JP2013247069A - Substrate static elimination system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To efficiently and reliably eliminate a static current from a substrate to be conveyed.SOLUTION: A substrate static elimination system 1 comprises: a conveying mechanism 11 for conveying a located substrate; a charging sensor 12 for measuring a charging amount in a region of opposed substrates 10; a static eliminator 13 arranged nearer a downstream side in a conveying direction of the substrate 10 than the charging sensor 12 and emitting ions to the region of the opposed substrates 10; and a conveying speed controlling section 15 for controlling a conveying speed of the substrates 10 by the conveying mechanism 11 according to the charging amount measured by the charging sensor 12.

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate neutralization system that neutralizes a substrate to be transported.

  A substrate such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer used in a liquid crystal display device is conveyed by a belt conveyor or the like, and is carried into and out of a substrate processing apparatus that performs film formation, cleaning, and the like. However, static electricity is gradually accumulated on the substrate due to peeling charging or frictional charging when the belt conveyor or the substrate processing apparatus is carried out. When the charge amount of the substrate exceeds a certain critical value, sparks are likely to occur between adjacent metal members. As a result, there is a problem that an element formed on the substrate is damaged.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses that a surface potential of a belt of a belt conveyor is measured by an electrostatic sensor, and a static elimination voltage of a static elimination device that neutralizes the belt is controlled by a controller based on the measurement result. Yes. As a result, an increase in the potential of the belt is suppressed, so that the occurrence of sparks on the substrate to be transported is suppressed.

JP 2001-199586 A

  However, in order to enhance the neutralization effect, the neutralization voltage in the neutralization device (ionizer) is normally set to a maximum value. Therefore, the static elimination voltage cannot be further increased when the surface potential of the belt or the substrate increases. In other words, the conventional substrate transfer apparatus has a problem that it is difficult to reliably remove static electricity from the substrate.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently and reliably remove static electricity from a substrate to be transported.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the transport speed of the substrate is controlled based on the measured charge amount.

  Specifically, the substrate static eliminator system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a transport mechanism that transports a placed substrate, a charge sensor that measures the amount of charge in the region of the substrate that is facing, and a charge sensor that is higher than the charge sensor. The substrate transport speed of the substrate by the transport mechanism based on the charge eliminator disposed on the downstream side of the substrate transport direction and discharging ions to the facing region of the substrate and the charge amount measured by the charge sensor And a conveyance speed control unit for controlling.

  According to the present invention, the transport speed of the substrate transported by the transport mechanism is controlled by the transport speed control unit based on the charge amount measured by the charge sensor. Therefore, for a substrate having a relatively large amount of charge, the substrate can be reliably discharged by being transported at a relatively low speed. On the other hand, a substrate with a relatively small charge amount can be transported while discharging the substrate efficiently by transporting the substrate at a relatively high speed.

  In a second aspect based on the first aspect, the transport speed control unit transports the substrate while the substrate is facing the static eliminator as the amount of charge of the substrate measured by the charge sensor increases. The speed is set low.

  According to the present invention, since the substrate with a larger amount of charge faces the static eliminator for a longer time, the substrate can be efficiently and reliably neutralized.

  In a third aspect based on the first aspect, the transport speed control unit is configured so that the substrate faces the static eliminator when the charge amount of the substrate measured by the charge sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. In this case, the conveyance speed during the operation is set lower than the conveyance speed when the charge amount of the substrate is less than the threshold value.

  According to the present invention, since the substrate conveyance speed is switched depending on whether or not the charge amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is possible to simplify the control of the conveyance speed while efficiently discharging the substrate.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the charge eliminator is provided in a plurality of rows in the substrate transport direction, and can be switched to an ion emission state or an ion emission stop state, respectively. When the charge amount of the substrate measured by the above is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the number of the static eliminators in the ion emission state is determined as the above-mentioned removal of the ion discharge state when the charge amount of the substrate is less than the threshold value. It further has a static eliminator switching control unit that increases the number of electric appliances.

