KR20020036741A - Processing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a processor, having a plurality of processing units capable of reducing foot print without accompanying problems in a constitution, without reducing the throughput. CONSTITUTION: The processor 100 for executing a series of processes, including a liquid process with respect to a material G to be processed comprises liquid processing units 21 and 23 for executing a prescribed liquid process, while substantially horizontally conveying a material to be processed in the processor 100, first conveyors 14 and 15 horizontally moving to convey and deliver the material G to the plurality of the units, including the units 21 and 23, thermally processing unit blocks 27, 28 and 29 constituted by laminating the plurality of thermally processing units for thermally processing, in association with the liquid process of the material G in a vertical direction, and second conveyors 61, 62 and 63 vertically movably provided to convey and deliver the material G only to the thermally processing units for constituting the blocks.

Description

Processing Equipment {PROCESSING APPARATUS}

The present invention provides a plurality of processes such as, for example, a developing device after applying and exposing a resist to a target object such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display device (LCD), and a thermal treatment performed before and after them. It relates to a processing apparatus.

In manufacturing a liquid crystal display (LCD), after forming a predetermined film on an LCD glass substrate as a substrate, a photoresist liquid is applied to form a resist film, and a resist film is exposed to correspond to a circuit pattern to develop this. The circuit pattern is formed by a so-called photolithography technique.

In this photolithography technique, a substrate as a substrate to be processed is subjected to a series of treatments such as adhesion treatment, resist coating, prebake, exposure, development, postbake, and the like to a resist layer. A predetermined circuit pattern is formed.

Conventionally, such a process arrange | positions the process unit which performs each process in the form which was conscious of a process flow on both sides of a conveyance path, and carries out board | substrate carrying in to each process unit by the conveying apparatus which can travel to a conveyance path. The process block which performs the process is performed by the processing system which arrange | positioned singularly or plurally.

However, in recent years, the demand for larger LCD substrates has increased, and a large substrate having a side length of 1 m has also emerged, and in a processing system having a flat layout as described above, the footprint becomes extremely large. As a result, the reduction of the footprint is strongly demanded from the viewpoint of space saving.

In order to reduce the footprint, it is conceivable to stack the processing units in the vertical direction. However, in the current processing system, the conveying apparatus moves a large substrate in the horizontal direction at high speed and high precision in order to improve the throughput. Therefore, in addition to this, there is a limit in moving itself even in the vertical direction at high speed and with high accuracy. In addition, as the substrate is enlarged, the process unit is also enlarged, and it is extremely difficult to install a spinner system unit such as a resist coating unit and a developing unit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the related circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a processing apparatus having a plurality of processing units which can reduce the footprint without lowering the throughput and without entailing problems with the device configuration.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus for performing a series of processing including a liquid processing to a processing target object, wherein the liquid processing unit performs predetermined liquid processing while the processing target object is conveyed substantially horizontally, A first conveying apparatus for carrying in and out of the object to be processed to a plurality of processing units including the liquid processing unit in a horizontal direction; and a thermal treatment accompanying the liquid to the processing object A plurality of thermal processing units for stacking in a vertical direction and a thermal processing unit block configured to be stacked in a vertical direction, and each thermal processing unit which is installed to be movable in the vertical direction to constitute the thermal processing unit block, carry in only the thermal processing unit. There is provided a processing apparatus including a second conveying apparatus for carrying out.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus that performs a series of processing including liquid processing on a target object, and is provided facing a horizontal transport path extending in the horizontal direction and the horizontal transport path. And a plurality of thermal treatments which are provided to face the horizontal conveying path and are provided with a liquid treatment unit for performing a predetermined liquid treatment while the object to be processed is substantially horizontally conveyed to the object to be treated with the treatment liquid. A thermal processing unit block in which a unit and a receiving unit are stacked in a vertical direction, a first conveying apparatus for moving the horizontal conveying path to carry in and out of the object to be processed and to the liquid processing unit and the exchange unit; It is installed to be movable in the vertical direction for each thermal processing unit and the exchange unit that constitutes the thermal processing unit block. The processing apparatus only having a second transfer device for performing the carry out of the object to be processed is provided.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus that performs a series of treatments including resist coating and development after exposure to a target object, and a resist coating processing unit that performs a resist coating process on the target object and a resist is applied. And a plurality of thermal processing units and a transfer unit for performing thermal processing accompanying the resist coating and / or developing processing on the object to be treated, and a development unit for exposing the resist film formed thereon. A thermal processing unit block configured, a first conveying apparatus for carrying in and out of the object to be processed into the resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, and the exchange unit, and the first conveying apparatus which is extended in a horizontal direction Horizontal transport path that can move and vertical direction And a second conveying device for carrying in and carrying out the object only to each of the thermal processing units and the exchange unit which constitute the thermal processing unit block, wherein the resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, and the A thermal processing unit block is provided along the horizontal conveying path, and the developing unit is provided with a processing apparatus for applying a developer, cleaning the developer after development, and drying while the object to be processed is transported approximately horizontally therein.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a processing apparatus that performs a series of treatments including resist coating and development after exposure to a target object, a cleaning unit for cleaning a target object with a cleaning liquid, and a resist for the target object. A resist coating unit for applying a coating treatment, a developing unit for exposing to a resist film formed by applying a resist, and a subject to the cleaning treatment and / or the resist coating treatment and / or developing treatment for the object to be treated. A thermal processing unit block configured by vertically stacking a plurality of thermal processing units and a transfer unit for performing thermal processing, and the cleaning unit, the resist coating unit, the developing unit, and the transfer unit 1st conveying apparatus which carries in and out of a riche, and a horizontal chamber Of the object to be processed only for each of the thermal processing units and the transfer unit, which are installed so as to be movable in the vertical direction and horizontal transfer paths in which the first conveying apparatus can move, and which constitute the thermal processing unit blocks. And a second conveying apparatus for carrying out, wherein said cleaning process unit, said resist coating process unit, said developing unit, and said thermal processing unit block are provided along said horizontal conveying path, and said cleaning process unit therein. A processing apparatus is provided for carrying out cleaning treatment and drying treatment while the object to be processed is substantially horizontally conveyed, and the developing unit is subjected to application of the developer solution, cleaning of the developer after development, and drying treatment while the object to be processed is conveyed substantially horizontally therein. do.

