KR20060113430A - Board Carrier - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention provides the board | substrate conveying apparatus which made it possible to hold | maintain the upper surface and lower surface of the both ends of the width direction of a board | substrate with the same force by the edge support roller and the upper mounting roller. A plurality of conveying shafts 3 arranged at predetermined intervals with the axes intersecting with respect to the conveying direction of the substrate, and a plurality of conveying rollers 21 provided on the conveying shaft to support the lower surface of the portion excluding both ends in the width direction of the substrate; And an end support roller 22 for supporting the lower surfaces of both ends of the width direction of the substrate, and an axis line disposed above the one end and the other end of the transport shaft, respectively, in parallel with the transport shaft, and one end corresponding to both ends of the transport shaft. A pair of upper mounting roller shafts 25 rotatably supported, a pair of upper mounting rollers 27 provided on the other end of the upper mounting roller shaft to press the upper end surface in the width direction of the substrate, and the upper mounting roller shaft It is provided with the weight 29 which adjusts the pressing force which the upper mounting roller presses on the upper surface of the board | substrate.

Description

Substrate Carrier {APPARATUS FOR CARRYING SUBSTRATES}

1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a processing apparatus showing an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

It is an enlarged view of the edge part of a conveyance shaft and an upper mounting roller shaft.

4 is an enlarged view of an end support roller and an upper mounting roller.

[Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings]

(2)… Conveying apparatus (3)... Carriage Shaft,

(21)... Conveying roller, 22... End support rollers,

(25)... Top-mounted roller shaft, 27... Top mounted rollers,

(29)... wait

This invention relates to the board | substrate conveyance apparatus used for conveying the glass substrate used for a liquid crystal display device, etc., for example.

In the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device, after a process of etching a glass substrate, the process of peeling the resist used as a mask after an etching process, and also an etching process, a peeling step, etc., a contaminated substrate is wash | cleaned with a cleaning liquid. There is a step to say. In the processing process of such a board | substrate, the sheet | leaf method which processes while conveying a board | substrate one by one is employ | adopted in many cases.

When processing a board | substrate by the sheet | leaf method, the processing apparatus which sprays a process liquid from a shower nozzle on the upper surface, a lower surface, or an upper surface, conveying a board | substrate, or contacts a cleaning brush is known. This processing apparatus has a chamber, and the conveying apparatus for conveying the said board | substrate along a predetermined direction is provided in this chamber. Moreover, when conveying-processing a board | substrate sequentially using several processing apparatuses, the conveying apparatus for conveying a board | substrate from the upstream processing apparatus to the downstream processing apparatus is used also between adjacent processing apparatuses.

The said conveying apparatus is formed in the conveyance direction of a board | substrate so that several conveyance shafts may rotate at predetermined intervals. A plurality of conveying rollers are formed in the conveying shaft at predetermined intervals in the axial direction. And the said board | substrate is conveyed by a conveyance roller by rotationally driving the said conveyance shaft.

When the conveying apparatus used for the processing apparatus supports only the lower surface of the substrate with a plurality of conveying rollers, the treatment liquid is sprayed on the substrate or the cleaning brush is contacted, and the substrate receives resistance from the processing liquid or the cleaning brush. Due to the resistance, the substrate may not be smoothly transported at a constant speed, or both ends of the substrate may float and be damaged.

Therefore, when conveying a board | substrate, not only the lower surface of this board | substrate is supported by the conveyance roller provided in the conveyance shaft, but the end lower surface of the board | substrate is supported by the end support roller, and the upper end part surface of the board | substrate supported by this end support roller. Is pressed with an upper mounting roller.

Thereby, even if a board | substrate receives resistance from a process liquid or a cleaning brush, it is reliably conveyed at the fixed speed, or both ends of a board | substrate do not float and are damaged.

Conventionally, the upper mounting roller is provided at both ends of the upper mounting roller shaft. The upper mounting roller shaft is formed on the upper side of the conveying shaft located on the upstream side of the shower nozzle and the cleaning brush, in parallel with the conveying shaft, and both ends are rotatably supported.

One end of the upper mounting roller is formed with a gear meshing with a gear provided at one end of the transfer shaft. As a result, when the conveyance shaft is driven to rotate, the upper mounting roller is rotated in synchronization with the conveying shaft, so that the upper and lower surfaces of both ends in the width direction are sandwiched by the end supporting roller and the upper mounting roller to ensure the conveyance. .

The upper mounted roller shaft was set to the same length as the conveyance shaft. However, in recent years, since a substrate tends to be enlarged, the conveyance shaft is lengthened, and accordingly, the upper mounting roller shaft is also lengthened and weighted.

