JP4002076B2 - Spin coating apparatus using mask and mask for spin coating - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention uses a spin coating method on a disc body, a CD disc such as a CD, CD-R, CD-RW, or a DVD disc such as a DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM, Alternatively, a mask used for film formation using a spin coating method when manufacturing an optical disk such as a blue laser compatible disk or a magneto-optical disk such as MO and MD, which has been developed recently, and a spin coating method using the mask, and Related to the device.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Spin coating is a technique in which a liquid material is supplied near the center of a disk body, the disk body is rotated, the liquid material is spread by a centrifugal force generated by rotation, and a film of the liquid material is formed on the surface of the disk body. . Spin coating is widely used for the formation of protective layers such as compact discs and DVD discs.
[0003]
These discs have a hole (15φ) for centering when mounted on the disc drive device, and have a groove for holding a stamper during injection molding. No film (layer) is formed on the part. Therefore, when film formation (coating film) is applied to these discs using a spin coating method, a mask that covers the substrate is attached to the center of the disc so that it is not coated, or the outer circumference is more than the groove etc. Coating from the part. When a more uniform coating film is required, a mask that covers the disk substrate is provided so that the coating is not applied to the central portion.
[0004]
An example of using a mask in a disk spin coating apparatus is shown in FIG. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a disk placed on a spinner of a spin coating apparatus and a mask placed thereon. A spinner table 202 is fixed on a spinner shaft 200 that is connected to a motor (not shown) and driven to rotate. A spacer 203 is fixed on the spinner table 202, and a disk 204 is placed thereon. The disk 204 is vacuum-sucked to the spacer 203 by means not shown. A mask 206 that covers the center of the disk is placed on the disk 204. At this time, a ring-shaped protrusion 205 provided near the center of the upper surface of the spinner table 202 and a ring-shaped groove 206a of the mask 206 are fitted. At the time of spin coating, the space 206 in the central portion of the spinner table 202 is evacuated through the path 210 to suck and hold the mask 206.
[0005]
In coating, a liquid coating material is supplied from above near the center of the mask. Thereafter, the turntable is rotated at a high speed, and the coating material supplied on the mask is spread on the entire surface of the disk not covered with the mask by the centrifugal force of rotation. As a result, a film (layer) of the coating material is formed with a substantially uniform thickness over the entire portion of the disk.
[0006]
When the above spin coating process is completed, it is necessary to release the vacuum suction of the mask and remove the mask. At this time, there are the following problems.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Since the mask is vacuum-adsorbed on the turntable 202 in an airtight state, it is difficult to remove the mask simply by vacuum breaking the space 212 when removing the mask. Therefore, when removing the mask, it is necessary to apply a positive pressure to the space 212 via the path 210. On the other hand, since the liquid coating material is applied onto the mask 206 and the disk 204 by spin coating, the boundary between the mask 206 and the disk 204 (the part indicated by symbol A in FIG. 9) is also covered with the coating material. Yes. In this state, when a positive pressure is applied to the space 212 as described above, air escapes from the boundary portion A, so that the coated liquid material is scattered in this portion. This leads to a decrease in disk quality, and the disk may be defective.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides a spin coating apparatus and a mask used in the spin coating apparatus in which the liquid coating material does not scatter at the boundary between the mask and the disk when the mask is removed.
[0009]
The device of the present invention
An apparatus for performing spin coating in which a liquid material is supplied near the center of a disk body, and then the disk body is rotated to spread the liquid material by centrifugal force, thereby forming a coating film of the liquid material on the disk body Because
A spinner mechanism that rotates while holding the disc body;
A mask for masking so that a coating film is not formed in a partial region near the center of the disk body, the mask having a through hole penetrating the mask,
A mask supply exclusion mechanism for supplying the mask onto the disk body and removing the mask from the disk body,
The spinner mechanism has a mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask, and the space for sucking the mask of the mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask in a state where the disk body and the mask are installed in the spinner mechanism passes through the through-hole of the mask. It is characterized by communicating with the outside atmosphere.
[0010]
In the spin coating apparatus of the present invention, the suction space of the mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask in the spinner mechanism communicates with the external atmosphere through the through-hole of the mask. The adsorption space becomes equal to atmospheric pressure. Alternatively, the suction space can be made equal to the atmospheric pressure by applying a positive pressure for a moment after stopping the suction space from being vacuumed. Even if positive pressure is applied for a moment, the adsorption space communicates with the external atmosphere through the hole in the mask, so the airflow goes out through the hole, so that the liquid material does not scatter at the boundary between the mask and the disk. . If the adsorption space is made equal to the atmospheric pressure as described above, the mask can be easily removed from the spinner (from the disk).
