KR20080013319A - Apparatus for attaching substrates and method for attaching substrates by using same - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for attaching flat display panels and an attaching method using the same are provided to maintain constantly interval between substrates in attaching the flat display panels, thereby preventing the defect of the flat display panels caused by a control defect of interval between the substrates. An apparatus for attaching flat display panels comprises a first chamber(20), a second chamber(30), a lift portion(40) and an interval controller(50). A first substrate is attached to the first chamber. A position of the first substrate is individually movable in the first chamber. A second substrate is attached to the second chamber and is joined to the first chamber to form an attachment space. The lift portion moves the first chamber for the second chamber. The interval controller compensates an operation amount for moving the first substrate and an operation amount for moving the first substrate by sensing a moving distance for moving the first substrate.

Description

Apparatus for attaching substrates and method for attaching substrates by using same}

1 is a simplified view showing a bonding apparatus of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

2 is an enlarged view illustrating a gap adjusting unit of a bonding device of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a gap adjusting unit of the bonding apparatus of the flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a bonding process of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a gap adjusting process in a bonding process of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

100: bonding device

20: upper chamber

30: lower chamber

40: lift part

50: spacing control unit

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to manufacturing equipment for flat panel display panels, and more particularly, to a flat panel display panel bonding apparatus and a bonding method using the same, which are provided to bond substrates in a flat panel display panel manufacturing process.

As information society has developed, the demand for display devices has increased in various forms. Recently, various flat panel display devices such as LCD (Lipuid Crystal Display Device), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electro Luminescent Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) have been studied and some of them are widely used in real life. .

Among them, LCDs are being used for mobile image display devices because of their excellent image quality compared to CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) and the advantages of light weight, thinness, and low power consumption.

The LCD is formed by injecting a liquid crystal between a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate having an electrode formed thereon and a CF (Color filter) substrate coated with phosphors. A sealer is provided on the outer circumferential surface of both substrates to prevent leakage of the liquid crystal material, and a spacer is disposed between the substrates to maintain a gap between the substrates at predetermined intervals.

Therefore, in manufacturing LCD, after manufacturing TFT substrate and CF substrate, it is necessary to join both substrates and inject liquid crystal material into the space between them, and the process of bonding double substrates determines the quality of LCD. It is one of the important processes.

The substrate bonding process is performed by a substrate bonding apparatus composed of an upper chamber and a lower chamber capable of forming an interior thereof in a vacuum state, and in the substrate bonding apparatus, an upper plate and a lower plate of the lower chamber in a vacuum state. Electrostatic chucks (ESCs) may be used to attach the substrate to the substrate.

In other words, the power is applied to the upper and lower plates, and the substrates attached to the upper and lower plates are pressed together by the electrostatic force generated by the power source, respectively.

In this case, in order to bond the substrates attached to the upper and lower plates, the substrates attached to the lower plate by the aligner are aligned with respect to the substrates attached to the upper and lower surfaces in the front and rear directions or rotated. Then, in order to bond the substrates, the upper and lower substrates are maximally approached and then temporarily bonded, and both substrates are pressed by pressure.

Here, the spacing between the substrates to be temporarily bonded should always be kept constant. In this case, if the spacing between the substrates to be temporarily bonded is non-uniform, the non-uniform bonding of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate is caused, and a process gas flows in between the bonded substrates, causing bubbles to occur.

Therefore, a separate device may be used to adjust the gap between the substrates by preset set values and compensation before temporary bonding of the substrates. However, there is a problem in that the position of the substrate is changed in the bonding process of the substrate because the chamber environment is different from the chamber environment when the substrate is temporarily bonded.

When the position of the substrate is changed in an unintentional direction due to this phenomenon, it causes uneven bonding of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate to be bonded, and a process gas flows in between the bonded substrates and bubbles are generated. There is a problem that can lead to the failure of.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a flat panel display panel bonding apparatus and a bonding method using the same so that the substrates can be uniformly maintained even during the process of the flat panel display panel bonding. Has its purpose.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a bonding apparatus for a flat panel display panel includes: a first chamber to which a first substrate is attached and the position of the first substrate is independently movable; A second chamber to which a second substrate is attached and coupled to the first chamber to form a bonding space; A lift unit configured to move the first chamber with respect to the second chamber; And an interval adjusting unit configured to correct an operation amount for moving the first substrate by sensing an operation amount for moving the first substrate and a moving distance for moving the first substrate.

