JPH06275366A - Neutralization device for article charged with electricity - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a neutralization device for an article charged with electricity, which can largely reduce an amount of blast without impairing static electricity eliminating efficiency. CONSTITUTION:This neutralization device for an article charged with electricity comprises an air supplying chamber 4 connected to an air supplying source and having a slit-like opening part 3 used for forming a curtain air current and a plurality of discharging electrode 1 used for corona discharge use which is connected to a high-voltage power supply, in which the discharging electrode is provided at a predetermined interval along in the direction of the length of a slit in the slit-like opening part 3. The opening part is partitioned at a predetermined interval along the length direction of a slit with a spacer 9 to be divided in a plurality of air current blowing openings 10 to assign each discharging electrode respectively for each air current blowing opening. With this device, an opening area is reduced by a part occupied by the spacer, so that an amount of blast may be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a neutralizing device for removing static electricity at a high speed, and more particularly to a curtain airflow type neutralizing device which is effective in removing electricity from a large glass substrate in the production of liquid crystal substrates.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the field of liquid crystal panel manufacturing, charging of glass substrates has become a serious problem. In particular, with the recent increase in the size of substrates and miniaturization of elements, there is a demand for a uniform and high-speed static elimination method for large glass substrates.

In the manufacture of liquid crystal panels, there is a rubbing treatment step in which a glass substrate is rubbed with a cloth (buff) in order to orient the liquid crystal, but the treated substrate is large in size and insulative, so that a high potential is sparsely charged. For example, use a Corning glass substrate (Fusion 7059) 10 mm from the conductor.
Float on the surface, and the surface is cellulose wiper, rubber gloves,
Three reciprocating rubbing charges measured with absorbent cotton, acrylic roller, and wool roller were +9 each.
00 to + 1500V, -1000 to -2000V, -1
00 to -200V, +200 to + 600V, -1000
A result of -1500V is obtained, and the potential level reaches 1KV to 2KV at a high place.

When the glass substrate is charged as described above, floating particles are attached or electrostatic discharge is caused by the electrostatic force, which leads to disconnection of elements formed on the substrate, short circuit, visual defect of the image element, and the like. It will reduce the yield.

Various ionizers utilizing corona discharge have been conventionally known as a device for destaticizing charged articles. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-230499 related to the same applicant,
JP-A-3-230500, JP-A-4-10689
No. 7, Japanese Patent Application No. 3-949842, Japanese Patent Application No. 3-17
No. 4807 proposed various AC ionizers capable of balancing the generated positive and negative ion concentrations.

Further, in a collection of papers of the scientific conference of the Society for Air Conditioning and Sanitary Engineering (October 31st to November 2nd, 1991, Ishikawa), the present inventors have found a closed space with no airflow and an airflow retention area. We announced a nozzle type ionizer that combines an air blowing nozzle and a corona discharge electrode, which is effective for static elimination of a certain article.

Further, in order to solve the problem that the electrode deteriorates during the discharge of the ionizer and the metal fine particles scatter to cause metal contamination, the discharge electrode is coated with an insulating material, or the metal generated from the metal exposed surface of the member. The present inventors have proposed that the counter electrode is coated with Teflon in order to solve the problem of corrosion, and it has recently been put to practical use as a static elimination equipment advantageous in a semiconductor manufacturing process or the like.

In the previously proposed nozzle type ionizer, a metal discharge electrode covered with an insulating material is installed in a cylindrical nozzle having a gas blowing opening at its tip, and the outside of this cylindrical nozzle is covered with a resin. A metal counter electrode is installed to neutralize the charged article. For this reason, the air flow ejected from the nozzle mouth becomes a divergent radial shape, and the ions carried by this air flow also radially spread, so it is not necessarily suitable for evenly discharging a large static eliminator having a large area. However, a sufficient static elimination effect cannot be expected for liquid crystal substrates that are becoming larger.

In order to solve such a problem, in the Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552 "Apparatus for neutralizing charged articles", the same applicant is connected to an air supply source as shown in FIGS. And a plurality of discharge electrodes 101 for corona discharge connected to a high-voltage power supply and an air supply chamber 104 having a slit-shaped opening for forming a curtain air flow,
Provided is a neutralizing device for a charged article, wherein the discharge electrodes are continuously provided in the slit-shaped opening 103 along a longitudinal direction of the slit at predetermined intervals.

In the apparatus of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552, the curtain airflow A containing the air ions I is discharged from the slit-shaped opening 103 of the air supply chamber 104, and the curtain airflow has a full width or a side slightly smaller than this width. It was attempted to evenly neutralize a large surface area charged article having a length of. In this method, as shown in FIG. 11, the blowing air volume Q is obtained by the product of the slit spacing S of the slit-shaped opening 103, the slit opening width W, and the blowing air velocity U (Q = S × W × U). Air ions I generated from the vicinity of the tips of a plurality of discharge electrodes 101 connected to the slit-shaped opening 103 at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit.
Is carried by the airflow while diffusing and mixing in the curtain airflow A as shown in FIG.

