JPH08166568A - Method for housing substrate of liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide the housing method of a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel by which the apparent change of the electrostatic charge quantity of a substrate is prevented from occurring. CONSTITUTION: This is the housing method of a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel applied to,a substrate housing device constituted so that a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel 7 carried from an upstream side is carried to a cassette 8 installed on an elevating/lowering table 12 by a roller 4 and successively laminated and housed on the inside of the cassette 8 in a vertical direction. The cassette made of an electrical conductive material is applied as the cassette 8 and an electrical conductive substrate 22 whose size is almost identical to the substrate 7 is housed next to the substrate T housed or already housed in the housing part of the cassette 8.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a substrate storage method capable of preventing the substrate from being charged when a substrate made of glass for liquid crystal display is stored in a cassette.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display panel, it is necessary to store a substrate in a cassette when transporting between devices and between processes or storing a substrate.

The substrate accommodating device used conventionally is
As shown in FIG. 7, the substrate conveyor 2 and the cassette support 25 are provided on the horizontally installed base 1. The board conveyor 2 is provided on a pair of left and right brackets 22 which are vertically installed on the base 1.
A plurality of collared rollers 4 are provided on the upper part of the unit 2.

When substrates are stored using this substrate storage device, the substrates 7 sent out one by one from the liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus are supported by a plurality of rollers 4 and conveyed to a predetermined position. The substrate is suction-held by the suction arm 23 that can move vertically and horizontally. Then, the suction arm 23 advances along the slide guide 24 horizontally installed on the base 1, conveys the substrate 7 to the cassette 8 on the cassette support table 25, and both ends of the substrate are moved to the guide posts 10 of the cassette 8. The board 7 is inserted into the storage portion of the cassette 8 by engaging with the annular groove 10 a. After the insertion is completed, the suction by the suction arm 23 is released, the suction arm 23 returns to the original state along the slide guide 24, and holds the next substrate.

[0005]

The substrate accommodating device is usually covered with a cover except for the portion that comes into contact with the substrate, and the sliding portion and the transport mechanism are not exposed. A conductive material such as stainless steel is used for these covers, and they are grounded through a bracket, a base, and the like.
The substrate is kept at a constant distance from this cover while it is being conveyed by the rollers on the device, but it remains below (or above) the substrate after being inserted into the cassette by the suction arm. Has a space for inserting the next board,
The distance between the substrate and the conductor changes, and along with that, the apparent charge amount of the substrate changes rapidly. This change in the amount of charge may destroy the transistor or diode on the substrate or adversely affect the characteristics. Further, by continuously inserting the substrates into the cassette, the amount of charge was remarkably increased and there was a risk of discharge.

In order to prevent such troubles, an ion generator is installed to prevent electrification by blowing an ion wind, but a considerable number of ion generators must be installed. However, there is a problem that it must be installed so as not to create a blind spot of ion wind, and conversely the charge amount increases depending on the setting of ions.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a method of accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel capable of preventing an apparent charge amount change of the substrate. To aim.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side is conveyed by a roller to a cassette installed on an elevating table, and is placed inside the cassette. A method for accommodating liquid crystal display panel substrates in a substrate accommodating device that sequentially accumulates and accumulates in a vertical direction, wherein a cassette having conductivity is adopted as the cassette, and the cassette is accommodated in one accommodating portion having a cassette, or It is characterized in that a conductive substrate having substantially the same size as the substrate is accommodated immediately adjacent to the accommodated substrate.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the substrate and the conductive substrate are alternately housed.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, one conductive substrate is accommodated for every two substrates accommodated.

In the invention according to claim 4, the cassette for liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side is carried by rollers to a predetermined position and then held by the robot arm, and is placed on the cassette support base. Transport to
A method for accommodating a liquid crystal display panel substrate in a substrate accommodating device for accumulating and accumulating sequentially in the cassette in a vertical direction, wherein a conductive partition plate is fixed between the accommodating parts as the cassette. Adopt a cassette that has,
And (a) a step of accommodating the substrate in one accommodating portion having a cassette adjacent to the conductive partition plate.

