JPH10154676A - Substrate automatic processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce consumption of processing fluid and to prevent processing fluid in one processing tank from mixing with processing fluid in the other processing tank by a method wherein a cassette is dipped into processing fluid, and the support mechanism tilts the cassette when a support mechanism is transferred along a prescribed route which extends both in a nearly horizontal direction and a nearly vertical direction. SOLUTION: In a substrate automatic processing device, a cassette 5 supported by a support mechanism 7 is dipped into deionized water 1 and pulled out from it. The cassette 5 is tilted by a tilting means provided to the support mechanism 7 itself. The support mechanism 7 has such a constitution that the base 21 as a component member of the support mechanism 7 is mounted on a movable pole 37 in a swingable manner so as to tilt the cassette 5. The support mechanism 7 is constituted as mentioned above, whereby the lower edges of suspension members 27 and 28 can be set at difference levels without swinging the suspension members 27 and 28, and the occurrence of an undesirable moment can be avoided. Therefore, a substrate automatic processing device of this constitution can be lessened in weight and size as a whole.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic substrate processing apparatus for immersing a substrate such as a glass substrate or a silicon wafer used as a liquid crystal display or the like in a processing fluid in a processing tank and performing a cleaning process or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of apparatus, there is an apparatus having a configuration shown in FIG.

[0003] As shown in the figure, the automatic substrate processing apparatus includes:
As the processing fluid, for example, deionized water (DIW: deio)
a cleaning tank 2 serving as a processing tank for storing therein a water, a supporting mechanism 7 for supporting a cassette 5 holding a glass substrate for liquid crystal (hereinafter simply referred to as a substrate) 3 as an object to be processed, and the supporting mechanism 7 And transport means 9 for transporting the image.

[0004] In addition, corresponding to the cleaning tank 2,
And a support frame 11 that supports the tilt base 10 so as to be tiltable. Although not shown, this support frame 11
Lifting means for raising and lowering the table.

Although not shown, a lock means for fixing the inclined table 10 to the support frame 11 in a horizontal state is provided, and the lock means is used when the support frame 11 is lowered by the elevating means. The fixed state is automatically released. When this release is performed, the inclined table 10 is inclined together with the cassette 5 placed thereon.
Conversely, when the support frame 11 rises, the inclined base 10 is returned to a horizontal state, and is fixed to the support frame 11 by the locking means.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show the cassette 5 in detail. The cassette 5 holds a plurality of substrates 3 arranged with a predetermined gap therebetween so that their main surfaces are substantially parallel. However, only one substrate 3 is shown in FIG. 12 to avoid complication of the drawing.

As shown, the cassette 5 has, for example, six substrate supporting members 13 and two side plates 14. The substrate supporting member 6 is a substrate 3 formed in a rectangular plate shape.
Are arranged apart from each other and in parallel with each other along the outer periphery of. Each side plate 14 supports these substrate support members 1.
3 Each end is mutually connected.

At the lower part of the side plate 14, two columnar supporting members 16 for supporting the substrate 3 by contacting the lower side of each substrate 3 are provided.
The book is provided in parallel with the substrate support member 13. On the upper part of the side plate 14, a total of four projections 17, which are to be supported and held when the cassette 5 is conveyed, are provided on each of the front and back sides. These projections 17 are formed in a columnar shape.

As shown in FIG. 12, a receiving groove 13a with which the outer peripheral portion of each substrate 3 is engaged is provided in each of the substrate supporting members 13 along the longitudinal direction.

Next, the support mechanism 7 will be described in detail.

As shown in FIG. 11, the support mechanism 7 includes a base 21 conveyed by the conveying means 9 and two support members 23 provided so as to protrude forward from the base 21. 24. The support members 23, 2
Numerals 4 are formed in a long columnar shape, extend horizontally in parallel with each other, and are rotatably supported at one ends thereof around an axis by a bearing mechanism provided in the base 21. A rotational force applying means for applying a rotational force to these support members 23 and 24 is provided in the base portion 21.

