JP2005314172A - Substrate cutter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously cut respective scribed grooves without moving a substrate on a work table in cutting the substrate along the scribed grooves by a scribe cutting method. <P>SOLUTION: This substrate cutter includes the work table 20 on which the substrate 10 is placed to face a scribed groove formed surface side downward and an elevating head 31 movable up and down to the work table, pressing chips 32 are attached to the elevating head 31 to correspond to every scribed grooves 111A-111G and are simultaneously pressed to the substrate 10. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate cutting apparatus for a substrate made of an inorganic material such as glass, and more particularly to a substrate cutting apparatus using a scribe cutting method.

  In general, as a method for cutting a hard substrate such as glass, a dicing cutting method using a rotating blade, a water jet cutting method using an ultra-high pressure water flow, a scribe cutting method, and the like are known. Here, the scribe cutting method is a method in which a scribe groove is formed on one surface of a substrate with a cutter or the like, and then the substrate is broken (divided) along the scribe groove by applying pressure from the other surface side. (For example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

  Of these, the dicing cutting method and the water jet cutting method have the advantage that the cut section after cutting is precise, but both require a cooling water supply device, so the structure of the device itself is complicated and costly. In addition, there are many problems in that the cutting work takes time.

  In particular, in a glass substrate (transparent electrode substrate) constituting a liquid crystal panel, water may cause corrosion of the electrode, so that a cutting method using water is not preferred. Therefore, in the field of liquid crystal panels, a scribe cutting method that does not require water for cutting the glass substrate and is advantageous in terms of productivity and cost is preferably employed.

  Usually, since the liquid crystal panel is multi-sided from the mother substrate, the cutting process is performed twice. That is, a step of cutting a mother substrate along a column direction or a row direction to cut out a multiple substrate (stick substrate) including a plurality of liquid crystal panels, and cutting the multiple substrate into individual liquid crystal panels (liquid crystal cells). Cutting out. Both are performed by the scribe cutting method, and an example of the substrate cutting apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS.

  An example here is a substrate cutting apparatus that cuts out individual liquid crystal panels from a multiple substrate. As shown in FIG. 3, a work table 20 on which the multiple substrate 10 is placed and a double arrow A with respect to the work table 20. Breaking means 30 that can be moved up and down along the direction.

  The multiple substrate 10 includes a pair of glass substrates (transparent electrode substrates) 11 and 12 cut out from a mother substrate (not shown) in a state of being crimped via a peripheral sealing material. .About 4 to 0.7 mm.

  On the front surfaces 11a and 12a of the glass substrates 11 and 12, scribe grooves 111 and 121 having a predetermined depth are formed along the two opposing sides of the liquid crystal panel to be cut by a cutting means such as a cutter wheel chip (in this example, each substrate is both Seven scribe grooves 111A to 111G, 121A to 121G) are formed. The scribe groove is also referred to as a “scratch groove”.

  The breaking means 30 includes an elevating head 31 connected to a driving means such as an air cylinder (not shown) and a pressing tip 32 made of, for example, a urethane hard rubber material attached to the lower end of the elevating head 31.

  Although the work table 20 supports the multiple substrate 10 flatly, the work table 20 is made of an elastic body that can be depressed slightly when a pressing force is applied from the breaking means 30. Although not shown, the work table 20 is provided with substrate feeding means for moving the multiple substrates 10 in a horizontal direction (arrow B direction) at a predetermined pitch (a pitch between adjacent scribe grooves).

  The multiple substrate 10 is cut separately on the glass substrate 11 side and the glass substrate 12 side. However, when cutting the glass substrate 11 side, the glass substrate 11 is the lower side and the glass substrate 12 is the upper side. The multiple substrate 10 is fed by the substrate feeding means so that the first scribe groove 111A is positioned directly below the pressing tip 32 of the breaking means 30 as shown in FIG.

  And the raising / lowering head 31 is lowered | hung and the press chip | tip 32 is pressed from the glass substrate 12 side. Due to this pressing force, the pressed portion of the work table 20 is slightly recessed, and accordingly, as shown in FIG. 4B, the portion of the scribe groove 111A is warped (a warp that causes the left and right to float from the scribe groove). The glass substrate 11 is broken along the scribe groove 111A.

