JP2003107488A - Method and apparatus for scattering spacer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To smoothly remove a substrate, on which spacers are scattered, from a stage without disturbing the scattered state in the case of scattering the spacers to the substrate. SOLUTION: In the spacer scattering apparatus that scatters spacers onto the substrate 2 held by suction on the stage 1 in a chamber 4, when the scattered state of the spacers onto the substrate 2 is defective, a changeover device 8 selects a position of increasing the suction holding force exerted on the substrate 2 on the stage 1 and a cleaner 10 sucks and removes the spacers 3 on the substrate 2 strongly sucked. Since the suction holding force exerted to the substrate 2 in the stage 1 is increased only when the spacers 3 whose scattering state is defective are removed, the substrate 2 on which the spacers are normally scattered is held on the stage 1 with a smaller suction holding force. Thus, a vacuum destructive force exerted when the substrate 2 is removed is small, production of new static electricity is reduced and disturbance of the distribution of the spacers properly scattered can be avoided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a spacer spraying device and a spacer spraying method used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the manufacture of a liquid crystal display panel, in order to form cell gaps with a predetermined distance, one spherical substrate made of silica or the like called a spacer is formed on the mating surface of one of two glass substrates to be superposed. Beads are sprinkled.

Wet spraying methods and dry spraying methods are known for spraying spacers. The wet spray method is a method in which the spacer is mixed with an organic solvent such as CFC or ethanol and sprayed on the substrate surface in the chamber (spray tank) .The dry spray method is the spacer in a pipe made of stainless steel or the like. Is pressure-fed by a gas such as air or nitrogen and is sprayed on the substrate surface in the chamber.

In the dry spraying method, the spacer is negative due to the frictional force between the spacer and the pipe wall during the pressure feeding.
Since each spacer is repelled by each other, the spacers are sprayed while repelling each other.However, in order to perform uniform spraying efficiently, the inner wall of the chamber has the same negative polarity as the spacer, and the stage that holds the substrate by suction is opposite the spacer. Various measures have been taken, such as setting to a positive (positive) polarity or earth (ground) state, and further spraying while swinging the spray nozzle.

In the dry spray method, as described above,
Since each spacer is negatively charged and repels each other, the agglomeration of the spacers is relatively small and the spacers are dispersed relatively uniformly on the substrate surface, but the spacers themselves are powders with an extremely small particle size. Originally, it has the property of easily forming aggregates. Therefore, if they are scattered on the substrate surface in an agglomerated state, the cell gap becomes large only in that portion, which becomes a cause of display unevenness in a liquid crystal display panel or the like.

In addition, since spacers attached to the inner wall of the chamber or the periphery of the spray nozzle may slip and attach to the substrate surface as a lump, in any case, in the manufacture of the display panel, the spacer after spraying is used. The dispersion state is checked to see if there is uneven adhesion, etc., and only the substrates for which it is determined that the spacers have been dispersed well are released after removal of the suction on the stage and carried out to the next step. When the sprayed state is poor, the spacers on the substrate are removed and the spacers are sprayed again.

In the spacer spraying device, a so-called cleaner having a dust collecting function is installed, and the spacers on the substrate surface which are determined to be in a poor spraying state are removed by suction by the cleaner. Since the cleaner uses a suction nozzle to suck and remove the spacer, the substrate is strongly vacuumed onto the stage surface so that the suction force of the nozzle does not attract the substrate when the spacer is sucked by this nozzle. Adsorbed and retained.

[0008]

As described above, in the spacer spraying device, when the spacer spraying state on the substrate is determined to be defective, the spacer is sucked and removed by the cleaner, so that the substrate itself is strongly attached to the stage surface in advance. Adsorbed and held.

The substrate for which it is determined that the spacers are well dispersed on the substrate surface is released from the vacuum suction on the stage and removed from the stage surface when it is delivered to the next step.

Observing the state in which the substrate is released from the stage by vacuum suction and is peeled off, the substrate is strongly vacuum-sucked and is peeled off from the surface contact state through a rapid vacuum break. There is a phenomenon in which a strong air friction is generated between the stage surface and the substrate surface and strong static air friction is generated between the substrate surface and the static electricity surface.

