KR20170031504A - A Support Method for a Glass Substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a glass substrate supporting method which assists in preventing a glass substrate from sagging due to its own weight, wherein the method comprises: a glass substrate introduction step in which a glass support holder determining a glass substrate-remaining position is provided, and in a chamber having a receiving space for receiving the glass substrate, the glass substrate is introduced in the receiving space of the chamber; a glass substrate loading step in which the glass substrate introduced in the receiving space in the glass substrate introduction step is loaded on the glass substrate holder; and a glass substrate support step in which a part of a support point on the bottom surface of the glass substrate loaded on the glass substrate holder in the glass substrate loading step is supported. In the glass substrate support step, the support point is a point where a support member provided inside the chamber comes into contact with the part of the bottom surface of the glass substrate, to keep the glass substrate from sagging, and multiple such support members are provided inside the chamber to form multiple such support points. In the glass substrate support step, at least some support members among the multiple support members support the glass substrate by coming into contact with the corresponding support points at different times. Accordingly, while the glass substrate remains inside a vacuum chamber, deformation or damage of the glass substrate caused by sagging due to its own weight may be suppressed.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a glass substrate supporting method,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a glass substrate supporting method, and more particularly, to a glass substrate supporting method capable of supplementing a glass substrate having a large area so as not to be sagged downward due to its own load.

Generally, in producing a display device, a variety of deposition processes are performed on a glass substrate. Particularly, as the size of the glass substrate and the self-load of the glass substrate are increasing, Since a glass substrate having a large area and large surface area has a large self-load, deformation due to the glass substrate stuck may occur during various processes.

Deformation due to sagging is more likely to occur because the deformation of the glass substrate is at a relatively high temperature during the various processes. Therefore, there is a great need to supplement the glass substrate so that deformation due to deflection does not occur even during the transfer from one process chamber to the next process chamber.

Various techniques for suppressing or preventing the warpage of the glass substrate have been proposed. Among these conventional technologies, Korean Patent No. 10-1208262 (the name of the invention: glass inspection apparatus, hereinafter referred to as prior art 1) .

According to the prior art 1, a technique is disclosed in which air is injected onto a glass substrate so as to prevent deformation due to deflection of the glass substrate in the process of transferring the glass substrate for inspecting the glass substrate.

However, according to the prior art 1, it is difficult to uniformly spread the air over the entire surface of the glass substrate, and there is a problem in that a portion of the substrate may be distorted due to unbalanced air pressure.

Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, a technique has been proposed that restrains deformation of the glass substrate by bending the glass substrate while minimizing the contact area at the lower side of the large-sized glass substrate.

Here, when the glass substrate is supported, the center portion of the glass substrate having a large degree of sagging is brought into contact with the center portion of the glass substrate. However, the central portion of the glass substrate having a large area is a region where the deformation due to the sagging of the glass substrate is much concentrated. There have been found problems such as occurrence of cracks or damage due to deformation stress caused when the center portion of the substrate is directly supported.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide a glass substrate capable of suppressing damage due to stress in a central portion of a glass substrate in a process of complementing the large- And a substrate support method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of supporting a glass substrate, the method including: providing a glass substrate holder for setting a position where the glass substrate stays, A glass substrate drawing step in which the glass substrate is drawn into the accommodating space side of the chamber; A glass substrate loading step of loading the glass substrate drawn into the accommodation space side into the glass substrate holder in the substrate introduction step; And a glass substrate supporting step of supporting a fulcrum of a part of the lower side of the glass substrate loaded on the glass substrate holder in the loading of the glass substrate, wherein the fulcrum in the glass substrate supporting step is a step Wherein a support provided in the chamber is in contact with a part of a lower surface of the glass substrate to support a part of the glass substrate to support the glass substrate, And the support of at least some of the plurality of supports may contact the corresponding fulcrum of the glass substrate at different times to support the glass substrate.

Here, at least a part of the plurality of supports may be arranged in one row in parallel with one side of the glass substrate having a shape of a quadrangular plane to constitute one support set, and one of the plurality of supports Wherein the number of the support members belonging to the support vessel is 2n-1 (n: positive integer), and in the glass substrate support step, at least one support member among the 2n-1 support members belonging to one support member is supported by the adjacent support member And the glass substrate is supported in contact with the fulcrum point in time.