  Thereafter, similarly, the multiple substrate 10 is moved so that the scribe grooves 111B to 111G are sent to positions just below the pressing tips 32 of the breaking means 30, and the glass substrate 11 side is cut along the scribe grooves 111B to 111G. When the cutting of the glass substrate 11 is completed, this time, the glass substrate 12 is placed on the work table 20 with the glass substrate 12 side facing downward, and the glass substrate 12 is cut along the scribe grooves 121A to 121G. Thereby, the liquid crystal panels included in the multiple substrate 10 are cut out one by one.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-273525 (FIG. 8) JP 2002-103294 A

  However, in the scribe cutting method, as shown in FIG. 4B, it is necessary to warp the substrate so that the left and right sides thereof are lifted with the scribe groove as a base point. Therefore, according to the conventional substrate cutting apparatus, only one place can be cut. .

  Accordingly, when the seven scribe grooves 111 and 121 are cut into the glass substrates 11 and 12 as in the above example, 14 times are required until all the individual liquid crystal panels are cut out from the multiple substrate 10. The cutting work is required and productivity is poor.

  Moreover, although the multiple substrate 10 is moved on the work table 20, the glass powder generated at the time of cutting adheres on the work table 20, and thereby the panel surface is damaged and a glass scratch defect occurs. Sometimes. Such a problem occurs not only when the individual liquid crystal panels are cut out from the multiple substrate, but also when the multiple substrate is cut out from the mother substrate.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to cut a substrate along a plurality of scribe grooves by a scribe cutting method, which can cut each scribe groove simultaneously without moving the substrate on the work table. To provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention is a substrate made of an inorganic material such as glass, on which a plurality of scribe grooves are formed parallel to each other on one surface side, and the pressing tip is the above-mentioned In a substrate cutting apparatus based on a scribe cutting method in which individual substrate pieces included in the substrate are cut from the other surface side of the substrate by being pressed against the scribe grooves, the substrate is mounted with the scribe groove forming surface side facing down. And a lifting head that can be moved up and down with respect to the work table. The lifting head is provided with the pressing tip for each of the scribe grooves, and each pressing tip is moved by the lifting head. It is characterized by being simultaneously pressed against the substrate.

  In the present invention, the work table may be made of an elastic body that has a certain degree of hardness as a table but can be partially recessed by the pressing force of the pressing tip. In order to ensure that the substrate is warped even if the chips are operated simultaneously, the work table has a plurality of spacers arranged between adjacent scribe grooves to support the substrate at a predetermined height position from the table surface of the work table. It is preferable to be provided.

  The spacer is made of a hard material that is not elastically deformed by the pressing force of the pressing tip, and the support height of the substrate by the spacer is 0.1 mm to t / 2 (t is the thickness of the substrate) from the table surface. It is preferable that

  As another aspect, the work table is made of a hard material that is not elastically deformed by the pressing force of the pressing chip, and the chip receiver is made of a rubber elastic body as a support for the pressing chip only at a position corresponding to each scribe groove of the work table. A table may be buried.

  According to the present invention, a pressing chip is arranged for each scribe groove formed on the substrate, and by simultaneously applying a pressing force to all the scribe grooves, the substrate can be broken at a stretch along the scribe grooves. In addition, the working efficiency is remarkably improved and the substrate surface does not need to be moved on the work table, so that the substrate surface is not scratched.

  Further, by arranging a plurality of spacers on the work table that support the substrate at a predetermined height position from the table surface, between the adjacent scribe grooves, the substrate is lifted on both sides from the scribe groove by the pressing force of the pressing chip. In order to be surely warped, the substrate can be cleanly broken along the scribe groove.

  As another aspect, the same effect as in the case of the spacer can be obtained by embedding a chip cradle made of a rubber elastic body as a cradle for the pressing chip only at a position corresponding to each scribe groove of the work table.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, but the present invention is not limited to this.

  FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an example of a substrate cutting apparatus according to the present invention. This substrate cutting apparatus includes a work table 20 on which a substrate 10 is placed and a breaking means that can be raised and lowered with respect to the work table 20. 30. In this example, the substrate 10 has a pair of glass substrates (transparent electrode substrates) 11 and 12 cut out in a state of being bonded from a mother substrate (not shown) via a peripheral sealing material, as described in the conventional example. It is a multiple substrate.

  Although not shown, the multiple substrate 10 includes a plurality of cells, and liquid crystal is injected into each cell prior to cutting by the substrate cutting apparatus, and each surface 11a, 12a of the glass substrates 11, 12 is provided. The scribe grooves 111 and 121 having a predetermined depth are formed by cutting means such as wheel tips.