According to the present invention, since the liquid treatment unit is configured such that a predetermined liquid treatment is performed while the object to be processed is substantially horizontally conveyed therein, the space of a unit as compared with the liquid treatment for rotating a spherical substrate as in the prior art. In addition, since a plurality of thermal processing units which can save energy and have no problem in stacking up and down are laminated, a space can be saved and the footprint of the entire apparatus can be reduced. Moreover, since the 1st conveying apparatus which moves horizontally with respect to a liquid processing unit is used, and the 2nd conveying apparatus which moves to a vertical direction with respect to the thermal processing units laminated | stacked in the vertical direction, it uses, the function separation of a conveying apparatus is carried out. Can be achieved to keep the throughput high.

1 is a plan view showing a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side view of an A-A line showing the inside of a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the B-B line showing the inside of the resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the unit arrangement of thermal processing unit blocks in the resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a side view showing the schematic configuration of a horizontal transfer apparatus in a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the schematic configuration of a vertical transfer apparatus in the resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a plan view showing a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram showing a unit arrangement of a thermal processing unit block in the resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the schematic configuration of a vertical transfer apparatus in the resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a plan view showing a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for simple main parts of the drawings>

1: cassette station 2: processing station

2a: 1st process unit group 2b: 2nd process unit group

3: interface station

12, 13: horizontal transport path

14, 15: horizontal conveying device (first conveying device)

21: scrubber cleaning treatment unit 23: developing treatment unit (liquid treatment unit)

25: resist processing block 25a: resist coating processing unit

27, 27a, 27b, 28, 28a, 28b, 29, 29a, 29b: thermal treatment unit block

61, 61 ', 62, 62', 63, 63 ': vertical conveying device (second conveying device)

100, 100 ', 100' ': resist coating and developing apparatus

104, 105: shuttle (moving stage member) G: LCD glass substrate

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a plan view showing a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of line A-A showing the inside thereof, and FIG. 3 is a side view of line B-B showing the inside thereof.

The resist coating and developing apparatus 100 applies resists and develops resists to a cassette station (load-in / out unit) 1 on which a cassette C containing a plurality of LCD glass substrates G is placed. Interface station for exchanging substrate G between a processing station (processing unit) 2 having a plurality of processing units for performing a series of processes to be included and the exposure apparatus 4 (Interface Station) (interface part) 3 is provided, and the cassette station 1 and the interface station 3 are arrange | positioned at the both ends of the processing station 2, respectively. In addition, in FIG. 1, the oil direction of the resist coating and developing apparatus 100 is made into the X direction, and the direction orthogonal to the X direction on a plane is made into the Y direction.

