JPH06154715A - Washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enhance the washing power in a pre-washing tank, in a washing device wherein an object to be washed is pre-washed in the pre-washing tank and subsequently finally washed in a washing tank, by providing an ultrasonic vibrator applying ultrasonic vibration to the washing water in the prewashing tank and an air supply means injecting air. CONSTITUTION:When liquid crystal cells 1 are washed, a plurality of the liquid crystal cells 1 are held on each carrier rack 2 to constitute a cell cassette A. Such cassettes A are fed by a feed mechanism 30 and immersed in a pre- washing tank 20 that contains washing water. The cassettes A are horizontally fed through washing water and stopped above an air supply means 22 at first and air is blown from an air nozzle 24 to form air bubbles in washing water so that bubbles (a) impinge against the surface of the liquid crystal cell 1 to remove the contaminant on the surface of the liquid crystal cell 1. Next, the cell cassettes A is fed to the rear end part of the pre-washing tank 20 and the contaminant on the surface of each cell is further removed by the ultrasonic washing due to an ultrasonic vibrator 21. Thereafter, the cell cassettes A are fed in a washing tank 11 to be finally washed.

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 a liquid crystal cell or its substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid crystal cell used in, for example, a liquid crystal display device is constructed by adhering a pair of transparent substrates on which transparent electrodes for display and an alignment film are formed through a frame-shaped sealing material surrounding a liquid crystal enclosing region. After assembling, the inside of the cell (the gap between the two substrates) was filled with liquid crystal by a vacuum injection method from a liquid crystal injection port that was previously formed in a part of the sealing material, and then the liquid crystal injection port was sealed. The manufactured liquid crystal cell is sent to an assembly line for liquid crystal display elements (a line for adhering polarizing plates to both surfaces of the liquid crystal cell) after cleaning the liquid crystal cell.

Further, the pair of substrates of the liquid crystal cell is made of a glass plate or the like, and the transparent electrodes, the alignment film and the like provided on the substrate are formed by cleaning the substrate before its formation, The substrate on which the transparent electrodes and the alignment film are formed is washed and then sent to the cell body assembly line. The liquid crystal cell, the substrate thereof, and the like are cleaned by a dip-type cleaning device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a conventional cleaning device used for cleaning a liquid crystal cell, a substrate thereof, and the like. This cleaning device includes a cleaning unit 10 and a pre-cleaning unit provided in front of the cleaning unit 10. It consists of a tank 20.

The cleaning unit 10 comprises a cleaning tank 11, a first rinsing tank 12, a second rinsing tank 13, a volatile solvent tank 14 and a drying tank 15, and these tanks 11 to 15 are arranged in order. There is.

The cleaning tank 11 is filled with a detergent solution prepared by dissolving detergent in pure water. Also, the first and second
The rinsing tanks 12 and 13 are filled with pure water, and the pure water in the first rinsing tank 12 is heated by a heater (not shown) to be hot water of several tens of degrees Celsius. The second
The temperature of pure water in the rinsing tank 13 is room temperature.

Further, the volatile solvent tank 14 contains IPA.
It is filled with a water-soluble volatile solvent such as (iso-propyl-alcohol), and the drying tank 15 is provided with a blower (not shown) for blowing warm air into the tank.

On the other hand, the prewash tank 20 is filled with prewash cleaning water (pure water), and the bottom of the rear end of the prewash tank 20 (the end on the cleaning unit 10 side) has the inside of the prewash tank 20. An ultrasonic oscillator 21 that applies ultrasonic vibration to the cleaning water is provided.

Further, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 30 denotes an object-to-be-cleaned transfer mechanism provided above the prewash tank 20 and the cleaning section 10. The transfer mechanism 30 transfers the object to be cleaned to the prewash tank 20 and the cleaning section 10. It is sequentially conveyed to each tank 11-15.

The cleaning of the object to be cleaned by this cleaning apparatus will be described by taking the cleaning of the liquid crystal cell as an example. A plurality of liquid crystal cells 1 as the object to be cleaned are held on the carrier rack 2 to form a cell cassette A. The cassette is transferred onto the prewash tank 20 by the cassette transfer mechanism 30.

The carrier rack 2 is composed of a frame body whose peripheral side surfaces and upper and lower surfaces are open. The liquid crystal cells 1 are arranged vertically at a distance from each other in a vertically standing state. Carrier rack 2 on both edges and both edges
Held in.

The cell cassette A, which has been conveyed onto the prewash tank 20, is lowered to the front end of the prewash tank 20 and immersed in the wash water. After that, the cell cassette A is intermittently conveyed horizontally within the prewash tank 20. Meanwhile, each liquid crystal cell 1 is prewashed in the meantime.