Here, in the glass substrate supporting step, the glass substrate is supported while the support positioned at the n-th position from the first support in the one support is in contact with the support point of the glass substrate as the last order .

Here, in the glass substrate supporting step, the support positioned at the n-th position from the first support on one side in one of the support vessels contacts the fulcrum of the glass substrate as the last order, It can also be a feature.

Here, the plurality of supports may be arranged in the order of 2m-1 (m: positive integer) in the direction of the sides perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate, In the glass substrate supporting step, the supports positioned at the Xth (X: any positive integer corresponding to between 1 and 2n-1) from one side in each support vessel are simultaneously moved to the lower side of the glass substrate And the glass substrate may be supported while being in contact with the fulcrum.

Here, a plurality of the supports constitute 2m-1 (m: positive integers) of the support vessels, and a plurality of the support vessels are arranged in the order of 2m-1 in the direction of the side perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate Wherein in the glass substrate supporting step, a support corresponding to the m-th from the one side of the support tank corresponding to the m-th from the first support at the one side of the glass substrate finally comes into contact with the support point, Support may be another feature.

Here, at least a part of the plurality of supports may be arranged in one row in parallel with one side of the glass substrate having a shape of a quadrangular plane to constitute one support set, and one of the plurality of supports Wherein at least one of the 2 n supports belonging to one of the support vessels is in contact with the fulcrum at a time point with the neighboring support, The support of the glass substrate may be another feature.

Further, in the glass substrate supporting step, a pair of supports symmetrically disposed on the one side and the other side of the support positioned at the n-th and (n + 1) -th positions from the first support on one side of the support vessel And the glass substrate is supported while contacting the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate at the same time.

Further, in the glass substrate supporting step, the support positioned at the n-th and (n + 1) -th positions from the first support on one side in one support vessel supports the glass substrate while touching the fulcrum of the glass substrate as the last order Giving can be another feature.

The plurality of support members are arranged in order along the direction of the side of the glass substrate perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate, In the glass substrate supporting step, the supports positioned at the Xth (X: any positive integer between 1 and 2n) from one side in each support vessel are simultaneously moved to the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate And the glass substrate is supported while being touched.

The glass substrate supporting method according to the present invention suppresses the deformation of the glass substrate caused by sagging due to its own load while the glass substrate is located in the vacuum chamber, suppresses damage due to deformation stress of the glass substrate, There is an effect that can be promoted.

1 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view schematically showing a vacuum chamber in which a glass substrate supporting method according to an embodiment of the present invention can be carried out.
2 is a partial cross-sectional view schematically showing a glass substrate holder and a support provided in a vacuum chamber capable of performing a glass substrate supporting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a flowchart schematically showing a method of supporting a glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 and 5 are views schematically showing a process of supporting a glass substrate by a support in a glass substrate supporting step included in a glass substrate supporting method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a perspective view schematically showing a process of supporting a glass substrate by a plurality of supports in a vacuum chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a plan view schematically illustrating a plurality of supports provided in a vacuum chamber to explain a method of supporting a glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional perspective view schematically showing a vacuum chamber in which a glass substrate supporting method according to an embodiment of the present invention can be performed. FIG. 2 is a cross- FIG. 3 is a flow chart schematically showing a method of supporting a glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic cross-sectional views of a glass substrate holder and a support provided in a chamber according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a process of supporting a glass substrate in a glass substrate supporting step included in a glass substrate supporting method according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view schematically showing a process of forming a glass substrate support room To account for a plan view schematically showing a plurality of the support provided in a vacuum chamber.

1 to 3, a method of supporting a glass substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a glass substrate holder 300 for setting a position where a glass substrate G stays, as schematically shown in FIG. 1 And may be provided in the chamber 10 which provides a receiving space in which the glass substrate G can be received by the bottom 12 and the chamber wall surface 11. [ Here, the chamber 10 is preferably provided with a plurality of supports 200. A glass substrate introduction step (S10), a glass substrate loading step (S20), and a glass substrate supporting step (S30) in the chamber (10).

