KR20220170356A - Measurement device and in-line vapor deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention is to provide a technology for suppressing meandering of mother glass being conveyed in a vacuum environment. The present invention provides a measurement device used for an in-line deposition apparatus, wherein the deposition apparatus comprises a chamber for forming a conveyance space maintained in a vacuum, a conveying means for conveying an object to be conveyed within the chamber, and a guide means for regulating the widthwise position of the object to be conveyed with respect to the conveying direction of the conveying means, and the measurement device comprises a conveyed means conveyed by the conveying means and a detecting means provided in the conveyed means and detecting the widthwise position of the guide means while the conveyed means is being conveyed by the conveying means within the chamber in a vacuum environment.

Description

Measuring device and in-line deposition device {MEASUREMENT DEVICE AND IN-LINE VAPOR DEPOSITION APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to a measuring device for adjusting the position of a conveying device and an inline deposition device.

In the manufacture of an organic EL display, an organic material is formed on a substrate on which TFTs (thin film transistors) are formed. As a method of forming a film of an organic material, vacuum evaporation has become the mainstream, and a method of forming a film of a evaporation material upward from below a substrate with the surface on which TFTs are formed facing downward is used. A plurality of panel regions may be disposed on a substrate on which TFTs are formed, and it may be called mother glass. In recent years, since the size of mother glass is increasing, an in-line film formation method in which a film is formed while moving a substrate is being studied from a conventional film formation method in a state in which a glass substrate is stopped (Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-141706

Here, in the in-line film formation method, side rollers are installed on the side of the conveyance path for the purpose of suppressing meandering of the mother glass during conveyance. However, even if the position of the side roller is adjusted in an atmospheric environment, the position of the side roller may change due to deformation of the vacuum chamber in a vacuum environment. There is a problem that is said to arise.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to suppress meandering of the mother glass during conveyance in a vacuum environment.

In order to solve the above problems, the measuring device according to the present invention,

As a measuring device used in an in-line deposition device,

The deposition device,

A chamber forming a conveyance space maintained in a vacuum;

conveying means for conveying an object to be conveyed within the chamber;

guiding means for regulating a position in the width direction of the object to be conveyed with respect to the conveying direction of the conveying means;

The measuring device,

a conveying destination means conveyed by the conveying means;

Detecting means provided to the conveying target means for detecting the position of the guide means in the width direction while the conveying target means is being conveyed by the conveying means in the chamber in a vacuum environment.

Thereby, meandering of the mother glass during conveyance in a vacuum environment can be suppressed.

1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a production line according to this embodiment.
2 is a diagram showing an example of a substrate transported by the transport device according to the present embodiment.
3 is a configuration diagram of a measurement carrier.
4 is a block diagram of a measurement carrier.
5 is a sectional view of the metrology carrier.
6 is a diagram showing the measurement principle of the measurement carrier.
7 is a diagram showing a method of calculating the distance between side rollers.
8 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the coordination system.
9 is a diagram showing a method for calibrating a measurement carrier.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, the following embodiment does not limit the invention concerning the claim. Although a plurality of features are described in the embodiment, not all of these plurality of features are essential to the invention, and a plurality of features may be combined arbitrarily. Furthermore, in the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same or equivalent structures, and overlapping descriptions are omitted.

<First Embodiment>

Referring to Fig. 1, an example of a production line according to this embodiment will be described.

In the production line shown in FIG. 1, glass substrates 7 (hereinafter, sometimes abbreviated as substrates 7) are introduced from a substrate input unit 11. The glass substrate 7 is put into the substrate input unit 11 so that the lower surface becomes the film formation surface at the time of input. The glass substrate 7 put into the substrate input unit 11 is depressurized until the pressure is lower than a predetermined pressure by a vacuum pump (not shown) connected to the substrate input unit 11 . In the present embodiment, the substrate loading unit 11 performs the pressure reduction treatment until it becomes 5.0×10 ^-4 Pa or less. Therefore, since the internal capacity of the chamber of the substrate loading part 11 is small, the time required for evacuation is short. Therefore, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the glass substrate is not rotated in the substrate loading part 11. For this reason, the glass substrate 7 is injected into the substrate loading unit 11 with the film-formed surface as the lower surface.

The glass substrate 7 in this embodiment is a substrate size called a 6th generation, and specifically, it is an alkali-free glass of 1850 mm x 1500 mm x 0.5t. The glass substrate 7 is placed on the mask 8, and the size of the mask 8 is 2050 mm x 1700 mm x 50 mm. A TFT circuit is formed on the glass substrate 7 in the case of an organic EL display. In the case of organic EL lighting, electrodes are formed.

