JP2021008052A - Brittle material substrate dividing device and dividing method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a dividing device and a dividing method which can efficiently divide a brittle material substrate.SOLUTION: The brittle material substrate dividing device, which forms a scribe line on a brittle material substrate and divides the brittle material substrate along the scribe line by applying stress to the brittle material substrate having the scribe line formed thereon, comprises a scribe mechanism that forms a scribe line on a brittle material substrate, a substrate transfer mechanism that transfers the brittle material substrate while holding the substrate, and a break mechanism that grips a region of a terminal piece of the brittle material substrate. The scribe mechanism has a scribe head that forms the scribe line on the brittle material substrate, at a predetermined processing position. The substrate transfer mechanism has a substrate holding part that holds the brittle material substrate, and the break mechanism has a gripping part that grips the terminal piece. The substrate holding part and the gripping part are provided to be approachable and separatable from each other relatively.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate dividing device and a dividing method used for dividing a substrate made of a brittle material such as a glass substrate.

In the process of dividing a substrate made of a brittle material such as a glass substrate, conventionally, a cutter wheel is pressed against the surface of the substrate while the substrate is placed on a table to form a scribe line, and then an external force is applied along the scribe line. By applying and developing (breaking) cracks from the scribe line, it is divided into the shape of the product.
(See Patent Document 1).

In recent years, the shapes of display panel products such as liquid crystal display panels have been diversified, and the production of display panels of various shapes is increasing.

JP 2017-132684

In the glass processing apparatus of Patent Document 1, since a mechanism for folding the end portions of the substrate is provided at both ends of the table holding the substrate, it is necessary to prepare a table that matches the shape of the glass substrate to be processed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a dividing device capable of efficiently dividing a brittle material substrate having various shapes.

The brittle material substrate dividing device according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, forms a brittle material substrate on the brittle material substrate, applies stress to the brittle material substrate on which the brittle material substrate is formed, and follows the brittle line. A scribing mechanism that forms a brittle line on the brittle material substrate, a substrate transfer mechanism that holds and transfers the brittle material substrate, and scraps of the brittle material substrate. The scribing mechanism includes a scribing head that forms a scribing line on the brittle material substrate at a predetermined machining position, and the substrate transfer mechanism has a substrate holding portion that holds the brittle material substrate. However, the break mechanism has a grip portion for gripping the offcuts, and the substrate holding portion and the grip portion are provided so as to be relatively close to each other.

Further, in the method for dividing a brittle material substrate according to the present invention, which has been made to solve the above problems, a brittle line is formed on the brittle material substrate, and stress is applied to the brittle material substrate on which the brittle line is formed to apply a scrib line. It is a method of dividing a brittle material substrate along the above, and includes a step of adsorbing and holding the main surface of the brittle material substrate and a step of forming a scribing line on the brittle material substrate in the state of being adsorbed and held. It has a step of transferring the brittle material substrate while maintaining the state of being adsorbed and held, and applying an external force to the brittle material substrate on which the scrib line is formed to separate the brittle material substrate along the scrib line.

According to the dividing device of the present invention, since scribe processing and break processing are performed while one substrate holding portion holds the substrate, the shape of the table and the break mechanism for holding the substrate according to the shape of the sophistry after division. It is not necessary to change the arrangement of the substrates, and the substrate can be divided efficiently.

The front schematic view which shows one Embodiment of the dividing device which concerns on this invention. The plan view around the substrate holding head of the dividing device which concerns on this invention. The schematic diagram of the substrate on which the scribe line was formed. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the scribe operation of the dividing device which concerns on this invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the operation of adjusting the inclination of a substrate by using the dividing device which concerns on this invention. The schematic diagram for demonstrating the breaking operation of the dividing device which concerns on this invention.

1) Device configuration The configuration of the dividing device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a front schematic view showing an embodiment of a dividing device according to the present invention.

The dividing device 1 is a device that forms a scribe line on the curved surface substrate W. The substrate W is a curved substrate made of a brittle material such as glass, and is, for example, a liquid crystal panel. The dividing device 1 includes a substrate transfer mechanism 2, a scribe mechanism 3, a control unit 4, and a break mechanism 5.

