JP2009088442A - Substrate drying device, device for manufacturing flat panel display, and flat panel display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid an influence on a chamber of a substrate drying device by shortening a drying time for a substrate. <P>SOLUTION: The substrate drying device has: a conveyance means 10 for conveying the substrate W horizontally or obliquely at a predetermined angle; an air knife nozzle 23 for removing liquid on the substrate by blowing air A to the substrate W conveyed by the conveying means 10 while having the liquid formed on its surface; and a steam supply means 22 disposed upstream from the air knife nozzle 23 of the conveying means 10 to supply steam S heated at predetermined temperature to the substrate W. The substrate W is heated using the steam S and then heated in a short time to improve processing efficiency. At the same time, the temperature abruptly falls after the steam S imparts heat energy to the substrate W, so an influence on the chamber can be avoided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate drying apparatus that removes liquid on a substrate such as a flat panel display or a semiconductor wafer, a flat panel display manufacturing apparatus to which the substrate drying apparatus is applied, and a flat panel display manufacturing apparatus. The present invention relates to a flat panel display manufactured by

  There is a liquid crystal display as one of flat panel displays, and the liquid crystal display is mainly composed of two substrates, a TFT substrate and a color filter substrate. The TFT substrate is formed on the surface of the TFT substrate by sequentially performing processes such as film formation, resist film formation, exposure, development, etching, and resist film peeling. In each step, the substrate is dried after repeatedly cleaning the substrate before and after the treatment. On the other hand, the color filter substrate is manufactured by a photolithography method or the like, and the substrate is appropriately cleaned and dried before and after the processing.

  The TFT substrate and the color filter substrate are generally subjected to in-line processing in which each processing is performed while being transported on the line. In this case, the substrate is also transported through the line for cleaning and drying. To be done. And when drying, the system of drying the board | substrate conveyed by a line using an air knife is widely used.

  When drying the substrate, the substrate is transported in a state inclined in the horizontal direction or slightly in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction, and an air injection region for blowing pressurized air is set at a predetermined position of the transport means. In the air ejection area, an air knife nozzle having a nozzle opening composed of a long and narrow slit-like passage is arranged so as to face the surface of the substrate. By spraying high-pressure clean air from the air knife nozzle over the entire length in the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction, droplets, liquid films, etc. adhering to the substrate surface are peeled off from the substrate surface. Dried.

  The air injection angle of the air knife nozzle is set to a predetermined angle with respect to the substrate in the transport means in the direction opposite to the transport direction, that is, toward the rear side of the transport direction, and the nozzle port of the air knife nozzle is brought close to the substrate surface. Like that. As a result, a thin band-shaped air is incident on the surface of the substrate from the air knife nozzle. As a result, the liquid on the surface of the substrate is peeled off by moving toward the rear side in the substrate transport direction by the air pressure. Finally, it is discharged from the edge portion of the substrate.

  By the way, recent flat panel displays have a tendency to increase in size. Therefore, a substrate constituting the flat panel display is also increased in size, so that a dry region is wide. If it does so, the drying time per sheet will also become long. On the other hand, improvement in productivity is also demanded, and in order to satisfy this demand, the transport speed of the transport means tends to be increased. For this reason, in order to dry a large substrate transported at high speed, the liquid formed on the substrate must be removed at high speed.

Therefore, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for shortening the drying time by using washing water having a temperature higher than room temperature. In Patent Document 1, by supplying high-temperature cleaning water to the substrate, the viscosity of the cleaning water is lowered, the cleaning water is easily washed away from the substrate, the vapor pressure of the cleaning water is increased, and the cleaning water on the substrate is increased. It is easy to vaporize.
JP 2004-330180 A

  The technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is an effective technique in terms of early drying of a substrate after cleaning. By supplying high-temperature cleaning water to the substrate, the drying time of the substrate can be shortened, and the substrate transport speed can be increased. At this time, the cleaning water is supplied before the air is blown by the air knife, but the air is discharged from the air knife at a very high pressure. Then, the substrate and the cleaning water on the substrate are cooled by the air pressure, and it becomes difficult to shorten the drying time. Therefore, if the temperature of the washing water is set to a very high temperature, the temperature state of the washing water can be increased even if the washing water is cooled by the air pressure. However, in this case, by setting the temperature of the cleaning water to a very high temperature, deformation or distortion may occur in the wall surface of the chamber constituting the substrate drying apparatus, or parts provided in each part.

