KR101367663B1 - apparatus for attaching substrates of flat plate display element - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a substrate bonding apparatus, comprising: an upper chamber to which a first substrate is attached, a lower chamber to which a second substrate is attached and combined with an upper chamber to form a bonding space, a lifter for lifting and lowering the lower chamber with respect to the upper chamber, and an upper chamber. A substrate sensing unit disposed in the chamber, the substrate sensing unit detecting a separation distance between the first substrate and the second substrate according to whether the light is reflected by the second substrate by irradiating light to the substrates and passing through the first substrate; Thus, by adjusting the incident position of the light for measuring the distance of the substrate there is an effect that can detect the exact position of the substrate to calculate the exact distance of the bonded substrate.

Description

Substrate bonding apparatus {apparatus for attaching substrates of flat plate display element}

1 is a schematic view showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged view showing a substrate detecting unit of the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

3 is a perspective view showing a substrate sensing unit of the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

4a to 4b is an operation diagram showing the operation of the substrate sensing unit according to the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

100: substrate bonding device

10: frame

20: upper chamber

40: lower chamber

60 lifter

70: substrate detection unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to equipment for manufacturing flat panel displays, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus provided for bonding substrates in a flat panel display panel manufacturing process.

As the information society has developed, demands for display devices have been increasing in various forms. Recently, various flat panel display devices such as LCD (Lipuid Crystal Display Device), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electro Luminescent Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) have been studied and some of them are widely used in real life. .

Among them, the LCD is superior in image quality to a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and is widely used for a portable image display device because of its advantages of light weight, thinness and low power consumption.

The LCD is formed by injecting a liquid crystal between a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate on which electrodes are formed and a CF (color filter) substrate coated with a phosphor. A sealant for preventing the leakage of the liquid crystal material is provided on the outer circumferential surface of both substrates, and a spacer for maintaining a gap between both substrates is disposed between the both substrates.

Therefore, in manufacturing LCD, after manufacturing TFT substrate and CF substrate, it is necessary to join both substrates and inject liquid crystal material into the space between them, and the process of bonding double substrates determines the quality of LCD. It is one of the important processes.

The substrate bonding process is performed by a substrate bonding apparatus composed of an upper chamber and a lower chamber capable of forming an interior thereof in a vacuum state, and in the substrate bonding apparatus, an upper plate and a lower plate of the lower chamber in a vacuum state. Electrostatic chucks (ESCs) may be used to secure the substrate to the substrate.

That is, the power is applied to the upper and lower plates, and the substrates fixed to the upper and lower plates are pressed and bonded while the substrates are fixed to the upper and lower plates respectively by the electrostatic force generated by the power source.

At this time, in order to bond the substrate fixed to the upper plate and the lower plate, each substrate is aligned by an aligner, and the substrate fixed to the upper plate among the aligned substrates is approached to the substrate fixed to the lower plate as much as possible. The film is temporarily bonded by dropping, and is bonded by applying pressure to both substrates.

Here, the spacing of each substrate to be aligned requires very precise alignment. That is, maintaining the gap between the substrate is very important because the gap between the substrate located on the top and the substrate located on the bottom is kept constant and then the substrate on the top is free-falled to bond the substrates together.

Accordingly, in order to measure the distance between the lower substrate of the upper substrate, a gap sensor is provided to measure the distance between the upper substrate and the lower substrate by passing through the upper substrate from the upper portion of the upper substrate.

The gap detection sensor typically uses a laser displacement sensor, and detects the light reflected from the upper substrate to detect the position of the upper substrate, and then detects the light reflected from the lower substrate through the upper substrate to position the lower substrate. Detect it. Accordingly, the gap between the upper substrate and the lower substrate is calculated according to the position of the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

However, the above-described spacing sensor is provided to detect the position of the substrate by detecting the light reflected from each substrate, the error occurs in the reflection angle of the light reflected by the substrate in accordance with the state of the substrate, the reflected light in different directions There was a problem in that the case where the position of the plate cannot be measured due to reflection.

In addition, according to the state of the substrate, there is a problem that the light that should be reflected by the substrate passes through the substrate without being reflected by the substrate, and thus the position of the substrate cannot be measured.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate bonding apparatus that can accurately detect the position of the substrate by adjusting the incident position of the light for measuring the distance of the substrate.

Substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is the upper chamber to which the first substrate is attached, the lower substrate to which the second substrate is attached and combined with the upper chamber to form a bonding space, the upper chamber A lifter for elevating a lower chamber and an upper chamber and irradiating light onto the substrates and passing through the first substrate to detect the light reflected by the second substrate, depending on whether the first substrate and the second substrate are detected. It is provided with a substrate detecting unit for sensing the separation distance between the substrate.