<< S10 >>

The glass substrate introducing step S10 is a step in which the glass substrate G is introduced into the accommodating space side of the chamber 10 as schematically shown in Fig. That is, the glass substrate G is drawn from the outside of the chamber 10 into the accommodating space in the chamber 10, and the glass substrate G is transported to the chamber (not shown) by the transporting means such as the robot hand 30 10). &Lt; / RTI &gt;

After the glass substrate G is drawn into the receiving space of the chamber 10 as described above, the glass substrate G can be loaded into the glass substrate holder 300 as a next step.

<< S20 >>

Next, the glass substrate loading step S20 is a step of loading the glass substrate G drawn into the accommodation space side of the chamber 10 in the glass substrate holder 300 in the glass substrate introduction step S10.

The glass holder 300 can hold the glass substrate G by supporting both sides of the glass substrate G as schematically shown in Figs. More specifically, after the glass substrate G placed on the robot hand 30 is drawn into the accommodating space of the chamber 10 in the glass substrate introducing step S10, both sides of the glass substrate G are separated from the glass substrate G, The glass substrate G is placed on the holder 300 and the glass substrate G is loaded on the glass substrate holder 300. When the glass substrate G is loaded on the glass substrate holder 300 as described above, the robot hand 30 escapes to the outside of the chamber 10.

<< S30 >>

Next, the glass substrate support step S30 is a step of supporting a fulcrum (not shown) of a part of the lower side of the glass substrate G loaded in the glass substrate holder 300 in the glass substrate loading step S20.

Here, the fulcrum point is set so that the support 200 provided in the chamber supports the glass substrate G so as to support the glass substrate G so that the glass substrate G loaded on the glass substrate holder 300 is not subjected to self- Which means that a portion of the lower side is brought into contact with the lower side.

The chamber 10 is provided with a plurality of supports 200 for supporting a part of the glass substrate G so that the glass substrate G is not deposited on the glass substrate G, A support point is also provided corresponding to each of the plurality of supports 200. [

At least a part of the support bodies 200 of the plurality of support bodies 200 contacts the fulcrum of the corresponding glass substrate G at different times to support the glass substrate G, Thereby suppressing the sagging.

Here, the term &quot; heterogeneous &quot; refers to a case in which all the plurality of supports 200 simultaneously rise to the glass substrate G and are not in contact with the fulcrum at the same time. As an example of such a case, 200 support the glass substrate G in contact with corresponding fulcrums.

As described above, the glass substrate supporting step (S30) is carried out in various forms (patterns) until all the support members 200 are in contact with the support point on the lower side of the glass substrate G. [

For example, at least some of the plurality of supports 200 may be arranged in a row parallel to one side of a glass substrate G having a square planar shape to form a single support (crew) . At least one of the 2n-1 supports 200 belonging to one support vessel when the number of supports 200 belonging to one support vessel among the plurality of supports 200 is 2n-1 (n: positive integer) The support member 200 supports the glass substrate G in contact with the support point 200 at a time.

A pair of supports 200 arranged symmetrically one on one side and the other on the other side of the support 200 located at the n-th position from the first support 200 on one side of the support tank are moved at the same time It is preferable to support the glass substrate G while being in contact with the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate G. [

The support 200 located at the n-th position from the first support 200 on one side of the glass substrate G contacts the fulcrum of the glass substrate G as an unknown film in order to support the glass substrate G It is also preferred.

In the case where the number of the supports 200 belonging to one support vessel is 2n, at least one support body 200 among the 2n support bodies 200 belonging to one support vessel is in contact with the support point It is preferable to support the glass substrate G.

A pair of support bodies 200 symmetrically disposed on one side and the other side of the support vessel about the nth and (n + 1) th supports 200 are simultaneously mounted on the glass substrate G, It is preferable to support the glass substrate G while being in contact with the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate G.

The support 200 located at the n-th and n + 1-th positions from the first support 200 on one side in the one support tank is connected to the fulcrum of the glass substrate G, .

