JP2023027456A - Substrate breaking device and substrate breaking method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a substrate breaking device capable of dividing a glass substrate with good thermal efficiency when breaking the glass substrate by generating a thermal stress and capable of simultaneously dividing a scribe line of an arbitrary shape including a curved line and a refracted line, and a substrate breaking method.SOLUTION: A device includes: heat transfer rods 6 composed of a highly thermal-conductive material; a table 1 composed of a highly thermal-conductive material on which there are formed mounting holes in which the heat transfer rods 6 can be inserted; a plate 8 of a highly thermal-conductive material supported so as to be thermally isolated against the table; a first temperature setting mechanism 2 for setting the table 1 to a first set temperature T1; and a second temperature setting mechanism 12 for setting the plate 8 to a second set temperature T2. Each of the heat transfer rods 6 is thermally isolated against the table 1 and is held such that one edge side is flush with a substrate mounting surface of the table 1 and the other edge side thermally conducts with the plate 8. A position of the mounting hole 5 formed in the table 1 is configured such that multiple locations facing each other along a scribe line are included when the substrate is mounted on the mounting surface.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a substrate breaking apparatus and a substrate breaking method for dividing a glass substrate on which scribe lines (cut grooves) are formed in advance along the scribe lines. The main object of the present invention is glass substrates used in flat panel displays (FPDs) used in, for example, televisions, mobile terminals, game machines, and the like.

Conventionally, mechanical scribing with a scribing wheel or laser scribing is used to form scribe lines on the surface of a glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as "substrate") (scribing step), and in the next step (breaking step), along these scribe lines. The substrate is divided by breaking. In this breaking step, a long break bar with a downward tapered shape (knife shape) is pressed along the scribe line of the substrate to bend the substrate in a V shape to divide it (see, for example, Patent Document 1), or a scribe line There is known a method of dividing the substrate by blowing a heating medium such as steam onto the substrate to generate thermal stress so that the cracks in the scribe lines penetrate in the thickness direction of the substrate (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2016-120725 A WO2004-067243

However, in the breaking method by pressing a knife-shaped break bar as described in Patent Document 1, when the upper surface of the substrate is pressed and bent into a V shape, depending on how the pressing load is applied, the adjacent split end surfaces The upper edge portions of the substrate may interfere with each other and cause chipping, which may cause problems such as cracks on the substrate surface and deterioration of the edge strength. . Also, the scribe line to be broken is basically linear like the break bar, and the break bar needs to be accurately aligned with the linear scribe line for breaking.

On the other hand, in the breaking method using thermal stress described in Patent Document 2, breaking is performed without contacting the substrate, so there is no risk of chipping due to pressing of the divided end faces caused by bending. However, since it is for convective heat transfer by spraying a heat medium such as steam toward the scribe line from a nozzle arranged to be spatially separated from the scribe line, the heat utilization efficiency is high. In addition to being bad and uneconomical, the atmospheric gas is stirred up by the blowing, and if dust is contained in the atmospheric gas, there is a risk of adversely affecting the yield of the product. Moreover, there is also a problem that the assembly structure of the heating mechanism including the heat source is complicated and large.

Furthermore, in any of the above cases, after one scribe line is cut, the next scribe line is cut by moving the substrate relative to the break bar or the heat medium injection part. , it has been desired to shorten the time required to cut all the scribe lines as much as possible.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a substrate breaking apparatus and method that eliminates the risk of chipping on the split end face, adopts breaking that utilizes thermal stress, reduces heat loss, and is excellent in work efficiency. intended to provide

