JPH09155269A - Coating applicator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating applicator capable of forming smooth and uniform coating films on sheet substrates without being affected by the properties of a coating liquid and increasing the number of the sheets to be treated per unit time. SOLUTION: A pair of guide rails 15A, 15B formed to a track shape are arranged above a coating head 30 in such a manner that these rails are disposed to face each other and the straight parts thereof are inclined. Both ends of substrate holding sections H1, etc., are freely slidably supported between the guide rails 15A and 15B, by which the substrate holding parts are mounted. The device is provided with sliding bodies 18A, etc., freely engageably and disengageably connected to the substrate holding parts existing in the straight parts on the lower side of the guide rails freely slidably in the direction parallel with the straight parts of the guide rails and are freely rotatably provided with a pair of connecting hands connected freely engageably and disengageably with the substrate holding parts existing at the ends of the straight parts of the guide rails.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for coating a glass substrate or the like of an LCD color filter with a coating liquid.

[0002]

In general, a spin coating method is often used as a method for applying a coating liquid to a large glass substrate such as an LCD color filter.

This spin coating method includes an atmospheric open type and a closed cup type, but in both methods, the coating efficiency is as low as about 10%, and the coating thickness at the corner portion of the substrate becomes too thick. Therefore, the amount of coating liquid used,
Problems have been pointed out with respect to film thickness distribution, throughput, and the like.

As a method for solving the drawbacks of the spin coating method as described above, there are a knife coating method, a roll coating method and a die coating method.

Each of these methods is a method in which a coating clearance is provided on the substrate to be coated, and the coating film thickness is determined by the set value to obtain the smoothness of the coating surface. If the surface smoothness (irregularity) is lower than the coating accuracy (the unevenness is large), it is difficult to obtain a uniform film thickness.

A dip coating method is generally known as a method of applying a coating liquid which is hardly affected by irregularities on the surface of the substrate. In this method, however, it is essential to cover a non-coated portion and work is required. It becomes complicated.

As a method similar to the principle of this dip coating method and in which the coating liquid is selectively applied only to the main surface of the substrate, published by Sogo Gijutsu Center (1988).
The coating method of the coating liquid described on page 336 of "Advances in Latest Coating Technology" by Yuji Ozaki (April 30, 2013) is known.

In this system, the coating liquid is supplied from the die head or the slide die in a substantially horizontal direction, and the substrate moves relatively vertically upward in the proximity position facing the die lip formed on the side surface of the die head or the slide die. To be done. The coating liquid supplied from the die head or the slide die forms a bead between the substrate and the die lip, and is coated on the main surface of the substrate as the substrate moves upward to form a coating film.

This coating method is generally used as a coating method for a continuous substrate. Then, the film thickness of the applied coating liquid is determined by the relative speed of the substrate and the coating head and the viscosity of the coating liquid. That is, the coating liquid pulled up from the bead formed between the substrate and the die lip falls along the substrate due to the effect of gravity, and therefore the film is formed by the balance between the dropping speed and the speed at which the substrate pulls up the coating liquid. The thickness is determined.

In this coating method, when the coating liquid has a low viscosity and a weak surface tension, it is difficult to form beads in the clearance provided between the substrate and the coating head, and the coating liquid is Immediately after being supplied, it may fall due to gravity without forming beads.
In order to prevent this, there is a problem that the clearance between the substrate and the coating head must be made extremely small.

However, when the substrate has a low flatness like an LCD color filter glass substrate and has irregularities of up to 100 μm, a difference occurs in the pulling force generated when the coating liquid is pulled up from the bead, resulting in a bead. Various different shear forces will act. In this way, when locally different shearing forces act on the beads, the amount of the coating liquid drawn out from the beads is not uniform, and therefore the film thickness is not uniform.

Further, in this coating method, although the coating liquid can be continuously applied to the main surface of the substrate, the main surface of the substrate is vertical and the coating liquid is supplied from the direction perpendicular to the main substrate. Therefore, when applying the coating liquid to multiple discontinuous substrates such as a single-wafer substrate, the coating liquid remaining on the bead when the rearmost end of the substrate in the sliding direction passes through the bead May fall on the substrate, and may adhere to the front end of the substrate to be coated next, the back surface thereof, or the lower part of the coating head to cause contamination. Therefore, this coating method is unsuitable for use in coating a single-wafer substrate.

The coating method using a slide die is also
It has the same drawbacks as the coating method using the die head described above. In particular, the coating method using this slide die is
It is difficult to stop the supply of the coating liquid at an arbitrary time because the bead is formed between the surface of the substrate and the coating liquid flowing on the inclined surface of the slide die by free flow. It is unsuitable for continuously applying the coating liquid to such a discontinuous substrate.

Therefore, there is provided a coating apparatus capable of forming the uniform coating film on the single-wafer substrate in a stable state without being affected by the physical properties of the coating liquid by eliminating the drawbacks of the coating methods as described above. Proposed (Japanese Patent Application No. 5-146)
757).

