JPH0536660A - Substrate drying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the drying capacity of a substrate drying device equipped with a nozzle from which a drying gas is blown upon both surfaces of a substrate to be dried and, at the same time, to reduce the energy consumption and size of the device. CONSTITUTION:A drying nozzle 4 which is positioned against both surfaces of a substrate carried in a vertical state is constituted of a nozzle main body 8 connected to a drying gas supplying source and nozzle head 10 having a slit-like spout 9. The nozzle head 10 is formed of a hard but brittle material. Therefore, the consumption of the drying gas can be reduced, because the slit width of the spout 9 can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate drying apparatus, and more particularly to a substrate drying apparatus for drying the front and back surfaces of, for example, a rectangular liquid crystal glass substrate, a printed circuit board or other semiconductor substrate. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a rectangular substrate such as a liquid crystal glass substrate, a printed circuit board or a semiconductor substrate is subjected to a cleaning treatment to remove particles and the like adhering to the front and back surfaces thereof. A drying process is being performed.
In this case, the nozzle for injecting the drying gas such as the clean air or the nitrogen (N2) gas toward the surface of the cleaned substrate is provided with the slit-shaped nozzle so that the drying gas is continuously supplied to the surface of the substrate. It can be sprayed and dried uniformly. Therefore, in a conventional substrate drying apparatus of this type, for example, a hollow nozzle body made of stainless steel has a slit-shaped nozzle (slit width of about 0.15 to 0.5 mm).
Is used, and the surface of the substrate is dried by making the nozzles of the nozzle face each other at a right angle to the transport direction of the substrate.

[0003]

However, in the conventional substrate drying apparatus of this type, a slit-shaped nozzle is formed in the nozzle body formed of a material having relatively low hardness and brittleness such as stainless steel. Therefore, it is difficult to make the slit width of the injection port a minute width of 0.15 mm or less.
Therefore, since the consumption amount of the drying gas is also proportional to the slit width, a large amount of gas is consumed particularly in the substrate drying process in which the drying gas is continuously jetted, and energy saving can be achieved. In addition to being unable to do so, there was a problem that the equipment would be enlarged.

Further, in the conventional substrate drying apparatus of this type, since the nozzle orifices are opposed to each other at a right angle with respect to the substrate transport direction, the surface of the substrate must be simultaneously dried in a strip shape. There was the problem of unevenness. In order to solve this problem, it is necessary to inject a larger amount of drying gas, and there is a problem that the gas consumption increases as described above.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and enables reduction of gas consumption and downsizing of an apparatus,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate drying apparatus which is capable of efficiently drying the front and back surfaces of a substrate.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the first substrate drying apparatus of the present invention is a substrate provided with a drying nozzle for injecting a drying gas toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be dried. Assuming a drying device, the drying nozzle is composed of a nozzle body connected to a drying gas supply source and a nozzle head having a slit-shaped nozzle, and the nozzle head is formed of a hard and brittle material. . Further, the second substrate drying apparatus of the present invention is premised on a substrate drying apparatus including a drying nozzle for injecting a drying gas toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be dried, like the first substrate drying apparatus. The drying nozzle is provided with a slit-shaped ejection port, the drying nozzle faces the substrate so as to be movable relative to each other in a vertical state, and the lower end portion of the ejection port is arranged in an inclined shape so as to be located on the moving side of the substrate. It will be done.

In the first aspect of the present invention, as the hard and brittle material forming the nozzle head, for example, precious stones such as ceramics or sapphire can be used. By using these hard and brittle materials, the slit width of the nozzle can be increased. The width can be as narrow as several tens of μ.

In the second aspect of the invention, the drying nozzle faces the substrate so as to be movable relative to each other in a vertical state, and is arranged in an inclined shape so that the lower end portion of the nozzle is located on the moving side of the substrate. As long as it is fixed, the substrate may be fixed and the nozzle can be moved, but it is preferable to fix the nozzle and move the substrate. Further, it is preferable that the slit width of the injection port is as narrow as possible, and it can be easily formed by the hard and brittle material in the first invention.

[0009]

According to the substrate drying apparatus of the present invention configured as described above, since the nozzle head is formed of a hard and brittle material, the slit width of the nozzle can be made extremely small. Even if the gas injection pressure is increased, the front and back surfaces of the substrate can be uniformly dried without increasing the gas consumption.

Further, a drying nozzle having a slit-shaped jet port is opposed to the substrate so as to be movable relative to the substrate in a vertical state, and a lower end portion of the jet port is arranged in an inclined shape so as to be positioned on the moving side of the substrate. Since the collected water can be quickly removed to the outside of the substrate and a large lump of water can be prevented from occurring, defective drainage can be eliminated.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the drying apparatus of the present invention. In this case, the drying device is arranged in a substrate drying section 5 having a drying nozzle 4 which opens toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 which is conveyed while being maintained in a vertical state, and a substrate transport passage which penetrates the substrate drying section 5. It is provided with a substrate transfer means 6 provided.

