KR100992119B1 - Cleaning System using the processing chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

A cleaning system after chamfering using a treatment tank is provided. After the chamfering cleaning system using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention is a brush cleaning unit for cleaning the chamfered substrate using the recovered deionized water and the brush, a predetermined portion of the chamfered substrate passed through the brush cleaning unit A direct washing unit for spraying direct water, and a drying unit for drying the chamfered substrate that has passed through the direct washing unit, using an air knife, wherein the brush cleaning unit and the direct washing unit are each removed. And a treatment tank for collecting the ionized water and the direct water after use.

Treatment tank, cleaning after chamfering, deionized water

Description

Cleaning system using the processing chamber

The present invention relates to a post-chamfering cleaning system using a treatment tank, and more particularly, to a cleaning system for recovering deionized water after use using a treatment tank in a post-chamfering cleaning process.

Recently, information processing devices have been rapidly developed to have various types of functions and faster information processing speeds. This information processing apparatus has a display device for displaying the operated information. Until now, a cathode ray tube monitor has been mainly used as a display device, but recently, with the rapid development of semiconductor technology, the use of a flat display device that is light and occupies a small space is rapidly increasing.

As a display device, what is currently attracting attention is a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display device, an organic EL display device, a plasma display device and the like. There are various types of flat panel displays, and among them, a liquid crystal display, which is a low power consumption and a small volume, and a low voltage driving type, is an example.

Various processes are performed to produce such a liquid crystal display. Such processes include etching, washing with water, drying or heat treatment. These processes can be divided into a dry process using a gas and a wet process using a liquid.

Finally, a plurality of panels can be obtained after various processes for a given substrate. For example, in the case of obtaining four panels for one substrate, it can be said to be four chamfers.

After chamfering, a cleaning process may be performed to remove particles, dust, and the like, generated while the substrate is divided.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning system for recovering deionized water using a treatment tank in a post-chamfering cleaning process.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

One aspect of the chamfering cleaning system using the treatment tank of the present invention in order to achieve the above-described problem is a brush cleaning unit for cleaning the substrate chamfered using the recovered deionized water and the brush; A water washing unit for spraying predetermined water into the chamfered substrate passing through the brush unit; And a drying unit for drying the chamfered substrate having passed through the direct washing west part using an air knife, wherein the brush washing unit and the direct washing unit are each collected after using the recovered deionized water and the direct water. It includes a treatment tank.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, deionized water may be easily recovered by using a treatment tank of a cleaning system.

In addition, the cost of the cleaning system can be reduced by not using complicated piping and tanks for deionized water recovery.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings. Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

When an element is referred to as being "connected to" or "coupled to" with another element, it may be directly connected to or coupled with another element or through another element in between. This includes all cases. On the other hand, when one device is referred to as "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to" with another device indicates that no other device is intervened. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. “And / or” includes each and all combinations of one or more of the items mentioned.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, components and / or sections, these elements, components and / or sections are of course not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component or section from another element, component or section. Therefore, the first device, the first component, or the first section mentioned below may be a second device, a second component, or a second section within the technical spirit of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. As used herein, “comprises” and / or “comprising” refers to the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations and / or elements. Or does not exclude additions.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used in the present specification may be used in a sense that can be commonly understood by those skilled in the art. In addition, the terms defined in the commonly used dictionaries are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless they are specifically defined clearly.

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

1 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display in a general flat panel display process.

Referring to FIG. 1, in manufacturing a liquid crystal display, first, an upper substrate and a lower substrate are manufactured (S10 and S20). The lower substrate manufacturing step is a process of manufacturing a thin film transistor substrate, and refers to a step of manufacturing a TFT substrate by manufacturing a plurality of thin film transistors, pixel electrodes, and signal lines on the lower substrate (S10). The upper substrate manufacturing step refers to a step of manufacturing a color filter substrate by forming a black matrix, a color filter, and a common electrode on the upper substrate (S20).