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has taken the following technical measures. That is, the substrate breaking device of the present invention is a substrate breaking device for breaking a substrate on which scribe lines are formed along the scribe lines, and includes a plurality of columnar heat transfer rods made of a material of good thermal conductivity. a table made of a good thermally conductive material having a mounting surface on which the substrate is mounted and having a plurality of mounting holes into which the heat transfer rods can be inserted; A plate of a good thermally conductive material supported so as to be thermally insulated from the table, a first temperature setting mechanism for setting the table to a first set temperature T1, and a second set temperature for setting the plate to a second set temperature T2. Each heat transfer rod is thermally insulated from the table, and is held so that one end is flush with the mounting surface and the other end is in contact with the plate to conduct heat. and the positions of the mounting holes formed in the table include at least a plurality of positions facing the scribe lines when the substrate is mounted on the mounting surface. bottom.
Here, the first set temperature T1 and the second set temperature T2 may have a temperature difference that can generate a thermal stress difference in the substrate in contact with each temperature.

According to the present invention, the heat transfer rods are inserted in advance into the plurality of mounting holes (along the scribe lines) at positions facing the scribe lines of the substrate when the substrate is placed on the mounting surface of the table. The set temperature of each heat transfer rod is set to the second set temperature T2 by heat conduction from the plate, and the temperature of the table is set to the first set temperature T1. In this state, when the substrate to be broken is placed so that the scribe line is in contact with the heat transfer rod inserted in the mounting hole of the table, the scribe line is in contact with the table at the first set temperature T1. , and the area in contact with the heat transfer rod at the second set temperature T2 alternately occur, and a thermal stress distribution is formed along the scribe line, and a separating force is applied to separate the scribe line, resulting in breakage. will be

According to the present invention, a plurality of scribe lines can be cut at the same time or a plurality of unit substrates can be cut out at the same time by inserting heat transfer rods into the mounting holes along the plurality of scribe lines of the substrate. becomes possible. As a result, the time required for cutting the substrate can be shortened and the working efficiency can be improved. In addition, by aligning the position where the heat transfer rod is inserted along the scribe line, it is possible to divide the scribe line of any shape including curved lines and bending lines, and to cut out a unit substrate with an arbitrary contour line such as a circle. can be done.
In addition, in the present invention, since the substrate is not broken by bending the substrate with a break bar, it is possible to obtain a high-quality end face free from defects such as chipping on the broken substrate divided surface. In addition, since thermal stress is applied to the substrate by heat conduction due to surface contact, heat loss can be suppressed to a small level. There is an effect that adhesion of particles can be suppressed.

In the present invention, the mounting holes may be formed in a mesh or lattice pattern on the mounting surface at regular intervals.
As a result, by selecting the mounting hole into which the heat transfer rod is inserted, it is possible to easily break along a scribe line of any shape including a straight line and a curved line.

In the present invention, one of the first temperature setting mechanism and the second temperature setting mechanism may use a heating mechanism using an electric heater, and the other may use a water cooling mechanism.

In the present invention, a robot arm may be provided which sucks and holds the substrate to place it on the placement surface and carries out the broken substrate from the placement surface.
As a result, it is possible to efficiently perform the operation of conveying the substrate to the mounting surface and maintaining the contact state, and carrying out the divided substrate from the mounting surface.

A substrate breaking method according to another aspect of the present invention is a substrate breaking method in which a substrate having a scribe line formed thereon is placed on a table and broken along the scribe line. The mounting surface is set to a first set temperature T1, and a second set temperature different from the first set temperature T1 is applied along the position of the table relative to the position of the scribe line when the substrate is placed. A table is prepared on which a plurality of areas set to the set temperature T2 are formed at intervals, and the scribe line is brought into contact with the mounting surface of the table so that the substrate is broken along the scribe line. ing.

1 is a schematic front view of a substrate breaking device that is an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. The right side view of the table part of FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the table and plate in FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a process of attaching a heat transfer rod to the table of FIG. 1; The top view which shows an example of the board|substrate which should be divided. FIG. 6 is an arrangement diagram of heat transfer rods when breaking the substrate shown in FIG. 5 ; FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing a heating region and a cooling region formed on (a scribe line of) a substrate by a heat transfer rod and a table; FIG. 10 is an arrangement diagram of heat transfer rods when dividing a unit board of another form. FIG. 4 is an arrangement diagram of heat transfer rods when dividing a circular unit substrate.

