KR100498565B1 - Work supporting device for stacking equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

This facilitates the cleaning and replacement of the work support and prevents the workpiece from being damaged during high temperature heat treatment.

The work rest constitutes a part of the cassette 1 for stacking the work W in multiple stages, and has a cylindrical shaft 2, its supporting member 3, and the like. The cylindrical shaft 2 is long in a Y direction, is formed in this example, and is provided in the both sides of a X direction. The support member 3 is attached to each of the four support posts 13 on both sides of the cassette 1, and supports the cylindrical shaft 2 at four places.

At the time of cleaning or replacing the work support, the cylindrical shaft 2 can be easily detached from the support member 3, can be easily and quickly cleaned sufficiently outside of the cassette, and the exchange is easy. In addition, since the work is continuously supported in a long shape, the support surface pressure of the work is small, and the work is not damaged even under a high temperature treatment or a vibration environment.

Description

WORK SUPPORTING DEVICE FOR STACKING EQUIPMENT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a work rest of a stacking device on which a flat work consisting of a liquid crystal glass substrate to be heat-treated is placed in multiple stages. Is used.

A workpiece made of a liquid crystal glass substrate is conventionally known as a heat treatment apparatus such as Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 6-66715 and 10-132456, for example, a gondola installed in a heat treatment chamber and a cassette or a lifting support that are cyclically moved. The substrate is placed on a work holder such as a substrate transfer device to be replaced, and heat treated. In this case, since the liquid crystal circuit is formed in the work, a work support structure for locally supporting the work at a position of four or six points at both ends of the width direction so as to minimize the support contact surface is generally avoided. It is adopted.

In this structure, a support rod is usually installed at a work support position, and the work support at each end is attached to the work support with a screw or the like, and the wick is placed on the tip portion thereof. As a result, the work receiving member is multi-stage x multi-point, and it takes a long time to clean the work support, and at the same time, the work support is cleaned in a state where the work support is attached to the cassette.

On the other hand, the wick of the liquid crystal glass substrate is conventionally heat-treated at a temperature of about 230 ° C., and a resin material is usually used for the work support. Recently, a high temperature heat treatment apparatus of 500 ° C., which is a temperature higher than this, has appeared. Heat resistant materials, such as stainless steel, were used for the work support of the cassette used for a heat processing apparatus. In this case, even in the case of a conventional multi-point support base structure having a narrow support surface having a flat shape, since the end portion of the work support is chamfered in a curved shape, angularities of the work support do not touch the work, and problems such as scratching the work Was considered not to occur. As a result, also in such high temperature heat processing, the multipoint support workpiece support similar to the workpiece support of the normal heat processing temperature up to now was employ | adopted.

However, when the temperature is about 500 ° C., the properties of the glass change slightly, and heat-resistant materials such as stainless steel and ceramics are considerably higher in hardness than the resin materials used in the past. There is a fear that the flaw is high. And the inventors confirmed the generation | occurrence | production of such a flaw by experiment.

On the other hand, in recent years, glass substrates have been thinned, and the multi-point supported work support tends to lengthen the extension length of the work support in the work center direction due to the reduction of warpage of the work. In this case, if the work holder enters the practical use range of the glass substrate or its vicinity, and the work piece is damaged by the tip of the work support, the product becomes a defective product. .

Therefore, the present invention can easily and quickly clean the work support and at the same time, even when used in a heat treatment apparatus that heats at a temperature sufficiently higher than the normal temperature, it is possible to reliably prevent the workpiece from being damaged, thereby preventing the occurrence of defective products. The object of this invention is to provide a work support which can increase the throughput of the work by eliminating it.

In order to solve the above problems, the invention of claim 1 is a work support of a loading apparatus in which a flat work consisting of a liquid crystal glass substrate to be heat-treated is placed in multiple stages.

It is installed on both sides of the workpiece width direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the workpiece when the workpiece is placed, and is provided in the stacking apparatus so as to support the supporting member formed in an elongated shape in the traveling direction, and at least two supporting members. It is characterized by having a support member.