This coating apparatus, as shown in FIG.
A linear guide frame 2 mounted between the pair of support frames 1A of the apparatus main body 1 in a state in which the downstream end in the sliding direction of the substrate S is inclined so as to be high;
A substrate holder 3 slidably attached to the guide frame 2 and a linear slit 4 opening upward.
The coating head 4 is provided below the guide frame 2 so that the slit 4a extends in the direction orthogonal to the axial direction of the guide frame 2.

The substrate holder 3 is screwed onto a ball screw 5 installed along the guide frame 2,
The ball screw 5 is slid along the guide frame 2 when it is rotated by the motor M, and the suction mechanism (not shown) connected to the suction pipe connecting portion 3A is actuated so that the suction surface is directed downward. The substrate S is sucked and held.

Further, the coating head 4 is adapted to discharge the coating liquid supplied from a coating liquid supply mechanism (not shown) upward from the slit 4a.

FIG. 10 shows a state at the start of coating of the coating apparatus, in which the substrate S attracted to the attracting surface of the substrate holder 3 has a tip portion of which has a predetermined clearance directly above the slit of the coating head 4. Are located so as to face each other.

When the coating liquid R is supplied to the coating head 4 from the coating liquid supply mechanism, the supplied coating liquid R is discharged from the slits 4a and the beads B are formed, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. It is formed and attached to the lower surface of the front end of the substrate S. At this time, the minimum clearance C1 between the opening of the slit 4a and the lower surface of the substrate S attracted to the substrate holder 3
Is set in consideration of physical properties such as viscosity and surface tension of the coating liquid R so that the coating liquid R does not spill out from the bead B.

In FIG. 11, a meniscus L1 is formed on the rear end side (left side in the figure) of the substrate S, and a meniscus L2 is formed on the front end side (right side in the figure), and the height dimension h1 of this meniscus L1 is The height dimension h2 of the meniscus L2 has a relationship of h1 <h2 because the guide frame 2 is inclined at the angle θ.

When the motor M is driven and the ball screw 5 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 10, the substrate holder 3 is slid upward along the guide frame 2 at a constant speed.

As a result, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the coating liquid R is sequentially deposited from the bead B onto the lower surface of the substrate S to form a layer Ra of the coating liquid R. At this time, the coating liquid R is continuously supplied to the coating head 4, and the amount of the coating liquid R in the bead B is kept constant.

Then, as shown in FIG. 14, the substrate S
Moves along the guide frame 2 and the rear end S2 reaches the slit 4a of the coating head 4, the slide of the substrate holder 3 is stopped, and the suck back valve (not shown) connected to the coating head 4 operates. As a result, the coating liquid R forming the bead B is sucked into the coating head 4 and the bead B disappears. Thereby, the coating head 4
And the layer Ra of the coating liquid on the substrate S is separated.

After that, the substrate S is removed from the substrate holder 3, held horizontally in an upward or downward state, conveyed to a drying unit (not shown), dried by a means such as a far infrared heater, and the main portion of the substrate S is dried. A coating film having a uniform thickness is formed on the surface.

Generally, the main surface of the glass substrate for the LCD color filter has low smoothness and usually has irregularities of 50 to 70 μm, and a maximum of about 100 μm. According to the above coating apparatus, the substrate S and the coating head 4 are formed. Between the slits 4a, the film thickness of the layer Ra formed on the substrate S is 10 to 1000.
By maintaining a sufficiently large clearance of 20 times or more, preferably 20 times or more, the influence of the unevenness of the main surface of the substrate S can be mitigated. Further, since the coating liquid is applied to the substrate S in a state where the substrate S is inclined (5 to 20 degrees, preferably 11 degrees), the coating liquid applied to the substrate S is lower along the main surface thereof. To the surface, which allows the surface of the coating film to be smooth.

However, when it is attempted to continuously apply the coating liquid to a single substrate by the above-mentioned conventional coating apparatus, after the coating liquid has been applied to one substrate S, the substrate holder 3 is inverted and the substrate is rotated. The adsorption of S is released, the substrate S is removed, and then a new substrate S is adsorbed and set on the substrate holder 3, and the substrate holder 3 is slid along the guide frame 2 in the direction opposite to that at the time of applying the coating liquid. Then, it is necessary to return to the position at the start of coating.

For this reason, the processing time per substrate becomes long, and the maximum processing speed is about 30 substrates / hour.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a smooth and uniform coating film can be formed on a single-wafer substrate without being affected by the physical properties of the coating liquid. At the same time, it is an object to provide a coating apparatus capable of increasing the number of processed sheets per unit time.

