WO2011045896A1

WO2011045896A1 - Panel cleaning apparatus and panel cleaning method

Info

Publication number: WO2011045896A1
Application number: PCT/JP2010/005716
Authority: WO
Inventors: 岡田篤志
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2009-10-13
Filing date: 2010-09-21
Publication date: 2011-04-21

Abstract

A panel cleaning apparatus (1) for cleaning a panel (P) pinched between a pair of cleaning heads (4) is provided with: a pair of arms (2) capable of changing at least the distance therebetween; a spherical member (3) arranged at the distal end of the arms (2); and a hole (5) which is recessed into the cleaning heads (4) and has the spherical member (3) inserted therein. When the pair of cleaning heads (4) pinches the panel (P), each of the pair of cleaning heads (4) is tilted with respect to the panel (P) so as to be in surface contact with the panel (P). The panel cleaning apparatus which has a simple configuration can therefore clean the panel efficiently without performing onerous parallel alignment.

Description

Panel cleaning apparatus and panel cleaning method

The present invention relates to a panel cleaning apparatus and a panel cleaning method for cleaning a panel such as a glass substrate.

Conventionally, a panel cleaning device 101 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 is used to clean a thin product (panel P) such as a liquid crystal panel and glass. It is known that the panel cleaning device 101 includes a pair of arms 102 and a cleaning head 104 such as a brush or a sponge fixed to the tip of each arm 102. And the foreign material of the panel P is removed by moving along the cleaning area | region P1 in the state which sandwiched the panel P from the upper and lower sides with this pair of arms 102. FIG. This cleaning ability against foreign matters is sufficiently exerted when the cleaning head 104 is parallel to the panel P.

For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, a V groove for guiding a steel ball is provided at one end on the screw shaft of the rail, and the block moved by the screw shaft corresponding to the V groove is also provided with a V groove. An XY stage is known in which a V-groove is provided in a direction perpendicular to the groove and a steel ball is sandwiched between the two V-grooves.

Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 4-83546

However, in the conventional panel cleaning apparatus, it takes time to adjust the cleaning head in parallel, and even if the parallelism is adjusted once, the parallelism deteriorates with time. If the parallelism deteriorates, there is a problem that the cleaning head comes into contact with the panel with a line, and the cleaning ability with respect to the foreign matter deteriorates.

On the other hand, the configuration in which the V-grooves are perpendicular to each other as in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, the degree of freedom of the shaft is limited, and it is suitable for supporting a cleaning head that needs to tilt moderately with respect to the panel. Not.

The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to enable the panel to be efficiently cleaned with a simple configuration without performing troublesome parallel adjustment work.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the tip provided on the arm has a spherical support portion inserted into the cleaning head.

Specifically, the first invention is directed to a panel cleaning device that sandwiches and cleans a panel with a pair of cleaning heads.

And the said panel cleaning apparatus is
A pair of arms capable of changing at least the distance between each other;
A spherical member provided at the tip of the arm;
A hole that is recessed in the cleaning head and into which the spherical member is inserted,
When the panel is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads, the pair of cleaning heads are tilted with respect to the panel and are in surface contact with each other.

According to the above configuration, when the cleaning head is brought into contact with the panel by moving the pair of arms and sandwiching the panel to be cleaned, the cleaning head is appropriately tilted with respect to the spherical member, and the cleaning head is in surface contact with the panel. It stabilizes in the state. By sliding the cleaning head along the panel in this state, the panel is effectively cleaned without a troublesome parallel adjustment operation.

In the second invention, in the first invention,
The cleaning head is made of a material softer than the spherical member,
The outer diameter of the spherical member is smaller than the inner diameter of the hole and larger than the inner diameter of the opening in the cleaning head surface of the hole.

According to the above configuration, the spherical member of the arm is inserted while expanding the opening of the hole, and after insertion, the inner diameter of the hole is larger than the outer diameter of the spherical member, so that a clearance is secured and the cleaning head can tilt. It becomes. Moreover, since the cleaning head is easily attached to and detached from the spherical member, the cleaning head can be easily replaced.

In the third invention, in the second invention,
Each of the cleaning heads has a configuration in which a contact surface with the panel is covered with a cleaning cloth that is drawn out while being wound between a pair of rolls, and is in contact with the panel through the cleaning cloth.

According to the above configuration, the panel is effectively cleaned with the clean cleaning fabric brought into surface contact while the cleaning fabric is replaced at any time with a simple configuration.

The fourth invention is directed to a panel cleaning method in which a panel is sandwiched and cleaned by a pair of cleaning heads.

And the above panel cleaning method
Insert a hole recessed in the cleaning head into a spherical member provided at the tip of a pair of arms capable of changing at least the distance between each other,
The panel is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads, and the pair of cleaning heads are tilted to bring them into surface contact with the panel,
The pair of cleaning heads are slid and cleaned while maintaining the surface contact state.

