JP2000007148A - Glass board cassette - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lessen the deflection of a glass board when it is held, the deflection being likely to enlarge due to its lightweight and large-sized construction, by holding each glass board to be accommodated at the two ends and the central supporting part. SOLUTION: A glass board cassette is composed of a board end supporting part 3 to support each end of a glass board 1 accommodated, a plurality of board supporting rods 4 to support the central part of the board 1, and a shutter 5 which makes setting-in and taking-out of glass board 1 and seals the accommodated board(s) inside the cassette.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass substrate cassette for storing or storing glass substrates used in, for example, a liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional cassette of this type, for example, as described in JP-A-57-39537, a cassette comprising an upper lid and a bottom lid is provided with a step portion and an opening / closing member. There is disclosed a dustproof cassette in which a photomask or a reticle is stored by opening and closing an opening / closing member so as to maintain a sealed state. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-89336 discloses that a cassette for accommodating a substrate is formed in a square shape, an opening face for taking in and out is provided on one side, and a handle for carrying is provided on the upper face. A substrate storage cassette configured to be covered by a cover is disclosed.

[0003]

However, in each of the above-mentioned cassettes, only the end portions of the cassette are supported, and the center portion of the cassette is bent for supporting a glass substrate which is further reduced in weight and size. There was a problem. The thickness of the glass substrate is changed from the current 0.7 mm to 0.5 mm, and the glass substrate size is changed from 550 mm × 650 mm to 650 mm × 83.
It will be shifted to 0 mm in the future, and the bending when holding the glass substrate at both ends is expected to be much larger than the current one. Therefore, when the glass substrate is carried out and stored in the cassette, rubbing between the cassette body and the glass substrate may occur, and the foreign matter may adhere to the glass substrate and cause a pattern defect, which may lead to a deterioration in product quality. It is.

Further, since the central portion of the glass substrate supported at both ends is lowered by bending, the distance between the glass substrates is reduced in order to prevent the glass substrate to be transported from coming into contact with the lower glass substrate during transport by the transport arm. There is a problem that the pitch needs to be large, the cassette needs to be increased in size and weight, and the cassette cannot be made compact. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its first object to obtain a compact glass substrate cassette without causing bending of a stored glass substrate. It is a second object of the present invention to obtain a glass substrate cassette which allows a glass substrate to enter and exit and to be sealed, so that foreign matter does not adhere to the glass substrate.

[0005]

In a glass substrate cassette according to the present invention, an end support portion configured to support an end portion of a stored glass substrate and a center portion configured to support a central portion of the glass substrate are provided. Provided with a central support portion. In addition, the central support has a plurality of support points. Further, the central support portion is configured so as not to interfere with the transfer arm that moves in and out of the glass substrate. Further, the camera is provided with a shutter configured to be openable and closable so that the glass substrate can be moved in and out in an open state. Also,
When the shutter is closed, the glass substrate is closed.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a glass substrate cassette according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a box-shaped glass substrate cassette configured to store a plurality of glass substrates, 2 is a glass substrate stored in the glass substrate cassette 1, and 3 is configured to support an end of the glass substrate 2. The glass substrate end supporting portion 4 is a glass substrate supporting rod constituting a central supporting portion for supporting a central portion of the glass substrate 2, and the size of the glass substrate supporting rod 4 is a transfer arm for moving the glass substrate 2 in and out. In order to prevent interference with the cylinder, a cylindrical shape having a diameter of about 2 mm is used.
Reference numeral 5 denotes a shutter configured to open and close one surface of the glass substrate cassette 1 by sliding up and down.

Next, the operation will be described. Glass substrate 2
When the glass substrate cassette 1 is opened or closed, the shutter 5 is opened.
The glass substrate 2 enters and exits. After storing the glass substrate 2 in the glass substrate cassette 1, the glass substrate cassette 1
When transporting, the shutter 5 is closed to seal the glass substrate cassette 1. After storing the glass substrate 2 in the glass substrate cassette 1, the shutter 5 is closed to keep the glass substrate cassette 1 in a sealed state even when the glass substrate 2 is stored for a short period or a long period. Since two glass substrate supporting rods 4 are provided so as to support the central portion of the glass substrate 2 at two places, the glass substrate 2 does not bend at the central portion and the horizontality is ± 1 m.
m.

Further, in the first embodiment, the glass substrate supporting rods 4 are provided at two positions. However, the glass substrate supporting rods 4 may be provided at one position or at three or more positions. Should be fine. According to the first embodiment, since the glass substrate supporting rod 4 is installed in the glass substrate cassette 1, bending at the center of the glass substrate 2 can be prevented. Further, by providing the shutter 5 in the glass substrate cassette 1, the glass substrate 2 is not affected by the environment.

[0009]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. An end support portion configured to support an end portion of the stored glass substrate, and a central support portion configured to support a central portion of the glass substrate, so that it is stored in a glass substrate cassette. The central portion of the glass substrate does not bend. In addition, since the central support has a plurality of support points, it is possible to efficiently prevent the glass substrate from bending.

[0010] Further, since the central support portion is configured so as not to interfere with the transfer arm for entering and exiting the glass substrate, it does not hinder the entrance and exit of the glass substrate. Furthermore, since the shutter is configured to be openable and closable so that the glass substrate can be moved in and out in the open state, adhesion of foreign matter can be prevented. In the closed state of the shutter, the glass substrate is hermetically sealed, so that the glass substrate is not affected by the environment.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a glass substrate cassette according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 glass substrate cassette, 2 glass substrates, 3 glass substrate end support, 4 glass substrate support rod, 5 shutter.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A glass substrate cassette for storing glass substrates, an end support portion configured to support an end portion of the stored glass substrate, and a central support configured to support a central portion of the glass substrate. A glass substrate cassette comprising: 2. The glass substrate cassette according to claim 1, wherein the central support has a plurality of support points. 3. The glass substrate cassette according to claim 1, wherein the central support portion is configured so as not to interfere with a transfer arm that moves in and out of the glass substrate. 4. The glass substrate cassette according to claim 1, further comprising a shutter configured to be openable and closable so that the glass substrate can be moved in and out in an open state. 5. The glass substrate cassette according to claim 1, wherein the glass substrate is stored in a closed state when the shutter is closed.