According to the invention of claim 2, in addition to the above, the support member has a support portion configured such that the support member is inserted and supported at a predetermined position on both sides, and has a cross-sectional area larger than that of the support portion, and forms a free end side of the support portion. The support member is characterized in that it has a hole penetrating in the work width direction to pass through the collar portion.

The invention of claim 3 is characterized in that in addition to the features of the invention of claim 1 or 2, the support member is made of a heat resistant material capable of withstanding a temperature sufficiently higher than the normal heat treatment temperature.

Embodiment of the Invention

1 and 2 show structural examples of a work tray to which the present invention is applied and a heat-resistant cassette having the same.

The wick bearing constitutes a portion of the cassette 1, which is a stacking device which is placed in 25 stages, for example, in a multi-stage flat plate-shaped work W made of a liquid crystal glass substrate to be heat-treated, and is a cylindrical shaft as a supporting member. (2), its supporting member 3, and the like. The cylindrical shaft 2 has a shape that is sufficiently long with respect to the cross-sectional area in the Y-direction, which is the traveling direction when the workpiece W is placed, and is formed of one in the present example with a length substantially equal to the length of the workpiece W, Y It is provided in the both sides of the X direction which comprises the workpiece width direction which is a direction orthogonal to a direction. The supporting member 3 is attached to the cassette 1 so as to support the cylindrical shaft 2 at least in two places and in this example, support it at two places. In addition, since the cylindrical shaft 2 has sufficient bending rigidity with respect to a normal length and hardly bends, it is supported by two places normally.

The support member 3 is configured such that the cylindrical shaft 2 is fitted to be supported at a predetermined position in the X direction, and the large diameter shaft portion 31 constituting the main body portion, and the small diameter shaft portion as a support portion having a smaller diameter than this ( 32) It is struted at the root side of the collar-shaped stopper 33 and the large-diameter shaft portion 31, which is a collar portion having a larger diameter than the small-diameter shaft portion 32 so as to have a cross-sectional area larger than the cross-sectional area, and forming the free end side thereof. A screw portion 34 to be screwed into the 13, a tightening nut portion 35, and the like are provided. The cylindrical shaft 2 is slightly larger in diameter than this so as to be able to pass through the collar stopper 33 of the support member 3 and has a hole 21 penetrated in the X direction. The hole 21 is a long hole so as to cope with a dimensional error and the like, and the movement of the cylindrical shaft 2 in the Y direction by inserting the small diameter shaft portion 32 of the support member 3 having a fixed position therein. Can be regulated within a certain range.

The cylindrical shaft 2 and the support member 3 can be formed in various structures different from those of FIG. 1 as a structure combining them. FIG. 3 shows an example in which the supporting portion of the supporting member 3 is a notch 36 so as to be supported at a predetermined position in the X direction by carrying the cylindrical shaft 2. In FIG. 4, the notch 22 is also provided in the cylindrical shaft 2 side. In addition, the support member is not limited to the cylindrical shaft 2, and if the workpiece W is placed and is in contact with the curved surface having a certain curvature, the basic cross-sectional shape is not limited to a cylindrical shape but is quadrilateral or triangular. It may be a suitable shape such as a shape.

The cassette 1 equipped with the workpiece support provided with such a cylindrical shaft 2 and its supporting member 3 has upper and lower frame plates 11 and 12, and in the present example, in which the two ends are fixed, the eight support posts 13 are provided. , Etc. are assembled as main structural parts. Large openings 11a are drilled through the mold 11, respectively, for weight reduction and the like. Although not shown, the same applies to the frame 12 below.

On both sides of the intermediate ones 13 ₃ and 13 ₄ of the eight pillars 13, the support members 3 are attached to each of the four pillars in 25 steps in the vertical direction, and the work W is one of these. On the cylindrical shaft 2 supported by two places with two support members 3, pieces are mounted in 25 steps. 8 holding 13 is the Y direction, and the opposite of Y 'holding the both ends of the direction (13 _1, 13 _2), and it is composed of holding (13 _3, 13 ₄₎ of the middle holding the ends (13 ₁ , 13 ₂ ) and the intermediate struts 13 ₃ and 13 _{4 are} provided with the positions of the work fixing plates 14 and 15 and the X direction of the workpiece W which respectively regulate the movement of the workpiece W in the Y and Y 'directions. Guiding side guides 16 are attached. In addition, if the work fixing plates 14 and 15 are formed to extend from the X direction to the center position of the cylindrical shaft 2, the positions of the cylindrical shaft 2 in the Y and Y 'directions can be regulated.

