JPH11204490A - Stuck liquid removal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress sag of a substrate to raise efficiency of the removal of a treating liquid being stuck to the substrate. SOLUTION: A stuck liquid removal device 120 is a device of a structure, wherein a gas is blown onto a substrate W with stuck cleaning liquid, whereby the cleaning liquid is blown away from the substrate W to remove the cleaning liquid adhered to the substrate W. In this device 120, a plurality of carrying rollers 5, air knives 25 and 26 and auxiliary roller assembled bodies 41 and 42 are provided. The rollers 5 carry the substrate W while supporting the substrate W. The knives 25 and 26 are means for blowing the gas on the substrate W, and are extendedly provided in the directions in which the knives 25 and 26 intersect the substrate carrying direction between the rollers 5. The assembled bodies 41 and 42 are respectively adjacent to the knives 25 and 26 and support the lower surface of the substrate W to suppress the deformation of the substrate W.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing an adhering liquid from various substrates, and more particularly to an FPD (Fla) for a substrate for a liquid crystal display.
The present invention relates to an adhering liquid removing apparatus that removes a processing liquid adhering to a substrate (t Panel Display), a photomask substrate, a printed circuit board, and a semiconductor substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a process of manufacturing a liquid crystal display, a color filter, a photomask and the like, various wet surface treatments such as a substrate cleaning treatment are performed. Then, after these substrates are processed, an operation of removing the liquid droplets attached to the surface of the substrate is performed. 2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional substrate adhering liquid removing device, for example, a device including a transport roller and an air knife is known.
Here, a substrate having a processing liquid such as a cleaning liquid adhered to the surface is transported in a predetermined direction while being supported substantially horizontally by a plurality of transport rollers. Then, a slit-shaped discharge port provided on a pair of upper and lower air knives (gas blowing means for blowing gas) substantially along a direction in which the longitudinal direction is orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction (hereinafter, referred to as a river width direction). A layered gas is blown onto the surface of the substrate. Then, the blown gas moves the processing liquid adhering to the substrate to the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate, and the processing liquid is blown away from the rear end edge of the upstream side in the transport direction of the substrate to the rear of the substrate. Thereby, the processing liquid is removed from the substrate.

In this case, it is necessary to bring the air knife and the substrate close to each other in order to increase the efficiency of removing the processing liquid, and it is not possible to arrange a transport roller between the air knife and the substrate. Therefore, the air knife is disposed so as not to overlap with the transport rollers between the predetermined two transport rollers in the substrate transport direction.

[0004]

In the above adhering liquid removing apparatus, the transport roller is extended in the river width direction, while the air knife is used to suppress water splashing and droplets at the rear end of the substrate. In order to remove the water effectively, it is arranged at a predetermined angle to the river width direction. For this reason, when the substrate to be processed is enlarged and the length of the air knife along the river width direction is increased, the length of the air knife in the substrate transport direction is also increased, and the transport rollers in the substrate transport direction of the adjacent transport rollers sandwiching the air knife are interposed. Installation span increases. As described above, when the installation span of the transport roller is increased, the substrate transported while the lower surface is supported by the transport roller droops greatly between the transport rollers.

On the other hand, it is generally desirable for the substrate to pass through the middle of a pair of upper and lower air knives. However, if the substrate droops greatly, it is difficult to pass through the center of the air knife. As a result, the balance of the gas blowing on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate is lost, and the efficiency of removing the processing liquid is deteriorated. An object of the present invention is to improve the efficiency of removing a processing liquid adhering to a substrate by suppressing dripping of the substrate in an adhesion liquid removing apparatus that removes a processing liquid adhering to the substrate by blowing gas onto the substrate. It is in.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for removing a processing liquid attached to a substrate by blowing the processing liquid from the substrate by blowing a gas onto the substrate to which the processing liquid is attached. , A plurality of conveying means, a gas blowing means, and an auxiliary supporting means. The transport means transports the substrate while supporting it. The gas blowing unit is a unit that blows a gas to the substrate, and extends between the transporting units in a direction crossing the substrate transporting direction. The auxiliary supporting means is adjacent to the gas blowing means and supports the lower surface of the substrate to suppress deformation of the substrate.