However, in order to obtain a sufficient static elimination effect when the size of the article to be static eliminated is large, there is no choice but to use an air supply source such as a large blower to some extent. Further, in the device of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552, the counter electrode 102 of the discharge electrode is a grid or a ring (may be a polygon or an ellipse). It is desirable that the thickness of the grid or ring is as thin as possible in order not to disturb the curtain air flow A, but on the other hand, the thickness is limited in terms of its mechanical strength. The problem was how to solve it.

[0012]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and the first object thereof is to greatly reduce the amount of blown air without impairing the charge removal effect of the charged article. As a result, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved apparatus for neutralizing charged articles, which can reduce the size of an air supply source such as a blower and save the power cost.

Another object of the present invention is to provide excellent mechanical strength,
To provide a neutralized device for a charged article having a new and improved counter electrode which is easy to manufacture and has a low manufacturing cost, and which does not disturb the air flow to impair the charge removal of the charged article. .

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved discharge unit capable of enhancing the charge removal performance by irradiating a charged article with a curtain air flow containing air ions a number of times with a single apparatus. A neutralizing device for a charged article is provided.

Still another object of the present invention is to arbitrarily change the effective size of static elimination in accordance with the size of a charged article to be statically eliminated simply by adjusting the number of airflow outlets and the number of discharge electrodes corresponding thereto. It is to provide a new and improved apparatus for neutralizing charged articles that is capable of

[0016]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to a first aspect of the present invention, it is connected to an air supply source,
And an air supply chamber having a slit-shaped opening for curtain airflow formation, and a plurality of discharge electrodes for corona discharge connected to a high-voltage power supply, the discharge electrode in the slit-shaped opening in the longitudinal direction of the slit. In a neutralizing device for charged articles, which is continuously provided along a predetermined interval, the opening is divided by a spacer at a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction of the slit to divide into a plurality of airflow outlets, and each airflow blowing is performed. There is provided a neutralizing device for a charged article, characterized in that one or two or more of the above-mentioned discharge electrodes are respectively arranged at the outlet.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an air supply chamber connected to an air supply source and having a slit-shaped opening for forming a curtain air flow, and a plurality of corona discharges connected to a high voltage power supply. In a neutralization device for a charged article, which comprises a plurality of discharge electrodes, and the discharge electrodes are continuously provided in the slit-shaped opening along the longitudinal direction of the slit at a predetermined interval, the air supply chamber is formed in a cylindrical shape. There is provided a neutralization device for a charged article, wherein a plurality of slit-shaped openings for forming the curtain airflow are radially provided around a chamber axis of the cylindrical air supply chamber. Also in this case, each opening is divided by a spacer at a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction of the slit to be divided into a plurality of airflow outlets, and one or more of the discharge electrodes are provided at each airflow outlet. It is preferable to provide each.

It is preferable that the number of airflow outlets is variable according to the size of the charged article to be discharged.

Further, each of the discharge electrodes can be formed by covering a metal needle electrode with an insulating material. Alternatively, each of the discharge electrodes may be configured such that one end thereof is connected to one or more coated lead wires wired along the chamber axis in the cylindrical air supply chamber.

Further, regarding the disposition of the discharge electrodes, the discharge electrodes are arranged radially around the coated lead wire arranged along the chamber axis in the cylindrical air supply chamber, and one end thereof is arranged. Is connected to the coated lead wire, and further, the discharge electrodes are connected to the plurality of slit-shaped openings radially provided around the chamber axis at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit. It is possible. Alternatively, each discharge electrode is orthogonal to a plurality of coated lead wires wired so as to be parallel to the chamber axis in the cylindrical air supply chamber, and the discharge electrodes are arranged so as to be parallel to each other, Further, one end of each discharge electrode is connected to the coated lead wire, and the discharge electrode is arranged so as to be continuously connected to a plurality of slit-shaped openings radially provided around the chamber axis along the longitudinal direction of the slit. It is also possible to configure.

Furthermore, it is also possible to install a counter electrode which is arranged at a predetermined distance from each of the above-mentioned discharge electrodes and is connected to the ground or a DC power source, and to mount the counter electrode inside or outside the slit-shaped opening. It is possible. The shape of the counter electrode may be a grit, a loop, or a perforated flat plate, and the counter electrode may be covered with a resin material.

Regarding the power supply connection to the device, the discharge electrode is connected to an AC high-voltage power supply, the counter electrode is connected to a DC power supply, and the polarity and magnitude of the DC voltage applied to the counter electrode can be adjusted. It is preferable to configure as follows.

Further, clean air is introduced into the air supply chamber, and the blowing speed from the slit-shaped opening is 1 m / m.
It is possible to form an air curtain which is s or more and positively or negatively ionized, and the air curtain flow is projected to the plate-shaped charged article.

Furthermore, it is preferred that the neutralization device for charged articles be constructed so that there is no exposed metal surface throughout.

