KR101870293B1 - Rubbing system and substrate transporting robot therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a rubbing system and a substrate transfer robot for the same.
According to the present invention, it is possible to carry not only a longitudinal direction but also a transverse direction with one substrate transfer robot. In addition, by efficiently arranging all process equipments around the substrate transfer robot, it is possible to shorten the moving distance and the moving time of the substrate transfer robot, thereby reducing the process cost and time, and maximizing the production efficiency.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a rubbing system,

The present invention relates to a rubbing system and a substrate transfer robot for the same, and more particularly, to a substrate transfer robot capable of transferring substrates of various sizes in a rubbing system process.

As the society has become a full-fledged information age, the field of display that visually expresses various electrical signal information has developed rapidly. In response to this, a variety of flat panel displays with excellent characteristics such as light weight, thinning, Devices have been developed and are quickly replacing existing cathode ray tubes (CRTs).

Specific examples of such flat panel display devices include a liquid crystal display device (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device, a plasma display panel (PDP) (FED), and an electroluminescent display device (ELD). The EL display panel includes a pair of transparent insulating substrates, And a flat display panel as an essential component.

Particularly, an active matrix type in which pixels, which are basic units of image representation, are defined in a matrix manner and each of them is independently controlled by a switching element such as a thin film transistor (TFT) It is widely used because of its excellent video rendering capability and color reproducibility.

The manufacturing process of the flat panel display employing the active matrix method includes a thin film deposition process for forming a thin film of a predetermined material on a substrate, a photo lithography process for exposing a selected portion of the thin film, The etching process for patterning in a desired shape is repeated several times. In addition, a number of processes such as cleaning, cell attachment and cutting are carried out.

During the manufacturing process of the flat panel display device, the substrates to be treated are transported to various manufacturing apparatuses for flat panel display devices that perform the respective processes. In order to prevent contamination of the substrates and to perform stable operations, It is transported to process equipment for display devices.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional rubbing system, FIG. 2 (a) is a view showing a first substrate transfer robot of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 (b) is a view showing a second substrate transfer robot of FIG.

1, the rubbing system 1 includes a cassette 10 for accommodating a substrate, a rotation unit 20 for rotating the substrate, a rubbing unit 30 for performing rubbing, and a first And a second substrate transfer robot (40, 50).

Here, the cassette 10 accommodates the substrate in the longitudinal direction, and the rubbing unit 30 performs rubbing on the substrate which is fed in the longitudinal direction or the transverse direction according to the model of the substrate.

The rotating unit 20 is positioned between the cassette 10 and the rubbing unit 30 so that the substrate can be rotated in the longitudinal or transverse direction by rotating the substrate.

The first substrate transfer robot 40 is positioned between the cassette 10 and the rotation unit 20 and discharges the substrate from the cassette 10 or inserts the substrate into the cassette 10.

The second substrate transfer robot 50 is disposed between the rotation unit 20 and the rubbing unit 30 so as to introduce the substrate rotated by the rotation unit 20 into the rubbing unit 30, And discharges the substrate.

Hereinafter, the first and second substrate transfer robots 40 and 50 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

2A, the first substrate transfer robot 40 includes a first running part 41 for running, a first body part 42 for supporting the entire first substrate transfer robot 40, A first arm portion 44 provided at one point of the first arm portion 44 and extending and contracting in a planar manner, and a first hand portion 46 disposed at an end of the first arm portion 44 and supporting the substrate.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the second substrate transfer robot 50 includes a second running portion 51 for running, a second body portion 52 for supporting the entire second substrate transfer robot, And a second hand portion 56 disposed at an end of the second arm portion 54 and supporting the substrate.

The first hand 46 of the first substrate transfer robot 40 has a fork shape and carries a substrate in the longitudinal direction. Since two support bars (not shown) are arranged side by side in the center of the cassette 10 so as to prevent the center of the substrate from being sagged, the support bars (not shown) of the cassette 10 The first hand portion 46 is composed of four forks so as not to interfere with each other.

