JPH04223023A - Automatic substrate baking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automate work for conveying a plurality of baking plates to an inlet of a baking furnace, save work energy, and increase a yield by providing a substrate conveyor, a baking plate aligning device, a baking plate conveying device, and the like. CONSTITUTION:Glass substrates 1 are taken one after another out of the lower portion of a substrate cassette 2 by a substrate conveyor 6, to be mounted on a baking plate 10 via a baking plate aligning device 7 on an inlet side. The plate 10 with the substrates 1 mounted thereon is advanced on the device 7, followed by a predetermined treatment, and is returned to an inlet side of a baking furnace 16 via a baking plate returning device 11 and so on. The plurality of plates 10 are conveyed at a time onto a mesh-like conveyor 17 of the furnace 16 through a conveyor or the like, and the substrate 1 after being baked is separated from the plate 10, to be thus housed in a product cassette. Simultaneously, the plate 10 is returned by the device 11 for reuse, and consequently, burning of the substrate 1 can be automated. Therefore, it is possible to dispense with manual handling of the heavy plate 10, thereby enhancing productivity.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an automatic substrate baking apparatus, and particularly relates to a blackening mask layer and barrier ribs formed on a front glass substrate of a plasma display, a blackening mask layer and a silver terminal layer formed on a rear glass substrate, etc. This invention relates to an automatic baking device for circuit patterns, etc.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art A plasma display is a type of flat display device, and utilizes a light emission phenomenon caused by gas discharge.

[0003] A plasma display panel has a pair of electrodes consisting of an anode and a cathode regularly arranged on two flat glasses on the display side and the back side, and a gas mainly composed of neon is placed between the electrodes. 100V to 20V between the electrodes.
When a voltage of about 0 V is applied, neon atoms are excited and ionized, resulting in a glow discharge in the vicinity of the cathode, which emits orange light.

[0004] Plasma displays can be classified into direct current type and alternating current type depending on the applied voltage, but the direct current type with a simple structure of display element is often used. The DC type has a structure in which the discharging electrode is in direct contact with the enclosed gas, and the discharge continues and light is emitted while voltage is applied to the electrode.

In order to use a plasma display as an information display element, electrodes are arranged regularly and barrier ribs are provided between adjacent electrodes, so that the voltage applied to the discharge cells separated by the barrier ribs is controlled. Controlled and selective discharge is required.

FIG. 7 shows a partial structure of a plasma display, in which a front glass plate 51 and a back glass plate 52 with a thickness of 2 mm to 3 mm are provided in parallel, and the front glass plate is used as a discharge portion. An anode 54 is provided between the partition walls 53 and the partition walls. The anode is composed of a transparent electrode made of an ITO film, which is a composite oxide of indium oxide and tin oxide, so that light emission can be seen from the surface. The partition wall provided between adjacent electrodes is made of insulating powder such as black pigment, alumina, or zirconia using glass frit as a binder, and is located between the anode formed on the front glass plate and the cathode formed on the back glass plate. The function is to prevent the glow discharge generated in the area from reaching the adjacent area.

There are various methods for forming partition walls on a glass plate, but ink made by dispersing glass frit, black pigment, alumina, zirconia powder, etc. in a solution of acrylic resin in a solvent is used. It is formed by printing and then firing.

[0008] The printing method is performed by a screen printing method that can print a relatively thick film.
A single printing process only forms a film with a thickness of several tens of micrometers, so in order to obtain barrier ribs that require a thickness of several hundred micrometers, it is necessary to precisely repeat printing on the previously printed area. After printing and drying to a predetermined thickness, baking is performed.

[0009]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Glass substrates with printed partition walls, circuits, light shielding parts, etc. printed thereon are continuously fired in a firing furnace as shown in a cross-sectional view in FIG.

A heating element 56 is provided around the firing furnace 55, and substrates are continuously fed into the furnace by a belt conveyor 57 for firing.

If the glass substrate 58 to be fired is placed directly on a belt conveyor, it may be damaged by a belt made of metal or the like while moving through a furnace at a high temperature close to the softening point of the glass substrate, so borosilicate glass is used. It is customary to place the glass on a baking plate 59 made of glass having a higher softening point than surface glass such as glass.

