HK1221701B - Device for transporting and processing sheet substrate - Google Patents

Description

Substrate conveying device and processing device

The present application is a divisional application of a patent application entitled "conveying device for flexible substrate and manufacturing system for display device or electronic circuit" filed on 2012/2/20/h and having an application number of 201280003198.8.

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a conveying device.

This application is based on 2011, 2/24, U.S. provisional application No. 61/446, 150, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

Background

Examples of display elements constituting display devices such as display devices include liquid crystal display elements and organic electroluminescence (organic EL) elements. Currently, Active devices (Active devices) called Thin Film Transistors (TFTs) are formed on the surface of a substrate corresponding to each pixel.

In recent years, a technique of forming a display element on a sheet-like substrate (e.g., a film member or the like) has been proposed. As such a technique, for example, a technique called a reel-to-reel (spool) method (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "reel method") is widely known (for example, see patent document 1). The reel method is a method in which a sheet-like substrate (for example, a tape-like film member) wound around a supply roll on a substrate supply side is fed out, and the fed substrate is wound up by a recovery roll on a substrate recovery side while a desired processing is applied to the substrate by a processing apparatus provided between the supply roll and the recovery roll.

While the substrate is being fed and taken up, for example, a gate electrode, a gate insulating film, a semiconductor film, a source-drain electrode, and the like constituting the TFT are formed using a plurality of processing apparatuses (units) while the substrate is being conveyed using a plurality of conveying rollers, and constituent elements of a display element for a flexible display are sequentially formed on a surface to be processed of the substrate. For example, in the case of forming an organic EL element, a light-emitting layer, an anode, a cathode, a circuit, and the like are formed in this order on a substrate.

Patent document 1: international publication No. 2006/100868.

Disclosure of Invention

However, in the above configuration, the substrate hung in a horizontal manner from the feeding to the winding is long in size, and thus management of the substrate is difficult.

An object of an aspect of the present invention is to provide a conveyance device capable of reducing the burden of management of a substrate during conveyance.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a conveyance device including: a supply roller for delivering a flexible substrate formed in a band shape; a recovery roller for taking up the substrate fed from the supply roller; and a driving unit that drives the supply roller and the recovery roller in a direction intersecting a conveyance direction of the substrate from the supply roller to the recovery roller.

According to the aspect of the present invention, the management load of the substrate during the conveyance can be reduced.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of a conveying device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a part of the configuration of the conveying device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the operation of the conveying device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the conveying device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the conveying device according to the present embodiment.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the conveying device of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a front view showing another example of the conveying device of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing another example of the conveying device of the present invention.

Detailed Description

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

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of a conveying device 1 according to the present embodiment. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which a part of the conveyance device 1 is configured as viewed from a different point of view from fig. 1.

As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the conveying device 1 is a device for conveying a flexible substrate S formed in a belt shape, and is installed on a floor surface FL of a manufacturing plant, for example. The transfer device 1 includes a base (base) ST, a first rail 3, a second rail 4, a substrate feeding mechanism 5, a substrate winding mechanism 6, a rail driving mechanism 7, a roller driving unit 8, and a control unit CONT.

The conveying device 1 is a reel-to-reel system (hereinafter, simply referred to as "reel system") that performs various processes on the surface of a flexible substrate S formed in a belt shape. Such a reel system can be used when a display element (electronic element) such as an organic EL element or a liquid crystal display element is formed on a substrate S. Of course, the carrying device 1 may be used in a system in which elements other than these elements (for example, a solar cell, a color filter, a touch panel, and the like) are formed.

In the following, when the configuration of the conveying device 1 according to the present embodiment is described, an XYZ rectangular coordinate system is set, and the positional relationship of each member will be described with reference to this XYZ rectangular coordinate system. In the following drawings, a plane parallel to the ground surface FL in the XYZ rectangular coordinate system is defined as an XY plane. Let the direction in which the substrate S moves by the reel method (longitudinal direction) in the XY plane be the Y direction, and the direction orthogonal to the Y direction be the X direction. The direction perpendicular to the ground surface FL (XY plane) is defined as the Z-axis direction.

