JP6904694B2 - Board processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to a substrate processing apparatus.

A substrate processing device is used in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device or the like. This substrate processing apparatus supplies a processing liquid (for example, a chemical solution, a cleaning liquid, etc.) to the substrate in the processing chamber to treat the surface to be processed of the substrate. Droplets of the processing liquid may adhere to the ceiling of the processing room of the substrate processing apparatus. If the droplets adhering to the ceiling fall from the ceiling and adhere to the substrate, stains are formed on the substrate after the substrate is dried. Moreover, since the droplets adhering to the ceiling include dust and the like adhering to the ceiling, the above-mentioned stains are likely to occur.
This spot remains on the liquid crystal screen when the substrate is commercialized as a liquid crystal display device, so that the liquid crystal display device becomes a defective product.

Therefore, in order to avoid the occurrence of the above-mentioned stains, a method is adopted in which the ceiling is tilted and the droplets adhering to the ceiling are collected to the edge of the processing chamber without falling to the substrate side. However, even if the ceiling is tilted, the larger the substrate, the larger the size of the ceiling. For this reason, the droplets adhering to the ceiling are combined with other droplets by the time they travel along the ceiling and reach the edge of the processing chamber, and are likely to lose gravity (self-weight) and fall to the substrate side. Therefore, even if the ceiling is simply tilted, the droplets may fall before reaching the edge of the processing chamber and adhere to the substrate, which causes stains.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-141182

An object to be solved by the present invention is to provide a substrate processing apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of stains.

The substrate processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is
A processing room with a ceiling and
A substrate transporting unit provided in the processing chamber for transporting the substrate and
Provided in the processing chamber, a trough for receiving liquid droplets dropped from the ceiling,
Have,
The ceiling is formed in a shape having peaks and valleys extending along the transport direction of the substrate by the substrate transporting portion .
The gutter is
Both the provided so as to extend along the extending direction of the valley, is composed of a plurality of trough that is inclined stacked imbricated, of the two gutter adjacent to the inclined direction, the trough of the high position The lower end is provided so as to cover the higher end of the lower gutter in a non-contact manner.
The high end of the low gutter is separated from the first portion parallel to the low end of the high gutter and the high gutter and is more horizontal than the first portion. It is characterized by comprising a second portion extending in an approaching direction .

According to the embodiment of the present invention, the occurrence of stains can be suppressed.

It is a figure which shows the schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is sectional drawing (2-2 line sectional drawing in FIG. 1) which shows the schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a top view which shows the schematic structure of the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the installation angle of the ceiling board, the distance which does not drip, and the maximum height of a ceiling cover which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows typically the processing chamber which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the gutter of the tiled structure provided in the substrate processing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the vertical separation distance of each gutter constituting the gutter of the tiled structure which concerns on 2nd Embodiment.

<First Embodiment>
The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

(Basic configuration)
As shown in FIG. 1, the substrate processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment conveys a processing chamber 10 for processing the substrate W, an exhaust unit 20 for discharging air in the processing chamber 10, and the substrate W. It is provided with a substrate transporting unit 30 for supplying a processing liquid (for example, a chemical solution or a cleaning liquid) to the substrate W to be transported. As the substrate W to be processed, for example, a rectangular substrate such as glass is used.

The processing chamber 10 is a housing having a transport path H1 to which the substrate W is transported, and is formed so that the substrate W can pass through the processing chamber 10 along the transport path H1. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the processing chamber 10 has a ceiling cover 11 and a plurality of gutters 12. A discharge port (not shown) for discharging the treatment liquid is formed on the bottom surface of the treatment chamber 10, and the treatment liquid discharged from this discharge port is collected in, for example, a storage tank (not shown). Will be done.

As shown in FIG. 2, the ceiling cover 11 has a triangular cross section formed in a triangular wave shape, and is composed of a plurality of ceiling plates 11a. The ceiling cover 11 functions as the ceiling of the processing chamber 10. Each ceiling plate 11a is formed in a long rectangular shape, is positioned along the transport direction A1 in each longitudinal direction, and further, a mountain portion T and a valley portion in a direction horizontally orthogonal to the transport direction A1. It is provided so as to repeatedly form B. These ceiling plates 11a are fixed on the walls on both sides of the transport direction A1 in the processing chamber 10. As the material of each ceiling plate 11a, for example, resin, glass, metal, or the like can be used. As an example, the height of each mountain portion T of the ceiling cover 11 is constant.