As described above, when the substrate is removed by removing the suction and holding on the stage surface, if a new static electricity is generated, the static electricity generated negatively charges the substrate, and it is uniformly and properly dispersed. The distribution of the spacers used to be disturbed causes a display defect in a liquid crystal display panel or the like.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a spacer spraying device and a spacer spraying method capable of removing a substrate after spraying from a stage without disturbing a good spraying state of spacers. The purpose is to do.

[0013]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a stage for adsorbing and holding a substrate on a stage in a chamber, and a stage for adsorbing and holding the substrate in a spacer sprinkling device for sprinkling spacers on the substrate surface. And a cleaner configured to be capable of removing the spacers scattered on the substrate surface from the substrate surface.

As described above, since the spacer spraying device of the present invention is provided with the switch capable of switching and selecting the suction holding force of the substrate, the switching selection allows the suction of the substrate on the stage only in the spacer removing operation by the cleaner. The holding power can be increased.

Therefore, in the state where the spacers are uniformly and properly dispersed, the substrate after the spacers can be removed from the stage while maintaining the relatively low and small suction holding force. It is possible to suppress the generation of new static electricity that affects the spraying state.

A second aspect of the invention is a spacer spraying method of spraying spacers on the surface of a substrate suction-held in a chamber, the step of sucking and holding the substrate on a stage,
On the surface of the substrate suction-held on the stage, the step of spraying the spacer, the step of, after spraying the spacer, determining the spraying state of the spacer on the surface of the substrate, when the spacer spraying state is determined to be defective, A step of increasing the suction holding force of the stage; a step of removing the spacer on the substrate surface in a state where the suction holding force is increased; and a step of reducing the suction holding force of the stage after the spacer on the substrate surface is removed. And a step of spraying spacers again on the substrate surface in a state where the suction holding force is reduced.

As described above, according to the spacer spraying method of the present invention, when the spacer spraying state is poor, the suction holding force of the stage is increased to remove the spacer, and in other cases, the stage suction holding force is increased. Since the substrate is removed in a low and small state after the spacers have been scattered, it is possible to avoid the generation of static electricity that disturbs the scattered state of the spacers properly dispersed, as in the conventional case.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of a spacer spraying device and a spacer spraying method of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
Will be described with reference to.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a spacer spraying device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although FIG. 1 shows a state in which the spacers 3 are scattered on the surface of the substrate 2 sucked and held by the stage 1, the spraying operation procedure will be described in detail below together with the specific configuration of the entire apparatus.

That is, the substrate 2 is a chamber (spray tank) 4
The spacer feeder 5 which is inside and stores the spacer 3 is
It is connected to a spray nozzle 5b provided on the ceiling of the chamber 4 via a pipe 5a.

The stage 1 for sucking and holding the substrate 2 moves on the carrier rail 6 in the direction of the arrow X in the figure to receive the substrate 2 in the chamber 4 in which the spacers 3 are scattered and the substrate 2 indicated by the two-dot chain line in the figure. It is configured to be reciprocable to and from the delivery position.

The substrate 2 on which the spacers 3 are scattered is shown in FIG.
At the position shown by the dotted line, it is supplied onto the stage 1 via a supply device for the substrate 2 (not shown).

A pin 1a for delivering the substrate 2 is provided on the stage 1 so as to be movable up and down, and the pin 1a is raised.
Receives the substrate 2 and descends to mount the substrate 2 on the surface of the stage 1.

A controller 7 is installed in the spraying device to control and control the spraying operation of the entire device. The substrate 2 placed on the stage 1 is controlled in advance by the controller 7 by the switching device 8. It is sucked and held on the stage 1 by a predetermined set relatively weak suction and holding force (the minimum suction force necessary for holding the substrate 2 on the stage 1 without shifting).

