and a post-baking unit (POBAKE) that heats the substrate G after development are laminated in two stages in order from the bottom. On the other hand, similarly, in the heat treatment system block 27, a cooling unit (COL) and a post-baking unit (POBAKE) are laminated in two stages in order from the bottom.

The interface section 4 includes a titler and a peripheral exposure unit (Titler / EE) 2 on the front side.
2, an extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35 is provided adjacent to the vertical transport unit 7,
Further, a buffer cassette 34 is arranged on the back side, and these titler and peripheral exposure unit (Titl).
er / EE) 22, the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35, the buffer cassette 34, and the vertical transfer unit 8 that transfers the substrate G between the adjacent exposure devices 32. The vertical transport unit 8 also has the same configuration as the vertical transport unit 5.

In the processing steps of the coating and developing processing system 1 configured as described above, the substrate G in the cassette C is first transported to the upstream section 3b in the processing section 3. In the upstream portion 3b, the excimer UV processing unit (e-UV) 1
Surface modification / organic substance removal processing is performed at 9, and then cleaning processing and drying processing are performed at the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 while the substrate G is being transported substantially horizontally. Subsequently, the substrate G is taken out by the transfer arm 5a in the vertical transfer unit at the lowermost stage of the heat treatment system block 24, heat-treated by the baking unit (BAKE) of the heat treatment system block 24, and by the adhesion unit (AD). Hydrophobized and heat treated block 2
The cooling process by the cooling unit (COL) 5 is performed.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the transfer arm 5a to the transfer shuttle 23. Then, after being transferred to a resist coating processing unit (CT) and subjected to resist coating processing, a reduced pressure drying processing unit (VD) performs reduced pressure drying processing, and an edge remover (ER) sequentially performs resist removal processing on the peripheral edge of the substrate. Done.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the transfer shuttle 23 to the transfer arm of the vertical transfer unit 7, and the prebaking unit (PREB) in the heat treatment system block 26 is transferred.
After the heat treatment is performed by AKE), the cooling treatment is performed by the cooling unit (COL) in the heat treatment system block 29. Subsequently, the substrate G is cooled by the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35 and exposed by the exposure device.

Next, the substrate G is transferred to the vertical transfer units 8 and 7.
Is transferred to the post-exposure baking unit (PEBAKE) of the heat treatment system block 29 via the transfer arm, and the heating process is performed there, and then the cooling process is performed in the cooling unit (COL). Then, the substrate G is subjected to a developing process, a rinsing process and a drying process while being transported in a substantially horizontal direction in the developing processing unit (DEV) 18 via the transport arm of the vertical transport unit 7.

Next, the substrate G is transferred from the lowermost stage of the heat treatment system block 28 by the transport arm 6a of the vertical transport unit 6 and subjected to heat treatment by the post baking unit (POBAKE) in the heat treatment system block 28 or 27. The cooling process is performed in the cooling unit (COL). Then, the substrate G is transferred to the transfer mechanism 10 and accommodated in the cassette C.

FIG. 4A is a schematic side view showing the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20. The scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 has a glass substrate G
A plurality of roller type transport rollers 38 for transporting the sheet are provided. At both ends of the transfer roller 38, transfer pins 39 for transferring the substrate to / from another processing unit by an ascending / descending operation are arranged. Between the transfer pins 39, the upstream side of the transfer of the substrate ( From the left side in the drawing, a roll brush cleaning chamber 36, a spray cleaning chamber 37, and a drying processing device 40 according to the present invention are sequentially arranged. The roll brush cleaning chamber 36 is provided with a roll brush 45, and the spray cleaning chamber 37 is provided with a spray type nozzle 46 for ejecting a cleaning liquid. The spray type nozzle 46 may be arranged not only on the front surface side of the substrate as shown in the drawing but also on the back surface side of the substrate.

Such a scrubber cleaning processing unit (S
In the CR) 20, first, the roll brush cleaning chamber 36 removes and cleans relatively large dust on the substrate, and then the spray cleaning chamber 37 removes and cleans fine dust, and the drying treatment device 4
It is dried at 0.

FIG. 4B shows the development processing unit (D
It is a schematic side view which shows EV) 18. Similar to the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20, the developing processing unit (DEV) 18 is provided with a roller type conveyance roller 38 and a delivery pin 39. Between the two transfer pins 39, from the upstream side of conveyance (left side in the figure),
The pre-wet processing chamber 41, the development processing chamber 42, the rinse processing chamber 43, and the same drying processing device 40 according to the present invention as described above.
Are arranged in order. In the pre-wet processing chamber 41,
A pre-wet nozzle 47 is provided, and a developing solution nozzle 48 for ejecting a developing solution is provided in the development processing chamber 42.
A rinse nozzle 49 is provided in the rinse processing chamber 43.

