TWI414384B - Laser processing method, laser processing device, and manufacturing method of solar panels - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a laser processing method which can shorten the machining time of the laser beam as far as possible, a laser machining apparatus and method for manufacturing solar cell board, wherein, when laser processing is performed to the glass substrate conveyed from the film-forming device forming the transparent electrode layer, the semiconductor layer or the metal layer in sequence on the glass substrate, aligning processing is performed to the glass substrate, and then the glass substrate is held and moved. The platform for aligning, holding and moving the glass substrate is provided on two positions at both sides of the laser processing platform, when laser processing is performed on one platform, aligning processing is performed on the other platform at the same time, to largely shorten the stand-by period. Even if any one platform is shutdown due to fault and the like problems, another platform can be used to maintain the laser processing.

Description

Laser processing method, laser processing device and solar panel manufacturing method

The present invention relates to a laser processing method, a laser processing apparatus, and a solar cell manufacturing method for processing a film or the like using a laser beam, and more particularly to a method for efficiently processing a film or the like using a laser beam. Laser processing method, laser processing apparatus, and solar panel manufacturing method.

Conventionally, a solar panel is manufactured by sequentially forming a transparent electrode layer, a semiconductor layer, and a metal layer on a light-transmissive substrate (glass substrate), and using lasers in each step after forming the respective layers. The bundles are processed into strips to form a solar panel module. When the solar panel module is manufactured in the manner described, a scribed line is formed on the film on the glass substrate by a laser beam at a pitch of, for example, about 10 mm. This scribe line is composed of three lines having a line width of about 30 μm and a line-to-line spacing of about 30 μm. When a laser beam is used to form a scribe line, the laser beam is usually irradiated on a glass substrate that moves at a constant speed. Thereby, it is possible to form a scribe line having a stable depth and a line width. Such a method of manufacturing a solar cell panel (photoelectric conversion device) is known as an in-line method. A method of manufacturing a solar cell (photoelectric conversion device) of a continuous type is known, for example, in the method described in JP-A-H06-283743, and JP-A-2001-155999.

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a conventional solar cell (photoelectric conversion device) manufacturing apparatus of a continuous type. The manufacturing apparatus includes a robot station (roller conveyor unit) 14 that temporarily holds the glass substrate 1a carried in from the film forming apparatus 12 in the front stage, and a laser processing table 10 in the glass. A scribe line is formed on the film on the substrate 1c, and the robot table (roller conveyor unit) 16 is carried out, and the processed glass substrate 1d is temporarily held, and the glass substrate 1d is carried out to the film forming apparatus 18 in the subsequent stage. The loading robot table (roller conveyor unit) 14 includes a front and back turning mechanism that reverses the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate 1b, and the glass substrate 1b is inverted and conveyed to the laser processing table 10 in accordance with the laser processing in the subsequent stage. The laser processing table 10 includes an alignment portion 10a, a gripper portion 10b, a gripper driving portion 10c, and a processing region portion 10d. The alignment unit 10a performs alignment processing on the glass substrate 1c carried in by the loading robot table (roller conveyor unit) 14 at a predetermined position. The gripper portion 10b is kept aligned with the treated glass substrate 1c. The gripper driving unit 10c moves the glass substrate 1c held by the gripper portion 10b in synchronization with the laser beam of the processing region portion 10d. The processing region portion 10d irradiates the laser beam onto the glass substrate 1c to perform predetermined processing. The unloading robot table (roller conveyor unit) 16 includes a front and back reversing mechanism that reverses the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate 1c, and the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate 1d subjected to laser processing are inverted and then carried out as a glass substrate 1e. The film forming apparatus 18 of the next stage.

In the conventional continuous solar panel manufacturing apparatus described above, the alignment processing and the glass substrate transfer processing are performed by the alignment portion 10b on the laser processing table 10. Therefore, there is a problem that the useless time such as the waiting time is large outside the processing time, and the entire apparatus is stopped when the mechanism of the alignment portion 10b is down due to a failure or the like.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a laser processing method, a laser processing apparatus, and a solar cell manufacturing method capable of shortening processing time as much as possible.

In the first aspect of the laser processing method of the present invention, the glass substrate conveyed from the front stage device is subjected to laser processing while repeating the following steps, the step of transporting the glass substrate from the front stage device to a predetermined position. a step of performing an alignment process on the first glass substrate; while the first glass substrate after the alignment process is held and the first glass substrate is relatively moved, the laser beam is irradiated a step of performing laser processing on the first glass substrate; a step of performing alignment processing on the second glass substrate conveyed from the front stage device at a predetermined position during processing by the laser beam; and utilizing After the processing of the laser beam is completed, the first glass substrate is carried out, and while the second glass substrate is held and the second glass substrate is relatively moved, the laser beam is irradiated. The step of performing laser processing on the second glass substrate is described.

As a processing for irradiating a laser beam to a substrate, it is more suitable for manufacturing a solar panel, etc., when manufacturing a solar cell panel, a metal layer, a semiconductor layer, and a transparent electrode layer are sequentially formed on the glass substrate, and the layers are formed. In the subsequent steps, the layers were processed into strips using a laser beam to form a solar panel. The front stage device is a film forming apparatus that forms a transparent electrode layer, a semiconductor layer or a metal layer on the glass substrate. When performing laser processing on the glass substrate conveyed from these film forming apparatuses, first, the glass substrate is aligned, and then the glass substrate is held and the glass substrate is moved. In the present invention, the alignment processing and the platform for holding and moving the glass substrate are disposed on two sides of the laser processing platform, thereby performing the laser processing on one platform and performing the alignment on the other platform. Quasi-processing, which greatly shortens the waiting time. Moreover, even when any platform is shut down due to a malfunction or the like, another platform can be used to maintain the laser processing.

According to a second aspect of the laser processing method of the present invention, in the laser processing method according to the first aspect, when the first processing by the laser beam is completed, the acquisition includes the initial An image of a portion of the glass substrate formed by the processing and a portion of the edge portion of the glass substrate, and storing the image as identification data (ID data of the glass substrate) When the processing is performed after the second or second time, the alignment processing is performed based on the ID data.

In the past, when processing with a laser beam, alignment processing was performed in each step. In the present invention, an image including a portion including a shape change portion formed by the processing and a peripheral portion of the glass substrate is acquired at a point of time when the first processing by the laser beam is completed, and the image is obtained. The image is used in the alignment process before the next or next processing. For example, when manufacturing a solar cell panel, an image including a portion of the scribe line formed by laser processing and the edge portion of the substrate is acquired, and alignment processing is performed according to the acquired image before the laser processing . Since the image includes images of both the shape changing portion and the edge portion of the substrate, there is an effect that the image recognition processing is easy to perform. For example, in the case of manufacturing a solar panel, since the image includes both the image of the scribe line and the image of the shape of the edge portion of the substrate, the image recognition processing is easy. Thereby, alignment can be accurately performed without providing an alignment mark on the substrate.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing method of the first or second aspect, an image near the four corners of the glass substrate is acquired, and the image is detected based on the image Bending (warping) of the glass substrate or a notch near the four corners of the glass substrate.

The processing by the laser beam is performed by irradiating the laser beam substantially perpendicularly on the processed surface of the substrate. Therefore, if the substrate is bent (warped) or the four corners of the substrate are notched, it is difficult to perform the processing accurately, and the quality of the solar panel module may be problematic. Therefore, in the present invention, when the substrate is carried into the processing position, an image near the four corners of the substrate is acquired, and the bending (warpage) of the substrate or the notch near the four corners of the substrate is detected based on the image. The relative positional relationship of the camera unit that acquires the image near the four corners of the substrate is a predetermined value that is set in advance. Therefore, when the position of each vertex in the image of each vertex of the four corners is shifted, it can be detected based on the offset. The substrate is bent (warped), and the notch of the substrate can also be detected based on the image near the four corners.

