KR20110075575A - Ultra-thin type panlel etching apparatus and method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An ultra thin panel etching apparatus and a method thereof are provided to etch a very large scale glass substrate uniformly, without damaging the very large scale glass substrate. CONSTITUTION: A top tank(20) stores etchant. A substrate supporting part(10) supports a glass substrate in one side of the top tank. An etchant guide part(30) guides the etchant exhausted from the top tank, to flow along one side from the top of the glass substrate.

Description

Ultra-thin panel etching device and method thereof {ULTRA-THIN TYPE PANLEL ETCHING APPARATUS AND METHOD THEREOF}

The present invention relates to an ultra-thin panel etching apparatus and method using the etching solution.

Recently, various flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), electroluminescent display (ELD), and vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been studied. Among them, portable televisions and notebook computers employing flat panel display devices using glass substrates are currently on the market. However, because of carrying around, reducing the size and weight is a new problem.

Various methods can be applied to reduce the weight of flat panel display devices using glass substrates, but there are limitations in reducing the size and weight of components in the structure and current technology. For example, glass substrates, the most basic component of LCDs, have room to lose weight as technology advances.

In order to reduce the weight of the glass substrate, there is a method of making the glass substrate thin. However, when the glass substrate becomes thin, the glass is easily broken and the surface of the glass substrate is often not smooth during processing. Currently, etching with an etchant is the most widely used method of thinning the thickness of a glass substrate.

Methods of etching the glass substrate include a method of dipping a glass substrate in an etchant solution and a method of spraying the etchant on a glass substrate using an injector. However, when the glass substrate is directly immersed in the etchant container, the surface of the glass substrate may not be uniformly etched, and the glass substrate may be damaged while the glass substrate is immersed and taken out.

In addition, when the etching liquid is sprayed onto the surface of the glass substrate by using a spraying device, the glass substrate may be damaged depending on the strength of the spray. When the etching liquid is not uniformly sprayed on the entire surface of the glass substrate, the surface of the glass substrate is uniform. You will not.

Recently, there is an increasing need to make glass substrates ultra thin. Therefore, there is a need for a method of minimizing the breakage of glass waves while making the thickness of the glass substrate less than 0.1 mm.

An object of the present invention is to etch a thin glass substrate.

Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to uniformly etch the surface of a very large glass substrate.

Ultra-thin panel etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving this object is discharged while overflowing from the upper tank and upper substrate for receiving and storing the etching solution and the substrate support for supporting the glass substrate standing on one side of the upper tank and the upper tank And an etching solution guide portion for guiding the etching solution to flow from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass substrate supported on the substrate support portion to one side surface.

In addition, the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is provided with a plurality of upper tanks in a row, each having a substrate support portion, the etching liquid guide portion may be disposed on both sides of the glass substrate supported by the substrate support portion. have.

Ultra-thin panel etching method of the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention for solving this object transfers the glass substrate to be supported from the mounting position to the etching position of the upper tank side. Next, the upper tank is supplied with the etching liquid, and discharged while overflowing the supplied etching liquid. Next, the discharged etchant is guided to flow from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass substrate to one side.

In addition, the ultra-thin panel etching method of the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention is arranged in a line is arranged between the plurality of upper tanks receiving the etching liquid is supported glass substrate is arranged. Next, the upper tank is supplied with etching liquid, and discharged while overflowing the supplied etching liquid. Next, the discharged etchant is guided to flow from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass substrate to one side.

Extra large glass substrates can be etched into ultra-thin films without breakage. In addition, the surface of the glass substrate can be etched uniformly.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The terms used are terms selected in consideration of functions in the embodiments, and the meaning of the terms may vary depending on the intention or precedent of the user or operator. Therefore, the meaning of the terms used in the embodiments to be described later, according to the definition if specifically defined herein, and if there is no specific definition should be interpreted to mean generally recognized by those skilled in the art.

1 is a cross-sectional view of the main configuration of the glass substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The apparatus for etching a thin glass substrate is configured to include a substrate support 10, the upper tank 20, the etching solution guide 30.

The substrate support 10 is in the form of a rectangular frame with one side open. The substrate support part 10 is to support the glass substrate 40 in an upright state by fixing both sides and the bottom surface of the glass substrate 40, and may be provided to mount one or more glass substrates. It has the same shape as a typical cassette used to convey the glass substrate 40. When one or more glass substrates 40 are mounted, the interval between each substrate support 10 may be preset to be advantageous during etching.

2, the upper tank 20, the etching liquid guide part 30, and the etching liquid supply pipe 90 are shown.