When exhaust is performed by a vacuum pump (not shown) until the pressure is lower than a predetermined pressure in the substrate input unit 11, the glass substrate 7 is removed by the vacuum transfer robot 24 installed in the substrate transfer unit 12. send back Specifically, a plate-shaped valve that can be opened and closed called a gate valve located between the substrate input unit 11 and the substrate transfer unit 12 is opened, and the vacuum transfer robot 24 is placed in the substrate input unit 11. Conveyance is performed by receiving the glass substrate 7 . At this time, the pressure in the substrate transfer unit 12 is 1.0×10 ^-4 Pa or less, which is lower than that in the substrate input unit 11 . Having received the glass substrate 7 , the vacuum conveyance robot 24 draws the glass substrate 7 into the substrate conveyance section 12 . After the glass substrate 7 is pulled into the substrate transport unit 12 and reached a predetermined position, a plate-like valve that can be opened and closed provided between the substrate input unit 11 and the substrate transport unit 12 is closed. A buffer section for stocking the glass substrate 7 and a preprocessing section for activating the film formation surface of the glass substrate 7 may be provided in the substrate transport section 12 as needed, but this is omitted in the present embodiment.

Next, the glass substrate 7 drawn into the substrate transport unit 12 is transferred to the substrate mask assembly unit 13 . First, the mask 8 is put into the substrate-mask assembly unit 13 from the mask return unit 21 or the mask input unit 20 . Subsequently, an openable and closable plate-shaped valve installed between the substrate transport unit 12 and the substrate-mask bonding unit 13 is opened, and the vacuum transfer robot 24 moves the glass substrate 7 to the substrate-mask bonding unit ( 13) is transferred to a substrate receiver (not shown). When the delivery of the glass substrate 7 is completed, the robot for vacuum transport 24 returns to a predetermined position within the substrate transport unit 12, and is installed between the substrate transport unit 12 and the substrate mask assembly unit 13. Closes a plate-shaped valve that can be opened and closed. Subsequently, the substrate-mask combining unit 13 moves the glass substrate 7 placed on the substrate holder onto the mask 8 .

When placing the glass substrate 7 on the mask 8, the substrate-mask combining unit 13 performs alignment processing by an alignment mechanism (not shown) that aligns the glass substrate 7 and the mask 8. . In the positioning process, a method of combining the glass substrate 7 and the mask 8 after centering them in the substrate-mask combining part 13, or a method for positioning the glass substrate 7 and the mask 8 A method of placing a mark and performing an alignment operation by image processing can be employed.

Then, on the glass substrate 7 placed on the mask 8, a member for adhering the mask 8 and the glass substrate 7 is placed. Specifically, it is a member using a magnet or having a mechanism for adjusting the shape of a glass substrate. A combination of the mask 8 and the glass substrate 7 is referred to as a masked substrate 100 hereinafter. The mask 8 has an opening, whereby an organic material (hereinafter also referred to as an evaporation material) is discharged from a deposition unit described below from below the masked substrate 100 to form a glass substrate in a film formation unit 15 described later. (7) An organic material can be deposited at a predetermined position on the image.

In a state where the masked substrate 100 is loaded, the substrate-mask combining unit 13, the gap narrowing unit 14, the film forming unit 15, the spacing unit 16, and the substrate-mask separating unit 17 are placed on a conveying roller. carry out conveyance by

The substrate-mask combining unit 13 moves the masked substrate 100 to the gap narrowing unit 14 . Transport rollers that come into contact with the lower surface of the mask 8 from the substrate-mask combining unit 13 are arranged at predetermined intervals to carry out the transport operation of the masked substrate 100 . In the gap narrowing unit 14, an operation to narrow the gap between the preceding masked substrates 100 is performed. Specifically, in a state where the preceding mask is conveyed at the film formation speed, the space can be narrowed by narrowing the space at a speed equal to or higher than the film formation speed, and setting it to the film formation speed when the space is narrowed. If the distance between the front and rear masked substrates 100 in the transport direction can be narrowed, the waste of film formation materials can be reduced. However, if the masked substrates 100 come into contact with each other, it causes generation of particles, misalignment or deformation of the substrate 7 and the mask 8 . For this reason, it is preferable that the space|interval narrowing part 14 secures the minimum space|interval. The masked substrate 100 is transported from the substrate-mask combining unit 13 by the transport roller 4 .

