JPH07283107A - Substrate end edge cleaning device and its suction means cleaning method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve operation of a device by cleaning a substrate end edge by sucking dissolved substance by a suction means while discharging solvent toward an end edge of a substrate wherein a thin film is formed and by cleaning a suction means by sucking the solvent by a suction means while discharging the solvent. CONSTITUTION:A substrate treatment device has a main body control part 71 for controlling a whole device and a second control part 72 connected to the main body control part 71 to enable two way communication. An electric motor 41, a solvent discharge valve 73, a gas discharge valve 74, a vacuum pump 57 and other input/output devices are connected to the second control part 72. An input device 57 such as a key board is connected to the main body control part 71 and various instructions are input. In an end edge cleaning treatment, the electric motor 41 is driven, the gas discharge valve 74 is opened, the solvent discharge valve 73 is opened and an end edge of a substrate is cleaned and treated. In a tube cleaning treatment, the solvent discharge valve 73 is opened and an inside of a connection tube is cleaned. Since an inside of a connection tube is thereby cleaned during automatic operation of a device, operation rate of a device is not lowered.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a substrate edge cleaning in which a solvent is discharged toward an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on the surface thereof, and a dissolved material thereof is sucked by suction means to wash the edge of the substrate. The present invention relates to a cleaning method for cleaning an apparatus and its suction means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For substrates such as glass substrates for liquid crystals, glass substrates for photomasks, ceramic substrates for manufacturing thermal heads, liquids such as photoresist liquid, photosensitive polyimide resin, dyes for color filters, etc. A substrate processing apparatus for forming a thin film on the surface is known. As a substrate edge cleaning device used in this type of substrate processing apparatus
The substrate edge cleaning device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 114555 discloses
A substrate holding portion that holds the substrate from below, a solvent discharge nozzle that discharges a solvent to the edge of the substrate, a suction pipe that sucks a dissolved substance that is a dissolved unnecessary thin film and the discharged solvent,
And a drive means for relatively moving the solvent discharge nozzle and the suction pipe along the edge of the substrate. The suction tube is connected to a connecting tube that guides the melt to the drain tank. The connection tube is a flexible hollow duct, and is deformed when the suction tube is moved along with the solvent discharge nozzle along the edge of the substrate by the driving means.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the above conventional configuration,
The unnecessary thin film separated from the substrate surface adheres to the inner surface of the connection tube. If the adhesion amount of the unnecessary thin film increases, the connecting tube becomes clogged and the dissolved substance cannot be sucked, so that a defective substrate is produced, and in order to prevent it, it is necessary to clean the inner surface of the connecting tube. As a conventional cleaning method, the connection tube having the unnecessary thin film attached to the inner surface is removed and immersed in a solution of acetone, MIBK or the like.
Or acetone, MIB in the removed connection tube
The inner surface is cleaned by filling K etc. and shaking the connection tube. However, these cleaning methods need to be performed with the apparatus stopped, thus reducing the operating rate of the apparatus.

An object of the present invention is to prevent the production of defective substrates and increase the operating rate of the device.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for cleaning an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface, the apparatus including a substrate holding means, a solvent discharging means, a suction means, and an edge cleaning. And a suction means cleaning means. The substrate holding means holds the substrate, and the solvent discharging means discharges the solvent to the edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means to dissolve the unnecessary thin film. The suction means sucks the dissolved material composed of the dissolved unnecessary thin film and the discharged solvent. The edge cleaning means operates the solvent discharge means and the suction means to clean the edge of the substrate. The suction means cleaning means operates the solvent discharging means and the suction means to clean the suction means. In the present invention, the edge cleaning means moves the solvent discharging means and the suction means relatively along the substrate edge, and the suction means cleaning means includes the solvent discharging means and the suction means. Is moved outside the edge of the substrate to operate. According to a third aspect of the present invention, the timing setting means for setting the operation timing of the suction means cleaning means is further provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a step of discharging the solvent toward the edge of the substrate having a thin film formed on the surface thereof, and sucking the dissolved material by suction means to wash the edge of the substrate, While sucking the solvent, the solvent is sucked by the suction means to wash the suction means. The fifth aspect includes a step of moving the suction means to the outside of the edge of the substrate before the suction means cleaning step.

