JP2005228958A - Transfer type substrate processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent uneven processings when the surface of a substrate is processed with shower, while making the substrate move along the direction of the transfer of the same. <P>SOLUTION: A shower unit 30 comprises a plurality of shower pipes 31 arranged perpendicularly in the substrate conveying direction, a plurality of shower nozzles 33 each being mounted at a predetermined interval on each shower pipe 31, and a manifold 32 intersecting each shower pipe 31 to supply a processing solution to the plurality of the shower pipes 31. The plurality of the shower pipes 31 rock the many shower nozzles 33 to both sides, by rotating them in a reciprocating manner in synchronism with a predetermined angle in the peripheral direction. Each shower pipe 31 penetrates the manifold 32 and protrudes at its one end, and includes the shower nozzles 33 at its protruding end. Since interferences due to the manifold 32 are eliminated, the processing solution can be showered without dead angle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a transport type substrate processing apparatus that processes a surface of a substrate with a processing liquid while transporting the substrate, and more specifically, a shower type transport that supplies a processing liquid to a surface of a transported substrate using a shower unit. The present invention relates to a type substrate processing apparatus.

  In the manufacture of a liquid crystal panel, an integrated circuit is formed on the substrate surface by repeatedly performing resist coating, development, etching, and resist stripping on the surface of a large-area glass substrate that is a material. One of the representative processing apparatuses used for various processes such as etching and resist stripping is a conveyance type substrate processing apparatus called flat flow.

  In the transfer type substrate processing apparatus, a predetermined process is performed on the surface of the substrate while transferring the substrate in the horizontal direction. For example, in the etching process, an etching solution is usually supplied to the surface of the substrate that is transported horizontally in a horizontal posture, and then pure water as cleaning water is supplied to the surface. When supplying an etchant or cleaning water to the surface of the substrate being transported, a shower unit is often used. This is because a shower unit is suitable for supplying a large amount of processing liquid to a large area substrate surface at a time.

  In the transfer type substrate processing apparatus using the shower unit, the processing liquid is sprayed simultaneously toward the substrate surface from a large number of shower nozzles arranged in a matrix on the substrate transfer line. A large number of shower nozzles are arranged so that the jet zones overlap between front, rear, left and right adjacent nozzles so as to prevent processing unevenness. As a result, the processing liquid is supplied to the entire surface of the substrate. However, on the other hand, the area where the injection zones overlap and the area that does not overlap are formed on the substrate surface, and the situation is that the processing unevenness has not been completely eliminated.

  For this reason, various devices have been devised in order to eliminate the latter processing unevenness, and one of them is a swinging shower type transport substrate processing apparatus described in Patent Document 1.

International Publication No. 02/49087 Pamphlet

  In a conventional swing shower type transfer substrate processing apparatus, a substrate to be processed is transferred by a transfer roller 1 as shown in FIG. A shower unit 2 is disposed above the substrate transfer line L. The shower unit 2 includes a plurality of shower pipes 3 arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction. Each shower pipe 3 is rotatably supported in the circumferential direction, and is rotated in both directions by a drive mechanism so that a plurality of shower nozzles 4 attached at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction swing at a predetermined angle to both sides. Driven. In order to eject the processing liquid from the plurality of shower nozzles 4, each one end of the plurality of shower pipes is connected to the manifold 5, and each other end is closed. The manifold 5 is a relatively large-diameter water supply pipe arranged in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction, and is connected to each end of the plurality of shower pipes 3 via a seal part 6 that does not hinder the rotation of the pipes. It is connected.

  In the swing shower type transfer type substrate processing apparatus, the shower of the processing liquid sprayed from the shower unit 2 swings alternately on both sides. Thereby, the process nonuniformity in the substrate surface is eliminated. In addition, compared with the case where the shower unit is moved back and forth and right and left, the effect of sweeping the processing liquid on the substrate to both sides is great, and the liquid replacement property is high, so that the uniform processing capability is high.

