KR20060051344A - Apparatus for treating substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention provides the processing apparatus which can reliably support the surface which becomes the downward direction of inclination direction with a support roller, when processing, making a board | substrate incline and conveying.

It is formed in a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of a board | substrate, and is provided next to each other, The process chambers 3-5 which perform predetermined process with respect to the said board | substrate, respectively, are formed in length dimension shorter than the height dimension of the said board | substrate, In the processing chamber, a plurality of mounting members 11 provided in parallel in a predetermined interval in the vertical direction and rotatably installed in the mounting members, respectively, are provided in a lower direction of the inclined direction of the substrate inclined at the predetermined angle in the processing chamber. The support roller 15 which supports a surface, and it is rotatably installed in each said process chamber, and is rotated while supporting the lower end of the board | substrate with which the lower surface of the inclined direction is supported by the said support roller, and rotates the said board | substrate in a predetermined direction. It is provided with the drive roller 22 conveyed by this.

Substrate, processing apparatus, processing chamber, mounting member, support roller, drive roller, liquid supply pipe, nozzle.

Description

Substrate processing unit {APPARATUS FOR TREATING SUBSTRATES}

1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a width direction of a processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of a second processing chamber portion of the processing apparatus of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a horizontal longitudinal cross-sectional view of the processing apparatus of FIG. 1.

4 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure in which the support roller is mounted.

Explanation of the Major Codes in the Drawing

1: box 2: bulkhead

3,4,5: Process room 6: Entrance entrance

7: Outlet 8: Communication port

11: mounting member 15: support roller

16: mounting hole 22: drive roller

23: drive motor 25: supply pipe

26: nozzle

The present invention relates to a substrate processing apparatus for processing while inclining the substrate at a predetermined angle and conveying it.

The circuit pattern is formed in the glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device. Lithographic processes are employed to form circuit patterns on the substrate. In the lithography process, as is well known, a resist is applied to the substrate, and the resist is irradiated with light through a mask in which a circuit pattern is formed.

Next, the substrate is repeatedly subjected to a plurality of times by removing a portion of the resist not irradiated or the portion to which the light is irradiated, etching the portion of the substrate from which the resist is removed, and removing the resist after etching. To form a circuit pattern.

In such a lithography process, there is a process of treating a substrate with a developing solution, an etching solution or a stripping solution for removing a resist after etching, and a step of cleaning with a cleaning solution, and after cleaning, the cleaning solution adhered to the substrate and remains. A drying process is needed to remove this.

Conventionally, when performing the above-mentioned series of processes with respect to a board | substrate, the said board | substrate is conveyed to each processing chamber one by one in the horizontal state by the conveyance roller arrange | positioned horizontally, and each process mentioned above in each chamber is carried out. To do it.

In recent years, the glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device tends to be enlarged and thinned. Therefore, when the substrate is horizontally conveyed, the warpage of the substrate between the conveying rollers increases due to its own weight, so that the processing in each processing chamber may not be uniformly performed over the entire surface of the substrate.

In addition, when the substrate is enlarged, the amount of the processing liquid supplied to and retained on the substrate increases, so that the load applied to the conveying shaft increases according to the amount of the processing liquid remaining on the substrate. Is increased. Therefore, since a board | substrate bends with a conveyance shaft, a uniform process may not be performed.

In recent years, in order to reduce the curvature of a board | substrate, processing while inclining and conveying a board | substrate at a predetermined angle has been utilized. When the substrate is inclined and conveyed, not only the warpage caused by the weight of the substrate between the conveying rollers can be removed, but also the processing liquid stays on the substrate as in the case of being conveyed horizontally, and the substrate is prevented from bending due to its weight. can do.

When the substrate is inclined and conveyed, the lower surface of the substrate in an inclined direction is supported by a support roller, and the lower end is supported by a drive roller. By rotationally driving a drive roller, the said board | substrate is conveyed in the rotation direction of a drive roller.

The support roller is predetermined in the axial direction on a plurality of mounting shafts arranged at a predetermined interval along the conveying direction of the substrate and parallel to the surface of the inclined substrate, that is, at an angle equal to the inclination angle of the substrate. It is rotatably formed at intervals.