The first chamber may include a first surface plate provided to be movable with respect to the first chamber by the gap adjusting unit; A first stage disposed below the first surface plate and having a predetermined flatness; And a first attachment plate provided on the first stage and attaching the first substrate.

In addition, a through hole is formed in the first chamber and extends through the components of the first chamber to the first substrate, and the alignment state of the first substrate and the second substrate is read outside of the through hole. An alignment camera is provided.

The second chamber may include a second surface plate provided in the second chamber; A second stage provided on an upper portion of the second surface plate and having a predetermined flatness; And a second attachment plate provided on the second stage and attaching the second substrate.

On the other hand, the spacing control unit a plurality of actuators for moving the first table; An encoder for sensing an operation amount of the actuator; A distance sensor for detecting a moving distance of the first surface plate moved by the actuator; And a controller for controlling the movement amount of the actuator by comparing the operation amount of the actuator detected by the encoder and the movement amount of the first surface detected by the distance sensor.

In addition, the bonding method of the flat panel display panel according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the supplying step of supplying the first substrate and the second substrate to the bonding space; An adjusting step of adjusting a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate; An alignment step of aligning a position between the first substrate and the second substrate; A vacuum pressure forming step of forming a vacuum pressure in the bonding space; A moving step of moving the first substrate toward the second substrate; And an operation amount of an actuator for moving the first substrate in a step in which a change occurs in the distance between the first substrate and the second substrate, including a bonding step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate. A control step of controlling the operation of the actuator by sensing the distance the substrate is moved further.

The controlling step may include: a first sensing step of sensing an operation amount of the actuator by an encoder provided in the actuator as the first substrate is moved by the actuator; A second sensing step of sensing a moving distance of the first substrate by a distance sensor as the first substrate is moved by the actuator; And an actuator control step of compensating and controlling the operation amount of the actuator by comparing the operation amount of the actuator with the moving distance of the first substrate.

In the actuator control step, a distance value between the first substrate and the second substrate obtained from the focusing information of the alignment camera used to align the first substrate and the second substrate in the alignment step is compared with each other. To correct the operating amount of the actuator.

Hereinafter, a bonding apparatus for a flat panel display panel and a bonding process using the same will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the description of the present invention, the terms defined are defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, and should not be understood as meanings that limit the technical components of the present invention.

1 is a simplified view showing a bonding device of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention, Figure 2 is an enlarged view showing a gap control unit of the bonding device of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a flat display according to the present invention It is a block diagram which shows the space adjustment part of the panel bonding apparatus.

As illustrated, the bonding apparatus 100 of the flat panel display panel according to the present invention is combined with the base 10, the lower chamber 30 provided on the base 10, and the lower chamber 30. An upper chamber 20 forming a bonding space of the substrate forming the bonding environment of the substrate and the CF substrate, a lift unit 40 for raising and lowering the upper chamber 20 with respect to the lower chamber 30, and a TFT substrate. And a gap controller 50 for measuring the gap between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate as the gap between the CF substrate and the CF substrate changes, and changing the distance between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate to a set distance according to the measured value (see FIG. 2). It is provided.

The upper chamber 20 is provided in a state of being supported by the lift unit 40, and an upper space portion 21 in which a lower portion of the upper chamber 20 is combined to form a space is combined with the lower chamber 30.

Here, the lower surface of the upper space portion 21 is provided to be raised and lowered relative to the upper chamber 20, the upper plate 22 is provided with a TFT substrate (or CF substrate) is attached. The upper plate 22 is provided with a plurality of support bars 22a extending inwardly of the upper chamber 20, the plurality of support bars 22a can be raised and lowered by the interval adjusting unit 50 to be described later. Is supported.

