JPH11258608A - Device and method for rubbing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the rubbing device, and rubbing method, with high productivity which prevents a substrate as a body to be rubbed from being charged electrostatically in a processing stage by the rubbing device. SOLUTION: The rubbing device consists of a conveyor 6 which conveys the substrate 11 as the body to be rubbed and a rubbing roller 1 and an opposite roller 5 which carry out a rubbing process when the substrate is passed between them. The substrate 11 is conveyed by the conveyor 6 and rubbed by being passed between the rubbing roller 1 and opposite roller 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rubbing device and a rubbing method, and more particularly, to a rubbing device used for performing an alignment treatment on an alignment film in order to align liquid crystal molecules in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device and the like. It relates to a rubbing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a liquid crystal display device, in order to align liquid crystal molecules sandwiched between two opposing substrates in a certain direction, an alignment film made of polyimide or the like is formed on the substrate surface. A rubbing process of rubbing the cloth with a cloth in a certain direction is generally performed.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a processing step by a conventional rubbing apparatus. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a rubbing roller around which a rubbing cloth is wound, which is configured to be able to rotate at high speed. 11 is a substrate on which an alignment film such as a polyimide film is formed, 12 is a stage on which the substrate 11 is mounted, C is a substrate receiving position before rubbing treatment in a rubbing device, D
Denotes a substrate transfer position after the rubbing process in the rubbing device, 13 denotes a pin for raising and lowering the substrate 11 mounted on the stage 12, and 14 denotes a transfer device that transfers the substrate 11 after the rubbing process to the next step. In the processing step by the rubbing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, first, as shown in FIG. 2A, the substrate 11 on which the alignment film is formed is mounted on the stage 12 at the substrate receiving position C. Next, FIG.
As shown in (b), in a state where the rubbing roller 1 is in contact with the surface of the alignment film formed on the substrate 11, the stage 12 on which the substrate 11 is mounted is passed under the rotating rubbing roller 1 to perform alignment. By rubbing the film surface, the alignment film is subjected to an alignment process. The rubbed substrate 11 is moved to the stage 12 at the substrate transfer position D.
Is transported to the next step by the transport device 14.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a processing step by another conventional rubbing apparatus. Note that the reference numerals in FIG.
Descriptions are omitted because they are the same as those in the middle. In the processing step using the rubbing apparatus shown in FIG. 3, first, as shown in FIG.
Mounted on top. Next, as shown in FIG.
The rubbing roller 1 is brought into contact with the surface of the alignment film formed on the substrate 11 on the stage 12 on which
By rubbing the surface of the alignment film by passing through the rotating rubbing roller 1, the alignment film is subjected to the alignment process. The rubbed substrate 11 is lifted from the stage 12 by pins 13 and the like,
4 transports to the next step.

[0005]

As described above, in any of the processing steps using the conventional rubbing apparatus, a step of lifting the rubbed substrate 11 from the flat stage 12 is required. When the substrate is lifted from the stage 12, static electricity is generated, and the potential of the substrate 11 rises sharply due to the separation and charging caused by the static electricity, and the discharge has a bad influence on wirings, semiconductor elements, etc. formed on the substrate 11, for example. There was a problem. In particular, in a liquid crystal display device based on an active matrix method, a switching element such as a thin film transistor is formed on a substrate to be subjected to rubbing treatment.
The accumulation of the electric charge changes the characteristics of the element, causing display failure. Further, it is possible to suppress the generation of static electricity by reducing the transport speed such as the lifting speed when lifting the substrate 11 from the stage 12, but reducing the transport speed decreases the processing capacity. Therefore, there is a problem that productivity is reduced. Furthermore, during the rubbing process, it is necessary to move the stage 12 or the rubbing roller 1, and when transporting the substrate to the next step, a step of lifting the substrate 11 with the pins 13 or the like is required, so that productivity is reduced. There was a problem of bad.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in a processing step using a rubbing device, a rubbing device capable of preventing the substrate to be rubbed from being charged and having high productivity. It is intended to provide a rubbing method.

[0007]

A rubbing device according to the present invention comprises a conveyor-type conveying device for continuously conveying rubbed objects one by one, a rubbing roller having a rotating mechanism, and a rubbing roller facing the rubbing roller. A rubbing process is performed on the rubbed object by passing the rubbed object between the rotating rubbing roller and the opposing roller. The transfer device has rollers for transferring the rubbed object, and the rollers for transferring the rubbed object in the rubbing area are made of viton.

