JP4122674B2 - Substrate drying apparatus and drying method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for drying a rectangular substrate such as a liquid crystal substrate or a thin substrate having a circular shape.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a thin plate substrate, for example, there is a glass substrate that constitutes a liquid crystal panel. For example, a TFT type liquid crystal panel is constituted by two substrates including a TFT substrate and a color filter. In manufacturing this TFT substrate, a TFT element is formed on the substrate surface by sequentially performing processes such as film formation, resist film formation, exposure, development, etching, and resist film peeling. In these processes, The cleaning is repeatedly performed before and after the treatment, and the substrate is dried after the substrate is cleaned. On the other hand, the color filter is manufactured by a photolithography method or the like, and the substrate is appropriately cleaned and dried between the previous process and the process. Further, cleaning and drying are also performed when a predetermined treatment is performed on a liquid crystal panel other than the TFT type, and other substrates made of rectangular glass, resin, or the like.
[0003]
There are various known drying methods performed after cleaning the substrate, but when performing cleaning and drying continuously during conveyance on the line in processing or processing, that is, when performing inline processing, an air knife is used. It is common to perform drying using the effect. Drying with this air knife is performed as follows.
[0004]
An air blowing region is set at a predetermined position of a transport unit made of a roller, a belt, or the like that transports the substrate in a state where the substrate is tilted horizontally or slightly in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction (left-right direction). In this air blowing area, an air knife nozzle having a nozzle opening made of a long and narrow slit-like passage is arranged so as to face the surface of the substrate. From this air knife nozzle, high pressure clean air is blown over the entire length in the direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction, so that liquid droplets and liquid films adhering to the substrate surface are separated from the substrate surface. As dried.
[0005]
Here, the direction of the air ejected from the air knife nozzle is set to a relatively shallow angle in a direction opposite to the substrate transport direction by the transport means, and the nozzle port of the air knife nozzle is brought close to the substrate surface. . As a result, a thin band-shaped air is incident on the surface of the substrate from the air knife nozzle. As a result, the liquid on the surface of the substrate moves toward the rear side in the transport direction of the substrate due to the pressure of the air. It is discharged from the edge portion of the substrate.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, when the board | substrate conveyed by a conveyance means is a rectangular thing, for example, it is made to convey so that the longitudinal direction may turn to a conveyance direction. In order to more smoothly and reliably remove the liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate thus transported, the air knife nozzle is orthogonal to the substrate transport direction in a plane parallel to the substrate transport surface. It is desirable to arrange them obliquely so as to be inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the direction. As a result, the direction in which the liquid moves along the substrate surface due to the pressure of the air is not in the direction of transporting the substrate, but in an oblique direction by an amount corresponding to the tilt of the air knife nozzle. As a result, since the liquid is removed not only from the rear end portion in the substrate transport direction but also from the side portions thereof, the distance of movement of the liquid is shortened, so that it can be removed smoothly and quickly from the substrate surface.
[0007]
In order to more reliably remove the liquid from the substrate surface with the air knife described above, it is desirable to make the incident angle of air as shallow as possible. In particular, when the tip of the substrate enters the air blowing area where air is blown from the air knife nozzle, that is, when the substrate enters the air blowing area, if the incident angle of the air is deep, it adheres to the surface of the substrate. Liquid may scatter to the surroundings due to air pressure. Therefore, it is desirable that the incident angle be as shallow as possible. Here, a shallow incident angle of air means an angle close to parallel to the surface of the substrate, and a deep incident angle of air means an angle close to a right angle to the surface of the substrate.
[0008]
In the drying process using the air knife nozzle, immediately before the substrate is detached from the air spray region, the liquid adhering to the substrate surface concentrates toward the corners. This position is the last liquid draining position on the substrate. However, since there is no substrate surface that guides the flow of air at the corners of the substrate, especially when there is a large amount of liquid adhesion on the substrate surface, the liquid concentrated at the corners is completely blown off. In some cases, pressure cannot be applied. Even if a small amount of liquid remains in the corners of the substrate surface and the liquid is transported to the next process without being completely drained, the liquid may be caused by vibration during the transportation. As a result, the substrate surface once dried is contaminated again, and a stain or the like occurs. When the size of the substrate is small, the concentration of the liquid does not become so large, so that the liquid runs out better. Further, if the substrate conveying speed by the conveying means is set sufficiently low, the liquid can be reliably removed from the corners.
