JP2010149039A - Apparatus and method of cleaning film substrate - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method for removing processing residues adhering to a processed film substrate.

In general, in a thin film solar cell or the like, the electrode layer formed on one surface of a flexible film substrate, an amorphous semiconductor layer, and a laminate of the electrode layers are formed on the film substrate through holes formed in the film substrate. The unit solar cell and its series connection are formed at the same time by connecting to the back electrode layer on the surface of the substrate and dividing the laminate and the back electrode layer appropriately. In order to perform such division, each surface of the film substrate is separated by laser processing.
Laser processing is a process that forms a pattern by evaporating the amorphous semiconductor layer and both electrode layers on the film substrate with laser energy, so the gas during evaporation is cooled and particulate processing residues adhere to both layers. Or burr-like processing residues that are not completely evaporated adhere to the processing ends of both layers. In addition, even during drilling, burr-like processing residues are adhered to both layers.

The state in which such processing residue is attached to the film substrate causes incomplete separation of the unit solar cells and causes conduction between the unit solar cells, thereby degrading the characteristics of the thin film solar cell. In addition, if film formation is performed with the processing residue attached to the film substrate, there is a risk that characteristic defects (leakage) may occur. For this reason, before the film-forming process, it is necessary to remove the processing residue from the film substrate.
In view of this, conventionally, a cleaning unit attached to a laser processing apparatus is used to clean and remove processing residues in a dry process (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3478075

  However, the single cleaning by the conventional cleaning unit described above causes a shortage of cleaning, and the film substrate is wound, so that the cleaning residue adheres to both surfaces of the film substrate. . Therefore, in the conventional process, after the completion of processing, the cleaning is performed by performing the cleaning operation twice on each side of the film substrate. Also, for burr-like processing residues that occur during the subsequent drilling process, since the cleaning unit is not provided in the drilling processing device, it is necessary to clean the film substrate twice on each side after the drilling process. is there. Finally, in order to confirm whether or not the film substrate has been sufficiently cleaned, the processing residue of the sample of the film substrate cut out by one piece is enlarged and observed, and if there is no problem, the film substrate goes to the film forming process. It is thrown.

  Therefore, since the cleaning operation by the conventional cleaning unit requires a large number of cleaning steps, the production capacity is reduced. Further, since the final inspection for cleaning the film substrate is also performed off-line, there is a problem that the lead time (operating time) becomes long without proceeding to the film forming process unless the inspection is completed.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and its purpose is to quickly and surely clean the processed film substrate, improve the quality of the final product, and improve the production lead time. It is an object of the present invention to provide a film substrate cleaning apparatus and cleaning method that can be shortened.

In order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a cleaning device for removing processing residues adhering to a processed film substrate, wherein the film substrate is wound by a roll around which the film substrate is wound. An unwinding section to be unloaded, a first cleaning section for cleaning while pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unrolled from the unwinding section against a cleaning roll, and the film substrate unrolled from the first cleaning section. A second cleaning unit that cleans while pressing both surfaces against the adhesive roll, and a winding unit that winds the film substrate unwound from the second cleaning unit onto a roll are provided.

Further, in the present invention, specifically, the following configuration is preferable.
(1) The first cleaning unit is provided with an upstream cleaning roll for cleaning one surface of the film substrate and a downstream cleaning roll for cleaning the other surface of the film substrate, The second cleaning unit is provided with an upstream adhesive roll that cleans one surface of the film substrate and a downstream adhesive roll that cleans the other surface of the film substrate.
(2) A presser roll is disposed opposite to the cleaning roll and the adhesive roll, and the film substrate is passed between the cleaning roll and the presser roll, and between the adhesive roll and the presser roll. It is configured to be conveyed through the film substrate.

(3) A dust collecting device is provided for discharging the processing residue removed by the cleaning roll from the first cleaning section.
(4) A cleaning roll is disposed to face the pressure-sensitive adhesive roll on the side opposite to the presser roll, and a processing residue attached to the pressure-sensitive adhesive roll is transferred to the cleaning roll.
(5) An appearance inspection unit that performs an appearance inspection of the film substrate after cleaning is provided between the second cleaning unit and the winding unit.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a cleaning method for removing processing residues adhering to a processed film substrate, an unwinding step of unwinding the film substrate from a roll around which the film substrate is wound, and winding from the roll. A first cleaning step in which both sides of the film substrate that has been put out are pressed against a cleaning roll, and a processing residue is removed from the surface of the film substrate by the cleaning roll; and both surfaces of the film substrate that have undergone the first cleaning step are A second cleaning step of pressing the adhesive roll and removing a processing residue from the surface of the film substrate by the adhesive roll; and a winding step of winding the film substrate that has undergone the second cleaning step around the roll. Yes.
Moreover, in this invention, the external appearance inspection process which performs the external appearance inspection of the said film substrate after washing | cleaning is arrange | positioned between the said 2nd washing | cleaning process and the said winding-up process.

