JP2012213748A - Method and equipment for manufacturing glass substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology for effectively cleansing an effective face of a glass substrate without causing increases in running cost, equipment investment, and a productivity drop of the glass substrate.SOLUTION: In a washing process of removing foreign matter adhering to the effective face of the glass substrate G by pressing washing heads 15 on the effective face of the conveyed glass substrate G while rotating the washing heads 15 while supplying a washing liquid 21 to the effective face, a contact pressure of the washing head 15 to the glass substrate G is adjusted by use of expansion/contraction of at least one of the washing head 15 and a first holding member 13 holding the washing head 15. Specifically, when the washing head 15 is worn to a certain degree, a supply temperature of the washing liquid 21 is increased, at least one of the washing head 15 and the first holding member 13 is thermally expanded, and the contact pressure of the washing head 15 to the glass substrate G reduced by the wearing of the washing head 15 is newly increased.

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass substrate manufacturing method and manufacturing equipment, and more particularly to a glass substrate manufacturing method and manufacturing equipment including a cleaning step for removing various foreign substances attached to the surface of the glass substrate.

  As is well known, when manufacturing a glass substrate for a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or an organic EL display, or a glass substrate for a solar cell, glass is used at the final stage of the manufacturing line. For removing foreign substances such as fine glass pieces and dust adhering to the surface of the glass substrate (more specifically, the area where electronic functional elements etc. are formed in the surface; hereinafter referred to as “effective surface”) during the substrate manufacturing process A cleaning process is performed. As a result, the effective surface of the glass substrate is cleaned, and an electronic functional element or the like can be accurately formed on the effective surface of the glass substrate in a post-process or the like.

  For example, Patent Document 1 below describes specific means for cleaning the effective surface of a glass substrate. In detail, while supplying the cleaning liquid to the effective surface of the glass substrate, pressing while rotating the polishing member (the contact surface with the glass substrate is composed of a polishing film such as a wrapping film or sandpaper), In this state, the glass substrate is translated in the plane direction to perform foreign matter removal processing to remove foreign matter adhering to the effective surface of the glass substrate, and further, ultrasonic cleaning processing and drying are executed as necessary. It is.

JP 2004-122097 A

  As described above, when the polishing member is rotated and pressed against the glass substrate while supplying the cleaning liquid, the foreign matter can be effectively removed even if the foreign matter is firmly attached to the effective surface of the glass substrate. On the other hand, small scratches are easily formed on the effective surface of the glass substrate. Considering the recent situation in which further improvement in image quality (high definition) of FPD and improvement in power generation capacity of solar cells are progressing, even small scratches that have been allowed before may not be allowed. For this reason, if a small scratch is formed on the effective surface of the glass substrate, a serious problem may occur that the glass substrate becomes unusable. For this reason, in order to clean the effective surface of the glass substrate, a material made of a relatively soft elastic material (hereinafter referred to as “cleaning head”) is often used as the material pressed against the glass substrate.

  Although the cleaning process to remove foreign matter adhering to the effective surface of the glass substrate by pressing against the glass substrate while rotating the cleaning head is performed in the presence of cleaning liquid, sliding contact between the cleaning head and the glass substrate is repeated. As a result, the relatively soft cleaning head gradually wears. When the cleaning head is worn by a predetermined amount and the contact amount (contact pressure) of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate is reduced, the cleaning ability is lowered, and it becomes difficult to obtain a glass substrate having a predetermined surface quality. Therefore, in order to stably obtain a glass substrate having a predetermined surface quality, it is necessary to take some measures to recover the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate when the cleaning head is worn by a predetermined amount. .

  As a specific means to recover the contact pressure of the cleaning head to the glass substrate (maintain at a predetermined value), even if the cleaning head does not wear enough to reach the use limit, the cleaning head wears to a certain extent and the predetermined contact occurs. It is conceivable to replace the cleaning head with a new one when the pressure cannot be obtained. However, in this way, the running cost increases, and the cleaning device needs to be stopped every time the cleaning head is replaced. Since this type of glass substrate production line is a continuous line in which various processing and the above-described cleaning processing are continuously performed on the glass substrate, the cleaning device is stopped each time the cleaning head is replaced. There is a problem that the productivity of the substrate is significantly reduced. Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have a means of automatically maintaining the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate at a predetermined value by making it possible to mechanically adjust the amount of movement of the individual cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate. Attempted to hire. However, such means inevitably complicates the drive system and control system of the cleaning apparatus, and requires a large amount of capital investment. In particular, in recent years, the increase in the size of glass substrates has been rapidly progressing, and accordingly, the size of the cleaning device has also increased (the number of cleaning heads to be provided in the cleaning device has increased). There's a problem.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of effectively cleaning the effective surface of a glass substrate without incurring as much as possible an increase in running cost, capital investment, and a decrease in productivity of the glass substrate. And

