KR20080055204A - Apparatus for etching substratee - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate etching apparatus is provided to reduce the weight of a display device by etching the substrate or a display panel as thin as a predetermined thickness. Plural injection plates are arranged vertically to the ground surface. At least a surface of the injection plate is adjacent to a substrate. An etching solution is filled in the inside the injection plate. Plural nozzles(113) are formed on the injection plates and injects the injection solution on the substrate at the moving state with a predetermined angle so that the substrate is etched. The injection plate and the substrate are moved relatively to each other. A storage tank supplies the etching solution to the injection plate. The substrate is arranged between the injection plates and etched by the etching solution. The substrate is a bonded glass mother substrate. The nozzle is moved vertically to the gravity.

Description

Substrate Etching Equipment {APPARATUS FOR ETCHING SUBSTRATEE}

1 is a view showing the structure of a substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic structure of a substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing a spraying region sprayed on a substrate in the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG.

4 is a view showing the structure of the jet plate and the nozzle of the substrate etching apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing the flow of the nozzle in the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an injection area of an etchant in the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 4.

7A to 7C are perspective views illustrating a schematic structure of a substrate etching apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

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

1,201: substrate 12,212: jet plate

13,113: nozzle 17: etching liquid storage tank

R: etching liquid spraying area S: overlapping area

d: interval between nozzles α: flow angle of nozzle

The present invention relates to a substrate etching apparatus, and more particularly, to a substrate etching apparatus capable of uniformly etching the substrate by spraying the etching liquid to the substrate by spraying the etching liquid while flowing the nozzle.

Recently, with the development of various portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and notebook computers, there is an increasing demand for flat panel display devices for light and thin applications. Such flat panel displays are being actively researched, such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), FED (Field Emission Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), but mass production technology, ease of driving means, Liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are in the spotlight for reasons of implementation.

Since the liquid crystal display device is particularly used in portable electronic devices, it is possible to improve the portability of the electronic device only by reducing its size and weight. There may be various methods for reducing the size or weight of the liquid crystal display, but there are limitations in reducing the essential components of the liquid crystal display in terms of its structure and current technology. Moreover, since these essential components are small in weight, it is very difficult to reduce the size or weight of the entire liquid crystal display by reducing the weight of these essential components.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a substrate etching apparatus capable of reducing the weight of a display element by etching a substrate or a display panel.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a substrate etching apparatus capable of uniformly etching the entire substrate by spraying the etching liquid onto the substrate or the display panel while flowing the nozzle.

In order to achieve the above object, the substrate etching apparatus according to the present invention is disposed perpendicular to the ground is disposed so that at least one surface is adjacent to the substrate, a plurality of spray plate filled with an etching liquid therein, and formed in the spray plate It is composed of a plurality of nozzles for etching the substrate by spraying the etching liquid to the substrate in a flow state at a set angle.

The nozzle flows in the vertical direction of gravity so that the spraying region of the etchant overlaps the spraying region sprayed from the nozzle adjacent to the flow direction of the nozzle and is spaced apart from the spraying region sprayed from the nozzle vertically adjacent to the flow direction of the nozzle. . At this time, the substrates between the sprayed regions separated by a predetermined interval are etched by the etchant flowing down from the upper portion by gravity.

The substrate, which is the target of the etching apparatus, may be a bonded glass mother substrate, an individual mother substrate, or a bonded display panel.

In addition, the substrate etching apparatus according to the present invention is disposed perpendicular to the ground so that at least one surface is adjacent to the substrate, a plurality of spray plate filled with the etching liquid therein, and formed in the spray plate to spray the etching liquid on the substrate Comprising a plurality of nozzles for etching the substrate, the jet plate and the substrate is characterized in that the etching liquid is injected to the substrate while moving relative to each other.

There are many factors that determine the weight of the liquid crystal display device, but among them, the substrate made of glass is the heaviest structure among other components of the liquid crystal display device. Therefore, in order to reduce the weight of the liquid crystal display device, it is most efficient to reduce the weight of the glass substrate.