When the upper mounting roller shaft is lengthened and weighted, it is inevitable that warpage occurs in the upper mounting roller shaft on which both ends are rotatably supported. The curvature which arises in an upper mounting roller shaft may not become the same in the both ends provided with a pair of upper mounting rollers. In that case, a nonuniformity arises in the pressing force of the both ends of the width direction of a board | substrate by a pair of upper mounting roller. When nonuniformity arises in the pressing force of the width direction both ends, a board | substrate may not be conveyed straight and may cause meandering, and as a result, a board | substrate may be damaged.

According to the present invention, the upper mounting roller shaft on which the upper mounting roller is provided is divided into two left and right, and the upper mounting roller shaft provided on each upper mounting roller shaft is adjusted to adjust the pressing force to press the end portion in the width direction of the substrate. It is providing the board | substrate conveying apparatus which made it possible to press the both ends of the width direction of a board | substrate substantially equally by making it possible.

This invention is a conveying apparatus which conveys a board | substrate to a predetermined direction,

A plurality of conveyance shafts rotatably supported at both ends in the axial direction and arranged at predetermined intervals with the axes intersecting with respect to the conveying direction of the substrate;

A plurality of conveying rollers provided on the conveying shaft and supporting a lower surface of a portion excluding both ends in the width direction of the substrate;

An end support roller provided on the conveying shaft and supporting lower surfaces of both ends in the width direction of the substrate;

A pair of upper mounting roller shafts each of which has an axis line disposed in parallel with the conveying shaft above one end of the conveying shaft and the other end thereof so that one end corresponding to both ends of the conveying shaft is rotatably supported;

A pair of upper mounting rollers provided at the other end of each upper mounting roller shaft and pressing the upper end surface of the width direction of the substrate supported by the end supporting roller in the width direction;

The weight is provided on the upper mounting roller shaft, the upper mounting roller to adjust the pressing force for pressing the upper surface of the substrate

It is in the board | substrate conveyance apparatus provided with.

According to the present invention, it is possible to divide the upper mounting roller shaft from side to side and shorten it so as not to cause warping by weight, and to provide weight to each upper mounting roller shaft, and to apply a pressing force to the substrate by the weight. Since it is set as it is, it becomes possible to press evenly the upper surface of the both ends of the width direction of a board | substrate with a pair of left-right upper mounting rollers.

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

1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a processing apparatus for treating a substrate with a processing liquid, and FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view thereof. The processing apparatus is provided with a chamber 1. In this chamber 1, the conveying apparatus 2 for conveying the board | substrate W shown by the dashed line in FIG. 1 in the predetermined direction is provided. This conveying apparatus 2 has several conveyance shafts which positioned the axis line in the substantially perpendicular direction with respect to the conveyance direction of the board | substrate W (direction shown by the arrow X in FIG. 2), In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. The shaft 3 is arrange | positioned at predetermined intervals along the said conveyance direction.

And as shown in FIG. 2, the carrying inlet 1a is formed in the end of the conveyance direction of the board | substrate W in the chamber 1, and the carrying out opening 1b is formed in the other end. The carrying in opening 1a and the carrying out opening 1b are opened and closed by a shutter (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting member 4 of a band board is arrange | positioned at the both ends of the width direction in the said chamber 1 along the conveyance direction of the board | substrate W which intersects the width direction. A bearing 5 is provided in the attachment member 4, and both ends of each conveyance shaft 3 are rotatably supported by the pair of bearings 5 corresponding to the width direction in the chamber 1, respectively.

Both ends of each of the conveying shafts 3 protrude from the bearing 5, and a power transmission shaft 6 rotatably supported by a bearing (not shown) is provided below the protruding end of one end of the conveying shaft 3 to move the axis of the substrate W. It is arrange | positioned along a conveyance direction. The first bevel gear 7 is formed in one end which protrudes from the bearing 5 of each conveyance shaft 3.

The power transmission shaft 6 is provided with a second bevel gear 8 meshed with each of the first bevel gears 7.

A driven sprocket 11 is provided in the middle portion of the power transmission shaft 6. On the outside of the chamber 1 corresponding to the position where the driven sprocket 11 is installed, a conveying drive source 12 in which a motor and a reducer are integrated is provided. The drive sprocket 14 is provided in the output shaft 13 of this drive source 12 for conveyance. The drive sprocket 14 and the driven sprocket 11 are provided with a chain 15. Thereby, when the said conveyance drive source 12 is operated, each conveyance shaft 3 is rotationally driven by the predetermined direction via the chain 15 and the 1st, 2nd bevel gears 7 and 8.

The machine room 18 is provided in the width direction both outer surfaces of the said chamber 1, respectively. And the chamber 1 becomes the conveyance chamber 19 which conveys the board | substrate W. As shown in FIG. Both ends of the conveyance shaft 3 are located in the machine room 18. Thereby, even if dust etc. generate | occur | produce from the bearing 5 and the bevel gears 7 and 8 meshed with each other, the conveyance chamber 19 which conveys the board | substrate W of the chamber 1 is carried out. It is to be able to prevent the spread.