As shown, the upper tank 20 is a kind of container that can contain the etchant used to etch the glass substrate 40, and has an open top surface. This is to cause the etchant to overflow when the upper tank exceeds a certain level. Etching liquid guide portion 30 is connected to both side surfaces of the upper tank 20, and the portion where the etching liquid guide portion 30 is not connected is preferably configured to have a higher height so that the etching liquid does not overflow. The upper tank may be supported by being physically connected to the lower tank 60. The upper tank 20 is preferably disposed above the upper end of the glass substrate 40 in order to flow the etching liquid to the glass substrate 40 standing up.

In addition, the upper tank 20 is connected to the etching solution supply pipe (90). The etchant supply pipe 90 is a connection pipe for supplying the etchant stored in the lower tank 60 by the pump 80 to the upper tank 20. The water level of the upper tank 20 may be adjusted by the pump 80 connected to the etching solution supply pipe 90. This serves to control the speed of the etchant flowing over the upper tank (20). In the etching apparatus of the present invention, an object of the present invention is to etch an ultra-thin glass substrate. Therefore, it is preferable to appropriately control the speed of the overflowing etchant.

The etching solution guide part 30 is connected to the side surface of the upper tank 20 and has a constant inclined surface. The inclined surface is not necessarily in the form of a straight line, but may have a curved shape. The etching solution guide part 30 may be connected to both side surfaces of the upper tank 20 and simultaneously etch both surfaces of the glass substrate 40 disposed between the plurality of upper tanks. The etching solution guide portion 30 is preferably disposed near the upper end of the glass substrate 40 such that the overflowing etching liquid flows from one end of the glass substrate 40 to one side thereof. Accordingly, the surface of the glass substrate 40 can be etched smoothly as a whole.

Figure 3 shows an overall perspective view of the etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the present invention may further comprise a transfer unit 50, the lower tank 60, the purification device 70, the pump 80, the etching solution supply pipe (90).

The transfer unit 50 is configured to include a rail (or roller) (not shown) and a rail driver (or roller driver) (not shown) to move the substrate support 10 at equal intervals at predetermined positions. The transfer unit 50 may move the substrate support 10 from a mounting position to mount the glass substrate 40 to a cleaning position (not shown) and an etching position. The transfer unit 50 may move the substrate support 10 through a predetermined movement path, and after the etching is completed, the transfer unit 50 may move in the reverse order of the aforementioned order. Accordingly, it is possible to implement an automated facility that can easily wash and etch a large amount of glass substrate 40.

The lower tank 60 is configured at the bottom of the configuration of the etching apparatus of the present invention. The lower tank 60 stores the etchant and supplies it to the upper tank 20 by a pump. The upper surface of the lower tank 60 is open. This is to collect the etching liquid overflowed from the upper tank 20 to the lower tank 60 while flowing over the glass substrate 50. Since the collected etchant contains a glass component, it is possible to supply pure etchant to the upper tank 20 through the purification device 70 connected to the lower tank 60.

In addition, the lower tank 60 may be configured to further include a temperature control device (not shown) for adjusting the temperature of the stored etchant. Since the concentration and temperature of the etchant are important factors for etching the glass substrate 40, it is preferable to provide a temperature control device so that the etchant can maintain a constant temperature.

In addition, the present invention may further comprise a washing device (not shown). The cleaning device is a device for cleaning the glass substrate 40 before and after etching to remove impurities from the glass substrate 40. The transfer unit 50 moves the substrate support 10 on which the glass substrate is mounted and stays in the washing apparatus for a predetermined time, and after the etching is finished, stays in the washing apparatus for a predetermined time.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the etching apparatus of the present invention may be configured by arranging a plurality of upper tanks 20 in a row. This is for etching the plurality of glass substrates 40 simultaneously. Since the upper tank 20 is arranged side by side, the etching liquid flows around the upper ends of both surfaces of the glass substrate 40 disposed therebetween, so that the glass substrate 40 can be etched in an ultra-thin shape.

Figure 4 is a flow chart of the ultra-thin panel etching method of the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the etching method of the present invention, the glass substrate 40 is first mounted on the substrate support 10 and then transferred to the upper tank 20 side (step 100). After mounting the glass substrate 40 to the substrate support 10 in the mounting position, it is transferred to the upper tank 20 side of the etching position. The glass substrate 40 is transferred to a position where the glass substrate 40 is in contact with the etching solution guide part 30 connected to the upper tank 20. This can be adjusted by the programmed control of the transfer unit 50.

Next, the upper tank 20 is supplied with the etching liquid from the lower tank 60 by the pump 80, and the supplied etching liquid is discharged by overflowing the upper tank 20 beyond a predetermined level (step 110). The rate of discharging the etchant may be controlled by the pump 80 as described above.

