JP3659526B2 - Substrate drainer - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a substrate liquid draining apparatus that targets a glass substrate, a semiconductor wafer substrate, or the like for a liquid crystal display, for example, and jets gas toward the surface of the substrate to which a processing liquid is attached.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, when manufacturing a liquid crystal display, for example, so-called wet surface treatment is performed in which various treatment liquids are sequentially supplied to the surface of a plate-like glass substrate. In this wet surface treatment, after the surface of the glass substrate is washed, chemical treatment such as development, etching, and film peeling is performed, and water washing with pure water is performed for each chemical treatment. The treatment liquid used for the water washing adheres to the substrate surface on the substrate subjected to the water washing treatment, but this adhesion liquid needs to be removed for each water washing treatment step. As a liquid draining device used for that purpose, as shown in FIG. 9, for example, with respect to a transport mechanism in which transport rollers 51,... Are supported in parallel in the transport direction, An air knife 52 having a slit-like injection port 52a extending in the width direction is angle θ with respect to a direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction in plan view so that one end of the injection port 52a is shifted to the downstream side in the conveyance direction from the other end. A gas is ejected from the ejection port 52a of the air knife 52 toward the surface of the substrate 53 conveyed in a horizontal state, and the treatment liquid adhering to the substrate 53 is pushed to the corner 53a by this jet and blown off. Such a device is known (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-302779).
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the above conventional apparatus, when the rear portion of the substrate 53 has not yet come out of the wet surface treatment area of the previous step, the processing liquid flows along the surface of the substrate 53 to the front portion. When the gas is blown from, the treatment liquid will splash and inhibit draining. Therefore, a neutral zone N having a length substantially corresponding to the entire length of the substrate 53 is provided on the upstream side of the air knife 52 in the transport direction, and the substrate 53 is simply transported in the neutral zone N. The gas from the air knife 52 was blown after the substrate 53 completely entered the liquid draining device. For this reason, there existed a problem that the full length of a liquid draining apparatus became long.
[0004]
Further, the processing liquid pushed to the corner portion 53a of the substrate 53 adheres to the front and back surfaces and the substrate end surface of the substrate constituting the corner portion 53a, but the end surface portion of the substrate is less susceptible to the jet force of the air knife. The jet may not be able to be completely blown away, and at that time, the treatment liquid remaining in the form of water droplets may cause stains on the substrate surface, causing substrate contamination, or solid matter remaining on the substrate surface after drying. Problems such as the cause of occurrence occur. As a countermeasure for this, an air knife 52 is additionally provided on the downstream side of the air knife 52 in the transport direction, and a two-stage structure is adopted. And the amount of gas used doubles and the manufacturing cost increases. In addition, it is difficult to uniformly adjust the flow rate of the jets over the entire lengths of the injection ports 52a and 52a of the air knives 52 and 52. Further, in recent years, the substrate to be processed has been increased in size, and the air knife itself has also increased in size, which is becoming an increasingly disadvantageous condition. Further, there is a problem that even if the air knife is provided in two stages, water droplets at the corners of the substrate cannot be removed sufficiently.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems. The treatment liquid is effectively applied by an air knife while the conveyance surface is inclined in the width direction so that the treatment liquid flowing into the substrate surface does not collect. By blowing a gas spot flow on the processing liquid remaining in the corners, the device is short and compact, minimizing the increase in gas consumption and production cost, and facilitating adjustment work, It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate draining device capable of completely blowing off the processing liquid adhering to the substrate.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate draining apparatus in which gas is ejected from a slit-like ejection port of an air knife toward a surface of a square substrate to be conveyed. The air knife is set to be inclined to one side, and the air knife is inclined with respect to the width direction of the conveying surface so that the lower end of the injection port inclined in the same direction as the conveying surface is shifted to the downstream side of the conveying direction from the upper end. Spot injection means is provided on the downstream side of the lower end of the injection port for injecting a gas spot flow toward the corner of the substrate, which is the rear part in the transfer direction and the lower part in the inclined direction of the transfer surface. The air knife has a length dimension extending over the entire length in the width direction of the substrate .