Each gutter 12 is formed in the shape of a long eaves gutter with an opening at the top. Two of these gutters 12 are provided in the longitudinal direction of each gutter 12 along the transport direction A1 and directly below the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11. The two gutters 12 are inclined along the transport direction A1 so as to be gradually lowered toward, for example, the downstream side of the transport direction A1. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, one recovery gutter 13 is provided at a position for receiving the treatment liquid from the above-mentioned two gutters 12, for example, at the downstream end of the transport direction A1 in the treatment chamber 10. .. The recovery gutter 13 is inclined so as to be gradually lowered toward the side wall on the right side (in FIG. 3) of the processing chamber 10, for example, along a direction horizontally orthogonal to the transport direction A1.

Here, as shown in FIG. 2, when the droplets adhering to the ceiling plate 11a of the ceiling cover 11 flow out due to gravity, they move toward the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11 along the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a. When the droplet falls from the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11, it is received by the gutter 12 located below the valley portion B and flows through the inner surface of the gutter 12. The droplets flow into the recovery gutter 13 located at the downstream end, flow through the inner surface of the recovery gutter 13, reach the inner surface of the processing chamber 10, and flow down along the inner surface.

Returning to FIG. 1, the exhaust unit 20 is connected to the processing chamber 10 via a pipe (not shown), and exhausts the air in the processing chamber 10. As a result, the mist generated in the processing chamber 10 is removed, so that it is possible to prevent the mist from adhering to the substrate W transported by the substrate transport unit 30. For example, the mist is generated when the processing liquid supplied by the processing liquid supply unit 40 hits the substrate W and soars up.

The substrate transport unit 30 has a plurality of long transport rollers 31. These transport rollers 31 are provided so that their longitudinal directions are perpendicular to the transport direction A1 of the substrate W, and are arranged at predetermined intervals so as to form a transport path H1. Each transport roller 31 is rotatably provided and is formed in a structure that rotates in synchronization with each other. The substrate transfer unit 30 conveys the substrate W placed on the transfer roller 31 by the rotation of the transfer roller 31.

The treatment liquid supply unit 40 includes a first treatment liquid supply head 41 and a second treatment liquid supply head 42 provided above and below the transport passage H1 so as to sandwich the transport passage H1. The first processing liquid supply head 41 discharges the processing liquid from the upper position toward the transport path H1, for example, in a shower shape. Further, the second processing liquid supply head 42 discharges the processing liquid from the lower position toward the transport path H1 while avoiding the transport roller 31, for example, in a shower shape. The treatment liquid supply unit 40 discharges the treatment liquid from the first treatment liquid supply head 41 and the second treatment liquid supply head 42 toward the transport path H1, and both sides of the substrate W that moves the transport path H1 ( The treatment liquid is supplied to the upper surface and the lower surface).

(How to determine the installation angle of the ceiling board and the number of sheets used)
Next, a method of determining the installation angle of the ceiling plate 11a and the number of sheets to be used will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4, data showing the relationship between the installation angle of the ceiling plate 11a, the distance at which the liquid does not drip (the distance through which the droplets flow without falling), and the maximum height of the ceiling cover are obtained in advance by experiments or the like. .. The distance at which the liquid does not drip increases as the installation angle θ of the ceiling cover 11 increases. This is because the speed at which the droplets adhering to the ceiling cover 11 flow increases, so that the moving distance becomes longer until the droplets fall. The data in FIG. 4 assumes glass as the material of the ceiling cover 11, attaches a plurality of water droplets to the glass substrate, and experimentally sets the shortest distance on the glass substrate until the water droplets fall for each inclination angle of the glass substrate. This is what I asked for. In the processing chamber schematically shown in FIG. 5, the device width is a, the processing chamber height is b, the height of the ceiling cover 11 is c, the processing chamber depth (board transport direction) length is d (not shown), and the ceiling. Let θ be the inclination angle (acute angle) of the plate 11a with respect to the horizontal plane. The height c of the ceiling cover 11 is a vertical length from the valley portion B to the mountain portion T of the ceiling cover 11, and the device width a (width of the processing chamber 10) is horizontal perpendicular to the transport direction A1 in the processing chamber 10. Length. Hereinafter, it is considered that a = 2730 mm and d = 3000 mm, respectively.

