KR20130088536A - Apparatus for flipping substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A substrate reversal apparatus is provided to improve the reliability of a process for reversing a substrate by preventing damage to a first bellows pipe. CONSTITUTION: A rotary frame (120) is rotatably installed by being supported to a main chamber. A fixing grip member (140) is rotated with the rotary frame and supports an edge unit of one side of the substrate. An elevating grip member (150) is elevation-capably installed and supports the edge unit of the other side of the substrate and prevents fall of the substrate when the substrate interposed between the fixing grip member. An actuator has a plunger elevating the elevating grip member by performing straight line motion. One side of the bellows pipe is engaged with the elevating grip member, the other side is engaged with the actuator and surrounds the plunger and is expanded and contracted along the straight line motion of the plunger.

Description

Board Inverter {APPARATUS FOR FLIPPING SUBSTRATE}

The present invention relates to a substrate reversing apparatus that can improve the reliability of the process of reversing the substrate and at the same time reduce the cost.

Today, the demand for flat panel display devices is increasing. As a result, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission display (FED) panels, and organic light emitting (OLED) panels Research and development of Diodes (V Diodes) panels and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) panels is in progress.

The LCD panel will be described.

An LCD panel is a device for displaying information on a screen by using the anisotropy of the refractive index of the liquid crystal, and includes an upper substrate, a lower substrate, and a liquid crystal layer formed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

The lower substrate is a driving element array substrate, and a plurality of pixels are formed on the lower substrate, and a driving element such as a thin film transistor is formed on each of the pixels. The upper substrate is a color filter substrate is formed with a color filter layer for real color.

A pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed on the upper substrate and the lower substrate, respectively, and an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer is coated.

The LCD panel as described above appropriately performs a driving element array process, a color filter process, a cell process, and the like on the upper substrate and the lower substrate, and attaches the upper substrate and the lower substrate. Therefore, it is necessary to invert the LCD panel in the process of the LCD panel.

Conventional substrate reversing apparatus for inverting a substrate such as an LCD panel is a rotating frame rotatably supported by a vacuum chamber, a fixed grip member fixed to one side of the rotating frame, elevating to the other side of the rotating frame And a bellows pipe which is installed to be capable of elevating the elevating grip member facing the fixed grip member and elevating the elevating grip member.

One side of the bellows pipe is connected to the lifting grip member and the other side is in communication with the air tank. Thus, the bellows pipe raises the lifting grip member while expanding when air is supplied, and lowers the lifting grip member while contracting when air is discharged.

When the substrate is supported by the arm of the robot and positioned between the fixed grip member and the lift grip member, the lift grip member is lifted by the expansion of the bellows pipe. Then, the substrate is interposed between the fixed grip member and the lifting grip member to be supported. In this state, the rotating frame rotates to invert the substrate.

In the conventional substrate reversing apparatus as described above, since the bellows pipe is installed in the chamber in a vacuum state, the pressure of the chamber acts on the bellows pipe from the outside to the inside. Therefore, in order to expand the bellows pipe, the pressure of the air flowing into the bellows pipe must be greater than the pressure of the chamber.

Thus, the bellows pipe is easily damaged because a high pressure is applied to the inside of the bellows pipe. Therefore, there is a disadvantage in that the reliability of the substrate reversal process is lowered, and the cost of the bellows tube is increased due to a lot of time and cost.

Prior art related to a substrate reversal apparatus is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open No. 10-2005-0097115.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, the object of the present invention is to prevent the bellows tube from being damaged, to improve the reliability of the process of reversing the substrate, and at the same time reduce the cost It is to provide a substrate reversing apparatus that can be saved.

The substrate reversing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the main chamber in a vacuum state; A rotating frame rotatably supported by the main chamber; A fixed grip member installed at one side of the rotating frame to rotate together with the rotating frame and supporting one side edge portion of the substrate; The substrate is installed on the other side of the rotating frame and rotates together with the rotating frame, and is provided to be elevated to support the other side edge portion of the substrate, and the substrate is interposed between the fixed grip member and the fixed grip member. Lifting grip member for preventing the fall when the reversed by the rotation of the rotary frame; An actuator having one side coupled to the elevating grip member and having a plunger for elevating the elevating grip member while linearly moving; One side is coupled to the lifting grip member and the other side is coupled to the actuator to surround the plunger, and includes a first bellows tube that is stretched in accordance with the linear movement of the plunger.