The cassette station 1 is provided with a conveying apparatus 11 for carrying in / out of the LCD substrate G between the cassette C and the processing station 2, and the cassette station 11 is provided with respect to the outside. Loading and unloading of the cassette C are performed. Moreover, the conveying apparatus 11 is equipped with the conveying arm 11a, and is able to move on the conveyance path 10 provided along the Y direction which is the arrangement direction of the cassette C, and by this conveying arm 11a Loading and unloading of the substrate G is performed between the cassette C and the processing station 2.

In the processing station 2, horizontal conveyance paths 12 and 13 extending in the horizontal direction in the horizontal direction along the X-direction at the center are provided in a straight line from the cassette station 1 in sequence. Each processing unit mentioned later is arrange | positioned at both sides and the edge part of the furnaces 12 and 13. The horizontal conveyance paths 12 and 13 are provided with the horizontal conveyance apparatus 14 and 15 which can move along a longitudinal direction, respectively.

As shown in Fig. 3, a scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 21 is provided on one side of the horizontal conveying path 12, and on a part of the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 21. An excimer UV irradiation unit (e-UV) 22 for removing organic matter from the substrate G is provided prior to scrubber cleaning. Loading of the substrate into these scrubber cleaning processing units (SCR) 21 and excimer UV irradiation unit (e-UV) 22 is performed by the conveying apparatus 11 of the cassette station 1. As shown in Fig. 2, on the other side of the horizontal transport path 12, a development processing unit (DEV) 23 is provided over the horizontal transport path 13, and this development processing unit (DEV) 23 is provided. An i-ray irradiation unit (i-UV) 24 for discoloring the development is provided on a portion of the horizontal conveying path 12 side of the c).

The scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 21 is configured to perform a cleaning process and a drying process while conveying the substrate G approximately horizontally without rotating the substrate G therein as conventionally. The substrate 23 is also conveyed substantially horizontally without rotating the substrate G therein, so that the developer coating, the developer cleaning after development, and the drying process are performed.

On one side of the horizontal conveyance path 13, a resist coating processing unit (CT) 25a, a vacuum drying unit (DP) 25b, and a peripheral resist removal unit (ER) 25c are provided. An integrated resist processing block 25 is disposed, and a titler 26 adjacent to the development processing unit (DEV) 23 is disposed on the other side.

In the resist processing block 25, the substrate G is loaded into the resist coating unit (CT) 25a by the horizontal transfer device 15, where the resist liquid coating is applied thereafter, and then the resist processing block. It is conveyed to the pressure reduction drying unit (DP) 25b by the sub arm (not shown) in (25), it is dried under reduced pressure, and it is conveyed to the peripheral resist removal unit (ER) 25c by the sub arm. Unnecessary resist around the substrate G is removed, and then the substrate G is carried out from the resist processing block 25 by the horizontal transfer device 15.

A thermal processing unit block (TB1) 27 is disposed at an end portion of the horizontal conveying path 12 at the cassette station 1 side, and a thermal processing unit block (between the horizontal conveying paths 12 and 13). TB2) 28 is disposed, and a thermal processing unit block TB329 is disposed at the end of the horizontal transfer path 13 at the interface station 3 side.

As shown in Fig. 4A, the thermal processing unit block TB1 27 cools the extension unit EXT 31 and the substrate G, which sequentially transfer the substrate G from the bottom. The cooling unit (COL) 32 and the six post bake units (POBAKE) 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 which perform post-baking post-development processing on the substrate G are stacked in a total of eight stages. It is composed. The thermal processing unit blocks (TB2) 28 are, as shown in Fig. 4B, an extension unit (EXT) 41, two cooling units (COL) 42, 43, Two Advance Treatment Units (AD) 44, 45 for hydrophobizing the substrate, and three Dehydration Bake Units (DHP) 46, 47, and 48 for dehydrating bake are eight stages in total. It is laminated | stacked and comprised. In addition, the thermal processing unit blocks (TB3) 29 include five extension baking units (EXT) 51, two cooling units (COL) 52 and 53, and five prebaking processes before development. A unit (PREBAKE) 54, 55, 56, 57, 58 is stacked in eight stages in total. In addition, the extension units (EXT) 31, 41, and 51 may be equipped with a cooling function and used as a cooling unit.

Adjacent to these thermal processing unit blocks TB1, TB2, TB3 (27, 28, 29), respectively, dedicated vertical transfer devices 61, 62, 63 are provided in each thermal processing unit block. These are carried in and out of the board | substrate G with respect to each process unit of each thermal process block.

