TWI873260B - Substrate clamping mechanism and substrate processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a clamping mechanism that can properly clamp a substrate regardless of thickness.

The clamping mechanism at the end of the substrate includes: a reciprocating air cylinder having a piston inside, and the piston moves by the introduction and discharge of compressed air; and a clamping portion, which clamps the substrate between an upper claw portion configured to be fixed and a lower claw portion configured to be rotatable around a predetermined rotation center; the lower claw portion is connected to the piston via a rod, and rotates by the introduction of compressed air into the air cylinder, and the substrate is clamped by the lower claw portion toward the upper claw portion. The bias force generated by the claw clamps the substrate; when compressed air is fed into the air cylinder and the substrate is not clamped, the portion of the upper claw and the lower claw that clamps the substrate is set to be a step formed by the first part and the second part, and the first part is in contact with the other side of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state, and the second part is far away from the other side of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state.

Description

Substrate clamping mechanism and substrate processing device

The present invention relates to a mechanism for clamping a substrate, and more particularly to a mechanism for clamping the end of a substrate in a device for performing processing such as splitting a brittle material substrate such as a glass substrate.

Devices for splitting brittle material substrates (mother substrates) such as glass substrates are widely known. In such devices, there are devices that support the substrates brought in from the outside from below by a plurality of substrate support and transport mechanisms, and clamp (clamp) the rear ends thereof by a plurality of clamping mechanisms (clamping mechanisms) arranged at predetermined intervals, and the plurality of substrate support and transport mechanisms are arranged at predetermined intervals in a horizontal plane in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

As a substrate supporting and transporting mechanism, a conveyor belt or a belt is exemplified (for example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2), and the conveyor belt is composed of a plurality of rollers (driven rollers) arranged in a plurality of rows along the transporting direction, and the plurality of rollers are freely rotatable in a vertical plane including the transporting direction and support the substrate at the upper end, and the belt is configured to circulate in the transporting direction and is configured to support the substrate on the upper end.

In the former case, the substrate is transported by the roller supporting the substrate rolling along with the movement of the multiple clamping mechanisms holding the substrate in the transport direction. In the latter case, the belt circulates in synchronization with the movement of the multiple clamping mechanisms holding the substrate in the transport direction.

Furthermore, as a clamping mechanism, it is well known that the clamping ON/OFF is switched by introducing and discharging compressed air (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

[Prior patent literature]

[Patent Literature]

[Patent document 1] Patent publication No. 4464961

[Patent Document 2] Patent Publication No. 2016-83822

In a substrate splitting device, there is a need to split brittle material substrates of various thicknesses. In this case, when the substrate is clamped by the clamping mechanism, it is required to clamp the substrate with an appropriate clamping force corresponding to the thickness of the substrate. If a thin substrate is clamped with excessive force, the substrate will be deformed or damaged, which is not good. On the other hand, if the clamping force is too weak, a thick substrate cannot be clamped properly, which is still not good.

Therefore, in the past, for example, when a single glass substrate (single plate) is separated and two or more glass substrates are separated by bonding together, the clamping force of the clamping mechanism needs to be changed according to the degree of thickness difference, depending on whether the single plate is clamped or the bonded substrate is clamped.

As an example of the mixed existence of brittle material substrates with different thicknesses as the objects of division, there is the division of substrates for liquid crystal panels. When dividing such substrates, there are mixed situations where the end faces of the two glass substrates are aligned at the ends, and where the positions of the upper and lower substrate end faces, called terminal portions, are different and there is a step difference at the ends. In the former case, of course, the ends become the parts that are adhered to each other, but in the latter case, the ends actually become a single plate. Therefore, even if each end is properly clamped, it is still desirable to adjust the clamping force.

However, in terms of work efficiency, the adjustment of the clamping force each time is complicated. This complexity becomes prominent especially when a large substrate is clamped by multiple clamping mechanisms. Therefore, in actual situations, many people only adopt the following form, which is to set the minimum clamping force that can be clamped for the adhered parts, and also to cope with the clamping of the terminal part. However, in this case, sometimes the adhered parts cannot be clamped properly.

This invention was developed in view of this topic, and its purpose is to provide a clamping mechanism for a substrate processing device. The clamping mechanism can properly clamp the substrate without adjusting the clamping force each time in response to the thickness of the substrate to be clamped.

In order to solve this problem, the invention of claim 1 is a mechanism for clamping the end of a substrate, which is characterized by: comprising: a reciprocating air cylinder having a piston inside, and the piston moves by the introduction and discharge of compressed air; and a clamping portion, which clamps the substrate between an upper claw portion configured to be fixed and a lower claw portion configured to be rotatable around a predetermined rotation center; the lower claw portion is connected to the piston via a rod, and the lower claw portion rotates around the rotation center by the introduction of compressed air into the air cylinder, and the lower claw portion is rotated from the lower claw portion to the rotation center. The biasing force generated by the claw toward the upper claw becomes the substrate clamped between the upper claw and the lower claw; when the compressed air is fed into the air cylinder and the substrate is not clamped, the portion of the upper claw and the lower claw that clamps the substrate is provided with a step difference formed by the first portion and the second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the other of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the other of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state.

The invention of claim 2 is a substrate clamping mechanism as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: in response to the thickness of various substrates to be clamped, the substrate is selectively clamped between the first part and the other of the upper claw part and the lower claw part, and the substrate is selectively clamped between the second part and the other of the upper claw part and the lower claw part.