[0012] The materials for the partition walls, circuits, and light-shielding layers are kept at a temperature of 500°C to 60°C, which is lower than the softening temperature of the surface glass.
Glass frit made of low-melting glass that can be fired at a temperature of 0°C is used as a binder, but in order to increase the bonding strength between each of these ink materials and the glass substrate, a surface glass plate made of soda lime glass is used as a binder. It is preferable to raise the temperature to such a level that it partially softens, so the temperature at which the glass frit and the surface glass begin to soften is 620.
It is carried out by heating to a temperature of around 0.3°C.

[0013] The glass substrate is placed on the firing plate, the glass substrate is separated from the fired plate taken out from the firing furnace, and the glass substrate is stored in a rack, and the fired plate is transported to the entrance of the firing furnace and the glass substrate is placed again. However, since the firing plate is heavy, it is not possible to manually separate the firing plate from the glass substrate and transport the firing plate to the entrance side. However, there were problems with productivity and the adhesion of foreign matter due to manual work.

[0014]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides a method for removing a glass substrate from a glass substrate cassette containing glass substrates that have completed a printing process and placing the glass substrates on a baking plate, and for preparing a plurality of baking plates on which glass substrates are placed. The work of simultaneously placing the glass substrates on the belt conveyor of the firing furnace, separating the fired glass substrates from the firing plates and storing them in product cassettes, and transporting the fired plates to the entrance of the firing furnace is automated. This is a glass substrate transfer device that takes out glass substrates one by one from a glass substrate cassette and places the removed glass substrates on a baking plate, and a baking plate with glass substrates placed on it. An entrance-side fired plate alignment device that arranges a predetermined number of sheets; a fired plate feeding device that simultaneously feeds multiple fired plates to the belt conveyor of the firing furnace; a fired plate take-out device that takes out the fired plates from the belt conveyor of the firing furnace; This is an automatic substrate firing apparatus that has an outlet-side firing plate alignment device that aligns the firing plates, and a firing plate return device that returns the fired plates from which the substrates have been separated to the entrance side of the firing furnace.

[0015]

[Operation] In the automatic substrate baking apparatus of the present invention, by simply setting the cassette containing the glass substrates that have completed the printing process in a predetermined position, the glass substrates are automatically transferred onto the baking plate by the substrate conveyance device. The fired glass substrates are placed on the substrate, and the fired plate feeding device feeds multiple fired plates at once onto the belt conveyor of the firing furnace, and the glass substrates that have been fired are separated from the fired plates and stored in a product cassette, and the fired plates are fired. Since the glass substrate can be returned and used again by the plate return device, the firing of the glass substrate can be automated.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of an embodiment of the automatic substrate firing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows a side view of a substrate supply section and a substrate take-out section. FIG. 3 shows details of the substrate take-out and alignment conveyor, FIGS. 4 and 5 show time charts showing the operation of each part of the automatic substrate firing apparatus, and FIG. 6 shows a cassette that stores the substrates.

To explain the operation of the automatic substrate baking apparatus of the present invention, a substrate cassette 2 containing a large number of glass substrates 1 that have been printed in a predetermined manner by a screen printer or the like is a substrate cassette provided above a substrate supply device 3. The substrate cassettes are mounted one by one on the substrate cassette lifting device 5 by the transport device 4.

The substrates are taken out one by one from the lower part of the substrate cassette by the substrate transport device 6, and the substrate cassette lifting device lowers the position of the substrate cassette each time one substrate is taken out.

The empty cassette 18 from which all the glass substrates have been taken out is sent to the lower part of the substrate supply device, and then sent by the empty cassette transport device 19 and taken out to the outside.

The glass substrate 1 taken out from the substrate cassette is sent by the substrate supply device 3 to a position in front of the baked plate stopper 8 of the entrance side baked plate alignment device 7 consisting of a conveyor. It is placed on the firing plate 10 sent in by 9.

When the baking plate stopper 8 is released, the baking plate on which the glass substrate is placed moves forward a predetermined distance on the entrance side baking plate alignment device and then stops.

[0023]Subsequently, the same operation is repeated a predetermined number of times,
Align a plurality of firing plates and glass substrates.

[0024] Below, a case will be described in which six firing plates are simultaneously fed onto the conveyor of the firing furnace.

As shown in the time chart shown in FIG. 4, the entrance-side fired plate alignment device constituted by a conveyor moves the fired plate alignment conveyor by the operation of the fired plate feed cylinder when the first fired plate arrives by the fired plate return device 11. The firing plate 10 is stopped by the operation of the firing plate stopper 8, and the glass substrate 1 is placed on the firing plate while the firing plate is stopped by the firing plate stopper.