In the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present invention, the lifting grip member is lifted by the actuator. Therefore, it is not necessary to introduce high pressure air into the first bellows pipe in order to expand the first bellows pipe surrounding and protecting the plunger of the actuator. That is, since the inside of the first bellows pipe may be kept at atmospheric pressure, a relatively small pressure acts on the first bellows pipe. Therefore, damage to the first bellows tube is prevented, thereby improving the reliability of the process for inverting the substrate.

Since the plunger is wrapped and protected by the first bellows tube, the actuator may be used for non-vacuum. Therefore, the cost is reduced.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a substrate reversing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of a main chamber of the substrate reversing apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the rotating frame shown in FIG.
4 is an enlarged view of a portion “A” of FIG. 2.
5A and 5B are schematic cross-sectional views taken along line “BB” of FIG. 3.
6 is an enlarged view of a portion “C” of FIG. 2.
FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view taken along a line “DD” of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings that show, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain features, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with an embodiment. It is also to be understood that the position or arrangement of the individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present invention is to be limited only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled, if properly explained. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar functions throughout the several views, and length and area, thickness, and the like may be exaggerated for convenience.

Hereinafter, a substrate inversion apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a substrate reversing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present embodiment for reversing a substrate such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that requires inversion of the upper substrate and the lower substrate in the manufacturing process includes a main chamber 110 in a vacuum state. .

An inlet 111 through which the substrate 50 is inserted is formed on the front surface of the main chamber 110, and an outlet (not shown) through which the substrate 50 is discharged is formed on the rear surface of the main chamber 110. The substrate 50 is supported by the arm 60 of the robot, is introduced into the main chamber 110 through the inlet 111, and then reversed. The inverted substrate 50 is supported by an arm (not shown) of another robot and discharged to the outside of the main chamber 110 through the discharge port, and then transferred to an apparatus for a necessary process.

Components for inverting the substrate 50 are installed in the main chamber 110, which will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. 2 is a perspective view showing an internal configuration of the main chamber of the substrate reversing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the rotating frame shown in FIG. 2 is rotated, and FIG. 4 is "A" of FIG. Wealth enlarged view.

As shown, the main frame 110 is rotatably installed to support the rotating frame 120. At this time, the rotation frame 120 is rotated approximately 180 ° forward from the inlet 111 side toward the outlet side, and then rotated back approximately 180 ° toward the inlet 111 side from the outlet side to return to the original state. .

The rotating frame 120 rotates by driving the motors 131 and 135 installed on the left and right sides of the main chamber 110, respectively.

A fixed grip member 140 is installed at an upper portion of the rotating frame 120, and the fixed grip member 140 is fixed to the rotating frame 120 to rotate together with the rotating frame 120. The fixed grip member 140 is provided in pairs facing each other with the inlet 111 and the outlet interposed therebetween, and are formed in a plate shape. That is, one end side and the other end side of the fixed grip member 140 faces the inlet 111 side and the outlet side, respectively. Thus, the fixed grip member 140 supports the upper left edge portion and the upper right edge portion of the substrate 50, respectively.

The lifting grip member 150 is installed at a lower portion of the rotating frame 120. The lifting grip member 150 is installed on the rotating frame 120 so that the lifting grip member 150 can move upward and away from the fixed grip member 140 and rotate together with the rotating frame 120.

The elevating grip member 150 is also provided in pairs facing each other with the inlet 111 and the outlet interposed therebetween, formed in a plate shape, and facing the fixed grip member 140, respectively. That is, one end side and the other end side of the lifting grip member 150 face the inlet 111 side and the outlet side, respectively. Thus, the lifting grip member 150 supports the lower left edge portion and the lower right edge portion, respectively, of the substrate 50 while raising and lowering.

A structure in which the substrate 50 is supported by the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150 will be described.

The substrate 50 is supported by the arm 60 of the robot and is introduced into the main chamber 110 through the inlet 111. In addition, the substrate 50 introduced into the main chamber 110 through the inlet 111 is positioned between the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150. Then, the lifting grip member 150 is raised to raise the substrate 50, and the substrate 50 is interposed between the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150 to be supported. In this state, when the rotation frame 120 rotates 180 ° in the forward direction, the position of the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate 50 is reversed.

