JP4760457B2 - Substrate bonding equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate bonding apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate bonding apparatus suitable for assembling a liquid crystal display panel or the like in which substrates to be bonded in a vacuum chamber are held opposite to each other and bonded at a small interval.

  In manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, two glass substrates provided with a transparent electrode and a thin film transistor array are attached with an adhesive (hereinafter also referred to as a sealing agent) provided on the peripheral edge of the substrate with a very close distance of about several μm. There is a process of bonding (hereinafter, the substrate after bonding is referred to as a cell) and sealing the liquid crystal in the space formed thereby.

  To seal the liquid crystal, liquid crystal is dropped on one substrate drawn in a pattern in which a sealing agent is closed so as not to provide an injection port, and the other substrate is placed on one substrate in a vacuum chamber. There is a method of arranging and bonding the upper and lower substrates close to each other. Patent Document 1 discloses that a preliminary chamber is provided for loading / unloading a substrate into / from the vacuum chamber, and the substrate is loaded / removed in the same atmosphere as the preliminary chamber.

JP 2001-305563 A

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, in order to make the preliminary chamber and the vacuum chamber the same atmosphere when the substrate is taken in and out, it takes time to change from the atmospheric state to the vacuum state. It has become. Further, in Patent Document 1, the substrate is transported by mounting the substrate on a roller. However, there is a risk that the substrate may be damaged or dust may be generated due to friction due to the substrate moving on the roller. is there.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to allow two substrates to be simultaneously loaded into the spare chamber, to carry the substrates one by one from the spare chamber to the bonding chamber, and in the bonding chamber, the substrate is transferred It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate bonding apparatus that can suppress substrate dust and perform substrate bonding with high accuracy and high speed and has high productivity.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, since the upper substrate and the lower substrate are carried in order from the preliminary chamber (first chamber chamber) to the second chamber chamber, the friction sliding portion is provided in the first chamber chamber. In addition, a direct-acting substrate carrying mechanism is set so that the bonding surface faces downward when the upper substrate is conveyed, and the liquid crystal dropping surface that is the bonding surface is conveyed upward when conveying the lower substrate.

  Further, when the substrate is carried into the second chamber chamber from the first chamber chamber or when the substrate is carried out from the second chamber chamber to the third chamber chamber, each chamber chamber is brought into a state of medium vacuum to high vacuum. A high vacuum is applied during the bonding operation. As a matter of course, when the substrate is carried into the first chamber chamber, the atmospheric pressure is set when the substrate is carried out from the third chamber chamber.

  According to the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention, since the upper and lower substrates are carried into the first chamber chamber and the chamber is brought into a medium vacuum state, it can be carried into the bonding chamber. Thus, the vacuum evacuation to a high vacuum state can be performed in a short time. For this reason, the throughput of the product is greatly improved, and the substrates can be bonded with high accuracy in a vacuum.

Hereinafter, one Example of the board | substrate bonding apparatus of this invention is described based on figures.
FIG. 1A shows a cross-sectional view of each processing chamber, and FIG. 1B shows a vertical cross-sectional view. The substrate bonding apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a first chamber chamber C1 (preliminary preliminary chamber) and a second chamber chamber C2 for loading a substrate.
(Vacuum bonding chamber) and a third chamber C3 (rear spare chamber) for carrying out the bonded substrate (liquid crystal panel).

  The first chamber chamber C1 has a rack-and-pinion type drive unit for carrying two substrates (upper substrate 30 and lower substrate 31) into the second chamber chamber C2, respectively. A mechanism is provided. As will be described later, the substrate transport mechanism is configured to carry the substrates by moving them linearly from the first chamber chamber C1 to the second chamber chamber C2 one by one. Furthermore, a lower substrate holding mechanism for holding the lower substrate 31 and delivering it to the substrate carry-in mechanism is provided in the upper part of the first chamber chamber C1. The lower substrate holding mechanism includes a plurality of support pins 74 that hold a substrate, an elevating buffer 73 that is elongated in the transport direction to which the support pins 74 are attached, and an elevating cylinder 77 for moving the elevating buffer 73 up and down. Has been.