The plurality of support members 200 are arranged in a direction of a side of the glass substrate G perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate G, And in the glass substrate supporting step, the supports 200 positioned at the Xth (X: 2n-1 or any positive integer equal to or less than 2n) from one side in each support vessel are simultaneously moved to the glass substrate It is preferable to support the glass substrate G while contacting the fulcrum of the lower surface of the glass substrate G. [

The number of the support bodies 200 belonging to one support vessel is 2n-1 and the number of the support bodies 200 is 2m-1 (m: positive integer) G) from the first support tank on one side of the glass substrate (G) in the glass substrate support step (s30) are arranged in the order of 2m-1 in the direction perpendicular to one side of the glass substrate It is also preferable that the support 200 corresponding to the mth from one side finally supports the glass substrate G in contact with the fulcrum.

In order to facilitate understanding of the above description, the number of supports 200 belonging to one support structure is seven (n = 4, 2n-1 = 7) As shown in FIG. 4, with the support 200 located at the fourth position from one side as the center. The first support 200 on the left and right sides and the seventh support 200 rise together toward the glass substrate G to support a part of the glass substrate G so that the glass substrate support step S30 is started S311)

Next, the second and sixth support bodies 200 are lifted up to contact the glass substrate G (S312), and then the third and fifth support bodies 200 are lifted up (S313). Finally, the fourth support 200 supporting the center portion of the glass substrate G is lifted up (S314) to support the glass substrate G, thereby finishing the glass substrate support step (S30, see FIG. 3).

In addition to this form, a form as shown in Fig. 5 is also possible. In the case where the number of the supports 200 belonging to one supporting column is seven (n = 4, 2n-1 = 7) and the supporting bodies 200 are arranged at equal intervals in a row, The second support 200 and the sixth support 200 on the left and right sides of the glass substrate G are raised toward the glass substrate G side to support a part of the glass substrate G at step S321, The substrate support step (S30) is started. Next, the third support 200 and the fifth support 200 rise to the glass substrate G to support the glass substrate G (S322), and then the first support 200 and the seventh The support 200 supports the glass substrate G (S323). Finally, the fourth support 200 supporting the center portion of the glass substrate G is lifted up to support the glass substrate G (S324), thereby finishing the glass substrate support step S30.

The support 200 supporting the center of the glass substrate G starts to support the glass substrate G from the support 200 supporting the side of the glass substrate G, It is preferable that the glass substrate G be supported by the support member 200 along with the substrate.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, description will be made in an enlarged manner in three dimensions.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the embodiment described above with reference to FIG.

In the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4, one support bar has been described. FIG. 6 shows that seven support bars 200 constitute one support bar as shown in FIG. 4, will be. 2 m-1 to m = 4, and the number of supporting members having seven supporting members 200 is seven. When the support members 200 are sequentially lifted up as described with reference to FIG. 4 at the same time, as shown in FIGS. 6 (a), 6 (b), 6 (E), and the glass substrate G can be supported evenly.

Through such an embodiment, the glass substrate G can be supported while the stress of the glass substrate G is gradually reduced.

Another embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 7 is a plan view of the support 200 viewed from above, for convenience of explanation. 7, the first support 200 at the bottom left of the left side is referred to as a coordinate (1,1), the support 200 at the bottom right is referred to as (7,1), the top left support 200) as (1, 7), and the upper rightmost support 200 as (7, 7), the total of 49 supports 200 can be described as coordinates.

When the glass substrate supporting step is started, the four supports 200 of (1,1), (1,7), (7,1) and (7,7) support the glass substrate G first. (2,1), (1,6), (2,7), (6,1), (7,2) and (6,7), (7,6) Eight supports 200 support the glass substrate G. Next, (1,3), (2,2) (3,1), (1,5), (2,6), (3,7) and (5,7) Twelve supports 200 of (7, 5) and (5, 1), (6, 2) and (7, 3) support the glass substrate G. In this manner, a plurality of support bodies 200 are sequentially supported from the corner portion of the glass substrate G toward the center of the glass substrate G so that the center portion of the glass substrate G is divided into (4, 4 support the glass substrate support step.

