JPH10100036A - Substrate positioning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To position a glass substrate and the other substrates at a predetermined position of a finishing machine with high accuracy. SOLUTION: In a substrate positioning device for positioning a substrate 4 at the predetermined position of the working table 7 of a finishing machine in a manufacturing process for manufacturing a predetermined product by performing various kinds of film forming treatments and patternings on the substrate 4 in a series of working processes by a plurality of finishing machines, the working table 7 has a plurality of vertical supporting rods 6 for supporting the bottom surface of the substrate 4 and a plurality of positioning pins 9 which abut on and move to and from the periphery of the substrate 4 placed on the supporting rods 6 in parallel to the working table 7 to position the substrate 4 at a predetermined position. The supporting rod 6 has a conduit 10 for guiding fluid supplied from a fluid supply source 12 and jetting the fluid from an opening made in the tip thereof contacting the substrate 4 and the substrate 4 is positioned by the positioning pins 9 in a state where the substrate 4 is slightly floated by the pressure of the fluid jetted from the opening of the conduit 10.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a substrate positioning device, and more particularly to a substrate positioning device for positioning an insulating substrate such as a glass plate constituting a liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined position on a processing table of a processing machine. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a liquid crystal display device has been used as a so-called panel type display device for displaying various images. In particular, a color liquid crystal display device capable of displaying a full-color image has been widely used.

[0003] In this color liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal is sandwiched between two insulating substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and a plurality of intersecting transparent electrodes are formed on each of the two insulating substrates. A simple matrix type in which pixels are formed at the intersections of the electrodes, an insulating substrate (color filter substrate: CF substrate) on which a color filter is formed, and another insulating substrate (TFT substrate) on which a number of switching elements such as thin film transistors are formed. There is known an active matrix type liquid crystal display device in which liquid crystal is sandwiched between the switching elements to form a pixel with the switching element.

[0004] The prior art of the liquid crystal display device is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-13666 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-309921.

[0005] Since a glass substrate is generally used as the insulating substrate, the following description will be made on the assumption that the insulating substrate is a glass substrate, but the same applies to insulating substrates other than glass substrates.

[0006] In the manufacturing process of this type of liquid crystal display device, by engraving a serial number corresponding to the type of the device to be manufactured on the glass substrate, multi-type production can be efficiently performed on a common manufacturing line.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic manufacturing process on the color filter substrate side for explaining the manufacturing of the liquid crystal display device.

First, a glass substrate for a color filter substrate is carried into a line, and is washed to clean the surface of the glass substrate (step A). A mixed material of a black matrix (BM) film material, which is a light-shielding film of a color filter, and a photosensitive material is applied to the glass substrate, dried (step B), and exposed through an exposure mask having a black matrix pattern. (Step C). At this time, a pattern of the type information is also provided in a part outside the effective area of the exposure mask.

After the mask is exposed, it is developed and dried to form a black matrix (Step D). At this time,
At the time of exposure, type information is simultaneously formed on the black matrix film. The type information includes the type (simple matrix type, TFT type) and size of the liquid crystal panel.

[0010] Thereafter, a production number in accordance with the above-mentioned type information is stamped at a predetermined position outside the effective area of the glass substrate with a laser beam or the like (step E).

The glass substrate on which the manufacturing number is imprinted is passed to a color filter forming process for sequentially forming color filters of each color, and is made of a plurality of colors (generally three colors of red, green and blue) partitioned by a black matrix. A color filter is formed (Step F).

The color filter substrate is bonded to a separately manufactured TFT substrate (step G), and liquid crystal is injected into a gap between the two and sealed to form a liquid crystal panel (step H). A module is obtained by combining the liquid crystal panel with optical members such as a polarizing plate and a prism plate, a drive circuit board, a backlight, and other necessary components (Step I). The module is shipped after the final shipping inspection (process J).

The above-described steps are merely examples, and the contents of each step vary.

In the manufacturing number stamping step, a processing machine such as a laser stamping apparatus has a processing table for stamping while holding the glass substrate transferred from the previous step at a predetermined position. The processing table has a plurality of support rods that are erected so as to support the glass substrate carried in horizontally by the plurality of erected support rods on the lower surface, and abuts the peripheral edge of the substrate to form the processing table into the processing table. And a positioning device including a plurality of positioning pins for moving back and forth in parallel to position the substrate at a predetermined position.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for explaining the structure of a conventional substrate positioning device, wherein 4 is a glass substrate, 6 is a support rod planted on a processing table, and 9 is a positioning pin. The processing table is not shown.