[0007] When gas is blown against the substrate being transported by the gas blowing means, the processing liquid adhering to the substrate is flushed to the upstream side in the substrate transport direction and blown backward from the rear end of the substrate. The processing liquid attached to the substrate is removed in this manner, but if the distance between the gas blowing means and the substrate is not maintained at a predetermined size, the processing liquid removal efficiency is reduced.

Here, an auxiliary supporting means adjacent to the gas blowing means is provided to suppress dripping of a portion of the substrate to which the gas is blown by the gas blowing means. Thereby, even when the substrate size becomes large and the substrate cannot be supported by the transfer means in the vicinity of the gas blowing means, the distance between the substrate and the gas blowing means can be kept within a predetermined range, and the auxiliary support means can be provided. The efficiency of removing the processing solution is improved as compared with the case where no such solution is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the auxiliary support means is disposed on both sides of the gas blowing means in the substrate transport direction. Here, since the auxiliary support means is disposed on both sides of the gas blowing means in the substrate transport direction, the dripping of the substrate can be further suppressed, especially when the front end and the rear end of the substrate pass through the gas blowing position. The distance between the substrate and the gas blowing means can be kept in an appropriate range.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an adhesion liquid removing apparatus for blowing a gas onto a substrate to which the processing liquid has adhered to blow off the processing liquid from the substrate to remove the processing liquid attached to the substrate. It is provided with a conveying means, a gas blowing means, a support, and an auxiliary supporting means. The transfer means extends along a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction, and transfers the substrate while supporting the lower surface of the substrate to which the processing liquid has adhered. The gas blowing means extends between at least two of the transport means in the substrate transport direction, and extends along a direction intersecting the substrate transport direction. The gas blowing means blows gas from both the upper and lower sides to the substrate to which the processing liquid has adhered. The support supports both ends of the conveying means and also supports both ends of the gas blowing means. The auxiliary support means is disposed between the gas blowing means and the transport means adjacent to the gas blowing means in the substrate transport direction, and partially supports the lower surface of the substrate to be transported.

When a gas is blown onto the substrate being transported by the gas blowing means, the processing liquid adhering to the substrate is flushed to the upstream side in the substrate transport direction and blown backward from the rear end of the substrate. The processing liquid attached to the substrate is removed in this manner, but if the distance between the gas blowing means and the substrate is not maintained at a predetermined size, the processing liquid removal efficiency is reduced. However, when the size of the substrate in the river width direction increases, the gas blowing means for blowing the gas to the substrate also becomes longer in the river width direction and the substrate transfer direction, and the gas blowing means in the substrate transfer direction between the two transfer means arranged with the gas blowing means interposed therebetween. The distance becomes longer. That is, the support span of the substrate increases, and the sag of the substrate increases.

In this case, the auxiliary supporting means is provided adjacent to the gas blowing means, and the lower surface of the substrate is partially supported by the auxiliary supporting means. I have. Thereby, even when the substrate size becomes large and the substrate cannot be supported by the transfer means in the vicinity of the gas blowing means, the distance between the substrate and the gas blowing means can be kept within a predetermined range, and the auxiliary support means can be provided. The efficiency of removing the processing liquid from the substrate is improved as compared with the case where no substrate is provided. Further, since the auxiliary supporting means does not support the lower surface of the substrate in the river width direction but partially supports the lower surface of the substrate, good maintenance is ensured.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the adhesion liquid processing apparatus, the transportation means is a transportation roller extending in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transportation direction. The gas blowing means has an upper gas blowing section and a lower gas blowing section. The upper gas blowing unit blows gas on the upper surface of the substrate, and the lower gas blowing unit blows gas on the lower surface of the substrate. The auxiliary support means has an auxiliary roller support member and an auxiliary roller assembly. The auxiliary roller support member is disposed below the lower gas blowing unit, and both ends are supported by the support. The auxiliary roller assembly is an assembly including the auxiliary roller, and extends upward from the auxiliary roller support member. The auxiliary roller rotates in contact with the lower surface of the substrate.