[0009]
In general, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel or the like, from the viewpoint of production efficiency or the like, a large-sized mother substrate is used, and the mother substrate is cut into a predetermined size to form a liquid crystal panel having a predetermined size. In recent years, the size of the mother substrate tends to increase due to the increase in the screen size of the liquid crystal panel. Of course, cleaning and drying using the air knife effect are also performed at the stage of the mother substrate. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the large-sized substrate can be dried by the air knife effect. In addition, if the substrate transport speed is slowed in the drying process, the entire line is greatly affected. As a result, the substrate processing efficiency as a whole is greatly reduced. That is, it is desired to develop a substrate drying apparatus that can reliably dry a large substrate while the large substrate is being conveyed at high speed.
[0010]
The present invention has been made in view of the above points. The object of the present invention is to quickly and efficiently dry the substrate by the air knife effect and to make the entire structure including the corners extremely high. It is to be able to dry accurately.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, the substrate drying apparatus according to the present invention applies a substantially entire length in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction while the thin plate substrate is transported horizontally or inclined at a predetermined angle by the transport means. It has a slit-like nozzle port that ejects compressed air, is spaced from the substrate surface by a substantially uniform distance, and blows air onto the substrate at a predetermined incident angle in a direction opposite to the substrate transport direction. A substrate drying apparatus provided with an air knife nozzle disposed obliquely in a plane parallel to a transport surface of the substrate by the transport means in order to dry the liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate by peeling. the disposed position of the upstream side of the arrangement position of the air knife nozzle in the transport direction of the substrate by the transport means, the passing detecting means for detecting the passage of the substrate A controller that takes in the detection signal of the substrate from the passage detection unit; and a nozzle elevation angle control unit that changes an elevation angle of the air knife nozzle. The nozzle elevation angle control unit is configured to perform the transport based on a signal from the controller. when the substrate to be transported by means enters the air blowing region is to push the liquid adhering to the substrate on the side opposite to the conveying direction, shallow air incidence angle at the latest spraying the substrate is an air space when it is just before leaving from, in order to peel from the edge of the substrate so as removing a liquid with, its characterized in that a configuration Ru changing the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle such that deeper air incident angle To do.
[0012]
Here, it is desirable that the air knife nozzle is disposed obliquely in a plane parallel to the substrate transport surface by the transport means, and the nozzle elevation angle control means is provided with a rotation shaft substantially parallel to the nozzle mouth of the air knife nozzle. Further, at least one end of the rotating shaft can be rotatably supported by a bearing, and a driving means such as a pulse motor can be connected. The elevation angle of the air knife nozzle is preferably 45 ° or less when entering the substrate and 45 ° or more when leaving the substrate.
[0013]
Further, the substrate drying method of the present invention includes an air knife nozzle disposed obliquely in a plane parallel to the substrate transport surface by the transport means while the thin plate substrate is transported horizontally or inclined at a predetermined angle by the transport means. The substrate is dried by blowing pressurized air onto the surface of the substrate from the substrate, the passage of the substrate conveyed by the conveying means is detected at a position upstream of the air knife nozzle arrangement position, and the substrate is When entering the air blowing area, in order to push the liquid adhering to the substrate to the opposite side to the conveying direction, the incident angle of the air from the air knife nozzle is made shallow, and at the latest, it leaves the air blowing area. when it becomes the previous position, in order to peel from the edge of the substrate so as removing a liquid with the incident angle of the air from the air knife nozzle It is characterized in that it has as deeply.
[0014]
It is desirable to change the incident angle of air from the air knife nozzle almost continuously between the time when the substrate enters the air blowing area and the time when the substrate advances to a predetermined position until the time when the substrate leaves.
[0015]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.
[0016]
First, FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a substrate cleaning / drying process. In the figure, S is a substrate, 1 is a cleaning stage, 2 is a drying stage, and the cleaning stage 1 and the drying stage 2 are each defined by a housing, and a partition wall 3 is provided between these stages 1 and 2. Is provided. The cleaning stage 1 is provided with a carrying-in part 1a for the substrate S, the drying stage 2 is provided with a carrying-out part 2a for the substrate S, and the partition 3 is formed with a narrow opening 3a that constitutes the traveling path of the substrate S. ing. A cleaning liquid supply means 4 is installed in the cleaning stage 1, and an air knife drying device 5 is provided in the drying stage 2 so as to sandwich the substrate S therebetween. The drying stage 2 is in a positive pressure state so that mist of the cleaning liquid does not enter, and the cleaning stage 1 is in a negative pressure state. For this purpose, an atmospheric pressure device 6 is installed on the drying stage 2, and an exhaust unit 7 is mounted on the cleaning stage 1. Furthermore, a surplus cleaning liquid drainage section 8 is provided below the cleaning stage 1.