In the following, the details of the invention will be explained on the basis of the figures.
1 to 4 are diagrams showing a substrate breaking apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of a substrate W to be cut. In the substrate W, vertical and horizontal shallow groove-like scribe lines S are processed in the preceding stage process, so that a plurality of, for example, six unit substrates W1 as shown in FIG. , and the surrounding offcuts E. The scribe line S is processed by mechanical scribing by rolling a scribing wheel while pressing it against the substrate surface, but it can also be formed by laser scribing instead.

A substrate breaking apparatus A has a horizontal table 1 on which a substrate W to be cut is placed and held, and a substrate W to be cut is held by suction and placed on the table 1, and a unit substrate W1 after cutting is placed on the table 1. and a robot arm (transfer arm) 14 for carrying out from the table surface.

The table 1 is made of a metal material with good thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper. ). An inlet 3 and an outlet 4 of the circulation passage 2 are connected to a refrigerant source (not shown) via piping. The coolant temperature can be adjusted to a desired temperature by a temperature control device (not shown) of the coolant source. In addition, the flat mounting surface (upper surface) of the table 1 is provided with a large number of mounting holes 5 that can be fitted with heat transfer rods 6, which will be described later, in a mesh pattern (or lattice pattern). Adjacent mounting holes 5 are equidistantly spaced.

The heat transfer rod 6 is made of a metal material with good thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper, and is formed in a cylindrical shape so that it can be detachably fitted into the mounting hole 5 as shown in FIG. 4(a). , the outer peripheral surface in contact with the mounting hole 5 is covered with a heat insulating material 6a. A space may be provided between the heat transfer rod 6 and the mounting hole 5 by precisely machining the heat transfer rod 6 and the mounting hole 5 so that they are not in contact with each other and thermally insulated.
Moreover, at least a part or the entire surface of the upper end surface of the heat transfer rod 6 is formed with a flat surface, and as shown in FIG. It is designed to be flush with the upper surface (mounting surface) of the . Further, the heat transfer rod 6 has an insertion portion 6b on the lower end side thereof, which is inserted into a socket 7 (hole) of the plate 8, which will be described later.

On the underside of the table 1 (opposite to the mounting surface), a plate 8 made of a metal material with good thermal conductivity such as aluminum or copper and provided with a large number of sockets 7 is made of ceramic, which is a thermally insulating material. are connected with a gap provided therebetween via a connecting bolt 9 and a nut 10. As shown in FIG. The gap between the table 1 and the plate 8 serves as a heat insulating space for thermally insulating the two. The gap is maintained by installing the

The socket group 7 provided on the plate 8 is arranged at a position corresponding to each mounting hole 5 of the table 1 located above. Thus, by inserting the heat transfer rod 6 into the mounting hole 5 from the top surface (mounting surface) of the table, the lower insertion portion 6b can be attached to the socket 7. The heat of the plate 8 is transferred to the heat transfer rod 6 by making surface contact with the plate 8 . An electric heater 12 is incorporated in the plate 8, and the heat of the plate 8 heated by the electric heater 12 is transmitted to the heat transfer rod 6 so that the upper surface of the heat transfer rod 6 is set to the second set temperature T2. is formed in The electric heater 12 is connected to a power supply (not shown) through a wire 13, and can be adjusted to a desired temperature by a temperature control device (not shown).

The robot arm 14 is provided with a suction cup 15 that vacuum-sucks the substrate W. As shown in FIG. In this embodiment, six suction cups are provided so that the six unit substrates W1 to be divided can be sucked. .

