KR20070054944A - Cleaning apparatus for glass substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate by spraying the cleaning liquid inside the sealed chamber. The substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a chamber having an entrance and exit, a carrier for transporting the substrate inside the chamber, an in shower knife for spraying a predetermined fluid onto the substrate transported by the carrier, and on the substrate. A partition having a through hole for separating the effective space by shielding between the nozzle unit for spraying the cleaning liquid, the in-shower knife and the nozzle unit, and allowing the transfer of the substrate, and a space for transferring the substrate. A shutter that is closed to provide a closed environment in the chamber as needed.

Substrate, Cleaning, Chamber

Description

Substrate cleaning device {CLEANING APPARATUS FOR GLASS SUBSTRATES}

1 is a plan view showing a substrate cleaning apparatus according to the prior art,

FIG. 2 is a side view of a portion of the substrate cleaning apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a side view showing a part of the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention cut away.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

50: chamber

52: doorway

60: carrier

62: shaft

62a: roller

70: nozzle unit

80: in shower knife

90: shutter

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate cleaning apparatus, and more particularly, to a cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate by spraying a cleaning liquid inside a sealed chamber.

Recently, information processing devices have been rapidly developed to have various types of functions and faster information processing speeds. This information processing apparatus has a display device for displaying the operated information. Until now, a cathode ray tube monitor has been mainly used as a display device, but recently, with the rapid development of semiconductor technology, the use of a flat display device that is light and occupies a small space is rapidly increasing. There are various types of flat panel displays. Among them, liquid crystal displays, which are small in power consumption and small in volume, and low voltage driven, are widely used.

Various processes are performed to manufacture such a liquid crystal display, and among them, a cleaning process is performed to remove dust, organic matter, and the like stuck on the substrate. Such washing steps include a washing step of washing the substrate using a washing solution such as deionized water or a chemical solution, and a drying step of removing the deionized water attached to the substrate by blowing air.

1 and 2, a general substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning a substrate as described above will be described. In the general substrate cleaning apparatus, as shown in FIG. As the pulley 3 is rotated through, the roller 22a fixed to the shaft 22 transfers the substrate S into the chamber 10. The substrate S is transported from the entrance 10a of the chamber 10 by the roller 22a, as shown in FIG. The surface is purified by the sprayed high pressure solution, and then washed by the washing liquid sprayed from the nozzle unit 32. The washing liquid is a chemical liquid or deionized water for washing the surface of the substrate S, and the solution sprayed from the in shower knife 34 is pure water.

On the other hand, the shutter 36 installed in the entrance 10a of the chamber 10 seals the entrance 10a by a driving member such as the lifting cylinder 36a when the substrate S is cleaned.

However, such a general substrate cleaning apparatus, as shown, the nozzle unit 32 and the in-shower knife 34 do not separate from each other and share the inside of the chamber 10 in an adjacent state, the cleaning liquid mist of the nozzle unit 32 There is a problem that Mist is scattered onto the substrate S purified by the in-shower knife 34 and contaminates the purified substrate S.

In particular, the cleaning liquid mist (Mist) of the nozzle unit 32 is contaminated on the incoming substrate (S), which is condensed and transported to the entrance (10a) side of the chamber 10 as shown, to contaminate the substrate (S).

The stains formed on the substrate by the wash liquid mist dropped before the inshower knife can continue to cause defects in subsequent processes.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the substrate cleaning apparatus can isolate the effective section of the nozzle unit to prevent the cleaning liquid mist from scattering to the in-shower knife or dropping onto the substrate to contaminate the substrate. The purpose is to provide.

The substrate cleaning apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object, the chamber having an entrance, the carrier for transporting the substrate in the chamber, the in-shower for spraying a predetermined fluid on the substrate transported by the carrier A partition having a knife, a nozzle unit for injecting a cleaning solution onto the substrate, a shield between the in-shower knife and the nozzle unit to separate their effective space, and allowing a transfer of the substrate, and the substrate being transferred And a shutter that selectively closes the space to be provided to provide a closed environment in the chamber as necessary.

The present invention not only prevents the partition from flowing into the effective space of the in-shower knife while the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle unit is scattered, and also prevents the cleaning liquid mist from condensing in the effective space of the in-shower knife. It is possible to prevent the purified substrate from being degraded while being contaminated with the cleaning liquid.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and FIG. 3 is a side view showing a portion of a substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention provides a closed space and includes a chamber 50 having an entrance and exit 52 through which the substrate S enters and exits the chamber 50. The carrier 60 which conveys the board | substrate S, and the nozzle unit 70 which injects the washing | cleaning liquid, such as chemical liquid or deionized water, on the board | substrate S conveyed by this carrier 60 are included.

Here, the carrier 60 is the shaft 62 in which the some roller 62a which conveys the board | substrate S is mounted. This shaft 62 is operated by a driver, not shown. As shown in FIG. 1, the driver includes a pulley 3 mounted on a shaft 62, a belt 4 wound on the pulley 3, and a driving motor 5 for rotating the belt 4. It can be configured as. Then, the nozzle unit 70 is installed on the upper portion of the substrate (S) as shown to spray the cleaning liquid on the substrate (S).

