KR100246234B1 - Etching system for manufacturing plasma display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing system of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP), and more particularly to an etching system for PDP manufacturing in which an electrode material or a partition material is coated and then etched to form an electrode or partition on a substrate. An etching bath for spraying the etching solution toward the substrate to etch the electrode material or the partition wall material, and a pure water supply unit for supplying a large amount of pure water at a time to the substrate passing the etching bath at the top of the substrate PDP manufacturing etching system comprising a shower bath for performing the operation of removing the etching liquid remaining on the substrate and a drying bath for performing the operation of drying the substrate by spraying compressed air toward the substrate past the shower bath By reducing the overall length of the system equipment and increasing the accuracy of the etching process It would be.

Description

Etching System for Plasma Display Panel Manufacturing

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a manufacturing system of a plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as a PDP), and more particularly, to an etching system for manufacturing a PDP, in which a shower bath and a rinse bath, which perform an operation of removing an etchant on a glass substrate, are constituted by one treatment tank. .

In general, PDP is a flat panel display device using a penning gas for a discharge phenomenon, and constitutes an information display unit of a plasma display device. The PDP is divided into an alternating current (AC) type and a direct current (DC) type according to a discharge method.

A typical AC type PDP consists of a surface substrate 1 and a rear substrate 5 positioned opposite to each other with a predetermined space therebetween as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In the above, the display electrode 2 is formed on one surface of the surface substrate 1 so as to be arranged in parallel with each other, and the display electrode 2 on the opposite surface of the rear substrate 5 to the surface substrate 1. Address electrodes 6 are formed which are arranged in parallel with each other so as to be orthogonal to each other. In this case, the display electrode 2 and the address electrode 6 are formed on a stripe.

In addition, a dielectric layer 3 having a uniform thickness is formed on the display electrode 2 to limit the discharge current during discharge and facilitate the generation of wall charges, and sputtering occurs during the discharge on the dielectric layer 3. The magnesium oxide (MgO) protective film 4 is deposited to protect the display electrode 2 and the dielectric layer 3 from ().

In addition, partition walls 7 are formed between the surface substrate 1 and the rear substrate 5 to separate the address electrodes 6 into a plurality of discharge cells to prevent color mixing between cells and to secure a discharge space. On the address electrode 6, a phosphor 8 divided into red, green and blue is coated.

In addition, a discharge gas such as neon (Ne), helium (He), xenon (Xe), or the like is injected into the discharge space between the surface substrate 1 and the rear substrate 5, and the surface substrate 1 and the rear substrate 5 is frit-sealed using the hardened sealing material 9.

The PDP configured as described above discharges the surface of the dielectric layer 3 and the protective layer 4 on the electrode by applying a voltage between the transparent electrodes to generate ultraviolet rays. By the ultraviolet rays, the phosphor coated on the back substrate 5 is excited and emits light, and color display is performed by the phosphor coated separately.

Referring to FIG. 3, the process of forming the display electrode 2 of the PDP is as follows.

First, the display electrode material 11 is coated on the glass substrate 10, and then the photoresist 12 is coated thereon. In this case, the display electrode material 11 is coated to a thickness of 0.1 ~ 0.3㎛ and the photoresist 12 is coated to a thickness of 0.8 ~ 3.0㎛.

Subsequently, when the photoresist 12 is partially exposed through the mask 13 in which the opening is formed, the chemical composition of the exposed portion 12 ″ of the photoresist 12 is changed.

Thereafter, a part of the photoresist 12 is removed by spraying the developer for photoresist toward the glass substrate 10. At this time, since the chemical composition of the portion 12 "exposed through the exposure process is changed, the photoresist 12 melts the unexposed portion 12 'by the developer, thereby removing the unnecessary portion of the photoresist. Only the shape remains.

Thereafter, an etchant is sprayed onto the glass substrate 10 to remove a portion of the display electrode material 11. At this time, the photoresist 12 "remaining without being removed in the developing process serves to protect the display electrode material 11 coated thereunder from being melted by the etching solution.

Subsequently, after the etching process is completed, the unnecessary photoresist 12 ″ is removed to obtain the glass substrate 10 having the display electrode 2 having a desired shape.

A process of forming the partition wall 7 of the PDP is described below with reference to FIG. 4.

