TW202006861A - Processing device for processing substrates - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a processing equipment (1) for processing flat substrates, especially circuit boards, solar cells, wafers, etc. The processing equipment has a processing device (2), especially a printing device. The processing device has a processing head (4), especially a printing head and a processing tank (3), especially a printing tank, and at least one substrate can be placed on the processing tank in order to perform the processing process; a feeding device (23) for feeding the substrate; a discharging device (24) for discharging the substrate; and a turntable (6) for transporting the substrate from the feeding device (23) to the processing device (2) and from the processing device (2) to the discharging device (24). The turntable (6) has at least one device (11-14) in the middle of the outer side for receiving at least one substrate. It is proposed that the device (11-14) has at least one load-bearing finger member (15, 16) protruding at least basically radially, and the at least one substrate can be placed on the load-bearing finger member. A processing tank (3) which is permanently opposed to the processing head has a hollowed-out part (28) for the at least one load-bearing finger member (15, 16), so that the processing tank (3) and the load-bearing finger member (15, 16) introduced into the corresponding hollowed-out part (28) together form at least a basically continuous support surface for the at least one substrate.

Description

Processing equipment for processing substrates

The present invention relates to a processing device, especially a printing device, for processing flat substrates, especially circuit boards, solar cells, wafers, etc. The processing device has a processing device having a processing head (especially a printing head) and a processing device Tank (especially a printing tank (Drucknest)), at least one substrate can be placed on the processing tank in order to perform the processing process; the feeding device for feeding the substrate; the feeding device for feeding the substrate; and The substrate is transported from the feeding device to the processing device and from the processing device to the carousel of the feeding device, wherein the carousel has at least one device for receiving at least one substrate in the middle of the outside.

Processing devices of the type mentioned in the opening paragraph are known in the prior art. In order to ensure a high yield of substrates in, for example, printing equipment, it is known to provide a turntable on which a plurality of printing grooves are arranged as means for receiving the synchronous movement of the substrate. By rotating the turntable around the vertical axis, the printing tanks are successively fed into the processing device, so that the processing process can be performed on the substrates located in the corresponding printing tanks. In addition, in order to ensure that the substrate is reliably transported to the printing tank, it is known to provide a transportation device for the printing tank, for example, disclosed in the publication WO 2009/153160 A1. The printing tank is movably arranged at the turntable and carries a transport device having a supply roller (from which the conveyor belt can roll out) and a receiving roller (from which the conveyor belt can roll on). The conveyor belt can be pulled from the supply roller to the receiving roller by the working surface formed by the printing groove. With the aid of a conveyor belt, the substrate can be easily handled and the substrate can also be oriented. In the case of dirty conveyor belts, it can simply be transported in the direction of the receiving roller, so that a new, clean conveyor belt is available on the working surface. Similar processing devices are also known from the published documents EP 2 581 951 B1, US 2013/0052334 A1 and US 2012/0244702 A1. The disadvantage is that the entire conveyor must move synchronously with the carousel, whereby the speed of the carousel movement and therefore the cycle frequency of the processing equipment is adversely affected, because the maximum achievable output is limited by the inertia and quality of the conveyor.

The basic object of the present invention is therefore to create an improved processing device which guarantees a high processing throughput.

The basic object of the present invention is achieved by a processing device having the first feature of the patent application. This has the advantage that the mass to be moved by the turntable is reduced and thus higher speeds and accelerations can be achieved, which guarantees increased throughput of the processing device. According to the invention this is achieved by the device having at least one carrying finger that protrudes at least substantially radially, the at least one substrate can be placed on the carrying finger and is permanently connected to the processing head The opposite processing tank has cutouts for the at least one bearing finger, so that the processing tank together with the bearing fingers introduced into the corresponding cutout constitute at least one for the at least one substrate A substantially continuous bearing surface. This achieves that the processing tank does not need to move synchronously with the turntable, but that the processing tank is now permanently arranged opposite the processing head and only the carrying finger is moved by the turntable. The substrate can be placed on the at least one carrying finger, so that the substrate moves synchronously with the carrying finger when the turntable moves. Here, with an optional holding device associated with the device, the substrate can be locked on the carrying finger so that it can be reliably held on the carrying finger even when the turntable is accelerating. Since the load-bearing fingers can be introduced into the cutout as follows, so that the load-bearing fingers and the processing tank form an at least substantially continuous support surface, during the processing process, the substrate is reliably placed on the processing tank and ensures a more reliable and More efficient processing. After carrying out the treatment process, the device is removed from the cutout with the carrying fingers and the turntable with the now treated substrate rotates in the direction of the delivery device, so that the treated, especially printed The substrate is removed and sent to additional processing and/or storage. Due to the lower mass of the turntable, a high working speed of the processing equipment and therefore a high output are ensured.

