KR100816329B1 - In-line manufacturing system for liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device. In order to increase productivity, two or more manufacturing facilities for performing different manufacturing processes are connected through separate connection parts, but are connected in an inline state. An inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a first manufacturing facility in which a substrate is inserted and undergoing a first process, and a second manufacturing facility in which a substrate is processed and performs a second process, 2 An inline connecting portion comprising a first transport belt for transporting the substrate to a manufacturing facility and a second transport belt for transporting the substrate from the second facility and releasing to the outside connects these facilities inline. In addition, another in-line manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a first manufacturing facility in which a substrate is inserted and undergoing a first process and a second manufacturing facility in which a substrate undergoing a first process and a second process are processed. And a connecting portion for loading or unloading the substrate having undergone the first process or the second process connects the first manufacturing facility and the second manufacturing facility inline.

 Inline Manufacturing Systems, Productivity, Connections, Transport Belts, Loading / Unloading Devices

Description

Inline manufacturing system for liquid crystal display {IN-LINE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM FOR LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY}

1 is a configuration diagram of an inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a block diagram of an inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to an inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device.

The liquid crystal display includes upper and lower substrates having electrodes formed thereon and liquid crystal materials injected therebetween. Such a liquid crystal display displays an image by applying an electric field using an electrode to a liquid crystal material having an anisotropic dielectric constant injected between two substrates, and controlling the amount of light transmitted through the substrate by adjusting the intensity of the electric field.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device is performed through a lower substrate manufacturing process, an upper substrate manufacturing process, a liquid crystal cell manufacturing process, and a module process. Among them, the lower substrate manufacturing process is similar to the semiconductor manufacturing process, and a plurality of devices are arranged on the glass substrate by repeating the deposition and photolithography processes.

At this time, each manufacturing process is independently performed by different kinds of equipments. In this case, installation costs are increased because loading equipments, unloading equipments, and substrate input equipments must be installed in each equipment. have. In addition, since a series of processes for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device are carried out at each facility, the substrates are transported into and out of the manufacturing line and transported into and out of each manufacturing facility, resulting in poor manufacturing process reliability. It causes a problem that productivity is lowered, such as a complicated production process.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device which can increase productivity.

In order to solve the technical problem, the present invention connects two or more manufacturing facilities that undergo different manufacturing processes through separate connections, and connects them in an inline state.

In detail, the in-line manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a first manufacturing facility in which a substrate is inserted and undergoing a first process, and a second manufacturing facility in which a substrate is processed and proceeds with a second process, and the first manufacturing process is performed. An inline connecting portion comprising a first transport belt for transporting the substrate from the facility to the second manufacturing facility and a second transport belt for transporting the substrate from the second facility and releasing to the outside connects these facilities inline.

At this time, the first manufacturing equipment is a baking equipment, and includes a substrate input part, an oven part and a conveying part, wherein the conveying part is connected to the inline connection part, and the substrate is loaded into and out of the substrate input part, the oven part and the inline connection part, respectively. A transport robot can be provided. In addition, the second manufacturing equipment is a wet etching equipment, which includes a substrate loading / unloading portion and a wet etching process portion, wherein the substrate loading unloading portion is connected to the inline connecting portion, and the substrate transported by the first transport belt of the connecting portion is carried in. And it may be provided with a transport robot for transporting the substrate to the second transport belt.

In addition, the in-line manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display according to the present invention includes a first manufacturing facility in which a substrate is introduced and a first process and a second manufacturing facility in which a substrate is processed and a second process is performed. The connecting portion for loading or unloading the substrate that has undergone the first process or the second process connects the first manufacturing facility and the second manufacturing facility inline.

Here, the first manufacturing equipment is a pre-film cleaning equipment, which includes a substrate feeding part, a cleaning part, and a first conveying part, and the first conveying part is connected to the inline connecting part, but the substrate is supplied to each of the substrate feeding part, the cleaning part and the inline connecting part. It may be provided with a transport robot for importing and exporting. In addition, the second manufacturing facility is a film forming facility, which includes a film forming step and a second conveying part, and the second conveying part is connected to the inline part, but has a transport robot for carrying in and carrying out a substrate into each of the film forming step and the inline connecting part. It can be provided.

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

In the present invention, each manufacturing facility to proceed in order to manufacture a liquid crystal display device is designed in-line (in-line). Here, designing a manufacturing facility in-line refers to integrating multiple processes into a set of machines, ie inside a manufacturing line. In the manufacturing process using the inline system, the process time is shortened and the defect rate is also lowered, resulting in a high productivity.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an inline fabrication system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. A system in which " hard baking equipment " and " wet etching equipment " The configuration is taken as an example.