In addition, each processing unit is provided with an opening 30 for carrying in and / or taking out the substrate by the transfer device of each processing block, and the opening 30 can be opened and closed by a shutter (not shown). It is supposed to be. In the developing unit (DEV) 23, the substrate G is loaded from the opening 30 facing the horizontal transfer path 13, and the opening 30 facing the horizontal transfer path 12 is formed. The board | substrate is carried out from it.

The horizontal conveying apparatuses 14 and 15 have the same structure, and as shown in FIG. 5, the apparatus main body 81 and the apparatus main body 81 which are movable along the horizontal conveying paths 12 and 13 are moved up and down. A base member 82 capable of movement and pivoting and two substrate support members 83a and 83b each capable of moving straight on the base member 82 independently of each other along the horizontal direction are provided. . And the center part of the base member 82 and the apparatus main body 81 are connected by the connection part 84. The base member 82 is pivoted through the connection portion by a motor (not shown) built in the apparatus main body 81. By such a mechanism, the horizontal movement and the pivoting of the substrate G can be performed at high speed. In addition, the base member 82 is movable in the vertical direction by a motor built in the apparatus main body 81, and fine adjustment of the conveyance position to the up-down direction is possible.

The vertical conveying devices 61, 62, and 63 have the same structure, and as shown in Fig. 6, the guide member 91 extending in the vertical direction, the ball screw mechanism and the belt The base member 92 which moves up and down along the guide member 91 by a suitable drive mechanism, such as a mechanism, and the board | substrate support member 93 which can move linearly on the base member 92 in a horizontal direction is provided. Then, the base member 92 can be raised and lowered at high speed while being guided to the guide member 91 by the elevating mechanism, and quickly reaches the height of the desired unit within eight stages, so that the substrate supporting member ( 93, carry-in / out of board | substrate G is performed.

The interface station 3 includes a transfer device 71 for carrying in and out of the substrate G between the processing station 2 and the exposure apparatus 4, and a buffer stage 72 for arranging a buffer cassette. Equipped with. The conveying apparatus 71 is provided with the conveying arm 71a which can move on the conveyance path 73 provided along the Y direction, and this conveyance arm 71a makes it between the processing station 2 and the exposure apparatus 4; Carrying in and out of the substrate G is performed at.

In the resist coating and developing apparatus 100 configured as described above, the substrate G in the cassette C disposed in the cassette station 1 is moved by the conveying apparatus 11 to the excimer UV irradiation unit of the processing station 2. It is carried in directly to (e-UV) 22, and the process before a scrubber is performed. Subsequently, the conveyance mechanism 11 carries the substrate G into the scrubber cleaning unit (SCR) 21 disposed under the excimer UV irradiation unit (e-UV) 22 and scrubbers are cleaned. In this scrubber cleaning, while the substrate G is conveyed substantially horizontally without being rotated as in the prior art, the cleaning process and the drying process are performed, whereby conventionally, two scrubber cleaning units of rotary blades are used. The processing capacity can be realized in a smaller space. Subsequently, the substrate G is conveyed by the horizontal conveying device 14 to the extension unit EXT 41 of the thermal processing unit block TB2 28.

The substrate G arranged in the extension unit (EXT) 41 is subjected to the following series of processing by each thermal processing unit of the thermal processing unit block TB2 (28). That is, it is first conveyed to one of the dehydration bake units (DHPs) 46, 47 and 48, and then heat treated, and then to one of the cooling units (COLs) 42 and 43, cooled and then treated. In order to increase the fixability of the adsorbent, it is conveyed to one of the AD treatment units (AD) 44 and 45 and hydrophobized (HMDS treatment) there, and then the cooling unit (COL) 42, 43 ) Is conveyed and cooled, and then to an extension unit (EXT) 41. At this time, all the conveyance processing is performed by the vertical direction conveying apparatus 62. As shown in FIG.

