KR101371096B1 - Substrate bonding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention includes a first chamber supporting a first substrate, a support portion supporting a second substrate bonded to the first substrate, and a contracting portion coupled to the support portion and in close contact with the first chamber. The first and second substrates may include two chambers, and the contraction portion may be inclinedly attached to the second substrate by vacuum exhaust in a bonding space formed by bringing the first chamber and the second chamber into close contact with each other. One side adjacent to the first bonded area shrinks faster than the other side adjacent to the first bonded area of the first and second substrates, thereby preventing bubbles from occurring between the substrates and the films, thereby improving reliability of product production. It can be effected.

Description

Substrate bonding apparatus

The present invention relates to a substrate bonding apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus performing a process of bonding substrates to films.

In general, the display apparatus may be manufactured by a substrate bonding process for bonding the driving element array substrate and the color filter substrate to substrates or films that perform other functions of the display.

In the substrate bonding process, the substrate bonding apparatus may apply the adhesive material to the inside of a dam formed along the edge of the substrate so that the substrates may be bonded. However, in the substrate bonding step, gas between the substrates to be bonded is not discharged smoothly to the outside of the bonding substrate by the dam, thereby causing bubbles between the substrates.

Therefore, the research and development of the substrate bonding apparatus for solving the above problems continues. As one of the methods, Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0056821 (A method for adjusting the parallelism of a substrate in a substrate bonding apparatus) is disclosed.

The disclosed patent is characterized in aligning the position of the bonding object in order to prevent problems such as bubble inflow between the substrate to be bonded in the bonding process of the substrates. The published patent discloses a technique for aligning a substrate using a cam unit for finely moving the lower stage in the X and Y axes and a linear actuator installed at the corner of the lower stage to finely move the lower stage in the Z axis. have.

However, the published patent includes a cam unit and a plurality of linear actuators that respectively adjust the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis of the lower stage to prevent bubble generation between the bonded substrates, so that the overall configuration of the substrate bonding apparatus is complicated. In addition, there was a problem that causes an increase in manufacturing costs and maintenance costs.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2008-0056821 (method of adjusting the parallelism of the substrate in the substrate bonding device).

An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate bonding apparatus that can prevent bubbles from being generated between the substrates and the films in the bonding process of the substrates to the films.

A substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention includes a first chamber supporting a first substrate, a support portion supporting a second substrate bonded to the first substrate, and a contracting portion coupled to the support portion and in close contact with the first chamber. The first and second substrates may include two chambers, and the contraction portion may be inclinedly attached to the second substrate by vacuum exhaust in a bonding space formed by bringing the first chamber and the second chamber into close contact with each other. One side adjacent to the region to be initially bonded contracts faster than the other side adjacent to the region where the first and second substrates are finally bonded.

And vacuum evacuating means for evacuating the coalescing space, wherein the first chamber may be contracted toward the second chamber by a pressure difference when the vacuum evacuation means forms a vacuum atmosphere in the coalescing space.

The contraction part may include a first elastic member installed adjacent to an area where the first and second substrates are initially bonded and a second elastic member installed adjacent to an area where the first and second substrates are finally bonded. The elastic modulus of the first elastic member may be lower than that of the second elastic member.

The contraction part is disposed on an upper surface of the second chamber to support the lower surfaces of the first and second elastic members, and is spaced apart from the lower frame and the lower frame to form a space in which the first and second substrates are bonded. The first and second bellows which are stacked to support the upper surfaces of the first and second elastic members, and connect the outer side of the upper frame and the lower frame and the upper frame to each other to form a space in which the first and second substrates are bonded. It may further include.

The contraction part connects the inner side of the lower frame and the upper frame to each other to block the inside of the contraction part from the bonding space, and the gas inside the contraction part when the first and second elastic members are compressed. It may further include a duct (Duct) to discharge to.

The contracting portion is installed to be adjacent to the first elastic member and is disposed adjacent to the first and second elastic members to limit the compression of the first elastic member and the second stopper to limit the compression of the second elastic member. It may further include.

The contracting portion is installed on a lower surface of the lower frame to seal a gap between the lower frame and the second chamber, and is installed on an upper surface of the upper frame and the upper frame and the first chamber. It may further include a second sealing member for sealing between the.

And the substrate processing apparatus further comprises a fastening pin to fix the contraction portion to the upper surface of the second chamber to prevent the contraction portion from flowing on the upper surface of the second chamber.

The substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention has an effect of preventing bubbles from being generated between the substrates and the films in the bonding process, thereby improving the reliability of product production.

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

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to a first embodiment.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing a shrinkage unit according to the first embodiment.
3 is a perspective view showing a contraction portion according to the first embodiment.
4 is a perspective view showing a contraction portion according to a second embodiment.
5 is a cross-sectional view showing the lowering of the upper chamber according to the first embodiment.
6 is a cross-sectional view showing initial bonding of the bonding substrate according to the first embodiment.
7 is a cross-sectional view showing the final bonding of the bonding substrate according to the first embodiment.
8 is a cross-sectional view showing the elevation of the upper chamber according to the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, the first substrate may be TFT-LCD and the second substrate may be a touch panel.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a substrate bonding apparatus according to a first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the substrate bonding apparatus according to the first embodiment, an upper substrate S1 or a first substrate is bonded and a lower substrate S2 or a second substrate. A chamber 100 is formed to form a bonding space. The chamber 100 includes an upper chamber 110 for supporting the upper substrate S1 or a first chamber, and a lower chamber 120 for supporting the lower substrate S2, or a second chamber. do. The lower chamber 120 may be fixed to the base (not shown), and the upper chamber 110 may be supported by the upper chamber transfer unit 110a that is moved by the controller (not shown).

An upper surface plate 111 is installed in the upper chamber 110, and an upper substrate chuck member 112 for chucking the upper substrate S1 is installed in the upper surface plate 111. The upper substrate chuck member 112 is configured to support and hold the upper substrate S1. It may include.

In addition, the upper chamber 110 may be provided with a separation pin 113 for separating the upper substrate (S1) and the lower substrate (S2) bonded after the bonding process from the upper substrate chuck member 112. The separation pin 113 may be disposed to penetrate the upper chamber 110, the upper surface plate 111, and the upper substrate chuck member 112 from the separation pin driver 113a installed on the upper surface of the upper chamber 110. . The separation pin 113 is lifted by the power generated from the separation pin driver 113a. The separation pin 113 may be provided in plural numbers, and the separation pin driving unit 113a may include a linear motor or a hydraulic actuator.

Meanwhile, the lower chamber 120 fixed to the base (not shown) may be in close contact with the upper chamber 110 by the movement of the upper chamber 110 to form a bonding space therein. The lower chamber 120 may be connected to a vacuum evacuation means 121 for exhausting the adhesion space to form a vacuum atmosphere in the adhesion space and a vacuum discharge valve 122 capable of destroying the vacuum atmosphere of the adhesion space.

The vacuum evacuation means 121 may be provided as a high vacuum molecular pump (Turbo Molecular Pump, TMP) and a dry pump (Dry pump). When the upper chamber 110 is disposed above the lower chamber 120 to form the bonding space, the vacuum evacuation unit 121 vacuum-exhausts the bonding space so that the upper chamber 110 contracts and moves toward the lower chamber 120. To be possible. That is, the upper chamber 110 may be contracted and moved toward the lower chamber 120 according to the pressure difference generated in the outer space and the bonding space by the vacuum exhaust means 121.

The vacuum discard valve 122 may perform at least one of maintaining and discarding the vacuum atmosphere of the bonding space. For example, the vacuum evacuation valve 122 is closed in the exhaust process so that the bonding space is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere. Therefore, the upper chamber 110 contracted and moved by the exhaust process may be maintained in the contraction by the vacuum discharge valve 122. In addition, the vacuum discharge valve 122 may be opened after the bonding process to destroy the vacuum atmosphere. At this time, the contracted upper chamber 110 may be returned to its original position in accordance with the destruction of the vacuum atmosphere.

The lower chamber 120 may include a support 130 supporting the lower substrate S2 facing the upper substrate S1 and a contraction portion 200 coupled to the support 130 to be in close contact with the upper chamber 110. It may include.

The support 130 is installed on the upper surface of the lower chamber 120 so that the lower substrate S2 is supported by the lower chamber 120. For example, the support part 130 is provided on the lower surface plate 131 installed on the upper surface of the lower chamber 120 and the lower surface surface chuck member 132 installed on the upper surface of the lower surface plate 131 to chuck the lower substrate S2. ) May be included. The lower substrate chuck member 132 is configured to support and hold the lower substrate S2. It may include.