[0017]
Here, the substrate S is made of, for example, a rectangular thin glass substrate, and the substrate S is inclined substantially horizontally or slightly left and right from the previous process, through the cleaning stage 1 and the drying stage 2 to the subsequent process. It is transported in the state where Therefore, in order to transport the substrate S, the conveyor means 10 as the transport means shown in FIG. 2 is provided. The conveyor means 10 is composed of, for example, a roller conveyor. The conveyor means 10 is composed of a rotating shaft 11 provided with a predetermined pitch interval and a plurality of rollers 12 mounted in the longitudinal direction thereof, and rollers 12a at both ends. , 12a are provided with a flange 13 continuously. The substrate S is positioned so that its long side is in contact with both flanges 13 and 13, and the substrate S is conveyed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. For this purpose, a gear 14 is connected to one end of each rotary shaft 11, and the gears 14 of each rotary shaft 11 are sequentially engaged via a transmission gear 15. When the gear 14 is rotationally driven, all the rotating shafts 11 are rotated and the substrate S is transported.
[0018]
The substrate S cleaned in the cleaning stage 1 moves from the opening of the partition wall 3 to the drying stage 2 and is dried using an air knife drying device 5 provided in the drying stage 2. As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, the air knife drying device 5 has an air knife nozzle 20, and the air knife nozzle 20 has a long and narrow cylindrical casing 21, and the casing 21 is pressurized. A pressurized air chamber 22 is formed in which the air thus introduced is introduced. An air outflow passage 23 is formed in the side surface of the casing 21, and the tip of the air outflow passage 23 is a narrow slit-shaped nozzle port 24. The air outflow passage 23 has a passage length necessary for rectification so as to form a thin line when air is ejected from the nozzle port 24. Further, one or a plurality of air supply pipes 25 for supplying pressurized air into the pressurized air chamber 22 are connected to the casing 21.
[0019]
The air knife nozzle 20 having the above-described configuration is arranged above and below the substrate S conveyance path composed of the conveyor means 10 in the drying stage 2, and the nozzle ports 24 are substantially even with respect to the surface of the substrate S. Air can be blown from a very high position. In addition, the air knife nozzle 20 is not disposed in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate S, but is disposed obliquely by a predetermined angle θ in a plane parallel to the transport surface of the substrate S. Moreover, the nozzle opening 24 extends over the entire surface in the direction intersecting the transport direction with respect to the surface of the substrate S transported on the conveyor means 10. Thus, the region where the substrate S conveyed by the conveyor means 10 is blown out from the air knife nozzle 20, i.e. to first enters the air blowing area is corners C ₁ shown in FIG. 5, also from the air blowing area finally disengaged position is corners C _2. Therefore, when the substrate S is transported in the F direction and reaches the air blowing area, air is first jetted toward the corner corner C ₁ , and air is blown over the entire surface of the substrate S as the substrate S advances. . Due to the air pressure from the air knife nozzle 20, the adhering liquid consisting of droplets or liquid film adhering to the surface of the substrate S moves in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate S. since the nozzle 20 is arranged obliquely to the conveying direction of the substrate S, as the moving direction of the deposition solution indicated by an arrow in FIG. 5, becomes an oblique direction, sessile trailing edge of the substrate S L ₁ DOO contrast and is discharged from the side edge L ₂ of the long side of the side. As a result, the liquid is removed very efficiently from the surface of the substrate S, and the air knife nozzle 20 is sequentially dried from the portion that has passed.
