KR100886020B1 - Substrate drying method and substrate drying apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate drying method and a substrate drying apparatus, wherein the amount of air blown out by the air knife is made larger than in the air, and the treatment liquid adhering to the region near the front end of the substrate is removed. After a predetermined time has elapsed since the sensor detects the front end portion of the substrate, in a region other than the vicinity of the front end portion of the substrate and near the rear end portion, air is blown out to remove the processing liquid by less than the ejection amount of the region, and the sensor detects the front end portion of the substrate. Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the processing liquid adhering to the region near the rear end at the rear end of the substrate G is removed. As a result, there is provided a technique that can be completely eliminated over the entire surface of the substrate, can prevent the occurrence of dry spots, and can reduce the amount of air ejection in the region.

Description

Substrate drying method and substrate drying apparatus {SUBSTRATE DRYING METHOD AND SUBSTRATE DRYING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate drying method and a substrate drying apparatus for drying a glass substrate after a predetermined liquid treatment is performed on a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device.

In the LCD manufacturing process, the same photolithography technique used in the manufacture of semiconductor devices is used to form a thin film of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) and an electrode pattern on a glass substrate for LCD. In photolithography, a photoresist is applied to a glass substrate, which is exposed and developed.

This series of processes of resist coating, exposure and development are conventionally performed by a coating and developing system which performs each process such as coating, developing or baking and washing.

In the development and cleaning treatment in the coating and developing treatment system, while the substrate is conveyed almost horizontally by a coro-feed roller, processing liquids such as a developing solution and a cleaning liquid are supplied to the substrate for development and cleaning. Then, for example, high-pressure air is blown out to the substrate from the air knife nozzle disposed downstream of the conveyance, and the processing liquid on the substrate is removed (liquid removed) and dried.

However, in the conventional drying process, since a certain amount of air is blown out by the air knife, even if the liquid can be sufficiently removed near the center of the glass substrate, it is not possible to remove adequate liquid at the constant amount of air near the end of the substrate. There was a problem that the treatment liquid remained.

Therefore, in order to dry one board | substrate at a constant air volume without a stain | stain, the amount of air winds that the process liquid does not remain near the center part or the edge part of a board | substrate had to be ejected over the whole board | substrate of one board | substrate, and the amount of air consumption continued to increase. . In addition, as the size of glass substrates increases in recent years, the amount of consumed air tends to increase.

In addition, when such a coating and developing treatment system is installed in a clean room of a factory, the load of the high pressure air compressor (compressor) that is part of the factory capacity only increases.

In addition, the flow rate of air emitted from the air knife is one of the important parameters in the drying performance. The larger the flow rate, the more the air flow in the drying process chamber is disturbed, and the drying performance is deteriorated due to the floating mist.

In view of the above circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate drying method and a substrate drying apparatus which can reduce the consumption of air and improve the drying performance by suppressing the dry stain.

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate drying method according to the first aspect of the present invention is a substrate drying method in which the substrate is dried while being conveyed, wherein (a) the substrate drying method is applied to the region near the front end and the rear end of the substrate to be conveyed. And a step of ejecting air at one air volume and (b) ejecting air at a second air volume different from the first air volume in a region other than the front end portion and the rear end portion of the substrate.

According to this structure, according to the present invention, the treatment liquid which could not be removed at a constant air volume in the related art can be completely removed over the entire surface of the substrate, and the occurrence of dry stains can be prevented. For example, by making the 1st air volume more than a 2nd air volume, the process liquid used to remain | survive in the vicinity of the remaining edge part of the board | substrate, and the trailing edge part can be removed.

In addition, in order to completely remove the processing liquid, in the present invention, air is blown out at a constant air flow rate by increasing the air flow rate over the entire surface of the substrate. The air volume is less. Therefore, for example, power consumption which is a supply source of air can be reduced, and air consumption can also be reduced, contributing to energy saving.

In addition, by reducing the air volume in regions other than the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the substrate, it is possible to reduce the amount of the mist-like processing liquid that suppresses and scatters turbulence in the drying chamber as compared with the case of a constant large amount of air. This improves the drying performance without the mist sticking to the substrate again.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the step (a) includes (c) detecting a front end portion of the substrate to be conveyed, and blowing air at a first air volume into a region near the front end portion based on the detection; and (d) after detecting the front end portion, ejecting air at a first air volume in a region near the rear end portion after a predetermined time elapses. For example, the detection of the step (c) can also be performed by an optical sensor. On the other hand, the detection of the step (c) can also be performed based on the "sound" fluctuation when the air by the first air volume reaches the substrate. For example, by changing the conveyance speed of the substrate based on the change in the intensity, frequency, tone, etc. of the "sound", the processing liquid can be completely removed without over the entire surface of the substrate, and dry spots can be prevented. have.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the air volume is gradually changed from the first air volume to the second air volume or from the second air volume to the first air volume. Here, "slow" means gradual or continuous. In this case, for example, the air may be blown out at the first air volume near both ends of the substrate, and the air may be blown out at the second air volume near the center of the substrate.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the blowing angle of air with respect to the wave surface is varied. Here, "the air blowing angle with respect to a board | substrate surface" means the angle which the horizontal axis and an air blowing direction make when a board | substrate surface is taken as a horizontal axis. For example, by varying the blowout angle of air in the step (a) and the step (b), the liquid on the substrate can be reliably removed. In particular, by making the blowing angle in the step (a) smaller than the blowing angle in the step (b), the remaining liquid at the end of the substrate can be reliably prevented.

According to one aspect of the invention, the conveyance speed of the substrate is varied. As a result, when the air volume is increased (lowered) from the first air volume to the second air volume, the conveyance speed can be increased (lowered) or the amount of air supplied to the substrate can be adjusted to an appropriate amount.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a step of evacuating the mist generated by the ejection of the air, wherein the displacement is varied. As a result, the displacement can be varied according to the amount of mist generated, and the amount of scattered mist can be suppressed. In particular, in the case where the liquid at the substrate end is removed, the amount of mist generated is larger than that at the end. Therefore, the mist can be appropriately exhausted by making the exhaust amount in the step (a) larger than the exhaust amount in the step (b).

In the substrate drying method according to the second aspect of the present invention, in a substrate drying method in which air is blown out to a substrate at a predetermined position while conveying the substrate, the substrate drying method comprises: (a) When the said predetermined position is reached, the process of making a conveyance speed of a board | substrate into a 1st speed, and (b) after conveying the conveyance speed of a board | substrate after the vicinity of the front end part and the vicinity of a rear end part pass the said predetermined position, The process makes it the 2nd speed different from 1 speed.

According to such a structure, by making a 1st conveyance speed slower than a 2nd conveyance speed, a process liquid can be completely removed over the whole board | substrate, and generation | occurrence | production of a dry stain can be prevented. In particular, it is possible to remove the treatment liquid which used to remain in the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the step (a) includes (c) detecting a front end portion of the substrate to be conveyed and setting the conveyance speed of the substrate to a first speed based on the detection; After detecting a part, the process of making a conveyance speed of a board | substrate into a 1st speed after predetermined time progresses is provided. For example, the step (c) may be performed by an optical sensor, or may be performed based on the negative fluctuation of air when the first air volume reaches the substrate.

