JP3396903B2 - Work transfer device and work transfer method - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a work transfer device and a work transfer device in which static electricity removing means is provided on a work transfer route.
Concerning the transportation method .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conveying device attached to a glass plate exposing device for a liquid crystal display device, for example, one shown in FIG. 5 is known. This transporting device 1 moves a handling arm 2 that supports the lower surface side of a glass plate P by two fingers 2a and 2b in the horizontal direction (directions of arrows Y1 and Y2) along rails 3 and 4, and also at the upper stage. By horizontally swinging the rail 3 and the handling arm 2 around the swivel axis 5, the glass plate P stored in the carrier 6 is carried into the stage (not shown) of the exposure apparatus 7, or the glass plate P on the stage is carried out.
Are carried out to the carrier 6. Reference numeral 8 denotes an elevating mechanism for elevating the carriers 6 in the arrangement direction of the glass plates P (vertical direction in the illustrated example: arrow Y3 direction) to select the glass plates P to be conveyed.

In the exposure device 7, the carried-in glass plate P is vacuum-sucked on the stage to expose a desired pattern. After the exposure is completed, the glass plate P is peeled off from the stage and carried out to the carrier 6. At the time of this peeling, the glass plate P is charged with static electricity. This charging phenomenon remarkably occurs particularly in the case of non-alkali glass for TFT liquid crystal. If this static electricity is left undisturbed, discharge occurs between the glass plate P and the grounded portion of the device near the plate during carry-out, or the static electricity of the glass plate P returned to the inside of the carrier 6 causes The carriers 6 are accumulated as the number of plates P accommodated increases.
Fingers 2a, 2 which are grounded inside the plate P and inside
A discharge is generated between this and b. Fingers 2a, 2b , hands
When the ring arm 2 is made of a conductor, if such a discharge phenomenon occurs, holes may be formed in the resist layer formed on the surface of the glass plate P or elements on the surface may be damaged. In addition, when the glass plate P is charged, dust easily attaches.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned transfer device, the exposure device 7 is used.
A static eliminator 9 is provided next to the exposure device 7 in order to remove static electricity from the glass plate P carried out from the
The static electricity of the glass plate P carried out from the exposure device 7 is removed. The static eliminator 9 blows ionic wind to the glass plate P to remove static electricity, and the positive and negative balance of the ionic wind is always kept in balance. This is because the uncharged glass plate P passes through before exposure, that is, when the glass plate P is loaded.
This is because it is necessary to give priority to the prevention of static electricity, and the charged state (polarity and charge amount) of the glass plate P after exposure is unknown.

[0005]

In the above-mentioned apparatus, since the balance of the ion wind from the static eliminator 9 is maintained, the static electricity removal efficiency is poor, and the static electricity of the glass plate P carried out from the exposure apparatus 7 is eliminated. At the time of removal, it is necessary to expose the glass plate P to ion wind for a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to slow down the carry-out speed of the glass plate P or to temporarily stop the glass plate P under the static eliminator 9, which makes it inevitable that the carrying time becomes long. Here, if the delivery speed of the glass plate P is increased by prioritizing the reduction of the transportation time, the static electricity cannot be sufficiently removed,
Increased risk of electric discharge. When the static eliminator 9 is continuously used in a state in which the balance of the ion wind is disturbed in order to enhance the static electricity removal effect, the glass plate P before the exposure process is charged with the ion wind, which causes a problem in the exposure process.
Further, as long as the charged state of the glass plate P being conveyed is unknown, it is not possible to determine how to balance the ionic wind, and the ionic wind and the static electricity are biased to the same polarity side, and the amount of charge is rather reversed. May increase.

An object of the present invention is, firstly, a work transfer device and a work transfer device capable of quickly and surely removing static electricity and preventing new charge even when the work is charged in differently from the charged state. To provide a transportation method, and secondly,
A work transfer device that can quickly and reliably remove static electricity and prevent new charging even if the charge state of the work is unknown
Another object is to provide a work transfer method .

