KR100794919B1 - Apparatus and method for glass etching - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and an apparatus for etching a glass are provided to completely remove a liquid material from a glass surface by using a rinsing bath separated from a drying bath. A surface of a glass is etched using fluoric acid in an etching bath(100). A bubble generator is formed at a lower portion of the etching bath. A surface of the etched glass is cleansed using UPW(Ultra Pure Water) in a cleaning bath(200). A bubble generator is formed at a lower portion of the cleaning bath. The surface of the glass is cleaned using the UPW and preliminarily dries the glass using dry air in a rinsing and drying bath(300). The surface of the glass is completely dried using the dry air in a drying bath(400).

Description

Glass etching apparatus and etching method {APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR GLASS ETCHING}

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a glass etching apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is a view showing an auxiliary bath according to the present invention.

3 is a view illustrating a surface cleaning process of the robot arm in the auxiliary bath.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: etching bath 200: cleaning bath

210, 310, 710: nozzle 300: rinse and dry bath

400: dry bath 500: cassette

600: loading unit 700: robot arm

710: fixed portion 800: unloading portion

900: secondary bath

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass etching apparatus and an etching method for etching glass for a liquid crystal display device (LCD), and more particularly, to a glass etching apparatus enabling a more effective glass etching by a wet etching method. And an etching method.

In general, an etching apparatus for etching (etching) the glass for a liquid crystal display device includes an etching bath, a Quick Dump Rinse (QDR) bath, and a drying bath. A nitrogen gas bubble is formed at the bottom of the etching bath. Porous bubble plates that can be produced uniformly are installed.

The conventional glass etching method using such an etching apparatus is an etching process in an etching bath using hydrofluoric acid (HF), a cleaning process using ultrapure water in a cleaning bath, and clean dry air (CDA) using a dry bath. It consists of a drying process.

At this time, a plurality of the glass is stacked in the cassette is transferred between each bath. That is, a plurality of glasses are stacked so as to maintain a constant interval in the vertical direction to the cassette, and the above-described process is performed by transferring the stacked cassettes into the respective baths by a transfer means such as a robot arm.

However, such a conventional etching method has a problem that the complete cleaning of the hydrofluoric acid adhered to the glass in the etching bath is not achieved by the completion of the cleaning process in one cleaning bath.

In addition, since the drying process is completed in one drying bath, there is a problem in that the liquid material on the glass surface cannot be completely removed.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a rinse and dry bath which can perform both cleaning and drying processes separately, thereby providing a more effective glass cleaning and liquid surface material. It is to provide a glass etching apparatus and an etching method capable of performing the removal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a glass etching apparatus and an etching method capable of preventing contamination of the etching apparatus due to hydrofluoric acid adhered to the robot arm and minimizing the introduction of hydrofluoric acid into the cleaning bath.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention comprises the steps of etching the surface of the glass using hydrofluoric acid when the cassette is stacked glass is transferred into the etching bath; Cleaning the surface of the etched glass using ultrapure water when the cassette is transferred from the etching bath into the cleaning bath; When the cassette is transferred from the cleaning bath to the rinse and the dry bath, washing the surface of the glass again with ultrapure water and predrying it with dry air; And, when the cassette is transferred from the rinse and dry bath to the inside of the drying bath provides a glass etching method comprising the step of completely drying the surface of the glass using dry air.

In addition, the present invention is an etching bath for etching the surface of the glass laminated on the cassette using hydrofluoric acid; A cleaning bath for cleaning the surface of the glass etched in the etching bath using ultrapure water; A rinse and dry bath for washing the surface of the glass cleaned in the cleaning bath again with ultrapure water and then predrying it with dry air; In addition, it provides a glass etching apparatus comprising a drying bath for completely drying the surface of the glass, which has been cleaned and dried in the rinse and dry bath using dry air.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention in which the above object can be specifically realized are described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a glass etching apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, the glass etching apparatus according to the present invention includes an etching bath 100, a cleaning bath 200, a rinse and dry bath 300, and a dry bath 400. Is done.

