JP2010260318A - Suction stage - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a suction stage where a liquid for a wet process is not sucked into a workpiece suction part protruded from a workpiece. <P>SOLUTION: In the surface of a stage body 12, a suction part forming region which is slightly smaller than the outer form of the maximum workpiece 5a among suction objective workpieces is set. At the inside of the suction part forming region, the part along the outer form of a small size workpiece 5b among the suction part objective workpieces is provided with a partition part 15, and the other part is provided with a porous plate 16. Each porous plate 16 partitioned by the partition part 15 is connected with a flow passage 17 branched from one drawing port 18. When the small size workpiece 5b is held, the outer circumferential edge part thereof and the edge part of a mask 19 covering the porous plate 16 at the outside than the partition part 15 are butted to be placed on the partition part 15, and evacuation is performed from the drawing port 18 in this state, thus the workpiece 5b and the mask 19 are sucked on the porous plates 16 at the inside and outside of the partition part 15, respectively. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a suction stage that sucks and holds a workpiece, and more particularly, to a suction stage for holding a workpiece that performs a wet process such as printing.

  In order to fix the position of workpieces such as various thin film glasses and plastic thin film sheets, suction stages are widely used.

  One of these types of adsorption stages is a vacuum adsorption stage. As the vacuum adsorption stage, there are a porous adsorption type and a hole (hole) adsorption type.

  FIG. 6 shows an outline of an example of the above-described porous adsorption type vacuum adsorption stage. On the upper side of the stage main body 1, a porous plate 2 such as a ceramic porous whose surface is a workpiece adsorption surface is provided. As a configuration comprising a flow path 4 branched from one drawing port 3 and communicated with the bottom surface of the porous plate 2 through the inside of the stage main body 1, a work 5 such as a substrate is provided on the surface of the porous plate 2. In a state in which the porous plate 2 is evacuated through the flow path 4 by the pump 6 connected to the pulling port 3, the void inside the porous plate 2 is decompressed, The workpiece 5 is adsorbed to the surface of the porous plate 2 and is held and fixed. According to such a vacuum suction stage of the porous adsorption type, it is said that deformation of the work 5 can be suppressed and the work 5 can be fixed uniformly.

  FIG. 7 shows an outline of an example of a vacuum suction stage of a hole suction type. A stage main body 7 is provided with a large number of pores 8 opened on a surface to be a workpiece suction surface, and branches from one drawing port 3. As a configuration provided with the flow path 4a communicating with the large number of pores 8, the pump 6 connected to the drawing port 3 with the workpiece 5 such as a substrate placed on the surface of the stage body 7 is used. By evacuating the numerous pores 8 through the flow path 4a, the inside of each pore 8 is decompressed, and the work 5 is adsorbed to the surface of the stage body 7 and held and fixed. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  Note that reference numeral 9 in FIGS. 6 and 7 denotes ink printed on the work 5.

  As other suction stages, electrostatic suction stages and electromagnetic suction stages are widely used. Furthermore, in these electrostatic adsorption stages and electromagnetic adsorption stages, there are many pores (narrow holes) on the workpiece adsorption surface for the required purpose, such as easy removal of the workpiece adsorbed on the workpiece adsorption surface. It may be provided.

JP 61-144898 A

  However, when a wet process such as printing is performed on the work 5 held on the vacuum suction stage using the porous suction type vacuum suction stage shown in FIG. 6, the work 5 is actually sucked. When the work 5 is held and fixed on the vacuum suction stage, the porous plate 2 serving as a vacuum suction portion is designed to be smaller than the work 5 and used in the wet process such as ink. It is necessary to prevent the liquid from being sucked into (permeated into) the porous plate 2.

  Therefore, the actual situation is that the vacuum suction stage does not normally suck a plurality of workpieces 5 having different sizes using the same vacuum suction stage.

  Therefore, when holding and fixing the workpiece 5 having a size smaller than the porous plate 2 serving as a vacuum suction portion, as shown in FIG. It is necessary to cover the surface with a mask 10 to cope with it. Furthermore, in a state where the end surfaces of the workpiece 5 and the mask 10 are simply faced to each other, there is a concern that a liquid used in a wet process such as the ink may permeate through the gap between the two and may be sucked into the porous plate 2. Therefore, it is necessary to seal the gap with a sealing agent 11 such as silicon. Therefore, there is a problem that the work becomes very complicated and the possibility of leakage of the sealing portion by the sealing material 11 cannot be solved.