The distance at which the liquid does not drip increases as the installation angle θ of the ceiling plate 11a increases. The maximum height of the ceiling cover 11 is
Maximum height of ceiling cover = length of ceiling board L1 x sinθ
It can be obtained from the formula of (see FIG. 2). The height c of the ceiling cover 11 increases as the installation angle θ of the ceiling plate 11a increases. The relationship between the installation angle θ of the ceiling plate 11a and the distance at which the liquid does not drip has been experimentally obtained in advance.

Based on the above data, the installation angle θ of the ceiling plate 11a and the number of used ceiling plates 11a are determined. First, the allowable height range of the ceiling cover 11 is determined by the installation space of the processing chamber 10, and the installation angle θ and the length L1 of the ceiling plate 11a are determined based on the upper limit of the allowable height range of the ceiling cover 11. .. When the installation angle θ and the length L1 of the ceiling plate 11a are determined, the number of ceiling plates 11a is determined based on the device width a. However, the installation angle θ of the ceiling plate 11a and the number of sheets used vary depending on the material of the ceiling plate 11a, the type of the treatment liquid used, and the like.

Here, for example, when the upper limit of the height allowable range of the ceiling cover 11 is 60 mm, the ceiling plate 11a is used as an example so that the installation height of the ceiling plate 11a is smaller than 60 mm from the data shown in FIG. The length of is determined to be 300 mm. In the data of FIG. 4, the maximum height of the ceiling cover 11 is shown to be 17.65 to 104.19 mm. Here, the height of 52.09 mm, which is the closest to 60 mm, is selected. In this case, since the length of the ceiling plate 11a is 300 mm, the installation angle of the ceiling plate 11a is determined to be 20 degrees based on this 300 mm. Then, 2730 mm / (300 mm × cos 20 °) = about 9.68, and the number of ceiling plates 11a is determined to be about 10.

Further, the length and the installation angle of the gutter 12 can be obtained in advance by an experiment or the like as in the data shown in FIG. 4, and can be determined based on the experimental data so as not to drip.

(Substrate processing process)
Next, the substrate processing step performed by the substrate processing apparatus 1 described above will be described.

The processing chamber 10 is exhausted by the exhaust unit 20. Each of the transport rollers 31 of the substrate transport unit 30 rotates, and the substrate W on the transport rollers 31 is transported in the predetermined transport direction A1 and moves along the transport path H1. The treatment liquid is supplied in advance to the liquid supply position in the transport path H1 from above by the first treatment liquid supply head 41, and further, the treatment liquid is also supplied from below by the second treatment liquid supply head 42. It is supplied in advance. When the substrate W passes through the liquid supply position in the transport path H1 in this liquid supply state, the treatment liquid is supplied to both surfaces (upper surface and lower surface) of the substrate W, and the substrate W is treated by the treatment liquid. At this time, the processing liquid that has fallen from both sides of the substrate W is discharged from the discharge port on the bottom surface of the processing chamber 10.

In this substrate processing step, droplets may adhere to the lower surface of each ceiling plate 11a due to liquid splashing from the substrate W, mist, or the like. When the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a are larger than a certain size or larger than a certain size, they start to move due to gravity. The droplets move along the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a in response to gravity, and flow so as to collect at the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11. After that, when the droplet that has reached the valley portion B falls from the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11, it is received by the gutter 12 located directly below the valley portion B. The droplets received by the gutter 12 flow as they are on the inner surface (upper surface) of the gutter 12 and flow into the recovery gutter 13 located at the downstream end of the gutter 12. The liquid suitability that has flowed into the recovery gutter 13 flows through the inner surface of the recovery gutter 13 as it is, and when it reaches the inner surface of the processing chamber 10, it flows down along the inner surface thereof.

In this way, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a reach the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11 before falling due to gravity. That is, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a are collected at the lower end of the valley portion B before falling due to gravity, and when the droplets fall from the lower end of the valley portion B, they are received by the gutter 12. Therefore, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a do not fall to the substrate W side but flow to the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11, so that the droplets can be prevented from falling onto the substrate W. This is possible, and the occurrence of stains due to liquid adhesion to the substrate W can be suppressed.