Typically, the glass substrate is etched by an etchant such as HF. In other words, the glass substrate is placed in a container filled with an etchant and the surface of the glass substrate is etched by the etchant. In this method, however, the substrate is not uniformly etched due to the imperfection of the substrate itself, and furthermore, impurities generated in the etching process adhere to the substrate, resulting in a rough surface of the substrate. Moreover, the use of excessive etchant increases the cost and the problem of environmental pollution.

In order to solve this problem, an etching solution may be applied to the substrate while the substrate is loaded on the conveyor to move the substrate, but in this case, the etching liquid remains on a part of the substrate surface loaded on the conveyor. The substrate is excessively etched, which causes a problem that the substrate is etched unevenly as a whole.

In the present invention, in order to solve this problem, it is possible to uniformly etch the entire substrate by disposing the substrate in the vertical direction with the ground and then spray the etching solution on both sides of the substrate, the etching of the substrate in Figure 1 The basic concept is shown.

Etching of such glass substrate is usually performed on the bonded mother substrate. In order to improve the efficiency in manufacturing flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal display devices, the necessary components such as thin film transistors and color filters are formed on two mutually opposing mother substrates, and these mother substrates are bonded together and cut into unit panels. Each display panel is formed. The etching of the substrate of the present invention mainly consists of the united mother substrate unit before cutting into the unit panel. As such, the reason for etching the substrate by the bonded mother substrate is as follows.

When etching the substrate, the degree of etching is limited. If the substrate is overetched and its thickness becomes too thin, the substrate may be damaged during the manufacturing process of the display device. Therefore, the glass substrate of the mother substrate unit was limited in the etching. However, when two substrates are bonded to each other (or in the case of bonded glass panels), even if the substrate is etched in a larger amount than the mother substrate, the resistance against impact is increased by the two bonded substrates. The larger amount can be etched to further reduce the weight when the display panel is manufactured.

However, the object to be etched by the etching apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the bonded mother substrate as described above, but the unit mother substrate, the processed substrate, and the separated unit panel may all be etched objects.

Thus, the term substrate to be used hereinafter will be used only to include all bonded mother substrates, glass mother substrates, processed substrates, and separate unit panels.

As shown in FIG. 1, the vertical etching apparatus 10 according to the present invention is formed on the jetting plate 12 and the jetting plate 12 in which the substrate 1 is disposed at regular intervals between them. It consists of a plurality of nozzles 13 for injecting the etchant to the substrate 1, and the etchant storage tank 17 for supplying the etchant to the jet plate 12. Since the inside of the jet plate 12 is empty, the etchant of the etchant storage tank 17 is supplied to the jet plate 12 through the supply pipe 15, and the supplied etchant is supplied to the substrate through the nozzle 13. Sprayed to (1).

The etchant supplied into the injection plate 12 is sprayed onto the surface of the substrate 1 by the nozzle 13 to etch the substrate 1. In this case, since the substrate 1 is positioned between the injection plates 12 for injecting the etching liquid, the etching liquids injected from the nozzles 13 of the injection plates 12 located on both sides reach the both sides of the substrate 1. Both sides of the substrate 1 are etched.

The number and spacing of the nozzles 13 of the jetting plate 12 are determined by the size of the substrate 1 to be etched and the distance between the jetting plate 12 and the substrate 1, but the etching solution is applied to the substrate 1. Any number or spacing will be possible as long as the spraying is even.

In the etching apparatus configured as described above, the substrate 1 is etched by uniformly spraying the etchant on the substrate 1 disposed perpendicular to the ground. As the substrate 1 is vertically disposed, the etching liquid injected onto the substrate 1 flows downward by gravity, so that the etching liquid does not remain on the substrate 1 and the etching liquid remains in the specific region. This excessive etching can be prevented.