[0029]

In order to achieve the above object, the coating apparatus according to the first invention is a coating head having a strip-shaped slit which opens upward and extends horizontally, and a coating head of the coating head. A substrate holding unit that moves diagonally upwards and holds the substrate and conveys the substrate while the coating surface faces the coating head, and when the substrate holding unit holds and moves the substrate. The coating liquid is supplied to the coating head, a bead is formed between the coating head and the substrate by the coating liquid discharged from the slit of the coating head, and the coating liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate to be coated from the bead as the substrate moves. In a coating apparatus for coating a coating liquid on a substrate by depositing layers in a layered manner, a pair of straight line portions extending in parallel to each other at upper and lower positions and both ends of the pair of straight line portions. A pair of guide rails formed in a track shape by a pair of arc-shaped corner portions that respectively connect the above, are opposed to each other with the respective track surfaces facing vertically above the coating head, and the linear portions are The plurality of substrate holders are arranged in a state of extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the slit of the coating head extends and being inclined,
Both ends are slidably supported between a pair of guide rails, so that the substrate on which the coating liquid is applied is detachably attached to the outside of the guide rails. A first slide body slidably connected to a substrate holding portion located on the straight portion of the guide rail slidably in a direction parallel to the straight portion of the guide rail, and located on the upper straight portion of the guide rail. A second slide body, which is detachably connected to the guide rail, is slidably provided in a direction parallel to the linear portion of the guide rail, and is disposed at corners on both sides of the guide rail and is located at an end of the linear portion of the guide rail. A pair of connecting members that are detachably connected to the substrate holding portion is rotatably provided around the central axis of each corner portion of the guide rail.

In the coating apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, when the substrate holding portion holding the substrate is located at the lower end of the linear portion below the guide rail, the first slide body is connected to the substrate holding portion. It Then, the first slide body is slid obliquely upward in parallel with the straight portion of the guide rail, so that the substrate holding portion makes the surface of the held substrate to be coated face the coating head. The first slide body is slid diagonally upward along the straight portion of the guide rail.

At this time, the coating liquid is continuously supplied to the coating head, the coating liquid is discharged upward from the slit, and the coating liquid is discharged between the coating liquid and the surface of the substrate moving above the coating head. Form a bead. Then, as the substrate holding portion slides, the coating liquid is sequentially attached from the beads to the surface of the substrate to be coated, so that a layer of the coating liquid is formed on the substrate.

When the substrate holding portion reaches the upper end of the straight portion of the guide rail and the application of the coating liquid to the substrate is completed as described above, the connecting member provided on the upper end side of the guide rail holds the substrate. And the first slide body is released from the connection.

After that, the connecting member is rotated about the central axis of the corner portion, so that the substrate holding portion connected to the connecting member is slid along the corner portion to the upper side of the guide rail, and the substrate is held. Hold the coated surface of the.

After that, the second slide body is connected to the substrate holding portion moved to the upper side of the guide rail, and the connection of the connecting member is released. Then, the second slide body is slid downwardly in parallel with the straight portion of the guide rail, so that the substrate holding portion is slanted downward along the straight portion of the guide rail integrally with the slide body. To be slid. When the substrate holder is slid downward, the substrate held by the substrate holder is replaced.

When the board holding portion after the replacement of the board reaches the lower end portion of the straight portion of the guide rail, the connecting member provided on the lower end side of the guide rail is connected to the board holding portion and the second slide is performed. The body is disconnected.

Then, when the connecting member is rotated about the central axis of the corner portion, the substrate holding portion connected to the connecting member is slid along the corner portion to the lower side of the guide rail, and the substrate The surface on which the coating solution is applied is held downward.

After that, the first slide body is connected to the substrate holding portion slid to the lower side of the guide rail, and the connection of the connecting member is released, so that the coating liquid is applied to the substrate and the substrate is replaced. Is repeated.

The steps of applying the coating liquid to the above substrate are as follows.
This is performed for each of the plurality of sliders.

At this time, the slide strokes along the guide rails of the respective substrate holders are offset from each other so that the coating of the substrate by the coating head and the replacement of the substrate after coating can be performed by the respective sliders. Can be alternated. As a result, it is possible to continuously apply the coating to the substrate with one coating head without a gap.

The coating apparatus according to the second invention is the coating apparatus according to the first invention, wherein the pair of guide rails, the first slide body and the second slide body are provided.
The slide body and the pair of connecting members are attached to a machine frame that is rotatable about an axis extending in the horizontal direction and at a right angle to the linear portion of the guide rail.

In the coating apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, the tilt angle of the guide rail, that is, the tilt angle of the guide rail, that is, the machine frame is rotated about the axis extending in the horizontal direction and in the direction perpendicular to the straight portion of the guide rail. The slide angle of the substrate holder and the inclination angle of the substrate held by the substrate holder are set to arbitrary angles.

[0042]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The most preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows a coating apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
2 is a side view of FIG. 0, and FIG.
It is the front view which looked at from the direction of arrow X.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the coating device 1
The device main body 11 of No. 0 is rotatably supported by the shafts 13A and 13B on the upper ends of a pair of columns 12A and 12B which are erected on both sides of the device main body 11 so as to sandwich the device main body 11. There is.

