KR100445611B1 - Apparatus for fabricating flat panel display - Google Patents

Abstract

The FPD manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is composed of two chambers, namely, a process chamber 130 and a transfer chamber 120. The double blade 170 is composed of two layers, an upper layer 170b and a lower layer 170a, and passes between the transfer chamber 120 and the process chamber 130, and has a fork shape. The internal elevating pin 160a is positioned in the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade 170, and is installed to elevate the blade of the double blade 170. The outer elevating pin 160b is located outside the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade 170 and is installed to be bent in a horizontal direction and rotatable about a vertical axis. According to the present invention, by integrating the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber contributing to the substrate transfer into one chamber 120, the space occupied by the device can be significantly reduced and the device price can be lowered. In addition, the transfer time can be reduced by adopting the double blade 170 which can lift two substrates at the same time, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency.

Description

FPD manufacturing apparatus {Apparatus for fabricating flat panel display}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing apparatus. In particular, a load lock chamber and a conveying chamber contributing to conveying a substrate are integrated into one chamber, and a double that can simultaneously hold two substrates. The present invention relates to an FPD manufacturing apparatus capable of shortening a transportation time by adopting a double blade.

FPD manufacturing apparatuses such as Dry Etcher, Chemical Vapor Deposition Apparatus, and Sputter typically include three vacuum chambers. Loadlock chamber used to receive the substrate to be processed from the outside or to export the finished substrate to the outside, and process chamber used to deposit or etch a film using plasma or thermal energy. Chamber and a transfer chamber used to transfer the substrate from the load lock chamber to the process chamber and vice versa.

1 is a plan view for explaining a conventional FPD manufacturing apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, a robot 22 is installed in the transfer chamber 20. The robot blade 22a lifts the FPD substrate 40 and conveys it from the load lock chamber 10 to the process chamber 30 or vice versa.

In the process chamber 30, the process is performed in a state where the substrate 40 is placed on a substrate supporting plate 36. The substrate 40 is lifted from the substrate support 36 or lowered to the substrate support 36 with the help of the internal lifting pin 32 or the external lifting pin 34.

The inner lifting pin 32 is located below the substrate 40, while the outer lifting pin 34 is located outside the substrate 40. Since the outer elevating pin 34 is bent in its horizontal direction, the bent portion is directed toward the substrate 40 so that the substrate 40 can be placed on the outer elevating pin 34.

2A to 2F are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of operating the FPD manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1.

After the predetermined process is completed in the process chamber 30, the completed substrate 40b waits for a while while being placed on the substrate support 36, and at this time, the door between the conveying chamber 20 and the process chamber 30 is closed. The blade 22a opens and enters the process chamber 30 with the substrate 40a waiting for processing. Then, the external lifting pin 34 is raised to support the substrate 40a, and the blade 22a exits the process chamber 30 and returns to the conveying chamber 20 (FIGS. 2A and 2B).

When the blade 22a returns to the transfer chamber 20, the internal lifting pin 32 is raised to lift the completed substrate 40b that is placed on the substrate support 36. Then, the blade 22a in the conveyance chamber 20 enters into the process chamber 30 again. At this time, the internal lifting pin 32 is lowered so that the substrate 40b is placed on the blade 22a, and the blade 22a returns to the transfer chamber 20 with the completed substrate 40b (FIG. 2C, 2d).

Then, the door between the process chamber 30 and the transfer chamber 20 is closed, and at the same time, the internal lifting pin 32 and the external lifting pin 34 come down to wait for the substrate 40a on the substrate support 36. The predetermined process is put up and it puts in (FIG. 2E).

The blade 22a in the transfer chamber 20 puts the processed substrate 40b on a substrate storage location (not shown) in the load lock chamber 10, and the other substrate storage location of the load lock chamber 10 ( The standby substrate 40c, which has been stored in the drawing, is taken out and rotated 180 degrees, and then waited until the process in the process chamber 30 is completed (FIG. 2F).

During this time, the door between the load lock chamber 10 and the transfer chamber 20 is closed, the completed substrate 40b is discharged out of the load lock chamber 10, and a substrate (not shown) to be newly processed is loaded into the load lock chamber ( Substrate exchange brought into 10 takes place. At this time, since the substrate exchange is preferably completed while the process is in the process chamber 30, the venting and pumping of the load lock chamber 10 should be performed quickly.