At the free ends of the support members 23 and 24, a pair of suspension members 27 and 28 are provided.
It is mounted in a hanging state by 1, 32. The lower ends of these suspension support members 27 and 28 are arc-shaped hook portions 27.
The protrusions 17 provided on the cassette 5 are suspended by the hook portions 27a and 28a. Thus, the cassette 5 is supported such that the main surface of the substrate 3 held by the cassette 5 is substantially vertical. Since the rotation force applying means pivots the respective suspension members 27, 28 between the suspension position and the suspension release position by rotating the support members 23, 24, the suspension member drive is performed. Also referred to as means.

Next, the transfer means 9 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 11, the conveying means 9 includes a movable base 35 movable in a horizontal direction (indicated by an arrow H), and a base driving means (not shown) provided in the movable base 35 to move the movable base. Z). A movable pole 37 as an elevating member is provided on the movable base 35 so as to be able to move up and down (indicated by an arrow Z), and is moved up and down by a not-shown elevating member driving means provided in the movable base 35.

Next, the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the control of the operation described below is controlled by a control unit provided in the automatic substrate processing apparatus.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 11, in a state in which the cassette 5 of the substrate containing the completion of the preceding step was supported by a support mechanism 7, shown in (Fig moving the movable base 35 horizontally by the arrow H _1: the (By operation of base driving means [not shown] provided in the movable base 35). As a result, the cassette 5 is positioned above the cleaning tank 2, particularly, just above the inclined table 10. After the positioning is completed, lowers the movable pole 37 (shown in Figure by an arrow Z _1: by the operation of the lifting member drive means (not shown) provided on the movable base 35), mounting the cassette 5 on the ramp 10 Place.

Thereafter, as shown by arrows R ₁ and R ₂ in FIG. 14, the support members 23 and 24 are rotated. As a result, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG.
7, 28 open inward to the suspension release position. However, when this suspension support is released, the hook portions 27 of the respective suspension support members 27, 28 are used.
After the cassette 5 is placed on the inclined base 10 as described above so that the a and 28a do not catch on the projections 17 of the cassette 5,
Further, the suspension support member 27 for a predetermined distance e ₁ (see FIG. 14)
28 is lowered.

When the suspended state of the cassette 5 is released, the movable pole 37 is raised to retract the support mechanism 7 upward.

Subsequently, as shown by an arrow D in FIG. 15, the support frame 11 supporting the inclined table 10 is lowered. When the lowering is started, the fixed state of the inclined table 10 by the locking means (not shown) is released, and the inclined table 10 is inclined together with the cassette 5. In the figure, the state of the cassette 5 before the inclination is shown by a solid line, and the state after the inclination is shown by a two-dot chain line.

After the inclination of the inclined table 10 and the cassette 5, the descent is further continued, and the cassette 5, that is, each substrate 3 is immersed in deionized water 1 as shown in FIG. This immersion state is maintained for a predetermined time, and the cleaning process is performed.

When the cleaning process is completed, the cassette 5 is carried out of the cleaning tank 2. The unloading operation is performed by following the reverse process of the loading operation. That is, the support frame 11
To rise. During this ascent, the ramp 10 is in a tilted state. The inclination is set so that when the cassette 5 is pulled up from the deionized water 1, the drainage from each substrate 3 and the drainage from between the substrate 3 and the cassette 5 are improved. . If the drainage is good, there is no concern that stains or the like occur on the substrate 3, and the cleaning efficiency is improved.

When the lifting of the support frame 11 is completed,
The reference numeral 0 indicates a horizontal state, and at the same time, it is automatically fixed to the support frame 11 by the lock means.

[0023] Thereafter, to lower the movable pole 37 maintains the respective hanging support members 27 and 28 Tsu支release position (position shown in FIG. 14 by a two-dot chain line) (indicated by arrow Z ₂ in FIG. 11) Then, the suspension members 27 and 28 are brought to the position shown in FIG. Then, the support members 23 and 24 are rotated in the directions opposite to the arrows R ₁ and R ₂ in FIG.
7 and 28 are pivoted to the suspension position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 14).

Next, the movable pole 37 is raised,
The projection 17 of the cassette 5 is hung on each of the hanging support members 27 and 28, and the cassette 5 is pulled out above the washing tank 2. Subsequently, the movable base 35 is moved horizontally, and the cassette 5
The conveyed towards the subsequent step (indicated by arrow H ₂ in FIG. 11).

