JP3914745B2 - Laser processing object mounting table and laser processing apparatus provided with the same - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a laser processing object mounting table having a mounting part on which a laser processing object is mounted and a support part that supports the mounting part, and a laser processing apparatus including the same.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as this kind of laser processing apparatus, an apparatus having an XY table as shown in FIG. 8 is known. In FIG. 8, an XY table 4 is a movable table 5 as a laser processing object mounting table, and a drive that supports the moving table 5 and moves in the XY directions (left and right directions and front and rear directions in the drawing) by a driving means (not shown). Part 6 and the like. The movable table 5 includes a placement member 5a as a placement portion on which a laser processing object is placed, a support portion 5b that supports the placement member 5a, and the like. The support portion 5b includes a direct support portion 5c that directly supports the mounting member 5a, and an indirect support portion 5d that indirectly supports the support member 5a, and an air chamber 5e is formed therein. The mounting member 5a described above is brought into close contact with the direct support portion 5c constituting the ceiling of the air chamber 5e. The direct support portion 5c and the mounting member 5a are provided with a plurality of suction holes 5g and suction holes 5h that communicate with each other, and the suction hole 5d on the direct support portion 5c further communicates with the air chamber 5e. is doing. When the air in the air chamber 5e is sucked by a suction means (not shown) and the air chamber 5e has a negative pressure, a suction force is generated in the plurality of suction holes 5g provided in the mounting member 5a. The object 100 is sucked and fixed onto the mounting member 5a. The laser processing object 100 fixed in this way is moved in the XY direction on the moving table 5, while the YAG laser light L is locally irradiated by a laser light generating means (not shown), and the irradiated portion is formed. Removed.
[0003]
When the laser processing object 100 is made of a light transmissive material such as ITO (indium tin oxide), the YAG laser light L passes through the laser processing object 100. Then, it reaches the movable table 5 and damages it. Therefore, in the illustrated moving table 5, the mounting member 5a is made of a glass material that is not broken by the YAG laser light L, and the direct support portion 5c is hardly affected by the YAG laser light L (not easily broken). (Product name: Duracon). The YAG laser light L that has passed through the laser processing object 100 further passes through the glass mounting member 5a, and then directly reaches the support portion 5c. The polyacetal resin that directly constitutes the support portion 5c is not completely damaged by the YAG laser beam L, but there is no problem as long as the laser irradiation is performed in units of several milliseconds. Further, the direct support portion 5c is made of polyacetal resin that is strong against the YAG laser light L as described above, and the mounting member 5a reduces the influence of the laser irradiation, so that it is damaged in actual use. There is almost nothing. The reason why the mounting member 5a reduces the influence of direct laser irradiation on the support portion 5c is as follows. That is, the YAG laser light L is emitted so as to be focused on the laser processing object 100, and becomes diffused light when passing through the laser processing object 100. For this reason, the YAG laser light L after transmission is diffused as the distance from the laser processing object 100 increases, and the amount of energy per unit area decreases. Since the glass mounting member 5a is interposed between the laser processing object 100 and the direct support portion 5c, the YAG laser light L directly reaches the support portion 5c after the amount of energy is sufficiently attenuated. In this way, the effect is reduced.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Incidentally, in the conventional moving table 5 shown in FIG. 8, due to the negative pressure generated in the air chamber 5e, not only the laser processing object 100 on the mounting member 5a but also the direct support portion 5c is provided in the air chamber. It is drawn toward 5e. For the purpose of avoiding damage to the indirect support portion 5d made of metal such as aluminum by blocking the YAG laser light L transmitted through the laser processing object 100 or the glass mounting member 5a on the direct support portion 5c. In this case, polyacetal resin with low rigidity is used instead of a metal material with high rigidity. For this reason, the direct support part 5c which continues being pulled toward the air chamber 5e bends slightly toward the air chamber 5e with use. Then, due to this bending, the mounting member 5a and the laser processing target object 100 also follow and bend, resulting in a problem that the processing accuracy is lowered.