[0011]
In one embodiment of the present invention, in the above spin coating apparatus, the mask is configured to have a disk part that covers the disk body and a mask gripping cylindrical part that extends upward from the center part of the disk part. The through hole penetrates the disk portion and the cylindrical portion.
[0012]
The mask of the present invention is used in an apparatus for spin-coating a liquid material on a disk body installed on a spinner mechanism that rotates the disk, and masks a portion of the area near the center of the disk body so that the coating is not applied. A mask, wherein the mask is used together with a spinner mechanism having a mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask, and the mask has a suction space of a mechanism for sucking the mask in a state where the disk body and the mask are installed in the spinner mechanism; A through hole for communicating with the external atmosphere is provided.
[0013]
The mask is configured to have a disk part covering the disk body and a mask gripping cylindrical part extending upward from the center part of the disk part, and the through hole penetrates the disk part and the cylindrical part. Can be provided.
[0014]
Moreover, a spin coating apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention comprises:
A spinner mechanism that rotates while holding the disc body;
A mask supply exclusion mechanism that supplies a mask for masking so that a coating is not applied to a partial area near the center of the disk body on the disk body installed in the spinner mechanism, and removes the mask from the disk body;
A dispenser for supplying a liquid material to be coated on the disk body,
The dispenser is incorporated in the mask supply exclusion mechanism, and moves forward to a predetermined position on the spinner mechanism together with the mask supply exclusion mechanism, and retracts.
[0015]
In this spin coating apparatus, since the dispenser is incorporated in the mask supply exclusion mechanism, it is not necessary to separately provide a drive mechanism for moving the dispenser, and the apparatus can be simplified. Furthermore, since the installation space for the dispenser can be made small, there can be enough space in the apparatus.
[0016]
In one form of this spin coating apparatus, the mask supply exclusion mechanism includes a mask moving arm to which a mask holding means for holding a mask and the dispenser are attached, and the mask holding means and the dispenser are disposed on the spinner mechanism. It can be configured to have a drive mechanism that advances and reciprocates the mask moving arm so as to retreat from the spinner mechanism. Preferably, the drive mechanism is constituted by a ball screw.
[0017]
The present invention also provides a disk body coated with the spin coating method and spin coating apparatus described above.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an optical disk spin coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This spin coating apparatus is an apparatus suitably used for forming a light transmission layer of a blue laser compatible disk which is a next generation disk.
[0019]
For reproduction-only blue laser compatible discs, an aluminum reflective film is formed on a polycarbonate substrate with a diameter of 120 mm and a thickness of 1.1 mm with information pits formed by sputtering, and a light (ultraviolet) curable resin is spin coated on the surface. Then, it is formed by forming a light transmission layer having a thickness of 100 μm. The apparatus of this embodiment is an apparatus that performs spin coating of the light transmission layer.
[0020]
The spin coating apparatus 1 includes the following parts: a loading / unloading unit 10 for supplying a disk to be coated from the outside, and for taking out the coated disk from the apparatus; A cleaner unit 20 for removing foreign matters such as dust on the surface of the disc supplied from the load / unload unit, a transfer hand unit 30 for synchronously moving the disc between the units in the apparatus, and a spin of the resin layer Spinner unit 40 that rotates the disk to perform coating, mask supply / discharge unit 50 that supplies and removes a mask that covers the central part of the disk placed on the spinner unit during spin coating, and edge of the outer periphery of the disk during coating Edge cleaning unit 60 for removing excess resin material protruding from the spin, and spin A temporary curing UV radiating unit 70 for temporarily curing the surface of the resin layer applied to the disk on the spinner with ultraviolet rays, a main curing UV radiating unit 80 for main curing the resin layer applied to the disk, and A film thickness inspection unit 90 that inspects the film thickness of the formed resin layer, and a defective product discharge unit 110 that discharges a disk in which the resin layer is poorly formed.
[0021]
In the following, the details of the operation of each unit will be described in order along the flow of processing.
The loader unit 11 of the load / unload unit 10 includes a pin holder 111 that holds a plurality of disks to be coated in a stacked (stacked) state. The disc is held by inserting the pin 111a of the pin holder 111 into the center hole thereof. A spacer is inserted between the disks held by the pin holder to separate the disks from each other. A lifter 112 for raising and lowering the disk stack is provided below the stacked disks. This lifter 112 adjusts the level so that the top disk of the stack is at a predetermined supply height position.
