JP2006289319A - Substrate cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleaning device which prevents a redeposition of foreign bodies to a brush or substrate to improve the efficiency of washing, stabilizes or holds over the performance and the life of the brush, and enables the reduction of using electric charge. <P>SOLUTION: In the cleaning device which has a rotatable brush body of a cylindrical pillar form, and a cleaning liquid supplied to the brush body, and carries out the cleaning of an object, the brush body has a brush portion of an annular shape in cross-section, and is arranged rotatably centering a cylindrical axis. The cleaning device rotates the brush body, and carries out a slide-contact of the brush portion to a processing object surface of the object to cleanse. The cleaning liquid is controlled so as to torque the brush body to flow in through a passage directed in a rotational direction of the brush body. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning device used in a manufacturing process of a glass substrate for FPD including LCD, PDP, LTPS-TFT, and more particularly to a rotary brush type cleaning device effective for cleaning a glass substrate. Is.

  In FPD and other glass substrate manufacturing processes, while pressing the rotating brush against the glass substrate that is the object to be cleaned, the cleaning liquid is sprayed toward the brush, and the cleaning power of the cleaning liquid and the substrate rotate while the brush rotates. A cleaning process is performed to remove the foreign matter on the substrate by physical force generated when contacting the substrate.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of a conventional rotating brush type glass substrate cleaning apparatus.
The cleaning device 20 of FIG. 3 includes a cylindrical brush 1 (1 ′) disposed so as to be in contact with the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate 2 to be transported, and a shower nozzle that injects cleaning liquid 4 (4 ′). 3 (3 ′). The shower nozzle 3 (3 ′) is installed in the vicinity of the brush 1 (1 ′) so that the cleaning liquid 4 (4 ′) can be sprayed toward the brush 1 (1 ′) or the glass substrate 2. ing.

The brush 1 is rotated by the interlocking power. When the cleaning liquid 4 is blown from the shower nozzle 3 toward the rotating brush 1, the cleaning liquid 4 reaches the surface of the glass substrate 2 and the surface portion is Since the brush 1 slides, a cleaning process is performed to remove foreign matters, dirt, and the like on the surface of the glass substrate 2 by the cleaning force of the cleaning liquid 4 and the physical force by the sliding contact of the brush 1. In a normal apparatus, the cleaning liquid 4 is circulated and reused while sequentially performing filtering and replenishment with a new liquid.
JP 2005-66507 A

  Thus, in the conventional rotating brush type glass substrate cleaning apparatus 10, the brush 1 is rotated by the motor (not shown), and the cleaning liquid 4 blown from the shower nozzle 3 at that time is the brush 1. Or, it was set to hit the substrate 2 in the vicinity of the brush 1. Thus, the foreign substance on the glass substrate 2 is peeled and removed by the cleaning force of the sprayed cleaning liquid 4 and the physical force generated by the rotational sliding contact between the brush 1 rotated by the motor and the substrate 2. There were the following problems.

The foreign matter on the substrate is peeled off and removed by the shower from the nozzle, but a part of the foreign matter separated from the substrate flows or splashes on the brush side and reattaches to the brush. There was a thing. Also, some of the foreign matter separated from the substrate by the brush may be pushed back to the brush side by the shower and reattached to the brush.
Since the amount of foreign matter adhering to the brush increases with time, the frequency of contamination that foreign matter reattaches to the substrate increases with time, greatly reducing the cleaning ability of the substrate cleaning apparatus. There was a possibility of making it.

  The cleaning device of the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and prevents re-adhesion of foreign matter to the brush and the substrate, greatly improving the cleaning performance of the cleaning device using the brush, and the brush It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning apparatus that can stabilize or maintain the cleaning performance and life of the apparatus and reduce the amount of electricity used.

(1) In a cleaning apparatus that has a cylindrical brush body that is rotatable and a cleaning liquid that is supplied to the brush body, and performs cleaning of an object,
The brush body has an annular cross-sectional brush portion, and is arranged to be rotatable around a cylindrical axis.
A cleaning device that rotates the brush body to bring the brush portion into sliding contact with the processing target surface of the object, and performs cleaning;
The cleaning liquid is controlled to flow into the brush body through a flow path directed in the rotation direction of the brush body, and is supplied as a cleaning device.