The apparatus main body 11 has a pair of side plates 14A and 14B which are vertically arranged and face each other in parallel with each other. The side plates 14A and 14B are connected to respective outer wall surfaces of shafts 13A and 13B. It is rotatably supported by the vertical plane.

On the inner wall surface of the side plate 14A, a pair of straight line portions 15A1 and 15A extending parallel to each other in the vertical position.
A track-shaped guide rail 15A composed of arc-shaped corner portions 15A3 and 15A4 connecting the two ends of the linear portions 15A1 and 15A2 with each other is attached.

On the inner wall surface of the side plate 14B, a pair of straight line portions 15B1 and 15B extending parallel to each other at the upper and lower positions.
2 and a guide rail 15A having the same shape as a guide rail 15A formed of arc-shaped corner portions 15B3 and 15B4 that connect both ends of the straight portions 15B1 and 15B2, respectively.
B is attached so as to face the guide rail 15A.

Between the side plates 14A and 14B is located below the axis y of the shafts 13A and 13B and is the guide rail 1.
5A straight portions 15A1 and 15A2 and guide rail 1
A ball screw 16A extending parallel to the linear portions 15B1 and 15B2 of 5B is arranged, and both ends thereof are provided with side plates 14A and 14A.
It is rotatably supported by a frame (not shown) spanned between B. A drive motor M1 is connected to one end of the ball screw 16A, and the ball screw 16A is rotated about its axis by the drive motor M1.

A pair of guide shafts 17A are provided on both sides of the ball screw 16A, and both end portions of the guide shafts 17A are attached to the side plates 14.
It is arranged in parallel with the ball screw 16A by being fixed to a frame (not shown) that is bridged between A and 14B.

Ball screw 16A and guide shaft 1
A slide body 18A is attached to 7A.

The slide body 18A has a base frame 18A1 spanned between a pair of guide shafts 17A with both ends thereof being inserted into the guide shaft 17A and a central portion thereof being inserted into the ball screw 16A, and the base frame 1A.
Ball screw nut 18A2 attached to the central portion of 8A1 and screwed into ball screw 16A, and base frame 1
A pair of arms 18A4 attached via rotary ball splines 18A3 slidably and rotatably fitted to the guide shafts 17A at both ends of 8A1 and an upper end of the pair of arms 18A4. And a pair of chuck pads 18A6 attached to the lower ends of the pair of arms 18A4 so as to oppose each other. There is.

Between the side plates 14A and 14B, the shaft 13
Above the axis y of A and 13B, the ball screw 16
A, a pair of guide shafts 17A and slide body 18
A ball screw 16B, a pair of guide shafts 17B and a slide body 18B are attached so as to be symmetrical with respect to A and the axis y, respectively.
Is rotated about its axis by a drive motor (not shown).

The slide body 18B is also constructed similarly to the slide body 18A and has a base frame 18B1, a pair of arms 18B4, a chuck cylinder 18B5 and a pair of chuck pads 18B6.

In FIG. 1, in order to facilitate understanding of the structure, the ball screw 16B disposed above the axis y of the shafts 13A and 13B, and the pair of guide shafts 1 are arranged.
Illustration of 7B and the slide body 18B is omitted.

A shaft 19 is provided between the side plates 14A and 14B.
Both ends were rotatably supported by the side plates 14A and 14B so that A was coaxial with the axis connecting the central position of the corner portion 15A3 of the guide rail 15A and the central position of the corner portion 15B3 of the guide rail 15B. It is installed in the state. Then, the side plate 14 of the shaft 19A
A drive motor M2 for rotating the shaft 19A around the axis is connected to an end portion protruding outward of B.

As can be seen from FIG. 2, the shaft 19A is located above the slide body 18A and below the slide body 18B. A pair of rotating arms 20A are provided on the shaft 19A and slide bodies 18A and 18B.
The shaft 19A is fixed at right angles to the shaft 19A so as to be located on both sides of the shaft. Cylinders 21A are attached to the lower ends of the pair of turning arms 20A so that their piston rods are oriented in the axial direction of the turning arms 20A, and the tip ends of the piston rods are connected to a pedestal to be described later. The connecting hand 22A is attached.

Further, between the side plates 14A and 14B, the shaft 19B is coaxial with the axis connecting the central position of the corner portion 15A4 of the guide rail 15A and the central position of the corner portion 15B4 of the guide rail 15B. The part is attached to the side plates 14A and 14B in a state of being rotatably supported. And this shaft 19B also
Like the shaft 19A, it is adapted to be rotated about its axis by a drive motor (not shown) connected to the end thereof.

This shaft 19B also has a shaft 19A.
A pair of rotating arms 20B, a pair of cylinders 21B, and a connecting hand 22B are attached with the same configuration as.

Between the guide rails 15A and 15B, two substrate holding portions H1 and H2 are slidably interposed along the guide rails 15A and 15B, respectively.

The substrate holder H1 has the following structure.