By the way, as mentioned above, according to the structure which inclines and supports the board | substrate by the support roller provided in the mounting shaft, and drives and conveys the drive roller provided in the lower end, it can avoid that the said mounting shaft becomes long by increasing a board | substrate. none. That is, the mounting shaft must be longer than the dimension (height dimension) of the up-down direction of the inclined substrate, and in recent years, the mounting shaft has to be 2 m or more as the substrate is enlarged.

When the mounting shaft becomes long, and in particular, when it becomes 2 m or more in length, the mounting shaft tends to be inclined at a predetermined angle or the weight of the substrate is added through the supporting roller, and the warp tends to occur in the mounting shaft. When the mounting shaft is warped, a plurality of support rollers provided at predetermined intervals on the mounting shaft do not come into contact with the surface of the substrate with uniform strength.

That is, support rollers that are not in contact with the substrate or support rollers that are in too strong contact are produced. Therefore, there exists a possibility that a board | substrate may not be conveyed smoothly, or a board | substrate may be damaged by the support roller strongly contacted.

An object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus for a substrate in which a plurality of support rollers are brought into uniform contact with the substrate so that the substrate can be transported while being inclined at a predetermined angle.

The present invention is a substrate processing apparatus which inclines and transports a substrate at a predetermined angle, and performs a predetermined process with respect to the substrate in a transport process.

A plurality of processing chambers formed in a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the substrate and arranged side by side, each of which performs predetermined processing on the substrate;

A plurality of mounting members formed in a length dimension shorter than the height dimension of the substrate, and arranged in parallel to the conveying direction of the substrate at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction in each of the processing chambers,

A support roller rotatably provided to each of said mounting members to support a lower surface in the inclined direction of said substrate, which is inclined and conveyed at said predetermined angle in said processing chamber, and

A drive roller which is rotatably installed in each of the processing chambers and is rotatably driven while supporting a lower end of the substrate on which a lower surface in an inclined direction is supported by the support roller, thereby transporting the substrate in a predetermined direction.

It is a substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

The present invention is a substrate processing apparatus which inclines and transports a substrate at a predetermined angle, and performs a predetermined process with respect to the substrate in a transfer process.

A plurality of processing chambers formed in a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the substrate and arranged side by side, each of which performs predetermined processing on the substrate;

A support roller for supporting a lower surface of the inclined direction of the substrate to be inclined at the predetermined angle and transported in the processing chamber;

The drive roller which is rotatably installed in each said process chamber, and rotates while supporting the lower end of the said board | substrate with which the lower surface of the inclination direction is supported by the said support roller, and conveys the said board | substrate to a predetermined direction.

It is a substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

According to the present invention, the width dimension of the processing chamber is made smaller than the width dimension of the substrate, the length dimension of the mounting member on which the support roller is installed is made shorter than the height dimension of the substrate, and the mounting member is provided along the width direction of the processing chamber. . Therefore, since the length dimension of a mounting member can be made short enough compared with the width dimension and height dimension of a board | substrate, a bending does not arise in a mounting member, and a board | substrate can be reliably supported by the support roller provided in this mounting member. .

1 is a schematic structural diagram showing a treatment apparatus of the present invention, which has a box 1. The box 1 is partitioned into first to third processing chambers 3 to 5 as a plurality of processing chambers, and three processing chambers in this embodiment, by a plurality of partition walls 2 provided at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction. . That is, the first to third processing chambers 3 to 5 are formed in the box 1 side by side in the horizontal direction.

3 is a horizontal longitudinal cross-sectional view of the box 1 in which a slit-shaped inlet 6 is formed at a predetermined angle, for example, at an angle of 75 degrees, on the side wall 1a of one end in the longitudinal direction of the box 1. Slit-shaped outlet 7 is similarly inclined at the same angle as the inlet 6 in the side wall 1b of the other end of a longitudinal direction. Slit-shaped communication port 8 inclined at the same angle as the inlet 6 and outlet 7 to the two partitions 2 partitioning the inside of the box 1 into three processing chambers 3 to 5. Is formed.

In this embodiment, in the first to third processing chambers 3 to 5, a plurality of strip-shaped bands having a predetermined thickness, four mounting members 11 are horizontally arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction and shown in FIG. 2. As described above, the inlet 6, the outlet 7, and the communication port 8 (only the communication port 8 is shown in Fig. 2) inclined at the same angle are spaced apart from each other in the front and rear directions. .

