JP2011016202A - Foreign matter polishing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a foreign matter polishing device capable of polishing a foreign matter formed on a substrate in a satisfactory manner.SOLUTION: This foreign matter polishing device 100 for polishing the foreign matter 92 formed on the substrate 90 includes a polishing tape 10 for polishing the foreign matter 92, a polishing head 20 forming a polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10, at least three roller heads 22 constituting the polishing head 20, and a roller moving device 30 for elevating and lowering each of the roller heads 22 in the vertical direction.

Description

  The present invention relates to a foreign matter polishing apparatus, and more particularly to a foreign matter polishing apparatus for a substrate used in a liquid crystal panel.

  The liquid crystal panel is formed by making two types of substrates, a color filter substrate and an array substrate, face each other and encapsulating liquid crystal between these substrates. Among these substrates, the color filter substrate is formed with color filter elements of RGB three primary colors, and a transparent electrode film is formed thereon. When manufacturing this color filter substrate, if particles (fine particles) adhere to the surface of the substrate, protrusions 102 are formed on the surface of the substrate 101 as shown in FIG. When the protrusions 102 come into contact with the electrodes of the array substrate facing each other, there arises a problem that an image is not formed at the contact portion. For this reason, in the manufacturing process of the color filter substrate, a correction process is performed in which the protrusion 102 and its address are detected by a defect inspection apparatus, and the detected protrusion 102 is corrected or removed (for example, Patent Document 1). .

  In this correction step, for example, a foreign material correction device that polishes the protrusions by running the polishing tape is used. FIG. 2 shows a state (polishing state) in which the foreign matter correcting apparatus 300 is operating, and specifically shows a state in which the polishing tape 304 of the foreign matter correcting apparatus 300 is in contact with the protrusion 102. Yes. The polishing tape 304 travels along the outer peripheral surface of the spherical ball 302 and polishes the protrusions 102 of the substrate 101. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the central portion 102a of the protrusion 102 is deeply polished by the polishing tape 304, and the protrusion 102 is removed (or corrected). A convex remaining portion 102 b that could not be polished with the polishing tape 304 is located at the peripheral edge of the protrusion 102.

JP 2008-290166 A

  In recent years, there has been a tendency for the gap between the color filter substrate and the array substrate to be narrowed in order to reduce the thickness of the liquid crystal panel, and the height at which the protrusions 102 formed on the substrate 101 can be tolerated has become severe. Yes. Therefore, it is preferable not only to remove the protrusion 102 by polishing, but also to make the remaining portion 102b of the protrusion 102 as low as possible. However, in the foreign material correcting apparatus 300 that causes the polishing tape 304 to travel along the outer peripheral surface of the spherical ball 302, there is a limit in reducing the remaining portion 102b, and if the remaining portion 102b is forcibly reduced, this time, There is a risk of damaging the surface.

Patent Document 1 proposes a tape polishing apparatus that can further reduce the remaining portion 102b. The tape polishing apparatus includes a guide tool that presses the polishing tape against the work surface, and a tool holding member that holds the guide tool, and the guide tool has a guide surface that comes into contact with the polishing tape. This guide surface has a vertex located at the lowest end in the ascending / descending direction as the origin, Y is the height distance in the ascending / descending direction from the origin, and X is the distance from the origin in the direction perpendicular to the ascending / descending direction through the origin. Where n is the order and a is a constant, a paraboloid defined by a high-order function Y = a × X ⁿ is formed. By making the guide surface a parabolic surface, the remaining portion 102b of the protrusion 102 can be made considerably smaller than the apparatus shown in FIG.

  However, even with the tape polishing apparatus proposed in Patent Document 1, the foreign matter (projection) 102 cannot be polished flat, so that the remaining portion of the foreign matter 102 remains on the polished substrate 101 as in the configuration shown in FIG. 102b is formed. In order to remove the remaining portion 102b, it is necessary to repeat polishing on the remaining portion 102b. However, the repetition of the polishing causes a decrease in the throughput of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing process. In addition, when the size of the foreign matter 102 is larger than the polishing area of the polishing tape, the central portion 102a of the foreign matter 102 can be polished, but the remaining portion 102b is not polished so much. 102 will be formed.

  Furthermore, the foreign matter (projection) 102 formed on the substrate 90 has various shapes in addition to the substantially hemispherical convex shape shown in FIG. In the tape polishing apparatus proposed in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to simply perform polishing corresponding to various shapes of the foreign matter (projection) 103.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and a main object thereof is to provide a polishing apparatus capable of satisfactorily polishing foreign matter on a substrate.