According to the above configuration, a cleaning device in which the cleaning head can be tilted is prepared by inserting a hole recessed in the cleaning head into a spherical member provided at the tip of the pair of arms, and the pair of arms is moved. Insert the panel to be cleaned. When the cleaning head comes into contact with the panel, the cleaning head is pushed by the pair of arms and tilted with respect to the spherical member, and the cleaning head comes into surface contact with the panel and is stabilized. By sliding the cleaning head along the panel in this state, the panel is effectively cleaned without a troublesome parallel adjustment operation.

In the fifth invention, in the fourth invention,
Each of the cleaning heads contacts the panel via a cleaning cloth between a pair of rolls, and rotates the pair of rolls and rolls out the cleaning cloth to replace the cleaning cloth as needed. The configuration.

According to the above configuration, the panel is cleaned with the clean cleaning cloth brought into surface contact while easily replacing the cleaning cloth as needed.

As described above, according to the present invention, when the panel is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads, the pair of cleaning heads are tilted with respect to the panel and brought into surface contact with each other. The panel can be efficiently cleaned without troublesome parallel adjustment work.

It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the panel cleaning apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention cleans a panel. It is a side view which shows a mode that a panel cleaning apparatus cleans a panel. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that a spherical member is inserted in a hole part, (a) shows before insertion, (b) shows after insertion. It is an expanded sectional view showing the state where the spherical member was inserted in the hole. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the contact surface of a cleaning head is covered with the cloth for cleaning. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the conventional panel cleaning apparatus cleans a panel. It is a side view which shows a mode that the conventional panel cleaning apparatus cleans a panel.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a panel cleaning device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This panel cleaning device 1 is a device for cleaning a panel P. As the panel P, for example, a liquid crystal panel, glass, a molded product (metal, resin, etc.) can be considered. For example, when cleaning the liquid crystal panel, an IC chip or a flexible printed board is mounted on the liquid crystal panel. The previous cleaning applies. The panel cleaning apparatus 1 includes a pair of arms 2 that can change at least the distance between each other. The arm 2 is composed of a handling robot arm (not shown), for example. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the spherical member 3 is attached to the tip of each arm 2 via a rod-like connecting portion 3 a. In the present embodiment, the spherical member 3 is made of, for example, a spherical body such as stainless steel or aluminum alloy having an outer diameter D1 of 5 mm.

A cleaning head 4 is rotatably fitted to the spherical member 3. Specifically, the cleaning head 4 is made of a material softer than the spherical member 3, and is made of, for example, polyacetal resin (POM), thermoplastic heat-resistant polymer resin, or the like. A material that is too hard to damage the object to be cleaned and that has appropriate wear resistance is desirable. A hole 5 into which the spherical member 3 is inserted is recessed on the spherical member 3 side of the cleaning head 4. The inner diameter D2 of the hole 5 is, for example, 6 mm, and the diameter d1 of the opening 5a formed on the arm 2 side surface of the cleaning head 4 is 4 mm. If the dimensions are set in this way, the spherical member 3 is inserted while expanding the opening 5a of the hole portion 5. After the insertion, the inner diameter D2 of the hole portion 5 is larger than the outer diameter D1 of the spherical member 3, so that a gap is formed. Is secured. For this reason, the spherical member 3 is rotatable in the hole 5. The dimensions D1, D2, and d1 are not limited to these, and the spherical member 3 can be press-fitted from the opening 5a, and the spherical member 3 rotates while generating an appropriate frictional force without being too loose and not too hard in the hole 5. It should be set so that.

Then, the cleaning head 4 is covered with the contact surface 4a with the panel P by a cleaning fabric 9 which is fed out while being wound between the pair of

rolls

7 and 8. The cleaning fabric 9 is made of, for example, a super fine yarn fabric. In FIGS. 1 and 2, the pair of

rolls

7 and 8 and the cleaning cloth 9 are omitted for simplification, but the pair of

rolls

7 and 8 are provided on the front surface and the back surface of the panel P, respectively. Has been placed.

With such a configuration, when the panel P is sandwiched between the pair of arms 2 and the pair of cleaning heads 4, the pair of cleaning heads 4 is tilted with respect to the panel P, and each contact surface 4 a is a cleaning cloth. 9 is configured to clean the cleaning area P1 of the panel P in surface contact with the surface of the panel P.

-Panel cleaning method-
Next, a panel cleaning method according to this embodiment will be described.

First, the spherical member 3 at the tip of the pair of arms 2 is inserted while expanding the opening 5a of the hole 5 recessed in the cleaning head 4. Since the resin cleaning head 4 is softer than the metal spherical member 3, the cleaning head 4 is deformed and easily pressed into the spherical member 3. For this reason, even if the cleaning head 4 needs to be replaced due to exhaustion or the like, the cleaning head 4 can be easily replaced by pulling out the spherical member 3 while expanding the opening 5a.