The pre-washing tank 20 is provided with each of the tanks 11 to 1 of the washing section 10 in order to ensure a sufficient pre-washing time of the liquid crystal cell 1.
It is a large tank with a tank length several times (about 3 times in the figure) compared to the tank length of 5 (length in the cell cassette transfer direction), and the horizontal transfer of the cell cassette A in this pre-wash tank 20 is performed. Is performed at the timing of sequentially transporting the cell cassette A to the tanks 11 to 15 of the cleaning unit 10.

The cell cassette A, which has been horizontally conveyed in the pre-wash tank 20 to the rear end thereof, is pulled up from the pre-wash tank 20 and sent to the washing section 10. First, the cell cassette A is immersed in the wash tank 11 and washed with a detergent solution. The liquid crystal cell 1 is subjected to main cleaning.

Next, the cell cassette A has the first and second cell cassettes.
After being successively immersed in the rinsing tanks 12 and 13, each liquid crystal cell 1 was rinsed with warm water and pure water, the volatile solvent tank 1
4 is immersed. The cell cassette A is placed in the volatile solvent tank 14.
When immersed in, the rinse water adhering to each liquid crystal cell 1 is dissolved in the water-soluble volatile solvent.

Next, the cell cassette A is sent into the drying tank 15 to dry each liquid crystal cell 1 with warm air, and then the cell cassette A is pulled up from the drying tank 15 and sent to the assembly line of the liquid crystal display element.

Although the cleaning of the liquid crystal cell 1 has been described here, the cleaning device is also used for cleaning the substrate and the like used for the liquid crystal cell, and the cleaning of the substrate and the like is performed in the same manner as described above. ing.

That is, the above-mentioned cleaning device pre-cleans an object to be cleaned in the pre-cleaning tank 20 and then conveys the object to be cleaned to the cleaning section 10 for main cleaning and drying.
By prewashing the object to be cleaned and then performing the main cleaning in this way, the object to be cleaned can be effectively cleaned.

[0019]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional cleaning device, the cleaning power of the object to be cleaned in the pre-cleaning tank 20 is weak, and therefore the object to be cleaned is sent to the cleaning section 10 without being sufficiently pre-cleaned. I had the problem of being lost.

That is, in the conventional cleaning device, the prewash tank 2
Ultrasonic transducer 2 that applies ultrasonic vibration to the cleaning water in the tank
However, since the pre-washing tank 20 is a large tank having a long tank length as described above, the washing water hardly vibrates at a position far from the ultrasonic vibrator 21, and thus the object to be washed is The surface cleaning is only removed by moving the pre-cleaning tank 20 while being immersed in water, and only when it comes near the ultrasonic transducer 21 by ultrasonic cleaning.

In the conventional cleaning apparatus, the object to be cleaned is sent from the pre-cleaning tank 20 to the cleaning section 10 without being sufficiently pre-cleaned. Therefore, in order to sufficiently clean the object to be cleaned, the cleaning section 10 is cleaned. The cleaning time in the tank 11 must be long, so that the cleaning efficiency becomes poor.

The present invention provides a cleaning device capable of enhancing the cleaning power of an object to be cleaned in a pre-cleaning tank and sending a sufficiently pre-cleaned object to a cleaning section to perform efficient cleaning. It is intended for.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a pre-washing tank is provided in front of a washing section having a washing tank, and the article to be washed is pre-washed in the pre-washing tank, and then the article to be washed is put into the washing section. In the cleaning device for carrying into the cleaning tank and performing main cleaning, an ultrasonic vibrator for applying ultrasonic vibration to the cleaning water in the pre-cleaning tank, and an air supply unit for ejecting a gas into the cleaning water in the pre-cleaning tank. Is provided.

[0024]

That is, according to the present invention, not only ultrasonic vibration is applied to the cleaning water in the pre-cleaning tank, but also a gas is jetted into the cleaning water to bubble the cleaning water. For example, when the object to be cleaned comes near the ultrasonic vibrator, the surface is cleaned by ultrasonic cleaning, and when it comes to the place where the cleaning water is foamed, it is impacted by the collision of bubbles. The dirt on the surface is removed.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. In FIG. 1, parts corresponding to those of the conventional cleaning device shown in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

In the cleaning apparatus of this embodiment, an ultrasonic vibrator 21 for ultrasonically vibrating the cleaning water in the precleaning tank 20 provided in front of the cleaning unit 10 and a gas in the cleaning water. And an air supply means 22 for jetting are provided,
In this embodiment, the tank length of the pre-wash tank 20 is set to about 4 times the tank length of each of the tanks 11 to 15 of the cleaning unit 10 (however, the drying tank 15 is omitted in FIG. 1), and after the pre-wash tank 20. An ultrasonic transducer 21 is arranged at the bottom of the end, and the air supply means 22 is connected to the prewash tank 20.
It is provided on the front end side of.