In FIG. 1, a glass substrate 5 is carried in horizontally from a previous process and is placed on a plurality of support rods 6. Thereafter, the positioning pins 9 arranged on the side face are attached to the glass substrate 4.
The glass substrate 4 is moved in the direction of the arrow toward and pressed against the four peripheral edges of the glass substrate 4 to position the glass substrate 4 at a predetermined position.

[0017]

In the above prior art, the glass substrate 4 is supported by directly contacting the lower surface of the glass substrate 4 with the support rod 6, so that the lower surface of the glass substrate 4 during the positioning operation by the positioning pins 9 is performed. Moves by rubbing the support bar 6.

Therefore, when the size of the glass substrate 4 is increased and its weight is increased, the frictional force between the lower surface of the glass substrate 4 and the support bar 6 is increased, and the glass substrate 4 becomes difficult to move, and high precision is achieved. There is a problem that positioning becomes difficult. Such a problem occurs not only in a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel but also in a similar insulating substrate or the like.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and to provide a positioning apparatus capable of positioning a large-sized (heavy-weight) glass substrate or other substrates at a predetermined position of a processing machine with high accuracy. Is to do.

[0020]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a structure in which a fluid such as air is ejected from the tip of a support rod for supporting an insulating substrate, and the four peripheral edges are pushed by positioning pins in a state where the insulating substrate is slightly levitated. Is achieved.

That is, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a manufacturing process of manufacturing a predetermined product by performing various film forming processes and patterning on a substrate through a series of processing steps by a plurality of processing machines. A substrate positioning apparatus for positioning the substrate at a predetermined position on a processing table of the processing machine, wherein the processing table is mounted on a plurality of support rods erected to support a lower surface of the substrate; A plurality of positioning pins for abutting against the peripheral edge of the substrate and moving the peripheral edge in parallel with the processing table to position the substrate at a predetermined position, wherein the support rod is supplied from a fluid supply source to the inside thereof. Having a hollow portion for guiding a fluid to be ejected from an opening opened at a tip in contact with the substrate,
The positioning by the positioning pins is performed while the substrate is minutely levitated by the pressure of the fluid ejected from the opening of the hollow portion.

According to this configuration, friction between the insulating substrate and the support rod is eliminated, the positioning by the positioning pin can be performed with a small force, and the positioning with respect to the processing table can be easily performed with high accuracy.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the insulating substrate is installed in a part of a processing step of subjecting the insulating substrate to various film forming processes through a series of processes to manufacture a predetermined product. In a substrate positioning device of a serial number marking device for marking a serial number on the insulating substrate, the serial number marking device has a processing table on which the insulating substrate is placed and movable in two directions in a plane thereof. A plurality of support rods erected so as to support the lower surface of the substrate on the processing table, and abut the peripheral edge of the substrate placed on the support rod, advance and retreat the peripheral edge in parallel with the processing table, and remove the substrate. A hollow portion for guiding a fluid supplied from a fluid supply source into the support rod and ejecting the fluid from an opening opened at a front end in contact with the substrate; Having And performing positioning by the positioning pins at a pressure of the fluid ejected from the opening of the hollow portion in a state where the substrate was small floating.

According to this configuration, friction between the insulating substrate and the support rod is eliminated, the positioning by the positioning pin can be performed with a small force on the working table of the serial number marking device, and the positioning can be easily performed with high precision. Become.

The third invention described in claim 3 is
A flow control device is provided between the conduit and the fluid supply source for controlling a flow rate of the fluid.

With this flow rate control device, the amount of levitation of the insulating substrate by the fluid ejected from the tip of the support rod can be controlled, and an appropriate levitation force according to the size or weight of the insulating substrate can be set.

[0027]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to embodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a serial number marking device for explaining the configuration of an embodiment of a substrate positioning device according to the present invention, wherein 1 is a marking control device, 2 is a laser generator,
Is a laser beam, 4 is a glass substrate, 5 is a black matrix, 6 is a support pin having a hollow portion formed therein, 7 is a processing table (XY table), 8 is a manufacturing number stamp position, 9
Is a positioning pin, 9a is a positioning pin driving device, 10 is a conduit, 11 is a flow rate control device, and 12 is a fluid supply source.