[0007]
According to this invention, since the transfer surface is inclined to one side in the transfer direction, the processing liquid flowing from the previous process flows down to the side of the substrate and does not accumulate on the substrate surface. Therefore, the neutral zone is not necessary, and the load on the air knife for draining is reduced. Then, most of the processing liquid on the substrate is drained by the jet flow ejected from the ejection port of the air knife, and the processing liquid adhering to the end face of the substrate is pushed away to the corner. Next, the treatment liquid remaining in the corner is completely blown off by the gas spot flow ejected from the spot ejecting means. In this case, the apparatus is more compact than a two-stage air knife, the amount of gas used is small, the manufacturing cost is low, and the flow rate adjustment of the spot injection means is easy.
[0008]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the spray port of the spot spray unit is formed in a slit shape, and the spot spray unit is substantially in the same direction as the air knife in the width direction of the transport surface. It is characterized in that it is provided to be inclined. According to the present invention, since the jet flow from the spot injection means is a uniform flow having a certain width, the processing liquid remaining in the corner is reliably blown off.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air knife is inclined with respect to a direction perpendicular to the conveying surface so that the jet flow from the injection port is directed to the upstream side in the conveying direction from directly below. It is characterized by being provided. According to this invention, since the jet flow injected from the injection port of the air knife is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction, the processing liquid adhering to the substrate is surely pushed away to the corner portion.
[0010]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects of the present invention, a pair of the air knife and the spot ejecting means are provided above and below the conveying surface. According to the present invention, the processing liquid adhering to both the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate is completely blown off.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of a liquid draining device 1 for a substrate B according to the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a box-shaped liquid draining tank. A substrate receiving port 3 is opened on a side plate of the liquid draining tank 2, and the inside of the liquid draining tank 2 is adjacent via the substrate receiving port 3. It communicates with the inside of the water washing apparatus 4. Inside the liquid draining tank 2, a transport mechanism 5 for the substrate B is provided.
[0012]
The transport mechanism 5 includes transport rollers 6, which are axially supported in the transport direction, and a drive mechanism 7 that rotates the transport rollers 6,... B is received by the substrate receiving port 3 and is transported along the transport surface P virtually set on the transport rollers 6... And sent to the next process. As shown in FIG. 3, the rotation shafts of the transport rollers 6,... Are inclined with respect to the horizontal axis by an angle ω, whereby the transport mechanism 5 moves the transport surface P toward the transport direction. It is set to be inclined to one side by an angle ω. This angle ω is set to about 4 to 6 degrees in the present embodiment. This is because if the inclination is too gentle, the processing liquid supplied to the substrate B is difficult to flow down and the liquid cutting property is poor, and if the inclination is too tight, the processing liquid supplied to the substrate B flows too much and is directly washed. This is because partial spots may occur. However, the present invention is not limited to the above angle. In addition, 8 is a drain pan.
[0013]
Reference numerals 11 and 12 denote air knives provided above and below the conveyance surface P, and have slit-shaped injection ports 11a and 12a extending substantially in the width direction of the conveyance surface P and facing the conveyance surface P. As shown in FIG. 2, these air knives 11 and 12 are inclined by an angle θ1 with respect to the width direction of the transport surface P so that the lower ends of the injection ports 11a and 12a are shifted downstream from the upper end in the transport direction. Is provided. The angle θ1 is preferably around 45 degrees, but is set to about 7 degrees for the purpose of securing workability of peripheral members such as the transport roller 6, but is not limited thereto. The air knives 11 and 12 are connected to a clean air source 14 via an air conduit 13 so that high-pressure air supplied from the clean air source 14 is jetted from the jet ports 11a and 12a toward the transport surface P. I have to. Reference numeral 15 denotes a flow rate adjusting control valve provided in the air pipe 13. Further, the gas supplied from the clean air source 14 is not limited to clean air, and an inert gas such as N ₂ gas may be used.
