JPH07155673A - Application device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an application device which is capable of applying an application agent to an object to be coated without non conformity and is low-priced by keeping application environment such as temperature, humidity and static electricity in order rapidly. CONSTITUTION:An application device is composed of a rotary table 2 which is driven to rotate by a drive motor 3 in an application chamber 13, an application agent drip device 22 which drips a specified quantity of application agent to an object to be coated deposited on the rotary table 2, and a temperature/humidity adjustment device 24 which maintains the interior of the application chamber 13 in a specified condition.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus, and more particularly to a spin coating apparatus capable of coating a coating agent such as a resist agent in an appropriate environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a transparent electrode is formed on one surface of a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display device by photolithography,
First, a film for forming a transparent electrode made of ITO or the like is formed on the entire surface of the glass substrate. Next, a resist is applied on this film, and the resist is patterned. The transparent electrode forming film is etched using the patterned resist pan pattern as a mask to form a desired transparent electrode.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a rotary resist coating apparatus used in such a case. In FIG. 2, a rotary stage 101 is for mounting a glass substrate 102, which is an object to be coated, and is installed in a coating chamber 104 formed in an upper part of a housing 103. The rotary stage 101 is rotated by a drive motor 105 fixed to its central axis. The control unit 106 controls the rotation speed, rotation time, etc. of the drive motor 105.

When applying, the glass substrate 102 is attracted to the upper surface of the rotary stage 101 via an external vacuum device (not shown) via the vacuum chuck vacuum line 107 and the vacuum chuck valve 108. Next, the upper lid 109 of the coating chamber 104 is closed, and the liquid coating agent is dripped onto the glass substrate 102 through the hole in the center of the upper lid 109. After that, the rotary stage 101 is rotated while exhausting air from the exhaust duct 111, and the coating agent is spread and applied on the glass substrate 102 by the centrifugal force so as to have a uniform thickness.

[0005]

When a coating material such as polyimide or a metal alkoxide containing a low boiling point solvent is used, which is easily affected by the coating environment such as temperature, humidity and static electricity in the coating apparatus, the conventional coating apparatus is used. In such a case, the coating agent and the coating environment do not match with each other, which may cause unevenness in the film thickness of the formed film, cracks, and cloudiness.

Therefore, with respect to the humidity, it has also been proposed to attach dries to the entire apparatus to control the humidity in the coating apparatus. However, in humidity control by dry booth, it takes time to obtain a predetermined humidity (especially when the humidity is lowered). Therefore, in order to perform efficient dehumidification, the dry boot must be operated at all times, and there is a problem that the running cost becomes high.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides an inexpensive coating apparatus which can coat a coating material on a coating object without trouble by adjusting the coating environment such as humidity, temperature and static electricity. The purpose is to do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, a coating apparatus according to the present invention comprises a coating chamber, a rotary table on which an object to be coated is placed in the coating chamber, and a drive for rotating the rotary table. Section, a coating agent dropping section for dropping a coating agent on the object to be coated on the rotary table, and the humidity in the coating chamber by connecting to the coating chamber and sending a gas whose humidity is adjusted into the coating chamber. A humidity control unit for adjusting and a temperature control unit that is connected to the application chamber and adjusts the temperature inside the application chamber by sending out a gas whose temperature is adjusted into the application chamber. Further, a static eliminator for suppressing static electricity in the coating chamber may be included.

The humidity control unit includes, for example, gas supply means for supplying a gas having a desired humidity and filter means for filtering the gas supplied by the gas supply means and supplying the gas to the coating chamber. The department is, for example,
The gas supply unit includes a unit that heats or cools the gas to control the temperature of the gas, and the static elimination unit includes, for example, a unit that removes static electricity in the gas that has passed through the filter unit.