That is, the guide rails 15A and 15
A pair of carriages 23A and 23B are slidably mounted on the guide rails B along the guide rails so as to be located inside the side plates 14A and 14B, respectively, and a pedestal 24 is mounted between the pair of carriages 23A and 23B. With the pedestal 24 being located on the outer peripheral side of the guide rails 15A and 15B, both ends of the pedestal 24 are provided by the shafts 23A1 and 23B1, respectively, by the carriage 23A
And 23B are rotatably supported.

On the inner surface of the central portion of the pedestal 24, a chuck bracket 25 is erected in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the pedestal 24 and its flat portion is parallel to the ball screw 16A. Further, on the inner surfaces of both ends of the pedestal 24, a pair of connecting brackets 26 are erected so as to be oriented at right angles to the longitudinal direction of the pedestal 24 and the plane portions thereof are oriented at right angles to the ball screw 16A.

An adsorption plate 27 for adsorbing and holding the substrate S is fixed to the outer surface of the pedestal 24.

A gantry rotating cylinder 28 is attached to the bracket 23B2 fixed to the carriage 23B, and a piston rod of the gantry rotating cylinder 28 is connected to a tip end portion of an arm 29 fixed to the gantry 24. Of the shaft 24A1 and 23B1
It is designed to rotate about the axis of.

The structure of the substrate holding portion H2 is similar to that of the substrate holding portion H1, and the pair of carriages 23A 'and 23B' slidably mounted on the guide rails 15A and 15B, the pedestal 24 ', and the pedestal 24'. The chuck bracket 25 'and the bracket 26' are attached to the inner surface, the suction plate 27 'is attached to the outer surface of the pedestal 24', and the gantry rotating cylinder for rotating the gantry 24 '.

At the lower part of the apparatus main body 11, a coating head 30 having a linear slit 30a opening upwards.
However, the slit 30a has guide rails 15A and 15B.
Are installed in a direction orthogonal to the linear portions 15A2 and 15B2, respectively. The coating head 30 is moved up and down by the operation of a lifting mechanism (not shown).

The coating liquid is supplied to the coating head 30 from a coating liquid supply mechanism which will be described later.
The coating liquid supplied to the coating head 30 is discharged upward from the slit 30a.

An example of the shape of the coating head 30 is shown in FIGS.

3 to 6, the main body 30A of the coating head 30 has a length a which is equal to or larger than the width of the substrate S on which the coating liquid is coated, and extends along the axial direction at the center of the upper surface thereof. At the same time, a slit 30a that opens upward is formed. A pair of slopes 30B and 30C are formed on both sides of the slit 30a so as to sandwich it.

Inside the main body 30A, a hollow liquid reservoir 30D is formed which extends in parallel with the slit 30a and communicates with the slit 30a over the entire axial direction thereof. A coating liquid supply pipe 30E attached to a lower portion of the slit 30a is connected to the liquid pool 30D,
The coating liquid introduced from the coating liquid supply pipe 30E is discharged from the slit 30a via the liquid reservoir 30D.

In the figure, 30F is a pair of slit length adjusting packings that are detachably fitted to both ends of the slit 30a. The slit length adjusting packings 30F have different lengths. The width of the coating liquid discharged from the slit 30a can be adjusted by changing the slit length adjusting packing.

The dimensions of each part of the coating head 30 shown in the drawing are as follows.

Length a of main body 30A = 400 mm Width of main body 30A b = 50 mm Height of main body 30A c = 80 mm Length d of slit 30a (width after adjustment by slit length adjusting packing 30F) = 350 mm Slit 30a Width e = 2 mm Depth of slit 30a f = 27 mm Depth of liquid pool 30D g = 40 mm As a coating liquid supply mechanism for supplying the coating liquid to the coating head 30, there is a mechanism as shown in FIG.

This coating liquid supply mechanism pushes out the coating liquid contained in the pressurized tank barrel T by the air pressure supplied through the manual valve 31, and the coarse adjustment needle valve 32, the filter 33, and the flow meter 34. , Fine adjustment needle valve 35, air operated valve 36 and suck back valve 37 to supply to coating head 30.

The air actuated valve 36 is automatically operated by air pressure when the application of the coating liquid to the substrate S is completed, and stops the supply of the coating liquid to the coating head 30. Further, in the suck back valve 37, the piston 37a is slid in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 7 at the same time when the air actuated valve 36 is closed to generate a negative pressure in the cylinder 37b, whereby the sucking valve 30 is supplied to the coating head 30. Suction and collect the coating liquid.

Next, the operation of the coating apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

The coating apparatus 10 is rotated about the shafts 13A and 13B so that the right end portion of FIG. Is set to a predetermined angle θ.