Here, the first set temperature T1 of the table 1 and the second set temperature T2 of the plate 8 (that is, the heat transfer rod 6) will be explained. In this embodiment, by bringing the substrate W to be broken into contact, the cooling area cooled by contacting the upper surface (mounting surface) of the table 1 along the scribe line and the cooling area cooled by contacting the heat transfer rod 6 are warmed. In the heated region, opposite thermal stresses (compressive stress and tensile stress) are generated to generate a strong separating force on the scribe line, so that a large temperature difference is generated between the first set temperature T1 and the second set temperature T2. If you give it, you can generate a stronger separating force.
However, in substrates such as liquid crystal panels, the temperature that can be heated is limited by other materials (circuits, adhesives, etc.) provided on the substrate, and it is necessary to keep the temperature below the permissible temperature. Also, it is desirable to cool within a range that does not cause dew condensation.
Therefore, the set temperatures T1 and T2 are set within the temperature range allowed for the substrate to be processed. For example, the first set temperature T1 of the table 1 is set to 20°C, which is higher than the dew point temperature, and the second set temperature T2 of the heat transfer rod 6 (and plate 8) is set to 110 to 60°C, which is sufficiently higher than that. I'm trying to set it in a range.

Next, the cutting operation of the substrate W by the breaking device A will be described. In the following description, each substrate W successively transported by the robot arm 14 and placed on the table 1 is always accurately positioned at the same position on the table by the robot arm (or positioning means using an abutment member or the like). shall be positioned and placed on the
First, as shown in FIG. 6, the heat transfer rod 6 is previously fitted into the mounting hole 5 of the substrate W placed on the table 1 at the position facing the scribe line S (the hatched portion is the heat transfer rod). 6). In this operation, as shown in FIG. 4(a), by directly inserting from the upper surface of the table 1, it can be attached to the socket 7 of the plate 8 as shown in FIG. 4(b).

After setting the heat transfer rod 6 on the table 1, the coolant is passed through the circulation passage 2 of the table 1 to cool the table 1 to the first set temperature T1 (refrigerant temperature), and the electric heater 12 is energized to heat the plate 8 ( and the heat transfer rod 6) is heated to the second set temperature T2.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1A, the substrate W sucked and held by the robot arm 14 is transported to a fixed position above the table 1, and the robot arm 14 is lowered as shown in FIG. is brought into contact with the upper surface (mounting surface) of the table 1 . The contact time varies depending on the thickness of the substrate, but about 2 seconds is sufficient for a general substrate. Due to this contact, since the heat transfer rods 6 are mounted side by side at positions facing each other along the scribe line S of the substrate W, the area of the scribe line S in contact with the heat transfer rod 6 is partially heated, and the scribe line S is heated. The area in contact with the table surface 1 is partially cooled.

As a result of the contact between the substrate W and the table 1 and the contact between the substrate W and the heat transfer rods 6, the substrate W has a heating area in contact with the heat transfer rods 6 and a heat transfer area as shown in FIG. Cooling areas in contact with the table 1 are alternately formed along the scribe line S between the rods 6 .
As a result, compressive stress is generated in the scribe line S due to thermal expansion in the heating region, and tensile stress is generated in the cooling region due to thermal contraction. When this compressive stress and tensile stress are simultaneously generated at a plurality of mutually adjacent locations, cracks in the scribe line S penetrate in the thickness direction of the substrate, and as a result, the scribe line S is completely cut off. As a result, the substrate W is divided into six unit substrates W1 and scrap E. As shown in FIG.

The divided unit substrate W1 is carried out by the robot arm 14 and sent to the next process. The remaining offcuts E are removed from the table 1 in the next step by the same robot arm 14 or another offcuts removing means not shown (for example, a cleaner for sucking up the offcuts).