In the etching bath 100, the surface etching of the glass (not shown) stacked on the cassette 500 is performed by hydrofluoric acid. To this end, hydrofluoric acid is supplied to the etching bath 100, and a bubble generating device (not shown) is provided at the lower portion to uniformly etch the glass by hydrofluoric acid. The bubble generating device generally generates nitrogen gas bubbles, and the nitrogen gas bubbles increase the temperature of the hydrofluoric acid to etch the surface of the glass and at the same time enable uniform flow of the hydrofluoric acid so that the surface of the glass is etched evenly. It performs the function.

In addition, the cassette 500 enters the loader 600 from the outside in a state of stacking a plurality of glasses, and then is transferred to the etching bath 100 by a transfer means such as the robot arm 700.

In the cleaning bath 200, the surface of the glass etched by ultrapure water is cleaned. In more detail, the glass etched to a predetermined thickness in the etching bath 100 is transferred to the cleaning bath 200 by the robot arm 700 in a state of being stacked on the cassette 500, and thus the cleaning bath 200. When the cassette 500 is transferred into the inside of the 200, ultrapure water is injected through the nozzle 210 installed therein to clean the hydrofluoric acid and the etching material adhering to the glass through an etching process. Here, a plurality of nozzles 210 are installed inside the cleaning bath 200 so that ultrapure water may be uniformly sprayed on the surface of the glass.

In addition, the ultrapure water sprayed through the nozzle 210 is accumulated in the lower portion of the cleaning bath 200 after cleaning the surface of the glass. Since the ultrapure water contains hydrofluoric acid and an etching material, the ultrapure water is discharged to the outside at the same time as the cleaning process is completed. .

Meanwhile, a bubble generating device for generating nitrogen gas bubbles in the same manner as the etching bath 100 is installed under the cleaning bath 200 to increase cleaning efficiency.

In the rinse and dry bath 300, a process of washing the glass loaded in the cassette 500 transferred from the cleaning bath 200 using ultrapure water and preliminary drying using dry air is performed.

In more detail, when the cassette 500 is transferred into the rinse and dry bath 300 by the robot arm 700, ultrapure water is injected to clean the glass surface loaded on the cassette 500, and then dry air. Is supplied to pre-dry the surface of the glass. To this end, a nozzle 310 for spraying ultrapure water and a pipe 320 for supplying dry air are installed inside the rinse and dry bath 300.

Although the rinse and dry bath 300 may be provided with a separate pipe for supplying ultrapure water, ultrapure water is also configured to be supplied through a pipe 320 through which dry air is supplied. That is, by installing an automatic control valve or the like in the pipe, it is possible to selectively supply dry air and ultrapure water through one pipe.

In addition, the ultrapure water sprayed through the nozzle 310 cleans the surface of the glass and contains hydrofluoric acid and an etching material, so that the ultrapure water is drained to the outside before the preliminary drying using the dry air is performed.

In the drying bath 400, a process of completely drying the surface of the glass stacked on the cassette 500 transferred from the rinse and the dry bath 300 by the robot arm 700 is performed using dry air. When the complete surface drying process of the glass in the drying bath 400 is completed, the cassette 500 is transferred to the unloading unit 800 by the robot arm 700 again.

When the rinse and dry bath 300 are separately provided as described above, the surface of the first cleaned glass can be cleaned again through the cleaning bath 200, thereby enabling the perfect cleaning of the glass, and preliminarily drying the glass. Complete removal of the liquid substance adhered to the surface can be achieved.

On the other hand, the robot arm 700 for transferring the cassette 500 to each bath is preferably configured to be capable of reciprocating one or more times in the vertical direction. In this case, when the glass cleaning process is completed in the cleaning bath 200, the robot arm 700 may pick up the cassette 500 and reciprocate one or more times in the vertical direction to increase the cleaning efficiency of the glass. The function of the robot arm 700 may be equally applied after the cleaning process in the rinse and dry bath 300 is completed.