The cassette 1 equipped with the work bearing as described above is used for heat treatment apparatuses having various structures, such as lifting and lowering as gondola in a heat treatment chamber, being fixedly placed at a predetermined position, entering and exiting the heat treatment chamber, and the like. Fig. 5 shows an example of a schematic structure of a clean oven that is an example of such a heat treatment apparatus capable of handling a cassette equipped with a work tray of the present invention.

The clean oven 4 of the present example is an apparatus capable of treating the work W at a temperature to be heat treated such as a normal temperature of about 230 ° C., a medium high temperature of about 350 ° C., or a high temperature of about 500 ° C., and the heat treatment chamber 41. And a heater 45 motor 46a which is provided in the air-conditioning chamber 42 disposed below the heat insulating chamber 43, the heat insulating wall 43, the door 44, and the flow direction of the hot air to be heat-treated. A blower 46, a cooler 47 for quenching the heat treatment chamber, a high performance filter 48, and the like. The low temperature polysilicon TFT, plasma display, etc. of the workpiece | work W are an example of the liquid crystal glass substrate heat-processed at 500 degreeC.

In the heat treatment chamber 41 of the clean oven 4, the cassette 1 in which the workpiece | work W is mounted is normally put in the outdoors, and is heat-processed. The cassette 1 comes out outdoors when the work W is heat treated. At this time, the inside of the heat treatment chamber 41 is quenched by the cooler 47. Moreover, of course, the workpiece support of the present invention may be used for a cassette which is always in a heat treatment chamber, for example, a gondola lift type heat treatment apparatus.

The material of the cylindrical shaft 2 is selected corresponding to the temperature at the time of heat-processing the workpiece | work W. As shown in FIG. In other words, if it is about 230 ° C, which is a normal heat treatment temperature, a resin material is used as in the prior art, and when the heat treatment temperature reaches 350 ° C or 500 ° C, which is a temperature sufficiently higher than this, stainless steel, ceramic, quartz Heat-resistant materials, such as these, are used. At this time, the material of the member constituting the heat treatment chamber 41 is generally made of stainless steel with heat resistance.

The work support as described above is equipped in the cassette 1, the work W is loaded, put in the clean oven 4 together with the cassette, and exhibits the following functions in the heat treatment step.

The wick W is mounted in the Y direction outside the heat treatment chamber in this example by a robot hand or the like on the 25-stage cylindrical shafts 2 on both sides, which are the supporting members mounted on the cassette 1. At this time and afterwards, even when entering and exiting the heat treatment chamber, the workpiece W is reliably supported on the cylindrical shaft 2 by the work fixings 14 and 15 and the side guides 16 of the cassette to be held in a predetermined range. do.

When the cassette 1 is placed in the heat treatment chamber 41, all the devices in the air conditioning chamber 42 are operated to heat the work W to a predetermined heat treatment temperature. In this case, when the heat treatment temperature reaches 500 ° C., the hardness of the glass decreases, such as the hardness of the glass decreases, or heat resistant material such as stainless steel or ceramic, which is more warned than the resin material conventionally used as the work support, is used. The surface of the workpiece | work W which consists of liquid crystal glass board | substrates becomes high by the vibration of the heat processing chamber 41 brought about by the power machine, such as 46 and the motor 46a.

However, when the workpiece W is supported by the cylindrical shaft 2 of the present invention, the contact surface pressure between the workpiece W and its supporting surface is significantly smaller than that of the conventional point supporting work holder. The flaw of the workpiece | work W can be prevented reliably. That is, as shown in Fig. 6, the length of the workpiece support of the present invention is L, the point is theoretically at the tangent of the circle and the straight line, but when the tangential contact width that occurs slightly is δw, the workpiece W and the cylindrical shaft ( The contact area of 2) is A ₁ = L × δw.