Since the second hand portion 56 of the second substrate transfer robot 50 needs to transfer the substrate not only in the longitudinal direction but also in the transverse direction, it has a shape of six forks so that both edges of the substrate are not struck, And the width in the vertical direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction is wider than that of the first hand portion 46. [

When the first and second substrate transfer robots 40 and 50 are arranged, the first area A1 is allocated in consideration of movement and rotation, and the second area A2 is assigned to the rotation unit.

The process line length L1 occupied by the rubbing system 1 including the first and second substrate transfer robots 40 and 50, the cassette 10, the rotation unit 20 and the rubbing unit 30 is It is approximately 21.6m.

On the other hand, as the length of the process line for system implementation increases, the total process cost increases. Therefore, in recent years, researches are actively carried out to reduce the length of the process line by efficiently arranging each component of the process system.

However, despite these studies, there are problems in that it is difficult to reduce the length L1 of the process line due to the provision of many components, especially the first and second substrate transfer robots 40 and 50, for system implementation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate transfer robot for transferring substrates, The number of substrate transfer robots can be reduced by positioning the unit, and a substrate transfer robot for the rubbing system.

Further, the present invention reduces the number of substrate transfer robots to reduce the cost of constructing the entire process line of the rubbing system, shortens the length of the process line, reduces the occupied area occupied by the rubbing system, and maximizes the production efficiency by using more efficient copper lines. There is another purpose.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rubbing system comprising: a cassette for containing a substrate; A rubbing unit positioned to face the cassette and performing rubbing with respect to the substrate; A rotating unit positioned on the rubbing unit and rotating the substrate; A body portion which is positioned between the cassette and the rubbing unit and which supports the entire body; an arm portion provided at one point of the body portion and extending and contracted in a planar manner; and a plurality of And a first substrate transfer robot configured to transfer the substrate, the first substrate transfer robot being composed of a hand part composed of a fork, wherein each of the forks at both edges of the plurality of forks of the hand part is arranged along the first direction, And a plurality of protruded side supports.

The rubbing system may further include a steam inspector adjacent to each of the cassette and the rubbing unit on one side of the first substrate transfer robot and inspecting the rubbing for defects using water vapor.

In addition, a plurality of side support portions may be provided at one end thereof with a contact member for directly contacting the backside of the substrate.

In this case, the contact member is a pin or an elastic member.

And the plurality of side supports are connected to each of the forks of the both edges via a coupling member such as a screw.

A substrate transfer robot according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises: a body part; An arm portion provided at one point of the body portion and extending and contracting in a planar manner; And a hand portion disposed at an end of the arm portion and configured to include a plurality of forks protruded in a first direction to support the substrate, wherein each of the forks of the opposite ends of the plurality of forks is arranged along the first direction, And a plurality of side supports protruding toward the outer side of the side support portion.

Here, a contact member for directly contacting the back surface of the substrate is provided at one end of the plurality of side supports.

In this case, the contact member is a pin or an elastic member.

And the plurality of side supports are connected to each of the forks of the both edges via a coupling member such as a screw.

As described above, one substrate transfer robot can carry a substrate in a transverse direction as well as in a longitudinal direction by forming a plurality of side supports capable of supporting the edge of the substrate on each of the forks of both edges according to the present invention , The number of substrate transfer robots necessary for the rubbing system can be reduced by placing the rotating unit on the top of the rubbing unit.

Thus, by reducing the number of substrate transfer robots, it is possible to reduce the construction cost of the entire rubbing system, shorten the length of the process line, reduce the occupied area occupied by the rubbing system, and maximize the production efficiency by using more efficient copper lines. .