  According to the present invention, when the charge amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the substrate transport speed becomes relatively low and the number of ionizers that emit ions increases, so that the substrate can be discharged more reliably. Since it is not necessary to set the substrate conveyance speed to be significantly low, the substrate can be efficiently conveyed.

  In a fifth aspect based on the first aspect, the transport speed control unit is configured to reduce the measured area as the removal amount increases as the amount of charge in the area measured by the charge sensor increases. The substrate conveyance speed while facing the electric appliance is set low.

  According to the present invention, in a region with a large amount of charge in one substrate, the charge is surely removed by making the time facing the static eliminator relatively long, while in a region with a small amount of charge in the substrate, It is possible to carry out static elimination efficiently by relatively shortening the time facing the. That is, it is possible to efficiently remove electricity from one substrate according to the distribution of the charge amount.

  In a sixth aspect based on the first aspect, the conveyance speed control unit performs measurement when the amount of charge in a region measured by the charge sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold for one substrate. The substrate transport speed while the region is facing the static eliminator is set lower than the transport speed when the charge amount of the region measured by the charge sensor is less than the predetermined threshold. It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, the transport speed of the substrate is switched depending on whether or not the charge amount of each region in a single substrate is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, so that the transport speed can be easily controlled while discharging the substrate efficiently. It becomes possible.

  According to the present invention, since the conveyance speed of the substrate is controlled in accordance with the charge amount, the substrate to be conveyed can be discharged efficiently and reliably.

FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a substrate charge removal system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the substrate charge removal system in the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a configuration of the substrate static eliminator system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the substrate charge removal system according to the third embodiment. FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a substrate static eliminator system according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 6 is a graph showing the charge amount distribution of the substrate measured by the charge sensor.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiment.

Embodiment 1 of the Invention
1 and 2 show Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of a substrate charge removal system 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the substrate charge removal system 1 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate neutralization system 1 includes a transport mechanism 11 that transports the placed substrate 10, a charging sensor 12, and a static eliminator 13. The substrate 10 to be conveyed is, for example, a large mother glass, and includes a plurality of glass substrates constituting a liquid crystal display panel.

  The transport mechanism 11 includes a plurality of shafts 21 that extend in parallel to each other and are arranged at a predetermined interval, and a plurality of rollers 22 that are provided on each shaft 21. Then, the transport mechanism 11 rotates the shaft 21 in a state where the substrate 10 is placed on the plurality of rollers 22, thereby bringing the substrate 10 into the direction in which the shafts 21 are aligned (transport direction A shown in FIG. 1). It is designed to be transported. The transport direction A is, for example, a horizontal direction.

  The charging sensors 12 are respectively disposed above and below the transport mechanism 11. Each charging sensor 12 is provided to face each other. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the charging sensor 12 is disposed so as to face a part of the substrate 10. The charge sensor 12 is configured to measure the charge amount in the region of the substrate 10 facing the charge sensor 12. As an example of the charging sensor 12, a product ZJ-SD100 manufactured by OMRON Corporation can be given.

  The static eliminator 13 is a so-called ionizer, and is disposed downstream of the charging sensor 12 in the transport direction A of the substrate 10. The static eliminator 13 is disposed above and below the transport mechanism 11 and is provided to face each other. Each static eliminator 13 discharges ions to the area of the substrate 10 facing each other, thereby electrically neutralizing the area of the substrate 10.

  The static eliminator 13 is constituted by a long ionizer extending along the shaft 21. As an example of an ionizer, product SJ-H300VSO of Keyence Corporation can be mentioned. The ionizer includes a corona discharge ionizer that generates ions by applying a high voltage to a discharge needle, a soft X-ray ionizer that generates ions by soft X-rays, and any type of ionizer can be employed. .

  Moreover, the board | substrate static elimination system 1 has the camera 14 which reads ID information described on the board | substrate 10 with a CCD image sensor etc., for example. The camera 14 is disposed above the transport mechanism 11.

  Furthermore, the substrate charge removal system 1 includes a transport speed control unit 15 that controls the transport speed of the substrate 10 by the transport mechanism 11 based on the charge amount measured by the charge sensor 12. As shown in FIG. 1, the transport speed control unit 15 includes a speed selection unit 16 and a drive control unit 17.