Subsequently, the substrate G described in the extension unit (EXT) 41 is conveyed to the resist coating unit (CT) 25a of the resist processing block 25 by the horizontal transfer device 15. In this resist coating unit (CT) 25a, a resist liquid coating is applied to the substrate G, and thereafter, the reduced pressure drying unit (DP) 25b is formed by a sub-arm (not shown) in the resist processing block 25. ), It is dried under reduced pressure, and it is conveyed to the peripheral resist removal unit (ER) 25c by the sub arm, and the unnecessary resist of the periphery of the board | substrate G is removed. After completion of the removal of the peripheral resist, the substrate G is carried out from the resist processing block 25 by the horizontal transfer device 15. Thus, the provision of the pressure reduction drying unit (DP) 25b after the resist coating unit (CT) 25a is performed after the prebaking of the substrate to which the resist is applied and after the post-baking treatment. Afterwards, the shape of the lift pins, the fixing pins, etc. may be transferred to the substrate G. However, by performing the vacuum drying without heating by the vacuum drying unit DP in this way, the resist is adversely affected. This is because the drying of the resist can be accelerated, and the transfer can be effectively prevented from occurring on the substrate.

After the coating process is completed in this manner, the substrate G is conveyed to the extension unit (EXT) 51 of the thermal processing unit block TB3 (29) by the horizontal transfer device 15.

The substrate G arranged in the extension block EXT 51 is prebaked (PREBAKE) 54, 55, 56 of the thermal processing unit block TB3 29 by the vertical transfer device 63. 57, 58, and then prebaked, and then one of the cooling units (COL) 52, 53, cooled to a predetermined temperature, and then to the extension unit (EXT) 51 do.

Subsequently, the substrate G is conveyed from the extension unit EXT 51 to the exposure apparatus 4 by the transfer apparatus 71, whereby a resist film on the substrate G is exposed to form a predetermined pattern. .

After the end of the exposure, the substrate G is brought back into the processing station 2 via the interface station 3 again. That is, the board | substrate G is conveyed to the extension unit EXT 51 of the thermal processing unit block TB3 29 by the conveyance apparatus 71. FIG. Subsequently, the substrate G is loaded into the Titler 26 by the horizontal transfer device 15, and predetermined information is inputted to the substrate G. Then, the substrate G is transferred to the development processing unit DEV 23. Imported and developed. In this development process, while the substrate G is rotated approximately horizontally without being rotated as in the prior art, the developer is applied, the developer after the development is removed, and the drying process is thereby performed. The same processing power as in the case of using three units can be realized in a smaller space. After the completion of the development process, the substrate G is loaded from the opening 30 on the horizontal transport path side 12, and the i-ray UV irradiation unit (i-UV) 24 is placed thereon by the horizontal transport device 14. It carries in, and the decolorization process is performed with respect to the board | substrate G. Then, it is conveyed to the extension unit (EXT) 31 of the thermal processing unit block TB1 (27) by the horizontal conveyance apparatus 14. As shown in FIG.

The substrate G disposed on the extension unit EXT 31 is a post-baking unit (POBAKE) 33, 34, 35, of the thermal processing unit block TB1 27 by the vertical transfer device 61. It is conveyed to any one of 36, 37, 38, and post-baked, and it is conveyed to the cooling unit (COL) 32, it is cooled to predetermined temperature, and it is conveyed to the extension unit (EXT) 31 further. The conveyed substrate G disposed in the extension unit EXT 31 is conveyed by the conveying apparatus 11 of the cassette station 1 to a predetermined cassette C disposed in the cassette station 1. Are accepted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 21 and the developing processing unit (DEV) 23 in the liquid processing unit are predetermined while the substrate G is transported substantially horizontally therein. In this configuration, the unit can be space-saved, and the unit can be spaced up and down as compared with the case where a plurality of cleaning processing units and a developing processing unit for rotating a spherical LCD substrate are provided in the conventional manner. In this case, the thermal processing unit can be stacked in eight stages without any problem, thereby saving space. Therefore, the footprint of the entire equipment can be reduced. In addition, the horizontal echo transfer apparatuses 14 and 15 which move mainly horizontally with respect to the scrubber cleaning processing unit (SCR) 21, the resist processing block 25, and the developing processing unit (DEV) 23 are used, Since the vertical conveying devices 61, 62, and 63 moving in the vertical direction with respect to the thermal processing units stacked in the vertical direction are used exclusively, functional separation of the conveying device is achieved, so that the throughput can be kept high. .

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

7 is a plan view showing a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment, since the thermal processing unit blocks formed by stacking the eight-stage units are provided at the ends of the horizontal conveying paths 12 and 13 and between them, the horizontal conveying apparatus 14 , 15) could never be said to be sufficient in its maintenance capacity. In this embodiment, such a point is improved.