[0025]

According to the first aspect, when the curtain airflow is discharged from the slit-shaped opening of the air supply chamber, positive or negative ions can be uniformly emitted from the discharge electrode to the curtain airflow. Therefore, this ionized curtain airflow can evenly discharge a charged article having a wide surface area having a full width or a side length slightly smaller than the width. Further, in that case, the opening area is reduced by the amount occupied by the spacers, and the air volume can be significantly reduced, as compared with the conventional apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552, without impairing the charge removal effect of the charged article. , Contributes greatly to downsizing of the blower and power cost savings. Further, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon that is observed in the conventional device having no such spacer, that is, the phenomenon that the slit-shaped opening is bent and the slit width is changed due to the pulsation of the curtain airflow, and the curtain airflow is disturbed.

According to the second aspect, since the curtain airflow is radially ejected from the radially arranged openings, the charged articles can be discharged over a wide range. Also in this case, by disposing the spacer as in the apparatus according to the third aspect, it is possible to significantly reduce the air volume and prevent the turbulence of the curtain airflow.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to change the effective static elimination size according to the size of the charged article as the static elimination target by simply adjusting the number of discharge electrodes. Therefore, the static elimination efficiency of the line is greatly improved. Can be made.

According to the present invention, if the needle electrodes made of metal are covered with an insulating material such as quartz glass, the electrodes deteriorate due to oxidation or sputtering even when corona discharge is generated, and metal particles or the like are generated. It is possible to avoid the generation of particles.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the assembly of the device is facilitated and the discharge electrodes are detachably attached. Therefore, the number of airflow outlets and the discharge electrodes corresponding to the size of the charged article can be adjusted. The number can be easily adjusted.

According to the seventh and eighth aspects, since the ejecting portion is formed in a cluster shape so that the ionized curtain airflow is ejected radially, it is possible to irradiate the charged article with the curtain airflow over a wide range. it can. In particular, in the case where the charged article is transported horizontally below the air supply chamber and the air supply chamber is arranged so that the chamber axis is orthogonal to the transport direction, first, air ions in a headwind direction with respect to the transport direction are generated. Static electricity can be removed by a curtain air flow that contains static electricity, and static electricity can be removed again by a curtain air flow that contains air ions in the blowing air in the transport direction. It is possible to perform static elimination on an article many times.

According to the ninth aspect, the corona discharge can be efficiently generated by mounting the counter electrode made of a conductive material inside or outside the slit-shaped opening. Further, if the counter electrode has a structure as defined in claim 10, it is possible to manufacture a counter electrode structure which has excellent mechanical strength and is easy to manufacture at a low cost. When the counter electrode having a flat plate shape with holes according to claim 10 is divided into a plurality of air outlets by the spacer according to the present invention, holes should be opened so that the curtain airflow from each air outlet can pass through. For example, the counter electrode does not interfere with the air flow. Further, by coating the counter electrode with resin as in the eleventh aspect, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of contamination due to corrosion of the counter electrode.

According to the twelfth aspect, by adjusting the voltage applied to the counter electrode, it is possible to balance the positive and negative ion concentrations and prevent residual charging.

According to the thirteenth aspect, when the negative and positive ions generated by the corona discharge are applied to the charged object while riding on the curtain airflow, the negative ion is negatively charged if the charged object is positively charged. If so, positive ions are adsorbed and neutralized. Therefore, for example, a wide and large charged object such as a liquid crystal substrate is efficiently neutralized, and its static elimination capability becomes higher as the wind velocity of the discharge stream becomes faster. Further, the gas forming the curtain air flow may be of any type as long as it produces corona discharge, but air is most convenient because it is easy to use. If fine particles contained in the air adhere to the object to be neutralized and cause a problem, clean air free from dust is used.

According to the apparatus of the fourteenth aspect, all the members for forming the curtain airflow, including the discharge electrode and the counter electrode, can be configured so that the metal surface does not exist. As a result, the ionizer itself can be prevented from becoming a dust source of metal particles.

[0035]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A preferred embodiment of a neutralizing apparatus for charged articles constructed according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 7 show an embodiment of a neutralizing device for charged articles according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is a discharge electrode to which an AC voltage is applied, and 20 (2) and 21 are counter electrodes connected to ground or a DC power supply. With respect to a cylindrical air supply chamber 4 having a slit-shaped opening 3 for forming a curtain airflow, a plurality of discharge electrodes 1 are arranged in the slit-shaped opening 3 so as to be arranged at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit. It is connected.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, a slit-shaped opening 3 having a narrow width is provided along the axial direction on the lower surface of a cylindrical air supply chamber 4 having a rectangular cross section orthogonal to the axis. On the other hand, one end of the air supply chamber 4 is provided with a supply port 5 connected to an air supply source (not shown), and the perforated plate 6 vertically moves the space inside the air supply chamber from the supply port 5 to the slit-shaped opening 3. Divide into two. In the illustrated example, the supply port 5 is provided at one end of the air supply chamber 4, but the supply port 5 may be provided above the air supply chamber 4.