After the upper substrate and the lower substrate are manufactured, the upper substrate and the lower substrate may be bonded together and the liquid crystal may be injected therebetween (S30). By applying and curing a sealant, which is an adhesive, on the edges of the upper and lower substrates, a display panel in which the upper and lower substrates are sealed may be formed.

In the meantime, instead of manufacturing one display panel through the above manufacturing steps, a plurality of display panels may be manufactured by one mother substrate. Accordingly, the plurality of display panels may be manufactured by one manufacturing process by cutting the mother substrate to which the upper substrate and the lower substrate are bonded together.

After cutting into a plurality of display panels go through a chamfering step of trimming the end of each panel (S40).

After the chamfering step, a cleaning process may be performed to remove foreign substances on the display panel (S50).

On the other hand, the display panel in the chamfering cleaning system will be referred to as a substrate in one embodiment of the present invention. Therefore, in the cleaning step after chamfering, the substrate is cleaned to remove foreign substances.

Figure 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the chamfering cleaning system using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2, the chamfering cleaning system using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention is an aqua rinse unit 100, a brush cleaning unit 200, a two-fluid cleaning unit 300, a direct water washing unit ( 400 and the drying unit 500.

For example, in the cleaning step after chamfering, the substrate passes through the aqua rinse unit 100, the brush cleaner 200, the air cleaner 300, the direct washing unit 400, and the drying unit 500, respectively. Foreign substances on the phase can be removed. Accordingly, each post-chamfering cleaning system may include a substrate transfer 150 to transfer substrates to respective configurations 100, 200, 300, 400, 500.

The substrate transfer part 150 may include a transfer shaft (not shown) and a transfer roller (not shown) installed on the transfer shaft. The substrate transfer unit 150 may rotate the transfer shaft by a driving unit (not shown) to rotate the transfer roller (not shown) to transfer the substrate.

The aqua rinse unit 100 may include a first chamber 130 in which a process is performed, first air knives 110 and 111 for injecting gas, and rinse injectors 120 and 121 for injecting deionized water. . The aqua rinse unit 100 serves to wet the substrate by spraying deionized water while accepting the substrate from which the chamfering process is completed and pushing out foreign substances or particles on the substrate by gas injection as a first step of the cleaning process after chamfering. The aqua rinse unit 100 performs the initial cleaning on the substrate, and serves to pass the initial cleaned substrate to the brush cleaning unit 200.

The brush cleaner 200 serves to clean the chamfered substrate using deionized water and a brush. The brush cleaner 200 includes a second chamber 230 that provides a space for cleaning the substrate using deionized water and a brush, and a first treatment tank 260 formed under the second chamber to collect deionized water. can do. The brush cleaning unit 200 may include ion water spray units 210, 211, 220, 221, 240, and 241 for spraying deionized water and a roll brush 270 to sweep out foreign substances remaining on the substrate by a brush. have.

The second chamber 230 and the first processing tank 260 may be integrally formed, or the first processing tank 260 may be configured to be included in the second chamber 230. The first treatment tank 260 is positioned at the lower end of the second chamber 230 to provide a space in which deionized water used to clean the substrate falls as it is and is collected. Here, de-ionized water refers to water close to pure water by removing inorganic salts in general water. For example, ion-exchange resin is used to cation and chlorine ions such as sodium and calcium in natural water. And negative ions such as sulfate ions can be removed.

Therefore, the deionized water after the cleaning process on the second chamber 230 is not used in a separate collection pipe or a collection tank, and the deionized water is efficiently collected by utilizing the space left below the process chamber as a treatment tank. Can reduce the cost.

In addition, in the post-chamfering cleaning process, the cleaning liquid mainly used is deionized water, and it is not necessary to use a chemical cleaning liquid used for cleaning in general etching, developing, photo processes, and the like. Therefore, no floating particles or fumes due to chemicals are generated in the process chamber, and thus, in the post-chamfering cleaning process, deionized water is collected by a simple configuration by collecting used deionized water in a treatment tank located below the process chamber. Can be collected.

The air cleaning unit 300 serves to clean the chamfered substrate by spraying a gas mixture of gas and deionized water. The two-fluid cleaning unit 300 may include a third chamber 330 that provides a space for a cleaning process, and two-fluid injection parts 310 and 311 which spray the two-fluid mixed with gas and deionized water. The two-fluid jet parts 310 and 311 may be inclined at a predetermined angle or perpendicular to the chamfered substrate to remove foreign substances on the substrate. The two-fluid jet parts 310 and 311 may sufficiently remove foreign substances remaining on the substrate by causing a high speed effect by gas injection through an air knife and an effect of increasing cleaning power due to liquid injection of deionized water.

Direct water cleaning unit 400 serves to inject and spray the water directly connected from the utility (not shown) to the chamfered substrate. Here, direct water refers to deionized water supplied from a factory or facility without being recycled or reused. De-ionized water that is delayed or stayed for a certain time or more may cause microbial growth or fine particle contamination, and may be used to clean the final substrate by using direct water to prevent it.

The direct cleaning unit 400 includes direct injection units 410, 411, 420, 421, 440, and 441 for injecting direct water, and the substrates through the direct injection units 410, 411, 420, 421, 440, and 441. Water can be sprayed uniformly onto the bed. The direct water cleaner 400 may include a second treatment tank 460 for directly recovering the used direct water from the fourth chamber 430. Therefore, direct water can be recovered easily by the second processing tank 460 located below the fourth chamber 430 without using a separate pipe line or a collection tank for collecting used water. The recovered direct water may be reused as deionized water in the first chamber 130, the second chamber 230, and / or the third chamber 330.

The drying unit 500 serves to dry the deionized water on the substrate. The drying unit 500 may include second air knives 510, 511, 520, and 521 injecting gas through the slits. The second air knifes 510, 511, 520, and 521 may be inclined and sprayed at a predetermined angle to increase the efficiency of drying the substrate. In addition, the second air knives 510, 511, 520, and 521 may be formed in an elliptical or 'V' shape in order to increase drying efficiency, and may inject gas onto the substrate.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, by directly recovering the deionized water or the direct water by the treatment tank at the lower end of the process chamber, the deionized water or the direct water can be recovered easily without any cost or configuration.

3 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of a brush cleaning unit and a direct washing unit in a cleaning system after chamfering using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the brush cleaning unit 200 may include a second chamber 230, ionized water injection units 210 and 211, a roll brush 270, a substrate transfer unit 150, and a first treatment tank (2). 260).

The second chamber 230 may provide a space in which brush cleaning is performed, and the ionized water injection units 210 and 211 may include nozzle supports 204 and 208 and a plurality of injection nozzles 206 and 209. The ionized water injection units 210 and 211 supply deionized water through the passages on the nozzle supports 204 and 208, and the substrate chamfered through the plurality of injection nozzles 206 and 209 having deionized water having a predetermined pressure and temperature. Spray on the bed.

The roll brush 270 may remove the particles or foreign matter on the substrate by attaching the brush on the rod. The roll brush 270 may be disposed above and / or below the substrate, and may shake off particles or foreign substances on the upper and lower substrates with the brush by rotation with respect to the moving substrate.

The substrate transfer unit 150 may include a transfer shaft 144 and a transfer roller 146 installed on the shaft. The substrate transfer unit 150 may rotate the transfer shaft 144 to transfer the substrate by rotating the transfer roller 146.

The first treatment tank 260 collects deionized water used in the second chamber. The first treatment tank 260 is a second cleaning tank 460 to be described later and the water level control pipe 320 that can compensate for each other the water level, the inspection window for checking the state of the first treatment tank 260 ( 263, and a water level sensor 266 for sensing the water level of the first treatment tank.

The water level control pipe 320 may adjust the water level between the first treatment tank 260 and the second treatment tank 460 to appropriately adjust the recovery amount of deionized water to be recovered.

In addition, a plurality of water level control pipes 320 may be provided, and a circulation pump (not shown) may be installed in one of the water level control pipes 320 to mix the recovered deionized water with each other. In addition, a particle filter or the like may be further included to remove foreign matters of the recovered deionized water.

The inspection window 263 is manufactured to be transparent so that the state of the first treatment tank 260 can be seen from the outside, and the first treatment tank can be opened and closed after draining all of the deionized water of the first treatment tank 260. 260) To clean and repair the facilities inside.

The water level sensor 266 detects the water level of the first treatment tank 260. The water level sensor 266 may adjust the water level of the first treatment tank 260 by opening and closing a drain port (not shown) when the water level of the first treatment tank 260 becomes a predetermined level or more.

On the other hand, the direct cleaning unit 400 receives the direct water from the utility, the fourth chamber 430, the direct injection unit 410, 411, the substrate transfer unit 150 and the second processing tank providing a space for the final cleaning 460 may include.

The fourth chamber 430 provides a space for performing final cleaning by direct water, and the direct jet parts 410 and 411 use nozzle supports 404 and 408 and a plurality of jet nozzles 406 and 409, respectively. Deionized water having a predetermined pressure and temperature can be sprayed onto the chamfered substrate through the plurality of spray nozzles (406, 409).

The substrate transfer unit 150 serves to transfer the substrate W by a transfer shaft and a transfer roller.

The second treatment tank 460 collects water used for cleaning the chamfered substrate and temporarily stores the water. The second treatment tank 460 checks the state of the water level control pipe 320 and the second treatment tank 460 that can compensate each other for the first washing tank 260 and the water level. And a water level sensor 466 for detecting the water level of the second treatment tank.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, deionized water used for cleaning the substrate may be collected immediately in a treatment tank under the process chamber after the process is performed, without using a separate pipe or a collection tank. Therefore, the cost can be reduced and the collection efficiency of deionized water can be improved by reusing after deionized water collection by a treatment tank, without adding additional cost.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains have various permutations, modifications, and modifications without departing from the spirit or essential features of the present invention. It is to be understood that modifications may be made and other embodiments may be embodied. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

1 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display in a general flat panel display process.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a chamfering cleaning system using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view schematically illustrating the configuration of a brush cleaning unit and a direct washing unit in a cleaning system after chamfering using a treatment tank according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

100: first chamber 200: second chamber

300: third chamber 400: fourth chamber

500: fifth chamber

110, 111: first air knife

210, 211, 220, 221, 240, 241: ionized water injection unit

270: roll brush

310, 311: air atomizing part

410, 411, 420, 421, 440, 441: direct jet

510, 511, 520, 521: second air knife

260: first reservoir 460: second reservoir

263, 463: inspection window

266, 466: level control valve

Claims (6)

A brush cleaning unit for cleaning the chamfered substrate using the recovered deionized water and a brush; Direct water cleaning unit for spraying a predetermined number of direct water to the chamfered substrate passing through the brush cleaning unit; And It includes a drying unit for drying the chamfered substrate passing through the direct water cleaning unit using an air knife, The brush cleaning unit and the direct water cleaning unit each include a treatment tank for collecting the recovered deionized water and the direct water after use, The brush cleaning unit A first cleaning chamber providing a space in which the chamfered substrate is cleaned; And And a first treatment tank in which deionized water used for cleaning is collected under the first cleaning chamber. delete According to claim 1, wherein the direct cleaning unit A second cleaning chamber providing a space in which the direct water is injected; And And a second treatment tank in which the direct water is collected below the second cleaning chamber. The method of claim 1, And a distillate cleaner disposed between the brush cleaner and the direct water cleaner, for cleaning the chamfered substrate using the recovered liquid containing deionized water and gas. The method of claim 3, wherein The first treatment tank includes a level control pipe for adjusting the water level of the second treatment tank, chamfering cleaning system. The method of claim 3, wherein The first treatment tank and the second treatment tank includes an inspection window capable of inspecting the respective treatment tanks and a water level sensor for detecting the level of each treatment tank.

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