KR100795969B1 - Apparatus for thining pannel and method of the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for thinning a panel.

A treatment tank in which an etching solution is accommodated; A washing tank provided in parallel with the treatment tank and containing a washing liquid; A guide portion provided over the treatment tank and the cleaning tank; A plate to which the panel is fitted; Vertical body and the vertical member for transporting the horizontal conveying along the guide portion, and vertically reciprocating through the conveying body, the clamping means is provided at the lower end to deposit or lift the plate after clamping the plate And a panel transfer unit comprising a vertical drive up and down reciprocating; A plurality of roll pads which are installed inside the processing tank and are rotated after the intervals are adjusted so as to be in contact with both sides of the panel in the state in which the panel is deposited in the processing tank, and the intervals of the plurality of roll pads are adjusted. Provided is a panel thinning apparatus and a panel thinning method for the same, characterized in that it comprises a panel polishing unit including a roll pad driving unit for rotating the drive,

According to the present invention, the time required for thinning the panel can be shortened, the competitiveness is improved, and the large area panel can be produced.

Panel, Thinning, Roll Pad, Chemical, Physical

Description

Apparatus for thining pannel and method of the same}

1 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a general panel.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section before and after a thinning treatment of a general panel;

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section before and after thinning of a conventional panel with an etchant;

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section before and after thinning of a conventional panel by a physical polishing device;

5 is an overall perspective view of a panel thinning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a partial perspective view of a panel thinning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a state in which a panel is deposited in a treatment tank of a device for thinning a panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a panel is fitted to a plate of a panel thinning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the operation of the roll pad of the thinning device of the panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a perspective view of a panel polishing unit of the panel thinning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a flowchart of a method for thinning a panel of the present invention.

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

10: panel 10a, 10a ', 10a' ', 10a' '': glass substrate

10b, 10b ', 10b' ', 10b' '': Glass substrate 10c: Sealant

12: organic layer 14: reactant

20: physical polishing device 30, 100: treatment tank

100a: inner treatment tank 100b: outer treatment tank

200: cleaning tank 200a: first cleaning tank

200b: second cleaning tank 200c: third cleaning tank

300: guide part 302: guide projection

306: LM rail 400: plate

402: opening hole 404: through hole

500: panel transfer unit 510: transfer body

512: Wheel 514: LM block

516, 580: rotation drive means 518: chain through hole

540: vertical member 542: vertical rod

546: chain 548a, 548b: protrusion support

550: support rod 544: linear bushing

570: up and down driving part 572: first sprocket

574: drive shaft 576: second sprocket

578: support frame 579: weight

582: reducer 600: panel polishing unit

610: roll pad 620: roll pad drive unit

620a: connecting means 630: guide groove

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for thinning a panel, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for thinning a panel that can be thinned using a chemical method and a physical method simultaneously.

Generally, a flat panel display panel (hereinafter referred to as a panel) refers to a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic diode (OLED), a plasma display (PDP), an electroluminescence (EL), and the like. In order to improve the brightness, contrast, and color purity of flat panel displays, research and development have been actively conducted.

In particular, in order to reduce the thickness of the panel and reduce the weight, the panel is thinned. In this way, the panel is thinned to realize a slimmer display device such as a mobile phone, PDA, PMP, etc. Make it easy.

1 and 2, the general structure of the panel is formed on the glass substrate 10a provided on the lower side by forming a pattern, a thin film deposition process, and an encapsulation process. After covering the cover glass substrate 10a on the upper side of the organic layer 12, the structure is sealed with a sealing material 10c between the edges of the organic layer 12 and the respective glass substrates 10a and 10b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the panel configured as described above thins the glass substrates 10a and 10b on both sides of the panel 10, and then each panel finally cut through the cutting process is a mobile phone, a PDA, or a PMP. It is used in a portable display device such as.

As described above, in order to reduce the thickness of the panel 10, as shown in FIG. 3, the panel 10 is immersed in a treatment bath 30 containing an etching solution such as hydrofluoric acid (HF) or showered. A chemical etching method of etching and thinning the surfaces of the substrates 10a and 10b has been used.

However, in the chemical etching method, reactants 14 generated by hydrofluoric acid reacting with the glass substrates 10a and 10b during etching are adhered to the surfaces of the glass substrates 10a '' and 10b '', and as a result, the panel 10 Difficulties in maintaining transparency and light transmittance before thinning and chemical flow lines on the surface of glass substrates 10a '' and 10b '' due to hydrofluoric acid and difficulty in uniform etching There was this.