[0020]
By the way, immediately before the substrate S enters the air blowing area, the air ejected from the air knife nozzle 20 flows in a predetermined direction without an obstacle. When corners C ₁ of the substrate S enters the the air blowing region, adhering liquid by the air impact that spraying is likely to scatter around. As shown by the dotted line in FIG. 6, the incident angle of the air when the substrate S enters, the deeper the angle with respect to the horizontal plane H of the substrate S, that is, the closer to the direction orthogonal to the horizontal plane H, The impact at the time of collision with S increases, and the rebound of the blown air is large. Further, the higher the conveyance speed of the substrate S, the greater the impact and rebound of air. As a result, the degree to which the liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate S is scattered around increases. Even if the liquid scattered in this way has a positive pressure in the drying stage 2 and a negative pressure in the cleaning stage 1, an air flow is formed toward the side opposite to the transport direction of the substrate S. The liquid scattered by the impact of the air may go downstream in the transport direction of the substrate S, and as a result, it may be reattached to the dried portion. Therefore, the splash of the liquid from the surface of the substrate S must be minimized. For this purpose, the incident angle of air is a shallow angle of 45 ° or less, preferably about 35 ° to 45 °, as indicated by the solid line in FIG. Then, preferably after the substrate S has entered the air blowing region, between corners C ₃ is to enter the air blowing region, at least air of the incident angle is held in the angular position.
[0021]
When the entire length in the width direction of the substrate S enters the air blowing region, the blown air flows along the surface of the substrate S, and droplets and liquid films adhering to the surface of the substrate S are formed on the substrate S. It is dried so as to be peeled off from the surface. Therefore, even if the incident angle of air is slightly larger than the incident angle at the time of rushing during this period, the liquid does not scatter. However, since the amount of the liquid on the substrate S is large until halfway, in order to surely remove the liquid from the surface of the substrate S, it is necessary to increase the force that pushes the liquid in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the substrate S as much as possible. Therefore, it is desirable that the incident angle of air is shallow.
[0022]
As the substrate S further advances, the corner C ₄ is eventually separated from the air blowing area, and the trailing edge L ₁ is continuously separated from the air blowing area. At this time, some of the liquid on the substrate S flows toward the corner C ₂ without being discharged from the rear edge L ₁ , and part of the liquid flowing along the side edge L ₂ is also a corner. It will flow toward the part C _2. As a result, the liquid concentrates on the corner C ₂ , but as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 7, if the incident angle of the air is shallow at this time, the air strokes the surface of the concentrated liquid. There is a possibility that the liquid remains in the corner C ₂ after passing through. In order to prevent the occurrence of such a situation, it is necessary to make the incident angle of air deeper and to peel off the liquid from the edge of the substrate S. That is, as the incident angle of air is increased, the liquid can be drained smoothly and quickly. For this purpose, as indicated by a solid line in FIG. 7, the incident angle of air is 45 ° or more, preferably about 45 ° to 55 °.
[0023]
Therefore, in the present invention, when the air knife drying device 5 is used to dry the substrate S by blowing the pressurized air, the angle of incidence of the air blown from the air knife nozzle 20 by the nozzle elevation angle control means on the surface of the substrate S is changed. I try to let them. For this purpose, the nozzle elevation angle control means attached to the air knife drying device 5 has, for example, the following configuration.
[0024]
Thus, as is apparent from FIGS. 2 and 4 and as shown in FIG. 8, the air knife nozzle 20 has rotating shafts 26 a and 26 b extending from both ends of the casing 21. The axis including these rotation shafts 26a and 26b is parallel to the nozzle port 24. Therefore, when the rotation shafts 26a and 26b are rotated, the nozzle port 24 has the same overall length with respect to the substrate S. The elevation angle changes in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 8 while maintaining a proper interval, so that the incident angle of air on the substrate S can be changed. The rotating shafts 26a and 26b are rotatably supported by bearings 27a and 27b provided on the left and right sides of the conveyor means 10, and a pulse motor 28 as a driving motor for driving the air knife nozzle 20 is provided on the bearing 27a side. The pulse motor 28 is connected to the rotating shaft 26a. Accordingly, when the pulse motor 28 is operated, the elevation angle with respect to the base end S of the air knife nozzle 20 changes.
[0025]
Further, a passage detection means 29 for the substrate S is provided at a position upstream from the air blowing area by the air knife nozzle 20 by a predetermined distance d in the conveying direction of the substrate S by the conveyor means 10. The passage detection means 29 is constituted by a transmissive or reflective optical sensor or the like. A signal from the passage detection means 29 is taken into the controller 30, and drive control of the pulse motor 28 is performed based on the signal from the controller 30.
