KR20150000126A - Method for Separating Substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for separating substrates and, more specifically, to a method for separating substrates capable of separating different layers combined by an adhesive without damage. The method for separating substrates includes: a step of cooling a panel which includes a combined layer which comprises a first layer including a flexible substrate and a second layer combined with the first layer by an adhesive in a cooling space of -20 deg. C; a step of separating the first layer from the second layer in the cooled panel; a step of removing foreign substances from the separated second layer; a step of heating the separated first layer at least to 100 deg. C; and a step of separating a the flexible layer from the heated first layer.

Description

{Method for Separating Substrate}

The present invention relates to a substrate separating method, and more particularly, to a substrate separating method in which bonds can be separated from each other without damaging each other by an adhesive.

The screen of a computer or a television can be made by bonding a plurality of layers such as a glass plate, a protective plate, or an electrode plate with an adhesive. Also, a display of a mobile device can be formed by combining a plurality of layers as well. For example, the touch panel may comprise a window of tempered glass, a touch panel formed below the window, a polarizing panel attached to the underside of the touch panel, and an LCD or OLED panel, wherein each layer is an optical clean adhesive (OCA) They can be bonded to each other. A PCB substrate or a flexible substrate (FPCB) may be connected to the touch panel.

The touch panel may fail due to various causes during the use process or the manufacturing process, and in such a case, the tempered glass or the flexible substrate needs to be separated from the panel or another layer for the reproduction of the touch panel. On the other hand, the tempered glass generally has a protective coating on the front side, but scratches may occur, which may result in poor contact or poor display. In the case of reproducing or repairing such a touch panel, it is necessary to separate the tempered glass or the flexible substrate so that the tempered glass or the flexible substrate can be regenerated in preference to other layers or parts. Various techniques related to substrate separation are known.

As a prior art related to substrate separation, Patent Publication No. 2011-0088772 discloses an apparatus and method for separating and removing an optical transparent adhesive for regenerating a display module of a touch screen panel. An optical transparent adhesive separating and removing apparatus for regenerating a display module of a touch screen panel, the touch screen panel comprising a transparent electrode pattern, a front window, and an adhesive layer using an optical transparent adhesive between the transparent electrode pattern and the front window, A heating unit for heating one surface of the screen panel; A cooling unit for cooling the other surface of the touch screen panel; And a control unit controlling the temperature of the heating unit and the cooling unit so that the adhesive force of one side of the adhesive layer is disturbed. The optical transparent adhesive separating and removing apparatus for regenerating the display module of the touch screen panel is disclosed.

As a prior art related to a method of separating a flexible substrate from a substrate, Patent Publication No. 2010-0115298 discloses a method of separating a flexible substrate from a supporting substrate. The prior art includes providing a flexible substrate having a lower surface; Forming a lower surface having a separation characteristic by surface-treating the lower surface of the flexible substrate; Fixing the flexible substrate to a supporting substrate through an adhesive layer; And separating the flexible substrate from the supporting substrate, wherein a lower surface having the separation characteristics separates the flexible substrate from the supporting substrate contacting the supporting substrate.

Another prior art related to a method of detaching a panel of a touch screen is disclosed in Patent Publication No. 2012-0080051 'Maintenance apparatus and method for touch screen'. The prior art is a touch screen maintenance apparatus for separating a touch panel and a display panel from each other by an optical adhesive, comprising: a stage having a predetermined width to which the touch screen is fixed; And a steel wire having a predetermined tension so as to cross the stage and having a thickness not larger than the thickness of the optical adhesive, wherein the steel wire passes through the optical adhesive layer between the touch panel of the touch screen and the display panel And the two panels are separated from each other.

The method disclosed in the prior art is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to apply to a large-sized touch panel, for example, and the apparatus for separating is complicated. At the same time, there is a problem that defects may be generated in the tempered glass in the separation process during the separation process.

The present invention has been made to solve the problems of the prior art and has the following purpose.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a substrate separation method which enables separation of a substrate requiring reproduction in all panels including a large touch panel.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for separating a substrate from a large touch panel while simultaneously separating a flexible substrate.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a substrate separation method for separating different layers bonded with an adhesive in a touch screen panel comprises cooling a bonding layer bonded with an adhesive in a cooling space maintained at a predetermined temperature; And separating one layer from the other in the cooled bonded layer.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cooling temperature in the cooling space is at least -20 占 폚.