[0022]
The load / unload section also includes a supply hand 13. The supply 13 hand has three arms extending radially at equal intervals (ie, 120 degree intervals). A disk pickup mechanism for sucking and releasing the disk by vacuum suction or the like for sucking the disk is provided below the tip of the arm. The supply hand 13 is configured to swing around its axis 13d under predetermined control by an apparatus control unit (not shown). The uppermost disk in the pin holder 111 of the loader 11 is picked up by one arm 13a of the supply hand 3 and transferred to the supply / discharge position 22A on the turntable 22 of the cleaner unit. At the same time, the processed disk can be transferred from the position 22A on the turntable 22 onto the pin holder 115 of the unloader section by another arm 13b. The other arm 13c is for transferring a spacer inserted between the disks stacked on the pin holder 111 of the loader unit onto the pin holder 115 of the unloader unit.
[0023]
Details of the operation of the supply hand as described above are described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 11-289267 by the same applicant.
[0024]
The disk transferred to the turntable 22 of the cleaner unit 20 enters the cleaner 24 while being placed on the turntable by the clockwise rotation of the turntable. The cleaner 24 includes a blower for blowing clean air on the disk surface and a vacuum suction device for sucking particles such as dust blown off by the blower air. Preferably, the rotational speed of the turntable 22 is controlled so that the rotational speed is slowed while the disk is moving in the cleaner 24 so that the disk cleaning is performed for a sufficient time. In order to further extend the cleaning time, the rotation of the turntable 22 is temporarily stopped when the disk enters the cleaner 24, and the rotation is resumed after the disk is stopped in the cleaner 24 for a predetermined time. You can also do things.
[0025]
In this embodiment, in order to sufficiently clean the disk, the time for which the disk stays in the cleaner 24 is extended by shifting control of the turntable 22 for transporting the disk. May be rotated at a constant speed.
[0026]
When the disk passes through the cleaner 24 and the disk reaches the delivery position 22B (that is, the position rotated 180 degrees from the supply / discharge position 22A) on the turntable 22, the disk is rotated by the transfer hand 31 of the transfer hand section 30. To be transferred.
[0027]
The transfer hand 31 has a similar structure to the supply hand 30 described above, but the transfer hand 31 has three arms, whereas the transfer hand 31 is radially spaced at equal intervals (ie, at intervals of 90 degrees). It has four arms 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d that extend. A disk pickup mechanism for sucking and releasing the disk by vacuum suction or the like for sucking the disk is provided below the tip of the arm. The supply hand 13 is configured to swing around its axis 13a under predetermined control by the apparatus control unit.
[0028]
In addition, the transfer hand 31 simultaneously moves the disk between each part of the apparatus by the four arms 31a to 31d. The state shown in FIG. 1 shows the standby position of the transfer hand 31. By rotating 45 degrees clockwise from this state, the arms 31a, 13b, 31c, and 31d become positions where the disks located in the cleaner, spinner, main curing UV radiation, and film thickness inspection can be picked up. Each arm writing at that position picks up the disk by vacuum suction. Thereafter, the transfer hand 31 rotates 90 degrees counterclockwise. Thus, the disk in the cleaner section was in the spinner section, the disk in the spinner section was in the main curing UV radiation section, the disk in the main curing UV radiation section was in the film thickness inspection section, and the film thickness inspection section. The disk moves to the cleaner part at the same time, and each arm releases the disk at each position. In this manner, the disk is moved between the respective parts simultaneously by the transfer hand 31.
[0029]
The disc transferred from the cleaner unit 20 to the spinner unit 40 is spin-coated here. As is well known, not only a blue laser compatible disc, but generally an optical disc has a hole (15φ) for centering when mounted on a disc drive device, and is used to hold a stamper during injection molding. Therefore, a film (layer) is not formed at the center of the disk substrate, and the substrate remains as it is. Therefore, also in the spin coating by this apparatus, in order to prevent the formation of the light transmissive resin film in the central area of the disk, a center mask as a mask member covering the area is attached.
[0030]
FIG. 2 is a side view of a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part of the spinner part 40 together with a disk and a mask installed therein. Referring to FIG. 2, the spinner 41 of the spinner section 40, the disk 100 placed on the spinner 41, and the mask 56 placed thereon are shown. More specifically, the spinner has a spinner shaft 151 that is connected to a rotation drive source (motor) (not shown) and can rotate at high speed around a vertical axis, and a spinner table 152 is fixed on the spinner shaft 151. The upper part of the spinner table 152 is formed in a disk shape having the same diameter as the disk 100.
[0031]
A mask used in this embodiment is shown as a cross-sectional view in FIG. The mask 56 has a lower disk part 56c that covers the center of the disk, and an upper cylindrical part 56b that extends upward from the center of the lower disk part 56c. An annular groove 56a is formed on the lower surface of the lower disk portion 56c. A through hole 56d is provided through the center of the upper cylindrical portion 56b and the lower disk portion 56c.
