JPH1094931A - Substrate holding stage and roll-coater using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To catch and support a substrate carried in by a substrate carrying in device and prevent the generation of a position shift caused by the retreat of a substrate support member until holding to the holding surface of a substrate stage. SOLUTION: A substrate stage 22 placed a square substrate and dispersed and formed a sucking hole for sucking and holding by a vaccume suction is installed movably in a horizontal direction and also a substrate support member 24 is installed on the substrate stage 22 so as to be advanced/retreated for the holding surface and further a vaccume suction hole 30 for sucking and holding the square substrate by the vaccume suction after opening in the tip side is installed on the substrate support member 24 and the substrate support member 24 is advanced/reteated and displaced under a state held the square substrate by the vaccume suction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the case where a coating liquid such as a photoresist liquid, a polyimide resin, a color filter material or the like is applied to the surface of a substrate such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display or the like. The present invention relates to a substrate holding stage used for performing film printing and the like and a roll coater using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a roll coater using the above-described substrate holding stage, a roll coater shown in a schematic sectional view of FIG. 12 is conventionally known.

[0003] According to this conventional example, a coating rubber roll 01 having a fine pitch groove formed on its peripheral surface and a metal doctor 02 are arranged side by side so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis. The outer surface of the coating rubber roll 01 and the outer surface of the metal doctor 02 are configured such that the surface and the outer peripheral surface of the metal doctor 02 approach each other via a predetermined gap, and the gap is adjustable by displacing the metal doctor 02 in the horizontal direction. Thus, the coating liquid storage section 03 is formed, and the gap is adjusted according to the viscosity of the coating liquid stored therein. In the drawing, reference numeral 04 denotes a coating liquid supply nozzle.

[0004] Below the coating rubber roll 01,
A substrate transport roller 06 for transporting the substrate 05 in the horizontal direction and a backup roll 07 are provided, and the coating liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate 05 transported in the horizontal direction by the coating rubber roll 01 while rotating in synchronization with the backup roll 07. Is applied.

By the way, in the above conventional example, for example,
When an application liquid is to be applied only to a predetermined area on the substrate 05, for example, the application liquid is applied to a predetermined area shorter than the length of the substrate 05 in the conveyance direction, the application liquid is conveyed by the substrate conveyance roller 06. There is a problem that a positional shift occurs when the coating is performed on the substrate 05 with the coating rubber roll 01.

Therefore, in order to prevent such a displacement during the transportation of the substrate 05, a metal stage is provided on the substrate stage on which the substrate 05 is mounted and held by vacuum suction so as to be able to move out of the holding surface. It has been proposed to use a substrate holding stage configured by providing columnar support pins, and to reciprocate the substrate holding stage in the horizontal direction to transfer the substrate 05 while holding the substrate by vacuum suction. .

According to this proposed technique, the support pins are protruded and positioned at the substrate transfer start position, and the substrate 05 sucked and held by the substrate carry-in device is carried in and descends. The substrate 05 is retracted to the side away from the stage, the substrate 05 is placed on the support pins, and then the support pins are lowered, whereby the substrate 05 is placed on the substrate stage and held by suction.

[0008]

