JP2552565B2 - Substrate cassette - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate cassette for separately supporting glass substrates and other various substrates so as not to contact each other.

In the manufacturing process of various substrates such as glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for plasma displays, ceramic substrates for hybrid ICs, glass substrates for thermal heads, etc., in order to process, process, clean, transport and store the substrates. In addition, it is necessary to put the substrates in and out of the cassette so as not to contact each other.

As one type of substrate cassette for this purpose, a cassette assembled from a frame and a grooved rod with the appearance of an abacus is used.

More specifically, in this type of cassette, the front surface and the back surface are each constituted by a frame, and both side surfaces are constituted by a round bar with a groove provided between the both frames, and the bottom surface or the bottom surface side is a substrate by an appropriate stopper means. The ceiling surface is an open surface for board entry and exit.

The substrate is put in and taken out between the corresponding grooves of the grooved round bars on the both side surfaces.

The substrate cassette is usually used with the open surface facing sideways when the substrate is loaded or unloaded, and with the open surface facing upward when the substrate is transported. Although it can be arbitrarily selected, in the present specification, the case where the open surface is faced up, the frames are arranged on the front and back surfaces, and the round rods with grooves are arranged on both side surfaces is determined as the standard posture. .

The cassette is used for processing, processing, cleaning, transporting, and storing the substrate, but the substrate set in the cassette is
There are a case where the processing device loads the sheets one by one and the sheet processing is performed, and a case where the cassette is loaded and batch processing is performed.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention In a glass substrate used in the field of liquid crystal panel manufacturing, the curing of the alignment film is 280 to 3 in the case of polyimide.
It is usually performed at a high temperature of about 80 ° C. However, since there are few heat-resistant resins for cassette components that can handle such high temperatures, when handling a substrate that involves curing of the alignment film, the curing operation is performed with the substrate taken out from the cassette, or We had no choice but to use a cassette made of metal only. However, it is disadvantageous in process operation to take the substrate out of the cassette and perform the curing operation. In addition, the use of a cassette made of only metal is disadvantageous in that the processing cost of the grooved round bar becomes high, the weight becomes heavy, and the conductive dust may be generated.

However, recently, the development of resins for alignment films has progressed, and the curing of alignment films can be performed at lower temperatures (for example, 180 ° C to 250 ° C).
Technology) is in the stage of practical application. Under such circumstances, some of the heat-resistant resins for cassette components can withstand this temperature condition, and the possibility of performing the curing operation of the alignment film with the substrate accommodated in the cassette has been opened up. .

However, even if a grooved round bar is molded from a resin having heat resistance that can withstand the above temperature, and a cassette is assembled using this, the grooved round bar has a large elongation when heated and the original length when not heated. However, there is a problem in that the groove pitch of the grooved round bar changes and the cassette is distorted, which makes it difficult to automatically move the substrate into and out of the cassette. Such a cassette would be unsuitable for processes involving moderate heating.

In view of such a situation, the present invention has an object to provide a substrate cassette that does not cause dimensional instability of a grooved round bar even by heating in a heating process such as a curing process of an alignment film. .

Means for Solving the Problems The substrate cassette of the present invention has a frame (1A) on the front,
The back surface is composed of a frame (1B), and one side surface is at least two grooved round bars (2A) and (2A) installed between the frames (1A) and (1B), and the other side surface is It is composed of at least two grooved rods (2B) and (2B) installed between the frames (1A) and (1B), respectively.
The bottom surface or the bottom surface side is configured to be able to receive the substrate by the stopper means (6), and the ceiling surface is an open surface for loading and unloading the substrate, and the round bar (2A) with a groove on one side surface,
(2B) and a round bar with a groove (2B), (2B) on the other side surface, in a cassette capable of loading and unloading a substrate between the corresponding grooves, as the frame (1A), (1B) Use a metal frame and fix both frames (1A) and (1B) through metal columns (7). As the grooved rods (2A) and (2B), penetrate axially. A circle made of a heat-resistant resin, which has a hole (31), a large number of circumferential grooves (32) in the middle, and locking grooves (33) and (33) at both ends. In the through hole (31) of the rod molded body (3),
Using a round bar having a composite structure in which a metal rod (4) is inserted, the grooved round rods (2A) and (2B) are provided with free ends of the lock angle (5) in the locking grooves (33). With the side locked, the frame (1
A) and (1B) have been concluded.

