KR20080039367A - Apparatus for glass etching for tft-lcd - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for etching a surface of a TFT(Thin Film Transistor)-LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) glass is provided to prevent contamination of a glass by minimizing an infiltration of impurities that may be attached on the glass in the process of transferring a cassette. A cassette(10) includes a jig(11) with a frame, into which an LCD glass is introduced, vertically formed on the bottom thereof. A main frame(20) includes a loading unit(21) and an unloading unit(22) formed at both sides thereof, and also includes a transfer conveyer(23) and a return conveyer(24) installed as two rows between the loading unit and the unloading unit, and allows the cassette to be automatically transferred. The primary cleaning unit(30) is installed at a front side of the loading unit and jets a cleaner introduced in a supply pipe through a nozzle to clean the glass transferred by the transfer conveyer. An etching unit(40) is installed at a rear side of the first cleaning unit and jets an etching solution introduced into a supply pipe through a nozzle to etch the glass transferred by the transfer conveyer. A secondary cleaning unit(50) is installed at a rear side of the etching unit and jets a cleaner introduced into a supply pipe through a nozzle to the etched glass to clean the glass transferred by the transfer conveyer. A drying unit(60) is installed at a rear side of the loading unit and dries the cleaned glass in CDA(Clean Dry Air).

Description

Glass etching apparatus for TFT-LCD {APPARATUS FOR GLASS ETCHING FOR TFT-LCD}

The present invention relates to a surface etching apparatus for a glass for TFT-LCD, by which the surface of the glass is etched by a spray method by a nozzle so that uniform etching of the glass surface is performed, and a plurality of glasses placed in a cassette are formed by a conveyor. Highly productive and efficient TFT-LCD glass as each process, which is separated and processed step by step for the surface etching and cleaning of the glass, is sequentially performed through the secondary cleaning unit, etching unit, secondary cleaning unit, and drying unit in sequence It relates to a surface etching apparatus of.

In general, a thin film transister (TFT) liquid crystal display (LCD) is manufactured in a cell form by inserting a liquid crystal between a TFT corresponding to a lower plate and a color filter (CF) corresponding to an upper plate.

In order to manufacture the lower plate, the glass having the TFT process is applied to the LCD panel. In the modern pursuit of slimness of electronic products, the importance of the method of thinly processing the surface of the glass is emerging.

An etching process for etching an LCD glass is performed through an etching process in an etching bath using hydrofluoric acid, a cleaning process using ultrapure water in a cleaning bath, and a drying process using dry air in a drying bath.

At this time, at least one glass is formed in one unit form and is transferred to each bath by a transfer means, thereby allowing each of the above processes to proceed.

However, such a conventional etching method maintains a uniform thickness by dipping (dipping) to perform a series of processes by immersing the glass in a bath having an etching solution and a cleaning solution for a certain time to perform the etching process and the cleaning process. There was a problem that the etching process is not performed because the flatness is lowered and the optical properties are lowered.

In addition, the conventional etching method has a problem in that the fluorine is coalesced in the process of transporting the glass, which is completed by etching, by a robot arm for a cleaning process or a drying process, which is a post process, thereby uniformly etching the glass surface. There was a problem that mass production of defective products could not be made.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, it is separated into the cleaning process, etching process, drying process in order to make a step-by-step process for the surface etching of the glass made of a single automatic one more effective An object of the present invention is to provide an etching apparatus capable of glass cleaning and etching.

In addition, the object of the present invention is to minimize the inflow of impurities that may be adhered to the glass during the transfer of the cassette to prevent the contamination of the glass to etch the glass of uniform quality.

According to the present invention, the jig 11 formed with a frame 11a into which the LCD glass 1 can be indented is composed of six parts. The loading unit 21 and the unloading unit 22 are installed respectively, and are composed of a transfer conveyor 23 and a return conveyor 24 installed in two rows between the loading unit 21 and the unloading unit 22. It is installed on the main frame 20 and the loading unit 21 in front of the main frame 20 to automatically transfer the cassette 10, the spraying spraying the cleaning liquid introduced into the supply pipe 31 to the nozzle 32 transfer conveyor 23 Primary cleaning unit 30 for cleaning the glass (1) transported by the) and the rear side of the primary cleaning unit 30, the etching solution introduced into the supply pipe 41 to the nozzle 42 Etching portion 40 for spraying and nicking the glass 1 conveyed by the conveying conveyor 23, and after the etching portion 40 The secondary cleaning unit 50 is installed in the secondary cleaning unit 50 to spray the cleaning liquid introduced into the supply pipe 51, the etched glass to the nozzle 52 to clean the surface of the glass (1) transported by the transfer conveyor 23 And, it is installed on the rear side of the loading unit 21, the glass 1 by the secondary cleaning unit 50 is composed of a drying unit 60 for drying the glass 1 by CDA (Clean Dry Air) glass etching And the cleaning process is performed in one cycle so that the productivity is good and the uniform etching surface is mass-produced to have an effective glass processing.