The upper space 7 in the chamber partitioned by the perforated plate 6 acts as an air supply plenum because the perforated plate 6 serves as a resistance to the air flow, and the air flow S introduced from the supply port 5 is rectified by the perforated plate 6. Then, it flows into the lower space 8 and a curtain airflow having a substantially constant velocity is discharged from the slit-shaped opening 3 in the width direction.

Further, according to the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a spacer 9 is attached in the slit-shaped opening to form a large number of outlets 10 defined by the spacer 9, and a single or a plurality of outlets are formed. The discharge electrodes 1 are continuously connected to the individual air outlets 10 at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit.

With such a structure, as can be easily understood by comparing FIGS. 6 and 11, assuming that the slit spacing S and the blowing air velocity U are the same in the two devices, the result is shown in FIG. According to the device of the present invention, as compared with the conventional device shown in FIG.
It is possible to reduce only the area occupied by. In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, a large number of curtain airflows A containing air ions I discharged from the individual air outlets 10 partitioned by the spacers 9 gradually diffuse and mix, and finally shown in FIG. Developed into a single curtain airflow that is almost the same as the curtain airflow. Since the static elimination effect depends on the total amount of ions reaching the charged article per unit time, according to the present invention, the blown air amount Q can be significantly reduced without impairing the static elimination effect of the charged article. ,
It is possible to reduce the size of the blower and save the power cost.

In the device of the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the lead wire 11 is stretched in the lower space 8 along the axial direction. This lead wire is made by inserting a metal conductor 13 into a Teflon tube 12, and one end of each discharge electrode 1 can be freely attached and detached by a holder 18 provided with a screw 14 in a conductive relationship with the metal conductor 13. Are linked to. At that time, each discharge electrode 1 is arranged so as to pass from the lead wire 11 substantially through the center in the blowout port 10, and in the illustrated example, the tip 15 thereof projects slightly outward from the opening 3.

Further, in this discharge electrode 1, a needle-shaped metal electrode (tungsten electrode) 16 is completely covered with an insulating material 17. As the insulating material 17, a tubular body made of quartz glass is used. More specifically, the needle electrodes 16 are concentrically mounted in a quartz glass tube 17 whose one end is fixed to a holder 18 provided with a screw 14, and the sealed tip of the quartz glass tube 17 is also pointed. The tip of the needle-shaped electrode 16 is formed in contact with the inside of this tip.

The holder 18 is detachably attached to the Teflon tube 12 of the lead wire 11 via the screw 14, and the metal electrode 16 inside the discharge electrode penetrates the Teflon tube 12 and the metal electrode 16 inside the lead wire 13 is inserted. Connected to.

In this way, a large number of discharge electrodes 1 are installed at predetermined intervals along the length direction of the slits, but each discharge electrode 1 is connected to ground or a DC power supply with a gap. Opposite electrodes 20, 21 are attached. When connected to a DC power supply, the polarity and magnitude of the applied DC voltage can be adjusted to balance the positive and negative ion concentrations and prevent residual charging.

In the conventional device, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the counter electrode 2 has a grid or ring shape (it may be polygonal or elliptical). It is desirable that the thickness of this grid or ring is as thin as possible so as not to disturb the curtain air flow, but on the other hand, there is a problem in terms of its mechanical strength. .

In this respect, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in consideration of mechanical strength, easiness of production, cost, etc., the counter electrode 2 made of a plate-shaped conductive material, for example, a stainless steel plate 20 is used. , Holes 2 at the positions corresponding to the individual outlets 10
1 (the shape is arbitrary such as a circle, a polygon, an ellipse, etc.), and the counter electrode 2 with respect to the curtain airflow from each outlet 10
Was devised so that would not become an obstacle. When the counter electrode shape of FIG. 4 or 5 of the present invention is applied to a single curtain airflow formed by the conventional Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552, the boundary between the holes is different from the curtain airflow. As a result, it becomes an obstacle, disturbs the air flow significantly, and impairs the static elimination effect of the charged article. Therefore, it is not possible to adapt the counter electrode shape shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 to the conventional device.

Next, referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, in the cylindrical air supply chamber 4, a plurality of slit-shaped openings 33, 43 and 53, 63 for forming a curtain air flow are radially provided around the chamber axis. The structure of a cluster-shaped discharge unit, which is provided in the above, and in which the curtain airflow is radially ejected from the cylindrical air supply chamber will be described.

In FIG. 7, the discharge electrodes 31 or 41 are orthogonal to each other around the covered lead wire 11 wired along the chamber axis in the cylindrical air supply chamber 4, and are arranged at 45 ° with respect to the vertical downward direction. They are arranged at equal intervals in the forming direction, and one end thereof is connected to the coated lead wire 11 via the holders 35 and 45. Similarly, the discharge electrodes are continuously provided at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slits in slit-shaped openings 33 and 43 that are provided around the chamber axis at right angles to each other and at a direction of 45 ° with respect to the vertical direction. To be done. Further, the upper space 7 and the lower space 8 are partitioned by the perforated plate 6. Further, the upper space 7 is divided into two spaces by the separating plate 38 so as to form two flow paths.