In addition, since the cross-section of the edge portion of the panel 10 thinned by the chemical etching method is not constant as shown in FIG. 3, the pressure applied to the cross-section of the panel 10 during the cutting process is concentrated on a specific portion, and as a result, There was a problem that the panel 10 is damaged.

Meanwhile, hydrofluoric acid, which is used as an etchant, has been replaced with ammonium bifluoride (NH ₄ HF) due to environmental factors and work factors, but ammonium bifluoride is used in hydrofluoric acid to etch the surface of the glass substrates 10a and 10b. Since the etching rate is significantly lower than that in the case of etching several hundred μm, it takes a long time.

In addition, the problem that ammonium hydrogen fluoride reacts with the glass substrates 10a and 10b similarly to the hydrofluoric acid remains fixed on the surfaces of the glass substrates 10a '' and 10b ''.

As another conventional method for thinning the panel 10, as shown in FIG. 4, a physical polishing method using the physical polishing apparatus 20 has been used.

However, the physical polishing method takes an excessive amount of time to thin the panel 10 and requires an abrasive during polishing. In particular, the physical polishing apparatus 20 polishes the glass substrates 10a and 10b of the panel 10. When pressure is applied above a certain pressure, there is a problem that the glass substrates (10a, 10b) are broken.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4, since the polishing is sequentially performed from predetermined portions of the glass substrates 10a and 10b, the surfaces of the glass substrates 10a '' 'and 10b' '' that have been polished are not generally flat. There was a problem.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, the panel is thinned by using chemical and physical methods at the same time, it is possible to maintain the transparency, light transmittance, etc. of the initial panel, thinning of the panel to increase the processing uniformity It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method.

The present invention for achieving the above object is a treatment tank consisting of an inner treatment tank in which the etching liquid is accommodated, and an outer treatment tank in which the inner treatment tank is accommodated; A washing tank provided in parallel with the treatment tank, the washing tank including an inner cleaning tank containing a cleaning liquid, and an outer cleaning tank containing the inner cleaning tank; A guide portion provided over the treatment tank and the cleaning tank; A plate to which the panel is fitted; Vertical body and the vertical member for transporting the horizontal conveying along the guide portion, and vertically reciprocating through the conveying body, the clamping means is provided at the lower end to deposit or lift the plate after clamping the plate And a panel transfer unit comprising a vertical drive up and down reciprocating; A plurality of roll pads which are installed inside the processing tank and are rotated after the intervals are adjusted so as to be in contact with both sides of the panel in the state in which the panel is deposited in the processing tank, and the intervals of the plurality of roll pads are adjusted. It characterized in that it comprises a panel polishing unit configured to include a roll pad driving unit for rotating.

In addition, a method for thinning a panel, comprising: providing a plate having a plurality of opening holes to fit the panel, and closely supporting the edge of the panel by fitting the panel to the opening hole of the plate; The panel fitted with the panel is deposited in a treatment tank containing an etching solution to chemically etch the panel, and simultaneously by using a plurality of roll pads which are rotated in contact with both sides of the panel in the treatment tank. Thinning the panel by polishing with; And transferring the plate to which the thinned panel is fitted, and then cleaning the thinned panel by immersing it in one or more cleaning baths provided in stages.

Preferably, the thinning of the panel may include adjusting the gap between the plurality of roll pads that are in contact with both surfaces of the panel to adjust the degree of thinning of the panel.

Preferably, the etchant comprises ammonium hydrogen fluoride (NH ₄ HF) or hydrofluoric acid (HF).

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

First, the thinning apparatus of the panel of a present Example is demonstrated.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 7, the thinning device of the panel of the present embodiment includes a treatment tank 100, a cleaning tank 200, a guide part 300, a plate 400, a panel conveying part 500, The panel polishing unit 600 is composed of.

First, the treatment tank 100 will be described.

The treatment tank 100 is a portion in which an etchant for etching the panel 10 is accommodated, and as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted can be sufficiently deposited. It is formed in size, and the etchant includes ammonium bifluoride (NH ₄ HF) or hydrofluoric acid (HF).

In addition, the treatment tank 100 is preferably formed in a double structure so that the etching solution is accommodated in the inner treatment tank (100a), even if the etching liquid leaks from the inner treatment tank (100a), the leaking etching liquid is the outer treatment tank ( 100b) is to be accommodated to prevent accidents due to the etchant in advance.

Meanwhile, the above-described plate 400 is a plate-like member, and as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of opening holes 402 are provided to fit each of the plurality of panels 10, and a vertical portion thereof will be described later. A pair of through holes 404 are formed so that the supporting rods 550 provided in the member 540 penetrate through the support rods 550.

