KR101321407B1 - Structure of air knife type of dry cleaner - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A structure of an air knife type dry cleaner is provided to improve performance over 50% in comparison with existing performance by removing foreign particles of 10-15 μm. CONSTITUTION: Air knives (11a,11b) are separated from each other at regular intervals on a substrate. The air knives guide the flow of air. Dust collection hoods (12a,12b) are installed on the substrate. The dust collection hoods collect the air guided by the air knives. An air gap is formed in the air knife.

Description

Structure of Air Knife Type of Dry Cleaner

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dry knife structure of an air knife type, and more specifically, to a vacuum cleaner while matching a direction in which air is injected with a dust collecting method, to form a vacuum to remove non-stick foreign substances present on a substrate such as glass. It is about.

Fine particles or foreign substances present on the surface during the manufacturing process of the semiconductor substrate or the LCD substrate may cause defects of the whole product. Therefore, it is necessary to remove particles corresponding to foreign substances present on the surface during manufacturing of a display device such as a semiconductor product, an LCD, or a camera module.

As a prior art for removing foreign substances on a substrate such as glass, there is a patent registration No. 0710685 'dry cleaning device for a substrate storage container'. The prior art relates to a dry cleaning apparatus for a substrate storage container, wherein a loading portion for inputting and transporting the body and the cover of the substrate storage container to different paths, and dry ice particles for the entire interior of the body and the cover of the substrate storage container, respectively. Disclosed is a dry cleaning apparatus for a substrate storage container including a cleaning unit for spraying and cleaning the substrate, and an unloading unit for carrying out and transporting the main body and the lid of the substrate storage container, each of which has been cleaned by the cleaning unit, in different paths.

In another prior art related to a dry substrate cleaning apparatus, Patent Publication No. 2010-0015049 "Dry substrate cleaning apparatus" is a blower for supplying pressurized air, and a vibration generating unit for applying vibration to the pressurized air from the lower part of the blower; An injection hole for injecting pressurized air vibrating from the lower side of the vibration generating part onto a substrate, and further pressurizing the pressurized air and lowering the temperature to inject the sprayed part, and spraying the sprayed part from both sides of the injection part; Disclosed is a dry substrate cleaning apparatus including a suction unit having a pair of suction ports for suctioning the pressurized air and foreign substances, and an ionizer located at both sides of the suction unit to prevent the substrate from being charged with static electricity. .

Another prior art for removing substrate dust is Patent Publication No. 2011-0123175, “Dry Substrate Cleaning System”. The present invention relates to a dry substrate cleaning system that can remove inorganic and organic substances on the surface of a substrate using ultraviolet rays and ultrasonic waves in an eco-friendly and effective manner, and includes a loading unit for loading the substrate from the outside and a substrate installed adjacent to the loading unit and transferred to the substrate. Heating unit for heating by irradiation with infrared rays, installed near the heating unit, UV cleaning unit for removing organic particles by irradiating ultraviolet rays to the substrate transmitted from the heating unit, installed adjacent to the UV cleaning unit and transmitted from the UV cleaning unit Disclosed is a dry substrate cleaning system including an ultrasonic cleaning unit for removing inorganic particles by irradiating ultrasonic waves to a substrate and an unloading unit installed adjacent to the ultrasonic cleaning unit and unloading the substrate transferred from the ultrasonic cleaning unit to the outside. have.

The prior art or the known technique injects high pressure air in the form of air or ultrasonic waves towards the surface of the substrate where the foreign matter is present to separate the foreign matter from the substrate. Then, the separated foreign matter may be introduced into the dust collector together with the air.

The prior art has a problem that the air flow can flow into the dust collecting device because the air is injected directly to the substrate, which requires a strong dust collecting performance. In addition, since air is injected through the jet nozzle, a dead zone may occur according to the structure of the jet nozzle. It also has the disadvantage that the removal of fine particles is difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art and has the following objectives.

An object of the present invention is to provide an air knife type dry cleaner structure in which the high-speed vacuum is formed while the spraying direction of the air becomes the same direction as the dust collecting direction so that foreign substances on the substrate can be removed.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scrubber structure includes: an air knife installed on the substrate at a predetermined interval to induce air flow; A dust collecting hood installed above the substrate to collect air induced by the air knife; And an air gap formed in the air knife, wherein the air discharged through the air gap forms a vacuum state between the substrate and the air knife while forming an airflow that flows along the surface of the air knife and is led to the collected hood.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, it further comprises an ionizer which prevents charging of the substrate.