In contrast, in the conventional work support, the cylindrical shaft 2 of the present invention is assumed, and the four end members of the support shaft 3 are squared with four supporting members 3 on one side thereof. Assuming that it is supported, the total length of four places of the length s in the Y direction shown in Fig. 7A is, for example, about L / 10 as shown in Fig. 1. On the other hand, if the workpiece W and its supporting surface cannot be taken along a long linear shape due to warpage or the like due to warpage, the length of actual contact as shown in FIG. It becomes the same as. Therefore, the contact area becomes approximately A '= L x δw / 10, which is significantly smaller than that of the work support of the present invention. As a result, the contact surface pressure is about 10 times, and it is easy to be scratched.

On the other hand, the workpiece support of this surface as mentioned above is extremely safe. Thus, for example, it is assumed that the cassette and the workpiece vibrate due to vibration of the blower in the environment of 500 ° C. during heat treatment, or the contact load of the multiple of the weight of the wick W is applied to the work bearing when the vibration test is performed. Even if it takes a shock, the workpiece support of the present invention eliminates the risk of causing scratches on the workpiece.

In such a situation, the inventors carried out experiments to investigate the presence or absence of the occurrence of scratches on the workpiece, including a heat treatment temperature of 500 ° C. using a workpiece support to which the present invention was applied and a conventional workpiece support, to obtain the results shown in the following table.

In the above experiment, the state at the time of supporting the workpiece | work W by supporting the stayless round bar and ceramic round bar of (1) and (2) as the cylindrical shaft (2) with the support member (3) is shown in FIG. Illustrated. In addition, the state when the workpiece W was supported by seven points by the wick bearings 3 'of quartz glass and stainless steel pins 3 and ④ and the side shapes of the workpiece bearings 3' were respectively (b) and (c). To show. In these drawings, X ₁ , X ₂ , Y ₁ , and Y ₂ show the directions of the deviation amounts of the round bars in the table.

The test using the vibration generator of the experiment type (C) was carried out by placing the cassette 1 containing the workpiece | work W on the vibration generator unit | piece. In this demonstration, the vibration generator generates the cassette 1 with accelerations of 0.35, 0.32, 3.7 m / s ² and amplitudes of 22, 20 and 405 µm in the XYZ direction over the entire frequency range. This vibration causes a shift in the round bar.

According to the results of the above experiment, even when the cassette was vibrated forcibly by a vibration generator or when the inside of the clean oven was set at a high temperature of 500 ° C., the workpiece W of the round bar of the present invention had no defects at all. . In addition, as the work support of the round bar, the position shift occurred in the workpiece | work W on the work support by the vibration by a blower, and especially the vibration of using a vibration generator. In a clean oven, however, the cassette is not actually subjected to a vibration test, and such misalignment is regulated by the work fixing parts 14 and 15 and the side guides 16 of the cassette. Do not. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1 (c), the cylindrical shaft 2 extends to the vicinity of the work fixing part 15, the gap c is sufficiently small, and the cylindrical shaft 2 can be moved even if a positional shift occurs in the workpiece W. The possibility that the workpiece | work W will generate | occur | produce in the shaft end part of 2) is eliminated. Although not shown, the work fixing part 14 side is the same.

On the other hand, in the workpiece support of the multi-point (7 point) bearing like the conventional case, a flaw occurred even in the case of any material of quartz glass and stainless steel under the condition of 500 ° C. 9 and 10 show the work W corresponding to the tip support surface position P of the work support 3 'when the multi-point support work support of the quartz glass plate shown in FIGS. 8B and 8C is used. It is a figure which illustrates the state of the flaw K which arises in the back position. The flaw (K) is marked by the white line. These defects K are those of 3'a and 3'b in the support of Fig. 8B. In addition, the drawing was taken about 23 times the size with a digital microscope, and the flaw was about 2 mm in length which was made in about 3 mm from the end surface We of the workpiece | work W. The condition of the defect is also confirmed by visual observation. In addition, in the figure, countless portions such as white appear in the figure, but these are not the flaws of the glass but the back sheet when the glass is placed.