As described above, the panel 10 is fitted into the opening holes 402 of the plate 400 so that the edges of the panel 10 are closely attached to each other, thereby minimizing damage to the edges of the panel 10 due to the etchant. In addition, the material of the plate 400 is preferably made of a material that does not cause corrosion by the etching solution, for example, PVC material can be used.

Next, the cleaning tank 200 provided in parallel with the processing tank 100 mentioned above is demonstrated.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the cleaning tank 200 is provided in parallel with the processing tank 100 to accommodate the cleaning liquid. After the panel 10 is thinned in the processing tank 100, the cleaning tank 200 is formed. It is immersed in and washed. At this time, it is preferable to use pure water such as deionized water from which all the dissolved ions are removed.

On the other hand, the shape of the cleaning tank 200 is formed in a size such that the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted can be sufficiently deposited, similarly to the treatment tank 100, and is formed in a double structure so that the cleaning liquid does not leak out. It is preferable. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, it is preferable to provide one or more cleaning tanks 200 to clean the panel 10 step by step.

Next, the guide part 300 provided over the upper part of the processing tank 100 and the washing tank 200 is demonstrated.

As shown in FIG. 5, the guide part 300 is installed over the upper part of the treatment tank 100 and the cleaning tank 200 to allow the panel transfer part 500 to be horizontally transferred. And it consists of a pair of guide rails on the upper part of the main frame provided on both sides of the cleaning tank (200).

On the other hand, each guide rail is formed with a guide protrusion 302 along the center of the upper surface, as shown in Figure 6, the pinion gear portion 304 and the LM rail 306 is provided inside the one guide rail The panel transfer part 500 is horizontally transferred.

The coupling relationship between the above-described guide unit 300 and the panel transfer unit 500 will be included in the description of the panel transfer unit 500 to be described later.

Next, the panel transfer part 500 which is horizontally moved along the above-described guide part 300 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 6, the panel conveying part 500 is vertically reciprocated through the conveying body 510 and the conveying body 510 which are horizontally conveyed along the guide part 300, and clamping means is provided at the lower end thereof. The upper and lower sides of the vertical member 540 and the vertical member 540 which are provided to clamp the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted, and then immerse or lift the processing member 100 or the cleaning tank 200. It is configured to include a drive unit 570.

The conveying body 510 is a plate-shaped member which is horizontally conveyed along the above-described guide part 300, and a plurality of wheels 512 having grooves formed along the center of the outer circumferential surface thereof are coupled to both lower surfaces thereof so that the guide protrusions of the guide rails described above ( The LM block 514 coupled to the LM rail 306 provided on the inner side of one side of the conveying body 510 and frictionally rotated in the state of being fitted to the 302, the guide rail is further provided to slide along the LM rail 306 It is preferable to be.

In addition, one side of the transfer body 510 is further provided with a rotation driving means 516 such as a step motor or a servo motor which is engaged with the pinion gear unit 304 provided inside the one guide rail, and thus the transfer body 510 is provided. Horizontal transfer along the guide portion 300.

In addition, a chain through hole 518 is formed at the center of the transfer body 510. The chain through hole 518 is included in the description of the vertical member 540 to be described later.

The vertical member 540 is vertically reciprocated through the transfer body 510, and a clamping means is provided at the lower end to clamp the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted, and then the treatment tank 100 or the cleaning tank ( 200) to be deposited or lifted.

For example, as shown in Figure 6, the vertical member 540 is a rectangular plate-like member, the vertical bar 542 is integrally coupled by a predetermined length upward from each corner side, each vertical The rod 542 is coupled to the vertical movement through the transfer body 510 through the linear bushing 544.

In addition, the chain 546 is connected to the center of the vertical member 540 and is connected to the vertical driving part 570 which will be described later. Protruding support parts 548a and 548b are protruded from both sides of the lower surface, respectively, so that the protruding support part 548a of one side is formed. The support rod 550 is fastened to be fitted to the other protruding support 548b so that the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted is clamped through the through hole 404 provided at the upper side thereof. At this time, it is preferable that a plurality of protrusion supporting portions are formed on both sides thereof.

On the other hand, the chain 546 connected to the center of the vertical member 540 is connected to the vertical driving part 570 for vertically reciprocating the vertical member 540.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the chain 546 connected to the center of the vertical member 540 is configured to be sequentially caught by the first chain plaque, the drive shaft 574, and the second chain plaque. It is preferable to be connected to the weight (579) to be operated by the rotation of the drive shaft (574).