That is, the resist coating and developing apparatus 100 'of the present embodiment replaces the two thermal processing unit blocks TB1 and 27 in the first embodiment, and the two thermal processing unit blocks TB1A and TB1B. (27a and 27b), two thermal processing unit blocks (TB2A, TB2B) 28a and 28b are installed in place of the thermal processing unit blocks (TB2) 28, and the thermal processing unit blocks (TB3). In place of (29), two thermal treatment unit blocks (TB3A, TB3B) 29a and 29b were provided. Among these, the thermal treatment unit blocks TB1A, TB2A, TB3A (27a, 28a, 29a) are located at the same position as the thermal treatment unit blocks TB1, TB2, TB2 of the first embodiment (27, 28, 29). Since any one of these is provided in three stages including the extension unit, the horizontal transfer apparatuses 14 and 15 in the horizontal transfer paths 12 and 13 can be easily maintained from above. The thermal processing unit blocks TB1B, TB2B, and TB3B 27b, 28b, and 29b are provided on the side of the horizontal conveying path 12 or 13, and are composed of six stages including extension units.

Specifically, the thermal processing unit block TB1A 27a is an extension unit (EXT) 101, a cooling unit (COL) 102 and a post-baking unit (from the bottom as shown in Fig. 8A). POBAKE) 103 is laminated, and the thermal processing unit block TB1B 27b is an extension unit (EXT) 111 and five post-baking units sequentially from the bottom, as shown in FIG. (POBAKE) 112, 113, 114, 115, and 116 are laminated | stacked and comprised. In addition, as shown in (c) of FIG. 8, the thermal processing unit block (TB2A) 28a includes an extension unit (EXT) 121 and two cooling units (COL) 122 and 123 sequentially stacked from the bottom. The thermal processing unit block (TB2B) 28b is composed of an extension unit (EXT) 131 and two advice processing units (AD) 132 and 133 sequentially from the bottom as shown in Fig. 8D. ) And three dehydration bake units (DHPs) 134, 135, and 136 are laminated and configured. In addition, the thermal processing unit blocks TB3A and 29a are formed by stacking extension units EXT 141 and two cooling units COL 142 and 143 sequentially from the bottom, as shown in Fig. 8E. The thermal processing unit block (TB3B) 29b is composed of an extension unit (EXT) 151 and five pre-baking units (PREBAKE) 152, 153, in turn, as shown in Fig. 8F. 154, 155, and 156 are laminated | stacked and comprised. Also in this embodiment, it may be used as a cooling unit in which the extension units (EXT) 101, 111, 121, 131, 141, and 151 have a cooling function.

Adjacent to the thermal processing unit blocks TB1A and TB1B 27a and 27b are provided with dedicated vertical transfer devices 61 ', and thermal processing unit blocks TB2A and TB2B 28a and 28b. Adjacent to these, a dedicated vertical transfer device 62 'is provided, and adjacent to the thermal processing unit blocks TB3A and TB3B 29a and 29b, a dedicated vertical transfer device 63' is provided. It is installed. These are carried in and out of the board | substrate G with respect to each process unit of each thermal process unit block.

Since the vertical transfer devices 61 ', 62', and 63 'need to enter two thermal processing unit blocks, respectively, the guide member 161 extending in the vertical direction and the ball screw as shown in FIG. (elevating member 162 to move up and down along the guide member 161 by an appropriate driving mechanism such as a ball screw mechanism and a belt mechanism, and a base member 163 provided to be rotated in the horizontal direction with respect to the lifting member 162). ) And a substrate support member 164 which is movable on the base member 163 in the horizontal direction. Then, the elevating member 162 can be elevated at a high speed while being guided to the guide member 161 by the elevating mechanism, so that the elevating member 162 can be quickly moved to the height of the desired unit. Is rotated to face the predetermined thermal processing unit block, and the loading and unloading of the substrate G is performed by the substrate supporting member 164 in that state.

In the second embodiment, as the number of thermal processing unit blocks increases in this way, the buffer cassette 72 'is provided in the conveyance path 73 for the convenience of the device layout, and in the first embodiment, The Titler 26 'is disposed at the position where the buffer cassette 72 is arranged.

Next, a third embodiment will be described.

Fig. 10 is a plan view of a resist coating and developing apparatus for an LCD glass substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the resist coating and developing apparatus 100 ″ of the LCD glass substrate according to the present embodiment, the substrate G is placed in place of the horizontal transfer apparatuses 14 and 15 in the first and second embodiments. Shuttles 104 and 105 which are moving stage members for moving the conveyance paths 12 and 13 in one state are provided.