In the conventional FPD manufacturing apparatus described above, two chambers, that is, the load lock chamber 10 and the conveying chamber 20, are used for conveying the substrate. Therefore, the installation space is required a lot, the space efficiency is very low. In addition, since a vacuum pump, a valve, and various control devices for maintaining the same must be separately provided, the price of the device becomes expensive and the manufacturing cost of the FPD also increases.

In addition, in recent years, the size of the FPD substrate for FPD manufacturing has been nearly 4 times larger than the existing size of about 2m × 2m. Therefore, if two chambers are provided for transporting the substrate, too much clean room space is required.

In the conventional FPD apparatus described above, since the single blade 22a is used, two repeated operations must be performed to convey the substrate from the transfer chamber 20 to the process chamber 30 and to take out the completed substrate.

That is, the substrate to be processed is removed from the substrate storage place of the load lock chamber 10, rotated 180 degrees, put into the process chamber 30, and exits and waits again, and then the process in the process chamber 30 When the process is finished, the process chamber 30 is again taken out, and the processed substrate is taken out, rotated 180 degrees, and then placed in the load lock chamber 10. Therefore, a conveyance time becomes long and manufacturing efficiency falls.

Accordingly, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a FPD manufacturing apparatus incorporating a load lock chamber and a transfer chamber contributing to the substrate transfer into one chamber and adopting a double blade instead of a single blade to shorten the transfer time. have.

1 is a plan view for explaining a conventional FPD manufacturing apparatus;

2A to 2F are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of operating the FPD manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1;

3 is a plan view for explaining the FPD manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4A to 4G are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of operating the FPD manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 3.

<Description of Reference Numbers for Main Parts of Drawings>

10: load lock chamber 20, 120: conveying chamber

22, 172: robot 22a: blade

30, 130: process chamber 36, 136: substrate support

40, 40a, 40b, 40c, 140, 140a, 140b, 140c: substrate

32, 160a: internal lifting pin 34, 160b: external lifting pin

170: double blade 170a: lower blade

170b: upper blade

FPD manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the process chamber is a process; A substrate support installed in the process chamber and on which a substrate to be processed is placed; A conveying chamber which carries a substrate from the outside into the process chamber or carries a substrate in the process chamber to the outside; It is installed in the conveying chamber, and has a double blade consisting of two layers of the upper layer and the lower layer on which the substrate is placed, respectively, wherein the double blade travels between the conveying chamber and the process chamber, each of the upper and lower blades A robot in the form of a fork whose end is directed toward the process chamber in the transfer chamber; An internal elevating pin positioned in the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade and installed in the conveying chamber and the process chamber so as to elevate the blade of the double blade; And an external lift pin positioned outside the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade, the end of which is bent in the horizontal direction and installed in the transfer chamber and the process chamber so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis. It characterized by having a.

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

3 is a view for explaining the FPD manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the FPD manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is composed of two chambers, namely, a transfer chamber 120 and a process chamber 130, instead of three. The transfer chamber 120 is provided with one robot 172 and a vacuum pump system (not shown) for substrate transfer.

The transfer chamber 120 carries the substrate to be processed into the process chamber 130 from the outside through the operation of the robot 172 and the gate valves 125a and 125b, or transfers the processed substrate in the process chamber 130. Take it out. In the process chamber 130, a substrate support 136 on which a substrate to be processed is placed is installed.

The robot 172 has a double blade 170 composed of two layers, an upper layer 170b and a lower layer 170a. The substrate 140 is placed on the upper blade 170b or the lower blade 170a.

The double blade 170 performs only a reciprocating linear movement between the transfer chamber 120 and the process chamber 130 without vertical movement or rotational movement. Each of the upper and lower blades 170a and 170b has a fork shape in which the ends of the upper and lower blades 170a and 170b face toward the process chamber 130. This is to prevent the blade blade from being caught by the inner lifting pin 160a or the outer lifting pin 160b.

The internal elevating pin 160a is located in the bottom space of the substrate 140 that is placed on the double blade 170, and the conveying chamber 120 and the process chamber 130 can move up and down to avoid the blade of the double blade 170. Respectively). The internal lifting pins 160a may be arranged to evenly support the entire area of the substrate 140 so that bending does not occur when the substrate 140 is lifted up.