[0014]
Spot injection means 21 and 22 are provided on the downstream side of the lower end of the air knife injection ports 11a and 12a that are shifted to the downstream side in the transport direction. The spot ejecting means 21 and 22 have substantially the same structure as the air knives 11 and 12, and have slit-shaped ejection ports 21a and 22a extending in the width direction of the transport surface P and facing the transport surface P. ing. As shown in FIG. 2, these spot injection means 21 and 22 are inclined by an angle θ2 with respect to the width direction of the conveyance surface P so that the lower ends of the injection ports 21a and 22a are shifted to the downstream side in the conveyance direction from the upper ends. Is provided. The angle θ2 is set to about 10 degrees in the present embodiment, but is not limited to this. The spot injection means 21 and 22 are connected to the clean air source 14 via the air pipe 13 and spot the high-pressure air supplied from the clean air source 14 toward the conveyance surface P from the injection ports 21a and 22a. It is made to jet in a stream.
[0015]
As shown in FIG. 4, the air knives 11 and 12 and the spot injection means 21 and 22 are all viewed from the side so that the jets from the injection ports 11a and 12a and 21a and 22a are directed to the upstream side in the transport direction from directly below. Are inclined by angles φ1 and φ2, respectively. The angles φ1 and φ2 are set equal to about 30 degrees in the present embodiment, but are not limited to this and may not be matched. The respective angles φ1 and φ2 are set to required angles in consideration of the type of processing liquid, the injection liquid pressure, the injection air pressure, the conveyance speed, and the like.
[0016]
In the above embodiment, when the substrate B is carried in from the water washing apparatus 4 as shown in FIG. 2, when the rear part of the substrate B has not yet come out of the water washing apparatus 4, the treatment liquid L such as pure water is applied to the surface of the substrate B. However, since the transport surface P is inclined to one side in the transport direction, the processing liquid L supplied to the substrate flows down to the side of the substrate B and does not accumulate on the substrate surface. Accordingly, the load on the air knives 11 and 12 is reduced, so that a neutral zone is unnecessary, and the overall length of the apparatus can be shortened accordingly. And when this board | substrate B is conveyed further downstream, most of the process liquid L on the board | substrate B will be removed by the jet sprayed from the injection openings 11a and 12a of the air knives 11 and 12, and the process liquid of an end surface part will be removed. L is swept away to the corner b (state of FIG. 5). Next, the treatment liquid L remaining in the form of water droplets at the corners b is completely blown off by the spot flow of air ejected from the ejection ports 21a and 22a of the spot ejection means 21 and 22 (state of FIG. 6), whereby the substrate No stain of the residual liquid is formed on B. In that case, as compared with a two-stage air knife, only the spot injection means 21 and 22 smaller than the air knives 11 and 12 are provided. The amount used is small, the manufacturing cost is low, and the flow rate of the spot injection means 21 and 22 can be easily adjusted.
[0017]
Further, since the injection ports 21a and 22a of the spot injection means 21 and 22 are formed in a slit shape and are inclined by the angle θ2 in substantially the same direction as the air knives 11 and 12, the jet flow from the spot injection means 21 and 22 However, the flow becomes uniform with a certain width, and the processing liquid L remaining on the corners b of the substrate B can be surely blown off.
[0018]
Further, since the air knives 11 and 12 are inclined so that the jet flow from the injection ports 11a and 12a is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction from directly below, the air knives 11 and 12 are injected from the injection ports 11a and 12a of the air knives 11 and 12. The jet flow is directed upstream in the transport direction, and the processing liquid L adhering to the substrate B can be surely pushed to the corner b of the substrate B.
[0019]
In addition, since the air knives 11 and 12 and the spot ejecting means 21 and 22 are provided in pairs above and below the transfer surface P, the treatment liquid L adhering to both the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate B is completely removed at once. Can be blown away.