According to a fourth aspect of the laser processing method of the present invention, in the laser processing method of the first, second or third feature, an image of an outer peripheral edge of the glass substrate is acquired, and based on the image A bend (warpage) of the glass substrate and a notch of the outer periphery of the glass substrate are detected.

A fourth feature of the laser processing method of the present invention is to acquire an image of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate, and to detect the curvature (warpage) of the substrate and the notch of the outer peripheral edge of the substrate based on the image. In order to acquire an image of the outer circumference of the substrate, an image acquisition unit that moves along the outer circumference of the substrate may be provided. At this time, one or more image acquisition units can be moved along the outer circumference of the substrate.

A first feature of the laser processing apparatus according to the present invention includes: a laser beam irradiation unit that irradiates a relatively moving glass substrate with a laser beam to perform a predetermined processing process; and the first alignment unit that faces the predetermined position from the front stage device The first glass substrate that has been transported is subjected to alignment processing, and the second alignment unit performs alignment processing on the second glass substrate transferred from the front stage device at a predetermined position; and the first holding unit is in the first alignment unit After the alignment process is completed, the first glass substrate is held to relatively move the first glass substrate with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit, and the second holding unit is in the second alignment unit. After the alignment process is completed, the second glass substrate is held to relatively move the second glass substrate with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit, and the control unit controls to sequentially transfer from the front device. The glass substrate is subjected to a series of operations in which the first glass substrate after the alignment processing by the first alignment unit is held by the first holding unit A glass substrate is relatively moved with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit, and the first glass substrate is processed by the laser beam, and the second pair is used while the laser beam processing is performed. The alignment unit performs alignment processing on the second glass substrate, and after the processing of the first glass substrate by the laser beam is completed, the first glass substrate is carried out, and the second glass substrate is The holding unit holds the second glass substrate, and relatively moves the second glass substrate relative to the laser beam irradiation unit, thereby processing the second glass substrate by the laser beam. . This invention is an invention of a laser processing apparatus that realizes the laser processing method described in the first feature of the laser processing method.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the laser processing apparatus of the first aspect, the image processing unit includes: an image acquiring unit, at a time point when the first processing by the laser beam is completed, Obtaining an image including a portion of both the shape change portion of the glass substrate formed by the initial processing and the edge portion of the glass substrate; and a storage unit that stores the image acquired by the image acquisition unit The image is used as the ID data of the glass substrate; and the control unit controls the first alignment unit and the second based on the ID data when performing the processing after the second or second time Alignment processing of the alignment unit. This invention is an invention of a laser processing apparatus that realizes the laser processing method described in the second feature of the laser processing method.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the laser processing apparatus of the first aspect or the second aspect, the laser processing apparatus includes: a first image acquiring unit that acquires a vicinity of four corners of the glass substrate And the first detecting unit detects the bending (warpage) of the substrate or the vicinity of the four corners of the substrate according to an image near the four corners of the glass substrate acquired by the image acquiring unit gap. This invention is an invention of a laser processing apparatus that realizes the laser processing method described in the third feature of the laser processing method.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, in the laser processing apparatus of the first, second or third aspect, the second image acquisition unit includes: a second image acquisition unit that acquires an outer circumference of the glass substrate An image; the second detecting unit detects a bend (warpage) of the glass substrate and a notch of the outer periphery of the glass substrate based on an image acquired by the image acquiring unit. This invention is an invention of a laser processing apparatus that realizes the laser processing method described in the first feature of the laser processing method.

The method of manufacturing a solar panel according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present invention, or the method of any one of the first to fourth features Laser processing equipment to manufacture solar panels. This invention is an invention for manufacturing a solar panel using either the laser processing method or the laser processing apparatus.

[Effects of the Invention]

According to the present invention, there is an effect that the processing time of the laser beam can be shortened as much as possible.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more <RTIgt;

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 2 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This laser processing apparatus is a device for performing a laser beam processing (laser scribing) step of a solar panel manufacturing apparatus. In the laser processing apparatus of the present invention, the alignment portion for performing the alignment processing is provided at two locations on both sides of the laser processing table, and the alignment processing is simultaneously performed in the laser processing, thereby shortening the waiting time.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an example of a return mode of the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. This manufacturing apparatus includes a loading/unloading robot table 141 and a laser processing table 101. The roller conveyor 121 sequentially transports the glass substrate 1x to the glass substrate 1z between a film forming apparatus (not shown) and a manufacturing apparatus that performs laser scribing processing. The loading/unloading robot table 141 includes a glass substrate 1x formed by a film forming apparatus (not shown) that has been transported on the roller conveyor 121, and is temporarily held as a glass substrate 1m, and the glass substrate is held. The front and back inversion mechanism portion 143, which has been turned over on the back side of the 1 m surface, is inverted by the glass substrate 1m and transferred to the laser processing table 101 in accordance with the contents of the laser processing. At this time, the loading/unloading robot table 141 is configured such that the glass substrate 1m whose surface is reversed is directly conveyed to the laser processing table 101, and the glass substrate 1m whose surface is reversed is transferred to the laser by a roller. The right end position of the processing table 101 is transferred to the laser processing stage 101. Further, the loading/unloading robot table 141 directly receives the glass substrate processed on the laser processing table 101 by the front and back turning mechanism portion 143, or the glass substrate 1r received at the right end position of the laser processing table 101 is The roller transport or the air float is transported to the front and rear reversing mechanism portion 143, and the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate after the laser processing are reversed by the front and rear reversing mechanism portion 143, and then transferred to the roller conveyor 121.

The laser processing table 101 forms a scribe line on a film on a glass substrate carried in from the loading/unloading robot table 141, and the laser processing table 101 includes alignment portions 102 and 104; gripper portions 106 and 108; a claw driving unit 110; and a processing area unit 112. The alignment unit 102 receives the glass substrate 1m on the front and back inversion mechanism unit 143 of the loading/unloading robot table 141, and performs alignment processing on the received glass substrate 1n at a predetermined position, and is placed in the processing area unit 112. The glass substrate 1n subjected to the scribing process is carried out to the front and back reversing mechanism portion 143 of the loading/unloading robot table 141. On the other hand, the alignment unit 104 is a glass substrate on which the front and back surfaces of the loading/unloading robot table 143 are reversed by the glass substrate and conveyed to the right end of the laser processing table 101 by roller or air float. 1r receives, aligns the received glass substrate at a predetermined position, and carries out the glass substrate 1q subjected to the scribe processing in the processing region portion 112 to the right end position of the loading/unloading robot table 141.

The grip portion 106 holds the glass substrate 1o that has been aligned by the alignment portion 102. The gripper portion 108 holds the glass substrate 1q subjected to the alignment process by the alignment portion 104. When the laser processing is performed, the gripper driving unit 110 synchronizes the glass substrate held by the gripper portion 106 and the gripper portion 108 with the laser beam of the processing region portion 112, and the glass substrate 1p on the glass substrate 1o and the broken line. Move between. The processing region portion 112 irradiates the glass substrate 1o and the glass substrate 1q held by the gripper portion 106 or the gripper portion 108 with a laser beam to perform a predetermined scribing process. In the state in which the glass substrate 1o held by the gripper portion 106 is moved to the position of the glass substrate 1q indicated by the broken line, a predetermined scribing process is performed.