Here, an auxiliary roller supporting member is passed over both supports, and the auxiliary roller assembly is fixed to the supporting member. Therefore, by bringing the auxiliary roller supporting member closer to the substrate, it is possible to suppress deformation of the auxiliary roller assembly due to a load from the substrate to be small, and to support the substrate more accurately. Further, both ends of the auxiliary roller support member are supported by both supports, so that the deformation of the auxiliary roller support member itself is suppressed as compared with the cantilever state.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the adhesion liquid removing apparatus according to the third aspect, the transport means is a transport roller extending in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transport direction. The gas blowing means has an upper gas blowing unit for blowing gas on the upper surface of the substrate and a lower gas blowing unit for blowing gas on the lower surface of the substrate. The auxiliary support means has an auxiliary roller and an arm. The auxiliary roller rotates in contact with the lower surface of the substrate. The upper part of the arm rotatably supports the auxiliary roller, and the lower part is mounted on the lower gas blowing unit.

Here, an arm is mounted on the lower gas blowing portion of the gas blowing means, and the arm supports an auxiliary roller. Since the auxiliary supporting means is arranged near the gas blowing means, it is easy to mount the auxiliary supporting means on the gas blowing means, and the length of the arm can be reduced. Furthermore, since the auxiliary roller of the auxiliary support means and the gas blowing means are directly connected by the arm, the dimensional accuracy of the distance between the two is improved, and accordingly, the distance between the substrate supported by the auxiliary roller and the gas blowing means is improved. Also increases accuracy. This improves the efficiency of removing the processing liquid from the substrate.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows a cleaning apparatus 1 including an adhesion liquid removing apparatus 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning device 1 is a device that performs cleaning and removal of a cleaning liquid (processing liquid) that adheres to a carried-in substrate and carries out the substrate. The cleaning device 1 includes a transport roller 5 and a cleaning chamber 2 in which a cleaning nozzle 15 is housed. , Attached liquid removing device 20
And a liquid draining chamber 3 in which is stored.

The substrate W is loaded into the loading port 12 of the cleaning chamber 2.
The cleaning chamber 2 is transported in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 (hereinafter, referred to as a substrate transport direction) while being held in a horizontal posture by the transport rollers 5. The cleaning liquid is sprayed from the plurality of cleaning nozzles 15 on the substrate W being transported in the cleaning chamber 2, and the upper and lower surfaces are cleaned. Thereafter, the substrate W is sent to the liquid draining chamber 3 by the transfer roller 5 through the connection port 22 of both chambers 2 and 3. In the liquid removal chamber 3, the transport rollers 5
Gas is blown from the air knives 25 and 26 to the substrate W being transported. Thereby, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is blown off, and the substrate W is dried. The substrate W that has been subjected to the cleaning and the liquid removal processing is carried out from the carry-out port 23.

The transport roller 5 is a transport unit that supports the substrate W at both ends and the center in the river width direction, horizontally holds the substrate W, and transports the substrate W at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is connected to the motor via a chain or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, both ends of the transport roller 5 are supported by both side walls (supports) 21 of the liquid removal chamber 3.

A plurality of cleaning nozzles 15 provided in the cleaning chamber 2 are provided above and below the substrate W transported by the transport roller 5, respectively, and spray a cleaning liquid such as pure water onto both upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. . Cleaning chamber 2
This prevents the cleaning solution sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 15 from scattering outside and prevents particles from entering the cleaning chamber 2 from outside. Further, the cleaning chamber 2 is provided with a first exhaust port 14 at a lower portion for exhausting air in the cleaning chamber 2 by an exhaust unit (not shown) and draining a cleaning liquid flowing down in the cleaning chamber 2.

Adhered liquid removing device 2 in liquid draining chamber 3
Reference numeral 0 denotes a transport roller 5 in the liquid draining chamber 3, air knives (gas blowing means) 25 and 26, an auxiliary roller support base (auxiliary roller support member of auxiliary support member) 31, and auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 35. It is composed of Further, the liquid drain chamber 3 is provided with a second exhaust port 24 at a lower portion for exhausting air in the liquid drain chamber 3 by an exhaust unit (not shown) and draining the cleaning liquid blown off in the liquid drain chamber 3. ing.

The air knives 25, 26 are composed of an upper air knife (upper gas blowing section) 25 and a lower air knife (lower gas blowing section) 26.
On the other hand, the upper air knife 25 is arranged above and the lower air knife 26 is arranged below. The air knives 25 and 26 eject a gas, such as air or nitrogen, supplied from a gas supply source (not shown) in a strip shape from a slit-like discharge port at the tip toward the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. The cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is blown off by the pressure. Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the air knives 25 and 26 have a planar inclination with respect to a direction orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction (arrow A in FIG. 2). FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, both ends of the air knives 25 and 26 are supported by both side walls 21 of the liquid draining chamber 3.