(2) In the cleaning device of (1),
The brush part of the brush body has a brush width, and the cleaning liquid flows in from a flow path formed in accordance with the brush width.
(3) In the cleaning device of (1) or (2),
A plurality of the cleaning liquid flow paths are provided along the outer peripheral surface of the brush body, with a predetermined interval.
(4) In any of the cleaning apparatuses (1) to (3),
A cleaning device, wherein a housing for preventing the cleaning liquid from flowing out is formed along an outer peripheral surface of the brush body.

According to the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the following special effects are obtained.
・ Supply of cleaning liquid and rotary cleaning of brush are performed at the same time and in the same direction, and the rotation speed of the brush is adjusted and controlled simultaneously with the adjustment of the cleaning liquid flow rate. Become. For this reason, it can prevent that a foreign material adheres again to a brush or a board | substrate, and can largely contribute to the improvement and stabilization of a cleaning apparatus.
-With regard to the cleaning liquid, setting in a uniform flow direction and addition of an appropriate amount of liquid become easy, the cleaning performance of the apparatus becomes stable, and the control of the apparatus becomes easy.
-The brush has a self-cleaning ability, so that the brush can always be kept clean, can be maintained for a long time without deteriorating the cleaning ability of the brush, and prevents the brush from falling down. Can extend the life of the brush.
-A rotary drive mechanism such as a motor for rotating the brush is not required, the structure of the apparatus can be simplified, the amount of electricity used can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Here, FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram for explaining the structure of the cleaning apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the main part of the cleaning apparatus 100.
The cleaning apparatus 100 of the present embodiment includes a brush body 10 that rotates in a columnar shape, and a cleaning liquid 30 (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e) supplied to the brush body 10 and is a processing target. This is a cleaning device for cleaning the substrate 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the brush body 10 has a substantially cylindrical shape as a whole. As shown in FIG. 2, a substantially cylindrical support portion 10b in the center, and a brush portion 10a having an annular cross section as an outer peripheral side member of the support portion 10b, Are arranged and set so as to be rotatable about the axis p of the brush body 10.
The brush body 10 is arranged so that the outer peripheral surface 10A side is in sliding contact with the processing target surface 20A of the substrate 20 while rotating, whereby the substrate 20 can be cleaned. it can.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus 100 passes through a plurality of flow paths 40 (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e) arranged at a predetermined interval along the outer peripheral surface of the brush body 10. Thus, the cleaning liquid 30 (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e) is introduced from each flow path. These flow paths 40 (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e) are directed in the direction in which the brush body 10 rotates. At this time, the cleaning liquid 30 that flows in by blowing is rotated to the brush body 10 by a predetermined rotation. The flow rate and pressure are adjusted or controlled so as to give a force.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the brush portion 10a of the brush body 10 of the cleaning apparatus 100 has a brush width t having a substantially constant thickness between the support portion 10b and the outer peripheral surface 10A. The flow path 40 for supplying the cleaning liquid 30 is designed so that its size and shape are matched to the brush width t. When the cleaning liquid 30 is ejected, its flow rate / jet pressure / supply position / supply angle, etc. These plural flow paths (40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e) are adjusted and controlled so as to be appropriate.

  Further, in the cleaning device 100, a housing 50 is formed along the outer peripheral surface 10A of the brush body 10, thereby preventing outflow of the cleaning liquid 30 that has flowed in and the cleaning liquid 30 on the brush portion 10a of the brush body 10. It is designed to be able to adjust so that it can be distributed evenly. Referring to FIG. 2, the cleaning liquid 30 has a brush portion that follows a flow path 40 that is substantially parallel to the substrate 20 so that the lower portion of the flow path 40 is in contact with the outer peripheral surface 10 </ b> A of the circular-shaped brush section 10 a. It blows out toward 10a. Therefore, the housing 50 is extended from the flow path 40 and follows the outer peripheral surface 10A of the brush body 10 so as to suppress the momentum of the cleaning liquid 30 to be ejected and guide the flow in the rotating circumferential direction. It is extended and extended in an arc shape to near the position of. As shown in FIG. 1, the entire shape of the housing 50 is a shape like a bag obtained by cutting the substrate 20 side from a cylindrical shape.