An example of the operation of the reciprocating solar panel manufacturing apparatus of Fig. 2 will be described. First, the glass substrate 1x conveyed from the film forming apparatus of the preceding stage via the roller conveyor 121 is temporarily held on the front and back turning mechanism unit 143 as the glass substrate 1m by the loading/unloading robot 141, and the glass substrate 1m is placed. The back of the table is flipped. The glass substrate 1m whose back surface has been reversed is transported to the alignment portion 102 of the laser processing stage 101, and alignment processing is performed on the alignment portion 102. The glass substrate 1n after the alignment process is held by the gripper portion 106, and moved to the processing region portion 112 as the glass substrates 1o and 1p to perform a predetermined scribing process. On the other hand, at the time of the alignment process of the alignment unit 102 and the processing of the processing region 112, the next glass substrate 1y conveyed via the roller conveyor 121 is used as the glass by loading/unloading the robot table 141. The substrate 1m is temporarily held on the front and back inversion mechanism portion 143, and the front and back surfaces of the glass substrate 1m are reversed. The glass substrate 1 m whose back surface has been turned over is transferred as a glass substrate 1 r to a right end position corresponding to the alignment portion 104 of the laser processing stage 101 by a roller. The glass substrate 1r is transported to the alignment portion 104 of the laser processing stage 101, and alignment processing is performed on the alignment portion 104. The glass substrate 1q after the alignment process is held by the gripper portion 108, and waits until the processing of the glass substrate held by the gripper portion 106 is completed.

When the laser processing of the glass substrate held by the gripper portion 106 is completed, the position of the glass substrate 1o held by the gripper portion 106 from the glass substrate 1n via the alignment portion 102 is used as the front and rear reversing mechanism portion 143. The glass substrate 1m is temporarily held, and the front and back inversion mechanism portions 143 are reversed on the front and back sides, and then transported to the roller conveyor 121 to be conveyed to the film forming apparatus of the next stage. On the other hand, when the glass substrate 1o held by the gripper portion 106 moves as the glass substrate 1n on the alignment portion 102, the glass substrate 1q held by the gripper portion 108 is moved as the glass substrates 1o and 1p. The predetermined area processing is performed in the processing area unit 112. In the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the reciprocating system of FIG. 2, by repeating the above processing alternately, the waiting time of the alignment processing and the like are greatly shortened. Moreover, even if any of the alignment portions fails, another alignment portion can be used to continue the processing.

3 is a view showing a detailed configuration of a processing region portion of FIG. 2 in which a scribing process is performed. The processing region portion includes a base 10, an XY table 20, a gripper portion 106, a laser generating device 40, an optical system member 50, a linear encoder 70, a control device 80, a detecting optical system member, and the like. The base 10 is provided with an XY stage 20 that is driven and controlled along the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction (XY plane) of the base 10.

The XY stage 20 is controlled to move in the X direction and the Y direction. Further, as the driving unit of the XY stage 20, a ball screw or a linear motor or the like is used, and illustration of these driving units is omitted in FIG. On the upper side of the XY stage 20, the glass substrate 1 which is a laser processing target is held by the grip portion 106. Further, the base 10 is provided with a slide frame 30 that is slidably driven in the Y-axis direction while holding the optical system member 50. The XY stage 20 is configured to be rotatable in the 0 direction with the Z axis as the rotation axis. Further, when the amount of movement of the XY stage 20 in the Y-axis direction can be sufficiently ensured by the carriage 30, the XY stage 20 may be configured to move only in the X-axis direction. At this time, the XY stage 20 may be configured as an X-axis stage. In addition, illustration of the alignment parts 102 and 104 is abbreviate|omitted by FIG.

The carriage 30 is mounted on a four-corner mobile station provided on the base 10. The carriage 30 is controlled by the mobile station to move in the Y direction. A vibration damping member (not shown) is provided between the bottom plate 31 and the moving table. On the bottom plate 31 of the carriage 30, a laser generating device 40, an optical system member 50, and a control device 80 are provided. The optical system member 50 is composed of a combination of a mirror and a lens, and divides the laser beam generated in the laser generating device 40 into four series and guides the glass substrate on the XY stage 20. 1 on. In addition, the number of divisions of the laser beam is not limited to the four series, and may be two or more series.

The linear encoder 70 includes a scale member provided on a side surface of the X-axis moving stage of the XY stage 20, and a detecting portion mounted on the grip portion 106. The detection signal of the linear encoder 70 is output to the control device 80. The control device 80 detects the moving speed (moving frequency) of the gripper portion 106 in the X-axis direction based on the detection signal from the linear encoder 70, and controls the output (laser frequency) of the laser generating device 40.

As shown in FIG. 3, the optical system member 50 is provided on the side surface side of the bottom plate 31, and is configured to move in the Y-axis direction along the side surface of the bottom plate 31. The front end portion of the optical system member 50 is rotatable about the Z axis. A galvano mirror 33 is provided on the bottom plate 31 for guiding the laser beam emitted from the laser generating device 40 to the optical system member 50. The galvanometer mirror 33 scans the laser beam in a two-dimensional region of XZ using two motors (rotary encoders). The galvanometer mirror 33 is constructed in a biaxial type (X, Z) and includes two motors and a mirror mounted on the motor. The galvanometer control device 331 includes a driver and a power source for driving the motor, a microcomputer for controlling the driver and the power source, and the like.

The mirror surface 34 and the mirror surface 35 are disposed on the optical system member 50 in conjunction with the sliding movement of the optical system member 50. The laser beam emitted from the laser generating device 40 is reflected by the galvanometer mirror 33 toward the mirror surface 34, and the laser beam directed toward the mirror surface 34 is reflected by the mirror surface 34 toward the mirror surface 35. The mirror surface 35 guides the reflected laser beam from the mirror surface 34 into the optical system member 50 via a through hole provided in the bottom plate 31. Further, any configuration may be adopted as long as the laser beam emitted from the laser beam generating device 40 is introduced into the optical system member 50 from the upper side through the through hole provided in the bottom plate 31. For example, the laser generating device 40 may be disposed above the through hole, and the laser beam may be directly guided into the optical system member 50 via the through hole.

A beam sampler 332 is provided on the optical system member 50 between the galvanometer mirror 33 and the mirror surface 34 so as to be movable together with the sliding movement of the optical system member 50. The beam sampler 332 is an element that samples a part of the laser beam (for example, an amount of light of about 10% or less or less than 10% of the laser beam) and branches and outputs it to the outside. A quadrant photodiode 333 is configured to receive a portion (sampling beam) of the laser beam branched by the beam sampler 332 near substantially the center of the light receiving surface. The four output signals corresponding to the intensity of the laser beam detected by the four-quadrant photodiode 333 are output to the galvanometer control device 331. The galvanometer control means 331 drives the two motors 33xy, 33yz which control the galvanometer mirror 33 in real time in accordance with the four output signals from the four-quadrant photodiode 333. The motor 33xy is controlled such that the reflected laser beam of the galvanometer mirror 33 is rotationally moved in a plane parallel to the upper surface (XY plane) of the bottom plate 31, and the motor 33yz performs immediate control to cause the reflected laser of the galvanometer mirror 33. The bundle is rotationally moved in a plane parallel to a plane (YZ plane) orthogonal to the upper surface of the bottom plate 31.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a detailed configuration of the optical system member 50. The configuration of the actual optical system member 50 is complicated, and is shown here in order to simplify the description. Fig. 4 is a view of the inside of the optical system member 50 as seen from the -X-axis direction of Fig. 3 . As shown in FIG. 4, the bottom plate 31 has a through hole 37 for introducing the laser beam reflected by the mirror surface 35 into the optical system member 50. A phase diffractive optical element (DOE) 500 is disposed directly under the through hole 37 to convert a Gaussian intensity distribution laser beam into a top hat intensity distribution. Beam.