According to another suitable embodiment of the present invention, the dust collecting hood comprises a side wall and a bottom face, and protruding walls are formed in front of the bottom face.

The scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage of enabling the removal of foreign matters having the size of particles of 10-15 µm or more in a general manner so that 50% or more of the scrubber can be improved in performance compared to known scrubbers. And, for example, when the ultrasonic wave is applied, it is possible to remove particles having a diameter of less than 10 μm. In addition, the scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage that the flow of air to the outside of the dust collecting device is blocked so that a high dust collecting capacity is not required. In addition, the scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage that the foreign matter is removed by vacuum formation, thereby reducing the impact received by the substrate and generating a uniform foreign material removal effect over the entire surface. In addition, the cleaner according to the present invention has the advantage that the fine particles having a large surface tension can be easily separated from the substrate.

1A schematically illustrates an embodiment of a dry scrubber structure according to the present invention.
Figure 1b shows an embodiment of the structure of the scrubber according to the present invention (a) is an embodiment of the air knife type dry scrubber structure according to the present invention (b) is known in the known jet nozzle method Each dry scrubber structure is shown.
2 illustrates an embodiment of a dust collecting hood that can be applied to a dry cleaner structure according to the present invention.
3A to 3D show photographs of a process of cleaning in the cleaner structure according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

In the description below, the vacuum state means a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure or has a low pressure at two points where there is a pressure difference generated by the flow of airflow which generates a force greater than the surface tension of particles having a diameter of 10 to 20 μm. Means the pressure at the point.

1A schematically illustrates an embodiment of a dry scrubber structure according to the present invention.

Figure 1b shows an embodiment of the structure of the scrubber according to the present invention (a) is an embodiment of the air knife type dry scrubber structure according to the present invention (b) is known in the known jet nozzle method Each dry scrubber structure is shown.

1A and 1B, a dry cleaner structure according to the present invention includes an air knife 11 spaced apart by a predetermined interval on a substrate G to induce air flow; A dust collecting hood 12 installed above the substrate G to collect air guided by the air knife 11; And an air gap 111 formed in the air knife 11, and the air discharged through the air gap 111 forms an air flow that flows along the surface of the air knife 11 and is led to the collected hood 12. While a vacuum state is formed between the substrate G and the air knife 11.

Substrate G can be any substrate in the electrical and electronics industry where surface cleaning is desired, such as, for example, glass substrates, silicon substrates, display substrates, camera lenses or wafer substrates. The substrate G can be shaped like a plate and fixed by an appropriate frame F and can be conveyed by a conveying device as necessary.

The air knives 11a and 11b are accommodated in the housings H1 and H2 and may be installed above and below the substrate G, but may be installed in either direction as necessary. An air flow device such as a ring blower, for example, for providing air having a constant pressure to the air knives 11a and 11b in the housings H1 and H2 may be installed. The airflow supplied from the ring airflow device may be passed through the upper portion of the substrate G through the air knives 11a and 11b to the dust collection hoods 12a and 12b.

The air knifes 11a and 11b may be installed symmetrically above and below the substrate G, and the air discharged from the air knifes 11a and 11b flows along the circumferential surfaces of the air knifes 11a and 11b. The hood 12a and 12b may be introduced together with the foreign matter on the surface of the substrate G. This flow of air is described again below.

The ionizers 13a and 13b provided in the housings H1 and H2 are for preventing the substrate G from being charged. Ionizers 13a and 13b may be installed at various locations and may be of any type known in the art.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 1B, a cleaner structure may be installed at a predetermined distance from the substrate G. Air flowing out through the air gap 111 of the air knife 11 may flow into the dust collection hood 12 while forming an air flow indicated by an arrow A along the circumferential surface of the air knife 11. The first distance D1 between the substrate G and the air knife 11 relative to the direction perpendicular to the flow of airflow is smaller than the opposite second distance D2 between the dust collecting hood 12 and thus The first cross-sectional area is smaller than the second cross-sectional area. As a result, a vacuum state region V in a vacuum state or a low air pressure state may be formed between the substrate G and the air knife 11 or between the substrate G and the bottom of the dust collecting hood 12. As a result, particles or foreign substances on the substrate G flow into the dust collection hood 12 together with the airflow along the direction indicated by the arrow B. FIG.

