JPH0536658A - Substrate cleaning and drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the adhesion of particles to a substrate to be cleaned by eliminating the contact between the patterned surface of the substrate and a carrying mechanism and, at the same time, not providing any particle generating source in the space above the substrate in a substrate cleaning and drying device which cleans and dries square substrates. CONSTITUTION:A substrate carrying means 8 is constituted of a driving section 18 which supports the lower end section of a substrate 1 and a guide section 19 which guides the upper end section of the substrate 1 in a movable state. A U-shaped guide groove 26 which supports the end section of the substrate 1 in a non-contact state by means of a fluid is formed at least in the guide section 19 of the driving and guide sections 18 and 19 and, at the same time, a pump 40 is connected to a fluid passage 27 having an opening 27a in the groove 26. Therefore, the fluid is jetted upon the substrate 1 by means of the pump 40 through the opening 27a of the passage 27 and a fluid bearing mechanism is formed between the substrate 1 and groove 26. As a result, the substrate 1 is carried in a state where the substrate 1 does not come into contact with the guide section 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus, and more particularly to cleaning and drying the front and back surfaces of, for example, a rectangular liquid crystal glass substrate, a printed circuit board or other semiconductor substrate. The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning / drying device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in cleaning a rectangular substrate such as a liquid crystal glass substrate, a printed circuit board or a semiconductor substrate, in order to enhance the cleaning effect, the substrate is transferred to a cleaning unit or a drying unit for cleaning. A single-wafer transfer method that performs a drying process is adopted. In this case, in the conventional cleaning / drying device of this type, the substrate is placed in a horizontal state and is transported to the cleaning unit and the drying unit by the transport belt or the transport roller to clean / dry the front and back surfaces of the substrate. ing.

[0003]

However, in the conventional cleaning / drying apparatus of this type, since the cleaning nozzles and the drying nozzles are disposed so as to face the front and back surfaces of the substrate which is conveyed in the horizontal direction, the apparatus is not suitable. There is a problem that not only the size of the whole becomes large and the equipment cost increases, but also the cleaning and drying of the front and back surfaces of the substrate become non-uniform and the cleaning effect and the like are insufficient.

Therefore, as a means for solving the above problems,
As shown in FIG. 7, the lower end of the vertically standing substrate a is supported by a drive mechanism b such as a drive roller or a drive belt, and both upper ends of the substrate a are held by a pair of guide rollers c. Thus, a structure in which the substrate a is transported vertically and the front and back surfaces of the substrate a being transported are cleaned and dried is conceivable. However, in this structure, particles may be generated at the contact portion between the substrate a and the driving mechanism b, the contact portion between the substrate a and the guide roller c, or the bearing portion d of the guide roller c. Of these particles, the particles at the lower end of the substrate a can be dropped and removed during cleaning and drying, but the particles at the upper end of the substrate a adhere to the substrate a, thus achieving the purpose of cleaning. There is a problem that you cannot do it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and conveys the substrate vertically so that the front and back surfaces of the substrate are uniformly washed and dried, and at least eliminates contact between the pattern surface of the substrate and the conveyance mechanism, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate cleaning / drying device in which a particle generation source is eliminated at least in an upper portion of a substrate that affects a substrate to be cleaned to prevent particles from adhering to the substrate to be cleaned. is there.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention conveys a rectangular substrate to a cleaning unit and a drying unit, and the cleaning unit causes the front and back surfaces of the substrate. After cleaning the substrate, a drive unit that supports the lower end of the substrate and a guide unit that movably guides the upper end of the substrate are premised on a substrate cleaning / drying device that dries the front and back surfaces of the substrate in the drying unit. A guide groove for supporting the end portion of the substrate in a non-contact manner with a fluid in at least a guide portion of the drive portion and the guide portion, and a liquid or a drying gas opening in the guide groove. The fluid supply means is connected to the fluid passage.

In the present invention, the driving unit may be any one as long as it supports the lower end of the substrate and transmits the driving force for transportation to the substrate. For example, the driving unit is formed by a conveying roller or a conveying belt. can do. In this case, the contact area between the drive unit and the substrate should be as small as possible, and preferably the drive unit should be in contact with the lower end of the substrate.