Since the substrate 50 is rotated while being supported by the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150, the substrate 50 is reversed without falling downward.

The lifting grip member 150 is raised to support the substrate 50 by the action of the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150, but the lifting grip member 150 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 for convenience of description. It is shown that the substrate 50 is supported by the fixed grip member 140 in the lowered state.

On both ends of the pair of lifting grip members 150, support plates 153 perpendicular to the lifting grip members 150 extend, respectively, and support plates 153 are formed with stepped surfaces 153a. On the stepped surface 153a, the edge portion side of the substrate 50 facing the inlet 111 side and the edge portion side of the substrate 50 facing the discharge port side are mounted and supported. More specifically, the lower edge portion of the substrate 50 is mounted on the horizontal surface 153aa of the step surface 153a, and the side surface of the substrate 50 is supported on the vertical surface 153ab.

As described above, the rotating frame 120 is rotated forward from the inlet 111 side toward the outlet side, and reversely rotated from the outlet side toward the inlet 111 side. Therefore, even when the rotating frame 120 is rotated forward and backward by supporting the substrate 50 by the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150, the side surface of the substrate 50 facing the inlet 111 side and the outlet side. Since the vertical surface 153ab of this step surface 153a is supported by each, it is completely prevented that the board | substrate 50 falls to the lower side.

When the rotating frame 120 rotates, the support plate 153 formed on one end of the lifting grip member 150 facing the inlet 111 faces the outlet side, and the lifting grip member 150 faces the outlet side. The support plate 153 formed on the other end side faces the inlet 111 side. That is, when the rotating frame 120 rotates, the positions of the support plates 153 respectively formed on both end portions of the lifting grip member 150 are reversed.

In the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the fixed grip member 140 may be installed at the lower side, and the lifting grip member 150 may be installed at the upper side.

Lifting means for raising and lowering the lifting grip member 150 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 5A, and 5B. 5A and 5B are schematic cross-sectional views taken along line “B-B” of FIG. 3.

2 shows an initial state in which the elevating grip member 150 is lowered, and FIG. 3 shows that the elevating grip member 150 is inverted by the rotation of the rotating frame 120 while the elevating grip member 150 is lowered. It shows a state located on the upper side of the fixed grip member 140.

5A and 5B are cross-sectional views taken along the line “BB” of FIG. 3, the lift grip member 150 is positioned upward in FIG. 5A, but the lift grip member 150 is lowered, and the lift grip member 150 is in FIG. 5B. 150 is located below, but the lifting grip member 150 is raised. Therefore, in the description of FIGS. 5A and 5B, the lifting grip member 150 is located in the lowered state, and the lower lifting grip member 150 is in the raised state. In addition, in the description of other components, the portion facing downward is referred to as the upper side, and the portion facing upward is referred to as the lower side.

5A illustrates a state in which the first bellows pipe 165 is contracted by the lowering of the lifting grip member 150, and FIG. 5B is a first bellows pipe 165 due to the lifting of the lifting grip member 150. ) Shows an expanded state.

As shown, the grip actuator 150 is provided with a grip actuator chamber 161, the grip actuator chamber 161 is provided with an actuator (not shown), the actuator is a linear movement Plunger 161a. At this time, the lifting grip member 150 is connected to the end side of the plunger 161a exposed to the outside of the actuator, and the lifting grip member 150 is lifted as the plunger 161a moves linearly.

Between the actuator and the lifting grip member 150, a first bellows pipe 165 is installed. In detail, the first bellows pipe 165 is installed to surround the plunger 161a, and the upper side is coupled to the lifting grip member 150, and the lower side is coupled to the actuator. Then, the end side of the plunger 161a located inside the first bellows pipe 165 is engaged with the inner upper surface side of the first bellows pipe 165. Therefore, when the plunger 161a moves linearly to elevate the lifting grip member 150, the first bellows pipe 165 is stretched by the plunger 161a.

At this time, the upper end side of the plunger 161a and the inner upper surface of the first bellows pipe 165 may be integrally formed.