In addition, the external lifting pin 160b is located outside the bottom space of the substrate 140 placed on the double blade 170 and the end thereof is bent in a horizontal direction, and the conveying chamber is rotatable about a vertical axis. 120 and process chamber 130, respectively. When the external lifting pin 160b is rotated so that the bent portion enters under the substrate 140, the external lifting pin 160b can lift or lower the substrate 140.

4A to 4G are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of operating the FPD manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 3.

The processed substrate 140a is placed on the substrate support 136, and the double blade 170 is mounted on the upper blade 170b with the substrate 140b mounted only on the lower blade 170a. Is waiting in the conveyance chamber 120 (FIG. 4A).

The substrate 140a, which has been processed by the internal lifting pins 160a of the process chamber 130, is lifted up onto the substrate support 136, and the completed substrate 140a is rotated while the external lifting pins 160b of the process chamber 130 rotate. The process proceeds to the bottom and lifts the completed substrate 140a further up. Then, the inner lifting pin 160a of the process chamber 130 is lowered and returned to its original state, and the double blade 170 moves to the process chamber 130 (FIG. 4B).

Next, the inner lifting pin 160a of the process chamber 130 is raised to lift the substrate 140b to be processed on the lower blade 170a, and the outer lifting pin 160b is rotated and lowered to complete the process 140a. ) Is placed on the upper blade 170b (FIG. 4C).

Next, after the double blade 170 is returned to the transfer chamber 120, the internal lifting pin 160a of the process chamber 130 is lowered to mount the substrate 140b on the substrate support 136. . Then, the gate valve 125a between the transfer chamber and the process chamber is closed, and the process chamber 130 independently performs a predetermined process. During the process, both the external lift pin 160b and the internal lift pin 160a are lowered and covered with a cover (not shown), thereby protecting them from being exposed to plasma or the like (FIG. 4D).

Next, while elevating the conveying chamber 120, the internal lifting pin 160a of the conveying chamber 120 is raised to lift the completed substrate 140a from the upper blade 170b, and the conveying chamber 120 Reaches the atmospheric pressure state, the gate valve 125b of the transfer chamber is opened, and the process completed substrate 140a is taken out using a robot (not shown) waiting outside (FIG. 4E).

Next, when a new substrate 140c is brought into the transfer chamber 120, the internal lifting pin 160a receives it (FIG. 4F). Then, as the internal lifting pin 160a descends, a new substrate 140c is placed on the lower blade 170a so as to be in the state of FIG. 4A, and then the process in the process chamber 130 is finished (FIG. 4G). )

Since the double blade 170 has a structure that is simultaneously operated by one robot arm, the process chamber 130 is discharged from the process chamber 130 and the process chamber 130b is processed at the same time. It can be carried in 130. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform two repetitive operations as in the prior art, and the substrate transfer time is shortened.

As described above, according to the present invention, by integrating the load lock chamber and the transfer chamber contributing to the substrate transfer into one chamber 120, the space occupied by the device can be drastically reduced and the device price can be lowered. In addition, the transfer time can be reduced by adopting the double blade 170 which can lift two substrates at the same time, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is apparent that many modifications are possible by those skilled in the art within the technical spirit of the present invention.

Claims (3)

In the FPD manufacturing apparatus, A process chamber in which the process proceeds; A substrate support installed in the process chamber and on which a substrate to be processed is placed; A conveying chamber which carries a substrate from the outside into the process chamber or carries a substrate in the process chamber to the outside; It is installed in the conveying chamber, and has a double blade consisting of two layers of the upper layer and the lower layer on which the substrate is placed, respectively, wherein the double blade travels between the conveying chamber and the process chamber, each of the upper and lower blades A robot in the form of a fork whose end is directed toward the process chamber in the transfer chamber; An internal elevating pin positioned in the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade and installed in the conveying chamber and the process chamber so as to elevate the blade of the double blade; And An external elevating pin positioned outside the bottom space of the substrate placed on the double blade, the end of which is bent in the horizontal direction and installed in the conveying chamber and the process chamber so as to be rotatable about a vertical axis; FPD manufacturing apparatus characterized in that it comprises a. The FPD manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the double blade only performs reciprocating linear motion without vertical movement or rotational motion. The FPD manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the internal lifting pins are arranged to evenly support the entire surface of the substrate.