The auxiliary roller support base 31 is a member extending in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transport direction, and is disposed below the lower air knife 26 as shown in FIG. It is fixed to both side walls 21. The auxiliary roller assembly 32 is disposed near the center of the substrate in the river width direction and at a position upstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. This auxiliary roller assembly 32
Is composed of first, second, and third support members 32a, 32b, and 32c and an auxiliary roller 32d, as shown in FIG. The first support member 32a is fixed to the auxiliary roller support base 31, the second support member 32b is fixed to the first support member 32a, and the third support member 32c is fixed to the second support member 32b. The second with respect to the first support member 32a
The fixed position of the support member 32b can be adjusted in the horizontal direction, and the fixed position of the third support member 32c with respect to the second support member 32b can be adjusted in the vertical direction. Auxiliary roller 32
d is rotatably supported by the third support member 32c, and the upper surface thereof has a height such that an intermediate position between the upper air knife 25 and the lower air knife 26 coincides with the center of the thickness of the substrate W. Are combined.

The auxiliary roller assembly 33 is disposed near the center of the substrate in the river width direction and at a position downstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. As shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary roller assembly 33 includes first, second, and third support members 33a, 33b, and 33c and an auxiliary roller 33d. The first support member 33a is fixed to the auxiliary roller support base 31, the second support member 33b is fixed to the first support member 33a, and the third support member 33c is fixed to the second support member 33b. The fixed position of the second support member 33b with respect to the first support member 33a can be adjusted in the horizontal direction, and the third support member 33 with respect to the second support member 33b can be adjusted.
The fixed position of c can be adjusted in the vertical direction. The auxiliary roller 33d is rotatably supported by the third support member 33c. The height of the upper surface of the auxiliary roller 33d coincides with the middle position between the upper air knife 25 and the lower air knife 26 and the center of the thickness of the substrate W. So that they fit together.

The auxiliary roller assembly 34 is disposed near one end of the substrate in the river width direction and downstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. The configuration of the auxiliary roller assembly 34 is the same as that of the auxiliary roller assembly 33 described above. The auxiliary roller assembly 35 is disposed near the other end of the substrate W in the river width direction and at a position upstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. The configuration of the auxiliary roller assembly 35 is the same as that of the auxiliary roller assembly 32 described above.

Next, the removal of the cleaning liquid from the substrate W by the adhesion liquid removing device 20 will be described. Air knives 25 and 2 are applied to substrate W being transported by transport rollers 5.
6, the cleaning liquid attached to the substrate W is flushed to the upstream side in the substrate transport direction and the substrate W
It is blown backward from the rear end. In this way, the cleaning liquid attached to the substrate W is removed.
If the gap between the substrates 5, 26 and the substrate W is not kept within a predetermined range, the efficiency of removing the cleaning liquid is reduced.

If the auxiliary rollers 32d to 35d do not exist, the installation span in the substrate transport direction between the two transport rollers 5 adjacent to the lower air knife 26 becomes large in order to dodge the lower air knife 26. Because of this (see FIGS. 1 and 2), the portion of the substrate W that passes through the gas blowing position by the air knives 25 and 26 is greatly deformed and sags. If such deformation occurs, the balance between the airflow from the upper air knife 25 and the airflow from the lower air knife 26 is disturbed, and the cleaning liquid removal efficiency particularly at the rear end of the substrate W is deteriorated.

However, here, the air knives 25, 2
Auxiliary rollers 32d to 35d are provided adjacent to the substrate 6, thereby partially supporting the lower surface of the substrate W. Therefore, dripping of the portion of the substrate W to which the gas is blown by the air knives 25 and 26 is suppressed. Therefore, the clearance between the substrate W and the air knives 25 and 26 can be kept within a predetermined range, and the efficiency of removing the cleaning liquid from the substrate W is improved as compared with the case where the auxiliary rollers 32d to 35d are not provided. In addition, since the auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 35 are scattered in the river width direction, good maintenance is ensured.