The guide portion has a guide groove for supporting the end portion of the substrate in a non-contact manner with a fluid, and connects the fluid supply means to the fluid passage of the liquid or the drying gas opened in the guide groove. If there is no problem, it may be a long one provided along the substrate transport direction, but preferably, a plurality of guide blocks for supporting at least two ends of the substrate at the same time in a non-contact manner are spaced apart in the substrate transport direction. It is better to arrange it. The opening of the fluid passage may be in any direction as long as it is provided on both sides of the guide groove, but it is preferable that the opening be at a right angle to the substrate or an angle inclined toward the substrate transport direction. It is better to hold it.

If the guide groove and the fluid passage are provided at least in the guide portion, the driving portion may be formed by the conveying roller, the conveying belt or the like as described above, but at least the guide groove of the driving portion is formed. With the structure in which the opening of the fluid passage is inclined toward the substrate transport direction, the drive unit can be configured by the guide groove and the fluid passage connected to the fluid supply means. In this case, the guide groove needs to be formed along the longitudinal direction along the substrate transport direction.

[0010]

Operation: The substrate cleaning / inspection of the present invention configured as described above
According to the drying device, at least the guide portion of the driving portion that supports the lower end portion of the substrate and the guide portion that movably guides the upper end portion of the substrate is provided with a guide groove that supports the end portion of the substrate in a non-contact manner with a fluid. And a fluid supply means is connected to the fluid passage of the liquid or the drying gas that opens in the guide groove, so that the substrate is maintained in the vertical state and is conveyed to the cleaning section and the drying section for cleaning and drying. Can be processed.

A liquid film or a drying gas supplied from the fluid supply means is jetted to the substrate guided by the guide portion to form a fluid film between the substrate and the guide groove. The substrate is smoothly moved and guided by the fluid bearing mechanism of the film, and since the substrate and the guide portion are not in contact with each other, particles are not generated.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a drive section and a guide section, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main section of the drive section and the guide section.

The substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention includes a substrate supply unit 2 for vertically accommodating a plurality of substrates 1 to be cleaned.
A substrate cleaning unit 4 having a cleaning nozzle 3 opening toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1, a substrate drying unit 6 having a drying nozzle 5 opening toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1, and a cleaned and dried substrate 1. A substrate take-out section 7 for accommodating 1 in a vertical shape, and a substrate transfer means 8 arranged in the substrate take-out section 7 penetrating the substrate cleaning section 4 and the substrate drying section 6 from the substrate supply section 2. .

The substrate supply unit 2 is provided with a slide unit 10 mounted on a pedestal 9 of the substrate supply unit 2 so as to be movable in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the substrate 1, and a plurality of slide units 10 are installed on the slide unit 10. It is composed of a cassette 11 for vertically accommodating a plurality of substrates 1 at intervals and a push-out mechanism 12 arranged on the side of the cassette 11 for feeding the substrates 1 in the cassette 11 one by one to the substrate transfer means 8 side. The substrate supply mechanism is provided. In this case, the cassette 11 is formed in a rectangular frame shape, and a guide groove (not shown) for holding the substrate 1 in a slidable and vertical state is provided on the upper and lower opposing surfaces thereof, and the pushing mechanism 12 operates according to the operation. The pressed substrate 1 moves along the guide groove and is sent out to the substrate transfer means 8 side.

The substrate cleaning unit 4 is formed of a plurality of cleaning units in order to efficiently clean the substrate 1, and each cleaning nozzle 3 has a structure according to the cleaning purpose of each cleaning unit 4. However, basically, a nozzle having a slit-shaped nozzle along the vertical direction is used.

The substrate drying section 6 is provided with an air knife type nozzle 5 which is a pair of drying nozzles having slit-shaped nozzles vertically arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to the substrate 1 in the center of the substrate drying section 6. is doing.

The substrate take-out section 7 is, similarly to the substrate supply section, a slide section 10 which is movably mounted on a pedestal 9 in a direction orthogonal to the transfer direction of the substrate 1, and the slide section 1.
Cassette 11 which is installed on the substrate 0 and vertically accommodates a plurality of substrates 1 at intervals, and the substrate 1 which is arranged on the side of the cassette 11 and is conveyed by the substrate conveying means 8 is pushed into the cassette 11. And a push-out mechanism (not shown).