  The foreign matter polishing apparatus of the present invention is a foreign matter polishing device that polishes foreign matter formed on a substrate. The foreign matter polishing apparatus includes a polishing tape for polishing foreign matter, a polishing head for forming a polishing area of the polishing tape, at least three roller heads constituting the polishing head, and raising and lowering each of the at least three roller heads in the vertical direction. A roller moving device.

  According to the foreign matter polishing apparatus of the present invention, the polishing head includes a polishing head that forms a polishing region of the polishing tape, at least three roller heads that constitute the polishing head, and a roller moving device that raises and lowers each roller head in the vertical direction. Therefore, by raising and lowering each roller head, the shape of the polishing area of the polishing tape can be made to correspond to the shape of the foreign matter. As a result, the foreign matter on the substrate can be satisfactorily polished.

It is a figure which shows the board | substrate with which the foreign material was formed. It is a figure which shows the process of grind | polishing the foreign material on a board | substrate. It is a figure which shows the board | substrate after a foreign material is grind | polished. 1 is a view showing a foreign object polishing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a view showing a foreign object polishing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing a polishing head 20 and a roller moving device 30 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a view showing a foreign object polishing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the foreign material grinding | polishing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the liquid crystal panel 200 using the board | substrate 90 grind | polished with the foreign material grinding | polishing apparatus of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a foreign object polishing apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

  FIG. 4 schematically shows the configuration of the foreign object polishing apparatus 100 according to the present embodiment. The foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 of this embodiment removes the foreign matter 92 by polishing the foreign matter 92 formed on the substrate 90. By removing the foreign matter 92, the protrusion on the substrate 90 is corrected. The foreign matter 92 can be formed by attaching fine particles to the surface of the substrate 90. The fine particles adhering to the surface of the substrate 90 include, for example, metal powder generated in the sputtering process, but there are also insulating material powder (such as resin powder) and glass powder. The foreign matter 92 may be formed on the surface of the substrate 90 instead of attached on the surface of the substrate 90 in addition to the case where the foreign material 92 is formed on the surface of the substrate 90.

  The foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 includes a polishing tape 10 that polishes foreign matter 92, a polishing head 20 that forms a polishing region 10 a of the polishing tape 10, and at least three roller heads 22 that constitute the polishing head 20. When the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 contacts the foreign matter 92 and the polishing tape 10 travels (arrow 50), the foreign matter 92 is polished and removed.

  The roller head 22 constituting the polishing head 20 is connected to a roller moving device 30. The roller moving device 30 can raise and lower each of the roller heads 22 in the vertical direction (arrow 40). In the present embodiment, there are five roller heads 22 constituting the polishing head 20, and the shape of the polishing head 20 can be changed by raising and lowering each roller head 22.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the roller heads 22 are arranged so that the polishing head 20 has a V shape. This arrangement corresponds to the case where the foreign matter 92a on the substrate 90 is a small protrusion. Specifically, since the foreign matter 92a is smaller than the width W of one roller head 22, the polishing head 20 is formed in a V shape by moving the roller head 22 up and down.

  The roller head 22 is connected to the tip of the leg portion 34, and the leg portion 34 is connected to a control bar 32 that controls the height of the roller head 22. The control bar 32 has a configuration that can move up and down. When the control bar 32 moves up and down, the roller head 22 also moves up and down. The control bar 32 is connected to a control unit 60 that controls the height of the control bar 32. In the present embodiment, the shape of the polishing head 20 can be changed by changing the height of the roller head 22 connected to the control bar 32 under the control of the control unit 60. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the V-shaped polishing head 20 is formed under the control of the control unit 60.

  The polishing head 20 can be changed to another shape under the control of the control unit 60. In FIG. 5, the roller heads 22 are arranged in a W shape by adjusting the height of each roller head 22. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 is a region located between the roller heads 22a and 22b.

  In the example shown in FIG. 5, the foreign material 92 b formed on the substrate 90 has a shape having two top portions 93. The polishing head 20 has a shape corresponding to the foreign matter 92b. Specifically, the roller heads 22a and 22b are lowered so as to correspond to the top portion 93 of the foreign matter 92b. The roller heads 22a and 22b are in contact with the top 93 of the foreign matter 92b via the polishing tape 10.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the roller head 22 c may be positioned above the polishing tape 10, but may be positioned in contact with the polishing tape 10. The roller heads 22d and 22e are positioned above the roller heads 22a and 22b, and in this example, are positioned at the same height as the head roller 22c.

  6 is a perspective view for explaining the configuration shown in FIG. 5 in more detail. The roller head 22 has the same arrangement as the structure shown in FIG. 5, and the roller head 22 in this example has a columnar shape (or a cylindrical shape). One roller head 22 is supported by two legs 34, and the legs 34 are connected to the control bar 32.