The horizontal conveyance apparatuses 14 and 15 used in the first and second embodiments move the conveyance paths 12 and 13, and move the substrate support member forward and backward and move the base member for transporting the substrate in and out. Although it is necessary to perform pivoting and a larger mechanism is needed to increase the size of the substrate, the shuttles 104 and 105 simply move the substrate G and move along the conveyance paths 12 and 13. You don't need a big device because you just have to. However, in the case of using such shuttles 104 and 105, a unit for exchanging substrates G therebetween, i.e., thermal processing blocks 27, 28 and 29, and a scrubber cleaning unit SCR 21 ), i-ray UV irradiation unit (i-UV) 24, resist coating unit (CT) 25a, peripheral resist removal unit (ER) 25c, developing unit (DEV) 23 and titler Although it is necessary to provide the conveyance arm for sending and receiving the board | substrate G in 26, such a conveyance arm does not need a large mechanism.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible within the range of the idea of this invention. For example, the device layout is merely illustrative and is not limited to this. Also, the processing is not limited to the processing by the resist coating and developing apparatus as described above, but can be applied to other apparatuses for performing liquid processing and thermal processing. Moreover, although the case where the LCD board | substrate as a to-be-processed object is used was shown, it is needless to say that it is not limited to these and it is applicable also in the process of other to-be-processed objects, such as a color filter.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the liquid treatment unit is configured so that a predetermined liquid treatment is performed while the object to be processed is substantially horizontally conveyed, the space saving of the unit as compared to the liquid treatment for rotating the object to be processed as in the prior art. Can be designed. In addition, since a plurality of thermal processing units having no problem in the case of overlapping up and down are stacked, the space can be saved by this, and the footprint of the entire apparatus can be reduced. Moreover, since the 1st conveying apparatus which moves horizontally is used for a liquid process, and the 2nd conveying apparatus which moves in a vertical direction is used for the thermal processing units laminated | stacked in the vertical direction, the separation of the function of a conveying apparatus is carried out. Can achieve high throughput.

Claims (17)