First, the barrier material 21 is coated on the glass substrate 20 to a thickness of 100 to 200 μm, and then the dry film 22 is coated on the barrier material 21 to a thickness of 15 to 100 μm. At this time, the dry film 22 has the same characteristics as the photoresist 14, but is coated thicker than the photoresist 12 so as not to be removed by the polishing liquid used in the subsequent sand blast process.

Thereafter, when the dry film 22 is exposed through the mask 23 having the opening, the chemical composition of the exposed portion 22 ″ is changed.

Subsequently, when the developer for the dry film is sprayed toward the glass substrate 20, the unexposed part 22 ′ of the dry film 22 is melted to remove unnecessary parts, leaving only a desired shape. At this time, since the dry film 22 is thickly coated, it is difficult to dissolve and remove the dry film 22, thereby reducing the adhesive force between the partition material 21 and the dry film 22 to remove the dry film 22.

Thereafter, a sand blasting process of spraying the polishing liquid toward the glass substrate 20 to remove the unnecessary partition material 21 is performed. At this time, the dry film 22 "not removed in the developing process serves as a protective film so that the partition material 21 coated thereunder is not removed by the polishing liquid.

Subsequently, when the dry film 22 ", which is not necessary after the sand blasting process is removed, the glass substrate 20 having the partition 7 having a desired shape is obtained.

The etching system for manufacturing a conventional PDP used to form the display electrode 2 and the partition wall 7 as described above has a first atmospheric tank 110, an etching vessel 120, and a second atmospheric tank 130 as shown in FIG. 5. ), The shower tank 140, the rinse tank 150, the drying tank 160 is arranged sequentially.

Here, the etching bath 120 performs an operation of etching the material coated on the glass substrate by spraying the etchant toward the glass substrate, and the shower bath 140 is a glass substrate past the etching bath 120 Pure water is injected toward to wash the etchant present on the glass substrate. In this case, the etchant used in the etching bath 120 mainly uses a strong acid mixed solution according to the characteristics of the material coated on the glass substrate.

In addition, the first atmospheric tank 110 and the second atmospheric tank 130 are respectively installed before and after the etching bath 120, the etching liquid used in the etching bath 120 along the glass substrate in the shower bath 140 And the pure water used in the shower bath 140 is prevented from flowing into the etching bath 120.

In addition, the rinse tank 150 performs an operation of removing the etchant remaining on the glass substrate by injecting pure water toward the glass substrate, the drying tank 160 by using an air knife (Air knife) The glass substrate is dried in a manner of forcibly pushing moisture by spraying compressed air toward the glass substrate.

In addition, the etchant and pure water used in the etching bath 120, the shower bath 140, and the rinse bath 150 are respectively sprayed toward the glass substrate through a nozzle.

The glass substrate continues to move without stopping from the loader to the unloader through the conveyor operated by the rotation of the roller while passing through the series of treatment tanks as described above.

However, in the PDP etching system configured as described above, since the glass substrate is large, the etching solution remaining on the glass substrate is completely removed even if the glass substrate is washed by spraying pure water through the nozzle in the shower bath 140. It doesn't work. For this reason, the glass substrate must be washed once again with pure water through the rinse bath 150 installed separately from the shower bath 140.

Therefore, the conventional etching system for manufacturing PDP has to install the shower bath 140 and the rinse bath 150 separately to remove the etching liquid on the glass substrate, so that the length of the system equipment is increased, the equipment investment is increased and the space is increased. At the same time, the necessity of the pure water is used in the shower bath 140 and the rinse bath 150, thereby increasing the amount of pure water used.

In addition, in the etching system for manufacturing a PDP according to the related art, since the etchant is not completely removed through the shower bath 140 and the etchant remains on the glass substrate, the etching is continuously performed while the glass substrate passes through the shower bath 140. There is a problem that the uniformity of the etching is made to fall.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, it is configured to perform the operation of the shower bath and the rinse bath in one treatment tank for manufacturing the PDP to reduce the overall length of the system equipment and to increase the accuracy of the etching process The purpose is to provide an etching system.

1 is a block diagram showing the structure of a general plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as PDP);

2 is a configuration diagram showing a partial cross section of FIG.