  The third chamber C3 is also provided with a rack and pinion type substrate carry-out mechanism for carrying the bonded substrates out of the apparatus. Further, a first door valve 2 is provided on the inlet side of the first chamber chamber C1, and a first gate valve 3 is provided between the first chamber chamber C1 and the second chamber chamber C2. Similarly, a second gate valve 4 is provided between the second chamber chamber C2 and the third chamber chamber C3, and a second door valve 5 is provided on the outlet side of the third chamber chamber C3. Although not shown, a vacuum pump is provided for evacuating the inside of the first chamber chamber C1.

  The lower table 8 in the second chamber chamber C2 is provided with a substrate lifter 19 having a plurality of support pins 19a protruding from the lower table surface for receiving the upper and lower substrates 30, 31 from the substrate carry-in mechanism. The substrate lifter 19 delivers the substrate after being bonded to the substrate carry-out mechanism, so that the substrate is separated from the table surface, and between the table surface and the substrate, the substrate carry-out mechanism that is waiting in the third chamber chamber C3 in the figure. The guide plate 72 and a support pin 74 provided on the guide plate 72 are also provided with a function that allows insertion. In FIG. 1, the substrate lifter 19 has a configuration in which a plurality of support pins 19 a are provided on one mounting plate, and the lifting cylinder 19 c is driven to move the mounting plate up and down. Although not shown, a vacuum pump and a turbo molecular pump are provided to evacuate the second chamber. A nitrogen supply source for purging nitrogen is connected to the second chamber through a valve.

  Furthermore, the third chamber chamber C3 is provided with a direct acting substrate carry-out mechanism that operates when carrying out the bonded substrates. In this embodiment, the substrate carry-out mechanism is composed of a long and narrow guide plate 72 on which a substrate is placed and a plurality of support pins 74 on the guide plate, and a drive mechanism comprising a rack and pinion, similar to the substrate carry-in mechanism. It has. Further, although not shown, a vacuum pump for providing a negative pressure in the third chamber chamber C3 is provided. Further, a nitrogen supply source for purging nitrogen is connected in the third chamber chamber C3. Further, a UV irradiation mechanism 80 is provided in the third chamber C3 so that the substrate bonded and bonded by irradiating the spot with UV light is temporarily attached. In addition, each chamber chamber is provided with a pressure gauge (not shown). Based on the measurement results of these pressure gauges, the vacuum state is controlled by operating each vacuum pump and nitrogen purge valve. Yes.

In the present embodiment, the second chamber chamber C2 to be bonded is maintained at a predetermined degree of vacuum (about 150 Torr: hereinafter referred to as a medium vacuum) even when the substrate is carried in and out, so that the second chamber chamber C2 after the substrate has been carried in is second. The chamber chamber C2 is controlled to return to a high vacuum (5 × 10 ⁻³ Torr). Therefore, when each of the first and second gate valves 3 and 4 is opened, it is returned to a medium vacuum level. Further, the second chamber chamber C2 is purged with nitrogen at all times when being in a medium vacuum so that it is not affected by moisture in the atmosphere.

  In order to control the degree of vacuum in each chamber as described above, the exhaust and gas in each chamber (not shown) based on the measured value of a pressure gauge provided in each chamber (in this embodiment, Nitrogen gas) purge. When the two upper and lower substrates are carried into the first chamber chamber C1, it is natural that the first chamber chamber is at atmospheric pressure, and when the first chamber chamber C1 is carried into the second chamber chamber C2, a predetermined amount is used. When it is performed in a state where the degree of vacuum (medium vacuum) is maintained and bonding is performed in the second chamber chamber, the second chamber chamber is set in a high vacuum state. Also, when carrying out the bonded substrate from the second chamber chamber to the third chamber chamber, when carrying out the bonded substrate from the third chamber chamber with the second and third chamber chambers in an intermediate vacuum state. The third chamber chamber is brought into an atmospheric state. In this way, each chamber chamber is configured to perform half exhaust and intake, so that the time required for evacuation can be reduced to less than half of the conventional time, greatly reducing product throughput and time. can do.

