KR20040057690A - Substrate of tft-lcd moving apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A substrate conveying apparatus of an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) is provided to minimize a vibration due to static electricity when separating a substrate from a substrate support in order to transfer the substrate, thereby preventing the break of the substrate. CONSTITUTION: The substrate conveying apparatus comprises a hook(410) in which its angle is controlled. Since the more the substrate's(420) size become large, the more the substrate's(420) bend become large, the angle of the hook(410) become large. If the hook(410) is inclined to the horizontal surface, when the substrate(420) is loaded, the contact area of the substrate(420) and the hook(410) is increased, so that the substrate(420) is conveyed safely. Also, the contact area of the substrate(420) and a vacuum pad is increased, so that the leakage of vacuum pressure is minimized.

Description

Substrate Transport Device for Liquid Crystal Display Device {SUBSTRATE OF TFT-LCD MOVING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transporting device for transporting a substrate used in a liquid crystal display device, in particular, a substrate transporting device for safely transporting a substrate by reducing the influence of static electricity when detaching from a substrate support.

Currently, the liquid crystal display device, which is the flagship product of flat panel display, has been rapidly developed in size and high resolution due to mass production technology and research and development, and has been developed not only for notebook computer but also as a large monitor application product. As it is gradually being replaced, its share in the display industry is gradually increasing. In today's information society, the importance of display is a visual information transmission medium. In particular, with the trend of light, thin, short, and small in all electronic products, the importance of low power consumption, thinness, light weight, high definition, and portability is increasing. Liquid crystal displays are not only capable of satisfying these conditions of flat panel displays but also mass-produced display devices, which are rapidly creating various new products using them, and have a ripple effect over semiconductors in the electronics industry.

The glass substrate used in the liquid crystal display device is subjected to applying a photoresist thereon, drying the photoresist and exposing and developing the photoresist thereon to form a TFT array. In the step of applying the photosensitive liquid is used a spin coating (spin coating) method to ensure the thickness uniformity.

Since the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device is connected to different unit processes, the equipment for performing each unit process is different and there is a need for a device for transporting the substrate of the liquid crystal display device to these devices. That is, after completing work at one work place, a substrate transport device for moving the glass substrate to the next work place is required.

The substrate transport apparatus used conventionally is demonstrated below.

1A and 1B are a plan view and a side view illustrating a substrate transport apparatus, a substrate, and a substrate support supporting the same, which have been conventionally used.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the transport apparatus includes a plurality of transmission arms 100 and a plurality of hooks (not shown) installed on the bottom of the transmission arm 100. The transmission arm 100 is attached to the transmission arm support 120 for supporting and moving it.

Below the transmission arm 100, a substrate 130 and a substrate support 140 supporting the substrate 130 are shown. In order to carry the substrate 130, a plurality of transmission arms 100 are arranged over the width of the substrate 130.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view of I-I of FIG. 1A.

The hook 110 is installed on the transmission arm 100. As shown, both ends of the substrate 130 are supported by the hook 110.

The height of the transmission arm 100 is adjusted so that the hook is located slightly below the substrate 130 supported by the substrate support 140, such as a chuck.

When the substrate 130 is lifted up by the substrate support 140 after finishing the process, the transmission arm 100 is moved in the horizontal direction by the transmission arm support 120 so that the hook 110 is below the substrate 130. To be located. Next, the transfer arm 100 moves upward, or the substrate support 140 moves downward so that the substrate 130 is placed on the hook 110. A vacuum pad (not shown) is attached to the hook 110 to fix the substrate 130 by a vacuum pressure during transport of the substrate 130. In addition, the vacuum pad is made of an elastic body to maintain a predetermined distance between the substrate 130 and the hook 110 serves to absorb the shock. The substrate 130 moves to the apparatus for the next process by moving the transmission arm 100 while the substrate 130 is fixed.

FIG. 2A illustrates a state in which the center of the substrate 130 loaded in the substrate transport apparatus is moved downward.

Glass substrates are mainly used as substrates of liquid crystal displays. The glass substrate is only about 0.7 mm thick, and as the liquid crystal display becomes larger, the substrate is bent downward with the center of the substrate being transported by the transport apparatus.

In addition, it is not easy for the substrate to be separated from the support means by static electricity generated between the substrate support and the substrate, so that the substrate vibrates up and down during separation. When the vibration was severe, there was a case where the substrate was broken.

FIG. 2B is an enlarged view of a portion A of FIG. 2A.