In FIG. 8, two covered lead wires 59 and 69 are wired in the cylindrical air supply chamber 4 so as to be parallel to the chamber axis, and each discharge electrode 51 or 61 is
The discharge electrodes 51 and 61 are arranged so as to be orthogonal to the corresponding covered lead wires 59 or 69 and parallel to each other. In addition, one end of each discharge electrode is a holder 1
8 are detachably connected to the coated lead wires 59 and 69, respectively. The air supply chamber 4 has two slit-shaped openings (53 and 63) for forming a curtain air flow.
The curtain airflows are orthogonal to each other, and vertically downward and 4
Discharge in the 5 ° direction. Two coated leads 59 and 6
The discharge electrodes 51 and 61 connected to each of 9 are
The slit-shaped openings 53 and 63 are provided radially at two locations around the chamber axis, and are provided at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit. Further, similarly to the embodiment of FIG. 7, the upper space 7 and the lower space 8 are partitioned by the porous plate 6. Further, the upper space 7 is divided into two spaces by the separating plate 38 so as to form two flow paths.

The structure of the cluster-shaped air flow outlets shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has slit-shaped openings 33, 43 and 5.
3, 63 are provided radially around the chamber axis, respectively, and discharge electrodes 31, 41 and 5 are provided at the respective openings.
The structure is basically the same as that described with reference to FIG. 2 except that the components 1 and 61 are arranged. Members having the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the apparatus provided with the cluster-shaped curtain airflow discharger as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 configured as described above, when the glass substrate is conveyed horizontally below the air supply chamber. First, the glass substrate is exposed to a headwind containing air ions from a direction forming an angle of 45 ° with the horizontal direction, and the charge is removed. After that, the glass substrate is exposed to a tail wind containing air ions from a direction forming an angle of 45 ° with the horizontal direction, and the charge is removed again. As a result, even if the static elimination is insufficient once, the cluster-shaped discharge portion as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 is provided to irradiate the charged article with the curtain air flow containing the air ions many times. By doing so, it becomes possible to perform sufficient charge removal.

Next, the static elimination performance of the neutralizing device for a charged article constructed according to the present invention will be described in Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552.
This will be described in comparison with the conventional device described in No. The comparative test was performed by the apparatus 70 whose outline is shown in FIG. Further, FIG. 10 shows main components for operating the device according to the present invention.

The glass substrate 71 is placed on a stage 72 made of an insulating silicon resin. Carrier 7
3, the stage 72 moves in the left-right direction centering on the charging device 79 so as to pass under the charging device 79. To forcibly charge the surface of the glass substrate 71, positive or negative air ions are generated from the discharge bar of the charging device, and the glass substrate 71 on the stage is transported at an arbitrary speed, so that the entire substrate surface is Charge evenly. The surface potential of the glass substrate is the voltage applied to the discharge bar,
It changes depending on the combination of the transportation speed and the number of transportation repetitions.

The main procedure of the performance test is shown below. (1) The glass substrate 71 is forcibly charged by the charging device 79 while being transported from the left side to the right side. (2) The power of the charging device 79 is turned off, and the surface potential on the glass substrate 71 is measured by the surface potential meter 74. (3) The FFU (fan filter unit) 75 and the neutralizing device (ionizer) 76 configured according to the present invention are turned on, and the ion controller 77 is used to balance the generation amounts of positive and negative ions. The polarity excursion monitor 78 detects whether or not the positive and negative ion generation amounts are balanced. (4) The neutralization device (ionizer) 76 removes electricity while transporting the glass substrate 71 from the right side to the left side. (5) Immediately after the glass substrate 71 passes under the neutralization device 76, the neutralization device (ionizer) 76 is turned off, the glass substrate 71 is transported from the right side to the left side again, and the surface of the glass substrate 71 after static elimination is carried out. The electric potential is measured by the surface electrometer 74.

The measurement conditions for the performance test are as follows. Room temperature: 23 ° C. Relative humidity: 17% to 52% (variable) Average blowing air velocity: 12 m / s Applied voltage of charging device: ± 15 KV, direct current (DC) Substrate transportation speed: 0.1 m / s (glass substrate heion) Irradiation with wind for 3 seconds) Glass substrate: Large alkali-free glass (Fu manufactured by Corning)
sion # 7059) (300 × 400 × 1.1mm ³ )

(Comparative Example) First, as a comparative example, a performance experiment using the conventional neutralizing device for charged articles of Japanese Patent Application No. 4-248552 shown in FIGS. 11 to 15 will be described. 101
Is a discharge electrode to which an AC voltage is applied, and 102 is a counter electrode connected to ground or a DC power supply. Inside the slit-shaped opening 103, a plurality of discharge electrodes 101 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit with respect to a cylindrical air supply chamber 104 having a slit-shaped opening 103 for forming a curtain air flow. Have been serialized.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, a cylindrical air supply chamber 10 having a rectangular cross section orthogonal to the axis.
4 has a slit-shaped opening 10 with a narrow width on the lower surface along the axial direction.
3 is provided. On the other hand, a supply port 105 connected to an air supply source is provided on the upper surface of the air supply chamber 104, and a perforated plate 106 is also provided.
Thus, the space in the air supply chamber from the supply port 105 to the slit-shaped opening 103 is divided into upper and lower parts.