The masked substrate 100 is conveyed to the film forming unit 15 while maintaining the state in which the gap between the masked substrates 100 is narrowed in the space narrowing unit 14 . During conveyance, the posture of the masked substrate 100 is detected, and the film forming process is performed while controlling the posture of the masked substrate 100 described later. In the film formation unit 15, a film formation source (not shown) is provided. A deposition source in the case of deposition, a target in the case of sputtering, and an electrode and a flow path for film formation gas in the case of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) are provided. In this embodiment, an example is given in vapor deposition, but also in sputtering or CVD, conveyance and meandering control described later can be performed similarly.

In the film forming unit 15, a plurality of layers of film is generally formed. The film formation source is fixed, and a desired film can be deposited on the glass substrate by conveying the masked substrate 100 . In the case of an organic EL device emitting monochromatic light, a mask having an opening for a light emitting area is used. In the case of an organic EL device emitting multiple colors, a mask having openings for areas to be formed into films of each color is used. In the in-line film formation method, monochromatic light emitting devices are the mainstream, including lighting applications. Also in a monochromatic light emitting organic EL device, film formation of a plurality of layers such as a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transport layer is generally performed. The film formation of the organic EL device is performed by adjusting the film formation rate of each layer according to the transport speed of the masked substrate 100 and forming a desired film to a desired film thickness.

When the film formation process is completed in the film formation unit 15 and the masked substrate 100 is transported to the spacing unit 16, it is necessary to stop and process the next substrate in the mask separation unit 17. In the direction, the space between the front and rear masked substrates 100 is spaced apart. In the case of spacing, using a position confirmation sensor (not shown) installed in the spacing portion 16, when the masked substrate 100 passes a predetermined position, the spacing portion 16 on which the masked substrate 100 is riding. ) is increased only by the rotational speed of the conveying roller. As a result, the distance to the upstream masked substrate 100 in the transport direction can be increased.

Subsequently, the spacing unit 16 transfers the masked substrate 100 to the substrate mask separation unit 17 . If there is no remaining substrate 7 or mask 8 in the substrate-mask separation unit 17, the masked substrate 100 may be transported to the substrate-mask separation unit 17 at the spacing speed.

The substrate mask separator 17 removes a member for adhering the mask 8 and the glass substrate 7 of the conveyed masked substrate 100, and the glass substrate is separated by a mechanism inside the substrate mask separator 17. The board 7 is lifted up. The lifted glass substrate 7 is transported to the substrate transport unit 18 by a robot 25 for vacuum transport installed in the substrate transport unit 18 . The mask 8 is sent from the mask return unit 21 to the substrate-mask assembly unit 13 or conveyed to the mask discharge unit 23 .

When the glass substrate 7 is transported by the substrate transport unit 18, an openable and closable plate-shaped valve installed between the substrate mask separation unit 17 and the substrate transport unit 18 is opened. The vacuum transfer robot 25 performs a turning operation to face the substrate mask separation unit 17, extends the arm to the lower surface of the glass substrate 7 placed on the substrate mask separation unit 17, and then lifts the glass The substrate 7 is received. Having received the glass substrate 7 , the vacuum conveyance robot 25 draws the glass substrate 7 into the substrate conveyance section 18 . After the glass substrate 7 is pulled into the substrate transport unit 18 and reached a predetermined position, a plate-like valve that can be opened and closed installed between the substrate mask separation unit 17 and the substrate transport unit 18 is closed. A buffer section for stocking the glass substrate 7 after film formation and a sealing section for preventing deterioration of the organic film may be provided in the substrate transport section 18 as needed, but this is omitted in the present embodiment.

When conveying the glass substrate 7 from the substrate conveying unit 18 to the substrate discharging unit 19, an openable and closable plate-shaped valve installed between the substrate carrying unit 18 and the substrate discharging unit 19 is opened. The vacuum transfer robot 25 performs a turning operation so as to face the substrate discharge unit 19 , and conveys the glass substrate 7 to the glass substrate loading unit provided in the substrate discharge unit 19 . After the vacuum transfer robot 25 reaches a predetermined position in the substrate transfer unit 18, it closes a plate-like valve that can be opened and closed between the substrate transfer unit 18 and the substrate discharge unit 19.

In the substrate discharge unit 19, if the post process is in a vacuum environment, the operation of returning to atmospheric pressure is not performed. Depending on the subsequent steps, a nitrogen vent or atmospheric vent may be performed to create a nitrogen atmosphere.