  The substrate carry-in mechanism will be described with reference to FIG. A cylinder 71 for driving the pinion shaft is provided outside the lower chamber of the first chamber C1. A pinion 70P having a gear groove formed vertically on the tip of the cylinder shaft is rotatably attached. In addition, two guide plates 72 that are long in the transport direction are provided on the left and right sides of the room to place and transport the substrate. A plurality of support pins 74 are provided on the guide plate 72 so as to contact and support the substrate. Further, one guide plate 72 is provided with a rack 70R2 for transmitting a driving force in a straight line. The rack 70R2 is installed so that the upper teeth provided on the pinion 70P are engaged with each other. Further, a rack 70R1 fixed to the room side so as to mesh with the lower teeth of the pinion 70P is provided. The guide plates 72 provided on the left and right are connected to each other although not shown, and when one side is driven, the other moves together. The pinion 70P is provided on the second chamber chamber C2 side, and is formed so that the substrate on the guide plate is positioned on the table surface of the second chamber chamber when moved to the maximum.

As described above, the elevating buffer 73 that is elongated in the transport direction for temporarily holding the lower substrate 31 is provided in the upper portion of the first chamber C1. Note that a plurality of support pins 74 for supporting the lower substrate 31 are provided above the lift buffer 73. The elevating buffer 73 is disposed so as to be located outside the previous guide plate 72, and cylinders 77 that generate driving force are respectively fixed at positions in the front and rear of the transport direction. Although not shown, the shaft of the cylinder 77 is connected to the lift buffer 73 via an arm, and the cylinder shaft is positioned on the chamber chamber wall side with this arm. For this reason, after the lower substrate 31 is transferred onto the support pins 74 on the guide plate 72, the lift buffer 73 is kept at the same position, so that the cylinder shaft is moved when the lower substrate 31 is moved to the second chamber chamber C2. The movement is not disturbed. In addition, by driving the cylinder 77, it is possible to descend from the horizontal position above the support pin of the guide plate 72 to the lower side.

  Further, in this embodiment, the guide plate groove is provided on the lower table 8 surface provided in the second chamber chamber so that the substrate can move smoothly when the guide plate 72 for loading or unloading moves. 8h is provided. Furthermore, in order to align the upper and lower substrates in the horizontal direction, the lower table is configured to be movable in the XYθ direction by a drive mechanism provided outside the chamber. The movable portion of the drive mechanism is provided outside the chamber, and the connecting portion is connected by an accordion-shaped elastic member so that the vacuum does not leak.

  Next, operation | movement of the bonding apparatus provided with the board | substrate carrying in / out mechanism is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIGS.

First, the first door valve 2 at the inlet of the first chamber chamber C1 is opened (step 100), and the upper substrate 30 to be bonded is bonded onto the support pins 74 of the guide plate 72 of the substrate loading mechanism provided in the chamber. Place it face down (step 101). Next, a sealing agent, which is an adhesive, is annularly applied onto the plurality of support pins 74 provided on the lifting buffer 73 that constitutes the substrate holding mechanism of the lower substrate 31, and liquid crystal is dropped inside the annular sealing agent. The substrate is loaded with the substrate surface facing upward (step 102). As described above, when the upper and lower substrates are carried into the first chamber, the first door valve 2 is closed (step 103), and evacuation of the first chamber is started (step 104). When the inside of the first chamber is in a medium vacuum state, evacuation is stopped (step 105), and the first gate valve 3 is opened (step 106). At this time, the second chamber chamber is in a medium vacuum state. Furthermore, the order of loading the upper substrate and the lower substrate may be reversed. The annular sealing agent may be applied to the upper substrate surface. If the sealing agent is applied to the upper substrate, it is necessary to dispose the support pins 74 so as not to contact the sealing agent.

