JP2003124181A - Substrate processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a bend without making the array pitch of a roller unit small even in the case of a large and thin substrate where the bend easily occurs. SOLUTION: In a roller transport means, a plurality of support rollers are arranged in the direction of a rotation axis, and the support roller units are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis transports the substrate 10 in a horizontal direction. In paddle processing parts 44 and 64, endless belts 43 and 63 are stretched between the support rollers arranged in a transport direction. The endless belts 43 and 63 support the substrate 10 and the bend of the substrate 10 is prevented between the rollers. Thus, paddle processing parts 44 and 64 stably hold liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate 10. The contact area of the endless belts 43 and 63 with respect to the substrate 10 is small, and the supply of liquid to the lower face of the substrate 10 is not substantially suffocated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus used for manufacturing glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A glass substrate used in a liquid crystal display device is manufactured by repeatedly subjecting a surface of a glass substrate, which is a raw material, to chemical treatment such as etching and peeling. The processing equipment is roughly classified into a dry type and a wet type, and the wet type is further classified into a batch type and a single-wafer type. The single-wafer type is further subdivided into a fixed position rotary type and a horizontal transfer type.

Of these substrate processing apparatuses, the horizontal transfer type usually has a basic structure in which the processing liquid is supplied to the surface of the substrate while the substrate is being transferred horizontally by rollers, which is highly efficient. For this reason, it has been used for etching and peeling treatments.

In the etching process using such a substrate processing apparatus, a large number of spray nozzles arranged in a matrix above the substrate transfer line eject an etching solution in a shower shape to pass the substrate through the shower. As a result, the etching liquid is supplied to the entire surface of the substrate. After the etching process is completed, a cleaning process using a pure water shower and a draining process are subsequently performed.

Here, as the substrate carrying roller, a plurality of thin substrate supporting rollers are attached to a rotary shaft in a substrate width direction perpendicular to the substrate carrying direction, and a plurality of substrate supporting roller units are arranged at a predetermined interval in the substrate carrying direction. It is structured.
As a result, the substrate is transported in the horizontal direction while being supported at a plurality of points in the width direction and the transport direction. The purpose of supporting the substrate at the point is to ensure that the treatment liquid is sufficiently supplied also to the back surface in the water washing treatment or the like.

[0006]

By the way, recently, in order to improve the productivity and processability of glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices, the substrates are becoming larger in size, and at the same time, they are made thinner for the purpose of weight reduction and the like. Is also progressing. Therefore, the substrate is very easy to bend.

In the case of a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus using a transfer roller, the substrate is largely bent downward between the roller units as the size and thickness of the substrate are reduced. In an etching process or a cleaning process using a normal shower, since the processing liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate is quickly discharged from the surface, the bending of the substrate between the roller units does not cause a big problem. However, in the paddle processing, the bending of the substrate becomes a big problem.

[0008] That is, the paddle processing is a state in which the processing liquid is placed on the surface of the substrate over the entire width, and
This is a process of transferring the substrate. When the etching solution is suddenly showered on the surface of the dried substrate, the portion where the droplet first hits remains as a stain depending on the type of the substrate and the etching solution. In order to prevent this, a small amount of etching is supplied to the surface of the substrate over the entire width from the slit nozzle prior to the shower of the etching solution, and the substrate is placed in a stationary state by surface tension. However, when the substrate is bent downward between the roller units, the processing liquid cannot be stably placed on the substrate due to this huddle processing. This makes paddle processing difficult.

When the water washing process following the etching process is completed, the substrate is subjected to a water draining process. One of the draining processes is a process using an air knife. This is a method in which pressurized air is blown in a thin film form from the upper and lower slit nozzles to the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate over the entire width, and water droplets are removed from the upper and lower surfaces thereof. In the case of this method, if water droplets remain on the substrate surface prior to draining, there is a risk that spots will remain after draining. Therefore, even in the water draining process, the paddle process in which the processing liquid is placed on the entire surface of the substrate is effective. However, when the substrate bends downward between the roller units, the paddle process here also becomes difficult.

If the arrangement pitch of the roller units is made small, this bending is suppressed, but if the arrangement pitch is made small enough to maintain the flatness of a large and thin modern substrate,
The number of roller units significantly increases, and the equipment cost rises. Further, it becomes difficult to supply a sufficient amount of cleaning water to the lower surface of the substrate. Therefore, it is not a good idea to prevent the bending of the latest large-sized board by reducing the arrangement pitch of the roller units.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of preventing the bending even if the substrate is large and thin and easily bent without reducing the arrangement pitch of the roller units.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention has a plurality of support rollers arranged in the direction of the rotation axis, and the support roller units are arranged in the direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. By the arrayed roller type conveying means,
In a horizontal transfer type substrate processing apparatus for transferring a substrate in a horizontal direction and passing it through a plurality of processing parts to perform wet processing on the surface of the substrate, at least a part of the transfer means of the transfer means, and a support arranged in the transfer direction. An endless belt is stretched between the rollers.