  As described above, the film substrate cleaning apparatus according to the present invention removes processing residues adhering to the processed film substrate, and winds the film substrate from a roll around which the film substrate is wound. An unwinding section to be unloaded, a first cleaning section for cleaning while pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unrolled from the unwinding section against a cleaning roll, and the film substrate unrolled from the first cleaning section. Since it has the 2nd washing part which cleans while pressing both sides to an adhesion roll, and the winding-up part which winds up the film substrate unwound from this 2nd washing part on a roll, it adheres to a film substrate It is possible to quickly and reliably remove processing residues such as granular and burr. Therefore, according to the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to improve the degree of cleaning of the film substrate, and it is possible to improve the quality of a solar cell or the like that is a final product using the film substrate. In addition, the cleaning operation for the film substrate can be speeded up and integrated, and the production efficiency can be improved by shortening the production lead time.

  In the present invention, the first cleaning section is provided with an upstream cleaning roll for cleaning one surface of the film substrate and a downstream cleaning roll for cleaning the other surface of the film substrate. And the second cleaning section is provided with an upstream adhesive roll for cleaning one surface of the film substrate and a downstream adhesive roll for cleaning the other surface of the film substrate. Both surfaces of the film substrate can be cleaned at the same time, and residue adhesion during winding can be avoided.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, a presser roll is disposed opposite to the cleaning roll and the adhesive roll, and the film substrate is passed between the cleaning roll and the presser roll, and the adhesive roll and the presser roll Since the film substrate is conveyed through the film substrate during the cleaning, the surface of the film substrate being conveyed can be reliably pressed and cleaned, and the degree of cleaning of the film substrate can be improved.

  And in this invention, the dust collector which discharges | emits the processing residue removed by the said washing | cleaning roll from the said 1st washing | cleaning part is provided, and it is opposed to the said adhesion roll on the surface opposite to the said press roll, and is cleaned. Since the roll is disposed and the processing residue attached to the adhesive roll is transferred to the cleaning roll, the cleaning operation can be continuously performed over a long period of time.

  In addition, in the present invention, an appearance inspection unit that performs an appearance inspection of the film substrate after cleaning is provided between the second cleaning unit and the winding unit. On the other hand, it becomes possible to carry out in-line inspection, and the film substrate after cleaning can be smoothly and promptly transferred to the film forming process, so that the production lead time can be further shortened.

Further, the film substrate cleaning method according to the present invention removes a processing residue adhering to the processed film substrate, and the film substrate is unwound from a roll on which the film substrate is wound. A first washing step of pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unwound from the roll against a washing roll, and removing processing residues from the surface of the film substrate by the washing roll; and the first washing step The film substrate having undergone the second cleaning step is pressed against the adhesive roll, and the processing substrate is removed from the surface of the film substrate by the adhesive roll, and the film substrate having undergone the second cleaning step is wound around the roll. Since the winding process to take is included, the same effect as the cleaning device of the invention can be obtained.
Furthermore, in the present invention, an appearance inspection process for performing an appearance inspection of the film substrate after cleaning is arranged between the second cleaning process and the winding process. Lead time can be further reduced.

Hereinafter, a film substrate cleaning apparatus and a cleaning method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a film substrate cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The cleaning apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment uses, for example, laser processing for electrode patterning or the like before a film forming process for forming a thin film on the surface of the flexible film substrate 2 using a plasma CVD apparatus. It is an apparatus dedicated to cleaning in a dry process introduced to clean the film substrate 2 that has been subjected to processing such as drilling and hole processing, and to remove processing residues such as burrs adhering to the film substrate 2.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning device 1 of the present embodiment includes an unwinding unit 4 for unwinding the film substrate 2 from an unwinding roll 3 on which the processed film substrate 2 is wound, and this unwinding. The first cleaning unit 7 for cleaning while pressing both sides of the film substrate 2 unwound from the unit 4 against the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 and the both sides of the film substrate 2 unwound from the first cleaning unit 7 are adhered. A second cleaning unit 10 that cleans while pressing against the rolls 8 and 9, and a winding unit 12 that winds the film substrate 2 after cleaning unwound from the second cleaning unit 10 onto a winding roll 11 are provided. The unwinding unit 4, the first cleaning unit 7, the second cleaning unit 10 and the winding unit 12 are arranged in order along the substrate transport direction of the arrow A direction. In addition, an appearance inspection unit 13 that performs an appearance inspection of the film substrate 2 after cleaning is further provided between the second cleaning unit 10 and the winding unit 12.