According to one aspect of the invention, the air is ejected and provided with an elongated nozzle having a predetermined angle with respect to one side of the front end portion or the rear end portion of the substrate, wherein in the long form nozzle, the front end of the substrate is provided. The amount of air blown off at the portion near the portion is different from the amount of air blown off at the portion near the rear end of the substrate. For example, the amount of air blown out at the site near the rear end of the substrate is made larger than the amount of air blown out at the site near the front end, so that the processing liquid scattered by the blow-out air at the side close to the rear end is discharged. It can be farther away from the treatment liquid scattered by the jet air near the front end and can be efficiently dried.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, the speed is gradually changed from the first speed to the second speed or from the second speed to the first speed. Here, "slowly" means gradual or continuous. In this case, what is necessary is just to convey a board | substrate at a 1st speed | rate at the said predetermined position, for example, and to convey a board | substrate at a 2nd speed when the center vicinity of the board | substrate to be conveyed is conveyed to the said predetermined position.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a conveying means for conveying a substrate, an air ejecting means for ejecting air to the substrate conveyed by the conveying means and drying the substrate, and the air ejecting means. The amount of air blown out in the air is set as the first air volume in the region near the front end and the rear end of the conveyed substrate, and controlled by the second air volume different from the first air volume in the region other than the front end and the rear end. It is provided with a means to.

According to this configuration, according to the present invention, the treatment liquid, which has not been able to be removed at a constant amount of air volume in the past, can be completely removed without missing the entire surface of the substrate, thereby preventing the occurrence of dry stains. By making the 1st air volume especially more than a 2nd air volume, the process liquid used to remain | survive in the vicinity of the front end part and the back end part of a board | substrate can be removed.

In addition, in the present invention, in order to completely remove the processing liquid, air is blown out at a constant air flow rate by increasing the air flow rate over the entire surface of the substrate. Reduce the air volume. Therefore, power consumption which is a supply source of air can be reduced, and air consumption can also be reduced, contributing to energy saving.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a second aspect of the present invention includes a conveying means for conveying a substrate, an air ejecting means for ejecting air to the substrate conveyed by the conveying means to dry the substrate, and a front end of the conveyed substrate. When the vicinity of the part and the vicinity of the rear end have reached the predetermined position, the conveyance speed of the substrate is set as the first speed, and after the vicinity of the front end and the vicinity of the rear end have passed the predetermined position, the conveyance speed of the substrate is described above. And a second speed different from the first speed.

According to such a structure, for example, by making a 1st conveyance speed slower than a 2nd conveyance speed, a process liquid can be removed completely without gaps over the whole board | substrate, and dry stain generation can be prevented. In particular, it is possible to remove the treatment liquid which used to remain in the vicinity of the front end and the rear end of the substrate.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a means for varying the blowout angle of air with respect to the substrate surface. According to one aspect of the present invention, the air ejecting means has an elongated nozzle for ejecting air, and the variable means includes a mechanism for rotating the nozzle in the longitudinal direction of the nozzle, and a nozzle. The mechanism which adjusts the height with respect to the board | substrate of a nozzle at the time of rotational movement is provided.

By providing the height adjustment mechanism of the nozzle in this way, the distance between the nozzle and the substrate surface, which is generated when the nozzle is rotated, can be kept constant, and the drying performance is not lowered.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate in a predetermined direction, a first nozzle that ejects air to the conveyed substrate, and removes and dries liquid attached to the substrate; A blow fan for supplying one nozzle air is provided.

According to such a structure, it becomes unnecessary to use a high pressure air compressor of a factory, etc., and can save energy by reducing plant capacity. In particular, in the case where the substrate is a glass substrate, since the capacity tends to increase with the enlargement of the substrate, the effect of using a blow fan is great. In addition, the blow fan is extremely economically advantageous compared to the air compressor.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a second nozzle which is disposed closer to the conveyance downstream of the substrate than the first nozzle, and ejects air to the conveyed substrate to remove and dry the liquid attached to the substrate, wherein the blow The fan further supplies the second nozzle air. By arranging the second nozzle further downstream of the first nozzle in this manner, since the liquid which could not be removed by the first nozzle alone can be removed by the second nozzle, the drying performance is further improved.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided an exhaust portion provided on the conveying upstream side of the first nozzle and exhausting at least the air blown out of the first nozzle and the second nozzle together with the removed liquid. According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a fan filter unit which is provided on the transport downstream side than the second nozzle and supplies air from the transport downstream to the upstream side. As a result, the liquid adhering to the substrate is scattered and removed in the opposite direction to the conveying direction of the substrate, that is, the liquid is scattered and removed toward the exhaust portion. At this time, the mist scattered in the air can be efficiently discharged by the synergistic effect of the airflow control from the fan downstream to the upstream side from the fan filter unit. Moreover, the effect which can discharge | emit mist efficiently like this, and drying performance is remarkably improved without a liquid of mist form adhering again to a board | substrate. In addition, the effective airflow control can prevent the cleaning liquid mist from spray cleaning performed in all processes from flowing into the drying chamber.

According to one aspect of the present invention, two first nozzles and two second nozzles are provided on the front and back sides of the substrate to be conveyed. Thereby, drying process can be performed with respect to both surfaces of a board | substrate.

According to one aspect of the invention, the supply amount of air supplied by the blow fan based on the measurement result obtained by the means and the means for measuring the supply amount of air supplied to the first nozzle and the second nozzle; It further comprises an adjusting means for adjusting. As a result, when a filter or the like for removing particles or the like is provided between the blow fan and the first nozzle and the second nozzle, even if the flow rate of the air supplied to the first and second nozzles decreases due to the clogging of the filter, the measurement is performed. By feeding back the measurement result by means to a blow fan, it is possible to always supply air to each nozzle at a constant flow rate.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is provided with a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate in a predetermined direction, a first region covering at least a space in which the substrate of the conveying mechanism is conveyed, and downstream from the first region, A second region covering at least the space in which the substrate of the conveying mechanism is conveyed, a first nozzle which blows air to the substrate conveyed in the first region to remove and dry the liquid attached to the substrate, and the second A second nozzle which blows air with respect to the board | substrate conveyed in an area | region, removes and adheres the liquid adhered to a board | substrate, and a blow fan for supplying the said 1st nozzle and a 2nd nozzle air.

According to this configuration, it is not necessary to use a high pressure air compressor of a factory, energy saving can be achieved by reducing factory capacity, and the substrates conveyed in the first and second areas by the first and second nozzles can be obtained. Each of the air can be blown out to remove the liquid, and the drying efficiency can be improved.

Further, by providing a third region that covers at least the space in which the substrate of the transfer mechanism is conveyed downstream from the second region, and providing a pressure adjusting means for raising the air pressure toward the third region from the first region, The liquid adhering to the taken-out board | substrate is scattered and removed in the reverse direction to the conveyance direction of a board | substrate.