If the installation angle of the ceiling plate 11a is large or the length of the ceiling plate 11a is long, the height of the ceiling cover 11 becomes high and the entire device becomes large. Further, in the unlikely event that a droplet falls, the higher the height of the ceiling cover 11, the stronger the impact when the droplet falls on the substrate W, so that the thickness of the liquid film formed on the substrate W due to the impact becomes stronger. Is disturbed and becomes non-uniform, and the processing may also become non-uniform. Further, as the height of the ceiling cover 11 increases, the volume of the processing chamber 10 increases accordingly, so that the force required for exhaust increases. Alternatively, there arises a problem that only a part of the inside of the processing chamber 10 is exhausted and the portion of the processing chamber 10 away from the exhaust port (not shown) is sufficiently exhausted. For these reasons, it is desirable to avoid raising the ceiling.

Therefore, the height of the ceiling cover 11, that is, the height of the processing chamber 10 is achieved by reducing the installation angle of the ceiling plate 11a or shortening the length of the ceiling plate 11a while suppressing the occurrence of stains. It is possible to reduce the number of installation spaces and realize an installation space. Further, even if the droplet should fall on the substrate W, the impact on the substrate W can be reduced, and it is possible to prevent the processing of the substrate W from becoming non-uniform. Further, by suppressing the height of the ceiling cover 11, the volume of the processing chamber 10 can be reduced, so that the exhaust efficiency by the exhaust unit 20 can be improved. As a result, the mist in the processing chamber 10 can be reliably removed, and the occurrence of stains due to liquid adhesion to the substrate W can be more reliably suppressed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the ceiling cover 11 is formed in a shape having a mountain portion T and a valley portion B, and the gutter 12 is in the horizontal direction from directly below the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11. Along the above, for example, it is provided so as to extend toward the inner surface of the processing chamber 10. Therefore, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the ceiling plate 11a reach the lower end of the valley portion B of the ceiling cover 11 before falling due to gravity, fall from the lower end, and are received by the gutter 12. As a result, the droplets do not fall to the substrate W side and flow to the edge of the processing chamber 10 by the gutter 12, so that the generation of stains due to the droplet adhesion to the substrate W can be suppressed. The fact that the gutter 12 extends along the horizontal direction includes a case where the gutter 12 extends in parallel in the horizontal direction and a case where the gutter 12 gradually inclines and extends.

<Second embodiment>
The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. In the second embodiment, the difference from the first embodiment (structure of the gutter 12) will be described, and other description will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 6, the gutter 12 according to the second embodiment is composed of a plurality of gutters 12a. These gutters 12a are inclined at the same inclination angle and arranged in parallel with each other, and are provided so as to be arranged in the same inclination direction. The two gutters 12a adjacent to each other in the inclination direction overlap each other so that a part of the high gutter 12a does not contact the part of the low gutter 12a, that is, the lower end B1 of the high gutter 12a. Is provided so as to cover the high end portion B2 of the gutter 12a at the low position in a non-contact manner. The vertical separation distance between the end portion B1 and the end portion B2 is set to, for example, about 1 cm.

In the substrate processing step, droplets may adhere to the lower surface of each gutter 12a due to liquid splashing from the substrate W, mist, or the like. When the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the gutter 12a are larger than a certain size or larger than a certain size, they start to move due to gravity. The droplets move along the lower surface of the gutter 12a in response to gravity, and move from the lower surface of the end B1 of the gutter 12a to the upper surface (inner surface) of the end B2 of the adjacent gutter 12a. After that, the droplets that have moved to the upper surface of the end portion B2 will flow along the upper surface of the gutter 12a. When the gutter 12 is a gutter along the transport direction A1, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the most downstream gutter 12a move along the lower surface and flow into the other gutter 12a as it is. Further, when the gutter 12 is a gutter along a direction horizontally orthogonal to the transport direction A1, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the most downstream gutter 12a extend to the inner surface of the processing chamber 10 along the lower surface. It reaches and flows down along its inner surface.