In this case, the auxiliary roller support base 31 is passed over the both side walls 21 of the liquid draining chamber 3, and the auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 35 are fixed thereto. Therefore, the support of the auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 35 is more stable than when the auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 35 are directly fixed to the side wall 21 or the bottom plate of the liquid draining chamber 3. Thereby, the auxiliary roller assemblies 32 to 3 due to the load from the substrate W
5 is small, and the substrate W can be supported more accurately.

Here, the auxiliary roller assembly 32,
33 are disposed on both sides of the air knives 25 and 26 in the substrate transfer direction, the dripping of the substrate W can be further suppressed. In particular, the front end and the rear end of the substrate W
When passing through the gas blowing position by the air knives 5 and 26, the size of each gap between the substrate W and the air knives 25 and 26 can be maintained in an appropriate range. In the vicinity of the edge of the substrate W in the river width direction, the auxiliary roller assembly 34 or the auxiliary roller assembly 35 is disposed only on one side in the substrate transport direction.
Since the positions of these auxiliary roller assemblies 34 and 35 are almost at the intermediate positions between the two conveying rollers 5 adjacent to the lower air knife 26, the dripping of the substrate W falls within an allowable range.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 4 shows a cleaning apparatus 101 including an attached liquid removing apparatus 120 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning device 101 is a device that cleans a carried-in substrate and removes a cleaning liquid (treatment liquid) adhering to the substrate and carries out the substrate. In the following description, the same or similar members as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The cleaning device 101 includes a transporting roller 5, a cleaning chamber 2 containing a cleaning nozzle 15, and a liquid removal chamber 3 containing an attached liquid removing device 120.
It is composed of The substrate W is carried in from the carry-in port 12 of the cleaning chamber 2, and is carried in the cleaning chamber 2 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. . For the substrate W being transported in the cleaning chamber 2,
The cleaning liquid is sprayed from the plurality of cleaning nozzles 15 to clean the upper and lower surfaces. Thereafter, the substrate W is sent to the liquid draining chamber 3 by the transfer roller 5 through the connection port 22 of both chambers 2 and 3. In the liquid draining chamber 3, gas is blown from the air knives 25 and 26 to the substrate W being transported by the transport roller 5. Thereby, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is blown off,
The substrate W dries. The substrate W that has been subjected to the cleaning and the liquid removal processing is carried out from the carry-out port 23.

The transport roller 5 is a transport means that supports the substrate W at both ends and the center in the river width direction, horizontally holds the substrate W, and transports the substrate W at a predetermined speed in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is connected to the motor via a chain or the like. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, both ends of the transport roller 5 are supported by both side walls 21 of the liquid removal chamber 3.

A plurality of cleaning nozzles 15 provided in the cleaning chamber 2 are provided above and below the substrate W transported by the transport roller 5, respectively, and spray a cleaning liquid such as pure water onto both upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. . Cleaning chamber 2
This prevents the cleaning solution sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 15 from scattering outside and prevents particles from entering the cleaning chamber 2 from outside. Further, the cleaning chamber 2 is provided with a first exhaust port 14 at a lower portion for exhausting air in the cleaning chamber 2 by an exhaust unit (not shown) and draining a cleaning liquid flowing down in the cleaning chamber 2.

Adhered liquid removing device 1 in liquid draining chamber 3
Reference numeral 20 denotes a transport roller 5 in the liquid draining chamber 3, air knives (gas blowing means) 25 and 26, and auxiliary roller assemblies 41 to 44. Further, the liquid drain chamber 3 is provided with a second exhaust port 24 at a lower portion for exhausting air in the liquid drain chamber 3 by an exhaust unit (not shown) and draining the cleaning liquid blown off in the liquid drain chamber 3. ing.

The air knives 25, 26 are composed of an upper air knife (upper gas blowing section) 25 and a lower air knife (lower gas blowing section) 26.
On the other hand, the upper air knife 25 is arranged above and the lower air knife 26 is arranged below. The air knives 25 and 26 eject a gas, such as air or nitrogen, supplied from a gas supply source (not shown) in a strip shape from a slit-like discharge port at the tip toward the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate W. The cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is blown off by the pressure. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the air knives 25 and 26 have a planar inclination with respect to a direction orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction (arrow A in FIG. 5). FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, both ends of the air knives 25 and 26 are supported by both side walls 21 of the liquid draining chamber 3.