According to a preferred improvement of the present invention, it is proposed that the bearing finger has at least one suction opening at its top side facing the substrate, and the at least one suction opening is connected to or can be connected to the negative pressure generating device. Together with the negative pressure generating device, the suction opening constitutes the holding device previously described, by means of which the substrate placed on the carrying finger can be reliably locked on the carrying finger. Here, a negative pressure or vacuum is used, by which the base material is sucked to the top side of the carrying finger and is thereby held thereon. This ensures a simple and cost-effective solution for locking the base material on the carrying finger.

According to a preferred improvement, the turntable has at least one suction duct, which connects the suction opening to the negative pressure generating device. This ensures that the negative pressure provided by the negative pressure generating device acts on the suction opening and therefore reliably sucks the substrate located thereon onto the top side of the carrying finger and holds it thereon.

It is also preferably provided that the suction opening is formed as a suction channel extending through the turntable to the bearing finger. In this way, the suction channel is formed in particular to be integrated into the turntable and the bearing fingers, so that additional hose connections can be omitted. In this way, a further reduction in the weight of the turntable is achieved and thus an increased output is ensured.

In addition, the present invention preferably has at least two bearing fingers arranged spaced apart from each other. The two load-bearing fingers protrude at least essentially radially from the turntable and provide a reliable support for the substrate, which in particular prevents the base material from tipping and turning around the horizontal axis on the load-bearing fingers. If necessary, the load-bearing fingers are formed as follows, so that their spacing relative to each other can be set. For this purpose, for example, at least one of the bearing fingers is guided in the track at the turntable in order to increase or decrease the distance from adjacent bearing fingers of the same device.

It is particularly preferred that the load-bearing fingers are oriented parallel to each other, so as to ensure a reliable and clear bearing surface of the load-bearing fingers and to simply introduce the load-bearing fingers into the hollow of the treatment tank.

It is also preferably provided that the feeding device has at least one conveyor belt, which can be positioned between the bearing fingers of this device. This ensures that the substrate is simply fed into and out of the carrying fingers.

Particularly preferably, the feed-in device and/or the feed-out device have at least two conveyor belts arranged parallel to and spaced apart from each other, which conveyor belts can be arranged between the bearing fingers or at least one bearing of the at least one device Fingers on both sides. With these two conveyor belts arranged parallel to each other, it is ensured that the substrate is reliably fed in and/or out by means of the conveyor belt. Depending on the distance between the conveyor belts and the distance between the carrier fingers, the conveyor belt is positioned outside or between the carrier fingers in order to transport the substrate onto the carrier fingers or on Remove from it after proceeding.

In addition, it is preferably provided that the corresponding conveyor belt and/or the corresponding device are adjustable in height in order to place or receive these substrates. The height adjustment ensures a simple placement of the substrate, which has been moved to the height of the carrying finger by means of a conveyor belt, for example. It is particularly preferred that the corresponding conveyor belt is adjustable in height, so that the individual load-bearing fingers or the entire turntable can omit the height adjuster, which in other cases may lead to an increased quality of the turntable.

In addition, the turntable preferably has a plurality of devices, which are evenly distributed on the periphery, which are distributed for receiving one or more substrates. Thus, for example, the substrate can be fed in at one device, the printed substrate can be sent out at another device, and the processing can be performed simultaneously at another device.

It is preferable that the treatment tank is adjustable in height in order to introduce the load-bearing fingers or the load-bearing fingers into the corresponding hollows. This embodiment also relates to the case where the turntable is not adjustable in one height. This ensures that the carrying fingers are introduced into the cutout by adjusting the height of the treatment tank.

In addition, it is preferable to associate the electromechanical direct drive with the turntable to rotate about a vertical axis. This ensures that the processing device is reliably operated with high adjustment speeds and accurate turntable orientation or accurate rotation angle settings.

It is also preferable to provide that the processing device is arranged between the feed-in device and the feed-out device when viewed in the direction of rotation of the turntable. This has the advantage of a natural processing sequence.