Here, the upper stage 23 having a predetermined flatness is provided below the upper surface plate 22. The bottom surface of the upper stage 23 is provided with an upper mounting plate 24 to which the substrate to be inserted is attached. On the other hand, the upper mounting plate 24 is preferably provided with an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for attaching the substrate by the electrostatic power.

On the other hand, a substrate separation device 25 for separating the substrate attached to the upper mounting plate 24 of the upper plate 22 through the upper chamber 20 and the upper plate 22 is formed on the upper portion of the upper chamber 20. To be prepared. The substrate separating apparatus 25 is provided with a separating pin 25a for pressing the substrate and a separating pin actuator 25b for moving the separating pin 25a.

In addition, a through hole 27 penetrating the upper chamber 20 and the upper plate 22 is formed in an upper portion of the upper chamber 20, and an upper plate is formed in the outer side of the through hole 27 through the through hole 27. An alignment camera 26 for reading the alignment state of the substrate attached to the upper attachment plate 24 of 22 and the substrate attached to the lower attachment plate 34 of the lower chamber 30 to be described later is provided.

Such an alignment camera 26 is mounted to overlap and observe an alignment mark (not shown) of each substrate positioned between the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30, and at least two diagonal sides of the substrate. A corner is provided to observe the abnormality.

The lower chamber 30 is provided to be seated on an upper surface of the base 10, and a lower space portion 31 having an upper portion thereof formed therein to be combined with the upper chamber 20 to form a space. On the upper surface of the lower space portion 31, a lower plate 32 is provided in the lower chamber 30 to which a CF substrate (or TFT substrate) is attached.

Here, the lower plate 32 includes a lower stage 33 attached to the lower space portion of the lower chamber 30, and a lower attachment plate 34 provided on the upper surface of the lower stage 33 to attach the substrate. On the other hand, the lower mounting plate 34 is preferably provided with an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for attaching the substrate by the electrostatic power.

On the other hand, the lower portion of the lower chamber 30 through the lower chamber 30 and the lower plate 32, the substrate lifting device 35 for lifting and separating the substrate attached to the lower mounting plate 34 of the lower plate 32 ) Is provided. The substrate lifting device 35 is provided with a lifting pin 35a for lifting and lowering the substrate and a lifting pin actuator 35b for moving the lifting pin 35a.

In addition, a through hole 37 penetrating the lower chamber 30 and the lower plate 32 is formed at the lower portion of the lower chamber 30, and is aligned with the through hole 37 at the outside of the through hole 37. Aligned illumination 36 is provided for providing read light to the camera 26.

In addition, when the bonding space of the substrate is formed by the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30 on one surface adjacent to the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30, the airtight for maintaining the airtightness between the bonding space and the outside The member 38 is provided.

The lift unit 40 is for lifting or lowering the upper chamber 20 with respect to the lower chamber 30. The lift unit 40 may be installed on a base on which the lower chamber 30 or the lower chamber 30 is seated. The lower side of the 20 is preferably installed in parallel to support the lower portion of the upper chamber.

The spacing adjuster 50 is located below the plurality of support bars 22a provided in the upper plate 22 as shown in FIGS. 2 to 3 and is provided to correspond to the plurality of support bars 22a. It is preferable to be installed between the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30.

Such, the gap adjusting unit 50 is an actuator 52 that is linearly moved to raise and lower the support bar 22a, and the supporter 54 supporting the support bar 22a and being moved by the actuator 52. It is provided.

On the other hand, the actuator 52 is attached to the encoder 56 for detecting the operation of the actuator 52, the lower portion of the support bar 22a, the distance sensor 58 for measuring the moving distance of the support bar 22a is further provided. The controller 60 controls the movement amount of the actuator 52 by comparing the movement amount of the actuator 52 sensed by the encoder 56 with the movement amount of the actual support bar 22a detected by the distance sensor 58. ) Is provided.

Here, the distance sensor 58 is said to sense the moving distance of the support bar 22a, but may also detect the substrate or the upper plate 22 to which the substrate can measure the moving distance of the substrate, and the distance sensor 58 It does not limit the sensing object of).

In addition to the measurement values detected by the encoder 56 and the distance sensor 58, the controller 60 may adjust the moving distance of the actual substrate and the operating distance of the actuator 52 through the focusing information of the alignment camera 26 described above. Can be compared with each other.