Although not shown, the suction hole opened on the surface of the stage 1 for sucking the substrate 2 is connected to a suction pump for sucking the substrate 2 as in the conventional case, and the substrate 2 is attached to the suction pump. The stage 1 is vacuum-adsorbed by the suction force of the suction pump. Then, the switching device 8 is controlled by the controller 7, and in addition to the ON-OFF control of the suction operation in the suction pump, the suction force is at least in two stages of large and small (a suction force (a suction force that gives a preset predetermined suction force ( (Small) and a suction force (large) sufficient to prevent the substrate 2 from being attracted by suction by the cleaner 10, which will be described later, can be switched and set. Further, an atmosphere release valve (not shown) is connected to the adsorption hole, and this atmosphere release valve operates in conjunction with OFF control of the suction operation by the switching unit 8 to open the vacuum pressure in the adsorption hole to the atmosphere. To do.

The stage 1 which receives the substrate 2 and holds it by suction
Moves on the transport rail 6 under the control of the controller 7,
After the door 4a moves upward in the direction of the arrow Y and opens from the entrance of the chamber 4 to the position shown by the solid line, and the door 4a is closed, the spacer 3 is moved to the stage 1 from the spray nozzle 5b on the ceiling of the chamber 4. It is configured so as to be supplied and scattered on the surface of the substrate 2 that is suction-held.

The stage 1 is charged with a positive polarity, or is held in a grounded state, and is disposed so as to be insulated from the chamber 4 whose inner wall surface is charged with a negative polarity.

The spacer 3 is a pipe 5a made of stainless steel by the pressure of air or an inert gas from the spacer feeder 5.
While being pressure-fed, the spacer 3 is jetted and supplied from the spray nozzle 5b into the chamber 4, but the spacer 3 that is negatively charged by the friction with the inner wall of the pipe 5a is transferred to the inner wall of the chamber 4 by the negative charge of the inner wall of the chamber 4. Is reduced, and is efficiently and uniformly dispersed on the surface of the substrate 2 on the stage 1.

The substrate 2 on which the spacers 3 have been sprayed is returned from the opened door 4a to the position shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 1A by the movement of the stage 1 on the transport rail 6. Although detached, the imaging device 9 is installed above the intermediate path to the removal position of the substrate 2, and the scattered state of the spacers 3 scattered on the substrate 2 is photographed.
The imaging pattern is supplied to the controller 7.

The controller 7 introduces the image pickup pattern from the image pickup device 9 and judges, for example, by pattern recognition, whether the spacers 3 are properly distributed on the substrate 2, that is, the scattered state.

When the controller 7 determines that the sprayed state on the substrate 2 after spraying is good, it controls the switch 8 to turn off the suction operation to the suction hole of the stage 1 (atmosphere opening valve operation). , The pin 1a of the stage 1 is controlled to be lifted, so that the substrate 2 from which the suction holding is released is separated from the upper surface of the stage 1. The substrate 2 separated from the upper surface of the stage 1 is carried to the next step by a carry-out robot (not shown).

Further, when the controller 7 determines that the spacers 3 are not properly distributed, that is, when the spacers 3 are defective, the stage 1
The switching device 8 is controlled so as to increase the suction force applied to the suction holes and to increase the suction holding force of the substrate 2 by the stage 1, and move the stage 1 toward the chamber 4 again.

Therefore, above the front side of the chamber 4, a cleaner 10 is arranged so that the spacer 3 on the substrate 2 can be removed by suction. As shown in the figure, the cleaner 10 includes a vacuum head 10a and a cleaner head 1 through a pipe 10b.
0c, the spacer 3 on the surface of the substrate 2 passing toward the chamber 4 is sucked and removed by the operation of the vacuum source 10a by the controller 7. The opening of the cleaner head 10c for sucking the spacer 3 is
As shown in FIG. 1B when the arrow direction is taken from the line AA of FIG. 1A, it is formed to have a width slightly wider than the width H of the substrate 2.

Thus, the cleaner 10 by the controller 7
Of the substrate 2 on which the spacers 3 are improperly dispersed by the control of the
However, in order to receive the spraying of the spacer 3 again, the chamber 4
In the process of returning to the inside, the spacer 3 on the substrate 2 is sucked and removed.

After the stage 1 is moved into the chamber 4,
The controller 7 controls the switch 8 to temporarily turn off the suction operation to the suction hole of the stage 1 (atmosphere opening valve operation) until the spraying of the spacer 3 from the spraying nozzle 5b is newly performed. After that, the suction force applied to the suction holes is controlled to be lower than the suction force up to that point, that is, the suction force that provides a predetermined preset suction force is switched to turn on the suction operation.

