JP3996281B2 - Air knife and drying apparatus using the same - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an air knife for removing a treatment liquid adhering to a workpiece and a processing apparatus using the air knife.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device or a semiconductor device, there are a film forming process and a photo process for forming a circuit pattern on a substrate such as a liquid crystal glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer as a processing object. In these processes, the substrate may be processed with different processing liquids sequentially in each processing chamber.
[0003]
In such a case, the processing liquid used in the first processing chamber is prevented from adhering to the substrate and brought into the next processing chamber, or the introduced processing liquid is not mixed with other processing liquids. Therefore, when the substrate is transported from the first processing chamber to the next processing chamber, the substrate is blown away with compressed air by an air-knife to be removed and dried, and the processing liquid is brought into another processing chamber. It prevents mixing with the processing liquid.
[0004]
The air knife joins two plate-like members to form a knife body, a space part to which compressed air is supplied between the joining surfaces, one end communicating with the space part, and the other end of the knife body. An open slit is formed on the end face of the plate. And the compressed air supplied to the said space part is sprayed toward the board | substrate from the said slit, The process liquid adhering to the board | substrate is removed and dried.
[0005]
In the air knife having such a configuration, the interval between the slits is required to be set with high accuracy because of its performance.
[0006]
In the conventional air knife, two plate-like members are joined with a joining screw on three sides except one side where the slit is opened, and on one side where the slit is formed at a predetermined interval with respect to the longitudinal direction. A plurality of adjustment screws are provided, and the interval between the slits is set by adjusting the screwing amount of the adjustment screw.
[0007]
However, according to such a configuration, since it is necessary to adjust the gap between the slits with the adjusting screw after the two plate-like members are connected with the connecting screw, there are times when the assembling work is troublesome. The adjustment operation for adjusting the screwing amounts of the plurality of adjustment screws to set the interval of the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the slit to be constant may require skill.
[0008]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, according to such a configuration, since it is necessary to adjust the gap between the slits with the adjusting screw after the two plate-like members are connected with the connecting screw, there are times when the assembling work is troublesome. The adjustment operation for adjusting the screwing amounts of the plurality of adjustment screws to set the interval in the longitudinal direction of the slit to be constant may require skill.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is to provide an air knife capable of easily adjusting an assembling operation and a slit interval and a drying processing apparatus using the air knife.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention of claim 1 is an air knife for removing a processing liquid adhering to an object to be processed conveyed in a predetermined direction by air pressure.
A first plate member;
A second plate-like member that is joined to the first plate-like member to form a space between which the compressed air is supplied and that forms a knife body with the first plate-like member;
A first inclined surface formed at one end of the first plate-like member at an angle with respect to the joint surface with the second plate-like member;
Compressed air that is formed at one end portion of the second plate-like member at an inclination angle substantially the same as the first inclined surface and is supplied to the space portion with the first inclined surface is supplied to the knife body. A second inclined surface forming a slit ejected from one end side;
A plurality of screw holes formed in the first plate-shaped member, a plurality of long holes formed in the second plate-shaped member corresponding to the screw holes in the vertical direction, and the long holes are passed through. A plurality of screws that are screwed into the screw holes, and the second plate member is inserted into the elongated hole with respect to the first plate member in a state where the screws are screwed into the screw holes. A coupling means for connecting and fixing the second plate-like member to the first plate-like member by tightening the screw after sliding the upper and lower direction within the range to set the slit spacing. It is characterized by having.
[0011]
As a result, by simply connecting and fixing the first plate-like member and the second plate-like member slid in a predetermined state, the plate-like members can be coupled and the interval between the slits can be adjusted.
[0012]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the supply head in which a plurality of supply ports for supplying compressed air are provided at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction is provided on the other end surface of the knife body in a sheet-like seal. The portion of the supply head joined to the other end surface of the knife body or the seal member is compressed and supplied with compressed air supplied to the supply head in the longitudinal direction of the space of the knife body. In contrast, a plurality of introduction holes that are substantially uniformly dispersed are formed at predetermined intervals.