Figure 1 schematically shows a conventional rubbing system;
FIG. 2A is a view showing the first substrate transfer robot of FIG. 1; FIG.
FIG. 2B is a view showing the second substrate transfer robot of FIG. 1; FIG.
3 is a view showing a rubbing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a detailed view of the substrate transfer robot of Fig. 3; Fig.
5 is a view showing a substrate transfer robot according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention inserted into a cassette.
6 is a schematic view of a rubbing system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention.

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

3 is a view showing a rubbing system according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3, the rubbing system 100 includes a cassette 110 positioned on one side, a rotating unit 120 positioned on the opposite side of the rubbing system 100, and a rubbing unit 120 positioned on the back side of the rotating unit 120. [ And a substrate transfer robot 140 positioned between the cassette 110 and the rubbing unit 130. Herein, the rubbing system is taken as an example, but it is preferably applicable to all the processing systems to which the substrate transfer robot is applied in the manufacturing process system for the flat panel display.

The cassette 110 is a case for storing and transporting a plurality of substrates. The cassette 110 stores a substrate before being transported to a process equipment (for example, a rubbing unit) for processing, And stores it. At this time, the cassette 110 houses the substrate in the longitudinal direction.

The cassette 110 for this purpose usually has a box shape of a substantially hexahedron that houses a plurality of substrates in an upper and a lower double layer, and at least one side of the cassette 110 is opened to form a carry-out surface in which the substrate is carried in or out.

The cassette 110 is stored in a stocker (not shown). The interior of the stocker (not shown) is kept clean so that the substrate stored in the cassette 110 is not contaminated by particles such as fine dust or particles.

The rotation unit 120 serves to rotate the substrate so that the substrate in the longitudinal or transverse direction can be put into the processing equipment (e.g., a cassette, a rubbing unit). In particular, the rotation unit 120 according to the present invention, Is located on the upper side of the rubbing unit (130).

Accordingly, when the substrate transferred from the cassette 110 by the substrate transfer robot 140 enters the rubbing unit 130 in the transverse direction, the rotation unit (not shown) positioned above the rubbing unit 130 120 are inserted into the rubbing unit 130 by the substrate transfer robot 140. [

Conventionally, a second substrate transfer robot (50 in FIG. 1) is positioned between a rotation unit (20 in FIG. 1) and a rubbing unit (30 in FIG. 1) The rotation unit 20 is rotated in the rotation unit 20 as the rotation unit 20 is positioned on the upper side of the rubbing unit 30 according to the present invention, Since the substrate can be directly supplied to the rubbing unit 30, the copper wire of the substrate transfer robot 140 is shortened, and the transportation time is advantageously reduced.

The rubbing unit 130 applies rubbing to the substrate that is fed in the longitudinal or transverse direction.

Hereinafter, the liquid crystal display panel including the rubbing process will be described. The liquid crystal display panel includes an array substrate manufacturing process for forming a gate line, a data line, a thin film transistor (TFT) and a pixel electrode on an array substrate, A color filter substrate manufacturing step of forming a black matrix, a color filter, and a common electrode on a filter substrate; a step of laminating the array substrate and the color filter substrate together and cutting them in a cell unit; injecting liquid crystal between the array substrate and the color filter substrate And a cell process for forming a unit panel.

At this time, the cell process includes an alignment process for aligning the liquid crystal in one direction on the array substrate and the color filter substrate, a cell gap formation process for holding a certain gap by joining the two substrates, a cutting process, and a liquid crystal injection process.

The alignment process may be divided into an alignment film formation process and a rubbing process. In the alignment film formation process, an alignment film is formed by coating polyimide, which is a polymer material, on each of the array substrate and the color filter substrate, Thereby curing the alignment film.

Thereafter, a rubbing process is performed on the array substrate on which the alignment layer is formed and the color filter substrate. The rubbing roller having the alignment in a predetermined direction is rotated rapidly, and friction is applied to the surface of the alignment layer, The polymer chains on the surface of the alignment layer are aligned in a predetermined direction. This rubbing process corresponds to the main process for determining the initial alignment direction of the liquid crystal.