  In this example, as in the conventional example described above, seven scribe grooves are formed in each of the glass substrates 11 and 12, but in order to avoid complication of reference numerals in the drawing, Only the reference numerals 111A to 111G of the scribe grooves are attached to the scribe grooves. The scribe grooves 111A to 111G are placed in parallel to each other along two opposing sides of the liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal cell) to be cut out.

  The breaking means 30 includes an elevating head 31 connected to a driving means such as an air cylinder (not shown) and a pressing tip 32 attached to the lower end of the elevating head 31 as in the conventional example. The break means 30 is prepared for each scribe groove.

  In this example, the lifting head 31 having the pressing tip 32 is assigned to each of the seven scribe grooves 111A to 111G. However, the lifting head 31 is used as one common head, and the seven pressing tips 32 are provided to the common head. You may make it attach. Also in this example, the pressing tip 32 is a urethane hard rubber material, and its pressing surface is rounded with a predetermined curvature, but may be made of a different material and shape.

  For example, when the glass substrate 11 side is cut, the multiple substrate 10 is placed on the table surface 21 of the work table 20 with the glass substrate 11 as the lower side as shown in FIG. Accordingly, the work table 20 is provided with a plurality of spacers 40 that are in contact with the surface 11 a of the glass substrate 11 and support the multiple substrate 10 at a predetermined height position on the table surface 21.

  The spacer 40 is used to warp the substrate so that the left and right sides of the scribe groove are lifted from the scribe groove when a pressing force is applied to the scribe groove of the substrate by the pressing tip 32, and preferably adjacent scribe grooves. It is arranged at the middle position of the groove. In this example, since there are seven scribe grooves, the spacers 40 are provided at eight locations on the table surface 21.

  That is, between the adjacent scribe grooves 111 of the glass substrate 11 (between the scribe grooves 111A and 111B, between the scribe grooves 111B and 111C, between the scribe grooves 111C and 111D, between the scribe grooves 111D and 111E, Between the scribe grooves 111E and 111F, between the scribe grooves 111F and 111G) and between the both ends 11b and 11c of the glass substrate 11, and between the scribe grooves 111A and 111G formed on both ends thereof. There are a total of 8 points.

  The spacer 40 is made of a metal material or a hard synthetic resin material that is not elastically deformed by the pressing force of the pressing chip 32, and the support height of the substrate by the spacer 40 is 0.1 mm to t / 2 from the table surface 21. Preferred (t is the thickness of the substrate to be cut). This support height is selected according to the distance between the scribe grooves, and if the distance is short, a value on the lower limit side will be selected, and if it is long, a value on the upper limit side will be selected.

  In any case, if it is less than 0.1 mm, the substrate may not be sufficiently warped until the scribe groove is broken. On the other hand, if it exceeds t / 2, the warp of the substrate is too large and other than the scribe groove. This is not preferable because there is a possibility that breakage may occur in the portion. If the thickness of the glass substrates 11 and 12 for a liquid crystal panel is 0.4 to 0.7 mm, for example, the upper limit value of the preferred support height by the spacer 40 in this example is 0.2 to 0.35 mm. Become.

  Since the tip shape of the spacer 40 is preferably an acute angle in order to clarify the support point for the substrate, in this example, the spacer 40 is a pentagonal cross section having a rectangular shape on one side and the apex of the mountain shape. Although the portion 41 is made substantially parallel to the scribe groove, the spacer 40 may have, for example, a triangular cross section. The work table 20 is preferably formed entirely of a metal material or a hard resin so that the spacer 40 can be firmly fixed and supported.

  In order to cut out the liquid crystal panel included in the multiple substrate 10 from the multiple substrate 10, first, as shown in FIG. It is mounted so as to be supported at a predetermined height position from the surface 21. At that time, positioning is performed by positioning means (not shown) so that the scribe grooves 111 </ b> A to 111 </ b> G of the glass substrate 11 overlap each pressing chip 32 on the breaking means 30 side.

  And each raising / lowering head 31 is dropped simultaneously and each pressing chip 32 is pressed on the other glass substrate 12 of the multiple substrate 10 with a predetermined pressure. Then, since the multiple substrate 10 is supported at a predetermined height position on the table surface 21 by the spacer 40, the glass substrate 11 is based on the scribe grooves 111A to 111G as described above with reference to FIG. As a result, the scribe grooves are broken at the same time by curving in a waveform so that both the left and right sides are lifted.

  In this way, when the glass substrate 11 side is broken, the multiple substrate 10 is turned over and this time placed on the work table 20 with the other glass substrate 12 side facing downward. By breaking the glass substrate 12 along each scribe groove 121, individual liquid crystal panels are cut out from the multiple substrate 10.