[0013]
As a result, the compressed air is supplied from the supply port to the chamber member, so that the pressure distribution is evenly distributed in the internal space, and the pressure distribution is almost evenly distributed in the plurality of introduction holes, so that it is distributed in the space portion of the knife body. By flowing in and ejecting from the slit, the compressed air can be ejected from the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the slit with substantially uniform pressure.
[0014]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the knife body is arranged such that a direction in which the compressed air is ejected from the slit is directed in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the workpiece. Of the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface forming the slit, the inclined surface located on the front side in the transport direction of the workpiece protrudes from the other end surface of the knife body more than the inclined surface located on the rear side. It is characterized by being.
[0015]
As a result, a part of the compressed air sprayed from the slit toward the substrate is prevented from flowing in the substrate transport direction by the protruding portion of one inclined surface, so that the processing liquid adhering to the substrate is transported by the substrate. It is surely removed backward in the direction.
[0016]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the slit has a length of at least 15 mm or more along the jet direction of the compressed air, wherein the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface are flat surfaces. It is characterized by being formed to face each other in parallel.
[0017]
Thereby, since there is no concave or convex portion on the inner surface of the slit, compressed air can be jetted from the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the slit at a substantially uniform flow rate, and the slit length is 15 mm or more. It becomes possible to make the compressed air injected into a laminar flow.
[0018]
Invention of Claim 5 has a processing tank, and in the processing apparatus which blows the compressed air which blows off from the air knife to the processed material carried in to this processing tank,
The air knife has the structure described in claim 1.
[0019]
As a result, the substrate can be dried by an air knife that can easily perform assembling work and slit interval adjustment.
[0020]
[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The processing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 includes a processing tank 11. The processing tank 11 has a box shape with an open upper surface, and a carry-in port 12 is formed on one side, and a carry-out port 13 is formed on the other side.
[0021]
Rollers 14 constituting a transport mechanism are rotatably disposed at the same height level inside the processing tank 11, outside the carry-in entrance 12 side, and outside the carry-out exit 13 side. These rollers 14 are rotationally driven by a driving source (not shown). Thereby, a substrate 15 such as a semiconductor wafer or a liquid crystal glass substrate as a processing object is carried into the processing tank 11 from the carry-in port 12 and is conveyed in the direction of the arrow.
[0022]
The substrate 15 carried into the treatment tank 11 is treated with a treatment solution such as a chemical solution or pure water in the previous process, and the treatment solution L is attached to the upper and lower surfaces thereof. An air knife 16 slightly longer than the width of the substrate 15 is disposed in the processing tank 11 so as to face the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 15, and the processing liquid L adhered to the substrate 15 by the air knife 16. Is removed and dried as will be described later.
[0023]
The air knife 16 has a rectangular parallelepiped knife body 17 as shown in FIGS. The knife body 17 is formed by joining a first plate member 18 and a second plate member 19.
[0024]
The first plate-shaped member 18 has a box shape in which one side surface and one end surface (lower end surface) are open, and the remaining three sides are provided with an upper wall 18a and a pair of side walls 18b, respectively. The first inclined surface 21 formed of a flat surface inclined toward the other side surface is formed on the lower end portion of the inner surface over almost the entire length in the longitudinal direction. The length of the first inclined surface 21 in the vertical direction is a predetermined length of at least 15 mm or more, in this embodiment, 15 mm.
[0025]
A plurality of screw holes 22 are formed at predetermined intervals on the end surfaces of the upper wall 18a and the pair of side walls 18b. On these end surfaces, the second plate-like member 19 is provided with one side surface joined. The second plate-shaped member 19 has a plurality of long holes 25 extending in the vertical direction at predetermined intervals on three sides corresponding to the upper wall 18a and the pair of side walls 18b of the first plate-shaped member 18. Is formed.