[0026]
The present invention is configured as described above. Next, the operation thereof will be described. The substrate S is subjected to a predetermined process in the previous process, and then transferred to the conveyor means 10 and sent into the cleaning stage 1 to clean the surface thereof. Here, the cleaning of the substrate S can be performed by various methods such as roll brush cleaning, shower cleaning, ultrasonic cleaning, and the like can be combined as appropriate. Further, the cleaning can be performed on both the front and back surfaces of the substrate S. The cleaning of the substrate S is performed while being conveyed by the conveyor means 10. After the cleaning is completed, the substrate S is transferred from the opening 3 a of the partition wall 3 to the drying stage 2.
[0027]
In the drying stage 2, the passage detection means 29 for detecting the passage of the substrate S is provided at the position where the air knife nozzle 20 is disposed, more specifically, at a position upstream of the air blowing area by the air knife nozzle 20. At the latest, when the passage detection means 29 detects that the substrate S has passed, the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is such that the incident angle of the air blown from the air knife nozzle 20 with respect to the substrate S is 45 ° or less, for example, 40 °. Adjust as follows. That is, the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is controlled by operating the pulse motor 28 to rotationally displace the rotational shaft 26a. Accordingly, the incident angle of air blown from the air knife nozzle 20 becomes shallower, even if a faster transport speed of the substrate S by the conveyor means 10, when the corner portion C ₁ of the substrate S enters the air blowing region In addition, the air to be blown is guided in the direction of flowing along the surface of the substrate S. As a result, the air does not collide impactively with the surface of the substrate S, and there is no fear that the adhesion liquid on the substrate S is scattered.
[0028]
Elevation of an air knife nozzle 20 described above is, at least until 5 corners C ₃ of the substrate S shown in rushes to the air blowing area maintained as they exist. In this way, by blowing air against the substrate S from the air knife nozzle 20 at a shallow angle, droplets, liquid films, etc. are peeled off from the surface of the substrate S by the pressure of the air and directed in the direction opposite to the transport direction. The surface can be dried as it is extruded. Here, in order for the liquid to be pushed out along the surface of the substrate S, it is desirable to make the incident angle of air as shallow as possible. Therefore, until immediately before the corner portion C ₄ of the substrate S passes through the air blowing region may be kept remain shallow elevation of the air knife nozzle 20. However, as the substrate S progresses, the liquid on the surface is discharged from the rear end edge L ₁ and the side end edge L ₂ and decreases. Therefore, after the corner portion C ₃ enters the air blowing region, it slightly increases. Even if the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is changed, there is no particular problem.
[0029]
After the corner C ₄ of the substrate S is detached from the air blowing area, the rear edge L ₁ comes to face the air blowing area. When the incident angle of the air is shallow when adhering liquid that has been pushed out to the position of the trailing edge L ₁ is rather than shaken off from the trailing edge L _1, corners rather along the trailing edge L ₁ trend towards C ₂ direction becomes strong. Thus, deposition solution is to concentrate on the corners C _2. Therefore, after the corner C _{4 of the} substrate S is separated from the air blowing region at the latest, the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is increased to increase the incident angle of air on the substrate S. Thereby, the liquid pushed out to the rear end edge L ₁ is removed so that most of the liquid is scraped off from the edge. Therefore, even if the substrate S is transported at a high speed, the liquid can be smoothly and reliably cut off. In particular, when air is blown to the corner C ₂ that is finally detached from the air blowing area of the substrate S, the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is set so that the incident angle of air becomes, for example, 50 °. Is the largest. As a result, the liquid is surely scraped off from the corner C _2, and there is no possibility of uneven drying due to the remaining liquid.
[0030]
Thus, when it is detected by the passage detection means 29 that the substrate S has been transported to a position before the air blowing area in the drying stage 2, this signal is taken into the controller 30 and is pulsed by a command from the controller 30. the motor 28 is operated, when the elevation angle a minimum and without the air knife nozzle 20, for example, about 1/3 of the surface of the substrate S is dried by blowing air, or corners C ₄ is detached from the air blowing area From the previous position, the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle 20 is increased continuously or stepwise, and the elevation angle is controlled to be maximized at the position immediately before the corner C ₂ is detached. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the liquid from scattering from the surface of the substrate S when the substrate S enters the air blowing area, and when the substrate S leaves the air blowing area, the liquid remains on the surface and uneven drying. Can be reliably prevented.