[0007]

In the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the edge of the substrate is cleaned by the edge cleaning means, the solvent discharging means and the suction means, and the suction means cleaning means, the solvent discharging means and the suction means suck the means. To wash. In claim 2,
The substrate edge cleaning means relatively moves the solvent discharging means and the suction means along the substrate edge while operating the solvent discharging means and the suction means, and the suction means cleaning means moves the solvent discharging means and the suction means outside the edge of the substrate. Move and operate. In the third aspect, the timing setting means sets the operation timing of the suction means cleaning means.

In the method for cleaning the suction means of the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to the present invention, the solvent is discharged toward the edge of the substrate having the thin film formed on the surface thereof, and the melted material is sucked by the suction means. At the same time as cleaning the edge, the solvent is discharged and the solvent is sucked by the suction means to wash the suction means. In the fifth aspect, the suction means is moved to the outside of the edge of the substrate before the suction means cleaning step.

[0009]

1 and 2, a square substrate processing apparatus adopting an embodiment of the present invention comprises a spin coater 2 for forming a thin film of a photoresist solution on the surface of a square substrate 1.
And a substrate edge cleaning device 3 that removes unnecessary thin films from the front and back edges of the rectangular substrate 1 on which the thin film is formed, and an oven 4 that dries the rectangular substrate 1. Substrate transfer robots 5 and 6 for holding and transferring the rectangular substrate 1 are arranged between the spin coater 2 and the substrate edge cleaning device 3 and between the substrate edge cleaning device 3 and the oven 4, respectively. Has been done.

The spin coater 2 drops the photoresist liquid on the center of the surface of the rectangular substrate 1 and then rotates the rectangular substrate 1 to diffuse the photoresist liquid over the entire surface of the substrate, and the photoresist is spread over the entire surface of the substrate. This is a device for applying liquid. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the substrate edge cleaning device 3 includes a substrate holding unit 8 for mounting a rectangular substrate 1 having a thin film formed on its surface by a spin coater 2 on its upper surface and vacuum-sucking it. A substrate edge cleaning tool 9 arranged at four locations around the substrate holding portion 8, a fixed frame 10 for horizontally movably supporting each substrate edge cleaning tool 9, and each substrate edge cleaning tool 9. It has a horizontal drive mechanism 11 that moves in synchronization with the horizontal direction.

The substrate edge cleaning tool 9 is, as shown in FIG.
It is supported by the L-shaped support arm 12. Support arm 12
Are movably supported by a pair of upper and lower guide rails 13. The guide rail 13 is a horizontally extending member provided on the inner wall of the box-shaped fixed frame 10 having an open upper portion in a square shape in plan view. As shown in FIG. 5, the substrate edge cleaning tool 9 includes a nozzle mounting bracket 15 that is adjustably fastened on a support arm 12 in the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 5).
An exhaust block 16 that is vertically adjustably fastened to the nozzle mounting bracket 15, an upper nozzle block 17 that is attached to an upper front portion of the exhaust block 16, and a front side surface of the exhaust block 16 that faces the upper nozzle block 17. And the lower nozzle block 18 fastened together.

The nozzle mounting bracket 15 is an L-shaped member, and a relay manifold 19 is mounted on the back side (left side in FIG. 5) of the nozzle mounting bracket 15. The exhaust block 16 is
It has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped block main body 20 in which exhaust holes 23 are vertically formed, and a lid member 21 that seals the upper portion of the block main body 20. FIG. 5 of the block body 20
On the right side, a lower portion of the exhaust port 22 that can face the rectangular substrate 1 supported by the substrate holding portion 8 is formed. Exhaust port 22
Is open to the right in FIG. 5 so as to be able to face the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 supported by the substrate holder 8. Exhaust port 2
2 communicates with the upper portion of the exhaust hole 23.