Next, the discharged etchant is guided to flow from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass substrate 40 to one side (step 120). In order to uniformly etch the glass substrate 40 as a whole, it is preferable to flow an etching solution of a constant concentration on the upper end of the glass substrate 40 at a constant speed. It is preferable to flow the etchant at a position close to the upper end side of the glass substrate 40. Accordingly, even if the glass substrate 40 is etched to a thin thickness of 0.1mm or less, the impact is minimized, and the surface of the glass substrate may be uniformly etched.

According to a further aspect of the present invention, the etching liquid discharged from the upper tank 20 via the glass substrate 40 is collected (step 130). Liquid may flow on the lower surface of both the substrate support 10 and the transfer part 50, and the etched liquid is collected in the lower tank 60. The etchant collected in the lower tank passes through the purification device 70 and the motor 80 to finally supply the pure etchant to the upper tank 20. Thereby, etching liquid can be cyclically used.

Next, the collected etching liquid is supplied to the upper tank 20 by the pump 80 (step 140). As described above, a pump is used to supply the etching liquid stored in the lower tank 60 to the upper tank 20. In the present invention, since there is a position difference between the lower tank 60 and the upper tank 20, an apparatus capable of pumping the etching liquid from a low place to a high place is used.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the plurality of glass substrates 40 may be simultaneously etched. The substrate support 10 supporting the glass substrate 40 may be manufactured in one form in which a plurality of glass substrates 40 may be mounted. The glass substrate 40 is mounted on the substrate support 10, and the spacing between the glass substrates 40 is preferably set such that the etching solution guide portion 30 can contact the glass substrate 40.

In addition, the etching liquid may be simultaneously supplied to the plurality of upper tanks 20 to etch the plurality of glass substrates 40 collectively. Other processes are as described above.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the preferred embodiments described with reference to the drawings, but is not limited thereto. Accordingly, the invention should be construed by the description of the claims, which are intended to cover obvious variations that can be derived from the described embodiments.

1 is a cross-sectional view of the main configuration of the glass substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the upper tank and the etching solution guide according to an embodiment of the present invention,

3 is a perspective view of a glass substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,

Figure 4 shows a flow chart of the ultra-thin panel etching method of the glass substrate etching apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

10 substrate support 20 upper tank

30: etching solution guide portion 40: glass substrate

50 transfer unit 60 lower tank

70: purifier 80: pump

90: etching solution supply pipe

Claims (8)

An upper tank configured to receive and store an etchant; A substrate support part supporting the glass substrate in an upright position on one side of the upper tank; And An etching solution guide part configured to guide the etching solution discharged from the upper tank to flow from one side of the glass substrate supported to the substrate support part to one side surface; Ultra-thin panel etching apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 1, A transfer unit for transferring the substrate support from an installation position to an etching position on the upper tank side; And A lower tank collecting the etching liquid discharged through the glass substrate and supplying the collected etching liquid to the upper tank by a pump; Ultra-thin panel etching device further comprising. The method of claim 1, And a plurality of upper tanks arranged in a row, wherein the substrate support is provided between the plurality of upper tanks, and the etching solution guides are disposed on both sides of the glass substrate supported by the substrate support. The method of claim 3, A transfer part for transferring the substrate support part supporting a plurality of glass substrates from a mounting position to an etching position on the upper tank side; And A lower tank collecting the etching liquid discharged through the glass substrate and supplying the collected etching liquid to the upper tank by a pump; Ultra-thin panel etching device further comprising. Transferring the standing glass substrate from the mounting position to the etching position on the upper tank side; The upper tank is supplied with the etching liquid, and discharged while overflowing the supplied etching liquid; And Guiding the discharged etchant to flow from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass substrate to one side; Ultra thin panel etching method of the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus comprising a. The method of claim 5, Collecting the etching liquid discharged from the upper tank via the glass substrate; And Supplying the collected etching liquid to the upper tank by a pump; Ultra-thin panel etching method of the ultra-thin panel etching apparatus further comprising. Arranging the glass substrates that are erected and supported between a plurality of upper tanks arranged in a row and supplied with an etchant; The upper tank is supplied with the etching liquid, and discharged while overflowing the supplied nicking liquid; And Guiding the discharged etchant to flow from one side of the glass substrate to near one side of the glass substrate; Ultra-thin panel etching method comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein Collecting the etching liquid discharged through the glass substrate through the upper tank; And Supplying the collected etching liquid to the upper tank by a pump; Ultra-thin panel etching method further comprising.

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