However, since the above-mentioned support pins are made of metal and formed in a columnar shape,
There has been a problem that the substrate 05 may slide down on the support pins before the substrate 05 descends after receiving the substrate 05 from the substrate carry-in device and is held by suction on the substrate stage.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a substrate holding stage according to a first aspect of the present invention receives and supports a substrate carried in by a substrate carrying device, and supports the substrate stage. It is an object of the present invention to prevent the occurrence of a positional shift due to the retraction of the substrate supporting member until the substrate holding member is held on the holding surface. The substrate holding stage of the invention according to claim 3 receives and supports the substrate carried in by the substrate carrying-in device, and holds the substrate until the substrate is held by suction on the holding surface of the substrate stage. An object of the present invention is to provide a roll coater according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in which a coating liquid is applied to a predetermined position on a substrate. And to provide what can be applied to.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate holding stage for holding a substrate, wherein the holding surface holds the substrate. A substrate stage having a substrate stage, and a substrate support member provided to be able to move back and forth with respect to a holding surface of the substrate stage. A vacuum suction hole is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the tip of the substrate supporting member according to the first aspect is formed of a resin having a large friction coefficient.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in order to achieve the above object, the substrate stage according to the first aspect of the present invention has a suction hole formed in a holding surface, and is provided by vacuum suction. Hold the substrate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a roll coater which is held on a substrate holding stage according to any one of the first to third aspects, in order to achieve the above object. An applicator roll for applying a coating liquid is provided so as to be able to move up and down relative to the substrate, and a coating liquid storage unit for supplying the coating liquid to the applicator roll is provided.

[0014]

According to the structure of the substrate holding stage according to the first aspect of the present invention, the substrate carried in by the substrate carry-in device is received by the substrate supporting member and is sucked and held by vacuum suction. The substrate supporting member can be withdrawn to hold the substrate on the holding surface of the substrate stage.

According to the configuration of the substrate holding stage according to the second aspect of the present invention, the substrate can be suction-held by vacuum suction in a state where the substrate is prevented from sliding at the tip of the substrate support member.

According to the structure of the substrate holding stage of the present invention, the substrate carried in by the substrate carry-in device is received by the substrate supporting member and is sucked and held by vacuum suction. The substrate supporting member can be retracted to hold the substrate on the holding surface of the substrate stage by vacuum suction.

According to the configuration of the roll coater of the invention according to the fourth aspect, the coating liquid is applied to the substrate held without causing a positional shift on the holding surface of the substrate stage by the relative lifting and lowering with the applicator roll. Can be applied to the area.

[0018]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing an embodiment of a substrate holding stage and a roll coater using the same according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overall plan view thereof, and FIG. A substrate holding stage 2 is provided on the upper part of the base 1 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the horizontal direction. The base 1 is capable of swinging up and down around a first horizontal axis P1 on the lower side in the substrate transfer direction. A support frame 3 is provided, and the support frame 3
An upper support frame 4 is provided at a location near the first axis P1 so as to be vertically swingable around a second axis P2 in the horizontal direction.

A metal roll 5 made of a metal having a smooth peripheral surface and a metal doctor 7 having a peripheral surface formed in a substantially arc shape by step portions 6 and 6 for shearing the coating liquid are provided on the upper support frame 4 in a horizontal direction. They are arranged side by side so as to be rotatable around the axis.

The outer peripheral surface of the metal roll 5 and the metal doctor 7
Is brought close to the outer peripheral surface through a predetermined gap,
The gap is adjustable by displacing the metal doctor 7 in the horizontal direction, and the outer peripheral surface of the metal roll 5 and the outer peripheral surface of the metal doctor 7 form the coating liquid storage portion 8 and the coating liquid stored therein. The above-mentioned gap is adjusted according to the viscosity or the like. In the figure, reference numeral 9 denotes a coating liquid supply nozzle.

A scraper 10 and a tray 11 are provided on the lateral side of the metal roll 5. A residual coating liquid remaining on the outer peripheral surface of the metal roll 5 and a coating liquid not applied to the square substrate W are provided. Is configured to be collected.

A rubber applicator roll 1 having a smooth peripheral surface and elasticity is provided on the upper side of the support frame 3 in the substrate transport direction.
2 is rotatably mounted around the horizontal axis, rotates in the same direction so that the direction of rotation is opposite to the metal roll 5 at the near and near locations, and adheres to the outer peripheral surface of the metal roll 5. The application liquid supplied from the application liquid storage unit 8 is transferred to the applicator roll 12.