 The present invention will be described in detail below.

Like the conventional cassette, the substrate cassette of the present invention has a frame (1A) and a frame (1B) on the front and the back, respectively.
It consists of. One side is the two frames (1A), (1
At least two grooved rods (2A) erected in B),
(2A), the other side is the both frames (1A), (1B)
At least two grooved rods (2B) installed between
(2B) respectively.

The bottom surface or the bottom surface side is configured to be able to receive the substrate by installing stopper means (6) such as a receiving rod or a cauldron.

 The ceiling surface will be an open surface for board entry and exit.

The board is a round bar (2A), (2A) with a groove on one side.
And the round bars (2B) with grooves on the other side surface are inserted into and taken out between the corresponding grooves.

In the present invention, metal frames are used as the frames (1A) and (1B). The shape may be a shape obtained by punching out the central region of the square plate, a thin frame shape, or the like. It is preferable to use a material having corrosion resistance such as SUS. Then, both frames (1A) and (1B) are fixed via the metal support (7). The frames (1A) and (1B) and the column (7) may be integrated.

The grooved rods (2A) and (2B) have a through hole (31) in the axial direction, a number of circumferential grooves (32) in the middle, and both ends are locked. In the through-hole (31) of the round bar-shaped molded body (3) made of heat-resistant resin having the grooves (33) and (33) for
A round bar having a composite structure in which a metal bar (4) is inserted is used.

As the resin for the round bar molded body (3), a moldable resin having necessary properties (strength, heat resistance, solvent resistance, acid / alkali resistance, etc.) is selected, and examples thereof include polytetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroethylene. Fluoroalkoxy-substituted polytetrafluoroethylene, polyimide, polyetherimide, polyamideimide, polyetheretherketone,
Examples thereof include polyphenylene sulfide, polyarylate, polysulfone, polyallyl sulfone, and polyether sulfone. Among these, polytetrafluoroethylene having both heat resistance and water repellent property is particularly important.
Although it is possible to add fibers to these heat-resistant resins to improve strength and heat resistance, a natural resin without fibers is usually used because the surface may be roughened and the substrate may be damaged. .

As a molding method, a sintering molding method, an extrusion molding method, a direct pressure molding method, an injection molding method, a transfer molding method, or the like is adopted. In the case of polytetrafluoroethylene or the like, it is difficult to form a complicated shape, and therefore, a columnar formed body is usually obtained and then formed into a predetermined shape by punching and cutting.

The diameter of the through hole (31) and the outer diameter of the metal rod (4) are set so that the metal rod (4) fits into the through hole (31) as closely as possible. Upon insertion, a method of heating the round bar-shaped body (3) and press-fitting the metal bar (4) into the through hole (31) is preferably adopted.

In many cases, the number of circumferential grooves (32) provided in the intermediate portion is ten to several tens.

The metal rod (4) is preferably made of a material having corrosion resistance such as SUS.

The grooved round bars (2A) and (2B) are
With the free end side of the lock angle (5) locked in the locking groove (33) of (A), (2B), the frame (1A), (1B) is inserted through the lock angle (5). To be concluded.

A material having a corrosion resistance such as SUS is suitable for the material of the lock angle (5). The shape of the lock angle (5) is, for example, U-shaped in a side view, and it is often the case that both free end sides of the U-shape are bent inward at substantially right angles. Usually, a hole (54) is provided at the center of the U-shaped base end (51) to form a screw hole.