In addition, in the transfer process of the cassette 500, the surface of the robot arm 700 is likely to adhere to hydrofluoric acid or an etchant. When hydrofluoric acid adheres to the surface of the robot arm 700, there is a possibility that the inside of the etching apparatus is contaminated. In particular, the robot arm 700 transfers the cassette 500 to the cleaning bath 200. There is a possibility of introducing hydrofluoric acid into the interior. Therefore, the surface of the robot arm 700 needs to be cleaned to prevent contamination of the etching apparatus and the introduction of hydrofluoric acid into the cleaning bath 200.

Figure 2 is a view showing an auxiliary bath according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a view showing a surface cleaning process of the robot arm in the auxiliary bath is in progress.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the glass etching apparatus according to the present invention comprises an auxiliary bath (900) for cleaning the surface of the robot arm (700).

The auxiliary bath 900 is a device provided separately for the cleaning of the robot arm 700 is configured to be smaller than the etching bath 100 and has a nozzle 910 for injecting ultrapure water therein. The nozzle 910 is a hydrofluoric acid by uniformly spraying ultrapure water to the fixing portion 710 when the fixing portion 710 of the robot arm 700 in direct contact with the cassette 500 enters the auxiliary bath 900. Remove foreign substances such as

The auxiliary bath 900 is preferably installed between the etching bath 100 and the cleaning bath 200. When the auxiliary bath 900 is installed between the etching bath 100 and the cleaning bath 200, the robot arm 700 immediately transfers the cassette 500 into the etching bath 100 or cleans the etching bath 100. Immediately after transferring the cassette 500 to the bath 200, there is an advantage in that it can be quickly moved to the auxiliary bath 900. Of course, the auxiliary bath 900 is installed in the cleaning bath 200, the installation position may be various modifications.

The glass etching method using the glass etching apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

First, when the cassette 500 loaded with a plurality of glasses enters the loading unit 600 from the outside, the robot arm 700 moves from the top to lift the cassette 700 and then transfers it into the etching bath 100. . In this case, since hydrofluoric acid supplied into the etching bath 100 may be adhered to the surface of the robot arm 700, the robot arm 700 moves to the auxiliary bath 900 to clean the surface with ultrapure water. desirable.

When the cassette 500 is transferred into the etching bath 100, the surface etching process of the glass using hydrofluoric acid is performed. A bubble generating device is installed below the etching bath 100 to uniformly etch the glass by hydrofluoric acid.

When the etching process is completed, the cassette 500 is transferred into the cleaning bath 200 by the robot arm 700, and the surface cleaning process of the glass using ultrapure water is performed. Like the etching bath 100, a bubble generating device is provided below the cleaning bath 200 to help the cleaning process by ultrapure water to proceed smoothly.

In addition, since the surface of the robot arm 700 may be contaminated by hydrofluoric acid in the etching bath 100 in the process of transferring the cassette 500 from the etching bath 100 to the cleaning bath 200, an auxiliary bath may be used. It is preferable to go to 900 and go through the process of washing. Meanwhile, when the cleaning of the glass by the ultrapure water is completed in the cleaning bath 200 to increase the cleaning effect, the robot arm 700 may pick up the cassette 500 and move up and down one or more times.

When the glass cleaning process is completed, the cassette 500 is transferred from the cleaning bath 200 to the rinse and dry bath 300 by the robot arm 700. When the cassette 500 is transferred to the rinse and dry bath 300, the glass loaded on the cassette 500 is preliminarily dried by dry air after the surface is cleaned by ultrapure water.

When the process in the rinse and dry bath 300 is completed, the cassette 500 is transferred into the drying bath 400 by the robot arm 700, and the glass stacked on the cassette 500 is placed in dry air. Thereby completely drying the surface. When the drying process is completed in the drying bath 400, the cassette is transferred to the unloading unit 800 by the robot arm 700.

 The glass etching apparatus and the etching method according to the present invention have the following effects.

First, the present invention is provided with a rinse and dry bath separately to clean the surface of the glass first washed through the cleaning bath to enable a complete cleaning of the glass, and also by pre-drying the glass in advance liquid phase adhered to the glass surface It has the effect of enabling complete removal of the material.