  Furthermore, when the workpiece 5 is large, the porous plate 2 serving as a vacuum suction portion also needs to be enlarged. Generally, the porous plate 2 has a lower rigidity than a solid material. When a moving load is applied to the work 5 adsorbed and held on the surface of the porous plate 2 from above such as a blanket roll of a printing apparatus, the amount of deformation of the porous plate 2 increases. Therefore, there is a concern that the accuracy of the wet process may be reduced.

  When a wet process such as printing is performed on the work 5 held on the vacuum suction stage of the hole suction type shown in FIG. 7, the area in which the fine holes 8 are formed in the stage body 7 is designed to be smaller than the work 5. When the workpiece 5 is held and fixed on the vacuum suction stage, it is necessary to prevent the liquid used in the wet process such as ink from being sucked into the pores 8.

  Therefore, although not shown in the figure, also in the case of the above-described vacuum suction type vacuum suction stage, the work 5 having a size smaller than the pore 8 drilling region in the stage main body 7 serving as a vacuum suction portion is to be fixed. 8, it is necessary to cover the portion of the pore 8 drilling region that protrudes from the work 5 with a mask 10 in the same manner as shown in FIG. Since it becomes necessary to seal the gaps between them with a sealant 11 such as silicon, there is a problem that the operation becomes very complicated and the possibility of leakage of the seal portion cannot be solved.

  Accordingly, the present invention is capable of adsorbing and holding a plurality of workpieces having different sizes with respect to a workpiece to be subjected to a wet process such as printing, and the liquid used in the wet process performed on the workpiece is a workpiece adsorption. An object of the present invention is to provide an adsorption stage that can eliminate the possibility of being sucked into a porous plate or pores provided on the surface and can reduce the labor required to hold the workpiece.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention corresponds to claim 1 and has a required dimension smaller than the outer shape of the largest workpiece among a plurality of workpieces of different sizes to be attracted on the surface of the stage body. A partition portion along the outer shape of the workpiece having a size smaller than the suction portion formation region among the plurality of workpieces of different sizes to be suctioned is provided inside the suction portion formation region set as described above, and the suction portion It is set as the structure which provides a workpiece | work adsorption | suction part in the part except the said partition part inside a formation area.

  Further, in the above configuration, the workpiece adsorbing portion is a porous plate provided on the surface portion of the stage body, and a flow path communicating with each porous plate partitioned by the partitioning portion is provided.

  Similarly, in the above-described configuration, the workpiece adsorbing portion is configured to have a large number of pores that open to the surface of the stage main body, and is configured to have a flow path that communicates with each of the pores.

  Further, similarly, in the above-described configuration, the workpiece attracting portion is configured to be an electrostatic attracting portion or an electromagnetic attracting portion having a large number of pores opened on the surface of the stage main body.