  For example, stainless steel or the like may be used as the chamber material (mainly the chamber wall surface material), but in recent years, plastics made of vinyl chloride resin have been used. Here, since the heat resistance of the plastic is not so high, if the cleaning water is brought to an extremely high temperature state, the plastic as the material of the chamber is deformed or distorted. For this reason, if an attempt is made to avoid the influence on the chamber material, the cleaning water cannot be brought to a very high temperature. Therefore, the substrate cannot be dried quickly, and if an attempt is made to dry the substrate early, deformation or distortion occurs in the chamber material. End up.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to shorten the drying time of the substrate and to avoid the influence on the chamber of the substrate drying apparatus.

  The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is provided for a substrate transport means for transporting a substrate horizontally or inclined at a predetermined angle, and a substrate transported by the substrate transport means with a liquid film formed on the surface. An air knife nozzle that blows air to remove the liquid on the substrate, and a steam supply means that is disposed upstream of the air knife nozzle of the substrate transporting means and that supplies heated steam to the substrate. Have.

  In the substrate drying apparatus according to the first aspect, air is blown by the air knife nozzle in a state where the steam is sprayed onto the substrate by the steam supply means, and the substrate is dried. Steam is water vapor heated to a predetermined temperature, and with the substrate heated by steam, air is blown by an air knife nozzle to remove the liquid on the substrate. Since the liquid is removed while the substrate is heated to a high temperature, the purpose of early drying of the substrate can be achieved.

  Here, when the substrate is heated using steam (vapor heating), there is an advantage that the temperature of the substrate can be efficiently heated in a short time. As a method of heating the substrate in addition to the steam, heating using warm water (hot water heating) can be used. However, steam has a property of low specific heat, and is used to heat an object by condensation heating. On the other hand, warm water has a property of high specific heat, and heats an object by convection heat transfer. Condensation heating releases the stored latent heat at the moment of returning from the vapor to the liquid, and the released latent heat is instantaneously released to the object and heated. On the other hand, convective heat transfer without phase change transfers heat to an object while lowering its own temperature, and thus the heat transfer is much lower than that of condensation heating. Therefore, since steam heating instantaneously exchanges the energy of the steam itself with the object, heat exchange can be performed in an extremely short time compared to hot water heating. Thereby, a board | substrate can be heated rapidly and an early drying can be aimed at and the efficiency of a process can be aimed at.

  Moreover, when steam heating is used, there is an advantage that the influence on each member constituting the substrate drying stage can be suppressed. If each member of the substrate drying stage, mainly the chamber is made of a highly heat-resistant member, for example, a metal material such as stainless steel, there will be a particular problem even if the temperature in the chamber becomes high. Absent. However, from the viewpoints of simplification of configuration, cost reduction, weight reduction, ease of molding, etc., resin products, especially materials with low heat resistance such as vinyl chloride are applied to each component of the substrate drying stage. May have. In this case, when the temperature in the chamber becomes high, each member in the chamber is damaged, and various problems such as deformation and distortion are caused. Here, when steam heating is applied, the overheating of the steam is condensation heating, and heat is instantaneously released to the target substrate for heat exchange, so that its own thermal energy decreases rapidly after heating the substrate. To do. For this reason, it can avoid that the inside of a chamber becomes a high temperature state, and can prevent damaging each member in a chamber.