According to the invention of claim 5, the conductive partition plate is fixed between two adjacent storage portions.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the conductive partition plates are fixed to the upper and lower sides of two adjacent storage portions, respectively.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, at least a part of the conductive partition plate is formed with a slit for avoiding contact with the robot arm.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the substrates for the liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side are conveyed by rollers to a cassette installed on an elevating table, and are vertically laminated in the cassette sequentially. A method for accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel in a substrate accommodating device for accommodating a substrate, wherein a cassette having conductivity is adopted as the cassette, and (c) a step of placing the substrate in a tray having conductivity.
And (d) a step of accommodating the tray containing the substrate in the accommodating portion of the cassette.

[0016]

According to the invention of claim 1, after the glass substrate is inserted into the grounded cassette, a conductive substrate having substantially the same size as the glass substrate is inserted immediately adjacent to the glass substrate so that the glass substrate and the conductor are separated from each other. Minimize changes in distance
It is possible to suppress the apparent change in the charge amount of the glass substrate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, by alternately accommodating the substrate and the conductive substrate, the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor is surely minimized, and the apparent charge amount change of the glass substrate is minimized. Can be suppressed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the substrate is
By storing one conductive substrate for each storage, even if the number of conductive substrates is small, the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be minimized, and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed. it can.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the glass substrate is placed adjacent to the conductive partition plate in a single storage part in which a conductive partition plate is fixed between the storage parts and which has a bonded cassette. By inserting, the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be minimized, and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the conductive partition plate is fixed between the two adjacent accommodating portions, so that the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor is surely minimized. It is possible to suppress the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the conductive partition plates are fixed to the upper and lower sides of the two adjacent storage portions, respectively, so that the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor changes even with a small number of conductive substrates. Can be minimized, and the apparent change in the amount of charge on the glass substrate can be suppressed.

In the invention according to claim 7, since the slit is formed in at least a part of the conductive partition plate, it is possible to avoid the contact between the robot arm and the conductive partition plate during the storing operation.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the substrate is placed in a tray having conductivity in advance and is inserted into a grounded cassette to minimize the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor. It is possible to suppress an apparent change in the charge amount of the substrate.

[0024]

【Example】

[Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a substrate transfer apparatus in Embodiment 1 of a method for accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a horizontally installed base,
The substrate conveyor 2 is provided on this base. The substrate conveyor 2 is mounted on a bracket (not shown) which is vertically erected on the base 1, and a plurality of shafts 3 are horizontally and rotatably laid horizontally parallel to each other on an upper portion of the bracket. A pair of flanged rollers 4 are fixed to both ends of the plurality of shafts 3, and a timing pulley (not shown) is fixed to one end of each shaft 3.
The plurality of timing pulleys are rotated by the motor 5 provided on the base 1 via the timing pulleys and the endless timing belt 6.

Further, the conveyor 2 supports the glass substrates 7 supported on the rollers 4 in a state in which the glass substrates 7 sent out one by one from the liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus are regulated by the collars 4a of the rollers 4 from both sides along the traveling direction. Storage part 8a of cassette 8
It is designed to be inserted into.

The substrate cassette 8 includes a rectangular upper plate 9 and
Guide posts 10 formed vertically from the four corners of the upper plate 9
And a frame 11 for connecting the guide posts 10. On the side surface of the guide post 10, a large number of grooves that engage with both ends of the substrate are formed at equal intervals. The cassette 8 is processed so as to have conductivity. As the method of such conductive treatment, for example, thermal spraying on the surface of the frame or the side plate constituting the cassette,
Examples thereof include a method of providing a metal layer by means such as plating and vapor deposition, a method of applying a conductive paint on the surface of a cassette constituent member, and a method of mixing a conductive filler when molding the cassette constituent member. However, in the present invention, as long as it is conductive, its material or treatment method may be arbitrary and is not particularly limited.

The cassette 8 is installed on an elevating table 12 and is adapted to intermittently rise (or descend) by a distance equal to the number of groove intervals of the guide post 10.

The lift table 12 is provided with a linear drive motor 13 on the base 1 and a pair of front and rear slide guides 14 provided vertically to the left and right of the lift table 12, and the linear drive is provided on the upper end of a drive shaft 15. A support plate (not shown) that moves vertically by driving the motor 13 is horizontally attached. Incidentally, 14a is a fixing member of the slide guide. The lift 12 can be vertically moved along the slide guide 14 by transmitting the driving force from the linear drive motor 13 through the drive shaft 15.