The substrate holding portion H1 holding the substrate S on the suction plate 27 is the linear portion 15A of the guide rails 15A and 15B.
When positioned at the end located below 2, 15B2 (the left end in FIG. 8, this position is hereinafter referred to as the coating start position), the chuck cylinder 18A5 of the slide body 18A is actuated, and a pair of Arm 18A4 is guide shaft 1
The lower ends of the chucks 7A and 7B are rotated toward each other, whereby the chuck pad 18A6 holds the chuck bracket 25 from both sides thereof. As a result, the substrate holding part H1 and the slide body 18A are integrally connected.

In this state, the drive motor M1 is driven to rotate the ball screw 16A, whereby the slide body 18A is slid obliquely upward along the ball screw 16A while being guided by the guide shaft 17A. As the slide body 18A slides, the substrate holding portion H1 also moves straight portions 15 of the guide rails 15A and 15B.
It is slid diagonally upward along A2, 15B2.

At this time, the coating surface of the substrate S held by the suction plate 27A faces downward and the guide rails 15A, 15
It is held in parallel with the straight portions 15A2 and 15B2 of B.

The substrate S passes above the coating head 30 as the substrate holder H1 slides. At this time, when the tip of the substrate S reaches the position of the coating head 30, the coating liquid on the coating head 30 is exposed. The supply is started, and the supplied coating liquid is discharged from the slits 30a to form beads and adhere to the substrate S. At this time, the substrate S and the coating head 30
The spacing between the slits 30a is adjusted by vertically moving the coating head 30 by an elevator mechanism (not shown).

With the passage of the substrate S, the coating liquid is sequentially deposited on the lower surface of the substrate S from the beads formed on the coating head 30, and a layer of the coating liquid is formed.

The substrate holding portion H1 is connected to the guide rail 1
When the end portion located on the upper side of the linear portions 15A2, 15B2 of 5A, 15B (the right end portion in FIG. 8, hereinafter this position is referred to as the coating end position) is reached, the rear end portion of the substrate S is located above the coating head 30. Removed from the slide body 1 almost at the same time
The slide of 8A and the substrate holding part H1 is stopped, the suck back valve connected to the coating head 30 is operated, the coating liquid forming the bead is sucked into the coating head 30, and the bead disappears. As a result, the coating liquid applied to the coating head 30 and the substrate S is separated.

The coating state of the coating liquid on the substrate S is the same as the conventional coating liquid coating method described with reference to FIGS.

As described above, when the substrate holder H1 reaches the coating end position and coating of the coating liquid on the substrate S held by the suction plate 27A is finished, the cylinder 21B is operated and stands by in the downward direction. The connecting hand 22B (shown in an upward state in FIG. 2) being lowered is connected to the connecting bracket 26. At the same time, the operation of the chuck cylinder 18A5 is stopped, and the chuck pad 18
The sandwiched state of the chuck bracket 25 by A6 is released.

After that, the ball screw 16A is rotated in the reverse direction, so that the slide body 18A is slid in the opposite direction to the original position.

In this way, after the slide body 18A and the substrate holding portion H1 are disconnected, the shaft 19B is released.
Is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by a drive motor (not shown), whereby the carriages 23A and 23B are slid upward along the corner portions 15A4 and 15B4 of the guide rails 15A and 15B, and the substrate holding portion H
1 is moved to the upper side of the guide rails 15A and 15B. Then, the substrate holding part H1 is turned upside down, and the substrate S held by the suction plate 27A is placed with its coating surface of the coating liquid facing upward.

Next, the chuck cylinder 18B5 of the slide body 18B is actuated, and as in the case of the slide body 18A, the pair of arms 18B4 is rotated to hold the chuck bracket 25 from both sides by the chuck pads 18B6. To be done. As a result, the substrate holder H1
And the slide body 18B are integrally connected. At the same time, the operation of the cylinder 21B is stopped and the connecting hand 2
The connection state between 2B and the connection bracket 26 is released.

Then, by operating the gantry rotating cylinder 28, the gantry 24 is rotated around the shafts 23A1 and 23B1 and the substrate S is positioned so as to maintain the horizontal state. The state at this time is the same as the state of the substrate holding part H2 shown in FIG.

In this state, a drive motor (not shown) is driven to rotate the ball screw 16B, whereby the slide body 18B is guided by the guide shaft 17B and slid downward along the ball screw 16B. As the slide body 18A slides, the substrate holding portion H1 also slides obliquely downward along the linear portions 15A1 and 15B1 of the guide rails 15A and 15B.

This substrate holding portion H1 is used as the guide rail 15
At a predetermined position in the middle of being slid downward along the linear portions 15A1 and 15B1 of A and 15B, the substrate S, which has been coated with the coating liquid and held by the suction plate 27, is refreshed by a substrate exchanging device (not shown). The substrate S is replaced.

The board holding portion H1 on which the new board S is set is the linear portion 15A of the guide rails 15A and 15B.
When reaching the end located on the lower side of 1, 15B1 (the left end in FIG. 8), the cylinder 21A is actuated and the connecting hand 22A waiting in the upward direction (shown in the downward state in FIGS. 1 and 2). Are raised and connected to the connecting bracket 26. At the same time, the operation of the chuck cylinder 18B5 is stopped, and the chuck pad 18B6 is
The chucked state of the chuck bracket 25 is released.