The substrate transfer robot 140 has a function of discharging the substrate from the cassette 110, putting the substrate into the cassette 110 or putting the substrate into the rubbing unit 130 or discharging the substrate from the rubbing unit 130 .

A cassette 110 is disposed on a first side of the substrate transfer robot 140 and a rubbing unit 130 disposed on a rear side of the rotary unit 120 and a second side thereof facing the first side. At this time, the substrate transfer robot 140 needs a certain area A1 along with the movement and rotation.

Thus, the occupied area A1 occupied by the second substrate transfer robot (50 in Fig. 1) and the rotation unit (20 in Fig. 1) occupied by the process line length L1 of the conventional rubbing system By eliminating the length A2, the length L2 of the entire process line of the rubbing system 100 can be shortened.

As described above, the rotating unit 120 and the rubbing unit 130 are formed as a double layer, and the process equipment is efficiently disposed around the substrate transfer robot 140, so that the single substrate transfer robot 140 can transfer the rubbing system 100, As the copper wire of the substrate transfer robot 140 is shortened, the moving distance and the moving time can be shortened, thereby reducing the process cost and time, and maximizing the production efficiency.

FIG. 4 is a detailed view of the substrate transfer robot of FIG. 3. FIG.

4, the substrate transfer robot 140 includes a traveling portion 141 for movement, a body portion 142 vertically connected to the traveling portion 141, An arm portion 144 which is installed at a point and is contracted and extended in a planar manner, and a hand portion 146 which is disposed at the end of the arm portion 144 and supports the substrate.

The travel unit 141 serves as a guide for guiding the movement of the substrate transfer robot 140, and is provided with a movement path of a monorail or the like

The body part 142 is for supporting the entire substrate transfer robot 140 and can be vertically moved according to external control. At this time, the body part 142 may further include a rotation part (not shown) to rotate the arm part 144 360 degrees.

The arm portion 144 contracts and expands in a planar manner in a multi-joint manner.

The substrate transfer robot 140 moves to the target position through the travel unit 141 and confirms the discharge or insertion position of the substrate through the rotation and elevation operation of the body part 142, The hand portion 146 can cause the substrate to be charged or discharged. For example, the substrate of the cassette 110 can be put into the rubbing unit 130, or the substrate of the rubbing unit 130 can be housed in the cassette 110.

The hand portion 146 on which the substrate is placed is formed of a plurality of forks 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d protruding along the first direction. The plurality of forks 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d Are arranged in parallel along a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

Particularly, each of the forks 146a, 146d on both edges of the plurality of forks 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d is provided with a plurality of side supports 200 arranged side by side along the first direction.

The plurality of side supports 200 serve to support the edge of the substrate in a flat shape. In particular, the plurality of side supports 200 support the lateral edge of the substrate 102 in a state where the first direction, which is the longitudinal direction of the fork, It serves to support the edge.

Each of these plurality of side supports 200 may be connected to respective forks 146a, 146d on both edges through a coupling member, such as a screw 210.

Accordingly, the plurality of side supports 200 allow the hand portion 146 to support the transverse substrate 102 without increasing the overall width in the second direction.

The substrate transfer robot 140 having the plurality of side supports 200 includes a cassette 110 (Fig. 3) for accommodating a substrate in the longitudinal direction and a rubbing unit (also shown in Fig. 3) for rubbing against the substrate in the longitudinal or transverse direction The present invention can be applied to a process system including process equipment in which the direction of the substrate is not constant, such as 130 in FIG.

The first substrate transfer robot (40 of FIG. 1) includes a first hand portion 46a formed of four forks, and a vertical substrate having the same longitudinal direction of the fork and the same length direction of the substrate There was no problem in transportation, but in the case of a transverse substrate in which the longitudinal direction of the fork and the longitudinal direction of the substrate intersect with each other, the edge of the substrate is struck, so that the transverse substrate can not be transported. As a result, the substrate in the lateral direction can be transported through the second substrate transfer robot (50 in FIG. 1) having the second hand portion 46b composed of six forks.

