KR20010020690A - Substrate assembling apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus is provided to match marks to each other with high accuracy and to bond substrates to each other by moving one vacuum chamber unit with respect to the other to position the substrates to each other and narrowing the opposite spacing thereof, thereby bonding the substrates to each other. CONSTITUTION: A substrate bonding section(S2) is composed of the structure that an upper chamber unit(21) and a pressurizing plate(27) therein can respectively independently move vertically. Namely, the upper chamber unit(21) has a housing(30) containing a linear bushing and a vacuum seal and is moved in a vertical Z-axis direction by the shaft of a cylinder(22) fixed to a frame(3). When the upper chamber unit(21) descends, a flange of the upper chamber unit(21) comes into contact with an O-ring(44) arranged around a lower chamber(10) and mates therewith, thereby attaining the state that the units function as a vacuum chamber. As a result, the alignment marks disposed at the respective substrates may be aligned to each other with the high accuracy and the substrates are rapidly bonded to each other.

Description

Board assembly device {SUBSTRATE ASSEMBLING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a substrate assembly apparatus for holding and opposing substrates to be bonded in a vacuum chamber, respectively, to narrow the gaps in a vacuum.

In manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, two glass substrates having a transparent electrode or a thin film transistor array are bonded with an adhesive (hereinafter referred to as a sealant) at very close intervals of several micrometers (hereinafter referred to as a sealant). Cell), and the process of sealing a liquid crystal in the space formed by it.

For sealing the liquid crystal, one substrate dropping the liquid crystal proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-165622 and the other substrate drawn in a pattern in which the sealing agent was cut off so as not to install the injection port were prepared. The other substrate is placed on one substrate, and the upper and lower substrates are joined in a vacuum to be bonded to each other, and the sealant is pattern-drawn to provide an injection hole on one substrate proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-26763. After bonding a board | substrate in a vacuum, the method of injecting from the injection hole of a sealing agent, etc. are mentioned.

In the above prior art, both substrates are bonded in vacuum regardless of before and after pattern drawing of the sealant. In vacuum, however, the substrate cannot be sucked and absorbed by the pressure difference from the atmosphere as in the standby state.

If the end of the upper substrate (hereinafter, referred to as an upper substrate) is mechanically held, the center portion of the substrate is bent, and this warpage increases with the recent trend toward larger and thinner substrates.

Since positioning is performed by using alignment marks provided at the periphery edges of the upper and lower substrates, the larger the deflection, the larger the interval between the ends of the two substrates, and the alignment cannot be performed.

In addition, when the warpage increases, the spacers scattered between the substrates move in order to keep the substrate spacing constant because the center portion of the upper substrate contacts the lower substrate (hereinafter referred to as the lower substrate) before the periphery edge portion. The alignment film or the like formed on the substrate is damaged.

In practice, the upper and lower substrates to be bonded are of the same size, so that a holding margin is hardly taken.

Moreover, when joining a board | substrate in a vacuum regardless of the pattern of a sealing agent, it is necessary to match at least 2 custom marks provided in each board | substrate with the precision of several micrometers or less, and join them. In order to realize this accuracy, in general, one of the substrates in the vertical load is operated to coincide with the alignment mark on the other substrate. Therefore, a horizontal micromechanism, for example, an XY stage must be provided inside the vacuum chamber.

However, the horizontal motion mechanism such as the XY stage has a complicated structure, and there are many bolts, screw holes, other holes, grooves, gaps, etc., which takes a long time to reduce the vacuum chamber and reach a predetermined degree of vacuum, thereby significantly reducing productivity. do.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate assembly apparatus capable of joining substrates of the same degree with high accuracy in a vacuum even if the substrate size is enlarged or thinned.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide an assembly apparatus for a substrate that can be quickly bonded by matching the alignment marks provided on the respective substrates in a vacuum.

1 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a substrate assembly device according to one embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which a vacuum chamber is formed by the substrate assembly device shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a receiving means of an upper substrate in the substrate assembly shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a situation when joining the upper and lower substrates in the substrate assembly shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a situation when aligning the upper and lower substrates in the substrate assembly shown in FIG. 1; FIG.