According to yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, a method of separating a substrate, which separates the different layers bonded by an adhesive in a touch screen panel, comprises a first layer comprising a flexible substrate and a second layer Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > -20 C < / RTI > in a cooling space; Separating the first layer from the second layer to the cooled panel; Removing foreign matter from the separated second layer; Heating the separated first layer to at least 100 캜; And separating the flexible substrate from the heated first layer.

The separation method according to the present invention has an advantage in that it can be applied to reproduction or repair of all touch screen panels including a large touch panel applied to a monitor, a TV, or an advertisement panel of a desktop computer. Further, the separation method according to the present invention has an advantage that it can be applied easily regardless of the kind of the panel.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a process of separating a substrate according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the following description, components having the same reference numerals in different drawings have similar functions, so that they will not be described repeatedly unless necessary for an understanding of the invention, and the known components will be briefly described or omitted. However, It should not be understood as being excluded from the embodiment of Fig.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a process of separating a substrate according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a method of separating a substrate according to the present invention includes: providing a panel including a first layer including a flexible substrate and a bonding layer comprising a second layer bonded to the first layer by an adhesive, Cooling in a cooling space (S12); Separating the first layer from the second layer to the cooled panel (S14); Removing the foreign matter from the separated second layer (S15); Heating the separated first layer to at least 100 캜 (S16); And separating the flexible substrate from the heated first layer (S16). Specifically, the method of separating a substrate according to the present invention comprises the steps of: (S11) inspecting a panel or a substrate having a bonding layer bonded to each other by an adhesive and determining a layer to be separated; (S12) maintaining the inspected panel in a freezing space of at least ~ 20 ° C for a predetermined time; Separating at least a portion of the separated layer of the frozen panel (S13); Separating the substrate to be separated using at least one portion (S14); Removing the residue present in the separated layer (S15); Heating the separator coupled to the flexible substrate to a predetermined temperature level (S16); Separating the flexible substrate from the separator (S17), and regenerating the layer from which the residue has been removed (S18).

Each step is described below.

The method of separating a substrate according to the present invention can be applied to separation of a touch screen panel and is preferably applicable to separation of any substrate, but not limited thereto, for separating tempered glass or reinforced plastic. Further, the method of separating a substrate according to the present invention can be applied to, for example, a touch screen panel of a monitor of a desktop computer or a touch screen panel of a TV, but is not limited thereto. For example, . Therefore, the present invention is not limited by the kind of the touch screen panel or by the kind of the panel.

The method of separating a substrate according to the present invention can be applied for separating a reinforced glass or a reinforced plastic substrate from a touch panel and separating a flexible substrate attached to the touch panel, for example, for repair or regeneration. Separation of the tempered glass from the touch panel is difficult because the touch panel is difficult to regenerate. However, separation is possible for regeneration of various substrates or layers, and the present invention is not limited to separation and regeneration of tempered glass.

A panel, a substrate or layers herein may be used in the same or similar sense. However, a panel may mean that several layers are combined.

Panels can be damaged for a variety of reasons and can be damaged during the manufacturing process or after being shipped to the finished product for transportation or use. Damage to the panel may be due to defects in the internal substrate or malfunction of the device, or defects of the tempered glass exposed to the outside. Defects in tempered glass usually mean appearance damage such as scratches.

The inspection of the substrate is to determine whether the repair or repair is feasible by checking the degree of damage of the substrate to be separated or repaired or regenerated, for example, an optical camera and an apparatus can be used. If the defects generated on the substrate to be regenerated can not be damaged, it can be discarded in advance without being separated. At this time, the layer to be separated can be determined (S11). The determination of the layer to be separated comprises inspecting the state of adhesion and the examination of the state of adhesion includes determining the manner in which the subsequent separation takes place.

Each panel can be photographed by an optical camera while being conveyed through a conveyor, and inspection of the inspection and adhesion status can be done manually or automatically. A unique number can be attached to each panel as required and the unique number can be, for example, a bar code.