In the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present embodiment, the lifting grip member 150 is lifted by the actuator. Therefore, a pressure greater than the pressure in the vacuum state acting on the outside of the first bellows pipe 165 needs to be applied to the inside of the first bellows pipe 165 to expand the first bellows pipe 165. There is no. That is, since the inside of the first bellows pipe 165 may be maintained at atmospheric pressure, relatively small pressure acts on the first bellows pipe 165, so that the first bellows pipe 165 is damaged. Is prevented.

Since the plunger 161a is wrapped and protected by the first bellows pipe 165, the plunger 161a may be used for non-vacuum.

When the lifting grip member 150 is lifted to support the lower edge of the substrate 50, if the load applied to the substrate 50 by the lifting grip member 150 is more than a predetermined value, the substrate 50 may be damaged. have. In order to prevent this, the lifting grip member 150 according to the present embodiment is provided with a support pad 171. The structure of the support pad 171 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 6. 6 is an enlarged view of a portion “C” of FIG. 2.

As shown, the support pad 171 is formed of a polyetherethereketone (PEEK) material is installed to be elevated on the lifting grip member 150. PEEK is a high-performance polymer material, a thermoplastic resin resistant to impact and abrasion. In addition, an elastic member 175 is provided between the support pad 171 and the lifting grip member 150 to elastically support the support pad 171 toward the substrate 50.

When the lifting grip member 150 is raised, the support pad 171 contacts the substrate 50 to support the substrate 50. However, the lifting grip member 150 may be further raised while the support pad 171 is in contact with the substrate 50.

In the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present embodiment, even when the lifting grip member 150 is further raised while the support pad 171 is in contact with the substrate 50, the support pad 171 does not rise but the lifting grip member 150 is raised. ) Only rises. Then, the elastic member 175 is compressed by the support pad 171 and the lifting grip member 150, and the support pad 171 supports the substrate 50 more firmly by the elastic force of the elastic member 175. . Therefore, the substrate 50 is prevented from being damaged.

When the substrate 50 is interposed between the fixed grip member 140 positioned above and the lifting grip member 150 positioned below, the lifting grip member 150 rises to support the substrate 50. When the substrate 50 is supported by the fixed grip member 140 and the lifting grip member 150, the substrate 50 is inverted, and as shown in FIG. 5B, the state of being mounted and supported on the fixed grip member 140 is do. When the substrate 50 is mounted and supported on the fixed grip member 140, the lifting grip member 150 descends to a state illustrated in FIG. 5A. Then, the arm of another robot can support the substrate 50 and transfer the substrate 50 to a place for performing the necessary process.

At this time, the substrate 50 should be positioned at the fixed position of the fixed grip member 140, so that the substrate 50 is positioned and supported at the predetermined position of the arm of the other robot, and at the predetermined position of the apparatus for performing the necessary process. Is located.

To this end, the substrate reversing apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with alignment means for aligning the substrate 50 supported by the fixed grip member 140 to a predetermined position. The alignment means will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 7. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along a line "D-D" in FIG.

As illustrated, the alignment actuator chambers 180 are installed at portions of the fixed grip member 140 corresponding to the edges of the substrate 50, respectively. For example, four alignment chambers 180 are installed.

The alignment means is installed in the alignment actuator chamber 180, the cylinder 181, the second bellows pipe 183, the support bracket 185, the support bar 187 and the elastic member 189 ).

The cylinder 181 is installed inside the alignment actuator chamber 180 and has a piston 181a which linearly moves. The second bellows tube 183 is installed in the alignment actuator chamber 180, one side is connected to the end side of the piston 181a and the other side is penetrated and installed in the alignment actuator chamber 180. do. Thus, the second bellows tube 183 expands and contracts as the piston 181a linearly moves.

The support bracket 185 is coupled to the other side of the second bellows pipe 183 exposed to the outside of the alignment actuator chamber 180 and the second bellows pipe 183 is stretched by the piston 181a. Linear motion. The support bar 187 is coupled to the support bracket 185 and supports the edge portion side of the substrate 50 while moving together with the support bracket 185.

When the cap 188 is installed on the support bracket 187, and the pressure of the cylinder 181 for moving the piston 181a to the top dead center is removed between the support bracket 187 and the cap 188. An elastic member 189 for returning the bellows tube 183 to an initial state is interposed.