The invention of claim 3 is a substrate clamping mechanism as in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the size of the step difference is determined according to the difference in thickness of the various substrates to be clamped.

The invention of claim 4 is a substrate clamping mechanism as in any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: a portion of the upper claw portion that clamps the substrate is provided with a step formed by a first portion and a second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the lower claw portion in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the lower claw portion in the initial state.

The invention of claim 5 is a substrate clamping mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 3, characterized in that: the portion of the lower claw portion that clamps the substrate is provided with a step formed by the first portion and the second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the upper claw portion in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the upper claw portion in the initial state.

The invention of claim 6 is a substrate clamping mechanism as in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the portion of at least one of the upper claw and the lower claw that contacts the substrate is formed of an elastic body.

The invention of claim 7 is a device for performing predetermined processing on a substrate, and is characterized by: comprising: a support rod extending in a first direction in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of substrate clamping mechanisms such as any one of claims 1 to 6 are discretely arranged in the first direction; a pair of guide members guide the support rod in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction in the horizontal plane; and a plurality of substrate support and transport mechanisms are arranged in the region between the pair of guide members to be parallel to the pair of guide members and at equal intervals; when one end of the substrate supported by the substrate support and transport mechanism is clamped by the plurality of substrate clamping mechanisms, the support rod moves along the guide member, thereby transporting the substrate.

According to the invention of claims 1 to 7, by changing the clamping position in response to the thickness of the substrate, the biasing force acting between the upper claw and the lower claw is not adjusted when clamping the substrate, and substrates of different thicknesses can also be properly clamped.

1: Substrate processing equipment

2: Base

3A,3B: Guide rails

4: Support rod

5: Substrate support and transport mechanism

10: Air cylinder

10a: Delivery to the entrance

10b: Send to the exit

10p: Piston

11: Rod

12: Connection part

20,120,1020: Clamping part

21,121: Upper claw

23A: 1st upper claw

23B: 2nd upper claw

123A: 1st lower claw

123B: 2nd lower claw

24,124: Lower claw

25,125: Rotating part

25a: Rotation axis

25b: Connecting shaft

26: Lower claw

27A, 27B, 127A, 127B: Clamping surface

30:Frame

31: (Frame) Component 1

32: (Frame) Component 2

100: Clamping mechanism

122: Upper claw

200: Clamping mechanism

G: Gap

W1: Single substrate

W2: Adhesive substrate

W3: Adhesive substrate with terminal parts

W3a: Stable end

W3b: Terminal section

[Figure 1] is a three-dimensional diagram of the appearance of the clamping mechanism 100.

[Figure 2] is a side view of the main part of the clamping mechanism 100.

[Figure 3] is an enlarged side view of the clamping portion 20 when the clamping mechanism 100 is in the initial state.

[Figure 4] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping unit 20 in the process of clamping the single substrate W1.

[Figure 5] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping unit 20 in the process of clamping the single substrate W1.

[Figure 6] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping unit 20 in the process of clamping the single substrate W1.

[Figure 7] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping part 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W2.

[Figure 8] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping part 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W2.

[Figure 9] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping part 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W2.

[Figure 10] is a diagram showing the operation of the clamping section 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal portion.

[Figure 11] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping section 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal portion.

[Figure 12] is a diagram showing the action of the clamping section 20 in the process of clamping the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal portion.

[Figure 13] is a diagram showing the state in which the clamping unit 1020 clamps the single substrate W1.

[Figure 14] is a diagram showing the state of the clamping portion 1020 clamping the bonded substrate W2.

[Figure 15] is a diagram showing a state where the clamping portion 1020 clamps the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal portion.

[Figure 16] is a partial schematic perspective view of a substrate processing device 1 having a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100.

[Figure 17] is a side view of the main part of the clamping mechanism 200 of the modified example in the initial state.

<Overview of the clamping mechanism>

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the appearance of a clamping mechanism (substrate clamping mechanism) 100 of the present embodiment. The clamping mechanism 100 is incorporated into a processing device (not shown) for processing a substrate such as a brittle material substrate, such as splitting, and clamps the end of the substrate. In addition, the posture of the clamping mechanism 100 in FIG. 1 and subsequent figures is a posture in which the clamping mechanism 100 is used in a form of clamping the substrate in a horizontal posture. Hereinafter, this posture is referred to as the use posture. Unless otherwise specified, the description of the configuration of each part of the clamping mechanism 100 in the following is based on the case where the clamping mechanism 100 is in the use posture. In addition, in each figure, the xyz coordinates of the right-hand system are appropriately added, which regards the vertical direction as the positive direction of the z-axis and the forward and backward direction of the substrate of the clamping mechanism 100 in the horizontal plane as the x-axis direction. In addition, in Figure 1, the clamping mechanism 100 is shown in a state where the substrate is not clamped. Hereinafter, this state is referred to as the initial state.

As shown in FIG1 , the clamping mechanism 100 mainly includes: a reciprocating pneumatic cylinder 10 having a piston 10p inside; a rod 11, which is formed by connecting one end to the piston 10p inside the pneumatic cylinder 10, and the other end extending to the outside of the pneumatic cylinder 10; a clamping part 20, which is used to clamp the substrate; and a frame 30, which is used when the clamping mechanism 100 is installed on a substrate processing device, etc. and supports the pneumatic cylinder 10 and the clamping part 20.

