JPH0538486A - Washing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a washing equipment capable of enhancing the treatment efficiency in filtration action of unnecessary material generated by washing treatment and of excellently washing both a washing tank and an overflow tank. CONSTITUTION:Washing liquid in a washing tank 33 is introduced into an overflow tank 34, via the drainage holes 36, 37 and the circulation pipelines 42, 43. This washing liquid in the overflow tank 31, is introduced into the washing tank 33. In other words, since flow in the single direction directed to the lower part from the upper part is constituted in the washing tank 33, the state of this washing liquid in the washing tank 33 can uniformly be held. Further the removed material separated separator from a work 61 in the washing tank 33 is moved to the lower part side along a sloped bottom part 33b and deposited. Therefore both a filter 40 for small-diameter substance and a filter 41 for large diameter substance are respectively communicated with the upper drainage hole 36 and the lower drainage hole 37.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device used for cleaning or etching a glass substrate in manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, a transparent electrode is patterned on a glass substrate, for example, ITO (indium tin oxide), by patterning by etching using a well-known photo process. After that, a cleaning process is performed to remove unnecessary substances on the etching liquid and the glass substrate.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram showing the configuration of a typical conventional cleaning apparatus 1. The cleaning device 1 is provided with a cleaning tank 2 in which the glass substrate or the like is carried in and a cleaning process is performed, and the cleaning tank 2 is surrounded in the vicinity of an upper end portion of the cleaning tank 2.
The overflow tank 3 receives the cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank 2. An ultrasonic oscillator 4 for cleaning a glass substrate or the like is provided on a substantially horizontal bottom of the cleaning tank 2. Drainage holes 5 and 6 are provided in the bottom portion 2a of the cleaning tank 2, and these drain the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 2 through drainage pipe lines 9 and 10 with valves 7 and 8 interposed respectively.

On the other hand, a drainage hole 11 is also provided in the bottom portion 3a of the overflow tank 3, and the pump 12 and the filter 1 are provided.
The cleaning tank 2 is communicated with a circulation pipe 14 that interposes 3. A valve 15 is provided on the circulation line 14 on the drain hole 11 side of the pump 12 to discharge the cleaning liquid in the overflow tank 3 as needed.

That is, in the cleaning device 1, the cleaning tank 2
The cleaning liquid is supplied to the inside, and the cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank 2 flows into the overflow tank 3 and is returned to the cleaning tank 2 again via the circulation pipe line 14. The circulation of the cleaning liquid in this way is provided in order to make the composition of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 2 constant and to perform the cleaning process with constant quality. Further, in the conventional cleaning apparatus 1, the shape of the cleaning tank 2 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape in view of the fact that the glass substrate to be cleaned has a rectangular plate shape.

[0006]

Such a cleaning device 1
Assuming a cleaning process in which a transparent electrode is formed by patterning an ITO film on a glass substrate as an example, in the cleaning tank 2 during the cleaning process, the ITO or the photoresist used for the photo process is used. , There is a removed material removed from the glass substrate. When the specific gravity of the removing substance is larger than that of the cleaning liquid, the removing substance floats in the cleaning liquid or is deposited on the bottom portion 2a of the cleaning tank 2.
Therefore, in this conventional example in which the cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank 2 is filtered, it is not possible to effectively remove such floating or accumulated removal substances. In addition, such a removed substance is liable to be washed up by the cleaning liquid injected into the cleaning tank 2 from the circulation conduit 14 and reattached to the glass substrate or the like, which causes a problem.

Further, the size of the floating or accumulated removal substance is large and small, and the filter 13 for filtering the cleaning liquid from the overflow tank 3 has a filtering characteristic so that a relatively small amount of the removal substance can be filtered. Therefore, there is a problem that clogging is likely to occur due to the removal substances of various sizes.

The cleaning tank 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped shape and has a bottom portion 2a.
Is formed flat, and it is difficult to sufficiently remove the removal material accumulated on the bottom 2a even if the valves 7 and 8 are opened to discharge the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 2.
Further, in order to improve the removal efficiency, even when water or the like is sprayed into the cleaning tank 2 in the state of a shower, the removed substance is likely to remain at the corners of the rectangular parallelepiped cleaning tank 2, so that the cleaning tank 2 can be cleaned easily. Will be insufficient. In such a case, there arises a problem that the remaining removed substance is reattached to the glass substrate or the like to be cleaned. Further, when the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 2 or the overflow tank 3 is discharged, an exhaust liquid treatment device (not shown) is connected to the subsequent stage of the valves 7, 8 and 15 via a drain pipe, but contains a removal substance. If the cleaning liquid is directly supplied to the drain pipe or the drain treatment device, the drain pipe or the drain treatment device may be clogged.