FIG. 6 is a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a situation when the substrates of the upper and lower sides are aligned in the substrate assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

A feature of the device of the present invention which achieves the above object is that the substrates to be bonded are held in opposition to each other so as to be positioned, the positioning is performed, the intervals are narrowed, and the substrates are bonded together in a vacuum by an adhesive provided on one of the substrates. In this case, the electrostatic adsorption force is applied to the upper substrate to provide a means for holding the upper substrate on the pressure plate, and the bonding is performed in a vacuum.

In addition, when the suction adsorption force disappears in the process of adsorbing and maintaining the upper substrate by the vacuum suction force in the air by vacuum suction force, a means for stopping the upper substrate at a position slightly away from the pressure plate is provided. Electrostatic adsorption force is applied to the upper substrate on the means from the pressure plate, and the upper substrate is held on the pressure plate again to bond in vacuum.

In addition, each of the divided vacuum chamber units for holding and opposing the substrates to be bonded to each other by joining the substrates in a vacuum, coalescing means for coalescing each vacuum chamber unit through sealing to form a vacuum chamber, and formed by coalescence Vacuum means for depressurizing the vacuum chamber, positioning means for positioning the substrates to be joined by moving one vacuum chamber unit relative to the other vacuum chamber unit, and maintaining and narrowing the distance between the opposing substrates. It is provided with a joining means, and by depressurizing the vacuum chamber formed by the coalescing portion of the vacuum chamber unit to bear the atmospheric pressure required for the sealing, the positioning means by one vacuum chamber unit to the other vacuum chamber There is provided a pressure-resistant means for moving relative to the unit.

That is, each of the vacuum chamber units is provided with a means for holding the upper substrate and the lower substrate, respectively, the means for holding the upper substrate to hold the upper substrate by the electrostatic adsorption force or the vacuum suction force. The coalescing means coalesces each of the vacuum chamber units through a seal to form a vacuum chamber, and the vacuum means carries out pressure reduction of the vacuum chamber. Atmospheric pressure required for sealing at this pressure is applied to the internal pressure means and the one vacuum chamber unit is moved with respect to the other vacuum chamber unit so that the positioning of the substrates can be performed by the positioning means. do. After the positioning, the joining means is held so that the gap between the substrates facing each other is narrowed to perform joining.

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one Embodiment of this invention is described based on FIG.

In FIG. 1, the board assembly apparatus which concerns on this invention is comprised from liquid crystal drop part S1 and the board | substrate junction part S2, and both these parts S1 and S2 are arrange | positioned adjacent to the mount frame 2. As shown in FIG.

Above the mount 2 is a frame 3 that supports the substrate bonding portion S2. The upper surface of the mount 2 is provided with an XYθ stage T1. The X stage 4a can travel between the liquid crystal dropping portion S1 and the substrate bonding portion S2 in the left and right X-axis directions on the drawing by the driving motor 5. The Y stage 4b is on the X stage 4a, and the drive motor 6 can travel in the Y axis direction orthogonal to the X stage 4a. The θ stage 4c is on the Y stage 4b and is rotatable horizontally with respect to the Y stage 4b by the drive motor 8 via the rotary bearing 7, and on the θ stage 4c. The table 9 on which the substrate is mounted is fixed. In addition, the lower chamber unit 10 is fixed to the Y stage 4b by the plate 13.

The θ stage 4c is rotatably installed with respect to the lower chamber unit 10 through the rotating bearing 11 and the vacuum sealing 12. Even though the θ stage 4c rotates, the lower chamber unit 10 does not rotate continuously. Do not.