Thereafter, the ball screw 16B rotates in the reverse direction, so that the slide body 18B is slid in the opposite direction to the original position.

In this way, after the connection between the slide body 18B and the substrate holding portion H1 is released, the shaft 19A
Is rotated counterclockwise in FIG. 1 by a drive motor (not shown), which causes the carriages 23A and 23B to slide downward along the corners 15A3 and 15B3 of the guide rails 15A and 15B.
The substrate holding part H1 is moved to the lower side of the guide rails 15A and 15B and is positioned at the coating start position.

As a result, the substrate holding portion H1 is in an upright state, and the substrate S held by the suction plate 27A has its coated surface facing downward.

Then, the chuck cylinder 18A5 of the slide body 18A is operated, and as described above, the chuck bracket 25 is clamped by the chuck pads 18A6 from both sides thereof, and at the same time, the cylinder 21A.
Is stopped and the connection state between the connection hand 22A and the connection bracket 26 is released.

At this time, the operation of the gantry rotating cylinder 28 is stopped, the gantry 24 is rotated in the opposite direction to the above, and the substrate S is again moved to the linear portions 15A2, 15B2 of the guide rails 15A, 15B. And held in parallel.

By repeating the above steps, the coating liquid is continuously applied to the single substrate S.

The above-described application process of the coating liquid to the substrate S and the replacement process of the substrate S which has been applied are performed with respect to the substrate holding unit H2 with a half step delay with respect to the substrate holding unit H1.

Therefore, when the substrate S is being replaced with respect to the substrate holder H2, the substrate S held by the substrate holder H1 is coated, and conversely, the substrate S is replaced with respect to the substrate holder H1. Since the coating is performed on the substrate S held by the substrate holding portion H2 while the coating is being performed, the coating on the substrate S is always performed. Thus, it becomes possible to apply the coating liquid to twice as many substrates S per unit time.

In the step of applying the coating liquid, if the sliding speed of the substrate holding portions H1 and H2 is increased, the thickness of the layer of the coating liquid applied to the substrate S is decreased, and conversely, if the sliding speed is decreased, the coating is applied. Although the thickness of the liquid layer increases, the thickness of the coating liquid applied to the substrate S while keeping the slide speed of the substrate holding portions H1 and H2 constant by changing the inclination angle θ of the coating device 10. Can be changed.

That is, as the inclination angle θ of the coating device 10 increases, the inclination angle of the substrate S held by the substrate holding portions H1 and H2 also increases, and the thickness of the coating liquid layer applied to the substrate S becomes thin. On the contrary, when the inclination angle θ of the coating device 10 becomes smaller, the inclination angle of the substrate S held by the substrate holding portions H1 and H2 also becomes smaller and the thickness of the layer of the coating liquid applied to the substrate S becomes thicker. .

The single substrate S to which the coating liquid is applied by the coating device 10 is mainly a large glass substrate for an LCD color filter, but the coating liquid can be similarly applied to other substrates. Further, the application liquid can be applied not only to the inflexible glass substrate but also to a flexible plastic substrate, metal substrate or paper substrate.

The coating liquid used in the coating apparatus 10 is mainly a photosensitive resin for drawing a fine pattern on the substrate, but it goes without saying that other coating liquids can be coated. Various types of coating liquids such as water-based and solvent-based liquids can be used, and further, pigments, dyes, fillers, sensitizers, resins, additives, etc. can be used alone, or several types of these can be mixed. It can also be used.

[0105]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples. (Example 1) Width 300 mm, length 350 mm, plate thickness 1.
A 1 mm glass substrate S for an LCD color filter is prepared, and a coating liquid has a solid content concentration of 1.0% and a viscosity of 5.0 c.
A ps aqueous PVA solution was prepared.

The coating head 30 having the shape and size shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 is used.
The relative angle between 0 and the substrate S was set to about 8 °. The moving speeds of the substrate holders H1 and H2 were set to 30 mm / sec.

Then, the coating liquid was applied to the substrates S held by the suction plates 27 and 27 'of the substrate holding portions H1 and H2 by the above-mentioned steps. At this time, the heights h1 and h2 of the meniscuses L1 and L2 of the bead B formed between the coating head 30 and the substrate S at the start of coating.
(See FIG. 11) were set to 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm, respectively.

The substrate S coated with the coating solution under the above conditions was dried in an oven at a temperature of 80 ° C. for 1 minute.

As a result, the thickness distribution of the coating film measured along the moving direction of the substrate S and along the direction perpendicular to this moving direction is 260 mm × 300 m on the coating surface of the coating liquid.
Within the range of m, all were 20000 ± 600Å, and good results could be obtained.

The coating efficiency of the coating liquid on the substrate S at this time was 140 sheets / hour.