[0025]

The automatic substrate processing apparatus described above has the following problems.

That is, when the cassette 5 is carried out of the cleaning tank 2, the inclined table 10 is tilted so that each substrate 3
The drainage from itself and between the substrate 3 and the cassette 5 is effectively performed.

However, the deionized water adhering between the inclined table 10 and the cassette 5 is not sufficiently drained, and the supporting mechanism 7 remains with a considerable amount of deionized water adhering to the bottom of the cassette 5. And are carried out to the subsequent process. This causes a disadvantage that the deionized water 1 stored in the cleaning tank 2 is reduced every time the cassette is carried out, and the consumption increases.

Further, when processing with another type of processing liquid is performed in a subsequent step, there is a problem that deionized water adhering to the cassette 5 becomes turbid in the processing liquid.

Further, the operation of the above-mentioned inclined table 10 and the elevating means (not shown) for elevating and lowering the inclined table 10 generates particles, which may be mixed with the deionized water 1 to thereby impair the cleaning effect. There is.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and has as its object to reduce the consumption of processing fluids and prevent turbidity between processing fluids. In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide an automatic substrate processing apparatus which suppresses generation of particles and which can be downsized as a whole apparatus.

Further, the present invention provides an automatic substrate processing apparatus which can exhibit other effects.

[0032]

In order to achieve the above object, an automatic substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention comprises a processing tank for storing a processing fluid and a cassette holding the substrates, wherein a main surface of the substrates is substantially vertical. And a transfer mechanism for transferring the support mechanism along a predetermined path including a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction, and immersing the cassette in the processing fluid during the transfer process. The support mechanism has a tilting means for tilting the cassette.

In addition, in order to obtain another effect, the following configuration is adopted.

That is, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the substrate has a substantially rectangular plate shape, and the lower side of the substrate is inclined with respect to a horizontal line by the inclination of the cassette.

Further, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the support mechanism is configured to be capable of swinging in a direction substantially parallel to a vertical plane and to be transported by the transporting means, and to drive the substrate unit to swing the substrate. Means, a suspension member pivotally attached to the base portion in a hanging state and suspending the cassette at a lower end thereof, and a suspension position and a suspension release position of the suspension member. And a suspension member driving means operated between
An operating portion of the suspension member driving means is pivotally connected to the transport means side and the suspension member in a direction in which the base portion swings.

In the automatic substrate processing apparatus,
The support mechanism includes a support member that extends parallel to each other from the base portion and is rotatable around the axis thereof and has a free end to which the suspension member is attached. The means applies a rotational force to the support member.

In the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the transfer means includes a movable base that moves in a substantially horizontal direction, base driving means that moves the movable base, and the support that is provided on the movable base so as to be movable up and down. It has an elevating member on which a mechanism is mounted, and elevating member driving means for elevating the elevating member.

[0038]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an automatic substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the substrate automatic processing apparatus is configured in the same manner as the above-described conventional substrate automatic processing apparatus except for the parts described below, and the description of the configuration of the entire apparatus is omitted because it is redundant, and only the main parts are omitted. Stop it for explanation.

The substrate to be handled is also a glass substrate for liquid crystal as in the conventional example, and the cassette for accommodating the same is the same.

In the following description, components that are the same as or correspond to those of the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown by the two-dot chain line in FIG. 1, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the cassette 5 is immersed in the deionized water 1 while being supported by the supporting mechanism 7 and is pulled out. . And this dipping,
During withdrawal, the cassette 5 is tilted by tilting means (described below) provided in the support mechanism 7 itself. That is, it does not have a mechanism such as the tilting table (10) provided in the above-described conventional example, which functions only to move the cassette 5 in and out of the deionized water 1 and to tilt it.

The tilting means for tilting the cassette 5 is constructed as follows.

The basic structure of the tilting means is that the base 21 which is a component of the support mechanism 7 is swingably attached to the movable pole 37.