[0032]
An annular protrusion 152 a is provided at the center of the upper surface of the spinner table 152. The outer diameter of the ring-shaped protrusion 152a is a dimension that fits with the inner diameter of the center hole of the disk, and the disk 100 installed in the spinner is positioned and centered by the ring-shaped protrusion 152a. The annular protrusion 152a is fitted into an annular groove 56a formed on the lower surface of the mask 56 to position the mask. A ring-shaped spacer 153 is fixed to the spinner table 152 on the upper surface of the spinner table and just outside the ring-shaped protrusion 152 a, and is fixed to the spinner shaft 151. When the disk 100 is set on the spinner table 152, the disk 100 is supported by the spacer 153 on the inner periphery thereof. That is, most of the disk 100 and the spinner table 152 are separated by the gap S by the spacer.
[0033]
The disk 100 and the mask 56 placed on the spinner table are sucked and held by a vacuum suction mechanism provided on the spinner table. The suction of the disk 100 and the suction of the mask 56 on the spinner table are performed separately from each other. Details of the mechanism for adsorbing the disk and the mask will be described with reference to FIG. In the spinner shaft 151, two separate vacuum paths, a disk suction vacuum path 160 and a mask suction vacuum path 165, are provided.
[0034]
First, the disk suction will be described. The disk suction vacuum path 160 communicates with the annular space 162 via the first drill hole 161 provided in the spinner shaft 151. The ring-shaped space 162 is a ring-shaped space surrounding the spinner shaft that is defined between the spinner table 152, the spinner shaft 151, and the closing member 158 attached to the lower part of the spinner table. The annular space 162 communicates with the third drill hole 164 formed in the upper portion of the spinner table 152 through the spacer 153 through the second drill hole 163 formed upward from the spinner table. Yes. Since the disk suction vacuum path 160 communicates with the third drill hole formed in the spacer 153 in the above path, the disk 100 is attracted to the spacer 153 by pulling the disk suction vacuum path 160 to a vacuum. can do. In FIG. 2, only two second drill holes 163 and three third drill holes 164 are shown, but actually, they are provided at four positions at intervals of 90 degrees. However, the number of suction ports is not limited to this, and can be appropriately increased or decreased as long as effective suction can be performed.
[0035]
Next, mask suction will be described. The mask suction vacuum path 165 communicates with a vertical hole 167 a in the bolt 167 through a fourth drill hole 166 formed laterally in the spinner shaft 151. The bolt 167 is for fixing the spinner table 152 to the spinner shaft 151. Since the vertical hole 167a in the bolt opens to the upper part of the bolt, the mask suction vacuum path 165 communicates with the space 168 directly under the mask. Therefore, if the vacuum path 165 for mask suction is evacuated, the suction space 168 immediately below the mask can be set to a low pressure, and the mask can be sucked.
[0036]
In this manner, the suction of the disk and the suction of the mask can be controlled independently by separate vacuum paths 160 and 165, respectively.
[0037]
Supply and removal of the center mask 56 to and from the disk 100 on the spinner 40 is performed by a mask supply / discharge unit 50. The mask supply / discharge unit 50 is a disc-shaped mask storage 55 that can be rotated around the center thereof, and a plurality of masks 56 arranged in a double circumferential arrangement on the mask storage (a total of 24 masks in the example of FIG. 1). A mask moving arm 51 having a chuck for gripping the mask, a ball screw 52 as a drive mechanism for reciprocating the mask moving arm 51 between the mask storage 55 and the spinner 40, and the like. A dispenser for supplying a coating material (a photocurable resin for forming a light transmission film) onto the disk is integrally attached to the mask moving arm.
[0038]
FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the tip of the mask moving arm 51 located above the spinner 40. The distal end portion of the mask moving arm 51 includes a chuck (mask holding means) 154 for gripping the mask 56 at the upper cylindrical portion 56b, and a dispenser 156 for supplying a photocurable resin to the disk. Since the dispenser 156 is provided on the mask moving arm together with the chuck, the dispenser advances on the disk at the same time as the chuck 156 supplies the mask onto the disk body. For this reason, it is not necessary to provide a separate drive source for advancing and retracting the dispenser. The chuck 154 and the dispenser 156 are driven by an air cylinder (not shown) and can move integrally in a substantially vertical direction, thereby approaching the disk 100 on the spinner table.
[0039]
The chuck 154 has two chuck claws that are opened and closed by driving an air cylinder, and can sandwich / release the upper cylindrical portion of the mask 56 between them.