According to the adsorption stage of the present invention, the following excellent effects are exhibited.
(1) A plurality of the suction targets inside the suction portion forming region set to be smaller than the outer dimension of the largest workpiece among the plurality of workpieces of different sizes to be suctioned on the surface of the stage body. A partition along the outer shape of the work of a size smaller than the suction part formation region of the workpieces of different sizes is provided, and a work suction part is provided in a portion excluding the partition part inside the suction part formation region. Since it is configured to be provided, the largest workpiece among a plurality of workpieces of different sizes to be suctioned can be sucked by the entire workpiece suction portion partitioned by the partition portion of the suction portion forming region. In addition, when a work having a size smaller than the suction portion forming area is mounted on the outer peripheral edge portion on the partition portion along the outer shape and the work suction portion outside the partition portion is covered with a mask, the partition It can be adsorbed by the work adsorbing part inside the part. Therefore, a plurality of workpieces having different sizes can be adsorbed and held.
(2) Furthermore, when the largest workpiece among a plurality of workpieces of different sizes is sucked, all the workpiece suction portions can be covered by the workpiece. When a workpiece having a size smaller than the suction portion forming area is sucked, the workpiece suction portion inside the partition portion along the outer shape of the workpiece can be covered with the workpiece, and the workpiece suction portion outside the partition portion is sucked. The part can be covered with a mask, and the part where the work and the end of the mask are faced to each other can be received by the partition, and the work is adsorbed under the gap between the two end parts. Since there is no part, even if the work held and fixed on the stage is subjected to a wet process such as printing, the risk of adverse effects such as the liquid used in the wet process being sucked into the work suction part can be eliminated.
(3) The work adsorption part is a porous plate provided on the surface part of the stage main body, and a flow path communicating with each porous plate partitioned by the partition part is provided. A porous adsorption type vacuum adsorption stage capable of obtaining the effect shown in 1) can be easily realized. Furthermore, even when holding a workpiece having a size smaller than the suction portion forming region, in the step before vacuum suction, the workpiece and the porous plate outside the partition portion corresponding to the outer shape of the workpiece. Since the masks covering the top need only be placed at predetermined positions, respectively, the labor required to hold the workpiece can be reduced. In addition, since the porous plate provided in the adsorption part forming region can be reinforced with a more rigid partition part, a moving load is applied to the work held on the stage from above, such as a blanket roll of a printing apparatus. In such a case, the load can be received by the partitioning portion, and therefore, the risk that the amount of deformation of the porous plate is increased can be suppressed, and the work held on the stage can be subjected to a wet process. It can be expected to improve the accuracy when it is used.
(4) The work adsorption portion is configured to have a large number of pores opening on the surface of the stage body, and a flow path communicating with each of the pores is provided. It is possible to easily realize a vacuum suction type vacuum suction stage capable of obtaining the effects shown. Furthermore, the same effect as the above (3) can be obtained.
(5) The effect shown in the above (1) can be obtained by adopting a configuration in which the workpiece adsorption unit is an electrostatic adsorption unit or an electromagnetic adsorption unit having a large number of pores opened on the surface of the stage body. An electrostatic adsorption stage or an electromagnetic adsorption stage that can be obtained can be easily realized.

It is a schematic plan view which shows one Embodiment of the adsorption | suction stage of this invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cutaway side view showing a main part of the suction stage of FIG. 1. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate a method of using the suction stage of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B corresponds to FIG. 2 illustrating a case where a large-sized workpiece is held, and FIG. . It is a schematic plan view which shows the form of the other form of implementation of this invention. FIG. 5 is an enlarged cutaway side view showing a main part of the suction stage of FIG. 4. It is a cutting | disconnection side view which shows the outline of an example of the vacuum suction stage of the porous adsorption | suction type proposed conventionally. It is a cutting side view showing an outline of an example of a conventionally proposed hole adsorption type vacuum adsorption stage. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the means considered as a response | compatibility in the case of hold | maintaining the small size workpiece | work for performing a wet process with the vacuum suction stage of the porous adsorption | suction type of FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIGS. 1 to 3 (a) and 3 (b) show examples of the case where the present invention is applied to a porous adsorption type vacuum adsorption stage as one embodiment of the adsorption stage of the present invention. .

  That is, an adsorption portion having a shape that is slightly smaller than the outer shape of the maximum size workpiece 5a among the plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes, for example, several mm smaller, is formed on the surface portion of the stage main body 12. A region 13 is set, and a recess 14 for fitting a porous plate is provided at a required depth inside the adsorption portion forming region 13.

  At a position along the outer shape of the work 5b having a size smaller than the suction part forming region 13 among the plurality of works 5a and 5b having different sizes to be suctioned, the inside of the concave part 14 is located at the position of the work 5b. A height of the partition 15 having a required width dimension from the inner position to the outer position of the required dimension, for example, a width dimension of several millimeters, the upper surface of which is flush with the surface of the stage body 12. Provided.

  Furthermore, the porous plate 16 as a workpiece | work adsorption | suction part is fitted and attached to the inner side and the outer side recessed part 14 of the said partition part 15, respectively. At this time, the surface of the porous plate 16 is flush with the surface of the stage body 12 and the upper surface of the partition 15.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a flow path branched from one drawing port 18 and communicated with a required portion of the bottom surface of each porous plate 16 inside and outside the partition through the inside of the stage main body 12.

  When holding the workpiece 5a having the maximum size among the plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes to be suctioned using the vacuum suction stage as the suction stage of the present invention having the above-described configuration, FIG. 3 (a), the work 5a is arranged so as to cover the entire surface of the porous plate 16 provided in the suction portion forming region 13, and in this state, connected to the drawing port 18 (not shown). The pump is operated to evacuate the porous plates 16 inside and outside the partition 15 via the flow path 17. As a result, the internal space of the porous plate 16 is depressurized, so that the work 5a is adsorbed on the entire surface of the work adsorbing portion composed of the porous plates 16 inside and outside the partition portion 15, The work 5a is held and fixed on the stage.