As is clear from FIG. 1, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the movable pole 37 is formed of a square pipe having a rectangular cross section and has a large rigidity. FIGS. 2 to 5 mainly show the base portion 21 and the mechanism inside the base portion. From these figures and FIG. 1, the base portion 21 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape has a base portion forming a bottom portion. 21a
And a cover 21b that forms the side and top.

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the movable pole 3
A column-shaped fulcrum shaft 45 is horizontally penetrated and fixed to the upper end of 7. The base 21 is swingably attached to both ends of the fulcrum shaft 45 protruding outside the movable pole 37. Specifically, from FIG. 3, a pair of bearing blocks 47 is fixed on the base 21 of the base portion 21, and the bearing blocks 47 are connected to the fulcrum shaft 45 via oilless bearings 48 and other bearings 49 and 50. It is rotatably mounted on the end.

As shown in FIG. 3, an opening 21d is formed in the base 21a of the base 21, and the movable pole 37 is inserted through the opening 21d with a gap. Therefore, the swing of the base portion 21 is possible within the range of the gap.

The fulcrum shaft 4 that supports the base 21.
Since the base 5 extends horizontally, the swing of the base 21 is made parallel to a vertical plane (virtual plane).

Next, the base unit driving means for swinging the base unit 21 will be described.

Here, a component part which is composed of the fulcrum shaft 45 and the like and which supports the base portion 21 so as to be swingable is referred to as a support means. The tilt means is constituted by the support means and the base portion drive means. .

The cylinder 51 shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 is a driving force generating means provided in the base portion driving means. The cylinder 51 is selected from a hydraulic type and a pneumatic type. As shown in each of these drawings, a cylinder tube 51a of the cylinder 51 is swingably attached to a mounting plate 53 fixed to the movable pole 37 at a rear end. More specifically, it is mounted using a cylinder shaft 55, a collar 56, and the like, particularly from FIG. The swing direction of the cylinder tube 51a is the same as the swing direction of the base 21.

On the other hand, the piston rod 51 of the cylinder 51
c is connected to the base 21 as follows.

That is, from FIGS. 2 to 4, the clevis 61 is fixed to the piston rod 51c. The clevis 61 is provided with a clevis shaft 63, and links 65 of the same shape are rotatably attached to the clevis shaft 63 at one end thereof. And the link 6
Another link 67 is arranged between the five members 5, and is rotatably attached to the clevis shaft 63 at one end.

The other end of the pair of links 65 is the base 2
A clevis 69 fixed to 1 is rotatably mounted on a clevis shaft 71. From FIG. 2, these links 6
A collar 73 is interposed between the other end portions of the reference numeral 5.

The other end of the other link 67 is rotatably connected to a mounting plate 53 on which the cylinder tube 51a is pivotally connected by a link shaft 75. FIG.
Therefore, a collar 76 is interposed between the other end of the link 67 and the mounting plate 53.

In the base unit driving means having the above structure, the base unit 21 is swung by the operation of the cylinder 51.

Subsequently, a suspension member 2 for suspending the cassette 5
A description will be given of the suspension member driving means for operating the members 7 and 28 between the suspension position and the suspension release position.

Here, prior to the description of the suspension support member driving means, a configuration in which the suspension support members 27 and 28 are movable between the suspension support position and the suspension support release position will be described.

First, the suspension position is a position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 5, that is, the projection 17 provided on the cassette 5 is connected to the hook portions 27a, 28a of the suspension members 27, 28.
Is a position where it can be hung. The suspended support release position indicates a position where the hooks 27a and 28a cannot suspend the projection 17, that is, a position indicated by a two-dot chain line in the drawing.

Each of the suspension members 27, 28 is mounted on two rotatable support members 23, 24 for pivoting to take the above-mentioned two positions. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, these support members 23 and 24 are supported by two sets of bearing mechanisms 81 and 82, respectively. One bearing mechanism 81 has two large-diameter and small-diameter ball bearings 84, 85 in which an inner race is fitted to the support members 23, 24.
And a block 86 fixed to the base portion 21 and holding these ball bearings. The other bearing mechanism 82
Is composed of two ball bearings 88 having the same diameter and a block 91 holding the ball bearings.