  Next, the substrate carry-in mechanism on which the upper substrate 30 is mounted is operated to move the upper substrate 30 from the first chamber chamber C1 to the position of the lower table 8 in the second chamber chamber C2 (step 107). The upper table 9 of the second chamber chamber C2 is lowered to the vicinity of the upper substrate surface, and the upper substrate 30 is sucked up by vacuum suction and held on the upper table 9 surface (step 108). Next, the substrate carry-in mechanism is returned to the first chamber chamber (step 109). Then, the lift buffer 73 is lowered and the lower substrate 31 is delivered onto the support pins 74 on the guide plate 72 of the substrate carry-in mechanism (step 110).

When the substrate carry-in mechanism receives the lower substrate 31, the substrate carry-in mechanism is operated and moved to the second chamber chamber C2 (step 111). When the lower substrate is carried out to the second chamber chamber C2, the elevating buffer 73 is raised and returned to the standby position in the first chamber chamber C1. Further, when the lower substrate 31 is loaded onto the lower table 8 of the second chamber chamber C2, the substrate lifter 19 provided on the lower table 8 side is moved upward to position the lower substrate above the support pins 19a ( Step 112). Next, the substrate carry-in mechanism is returned to the first chamber and the first gate valve is closed (step 113). At the same time, the substrate lifter 19 is lowered and the lower substrate is placed on the lower table (step 114). When the lower substrate 31 is placed on the lower table 8, the electrostatic adsorption mechanism is operated, and the substrate is fixed to the lower table surface. At the same time, the upper substrate of the upper table is also held on the table surface by operating the electrostatic chucking mechanism (step 115). The alignment marks of the substrates held on the upper table and the lower table are observed with a camera, and the lower table is moved horizontally to perform alignment (step 116). Vacuum evacuation is performed to change the second chamber chamber from a medium vacuum state to a high vacuum state (step 117). When the high vacuum state is reached, the positional deviation between the substrates is again observed, the fine alignment is performed, and the bonding is performed by narrowing the table interval (step 118). During the bonding, the bonding is performed while performing the alignment in several steps while measuring the applied pressure or the substrate interval. FIG. 1 does not show these alignment camera, pressure sensor, and substrate distance measurement sensor.

  When the bonding by the applied pressure is completed, the upper table is raised or the lower table is lowered to separate the upper table from the substrate (step 119). At this time, the electrostatic adsorption mechanism of the upper table 9 holding the upper substrate 30 is stopped. In the above-described embodiment, the upper and lower tables of the second chamber that are in a high vacuum have been described using an electrostatic adsorption mechanism for holding the substrate in a vacuum. However, a configuration using an adhesive adsorption mechanism instead of the electrostatic adsorption mechanism Or may be used in combination. Even when the adhesive holding mechanism is used, it is necessary to perform an operation of opening the adhesive holding mechanism from the upper substrate surface when the bonding is completed.

Next, nitrogen gas is purged into the second chamber chamber C2, and the inside of the second chamber chamber C2 is brought into a medium vacuum state (step 120). When the inside of the second chamber is in a medium vacuum state, the substrate lifter 19 is raised to separate the pressure bonded substrate from the lower table surface (step 121). At the same time, the second gate valve 4 is opened to connect the second chamber chamber C2 and the third chamber chamber C3 (step 122). At this time, the inside of the third chamber C3 is in a medium vacuum state in advance. Even in the middle vacuum, pressure is applied between the substrates, and the interval between the substrates becomes narrower than in the case of high vacuum.