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] To explain with reference to FIG. 1 showing an embodiment, in the work transfer apparatus according to claim 1, the work (P) passes when the work (P) is loaded and unloaded. A work transfer device provided with static electricity removing means (12) for removing static electricity of a work (P) on a transfer path, the transfer determining whether the work (P) is loaded or unloaded. A direction determination means (13) and a removal performance changing means (13) for changing the setting state of the static electricity removal performance of the static electricity removal means (12) based on the determination result of the transport direction determination means (13) are provided. The static electricity removing means (12) is driven when the work (P) is carried in and out. In the work transfer device according to the second aspect, the static electricity removing performance is changed by changing the positive / negative balance of the ion wind blown toward the work (P) by the static electricity removing means (12). In the work transfer device according to the third aspect, a plurality of static electricity removing means (12A to 12D) are arranged along the transfer path of the work. The work transfer method according to claim 4, wherein the static electricity of the work (P) is removed by using the ions generated from the static electricity removing means (12) when the work (P) is carried in and out. (P)
Depending on the result of the step (S1) and the step (S1) for determining whether the workpiece is at the time of loading or unloading, and when the workpiece (P) is loaded or unloaded. Sometimes, the step (S3) of driving the static electricity removing means is included.

[0008]

In the work transfer device of the first aspect, the static electricity removal performance of the static electricity removal means (12) is set to different states when the work (P) is loaded and unloaded. In the work transfer device of the second aspect, the static electricity removal performance is changed by changing the positive / negative balance of the ions sprayed toward the work (P). In the work transfer device of the third aspect, the static electricity of the work is removed by the plurality of static electricity removing means (12A to 12D). In the work transfer method according to the fourth aspect, it is determined whether the work (P) is loaded or unloaded, and the positive / negative balance of ions is changed. In the work transfer method according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the static electricity of the work is removed by the plurality of static electricity removing means (12A to 12D).

Incidentally, in the section of means and action for solving the above-mentioned problems for explaining the constitution of the present invention, the drawings of the embodiments are used to make the present invention easy to understand. It is not limited to.

[0010]

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, a description will be given of an embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. The same parts as those of the conventional example shown in FIG. 5 described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 1, in the carrier device 10 of the present embodiment, the charge state measuring device 11 and the static eliminator 12 are transferred from the exposure device 7 to the carrier 6 on the carrier path along which the glass plate P for the liquid crystal display device reciprocates. Are arranged in order. The charged state measuring device 11 measures the potential difference between the glass plate P and a conductor facing the glass plate P at a predetermined measurement distance, and based on the result and the above-described measurement distance, the polarity and charge amount of the glass plate P. Is publicly known. The polarity and the amount of charge measured by the charge state measuring device 11 are supplied to the control circuit 13 as charge information.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the static eliminator 12 has a columnar main body 120 arranged so as to traverse the conveyance path of the glass plate P, and a constant interval in the longitudinal direction on the lower surface side of the main body 120. A plurality of (four in the figure) nozzles 121 that are attached in advance, and a needle-shaped positive electrode 122 and a negative electrode 123 that are alternately inserted one at the center of each nozzle 121. A voltage is applied to the negative electrode 123 to generate positive ions and negative ions, and air or nitrogen gas is pressure-fed from the nitrogen supply source NS to the upper part of the nozzle 121 to eject ion air from the lower opening of the nozzle 121. When this ionic wind is blown to the glass plate P, the surface of the glass plate P is electrically neutralized and static electricity is removed. The static electricity removing performance of the static electricity remover 12 depends on the positive electrode 122 and the negative electrode 12.
When the same voltage is applied to both, the positive and negative balance of the generated ion wind is balanced and the static electricity removal performance for an object having a high charging potential becomes low. When the voltage of either the positive electrode 122 or the negative electrode 123 is increased, the balance of the ion wind is biased toward the positive or negative side accordingly, and the static electricity removal performance is improved.

The control circuit 13 controls the operations of the handling arm 2 and the elevating mechanism 8 in accordance with an operation program stored therein, and based on the charging information sent from the charging state measuring device 11 and the carrying direction of the glass plate P. Thus, the voltage applied to the positive electrode 122 and the negative electrode 123 of the static eliminator 12 is controlled. The control circuit 13 itself determines the transport direction of the glass plate P. Specifically, it is determined whether the operation program of the handling arm 2 currently being executed corresponds to a loading instruction or an unloading instruction of the glass plate P, or the operation direction of an actuator that drives the handling arm 2 is detected. It is determined which of the loading operation and the unloading operation of the glass plate P is activated. It should be noted that a sensor may be arranged on the conveyance path of the glass plate P to detect the actual conveyance direction of the glass plate P.