As described above, since the large suction force acting on the suction hole of the stage 1 is once turned off and released to the atmosphere, the state where the stage 1 and the substrate 2 are in strong surface contact is maintained. Since it is once released and then held again with a small suction holding force, the amount of static electricity generated by the vacuum break at the time of peeling the substrate 2 after the spraying from the stage 1 is reduced.

Of course, instead of opening the adsorption holes to the atmosphere, the adsorption holes can be switched and connected to a positive pressure supply source, and a positive pressure is applied to the substrate 2 on the stage 1 so as not to cause a large displacement. You may do it.

In any case, as described above, the substrate 2 from which the spacers 3 which have been improperly scattered are removed is automatically held in the chamber 1 on the stage 1 by the initial low vacuum suction force. The normal spraying is resumed after returning to the normal state.

As described above, according to the spacer spraying apparatus and the spraying method of this embodiment, the substrate 2 is controlled by the controller 7, and when it is removed from the stage 1 after the spacers 3 have been sprayed, a small and low vacuum is applied. Since it is in the adsorption state, when the substrate 2 is removed from the stage 1, it is possible to avoid the generation of large static electricity that adversely affects the spraying process, and the substrate 2 is removed from the stage 1 without disturbing the good spraying state. Therefore, it is possible to improve the efficiency of spacer dispersion.

A concrete procedure in the controller 7 having the above construction will be further described with reference to the flow chart shown in FIG.

That is, FIG. 2 shows the procedure of the spraying control operation in the controller 7. First, the controller 7 sucks and holds the conveyed substrate 2 on the stage 1 (step 2).
A). Next, the controller 7 moves the stage 1 on the transfer rail 6 and transfers the stage 1 into the chamber 4.
Then, the door 4a is closed and the spacers 3 are scattered on the substrate 2 (step 2B).

After the spraying of the spacers 3 is completed, the controller 7
Moves the stage 1 on the transfer rail 6,
It is positioned at the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in (a). Then, at this position, the controller 7 captures an image of the substrate 2 by the image capturing device 9, and the spacer 3 detects the substrate 2 based on the image capturing pattern.
It is determined whether or not the particles are properly dispersed and distributed on the upper side, and whether or not the dispersion state is good (step 2C).

Next, in step 2D, the controller 7 determines that the dispersion state of the spacers 3 on the substrate 2 is proper (Y
ES), the process proceeds to step 2E, the switching device 8 is controlled to turn off the suction operation to the suction hole of the stage 1, and the pin 1a is controlled to move upward to move the substrate 2 to the stage 1.
Remove it from the top surface and transport it to the next process (Step 2
E), the spraying of the spacers on one substrate 2 is completed.

When it is determined in step 2D that the spraying state of the spacer 3 is improper (defective) (NO), the process proceeds to step 2F, and the controller 7 controls the switch 8 to hold the suction holes of the stage 1. Increase the suction force that acts on.

Then, in step 2G, the controller 7
Activates the cleaner 10, moves the stage 1 into the chamber 4, and sucks and removes the spacers 3 scattered on the surface of the substrate 2 in the movement process. After the stage 1 has moved into the chamber 4, the controller 7 controls the switch 8 to temporarily turn off the suction operation of the stage 1 to the suction holes.

After step 2G, the controller 7 turns off the operation of the cleaner 10, and thereafter, the suction force applied to the suction holes of the stage 1 is set to a predetermined value smaller than the suction force up to that point. Then, the suction operation is turned on by controlling the suction force to obtain the suction holding force of 1, and the suction force substrate 2 is sucked onto the stage 1, and the normal spraying operation of the spacer 3 is restarted (step 2H).

After step 2H, the controller 7 returns to step 2C and executes the subsequent steps.

As described above, even if the spacers 3 which have been improperly dispersed are removed, the substrate 2 is re-adsorbed and held on the stage 1 by a predetermined suction force set in advance, and then the spraying operation is performed. Will be done.