In addition, it is preferably provided that, viewed in the direction of rotation of the turntable, a cleaning device for cleaning the corresponding device is arranged between the feed-out device and the feed-in device, especially opposite the processing device. In this way, after the printed substrate has been removed from the device and the carousel has continued to rotate, the currently free device can be cleaned or cleaned by the cleaning device or can be cleaned or cleaned (if such a need exists) if). As a result, the substrate to be printed is transported to the cleaned device in further operations, thereby erroneous positioning of the substrate on the device and/or the processing tank and contamination of the substrate are reliably prevented.

The drawing shows in a simplified perspective view an advantageous processing device 1 (in the present case, a printing device) with a processing device 2 (in the present case, a printing device, in particular a screen printing device), which processes The device has a processing tank 3 (especially a printing tank) and a processing head 4 (especially a printing head). The printing head is formed as a screen printing head, for example. The printing slot is arranged to be permanently opposite to the printing head and, as indicated by the double arrow 5, is adjustable in height. The substrate can be placed on the printing tank to print by the printing head. In particular, the print head is also adjustable in height, so as to move the print head close to the substrate on the printing tank, so as to print on the substrate.

The printing apparatus also has a turntable 6 carrying a plurality of (in the present case, four) transport arms 7, 8, 9 and 10 evenly distributed on the periphery of the turntable 6. The transport arms 7 to 10 here extend radially outwards from the turntable 6 and at their free ends have devices 11, 12, 13, 14 respectively, which are used to receive and transport the substrate. The devices 11 to 14 are formed identical: each of the devices 11 to 14 has two bearing fingers 15 and 16 oriented parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other, these bearing fingers radially from the respective The transport arms 7 to 10 and thus extend radially outward from the turntable 6. Since the bearing fingers 15, 16 are oriented parallel to each other, they do not extend exactly along a radial line extending to the center of the turntable 6, but extend parallel to a radial line. The load-bearing fingers 15, 16 are in particular formed integrally with the respective transport arms 7 to 10, wherein the respective transport arms 7 to 10 are also formed integrally with the turntable 6. In addition, an electromechanical direct drive 17 is associated with the turntable 6 which has a rotatably supported rotor shaft which is directly connected to the turntable 6 in a rotationally fixed manner.

The bearing fingers 15, 16 each have a plurality of suction openings 18 (in the present case arranged one behind the other in a row). For the sake of illustration, FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the bearing finger 15. As already mentioned, the suction openings 18 are especially formed in rows along the bearing fingers 15. The suction opening 18 is connected via a suction duct 19 to a negative pressure generating device 20 which is arranged, for example, in or at the housing of the electromechanical direct drive 17. The suction duct 19 is preferably formed as a suction channel 21 integrated into the material, at least in the area of the respective transport arms 7 to 10 and the carrying fingers 15, 16. In particular, the suction channel 21 is connected to several of these suction openings 18 (as shown in FIG. 2 ), so that the suction channel serves as a collecting channel. The suction opening 18 meets at the top side 22 of the carrying fingers 15, 16 on which the substrate to be printed can also be placed.

If the substrate is placed on the top side 22 and the negative pressure generating device 20 is controlled, this creates a negative pressure at the suction opening 18, by which the substrate is sucked against the top side 22 and thus locked in the load Fingers 15, 16 or corresponding transport arms 7 to 10. The suction opening 18 thus forms a holding device for the substrate with the negative pressure generating device 20.

The printing apparatus additionally has a feed-in device 23 and a feed-out device 24 for the substrate. The feed-in device 23 and the feed-out device 24 are therefore formed substantially the same. Both have two conveyor belts 25 which are oriented parallel to each other and are arranged spaced apart from each other. The conveyor belt 25 is adjustable in height here or vertically, as indicated by the corresponding double arrow 26. The conveyor belts 25 are arranged relative to each other at such a distance that they can be arranged between the bearing fingers 15, 16 of the device 11 according to the current embodiment.

In order to feed the substrate, the substrate is first positioned on the conveyor belt 25 of the feeding device 23. By means of the conveyor belt 25, the substrate is fed in the direction of the carrying fingers 15, 16 of one of the devices 11 to 14 (in the present case, the device 11 ), the conveyor belt 25 being arranged for this purpose at a height at which The upper substrate is arranged above the carrying fingers 15,16. By lowering the conveyor belt 25 through the bearing fingers 15, 16 according to the arrow 26, the substrate is placed on the bearing fingers 15, 16 and locked there by means of the holding device as previously described, then According to the arrow 27, the turntable 6 is rotated in the working direction.