However, the substrate transfer robot 140 according to the present invention has the same configuration of the four forks 146a, 146b, 146c and 146d as the conventional first hand portion (46a in Fig. 1) 146d are further provided with a plurality of side supports 200 arranged along the first direction and protruding toward the outward direction of the forks 146a, 146d, respectively, so that not only the longitudinal substrate but also the transverse substrate 102, Can also be supported.

Each of the plurality of side supports 200 is formed to be positioned in the space between the side bars of the cassette 110 (FIG. 3) when the hand 146 is positioned in the cassette 110 (FIG. 3). This will be described in detail later.

The front surface of each of the plurality of forks 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d is provided with a plurality of contact members 147 directly contacting with the substrate, and the front surface of each of the plurality of side supports 200 is also directly A contact member 220 is provided.

The plurality of contact members 147 and 220 serve to minimize the contact between the hand portion 146 and the substrate to protect the substrate from damage such as particles or scratches.

The plurality of contact members 147 and 220 are arranged so as to protrude from the surfaces of the forks 146a, 146b, 146c and 146d and the plurality of side supports 200 at a predetermined height, And directly supports the substrate.

At this time, the plurality of contact members 147 and 220 may be formed of fins or elastic members.

For example, when the plurality of contact members 147 and 220 are composed of elastic members, a plurality of elastic members are disposed on each of the forks 146a, 146b, 146c, and 146d and the plurality of side supports 200, When the substrate is mounted, it is retracted to a second height lower than the first height due to the weight of the substrate, and may be restored to the first height when the substrate is removed .

Meanwhile, although not shown in the drawing, a plurality of air adsorption holes may be further provided on the surfaces of the plurality of forks 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d for adsorbing and fixing the substrate.

The air adsorbing section supplies air or sucks air. For example, when the substrate is placed on the hand part 146, the air is sucked into the air path to make the air path vacuum, thereby firmly fixing the substrate to the hand part 146.

Although not shown in the drawings, the hand unit may be configured as a dual unit. In this case, the first and second arm portions are connected to one body portion, and the hand portion is formed at each end of the body portion, so that the process operation can be more efficiently performed.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a first substrate transfer robot inserted into a cassette according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and reference is made to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

The cassette 110 usually has a box shape of a substantially hexahedron in which a plurality of substrates are stacked in an upper and a lower double layer, and at least one side 111 of the cassette 110 is opened to form a carry-out face onto which the substrate is carried in or out.

In addition, a plurality of side bars 112 for supporting both edges of the substrate are formed in the inner side of both side surfaces facing each other, which are adjacent to one side surface 111 opened in the cassette 110, And two support bars 114 for supporting the center portion of the substrate are formed in the inner side of the other side facing the side.

The hand portion 146 of the substrate transfer robot (140 in Figs. 3 and 4) includes a plurality of forks protruding along the first direction and arranged side by side on the same plane, and a fork And a plurality of side support portions 200 protruding toward the outer side of the fork.

At this time, each of the plurality of side support portions 200 is formed to be positioned in the space between the side bars 112 of the cassette 110 when the hand portion 146 is positioned in the cassette 110 for discharging or accommodating the substrate Interference with the side bar 112 and the support bar 114 of the cassette 110 is prevented during operation of the substrate transfer robot.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a rubbing system according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is referred to.

6, a rubbing system 200 according to another embodiment includes first and second cassettes 212 and 214, a rotating unit 220, first and second rubbing units 232 and 234 A substrate transfer robot 240, a buffer unit 250, and a steam inspecting apparatus 260.

The first and second cassettes 212 and 214 are cases for storing and transporting a plurality of substrates. The first and second cassettes 212 and 214 generally have a box shape of a substantially hexahedron for housing a plurality of substrates as upper and lower layers, Thereby forming a carry-out surface through which the substrate is brought in or out.