In the figure, a plurality of support rods 6 are provided in a glass substrate mounting area of a processing table 7 which is an XY table movable in two directions parallel to the plane of the glass substrate 4 to be processed. It is planted.

The inside of the support rod 6 has a hollow portion opened at the tip, and a conduit 10 through which a fluid passes is connected to the other end of the hollow portion. This conduit 10 is connected to a fluid supply 12 via a flow control device 11.

Outside the glass substrate mounting area of the processing table 7, one or a plurality of positioning pins 9 are provided at four positions on the periphery thereof. These positioning pins 9 are driven by a positioning pin driving device 9a so as to advance and retreat with respect to the periphery of the glass substrate.

The glass substrate 4 is carried into the production number marking device in a state where the black matrix 5 is formed in the previous step (see FIG. 5). The loaded glass substrate 4 is placed on the processing table 7 with its black matrix 5 forming surface facing upward.
Is placed on the support bar 6 that has been erected on the floor.

An air flow is ejected from the support rod 6 as a fluid to the placed glass substrate 4 to cause it to float slightly, and the positioning pin 9 is brought into contact with the peripheral edge of the glass substrate 4 by the positioning pin driving device 9a. Drive. The positioning pins 9 are simultaneously driven from the four peripheral edges of the glass substrate 4 to push the glass substrate 4 to a preset position.
With this operation, the glass substrate 4 is positioned at a predetermined position, and the laser beam 3 emitted from the laser generator 2 controlled by the marking control device 1 is used to mark the production number marking position 8 of the film surface of the black matrix 5 determined. The production number is stamped.

The marking of the serial number is executed in accordance with the type data input to the marking control device 1. Product data can be input manually or on glass substrate 4.
The pattern simultaneously formed at a predetermined position of the black matrix 5 can be automatically read, and the read data can be input to the marking control device 1.

The air flow to the support rod 6 is supplied from a fluid supply source 12 through a flow rate control device 11 and via a conduit 10. The flow velocity control device 11 controls the flow velocity of the air flow ejected from the opening at the tip of the support rod 6 to optimally control the floating amount of the glass substrate 4.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a main portion for explaining the detailed operation of the configuration of an embodiment of the substrate positioning apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. .

The glass substrate 4 is placed on the support rod 6, and the air flow 13 supplied from the fluid supply source 12 through the flow rate control device 11 through the conduit 10 is supplied to the opening 6a formed at the tip of the support rod 6. From the lower surface of the glass substrate 4.
As a result, the air flow from the opening 6a formed at the tip of the support rod 6 acts to push up the glass substrate 4, and a minute gap is formed between the support rod 6 and the glass substrate 4. Therefore, the glass substrate 4 and the support bar 6 are in a free state without mechanical contact.

In this state, when the positioning pins 9 are moved toward the glass substrate 4 and brought into contact with the glass substrate 4 to move the glass substrate 4 in the horizontal direction, a frictional force is generated between the positioning rod 9 and the support rod 6. Since the glass substrate 4 does not exist, the glass substrate 4 is accurately positioned by the positioning pins 9.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an example of the arrangement of the support rods and the positioning pins erected on the processing table, and the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 correspond to the same parts.

As shown in the drawing, a total of eight support rods are erected on the glass substrate mounting area of the processing table 7, and one support rod is placed on the long side peripheral edge of the glass substrate outside the glass substrate mounting area.
In addition, two positioning pins 9 are arranged on the short side peripheral edge.

It should be noted that the production number marking position 8 is the glass substrate 4
Are located at one corner of the LCD panel area A, B, C,
At the corner of D, a code 8a indicating the type and / or the processing condition is displayed.

In this example, a case where four liquid crystal panels are manufactured from one glass substrate is shown. However, even if six or more liquid crystal panels are manufactured from one glass substrate, a support rod is used. A similar positioning effect can be obtained by appropriately selecting the number and the arrangement of the positioning pins 6 and the positioning pins 9.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view for explaining an example of the structure of a liquid crystal display module assembled by using a liquid crystal panel manufactured by stamping a serial number or the like using the positioning device according to the present embodiment. Is an upper frame, 20a is a display window, 21 is a color liquid crystal panel, 22a, 22b, 22
c is a printed circuit board, 23a and 23b are spacers, 2
4 is a light shielding sheet, 25 is a light guide, 26 is a backlight lamp, 27 is a lamp cover, 28 is an intermediate mold, 29
Is a lower frame, 30 is a cut-and-raised piece, and 31 is a cutout hole.