  By the way, in the field of manufacturing liquid crystal panels, recently, the size of a substrate to be processed is rapidly increasing. On the other hand, there is a strong demand to limit the space for installing the substrate processing apparatus as before. Usually, the shower unit 2 is accommodated in an independent chamber 7, and a plurality of chambers 7 are arranged vertically to constitute a processing apparatus. However, if the installation space is limited, the overall length of the chamber cannot be increased even if the substrate size is increased. What was conceived under such a restriction was a method of earning processing time by reciprocating the substrate back and forth in the transport direction in the chamber 7, and the larger the movement stroke, the better.

  That is, when the substrate is carried into the chamber 7, the substrate is repeatedly moved back and forth in the chamber 7 while ejecting the processing liquid from the shower unit 3. With the increase in size of the substrate, the difference between the total length of the substrate and the chamber has become slight (for example, the chamber length is 1500 mm with respect to the substrate length of 1300 mm), and the space between the walls 8 before and after the chamber 7 is utilized to the maximum extent. The substrate is moved back and forth.

  However, in the case of the swing shower type transfer substrate processing apparatus described above, the manifold 5 as a water supply mother pipe is disposed close to the wall 8 on one end side of the shower pipe 3. Due to the manifold 5, the end of the shower pipe 3 cannot be brought close to the wall 8 of the chamber 7. As a result, the shower nozzle 4 cannot be brought close to the wall 8, and a blind spot 9 is formed in which the shower does not sufficiently reach the vicinity of the wall 8 (below the manifold 5). When the substrate is moved back and forth between the front and rear walls 8 of the chamber 7, if the space between the walls is to be used to the fullest, processing blindness will occur due to this blind spot 9, and on the other hand, processing unevenness due to the blind spot 9 will be eliminated. The movement stroke of the substrate is limited, and processing unevenness due to this is a problem.

  In any case, due to the back-and-forth movement in the chamber 7 accompanying the increase in size of the substrate, processing unevenness due to the manifold 5 which has not been a problem until now has started to occur.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a swing shower type transfer type substrate processing apparatus capable of effectively preventing the occurrence of processing unevenness due to a manifold even when the substrate is moved back and forth between the front and rear walls of a chamber. It is in.

  In order to achieve the above object, the swing shower type transport type substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is a transport type substrate processing apparatus for supplying various kinds of wet processing by supplying a processing liquid to the surface of a transported substrate. A plurality of shower pipes that are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the direction, each reciprocally rotates in synchronization with a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction, a plurality of shower nozzles attached to each shower pipe at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of A shower unit of rocking nozzle type that combines each shower pipe and a manifold that intersects with each other to supply processing liquid to the shower pipe, and at least ends of the plurality of shower pipes protrude from the manifold. The structure in which at least one shower nozzle is attached to the protruding portion is employed.

  In the swing shower type transfer substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, the manifold is used by projecting at least one end of a plurality of shower pipes from the manifold and attaching at least one shower nozzle to the projecting portion. However, it becomes possible to arrange a shower nozzle at the end of the processing region. As a result, it becomes possible to shower the processing liquid without a blind spot in a wide range from one end to the other end of the processing region.

  The swing shower type transfer type substrate processing apparatus of the present invention is particularly effective when a shower unit is accommodated in a chamber and the processing liquid is sprayed on the surface of the substrate while reciprocating the substrate in the transfer direction in the chamber. It is. That is, even if the substrate is reciprocated using the space between the front and rear walls of the chamber as much as possible, the processing unevenness due to the front and rear blind spots does not occur.

  With regard to the connecting structure of the plurality of shower pipes and the manifold, the plurality of shower pipes are rotatably supported inside a tubular support member that penetrates the tubular manifold, and the manifold is attached to each shower pipe and the support member. It is preferable to provide a liquid inlet that communicates with the inside of the manifold so that the processing liquid is supplied from each through the inside of the support member to each shower pipe. According to this configuration, the support member can form an annular liquid pool between the inner shower pipe, and the processing liquid can be smoothly supplied to the shower pipe via the liquid pool.