  Now, returning to FIG. 1, the cleaning apparatus 100 has a transport mechanism for placing and transporting the substrate 20 as a cleaning target. The transport mechanism is configured such that a large number of horizontally disposed drive shafts (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76) are connected to a drive system (not shown) and are rotationally driven. A large number of conveying guide rollers ((81a, 81b, 81c) (82a, 82b, 81c)...) Provided on the substrate are simultaneously rotated and supported while these guide rollers are in contact with the lower surface of the substrate 20. The substrate 20 is moved in the rotational direction while being placed.

  In this cleaning apparatus 100, when the outer peripheral surface 10A of the rotating brush body 10 comes into contact with the lower surface of the substrate 20 that is the object to be cleaned, sliding cleaning and rubbing cleaning by contact are performed. The cleaning liquid 30 used for this cleaning is injected into the brush portion 10a of the brush body 10 from a large number of flow paths 40 by nozzle type jetting means, and gives a rotational force to the brush body 10. At this time, the supply of the cleaning liquid 30 and the rotational cleaning of the brush body 10 are performed simultaneously and in the same direction, and the rotational speed of the brush body 10 is adjusted simultaneously with the flow rate adjustment of the cleaning liquid 30. Adjustment control is performed so that is an optimal combination.

In the cleaning apparatus 100, the substrate 20 is pressed from the upper surface 20B side of the substrate 20 to the brush body 10 side so that the contact surface pressure between the cleaning brush body 10 and the substrate 20 to be cleaned becomes larger. Equipment such as an upper guide roller can also be provided.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, it is possible to arrange two brush bodies on the upper and lower sides or the right and left sides of the substrate to be cleaned.
By doing in this way, the contact pressure and contact area of the brush body 10 and the board | substrate 20 can be raised, and a cleaning capability can further be improved.

  The cleaning apparatus according to the present invention is configured and controlled as described above, so that the foreign matter once removed by cleaning can be prevented from re-adhering to the brush body and the substrate, and the cleaning liquid is also uniform. Setting in the flow direction and addition of an appropriate amount of liquid are facilitated, which can greatly contribute to improvement and stabilization of the cleaning capability of the cleaning device. Further, according to the configuration of the cleaning device according to the present invention, the brush body itself has a self-cleaning capability, so that the brush portion can always maintain a clean state, and the cleaning capability and life of the brush are reduced. Therefore, the cleaning process can be stably operated for a long time.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the structure of the washing | cleaning apparatus 100 concerning one Embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows the principal part of the washing | cleaning apparatus 100 of FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the conventional washing | cleaning apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Cleaning apparatus 10 Brush body 10a Brush part 10A Outer peripheral surface of brush part t Brush width of brush part 10b Support part p Center axis of brush body 10 Substrate (processing object)
20A Surface 30, 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d, 30e Cleaning liquid 40, 40a, 40b, 40c, 40d, 40e Cleaning liquid flow path 50 Housing 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76 Drive shaft 81a, 81b, 81c, 82a, 82b, 81c, ... Guide roller on the drive shaft

Claims (4)

In a cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object having a cylindrically rotatable brush body and a cleaning liquid supplied to the brush body,
The brush body has an annular cross-sectional brush portion, and is arranged to be rotatable around a cylindrical axis.
A cleaning device that rotates the brush body to bring the brush portion into sliding contact with the processing target surface of the object, and performs cleaning;
The cleaning apparatus is characterized in that the cleaning liquid flows through a flow path oriented in the rotation direction of the brush body, and is controlled so as to apply a rotational force to the brush body. The cleaning device according to claim 1,
The brush portion of the brush body has a brush width,
The cleaning apparatus, wherein the cleaning liquid is introduced from a flow path formed in accordance with the brush width. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
2. A cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the cleaning liquid flow paths are provided along the outer peripheral surface of the brush body, with a predetermined interval. In the washing | cleaning apparatus in any one of Claims 1-3,
A cleaning device, wherein a housing for preventing the cleaning liquid from flowing out is formed along an outer peripheral surface of the brush body.

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