[0005]
On the other hand, in the field of electronic circuit components, a thin film-like object such as a glass substrate for a liquid crystal panel may be used as the laser processing object 100, for example. The film-like thin laser processing object 100 cannot be maintained in a planar shape due to its own waist strength, and is easily bent when gripped. And so on. However, in a production line such as an electronic circuit board, the laser-processed object 100 subjected to laser processing often undergoes a post-process such as a solder paste printing process. Under such circumstances, the laser processing object 100 must be taken in and out of the storage case each time in each process, and the transfer operation becomes very troublesome.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above background, and the object of the present invention is to suppress a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the bending of the laser processing object, and to further improve the laser processing object after processing. It is to provide a laser processing object mounting table and a laser processing apparatus including the same that can improve the workability of conveyance.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention of claim 1 provides a mounting unit on which a laser processing object is mounted, a plurality of holes provided in the mounting unit, and a support that supports the mounting unit. And a gas storage chamber communicating with the plurality of holes in the support portion, and the laser processing object on the placement unit is sucked from the plurality of holes by the negative pressure generated in the gas storage chamber. In the laser processing object mounting table to be fixed, the above-described mounting portion that functions as the ceiling portion of the gas storage chamber is configured to be detachable from the supporting portion, and as the supporting portion, a bottom wall, A device having a plurality of internal partition walls that stand up from the bottom wall and divide the gas storage chamber into a plurality of spaces is used, and the above-described placement portion is supported by the internal partition walls .
[0009]
The invention of claim 2 is a laser processing object mounting table for mounting a laser processing object, and laser light irradiation for irradiating laser light toward the laser processing object on the laser processing object mounting table. And a laser processing apparatus for processing the laser processing object by irradiating the laser beam, wherein the laser processing object mounting table is the one described in claim 1 .
[0010]
In these inventions, since the mounting portion is configured to be detachable from the support portion, the processed laser processing object is removed from the support portion together with the mounting portion, and is transported to the subsequent process as it is. It becomes possible. Therefore, it is possible to improve the workability of conveying the laser processed object after processing.
Moreover, about the laser processing target object mounting stand from which the mounting part is removed, a new laser processing target object can be set by attaching another mounting part. In this way, when the mounting portion is handled integrally with the laser processing object, the negative pressure of the gas storage chamber acts on each mounting portion only when the laser processing object is almost laser processed. Therefore, the bending can be suppressed. Furthermore, with respect to the mounting portion that has been slightly deformed in the bending direction after being used for an extremely long time, by discarding the mounting portion, it is possible to eliminate a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the use of the mounting portion. . As a result of the above, it is possible to suppress a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the bending of the laser processing object.
[0011]
Further, in these inventions , in order to support the mounting portion drawn toward the gas storage chamber due to the negative pressure so as not to be bent by the internal partition wall provided in the gas storage chamber, Deformation in the bending direction can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to further suppress a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the bending of the laser processing object.
[0012]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, as a laser processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, implementation of a laser processing apparatus that forms a transparent electrode by removing a part of a transparent conductive film formed on an insulating transparent substrate of a hybrid touch panel into a slit shape A form is demonstrated.
[0013]
First, the basic configuration of this laser processing apparatus will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a laser processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. In the figure, YAG laser light (hereinafter simply referred to as laser light) composed of near-infrared light having a wavelength λ = 1064 [nm] emitted from the YAG laser light source unit 10 controlled by the Q switch 10a is step index type light. The fiber 2 guides the machining head 3. The processing head 3 includes a lens group 3a composed of a plurality of lenses, a head case 3b for housing these, a laser outlet 3c, and the like. The laser beam L that has entered the processing head 3 is emitted toward the laser processing target 100 from the laser outlet 3c while being condensed by the lens group 3a.
[0014]
The laser processing object 100 includes an insulating transparent base material 100c made of transparent glass or plastic material (for example, PET or polycarbonate), and an ITO (indium tin oxide) film or nesa (tin oxide) formed thereon. ) Transparent conductive film 100b made of a film or the like.
[0015]
The laser light L emitted from the laser outlet 3c irradiates and heats and evaporates the transparent conductive film 100b. By this heating and evaporation, the transparent conductive film 100b is partially removed, and a plurality of transparent electrodes are formed on the insulating transparent base material 100c. In the present laser processing apparatus, in the processing head 3, the laser light L is condensed by the lens group 3a to reduce the irradiation area on the laser processing object 100, so that the energy density can be increased to improve the processing efficiency. it can. In addition, since a processing pattern having a small size can be processed, the processing pattern can be miniaturized.