In this case, two alignment means are provided in each of the alignment actuator chambers 180. Therefore, a total of eight alignment means are provided. At this time, one of the two alignment means provided in each of the alignment actuator chambers 180 and the other one of the alignment means, based on the edge of the substrate 50, of the substrate 50 The substrate 50 is moved by supporting one side and the other side, respectively. Therefore, the substrate 50 is positioned at the fixed position of the fixed grip member 140.

If the size of the substrate 50 is small, it may not be aligned. Reference numeral 114 in FIG. 1 denotes a communication hole through which a cable or an air supply tube passes.

The above-described embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which detailed contour lines are omitted. It should be noted that the above-described embodiments are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention and are merely a reference for understanding the technical scope of the present invention.

110: main chamber
120: rotating frame
140: fixed grip member
150: lifting grip member
161: chamber for grip actuator
165: first bellows tube

Claims (12)

A main chamber in a vacuum state;
A rotating frame rotatably supported by the main chamber;
A fixed grip member installed at one side of the rotating frame to rotate together with the rotating frame and supporting one side edge portion of the substrate;
The substrate is installed on the other side of the rotating frame and rotates together with the rotating frame, and is provided to be elevated to support the other side edge portion of the substrate, and the substrate is interposed between the fixed grip member and the fixed grip member. Lifting grip member for preventing the fall when the reversed by the rotation of the rotary frame;
An actuator having one side coupled to the elevating grip member and having a plunger for elevating the elevating grip member while linearly moving;
One side is coupled to the lifting grip member and the other side is coupled to the actuator to wrap the plunger, the substrate reversing apparatus comprising a first bellows tube (expanded) in accordance with the linear movement of the plunger. The method of claim 1,
And said actuator is for non-vacuum. The method of claim 1,
One side of the plunger and one side of the first bellows tube is integrally formed, characterized in that the substrate. The method of claim 1,
And the support grip for lifting and lowering the lifting grip member in contact with the substrate to support the substrate. 5. The method of claim 4,
And an elastic member for elastically supporting the support pad toward the substrate side between the support pad and the lifting grip member. The method of claim 1,
The fixed grip members are provided in pairs opposed to each other, are formed in a plate shape to support the one side edge portion of the substrate,
The lifting grip members are provided in a pair of opposing pairs, are formed in a plate shape to face the fixed grip members, respectively, and support the other side edge portion of the substrate,
On both ends of the pair of lifting grip members, support plates perpendicular to the lifting grip members are formed to extend, respectively.
And a stepped surface on which the side surface of the substrate supported by the elevating grip member is mounted and supported by the support plate. The method according to claim 6,
And the rotation frame is rotated forward and backward in a form in which the positions of the support plates respectively formed on one end side and the other end side of the lifting grip member are reversed. The method of claim 1,
Alignment actuator chambers are respectively provided at portions of the fixed grip member corresponding to edge portions of the substrate,
And alignment means for inverting and aligning the substrate mounted on the fixed grip member to be positioned at a predetermined position in the alignment actuator chamber. 9. The method of claim 8,
The aligning means,
A cylinder installed in the alignment actuator chamber, the cylinder having a linearly moving piston;
A second bellows tube connected to the piston at one side thereof and installed at the other side through the chamber for the alignment actuator, the second bellows tube expanding and contracting as the piston moves linearly;
A support bracket coupled to the other side of the second bellows pipe and linearly moving as the second bellows pipe is stretched and contracted;
And a support bar coupled to the support bracket to move the substrate by supporting an edge of the substrate while moving with the support bracket. 10. The method of claim 9,
The support bracket is provided with a cap, the substrate reversing device, characterized in that between the support bracket and the cap is an elastic member for returning the second bellows tube to the initial state. The method of claim 10,
Two of the alignment means are provided in the alignment actuator chamber, respectively, and each one of the two alignment means installed in the alignment actuator chamber. Another one of the alignment means, the substrate reversing apparatus, characterized in that for supporting the one side and the other side of the substrate to move relative to the edge of the substrate. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
One side of the main chamber substrate reversing apparatus characterized in that the communication hole through which the cable or the tube for supplying air passes.

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