  As described above, according to the present invention, for example, when the individual liquid crystal panels included in the multiple substrate 10 are cut out, the glass substrate 11 and the glass substrate 12 are each cut once (total of two cuts). Work), and the number of times of cutting can be greatly reduced as compared with the above-described conventional 14 times of cutting work. In addition, since it is not necessary to move the multiple substrate 10 on the work table 20, the panel surface is not scratched.

  In the above example, the multiple substrate 10 is supported at a predetermined height position from the table surface 21 by the spacer 40, but each scribe groove 111 (121) of the work table 20 is shown in FIG. ) May be embedded only in a position corresponding to).

  The top surface of the chip cradle 40A may be slightly higher or lower than the table surface 21, but is most preferably the same height as the table surface 21 from the viewpoint of preventing damage at the time of breakage.

  According to the modification of FIG. 2A, when the portion of the scribe groove 111 is pressed from the glass substrate 12 side by the pressing chip 32, the chip cradle 40A is recessed accordingly, so that the glass substrate 11 is the same as in the above example. Warps so that the left and right ends thereof are lifted from the scribe groove 111, and finally breaks along the scribe groove 111.

  Further, in order to properly manage the amount of warping of the substrate during pressing, the width of the chip cradle 40A is made larger than the thickness t of the substrate, and preferably 2t to 10t. Each scribe groove 111 (121) is preferably arranged so as to be located at the center in the width direction of the chip cradle 40A.

  In the case of this modification, the glass substrate 11 is placed in close contact with the table surface 21 of the work table 20, and the work table 20 is provided with the storage groove 22 of the chip receiving base 40A. Depending on the pressing force, the edge of the storage groove 22 may hit the glass substrate 11 and the glass substrate 11 may be damaged.

  In order to prevent this, as shown in FIG. 2B, both side surfaces of the storage groove 22 are inclined surfaces that gradually increase in opening width from the groove bottom side toward the table surface 21, that is, the storage groove 22. It is preferable that the cross-sectional shape is an inverted isosceles trapezoid (may be an inverted triangle), and the angle of the edge of the storage groove 22 is an obtuse angle.

  As another method, there is a method in which the width of the chip cradle 40A is made as large as possible so that both end portions that are lifted from the scribe groove 111 do not cover the edge of the storage groove 22.

  The substrate cutting apparatus according to the present invention can be widely used not only for glass substrates constituting liquid crystal panels and organic EL panels, but also for cutting hard substrates made of inorganic materials such as silicon wafers and ceramic substrates by a scribe cutting method.

The side view which shows typically the main structures of the board | substrate cutting device by this invention. The principal part enlarged view of the modification of this invention. The side view which shows an example of the conventional board | substrate cutting device typically. Explanatory drawing which shows the fracture | rupture effect | action by a scribe cutting method.

Explanation of symbols

10 Substrate (Multiple substrate)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 12 Glass substrate 111, 121 Scribe groove | channel 20 Work table 21 Table surface 22 Storage groove 30 Breaking means 31 Lifting head 32 Pressing chip 40 Spacer 41 Vertex part 40A Chip base

Claims (4)

A substrate made of an inorganic material such as glass, on which a plurality of scribe grooves are formed parallel to each other on one surface side, and the pressing chip is connected to each scribe groove from the other surface side of the substrate. In a substrate cutting apparatus by a scribe cutting method that cuts out individual substrate pieces contained in the substrate by pressing toward the substrate,
A work table on which the substrate is placed with the scribe groove forming surface side facing down; and a lift head that can be lifted and lowered with respect to the work table. The lift head is provided with the pressing chip for each of the scribe grooves. A substrate cutting apparatus, wherein each of the pressing chips is simultaneously pressed against the substrate by the elevating head.   2. The substrate cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work table is provided with a plurality of spacers arranged between adjacent scribe grooves and supporting the substrate at a predetermined height position from a table surface of the work table.   The spacer is made of a hard material that is not elastically deformed by the pressing force of the pressing tip, and the support height of the substrate by the spacer is 0.1 mm to t / 2 (t is the thickness of the substrate) The substrate cutting apparatus according to claim 2.   The work table is made of a hard material that is not elastically deformed by the pressure applied by the pressure chip, and a chip base that is made of a rubber elastic body as a base for the pressure chip only at a position corresponding to each scribe groove of the work table. The substrate cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is embedded.

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