"Hard baking" is a process of baking a substrate at a high temperature in order to cure a photoresist pattern which functions as an etching mask for pattern etching of the etched film. Etching process.

As shown in FIG. 1, the "hard baking equipment" and the "wet etching equipment" are connected inline by the connection part 30.

"Hard baking equipment" includes a substrate input unit 11 into which a substrate is placed, a substrate alignment unit 12 receiving and aligning the substrate from the substrate input unit 11, and a first oven working unit for performing a hard baking process on the substrate ( 15) and the second oven work unit 16 and the transport robot 14R which loads or unloads a board | substrate into the board | substrate alignment part 12 and the 1st and 2nd work units 15 and 16 in the center, respectively, and is conveyed. It is comprised so that the part 14 may be included. Here, the transport robot 11R also has a transport robot 11R, and the transport robot 11R transports the board | substrate which entered the board | substrate input part 11 to the board | substrate alignment part 12. As shown in FIG.

Next, the "wet etching facility" is a loading / unloading unit 21 on which a substrate is loaded and unloaded, and a plurality of etching work units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 for proceeding wet etching. It is configured to include. At this time, the plurality of etching work units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are in a circular structure starting from the loading / unloading unit 21 and reaching the loading / unloading unit 21 again. It is connected. For convenience, the equipment that performs the first work on the substrate for the etching process is called the first etching work unit 22, and the equipment that performs the last work is called the seventh etching work unit 28. At this time, the first and seventh etching operation units 22 and 28 are connected to the loading / unloading unit 21. Here, the loading / unloading unit 21 has a transporting brush 21R, and the transport robot 21R carries the substrate into the first etching working unit 22 and finishes the wet etching operation. Take out the substrate in 28).

The plurality of etching work units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 of the "wet etching installation" may be arranged in a line as shown in FIG. 1, but the loading / unloading portion 21 The plurality of work units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 may be arranged in a circle shape radially connected about the loading / unloading part 21. In this case, during the etching operation, the transport robot 21R of the loading / unloading unit 21 may load and unload the substrate into each of the etching operation units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. do.

In the present invention, the in-line connecting portion 30 connects the "hard baking equipment" and the "wet etching equipment." The inline connecting portion 30 directly connects the conveying portion 14 of the "hard baking equipment" and the loading / unloading portion 21 of the "wet etching equipment" in an inline state. Through this connection method, the "hard baking plant" and the "wet etching plant" are connected in one manufacturing line.

In-line connection 30 is a first transport belt 31 and a "wet etch installation" for transporting the substrate from the conveying section 14 of the "hard baking installation" to the loading / unloading section 21 of the "wet etching installation". It is configured to include a second transport belt 32 for transporting the substrate from the loading / unloading unit 21 of the substrate to the output unit 33 which is a passage for carrying out to the outside.

Referring to the hard baking process and the wet etching process using the in-line manufacturing system according to the present invention having such a configuration, as follows.

First, when a board | substrate is thrown into the board | substrate input part 11 of a "hard baking installation", the transport robot 11R of the board | substrate input part 11 transfers a board | substrate to the board | substrate alignment part 12, and the board | substrate alignment part 12 ) Arrange the transported substrate in an easy-to-work state. Subsequently, the transport robot 14R of the transfer unit 14 takes out the substrate aligned with the substrate alignment unit 12, and transports the substrate to the first oven work unit 15 or the second oven work unit 16, and the first In the oven work unit 15 or the second oven work unit 16, a hard baking process of baking the transported substrate is performed.

Subsequently, when the hard baking process is completed, the transport robot 14R of the conveying unit 14 takes out the substrate from the first oven working unit 15 or the second oven working unit 16, and the first of the inline connecting unit 30. Mounted on the transport belt 31, the first transport belt 31 transports the substrate to the loading / unloading portion 21 of the "wet etching facility". At this time, the heated substrate in the hard baking process is cooled in the manufacturing line while being transported by the first transport belt (31).

Subsequently, the transport robot 21R of the loading / unloading unit 21 of the “wet etching facility” receives the substrate transported by the first transport belt 31 and performs a first operation for the wet etching process. Bring into the etching work unit 22. Subsequently, the wet etching process is performed through a series of operations while bringing in and taking out substrates from the plurality of work units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28 including the first etching work unit 22.