The substrate sensing unit is provided with a laser displacement sensor for detecting the light reflected from the second substrate through the first substrate by irradiating the light, the laser displacement sensor is installed and is rotated to rotate the laser displacement sensor A rotating part, a bracket supporting the rotating part so that the rotating part is rotatable, fixed to the upper chamber, a driving part installed on the bracket and providing a driving force for rotating the rotating part, and the detection of the laser displacement sensor. And a control unit for controlling the operation of the driving unit.

The laser displacement sensor, a light emitting unit for irradiating the light to the substrates, and a light receiving unit for detecting the light transmitted from the light emitting unit to pass through the first substrate and reflected by the second substrate.

The drive unit, a drive motor for generating power for rotating the rotating unit; A speed reducer for reducing the rotational force of the drive motor; It is provided with an encoder for detecting the rotation of the drive motor.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

In describing the present invention, the defined terms are defined in consideration of the function of the present invention, and should not be understood in a limiting sense of the technical elements of the present invention.

1 is a schematic view showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the substrate bonding apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a frame 10, which forms an outer shape and on which respective components to be described later are mounted, (CF substrate or CF substrate) P1 is attached to the upper chamber 20 and a lower chamber 40 is provided to be raised and lowered below the upper chamber 20 and to which a second substrate (CF substrate or TFT substrate) And a lifter 60 provided at a lower portion of the frame and lifting the lower chamber 40 with respect to the upper chamber 20.

The frame 10 forms an outer shape of the substrate adhering apparatus 100 and supports and fixes the respective components. The frame 10 includes a plurality of pillars 12 (see FIG. 1) in which the upper chamber 20 is spaced upward from the lower chamber 40 And the pillars 12 are fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the base 14 on which the lifter 60 is fixed while forming the lower portion of the frame 10. A separate beam (not shown) and struts (not shown) may be additionally provided between the pillars 12 to reinforce the strength of the pillars 12.

The upper chamber 20 is in close contact with the lower chamber 40 to form a cementing space and forms an adhering environment. The upper chamber 20 has an upper chamber body 21 forming a cementing space, And an exhaust part 31 which forms an adhered environment through exhausting of the adhered space.

A plurality of fixing protrusions 29 protruding outwardly of the upper chamber body 21 and fixed to the respective columns 12 of the frame 10 are formed at the outer peripheral edge of the upper chamber body 21, do. On the other hand, the lower surface of the upper chamber body 21 is formed with a bonding groove 22 for forming a bonding space, the bonding groove 22 is provided with an upper chuck 24 for attaching the first substrate (P1).

The upper surface of the upper chamber body 21 is provided with a substrate adsorption device 35 for adsorbing and lifting the first substrate P1 to attach the first substrate P1 to the upper chuck 24. Alignment camera 23 for adjusting the relative position of the first substrate (P1) and the second substrate (P2), and a substrate sensing unit for detecting the position of the first substrate (P1) and the second substrate (P2) ( The mounting groove 28 to which the 70 is mounted is formed. Here, the substrate detecting unit 70 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings after the description of the substrate bonding apparatus 100.

Meanwhile, the substrate adsorption device 35 includes a plurality of adsorption pins 35b provided through the upper chamber body 21 and the upper chuck 24, and the absorption pins 35b provided outside the upper chamber body 21. It is provided with a suction pin operating body (35a) for raising and lowering. Here, the suction pin 35b is formed in the shape of a hollow tube and is connected to the exhaust unit 31 to be described later. When vacuum pressure is formed inside the suction pin 35b by the exhaust unit 31, And is configured to adsorb the substrate P1.

The exhaust unit 31 includes an exhaust pipe 32 for forming a low vacuum pressure in a joint space formed by the joining recess 22 of the upper chamber body 21 and a lower chamber 40 to be described later, And a high vacuum pump (Turbo Molecular Pump, TMP) 36 is connected to the high vacuum exhaust pipe 34 to form a high vacuum.

The lower chamber 40 is to be in close contact with the upper chamber 20 to form a bonding space, and to adjust the alignment state of the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 while being elevated to the upper chamber 20. It is provided in the lower portion of the frame 10, the lower chamber body 41 is provided to be elevated by the lifter (60).

Here, a lower chuck 43 for attaching the second substrate P2 to be inserted is provided on the upper surface of the lower chamber body 41, and an outer circumferential surface of the lower chuck 43 is provided on the lower surface of the upper chamber body 21. A sealing member 42 is provided in contact with each other to maintain the airtightness of the fitting groove 22.

On the other hand, the upper chuck 24 and the lower chuck 43 is provided as an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for attaching the first substrate (P1) and the second substrate (P2) by the electrostatic force, respectively. desirable.