  The present invention devised to achieve the above object is to apply glass to an effective surface of a glass substrate to be conveyed by pressing a cleaning head formed of an elastic material while rotating the cleaning head while supplying a cleaning liquid. A glass substrate manufacturing method including a cleaning process for removing foreign substances adhering to an effective surface of a substrate, wherein in the cleaning process, at least one of expansion and contraction of a cleaning head or a holding member that holds the cleaning head is used. The contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to is adjusted. The “effective surface of the glass substrate” herein refers to a region of the surface of the glass substrate where an electronic functional element or the like is formed in a subsequent process or the like.

  As described above, in the present invention, utilizing the expansion and contraction of at least one of the cleaning head or the holding member that holds the cleaning head, which is an essential configuration when performing the cleaning process of the effective surface of the glass substrate, The contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate is adjusted by utilizing the thickness variation of the cleaning head and / or the holding member accompanying the temperature change. In this case, by selecting and using individual cleaning heads and / or holding members for holding the heads that appropriately expand and contract under the temperature conditions (temperature environment) in which the cleaning process is performed, The contact pressure can be maintained at an appropriate value. Therefore, a high-quality glass substrate with a clean effective surface can be obtained without providing a complicated and expensive drive mechanism that automatically adjusts the amount of advance and retreat of each cleaning head. In this case, since the cleaning head can be effectively used until the upper limit of the temperature environment (cleaning head usage limit) at which the cleaning process is executed is reached, the replacement cost of the cleaning head is reduced and the running cost is increased. And a decrease in productivity of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

  In the above configuration, as an example of specific means that can be taken to expand and contract at least one of the cleaning head or the holding member (adjusting and recovering the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate), changing the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid Can be considered.

  In this way, the cleaning liquid, which is an essential component when performing the glass substrate cleaning process, is stored in a heatable manner, and the cleaning head for the glass substrate is simply heated by appropriately supplying the cleaning liquid supplied toward the glass substrate. Can be adjusted (recovered) to a predetermined value. Therefore, the effective surface can be effectively cleaned without causing the cleaning device to be complicated. The supply temperature of the cleaning liquid can be changed based on the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate. In this way, the cleaning process can be executed in a state where the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate is maintained at an appropriate value.

  As a specific situation where the above configuration can be preferably applied, it can be considered that the wear of the cleaning head has progressed. That is, when the cleaning head wears, the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid may be increased accordingly.

  The supply temperature of the cleaning liquid can be varied within a range of 40 to 60 ° C, more preferably within a range of 45 to 55 ° C.

  If the cleaning liquid supply temperature is too low, the cleaning head and / or the holding member cannot be expanded when the cleaning head wear progresses. If the cleaning liquid supply temperature is too high, the cleaning head is in contact with the cleaning liquid. However, it becomes easier to proceed. Therefore, the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid is set to be variable within a range of 40 to 60 ° C., more preferably within a range of 45 to 55 ° C.

  As a means that can be taken to adjust the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate, a heating means is connected to the holding member instead of or in addition to the above-mentioned means for changing the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid. It is conceivable to change the set temperature of the means. In such a configuration, the set temperature of the heating means can be changed based on the detected value of the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate. In such a configuration, when the cleaning head wears, the set temperature of the heating means may be increased accordingly.

  The glass substrate manufacturing method according to the present invention described above can be preferably applied when the glass substrate is a glass substrate for a flat panel display (FPD).

  In addition, the above-mentioned purpose is to clean foreign substances adhering to the effective surface of the glass substrate by supplying the cleaning liquid to the effective surface of the glass substrate and pressing the rotating cleaning head formed of an elastic material while rotating it. The cleaning device is configured to adjust the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate by using expansion and contraction of at least one of the cleaning head or the holding member that holds the cleaning head. It is also achieved by a glass substrate manufacturing facility characterized by the above.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to effectively clean the effective surface of the glass substrate without incurring as much as possible an increase in running cost and capital investment, and a reduction in productivity of the glass substrate. .