On the other hand, the substrate carrying means 8 are arranged at appropriate intervals along the carrying direction of the substrate 1, and as shown in FIG. 1, the lower end of the substrate 1 supports the substrate 1 vertically. It is composed of a drive unit 18 that comes into contact with the unit and a guide unit 19 that movably guides the upper end of the substrate 1.

In this case, the drive unit 18 is formed by a conveyance roller 22 mounted on a rotary shaft 21 having a transmission pulley 20 that rotates by transmitting drive from a drive motor (not shown). The transport roller 22 is provided with a V-shaped groove 23 that supports the lower end surface of the substrate 1 to minimize the contact area with the substrate 1.

The guide portion 19 is formed of a guide block which is connected to a drive block 24 to which a conveying roller 22 is rotatably attached via a vertical plate 25. The guide portion 19 has, for example, a U-shaped guide groove 26 that supports the upper end portion of the substrate 1 in a non-contact manner with a fluid, and a fluid passage 27 that opens to an opposite side wall of the U-shaped guide groove 26. In the substrate cleaning unit 4 shown in the drawing, the fluid passage 27 is connected to the pump 40, which is a liquid supply source, via the supply pipeline 41, and the liquid 4 in the liquid tank 42 is connected.
3 is pumped by the pump 40 and jetted toward the substrate 1 from the opening 27a of the fluid passage 27, so that a so-called fluid bearing mechanism is formed. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the opening 2 of the fluid passage 27 is
By inclining 7a toward the transfer direction of the substrate 1, a component force in the transfer direction of the substrate 1 is generated in the liquid 43 ejected from the fluid passage 27, and the component force in the transfer direction further facilitates the transfer of the substrate. It can be carried out. In the substrate drying unit 6, instead of liquid, clean air for drying or N
By using 2 gas, it is possible to similarly form a fluid bearing mechanism by a fluid film between the substrate 1 and the U-shaped guide groove 26.

By forming the substrate carrying means 8 as described above, the lower end of the substrate 1 is carried by the carrying roller 2 of the driving unit 18.
2 and the upper end of the substrate 1 is supported by the liquid or the drying gas sprayed to the guide portion 19, so that particles do not adhere to the upper end of the substrate 1 and the substrate 1 is maintained in a vertical state. To be done. Then, in this state, the substrate 1 is transported by the rotation of the transport roller 22 of the drive unit 18. In this case, a conveyor belt may be used instead of the conveyor roller 22.

Each of the substrate cleaning units 4 configured as described above,
The substrate drying unit 6 is a machine room 2 that houses a drive source and a piping system.
The cleaning nozzle 3 or the air knife type nozzle 5 is provided in a chamber 29 provided above the substrate 8, and the substrate transfer means 8 is provided.
2 sets of the drive unit 18 and the guide unit 19 are provided (see FIG. 1). A side wall 30 of the chamber 29 in the substrate transport direction is provided with a substrate transport opening 31 through which the substrate 1 passes. The floor of the room 29, that is, the machine room 2
The ceiling portion 8 is provided with a drain port or an exhaust port (not shown), and the liquid used in the substrate cleaning unit 4 and the substrate drying unit 6
The water, etc. removed in step 3 is discharged to the outside.

Next, the operation mode of the substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The cassette 11 set in the substrate supply section 2
Is moved by the slide unit 10 to position the substrate 1 on the stepped portion side in the cassette 11 in front of the pushing mechanism 12, and then the pushing mechanism 12 is pushed out to feed the substrate 1 to the substrate feeding means 8. It is pushed out to the drive section 18 and the guide section 19 on the side of the section.

The lower end of the extruded substrate 1 is supported by the conveying roller 22 of the drive unit 18, and the guide unit 1 is also provided.
The upper end portion is supported by the film of the liquid ejected into the U-shaped guide groove 26 of 9, and is conveyed to the first cleaning unit 4a by the rotation of the conveyance roller 22, and cleaning is performed.