The substrate transfer mechanism 2 is a device capable of changing the position, height, inclination, and direction of the substrate W while holding the substrate W. The board transfer mechanism 2 has a robot arm portion 210 and a board holding head 220. The robot arm unit 210 can drive a motor (not shown) to change the position, height, and inclination of the substrate holding head 220.

The substrate holding head 220 has a swivel portion 221 and a substrate holding portion 222. The substrate holding portion 222 vacuum-sucks and holds the substrate W. The swivel portion 221 drives a motor (not shown) to swivel the substrate holding portion 222.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view around the substrate holding head 220. As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate holding head 220 can swivel the held substrate W around an axis in a direction substantially perpendicular to its main surface.

The scribe mechanism 3 is a device that forms a scribe line at a predetermined position on the substrate W. The scribe mechanism 3 forms a scribe line on the substrate W held by the substrate transfer mechanism 2.

The scribe mechanism 3 has two scribe heads 310, and the scribe head 310 forms a scribe line on the substrate W by irradiating one surface or both surfaces of the substrate with laser light. The scribe mechanism 3 condenses the irradiated laser light inside the substrate W to form processing marks extending in the thickness direction of the substrate inside the substrate.

The break mechanism 5 is a device that grips the end portion of the substrate W. The break mechanism 5 has a grip portion 510 and a moving base portion 520. The grip portion 510 is provided so as to be openable and closable by an actuator (not shown), and the end material of the substrate W is gripped by closing the grip portion 510 so as to sandwich the end portion of the substrate W. The moving base portion 520 moves the grip portion 510 in the direction of approaching and separating from the substrate transfer mechanism 2 by an actuator (not shown).

The control unit 4 has a processor (for example, CPU), a storage device (for example, ROM, RAM, HDD, SSD, etc.), and various interfaces (for example, A / D converter, D / A converter, communication interface, etc.). It is a computer system. The control unit 4 controls the operation of the substrate transfer mechanism 2, the scribe mechanism 3, and the break mechanism 5 by executing a program stored in the storage unit (corresponding to a part or all of the storage area of the storage device).
2) Dividing method The dividing device 1 first forms a scribe line using the scribe mechanism 3 for the substrate W held by the substrate adsorption unit 220, and then separates (breaks) the scrap region using the substrate gripping mechanism 5. ..

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a substrate W that is divided into product shapes using the dividing device 1. On the substrate W, a scribe line S1 that follows the shape of the product and four scribe lines S2 that divide the scraps around the product into four are formed by using the dividing device 1. The product area P is surrounded by the scribe line S1 and is an area in which the offcuts are separated to become a product. The scrap regions D1 to D4 are regions that are separated from the product region P and become scraps along the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2.

2-1) Scribing method The scribing operation of the dividing device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. First, the substrate transfer mechanism 2 uses the substrate holding portion 222 to adsorb and hold the product area P of the substrate W. At this time, it is preferable to suck and hold the convex surface of the curved substrate so that the positions of the suction head 220 and the scribe mechanism 3 are unlikely to interfere with each other.

Next, the substrate transfer mechanism 2 drives the robot arm unit 210 to move the substrate W to a position where the scribing mechanism 3 can scribble. At this time, the direction and inclination of the substrate W are adjusted according to the curved surface shape of the substrate W.

While irradiating the substrate W with a laser by the scribe mechanism 3, the substrate transfer mechanism 2 is driven to move and rotate the substrate W. As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate transfer mechanism 2 moves the substrate W so that the scribe line S1 is formed in a desired shape while the laser irradiation position (machining position) F is fixed. As a result, the scribe line S1 which is the outer shape of the product area P is formed at a predetermined position. The broken line in FIG. 4 indicates the position of the scribe line S1 before the scribe line is formed.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the substrate transfer mechanism 2 of the substrate W so that the scribing line S1 extends in the thickness direction of the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the tangent line at the laser irradiation position (machining position) F. The inclination of the substrate W is adjusted according to the curved surface. Instead of adjusting the inclination of the substrate so that the scribe line extends in the thickness direction of the substrate in the direction perpendicular to the tangent of the substrate W, the surface of the substrate W has a predetermined inclination. A scribe line may be formed.