And the part which the both ends of the said conveyance shaft 3 penetrates from the conveyance chamber 19 to the machine room 18 is blocked by the fork-shaped partition board 20. As shown in FIG. The partition plate 20 prevents dust generated in the machine room 18 from entering the transfer chamber 19.

In the axial direction intermediate part of the said conveyance shaft 3, three conveyance rollers 21 are provided in this Example by predetermined space | interval, and an edge part is respectively provided in the part corresponding to the both ends of the width direction of the said conveyance chamber 19, respectively. The support roller 22 is formed. 3 and 4, the stepped portion 23 is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the end support roller 22, and the bottom surface of both ends in the width direction of the substrate W is supported by the stepped portion 23. . Thereby, the board | substrate W is conveyed along a predetermined direction, without meandering by the said step part 23. As shown in FIG.

As shown to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, in the upper part of the axial direction both ends of the two conveyance shaft 3 located in the conveyance direction middle part of the board | substrate W of the chamber 1 among the some conveyance shaft 3, A pair of upper mounting roller shaft 25 is provided in parallel with the conveyance shaft 3 and an axis line, respectively.

One end of the pair of upper mounting roller shafts 25 is rotatably supported by a bearing 26 provided on the mounting member 4. At the other end of the upper mounting roller shaft 25, an upper mounting roller 27 is formed at a position facing the end supporting roller 22. As shown in FIG.

An O-ring 28 as an elastic pressing member is detachably attached to the upper mounting roller 27 at a position facing the step portion 23 of the end supporting roller 22. Between this O-ring 28 and the said step part 23, the clearance gap G in which the edge part of the width direction of the board | substrate W to be conveyed is inserted is formed.

A weight 29 is slidable in the axial direction on the upper mounting roller shaft 25 and is formed to be fixed at a predetermined slide position by the screw 30. The upper mounting roller shaft 25 has a cantilever structure by the bearing 26.

Therefore, when the screw 30 is loosened to slide the weight 29 and the fixing position thereof is adjusted, the O-ring provided on the stepped portion 23 of the end support roller 22 and the upper mounting roller 25 is provided. The interval G between the 28 can be set to a predetermined size. That is, the pressing force which presses the upper surface of the edge part of the width direction of the board | substrate W by the O-ring 28 can be set.

And inside the chamber 1, processing means, such as a brush cleaning apparatus (not shown) which processes a board | substrate W, is provided in front of the conveyance direction of the board | substrate W in which the said top mounting roller shaft 25 was provided. Thereby, the board | substrate W is processed by the said processing means in the state which the upper surface and the lower surface of the both ends of the width direction hold | maintained by the edge part support roller 22 and the upper mounting roller 27 as mentioned later.

First spur gears 31 are fitted to both ends protruding from the bearing 5 of the transfer shaft 3, respectively. A second spur gear 32 meshing with the first spur gear 31 is fitted to an end projecting from the bearing 26 of the upper mounting roller shaft 25. Therefore, when the conveyance shaft 3 is rotationally driven by the conveyance drive source 12, the pair of upper mounting roller shafts 25 will be reversed through the 1st, 2nd spur gears 31 and 32 by the rotation. It is supposed to rotate.

The substrate W supplied into the chamber 1 from the delivery opening 1a to the conveying apparatus 2 of such a structure is the conveyance roller 21 and the edge part support roller 22 provided in the conveyance shaft 3 which are rotationally driven. By this, the lower surface is supported and conveyed.

The board | substrate W conveyed in the chamber 1 is a part of the said end support roller (Before being conveyed to processing means, such as a brush cleaning apparatus (not shown) which processes the board | substrate W provided in the intermediate part in the chamber 1). The upper surface of the both ends of the width direction with which the lower surface was supported by 22 is hold | maintained by the upper mounting roller 27. As shown in FIG.

Thereby, since both ends of the width direction of the board | substrate W are pinched by the edge part support roller 22 and the upper mounting roller 27, and pass through a processing means, even if it receives the resistance at the time of a process from the said processing means, In addition to preventing the end from being floated and damaged, the conveyance speed is uniformly conveyed by the resistance received from the processing means.

The pair of upper mounting rollers 27 are formed at the other ends of the paired upper mounting roller shafts 25 respectively. The weight 29 is formed in each upper mounting roller shaft 25 so that positioning adjustment is possible along the axial direction.

Thereby, when the said weight 29 is moved to the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, and the mounting position is adjusted, the pressing force which presses the upper surface of the both ends of the width direction of the board | substrate W by each upper mounting roller shaft 25 is adjusted. Can be.

