JP4456665B2 - Static elimination system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a static elimination system, and more particularly to a static elimination system that removes surface static electricity from a large glass substrate in which a static eliminator and a robot arm are combined.

  Flat panel displays such as PDP (Plasma Display Panel), LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) have been attracting more and more attention due to the demand for weight reduction, thinning, high resolution and low radiation. In order to ensure good production quality and yield, each process of the production process is important.

  Taking a TFT-LCD (thin film transistor liquid crystal display) as an example, static electricity often occurs on the glass substrate due to contact or friction during the transfer process between processes. Even a small amount of static electricity may cause contamination by attracting fine particles around the electric field. In addition, the electric charge accumulates due to static electricity, and when it reaches a certain amount, it may discharge instantly and destroy the semiconductor element on the glass substrate. Therefore, static elimination must always be performed in the process of manufacturing a glass substrate. In addition, since a glass substrate is accommodated in a cassette, it is not without the possibility that static electricity will generate | occur | produce in the process of transporting a cassette. In the subsequent process, static electricity often occurs in the process of placing the cassette in the cassette station of the production apparatus (the cassette station corresponds to 2 to 4 cassette ports) and taking out the substrate with the robot arm. Therefore, the conventional technology employs a method in which a bar-type static eliminator is provided around the cassette port and the static eliminator is always operated regardless of the presence or absence of a cassette in the cassette port.

  FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a conventional bar type static eliminator. According to FIG. 1, the bar-type static eliminator 2 applies an alternating high voltage 4 to a needle electrode (discharge needle) 6 to cause corona discharge between the discharge needle 6 and the ground surface to generate ions. Subsequently, compressed dry air (CDA) is passed through the inside of the bar, and ions from the discharge needle 6 are blown off to the surface of the glass substrate 8, and the surface of the glass substrate 8 is electrically neutralized to remove static electricity.

  In the prior art, the installation of the bar type static eliminator is determined by the area of the glass substrate, the distance between the static eliminator and the glass substrate, and the angle of the static eliminator. Therefore, as the glass substrate becomes larger, the number of bar-type static eliminators must be increased, and accordingly, the amount of CDA used also increases in direct proportion to the inner diameter of the bar. However, the increase in the bar type static eliminator not only leads to an increase in cost, but also greatly affects the arrangement space of the cassette station. In addition, an increase in the amount of CDA used increases energy consumption and hinders temperature and humidity control in a clean room. Therefore, the goal of static elimination in the flat panel display is not only to improve the effectiveness, but also cost reduction and energy saving are strongly demanded.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a static elimination system that removes surface static electricity from a large glass substrate that combines a static eliminator and a robot arm.

The present invention provides a first static elimination system. The static elimination system is provided with a robot arm, a fork provided at the front end of the robot arm, a link set provided in the robot arm, and a link set, and reciprocates in a fixed range via the link set to remove static electricity. Including a static eliminator.

The present invention provides a second static elimination system. The static elimination system includes a robot arm, a fork provided at the front end of the robot arm, a link set provided on the fork, and a link set. The static elimination system removes static electricity by reciprocating in a fixed range via the link set. Including electrical appliances.

The present invention provides a third static elimination system. The static elimination system includes a robot arm, a fork provided at the front end of the robot arm, and a bar type static eliminator provided on the robot arm.

The present invention provides a fourth static elimination system. The static elimination system includes a first robot arm, a fork provided at a front end of the first robot arm, a second robot arm, a mounting table provided on the second robot arm, and a mounting table, and is reciprocated within a fixed range. And a static eliminator that moves to remove static electricity.

Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following features.
1. This can be realized by using conventional static elimination equipment and technology. For example, a static eliminator and a robot arm are combined, or a static eliminator is installed on the robot arm.
2. Static elimination can be executed at the optimal time. For example, the charge removal can be performed only when a part of the product is peeled off or when a sharp pointed object approaches, ensuring the effectiveness of the charge removal.
3. Neutralization with CDA or only a small amount of CDA. Since the static eliminator according to the present invention performs static elimination at a short distance with respect to a static electricity generation region (for example, the surface and the bottom surface of the glass substrate), the static elimination can be performed only by the surrounding air current without using CDA. Thereby, both the difficulty in controlling the temperature and humidity of the clean room and the energy consumption are alleviated. However, a small amount of CDA can be used to increase the speed of static elimination.
4). The installation of the static eliminator on the robot arm can effectively save the installation space. This solves the problem of the space arrangement of the cassette station as in the prior art and can reduce the cost by reducing the number of static eliminators.

In order to describe the characteristics of such a device in detail, a specific example will be given and described below with reference to the drawings.

Please refer to FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a static elimination system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. According to FIG. 2, the static elimination system 10 has a robot arm 12, and a fork 14 on which a glass substrate 13 is placed is provided at the front end of the robot arm 12. The static eliminator 16 is provided on the robot arm 12 via a link set 18. The static eliminator in this embodiment is of a bar type, a fan type, a high frequency type, a light irradiation type or the like, and the fork 14 includes a plurality of arms 15 on which the glass substrate 13 is placed. The link set 18 connected to the static eliminator 16 has two hinges 20. By controlling the first servo motor 22 and the second servo motor 24 on the hinge 20, the static eliminator 16 is reciprocated along a straight line to scan the entire glass substrate 13. According to this embodiment, when the robot arm 12 places a substrate, the static eliminator 16 is activated, and at the same time, the link set 18 moves the static eliminator 16 to scan the glass substrate 13 and remove static electricity on the surface of the glass substrate 13. .