[0020]
In the above embodiment, the spot injection means 21 and 22 have substantially the same structure as the air knives 11 and 12 having the slit-like injection ports 21a and 22a. However, as shown in FIG. The spot ejecting means 21 ′ may be constituted by a capillary tube facing P. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the spot ejecting means 21 ″ may be configured by arranging a plurality of pipes whose opening 21 ″ a faces the conveyance surface P.
[0021]
In the said embodiment, although air was supplied to the air knives 11 and 12 and the spot injection means 21 and 22, this invention can be used also about what supplied the other gas. In the embodiment, the spot ejecting means 21 and 22 are inclined by an angle φ2 in a side view. However, since the spot ejecting means 21 and 22 blow off the processing liquid L remaining in the corner portion b by the spot flow, The means 21 and 22 may be provided perpendicular to the transport surface P.
[0022]
Moreover, although the case where the processing liquid of the substrate surface washed with the water washing apparatus was removed was described in the above embodiment, it is not a water washing apparatus but used as a liquid draining apparatus after chemical treatment such as development, etching, and peeling. You can also.
[0023]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the present invention, since the processing liquid flowing from the previous process flows down to the side of the substrate, the neutral zone is not required and the apparatus can be shortened. Furthermore, the treatment liquid adhering to the substrate is pushed to the corner by the air knife jet while the treatment liquid is flown down, and the spot flow of the spot spraying means is jetted to the corner, so the air knife has two stages. Compared to the above, the equipment is made compact, the amount of gas used is reduced, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and the flow rate adjustment work is facilitated, while the processing liquid adhering to the substrate can be completely blown off and remains on the substrate. It is possible to reliably prevent the appearance of liquid stains.
[0024]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the processing liquid remaining in the corners can be reliably blown off by a uniform jet having a certain width.
[0025]
According to the third aspect of the invention, since the jet of the air knife is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction, the processing liquid adhering to the substrate can be surely pushed to the corner portion, and the residual processing liquid by the spot flow can be removed. Blowing off can be performed reliably.
[0026]
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, both the treatment liquid adhering to both the upper surface and the lower surface of the substrate can be completely blown off.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a view of the transport mechanism of the embodiment as viewed in the transport direction.
4 is a view in the direction of the arrow X in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 when the substrate passes near the air knife.
6 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 when the substrate passes in the vicinity of the spot ejecting means. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing another embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 showing still another embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 2 for explaining a conventional example.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid draining apparatus B Board | substrate b Corner | edge part 5 Conveyance mechanism P Conveyance surface 11 Air knife 11a Ejection port 12 Air knife 12a Ejection port 21 Spot ejection means 21a Ejection port 22 Spot ejection means 22a Ejection port

Claims (4)

In the liquid draining apparatus for the substrate, in which gas is ejected from the slit-shaped ejection port of the air knife toward the surface of the square substrate to be conveyed,
While setting the conveying surface to be inclined to one side toward the conveying direction,
The air knife is provided so as to be inclined with respect to the width direction of the conveying surface so that the lower end of the injection port inclined in the same direction as the conveying surface is shifted to the downstream side in the conveying direction from the upper end,
Provided on the downstream side of the lower end of the injection port is a spot injection means for injecting a gas spot flow toward the corner portion of the substrate, which is a rear portion in the transfer direction and is a lower portion in the inclination direction of the transfer surface ,
The above-mentioned air knife has a length dimension that extends over the entire length in the width direction of the substrate.   2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein an injection port of the spot injection unit is formed in a slit shape, and the spot injection unit is provided to be inclined with respect to the width direction of the transport surface in substantially the same direction as the air knife. Liquid drainer.   The substrate liquid draining device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air knife is provided so as to be inclined with respect to a direction perpendicular to the transport surface so that the jet flow from the spray port is directed to the upstream side in the transport direction from directly below. .   4. The substrate liquid draining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a pair of the air knife and the spot spraying unit are provided above and below the transport surface.

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