The present invention having the configuration as described above, while moving the plurality of glasses placed in the cassette by the jig sequentially through the conveying conveyor, the process of pre-cleaning-etching-after-cleaning-drying to be made in one cycle By transferring the completed and unloaded cassette back to the loading unit through the return conveyor, a continuous process can be performed without interrupting the work flow.

In addition, since all processes are made automatically, glass of uniform quality can be mass produced, and the defect rate is minimized, so that productivity and good glass etching can be achieved.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a surface etching apparatus of a TFT-LCD glass, in which a glass surface is etched by a spray method by a nozzle so that uniform etching of the glass is performed, and a plurality of glasses placed in a cassette are primarily formed by a conveyor. Productive and efficient TFT-LCD glass surface by automatically performing one cycle of each process, which is performed by the cleaning, etching, secondary cleaning, and drying sections sequentially and separated by steps for etching and cleaning the glass. It relates to an etching apparatus.

Hereinafter, described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings of the present invention.

Figure 1 shows a plan view of the present invention, Figure 2 shows a front cross-sectional view of the present invention, Figures 3 to 6 shows a side cross-sectional view showing each process unit according to the practice of the present invention, Figure 7 shows the present invention The front view of the jig according to the implementation of

First, referring to the configuration of the cassette 10, the jig in which the frame 11a having the indentation portion 11b into which the glass is indented, and the fastening member 11c for coupling the indented glass to the frame 11a are coupled to each other. (11) has a structure in which a plurality of the settled perpendicular to the bottom surface.

In the embodiment of the present invention, four glasses are configured to be indented in one jig 11, and the five jig 11 is coupled to the cassette 10 perpendicularly to the bottom surface so that a total of 20 glasses are in one cassette. It is settled in (10) has a configuration that is expressed in one unit form, but it is sufficient if the configuration of the cassette 10 is formed with a jig 11 in which a plurality of glass can be placed, the glass is fastened to the cassette 10 It may be further added depending on the number of jig 11.

On the other hand, looking at the configuration of the main frame 20, the loading unit 21 and the unloading unit 22 is disposed on both sides, respectively, two rows of conveyor between the loading unit 21 and the unloading unit 22 It is installed, one is a transport conveyor 23 for transferring the loaded cassette 10 to each process unit for performing the process, the other is to load the unloaded cassette 10 after performing the entire process It consists of the return conveyor 24 which returns to the part 21. As shown in FIG.

After loading the glass into the jig 11, the loading part 21 of the present invention seats a plurality of jig 11 with glass on the cassette 10, thereby performing one etching process. The glass cassette 10 in the form of a unit is provided, and the cassette 10 equipped with glass is moved to each process unit for performing a process through the transfer conveyor 23.

On the other hand, in the unloading unit 22, after dismantling the glass in the cassette 10 having completed the entire process, the empty cassette 10 is returned to the loading unit 21. In this case, the conveying conveyor 23 is reversed. The transfer is made by a return conveyor 24 which is transferred to.

On the other hand, the loaded glass cassette 10 is to be transferred to the primary cleaning unit 30, looking at the configuration of the primary cleaning unit 30, the supply pipe 31, the cleaning solution is supplied from the storage tank (not shown) ) And a nozzle 32 to spray-inject the cleaning solution flowing along the supply pipe 31 to have a primary cleaning of the glass using ultrapure water before the glass etching operation.

Thereafter, the primary cleaned glass cassette 10 is transferred to the etching unit 40. Looking at the configuration of the etching unit 40, the supply pipe 41 to which the etching solution is supplied from a storage tank (not shown) is provided. And a nozzle 42 for spray-etching the etching solution flowing along the supply pipe 41 to have a surface etching process of the glass.

In the present invention, the etching solution may use any commercially successful hydrofluoric acid solution according to the desired etching thickness, and may also increase the slimming effect by adding a strong acid of PH3 or less.

In the etching unit 40 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the etching of 6 to 12 μm / min is performed.