Such a development processing unit (DEV) 1
In No. 8, first, the substrate is pre-wet in the pre-wet processing chamber 41 in order to reduce the impact on the substrate at the time of discharging the developing solution, and then the developing solution is discharged and developed in the developing processing chamber 42, and The developing solution is washed away in the rinse processing chamber 43, and finally dried by the drying processing device 40.

In the development processing chamber 42, in order to secure the development time, the conveyance roller 38 is rotated in the reverse direction to reciprocate the substrate G to perform the development processing.

5 and 6 are a plan sectional view and a side sectional view of a drying processing apparatus 40 to which the present invention is applied. The space in the chamber 51 of the drying processing apparatus 40 is partitioned by a partition plate 63 from the upstream side (the left side in FIGS. 5 and 6) of conveyance. Openings 51a and 51b for loading and unloading the substrate G are formed at the upstream end and the downstream end of the chamber 51, respectively.

The clean air is jetted to the substrate G conveyed to the lower end cutout portion 63a of the partition plate 63 so that the substrate G can be removed.
Long air knife nozzles 53a and 5 for drying
3b are arranged on the front surface side and the back surface side of the substrate G so as to sandwich the substrate G to be conveyed. The air knives 53a and 53b are arranged with respect to the substrate G at an angle of, for example, 40 ° or more from the vertical direction, and the air is jetted at an angle of 40 ° or more with respect to the vertical direction of the substrate surface. Further, in order to efficiently remove the processing liquid on the substrate, the arrangement angle of the air knives 53a and 53b with respect to the short side of the substrate G is, for example, about 10 ° as shown in FIG.
Is set to.

In the vicinity of both air knives 53a and 53b, a microphone 70 for detecting the sound when the jetted air is blown to the substrate G is arranged as described later.

An opening is formed in the upper part on the downstream side of the chamber 51, and a fan filter unit 52 is installed therein. The fan filter unit 52 cleans, for example, the air inside or outside the clean room and takes it into the chamber 51, and exhausts the taken-in air from exhaust ports 55a and 55b provided at the upper and lower portions of the upstream side of the conveyance. .

As shown in FIG. 8, both air knives 53a and 53b have the same structure, for example, a buffer chamber 73 for temporarily retaining the air supplied from the supply port 72 therein. A slit 74 for linearly ejecting air from 73 to the substrate G is formed.

Referring to FIG. 6, air knives 53a, 53
Air is supplied to b from the blower fan 60 via the filter part 59 and the supply pipe 66.
The blower fan 60 takes in air, for example, in a clean room or outside. The filter unit 59 is provided with, for example, a pre-filter 61 for coarse particles and a ULPA filter 62 for fine particles. The ULPA filter 62 may be a HEPA filter.

The control system 50 has a CPU 56, a memory 57, and an inverter circuit 58, and the blower fan 60 is frequency-controlled by this control system 50. For example, the flow rate of the air discharged from the blower fan 60 is controlled based on the measurement result of the flow meter 65 provided in the supply pipe 66 and measuring the flow rate of the air in the pipe. As a result, even if the flow rate of the air supplied to the air knives 53a and 53b is reduced due to clogging of the filter portion 59 or the like, the flow meter 65 can be used.
By feeding back the measurement result of 1, the air can be constantly supplied to the air knives 53a and 53b at a desired flow rate.

One ends of both air knives 53a and 53b are
The support members 68 are respectively supported by the support members 68.
Is slidably connected to, for example, the transport direction drive unit 67. The transport direction drive unit 67 has, for example, a belt drive mechanism and a cylinder mechanism, the drive of which is controlled by the control unit 30 based on the sound detected by the microphone 70, and the transport direction of both air knives 53a and 53b. The position is adjusted.

The other ends of the air knives 53a and 53b are
As shown in FIG. 5, a guide member 88 is provided to assist the driving of these air knives.

Next, both of the air knives 53a and 53b.
The position adjustment of will be described. In addition, this position adjustment,
For example, a dummy substrate is used.

FIG. 7 shows the frequency of the sound when the air jetted from the air knives 53a and 53b is blown to the substrate for each substrate G region. Here, the region Ga is a region of, for example, 1 cm to 5 cm from the front end of the substrate, and the region Gb is also a region of, for example, 1 cm to 5 cm from the rear end of the substrate. As the substrate G approaches these air knives, the air tends to start hitting the substrate, causing the sound to become progressively stronger and higher in frequency. Also, the region G
The sound of the air blown to the area Gc other than a and Gb tends to have a lower frequency than the areas Ga and Gb.