As shown in FIG. 3, L-shaped support pieces 12 are formed on the inner surface of the side walls 1a and lb at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the box 1 and on both sides of the pair of partition walls 2. The sides are fixed and installed. On both end surfaces of the mounting member 11 in the longitudinal direction, one side of the L-shaped mounting piece 13 corresponding to the base 12 is fixed.

Since the other side of the mounting piece 13 is screwed to the other side of the support piece 12, the mounting member 11 is spaced in a vertical direction as described above in each of the processing chambers 3 to 5 by a predetermined interval. In this way, the position is shifted in the horizontal direction and in the forward direction while going to the lower end thereof.

On the upper surface of each mounting member 11, four support rollers 15 are provided so as to be rotatable with the axis line perpendicular to each other. 4 shows a mounting structure of the support roller 15. That is, the mounting hole 16 is formed in the mounting member 11 in the front end part of the front-back direction along the front-back direction.

A bearing 17 is attached to the support roller 15, and a mounting bolt 18 is inserted into the inner circumference of the bearing 17. The nut 20 is screwed through the washer 19 at the end protruding from the mounting hole 16 of the mounting bolt 18. Therefore, the said support roller 15 is attached to the said mounting member 11 so that the mounting position of the front-back direction can be adjusted.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, a plurality of drive rollers 22 are arranged at predetermined intervals along the width direction of the processing chambers 3 to 5 at lower ends of the processing chambers 3 to 5. Each drive roller 22 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 23.

The glass substrate W used for the liquid crystal panel is inclined at an angle of 75 degrees from the inlet 6 formed in the side wall 1a of the first processing chamber 3. The lower end of the board | substrate W supplied to the 1st process chamber 3 is supported by the drive roller 22, and the lower surface of the inclination direction is supported by the support roller 15. As shown in FIG. Therefore, when the said drive roller 22 is rotationally driven by the drive motor 23, the said board | substrate W will be conveyed in the rotational direction of the drive roller 22, ie, the direction of the 2nd processing chamber 4.

The substrate W has a corner having a size of 2 m or more, for example, a height dimension of 2200 mm and a width dimension of 2600 mm. The width dimension of the 1st thru | or 3rd process chambers 3-5 is set small enough compared with the width dimension of the said board | substrate W. As shown in FIG. For example, it is set to about two-thirds of the width dimension of the board | substrate W. FIG. The length dimension of the said mounting member 11 is set short compared with the height dimension of the board | substrate W. As shown in FIG. For example, the height is set to about one-third to two-thirds of the height dimension of the substrate W. As shown in FIG. Therefore, the mounting member 11 can be made into the length dimension which is hard to bend by self weight, for example, dimension short enough than 2 m.

Even when the length dimension of the mounting member 11 is a length dimension that is less likely to cause warping due to its own weight, the width dimension of each of the processing chambers 3 to 5 is also set shorter than the width dimension of the substrate W. The length dimension of (11) does not become drastically short compared with the width dimension of the process chambers 3-5.

Therefore, the support roller 15 provided in the mounting member 11 reliably supports the part located in each process chamber 3-5 of the board | substrate W along the width direction. That is, even if the mounting member 11 is shortened, the width dimension of each of the processing chambers 3 to 5 is also shortened accordingly, so that the portion located in each of the processing chambers 3 to 5 of the substrate W is supported in the width direction. The roller 15 can reliably support it.

The substrate W is cleaned by a cleaning brush not shown in the first processing chamber 3. The substrate W brush-cleaned in the first processing chamber 3 is rinsed in the second processing chamber 4. That is, in the 2nd process chamber 4, the liquid supply pipe 25 connected to the supply source of a rinse liquid through a flow control valve (both not shown) is spaced apart at predetermined intervals in the up-down direction, and is installed horizontally.

Each liquid supply pipe 25 is provided with a plurality of nozzles 26 at predetermined intervals, and rinsed from these nozzles 26 toward the upper surface of the inclined direction of the substrate W conveyed into the second processing chamber 3. The liquid is to be injected.

Since the liquid supply pipe 25 in which the nozzle 26 which inject | pours the rinse liquid into the board | substrate W was arrange | positioned at predetermined intervals in the height direction of the board | substrate W, in the height direction of this board | substrate W, each liquid The amount of the rinse liquid sprayed and supplied from the nozzle 26 of the supply pipe 25 to the substrate W can be adjusted by a flow rate adjustment valve (not shown) provided in each liquid supply pipe 25. That is, the rinse liquid supplied to the surface of the substrate W flows from the top to the bottom in the height direction of the substrate W. As shown in FIG. Therefore, when the same amount of rinse liquid is supplied to each of the liquid supply pipes 25, the rinsing action of the rinse liquid is increased in the lower direction than the upper side in the height direction of the substrate W, and the entire surface of the substrate W is rinsed uniformly. You will not be able to.