A substrate loading device 13 is provided on one side of both ends of the rectangular substrate W in the transport direction of the base 1, and a substrate unloading device 14 is provided on the other side. The substrate carrying-in device 13 and the substrate carrying-out device 14 respectively hold and transport the rectangular substrates W by suction and hold the rectangular substrates W by vacuum suction, and move toward and away from the base 1. And a substrate suction arm 16 that can move in the direction and move up and down.

Substrate transport rollers 15...
A flange 17 for regulating the width of the rectangular substrate W in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction is provided.
Stoppers 18, 18 are provided at the rear end in the transport direction,
The rectangular substrate W transported by the substrate transport rollers 15 is maintained in a predetermined posture at the rear end in the transport direction, and the rectangular substrate W is sucked and held by the substrate suction arm 16 to be lifted. It is configured to be carried in.

The substrate holding stage 2 includes a pair of guides 1
A substrate stage 22 is provided so as to be movable in the horizontal direction by a screw shaft 21 driven and rotated by a servomotor 20 with a zero point detector.
As shown in a plan view of FIG. 5 and a cross-sectional view of FIG. 5 (a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4), minute suction holes 23 are dispersedly formed on the entire surface and arranged in two rows in parallel with the substrate transport direction. In this state, the substrate supporting members 24 are provided so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the holding surface by lifting and lowering.

Below the substrate stage 22, as shown in a side view of FIG. 6 (a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 4) and a sectional view of FIG. 7 (a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 5), respectively. The two hollow pipes 25 are provided so as to be able to move up and down. Each of the hollow pipes 25, 25 has four substrate support members 24.
Are connected integrally with each other in a state where they communicate with each other, and both ends in the longitudinal direction of the two hollow pipes 25, 25 are operatively connected to a crank arm 26, and an air cylinder 27 is operatively connected to the crank arm 26. Thus, the substrate supporting member 24 is configured to be displaced between a substrate receiving position where the substrate supporting member 24 protrudes from the holding surface and receives the rectangular substrate W, and a non-operating position where the substrate supporting member 24 retreats from the holding surface and does not act on the rectangular substrate W. .

As shown in FIG. 7, the substrate support member 24
A cylindrical body 2 formed of a resin material having a large friction coefficient such as Teflon (trademark of DuPont), polypropylene, polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, rubber, etc.
9 is attached, and a vacuum suction hole 30 is formed at the distal end of the cylindrical body 29 in connection with the hollow tube 28. The substrate holding stage according to the first aspect of the present invention may be configured with only the hollow tube 28 without the cylindrical body 29.

The internal spaces of the two hollow pipes 25, 25 are separated by partition plates (not shown), and vacuum suction tubes 31 (see FIG. 1) are respectively connected to both ends in the longitudinal direction. .

On the other hand, as shown in the pneumatic circuit diagram of FIG.
The suction holes 23 formed in the substrate stage 22 include a small area suction hole 23S for the small square substrate W and a large square substrate W.
, The small-sized suction holes 23S, the large-sized suction holes 23L, and the vacuum suction holes 30L.
Each of them is connected to a vacuum pump 32 via an electromagnetic valve V, so that the suction operations of these three types of suction holes can be individually controlled.

As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 9, a capacitance type arm sensor 33a is provided at a predetermined position of the substrate suction arm 16 of the substrate carrying-in device 13 and detects that the rectangular substrate W is sucked and held. A capacitive stage sensor 33b attached to a predetermined portion of the substrate stage 22 for detecting that the rectangular substrate W is suctioned and held;
Are connected to a microcomputer 35, and the servomotor 20, the air cylinder 27, and the support frame 3 are moved up and down on the microcomputer 35 to apply the applicator roll 12. A roll elevating motor 36 that is displaced between the position and the non-coating position is connected.

The microcomputer 35 is connected to an area setting device 37 for setting an application area for the rectangular substrate W based on the length of the rectangular substrate W from the upper side in the transport direction.