[0040]
Here, the operation of the mask supply / discharge unit will be described. First, the upper cylindrical portion 56 b of one mask 56 is grasped and picked up from the mask storage 55 by the chuck 154 at the tip of the mask moving arm 51. The chuck 154 can pick up an arbitrary mask 56 on the mask storage 55 by a combination of linear movement of the mask moving arm along the ball screw 52 and rotation of the mask storage. After picking up the mask, the ball screw 52 is driven to move the mask moving arm onto the spinner 40 and bring the center of the mask held by the chuck 154 to a position aligned with the center of the spinner table. Subsequently, the integrated chuck 154 and dispenser 156 are lowered, the mask 56 is placed on the disk 100, and the chuck 154 is released.
[0041]
After the mask 56 is placed on the disk 100, vacuum is applied from the mask suction vacuum path 165 to suck the mask. At this time, the mask suction space 168 (FIG. 2) communicates with the atmosphere outside the apparatus through the through hole 56d of the mask 56, that is, is released from the atmosphere. However, as long as the mask suction vacuum path 165 is evacuated, the space 168 is maintained at a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, so that the mask is sucked onto the disk.
[0042]
In this state, a liquid photocurable resin is supplied from the nozzle 157 at the tip of the dispenser 156 onto the mask placed on the disk. FIG. 4 shows how the photocurable resin is discharged. When the supply of the predetermined amount of photocurable resin is completed, the tip of the mask moving arm 51 having the dispenser 156 and the chuck 154 is raised, and the ball screw 52 is driven to retract the mask moving arm 51 from the spinner 40.
[0043]
The spinner table 152 is rotated at a high speed after the mask moving arm 51 is retracted (or may be in the front or in the middle thereof) to perform a spin coating operation, that is, the photocurable resin supplied to the center portion is rotated by centrifugal force of rotation of the disc. It is distributed almost evenly on the entire upper surface.
[0044]
When a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of spin coating by rotation of the spinner table and a resin layer having a uniform film thickness is formed on the disk, the resin that protrudes from the outer periphery of the disk by the edge cleaner 61 of the edge cleaning section 60 Remove the edge. The edge cleaner 61 can swing around the shaft 63 in the horizontal plane of the apparatus, and the knife edge 65 attached to one end of the edge cleaner 61 approaches the outer peripheral end surface of the disk due to the swing, and the photocuring property that protrudes from the outer periphery of the disk. Remove the resin.
[0045]
After such disc edge cleaning, the photo-curing resin is temporarily cured by the pre-curing UV radiation portion. The resin film formed evenly on the disk surface by spin coating loses its film thickness uniformity due to the surface tension of the liquid resin when the spin is stopped, and in particular, the outer periphery is raised. Also, the higher the viscosity of the resin, the greater the film thickness non-uniformity. In the present invention, in order to prevent this, the resin layer is temporarily cured by irradiating with UV light from the provisional curing UV radiation section without stopping the rotation of the spinner after spin coating.
[0046]
The details of the temporary curing UV radiation unit 70 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B. FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are side views of the pre-curing UV radiating portion, and show the state in which the irradiation head cover described later is raised and lowered, respectively. The pre-curing UV radiation part includes a main body part 71, an irradiation head part 72, and a connecting cylinder part 73 that connects the main body part 71 and the irradiation head part. An ultra high pressure mercury lamp (not shown) as a UV light source is installed in the main body. The ultra-high pressure mercury lamp emits light having a wavelength including an ultraviolet (UV) region that can cure the UV curable resin (hereinafter referred to as UV light). Further, a condensing / sending optical system (not shown) is installed in the main body 71 to collect the UV light from the ultra-high pressure mercury lamp and send it as a UV light beam directed to the connecting cylinder part 73. The connecting cylinder part 73 is a hollow cylinder, and the UV light beam passes through the connecting cylinder part and enters the irradiation head part 72.
[0047]
The irradiation head portion 171 has a built-in reflection plate 171a, and bends the UV light beam incident from the connecting tube portion by 90 degrees and reflects it downward. The irradiation head unit 171 is covered with a rectangular cover 172. The cover 172 is fixed to a slider 75 that can move up and down on a rail 74 fixed to the main body 71, and can move up and down together with the slider 75. The slider 75 is driven by an air cylinder and moves up and down. Shock absorbers 177 and 178 capable of directly positioning the slider 75 are provided at the upper and lower ends of the movable range of the slider 75, respectively.