Referring to the well-known scrubber structure shown in (b) of FIG. 1B, when air having a predetermined level of pressure is injected from the air nozzle 1 to the substrate G, the airflow along the direction indicated by the arrow A is Can be formed. Due to the pressure of air dispersed from the spray nozzle 1, particles or foreign substances present on the substrate G may be separated, and airflow and foreign substances flow along the surface of the substrate. In addition, air and foreign matter may flow into the dust collecting hood 2 in the direction indicated by the arrow B by the dust collecting hood 2 sucking the airflow including the foreign matter. On the other hand, the airflow containing the foreign matter flows along the surface and the dust collecting hood 2 must have a sufficiently high pressure to introduce the air containing the foreign matter into the dust collecting hood 2.

Referring to (a) of FIG. 1B, in the cleaner structure according to the present invention, the airflow flows along the circumferential surface of the air knife 11 so that the airflow itself flows from the substrate G to the dust collection hood 12. Therefore, it is sufficient that the dust collection hood 12 has only a pressure enough to induce the flow of airflow.

In contrast to the difference between the scrubber structure according to the present invention shown in (a) of Figure 1b and the known scrubber structure shown in (b) of Figure 1b is as follows.

end. Scrubber structure according to the present invention

(i) The high speed air flows between the small gaps of which the separation distance is not large, and the foreign matter on the substrate G is removed by using the vacuum formed thereby.

(ii) Since the spray direction of the air coincides with the dust collecting direction, the dust collecting ability is improved.

(iii) The air knife 11 is provided in the direction parallel to the board | substrate G, and uniform washing | cleaning is possible over the board | substrate G whole.

(iv) It is possible to remove foreign substances having a diameter of 5 to 15 µm or more.

I. Scrubber structure according to the known art

(i) Air is injected directly into the foreign matter so that the foreign matter on the substrate G is removed.

(ii) When air is injected, strong dust collecting force is required because air can flow into the dust collecting hood 2.

(iii) A dead zone may occur depending on the structure of the injection nozzle 1 and the conditions of use.

(iv) It is possible to remove foreign substances having a diameter of 20 to 30 µm or more.

Air knives 11 having various structures can be made for the formation of airflow along the upper plane of the substrate G.

Referring to (a) of Figure 1, the air knife 11 may be composed of a hollow body 112 and the air gap 111 to communicate the interior and the body 112. Air of a certain pressure is introduced into the air knife 11 by an air flow device such as a ring blower, and the air is discharged to the outside of the air knife 11 through the air gap 111 again and FIG. 1B. This creates an airflow as shown above (a). The air knife 11 may have a polygonal cross-sectional area and may have a rod shape extending by a predetermined length, and the predetermined length may be determined by the width of the substrate G. The cross-sectional area of the polygon may be, for example, but not limited to, a pentagon, a hexagon, or a polygon having a curved surface on one side. The size of the air gap 111 may be, for example, 0.01 to 1.0 mm and preferably 0.03 to 0.1 mm, but is not limited thereto, and is appropriate depending on the size of the air pressure of the airflow device or the length of the air knife 11. Can be adjusted.

In the dry scrubber structure according to the present invention, since the flow of air flow is formed at a predetermined angle from the substrate, it is advantageous that the dust collecting hood has an appropriate structure capable of collecting foreign matter contained in the air flow.

Hereinafter, a dust collecting hood that can be applied to a dry cleaner structure according to the present invention will be described.

2 illustrates an embodiment of a dust collecting hood that can be applied to a dry cleaner structure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the air discharged through the air gap 111 of the air knife 11 forms the first air stream F1 having a high speed and approaches the dust collecting hood 12. Can be changed to the slow second air stream F2. The second airflow F2 includes foreign matter accumulated on the substrate and passes through the first sidewall 121a of the dust collecting hood 12 to collide with the inner surface of the second sidewall 121b. If the bottom of the dust collecting hood 12 is inclined, foreign matter removed from the substrate may again escape the dust collecting hood 12 along the direction indicated by the arrow R1.

Referring to FIG. 2B, the sidewalls of the dust collecting hood 12 may be inclined to be formed in the direction of the second air flow F2. The dust collecting capability can be improved by appropriately adjusting the distance of one wall of the dust collecting hood 12 to be, for example, 100 to 150 mm from the end of the air knife 11. The foreign matter included in the second airflow F2 may be collected through the hood collection ceiling 123.