The microcomputer 35 is provided with a substrate support operation determining means 38, a counter 39, and an area determining means 40.

The substrate support operation discriminating means 38 activates the air cylinder 27 to raise the substrate support members 24 to the substrate receiving position as the arm sensor 33a detects that the square substrate W has been sucked and held. It has become.

In the counter 39, the stage sensor 33
When detecting that the square substrate W has been sucked and held on the substrate stage 22 by b, the number of pulses output from the rotary encoder 34 is measured with that time as a zero point.

The area discriminating means 40 compares the area set by the area setting device 37 with the number of pulses measured by the counter 39 to determine the coating start position and the coating end position for the rectangular substrate W. Then, the coating liquid is applied to a predetermined area by operating the roll elevating motor 36, and the servo motor 20 is operated to reciprocate the substrate stage 22.

With the above-described structure, the substrate stage 13 for holding the rectangular substrate W by vacuum suction is reciprocated over the horizontal start point and end point, and the outer peripheral surface of the applicator roll 12 is moved to the corner on the substrate stage 13. Mold substrate W
While pressing against the surface of the rectangular substrate W, the application liquid supplied to the outer peripheral surface of the applicator roll 12 is rotated at a position where the rotation is opposite to the moving direction of the rectangular substrate W, and the coating liquid is supplied to the predetermined surface of the rectangular substrate W. The application operation is performed on the area, and then the application operation is described in a flowchart of FIG.
The operation will be described with reference to the operation explanatory diagram of FIG.

First, as the arm sensor 33a detects that the rectangular substrate W has been suction-held on the substrate suction arm 16, the substrate support member 24 is raised (S1).
Thereafter, a predetermined valve V is opened to start suction from the vacuum suction holes 30 (S2), and the square substrate W is moved by the substrate suction arm 16 as shown in FIGS. 11A and 11B. It is carried on the substrate support member 24 and is held by suction (S3).

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11C, the substrate suction arm 16 is retracted, and a predetermined valve V is opened to start suction through the suction holes 23 (S4).
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 11D, the substrate support member 24 is lowered (S5), and the stage sensor 33b detects that the square substrate W has been sucked and held on the substrate stage 22 by the stage sensor 33b. The rotation of the metal roll 5 and the applicator roll 12 is started to supply the coating liquid (S
6), the movement of the substrate stage 22 is started (S)
7).

Next, it is judged by the area judging means 40 whether or not the application start position has been reached (S8). As the application start position is reached, the roll elevating motor 36 is operated to lower the applicator roll 12 (S9). Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the application end position has been reached by the area determining means 40 (S10). As the application end position is reached, the roll lifting motor 36 is operated to raise the applicator roll 12 (S11). The applicator roll 12 is pressed against only the desired region in the transport direction against the square substrate W sucked and held on the substrate stage 13, and the square substrate W is pressed.
A coating solution is applied to the surface of.

Thereafter, as the square substrate W is conveyed to the substrate unloading position, the movement of the substrate stage 22 is stopped (S12), and the valve V is closed to close the suction holes 23 and the vacuum suction holes 30. The suction is stopped (S13), and the substrate support member 24 is raised to separate the square substrate W from the substrate stage 22 (S14).

Next, the substrate suction arm 16 of the substrate unloading device 14 is inserted below the rectangular substrate W, lifted and unloaded (S15), and thereafter, it is determined whether or not the processing is continuous (S15).
16) If it is a continuous process, the process proceeds to step S2, and the above operation is repeated after returning the substrate stage 22 to the substrate loading position.
Then, the process proceeds to S7, where the rotation of the metal roll 5 and the applicator roll 12 is stopped (S17), and the process ends. still,
In the present embodiment, the suction holes 23 provided in the substrate stage 22 are divided into small suction holes 23S and large suction holes 23L as shown in FIG. 8, and the suction holes 23 are separately formed according to the size of the substrate. While the suction operation is configured to be controlled, the suction operation of the vacuum suction holes 30 formed in the substrate support member 24 cannot be separately controlled according to the size of the substrate. Therefore, in the case of a small-area substrate, the substrate support member 24 on which the substrate is not placed may be covered with a cap or replaced with a conventional substrate having no vacuum suction hole.