In other words, first, the first sprocket 572 is coupled to the upper portion of the support frame 578 to be located at a predetermined height from the transfer body 510, and then, provided on one side of the transfer body 510 Is configured to be caught by the drive shaft 574 of the reducer 582 combined with the rotary drive means 580, and is configured to be caught by the second sprocket 576 located at the same height as the first sprocket 572. After that, it is finally connected to the weight (579).

As such, one side of the chain 546 is connected to the center of the vertical member 540 and the other side of the chain 546 is connected to the weight 579, the vertical drive unit 570 using the principle of the pulley is vertical even with a small power There is an advantage that the member can be driven up and down.

As described above, the vertical drive part 570 for vertically driving the vertical member 540, in addition to the method using the principle of the pulley, forms a rack gear vertically upward in the center of the vertical member 540, and on one side of the transfer body 510. It is a matter of course that it can be selected and used appropriately, such as a method for providing a drive motor that rotates in engagement with the rack gear portion or a method using a piston cylinder.

Finally, the panel polishing part 600 provided in the inside of the process tank 100 is demonstrated.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 9, and 10, the panel polishing unit 600 includes the plate 10 of the panel 10 in which the plate 400 fitted with the panel 10 is largely deposited in the treatment tank 100. And a plurality of roll pads 610 that are rotated and then rotated to be in contact with both sides, and a roll pad driver 620 that adjusts and rotates the intervals of the plurality of roll pads 610, and the rolls A soft material such as fleece is attached to the outer surface of the pad 610 in friction contact with the panel 10.

In other words, as shown in FIG. 7, in the state in which the plate 400 fitted with the panel 10 is deposited on the processing tank 100, as shown in FIG. 9, the roll pad driving unit 620. By adjusting the distance between the plurality of roll pads 610 provided on both sides of the panel 10 in accordance with the degree to thin the panel 10 by the rotary drive, thereby chemically thin with the etchant contained in the treatment tank 100 At the same time, the thin film 10 is physically thinned by the roll pad 610 to simultaneously thin the panel 10 using chemical and physical methods.

In this case, as shown in Figures 7 and 10, the roll pad driving unit 620 is preferably formed with a guide groove 630 to prevent the plate 400, the panel 10 is fitted to shake.

In addition, the plurality of roll pads 610 installed at one side or the other side of the panel 10 are connected to a connecting means 620a such as a chain or a belt, and the roll pad 610 is rotated by the roll pad driving unit 620. The spacing between and is made.

That is, in the state in which the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted as shown in FIG. 9A is deposited in the treatment tank 100, the panel 10 is thin as shown in FIG. 9B. The gap between the plurality of roll pads 610 provided on both sides of the panel 10 is adjusted according to the degree to be desired, and the roll pad 610 is rotated as shown in FIGS. By vertically operating the plate 400 by the member 540, both sides of the panel 10 are physically thinned and chemically thinned by the etchant contained in the treatment tank 100. As such, by simultaneously performing the chemical thin treatment and the physical thin treatment, the time for thinning the panel 10 can be effectively shortened.

For example, the etching rate per minute was about 10 μm / min at about 10 μm / min in thinning by etching the etched liquid on both sides of the 500 × 500 mm panel, but the thickness of the panel of the present embodiment was thinned. It took about one minute to thin the panel 200 μm using the apparatus.

In addition, even if the reactants generated by reacting with the etchant and the panel 10 adhere to the surface of the panel 10, the roll pad 610 is rotated and rubbed to remove the reactants from the surface of the panel 10, thereby reattaching the reactants. By preventing it, transparency and light transmittance of the panel 10 can be maintained, and process uniformity can be increased.

Next, the thinning method of the panel of a present Example is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 11 which shows the flowchart of the thinning method of the panel of this invention.

First, a plate 400 having a plurality of opening holes 402 is provided to fit the panel 10, and the panel 10 is fitted into the opening holes 402 of the plate 400 to fit the panel 10. The edge of the edge 10 is held in close contact. (S10)

As shown in FIG. 8, the panel 10 is inserted into each of the plurality of opening holes 402 formed in the plate 400 so as to closely adhere to the edges of the panel 10. This is to prevent the etching of the edge cross section of the panel 10 as much as possible when the plate 10 to which the panel 10 is fitted is immersed to maintain the cross section of the edge portion constant.

Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 10, the panel 10 to which the panel 10 is fitted is deposited in a treatment tank 100 containing an etching solution to chemically etch the panel 10. At the same time, the panel 10 is thinned by physically polishing using a plurality of roll pads 610 that are rotated and in contact with both surfaces of the panel 10 in the processing tank 100. (S20)

In this case, it is preferable to adjust the degree of thinning of the panel 10 by adjusting the distance between the plurality of roll pads 610 respectively provided on both sides of the panel 10 in consideration of the degree to which the panel 10 is to be thinned. .

In other words, in the state in which the plate 400 to which the panel 10 is fitted is deposited in the treatment tank 100, as in FIG. 9A, the panel 10 as in FIG. 9B. After adjusting the gap between the panels 10 installed on both sides of the panel 10, the panel 10 is thinned, and as shown in (c) and (d) of FIG. 9, the roll pad 610 is rotated. At the same time as driving, the plate 400 is moved up and down so that the panel 10 is physically polished by the roll pad 610. As such, the physical polishing by the roll pad 610 and the chemical etching being etched by etching are performed simultaneously.

On the other hand, the etchant contained in the treatment tank 100 preferably includes ammonium bifluoride (NH ₄ HF) or hydrofluoric acid (HF).

Lastly, after the thinned panel 10 is transferred to the fitted plate 400, the thinned panel 10 is cleaned by depositing it in one or more cleaning tanks 200 provided in stages. )

That is, as shown in Figure 5, and the first cleaning in the first cleaning tank (200a), the second cleaning in the second cleaning tank (200b) and the third cleaning in the third cleaning tank (200c) As described above, the etching solution is gradually removed to remove the etchant remaining on the surface of the panel 10.

At this time, it is preferable to use pure water from which the ions are removed, such as deionized water from which all the dissolved ions are removed as the cleaning liquid contained in the cleaning tank 200.

The present invention described above can be embodied in many other forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof. Therefore, the above embodiments are merely examples in all respects and should not be interpreted limitedly.

According to the present invention configured as described above, by using a chemical method and a physical method at the same time thinning the panel can reduce the time required for thinning the panel, mass production is possible to improve the competitiveness.

In addition, by using the roll pad to polish the same over the entire surface of the panel, it is possible to produce a large area of the panel, and even after thinning, the transparency and light transmittance of the panel before thinning can be maintained, and the processing uniformity is high.

Claims (4)

A treatment tank 100 including an inner treatment tank 100a in which an etching solution is accommodated, and an outer treatment tank 100b in which the inner treatment tank 100a is accommodated; A washing tank 200 provided in parallel with the treatment tank 100 and containing a washing liquid; A guide part 300 installed over the treatment tank 100 and the cleaning tank 200; A plate 400 having a plurality of opening holes 402 to fit the panel 10; The transfer body 510 horizontally transported along the guide portion 300, and the upper and lower reciprocating through the transfer body 510, a clamping means is provided at the lower end to clamp the plate 400 after the treatment tank ( 100) or a panel transfer part 500 including a vertical member 540 that is deposited or lifted by a cleaning tank 200 and a vertical drive part 570 that vertically reciprocates the vertical member 540; Installed in the treatment tank 100, the interval is such that the plate 400 fitted with the panel 10 is in contact with both sides of the panel 10 in a state of being deposited on the treatment tank 100, respectively. And a panel polishing unit 600 including a plurality of roll pads 610 that are rotated and then rotated, and a roll pad driver 620 that adjusts and rotates the intervals of the plurality of roll pads 610. The panel thinning apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. As a thinning method of a panel using the thinning apparatus of the panel of Claim 1, A panel 400 having a plurality of opening holes 402 is provided to fit the panel 10, and the panel 10 is fitted into the opening holes 402 of the plate 400 to fit the panel 10. Step (S10) of closely supporting the edge of the edge; The panel 10 to which the panel 10 is fitted is immersed in the treatment tank 100 containing the etching solution to chemically etch the panel 10, and at the same time, the panel 10 in the treatment tank 100. Thinning the panel (10) by physically polishing using a plurality of roll pads (610) rotated in contact with both surfaces of the sheet (S20); It characterized in that it comprises the step (S30) of cleaning the thinned panel 10 by immersing the plate 400 fitted with the thinned panel 10 in at least one cleaning tank 200 provided in stages Method of thinning panels. The method of claim 2, In the thinning of the panel 10, The method of thinning the panel, characterized in that to adjust the degree of thinning the panel (10) by adjusting the interval between the plurality of roll pads (610) in contact with both sides of the panel (10). The method of claim 2, The etching solution comprises a method of thinning the panel, characterized in that containing ammonium hydrogen fluoride (NH ₄ HF).

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