The upper nozzle block 17 has a liquid reservoir 30 and an air reservoir 31 extending in the depth direction of FIG. 5, and both reservoirs 30 and 31 are arranged horizontally and in parallel with each other. The liquid reservoir 30 includes eight solvent ejection nozzles 32 that eject the solvent toward the surface of the rectangular substrate 1, and the liquid reservoir 30.
Is connected to a solvent supply pipe 33 that supplies a solvent toward the. The solvent supply pipe 33 is connected to a solvent tank (not shown) via the relay manifold 19. When the solvent discharge valve 73 shown in FIG. 7 is opened, the solvent is supplied from the solvent tank to the solvent supply pipe 33. In the air reservoir 31,
The eight gas nozzles 34 and the gas supply pipe 35 are connected. The gas supply pipe 35 is connected to a nitrogen gas source (not shown) via the relay manifold 19. When the gas discharge valve 74 shown in FIG. 7 is opened, nitrogen is supplied from the nitrogen gas source to the gas supply pipe 35. Gas nozzle 34
Is provided closer to the center side (right side in FIG. 5) of the rectangular substrate 1 than the solvent discharge nozzle 32, and by discharging nitrogen gas in a spot shape toward the edge of the substrate, the solvent and the dissolved substance are discharged onto the substrate. Blow away from the edges.

The lower nozzle block 18 is fastened to the front side surface of the block body 20. Lower nozzle block 1
8 has eight solvent discharge nozzles 36. Similar to the solvent discharge nozzle 32, the solvent discharge nozzles 36 are arranged to face each other in the moving direction. The solvent discharge nozzle 36 is
It is connected to a solvent tank (not shown) via the solvent supply pipe 37 and the relay manifold 19.

An upper end of a connecting tube 40 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is connected to the exhaust hole 23. Connection tube 4
0 is a flexible hollow duct. The lower end of the connection tube 40 is connected to a drain tank 55 via a pipe 54 as shown in FIG. The drain tank 55 is connected to a vacuum pump 57 via a pipe 56. As a result, when the vacuum pump 57 is operated during cleaning of the edge of the rectangular substrate 1, the dissolved material composed of the unnecessary thin film and the solvent sucked from the exhaust port 22 passes through the connection tube 40 and the pipe 56 to the drain tank 55. It is stored.

The horizontal drive mechanism 11 is, as shown in FIG.
It has an electric motor 41 arranged at one corner of the fixed frame 10. The electric motor 41 has a bracket 42.
It is fixed to. A drive pulley 43 is linked to the drive shaft of the electric motor 41. There is one driven pulley 44 at the corner of the fixed frame 10 corresponding to the installation position of the electric motor 41, and two driven pulleys 44 at each of the fixed frames 10 corresponding to the other three corners. Each is provided. A pair of upper and lower annular wires 45 are wound around the drive pulley 43 and the driven pulley 44. The support arms 12 are respectively connected to predetermined four positions of the wire 45. As a result, the forward / reverse rotation of the electric motor 41 causes the support arm 12 to reciprocate along the guide rail 13, and the substrate edge cleaning tool 9 to horizontally reciprocate along the edge of the rectangular substrate 1.

Incidentally, in FIG. 4, each substrate edge cleaning tool 9
Is located at the origin position. At this origin position, each substrate edge cleaning tool 9 is arranged outside the rectangular substrate 1, and the nozzle blocks 17 and 18 do not sandwich the substrate edge. As shown in FIG. 6, this substrate processing apparatus has a main body control section 71 that controls the entire apparatus, and a second control section 72 that is connected to the main body control section 71 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication. The electric motor 41, the solvent discharge valve 73, the gas discharge valve 74, the vacuum pump 57, and other input / output devices are connected to the second controller 72.

An input device 75 such as a keyboard is connected to the main body control unit 71 so that various commands can be input. Overall Operation When the rectangular substrate 1 is transported to the spin coater 2 by a transport means (not shown), the rectangular substrate 1 is sucked and held by the substrate holding portion of the spin coater 2. Then, after that, the substrate 1 is rotated and the photoresist liquid is dropped on the surface thereof to form a photoresist thin film on the rectangular substrate 1.

The rectangular substrate 1 on which the thin film is formed is transferred to the substrate edge cleaning device 3 by the substrate transfer robot 5 and placed on the substrate holder 8. When the substrate holder 8 attracts the rectangular substrate 1, the electric motor 41 starts rotating. The substrate edge cleaning tool 9 of the substrate edge cleaning device 3 is arranged at the origin position shown in FIG. 4 at the start of the operation. The rotational force of the electric motor 41 is transmitted to the wire 45,
The support arm 12 attached to the board moves along the guide rail 13, and the four substrate edge cleaning tools 9 move horizontally in synchronization. Immediately before the solvent discharge nozzles 32, 36 of the substrate edge cleaning tool 9 are arranged above and below the long side of the rectangular substrate 1, the solvent is discharged from the solvent discharge nozzles 32, 36. At the same time, nitrogen gas is ejected from the gas nozzle 34 and the inside of the exhaust hole 23 is made to have a negative pressure.