Second, the present invention is provided with an auxiliary bath to remove the hydrofluoric acid or etching material that is adhered to the surface of the robot arm. Therefore, there is an effect that the hydrofluoric acid in the etching apparatus due to the hydrofluoric acid and the hydrofluoric acid can be prevented from flowing into the cleaning bath.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (14)

Etching the surface of the glass using hydrofluoric acid when the cassette on which the glass is stacked is transferred into an etching bath having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; Cleaning the surface of the etched glass using ultrapure water when the cassette is transferred from the etching bath into the cleaning bath having the bubble generator at the bottom thereof; When the cassette is transferred from the cleaning bath to the rinse and the dry bath, washing the surface of the glass again with ultrapure water and predrying it with dry air; And, And completely drying the surface of the glass using dry air when the cassette is transferred from the rinse and the dry bath into the drying bath. The method of claim 1, And moving the robot arm to an auxiliary bath through which ultrapure water is injected when the cassette is transferred to the etching bath by the robot arm, and then cleaning the surface. The method of claim 1, And when the cassette is transferred from the etching bath to the cleaning bath by the robot arm, moving the robot arm to an auxiliary bath through which ultrapure water is injected, and then cleaning the surface. The method of claim 1, If the cassette is transferred to the etching bath by the robot arm, moving the robot arm to an auxiliary bath through which ultrapure water is injected, and then cleaning the surface; And, And when the cassette is transferred from the etching bath to the cleaning bath by the robot arm, moving the robot arm to an auxiliary bath through which ultrapure water is injected, and then cleaning the surface. Etching the surface of the glass using hydrofluoric acid when the cassette in which the glass is stacked is transferred into the etching bath; Cleaning the surface of the etched glass using ultrapure water when the cassette is transferred from the etching bath into the cleaning bath; A robot arm picking up a cassette and reciprocating one or more times once the glass is cleaned by ultrapure water in the cleaning bath; When the cassette is transferred from the cleaning bath to the rinse and the dry bath, washing the surface of the glass again with ultrapure water and predrying it with dry air; And, And completely drying the surface of the glass using dry air when the cassette is transferred from the rinse and the dry bath into the drying bath. delete An etching bath for etching the surface of the glass stacked on the cassette using hydrofluoric acid and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; A cleaning bath for cleaning the surface of the glass etched by the etching bath using ultrapure water, and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; A rinse and dry bath for cleaning the surface of the glass cleaned in the cleaning bath again with ultrapure water and then predrying it with dry air; And, And a dry bath for completely drying the surface of the glass, which has been cleaned and dried in the rinse and dry bath, using dry air. The method of claim 7, wherein And an auxiliary bath for cleaning the surface of the robot arm for transferring the cassette into each bath using ultrapure water. The method of claim 8, The auxiliary bath is a glass etching apparatus, characterized in that installed between the etching bath and the cleaning bath. The method of claim 8, The robotic arm is a glass etching apparatus, characterized in that installed to be able to reciprocate one or more times in the vertical direction. delete An etching bath for etching the surface of the glass stacked on the cassette using hydrofluoric acid and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; A cleaning bath for cleaning the surface of the glass etched by the etching bath using ultrapure water, and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; The surface of the glass cleaned in the cleaning bath is again washed with ultrapure water and then preliminarily dried using dry air, and the rinsing and dry baths are supplied through a single supply pipe using an automatic control valve; And, And a dry bath for completely drying the surface of the glass, which has been cleaned and dried in the rinse and dry bath, using dry air. An etching bath for etching the surface of the glass stacked on the cassette using hydrofluoric acid and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; A cleaning bath for cleaning the surface of the glass etched by the etching bath using ultrapure water, and having a bubble generator at the bottom thereof; A drying bath for completely drying the surface of the glass cleaned in the cleaning bath using dry air; And, And an auxiliary bath for cleaning the surface of the robot arm for transferring the cassette into each bath using ultrapure water. The method of claim 13, The auxiliary bath is a glass etching apparatus, characterized in that installed between the etching bath and the cleaning bath.

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