[0016]
The laser processing object 100 on which the transparent conductive film 100b is formed is fixed on the moving table 5 of the XY table 4, and this moving table 5 is driven by a linear motor 6a disposed in the drive unit 6. Thus, it can move two-dimensionally in the horizontal direction in the figure. The YAG laser light source unit 10 and the linear motor 6a are controlled by a control unit 11 including a personal computer 11a, a sequencer 11b, a control circuit board 11c for synchronous operation, and the like. For example, the control unit 11 controls the drive unit of the YAG laser light source unit 10, thereby changing the repetition period of the laser light.
[0017]
The linear motor 4a is driven and controlled by the control unit 11 according to the output of the laser light from the YAG laser light source unit 10 to move the laser processing object 100, or the YAG laser light source according to the moving state of the moving table 5 The output of the laser beam from the unit 10 changes. For example, it is possible to form a uniform processing shape (tapered shape) by keeping the energy density of the laser light on the transparent conductive film 100b constant at the time of acceleration / deceleration at the start or end of movement of the movable table 5. Therefore, the repetition cycle is controlled to change in real time according to the moving speed of the moving table 5. By performing such control, each of the moving bases 5 requires about 100 mm for acceleration and deceleration, and the total moving amount of the moving base 5 is 700 mm × 700 mm. Can be shortened to about 500 mm × 500 mm. This enables slit processing at a processing speed equivalent to or higher than that of conventional etching processing (for example, about 35 to 15 seconds per substrate), improves dimensional accuracy, and improves the accuracy of scorching and unprocessed parts. Occurrence can be prevented. Note that the laser processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is provided with a sensor for detecting the moving distance of the moving table 5, and the linear motor 6a is feedback-controlled based on the output of the sensor.
[0018]
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a touch panel on which an electrode pattern is formed by processing the laser processing object 100 with the laser processing apparatus. FIGS. 3A and 3B are an exploded perspective view and a plan view of the touch panel, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the touch panel has a pair of upper and lower touch panel substrates 101 and 102 with a predetermined height (for example, 9 to 12 μm) spacer 103 so that the transparent electrode made of each transparent conductive film 100 b does not come into contact in a normal state. It is the structure which was made to oppose through. When the touch panel is pressed from above in FIG. 2, the upper touch panel substrate 101 is deformed as indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the transparent electrodes of the upper and lower touch panel substrates 101 and 102 are in contact with each other. From the change in resistance between the upper and lower transparent electrodes due to this contact, it is possible to know whether or not the pressure has been pressed and the pressed position. Further, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, slits 104 and 105 that are orthogonal to each other are formed in each of the upper and lower touch panel substrates 101 and 102 in each transparent conductive film 100 b.
[0019]
The laser processing apparatus according to this embodiment forms slits 104 and 105 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B in the transparent conductive film 100b. The laser processing object 100 on which the transparent conductive film 100b (thickness = about 500 angstroms) is formed on the surface by vacuum deposition, ion plating, sputtering, or the like is directed upward on the transparent conductive film 100b side. Set on top. The transparent conductive film 100b of the set laser processing object 100 is moved in the X and Y directions together with the moving table 5 while being irradiated with laser light with a predetermined spot diameter. In the course of this movement, the laser light irradiated portion is evaporated and removed from the transparent conductive film 100b by the heat generated by the laser light irradiation having a width of several [μm] to 1000 [μm] to insulate each electrode region. Slits 104 and 105 are formed.
[0020]
In the laser processing apparatus having the above configuration, the transparent conductive film 100b is processed to form a plurality of transparent electrodes on the laser processing object 100 (on the transparent base material 100c) without using a photolithography method involving an etching process. Can do. Therefore, the upper and lower touch panel substrates 101 and 102 can be manufactured without polluting the environment with a photoresist developer or an etchant waste solution. Even when the pattern shape of the transparent electrode is changed, a plurality of transparent electrodes corresponding to the pattern can be formed by processing the transparent conductive film 100b based on CAD data without using a light-shielding mask for photolithography. . For this reason, there is a problem in that the lead time is extended due to the resist solution removal work caused by the photolithography method, in which a dedicated light-shielding pattern light-shielding mask must be prepared for each of the touch panel substrates 101 and 102 having different electrode patterns. Therefore, it is possible to respond sufficiently to the so-called on-demand demand for small-quantity production of other varieties.