However, since the plurality of liquid supply pipes 25 are spaced apart at predetermined intervals with respect to the height direction of the substrate W, the substrate W is adjusted by adjusting the supply amount of the rinse liquid supplied to each liquid supply pipe 25. The amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the upper and lower portions in the height direction of the surface can be adjusted.

Therefore, when the amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the upper portion of the substrate W is greater than the amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the lower portion, the rinse liquid supplied to the upper portion flows to the lower portion, so that the rinsing action received by the lower portion is approximately equal to the upper portion. can do. As an example, the supply amount of the rinse liquid from each supply pipe 25 is set so that the sum of the flow rate and the flow rate of the rinse liquid flowing on the surface of the inclined substrate W is the same at any position in the height direction of the substrate W. If it is, the whole surface of the board | substrate W can be rinsed substantially uniformly.

In this embodiment, the substrate W is treated with a rinse liquid. However, even when the substrate W is treated with a processing liquid other than the rinse liquid, for example, an etching liquid or a peeling liquid, the processing liquid as described above. By adjusting the supply amount of, the entire surface of the substrate W can be treated uniformly.

The board | substrate W rinsed in the 2nd process chamber 4 is conveyed to the 3rd process chamber 5. An air knife (not shown) is arranged in this third processing chamber 5 along an up-down direction that intersects with the conveying direction of the substrate W, and rinsed on the surface of the rinsed substrate W. The drying process which removes a liquid by gas pressure is performed. And the board | substrate W dried in the 3rd process chamber 5 is carried out from the discharge opening 7, and is passed to the next process.

According to the processing apparatus comprised in this way, support provided in the mounting member 11 horizontally arrange | positioned the lower surface of the inclination direction of the board | substrate W inclined and conveyed at a predetermined angle along the width direction of each processing chamber 3-5. It was made to support by the roller 15.

The width dimension of each of the processing chambers 3 to 5 is set to about one third to two thirds smaller than the width dimension of the substrate W, and the length dimension of the mounting member 11 is the height dimension of the substrate W. It is set to about 1/2/3 smaller.

When the length dimension of the mounting member 11 is shortened as mentioned above, it can prevent that the mounting member 11 bends by self weight. Therefore, the some support roller 15 provided in each mounting member 11 can be positioned without a difference in height in the horizontal direction. As for the support roller 15 provided in each mounting member 11, the mounting position of the front-back direction can be adjusted by the mounting hole 16 formed in the mounting member 11.

Therefore, since it is possible to make the support roller 15 provided in each mounting member 11 contact the lower surface of the inclination direction of the board | substrate W with the same intensity | strength, when the drive roller 22 is driven, the said board | substrate W will be said to be said. The support roller 15 can guide and convey smoothly. That is, it can convey reliably, without damaging the board | substrate W. FIG.

If the length dimension of the mounting member 11 is too short with respect to the width dimension of the processing chambers 3-5, it is supported by the support roller 15 in the width direction of the board | substrate W in each processing chamber 3-5. There are many parts which are not made, and there exists a possibility that the part may bend.

However, in this embodiment, not only the mounting member 11 was made into the length dimension which does not produce curvature by self-weight, but also the width dimension of the process chambers 3-5 was made small, and therefore the length dimension of the mounting member 11 was carried out. It does not become considerably short compared with the width dimension of each processing chamber 3-5. Therefore, the part located in each process chamber 3-5 of the board | substrate W can be reliably supported by the some support roller 15 provided in the said mounting member 11 in the width direction.

That is, if the mounting member 11 is shortened so as not to cause warping only by its own weight, the length dimension of the mounting member 11 becomes too short with respect to the width dimension of the processing chambers 3 to 5, and the angle of the substrate W is reduced. The width direction of the part located in the process chambers 3 to 5 is in a state that is not reliably supported by the support roller 15, so that the substrate W may be deformed or the conveyance may not be smooth.