The object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, to improve the processing efficiency of the filtering action of the unnecessary substances generated by the cleaning process, and to perform good cleaning of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank. It is to provide a cleaning device that can do it.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device comprising a cleaning tank and an overflow tank provided at an upper end of the cleaning tank for receiving a fluid overflowing from the cleaning tank, wherein each bottom portion of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank is The slanting holes are provided obliquely with respect to the horizontal direction, and drain holes are respectively provided at a plurality of positions on the bottom of the cleaning tank between the upper end and the lower end of the slant, including the upper end and the lower end. A plurality of circulation pipes that are formed to return the fluid from each drain hole to the overflow tank are provided, and the plurality of circulation pipelines are connected to the drain holes on the lower side of the inclination of the bottom of the cleaning tank. The cleaning device is characterized in that a filtering member having a filtering characteristic that becomes sparser as the path is formed is interposed.

Further, in the present invention, the inner peripheral surfaces of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank are formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the cleaning liquid for cleaning is ejected from the inner peripheral surface in a direction intersecting the radial direction to clean the inside of the tank. The cleaning device is characterized in that.

[0012]

According to the present invention, when the cleaning action is carried out in the cleaning tank, unnecessary substances are removed from the object to be cleaned. Fresh fluid is first supplied to the overflow tank, and the fluid overflowing from the overflow tank flows into the cleaning tank. A drainage hole is provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank so that the fluid in the cleaning tank flows in a single direction from the upper side to the lower side, and the removed substances generated from the object to be cleaned in the cleaning tank are in the cleaning tank. You can prevent the situation of soaring.

Further, such a removing substance is deposited on the bottom portion of the cleaning tank, and the bottom portion is obliquely provided with respect to the horizontal direction, and a removing substance having a larger diameter or a larger specific gravity is inclined at the bottom portion. Deposit on the lower side. Each of the drainage holes communicates with the overflow tank via a circulation conduit, and further, the drainage holes are connected to the drainage holes on the lower side of the inclination of the bottom of the cleaning tank. The member is interposed. That is, a filtering member having a filtering characteristic corresponding to such a removed substance is installed corresponding to a circulation pipe through which a removed substance having a larger diameter passes or a removed substance having a larger specific gravity passes, It is possible to prevent undesired or excessive clogging of the filter member.

Further, in such an invention, the inner peripheral surfaces of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank are formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the cleaning liquid for cleaning the tank is ejected from the inner peripheral surface in a direction intersecting with the radial direction. In the case of cleaning the inside of the tank, such a cleaning liquid for cleaning the inside of the tank forms an eddy flow along the inner wall surface of the inside of the overflow tank or the cleaning tank, and cleans the inside of the tank well.

Further, even when the removing substance remains in the fluid injected into the overflow tank through the circulation line, such removing substance precipitates in the overflow tank,
A fluid that does not include a removal substance can be supplied to the cleaning bath.

[0016]

1 is a system diagram of a cleaning device 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view of a processing device 60 in which the cleaning device 21 is used, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the processing device 60. Is. The processing device 60 is used to perform a cleaning process or an etching process on a glass substrate or a silicon wafer in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device or a semiconductor manufacturing process, for example. As an example, a process of cleaning a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device will be described. Such a glass substrate is subjected to a cleaning treatment in a state where it is stored in a cassette (not shown) which is a storage container with 10 to 40 sheets as one lot.

The processing apparatus 60 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is adjacent to the loader 22 for keeping the cassette containing the glass substrate in a standby state from the upstream side to the downstream side of the transport direction A1 of the cassette. A cleaning chamber 23 for cleaning and a unloader 24 that is adjacent to the cleaning chamber 23 and waits in a cassette state before taking out the glass substrate for which the cleaning process is finished from the processing apparatus 60 are arranged.

In the cleaning chamber 23, a chemical solution tank 25, a primary water washing tank 26, a final water washing tank 27 and a drying tank 28 are installed in this order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the carrying direction A1.
A transfer rail 31 is installed above the cleaning chamber 23 along the transfer direction A1, and a transfer robot 29 for holding the cassette or each glass substrate in the cassette is movably installed by a chucking arm 30. It A clean bench 32 is provided above the installation space of the loader 22 and the unloader 24 and above the cleaning chamber 23 to maintain these spaces at high cleanliness.