  In the example shown in FIG. 6, a rail groove 24 for guiding the polishing tape 10 is formed in the roller head 22. By forming the rail groove 24 in the roller head 22, it is possible to suppress the traveling polishing tape 10 from being displaced.

  Further, in the example shown in FIG. 7, the foreign matter 92c formed on the substrate 90 has a relatively large size. Specifically, the foreign material 92c has a size larger than the width W of one roller head 22 (22c). In the case of the foreign matter 92c having such a large size, it is preferable that the roller heads 22 (22a to 22e) are arranged in a line to increase the length L2 of the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10. In this example, three of the roller heads 22a to 22c are in contact with the foreign matter 92c via the polishing tape 10 while increasing the length L2 of the polishing region 10a.

  According to the foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment, the polishing head 20 that forms the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 is composed of at least three roller heads 22, and each roller head 22 is moved up and down by the roller moving device 30. Can be made. Thereby, the shape of the polishing head 20 can be changed, and the shape of the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 can be changed corresponding to the shape of the foreign matter 92.

  For example, as described in FIG. 4 above, when a relatively small foreign object 92a is polished, the shape of the polishing region 10a may be V-shaped so that one roller head 22 hits the foreign object 92a. it can. Then, the polishing region 10a positioned at the apex of the V-shaped polishing head 20 can be pressed against the foreign matter 92a. When polishing with the polishing area 10a having a small area as described above, it is possible to increase the pressing force against the foreign matter 92a on the substrate 90, and the foreign matter 92a can be efficiently polished and removed.

  Further, in the case shown in FIG. 5, the roller head 22 (22 a, 22 b) can be pressed against the foreign matter 92 b through the polishing tape 10 corresponding to the foreign matter 92 b having a plurality of top portions 93. Since the roller head 22 (22a, 22b) can polish the foreign matter 92b while contacting the top 93 of the foreign matter 92b via the polishing tape 10, the foreign matter 92b on the substrate 90 can be satisfactorily polished. .

  Further, in the case shown in FIG. 7, the length L2 of the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 is increased by horizontally arranging the roller heads 22 in correspondence with the relatively large foreign matter 92c, and the foreign matter 92c. Polishing can be performed.

  Therefore, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the shape of the polishing region 10a can be changed in various ways, so that polishing can be performed while dealing with foreign matters having various sizes and shapes. Therefore, if the foreign material polishing apparatus 100 of this embodiment is used, the foreign material 92 on the substrate 90 can be polished well.

  Next, a modified example of the foreign material polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 schematically shows a configuration of a modified example of the foreign object polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.

  The foreign material polishing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 8 includes a travel mechanism 70 that travels the polishing tape 10. The traveling mechanism 70 includes a supply reel 72 that supplies the polishing tape 10 and a take-up reel 74 that winds the polishing tape 10. The supply reel 72 and the take-up reel 74 are stored in a cassette 71. In the traveling mechanism 70, a plurality of (for example, four) guide rolls 76 for guiding the polishing tape 10 are arranged, and the traveling path of the polishing tape 10 is determined by the guide rolls 76.

  According to the traveling mechanism 70 of the present embodiment, the supply reel 72 rotates in the direction of the arrow 42 to feed the polishing tape 10, while the take-up reel 74 rotates in the direction of the arrow 44 to collect the polishing tape 10. . Since the traveling mechanism 70 travels the polishing tape 10 in this way, the traveling speed can be easily changed and the tension of the polishing tape 10 can be stabilized. The polishing tape 10 fed from the supply reel 72 reaches the polishing head 20 through the guide roll 76, and polishes the foreign matter 92 in the polishing region 10a. The polished polishing tape 10 advances to the take-up reel 74 through the guide roll 76 by the rotational force of the take-up reel 74, and is finally collected by the take-up reel 74 in the cassette 71. For this reason, in this traveling mechanism 70, the polishing tape 10 can be easily replaced by replacing the cassette 71 from which the polishing tape 10 has been collected.

  In the configuration of this embodiment, a stage 80 that holds the substrate 90 is provided. The stage 80 is configured to be movable by a stage moving device 82. The stage moving device 82 is connected to a control unit 60 that controls the movement of the stage 80. The controller 60 is connected to the control bar 32 of the roller moving device 30, and the shape of the polishing head 20 can be changed by changing the height of each roller head 22 under the control of the controller 60. Furthermore, the control unit 60 can control not only changing the height of the individual roller heads 22 but also controlling raising and lowering of the polishing head 20 including the entire roller heads 22.

  In the above-described embodiment, the roller moving device 30 is configured to move the roller head 22 up and down by moving the control bar 32 up and down. It is also possible to adopt such a configuration. In the above-described embodiment, the structure in which the number of roller heads 22 is five has been exemplified. However, the number of roller heads 22 may be appropriately selected as appropriate, and may be three, four, for example. Alternatively, it may be six or more.