The suspension member driving means includes the support member 2
By applying rotational force to 3, 24, these are rotated,
Thus, the suspension members 27 and 28 are operated.

The suspension member driving means has two cylinders 94 and 95 shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 5 as operating parts. The cylinder tubes of the cylinders 94 and 95 are attached to arms 97 and 98, respectively. The arms 97 and 98 are pivotally attached to a fixed plate 102 by an arm shaft 100 or the like. However, the pivotal movement of these arms 97 and 98, and thus each cylinder 94,
The pivot 95 is performed in a direction in which the base 21 swings.

It is to be noted that the fixed plate 102 is
It is fixed to a movable pole 37 which is a constituent member (see FIG. 1). 2, the fixing plate 102 is provided so as to surround the movable pole 37 together with the other fixing plates 113 and 114 and the stoppers 115 and 116, in addition to the mounting plate 53, so that the fixed state with respect to the moving pole 37 is firm. It has become.

On the other hand, knuckles 105 and 106 are fixed to the piston rods 94c and 95c of the cylinders 94 and 95, respectively. And these knuckles 10
The arm shafts 111 and 112 are attached to the arms 108 and 109 fitted to the support members 23 and 24, respectively.
Are pivotally connected by This pivoting direction also
It coincides with the swing direction of the base 21.

The suspension support member driving means includes the cylinders 94 and 95 as operating parts, the arms 97 and 98, the arm shaft 100, the knuckles 105 and 106, the arms 108 and 109, and the arm shafts 111 and 112. It is constituted by and.

Next, the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. However, the control of the operation described below is controlled by a control unit provided in the automatic substrate processing apparatus.

First, the substrate-containing cassette 5 having undergone the previous step is supported by the support mechanism 7. That is,
In FIG. 5, each of the support members 23 and 24 is rotated as indicated by arrows R ₁ and R ₂ by protruding each of the cylinders 94 and 95, and each of the suspension members 27 and 28 is moved to the suspension release position (the same as in the case of FIG. 5). (The position shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure).

Then, the movable pole 37 is lowered (by the operation of an unillustrated lifting / lowering member driving means provided in the movable base 35 [shown in FIG. 1]), and the hanging members 27 and 28 are lowered, as shown in FIG. Bring to position. In this state, the cylinders 94 and 95 are pulled to operate the support members 23 and 24.
Is rotated in the direction opposite to the arrows R ₁ and R ₂ to swing the suspension members 27 and 28 to the suspension position (the position indicated by the solid line in the figure). However, during this rotation, the hook portion 27a of the hanging support members 27, 28, 28a is so as not catch on the projections 17 of the cassette 5, the contact portion of the hook portion by a predetermined distance e ₁ than the projections 17 It is made to be located below.

Thereafter, by raising the movable pole 37, the cassette 5 is suspended and supported by the suspension members 27 and 28, and is raised to a predetermined height.

With the substrate-containing cassette 5 supported by the support mechanism 7 as described above, the transfer means 9 (see FIG. 1)
Moving the movable base 35 of the horizontally (in FIG. 1 indicated by the arrow H _1: by the operation of the movable base 35 base driving means provided in [not shown]). by this,
As shown in FIG. 6, the cassette 5 is positioned immediately above the cleaning tank 2.

When the positioning is completed, the cylinder 51 is caused to protrude as shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the cylinder tube 51a side of the cylinder 51 is pivotally attached to a fixed mounting plate 53 by a cylinder shaft 55. Therefore, the cylinder tube 51a only swings and does not move in the axial direction. That is, the protrusion of the piston rod 51c transmits the driving force to the base 21 via the clevis 61, the clevis shaft 63, the link 65, the clevis shaft 71, and the clevis 69, and the base 21 swings as shown in FIG. I do. Is set, for example, to about 5 ° to 8 °.

When the base portion 21 swings, as shown in FIG. 8, the hanging support members 27 and 28 are kept parallel to each other without swinging, and maintain a vertical hanging state. Only yields ₂ . This is the cylinder 94
And 95 are pivotally connected to the movable pole 37 via the arm shaft 100, and the arms 108 and 109 are fitted to the support members 27 and 28.
The piston rods 94c and 95c are
1, 112, and the direction of these pivoting operations is made to coincide with the direction of swinging of the base portion 21.