The laser beam converted into a top hat type intensity distribution laser beam (top hat type beam) by the DOE 500 is branched into a reflected beam and a transmitted beam by the half mirror 511, and the reflected beam is advanced to the right half mirror 512. The mirror 524 is advanced through the downward direction of the beam. The light beam reflected on the half mirror surface 511 is further branched into a reflected light beam and a transmitted light beam by the half mirror surface 512, and the reflected light beam is advanced toward the mirror surface 522 in the downward direction, and the transmitted light beam is advanced toward the mirror surface 521 in the right direction. The light beam that has passed through the half mirror surface 512 is reflected by the mirror surface 521 and is irradiated onto the glass substrate 1 via the condenser lens 541 in the lower direction. The light beam reflected on the half mirror surface 512 is reflected by the mirror surface 522 and the mirror surface 523, and is irradiated onto the glass substrate 1 via the condenser lens 542 in the downward direction. The light beam that has passed through the half mirror 511 is reflected by the mirror surface 524 and proceeds in the left direction. The light beam reflected on the mirror surface 524 is branched by the half mirror surface 513 into a reflected light beam and a transmitted light beam, and the reflected light beam is advanced toward the mirror surface 526 in the downward direction, and the transmitted light beam is advanced toward the mirror surface 528 in the left direction. The light beam reflected on the half mirror surface 513 is reflected by the mirror surface 526 and the mirror surface 527, and is irradiated onto the glass substrate 1 via the condenser lens 543 in the lower direction. The light beam that has passed through the half mirror surface 513 is reflected by the mirror surface 528, and is irradiated onto the glass substrate 1 via the condenser lens 544 in the lower direction.

The top hat type light beam converted by the DOE 500 is transmitted through the half mirror surface 511 to the half mirror surface 513 and the mirror surface 521 to the mirror surface 528, and is guided to the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544. At this time, the optical path lengths from the DOE 500 to the respective condensing lenses 541 to 544 are set to be equal. That is to say, the following optical path lengths are respectively equal distances: the optical path reflected on the half mirror surface 511 passes through the half mirror surface 512 and is reflected by the mirror surface 521 to reach the collecting lens 541; the optical path length is reflected on the half mirror surface 511. The light beam is reflected by the half mirror surface 512, the mirror surface 522, and the mirror surface 523, respectively, and reaches the condensing lens 542. The light beam transmitted through the half mirror 511 is reflected by the mirror surface 524, the half mirror 513, the mirror surface 526, and the mirror surface 527, respectively. The optical path length after reaching the condensing lens 543 after reflection is long; the light beam transmitted through the half mirror surface 511 is reflected by the mirror surface 523, passes through the half mirror surface 513, and is reflected by the mirror surface 528 and reaches the condensing lens 544 until the optical path length is long. Thereby, even if the DOE 500 is disposed before the beam splitting, the laser beam of the top hat type intensity distribution can be similarly guided to the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544. Further, in the example of Fig. 4, the case where the optical path lengths are completely identical has been described, but the optical path length may be slightly different within a range in which the top hat type intensity distribution of the laser beam can be maintained.

The shutter mechanism 531 to the shutter mechanism 534 shield the emission of the laser beam when the laser beam emitted from each of the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544 of the optical system member 50 is displaced from the glass substrate 1. The autofocus ranging system 52 and the autofocus ranging system 54 include a detection light irradiation laser and an autofocus photodiode (not shown), an autofocus distance measuring system 52, and an autofocus distance measuring system. 54 receives the reflected light reflected from the surface of the glass substrate 1 from the light irradiated by the detection light irradiation laser, and drives the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 in the optical system member 50 up and down based on the amount of the reflected light. The height of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 with respect to the glass substrate 1 (the focal length of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544) is adjusted. In addition, the focal length adjustment drive mechanism is not shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a first detecting optical system member and a second detecting optical system member. The first detecting optical system member includes a condensing lens height ranging system 26 and a charge coupled device (CCD) camera 28 for focal length and optical axis adjustment. In Fig. 5, since the condensing lens height ranging system 26 and the focal length and optical axis adjusting CCD camera 28 are repeatedly shown, they are distinguished by symbols. When the height from the glass substrate 1 to the lower surfaces of both sides of the optical system member 50 is adjusted by the autofocus ranging system 52 and the autofocus ranging system 54 described in FIG. 4, even if the optical system component can be made The height of the lower surface of 50 is the same, and the height from the glass substrate 1 to each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 is not necessarily the same. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the condensing lens height ranging system 26 is attached to one of the side faces of the XY stage 20 in the X-axis direction (the side surface of the XY stage 20 in the -X-axis direction). The height from the glass substrate 1 to each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544. Signals corresponding to the heights of the respective condensing lenses 541 to 544 detected by the condensing lens height ranging system 26 are output to the control device 80. The control device 80 determines whether or not the height from the glass substrate 1 to each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 is appropriate. The arrangement (height) of each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 is adjusted in accordance with the distance measurement result of the condensing lens height ranging system 26. At this time, the arrangement (height) of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 can be manually or automatically adjusted. Further, if the height of the lower surface of the optical system member 50 is measured using the condensing lens height ranging system 26, the autofocus ranging system 52 and the autofocus ranging system 54 can be omitted.

The focal length and optical axis adjustment CCD camera 28 is provided on either side of the X-axis direction of the XY stage 20 (the side in the -X direction of the XY stage 20 in the drawing) and is adjacent to the collecting lens height ranging system. 26 location (nearby). The focal length and optical axis adjustment CCD camera 28 associates the XY stage 20 with the position of each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 of the optical system member 50, and is provided so that the upper side of the XY stage 20 can be seen. The image captured by the focal length and optical axis adjustment CCD camera 28 is output to the control device 80. The control device 80 determines whether or not the optical axis of the laser beam emitted from each of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 is appropriate. In other words, since the focal length and the optical axis adjustment CCD camera 28 can directly observe the laser beams emitted from the respective condensing lenses 541 to 544 of the optical system member 50, the laser beam is imaged and controlled. The device 80 can determine whether or not the focal length and the optical axis of each of the collecting lenses 541 to 544 are appropriate. Further, when the respective optical systems related to the laser beam, such as the laser generating device 40 and the optical system member 50, are replaced, the replaced focal length can be easily adjusted by acquiring and digitizing the image before and after the replacement. And the optical axis. In addition, when there are a plurality of laser heads, the unevenness can be appropriately adjusted by acquiring an image of each of the laser beams and digitizing them.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second detecting optical system member includes a beam sampler 92, a beam sampler 93, a high-speed photodiode 94, and an optical axis inspection CCD camera 96. The beam sampler 92 and the beam sampler 93 are disposed in the optical path of the laser beam introduced into the optical system member 50. In the present embodiment, the beam sampler 92 and the beam sampler 93 are disposed between the laser generating device 40 and the mirror surface 33. The beam sampler 92 and the beam sampler 93 are elements that sample a part of the laser beam (for example, an amount of light of about 4% or less or less than 4% of the laser beam) and branch-output it to the outside. The high speed photodiode 94 is configured to receive a portion (sampling beam) of the laser beam branched by the beam sampler 92 in the vicinity of substantially the center of the light receiving surface. An output signal corresponding to the intensity of the laser beam detected by the high speed photodiode 94 is output to the control device 80. The optical axis inspection CCD camera 96 is arranged to receive a part (sampling beam) of the laser beam branched by the beam sampler 93 in the vicinity of substantially the center of the light receiving surface. The image captured by the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96 is output to the control device 80. Further, the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96 may take in an image indicating the position of the laser beam irradiated onto the high-speed photodiode 94, and output the image to the control device 80.

The control device 80 detects the moving speed (moving frequency) of the gripper portion 106 in the X-axis direction based on the detection signal from the linear encoder 70, and controls the output (laser frequency) of the laser generating device 40, and according to the high speed. The signal output from the photodiode 94 and the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96 detects a pulse omission of the laser beam emitted from the laser generating device 40, or controls the laser generating device according to the optical axis shift amount of the laser beam. The emission condition of 40 or the feedback control of the arrangement of the mirror surface 33 to the mirror surface 35 for introducing the laser beam into the optical system member 50 is performed.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the details of the processing of the control device 80 of Fig. 2 . The control device 80 includes a branching unit 81, a pulse omission determining unit 82, an alarm generating unit 83, a reference CCD image storage unit 84, an optical axis offset measuring unit 85, a laser controller 86, and a lens displacement measurement. The unit 87, the lens height adjusting unit 88, the irradiation laser state inspection unit 89, and the irradiation laser adjustment unit 8A.