Referring to (C) of FIG. 2, the bottom surface 122 of the dust collecting hood 12 may have a horizontal shape, and a protruding wall 122a may be formed in front of the bottom surface 122. The protruding wall 122a has a function of preventing foreign substances falling along the arrow direction R1 by moving along the second airflow F2 and colliding with the second sidewall 121b to leave the dust collecting hood 12. The height of the protruding wall 122a may be appropriately determined, for example, 1/30 to 2/3 of the height of the second sidewall 121b and is not particularly limited. The foreign matter collected on the bottom surface 122 may then be collected through the ceiling of the dust collection hood 12.

Dust collecting hood 12 having various structures can be formed and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of cleaning through the cleaner structure according to the present invention will be described.

For the tape, acrylic plate and glass substrate, foreign matter was used as glass powder or flour, and the internal pressure of the air knife was set to 5 kg / cm 2 and the size of the air gap was 5/100 mm. The state of the tape and glass plate before and after cleaning was observed using a Dino camera and a vision camera having magnifications of × 60, × 215, and × 220.

The cleaning results are shown in the table below.

* A and B indicate that the foreign matter becomes glass powder and flour, WT, G, YT and AC respectively indicate white tape, glass, yellow tape and acrylic plate, and D and V indicate dino camera and vision camera, respectively.

Vision camera was used as a criterion for the cleaning test after the fifth test.

Drying was carried out at 120 ° C. in a batch kiln and small and large amounts of foreign matter were determined by thickness.

The results according to the cleaning test are shown in FIGS. 3A-3D.

3a to 3d, it can be seen that the dry scrubber according to the present invention can remove foreign substances having a diameter of 10 to 15 μm and exhibit an improved performance of 50% or more compared to the general scrubber. If the removal of foreign matter of 10 to 15 ㎛ or less may be used ultrasonic dry cleaner.

Electrostatic measurements on the substrate were made, but no static electricity was generated, and the difference in the amount remaining was generated according to the amount of foreign matter introduced. This phenomenon appears to be that the fine material has a strong surface tension due to pressure. On the other hand, the difference in the cleaning power occurs depending on whether the substrate is dried, and the lower the height of the air knife, the better the cleaning power, but considering the flow of airflow, the height of the air knife from the substrate needs to be at least 1.0 mm.

The scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage of enabling the removal of foreign matters having the size of particles of 10-15 µm or more in a general manner so that 50% or more of the scrubber can be improved in performance compared to known scrubbers. And, for example, when ultrasonic waves are applied, it is possible to remove particles having a diameter of less than 10 μm. In addition, the scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage that the flow of air to the outside of the dust collecting device is blocked so that a high dust collecting capacity is not required. In addition, the scrubber according to the present invention has the advantage that the foreign matter is removed by vacuum formation, thereby reducing the impact received by the substrate and generating a uniform foreign material removal effect over the entire surface. In addition, the cleaner according to the present invention has the advantage that the fine particles having a large surface tension can be easily separated from the substrate.

Although described in detail above with reference to the embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications and modifications to the invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention with reference to the embodiments presented. . The invention is not limited by these variations and modifications, but is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

10: scrubber structure
11, 11a, 11b: air knife 12, 12a, 12b: dust collecting hood
13a, 13b: ionizer
111: air gap
121a: first sidewall 121b: second sidewall
122: bottom surface 122a: protrusion wall
G: Substrate F: Frame
H1, H2: Housing

Claims (3)

An air knife 11 spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval on the substrate G to induce a flow of air;
A dust collecting hood 12 installed above the substrate G to collect air guided by the air knife 11; And
An air gap 111 formed in the air knife 11,
The air discharged through the air gap 111 forms a stream of air flowing along the surface of the air knife 11 and guided to the dust collecting hood 12, and a vacuum is formed between the substrate G and the air knife 11. The first gap D1 between the substrate G and the air knife 11 is based on the direction perpendicular to the flow of the airflow, compared to the second gap D2 between the dust collection hoods 12. The small, and dust-collecting hood 12 consists of a first side wall 121a through which air flow passes, a second side wall 121b that collides with the air stream, and a bottom surface 122 and a protruding wall 122a in front of the bottom surface 122. Air cleaner type dry cleaner structure, characterized in that) is formed. The dry cleaner structure according to claim 1, further comprising an ionizer which prevents charging of the substrate (G).

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