The liquid crystal dropping portion S1 is a dispenser (liquid dropping means) supported by the bracket 14 protruding from the frame 3 for dropping a desired amount of liquid crystal agent onto the lower substrate 1a held on the table 9 ( 17), the Z-axis stage 15 for moving it up and down, and the motor 16 which drives it. The XYθ stage T1 holding the lower substrate 1a on the table 9 moves in the X and Y directions with respect to the nozzle 18 of the dispenser 17 dropping liquid crystals. Thereby, a desired amount of liquid crystal agent can be dripped at arbitrary places on the lower board | substrate 1a. Although it is not shown in FIG. 1, the dispenser which discharges the sealing agent separate from the dispenser 17 which drips a liquid crystal agent is in the frame 3, and each motor 5, 6 of the XY (theta) stage T1 is the lower substrate 1a. By discharging the sealant while moving () in the XY axis direction, the sealant can be drawn in a pattern blocked (closed) on the lower substrate 1a. That is, this dispenser and the moving mechanism of XY (theta) stage T1 comprise the drawing means of a sealing agent (adhesive agent). A liquid crystal agent is dripped in the pattern formed with the sealing agent.

The XYθ stage T1 on which the lower substrate 1a is mounted and held after the liquid crystal dropping is moved by the drive motor 5 under the substrate bonding portion S2.

2 shows a state where the XYθ stage T1 is moved to the lower portion of the substrate bonding portion S2 to form a vacuum chamber.

In the board | substrate junction part S2, the upper chamber unit 21 and the pressure plate 27 inside it are made to move independently. That is, the upper chamber unit 21 has a housing 30 incorporating a linear bush and a vacuum seal, and moves upward and downward in the Z-axis direction by the shaft of the cylinder 22 fixed to the frame 3.

The lower surface of the pressure plate 27 is provided with an electrostatic adsorption plate 28.

When the XYθ stage T1 moves to the substrate bonding portion S2 and the upper chamber unit 21 descends, the upper chamber unit 21 is attached to an O-ring (sealing) 44 disposed around the lower chamber unit 10. ) And the flanges of the c) contact each other, and at this time, both chamber units 10 and 21 are united to function as the vacuum chamber 100.

Therefore, the driving motor 5 constitutes a moving means for horizontally moving the lower chamber unit 10 when the lower chamber unit 10 releases the coalescence with the upper chamber unit 21. In addition, the cylinder 22 constitutes a coalescing means of the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21.

The amount of crushing of the O-ring 44 is adjusted to a ball bearing 87 which reviews the downward stop position of the upper chamber unit 21 so that the inside of the vacuum chamber 100 can be maintained in a vacuum and the maximum elasticity is obtained. do.

The housing 30 incorporates a vacuum seal capable of moving up and down without causing vacuum leakage to the shaft 29 even when the upper chamber unit 21 forms and deforms the lower chamber unit 10 and the vacuum chamber 100. . Therefore, the deformation of the vacuum chamber 100 may absorb the force applied to the shaft 29, and thus the deformation of the pressure plate 27 fixed to the shaft 29 and holding the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 may be substantially prevented. Therefore, as will be described later, the upper substrate 1b held on the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 and the lower substrate 1a held on the table 9 can be held in parallel to be joined.

23 is a vacuum valve, 24 is a piping hose, and is connected to a vacuum source (not shown). These vacuum means are used when the vacuum chamber 100 is depressurized and vacuumed. 25 is a gas purge valve, 26 is a gas tube, and is connected to a pressure source such as N ₂ or a clean dry air, and these are used to return the vacuum chamber 100 to atmospheric pressure.

The upper substrate 1b is held in close contact with the lower surface of the electrostatic adsorption plate 28, but the upper substrate 1b is held on the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 by suction by suction. That is, 41 is a suction suction seam, 42 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) as a suction tube, and the surface of the electrostatic suction plate 28 has a plurality of suction holes (means for holding and adsorbing the upper substrate 1b with vacuum suction force). ] Is installed. In the case where the atmosphere is the atmosphere, electrostatic adsorption may be used in combination, and when the electrostatic adsorption force is large, suction adsorption may not be necessary.