The meniscus L2 with respect to the wet film thickness C2 (see FIG. 13) of the coating film Ra in the coating step.
The height h2 ratio of C2: h2 was 1:70. (Example 2) Instead of the coating liquid of Example 1, the solid content concentration was 6.
The coating liquid was applied to the substrate S under the same conditions as in Example 1 except that a photoresist OFPR-800 manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd. having a viscosity of 2.5% and a viscosity of 2.5 cps was used.

As a result, the thickness distribution of the coating film measured along the moving direction of the substrate S and along the direction perpendicular to this moving direction is 260 mm × 300 m on the coating surface of the coating liquid.
Within the range of m, all were 20000 ± 600Å, and good results could be obtained.

The coating efficiency of the coating liquid on the substrate S at this time was 140 sheets / hour.

The coating film R during the coating liquid coating step
The ratio of the height h2 of the meniscus L2 to the wet film thickness C2 of a (see FIG. 13) was C2: h2 = 1: 70.

[0115]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the upper surface of the coating head is slid linearly in the upward direction while the surface of the substrate for coating the coating liquid is opposed to the coating head. Since this is performed, a smooth and uniform coating film can be formed even on a single-wafer substrate without being affected by the physical properties of the coating liquid. Then, by performing the slide strokes along the guide rails of the respective substrate holders mutually, it is possible to continuously perform the coating on the substrate by one coating head without a gap, so that the unit time The number of processed sheets per hit can be increased.

By changing the inclination angle of the guide rail, it is possible to change the thickness of the layer of the coating liquid applied to the substrate while keeping the sliding speed of each substrate holding part constant, and to improve the physical properties of the coating liquid. A coating film having a desired thickness can be formed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the best mode of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same example seen from the direction of arrow X in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of a coating head used in the same example.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the coating head.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the coating head.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the coating head.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a coating liquid supply mechanism used in the same example.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view for explaining the operation of the same example.

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a conventional coating device.

FIG. 10 is a schematic side view showing the relationship between the substrate and the bead at the start of coating in the conventional example.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged state of a bead at the start of coating in the conventional example.

FIG. 12 is a schematic side view showing a relationship between a substrate and a bead during coating in the conventional example.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing an enlarged state of a bead during coating in the conventional example.

FIG. 14 is a schematic side view showing a relationship between a substrate and a bead at the end of coating in the conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 ... Coating device 11 ... Device main body 13A, 13B ... Shaft 14A, 14B ... Side plate (machine frame) 15A, 15B ... Guide rail 15A1, 15A2, 15B1, 15B2 ... Straight part 15A3, 15A4, 15B3, 15B4 ... Corner part 16A, 16B ... Ball screw 18A, 18B ... Slide body 22A, 22B ... Connection hand (connection member) 23A, 23B ... Carriage 24 ... Stand 27 ... Adsorption plate 30 ... Coating head 30a ... Slits H1, H2 ... Substrate holding part S ... Substrate

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued Front Page (72) Inventor Shunji Miyagawa 1-1-1, Ichigaya-Kagacho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Within Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Keiji Murayama 6-37, Akabane Nishi, Kita-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Stock Company DNK

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A coating head having a strip-shaped slit which opens upward and extends horizontally, and a surface which moves diagonally upward above the coating head and holds a substrate to coat the substrate. A substrate holding unit that conveys while facing the coating head, supplies the coating liquid to the coating head when the substrate holding unit moves while holding the substrate, and a slit of the coating head between the coating head and the substrate. A bead is formed by the coating liquid ejected from the coating device, and the coating liquid is applied to the substrate by applying the coating liquid in layers from the bead to the substrate coating surface as the substrate moves. Formed in a track shape by a pair of linear portions that extend parallel to each other at a position and a pair of arc-shaped corner portions that respectively connect both end portions of the pair of linear portions. A pair of guide rails, which face each other, are opposed to each other above the coating head with their respective track surfaces facing vertically, and straight portions extend in a direction perpendicular to the slit extending direction of the coating head and are inclined. The plurality of substrate holding portions are slidably supported between the pair of guide rails at both ends, respectively, so that the substrate on which the coating liquid is applied can be detached toward the outside of the guide rails. A first slide body, which is attached in a holding state and is detachably connected to a substrate holding portion located on a lower linear portion of the guide rail, is provided slidably in a direction parallel to the linear portion of the guide rail. A second slide body, which is detachably connected to the board holding portion located on the upper linear portion of the rail, is slidably provided in a direction parallel to the linear portion of the guide rail. A pair of connecting members, which are respectively arranged at the corners on both sides of the guide rail and are detachably connected to the board holding portion located at the end of the straight portion of the guide rail, center around the central axis of each corner of the guide rail. An applicator that is rotatably provided. 2. The pair of guide rails, the first slide body, the second slide body, and the pair of connecting members are rotatable about an axis extending in the horizontal direction and at a right angle to the linear portion of the guide rail. The coating device according to claim 1, which is attached to a simple machine frame.