The substrate 1 cleaned by the first cleaning unit 4a is similarly cleaned by the second cleaning unit 4b, the third cleaning unit and the fourth cleaning unit, and then transported to the substrate drying unit 6 and the substrate drying unit 6 In the above, the air is dried by the drying gas sprayed from the air knife type nozzle 5 to the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 being conveyed.

The substrate 1 dried by the substrate drying unit 6 is moved to the substrate unloading unit 7 and is accommodated in the cassette 11 by the pushing operation of the pushing mechanism 12 to complete the washing and drying of one substrate 1. .

As described above, the cassette 11 of the substrate supply unit 2
The substrates 1 in the inside are sequentially conveyed one by one to the substrate conveying means 8 by the push-out mechanism 12, and then continuously cleaned for cleaning the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 while being vertically maintained by the drive unit 18 and the guide unit 19. A drying process is performed.

In the above embodiment, the case where the drive unit 18 of the substrate carrying means 8 is composed of the carrying roller 22 or the carrying belt has been described, but as shown in FIGS.
The drive unit 18 is formed by a drive block 50 that surrounds the lower end of the substrate 1 in a non-contact manner and has, for example, a longitudinal U-shaped guide groove 51, and is opened in both side walls of the U-shaped guide groove 51. The opening 52a of the fluid passage 52 is inclined toward the transport direction of the substrate 1, and a liquid supply means, such as a pump 40, is connected to the fluid passage 52 via a supply pipe 41 to remove the liquid 43 in the liquid tank 42 from the fluid. You may make it jet from the passage 52 toward the substrate 1. In this case, it is preferable that the guide portion 19 also has the structure shown in FIG. By forming in this way, it is possible to further reduce the contact between the lower end portion of the substrate 1 and the driving unit 18, and to eliminate the adhesion of particles to the substrate 1.

It is also possible to form the drive unit 18 by combining the drive block 50 having the above structure and the transport roller 22.

[0032]

As described above, according to the substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention, which is configured as described above, the following effects can be obtained.

1) Since the substrate can be conveyed in a vertical state and the upper end of the substrate and the substrate conveying means can be conveyed in a non-contact manner, particles are not attached to the substrate and the substrate cleaning unit and the substrate It can be efficiently transported to the drying section.

2) Since the liquid and the drying gas can be uniformly sprayed on the front and back surfaces of the substrate being transported, there is no unevenness in cleaning and drying, and the cleaning effect and the drying effect can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a substrate cleaning / drying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a drive unit and a guide unit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part showing a drive part and a guide part.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional plan view showing another embodiment of the guide portion according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the drive unit in the present invention.

6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional substrate transfer means.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate 4 Substrate cleaning section 6 Substrate drying section 8 Board transfer means 18 Drive 19 Guide section 26 U-shaped guide groove 27 fluid passage 27a opening 40 pump (fluid supply means) 51 U-shaped guide groove 52 fluid passage 52a opening

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate cleaning / drying apparatus for transporting a rectangular substrate to a cleaning unit and a drying unit, cleaning the front and back faces of the substrate in the cleaning unit, and then drying the front and back faces of the substrate in the drying unit, A drive unit that supports the lower end of the substrate, and a guide unit that movably guides the upper end of the substrate are provided. At least the guide unit of the drive unit and the guide unit connects the end of the substrate to the fluid. A substrate cleaning / drying apparatus, characterized in that a guide groove is formed so as to be supported in a non-contact manner by means of the above, and a fluid supply means is connected to a fluid passage of a liquid or a drying gas opened in the guide groove. 2. A substrate cleaning / drying apparatus for transporting a rectangular substrate to a cleaning unit and a drying unit, cleaning the front and back surfaces of the substrate in the cleaning unit, and then drying the front and back surfaces of the substrate in the drying unit, A drive unit that supports the lower end of the substrate, and a guide unit that movably guides the upper end of the substrate, and at least the drive unit of the drive unit and the guide unit,
A guide groove for supporting the end portion of the substrate in a non-contact manner with a fluid is formed, and an opening of a fluid passage for a liquid or a drying gas, which is opened in the guide groove, is inclined in the transport direction of the substrate so that the liquid or the liquid is dried. A substrate cleaning / drying device, characterized in that the substrate is driven to be driven by injecting gas in the direction of transporting the substrate.