Here, the air pressure adjusting means is arranged in the first region and the air is discharged from the third region to the first region while disposing the air ejected from at least the first nozzle and the second nozzle together with the liquid removed from the substrate. By arranging the fan filter unit for supplying the gas in the third territory, the mist scattered in the air can be efficiently discharged by the synergistic effect of the exhaust by the exhaust unit and the air flow control by the fan filter.

In addition, the air supply amount from both nozzles also increases with the enlargement of the substrate, in particular, but the airflow in the first region and the second region tends to be disturbed, but according to the present invention, such a situation can be suppressed.

According to one aspect of the invention, the fan filter unit is provided with means for injecting air from the blow fan. Thereby, compared with the case where air is injected into the fan filter unit from the outside, the supply amount of air can be reduced, contributing to energy saving.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a means for supplying the removed air to the blow fan while simultaneously removing the liquid mixed in the air for injecting the air exhausted from the exhaust part. This contributes to energy saving without wasteful exhaust air. Moreover, dry air can be supplied to each blow fan, and the possibility of adversely affecting each blow fan, a board | substrate, etc. can be eliminated.

According to one aspect of the present invention, at least one of the first region and the second region is formed of a box-shaped member. As a result, the mist-like liquid removed from the substrate at the time of air ejection can be pushed into the box to prevent mist scattering, thereby improving the exhaust efficiency when exhausting such mist.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the conveying mechanism has a plurality of conveying rollers for conveying a substrate mounted by rotating, and is provided near the first nozzle and the second nozzle and provided below the box-shaped member. It is further provided with the plate member which distinguishes the lower area | region of the board | substrate conveyed by a conveyance roller. Thereby, mist scattering to the downstream of a board | substrate can be prevented in the area | region below the board | substrate conveyed by a conveyance roller, and drying performance can be improved.

A substrate drying apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is provided with a conveying mechanism for conveying a substrate in a predetermined direction, a first region covering at least a space in which the substrate of the conveying mechanism is conveyed, and downstream from the first region, A second region covering at least the space in which the substrate of the conveying mechanism is conveyed, a first nozzle which blows air to the substrate conveyed within the first region to remove and dry the liquid attached to the substrate, and the first A first blow fan for supplying air to the nozzle, a second nozzle that blows air to the substrate conveyed in the second area to remove and dry the liquid attached to the substrate, and air to the second nozzle And a second blow fan for supplying, and adjustment means for individually adjusting a supply amount of air supplied by the first blow fan and the second blow fan, respectively.

According to such a structure, it becomes unnecessary to use a high pressure air compressor of a factory, and can save energy by reducing plant capacity. In addition, since the air is supplied to each nozzle by an independent blow fan, respectively, it is possible to reduce the supply amount of air by controlling it less from the second nozzle than the air blowing amount from the first nozzle. This makes it possible to suppress the turbulence in each region as compared with the case where the flow rate is large.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings and the description of the embodiments of the invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the drying treatment can be efficiently performed without leaving the treatment liquid over the entire substrate, and the drying performance can be improved. In addition, the air consumption and power can be reduced, and energy saving can be achieved.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the Example of this invention is described based on drawing.

(First embodiment)

1 is a plan view showing a coating and developing processing system for an LCD substrate to which a conveying apparatus of the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a rear view thereof.

This coating and developing processing system 1 performs a series of processes including resist application and development on a cassette station 2 on which a cassette C containing a plurality of glass substrates G is placed, and a substrate G. And a processing unit 3 having a plurality of processing units for carrying out, and an interface unit 4 for taking over the substrate G between the exposure apparatus 32, respectively, at both ends of the processing unit 3, respectively. The cassette station 2 and the interface unit 4 are arranged.

The cassette station 2 is provided with a conveyance mechanism 10 for conveying the LCD substrate between the cassette C and the processing section 3. Then, the cassette C is carried in and out of the cassette station 2. Moreover, the conveyance mechanism 10 is equipped with the conveyance arm 11 which can move on the conveyance path 12 provided along the cassette arrangement direction, and this conveyance arm 11 has a space between the cassette C and the processing part 3. The substrate G is transported.

In the processing section 3, along the main transport section 3a, which is extended from the cassette station 2 in the vertical direction (X direction) in the arrangement direction (Y direction) of the cassette C, and along the main transport section 3a, The upstream part 3b in which each processing unit including the resist coating processing unit CT is provided, and the downstream part 3c in which each processing unit including the developing processing unit DEV 18 are provided are provided.

The main conveying section 3a is provided with a conveying path 31 extending in the X direction and a conveying shuttle 23 configured to be movable along the conveying path 31 and conveying the glass substrate G in the X direction. It is. This transfer shuttle 23 is for holding and conveying the board | substrate G with a support pin, for example. Further, at the end of the interface portion 4 of the main transfer portion 3a, a vertical transfer unit 7 which takes over the substrate G is disposed between the processing portion 3 and the interface portion 4.

In the upstream portion 3b, a scrub cleaning processing unit SCR 20 for cleaning the substrate G is provided at the end of the cassette station 2, and an upper end portion of the scrub cleaning processing unit SCR 20 is provided. An excimer UV treatment unit (e-UV) 19 for removing organic matter on the substrate G is disposed in the chamber.

Next to the scrub cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20, heat treatment system blocks 24 and 25 in which a unit for thermally processing the glass substrate G are stacked in multiple stages are arranged. Since the vertical transfer unit 5 is disposed between the heat treatment system blocks 24 and 25, the transfer arm 5a is movable in the Z direction and the horizontal direction, and is also rotatable in the θ direction. The substrates G are conveyed by accessing the heat treatment system units in both blocks 24 and 25. In the processing unit 3, the vertical transport unit 7 also has the same configuration as that of the vertical transport unit 5.

As shown in Fig. 2, the heat treatment system block 24 has a two-stage baking unit BAKE that heats the substrate G before the resist is applied, and an attachment unit AD which is hydrophobized by HMDS gas. These are stacked in order from below. On the other hand, in the heat treatment system block 25, two stages of the cooling unit COL which cools the board | substrate G are laminated | stacked, and the attachment unit AD is laminated | stacked in order from the bottom.

The resist processing block 15 is extended in the X direction adjacent to the heat treatment system block 25. The resist processing block 15 includes a resist coating processing unit CT for applying a resist to the substrate G, a reduced pressure drying unit VD for drying the applied resist under reduced pressure, and a peripheral portion of the substrate G. The edge remover ER which removes a resist is integrally installed and comprised. The resist processing block 15 is provided with a sub arm (not shown) which moves from the resist coating processing unit CT over the edge remover ER, and the substrate G is inserted into the resist processing block 15 by the sub arm. ) Is to be returned.

Adjacent to the resist processing block 15, a multi-stage heat treatment system block 26 is disposed. The heat treatment block 26 includes a prebaking unit PREBAKE which heat-treats the substrate G after resist coating. Three steps are laminated.

In the downstream part 3c, as shown in Fig. 3, a heat treatment system block 29 is provided at the end of the interface part 4, and this is a cooling unit COL and a post-exposure for heat treatment before developing after exposure. Low baking units (PEBAKE) are stacked in order from two stages below.