  The speed selection unit 16 selects a transport speed corresponding to the charge amount value input from the charge sensor 12 based on a database table stored in advance. Data is stored in the table so that the lower conveyance speed is output as the value of the input charge amount increases. As a result, the speed selection unit 16 sets a lower conveyance speed while the substrate 10 is facing the static eliminator 13 as the amount of charge of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12 increases. Yes.

  The drive controller 17 drives and controls the shaft 21 of the transport mechanism 11 so that the substrate 10 is transported at the transport speed selected by the speed selector 16.

  Thus, the substrate 10 is transported by the transport mechanism 11 at a predetermined transport speed. When the substrate 10 faces the charge sensor 12, the charge sensor 12 measures the charge amount of the substrate 10 in the region facing the charge sensor 12. The value of the charge amount is input to the speed selection unit 16 in the transport speed control unit 15.

  The speed selection unit 16 reads a conveyance speed value corresponding to the input charge amount value from the table and outputs the read value to the drive control unit 17. Then, the drive control unit 17 controls the rotation speed of the shaft 21 so that the substrate 10 is transported at the transport speed input from the speed selection unit 16. As a result, the substrate 10 is neutralized by the static eliminator 13 while being conveyed at a predetermined conveyance speed while the static eliminator 13 faces the substrate 10.

-Effect of Embodiment 1-
Therefore, according to the first embodiment, the transport speed of the substrate 10 transported by the transport mechanism 11 can be appropriately controlled by the transport speed control unit 15 based on the charge amount measured by the charging sensor 12.

  That is, the speed selection unit 16 sets the transport speed while the substrate 10 is facing the static eliminator 13 as the charge amount of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12 is increased. Since the board 10 having a larger amount faces the static eliminator 13 for a longer time, the board 10 can be discharged efficiently and reliably.

  Therefore, the substrate 10 having a relatively large charge amount can be reliably discharged by transporting it at a relatively low speed, while the substrate 10 having a relatively small charge amount is transported at a relatively high speed. As a result, the substrate 10 can be transported while removing electricity efficiently.

<< Embodiment 2 of the Invention >>
Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the following embodiments, the same portions as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the first embodiment, as the charge amount of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12 is increased by the speed selection unit 16, the conveyance speed while the substrate 10 is facing the static eliminator 13 is set to be lower. However, the control of the conveyance speed is not limited to this.

  The substrate static eliminator system 1 according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the configuration of the transport speed control unit 15.

  That is, the transport speed control unit 15 determines the transport speed while the substrate 10 is facing the static eliminator 13 when the charge amount of the substrate 10 measured by the charging sensor 12 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. The charging amount may be set lower than the conveyance speed when the charging amount is less than the threshold value.

  In this case, in the substrate static elimination system 1 shown in FIG. 1, the speed selection unit 16 selects a conveyance speed of, for example, 10 m / min when the charge amount measured by the charge sensor 12 is, for example, 1 kV or more. As a result, the substrate 10 having a charge amount of 1 kV or more and a relatively large amount is transported at a relatively low speed of 10 m / min, so that the substrate 10 can be reliably discharged.

  On the other hand, the speed selection unit 16 selects, for example, a conveyance speed of 15 m / min when the charge amount measured by the charging sensor 12 is less than 1 kV, for example. As a result, the relatively small substrate 10 having a charge amount of less than 1 kV is transported at a relatively high speed of 15 m / min. Therefore, the substrate 10 can be sufficiently discharged while being efficiently transported. .

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, since the transport speed of the substrate 10 is switched depending on whether or not the charge amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value, it is possible to simplify the control of the transport speed while efficiently discharging the substrate 10. it can.

<< Embodiment 3 of the Invention >>
3 and 4 show Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration of the substrate charge removal system 1 according to the third embodiment. FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the substrate charge removal system 1 according to the third embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, the ion generation state of the static eliminator 13 is further switched and controlled in the configuration of the second embodiment.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, in the substrate static eliminator 1 of the present embodiment, a plurality of static eliminators 13 are provided side by side in the transport direction A of the substrate 10, and are switched to an ion emission state or an ion emission stop state, respectively. It is configured to be possible.