However, not only the mounting member 11 was shortened, but also the width dimensions of the processing chambers 3 to 5 were also reduced, so that the mounting member 11 was too short compared to the width dimensions of the processing chambers 3 to 5. none. Therefore, the part located in each process tank 3-5 of the board | substrate W can be reliably supported by the support roller 15 provided in the mounting member 11.

In the 2nd process chamber 4 which performs the rinse process of the board | substrate W, the some liquid supply pipe 25 provided with the nozzle 26 which sprays a rinse liquid was arrange | positioned horizontally. The quantity of the rinse liquid supplied to each liquid supply pipe 25 can be adjusted with the flow control valve which is not shown in figure.

Therefore, by making the amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the liquid supply pipe 25 located above the height direction of the board | substrate W inclined conveyance more than the amount of the rinse liquid supplied to the liquid supply pipe 25 located below, It becomes possible to rinse the vertical direction of the board | substrate W in substantially the same state. That is, the whole surface of the board | substrate W can be rinsed uniformly.

Since the width dimension of the process chambers 3-5 was made smaller than the width dimension of the board | substrate W, the board | substrate W has several adjacent process chambers among several process chambers 3-5 as shown by the dashed line in FIG. It is returned in the state over. Therefore, when the front end part of the board | substrate W is rinsing in the 2nd process chamber 4, the board | substrate W is brush-washed in the 1st process chamber 3, for example. Similarly, when the front end is being dried in the third processing chamber 5, the rear end is rinsed in the second processing chamber 4.

Thus, when carrying out various processes with respect to this board | substrate W in the several process chambers 3-5 while conveying the board | substrate W, since the different processes in the adjacent process chamber can be performed simultaneously, a board | substrate The processing of (W) can be efficiently performed.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, although the case where three process chambers are provided side by side as a processing apparatus was demonstrated as an example, the number of process chambers is not limited and the kind of process performed with respect to a board | substrate in each process chamber is not limited, either.

According to the processing apparatus of the board | substrate of this invention, the width dimension of a process chamber is made smaller than the width dimension of a board | substrate, and the length dimension of the mounting member by which a support roller is provided is made shorter than the height dimension of a board | substrate, and this mounting member is made into the width of a process chamber. It was installed along the direction. Therefore, since the length dimension of a mounting member can be made short enough compared with the width dimension and height dimension of a board | substrate, curvature does not arise in a mounting member, and a board | substrate can be reliably supported by the support roller provided in this mounting member.

Claims (4)

In the substrate processing apparatus which inclines and conveys a board | substrate at a predetermined angle, and performs a predetermined process with respect to the said board | substrate in a conveyance process, A plurality of processing chambers formed in a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the substrate and arranged side by side, each of which performs predetermined processing on the substrate; A plurality of mounting members which are formed in a length dimension shorter than the height dimension of the substrate, and are provided in each of the processing chambers in parallel with the conveying direction of the substrate at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction; A support roller rotatably provided to each of said mounting members to support a lower surface in the inclined direction of said substrate, which is inclined and conveyed at said predetermined angle in said processing chamber, and A drive roller which is rotatably installed in each of the processing chambers and is rotatably driven while supporting a lower end of the substrate on which a lower surface in an inclined direction is supported by the support roller, thereby transporting the substrate in a predetermined direction. The substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 1, At least one of the plurality of processing chambers is a processing chamber which sprays a processing liquid onto a substrate to process the liquid, and the processing chamber is provided with a liquid supply pipe at predetermined intervals in a vertical direction along a conveying direction of the substrate and intersecting the conveying direction. And a nozzle for supplying a processing liquid to an inclined upper surface of the substrate in the liquid supply pipe. The method of claim 1, The said processing member is provided with the said support roller so that position adjustment is possible in the front-back direction which cross | intersects the conveyance direction of the said board | substrate, The substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. In the substrate processing apparatus which inclines and conveys a board | substrate at a predetermined angle, and performs a predetermined process with respect to the said board | substrate in a conveyance process, A plurality of processing chambers formed in a width dimension smaller than the width dimension of the substrate and arranged side by side, each of which performs predetermined processing on the substrate; A support roller for supporting a lower surface of the inclined direction of the substrate to be inclined at the predetermined angle and transported in the processing chamber; A drive roller which is rotatably installed in each of the processing chambers and is rotatably driven while supporting a lower end of the substrate on which a lower surface in an inclined direction is supported by the support roller, thereby transporting the substrate in a predetermined direction. The substrate processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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