  When the second gate valve 4 is opened, the substrate unloading mechanism in the third chamber chamber C3 starts to move, and the guide plate 72 (including the support pins 74) of the substrate unloading mechanism is moved to the lower table of the second chamber chamber. 8 is inserted between the substrates bonded to 8. When the guide plate 72 reaches a position for supporting the substrate, the substrate carry-out mechanism stops there, and then the substrate lifter 19 is lowered and the substrate is delivered onto the support pins 74 of the guide plate 72 (step 123). When the delivery of the substrate is completed, the substrate carry-out mechanism is returned to the third chamber chamber (step 124). Then, the second gate valve 4 is closed (step 125). In this state, the UV irradiation mechanism 80 provided in the third chamber C3 is operated, and the substrate temporary fixing adhesive is irradiated with UV light to perform temporary fixing (step 126). When the temporary fixing is completed, the third chamber chamber is purged with nitrogen gas, or the atmosphere is introduced into the atmospheric pressure state (step 127). The second door valve 5 is opened (step 128). The bonded substrate is unloaded (step 129).

  The above is a series of operations. Among them, at the time when the substrate loading mechanism is returned to the first chamber chamber C1 and the first gate valve 3 is closed (step 113), the first chamber chamber C1 The carrying-in operation of the bonded substrate is started. That is, the inside of the first chamber C1 is returned from the medium vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure, the first door valve 2 is opened, and the substrate loading is started. Further, when the bonded substrate is carried out to the third chamber chamber C3 and the second gate valve 4 is closed (step 125), since the second chamber chamber C2 is in an intermediate vacuum state, the substrate loading into the first chamber chamber is completed. If the first chamber chamber C1 is in a medium vacuum state, the first gate valve 3 to the second chamber chamber C2 is opened, and the operation from step 106 is executed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the substrate carry-in mechanism and the substrate carry-out mechanism have been described as a rack and pinion configuration in which the pinion is driven by the cylinder. However, the guide plate on which the substrate is mounted may be driven by a linear motor.

  As described above, in the present invention, after the two substrates to be bonded are carried into the first chamber chamber, the first chamber chamber is brought into a medium vacuum state, the upper and lower substrates are transferred to the second chamber chamber, and the upper and lower tables are moved. And the second chamber chamber is brought into a high vacuum state and bonded, and then the second chamber chamber is set to a medium vacuum, and the bonded substrate is transferred to the third chamber chamber. The chamber chamber was opened to the atmosphere and carried out. Therefore, the second chamber chamber may be repeatedly operated in a medium vacuum and a high vacuum, and the first chamber chamber and the third chamber chamber may be repeatedly operated in a medium vacuum and the atmosphere. For this reason, the time for which each vacuum chamber chamber is kept in a vacuum state can be greatly shortened. In addition, the suction / adsorption mechanism can be used in a medium vacuum state, and the substrate is held using the suction / adsorption mechanism for sucking the substrate to the pressure plate that requires a large suction force, and then the substrate is held even when a high vacuum is applied. It is possible to hold the substrate by an electrostatic adsorption mechanism or an adhesive mechanism that can be used.

  In addition, the upper substrate is attracted and held in the second chamber chamber (step 108) by using an electrostatic attracting mechanism from the suction suction in the middle vacuum, so that the upper and lower substrates are transferred and received in the second chamber chamber in a high vacuum state. Is also possible.

It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of the board | substrate bonding apparatus which becomes one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart figure of the operation | movement in the board | substrate bonding apparatus of FIG. It is a figure which shows the continuation of the flowchart of the operation | movement in the board | substrate bonding apparatus of FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a continuation of the operation flowchart.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Board | substrate bonding apparatus, C1 ... 1st chamber chamber, C2 ... 2nd chamber chamber (bonding chamber), C3 ... 3rd chamber chamber, 2 ... 1st door valve, 3 ... 1st gate valve, 4 ... 2nd Gate valve, 5 ... second door valve, 8 ... lower table, 9 ... upper table, 70P ... pinion, 70R1, 70R2 ... rack, 72 ... guide plate, 73 ... lifting buffer, 74 ... support pin.