3 is a configuration diagram illustrating a process of forming a display electrode of a PDP;

4 is a configuration diagram illustrating a process of forming a partition wall of the PDP;

5 is a block diagram showing an etching system for manufacturing a PDP according to the prior art,

6 is a block diagram showing an etching system for producing a PDP according to the present invention;

7 is a configuration diagram showing a structure of an air curtain according to the present invention;

8 is an operating state of the air curtain according to the present invention,

9 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a shower bath according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

510: atmosphere tank 520: etching tank

525: air curtain 526: air inlet

527: Body 528: Slit

530: shower bath 531: pure water supply

532: storage tank 533: barrier

534: driving cylinder 535: euro guide

536: Supply valve 537: Injection nozzle

540: drying tank

In the etching system for manufacturing PDP according to the first aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is a PDP manufacturing etching system for etching after coating the electrode material or partition material to form an electrode or partition on the substrate, the substrate An etching bath for spraying an etchant toward the electrode material and the partition material, and a pure water supply unit supplying a large amount of pure water at a time toward the substrate passing the etching bath at an upper portion of the substrate; The shower bath is configured to sequentially remove the etching liquid remaining on the substrate, and the drying bath is configured to sequentially dry the substrate by spraying compressed air toward the substrate past the shower bath.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the pure water supply unit includes a storage tank for storing a predetermined amount of pure water, a blocking film installed in the storage tank to determine whether to supply pure water to the substrate, and opening and closing the blocking film. It consists of a membrane opening and closing means.

In addition, according to a third aspect of the present invention, the pure water supply unit is connected to the storage tank and a flow guide installed on the lower side of the storage tank to guide the running direction of the pure water discharged from the storage tank and stored in the storage tank It further comprises a supply valve for supplying pure water so that the amount of pure water is kept constant.

In addition, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of spray nozzles for injecting pure water toward the substrate are provided in the shower tank so as to be positioned below the substrate.

In addition, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the etching bath is provided with a waiting tank for performing an operation to prevent the etching liquid used in the etching bath from flowing out of the system along the substrate.

In addition, according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the etchant is provided with an etchant blocking means at each inlet and outlet side of the etchant to prevent the etchant from flowing out of the etchant along the substrate.

In addition, according to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the etchant blocking means is an air curtain installed on the upper and lower portions of the substrate, respectively.

In addition, according to an eighth aspect of the present invention, the air curtain includes an air inlet through which compressed air is supplied, a body connected to the air inlet, and a slit combined with the body to inject compressed air.

According to the present invention configured as described above, since no further etching is performed after the etching bath, the uniformity of etching is improved and the size of the system can be reduced and the installation space can be reduced. There is an advantage to be reduced.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing an etching system for producing a PDP according to the present invention, Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the structure of the air curtain according to the present invention, Figure 8 is an operating state of the air curtain according to the invention, Figure 9 Is a configuration diagram schematically showing a shower bath according to the present invention.

An etching system for manufacturing a PDP according to the present invention, which is used to form an electrode or a partition wall of the PDP, has an atmospheric bath 510, an etching bath 520, a shower bath 530, and a drying bath 540 as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9. ) Are arranged and configured sequentially.

In the above, the atmospheric tank 510 is installed in front of the etching tank 520 to prevent the etching liquid used in the etching tank 520 from flowing out of the etching system along the glass substrate 500.

In addition, the etching bath 520 sprays the etching liquid onto the glass substrate 500 through the spray nozzle 521 to etch the electrode material or the barrier material coated on the glass substrate 500. In this case, a strong acid mixed solution is mainly used as an etchant according to the characteristics of the material coated on the glass substrate 500.

Here, the inlet and outlet sides of the etching bath 520 and the upper portion of the glass substrate 500 to serve as a barrier to prevent the etching liquid from flowing out of the etching bath 520 along the glass substrate 500 An air curtain 525 is installed at a lower portion of the air curtain 525, the air inlet 526 to which compressed air is supplied, the body 527 connected to the air inlet 526, and the body. And a slit 528 which is combined with 527 to inject compressed air.