After the glass substrate is placed on the baking plate, the baking plate stopper is released, and at the same time, the entrance side baking plate alignment conveyor motor is activated to advance the baking plate forward, detecting the passage of the substrate, The baking plate stopper is activated, and after a predetermined period of time, the baking plate alignment conveyor motor is deactivated.

Next, the second baking plate arrives, is sent to the baking plate alignment conveyor by the baking plate pushing cylinder, and is stopped by the baking plate stopper. At the stop position, the second glass substrate is placed on the second baking plate, and the baking plate alignment conveyor is activated at the same time as the baking plate stopper is released.
Move the first glass substrate and the second glass substrate forward. After detecting the passage of the second substrate, the baking plate stopper is activated, and then the motor of the baking plate alignment conveyor is stopped. Repeat the above operations.

[0028] When the sixth glass substrate is placed on the baking plate and the baking plate alignment conveyor is activated, and the baking plate on which the six glass substrates are placed moves forward, the end point detection device of the baking plate alignment conveyor is activated. Then, the operation of the baking plate alignment conveyor motor is gradually reduced and stopped. Simultaneously with the stop of the baked plate alignment conveyor, the feed conveyor lifting cylinder 13 is driven, the feed roller 14 is raised, and the baked plate is pushed up above the baked plate alignment conveyor. When the raising is completed, the feed roller 14 is operated, and a plurality of baking plates are fed at once onto the mesh conveyor 17 of the baking furnace 16 by the feed conveyor 15, which moves in a direction perpendicular to the alignment conveyor.

Since the belt conveyor of the firing furnace always moves at a constant speed in the same direction as the firing plate feeding conveyor, the moving speed of the firing plate feeding conveyor is greater than the moving speed of the firing furnace belt conveyor. Feed the firing plate.

[0030] Furthermore, the firing plates are spaced apart from each other at a predetermined distance on the firing plate alignment conveyor, and when moving through the firing furnace, adjacent firing plates collide with each other, and the glass substrates on the firing plates are damaged by this impact. It is preferable to prevent this.

After passing through a firing furnace adjusted to a temperature of 580° C., a plurality of firing plates on which the fired substrates are placed are carried in a line from the exit of the firing furnace by a firing furnace belt conveyor. The baked plates are sent to the delivery conveyor 23 by the delivery roller 22 raised by the drive of the delivery roller raising cylinder 21 of the baking board delivery device 20, and further sent to the exit side baking board alignment conveyor 24 which moves in a direction perpendicular to the delivery conveyor.

The exit side baking plate alignment conveyor 24 is composed of a belt 25 with rollers, as shown in FIG.
A baking plate on which a glass substrate is placed is placed on the roller 26 .

When the baking plate hits the baking plate alignment stopper 27 due to the operation of the conveyor, the baking plate 10 is forcibly stopped, but the baking plate alignment stopper 27 does not affect the operation of the belt, so the belt continues to rotate. . Since the firing plate is placed on the roller, the firing plate can maintain its position by rotation of the roller.

The glass substrate is taken out by the substrate transfer device 28 from the first baking plate stopped by the baking plate alignment stopper 27 and stored in a product cassette 29.

The product cassette is supplied from the upper part of the substrate take-out device 30, and is lowered by the product cassette lifting device 31 every time a glass substrate is stored, and is transported to the bottom of the substrate take-out device, where the product cassette is transported. device 32
is sent to the specified location.

The baking plate from which the glass substrate has been removed after passing through the baking plate alignment stopper is moved forward by a belt with rollers, but as shown in FIG. Since the roller of the roller-equipped belt contacts the backing plate and the roller rotates, the baking plate is quickly conveyed out at the sum of the moving speed of the belt and the speed due to the rotation of the roller.

[0037] The fired plate that has been carried out is transferred to the fired plate return device 11.
The glass substrate is returned to the entrance side of the firing furnace, and the glass substrate is placed thereon again and sent to the firing furnace.

[0038] A fired plate cleaning device 34 may be provided for treating the surface of the fired plate with a dust removal brush or the like while the fired plate is being returned to the entrance side of the firing furnace.