  Furthermore, the substrate static elimination system 1 further includes a static eliminator switching control unit 19 for switching and controlling the ion generation state of the static eliminator 13. When the charge amount of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the static eliminator switching control unit 19 determines the number of ionizers 13 in the ion emission state and the charge amount of the substrate 10 is less than the threshold value. Is greater than the number of ionizers 13 in the ion emission state.

  In this case, in the substrate neutralization system 1 shown in FIG. 3, when the charge amount measured by the charge sensor 12 is, for example, 1 kV or more, the neutralizer switch control unit 19 includes, for example, three neutralizers 13 provided. While switching all to an ion generation state, the speed selection part 16 selects the conveyance speed of 10 m / min, for example.

  As a result, a relatively large number of substrates 10 having a charge amount of 1 kV or more are discharged by a relatively large number of three charge eliminators 13 and are transported at a relatively low speed of 10 m / min. The substrate 10 can be reliably discharged.

  On the other hand, when the charge amount measured by the charge sensor 12 is less than 1 kV, for example, the static eliminator switching control unit 19 switches one of the three static eliminators 13 to the ion emission stopped state. The speed selection unit 16 selects, for example, a conveyance speed of 15 m / min.

  As a result, the substrate 10 having a relatively small charge amount of less than 1 kV is neutralized by the relatively few two neutralizers 13 and is transported at a relatively high speed of 15 m / min. The substrate 10 can be sufficiently discharged while being efficiently transported.

  Therefore, according to the third embodiment, when the charge amount is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the transport speed of the substrate 10 becomes relatively low and the number of static eliminators 13 that emit ions increases. 10 can be neutralized. Furthermore, since it is not necessary to set the conveyance speed of the substrate 10 to be significantly low, the substrate 10 can be efficiently conveyed.

  In addition, when the charge amount is less than a predetermined threshold value, the transport speed of the substrate 10 becomes relatively high and the number of static eliminators 13 that emit ions decreases, so that the substrate 10 can be transported quickly while being sufficiently discharged. can do.

<< Embodiment 4 of the Invention >>
FIG. 5 shows Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

  FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing the substrate charge removal system 1 according to the fourth embodiment.

  In each of the first to third embodiments, the transport speed of the substrate is changed for each substrate 10 based on the charge amount in a part of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12, whereas the fourth embodiment is described. Is a method in which the conveyance speed is changed for each region where the charge amount on one substrate 10 is different.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the substrate neutralization system 1 includes a plurality of charging sensors 12 arranged along the axis 21 of the transport mechanism 11, a speed selection unit 16 as a transport speed control unit 15, and a drive control unit 17. And have.

  Then, the conveyance speed control unit 15 increases the amount of charge in the region measured by the charging sensor 12 for one substrate 10 while the measured region is facing the static eliminator 13. The conveyance speed is set to be low.

  Therefore, when the charge amount measured by the plurality of charging sensors 12 is relatively large for a predetermined region of the substrate 10, the speed selection unit 16 of the transport speed control unit 15 faces the static eliminator 13. Set the transport speed when passing through relatively low. On the other hand, when the charge amount measured by the plurality of charging sensors 12 is relatively small for the predetermined area of the substrate 10, the speed selection unit 16 is configured to pass the predetermined area when facing the static eliminator 13. Set the transport speed relatively high.

  Therefore, according to the fourth embodiment, the charge of one substrate 10 can be removed according to the distribution of the charge amount, so that the conveyance speed can be increased while the substrate 10 is reliably discharged.

<< Embodiment 5 of the Invention >>
Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a graph showing the charge amount distribution of the substrate 10 measured by the charge sensor 12.

  In Embodiment 4 described above, as the amount of charge in the area measured by the charge sensor 12 for one substrate 10 by the speed selection unit 16 increases, the measured area is opposed to the static eliminator 13. Although the conveyance speed of the board | substrate 10 was set low, control of conveyance speed is not restricted to this.