The first cleaning unit 7 includes an upstream cleaning roll 5 for cleaning the back surface (film formation surface) on one side of the film substrate 2 and a downstream cleaning roll 6 for cleaning the back surface on the other side of the film substrate 2. In addition to being disposed rotatably in the substrate transport direction, presser rolls 14 and 15 are rotatably disposed facing the cleaning rolls 5 and 6, respectively. These press rolls 14 and 15 are provided to press the film substrate 2 against the cleaning rolls 5 and 6, and both surfaces of the press rolls 14 and 15 are simultaneously passed between the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 and the press rolls 14 and 15. It is configured to carry while cleaning.
Such cleaning rolls 5 and 6 are made of nylon brushes that can scrape and remove processing residues such as burrs at the time of laser processing, which are attached to both surfaces of the film substrate 2, and punched residue at the time of hole processing. It is made of foamed material sponge or the like, and the material and bristle length of the nylon brush are not particularly damaged on the electrode surface.

  Further, the first cleaning unit 7 is provided with a dust collector 16 that discharges the processing residue removed by the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 from the first cleaning unit 7 to the outside. The dust collecting device 16 includes a casing 17 that stores processing residues, a dust collecting blower 18 that includes a filter 18a and a fan 18b, and a discharge pipe 19 that connects the casing 17 and the dust collecting blower 18, and the fan 18b. Is activated, the processing residue in the casing 17 is sucked and discharged into a storage chamber (not shown) through the discharge pipe 19 and the filter 18a.

The second cleaning unit 10 includes an upstream adhesive roll 8 that cleans the back surface (film formation surface) of the one side of the film substrate 2 that has been cleaned in the first cleaning unit 7, and the first cleaning unit 7. The downstream adhesive roll 9 for cleaning the other side of the back of the film substrate 2 that has undergone the cleaning in FIG. 5 is rotatably arranged at intervals in the substrate transport direction, and is pressed against the adhesive rolls 8 and 9. Rolls 20 and 21 are rotatably arranged. These presser rolls 20 and 21 are provided to press and adhere the film substrate 2 to the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 side, and the presser rolls 20 and 21 pass through the film substrate 2 between the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 and the presser rolls 20 and 21. It is configured to carry while cleaning both sides simultaneously.
The surface of the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 cannot be removed by the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 of the first cleaning unit 7, and processing residues remaining on both surfaces of the film substrate 2 can be removed by the adhesive force. An adhesive is applied, and the film substrate 2 is finally cleaned by the adhesive rolls 8 and 9. In addition, as a material of the adhesive, a material that does not adhere to the film substrate 2 during cleaning is used.

  The second cleaning unit 10 is provided with cleaning rolls 22 and 23 facing the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 at positions opposite to the presser rolls 20 and 21, respectively. The processing residue adhering to is transferred to the cleaning rolls 22 and 23. For this reason, an adhesive layer having an adhesive strength higher than that of the adhesive applied to the surfaces of the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 is attached to the outer peripheral surfaces of the cleaning rolls 22 and 23. The laminated structure is such that it can be peeled off from the cleaning rolls 22 and 23 one by one when it is transferred and adhered to the entire surface of the layer. That is, the cleaning rolls 22 and 23 do not need to be removed for cleaning, and are configured to recover the adhesive force with a simple operation.

  On the other hand, in order to perform an in-line inspection by line camera imaging, the appearance inspection unit 13 has a camera 24 and a luminaire 25 for imaging the back side of the other side of the film substrate 2 and a back side (film formation) of the one side of the film substrate 2. The camera 26 and the illuminating device 27 that image the surface) are arranged at intervals in the substrate transport direction. In such an appearance inspection unit 13, the camera 24, 26 and the lighting fixtures 25, 27 are used to measure at which position on the both surfaces of the film substrate 2 after cleaning by a reflection method or the like a processing residue remains. The size, number, type, and position of the processing residue are displayed on the mapping display.

Next, a cleaning method for removing processing residues adhering to the processed film substrate 2 using the cleaning apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The cleaning method of this embodiment includes an unwinding step, a first cleaning step, a second cleaning step, an appearance inspection step, and a winding step that are sequentially performed along the substrate transport direction in the direction of arrow A in FIG. It is out.
In the unwinding step, the film substrate 2 is unwound by rotating the unwinding roll 3 around which the film substrate 2 that has been subjected to processing such as laser processing is wound. In the first cleaning step, both sides of the film substrate 2 unwound from the unwinding roll 3 are pressed against the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 by the press rolls 14 and 15 and rotated. The processing residue is scraped off and removed from the surface of the film substrate 2 with a nylon brush or the like. Next, in the second cleaning step, the both sides of the film substrate 2 after the cleaning through the first cleaning step are pressed against the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 by the press rolls 20 and 21, and the rotated adhesive rolls 8 and 9 are rotated. The processing residue remaining on both surfaces of the film substrate 2 is removed with an adhesive. In the appearance inspection process, both surfaces of the film substrate 2 that have undergone the first and second cleaning steps are imaged by the cameras 24 and 26 while being illuminated by the lighting fixtures 25 and 27, and the both surfaces of the film substrate 2 after the cleaning are imaged. Appearance inspection is performed. In the final winding process, the film substrate 2 that has undergone the appearance inspection process is wound on the winding roll 11. When the cleaning and the appearance inspection are performed by such a cleaning method and there is no problem, the wound film substrate 2 is put into the film forming process.