In addition, a second substrate P2 inserted into the lower surface of the lower chamber body 41 is attached to the lower chuck 43, or a second substrate P2 attached to the lower chuck 43 is attached to the lower chuck 43. Substrate lifting device 45 for separation is provided. The substrate elevating device 45 includes a plurality of elevating pins 45b provided through the lower chamber body 41 and a plurality of elevating pins 45b provided on the outside of the lower chamber body 41 to elevate the elevating pins 45b And a pin actuating member 45a.

The lifter 60 moves the lower chamber 40 toward and away from the upper chamber 20 so that the lower chamber 40 and the upper chamber 20 form a cemented space. And a lifting device 64 installed on the upper surface of the base 14 for lifting and descending the lifting plate 62. The elevating device 62 is provided with a plurality of slide columns 12 provided on the slide column 12, .

Here, the elevating device 64 is a lift motor 65 for generating power, a speed reducer 65a for shifting and simultaneously decelerating the direction of the power generated in the lift motor 65, and a power transmitted from the speed reducer 65a. And a lifting body 66 for converting the lifting plate 62 into power for lifting up and down the lifting plate 62.

Hereinafter, the substrate sensing unit 70 of the upper chamber 20 in the substrate bonding apparatus 100 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is an enlarged view illustrating a substrate sensing unit of the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the substrate sensing unit of the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown, the substrate sensing unit 70 of the substrate bonding apparatus 100 according to the present invention emits a laser beam to the surface of the substrate to reflect the second substrate P2 through the light reflected from the second substrate P2. A laser displacement sensor 71 for detecting a position, a laser displacement sensor 71 is mounted, and a rotating portion 72 for rotating the laser displacement sensor 71 and a rotating portion 72 are rotatably mounted and an upper chamber. Bracket 73 is installed in the mounting groove 28 of the 20, the drive unit 74 is installed in the bracket 73 to transfer power to the rotating unit 72, and the laser displacement sensor 71 for the detection of A control unit (not shown) for controlling the driving unit 74 is provided.

Here, the laser displacement sensor 71 includes a light emitting unit 71a for emitting a laser light, and a light receiving unit 71b for detecting light emitted from the light emitting unit 71a and reflected by the second substrate P2. The light receiver 71b is provided to detect the laser light reflected by the second substrate P2 within an error range.

The rotating unit 72 has a mounting surface on which a light emitting unit 71a and a light receiving unit 71b of the laser displacement sensor 71 are mounted on one surface thereof, and the other side thereof is connected to the driving unit 74 to be described later. The pivot 72 is preferably rotatably supported by a separate bearing (not shown) in order to minimize the operating error of the laser displacement sensor 71.

In addition, the drive unit 74 is fixed to the outer surface of the bracket 73, the drive motor (74a) for generating power, and the reducer (74b) for reducing the power of the drive motor (74a) to transmit to the rotating unit 72 side ). Meanwhile, the driver 74 may further include an encoder 74c for detecting the amount of rotation by the driver 74.

Accordingly, the operation of the substrate sticking apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments. Each element mentioned below should be understood with reference to the above description and drawings.

First, the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 are supplied between the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 40 to the substrate bonding apparatus 100 according to the present invention. Accordingly, the first substrate P1 is moved to the upper chuck 24 by the suction pin 35b in a state where the first substrate P1 is sucked by the suction pin 35b of the substrate suction device 35 provided on the upper chamber body 21. Is attached to the chuck 24.

As the second substrate P2 is supplied, the second substrate P2 is attached to the lower chamber body 41 by the lifting pin 45b and the lifting pin actuator 45a, which is applied by the lower chuck 43. It is attached to the lower chamber body (41).

After the attachment of the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 is completed, the lower chamber 40 is elevated to the upper chamber 20 by the lifter 60 while the position of the lower chamber body 41 is adjusted. do.

On the other hand, when the attachment of the first substrate (P1) and the second substrate (P2) is completed, the lower chamber body 41 is adjusted by the position adjuster not shown, the lower chamber 40 by the lifter 60 ) Is elevated to the upper chamber 20 side.

At this time, the lower chamber body 41 whose position is adjusted is aligned with the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 by the alignment camera unit 24 provided in the upper chamber body 21, and the substrate sensing unit An interval between the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 is sensed by the reference numeral 70. Since the description of the operation of the camera unit 24 is a well-known technique, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Here, the operation of the substrate sensing unit 70 will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

4a to 4b is an operation diagram showing the operation of the substrate sensing unit according to the present invention.

As shown, laser light is emitted from the light emitting portion 71a of the laser displacement sensor 71 of the substrate sensing unit 70 that detects the position of the second substrate P2, and the emitted laser light is emitted from the first substrate. The light reflected by the second substrate P2 through P1 and reflected by the second substrate P2 passes again through the first substrate P1 to the light receiving portion 71b of the laser displacement sensor 71. The incident position of the second substrate P2 is sensed.