  The substrate neutralizing system 1 of the fifth embodiment is different from the fourth embodiment in the configuration of the conveyance speed control unit 15.

  That is, when the charge amount of the area measured by the charging sensor 12 for one substrate 10 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the conveyance speed control unit 15 faces the static eliminator 13. The conveyance speed of the substrate 10 may be set lower than the conveyance speed when the charge amount in the region measured by the charging sensor 12 is less than a predetermined threshold.

  For example, when the charge amount on the substrate 10 is distributed as shown in FIG. 6, assuming that the threshold value is 1 kV, the charge amount is greater than or equal to the threshold value in the region S1 and the region S2 in FIG.

  In the substrate static elimination system 1, the speed selection unit 16 corresponds to the static eliminator 13 when the charge amounts in the areas S 1 and S 2 measured by the charging sensor 12 are 1 kV or more. During the passage, for example, a conveyance speed of 10 m / min is selected. As a result, the regions S1 and S2 having a relatively large charge amount of 1 kV or more are reliably discharged by the static eliminator 13 while being transported at a relatively low speed of 10 m / min.

  On the other hand, when the charge amount of the area measured by the charging sensor 12 is less than 1 kV, the speed selection unit 16 passes the area (that is, the area other than S1 and S2) corresponding to the static eliminator 13. For example, a conveyance speed of 15 m / min is selected. As a result, areas other than S1 and S2 having a relatively small charge amount of less than 1 kV are sufficiently discharged by the charge remover 13 while being efficiently conveyed at a relatively high speed of 15 m / min.

  Therefore, according to the fifth embodiment, since the transport speed of the substrate 10 is switched depending on whether or not the charge amount of each region in the single substrate 10 is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, the substrate 10 can be transported while discharging efficiently. Speed control can be simplified.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said Embodiment 1-5, The structure which combined these Embodiments 1-5 suitably is contained in this invention.

  As described above, the present invention is useful for a substrate neutralization system that neutralizes a substrate to be transported.

A Transport direction
1 Substrate neutralization system
10 Substrate
11 Transport mechanism
12 Charging sensor
13 Static eliminator
15 Conveyance speed controller
16 Speed selection part
17 Drive controller
19 Static eliminator switching control unit

Claims (6)

A transport mechanism for transporting the placed substrate;
A charge sensor that measures the amount of charge in the area of the substrate that is facing;
A static eliminator that is arranged downstream of the charging sensor in the transport direction of the substrate and emits ions to the region of the substrate that is facing;
A substrate static elimination system, comprising: a conveyance speed control unit that controls a conveyance speed of the substrate by the conveyance mechanism based on a charge amount measured by the charge sensor. In the board | substrate static elimination system described in Claim 1,
The board speed control unit sets the transport speed while the board is facing the static eliminator as the amount of charge of the board measured by the charging sensor increases. . In the board | substrate static elimination system described in Claim 1,
The transport speed control unit determines the transport speed while the substrate is facing the static eliminator when the charge amount of the substrate measured by the charge sensor is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. A substrate static eliminator system, characterized in that it is set to be lower than the conveyance speed when is less than the threshold value. In the board | substrate static elimination system described in Claim 3,
The static eliminator is provided side by side in the transport direction of the substrate and is configured to be switchable to an ion emission state or an ion emission stop state, respectively.
When the charge amount of the substrate measured by the charge sensor is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold value, the number of ionizers in the ion emission state is set as the ion release state when the charge amount of the substrate is less than the threshold value. A substrate static eliminator system further comprising a static eliminator switching control unit that increases the number of the static eliminators. In the board | substrate static elimination system described in Claim 1,
The transport speed control unit transports the substrate while the measured region is facing the static eliminator as the amount of charge in the region measured by the charging sensor increases for one substrate. Substrate neutralization system, characterized in that low is set. In the board | substrate static elimination system described in Claim 1,
When the charge amount of the area measured by the charging sensor is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value for the one substrate, the conveyance speed control unit is in a state where the measured area faces the static eliminator. The substrate discharging speed is set to be lower than the conveying speed when the amount of charge in the region measured by the charging sensor is less than the predetermined threshold.

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