In the above experiment, it was confirmed that the workpiece support of the cylindrical shaft 2 employing the present invention can completely prevent the scratching occurring in the work W, even if there is some vibration in the clean oven under a high temperature condition of 500 ° C. It became.

Furthermore, the cylindrical shaft 2 is fixed to the supporting member 3 because a portion of the hole 21 is inserted into the small diameter shaft portion 32 through the collar stopper 33 of the supporting member 3. However, even if a movement such as vibration occurs in the cassette 1, there is no fear that the hole 21 will fall from the support member 3 beyond the collar stopper 33. 3 or 4, the cylindrical shaft 2 or its cutout portion 22 is only inserted into the cutout portion 36 of the support member 3, so that the state of engagement of both is likely to be somewhat reduced. In a typical clean oven or the like which does not use a vibration generator, there is no fear that the cylindrical shaft 2 will fall out of the support member 3 and fall off.

When the heat treatment of the work W is completed, the heater 45 is turned off, the cooler 47 for quenching the heat treatment chamber is operated, and when the inside of the heat treatment chamber 41 is sufficiently cooled, the door 44 is opened and the cassette is opened. (1) is removed, and a new cassette 1 on which a work to be heat-treated is loaded is put into the heat treatment chamber 41 again, and heat treated in the same manner as described above. When such high temperature heat treatment of the work W is performed for a certain period of time, a small amount of contamination may adhere to the cylindrical shaft 2 constituting the work support. In the heat treatment step of the workpiece made of the liquid crystal glass substrate, since the clean environment and the workpiece treatment conditions are severely required, the cassette 1 is normally cleaned once for about two to three weeks. In addition, the work support may be replaced due to heat deformation or loss of work during handling.

In such a case, a person manually lifts the cylindrical shaft 2 with the hole 21 formed therein into the small-diameter shaft portion 32 of the support member 3 and manually lifts the hole 21 and the collar forming stopper 33. ), The cylindrical shaft 2 can be easily removed from the support member 3 without using a tool. In addition, the cylindrical shaft 2 can be easily cleaned sufficiently in a short time in a wide place where the operability outside the cassette 1 is good. In addition, the cylindrical shaft 2 can be easily replaced as needed. 3 and 4, the operation of removing the cylindrical shaft 2 from the support member 3 is easier.

On the other hand, in the conventional work support, it is necessary to clean the part where the work W of the support member corresponding to the support member 3 of the apparatus of the present example can be placed, and the quantity thereof is increased by several times of the cylindrical shaft 2. At the same time, since it is necessary to work in a narrow cassette, it is difficult to perform the cleaning work, and at the same time, the degree of cleaning is poor. Also, if the support member is to be removed from the cassette and cleaned, a tool is required and at the same time, the work of removing it becomes more significant.

As mentioned above, according to this invention, in the invention of Claim 1, since the elongate support member supported by the support part provided in the loading apparatus is provided in the both sides of the width direction of a workpiece | work, it becomes easy to clean or replace a support member.

That is, since the supporting member is fixedly attached to the structural part of the loading apparatus by screwing or the like, and it is not easy to remove it from the structural part, and the supporting member is supported at at least two places, the quantity of the supporting member is at least 2 of the supporting member. It is doubled. By the way, since the support member which puts a workpiece on and touches this is mainly needed to clean or replace | exchange, since the quantity is small, it is easy to clean or replace by that quantity.

In addition, since the support member is elongated to be supported by the support member, the support member may be fixedly attached to the support member. In other words, the coupling between the supporting member and the supporting member in a fitting relationship is not disassembled during the heat treatment process, and the structure can be easily separated by manual handling by a person during cleaning or replacement. Can be. As a result, the supporting member which needs to be cleaned or replaced without using a tool or the like can be easily detached from the supporting member, so that it can be easily cleaned sufficiently in a short time in a wide and good place outside of the loading apparatus.

Furthermore, when the work is supported by the supporting member having an elongated shape in the traveling direction of the work, the contact surface contact with the work can be greatly increased as compared with the conventional support of the point-supported work, which can greatly reduce the contact surface pressure of the work. . As a result, even in a vibration or high temperature environment, it is possible to reliably prevent the work of the workpiece during heat treatment and to eliminate the defective products, thereby increasing the efficiency of the heat treatment process.