  At this time, since the entire surface of the porous plate 16 provided in the suction portion forming region 13 is covered with the workpiece 5a as described above, the porous plate 16 is held and fixed on the vacuum suction stage as the suction stage of the present invention. Even if the workpiece 5a in a state is subjected to a wet process such as printing, there is no possibility that a liquid (not shown) used in the wet process is sucked into the porous plate 16.

  When holding the workpiece 5b having a size smaller than the suction portion forming region 13 among the plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes to be suctioned, as shown in FIG. The outer peripheral edge of the workpiece 5b is placed on the partition 15 provided in the suction portion forming region 13, and the mask has a required shape that covers the porous plate 16 outside the partition 15 19 is placed with its inner end on the partition 15 and its outer end on the outer peripheral edge of the suction portion forming region 13 in the stage main body 12. A pump (not shown) connected to 18 is operated to evacuate the porous plates 16 inside and outside the partition 15 via the flow path 17. Thereby, the space | gap inside each said porous plate 16 is pressure-reduced. At this time, the work 5b is adsorbed on the surface of the porous plate 16 which is the work adsorbing portion inside the partition portion 15, and the mask 19 is applied on the surface of the porous plate 16 outside the partition portion 15. Since the air is not adsorbed and air does not flow in, the work 5b is held and fixed on the stage.

  At this time, in the porous plate 16 provided in the adsorption part forming region 13, the surface of the porous plate 16 inside the partition part 15 is covered with the work 5 b, and the surface outside the partition part 15 is covered with the work 5 b. The surface of the porous plate 16 is covered with the mask 19, and the portion where the end portions of the work 5 b and the mask 19 are abutted against each other is received by the partition portion 15, below the gap between the two. Since the porous plate 16 does not exist, the work 5b held and fixed on the vacuum suction stage as the suction stage of the present invention is subjected to a liquid process (FIG. (Not shown) is not likely to be sucked into the porous plate 16.

  Thus, according to the vacuum suction stage as the suction stage of the present invention, it is possible to satisfactorily suck and hold a plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes, and the plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes. Even if each of the workpieces 5a and 5b is subjected to a wet process while adsorbing and holding 5b, the possibility that the liquid used in the wet process is sucked into the porous plate 16 provided on the workpiece adsorption surface is eliminated. Can do.

  Moreover, even when the work 5b having a size smaller than the suction part forming region 13 is held, the work 5b and the outside of the partition part 15 protruding outside the work 5b are removed in the step before evacuation. Since the masks 19 covering the porous plate 16 only need to be placed at predetermined positions, the labor required to hold the workpiece 5b can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since the partition 15 is provided inside the suction portion forming region 13 where the porous plate 16 is installed on the surface portion of the stage main body 12, the plurality of workpieces 5a, When a moving load is applied from above, such as a blanket roll of a printing apparatus, in a state where the workpiece 5a having the maximum size of 5b is held, the load is stronger than the porous plate 16 ( Since it can be received by the partition portion 15 (which has high rigidity), it is possible to suppress the possibility that the deformation amount of the porous plate 16 becomes large, and an effect of improving the accuracy of the wet process can be expected.

  Next, FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 show an example in which a hole suction type vacuum suction stage is applied as another embodiment of the present invention, which has the following configuration.

  That is, on the surface portion of the stage main body 20, as shown by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 4, among a plurality of workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes to be attracted, the workpiece 5a of the maximum size shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. The suction part forming region 13 having a shape slightly smaller than the outer shape of the workpiece is set, and the suction among the workpieces 5a and 5b having a plurality of sizes different from each other inside the suction part forming region 13 and the suction target is set. In order to form the partition portion 15 having a required width dimension from the inner position of the outer dimension of the workpiece 5b to the outer position of the required dimension at a position along the outer shape of the workpiece 5b having a size smaller than the portion forming region 13. And a large number of openings that open on the surface of the stage main body 20 as work adsorbing portions in a portion excluding the area for forming the partitioning portion 15 inside the adsorbing portion forming region 13. The pore 21 is provided, thereby, a position along the outer shape of the work 5b, to form a partition portion 15 having no pores 21 with a required width inward and outward.

  Further, a flow path 17 a branched from one drawing port 18 and communicating with each pore 21 provided in the stage main body 20 is provided.

  In addition, the same components as those shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 (A) and (B) are denoted by the same reference numerals.

