JP2008040287A - Exposure apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To achieve exposure with high yield by efficiently removing cohesive dust on a photomask M and a platen 5. <P>SOLUTION: A first cleaning head 1 is attached to a side of a carry-in hand 3 close to an exposure unit 20, and during a carry-in operation of the carry-in hand 3, a scraper 11 is extended at a prescribed position to be in contact with an upper face of a platen 5 and removes dust while moving over the platen 5 accompanying the movement of the carry-in hand 3. A second cleaning head 2 is attached to a side of a carry-out hand 4 close to the exposure unit 20, and during a moving and/or carry-out operation of the carry-out hand 4 to the exposure unit 20, the hand removes dust on a photomask M. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an exposing device.

In various fields, a photolithographic method is used in which a predetermined pattern is photo-baked by an exposure apparatus on a substrate surface coated with a photosensitive material such as a photoresist, and then a pattern is formed on the substrate by an etching process. In recent years, printed wiring boards and the like have been manufactured using an exposure apparatus.
In an exposure apparatus for a printed circuit board, when dust is present between a photomask and a substrate, there is a problem that the portion is unexposed and a product is defective.
This dust includes, for example, dust that is not sticky, such as copper foil, and dust that is sticky, such as dry film photoresist and solder resist. In order to remove such dust, proposals for providing a dust removing device in an exposure apparatus have been made in Japanese Patent Nos. 3533380 and 2847808.

Japanese Patent No. 3533380 Japanese Patent No. 2847808

However, all of the above-described conventional techniques have a structure using a clean roller, and there is almost no effect on dust having adhesive properties such as resist. In addition, in the exposure apparatus, since the resist is firmly fixed to the mask and the platen due to vacuum adhesion and exposure processes, it is difficult to further remove dust, and there is a limit to dust removal using a conventional roller. there were.
Furthermore, an adhesive roller mechanism for removing dust adhering to the clean roller is necessary, and there is a problem in that the apparatus is increased in size and cost.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide an exposure apparatus that removes dust from a photomask and a platen using a scraper.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a platen on which a printed wiring board to be exposed is placed, a substrate carry-in device for carrying in the board to place the printed wiring board on the platen, and the printed wiring board. A first scraper device that moves in conjunction with the substrate carry-in device and removes the platen in an exposure device comprising a substrate carry-out device carried out from the platen and a photomask depicting a pattern to be exposed; And a second scraper device that moves in conjunction with the substrate carry-out device to remove dust from the photomask.
The first and second scraper devices can effectively remove dust having adhesiveness between the platen and the photomask. The second scraper device may be configured to remove dust from the photomask either when the substrate carry-out device moves to the printed wiring board position or when the substrate carry-out device returns from the printed wiring board position. It is also possible to remove dust by reciprocation.
The scraper device preferably includes a scraper that comes into contact with an object and a pressurizing mechanism that presses the scraper against the object, and the presser mechanism can maintain contact between the scraper and the object. Even if wear or the like occurs, suitable contact can be maintained. Furthermore, it is desirable to provide a scraper angle adjusting mechanism capable of changing the contact angle at which the scraper contacts the object, and more effective dust removal can be performed by changing and adjusting the contact angle of the scraper to the object.
Further, a static eliminator may be provided to remove static electricity from the part to be dusted before and / or after dust removal. Thereby, it is possible to improve dust removal efficiency before dust removal and to prevent reattachment of dust after dust removal.
Further, by providing a suction dust collecting means for sucking the dust removed by the scraper dust remover, the dust scraped off by the scraper device can be sucked and removed. Further, not only dust scraped by the suction dust collecting means but also dust on the object can be sucked.

  According to the exposure apparatus of the present invention, even dust with high adhesion can be efficiently removed, so that it is possible to realize exposure with a high yield.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an exposure apparatus for producing a printed wiring board. A printed wiring board B coated with a photoresist is placed on a platen 5 and can be moved in the XYZ and θ directions by an exposure stage 7. . In the exposure unit 20, a photomask M mounted on the mask folder 6 is disposed above the substrate B, and a light source 9 is further provided thereon. The exposure light from the light source 9 exposes the pattern drawn on the photomask M onto the substrate B.