The pneumatic cylinder 10 includes an inlet 10a and an outlet 10b for compressed air introduced from the outside at its upper end. In response to the compressed air being introduced from the inlet 10a and being discharged from the outlet 10b, the piston 10p reciprocates in the pneumatic cylinder 10, and the rod 11 connected to the piston 10p moves forward and backward accordingly. In addition, the pneumatic cylinder 10 has a posture that is slightly tilted from the vertical direction to the x-axis direction.

The clamping portion 20 clamps the substrate horizontally between the upper claw portion 21 and the lower claw portion 24. The details of the clamping portion 20 will be described later.

The frame 30 includes: a pair of first components 31, which are L-shaped in a plan view and are arranged separately in mirror symmetry with the zx plane as a symmetry plane; and a second component 32, which is clamped and fixed at the ends of the pair of first components 31 in the positive direction of the x-axis.

The first component 31 has a protrusion 31p protruding in the y-axis direction at the end of the negative direction of the x-axis. The protrusion 31p has a mounting hole (screw hole) 31a for mounting the clamping mechanism 100 in the processing device, and the clamping mechanism 100 is mounted in the processing device by screwing through the mounting hole 31a. In addition, in FIG. 1, four mounting holes 31a are separately provided in the protrusion 31p of the first component 31 on one side, two in the upper and lower directions, but this is purely an example, and the number and formation position of the mounting holes 31a are not limited.

In addition, in each first component 31, the support hole 31b for supporting the air cylinder 10 is set at a position symmetrical to each other with respect to the zx plane (only one side is shown in FIG1). The air cylinder 10 is fixed to the frame 30 by engaging a pair of support protrusions 10s (only one side is shown in FIG1) at the lower end with the support hole 31b.

The second component 32 has a pair of supporting parts 32a, which protrude from the fixed part of the first component 31 in the positive direction of the x-axis in the vertical direction. The pair of supporting parts 32a are separated by a predetermined interval in the y-axis direction. The supporting part 32a is responsible for supporting the clamping part 20.

<Details of the clamping part>

FIG2 is a side view of the main part of the clamping mechanism 100 with the frame 30 omitted. FIG3 is an enlarged side view of the clamping portion 20 when the clamping mechanism 100 is in the initial state. The clamping portion 20 will be described in more detail below with reference to FIG1, FIG2 and FIG3.

As described above, the clamping portion 20 is configured to horizontally hold (clamp) the substrate between the upper claw portion 21 and the lower claw portion 24. The upper claw portion 21 includes a base portion 22, a first upper claw 23A, and a second upper claw 23B. On the other hand, the lower claw portion 24 includes a rotating portion 25 and a lower claw 26.

The upper claw 21 is a fixed claw, which is assembled to the head end of the second component 32 constituting the frame 30 in the positive direction of the x-axis. However, the base 22 is directly assembled to the second component 32, and the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B protrude from the lower part of the head end side of the base 22 in the positive direction of the x-axis to the negative direction of the z-axis. To explain in more detail, the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B are arranged in this order in the center of the lower part of the head end side of the base 22 in the positive direction of the x-axis in the y-axis direction. In other words, the second upper claw 23B is provided on the front side when the substrate is moved from the outside to the clamping part 20, and the first upper claw 23A is provided on the deep side.

The lower end of the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B is formed into a convex curved surface downward, and at each lower end, a clamping surface 27A, 27B made of an elastic body (e.g., urethane) is attached. In more detail, the lower end of the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B is formed in a shape in which the tangent line on the end side in the positive direction of the x-axis is horizontal, and the slope of the tangent line increases toward the negative direction of the x-axis (in other words, the shape is farther away from the lower claw 26), and the clamping surfaces 27A, 27B are also set according to this shape. This is to make the clamping of the substrate more certain. If this shape is not adopted, and the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B are spaced at a fixed value from the lower claw 26, when a substrate thicker than expected is to be clamped (for example, when a substrate with a thickness of 0.5 mm is clamped instead of a substrate with a thickness of 0.4 mm), the tip of the lower claw 26 will bend downward, which is not good because the substrate cannot be clamped properly.

Furthermore, as shown in the enlarged view of the portion surrounded by the dotted line E in FIG. 3 , the second upper claw 23B is arranged slightly above the first upper claw 23A in the z-axis direction. That is, the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B are arranged to form a step difference. Thus, in the initial state, the first upper claw 23A is in contact with the lower claw 26, while the second upper claw 23B is separated from the lower claw 26 by a predetermined gap G. The gap G is equivalent to the difference in height between the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B (the size of the step difference). This arrangement relationship between the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B is also simply referred to as "the upper claw portion 21 has a step difference" etc.

The size of the gap G can be appropriately set according to the difference in thickness of various substrates as the clamping objects in the clamping mechanism 100. For example, if a single board (single substrate) with a thickness of about 0.4mm to 0.7mm and a substrate to be bonded together are used as the clamping objects, the size of the gap G is set to the same level as the thickness of the single board.

The first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B are used differently according to the thickness of the substrate to be clamped. The details will be described later.

On the other hand, the lower claw 24 is a movable claw, which can change its posture by rotating the rotating part 25. The rotating part 25 is a flat plate or crank-shaped component, which is arranged along the zx plane in the gap formed by a pair of supporting parts 32a of the second component 32 in the y-axis direction. On the head end of the rotating part 25 in the positive direction of the x-axis, there is a lower claw 26 made of an elastic body (such as urethane). The lower claw 26 is arranged to be opposite to the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B in the initial state.