The electrostatic adsorption plate 28 is attached to the pressure plate 27 supported by the shaft 29, and the shaft 29 is fixed to the housings 31 and 32. The housing 31 is provided with the linear guide 34 with respect to the frame 3, and the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 is structured to be movable. The up and down driving is performed by the motor 40 fixed to the bracket 38 on the frame 35 and the frame 35 that follow. Transmission of the drive is performed by the ball screw 36 and the nut housing 37. The nut housing 37 is connected to the housing 32 via a load meter 33 and operates integrally with the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 thereunder.

Accordingly, the shaft 29 is lowered by the motor 40, the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 holding the upper substrate 1b is lowered, and the upper substrate 1b is in close contact with the lower substrate 1a on the table 9. It has a structure that can apply pressure. In this case, the load gauge 33 acts as a pressing force sensor, and it is possible to give a desired pressing force to the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b by controlling the motor 40 based on a signal fed back to the vehicle.

Since the lower substrate 1a is mounted in the gravity direction, positioning by the pressing roller in the horizontal direction by the pressing roller 82 is performed on the positioning member 81 provided on the table 9 as shown in FIG. It is sufficient to fix it, but when the micropositioning just before bonding, the lower substrate 1a may be shifted or lifted due to the effect that the upper substrate 1b is in contact with the sealing agent or liquid crystal agent on the lower substrate 1a, Since the air entering between the lower substrate 1a and the table 9 escapes during the process of reducing the pressure inside the vacuum chamber 100 to become a vacuum, the lower substrate 1a may jump off and shift. It may have a function of electrostatic adsorption (electrostatic adsorption plate). When the pin 9 which is movable in the vertical Z-axis direction is provided on the table 9 and grounded, the antistatic cell and the cell 9 from the table 9 can be easily removed after joining the substrate.

In FIG. 3, 60 indicates that the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 is slightly sucked by the vacuum force when the vacuum chamber 100 is depressurized and the suction adsorption force is lost while the upper substrate 1b falls. It is a receiving pole that receives from the lower position. This detent pawl is supported by suspension by the shaft 59 extending downward in two diagonal positions of the upper substrate 1b. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 59 is vacuum sealed via the housing 58 of the upper chamber unit 21 so as to rotate and move. That is, the shaft 59 is a lifting and lowering actuator 62 fixed to the bracket 63 installed on the shaft 29, and can move up and down again independently of the shanghai east of the shaft 29, as well as the rotary actuator 61 It is possible to rotate by).

That is, the rotary actuator 61 constitutes a means for retracting the stopping pawl 60. This evacuation means will be described later.

Next, the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 which adsorb | sucks a board | substrate is demonstrated.

The electrostatic adsorption plate 28 is a plate of an insulator, has two rectangular recesses, and covers a flat plate electrode embedded in each recess with a dielectric so that the main surface of the dielectric is flush with the lower surface of the electrostatic adsorption plate 28. . Each embedded plate electrode is connected to a negative DC power supply via an appropriate switch.

Therefore, when a positive or negative voltage is applied to each of the plate electrodes, negative or positive charges are induced on the main surface of the dielectric which is coplanar with the lower surface of the electrostatic adsorption plate 28, and these charges cause the The upper substrate 1b is electrostatically adsorbed by the Coulomb force generated between the transparent electrode film. The voltage applied to each of the flat plate electrodes may be the same electrode or may be different from each other.

However, the ball bearings 87 installed at appropriate intervals over the entire circumference of the lower chamber unit 10 bear the atmospheric pressure required between the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21 by depressurizing the vacuum chamber 100 and thereby zero ring. By adjusting the amount of crushing (44) (withstand pressure means), as shown in FIG. 4, the ball bearing 87 is fixed to the lower chamber unit 10. As shown in FIG. The bolt nut can be set to any position in the vertical direction due to the tightening accuracy of the bolt nut.