The part is, for example, a paddle processing section in which the substrate is conveyed while the processing liquid is allowed to stand still over the entire width of the substrate.

In the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the substrate is supported between the supporting rollers arranged in the carrying direction by the endless belt stretched between the supporting rollers. This prevents the substrate from bending between the rollers. The endless belt has a small contact area with the substrate and does not substantially hinder the supply of the processing liquid to the lower surface of the substrate.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a roller type conveying means of the substrate processing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a draining section of the substrate processing apparatus. Is.

The substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment is an etching apparatus used for manufacturing glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices. This substrate processing apparatus, as shown in FIG.
Receiving section 20, liquid avoiding section 30, etching section 40, water washing section 50 and draining section 6 which are arranged in order in the transport direction of
It has 0.

The respective parts are roller type transfer means 21, 31, 41, 5 for horizontally supporting the substrate 10 and transferring it in the horizontal direction.
1, 61 respectively. FIG. 2 shows the arrangement of these roller type conveying means in the etching section 40.
The supporting roller units 42, 4 will be described below.
2 are arranged in the transport direction of the substrate 10. Each of the support roller units 42 includes a horizontal drive shaft 42a that is perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the substrate 10 and a plurality of support rollers 42b, 42b that are attached at predetermined intervals in the axial direction of the horizontal drive shaft 42a.
And a drive mechanism (not shown) for driving the horizontal drive shaft 42a.

The supporting rollers 42b, 42b, ... Are pulleys in a paddle processing section 44, which will be described later, which is set at the entrance of the etching section 40. Then, the corresponding support rollers 42b, 42 of the adjacent roller units 42, 42
An endless belt 43 is stretched between b. In the other part of the etching section 40, the supporting rollers 42b, 42b ...
Is a normal substrate supporting roller that comes into point contact with the lower surface of the substrate 10.

Similarly, a paddle processing section 64 is also set at the entrance of the water draining section 60, and the supporting rollers 62b, 62b, ... An endless belt 63 is stretched between the corresponding support rollers 62b and 62b of 62 and 62. In the other portions of the draining portion 60, the support rollers 62b, 62b, ... Are ordinary substrate support rollers that make point contact with the lower surface of the substrate 10.

In the receiving portion 20, the liquid avoiding portion 30, and the water washing portion 50, the supporting rollers of all the roller units are ordinary substrate supporting rollers which make point contact with the lower surface of the substrate 10.

The above is the configuration of the roller type conveying means provided in the receiving section 20, the liquid avoiding section 30, the etching section 40, the water washing section 50 and the water draining section 60. The configuration of the parts excluding the conveying means will be described below.

The liquid avoiding portion 30 provided between the receiving portion 20 and the etching portion 40 is a buffer (buffer portion) for preventing the etching liquid from entering the receiving portion 20 from the etching portion 40.

The entrance portion of the etching section 40 is a paddle processing section 44. The paddle processing unit 44 is provided with a slit nozzle 45 for paddle processing that supplies a small amount of etching liquid over the entire width of the upper surface of the substrate 10. A shower unit 46 that supplies a large amount of etching solution in a shower shape from above is provided on the upper surface of the substrate 10 on the downstream side of the slit nozzle 45.

In the water washing section 50, a first shower unit 55 for spraying pure water from above on the upper surface of the substrate 10 and a second shower unit 55 for spraying pure water from below on the lower surface of the substrate 10 are provided. The shower unit 56 is provided so as to sandwich the transfer line for the substrate 10.

The liquid draining section 60 is a drying section for removing water from both surfaces of the substrate 10 which has been washed with water. The inlet portion of the liquid draining unit 60 is the paddle processing unit 64. Paddle processing unit 64
3, a slit nozzle 65 for paddle processing that supplies a small amount of pure water over the entire width from above is provided on the upper surface of the substrate 10. Slit nozzle 65
A pair of upper and lower slit nozzles 66 and 67 for air knives are provided on the downstream side. The upper slit nozzle 66 removes water droplets / water from the upper surface of the substrate 10 by blowing pressurized air in a thin film shape over the entire upper surface of the substrate 10. The lower slit nozzle 67 removes water droplets / water from the lower surface of the substrate 10 by blowing pressurized air in a thin film shape over the entire lower surface of the substrate 10.

The slit nozzles 66 and 67 are used to improve the efficiency of removing water droplets / water, and the substrate 1 is viewed from the side.
It is inclined to the upstream side of 0 in the transport direction, and is inclined to the side in a plan view.