The first and second cassettes 212 and 214 store the substrate before being transported to the process equipment for processing or receive the processed substrate by the process equipment. At this time, the first and second cassettes 212 and 214 accommodate the substrate in the longitudinal direction.

The rotating unit 220 is positioned above the first rubbing unit 232 and serves to rotate the substrate.

The buffer unit 250 is located above the second rubbing unit 234, where the substrate is temporarily housed.

The first and second rubbing units 232 and 234 perform rubbing on the substrates that are fed in the longitudinal or transverse direction.

The first and second rubbing units 232 and 234 may further include a cleaning unit for cleaning the loaded substrate.

The substrate transfer robot 240 discharges the substrate from the first or second cassette 212 or 214 to introduce the substrate into the first or second rubbing unit 232 or 234 or the first or second rubbing unit 232, and 234 to feed the substrate into the first or second cassette 212, 214.

The first and second cassettes 212 and 214 are disposed on the first side of the substrate transfer robot 140 and the steam inspectors 260 are disposed on the second side adjacent to the first side, On the third side neighboring the second side, first and second rubbing units 232 and 234, a rotating unit 220 and a buffer unit 250 are disposed on top of the first and second rubbing units 232 and 234, respectively.

The steam inspecting apparatus 260 is an inspection apparatus using water vapor. The steam inspecting apparatus 260 injects steam onto a substrate on which a rubbed alignment film is formed, and shoots an image of the display panel displayed by the sprayed steam to check for a defect. The steam tester 260 for this purpose may include a steam generator for generating steam and a camera for photographing the display panel.

Each of the first and second cassettes 212 and 214 and the first and second rubbing units 232 and 234, the rotation unit 220 and the buffer unit 250 and the steam inspector 260 described above, When arranged together, the process line width (H) is increased, but the process line length (L2) can be implemented as in FIG.

As described above, the rotation unit 220 and the buffer unit 250 are respectively disposed above the first and second rubbing units 232 and 234, and all of the process equipments are efficiently disposed around the substrate transfer robot 240 So that the rubbing system 200 can be realized by one substrate transfer robot 240. As the copper wire of the substrate transfer robot 240 is shortened, the moving distance and the moving time are shortened, thereby reducing the processing cost and time Thereby maximizing the production efficiency.

The embodiments of the present invention as described above are merely illustrative, and those skilled in the art can make modifications without departing from the gist of the present invention. Accordingly, the protection scope of the present invention includes modifications of the present invention within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

100: rubbing system 110: cassette
112: Sidebar 114: Support bar
120: rotation unit 130: rubbing unit
The present invention relates to a substrate transfer robot, and more particularly, to a substrate transfer robot which comprises a substrate transfer robot (141, 142, 144, 144, 144, an arm portion, a hand portion,

Claims (9)

A cassette for containing a substrate;
A rubbing unit positioned to face the cassette and performing rubbing with respect to the substrate;
A rotating unit positioned on the rubbing unit and rotating the substrate;
A body portion which is positioned between the cassette and the rubbing unit and which supports the entire body; an arm portion provided at one point of the body portion and extending and contracted in a planar manner; and a plurality of And a first substrate transfer robot configured to transfer the substrate,
Wherein each of the forks of the opposite ends of the plurality of forks of the hand portion includes a plurality of side supports formed along the first direction and protruding toward the outer direction of the respective forks.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a steam inspector adjacent to each of the cassette and the rubbing unit on one side of the first substrate transfer robot, for checking whether or not the rubbing is bad by using water vapor.
The method according to claim 1,
And one end of the plurality of side supports is provided with a contact member for directly contacting the back surface of the substrate.
The method of claim 3,
Wherein the contact member is a pin or an elastic member.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the plurality of side supports are connected to each of the forks of the both edges via an engaging member.

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