The amount of crushing of the zero ring 44 can maintain the inside of the vacuum chamber 100 under vacuum, and the maximum elasticity is obtained. Without such means, the upper chamber unit 21 roughly crushes the O-ring 44 with a large vacuum force (approximately 1 kgf / cm ² = 98 kPa) corresponding to the vertical projection area of the upper chamber unit 21. As a result, elastic deformation becomes impossible, and the fine motion of the XYθ stage T1 does not occur because the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21 are scuffed together. In this embodiment, the large force generated by the vacuum is received by the lower chamber unit 10 via the ball bearing 87, the elastic deformation of the O-ring 44 is possible, and the ball bearing provided in the lower chamber unit 10 is provided. Since the ball of (87) can rotate freely in various directions, as described later, the XYθ stage T1 is easily moved within the elastic range of the O-ring 44 at the time of joining the substrate, thereby precisely positioning the substrates. can do.

The fine movement amount of the XYθ stage T1 is set by the image recognition camera 46 as follows, as shown in FIG. That is, the image recognition camera 46 is fixed to the shaft 29 via the bracket 51, and moves up and down with the pressure plate 27. As shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 47 denotes a glass viewing window that is fixed to the opening hole 48 of the upper chamber unit 21 so as not to cause vacuum leakage, and the pressing plate 27 and the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 also have opening holes 49 for viewing. It is supposed to be. The operating distance (focusing distance) L1 of the image recognition camera 46 is set in accordance with the substrate alignment mark 50b on the image substrate 1b. In this state, when the upper substrate 1b is lowered together with the pressure plate 27 and the substrate alignment mark 50a of the lower substrate 1a enters the range of the depth of focus L2, the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b respectively. Custom marks 50a and 50b may be simultaneously recognized by the camera 46. For example, two image recognition cameras 46 are provided at diagonal positions of the upper chamber unit 21, and image processing is performed on two alignment marks of the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b to correct the amount of the deviation. It is converted into the amount of fine movement of the XYθ stage T1, and the XYθ stage T1 is finely moved so that the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b can be aligned.

That is, the image recognition camera 46 has the alignment mark 50b provided in the two angular parts in which the stop pawl 60 does not receive the upper board | substrate 1b in FIG. 3, and the lower board | substrate located under it. The custom mark 50a on (1a) can be recognized.

Accordingly, the quadrangular upper substrate 1b is supported by the stop pawl 60 at a diagonal position in the vacuum exhaust (decompression), and when the electrostatic adsorption is carried out by the electrostatic adsorption plate 28, the alignment mark at the remaining diagonal position is shown. Positioning by the image recognition camera 46 is performed using 50b. Therefore, the fine motion mechanism of the image recognition camera 46, the XY (theta) stage T1, etc. comprise the positioning means of the upper and lower boards 1a and 1b to join.

Next, the process of joining a board | substrate with this board assembly apparatus is demonstrated.

First, the upper substrate 1b is mounted on the table 9 to move the XYθ stage T1 to the substrate bonding portion S2 by the driving motor 5. There, the pressure plate 27 is lowered via the shaft 29 by the motor 40, the upper substrate 1b on the table 9 is sucked and sucked by vacuum force, and then raised to the motor 40 to raise the upper substrate 1b. ) To standby.

The XYθ stage T1 returns to the liquid crystal dropping section S1, and the lower substrate 1a is mounted on the table 9 to be fixed and held at a desired position.

In FIG. 1, the sealant is discharged while the lower substrate 1a is moved in the XY axis direction by the motors 5 and 6 of the XYθ stage T1 by a dispenser of the sealant (not shown). The sealant is drawn in a blocked (closed) pattern. Thereafter, the liquid crystal agent is dropped from the dispenser 17 onto the lower substrate 1a. In this case, the sealing agent becomes a dam and the liquid crystal agent dropped is not lost. On the other hand, the lower substrate 1a on which the sealing agent is drawn by the upstream equipment may be mounted on the table 9, and the liquid crystal agent may be added dropwise onto the lower substrate 1a from the dispenser 17 immediately.

Next, the XYθ stage T1 is moved to the substrate bonding portion S2 to lower the upper chamber unit 21 to the cylinder 22, and the flange portion 21a is placed on the O-ring 44 as shown in FIG. In contact with each other, the lower chamber unit 1b is combined to form a vacuum chamber 100. The vacuum valve 23 is opened to depressurize the inside of the vacuum chamber 100.