As a result, the solvent discharge nozzles 32, 36
The solvent discharged from dissolves unnecessary photoresist thin films formed on the front and back surfaces of the rectangular substrate 1. The dissolved melt is discharged together with the solvent from the exhaust port 22 to the exhaust hole 23.
Is sucked into. Then, both nozzles 32 and 36 finish discharging the solvent from the long side edges of the rectangular substrate 1, and
Both the ejection of nitrogen gas from the gas nozzle and the suction from the exhaust hole 23 are stopped, and the substrate cleaning tool 9 is moved to a predetermined position. Thereafter, if necessary, the substrate edge cleaning tool 9
Are repeatedly moved a predetermined number of times to repeatedly clean the edge of the substrate.

When the cleaning of the edge of the substrate is completed, the suction on the substrate holding portion 8 is released. After that, the square substrate 1 is transported to the oven 4 by the substrate transport robot 6. In the oven 4, these are heat-treated to dry the thin film and transported to the next step. (A) Overall The second controller 72 cleans the edge of the rectangular substrate 1 and the inner surface of the connection tube 40 according to the control flowcharts shown in FIGS.

In step S1 of FIG. 7, initial setting is performed. At the time of this initial setting, for example, the tube cleaning mode is set to the single-wafer mode (described later), and the nozzle block 1
6, 17 are arranged at the origin position shown in FIG. further,
The vacuum pump 57 is turned on. In step S2, it is determined whether or not a mode setting command is issued from the main body control unit 71. The mode setting is performed by the operator from the input device 75 via the main body control unit 71. In step S3, it is determined whether or not a start command is issued from the main body control unit 71. In step S4, it is determined whether the tube cleaning mode is set to the BUSY / OFF time designation mode (hereinafter, referred to as BF time mode) (described later) by the mode setting process (described later). In step S5, it is determined whether or not the tube cleaning mode is set to the time designation mode (described later). In step S6, another process is executed, and the process returns to step S2.

If the main body control unit 71 determines that a mode setting command has been issued, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S7. In step S7, a mode setting process (described later) is executed. When it is determined that the edge cleaning device start command is given from the main body control unit 71, steps S3 to S8.
Move to. In step S8, the edge cleaning process of FIGS. 10 to 12 is executed.

When it is determined that the tube cleaning mode is set to the BF time mode, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S9. In step S9, it is determined whether the designated time has come. If it is determined that the designated time has come, the process proceeds to step S10. In step S10, FIG.
2. Perform the tube washing process of 2. When it is determined that the tube cleaning mode is set to the time designation mode, the process proceeds from step S5 to step S11. Step S1
At 1, similarly to step S9, it is determined whether or not the designated time has been reached. If it is determined that the designated time has come, the process proceeds to step S12 and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed. (B) Mode setting In the mode setting process of step S7, step S of FIG.
At 21, it is determined whether the single-wafer mode is designated. The single-wafer mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is cleaned every time the substrate edge cleaning tool 9 cleans one substrate. In step S22, it is determined whether the number designation mode is designated. The number-of-sheets designating mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is cleaned every time the board edge cleaning tool 9 cleans a predetermined number of boards. In step S23, it is determined whether the cassette end mode (called CE mode) is designated. The CE mode is a mode in which the substrate edge cleaning tool 9 performs cleaning of the connection tube 40 every time when cleaning one cassette of substrates. This mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is cleaned every time the edge cleaning operation of all the substrates housed in one cassette is completed regardless of the number of substrates housed in one cassette. Therefore, for example, if 25 cassettes can be stored in one cassette but only 10 substrates are stored in that cassette, the connection tube 40 is completed when the edge cleaning operation of the 10 substrates is completed. Will be performed. In step S24, it is determined whether a cassette number designation mode (hereinafter, referred to as CN mode) is designated. The CN mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is cleaned every time the substrates stored in a predetermined number of cassettes are cleaned. In this mode, for example, when specified for every 3 cassettes, the connection tube 40 is cleaned every time the edge cleaning operation of the 3 cassettes is completed regardless of the number of substrates accommodated in each cassette. . Therefore, for example, even if one cassette can accommodate 25 substrates, if the three cassettes accommodate 10, 5, and 15 substrates, respectively, as a result, the edge of 30 substrates will end up. When the cleaning operation is completed, the connection tube 40 is cleaned. In step S25, BUSY / ON mode (hereinafter referred to as BN mode)
It is determined whether or not is specified. In step S26,
It is determined whether the BF mode is designated. Step S
At 27, it is determined whether the time designation mode is designated. The time designation mode is a mode in which the tube washing process is executed every designated time regardless of whether the apparatus is automatically operated.

