KR20060077455A - Apparatus for fabricating liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is a chamber; A robot transferring a substrate provided at an inlet of the chamber;

A stage positioned between the robot and the chamber, the stage being erected so that the upper surface is perpendicular to the ground with a rotational axis at one side thereof, and capable of rotational movement about the center of the upper surface; Provided is a manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device comprising a carrier whose short side is spaced apart from the long side of the stage, the surface of which is perpendicular to the ground, and which is linearly movable toward the stage.

Evaporation Equipment, Liquid Crystal Display, Carrier, Rotating Stage

Description

Apparatus for fabricating liquid crystal display device             

1 is a three-dimensional view of a portion of a general liquid crystal display device.

2 is a view schematically showing a conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus.

3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating stepwise movements of components according to movement of a substrate in a conventional LCD manufacturing apparatus.

4 is a plan view briefly showing an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

5A to 5D are diagrams illustrating stepwise movements of components according to movement of a substrate in the liquid crystal display manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

130: deposition system 135: robot movement

138: robot 139: robot arm

140: stage 145: carrier

150: deposition equipment LD: loader

ULD: Unloader

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a rotating table provided in a liquid crystal display device manufacturing equipment inlet.

Recently, the liquid crystal display, which is one of the flat panel display devices, has been actively applied to a notebook or a desktop monitor due to its excellent resolution, color display, and image quality.

In general, a liquid crystal display device arranges two substrates on which electrodes are formed so that the two electrodes face each other, injects a liquid crystal between the two substrates, and then applies a voltage to the two electrodes to form liquid crystal molecules. It is a device to express the image by adjusting the light transmittance by moving the.

FIG. 1 is a three-dimensional view of a partial area of a general liquid crystal display, and is shown centering on an active area in which an image is displayed.

As shown in the figure, the upper and lower substrates 15 and 5 are opposed to each other at regular intervals, and the liquid crystal layer 20 is interposed between the upper and lower substrates 15 and 5.

On the lower substrate 5, a plurality of gates and data lines 7 and 9 cross each other, and a thin film transistor Tr, which is a switching element, is formed at a point where the gates and data lines 7 and 9 cross each other. The pixel electrode 11 connected to the thin film transistor Tr is formed in the pixel area P defined as an area where the gate line 7 and the data line 9 cross each other.                         

Although not shown in the drawings, the thin film transistor Tr may include a gate electrode to which a gate signal voltage is applied, a source and drain electrode to which a data signal voltage is applied, and a difference between the applied gate signal voltage and a data signal voltage. It consists of a channel for controlling the on (on) and off (off) of the voltage.

Next, the color filter layer 16 and the common electrode 18 are sequentially formed below the upper substrate 15. Although not shown in detail in the drawing, the color filter layer 16 may be formed on a region in which red, green, and blue color filter patterns that transmit only light of a specific wavelength band, and liquid crystals that are abnormally driven and positioned at the boundary of each of the color filter patterns are located. It consists of a black matrix (not shown) that blocks light.

In addition, upper and lower polarizers (not shown) for transmitting only light parallel to the polarization axis are positioned on each outer surface of the upper and lower substrates 15 and 5, and a backlight, which is a separate light source, is provided below the lower polarizer (not shown). light) is placed.

Such a liquid crystal display includes a process of manufacturing an array substrate in which pixel electrodes and thin film transistors, which are switching elements, are formed for each pixel, and a common electrode and red, green, and blue colors are formed corresponding to each pixel while facing the array substrate. After the liquid crystal is injected between the array substrate and the color filter substrate produced by the two processes, and then bonded to the cell process to complete the liquid crystal panel, and to the liquid crystal panel It is completed by attaching a polarizing plate, a driving circuit board, and a backlight unit.

In this case, in the color filter process of completing the color filter substrate, a process of depositing a conductive material layer as a transparent conductive material, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), on the front surface of the substrate is performed to prevent static electricity on the front surface of the substrate. However, the deposition equipment for depositing such ITO should proceed by standing up the substrate.

In general, in a clean room for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, a substrate is introduced into a loader of each unit process equipment in a cassette unit filled with a plurality of substrates separated by AGV, and a robot located around the loader is provided. The substrate in the collapsed state is taken out from the cassette and placed on a stage or the like.

In the manufacturing of the liquid crystal display device as described above, the unit process is performed in a state in which the substrate is divided into stages, etc., but the ITO deposition process requires a specific stage in which the substrate is placed in the divided state. It is becoming.