On the other hand, although not shown in the drawings, the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30, the exhaust pump (not shown) to form a bonding space formed by the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30 in a vacuum state; , Supply pumps (not shown) for supplying N ₂ , which is a process gas, are respectively provided in the bonding space.

Accordingly, the operation of the bonding device of the flat panel display panel according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiment. Each of the elements mentioned below should be understood with reference to the above description and FIGS. 1 to 3.

First, the bonding process of the flat panel display panel according to the present invention will be described.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a bonding process of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

First, a TFT substrate and a CF substrate produced through separate processes are supplied to the bonding apparatus 100 by a substrate supply device (not shown) (step S101). Thus, each substrate is inserted between the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30, and is attached to the upper mounting plate 24 of the upper chamber 20 and the lower mounting plate 34 of the lower chamber, respectively (step S102).

Thereafter, the upper chamber 20 is lowered by the lift unit 40 and seated in the lower chamber 30. As a result, a bonding space for bonding the substrates attached to the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30, respectively, is formed (step S103).

Then, when the bonding space is formed, the gap is adjusted between the substrates attached to the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30 by the interval adjusting unit 50 (step S104). The spacing between these substrates is also carried out during the lowering of the upper plate 22, which will be described later, so that the operation of the spacing controller 50 will be described in detail.

On the other hand, after the spacing between the substrates is adjusted, the positions of the substrate located above and the substrate located below are aligned (step S105). At this time, each substrate is aligned based on a marked alignment mark (not shown) of each substrate photographed by the alignment camera 26. Such substrate alignment may be aligned in real time even when the top plate is lowered, which will be described later.

Thereafter, when the alignment of the substrate is completed, the upper plate 22 is lowered to the lower plate 32 side by the actuator 52 of the gap adjusting unit 50 supporting the upper plate 22 (step S106). . At this time, the lower top plate 22 is controlled by the interval adjusting unit 50 so that the interval between the substrate attached to the upper plate 22 and the substrate attached to the lower plate 32 is constant.

That is, the substrate attached to the upper platen 22 and the substrate attached to the lower platen 32 are controlled by the gap adjusting unit 50 so that the upper platen 22 is always kept parallel even when the upper platen 22 is lowered.

Subsequently, when the substrate of the upper plate 22 and the substrate of the lower plate 32 maintain a predetermined distance, the lowering of the upper plate 22 is stopped and formed by the upper chamber 20 and the lower chamber 30. A vacuum pressure is formed at step S107. At this time, even in the process of forming a vacuum pressure in the bonding space, the spacing of the substrate is kept constant by the gap adjusting unit 50.

On the other hand, when the vacuum pressure formation of the bonding space is completed, the substrate attached to the upper platen 22 is freely dropped to the upper portion of the substrate attached to the lower platen 32 to lower the substrate of the upper plate 22 to the lower plate 32. Is temporarily bonded to the substrate (step S108).

Next, N ₂ gas is supplied to the inside of the bonding space, that is, the outside of the temporary bonded substrates, and the pressure is applied, thereby bonding the substrates so that both substrates are firmly attached and separated (step S109). That is, by increasing the pressure of the bonding space in the chamber, the two substrates are strongly bonded by the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the temporarily bonded substrate.

Thereafter, the pressure in the bonding space is restored to the atmospheric pressure state and the bonded substrate is discharged (step S110). At this time, the reason for restoring to the atmospheric pressure state is that the pressure can be easily controlled, and since the substrate carrying out operation is performed at atmospheric pressure, no further process is required.

On the other hand, during the above-described process of adjusting and positioning the space between the substrates by the space adjusting unit 50 is controlled in accordance with the information detected at the same time the space between each substrate in real time. Hereinafter, a process of adjusting the gap of the substrate that is performed by the gap adjusting unit 50 will be described.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a gap adjusting process in a bonding process of a flat panel display panel according to the present invention.

First, when the actuator 52 is operated to raise or lower the upper plate 22 so as to adjust the distance between the substrates, the upper plate 22 having the substrate attached thereto is moved up or down by the actuator 52. (Step S201).