That is, since the upper mounting roller shaft 25 is divided into left and right pairs, one end thereof is in a cantilever state supported by the bearing 26. Therefore, if the position of the weight 29 is adjusted, the amount of warpage of the other end portion in which the upper mounting roller 27 is provided can be changed. Thereby, the space | interval G of the step part 23 of the O-ring 28 and the edge part support roller 22 can be changed.

Therefore, when adjusting the position along the axial direction of the weight 29 provided in the pair of upper mounting roller shaft 25, the pressing force which the pair of left and right upper mounting rollers 27 presses on the upper surface of the both ends of the width direction of the board | substrate W Can be set approximately equally.

When both ends of the width direction of the board | substrate W are pressed by substantially the same pressing force by a pair of upper mounting roller 27, it becomes possible to convey the board | substrate W straight without meandering in the width direction. Moreover, even if the step part 23 is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the edge part support roller 22, it can suppress that the board | substrate W meanders in the width direction.

The upper surface of the both ends of the width direction of the board | substrate W is elastically pressed by the O-ring 28 provided in the upper mounting roller 27. As shown in FIG. Therefore, it can pressurize reliably, without damaging the edge part of the width direction of the board | substrate W.

Since the o-ring 28 cannot be deteriorated with use, it is necessary to replace the o-ring 28 in that case.

The upper mounting roller shaft 25 provided with the upper mounting roller 27 is divided into a left and right pair, and the upper mounting roller 27 is provided at an end thereof. Therefore, the O-ring 28 can be attached and detached with respect to the upper mounting roller 27 simply and easily. That is, it becomes possible to perform the replacement operation of the O-ring 28 quickly.

When the conveyance shaft 3 is rotationally driven, the pair of left and right upper mounting roller shafts 25 are forcibly rotated through the first and second spur gears 31 and 32, respectively. That is, the upper mounting roller 27 is forcibly rotated together with each upper mounting roller shaft 25.

Therefore, the upper surface of both ends of the width direction is not only maintained by the pair of left and right upper mounting rollers 27, but the conveyance force is given to the substrate W. Therefore, even if the upper mounting roller shaft 25 is divided into two, and the upper mounting roller 27 is provided in each upper mounting roller shaft 25, the board | substrate W can be reliably conveyed in a stable state.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but for example, one end of the upper mounting roller shaft 25 is supported by one bearing 26, but depending on the length of the upper mounting roller shaft 25, One end may be supported by a pair of bearings spaced at predetermined intervals. When supported by a pair of bearings, even if the upper mounting roller shaft 25 is in a cantilever state, the upper mounting roller shaft 25 can be supported in a relatively stable state, that is, in a state where vibration is low.

As described above, according to the present invention, the upper mounting roller shaft on which the upper mounting roller is provided is divided into two left and right and shortened, and further, the upper mounting roller provided on each upper mounting roller shaft has an end portion in the width direction of the substrate. By making it possible to adjust the pressing force for pressurizing the substrate, it is possible to provide a substrate conveying apparatus capable of substantially evenly pressing both end portions in the width direction of the substrate.

Claims (5)

As a conveying apparatus which conveys a board | substrate to a predetermined direction, A plurality of conveyance shafts rotatably supported at both ends in the axial direction and arranged at predetermined intervals with the axes intersecting with respect to the conveying direction of the substrate; A plurality of conveying rollers provided on the conveying shaft and supporting a lower surface of a portion excluding both ends in the width direction of the substrate; An end support roller provided on the conveying shaft and supporting lower surfaces of both ends in the width direction of the substrate; A pair of upper mounting roller shafts each of which has an axis line disposed in parallel with the conveying shaft, one end portion corresponding to both ends of the conveying shaft rotatably supported above one end and the other end of the conveying shaft; A pair of upper mounting rollers provided on the other end of each upper mounting roller shaft to press the upper end surface of the width direction of the substrate supported by the end supporting roller in the width direction; The weight is provided on the upper mounting roller shaft, the upper mounting roller to adjust the pressing force for pressing the upper surface of the substrate Substrate conveying apparatus provided with. The method of claim 1, And said weight is formed so as to be capable of positioning adjustment along the axial direction of said upper mounting roller shaft. The method of claim 1, The said conveyance shaft is rotationally driven by a drive mechanism, and the said pair of upper mounting roller shafts are the structures by which rotation of the said conveyance shaft is transmitted by the power transmission mechanism, The board | substrate conveying apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 1, A substrate conveying apparatus, wherein an elastic pressing member for pressing an upper end surface in the width direction of the substrate is detachably attached to an outer circumferential surface of the upper mounting roller. The method of claim 4, wherein A stepped portion is formed at an outer circumferential surface of the end supporting roller at a position facing the elastic pressing member, and a gap is formed between the stepped portion and the elastic pressing member in which an end portion in the width direction of the substrate is inserted. Board | substrate conveying apparatus.

Images