As the substrate S to be processed in the substrate processing apparatus PA, for example, a resin film or a foil (foil) of stainless steel or the like can be used. As the resin film, for example, polyethylene resin, polypropylene resin, polyester resin, Ethylene vinyl copolymer (Ethylene vinyl copolymer) resin, polyvinyl chloride resin, cellulose resin, polyamide resin, polyimide resin, polycarbonate resin, polystyrene resin, vinyl acetate resin, polyethylene terephthalate, stainless foil, or the like can be used.

The substrate S is formed to have a dimension in the short side direction of, for example, about 50cm to 2m, and a dimension in the long side direction (dimension of 1 roll) of, for example, 10m or more. Of course, this size is only an example, and is not limited to this example. For example, the dimension of the substrate S in the short side direction may be 1m or less, 50cm or less, or 2m or more. In this embodiment, a substrate S having a dimension in the short side direction exceeding 2m may be used. The dimension of the substrate S in the longitudinal direction may be 10m or less.

The substrate S is formed to have a thickness of 1mm or less and flexibility, for example. Here, the flexibility means a property that the substrate can be bent without breaking or cracking even if a predetermined force at least about its own weight is applied to the substrate. In addition, for example, the property of bending due to the predetermined force is also included in flexibility. The flexibility varies depending on the substrate material, size, thickness, or the environment such as temperature and humidity. In addition, a single strip-shaped substrate may be used as the substrate S, or a plurality of unit substrates may be connected to form a strip-shaped substrate.

The substrate S is preferably a substrate having a relatively small coefficient of thermal expansion, which is subjected to heat at a relatively high temperature (e.g., about 200 ℃), and which is also substantially unchanged in size (less thermally deformed). For example, an inorganic filler may be mixed in the resin film to reduce the thermal expansion coefficient. Examples of the inorganic filler include titanium oxide, zinc oxide, aluminum oxide, and silicon oxide.

The base 2 has a base part 2a, a leg part 2b, and a support base 2 c. The base unit 2a is mounted on the floor surface FL. The leg portion 2b is provided in plural on the base portion 2a and supports the support base 2 c. The support base 2c is formed in a rectangular shape, for example, and has an opening for mounting the processing device PA and 3 openings 2d provided so as to sandwich the opening in the X direction. That is, 3 openings 2d are provided in the support base 2c along the X direction. In the 3 openings 2d, guide rails 7r extending in parallel to the Y-axis direction are provided. The guide rails 7r are provided in parallel in the X direction at the openings 2d, 2.

The first rail 3 is disposed along the + Y side of the support base 2 c. The first track 3 is divided into 3 unit tracks 3A to 3C. Each of the unit rails 3A to 3C is disposed at a position corresponding to each of the 3 openings 2d of the support base 2C. The X-direction dimension of the unit rails 3A to 3C is a value corresponding to the X-direction dimension of each opening 2 d.

The second rail 4 is disposed along the-Y side of the support base 2 c. The second track 4 is divided into 3 unit tracks 4A to 4C. The unit rails 4A to 4C are disposed at positions corresponding to the 3 openings 2d of the support base 2C, similarly to the unit rails 3A to 3C. The unit rails 4A to 4C have a dimension in the X direction corresponding to the dimension in the X direction of the openings 2d, and are the same as the dimension in the X direction of the unit rails 3A to 3C.

The unit rails 3A to 3C of the first rail 3 and the unit rails 4A to 4C of the second rail 4 are provided in the openings 2d and supported by guide rails 7r extending in the Y direction. In the configuration shown in fig. 1, the unit rails 3A to 3C are supported by the + Y-side end portion of the guide rail 7r, and the unit rails 4A to 4C are supported by the-Y-side end portion of the guide rail 7 r.