The frame (1A), (1B) of the cassette has a spare screw hole (8) for changing the installation location of the round bar with grooves (2B), (2B), and the cassette is in a horizontal position so that the substrate is horizontal. Seat (9) for holding, thick part (1
0), a notch (11) for up / down discrimination, a protrusion for cassette chucking by the transfer robot, and the like can be provided as necessary. The spare screw hole (8) above is
This is for accommodating substrates of different sizes.

Various substrates such as a glass substrate, a ceramic substrate, a metal core substrate, a composite substrate, and a silicon substrate are used as the substrate to be accommodated in the cassette having the above structure.

Action In the substrate cassette of the present invention, the round bar with a groove (2A) having a composite structure in which the metal bar (4) is inserted into the through hole (31) of the round bar shaped body (3) made of heat resistant resin. , (2B) locks the lock angle (5) with the free end side of the lock angle (5) locked in the locking groove (33) of the grooved round bar (2A), (2B). It is fastened to the frames (1A) and (1B) through.

Therefore, even when the substrate is housed in this cassette and subjected to a heating process involving heating of about 180 to 250 ° C such as a curing process of the alignment film, thermal expansion of the round bar with grooves (2A) and (2B) Elongation is suppressed to a negligible minimum,
Shrinkage during cooling after the heating step is also reliably suppressed by the pulling force of the lock angle (5) toward the frames (1A) and (1B).

Example 1 Example 1 FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a substrate cassette according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a partial side view thereof.

FIG. 4 is a front view of round bars with grooves (2A) and (2B),
A part is shown in cross section.

FIG. 5 is a front view of the lock angle (5), and FIG. 6 is a side view thereof.

Grooved round bar (2A), (2B) By filling polytetrafluoroethylene fine particles as an example of heat-resistant resin in a mold and extruding at a temperature of 380 ° C, a rod-shaped compact with a length of 257 mm and a diameter of 20 mm is formed. A molded body was obtained. Then, this molded body was perforated to provide through holes, and a number of grooves having a depth of 5 mm were provided in the circumferential direction by cutting.

(3) is a round bar shaped body obtained in this way,
Reference numeral (31) is a through hole, (32) is a circumferential groove provided in the middle portion, and (33) is a locking groove provided at both ends.

By inserting a metal rod (4) made of SUS into the round bar molded body (3) exactly to form a composite structure, the round bar with grooves (2A) and (2B) as shown in FIG. 4 can be obtained. It was made.

Lock Angle (5) In FIGS. 5-6, (5) is a lock angle made of SUS304, (51) is its base end, (52), (52) are from both sides of the base (51). Sides protruding at right angles in the same direction, (53) and (53) are provided at the tip end bent inward at right angles from the side portions (52) and (52), and (54) is provided at the base end. It is a hole.

Substrate Cassette In FIGS. 1 to 3, (1A) and (1B) are frames made of SUS304, (1A) forms the front surface of the cassette, and (1B) forms the back surface of the cassette. However, (1B) is not visible in the figure.

(7) is a pillar made of SUS304, both frames (1A),
(1B) Two are installed between the upper side and two between the lower side.

(2A) and (2B) are grooved round bars having the above-described structure, and are both installed between the above frames (1A) and (1B). These grooved round bars (2A), (2B)
Thus, both side surfaces of the cassette are formed.

These grooved round bars (2A) and (2B) are fitted into the locking groove (33) at the tips (53) and (5) of the lock angle (5).
In the state where 3) is locked, it is fastened to the frames (1A) and (1B) by screws (12) through the lock angle (5).

(6) is two stopper means for receiving the substrate, which is installed between the lower sides of both frames (1A) and (1B), and is composed of a metal rod made of SUS304 covered with a tube made of polytetrafluoroethylene. These stopper means (6),
The bottom surface of the cassette is formed by (6).

(8) is a spare screw hole for changing the installation location of the grooved rods (2A) and (2B), and locks the grooved rods (2A) and (2B) when using a board with small dimensions. Angle (5)
The screw holes (8) are screwed into this spare via.