2 is a schematic perspective view of a substrate etching apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the length and height of the jet plate 12 located on both sides of the substrate 1 are formed in the same area as that of the substrate 1 to be etched or are formed in a larger area so that the entire substrate 1 is formed. The substrate 1 can be etched quickly by spraying the etchant at a constant pressure.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating the spraying region R of the etching liquid sprayed onto the substrate 1 through the nozzle 13 of the spraying plate 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the etchant injected from the nozzle 13 reaches a predetermined surface area of the substrate 1. In order to etch the substrate 1 by etching the etchant injected from the plurality of nozzles 13 formed on the ejection plate 12 to etch the substrate 1, the ejection region R of the etchant ejected from each nozzle 13. ) Must overlap with the spraying region R injected from the adjacent nozzle 13 to remove the region where the etching liquid is not sprayed. However, in the case of spraying the etchant superimposed in this way, since the amount of the etchant injected from the adjacent nozzle 13 to the overlapped region S where the etchant overlaps is greater than the amount of the etchant injected into the non-overlapping etchant area. The etching degree in the overlapping region S and the non-overlapping etching region is different, resulting in non-uniform etching over the entire substrate 1.

In addition, in order to form the spraying region R over the entire substrate 1, the number of the nozzles 13 formed in the spraying plate 12 increases (since the overlapping region must increase), and thus the nozzles 13 The larger the number of), the greater the amount of etchant injected through the injection hole 13. Therefore, excessive etching solution is used during etching, which increases cost and causes environmental pollution.

In the present invention, in order to solve this problem, a substrate etching apparatus having a structure as shown in FIG. 4 is proposed. In this case, the substrate etching apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 4 has the same structure as the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1 except for the nozzle 113 for spraying the etching liquid, and thus, the same structure will be omitted. Explain only about.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the present embodiment, since the nozzle 113 for injecting the etchant flows to the substrate, the ejection region of the etchant injected to the substrate is expanded. That is, while the nozzle 113 flows from side to side at a predetermined angle, the etching liquid is injected onto the substrate. As such, as the etching liquid is injected while the nozzle 113 flows, the injection region in the flow direction of the nozzle 113 is further expanded as compared with the substrate etching apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the distance d between the nozzles 113 can be made larger than the distance between the nozzles in the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1, so that the number of nozzles 113 is larger than that of the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Since it can be reduced, the consumption of the etchant is reduced to reduce the cost and to prevent the environmental pollution.

As shown in FIG. 5, the nozzle 113 flows in the horizontal direction at the set angle α. In this case, the flow angle α may be determined according to the distance between the substrate and the nozzle 113, the distance d between the nozzle 113 and the nozzle 113, and the etching liquid injection pressure of the nozzle 113. However, most importantly, as shown in FIG. 6, the injection zone of the etchant injected by the flow angle α should partially overlap the injection zone where the etchant is injected by the adjacent nozzle 113. As such, as the injection regions overlap with the adjacent injection regions, the etching liquid is uniformly sprayed on all the regions throughout the substrate, thereby etching the substrate.

On the other hand, the nozzle 113 preferably flows in the left and right directions of the substrate (1). That is, it is preferable that the nozzle 113 flows in a direction perpendicular to gravity, for the following reason.

When the etchant is sprayed onto the substrate 1 through the nozzle 113, the sprayed etchant flows down the substrate 1 by gravity. The etchant sprayed on the substrate 1 etches the injection region of the substrate 1 and etches the substrate 1 in the region flowing down while flowing downward. Therefore, even when the nozzle 113 is flowed only in the left and right directions, since the substrate 1 is etched by the injected etchant and the etchant flowed down from the upper region, the amount of the etchant is smaller than that of the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1. As a result, the substrate 1 can be uniformly etched.

In addition, in the present invention, the arrangement interval of the nozzles 113 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction in which the nozzle 113 flows, that is, the gravity direction, is wider than the arrangement interval of the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. As described above, the injection regions R of the etching liquid in the vertical direction are not overlapped and are formed at regular intervals. The etchant injected into the specific etching region flows downward by gravity, and the substrate 1 between the injection regions R disposed up and down is etched by the flowed etchant. As such, the interval between the nozzles 113 in the horizontal direction (ie, the flow direction of the nozzle 113) as well as the interval in the vertical direction thereof is increased than the interval between the nozzles of the substrate etching apparatus shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the use of excessive etchant can be prevented. In addition, since the regions between the adjacent spraying regions R in the vertical direction are not etched by the etching liquid injected directly onto the substrate 1 and the etching liquid flowing down from the upper portion, it is possible to prevent excessive etching of a specific region. (1) Uniform etching is possible throughout.