[0026]
At the lower end portion of one side surface of the second plate-like member 19, a prismatic convex portion 26 having a right triangular shape in cross section is provided over almost the entire length in the longitudinal direction. One side surface of the convex portion 26 is inclined at the same angle as the first inclined surface 21 and is a second inclined surface formed by a plane sufficiently longer than the length 15 mm along the vertical direction of the first inclined surface 21. Surface 27 is formed.
[0027]
When the second plate member 19 is joined to the first plate member 18, the first and second inclined surfaces 21 and 27 face each other in parallel at a predetermined interval as shown in FIG. Thus, a slit 28 is formed.
[0028]
The slit 28 has a lower end opened to the lower end surface of the knife body 17 and an upper end communicating with a space portion 29 formed between the joining surfaces of the first plate member 18 and the second plate member 19. At the same time, it is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the thickness direction of the knife body 17.
[0029]
As shown in FIG. 2B, a screw 31 is screwed into the screw hole 22 of the first plate member 18 from the long hole 25 of the second plate member 19 and the second plate member. Before firmly fixing 19 to the first plate-like member 18, the second plate-like member 19 is slid along the longitudinal direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. By doing so, the interval between the first inclined surface 21 and the second inclined surface 27, that is, the interval between the slits 28 can be set. And after setting the space | interval dimension of the slit 28 to a predetermined | prescribed dimension, the said 1st plate-shaped member 18 and the 2nd plate-shaped member 19 will be joined and fixed by tightening the said screw 31. FIG. .
[0030]
The second inclined surface 27 is formed longer in the vertical direction than the first inclined surface 21. When the first plate-like member 18 and the second plate-like member 19 are bonded and fixed, the lower end portion of the second inclined surface 27 slightly protrudes from the lower end portion of the first inclined surface 21. It becomes.
[0031]
A rectangular tube-shaped supply head 33 is joined to the upper end surface of the knife body 17 via a rectangular sheet-like seal member 32, and the supply head 33 is connected to the knife by screws 34 as shown in FIG. It is fixed to the main body 17.
[0032]
The supply head 33 has a plurality of supply ports 35 formed on one side surface at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. Compressed air is supplied from each supply port 35 to the space 33 a of the supply head 33. Introducing holes 36a, 36b, and 36c are provided at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction in the lower wall portion of the supply head 33 joined to the knife body 17, the sealing member 32, and the upper wall 18a of the first plate member 18, respectively. It is drilled at.
[0033]
As a result, the compressed air supplied from the supply port 35 to the space portion 33a of the supply head 33 is diffused in the space portion 33a to make the pressure distribution uniform, and then a plurality of introduction holes 36a, 36b, 36c. Is distributed almost uniformly and flows into the space 29 of the knife body 17 where it diffuses and the pressure distribution is made uniform again and sprayed from the slit 28. Accordingly, the compressed air is injected with a uniform pressure from almost the entire length of the slit 28 in the longitudinal direction.
[0034]
2B and FIG. 3, the air knife 16 has a direction in which compressed air is ejected from a slit 28 inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the knife body 17 as a direction in which the substrate 15 is conveyed. On the other hand, it arrange | positions in the said processing tank 11 toward the reverse direction.
[0035]
According to the air knife 16 having such a configuration, the knife main body 17 is constituted by the first plate-like member 18 and the second plate-like member 19, and the second plate with respect to the first plate-like member 18. By sliding the member 19, the interval dimension of the slit 28 determined by the facing interval between the first inclined surface 21 and the second inclined surface 27 of the plate-like members 18, 19 is set.
[0036]
That is, after the second plate member 19 is slid with respect to the first plate member 18 to set the distance between the slits 28, the screws 31 are tightened to join these plate members 18 and 23 together. Fix it with.
[0037]
Therefore, if the pair of plate-like members 18 and 23 are joined and fixed, the distance between the slits 28 can be set, so that the assembling work is easy, and the second plate-like member 19 with respect to the first plate-like member 18 is also possible. By setting the slide position, the interval dimension of the slits 28 can be set with high accuracy.