[0021]
On the other hand, in the electrode processing using the photolithography method, there is a problem in that waste liquid such as a photoresist developer or an etching solution is generated to contaminate the environment. In addition, when changing the pattern of the transparent electrode, it is necessary to newly create a light-shielding mask for photolithography, so that the processing efficiency is poor, and it is difficult to cope with small-quantity production of other types and to reduce the cost. In particular, even when several slits are formed in the transparent conductive film 100b as in a hybrid touch panel, the same photolithography process is required as in the case of a digital touch panel that forms several hundred slits. For this reason, it is difficult to reduce waste liquid and reduce costs despite the small number of processed parts.
[0022]
Next, a characteristic configuration of the laser processing apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing an XY table of the present laser processing apparatus. In the figure, a moving table 5 serving as a laser processing object mounting table of an XY table 4 includes a mounting member 5a serving as a mounting unit on which a laser processing object (not shown) is mounted, as in the prior art. The support part 5b which supports is provided. However, the mounting member 5a has a two-layer structure including a glass layer 51 disposed on the mounting surface side and a polyacetal resin layer 52 disposed on the opposite surface side. Moreover, the support part 5b is formed as an integral body made of aluminum, and does not have a structure separated into a direct support part and an indirect support part as in the prior art. The air chamber 5e in the support portion 5b is partitioned into a plurality of rooms by a plurality of internal partition walls 56, and each room is opened at its upper end. That is, the ceiling part which covers the upper end of the air chamber 5e as a gas storage chamber is not provided. The mounting member 5a plays the role of the ceiling portion. The mounting member 5a is configured to be detachable from the support portion 5b, and functions as a ceiling portion of the air chamber 5e while covering the upper end of the air chamber 5e while being supported by the support portion 5b. Holes 53 are provided in the vicinity of the four corners of the mounting member 5a. When the positioning pin 55 is inserted into these and the tip thereof engages with the recess 54 provided in the support portion 5b, the mounting member 5a is positioned and fixed on the support portion 5b. On the mounting member 5a positioned and fixed in this manner, a laser processing object 100 is mounted as shown in FIG. 5, and laser processing is performed thereon. In the present embodiment, the plane size of each room of the air chamber 5e partitioned by the internal partition wall 56 is 15 × 15 [mm]. Further, the planar dimensions of the mounting member 5a and the support portion 5b are 450 × 350 [mm] and 550 × 550 [mm], respectively.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view partially showing the mounting member 5a. As shown in the drawing, the mounting member 5a is provided with a plurality of suction hole units each including four suction holes 5g provided so as to be centered on four corners of a 10 × 10 [mm] region. The diameter φ of each suction hole 5g is 1.0 [mm].
[0024]
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view partially showing the movable table 5. As shown in the figure, each internal partition wall 56 of the support portion 5b is disposed so as to surround a suction hole unit including four suction holes 5g provided in the mounting member 5a. Is provided with a communication hole 57 for communicating the. By sucking each room through the communication hole 57, a negative pressure is generated in each room.
[0025]
In the movable table 5 having the above configuration, the mounting member 5a is configured to be attachable to and detachable from the support portion 5b. Therefore, the laser processed object 100 after laser processing is mounted together with the mounting member 5a on the support portion 5b. It is possible to remove it and transfer it to the subsequent process as it is. Therefore, the workability of conveying the laser-processed object 100 after processing can be improved. Moreover, about the moving stand 5 after removing the mounting member 5a, the setting of the new laser processing target object 100 is attained by attaching another mounting member 5a. In this way, when the mounting member 5a is handled integrally with the laser processing object 100, the air chamber 5e is only applied to the individual mounting member 5a only when the laser processing object 100 is laser processed. Since negative pressure is applied, the bending can be suppressed. In addition, regarding the mounting member 5a that has been slightly deformed in the bending direction after being used for an extremely long time, by discarding the mounting member 5a, the reduction in laser processing accuracy due to the use of the mounting member 5a can be eliminated. Can do. Further, since the mounting member 5a pulled toward the air chamber 5e due to the negative pressure is supported by the internal partition wall 56 in the air chamber 5e so as not to be bent, the mounting member 5a is deformed in the bending direction. Can be suppressed. As a result, it is possible to effectively suppress a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the bending of the laser processing object 100. In addition, the suppression degree of the bending with respect to the mounting member 5a can be adjusted by adjusting the arrangement pitch of the internal partition walls 56.