Accordingly, the encoder 56 provided in the actuator 52 detects the operation amount of the actuator (step S202), and at the same time, the distance sensor 58 of the support bar 22a or the support bar 22a of the upper plate 22 is detected. The moving distance is measured to detect the moving distance of the substrate attached to the upper mounting plate of the upper plate 22 (step S203).

Thereafter, the detected value detected by the encoder 56 and the movement amount detected by the distance sensor 58 are compared with each other (step S204), and at the same time, the alignment mark captured by the alignment camera 26 provided for the alignment of the substrate. By comparing the distance values obtained from the focusing information with each other, the error due to the movement of the substrate is corrected (step S205).

The operation amount of the actuator 52 is corrected according to the calculated error value, so that the distance between the substrate lifted or lowered by the upper plate 22 and the substrate attached to the lower plate 32 can be kept constant ( Step S206).

Although described in detail with respect to preferred embodiments of the present invention as described above, those of ordinary skill in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims Various modifications may be made to the invention. Therefore, changes in the future embodiments of the present invention will not be able to escape the technology of the present invention.

As described above, according to the bonding apparatus of the flat panel display panel and the bonding method using the same according to the present invention, it is possible to maintain a constant spacing of the substrates at all times during the bonding process of the flat panel display panel, so There is an effect that can prevent the defect of the flat panel display panel in advance.

Claims (8)

A first chamber to which a first substrate is attached, the first substrate being provided to move independently of the position of the first substrate; A second chamber to which a second substrate is attached and coupled to the first chamber to form a bonding space; A lift unit configured to move the first chamber with respect to the second chamber; And a gap adjusting unit for correcting an operation amount for moving the first substrate by sensing an operation amount for moving the first substrate and a moving distance for moving the first substrate. Fixing device for display panel. The method of claim 1, wherein the first chamber, A first surface plate provided to be movable with respect to the first chamber by the gap adjusting unit; A first stage disposed below the first surface plate and having a predetermined flatness; And a first attachment plate provided on the first stage to attach the first substrate to the first stage. The method of claim 2, Through holes extending through the respective components of the first chamber and extending to the first substrate are formed in the first chamber, and the first substrate and the second substrate are read out to read the alignment state of the first substrate and the second substrate. A bonding apparatus of a flat panel display panel, characterized in that the camera is provided. The method of claim 2, wherein the second chamber, A second surface plate provided in the second chamber; A second stage provided on an upper portion of the second surface plate and having a predetermined flatness; And a second attachment plate provided on the second stage to attach the second substrate to the second stage. The method of claim 2, wherein the gap adjusting portion An actuator for moving the first surface plate; An encoder for sensing an operation amount of the actuator; A distance sensor for detecting a moving distance of the first surface plate moved by the actuator; And a control unit for controlling the movement amount of the actuator by comparing the operation amount of the actuator detected by the encoder and the movement amount of the first surface detected by the distance sensor with each other. A supplying step of supplying the first substrate and the second substrate to the bonding space; An adjusting step of adjusting a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate; An alignment step of aligning a position between the first substrate and the second substrate; A vacuum pressure forming step of forming a vacuum pressure in the bonding space; A moving step of moving the first substrate toward the second substrate; Including; bonding step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate; The control step of controlling the operation of the actuator by sensing the operation amount of the actuator for moving the first substrate and the distance the substrate is moved in the step of changing the interval between the first substrate and the second substrate A bonding method of the flat panel display panel further comprising. The method of claim 6, wherein the control step, A first sensing step of sensing an operation amount of the actuator by an encoder provided in the actuator as the first substrate is moved by the actuator; A second sensing step of sensing a moving distance of the first substrate by a distance sensor as the first substrate is moved by the actuator; And an actuator control step of compensating and controlling the operation amount of the actuator by comparing the operation amount of the actuator and the moving distance of the first substrate with each other. The method of claim 7, wherein in the actuator control step, The operation amount of the actuator is corrected by comparing the distance between the first substrate and the second substrate obtained from the focusing information of the alignment camera used for the alignment of the first substrate and the second substrate during the alignment step. A bonding method of a flat panel display panel, characterized in that.

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