  A substrate drying apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention is the substrate drying apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the steam supplied from the steam supply means merges with the air flow discharged from the air knife nozzle. The steam supply means is arranged so that

  When substrate heating is performed using steam, steam must be brought into intensive contact with the substrate in order to efficiently heat the substrate and prevent heat from being transferred to other parts. In the first place, it is difficult to control the direction of steam, which is steam, and therefore steam cannot be intensively brought into contact with the substrate unless special direction control means is provided. Therefore, as described in claim 2, the steam can be reliably guided to the substrate surface by arranging the steam supply means and the air knife nozzle in such a positional relationship that the steam joins the air flow. That is, a negative pressure state is generated between the air knife nozzle and the substrate due to the air flow blown from the air knife nozzle, and the steam flowing out from the steam supply means is reliably guided to the substrate surface by the negative pressure action created by the air flow. . As a result, the steam is brought into intensive contact with the substrate, the substrate can be efficiently heated, and the heat energy of the steam can be prevented from being transferred to other parts.

  A substrate drying apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention is the substrate drying apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the substrate drying apparatus is disposed upstream of the steam supply means of the substrate transport means and is lower than the steam supplied by the steam supply means. It has a hot water supply means for supplying hot water heated to a temperature.

  According to the substrate drying apparatus of the third aspect, since the hot water supply means is disposed upstream of the steam supply means, the substrate heated in advance by the hot water is further heated by the steam supply means on the downstream side. ing. For this reason, since the substrate is heated in stages, the purpose of early drying of the substrate can be achieved more efficiently. However, as described above, the hot water heating is convective heat transfer, and it is not preferable to use high-temperature hot water from the viewpoint of the efficiency of substrate heating and damage to each member in the chamber. Therefore, hot water having a temperature lower than that of steam, specifically, a temperature lower than the heat resistance temperature of the wall surface of the chamber and parts of each part is supplied.

  A flat panel display manufacturing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention includes the substrate drying apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects. Moreover, the flat panel display of Claim 5 of this invention is manufactured with the manufacturing apparatus of the flat panel display of Claim 4. The substrate drying apparatus can be applied to various apparatuses. For example, it can be applied to a flat panel display manufacturing apparatus. As the flat panel display, for example, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an organic EL display, or the like can be applied.

  According to the present invention, the steam injection nozzle is disposed on the upstream side of the air knife nozzle, so that the substrate can be efficiently heated by steam and the purpose of early drying of the substrate can be achieved. At the same time, by using steam that exchanges heat by condensation heat transfer, damage to each member in the chamber can be avoided, and various problems such as deformation and distortion can be prevented. Further, by combining the steam with the air flow from the air knife nozzle, the steam can be brought into contact with the substrate in a concentrated manner, and the substrate can be efficiently heated.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, the substrate W is cleaned on the substrate surface in the cleaning chamber 1 to remove foreign matters and the like. In the drying chamber 2, the liquid formed on the substrate W is removed and dried. Since the cleaning and drying of the substrate W are performed by in-line processing, the substrate W is transported in the direction shown in the figure by the transport means 10 including a roller conveyor. Accordingly, the substrate W is sequentially transferred from the cleaning chamber 1 to the drying chamber 2 and subjected to predetermined processing in each chamber.

  In the cleaning chamber 1, a plurality of cleaning water supply units 11 are arranged above and below the transfer path of the transfer unit 10, and supplies cleaning water to the substrate W. Since the cleaning water supply unit 11 is disposed not only on the upper side of the transport path of the transport unit 10 but also on the lower side, the front and back surfaces of the substrate W can be cleaned. The washing water supplied from the washing water supply means 11 may be either room temperature water or warm water, but warm water is preferable from the viewpoint of early removal of contaminated substances. The substrate W transported by the transport means 10 is basically horizontal transport (transport in which the substrate W is in a horizontal state), but tilted transport (transport in which the substrate W is tilted at a predetermined angle). ). Further, it may be vertical transport (transport in which the substrate W is in a vertical posture).