When it is determined that the single-wafer mode is designated, the process proceeds from step S21 to step S28, and the tube cleaning mode is set to the single-wafer mode. When it is determined that the number-of-sheets designation mode has been designated, steps S22 to S2
Then, the process proceeds to 9 and the tube washing mode is set to the number of sheets designating mode. At this time, the number data is also set at the same time. The number-of-sheets data is given from the main body control unit 71. If it is determined that the CE mode has been designated, step S
It moves from 23 to step S30 and sets the tube washing mode to CE mode. If it is determined that the CN mode has been designated, the process proceeds from step S24 to step S31, and the tube washing mode is set to the CN mode. At this time, the data of the number of cassettes is also set. The data of the number of cassettes is given from the main body control unit 71.

When it is determined that the BN mode has been designated, the process proceeds from step S25 to step S32. In step S32, it is determined whether the time is designated. If it is determined that the time has not been designated, the process proceeds to step S33, and the tube cleaning mode is set to the BN mode.
This BN mode is a mode in which the connecting tube 40 is washed only once at the start of automatic operation. If it is determined that the time has been designated, the process proceeds from step S32 to step S34. In step S34, the tube washing mode is set to B.
Set to N time mode. This BN time mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is washed at every designated time during automatic operation.

When it is determined that the BF mode has been designated, the process moves from step S26 to step S35. In step S35, it is determined whether the time is designated. If it is determined that the time is not specified, step S36
Then, the tube washing mode is set to the BF mode. This BF mode is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is washed only once when the automatic operation ends. When it is determined that the time has been designated, steps S35 to S37
Move to. In step S37, the tube cleaning mode is set to the BF time mode. This BF time mode is
This is a mode in which the connection tube 40 is washed at every designated time during the automatic operation stop.

When it is determined that the time designation mode has been designated, the process proceeds from step S27 to step S38, and the tube cleaning mode is set to the time designation mode. (C) Edge cleaning process In the edge cleaning process of step S8 of FIG.
The process of is executed. In step S40 of FIG. 9, BUS
Turn on the Y flag. Further, the variable c indicating the number of cassettes and the variable n indicating the number of substrates are both set to "1".
The BUSY flag is a flag that indicates that the vehicle is in automatic operation.

In step S41, it is determined whether or not the tube cleaning mode is set to the BN mode. In step S43, the electric motor 41 is driven to start moving the nozzle blocks 17 and 18 from the origin position to the end point A of the rectangular substrate 1. In step S44, the gas discharge valve 74 is opened and the supply of nitrogen gas is started. In step S45, the solvent discharge valve 73 is opened to start discharging the solvent. And
In step S46, the nozzle blocks 17 and 18 are moved to the end point A.
To the end point B, and in step S47, the end point B is moved to the end point A to clean the end edge of the rectangular substrate 1. At this time, the dissolved unnecessary thin film and the discharged solvent are stored in the drain tank 55 through the connection tube 40. The unnecessary thin film dissolved at this time adheres to the inner surface of the connection tube 40.

When one scan (reciprocating motion) of the nozzle blocks 17 and 18 is completed, the count value m is decremented in step S48, and it is checked in step S49 whether the decremented count value m becomes "0". to decide. The count value m is the number of scans and is given in advance by the main body control unit 71. If it is not "0", the process returns to step S46, and the nozzle blocks 17 and 18 are moved back and forth again to clean the edge of the rectangular substrate 1.