In the invention of claim 2, in addition to the invention of claim 1, a support portion capable of supporting a support member at a fixed position on both sides by inserting a support member into the support member, and a collar portion having a free end side having a larger cross-sectional area than this portion is formed. At the same time, the support member is provided with a hole penetrating in the width direction of the support member so that the collar member can pass therethrough, so that the support member is inserted into and removed from the support member by passing through the collar member of the support member. It can be attached and detached easily.

On the other hand, when the support member is mounted on the support member and supports the work, even if the support member has a larger hole than the collar, the hole of the support member is inserted into the support of the support member having a smaller cross-sectional area. It does not exceed this collar part, and can hold | maintain the engagement state of a support member and a support member. That is, in order for the supporting member to be detached from the supporting member and dropped, for example, even if the supporting member is supported by only two places on the supporting member, the holes of the two supporting members must simultaneously exceed the collar of the two supporting members. Even if the device is vibrated, there is no such concern at all.

 As a result, the support member can be easily detached from the support member while ensuring the safety of the work support, and the handleability during cleaning or replacement can be improved.

In the invention of claim 3, in addition to the invention of claim 1 or 2, the support member is formed at a temperature sufficiently higher than about 230 ° C, which is a normal heat treatment temperature, for example, a heat-resistant material capable of withstanding 500 ° C. Possible work bearings can be provided. Since the support member is made into such a long shape as described above, even if the material is wary of stainless steel or the like, the contact area with the workpiece is sufficiently large. Therefore, the contact surface pressure is lowered so that the workpiece may be damaged even at a high temperature or in a vibration environment. You can prevent it.

Figure 1 shows an example of the structure of each part of the work support according to the present invention, (a) is a plan view, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view, (c) is a plan view, (d) is a front view, (e) is a rear view Figures (a) and (b) show enlarged views.

Fig. 2 shows a structural example of a cassette equipped with the work bearing, where (a) is a plan view and (b) is a front view.

3 is a front view illustrating another example of the coupling relationship between the cylindrical shaft and the support member.

4 shows still another example of the coupling relationship between the cylindrical shaft and the support member, and (a) and (b) are cross-sectional views taken along lines a-a and b-b of (b) and (a), respectively.

5 is a side view of a clean oven as an example of a heat treatment apparatus for heat treatment using a cassette equipped with a work stand of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows a work supporting state of the cylindrical shaft of the work support, (a) is a front view, and (b) is a side view.

7 shows a work support state of a conventional work support, (a) is a plan view, and (b) is a front view.

8 (a) and 8 (b) are plan views showing the work support state during the experiment using the present invention and the conventional work support, respectively, and (c) is a front view of the conventional work support.

9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a flaw in a work in a conventional work support.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the flaw which arose in the workpiece | work in the conventional workpiece support.

"Description of Symbols for Major Parts of Drawings"

1: cassette (loading device) 2: cylindrical shaft (support member)

3: support member 21: hole

32: small diameter shaft part (support part) 33: collar shape stopper (color shape part)

W: Workpiece X: X direction (perpendicular direction, work width direction)

Y: Y direction (working direction)

Claims (3)

In the work support of the loading apparatus which mounts the flat workpiece which consists of a liquid-crystal glass substrate heat-processed in multiple stages, Support members provided on both sides of the workpiece width direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the workpiece when the workpiece is placed, the supporting members formed in a long shape in the traveling direction, and to support the supporting members at at least two places; Work support, characterized in that it has a support member installed in the loading device. 2. The support member according to claim 1, wherein the support member has a support portion which is configured such that the support member is inserted and supported at a predetermined position on both sides thereof, and a collar portion having a cross-sectional area larger than that of the support portion and forming a free end side of the support portion. And the support member has a hole that penetrates in the work width direction to allow the collar portion to pass therethrough. The work support according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the support member is made of a heat resistant material capable of withstanding a temperature sufficiently higher than a normal heat treatment temperature.