The branching unit 81 branches and outputs a detection signal (clock pulse) of the linear encoder 70 to the laser controller 86 of the subsequent stage. The pulse miss determination unit 82 receives an output signal (diode output) corresponding to the intensity of the laser beam from the high-speed photodiode 94 and a detection signal (clock pulse) output from the branch unit 81, based on these signals. Determine the pulse miss of the laser beam. 7(A) to 7(C) are diagrams showing an example of the operation of the pulse omission determination unit 82 of Fig. 6. 7(A) to 7(C), FIG. 7(A) shows an example of a detection signal (clock pulse) outputted from the branching unit 81, and FIG. 7(B) shows an output from the high-speed photodiode 94. An example of an output signal (diode output) corresponding to the laser beam intensity, and FIG. 7(C) shows an example of an alarm signal outputted by the pulse omission determining unit 82 when a pulse omission is detected.

As shown in FIGS. 7(A) to 7(C), the pulse omission determining unit 82 determines whether the output value of the diode is equal to or greater than the falling time point of the clock pulse from the branching unit 81 as a trigger signal. The predetermined threshold value Th, when the diode output value is smaller than the threshold value Th, the pulse miss determination unit 82 outputs a high level singal signal to the alarm generation unit 83. At the time point when the signal from the pulse miss determination unit 82 changes from the low level to the high level, the alarm generation unit 83 notifies the outside of the alarm indicating that the pulse omission has occurred. Alarms can be notified by various methods such as image display and sounding. By generating an alarm, the operator can be aware that a pulse omission has occurred. In addition, when the alarm is frequently generated, it means that the performance of the laser generating device is deteriorated or the service life is exhausted.

A reference CCD image 84a as shown in FIG. 6 is stored in the reference CCD image storage unit 84. This reference CCD image 84a indicates an image of a state in which a laser beam is received at the center of the light receiving surface of the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96. The image to be inspected 85a shown in Fig. 6 is output from the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96. The optical axis shift amount measuring unit 85 takes in the inspection image 85a from the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96, and compares the inspection image 85a with the reference CCD image 84a to measure the optical axis offset. And outputting this offset to the laser controller 86. For example, when an image such as the inspection image 85a shown in FIG. 6 is output from the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96, the optical axis shift amount measuring unit 85 compares the two images to measure the X-axis direction. And the offset in the Y-axis direction, and this offset is output to the laser controller 86. The laser controller 86 sets the device related to the optical axis of the laser beam, that is, the emission condition of the laser generating device 40 or the arrangement of the mirror surface 33 to the mirror surface 35 for introducing the laser beam into the optical system member 50. Feedback adjustment is made such that the image to be inspected 85a coincides with the reference CCD image 84a.

The lens displacement amount measuring unit 87 determines a signal corresponding to the height of each of the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544 detected by the collecting lens height ranging system 26, and then determines each of the collecting lenses 541 to concentrating lenses. Whether the height of 544 is within the allowable range or a large deviation from the allowable range, and how much the height of the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 having a large deviation is adjusted is preferable. The signal is output to the lens height adjusting unit 88. The lens height adjusting unit 88 adjusts the arrangement of each of the collecting lenses 541 to 544 in accordance with a control signal from the lens displacement amount measuring unit 87. In addition, when there is no height adjusting mechanism of the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544, the lens height adjusting unit 88 may also pair the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544 according to the control signal from the lens shift amount measuring unit 87. Which of the adjustments is made to the operator for better adjustment of information transmission (visible display, sounding, etc.).

The irradiation laser state inspection unit 89 acquires the image 89a from the focal length and optical axis adjustment CCD camera 28, and measures the offset of the focal length and the optical axis based on the image 89a, and outputs the offset to the illumination laser. Adjustment unit 8A. For example, when the image 89a shown in FIG. 6 is outputted from the focal length and optical axis adjustment CCD camera, the laser state inspection unit 89 is irradiated with the circular outline 89b in the image 89a (with the collecting lens 541 to gather) The position of the focus circle 89c (small circle in the image 89a) is detected based on the line corresponding to the outer edge of the optical lens 544, and the X-axis of the optical axis is measured according to whether or not the focus circle 89c is located substantially at the center of the outline 89b. The amount of shift in the Y-axis direction is output to the illumination laser adjustment unit 8A. Further, the irradiation laser state inspection unit 89 measures the size (area) of the focus circle 89c, and outputs the focus position based thereon to the illumination laser adjustment unit 8A. The irradiation laser adjusting unit 8A pairs the respective half mirrors 511 to 513 and 521 of the optical system member 50 in accordance with a signal corresponding to the shift amount and the focus position of the laser state inspection unit 89 from the optical axis. The feedback adjustment is performed such as the arrangement of the mirror surface 528. Further, the lens height adjusting unit 88 and the irradiation laser adjusting unit 8A may be omitted, and the laser controller 86 may have the function of these units.

In the embodiment, the optical axis shift amount measuring unit 85 is used to check the optical axis shift of the laser beam at the time of laser processing (scoring processing), and the pulse omission determining unit 82 is used to check the pulse omission. Although the description has been made, the pulse state of the laser beam can be checked based on the output waveform from the high speed photodiode 94 as shown in FIG. For example, in Figure 8, the pulse width and pulse height of the laser beam can be measured and an alarm is issued when these pulse widths and pulse heights are abnormal. Further, with respect to the pulse width of the laser beam, when the period from when the output waveform of the high-speed photodiode 94 is equal to or greater than a predetermined value is within a predetermined range, it is determined that the pulse width is normal, and the period is larger or smaller than the predetermined range. It is determined that the pulse width is abnormal and an alarm is output. Further, with respect to the pulse height of the laser beam, it is determined that the pulse height is normal when the maximum value of the output waveform from the high-speed photodiode 94 exists within the allowable range, and is determined when the maximum value is larger or smaller than the allowable range. The pulse height is abnormal and an alarm is output. In this way, the laser beam is frequently sampled, so that the quality of the laser beam such as the pulse width and the pulse height (power) can be managed in real time. If the above-mentioned pulse omission occurs frequently, it can be judged that the performance of the laser generating device 40 is deteriorated or the service life is exhausted.

9(A) to 9(C) are views of the optical system member of Fig. 3 as viewed from the lower side (substrate side). Parts of the optical system member 50 and the bottom plate 31 are shown in FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C). Fig. 9(A) is a view showing a positional relationship between the optical system member 50 and the bottom plate 31 shown in Fig. 3. As shown in Fig. 9(A), an end surface (upper end portion of the drawing) of the optical system member 50 and a bottom plate 31 are shown. The end faces (upper end of the figure) are identical. (B) of FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which the optical system member 50 is rotated counterclockwise by about 30 degrees with respect to the bottom plate 31 with the center of the through hole 37 as a rotation axis. (C) of FIG. 9 is a view showing a state in which the optical system member 50 is rotated counterclockwise by about 45 degrees with respect to the bottom plate 31 with the center of the through hole 37 as a rotation axis.

In the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, the optical system member 50 is configured to be rotatable with the center of the through hole 37, which is an introduction hole of the laser beam, as a rotation axis. That is, the optical system member 50 as the branching unit is controlled to rotate with the traveling direction of the vertical laser beam passing through the DOE 500 from the mirror surface 35 and toward the half mirror 511 as the central axis. Thereby, the angle θ formed by the branching direction of the laser beam and the relative moving direction of the laser beam with respect to the substrate (the vertical direction in FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C)) can be freely controlled in a variable manner. . Further, as the rotation driving unit of the optical system member 50, a conventional technique such as a ball screw or a linear motor can be used, and illustration of these units is omitted in FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C).