When the set number of scans is completed, the process proceeds to step S50. In step S50, the solvent discharge valve 7
3 is closed to stop the solvent discharge. In step S51, the process waits until the fixed time T ₁ elapses. When the fixed time T ₁ has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S52, the gas discharge valve 74 is closed, and gas discharge is stopped. Next, the process proceeds to step S53 of FIG.
To the origin position shown in FIG.

In step S54, it is determined whether or not the tube cleaning mode is set to the single wafer mode. In step S55, it is determined whether or not the tube cleaning mode is set to the number-of-sheets designating mode. In step S56, it is determined whether the cleaning of the substrate for one cassette has been completed. Furthermore, in step S57 of FIG. 11, it is determined whether the tube cleaning mode is set to the BN time mode. In step S58, it is determined whether the tube cleaning mode is set to the designated time mode.

In step S59, it is determined whether or not cleaning of all substrates has been completed. If the cleaning of all the substrates has not been completed, steps S59 to S60
Then, the variable n indicating the number of substrates is incremented, and the process returns to step S43 in FIG. If it is determined that all the substrate cleaning processing has been completed, the process proceeds from step S59 to step S74. In step S74, the BUSY flag is turned off. In step S75, it is determined whether the tube cleaning mode is set to the BF mode.
When it is determined that the BF mode is set, step S7
Moving to 6, the tube washing process of FIG. 12 is executed.
Then, the program exits the edge cleaning processing routine, and FIG.
Return to the main routine shown in.

If it is determined in step S41 in FIG. 9 that the BN mode is set, step S42 follows and the tube washing process in FIG. 12 is executed. When it is determined that the single-wafer mode is set in step S54 of FIG. 10, the process proceeds to step S61 and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed. If it is determined in step S55 that the single-wafer designation mode is set, the process proceeds to step S62. In step S62, it is determined whether the number of cleaned substrates has reached the designated number. If the specified number has been reached, the process proceeds to step S63, and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed.

When it is judged that the substrate transfer for one cassette is completed, the process proceeds from step S56 to step S64. In step S64, it is determined whether the tube cleaning mode is set to CE mode. When it is determined that the tube washing mode is set to the CE mode, the process proceeds to step S66 and the tube washing process of FIG. 12 is executed. In step S66, the tube cleaning mode is CN
It is determined whether the mode is set. When it is judged that the tube washing mode is set to CN mode,
Control goes to step S67. In step S67, it is determined whether the designated number of cassettes of substrates have been cleaned.
If it is determined that the substrates of the designated number of cassettes have been cleaned, the process proceeds to step S68 and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed (described later). In step S69, the variable c indicating the number of cassettes is incremented.

When it is determined that the BN time mode is set in step S57 of FIG. 11, the process proceeds to step S70. In step S70, it is determined whether or not the designated time of the BN time mode has been reached. If it is determined that the designated time has been reached, then the flow shifts to step S71, and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed. If it is determined that the designated time mode is set in step S58, the process proceeds to step S72. In step S72, it is determined whether or not the designated time in the designated time mode has been reached. When it is determined that the designated time has been reached, the process proceeds to step S73, and the tube cleaning process of FIG. 12 is executed. (D) Tube cleaning The tube cleaning process is shown in FIG. Step S of FIG.
At 81, the solvent discharge valve 73 is opened and the solvent discharge nozzle 32,
The solvent is discharged from 36. The solvent discharged at this time is sucked from the exhaust port 22 and the exhaust hole 23, passes through the connection tube 40, and is stored in the drain tank 55. At this time, since the nozzles 17 and 18 do not sandwich the end edge of the rectangular substrate 1, only the solvent passes through the inner surface of the connection tube 40. As a result, the inner surface of the connection tube 40 is washed. That is, the adhering matter adhering to the inner surface of the connecting tube 40 is dissolved and flowed. At step S82, the wait for a predetermined time T ₂ has elapsed, closing the solvent discharge valve 73 at step S83.