When the inspection of each panel is completed (S11), the panel having the layer to be separated may be transferred to the cooling space and cooled (S12). Cooling can be done in a cooling device and can be cooled at least -20 캜, preferably at least -35 캜 and most preferably at least -45 캜, but can be cooled at a lower temperature if necessary. Cooling may be effected over the entire panel and cooling or cooling times may be determined, for example, taking into account differences in shrinkage or elongation according to the temperature of the first layer, the second layer and the adhesive between the first and second layers have. The first layer may be, for example, tempered glass, the second layer may be a touch panel, and the first and second layers may be bonded by OCA (Optical Clean Adhesive) or OCR (Optical Clean Resin) . In such a case, data relating to the difference in shrinkage or elongation according to the cooling temperature can be predetermined and an effective cooling temperature can be determined according to the difference in relative shrinkage or elongation. On the other hand, the temperature at which the tackiness of the adhesive film is reduced can be determined and the cooling temperature can be determined in consideration of the temperature at which the tackiness is sufficiently reduced.

The temperature data and the cooling time for the shrinkage ratio, elongation or stickiness of the substrate or the adhesive can be prepared in advance depending on the type of the substrate or the kind of the adhesive. On the other hand, the cooling temperature and the cooling time can be uniformly determined in order to simplify the process. For example, the cooling temperature can be uniformly set to -50 DEG C or less and the cooling time can be set to 1 to 120 minutes. Cooling is difficult in a short time in relation to the cooling time, and the separation operation itself can be done automatically in the same space as the chamber. Thus, for example, as many as 50 to 1000 sheets of the panel can be introduced into the chamber and the separation operation can proceed over a period of 30 minutes to 5 hours, for example, at a temperature of -40 to -50 占 폚. On the other hand, the cooling time means the whole time, for example, at which the temperature reaches a predetermined temperature at room temperature. For example, 1 to 120 minutes means that the temperature is gradually lowered from room temperature to -50 占 폚. The time for which the temperature is maintained at a predetermined temperature is not limited to, for example, 10 to 80% of the total time. The present invention is not limited by the cooling time reached at a substantially fixed temperature or the time maintained at a predetermined temperature.

The cooling space can be made in a variety of ways. For example, a cooling chamber may be formed and multiple panels may be accommodated in the cooling chamber simultaneously. And the cooling chamber can be cooled, for example, using dry ice or other suitable refrigerant. On the other hand, cooling can be reduced-pressure cooling. Specifically, cooling may be performed while maintaining the temperature inside the cooling chamber at, for example, 0.01 atm to 0.6 atm.

Cooling can be accomplished in a variety of ways and the invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

When the cooling is completed (S12), the reference position can be separated (S13). The separation of the reference position means, for example, that a portion such as the edge of one side of the panel is previously separated. In general, different layers bonded by an adhesive can easily separate a part of the circumferential surface. By using such a property, for example, at least a part of both sides of the front surface or the front surface can be previously separated and set as a reference position for separation (S13).

When the reference position for separation is set (S13), the substrate or tempered glass can be separated based on this (S14). The substrate separation can be performed by, for example, separation using a string, sawing with a cutting edge, cutting using a chemical solution, or a combination thereof. Separation by string refers to separation by a line of piano wire or carbon material having a diameter of, for example, 0.01 mm to 2 mm. Specifically, separation may be performed by arranging a string at a reference position while moving the string with a constant tension to move the panel or string. The cutting by the cutting edge can be made of materials such as, for example, diamond or tungsten, but is not limited thereto. The separation of the substrate using a cutting edge of a material such as diamond or tungsten can be accomplished according to methods known in the art.

The cutting with a chemical solution can be carried out, for example, by penetrating a chemical solution capable of dissolving an adhesive between two layers to be separated, or by dipping the cooled panel in a solution capable of dissolving the adhesive. The chemical solution for dissolving the adhesive may be appropriately selected depending on the kind of the adhesive, and may be any solution capable of dissolving OCA or OCR (Optically Clean Resin).

The separated substrate can be, for example, tempered glass and the foreign substance can be completely removed through cleaning or washing with respect to the separated glass (S15). The foreign material may be, for example, residual adhesive component or sludge generated during the cutting process. After the separation process is completed by removing the foreign matter and drying, the regeneration process can proceed (S18). The regenerated tempered glass can then be put into production of the touch screen panel again.

Touch panels with tempered glass can be discarded, but electronic components or circuit boards that can be recycled before they are discarded can be recovered. For example, a flexible circuit board (FPCB) can be recovered from the touch panel. The FPCB can be attached to the transparent electrode plate or the touch panel by an adhesive such as a resin adhesive, for example. In order to recover the FPCB, the adhesive component needs to be removed, and the adhesive portion of the flexible substrate may be heated (S16). The heating can be done by any means known in the art and can be heated to at least 100 캜, preferably at least 150 캜 and most preferably at least 200 캜. The flexible substrate can be separated substantially in the cooling method described above, but it has the disadvantage that the separation cost or the separation device can be complicated. On the other hand, since a part of the flexible substrate is bonded to the touch panel, the heating method is advantageous for the recovery of the flexible substrate for separating the bonded portion.