On the other hand, the nozzle 113 of the present invention does not flow only in the left and right directions. The degree of flow of the etchant injected from the nozzle 113 may vary depending on the viscosity of the etchant or the material of the substrate 101. Therefore, depending on the type of etching liquid or the type of substrate 101, the nozzle 113 may be moved up and down, may be flowed up and down and left and right, and the nozzle 113 may be flowed in a circular shape.

What is important in the present invention is to uniformly etch the substrate 101 by flowing the nozzle 113 and acting an etching solution on the substrate 101, but not in the flow direction of the nozzle 113. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the flow of the nozzle 113 in a specific direction, but will include all configurations capable of uniformly acting the etching liquid on the substrate 101 by flowing the nozzle 113.

Meanwhile, in the present invention, the etching liquid may be uniformly sprayed on the substrate by moving the spray plate itself in which the nozzle is formed, rather than uniformly acting on the substrate by driving the nozzle.

The concept of an etching apparatus of this structure is shown in Figs. 7A to 7C.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, spray plates 212 having a plurality of nozzles 213 are disposed on both side surfaces of the substrate 201, and an etchant inside the spray plates 212 may pass through the nozzles 213. 201) is sprayed on both sides. In this case, the spray plate 212 sprays the etching liquid through the nozzle 213 while moving in a direction parallel to the substrate 201 and the surface. Thus, similarly to the etching apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 4, the spraying region of the etching liquid sprayed on the substrate is extended in the horizontal direction of the substrate compared with the separation region when the spraying region is fixed.

The jet plate 212 may move in one direction or reciprocate in a left and right direction. Although not shown in the drawing, a guide rail is provided below the jet plate 212 so that the jet plate 212 is moved along the guide rail by a driving means such as a motor. The jet plate 201 may be moved by various moving means instead of only moving (or reciprocating) by a specific moving means such as a guide rail. In addition, the spray plate 212 may spray the etching liquid while moving or reciprocating in the vertical direction instead of the left and right directions of the substrate 201. The movement distance of the jet plate 212 may vary depending on the gap between the nozzles 213 formed on the jet plate 212, the gap between the substrate 201 and the jet plate 212, and the injection pressure.

As described above, the reason for spraying the etching liquid while moving or reciprocating the spray plate 212 is the same as the reason for spraying the etching liquid while flowing the nozzle in the etching apparatus of the structure shown in FIG.

That is, as the etching liquid is injected while the spray plate 212 is moved or reciprocated, the spray area of the spray plate 212 in the moving or reciprocating direction is further expanded as compared with the substrate etching apparatus having the structure shown in FIG. 1. Therefore, the distance between the nozzles 213 can be increased, and the number of nozzles 213 can be reduced, so that the consumption of etchant is reduced, the cost can be reduced, and environmental pollution can be prevented. do.

Also in this embodiment, the distance between the nozzles 213 disposed in the gravity direction can be larger than the distance between the nozzles 213 disposed perpendicular to the gravity direction. In this case, the injection regions of the injected etchant do not overlap in the direction of gravity, but as the injected etchant flows downward by gravity, the substrate 201 between the nozzles 213 is etched.

On the other hand, in the substrate etching apparatus in this embodiment, instead of moving or reciprocating the injection plate 212, the injection plate 212 may be fixed and the etching liquid may be injected while the substrate 201 is moved or reciprocated.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7B, the area of the jet plate 212 may be smaller than the area of the substrate 201. In this case, in order to spray the etching liquid over the entire substrate 201, the jet plate 212 may have to move or reciprocate over the entire distance from one end of the substrate 201 to the other end.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 7C, an etching liquid is disposed on both sides of the plurality of substrates 201 by disposing the spray plates 212 having a smaller area than the substrate 201 while moving or reciprocating the spray plates 212 or the substrate 201. By spraying the injection efficiency will be improved.