  A carry-in unit 30 is provided on one side of the exposure unit 20, and the substrate B is transferred from the previous process. A carry-in hand 3 is provided in the carry-in unit 30, and the substrate B is sucked and fixed by the carry-in hand 3, and the substrate B is transported onto the platen 5.

  A carry-out unit 40 is provided on the other side of the exposure unit 20, and the substrate B exposed by the exposure unit 20 is transported here and sent to a subsequent process. The unloading unit 40 is provided with an unloading hand 4, and the unloading hand 4 moves to the position of the substrate B on the platen 5 so that the substrate B is sucked and fixed and transferred to the unloading unit 40.

A first cleaning head 1 is attached to the carry-in hand 3. The first cleaning head 1 is mounted on the exposure unit 20 side of the carry-in hand 3 and performs dust removal on the upper surface of the platen 5 during the carry-in operation of the carry-in hand 3. That is, when the carry-in hand 3 moves in the direction of the exposure unit 20, the first cleaning head 1 contacts the upper surface of the platen 5 at a predetermined position, and dust is removed while moving on the platen 5 as the carry-in hand 3 moves. Do. When the carry-in hand 3 reaches the top of the platen 5, the platen 5 rises to receive the substrate B, and is lowered by suction. Thereafter, the carry-in hand 3 is retracted to the carry-in unit 30.
With the above operation, the first cleaning head 1 is configured to remove dust from the platen 5.
It is also possible to remove the dust by simply moving the carry-in hand 3 instead of carrying the substrate.

2 and 3 show the configuration of the first cleaning head 1. The second cleaning head 2 described later has the same configuration.
The first cleaning head 1 and the second cleaning head 2 include a scraper device 10, a suction nozzle 15 that is a suction dust collector, and a static elimination brush 16.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the first cleaning head 1 and the second cleaning head 2, the scraper device 10 is attached to the main body of the first cleaning head 1 so as to be tiltable. The scraper device 10 includes a scraper 11, and the scraper 11 is pressed against a mask M or a platen 5 that is an object by a cylinder 12.
As shown in FIG. 3, the scraper 11 has a width that is substantially the same as the width of the mask M and the platen 5 and is supported at both ends by a cylinder 12 so as to be able to advance and retreat, and contacts the mask M and the platen 5 with a predetermined pressure. And it comes to press. Since the scraper 11 is worn as it is used, the wear can be compensated by the cylinder 12.
The cylinder 12 absorbs unevenness due to its own characteristics, and has a buffering action when the scraper 11 scrapes dust.

The scraper 11 comes into contact with the mask M and the platen 5 at a predetermined angle, and the angle can be adjusted by a predetermined angle adjusting mechanism. Various mechanisms can be adopted as the angle adjusting mechanism. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the scraper device 10 is rotatably supported by the cleaning head 1 or 2 by a rotating shaft 17 and is long. The hole 18 and the screw 19 are configured to be fixed at a predetermined angle.
As shown in FIG. 2, the scraper 11 is configured to contact the platen 5 and the mask M at a predetermined angle downward from the horizontal in the traveling direction, and the platen 5 and the mask according to the progress of the first cleaning head 1. It is configured to scrape adhesive dust on M.

  A suction nozzle 15 serving as suction dust means is provided near the tip of the scraper 11 on the traveling direction side of the scraper device 10, and the sticky dust scraped by the scraper 11 is sucked and removed. The suction nozzle 15 also sucks and removes dust having no adhesiveness on the platen 5 and the mask M.