The shrinkage part 200 may be mismatched and contracted such that the upper substrate S1 supported by the upper chamber 110 is obliquely bonded to the lower substrate S2 when a vacuum atmosphere is formed in the bonding space. Detailed configuration of the contraction portion 200 will be described in detail later with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a contraction portion according to the first embodiment, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a contraction portion according to the first embodiment.

2 to 3, the contraction part 200 according to the first embodiment may be coupled to the support part 130.

The contraction portion 200 is disposed between the lower frame 211, the upper frame 212 stacked apart from the lower frame 211, the lower frame 211 and the upper frame 212 to provide elastic force to the contraction portion 200. Provided elastic member 220, bellows (230) to form a separate space (hereinafter referred to as a compression space) in the interior of the contraction portion 200, stopper for limiting the compression of the contraction portion 200 ( Stoper 240, a duct (Duct, 250) for exhausting the gas in the compressed space to the outside or intake of the outside gas into the compressed space, the fastening pin 260 for supporting the contraction portion 200 to the lower chamber 120 and When the vacuum atmosphere is formed in the bonding space may include a sealing member (270) for sealing the bonding space.

The lower frame 211 may be disposed on an upper surface of the lower chamber 120. A predetermined space may be formed inside the lower frame 211 so that the lower surface plate 131 may be positioned inside the lower frame 211. The upper frame 212 may be stacked spaced apart from the lower frame 211 at predetermined intervals, and the upper surface 111 may be positioned inside the upper frame 212 when the upper chamber 110 contracts and moves. Space may be formed.

On the other hand, the elastic member 220 may be provided with an elastic means such as a spring may be arranged in plurality between the lower frame 211 and the upper frame 212. The plurality of elastic members 220 may be disposed in the plurality of flow preventing grooves 211a formed on the upper surface of the lower frame 211, respectively, to prevent the plurality of elastic members 220 from being separated from their original positions.

The elastic member 220 may include a plurality of first and second elastic members 221 and 222, respectively. For example, the first elastic members 221 may be arranged on one side of the contraction part 200, and the second elastic members 222 may be arranged on the other side of the contraction part 200. The elastic modulus of the first elastic members 221 is provided lower than the elastic modulus of the second elastic members 222. Therefore, when the contraction part 200 is compressed by the movement of the upper chamber 110, one side on which the first elastic members 221 are disposed may be compressed faster than the other side on which the second elastic members 222 are disposed. have. That is, one side of the upper substrate S1 adjacent to one side of the contracting portion 200 in which the first elastic members 221 are disposed is first bonded to one side of the lower substrate S2, and then the second elastic members 222. The other side of the upper substrate S1 adjacent to the other side of the contracted portion 200 may be bonded to the other side of the lower substrate S2. Accordingly, the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 may be sequentially joined from one region to each other by different pressing speeds of the first and second elastic members 221 and 222, so that the upper substrate 221 and the lower substrate 222 may be joined together. Bubbles can be prevented from occurring.

Meanwhile, the bellows 230 forms an outer wall and an inner wall of the contraction portion 200 so that the contraction portion 200 may be compressed up and down. The bellows 230 may include first and second bellows 231 and 232. The first bellows 231 may connect the outer ends of the lower frame 211 and the upper frame 212 up and down, and the second bellows 232 may connect the inner ends of the lower frame 211 and the upper frame 212. Can be connected up and down. Therefore, a compression space may be formed inside the contraction portion 200, and the compression space may be blocked by the bonding space by the first and second bellows 231 and 232.

Meanwhile, the stopper 240 may limit the compression of the contraction part 200 based on the positions of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 to be bonded in the bonding space. For example, the stopper 240 may include a first stopper 241 disposed adjacent to the first elastic member 221 and a second stopper 242 disposed adjacent to the second elastic member 222. .

The first stopper 241 is in contact with the lower surface of the upper frame 212 when the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2, which are joined by compression of the first elastic member 221, are positioned at the portion where the first substrate 221 is first bonded. The compression of the first elastic member 221 may be limited. The second stopper 242 is in contact with the lower surface of the upper frame 212 when the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 are positioned at the last bonded portion by the compression of the second elastic member 222. Compression of the second elastic member 222 may be limited. The first and second stoppers 241 and 242 may be provided in a rod-like form, and each of the first and second stoppers 241 and 242 may be provided to have a predetermined height.