[0031]
Therefore, even when a large substrate is transported at high speed, the liquid does not reattach to the portion once dried when the substrate S is dried, and the liquid is surely cut off at the corners and the like, resulting in uneven drying. There is no risk of it occurring. Accordingly, the efficiency of the process from cleaning to drying of the substrate S can be improved, and the overall throughput can be improved.
[0032]
In the above-described embodiment, the substrate to be dried is a rectangular thin glass substrate used as a glass substrate or the like constituting the liquid crystal panel. However, the substrate is a thin plate, and is precise and highly accurate. It is intended for objects that require cleaning, such as masks, wafers, magnetic disks, etc. Therefore, the outer shape of the thin substrate is not limited to a rectangle, but may be any shape, such as a polygon other than a rectangle, a circle The material of the thin plate substrate is not limited to glass, but may be synthetic resin, metal, or the like.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
Since the present invention is configured as described above, when the substrate is dried by the air knife effect, there is an effect that the entire substrate including the corner portion can be dried with high accuracy.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating a substrate cleaning / drying mechanism.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate drying apparatus.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an air knife nozzle.
FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of an air knife nozzle.
FIG. 5 is an action explanatory view showing the action direction of air pressure on the surface of the substrate.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an incident angle of air when the substrate enters the air blowing region.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an incident angle of air when the substrate is separated from the air blowing area.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of nozzle elevation angle control means.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning stage 2 Drying stage 3 Partition 5 Air knife drying apparatus 10 Conveying means 20 Air knife nozzle 21 Casing 22 Pressurization chamber 23 Air outflow passage 24 Nozzle port 26a, 26b Rotating shaft 28 Pulse motor 29 Passing detection means 30 Controller S board

Claims (5)

While the thin substrate is transported horizontally or tilted at a predetermined angle by the transport means, the substrate surface has a slit-like nozzle port that ejects pressurized air over almost the entire length in the direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. The air is blown to the substrate at a predetermined incident angle in a direction opposite to the substrate transport direction, and the liquid adhering to the surface of the substrate is dried so as to peel off. Therefore, in a substrate drying apparatus comprising an air knife nozzle arranged obliquely in a plane parallel to the substrate transport surface by the transport means ,
A passage detection means that is disposed at a position upstream of the air knife nozzle placement position in the transport direction of the substrate by the transport means, and detects the passage of the substrate;
A controller that takes in the detection signal of the substrate from the passage detection means;
Nozzle elevation angle control means for changing the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle,
When the substrate transported by the transport means enters the air blowing region based on a signal from the controller, the nozzle elevation angle control means causes the liquid adhering to the substrate to be opposite to the transport direction. In order to extrude into the substrate , the air incident angle is shallow, and at the latest, just before the substrate is released from the air blowing area , the air incident angle is increased in order to peel off the liquid from the substrate edge. substrate drying apparatus being characterized in that the <br/> configuration Ru changing the elevation angle of the air knife nozzle.   The air knife nozzle is provided with a rotation shaft substantially parallel to the nozzle opening, and at least one end of the rotation shaft is rotatably supported by a bearing, and a driving means is connected to the rotation shaft. 2. The substrate drying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle elevation angle control means is configured as described above.   2. The substrate according to claim 1, wherein an elevation angle of the air knife nozzle is set to 45 ° or less when the substrate enters the air blowing region and 45 ° or more when the substrate is separated from the air blowing region. Drying equipment. While a thin substrate is being transported horizontally or inclined at a predetermined angle, air is applied to the surface of the substrate from an air knife nozzle disposed obliquely in a plane parallel to the substrate transport surface by the transport device. In what is dried by spraying,
Detecting the passage of the substrate conveyed by the conveying means at a position upstream of the air knife nozzle arrangement position;
When the substrate enters the air blowing area, in order to push the liquid adhering to the substrate to the opposite side to the transport direction, the incident angle of air from the air knife nozzle is made shallower,
At the latest when it becomes the position just before the withdrawal from the air blowing area, in order to peel from the edge of the substrate so as removing a liquid with a substrate drying method characterized by deep incident angle of the air from the air knife nozzle . Until detached from when the substrate has proceeded to a predetermined position of the air blowing region, according to claim 4, characterized in that to the incident angle of the air from the air knife nozzle is continuously or stepwise changed Substrate drying method.

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