It is a side view which shows conceptually some glass substrate manufacturing equipment used when enforcing the manufacturing method of the glass substrate which concerns on this invention. It is an AA arrow directional cross-sectional view in FIG. (A) is an enlarged front view of the cleaning member, and (b) is a conceptual view of the main part of the cleaning device including a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. It is a principal part conceptual diagram of the washing | cleaning apparatus which concerns on other embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 conceptually show a part of manufacturing equipment used when carrying out the method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to the present invention. The manufacturing equipment shown in FIG. 1 transports a glass substrate G for a flat panel display (FPD) having a rectangular shape from an upstream side to a downstream side (in FIG. 1, from the left side to the right side in the drawing) in a vertical posture. The apparatus 1 and the washing | cleaning apparatus 10 arrange | positioned on the conveyance path | route of the conveying apparatus 1 are provided. Although not shown, a processing device or the like that performs various processing on the glass substrate G is provided on the upstream side of the cleaning device 10.

  The transport apparatus 1 includes a set (row) of lower transport rollers 2 provided in a line along the lower side of the glass substrate G and a set of upper transport rollers 3 provided in a line along the upper side of the glass substrate G. (Row) is the main part. Both the lower conveyance roller 2 and the upper conveyance roller 3 include a roller body that has a V-shaped cross section and holds a vertical end of the glass substrate G, and a rotation shaft on which the roller body is fitted. In the present embodiment, the lower conveying roller 2 is a driving roller whose rotational shaft is rotated by receiving a driving force from a driving source (not shown), and is configured such that the rotational shaft and the roller body rotate together. On the other hand, the upper conveyance roller 3 is configured such that the rotating shaft and the roller body rotate together in an idle state. The glass substrate G is transported from the upstream side to the downstream side as the lower transport roller 2 is rotationally driven while the vertical end of the glass substrate G is held in the V-grooves of the upper and lower roller bodies. Is done.

  The cleaning apparatus 10 performs a cleaning process for removing foreign matters such as minute glass pieces and dust adhering to the front surface and the back surface (effective surface) of the glass substrate G through various processing steps provided on the upstream side. The cleaning member 11 that is arranged in plural on the front side and the back side of the glass substrate G is configured as a main part. The arrangement mode of the cleaning member 11 is set so that a portion that is not cleaned in the effective surface of the glass substrate G does not occur. In this embodiment, the cleaning members 11 that are adjacent in the transport direction (horizontal direction) of the glass substrate G are high. They are arranged at different positions (alternately). More specifically, the cleaning apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment is configured so that a plurality of cleaning members 11 are arranged in a horizontal direction along a direction (vertical direction) orthogonal to the conveyance direction of the glass substrate G. The main portions are configured by arranging a plurality of the cleaning members 11 at predetermined intervals along the horizontal direction, and the height positions of the cleaning members 11 are different from each other in the row of the cleaning members 11 adjacent in the horizontal direction. Of course, the arrangement mode of the cleaning member 11 can be arbitrarily set as long as there is no portion that is not cleaned within the effective surface of the glass substrate G. For example, a plurality of cleaning members 11 may be arranged irregularly. good.

  Next, the configuration of each cleaning member 11 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b).

  The cleaning member 11 includes a cleaning head 15 disposed opposite to the glass substrate G, and a holding member that holds the cleaning head 15 as main parts, and an advance position that presses the cleaning head 15 against the effective surface of the glass substrate G. The cleaning head 15 is configured to be capable of reciprocating and rotating between a retracted position where the cleaning head 15 is positioned away from the glass substrate G. The holding member includes a first holding member 13 that directly holds the cleaning head 15 and a second holding member 14 that holds the first holding member 13 (holds the cleaning head 15 indirectly). The cleaning member 11 having such a configuration is attached and fixed to the tip of the shaft member 18, and the shaft member 18 moves the cleaning member 11 attached and fixed thereto to and away from the glass substrate G (described above). (Reciprocating between the two positions) and a driving means configured by combining a cylinder (not shown) and a motor M that rotationally drives the cleaning member 11.