The developing unit (DEV) 18 which develops adjacent to the heat treatment system block 29 is extended in the X direction. The heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27 are disposed beside the developing unit DEV 18, and the heat treatment system blocks 28 and 27 have the same configuration as the vertical conveying unit 5, respectively. And the vertical conveying unit 6 accessible to each of the heat treatment system units in both blocks 28 and 27 is provided. Further, i line processing units (i-UV) 33 are provided on the ends of the developing processing units DEV 18.

In the heat treatment system block 28, the cooling unit COL and the post-baking unit POBAKE which heat-processes post-development to the board | substrate G are laminated | stacked in 2 steps in order from the bottom. On the other hand, the heat treatment system block 27 is similarly laminated with the cooling unit COL and the post-baking unit POBAKE in two stages, in order from the bottom.

The interface unit 4 is provided with a titler and a peripheral exposure unit (Titler / EE, 22) on the front side, an extension cooling unit (EXTCOL, 35) adjacent to the vertical conveying unit 7, and a buffer cassette on the rear side. A substrate G is disposed between the titler and the peripheral exposure unit (Titler / EE, 22), the extension cooling unit (EXTCOL) 35, and the exposure apparatus 32 adjacent to the buffer cassette 34. The vertical conveying unit 8 is arranged to take over. This vertical transfer unit 8 also has the same configuration as the vertical transfer unit 5.

Regarding the processing step of the coating and developing processing system 1 configured as described above, first, the substrate G in the cassette C is conveyed from the three processing sections to the upstream section 3b. In the upstream portion 3b, surface modification and organic matter removal treatment are performed in the excimer UV treatment unit (e-UV) 19, and then the substrate G is conveyed substantially horizontally from the scrub cleaning unit SCR 20. Washing treatment and drying treatment are performed. Subsequently, the substrate G is removed by the transfer arm 5a of the vertical transfer unit at the lower end of the heat treatment system block 24, and the heat treatment and attachment unit (in the baking unit BAKE of the same heat treatment system block 24) The hydrophobization treatment is carried out in AD), and the cooling treatment by the cooling unit COL of the heat treatment system block 25 is performed.

Next, the board | substrate G is handed over to the conveyance shuttle 23 by the conveyance arm 5a. Then, the substrate is conveyed to the resist coating processing unit CT, and after the resist coating processing is performed, the vacuum drying process is performed in the vacuum drying unit VD, and the resist removal processing around the substrate is performed in the edge remover ER.

Subsequently, the substrate G is transferred from the transfer shuttle 23 to the transfer arm of the vertical transfer unit 7, and heat-processed in the prebaking unit PREBAKE of the heat treatment system block 26. Cooling is performed in the cooling unit COL of the block 29. Subsequently, the substrate G is cooled in the extension cooling unit EXTCOL 35 and exposed in the exposure apparatus.

Subsequently, the substrate G is conveyed to the post exposure baking unit PREBAKE of the heat treatment system block 29 through the conveying arms of the vertical conveying units 8 and 7, and after the heat treatment is performed, cooling is performed. Cooling is performed in the unit COL. Subsequently, the substrate G is conveyed substantially horizontally through the conveyance arm of the vertical conveying unit 7 while developing, rinsing and drying the substrate G. The substrate G of the developing unit DEV 18 is substantially horizontally conveyed.

Subsequently, the substrate G is taken over by the transfer arm 6a of the vertical transfer unit 6 at the lowermost end of the heat treatment system block 28, and the post-bake unit of the heat treatment system block 28 or 27 ( POBAKE) is a heat treatment, and the cooling unit (COL) is a cooling treatment. Subsequently, the substrate G is taken over by the transfer mechanism 10 and accommodated in the cassette C.

Fig. 4A is a schematic side view showing the scrub cleaning processing unit SCR 20. Figs. The scrub cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20 is provided with a plurality of corro type conveying rollers 38 for conveying the glass substrate G. At both ends of the conveyance roller 38, a take over pin 39 for taking over the substrate is placed between the other processing units by a lifting operation, and between the two take over pins 39, the substrate conveying upstream side (Fig. In the left side), the roll brush cleaning chamber 36, the spray cleaning chamber 37, and the drying treatment apparatus 40 according to the present invention are arranged in this order. A roll brush 45 is provided in the roll brush cleaning chamber 36, and a spray nozzle 46 for ejecting a cleaning liquid is provided in the spray cleaning chamber 37. In addition, the spray nozzle 46 may be further arrange | positioned not only in the surface side of a board | substrate but also in the back surface of a board | substrate, as shown.

In the scrub cleaning processing unit (SCR) 20, first, the relatively large dust on the substrate is removed and cleaned in the roll brush cleaning chamber 36, and then fine dust is removed and cleaned in the spray cleaning chamber 37, and the drying treatment apparatus It is dried at 40.

4B is a schematic side view showing the developing unit DEV 18. In this developing processing unit DEV, 18, a corroscopic conveying roller 38 and a take over pin 39 are arranged similarly to the scrub cleaning processing unit SCR 20. Between the two takeover pins 39, the prewet processing chamber 41, the developing processing chamber 42, the rinse processing chamber 43, and the same drying treatment apparatus 40 according to the present invention on the conveying upstream side (left side in the figure). ) Are arranged in order. The prewet nozzle 47 is provided in the prewet processing chamber 41, and the developer nozzle 48 for discharging the developing solution is provided in the developing chamber 42, and the rinse nozzle 49 is provided in the rinse processing chamber 43, respectively. have.

In the developing unit (DEV) 18, first, the substrate is pre-wetted to reduce the impact on the substrate when the developer is discharged from the prewet processing chamber 41, and then the developer is discharged and developed from the developing chamber 42. The developer is washed in the rinse chamber 43 and finally dried in the drying apparatus 40.

In order to secure the development time, the development processing chamber 42 performs development while reciprocating the substrate G by rotating the conveyance roller 38 reversely.

5 and 6 are plan cross-sectional and side cross-sectional views of the drying treatment apparatus 40 according to the first embodiment. The space in the chamber 51 of this drying processing apparatus 40 is divided by the partition plate 63 in the conveyance upstream (left side in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6). Openings 51a and 51b for loading and unloading the substrate G are formed at the upstream end and the downstream end of the chamber 51, respectively.

The lower cutout portion 63a of the separating plate 63 is a substrate on which the long air knife nozzles 53a and 53b are blown to blow the clean air to the substrate G to be conveyed, thereby drying the substrate G. It is arranged up and down as if sandwiching (G). The air knives 53a and 53b are disposed inclined at 40 ° or more in the vertical direction with respect to the substrate G, and the air is inclined at 40 ° or more with respect to the vertical direction of the substrate surface to blow out.

As shown in Fig. 7 (a), both air knives 53a and 53b have the same configuration, and have a buffer chamber 73 for retaining the air supplied from the supply port 72 once therein, In this buffer chamber 73, a slit 74 for blowing air in a linear manner with respect to the substrate G is formed.

Each conveying roller 38 is provided with a plurality of gears 75 at one end of the shaft member, and gears 68 respectively engaged with the gears 75 are provided in the shaft member 44, respectively. It is. This shaft member 44 is rotated by the drive of the motor 71, and the conveyance roller 38 rotates by the drive of the motor 71, and the board | substrate G is conveyed.

