TWI436858B - Substrate grinding apparatus and method using the same - Google Patents

Description

Substrate polishing device and method using the same

The present invention relates to a substrate polishing apparatus and a method of using the substrate polishing apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate polishing apparatus for continuously polishing a substrate without a load time and a method of using the substrate polishing apparatus.

In general, a flat panel display panel or a raw glass used as a panel material (hereinafter referred to as a "substrate") has sharp edges, and thus it is easily broken during processing. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the substrate from being broken or the like from occurring in the process of grinding the sharp edges.

Figure 1 shows a conventional substrate polishing apparatus. As shown in the figure, the conventional apparatus includes a polishing table 110 for vacuum-holding the substrate S and a polishing unit 120 for polishing the upper and lower edges of the long and short sides of the substrate S held by the polishing table 110 in a vacuum.

Figure 2 shows the operation of the substrate polishing apparatus of Figure 1.

The polishing table 110 is formed with a vacuum hole 111 for vacuum holding the substrate S, and the opposite side of the substrate S provides a pair of polishing units 120 for placing the substrate S between the polishing units 120.

First, the substrate S is loaded onto the polishing table 110 and held thereon by a vacuum formed by the vacuum holes 111 (see (a)).

In this state, the polishing table 110 is level-fed via the pair of polishing units 120. The polishing unit 120 grinds the edges of the substrate during leveling (see (b) and (c)).

When the grinding operation is completed, the substrate S is unloaded from the polishing table 110, which in turn returns to the starting position where a new substrate is loaded.

In order to load a new substrate after polishing a substrate, it takes time for such a conventional substrate polishing apparatus to return to the starting position. Therefore, the conventional substrate polishing apparatus has a problem that the operation of polishing a plurality of substrates cannot be continuously performed.

The present invention is directed to solving the above problems, and an aspect of the present invention provides a substrate polishing apparatus for continuously polishing a substrate without a loading time and a method of using the substrate polishing apparatus.

According to an aspect of the invention, a substrate polishing apparatus includes: a transport unit that transports a substrate; a polishing unit disposed on either side of the transport unit; and a support table that uniformly supports the substrate in the polishing region.

The transport unit can be a conveyor belt.

The conveyor belt can include a vacuum aperture.

The support table can be disposed below the conveyor belt within the abrasive zone.

The support table may include a vacuum hole that communicates with the vacuum hole of the conveyor belt to vacuum hold the substrate in the polishing region.

The support table can further include a sealing member that provides a vacuum seal.

The sealing member may include an O-ring on the edge of the upper surface of the support table.

The conveyor belt can include a pair of conveyor belts disposed on opposite sides of the substrate for supporting the opposite sides of the substrate.

The distance between the pair of conveyor belts can be adjusted.

The substrate polishing apparatus may further include a transport stage disposed between the pair of conveyor belts for transporting a loaded substrate to the polishing area.

The transfer station can include a vacuum aperture for vacuum holding the substrate.

The conveyor can be driven up and down.

The transport station can include a pair of transport stations.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a substrate polishing method includes: transporting a substrate by a conveyor belt; and uniformly maintaining the substrate and the conveyor belt in the polishing region while the substrate is being conveyed.

Transporting the substrate can include vacuum holding and transporting the substrate as the substrate is supported by the conveyor.

Specific embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to Figures 3 to 5, a substrate grinding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention 1 includes: a conveyor belt 11 for transporting the substrate P; a polishing unit 20 disposed on either side of the conveyor belt 11; a support table 40 for uniformly supporting the substrate P in the polishing region; and a transport table 31, 32.

The conveyor belt 11 is for continuously conveying or supporting components of the substrate and includes a pair of conveyor belts supporting the opposite sides of the substrate P for stably conveying the substrate P. The conveyor belts 11 are connected to a belt drive 12 which drives the conveyor belts 11. The pair of conveyor belts 11 can be close to each other or separated from each other. Thus, the distance between the pair of conveyor belts 11 can be adjusted. The configuration of the device makes it possible to process substrates of various sizes.

The polishing units 20 are formed as a pair for simultaneously grinding the opposite sides of the substrate, and each of the polishing units 20 includes a grindstone and a mandrel.

The transport stages 31, 32 are located between the pair of conveyor belts 11 for transporting the substrate loaded at one end of the conveyor belt 11 to the grinding area where the grinding unit 20 is located. That is, although the conveyor belt 11 is sufficient to convey the substrate, the conveyor tables 31, 32 serve as an auxiliary component for more stably conveying the substrate. If such transport stations 31, 32 are provided, the conveyor belts 11 can only function to support the substrate.

Each of the transport stations 31, 32 forms a plurality of vacuum holes for holding the substrate in a vacuum and can be driven to move up and down. When the substrate is loaded at the end of the conveyor belt 11, the conveyor table 31 or 32 moves upward and conveys the substrate after vacuum holding the substrate. When the transfer of the substrate is completed, the transfer table 31 or 32 releases a vacuum and moves downward to return to its original position. The transport stages 31, 32 also form a pair for continuous transport of the substrate. For example, when a conveyor table 31 is vacuum held and transports the substrate, the other conveyor table 32 returns to its original position to load a new substrate.