FIG. 2 illustrates a conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus, and FIGS. 3A to 3C are diagrams illustrating movement of components according to movement of a substrate in the liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus.

First, the components of the liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus will be briefly described.

Conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus 30 is provided with a loader (LD) and an unloader (ULD) to receive and leave the cassette 85, which is a unit for conveying the substrate 90, The robot movement path 35 is located on the side of the loader LD and the unloader ULD so that the robot 38 and the robot 38 can move the loader LD and the unloader ULD. The first and second stages 40a and 40b are positioned on the side of the robot movement path 35, and the substrate 90 in an upright state is mounted on the right side of each of the stages 40a and 40b and the deposition apparatus 50 is mounted thereon. Carrier 45 that serves to transport inside is located, the carrier 45 is a structure that can move up and down between the first and second stages (40a, 40b), the carrier 45 The end of the moving passage 43 is provided with a rotation area RA for rotating the carrier 45, the ca Air may be a structure that is introduced into the rotating area (RA) chamber 50 by the carrier 45 in the erected state in the rotation of (45).

Next, the movement of the substrate until it is introduced into the chamber will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 3A, the robot 38 is positioned above the stages 40a and 40b by transferring the substrate 90 from the cassette 85 located on the loader LD. In this case, the robot 38 always moves parallel to the long side of the substrate 90 so that the robot arm 39 is inserted into the cassette 85 to transfer the substrate 90. When the substrate 90 is positioned above the stages 40a and 40b, one end of the substrate 90 may be positioned closest to the carrier 45. At this time, the carrier 45 is also configured such that the substrate 90 in a state where the short side of the substrate 90 is positioned at the upper and lower portions and the long side of the substrate 90 is positioned at the left and right. In other words, the carrier 45 is configured such that the substrate 90 is mounted in a state where the short sides thereof are parallel to the ground.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3B, the substrate 90 placed on the stages 40a and 40b is erected perpendicularly to the ground with the stages 40a and 40b as the axis of rotation with the short sides close to the carrier 45. Rotates and is in a state of being in close proximity to the substrate mounting surface of the carrier 45, and then the carrier 45 is gradually moved to the surface of the stages 40a and 40b in the standing state so that the substrate mounting surface moves to the stage 40a, In contact with the substrate 90 adsorbed on 40b), the substrate 90 is mounted on the substrate mounting surface of the carrier 45.

Next, as shown in FIG. 3C, the carrier 45 on which the substrate 90 is mounted moves up to the rotation region RA, and then the side portion of the carrier 45 is deposited in the rotation region RA. It is rotated 90 degrees toward the inlet of the equipment 50 and then introduced into the chamber 50 by moving.

In the liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus having the above-described structure, there is a lot of unnecessary operation until the substrate is introduced into the chamber, and it takes a long time to introduce the substrate into the chamber, and the rotation region of the carrier is provided. By occupying a relatively large area in the cleanroom, there is a problem in that the cleanroom cannot be efficiently used.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to improve productivity by shortening the input time of the substrate by simplifying the operation of the stage and the carrier configured in the inlet of the deposition apparatus.

In addition, it is another object to improve the clean room use efficiency and to reduce the manufacturing cost by eliminating the rotation area of the carrier.

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a chamber; A robot transferring a substrate provided at an inlet of the chamber; A stage positioned between the robot and the chamber, the stage being erected so that the upper surface is perpendicular to the ground with a rotational axis at one side thereof, and capable of rotational movement about the center of the upper surface; The short side is spaced apart from the long side of the stage, the surface of which is perpendicular to the ground, and includes a carrier capable of linear movement toward the stage.

In this case, a robot moving path for moving the robot is further provided, and a loader and an unloader are further provided on the side of the robot moving path.

A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display according to the present invention includes the steps of manufacturing an array substrate including a thin film transistor; Manufacturing a color filter substrate comprising a color filter layer; Depositing ITO on the back side of the color filter substrate.

The depositing of the ITO may include placing the color filter substrate in a loader of the liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus of claim 1; Positioning a color filter substrate positioned on the loader onto a stage using a robot; Erecting the stage on which the substrate is located perpendicular to the ground with its long side rotating axis; Rotating the stage with an axis of rotation using a virtual line passing through the center of the upper surface of the stage in an upright position such that the long side of the substrate is perpendicular to the ground; Transferring the standing substrate to the substrate mounting surface of the carrier whose short side is spaced apart from the long side of the stage, the surface of which is perpendicular to the ground, and which is linearly movable toward the stage; The carrier moves linearly in a chamber and deposits ITO.