On the other hand, the duct 250 may exhaust the gas in the compressed space to the outside or introduce the external gas into the compressed space. For example, the duct 250 may be formed to penetrate one end of the lower frame 211 from the upper surface of the lower frame 211. The duct 250 exhausts the gas in the compression space in the compression of the contraction portion 200 so that the contraction portion 200 can be smoothly compressed, and the gas is introduced into the compression space in relaxation to constrict the contraction portion 200. ) Can be relaxed smoothly.

The fastening pin 260 may be inserted into the lower chamber 120 through the elastic member 220 and the lower frame 211 from the stepped hole 212a formed in the upper frame 212. The fastening pins 260 may prevent the contraction portion 200 from flowing at the upper surface of the lower chamber 120, and at the same time, prevent the elastic member 220 from flowing in the compression space or leaving the original position.

Meanwhile, the sealing member 270 may be provided as an O-ring, and seals between the contraction portion 200 and the upper chamber 110 when the contraction portion 200 is compressed by the upper chamber 110. The first sealing member 271 and the second sealing member 272 for sealing between the contraction portion 200 and the lower chamber 120 may be included. The first sealing member 271 may be disposed inside the stepped hole 212a formed on the upper surface of the upper frame 212, and the second sealing member 272 may be disposed on the lower surface of the lower frame 211. Can be. The first and second sealing members 271 and 272 maintain the airtightness of the compression space above and below the contraction part 200 when the contraction part 220 is compressed by the movement of the upper chamber 110.

Hereinafter, a lower chamber according to another embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Components similar to those of the lower chamber described above in the following description will be denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Therefore, the constituents omitted from the detailed description in the following description can be understood with reference to the above description.

4 is a perspective view showing a contraction part according to a second embodiment.

Compared to the contraction part 200 according to the first embodiment, the contraction part 300 according to the second embodiment may have elastic members 320 disposed in the entire region of the contraction part 300. For example, the plurality of elastic members 320 may be disposed in the first, second, third and fourth regions 301, 302, 303, and 304, respectively. In this case, the elastic modulus of the first elastic members 321 disposed in the first region 301 may be lower than that of the second elastic member 322 disposed in the second region 302. The elastic modulus of the second elastic member 322 disposed in the second region 302 may be lower than that of the third elastic member 323 disposed in the third region 303. In addition, the elastic modulus of the third elastic member 323 disposed in the third region 303 may be lower than that of the fourth elastic member 324 disposed in the fourth region 304.

The contraction portion 300 is the first elastic members 321 having the lowest modulus of elasticity by the plurality of elastic members 320 disposed in the first, second, third and fourth regions 301, 302, 303, and 304. ) May be sequentially compressed from the first region 301 where the) is arranged to the fourth region 304 where the fourth elastic members 324 having the highest modulus of elasticity are disposed. Accordingly, the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 may be sequentially joined from one region to each other by different compression speeds of the contraction portion 300, thereby generating bubbles between the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2. Can be prevented.

Hereinafter, the operation of the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing the lowering of the upper chamber according to the present embodiment, Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the initial bonding of the bonded substrate according to the present embodiment. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the final bonding of the bonded substrate according to the present embodiment, Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the relaxation of the chamber according to the present embodiment.

1 to 8, in the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present embodiment, the lower substrate S2 is seated on the upper surface of the lower substrate chuck member 132.

Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the upper chamber 110 supporting the upper substrate S1 may be moved to the upper portion of the lower chamber 120 by the upper chamber transfer unit 111. In this case, a bonding space may be formed inside the lower chamber 120.

When the adhesion space is formed, the vacuum evacuation means 121 performs the exhaust process of the adhesion space. As the exhaust process proceeds, the upper chamber 110 may be contracted and moved toward the lower chamber 120 by a pressure difference between the outside of the bonding space and the bonding space. In this case, the contraction part 200 may be compressed while exhausting the gas in the compression space to the outside through the duct 250 as the upper chamber 110 moves. In addition, as the upper chamber 110 and the lower chamber 120 are sealed, the first and second sealing members 271 and 272 disposed in the contraction portion 200 are disposed between the upper chamber 110 and the contraction portion 200, respectively. And a compression between the lower chamber 120 and the contraction portion 200 to maintain the airtightness of the compression space.