In the above, the form for implementing this embodiment was described. On the other hand, in the form mentioned above, the glass substrate 7 or the overlapping glass substrate 7 and the mask 8 are conveyed as a conveyance body (conveyance target object). In addition to these, a substrate carrier holding the glass substrate 7 may be used as a carrier, and a measurement carrier may be used as a carrier as will be described later. In this embodiment, description is made as conveying an object to be conveyed in a state in which the conveyance space formed by the chamber is maintained in a vacuum.

<Method for transporting substrates>

Subsequently, a transport method of the substrate in the film forming system will be described. An example of the conveying roller 4 will be described with reference to FIG. 2 . The conveying roller 4 is connected to the magnetic seal 3 and is connected to the servo motor 1 via the coupling 2 outside the chamber. In this embodiment, the conveyance roller 4 connected to one servomotor 1 is described as being one, but a plurality of conveyance rollers 4 may be connected to one servomotor 1 . The servo motor 1 is synchronously controlled by the control device 90 that controls the servo motor 1 . In Fig. 2, one control device 90 is shown as controlling all the servo motors 1, but if synchronous control can be realized, a plurality of control devices 90 share and control the servo motors 1. You can do it.

The control device 90 includes a processor 91, a memory 92, a storage 93, an interface (I/F) 94, and a wireless communication unit 95. The processor 91, memory 92, storage 93, I/F 94, and wireless communication unit 95 are communicatively connected via a bus 96.

The processor 91 expands the program stored in the storage 93 to the memory 92, and controls the servo motor 1 through the I/F 94 of the masked substrate 100 described later. Further, in one example, the control device 90 controls the adjustment unit 6 to adjust the position of the side roller 5 in a direction (Y direction) crossing the conveying direction.

Here, the controller 90 synchronously controls the plurality of servo motors 1 to transport the masked substrate 100, depending on slight differences in outer diameters of the transport rollers 4, mechanical assembly accuracy, and the like. There is a possibility that the masked substrate 100 is inclined and meanders with respect to the transport direction. In this way, in order to prevent meandering of the masked substrate 100, on the side of the conveying path formed by the conveying roller 4, a side roller 5 that comes into contact with the side of the masked substrate 100 and regulates meandering ) is installed. The side roller 5 is an example of a guide unit that regulates meandering of an object to be conveyed by coming into contact with it. In this embodiment, the side roller 5 is described as having no driving circuit such as a motor, but it is provided with a driving circuit, and the side roller on the left side toward the conveying direction (upper side roller 5 in FIG. 2) is half It rotates clockwise, and the side roller (lower side roller 5 in Fig. 2) on the right side toward the transport direction may rotate clockwise.

In this embodiment, the clearance between the side rollers 5 and the masked substrate 100 is 5 mm each on the left and right sides in the conveying direction. For this reason, the masked board|substrate 100 can be conveyed without contacting the side roller 5 if meandering is less than ±5 mm. On the other hand, in the case of a meander of ±5 mm or more, the meander can be corrected to less than ±5 mm by bringing the masked substrate 100 into contact with the side rollers 5.

However, as a result of setting the film forming unit 15 to a vacuum environment, the chamber may be deformed and the distance between the pair of side rollers 5 facing each other in the Y direction may increase or decrease. In this case, there is a case where the side roller 5 is in contact with the side roller 5 despite meandering of less than ±5 mm and to the extent that there is no problem in conveyance. When the masked substrate 100 meanders and comes into contact with the side rollers 5, the alignment between the substrate 7 and the mask 8 is misaligned, or particles are generated from the substrate 7 or the mask 8, and the substrate 7 and the mask 8 generate particles. Adjacent to (7) may cause film formation defects. In addition, there are cases in which the masked substrate 100 cannot be transported to the correct deposition position because it is not properly regulated even though it is meandering that should be regulated at ±5 mm or more. Thus, if the position of the side roller 5 changes in a vacuum environment, it may become impossible to suppress meandering of a conveyance body appropriately.

For this reason, the control device 90 according to the present embodiment conveys a measuring device that measures the position of the side roller 5 in the Y direction before conveying the masked substrate 100, thereby conveying the side roller out of position. (5) is specified. Thereby, the side roller 5 can be arrange|positioned at the position which can suppress meandering of a conveyance body appropriately.