Then, the cleaning fabric 9 between the pair of

rolls

7 and 8 is brought into contact with the contact surface 4 a of the cleaning head 4.

Next, the pair of arms are brought close to each other, and the panel P is sandwiched by the pair of cleaning heads 4 through the cleaning cloth 9. When the cleaning head 4 comes into contact with the panel P, there is an appropriate gap between the outer surface of the spherical member 3 and the inner surface of the hole 5, so that the cleaning head 4 is pressed against the spherical member 3 by the pressing force of the pair of arms 2. Tilt easily. For this reason, the cleaning head 4 is surely brought into surface contact with the panel P through the cleaning fabric 9.

Next, the arm 2 is moved along the cleaning region P1 while maintaining the surface contact state, and the pair of cleaning heads 4 are slid to clean the cleaning region P1. At this time, the cleaning fabric 9 is replaced at any time by rotating the two pairs of upper and

lower rolls

7 and 8 and taking out the cleaning fabric 9 while winding it. For example, the cleaning fabric 9 can be cleaned with a clean cleaning fabric 9 by replacing the cleaning fabric 9 at a predetermined interval, such as 5 mm for each cleaning and 10 mm for 10 cleanings. In this way, the panel P can be effectively cleaned without performing troublesome parallel adjustment work.

Further, even if aged deterioration occurs such that the inner surface of the hole 5 is scraped over time, the cleaning head 4 is simply tilted relative to the panel when the spherical member 3 comes into contact with the panel P. The cleaning ability against foreign objects will not deteriorate. In addition, since the cleaning head 4 can be easily replaced, it may be replaced as appropriate.

Therefore, according to the panel cleaning apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the panel P is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads 4, the pair of cleaning heads 4 is tilted with respect to the panel P and brought into surface contact with each other. Thus, the panel P can be efficiently cleaned with a simple configuration without performing troublesome parallel adjustment work.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention may have the following configurations for the embodiments.

That is, in the embodiment, the spherical member 3 is made of stainless steel, aluminum alloy, etc., and the cleaning head 4 is made of polyacetal resin (POM), thermoplastic heat-resistant polymer resin, etc., but is not limited to this. The cleaning head 4 may be made of a material softer than the spherical member 3.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the cleaning head 4 is made to contact | abut to the panel P via the cleaning cloth 9, a brush and sponge are provided in the contact surface 4a of the cleaning head 4 instead of the cleaning cloth 9, You may make it clean the panel P with these brushes and sponges. If the brush or sponge deteriorates, the spherical member 3 may be extracted from the hole 5 and replaced with the cleaning head 4.

In addition, the above embodiment is an essentially preferable example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, its application, and use.

As described above, the present invention is useful for a panel cleaning apparatus and a panel cleaning method for cleaning a panel such as a liquid crystal panel, glass, and a molded product (metal, resin, etc.).

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Panel cleaning apparatus 2 Arm 3 Spherical member 4 Cleaning head 4a Contact surface 5 Hole part 5a Opening 7,8 Roll 9 Cleaning cloth P Panel

Claims

In a panel cleaning device that sandwiches and cleans a panel with a pair of cleaning heads,
A pair of arms capable of changing at least the distance between each other;
A spherical member provided at the tip of the arm;
A hole that is recessed in the cleaning head and into which the spherical member is inserted,
A panel cleaning apparatus, wherein the pair of cleaning heads is tilted with respect to the panel and comes into surface contact when the panel is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads.
In the panel cleaning apparatus of Claim 1,
The cleaning head is made of a material softer than the spherical member,
The panel cleaning apparatus, wherein an outer diameter of the spherical member is smaller than an inner diameter of the hole portion and larger than an inner diameter of an opening of the hole portion on the surface of the cleaning head.
In the panel cleaning apparatus of Claim 2,
Each of the cleaning heads has a contact surface with the panel covered with a cleaning cloth that is drawn out while being wound between a pair of rolls, and is in contact with the panel through the cleaning cloth. Cleaning device.
In the panel cleaning method of sandwiching and cleaning the panel with a pair of cleaning heads,
Insert a hole recessed in the cleaning head into a spherical member provided at the tip of a pair of arms capable of changing at least the distance between each other,
The panel is sandwiched between the pair of cleaning heads, and the pair of cleaning heads are tilted to bring them into surface contact with the panel,
A panel cleaning method, wherein the pair of cleaning heads are slid and cleaned while maintaining the surface contact state.
In the panel cleaning method of Claim 4,
Each of the cleaning heads contacts the panel via a cleaning cloth between a pair of rolls, and rotates the pair of rolls and rolls out the cleaning cloth to replace the cleaning cloth as needed. A panel cleaning method characterized by the above.