Figure 6 is an enlarged view of a polishing zone in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the support table 40 is disposed below the conveyor belts 11 in the grinding zone. Referring to Figure 7, the support table 40 is formed with a plurality of vacuum holes 41 through which a vacuum can be formed, and an O-ring 42 for providing a vacuum seal is as This arrangement is such that it is arranged in a cross shape along the circumference and is located at the center of the upper surface of the support table 40.

Referring again to Figure 6, each of the conveyor belts 11 is also formed with such vacuum holes 11a. Therefore, when the substrate is transported to the polishing region, it is held by the vacuum formed by the vacuum holes 41 and the vacuum holes 11a formed in the support table 40 and the conveyor belt 11.

In other words, the substrate P, the conveyor belts 11 and the support table 40 are in close contact with each other in the grinding region. In such a close contact state, as the conveyor belt 11 moves relative to the support table 40, it continues to move with the substrate. Thus, there is no relative motion between the conveyor belts 11 and the substrate. Likewise, there is relative movement between the support table 40 and the conveyor belts 11. Here, the O-ring 42 serves to smoothly slide the support table 40 and the conveyor belts 11 from each other. In other words, the O-ring 42 not only provides a vacuum seal, but also allows the support table 40 and the conveyor belts 11 to slide smoothly with each other.

Therefore, when the substrate is uniformly maintained in the polishing region by the support table 40, the substrate is simultaneously conveyed by the conveyor belt 11, and the opposite edges of the substrate are disposed at the opposite sides of the substrate. The grinding units 20 are ground.

An operation and grinding method of the substrate polishing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

First, a loading unit 51 adsorbs a substrate P ₃ to be polished and loads it at one end of the conveyor belt 11.

Then, the transport stage 31 or 32 is lifted and the substrate P ₂ is vacuum-held while transporting the loaded substrate P ₂ toward the polishing area. Here, the conveyor belts 11 continue to operate.

When the substrate P ₂ is transported to the polishing region in this manner, a vacuum is formed through the support table 40 and the vacuum holes formed in the conveyor belts 11, so the support table 40, the conveyor belt 11 and the substrate P ₂ The substrates are in close contact with each other while maintaining the substrate uniformly in the polishing region.

In this state, the conveyor belt 11 continues to operate, so that the substrate P ₂ can be conveyed along with the conveyor belt 11. However, the conveyor belt 11 slides relative to the support table 40. When the substrate is being transported, the edges at the opposite sides of the substrate are ground by the grinding unit 20 (see Figure 3).

Then, the ground substrate P _{1 is} conveyed by the conveyor belt 11 and unloaded by an unloading unit 52.

Figure 3 shows a substrate polishing apparatus for polishing a relatively long side of a substrate. After the opposite long sides of the substrate are completely polished, the substrate is loaded into a substrate polishing apparatus for grinding the opposite short sides thereof. The substrate polishing apparatus for grinding the opposite short sides is the same as the apparatus shown in Fig. 3 except that the distance between the pair of belts is larger than the distance shown in Fig. 3.

As described above, the present invention provides a substrate polishing apparatus capable of continuously polishing a substrate without a load time and a method of using the substrate polishing apparatus.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments of the present invention Specific embodiments are made to make various changes and provide equivalents. The scope of the invention is defined only by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

1‧‧‧Substrate grinding device

11‧‧‧Conveyor belt

11a‧‧‧vacuum hole

12‧‧‧Belt transmission

20‧‧‧grinding unit

31‧‧‧Conveyor

32‧‧‧Conveyor

40‧‧‧Support table

41‧‧‧vacuum hole

42‧‧‧O-ring

51‧‧‧Loading unit

52‧‧‧Unloading unit

110‧‧‧ polishing table

111‧‧‧vacuum hole

120‧‧‧grinding unit

P‧‧‧Substrate

P ₁ ‧‧‧Substrate

P ₂ ‧‧‧Substrate

P ₃ ‧‧‧Substrate

S‧‧‧Substrate

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and the appended claims, wherein: FIG. 1 shows a conventional substrate polishing apparatus; FIG. 2 shows the operation of the substrate polishing apparatus of FIG. And Figures 3 through 7 show a substrate polishing apparatus in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

1‧‧‧Substrate grinding device

11‧‧‧Conveyor belt

12‧‧‧Belt transmission

20‧‧‧grinding unit

31‧‧‧Conveyor

32‧‧‧Conveyor

40‧‧‧Support table

P ₁ ‧‧‧Substrate

P ₂ ‧‧‧Substrate

P ₃ ‧‧‧Substrate

Claims (5)

A substrate polishing apparatus comprising: a pair of conveyor belts conveying the substrate and supporting the opposite sides of the substrate, the conveyor belt having a vacuum hole; a grinding unit disposed on either side of the conveyor belt; and a pair disposed on the pair of conveyor belts a conveying table that is driven up and down to transport a loaded substrate to the polishing unit; and a support table fixedly disposed in the polishing unit and uniformly supporting the substrate conveyed by the conveying table, the support table having a vacuum hole and a seal providing a seal, the vacuum hole communicating with the vacuum hole of the conveyor belt to vacuum hold the substrate at the grinding unit. The device of claim 1, wherein the support table is disposed below the conveyor belt within the abrasive region. The device of claim 1, wherein the seal comprises an O-ring on an edge of the upper surface of the support table. The device of claim 1, wherein the distance between the pair of conveyor belts is adjustable. The device of claim 1, wherein the transport station has a vacuum hole for vacuum holding the substrate.