Furthermore, a pair of rotating shafts 25a (only one side is shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 ) protruding in the positive and negative directions of the y-axis are provided at a position slightly closer to the head end than the center of the rotating portion 25 in the x-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 1 , the rotating shaft 25a is supported by through holes 32b (only one side is shown in FIG. 1 ) provided in each of a pair of supporting portions 32a of the second component 32. Thus, the rotating portion 25 is made rotatable in the zx plane with the rotating shaft 25a as the rotation center.

Furthermore, at the end of the rotating part 25 in the negative direction of the x-axis, a pair of connecting shafts 25b protruding in the positive and negative directions of the y-axis are provided (only one side is shown in Figures 1 and 2). As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the connecting shaft 25b is supported by the through holes 12a provided in each of the pair of connecting parts 12 (however, the connecting shaft 25b and the through hole 12a are only shown in Figures 1 and 2), and the pair of connecting parts 12 are provided at the lower end of the rod 11. Thereby, as the rod 11 moves up and down (advance and retreat), the end of the rotating part 25 in the negative direction of the x-axis also moves up and down.

In other words, the rotating part 25 is connected to the piston 10p of the pneumatic cylinder 10 via the rod 11, and the rotating part 25 performs a rotating action by sending compressed air into and out of the pneumatic cylinder 10.

Specifically, compressed air is introduced into the pneumatic cylinder 10 from the inlet 10a, and when the rod 11 moves downward as indicated by the arrow AR1a, the rotating part 25 connected to the rod 11 via the connecting part 12 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow AR2a in FIG. 2 with the rotating shaft 25a as the rotation center. This direction is the direction in which the lower claw part 24 approaches the upper claw part 21.

On the other hand, by delivering the compressed air in the air cylinder 10 from the delivery port 10b, when the rod 11 moves upward as shown by the arrow AR1b, the rotating part 25 rotates in the direction shown by the arrow AR2b in FIG. 2 with the rotating shaft 25a as the rotation center. This direction is the direction in which the lower claw part 24 moves away from the upper claw part 21.

In the initial state shown in FIG. 2 , compressed air is fed into the air cylinder 10, and as a result of the rod 11 moving downward and the rotating portion 25 rotating in the direction indicated by the arrow AR2a, the lower claw 26 abuts against the first upper claw 23A. Moreover, at this time, a biasing force corresponding to the pressure of the compressed air fed into the air cylinder 10 acts between the lower claw 26 and the first upper claw 23A.

When the amount of compressed air in the air cylinder 10 is fixed, the biasing force becomes larger as the lower claw 26 is further away from the first upper claw 23A. This is because the volume in the air cylinder 10 decreases as the lower claw 26 is further away from the first upper claw 23A, and the pressure of the compressed air increases. As described later, the clamping mechanism 100 of this embodiment clamps the substrate between the upper claw 21 and the lower claw 24 by utilizing the biasing force as a clamping force.

<Clamping action>

Next, the clamping action of the substrate in the clamping mechanism 100 is described. As shown above, in the clamping mechanism 100, the upper claw 21 of the clamping part 20 has a step difference, and the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B forming the step difference are used separately according to the case where the substrate is a single board and the case where the substrate is a thick substrate such as an adhesive substrate. The following will be described in sequence.

In addition, when the planar size of the substrate is large, multiple clamping mechanisms 100 are used to clamp the different ends of the substrate simultaneously and in parallel (synchronously). However, since the clamping actions of each of the multiple clamping mechanisms 100 are the same, the following description shows a state where one clamping mechanism 100 clamps the end of the substrate for the sake of simplicity.

(When clamping a single substrate)

First, the action of the clamping mechanism 100 when the single board substrate (single substrate) W1 is the clamping object is explained according to Figures 3 to 6. As shown above, Figure 3 is an enlarged side view of the clamping part 20 when the clamping mechanism 100 is in the initial state, but at the same time, it also shows the state before the clamping part 20 clamps the single substrate W1. Figures 4 to 6 are diagrams showing the action of the clamping part 20 in the process of clamping the single substrate W1.

As shown in FIG3 , when the clamping part 20 is in the initial state, the single substrate W1 brought from the outside by the unillustrated transport means moves away from the first upper claw 23A as shown by the arrow AR3 while approaching the clamping part 20.

Specifically, first, the compressed air in the air cylinder 10 is delivered from the delivery port 10b. As a result, the piston 10p rises, and the rod 11 connected to the piston 10p rises as shown by the arrow AR1b in Figure 2. Then, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw part 24 connected to the rod 11 by the connecting part 12 so as to be rotatable rotates with the rotation axis 25a as the rotation center, and rotates in the counterclockwise direction of the figure shown by the arrow AR2b in Figure 2. As a result, as shown in Figure 4, the lower claw 26 that has been in contact with the first upper claw 23A so far is away from the first upper claw 23A.

Alternatively, the lower claw 26 may be away from the first upper claw 23A before the single substrate W1 is transported.

In any case, the single substrate W1 is transported to the lower side of the upper claw 21, as shown by the arrow AR4 in FIG. 4, with the lower claw 26 away from the first upper claw 23A. More specifically, the single substrate W1 is transported until the head end W1a reaches the lower position of the first upper claw 23A. The single substrate W1 transported to this position is still in a horizontal position, and the head end W1a is brought into contact with the clamping surface 27A of the first upper claw 23A, as shown in FIG. 5. At this time, the single substrate W1 is not in contact with the clamping surface 27B of the second upper claw 23B. This is because the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B form a step difference, as shown above.