As the substrate holding stage according to the present invention,
The present invention can be applied not only to the roll coater of the above-described embodiment but also to various types of roll coaters such as a type of roll coater configured to supply a coating liquid by a gravure metal roll.

According to the present invention, the rectangular substrate W
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to substrates of various shapes.

According to the present invention, it is possible to switch between a state in which the coating liquid is applied to the square substrate W and a state in which the coating liquid is not applied.
Although the applicator roll 12 is moved up and down, the applicator roll 12 may be moved up and down on the substrate holding stage 2 side.

[0046]

As described above, according to the substrate holding stage according to the first aspect of the present invention, the period from when the substrate carried in by the substrate carry-in device is received to when it is held on the holding surface of the substrate stage is maintained. Since the substrate is sucked and held by the substrate supporting member by vacuum suction, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the occurrence of positional deviation during the retreating operation of the substrate supporting member.

According to the substrate holding stage of the second aspect of the present invention, since the tip of the substrate supporting member is formed of a resin having a large friction coefficient, unexpected slippage when the substrate supporting member receives the substrate can be satisfactorily prevented. In addition, it is possible to more favorably prevent the occurrence of positional deviation caused by the substrate supporting member.

According to the substrate holding stage of the invention according to claim 3, the period from when the substrate carried in by the substrate carry-in device is received to when it is sucked and held on the holding surface of the substrate stage.
Since the substrate is sucked and held by the substrate supporting member by vacuum suction, it is possible to satisfactorily prevent the occurrence of positional deviation during the retreating operation of the substrate supporting member.

According to the configuration of the roll coater according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the coating liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate held by the applicator roll without causing a positional shift on the holding surface of the substrate stage. As a result, it has become possible to reliably and satisfactorily apply the coating liquid to a predetermined region of the substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall side view showing an embodiment of a substrate holding stage and a roll coater using the same according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall plan view.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a main part.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a substrate stage.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line CC of FIG. 5;

FIG. 8 is a pneumatic circuit diagram.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart.

FIG. 11 is an operation explanatory diagram.

FIG. 12 is a schematic sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 8: Coating liquid storage unit 12: Applicator roll 22: Substrate stage 24: Substrate support member 30: Vacuum suction hole W: Square substrate

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroo Nakamura 1 at 480 Takamiyacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. Hikone District Office (72) Inventor Seiji Takefuji 480 Takamiyacho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture 1 Dainippon Screen Mfg. Co., Ltd. in the Hikone area business establishment (72) Inventor Eiichi Wada 480 Takamiya-cho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture 1 Nippon Mfg. Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Hikone area business establishment (72) Inventor Hitoshi Ozaki, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture 480 No. 1 in Takamiyacho Dainippon Screen Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A substrate holding stage for holding a substrate, comprising: a substrate stage having a holding surface for holding the substrate; a substrate supporting member provided so as to be able to move out and with respect to the holding surface of the substrate stage; A substrate holding stage, wherein the substrate supporting member is provided with a vacuum suction hole which is opened at a front end side and suction-holds the substrate by vacuum suction. 2. A substrate holding stage, wherein a tip of the substrate supporting member according to claim 1 is formed of a resin having a high coefficient of friction. 3. The substrate stage according to claim 1, wherein a suction hole is formed in the holding surface, and the substrate stage holds the substrate by vacuum suction. 4. An applicator roll for applying a coating liquid on the substrate holding stage according to claim 1 so as to be movable up and down relative to the substrate held on the substrate stage, and the applicator roll. A roll coater provided with a coating liquid storage unit for supplying a coating liquid to the roll coater.