The auxiliary roller assembly 41 is disposed near the center of the substrate in the river width direction and upstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the auxiliary roller assembly 41 includes an arm 41a and an auxiliary roller 41b. The lower part of the arm 41a is fixed to the surface of the lower air knife 26 on the upstream side in the substrate transport direction, and the upper part of the arm 41a rotatably supports the auxiliary roller 41b. In addition, the arm 41a has an adjustment function that can adjust the position of the auxiliary roller 41b in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. Auxiliary roller 41
The height of the upper surface b is adjusted so that the middle position between the upper air knife 25 and the lower air knife 26 coincides with the center of the thickness of the substrate W.

The auxiliary roller assembly 42 is disposed near the center of the substrate in the river width direction and downstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the auxiliary roller assembly 42 includes an arm 42a and an auxiliary roller 42b. The arm 42a is fixed to the downstream surface of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. The upper end of the arm 42a rotatably supports the auxiliary roller 42b. The arm 42a is provided with the auxiliary roller 4
An adjustment function is provided so that the position of 2b can be adjusted in the horizontal and vertical directions. The height of the upper surface of the auxiliary roller 42b is adjusted so that an intermediate position between the upper air knife 25 and the lower air knife 26 and the center of the thickness of the substrate W coincide with each other.

The auxiliary roller assembly 43 is disposed near one end of the substrate in the river width direction and at a position downstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. The configuration of the auxiliary roller assembly 43 is the same as that of the auxiliary roller assembly 42 described above. The auxiliary roller assembly 44 is disposed near the other end of the substrate W in the river width direction and upstream of the lower air knife 26 in the substrate transport direction. The configuration of the auxiliary roller assembly 44 is the same as that of the auxiliary roller assembly 41 described above.

Next, the substrate W by the attached liquid removing device 120
The removal of the cleaning liquid from the substrate will be described. An air knife 25 is attached to the substrate W being transported by the transport roller 5.
When the gas is blown by 26, the cleaning liquid adhering to the substrate W is flushed to the upstream side in the substrate transport direction and blown backward from the rear end of the substrate W. In this way, the cleaning liquid attached to the substrate W is removed.
If the gap between the substrates 5, 26 and the substrate W is not kept within a predetermined range, the efficiency of removing the cleaning liquid is reduced.

Here, if the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b are not present, the installation span in the substrate transport direction between the two transport rollers 5 adjacent to the lower air knife 26 is large in order to dodge the lower air knife 26. 4 (see FIGS. 4 and 5), the portion of the substrate W passing through the gas blowing position by the air knives 25 and 26 undergoes large deformation and hangs down. If such deformation occurs, the balance between the airflow from the upper air knife 25 and the airflow from the lower air knife 26 is disturbed, and the cleaning liquid removal efficiency particularly at the rear end of the substrate W is deteriorated.

However, here, the air knives 25, 2
Auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b are provided adjacent to the substrate 6, thereby partially supporting the lower surface of the substrate W. Therefore, dripping of the portion of the substrate W to which the gas is blown by the air knives 25 and 26 is suppressed. Therefore, the clearance between the substrate W and the air knives 25 and 26 can be kept within a predetermined range, and the efficiency of removing the cleaning liquid from the substrate W is improved as compared with the case where the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b are not provided. Since the auxiliary roller assemblies 41 to 44 are scattered in the river width direction, good maintainability is ensured.

Here, the auxiliary roller assemblies 41,
Since the reference numerals 42 are arranged on both sides of the air knives 25 and 26 in the substrate transfer direction, the dripping of the substrate W can be further suppressed. In particular, the front end and the rear end of the substrate W
The gap between the substrate W and the air knives 25 and 26 can be maintained in an appropriate range even when passing through the gas blowing position by the air knives 5 and 26. In the vicinity of the edge of the substrate W in the river width direction, the auxiliary roller assembly 4 is provided only on one side in the substrate transport direction.
3 or an auxiliary roller assembly 44, but the position of these auxiliary roller assemblies 43, 44 is almost the middle of the two transport rollers 5 adjacent to the lower air knife 26, so that the substrate W Is within the allowable range.