<Configuration of measuring device>

Subsequently, a measurement method using a measurement device (also referred to as a measurement carrier) that is transported by a transport device provided in the in-line film forming device and measures the position of the side roller in the width direction during transport, and a side using the measurement method A method for automatically adjusting the position of the roller will be described.

3(A) is a top view showing the configuration of the measurement carrier 10. As shown in FIG. The measurement carrier 10 has a frame structure in which the left and right transport plates 301L and 301R, respectively, which contact the left and right transport rollers 4 disposed on the transport path, are connected by connecting members 302 in the forward and backward directions in the transport direction. .

The left and right conveying plates 301L and 301R (collectively referred to as the conveying plate 301) are conveyed portions that are conveyed in contact with the conveying roller 4. In the conveying plate 301, left and right ranging units 303L and 303R (referred to collectively as ranging units 303) for measuring distances in the left and right (Y direction) toward the conveying direction of objects positioned outside the conveying direction, respectively. call) is placed. Further, the range unit 303 is connected to a PC unit (control box) 305 via a flexible pipe 304 . The PC unit 305 accommodates a battery and a wireless communication unit, supplies power to the ranging unit 303, and acquires from the ranging unit a value capable of specifying the distance between the measurement carrier 10 and an object located on its side. and output to an external device through the wireless communication unit.

3(B) shows a cross-sectional view of the measurement carrier 10 in the XY plane. The range unit 303 includes a case 3031 and a laser range system 3032 disposed within the case 3031 . The case 3031 is sealed so as to keep the inside of the case 3031 at atmospheric pressure even in a vacuum environment. The laser rangefinder 3032 includes an amplifying circuit. The laser rangefinder 3032 is an example of an optical sensor that measures a distance to an object located on either side of the measurement carrier 10 in the transport direction. The laser ranging system includes a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit, and the laser light output from the light emitting unit detects the reflected light reflected by an object located on the side of the measurement carrier 10 at the light receiving unit, so that the laser range 3032 and The distance between objects can be measured.

In the case 3031, a transmission window 3033 capable of transmitting the laser beam output from the laser rangefinder 3032 is provided. As a result, as indicated by the dotted line 3034, the laser beam can be irradiated to the outside of the case 3031.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, notches 3011 are formed in the conveying plate 301 so that the laser beam output from the laser rangefinder 3032 is not shielded by the conveying plate 301 .

FIG. 3(C) shows a view of the transmission window 3033 viewed from the Y direction. The transmission window 3033 includes a transmission part 3035 that transmits the laser light emitted from the light emitting part of the laser rangefinder 3032 and a transmission part that transmits the laser light reflected from the object to the light receiving part of the laser rangefinder 3032 ( 3036) is provided.

4 is a configuration diagram of the measurement carrier 10 . In the PC unit 305, measurement for specifying the distance from the ranging unit 303 to the side rollers 5 from the measurement value acquired through the input/output interface 3053 and obtained from the respective ranging units 303L and 303R. A processing PC 3051 is disposed. In addition, the measurement result calculated by the measurement processing PC 3051 is transmitted to the built-in wireless communication unit 3051a, and the adjustment unit 6 for adjusting the position of the direction crossing the conveyance direction of the side roller 5 ) is wirelessly transmitted to the control device 90 that controls the Thereby, even in a vacuum environment, the position of the side roller 5 in the direction crossing with respect to a conveyance direction can be adjusted.

Since the measurement carrier 10 moves in a vacuum, power cannot be supplied from the outside, and the battery 3052 is used as a power source, and the battery 3052 is supplied to each power supply bus accommodated in the flexible pipe 304. Power is also supplied to the ranging unit 303.

Each of the ranging units 303 and the input/output interface 3053 of the PC unit 305 are connected by data lines accommodated in the flexible tube 304 . On the other hand, the case of the PC unit 305 is made of metal and is a non-magnetic material. Dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements thereof, etc., do not limit the scope of the present invention only to these unless otherwise specified. For example, the battery 3052 may not be housed in the PC unit 305, but may be housed in a case separate from the measurement processing PC 3051.

In Fig. 4, the flexible pipe 304 is arranged to protect the power bus or data line, but the dimensions, material, shape, relative arrangement thereof, etc., are outside the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. It is not limited to them. For example, the flexible pipe 304 may separately accommodate a power supply bus and a data line.