As described above, according to the spacer spraying apparatus and the spacer spraying method of this embodiment, the substrate 2 is controlled by the controller 7 so that it can be removed from the stage 1 after the spacers 3 have been sprayed. Since it is possible to prevent the generation of large static electricity that has an adverse effect, it is possible to remove the substrate 2 from the stage 1 without disturbing the good dispersion state, and as a result, it is possible to perform efficient spacer dispersion.

Further, when the spacer 3 is sucked and removed by the cleaner 10, the substrate 2 is held by a strong suction force, so that the spacer 3 is surely removed without the substrate 2 being sucked by the cleaner 10. be able to.

Although detailed description is omitted in the configuration shown in FIG. 1, in the configuration for switching the suction holding force of the substrate 2 by the vacuum suction of the stage 1 by the switch 8, the switch 8 includes the suction pump and the stage 1. A solenoid valve provided on a pipe between the stage 1 and the stage 1 is configured to control opening and closing, and a pressure sensor and a regulator are provided on the pipe to provide the stage 1
It may be configured to monitor the suction force at and to perform feedback control.

Further, since the substrate 2 has a planar spread and is adsorbed on the surface of the stage 1, a plurality of adsorption holes are provided on the surface of the stage 1 and adsorption is held for each adsorption pipe connected to each of the adsorption holes. The force is settable, the suction holding force of a predetermined number of the suction holes is set low, and the suction holding force of the remaining suction holes is set high, and spacers improperly sprayed. Only when 3 is removed, the switching control may be performed so that the suction force acts on the suction hole for which the suction holding force is set to be high. With such a configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as the above-described embodiment.

In any case, according to the spacer spraying apparatus and the spraying method of the present invention, the holding force of the vacuum suction of the substrate on the stage is enhanced and the spacers are removed only when the spacers are inappropriately sprayed. Therefore, the substrate with the spacers properly and properly dispersed can be removed from the stage under a small vacuum suction force at all times, the generation of static electricity that disturbs the spacer dispersion is avoided, and it is smooth and efficient. Different spacers can be sprayed.

[0054]

As described above, according to the present invention, the spacer is removed by enhancing the suction holding force of the substrate with respect to the stage only when the spacer is improperly dispersed.
The substrate after spraying can be removed from the stage without disturbing the good spraying state of the spacers, and the efficiency of spacer spraying can be improved. Can be demonstrated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 (a) is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a spacer spraying device according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 (b) is FIG.
It is the sectional view on the AA line of (a).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation procedure of the device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 stage 2 substrates 3 spacers 4 chambers 5 Spacer feeder 5a piping 5b spray nozzle 6 Conveyor rail 7 controller 8 switch 9 Imaging equipment 10 cleaners 10a vacuum 10c cleaner head

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 2H089 LA07 NA10 NA11 NA24 NA48                       NA56 QA02 QA09 QA12 QA13                       QA14 TA04

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A spacer spraying device for sucking and holding a substrate on a stage in a chamber and spraying spacers on the surface of the substrate, wherein a stage for sucking and holding the substrate and a suction holding force for the substrate on the stage are selected. A spacer spraying device comprising: a switch capable of switching and a cleaner configured to remove the spacers sprayed on the substrate surface from the substrate surface. 2. The switching device is set so that, when the spacer is removed by the cleaner, the suction holding force of the substrate is increased more than when the spacer is scattered on the substrate surface. 1. The spacer spraying device according to 1. 3. A spacer spraying method for spraying spacers on a surface of a substrate suction-held in a chamber, the step of suction-holding the substrate on a stage, and the step of depositing the spacer on the surface of the substrate suction-held on the stage. The step of spraying, the step of determining the spraying state of the spacers on the substrate surface after spraying the spacers, the step of increasing the suction holding force of the stage when the spacer spraying state is determined to be poor, and the step of increasing the suction holding force. The spacer on the substrate surface is removed, the step of reducing the suction holding force of the stage after the spacer on the substrate surface is removed, and the step of removing the spacer on the substrate surface with the suction holding force reduced. A spacer spraying method comprising the steps of spraying again. 4. The spacer spraying method according to claim 3, wherein when the suction holding force of the stage is reduced, the suction holding force is released and then a predetermined suction holding force is obtained.