Referring to FIG. 6, air is supplied to air knives 53a and 53b through a filter unit 59 and a supply pipe 66 from a blow fan 60. The blow fan 60 injects air into or out of the clean room. The filter unit 59 is provided with a coarse particle prefilter 61 and a small particle ULPA filter 62. The ULPA filter 62 may be a HEPA filter.

By installing the blow fan 60 in this way, it is not necessary to use a high pressure air compressor of Confucius, and it can save energy by reducing plant power. In particular, since the power tends to increase with the increase in the size of the substrate G, the effect of using a blow fan is great. In addition, the blow fan is extremely economically advantageous compared to the air compressor.

The control system 50 includes a CPU 56, a memory 57, and an inverter circuit 58, and the blow fan 60 is frequency controlled by the control system 50. For example, the flow rate of the air discharged from the blow fan 60 is controlled based on the measurement result of the flow meter installed in the supply pipe 66 and measuring the air flow rate in the said pipe. As a result, even when the flow rate of the air supplied to the air knifes 53a and 53b decreases due to clogging of the filter unit 59, the air knife 53a and 53b is always desired by feeding back the measurement result of the flowmeter 65. Air can be supplied at a flow rate to

An opening is formed in the upper part of the downstream of the chamber 51, and the fan filter unit 52 is provided here. The fan filter unit 52 cleans the inside or outside air of the clean room and injects it into the chamber 51, and exhausts the injected air from the exhaust ports 55a and 55b provided at the upper and lower sides of the conveyance upstream. The exhaust ports 55a and 55b are connected to a vacuum apparatus or the like not shown. As a result, the air pressure in the chamber 51 is controlled to be lowered from the downstream side toward the upstream side. By this air pressure control, the processing liquid on the substrate G due to the liquid removal can also be efficiently discharged.

The optical sensor S provided with the light emitting part Sa and the light receiving part Sb is arrange | positioned rather than air knife 53a, 53b. For example, when the light of the optical sensor S is blocked by the substrate G, the information is transmitted to the control system 50. Based on this, the frequency of the blow fan 60 is controlled to control the air knife (air knife). The amount of air supplied to 53a, 53b) can be adjusted.

For example, when the front end part of the board | substrate G is detected by the sensor S, as shown in FIG.7 (a), the amount of air blown out by the air knife 53a, 53b will be more than air | atmosphere, for example For example, the processing liquid adhering to the area Ga near the front end of the substrate G is removed. As the area | region Ga near this front end part, the distance from the front end part of the board | substrate G is a site | part of 1 cm-5 cm, for example. The amount of air blown out in this area Ga is 1000 (l / min), for example, when the substrate width is 700 mm.

Then, after a predetermined time elapses after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate, in the region Gc near the front end of the substrate and near the rear end, the ejection of the region Ga is shown in Fig. 7 (b). After the predetermined time elapses after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate so that the air is blown out and the processing liquid is removed and shown in Fig. 7 (c), the distance from the rear end of the substrate G is 1 cm to 5 cm. The processing liquid adhering to the region Gb near the rear end portion, which is a portion of, is removed. After a predetermined time elapses after the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate, the predetermined value is determined by the substrate transfer speed and the size of the substrate G, and this value is input to the control system 50 in advance.

Therefore, the amount of air blown out in the area Gc is 800 (l / min), for example, 700 mm, and the amount of air blown out in the area Gb is 1300 (l / min), 700 mm.

As a result, according to the present embodiment, the treatment liquid which has not been removed in the conventional constant air volume can be completely removed without any variation over the entire surface of the substrate, and dry spots can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to remove the treatment liquid which used to remain particularly near the front end part and the rear end part of the substrate.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the amount of air blown out in the region Gc is reduced in comparison with the conventional method, in which air is blown out at a constant amount of blown air over the entire surface of the substrate in order to completely remove the processing liquid. Therefore, the power consumption of the blow fan 60 can be reduced and air consumption can also be reduced, contributing to energy saving.

In addition, by reducing the air volume in the region Gc of the substrate, turbulence in the chamber 51 can be suppressed, and the amount of mist-like processing liquid scattered in the chamber 51 can be reduced as compared with the case of a constant large amount of air. have. Thereby, drying performance improves, without a mist sticking to the board | substrate G again.

Further, since there is a loss in the response time of the air amount changed by the blow fan 60 to the air knife, for example, the sensor S arrangement position in FIG. 6 is separated from the air knifes 53a and 53b by a predetermined distance. It is preferable to make it.

In addition, the amount of air may be decreased stepwise or linearly at 1000 (l / min) in the region Ga, or at 800 (l / min) in step or linearly over the region Gb in the region Gc. ) To 1300 (l / min) or by such control, it is possible to suppress disturbance of the airflow near the substrate and generation of mist due to a sudden change in the air amount.

(Second embodiment)

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In addition, in FIG. 8, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same thing as a component in FIGS. 5 and 6, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

In the present embodiment, when the sensor S detects the front end of the substrate G, this information is transmitted to the motor control unit 69 which controls the rotational speed of the motor 71 and the rotational speed of the conveying roller 38 is adjusted. Drop it. Thereby, the conveyance of the board | substrate G is decelerated, and air is supplied to the area | region Ga near the front-end | tip part of the board | substrate G similarly to the case shown in FIG. Air is supplied to the area Gb by supplying air to Gc and decelerating the conveying speed to the same speed as when air is supplied to the area Ga after a predetermined time elapses. Then, after the rear end of the substrate G passes through the air knives 53a and 53b, the conveyance speed is increased again. Here, the predetermined time elapses after the sensor S detects the substrate front end is a predetermined value based on the substrate conveyance speed and the substrate G size, and this value is input to the motor control unit 69 in advance. In addition, the air volume from which air is blown out becomes constant in the regions Ga and Gc and Gb.

Thus, the conveyance speed of the substrate G when the air is supplied to the regions Ga and Gb is slower than that when the air is supplied to the other regions Gc. Can be removed completely. Therefore, the process liquid which used to remain especially in the vicinity of the front end part and the back end part of a board | substrate can be removed.

In addition, the conveyance speed of the substrate G when the air is supplied to the region Gb may be lower than the conveyance speed of the substrate G when the air is supplied to the region Ga. The treatment liquid removal performance in the vicinity of the rear end where the liquid tends to remain can be improved.

(Third embodiment)

9 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in FIG. 9, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same thing as the component of FIG. 8, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

In this embodiment, the microphone 70 is used as a sensor for detecting the front end of the substrate G. This is a phenomenon that when the substrate G approaches this air knife while the air is being blown out from the air knives 53a and 53b, the sound gradually becomes stronger and the frequency increases as air starts to reach the substrate. Is to use.

And this "sound" is so strong and the frequency is high in the vicinity of the area Ga of the substrate shown in FIG. 7, but in the area Gc, it tends to be weaker and lower in frequency than the area Ga. Then, in the region Gb, the "sound" becomes stronger in the same manner as the region Ga, and the frequency, that is, the sound, increases. That is, the intensity and frequency of "sound" are Ga ≒ Gb> Gc.