In addition, the shower bath 530 is a plurality of pure water supply unit 531 installed on the upper portion of the glass substrate 500 to pour a large amount of pure water at a time and a plurality of installed on the lower portion of the glass substrate 500 to spray pure water Pure water is supplied to the glass substrate 500 passing through the etching bath 520 through the spray nozzle 537 to completely remove the etching liquid remaining on the glass substrate 500.

Here, the pure water supply unit 531 is a storage tank 532 for storing a predetermined amount of pure water, and a blocking film 533 installed in the storage tank 532 to determine whether to supply pure water to the glass substrate 500. And a driving cylinder 534 for opening and closing the blocking film 533, a flow guide 535 installed under the storage tank 532 to guide a traveling direction of pure water discharged from the storage tank 531, It is connected to the storage tank 532 is composed of a supply valve 536 for supplying pure water so that the amount of pure water stored in the storage tank 532 is kept constant. In this case, the flow guide 535 is formed so that the pure water discharged from the storage tank 532 is supplied at an angle of about 45 ° toward the glass substrate 500.

In addition, the drying tank 540 is an operation of drying the glass substrate 500 in a manner of forcibly pushing moisture by spraying compressed air to the glass substrate 500 past the shower tank 530 through an air knife. Do this.

While passing through the series of processing tanks as described above, the glass substrate 500 continues to move without stopping from the loader to the unloader through a conveyor operated by the rotation of the roller.

PDP manufacturing etching system according to the present invention configured and operated as described above is a glass substrate 500 to spray the pure water supply unit 531 and the pure water installed on the upper portion of the glass substrate 500 to pour a large amount of pure water at a time. The pure water is supplied to the glass substrate 500 passing through the etching bath 510 through a plurality of injection nozzles 537 installed at the lower part of the bottom to completely remove the etching liquid remaining on the glass substrate 500. By providing a shower bath 530 to eliminate the need for a rinse bath is reduced in the size of the system, the installation space and there is an advantage that the amount of pure water consumed is reduced.

In addition, as the size of the system is reduced as described above, the parts and materials used are reduced, thereby reducing the amount of investment in equipment.

In addition, in the etching system for manufacturing PDP according to the present invention, the etching liquid remaining on the glass substrate 500 is completely removed through the shower bath 530 so that no further etching is performed after the etching bath 520. Therefore, the uniformity of the etching is improved, there is an advantage that the performance of the product is improved.

Claims (8)

In the etching system for PDP manufacturing to coat the electrode material or the partition material to form an electrode or partition on the substrate and then etching, An etching bath for etching the electrode material or the partition material by spraying the etchant toward the substrate, and a pure water supply unit for supplying a large amount of pure water at a time to the substrate passing the etching bath at the top of the substrate And a bath configured to sequentially remove the etchant remaining on the substrate, and a bath configured to sequentially dry the substrate by spraying compressed air toward the substrate past the shower. Etching system for manufacturing PDP. The method of claim 1, The pure water supply unit includes a storage tank for storing a predetermined amount of pure water, a blocking film installed in the storage tank to determine whether to supply pure water to the substrate, and a blocking film opening and closing means for opening and closing the blocking film. Etching system. The method of claim 2, The pure water supply unit supplies pure water so as to guide a flow direction of the pure water discharged from the storage tank, a flow guide installed below the storage tank, and a quantity of pure water stored in the storage tank connected to the storage tank. PDP manufacturing etching system, characterized in that further comprising a supply valve to. The method of claim 1, The shower bath is an etching system for producing a PDP, characterized in that a plurality of spray nozzles for spraying pure water toward the substrate is installed to be located below the substrate. The method of claim 1, The etching tank is an etching system for producing a PDP, characterized in that the atmospheric tank for performing an operation to prevent the etching liquid used in the etching tank to flow out of the system along the substrate in front thereof. The method of claim 1, The etching bath is an etching system for the PDP manufacturing method characterized in that the etching solution blocking means is installed at the inlet and outlet side of each to prevent the etching solution from flowing out along the substrate along the substrate. The method of claim 6, The etching solution blocking means is an etching system for producing a PDP, characterized in that the air curtain is installed on the upper and lower portions of the substrate, respectively. The method of claim 7, wherein The air curtain is an etching system for the PDP, characterized in that the compressed air is supplied with an air inlet, the body connected to the air inlet, and the body is combined with the slitting for injecting compressed air.

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