On the periphery of the color liquid crystal panel 21, printed circuit boards 22a, 22b, 2
2c is attached.

Then, a light guide 25 is laminated on the back surface,
A backlight lamp 26 is installed on one side thereof, and the backlight cover 2 and the light shielding sheet 24 are used to form the backlight lamp 2.
6 is prevented from leaking to the color liquid crystal panel 21 side.

Spacers 23a and 23b are interposed between the color liquid crystal panel 21 and the upper frame 20, and the light guide 25
And backlight lamp 26 and color liquid crystal panel 21
Is attached to the intermediate frame 28, and the cut-and-raised pieces 30 formed in the upper frame 20 are inserted and fixed in the cutout holes 31 formed in the lower frame 29 to assemble the integrated color liquid crystal display module.

The liquid crystal display module assembled in this way is used as an image display device for personal computers, word processors, and other electronic devices.

In the above embodiment, the processing step for applying the positioning device is described as engraving the serial number on the color filter substrate of the liquid crystal panel. However, the present invention is not limited to this. TF that constitutes
It can be applied to various processing processes of T glass substrates in the same manner. In addition to liquid crystal display devices, it can be used for positioning of insulating substrates in the processing of other panel display elements or various electronic devices manufactured on a common manufacturing line. Can be applied.

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Positioning is performed while the insulating substrate to be processed is minutely levitated by the ejection of the fluid, eliminating friction between the insulating substrate and the support rods of the processing table, which caused a reduction in positioning accuracy, and causing the insulating substrate to be optically illuminated. It can be positioned at a predetermined position with high accuracy.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part of a serial number marking device for explaining a configuration of an embodiment of a substrate positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a main part for explaining a detailed operation of a configuration of an embodiment of a substrate positioning device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an example of the arrangement of support rods and positioning pins erected on a processing table.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration example of a liquid crystal display module assembled using a liquid crystal panel manufactured by engraving a serial number or the like using the positioning device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic manufacturing process on the color filter substrate side for explaining the manufacturing of the liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional substrate positioning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Marking control device 2 Laser generator 3 Laser beam 4 Glass substrate 5 Black matrix 6 Support pin 7 Processing table (XY table) 8 Serial number marking position 9 Positioning pin 9a Positioning pin drive device 10 Conduit 11 Flow rate control device 12 Fluid supply source.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenyasu Negara 3681 Hayano, Mobara-shi, Chiba Hitachi Device Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yuichi Nishimura 3300 Hayano, Mobara-shi, Chiba Hitachi, Ltd. Inside

Claims (3)

[Claims] A substrate is subjected to various film forming processes and patterning by passing through a series of processing steps by a plurality of processing machines to produce a predetermined product at a predetermined position on a processing table of the processing machine in a manufacturing process. In the substrate positioning device for positioning the substrate, the processing table, a plurality of support rods planted to support the lower surface of the substrate, abutting the peripheral edge of the substrate placed on the support rod, the peripheral edge A plurality of positioning pins are provided to advance and retreat in parallel with the processing table to position the substrate at a predetermined position, and the support rod is provided at a tip which guides a fluid supplied from a fluid supply source therein and comes into contact with the substrate. It has a hollow portion for ejecting a fluid from an open opening, and performs positioning by the positioning pin in a state where the substrate is minutely levitated by the pressure of the fluid ejected from the opening of the hollow portion. Substrate positioning apparatus according to claim and. 2. A serial number which is installed in a part of a processing step of manufacturing a predetermined product by applying various film forming processes to the insulating substrate through a series of steps, and engraving a serial number on the insulating substrate. In the substrate positioning device of the marking device, the serial number marking device has a processing table on which the insulating substrate is placed and is movable in two directions in a plane thereof, and the processing table supports the lower surface of the substrate. It is provided with a plurality of planted support rods and a plurality of positioning pins for abutting against a peripheral edge of a substrate placed on the support rod, moving the peripheral edge parallel to the processing table, and positioning the substrate at a predetermined position. The support rod has a hollow portion for guiding a fluid supplied from a fluid supply source into the inside thereof and ejecting the fluid from an opening opened at a tip contacting the substrate, and ejects the fluid from the opening of the hollow portion. Fluid pressure In substrate positioning apparatus and performs positioning by the positioning pin when the said substrate is finely floated. 3. The substrate positioning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a flow rate control device for controlling a flow rate of the fluid between the conduit and the fluid supply source.