By changing the conveyance speed of the board | substrate G similarly to the said 2nd Example based on this "negative" fluctuation, it can be removed completely without a gap | spatter over the whole board | substrate. Therefore, the process liquid which used to remain especially in the vicinity of the front end part and the back end part of a board | substrate can be removed.

Here, "sound" includes various "sound quality" and "tone" according to not only its intensity or frequency but also attenuation, combination of pluralized sounds, and the like. can do.

In addition, in this embodiment, whenever the "sound" changes, this is fed back so as to control the conveyance speed of the substrate. However, only the first detection of the "sound" at the front end of the substrate is detected first, and after this time, the first detection air for a predetermined time. You may change a conveyance speed after elapsed.

10 is a sectional view showing an air knife according to another embodiment. In the air knife 80, three buffer chambers 73a, 73b and 73c are formed by the separator plate 81. As shown in FIG. Supply pipes 77, 78, and 79 for supplying air to the buffer chambers 73a, 73b, and 73c, respectively, are connected, and valves 83, 84 for adjusting respective air supply amounts; 85 is provided.

In the present embodiment, the openings of the valves 83, 84, and 85 are large, medium, and small, respectively, and the air volumes of the air blown out from the buffer chambers 73a, 73b, and 73c are large, medium, and small, respectively. Do it with cattle.

For example, in order to remove liquid efficiently to the right side on the board | substrate G conveyed in the direction shown by arrow A as shown in FIG. 11, predetermined angle (alpha) = 10 degrees-with respect to conveyance direction A In the case where the longitudinal direction of the air knife 80 is disposed at an angle of 20 °, the amount of air blown out of the buffer chamber 73a is made larger than the amount of air blown out of the buffer chamber 73c, so that the left side of the substrate G is positioned on the left side. The treatment liquid can be removed farther from the right side, and the drying treatment can be performed efficiently. In particular, since the position of the exhaust port 55a is in the air ejection direction by the air knife 80, the efficiency is large.

(Example 4)

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. 12 and 13 are front and side views of the air knife nozzle according to the embodiment. As for this air knife 76a, the shaft member 88 is being fixed to the fixture 87 provided in the upper part, for example. The shaft member 88 is rotated in the θ direction by the stepping motor 95. As a result, the air blowing angle from the air knife 76a with respect to the substrate G is varied as shown in FIG. Moreover, the shaft member 88 is hold | maintained at the holding | maintenance tool 82 which hold | maintains this holding member. The holder 82 is movable up and down by the rotation of the ball screw 89 by the motor 96. As a result, the distance C between the air knife 76a and the substrate G to be conveyed can be adjusted. Each motor 95 and 96 is automatically controlled by the motor control unit 90. In addition, although the back side air knife of the board | substrate G is not shown in figure, it has the same structure as the front side air knife 76a.

Next, the operation according to the present embodiment will be described. As shown in FIG. 14, the board | substrate G shall be conveyed to the right direction on the way. The area Gc of the center portion of the substrate G is set to the blowing angle (A = 50 °) and the area Gb near the rear end is set to the blowing angle (B = 40 °). At this time, in this embodiment, the heights of the air knifes 76a and 76b are adjusted to keep the distance C constant. That is, since the distance C changes with the change of the ejection angle, this is corrected. In FIG. 14, the air knife moves downward by the height h.

By controlling in this way, especially the liquid which remains in the vicinity of the rear end part of a board | substrate can be reliably prevented. In addition, the clearance C between the airnights 76a and 76b and the substrate surface can be kept constant, and the drying performance is not lowered.

In this operation, the air blowing amount, the blowing angle, and the height of the air knife 76a are shown in FIG. For example, as shown by the line a, the air blowing amount is the weakest at the center of the substrate and continuously controlled to be the maximum at the front and rear ends of the substrate. Alternatively, this may be done step by step as shown by the line b.

In addition, the ejection angle may be continuously reduced as shown by the line c in the vicinity of the rear end portion of the substrate, or may be gradually decreased as shown by the line d. In addition, as shown by the line e, it may be made small continuously in the center of the substrate. On the other hand, the height of the air knife can also be controlled in the same manner as the ejection angle as shown by lines f, g, and h.

In addition to this control, the transfer speed of the substrate can be controlled as described above. For example, when the air volume is increased from the vicinity of the center of the substrate to the vicinity of the rear end, the amount of air supplied to the substrate can be adjusted to an appropriate amount by increasing the conveyance speed.

Incidentally, the angles A and B are not limited to the above numerical values, and can be changed as appropriate.

(Example 5)

Next, a fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. 16, 17 and 18 are a plan sectional view, side sectional view and a front view of the drying apparatus 140. The space in the chamber 151 of the drying apparatus 140 is divided by the separating plates 163 and 164 on the conveying upstream side (left side in FIGS. 16 and 15), whereby the first region A ), The second region B and the third region C are formed. Openings 151a and 151b for loading and unloading the substrate G are formed at the upstream end and the downstream end of the chamber 151, respectively.

The first air knife nozzle 153a which blows clean air with respect to the board | substrate G conveyed in the 1st area | region A to the downstream cut-out part 163a of the partition plate 163, and 153b is arrange | positioned up and down like each board | substrate G inserts. Similarly, in the lower cutout portion 164a of the separator plate 164, a second air knife nozzle (10) which blows clean air to the substrate (G) conveyed in the second area (B) to dry the substrate (G) ( 154a and 154b are arrange | positioned up and down like the board | substrate G, respectively.

Each of these air knives 153a, 153b, 154a, and 154b is disposed at an angle of 40 ° or more in the vertical direction with respect to the substrate G, and air is blown out at an angle of 40 ° or more with respect to the vertical direction of the substrate surface. .

Each air knife 153a, 153b, 154a, and 154b has the same structure, for example, as shown in FIG. 19, the buffer chamber 167 which once retains the air supplied from the supply port 171 inside is provided. In this buffer chamber 167, a slit 172 for blowing air in a linear manner with respect to the substrate G is formed.

Referring to FIG. 17, air is supplied to each air knife 153a, 153b, 154a, and 154b through the filter unit 159 and the supply pipe 166 from the blow fan 160. The blow fan 160 injects air into or out of the clean room. For example, the coarse particle prefilter 161 and the thin particle ULPA filter 162 are provided in the filter part 159. The ULPA filter 162 may be a HEPA filter.

By installing the blow fan 160, there is no need to use the high pressure air compressor of the factory, and energy saving can be achieved by reducing the plant capacity. In particular, since the power tends to increase with the increase in the size of the substrate G, the effect of using a blow fan is great. In addition, the blow fan is extremely economically advantageous compared to the air compressor.

The control system 150 includes a CPU 156, a memory 157, and an inverter circuit 158, and the blow fan 160 is frequency controlled by the control system 150. For example, the flow rate of the air discharged from the blow fan 160 is controlled based on the measurement result of the flow meter 165 installed in the supply pipe 166 to measure the air flow rate in the pipe. As a result, even when the flow rate of the air supplied to the respective air knives 153a, 153b, 154a, and 154b is reduced due to the clogging of the filter unit 59, the airflow measurement results of the flow meter 165 are fed back to each air knife. Air can be supplied at a constant flow rate at all times.