Further, the lift table 12 has a roller 17a which is rotated by a driving force transmitted from a motor (not shown) provided on the base 1 via a belt (not shown). A rectangular hole 18 is opened in the elevating table 12 so as not to interfere with the conveyor conveying mechanism 17 that conveys the substrate in the storage section, and the lower plate frame 11 of the cassette 8 is placed on the elevating table 12 and the hole 18 is formed. It is designed to support so as to surround.

The substrate transfer device constructed as described above is
The substrate is transported as follows.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the substrates 7 sent out one by one from the manufacturing apparatus are supported on a plurality of rollers 4 and conveyed to a cassette 8 on an elevating table 12, and both ends thereof are supported. Are engaged with the grooves of the guide posts 10 of the cassette 8 and stored in the cassette 8. And at this time, the substrate 7
It is assumed that the space between the cover 19 on the substrate conveyor 2 and the upper surface 20 of the transport mechanism 17 on the base 1 does not change. Then, when the substrate 7 is completely inserted into the cassette 8, the cassette 8 is moved by the lifting table 12 as shown in FIG.
Go up by the pitch and wait for the next board. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, as the next substrate, a conductive substrate 21 having the same size as the substrate 7 is sent out from the manufacturing apparatus along the same path as the substrate 7, so that the adjacent pitches of the cassette 8 on both the upper and lower sides are increased. Since the conductive substrate 21 is housed, the distance between the substrate 7 and the conductive substrate 21 does not change even when the elevating table 12 rises, and the apparent change in the charge amount of the substrate 7 is reliably suppressed. be able to. The distance between the substrate 7 and the conductive substrate 21 is appropriately selected in consideration of the diameters of the roller and the shaft and is not particularly limited in the present invention, but is usually about 5 to 30 mm, preferably 10 to 20 mm.
It is a degree.

The material of the conductive substrate may be any material as long as it is conductive in the present invention, and examples thereof include a stainless plate and a conductive vinyl chloride resin.

[Embodiment 2] In this embodiment, instead of alternately accommodating the substrates 7 and the conductive substrates 21 (Embodiment 1), one conductive substrate 21 is stored every two substrates 7 are accommodated.
Stores one sheet. By doing so, the conductive substrate 21 can be disposed adjacent to either the upper side or the lower side of the substrate 7, so that the distance between the substrate 7 and the conductive substrate 21 changes even with a small number of conductive substrates 21. Can be minimized, and an apparent charge amount change of the substrate 7 can be suppressed.

That is, the conductive substrate 21 is the substrate 7
It suffices to be stored adjacent to at least one of the upper side and the lower side.

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, instead of the substrate cassette of Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG. 5, conductive partition plates 23 are fixed one by one between the accommodating portions 22. A characteristic is that the substrate cassette 24 having conductivity is adopted. The other configurations of the substrate cassette and the substrate transfer device are the same as the configuration including the fixed base or the lifting base and the robot arm shown in FIG. 7.

By accommodating the substrates in the one accommodating portion 22 of the substrate cassette 24 so as to be adjacent to the conductive partition plate 23 in both upper and lower directions, a substrate such as glass and a conductor (in the present embodiment) are surely provided. It is possible to minimize the change in the distance to the conductive partition plate 23) and prevent the change in the apparent charge amount of the substrate.

[Embodiment 4] Instead of the substrate cassette 24 shown in FIG. 5, a substrate cassette may be employed in which the conductive partition plates are fixed inside and below the two adjacent storage portions. That is, this substrate cassette has a structure in which one conductive partition plate is provided for every two storage parts, and the conductive partition plate is adjacent to either the upper part or the lower part of each storage part. It is arranged. By accommodating one of the upper and lower sides of the conductive substrate adjacent to each other in one storage unit of such a substrate cassette, even with a small number of conductive partition plates, a change in the distance between the substrate and the conductive partition plate can be prevented. It can be minimized and the change in the apparent charge amount of the substrate can be prevented.

That is, the conductive partition plate 21 may be disposed so as to be adjacent to at least one of the upper and lower sides of the storage section 22.

[Embodiment 5] In this embodiment, at least a part of the conductive partition plate 23 of Embodiment 3, for example, the entrance side into which the substrate 7 is inserted, has a slit 26 (for avoiding contact with the robot arm 25). 6) is formed. The other configurations of the substrate cassette and the substrate transfer device are the same as those in the second embodiment.