  Next, the drying chamber 2 as a substrate drying apparatus will be described. The drying chamber 2 has a hot water supply nozzle 21 as a hot water supply means, a steam nozzle 22 as a steam supply means, and an air knife nozzle 23. Among these, the hot water supply nozzle 21 is arranged on the most upstream side, the steam nozzle 22 is arranged next, and the air knife nozzle 23 is arranged on the most downstream side. The hot water supply nozzle 21, the steam nozzle 22, and the air knife nozzle 23 are all arranged above and below the transport unit 10, and supply hot water, steam, and air to the front and back surfaces of the substrate W.

  The hot water supply nozzle 21 will be described. The hot water supply nozzle 21 is means for supplying hot water to the substrate W, and for example, a configuration similar to the cleaning water supply means 11 shown in the cleaning chamber 1 can be adopted. The washing water supplied by the hot water supply nozzle 21 is warm water heated to a predetermined temperature.

  The steam nozzle 22 will be described. The steam nozzle 22 is disposed on the downstream side of the hot water supply nozzle 21 and is a means for heating the substrate W heated by the hot water supplied from the hot water supply nozzle 21. Steam is supplied from the steam nozzle 22 to heat the substrate W, and the temperature of the substrate W rises. Here, the substrate W is heated in two stages by the two of the hot water supply nozzle 21 and the steam nozzle 22, but the steam nozzle 22 plays the main role of giving heat to the substrate W. Therefore, heating by the hot water supply nozzle 21 is preliminary heating, and the steam nozzle 22 is main heating. For this reason, it is better to use the hot water supply nozzle 21 in order to efficiently heat the substrate W. However, the hot water supply nozzle 21 is not an essential component and can be heated only by the steam nozzle 22.

  The air knife nozzle 23 will be described. The air knife nozzle 23 is a means for blowing air to remove the liquid on the substrate W and dry it. The direction in which the air is blown is opposite to the transport direction of the substrate W, and has a predetermined incident angle. By arranging the air to be blown at this angle, the liquid can be efficiently drained.

  At this time, steam is generated inside the drying chamber 2 by the steam nozzle 22, and there is a possibility that the steam wraps around and adheres again to the substrate W from which the liquid has been removed by the air knife nozzle 23. Therefore, a partition wall 24 as shown in FIG. 1 is provided. By providing the partition wall 24, it is possible to prevent the steam from flowing to the downstream side of the air knife nozzle 23 and to prevent the steam from adhering to the substrate W. The partition wall 24 is disposed at any position downstream of the discharge port of the air knife nozzle 23, but is preferably disposed immediately after the air knife nozzle 23 as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 2 shows a configuration for supplying steam to the steam nozzle 22. As shown in FIG. 2, the steam generator 31 includes a heater 32. The heater 32 heats water contained in the steam generator 31 to generate steam. A pipe 34 is connected to the steam generator 31, and an opening / closing valve 33 is provided in the path of the pipe 34. The pipe 34 branches up and down in the middle, and is connected to the steam nozzle 22 disposed on the upper side of the conveying means 10 and the steam nozzle 22 disposed on the lower side, respectively. Therefore, the steam generated by the steam generator 31 is sprayed from the steam nozzle 22 via the pipe 34 and contacts the front and back surfaces of the substrate W. At this time, in order to inject steam when the substrate W passes between the steam nozzles 22, for example, a passage sensor is provided in the middle of the transport path of the transport means 10 of FIG. When this is sensed, the opening / closing control of the opening / closing valve 33 can be performed.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the steam nozzle 22 and the air knife nozzle 23 are inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W. Since the liquid formed on the substrate W is removed from the end of the surface of the substrate W to the outside, by tilting it at a predetermined angle with respect to the transport direction of the substrate W, two sides of the substrate W (in the drawing) The liquid can be removed from the short side and the long side, and the liquid can be quickly expelled from the substrate W. As shown in FIG. 3, a pipe 41 is connected to the air knife nozzle 23, and air is supplied to the air knife nozzle 23 through this pipe 41.