FIG. 3 shows a control procedure of the static eliminator 12 in the control circuit 13. When the transport device 10 is activated to transport the glass plate P, the control circuit 13 first determines in step S1 whether or not the transport operation of the glass plate P is performed. When it is determined to be the carry-out operation, the process proceeds to step S2, and the charge polarity and the charge amount of the glass plate P carried out from the exposure device 7 are read from the charge state measuring device 11 .
In step S3, the voltage applied to the positive electrode 122 and the negative electrode 123 of the static eliminator 12 is changed according to the obtained charging information, and the static elimination performance is set to the optimum state. That is, by increasing the voltage of the electrode having the opposite polarity to the charge polarity of the glass plate P measured in step S2 in accordance with the charge amount of the glass plate P, the ions having the opposite polarity to the glass plate P are charged. Increase by an amount commensurate with.

After the static electricity removal performance is set to a desired state, the static elimination time counting timer is started in step S4 in order to keep the ion unbalanced state for a predetermined time, and the time is up in step S5. Repeat judgment. When it is determined that the time is up, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the voltages applied to the positive electrode 122 and the negative electrode 123 of the static eliminator 12 are made equal, and the positive and negative imbalance amounts of the ion wind are zero, that is, the ion balance is balanced. And the process ends. If it is determined in step S1 that the glass plate P has not been carried out, the process proceeds to step S6 to maintain the ion balance in a balanced state.

As is clear from the above description, in the present embodiment, the charged state of the glass plate P is measured when it is carried out of the exposure device 7, and the positive / negative of the ion wind of the static eliminator 12 is determined according to the measurement result. Of the glass plate P opposite to the charging polarity of the glass plate P depending on the amount of charge,
A high static electricity removing effect is obtained, and the time required for removing the static electricity of the glass plate P carried out from the exposure device 7 is significantly shortened as compared with the conventional case. Therefore, the static electricity can be reliably removed even if the carry-out speed of the glass plate P is increased,
Transport time can be shortened. Since the ion balance of the static eliminator 12 is kept in balance when the glass plate P is carried in, there is no risk of accidentally charging the uncharged glass plate P.

In the present embodiment, the charge state of each glass plate P was measured by the charge state measuring device 11 and the static electricity removal performance was individually set. However, the charge polarity and charge of the glass plate P carried out from the exposure device 7 are set. When the amount is almost constant, the charge state measuring device 11 is omitted, and the ion balance is maintained when the glass plate P is loaded, while the glass plate P is kept.
The ion balance may be uniformly disturbed when unloading. Since the charged state of the glass plate P depends on the process before the processing in the exposure apparatus 7, the ion balance at the time of carrying out the glass plate P may be changed according to the process before the exposure. At this time, when there is a host computer that manages the entire process, the host computer can give an instruction of ion balance to the control circuit 13.

In the embodiment, the polarity and the unbalance amount of the ionic wind are controlled to change the static electricity removing performance of the static electricity removing device 12. However, when the charge polarity of the glass plate P is fixed and only the charge amount is unknown, It is sufficient to control only the unbalance amount of the static remover 12. By the way, the charging polarity of the glass plate P is generally determined by the material of the surface. For example, when the glass itself is exposed, it is charged to the positive side, and when metal is stacked on the surface, it is charged to the negative side. When changing the static electricity removal performance, the air volume of the ion wind may be added to the control target. Also, the glass plate P
Instead of keeping the ion balance balanced, the static electricity eliminator 12 may be turned off to prevent charging.

When the discharge speed of the glass plate P is high and the static electricity cannot be sufficiently removed by the single static electricity eliminator 12, a plurality of static electricity eliminators 12A, 12B, 12C may be arranged in parallel on the conveyance path. In this case, the amount of unbalance of the ion wind of each static eliminator 12 may be reduced as the distance from the exposure apparatus 7 increases, and the static electricity may be removed in stages. Even when a plurality of sets of static removers 12 are required, each static remover 1
Since the static electricity removing effect of No. 2 is high, the required number of static electricity removing devices 12 is reduced as compared with the conventional case. When a plurality of static eliminators are provided, the glass plate P in the carrier 6
Static eliminator 12 to a position where ionic wind is blown on
When D is installed, it is necessary to keep the ion balance of the static eliminator 12D always balanced. In this case, the static eliminator 12D is not limited to the DC power supply type that can change the ion balance, but may be the AC power supply type that constantly balances the ion balance, and its operation needs to be synchronized with the transfer operation of the transfer device 10A. There is no.

In the embodiment, it is premised that the glass plate P before the exposure processing is uncharged, and when the glass plate P is carried in, the balance of the ion wind from the static eliminator 12 is balanced to prevent the charge. However, when the glass plate P is charged in the process before exposure, the static electricity removing performance of the static electricity remover 12 may be changed according to the charged state. For example, when the resist formation and the bake treatment are provided prior to the exposure treatment, the glass plate P is adsorbed and peeled off at that stage, so that charging may occur. When the charged state at the time of loading is unknown, the charged state measuring device 11 is added to the carrier 6 side of the static eliminator 12 to measure the charged state.