With this feature, even when the substrate 7 is stored in the substrate cassette 24 using the robot arm 25, the robot arm 25 can be moved with a margin corresponding to the length of the slit 26, so that the storing work can be performed. It can be made smooth and there is no fear of damage to the conductive partition plate 23.

In this embodiment, if the slits of the partition plate and the conveyor transfer mechanism (see FIG. 1) do not interfere with each other, the conveyor transfer mechanism may be used instead of the robot arm.

[Embodiment 6] This embodiment uses the same substrate cassette and substrate transfer device as in Embodiment 1, but the substrates are previously placed in a conductive tray made of a metal plate or the like, and the trays are stored in the cassette. There is a feature in doing it.

With this storage method, as in the above-described embodiment, it is possible to minimize the change in the distance between the substrate and the conductor (the tray in this embodiment) and prevent the change in the apparent charge amount of the substrate. it can.

[0044]

The effects of the invention according to claims 1, 4 and 8 are that the distance between the substrate and the conductor does not change, so that the apparent charge amount of the substrate does not change rapidly, and
Circuits such as transistors and diodes on the substrate due to changes in the charge amount are not destroyed, and there is no danger of discharge.

The effect of the invention according to claim 2 is that the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be surely suppressed to the minimum, and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

The effect of the invention according to claim 3 is that even with a small number of conductive substrates, the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be minimized and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

The effect of the invention according to claim 5 is that the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be reliably suppressed to a minimum, and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

The effect of the invention according to claim 6 is that even with a small number of conductive partition plates, the change in the distance between the glass substrate and the conductor can be minimized and the change in the apparent charge amount of the glass substrate can be suppressed.

The effect of the invention according to claim 7 is that, even if there is a conductive partition plate, the substrate can be stored smoothly, and there is no concern about damage to the conductive partition plate.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a substrate transfer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

2A to 2D are process diagrams showing a substrate storage method using the substrate transfer device of FIG.

3A to 3D are process diagrams showing a substrate storage method using the substrate transfer device of FIG.

4A to 4C are process diagrams showing a substrate storage method using the substrate transfer device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a substrate cassette applied in a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a substrate cassette applied in a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing a conventional substrate transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 conveyors, 4 rollers, 7 substrates, 8 cassettes,
8a Storage part, 12 Elevating table, 21 Conductive substrate.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/68 V

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A substrate storage device for transporting a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side to a cassette installed on an elevating table by rollers, and sequentially stacking and accommodating the cassette in the cassette in a vertical direction. In the method for accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel in, a cassette having conductivity is adopted as the cassette, and the cassette is accommodated in one accommodating portion having the cassette or is immediately adjacent to the accommodated substrate, A method of accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, characterized by accommodating conductive substrates of the same size. 2. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate and the conductive substrate are stored alternately. 3. The storage method according to claim 1, wherein one conductive substrate is stored for every two storage substrates. 4. A substrate for a liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side is conveyed to a predetermined position by a roller and then held by a robot arm, and then conveyed to a cassette installed on a cassette support table, A method for accommodating a liquid crystal display panel substrate in a substrate accommodating device for sequentially accumulating vertically in a substrate, wherein the cassette has a conductive partition plate fixed between the accommodating portions. And (a) a step of accommodating the substrate in one accommodating portion having a cassette adjacent to the conductive partition plate, the method for accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel. 5. The storage method according to claim 4, wherein the conductive partition plate is fixed between two adjacent storage portions. 6. The storage method according to claim 4, wherein the conductive partition plates are respectively fixed to the upper and lower sides of two adjacent storage portions. 7. The storage method according to claim 4, wherein at least a part of the conductive partition plate is formed with a slit for avoiding contact with the robot arm. 8. A substrate storage device for transporting a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel sent from the upstream side to a cassette installed on an elevating table by rollers and sequentially stacking the substrates in the cassette in a vertical direction for storage. A method of accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel in, wherein a cassette having conductivity is adopted as the cassette, and (c) a step of placing the substrate in a tray having conductivity, and (d) placing the substrate A method for accommodating a substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, which comprises a step of accommodating the tray thus prepared in an accommodating portion of a cassette.