  In the swing shower type transfer type substrate processing apparatus of the present invention, at least end portions of a plurality of shower pipes are protruded from the manifold, and at least one shower nozzle is attached to the protruding portion. Therefore, even when the substrate is moved back and forth between the front and rear walls of the chamber, it is possible to effectively prevent the occurrence of processing unevenness due to the manifold. Therefore, uniform processing can be performed without increasing the installation space of the processing apparatus with respect to the increase in size of the substrate.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a swinging shower-type transfer substrate processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a shower unit used in the substrate processing apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a shower pipe in the shower unit. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional side view of the connecting portion of the manifold and FIG.

  The swing shower type transfer substrate processing apparatus of this embodiment is an etching apparatus used for manufacturing a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel. As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus is configured by vertically connecting a plurality of chambers 10. Each chamber 10 is a rectangular box that is longer than the entire length of the substrate to be processed. The chamber 10 is equipped with a roller-type substrate transport mechanism 20 at the bottom and a shower unit 30 at the top.

  The substrate transport mechanism 20 includes a large number of transport rollers 21 arranged at predetermined intervals in the substrate transport direction, and pressing rollers 22 combined with the transport rollers 21 at a ratio of one to a predetermined number. The transport roller 21 horizontally supports the substrate at a plurality of positions in the width direction including both edge portions, transports the substrate from the upstream side to the downstream side of the processing line, and reciprocates in the chamber 10 back and forth in the transport direction. The pressing roller 22 prevents the substrate from slipping by pressing both edge portions of the substrate against the combined transport roller 21.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shower unit 30 supplies a plurality of shower pipes 31 arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction, and an etching liquid as a processing liquid to the plurality of shower pipes 31. A manifold 32 and a plurality of shower nozzles 33 attached to each shower pipe 31 at a predetermined interval are provided.

  Each shower pipe 31 is a long tube having a circular cross section disposed along the substrate transport direction and closed at both ends, and is rotatably supported by a manifold 32 on one end side and a support mechanism (not shown) on the other end side. Rotation is driven synchronously at a predetermined angle to both sides in the circumferential direction by a drive mechanism (not shown).

  The manifold 32 which is a water supply mother pipe is a circular pipe having a diameter larger than that of each shower pipe 31, and is disposed in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction, slightly away from the wall 11 on one end side of the chamber 10. Each of the plurality of shower pipes 31 penetrates the manifold 32 at a right angle. The structure of the shower pipe penetration portion in the manifold 32 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  A horizontal cylindrical support member 34 that passes through the manifold 32 at a right angle is attached by welding. One end of the shower pipe 31 is concentrically disposed inside the support member 34 with a predetermined gap 35 therebetween. One end of the shower pipe 31 is constituted by a head portion 31b connected to the main body portion 31a. The head portion 31b is rotatably supported by a bearing 37 fixed by a bearing retainer 36 inside the end portion of the support member 34, and an annular gap 35 is formed between the head portion 31b and the outer cylindrical support member 34. ing. Both ends of the annular gap 35 are sealed by seal members 38 and 38.

  The support member 34 has liquid inlets 34a and 34a on both sides, and the inside of the member communicates with the outer manifold 32 via these liquid inlets 34a and 34a. The head part 31b has liquid inlets 31c and 31c on both sides so as to be located inside the liquid inlets 34a and 34a, and the inside of the part is supported outside through the liquid inlets 31c and 31c. The member 34 communicates with the inside. The liquid inlets 34a and 34a of the support member 34 and the liquid inlets 31c and 31c of the head portion 31b are all elongated holes extending in the pipe axial direction. The width W1 of the liquid inlets 34a, 34a is the width of the liquid inlets 31c, 31c so that the liquid inlets 31c, 31c overlap the outer liquid inlets 34a, 34a regardless of the forward / reverse rotation of the head portion 31b. It is set larger than W2.