The etched glass cassette 10 is subjected to secondary cleaning, and the secondary cleaning unit 50 which performs the above process includes a supply pipe 51 and a supply pipe in which a cleaning solution is supplied from a storage tank (not shown). It is composed of a nozzle 52 for spraying the cleaning solution flowing along the 51) to have a secondary cleaning of the glass, the etching is completed using ultrapure water.

Finally, the cleaned glass is transferred to the drying unit 60 to be dried, and blows dry air through the nozzle 61 to dry the surface of the glass 1 by CDA (Clean Dry Air).

The nozzles of the primary cleaning, etching and secondary cleaning and drying units are arranged on both sides between the jig 11 so that the nozzles are sprayed on both sides of the glass during the spraying, thereby uniform and complete cleaning and etching. Allow to dry.

Looking at the operating state of the present invention having the above configuration, one glass cassette 10 by injecting the glass into each jig 11 in the loading section 21 provided with the cassette 10 including the jig 11 Once the unit is formed, the cassette 10 enters the transfer conveyor 23.

The glass cassette 10 moving through the transfer conveyor 23 first reaches the first cleaning unit 30, and upon reaching the glass cassette 10, the cleaning liquid is spray-sprayed through the nozzle 32, and the first cleaning is performed before the etching operation. The glass surface is arranged.

The cassette 10 having the primary cleaning is transferred to the etching unit 40, and the etching solution is spray-sprayed through the nozzle 42 to etch the glass surface. When the etching of the glass is completed, the transfer conveyor 23 is completed. ) Is transferred to the secondary cleaning unit 50.

In the secondary cleaning unit 50, the glass is post-washed to remove impurities that may be adhered after the etching process, which is also sprayed with the cleaning liquid through the nozzle 52 to perform a complete cleaning.

The glass, which has been cleaned and etched, is transferred to the drying unit 60, and when the drying unit 60 is completely dried using the CDA (Clean Dry Air), the entire process for etching the surface of the glass is completed.

The glass after the process is transferred to the unloading unit 22 and at the same time withdraw the finished glass from the cassette 10, the cassette 10 is returned to the loading unit 23 by the return conveyor 24, The flow of the process can be performed repeatedly without interruption.

1 is a plan view of the present invention

2 is a front cross-sectional view of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the primary cleaning unit according to the practice of the present invention

Figure 4 is a side cross-sectional view of the etching portion in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention

Figure 5 is a side cross-sectional view of the secondary cleaning unit according to the practice of the present invention

Figure 6 is a side cross-sectional view of the drying unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a front view of a jig body according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Description of Code for Major Parts of Drawing]

10: cassette 11: jig

11a: frame 11b: indent

11c: fastening member 20: main frame

21: loading unit 22: unloading unit

23: conveying conveyor 24: return Kenvey

30: 1st cleaning part 31, 41, 51, 61: supply pipe

32, 42, 52, 62: nozzle 40: etching part

50: secondary cleaning unit 60: drying unit

Claims (2)

In the surface etching apparatus of the glass for TFT-LCD, A cassette 10 having one or more jig 11 formed therein with a frame 11a through which the LCD glass 1 can be indented perpendicularly to a bottom surface thereof, The loading part 21 and the unloading part 22 are respectively installed on both sides, and the conveying conveyor 23 and the return conveyor 24 are installed in two rows between the loading part 21 and the unloading part 22. Main frame 20 to automatically transfer the cassette 10, The primary cleaning unit is installed on the front side of the loading unit 21 and sprays the cleaning liquid introduced into the supply pipe 31 to the nozzle 32 to clean the glass 1 transported by the transfer conveyor 23 ( 30) and, An etching unit installed at the rear side of the primary cleaning unit 30 to spray the etching solution introduced into the supply pipe 41 to the nozzle 42 to etch the glass 1 transferred by the transfer conveyor 23. 40, It is installed on the rear side of the etching unit 40, to spray the cleaning liquid introduced into the supply pipe 51 to the etched glass to the nozzle 52 to clean the surface of the glass (1) transported by the conveying conveyor (23) Second cleaning unit 50 to be, TFT which is installed at the rear side of the loading unit 21 and comprises a drying unit 60 for drying the glass 1 cleaned by the secondary cleaning unit 50 with CDA (Clean Dry Air). -Surface etching device for LCD glass. The method of claim 1, The cassette 10 has a structure of a frame 11a having four indentations 11b through which four glasses can be indented, and a jig 11 for binding the glass to the fastening member 11b includes a cassette ( 10) A surface etching apparatus for TFT-LCD glass having a configuration in which a total of 20 glasses are loaded in one cassette 10 by forming five rows perpendicular to the bottom surface.

Images