(9) is a seat, which comes into contact with the floor surface when the cassette is in a horizontal position so that the substrate is in the horizontal direction. The seat (9) on the upper side of the frames (1A) and (1B) also serves to fasten the columns (7) on the upper side of the frames (1A) and (1B).

Reference numeral (10) is a thick-walled portion for a handle for convenience in carrying the frames (1A) and (1B) by hand, and a metal plate is spot-welded to have a thick wall.

(11) is a notch provided on the lower side of the frames (1A) and (1B) for upper / lower discrimination.

Cut-off test Round bar with groove (2A) facing each other of the cassette with the above structure,
Set the substrate coated with the alignment film between all the corresponding grooves of (2B), put it in a heating furnace and raise the temperature stepwise, up to 220 ℃
After curing with, it was taken out of the furnace and allowed to cool.

Virtually no difference was found in the lengths of the round rods (2A) and (2B) with grooves in the cassette before being put into the heating furnace, immediately after being taken out, and after being left to cool.

By the way, when only the grooved rods (2A) and (2B) are heated and cooled under the same conditions, the difference between before heating and immediately after heating, and the difference between immediately after heating and after cooling is about 8 mm.

Advantageous Effects of Invention In the substrate cassette of the present invention, the grooved round bar (2
Since A) and (2B) are fastened to the frame (1A) and (1B) via the lock angle (5), the round bar with grooves (2A) and (2B) can be heated and then allowed to cool. The expansion and contraction of is small enough to be ignored, so that the grooved round bar (2
There is no risk that the pitch of the circumferential grooves (32) of A) and (2B) will change and that the cassette will be distorted.

Therefore, the substrate cassette of the present invention can be preferably used even in the case where a heating process accompanied by heating at about 180 to 250 ° C. is included such as a curing process of the alignment film.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of the substrate cassette of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial plan view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a partial side view thereof. FIG. 4 is a front view of the grooved round bars (2A) and (2B), and a part thereof is shown in cross section. FIG. 5 is a front view of the lock angle (5), and FIG. 6 is a side view thereof. (1A), (1B) …… frame, (2A), (2B) …… grooved round bar, (3) …… round bar shaped body, (31) …… through hole, (32) …… circumferential direction Groove, (33) ……
Groove for hooking, (4) …… Metal rod, (5) …… Lock angle, (51) …… Base end, (52) …… Side, (53) …… Tip, (54) …… Hole, (6) …… Stopper means, (7) …… Post, (8) …… Spare screw hole, (9) …… Seat, (10) …… Thick part, (11) …… Notch, (12) …… screw

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A round bar with at least two grooves, the front surface of which is constituted by a frame (1A) and the back surface of which is constituted by a frame (1B), and one side surface of which is erected between both frames (1A), (1B). (2A), (2A), the other side surface is composed of at least two grooved round bars (2B), (2B) installed between the both frames (1A), (1B), respectively, the bottom surface or the bottom surface The side is configured to be able to receive the substrate by the stopper means (6), and the ceiling surface is an open surface for loading and unloading the substrate, and the round rods (2A) and (2B) with grooves on the one side surface and the other side. A metal frame is used as the frame (1A), (1B) in a cassette in which a substrate can be put in and taken out in a groove corresponding to the round bar (2B), (2B) with a groove on the side surface of the At the same time, fix both frames (1A) and (1B) through the metal support (7). As the grooved rods (2A) and (2B), there are axial through holes (31), a large number of circumferential grooves (32) in the middle portion, and both end sides are engaged. Use of a round bar having a composite structure in which a metal rod (4) is inserted into the through hole (31) of a heat-resistant resin round bar molded body (3) having grooves (33) and (33) for stopping. , The grooved rods (2A) and (2B) are provided with the grooves (3
3) with the free end side of the lock angle (5) being locked, the frame (1) is inserted through the lock angle (5).
A), (1B) is fastened to the substrate cassette.