The unit rails 3A to 3C of the first rail 3 and the unit rails 4A to 4C of the second rail 4 are arranged parallel to the X-axis direction, respectively. Further, since the guide rail 7r extends parallel to the Y-axis direction, the unit rails 3A to 3C and the unit rails 4A to 4C are movable in the Y-direction on the guide rail 7r while maintaining a state of being parallel to each other. In this way, the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 are configured to be linearly movable on a plane parallel to the XY plane by the guide rail 7 r.

The substrate sending mechanism 5 is disposed on the first rail 3. The substrate feeding mechanism 5 includes a roller support portion 5a and a supply roller 5 b. The roller support portion 5a is connected to the first rail 3 and is provided so as to be movable (guided) in the X direction along the first rail 3. The roller support portion 5a is movable on the unit rails 3A to 3C constituting the first rail 3.

The supply cylinder 5b is rotatably supported by the cylinder support portion 5 a. The supply roller 5b is supported such that the direction of the rotation axis coincides with the direction parallel to the X direction. The substrate S is wound around the supply roller 5b in a reel shape. The substrate S wound around the supply roller 5b is fed in the-Y direction by the rotation of the supply roller 5 b. The supply roller 5b can be rotated by a motor or the like.

The substrate take-up mechanism 6 is disposed on the second rail 4. The substrate winding mechanism 6 includes a roller support portion 6a and a recovery roller 6 b. The roller support portion 6a is connected to the second rail 4 and is provided so as to be movable (guided) in the X direction along the second rail 4. The roller support portion 6a is movable on the unit rails 4A to 4C constituting the second rail 4.

The recovery drum 6b is rotatably supported by the drum support portion 6 a. The recovery drum 6b is supported such that the direction of the rotation axis coincides with the direction parallel to the X direction. The substrate S is wound around the recovery roller 6b in a roll shape. The recovery drum 6b is rotated to wind the substrate S around the recovery drum 6 b. The recovery drum 6b can be rotated by a motor or the like.

The rail drive mechanism 7 moves the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 in the Y direction along the guide rail 7 r. The rail driving mechanism 7 can drive the first rail 3 in the unit rails 3A to 3C and the second rail 4 in the unit rails 4A to 4C. The control device CONT can control the driving amount, driving speed, driving timing, and the like of the rail driving mechanism 7. The rail driving mechanism 7 can move the unit rail 3A and the unit rail 4A toward and away from each other along the guide rail 7 r. Also, the rail drive mechanism 7 can move the unit rail 3B and the unit rail 4B toward and away from each other along the guide rail 7 r. Also, the rail drive mechanism 7 can move the unit rail 3C and the unit rail 4C toward and away from each other along the guide rail 7 r.

The drum driving unit 8 includes a first driving unit 83 and a second driving unit 84. The first driving unit 83 moves the roller support 5a in the X direction along the first rail 3 and rotates the supply roller 5 b. The second driving unit 84 moves the drum supporting portion 6a in the X direction along the second rail 4 and rotates the recovery drum 6 b. The controller CONT can control the first driving unit 83 and the second driving unit 84 individually or synchronously. The control device CONT can control the amount, speed, and timing of driving the first and second driving units 83 and 84.

Next, the operation of the conveying device 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to fig. 3 and the like. Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the operation of the conveying device 1.

First, the operation of hanging the substrate S between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b is described.

In this case, the controller CONT disposes the substrate feeding mechanism 5 on the unit rail 3A of the first rail 3 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 on the unit rail 4A of the second rail 4. By this operation, the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b are disposed so as to be opposed to and parallel to each other in the Y direction.

Next, the substrate S wound in a roll shape is mounted on the supply roller 5 b. The lead Lf having the configuration shown in fig. 3, for example, is attached to the front end Sf of the substrate S, but the lead Lf may be omitted. After the substrate S in the form of a reel is mounted on the supply roller 5b, the control device CONT moves the unit rail 4A of the second rail 4 in the + Y direction. By this action, the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b approach each other.