As described above, since the inner surface of the connecting tube 40 can be cleaned during the automatic operation of the device, the operating rate of the device is not lowered. Further, in this embodiment, since the machine automatically cleans the connection tube 40, the danger to the worker is reduced as compared with the conventional manual cleaning. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the cleaning timing inside the connection tube 40 can be appropriately determined according to various substrate processing conditions, so that the cleaning processing can be performed efficiently.

[Other Embodiments] (a) Instead of the configuration in which each tube cleaning mode is selectively selected, a configuration in which a plurality of tube cleaning modes can be set simultaneously may be adopted. For example, both the BN mode and the number of sheets designation mode may be set. (B) Instead of the configuration in which the main body control unit 71 side is set in advance such as mode setting, an input device such as a keyboard is directly connected to the second control unit 72, and an operator's operation is performed via the input device. It may be configured to receive the mode setting and other setting commands. (C) In the above-described embodiment, the air is continuously exhausted from the exhaust hole 23 during the automatic operation, but it may be specially exhausted for the connection tube 40.

[0039]

In the substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention, the suction means cleaning means actuates the solvent discharging means and the suction means to clean the suction means. Cleaning of the suction means is performed and the operating rate of the device is increased. Further, since the suction means cleaning means moves the solvent discharging means and the suction means to the outside of the edge of the substrate and operates in that state, there is no risk of solvent splashing on the edge of the substrate, and cleaning is performed in parallel with substrate exchange. As a result, the production of defective substrates can be prevented and the operating rate of the device can be increased.

When the timing setting means for setting the operation timing of the suction means cleaning means is provided, the suction means is cleaned in accordance with the suction means cleaning timing set by the timing setting means, so that various conditions are satisfied. Accordingly, the cleaning operation of the suction means can be performed at an appropriate timing.
As a result, the operating rate of the substrate edge cleaning device is increased. In a method for cleaning a suction means of a substrate edge cleaning device according to another aspect of the present invention, the solvent is discharged by the solvent discharging means, and the solvent discharged from the solvent discharging means is sucked to clean the suction means. Since the suction means can be cleaned while the edge cleaning device is in operation, the operation rate of the device is increased.

If the solvent discharge means and the suction means are moved to the outside of the edge of the substrate before the solvent discharge step, there is no risk of the solvent splashing on the edge of the substrate, and the cleaning can be performed in parallel with the substrate exchange. The production of substrates can be prevented and the operation rate of the device is increased.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of a substrate processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a substrate edge cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a substrate edge cleaning device.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a substrate edge cleaning tool.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control system.

FIG. 7 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

FIG. 8 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

FIG. 9 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

FIG. 10 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

FIG. 11 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

FIG. 12 is a control flowchart of a second controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Rectangular Substrate 3 Substrate Edge Cleaning Device 9 Substrate Edge Cleaning Tool 32, 36 Solvent Discharge Nozzle 16 Exhaust Block 55 Drain Tank 40 Connection Tube 71 Main Body Controller 72 Second Controller

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A substrate edge cleaning device for cleaning an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on a surface thereof, comprising substrate holding means for holding the substrate, and an edge of the substrate held by the substrate holding means. A solvent ejecting means for ejecting a solvent to the edge to dissolve the unnecessary thin film; a suction means for sucking a dissolved substance composed of the unnecessary thin film dissolved by the solvent ejecting means and the ejected solvent; and the solvent ejecting Means and the suction means to operate the edge cleaning means for cleaning the edge of the substrate, and a suction means cleaning means for operating the solvent discharging means and the suction means to clean the suction means. A substrate edge cleaning device provided. 2. The edge cleaning means is means for relatively moving the solvent discharging means and the suction means along the substrate edge while operating, and the suction means cleaning means is for discharging the solvent. 2. The substrate edge cleaning device according to claim 1, which is a means for moving the means and the suction means to the outside of the edge of the substrate and operating in that state. 3. The timing setting means for setting the operation timing of the suction means cleaning means is further provided.
Alternatively, the substrate edge cleaning device described in 2. 4. A step of ejecting a solvent toward an edge of a substrate having a thin film formed on its surface and sucking a dissolved substance thereof by a suction means to wash an edge of the substrate, and a solvent ejecting the solvent. And a suction means for cleaning the suction means. 5. The method of cleaning a suction means of a substrate edge cleaning apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a step of moving the suction means to the outside of the edge of the substrate before the suction means cleaning step.