As described above, in the present invention, by spraying the etchant to the substrate while flowing or moving the nozzle or the substrate it is possible to expand the injection region to the substrate. Therefore, the consumption of the etchant is reduced and the cost can be reduced.

It is preferable that the etching of the substrate 1 as described above mainly consists of bonded glass mother substrate units. In general, a flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display device is used by bonding two glass substrates together, and thus the strength thereof is higher than that of one glass substrate. Therefore, since it is possible to manufacture a thinner than when using one glass substrate, it is possible to significantly reduce the weight of the glass substrate. Of course, the etching of the substrate 1 may be made of individual glass mother substrate units.

In the above description of the present invention, the structure of the liquid crystal display device is limited and described, but the present invention is not limited to the structure of the liquid crystal display device having a specific structure, but may be applied to the structure of all liquid crystal display devices. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the etching of a specific substrate, but may be used to etch a glass mother substrate, a bonded glass mother substrate, a processed glass substrate, and a bonded unit panel.

In addition, the present invention may be applied to various flat panel display device manufacturing methods such as various PDPs, FEDs, VFDs, OLEDs, etc., as well as liquid crystal display devices.

In addition, although the above description mainly discloses a method of performing an etching after arranging the substrate perpendicular to the ground, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. That is, the present invention will also include a method of etching the substrate by spraying the etchant in a state where the substrate is placed horizontally with the ground or at a predetermined angle.

As described above, in the present invention, the weight of the liquid crystal display device can be greatly reduced by etching the substrate and the liquid crystal panel to a predetermined thickness.

In addition, in the present invention, since the etching liquid is injected onto the substrate while the nozzle is flowing or the spraying plate is moved, the uniform etching liquid can be sprayed over the entire substrate to uniformly spray the substrate.

Claims (22)

A plurality of jet plates disposed perpendicular to the ground to be at least one surface adjacent to the substrate, and filled with an etching solution therein; And And a plurality of nozzles formed on the jet plate to etch the substrate by injecting an etchant to the substrate while flowing at a predetermined angle. A plurality of jet plates disposed perpendicular to the ground to be at least one surface adjacent to the substrate, and filled with an etching solution therein; And Is formed on the jet plate is composed of a plurality of nozzles for etching the substrate by spraying the etching liquid on the substrate, And the etching plate is sprayed on the substrate while the spray plate and the substrate move relative to each other.  The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the etching apparatus further comprises an etching liquid storage tank for supplying the etching liquid to the jetting plate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is disposed between two jet plates so that both surfaces thereof are etched by an etchant. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a bonded glass mother substrate. The substrate etching apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the substrate is a glass mother substrate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the substrate is a display panel bonded to the substrate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle flows in a vertical direction of gravity. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 8, wherein the spray region of the etching liquid by the nozzle overlaps the spray region sprayed from the nozzle adjacent to the flow direction of the nozzle. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 8, wherein the spray region of the etching liquid by the nozzle is spaced apart from the spray region sprayed from a nozzle adjacent to the nozzle in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction of the nozzle. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 10, wherein the substrate between the spraying regions is etched by an etchant flowing down from the top by gravity. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle flows in a gravity direction. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle flows in a first direction and in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the nozzle flows in a circular shape. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 1, wherein the flow angle of the nozzle is dependent on a gap between the nozzle and the substrate, a gap between the nozzle, and the nozzle, and an etchant injection pressure of the nozzle. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the substrate is fixed and the jet plate is moved or reciprocated. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 2, wherein the jet plate is fixed and the substrate is moved or reciprocated. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 2, wherein the jet plate is equal to an area of the substrate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 2, wherein an area of the jet plate is smaller than an area of the substrate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 19, wherein the plurality of jetting plates is disposed on one side of the substrate. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 2, wherein the spray region of the etching liquid by the nozzle is spaced apart from the spray region sprayed from a nozzle adjacent to a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the spray plate or the substrate. 22. The substrate etching apparatus of claim 21, wherein the substrate between the spraying regions is etched by an etchant flowing down from the top by gravity.

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