5 shows a cross-sectional view of the measurement carrier 10 being transported by the transport device of the film forming apparatus. The conveying plate 301 is placed on the conveying roller 4 and conveyed. Here, the laser beam output from the laser rangefinder 3032 of the measurement carrier 10 hits the side roller 5 and is reflected. The reflected light passes through the transmission window 3033 and enters the laser rangefinder 3032. In this way, the distance from the laser rangefinder 3032 to the side rollers 5 can be detected based on at least any of the time difference, phase difference, and intensity difference between the output laser light and the incident reflected light. On the other hand, in FIG. 4 , the laser rangefinder 3032 is shown to output the laser beam 501 parallel to the XY plane, but the laser rangefinder 3032 is configured to output the laser beam toward the direction indicated by the dotted line 502. it is possible to incline Also in this case, by passing through the notch 3011, the laser beam output from the laser rangefinder 3032 can be irradiated sideways as viewed in the transport direction of the measurement carrier 10. In one example, the inclination angle of the laser rangefinder 3032 may be set to 5 degrees.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the conveying roller 4 is described as placing and conveying the measurement carrier 10, but it may be conveyed while holding the measurement carrier 10 like a clamp roller. Even when the measurement carrier 10 is clamped by the clamp roller, the laser beam can be irradiated to the side of the measurement carrier 10 through the notch 3011 provided in the transport plate 301 .

Subsequently, with reference to FIG. 6, the principle of measurement by the laser rangefinder 3032 will be described. While the measurement carrier 10 is being conveyed in the conveying direction, the laser rangefinder 3032 detects the distance to an object located on the side of the measurement carrier 10 at predetermined time intervals or continuously. Waveforms such as waveforms 601 and 602 can be obtained by plotting the distance to an object located on the side of the measurement carrier 10 detected by the laser rangefinder 3032 in correspondence with the detected time. Waveform 601 is an output waveform of the laser rangefinder 3032L, and waveform 602 is an output waveform of the laser rangefinder 3032R. On the other hand, in Fig. 6, the output waveform of the laser rangefinder 3032 is described as having a shorter distance as the output value is larger, but it can be applied to other forms as long as the distance and output value are matched.

As shown in the output waveforms 601 and 602, when the laser rangefinder 3032 passes through the side of the side roller 5, the output value of the laser rangefinder 3032 takes a maximum value. For this reason, the maximum values (6011 to 6013 and 6021 to 6023) of the output values of the laser range system 3032, that is, the minimum value of the distance from the laser range system 3032 to the object located on the side of the measurement carrier 10 are acquired. By doing so, the position of the side roller 5 can be acquired. Therefore, the measurement carrier 10 can memorize the position of the side roller 5 by selectively memorizing the output value which became this minimum value. On the other hand, the measurement carrier 10 may transmit an output value indicating a minimum value to an external device via the wireless communication unit 3051a. In this case, information regarding the position in the transport direction may be transmitted together, or, for example, an output value indicating the minimum value may be transmitted together with the number of detected minimum values.

(Processing Example 1)

Here, an example of processing for adjusting the position of the side roller 5 will be described.

In this processing example, distances L _L , L _R from the left and right laser rangefinders 3032 of the measurement carrier 10 to the side rollers 5 are acquired. Here, if L _d is the length in the width direction (Y direction) intersecting the transport direction of the measurement carrier 10, the distance between the left and right side roller pairs can be represented by the distance L = L _L + L _R + L _d . Therefore, by setting the width of the masked substrate to L _ref and L = L _ref + 10 mm (left and right margins), it is possible to match the distances between the plurality of side roller pairs with respect to the conveyed masked substrate. On the other hand, in the adjustment, the distance to one side roller 5 is adjusted to 5 mm, and then the distance to the other side roller 5 is adjusted to be 5 mm, so that the conveyance path faces each other. The distance of the pair of side rollers can be made constant. The distance of a plurality of side roller pairs facing each other across the conveyance path can be matched, and meandering of the conveyance member can be appropriately suppressed.

(Processing Example 2)

Subsequently, a process example of detecting meandering of the measurement carrier 10 and adjusting the position of the side roller 5 will be described with reference to FIG. 7 .

As shown in Fig. 7(A), consider a case where the measurement carrier 10 meanders. In such a case, the left ranging unit 303L detects the side roller 5 earlier than the right ranging unit 303R. Therefore, the meandering of the measurement carrier 10 can be detected based on the time difference in which the peak values of the left and right ranging units 303 are detected.