An opening is formed in an upper portion of the chamber 151 of the third region C, and a fan filter unit 152 is provided therein. The fan filter unit 152 cleans the air inside or outside the clean room, for example, and injects it into the chamber 151, and exhausts the injected air from the upper and lower parts of the first region A. It exhausts at 155b. The exhaust ports 155a and 155b are connected to a vacuum apparatus or the like not shown. As a result, the pressure in the chamber 151 is controlled to be lowered from the third region C toward the first region A. FIG. In addition, the air pressure in the first areas A, B, and C, that is, the air pressure in the chamber 151 is controlled to be higher than the pressure in the atmosphere outside the chamber based on a detection result of a sensor or the like not shown. Thereby, the inflow of particles from outside the chamber can be prevented. Moreover, the washing | cleaning liquid H on the board | substrate G removed by control of this atmospheric pressure can also be discharged efficiently.

That is, as shown in FIG. 19, the cleaning liquid H attached to the substrate G carried out is scattered and removed in the opposite direction to the substrate G conveyance direction, that is, toward the exhaust ports 155a and 155b. Blown and removed. At this time, the cleaning liquid mist scattered in the air can be efficiently discharged by the synergistic effect of the airflow control 175 from the fan filter unit 152.

As a result of discharging the mist efficiently, the drying performance is remarkably improved without the cleaning liquid on the mist being attached to the substrate G again.

In addition, the air supply amount from each air knife 153a, 153b, 154a, and 154b also increases with the enlargement of the substrate G, so that the airflow in the chamber, especially the first and second regions, tends to be disturbed. In this embodiment, this situation can be suppressed.

In addition, by the effective airflow control, it is possible to prevent the cleaning liquid mist from the spray cleaning performed in the previous step from flowing into the opening 151a.

In addition, in the present embodiment, since the second air knifes 154a and 154b are further disposed downstream of the first air knifes 153a and 153b, the first air knifes 153a and (153b) are arranged. Since the cleaning liquid which could not be removed by 153b) alone can be removed, the drying performance is further improved.

(Example 6)

20 shows a drying treatment apparatus according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. In addition, in FIG. 20, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same thing as the component of FIG. 17, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

Separate supply pipes 183 and 184 are connected to the first air knife nozzles 153a and 153b and the second air knife nozzles 154a and 154b of the drying apparatus 190, respectively, and to each air knife. Air is supplied by separate blow pans 160a and 160b. Thereby, the flow volume of the air blown off from a 1st air knife and a 2nd air knife can be controlled independently. For example, practically no cleaning liquid remains on the substrate G due to air supply by the first air knife. Can be. As a result, the air supply amount can be reduced, and energy saving can be achieved. In addition, by reducing the flow rate, it is easier to suppress the turbulence in the chamber 151 than when the flow rate is large.

Moreover, the air from each blow fan 160a and 160b is supplied to the fan filter unit 152 through the bypass pipes 185 and 186, respectively, and is supplied to this fan filter unit 152, respectively. The air flow in the chamber 151 is controlled in the same manner as in the above embodiment by the air. As a result, compared with the case where air is injected into the fan filter unit 152 from the outside, the air supply amount can be reduced, contributing to energy saving.

In this embodiment, the liquid mixed air from the exhaust ports 155a and 155b is injected into the liquid removing apparatus 180 through the exhaust pipe 181. The liquid removing device 180 is supplied with liquid mixed air from the supply port 177, for example, the air from which the liquid is removed from the filter 176 and dried is exhausted from the exhaust port 179, and dried. The exhausted air is returned to the blow fans 160a and 160b through the exhaust pipe 182 at the exhaust port 179. This contributes to energy saving without wasteful exhaust air. Moreover, since it passes through the liquid removal apparatus 180, dry air can be supplied to each blow pan 160a and 160b, and there is no possibility that it may adversely affect each blow pan, the board | substrate G, etc.

In the same manner as in the above embodiment, it is possible to reduce the load of the plant capacity and to improve the drying performance due to the removal efficiency of the cleaning liquid mist.

(Example 7)

Next, a seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. 21 is a cross-sectional view of the drying apparatus according to the embodiment. In addition, in FIG. 21, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected about the same thing as the component of FIG. 17, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

A box-shaped member 91 is provided upstream of the drying treatment apparatus 240. The first air knife 153a ejects air in the box member 91. 22 and 23 are perspective and front views of the box member 91. The inlet is formed in the lower part of this box-shaped member 91, and the opening part 91a for arranging the air knife 153a is formed in the side part.

As the lower part of the box-shaped member 91, the plate member 92 is arrange | positioned in the vicinity of the air knife 153a. The height of this board member 92 is adjustable by the screw etc. which are not shown in figure.

In this embodiment, the upper exhaust portion is not provided, and only the lower exhaust portion 155 is provided.

By providing such box-shaped member 91, the 1st area | region A can be formed in this box-shaped member 91. FIG. As a result, the mist-like liquid removed from the substrate when the air is blown out by the air knife 153a can be suppressed in the box member 91. Since scattering of mist can be prevented by this, the exhaust efficiency at the time of exhausting such mist can be improved.

In addition, in this embodiment, since the plate member 92 is disposed, it is possible to prevent the mist from scattering into the regions B and C in the lower region of the substrate G conveyed by the conveying roller 138. The drying performance can be improved.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications are possible.

For example, in the first to fourth embodiments, the optical sensor S and the microphone are used as the sensors for detecting the front end portion of the substrate to be conveyed, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to use a child sensor.

Moreover, in the said 1st Example, it is good also as a structure which further installs two same air knives downstream of the air knife 53a and 53b above and below the board | substrate conveyed. In this case, an object of the present invention is achieved by connecting a separate blow fan to an upstream air knife and a downstream air knife, storing the size and conveying speed of the substrate to be conveyed, and controlling the inverters separately for each blow fan. Can be achieved.

Moreover, when installing further downstream of the air knife 53a and 53b in this way, you may perform control similar to the above-mentioned about the area | region Ga, Gb, Gc with respect to a downstream air knife, and the said downstream air The amount of air per unit area for the areas Ga and Gb in the knife may be controlled to be larger than the amount of air per unit area for the areas Ga and Gb in the upstream air knife. In this way, the vicinity of the front end part or the rear end part of the board | substrate which a process liquid tends to remain can be reliably dried. If the upstream air knife is the main and the downstream air knife has a strong meaning of assisting, on the contrary, the air amount per unit area for the areas Ga and Gb from the downstream air knife is larger than the air amount per unit area for the upstream air knife. By controlling less, maintenance cost and mist can be suppressed. In addition, since the area Gc is easier to remove the liquid than the Ga and Gb, and the area Gc is almost completely removed from the upstream air knife, the unit for the area Gc from the downstream air knife. The amount of air per area may be smaller than the amount of air with respect to the area Gc from the upstream air knife.

In addition, although the buffer chamber of the air knife was made into three in FIG. 10, you may make it possible to extend the partition plate 81 further and to control the air volume blown off to a board | substrate in more detail.