  By using the same as the porous adsorption type adsorption stage of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 (A) and (B), the pore adsorption type vacuum adsorption stage of the present embodiment can be used in a plurality of sizes. The workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes can be adsorbed and held satisfactorily, and the workpieces 5a and 5b having different sizes are adsorbed and held, and each of the workpieces 5a and 5b is subjected to a wet process. In addition, it is possible to eliminate the possibility that the liquid used in the wet process is sucked into the pores 21 provided on the workpiece adsorption surface.

  When holding the work 5b having a size smaller than the suction part forming region 13, the work 5b and the porous part outside the partition part 15 protruding outside the work 5b in the step before evacuation. Since it is only necessary to place the masks 19 covering the plate 16 at predetermined positions, the labor required to hold the workpiece 5b can be reduced.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment, If the partition part 15 is provided with the shape along the external shape of the workpiece | work 5b of a size smaller than the adsorption | suction part formation area | region 13, each side of a rectangle It is good also as planar shapes other than illustration, such as extending a part and making it a grid | lattice form.

  Moreover, you may apply to the adsorption | suction stage for hold | maintaining a 3 or more types of workpiece | work from which a size differs as several workpiece | work from which a size differs. In this case, a partition 15 having a planar shape corresponding to the outer shape of each work having a size smaller than the suction portion forming area 13 is provided inside the suction portion forming area 13 set according to the outer shape of the workpiece 5a having the maximum size. In this case, the arrangement of the planar partition portions 15 corresponding to the outer shape of each work having a size smaller than that of the adsorption portion forming area 13 may be concentric arrangement or the adsorption portion forming area. Arrangements arbitrarily set, such as an arrangement in which planar partition portions 15 intersect each other according to the outer shape of each workpiece having a size smaller than 13, may be adopted.

  The width of the partition 15 shown in the figure is a convenient dimension for illustration. If the outer peripheral edge of the corresponding workpiece and the end of the mask 19 can be placed in a state where they face each other, the width of the partition 15 in the inner and outer directions is shown. You may change a width dimension suitably. Moreover, the width dimension of the partition part 15 is not necessarily limited to several mm, and the width dimension may be appropriately enlarged or reduced according to the flexibility of the workpiece.

  The suction portion forming region 13 is not necessarily limited to a shape that is smaller by several mm as long as it is smaller than the outer shape of the maximum size workpiece 5a, and is larger according to the flexibility of the maximum size workpiece 5a. The sheath shape may be changed as appropriate.

  For the required purpose, such as facilitating the removal of the workpiece adsorbed on the surface that becomes the workpiece adsorption surface of the stage body, if it is an adsorption stage of a type in which a large number of pores are provided on the workpiece adsorption surface, The present invention may be applied to a suction stage other than a vacuum suction stage, such as an electrostatic suction stage or an electromagnetic suction stage. In this case, in a portion excluding the partition portion 15 provided according to the outer shape of the work 5b having a size smaller than the suction portion forming region 13 inside the suction portion forming region 13 set according to the outer shape of the workpiece 5a having the maximum size. In addition, an electrostatic chuck or an electromagnetic chuck may be provided as a workpiece chuck.

  You may apply as a suction stage of the machine and apparatus which perform any wet processes other than a printing apparatus.

  Of course, various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

5a, 5b Workpiece 12 Stage body 13 Suction part forming region 15 Partition part 16 Porous plate (work suction part)
17, 17a Flow path 20 Stage body 21 Fine pore (work adsorption part)

Claims (4)

  A plurality of sizes to be suctioned inside a suction portion forming area set to be smaller than the outer dimension of the largest workpiece among the plurality of workpieces of different sizes on the surface of the stage body Of the different workpieces are provided with a partition portion that follows the outer shape of the workpiece having a size smaller than that of the suction portion forming region, and a workpiece suction portion is provided in a portion excluding the partition portion inside the suction portion forming region. An adsorption stage having a configuration.   The suction stage according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece suction portion is a porous plate provided on a surface portion of the stage main body, and a flow path communicating with each porous plate partitioned by the partition portion is provided.   The suction stage according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece suction portion is configured by a plurality of pores opening on the surface of the stage body, and a flow path communicating with each of the pores is provided.   2. The adsorption stage according to claim 1, wherein the workpiece adsorption unit is an electrostatic adsorption unit or an electromagnetic adsorption unit having a large number of pores opened on the surface of the stage body.

Images