The upper space 107 in the chamber partitioned by the perforated plate 106 acts as an air supply plenum because the perforated plate 106 serves as a resistance to the air flow, and the air flow introduced from the supply port 105 is rectified by the perforated plate 106. And flows into the lower space 108, and the curtain airflow having a substantially constant velocity is discharged from the slit-shaped opening 103 in the width direction.

A lead wire 109 is stretched in the lower space 108 along the axial direction. The lead wire is a Teflon tube 110 into which a metal conductor 111 is inserted, and one end of each discharge electrode 101 is connected to the metal conductor 111 in a conductive relationship. At this time, each discharge electrode 101 is arranged so as to pass from the lead wire 109 substantially through the center of the slit-shaped opening 103, and in the example shown in the drawing, the tip 112 thereof slightly projects from the opening 103 to the outside.

In this way, a large number of discharge electrodes 101 are installed along the length direction of the slit at predetermined intervals, but are connected to the ground or DC power supply at intervals from each discharge electrode 101. The counter electrode 102 is attached. When connected to a DC power supply, the polarity and magnitude of the applied DC voltage can be adjusted to balance the positive and negative ion concentrations and prevent residual charging.

In the example of FIGS. 11 to 15, the counter electrode 102
Has a grit shape as shown in FIG. 14, and the discharge electrode 101 is located at a substantially central position of each grit.

The curtain airflow forming members such as the gas supply port 105, the cylindrical air supply chamber 104, and the slit-shaped opening 103 are all made of resin (for example, acrylic resin). The counter electrode 102 can also be coated with resin. This prevents the counter electrode 102 from corroding, and prevents the corroded counter electrode 102 from becoming a source of metal particles.

The slit width of the device used in this embodiment is 4 m.
m, and the tip of the discharge electrode 101 has a slit-shaped opening 3
6 mm protruding from. The discharge electrode 101 is covered with quartz glass, and 15 electrodes are attached at a pitch of 30 mm.
An m × 30 mm grid-shaped conductor was provided as a counter electrode at a position 10 mm away from the tip of the discharge electrode 101.

An AC voltage of 11.5 kV was applied to the discharge electrode, and a DC voltage of -30 to -500 V was applied to the counter electrode in order to balance the positive and negative generated ion concentrations. Clean air that has passed through a HEPA filter is used as the gas to the air supply chamber, the blowing air velocity of the curtain airflow is 12 m / s, and as shown in FIG. 15, the angle between the glass substrate and the glass substrate is from 60 ° to the glass substrate surface. The curtain airflow was applied.

A large alkali-free glass (Fusion # 7059) (300 × 400 × 1.1 mm ³ ) manufactured by Corning Inc. was used as a charged object for static elimination, and the static elimination performance of the apparatus used in this example was examined. 16 and 17 are measurement results when the glass is positively charged, and FIGS. 18 and 19 are measurement results when the glass is negatively charged. Charge a large glass substrate (300 x 400 mm ² ) during transportation (up to 5 kV) by irradiating a curtain air flow containing air ions for only 3 seconds.
The charge could be removed uniformly and uniformly over the entire surface by 90% or more.

The static elimination rate was defined as follows.
If a is the surface potential before static elimination and b is the surface potential after static elimination, the static elimination rate = | a−b | / | a |.

The blown air volume Q is determined by the slit gap S = 4 m.
m and slit opening width = 450 mm and blowing wind velocity U = 1
It is calculated by the product of 2 m / s. It became Q = 1.3 m ³ / min.

If the angle formed by the curtain airflow with the horizontal direction is 30 ° or more, the static elimination rate is 9 as shown in FIG.
The measurement revealed that it exceeded 0%. The number of columns in the figure indicates the column with the lowest static elimination rate among the columns for measuring the positive or negative surface potential of the glass substrate in FIG.

(Example 1) The apparatus of the present invention used for the performance test is as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. 11 to 1
5 differs from the conventional device shown in FIG.

A) Each of the 15 discharge electrodes 1 is arranged in a slit-shaped opening of 4 mm × 15 mm defined by the spacer 9. Therefore, the blowing opening area of the entire apparatus of this example A = 4 mm × 15 mm × 15 pieces = 9 cm ²
Therefore, the opening area 18 of the conventional device shown in FIGS.
It is half of cm ² .

B) The shape of the counter electrode 2 is a perforated planographic plate 20. Specifically, on a stainless plate with a width of 40 mm,
Fifteen holes with a diameter of 28 mm were opened at 30 mm intervals so that each of the 15 discharge electrodes 1 corresponded. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the width of the counter electrode 2 is 40 m.
The brim 22 is attached to both sides of m for reinforcement.