At this time, since the upper substrate 1b is in a state of being sucked and sucked by the electrostatic adsorption plate 28, when the pressure is reduced and vacuumed, the vacuum adsorption force acting on the upper substrate 1b is lost, and the upper substrate 1b is removed. ) Falls into its own weight. As shown in FIG. 4, this is taken out by the stopping pawl 60, and as shown in FIG. 4, it hold | maintains in the slightly lower position of the electrostatic adsorption plate 28. FIG.

When the inside of the vacuum chamber 100 is sufficiently vacuumed, a voltage is applied to the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 to suck and hold the upper substrate 1b on the stopping pole 60 by the coulomb force on the electrostatic adsorption plate 28. In this case, since it is already in vacuum, air does not appear to remain between the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 and the upper substrate 1b, and the upper substrate 1b does not jump when the air escapes.

More importantly, air does not exist between the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 and the upper substrate 1b, and discharge is not generated by organic charge. If air is between the protons 28 and 1b, it is easy to discharge, and when discharged, the Coulomb force becomes weak, and the air pushed in between the protons 28 and 1b is expanded by rapid vacuum exhaust (decompression). This expansion may peel off the upper substrate 1b from the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 or destroy the thin glass upper substrate 1b. According to this embodiment, since no air exists, such an abnormal accident does not occur.

As shown in FIG. 5, the upper substrate 1b is held on the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 by electrostatic adsorption, and then the alignment marks 50a and 50b on the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b can be simultaneously read by the image recognition camera 46. It is lowered to the position which exists and alignment with the lower board | substrate 1a is performed.

The alignment of the substrates 1a and 1b is performed by reading the alignment marks provided on the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b with the image recognition camera 46 from the viewing window 47 installed in the upper chamber unit 21. The position is measured by image processing, and each stage 4a to 4c of the XYθ stage T1 is microscopically moved to achieve high precision alignment. In this fine movement, the ball bearing 87 bears the atmospheric pressure acting between the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21 so that the O-ring 44 is not deformed to the extreme and the gap between the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21 is maintained. The frictional resistance between the upper and lower chamber units 10 and 21 is reduced by the rotation of the ball of the ball bearing 87, and the lower of each stage 4a to 4c in the XYθ stage T1 is maintained. Together with the chamber unit 10, smooth fine movement is possible.

Thereafter, the shaft 59 is lowered by the elevating actuator 62, and then the shaft 59 is rotated by the rotary actuator 61 so that the stop pawl 60 does not interfere with the joining of the upper and lower substrates. The pressure plate 27 is lowered by the motor 40, the motor 40 is controlled while the pressing force 33 is measured, and the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b are joined at a desired interval.

When the pressure plate 27 is lowered, since the linear bush is built in the housing 30, even if the upper chamber unit 21 deforms due to the atmospheric pressure acting between the upper and lower chamber units 10, 21, the shaft There is no influence on (29), and the housing 30 and the inner linear bushing act as deformation absorbing means. When the upper and lower substrates 1a and 1b are bonded together, the upper substrate 1b is in close contact with the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 and the center portion does not sag downward, so that the substrates 1a and 1b can be bonded to each other according to their alignment. The spacers in the liquid crystal agent are not adversely affected or the substrates cannot be aligned.

When the bonding is completed, tighten the vacuum valve 23 to open the gas purge valve 25, supply N ₂ or clean dry air into the vacuum chamber 100, return the inside of the chamber to atmospheric pressure, and then operate the gas purge valve 25. Is closed, the upper chamber unit 21 is raised by the cylinder 22, the XYθ stage T1 is returned to the liquid crystal dropping section S1, and the cell is removed from the table 9 to prepare for the next joining. Since the cells after joining may be charged here, the cells may be removed from the table 9 after being subjected to an electrostatic treatment such as contacting the grounded static electricity bar or blowing ion wind. The cell removed from the table 9 is hardened | cured by a downstream UV light irradiation apparatus, a heating apparatus, etc.