  Each of the first cleaning head 1 and the second cleaning head 2 is further provided with two static elimination brushes 16 so as to remove static electricity from the surface of the platen 5 or the photomask M. The neutralization brush 16 is provided in front of the suction nozzle 15 and after the scraper device 10, and one of them removes static electricity before dust removal to improve dust removal efficiency. The other static elimination brush 16 has a function of removing static electricity after dust removal and preventing reattachment of dust after dust removal.

Next, the carry-out hand 4 will be described. The second cleaning head 2 is attached to the carry-out hand 4. The second cleaning head 2 is mounted on the exposure unit 20 side of the carry-out hand 4 so as to remove dust from the photomask M when the carry-out hand 4 moves to the exposure unit 20. Further, as will be described later, dust may be removed during the carry-out operation, or the photomask M may be removed by both. Furthermore, it is possible to remove dust by simply moving the carry-in hand 4 regardless of the carry-out of the substrate.
When the carry-out hand 4 moves in the direction of the exposure unit 20, the second cleaning head 2 comes into contact with the photomask M at a predetermined position, the scraper 11 comes into contact with the mask M, and the photomask M is moved along with the movement of the carry-out hand 4. While moving up, remove dust to remove dust. When the carry-out hand 4 reaches the substrate B, the carry-out hand 4 sucks and fixes the substrate B, and the platen 5 descends. Thereafter, the unloading hand 4 moves to the unloading unit 40 and unloads the substrate B. At the time of unloading, the second cleaning head 2 is brought into contact with the photomask M, and the unloading hand 4 moves along the photomask M. You may perform dust removal.
The carry-out hand 4 has the same configuration as that of the first cleaning head 1 except that it is mounted upward, and has the configuration shown in FIGS.
Further, in order to perform dust removal when the substrate B is carried out, it is necessary to change the inclination direction of the scraper device 10. It is also necessary to change the positional relationship between the scraper device 10 and the suction nozzle 15. When performing dust removal both when moving to the exposure unit 20 and when carrying it out, the scraper device 10 and the suction nozzle 15 can be newly added, or the inclination of the scraper device 10 can be changed in the reverse direction. 10 and the suction nozzle 15 can be changed in positional relationship.

The operation in the above configuration will be described.
First, the operation of the first cleaning head 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, the substrate B is carried into the carry-in unit 30 from the previous process. The carry-in hand 3 waiting in the carry-in unit 30 chucks (adsorbs and fixes) the substrate B, and the carry-in hand 3 moves to the substrate delivery position on the platen 5 (outward path). The cylinder 12 of the first cleaning head 1 is actuated at a predetermined position while the carry-in hand 3 is moving, and the scraper 11 is extended to bring the scraper 11 into contact with the upper surface of the platen 5 as shown in FIG. The suction nozzle 15 is set at a position close to the upper surface of the platen 5. The carry-in hand 3 continues to move, and during the movement, the scraper 11 scrapes dust adhering to the platen 5, and at the same time sucks the scraped dust by the suction nozzle 15. Static elimination by the static elimination brush 16 is continuously performed. When the carry-in hand 3 reaches the substrate delivery position, the platen 5 rises and receives the substrate B as shown in FIG. At this time, the first cleaning head 1 is located outside the platen 5 and is not in contact with the platen 5.

  Next, the platen 5 sucks and fixes the substrate B and moves down. Then, the carry-in hand 3 returns to the carry-in unit 30, the platen 5 is raised, the substrate B and the photomask M are brought into close contact, the light source 9 is turned on, and exposure is performed.