Under the same conditions as in the embodiment of the present invention, a large alkali-free glass (Fusion # 7059) (3) manufactured by Corning Incorporated
The static elimination performance of the device of the present example was examined by using 00 × 400 × 1.1 mm ³ ) as a charged article for static elimination. Similar to FIGS. 16 to 19 showing the static elimination performance of the example of the invention already in existence, a large-sized glass substrate (300 × 400 mm ² ) being transported by only irradiating the curtain air flow containing air ions for 3 seconds.
The charge level (maximum 5 kV) was uniformly removed over the entire surface by 90% or more.

Here, the blowing air volume Q is determined by the blowing opening area A of the entire apparatus A = 9 cm ² and the blowing air velocity U = 12 m.
Calculated as the product of / s. It became Q = 0.65 m ³ / min. That is, even though the static elimination performance is not much different from the above-mentioned already-invented embodiment, the blowing air volume of the present-invention embodiment can be reduced to half that of the already-invented embodiment, and according to the present invention, the blower can be downsized. Power costs can be saved.

(Embodiment 2) Next, a performance test on a neutralization apparatus for charged articles having a cluster-shaped discharge portion shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 will be described. The devices of the embodiments in both figures have two discharge electrode rows 31, 41 and 51, 61 each consisting of 15 discharge electrodes, like the device of the embodiment 1.
Similar to the first embodiment of the present invention, each discharge electrode array is arranged in a slit-shaped opening of 4 mm × 15 mm in which each discharge electrode is divided by a spacer, and the counter electrodes are arranged on a stainless plate having a width of 40 mm at intervals of 30 mm. This is a structure in which 15 holes with a diameter of 28 mm are opened so that each of the 15 discharge electrodes corresponds.

Under the same conditions as in Example 1 of the present invention, a large alkali-free glass (Fusion # 7059) manufactured by Corning Incorporated
The static elimination performance of the device of Example 2 of the present invention was examined using (300 × 400 × 1.1 mm ³ ) as the static elimination target article. As a result, the static elimination rate of the glass substrate was 99% or more.

In this embodiment, when the glass substrate is conveyed horizontally below the air supply chamber, the glass substrate is first exposed to a head wind containing air ions from a direction that forms an angle of 45 ° with the horizontal direction to eliminate static electricity. To be done. After that, the glass substrate is exposed to a tail wind containing air ions from a direction forming an angle of 45 ° with the horizontal direction, and the charge is removed again. In Example 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the curtain air flow containing air ions was irradiated onto a large glass substrate (300 × 400 mm ² ) having a transportation speed of 10 cm / s for only 3 seconds, and the charging was performed. The size (maximum 5 kV) was uniformly removed over the entire surface by 90% or more. When the glass substrate is irradiated twice with a curtain air flow containing air ions as in this embodiment, 90% or more static elimination is repeated twice, so theoretically, 99% or more static elimination efficiency is obtained. can get.

In both Examples 1 and 2, since a large glass substrate (300 × 400 mm ² ) was subjected to electrostatic charge removal, the long side dimension of the substrate was adjusted to 400 mm.
Fifteen discharge electrodes of the device of the present invention were arranged at intervals of 30 mm.
In other words, the effective size of the device of the present invention for static elimination is 420 mm. However, according to the present invention, the distance between the discharge electrodes is 30 mm.
By changing only the number of discharge electrodes with the blowing air velocity kept unchanged, it is possible to arbitrarily change the size of the device of the present invention effective for static elimination in accordance with the size of the substrate. In this case, it was confirmed that even if the number of discharge electrodes was changed, the static elimination efficiency of the glass substrate by the device of the present invention was not affected at all.

[0078]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The amount of blown air can be significantly reduced without impairing the charge removal effect of the charged article, and as a result, it is possible to reduce the size of the air supply source such as the blower and save the power cost. Further, the counter electrode structure of the perforated flat plate of the device of the present invention has excellent mechanical strength, is easy to manufacture, and is inexpensive in manufacturing cost, as compared with the conventional device, but disturbs the air flow to charge the charged article. It does not impair the static elimination.

Further, according to the apparatus provided with the cluster-shaped discharging section constructed according to the present invention, the charged article is irradiated with the curtain air flow containing the air ions a number of times by a single apparatus to improve the static elimination performance. It is possible to increase.

Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily change the effective size of static elimination in accordance with the size of the charged article as the target of static elimination only by adjusting the number of discharge electrodes.
In that case, it is not necessary to change the blowing wind speed and the discharge electrode interval.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the device of FIG. 1 taken along the line I-I.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a curtain airflow formed based on the device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a cluster-shaped discharge unit of an apparatus configured according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing yet another embodiment of a cluster-shaped discharging unit of an apparatus constructed according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing main components of an apparatus for carrying out a performance test of a charged article neutralizing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing main components for operating the device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a curtain airflow formed based on a conventional device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional device.