In the substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment, the substrate 10 passes through the receiving portion 20, the liquid avoiding portion 30, the etching portion 40, the water washing portion 50, and the water draining portion 60 in this order to etch the upper surface of the substrate 10. Processed,
After the upper and lower surfaces are washed, they are dried.

In the etching process in the etching section 40, first, a small amount of etching liquid is supplied from the slit nozzle 45 to the upper surface of the substrate 10 in the paddle processing section 44 at the entrance portion over the entire width and held by surface tension. Then, etching is supplied from the shower unit 46 to the upper surface of the substrate 10 proceeding in the paddle state. As a result, a uniform etching process is performed.

In the paddle processing section 44 at the entrance,
The substrate 10 is supported at a plurality of points in the width direction by the support rollers 42b, 42b of the roller unit 42 arranged in the transport direction, and between the roller units 42, 42,
It is supported by the endless belt 43 stretched around the corresponding support rollers 42b, 42b. For this reason, the bending of the substrate 10 between the roller units 42, 42 is prevented. As a result, the paddle processing unit 44 stably holds the etching liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate 10, and the shower process is subsequently performed with the etching liquid, so that etching unevenness is particularly effectively prevented.

In the drying process in the water draining unit 60, first, the slit nozzle 65 is formed in the paddle processing unit 64 at the entrance.
A small amount of etching liquid is supplied to the upper surface of the substrate 10 over the entire width, and is held by surface tension. Then, pressurized air is blown in a thin film form from the upper slit nozzle 66 on the upper surface of the substrate 10 which advances in the paddle state. Pressurized air is blown to the lower surface from the lower slit nozzle 67 in a thin film shape.

When the substrate 10 is water repellent, pure water is partially (in the form of water droplets) placed on the upper surface immediately after washing with water. When pressurized air is blown in a thin film form from the upper slit nozzle 66 in this state, uneven drying occurs on the upper surface thereof. However, just before draining with a jet knife using the slit nozzle 66, pure water is placed over the entire width. By draining water with an air knife in this state, water remaining on the upper surface of the substrate 10 is completely removed.

In the paddle processing section 64 at the entrance,
The substrate 10 is supported at a plurality of points in the width direction by the support rollers 62b, 62b of the roller unit 62 arranged in the transport direction, and between the roller units 62, 62,
It is supported by the endless belt 63 stretched around the corresponding support rollers 62b and 62b. For this reason, the bending of the substrate 10 between the roller units 62, 62 is prevented. As a result, the pure water supplied to the surface of the substrate 10 is stably held by the paddle processing unit 64, and the water knife is then drained to effectively prevent uneven drying after draining. It

In the above embodiment, the endless belt is provided only in the paddle processing section, but it is also possible to support the substrate by the endless belt in other portions (for example, the entire etching section).

[0034]

As described above, according to the substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the endless belt is stretched between the support rollers arranged in the carrying direction at least in a part of the carrying direction of the roller-type carrying means. Even if the substrate has a large size and is easily bent, the bending can be prevented without reducing the arrangement pitch of the roller units. This enables stable paddle processing. In addition, an increase in equipment cost can be suppressed, and a sufficient amount of processing liquid can be supplied to the lower surface of the substrate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a roller type conveying means of the substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view of a draining part of the substrate processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 substrates 20 Reception Department 21 Roller type transport means 22 Support roller unit 30 liquid avoidance part 31 Roller type transportation means 32 Support roller unit 40 Etching part 41 Roller type transport means 42 Support roller unit 43 endless belt 44 Paddle processing section 45 Slit nozzle for paddle processing 46 shower unit 50 Water Wash Department 51 roller type transport means 52 Support roller unit 55,56 Shower unit 60 Drainer 61 Roller type transport means 62 Support roller unit 63 endless belt 64 paddle processing unit 65 Slit nozzle for paddle processing 66,67 slit nozzle for air knife

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F-term (reference) 4F042 AA02 AA06 DF19                 5F031 CA05 FA02 GA51 GA53 HA48                       HA57 HA60 MA23 MA24 PA13                       PA18                 5F043 EE07 EE36 GG10

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate is conveyed in a horizontal direction by a roller type conveying means in which a plurality of supporting rollers are arranged in a direction of a rotation axis and a plurality of supporting roller units are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis. In a horizontal transfer-type substrate processing apparatus for passing a substrate to perform wet processing on the surface of a substrate, an endless belt is stretched between support rollers arranged in the transfer direction in at least a part of the transfer means in the transfer direction. And a substrate processing apparatus. 2. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the part is a paddle processing unit in which the substrate is conveyed while the processing liquid is left standing on the substrate over the entire width.