When the distance between the supply drum 5b and the recovery drum 6b becomes the first distance D1, the control device CONT rotates the supply drum 5b by the first driving unit 83. By this operation, the leading edge Sf of the substrate S is fed out to the recovery roller 6b side, and reaches the recovery roller 6b to be wound around the recovery roller 6 b. Further, the operation of winding the front end Sf of the substrate S around the recovery drum 6b may be automated, but the front end Sf may be manually attached to the recovery drum 6b by using a tape or the like.

After the leading end Sf of the substrate S is hung on the recovery roller 6b, the control device CONT rotates the supply roller 5b and moves the unit rail 4A in the-Y direction until the distance between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b becomes the second distance (the distance at which the substrate winding mechanism 6 reaches the original position). By this operation, the leading end Sf of the substrate S is pulled out in the-Y direction while being hung on the recovery roller 6 b.

After the substrate winding mechanism 6 reaches the home position, the controller CONT stops the movement of the substrate winding mechanism 6. Thereafter, as shown in fig. 4, the controller CONT moves the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 onto the unit rail 3B and onto the unit rail 4B in synchronization with each other by the first driving unit 83 and the second driving unit 84, respectively. Before this operation, the processing device PA is disposed between the unit track 3B and the unit track 4B. At this time, the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 are controlled so that the substrate S laterally hung between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b is given an appropriate tension in the Y direction and is stretched flatly.

The processing apparatus PA includes various processing units for forming, for example, organic EL elements on the surface Sa of the substrate S. Examples of such a processing section include a partition forming device for forming a partition on the surface Sa to be processed, an electrode forming device for forming an electrode for driving an organic EL element, and a light-emitting layer forming device for forming a light-emitting layer.

More specifically, examples thereof include a droplet applying apparatus (e.g., an ink jet type applying apparatus, a spray type applying apparatus, a gravure printing machine, etc.), a film forming apparatus such as a vapor deposition apparatus and a sputtering apparatus, an exposure apparatus, a developing apparatus, a surface modifying apparatus, a cleaning apparatus, and the like. The processing apparatus PA is not limited to the processing section for forming the organic EL element, and a processing apparatus having a processing section for forming another element may be disposed.

The controller CONT rotates the supply roller 5B and the recovery roller 6B in accordance with the processing timing of the processing apparatus PA after the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 are disposed on the unit rails 3B and 4B, respectively. With this operation, the substrate S is fed from the supply roller 5b as indicated by an arrow K2 and is wound up by the recovery roller 6b, and the processing of the processing apparatus PA is performed on the target surface Sa of the substrate S in this state.

The control device CONT adjusts the moving speed of the substrate S moving from the supply roller 5b to the recovery roller 6b in accordance with the processing speed of the processing device PA. For example, the driving speeds of the first driving unit 83 and the second driving unit 84 are adjusted in accordance with the winding diameter R1 of the substrate S wound around the supply drum 5b and the winding diameter R2 of the substrate S wound around the recovery drum 6 b. By this operation, the substrate S is conveyed at a constant conveyance speed.

The control device CONT may adjust the distance between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b in accordance with the processing position of the processing device PA, the Y-direction dimension, or the like. In this case, the controller CONT moves, for example, the unit rail 3B or the unit rail 4B in the Y direction by the rail driving mechanism 7. A part or all of the constituent elements of the display element are sequentially formed on the substrate S by the processing device PA.

After the substrate S is processed, the controller CONT moves the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 onto the unit rail 3C and the unit rail 4C, respectively, in synchronization with each other by the first driving unit 83 and the second driving unit 84. As shown in fig. 5, after the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 are disposed on the unit rail 3C and the unit rail 4C, the movement of the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 is stopped. At this time, the substrate S hung between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b is preferably stretched horizontally without bending.