When the flexible substrate is separated by the heating method (S17), the flexible substrate is washed and dried by an appropriate cleaning solution, and the flexible substrate can be regenerated (S18). The regenerated flexible substrate can then be input for the manufacture of the touch screen panel again.

The flexible substrate can be separated from the touch panel or the transparent electrode plate in various ways, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown.

An embodiment for separating the tempered glass and the flexible substrate from the touch screen panel by the method according to the invention is described below.

Example

Step 1: 200 pieces of touch screen panels used for a personal computer (PC) having an appearance scratch were prepared. The touch screen panel was confirmed to consist of a tempered glass, two transparent electrode films, and an OCA film to adhere the respective layers.

Step 2: The reference position where the appearance is taken by the camera and is to be separated through the control screen is schematically set.

Step 3: The separating operation was carried out while the touch screen panel was transferred to the cooling chamber by the conveyor and maintained at a temperature of -45 to -50 ° C for 1 to 1.5 hours. The cooling chamber was maintained at a pressure of 0.5 atm in the closed state.

Step 4: At the predetermined position of the cooling chamber, the reference position is separated by the cutting blade and the cutting string is transferred to the prepared area. The cutting string was a piano wire with a diameter of 0.1 mm and both ends were fixed by a clamp.

Step 5: The cut string is positioned to be the reference position while passing through the tunnel which is 1.5 times as thick as the thickness on the touch screen panel. Pressure was applied at the back of the touch screen panel to separate the tempered glass.

Step 6: The separated tempered glass was transported out of the chamber and regenerated through a regeneration and drying process.

Step 7: The touch panel on which the tempered glass is removed is placed on the flat plate-shaped heating plate provided with the heating device at the bottom. Then, the bonded portion was squeezed by using a pressure device corresponding to the portion where the flexible substrate was bonded. Then, the temperature was gradually raised and the site was maintained at a temperature of 180 to 200 DEG C for 20 to 30 seconds.

Step 8: The flexible board was separated and the circuit was checked for abnormality.

According to the present invention, the cooling process can be continuously performed for separating the substrate. Concretely, by repeating cooling and heating, the separation efficiency can be increased. On the other hand, it is advantageous that the shorter the cooling time is, the more advantageous the separation is, for example, the cooling proceeds on the glass substrate side. The cooling process may be repeated at least twice, for example, so that the time required for cooling from room temperature to -40 DEG C is 1 to 60 minutes, and then the time from -40 DEG C to room temperature is 1 to 20 minutes .

The cooling process may proceed in various ways and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments shown. Further, the method according to the present invention can automatically control the entire process, and the present invention is not limited by the method to be applied.

The separation method according to the present invention has an advantage in that it can be applied to reproduction or repair of all touch screen panels including a large touch panel applied to a monitor, a TV, or an advertisement panel of a desktop computer. Further, the separation method according to the present invention has an advantage that it can be applied easily regardless of the kind of the panel.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention . The invention is not limited by these variations and modifications, but is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

S11: Substrate inspection and separation layer determination
S12: Freezing
S13: Separation of reference position
S14: Substrate separation
S15: Remove residue
S16: Separation board heating
S17: Flexible substrate separation
S18: Playback

Claims (3)

A substrate separation method for separating different layers bonded by an adhesive in a touch screen panel,
Cooling the bonding layer bonded with the adhesive in a cooling space maintained at a predetermined temperature; And separating one layer from the other layer in the cooled bonded layer. The method of claim 1, wherein the cooling temperature in the cooling space is at least -20 占 폚. A substrate separation method for separating different layers bonded by an adhesive in a touch screen panel,
Cooling a panel comprising a bonding layer comprising a first layer comprising a flexible substrate and a second layer bonded by an adhesive to the first layer in a cooling space of -20 캜;
Separating the first layer from the second layer to the cooled panel;
Removing foreign matter from the separated second layer;
Heating the separated first layer to at least 100 캜; And
And separating the flexible substrate from the heated first layer.

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