At the time when the head end W1a contacts the clamping surface 27A of the first upper claw 23A, compressed air is sent from the inlet 10a to the air cylinder 10. As a result, the piston 10p descends, and the rod 11 connected to the piston 10p descends as shown by the arrow AR1a in Figure 2. Then, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw 24 connected to the rod 11 by the connecting part 12 rotates with the rotation axis 25a as the rotation center in the clockwise direction of the figure shown by the arrow AR2a in Figure 2. As a result, the lower claw 26 contacts the head end W1a, which is far away from the lower claw 24 so far and close to the single substrate W1, as shown in Figure 6.

At this time, the head end W1a of the single substrate W1 is between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26, and the space between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 is wider than the initial state by the thickness of the single substrate W1. Therefore, the compressed air sent into the air cylinder 10 becomes more compressed than the initial state. Between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26, a biasing force greater than the initial state acts. The biasing force becomes a clamping force, and the single substrate W1 is clamped between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26. That is, the state where the single substrate W1 is clamped by the clamping mechanism 100 is realized.

Hereinafter, the combination of the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 is also referred to as the first clamping portion, and the clamping by the first clamping portion is also referred to as the first clamping form.

(Case of sandwiching and pasting substrates)

Next, the operation of the clamping mechanism 100 when the laminated substrate W2 formed by laminating two substrates having the same thickness as the single substrate W1 is the clamping object is described according to FIGS. 7 to 9. FIGS. 7 to 9 are diagrams showing the operation of the clamping section 20 in the process of clamping the laminated substrate W2. However, the end faces of the laminated substrate W2 are assumed to be located on the same plane.

First, the action of the clamping part 20 when the clamping part 20 is in the initial state is the same as the case where the single substrate W1 becomes the clamping object. That is, as shown in FIG7, the adhered substrate W2 brought from the outside by the unillustrated transport means, as shown by the arrow AR7, approaches the clamping part 20 in the initial state, and the compressed air in the air cylinder 10 is delivered from the delivery port 10b. Then, due to the accompanying rise of the piston 10p and the rod 11, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw part 24 rotates in the counterclockwise direction of the figure shown by the arrow AR8 in FIG7, thereby, as shown in FIG8, the lower claw 26 that has been in contact with the first upper claw 23A so far is away from the first upper claw 23A.

Alternatively, as in the case of clamping a single substrate W1, the lower claw 26 may be moved away from the first upper claw 23A before transporting the bonded substrate W2.

In any case, the bonded substrate W2 is transported to the bottom of the upper claw 21 with the lower claw 26 away from the first upper claw 23A.

However, unlike the case of the single substrate W1, the conveyance of the bonded substrate W2 is until the head end W2a reaches the position below the second upper claw 23B. The bonded substrate W2 conveyed to this position is in a state of still maintaining a horizontal posture, and the head end W2a is brought into contact with the clamping surface 27B of the second upper claw 23B as shown in FIG8 .

At the time of the contact, compressed air is fed into the air cylinder 10 from the feed port 10a. The amount of compressed air fed at that time is set to be the same as when clamping the single substrate W1. Due to the descent of the piston 10p and the rod 11 accompanying the feeding, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw 24 rotates in the clockwise direction of the figure shown by the arrow AR9 in FIG8, thereby, the lower claw 24, which has been far away so far, approaches the attached substrate W2 as shown by the arrow AR10, and as shown in FIG9, the lower claw 26 contacts the head end W2a.

Therefore, in this case, the biasing force also acts between the second upper claw 23B and the lower claw 26, and it is used as a clamping force, and the adhered substrate W2 is clamped.

Hereinafter, the combination of the second upper claw 23B and the lower claw 26 is also referred to as the second clamping portion, and the clamping by the second clamping portion is also referred to as the second clamping form.

However, although the thickness of the bonded substrate W2 is twice that of the single substrate W1, the clamping force is roughly the same as the clamping force when the single substrate W1 is clamped by the first clamping part. The reason is that although the second upper claw 23B is actually responsible for clamping in the upper claw 21, the step difference formed by the second upper claw 23B and the first upper claw 23A is the same as the size of the single substrate W1, so the distance between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 when the bonded substrate W2 is clamped by the second clamping part is roughly the same as the distance between the two when the single substrate W1 is clamped by the first clamping part.

Furthermore, this means that the clamping mechanism 100 of the present embodiment does not need to change the amount of compressed air fed into the air cylinder 10 according to the situation of clamping the single substrate W1 and the situation of clamping the bonded substrate W2 (the amount of compressed air is adjusted each time according to which substrate is to be clamped). That is, if the compressed air is fed into the air cylinder 10 in an amount that can clamp both with an appropriate clamping force, only the clamping position (in other words, the upper claw used for clamping) is changed according to the single substrate W1 and the bonded substrate W2, and either substrate can be clamped appropriately. In other words, in the clamping mechanism 100, clamping at the first clamping portion and clamping at the second clamping portion are selectively performed according to the thickness of the substrate.

(When clamping mutually adhered substrates with terminals)

Next, the operation of the clamping mechanism 100 when the end of the substrate W3 having a terminal portion at the outer edge is the clamping object is explained based on Figures 10 to 12. Figures 10 to 12 are diagrams showing the operation of the clamping part 20 in the process of clamping the substrate W3 having a terminal portion.