  The front end portion of the head portion 31 b protrudes outside the support member 34 that penetrates the manifold 32, and more specifically, protrudes near the wall 11 on one end side of the chamber 10. A nozzle mounting member 39 for attaching the shower nozzle 33 is attached to the projecting portion also serving as a plug material for closing the tip of the head portion 31b. The other shower nozzles 33 are attached to the main body 31a of the shower pipe 31 from the end on the head side at a predetermined interval. As a result, a predetermined number of shower nozzles 33 are attached to the shower pipe 31 at predetermined intervals, and one end portion penetrates the manifold 32, so that the first and second nozzles from one end side are interposed. Since the manifold 32 is located and interference by the manifold 32 is eliminated, the shower nozzle 33 located at the end on one end side is disposed near the wall 11 on the one end side of the chamber 10.

  Specifically, taking advantage of the structure in which each shower pipe 31 penetrates the manifold 32, the etching liquid sprayed from the shower nozzles 33 on both ends sufficiently hits the front and rear walls 11 of the chamber 10, and between adjacent nozzles. A shower nozzle 33 is arranged from one end to the other end in the chamber 10 for each shower pipe 31 so that the etching solutions overlap.

  Next, the operation of the swing shower type substrate processing apparatus of the present embodiment will be described.

  When the substrate to be processed is loaded into the chamber 10, an etching solution as a processing solution is supplied into the manifold 32. The processing liquid supplied to the manifold 32 flows into the support member 34 from the liquid inlets 34a and 34a of the support member 34 for each shower pipe 31, and further from the liquid inlets 31c and 31c of the head portion 31b to the head portion. It flows into 31b. Thus, the processing liquid flows in parallel from the manifold 32 to the plurality of shower pipes 31, and the processing liquid is ejected from the plurality of shower nozzles 33 provided in each shower pipe 31 toward the surface of the lower substrate.

  Here, in each shower pipe 31, the injection zones overlap between adjacent shower nozzles 33, 33. Also, the shower nozzles 33, 33 at both ends protrude from one end of the shower pipe 31 through the manifold 32, and the shower nozzle 33 is attached to the end of the protruding portion, so that interference by the manifold 32 is eliminated at one end side. The blind spot 9 (FIG. 5) due to the manifold 32 is eliminated. Since the other end of the shower pipe 31 is usually just a closed end, a shower nozzle 33 can be attached, and the shower pipe 30 can be brought close to the chamber wall on the other end side or on the shower unit 30 adjacent to the other end side. There is no obstacle to the approach.

  For this reason, the treatment liquid can sufficiently collide with the front and rear walls 11 of the chamber 10. Furthermore, between the adjacent shower pipes 31, 31, the jetting zones overlap between the corresponding shower nozzles 33, 33. Thus, the chamber 10 is entirely filled with the treatment liquid shower from one end to the other end.

  Then, the plurality of shower pipes 31 reciprocate at a predetermined angle (for example, an angle of 15 ° on one side) on both sides in the circumferential direction. As a result, all the shower nozzles 33 are alternately swung in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, and the processing liquid is supplied to the substrate surface in an even distribution, and the processing liquid on the substrate is alternately swept out to both sides. Promote replacement.

  At this time, the substrate is driven back and forth within the chamber 10 in the forward and backward directions by the roller-type substrate transport mechanism 20. Here, the substrate and the chamber 10 are slightly different in overall length due to the increase in size of the substrate and the size limitation of the chamber 10. For this reason, even if the space between the front and rear walls 11 of the chamber 10 is fully used, the movement stroke of the substrate in the chamber 10 tends to be limited. Accordingly, the space between the front and rear walls 11 of the chamber 10 is fully used, and the movement stroke of the substrate in the chamber 10 is made as large as possible. Thereby, processing unevenness is reduced.

  In addition, the chamber 10 is filled with a treatment liquid shower from one end to the other end. For this reason, even if the space between the front and rear walls 11 of the chamber 10 is fully used and the substrate is reciprocated with a stroke as large as possible in the chamber 10, uniform processing can be performed. This is because the blind spot 9 (FIG. 5) due to the manifold 32 does not occur in the vicinity of the wall 11 of the chamber 10, and processing unevenness due to this does not occur.