In the above embodiment, since the liquid crystal is dripped by discharging the sealing agent and immediately proceeds to bonding, the substrate is not easily exposed to dust and the production yield can be improved. In addition, the XYθ stage T1 can be used for conveyance into the vacuum chamber 100 of the upper substrate 1b, thereby miniaturizing the apparatus. In addition, the substrate alignment stage for releasing air at the time of decompression is outside the vacuum chamber 100, and the vacuum chamber volume is reduced, so that the vacuum pressure of the vacuum chamber proceeds rapidly and the alignment accuracy can be maintained high. Productivity improves.

This invention is not limited to embodiment described above, You may implement as follows.

(1) The supply of the upper substrate 1b to the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 is provided with a plurality of intake pawls (equivalent to the intake pawl 60 shown in FIG. 3), which can be stretched in the vertical direction on the XYθ stage T1. When the XYθ stage T1 is in the liquid crystal dropping section S1, the XYθ stage T1 may be moved to the substrate bonding portion S2 by placing the upper substrate 1b on the plurality of stopper poles. .

(2) It is also possible to perform suction suction on the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 directly from the robot hand.

(3) You may make it take out the phase board | substrate 1b which falls when pressure_reduction | decompression progresses with the receiving pawl provided in XY (theta) stage T1 demonstrated in said (1).

(4) Before the upper substrate 1b of the receiving pole 60 of FIG. 3 or the receiving pole installed in the XYθ stage T1 described in the above (1) falls, the electrostatic adsorption plate ( 28 may be pressed to switch to electrostatic adsorption by depressurizing from the state of being sucked by the electrostatic adsorption plate 28. In this case, these detents form a pressing means so that the upper substrate 1b is not in close contact with the electrostatic adsorption plate 28 so as to prevent air between the upper substrate 1b and the electrostatic adsorption plate 28. It can be vacuumed with reduced pressure.

(5) In addition, the upper plate 1b of the receiving pole 60 provided in the receiving pole 60 of FIG. 3 or the XYθ stage T1 described in the above (1) is kept slightly away from the electrostatic adsorption plate 28, Electrostatic adsorption may be performed while depressurizing and advancing without pressure.

(6) In addition, in FIG. 3, although the two angled parts (two corners which comprise a diagonal) of the upper board | substrate 1b are hold | maintained by the retaining pole 60, the four sides or the longitudinal direction of the upper board | substrate 1b are maintained. Two sides or two sides in the width direction may be held by appropriate means.

(7) Instead of the ball bearing 87, any thing that can withstand the atmospheric pressure applied to the vacuum chamber 100 may be sufficient. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the small diameter bar 88 is installed in the flange part of the lower chamber unit 10 at appropriate intervals, the amount of distortion of the O-ring 44 is adjusted, and the XYθ stage T1 ), The fine movement in the horizontal direction may be performed within a range of bending elasticity of the bar 88 having a small diameter. Alternatively, the corrugation box may be provided to surround the O-ring 44 in the flange portion of the lower chamber unit 10, and may be elastically deformed to fit the entire circumference of the flange portion of the upper chamber unit.

(8) The XYθ stage T1 can be finely moved only in the substrate bonding portion S2, and the assembly of the substrate can be performed only by the equipment drawing upstream of the sealant drawing on the substrate or the dropping of the liquid crystal. . In this case, the loading and unloading of the substrate is performed by the robot hand or the like as described above.

(9) For display panels in which the sealant impairs the performance of the liquid crystal agent, and the pattern of the material blocking the sealant and the liquid crystal agent is provided inside the sealant pattern. A dispenser may be provided and drawing may be performed using the XYθ stage T1.

(10) The object is not limited as long as it is not only manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel but also performing alignment by bonding in a vacuum.

(11) After the upper and lower vacuum chamber units 10 and 21 are united to position the substrates 1a and 1b, the vacuum chamber 100 is vacuum-decompressed, and then the substrates 1a and 1b are joined. You may also do it. In this case, since the positioning is completed before the vacuum chamber 100 is decompressed, the pressure-resistant means has no simple function to allow relative movement of the upper and lower vacuum chamber units 10 and 21, and has a simple configuration that achieves the pressure resistance function. There is an advantage.