7(B) shows a comparison diagram of the output values of the left and right ranging units 303. As shown in FIG. As shown in Fig. 7(A), when the measurement carrier 10 is inclined with respect to the conveying direction and the ranging unit 303L precedes the ranging unit 303R, the ranging unit 303L detects a peak value. The time to do this is earlier than the time for the range unit 303R to detect the peak value by Δt. For this reason, when the conveyance speed v of the measurement carrier 10 is known, it is assumed that the side roller 5 on the left is leading by v x Δt. Therefore, assuming that the distances (L _L , L _R ) from the left and right laser rangefinders 3032 to the side rollers 5 and the length in the width direction (Y direction) of the measurement carrier 10 are L _d , the left and right sides The distance L between the roller pairs can be obtained by the following equation.

L=sqrt((L+L _L +L _R )^2+(V×Δt)^2)

On the other hand, sqrt() is a function that calculates the square root.

Thereby, even when the measurement carrier 10 meanders, it is possible to accurately measure the distance between the side rollers 5 on either side of the conveyance path. On the other hand, in the above description, the case where the control device 90 specifies the conveying speed has been described. However, the conveying speed may be estimated based on the diameter of the conveying roller 4 and the rotational speed instead of the conveying speed. Alternatively, when the distance of the plurality of side rollers 5 in the direction parallel to the conveying direction is known, the time difference in detecting the plurality of side rollers 5 (the time difference between 7011 and 7012 in Fig. 7(B)) You may estimate v x Δt based on the ratio of Δt and Δt.

(automatic adjustment of side roller position)

Processing performed by the adjustment system for automatically adjusting the position of the side roller 5 in a direction crossing the conveying direction based on the measurement result of the measurement carrier 10 will be described. As shown in Fig. 2, an adjustment unit 6 is attached to the side rollers 5 on the side of the conveyance path, respectively. In addition, a control device 90 having a wireless communication unit 95 that controls the adjustment unit 6 and receives the measured value of the position of each side roller transmitted from the measurement carrier 10 is disposed.

In this way, the wireless communication unit 95 can receive information about the position of the side roller 5 transmitted from the measurement carrier 10 in a direction crossing the transport direction. In addition, the position of the side roller 5 is automatically adjusted by calculating the position adjustment amount for each side roller 5 requiring position adjustment through the I/F 94 and controlling the adjustment unit 6 do.

Further, the measurement carrier 10 can specify information (count) regarding the number of side rollers 5 that have passed, for example, by counting the number of peaks output from the ranging unit 303 . For this reason, by sending the number of the side rollers 5 which passed to the control device 90, the control device 90 can specify which side roller 5 position to adjust. On the other hand, if information capable of specifying the side roller 5 to be adjusted by the control device 90 can be obtained, the measurement carrier 10 may transmit other information to the control device 90, for example, The number of conveying rollers 4 may be transmitted to the control device 90 .

9 is a flowchart showing an example of processing executed by the coordination system. In the processing shown in FIG. 9 , the controller 90 adjusts the position of the side roller 5 based on the information about the position in the direction crossing the transport direction of the side roller measured by the measurement carrier 10. determine the amount

First, the position of the side roller 5 is manually or automatically adjusted to the initial position (S1). When manually adjusting the position of the side roller 5, the control device 90 controls the adjustment unit 6 to set the position of the side roller 5 to the initial position. Subsequently, the measurement carrier 10 is placed on the transport path, and the measurement carrier 10 is transported to the first measurement start position where the output of the ranging unit 303 takes a peak (maximum value) (S2). Subsequently, as described in processing examples 1 and 2, the measurement carrier 10 measures the distance from the ranging unit 303 to the side roller 5 from the output values of the left and right ranging units 303 (S3) , from the measured distance to the side rollers 5, the distance of the side roller pairs facing each other across the conveyance path is calculated (S4).

The measurement carrier 10 transmits, via the wireless communication unit 3051a, information capable of specifying the width of the pair of side rollers facing each other across the conveyance path calculated based on the data of the side roller position to the control device 90. Do (S5).

The control device 90 determines whether the measurement result, that is, the position of the side roller 5 is within the allowable range or outside the allowable range (S6). When the position of the side roller 5 is out of the permissible range (No in S6), a drive signal corresponding to the height adjustment amount is calculated for the adjustment unit 6 of the side roller 5 to be adjusted, and adjustment is made. The target adjustment unit 6 is driven to adjust the position of the side roller 5 (S7). When the position of the side roller 5 to be adjusted is within the allowable range (Yes in S6), the process proceeds to S8.