The substrate cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention shields an in-shower knife 80 for spraying a predetermined fluid on the substrate S at a high pressure, and the in-shower knife 80 and the nozzle unit 70. By separating these effective spaces, the partition 55 having the through hole 55a allowing the transfer of the substrate S and the space in which the above-mentioned substrate S is transferred are selectively closed, if necessary. It further comprises a shutter 90 to provide an environment enclosed in the chamber 50 described above.

Here, the above-described in-shower knife 80 is installed above the substrate S in a state adjacent to the entrance and exit 52 of the chamber 50 in the advancing direction of the substrate S, as shown, and the substrate S A predetermined fluid is sprayed on. In this case, the fluid may be composed of a liquid such as pure water, or alternatively, may be composed of high pressure air.

In addition, the partition 55 described above may be configured by, for example, directly connecting two plate members to the inner upper and lower surfaces of the chamber 50. At this time, the two plates are directly connected to form the through hole 55a while being slightly spaced apart from the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate S as shown. However, unlike shown, one plate having a through hole 55a through which the substrate S penetrates may be vertically installed inside the chamber 50. Such a plate is preferably fixed to the inside of the chamber 50 by welding or bolting.

 Meanwhile, as described above, the shutter 90 opens and closes a space where the substrate S is transferred while being lifted by a driving member such as the cylinder 90a. At this time, the space in which the substrate S is transferred is the entrance port 52 of the chamber 50 or the through hole 55a of the partition 55 as shown. The shutter 90 opens and closes the through hole 55a by the entrance and exit 52 or the partition 55 of the chamber 50.

At this time, when the shutter 90 is configured to open and close the entrance and exit 52 of the chamber 50 as shown by the broken line, the shutter 90 seals the entire interior of the chamber 50. On the other hand, when the shutter 90 is configured to open and close the through hole 55a of the partition 55 as shown by the solid line, the shutter 90 selectively seals only the effective space of the nozzle unit 70. Of course, the shutter 90 may be configured to open and close both the entrance and exit 52 of the chamber 50 and the through hole 55a of the partition 55. In this configuration, the shutter 90 seals both the inside of the chamber 50 and the effective space of the nozzle unit 70.

However, the shutter 90 opens and closes only the through-hole 55a of the partition 55 as shown by the solid line so as to prevent the cleaning liquid of the nozzle unit 70 from being scattered into the effective section of the in-shower knife 80. It is also possible to configure.

In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above, the shaft 62 of the carrier 60 transfers the substrate S into the chamber 50. At this time, the substrate S is transferred to the nozzle unit 70 via the in-shower knife 80. When the substrate S is transferred, the in-shower knife 80 sprays the fluid on the substrate S to purify the substrate S, and the nozzle unit 70 sprays the cleaning liquid onto the substrate S to form the substrate. Remove foreign substances in (S).

The partition 55 separates the effective space of the nozzle unit 70 and prevents the washing liquid sprayed from the nozzle unit 70 from scattering into the effective space of the in shower knife 80. At this time, the cleaning liquid mist of the nozzle unit 70 may be dropped onto the substrate S which is condensed on the partition unit 55 of the nozzle unit 70 and supplied to the effective space of the in-shower knife 80 as shown. . However, due to the water film formed on the substrate S after passing through the in-shower knife, the substrate S via the effective space of the in-shower knife 80 is very unlikely to be contaminated by the cleaning liquid mist as in the prior art.

The shutter 90 may shield the through hole 55a of the partition 55 during the spraying operation of the nozzle unit 70, and in this case, the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle unit 70 may be formed in the in shower knife 80. It does not flow into the effective space.

When the shutter 90 is also provided at the doorway 52 of the chamber 50, the shutter 90 of the doorway 52 does not allow the cleaning liquid removal fluid injected from the in-shower knife 80 to flow out of the chamber 50. The entrance 52 is shielded.

In the substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention as described above, the partition not only prevents the cleaning liquid sprayed from the nozzle unit from flowing into the effective space of the in-shower knife, but also causes the cleaning liquid mist to condense in the effective space of the in-shower knife. Since it is prevented, the substrate purified by the in-shower knife is contaminated by the cleaning liquid, there is an effect that can be prevented from deteriorating the quality.

Claims (6)

In the substrate cleaning apparatus for cleaning the substrate with a cleaning liquid, A chamber having an entrance and exit; A carrier for transporting the substrate in the chamber; An in shower knife for injecting a predetermined fluid onto the substrate carried by the carrier; A nozzle unit for spraying a cleaning liquid on the substrate; A partition having a through-hole shielding between the in-shower knife and the nozzle unit to separate their effective space and to allow the transfer of the substrate; And And a shutter for selectively closing a space in which the substrate is transported to provide an environment enclosed in the chamber as necessary. The method of claim 1, The substrate cleaning device is a fluid sprayed from the in-shower knife is pure. The method of claim 1, The fluid sprayed from the in-shower knife is a substrate cleaning device. The method of claim 1, wherein the shutter, Substrate cleaning device for opening and closing the door of the chamber to seal the entire interior of the chamber. The method of claim 1, wherein the shutter, And a through hole of the partition to selectively open and close only the effective space of the nozzle unit. The method of claim 1, wherein the shutter, And opening and closing the entrance and exit ports of the chamber, respectively, to seal the entire interior of the chamber and the effective space of the nozzle unit.

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