As described above, the vacuum pad 200 is installed at the end of the hook 110 of the substrate transport device to fix the substrate 130. However, since the substrate 130 is bent at the time of loading, the contact surfaces of the substrate 130 and the hook 110 are not parallel to each other, thereby creating an empty space 210 between the substrate 130 and the vacuum pad 310. Since the vacuum pressure leaked by the empty space 210, the substrate 130 was not stably fixed.

3A illustrates a form in which a photosensitive liquid is applied to a substrate surface.

In the process of applying the photosensitive liquid 300 on the substrate during the above-described process, the substrate support 140 is rotated to apply the photosensitive liquid 300 to the surface of the substrate 130 with a uniform thickness. However, as shown in the drawing, the photoresist 300 is partially applied to the rear surface of the substrate 130 beyond the edge of the substrate 130 by the centrifugal force by the rotating substrate support 140.

3B illustrates that the hook of the substrate transport apparatus is contaminated due to the photoresist or the like.

The photosensitive liquid 300 coated on the rear surface of the substrate 130 is dropped onto the hook 110 of the substrate transport apparatus by vibration generated when the substrate 130 is separated from the substrate support 140, thereby preventing the hook 110 from being removed. It had contaminated the upper surface.

If the substrate carrier is contaminated by contaminants such as the photosensitive liquid 300, it may cause defects in the subsequent process and become fatal to maintain the cleanness in the clean room.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to prevent breakage of the substrate by minimizing vibration caused by static electricity when separating the substrate from the substrate support to transport the substrate.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to maximize the contact area between the substrate and the hook of the substrate transport device to stably fix the substrate on the hook.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to prevent the contamination of the substrate transport apparatus by the photosensitive liquid applied to the surface of the substrate by minimizing vibration when separating the substrate from the substrate support.

1A and 1B are a plan view and a side view showing a conventional substrate carrier, a substrate and a substrate support.

2A and 2B are side and partial enlarged views showing a state in which a substrate is loaded in a conventional substrate transport apparatus.

Figure 3a is a side view showing a state that the photosensitive liquid is applied to the substrate.

FIG. 3B is a partial perspective view of the substrate carrier showing a state in which the substrate carrier is contaminated by the photosensitive liquid; FIG.

Figure 4 is a side view showing a substrate transport apparatus, a substrate and a substrate support according to the present invention.

5A and 5B are a side view and a partially enlarged view showing a state in which a substrate is loaded in the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention.

6A and 6B are sectional views showing the connection portion of the transfer arm and the hook of the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention;

Figure 6c is a side view showing a state in which the substrate is mounted on the upper hook angle adjusted according to the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing ***

100,400: Transmission arm 110,410: Hook

120: transmission arm support 130,420: substrate

140,430: substrate support 200,500: vacuum pad

300: photosensitive liquid 520, 600: fixing means

The present invention to achieve the above object, the transmission arm; A plurality of hooks connected to the transfer arm to separate the substrate from the substrate support, the hooks being provided to have a distance equal to the width of the substrate support; Provided is a substrate transporting device of a liquid crystal display device including at least two vacuum pads installed on an upper surface of each hook to fix the substrate on the hooks.

The transmission arm and the hook are connected to an angle adjusting device to adjust the angle of the hook to maximize the contact area with the substrate.

Since the angle adjusting device is installed on the bottom of the vacuum pad, it is preferable to maximize the contact area with the substrate by adjusting the angle between the vacuum pad and the hook.

The substrate is a glass substrate of about 0.7mm thickness is mainly used.

The substrate support includes a spin chuck that rotates at a constant speed to apply a photosensitive liquid onto the substrate.

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

4 is a side view of the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention.

As shown, the substrate carrier includes a transmission arm 400 and a plurality of hooks 410 attached thereto. Also shown is a substrate 420 and a substrate support 430 that supports it.

The hook 410 is formed to extend toward the substrate support 430 as compared to the prior art. However, the length of the hook 410 should not be extended to the contact with the substrate support 430. As shown, the hooks 410 supporting both ends of the substrate 420 may be installed at intervals as wide as the width of the substrate support 430.

Since the hook 410 of the substrate transport apparatus according to the present invention extends in the direction of the substrate support 430, the contact area with the substrate 420 increases when the substrate 420 is separated from the substrate support 430. Therefore, the degree of vibration of the substrate 420 due to static electricity when the substrate 420 is separated is reduced.