Here, the arms 41a to 44a are attached to the lower air knife 26, and the arms 41a to
4a supports the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b. Since the auxiliary roller assemblies 41 to 44 need to be arranged near the air knives 25 and 26, it is easy to mount the auxiliary roller assemblies 41 to 44 on the lower air knife 26 and the arms 41a to 44a. Is also kept small. Furthermore, since the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b and the lower air knife 26 are directly connected by the arms 41a to 44a, the dimensional accuracy of the distance between the two (the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b and the lower air knife 26) is improved. Accordingly, the gap size between the substrate W supported by the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b and the air knives 25 and 26 is also improved in accuracy. This facilitates the assembly and adjustment of the apparatus, and improves the efficiency of removing the cleaning liquid from the substrate W.

In this embodiment, the auxiliary roller 41
Since the dimensional accuracy between the lower air knife 26 and the lower air knife 26 is improved, the position adjustment function of the auxiliary rollers 41b to 44b of the arms 41a and 42a can be omitted. The structure of the device can be further simplified.

[0046]

According to the present invention, the auxiliary supporting means is provided adjacent to the gas blowing means to suppress dripping of the portion of the substrate to which the gas is blown by the gas blowing means. The distance can be kept within a predetermined range, and the efficiency of removing the processing liquid from the substrate can be improved as compared with the case where there is no auxiliary support means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cleaning device including an attached liquid removing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of a drain chamber.

FIG. 3 is a view taken in the direction of arrows III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a cleaning device including an adhesion liquid removing device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of a liquid drain chamber according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a view taken along the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

5 Conveyance Rollers (Conveyance Means) 20, 120, Adhered Liquid Removal Device 21 Side Wall (Support) 25 Upper Air Knife (Upper Gas Blower of Gas Blower) 26 Lower Air Knife (Lower Gas Blower of Gas Blower) 31) Auxiliary roller support base 32 to 35 Auxiliary roller assembly 32d to 35d Auxiliary roller 41 to 44 Auxiliary roller assembly 41a to 44a Arm 41b to 44b Auxiliary roller

Claims (5)

[Claims] An apparatus for removing a processing liquid attached to a substrate by blowing the processing liquid from the substrate by blowing a gas onto the substrate having the processing liquid attached thereto, wherein a plurality of transporting means for transporting the substrate while supporting the substrate. A gas blowing means extending between the transfer means in a direction intersecting with the substrate transfer direction and blowing a gas to the substrate; a gas blowing means adjacent to the gas blowing means, supporting a lower surface of the substrate to suppress deformation of the substrate. An adhering liquid removing device comprising: an auxiliary support unit. 2. The adhered liquid removing device according to claim 1, wherein said auxiliary supporting means is disposed on both sides of said gas blowing means in a substrate transport direction. 3. An adhering liquid removing apparatus for blowing off a processing liquid from a substrate by blowing a gas onto a substrate to which the processing liquid has adhered to remove the processing liquid adhering to the substrate. A plurality of transporting means extending along and supporting the lower surface of the substrate to which the processing liquid has adhered, and a direction intersecting the substrate transporting direction between at least two of the transporting means in the substrate transporting direction. Gas spraying means for extending and blowing gas from both the upper and lower sides to the substrate to which the processing liquid is adhered, both ends of the transporting means, and a support for supporting both ends of the gas spraying means, the gas blowing means, and An adhering liquid removing device, comprising: an auxiliary support unit disposed between the transfer unit adjacent to the gas blowing unit and the transfer unit in the substrate transfer direction, and partially supporting a lower surface of the transferred substrate. 4. The transfer means is a transfer roller extending in a direction perpendicular to the substrate transfer direction, wherein the gas blowing means blows gas on an upper surface of the substrate and blows gas on a lower surface of the substrate. An auxiliary roller supporting member disposed below the lower gas blowing section and having both ends supported by the support, and a lower surface of the substrate; The adhering liquid removing device according to claim 3, further comprising: an auxiliary roller assembly including an auxiliary roller that rotates by rotating the auxiliary roller assembly. 5. The transfer means is a transfer roller extending in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transfer direction, wherein the gas blowing means blows gas on an upper surface of the substrate and blows gas on a lower surface of the substrate. An auxiliary roller rotating in contact with the lower surface of the substrate; an upper portion rotatably supporting the auxiliary roller, and a lower portion including the lower gas blowing portion. The attached liquid removing device according to claim 3, further comprising: an arm attached to the device.