As shown in FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C), even the branching direction of the laser beam and the scanning direction of the laser beam (the vertical direction in FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C)) are formed. When the angle is variably controlled, the DOE 500 may be configured not to rotate with respect to the relative movement direction of the laser beam. In other words, by using the DOE 500, as shown in the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544 of FIGS. 9(A) to 9(C), the irradiation shape of the laser beam exhibits an irradiation shape such as a dotted square. . Therefore, if the DOE 500 is rotated together with the rotation control of the optical system member 50, the dotted square in the collecting lens 541 to the collecting lens 544 also rotates in accordance with the amount of rotation. If the laser beam is scanned in this state, the corners of the square will be on the ridgelines on both sides of the scribe line, and the ridge lines will exhibit a wave shape. Therefore, as shown in the present embodiment, by forming the configuration in which the DOE 500 is not rotated even if the optical system member 50 is rotated, the scanning direction is as shown in FIGS. 9(B) and 9(C) (FIG. 9 (FIG. 9) A) to (the vertical direction of FIG. 9(C)) coincide with the left and right sides of the dotted square in the condensing lens 541 to the condensing lens 544, so that the ridge lines on both sides of the scribe line can be formed to be extremely smooth, and even if the optical is rotated The system member 50 and the pitch of the scribe lines are appropriately controlled, and a scribe line having a smooth ridge line can also be formed. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where only one DOE is provided in the optical path of the laser beam has been described, but the DOE may be separately provided before each of the branched condensing lenses. At this time, it is also necessary to configure not to rotate each DOE even if the optical system member 50 is rotationally controlled. The DOE 500 can be made independent of the rotation of the optical system member 50 by directly attaching the DOE 500 to the bottom plate 31 in a form separate from the optical system member 50.

FIGS. 10(A) to 10(C) are diagrams showing the relationship between the amount of rotation of the optical system member and the pitch of the scribe lines. (A) of FIG. 10 is a view showing a state of a scribe line when a laser scribing process is performed in a state where the optical system member 50 shown in FIG. 9A is not rotated, and FIG. 10(B) shows FIG. 9(B) is a view showing a state of a scribe line when the optical scribing process is performed in a state where the optical system member 50 is rotated by about 30 degrees, and FIG. 10(C) is shown in FIG. 9(C). A diagram showing a state of a scribe line at the time of performing a laser scribing process in a state where the optical system member 50 is rotated by about 45 degrees. When the pitch of the scribe lines in the case of FIG. 10(A) is P0, the pitch P30 in the case of FIG. 10(B) is P0×cos30°, and the pitch P45 in the case of FIG. 10(C) is P0. ×cos45°. As described above, in the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, the pitch of the scribe line can be appropriately variably adjusted to a desired value by appropriately adjusting the rotation angle of the optical system member 50.

11(A) and 11(B) are diagrams showing an example of a substrate detecting camera system provided in the alignment unit 102 and the alignment unit 104 of Fig. 2 . Fig. 11(A) is a side view showing a relationship between a glass substrate and a substrate detecting camera, and Fig. 11(B) is a top view showing a relationship between the glass substrate and the substrate detecting camera. A substrate detection camera system and an alignment camera system are provided in the alignment unit 102 and the alignment unit 104 to perform a glass substrate detection process and a glass substrate alignment process. When the glass substrate 1 is placed on the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104, the substrate detection camera 65 to the substrate detection camera 68 acquire an image near the four corners of the glass substrate 1 from the upper side of the glass substrate 1. 11(A) and 11(B) show that the glass substrate 1 is placed on the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104, and the grip portion 106 and the grip portion 108 are held in the X-axis direction. The state immediately before the laser processing station 101 is put into operation. The images 65a to 68a shown in FIG. 11(B) are images near the four corners of the glass substrate 1 acquired by the substrate detecting camera 65 to the substrate detecting camera 68. Since the relative positional relationship between the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 is a predetermined value set in advance, as shown by the images 65a to 68a, the vertices of the four corners of the glass substrate 1 without warping or bending are It is set to be located near the approximate center of the imaging range of the substrate detection camera 65 to the substrate detection camera 68. Therefore, when the positions of the vertices in the images 65a to 68a are shifted, the bending (warpage) of the glass substrate 1 can be detected based on the amount of shift. Further, the notch near the four corners of the glass substrate 1 can be detected from the images 65a to 68a. Further, by moving the substrate detecting camera 65 to the substrate detecting camera 68 along the respective sides of the glass substrate 1, the notch of each side of the glass substrate 1 can be detected.

12(A) to 12(C) are diagrams showing another example of the substrate detecting camera system provided in the aligning unit 102 and the aligning unit 104 of Fig. 2 . In the embodiment of FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B), the substrate detecting camera 65 to the substrate detecting camera 68 are disposed at the upper portion near the four corners of the substrate 1. In the present embodiment, the two substrates are detected by the camera 65. The substrate detecting camera 68 is located on the upper side of the diagonal of the glass substrate 1. In the state in which the glass substrate 1 is placed on the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104, the glass substrate 1 indicated by a broken line is moved to the right side as indicated by an arrow from the dotted line position, and is moved. The position of the glass substrate 1 shown by the solid line (the substrate detection camera 65 and the substrate detection camera 68 are located at the upper portion of the diagonal of the glass substrate 1). When the glass substrate 1 moves, the substrate detecting camera 68 acquires an image of the side 1a of the moving glass substrate 1. Next, when the movement of the substrate is completed, the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 acquire an image of the vertex near the diagonal of the glass substrate 1 (the image 65a and the image 68a of FIG. 11). Then, in a state where the glass substrate 1 is stopped, the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 move along the dotted arrow as shown in FIG. 12(B). When the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 move, the substrate detecting camera 65 acquires an image of the side 1b of the glass substrate 1, and the substrate detecting camera 68 acquires an image of the side 1c of the glass substrate 1. When the movement of the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 is completed, the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 acquire an image of the vertex near the other diagonal of the glass substrate 1 (image 66a, image 67a of FIG. 11) ). Thereafter, in a state where the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 are stopped, the glass substrate 1 shown in FIG. 12(C), the glass substrate 1 indicated by a broken line moves to the right side from the position of the broken line, and moves to the right side. The position of the glass substrate 1 shown by the solid line. When the glass substrate 1 moves, the substrate detecting camera 65 acquires an image of the side 1d of the moving glass substrate 1. By the series of operations described above, the two substrate detecting cameras 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 can be used, and the images 65a to 68a and the substrate 1 are acquired in the same manner as in the case of FIGS. 11(A) and 11(B). The image of each side. Thereby, the bending (warpage) of the glass substrate 1 or the notch of each side of the substrate 1 can be detected based on the amount of shift of the position of each vertex of the image 65a to the image 68a. Further, after the series of detection operations are completed, the substrate detecting camera 65 and the substrate detecting camera 68 can be returned to the initial position of FIG. 12(A), or the opposite operation can be performed without returning.

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of an alignment camera system provided in the alignment unit 102 and the alignment unit 104 of FIG. 2 . An image in the vicinity of both end portions (front and rear edge portions in the X-axis direction) of the glass substrate 1 is acquired by the camera system. The image acquired by this alignment camera system is output to the control device 80. The control device 80 stores the image from the alignment camera system together with the ID data of the glass substrate 1 into a data base unit, and is used for the alignment processing of the glass substrate 1 thereafter. FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of an alignment portion before the first scribing process, and FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of an alignment portion before the second or second post-scoring process. First, as shown in FIG. 13 , the lower edge portion of the left end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the positioning pin 21 in a state where the glass substrate 1 is placed on the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104 . The left edge portion of the lower end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the positioning pin 22, and the right edge portion of the lower end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the positioning pin 23 to position the glass substrate 1 at a predetermined position. In this state, the transparent electrode layer on the glass substrate 1 is irradiated with a laser beam to perform a scribing process. As a result of the initial scribe process, scribe lines were formed on the glass substrate 1 at a pitch of about 10 mm.

In Fig. 13, a scribe line 25 located in the vicinity of the center of the substrate among a plurality of scribe lines is shown. The image 27a and the image 29a in the vicinity of both end portions of the scribe line 25, that is, the portions 27 and 29 including both the scribe line 25 and the edge portion of the glass substrate 1 are obtained by the above-described alignment camera system. . As for the observation image 27a and the image 29a, since the image includes both the image of the scribe line 25 and the image of the shape of the edge portion of the glass substrate 1, the image recognition processing is easy. The acquired image 27a and image 29a are sequentially stored in the database unit 75 as ID data of the glass substrate 1 by the control device 80.