As described above, according to the present invention, even when the substrate size is enlarged or thinned, the substrates of the same degree can be bonded together with high precision in vacuum.

In addition, according to the present invention, the alignment marks provided on the substrates can be matched with high precision and quickly bonded.

Claims (8)

One substrate to be bonded to the lower surface of the pressure plate positioned above the vacuum chamber is held, and the other substrate to be bonded is held on a table positioned below the vacuum chamber to face both substrates. In the assembling apparatus of the board | substrate which joins board | substrates by narrowing the space | interval of both board | substrates in the vacuum formed by depressurizing a vacuum chamber by the installed adhesive agent, An electrostatic adsorption plate is provided on the pressure plate to hold one substrate with an electrostatic adsorption force, and the substrate is assembled by holding the one substrate by the electrostatic adsorption plate to narrow the gap between the two substrates in vacuum. . The method of claim 1, The electrostatic adsorption plate is provided with a means for adsorbing and holding the one substrate with a vacuum suction force, and the one substrate that falls when the suction adsorption force disappears in the process of decompressing the vacuum chamber is slightly separated from the electrostatic adsorption plate. A means for stopping at a position of a degree, a means for applying an electrostatic adsorption force to said one substrate and holding it on said electrostatic adsorption plate when there is one substrate on said stopping means, and said electrostatic adsorption force for said one substrate A device for assembling a substrate, comprising means for retracting the retaining means at a position held on a suction plate. The method of claim 1, The electrostatic adsorption plate is provided with means for adsorbing and holding the one substrate with a vacuum suction force, and further presses the one substrate falling on the electrostatic adsorption plate when the suction adsorption force is lost in the process of depressurizing the vacuum chamber. Means, a means for applying an electrostatic adsorption force to said one substrate and holding it on said electrostatic adsorption plate when there is one substrate on said pressing means, and a place where said one substrate is held on said electrostatic adsorption plate with electrostatic adsorption force; And a means for retracting the pressing means from the substrate. The method of claim 1, A divided vacuum chamber unit each having the pressing plate and the table for holding the substrates to be bonded to each other, a coalescing means for coalescing the vacuum chamber units through sealing to form the vacuum chamber, and formed by coalescence A vacuum means for depressurizing the inside of the vacuum chamber, and one of the substrates to be bonded to each other held on the pressing plate and the table by moving one vacuum chamber unit with respect to the other vacuum chamber unit with respect to the vacuum chamber formed by coalescence. An assembling apparatus for a substrate, comprising positioning means for positioning. The method of claim 4, wherein By reducing the vacuum chamber formed by coalescence in the coalescing portion of the vacuum chamber unit, the atmospheric pressure required for the sealing is borne and the positioning means moves the one vacuum chamber unit with respect to the other vacuum chamber unit. Assembly apparatus of a substrate, characterized in that the pressure-resistant means to be installed. The method of claim 4, wherein In the vacuum chamber between the vacuum chamber formed by the coalescing of the respective vacuum chamber units, and the joining means for narrowing the interval between the substrates to be bonded to each other by holding the pressing plate and the table in the vacuum chamber to face each other. The apparatus for assembling a substrate, characterized in that when the vacuum chamber unit is depressurized, a deformation absorber is provided to deform and absorb the deformation given to the bonding means. The method of claim 1, Moving means for horizontally moving one of the vacuum chamber units to release the coalescing to the outside of the vacuum chamber formed by the coalescing of the two vacuum chamber units, and the other on the table located outside the vacuum chamber; At least one of the drawing means which draws in the pattern which closed the adhesive agent in the board | substrate of the board | substrate, and the dropping means which drips a liquid crystal inside the closed pattern drawn by the adhesive agent on the other board | substrate on the said table is provided, The board | substrate characterized by the above-mentioned. Assembly device. The method of claim 1, And an electrostatic adsorption plate for maintaining the other substrate with electrostatic adsorption force on the table.