Looking at the bonding process of the upper substrate (S1) and the lower substrate (S2) according to the compression of the contraction portion 200, as shown in Figure 6, the first elastic member 221 of the contraction portion 200 One side may be compressed faster than the other side of the contraction portion 200 where the second elastic member 222 is located. In this case, when the first elastic member 211 is first bonded to one side of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2, compression may be stopped by the first stopper 241, and the first elastic member 221 may be stopped. The compression of the second elastic member 222, which is relatively slow compared, may be in progress.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the second elastic member 222 that is compressed more slowly than the first elastic member 221 may have a second stopper when the bonding of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 is completed. Compression may be stopped by 242. Accordingly, the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 may be sequentially bonded from one region to which the first and second elastic members 221 and 222 are initially joined to the other region to be finally bonded.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8, when the bonding process of the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 is completed, the vacuum evacuation means 121 stops the exhaust process of the bonding space and the vacuum discharge valve 122 is opened. . Therefore, as the gas enters the bonding space, the vacuum atmosphere of the bonding space may be destroyed. Therefore, the upper chamber 110 may be returned to its original position according to the decrease in the pressure difference generated in the outer space and the bonding space. At this time, the separation pin 113 may be lowered from the separation pin driver 113a. Therefore, one surface of the upper substrate S1 chucked to one side of the upper substrate chuck member 112 may be separated from the upper substrate chuck member 112.

As described above, in the substrate bonding apparatus according to the present invention, the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate S2 may be bonded to each other from one region according to the compression of the contraction portion 200, and thus the upper substrate S1 and the lower substrate ( Bubble generation between S2) can be prevented to improve the reliability of product production.

One embodiment of the invention described above and shown in the drawings should not be construed as limiting the technical idea of the present invention. The scope of protection of the present invention is limited only by the matters described in the claims, and those skilled in the art will be able to modify the technical idea of the present invention in various forms. Accordingly, such improvements and modifications will fall within the scope of the present invention as long as they are obvious to those skilled in the art.

100: chamber 110: upper chamber (first chamber)
120: lower chamber (second chamber) 130: support portion
200: contraction portion 211: lower frame
212: upper frame 220: elastic member
230: bellows 240: stopper
250: duct 260: fastening pin
270 sealing member

Claims (8)

A first chamber supporting the first substrate; And
A second chamber including a support part supporting the second substrate bonded to the first substrate and a contraction part coupled to the support part and in close contact with the first chamber,
The contraction portion may be formed in an area where the first and second substrates are first bonded to the first substrate so that the first substrate is obliquely bonded to the second substrate by a vacuum exhaust in a bonding space formed by closely contacting the first chamber and the second chamber. The substrate bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adjacent one side contracts faster than the other side adjacent to the region where the first and second substrates are finally bonded. The method of claim 1,
And vacuum evacuation means for evacuating the coalescing space,
And the first chamber is contracted toward the second chamber by a pressure difference when the vacuum exhaust means forms a vacuum atmosphere in the bonding space. The method of claim 1, wherein the contraction portion,
A first elastic member installed adjacent to an area where the first and second substrates are initially bonded; And
And a second elastic member installed adjacent to the region where the first and second substrates are finally bonded to each other.
The substrate bonding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elastic modulus of the first elastic member is lower than that of the second elastic member. The method of claim 3, wherein the contracting portion,
A lower frame disposed on an upper surface of the second chamber to support lower surfaces of the first and second elastic members, and having a space in which the first and second substrates are joined;
An upper frame stacked apart from the lower frame to support upper surfaces of the first and second elastic members and having a space in which the first and second substrates are bonded; And
And a first bellows connecting the lower frame and the outer side of the upper frame to each other. The method of claim 4, wherein the contraction portion,
A second bellows connecting the inner side of the lower frame and the upper frame to each other to block the inside of the contraction portion from the bonding space; And
Substrate bonding apparatus further comprises a duct (Duct) for discharging the gas inside the contraction portion to the outside when the first, second elastic member is compressed. The method of claim 4, wherein the contraction portion,
A first stopper installed adjacent to the first elastic member to limit compression of the first elastic member; And
And a second stopper installed adjacent to the second elastic member to limit compression of the second elastic member. The method of claim 4, wherein the contraction portion,
A first sealing member installed on a lower surface of the lower frame to seal between the lower frame and the second chamber; And
And a second sealing member installed on an upper surface of the upper frame to seal between the upper frame and the first chamber. The method of claim 1,
And a fastening pin which fixes the contraction portion to the upper surface of the second chamber to prevent the contraction portion from flowing on the upper surface of the second chamber.

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