[0038]
The compressed air supplied to the air knife 16 flows from the supply port 35 into the space 33a of the supply head 33 and diffuses, whereby the pressure distribution is made uniform. Subsequently, by being dispersed in a plurality of introduction holes 36 a and 36 b formed in the supply head 33 and the seal member 32, a substantially uniform pressure distribution is obtained in the longitudinal direction of the knife body 17, and the space portion 29 of the knife body 17. The pressure distribution in the space 29 is further uniformized by flowing into the space 29 and dispersing in the space 29.
[0039]
That is, the compressed air flowing into the supply head 33 from the supply port 35 is in a turbulent state, but is repeatedly dispersed and diffused to be jetted from the slit 28 as a laminar flow having a substantially uniform pressure distribution. Therefore, the entire surface of the substrate 15 conveyed with the plate surface facing the air knife 16 can be uniformly dried.
[0040]
A lower end portion of the second inclined surface 27 of the second plate-like member 19 forming the slit 28 is a protruding portion 27 a that slightly protrudes from the lower end portion of the first inclined surface 21. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2A, the protruding portion 27a causes the substrate 15 to have a portion of the compressed air X injected toward the substrate 15 conveyed from the slit 28 as indicated by the dashed arrow Y. This prevents the current from being diverted in the conveying direction.
[0041]
As a result, most of the compressed air ejected from the slit 28 flows in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate 15, so that the processing liquid L adhering to the plate surface of the substrate 15 is transferred in the transport direction of the substrate 15 as shown in FIG. It is possible to reliably remove from the rear end side.
[0042]
Further, since the slit 28 is formed so as to be inclined with respect to the knife body 17, in order to incline the jet direction of the compressed air from the slit 28, the knife body 17 may be arranged substantially vertically without being inclined. . For this reason, it is possible to install in a smaller space than when the knife body 17 is inclined.
[0043]
The first inclined surface 21 and the second inclined surface 27 forming the slit 28 are opposed to each other with a length of 15 mm or more, and an adjustment screw for adjusting the interval between the slits 28 is not provided as in the prior art. Therefore, there is no uneven portion between the facing surfaces. Therefore, it becomes possible to sufficiently increase the flow velocity of the compressed air injected from the slit 28.
[0044]
FIG. 4 shows the experimental results of measuring the flow velocity when the slit 28 has foreign matter, has a concave portion, has a convex portion, and has no convex portion. In addition, the opposing length of the 1st inclined surface 21 and the 2nd inclined surface 27 was set to 15 mm.
[0045]
In the figure, the portions A, B, and C are when there is nothing in the slit 28. In that case, the flow rate of the compressed air flowing through the slit was 32 to 38 m / sec. In the figure, D is a case where foreign matter is present in the slit 28, and the flow velocity in that case is reduced to 15 m / sec. Fig. E shows a case where the slit 28 has a concave portion, and F shows a case where there is a convex portion. In these cases, the flow velocity was reduced to 22 to 24 m / sec.
[0046]
From the above, it was confirmed that the flow rate of the compressed air ejected from the slit 28 can be improved if the slit 28 has no foreign matter or uneven portions as in the present invention.
[0047]
In the above embodiment, the introduction holes are formed at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction in both the supply head and the seal member. However, the introduction holes are formed only in one of the supply head and the seal member, and the other is supplied. In the case of the head, the part to be joined to the air knife body may be opened over the whole. Similarly, when the other is a seal member, the seal member may be formed in a frame shape.
[0048]
【The invention's effect】
According to the first aspect of the invention, the first plate-like member formed with the first inclined surface and the second plate-like member formed with the second inclined surface are slidably joined, and these By fixing the plate-like member in a predetermined sliding state, slits having a predetermined interval are formed between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface.
[0049]
Therefore, it is possible to accurately set the slit to a predetermined interval size without requiring a complicated assembly operation.
[0050]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the compressed air supplied from the supply port to the supply head is allowed to flow into the space of the knife body through the plurality of introduction holes and then injected from the slit.