[0026]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the laser processing apparatus provided with the step index type as the optical fiber 2 has been described. However, as long as the energy distribution of the laser light can be made uniform by refraction and reflection in the optical transmission path. Other things may be used.
[0027]
Further, although the laser beam is scanned on the transparent conductive film 100b by the movement of the movable table 5, the laser beam is scanned by a scanning mechanism such as a galvanometer mirror while the laser processing object 100 is fixed, or a processing head. You may scan by moving 3.
[0028]
Moreover, although the case where it applied to the process of the transparent conductive film 100b for touch panels was demonstrated, this invention is not limited to a touch panel, For example, it can apply also when processing the transparent conductive film for liquid crystal panels. And the same effect can be obtained.
[0029]
Further, a YAG laser as a laser light source is used for processing the transparent conductive film 100b, but the present invention mainly uses other infrared light lasers such as a CO2 laser, a visible light laser, a high-frequency laser, and the transparent conductive film. The present invention can also be applied when using an ultraviolet laser such as a KrF excimer laser that is removed by ablation.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
According to invention of Claim 1 or 2 , it was excellent that the fall of the laser processing precision resulting from the bending of a laser processing target object was suppressed, and also the conveyance workability | operativity of the laser processing target object after a process could be improved. effective.
[0031]
Furthermore , there is an excellent effect that it is possible to further suppress a decrease in laser processing accuracy due to the bending of the laser processing object.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a laser processing apparatus according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a touch panel manufactured by the laser processing apparatus.
FIG. 3A is an exploded perspective view of the touch panel.
(B) is a plan view of the touch panel.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing an XY table of the laser processing apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the XY table together with a laser processing object.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged plan view partially showing a placement member of the XY table.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view partially showing a moving table of the XY table.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing an XY table of a conventional laser processing apparatus.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Laser generating part 2 Optical fiber 3 Processing head 3a Lens group 3b Head case 3c Laser exit 4 XY table 5 Moving stand (mounting stand)
5a Mounting member 5b Support portion 5e Air chamber (gas storage chamber)
5 g Suction hole 51 Crow layer 52 Polyacetal resin layer 53 Hole 54 Recess 55 Positioning pin 56 Internal partition wall 57 Communication hole 6 Drive part 6a Linear motor 100 Laser processing object 100b Transparent conductive film 100c Transparent base material 101 Upper touch panel substrate 102 Lower touch panel Substrate 103 Spacer 104 Slit 105 Slit

Claims (2)

A mounting unit on which a laser processing object is mounted, a plurality of holes provided in the mounting unit, a support unit that supports the mounting unit, and a gas that communicates with the plurality of holes in the support unit In the laser processing object mounting table that includes the storage chamber and sucks and fixes the laser processing target object on the mounting portion from the plurality of holes by the negative pressure generated in the gas storage chamber,
While the above-mentioned mounting portion that is made to function as a ceiling portion of the gas storage chamber is configured to be detachable from the support portion ,
As the support portion, a bottom wall and a plurality of internal partition walls that rise from the bottom wall and partition the gas storage chamber into a plurality of parts are used.
A mounting table for a laser processing object, wherein the mounting portion is supported by the internal partition wall . Comprising a laser workpiece placing table for placing a Les Za workpiece, and a laser beam irradiating means for irradiating a laser beam toward the laser processing object on the mounting table the laser processing object, the laser beam In a laser processing apparatus for processing the laser processing object by irradiation of
The laser processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the laser processing object mounting table is the one of claim 1 .

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