In the processing apparatus 60, the cassette in which the glass substrate is stored and stands by in the loader 22 is held and lifted by the chucking arm 30 of the transfer robot 29, and is first immersed in the chemical solution tank 25 to make the glass substrate. Chemical treatment is performed. The glass substrate housed in the cassette after the chemical treatment is further immersed in the next primary washing tank 26 by the transfer robot 29 to be washed with water. Next, it is immersed in the final washing tank 27 and the washing process is performed again. Further, it is dried in the drying tank 28, transferred to the unloader 24, and held in a standby state.

The cleaning device 21 shown in FIG.
5 and the washing tanks 26 and 27.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the cleaning device 21 including the cleaning chamber 23 and the overflow tank 34 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 5 is a plan view of FIG. Please refer to FIG. The cleaning device 21 includes a cleaning tank 33 having an inner peripheral surface 33a formed in a substantially right circular column shape, and a bottom portion 33b thereof forms an angle θ with respect to the horizontal direction.
It is constructed with one inclination. At the upper end of the cleaning tank 33, an overflow tank 34 is provided so as to surround the cleaning tank 33, an inner peripheral surface 34a thereof is formed in a substantially right cylindrical shape, and a bottom portion 34b is formed at an angle θ2 with respect to the horizontal direction. To be done. Bottom 33
The inclination angles θ1 and θ2 and the inclination directions of b and 34b may be the same or different from each other. The bottom 33b of the cleaning tank 33 is provided with an ultrasonic oscillator 35 that generates ultrasonic waves for cleaning the work 61 such as the glass substrate carried into the cleaning tank 33.

Drainage holes 36 and 37 are formed in the bottom portion 33b of the cleaning tank 33 near the upper end portion and the lower end portion along the slope, respectively, and pumps 38 and 39 and filters 40 and 41 as will be described later. Circulation line 4 which interposes in this order
It communicates with the overflow tank 34 via 2, 43.
That is, in the cleaning tank 33, the cleaning liquid for cleaning the glass substrate or the like is injected from the drain holes 36, 37 into the overflow tank 34 through the circulation pipes 42, 43.
It circulates in the circulation path flowing from the overflow tank 34 into the cleaning tank 33. That is, the upper end portion 3 of the overflow tank 34
4c is configured to project above the upper end portion 33c of the cleaning tank 33. The filter 40 is loaded with a filtering member for small diameter substances, and the filter 41 is loaded with a filtering member for large diameter substances.

Pumps 38, 3 of the circulation lines 42, 43
Drainage lines 46 and 47, which interpose valves 44 and 45, are communicated with the cleaning tank 33 side with respect to 9, respectively. A drain hole 48 is formed near the lower end of the bottom portion 34b of the overflow tank 34 along the slope, and a drain pipe 50 interposing a valve 49 is communicated with the drain hole 48. The drainage pipes 46, 47, 5
The outflow side end portion of 0 is arranged on the drainage filter 51, and drains the drainage from the overflow tank 34 and the cleaning tank 33 onto the paper filter 52 arranged on the drainage filter 51.

On the other hand, the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 3
In the vicinity of the upper end portions of the inner peripheral surfaces 33a, 34a of No. 4, for example, as shown in FIG.
Nozzles 53 and 54 for ejecting a cleaning liquid for cleaning the tank are arranged in the tangential direction thereof. That is, the nozzles 53, 54
As shown by arrows A2 and A3 in FIG. 5, the cleaning liquid ejected from the inside of the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 34 forms a vortex flow along the inner peripheral surfaces 33a and 34a of the right cylindrical shape. The nozzles 53 and 54 are connected to a cleaning pipe 58 via flowmeters 55 and 56, and a valve 57 for supplying / shutting off the tank cleaning liquid is interposed in the cleaning pipe 58.

The operation of the cleaning device 21 will be described below. When the work 61 such as the glass substrate is carried into the cleaning tank 33 to perform the cleaning process, the valves 44, 45, 49 are used.
Is cut off and the pumps 38, 39 are driven. That is, the cleaning liquid for the work 61 in the cleaning tank 33 is discharged into the drain holes 36, 3
7 and the circulation lines 42, 43, and the overflow tank 34.
Supplied within. The cleaning liquid stored in the overflow tank 34 and having passed over the upper end portion 33c of the cleaning tank 33 flows into the cleaning tank 33. That is, in the cleaning tank 33, the arrow A4 in FIG.
A unidirectional flow from top to bottom is formed as shown in
The removed substance removed from the work 61 is stored in the cleaning tank 33.
As described in the prior art, the bottom 3
Deposit on 3b.