After stopping the movement of the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6, the controller CONT moves the unit rail 4C in the + Y direction while rotating the recovery roller 6 b. By this operation, the recovery roller 6b takes up the substrate S, and the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b approach each other again.

After the distance between the supply drum 5b and the recovery drum 6b becomes the third distance D2, the controller CONT rotates the supply drum 5b by the first driving unit 83 as shown in fig. 5. In this case, the third distance D2 can be set to be equal to the first distance D1, for example. By this operation, the rear end Se of the substrate S is fed out to the recovery roller 6b side, and reaches the recovery roller 6b to be wound around the recovery roller 6 b. In addition, although the lead Le is attached to the rear end Se of the substrate S in the configuration shown in fig. 5, for example, the lead Le may be omitted.

After the rear end Se of the substrate S is hung on the recovery roller 6b, the control device CONT moves the unit rail 4C in the-Y direction to a second distance (the distance from the substrate winding mechanism 6 to the original position) between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6 b. After the substrate winding mechanism 6 reaches the home position, the substrate S wound around the recovery roller 6b in the form of a reel moves to the next processing apparatus. Alternatively, when all the processes are performed on the substrate S, the substrate S may be removed from the recovery roller 6b and recovered.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, since the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 are provided on the base 2, the supply roller 5b movable on the first rail 3 is provided on the first rail 3, the recovery roller 6b movable on the second rail 4 is provided on the second rail 4, and the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 can be driven by the rail driving mechanism 7, the substrate S can be transported between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b without occupying a space. Thus, the substrate S that is hung up in the transverse direction until the substrate S is fed to and taken up can be prevented from becoming long, and therefore the burden of management of the substrate S during conveyance can be reduced.

The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and appropriate modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 are moved in the direction parallel to the XY plane by way of example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the first rail 3 and the second rail 4 may be configured to be movable in the Z direction.

Fig. 6 is a plan view showing another example of the conveying device 1, and fig. 7 is a side view showing an example of the conveying device 1 of fig. 6.

As shown in fig. 6 and 7, the base 2 corresponding to the conveying device 1 has 4 support bases 20A to 20D in this example. The unit rails 3A and 4A are disposed on the support base 20A. A first processing device PA1 is connected between the unit rail 3A and the unit rail 4A.

The unit rail 3B and the unit rail 4B are disposed on the support base 20B. The support base 20B is separated from the support base 20A, the support base 20C, and the support base 20D. The support table 20B is provided to be movable in the Z direction by the elevating mechanism 9 alone. The lifting mechanism 9 includes a support column 9a, a guide column 9b, and an actuator 9 c. By driving the actuator 9c, the support table 20B moves in the Z direction along the guide column 9B while being supported by the support column 9 a. The driving amount, driving speed, and driving timing of the actuator 9c can be controlled by the second control device CONT2, for example. Further, the control unit CONT may perform the control together.

The support table 20C and the support table 20D are arranged in the Z direction. The support table 20C is provided on the + Z side, and the support table 20D is provided on the-Z side. The unit rails 3C and 4C are provided on the support base 20C. A second processing device PA2 can be connected between the unit track 3C and the unit track 4C. The second processing unit PA2 performs post-process processing such as the first processing unit PA 1.

The unit rails 3D and 4D are provided on the support table 20D. A third processing device PA3 can be connected between the unit track 3D and the unit track 4D. The third processing unit PA3 performs the same processing as the second processing unit PA2 (here, post-processing by the first processing unit PA 1).

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6 and 7, the same process (post-process of the first processing apparatus PA 1) is performed in the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA3, but the embodiment is not limited thereto. For example, the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA3 may perform respective processes.

The second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA3 may be configured to have the same configuration, and different processing conditions (temperature, humidity, processing time, substrate conveyance speed, tension, etc.) may be set depending on the apparatus.