When the wet etching process for the substrate is completed in the seventh etching work unit 28, the transport robot 21R of the loading / unloading unit 21 takes the substrate out of the seventh etching work unit 28 and performs a second transportation. Mounted on the belt 32, the second transport belt 32 transports the substrate to the output 33. And the output part 33 carries out a board | substrate to the outside,

As such, the inline manufacturing system according to the present invention can proceed two successive processes without exposing the substrate to the outside of the line.

In the manufacturing system in which two equipments are connected inline as in the present invention, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the process time at both equipments so that the substrate does not accumulate in either equipment. That is, by comparing the baking working time rate for one substrate in the "hard baking equipment" with the etching working time rate for one substrate in the "wet etching equipment", the respective equipment is adapted to the working time where a longer time is required. It is preferable to set the time interval at which the substrate is added.

On the other hand, in the manufacturing system according to the present invention, both a hard baking process and a wet etching process may be performed, but only one of these processes may be performed separately.

In the case where only the hard baking process is to be performed, the same operation is performed until the substrate having the hard baking process is mounted on the first transport belt 31 in the "hard baking equipment" and transported to the "wet etching equipment" and cooled. However, the operation of the etching operation units 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 of the "wet etching installation" is stopped, so that the transport robot 21R of the loading / unloading unit 21 removes the substrate. Instead of bringing it into the 1 etching work unit 21, it is mounted again on the 2nd conveyance belt 32 so that a board | substrate may be conveyed to the output part 33. FIG.

In addition, in the case where only the wet etching process is to be performed, the transfer unit 14 stops the operation of the first oven work unit 15 and the second oven work unit 16 to feed the substrate through the substrate feed unit 11. Of the transport robot 14R is mounted on the first transport belt 31, and the first transport belt 31 transports the substrate to the loading / unloading portion 21 of the "wet etching equipment."

Thereafter, the wet etching process is performed on the substrate in the “wet etching equipment”, the substrate is transported to the output unit 33 by the second transport belt 32, and the substrate is taken out from the output unit 33.

Such a manufacturing system according to the present invention can reduce the number of devices required for each facility in the single-acting facility, for example, loading / unloading equipment or substrate input equipment to reduce the equipment investment cost. In addition, the substrate may be contaminated due to two consecutive processes in a manufacturing system in which two equipments are connected inline, which is advantageous in process reliability and advantageous in process simplification.                     

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an inline production facility system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. .

The "pre-film formation" process is a process of cleaning the surface of a substrate before forming a predetermined film, and the "film formation" process is a process of forming a predetermined film on the substrate which has been cleaned.

As shown in Fig. 2, the "pre-film formation equipment" and the "film formation equipment" are connected inline by the connecting portion 50.

First, the "pre-film cleaning equipment" includes a substrate input and output section 41 where the substrate is put in and taken out, the first cleaning work unit 43 and the second cleaning which perform cleaning before forming a predetermined film on the substrate. First conveying unit operated by the transport robot 42R for loading or unloading the substrate into the work unit 44 and the substrate input and output section 41 and the first and second cleaning work units 43 and 44 respectively. It is configured to include 42.

Next, " film forming equipment " is a product in which a plurality of film forming work units 52, 53, 54 for film forming and a transport robot 51R for bringing in or taking out substrates to these film forming work units 52, 53, 54 are operated. It is comprised so that the 2 conveyance part 51 may be included.

The plurality of film forming work units 52, 53, 54 of the "film forming equipment" can be arranged in a circle shape connected radially with respect to the second conveying part 51, as shown in FIG. It can also be arranged in line form connected in a line.

In the present invention, the in-line connecting portion 50 connects the "pre-film cleaning equipment" and "film-forming equipment" described above. The in-line connecting portion 50 directly connects the first conveyance portion 42 of the "pre-film formation equipment" and the second conveyance portion 51 of the "film formation equipment". Through this connection method, the "pre-film cleaning equipment" and "film-forming equipment" are connected in one manufacturing line.

In-line connection 50 in this embodiment can be provided using a conventional loading / unloading unit that connects two fixtures, but loads / unloads the substrate.

Using the in-line manufacturing system according to the present invention having such a configuration, the pre-film cleaning process and the film forming process will be described as follows.

First, in the in-line manufacturing system, when the substrate is fed through the substrate feeding and outputting portion 41 of the "pre-film formation equipment", the transport robot 42R of the first conveying portion 42 causes the substrate feeding and outputing portion 41. Take out the board | substrate which was thrown in, and transport it to the 1st cleaning work unit 43 or the 2nd cleaning work unit 44, and the 1st cleaning work unit 43 or the 2nd cleaning work unit 44 wash | cleans the board | substrate which was conveyed. Proceed with the process.