After adjusting the position of the side rollers 5, it is determined whether or not there are still side rollers 5 to be measured or adjusted (S8), and if the measurement/adjustment of all side rollers 5 is completed (YES ) process is terminated. On the other hand, when the side roller 5 to be measured still remains, the measurement carrier 10 is moved by a distance corresponding to one side roller 5 (S9), and the position of the next side roller 5 is measured. is performed (return to S3). By repeating this cycle, the position of the side rollers 5 in the entire transport path can be adjusted.

On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 8, the measurement and adjustment of the side roller 5 were carried out in parallel. However, after measuring all the side rollers 5 and measuring the position of all the side rollers 5, you may adjust the position of the side roller 5.

<Calibration of the ranging unit>

9, an example of calibration of the range unit 303 is described. As shown in Fig. 9, the transport plate 301 has an L-shape in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction, and a portion in contact with the side rollers 5 has a surface parallel to the XZ plane. For this reason, the distance between the side roller 5 and the measurement carrier 10 is measured by measuring with the measuring unit 303 in a state where the calibration plate 901 is brought into contact with the portion in contact with the side roller 5. The output of the ranging unit 303 at the minimum value of the distance, that is, the distance at which the conveying plate 301 abuts the side roller 5 can be acquired.

By comparing this value with peak detection, the output of the ranging unit 303 at the time of detecting the position of the side roller 5 can be calibrated.

<Other embodiments>

The substrate conveyance device according to the present embodiment includes an inline type deposition device having a film formation source, a deposition source in the case of deposition, a target in the case of sputtering, and an electrode and a flow path for film formation gas in the case of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). It can be used for adjusting side rollers on the side of a conveyance path formed by the provided conveyance rollers. In this case, the in-line deposition apparatus has a conveyance roller 4 in a vacuum chamber, and conveys the measurement carrier 10 in a state where the conveyance path is depressurized.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to atmospheric and vacuum environments, and the dimensions, materials, shapes, and relative arrangements of the constituent parts described in this embodiment are within the scope of the present invention unless otherwise specified. is not limited to these.

According to the present invention, a program for realizing one or more functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or device via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. processing is also feasible. It can also be realized by a circuit (eg ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

The invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the claims are appended to solidify the scope of the invention.

4: conveying roller
5: side roller
6: adjustment unit
10: metrology carrier
301: transport board
303: range unit

Claims (11)

As a measuring device used in an in-line deposition device,
The deposition device,
A chamber forming a conveyance space maintained in a vacuum;
conveying means for conveying an object to be conveyed within the chamber;
guiding means for regulating a position in the width direction of the object to be conveyed with respect to the conveying direction of the conveying means;
The measuring device,
a conveying destination means conveyed by the conveying means;
Equipped with a detecting means installed in the conveying target means and detecting the position of the guide means in the width direction while the conveying target means is being conveyed by the conveying means in the chamber in a vacuum environment.
A measuring device characterized in that According to claim 1,
The detecting means includes a laser rangefinder whose output value changes according to a distance between it and an object located on the side of the measuring device in the width direction, and determines the position of the guide means in the width direction based on the output value. A measuring device characterized in that it detects. According to claim 2,
The laser rangefinder detects the distance between the object located at the side at a predetermined time interval or continuously,
The measuring device characterized in that the detecting means detects the position of the guide means when the distance between them and the object becomes a minimum value. According to claim 2,
The laser rangefinder detects the distance between the object located at the side at a predetermined time interval or continuously,
The measuring device according to claim 1 , wherein the detecting means selectively stores, or transmits to the outside, those representing minimum values among the output values. According to claim 2,
and a calibration means for calibrating the output value of the laser rangefinder. According to claim 1,
The measuring device characterized in that the detecting means further detects a position of the measuring device relative to the deposition device in the conveying direction. According to claim 1,
and a transmission means for transmitting the information on the position of the guide means detected by the detection means to an external device. A chamber forming a conveyance space maintained in a vacuum;
Transport means for transporting the measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 within the chamber;
guide means for regulating the position of the measuring device in the width direction relative to the conveying direction of the conveying means;
In-line type deposition apparatus having a. According to claim 8,
and receiving means for receiving information about the position of the guide means in the width direction. According to claim 9,
The inline type deposition apparatus further comprising an adjustment means capable of adjusting the position of the guide means in the width direction. According to claim 10,
The inline deposition apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the adjusting means adjusts the position of the guide means based on the information about the position of the guide means received by the receiving means.

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