The bonded substrate W3 with a terminal portion is formed by bonding two single substrates together, which is the same as the general bonded substrate W2, but the end portion to be clamped is not located on the same plane, but has a structure in which a thin portion consisting of only one single substrate protrudes toward the outer edge. Hereinafter, it is referred to as a stable end portion W3a, which is the end portion of the general bonded portion in the bonded substrate W3 with a terminal portion, and is used as a terminal portion W3b protruding from the stable end portion W3a. In addition, the protrusion amount of the terminal portion W3b from the stable end portion W3a is made smaller than the total size of the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B in the x-axis direction.

First, before clamping, in the clamping part 20, the upper claw part 21 and the lower claw part 24 are in a state of being far apart, which is the same as the above-mentioned situation where the single substrate W1 or the bonded substrate W2 becomes the clamping object.

That is, when the clamping part 20 is in the initial state, as shown in FIG10, the adhered substrate W3 with the terminal part brought from the outside by the unillustrated transport means delivers the compressed air in the air cylinder 10 from the delivery port 10b at the timing of approaching the clamping part 20 in the initial state as shown by the arrow AR11. Then, due to the accompanying rise of the piston 10p and the rod 11, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw part 24 rotates in the counterclockwise direction of the figure shown by the arrow AR12 in FIG10, thereby, as shown in FIG11, the lower claw 26 that has been in contact with the first upper claw 23A so far moves away from the first upper claw 23A.

Alternatively, the lower claw 26 may be away from the first upper claw 23A before the substrate W3 having the terminal portion is transported.

In any case, the bonded substrate W3 with the terminal portion is also transported to the bottom of the upper claw portion 21 in a state where the lower claw 26 is away from the first upper claw 23A, just like the single substrate W1 and the bonded substrate W2.

At that time, the conveyance of the bonded substrate W3 with the terminal portion is until the stable end portion W3a reaches the position below the second upper claw 23B. The bonded substrate W3 with the terminal portion conveyed to this position is in a state of still maintaining a horizontal posture, and the stable end portion W3a is brought into contact with the clamping surface 27B of the second upper claw 23B as shown in FIG. 11.

At this time, according to the size of the terminal portion W3b (the extent of protrusion from the stabilizing end portion W3a), as shown in FIG. 11, the stabilizing end portion W3b reaches the lower position of the first upper claw 23A.

At the time when the stable end W3a contacts the clamping surface 27B of the second upper claw 23B, compressed air is fed into the air cylinder 10 from the feed port 10a. The amount of compressed air fed at that time is set to be the same as when clamping the single substrate W1. Due to the descent of the piston 10p and the rod 11 accompanying the feeding, the rotating part 25 of the lower claw part 24 rotates in the clockwise direction of the figure as shown by the arrow AR13 in Figure 11. As a result, the lower claw part 24, which has been far away so far, approaches the bonded substrate W3 with the terminal part as shown by the arrow AR14, and as shown in Figure 12, the lower claw 26 contacts the stable end W3a.

At this time, the biasing force acts between the second upper claw 23B and the lower claw 26 abutted by the stabilizing end W3a, and is used as a clamping force, and the mutually bonded substrate W3 with the terminal portion is clamped. That is, the mutually bonded substrate W3 with the terminal portion is clamped by the second clamping portion. The magnitude of the clamping force at that time is roughly the same as the case of clamping a single substrate W1 or a mutually bonded substrate W2.

However, according to the size of the terminal part W3b, the terminal part W3b contacts the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 during the clamping. However, the distance between the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 at that time is the same as the case of clamping the single substrate W1 by the first clamping part, and because the clamping surface 27A of the first upper claw 23A and the lower claw 26 are both made of elastic body, the terminal part W3b will not be deformed or damaged due to the contact.

This means that in the clamping mechanism 100 of the present embodiment, as long as the protruding dimension of the terminal portion W3b is at least smaller than the total dimension of the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B in the x-axis direction, the substrate W3 having a terminal portion at the outer edge can be properly clamped by clamping the stabilizing end portion W3a with the second clamping portion, just like the substrate W2 having no terminal portion W3b.

<The clamping action when the upper claw is one leg>

Next, for comparison, the clamping of the substrate by the clamping mechanism with one upper claw is described. Figures 13 to 15 are diagrams showing the clamping portion 1020 of the clamping mechanism clamping a single substrate W1, a bonded substrate W2, and a bonded substrate W3 having a terminal portion, respectively.

The structure of the clamping mechanism other than the clamping part 1020 is considered to be the same as that of the clamping mechanism 100. In addition, in the clamping part 1020, the upper claw part 21 is considered to have only one upper claw 23, and the lower claw 26 of the lower claw part 24 is also arranged in a range only opposite to the upper claw 23. In addition, the clamping surface 27 of the upper claw 23 and the lower claw 26 are elastic bodies, which is the same as the clamping part 20 of the clamping mechanism 100. The structure of the clamping part 1020 is equivalent to the case of having only the first clamping part of the clamping mechanism 100.

In the case of this clamping part 1020, the single substrate W1 shown in FIG. 13 and the bonded substrate W2 shown in FIG. 14 are clamped by the same combination of the upper claw 23 and the lower claw 26. Since the thicknesses of the two substrates are different, even if the amount of compressed air fed to the air cylinder 10 is the same, the clamping force applied to the former and the latter is different. Therefore, when the amount of compressed air fed to the air cylinder 10 is set so that the clamping force on one side becomes an appropriate value, the problem of not being able to perform well on the other side occurs. Alternatively, in order to achieve proper double clamping, the amount of compressed air supplied must be adjusted each time the type of substrate to be clamped changes, which is cumbersome.