By rotating the turntable 6 in the working direction, the substrate placed on the carrying fingers 15, 16 of the device 11 is transported in the direction of the processing device 2. For this purpose, in the present case, the turntable 6 is rotated by 90°. As a result, the device 14 is now associated with the feeding device 23 and the device 11 is associated with the printing device.

In order to print the substrate in the printing apparatus, the printing tank is now moved vertically or upward according to arrow 5. In this case, the treatment tank has a cutout 28 whose shape corresponds to the bearing fingers 15, 16, so that the bearing fingers 15, 16 can be arranged flush in one of the cutouts 28, respectively. By the upward movement of the printing tank, the carrying fingers 15, 16 move into the hollow 28, so that the printing tank and the carrying fingers 15, 16 constitute an almost continuous support surface, which is now supported by the substrate to be processed On this support surface. As a result, the substrate is reliably supported on the processing tank 3 or the printing tank, and the processing can be carried out in a conventional manner by means of the printing head. After finishing the process, the printing bath is lowered, so that the substrate only bears on the now-free bearing fingers 15, 16. Preferably, the new substrate is pushed onto the supporting fingers 15 and 16 of the device 14 by the feeding device 23 at the same time as the processing.

In the next step, the turntable 6 is rotated again by 90°, so that the device 11 is now associated with the feed-out device 24, and the substrate newly placed on the device 14 is associated with the printing apparatus.

As already mentioned, the feed-out device 24 is formed corresponding to the feed-in device 23 so that its conveyor belt 25 can also pass vertically between the carrying fingers 15, 16. Therefore, by raising the delivery device 24 or the conveyor belt 25 of the delivery device 24, the substrate is raised from the carrying fingers 16, 16 and can be separated from the substrate by controlling the conveyor belt 25 and available for further processing. At the same time, it is preferable to carry out the processing at the printing device and the feeding of the additional substrate at the feeding device 23, this time feeding to the device 13.

The turntable 6 is then turned again by 90°, so that the device 11 is now empty, the device 14 is associated with the sending device 24, the device 12 is associated with the feeding device 23, and the device 13 is associated with the processing device 2. If necessary, a cleaning device 29 is arranged opposite the printing device, which removes the printing residues remaining in some cases from the now empty device 11 and is therefore ready for processing new substrates.

Instead of adjusting the height of the feeding device 23, the printing tank and the sending device 24, it is proposed to form the turntable 6 to be height-adjustable, so that the placement, receiving and carrying of the substrate 15 can be carried out by a single height adjusting device , 16 is flush with the surface of the treatment tank 3.

By the advantageous design of the printing device, it is realized that the turntable 6 has a smaller mass, whereby it can be quickly accelerated and moved, so that the processing device 1 achieves a high substrate yield.

Although the processing device 2 is formed as a processing device according to the current embodiment, the processing device may be formed as a laser processing device, a separation device, a cutting device, a drilling device, a cleaning device, an inspection device, etc. according to another embodiment.

1‧‧‧Processing equipment 2‧‧‧Processing device 3‧‧‧Treatment tank 4‧‧‧Processing head 5‧‧‧double arrow 6‧‧‧Turntable 7‧‧‧Transport arm 8‧‧‧Transport arm 9‧‧‧Transport arm 10‧‧‧Transport arm 11‧‧‧ Installation 12‧‧‧ Installation 13‧‧‧ Installation 14‧‧‧ Installation 15‧‧‧bearing finger 16‧‧‧Finger bearing 17‧‧‧Electromechanical direct drive 18‧‧‧Suction opening 19‧‧‧Suction pipe 20‧‧‧Negative pressure generating device 21‧‧‧Suction channel 22‧‧‧Top 23‧‧‧Sending device 24‧‧‧Sending device 25‧‧‧Conveyor belt 26‧‧‧double arrow 27‧‧‧arrow 28‧‧‧Knockout Department 29‧‧‧Cleaning equipment

The invention will be explained in detail below with the aid of the drawings. In the drawings: [Fig. 1] shows an advantageous processing device in a simplified perspective view, and [Fig. 2] A longitudinal sectional view showing the processing apparatus from Fig. 1.