13 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II of the device of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a bottom view of the device of FIG.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a blowing direction of a curtain airflow when the ion wind is applied to the substrate surface at an angle of 60 °.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing a positive charging potential before static elimination when ionic wind is irradiated at an angle of 60 ° with the substrate surface.

FIG. 17 is a graph showing the positive charging potential after static elimination when ionic wind is irradiated at an angle of 60 ° with the substrate surface.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing the positive charging potential before static elimination when ionic wind is irradiated at an angle of 60 ° with the substrate surface.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing the positive charging potential after static elimination when ionic wind is irradiated at an angle of 60 ° with the substrate surface.

FIG. 20 is a graph showing the relationship between the blowing direction of the curtain air flow and the static elimination rate.

FIG. 21 is an explanatory diagram showing a measurement sequence of the surface potential of a glass substrate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge electrode 2 Counter electrode 3 Slit-shaped opening 4 Air supply chamber 5 Connection port to air supply source 6 Perforated plate 7 Upper space 8 Lower space 9 Spacer 10 Blowout port 11 Discharge electrode lead wire 15 Discharge electrode discharge end 17 Quartz Glass tube 18 holder

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. An air supply chamber connected to an air supply source and having a slit-shaped opening for forming a curtain air flow, and a plurality of discharge electrodes for corona discharge connected to a high-voltage power supply,
In a neutralizing device for a charged article, wherein the discharge electrodes are continuously provided in the slit-shaped opening along the longitudinal direction of the slit at a predetermined interval, the opening is divided by a spacer at a predetermined interval along the longitudinal direction of the slit. And a plurality of airflow outlets, and each of the airflow outlets is provided with one or more of the above-mentioned discharge electrodes, respectively. 2. An air supply chamber connected to an air supply source and having a slit-like opening for forming a curtain air flow, and a plurality of discharge electrodes for corona discharge connected to a high-voltage power supply,
In a neutralizing device for a charged article in which the discharge electrodes are continuously provided in the slit-shaped opening along the longitudinal direction of the slit at a predetermined interval, the air supply chamber is formed in a cylindrical shape to form the curtain air flow. A neutralization apparatus for a charged article, wherein a plurality of slit-shaped openings are radially provided around a chamber axis of the cylindrical air supply chamber. 3. Each of the openings is divided by a spacer at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slit to divide into a plurality of airflow outlets, and one or more of the discharge electrodes are provided at each airflow outlet. The neutralization device for a charged article according to claim 2, wherein the neutralization device is provided respectively. 4. The number of discharge electrodes attached to the air flow outlet is variable.
The apparatus for neutralizing a charged article according to [4]. 5. Each of the discharge electrodes is characterized in that a needle electrode made of metal is covered with an insulating material.
Or the neutralization device for a charged article according to any one of 4). 6. One end of each of the discharge electrodes is detachably connected to one or more coated lead wires wired along a chamber axis in a cylindrical air supply chamber. The neutralization device for a charged article according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. 7. The discharge electrodes are radially arranged around a coated lead wire wired along the chamber axis in the cylindrical air supply chamber, and one end of the discharge electrode is detachable from the coated lead wire. The discharge electrode is further connected to the plurality of slit-shaped openings radially provided around the chamber axis along the longitudinal direction of the slit at a predetermined interval. Item 8. A neutralization device for charged articles according to any one of items 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. 8. The discharge electrodes are orthogonal to a plurality of coated lead wires wired in the cylindrical air supply chamber so as to be parallel to the chamber axis, and the discharge electrodes are parallel to each other. The discharge electrodes are arranged and one end of each discharge electrode is detachably connected to the coated lead wire, and the discharge electrodes are provided at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the slits in a plurality of slit-shaped openings radially provided around the chamber axis. 7. The apparatus for neutralizing a charged article according to claim 2, wherein the neutralization apparatus is connected in series. 9. A counter electrode, which is arranged at a predetermined distance from each of the discharge electrodes and is connected to a ground or a DC power source, is installed, and the counter electrode is mounted inside or outside the slit-shaped opening. Is characterized by
The neutralization device for a charged article according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7. 10. The charged article according to claim 9, wherein the shape of the counter electrode provided at a predetermined distance from each discharge electrode is a grit, a loop or a flat plate with holes. Japanese device. 11. The neutralizing device for a charged article according to claim 9, wherein the counter electrode is coated with a resin material. 12. The discharge electrode is connected to an AC high voltage power supply,
The charged article according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the counter electrode is connected to a DC power source so that the polarity and magnitude of the DC voltage applied to the counter electrode can be adjusted. Neutralizer. 13. Clean air is introduced into the air supply chamber, and a blowing speed from the slit-shaped opening is 1 m / s.
2. The above-mentioned and positively or negatively ionized air curtain is formed, and the air curtain flow is projected onto a plate-shaped charged article.
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 or 1
2. The neutralization device for charged articles according to any one of 2 above. 14. The apparatus for neutralizing a charged article is characterized in that there is no exposed metal surface over its entire surface, as claimed in claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 9. 10, 1
14. The neutralization device for charged articles according to 1, 12, or 13.