A processing apparatus which performs a series of processing including a liquid processing with respect to a processing body, A liquid treatment unit in which a predetermined liquid treatment is performed while the object to be processed is conveyed substantially horizontally; A first conveying apparatus which moves in the horizontal direction and carries in and out the object to be processed to a plurality of processing units including the liquid processing unit; A thermal processing unit block formed by stacking a plurality of thermal processing units which vertically perform thermal processing on the object to be processed in a vertical direction; And a second conveying apparatus which is provided to be movable in the vertical direction and which carries in and out of the object to be processed only for each thermal processing unit constituting the thermal processing unit block. The method according to claim 1, The liquid processing unit, the first conveying apparatus, the thermal processing unit block, and the second conveying apparatus constitute a processing unit, And a carrying-in / out unit for placing an object to be processed before processing and / or an object to be processed after processing, and carrying in / out of the object to be processed. It is a processing apparatus which performs a series of processes including a liquid process with respect to a to-be-processed object, A horizontal transport path extending in the horizontal direction, A liquid processing unit which is provided facing the horizontal conveying path, in which a predetermined liquid processing is performed while the object to be processed is conveyed substantially horizontally; A thermal processing unit block provided to face the horizontal conveying path and configured by stacking a plurality of thermal processing units and a receiving unit in a vertical direction to perform thermal processing accompanying liquid processing on a target object; A first conveying apparatus for moving the horizontal conveying path and carrying in and out of the object to be processed with respect to the liquid processing unit and the exchange unit; And a second conveying device which is installed to be movable in the vertical direction and which carries in and out of the object to be processed only for each of the thermal processing units and the exchange unit constituting the thermal processing unit block. The method according to claim 3, The horizontal conveying path, the liquid processing unit, the thermal processing unit block, the first conveying apparatus, and the second conveying apparatus constitute a processing unit, And a carrying-in / out unit for placing the object to be processed before and / or the object to be processed after the treatment, and carrying the object in and out of the processing unit. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The first conveying apparatus includes an apparatus body which can move along the horizontal conveying path, a base member that can pivot about the apparatus body, and an object to be processed and onto the base member. And a support member capable of moving straight in the vertical direction. The method according to claim 3 or 4, And said first conveying apparatus is provided with a moving stage member capable of being placed along a horizontal conveyance path while the object to be processed is placed. The method according to claim 3 or 4, The second conveying apparatus includes a guide member which extends in the vertical direction, a base member which is moved up and down along the guide member, and a support member which supports the object to be processed and moves straight on the base member in the horizontal direction. Processing apparatus characterized in that it comprises. A processing apparatus which performs a series of processes including the application | coating of a resist and the image after exposure to a to-be-processed object, A resist coating processing unit which performs a resist coating processing on the target object; A developing unit for performing post-exposure development of a resist film formed by applying a resist; A thermal processing unit block configured by stacking a plurality of thermal processing units and a transfer unit which perform thermal processing accompanying the resist coating process and / or developing process on the object to be processed in a vertical direction; A first conveying apparatus for carrying in and out of the object to be processed with respect to the resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, and the exchange unit; A horizontal conveyance path extending in a horizontal direction and capable of moving the first conveying apparatus; A second conveying apparatus which is installed to be movable in the horizontal direction and which carries in and out of the object only to each of the thermal processing units and the exchange unit constituting the thermal processing unit block, The resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, and the thermal processing unit block are disposed along the horizontal conveying path; The developing unit is a processing apparatus which performs developer coating, developing developer cleaning and drying treatment after the object to be processed is substantially horizontally conveyed therein. The method according to claim 8, The resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, the thermal processing unit block, the first conveying apparatus, the horizontal conveying path, and the second conveying apparatus constitute a processing section. An import / export unit for placing a storage container capable of storing an object to be processed before processing and / or an object to be processed after processing, and carrying in and out of the object to be processed; And an interface unit for transmitting and receiving an object between the processing unit and the exposure apparatus. The method according to claim 8 or 9, The first conveying apparatus includes a device body capable of moving along the horizontal conveying path, a base member capable of pivoting with respect to the device body, and an object to be processed and moving straight on the base member in a horizontal direction. The processing apparatus characterized by including the support member which is possible. The method according to claim 8 or 9, And said first conveying apparatus is provided with a moving stage member capable of being placed on the object and moving along the horizontal conveying path. The method according to claim 8 or 9, The second conveying apparatus includes a guide member extending in the vertical direction, a base member that can be lifted and lowered along the guide member, and a support member that supports the object to be processed and moves straight on the base member in a horizontal direction. Processing apparatus characterized in that it comprises. A processing apparatus which performs a series of processes including the application | coating of a resist and the image after exposure to a to-be-processed object, A cleaning treatment unit for cleaning the object to be treated with a cleaning liquid; A resist coating processing unit which performs a resist coating processing on the target object; A developing unit for performing post-exposure development of a resist film formed by applying a resist; A thermal processing unit block formed by stacking a plurality of thermal processing units and a transfer unit which perform thermal processing accompanying the cleaning process and / or the resist coating process and / or development process on the object to be processed in a vertical direction; A first conveying apparatus for carrying in and out of the object to be treated to the cleaning process unit, the resist coating process unit, the developing process unit, and the exchange unit; A horizontal conveyance path extending in a horizontal direction and capable of moving the first conveying apparatus; A second conveying apparatus which is installed to be movable in the vertical direction and which carries in and out of the object to be processed only for each of the thermal processing units and the exchange unit constituting the thermal processing unit block, The cleaning processing unit, the resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit and the thermal processing unit are arranged along the horizontal conveying path, The cleaning treatment unit performs the cleaning treatment and the drying treatment while the object to be processed is conveyed substantially horizontally therein, The developing unit is a processing apparatus which performs application of a developing solution, removal of a developing solution after development, and a drying process while the object to be processed is conveyed substantially horizontally therein. The method according to claim 13, The cleaning processing unit, the resist coating processing unit, the developing processing unit, the thermal processing unit block, the first conveying apparatus, the horizontal conveying path, and the second conveying apparatus constitute a processing unit. and, An import / export unit for placing a storage container capable of storing an object to be processed before processing and / or an object to be processed after processing, and carrying in and out of the object to be processed; And an interface unit for transmitting and receiving an object between the processing unit and the exposure apparatus. The method according to claim 13 or 14, The first conveying apparatus includes a device body capable of moving along the horizontal conveying path, a base member capable of pivoting with respect to the device body, and an object to be processed and moving straight on the base member in a horizontal direction. Treatment apparatus characterized in that it comprises a support member capable of this. The method according to claim 13 or 14, And said first conveying apparatus is provided with a moving stage which is capable of being placed along the horizontal conveying path while the object to be processed is placed. The method according to claim 13 or 14, The second conveying apparatus includes a guide member which extends in the vertical direction, a base member which is moved up and down along the guide member, and a support member which supports the object to be processed and moves straight on the base member in the horizontal direction. Processing apparatus characterized in that it comprises.