[0048]
A cover 172 is provided so that these operations are not hindered during loading / unloading of the disk to / from the spinner unit 40, supply / discharge of the mask to / from the disk 100 installed in the spinner unit, and supply of the photocurable resin onto the mask by the dispenser 156. Is in the retracted position, that is, the raised position (the state shown in FIG. 5A) at the upper end of the moving range. Then, only when the photocurable resin layer spin-coated on the disk 100 installed in the spinner unit 40 is temporarily cured, it is moved to its lowered position (state shown in FIG. 5B). As described above, the temporary curing is performed immediately after spin coating of the liquid photocurable resin and edge cleaning by the edge cleaner.
[0049]
A cylindrical outer cover 173 and an inner cover 174 are provided concentrically below the cover 172. When the cover 172 is lowered, the center of the inner peripheral cover 174 and the center of the disk 100 on the spinner table 152 are aligned. When the cover 172 is in the lowered position and the UV light for UV temporary curing is irradiated onto the disk, the UV light beam reflected downward by the reflection plate 171a of the irradiation head is a ring-shaped space between the outer cover 173 and the outer cover 173. Is emitted downward as illumination light having a ring-shaped illumination area. The outer diameter of the ring-shaped illumination area is made to substantially coincide with the outer diameter of the disk, and the inner diameter is made to substantially coincide with the outer diameter of the mask. Thereby, the irradiation area of the UV light beam substantially coincides with the entire disk outside the mask portion.
[0050]
With the above-described configuration, the UV light from the temporary curing UV portion is not irradiated to the mask placed on the disk. Since liquid photo-curing resin is dropped on the mask during spin coating, if the mask is irradiated with UV light, the mask and the resin at the boundary between the mask and the disk are cured, making it difficult to remove the mask. In order to prevent this, UV light is not applied to the mask portion. Note that, as described above, the present invention is not limited to the method in which the outer peripheral cover and the inner peripheral cover are used to form a ring-shaped illumination area, and other means for preventing the mask from being irradiated with UV light may be used.
[0051]
The UV irradiation by this temporary curing UV radiation part is intended to prevent the photo-curable resin layer coated on the disk from causing non-uniform film thickness due to its surface tension. Any material can be used as long as it is semi-cured and the fluidity of the material is reduced to such an extent that non-uniform film pressure due to surface tension does not occur. The irradiation intensity and irradiation time for that purpose are appropriately determined according to the type and film thickness of the resin coated on the disk.
[0052]
After irradiating with UV for temporary curing, the rotation of the spinner is stopped. Subsequently, the vacuum suction of the mask 56 is released. Since the mask 56 of the present invention has the through hole 56d, the suction space 168 immediately below the mask becomes equal to the atmospheric pressure after a certain period of time after the vacuum suction of the mask suction vacuum path 165 is stopped. The mask 56d can be removed without the need to apply positive pressure. Alternatively, after the vacuum suction of the mask suction vacuum path 165 is stopped, a positive pressure may be applied for a moment through the vacuum path 165. Also in this case, since the through-hole 56d is formed in the mask 56, even when a positive pressure is applied to the suction space 168, the airflow goes out through the through-hole 56d. The problem of scattering of the liquid material does not occur.
[0053]
After releasing the suction of the mask, the mask 56 is picked up from the disk 100 by the mask moving arm 51 and transferred to the mask storage 55. Further, the vacuum suction of the disk 100 on the spinner table 152 is released, the disk is picked up by the arm 31b of the transfer hand unit 30, and moved to the position 80A of the main curing UV radiation unit 80.
[0054]
The main curing UV radiating unit 80 includes a UV irradiation unit 81 that irradiates UV light, and a disk moving mechanism 85 that linearly moves the disk 100 while rotating the disk 100. The UV irradiation unit has a UV lamp 82 and irradiates UV light downward. FIG. 6 is a side view showing an outline of the main curing UV radiation portion.
[0055]
FIG. 7 is a view showing a main part of the disk moving mechanism 85 of the main curing UV radiation unit 80, and is a side view from a direction different from 90 degrees from FIG. The configuration of the main curing UV radiation unit will be described with reference to FIGS. The disk moving unit includes a spindle unit 182 for holding a disk and a servo motor driven ball screw unit 180 for linearly moving the spindle unit. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the housing 186 of the spindle unit 182 is fixed to the driven nut of the ball screw unit 180 via the plate 187. A spindle 183 that is rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) is installed in the housing 186. The spindle 183 is connected to a servo motor 184 via a coupling 185 and is driven to rotate by the servo motor 184. The top of the spindle 183 is fitted in the central hole of the disk 100, and a mechanism for vacuum-sucking the disk 100 is also provided.
[0056]
With the mechanism described above, the disk 100 placed on the spindle 183 of the main curing UV radiation unit 80 can be linearly moved by the ball screw unit while being rotated by the servo motor 184.