[0010]

According to the above construction, for example, the temperature and humidity inside the coating chamber are controlled by sending out a gas whose temperature and humidity are adjusted into the coating chamber. Therefore, the temperature outside the device
The temperature and humidity in the coating chamber can be controlled at high speed without being affected by humidity. Further, when the humidity is low, static electricity is easily generated, but the static elimination unit can take measures against static electricity. Therefore, the environment in the coating chamber is maintained in a suitable state for coating, and a film without unevenness in film thickness, cracks, cloudiness, etc. can be coated.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the coating apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the application target is the glass substrate of the liquid crystal display device, and the coating agent is the resist.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a coating apparatus according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, a rotary table 2 is provided in the center of the housing 1. The rotary table 2 is rotationally driven by a drive motor 3 fixed to its central axis. The drive motor 3 controls the rotation speed, rotation time, etc. of the control panel 5.
It is controlled according to the setting of. The drive motor 3 is arranged on a case 4 fixed in the housing 1. A vacuum chuck solenoid valve 6 that is opened and closed by a control panel 5 is provided in the case 4. The inlet port 7 of the vacuum chuck solenoid valve 6 has a vacuum pipe 8 connected to a vacuum device (not shown) provided outside the coating device and always operating, and a tip opening inside the housing. The pipe 33 is fixed. Further, the vacuum pipe 9 extends from the outlet port 10 of the vacuum chuck electromagnetic valve 6 through the case 4 and the drive motor 3 to the adsorption chamber 12 formed below the upper surface 11 of the rotary table 2 having a plurality of holes. Are connected to the vacuum pipe 8 and the pipe 33 via the vacuum chuck solenoid valve 6.

The rotary table 2 is covered with a coating case 14 which forms a coating chamber 13 therein. Coating room 1
3 has a lid 15 having a plurality of holes at its upper end, and has a tray 16 surrounding the rotary table 2 at its lower end. A rectifying plate 17 is provided for avoiding turbulent gas flow in the coating chamber 13 caused by rotation of the rotary table 2. The inside of the coating chamber 13 is connected to an exhaust device (not shown) installed outside the coating device via a duct 19 and a check valve 20 provided therein.

On the lower surface of the lid 15 of the coating chamber 13, the dripping nozzle 2
1 is provided with a coating material dropping device 22 and a glass substrate 23 placed on the rotary table 1 from the dropping nozzle 21.
A predetermined amount of the coating agent is dropped on the central portion of the surface of the.

A temperature / humidity adjusting device 24 is installed above the lid 15 of the coating chamber 13. This temperature and humidity controller 24
Is constructed by providing a dehumidifying pipe 27 and a humidifying pipe 28 in a box 26 whose bottom is formed by a hepa filter 25 that allows gas to pass therethrough. The dehumidifying pipe 27 is connected to the dry gas supply device 27a and supplies dry air or a dry gas such as an inert gas into the box body 26. The humidifying pipe 28 is connected to the humidifying body supply device 28 a and supplies the humidifying body into the box 26. As the humidifying body, a mixture of air and water vapor, or outside air can be used.
The dry gas supply device 27a and the humidified body supply device 28a are
Each has a built-in temperature adjusting unit for heating or cooling the supplied gas.

A sensor 29 for detecting temperature and humidity is provided in the coating chamber 13, and the sensor 29 supplies a temperature signal and a humidity signal to the control device 30. The control device 30 controls the dry gas supply device 27A and the humidifying body supply device 28A based on the supplied signals, and controls the supply amount, temperature, etc. of each gas.

The hepa filter 25 of the temperature / humidity adjusting device 24
A horizontal static elimination bar 31 is provided between the cover 15 and the lid 15 of the coating chamber 13, and this is connected to the ion generator 32. Then, the static elimination bar 31 and the ion generator 32 constitute a static eliminator.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus of this embodiment will be described. First, the glass substrate 23, which is an object to be coated, is placed on the rotary table 2, and the vacuum chuck solenoid valve 6 is attached to the pipe 3.
3 is closed, the vacuum pipe 8 is opened, and the vacuum device draws a vacuum through the vacuum pipe 8 so that the glass substrate 2
3 is adsorbed and fixed on the upper surface of the rotary table 2, the check valve 20 is opened, and the gas in the housing 1 is drawn. In addition, the sensor 29
The control unit 30 controls the dry gas supply device 27a and the humidified body supply device 28a by the temperature signal and the humidity signal from the control unit 30 to set the temperature and humidity in the housing 1 to predetermined values.
In response to this, the ion generator 32 and the static elimination bar 31 are operated. The gas flowing out from the temperature / humidity adjusting device 24 is filtered by the hepa filter 25 to prevent particles in the gas from entering the coating chamber. Further, the static elimination bar 31 adsorbs particles charged with static electricity floating due to the flow of gas. Therefore, the inside of the coating chamber 13 can be quickly brought to a clean environment free of static electricity at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined humidity.