The air supply means 22 is an air pump 23.
And an air nozzle 24 for ejecting the air supplied from the air pump 23 into the prewash tank 20, and a valve 25 for controlling the air jet into the prewash tank 20 and the jet amount thereof. Faces the stop position of the article to be cleaned horizontally and intermittently conveyed in the pre-wash tank 20,
It is provided at the bottom of the prewash tank 20.

The precleaning of the object to be cleaned in the precleaning tank 20 will be described by taking the cleaning of the liquid crystal cell 1 as an example. The cell cassette A is held and transferred to the pre-wash tank 20 by the cassette transfer mechanism 30.

The cell cassette A transferred to the prewash tank 20 is lowered to the front end of the prewash tank 20 and immersed in the wash water, and then horizontally transferred in the prewash tank 20. First, stop above the air nozzle 24.

On the other hand, the air supply means 22 has an air nozzle 24.
Valve 2 while cell cassette A is stopped above
5 is opened, and gas is jetted from the air nozzle 24 into the wash water in the prewash tank 20. When the gas is ejected into the wash water in this way, the wash water is bubbled and the bubbles a collide with the surface of each liquid crystal cell 1 of the cell cassette A, and the impact removes the dirt on the surface of each liquid crystal cell 1. .

Further, each of the liquid crystal cells 1 is washed by the foaming cleaning.
The cell cassette A, which has been cleaned, is further intermittently transported in the pre-cleaning tank 20 and stopped at the rear end of the pre-cleaning tank 20, that is, when the vicinity of the ultrasonic transducer 21 is reached, the cell cassette A is cleaned by ultrasonic cleaning. Dirt is removed. In addition, the prewash tank 20
The cell cassette A, which has been conveyed to the rear end thereof, is carried into the cleaning tank 11 of the cleaning unit 10 and is subjected to main cleaning, as in the conventional cleaning device.

That is, in the above cleaning apparatus, by providing the pre-wash tank 20 with the ultrasonic vibrator 21 and the air supply means 22, not only the wash water in the pre-wash tank is subjected to ultrasonic vibration, but also the pre-wash tank is immersed in the wash water. The gas is ejected to bubble the cleaning water. By doing so, when the object to be cleaned comes in the vicinity of the ultrasonic vibrator 21, the surface cleaning is removed by the ultrasonic cleaning. When the cleaning water comes to a location where it is foamed, the surface dirt is removed by the impact of the collision of the bubbles a.

Therefore, according to this cleaning apparatus, the cleaning power of the object to be cleaned in the pre-cleaning tank 20 is enhanced, and the sufficiently pre-cleaned object is sent to the cleaning section 10 for efficient cleaning. You can

In the above embodiment, the ultrasonic transducer 21 is arranged at the rear end portion of the prewash tank 20 and the air supply means 22 is provided at the front end side of the prewash tank 20, but these arrangement positions are arbitrary. Good. Further, the cleaning apparatus of the present invention can be used not only for the liquid crystal cell 1 but also for cleaning a substrate or the like used in the liquid crystal cell.

[0035]

The cleaning apparatus of the present invention comprises a prewash tank, an ultrasonic vibrator for applying ultrasonic vibration to the wash water in the prewash tank,
Since it is provided with an air supply means for ejecting a gas into the cleaning water, the cleaning power of the object to be cleaned in the pre-cleaning tank is increased, and the sufficiently pre-cleaned object is sent to the cleaning unit to improve efficiency. Good cleaning can be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a cleaning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a conventional cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid crystal cell (object to be cleaned) 2 ... Carrier rack A ... Cell cassette 10 ... Cleaning part 11 ... Cleaning tank 12, 13 ... Rinse tank 20 ... Prewash layer 21 ... Ultrasonic vibrator 22 ... Air supply means 23 ... Air pump 24 ... Air nozzle 25 ... Valve a ... Bubble 30 ... Conveyance mechanism

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A prewash tank is provided in front of a washing section provided with a wash tank, and after prewashing an object to be washed in the prewash tank,
In the cleaning device for carrying in the cleaning object of the cleaning section and carrying out the main cleaning, in the pre-cleaning tank, an ultrasonic vibrator for applying ultrasonic vibration to the cleaning water in the pre-cleaning tank, and in the cleaning water. A cleaning device provided with an air supply means for ejecting gas.