That is, the work 61 in the cleaning tank 33 is
As will be described later, the cleaning liquid that has been filtered and becomes clean is always supplied from above. That is, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the cleaning material is reattached to the work 61 to be cleaned and the cleaning effect is lowered due to the floating of the removed substance. Further, since the generation of the turbulent flow of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 33 is prevented, the state of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 33 can be made uniform and the cleaning processing quality can be improved.

Further, the removed substance in the cleaning tank 33 is deposited on the bottom portion 33b, and the bottom portion 33b is inclined as described above, and therefore, the deposits having a relatively large diameter and the specific gravity are large. And the drain hole 37 moves downward along the slope.
Is sucked out from. Therefore, the removal substance deposited on the bottom portion 33b can be efficiently guided to the outside.
On the other hand, from the drainage hole 36, an object having a relatively small diameter or an object having a relatively small specific gravity is sucked to the outside. Therefore, the filter 41
Filter the large diameter object or the object with large specific gravity,
A value of 0 filters a material having a relatively small diameter or a material having a low specific gravity. Therefore, as compared with the case where only a single filter is used to filter substances of various sizes as in the prior art, it is possible to suppress or prevent the occurrence of undesired or excessive clogging, and improve the filtration efficiency. be able to.

The overflow tank 3 cannot be completely filtered by the filters 40 and 41, and is passed through the circulation lines 42 and 43 together with the cleaning liquid.
The removal substance flowing into the inside of the overflow tank 4 is deposited on the bottom portion 34b of the overflow tank 34. As a result, the cleaning liquid that has been subjected to the precipitation filtration in the overflow tank 34 flows into the cleaning tank 33, and in this respect also, the state of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 33 is kept uniform and high quality is maintained. be able to.

When the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 34 are cleaned as described above, the pumps 38 and 39 are stopped and the valves 44, 45 and 49 are opened to remove the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 34. The removed substance is discharged. At this time, the valve 57 is opened to open the cleaning pipe 58.
From this, a cleaning liquid for cleaning the tank, such as water, is pressurized and supplied. This cleaning liquid is ejected tangentially from the nozzles 53 and 54 as described with reference to FIG.
3, a swirl is formed, and the inner peripheral surfaces 33a and 34a and the bottom portions 33b and 3 of the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 34 are formed.
4b can be washed well. Moreover, since the inner peripheral surfaces 33a and 34a have a substantially cylindrical shape, there is no corner portion where the removed substance is likely to remain, and the removed substance can be washed well. The drainage and removal substances when such tank cleaning is performed flow out favorably to the outside through the drainage holes 37 and 48 due to the inclined bottom portions 33b and 34b.

On the other hand, the drained liquid and the removed substance that have flowed out to the outside are temporarily drained without being supplied to a drainage treatment device or the like from a drainage pipe (not shown) in the subsequent stage in the same state as in the conventional example. It is filtered by the liquid filter 51. Since the drainage filter 51 uses the paper filter 52, the drainage filter 51 has a simple structure and prevents the drainage pipe connected to the subsequent stage from the drainage filter and the drainage treatment device from being clogged.

FIG. 6 shows a cleaning apparatus 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention.
It is a cross-sectional view of 1a. This embodiment is similar to the above-mentioned embodiment, and corresponding parts are designated by the same reference numerals. What should be noted in this embodiment is that the cleaning apparatus 21 of the above embodiment is provided with a nozzle 63 extending inward in the radial direction from the outside in the cleaning tank 33 as shown in FIG. That is, as described in the above embodiment, the vortex flow indicated by the arrow A2 is formed in the cleaning tank 33 by the nozzle 53, and the cleaning tank 33
The internal cleaning action is performed well. In the present embodiment, the nozzle 63 is used to eject the cleaning liquid to the vicinity of the center of the cleaning tank 33 simultaneously with the nozzles 53 and 54 or alternately.

This is because the removal substance existing in the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface 33a of the cleaning tank 33 is cleaned by the vortex flow of the nozzle 53 in the direction of arrow A2, and such a vortex creates a vicinity of the central position of the cleaning tank 33. That is, the removed substance may remain near the center of the vortex flow. In such a case, the nozzle 6
3, the removal material near the center position is removed and moved to the vicinity of the inner peripheral surface 33a of the cleaning tank 33, and in combination with the vortex flow by the nozzle 53, the cleaning operation in the cleaning tank 33 is more preferably performed. is there.