FIG. 8 shows a case where the relative positions of the air knives 53a and 53b are not normal but deviated. In such a case, the positions of the air blown on the substrate G do not match on the front and back surfaces of the substrate G, and as shown in FIG. 7, a region Ga near the front end of the conveyance of the substrate G and a region near the rear end thereof. The frequency (shown by a and b in the figure) when blown onto Gb, that is, the maximum frequency is lower than the predetermined frequency f1. On the other hand, if the frequency is higher than f1, the relative position of the air knives 53a and 53b as shown in FIG. 9 is regarded as the normal position. In this case, the areas of the air blown onto the substrate G are the same on the front and back surfaces of the substrate, and the frequency (B) is blown onto the area Ga near the front end and the area Gb near the rear end as shown in FIG. The maximum frequencies indicated by c and d in the figure are higher than f1.

In the case of the position shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 30
Recognizes that the relative positions of the air knives 53a and 53b are not normal positions and is displaced, and moves the air knife 53a on the front side in the transport direction and the air knife 53b on the back side in the reverse direction by a predetermined distance. Such an operation is performed until the frequency at which the regions Ga and Gb are blown becomes higher than the predetermined frequency f1.

For such work, it is possible to adopt a method of determining the drive amount of the transport direction drive unit 67 based on the difference between the frequency detected by the first actual sound and the normal frequency f1.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the relative positions of the air knives 53a and 53b can be automatically adjusted without the operator's visual inspection, and the labor of the operator can be reduced. Further, by doing so, the ejection ports of both air knives 53a and 53b can be made to face each other, misalignment can be prevented, and liquid residue on the end face of the substrate, the front end region Ga, and the rear end region Gb can be prevented.

The "sound" is not limited to the frequency but may be a sound pressure level (strength or loudness), or depending on the "sound quality" or "timbre", the normal position of the air knife as shown in FIG. The position of the air knife can be adjusted by memorizing the fluctuation of the "sound" in the above.

Further, in the present embodiment, when the frequency in the regions Ga and Gb becomes higher than f1, the normal position is considered, but the lowest frequency in the region Gc is f.
You may make it consider that it is a normal position when it is higher than 2.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a nozzle position adjusting device according to another embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 10, the same components as those in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the air cylinders 81 and 82 are used as a mechanism for moving the air knife 53a on the front surface side of the substrate G, and the air knife 5 on the rear surface side is used.
An air cylinder 83 is used as a mechanism for moving 3b. The vertical air cylinders 82 and 83 vertically move the support member 86 that supports the air cylinder 82 and the air knife 53b in the carrying direction, and the air cylinder 81 in the carrying direction carries the support member 87 that supports the air knife 53a. It is designed to move in the direction.

The operating air of the air cylinders 81, 82 and 83 is a part of the air supplied from the blower fan 60 to the air knives 53a and 53b.
It is designed to be supplied via 78 and 79. The supply pipe 84 includes, for example, a pressure reducing valve 76 and two solenoid valves 80, 8
5 are provided, and these solenoid valves 80 and 85 are respectively provided with solenoid valve control units 75 based on signals from the microphone 70.
It is controlled by. As a result, the air knife 53a on the front surface side adjusts the position with respect to the transport direction (X direction in the drawing) and moves toward and away from the substrate G (Z in the drawing).
Direction), that is, the position of the gap t with the substrate G can be adjusted, and the position of the back side air knife 53b with respect to the gap u of the substrate G can be adjusted.

By using a rodless air cylinder as the air cylinder, such air knives 53a and 53b can be driven.

Also in this embodiment, similarly to the above embodiment, the sound quality and timbre such as the frequency and sound pressure level of the air blown onto the substrate G are detected, and the sound is blasted onto the substrate G based on this. The front surface side air knife 53a is moved with respect to the fixed rear surface side air knife 53b so that the areas of the generated air are matched on the front and back surfaces of the substrate.

In this way, the air knife 53b on the back side is fixed in the carrying direction, and the air knife 53a on the front side is fixed.
By adjusting the position of only one, it is possible to reduce the number of drive units, and the position adjustment becomes easy.

Further, by using the air from the blower fan 60 as the power source for moving the air knife, it is possible to reduce power consumption and save energy as compared with belt driving using a motor or the like.

Similarly, the position adjustment relating to the gaps t and u also detects the sound quality and timbre such as the frequency and the sound pressure level of the sound of the air blown onto the substrate G. For example, if a frequency equal to or higher than a predetermined frequency can be detected, it may be regarded as a normal gap, or a gap for each frequency may be stored as a database and the air pressure blown to the substrate G may be adjusted by arbitrarily adjusting the gap. You can also adjust
The drying performance can be precisely controlled.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made.