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

4 is a plan view briefly illustrating an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

As illustrated, the liquid crystal display manufacturing apparatus 130 according to the present invention includes a loader LD and a loader ULD, which are inserted and discharged by a cassette 185 which is a means for conveying the substrate 190. A robot 138 moving from the cassette 185 located on the loader LD to the substrate 190 is provided on the side of the loader LD and the loader ULD, and the robot 138 is a loader ( Since the substrate 190 must be transferred from both the LD and the unloader ULD, a robot moving path 135 for moving across the loader LD and the loader ULD is provided to the robot 138. A linear reciprocating motion in the robot movement path 135 transfers the substrate 190.

Next, the first and second stages 140a and 140b for placing the substrate 190 transferred from the cassette 185 on the loader LD are spaced apart from each other at a side of the robot moving path 135 by a predetermined distance. The first and second stages 140 and 140b are disposed on the lower side of the stages 140a and 140b, that is, the long sides, to move the substrate 190 from the first and second stages 140a and 140b to move into the chamber 150. Carriers 145a and 145b are provided, respectively.

Next, the side surfaces of the carriers 145a and 145b are provided with a chamber 150 in which the carriers 145a and 145b move and perform a unit process.

The liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus 130 according to the present invention having the above-described structure moves in a state in which a short side of the substrate is set in parallel with the ground in order to minimize process efficiency and equipment size.

Therefore, in order to insert the substrate 190 into the chamber 150, the substrate 190 is mounted on the carriers 145a and 145b that carry the substrate 190 to the inside of the chamber 150, and then the substrate 190 is disposed. ) Should be positioned in a specific direction. That is, one long side of the carriers 145a and 145b should be positioned to correspond to the inlet of the chamber 150.

As such, when the substrate 190 is transferred from the stages 140a and 140b to the carriers 145a and 145b in order to position the carriers 145a and 145b so that the inlet of the deposition apparatus 150 and one side of the long side thereof correspond to each other. One long side of the substrate 190 is directed toward the inlet of the chamber 150, so that the rotation region of the conventional carrier is omitted.

The characteristic parts of the deposition system according to the invention are described in more detail.

The most characteristic part of the present invention is the first and second stages 140a and 140b, in which the robot 138 puts the substrate 190 transferred from the cassette 185 on the loader LD, using one side thereof as the rotation axis. And rotate 90 degrees such that the upper surfaces of the stages 140a and 140b are horizontal to vertical to the ground. The substrate 190 of the first and second stages 140a and 140b is rotated. When the upper surface to be placed is perpendicular to the ground, respectively, the first and second carriers 145a and 145b are spaced apart in parallel with the surfaces of the stages 140a and 140b, respectively. At this time, each of the carriers (145a, 145b) is characterized in that the position is located so that one long side corresponding to the inlet of the deposition equipment 150.

Accordingly, the upper surfaces of the first and second stages 140a and 140b, which are erected with their long side surface portions parallel to the ground, are perpendicular to the ground and in this state the substrate ( It is another feature that the upper surface of the first and second stages 140a and 140b can rotate 90 degrees to transfer 190.

5A to 5D, the operation of the component according to the movement of the substrate in the deposition system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the robot 138 is positioned above the first or second stages 140a and 140b by transferring the substrate 190 from the cassette 185 located on the loader LD. For convenience of explanation, only the first stage 140a and the first carrier 145a will be described below, and the second stage 140b and the second carrier 145b provided below the second stage 140b are referred to. However, they do the same operation as the first stage 140a and the first carrier 145a, respectively.

In this case, since the robot arm 139 is always inserted into the cassette 185 to transfer the substrate 190 in parallel with the long side of the substrate 190, the robot 138 transfers the substrate 190. Characterized in that the long side of the first stage 140a is located in parallel with the acquisition direction of the robot arm 139.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the first stage 140a on which the substrate 190 transferred by the robot 138 is placed is the first stage 140a in the acquisition direction of the robot arm 139. The substrate placed on the upper surface of the first stage 140a is rotated by 90 degrees while the surface of the first stage 140a is parallel to the ground with the right long side as the axis of rotation. 190) upright with respect to the ground. In this case, since the substrate 190 is vacuum adsorbed on the surface of the first stage 140a, the substrate 190 is not separated from the surface of the first stage 140a.