Claims (7)

A substrate holding mechanism that holds the lower substrate in the upper part of the first chamber chamber to carry the upper and lower substrates, and a direct-acting substrate that holds the upper substrate and the lower substrate one by one and carries them into the second chamber chamber. a first chamber room and a carrying mechanism, said first chamber compartment to the medium vacuum state from the atmospheric pressure, a vacuum pump to a high vacuum state from the medium vacuum state further,
In an intermediate vacuum state , the upper substrate is received from the direct-acting substrate loading mechanism and held on the upper table, and then the lower substrate is received and held on the lower table, and the two substrates are held on the respective tables and then the chamber. The inside of the chamber is in a high vacuum state, one of the tables is moved in the horizontal direction, the two upper and lower substrates are aligned, and either one of the upper and lower tables is moved up and down to narrow the interval between the substrates. A second chamber chamber for matching,
A substrate unloading mechanism for unloading the bonded substrates from the second chamber chamber in a medium vacuum state, and a third chamber chamber for unloading the substrates bonded in an atmospheric state to the outside;
The substrate carry-in mechanism in the first chamber chamber and the substrate carry-out mechanism in the third chamber chamber have a plurality of support pins on a pair of elongated guide plates or a plurality of guide plates, and the substrate is mounted on the support pins and provided outside the chamber chamber. A substrate bonding apparatus characterized in that it is carried into or out of the second chamber with a driving force from the power section. In the board | substrate bonding apparatus of Claim 1,
The first chamber chamber and the third chamber chamber are variably controlled from atmospheric pressure to medium vacuum state to high vacuum state, and the second chamber chamber is variably controlled from medium vacuum to high vacuum state. A substrate bonding apparatus. In the board | substrate bonding apparatus of Claim 1,
A substrate bonding apparatus, wherein a substrate holding mechanism for temporarily holding a lower substrate in an upper portion of the room is provided in the first chamber. In the board | substrate bonding apparatus of Claim 1,
A substrate bonding apparatus characterized in that a plurality of pairs of pinions having a gear groove and linear racks are provided in the upper and lower stages as means for transmitting the driving force of the substrate carry-in mechanism and the substrate carry-out mechanism.   A substrate holding mechanism that is provided above the first chamber chamber and moves up and down to receive and hold the lower substrate from the substrate carry-in mechanism, and a substrate holding mechanism provided at the lower portion of the first chamber chamber one by one into the second chamber chamber. A direct-acting substrate carrying mechanism for transporting, placing the first chamber chamber and the second chamber chamber in an intermediate vacuum state, and first carrying the upper substrate into the second chamber chamber by the direct-acting substrate carrying mechanism; The upper substrate provided in the second chamber chamber is held by the suction adsorption mechanism, then the lower substrate held by the substrate holding mechanism is transferred to the substrate carry-in mechanism, and the substrate carry-in mechanism is carried into the lower table and sucked by the lower table It is held by the suction mechanism, the gate valve between the first chamber chamber and the second chamber chamber is closed, the electrostatic suction mechanism of the upper and lower tables is operated, the inside of the second chamber chamber is brought into a high vacuum state, and the upper table and the lower table Interval Substrate bonding method for performing bonding with Mel it. In the substrate bonding method according to claim 5,
When the bonding is completed, the inside of the second chamber is brought into a medium vacuum state, the gate valves of the second chamber chamber and the third chamber chamber are opened, and the bonded substrates on the lower table of the second chamber chamber Is bonded to the third chamber using a substrate unloading mechanism provided in the third chamber. In the substrate bonding method according to claim 6,
In the third chamber chamber, the substrate is bonded by returning the atmospheric pressure in the third chamber after temporarily attaching the UV irradiation mechanism by operating the UV irradiation mechanism.

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