  Next, heating of the substrate W by steam will be described. As shown in FIG. 4, the steam S sprayed from the steam nozzle 22 contacts the substrate W. The steam S is steam and has a small specific heat and performs heat exchange by condensation heat transfer. Therefore, heat is instantaneously released to the substrate W, and the temperature of the steam S rapidly decreases. For this reason, the substrate W becomes a high temperature state in a short time. Air A is blown from the air knife nozzle 23 to the substrate W in a high temperature state, and the liquid on the substrate W is removed outside the substrate.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 4, the surface of the substrate is brought into a negative pressure state by the flow of air A blown from the air knife nozzle 23 onto the substrate W, and a negative pressure region NA is formed. Since the steam S discharged from the steam nozzle 22 is vapor, it is difficult to control the direction and cannot be brought into intensive contact with the substrate surface. However, when the steam S joins the negative pressure area NA, S can be concentrated. Thereby, the thermal energy held by the steam S can be efficiently transferred to the substrate W.

  Further, when each part of the drying chamber 2, particularly the wall surface 2A of the chamber is made of a resin product such as vinyl chloride, the heat resistance is not so high. Is damaged, causing deformation or distortion. For example, when vinyl chloride is used as the raw material, deformation or distortion occurs at 40 ° C. to 45 ° C. or higher, so it is desirable to suppress it below this.

  Therefore, as described above, since steam S, which is steam, is used for heating the substrate W, the steam S efficiently exchanges heat with the substrate W. The temperature drops. For this reason, it can be avoided that strong heat energy is given to other parts in the drying chamber 2 to cause damage. Further, since the steam S is joined to the flow from the air knife nozzle 23 and the steam S is intensively brought into contact with the substrate W by the action of the negative pressure region NA, the steam S releases latent heat to other parts. Can be avoided, and damage to the drying chamber 2 can be prevented.

  As described above, when a chamber made of vinyl chloride is used, it is necessary to avoid that thermal energy corresponding to 40 ° C. to 45 ° C. or more is applied to the wall surface 2A as described above. When heating the steam, the temperature of the steam S sprayed from the steam nozzle 22 may be a temperature in the vicinity of 100 ° C., for example. Even if the temperature of the steam S when sprayed from the steam nozzle 22 is 100 ° C., the steam S heat-exchanges with the substrate W and the temperature rapidly decreases. The amount of heat exceeding the limit temperature of the material is not applied to 2A or the like.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of a washing | cleaning chamber and a drying chamber. It is composition explanatory drawing which shows a specific example which generate | occur | produces a steam. It is the upper top view which looked at the steam nozzle and the air knife nozzle from the upper part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the flow of the steam sprayed from a steam nozzle, and the air sprayed from an air knife nozzle.

Explanation of symbols

2 Drying chamber 2A Wall surface 21 Hot water supply nozzle 22 Steam nozzle 23 Air knife nozzle A Air S Steam W Substrate

Claims (5)

Substrate transport means for transporting the substrate horizontally or inclined at a predetermined angle;
An air knife nozzle that blows air against the substrate conveyed by the substrate conveying means in a state where a liquid film is formed on the surface, and removes the liquid on the substrate;
A substrate drying apparatus, comprising: a steam supply unit disposed upstream of the air knife nozzle of the substrate transport unit and configured to supply heated steam to the substrate.   The steam supply means is arranged so that the steam supplied from the steam supply means has a positional relationship such that the steam flows from the air knife nozzle. Substrate drying equipment.   The hot water supply means is provided on the upstream side of the steam supply means of the substrate transport means and supplies hot water heated to a temperature lower than the steam supplied by the steam supply means. 2. The substrate drying apparatus according to 1.   A flat panel display manufacturing apparatus comprising the substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1.   A flat panel display manufactured by the flat panel display manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4.

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