As shown in FIG. 13, when the acquisition processing of the image 27a and the image 29a is completed after the scribing process by the laser processing is completed, the formation of the semiconductor layer on the transparent electrode layer is then performed in the film formation apparatus of the next stage. Processing. After the semiconductor layer forming process has been completed, the same laser beam scribe process as described above is performed on the glass substrate 1. Prior to this second scribing process, the alignment process is performed using the method as shown in FIG.

In the same manner as the first alignment process, the lower edge portion of the left end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the glass substrate 1 placed on the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104. In the positioning pin 21, the left edge portion of the lower end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the positioning pin 22, and the right edge portion of the lower end portion of the glass substrate 1 is brought into contact with the positioning pin 23, thereby the glass substrate 1 is placed. Positioned at the specified location. In this state, the image 27b and the image 29b in the vicinity of both end portions of the scribe line 25, that is, the portions 27 and 29 including both the scribe line 25 and the edge portion of the glass substrate 1 are obtained by the alignment camera system. . On the other hand, the control device 80 reads out the image 27a and the image 29a of the ID data of the glass substrate 1 from the library unit 75. The read image 27a, the image 29a, and the image 27b and the image 29b acquired by the alignment camera system are compared by the control device 80 to control the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the θ-axis to make two images. Consistent, so that the alignment process is performed accurately.

When the alignment processing by the comparison processing of the image 27a, the image 29a, the image 27b, and the image 29b is completed as shown in Fig. 14, the position is separated from the previous scribe line 25 by about 30 μm. The scoring process is performed using the laser beam. At the end of this scribing process, a process of forming a metal layer on the semiconductor layer is performed in the film forming apparatus of the next stage. The substrate is again carried into the laser processing apparatus, and the same alignment process as in FIG. 14 is performed, and the scribing process is performed on the glass substrate 1 by the same laser beam. Thereby, three scribe lines are formed on the glass substrate 1.

Fig. 15 is a view showing an example of a loop mode of the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 15, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. This manufacturing apparatus is different from the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 2 in that the alignment portion 104 existing on the laser processing table 101 of the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 2 and the loading/unloading robot stage 142 are omitted from the right side of the drawing. Transfer in one direction on the left side. Therefore, in the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 15, the glass substrate 1m carried in the front-back surface inversion mechanism part 143 is used as the glass substrate 1n, and the alignment part 102 performs the alignment process. Then, the glass substrate 1n is used as the glass substrate 1o and the glass substrate 1p, and predetermined processing is performed in the processing region portion 112. The glass substrate 1q is transported from the laser processing table 101 to the right end of the loading/unloading robot table 142 as the glass substrate 1r, and is transported to the front and back turning mechanism unit 143 as the glass substrate 1m. The back surface reversing mechanism portion 143 reverses the front and back surfaces and then carries it out to the roller conveyor 121. In the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 15, alignment processing is performed by the alignment part 102 at the time of laser processing. When the laser processing is completed, the gripper portion 106 immediately transports the glass substrate to the loading/unloading robot table 142, and then moves the grip portion 106 to the alignment portion 102 and holds the glass substrate to perform the same laser processing. . That is, the glass substrate moves cyclically on the manufacturing apparatus. Therefore, the tact time is slightly increased as compared with the case of Fig. 2, but since only one of the front and back inversion mechanism portions 143 is provided, the apparatus can be simplified.

Fig. 16 is a view showing another example of the reciprocating mode of the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. In FIG. 16, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. The manufacturing apparatus differs from the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 2 in that the substrate transport robot 146 of the handling arm type is used to carry in the glass substrate with respect to the roller conveyor 121 and the front and back inversion mechanism unit 143. Move out of the process. Therefore, in the manufacturing apparatus of Fig. 16, the glass substrate 1x is carried from the roller conveyor 121 to the front and back reversing mechanism portion 143, and the front and back reversing mechanism portion 143 is subjected to the front and back reversal processing, and then transported as the glass substrate 1n. The aligning unit 102 is transported to the right end of the loading/unloading robot 144 as the glass substrate 1r by using the substrate transport robot 146. Similarly to FIG. 2, the laser processing table 101 performs alignment processing using the alignment portions 102 and the alignment portions 104 on both sides, and then performs laser processing. Further, a front and back inversion mechanism portion may be additionally provided in a portion of the glass substrate 1r, and the front and back inversion mechanism portion 143 may be omitted, and another front and back may be provided between the roller conveyor 121 and the loading/unloading robot table 144. Turn the mechanism section.

Fig. 17 is a view showing an example of a double side mode of the solar cell manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. In this example, the glass substrate is carried in and out from both sides of the laser processing table 101 including the alignment portions 102 and 104 of Fig. 2 . In FIG. 17, the same components as those in FIG. 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. This manufacturing apparatus is different from the manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 2 in that a roller conveyor 121 and a roller conveyor 122 are disposed on both sides of the laser processing table 101, and are in the roller conveyor 121 and the roller conveyor 122. A front and back turning mechanism portion 147 and a front and back turning mechanism portion 148 are provided. Therefore, in the manufacturing apparatus of Fig. 17, the roller conveyor 121 and the roller conveyor 122 on both sides sequentially pass the front and rear inversion mechanism portions 147 and the front and back surfaces in accordance with the glass substrates 1x1, 1x2, 1y1, 1y2, 1z1, and 1z2. The inverting mechanism unit 148 is carried in and out to the alignment unit 102 and the alignment unit 104. Similarly to FIG. 2, the laser processing table 101 performs laser processing on the glass substrate subjected to the alignment process using the alignment portion 102 and the alignment portion 104 on both sides. Further, when the front and back inversion mechanism portions are not required, the front and rear inversion mechanism portion 147 and the front and rear inversion mechanism portion 148 may be omitted.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the image of the scribe line formed on the glass substrate 1 including the result of the initial scribe process is acquired is described, but the result including the second scribe process may be acquired. An image of two scribe lines formed on the glass substrate 1 and used for alignment processing. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the alignment camera system and the substrate detection camera 65 to the substrate detection camera 68 are separately provided has been described, but it is also possible to provide an alignment camera system as shown in FIG. 12(A) to The moving mechanism shown in FIG. 12(C) has the function of the substrate detecting camera 65 to the substrate detecting camera 68 in the alignment camera system.

In the above-described embodiment, only the generation of the pulse omission is observed, but the coordinate data (position data) of the portion where the pulse omission is generated may be acquired and stored, thereby performing the repair processing of the scribing.

In the above-described embodiment, a case where a part (sampling beam) of a laser beam branched by the beam sampler 93 is directly received by the CCD camera 96 for optical axis inspection is described. The light beam is subjected to image processing to thereby check the optical axis shift, but the optical axis inspection CCD camera 96 or the quadrant type photodiode may be used to obtain the center of the light receiving surface of the high speed photodiode 94. An image of the state of the laser beam is received as an image to be inspected, thereby checking the optical axis shift.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the optical axis shift of the laser beam and the pulse omission are checked is described, but the optical axis shift, the pulse omission, the pulse width, and the pulse height may be appropriately combined to check the lightning. The state of the beam.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the surface of the glass substrate 1 on which the thin film is formed is irradiated with a laser beam to form a scribe line (groove) on the film has been described. However, the laser may be irradiated from the back surface of the glass substrate 1. The bundle forms a scribe line on the film on the surface of the substrate.

In the above-described embodiment, the solar panel manufacturing apparatus has been described as an example. However, the present invention is also applicable to an electroluminescence (EL) panel manufacturing apparatus, an EL panel correction apparatus, and a flat panel display (Flat). Panel Display, FPD) A device for performing laser processing such as a correction device.