In contrast, in the case of the clamping mechanism 100 of the present embodiment, by using the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B which are arranged to form a step difference according to the thickness of the clamped object, it can be said that those problems are dealt with.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG15, when the clamping part 1020 clamps the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal part, the clamped object becomes the terminal part W3b. In the case where the clamping of the terminal part W3b and the clamping of the bonded substrate W2 without the terminal part shown in FIG14 exist in a mixed state, the amount of compressed air sent to the air cylinder 10 is adjusted so that the clamping of the latter becomes certain, and when the clamping force is set, an excessive clamping force acts when clamping the terminal part W3b shown in FIG15, and a defect such as bending stress occurs in the part of the terminal part W3b not clamped by the clamping part 1020 as shown in the area RE.

The clamping part 20 of the clamping mechanism 100 of this embodiment is as described above. For any substrate, whether it is a substrate W2 without a terminal portion or a substrate W3 with a terminal portion, it can be clamped by the second clamping part. Even if the two are mixed, there is no need to distinguish them and they can be clamped appropriately.

<Application examples for substrate processing equipment>

FIG16 is a partial schematic perspective view of a substrate processing apparatus 1 having a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100 according to the present embodiment. The substrate processing device 1 mainly includes: a pair of guide rails (guide components) 3A and 3B, which are arranged on the base 2, far from each other in the horizontal plane and along the substrate transportation direction; a support rod 4, which is set between the pair of guide rails 3A and 3B in the horizontal plane in a direction orthogonal to the substrate transportation direction, and is made to move freely along the guide rails 3A and 3B; and a plurality of substrate support and transportation mechanisms 5, which are in the area between the pair of guide rails 3A and 3B on the base 2, each of which is arranged parallel to the guide rails 3A and 3B (that is, along the substrate transportation direction) and at equal intervals; in addition to the above components, it also has a processing unit (not shown) that performs predetermined processing on the moved substrate.

On the side of the support rod 4, a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100 are arranged at equal intervals in the extension direction thereof. In addition, the substrate support and transport mechanism 5 is a conveyor belt composed of a plurality of rollers (driven rollers) arranged in a plurality of rows along the transport direction. The plurality of rollers are freely rotatable in a vertical plane including the substrate transport direction and support the substrate at the upper end.

In the substrate processing device 1, the substrates brought in from the outside are sequentially clamped at one end of the transport direction by a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100, and supported downward by a plurality of rollers constituting the substrate support transport mechanism 5. Moreover, when the support rod 4 moves along a pair of guide rails 3A and 3B, the substrates clamped by the plurality of clamping mechanisms 100 are supported downward by a plurality of rollers constituting the substrate support transport mechanism 5 while moving, and are subjected to processing such as marking or segmentation in the processing section not shown in the figure.

Alternatively, the processed substrate can also be clamped by a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100 and moved by the support rod 4.

In the substrate processing device 1, as a means for clamping the substrate when transporting the substrate, a plurality of clamping mechanisms 100 having a step difference in the upper claw portion 21 as shown above are provided, and when processing a plurality of substrates continuously, even when there are mixed substrates with thick thicknesses of the processing objects, it is only necessary to determine which of the first clamping form or the second clamping form is to be executed according to the clamping object, and the clamping force does not need to be adjusted according to the thickness of each substrate, and the substrate can be clamped with a fixed clamping force. In this way, when processing a plurality of substrates in sequence, the reduction in productivity caused mainly by the clamping of the substrates is appropriately suppressed.

<Variations of the clamping mechanism>

FIG. 17 is a side view of the main part of the clamping mechanism 200 of the modified example in the initial state. However, the illustration of the frame 30 is omitted. The clamping mechanism 200 is composed of the same components as the clamping mechanism 100 except that the upper claw and the lower claw of the clamping part are different. Therefore, in the following, the same symbols are attached to the same components as the clamping mechanism 100, and detailed descriptions are omitted.

Schematically speaking, in the clamping mechanism 100, the upper claw portion 21 of the fixed claw has a two-stage structure, but the clamping mechanism 200 is the same as the clamping mechanism 100 in that the upper claw portion 121 is a fixed claw and the lower claw portion 124 is a movable claw, but the lower claw portion 124 is made into a two-stage structure, which is different from the clamping mechanism 100.

In the case of the clamping mechanism 200, the clamping surface 126 formed of an elastic body is formed below the head end of the upper claw 122 in the positive direction of the x-axis in the upper claw portion 121.

On the other hand, in the lower claw portion 124, the first lower claw 123A and the second lower claw 123B protrude from the upper portion of the head end portion of the rotating portion 25 in the positive direction of the x-axis toward the negative direction of the z-axis. To be more specific, the first lower claw 123A and the second lower claw 123B are arranged in this order in the center of the upper portion of the head end portion of the rotating portion 25 in the positive direction of the x-axis in the y-axis direction.

The upper ends of the first lower claw 123A and the second lower claw 123B are generally convexly curved upward, and the curved surface shape is the shape of the lower ends of the first upper claw 23A and the second upper claw 23B of the clamping mechanism 100 reversed up and down. Moreover, clamping surfaces 127A and 127B composed of elastic bodies are attached to the upper ends of each. To explain in more detail, the upper ends of the first lower claw 123A and the second lower claw 123B are made in a shape in which the tangent on the end side in the positive direction of the x-axis is horizontal, and the slope of the tangent becomes larger as it moves toward the positive direction of the x-axis (in other words, the shape is farther away from the upper claw portion 121), and the clamping surfaces 127A and 127B are also set accordingly.