In this way, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the gutter 12a reach the upper surface of the adjacent gutter 12a before falling due to gravity, and do not flow on the upper surface and fall to the substrate W side. Therefore, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the gutter 12a do not fall to the substrate W side, but flow to the end of the processing chamber 10 by each gutter 12a, so that it is possible to suppress the droplets from falling onto the substrate W. Therefore, it is possible to reliably suppress the occurrence of stains due to liquid adhesion to the substrate W.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained. Further, each gutter 12a is stacked in a tile shape and is inclined, and among two gutters 12a adjacent to each other in the inclination direction, the lower end B1 in the higher gutter 12a is higher in the lower gutter 12a. It is provided so as to cover the side end portion B2 in a non-contact manner. Therefore, in the two gutters 12a adjacent to each other in the inclination direction, the droplets adhering to the lower surface of the gutter 12a at the higher position move along the lower surface of the gutter 12a and move along the lower surface of the gutter 12a. Will move along the top surface of the gutter. As a result, the droplets do not fall to the substrate W side and flow to the edge of the processing chamber 10 by each gutter 12a, so that the generation of stains due to liquid adhesion to the substrate W can be more reliably suppressed.

(Vertical separation distance between two gutters adjacent to each other in the inclination direction)
Of the two gutters 12a adjacent to each other in the inclination direction, the vertical separation distance between the end B1 of the gutter 12a at the high position (upper) and the end B2 of the gutter 12a at the lower position (lower) is about 1 cm. It is set, and their end B1 and end B2 are parallel to each other, but the present invention is not limited to this. It is sufficient that the portion where water droplets transfer from the end B1 of the high gutter 12a to the end B2 of the low gutter 12a is about 1 cm.

Specifically, as shown on the left side of FIG. 7, in the two troughs 12a adjacent to each other in the inclined direction, the first vertical of the outflow path (outflow path formed by the end B1 and the end B2) through which the droplets flow out. The size of the separation distance C1 in the height direction and the size of the second vertical separation distance C2 of the outflow path in the height direction are the same at about 1 cm. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as shown on the right side of FIG. 7, the size of the first vertical separation distance C1 in the height direction is maintained at about 1 cm, and the height of the second vertical separation distance C2 is maintained. The size in the direction can be made smaller than the size in the height direction of the first vertical separation distance C1. In this case, the vertical separation distance between the end portion B1 and the end portion B2 is gradually shortened toward the outside of the processing chamber 10 along the inclination direction, that is, along the flow direction of the droplets, and the outflow path is It gradually narrows in the flow direction of the droplets.

When the second vertical distance C2 is made smaller than the first vertical distance C1 in this way, the height of the gutter 12 composed of the plurality of gutters 12a in the processing chamber 10 can be lowered. .. In this way, by making the height of the gutter 12 in the processing chamber 10 as low as possible, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the installation height of the ceiling 11 must be set high due to the height of the gutter 12, and by extension, it is possible to prevent the situation where the installation height of the ceiling 11 must be set high. It is possible to prevent the height of the substrate processing device 1 itself from increasing.

Further, on the right side of FIG. 7, of the two gutters 12a adjacent to each other in the inclination direction, the lower gutter 12a is bent in the middle and has two inclination angles (for example, 10, 20 degrees). .. In the gutter 12a at this low position, if the portion having a large inclination angle is the first portion and the portion having a small inclination angle is the second portion, the second portion is closer to horizontal than the first portion. In this second part, dripping is likely to occur.

Therefore, the length of the second portion is determined in advance by an experiment or the like as in the data shown in FIG. 4, and is determined based on this data so that dripping does not occur, but it is desirable that the length is as short as possible. The lower gutter 12a is bent in the middle, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the gutter 12a may be formed to be curved.

The gutter 12a may be provided so that the second vertical separation distance C2 is about 1 cm and the first vertical separation distance C1 is 1 cm or more. By setting the first vertical separation distance C1 to 1 cm or more in this way, even if water droplets larger than expected flow, the water droplets of the gutter 12a located below in the first vertical separation distance C1 portion. It can be reliably transferred to the end B2 side without coming into contact with the end B2 and falling onto the substrate W.