The support table 20B is provided to be movable to Z positions equal to the support table 20C and the support table 20D by the elevating mechanism 9. When the support base 20B and the support base 20C are disposed at the same Z position, the unit rails 3B and 4B and the unit rails 3C and 4C can be connected. In this case, the controller CONT adjusts the distance between the unit track 3B and the unit track 4B to be equal to the distance between the unit track 3C and the unit track 4C.

Similarly, when the support base 20B and the support base 20D are disposed at the same Z position, the unit rails 3B and 4B and the unit rails 3D and 4D can be connected. In this case, the controller CONT adjusts the distance between the unit track 3B and the unit track 4B to be equal to the distance between the unit track 3D and the unit track 4D.

When the transfer device 1 having such a configuration is operated, the substrate feeding mechanism 5 is disposed on the first rail 3, the substrate winding mechanism 6 is disposed on the second rail 4, and the substrate S is transferred between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b by being laterally hung between the two rollers, as in the above-described embodiment.

In this case, since the support table 20B is configured to be selectively connected to both the support table 20C and the support table 20D, the destination of the substrate S can be set so that the substrate S passing through the first processing apparatus PA1 is alternately moved to the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA 3. Thus, for example, when the substrate S is conveyed at a slower speed in the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA3 than in the first processing apparatus PA1, the substrate S can be prevented from waiting for processing before the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA 3.

Further, by providing the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 with lifters for adjusting the heights of the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b, respectively, the height or inclination of the substrate S from the substrate feeding mechanism 5 to the substrate winding mechanism 6 can be adjusted. The state in which the substrate S is hung across between the supply roller 5b and the recovery roller 6b is referred to as a substrate group (roller group).

As described above, after the first processing apparatus PA1 finishes processing the substrate S of the 1 st substrate group, and the recovery roller and the supply roller of the 1 st substrate group are moved onto the support table 20B, the supply roller and the recovery roller of the 2 nd substrate group to be newly processed can be carried into the first processing apparatus PA 1.

That is, since the timing of carrying the 1 st substrate group into either the second processing apparatus PA2 or the third processing apparatus PA3 and the timing of carrying the 2 nd substrate group into the first processing apparatus PA1 can be adjusted, a plurality of substrate groups can be processed sequentially.

Further, by providing the support base 20B after the second processing apparatus PA2 and the third processing apparatus PA3, the substrate set can be carried into the apparatus (PA4) of the next processing step.

Further, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the substrate S can be moved in the X direction between the processing apparatuses PA (PA1, PA2, PA3) in a state where the substrate S is laterally suspended between the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6. In this case, as an example of each Processing Apparatus (PA), as shown in fig. 8, the substrate S is configured to be separable into an upper unit 100A and a lower unit 100B, and in a state where a tension in the Y direction is applied, the substrate S that has been hung between the substrate feeding mechanism 5 and the substrate winding mechanism 6 can pass through a space between the upper unit 100A and the lower unit 100B in the X direction.

Rollers 101a,101B, 102a,102B for guiding the substrate S are provided on the entrance side and the exit side of the substrate S in the upper unit 100A and the lower unit 100B. In each processing apparatus PA, either or both of the upper unit 100A and the lower unit 100B can be moved in the Z direction by a necessary amount by an elevator mechanism not shown. As such a processing apparatus PA, a printer (including an ink jet printer), a plasma apparatus, a vapor deposition apparatus, an exposure apparatus, etc. can be used.