[0057]
The main curing UV radiating unit is controlled to pass through the irradiation region of the UV irradiation unit while rotating the disk 100 during the main curing of the photocurable resin layer coated on the disk. By rotating the disk at the time of irradiation, the amount of UV irradiation received by each part of the disk can be made uniform even if the irradiation light distribution of the UV irradiation unit is non-uniform.
[0058]
The linear movement control of the disk by the ball screw unit is appropriately determined according to various conditions such as the UV irradiation time necessary for the curing of the resin. For example, the irradiation area of the UV irradiation unit may be reciprocated at a constant speed, or the irradiation time may be extended by temporarily stopping in the irradiation area or reducing the speed.
[0059]
The disc 100 that has undergone the main curing process is returned again to the disc transfer position 80A of the main curing UV radiation section 8, and is sent to the next processing step. In addition, after completion of the main curing process, the disk 100 is moved to the position 80B (FIG. 1) of the main curing UV radiation part, and from there, a hard coat processing step (step of coating a protective layer on the transparent resin layer) is performed. It can also be configured to transport the disk to this device.
[0060]
The disk 100 returned to the position 80A after the main curing process is transferred to the next film thickness inspection unit 90 by the arm 31C of the transfer hand unit 30. The film thickness inspection unit measures the film thickness of the light transmitting resin layer of the disk in order to check whether the film thickness of the light transmitting resin layer coated on the disk is within a predetermined range. The disk 100 is placed on the moving table 91 at the position 90A of the film thickness inspection section by the arm 31C of the transfer hand. The moving table 91 is moved along the unit 93 by the uniaxial ball screw unit 93 and is moved directly below the laser displacement meter 95 as a film thickness measuring device. The moving table 91 has a function of rotating a disk placed thereon, and changes the measurement point by the laser displacement meter by combining the rotation of the disk and the linear movement by the ball screw unit 93. The film thickness is measured at a plurality of measurement points. In a typical example, eight points are measured for one circumference on one circumference. Therefore, the measurement points are 8 × 7 = 56 points.
[0061]
The disk whose film thickness has been measured is returned to the position 90A again while being placed on the moving table, and is sent to the cleaner unit 20 by the arm 31D of the transfer hand unit 30 at that position. However, as a result of the film thickness inspection in the film thickness inspection unit 90, a defective disk whose coating has not been performed with an appropriate film thickness is transferred by the arm 31d during transfer from the film thickness inspection unit 90 to the cleaner unit. The vacuum suction is released, and the disk is transferred to the defective disk discharge unit 110.
[0062]
The non-defective disc transferred from the film thickness inspection unit 90 to the position 22B of the cleaner unit 20 is moved to the position 22A by the rotation of the turntable 22, and from there, the pin 115a is placed on the pin holder 115 of the unloader 15 by the supply hand 13b. Is placed in the center hole of the disc. The pin holder 115 on the unloader 15 side is also provided with a lifter 116 like the pin holder on the loader 11 side. The lifter 116 descends as the disk is stacked on the pin holder 115, and the top of the stack is placed. Make sure the disc height is always constant.
[0063]
When a predetermined number of processed disks are stacked on the pin holder 115 of the unloader 15, the pin holder 115 is moved leftward in FIG. 1 so that the stacked disks can be taken out from the left end of the apparatus.
[0064]
Thus, one cycle of the operation of the spin coating apparatus of this embodiment is completed.
[0065]
All operations of the spin coating apparatus described above are automatically performed under the control of a control unit (not shown) of an apparatus having a CPU.
[0066]
Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.
[0067]
The above embodiment relates to the spin coating of the light transmission film of the disk corresponding to the blue laser. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be widely applied to the spin coating of the liquid material on the disk body. As an example, it can be applied to spin coating processing such as coating of a protective layer of CD, CD-RW, CD-R, protective layer coating of various DVD discs, various hard coatings, etc., and a spin coating apparatus for performing it. .
[0068]
In the present embodiment, the coated material is a light (UV) curable resin. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to spin coating of various materials on the disk body.
[0069]
Further, the mask 56 of the present embodiment has a shape having a lower disk-shaped portion and an upper cylindrical portion extending upward from the central portion thereof. This shape is preferable in that the mask can be handled by gripping the cylindrical portion with a simple chuck when handling the mask, but the mask of the present invention is not limited to this shape and has a cylindrical portion. It is also possible that the mask is not shaped and the mask is handled, for example, by vacuum suction.
[0070]
In the present embodiment, the driving means for driving the mask moving arm in which the dispenser and the mechanism for holding and moving the mask are integrally formed is constituted by a ball screw. You may comprise so that it may move by.