In addition, in the above embodiments, the displacement may be changed. As a result, the displacement can be changed in accordance with the amount of mist generated and the amount of mist falling down can be suppressed. In particular, when the liquid at the substrate end is removed, the amount of mist generated is larger than that at the end. Therefore, the mist can be appropriately exhausted by making the exhaust amount at the time of blowing air to the area | region of a board | substrate end corresponding to this more than that outside the area | region of a board | substrate end.

In the above embodiments, the exhaust ports 155a and 155b are provided at one side of the chamber 151, but may be provided at both the left and right sides. Thereby, exhaust efficiency can be improved further.

In each of the fifth embodiments, a blow fan may be provided for each of the four air knives of the front, rear, and top and bottom, respectively, and each of the four may be separately separated to suppress the amount of air ejected. As a result, by controlling the air blown out on the substrate surface side more than the rear surface side, it is possible to prevent the substrate from floating during transportation.

In addition, in the drying processing apparatus shown in FIG. 20, the flow volume of a 2nd air knife may be made larger than the flow volume of a 1st air knife, In this case, the reliability of a drying process can be improved.

1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of a coating and developing treatment system to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a rear view of the coating and developing treatment system shown in FIG. 1.

4 is a schematic side view showing (a) scrub cleaning processing unit (SCR) and (b) developing processing unit (DEV).

Fig. 5 is a plan sectional view showing a drying treatment apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view and a conceptual configuration diagram of the drying treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 5.

7 is a side view showing a drying operation according to the first embodiment.

8 is a side sectional view showing a drying treatment apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a side sectional view showing a drying treatment apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

10 is a sectional view showing an air knife according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a drying action when the air knife shown in FIG. 10 is used.

12 is a front view showing an air knife of the drying treatment apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a side view of the air knife shown in FIG. 12.

14 is a diagram showing the operation of the drying treatment apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

Fig. 15 is a graph showing the time change of the air blowing amount, the blowing angle, and the air knife height.

16 is a plan sectional view showing a drying treatment apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention.

17 is a side sectional view and a conceptual configuration diagram of the drying treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 16.

18 is a front view of the drying treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 16.

19 is a side view showing a drying treatment action of the drying treatment apparatus.

20 is a side sectional view and a conceptual configuration diagram of a drying treatment apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

 21 is a side sectional view and a conceptual configuration diagram showing a drying treatment apparatus according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.

22 is a perspective view of a box member.

FIG. 23 is a front view of the box member shown in FIG. 22.

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

G: Glass substrate S: Light sensor

Ga, Gb: region near the substrate front end and the rear end

Gc: Ga, Gb area of the substrate A: Transfer direction

α: predetermined angle 38, 138: conveyance roller

40, 140, 190, 240: Drying processing device 50, 150: Control system

53a, 53b, 76a, 76b, 80, 153a, 153b: air knife nozzle

60, 160: blow fan 69: motor control unit

70: microphone 71: motor

83, 84, 85: valve 87: fixture

88: shaft member 90: motor control unit

91: box member 92: plate member

95, 96: motor

Claims (5)

In the substrate drying method of drying the surface and the back surface of the substrate by blowing air to the front and back surface at a predetermined position of the substrate while conveying the substrate, (a) When the front end of the substrate to be conveyed reaches the predetermined position by the substrate position detecting means including a substrate detecting mechanism disposed on the conveying path of the substrate to be conveyed, the conveyance speed of the substrate is set to the first speed. With process to make, (b) when the substrate position detecting means detects that the center of the substrate has reached the predetermined position, the transfer speed of the substrate is set to a second speed which is faster than the first speed; (c) when the substrate position detecting means detects that the rear end of the substrate has reached the predetermined position, the transfer speed of the substrate is set to a third speed less than the first speed and slower than the second speed. and, The space above a board | substrate is divided by the partition board arrange | positioned above the position which blows air out to the front surface and the back surface of a board | substrate, In the space divided by the partition plate, air is supplied from the upper part of the substrate conveyance downstream side, the air is exhausted from the upper part of the substrate conveyance path on the substrate conveyance upstream side, and the air is discharged from the lower part of the substrate conveyance path on the substrate conveyance upstream side. Substrate drying method characterized in that the exhaust. The method according to claim 1, In the step (a), the front end of the substrate to be conveyed is detected by the substrate detecting mechanism of the substrate position detecting means, and the conveyance speed of the substrate is set as the first speed based on the detection result. In the step (b), after the predetermined time has elapsed from the detection in the step (a) by the time calculation of the timer of the substrate position detecting means, the transfer speed of the substrate is set to the second speed. In the step (c), the transfer speed of the substrate is set to the third speed after a predetermined time has elapsed from the detection in the step (a) by the time calculation of the timer of the substrate position detecting means. The method according to claim 2, And (b) the substrate detecting mechanism of the substrate position detecting means is performed on the basis of negative fluctuations generated when air reaches the front end of the conveyed substrate. Conveying means for conveying the substrate, Air ejecting means for ejecting air to the front and rear surfaces of the substrate at a predetermined position with respect to the substrate conveyed by the conveying means; A substrate position detecting means including a substrate detecting mechanism disposed on a conveying path of the conveyed substrate, and when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the front end of the conveyed substrate has reached the predetermined position, The conveyance speed is set to the first speed, and when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the center of the conveyed substrate reaches the predetermined position, the conveyance speed of the substrate is set to a second speed which is faster than the first speed. Means for controlling the conveying speed of the substrate to a third speed less than the first speed and slower than the second speed when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the rear end of the conveyed substrate has reached the predetermined position; , A partition plate disposed above the position at which air is blown out on the front surface and the rear surface of the substrate to divide a space above the substrate; Means for supplying air from the upper portion of the substrate transport downstream in the space divided by the partition plate; Means for exhausting air from an upper portion of the substrate conveyance path on the substrate conveyance upstream side; And a means for exhausting air from the lower part of the substrate transport path on the upstream side of the substrate transport. A liquid processing apparatus for supplying liquid to a substrate to perform liquid processing, Conveying means for conveying the substrate, Means for supplying a liquid to the substrate conveyed by the conveying means; Air ejecting means for ejecting air to the front and rear surfaces of the substrate at a predetermined position with respect to the substrate conveyed by the conveying means; Substrate position detecting means including a substrate detecting mechanism disposed on a conveying path of the conveyed substrate, and when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the front end of the conveyed substrate has reached the predetermined position; The conveyance speed is set as the first speed, and when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the center of the conveyed substrate has reached the predetermined position, the conveyance speed of the substrate is set to a second speed which is faster than the first speed. Means for controlling the conveying speed of the substrate to a third speed less than the first speed and slower than the second speed when it is detected by the substrate position detecting means that the rear end of the conveyed substrate has reached the predetermined position; , A partition plate disposed above the position at which air is blown out on the front surface and the rear surface of the substrate to divide a space above the substrate; Means for supplying air from the upper portion of the substrate transport downstream in the space divided by the partition plate; Means for exhausting air from an upper portion of the substrate conveyance path on the substrate conveyance upstream side; And means for exhausting air from the lower part of the substrate conveyance path on the upstream side of the substrate conveyance.

Images