In this state, a certain amount of the coating agent is dropped from the dropping nozzle 21 of the coating agent dropping device 22 onto the central portion of the upper surface of the glass substrate 23 on the rotary table 2, and the drive motor 3 is set according to the setting of the control panel 5. Thus, the turntable 2 is rotated at a predetermined speed for a predetermined time. The coating agent on the glass substrate 23 radially spreads outward due to the centrifugal force due to this rotation, and a film of the coating agent having a uniform thickness is formed on the entire surface of the glass substrate 23. The thickness of the film is controlled by the area of the upper surface of the glass substrate 23, the amount of the applied coating agent, the rotation speed, the rotation time, and the like.

When the predetermined time has elapsed, the rotary table 2 stops. When the formed film becomes stable, the temperature / humidity adjusting device 24 stops the supply of gas to the coating chamber 13, and the check valve 20
Is closed and the drawing of gas from the coating chamber 13 is stopped. Then, the vacuum chuck solenoid valve 6 closes the vacuum pipe 8 and then opens the pipe 33 to turn the rotary table 2 of the glass substrate 23.
Release adsorption to. Finally, the glass substrate 23 is removed from the rotary table 2, and one cycle of the coating operation is completed.

According to the above construction, the temperature and humidity inside the coating chamber 13 are controlled by supplying the gas whose temperature and humidity are adjusted. Therefore, the temperature and humidity can be quickly controlled without being affected by the temperature and humidity outside the device. Also,
When the humidity is low, static electricity tends to be generated, but the static elimination unit 3
Static electricity is removed by 1, 32. Therefore, the coating chamber 1
The environment in 3 is maintained in a suitable state for coating, and a film without unevenness in film thickness, cracks, cloudiness, etc. can be applied.

The object to be coated is not limited to the glass substrate and may be any object. The coating agent is not limited to the resist, and may be any organic material, resin, or the like. Further, in the above embodiment, both the dry gas and the humidified body are supplied to the temperature / humidity control device 24 from the pipes 27 and 28, but one kind of gas set to a desired humidity may be supplied. In the above example,
Although the temperature inside the coating chamber 13 is controlled by heating or cooling the dehumidifying body and the humidifying body, a temperature regulator may be arranged in the apparatus. Although the temperature control, the humidity control, and the static elimination control are all performed in the above-described embodiment, any one or a combination control thereof may be performed depending on the application target.

[0023]

According to the present invention, since the environment in the coating chamber can be maintained in a state suitable for the coating conditions, it is possible to obtain a coating apparatus in which unevenness in film thickness of formed film, cracks, turbidity and the like do not occur. . Moreover, the structure of the device is simple, and moreover,
Since the environment inside the coating room is set reliably and quickly, the manufacturing cost and operating cost are low.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a coating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional coating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Housing, 2 ... Rotating table, 3 ... Drive motor, 4 ... Case, 5 ... Control panel, 6 ... Vacuum chuck solenoid valve, 8, 9 ... Vacuum pipe , 12 ... adsorption chamber, 13 ...
Coating chamber, 17 ... Current plate, 19 ... Duct, 21 ... Dripping nozzle, 22 ... Coating material dropping device, 23 ... Glass substrate,
24 ... Temperature and humidity adjusting device, 25 ... Hepa filter, 27
..Dehumidifying pipe, 27A ... Dry gas supply device, 28 ...
Humidifying pipe, 28A ... Humidifying body supply device, 29 ... Sensor, 30 ... Control device, 31 ... Static elimination bar, 32 ... Ion generator, 33 ... Pipe

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A coating chamber, a rotary table on which an object to be coated is placed in the chamber, a drive unit that rotates the rotary table, and a coating agent that drops the coating agent onto the target to be coated on the rotary table. A drip unit, a humidity control unit that is connected to the coating chamber, adjusts the humidity inside the coating chamber by sending out a gas whose humidity is adjusted, and a temperature control unit that adjusts the temperature inside the coating chamber. A coating device comprising: 2. The coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coating chamber includes a static eliminator that suppresses static electricity inside. 3. The coating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the static elimination unit is composed of means for removing static electricity in the coating chamber. 4. The temperature control unit includes a gas supply unit for supplying a gas having a desired humidity and a filter unit for filtering the gas supplied by the gas supply unit and supplying the filtered gas to the coating chamber. The coating unit according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the section is constituted by means for heating or cooling the gas supplied by the gas supply means to control the temperature thereof.