  In the cleaning apparatus 1 for the film substrate 2 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the cleaning rolls 5 and 6 in which both surfaces of the film substrate 2 unwound from the unwinding roll 3 of the unwinding section 4 are arranged in the first cleaning section 7. And simultaneously cleaning both sides of the cleaned film substrate 2 unwound from the first cleaning unit 7 by the adhesive rolls 8 and 9 disposed in the second cleaning unit 10 to perform final finishing, Since the appearance inspection unit 13 inspects the appearance of both surfaces of the film substrate 2 and then the film substrate 2 is wound around the winding roll 11 of the winding unit 12, the degree of cleaning on the film substrate 2 is improved. The production lead time can be greatly reduced by speeding up and batching the cleaning operation and in-line inspection.

  While the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various changes and modifications can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the appearance inspection unit 13 is provided on the downstream side of the second cleaning unit 10, but the appearance inspection unit 13 may not be provided depending on the situation of the film substrate 2 to be applied. . Further, in the first cleaning unit 7 and the second cleaning unit 10 in the above-described embodiment, the back surface (film formation surface) of the film substrate 2 is cleaned only once, but high quality is required. In this case, it is possible to clean the back surface (film formation surface) of the film substrate 2 twice by installing another set of cleaning rolls and adhesive rolls.

It is the schematic which shows the washing | cleaning apparatus of the film substrate which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cleaning apparatus 2 Film board 3 Unwinding roll 4 Unwinding part 5,6 Cleaning roll 7 1st washing | cleaning part 8,9 Adhesive roll 10 2nd washing | cleaning part 11 Winding roll 12 Winding part 13 Appearance inspection part 14, 15 Presser roll 16 Dust collector 20, 21 Presser roll 22, 23 Cleaning roll

Claims (8)

In the cleaning device that removes the processing residue adhering to the processed film substrate,
An unwinding section for unwinding the film substrate from a roll wound with the film substrate; a first cleaning section for cleaning while pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unwound from the unwinding section against a cleaning roll; A second cleaning unit that cleans while pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unwound from the first cleaning unit against an adhesive roll, and a winding that winds the film substrate unwound from the second cleaning unit on a roll An apparatus for cleaning a film substrate, comprising:   The first cleaning unit is provided with an upstream cleaning roll for cleaning one surface of the film substrate and a downstream cleaning roll for cleaning the other surface of the film substrate, The cleaning unit is provided with an upstream adhesive roll for cleaning one surface of the film substrate and a downstream adhesive roll for cleaning the other surface of the film substrate. 2. The apparatus for cleaning a film substrate according to 1.   A presser roll is disposed opposite to the cleaning roll and the adhesive roll, and the film substrate is passed between the cleaning roll and the presser roll, and the film substrate is interposed between the adhesive roll and the presser roll. The film substrate cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the film substrate cleaning apparatus is configured to be conveyed through the film substrate.   The film substrate cleaning apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a dust collector that discharges the processing residue removed by the cleaning roll from the first cleaning section.   2. The cleaning roll is arranged opposite to the pressure-sensitive adhesive roll on the side opposite to the presser roll, and the processing residue attached to the pressure-sensitive adhesive roll is configured to be transferred to the cleaning roll. The apparatus for cleaning a film substrate according to any one of -4.   6. An appearance inspection unit that performs an appearance inspection of the film substrate after cleaning is provided between the second cleaning unit and the winding unit. The apparatus for cleaning a film substrate as described. In the cleaning method to remove processing residues adhering to the processed film substrate,
An unwinding step of unwinding the film substrate from a roll around which the film substrate is wound, pressing both surfaces of the film substrate unwound from the roll against a cleaning roll, and processing residues from the surface of the film substrate by the cleaning roll A first cleaning step of removing the film, a second cleaning step of pressing both surfaces of the film substrate that has undergone the first cleaning step against an adhesive roll, and removing processing residues from the surface of the film substrate by the adhesive roll; A film substrate cleaning method comprising: a winding step of winding the film substrate that has undergone the second cleaning step on a roll. The film substrate according to claim 7, wherein an appearance inspection step for performing an appearance inspection of the film substrate after cleaning is arranged between the second cleaning step and the winding step. Cleaning method.

Images