FIG. 5 shows a time chart when taking out the substrate from the exit side of the firing furnace. When the substrate approaches the exit side, the motor of the delivery roller 22 is activated by the substrate detection sensor, and the delivery starts. The conveyor raising cylinder 21 is operated to transfer one row of baking plates carrying substrates from the belt conveyor of the baking furnace to the outlet side baking plate alignment conveyor.

When one row of baking plates is placed on the outlet baking plate alignment conveyor, the motor of the baking plate alignment conveyor is activated, detects the first substrate, and the baking plate alignment stopper is activated. Stop the row of firing plates. Since the baking plate alignment conveyor uses a special conveyor with rollers, the baking plates on the conveyor can be stopped while the belt conveyor is in operation.

The glass substrate is taken out from the first fired board by the substrate transfer device, and upon detecting the completion of taking out, the action of the fired board alignment stopper is released, and the fired board from which the glass substrate has been taken out is discharged.

The baking plate alignment conveyor operates to move the baking plates, and when the second baking plate is detected, the baking plate alignment stopper operates to stop the movement of the baking plates. While the movement of the firing plates is stopped, the glass substrate is taken out from the first firing plate, which is the second firing plate, by the exit side substrate transfer device and stored in a product cassette.

[0043] The above-described take-out operation is repeated to perform continuous firing.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a substrate cassette 2 for storing glass substrates used in the automatic substrate baking apparatus of the present invention. The top plate has handles 41 and 42.
is installed. In addition, the entrance part 4 of the board storage shelf
3 can be provided with a taper that extends outward to facilitate storage of the glass substrate.

[0045]

[Effects of the Invention] According to the automatic substrate baking apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to automatically feed and take out a plurality of baking plates on which substrates are placed into a baking furnace in parallel, which was conventionally done manually, and then bake them. This makes it possible to eliminate the need for manual handling of heavy firing plates and increase productivity.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of one embodiment of an automatic substrate firing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 (A) shows a side view of the substrate supply unit, and (B)
shows a side view of the board ejecting part.

FIG. 3 shows details of the substrate take-out and alignment conveyor.

FIG. 4 shows a time chart showing the operation of each part of the automatic substrate firing apparatus.

FIG. 5 shows a time chart showing the operation of each part of the automatic substrate firing apparatus.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a cassette that accommodates substrates.

FIG. 7 shows a partial structure of a plasma display.

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of an example of a firing furnace for firing a substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Glass substrate, 2... Substrate cassette, 3... Substrate supply device, 4... Substrate cassette transfer device, 5... Substrate cassette lifting device, 6... Entrance side substrate transfer device, 7... Entrance side firing plate alignment device, 8... Baking Plate stopper, 9... Baked plate supply device,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10... Baking board, 11... Baking board return device, 13... Feed roller raising cylinder, 14... Feed conveyor, 15
... Feed roller, 16... Baking furnace, 17... Mesh conveyor, 18... Empty cassette, 19... Empty cassette conveyance device, 20... Baked plate delivery device, 21... Delivery roller raising cylinder, 22... Delivery roller, 23... Delivery conveyor , 24... Exit side baked plate conveyor, 25... Belt with roller, 26... Roller, 27... Baked plate alignment stopper, 28... Exit side substrate transfer device, 29... Cassette for product, 30... Substrate take-out device, 31... For product Cassette lifting device, 32...Product cassette transport device, 33...Packing plate, 34...Baking plate cleaning device, 35...Top plate, 36...Bottom plate, 37, 38...Strut, 39, 40...Substrate storage shelf, 41,
42...Handle, 43...Entrance part, 51...Surface glass plate, 5
2... Rear glass plate, 53... Partition wall, 54... Anode, 55... Firing furnace, 56... Heating element, 57... Belt conveyor, 58... Glass substrate, 59... Firing plate

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An automatic substrate firing apparatus that continuously fires substrates, comprising: a substrate transport device that places the substrate on a firing plate; and an entrance side firing plate alignment device that aligns a plurality of firing plates on which substrates are placed. , a firing plate feeding device that simultaneously feeds a plurality of fired plates to the conveyor of the firing furnace, a firing plate feeding device that takes out the fired plates from the belt conveyor of the firing furnace, an outlet-side fired plate alignment device that aligns the fired plates taken out, and a firing plate top An automatic substrate firing apparatus comprising: a substrate take-out device for taking out a substrate from a substrate; and a fired plate return device for returning the fired plate from which the substrate has been separated to the entrance side of a firing furnace. 2. The automatic substrate firing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate for a plasma display.