Similar to the scribe line S1, each scribe line S2 also changes the position and direction of the substrate W while irradiating the laser using the scribe mechanism 3 and adjusting the inclination of the substrate W using the substrate transfer mechanism 2. Is formed by.

2-2) Break method Next, the break operation of the dividing device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

The substrate transfer mechanism 2 drives the robot arm portion 210 to move the substrate W to a position where the break mechanism 5 can grip the scrap region D1, and the grip portion 510 of the break mechanism 5 grips the scrap region D1. .. At this time, the direction, position, and inclination of the substrate W are adjusted according to the shape of the scrap region D1.

The break mechanism 5 separates the scrap region D1 from the product region P by driving the movement base portion 520 and moving the grip portion 510 in a direction away from the substrate transfer mechanism 2.

Next, the break mechanism 5 opens the grip portion 510 and drops the end material region D1 downward.

Next, the swivel portion 221 swivels the substrate holding portion 222 to change the direction of the substrate W so that the end material region D2 faces the break mechanism 5. At this time, the robot arm portion 210 and the swivel portion 221 are driven to adjust the direction, inclination, and position of the substrate W according to the shape of the scrap region D2.

After that, the scrap regions D2 to D4 are separated from the product region P by repeating the same operation as the separation of the scrap region D1.

According to this dividing device 1, it is not necessary to change the shape of the table or the arrangement of the break mechanism according to the shape of the substrate. Further, since the scribe and break can be executed while the substrate W is held by the substrate transfer mechanism 2, the position of the substrate in the break step can be easily adjusted even if the scribe step and the break step are performed at different positions.

In the above embodiment, the scribing line is formed by irradiating a laser beam to form a machining mark extending in the thickness direction of the substrate inside the substrate, but instead of this, a cutter is used. It can be formed by any method such as mechanical processing for forming cracks by means of cracking, crack formation by thermal stress, and other laser processing such as groove formation by laser ablation.

When the scribe line is formed by laser processing, only one scribe head 310 may be provided.

When a scribing line is formed on the substrate W by pressing the cutter against the substrate W, both sides may be pressed so as to sandwich the substrate W with two cutters, or the cutter and the substrate may be pressed on one surface of the substrate. A backup roll may be provided on the other surface and pressed by the cutter and the backup roll.

Further, in the above embodiment, the substrate W is a curved substrate, but it may be a flat substrate.

The present invention can be applied to an apparatus for dividing a brittle material substrate.

W Board 1 Dividing device 2 Board transfer mechanism 210 Robot arm part 220 Board holding head 221 Swivel part 222 Board holding part 3 Scribing mechanism 310 Scribing head 4 Control part 5 Break mechanism 510 Gripping part 520 Moving base part

Claims (4)

A device for dividing a brittle material substrate by forming a scribe line on the brittle material substrate and applying stress to the brittle material substrate on which the scribe line is formed to divide the brittle material substrate along the scribe line.
A scribe mechanism for forming a scribe line on the brittle material substrate,
A substrate transfer mechanism that holds and transfers the brittle material substrate, and
A break mechanism for gripping a scrap region of the brittle material substrate is provided.
The scribe mechanism has a scribe head that forms a scribe line on the brittle material substrate at a predetermined machining position.
The substrate transfer mechanism has a substrate holding portion for holding the brittle material substrate.
The break mechanism has a grip portion that grips the scrap material.
A dividing device in which the substrate holding portion and the grip portion are provided so as to be relatively close to each other. The dividing device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate transfer mechanism has a holding portion for holding the brittle material substrate and a swivel portion for rotating the held brittle material substrate about an axis substantially perpendicular to the main surface thereof. The dividing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the brittle material substrate is a curved substrate, and the substrate holding portion is provided so as to adsorb the convex surface of the curved substrate. A method of dividing a brittle material substrate by forming a scribe line on the brittle material substrate and applying stress to the brittle material substrate on which the scribe line is formed to divide the brittle material substrate along the scribe line.
The step of adsorbing and holding the main surface of the brittle material substrate,
A step of forming a scribe line on the brittle material substrate in the adsorption-held state, and
A step of transferring the brittle material substrate while maintaining the adsorption-holding state and applying an external force to the brittle material substrate on which the scribe line is formed to separate the brittle material substrate along the scribe line. A method of division.

Images