1‧‧‧Processing equipment

2‧‧‧Processing device

3‧‧‧Treatment tank

4‧‧‧Processing head

5‧‧‧double arrow

6‧‧‧Turntable

7‧‧‧Transport arm

8‧‧‧Transport arm

9‧‧‧Transport arm

10‧‧‧Transport arm

11‧‧‧ Installation

12‧‧‧ Installation

13‧‧‧ Installation

14‧‧‧ Installation

15‧‧‧bearing finger

16‧‧‧Finger bearing

17‧‧‧Electromechanical direct drive

18‧‧‧Suction opening

23‧‧‧Sending device

24‧‧‧Sending device

25‧‧‧Conveyor belt

26‧‧‧double arrow

27‧‧‧arrow

28‧‧‧Knockout Department

29‧‧‧Cleaning equipment

Claims (15)

A processing device (1) for processing flat substrates, especially circuit boards, solar cells, wafers, etc. The processing device has: a processing device (2), especially a printing device, the processing device has a processing head (4 ), especially the printing head and the processing tank (3), especially the printing tank, at least one substrate can be placed on the processing tank in order to perform the processing process; the feeding device (23) for feeding the substrate; A sending-out device (24) for sending out the substrate; and for transporting the substrate from the feeding-in device (23) to the processing device (2) and from the processing device (2) to the sending-out device (24) Turntable (6), wherein the turntable (6) has at least one device (11-14) for receiving at least one substrate in the middle of the outside, characterized in that the device (11-14) has at least one at least substantially On the radially protruding bearing fingers (15, 16), the at least one substrate can be placed on the bearing fingers, and the processing tank (3) permanently opposed to the processing head has The cutouts (28) of the load-bearing fingers (15, 16), so that the treatment tank (3) and the load-bearing fingers (15, 16) introduced into the corresponding cut-outs (28) are used together At least a substantially continuous bearing surface of the at least one substrate. The processing device as described in item 1 of the patent application scope, wherein the bearing finger (15, 16) has at least one suction opening (18) at its top side facing the substrate, the at least one suction opening It may be connected to the negative pressure generating device (20). The processing device as described in item 1 or 2 of the patent application scope, wherein the turntable (6) has at least one suction duct (19), which connects the suction opening (18) and the negative pressure generating device ( 20) Connected. The processing device as described in item 3 of the patent application scope, wherein the suction duct (19) is formed as a suction channel (21) extending through the turntable (6) and the bearing fingers (15, 16). The processing device according to any one of items 1 to 4 of the patent application range, wherein each carrying finger (15, 16) has a plurality of suction openings (18). The processing device according to any one of items 1 to 5 of the patent application range, wherein the corresponding device (11-14) has at least two bearing fingers (15, 16) arranged at a distance from each other. A processing device as described in item 6 of the scope of the patent application, wherein the bearing fingers (15, 16) of the corresponding devices (11-14) are oriented parallel to each other. The processing device according to any one of the items 1 to 7 of the patent application scope, wherein the feeding device (23) and/or the sending device (24) each have at least one conveyor belt (25), which can be positioned at Between the load-bearing fingers (15, 16) of one of these devices (11-14). The processing device according to any one of the items 1 to 8 of the patent application scope, wherein the feed-in device (23) and/or the feed-out device (24) have at least two conveyor belts arranged parallel to and spaced apart from each other (25) The conveyor belts can be arranged between the bearing fingers (15, 16) of the corresponding device (10-14) or can be arranged on both sides of at least one bearing finger (15, 16). The processing equipment as described in one of the items 8 or 9 of the patent application, wherein the corresponding conveyor belt (25) and/or the corresponding device (10-14) are adjustable in height in order to place or receive these substrates . The processing device according to any one of the items 1 to 10 of the patent application range, wherein the turntable (6) has a plurality of devices (11-14) evenly distributed on the periphery. The processing device according to any one of the items 1 to 11 of the patent application range, wherein the processing tank (3) is adjustable in height in order to facilitate the load-bearing fingers or the load-bearing fingers (15, 16) Lead vertically into the corresponding hollow (28). The processing device as described in any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein an electromechanical direct drive (17) for rotating the turntable (6) about a vertical axis is associated with the turntable (6). The processing device as described in any one of the items 1 to 13 of the patent application range, wherein the processing device (2) is arranged between the feeding device (23) and the sending device as viewed in the rotation direction of the turntable (6) Between devices (24). The processing apparatus as described in any one of the items 1 to 14 of the patent application range, wherein, as viewed in the direction of rotation of the turntable (6), in particular between the feed-out device (24) and the feed-in device (23) A cleaning device (29) for cleaning the corresponding device (11-14) is arranged opposite the processing device (2).

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