The substrate drying unit 5 is provided with an air knife type nozzle 4 which is a pair of drying nozzles which are vertically arranged at symmetrical positions with respect to the substrate 1 in the center of the substrate drying unit 5. This air knife type nozzle 4 is, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a stainless steel nozzle body 8 connected to a supply source of a drying gas (not shown) such as clean air or N2 gas through a supply pipe line 7. And a nozzle head 10 having a slit-shaped nozzle hole 9. in this case,
The nozzle 10 is made of a hard and brittle material such as ceramics or sapphire, and a slit-shaped nozzle 9 is formed in the center of the nozzle 10. The slit width of this nozzle 9 is set to several tens of μ, for example, about 50 μ. Further, the nozzle body 8 is provided with a slit 11 having a width wider than the slit width of the nozzle hole 9 at an end portion on the mounting side of the nozzle head 10, and a main passage 12 and a slit 11 which are longitudinally provided in the central portion of the nozzle body 8. Are connected to each other through a plurality of communication passages 13, and the supply passage 7 is connected to the main passage 12.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the air knife type nozzle 4 is disposed at an angle θ whose lower end is inclined to the substrate transfer direction side with respect to the vertical line V, and after cleaning. The substrate 1 can be dried efficiently.
That is, the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 to be conveyed are sequentially dried from the upper end side toward the lower end side by the dry air or N2 from the injection port 9.
It is drained by being exposed to a drying gas such as gas, and the drained water is removed from the substrate 1 when it reaches the lower end. Since the direction to be excluded is the direction according to the gravity, the directions are quickly eliminated. Therefore, the moisture before reaching the lower end of the drained substrate 1 on the substrate does not form a certain amount of lumps or more. Therefore, if the gas is injected at an appropriate constant pressure, drainage failure will not occur.

The substrate drying unit 5 constructed as described above is
An air knife type nozzle 4 is provided in a processing chamber 17 provided above a machine room 16 for accommodating a drive source and a piping system, and a drive section 14 and a guide section 15 of a substrate transfer means 6 are provided. (See FIG. 1). A substrate transfer opening 19 through which the substrate 1 passes is provided on a side wall 18 of the processing chamber 17 in the substrate transfer direction. In addition, the processing chamber 17
Drainage / exhaust port 2 on the floor of the room, that is, the ceiling of the machine room 16.
0 is provided so that the moisture removed by the substrate drying unit 5 is discharged to the outside.

Next, an operation mode of the substrate drying apparatus of the present invention will be described.

The substrate 1, which is vertically conveyed from the substrate supply unit (not shown) by the substrate conveying means 6, has its front and back surfaces cleaned by a substrate cleaning unit (not shown), and is then conveyed to the substrate drying unit 5, where it is an air knife type. The drying gas is ejected from the ejection port 9 of the nozzle 4 toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 being conveyed. At this time, since the drying gas is sequentially blown from the upper end side to the lower end side of the substrate 1 as the substrate 1 moves, drained water is sequentially removed from the substrate 1 at the lower end portion of the substrate 1. . Therefore, the water content on the substrate does not exceed a certain level, and drainage is reliably performed.

The substrate 1 carried out from the substrate drying unit 5 is housed in a cassette of a substrate take-out unit (not shown) and sent to the next processing step.

As described above, after cleaning the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 sequentially transferred by the substrate transfer means 6, the front and back surfaces of the substrate 1 are dried in the substrate drying unit 5, so that the substrate 1 is cleaned and dried. It can be done efficiently.

[0020]

As described above, according to the substrate drying apparatus of the present invention, which is configured as described above,
The following effects can be obtained.

1) According to the substrate drying apparatus of the first aspect, since the nozzle head having the slit-shaped nozzle is made of the hard and brittle material, the slit width of the nozzle can be narrowed to improve the drying performance. In addition, it is possible to save the consumption of the drying gas and reduce the size of the apparatus.

2) According to the second aspect of the substrate drying apparatus, the slit-shaped jet port faces the substrate so as to be movable relative to each other in a vertical state, and the nozzle is provided so that the lower end portion of the jet port is located on the moving side of the substrate. Since they are arranged in an inclined shape, the drying performance can be further improved and uneven drying can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a substrate drying apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a drying nozzle according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a cross section of a main part of a drying nozzle according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan sectional view of a drying nozzle.

FIG. 5 is a schematic side view showing an arrangement state of a drying nozzle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 substrate 4 Air knife type nozzle (drying nozzle) 5 Substrate drying section 6 Substrate transfer means 8 nozzle body 9 Slit-shaped nozzle 10 spout θ inclination angle V vertical line

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A substrate drying apparatus having a drying nozzle for injecting a drying gas toward the front and back surfaces of a substrate to be dried, comprising: a nozzle body connecting the drying nozzle to a drying gas supply source; and a slit shape. And a nozzle head having a nozzle opening, and the nozzle head is formed of a hard and brittle material. 2. A substrate drying apparatus comprising a mechanism for vertically transporting a substrate to be dried and a drying nozzle for injecting a drying gas toward the front and back surfaces of the substrate to be dried. A nozzle is provided, the drying nozzle is opposed to the substrate so as to be movable relative to the substrate in a vertical state, and the lower end of the nozzle is inclined so that the lower end is located on the moving side of the substrate. Substrate drying device.