Subsequently, when the cleaning process is completed, the transport robot 42R of the first conveying unit 42 removes the substrate from the first cleaning working unit 43 or the second cleaning working unit 44 and carries it into the inline connecting unit 50. do. At this time, the substrate waits for the film forming process, which is the next process, in the in-line connecting portion 50.

Subsequently, the transport robot 51R of the second conveying unit 51 of the " film forming facility " takes out the cleaned substrate waiting on the in-line connecting unit 50 and performs the initial work for film forming. Shipping to). Subsequently, the film formation process is performed on the substrate while the substrate is brought into and taken out of the second and third film forming work units 52 and 53 through the transport operation of the transport robot 51R of the second conveying unit 51. .

When film-forming is completed on a board | substrate by "film-forming installation", the transport robot 51R of the 2nd conveyance part 51 carries in the board | substrate which completed film-forming again to the in-line connection part 50. At this time, the substrate is waiting to be output to the outside from the in-line connection (50).

Subsequently, the transport robot 42R of the first transfer section 42 of the "film formation cleaning equipment" takes out the substrate waiting to the inline connecting section 50 and carries it into the substrate input and output section 41, and then the substrate is loaded and The output part 41 carries out a board | substrate to the outside.

As such, under the in-line manufacturing system according to the present invention, both processes can be performed without exposing the substrate to the outside of the manufacturing line.

In the manufacturing system in which two equipments are connected inline as in the present invention, it is necessary to appropriately adjust the process time at both equipments so that the substrate does not accumulate in either equipment. In other words, by comparing the cleaning operation time rate for one substrate in the "pre-film cleaning equipment" with the film formation operation time rate for one substrate in the "film deposition equipment", each facility is adapted to the operation time for which a longer time is required. It is preferable to set the time interval at which the substrate is added.

In the manufacturing system in which the two equipments are connected inline as in the present invention, two processes must be continuously performed. Therefore, in order to prevent the substrates from accumulating in a Han Chinese facility, each working time interval of the two processes is equally adjusted. It is necessary.

Such a manufacturing system according to the present invention can reduce the number of equipment required for each equipment in the single-acting equipment, for example, loading / unloading equipment and substrate input equipment to reduce the equipment investment cost. In addition, since the two systems proceed in two consecutive processes in a manufacturing system connected in-line, the substrate is not contaminated during the import and export of the substrate to connect the two processes, which is advantageous in process reliability and advantageous in process simplification. .

As described above, in the present invention, it is possible to reduce equipment investment cost and improve process productivity through an inline manufacturing system that connects two or more single-acting equipment inline.

Claims (6)

A hard baking facility comprising a substrate feeding part, a plurality of oven parts, a conveying part, and a first transport robot for carrying in and out of the substrate to the oven part; A wet etching apparatus connected to the hard baking apparatus, the wet etching apparatus including a substrate loading / unloading unit, a plurality of wet etching process units, and a second transport robot for loading and unloading substrates into the wet etching process unit; A second transport belt moving in a reverse direction and a first transport belt moving in a forward direction and connecting the hard baking facility and the wet etching facility inline, The substrate is inserted into the wet etching facility through the first transport belt, the inline manufacturing system for a liquid crystal display device is carried out to the outside through the second transport belt. delete delete Input / output section into which the substrate is input / exported, Pre-film cleaning equipment connected to the input / output unit, And a film forming facility connected to the pre-film cleaning unit and the in-line connection unit. The substrate inserted into the input / output unit has a circulation structure which is passed through the input / output unit after passing through the pre-film cleaning unit, the in-line connection unit, and the deposition unit, and then again through the in-line connection unit and the pre-film unit cleaning unit. Inline manufacturing system. In claim 4, The pre-film cleaning apparatus includes a substrate inserting unit, a cleaning unit, and a first conveying unit, wherein the first conveying unit is connected to the inline connecting unit, and the substrate is loaded into each of the substrate feeding unit, the cleaning unit, and the inline connecting unit. And a transport robot for carrying out. In claim 4, The film forming equipment includes a film forming process part and a second conveying part, wherein the second conveying part is connected to the inline part, and has a transport robot for carrying in and carrying out a substrate into each of the film forming process part and the inline connecting part. Inline manufacturing system for display devices.

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