(Other embodiments)
In each of the above-described embodiments, it is exemplified that the ceiling cover 11 having the above-described structure is applied to the processing chamber 10 for treating the substrate W (for example, the substrate W on which the pattern film is formed) with a treatment liquid such as a chemical solution or a cleaning liquid. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to various processing chambers such as a drying chamber for drying the substrate W. Further, for example, when a chemical solution chamber for treating with a chemical solution, a cleaning chamber for performing a cleaning treatment with a cleaning solution, and a drying chamber for drying by spraying gas are continuously provided, they can be used as a common ceiling cover. It is also possible to provide the ceiling cover 11 having the above-mentioned structure.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the ceiling plate 11a is fixed on the walls on both sides of the transport direction A1 in the processing chamber 10, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, there are walls on both sides thereof. If not, it is possible to provide a support portion for supporting the ceiling plate 11a. If there are walls on both sides, those walls will function as support parts.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the use of the ceiling cover 11 having a triangular wave-shaped cross section orthogonal to the transport direction A1 has been exemplified, but the present invention is not limited to this, and various types having a mountain portion T and a valley portion B are used. It is possible to use a shaped ceiling cover. For example, a ceiling cover having a triangular wave-shaped cross section parallel to the transport direction A1, a ceiling cover having either or both of a mountain portion T and a valley portion B curved, or a mountain portion T or a valley portion B. It is possible to use a ceiling cover in which the dots are present. When a ceiling cover having peaks T and valleys B present in dots is used, the ceiling covers are provided so as to be aligned along the extending direction of the gutter 12.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the height of each mountain portion T of the ceiling cover 11 is illustrated as being constant, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the height of each mountain portion T of the ceiling cover 11 is not limited to this. It is also possible to make the height non-uniform, and the height of a part of each mountain portion T can be made different, or the height of all the mountain portions T can be made different. Further, although it has been illustrated that the upper end of the mountain portion T and the lower end of the valley portion B extending in one direction are horizontal, the present invention is not limited to this, and the mountain portion T may be inclined. Further, the size of each ceiling plate 11a may be different.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the ceiling cover 11 is configured by a plurality of ceiling plates 11a, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the ceiling cover 11 may be configured by a single plate. It is possible. As an example, a material such as resin or metal can be poured into a mold or the like to form an integrated ceiling cover 11 having no connection portion.

Further, it is also possible to form a film for improving wettability on both surfaces (upper surface and lower surface) of the ceiling plate 11a and the gutter 12a. By improving the wettability of the ceiling plate 11a and the gutter 12a, it becomes possible to increase the distance at which the liquid does not drip, and it is possible to reduce the number of the ceiling plate 11a and the gutter 12a to be used. In addition, the installation angle of the ceiling and the gutter can be reduced, and the device can be made to have a lower overall height.

Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, it has been illustrated that the treatment liquid from the gutter 12 is received by the recovery gutter 13, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the end portion of the gutter 12 is along the wall surface of the processing chamber 10. You may let the treatment liquid flow. Alternatively, the gutter 12 itself may be formed so as to be bent so as to also serve as a recovery gutter. Alternatively, a portion in which the ends of the plurality of gutters 12 are connected may be formed, and this may be used as a recovery gutter. By doing so, the number of parts constituting the device can be reduced.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the embodiment of the present invention has been described as being used in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the treatment liquid is used in other processing chambers such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment. It can be applied to a device that performs processing.

Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described above, these embodiments are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other embodiments, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and the equivalent scope thereof.

1 Substrate processing equipment 10 Processing room 11a Ceiling plate 12 Gutter 12a Gutter B Valley B1 Low end B2 High end T Mountain

Claims (5)

A processing room with a ceiling and
A substrate transporting unit provided in the processing chamber for transporting the substrate and
A gutter provided in the processing chamber to receive droplets dropped from the ceiling,
Have ,
The ceiling is formed in a shape having peaks and valleys extending along the transport direction of the substrate by the substrate transporting portion.
The gutter is
Both the provided so as to extend along the extending direction of the valley, is composed of a plurality of trough that is inclined stacked imbricated, of the two gutter adjacent to the inclined direction, the trough of the high position The lower end is provided so as to cover the higher end of the lower gutter in a non-contact manner.
The high end of the low gutter is separated from the first portion parallel to the low end of the high gutter and the high gutter and is more horizontal than the first portion. A substrate processing apparatus comprising a second portion extending in an approaching direction. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein a film for improving wettability is formed on both sides of the gutter. Further having a recovery gutter provided by stretching in a direction intersecting the stretching direction of the gutter.
The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the recovery gutter is provided at a position where the droplets received by the gutter can be received. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the processing chamber is provided with an exhaust unit for discharging air in the processing chamber. It said ceiling includes a plurality of crests extending along the conveying direction of the substrate by the substrate transfer unit, and be between the adjacent crest valley located above the transport path of the substrate by the substrate transfer unit, The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the substrate processing apparatus is formed in a shape having the above.

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