In the above embodiments, the glass plate P for a liquid crystal display device is intended for a device that reciprocates in the transport path, and it is assumed that the charged state is different between the time of loading and unloading, but the present invention is not limited to this. First, it covers all types of work transfer devices that require the removal of static electricity during the transfer process.
Further, the present invention is not limited to an apparatus in which a work reciprocates in the same path, but can be applied to a transfer apparatus in which a work whose charge state is unknown travels along the transfer path one way. In this case, the charge state measuring device 11 and the static electricity eliminator 12 are arranged side by side along the conveyance direction on the conveyance path, the charge state of the conveyed work is measured, and the static electricity eliminator 12 is measured according to the result. Static electricity can be removed quickly and reliably by setting the static electricity removal performance of.

In the correspondence between the above embodiment and the claims,
The glass plate P attaches the workpiece to the static eliminators 12, 12
A, 12B, and 12C constitute static electricity removing means, the charge state measuring device 11 constitutes charge state measuring means, and the control circuit 13 constitutes conveyance direction determining means, removal performance changing means, and removal performance control means.

[0022]

As described above, in the work transfer device according to the first aspect, the static electricity removing performance of the static electricity removing means is changed depending on whether the work is loaded or unloaded. Even when the charge state is different, the static electricity removal performance can be set appropriately both at the time of loading and unloading the workpiece to enable quick and reliable static electricity removal and prevention of static electricity, thus shortening the workpiece transport time. . The work transfer apparatus according to the second aspect can quickly remove the static electricity of the work by changing the positive and negative balance of the ions sprayed toward the work. Since the work transfer device according to claim 3 is provided with a plurality of static electricity removing means, the static electricity can be removed quickly and reliably regardless of the charged state of the work, and the time required for the static electricity removal can be shortened compared to the conventional case. can do. The work transfer method according to claim 4,
Since the positive / negative balance of the ions is changed by determining whether the work is being carried in or out, the static electricity of the work can be quickly removed. Claim 5
Since the work transfer method described above includes a plurality of static electricity removing means, it is possible to remove static electricity quickly and reliably regardless of the charged state of the work, and it is possible to reduce the time required for static electricity removal as compared with the conventional method. it can.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a carrying device according to an embodiment of the present invention,
(A) is a plan view, (b) is a side view from the arrow Ib direction of the same figure (a).

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a static eliminator of the apparatus of FIG.

3 is a flowchart showing a control procedure in the control circuit of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a modification in which a plurality of static eliminators are provided,
(A) is a plan view, (b) is a side view from the arrow IVb direction of the same figure (a).

5A and 5B are views showing an example of a conventional conveying device, FIG. 5A is a plan view, and FIG. 5B is a side view from the direction of arrow Vb in FIG. 5A.

[Explanation of symbols]

10, 10A carrier 11 Charged state measuring instrument 12, 12A, 12B, 12C Static eliminator 13 Control circuit P glass plate

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A work transfer device, comprising a static electricity removing means for removing static electricity of the work on a transfer path through which the work passes when the work is loaded or unloaded, wherein the work is loaded or unloaded. the conveying direction determining means for determining whether the or the setting state of the static electricity removing performance of the electrostatic removing device, and a rejection changing means for changing, based on the determination result of the conveying direction determining means is provided, the workpiece At the time of
A work transfer device, characterized in that the static electricity removing means is driven during unloading . 2. The work transfer apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the static electricity removing means changes the static electricity removal performance by a change in positive / negative balance of ion wind blown toward the work. apparatus. 3. The work transfer device according to claim 1 or 2.
In addition, the static electricity removing means is provided along the transfer path of the workpiece.
A work transfer device characterized in that a plurality of work transfer devices are arranged. 4. A work transfer method for removing static electricity of a work by using ions generated from static electricity removing means at the time of loading and unloading the work, and determining whether the work is at the time of loading or unloading. a step of, in response to the determination result of step for the determination, by changing the balance of positive and negative of the ion, Oyo during loading of the workpiece
And a step of driving the static electricity removing means at the time of unloading ,
A method of transporting a work, comprising: 5. The method of transporting a work according to claim 4, wherein the static electricity removing means is duplicated along the transport path of the work.
Work transfer characterized by including several steps
Method.