According to this configuration, even if the base portion 21 swings, the hanging state of each of the suspension members 27 and 28 is maintained by a pair around the arm shafts 100, 111 and 112, and the suspension portion only deviation e ₂ of wood to each other occurs. The deviation e _2, cassette 5 as shown in FIG tilts.

With this configuration, the following effects can be obtained.

That is, instead of adopting the above configuration, if the cylinder tubes of the cylinders 94 and 95 are temporarily
, It is possible to rotate the support members 23 and 24 to operate the suspension members 27 and 28. However, in this configuration, when the base portion 21 swings, each of the suspension members 27, 2
8 also rocks. Then, the cassette 5 suspended by the suspension members 27 and 28 is largely swung in the horizontal direction, and a relatively large moment is applied to the suspension member, the base 21 and the like.

In the automatic substrate processing apparatus, by employing the above-described structure, only the vertical displacement e ₂ (see FIG. 8) is generated without swinging the suspension members 27 and 28, thereby causing an inconvenient moment. The occurrence of is avoided. Therefore, the suspension support member 2
It is not necessary to make the stiffness of the bases 7, 28, the base 21 and the like so high, and the size and weight of the entire apparatus are reduced.

FIG. 9 shows a state where the cassette 5 is tilted above the cleaning tank 2 by the above-described operation.

[0077] When the tilting of the cassette 5 as described above is completed, to lower the movable pole 37 (shown by the arrow Z ₃ in Figure 1: by the operation of the lifting member drive means (not shown) provided on the movable base 35), The cassette 5 is immersed in the deionized water 1 in the cleaning tank 2. The descent of the cassette 5 shown in FIG. 9 by arrows Z _4, 10 a state immersed in deionized water 1
Is indicated by a solid line. This immersion state is maintained for a predetermined time, and the substrate 3 is cleaned.

When the cleaning process is completed, the cassette 5 is carried out of the cleaning tank 2. That shows in raising the movable pole 37 (FIG. 1 by the arrow Z _6, FIG. 1
0 is indicated by an arrow H ₇ in).

From FIG. 10, during this ascent, the cassette 5 is maintained in an inclined state. Thereby, when the cassette 5 is pulled up from the deionized water 1, the drainage from the bases 3 and the drainage from between the substrate 3 and the cassette 5 are improved. In particular, when each of the substrates 3 is a glass substrate on a rectangular plate as in the present embodiment, the lower side portion of the glass substrate on a straight line is inclined with respect to a horizontal line, and draining is effectively performed.

When the movable pole 37 rises, the cassette 5
Reaches a predetermined height, the cylinder 51 (see FIG. 7 and the like) is pulled. Therefore, the cassette 5 is corrected in inclination and returns to the state shown in FIGS. Subsequently, the movable base (see FIG. 1) is moved horizontally to
The conveyed towards the subsequent step (indicated by arrow H ₂ in FIG. 1).

As described above, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus, the support mechanism 7 that supports the cassette 5 and is transported by the transport unit 9 (see FIG. 1) has the tilting unit that tilts the cassette.

That is, the conventional inclined table (1)
0) is unnecessary, the consumption of deionized water 1 in the cleaning tank 2 is reduced, and if there is an adjacent processing tank, turbidity of the processing fluids between the processing tanks is extremely small. Can be suppressed.

Further, the support mechanism 7 has only a small part of the suspension members 27 and 28 which are only immersed in the deionized water 1 and are only temporarily immersed during washing, so that particles are There is no risk of mixing in the deionized water.

From these, the improvement of the drying effect of the substrate-containing cassette and the improvement of the reliability of the apparatus have been achieved.

Further, in the substrate automatic processing apparatus,
Since the conventionally used inclined table (10) and the like are unnecessary, the size of the entire apparatus can be easily reduced.

In the present embodiment, two rotatable support members 23 and 24 are provided on the base 21 in a cantilever shape, and the respective suspension members are provided at the free ends of the support members 23 and 24. The hanging members 27 and 28 are pivoted by the rotation of the supporting members 23 and 24 while the supporting members 23 and 24 are mounted. However, the following configuration may be adopted.