  In addition, the foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment can be provided with an area sensor and a confocal microscope that detect the position and size of the foreign matter 92 on the substrate 90. Information on the position and size of the foreign matter 92 is transmitted to the control unit 60. The controller 60 calculates a suitable shape of the polishing head 20 based on the information, and the controller 60 controls the stage moving device 82 and the roller moving device 30 based on the calculated shape. Thereby, the foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 can execute the foreign matter polishing step (foreign matter removing step). In addition, it is also possible to connect the control unit 60 to the traveling mechanism 70, and in this case, the control unit 60 can control conditions such as the traveling speed of the polishing tape 10.

  The substrate 90 that is corrected by the foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is a glass substrate for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel. The substrate 90 according to the above-described embodiment is a color filter substrate on which a color filter is formed, or an array substrate (TFT array substrate) on which a thin film transistor (TFT) is formed. The substrate 90 is mother glass before being cut out to the dimensions of the liquid crystal panel, but may be glass having the size of the liquid crystal panel after being cut out. In addition, the substrate 90 of the present embodiment is a substrate structure in which a conductive layer (such as a wiring layer) or an insulating layer (such as a resin layer) is formed on at least one surface of a glass substrate. Note that the substrate 90 is not limited to a glass substrate, and even if the substrate 90 is made of a material other than glass (a resin substrate or a flexible substrate), the foreign substance polishing method of the present embodiment can be executed. The substrate 90 may be a rectangular glass substrate or another thin plate such as a wafer (for example, a circular substrate). In addition, the substrate to which the technology of the embodiment of the present invention is applied is not limited to a substrate for a liquid crystal panel, but a thin substrate for manufacturing a PDP, an organic EL panel, other flat panel displays, or other electronic products. It may be.

  An example of a specific configuration of the present embodiment is as follows. The substrate 90 is an array substrate, and the foreign matter 92 is metal particles attached to the surface of the substrate 90. The traveling speed of the polishing tape 10 is about 20 mm / sec. Further, the length of the polishing region 10a of the polishing tape 10 can be adjusted in the range of 2.5 mm to 50 mm. The width of the roller head 22 is, for example, about 10 mm. The height of the foreign material 92 before polishing is, for example, about 3 μm to 20 μm, and is preferably about 2.5 μm after polishing.

  The substrate 90 from which the foreign matter 92 has been removed by the foreign matter polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is used for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel 200 as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal panel 200 is composed of a pair of substrates 90a and 90b and a liquid crystal layer 95 sealed therebetween. The substrate 90a is an array substrate, and the substrate 90b is a color filter substrate (CF substrate). At least one of the array substrate 90a and the CF substrate 90b has been subjected to foreign substance polishing processing by the foreign substance polishing apparatus 100 of the present embodiment.

  Note that polarizing plates 96a and 96b are attached to the outside of the array substrate 90a and the CF substrate 90b. A spacer 97 is provided between the array substrate 90a and the CF substrate 90b to define the gap between them. A TFT element, a wiring layer, an insulating layer and the like are formed on the array substrate 90a. On the other hand, a color filter 98b including a black matrix 98a is formed on the CF substrate 90b.

  As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, but such description is not a limitation and various modifications can be made.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the foreign material grinding | polishing apparatus which can grind | polish the foreign material on a board | substrate favorably can be provided.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Polishing tape 10a Polishing area | region 20 Polishing head 22 Roller head 24 Rail groove | channel 30 Roller moving apparatus 32 Control bar 34 Leg part 60 Control part 70 Traveling mechanism 71 Cassette 72 Supply reel 74 Take-up reel 76 Guide roll 80 Stage 82 Stage moving apparatus 90 Substrate 90a Array substrate 90b Color filter substrate (CF substrate)
92 Foreign matter 93 Top 95 Liquid crystal layer 96a Polarizing plate 97 Spacer 98a Black matrix 98b Color filter 100 Foreign matter polishing apparatus 200 Liquid crystal panel

Claims (4)

A foreign matter polishing apparatus for polishing foreign matter formed on a substrate,
A polishing tape for polishing foreign matter;
A polishing head for forming a polishing region of the polishing tape;
At least three roller heads constituting the polishing head;
A roller moving device for moving up and down each of the at least three roller heads;
Foreign matter polishing apparatus comprising:   The foreign object polishing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least three roller heads have rail grooves for guiding the polishing tape. Furthermore, it has a running mechanism for running the abrasive tape,
The traveling mechanism is
A supply reel for supplying the polishing tape;
A take-up reel that winds up the polishing tape;
A cassette for storing the supply reel and the take-up reel;
The foreign matter polishing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising: The foreign material polishing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is at least one of a color filter substrate and an array substrate.

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