5A is an enlarged view illustrating portion B of FIG. 4 enlarged.

The vacuum pad 500 is installed at a portion extending by the length d of the hook 410. Although the drawing shows that two vacuum pads 500 are installed in one hook 410, more vacuum pads may be provided.

Compared with the structure in which only one vacuum pad is conventionally installed, the fixing force of the substrate is improved, and the distance between the substrate and the hook can be kept constant.

FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of portion D of FIG. 5A.

The hook 410 of the vacuum pad 500 and the portion where the vacuum pad 500 is installed is shown.

The hook 410 of the portion where the vacuum pad 500 is installed has grooves 510 formed on the top and side surfaces thereof. Insert the leg of the vacuum pad 500 into the groove on the upper surface of the hook 410 and insert the fixing means 520 such as bolt into the groove 510 on the side to raise and lower the front and rear ends of the vacuum pad 500. Adjust By appropriately adjusting the height, the contact area with the substrate 420 is maximized to minimize leakage of vacuum pressure.

In addition, the substrate transport apparatus of the present invention can adjust the angle by installing a fixing device such as a bolt in the connection portion of the transmission arm 400 and the hook 410.

6A and 6B are side and front views illustrating an enlarged view of a connection portion between the transmission arm 400 and the hook 410.

Since the hook 410 is fixed to the transmission arm 400 by fixing means 600 such as a bolt, the angle of the hook 410 is adjusted in consideration of the degree of warpage according to the size of the substrate 420.

A protrusion 610 is formed at the end of the transmission arm 400 connected to the hook 410, and a groove corresponding to the protrusion 610 of the transmission arm 400 is formed at the end of the hook 410. The protrusion 610 and the groove are connected. In addition, a hole is formed in the protrusion 610 and the groove to fix the transmission arm 400 and the hook 410 by fixing means 600 such as a bolt through the hole. The angle of the hook 410 can be adjusted by the fixing means 600.

FIG. 6C shows the substrate transport apparatus of the present invention with the substrate 420 having an angle-adjusted hook 410.

The angle of the hook 410 is adjusted with the angle θ. As the size of the substrate 420 increases, the degree of warpage of the substrate 420 increases, so that the angle θ of the hook 410 increases. As illustrated, when the hook 410 is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the contact area between the substrate 420 and the hook 410 increases when the substrate 420 is loaded, thereby stably transporting the substrate 420. In addition, the contact area with the vacuum pad 500 is also increased to minimize leakage of vacuum pressure.

Many details are set forth in the foregoing description, but they should be construed as preferred embodiments rather than limiting the scope of the invention. For example, it may be manufactured by setting the optimum angle without the angle adjusting device between the transmission arm and the hook of the substrate carrier. Therefore, the scope of the invention should not be defined by the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims and the equivalents of the claims.

According to the present invention has the following effects.

First, when the substrate is separated from the substrate support by the substrate carrier, the contact area between the substrate and the substrate carrier is maximized to minimize vibration caused by static electricity. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the substrate from being damaged from the shock caused by the vibration.

Second, it is possible to prevent the photosensitive liquid applied to the surface of the substrate flows into the substrate transport apparatus to contaminate the substrate transport apparatus by minimizing vibration.

Third, the vacuum pad is additionally installed in the extended portion of the hook, and the angle of the vacuum pad can be adjusted to increase the contact ratio between the vacuum pad and the substrate, thereby minimizing the leakage of vacuum pressure, thereby improving the ability to fix the substrate. .

Claims (6)

Transmission arm; A plurality of hooks connected to the transfer arm to separate the substrate from the substrate support, the hooks being provided to have a distance equal to the width of the substrate support; At least two vacuum pads installed on the upper surfaces of the hooks to fix the substrate on the hooks; Substrate transport apparatus of the liquid crystal display device comprising a. 2. The substrate transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein the hook is provided on the transfer arm at an angle that maximizes the contact area with the substrate when the substrate is bent. The substrate transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein the transmission arm and the hook are connected to an angle adjusting device to adjust an angle of the hook to maximize a contact area with the substrate. The substrate carrier of claim 1, wherein an angle adjusting device is provided on a bottom surface of the vacuum pad to maximize an area of contact with the substrate by adjusting an angle between the vacuum pad and the hook. Device. 2. The substrate transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a glass substrate. 2. The substrate transport apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate support is a spin chuck which rotates at a constant speed to apply a photosensitive liquid onto the substrate.