  In addition to this, the cylindrical support member 34 is fixed to the manifold 32, and the shower pipe 31 rotates inside the support member 34, but an annular gap 35 is formed between the two and functions as a liquid reservoir. The treatment liquid flows smoothly from the support member 34 into the shower pipe 31. To this smooth inflow, the liquid inlets 34a and 34a of the support member 34 and the liquid inlets 31c and 31c of the head portion 31b are provided on both sides, and the former width W1 is made larger than the latter width W2. As described above.

  Regarding the diameters of the manifold 32 and the support member 34, it is important that the outer diameter of the manifold 32 is sufficiently larger than the outer diameter of the shower pipe 31 and smaller than the arrangement pitch of the shower nozzles 33. The diameter of the support member 34 needs to be smaller than the inner diameter of the manifold 32 and larger than the outer diameter of the shower pipe 31. As for the size of the gap 35 formed between the support member 34 and the shower pipe 31, it is sufficient that there is an interval at which the shower pipe 31 can smoothly rotate inside the support member 34. Can sufficiently function as a liquid reservoir.

  In the above embodiment, the support member 34 is a cylindrical body that completely penetrates the manifold 32. However, the intermediate member may be omitted and the inner shower pipe 31 may be supported by the rings at both ends. In this case, a space formed between the rings at both ends serves as a liquid inflow port. Conversely, the plurality of support members 34 corresponding to the shower pipe 31 do not necessarily have to penetrate the manifold 32, and the adjacent left and right support members 34 may be connected to each other with a short manifold.

  The liquid inlet 34a of the support member 34 and the liquid inlet 31c of the head portion 31b do not have to be a set of through holes on both sides as in the embodiment. For example, a large number of through holes are dispersed in the entire circumferential direction. The structure to provide may be sufficient.

  A plurality of shower units 30 can be arranged in a column in the chamber 10, and in this case as well, a plurality of shower pipes 31 in each shower unit 30 are passed through the manifold 32, thereby causing a blind spot 9 by the manifold 32. (FIG. 5) can be eliminated, and uneven processing due to this blind spot can be eliminated.

  The position where the plurality of shower pipes 31 intersect with the manifold 32 is one end of the shower pipe 31 in the above embodiment, but is not limited to this, and may be an intermediate part or the like.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the transfer type substrate processing apparatus is an etching apparatus, but it goes without saying that it can be applied to other wet processes including water washing. In the above-described embodiment, the substrate is supported horizontally. However, an inclined conveyance method in which the substrate is conveyed while being inclined to the side may be employed.

It is a side view of the swing shower type conveyance type substrate processing apparatus which shows one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the shower unit used for the substrate processing device. It is a vertical side view of the connection part of the shower pipe and manifold in the shower unit. It is an AA arrow line figure in FIG. It is a side view of the conventional swing shower type conveyance type substrate processing apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10 Chamber 20 Substrate Transport Mechanism 30 Shower Unit 31 Shower Pipe 32 Manifold 33 Shower Nozzle 34 Support Member 35 Gap

Claims (3)

  In a transport type substrate processing apparatus that performs various wet processes by supplying a processing liquid to the surface of a substrate to be transported, the substrates are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction, and each is synchronized at a predetermined angle in the circumferential direction. Combined with a plurality of shower pipes that reciprocally rotate, a plurality of shower nozzles attached to each shower pipe at predetermined intervals, and a manifold that intersects each shower pipe to supply processing liquid to the plurality of shower pipes Conveying apparatus having a nozzle swinging shower unit, wherein at least end portions of a plurality of shower pipes protrude from the manifold, and at least one shower nozzle is attached to the protruding portion. Type substrate processing apparatus.   The transport type substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shower unit is accommodated in a chamber, and the processing liquid is sprayed on a surface of the substrate that reciprocates in the transport direction in the chamber.   The plurality of shower pipes are rotatably supported inside a tubular support member penetrating the tubular manifold, and each shower pipe and the support member are processed from the manifold through the inside of the support member to each shower pipe. The transport type substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a liquid inflow port communicating with the inside of the manifold so that the liquid is supplied.

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