[0051]
For this reason, the compressed air can be jetted from the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the slit with a substantially uniform pressure, so that the object to be processed can be uniformly dried.
[0052]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the compressed air injected from the slit in the direction opposite to the conveyance direction of the workpiece is prevented from flowing into the conveyance direction of the workpiece.
[0053]
Therefore, since the processing liquid adhering to the object to be processed can be removed to the rear end side in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed, the drying can be reliably performed.
[0054]
According to the invention of claim 4, since the slit is formed of the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface which are parallel planes, the adjustment screw for adjusting the concave portion, the convex portion or the interval on the inner surface of the slit. There is no such thing as protruding.
[0055]
Therefore, compressed air can be injected from the entire length in the longitudinal direction of the slit at a substantially uniform flow rate, and the compressed air injected from the slit can be made into a laminar flow when the length of the slit is 15 mm or more. It becomes.
[0056]
According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a drying processing apparatus having an air knife capable of accurately setting the slits to a predetermined interval dimension without requiring a complicated assembly operation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an air knife according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2A is a longitudinal sectional view of the assembled state in the middle of the knife body in the longitudinal direction, and FIG. 2B is a longitudinal sectional view of the assembled state in the longitudinal end of the knife body.
FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of the processing apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the measurement result of the flow velocity of compressed air that similarly flows through a slit.
[Explanation of symbols]
11 ... Processing tank 15 ... Substrate (object to be processed)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Air knife 17 ... Knife main body 18 ... 1st plate-shaped member 19 ... 2nd plate-shaped member 21 ... 1st inclined surface 27 ... 2nd inclined surface 28 ... Slit 29 ... Space part 33 ... Supply head

Claims (5)

In an air knife that removes the processing liquid adhering to the workpiece conveyed in a predetermined direction with the pressure of air,
A first plate member;
A second plate-like member that is joined to the first plate-like member to form a space between which the compressed air is supplied and that forms a knife body with the first plate-like member;
A first inclined surface formed at one end of the first plate-like member at an angle with respect to the joint surface with the second plate-like member;
Compressed air that is formed at one end of the second plate-like member at an inclination angle substantially the same as that of the first inclined surface and is supplied to the space portion by the first inclined surface is A second inclined surface forming a slit ejected from one end side;
A plurality of screw holes formed in the first plate-shaped member, a plurality of long holes formed in the second plate-shaped member corresponding to the screw holes in the vertical direction, and the long holes are passed through. A plurality of screws that are screwed into the screw holes, and the second plate member is inserted into the elongated hole with respect to the first plate member in a state where the screws are screwed into the screw holes. A coupling means for connecting and fixing the second plate-like member to the first plate-like member by tightening the screw after sliding the upper and lower direction within the range to set the slit spacing. An air knife characterized by comprising. A supply head in which a plurality of supply ports to which compressed air is supplied is provided at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction is joined and fixed to the other end surface of the knife body via a sheet-like seal member. A plurality of introduction holes that disperse the compressed air supplied to the supply head substantially uniformly with respect to the longitudinal direction of the space portion of the knife body are provided at predetermined intervals in at least one of the portion joined to the knife body or the seal member. The air knife according to claim 1, wherein the air knife is formed. The knife body has a first inclined surface and a second inclined surface that form the slit while an injection direction of compressed air injected from the slit is arranged in a direction opposite to the conveying direction of the workpiece. 2. The air knife according to claim 1, wherein an inclined surface located on the front side in the conveying direction of the workpiece out of the surfaces protrudes from the other end surface of the knife body more than an inclined surface located on the rear side. The slit is characterized in that the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface, which are flat, are formed to face each other in parallel with a length of at least 15 mm along the compressed air ejection direction. The air knife according to claim 1. In a processing apparatus having a processing tank and spraying compressed air ejected from an air knife onto an object to be carried into the processing tank,
The said air knife is the structure described in Claim 1, The drying tank processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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