While the present invention has been described in its preferred embodiments, the present invention is not intended to limit the invention, and the present invention may be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of protection is subject to the definition of the scope of the patent application.

1, 1a ~ 1e, 1x ~ 1z, 1m ~ 1r, 1x1, 1x2, 1y1, 1y2, 1z1, 1z2. . . glass substrate

8A. . . Illumination laser adjustment unit

10. . . Laser processing table and base

101. . . Laser processing station

10a, 102, 104. . . Alignment

10b, 106, 108. . . Gripper

10c, 110. . . Gripper drive

10d, 112. . . Processing area

12, 18. . . Film forming device

14. . . Move into the robot table (roller conveyor unit)

16. . . Move out of the robot table (roller conveyor section)

20. . . XY stage

21, 22, 23. . . Locating pin

25. . . Cross-line

26. . . Concentrating lens height ranging system

27, 29. . . Part

27a, 27b, 29a, 29b, 65a to 68a, 89a. . . image

28. . . CCD camera for focal length and optical axis adjustment

30. . . Sliding frame

31. . . Bottom plate

33. . . Galvanometer mirror

33xy, 33yz. . . electric motor

34, 35, 521 ~ 528. . . Mirror surface

37. . . Through hole

40. . . Laser generating device

50. . . Optical system component

52, 54. . . Autofocus ranging system

65~68. . . Substrate inspection camera

70. . . Linear encoder

75. . . Database unit

80. . . Control device

81. . . Branch unit

82. . . Pulse miss determination unit

83. . . Alarm generation unit

84. . . Reference CCD image storage unit

84a. . . Reference CCD image

85a. . . Checked image

85. . . Optical axis offset measurement unit

86. . . Laser controller

87. . . Lens displacement measuring unit

88. . . Lens height adjustment unit

89. . . Illuminated laser state inspection unit

89b. . . contour line

89c. . . Focus circle

92, 93, 332. . . Beam sampler

94. . . High speed photodiode

96. . . CCD camera for optical axis inspection

121, 122. . . Roller conveyor

141, 142, 144. . . Move in/out of the robot station

146. . . Substrate transfer robot

143, 147, 148. . . Table back flip mechanism

331. . . Galvanometer control device

333. . . Four quadrant photodiode

500. . . Phase diffractive optical element (DOE)

511 ~ 513. . . Semi-mirror

531~534. . . Shutter mechanism

541~544. . . Condenser lens

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a conventional solar cell (photoelectric conversion device) manufacturing apparatus of a continuous type.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a schematic configuration of a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing a detailed configuration of a processing region portion of FIG. 2 in which a scribing process is performed.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a detailed configuration of the optical system member 50 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a configuration of a first detecting optical system member and a second detecting optical system member.

Fig. 6 is a block diagram showing the details of the processing of the control device 80 of Fig. 2 .

7(A) to 7(C) are diagrams showing an example of the operation of the pulse omission determination unit 82 of Fig. 6.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a waveform output from the high-speed photodiode of FIG. 4.

9(A) to 9(C) are views of the optical system member of Fig. 3 as viewed from the lower side (substrate side).

FIGS. 10(A) to 10(C) are diagrams showing the relationship between the amount of rotation of the optical system member and the pitch of the scribe lines.

11(A) and 11(B) are diagrams showing an example of a substrate detecting camera system provided in the aligning portions 102 and 104 of Fig. 2.

12(A) to 12(C) are diagrams showing another example of the substrate detecting camera system provided in the aligning portions 102 and 104 of Fig. 2 .

FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of an alignment camera system provided in the alignment units 102 and 104 of FIG. 2, and is a view showing an alignment process before the first scribing process.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of an alignment camera system provided in the alignment units 102 and 104 of FIG. 2, and is a view showing alignment processing before the second or second etching process.

Fig. 15 is a view showing an example of a circulation mode of the solar cell manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a view showing another example of the reciprocating mode of the solar panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is a view showing an example of a double side mode of the solar cell manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

1x~1z, 1m~1r. . . glass substrate

101. . . Laser processing station

102, 104. . . Alignment

106, 108. . . Gripper

110. . . Gripper drive

112. . . Processing area

121. . . Roller conveyor

141. . . Move in/out of the robot station

143. . . Table back flip mechanism

Claims (9)

A laser processing method is characterized in that laser processing is performed on a glass substrate conveyed from a front-end device while repeating the following steps in the step of: firstly transporting a first glass conveyed from a front-end device to a predetermined position a step of performing an alignment process on the substrate; the first glass substrate after the alignment process is held and the first glass substrate is relatively moved to irradiate the laser beam, thereby the first a step of performing laser processing on the glass substrate; and performing a process of aligning the second glass substrate transferred from the front stage device to a predetermined position while processing the first glass substrate by the laser beam And after the processing by the laser beam is completed, the first glass substrate is carried out, and while the second glass substrate is held and the second glass substrate is relatively moved, the laser beam is irradiated This performs laser processing on the second glass substrate. The laser processing method according to claim 1, wherein the glass formed by the initial processing is acquired at a time point when the initial processing by the laser beam is completed. An image of a portion of the shape change portion of the substrate and a portion of the edge portion of the glass substrate, and storing the image as ID data of the glass substrate, and processing after the second or second time The alignment process is performed based on the ID data. A laser processing method as described in claim 1 or 2, Wherein: obtaining an image near the four corners of the glass substrate, and detecting a curvature (warpage) of the glass substrate or a notch near the four corners of the glass substrate according to the image. The laser processing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: obtaining an image of an outer circumference of the glass substrate, and detecting a curvature (warpage) of the glass substrate according to the image The notch of the outer periphery of the glass substrate is described. A laser processing apparatus comprising: a laser beam irradiation unit that irradiates a relatively moving glass substrate with a laser beam to perform a predetermined processing; and the first alignment unit transports the laser beam from the front stage device to a predetermined position. The first glass substrate performs alignment processing; the second alignment unit performs alignment processing on the second glass substrate transferred from the front stage device at a predetermined position; and the first holding unit performs the first alignment unit After the alignment process is completed, the first glass substrate is held, and the first glass substrate is relatively moved with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit, and the second holding unit is performed by the second alignment unit. After the alignment process is completed, the second glass substrate is held, and the second glass substrate is relatively moved with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit; and the control unit performs control to sequentially operate from the front device The conveyed glass substrate performs the following series of operations: while maintaining the first one The unit holds the first glass substrate subjected to the alignment processing by the first alignment unit, and relatively moves the first glass substrate relative to the laser beam irradiation unit. The first glass substrate is processed by a laser beam, and during the laser beam processing, alignment processing is performed on the second glass substrate by the second alignment unit, and the After the processing of the first glass substrate by the laser beam is completed, the first glass substrate is carried out, and the second glass substrate is held by the second holding unit, and the second glass substrate is placed while the second glass substrate is held by the second holding unit. The second glass substrate is processed by the laser beam by relative movement with respect to the laser beam irradiation unit. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising: an image acquisition unit that acquires, by the initial processing, at a time point when the initial processing by the laser beam ends And an image of a portion of the formed glass substrate and a portion of the edge portion of the glass substrate; the storage unit stores the image acquired by the image acquiring unit as the The ID data of the glass substrate; and the control unit controls the alignment processing of the first alignment unit and the second alignment unit based on the ID data when the processing is performed after the second or second time. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first image acquiring unit acquires the vicinity of the four corners of the glass substrate And the first detecting unit detects the bending (warpage) of the substrate or the vicinity of the four corners of the substrate according to an image near the four corners of the glass substrate acquired by the image acquiring unit gap. The laser processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the second image acquiring unit acquires an image of an outer circumference of the glass substrate; and the second detecting unit according to the drawing The image obtained by the acquisition unit is used to detect the curvature (warpage) of the glass substrate and the notch of the outer periphery of the glass substrate. A method of manufacturing a solar panel, characterized by using the laser processing method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, or the method according to any one of claims 5 to 8 Laser processing equipment to manufacture solar panels.