Please refer to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a static elimination system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. According to FIG. 3, the static elimination system 30 has a robot arm 32, and a fork 34 including a plurality of arms 35 on which a glass substrate 33 is placed is provided at the front end of the robot arm 32. The static eliminator 36 is provided on the robot arm 32 via a link set 38. The static eliminator in this embodiment is of a bar type, a fan type, a high frequency type, a light irradiation type or the like. Unlike the first embodiment, in the second embodiment, the link set 38 includes a groove 40 provided on the arms 35 on both sides of the fork 34, a fixed link 42 having both ends connected to the groove 40 and the static eliminator 36, and a fixed link 42, respectively. And a servo motor 39 provided in one of them. In this embodiment, when the robot arm 32 places the substrate, the static eliminator 36 is activated, and at the same time, the link set 38 moves the static eliminator 36 along the groove 40, and reciprocally scans the glass substrate 33. Remove static electricity on the surface. It should be noted that although three arms are shown in the figure, the present invention is not limited to this, and all of them belong to the scope of the present invention regardless of the number of arms.

Please refer to FIG. 4 to FIG. 4 to 6 are explanatory views showing a static elimination system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. According to FIG. 4, the static elimination system 50 has a robot arm 52, and a fork 54 including a plurality of arms on which a glass substrate 53 is placed is provided at the front end of the robot arm 52. The static eliminator 56 is provided on the robot arm 52 via a fixed base 58. The static eliminator in this embodiment is of a bar type, a fan type, a high frequency type, a light irradiation type or the like. Taking the bar type static eliminator as an example, the static eliminator 56 is activated when the robot arm 52 moves the substrate. At the same time, the CDA is passed through the bar of the static eliminator 56 and an AC voltage is applied to cause a corona discharge with the discharge needle (as shown in FIG. 1) inside the bar of the static eliminator 56. The air charged with the ions is sprayed to neutralize static electricity on the surface of the glass substrate 53. According to FIG. 5, in order to control the effective angle of the static eliminator 56, it is possible to give the fixed base 58 a constant angle. Then, the angle at which the gas is blown is crossed, and positive and negative ions are blown over the entire surface of the glass substrate 53, so that static electricity on the surface of the glass substrate 53 can be removed. The quantity and installation position of the static eliminator 56 according to this embodiment are determined according to the spray angle and the glass area. According to FIG. 6, the static eliminator 66 can be provided on the fixed base 68 below the robot arm 62. Then, the static eliminator 66 can remove static electricity from the bottom surface of the glass substrate 63 from below. Furthermore, the static eliminator 66 can be provided simultaneously above and below the robot arm 62 to remove static electricity on the surface and bottom surface of the glass substrate 63.

Please refer to FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing a static elimination system according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. According to FIG. 7, the static elimination system 70 includes a first robot arm 72, a second robot arm 76, a mounting table 78 provided at the front end of the second robot arm 76, and at least one static eliminator 80 provided on the mounting table. including. A fork 74 including a plurality of arms 75 on which a glass substrate 73 is placed is provided at the front end of the first robot arm 72. The static eliminator 80 is a known type such as a bar type, a fan type, a high frequency type, and a light irradiation type, and is not limited to a specific static eliminator. In this embodiment, before the first robot arm 72 places the substrate, the second robot arm 76 moves in the direction of the lower edge or the upper edge of the glass substrate 73 to perform static elimination, or the first robot arm 72 When the substrate is placed, the first robot arm 72 and the second robot arm 76 can move in the direction of the lower edge or the upper edge at the same time to perform static elimination.

The above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Therefore, any modifications or changes that can be made by those skilled in the art, which are made within the spirit of the present invention and have an equivalent effect on the present invention, shall belong to the scope of the claims of the present invention. To do.

The present invention can be realized only by using conventional static elimination equipment and technology.

It is explanatory drawing showing the conventional bar-type static eliminator. It is explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 2 of this invention. It is 1st explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 3 of this invention. It is 2nd explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 3 of this invention. It is 3rd explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 3 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing showing the static elimination system by Example 4 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2 Bar type static eliminator 4 AC high voltage 6 Discharge needle 8 Glass substrate 10, 30, 50, 70 Static elimination system 12, 32, 52, 62 Robot arm 13, 33, 53, 63, 73 Glass substrate 14, 34, 54, 74 Fork 15, 35, 55, 75 Arm 16, 36, 56, 66, 80 Static eliminator 18, 38 Link set 20 Hinge 22 First servo motor 24 Second servo motor 39 Servo motor 40 Groove 42 Fixed link 58, 68 Fixed base 72 first robot arm 76 second robot arm 78 mounting table

Claims (5)

A robot arm,
A fork provided at the front end of the robot arm;
A link set provided in the robot arm;
A static elimination system, comprising: a static eliminator provided in the link set and reciprocating in a fixed range through the link set to remove static electricity. The static elimination system according to claim 1, wherein the fork includes a plurality of arms. The link set is
A first link having a first hinge and a second hinge connected to the robot arm;
A second link having both ends connected to the second hinge and the static eliminator,
The static elimination system according to claim 1, further comprising a first servo motor provided on the first hinge. The static elimination system according to claim 3, wherein the link set further includes a second servo motor provided at the second hinge. The static eliminator according to claim 1, wherein the static eliminator is a bar type, a fan type, a high frequency type or a light irradiation type static eliminator.