For example, without providing a microphone for detecting "sound", the "sound" may be detected by the operator's hearing and the relative positions of both nozzles may be manually adjusted. In this case, it is preferable to perform the position adjustment based on the frequency or sound pressure level of the "sound", that is, the pitch or intensity of the sound that can be easily recognized by human hearing.

For example, in FIG. 6, the air knives 53a and 53b on both the front and back sides are driven.
The back side air knife 53b may be fixed, and the front side air knife 53a may be driven in accordance with the back side. Alternatively, the front side may be fixed and the back side may be driven.

Similar air knife nozzles may be provided on the front and back sides so as to sandwich the substrate on the downstream side of the air knives 53a and 53b, or only one nozzle on the front side may be provided.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the position adjustment of the air knives 53a and 53b on both the front and back sides is performed by independent driving units. However, in conjunction with the driving of the air knives 53a on the front side, Air knife 5
A drive mechanism for driving 3b in the opposite direction may be provided.

[0079]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to reduce the labor of the operator in adjusting the position of the air knife nozzle and to accurately adjust the position of the air knife nozzle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a coating and developing treatment system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG.

3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 (a) Scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR),
FIG. 3B is a schematic side view showing the development processing unit (DEV).

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view showing a drying apparatus to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view of the drying processing apparatus shown in FIG. 5 and a conceptual configuration diagram of a nozzle position adjusting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing frequencies of sounds generated when air ejected from an air knife nozzle is blown onto a substrate for each substrate region.

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a state where the positions of the air knives on the front and back surfaces are relatively displaced.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state where the relative positions of the air knives on the front and back sides are in the normal position.

FIG. 10 is a conceptual configuration diagram of a nozzle position adjusting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

G ... Glass substrate t, u ... gap 53a ... Air knife nozzle on the front side 53b ... Air knife nozzle on the back side 60 ... Blower fan 66 ... Supply pipe 67 ... Transport direction drive unit 70 ... Mike 75 ... Solenoid valve control unit 77, 78, 79 ... Piping 80, 85 ... Solenoid valve 81, 82, 83 ... Air cylinder

Continued front page    F term (reference) 3L113 AA03 AB02 AC36 AC45 AC48                       AC52 AC54 AC63 AC64 AC67                       BA34 DA22 DA25                 5F046 LA04 LA14

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. At least a pair of nozzles, which are arranged on both front and back surfaces of a substrate to be conveyed in a predetermined direction and eject air toward the substrate, and air ejected from the nozzles to the substrate to be conveyed. A nozzle position adjusting device comprising: a sensor that detects a sound when blown; and an adjusting unit that adjusts a relative position of the pair of nozzles based on the detection of the sensor. 2. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor detects a change in a frequency of the sound or a sound pressure level. 3. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting unit includes a transfer direction drive mechanism for adjusting a relative position of the pair of nozzles in a predetermined transfer direction of the substrate. A nozzle position adjusting device characterized by: 4. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting unit adjusts the relative position to a normal value when the ejected air is blown to the corresponding regions on the front and back surfaces of the substrate. A nozzle position adjusting device comprising means for recognizing the position. 5. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 3, wherein the adjusting unit further includes a gap direction drive mechanism for adjusting the gaps of the pair of nozzles from the front and back surfaces of the substrate. A nozzle position adjusting device. 6. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 5, wherein the transport direction drive mechanism and the gap direction drive mechanism have an air cylinder mechanism, and a part of the air supplied to the two nozzles is provided. A nozzle position adjusting device, further comprising means for activating the air cylinder mechanism. 7. A nozzle arranged on a surface of a substrate to be conveyed in a predetermined direction, for ejecting air to the substrate, and air blown from the nozzle to be blown to the substrate to be conveyed. A nozzle position adjusting device comprising: a sensor that detects sound; and an adjusting unit that adjusts a gap between the nozzle and the substrate based on the detection of the sensor. 8. The nozzle position adjusting device according to claim 7, wherein the sensor detects a change in the frequency of the sound or the sound pressure level. 9. A nozzle position adjusting method comprising at least a pair of nozzles, which are respectively arranged on both front and back surfaces of a substrate conveyed in a predetermined direction and eject air toward the substrate, wherein the air ejected from the nozzle is A nozzle position adjusting method, wherein the relative position of the pair of nozzles is adjusted based on the sound generated when the substrate is blown onto the conveyed substrate. 10. The nozzle position adjusting method according to claim 9, wherein the position adjustment is performed based on a change in frequency or sound pressure level of the sound.