That is, the support members 23 and 24 are omitted, and the respective suspension members 27 and 28 are directly and pivotally mounted on the base 21.
7 and 28 are directly driven. However, as in this embodiment, the suspension support member 2 is provided via the long support members 23 and 24.
According to the structure for operating the cleaning tanks 7 and 28, the heavy driving portion including the base 21 and the internal mechanism is disposed on the side of the cleaning tank 2, and only the relatively light suspension members 27 and 28 are mounted on the cleaning tank 2. Can be located above. Therefore, the balance of the entire apparatus is improved, and as a result, reinforcement and the like are minimized, and it is easy to determine whether the apparatus is small and lightweight.

[0088]

As described above, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus according to the present invention, the support mechanism which supports the cassette and is transported by the transport means has the tilt means for tilting the cassette.

In other words, the conventional inclined table is unnecessary, and both the consumption of the processing fluid and the turbidity of the processing fluids can be minimized.

Further, only a part of the supporting mechanism for supporting the cassette for transport is immersed in the processing fluid, and the immersion is also temporary. There is no.

From these, the effect of drying the cassette containing substrates and the reliability of the apparatus have been improved.

Further, in the automatic substrate processing apparatus,
Since the above-mentioned inclined table is unnecessary, it is easy to reduce the size of the entire apparatus.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view including a partial cross section of an automatic substrate processing apparatus as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view, including a cross section, showing a base portion included in the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1 and an internal configuration thereof.

FIG. 3 is a view on arrow AA including a cross-section of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a view on arrow BB of FIG. 2 including a cross section.

FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line CC in FIG. 2 including a cross section.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, particularly, an operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, particularly the operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 to 5;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view including a partial cross section of a conventional automatic substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a cassette used in the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a front view of the cassette shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram for explaining an operation of a main part of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining an operation of the automatic substrate processing apparatus shown in FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Deionized water (processing fluid) 2 Cleaning tank (processing tank) 3 Substrate (glass substrate) 5 Cassette 7 Support mechanism 9 Transport means 21 Base parts 23 and 24 (provided by support mechanism 7) Support members 27, 28 suspension members 27a, 28a (provided in the support mechanism 7) hook portions 35 of the suspension members 27, 28 movable base 37 movable poles (elevating members) 51, 94, 95 cylinders 65, 67 Link 27a, 28a Hook portion (of suspension support member 27, 28) 35 Movable base 37 Movable pole (elevating member) 51, 94, 95 Cylinder 65, 67 link

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A processing tank for storing a processing fluid, a support mechanism for supporting a cassette holding a substrate such that a main surface of the substrate is substantially vertical, and a support mechanism for supporting the cassette in a substantially horizontal direction and a substantially vertical direction. Transport means for transporting the cassette along a predetermined path, and immersing the cassette in the processing fluid during the transport process, wherein the support mechanism has an inclining means for inclining the cassette. Automatic processing equipment. 2. The automatic substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate has a substantially rectangular plate shape, and a lower side of the substrate is inclined with respect to a horizontal line by the inclination of the cassette. 3. The base mechanism, wherein the support mechanism is configured to swing in a direction substantially parallel to a vertical surface and to be conveyed by the conveying means, a base part driving means for oscillating the base part, and A hanging member which is pivotally mounted in a hanging state and suspends the cassette at the lower end thereof, and a hanging member which operates the hanging member between a hanging position and a hanging position. Material driving means, and an operating portion of the hanging member driving means is pivotally connected to the conveying means side and the hanging member in a direction in which the base part swings. 3. The automatic substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The support mechanism includes a support member that extends from the base portion in parallel with each other and is rotatable around its axis and has a free end to which the suspension member is attached. 4. The automatic substrate processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said suspension member driving means applies a rotational force to said support member. 5. The transfer means includes: a movable base that moves in a substantially horizontal direction; a base driving means that moves the movable base; and an elevating member that is provided on the movable base so as to be able to move up and down and has the support mechanism mounted thereon. 5. The automatic substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an elevating member driving means for elevating and lowering the elevating member.