By inserting the heat transfer rods 6 into the mounting holes 5 of the table 1 along the shape of the scribe line S to be divided in this way, the unit substrate having an arbitrary outline can be broken by applying thermal stress. can do. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a unit substrate having an outline with a part of the side recessed in a U-shape, or a circular unit substrate as shown in FIG. can also

As described above, in the substrate breaking apparatus of the present invention, by fitting the heat transfer rods into the mounting holes facing each other along the scribe lines of the substrate, a plurality of scribe lines can be cut at the same time, or a plurality of unit substrates can be separated. It becomes possible to cut out at the same time. As a result, the time required for cutting the substrate can be shortened and the working efficiency can be improved. In addition, by selecting the mounting position of the heat transfer rod, it is possible to cut a scribe line of any shape including curves and bent lines, or to cut out a unit board having any outline such as a circle.

Further, in the present invention, since the substrate is not broken by bending it with a knife-like break bar, it is possible to obtain a high-quality end face free from defects such as chipping on the broken divided surfaces of the substrate. In addition, since thermal stress is applied to the substrate by heat conduction due to surface contact, there is no rise of dust that occurs when a break occurs due to spraying of steam, etc., and the adherence of particles to the surface of the product wet with steam is suppressed. Loss can also be suppressed to be small.

Although representative examples of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified and changed as appropriate within the scope of achieving the object and not departing from the scope of the claims. Is possible.
For example, although the table 1 is cooled and the plate 8 is heated in the above embodiment, the table 1 may be heated by attaching an electric heater to cool the plate 8 . Moreover, the heating means and the cooling means may be replaced with other methods.
Further, in the above-described embodiment, a large number of mounting holes are provided on the table 1 in a mesh or grid pattern. A dedicated table may be used in which mounting holes are formed only at positions opposite to positions along the line S' and no additional mounting holes are provided.
Further, in the above embodiment, all the mounting holes are circular holes, but some or all of them may be oval holes or rectangular holes, and the shape of the heat transfer rod may be oval or prismatic.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a substrate breaking apparatus and a substrate breaking method for breaking a substrate on which a scribe line is formed along the scribe line.

A breaking device S scribe line W substrate W1 unit substrate 1 table 2 circulation passage (first temperature setting mechanism)
5 mounting hole 6 heat transfer rod 7 socket 8 plate 12 electric heater (second temperature setting mechanism)
14 robot arm (transport arm)
15 sucker

Claims (5)

A substrate breaking device for breaking a substrate on which a scribe line is formed along the scribe line,
a plurality of columnar heat transfer rods made of a material with good thermal conductivity;
a table made of a good thermally conductive material having a mounting surface on which the substrate is mounted and having a plurality of mounting holes into which the heat transfer rods can be inserted;
a plate made of a good thermally conductive material supported so as to be thermally insulated from the table on the side opposite to the mounting surface of the table;
a first temperature setting mechanism for setting the table to a first set temperature T1;
A second temperature setting mechanism for setting the plate to a second set temperature T2,
Each of the heat transfer rods is thermally insulated from the table, and is held so that one end is flush with the mounting surface and the other end is in contact with the plate to conduct heat,
A substrate breaking device, wherein the positions of the mounting holes formed in the table include at least a plurality of positions facing the scribe lines when the substrate is mounted on the mounting surface. 2. A substrate breaking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said mounting holes are formed in a mesh or lattice pattern on said mounting surface at regular intervals. 3. The substrate breaking apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the first temperature setting mechanism and the second temperature setting mechanism is a heating mechanism using an electric heater, and the other is a water cooling mechanism. 4. The substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a robot arm that sucks and holds the substrate to place it on the placement surface, and carries out the broken substrate from the placement surface. break device. A substrate breaking method for placing a substrate having a scribe line formed thereon on a table and breaking the substrate along the scribe line,
The mounting surface on which the substrate is mounted is set to the first set temperature T1, and the first set temperature T1 is set along the position of the table relative to the position of the scribe line when the substrate is mounted. Prepare a table in which a plurality of regions set to a second set temperature T2 different from are formed at intervals,
A substrate breaking method for breaking along the scribe line by bringing the scribe line into contact with the mounting surface of the table.

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