Next, the first stage 140a maintains the upper surface perpendicular to the ground while the central portion of the stage surface on which the substrate is adsorbed with respect to the ground is rotated, and the substrate 190 of the first stage 140a is rotated. ) By rotating the upper surface of the vacuum suction is 90 degrees, so that the long side of the first stage (140a) is perpendicular to the ground in a parallel state. That is, the substrate 190 which is vacuum-adsorbed to the upper surface of the first stage 140a by making its short side in the same state as the first carrier 145a set up in parallel with the ground, the first carrier 145a. It is to be transferred to the front of the.

At this time, the rotation of the surface on which the substrate 190 of the first stage 140a is vacuum-adsorbed is not a rotation in which the rotation radius itself occupies an area in the clean room as in the prior art, but the rotation area is the first stage with respect to the ground. Since only the area of the side portion of the conventional feature of the carrier does not require a rotational area. That is, conventionally, since the rotation is about an axis included in the stage, as much space as the area of the stage is rotated, the present invention is centered on an axis perpendicular to the stage, that is, a virtual line passing through the center of the upper surface of the stage. Since only the space as long as the stage long side is rotated by rotating, it can be seen that there is a lot of difference between the present invention and the present invention in the rotation space in the clean room.

Next, the substrate 190 adsorbed to the first stage 140a having the short side parallel to the ground by rotating is brought into close contact with the front surface of the first carrier 145a, and then the first stage ( The front surface of the first carrier 145a is removed from the upper surface of the first stage 140a by releasing the vacuum adsorption on 140a and simultaneously vacuuming the front surface of the first carrier 145a. Move to wealth

  When the first carrier 145a transferred from the first stage 140a to the substrate 190 moves to the long side of the first carrier 145a without being rotated as it is at the position where the substrate 190 is transferred, FIG. 5D. As shown in FIG. 5, the long side of the first carrier 145a faces the inlet of the chamber 150, and moves to the inside of the chamber 150. The unit process is performed on the substrate 190 while being mounted on the first carrier 145a.

Therefore, since the carrier does not need to perform a rotation that requires a lot of space for positioning the long side side portion corresponding to the inlet of the deposition equipment as in the prior art, the rotation area is not required unlike the prior art, the first Since the time such as movement and rotation of the carrier to the rotation region is shortened, the deposition efficiency per unit time can be improved.

As described above, the deposition system for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention coincides with the direction of travel of the carrier to the deposition equipment so that the carrier can be moved directly to the deposition equipment without rotating the position of the carrier. Area can be reduced. Therefore, there is an effect of reducing the initial equipment cost.

In addition, since the movement and rotation time of the carrier to the rotation region is omitted, there is an effect of improving the deposition efficiency per unit time.

Claims (5)

A chamber; A robot transferring a substrate provided at an inlet of the chamber; A stage positioned between the robot and the chamber, the stage being erected so that the upper surface is perpendicular to the ground with a rotational axis at one side thereof, and capable of rotational movement about the center of the upper surface; A carrier whose short side is spaced apart from the long side of the stage, the surface of which is perpendicular to the ground, and which is linearly movable towards the stage Liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, further comprising a robot moving path through which the robot moves. The method of claim 2, And a loader and an unloader on the side of the robot movement path. Fabricating an array substrate comprising a thin film transistor; Manufacturing a color filter substrate comprising a color filter layer; Depositing ITO on the back surface of the color filter substrate Liquid crystal display device manufacturing method comprising a. The method of claim 4, wherein Depositing the ITO is Positioning the color filter substrate in a loader of the liquid crystal display device manufacturing apparatus of claim 1; Positioning a color filter substrate positioned on the loader onto a stage using a robot; Erecting the stage on which the substrate is located perpendicular to the ground with its long side rotating axis; Rotating the stage with an axis of rotation using a virtual line passing through the center of the upper surface of the stage in an upright position such that the long side of the substrate is perpendicular to the ground; Transferring the standing substrate to the substrate mounting surface of the carrier whose short side is spaced apart from the long side of the stage, the surface of which is perpendicular to the ground, and which is linearly movable toward the stage; Depositing ITO while the carrier moves in a linear motion Method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a.

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