In the rubbing method according to the present invention, the rubbed object is subjected to a rubbing treatment by transporting the rubbed object between a rubbing roller and an opposing roller arranged opposite to the rubbing roller.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, a rubbing device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B show a configuration of a rubbing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, wherein FIG. 1A is a side view and FIG. 1B is a top view. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a rubbing roller in which a rubbing cloth 3 made of rayon or the like is attached around a cylindrical roller 2 with a double-sided tape 4 or the like, and is configured to be able to rotate at high speed. Reference numeral 5 denotes a cylindrical opposing roller made of SUS disposed at a position opposing the rubbing roller 1 via the substrate 11 which is a rubbed object, and is configured to be rotatable at a peripheral speed according to the traveling speed of the substrate 11. I have. Reference numeral 6 denotes a transport conveyor for transporting the substrate 11,
In a region A where the rubbing treatment is performed on the substrate 11 by the rubbing roller 1, both the roller 7 with the O-ring made of Viton below the substrate 11, the pressing roller 8 with the O-ring made of Viton above the substrate 11, and both of the substrate 11 A guide roller 9 made of Teflon is arranged on the side, and the substrate 1 is transported in an area B where the substrate 11 is transported before and after the rubbing process is performed.
A roller 10 with an O-ring made of Teflon is arranged below the lower part 1.

Next, the operation will be described. First, the substrate 11 to be subjected to the rubbing treatment is transferred to the area A to be subjected to the rubbing treatment by the rollers 10 with the Teflon O-rings of the transfer conveyor 6 after the end of the previous step, and is opposed to the rotating rubbing roller 1. The surface of the substrate 11 is rubbed by the rubbing roller 1 while being conveyed between the rollers 5 by a roller 7 having an O-ring made of Viton. In the area A where the rubbing process is performed, the displacement of the substrate 11 is prevented by the press roller 8 and the guide roller 9 made of Viton. The rubbed substrate 11 is transported by a Teflon-made O-ring-equipped roller 10 and sent to the next step.

Using the rubbing device according to the present embodiment, the diameter of the roller 2 constituting the rubbing roller 1 is 130 mm, the diameter of the opposing roller 5 is 130 mm, the rotation speed of the rubbing roller 1 is 500 rpm, and the rotation of the opposing roller 5 is performed. The peripheral speed is 50 mm / sec, and the transport speed of the substrate 11 by the transport conveyor 6 is 50 mm / sec.
When the rubbing treatment was performed on the substrate 11 under the conditions described above, the surface potential of the substrate 11 after the rubbing treatment was 100 V or less, and even if wiring and semiconductor elements were formed on the substrate 11, the possibility of occurrence of defects due to charging was high. Almost no.

According to the present invention, since the contact area between the substrate 11 and the opposing roller 5 during the rubbing process is small, it is possible to reduce the separation electrification between the substrate 11 and the opposing roller 5 in the processing step by the rubbing device. is there. Further, the rubbing process on the substrate 11 can be continuously performed by a conveyor system, so that productivity can be improved. Further, since the transfer of the substrate 11 before and after the rubbing process can be performed by a conveyor, a substrate lifting / lowering mechanism or a transfer robot for transferring the substrate is not required, and the structure of the transfer device with the devices in the preceding and subsequent processes can be simplified.

[0013]

As described above, the rubbing device according to the present invention is constituted by the transfer conveyor for transferring the substrate to be rubbed, the rubbing roller for performing the rubbing process by passing the substrate therebetween, and the opposing roller. Since the rubbing process is performed through the substrate between the rubbing roller and the opposing roller, the contact area between the substrate and the opposing roller during the rubbing process is reduced, and the peeling charge between the substrate and the opposing roller is reduced, so that the rubbing object is charged. In addition, the rubbing treatment of the substrate can be continuously performed by the conveyor system, so that the productivity can be improved. Further, since the roller for transporting the rubbed object in the rubbing area of the transport device is made of viton, slippage of the rubbed object during the rubbing process can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a rubbing device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing step by a conventional rubbing apparatus of this type.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing step by another conventional rubbing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 rubbing roller, 2 rollers, 3 rubbing cloth, 4 double-sided tape, 5 opposing rollers, 6 conveyor, roller with 7 viton O-ring, holding roller with 8 viton O-ring, 9 guide roller,
10 rollers with O-ring made of Teflon, 11 substrates.

Claims (3)

[Claims] A rubbing roller having a rotating mechanism; and an opposing roller having a rotating mechanism arranged to face the rubbing roller. A rubbing device, wherein a rubbing process is performed on the rubbed object by passing the rubbed object between the rotating rubbing roller and the opposing roller. 2. The rubbing device according to claim 1, wherein the transport device has rollers for transporting the rubbed object, and the rollers for transporting the rubbed object in the rubbing area are made of viton. apparatus. 3. A rubbing method, wherein a rubbing process is performed on a rubbed object by transporting the rubbed object between a rubbing roller and an opposing roller arranged opposite to the rubbing roller.