[0071]
【The invention's effect】
In the spin coating apparatus of the present invention, the suction space of the mechanism for vacuum suction of the mask in the spinner mechanism communicates with the external atmosphere through the through hole of the mask, so that the suction space is stopped from being evacuated and a certain time has elapsed. Then, the adsorption space becomes equal to the atmospheric pressure. For this reason, the mask can be easily removed from the spinner (from the disk). Alternatively, the suction space can be made equal to the atmospheric pressure by applying a positive pressure for a moment after stopping the suction space from being vacuumed. Even if positive pressure is applied for a moment, the adsorption space communicates with the external atmosphere through the hole in the mask, so the airflow goes out through the hole, so that the liquid material does not scatter at the boundary between the mask and the disk. . If the adsorption space is made equal to the atmospheric pressure, the mask can be easily removed from the spinner (from the disk).
[0072]
In the spin coating apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention, since the dispenser is incorporated in the mask supply exclusion mechanism, it is not necessary to separately provide a drive mechanism for moving the dispenser, and the apparatus can be simplified. Furthermore, since the installation space for the dispenser can be made small, there can be enough space in the apparatus.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an overall configuration of a spin coating apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view of a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part of a spinner part of a spin coating apparatus together with a disk and a mask installed therein.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing a distal end portion of a mask moving arm having a dispenser located above a spinner portion of a spin coating apparatus.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing how a UV curable resin is supplied onto a disk (mask) by a dispenser of a spin coating apparatus.
FIG. 5A is a side view showing a configuration of a provisional curing UV radiation unit of a spin coating apparatus, showing a state where a cover is in its raised position.
FIG. 5B is a side view showing the configuration of the temporary curing UV radiation portion of the spin coating apparatus, showing a state where the cover is in its lowered position.
FIG. 6 is a side view showing an outline of the main UV curing unit of the spin coating apparatus.
7 is a diagram showing a structure of a main part of the main UV curing unit of the spin coating apparatus, and is a side view seen from another direction forming 90 degrees with respect to FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a mask as an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a view for explaining an example of use of a mask in a disk spin coating apparatus, and is a cross-sectional view of a disk and a mask placed on a spinner.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 Load / Unload Club
11 Loader
13 Supply hand
15 Unloader
20 Cleaner part
22 Turntable
24 Cleaner
30 Transfer hand part
31 Transfer hand
40 Spinner club
50 Mask supply / discharge section
51 Mask movement arm
55 Mask storage
56 Mask
56a Annular groove of mask
56b Upper cylindrical part of mask
56c The lower disk part of the mask
56d Mask through hole
60 Edge cleaning section
61 Edge Cleaner
65 knife edge
70 Temporary curing UV radiation part
71 Body
72 Irradiation head
80 main curing UV radiation part
81 UV irradiation unit
85 Disk moving mechanism
90 Film thickness inspection part
100 discs
110 Defective disk ejector
160 Vacuum path for disk suction
165 Vacuum path for mask suction
168 Mask suction space

Claims (5)

An apparatus for performing spin coating in which a liquid material is supplied near the center of a disk body, and then the disk body is rotated to spread the liquid material by centrifugal force, thereby forming a coating film of the liquid material on the disk body Because
A spinner mechanism that rotates while holding the disc body;
A mask for masking so that a coating film is not formed in a partial region near the center of the disk body, the mask having a through hole penetrating the mask,
A mask supply exclusion mechanism for supplying the mask onto the disk body and removing the mask from the disk body,
The spinner mechanism has a mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask, and the space for sucking the mask of the mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask in a state where the disk body and the mask are installed in the spinner mechanism passes through the through-hole of the mask. A spin coating device that always communicates with the outside atmosphere.   The mask has a disk part that covers the disk body, and a cylindrical part for holding the mask extending upward from the center part of the disk part, and the through hole penetrates the disk part and the cylindrical part. The spin coating apparatus according to claim 1.   A disk body coated with the spin coating apparatus according to claim 1. A mask for masking a coating on a partial area near the center of a disk body used in an apparatus for spin coating a liquid material on a disk body installed on a spinner mechanism for rotating a disk, The mask is used together with a spinner mechanism having a mechanism for vacuum-sucking the mask, and the mask always keeps the suction space of the mechanism for sucking the mask and the outside atmosphere in a state where the disk body and the mask are installed in the spinner mechanism. A mask used for spin coating of a disk body, wherein a through-hole for communication is provided.   The mask has a disk part that covers the disk body, and a cylindrical part for holding the mask extending upward from the center part of the disk part, and the through hole penetrates the disk part and the cylindrical part. The mask according to claim 4.

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