Reference numerals

1 conveying device

2 base station

3 first rail

3A-3D unit rail

4 second rail

4A-4D unit rail

5b supply roller

6b recovery roller

7 rail driving mechanism

7r guide rail

8 roller driving part

9 lifting mechanism

9c actuator

20A-20D support table

83 first driving part

84 second driving part

100A Upper Unit

100B lower unit

CONT control device

Second control device of CONT2

D1 first distance

D2 third distance

PA (PA1, PA2, PA3) processing device

S substrate

Front end of Sf substrate S

Rear end of Se substrate S

Claims (13)

1. A conveying device for a sheet substrate, which conveys a flexible sheet substrate to a processing device in a reel manner, is characterized by comprising:

a substrate supply mechanism including a supply roller on which the substrate is wound, for supplying the substrate to the processing apparatus in a longitudinal direction;

a substrate recovery mechanism including a recovery drum around which the substrate is wound, for recovering the substrate carried out of the processing apparatus;

a first moving mechanism for moving the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction while the sheet substrate is being hung between the supply roller and the recovery roller; and

and a second moving mechanism for moving at least one of the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism in the longitudinal direction in a state where the sheet substrate is hung between the supply roller and the recovery roller.

2. The device for conveying a substrate according to claim 1, wherein the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism each include a rotation drive unit that rotates the supply roller and the recovery roller;

the rotation driving unit is operated while the substrate supply mechanism or the substrate recovery mechanism is moved in the longitudinal direction by the second moving mechanism.

3. The device for conveying a substrate according to claim 2, wherein the rotation driving unit is operated so as to eliminate the warp of the substrate that runs between the supply roller and the recovery roller while the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism are moved so as to approach each other by the second movement mechanism.

4. The device for transporting a sheet substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism are disposed so that a rotation axis of the supply roller and a rotation axis of the recovery roller are separated in the longitudinal direction and are parallel to each other.

5. The device for transporting a substrate according to claim 4, wherein the first moving mechanism includes a first driving unit that moves the substrate supply mechanism independently in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction, and a second driving unit that moves the substrate recovery mechanism independently in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction.

6. The device for conveying a sheet substrate according to claim 5, further comprising: and a control unit configured to control the first drive unit and the second drive unit in synchronization with each other when the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism are moved in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction in a state where the sheet substrate is suspended between the supply roller and the recovery roller.

7. The device for conveying a substrate according to claim 4, wherein the second moving mechanism is controlled so that the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism approach each other in the longitudinal direction when the leading end of the substrate wound around the supply roller is wound around the recovery roller.

8. A processing apparatus for a sheet substrate, which carries a flexible sheet substrate in an elongated direction and processes the sheet substrate, comprising:

an upper unit and a lower unit that are separated from each other above and below the sheet substrate, respectively, and that move the sheet substrate in a short-side direction intersecting the long-side direction and carry the sheet substrate into and out of the processing apparatus in a state where the sheet substrate is hung between a supply roller on which the sheet substrate supplied to the processing apparatus is wound and a recovery roller on which the sheet substrate processed by the processing apparatus is wound; and

and a lifting mechanism for lifting and lowering either one or both of the upper unit and the lower unit.

9. The apparatus for processing a substrate according to claim 8, further comprising:

a substrate supply mechanism supporting the supply roller;

a substrate recovery mechanism supporting the recovery roller; and

a first moving mechanism that moves the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism together in the short-side direction so that the sheet substrate moves in the short-side direction in the separation space between the upper unit and the lower unit.

10. The apparatus for processing a substrate according to claim 9, further comprising: and a second moving mechanism configured to move at least one of the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism in the longitudinal direction in a state where the sheet substrate is carried out of the processing apparatus and is hung between the supply roller and the recovery roller.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the substrate supply mechanism and the substrate recovery mechanism each comprise a rotation drive unit that rotates the supply roller and the recovery roller;

the rotation driving unit rotates each of the supply roller and the recovery roller when the sheet substrate is transported in the longitudinal direction in the processing apparatus to be processed and when the substrate supply mechanism or the substrate recovery mechanism is moved in the longitudinal direction by the second moving mechanism.

12. The apparatus for processing a substrate according to claim 11, wherein the upper unit or the lower unit includes a plurality of rollers for guiding conveyance of the substrate.

13. The substrate processing apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, wherein the processing apparatus is any one of a printer, a plasma apparatus, an evaporation apparatus, and an exposure apparatus.