That is, in this embodiment, in addition to the effects described in the above-mentioned embodiments, the cleaning tank 3 is formed by the vortex flow in the direction of arrow A2.
Even when the removed substance remains in the vicinity of the central portion of No. 3, it is possible to satisfactorily remove the removed substance, which is a more remarkable effect.

The cleaning device of the present invention is not limited to the processing device 60 used in manufacturing the liquid crystal display device,
It can be carried out in an apparatus for cleaning or etching a silicon wafer or the like in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and is also carried out in a wide range of technical fields having a cleaning process.

The nozzles 53 and 54 are not limited to so-called nozzles, which are cylindrical members, and through holes through which a cleaning liquid for cleaning a tank capable of forming a swirling flow similar to the nozzles 53 and 54 in the cleaning tank 33 and the overflow tank 34 pass. May be formed.
Further, the jetting direction of the cleaning liquid is not limited to the tangential direction as in the above-described embodiment, but an example in which the jetting direction is selected in any direction intersecting the radial direction is possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention, a new fluid is first supplied to the overflow tank, and the fluid overflowing from the overflow tank flows into the cleaning tank. A drainage hole is provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank so that the fluid in the cleaning tank flows in a single direction from the upper side to the lower side, and the removed substances generated from the object to be cleaned in the cleaning tank are in the cleaning tank. You can prevent the situation of soaring.

Further, such a removing substance is deposited on the bottom of the cleaning tank, and the bottom is provided obliquely with respect to the horizontal direction, and a removing substance having a larger diameter or a larger specific gravity is inclined at the bottom. Deposit on the lower side. Each of the drainage holes communicates with the overflow tank via a circulation conduit, and further, the drainage holes are connected to the drainage holes on the lower side of the inclination of the bottom of the cleaning tank. The member is interposed. That is, a filtering member having a filtering characteristic corresponding to such a removed substance is installed corresponding to a circulation pipe through which a removed substance having a larger diameter passes or a removed substance having a larger specific gravity passes, It is possible to prevent undesired or excessive clogging of the filter member.

Further, in such an invention, the inner peripheral surfaces of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank are formed in a substantially columnar shape, and the cleaning liquid for cleaning the tank is jetted in a direction intersecting the radial direction on the inner peripheral surfaces of the tank. In the case of cleaning the inside of the tank, such a cleaning liquid for cleaning the inside of the tank forms an eddy flow along the inner wall surface of the inside of the overflow tank or the cleaning tank, and cleans the inside of the tank well.

Further, even when the removing substance remains in the fluid injected into the overflow tank through the circulation pipe, such removing substance precipitates in the overflow tank,
A fluid that does not include a removal substance can be supplied to the cleaning bath. In this way, the processing efficiency of the filtering action can be improved, and the cleaning of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank can be performed well.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of a cleaning device 21 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a processing device 60 in which the cleaning device 21 is implemented.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a processing device 60.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a configuration related to a cleaning tank 33.

5 is a plan view of the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device 21a according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a system diagram of a conventional cleaning device 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

 21, 21a Cleaning device 33 Cleaning tank 33a Inner peripheral surface 33b Bottom portion 34 Overflow tank 34a Inner peripheral surface 34b Bottom portion 40,41 Filter 42,43 Circulation conduit 51 Waste liquid filter 53,54 Nozzle 60 Treatment device

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H05K 3/26 6736-4E

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning device comprising a cleaning tank and an overflow tank provided at an upper end of the cleaning tank for receiving a fluid overflowing from the cleaning tank, wherein bottoms of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank are inclined with respect to a horizontal direction. Drainage holes are formed in the bottom portion of the cleaning tank at a plurality of positions between the upper end and the lower end of the slant, including the upper end and the lower end, and the drainage holes are formed from the respective drainage holes. A plurality of circulation pipes for returning the fluid of the above-mentioned to the overflow tank are provided, and the plurality of circulation pipes are connected to the drainage holes on the lower side of the inclination of the bottom of the cleaning tank, so that the filtering characteristic becomes sparse. A cleaning device characterized in that a filter member to be used is interposed. 2. The inner peripheral surfaces of the cleaning tank and the overflow tank are formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a cleaning liquid for cleaning is jetted from the inner peripheral surface in a direction intersecting the radial direction to clean the inside of the tank. The cleaning device according to claim 1, wherein: