KR101303461B1 - Inline type substrate coater apparatus and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an inline type substrate coater apparatus and a method thereof, comprising: a chemical liquid supply nozzle positioned in a stationary state during a coating process of the substrate to supply the chemical liquid to a surface of the substrate; A floating stage which floats the substrate to be processed in an application region below the discharge port of the slit nozzle; Forward transfer means for transferring the substrate to the chemical liquid supply nozzle from the substrate supply region of the front portion of the application region at the height of the substrate to be floated in the floating stage; And a rear conveying means for transferring the substrate to be raised from the floating stage so as to move away from the chemical supply nozzle in the substrate discharge region of the rear portion of the coating area, so that the substrate is always at a constant height. The chemical liquid is coated on the surface while being maintained, so that the coating state of the chemical liquid applied to the surface of the substrate with a uniform thickness in the application area is maintained without staining until it is discharged from the substrate coater device, and the chemical liquid of the substrate to be treated is maintained. Provided are an in-line type substrate coater device and a coating method thereof, which can improve a coating state of a resin much better than the conventional method.

Description

Inline type substrate coater device to prevent staining of chemical liquid and method thereof {INLINE TYPE SUBSTRATE COATER APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an in-line type substrate coater device and a method thereof, and more particularly, in applying a chemical liquid while fixing the nozzle in place and conveying the substrate in the process of applying and coating the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate. In addition, the present invention relates to an in-line type substrate coater device and a method of preventing staining caused by the flow of a chemical liquid as a floating height of a substrate is generated for each region.

In the process of manufacturing flat panel displays, such as LCD, the coating process of apply | coating chemical liquids, such as a resist liquid, to the surface of the to-be-processed substrate made from glass etc. is accompanied. Conventionally, when the size of the LCD was small, a spin coating method was used in which the chemical was applied to the surface of the substrate by rotating the substrate while applying the chemical to the center of the substrate.

However, as the size of the LCD screen becomes larger, the spin coating method is scarcely used, and a slit-shaped slit nozzle having a length corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed and a slit nozzle A coating method of coating the surface of the substrate is used.

Recently, as part of the method of coating the chemical liquid on the surface of a larger number of substrates to be processed at a predetermined time, an inline type substrate coater apparatus capable of coating the chemical liquid on the surface thereof while continuously supplying the substrate to the substrate coater apparatus has been provided. It is disclosed in Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2005-243670. That is, as shown in Figs. 1A and 1B, the nozzle 20 for supplying the chemical liquid is fixed in the stopped state, and the substrate G floating from the floating stage 10 moves in the direction indicated by reference numeral 66d. While the chemical liquid discharged from the nozzle 20 is coated, it is configured to apply and coat the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be supplied continuously.

However, as shown in FIG. 2, in the conventional floating substrate coater apparatus, a substrate to be carried by reference numeral 77a is floated and conveyed by the floating force 10d of the floating stage 10 to the nozzle 20. In the process of coating the chemical liquid, the chemical liquid 33 is formed on the surface of the substrate G to prevent the application of the chemical liquid from being uneven due to the shaking of the substrate G during the coating of the substrate G. In the application region CC to be applied, the substrate supply region AA and the applied substrate to keep the floating height H2 precisely low and supply the substrate G to the application region CC are applied. In the substrate discharge area EE which discharges G), the floating height H1 is kept to be less precisely high. Accordingly, the first transition region BB and the second transition region DD positioned between the regions AA, CC; EE, and CC are adjusted by the difference H1-H2 of the floating height.

When the floating heights H1 and H2 of the processing target substrate G are changed by adjusting the floating force 10d of the floating stage 10 as described above, the surface of the processing target substrate G is applied in the application area CC. Although it is possible to obtain the advantage that the chemical liquid can be uniformly applied without fluctuation, the treated substrate G coated with the chemical liquid on the surface passes through the second transition region DD to compensate for the difference in the height of the injury (H1-H2). In order to bend the phenomenon is bound to occur. The chemical liquid 33 applied to the surface of the substrate G in the substrate coater apparatus is not immediately dried, but dried in a subsequent vacuum vacuum drying apparatus VCD, and thus remains in a liquid state. Therefore, while the substrate G on which the chemical liquid 33 is applied to the surface passes through the second transition region DD, the chemical liquid 33 uniformly applied at the bent position 10x flows down to the periphery. Phenomenon occurs. Therefore, even when the chemical liquid 33 is uniformly applied in the application region CC, a problem arises in that the chemical liquid flows unevenly while passing through the second transition region DD while being discharged from the substrate coater device, thereby causing stains in the coating layer. .

In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention, in the process of applying and coating the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate inline to prevent the occurrence of stains caused by the flow of the liquid as the difference in the height of the substrate is generated by the area It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate coater device of the type and a method thereof.

That is, the present invention coats the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be treated and prevents the substrate from being deformed until it is discharged to the drying apparatus, which is a subsequent process, thereby preventing staining by the flow of the chemical liquid, in particular after application of the chemical liquid. It aims to do it.

Another object of the present invention is to transfer the supply and discharge areas of the substrate to be processed by a separate contact method without transferring the substrate in the form of air floating, so that the deformation caused by the deflection during the transfer of the substrate to be processed by the inexpensive equipment can be achieved. To prevent.

In order to achieve the object described above, the present invention is an inline type substrate coater device for coating a chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate while transferring the substrate to be processed, in a stationary state during the coating process of the substrate. A chemical liquid supply nozzle positioned to supply the chemical liquid to the surface of the substrate; A floating stage which floats the substrate to be processed in an application region below the discharge port of the slit nozzle; Forward transfer means for transferring the substrate to the chemical liquid supply nozzle from the substrate supply region of the front portion of the application region at the height of the substrate to be floated in the floating stage; And a rear transfer means for transporting the substrate to be lifted from the floating stage away from the chemical supply nozzle in the substrate discharge area of the rear portion of the coating area. To provide.

In the in-line type substrate coater device in which the chemical liquid is coated on the surface of the substrate while the substrate is supplied and transported, the chemical liquid is coated on the surface of the substrate while the substrate is always maintained at a constant height, thereby making it uniform in the application area. The coating state of the chemical liquid applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed to one thickness is maintained until discharged from the substrate coater apparatus, so that the coating state of the chemical liquid of the substrate to be processed can be improved much better than before.

On the other hand, the term 'application area' used in the present specification and claims is not limited to the 'one position' where the chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate to be processed by the nozzle, and is applied to the surface of the substrate to be treated by the nozzle. The term "area" is used to include all of the predetermined areas before and after one location to which the chemical is applied. That is, in the present invention, the application region may be set as an area overlapping or spaced apart from the end of the front transfer means and the start of the rear transfer means.

Here, any one or more of the front transfer means and the rear transfer means may be composed of a plurality of rollers. By supporting the substrate by a plurality of rollers, it is possible to physically support and suppress the phenomenon in which a large-sized to-be-processed substrate sags by its own weight while the substrate to be processed is transferred.

In addition, any one or more of the front transfer means and the rear transfer means may be made of a conveyor. In this way, the substrate to be processed can be prevented from sagging more than supported by the roller.

In addition, any one or more of the front transfer means and the rear transfer means may be composed of an air floating stage to transfer the substrate to be processed. This is expensive but has the advantage of reducing fine vibrations compared to transporting the substrate to be processed by a roller or a conveyor.

Here, the coating area may be formed to a length shorter than the length of the substrate. Through this, as the substrate to be processed is transported while the one or more sides are always supported downward to the roller and / or the conveyor, the sagging of the substrate to be processed can be prevented more effectively. As the substrate to be removed removes the region supported only by the floating force of air, it is possible to fundamentally prevent the fluctuation that may occur when the whole of the substrate is introduced into the non-contact supported application region.

The chemical liquid supply nozzle is characterized in that the slit nozzle having a slit corresponding to the width of the substrate to be processed.

Then, the floating stage keeps the substrate to be floated by spraying or spraying and sucking gas from the upper surface.

The apparatus may further include a gripping mechanism that moves in a state of holding the substrate to be processed along a path formed along a transfer path of the substrate.

Above all, the rear conveying means extends to the vacuum pressure drying apparatus which is a subsequent process of the coating process of the substrate to be processed. As a result, the substrate to be processed is kept horizontal until it reaches the chamber of the vacuum drying apparatus from the in-line type substrate coater device, so that the chemical liquid coated on the surface of the substrate does not flow down until it is dried, thereby providing excellent quality. The coating state of can be implemented as it is on the finished product.

On the other hand, according to another field of the invention, the present invention is an inline type substrate coating method for coating the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate while transferring the substrate to be processed, the state in which the supplied substrate to be processed is placed on the upper side A forward conveyance step of conveying at a predetermined height toward the slit nozzle by the forward conveyance means; The chemical liquid is discharged from the discharge port of the slit nozzle located in the application region while the substrate is floated and the application region is transferred to the conveyance height at which the substrate is transferred to the front transfer means. A substrate coating step of coating; A rear transfer step of transferring the to-be-processed substrate to a transfer height which is transferred to the front transfer means by a rear transfer means while the substrate to be processed is coated with a chemical liquid on a surface thereof; It provides an in-line type substrate coating method comprising a.

Here, the coating area may be set smaller than the length of the substrate. Through this, as the substrate to be processed is transported while the one or more sides are always supported downward to the roller and / or the conveyor, the sagging of the substrate to be processed can be prevented more effectively. As the substrate to be removed removes the region supported only by the floating force of air, it is possible to fundamentally prevent the fluctuation that may occur when the whole of the substrate is introduced into the non-contact supported application region.

In addition, the rear conveyance step is very effective in that the transfer to the vacuum deposition apparatus, which is a subsequent process, can maintain the chemical liquid coating state of the substrate to be treated with excellent quality.

At least one of the front transfer means and the rear transfer means may be formed of a plurality of rollers.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, any one or more of the front transfer means and the rear transfer means may be made of a conveyor.

Since the substrate to be processed passing through the application region is only supported upward by air flotation force, the substrate to be processed is preferably conveyed in a gripped state by a gripping mechanism that leads to the conveying direction of the substrate to be processed.

As described above, the present invention is an inline type substrate coater apparatus for coating a chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate while transferring the substrate to be processed, which is positioned in a stationary state during the coating process of the substrate. A chemical liquid supply nozzle for supplying a chemical liquid to the surface of the substrate to be processed; A floating stage which floats the substrate to be processed in an application region below the discharge port of the slit nozzle; Forward transfer means for transferring the substrate to the chemical liquid supply nozzle from the substrate supply region of the front portion of the application region at the height of the substrate to be floated in the floating stage; And a rear conveying means for transferring the substrate to be raised from the floating stage so as to move away from the chemical supply nozzle in the substrate discharge region of the rear portion of the coating area, so that the substrate is always at a constant height. The chemical liquid is coated on the surface while being maintained, so that the coating state of the chemical liquid applied to the surface of the substrate with a uniform thickness in the application area is maintained without staining until it is discharged from the substrate coater device, and the chemical liquid of the substrate to be treated is maintained. Provided are an in-line type substrate coater device and a coating method thereof, which can improve a coating state of a resin much better than the conventional method.

In addition, the present invention extends the back conveying means until the vacuum drying apparatus for coating and discharging the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be processed and then performing a subsequent process, thereby subjecting the substrate to be processed by the vacuum drying apparatus. As the transfer control is performed so that there is no bending deformation until it is seated in the chamber, it is possible to fundamentally prevent staining of the coating surface from the finished product to the finished product by flowing down the chemical liquid after application of the chemical liquid.

In addition, the present invention can effectively prevent the deformation caused by the sag during transfer of the substrate to be processed by transferring the supply and discharge areas of the substrate to be processed in a separate contact manner without transferring the substrate in the form of air floating. Benefits are obtained.

1A and 1B schematically illustrate the operating principle of a conventional general in-line floating board coater device.
2 is a schematic diagram showing the transfer height of the substrate to be processed divided by the transfer region;
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the in-line type substrate coater apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention
4A is a cross-sectional view along the cutting line 4A-4A in FIG.
4B is a cross sectional view along cut line 4B-4B in FIG. 3;
5 is a perspective view showing a configuration except for the slit nozzle of FIG.
Figure 6 is a side schematic view showing the principle of operation of Figure 3
7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration for controlling the floating force of the floating stage of FIG.
Figure 8 is a side schematic view showing the operating principle of the in-line type substrate coater device according to another embodiment of the present invention
9 is a flow chart showing a coating process of the substrate coater device of FIG.
Figure 10 is a side schematic view showing the operating principle of the in-line type substrate coater device according to another embodiment of the present invention

Hereinafter, a floating substrate coater apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the in-line type substrate coater device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4a is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line 4A-4A of Figure 3, Figure 4b is a cutting line 4B-4B of Figure 3 5 is a perspective view showing a configuration excluding the slit nozzle of FIG. 3, FIG. 6 is a side schematic view showing the operating principle of FIG. 3, and FIG. 7 is a configuration for controlling the floating force of the floating stage of FIG. It is a schematic diagram shown.

As shown in the figure, the floating substrate coater apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed in the application region CC to which the chemical liquid 33 is applied in a path through which the substrate G to be processed is transferred. A floating stage 110 fixed to the frame 10 so as to inject the gas from the upper surface to inject the target substrate G, and a substrate G disposed on the upper side of the floating stage 110. The slit-shaped slit nozzle 120, which is a chemical liquid supply means for injecting the chemical liquid 33 onto the surface of the substrate G in the stopped state during the movement, and, if necessary, preliminary ejection of the slit nozzle 120 or A gantry 130 for fixing the slit nozzle 120 to move in the longitudinal direction 130d along the gantry transfer rail 131 and to move up and down at the same time, and a substrate to be cleaned. G) is applied to the height of the injuries that are injured in the injuries stage 110. A plurality of front rollers which are rotationally driven in a state where the substrate to be processed G is positioned upward as a front transfer means for transferring the slit nozzle 120 in the substrate supply region AA located at the front portion of the reverse CC. 140 and the rear conveyance for transporting the slit nozzle 120 in the substrate discharge area EE located at the rear of the application area CC at the height of the floating of the substrate G to be processed by the floating stage 110. As a means, a plurality of rear rollers 150 which are rotationally driven in a state where the substrate G is disposed above and the substrate auxiliary G 161 are held in a state where the substrate G is made of glass. Therefore, it is comprised by the holding mechanism 160 which transfers the to-be-processed board | substrate G and moves to-be-processed board | substrate G so that the lower part of the slit nozzle 120 may pass.

As described above, since the substrate 33 is transferred from the substrate supply region AA and the substrate discharge region EE to the height in the application region CC where the chemical liquid 33 is applied to the surface of the substrate G, the substrate to be processed ( G) is capable of precisely maintaining a horizontal state that is not bent at all times while the chemical liquid 33 is applied and transported. Therefore, unlike the conventional inline type floating substrate coater device shown in Fig. 2, the first transition region BB and the second transition for shifting the difference between the floating heights H1 and H2 of the substrate G to be processed. The region DD does not exist in the in-line type substrate coater device 100 according to the present invention.

The floating stage 110 allows the floating force to act on the processing target substrate G while maintaining the precise height in the application area CC of the processing substrate G. At this time, the length L1 of the processing target substrate G is formed longer than the length L2 of the application region CC, so that the processing target substrate G is at least supported by the floating stage 110 at least. One side is to be supported by the front feed roller 140 or the rear feed roller 150.

At this time, the front feed roller 140 and the rear feed roller 150 is rotated by a plurality of rollers spaced apart from each other on one rotation axis, while minimizing the amount of deflection due to the weight of the rollers (140, 150) The transfer of the substrate G to be processed can be effectively supported.

As a result, the substrate G is transported while the one or more sides are always supported by the transfer rollers 140 and 150, thereby removing the region in which the substrate is supported only by the floating force of air. Fluctuations that can occur when the s) enters the state supported only by the floating force of air can be prevented, and the deflection amount change of the substrate G to be processed can be controlled to be smaller.

It is important that the substrate G is transported while being maintained at a constant floating height without shaking in the application area CC. For this purpose, a large number of intake holes 110a are provided in the floating stage 110 as shown in FIG. And a gas blowing hole 110b is formed to precisely adjust the lift height of the substrate to be processed by the controlled lift force 110d.

At this time, the floating stage 110 is formed on the surface of the injection hole (110b) that the gas is injected at a predetermined pressure and the suction hole (110a) for sucking the surrounding gas, the compressed gas compressed in the compressor is a regulator ( The valve 114a is regulated so that the flow rate of the desired gas is supplied to the flowmeter 113 through the 112, and is supplied to the blow-out hole 110b so as to be compressed by another compressor 115. Open to suck the gas from the suction hole (110a). At this time, the amount of gas injected through the blowing hole 110b and the amount of gas sucked through the suction hole 110a are substantially maintained. Then, the floating force always acts in the direction indicated by reference numeral 110d. However, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, although the intake hole 110a and the gas ejection hole 110b are exemplarily arranged together, the intake hole 110a is not formed and the floating stage 110 is formed only by the gas ejection hole 110b. The flotation force of may be controlled.

The slit nozzle 120 receives the chemical liquid 33 through the pump 121 and applies the chemical liquid 33 to the surface of the substrate G through a discharge port 120a to a predetermined thickness. At this time, the slit nozzle 120 may apply the chemical liquid 33 to the surface while moving in accordance with the transfer of the processing target substrate (G), the slit nozzle 120 according to the first embodiment of the present invention It is fixed in the state stopped at one position of the center position CC / 2 of the application | coating area | region CC. Accordingly, in contrast to the prior art of coating the chemical liquid while moving in the direction opposite to the transfer direction of the processing target substrate G during the transfer of the processing target substrate G, the present invention provides a slit nozzle 120 at the center of the application area. By not moving in a fixed state, the control parameter for the movement of the slit nozzle 120 is reduced during the chemical coating process, so that the control becomes easier, and the stability of the equipment can be increased, and the surface of the substrate G can be The variation of the coating thickness of the chemical liquid can be prevented more effectively.

The gantry 130 is engaged with the projection 131a of the gantry conveying rail 131 installed along the longitudinal direction of the floating stage 110 while fixing the slit nozzle 120 to be treated along the conveying rail 131. The gantry 130 is installed to be movable in the transfer direction (that is, the front-rear direction) of the substrate G. At the same time, the gantry 130 is configured to move the slit nozzle 120 up and down, and thus the discharge port of the slit nozzle 120. It is used to move the scrub to clean or predischarge.

The front feed roller 140 is positioned in the upper portion of the glass substrate to be supplied (G) to be supplied and rotated in a quiet manner, so that the substrate (G) is applied to the coating area (CC) where the slit nozzle 120 is located. To the side. At this time, the plurality of the front transfer roller 140 is covered with a rubber material on at least a portion of the outer peripheral surface, so that the slip between the front transfer roller 140 and the substrate to be processed (G) does not occur and reliably avoided. The processing substrate G can be transferred. Meanwhile, the term 'rubber material' used in the present specification and claims is not limited to natural rubber and synthetic rubber, and refers to all materials of polyurethane and polyethylene-based materials having rubber properties that can be elastically deformable with adhesive force. It is defined as.

And, as shown in Figure 4b is a forward drive roller 140 is a rotational driving force is transmitted to the belt 141 in a state in which both ends of the shaft 140a is supported by the bearing 140b for quiet rotational driving Rotate As a result, vibration or oscillation does not occur in the substrate G to be transferred from the upper side of the front feed roller 140.

Similarly to the front feed roller 140, the rear feed roller 140 is positioned in the upper side of the glass substrate to be supplied (G) to be supplied and rotated quietly, the application area (CC) where the slit nozzle 120 is located The substrate G to be processed is transferred in a direction discharged from the sheet C). Since a plurality of the rear feed rollers 150 are covered with a rubber material on at least a part of the outer circumferential surface, slippage does not occur between the rear feed rollers 150 and the substrate to be processed (G). G) can be transferred. In addition, the rear conveying roller 140 is rotated by the rotational driving force is transmitted to the belt 141 for a quiet rotational drive, vibration or oscillation to the substrate (G) to be transferred from the upper side of the rear conveying roller 150. It does not occur.

Here, the rear feed roller 150 is a step of evenly drying the chemical liquid applied to the substrate to be processed G, which is the next step of the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate G as shown in FIG. It extends to the cradle 91 of the vacuum pressure drying apparatus 90 to perform the. That is, the rear conveying roller 150 extends beyond the coating region I of the substrate coater apparatus 100 to the drying region II of the vacuum pressure drying apparatus 90. Through this, the substrate G is in a horizontal state without bending deformation until the chemical liquid 33 applied to the surface of the substrate G is dried before and after the chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the substrate G to be dried. As a result, as the applied chemical liquid 33 flows down to form a stain, it is possible to ensure that the quality of the chemical liquid coating surface of the substrate G to be processed is reduced to the finished product.

In addition, the substrate G is transported in a state of being supported downward by the front and rear transfer rollers 140 and 150, thereby preventing the processing of the central portion sagging due to its own weight even during the transfer. The effect is also obtained.

On the other hand, as shown in Figure 8, according to another embodiment of the present invention, in order to transfer the substrate to be processed (G) to the coating area (CC) and discharge from the coating area (CC), a plurality of rollers 140 Instead of using 150, the processing target substrate G may be transferred using the conveyor 240. At this time, the conveyor 240 is composed of a conveyor belt 242, the driving roller 241a is located at any one or more of the two ends, the idler roller 241b is located between them, and surround them. Then, the driving roller 241a is rotated so that the surface of the conveyor belt 242 moves in the conveying direction of the substrate G, thereby moving the substrate G to be processed by the belt 242 of the conveyor 240. It can also be transferred through the surface.

At this time, the surface of the conveyor belt 242 may be formed of a rubber material in order to prevent slipping of the substrate G to be mounted and transported on the conveyor belt 242.

On the other hand, as shown in Fig. 10, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the front portion of the substrate supply region AA and the rear portion of the substrate discharge region EE shown in Figs. Lift pins 88 and 89 may be provided to lift or lower in the vertical direction 88d and 89d while the substrate G is mounted thereon. As such, the lift pins 88 are provided at the front of the substrate supply region AA, whereby the chemical liquid coating process of the substrate G is performed. Even if the conveyance path of the robot (not shown) which supplies the to-be-processed substrate G to which the chemical | medical solution is to be apply | coated does not match with the conveyance height of the to-be-processed substrate G, the to-be-processed substrate G may be removed. It can supply to the inline type substrate coater apparatus 100. Similarly, as the lift pins 89 are provided at the rear of the substrate discharge area EE, the height of the chamber holder 91 of the vacuum pressure drying apparatus 90 for subsequent processing is increased. Even if it is inconsistent with the conveyance height of, it is easy to move the substrate G to be processed onto the holder 91 in the chamber of the vacuum pressure drying apparatus 90 which performs the next step without difficulty.

The holding mechanism 160 assists the transfer of the processing target substrate G by moving in the state in which the processing target substrate G is held along the transfer direction of the processing target substrate G. FIG. At this time, the gripping mechanism 160 may grip and transfer both or one side of the substrate G over the entire transfer path of the substrate G, but there is no force to move in the conveying direction. It may be formed only on the floating stage 110 of the application area (CC).

The holding mechanism 160 floats in the form of an air bearing 162 from the transfer auxiliary rails 161 arranged on both sides along the transfer direction of the processing target substrate G to suck and hold the processing target substrate G to process the processing target substrate. Transfer (G). The transfer auxiliary rail 161 is arranged in parallel with each other on one side or both sides of the transfer path of the processing target substrate G, and serves as a guide for transferring the processing target substrate G held by the holding mechanism 160. .

Hereinafter, a coating method of the floating substrate coater device 100 according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. 9.

Step 1 : The floating substrate coater device (ie, the substrate G) is disposed so that the front transfer roller 140 is positioned under the supplied substrate G to apply the chemical to the surface of the substrate G. 100) (S110).

Step 2 : Rotating the front feed roller 140 to bring the substrate G to the coating area CC by the frictional force between the outer circumferential surface of the front feed roller 140 and the bottom of the substrate G. Push to transfer (S120). In order to prevent the substrate G from being pushed along the predetermined transfer path and deviating in the lateral direction, the substrate G is disposed in the transverse direction of the substrate G on both sides of the transfer path of the substrate G. A guide wall (not shown) that limits the allowable displacement is erected to guide the substrate G to reach the alignment position safely.

Step 3 : When the substrate G reaches a predetermined alignment position while passing through the substrate supply area AA, the substrate G is raised to a posture alignment mechanism (not shown) at a diagonal position facing both sides. The substrate G is aligned in a position and a position suitable for transferring to the application area CC. Then, the processing target substrate G is gripped by the holding mechanism 160 and transferred along the transfer path of the processing target substrate G. FIG. When the processing target substrate G enters the application region CC, the processing target substrate G is supported by the floating force 110d of the floating stage 110, so that the processing target substrate G is the substrate supply region ( The chemical liquid 33 is discharged by the slit nozzle 120 which is maintained in the same level as in AA) and has a slit-shaped discharge port of a length corresponding to the width of the substrate G to be processed. The chemical liquid is applied to the surface of the processing substrate G at a constant thickness (S130).

Step 4 : Then, when the tip of the substrate G reaches the upper side of the rear conveying roller 150 through the application area CC, the substrate to be processed by the rear conveying roller 150 which is rotationally driven ( G) is transported to pass through the substrate discharge area EE in an unbent horizontal state (S140). At this time, the rear conveying roller 150 extends to the vacuum pressure drying apparatus 90 to be subjected to the subsequent process, so that the substrate G to which the chemical liquid is applied to the surface is kept in a horizontal state without the chemical liquid flowing down. It is conveyed to the pressure reduction drying apparatus 90.

Step 5 : Then, the substrate to be processed G mounted on the support 91 of the vacuum drying apparatus 90 is subjected to a drying process under reduced pressure with vacuum, thereby to the surface of the substrate G to be processed. The applied chemical liquid coating layer is dried to a uniform thickness without staining by flowing down and integrally laminated on the substrate G to be processed. Therefore, it is possible to fundamentally prevent staining caused by the flow of the chemical liquid on the substrate G after application of the chemical liquid, and thus it is possible to form a chemical liquid coating layer having a high quality while having a uniform thickness to the finished LCD. The effect can be obtained.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS
100: inline type substrate coater device 110: floating stage
120: slit coater 130: gantry
140: front feed roller 150: rear feed roller
160: holding mechanism 240: conveyor
241a: drive roller 241b: idler roller
242: conveyor belt

Claims (21)

An inline type substrate coater apparatus for coating a chemical liquid on a surface of a substrate to be processed while transferring the substrate,
A chemical liquid supply nozzle for supplying a chemical liquid to a surface of the substrate to be treated during the coating process of the substrate;
A floating stage provided in an application area below the discharge port of the liquid-liquid supply nozzle to float the substrate to be processed, the floating stage being shorter in length than the length of the substrate;
While the bottom surface of the substrate is contacted and supported by any one or more of a plurality of rollers or conveyors installed at the height of the substrate to be floated in the float stage, the chemical liquid supply nozzle is applied in the substrate supply region of the front portion of the coating region. Forward conveying means for conveying toward;
The chemical liquid supply nozzle in the substrate discharge area of the rear portion of the coating area while the bottom surface of the substrate to be contacted is supported by any one or more of a plurality of rollers or conveyors installed at the height of the substrate to be floated in the floating stage. A rear conveying means for conveying away from the;
And an at least one side of the substrate to be contacted and supported by any one or more of the rollers and the conveyor when the substrate to be processed passes through the application region.
The method of claim 1,
And the plurality of rollers are covered with a rubber material on at least a portion of an outer circumferential surface thereof.
The method of claim 2,
An inline type substrate coater device, characterized in that a plurality of rollers are spaced apart from each other on one rotation axis to rotate.
The method of claim 3, wherein
And the chemical liquid supply nozzle is fixed in a stationary state during transfer of the substrate to be processed.
5. The method of claim 4,
And the chemical liquid supply nozzle is positioned at the center of the application area during the transfer of the substrate to be processed.
The method of claim 1,
And the floating stage injects or injects and sucks gas from an upper surface of the floating stage so that the substrate to be processed remains floating.
The method of claim 1,
A holding mechanism that moves in a state of holding the substrate to be processed along a path formed along a transfer path of the substrate;
Inline type substrate coater device, characterized in that further comprises.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
And the rear conveying means extends to a vacuum pressure drying apparatus which is a subsequent step of the coating process of the substrate to be processed.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
And at least one of a front portion of the substrate supply region and a rear portion of the substrate supply region is further provided with a lift pin movable up and down while holding the substrate to be processed.
An in-line type substrate coating method for coating a chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate by a chemical liquid supply nozzle located in the application area while transferring the substrate to be processed,
A forward conveyance step of conveying the bottom surface of the substrate to be processed at a predetermined height toward the coating area by contact supporting the bottom surface of the substrate to be processed by any one or more of a plurality of rollers or conveyors;
By the air floating force of the floating stage provided in the application area under the discharge port of the chemical liquid supply nozzle, in the application area in the state of floating the substrate to be processed at the transfer height that was transferred the substrate to be processed in the front transfer step. A substrate coating step of coating the chemical liquid on the surface of the substrate to be treated with the chemical liquid discharged from the discharge port of the chemical liquid supply nozzle located in the application area while being transferred;
The substrate to be coated with the chemical liquid on the surface thereof while supporting the bottom surface of the substrate to be treated at a height that is transferred from the application area by at least one of a plurality of rollers or a conveyor. A rearward conveying step of conveying the back of the application area;
And the length of the floating stage is shorter than that of the substrate, so that at least one side of the substrate is processed by any one or more of the rollers and conveyors when the substrate passes through the application area. In-line type substrate coating method characterized in that the contact is supported.
The method of claim 10,
The rear conveying step is a substrate coating method of the in-line type, characterized in that the transfer to the vacuum pressure deposition apparatus that is a subsequent process.
The method according to claim 10 or 11, wherein
And said substrate to be processed passing through said application region is conveyed in a state held by a gripping mechanism.
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