At this time, according to the state of the second substrate P2 (the direction of the substrate or the inclination state of the substrate), the light emitted from the light emitting part 71a is not reflected and passes through the second substrate P2 or the reflection angle of the light does not match. A case where the reflected light does not go to the light receiving portion 71b occurs.

Accordingly, the control unit (not shown) of the substrate sensing unit 70 controls the driving unit 74 as light is not incident on the light receiving unit 71b to rotate the laser displacement sensor 71 installed in the rotating unit 72 to emit light. The light emitted from the unit 71a is reflected by the second substrate P2 to find a position where the light is incident on the light receiving unit 71b to detect the position of the second substrate P2.

Meanwhile, when the position of the second substrate P2 is detected, the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 are compared with the position of the first substrate P1 (the position fixed to the upper chuck 24) by comparison. Calculate the interval of.

Accordingly, the lower chamber 40 having the position and spacing adjustment of the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 completed by the above-described process is lifted by the lifter 60 while the upper surface of the lower chamber 40 is raised. While being in close contact with the lower surface of the upper chamber 20, a bonding space for bonding the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 is formed.

At this time, the upper chamber body 21 and the lower chamber body 41 maintain the airtight state by the sealing member 42 provided on the upper surface of the lower chamber body 41. Subsequently, the gas remaining in the bonding space by the exhaust pipe 32, the high vacuum exhaust pipe 34, and the high vacuum pump 36 of the exhaust unit 31 is exhausted to the outside of the substrate bonding apparatus 100, and thus, the first substrate P1. The vacuum state is controlled to a high vacuum state of the bonding space for the bonding of the second substrate (P2).

Thereafter, the second substrate P2 attached to the lower chamber 40 is elevated by the lifting pin 45b of the substrate lifting device 45, and the first substrate P2 is attached to the upper chuck 24 of the upper chamber 20. The substrate P1 is separated from the upper chuck 24 and freely falls to the upper portion of the second substrate P2 to maintain a state where the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 overlap.

Thereafter, the exhaust part 31 supplies nitrogen gas into the bonding space through the exhaust pipe 32 to increase the pressure in the bonding space than the high vacuum state. At this time, the inside of the first substrate (P1) and the second substrate (P2) is maintained in a high vacuum state, as the nitrogen gas is supplied is more closely fixed by the pressure in the bonding space. Thereafter, the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 are closely bonded through a separate UV (ultraviolet) irradiation process.

Meanwhile, when the above process is completed, the lower chamber 40 is lowered by the lifter 60, and the joint space formed by the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 40 is opened. At this time, the first and second substrates P1 and P2 joined together are maintained by the lifting pins 45b of the substrate elevating device 45 of the lower chamber 40.

Thereafter, the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 in a state supported by the lifting pin 45b are discharged to the outside of the substrate bonding apparatus 100 by a separate substrate discharging apparatus (not shown). The bonding process of the first substrate P1 and the second substrate P2 is completed.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, The present invention may be modified in various ways. Therefore, modifications of the embodiments of the present invention will not depart from the scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention, by adjusting the position of incidence of the light for measuring the distance of the substrate can detect the exact position of the substrate to calculate the exact distance of the bonded substrate There is.

Claims (4)

An upper chamber to which the first substrate is attached; A lower chamber to which a second substrate is attached and coupled to the upper chamber to form a bonding space; A lifter for elevating the lower chamber with respect to the upper chamber; And The separation distance between the first substrate and the second substrate is disposed in the upper chamber, and irradiates light to the substrates and passes through the first substrate to detect the light reflected by the second substrate. It has a substrate detecting unit for sensing, And the substrate sensing unit is rotatable to adjust an incident position of the light irradiated onto the second substrate. The method of claim 1, wherein the substrate sensing unit, A laser displacement sensor that senses the light reflected by the second substrate by irradiating the light with the first substrate; A rotating unit having the laser displacement sensor installed therein and rotating to rotate the laser displacement sensor; A bracket which supports the pivot so that the pivot is rotatable and is fixed to the upper chamber; A driving unit installed on the bracket and providing a driving force to rotate the rotating unit; And And a controller for controlling the operation of the driving unit in response to the detection of the laser displacement sensor. The method of claim 2, wherein the laser displacement sensor, A light emitting unit emitting the light to the substrates; And a light receiving unit irradiated from the light emitting unit and configured to sense the light transmitted through the first substrate and reflected by the second substrate. The method of claim 2, wherein the driving unit, A drive motor generating power for rotating the pivot unit; A speed reducer for reducing the rotational force of the drive motor; Substrate bonding apparatus comprising an encoder for detecting the rotation of the drive motor.

Images