  The cleaning head 15 has a high coefficient of linear expansion, and is a soft elastic body that easily expands and contracts as the temperature changes, such as a felt-like fiber molded body, a sponge-like foamed resin molded body, or a sponge-like foamed rubber molded body. It is formed in an annular shape. A plurality of radial grooves 16 (10 in the illustrated example) extending in the radial direction are provided on the surface (contact surface) facing the glass substrate G of the cleaning head 15 in the circumferential direction.

  The first holding member 13 is formed in an annular shape from an elastic material such as a rubber material, a resin material, or a thermoplastic elastomer. In the present embodiment, the first holding member 13 has a relatively high linear expansion coefficient, and easily expands and contracts as the temperature changes. It is formed in an annular shape with chloroprene rubber. As the rubber material, in addition to chloroprene rubber, it can be used without particular limitation as long as it is generally available. Among them, nitrile rubber, silicone rubber, ethylene propylene rubber, etc., like chloroprene rubber Those having a relatively high linear expansion coefficient can be preferably used. When the thicknesses of the cleaning head 15 and the first holding member 13 are compared, in the present embodiment, the cleaning head 15 is formed relatively thin and the first holding member 13 is formed relatively thick.

  The second holding member 14 is formed in a disc shape from a metal material, particularly a metal material such as an aluminum alloy or stainless steel having a high thermal conductivity, and a plurality of cleaning liquid supply holes 17 are provided in the vicinity of the center portion ( 6 in the example shown). The cleaning liquid supply hole 17 is connected to a pipe 19 extending from a cleaning liquid storage tank 20 that stores the cleaning liquid 21. During the cleaning process, the cleaning liquid 21 passes through the pipe 19 and the cleaning liquid supply hole 17. It is supplied (discharged) to the effective surface of the glass substrate G. In the present embodiment, the shaft member 18 is made of a cylindrical pipe material, and the distal end portion of the pipe 19 is inserted through the inner periphery thereof. The cleaning liquid storage tank 20 is provided with a heating function that can store the cleaning liquid 21 in a heated state. The cleaning liquid 21 is supplied at a temperature range of 40 to 60 ° C., more preferably 45 to 55 ° C. It is comprised so that it can discharge.

  Further, the cleaning device 10 detects the contact pressure (contact allowance) of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G, and detects for adjusting the heating temperature of the cleaning liquid 21 by the cleaning liquid storage tank 20 based on the detected contact pressure. Control means 22 is provided. The detection control means 22 indirectly detects the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G by detecting the current value of the motor M that rotationally drives the cleaning member 11 (shaft member 18). That is, as the cleaning process is repeatedly performed, the cleaning head 15 wears, and when the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G decreases, the rotational torque of the motor M decreases accordingly. The drive current value becomes small. When the detection control means 22 detects that the drive current value of the motor M has become smaller than a predetermined value, the detection control means 22 sends a signal to the cleaning liquid storage tank 20 in order to increase the heating temperature of the cleaning liquid 21. Is output.

  The cleaning apparatus 10 mainly has the above-described configuration, and performs the cleaning process on the effective surface of the glass substrate G as follows.

  When the glass substrate G is carried into the cleaning step (opposite region of the cleaning device 10), the row of the cleaning members 11 at the most upstream side of the cleaning device 10 moves to the forward position while rotating, and the cleaning member 11 The cleaning head 15 is pressed against the front surface and the back surface (effective surface) of the glass substrate G, and the cleaning process is started. During the execution of the cleaning process, the cleaning liquid 21 is continuously supplied and discharged from the cleaning liquid supply hole 17 provided in each cleaning member 11 to the effective surface of the glass substrate G. Therefore, the cleaning process of the effective surface of the glass substrate G is performed in a state where a sufficient amount of the cleaning liquid 21 is interposed between the cleaning member 11 (cleaning head 15) and the glass substrate G. In the start stage of the cleaning process, the temperature of the supplied cleaning liquid 21 is set to the lower limit of the above-described temperature range (40 to 60 ° C., more preferably 45 to 55 ° C.). Thereafter, as the glass substrate G is gradually conveyed to the downstream side, the cleaning liquid 21 is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply holes 17 of the cleaning members 11, and the rows of the cleaning members 11 are sequentially advanced from the retracted position while rotating. It moves to the position, and the cleaning process of the effective surface of the glass substrate G is executed.