Furthermore, the first lower claw 123A and the second lower claw 123B are arranged to form a step. Specifically, the second lower claw 123B is arranged slightly below the first lower claw 123A in the z-axis direction. The size of the step is made to be the same as the gap G in the clamping mechanism 100.

In the clamping mechanism 200 having the above-described structure, when the rod 11 moves downward as indicated by the arrow AR15a by feeding compressed air into the air cylinder 10 from the feeding port 10a, the rotating part 125 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow AR16a, and when the rod 11 moves upward as indicated by the arrow AR15b by feeding the compressed air in the air cylinder 10 from the feeding port 10b, the rotating part 125 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow AR16b.

The clamping form of the clamping mechanism 200 is similar to the clamping form of the clamping mechanism 100. That is, the clamping of the single substrate W1 is performed between the first lower claw 123A and the upper claw 122 mentioned above, which is equivalent to the first clamping form. The clamping of the bonded substrate W2 and the bonded substrate W3 having the terminal portion is performed between the second lower claw 123B and the upper claw 122, which is equivalent to the second clamping form. Therefore, the clamping mechanism 200 has the same effect as the clamping mechanism 100.

<Other variations>

In the above-mentioned implementation form, only a single substrate and a substrate adhered thereto are exemplified as specific clamping objects, but the clamping mechanism 100 (or 200) can clamp multiple substrates of different thicknesses as long as it can clamp each substrate with sufficient clamping force by either the first clamping form or the second clamping form. In this case, the thinnest substrate among those substrates corresponds to the single substrate W1 of the above-mentioned implementation form, and the substrate can be clamped by the first clamping form. For substrates thicker than the substrate, the first clamping form or the second clamping form can be clamped according to the difference in thickness with the thinnest substrate. In this case, the gap G can be adjusted in advance according to the difference between the thickest thickness and the thinnest thickness when necessary.

20: Clamping part

21: Upper claw

22: Base

23A: 1st upper claw

23B: 2nd upper claw

24: Lower claw

25: Rotating part

25a: Rotation axis

25b: Connecting shaft

26: Lower claw

27A, 27B: Clamping surface

AR3: Arrow

E: Dashed line

G: Gap

W1: Single substrate

Claims (9)

A substrate clamping mechanism is a mechanism for clamping the end of a substrate, and is characterized by comprising: a reciprocating pneumatic cylinder having a piston inside, and the piston moves by the introduction and discharge of compressed air; and a clamping portion, which clamps the substrate between an upper claw portion configured to be fixed and a lower claw portion configured to be rotatable around a predetermined rotation center; the lower claw portion is connected to the piston via a rod, and the lower claw portion rotates around the rotation center by the introduction of compressed air into the pneumatic cylinder, and the substrate is clamped between the upper claw portion and the lower claw portion by the biasing force generated from the lower claw portion toward the upper claw portion; when compressed air is introduced into the pneumatic cylinder, the lower claw portion rotates around the rotation center, and the substrate is clamped between the upper claw portion and the lower claw portion. When the state of air and the state of not clamping the substrate is taken as the initial state, the portion of the upper claw and the lower claw that clamps the substrate is provided with a step formed by the first part and the second part, and the first part is in contact with the other of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state, and the second part is far away from the other of the upper claw and the lower claw in the initial state, wherein the substrate is clamped between the first part and the other of the upper claw and the lower claw, and the substrate is clamped between the second part and the other of the upper claw and the lower claw in response to the thickness of various substrates to be clamped. For example, in the substrate clamping mechanism of claim 1, the size of the step difference is determined according to the difference in thickness of various substrates to be clamped. The substrate clamping mechanism of claim 1 or 2, wherein the portion of the upper claw portion that clamps the substrate is formed by a step formed by a first portion and a second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the lower claw portion in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the lower claw portion in the initial state. As in claim 1, the substrate clamping mechanism, wherein the portion of the lower claw portion that clamps the substrate is formed by a step formed by a first portion and a second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the upper claw portion in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the upper claw portion in the initial state. As in claim 2, the substrate clamping mechanism, wherein the portion of the lower claw portion that clamps the substrate is formed by a step formed by the first portion and the second portion, and the first portion is in contact with the upper claw portion in the initial state, and the second portion is away from the upper claw portion in the initial state. A substrate clamping mechanism as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the portion of at least one of the upper claw and the lower claw that contacts the substrate is formed of an elastic body. As in claim 3, the substrate clamping mechanism, wherein the portion of at least one of the upper claw and the lower claw that contacts the substrate is formed of an elastic body. A substrate clamping mechanism as claimed in claim 4 or 5, wherein the portion of at least one of the upper claw and the lower claw that contacts the substrate is formed of an elastic body. A substrate processing device is a device for performing predetermined processing on a substrate, characterized by comprising: a support rod extending in a first direction in a horizontal plane, and a plurality of substrate clamping mechanisms such as any one of claims 1 to 8 are discretely arranged in the first direction; a pair of guide members guide the support rod in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction in the horizontal plane; and a plurality of substrate support and transport mechanisms are arranged in a region between the pair of guide members, each being parallel to the pair of guide members and equally spaced; in a state where one end of the substrate supported by the substrate support and transport mechanism is clamped by the plurality of substrate clamping mechanisms, the support rod moves along the guide member, thereby transporting the substrate.