When the side portion of the glass substrate G is first supported and the center portion of the glass substrate G is supported at a later stage in such a manner that the stress due to the deformation of the glass substrate G is lowered, It is possible to prevent or suppress the damage due to the stress of the glass substrate G which may be caused in the process of supporting the glass substrate G. [

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is to be construed as being limited only by the embodiments, and the scope of the present invention should be understood as the following claims and their equivalents.

G: glass substrate 10: chamber
11: chamber wall 12: bottom
200: support 300: glass substrate holder
30: Robot Hand

Claims (10)

A glass substrate introducing step of introducing the glass substrate into the accommodating space side of the chamber, the accommodating space being provided with a glass substrate holder for setting a position where the glass substrate stays therein, and accommodating the glass substrate;
A glass substrate loading step of loading the glass substrate drawn into the accommodation space side into the glass substrate holder in the substrate introduction step; And
And a glass substrate supporting step of supporting a fulcrum of a part of the lower side of the glass substrate loaded on the glass substrate holder in the loading of the glass substrate,
Wherein the fulcrum in the glass substrate supporting step comprises:
Wherein a support provided in the chamber is in contact with a part of a lower side surface of the glass substrate to support a part of the glass substrate so that the glass substrate does not sink,
A plurality of support members are provided in the chamber to form a plurality of fulcrum points,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein the support of at least a part of the plurality of supports supports the glass substrate in contact with the corresponding fulcrum of the glass substrate at different times. The method according to claim 1,
At least a portion of the plurality of supports,
A glass substrate having a rectangular plane shape is arranged in one row in parallel with one side of the glass substrate,
The number of the supports in one of the plurality of supports is 2n-1 (n: a positive integer)
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein at least one of the 2 &lt; n-1 &gt; supports among the supports in one of the support tanks supports the glass substrate in contact with the fulcrum point in time with an adjacent support. 3. The method of claim 2,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein the glass substrate is supported while the support positioned at the n-th position from the first support in the one support is in contact with the support point of the glass substrate as the last order. 3. The method of claim 2,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein the support positioned at the n-th position from the first support on one side of the one support supports the glass substrate in contact with the fulcrum of the glass substrate as the last order. 3. The method of claim 2,
A plurality of the supports constitute the support vessel of 2m-1 (m: positive integer)
Wherein the plurality of support members are arranged in order along the direction of the side perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein the supports positioned at Xth (X: positive integers between 1 and 2n &lt; -1 &gt;) from one side in the respective support tanks simultaneously contact the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate, Wherein the glass substrate supporting method comprises the steps of: 3. The method of claim 2,
A plurality of the supports constitute the support vessel of 2m-1 (m: positive integer)
Wherein a plurality of the support members are arranged in the order of 2m-1 in the direction perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein a support corresponding to the mth one side of the support tank corresponding to the mth support from the first support on one side of the glass substrate finally contacts the support point to support the glass substrate . The method according to claim 1,
At least a portion of the plurality of supports,
A glass substrate having a rectangular plane shape is arranged in one row in parallel with one side of the glass substrate,
(N: a positive integer) of the supports belonging to one of the plurality of supports,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein at least one of the 2 n support members belonging to one support vessel supports the glass substrate in contact with the fulcrum point in time with the neighboring support member. 8. The method of claim 7,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
A pair of supporters symmetrically disposed on the one side and the other side of the support positioned at the n-th and (n + 1) -th positions from the first support on one side of the support tank are supported at the same time And the glass substrate is supported while being in contact with the fulcrum of the lower surface of the substrate. 8. The method of claim 7,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
Wherein the support positioned at the n-th and (n + 1) -th positions from the first support on one side in the one support is in contact with the fulcrum of the glass substrate as the last order to support the glass substrate . 8. The method of claim 7,
A plurality of the supports constitute the support vessel of 2m-1 (m: positive integer)
Wherein the plurality of support members are arranged in order along the direction of the side perpendicular to the one side of the glass substrate,
In the glass substrate supporting step,
The supports positioned at the Xth (X: any positive integer between 1 and 2n) from one side in the respective support tanks simultaneously contact the fulcrum of the lower side of the glass substrate, And a supporting member for supporting the glass substrate.

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