Next, the operation of the second cleaning head 2 will be described with reference to FIG.
When the exposure of the substrate B is completed, the platen 5 and the substrate B are lowered, and the carry-out hand 4 moves (outward) from the carry-out unit 40 to the substrate delivery position on the platen 5. As shown in FIG. 5 (A), the cylinder 12 of the second cleaning head 2 is operated at a predetermined position while the carry-out hand 4 is moving, the scraper 11 is extended, the scraper 11 is brought into contact with the photomask M, and the carry-out hand is moved. 4 continues to move, and by this movement, the scraper 11 scrapes and removes dust adhering to the photomask M. The scraped dust is simultaneously collected by the suction nozzle 15. Further, static elimination by the static elimination brush 16 is continuously performed. When the carry-out hand 4 reaches the substrate delivery position, the exposure stage 7 and the platen 5 are raised as shown in FIG. 5B, and the carry-out hand 4 chucks (adsorbs and fixes) the exposed substrate B on the platen 5. . Then, the platen 5 descends and retreats, and the carry-out hand 4 moves (returns) to the carry-out unit 40. As described above, it is possible to perform dust removal at this time as in the forward path.
In addition, although the operation | movement which performs dust removal accompanying carrying in / out of a board | substrate was demonstrated above, dust removal may be performed only by moving the carrying-in hand 3 and the carrying-out hand 4 without carrying in / carrying out a board | substrate. Is possible.

According to the configuration described above, the sticky dust between the mask M and the platen 5 can be effectively removed. The photomask M can be dedusted twice per exposure. In particular, dust removal of the platen 5 has an effect of preventing adhesion of a dry film photoresist, a solder resist or the like to the opposite surface of the exposure surface of the substrate B. Further, the suction nozzle 15 can effectively remove both sticky dust and non-sticky dust scraped off by the scraper 11, and dust removal is possible. Further, since static electricity is removed by the charge removal brush 16, dust removal efficiency is improved, and adhesion of dust after dust removal can be prevented.
Further, as in the case of using a clean roller, a mechanism such as an adhesive roller for removing dust adhering to the clean roller becomes unnecessary, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and cost.
Further, since the first cleaning head 1 and the second cleaning head 2 are attached to the carry-in hand 3 and the carry-out hand 4, there is an effect that it is not necessary to provide a new drive mechanism or the like.

1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic front view illustrating the configuration of a first cleaning head 1 and a second cleaning head 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the configuration of a first cleaning head 1 and a second cleaning head 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the first cleaning head 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the 2nd cleaning head 2 of one Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1: first cleaning head, 2: second cleaning head, 3: carry-in hand, 4: carry-out hand, 5: platen, 6: mask folder, 7: exposure stage, 9: light source, 10: scraper device, 11: scraper 11, 12: cylinder, 15: suction nozzle, 16: static elimination brush, 17: rotating shaft, 18: long hole, 19: screw, 20: exposure unit, 30: carry-in unit, 40: carry-out unit.

Claims (8)

A platen for placing a printed wiring board to be exposed, a substrate carrying-in device for carrying in the substrate to place the printed wiring board on the platen, a substrate carrying-out device for carrying out the printed wiring board from the platen, and exposure In an exposure apparatus comprising a photomask depicting a pattern to be processed,
A first scraper device that moves in conjunction with the substrate carry-in device and removes the platen;
A second scraper device that moves in conjunction with the substrate carry-out device and removes the photomask;
An exposure apparatus comprising: The second scraper device dedusts the photomask either when the substrate carry-out device moves to the printed wiring board position or when the substrate carry-out device returns from the printed wiring board position.
The exposure apparatus according to claim 1. The second scraper device dedusts the photomask when the substrate carry-out device moves to the printed wiring board position, and removes the photomask again when the substrate carry-out device returns from the printed wiring board position.
The exposure apparatus according to claim 1. The scraper device
A scraper in contact with the object;
A pressure mechanism for pressing the scraper against the object,
4. An exposure apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3. The scraper device
A scraper in contact with the object;
A scraper angle adjustment mechanism capable of changing a contact angle at which the scraper contacts an object,
4. An exposure apparatus according to claim 1, 2 or 3. The scraper device includes a static eliminator;
The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5. The scraper dust removing device comprises suction dust collecting means for sucking dust removed by the device,
The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. The first scraper device is mounted on a substrate carry-in device, and the second scraper device is mounted on a substrate carry-out device;
The exposure apparatus according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7.

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