  During the execution of the cleaning process, the detection control means 22 constantly detects the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G (here, the drive current value of the motor M), and the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G is predetermined. When the detection control means 22 detects that the value is smaller than the value, and the detection signal is input to the cleaning liquid storage tank 20, the cleaning liquid 21 stored in the cleaning liquid storage tank 20 is heated. A higher temperature cleaning liquid 21 is supplied / discharged from the cleaning liquid supply hole 17. When the cleaning head 15 and the first holding member 13 come into contact with the higher temperature cleaning liquid 21 supplied, the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13 formed of a material that easily expands and contracts with a change in temperature is thermally expanded. To do. When the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13 are thermally expanded in this manner, the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G increases (the contact pressure is restored to a predetermined value), and the effective surface of the glass substrate G is increased. The cleaning process is performed in the desired manner. At this time, the relative position of the cleaning member 11 with respect to the glass substrate G does not change.

  Thereafter, each time the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the heating temperature of the cleaning liquid 21 is further increased to further increase the expansion amount of the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13. The contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G is restored to a predetermined value. When the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G becomes smaller than a predetermined value after reaching the upper limit value of the heating temperature of the cleaning liquid 21, the cleaning device 10 is stopped and the cleaning head 15 is replaced. .

  As described above, in the present invention, expansion of at least one of the cleaning head 15 or the holding member (first holding member 13) that holds the cleaning head 15 is an essential configuration when cleaning the effective surface of the glass substrate G. The contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G is adjusted by using the shrinkage, that is, by using the thickness variation of the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13 accompanying the temperature change. In this case, by selecting and using individual cleaning heads 15 and / or first holding members 13 for holding the heads that appropriately expand and contract under temperature conditions (temperature environments) in which the cleaning process is performed, The contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to G can be maintained at an appropriate value. Therefore, the cleaning process of the effective surface of the glass substrate G is appropriately executed without providing the cleaning device 10 with a complicated and expensive drive mechanism that automatically adjusts the amount of advance and retreat of each cleaning head 15 step by step. A high-quality glass substrate G with an effective surface cleaned can be obtained. In this way, since the cleaning head 15 can be effectively used until the upper limit of the temperature environment (the limit of use of the cleaning head 15) at which the cleaning process is executed is reached, the replacement frequency of the cleaning head 15 is reduced. Thus, an increase in running cost and a decrease in productivity of the glass substrate G can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13 are changed by changing the supply (discharge) temperature of the cleaning liquid 21, that is, by effectively using the cleaning liquid 21 that is an essential component for the cleaning process. At least one of them was expanded, and the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G was adjusted / recovered. Therefore, it is possible to effectively clean the effective surface of the glass substrate G without complicating the cleaning device 10.

  Note that the temperature range of the cleaning liquid 21 to be supplied is set to 40 to 60 ° C., more preferably 45 to 55 ° C. If the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid 21 is too low, the cleaning head 15 is worn when the wear of the cleaning head 15 proceeds. 15 and / or the first holding member 13 cannot be expanded, and if the supply temperature of the cleaning liquid 21 is excessively increased, the wear of the cleaning head 15 in contact with the cleaning liquid 21 tends to proceed instead.

  In addition to supplying the cleaning liquid 21 from the cleaning liquid supply hole 17 provided in the vicinity of the rotation center of the cleaning member 11, a plurality of radial concave grooves 16 are provided on the contact surface of the cleaning head 15 with the glass substrate G. Therefore, the supplied and discharged cleaning liquid 21 is diffused outward in the radial direction through the groove 16 due to the influence of centrifugal force. In addition, by adopting such a configuration for each cleaning member 11, the cleaning liquid 21 supplied and discharged from the rotation center of the cleaning member 11 can be effectively used also in the adjacent cleaning member 11, and thus the cleaning head 15. And / or the 1st holding member 13 can be expanded efficiently, and the cleaning effect increases further.

  In the above, the cleaning head 15 and / or the first holding member 13 is expanded by changing the temperature of the cleaning liquid 21 supplied during the cleaning process of the glass substrate G, and the contact pressure of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G is adjusted. -Although it recovered | restored, in order to recover the contact pressure of the washing | cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G, it is also possible to employ | adopt another means. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, among the holding members that hold the cleaning head 15, a heating means 23 for heating the metal second holding member 14 is further provided, and the second holding member 14 by the heating means 23 is provided. It is also possible to expand the first holding member 13 by using the above heating. The heating temperature of the second holding member 14 by the heating unit 23 can be adjusted based on the contact pressure (the driving current value of the motor M) of the cleaning head 15 with respect to the glass substrate G detected by the detection control unit 22. In addition, when providing such a heating means 23, the washing | cleaning liquid storage tank 20 does not necessarily need to be provided with the heating function.

  In the above description, the cleaning liquid 21 is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply hole 17 provided in the vicinity of the rotation center of each cleaning member 11. However, the cleaning liquid 21 may be supplied from a separately provided cleaning liquid supply device. .

  Further, the present invention is not limited to the case where the cleaning process is performed on the glass substrate G which is transported in the vertical attitude, but the case where the cleaning process is performed on the glass substrate G which is transported in an attitude slightly inclined with respect to the vertical direction. In addition, it can be preferably applied to the case where the cleaning process of the glass substrate G transported in the horizontal posture (horizontal posture) is executed. Note that whether the glass substrate G is transported in a vertical posture or a horizontal posture is appropriately selected in consideration of various factors. That is, the thickness of the glass substrate G to be manufactured (conveyed) is thin, and there is a restriction on the installation space of the manufacturing facility (cleaning device 10) when it is desired to prevent the glass substrate G from being bent due to its own weight during conveyance. In some cases (in order to save space), it is desirable to transport the glass substrate G in a vertical posture. On the other hand, when it is desired to supply the cleaning liquid 21 uniformly (efficiently), it is desirable to transport the glass substrate G in a horizontal posture.

  In the above description, the present invention is applied to the case where both the front surface and the back surface of the glass substrate G are simultaneously cleaned. However, the present invention can be preferably applied to the case where only one surface of the glass substrate G is cleaned. In the case where the present invention is applied when cleaning only one surface of the glass substrate G, the glass substrate G is prevented from being greatly bent as the cleaning member 11 is pressed against the one surface of the glass substrate G. On the other side of G, a member such as a guide roller that prevents bending is disposed.

  In the above description, the case where the present invention is applied when performing the cleaning treatment of the glass substrate G for flat panel display (FPD) has been described. The present invention can also be preferably applied to a case where a cleaning process is performed on a glass substrate G, for example, a glass substrate G for a solar cell.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Conveyance apparatus 10 Cleaning apparatus 11 Cleaning member 13 1st holding member (holding member)
14 Second holding member (holding member)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Cleaning head 16 Concave groove 17 Cleaning liquid supply hole 20 Cleaning liquid storage tank 21 Cleaning liquid 22 Detection control apparatus 23 Heating means G Glass substrate M Motor

Claims (9)

It includes a cleaning step of removing foreign matter adhering to the effective surface of the glass substrate by supplying a cleaning liquid to the effective surface of the glass substrate to be conveyed while pressing the rotating cleaning head formed of an elastic material while rotating the cleaning head. A method of manufacturing a glass substrate,
In the cleaning step, the contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate is adjusted using the expansion and contraction of at least one of the cleaning head or the holding member that holds the cleaning head. Method.   The method of manufacturing a glass substrate according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the cleaning head and the holding member is expanded and contracted by changing a supply temperature of the cleaning liquid.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate of Claim 2 which raises the supply temperature of the said washing | cleaning liquid as wear of the said washing | cleaning head advances.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate of Claim 2 or 3 which made variable supply temperature of the said washing | cleaning liquid within the range of 40-60 degreeC.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate as described in any one of Claims 1-4 which supply the said washing | cleaning liquid from the rotation center vicinity of the said washing | cleaning head.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which expands and shrinks the said holding member by connecting a heating means to the said holding member and changing the preset temperature of this heating means.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate of Claim 6 which raises the preset temperature of the said heating means as the washing | cleaning head wears.   The manufacturing method of the glass substrate as described in any one of Claims 1-7 applied when the said glass substrate is a glass substrate for flat panel displays. Provided with a cleaning device that removes foreign substances adhering to the effective surface of the glass substrate by rotating the cleaning head formed of an elastic material while rotating the effective surface of the glass substrate to be conveyed while rotating the cleaning head. Glass substrate manufacturing equipment,
The cleaning apparatus is configured to adjust a contact pressure of the cleaning head with respect to the glass substrate by using expansion and contraction of at least one of the cleaning head or a holding member that holds the cleaning head. Manufacturing equipment for glass substrates.

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